Arrival Day – May 22, 2012
Location – Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh, India)
Venue – Iskcon Tirupati  Auditorium

Today we have come here in Tirupati for Bälajé darçana. But, although we have come for Bälajé darçana, the place where we are sitting now is not Vaikunth. This is Våndävana. Våndävana dhäma ké jaya!Did all of you take darçana of Çré Çré Rädhä Govinda and Ashta sakhés.dévyad-våndäraëya-kalpa-drumädhaùçrémad-ratnägära-siàhäsana-sthauçrémad-rädhä-çréla-govinda-devaupreñöhälébhiù sevyamänau smarämi

That Våndävana, våndäraëya-kalpa-drumädhaù is full of desire trees –  kalpavriksha. There are no ordinary trees. Våndävana kalpa-drumädhaù. Underneath one such kalpavriksha is a golden throne bedecked with jewel and upon that Çré Çré Rädhä Govinda are seated.Here the darçana that we are taking at Iskcon Tirupati, here the name of this Kåñëa is Govinda. Rädhä Govinda Ki Jay!preñöhälébhiù sevyamänau smarämiAnd in the service of Çré  Rädhä Govinda, eight sakhés are present. In most of the temples there are only Rädhä and Kåñëa. In some temples like Juhu (Mumbai), there are also Lalitä and Viçäkhä along with Rädhä Räsabihäré.
But here there are Lalitä , Viçäkhä and who else?  Südevé, Raìgadevé, Indürekhä. The fourth one, next to Rädhärani is Viçäkä. The one on the right of Govinda is Lalitä, then Champakalatä, Süciträ and last sakhé is Tuìgavidyä. In this way there is a beautiful and special jhänki (darçana) of Kåñëa here. We might be wondering have we come to Bälajé  Darçana or to Våndävana.With this kértana that we did in the beginning, our yäträ has auspiciously begun. Before this you did mostly  train yäträ or bus yäträ or some might have come by flight. There are many kinds of discomforts in the yäträ. There is no yäträ without discomforts. But those discomforts, that tapasya, that suffering purifies us.  We have left home, thus our comfort zone is finished. We have made our home a comfort zone, the zone where we try to remain happy, but where is  no comfort there either. We try but we are never successful there also.I welcome all of you to this South India yäträ. Two years ago we had gone for Badrinath yäträ and also Haridwar, Hrishikesh, Gangotri and on the way it was Ekadashi.  Last year we went for Dwarka yäträ. This year we are going to Bälajé, Käïcépuram, Rämeçvaram. So what remains now? We are going anticlockwise. Badrikashram, Dwarka, rameshvara. What remains is Jagannätha Puré. May be we could go to Puri next year. And also to Mayapur. Nrsimha chaturdashi festival is very huge in mayapur.Are here any new comers in this yäträ? For our first yäträ we had gone  to Jagannätha Puré, long ago, almost ancient time, In 2004 we went to Jagannätha Puré,Gangasagar. This life is also a yäträ. It is like a yäträ. One day we all have to go from here. There are no horses, no elephants.  We have to go walking. A plane might come from vaikuntha. This yäträ is to stop the yäträ of samsara, enough of it. Punar api jannam punar api maranam Punar api janani jathare shayanam Iha samsare khalu dustare  Kripaya pare pahi murare
Shankracharya, a very intelligent acharya, is praying, “ please protect.” Kripaya pahi. Oh Murari you have killed the demon named Mura. So you please kill my death as well. Please kill my death, pahi murare. Therefore he is remembering Murari.kåñëa tvadéya-pada-paìkaja-païjaräntamadyaiva me viçatu mänasa-räja-haàsaùpräëa-prayäëa-samaye kapha-väta-pittaiùkaëöhävarodhana-vidhau smaraëaà kutas teThere is an Alavara named Kulaçekhara. He is prayin , ‘this is a very good time.’ For what? kåñëa tvadéya-pada-paìkaja-païjaräntam. Your feet are like lotus. adyaiva me viçatu mänasa-räja-haàsaù and my mind in like a swan. Viçatu, please let my mind enter into Your lotus feet, Now itself. Better now! Why he does not want to postpone, see you late. präëa-prayäëa-samaye kapha-väta-pittaiù .When the death time will come  kaëöhävarodhana-vidhau. My throat will be choked with cough. Just like in Çrémad-Bhägvatam it is said – kaëöhe ghura-ghuräyate (SB 3.30.16) In that situation, smaraëaà kutas te .Your remembrance can become difficult my Lord! But now the time is good, I am in good mood. So please accept me. So the mood is not that you kill me now. No. But please accept me now in Your service and give me shelter of Your lotus feet.Itna to karna swami.. Now that we are sitting in the temple of Govind, we can sing this bhajan. Itna to karna swami We have done so much for you; at least you do this much.  How much? Itna to karna swami jab prana tan se nikale Govind naam lekar tab prana tan se nikale.What do we want?  Govind naam lekar tab prana tan se nikale. So this yäträ is the preparation of that moment. Art of dying. There is lot of preaching about art of living. What about art of dying? Dying is also an art. This is what our religion teaches us. It does not teach us to die, But it teaches us  how to die? Even a dog dies, but a human being should not die like a dog. präëa-prayäëa-samaye It will be very difficult. So please let me right now go to the yäträ, in the association of devotees. Let me take darshan of Your pastime places. So these moments will be useful in our life, these impressions that we are getting during the yatra will be in our mind. And we will be successful in our final examination.yaà yaà väpi smaran bhävaà tyajaty ante kalevaramtaà tam evaiti kaunteya sadä tad-bhäva-bhävitaù
At the time of death whatever kind of bhava or mood we will have, that kind of rebirth we shall get. Whether we shall get rebirth or no birth, all this depends on our mood at the time of death. One time one gold merchant, was on his death bed. He had very high fever. The Doctor checked his temperature. It was 106 deg F. The merchant started shouting, “sell it, sell it.  I purchased it  @ Rs. 80 now it is 160 so sell it.” As he said this he left his body. So the kind of mood we shall have that kind of body we shall get yaà yaà väpi smaran bhävaà tyajaty ante kalevaram
Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa , Hare Hare/ Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare. So in this yäträ you please remain in the company of the Lord. So what should you do and how shall you BE with Lord. Staying in the place where the Lord resides is like staying with the Lord. SO how will you live with the Lord? Chant his holy name. Hare Kåñëa, Hare Kåñëa, Kåñëa Kåñëa , Hare Hare/ Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare.
Do not move ahead without the company of the Supremae Lord. Be with him in each and every step you move. Be in satsang all the time. This is not a professional tour, this is a devotional tour. Tirth yäträ should always be done with saints and devotees only. They will show youthe form of the Lord, they are His devotees. There is a lot of usage of your ears in this yäträ and with faith whatever is being said you follow, chant the holy name. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu came to south India yäträ; he came to Tirupati 501 years ago. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu took sannyas and then began South India Yatra. He came to Jagannätha Puré and then came to South India Yatra. What did he do in South India Yatra. Hotel booking? He simply kept chanting constantly. Kirtniya sada hari. What was the need of Him to chant constantly. He is Hari Himself, but still chanting constantly. Kåñëam  vande jagatgurum. Kåñëa Himself became guru, and by his example preached constant chanting of the holy name. He kept chanting constantly. And in the assembly of some special devotees he would also do katha. He would also go begging for alms to the houses of some brahmanas who are lakshapati (one who chants more than one lakh names of Kåñëa per day)So where ever  Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu would go, lots of devotees would gather around Him, when he reached Tirupati, thousands of devotees from nearby villages would gather near Him. How would the villagers know that Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu has arrived in the nearby village? (Answers from the audience – Sound of kirtna, inspiration from the heart)sarvasya cähaà hådi sanniviñöo, The Lord says I am in the heart of all. He is going from one place to another, he wants that more and more people should know the holy name. So he was communicating through the heart. That’s easy for Him. So the Lord would inspire them and thus they would all assemble.Then he would be in the middle of the crowd. äjänu-lambita-bhujau kanakävadatau His arms would reach His knees. Golden complexioned Lord, the preacher of sakértana movement, best amongst Brahmans,  vande jagat priya-karau karunävatärau. The one who appeared for the benefit of the entire world, I offer my obesiances unto Him. He is very tall, you must have seen in Mayapur temple, Panchatattva, very tall, very beautiful. When he would do kértana, all assembled people would do kértana.Just few minutes ago when kirtan was going on, no one knows who asked you all to stand up and dance, it is Lord Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu who inspired you to dance. Hari bol. We are like puppets in his hands and he is making us dance. He is Natraj, he is best of all dancers. Gauranga,. When he does udaëòa nåtya, what to say, they can only keep seeing him, they also start dancing and they would fill the heart of the Lord with Kåñëa premaa. So may the Lord also fill your heart with Krsna Premaa. Keep chanting and hearing with full capacity and then the Lord will fill your heart with premaa. He will replace the lust in our heart, our mind, our senses with Krsna pream. In this yäträ we can chase away that lust and let krsna premaa sit there, then “Paisa Wasool” (In Mumbai slang language), the fare of yatra was worth it.Once upon a time Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu  was doing Kirtana and it was summer time, like now. He was leading the chanting and his party was following at a distance. He was passing by a market and suddenly stopped by the dairy shop. He was thirsty and wanted to drink something. The shop keeper had a big pitcher full of buttermilk and he offered one bowl of buttermilk, but Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu was not looking at the bowl rather the pitcher. The shopkeeper understood and gestured that the Lord may drink it. Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu lifted it and drank the whole buttermilk.He is Jagannath, He is also Srinivas. The whole creation is inside him. When Yasoda said open your mouth, there was the entire universe in His mouth.  So there is nothing astonishing if He drank the big pot full of buttermilk.So after drinking when the Lord was proceeding, the shopkeeper said, what about the money?? Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu was empty pocket; rather there was no pocket in the kind of clothes He wears. Mahaprabhu replied ‘You can take from my kértana party following me.’ So the shopkeeper stopped the kirtana party and asked them to pay. They checked their pockets but had nothing as well. Then he thought for a while ‘ what will I reply to my wife.’ Thinking thus He was lifting the pot with his left hand, but he could not even move it. It was full with jewels and ornaments. He immediately understood that this miracle has been done by that kértana leader. He ran towards Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. He offered obeisances to the Lord and Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu lifted him up and embraced him tightly just like Sri Rama embraced Hanuman, when Hanumanhad returned from Lanka after locating Sita. Sri Rama had said ‘thank you Hanuman.’ Sri Ram further said, ‘if I were in Ayodhya I would have given wonderful gifts to you. But now I am a Vanvasi so can I just offer you my embrace? Do you think Hanuman might have said, ‘No sorry sir.’ No. Hanuman was obviously jubilant at this offer.  This is all what Hanuman wanted. What more gifts could he pray for?So similarly when Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu  embraced the shopkeeper, his heart became filled with love and he was so much loaded with love that he could not stand, and he exhibited the ashta sattvic vikara,  all the symptoms of ecstasy. He somehow managed to walk and reach his shop. When the kirtna party saw him returning, (they had also seen him going towards Mahaprabhu ) they understood that Mahaprabhu has given him His mercy. They started shouting loudly, ‘ you have become very fortunate and wealthy – golokera premaa dhana hari naam sankirtana. So the Lord filled his heart with prema, so may the Lord fill your heart also with love, service and thoughts of bhagvad bhakti (devotional service to the Supremae). Hare Krishna.

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