Day 2 – May 24, 2012

Location – Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh, India)

H H Lokanath Swami Maharaja  started the class with a Kirtan from Tukarama Maharaja’s  abhanga – Govinda Govinda  mana  lagali acchand. In this he explains that there is no difference between Govinda‘s body and Govinda Himself, Govinda‘s form and Govinda Himself. So Tukarama Maharaja enjoyed taking darsana of the Lord very much.  Did you also felt pleasure by taking darsana of the Lord? He says my heart is full of bliss and it is now overflowing through my eyes in the form of tears. Now, Lord has touched me and I don’t want anything else.

Na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagadish kamaye

mam janmani janmani isvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi.

Did all of you perform kirtan whole day today?  Did you do your japa? Today there wasn’t anything else to do except darsana and kirtan. There was no prasadam today.  So did you all observe upavasa (fasting) today?  By mere refraining from food, upavasa is not done. Something else is also to be done, must be done, only then upavasa is observed and upavasa is complete. Without eating food or having only fruits, without taking grains, we sometimes call this as upavasa but only with these upavasa is not complete, upavasa then remains incomplete. What has to be done for complete upavas?  Upavasa means close to the Lord. This is called upavasa . Vasa or Nivasa means place of stay, place to reside, this nivasa, that nivasa, so Nivasa with Krsna is upavasa. Stay close to the Lord. That is the meaning of upavasa. Remember this throughout your life.  Upavasa means to remain close to the Lord. Now, Ekadashi is approaching, that too the toughest one, Nirjala Ekadashi. What will happen that day? Only intake of air is allowed. But, why only intake of air, you can chant as well. The air also will be utilized in breathing and with each breath chant the holy name.  Nirjala Ekadashi. How is the Ekadashi? Nirjala – even without water. Some of you may still be on the way back to your temples or to your homes. Are you missing your home?

Real home is this, where there is the Lord. This Tirupati is our home. I too went for darsana today. After darsana, Tirupati Balaji have their own channel, they came for an interview.  So I said, it feels like, we have come back to our home.  Where there are mother and father would you  call that a home or not?  Initially that is our home, but later when wife comes, it is different. Initially home implies the place where we have our father and mother. That is home.  Our father as well as our mother is here. Lord is our father, our mother and He is our everything? mam sarva deva deva. He is all in all. That is why devotees who go to Vrindavan for Vrajamandal Parikrama, afterwards, wear a T-shirt and move around which says ‘I Lost My Heart in Vrindavan’.  I lost my heart, where? In Vrindavan. Then, let’s go again, where my heart is. My heart is lost. So, Lord, Lord’s (dhama) abode is Vrindavan, is Mayapur, is Jagannath Puri, is Pandharpur, and is Dwarka. Lord’s abode is our hometown too. That is why Tukarama Maharaja also went, where? To his hometown. Where did he go? His hometown was Dehu. Other people were saying, here is your hometown, where are you going? Those with less intelligence – in bodily consciousness, identifying themselves with their body must have thought – ami jato amcha gava, you are saying I am going to my hometown but your hometown is right here. You could go by walk or even by a bullock-cart, but you are taking a flight and saying I am going to my hometown.  Tukarama Maharaja also went to his hometown. Lord’s abode is our abode. Where is our motherland, fatherland?  Vaikuntha is our motherland, fatherland. This is the fact which we have forgotten and under illusion identifying ourselves with several designations. This is my birth place. I am this and these are my own people, these are outsiders or strangers. Aham-mameti, I & mine.

We haven’t recognized ourselves, that we are the spirit souls. We count the elements of this world, but we forget to count our own selves. Once there was a group of travelers, desiring to cross the river and they did cross over to the other side. After reaching the other bank of the river, they wanted to be sure that everyone was has reached. Like today everyone is not here. Some devotees are saying we lost him, don’t know where he is. So when these travelers reached the other bank of the river, they thought let’s count. How many were we? We were 51. Then everybody was made to sit down and one person started counting 1, 2, 3, ….11,……….35,……49, 50. Oh! Only 50 of us are here. Then another one spoke out, Oh! You don’t know how to count, I will count. 1, 2, ……..44, 47, 48, 49, 50. Only 50 persons. Each person took his turn and counted the heads and it came to 50 only. So one is missing.  So we have lost one person. They were thus discussing among themselves and lamenting whom have we left out.  Meanwhile a sage was passing by and saw that troupe lamenting. Para dukkhe dukhi. So he came close and inquired what the matter was? One of them spoke that when we started we were 51 and now we are left with 50 heads only, so we have lost  one member of our troupe. Then the sage began to count 1, 2, ……………..47, 48, 49, 50, 51. Then he told them that while counting each one of you counted everyone else there but failed to count yourself and thus you all always ended up counting only 50. We have forgotten ourselves. So the study of the whole world is going on – cosmology,  geography etc. So external help is required to find out who are we? Ke ami, who am I? My family members, in reality who are they? Who is who? What is our relationship? Do we have any relationship with each other? If we are related to the Lord, then we are also related to each other.

So did you walk up your way up to the hill top? Did you get darsana of the Lord? Now keep that sight (darsana) in your mind, in your heart. Preserve it carefully. Whom we saw, the Lord, we have an eternal relationship with him. Keep hearing about Him, then the darsana will remain fresh. Premanajana cacchurita bhakti vilocanena, santah sadaiva hrdyesu vilokyanti / yam syamsundaram acintya guna svarupam, govindam adi purusam tam aham bhajami. These are the words of Lord Brahma. Now you all got darsana, but how much darsana did you get? As much is the Lord! Lord is 100%. But how much percent darsana could we get? How much percent of His darsana did the Lord give us? Ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajami aham. This is Lord’s reciprocation. As much as we surrender mam eva ye prapadyante. Lord Himself says as much as the living entity surrenders that much I manifest, I give darsana. bhajami aham, Lord says I serve the living entity.  I take care of the living entity. Lord Brahma says Govindam adipurusam tam aham bhajami. Same verbal root, bhaj dhatu. bhajami aham, tathaiva. And here the Lord says, I serve the living entity as much as they surrender unto Me. I respect, honor the living entity.  Living entities are very dear to the Lord. You are dear devotees of the Lord. You are very dear to Him. Krishna loves you. Mostly when we say I love you, we are forgetful of Lord Krishna. If we say, I love you Krishna, O Lord, O Krishna, O Govinda, then Krishna also says I love you.  tams tathaiva bhajami aham. There is exchange, give and take. This is yoga (connection), bhava (mood), this rasa (mellow) – in friendship, in servitorship. Lord relishes the mellow and the living entity also relishes. So we all went for darsana but all of us did not get equal darsana. Thousand people went and each one among the thousand got darsana at different levels. Each one had different state of mind, mood was different, and preparation was different from one another. We should prepare ourselves and then proceed for darsana. Not that we go suddenly and get darsana, He (Lord) should also give darsana.  One is giving darsana and another one is taking darsana. Two activities are simultaneously involved. The one whose darsana we are going to take should be ready to give darsana, only then it is possible for us to take darsana. If the giver is not ready, how could we take darsana? Someone might be thinking, Oh! I have come from such far away place; the organizers have also taken so much money, now you are not giving darsana. Come on hurry up, let’s go back. Lord thinks, I was preparing you for darsana, making you eligible to take darsana and you stood up and left in midway.

There is an instance of Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. Once there was a lecture going on about Lord’s name, form, qualities and pastimes. In the middle, a disciple stood up and went away, after short while he came back. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur inquired where did you go? The disciple replied Maharaja, I went to take darsana.  Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said, Oh really, you went for darsana? How was your darsana?  You went and stood in front of the Lord. The disciple replied yes, yes, exactly that is what I did. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur continued and you closed your eyes and then opened your eyes. So, how was your eye exercise? Our darsana can remain limited to a mere eye exercise. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was trying to impress, I was preparing you for darsana. Trying to make you understand how is Lord. Narada muni also had said this to Dhruva Maharaja. You should prepare. You should prepare and then go for a darsana and see how much darsana you are getting and how much darsana He is giving, how much eligibility you have earned. Without any preparation darsana may not be possible. Now this is homework for darsana. This tirtha yatra – pilgrimage is also homework. Giving up all our other businesses, occupations, engagements, we are running after Lord. 24 hours.  24 hours we are preparing ourselves. We have left in search of Supreme Lord. Pilgrimage means search for Lord. Meeting the devotees first. Before going to see the Lord, meet the devotees of the Lord, yattirtha buddhi salile na karhicit janesu abhijnesu sa eva go kharah. Lord Krishna said this in Kuruksetra, but not to Arjuna. Not during the battle of Kuruksetra , but when Lord Himself went on pilgrimage. Lord Himself went on pilgrimage from Dwarka to Kuruksetra. Not all alone by Himself but accompanied by Balarama, Subhadra, Vasudeva, and Devaki. All queens were there like Rukmini and all ministers were there as well. It was the time of solar eclipse. So many sages, philosophers came to see the Lord.  Many great souls came to see the Lord. That time Lord spoke these words, those who visit places of pilgrimage and whose intelligence, understanding is restricted to the salile, water body – where there is river, lets immerse ourselves into it and then run to the railway station, this is  tirtha buddhi salile. Na janesu, of whom they do not have understanding?jna means knower, abhijnesu means one who has complete knowledge,  jnana vijnana sahitam, unto such devotees, saints, acaryas, they have no respect. They do not approach them. They themselves go for darsana, for bathing, without a guide. Doing this is dhama apradha.  Lord is like this, He performed His pastime here, abhijnesu janesu, those who have knowledge, but such (generally common) people have no faith in them. Straightway go on their own. So Lord said yattirtha buddhi salile Na hi karhicit, those people whose understanding about place of pilgrimages is to just go around like a tourist without any spiritual guidance, such people have been termed by Lord as sa eva go kharah. Who are they? First one is go meaning cow or bull and the second one is kharah, what does that mean? A  donkey, kharah means donkey. We don’t want to say this, but Lord said like that, for those who themselves are going on their own without guidance, without hearing and chanting, without preparation. This is the preparation. Mentally, physically, spiritually, this is the sadhana – practice. Then as a result – go for darsana, meet the Lord, see, how much you could meet, what kind of feelings are invoked. How to offer prayer? Sukha sampatti ghar ave kasta mite tan ka, we have come walking from a long distance, kasta mite tan ka. What to say of sampatti – property. Many come to Tirupati Balaji, invest a little and desire to have lot in return. This sounds like a business deal. Not with such a mood, but with proper mood, with feelings. Not in a business type, give and take mood but devotional mood. If Lord is hungry for something, He is hungry of what? Who says that the Lord does not eat, feel hungry? The Lord is hungry of what? It is because we don’t feed Him like Sabri, He does not eat. If you feed Him like Sabri, then it is not possible that He will not eat. This whole yatra is meant to awaken proper mood. This devotional mood cannot be found in any market place. It is within us. Within the spirit soul, this mood is there. By observing proper practices, rules, this has to be awakened. You may call it as our mood or prema – love, love for the Lord. Lord is hungry for love, feelings. By such awakening only, the soul will be satisfied, brahma bhuta prasannatma, fully satisfied. So by the end of this yatra, in the remaining days, your soul should feel happy. This yatra is meant to turn our souls into great souls (mahatma). Whatever may be the arrangements from morning till evening and evening to morning, these practices are there, japa has to be chanted, some rules and regulations have to be followed. Like in this yatra, there is no tea. Cannot even drink tea, may sound strange. What kind of yatra is this? It is not strange. It is one of our 4 regulative principles. Hopefully you all are practicing this even before commencement of yatra. This is the time for getting used to such practices. Practice with the aim to awaken the right mood from within. This will be the achievement of this yatra. If you attain love, then you have got the worth for what you paid for yatra. Don’t think you have been cheated. Earn something here. Earn Krsna. Deposit everyday by chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.