The Magnanimous Nature of

Nityananda Prabhu

Sri Nityananda Prabhu is supposed to be the incarnation of Baladeva in Vraja-mandala.

Narottama Dasa Thakura says, balarama haila nitai. Sanatana Gosvami also mentions
Nityananda Prabhu as the incarnation of Baladeva in Vrndavana, but some persons within the
Gaudiya sampradaya preach that Nityananda Prabhu is the incarnation of Radharani. So, a
vehement protest is given from the side of the Gaudiya Matha and we cannot recognize them as
the true followers of Gaudiya Vaisnava faith and Mahaprabhu.

Nityananda Prabhu took His birth in the district of Birbhum on the Western side of Katwa, north
west of Ekacakra, where the Pandavas in disguise lived for sometime. Nearby is also shown a
tree where the Baka-raksasa was killed by Bhimasena. In Ekacakra near Garbhavasa and many
other places, we can trace the pastimes of Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu's son
established a temple nearby, and Sri Murtis were installed by Him. About two hundred years ago
there was a great storm in that area and many ancient arrangements were devastated. A big
zamindar and devotee of the Gaudiya sampradaya, came and restored the puja, the worshipping
arrangements at Virachandrapura. All were desolated at that time.

Nityananda Prabhu's mother's name was Padmavati, and His father's name was Hadai Pandita.
Ojha was their title although now we do not find any such title. When Nityananda Prabhu was
about twelve years old one sannyasi came and begged Hadai Pandita for His son, "I want your
son". The sannyasi came and begged for the child, only one son, and a son like Nityananda
Prabhu who was very charming. It was almost impossible to live, bidding goodbye to such a son,
but what to do? A sannyasi has come and asked for Him and they could not avoid the sannyasi.
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they had to give their only son to Him. That sannyasi came and took Nityananda Prabhu away
from His house when He was only twelve years old and Nityananda Prabhu wandered with him
through the whole of India, visiting all the holy places.

Mahaprabhu did not visit so many holy places. He generally travelled through the south of India,
not Northern India entirely, only Vrndavana and Prayaga. Dvaraka and Badarinarayana were
excluded by Mahaprabhu, but Nityananda Prabhu visited all the holy places that exist in India.
After Madhavendra Puri disappeared, He was wandering in the holy places. In the meantime
Mahaprabhu, coming back from Gaya, began His sankirtana-lila in Navadvipa.

Nityananda Prabhu was wandering here and there and lastly He went to Vrndavana. He was
searching for something because of His inner identification with that of Baladeva. When Krsna
came He was feeling some tendency of attraction towards Him. In the last period, He began
searching in Vrndavana very scrutinizingly but did not find that. Then He got some inspiration
where to find Krsna. “He's now in Navadvipa. I shall go there." With this inspiration in His
Heart, He came to Navadvipa-dhama.

Mahaprabhu had already begun His sankirtana movement, and He had a dream at night that
someone came in a chariot and at the peak of the chariot there was a palm tree; and He is
searching, "Where is Nimai Pandita's house? Where is Nimai Pandita's house?" Someone then
said, "Here is Nimai Pandita's house". Mahaprabhu then told to the devotees. "A great personage
has come here to Navadvipa-dhama last night. You try to find out that great person". The
followers tried their best – they searched in every nook and corner but could not find Nityananda
Prabhu. They reported to Mahaprabhu, "We tried our best but could not trace any noble person,
any saint, or any big man". Then Mahaprabhu went directly to a particular house which is known
as Nandana Acarya's house, and there they found a new gentleman, stout and strong, and godly
in appearance, sitting on the veranda of that house. The devotees of Mahaprabhu could then
understand Him to be the man of whom Sri Gaurangadeva was telling about. He was sitting there
in red robes, all others were white dressed. Someone then chanted some bhagavata-sloka, and so
many spiritual symptoms gradually appeared in His body. They could then understand what a
great man He is for He was filled with divine love. He was the agreed personage and gradually
coming in intimate connection with Him they could understand that He was Sri Nityananda
Prabhu. Outwardly His movements were not like a scholarly person, or an ordinary man; He was
surcharged with a high type of energy and divinity coming forth from His complexion.

Mahaprabhu gradually began preaching. Haridasa Thakura and Nityananda Prabhu were both
given orders. "Go from door to door and request them to leave everything aside and take the
name of Krsna. Whomever you may meet going from door to door, approach and ask them to
take the name of Krsna leaving aside everything else."

At that time Navadvipa-dhama was mostly filled with tantrics, that is the worship of Maya-devi.
The tantrics say, “This Maya is disturbing us, so we must take shelter under Her feet. When she
will be propitiated and satisfied then she will loosen, open the door and we will get out and
become Siva. By nature, by birth, jiva means Siva, Siva means the master of Maya. We are now
in the clutches of Maya, misunderstanding. When the goddess of misunderstanding is satisfied
with us, she will then withdraw and we shall find a door out, we shall go to the other side. There

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are so many liberated souls there and we shall join them. They are all enjoying the position of
Siva, the master of Maya. Maya cannot force them to do anything and everything as she wills
rather she serves Her masters. Maya serves Siva, the liberated souls. Maya serves them, though
in the relativity of Maya but they cannot control so they render some service to the liberated
souls and they are known as Siva. Pasa baddho bhavet jiva pasa mukta sadasiva – when within
bondage He is jiva, a fallen soul, when he is outside the bondage of this Maya, this
misunderstanding, then he's always Siva. He can then move here and there at his sweet will and
Maya cannot force him, rather she will come to serve him, and that is liberation. We shall then
serve Maya-devi and the tantric process involves something, in this way she will be satisfied.”
They use many things – they may drink wine and eat meat. They offer them to the deities Maya,
Sakti and Kali. They also enjoy the women in different moods. They think that the application of
mixing with ladies is such, that they will get liberation from the charm of the ladies. In this way
in their process, they approve of the wine, the meat and the ladies – it seems to be very harmful
to us but these are the underlying principles of the tantric upasana.
“In our method, our process of approaching these things which we feel temptation for, we shall
get liberation from them. They come to attract us towards them, but by a particular process we
shall handle them. We shall be masters of those poisonous things.”

At that time Navadvipa was filled with such tantrics. Mahaprabhu Sri Gauranga began His
preaching, attempting to convince everyone to give up everything and take to chanting the Name
of Krsna, Narayana. He then said, "Not only will you be out of Maya but you will attain positive
life in Vaikuntha, in Vrndavana. That is higher attainment, and what is to be attained by
worshipping the sakti in the method they are following, that is reactionary and sometime again
they will have to evolve." This is mentioned in the sastra, but not very extensively. If you are
very particular then you will have to see that the relativity of this negative world is not safe. You
must enter the positive world, then you will be safe. That is not only mere liberation,
emancipation from the opposite forces, but practical participation in the serving line, which is
very pure. Not to be non-selfish, but one must be God-centred. God-serviced. The positive world
is there and that is full of pervasive happiness, and that we can attain only through service. Here
we are an enjoying unit, an exploiting unit, but it must be given up to get out of the reactionary
tendency of life. But we must not wait on the fence, for that is not a safe position.

Then again, that is not saying much because withdrawal from the negative side is not enough.
There is a positive world and that is meant for a real high form of life, and that can be attained
through service. Service is great, to sacrifice one's own interest, not for any part but for the
whole, the absolute good, that is great. Nothing can be compared to that. It is not calculative but
automatic. To reach the automatic stage of service with love is high pay: so give up all these
habits and these former engagements with a lower standard of worshipping, penance and all
these things. "Die to Live." A radical change must be welcomed in life. Life is worth living, life
is worth living and it is only open to the human section. In other species it is impossible to get a
glimpse of such high light and to begin that way of life, for there are only a very few human
beings in the creation. What are the number of human bodies, very small compared to the whole
of creation, and that is the door to Heaven so you must try to have a positive life. He is Krsna. He
is all-attractive. He is beautiful, He is the highest reality, He is all accommodating and most
charming. Our life will receive its fulfillment if we can approach that Lord, especially by taking
His Holy Name. In this age of Kali a special sanction has been given to us that by taking the holy

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name with satsanga, with the real saints, then we can make progress, enter and approach that
high line of preaching.

Nityananda Prabhu was a dynamo of energy and Haridasa Thakura could not follow, a little
trouble to carry out the order of Mahaprabhu, what to do? One day there were so many gunda
type persons, they came with an attacking spirit, “You are disturbing us, we are not religious and
you have come to preach religion to us: what right have you got? Why do you come to disturb
us? As a big society we are following a particular creed, and you are so bold as to blame us for
not being religious men. You have come with a new idea of religion and we are to accept that?
You fools! If again you come here you will be taught a good lesson.”

In this way they were threatened, but Mahaprabhu still said, “You must go!” Then one day they
met Jagai and Madhai. Jagai and Madhai were from brahmana birth but they did not have any
care for religion. They were also entrusted with some administration in the Muslim government.
They had some connection with the government and they themselves were gundas. They used to
take anything and everything. They were a notorious pair of gundas – Jagadananda and
Madhavananda.

Then one day they met Nityananda, “Oh, you rogues! We have heard of you. You have come to
create a new religion here – never! If we find You again on the street You will receive a licking
and will have to weep.” Anyhow, they were given such warning. Nityananda Prabhu had to
report every day what progress they had made in their preaching campaign and He almost
challenged Mahaprabhu. He said, “Our life was saved today from the worst pair in the whole of
Navadvipa-dhama, but if You can deliver them, then I shall think that You have really come to
render some service. They are the greatest rogues ever found in this area and must be converted.
If You can do that then we shall say that You have got some power with some objective, and
You will be able to do something.” Mahaprabhu felt, “If it is Krsna's will then everything will be
possible.” They again went out preaching and they met those two gundas. Haridasa Thakura
came back and Nityananda Prabhu stood there courageously. There was an earthen pot cast away
after use on the side of the way. It was taken and thrown on the head of Nityananda Prabhu and
His forehead was cut, blood oozing, Some person came to Gaurangadeva saying that Nityananda
Prabhu was wounded by the rogues.

Mahaprabhu was very enraged and in an excited mood He came there. “Who has caused this
wound on the body of Nityananda Prabhu? I shall finish the whole town, come forward.”
Mahaprabhu was beside Himself. Then Nityananda Prabhu came, “No! No! Don't be excited My
Lord. In this incarnation We are not to use any force, remember?

In the meantime there approached another and told "No, no! They are red-clad mendicants –
what fame is there is striking them? They are not wholly established rich men or party men, only
sadhus, there is no credit by killing them or beating them,” and they took Jagai and Madhai
away. Nityananda Prabhu then appealed to Mahaprabhu. “What to do, this is not proper. In this
age, in this time, at this juncture what have we come to do, use force? Never!” In the meantime
Madhai came to hit Nityananda Prabhu but Jagai saved Him by just opposing Him and
Mahaprabhu turned around suddenly, “You Jagai, you have protected My Nityananda."
Mahaprabhu then embraced Him and Jagai fell at His feet and began to cry. Mental

4
transformation came in Jagai. Then Madhai who was standing said, “For this deed we two are
such great sinners, yet Jagai's condition is now such.” In that very atmosphere, his transformation
also began.

Then Nityananda Prabhu came to recognize that in the same place with similar persons, one will
gain and the other will fail and so He thought Madhai must also be saved. Then Mahaprabhu
said, “Nityananda Prabhu Himself is pleading for you, and so you Madhai, you should also be
absolved.”

Mahaprabhu then embraced Him and he also fell and began to weep. He took the Holy Name of
Krsna and there was wholesale conversion of these two great demons. Within minutes the town
was in uproar. "Who is this Nimai Pandita? A scholar, so far we can understand, but He is
endowed with supernatural power. Whoever would see these two great demons would enter their
homes and close their doors. Such demoniac persons they were, and Nimai Pandita has converted
them within one hour. What miraculous power!”

So in this way Nimai Pandita got some footing there. Nimai Pandita is not an ordinary man, He
is not merely a scholar but He is endowed with some supernatural power. Nityananda Prabhu
was famous from that time. Although He was hit on the forehead and blood oozed, still He had
so much of an extraordinary, patient, forbearing and affectionate heart, that He recommended
that gunda who had caused Him mischief. Nityananda Prabhu's position was very safe and very
high – a divine position from that time. Nityananda Prabhu has neither an exploiting nor
enjoying mood; He is wholesale given to Krsna.

Sanatana Gosvami has given this in his commentary: In the rasa-lila of Krsna, Krsna was
enjoying all the gopis, at that time Balarama also had His separate rasa-lila. It is also mentioned
in Bhagavatam and other Puranas, that Krsna had His rasa-lila and that Baladeva also had His
rasa-lila, but Sanatana Gosvami has given the meaning. That is very fine, very subtle and very
difficult to understand. Baladeva continued rasa externally, but in His heart He was making
Krsna to participate in that rasa. He was not the party to enjoy the gopis. He is aloof, He is aside,
He is only performing, managing the rasa-lila with the gopis and Krsna. He is not only
indifferent, but with so much serving tendency and wholesale serving attitude.

In Vrndavana-mandala in vatsalya-rasa and sakhya-rasa, they also have marriages, they have
their sons, but they are not in any enjoying mood. There is union of men and women, but not in
an enjoying mood, or then they will have to be left here in the material world. Both parties meet
and are united in a serving mood, that is particularly another type of mood, never an enjoying
mood, for then they would not to be allowed to enter that domain. They will be thrown here in
the land of exploitation. When they go through the door of emancipation, liberation and enter
Vaikuntha, from there also the exploiting tendency is eliminated. They are outwardly
participating but internally in a serving mood. It may be impossible to think, but it is such, not
only the human form but also the birds and beasts, they are also apparently mixing in an enjoying
mood, but really their mood is of service attitude. Such a wholesale transformation has to be
effected in one's Heart, mind and body, before wholly attempting to enter into that domain. So
Hegel said, "Die to live". If you really want to live in that plane then you will have to die
wholesale as you think you are in this life as flesh, blood and bones. It is of the opposite type, the

5
purity is there, it can be measured; it is not non-scientific but it is really scientific. It is the
process of 'die to live'! And love is there, the dying tendency for the object of love, that is love
proper. Otherwise it is imitation, it is hypocrisy, it is conspiracy to one's own attainment.

The pure thing is that if we have got faith for such divine conception of life, then we should
come to Bhagavatam, the last gift in the sastric world of Vedic literatures. Vyasadeva's last gift
in the world of Vedic literatures is Bhagavatam. The Bhagavatam is so high. Our Guru
Maharaja's translation of dharmah projjhito kaitavo explains that of all the words and tales that
are running in this world in the name of religion, Srimad Bhagavatam says that all is false – all is
tampered with and not pure! The pure type of religion is not yet spoken. It is there, all self-
centered, the current is towards the centre, not only selflessness but self-sacrificing, self-
forgiving, self forgetfulness, in that way we are to start, we are to go.

Sri Nityananda Prabhu came and appealed, “Come to Gauranga, He is the depot, He is the
dynamo to send you there very easily.” He sang these names of Gauranga on the banks of the
Ganges.

bhaja gauranga, kaha gauranga, laha gauranga nama

sei jana gauranga bhaje se amara prana

“All you people come and take refuge under the divine feet of Gauranga, give up everything and
come and fall at the feet of Gauranga. Take His Name, remember Him and throw yourself
wholly at His disposal. He is my own life, I consider Him to be my life, my soul, my
everything.”

Nityananda Prabhu saying this began to roll at the door of the householders, “O householders!
You must do this.” He is rolling and crying, “Accept Gauranga! You don't know what great
benefit you will receive by doing this.” He is rolling in the dust at the door of the householders
with such an appeal. He came to the ordinary masses to give them shelter at the lotus feet of
Gauranga – that is Nityananda Prabhu. He came to give Mahaprabhu even to Jagai and Madhai
and He appealed to all from door to door to accept Gaurangadeva. “You do not know what will
be your highest prospect in life!”

Nityananda Prabhu is our only hope, He is so benevolent, so generous, so gracious, that very
easily we can draw His attention and we can get His recommendation. Gauranga will not be able
to disregard His recommendation, and when we have got the grace of Gauranga then the Radha-
Krsna lila is within our fist. Nityananda Prabhu's grace means to get Mahaprabhu's grace within
our clutches and to get Mahaprabhu, means to get Radha-Govinda, Vrndavana, and then
everything is within our fist.

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The Maha Mantra

Question: Is there a difference between the Gaudiya Vaisnava conception of the maha-mantra
and the conception of the maha-mantra found in other sampradayas, such as the Ramanujas,
Madhvas, Nimbarkas and Vallabhas?

Narasingha Maharaja: Yes. In fact the Gaudiya conception of the maha-mantra is exclusive
and stands distinct from all other sampradayas. The Gaudiya conception is exclusive in that it
surpasses even the greatest expectations of the Vedas (liberation) and affords one the highest
fulfillment of the ultimate goal of life. This is not simply party spirit propaganda or sampradaya
jingoism, but an ontological fact.

The conception of the maha-mantra as a whole, as well as each of its constituent parts (Hare,
Krsna and Rama), are uniquely different in Gaudiya Vaisnavism than in any other spiritual
tradition of India.

The maha-mantra appears in the Kali-santarana Upanisad of the Krsna Yajur Veda wherein
Lord Brahma is answering a question by Narada Muni:

(1)
harih om
dvaparante narado brahmanam jagam katham
bhagavan gam paryatan-kalim santare-yamiti

sa hovaca brahma –
sadhu prsto’smi sarva sruti-rahasyam gopayam
tacchrnu yena kali-samsaram tarisyasi bhagavata
adi-purusasya narayanasya namoccarana-matrena nirdhuta-kalir bhavati

At the end of Dvapara-Yuga, Narada, who had traversed the whole world, went to Brahma and
addressed him thus, ‘O Lord, how shall I be able to ward off the effects of Kali?’ Brahma thus
replied, ‘You have asked an excellent question. Listen to that secret which all the Vedas keep
hidden, through which one may cross over material existence during the age of Kali. One
becomes free from the influence of Kali by merely uttering the Names of Lord Narayana, who is
the original Supreme Person.

(2)
naradah punah papraccha tananam kimiti

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 sa hovaca hiranyagarbah –

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

iti sodasakam namnam

kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah
sarva-vedesu drsyate

Thus again Narada asked Brahma, ‘What are those Names?’

Lord Brahma replied, ‘Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare. These sixteen Holy Names will destroy the sinful influences of the age
of Kali. I do not see any other method

The Kali-santarana Upanisad is one of the 108 Upanisads listed in the Muktika Upanisad, yet in
some academic circles, scholars are of the opinion that the Kali-santarana Upanisad was written
either by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu or one of His followers. Such scholars have no evidence for
their claim other than their own opinion and that is generally not accepted amongst learned
circles in India.

One enigma surrounding the maha-mantra is whether it begins with ‘Hare Krsna’ or ‘Hare
Rama’. In the oldest surviving copy of the Kali-santarana Upanisad, dated circa 1740 CE with
the commentary by the Advaitin scholar Brahmayogin Ramacandrendra Sarasvati of
Kanchipuram, the maha-mantra is written as:

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare

However, in numerous other editions of the Kali-santarana Upanisad the maha-mantra is

written:

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

Presented below is a statement by Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja from which we might
conclude that the 1740 edition of the Kali-santarana Upanisad quoted above was interpolated by
Mayavadis. Since the Name of Krsna is superior to the Name of Rama, as stated by Srila
Sridhara Maharaja, it stands to reason that the Vedas would present the sequence of the mantra
ontologically, thus the Advaitin edition is suspect.

Commenting on this enigma, Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja has stated as follows:

“The real importance of the Name is not to be found merely in the arrangement of its syllables,
but in the deep meaning within that divine sound. Some scholars argue that in the Kali-

8
santarana Upanisad, Lord Brahma says that the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is properly
pronounced only when the Name of Rama precedes the Name of Krsna:

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare

“In the Kali-santarana Upanisad, the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is given in that way. But to say
that the Name of Rama must precede the Name of Krsna in the mantra is a superficial
understanding.

“It is said that because it comes from the Upanisads, the Hare Krsna mantra is a Vedic mantra,
and therefore, because the ordinary people may not have any entrance into Vedic mantras, Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu readjusted this mantra by reversing the order of the words. In that way, it
is said, the concern that it is a Vedic mantra is thereby canceled, and so Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu gave it to all without breaching the injunctions of the Vedas. Some devotees in
Uttar Pradesh who have great affection for Sri Caitanyadeva like to give this opinion. But our
faith is that the mentioning of ‘Hare Rama’ first is only superficial. It concerns the idea that since
the Rama avatara appeared first and the Krsna avatara afterwards, the Name of Rama, ‘Hare
Rama,’ should come first in the maha-mantra.’

“A deeper reading will consider that when two similar things are connected together, the priority
will be ordered not on the basis of historical precedent, but in consideration of the most highly
developed conception. The Holy Name of Krsna is higher than the Holy Name of Rama. This is
mentioned in the Puranas: three Names of Rama equal one Name of Krsna.’

"The Name of Krsna is superior to the Name of Rama. Where the two are connected together, the
first position should be given to the one that is superior. Therefore, the Name of Krsna must
come first in the maha-mantra. This is one point.’

“Another point is that within the eternal plane, everything is moving in a cyclic order. In an
eternal cycle, which is first and which is next cannotbe ascertained, and so, in the eternal plane of
lila, it cannot be determined whether Krsna is before Rama or Rama is before Krsna. So from
that consideration also, since the Names of Krsna and Rama are eternal andunrelated to any
historical event, we may begin the mantra from any place.’

“But above these considerations, our sampradaya has given another, higher consideration. A
eeper understanding will reveal that the Hare Krsna mantrais not at all concerned with rama-
lila.’

“In the Name of Rama within the Hare Krsna mantra, the Gaudiya Vaisnavas will find Radha-
ramana Rama. That means, ‘Krsna, who gives pleasure (raman) to Srimati Radharani.’ In our
conception, the Hare Krsna mantra is wholesale Krsna consciousness, not Rama consciousness.’

“Sri Caitanya's highest conception of things is always svayam bhagavan, krsna-lila, radha-
govinda-lila. That is the real purpose of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's advent and teachings. In that

9
consideration, the Hare Krsna mantra does not mention the rama-lila of Ayodhya at all. There is
no connection with that in the highest conception of the Hare Krsna mantra.’

“And the inner conception of the mantra is responsible for our spiritual attainment. When one
pronounces the Name of Rama, if he means Dasarathi Rama, his attraction will take him there, to
Ayodhya; if he means Parasurama, he will be attracted to another place. And if Rama means
Radha-ramana Rama, he will go to Goloka. The inner conception of the devotee will guide him
to his destination." (Loving Search For The Lost Servant)

The Names in the maha-mantra are Hare, Krsna and Rama. The followers of the Sankaracarya
school, as well as those of the Ramanuja and Madhva schools, conceive the Name of Hare to be
the vocative case of Hari. Thus for them ‘Hare’ means Narayana, ‘Rama’ means Ramacandra
and ‘Krsna’ means the avatar of Narayana [not Krsna the avatari, or source of Narayana].

The followers of Sankaracarya have adopted this version of the maha-mantra and the Vaisnava
sampradayas of South India have also adopted the same. ‘Hare’ in all these sampradayas means
Hari, or Narayana. In all circumstances their way of thinking is about liberation (mukti) and not
actually about bhakti (devotion). Moreover, the followers of Sankaracarya are sometimes found
to chant the maha-mantra and give more attention to the maha-mantra than the Ramanuja
sampradaya or the Madhva sampradaya. The Kali-santarana Upanisad and the maha-mantra
are accepted by all these sampradayas, yet the maha-mantra is of little importance to them. Only
the Gaudiya Vaisnavas stake everything on the maha-mantra.

Actually, according to one Madhva website, it appears that at least a certain section of their
sampradaya has ‘lost the plot’ so to speak. The following is a contemporary Madhva quote:

And it is known that the Hare Krsna mantra is recited without proper procedure, without
dhyana, sankalpa, etc., in the approved Vedic fashion. It has been arbitrarily picked out of a
book and practiced in mutilated form, and is thus a false initiation (as the originators of the
tradition were themselves unqualified to recite the mantra). Worst of all, it is recited ‘as’ Krsna
Himself, and not as a symbol or tool for his worship...as such, it stands to reason that the ‘Hare
Krsna maha-mantra’ is best avoided by everybody.

The most obvious mistake in the above quote is that the Kali-santarana Upanisad clearly states
‘nasya vidhiriti’ – ‘there are no rules (vidhi) involved in chanting the maha-mantra.’ In fact the
Upanisad guarantees liberation to anyone who chants the maha-mantra. Thus, one begins to
wonder what’s been happening in the Madhva sampradaya over the past seven hundred years?

punar-naradah paprccha bhagavan ko’sya vidhiriti

tam hovaca – nasya vidhiriti
sarvada sucirasucirava pathan-brahmanah
salokatam samipatam sarupatam sayujyatameti

Again Narada enquired: ‘O Lord, what are the rules to be observed with reference to it (chanting
the maha-mantra)?" Brahma replied, “There are no rules. Whoever, in a pure or an impure state,
utters these always, attains the same world of the Lord (salokya), proximity with the Lord

10
(samipya), the same form as the Lord (sarupya), or absorption into Brahman (sayujya). (Kali-
santarana Upanisad 3)

For the followers of Sankaracarya, the Name ‘Hare’ means Hari – He who takes away one’s
karma, material desire and illusion (maya). For Ramanujas and most Madhvas, Hari is He who
takes away all inauspiciousness and bestows all good fortune. But for Gaudiya Vaisnavas the
conception of Hare is altogether different.

For the Gaudiyas, Hare is the vocative case of Hara, the internal pleasure potency of Krsna. Thus
Hare means Srimati Radharani.

It should not be misunderstood that we are arguing or fighting over the proper meaning of the
names in the maha-mantra. There is certainly room for different bona fide conceptions within
the maha-mantra. Each with his conception may attain that particular destination.

yei yei rupe jane, sei taha kahe

sakala sambhave krsne, kichu mithya nahe

In whatever form one knows the Lord, one speaks of Him in that way. In this there is no falsity,
since everything is possible in Krsna. (Cc. Adi 5.132)

In this regard Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada writes in his purport to this verse:

If someone calls Lord Ramacandra by the vibration Hare Rama, understanding it to mean “O
Lord Ramacandra!” he is quite right. Similarly, if one says that Hare Rama means “O Sri
Balarama!” he is also right. Those who are aware of the visnu-tattva do not fight over all these
details.

However, one must also remember that all realities are not the same, nor do all conceptions lead
to the same destination.

It is often said as a reference that the maha-mantra first appears or manifests in the Kali-
santarana Upanisad portion of the Vedas, but such a statement is not actually correct according
to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, who has stated:

Lord Hari's Name is Lord Hari Himself. The maha-mantra was present before the scriptures
manifested. The catuh-sloki of the Bhagavatam beginning with 'aham evasam evagre' is proof of
this. The supremely independent Holy Name is not under the jurisdiction of scriptural control.
Actually, the scriptures have appeared by the supreme will of the Holy Name. It is not a fact that
the scriptures manifested first and then the Holy Name appeared after. The Brahma-samhita says
that the Holy Name appeared first in Brahma's heart. (Sri Srila Prabhupader Upadesamrta)

The maha-mantra chanted by Gaudiyas is always chanted as:

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

11
Whereas other sampradayas might chant the maha-mantra for liberation, the Gaudiyas chant the
maha-mantra out of devotion to please Krsna. Hari takes away material desires, maya, etc, but
Hare, the internal potency (hladini-sakti/Radharani) captures or takes away the mind and heart of
Krsna. Hara is the energy by which one can serve Krsna, and the only energy that can please
Krsna. Krsna Himself is the reservoir of pleasure and Rama, or Radha-ramana, is the one who
gives pleasure to Srimati Radharani.

The Gaudiya conception of Rama in the maha-mantra meaning Krsna, the giver of pleasure to
Sri Radha, is also collaborated by Sri Bhaktisiddhanta as follows:

According to the mood of aisvarya, ‘Rama’ refers to Ramacandra, the son of Dasaratha.
According to the mood of madhurya, ‘Rama’ refers to Krsna, the relisher of Sri Radha's
association. Whenever the Name 'Rama' indicates service to Radha-ramana Krsna, then the word
'Hare' which is the vocative form of Hara, refers to Sri Radharani, who is the origin of all
spiritual potencies. Sri Radha is known as Hara because She attracts the mind of Krsna. Hari
means 'attracter'. Hare is the vocative form of the word 'Hara'. There are three Ramas – Rama,
the husband of Sita-devi, Rama the husband of Revati and Rama, the lover of Radha. (Sri Srila
Prabhupader Upadesamrta)

The Gaudiya conception of the maha-mantra is not something whimsical. It is authorized by

bona fide acaryas and supported by guru, sadhu and sastra. It was also the preferred conception
of chanting by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Furthermore, the Gaudiya conception of hearing and
chanting of the maha-mantra transcends all types of liberation and ultimately reaches the lotus
feet of the Supreme Lord.

mali hana kare sei bija aropaṇa

sravana-kirtana-jale karaye secana

When one receives the seed of devotion, he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and
sowing the seed in his heart. By watering the seed gradually by the process of sravana and
kirtana (hearing and chanting), the seed will start to sprout.

upajiya bade lata ‘brahmanda’ bhedi’ yaya

‘viraja’, ‘brahma-loka’ bhedi’ ‘para-vyoma’ paya

The creeper of devotion is manifest and grows to pierce through the wall of the material
universe. It crosses over the Viraja river and the plane of Brahman and then reaches to
Vaikuntha.

tabe yaya tad-upari 'goloka vrndavana'

'krsna-carana'-kalpa-vrkse kare arohana

It continues to grow further up to Goloka Vrndavana, where it finally embraces the wish-
fulfilling tree of Sri Krsna's lotus feet.

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 tahan vistarita hana phale prema-phala
ihan mali sece nitya sravanadi jala

There in Goloka, the creeper expands and produces the fruit of love for Krsna. Although
remaining in the material plane, the gardener continuously sprinkles the creeper with the water of
hearing and chanting. (Cc. Madhya 19.152-155)

Commenting on the maha-mantra in his Maha-mantrartha Dipika, Sri Jiva Gosvami reveals the
meaning of each of the sixteen Names in the maha-mantra in consecutive order as follows:

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

(1-Hare)
sarva-ceta-harah krsnas tasya cittam haratyasau
vaidagdhi-sara-vistarair ato radha hara mata

Krsna steals the minds of everyone, yet Radha steals even His mind by Her divine expertise.
Thus She is known as Hara.

(2-Krsna)
karsati sviyalavanya-murali-kala-nihsvanaih
sri radham mohana-gunalankrtah krsna iryate

He forcibly attracts Sri Radha with the sweet sound of His flute, therefore that Lord of all
enchanting qualities is known as Krsna.

(3-Hare)
sruyate niyate rase harina harineksana
ekakini rahah-kunje hareyam tena kathyate

It has been heard that during the rasa-lila, doe-eyed Radha was stolen away by Krsna to be alone
with Him in a secret forest bower. She is therefore known as Hara.

(4-Krsna)
anga-syamalima-stomaih syamalikrta-kancanah
ramate radhaya sardham krsno nigadyate

When Krsna sports with Radha, Her golden hue takes on the dark complexion of Krsna's skin.
He is thus known as Krsna.

(5-Krsna)
krtvaranye sarah-srestham kantayanumatas-taya
akrsya sarva-tirthani taj-jnanat krsna iryate

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In order to please Sri Radha, Krsna manifested the most wonderful lake (Syama-kunda) in
Vrndavana. He then called all the holy rivers to fill it. He is thus known as Krsna.

(6-Krsna)
krsyate radhaya premna yamuna-tata-kananam
lilaya lalitas-capi dhiraih krsna udahrtah

By Her unsurpassed love, Radha charms He who performs wonderful lilas on the banks of the
Yamuna. Therefore, those who are sober know Him as Krsna.

(7-Hare)
hrtavan gokule tisthann-aristam pusta-pungavam
sri haris tam rasad uccai rayatiti hara mata

While in Gokula, Sri Hari (Krsna) killed the demon known as Aristasura. During that time,
Radha cried out to Him with great feeling and by doing so, She stole His mind. She is thus
known as Hara.

(8-Hare)
hyasphutam rayati priti-bharena hari-cestam
gayatiti mata dhirair hara rasa-vicaksanaih

Filled with ecstatic love, Radha sometimes sings the glories of Hari’s exploits quietly, and
sometimes She sings them aloud. Those who are expert in the secrets of divine sentiments call
Her Hara.

(9-Hare)
rasavesa-parisrastam jahara muralim hareh
hareti kirtita devi vipine keli-lampata

Due to the intense love of Sri Radha, Sri Hari becomes so captivated that His flute falls from His
hand. With the desire to enjoy in the forest bowers with Krsna, Radha steals His flute. That
goddess is thus famous as Hara.

(10-Rama)
govardhana-dari-kunje parirambha-vicaksanah
sri radham ramayamasa ramastena mato harih

Krsna, who is expert at embracing, sports with Radha in the forest groves or in the caves of
Govardhana. Thus He is known as Rama.

(11-Hare)
hanti duhkhani bhaktanam rati saukhyani canvaham
hara devi nigadita maha-karunya-salini

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That most merciful Radha destroys the miseries of Her devotees and gives them great happiness
every day. Therefore that goddess is known as Hara.

(12-Rama)
ramate bhajato cetah paramananda-varidhau
atreti kathito ramah syamasundara-vigrahah

The minds of the devotees are continuously drowned in an ocean of supreme joy by seeing the
beautiful dark form of Krsna. Therefore He is known by
the Name Rama.

(13-Rama)
ramayaty-acyutam premna nikunja-vana-mandire
rama nigadita radha ramo yutas taya punah

Radharani is known as Rama because She enjoys loving pastimes with Acyuta (Krsna) in a
secret forest pavilion. Since He is always by Her side, He is known as Rama.

(14-Rama)
rodanair gokule davanalam asayati hyasau
visosayati tenokto ramo bhakta-sukhavahah

When the residents of Gokula were crying due to fear of the forest fire, Krsna immediately
swallowed it and gave His devotees great joy. In this way, He is known as Rama.

(15-Hare)
nihantum asuran yato mathura-puram ity-asau
tadagamad-rahah-kamo yasyah sa’sau hareti ca

Sri Krsna went to Mathurapuri in order to destroy the demons. However, due to being captivated
by the love of Radha, He later returned. Therefore She is known as Hara.

(16-Hare)
agatya duhkha-harta yo sarvesam vraja-vasinam
sri radha-hari-carito harih sri nandanandanah

When the son of Maharaja Nanda returned to Vraja, He took away the suffering of all the
Vrajavasis. By His wonderful exploits, He steals the heart of Sri Radha. Thus He is known as
Hari.

Throughout his Maha-mantrartha Dipika, Sri Jiva Gosvami reveals the meaning of ‘Hare’ as
Hara until the final verse wherein he says that ‘Hare’ means Hari – He who has stolen the heart
of Srimati Radharani. In the first verse Radha steals the mind of Krsna, and in the last verse
Krsna steals the heart of Radha. Indeed, Radha wears a locket with a picture of Krsna around Her
neck, and Krsna wears a locket with a picture of Radha around His neck. These Two have stolen
each other’s hearts and minds, thus one might suspect that Sri Jiva is alluding to the appearance

15
of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in his Maha-mantrartha Dipika as the combined form of both
Radha and Krsna. In any case, according to Jiva Gosvami, the divine pastimes of Radha and
Krsna are written throughout the maha-mantra.

As for the other Vaisnava sampradayas, namely the Nimbarka sampradaya and the Vallabha
sampradya, they too – like the Ramanujas and the Madhvas – do not follow the line of thinking
of the Gaudiyas. Actually the Nimbarka sampradaya does not chant the maha-mantra of the
Kali-santarana Upanisad at all. The Nimbarkas chant what they call the yugala-mantra:

radhe krsna radhe krsna krsna krsna radhe radhe

radhe syama radhe syama syama syama radhe radhe

In some learned circles it is thought that the Nimbarkas plagiarized Sri Caitanya and the
Gaudiyas. Indeed, some scholars are even of the opinion that Kesava Kasmiri, who had been
defeated by Sri Caitanya, fabricated the Nimbarka parampara and placed himself at its head.

According to verifiable sources, it appears that the yugala-mantra of the Nimbarkas was actually
only introduced into their sampradaya in the 14th century by Harivyasa Devacarya (the third
acarya in the Nimbarka line after Kesava Kasmiri) as it does not appear in any of their literature
prior to that period.

The idea that the Nimbarka sampradaya is authorized to neglect the chanting of the maha-
mantra in preference to the yugala-mantra is further suspect by the fact that Sanat-kumara, one
of the original founders of that sampradaya, has said the following:

hare-krsnau dvir avrttau

krsna tadrk tatha hare
hare rama tatha rama
tatha tadrg ghare manuh

hare krsna hare krsna

krsna krsna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare

The words ‘Hare Krsna’ are to be repeated twice, then ‘Krsna’ and ‘Hare’ are to be repeated
separately twice. Similarly, ‘Hare Rama’, ‘Rama’ and ‘Hare’ are also repeated twice. The
mantra will thus be – Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare. (Sanat-kumara Samhita, as quoted by Dhyanacandra Gosvami in his
Gaura Govindarcana Smarana Paddhati, verses, 132-133)

As for the Vallabha-sampradaya, they too do not chant the maha-mantra as part of their
tradition, which seems rather ironic, knowing that Vallabhacarya took diksa-mantras from Sri
Gadadhara Pandita and that he was also associated for sometime with Sri Caitanya directly. One
cannot help but think that something very serious has gone amiss in that sampradaya. Currently
the Vallabha sampradaya neglects the maha-mantra in preference of the astaksara-mantra,

16
namely ‘sri krsna saranam mama.’ This mantra, not being found in the Vedas or in any
authorized sastra, was purportedly invented by Vallabhacarya.

Our conclusion is that there are indeed differences between the Gaudiya Vaisnava conception of
the maha-mantra and the conception of the maha-mantra found in other sampradayas. With the
exception of those sampradayas that have deviated from the path of previous acaryas,
(Madhvas, Nimbarkas and Vallabhas), these differences are primarily based on higher and lower
conceptions in rasa (referring to the Ramanuja sampradaya) and not simply on who is right and
who is wrong. Nonetheless, it should go without saying that any intelligent and pious person
regardless of their professed sampradaya affiliation should accept the direction of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu to chant the maha-mantra, if they want to make substantial spiritual advancement
toward the ultimate goal of life.

Makara Sankranti

(The following is an excerpt of a lecture by Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja given on the
occasion of Makara Sankranti, the day of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's acceptance of sannyasa,
on January 14th 1984)

On this day, early in the morning, Mahaprabhu crossed the river by swimming at three o’clock or
so, and ran towards Katwa. It was winter season, but He had no care for the cold. There was so
much heat in His body and mind – on one side by the viraha, separation of Krsna, and on another
side by the duty of preaching to the world about devotion to Krsna. The call of that duty actuated
Him to get out of Navadvipa and to distribute to the public love of Lord Krsna throughout the
length and breadth of the world. He cared for nothing else, He was simply running, feeling
vipralambha for Krsna. The call of Krsna made everything else tasteless.

So much heat is created for the national cause. There are so many atomic bombs, so many
soldiers ready to sacrifice their life for the national interest. How small is this mortal prosperity?
What does it mean? It is trifling; it is nothing. What sort of energy should we collect for our
17
eternal wealth? Such a high degree of welfare is to be distributed to all – to get back to their own
home – to take these misguided people towards their sweet home. That call of duty arose in the
mind of Mahaprabhu, “All these vagabonds should be taken to their own home and their
guardian.”

They all should be taken to their home. They are wandering like so many beasts in the jungle
without knowing what is good and what is bad, always engaged in competition and biting one
another. They say they are civilised? Jungle animals are biting one another and trying to live at
the cost of other fellow members of the jungle – as humans, more efficiently, they are following
the same program. At the cost of other nations, they want to fight. What is this? It is a civilized
jungle! Then what is civilisation? Civilisation loses its meaning. Civil means gentle, but is this
gentleness? They are proud that they are doing things as a body. If jungle habits can be
performed in the name of nationalism, then it is justified. It is all foolishness.

A half-truth is worse than a falsehood. Misguided help is much more dangerous. That means
directing ones attention towards the wrong thing. Vedasraya nastikya-vada bauddhake adhika –
if we preach atheism in the name of religion, that is more dangerous than an ordinary straight
atheist. So in the name of civilisation, we are doing things that are shameful to an animal of the
jungle. Is giving food, clothing and so-called education to the public a very good thing? No! It is
more important to take them home. That is what is necessary. There is an expression, ‘home
comfort.’ Home comfort is very sweet. Home means our mother, father and so many affectionate
relatives – they know the real necessity of their child. The child may not know, but the home
knows what is his real interest. Unconsciously the atmosphere will come render real help to us to
guide us towards our home; back to God and back to home. We are all wanderers in the streets. It
will collect us and to take us home. That was the duty of Mahaprabhu.

By hook or by crook, by any means, take them home. The child may not know. He may be crazy.
He may run this way or that way but not towards home. And that is the problem. That makes the
case complex. Otherwise it would be very simple. The responsibility is on the guide. And
according to the guide's capacity, the real effect comes to help him. That is a special capacity and
also the delegation of the Lord, both combined makes the specific characteristic in the acarya.

‘Rank is but the guinea stamp, man is the gold.’ The rank is one thing and the man is another.
When his inner capacity and the delegation are combined, that is effective. The combination of
the personal characteristic of the teacher and also the delegated power of the Lord produces the
desired result. Mahaprabhu recommended Rupa Gosvami to Svarupa-damodara, “He is the fittest
person to deal with the devotional scriptures. I have delegated My ability to him.” He is
requesting Svarupa-damodara also, “Whatever you have got, please transfer to him. He is a very
worthy person. He can manage it and he can distribute it very well. He will produce it in a very
befitting way and he will prepare and distribute this devotional scripture."

So this day of the year was the last day that Mahaprabhu stayed with His family. In the afternoon
He met many of His friends and appealed to them fervently to take to krsna-nama. “In every
engagement, try to take Krsna always with you. Eating sleeping, working – whatever you are
physically engaged in, go on with the consciousness of Krsna.

18
Then, by the end of the night, He left Navadvipa. After five years He came back but did not enter
His home. He only approached the front of His house and cast a glance towards the door. We are
told that Visnupriya-devi, wearing a very dirty cover around her body, fell flat at His feet.
Mahaprabhu Sri Caitanyadeva could understand that it must be her and He took off His sandals.
“Try to remove your pain of separation with the help of these two sandals." Then He went away.
Those wooden sandals, we are told, are still on the throne of this Visnupriya temple here in
Navadvipa. Those very old wooden sandals are still shown there and Visnupriya-devi used to
worship them, five years after He took sannyasa.

Then Mahaprabhu moved towards Vrndavana via Ramakeli, and after accepting Rupa-Sanatana,
He came back again to Santipura and from there traveled to Puri. From Puri He went via Benares
to Vrndavana.

This month of Pausa is extremely cold, but Mahaprabhu passed the whole month in Vrndavana,
visiting different places of krsna-lila. Then at the beginning of the month of Magha, He came to
take bath in Prayaga where he met Svarupa-damodara and Sri Rupa. For nearly a fortnight He
stayed there and educated Rupa in raga-bhakti. Then Rupa asked to go to Vrndavana and he was
entrusted with some duties. Then Mahaprabhu came to Benares and met Sanatana. For two
months He lived there and instructed Sanatana in an elaborate way. Benares was also the capital
of the Mayavadis, and He met their leader and converted him. Then Mahaprabhu went back to
Puri.

Twenty-four years of His life He was in Navadvipa, and for another six years He toured different
parts of India and the other eighteen years He stayed in Puri. During the first six years in Puri He
used to meet with so many devotees, and then during the last twelve years He almost cut off His
connection with the public and engaged Himself deeply in the cultivation of the mood of
separation – vipralambha. For a full twelve years He engaged in the different mental stages of
Radharani – that deep and fiery separation was depicted for twelve years. Ramananda Raya and
Svarupa-damodara were His very close assistants. All day and night Svarupa-damodara attended
Him with some of His other friends. Sometimes Mahaprabhu would rub His face on the wall, “I
cannot tolerate this separation!”

In this way, He would sometimes run to the sea, or He would sometimes jump into a thorny plain
in intense restlessness due to the separation from Krsna. That was depicted in the last stages of
His lila. Gaura-haribol!

19
 Caitanya Monks

On the day that Nimai Pandita, the darling son of Saci Mata, came to Katwa with the intention of
accepting sannyasa, all the residents of Navadvipa were going mad. "How can our Lord think to
do such a thing? He is not meant for the life of a mendicant! He is so beautiful, so young, so
charming! How can He become a sannyasi?" The beloved husband of Visnupriya-devi, the
Goddess of Fortune, was just twenty-four years old. To avoid any hindrance from the public, He
had swum across the Ganges at three o'clock in the morning in order to reach the asrama of
Kesava Bharati. Nimai Pandita was determined; He would accept the renounced order of life, for
He felt that if He did not, no one would seriously take up the unprecedented message and path of
Divine Love for Sri Krsna that He had come to give. Nimai Pandita saw that society at large
would remain in ignorance and continue to drown in the ocean of material misery if they were
unable to receive the unparalleled gift of prema-dharma He had come to distribute. Thus, to the
dismay of millions who fell at His feet in tears, Visvambhara shaved His long beautiful, curly
black hair, put on the saffron garments of a renunciate and accepted the staff of renunciation.
Lord Gauranga was given sannyasa by Kesava Bharati and was now Sri Krsna Caitanya.

What ensued was the great preaching campaign of Mahaprabhu, the maha-sankirtana (grand
glorification of Sri Krsna) and the unrestricted distribution of the bhagavata-dharma (the
message of Divine Love). Taking Lord Caitanya's example, many of His intimate associates also
accepted the renounced order of life. Srila Svarupa-damodara, Mahaprabhu's personal secretary
and Srila Gadadhara Pandita (who holds the highest position of service to Sriman Mahaprabhu)
also took sannyasa in order to be in constant service and association of the Lord.

Srila Rupa and Srila Sanatana Gosvamis, previously known as Dabira Khasa and Sakara Mallika,
were highly placed government officials at the time they met Mahaprabhu. But after hearing the
Vedic conclusions from Lord Caitanya's lips, they too became renunciates of incomparable
measure. The two brothers became the head of the Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana. Taking shelter
under a different tree every night, they ate close to nothing and slept very rarely. Instead, they
spent all their time fulfilling the instructions of Mahaprabhu, intensifying their bhajana,
composing scripture on the science of bhakti and excavating the places where Sri Radhika and
Sri Govinda conducted their pastimes in Vraja-bhumi. This was also the position of Srila
20
Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami, our prayojana-tattva acarya, who represents the goal - the final
attainment of this Krsna Consciousness movement. The goal is raganuga-bhakti or spontaneous
love in devotion for the Divine Couple Sri Radhika-Madhavasundara. Srila Dasa Gosvami was
born in a family of extremly wealthy aristocrats, but gave up everything and followed the most
extreme vows of vairagya (renunciation) after coming into contact with Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. He maintained the single burning desire to serve the Lords lotus feet.

Accepting paramahamsa-vesa (the white cloth of a renunciate Vaisnava who has given up
varnasrama-dharma) rather than accepting sannyasa (which requires wearing saffron cloth and
is part of varnasrama-dharma), the Gosvamis stayed far away from the recognition that follows
one in the sannyasa-asrama. Their renunciation was not like that of the Mayavadi sannyasis.
Those moksa or liberation seekers are full of pride due to their status of being at the top of the
varnasrama. Such Mayavadi sannyasis are not able to have even a drop of devotion for Krsna.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, our Srila Guru Maharaja's parama-gurudeva, writes:

"Loudly chant the Holy Name of Krsna and never forget the two most valuable things Lord
Caitanya taught Srila Sanatana Gosvami: phalgu and yukta, 'real and apparent renunciation' and
baddha and mukta, 'freed and enslaved.' Never mistake one for the other, or think them to be the
same

"Money, women, and fame are like tigers. A Vaisnava gives them up and keeps them at a
distance. Such a devotee, who is without material attachments, is a suddha-vaisnava. Such a
devotee has conquered over the material world and its illusions of enjoyment. Accepting only
what is needed in the service of the Lord, he remains free from the diseased mentality of material
enjoyment and dedicates himself in the Lord's service.

Free from all false attachments, he sees everything in relationship to Krsna, understanding that
everything is meant for the pleasure of Sri Krsna. He knows that to engage everything in the
service of Sri Krsna is real renunciation. Because he understands that the true position of
renunciation is to dedicate everything to Krsna, he is truly fortunate. Although he lives within the
material world, he dwells within the revelation of Krsna's pastimes, and experiences the
extension of the spiritual world within the material world.

"On the other hand, one who chants the Holy Name of the Lord for name and fame is simply a
hypocrite and a cheater. His renunciation is false. O mind! Give up the association of both those
who want liberation and those who want material enjoyment. They are all non-devotees."
(Vaisnava Ke? -- Who is a Vaisnava?)

In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Srila Rupa Gosvami cites a verse from the Padma Purana:

prapancikataya buddhya hari-sambandhi-vastunah

mumuksubhih parityago vairagyam phalgu kathyate
anasaktasya visayan yatharham upayunjatah
nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe yuktah vairagyam ucyate

21
"That renunciation in which there is no attachment for the objects of the senses, but in which
everything is seen in relationship to Krsna and all things are engaged in His service is called
yukta-vairagya, or practical renunciation. But that renunciation which is practised by those
desirous of impersonal liberation and rejects things in connection with Sri Hari, thinking them to
be material, is called phalgu-vairagya, external or false renunciation." (BRS. Purva-vibhaga,
2.125-126)

It is explained by our acaryas that Mahaprabhu accepted sannyasa from Kesava Bharati, who
was in the Mayavadi (impersonalist) School, in order to convert the Mayavadis over to the
bhakti-marga (the path of pure devotional service). At that time the power and society was in the
hands of the Mayavadis and it was Mahaprabhu's intention to establish the position of prema, the
fifth and highest goal of life, over mukti (impersonal liberation), the goal of the Mayavadi school.

Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Deva Gosvami, the illustrious siksa-guru of our Srila Guru
Maharaja has said:

"Ostentatiously, Kesava Bharati was a Mayavadi. But when coming into connection with
Caitanya Mahaprabhu he became Vaisnava. That is an easy explanation. Otherwise we may also
think that he was a Vaisnava in the garb of Mayavadi to help the preaching of Mahaprabhu as a
formal help to Him. He was already there in that post. Mayavadi sannyasis had recognition at
that time over most of India. And Mahaprabhu took that garb for the purpose of facilitating His
preaching activity. All these things may be explained. Generally we may take it like that. Kesava
Bharati began to sing and dance along with Mahaprabhu after the Lord took sannyasa. Kesava
Bharati also joined the sankirtana of Mahaprabhu. He was immediately converted. And before
taking the sannyasa-mantra, Mahaprabhu Himself gave him the same mantra. Mahaprabhu
asked Kesava Bharati 'Please consider whether this mantra that I got in a dream, whether this is
applicable if we consider it this way,' and Mahaprabhu gave the mantra to him. Kesava Bharati
answered, 'Yes, yes, it is all right. I shall give You this mantra.'"

Immediately after taking sannyasa, Mahaprabhu desired to go to Vrndavana. Lord Nityananda

Prabhu, who had come with Nimai Pandita to Katwa, accompanied the Lord as He ran towards
Vrndavana in an ecstatic trance. Upon reaching the Bharginadi River in Orissa, Sri Nitai broke
Lord Caitanya's ekadanda ('single staff of renunciation' that was given to him by Sri Kesava
Bharati) into three pieces and threw it in the holy river. This deeply esoteric pastime is
mentioned by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada, our exalted parama-gurudeva, in the
following way:

"The mystery of the sannyasa-danda of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has been explained by Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the order of sannyasa
from a Mayavadi sannyasi. The Mayavadi sannyasis generally carry one staff, or danda. Taking
advantage of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's absence, Srila Nityananda Prabhu broke the staff into
three parts and threw it into the river later known as the Danda-bhanga-nadi. In the sannyasa
order there are four divisions—kuticaka, bahudaka, hamsa and paramahamsa. Only when the
sannyasi remains on the kuticaka and bahudaka platforms can he carry a staff. However, when
one is elevated to the status of hamsa or paramahamsa, after touring and preaching the bhakti
cult, he must give up the sannyasa staff. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Sri Krsna, the Supreme

22
Personality of Godhead. It is therefore said, sri-krsna-caitanya, radha-krsna nahe anya: 'Two
personalities—Srimati Radharani and Sri Krsna—are combined in the incarnation of Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu.' Therefore, considering Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to be an extraordinary
person, Lord Nityananda Prabhu did not wait for the paramahamsa stage. He reasoned that the
Supreme Personality of Godhead is automatically on the paramahamsa stage; therefore He does
not need to carry the sannyasa-danda. This is the reason Sri Nityananda Prabhu broke the staff
into three pieces and threw it into the water."

In the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, the authorized biography of Sri Caitanya written by Srila Krsna
Dasa Kaviraja Gosvami, this pastime is described, and it is there that we find the following
sloka:

danda-bhanga-lila ei parama gambhira

sei bujhe, dunhara pade yanra bhakti dhira

"The pastime of Lord Nityananda breaking Lord Caitanya's ekadanda into three pieces is very
deep. Only one whose devotion is fixed upon the lotus feet of the two Lords can understand it."
(Cc. Madhya 5.158)

Srila Sridhara Maharaja illuminates:

"My Guru Maharaja said that Nityananda Prabhu broke the ekadanda into three and this
indicates that we should accept not one, but three dandas (tridanda). This was already the
custom with the Ramanuja Vaisnava section…. Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta also got some
inspiration from there, to give tridanda to his followers; in contrast with the ekadanda, which
was current in Bengal. The tridanda sannyasa was current in south-east India amongst the
Ramanuja section."

Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Gosvami Maharaja, our beloved parama and siksa-guru has said:

"There is a Sanskrit saying that one does not become a true renunciate by simply carrying a
bamboo staff (venubhir na bhaved yatih). One has to exercise control over the body, mind and
words, engaging all these faculties in the service of the Lord. This is the meaning of the triple
staff. This is why Nityananda Prabhu broke Mahaprabhu's staff into three pieces in order to
demonstrate that His sannyasa meant such a threefold commitment to Krsna's service. The
meaning of the monastic order is a commitment to attaining the Supreme Person; the only duty
of the renunciate is to serve Lord Mukunda. A monk who does not take the vow of service is
simply engaged in fraud and self-deception. Srila Prabhupada set the example of engaging in the
Lord's service for each and every one of the twenty-four hours in a day. By so doing, he gave a
living example of what is meant by tridandi-sannyasa."

We have heard from the disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta that from his birth he was by nature a
great renunciate. Yet in order to establish a preaching mission (Sri Gaudiya Matha) that would
spread divya-jnana (divine knowledge) to the people at large and fight against the apa-
sampradayas (deviant schools) who were claiming themselves as followers of Mahaprabhu and
to set an example of daivi-varnasrama-dharma (the transcendental system of four social orders

23
and four spiritual orders), Srila Bhaktisiddhanta decided to formally take sannyasa. By his
decision to accept saffron cloth he actually took a humble position below his two gurus, Srila
Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Gaura-kisora Dasa Babaji, who had both accepted the white
cloth of paramahamsa-vesa. On March 7th, 1918 on the auspicious occasion and full moon day
of Sriman Mahaprabhu's appearance day festival, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta took sannyasa according
to Vedic rites at Sri Mayapura in front of the photo of Srila Gaura-kisora Dasa Babaji (as Sri
Ramanujacarya had done in front of the image of his guru many centuries ago).

In this way, by taking the help of the varnasrama, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta was able to preach
thunderously, exposing the nasty practices of the prakrta-sahajiya section (those who imitate the
devotional sentiments of the advanced Vaisnavas). These so-called babajis were not at all fit for
that high position and were cheaply trying to imitate the exhalted position of Sri Rupa and
Sanatana Gosvamis. They were in fact, just wearing the paramahamsa-vesa, and performing all
types of illicit activities, creating the worst name for our most worshipable guru-varga. By his
example as an acarya and sannyasi, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta stressed that one cannot come to the
fifth stage of life (babaji) before crossing thru the rules and regulations of the fourth (sannyasa).
Just by putting on the dress, one does not become a paramahamsa.

On that Gaura-purnima day in 1918, not only did Srila Bhaktisiddhanta take sannyasa, but he
also re-established the same order of tridandi-sannyasa (the renounced order of the daiva-
varnasrama) as part of the authentic Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya (school and culture of
thought in the line of Sri Krsna Caitanya). Transcending the lower conception of karma-
sannyasa, considered forbidden in Kali-yuga ("sannyasam pala-paitrkam" - Brahma-vaivarta
Purana 185.180), Srila Bhaktisiddhanta established the system and every aspect of Gaudiya
Vaisnava tridandi-sannyasa. From his deep realization and the authorized scriptures, he drew the
titles and one hundred eight sannyasa names, the dress, the sadhana, the standard, the sannyasa-
mantra (originally given by Srila Sanatana Gosvami) and most importantly, the conception
within it (as given by Srila Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami).

In this connection we have heard the following illuminations by Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami
Maharaja, who became one of the leading sannyasa disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and the
sannyasa guru of many of his own senior godbrothers including Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava
Gosvamˆ Maharaja (the sannyasa guru of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada), Srila
Bhakti Dayita Madhava Gosvami Maharaja (one of the most prominent Gaudiya preachers in
India of his time) and Srila Bhakti Saranga Gosvami Maharaja (one of the first preachers to
travel to the west, in the 1930's).

Refering to Lord Krsna's declaration and appeal to the gopis of Vraja (his most intimate and
dedicated servants) in the tenth Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we find Sri Govinda says:

na paraye 'ham niravadya-samyujam sva-sadhu-krtyam vibudhayusapi vah

ya mabhajan durjara-geha-srnkhalah samvrscya tad vah pratiyatu sadhuna

"I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahma.
Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic

24
ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your
compensation." (Bhag. 10.32.22)

Srila Sridhara Maharaja illuminates further: "Lord Krsna tells the gopis of Vraja, 'In which way I
shall clear my debt to you? I have already given you Myself, wholesale. Although I am an
infinite storehouse, I have given you everything and there is nothing more left that I can give
you'…And for this reason, He had to become Mahaprabhu. Krsna thought that 'I shall dedicate
My life in praise of you all, gopi-bhajana, vraja-bhajana. I shall do the work of your canvasser,
and then I must get some remuneration, and thereby, I shall try my best to clear My debt.' So,
Krsna came, and Radharani then said, 'Oh, do You think that I shall leave You free? No, I shall
surround You. You will roll on the earth, but I won't allow You to touch Your body to the
ground. My body will be there to cover Yours. You can't go without Me.' So Sri Govinda and Sri
Radhika came as Lord Gauranga, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu."

From this we get a glimpse into the deeply esoteric nature of Mahaprabhu's appearance and
mission here in this world. In the Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Krsna Dasa Kaviraja Gosvami
writes that Mahaprabhu's purpose for appearing are two-fold; His external reason:

anarpita carim cirat karunayavatirnah kalau

samarpayitum-unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti-sriyam
harih purata-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandipitah
sada hrdaya-kandare sphuratu vah saci-nandanah

"May that Lord who is known as the son of Srimati Saci-devi be transcendentally situated in the
inner-most chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, he has
appeared in the age of Kali by His causeless mercy and inaugurated the sankirtana movement in
order to bestow what no incarnation ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of
devotional service, madhurya-rasa (the mellow of conjugal love) (Cc. Adi 1.4)

And His ultimate and confidential reason for appearing:

sri radhayah pranaya-mahima kidrso vanayaiva-

svadyo yenadbhuta-madhurima kidrso va madiyah
saukhyam casya mad-anubhavatah kidrsam veti lobhat-
tad-bhavadyah samajani saci-garbha-sindhau harinduh

"Desiring to understand the glory of Srimati Radharani's love, the wonderful qualities in Him
that she alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the
sweetness of His love, The Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appears from
the womb of Srimati Saci-devi as the moon appears from the ocean. (Cc. Adi 1.6)

Experiencing the depths of devotion only She has, Mahaprabhu reveals and glorifies Her (and
Her maidservants) to be the highest devotees of all.

25
Mahaprabhu came from a very high brahminical family and was a renowned, undefeated pandit.
According to social status as a sannyasi He was the most worshipable of personalities, but when
asked about His position, He proclaimed:

naham vipro na ca nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro

naham varni na ca grha-patir no vana-stho yatir va
kintu prodyan nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

"I am not a brahmana, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya or a sudra. Nor am I a brahmacari,
a householder, a vanaprastha, or a sannyasi. I identify myself only as the servant of the servant
of the servant of the maintainer of the gopis, Sri Krsna, who is eternally reality the beautiful, the
effulgent source of universal bliss." (Cc. Madhya. 13.80)

Our Srila Guru Maharaja, Om Visnupada Sri Srimad Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha Maharaja
explains that those who come into Mahaprabhu's service connection through the guru-varga
(disciplic succession) descending from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, down
to his authorized disciples and grand-disciples, are coming into Lord Caitanya's campaign of
madhurya-rasa. And who is the Queen of madhurya-rasa? That is Srimati Radharani.

Srila Sridhara Maharaja explains further: "Our Guru Maharaja says that, ultimately Sri Guru is
Radharani and so he also gives mantra which is within that radha-dasyam. Especially sannyasa
mantra, which means to take shelter in the service of the gopis. It means this. Before that, we are
to understand Krsna and something about madhurya-rasa. First we must throw ourselves in the
ocean of ecstasy represented as Krsna. After that, in sannyasa mantra, we shall cast our faith in
the shelter and the service of the gopis. The sannyasa mantra means this. Mantra is there, guru-
parampara is there, all indicating our course towards madhurya-rasa and service to the gopis."

These are most definitely very high and revealing topics. On one side we see that our Gaudiya
Vaisnava sannyasa is a social consideration meant for preaching purposes and on the other side
we are to understand that it carries the deepest of conceptions with it, the quintessence of Lord
Gauranga's message, the principle of radha-dasyam.

In the tenth canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, in the part known as the Bhramara-gita ('Song of
the Bumble Bee') we find the following verse:

yad-anucarita-lila-karna-piyusa-viprut-
sakrd-adana-vidhuta-dvandva-dharma vinastah
sapadi grha-kutumbam dinam utsrjya dina
bahava iha vihanga bhiksu-caryam caranti

"The transcendental lila of Sri Krsna is great nectar for the ears. Those who relish just a single
drop of that nectar even once have their attachment to material duality totally ruined. Many such
persons have immediately given up their futile homes and families and have come to Vrndavana
like a free bird out of a cage. Becoming totally detached from their material life those devotees
have taken up the path of renunciation and have accepted alms just to maintain their lives on this

26
plane. In this way they continue to search for Him, the complete fulfillment of life." (Bhag.
10.47.18)

Although there is no particular mention in Srimad Bhagavatam about the name of the vraja-gopi
who spoke this verse, according to Srila Sridhara Maharaja's realization, this is "one sloka which
came from the lips of Srimati Radharani." He further shared with the devotees how the deep
purport of this verse is very significant for those becoming absorbed in the nectarean taste of
Krsna's Holy Name, pastimes and service. And it is sigificant in how one comes to embrace the
renounced order of life in order to remain exclusively dedicated to the deeper search and
cultivation of that divinely blissful life.

Lord Krsna concludes the Bhagavad-gita with these words to Arjuna:

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

"My dear Arjuna, you are very dear to Me, and therefore only for your good I will disclose the
most secret part of My instructions. It is simply this: become a pure devotee of Mine and give
yourself unto Me only, and I promise you full spiritual existence, by which you may gain the
eternal right of transcendental loving service unto Me. Just give up all other ways of religiosity
and exclusively surrender unto Me and believe that I will protect you from your sinful acts, and I
shall deliver you. Do not worry any more." (Gita 18.66)

Srila Sridhara Maharaja relates,

"Krsna says: 'Come to My refuge, My shelter. If any injury occurs there, I am there to
compensate.' The conscience is there. So for the good cause. Otherwise, we are helpless, no
hope, no prospect, nothing of the kind. So simply to get the name and fame of the role of
sannyasa that I am a leader of the society, I have taken sannyasa. For all these low reasons, don't
take risk nor venture. But for the real cause, you must take risk. No risk, no gain. That method
will be welcome.

"Just as Bhaktivinoda Thakura, he recommended, not very easily should you give up this
householder life. This is safer. Though the speed of advancement is not very quick, it is a safe
position. But our Guru Maharaja, he gave a general call, 'Come, try to serve under me, you'll be a
gainer.' So he didn't give much stress on the householder. 'Take a risk, come. I am conducting a
mass march towards Mahaprabhu's throne. Come and join me.' And we'll be fed honorably.

"Sannyasa is of three kinds. One is to be fully prepared, if we get a chance of a good guide, then
if at heart I can accept the very destination, then I can take risk, but if I don't have clear
conception of the destination, then I should not take risk. But if I have clear conception of the
destination, but I'm not fit but by the help of my friends and my guide I shall try to compensate
whatever defects I have by the power of the guide and the company, that is necessary. In the
eternal path I may receive some injury. It does not matter. Still I must attempt.

27
"I must be sincere. Sincerity is always regarded as the highest qualification. If I'm sincere in my
destination that I want that, I'm not satisfied by anything except that, then I should take risk when
I get such a chance. In ordinary life also we find that we must take risk. That inner urge will
come. 'I must take the risk, the chance has come to me.' You cannot but take risk. But a favorable
circumstance, surrounded by your friends and guarded by a good guardian, they should take risk.
The injury that may come due to my inability, that will be amply compensated.

"Whatever small thing I shall acquire in the short time He is there. Still there will be some who
are insincere. If by imitating others he takes sannyasa, he'll be a loser. The imitationist will be
the loser. The sincere aspirant, he may be rewarded, but the imitation won't help us. Imitation
without having the necessary quality. If only by ambition I want to copy someone for name and
fame, that is another thing. That is bad. But sincere hankering, inner urge, that must be
encouraged because He is everywhere and He is supporting the good. He has promised I'll
always back the sincere who have got a good object of life. I'll always back them. Sannyasa must
be taken sincerely. That is all-important. The attempt must be sincere."

On the Gaura-purnima day (March 16, 1976) that Srila Prabhupada awarded our Srila Guru
Maharaja sannyasa, His Divine Grace spoke on how the position of sannyasa actually means
that of guru and "guru is the post given to the sannyasis." In his purports on the sixteenth chapter
of the Bhagavad-gita, Srila Prabhupada writes:

"In the varnasrama institution the sannyasi, or the person in the renounced order of life, is
considered to be the head or the spiritual master of all the social statuses and orders. A
brahmana is considered to be the spiritual master of the three other sections of a society, namely,
the ksatriyas, the vaisyas and the sudras, but a sannyasi, who is on the top of the institution, is
considered to be the spiritual master of the brahmanas also. For a sannyasi, the first qualification
should be fearlessness. Because a sannyasi has to be alone without any support or guarantee of
support, he has simply to depend on the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one
thinks, "After I leave my connections, who will protect me?" he should not accept the renounced
order of life. One must be fully convinced that Krsna or the Supreme Personality of Godhead in
His localized aspect as Paramatma is always within; that He is seeing everything and He always
knows what one intends to do. One must thus have firm conviction that Krsna as Paramatma will
take care of a soul surrendered to Him. 'I shall never be alone,' One should think, 'Even if I live
in the darkest regions of a forest I shall be accompanied by Krsna, and He will give me all
protection.' That conviction is called abhayam, fearlessness. This state of mind is necessary for a
person in the renounced order of life." (Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Purport 16.1-3)

This purport by Srila Prabhupada draws our mind to the fervent prayer by the tridandi-bhiksu (a
beggar of divine service) from Avanti, spoken of in the Srimad Bhagavatam by Lord Krsna to
Sri Uddhava. He declared, aham tarisyami duranta-param -- "I shall cross over the ocean of
nescience and become firmly fixed, asthaya paratma-nistham, in the service of our Lord
Mukunda." This prayer was sung by Mahaprabhu in ecstacy, upon receiving the sannyasa
mantra from Kesava Bharati, and since that time is recited by all Gaudiya tridandi-bhiksus after
chanting their sannyasa mantra.

When speaking about this verse, Srila Sridhara Maharaja has commented:

28
"If you accept this sannyasa-vesa, this is only favorable to the activity, but the real thing is the
service. The all-important thing is the service, not the dress. The dress can help me to a certain
extent to remind me, 'Oh, I am a sannyasi, I am disconnected with other branches of knowledge
and interest. My sole interest is the service of Krsna, Guru and Vaisnava. This will remind me,
the outer dress of sannyasa will remind me that I am dedicated to a particular object of life.' But
the real thing, the most substantive is mukunda-seva. How much I can dedicate in service for the
satisfaction of Mukunda, that is the real desirable thing for our achievement of the higher end."

We may thus certainly conclude that the order of our Gaudiya Vaisnava sannyasa is
extraordinary and unique. As is the nature of the audarya-lila (the most magnanimus distribution
of Absolute Beauty and Truth) inaugurated by Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, his tridandi
agents extend their reach from the worldly plane of social considerations to the deepest quarter
of divine service. Our loving Guru Maharaja refers to these most benevolent agents as the
"Caitanya Monks."

In the words of His Divine Grace:

"We should understand how Sri Gurudeva has placed us in connection with the service of Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his foremost eternal servants. To enter krsna-lila is very, very
difficult. But one who has achieved the service of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is automatically
accepted in krsna-lila. The foremost service to Mahaprabhu is to spread His sankirtana
movement (this includes book distribution and all other aspects of the Hare Krsna Movement).
Not only is such a devotee accepted in krsna-lila but also such a devotee will find that he has
been automatically transferred to the service of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani in
Vrndavana."

We beg that our Guru Maharaja, who is our only shelter, remain the ocean of mercy that he is
and grant us the eternal service of his lotus feet.

29
 The Highest Ideal

There is no exact equivalent in the English vocabulary to explain the Sanskrit term ‘rasa’ as used
in the context of transcendental relationships. The closest English word for rasa used by our
acaryas in rendering English translations of Sanskrit literatures is ‘mellow’. Certainly, enough
thought has been given before stopping at the word, ‘mellow’ for rasa. The origin of this word in
English stems from the sense of ‘ripe’, ‘sweet’, and ‘juicy’ and is used to define something that
is tempered by maturity or experience.

The taste and experience of a ripened mango can never be traced in a raw mango, no matter how
much it is artificially processed. In a similar way, the experience of divine exchange of rasa
between the Lord and His devotees cannot be held within a heart tainted with perverted material
crookedness. Most of the spiritual experience is waiting on the other side of this temporary world
– after the death of this body. As long as we are embodied within this sheath of flesh and bones,
we are subjected to various material miseries that by nature come without asking. The best thing
we can do while in this world is to develop strong faith in the words of the guru and the sastra, in
the Holy Name and become wise by cultivating detachment.

As per the instructions of Srila Sridhara Maharaja, in our present condition the tendency to
improve spiritually is laudable, but we should scrupulously cultivate only those qualities that are
beneficial for our spiritual health. Srila Rupa Gosvami has given the most quintessential
instructions for a sadhaka in the eleven verses of Sri Upadesamrta. These verses, beginning with
the verse, vaco vegam manasah krodha vegam, should be the subject matter of our introspection.
Regularly pondering over these instructions we should calibrate our sadhana and our ideal. The
desire for reclusive smarana of Krsna’s pastimes in a conditioned state is injurious, and will only
produce lust. Srila Sarasvati Thakura writes in his song, Vaisnava Ke:

30
 kirtana prabhave smarana haibe
sei kale bhajana nirjana sambhava

Internal remembrance can occur by the power of kirtana, and only then is solitary service
possible. (Vaisnava Ke 19)

In the Gaudiya sampradaya more importance has been laid on congregational kirtana of the
Holy Names of the Lord than internal remembrance (smarana) of His pastimes. The sankirtana-
lila of Mahaprabhu has been compared directly to the rasa-lila of Krsna in Vrndavana. But
categorically, the sankirtana-lila of Mahaprabhu is placed higher than the rasa-lila of Krsna in
the sense that the sankirtana-lila is both sweet (madhurya) and magnanimous (audarya),
whereas krsna-lila is sweet but limited to the internal (antaranga) devotees of the Lord. The
Lord taught this by His own example:

bahiranga sange kare nama-sankirtana

antaranga-sange kare rasa-asvadana

Amongst the ordinary devotees the Lord engaged in nama-sankirtana, and with His intimate
associates He relished rasa.

Mahaprabhu’s sankirtana-lila can accommodate anyone, no matter how degraded they may be.
There is no consideration of qualification; the only price is sincere faith. In this age it is
impossible to gain entrance into krsna-lila without accepting Sriman Mahaprabhu, His associates
and His teachings. Mahaprabhu never recommended internal remembrance of Krsna’s
confidential pastimes for those in a conditioned state. On the other hand, He relished the reading
of Prahlada’s and Dhruva’s pastimes hundreds and hundreds of times to set an example for
everyone not to jump directly to the rasa-lila.

prahlada-caritra ara dhruvera-caritra

sata-vrtti kariya sunena savahita

The Lord attentively heard the pastimes of Prahlada and Dhruva hundreds of times. (Cb. Antya
10.34)

The current of the ocean of material existence is certainly very difficult to cross over, but for one
engaged in kirtana under a bona-fide spiritual master, the waves subside as if giving way. How
can it be otherwise when the sankirtana movement is the Lord’s own lila and the Maya potency
is but His servant? When the Kurma brahmana asked Mahaprabhu while He was leaving to take
him along, Mahaprabhu gave him two important instructions to help him cross this ocean of
nescience and simultaneously attain the association of the Lord Himself:

yare dekha, tare kaha’krsna’-upadesa

amara ajaya guru hana tara’ ei desa

Instruct everyone you see to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna. Vecome a spiritual master and
try to liberate everyone in this land. (Cc. Madhya 7.128)

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 kabhu na badhibe tomara visaya-taranga
punarapi ei thani pabe mora sanga

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu further advised the brahmana Kurma, “If you follow this instruction,
your materialistic life at home will not obstruct your spiritual advancement. Indeed, if you follow
these regulative principles, we will again meet here, or, rather, you will never lose My
company.” (Cc. Madhya 7.120)

Every living and non-living entity in this universe has emanated from the Lord Himself and is
meant only for His satisfaction. Knowing this it is the most intelligent and beneficial act to use
everything here including ourselves as an offering to the Lord’s service and to also encourage
others to take up this practice. As per Srila Sridhara Maharaja’s reading of the sastra,
intrinsically, above anything else, the duty (paro-dharma) of every soul is devotion to the
adhoksaja (Krsna) while anything done for selfish ends (dvitiyabhinivesah) is unnecessary and
dangerous (bhayavah). The true dignity of the soul does not lie in earning wealth, prestige, and
the goodwill of those who have the same material disposition as ourselves. Only by realizing
one’s constitutional position as the servant of the Supreme Lord and acting accordingly, is our
true spiritual dignity reinstated.

Sri Sri Radha-Krsna hold the most glorious position in the transcendental world of Goloka-
Vrndavana and are eternally engaged in sweet pastimes, untouched by material perverseness.
Mahaprabhu, who is non-different than Radha-Krsna, appeared in this world out of His
overflowing compassion along with four principle associates and hundreds of other associates
just to establish the superexcellent position of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna, Their Holy Names, Their
pastimes and Their devotees all over the world. From Him the illustrious line of the Rupanugas,
or the followers of Sri Rupa Gosvami, has manifested just to uphold this great ideal. Rupanuga-
cudamani Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura revitalized this ideal in the deteriorated
Vaisnava world and started a new era of Krsna Consciousness. May we mature spiritually
holding on to the ideal enshrined in the following verse by Srila Sarasvati Thakura:

matala hari-jana visaya-range

pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

The servants of Hari are engaged in lavish affairs, handling material wealth and engaging all
manner of things in the Lord’s service. They worship the path of spontaneous devotion with
gaurava-bhange (in a mood of awe and reverence) and to show that the raga-patha is above all
(above our heads), they remain as servants, being a little distant and below, praying for that of a
servant’s duty, not for that of a confidential nature — not to bring that highest divine love down
here, but to hold that upon their heads.

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 Pleasing The Spiritual Master

There is one verse in the Bhagavatam by Prahlada Maharaja wheren he addresses the Vaisnavas:
“I see there are many saintly personalities here.” So as I look about, I see many godbrothers and
godsisters and disciples that are the living examples of the precepts given to us by Srila
Prabhupada. And certainly Srila Prabhupada’s accomplishments are so great that it is difficult to
sufficiently glorify him; Anantadeva is continuously chanting the glories of Krsna with His
unlimited mouths and goes on unlimitedly glorifying the Lord. In the same way, Srila
Prabhupada’s glories are also unlimited. As disciples, we have a particular obligation – we are
his representatives. When I was a young brahmacari in Los Angeles I was told by Hasyapriya
Prabhu that we should properly dress and be very careful how we act, because people will see
Srila Prabhupada reflected in what you say and what you do and how you look. You are his
representative and you must present yourself nicely or they will think that he has not trained you
properly. As disciples we have that duty and as disciples of disciples we also are representatives
of our spiritual master and our spiritual master’s master.

One of the first things required in devotional service is surrender, Saranagati. Bhaktivinoda
Thakura has written in his Gitavali many songs, many nice prayers, giving different aspects of
surrender. Surrender is one of the qualities of humility, which is the first quality of a Vaisnava.
Actual humility means surrender to the order of the guru, to follow his instructions without any
objection – to just do what he asks. And another quality of humility is not to encroach on the
rights of others, to simply try to do our devotional service to the best of our ability and to please
our spiritual master without disturbing others.

Srila Prabhupada gave us so much. He gave us everything that we need to perfect

our life. He gave us so much service, and there in the verse, nama-srestham manum api saci-

33
putram, of Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami, in praise of his guru – he has given me everything. He
has given me the Holy Name and Rupa and Sanatana. He has given me the association of so
many Vaisnavas. He has given me the holy places and the Srimad Bhagavatam and the hope that
some day I may perfect my life and become the servant of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava in Their
eternal lila.

One must have some aspiration, some goal in his life – some ideal – and hold that over his head
and in all his activities, go towards that goal. And one way to see that is as the lotus feet of our
Guru Maharaja. To see Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet as our goal. There is one very nice story of
a brahmana who is serving his guru very faithfully. An airplane is sent to bring him to
Vaikuntha. The plane is coming and this devotee says, “I’m sorry, I cannot go to Vaikuntha just
now. I am too busy in the service of my guru. I cannot leave my service. I cannot go to
Vaikuntha.” Such is the attitude of the surrendered Vaisnava, that he is so dedicated to the
service of his guru. We must become like that for Srila Prabhupada. And I see that in many
devotees. I see very nice, wonderful service is performed– for so many years. And many
devotees are now becoming mature – that is, they are becoming very serious and understand the
importance or pure chanting (suddha-nama), actual surrender, refinement of one’s devotional
sentiments (ideals) and proper Vaisnava dealings. This has been one of the biggest problems
amongst devotees in general and at large – proper Vaisnava dealings. So many offensive
attitudes have been maintained amongst Vaisnavas, which are not tolerated by Krsna. The
Vaisnavas are so glorified that Krsna says, na tatha me priyatama – “My devotee is more dear to
Myself even than Myself.” The devotee is so dear. As we have heard also in Mahabharata –

dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam

mahajana yena gatah sa panthah

Real religious principles are hidden in the heart of great devotees. And you can say that all the
Vaisnavas are the personification of these principles, as taught by Srila Prabhupada. These
principles are in their hearts. They have imbibed them by virtue of their surrender and service.
They have become examples of this. We must continue to do this, to make this our life and soul
– to dedicate everything to Srila Prabhupada and his mission and what he stood for; to make it
our life’s ambition to fulfill his desires.

Actually there are three classifications of devotees. The third class devotee, he is not very
competent to please his spiritual master. The second class devotee may be able to please his
spiritual master, but the first class devotee is able to satisfy his guru without even the guru
asking. He understands what is in the heart and what is the actual desire of his guru without
being told. This requires a very mature devotional outlook. It requires one’s deep contemplation
and sincerity to imbibe this. And certainly Srila Prabhupada exemplified this to the maximum
degree. And what he has accomplished, there is no question that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura was not pleased by that.

So we should try to understand like that. So many instructions are there from Srila Prabhupada
and amongst those, the paramount instruction is to preach vigorously. To become a pure devotee
and to preach vigorously. He has said this so many times that, “If you want to show your

34
affection for me, then distribute my books and distribute this Krsna Consciousness all over the
world.”

You are doing that and it is very wonderful, but it is not enough however! You also have to
become pure, 100% pure, like the devotees mentioned in the Bhagavatam – like Prahlada
Maharaja, like so many other stalwarts that can be described as ‘pillars of faith.’ When we see a
very strong devotee who is fixed in his service, then we gain great inspiration from him or her –
that he is strongly standing and showing the way and by his faith we gain strength. He is
dedicated to his spiritual master. Just as when we came in the presence of Prabhupada, we could
not help but feel that, that here is a great Vaisnava, who is fully dedicated and surrendered. So
surrendered, that for his own convenience he did not consider so many things.

And it is the nature of a Vaisnava that he is very kind. Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami has described,
krpambudhir yah para-duhkha-duhkhi. The Vaisnava is very much concerned for the welfare of
others. Prahlada Maharaja has said in his prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva that, “I require no
benediction. I don’t want anything except Your service, but as far as others are concerned, that
are entangled in this material world, I feel very sorry for them and I would like to help them.” So
that is a test for a Vaisnava, that those who are advanced Vaisnavas feel compassion. They feel
very sorry for the suffering living entities and they want to help them. Again, this is personified
by our Guru Maharaja. If we take that to heart and all of his instructions, continuously take them
on our head, then certainly we will be successful in pleasing our guru.

Thank you very much.

Hare Krsna!

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 This Sankirtana Movement
Is the Lila of Mahaprabhu

If you were to examine the list of personalities in the Caitanya Sarasvata Parampara, our
Parampara, who would you find? Who is in the sankirtana movement? Who is Mahaprabhu?
Who is Gadadhara; who are all these personalities? Then you would come to the six Goswamis;
who are they? Rupa, Sanatana, they are gopis (manjaris) who came down here in the form of
Rupa and Sanatana. All the way from them to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and all the acaryas in our
line, it is known who they are in the eternal lila of Krsna. This is true for all those up to the time
of Bhaktisiddhanta. After that, it is not known who any of them are. You will find mentioned
throughout books and various letters who is Srila Bhaktisiddhanta. For instance, one devotee
wrote to Srila Prabhupada, “Srila Bhaktisiddhanta is an asta saki.” Prabhupada wrote back,
“These are very high topics, and they are not for general discussion, but as far as I know, my
Guru Maharaja is not one of the asta sakis. He is a manjari named Nayanamani Manjari." So up
to that point, who they are in that eternal world, that has been revealed, but after that point it has
not been revealed.

What is clear is that the line of service that they bring down goes to a particular place. It does not
go to Vaikuntha. If someone offered you the chance to go to Vaikuntha today, would you take it?
Better say no, because Prabhupada is not there to greet you, he is not in Vaikuntha. Mahaprabhu
is not there to greet you; Nityananda Prabhu and Acyutananda the sankirtana leader are not there
to greet you in Vaikuntha. Maybe Advaita Acarya will be there, but He will look at you and say,
“What are you doing here? Move on, move on!”

There was recently a discussion, part of which pertained to whether Advaita Acarya can give
Vraja bhava. There was a controversy among some devotees regarding this point. Someone was
saying that Advaita Acarya could not give Vraja bhava because he is Sadasiva Mahavisnu; he is
Mahavisnu and Sadasiva. Advaita Acarya not only brings Mahaprabhu down to this world, but
he also delivers us to Nityananda Prabhu. Yes, he does not give a direct admittance to

36
Vrndavana, but he gives introduction to Mahaprabhu by bringing Him to this world and
delivering us to Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu takes us to Mahaprabhu.

According to a devotee’s service mentality, he will be turned over to a particular leader of

servitors. Raghunatha Dasa Goswami made it all the way to the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu, and
Mahaprabhu said, "You will be with Svarupa Damodara; you will be under his care.” In the
eternal world we will be under the care of different devotees of the Supreme Lord, according to
our devotional aptitude, or devotional achievement. That achievement is just a feeling. It is just a
feeling.

In the end, Krsna consciousness is just about cultivating a feeling. All that you know in this
world will vanish at the time of death; everything goes, and a feeling overwhelms us. Darkness
comes, sound goes away, and there is a feeling. For those who are not God-conscious, that
feeling is all about matter, all about anxiety. That feeling is fear, attachment, and all these
mundane things. But for a devotee, that feeling is love, bhava, prema — feelings of love towards
Krsna. Those feelings are similar to the feelings we have in this world. There are different types
of love: love among friends, love of family, love of a lover; that is the worldly love, kama. The
pure love of Krsna also has such flavor as friend, as a son, as a lover; different types of feelings
are there, different types of love are there, according to one’s qualification. In that way, a
particular devotee will enter into a particular group of servitors.

So if you are offered liberation, even to Vaikuntha, do not take it. If you were offered
brahmajyoti, certainly you would not take that; you would reject that right away. Or mystic
powers? No, we do not want mystic powers, we do not want impersonal liberation, and we do
not want Vaikuntha liberation. We do not want that place; we must bow our heads and say, "No,
we don’t want Vaikuntha.” We say, "I’ll wait for the time when the opportunity comes down that
I will serve my Lord in Goloka or in Navadvipa.”

Sometimes we forget Navadvipa; generally we think Goloka is everything, saying, "Oh, yes, also
Navadvipa, this is nice; Navadvipa is also there." But actually, Navadvipa is more wonderful
than Goloka. Goloka Vrndavana is called madhu. It is sweet, but Navadvipa is sweetness with
magnanimity. In Vrndavana the magnanimity is very less; one must be highly qualified there. It

37
is very restricted; it is not open to just anyone and everyone. But in Caitanya lila, in the eternal
Navadvipa, there is madhurya, sweetness, and audarya, magnanimity. It is actually greater.

Imagine that you have a cup full of nectar, and you have another cup overflowing with nectar.
One cup full of nectar, that is Krsna lila. One cup full of nectar which is overflowing, that is
Caitanya lila. We should give more importance to Caitanya lila in our meditation, in our
contemplation, in our thought. We should give more importance to Caitanya lila than we give to
Krsna lila. It is not that we should neglect Krsna or Vrndavana, but we must understand that
there is no entrance into Vrndavana without Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

In the Renaissance period many kings built temples. Even the king of Burma built a Radha-
Krsna temple near Gopesvara Mahadeva, right next to Vrndakunja, near Bhutgali. But what does
such a man know about Krsna bhakti? He does not know very much, but it was part of a cultural
Renaissance. It came to a point that even the Sri Vaisnavas of South India had to build a big
temple in Vrndavana, because if you were not represented in Vrndavana, you were nowhere, you
were nobody. It is like if you are a film producer, then you will be represented at the Cannes
Film Festival and you will be at the Sundance Film Festival, or you are nobody in the film world.
Vrndavana became such a place. If you were not represented in Vrndavana, many people would
consider what you were in spiritual life to be nothing. Representation in Vrndavana almost
became a thing of prestige. But what does prestige have to do with spiritual life? Nothing.

Only by the grace of the foot dust of Mahaprabhu and his followers can we enter into Vrndavana.
Not just by buying land, not by getting a big throne, not by getting prestige and honor for
ourselves. Mother Saci used to wonder from time to time, she would wonder deeply what is the
position of her Son. Advaita Acarya used to come to her house and offer obeisances to that Boy.
Advaita Acarya was the most dignified Vaisnava scholar in all of Navadvipa Mandala, and he
used to come and bow down in front of Mahaprabhu when he was a baby. In her mind this
caused some trouble: "This is very bad for my Son, this is not good. Such a high person bowing
down to my Son -- this is very bad." So throughout Mahaprabhu’s life she used to wonder in
many ways why certain things were happening, why people were acting in certain ways, and she
would sometimes wonder who He was. But yogamaya would always cover her eventually, and
then the beauty of her Child or the youthful movements of her Son would just charm her.

If we think about something often, then we may have dreams about it. Once Mother Saci had a
dream about Lord Nityananda and Mahaprabhu. The background of her dream was that after
coming to Navadvipa and meeting with Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu announced, "I have just
come from Vrndavana, but the thrones are empty; the Lord is not to be found in Vrndavana -- He
has taken His birth in Navadvipa.” This assurance he gave to the devotees: that the Krsna from
Vraja had become our Lord in Navadvipa, posing as a devotee. But He is non-different from the
Krsna of Vraja, and therefore the Krsna of Vraja was gone from Vrndavana. Until Mahaprabhu
went there, Krsna was almost gone; that Krsna of Vraja was hidden. After Mahaprabhu’s visit
there, Krsna went back to Vrndavana. Then the temples and the Deities came back, and They
manifested. There were only a few still visible, but when Mahaprabhu went there, so many more
manifested.

38
First Nityananda Prabhu announced that Vrndavana was empty, "The Lord has come to
Navadvipa." Later, Mother Saci had the dream: she saw Krsna and Balarama on a throne in
Vrndavana, then Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu came there. Nityananda Prabhu said, "You
get off the throne; your time is over! Come down, my Lord Gauranga is here; your time is over,
come down!" And then Balarama said, "What do you say? He is My Brother, Krsna, Lord of
Vrndavana; He will always be on this throne!" Nityananda replied, "No, your time is over,
come!" Then Nityananda Prabhu began to fight with Balarama and He pulled Them off the
throne, saying, "This throne is meant for Gauranga in kali yuga; Gauranga is on the throne!"

It is like a circle; once it gets going, where is the starting point? Like a circle, it just keeps going,
and going, and going. But we should move with the flow, and we should understand the
importance of Navadvipa, Caitanya lila, and how that will take us in a deeper connection with
Krsna lila. And in a deeper connection with Krsna lila we will find a deeper appreciation for
Caitanya lila. It goes in a circle and in time, you become a madman.

You have read it in the teachings of Lord Caitanya. Prabhupada has said, "The purpose, the goal
is to become madly in love with Krsna.” Become mad -- are you ready to become a madman?
Are you ready to become a slave? Because there are no servants of God, there are only slaves of
God. Even service is not profound enough. Why? Because from service you can withdraw,
saying, “I don’t like it; I will go back.” But if I own something, where can it go? Nowhere, it is
mine. I own it; it is my property. Similarly, Krsna owns the devotees; they are His energy, they
are His property.

Service is not quite strong enough; the word servant is not strong enough to express the highest
ideal. When people hear the word slave, they generally think, "Oh my God, what is this
gentleman saying? This is such a bad thing!” Yes, in this world, slavery is the worst of things,
but everything is just the opposite there. A slave of love -- nothing could be finer, nothing could
be sweeter, nothing is more rewarding than to be a slave in love of the Supreme Lord.

There are actually three types of madmen in this Krsna consciousness movement. There are
those who are very much favorable to Krsna lila, very much drawn to Krsna, to Krsna lila, to
Radha-Krsna. There are those who are very attracted to Gaura lila, to Gaura-Nitai, to Gaura-
Gadadhara, the Panca-Tattva, Caitanya lila. There are also those who are drawn to both. The
destination of those souls is in accordance with their attraction. If one is drawn toward Krsna lila
and can reach that perfection of love in this life, then he will rise to become an eternal resident of
Goloka. If one is more given to Caitanya lila, then he may become an eternal resident of the

39
Navadvipa section of Goloka. But if he is equally mad for both, as is the case with many
devotees, then the soul will live in two places at once; he will be in two worlds at once.

That place is nothing like this world; we say that this world is a reflection, but that is after we
have stretched the imagination. There is practically nothing here like that; everything here is
limited. Even when we say, “the infinite,” our concept of infinite is limited. Here, how many
people can sit in a room? Twenty? Twenty-five? Thirty? Soon it will be full. If this room were in
Goloka, then one hundred thousand cowherds could sit in this room together, with no pushing,
no shoving, and no lack of space. Why? Because that space is infinite; it is infinite space. This is
finite space, and therefore in a half-gallon jug you can only put sixty-four ounces; you cannot put
one hundred ounces in a half-gallon jug, because that space is limited. But that much space in the
spiritual world could hold all the oceans of the material world. Or by just pouring that jug you
could fill up those oceans, many times over. Infinite is not just “very big,” it is infinite. It is more
than “big.” We generally think of the infinite as just the biggest one, the biggest yet, and a little
bigger than that, but big is not even a proper word. There are no limitations there.

Sometimes we find in Caitanya lila that people are not just one person from that spiritual world;
they are three persons. Ramananda Raya is considered to be Arjuna, the Pandava, he is
considered to be Visaka in Radha-Krsna lila, and also he is considered to be a cowherd boy
named Arjuna. Even when we say, “I am not this body,” when we say, “I am spirit-soul,” these
are quite intellectual statements for us; the experience is waiting. The experience is mostly found
on the other side, entering that world where nothing is material. We say that we are not this
body, but we begin every day by waking up, which is a function of the body, and we do
everything throughout the day in relation to this body. We even stop chanting Hare Krsna when
we are tired; we honor prasada when we are hungry. Why do we not take it when we are not
hungry? Actually, we are working with the theory that Krsna is God. We say, "theory,” but
unlike modern theory, ours is based on experience. It is just that the bulk of that experience is
waiting there.

These days, many devotees are very given to Krsna lila, and they want always to talk about
Krsna lila, and about the Madhurya lila within Krsna lila. Sometimes they criticize book
distribution, sankirtana, even preaching. They criticize that in favor of doing only bhajana. But
these persons have overlooked something very, very important: that this sankirtana movement is
the lila of Mahaprabhu. It is not something else that we are doing; it is the activity of
Mahaprabhu. In other words, like in a pond, if you throw a pebble, a wave starts across the pond;
it is just a ripple. After some time that ripple inevitably stops, but this sankirtana movement has
not stopped. Since the day when Mahaprabhu inaugurated the sankirtana movement, that wave
has not stopped.

Sometimes Prabhupada would report, “He is dancing in that sankirtana, it is going on eternally
also in Navadvipa.” I heard once from one of the oldest disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, "In
the beginning, when nothing was here in Mayapura, we used to live with our guru. In the middle
of the night, we would hear some kirtana, some sankirtana. We could hear the karatalas, the
mrdanga, the chanting. And Guru Maharaja used to say, ‘That is the eternal sankirtana of
Mahaprabhu.’”

40
The eternal pastimes of Mahaprabhu’s sankirtana movement are going on, and this sankirtana
movement that we have joined is not some lesser thing. It is actually that very same wave that
was started by Mahaprabhu. And He said, "This wave will go to every town and village of the
world, for many, many, many centuries.” For ten thousand years it may go on; it may even
exceed that also. It is said that this wave will reach the higher planetary systems. “Sankirtana
lila,” Prabhupada wrote, "is Rasa lila. Sankirtana movement is Rasa lila -- it is non-different.”

Sankirtana means service. Service: the pot washer is in the sankirtana movement, the bookkeeper
is in the sankirtana movement, the book printer is in the sankirtana movement, and the
Bhagavatam preacher is in the sankirtana movement. The college preacher, the mrdanga player,
the karatala player, those who take care of the children are also in the sankirtana movement.
Prabhupada’s conception was, "There is no maya in the movement.” Everything is in the
sankirtana movement.

The meaning is this: If you want Krsna, then give yourself fully in cooperation to Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. Enter through the sankirtana movement. Entering in the sankirtana, we are
immediately engaged in the Lord’s eternal pastimes. Here in this world we have so little
qualification, but Caitanya lila is magnanimous. We are not fit for that, but when asked, “Will
you accept this gift?” we say, "Yes!” We can enter into the Lord’s pastimes through sankirtana..

Vikriditam Vraja Vadhubhir...

(This article was originally written by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada and
first published in the 8th volume of Dainik Nadiya Prakasa on 29th October 1933 under the title,
Rasa Yatra).

Today is Rasa-purnima. Many people have gathered in Navadvipa, Santipura, Vrndavana, Puri
and other holy places. The purpose of these pilgrims is to take darsana of Sri Krsna’s rasa-lila.
It is the opinion of those who are knowledgeable of their spiritual identity that there is no other
greater seva than this, and in this respect there is no doubt that it is everyone’s duty to endeavor
to gain qualification for this seva. Without first climbing the branch of a tree, trying to reach the
fruits is a disturbance.

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What tattva is Sri Krsna? What is our svarupa? What is the tattva of Sri Krsna’s Gopis? What is
our relationship with Them? Without knowing what is actually rasa-lila, then in our attempt to
attain darsana of that rasa, we shall simply try to pursue our desire to enjoy. We will not pursue
the real thing. Sri Krsna is aprakrta-vastu (fully spiritual). We cannot comprehend Him through
material knowledge. Neither the physical senses nor the knowledge acquiring senses are
sufficient to attain knowledge of Krsna. Those Vraja-Gopis with whom Krsna performs His
rasa-lila, are just like Sri Krsna in that they are inaccessible to material intelligence. So long as
there remains a fraction of lust in our consciousness, then we have no qualification to take
darsana of that rasa. Lust can never find a place in the heart of a devotee of Sri Krsna who has
eka-nistha-bhakti (one-pointed exclusive devotion). If at any time a devotee of Krsna happens to
think about lusty affairs and starts to look at those, then by his good fortune a desire will arise in
him to spit. Therefore one mahajana has sung thus:

yad-avadhi mama cetah krsna-padaravinde

nava-nava-rasa-dhamany udyatam rantum asit
tad-avadhi bata nari-sangame smaryamane
bhavati mukha-vikarah susthu nisthivanam ca

"Ever since my mind became immersed in the light of ever-new rasas at Krsna’s lotus feet,
whenever I recall my previous association with women, my mouth turns in disgust and I spit at
the thought." (BRS 2.5.72)

It is especially observed that only the baddha-jivas are inclined towards following the path of
sensual enjoyment. Sri Sukadeva has told Maharaja Pariksit:

naitat samacarej jatu

manasapi hy anisvarah
vinasyaty acaran maudhyad
yatha ‘rudro ‘bdhi-jam visam

"One should not engage in these activities if he is not as powerful as the Lord, not even in the
mind. If one does so out of foolishness, then he will be destroyed, just as drinking an ocean of
poison would destroy someone without Siva’s powers". (Bhag. 10.33.30)

Except for the Lord, these things (the rasa-lila etc.) should not be practiced by anyone, even in
the mind. Apart from Rudra, anyone else who drinks an ocean of poison will only invite
destruction. If by foolishness someone tries to imitate the Lord’s lila, then he will be destroyed.
We can observe in Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes in Nilacala – He performed
nama-sankirtana only amongst His general associates and with His intimate associates He tasted
rasa. The aforementioned divine mellows are complete and flourishing in rasa-lila and are
meant to be relished internally by confidential liberated devotees. Now, if we conditioned souls,
under the laws of material nature, run after the darsana of rasa-lila then whatever proper or
improper sadhana we perform will be reviewed by the highly advanced and learned devotees.

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All the materially conditioned people that run after rasa-lila darsana can be divided into two
classes – one class is the atheistic moralists, and the other class are the immoral sense enjoyers.
In order to show how the aforementioned classes become entangled in difficulties after hearing
about the rasa-lila, Maharaja Pariksit, after hearing the rasa-lila from the divine mouth of Sri
Sukadeva, masquerading as such a person of that class, asked a question. The inquiry was this:

samsthapanaya dharmasya
prasamayetarasya ca
avatino hi bhagavan
amsena jagad-isvarah

sa katham dharma-setunam
vakta kartabhiraksita
pratipam acarad brahman
para-darabhimarsanam

"O brahmana, the Lord of the entire universe, has descended to earth in order to destroy
adharma and reestablish dharma. Indeed, He is the original creator, follower and guardian of
dharma. So how could He have violated them by touching other men’s wives?" (Bhag.10.33.26-
27)

Sri Krsna is the highest enjoyer, and the Gopis, His eternal maidservants, cannot be enjoyed by
anyone else but Him. They are only the medium of that rasa, which is created by parakiya-
bhava. As long as a desire to enjoy lusty affairs remains in our heart and as long as we perform
activities that are unfavorable for krsna-bhajana, then even after having ceased relations with our
family or pretending that we have ceased, whatever the case may be – until we understand that
krsna-bhajana is our only duty in life then we cannot realize such high realities about the Gopis
and Krsna. Those spiritual teachings that exist in the manifested pastimes of the Gopis cannot
even slightly enter the heads of atheistic moralists because in atheistic morality there is nothing
that passes beyond the knowledge of mundane chemistry that is based upon the exploitation of
material elements.

Maharaja Pariksit, though he was a bhagavata, asked the aforementioned question because, due
to their offensive tendency, atheistic moralists accuse Sri Krsna of debauchery. The crest jewel
of eternally liberated maha-bhagavatas, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, answered his query. We have
already mentioned the answer of Sri Sukadeva.

Immoral, licentious people go to hear the rasa-lila simply to satisfy their personal dispositions.
And the disciples of Kali, for a wage of two-paisa, having obtained some material scholarship
and a little knowledge of anusvara and visarga, with lustful consciousness, pose as reciters of
rasa-lila. In a ‘fit of bhava’ they drench their breasts with a flood of tears. Moreover it has been

43
said, “When the recitation is over and the time comes to accept donations of money, clothes etc,
they suddenly regain their consciousness!” All glories to Kali-yuga for such a performance!

During a stay in Nilacala at Purusottama Matha, the famous zamindar, the pride of the
Kayasthas, Rajarsi Sriyukta Saradindu Narayana Raya (MA), Prajna-vedanta-bhusana Mahasaya
of Dinajpur, once informed me about a recital of the rasa-pancadhyaya by a particular famous
reciter of the class mentioned above, who had a beautiful voice. Explaining the gist of the sloka,
naitat samacarejjatu, I told him that a baddha-jiva such as myself had no qualification to hear
and speak about the rasa-lila. He informed the main reciter of my words, and the reciter replied
by quoting the following sloka in order to establish that he indeed had the adhikara to speak and
that his audience was also qualified to hear him speak about the rasa-lila:

vikriditam vraja-vadhubhir idam ca visnoh

sraddhanvito ‘nusrnuyad atha varnayed yah
bhaktim param bhagavati pratilabhya kamam
hrd-rogam asv apahinoty acirena dhirah

"If a self-controlled person listens with faith to the confidential pastimes of Sri Krsna with the
damsels of Vraja, from the mouth of Sri Guru and glorifies it at every second, then he
immediately obtains transcendental devotion towards the Supreme Lord and becomes capable of
distancing himself from the heart disease of lust without delay." (Bhag. 10.33.40)

Without meditating upon the actual meaning of this verse, if we are only eager to hear about the
rasa-lila for the sake of listening without discretion, and if we attempt to enjoy the rasa-lila
when we are afflicted by a licentious consciousness, then we will fall into a state of severe
illusion.

It was my misfortune to be introduced to this aforementioned reciter. He was in babaji-vesa. One

day I saw him at the Puri station with a nice pair of fashionable shoes adorning his feet.
Thereafter, I undertook a special enquiry and discovered that he had two or three matajis.
Naturally, while visiting a disciple’s house, the matajis don’t accompany the babaji but stay
nearby at an akhra. The babaji is almost elderly. For many years he has been reciting the
Bhagavata – even so, why has the heart disease of lust not subsided? Why has his state gradually
come to resemble that of Yayati?

Reciters should take note of the word ‘dhira’ in the aforementioned verse. The rasa-lila should
only be heard and continuously sung by a self-controlled person. It is not a subject matter for
discussion by one who is afflicted with lust. Except for the pure Vaisnava, others cannot be
considered to be dhira. Because their minds are running here and there for the sake of worldly
sense objects, they are adhira. Therefore, they have no qualification to hear and preach about the
rasa-lila.

From whom does a completely self-controlled person hear about the rasa-lila? Not from a person
afflicted with lust, but from the lotus feet of Sri Guru who is free from lust. And in front of

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whom does he perform kirtana? Not in front of an unqualified person, but confidentially and
individually to a qualified person. For what purpose does he continuously glorify the topic of
rasa? Not for the sake of earning money, but out of love for Krsna. What is the result? As
regards the result, the self-controlled never pray for any other result other than the pleasure of
Krsna – and in his heart, even if somewhere there is a small amount of lust hidden, then by the
auspicious desire of Sri Krsna it is removed and that excellent self-controlled devotee stays
absorbed in the pleasure of service.

Therefore, to gain qualification to see or hear the rasa-lila, one should become dhira. Being self-
controlled one should serve the lotus feet of the sad-guru (bona-fide spiritual master) and should
be patient to gain that qualification. Without first climbing the branch of a tree, the fruits can
never be reached.

Dasa Gosvami and the Unique Position of

Govardhana

(The following is a transcript of a class given by Srila Narasingha Maharaja in Vrndavana at

Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Temple on 18th October 2009, on the occasion of Sri Govardhana
Puja)

Today is Annakuta, the worship of Govardhana, commemorating Krsna lifting Govardhana Hill.
However, I won’t speak about the actual pastime, but the unique position of Govardhana Hill.
We have been discussing about Radha-kunda because our Upadesamrta has been printed this
year and that is where Upadesamrta ultimately takes us. But this recalls something else – in the
course of this whole Vrndavana experience there is what is called siddha-pranali. Along with
siddha-pranali there is the asta-kaliya-lila. This translates into the eightfold pastimes of Krsna
that are performed for twenty-four hours beginning to end. These are the full-fledged pastimes of
Krsna. It is mentioned in some sastras that one should meditate upon the asta-kaliya-lila and this
is also supported by our acaryas and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also supports this.
Therefore it became the practice in his mission – which is very important for us because we are
coming out of his mission, we are not something born on the ground somewhere. We grew off
another branch and we draw the life of our existence from the same tree, the same root, and the
same trunk. It is very important to know where we come from and what is the standard of our
previous acaryas. So Sarasvati Thakura recommended meditation on the asta-kaliya-lila, the
45
eightfold pastimes of Krsna, and much to everyone’s surprise, they heard that this meditation
was to be performed every day during Karttika.

In the contemporary world of Vaisnavism there is much controversy, where some people are
prone to delve into the details of, not only the common pastimes such as Krsna taking breakfast
and walking out to the fields with the cows, but also the details of the madhurya-rasa in the
minutest detail. Then there is another section of devotees that say that we should not do that. It is
been pointed out that Sarasvati Thakura encouraged this meditation on the asta-kaliya-lila and
during his time songs were sung according to the eightfold pastimes every day during Karttika in
the Gaudiya Matha, and they still do. But what Srila Sridhara Maharaja called the ‘sentiment-
mongers’ haven’t taken the trouble to find out is that meditation on the asta-kaliya-lila is simply
singing Krsna’s Names which pertain to that lila. There was no conversation about that lila and
no details were spoken of. Their meditation was through nama, through the Name of Krsna and
that was related to the Siksastakam of Mahaprabhu. There were no detailed descriptions given in
the mission of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada. No such things were allowed, particularly of
the madhurya-rasa and even vatsalya-rasa. He never allowed this and he never allowed class to
be given from the Tenth Canto of Bhagavatam.

Krsna’s pastimes are meditated upon through His Name. This is the way of Mahaprabhu; this is
the way of the Gaudiya Matha; this is the way of all our previous acaryas; this is the way of
Krsna Dasa Kaviraja Gosvami and so forth. There are more detailed descriptions and these are in
books that are bona-fide books, and these are to be read – like the Tenth Canto. I did not say that
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta did not allow anyone to read the Tenth Canto. Certainly he didn’t give it to
the beginners – Krsna’s higher lilas and so forth. What he didn’t allow was for devotees to enter
into discussions about it – it can be heard and it can be read but it should be considered to be an
advanced topic and one has to pass so many lower stages first. For example, you should not pass
Second Canto if you are not absolutely free from sex desire. This is written in the purports of the
acaryas. Otherwise you will carry something with you that is not good as you go forward. Srila
Prabhupada also says in his writings that you should not go past any particular verse that you do
not understand. If you do not understand a verse, that is where you stop until you understand it,
by the help of your guru, or another godbrother, or another sastra – you don’t just continue
reading.

Of course, there are combinations of these things. Each one of them is not absolute. There are
sometimes discussions about Krsna’s pastimes, but it is found that people tend to wish to discuss
the intimate love pastimes of Krsna and not the asura-vadha pastimes, the pastimes when Krsna
kills the demons. Once some men in Jagannatha Puri came to see Prabhupada to get his blessings
to stage a drama based on rasa-lila and they were from a classical Oriyan dance troupe – very
experienced and very rigorous in the classical form of Odissi style dance. So they came very
humbly when Prabhupada was staying for a couple of weeks in Puri back in 1976. Prabhupada
said, “I cannot give my blessings.” And if you ever read that transcript, he says “No” about fifty
times – “No, no, no!” He refuses to give his blessings for a drama about the rasa-lila. He says
that, “The common people will misunderstand.” Now that is another point of discussions – what
is common? That may include us also in the sense that we may have a common understanding
because we are not so surrendered – there is a lot of ‘common’ living in us also. Then these
gentlemen said, “We will do everything according to sastra.”

46
He said, “No!” He kept saying, “No, no, no – I cannot give my blessings for such a project.” It is
one of the most amazing transcripts of Srila Prabhupada I have ever read.

Then they say, “Ok – we will do vatsalya-lila, Mother Yasoda.”

“NO!” He said. “No, they will think Krsna is an ordinary baby and she is an ordinary
mother.”Not even that – he would not give a blessing.

They were stumped. “What can we do?”

He said, “Bhagavad-gita – Kuruksetra!”

They were confused – “Bhagavad-gita? Kuruksetra? Nothing to enjoy there!” The real truth
came out. They didn’t say it but that was what they were thinking.

It is mentioned that, “One should understand the transcendental nature of Krsna,” and everybody
says, “Got it! Saccidananda-vigraha!” Well, if that were the only answer then there wouldn’t be
any restrictions. It is very easy simply to say something like that. To actually understand the
transcendental nature of Krsna is not just simply repeating something we read somewhere. It is
much, much more than that. But when that is said, everybody says, “Got it! I’m qualified – I
have my ticket now!” Then they rush in. What they don’t understand about Krsna’s
transcendental nature is that Krsna’s dancing is not for your pleasure. The seed of being an
enjoyer is so deeply rooted within us, and we should hate it because it keeps us from loving God.
It is a point of selfishness. It may be very small, but that infection affects our relationship with
God. At the beginning it sounds almost cruel to us to say that ‘enjoyment is bad,’ but enjoyment
is the root cause of suffering in the material world. Enjoyment seems great, you have a good time
but we do that at the cost of somebody or something.

The rasa-lila is on the highest platform of Krsna’s spiritual enjoyment and He is not doing that
to please your material senses at the level of what you might watch at the local cinema. It is not
for our pleasure. Therefore, when the acaryas write, “One should understand the transcendental
nature of Krsna,” that is in fact saying that, “In your relationship with Krsna, you are simply the
servant and He is the Absolute Enjoyer.” That which is the highest and most valuable is to be
protected. How is that protected? By not engaging in that without qualification. Would you
engage in a sword-fight with razor sharp swords if you had no idea about what you were doing?
If you did, you must be crazy because you would end up being hacked to pieces. We must deal
with those things that are potentially harmful with great care.

Of course, the rasa-lila is not harmful, raganuga-bhakti is not harmful – what is harmful is our
inability to deal with these subjects properly. Rather than being seen as a respectful onlooker
whose heart is full of reverence, anticipation and love, you may be seen as an intruder who is
trying to get some enjoyment out of this, and when that happens you are pushed back and tagged.
“Beware of this person – he has not listened to all the acaryas, who over the ages have given
some caution about these things and have dedicated their lives to showing him the right path. He
has ignored those warnings and is running down the wrong path.” Srila Sridhara Maharaja says

47
that then they will mark you as suspect. Then it will be even more difficult to prove yourself
again.

So, our mediation on the asta-kaliya-lila in our line is through the Name that represents that lila
One of those Names is Damodara. We are not to go too much into discussion on these matters,
and in some cases we should not discuss anything about these things. Some discussion may be
there – but not in public for two or three hundred people! How can the highest thing that has ever
manifest in the theological world and in the history of humanity be out there for everybody?
Even if you put it out there, most people don’t understand it. This is the case, not just in spiritual
science, but even in material science – the common people cannot understand advanced
mathematics and quantum theory. We see sometimes that in a documentary they may give a
small synopsis and state that, “scientists have discovered wormholes in the universe”. But most
people don’t really understand what a ‘wormhole’ is – it isn’t one of those things you find in an
apple. If the scientists really try to explain what a ‘wormhole’ is using scientific jargon, then
most people can’t understand. They get bored and think, “Hmmm…I think I’ll watch that repeat
of ‘I love Lucy’ or something!” Spiritual science is also like that – the highest things are not
meant for the masses. If you want to study and understand the foundation of something, you may
do that. These things are there, but only for a limited circle and not for public domain.

Govardhana Hill and Radha-kunda are very much in everyone’s mind at this time because these
places are host to Krsna’s pastimes. Many of Krsna’s pastimes take place at Govardhana and
Radha-kunda. Radha-kunda is considered to be non-different from Srimati Radharani, and we
were discussing recently how Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, our Srila Prabhupada, Srila Sridhara
Maharaja and many other great personalities of the past never took bath there. They only put a
few drops of water upon their heads in order to set the example that a bath in Radha-kunda is not
a physical bath – it is a spiritual bath and you are supposed to bathe there with your spiritual
body. That stage is called siddha-deha. Even those that have reached that stage often do not take
bath at Radha-kunda in order to set the example for the common people.

Nowadays the fashion is to buy land in Radha-kunda. One devotee bought land in Radha-kunda
thirty years ago and had the keys to a small hut there. Prabhupada heard about that and was
absolutely furious and that devotee never returned to that property for the rest of his life. Many
years later, he tried to give the land to Govinda Maharaja, but Govinda Maharaja told him, “No,
no – we cannot live at Radha-kunda. We can live at Govardhana.” Now we hear of so many
people buying land and living at Radha-kunda. Even one devotee has written a book and is
propagating how one must take bath at Radha-kunda. “Oh, Prabhupada said don’t take bath, but
that was long back – you can take a reverential bath.” So we recently took a survey and found
out that basically some of the Sahajiyas take bath at Radha-kunda, barren village women take
bath at Radha-kunda hoping to get Radharani’s blessings to give birth to children, and two
deviant groups of our own parampara take bath there. All the other groups don’t take bath at
Radha-kunda. When we told some disciples of Srila Sridhara Maharaja about the devotees who
bathe in Radha-kunda and swim in Radha-kunda, they were shocked because the parampara
standard is three drops of water upon your head with great reverence. You are not to touch
Radha-kunda with your feet. Your shaggy backside, armpit hairs and grizzly beard do not belong
in Radha-kunda!

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Srila Puri Maharaja gave a warning many times before he left this world, and I was present two
or three times when he said it. He said, “The tendency for deviation wants to creep into the
sampradaya. You must preach against those deviations and not allow this. It is our duty to
protect the sampradaya and not allow it to be infiltrated by deceptive practices. ” Taking bath in
Radha-kunda is one of them.

Of course, many of us have made that mistake in the past due to misguidance. In 1976 some
devotees dived into Radha-kunda one day and they were doing back-flips off the steps and it was
crazy. I was in one corner chanting and one devotee came leaping over me and landed in the
water. One devotee almost drowned there and they had to pull him out. It was chaos. The next
morning the message came – somebody had told Prabhupada what had happened and he said,
“You have kicked Radharani on the head! This is a great offence.” The he clearly said, “ I don’t
want anyone to bathe in Radha-kunda again.” That went on for about five years then somebody
thought, “That’s old school – we can move ahead now because we know you should do it
respectfully.” Certainly bathing respectfully is better than skydiving into Radha-kunda.
However, the fact is that if you just look into what is the example of our previous acaryas, you
can understand that our sampradaya keeps great respect for those things that are most sacred. Of
all the lila-sthalis, Radha-kunda is given the most reverence. Next is Govardhana.

Govardhana is non-different from Krsna, and this is seen in the pastime itself when Krsna
becomes Govardhana. Thousands of years later when Madhavendra Puri conducted the Annakuta
festival – which went on for a year – many things were going on, brahmanas were chanting
mantras, kirtana was happening, but Madhavendra Puri saw that the Deity of Krsna was actually
eating. Nobody else could see this. Similarly, it could be seen that when the Vrajavasis made
their offerings to Govardhana, Krsna was non-different from Govardhana Hill. At the same time,
in the greater lila of Krsna, Govardhana Hill is a santa-rasa bhakta. The trees, the rivers, the
hills – all these things are in santa-rasa. Govardhana Hill is a santa-rasa bhakta, but Krsna
becomes Govardhana. Govardhana holds a very unique position and similarly, other personalities
hold an equally unique position – the guru being one of them. The guru is a jiva but he is not to
be thought of as jiva-tattva. He is to be thought of as guru-tattva, as Krsna’s representative. He is
simultaneously one and different. Govardhana is both Krsna and a devotee of Krsna. Radha-
kunda is non-different from Radharani. But we do not say that Radha-kunda is Radharani and a
devotee of Radharani – you cannot find any prayer that says that Radha-kunda is a devotee. But
Govardhana is non-different from Krsna and also a devotee. Srila Sridhara Maharaja has
explained that Govardhana is a santa-rasa bhakta.

This brings us to the worship of Govardhana and the correct way of worshipping Govardhana.
That is something that we get form our prayojana-acarya. Prayojana means ‘perfection,’ and the
prayojana-acarya is he who represents perfection. That is Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami – but he is
not the head of the sampradaya. The head of the sampradaya is Rupa Gosvami, and Raghunatha
Dasa has showed what is traceable in Rupa Gosvami’s works. He makes that very, very clear. If
you really want to know the value of a good teacher, you should study his students. A teacher
may know something, but he may not have the ability to pass it on to others. In teaching, he may
have a limitation. He cannot pass that in to others. If he cannot pass that on to others, why would
you want him as a teacher? I point this out to the Rtviks – they claim that nobody attained any
level of purity or perfection; only Prabhupada had it. He couldn’t give Krsna consciousness in its

49
entirety to anybody and all of the five thousand disciples that tried failed. Therefore it’s quite
arrogant to even try – the last five thousand people failed dismally, but you are going to do it?
You must think you’re Rambo or Hercules! Five thousand people have tried to take this
examination and all failed. Why would you want to go to a school where nobody ever graduated,
nobody ever got a job and nobody ever got any respect for going to that school in the first place?
If you were smart, you would first examine the school, see what kind of degrees they give and
where the graduates go. You wouldn’t want to go to a school that doesn’t even give you a
certificate – where you just sit there without learning anything and you never graduate. So the
Rtviks say nobody succeeded – I ask, “What is success? Success means to become a pure
devotee and to develop love of God. If nobody’s done that, then it doesn’t exist. Then there’s a
defect in Prabhupada because that he couldn’t give it to anybody by any means – even by
causeless mercy. If you analyze the rtvik philosophy it is a horrific offence against Srila
Prabhupada. It’s saying that he was not qualified. He had no causeless mercy and it suggests that
he was an inadequate teacher because nobody understood what he was teaching. Then the Rtviks
turn to the students and say that they are all a bunch of buffoons because they were all miserable
failures. Then that reflects back to Prabhupada and ultimately to Krsna because He only sent
Prabhupada miserable buffoons. Somebody once said that to Prabhupada about Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta. They asked, “Are all your godbrothers rascals?” and Prabhupada on the spot
became so angry that he swung his cane and stopped it right in front of that persons face and
said, “My Guru Maharaja did not initiate rascals! You cannot even think a bad thought about my
godbrothers.” If you are saying that the guru’s disciples are all rascals, fools and failures, then
also reflects on the position of the guru. There is one letter where Prabhupada wrote that, “They
will judge me by you.”

In the ultimate examination, the teacher is the student. Everyone knows the position of
Vyasadeva as the literary incarnation of Godhead. He has so many disciples and his guru is
Narada Muni – but everybody sits in front of Sukadeva. There, Vyasa is a student. He has come
there to hear. It was Krsna’s arrangement. The point is that nobody was complaining, “Why are
we hearing from Sukadeva? His guru and his guru’s guru are here today! Why are we listening to
a sixteen year old? Narada, a disciple of Brahma, is here. We have Vyasa, his disciple. Why are
we listening to a kid?” No – because they knew that the real proof of anything that Narada or
Vyasa had to be present within the disciple. This was the test. The test comes to the disciple to
represent the guru. We can’t just say, “Oh, my guru is everything so I can’t do anything!” That is
a copout. That is not acceptable and it is not a proper glorification of guru.

Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami represents that which is within Rupa Gosvami. Rupa Gosvami is
considered to be the abhidheya-acarya – the middle plane, not the perfect plane. Perfection is in
him, but he dedicates himself to the plane of engagement. Abhidheya means practical service
engagement. That is so important to us. Sanatana Gosvami, who Rupa considered to be his guru,
is the sambandha-acarya. Sambandha means the ABCs – what is the basic approach. Rupa
Gosvami takes it from there to proper engagement and the fruit of the perfection of bhakti is
shown in Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami and he takes us to Radha-kunda. His prayers explain the
concept of radha-dasyam, with such a desperate plea for the mercy of Radharani that he says
that, “Even Krsna is of no use. What is the use of Govardhana? What is the use of Vrndavana?
What is the use of anything without Your blessing? Without your mercy I am finished! Without
You, none of these things are of any use.” That is a very intense desire for the mercy of

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Radharani. This is the standard of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. We are trying to cultivate
such an intense desire by serving those who already have it. Dasa Gosvami brings this out and he
is serving who? Rupa Gosvami, who already has it.

It just so happens that Mahaprabhu gave Raghunatha Dasa a Govardhana-sila and a gunja-mala.
This is in the Caitanya-caritamrta. There is a funny mistake in that section. The devotees who
were doing the verse translations for Prabhupada, translated gunja-mala as “small conch shells.”
Most devotees don’t know that Prabhupada didn’t translate the verses – that was done by Nitai,
Jaya Saci and a few others. There was a marathon and there was no time to do any research by
calling somebody in India. There was no internet in those days and you could only mail a letter
to ask somebody. I think that mistake is still there. Gunja are red, white and black berries. These
berries are deadly poison also. Don’t ever eat one as maha-prasadam. They attack your
respiratory system and it can kill you. In fact, there is an international ban from the early 1900’s
on this berry and any jewelry made from it because the Jesuits made rosaries from the bigger
berries and sent them to foreign countries. What happens is that if you pierce the bead with a
needle and you prick your finger, if the sap enters your blood stream that is enough to kill you.
Apparently a few nuns mysteriously died and they finally figured it out. You can find this plant
listed amongst poisonous plants in Hawaii and some other places. Goats can eat it and they are
unaffected. If you boil it in milk, then apparently you can eat it – but I’ve never tried and I don’t
recommend it. But it is very interesting because this berry represents Radharani. It is a very
subtle thing. And in the eternal lila of Krsna, the Gopis make jewelry from gunja for Krsna. It is
said in the sastras that He is decorated with ornaments made from gunja berries.

Mahaprabhu gave Raghunatha Dasa a sila from Govardhana, this little necklace and some
instructions how to worship Govardhana. So as time went on, Raghunatha Dasa understood
several things from this – one thing he understood was that the gunja-mala represented
Radharani. It is not directly Radharani. Radha-kunda is directly Radharani – it is a mystical pond
that is non-different from the most mystical Deity of devotion, Radharani. The pond and the
Deity of Radharani are the same. The gunja-mala is not Radharani. It is a representation of
Radharani. It is just as the guru represents Krsna, but He is not directly Krsna.

Raghunatha Dasa also understood that Govardhana is Krsna, so the worship of Govardhana in
our parampara must be performed with this mala. Then it is the worship of Radha and Krsna. If
the mala is not there, then Radharani is not there and the worship is not correct according to how
it was given by Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

One more thing Raghunatha Dasa realized was that when Mahaprabhu gave him the sila He was
telling him that his eternal place of residence was at Govardhana and that his service should be
performed at Radha-kunda. You should remember these two things – his place of residence was
at Govardhana, his place of service was at Radha-kunda and you read various statements of our
contemporary acaryas of the 20th century, this will begin to resonate with what you read. This
brings us again to the original point we began with about siddha-pranali.

Out in the world, siddha-pranali generally means that the guru sits you down and gives you eka-
dasa-bhava. He tells you which village you live in eternity; he tells you what group of servitors
you belong to; he tells you your spiritual name in eternity – eleven points of your eternal identity.

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Then he gives you a letter. So they say that he knows all these things so he’s giving these things
to you. In other words, he’s ahead of you. He’s already in eternal lila so he knows who you are.
This suggests that your spiritual identity is eternally fixed, because if you haven’t got there yet,
how would the guru know? Now you would think that the guru would only disclose such high
things after some time – not after three days! But that is what happens. You can go out there and
get yourself this list, a letter (diksa-patra) and eka-dasa-bhava in three days. Three days if you
have a little cash – otherwise you have to hang around and do some floor cleaning until you tell
the guru, “Oh, my visa’s running out. I have to get back to Germany. Could I get that now?”
Then you get it and you go. Of course, we don’t get such a thing. When such people ask me,
“Did you get siddha-pranali?”

I tell them, “Yes. Did you?”

They say, “Oh yeah! So what’s your siddha-pranali?”

Then I tell them, “I don’t think you could understand.”

But you will understand if you are a sharp listener. Where is your home? I just told you – in
Gaudiya Vaisnavism, your eternal home is Govardhana, your group leader is Rupa Gosvami,
Rupa-manjari. That is the camp you belong to. And there are a few other things of the nature of
devotional service that come to you. Then other things will be left to your realization. But they
are given. Out of the eleven things in eka-dasa-bhava, at least four things are already there. Just
understand them and cultivate that meditation and the other things may come when you are fully
liberated and you are ready to go there and perform your eternal service. But getting it all on one
big list on a piece of paper after three days, three weeks, six weeks etc. and then traipsing off
somewhere? One person that we happen to know who went this way was told he was a peacock.
Some devotees happened to walk past his room and they heard him imitating the noise of a
peacock. They looked inside his room and he was moving around like a peacock, flapping his
arms and squawking. Later, another Sahajiya said, “That is ridiculous! There are no peacocks in
our sampradaya!” The whole thing was ludicrous. But all those people who we know in current
times that went to that side, gave it up, went back to school, became professors, got a reputable
job and did something very ordinary in the world.

We could parallel that with an example from the Bible – it is said that God would speak to King
Solomon. But somehow Solomon just couldn’t get it together – he kept building pagan temples.
How many times does God have to talk to you before you get serious? If God Himself appears
with angels in the sky and trumpets and tells you to quit smoking – would you try and sneak out
the next morning for a quick smoke? You can’t find the will to stop smoking when God Himself
is talking to you? No, when God talks to you, you are done with this world. You are on the fast
track to success. It’s the same case with siddha-pranali – the guru reveals to you something that
is supposed to be an absolute reality and then you just shelve it and go back and get a degree in
Sanskrit or Indology? How is that possible? That suggests to me that whatever he gave wasn’t
real. It is not a meditation that becomes real. Somebody may argue, “Well, it is. It would have
been real if they had stuck with it.” But why isn’t anyone sticking with it? And if you came in
contact with such a high person who knows who you are in eternity, how can you just shelve it
so easily? One may think that is the potency of maya. And I agree – the whole thing is maya! His

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giving it to you, you meditating upon it, you giving it up – it’s all maya. I don’t find that
recommended by any of our acaryas. Meditation on Krsna’s pastimes, particularly through the
Holy Name, yes. Jiva Gosvami wrote his Maha-mantrartha Dipika where he describes Radha
and Krsna’s pastimes through the maha-mantra, Bhaktivinoda has also done this. You don’t
even need to go to all the songs where there is a variety of Names – everything is already there in
the maha-mantra. In Bhajana-rahasya, the whole lila of Krsna is packed in the maha-mantra,
and Bhaktivinoda has separated that and told us what is what. But we are not satisfied. We want
to know more, but we are not fit for the thing we want to know. The ‘knowing’ propensity itself
is a defect. Knowledge is good up to a point. After that, “I want to know, I want to know” is not
good. It has to become, “I want to serve, I want to serve, I want to serve.”

Dasa Gosvami realizes this through the correct worship of Govardhana with gunja-mala. He
realizes his eternal place of residence and he is the prayojana-acarya, therefore it is marked. It is
also marked in this world where we live that praudha-maya covers the eternal dhama. We don’t
see that. We only see what is visible with the eye. It is not Loi Bazaar, it is not the cheap clothes;
it is not the rickshaw-wallahs; it is not the shopkeepers with Prabhupada’s photos hanging in
their shops that actually enthuse us spiritually. There is nothing that you can see with the naked
eye except the Deity that will do that. It is what is beneath all of this that is seeping up which you
cannot see – the eternal Vrndavana. That is enthusing you. But Prabhupada writes that when the
liberated souls come to Vrndavana they do not feel enthused. They feel separation from the Lord.
But we come here from the west and we feel enthused. Prabhupada says that there is
contamination out there, even while preaching. When we come to Vrndavana we want to be part
of the big kirtanas, take lots of prasadam, meet our old friends etc. but this is all very secondary
in regards to why we are here and what is to be gained here. What is to be gained here is coming
from a much deeper platform, and although we cannot see it, that is what is nurturing our soul. It
is on the substratum. Prabhupada wrote about the Radha-Damodara Temple that he resides here
eternally, Rupa Gosvami is here eternally, Jiva Gosvami is here eternally – “All the great
acaryas are here eternally and whomever stays here must endeavor to associate with them and
learn from them.”

That doesn’t mean that you are going to see Rupa Gosvami walking around here. But
Prabhupada is saying that they are here and you must learn from them here – this is not a visual
thing; it is on the mystical side. Many people here will claim, “When I chant I see Krsna and the
cows etc” We tell them, “Yes, you keep chanting and that will go away.” If they are seeing
Krsna, Srila Sridhara Maharaja says, “That is not the Krsna we are looking for. We don’t know
which one they saw, but that is not the one we are looking for.” The common villager is having
krsna-darsana, but that is not the Krsna we are looking for. The one we are looking for is much
deeper and harder to find. He is much more rare than that. The disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
were not easily carried away by anything and, in one sense, they were not appreciated by
everyone.

Many devotees from various missions would come for the darsana, guidance or shelter of Srila
Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja. Once, one of our godbrothers from a big institution who was a
GBC and guru went to see Srila Puri Maharaja who was about one hundred years old at the time.
He came and told him that he was having trouble meditating on his gayatri and when he chanted

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he was not able to concentrate. He asked, “Can you give me advice so that I can concentrate
properly again?”

Srila Puri Maharaja replied, “Yes, it’s easy. Stop initiating and stop installing temple Deities –
this is distracting you.”

Now in that devotee’s world, that was like being told to give up bhakti-yoga. He was very
respectful and he left, but he didn’t follow that whatsoever. He didn’t understand that this person
was not just playing with his mind; he was not against him. He knew that what he was doing was
not good for his own devotion. He was doing all these things in the name of creating neophyte
devotees who will remain neophytes forever and it was bringing him down to their level. This is
not service to Mahaprabhu, so stop this! Mahaprabhu says, na janam – this means do not be so
eager to make disciples. Don’t run after this. Prabhupada once wrote that, “Simply increasing the
number of neophytes is not service to guru. This is not real guru-puja.” He wrote a poem here at
Radha-Damodara Temple and made a scathing comment about just increasing the numbers of
neophytes. But someone may say, “He made five thousand disciples!” He wasn’t increasing the
numbers of neophytes. We had five classes a day! We went out on hari-nama eight to twelve
hours a day in the street – there was training, training, training, training…you couldn’t even take
initiation unless you lived in the temple. Now you can take initiation when you are three years
old! You can’t read, you can’t do anything! You have a house with no altar, there’s no class, and
you wake up every day at eight O’clock – no problem! You can get initiated. That is increasing
the numbers of neophytes and whoever does that, their own bhakti will be disturbed little by little
and it may even be unperceivable to them. So this man perceived it and went to Srila Puri
Maharaja and told him, “What should I do to become more focused?” And he was told, “Stop
initiating and stop installing Deities.” He couldn’t accept that. He didn’t leave the devotional
path but he’s probably not doing as well as he could have been.

The disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta stood like lighthouses for the truth and they did not want
to compromise or minimize the truth for the sake of wealth, for the sake of gaining many
followers or for the sake of spreading the mission. They wouldn’t do that. They preached a
standard and a qualification. At the same time they were very kind, very generous, very merciful,
very gracious but they would not give you anything that would do you ultimate harm. It was
much more different than it is today, In the name of being merciful, we may get something that
will actually put us in harms way because we are not fit to receive such a high thing.

Srila Sridhara Maharaja was a guardian. He considered himself as a guardian at the door. He
said. “I have been given the position of a gatekeeper, but I am not giving visa to everyone.” He
was scrutinizing. That is our great blessing that he is doing that. He is not allowing us to go
forward unless we have the right conception and the right attitude and we have developed the
right qualification. That is what happens when we place ourselves under the guidance of a siksa-
guru. He may stop us right where we are.

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Sri Lalita-devi and Srimati Radharani

Svarupa-damodara is the constant companion of Mahaprabhu in Puri. He is a scholar of the

highest class and also a very good singer. Without consideration of his elevated social position,
he will perform the simplest service. Svarupa-damodara is there always, everywhere with
Mahaprabhu. When Mahaprabhu was lost, the devotees inquired after Him the whole night and
Svarupa-damodara was there with a lantern, moving along the seashore, looking for Him. In
krsna-lila Svarupa-damodara is Lalita-devi.

yam kam api vraja-kule vrsabhanu-jayah

preksya sva-paksa-padavim anurudhyamanam
sadyas tad ista-ghananena krtarthayantim
devim gunaih su-lalitam lalitam namami

"I offer my respects to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi. If Lalita meets any person in Vraja and
perceives that they are favorable towards Srimati Radharani, she immediately requests Radharani
to accept that person in Her camp. Radharani obeys Lalita and fulfills the desires of such a
fortunate person." (Lalita-pranama Stotra 7)

Whoever Lalita-devi meets in Vraja-dhama, she requests them to join her own party. And when
they come, “Yes, come with me.” At once she is giving admission. “Come! Join the service of
Radharani.” She is canvassing to look after the interests of Radharani. Such intense attention to
the service of Radharani is never found anywhere else. Lalita-devi sometimes even chastises
Krsna boldly. She takes risks by reproaching Krsna, “You do not know the dignity of my
Mistress.”

Sometimes Radharani feels ashamed within Her mind. She thinks, “What does He say about
Me?” Lalita-devi replies, “This shame is very bad. You just sit quietly. You do not know Your
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own interest. I know what is Your interest, Your position. I cannot tolerate that Your dignity
should be minimized in any way, ever.” That is the spirit of Lalita-devi. Rupa Gosvami has
composed one stanza:

radha-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharma-bindu-
nirmanchanopakarani-krta-deha-laksam
uttunga-sauhrda-visesa-bharat pragalbham
devim gunaih su-lalitam lalitam namami

"I offer respects to charming and virtuous Lalita-devi, who worships the perspiration from Sri Sri
Radha-Mukunda's feet, and who, out of great love, is very bold and agressive." (Lalita-pranama
Stotra 1)

Rupa Gosvami has composed a song in praise of Lalita-devi – how she is, the first attendant of
Radharani. Radha-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharma – Lalita-devi is a little aggressive in nature,
pushing and meddling in the affairs which are connected with Sri Radha and Krsna. She
interferes with anything and everything in connection with Radha and Krsna, thinking that the
affairs connecting Them are her responsibility. She is very aggressive in nature and also
intolerant. But Rupa Gosvami has justified her character. How? Radha-mukunda-pada-
sambhava-gharma-bindu-nirmanchanopakarani-krta-deha-laksam. What is the high standard of
her love and sacrifice for Radha and Krsna? He says that if she finds even a drop of sweat on the
foot of either Radharani or Krsna, she will come as if with millions of bodies. With such
eagerness she will jump to remove that drop of sweat. Lalita-devi feels such affection for the
Divine Couple.

At the source of her aggression and interference in the affairs of Radha and Krsna we find a great
and deep affection. This justifies all her activities as the leader accepted by the associates of
Radha-Krsna. She always veers towards that Couple with such a standard. She can’t tolerate a
drop of sweat on the foot of the Divine Damsel. On that level she works, as if with millions of
bodies she wants to correct it, to remove that drop of sweat. She can’t tolerate any trouble, not
the least trouble. Uttunga-sauhrda-visesa-bharat pragalbham – she is very aggressive and
talkative, and goes forward to do anything and everything as if she is mad with leadership. But at
the source is her great concern for Them. This justification is there.

Sometimes she chastises Radharani Herself, “You do not know how to behave with Krsna. I will
teach You what to do. Don’t make Yourself available to Krsna so cheaply. You must be careful
of Your own dignity.” Though a little younger, still Lalita takes the position as caretaker of
Radharani, always first to look after the cause of Radharani, to espouse the cause of Radharani.
And she is always thinking herself responsible for all the affairs concerning Them.

Sometimes she goes to chastise Krsna also, “You don’t know the dignified position, what
dignified love my friend has towards You. You undermine that. I cannot allow it.

From our mundane plane of experience it is not an understandable thing. We are creatures of the

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plane of lust. Although similar, the difference between the two is great. One is the perverted
reflection of the other, the opposite. One is prema, the highest sacrifice, and the other is this lust,
gross sense pleasure. It is like the North Pole and the South Pole, the distance is like that; just the
opposite.

We are mad with this lust, but such madness is only perverted. In the original position it is a
noble thing. It is self-forgetfulness, sacrifice, reckless sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Prime
Cause, the Autocrat whose extent cannot be calculated. It is noble. Such intensity can never by
calculated, it cannot come into our calculation here in this plane. Renunciation, liberation,
salvation, these are only the negative aspect of lust. But the positive life, the life of sacrifice, the
acme is found only there.

Lalita-devi thinks herself the guardian of Radharani. “I am Her guardian, I cannot allow anyone
to minimize this great divine love and sacrifice of Radharani.” Lalita-devi stands as guarantor,
even to Krsna, what to speak of other ordinary persons. To Krsna this is most valuable and rare;
such is Radharani’s sacrifice in love, the highest intensity and utmost dignity.

It is unthinkable, unknown and unknowable. We may only conjecture as to this ideal. But if we
think that we have obtained that position, if we think that we are the masters of that ideal, then it
is finished; we have obtained something else. It is such an inconceivable thing, it is adhoksaja. It
can never be caught by any force of our mind, or intelligence; avan manasa gocara. Its existence
transcends our mental speculation and logical considerations. But still it exists. And Lalita-devi
is of that special temperament; she has a unique importance in the lila of Krsna, as the guardian
of the lila.

There are other friends of Radharani. Some are neutral towards Krsna and Radharani, some are a
little partial towards Krsna, but Lalita-devi is cent-percent partial towards Radharani’s cause.
This is Lalita-devi. Her birthday, the day of her appearance, is just before that of Radharani.

We are told that Radharani was found floating in a lotus. Her father, Vrsabhanu Raja, was
childless. He was a gopa chief, the cowherd king, the chief cow-keeper. But he did not have any
children. Then one day he found a beautiful girl in a lotus flower on the lake. He found Her and
took Her home. The girl was very beautiful, perfect, but Her eyes did not open.

Vrsabhanu Raja had a friendship with Nanda Maharaja. Through Nanda Maharaja, Yasoda heard
that her friend Kirtida, the wife of Vrsabhanu Raja, had found a girl of exquisite beauty in a lake
somewhere, but She was blind. She went to visit her, to congratulate Kirtida. Going there,
Yasoda took Krsna with her. The ladies were talking and Krsna went up to this beautiful girl.
Suddenly She opened Her eyes and saw the boy Krsna first. The story is told like that: when She
first opened Her eyes, Radharani saw Krsna. This is lila, eternal incidents, events which are
repeated in a particular way, like a drama. One drama is repeated many times in the eternal
quarter. By Krsna’s will, some glimpse comes to the current mundane brahmanda as an
exhibition, to attract the people of this age. It was in that way. First it was the children’s union,
interchanging their vision.

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Afterwards Vrsabhanu Raja came and his queen Kirtida began to nurture the baby girl until She
was grown up. Vrsabhanudadhi nava sasi lekhe lalita-sakhi guna ramita visakhe. Vrsabhanu-
udadhi – Rupa Gosvami describes that the family of Vrsabhanu is compared to the milk ocean
and from this, the moon has arisen as Radharani. So beautiful a comparison: as the moon,
Srimati Radharani has come from the ocean of Vrsabhanu’s fortune. The fortune of Vrsabhanu is
compared with the ocean, and from there sprung up Vrsabhanu-nandini Sri Radhika.

Gradually, Radharani grew up and the time came to marry. The marriage was performed
ostentatiously. There are different angles of vision about Her marriage. Some say that one day
Lord Brahma married Radha and Krsna in a jungle. Some say that They were married according
to social customs. In different kalpas, various versions are known.

But Mahaprabhu accepted parakiya to be the highest attainment. They are not married, but each
other’s heart did not know anyone else as Their lover. Their hearts automatic connection was
full. It is not chance coincidence, but rather fulfilled a necessity. Free love, recklessly crossing
the directions and the influence of society and the scriptures, crossing the conceptions of
religious sentiment, taking so much risk for the union with Krsna, this holds the highest position.

There are two very fine points here. One is that it is very rarely possible, it is very hard to get
that favorable situation. Another is that at this stage one is taking the greatest risk possible,
without caring for anything. This is given the supreme-most position, parakiya-madhurya-rasa.
In madhurya-rasa these parakiya circumstances are necessary to increase the rasa to its fullest
and most intense capacity.

The highest intensity can be produced by such artificial dearth. If we hide the rice or wheat
underground to create a shortage of food, then food becomes very valuable. So also the dearth,
the rareness, the impossibility of union has been created in parakiya-rasa. To facilitate this
relationship, such adjustment is necessary between the two, among the Divine Couple. They are
crossing all sort of conceptions of religious sentiments. This is the highest limit. There is no
consideration of anything when They meet. At all cost, at all risk They are going to serve each
other. The intensity becomes as high as possible. It is managed by Yogamaya to raise it to the
highest level. Yogamaya manages in such a way that the union will be most fruitful and pleasing.
It is necessary to manage in such a way to maximize Their pleasure.

In vatsalya-rasa, Yasoda is arranging everything, but child Krsna does not find satisfaction there.
He is satisfied only in stealing foodstuffs. Yasoda has reserved the very finest stock to feed her
child, but He is not satisfied with this. He wants to stealthily take and to feed others also. There
He finds great satisfaction. He does not find satisfaction in the ordinary state. His mother is
calling, “Come, my boy, take Your seat here. I have kept many valuable dishes for You. I am
serving all these things. You please take.” Ordinarily Krsna does not find pleasure there; He
can’t relish it. So stealthily He will go and snatch things and throw them to the monkeys or to
some other boys. That is His boyish nature. His satisfaction does not come in the ordinary way.

In vatsalya-rasa the Lord is showing autocracy, the autocratic nature of exacting affection from
the environment. And autocratic nature is also there extracting the highest form of love from the
consort group, in madhurya-rasa. We are to understand all these things in a scientific way.

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Everything belongs to Krsna. Yasoda prepares everything for satisfying Krsna, to make Him eat,
to feed Him. But He is not satisfied to take in that way. Everything belongs to Him; He is the
enjoyer of everything, the Absolute. But still, aher iva gatih premnah svabhava – just as a snake
naturally moves in a crooked way, so the crooked movement of the waves of love is natural. We
are to approach it in this way. If we understand these relationships step by step in a scientific
way, then we’ll be able to answer any questions that may generally come. “What is the ideal of
God, that He is a debauchee? He is stealing! How can such things be adjusted with the ideal of
the holiness of God?”

Generally people will come and attack in this way. But they forget that they cannot understand;
they cannot follow that first this must be understood from the plane of sacrifice, not from the
plane of enjoyment or exploitation. It is beyond renunciation and sacrifice; it is dedication. He is
the owner and consumer of anything and everything. He can take it in any way. Everything is for
Him. And no one has been given a position to comment on this. It is eternal and irresistible; it is
the flow of the divine plane. The highest fundamental flow, the flow of the fundamental plane is
of such nature. There is no question of morality, because there is not a second party present
there. He is the only party. His movement is such. None may question. It is such by nature.

We have come to rebuke God, but who are we? What is our position that we have become
jealous of His activities, which are advaya-jnana, Absolute? We are culprits, nirmatsaranam
satam. In the beginning Veda-Vyasa says, “What I am going to say here is not meant for
malicious people, for the jealous. Such foolish, jealous and malicious people have no entrance
into this ¬ of Krsna, which I will describe. Only the sympathetic, the innocent, those who
understand His position, what He is, only they may enter.” He cannot be questioned. If we
question the Absolute movement, then He is wrong. But the absolute lila can never be wrong. It
is causeless and irresistible. It is the sweetest and the purest.

And we, jealous contrarians, will we rebuke Him? We are culpable and are to be punished for
that. The universal wave is such. He is the Autocrat. Everything is for Him. He is for Himself.
He is not accountable to any person, nor is He required to give explanations to anyone. If that
were to be the case, then His absolute characteristic would be compromised. The absolute wave
is such; it cares for none.

We are represented there. If we can appreciate this, we can have entrance there. In this way we
can have a taste of that finest quality of sweetness. We are allowed. If we can adjust, if we do
away with all jealousy and maliciousness, we will find in our hearts that it is of the nature of the
Absolute sweetness. And then we will be considered bonafide participants in that lila. We will
find that we will attain the highest ecstasy in our hearts. We are to prepare ourselves for the
absolute lila.

This is what is necessary for us. We must be open to receive the Absolute wave of sweetness that
comes to us; try to understand. Through the divine agent we can prepare ourselves to find this
plane of sweetness. This is the background of the lila of Radha-Krsna. Srimad Bhagavatam and
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave this for us, such a beautiful thing. We must be selfless to the
extreme. This is the standard of selflessness, self-effacement, self-forgetfulness, self-
surrendering. Then we will be able to participate. The universe, the characteristic, the movement,

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the sweetness of the Absolute wave, the wave of sweetness Absolute, that is irresistible. It can
never be opposed by any force. The ultimate existence of the reality is of such nature. It is not
equipoised; it is dynamic. The ecstasy, the happiness is dynamic, and its movement is in such a
way.

We can participate if we simply remove all our selfishness, crookedness, and jealous
temperament. Then we will be considered fit to connect with that most fundamental wave of
Absolute sweetness. This is the background of Radha-Govinda lila. We must prepare ourselves
in such a way if we wish to approach that highest plane of divinity. This is Vrndavana, the
characteristic of Vrndavana. Mahaprabhu and the acaryas, Bhaktivinoda Thakura and
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura came with this fact to give it to the world.

Sriya Suka

If you have been attending extensive hari-katha in recent years then you may have heard or read
the story of Radha’s parrot generally known as Sriya Suka. The story is paraphrased as follows:

One day Lord Siva was speaking the Bhagavatam for his wife Parvati to hear. As Siva spoke in
deep rapture, Parvati herself was not so attentive and began to slumber. A parrot however was
sitting nearby and he appeared to be listening to Lord Siva as he spoke. Suddenly Siva could see
that Parvati had not been listening. Then he understood that the parrot had seemed to have taken
it all in. Siva began to reflect that this ignorant bird had heard the Bhagavatam but would simply
repeat it, as parrots are prone to do and thus make a mockery of the great message of
Bhagavatam. Siva thus decided to terminate the parrot, at which time the bird took flight in great
fear with Siva in hasty pursuit. The chase was on and the parrot soon reached the asrama of
Vyasadeva where he flew into the mouth of Vatika, Vyasadeva’s wife, entering her womb. The
parrot was now safe. For sixteen years the parrot stayed within the womb of Vatika before taking
birth, becoming known as Sukadeva, the son of Vyasa, and eventually as the speaker of the
Bhagavatam to Maharaja Pariksit.

Yet we are told that the original identity of Sukadeva was that of Srimati Radharani’s pet parrot.
The story goes thus:

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“Radha’s pet parrot (suka) used to sit on Her left hand while She would affectionately feed him
the seeds from pomegranate fruit. She would pet him affectionately telling him “Bolo Krsna!
Bolo Krsna!” This parrot would then sweetly utter the Names of Krsna.“One day that suka flew
away to Nandagrama to Krsna who was sitting within a kunja (Garden) with His friend
Madhumangala and others. The suka sat on a branch of a pomegranate tree and very sweetly
began to utter Krsna’s Name, “Krsna, Krsna.” Krsna looked toward the suka and was moved.
The parrot spoke again, “Oh, I am very wretched and unfortunate. I am krtaghna, ungrateful, and
don’t recognize the good qualities of anyone. For I have left my mistress and have come here.”
He uttered this in such a pitiable manner that Krsna was both astonished and impressed. He at
once took the parrot, who was Srimati Radhika’s own, in His hand and began to fondle him.

“After Krsna’s manifest lila ended, by the order of Krsna, the parrot, to manifest Bhagavatam,
remained in this world. Later, he entered into the mouth of Vyasadeva’s wife and remained for
16 years. This Sukadeva is “ sriya suka,” the suka of Srimati Radharani.”

The first part of this story involving the parrot flying into the mouth of Vatika and taking shelter
in her womb is confirmed in the Moksa-dharma Parva of Mahabharata, Brahma-vaivarta
Purana and the Skanda Purana. Once Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was asked by a
noted pandita from Assam as to what was the origin of Sukadeva Gosvami. Sarasvati Thakura
replied as follows:

In the Puranas we find two conclusions regarding the appearance of Sukadeva. One story says
that he took the form of Suka from the arani wood after Vyasa saw the naked apsara, Ghrtaci.
The other story says that he was born from the womb of the wife of Vyasa. (Conversation with
Sri Atmarama Sastri, Assam, October 25th 1928, The Gaudiya)

These two very different accounts for an origin of Sukadeva can be understood according to
different kalpas (kalpa-bheda). In one kalpa Sukadeva appeared from the arani wood and from
another kalpa (our kalpa) he appeared from the womb of Vatika. This has also been collaborated
by Srila B.R. Sridhara Maharaja as follows:

When Mahadeva was talking about Krsna to his wife Durga (Parvati), then Durga-devi slept
while attending the talk of Mahadeva. And one bird, suka-paksi (parrot), he was hearing also,
listening. And Mahadeva was regularly, now and then, asking Parvati, “Do you hear?”

“Yes!” And the bird was continuing the answer, “Yes!”

Though Durga slept, Mahadeva was continuing. But at last Siva found out that Durga was
sleeping and the bird was answering – then he chased the bird and the bird went. Suddenly
somehow he managed to enter within the womb of a woman (Vatika). And then, by any function
(vidhata), he came out as a man. Suka was his name. (Conversation, July 10th 1982)

Part two of the story, wherein the pet parrot of Radharani flew to Nandagrama and entered the
kunja where Krsna was seated, is cited in the eighth stavaka of Ananda Vrndavana Campu by Sri
Kavi Karnapura – a very sweet and charming narration.

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Part three of the story, however, wherein Krsna orders the parrot to remain in this world and
manifest the Bhagavatam is not cited in any sastra or by any previous acarya. Part three, it
seems, is a conjecture. In other words, there is no evidence in literature or in the commentaries of
previous acaryas that Sukadeva Gosvami in krsna-lila was the pet parrot of Radharani. In this
regard we find a very interesting statement by Srila Sridhara Maharaja:

Vyaso vetti na vetti va – whatever Krsna wants to do, that is done. Sukadeva was the great
exponent of Bhagavatam, but it is not found that he is in the highest position of krsna-lila. What
he is delivering through his mouth, through tongue - so many high things have been transmitted
through his tongue, but he may not have his stand in that plane. We don't find that Sukadeva has
got his permanent position in Radha-Krsna’s lila, or in the madhurya-rasa as a particular sakhi
also.

But that what Sukadeva has given to us through his mouth, that is unfathomable…he is
delivering – akuntha-medhasa. He is going on. These things were coming through him flowing
in a natural way. What he has delivered through his nectarine tongue has no comparison in the
world ever, anywhere. But still he is considered in that way – from the general position of his
previous consideration (a brahmavadi). Jagama bhiksubhih sakam – after giving delivery to all
these things, he went away along with the beggars to nowhere. He did not care to meet
Vyasadeva, his father and guru, nor his father’s guru Narada, there in the meeting. He did not
care for that. He chose to be unseen. He came from the unseen and entered into it again...an
untraceable, solitary life. But there was his guru, parama-guru – he did not care. Hare Krsna!

So he was selected as some machine, loudspeaker…something like that. The inspiration came
only to help – that Bhagavata is above Vedanta, above jnana. The jnanis and yogis formed the
major portion of the audience, so Sukadeva was necessary. Suka-mukhad amrta-drava-
samyutam. To the audience at large, it was proved that Bhagavata is more than this non-
differentiatedness - the nirvisesavada. Sukadeva was necessary. That must come from him, Then
those fellows will have some regard. At least they won't say, "Oh, we know all these things, from
Padma Purana, from Brahma-vaivarta Purana, we have seen all those things – what is there
more?" But when colored by the brahma-jnana of Sukadeva Gosvami it was received with rapt
attention…he gave to their ears Bhagavata. (Conversation, August 20th 1982)

Sridhara Maharaja says above that:

1) Sukadeva Gosvami is not found to be in the highest position of krsna-lila.

2) That Sukadeva may not have his stand in that plane.

3) That we don't find that Sukadeva has got his permanent position in Radha-Krsna’s lila.

4) That Sukadeva came from the unseen and entered into it again.

5) That his delivery of Bhagavatam was as some machine, “a loudspeaker…something like that.”

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What Sridhara Maharaja has said about Sukadeva is so much deeper than what the shallow
thinkers are able to appreciate.

In other words, Sukadeva Gosvami did not come down from krsna-lila from a previous position
as a parrot to speak Bhagavatam as some persons have suggested. Rather, Sukadeva’s previous
position was that of Brahman realization and his ability to speak Bhagavatam was due to the
causeless mercy of Krsna and nothing else.

In Chapter 22 of Jaiva Dharma, Thakura Bhaktivinoda confirms that Sukadeva was the recipient
of the causeless mercy of Krsna:

The mercy of Krsna is of three types – vacika, alokadana and hardda. Instances where Krsna
rewards all three types of mercy are found in the scriptures. In vacika, Krsna simply promises
His devotee by word of mouth, and immediately that all-benedicting crest-jewel embodiment of
divine bliss and transcendentally willful bhakti that seeks only Krsna to serve, awakens as bhava
within his heart. An example of alokodana-krpa are the sages of Dandakaranya forest, who had
never directly seen the Supreme Lord. But as soon as they beheld the Lord, their hearts were
flooded with bhava and bhakti, simply by the mercy of the Lord. Bhava which spontaneously
sprouts within the heart, as in the case of Srila Sukadeva Gosvami, is due only to the causeless
mercy of the Lord, or hardda-krpa.

So the story of Sriya Suka seems to be a compendium of the actual story of the birth of
Sukadeva, having first entered the womb of Vatika as a parrot, from the Puranas; then combined
with a completely different story of Radha’s pet parrot from Ananda Vrndavana Campu and
concluded with a ‘rasika’ style twist.

Strangely enough, no one has been able to put forward any evidence, either sastric or from
previous acaryas, to prove that Sukadeva Gosvami’s identity in krsna-lila was that of Radha’s
pet parrot or that Sukadeva has any standing in krsna-lila. To the contrary, we found that in more
than 75% of the cases where we approached the heads of various Sahajiya communities in
Vrndavana for verification of the third part of the story, they replied that it was conjecture by
someone trying to stand out as a rasika. This was strange indeed coming from the Sahajiyas.

As it turns out, many members of today’s Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya (particularly among
western branches) are the most prone to tell the story of “Sriya Suka/Radha’s Parrot” in their
hari-katha. This is especially true among those who are sentimentalists and gate-crashers of the
highest lila of Krsna. True and sad as it may be, such are the attempts of the ignorant spurred on
by ignoble leaders claiming to be Vaisnavas of the highest order. Some persons have deviated
even further and gone so far as to conjecture that Sukadeva Gosvami was actually a manjari in
krsna-lila, surpassing even the position of Radha’s parrot. But such conjectures are a shabby
substitute for sastric truth.

Someone may ask, “What difference does it make even if some of the story is conjecture? It is
still sweet anyway!” The answer is that such conjectures are bitter and distasteful like neemboli
(the fruit of the Neem tree) to those whose hearts are truly filled with the nectar of krsna-prema.

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Even a little conjecture of the truth spoils the whole thing. It becomes rasabhasa – rasa with
artificial sweetener.

Some contemporary Vaisnavas are so confused regarding higher and lower topics, that they
prefer the devotion of Sukadeva over that of great personalities such as Prahlada Maharaja and
Advaita Acarya, saying that such personalities cannot give krsna-prema. They speak of krsna-
prema as though it were a handout from the public welfare services and all one need do is just
take it (take initiation from the rasika). This understanding is indeed pitiful. Such a mentality
springs from the deepest ignorance born of “amara guru jagat-guru” and smacks of
pigheadedness and false egotism.

Mahaprabhu Himself became very angry when Srivasa Pandita tried to compare Advaita Acarya
with Sukadeva. Mahaprabhu rebuked Srivasa with a slap and told him that Sukadeva was a mere
infant compared to Advaita who had the deepest connection with caitanya-lila. The story appears
in Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda 9.282-296 as follows:

The Lord said, “O Srivasa, tell Me what type of Vaisnava do you think Advaita Prabhu is.”

Srivasa Pandita thought for a while and finally said, “I consider Him to be similar to Sukadeva or
Prahlada.”

Upon hearing the comparison of Advaita with Prahlada and Sukadeva, the Lord became angry
and hit Srivasa.

Just as an affectionate father beats his son in order to teach him, similarly the Lord gave a slap to
Srivasa.

“What did you say? What did you say, Pandita Srivasa? You are comparing My Nada (Advaita)
with Sukadeva or Prahlada!

“You may claim that Sukadeva is fully liberated, but compared to Nada, he is like a child.

“How dare you say such a thing about My Nada? O Srivasa, today you have put Me in great
distress.”

Saying this, the Lord in an angry mood grabbed a stick in His hand and ran after Srivasa to hit
him. Sri Advaita Acarya then stood up and gently caught hold of the Lord's hand.

“O Lord, a father teaches his sons out of compassion. So who in the three worlds is a suitable
candidate for Your anger?”

“Hearing the words of Advaita Acarya, the Lord gave up His anger and in ecstasy began to
profusely glorify Advaita.

The Lord said, “Since all of you are just like My children, My anger has now dissipated.

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“Who can understand the glories of Nada? It was He who awakened Me from sleep and called
Me here.

The Lord said, “O Srivasa, is this how you show respect to My Nada?

“Suka and others are like His children. You should know that they are all junior to Nada.”

Our conclusion is as Srila Sridhara Maharaja and others have stated – that Sukadeva Gosvami
has no permanent position in krsna-lila and that he was empowered by the causeless mercy of
Krsna to speak Srimad Bhagavatam.

I am writing this essay on Sriya Suka to set straight the record because I too have told this
conjectured story in the past as though it were true thru and thru. To err is human, but to admit
one’s mistakes and to be rectified with the proper understanding is to make real advancement. To
remain in ignorance – even if one thinks that such ignorance is bliss – is to continue on the path
of doom!

Crows Nest of Misconception

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Question: What is your opinion of Hari Sauri's account of Srila Prabhupada's final meeting with
Srila Sridhara Maharaja:

Answer: I was recently alerted to these posts by two members of Iskcon, an active preacher in
the household asrama and a member of the renounced order. The posts appeared on a popular
Iskcon blog entitled Vaisnava Blog Feeds. These posts were a step above many of the things that
Iskcon members have written and said about Srila Sridhara Maharaja in the past in that they
acknowledged Prabhupada's respect and affection for Srila Sridhara Maharaja. The description of
the final meeting of Srila Sridhara Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada was for the most part
innocuous, although Hari Sauri's penchant for assuming that he can read people's minds and an
annoying lapse in Vaisnava etiquette in his frequent references to Srila Sridhara Maharaja, a
highly respected sannyasi and founder-acarya, as "Sridhara" did sully the description.

Unfortunately, the first post takes a sharp turn for the worse towards the end. There Hari Sauri's
personal insights drift into a competitive spirit that borders on offensive thinking as to how
Prabhupada is more spiritually advanced than Sridhara Maharaja, although such mundane
calculations have no place in genuine spiritual circles. In doing so, Hari Sauri casts Srila Sridhara
Maharaja in as unflattering a light as he possibly can in order to reach a conclusion that, while
seeking to serve Srila Prabhupada, regrettably manages only to add to Iskcon's legacy of
sectarianism and Vaisnava aparadha. This post is followed by a second one in which Hari Sauri
makes a bold attempt to rewrite history by claiming that Srila Prabhupada never gave his
disciples the option to take siksa from Srila Sridhara Maharaja after his passing.

Hari Sauri's first post concerns the last meeting between Sridhara Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada
held at Sridhara Maharaja's matha in Navadvipa. Oddly, in his description of the meeting, Hari
Sauri does not mention the fact that Srila Prabhupada invited Srila Sridhara Maharaja to live with
him in Mayapura. He saves this information for his description of the private conversations he
had with Srila Prabhupada after the trip. Unfortunately, his three-sentence paraphrase of
Prabhupada's invitation does not do justice to what Srila Prabhupada said and the feeling it
conveys. Let me therefore cite this conversation before we proceed:

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Srila Prabhupada:"I want very much, Maharaja, that you come and stay at Mayapura. Because
Prabhupada [Bhaktisiddhanta] always desired that you preach. He told me quite a few times,
"Why don't you pull him out?" [They both laugh.] You know, I also tried to some extent before,
but somehow or other it did not work out. Now, why don't you come and stay at Mayapura? Srila
Prabhupada told me also, "Sridhara Maharaja is one of the finest preachers." I want to take you
everywhere. At least at the place we have in Mayapura, people are coming from all over the
world. If you just agree, then whatever kind of building you want, I will arrange it for you. They
are trying to build a house for me. So both of us will stay there. And whenever you want, you
can come here to your matha."

"This is my earnest desire. Since you could not go around the world and preach, at least stay
there and people will come to you. I shall make that arrangement. If you stay, then it will be
helpful to me also. Sometimes I need to consult with someone and there is no one. There is no
one that I can consult with. I feel this deficiency very greatly.... And in that house I will make
arrangements for an elevator so that you won't have to go through the difficulty of walking up
and down the stairs. You won't even have to move a step yourself. I'll make arrangements for a
car and an elevator. My disciples are telling me that they will build a house for me. So, both of
us will stay in that house. Most of the time I am traveling around, so if you are there, they can get
some guidance. So, Maharaja, please, give me the order and I will make all the arrangements for
you. That planetarium [The Temple of Understanding] also will be built under your direction."

Srila Sridhara Maharaja: "Yes, as long as I am alive to fulfill [Bhaktisiddhanta] Prabhupada's

desire."

By not doing justice to this important conversation-the importance being apparent by the fact that
Hari Sauri spends the next half of the post attempting to minimize its importance--although a
transcript is readily available (Hari Sauri states he didn't have it in front of him), he avoids the
stark contrast between this recorded conversation and his recollection of the private
conversations that took place after the meeting. Whereas in the recorded conversation Srila
Prabhupada said, "I want to take you everywhere...this is my earnest desire," in Hari Sauri's
recollection Srila Prabhupada's mood has changed entirely and Srila Sridhara Maharaja is
practically labeled envious due to his being associated at times with other Godbrothers who were
envious of Prabhupada's success ("After all, a man is known by his association"). Hari Sauri thus
evades the responsibility for explaining this dramatic contrast between the recorded conversation
and his recollection/ imagination, in which Srila Prabhupada is made to appear two-faced.

This said, it is entirely possible that Prabhupada decided not to further pursue inviting Sridhara
Maharaja to live at Mayapura. He had mixed feelings about his Godbrothers, and although he
had a very loving relationship with Sridhara Maharaja and high regard for his siksa, other
disciples of Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura also had high regard for Sridhara
Maharaja's siksa, and thus they liked to take advantage of it and associate with him occasionally.
Thus it is altogether possible that upon further reflection Prabhupada concluded that if Sridhara
Maharaja lived with him in Mayapura some of his other Godbrothers who were not appreciative
of Prabhupada's position would also frequent Mayapura Candrodaya Mandir and that this could
be problematic for his disciples.

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However, Hari Sauri's conclusion that it was Prabhupada's desire that his followers should not
hear from Sridhara Maharaja misses the boat altogether. First and foremost he fails to understand
that what Prabhupada clearly wanted was for Sridhara Maharaja to share his realizations with his
disciples. If he could arrange for that without having to worry that other Godbrothers of his who
were envious of him would also be in the mix, he would have been successful in fulfilling Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta's request of him to bring Sridhara Maharaja out for preaching, he would have
someone whom he highly respected to consult with, and his disciples would have been able to
benefit from Sridhara Maharaja's siksa. Note that in the long run Prabhupada realized two of
these ideals: he did effectively bring Sridhara Maharaja out for preaching all over the world and
his disciples had the opportunity to associate and benefit from his siksa without interference from
any of Prabhupada's other Godbrothers who may have been envious of his success.

Unfortunately, Hari Sauri does not give Prabhupada the credit he is due for bringing Sridhara
Maharaja out for preaching, as evidenced from his erroneous account of Prabhupada's final
instruction to us about Sridhara Maharaja that I will deal with ahead. He entirely misses the
salient point that Prabhupada clearly desired that his disciples have the opportunity to further
flourish under the siksa of Sridhara Deva Goswami. He misses it so badly that for the last thirty-
three years he has been preaching that Prabhupada's disciples and grand disciples should not hear
from Sridhara Maharaja even when his personal association was available without interference
from other Godbrothers and even after Sridhara Maharaja passed away and his recorded talks
were widely circulated within Iskcon, wherein many devotees including leaders of Iskcon took
advantage of them with no negative repercussions!

As I mentioned earlier, Hari Sauri seeks in his second post to rewrite history altogether, history I
am a personal witness to. Not only does he want to rewrite the history of Prabhupada's final
instruction to his disciples regarding the position of Sridhara Maharaja, he expects us to believe
his rewrite on the basis of a private conversation he claims he had with Tamala-krsna Gosvami, a
conversation in which Tamala-krsna Maharaja allegedly privately changes his publicly stated
version of what he and others heard Prabhupada say. While Tamala-krsna Gosvami publicly
stated that Prabhupada told his disciples they could associate with Sridhara Maharaja after his
departure for siksa, and others who were also personally present at the time have confirmed this
as well, and although this has been widely acknowledged as factual, Hari Sauri implies three
things, two that are in stark contrast to the facts and one that is highly questionable:

Tamala-krsna Maharaja was the only one present when Prabhupada gave his final instruction to
us concerning the association of Sridhara Maharaja. Tamala-krsna Maharaja stretched the truth
in order to convince the entire GBC that Prabhupada told us we could consult with Sridhara
Maharaja for philosophical questions. Tamala-krsna Maharaja, many years later, privately
admitted this to Hari Sauri and now Hari Sauri, many more years later, has decided to tell us
what Tamala-krsna Maharaja said privately to him to set the record straight.

As I mentioned, I was personally present when Prabhupada gave his final instruction to us about
Sridhara Maharaja, as were others. I was massaging Prabhupada's feet and Tamala-krsna
Maharaja asked Prabhupada how were we to perform the funeral/samadhi rites if he should pass
on shortly. It is well known that at that time Prabhupada replied that for this we should speak to
Narayana Maharaja, who resided in Mathura a short distance from Vrndavana. After a short

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pause Tamala-krsna Maharaja asked a follow-up question: "Is there anyone else we can consult
with after your departure?" To this second question Prabhupada replied, "For philosophy, my
Godbrother B. R. Sridhara Maharaja of Navadvipa."

A brief history of what followed was that Narayana Maharaja was consulted regarding the
samadhi ritual and he prominently participated in it. Then three months later at the annual
Mayapura meeting, members of Iskcon's Governing Body Commission (GBC) approached
Sridhara Maharaja, who resided nearby, with philosophical questions. For several years
thereafter, leading members of Iskcon continued to associate with Sridhara Maharaja for his
siksa on philosophical questions and even rank and file devotees were free to approach him with
their questions. Such association with Sridhara Maharaja became a contentious issue at times,
but it continued for five years on the strength of the common knowledge that Prabhupada himself
had opened the door to such association and sanctioned it. Had Iskcon's association with Sridhara
Maharaja been driven merely by Tamala-krsna Maharaja's memory of what Prabhupada said to
him in a private conversation, Iskcon's GBC would not have been so hesitant to stop devotees
from taking siksa from Sridhara Maharaja when his siksa called their spiritual credibility into
question.

The alleged private discussion between Hari Sauri and Tamala-krsna Maharaja runs contrary to
this, and furthermore it fails miserably in terms of logic. According to Hari Sauri, Tamala-krsna
Gosvami privately told him that Prabhupada never said that we could associate with Sridhara
Maharaja for philosophical instructions, but rather that we could speak with either Narayana
Maharaja or Sridhara Maharaja regarding how to perform the samadhi ritual. But why would
Prabhupada suggest that we speak to both Sridhara Maharaja and Narayana Maharaja about how
to conduct the samadhi ritual? Narayana Maharaja lived close by and was knowledgeable of
ritual procedure, including presiding over Srila Prabhupada's sannyasa ritual. Srila Sridhara
Maharaja lived 1000 miles away and was not known for his involvement in ritual procedure but
rather for his philosophical siksa. Furthermore, while Prabhupada did not consult with Narayana
Maharaja on philosophical issues, he often prTamaised the siksa of Sridhara Maharaja and even
once wrote that we could benefit greatly from his siksa because he considered Sridhara Maharaja
his own siksa guru.

Regarding Hari Sauri's alleged private conversation with Tamala-krsna Maharaja and its
contents, why are we only hearing about it now? Why are none of Tamala-krsna Maharaja's close
associates aware of his position as alleged by Hari Sauri? I have personally corresponded with
several of Tamala-krsna Gosvami's closest associates and none of them have any recollection of
Tamala-krsna Maharaja changing his position on what Prabhupada said about associating with
Narayana Maharaja regarding the samadhi ritual and Sridhara Maharaja regarding philosophy.
Thus we have nothing to support Hari Sauri's version, nothing from Tamala-krsna Gosvami or
anyone else to confirm that he changed his position. Indeed, as late as 1995 Tamala-krsna
Gosvami approached B.G. Narasingha Maharaja and myself and confided in us in sacred
Vrindavana that he felt the GBC were mistaken to have decided that Iskcon members would be
in violation of Prabhupada's desire if they accepted Sridhara Maharaja as their siksa guru. At that
time he acknowledged once again that it was Prabhupada who had suggested it in the first place.

Hari Sauri concludes his second post with the following reflection:

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"For whatever reason, it was done [taking siksa from Sridhara Maharaja], and we live with the
consequences. If we sincerely continue with our preaching on behalf of Srila Prabhupada things
will be gradually adjusted to the right point."

Here Hari Sauri implies that there have been negative consequences that have resulted from
Prabhupada's disciples taking siksa from Sridhara Maharaja and that the reason for this is that
Srila Prabhupada didn't want us to do it in the first place. I do agree that there have been negative
consequences, but I do not think Hari Sauri realizes what they are, nor do I agree with his idea of
why there have been such consequences. Indeed, if he keeps preaching the way he has in these
posts in the name of representing Srila Prabhupada, the negative consequences that Iskcon has
been suffering since the departure of Srila Prabhupada will only continue to manifest.

The negative consequences that resulted from hearing from Sridhara Maharaja are more a result
of not understanding what he actually taught and how it is in concert with Gaudiya siddhanta and
then misrepresenting his siksa and offending His Divine Grace--Vaisnava aparadha. For Hari
Sauri to attempt to rewrite the history of the events surrounding this issue serves only to
perpetuate this aparadha.

The sectarianism and religious fanaticism in the name of guru bhakti that Hari Sauri's posts
represent are telling. They speak loudly to the thoughtful observer as to just how much the swan-
like paramahamsa Srila Prabhupada may have flown the coop of Iskcon, while leaders like Hari
Sauri seek by such posts to secure the faith of its members, clip their wings, and fear monger
them to embrace their crow's nest of misconception. If one wants to know who is responsible for
the shadow-like status of today's Iskcon in comparison to its luminous past, they need look no
further than to its present leadership, many of whom have been serving in this capacity for
decades.

Hari Sauri is a prime example, and although his may be only one opinion among many within
Iskcon, his posts are most likely scheduled for future publication in his ongoing diary series.
Indeed, Hari Sauri has become one of Iskcon's leading historians of the legacy of Srila
Prabhupada. Should Hari Sauri publish his rewrite of history, it will no doubt be followed up by
the author's book tour and signing at any Iskcon temple he chooses to visit. In contrast, persons
like myself are banned from speaking in Iskcon because I don't toe the party line in regard to
Srila Sridhara Maharaja, although the party line was established decades ago by devotees who
largely have fallen from their positions. Does anyone really think that Srila Prabhupada would
agree with such a policy?

Ironically, in the name of chastity to Srila Prabhupada, Hari Sauri's mood in regard to Srila
Sridhara Maharaja couldn't be farther from that of Srila Prabhupada himself. My own position on
what chastity to Srila Prabhupada constitutes can be found here:

The Role of Sri Guru in the

Gaudiya Sampradaya

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It is said in the revealed scriptures that to understand the very meaning of religion, self-
realization and to know God, one has to approach a bona-fide spiritual master through the proper
process.

tad vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet

samit panih srotriyam brahma-nistham

In order to realize the truth, one should take gifts in hand and approach a spiritual master who is
learned and fixed in the Absolute Truth. (Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12)

A guru or acarya heads a certain sampradaya and brings down the knowledge of the revealed
scriptures from the previous acaryas. He practices according to his spiritual master’s instructions
and distributes those instructions through his disciples to deliver the fallen souls in this material
world.

acinoti yah sastrartham acare sthapayatyapi

svayam acarate yasmad acarya stena kirtitah

The acarya is thus called because he has studied and understood the meaning of the scriptures, he
establishes this meaning in the behavior of others and he practices what he preaches. (Manu-
samhita)

But unfortunately most of the spiritual masters at present, being forced by the enjoying spirit of
material nature, forget their real position in society and fail to propagate the true conception of
religion or the highest engagement of the jivas as seva – service unto the lotus feet of Lord Krsna
as advised in all Vedic literatures. Therefore, the true conception of religion has been almost
totally neglected in general religious views.

Some of them, coming from bona-fide and reputed disciplic successions, are well versed in
Vedic injunctions and practice the renounced order as pontiffs of mathas established by the
founders of their sampradaya. Yet they perform various religious activities prescribed in the
Vedic literature for material benefits, in the name of devotion. They run educational institutions
in the name of distributing knowledge for the benefit of the general public, and promote material
education, which is the cause of degradation in society. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says:

jada vidya jata, mayara vaibhava tomara bhajane badha

moha janamiya, anitya samsare jivake karaye gadha

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Material knowledge is the great power of the illusory energy and an impediment to pure
devotional service. It creates an illusory attachment to samsara and turns a human being into an
ass. (Saranagati 2)

Acting as religious advisers to the general public and to popular social personalities, such as
business people, politicians and others who occupy high positions by their professions in the
society, they take part in mass religious processions with other religious leaders to establish the
strength of a particular religion and construct temples at the places which are disputed by other
religions. Thus they become famous as religious leaders and become the heroes and saviors of
that particular creed. To maintain their position and fame in society they join hands with
politicians and un-bonafide self-appointed religious leaders. Less intelligent people consider
them as religious authorities and their words as scriptural conclusions. They become famous in
the spiritual field also for their various literary works on the Vedic scriptures by writing essays,
and commentaries. Therefore people in general consider them enlightened with spiritual
knowledge. However, they fail to invoke any kind of desire to serve Lord Krsna in pure devotion
within the hearts of their disciples, nor in the hearts of people in general.

Externally they may appreciate the efforts of acaryas belonging to the same sampradaya who
have genuinely propagated the true conception of religion and who became extremely successful
in their spiritual mission – but they hesitate to recognize them as part of their sampradaya for
they are not born brahmanas. Being extremely envious of their success, they criticize their pure
devotional activities and their accepting disciples irrespective of caste, creed and nationality.

Some of the so-called gurus and jagad-gurus belonging to other sampradayas propagate
impersonalism. They spend their whole life learning the Vedic literatures in order to become
expert in interpreting them, indulging in arguments to exhibit their command over the philosophy
they are following. They read and encourage their disciples to read Sankaracarya’s commentary
on the Vedanta-sutras and Upanisads. They believe that the process of perfection is to
accumulate knowledge from the Vedanta. By preaching the impersonal doctrine they misguide
the people from the true conception of religion. They consider bhakti as knowledge. For them,
knowing the supreme Brahman is the ultimate goal of life and they worship all demigods as
supreme – the sun-god, Vinayaka, Siva, Goddess Durga, Visnu etc. By fire sacrifices, chanting
Vedic hymns and performing other ritualistic activities they convince people that such rituals can
pacify the demigods and lead to a happy life in this world and the next.

In this way they misguide the people in general without revealing to them the true conclusions of
the scriptures – that Lord Krsna is the Supreme God and all other demigods are His servants, and
that chanting the Holy Name of Krsna is superior to chanting the Vedic hymns. They fail to
establish the true relationship between the Lord and the jiva and also fail to establish the eternal
relationship between Sri Guru and the disciple. Lord Brahma says:

sreyah-srtim bhaktim udasya te vibho

klisyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye
tesam asau klesala eva sisyate
nanyad yatha sthula tusavaghatinam

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My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives
up that path and engages in the cultivation of knowledge or in speculation, he will simply
undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired results. A person who beats an
empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, and one who engages simply in speculative knowledge
cannot achieve the desired result of self-realization. The only gain is trouble. (Bhag: 10.14.4)

Then there are some so-called yogis who unscrupulously propagate the process of meditation and
conduct public programs and perform and teach the yogic activities such as pranayama,
astanga-yoga, asanas etc. and chant certain mantras that are not authorized to be chanted in
public. Teaching some breathing and physical exercises they give false assurances of happiness,
long life, strength and better health. Some so-called sadhus in the name of devotion
unscrupulously conduct sat-sangas and attract people by chanting hymns from the Puranas,
Upanisads, Bhagavatam, Ramayana, Bhagavad-gita etc. melodiously with musical instruments.
With scholarly expertise they explain their commentaries poetically and exhibit artificial
devotion towards the Lord. These two classes of gurus become very famous and materially
wealthy by collecting money in exchange for their performances.

The most dangerous are those self-made mahatmas, or god-men, who undertake charitable
activities such as running educational institutions and giving free material education, distributing
free food and cloth, providing shelter, giving free medical assistance by running hospitals in the
name of service to human kind. They propagate that service to mankind is superior to all spiritual
activities and preach their own philosophy that has no scriptural validity. Lazy and foolish
people worship them as God.

These unscrupulous personalities cheat the people in general by showing them some cheap
magic and convince them that they have some mystic powers. By this they attract the attention of
wealthy and powerful people in society, make them their followers and collect money from them
in exchange for blessings to be successful in the field of their profession. Con men worship them
for material benefits and the higher class worship them for their blessings. In this way, by
keeping them always in illusion, they offer sense enjoyment to them and pacify their own
material senses by accumulating wealth, name and fame.

prayena veda tad idam na mahajano’yam

devya vimohita-matir bata mayayalam
trayyam jadi-krta-matir madhu-puspitayam
vaitanike mahati karmani yujyamanah

The great mahatmas or mahajanas in the estimation of fruitive workers of this material world,
and such advocates of religiosity, do not know actually what is meant by a mahatma engaged in
devotional service. Such material mahatmas are upset by the influence of the illusory external
energy of Lord Visnu manifested in the three modes of material nature. And for this reason they
are unable to estimate the worth of devotional service and are engaged in the network of fruitive
activities for material benefit. The flowery language of the Vedas such as Rg, Yajur, Sama and
Atharva bewilders the intelligence of such mahatmas. They are captivated by the material
interpretations. Such mahajanas and mahatmas in spite of being worshipped by the people in

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general are not engaged in transcendental loving service of the personality of Godhead Lord
Krsna. (Bhag. 6.3.25)

According to the results in their fulfillment, those that are materially educated, spiritually
learned, pious, impious, high class or low class, put their faith in a particular guru or in a number
of gurus. Therefore, due to their undetermined faith (avyavasayatmika buddhih) they are unable
to recognize or distinguish a pure devotee or a true saint whose only ambition is to deliver the
jivas from the miseries of the material nature. They consider pure devotees to be on the same
platform as the fallen gurus and are never able to purify themselves. All the water contained in
the lakes and oceans of the world cannot change the blackness of coal. It can only be transformed
by fire. In the same way it is only by the blazing fire of the divine instructions from the sad-guru
(pure devotee) that one can be purified of material contamination. Only then can one be free
from the clutches of the witch of material illusion and able to distinguish the real guru from the
so-called guru found in the different sectors of society.

krsna-bhakta niskama ataeva santa

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami sakali asanta

Because a devotee of Lord Krsna is desireless he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material
enjoyment, jnanis desire liberation and yogis desire material opulence. Therefore they are all
lusty and cannot be peaceful. (Cc. Madhya 19.149)

The scriptures always recommend us to approach a bona-fide divine master from a Vaisnava
sampradaya, because it is said:

sat-karma-nipuno vipro mantra-tantra-visaradah

avaisnavo gurur na syad vaisnavah sva-paco guruh

A brahmana can be expert in mantras, rituals and six kinds of brahminical works – performing
and teaching fire sacrifice, studying and teaching the scriptures, giving and receiving charity –
but if he is not a Vaisnava, he cannot be a guru. On the other hand, a Vaisnava, even if born in a
family of untouchables, may become a guru. (Padma Purana)

Among Vaisnava sampradayas, the Gaudiya sampradaya originating from Lord Brahma, stands
highest for practicing and preaching the gist of scriptural conclusions. It teaches us the true
conception of guru-tattva and the true conception of religion through the bona-fide disciplic
succession. The instructions of a Vaisnava guru are non-different than the scriptural injunctions.
The guru engages us in to the topmost path of purification of bhakti to achieve the highest goal
of human life – causeless and unconditioned service unto the lotus feet of Radha-Govinda.

etavan eva loke’smin pumsam dharmah parah smrtah

bhakti-yogo bhagavati tan-nama grahanadibhih

The highest duty of a human being in this world is to be engaged in the loving service of the
Personality of Godhead and to chant His Holy Names. (Bhag: 6.3.22)

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It is said in the scriptures that the Holy Name is meant for counteracting the contaminations of
the illusory energy of this material nature in the age of Kali. So it is recommended that every
ritualistic activity should be performed with the chanting ofthe Holy Name:

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Otherwise ritualistic activities are incomplete without the Holy Name.

mantratas tantratas chidram desa-kalarha vastutah

sarvam karoti nischidram anusankirtanam tava

There may be discrepancies in pronouncing the mantras and observing the regulative principles,
and, moreover, there may be discrepancies in regard to time, place, person and paraphernalia.
But when your Lordship’s Name is chanted, everything becomes faultless. (Bhag. 8.23.16)

Lord Krsna, as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, inaugurated the congregational chanting of the Holy
Name in this world about 500 years ago along with His associates Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Sri
Advaita Prabhu, Pandita Gadadhara Prabhu and Srivasa Pandita Prabhu. Lord Krsna, descending
on this earth as a pure devotee in the form of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, showed the example of
a pure devotee and Sri Guru to be followed by his successors.

ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham

mama vartmanuvartante manusyah partha sarvasah

As all surrender unto Me I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in every respect.
(Gita. 4.11)

The guru in the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya is worshipped as the Lord Himself because he is
enlightened by the divine knowledge of the Lord. He represents the Absolute Truth and
distributes transcendental knowledge to deliver the jivas of this world from the miseries of
material energy.

Therefore, Sri Guru in the Gaudiya sampradaya, although the eternal servant of Lord Caitanya,
is always to be respected as much as the Lord Himself because the spiritual master is the
personality who exhibits the nature of Mahaprabhu. The Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya accepts
the spiritual master in terms of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva – simultaneously one with and
different from the Personality of Godhead Lord Krsna

krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-krsna-nama-kirtanam
rama-rama-gana-raya-divya-chanda-nartanam
yatra-tatra-krsna-nama-dana-loka-nistaram
prema-dhama-devam eva naumi gaurasundaram

At roadsides, temples and sanctuaries He would chant in sweet tunes, ‘Krsna, krsna, krsna, krsna,
krsna, krsna hey!’ Sometimes carried away by some indescribable divine exultation, He would

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sing ‘Rama! Rama!’ and dance sweetly in ecstatic rhythm. He would deliver one and all,
irrespective of time, place or circumstances, by magnanimously inducing them to chant the Holy
names of Lord Krsna. I sing with joy the unending glories of my golden Lord Gauranga-sundara;
the divine abode of pure love. (Prema-dhama-deva Stotram 22)

Chanting loudly and dancing on the streets, Mahaprabhu and His associates, distributed the Holy
Name to this world as the yuga-dharma (the prescribed religion of this age) to be eternally
followed by His successors in the future. He predicted that one day it would be spread to all the
corners of the world.

The yuga-dharma which was inaugurated by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, is being carried out through
disciplic succession coming down from Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada and Raghunatha Dasa
Gosvami to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada,
who dedicated his whole life to fight against all misconceptions to re-establish the worship of Sri
Sri Radha-Govinda as the supreme, establishing Gaudiya Mathas all over India and engaging his
disciples in preaching the message of Bhagavad-gita and Bhagavatam extensively all around the
world.

One of his chief disciples, Jagad-guru A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada, executing the
order of his Gurudeva and empowered by Lord Nityananda Prabhu, fulfilled the desire of
Caitanya Mahaprabhu by miraculously spreading His message throughout the world and
distributing the Holy Name everywhere.

guruvajnam sirasi dharyamsaktyavesa svarupine

hare krsneti mantrena pascatya-pracya-tarine

Taking the word of his Guru upon his head, he became empowered by Lord Nityananda Prabhu
to act as a saktyavesa-avatara. He distributed the Hare Krsna maha-mantra all over the eastern
and western world delivering all fallen souls.

tara pradhana sisya-jana, svami narasingha nama

patita janete daya-dhama

Srila Jagad-guru Svami Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha Maharaja is one of Srila Bhaktivedanta
Svami Prabhupada’s dear-most disciple and a reservoir of compassion for all fallen souls.

Carrying out the mission of Mahaprabhu according to the orders of his Gurudeva, our Guru
Maharaja, Srila Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha Maharaja, is now constantly engaged in distributing
the nectar of the Holy Name in this world and enlightening us through his transcendental
teachings. He is protecting those who have taken the shelter of his lotus feet from the darkness of
ignorance caused by the apa-siddhanta propagated by caste-gurus, pasandi ‘mahatmas’ and
artificial fruitive workers. He is illuminating the sky of spiritual realization like the full moon –
chasing away the darkness of spiritual misconception. For those sincere people seeking true
spiritual guidance, his divine instructions are enough to free one from all material miseries and
gain the highest wealth of service unto the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

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ekas-candras tamohanti
na ca tarah sahasrasah

If there is one moon in the sky, that is sufficient for illumination. There is no need for millions of
stars.

Modern Education or Mass Execution

In today’s world, education can be defined as the systematic distribution or the reception of
knowledge in society, which is viewed from various perspectives based upon cultural values,
language, people and religion.

In many ancient cultures, education involved a little formal education and perhaps no schools as
such. In some, only one or perhaps a few sacred books were studied.

In more complex societies, such as the Vedic civilization, the sheer quantity of accumulated
knowledge took many years of formal education to transmit it to the next generation, even if
broken up into specialized areas of study. In this way, education differed from culture to culture
– some civilizations had primitive or less advanced educational systems and other cultures such
as the Romans, Greeks and Chinese had more variety within different departments in their
educational system.

But, over a period of time, education has gone through a tremendous change. The ancient and the
traditional educational system has been widely replaced by a new form of modern education,
which came into existence in the early 16th century CE in Europe. During this time, science, art,
music, philosophy and architecture went through a major change in Europe – this period was
known as the Renaissance. This also affected many other cultures and civilizations around the
world through the colonization by Europeans for many centuries, which introduced
industrialization, English education and literature, trading and Christian missionaries who slowly
usurped the traditional educational systems around the world with their new modern education.
This appealed to masses due to its new age ideas such as democracy, equality, liberty and social
status.

In this way, modern education became an important integral part of every race in the world in the
late 18th and 19th century, where many countries aspired to become modern progressive nations,
though in the process it destroyed many cultures, traditions, arts and religious systems around the
world.

In this article, we will try to explain how modern education is systematically engaging in the
mass execution of the jivas (living entities)through false education and how it has successfully
managed to exterminate many cultures around the world.

This article is all about comparison, analysis and consequences between the contemporary
educational system and the eternal knowledge and teaching of the Vedas. Thus, we strongly

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condemn contemporary modern education for its inability in giving real education to benefit
mankind.

Modern Education and real Education

Before the advent of modern education in schools, education involved learning to read, acquiring
mental skills, and developing the ability to think conceptually and develop theistic ideas – at
least this was the basic common notion that was seen among most world cultures. The idea
behind this traditional educational system was to prepare students with as wide and strong a base
as possible for their future success and contribution to the world.

Today, modern education is nothing but a system that promotes selfish goal-fulfilling interests
through the capacities of individual students. Present day schools and colleges give secular
education that has neither ethical discipline nor spiritual instruction. The students have no
spirituality or higher ideas in life. They learn something in order to eke out their livelihood and
they study only to attain good salaries in order to lead comfortable lives – but at the end of the
day, they turn out to be spiritually bankrupt.

In Sanskrit materialistic education is known as jada-vidya meaning ‘knowledge of matter’. Since

people have either none or little access to actual spiritual knowledge, they only acquire jada-
vidya, a materialistic education and thus a materialistic conception of this world.

Nowadays education has simply become the study of matter – the external movements of
mechanical appliances and devices, or the study of protecting and nourishing this material body.
But this education has nothing to offer about understanding the science of the spirit soul, who is
the actual mover and doer.

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Real education means to understand God. If one does not understand who is God, his education
is useless, it has no meaning. Real education means to elevate us from a lower existence to the
spiritual eternal existence. It is to realize who we are, what is our relationship with God and to
understand the reason for our existence. The goal of life should be to develop spiritual culture
within our society, which alone can help develop a force of will to make people selfless, fearless,
courageous, strong, and this helps cultivate detachment from the material body. Only those who
are free from selfishness can actually serve God and work in terms of unity and universal
brotherhood. In this way, real education teaches students to love God and their fellow men. It
teaches them that their first and foremost duty is to attain self-realization and to cultivate God
consciousness. Education must be calculated to promote plain living and high thinking. It should
help each student to practice right conduct, right thinking, right living, right action and self-
sacrifice and to attain knowledge of the self and the Supreme.

Modern Education Fails Miserably!

A famous educationist once said, “I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of
modern education. They seem to me, to be built up on the supposition that every child is a kind
of an idiot who must be taught to think.”

Modern education came into being only during the transitional periods of the dark age to the
modern new age of industrialization, banking, commerce and social systems. This educational
system was only formulated to create more engineers, doctors and a class of businessmen who
would help in the growth of large industries, corporations and banks, which in turn would make a
nation progressive and modern.

After the advent of modern education, many new ideas and theories sprung up in the field of
science and medicine that revolutionized the way we perceived the world. Some of the
innovations and discoveries were great achievements in human history, but at the same time a
great number of theories and inventions were destructive and caused great misery to the human
race, both physically and spiritually. It can definitely be said that modern education has made our
life much easier and more comfortable with its inventions and technology, but that doesn’t mean
that prior to modern education and technology, people were unhappy and uncivilized.
Technology is simply a continuous ongoing process of change in this world.

Yet we are so foolishly indoctrinated in the name of modern education that we neglect the most
horrible circumstances of life, such as birth, death, old age and disease, that every living entity
has to undergo and suffer – no matter how advanced we were before, are now or will be in the
future. In this way, modern education creates an illusion concerning the nature of all the
temporary things in this material world, rather than educating us about self-realization and God
consciousness.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura, one of the most profound scholars of Gaudiya Vaisnavism, has explained
that materialistic education is simply an expansion of maya. The more we advance in this
materialistic education, the more our ability to understand God will be hampered. And at last we
will finally declare that there is no God or even that ‘God is dead.’ This is the ignorance and
darkness produced by modern education. The Isopanisad says:

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 andham tama pravisanti ye’ vidyam upasate
tato bhuya iva te tamo ya u vidyayam ratah

"Those who engage in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of
ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the culture of so-called knowledge."

Due to this type of education being imparted in our educational institutions, many students all
over the world have become a nuisance to their parents, teachers, society and country.

Thus Sri Isopanisad very strongly warns that the culture of nescience is different from that of
knowledge. The universities are, so to speak, centers of nescience only; consequently scientists
are busy discovering lethal weapons to wipe out the existence of other countries. University
students today are not given instructions in the regulative principles of student life, nor do they
have any faith in any scriptural injunctions.

Ancient religious principles are taught for the sake of academic name and fame only and not for
the sake of practical application. Thus, there is animosity not only in social and political fields
but in the field of education as well.

Those who engage in the advancement of such materialistic education will go to the darkest
region of existence. Therefore, the present civilization is in a very dangerous position as there is
no proper guidance or encouragement anywhere in the world for genuine spiritual education. In
this way human society is being pushed to the darkest region of existence by this modern
education.

Real Knowledge is Vedic Knowledge

The Vedas are the oldest books in the library of man. The truths contained in all religions are
derived from the Vedas and are ultimately traceable to the Vedas. The Vedas are the
fountainhead of religion. The Vedas were revealed by God to man in the earliest times and they
are without beginning and without end. Ignorant modern educationists may question how a book
can be without a beginning or an end, but the Vedas remain as the only exception to this rule.
The Vedas emanated from the breath of the Lord and therefore they are not the composition of
any human mind. They were never written, never created. The date of the Vedas has never been
fixed and it can never be fixed since the Vedas are eternal spiritual truths. Mundane books may
be destroyed, but Vedic knowledge cannot be destroyed. In that sense, the Vedas are eternal and
speak about two kinds of educational systems.

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One deals with transcendental knowledge (para-vidya) and the other with materialistic
knowledge (apara-vidya). All the Vedas – the ‰g Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva
Veda, along with their corollaries, known as siksa, kalpa, vyakarana, nirukta, chanda and jyotisa
— belong to the superior system of para-vidya. By para-vidya one can understand the Absolute
Truth. Vedanta-sutra is also accepted as para-vidya. However, those that aspire for liberation
(mukti or moksa) and introduce themselves as vaidantikas are just as materially motivated as
those groups aspiring to improve religion (dharma), economic development (artha) and sense
gratification (kama). Dharma, artha, kama and moksa are called catur-varga. They are all within
the system of inferior, materialistic knowledge of the Vedas.

Any literature giving information about the spiritual world, spiritual life, spiritual identity and
the spirit soul is called para-vidya. Srimad-Bhagavatam does not have anything to do with the
materialistic way of life; it gives transcendental information to educate people in the superior
system of para-vidya.

It is not that there was no materialistic knowledge or science in the Vedic age. In fact, Vedic
knowledge spoke extensively about mathematics, medicine, astrology, astronomy, physics and
many other subjects that has had so much influence in today’s science and technology. But the
people then gave more importance towards spiritual education and knowledge of oneself and the
Supreme Lord.

Vedic knowledge is not simply an individual’s speculation, word jugglery or mythology. It is the
actual scientific knowledge of leading a better life in this world and understanding our
constitutional position by serving the real purpose of life. And this is only possible if we receive
this knowledge through disciplic succession and through a bona-fide guru. By doing this one can
actually receive the real essence of the Vedas, which is to understand our lost relationship with
the Supreme Lord without any interpretation or adulteration of the actual knowledge coming
down from the Supreme Lord Himself.

The Real Motive Behind Modern Education and It’s Effects

The education imparted in schools and colleges today is very much controlled and influenced by
psychology. The field of psychology has basically taken over modern education in terms of
covert tactics, extensive corruption and setting government mandated ‘educational standards.’
Modern schools, with their emphasis on psychology, in the process of educating children,
actually cause a number of ‘learning disabilities,’ which psychiatry then ‘diagnoses,’ prescribing
drugs as their solution to the problem.

In the past few decades there have been many incidents of shootings in public schools and
universities, where students gun down their own school friends and teachers. This is again
because of the frustration faced by these students due to insecurity, discrimination and a lack of
value-based education. This never occurred in the west until recently, but now this can be seen
all over the world and is rapidly becoming a major concern for all institutions. This is just one of
the few examples of how education has deteriorated over the last 100 years.

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Educational psychology dates back to the early efforts by psychologists like John Dewey who, in
the early 20th Century, began to change how teachers were taught to teach in schools and
colleges. The changes were drastic as education moved away from an age-old system that taught
teachers how to motivate students to accept the whole scope of academic information available.
Instead, the new system explored methods to maneuver students through psychological behavior
modification procedures. Rather than to instill knowledge, once such a power was established,
the educational process became more of a method to instill specific agendas into the minds of
children.

As per the education itself, a syllabus laid out by the government is carefully planned out, in
order to suit their interests in the field of religion, economy, politics and science. Government
and educationalists have been successful in manipulating history and facts from the masses in
order to attain their personal interests. All the education imparted to students has been anti-God
consciousness and in order to disapprove the concept of any intelligence behind the creation,
they still teach students many outdated theories of human evolution and the big-bang theory etc.

Modern education is supposedly there to draw out the best from the students, but this can never
be achieved by packing ill-assorted and unwanted information into the heads of the pupils. It
becomes a dead weight crushing all the originality in them and turning them into mere automata.
It is also true that the objectives of proper education can be successfully achieved only when it
takes into consideration the abilities of a student and his interests and inclinations.

On top of this, many Christian run missionary schools and colleges are in the midst of wiping out
many cultures around the world with their new fashionable educational systems which erase the
cultural antiquity of many regions.

This trend can also be seen in India today – young people of India have rejected their culture,
religion, moral values and ethics in order to adapt themselves to the western style of living and
learning. We can see this difference in their food, clothing, music, art and dance and many more
aspects of life that has gone through a huge change in the past 20-30 years, and this is because of
the media, education, corporations and globalization. These factors have made people lose their
pride and admiration towards Indian culture.

We are not only talking about India – this is happening throughout the world in almost every
ancient culture, such as China, Japan and many South American nations. They blindly follow the
western mindset of thinking and acting, which is very base and animalistic.

What Can Be Done?

Maybe it’s not even worth trying to replace the whole current system of modern education, as it
is already so well rooted in our social system. All parents want to send their children to the best
schools and universities as they think education provides them with security and comfortable
lives, compromising the real necessity of spiritual knowledge. At least every effort should be
made by modern educational institutes and parents to understand the importance of spiritual
knowledge and their cultural heritage and impart it to the younger generation for the betterment
of their lives.

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Modern educationists should understand that human life is meant to unravel the mystery of life.
This human body is invaluable and one who uses it to cultivate God consciousness is a wise man
– one who doesn’t, is known as a krpana, a miser.

A miser uses his body and intelligence only to satisfy his senses, he doesn't know how to use the
key that unlocks a treasure chest. This is where the educational institutions are failing to make
young people understand the difference between real knowledge and materialistic knowledge.
Therefore it is the duty of the father, the mother, the teachers and the society to impart spiritual
education to their children, right from the very beginning of their lives. Indeed, Srimad-
Bhagavatam says that one should not become a parent, teacher or government official unless one
is able to deliver their dependents to a spiritual platform, which can save them from the repeated
cycle of birth and death.

Instead of teaching many unnecessary science subjects, they should start teaching adhyatmika
science – the science of sciences, the supreme science.

The Gita, the Upanisads, the Ramayana, the Bhagavata, the Mahabharata, comparative religion
and philosophy must be taught in schools and colleges. Their study must be made compulsory.
Practical instructions on ethics, yoga and meditation and control of the mind and senses should
also be imparted to the students.

No doubt this type of education cannot be imparted under the conditions that exist today, but it is
also part of the educator’s function to labour to change these conditions when necessary and
anticipate the future. In periods of social transition, education becomes central to our future well-
being. Therefore, the shaping of education is the shaping of generations and society.

In the wake of so much trouble and injustice all around, one might think that the educational
system is beyond reform. But we must remember that God doesn’t change the conditions of
people unless and until we strive hard for it. No doubt reformation in any field of life demands
patience and consistency. Reforming the educational system is also a very tiring job and hardly
appreciated. It does not give quick results either, but if pursued with patience long enough, it will
certainly bear fruit. It is befitting to end here with a quote of Aristotle – “the roots of education
are bitter, but the fruit is sweet”.

Saranagati

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People in general are misguided. They want to lord it over the environment by intentional or
unintentional exploitation. Being themselves trapped in the snare of material illusion, they
always try to lure the sincere servants of the Lord to indulge in their illusions and also sometimes
create awkward situations for them. It thus becomes an urgent necessity for a devotee to become
‘irrevocably’ fixed in the service of his spiritual master and thus in the proper culture of Krsna
Consciousnes.

Only through the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord does a sincere soul receive the service of
a sad-guru. And, only through saranagati, can one actually recognise that service. Tad viddhi
pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya – saranagati to the spiritual master is a prerequisite for any
devotee aspiring for spiritual progress. Srila Sridhara Maharaja says, “In my study I found that
saranagati alone is sufficient to produce all sorts of development in bhakti.”

It is only the consciousnes of separate interest that has kept us from being fully Krsna Conscious.
Bhaya dvitiyabhinivesatah syad – in the words of Srila Sridhara Maharaja, “I can thrive
individually, to ignore the collective life and to try for separate interest. That fine point; that has
been told to be responsible for all these disturbances. That fine point. I wanted to seek my own
pleasure, separating myself from that of collective consideration.” But, for the one who has taken
complete shelter of the Supreme Lord through His bona-fide representative (prapadyamanasya),
devotion, perception of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things, develop
simultaneously. Saranagati places the devotee on a subtle plane of dedication and harmony,
protecting him from selfish exploitation and artificial renunciation.

Having taken refuge at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, he escapes from the
reactionary cycle of karma. Eagerly waiting for the mercy of the Lord (tat te ’nukampam su-
samiksamano), he tolerates all the sufferings due to his past misdeeds with a repentant heart
(bhunjana evatma-krta vipakam) all the while offering obeisances to Him with his heart, words
and body. Our Parama-Gurudeva Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada writes in his
purport,

"A sincere devotee earnestly desires to go back to the Lord’s abode. Therefore he willingly
accepts the Lord’s merciful punishment and continues offering respects and obeisances to the
Lord with his heart, words and body. Such a bona fide servant of the Lord, considering all
hardship a small price to pay for gaining the personal association of the Lord, certainly becomes
a legitimate son of God, as indicated here by the words daya-bhak. Just as one cannot approach
the sun without becoming fire, one cannot approach the supreme pure, Lord Krsna, without
undergoing a rigid purificatory process, which may appear like suffering but which is in fact a
curative treatment administered by the personal hand of the Lord.” (Bhag. 10.14.8 Purport)

The Path of Saranagati

To save themselves from being termed as exploiters, sometimes the fruitive workers consider the
devotees of the Lord to be leading an easy life by avoiding the so-called duty towards society
and the necessity to work for themselves. But little do they know that the path of spiritual
realisation and surrender, though seemingly poetic and unreal, is in actual fact the ultimate goal
of life and is laid with thorns at every step.

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 ksurasya dhara nisita duratyaya
durga pathas tat kavayo vadanti

"The path of spiritual realization is very difficult. It is sharp like a razor’s edge. That is the
opinion of learned transcendental scholars." (Katha Upanisad 1.3.14)

It should thus be noted that even though a strong caution has been posted at the gate of the path
of spiritual realisation, the seeker of the Absolute Truth has the courage to walk this path, which
is rare to be found amongst the general masses. The true devotees of the Lord naturally have an
unflinching faith in the words of guru and Krsna and hence they take up the path of saranagati
with enthusiasm, determination and patience (utsahan niscayad dhairyat). One of the six limbs
of saranagati is a strong conviction that Krsna will give protection (raksisyatiti visvaso) and it is
this conviction in the devotee that makes him fearless of all undesirable consequences. An
example may be given of the devotee Citraketu, who although being cursed by Mother Parvati to
take a low birth as a demon, remained peaceful and accepted the curse considering it to be the
wish of the Supreme Lord.

narayana-parah sarve na kutascana bibhyati

svargapavarga-narakesv api tulyartha-darsinah

"Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Narayana, never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the
hellish planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord."
(Bhag. 6.17.28)

On the other hand, the devotees of the Lord are so attached to the Lord that they don’t mind the
difficulties if, due to them, they obtain an opportunity to associate with Him. After the
Mahabharata War when Sri Krsna was bound to leave for Dvaraka, Srimati Kunti-devi expressed
her feelings to Him saying that till now she and her family were protected by Him from so many
dangers like poisoned food, a huge fire, cannibals, the shameless assembly, the sufferings in the
forest, the great war, and then the brahmastra. But now that His Lordship had decided to leave
His devotees that they have no shelter other than His lotus feet (yesam na canyad bhavatah
padambujat), she felt that those dangers should be always present so that they may always have
His association.

vipadah santu tah sasvat tatra tatra jagad-guro

bhavato darsana yat syad apunar bhava-darsanam

"I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again
and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths." (Bhag.
1.8.25)

Saranagati: The Descending Process

Devotion to the Supreme Lord cannot be attained through academic endeavor. Bhakti is beyond
jnana and karma. The scholars of this world can never succeed in understanding the science of

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devotion by analysing the scriptures with their finite intellect. Acintyah khalu ye bhava na tams
tarkena yojayet – the inconceivable cannot be understood through mental speculation or mere
logical arguments. But only to those who have thoroughly cast aside the process of ascending
speculative knowledge (jnane prayasam udapasya), knowing their own finite nature compared to
the infinite nature of the Supreme Lord, and have surrendered themselves (namanta eva) at the
lotus feet of a pure devotee of the Lord with an earnest desire to know the Absolute Truth – the
Lord grants them the proper understanding about the science of devotion. Srila Puri Maharaja
writes in this connection: “No one is able to attract the mercy of the book Bhagavata without
first being blessed by the grace of the devotee bhagavata. Without this we remain forever
incapable of relishing the nectar of krsna-bhakti.”

Mere knowledge of the scriptures is one thing, but realising the true conclusion is another.
Without a proper shelter the seeker may wander here and there without achieving the proper
understanding and worse still, he might arrive at an improper understanding. We hear from our
seniors that Devananda Pandita, though held in high esteem as the foremost among the scholars
who lectured on the Bhagavatam, had improperly concluded liberation to be the final end result
of the teachings of Srimad Bhagavatam. Being ignorant about the path of pure devotion, he
committed Vaisnava aparadha at the feet of an exalted pure devotee of the Lord. Later, by the
mercy of Sriman Mahaprabhu, he got the purifying association of Vakresvara Pandita. Srila Puri
Maharaja writes in The Art of Sadhana:

Srila Vrndavana Dasa Thakura describes how the highly elevated Vaisnava Vakresvara Pandita
came to Devananda’s hermitage. Devananda was struck with wonder seeing his wonderful
appearance, and his ecstatic singing and dancing with deep emotion. The desire for liberation
disappeared from his heart, and he fell at Vakresvara’s feet, smearing the dust all over his body.
Reverence for Mahaprabhu blossomed within him, showing the wonderful result of serving a
maha-bhagavata.

Saranagati in the Highest Sense

The only sharp demarcation between sadhana-bhakti and raga-bhakti is the type of surrender. In
sadhana-bhakti there is self-sacrifice in the knowledge of the rules and regulations, and in raga-
bhakti there is self-forgetfulnes to serve the Supreme Lord. One is calculated and the other is
automatic and continuous. Srila Sridhara Maharaja says,

"Self-forgetfulness is higher than self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice is the beginning. And in the

highest stage is self-forgetfulness. But that does not mean no sentient activity. In that plane also,
fully conscious of their interest, one party, another party, competition, everything is there, but the
background is such. And it is difficult to understand the background. Whatever we find here,
everything is there; but this is of opposite type, and original is the ideal type. Keen competition is
also there; in the plane... the foundation is self-forgetfulness. The peculiarity is that. Center
consciousness, and here, this plurality... this selfishness of the plurality; that is the difference."

In Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, the talk between Mahaprabhu and Ramananda Raya developed from
varnasrama-dharma and vaidhi-bhakti, and finally culminated in unalloyed spontaneous love of
God as found in the gopis of Vraja. As per the instructions of our Srila Gurudeva and previous

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acaryas, the knowledge of the path of unalloyed spontaneous devotion is the most confidential
and that path, being worshipable, should always be held high above our head. That divine love of
Godhead, which is transcendental (aprakrta), will only be misunderstood if brought down to the
mundane arena. So, highest regard should be established throughout the world for this lofty
conception.

But Mahaprabhu is so merciful that He has come to freely distribute this love of God. Only
through the grace of Mahaprabhu will one be able to taste that divine love. So, it has been
advised by our seniors that one should firmly adhere to Mahaprabhu, Who is none other than
Radha and Krsna combined. In the words of Srila Sridhara Maharaja,

“Strictly stick to gaura-lila, Mahaprabhu, and you will automatically find within your heart that
radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi is flowing. Don’t attempt directly to have it. It will come automatically,
spontaneously.” (Follow The Angels)

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde

vindeta bhakti krta-punya-rasih
tatha tathotsarpati hrdy-akasmad
radha-padambhoja-sudhambu-rasih

"As devotion unto the lotus feet of Sri Gaurasundara is attained by a greatly pious person,
inevitably the ocean of nectar which is the service of the lotus feet of Sri Radha is accordingly
born within his heart. (Sri Caitanya-candramrta 88)

Conclusion

People in general coming from different walks of life, carry their own inhibitions and affinity
based on age, gender, cultural background and upbringing. Each has their own set of ‘rights’ and
‘wrongs’ in the relative sense. But, by becoming devotees of the Supreme Lord Govinda, we
should try to see in the light of the absolute interest and try to discard what is not beneficial
towards that goal.

Lord Krsna concludes the Bhagavad-gita with these words to Arjuna:

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah

"Dismiss all other engagements and prospects, and come to Me alone. Your inner hankering will
be fulfilled beyond your expectations. You will find such dignity in Me that you will be beyond
reaction and repentance." (Gita 18.66)

Srila Sridhara Maharaja further explains,

“If one comes to this conception, everything else will be seen as sin (aha tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah). Everything conceived of as duty or purity in this material world will be
seen as sinful, and all conceptions of religiosity will be reduced to the level of sin. In the absolute

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plane, everything and everyone belongs wholesale to Krsna, and the slightest deviation from this
ideal is no better than committing sin. Mere self-forgetfulness leads to impersonalism and
culminates in deep slumber. But self-forgetfulness (sarva-dharman parityajya) in Krsna’s
service (mam eka sarana vraja) is positive and living. It is the full, absolute plane of life.”

We are fortunate to be living when the greatest gift of divine love of God is still being freely
distributed by the sincere servitors of Sriman Mahaprabhu. We are even more fortunate to have
the shelter of Srila Guru Maharaja who is the embodiment of the mercy of Sri Nityananda
Prabhu. It would only be foolish not to surrender and miss the chance of attaining the ultimate
goal of life, which had never been offered before the advent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

anarpita-cari cirat karunayavatirnah kalau

samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti-sriyam
harih purata-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandipitah
sada hrdaya-kandare sphuratu vah saci-nandanah

May the son of Srimati Saci-devi, Sri Gaurahari, forever manifest spontaneously within the
innermost core of your heart. Adorned with the radiant splendor of molten gold, He has
descended (avatirnah) in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow upon the world that
which has not been given for a long time – the beauty of His own brilliantly radiant ujjvala-
prema-rasa bhakti, service in the highest mellow of amorous love.

The Definition of Faith

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How can one define faith? Is it a feeling or a function of the brain? Or is it just unfounded belief?
The English word ‘Faith’ is associated with many things. The word is used to define a trust or
belief in someone or something, but more commonly it is used in association with religion and
God.

The definition of the word faith in the unabridged Oxford Dictionary is:

1- Complete trust or confidence.

2- Strong belief in a religion.

3- A system of religious belief.

The English word faith originates from the latin word fideis which comes from the ancient Greek
word pistis. In Greek mythology Pistis was the spirit of trust, honesty and good faith. She was
one of the benevolent spirits that escaped from Pandora’s box who then fled back to heaven and
abandoned mankind. Her Roman counterpart was Fides, the goddess of trust. Fides actually has
nothing to do with the concept of faith, as we know it today. Fides meant reliability or a sense of
trust — it was a virtue that was expected in all good people. It was only later during the early
Christian period that fides came to denote faith in the Christian sense of the word.

Presently, faith suggests a strong belief in something with no supporting evidence or empirical
proof. When there is something that cannot be seen with the naked eye or understood by our
senses, then it is generally discounted as something nonexistent or to be taken on faith. The
reality of this world is that so much of it is based on faith. There are many things with which the

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individual has no direct experience of, yet he considers these to be true on the basis of faith. This
idea can be illustrated by the knowledge that a child gains from the parents. The child will
typically hold the parents as a credible source of information even without sufficient research to
prove their credibility. The child’s belief in the parents teaching is based on the faith that their
teachings are credible. In order to be taught something, a person has to have faith in a teacher.
This can even be said of scientific knowledge. One must have faith that the researcher or
scientist responsible for an empirical conclusion is competent, and trustworthy. Thus in every
instance of life, faith is required in order to attain knowledge of any kind.

Faith Versus Rational Thinking

As people place their faith in scientific conclusions and evolutionary theories, they fail to take
many things into account. If one observes the method in which scientific research is conducted,
generally it begins with various theories and presuppositions — almost everything is changeable
or disposable. Scientific theories have been revised, rethought and proven wrong throughout
history. To place one’s faith in this guessing game can be a disappointing venture.

We, as humans, are limited by the senses that our body comes equipped with. People relate so
much with their bodies and senses that it becomes almost impossible to think outside of the small
realm of experience that we have access to. The senses are only able to perceive things that are
situated in the realm of gross matter. This is a most mundane approach to acquiring knowledge,
one that leaves out all subtle and invisible elements. Even in the realm of gross matter, so much
of it cannot be perceived with our limited senses. We cannot perceive things that are too small
(like the atom), things that are hidden (like the stars in the daytime) or even the latent potential of
a certain element (such as the potential of milk to become yogurt).

According to the Vedic way of thinking there are four defects present in all people:

1) Bhrama — We are subject to illusion. This means that one may perceive one thing to be
another. A classic example of this is someone who sees a piece of rope lying on the ground and
mistakes it for a snake. This illusion also extends to one’s own self. We are in illusion about our
identity. We have forgotten our spiritual position and have begun to identify ourselves with this
temporary body.

2) Pramada — We have the tendency to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes arising from
carelessness or inattention. When we are not focused on a particular task then we end up making
mistakes.

3) Vipralipsa — We have the desire to deceive. This desire arises when one finds it
advantageous to exploit someone or withhold the truth from another.

4) Karanapatva — We have imperfect senses. Every single one of our senses is limited. Each
sense organ is limited to one function (our eyes can only see, our ears can only hear, etc). Even
within the limitation of the particular function they are meant to perform, they are defective. The
capacity of our senses is greatly impaired by different circumstances (insufficient light or the

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distance of the object from the viewer). Even under ideal circumstances these senses can provide
imperfect information.

In Sanskrit the word for faith is sraddha. Sraddha comes from two root words srat + dadhati,
meaning that which leads to truth and reality. There are two types of faith to be obtained by the
individual. One is transcendental faith (paramarthika-sraddha) and the other is mundane faith
(laukika-sraddha). If one places their faith in mundane knowledge, then it will be tainted with
the defects of human nature (as stated above).

Transcendental faith is standing on more sturdy ground because the conclusions that are drawn
from it are coming from a higher source free from material defects. Some may argue that it is not
a rational way of thinking to have belief in a Creator or to have belief in the theory of intelligent
design. Yet it would seem to be a more rational conclusion to attribute the multi-dimensional
complexity of the universe to a intelligence beyond our own. Is it rational to put your faith in so
many inconclusive theories that would have you believe that the universe was generated from
random particles colliding with each other and evolving over the millennia?

Most of the evolutionary theories are outdated, inconclusive or have been proven wrong. For so
many years people take these theories as facts proven by in depth scientific study, then when
proven as incorrect they are replaced with new ideas and theories — is that where we want to
place our faith? A sincere person seeking the truth should not be satisfied with these ideas and
should search in a wider spectrum with an open mind.

The Learning Process

In order to compound one’s faith, one must have a foundation of knowledge, otherwise there is a
risk of blind faith. The Vedic scriptures tell of three ways in which a person attains knowledge.
The first and most common is called pratyaksa or direct perception. Much of our basic learning
comes from direct experience of the world around us. There are two types of pratyaksa, external
(knowledge acquired through the senses) and internal (to perceive emotions within ourselves
such as pain, pleasure, love and hate). Everyone accepts pratyaksa as a valid medium with which
to obtain knowledge but it is not always reliable for several reasons. It is limited to the present
(you cannot have direct experience of the past or the future), it is limited to material things
(spiritual elements cannot be perceived with material perception) and it is also limited by
imperfect senses.

The second is called Anumana or inference. This means to reach a conclusion based on evidence,
reasoning and prior experience. There is an example in the Vedas of ‘fire on the mountain.’ One
sees that there is smoke rising from the mountainside and thinks, “There is fire on the mountain.”

There are five steps taken in order to reach this conclusion:

1) Pratijna (Proposition): There is fire on the mountain.

2) Hetu (Reason): Because it is smoky.

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3) Udaharana (General principle and example): Where there is smoke there is fire

4) Upanaya (Application): There is smoke over the mountain

5) Nigamana (Conclusion): Therefore, there is a fire on the mountain.

Through the evidence at hand, reasoning and prior experience, a person will reach the conclusion
that there is a fire on the mountain, despite not directly seeing fire.

This process is also not free of faults, because it still involves the imperfect senses. One could
mistake a fog bank or cloud to be smoke. If the reason is wrong then the conclusion is also
wrong.

Then the third is called Sabda. Sabda means to hear from a person who is a trustworthy authority
on a particular subject matter. Sabda can refer to any authority on any subject (i.e. a history
teacher is an authority on the subject of history). However, a deeper meaning of sabda refers to
knowledge of reality that is coming from a reliable source free from the four defects of human
nature. This is known as apauruseya-sabda, meaning it has no human origin and is untainted by
material defects. Apauruseya also means that which is eternally existing without beginning. The
Vedic literatures are apauruseya as they are handed down through an unbroken disciplic
succession from their eternal and untainted source, Krsna. This is the strong link to pure
knowledge.

Conclusion

Paramarthika-sraddha (transcendental faith) should be our only concern. Because, through this
faith we can advance our understanding and spiritual capacity. However, sraddha is only the first
step in spiritual advancement.

Sri Rupa Gosvami, one of the foremost teachers in the disciplic succession of the Gaudiya
Vaisnavas describes the stages of advancement required to attain self-realization in the following
verse:

adau sraddha tatha sadhu-sanga bhajana-kriya

tato ‘nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah
athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudancati
sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah

In the beginning one must have faith and the desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the
stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next stage one
becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee
begins the process of devotional service. By execution of devotional service under the guidance
of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material attachment, attains steadiness in self-
realization, and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri
Krsna. This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Krsna consciousness, which is

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matured in bhava, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love of God. Real love for God is
called prema, the highest perfectional stage of life. (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.4.15-16)

Faith is the basis of all things and as we advance spiritually then our faith also develops and
grows. In Vedic philosophy faith is not an abstract or impersonal concept, it is not a state of mind
but an energy that stimulates the heart and confirms the spiritual path for the devotee. Faith in its
purest form is the halo of Srimati Radharani, by the light of which we may understand Krsna.

Sraddha, faith, is the most subtle thing, and it is also the most tangible. It is not imaginary. We
must realize that it is reality, it is concrete, and not merely an abstract sentiment of mere
individual consciousness. Faith is universal as the most fundamental element that can connect us
with the finest objective. (Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja)

Devotional Principles

After wandering in this material world for many lifetimes, by the mercy of guru and Krsna, the
seed of devotion is awakened within our heart. The process starts with a little faith (adau
sraddha) and this faith leads us to seek answers (pariprasna) and the association of devotees
(sadhu-sanga), those who are practitioners of the devotional process. The cultivation of this seed
of the creeper of devotion is the substance of our devotional life.

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva

guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija
mali hana kare sei bija aropana
sravana-kirtana-jale karaye secana

According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. By the
mercy of both Krsna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of
devotional service. When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of
it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters the seed gradually by the
process of sravana and kirtana [hearing and chanting], the seed will begin to sprout. (Cc.
Madhya 19-151-2)

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Just like a tender new plant, we must nurture this creeper carefully so that it will grow. Water,
fertilizer and avoidance of harsh conditions or treatment, bad soil, being stepped on and being
crowded out by weeds, ensure the healthy growth of a plant. The devotional creeper is similar, its
healthy growth is assured by following carefully the positive practices of bhakti and avoiding
certain negative aspects.

These verses imply the gradual and healthy growth of the creeper — if the process of devotion is
followed properly, then bhakti will thrive. The positive aspects of devotional life (yama) are to
first find a guru (guru-padasrayas tasmad), follow his instructions and thereby serve the guru
and devotees, and engage in daily devotional practices, such as chanting the Holy Names of
Krsna on beads, associating with devotees and regularly hearing about the Lord from the
devotional scriptures (nityam bhagavata-sevaya).

The negative aspect (niyama) requires that one avoid activities unfavorable to devotional service,
such as meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex and gambling. Other unfavorable activities to be
avoided are association with those not interested in devotion (asat sanga tyaga), avoiding
offenses to devotees, the Lord, His Name and anything related to the Lord or His devotees.

An offense to a devotee is the most detrimental activity one can have in devotional life. Such an
offense is called the mad elephant offense (hati-mata) because of the great harm it does to our
devotional creeper, like an elephant trampling a garden. If we unfortunately make such an
offense, but we are remorseful and understand that we have made an offense, then it is not
difficult to rectify. The only remedy for an offense to another devotee is to sincerely apologize
and beg forgiveness from the very devotee whom we have offended. The key is sincerity, for as
we know well, no one appreciates an insincere apology.

It is also necessary to overcome our pride and admit our mistakes, for pride (pratistha) is perhaps
our greatest enemy. Humility, pridelessness and tolerance are most important qualities for a
Vaisnava and are said to be the ornaments of a true devotee (sadhava' sadhu-bhusana'). Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu has stated that humility is one of the most important qualifications for
chanting the Lord's Holy Name — trnad api sunicena (Siksastakam 3). As soon as one
surrenders to Krsna, giving up all other activities, one is immediately considered to be a liberated
soul — jivan-mukta' sa ucyate (Brs. 1.2.187).

Sambandha, Abhidheya and Prayojana

It is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.5, parabhavas tavad abodha-jato yavan na jijnasata

atma-tattvam – that a human being is defeated in all their activities as long as they do not know
the goal of life. One can understand this goal when they are inquisitive about their spiritual
position. Knowledge of this spiritual or constitutional position is divided into three classes, as
described by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: ataeva bhagavate ei 'tina' kaya sambandha-abhidheya-
prayojana-may – "One's relationship with the Lord (sambandha), activities in devotional service
(abhidheya), and the attainment of the highest goal of life, love of Godhead (prayojana), are the
subject matters of Srimad-Bhagavatam." (Madhya 25.131)

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We must want to know who we are, what the environment is, what God is, and what the
relationship is between ourselves, God and the world we live in. Knowledge of these four items,
sambandha-jnana, is the knowledge of one's relationship with the Supreme Person as the center
of all relationships. When we hear properly from authorized sources, such as the guru and
scripture, our understanding awakens and we will come to understand our actual position as an
eternal servant of Krsna — jivera 'svarupa' haya krsnera 'nitya-dasa (Cc. Madhya 20.108).
Understanding this is an essential step in self-realization. However real hearing means to act
upon what we hear. Otherwise we have not heard properly.

And this is the next step, acting upon this knowledge. This is called abhidheya, or activity in
relationship with the Lord and His devotees. This is our real occupation, engaging in the
practical activities of devotional service to Krsna.

Thus, if we can understand our relationship with the Lord and act accordingly, our mission in life
will be fulfilled. After properly executing our duties, when we attain the highest goal of life, pure
love of God, we are said to have achieved prayojana, or the fulfillment of the ultimate goal of
life.

The substance of this process is in the abhidheya, theactivities that we perform. Regular
activities performed in devotional service are called sadhana-bhakti — engaging in the
prescribed duties of devotional service. There are nine processes described by Prahlada
Maharaja:

sravanam kirtanam visno' smaranam pada-sevanam

arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam

The nine kinds of devotional service are hearing about Krsna, chanting about Him, remembering
Him, offering service to His lotus feet, offering Him worship in the temple, offering prayers to
Him, working as His servant, making friendship with Him and unreservedly surrendering to
Him. (Bhag. 7.5.23)

bhagavan-prapti-hetu ye kari upaya

sravanadi bhakti – krsna-praptira sahaya

It is only by devotional service, beginning with hearing, that one can approach the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. That is the only means to approach Him. (Cc. Adi 7.141)

One can directly approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by executing these nine
kinds of devotional service. Hearing about the Lord is the most important of the nine aspects of
devotional service, for if we are simply given a chance to hear about Krsna, our devotion will
surely develop — Sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya (Cc. Madhya 22.107). Love of God is
dormant in everyone, and if one is given a chance to hear about the Lord, certainly that love
develops.

Each of these nine processes is so potent that any one of them guarantees success, what to speak
of engaging in all of them, as in the case of Ambarisa Maharaja. Pure devotion is free from

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speculation and the desire for knowledge as well as the desire for material gain — karma-
jnanavrtam (Brs.) That is, real devotional service is performed only to please the Lord, and not
for one's own benefit. Of course, when devotional service is performed purely, the maximum
benefit is achieved and one does benefit greatly. Of all of the processes, chanting the Hare Krsna
maha-mantra is the most important. It is emphasized by our gurus that all success in devotional
life is guaranteed if we can regularly chant this mantra carefully.

Sadhana-bhakti is the diligent practice of the regulative principles of devotional service. This
first stage of devotion is rendered under the direction of a pure devotee, and is practiced out of
duty, knowing that engaging in all these activities is essential to ensure one's advancement in
devotional life. As one's mental disease is cured by a psychiatrist, so sadhana-bhakti cures the
conditioned soul from their madness under the spell of material illusion. When the heart is freed
from unwanted habits (anartha-nivrtti) one becomes firmly fixed in devotional service and
begins to develop a taste for the Holy Name of Krsna and devotional service to Krsna. One's
progress can be analyzed in a very scientific way as we become free from unwanted habits and
become attached to our devotion. It is described that this is just like the feelings a hungry person
has when eating to their satisfaction — Bhakti' paresanubhavo viraktir anyatra syat (Bhag.
11.2.42). The difference is that when our stomach becomes filled we become uninterested in
food, however, when we become filled with Krsna, our attachment for Krsna only increases and
we want more of Krsna. In fact we become so attached that we feel that we cannot live without
Krsna.

In this way, a sadhaka orpractitioner of bhakti, can see their positive advancement in devotional
service by how they are developing attachment to all things related to Krsna and simultaneously
becoming detached from all things unfavorable to devotional service. Additionally, an inverse
proof of the process becomes evident when we look at the results of activities which are
unfavorable for devotional service. Those who don't chant regularly or sincerely, who offend
devotees or anything related to Krsna, who associate with non-devotees, etc, they are seen to lose
their taste for the Holy Name, for the association of devotees and for devotional life in general.
In other words, by engaging in activities unfavorable to devotional life, we lose our taste for
devotional life and drift away. Srila Prabhupada writes:

Now this sadhana-bhakti, or practice of devotional service, can also be divided into two parts.
The first part is called regulative principles: one has to follow these different regulative
principles by the order of the spiritual master or on the strength of authoritative scriptures, and
there can be no question of refusal. That is called vaidhi, or regulated. One has to do it without
any argument. Rupa Gosvami defines the first part of devotional practice, or vaidhi-bhakti, as
follows: 'When there is no attachment or no spontaneous loving service to the Lord, and one is
engaged in the service of the Lord simply out of obedience to the order of the spiritual master or
in pursuance of the scriptures, such obligatory service is called vaidhi-bhakti.'

"The second stage of devotional service is called raga-bhakti, in which a devotee automatically
and enthusiastically engages in the various services of the Lord out of sincere desire. By
performing raga-bhakti in loving transcendental service one can even control the Supreme
Powerful Lord. Raganuga refers to the point at which, by following the regulative principles, one
becomes a little more attached to Krsna and executes devotional service out of natural love. As

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one's devotional service becomes mature, the Lord reveals Himself to the devotee, and all fear is
totally vanquished forever.

Bhakti begets bhakti, bhaktya sanjataya bhaktya (Bhag. 11.3.31, devotion produces more
devotion. As our taste for devotional service increases, we automatically increase our service
with the result that the reciprocation of the Lord also increases, further increasing our taste for
devotion.

The Six Gosvamis of Vrndavana were so absorbed in their devotional activities that they forgot
to eat and sleep — nidrahara-viharakadi-vijitau. Even while exhibiting the most extreme
renunciation, they were experiencing the greatest pleasure from their activities — premonmada-
vasad asesa-dasaya grastau pramattau sada.

Prayojana

The ultimate goal of life is pure love of God, prema pumartho mahan. A devotee who has
achieved this pure love of God, is not concerned with his position in this material world or even
the next (spiritual world). They are fully satisfied to simply be engaged in the Lords service.
Liberation is the concern of the neophyte, while serving and pleasing the guru and Krsna are the
only concerns of the advanced devotee. Pleasing the guru and pleasing Krsna are one and the
same, for the self-realized guru's desires are non-different than those of Krsna. Pleasing the guru
and Krsna also means pleasing the devotees, for all devotees are very dear to the Lord — kascin
me priya-krttama' (Gita.18.69). It is essential to understand this point, for by pleasing the
devotees, we please Krsna automatically.

To understand these desires of Krsna and guru properly, is one of the most important aspects of a
devotees' life, for without this, all one's efforts will lead us away from Krsna, not towards Him.
There is a fine line, a subtle difference between the pure line drawn by our acaryas and the not
so strict or impure line followed by many in the name of pure devotion. So much has been
written about the highest position or aspects of devotion, and many choose to imitate its form,
rather than understand its substance and qualify themselves. It is so easy to imitate, but to be a
true Rupanuga, or follower of Srila Rupa Gosvami and our line of acaryas, we must enter deeply
into an understanding of the essence of their teachings as given to us by our guru.

The emphasis of our nearest acaryas is to respect this highest position, the prayojana, the
ultimate goal from a distance and to realize that we are very far from it. In particular, our
parama-guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada, has given a sloka emphasizing just
this, as related by Srila B. R. Sridhara Deva Gosvami:

Pujala raga-patha gaurave-bhange — very sweet. The raga-patha is on the head. We are
servants of the raga-patha. We are in vidhi-marga, under sastrika rule. We must live and move
under sastrika rule, and always keep the raga-patha upon our head. The whole tenor of Guru
Maharaja's (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's) life was such: "That is high, very high, and from below we
are to honor that." We must establish this conception, the proper regard for that higher lila,
throughout the entire world: "That is too high." (Follow The Angels, Part 2)

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To quote from The Standard for Higher Lila, an article enunciating the proper qualifications for
hearing higher spiritual topics:

The so-called followers of rasika-gurus have written, 'The highest good can be obtained by
anyone who faithfully hears krsna-katha from a bona-fide rasikacarya.' They then cite Srila
Narottama Dasa Thakura in an attempt to justify the hearing of confidential lilas by the
unqualified: 'A person averse to hearing these lilas will never attain perfection. I refuse to hear
his name.' What they fail to state, however, is that Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura, does not say
that one who is unqualified to hear such pastimes must hear, or should hear such pastimes. Being
averse to hearing the Lord's lilas and being properly qualified to hear the Lord's pastimes are two
completely different things. One rejects hearing the lila of Krsna due to the preference of being
engaged in maya, illusion, while the latter is concerned with proper qualifications before hearing
the Lord's confidential pastimes so as not to make any offense.

Further, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada stated, "Raga-katha is high, but in
our small mouth it doesn't look nice. Hearing such high words from our little mouth, devotees
whose life and soul is bhajana will laughingly push us away." (Prabhupader Patravali)

We should therefore take warning from our realized acaryas, that we must approach higher
topics very carefully and then only under the instruction of our guru directly. We must not be
impatient, and jump like monkeys over the clear instructions of our acaryas.

If we simply chant the Holy Name sincerely in earnest and follow the instructions of our guru,
everything will be revealed when it is time to be revealed. This process is a descending process
and no material effort on our part can produce spiritual results. As no amount of darkness can
produce light, so, no amount of non-devotional activities can help our devotion.

The non-devotees are engaged in a hard struggle to enjoy their senses in this material world but
in the end they will be defeated by old age, disease and eventually death. However, we are
engaged in a struggle to control our senses and please Krsna by our devotion. And we will be
successful, for this is inherent in the process, success is guaranteed. Krsna, speaking to us via his
great devotee Arjuna, assures us of this in Bhagavad-gita 18.65.

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru

mam evaisyasi satyam te pratijane priyo 'si me

Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus
you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.

Master and Servant

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We are encouraged to search for Krsna, yet we should never forget that on our own we can never
find Him. It is He that must come to us. The path of bhakti is a descending process. It is super-
subjective – it always has been and always will be. In the words of the German philosopher
Hegel, “He is for Himself and by Himself”.

aham sarvasya prabhavo

mattah sarvam pravartate

I am the cause of everything. Everything comes from Me. Mattah sarvam pravartate – and
everything is coming out of Me. Even search about Me also comes from Me, worship of Me is
coming from Me, I am worshiping Myself and I am showing it to you all. (Gita 10.8)

nayam atma pravacanena labhyo

na medhaya na bahuna srutena
yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas
tasyaisa atma vivrnute tanuh svam

The Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, or even by much
hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person, He manifests
His own form.(Katha Up. 1.2.23)

In the words of Srila Sridhara Maharaja:

This one path we recommend. By His grace we can know Him - no other alternative. Yam evaisa
vrnute tena labhyas. Whoever is graced by His selection to know Him, he can only know,
otherwise it is impossible. All rights reserved! The only path, the srota path – grace, krpa – that
is the way.

But how do we qualify to attain that krpa? If we seek after His service, then He may come to us.
We learn this from the example of Maharaja Prataparudra, who desired the darsana of

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Mahaprabhu but was refused even when Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya requested the Lord. Yet when
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu witnessed the king's affection for Ramananda Raya and saw his
humble service attitude at the Ratha-yatra festival, He at once granted him His association and
service.

The Key

trnad api sunicena

taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih

One can chant the Holy Name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than
the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false
prestige and ready to offer all respects to others. ln such a state of mind one can chant the Holy
Name of the Lord constantly. (Siksastaka 3)

Srila Sridhara Maharaja says:

Our attitude in the search for Sri Krsna should be that we are most unfit. This is the qualification
for the finite to approach the Infinite. To think ourselves qualified is a disqualification in our
search after the infinite. We may take the Name of the Lord, the divine sound, but the process is
such that we must be mindful to that. Otherwise, our search will be in vain; our attempt will be
lost. What will be the attitude? Trnad api sunicena – we must think of ourselves as the meanest
of the mean, the humblest of the humble. Sincere. Our forbearance must have no limit.

We should be conscious that hindrances and obstacles are almost sure to attack us, but we must
deal with them with humility and forbearance. Slow and steady wins the race. Our march
towards the infinite is a long journey, not to be finished within a few hours, a few days or a few
years.

In most instances, we see that generally a jiva takes many lifetimes to reach perfection. Though
at first this may sound harsh and unpleasant, it is consoling to notice that the grace of the all-
merciful Lord never ceases and the spiritual assets of the progressing jiva are never lost under
any circumstances. Those that are spiritually advanced can feel that He is there. He is our best
friend and He is in the background of everything.

tyaktva sva-dharmam caranambujam harer

bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi
yatra kva vabhadram abhud amusya kim
ko vartha apto ’bhajatam sva-dharmatah

One who has forsaken his material occupations to engage in the devotional service of the Lord
may sometimes fall down while in an immature stage, yet there is no danger of his being
unsuccessful. On the other hand, a non-devotee, though fully engaged in occupational duties,
does not gain anything. (Bhag. 1.5.17)

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Sometimes the mercy of the Supreme Lord may take an apparently unpleasant form, as in the
story of the great devotee Citraketu, who had to take birth as a demon. However, his previous
knowledge and application of that transcendental knowledge was not lost. Though Citraketu was
so powerful that he was quite competent to curse mother Parvati in retaliation, he did not do so.
Instead, he very humbly accepted her curse and bowed his head before Lord Siva and his wife.
This is appreciated as the standard behavior of a Vaisnava.

Our guardians have told us that this attitude of humility must be maintained at all times, in all
that we do – taking the Name, cooking for the Lord's pleasure, cleaning the temple, hearing or
speaking of Him. It is like adding salt to a preparation – it will give us the proper result since
only then are our devotional activities ‘palatable’ to Him. He may then be pleased and thus we
may achieve the goal of our life – going back to Godhead.

Yam evaisa vrnute – only one way, appointment must come from that quarter. The visa can only
be granted by that domain. The passport officers are helpless, they cannot give any visa. It must
come from the other world. Yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas – yes, you may come in, you are
desirable. That sort of visa is compulsory, before entering that land. (Srila Sridhara Maharaja)

The Visa

Faith, surcharged with an attitude of eagerness to please Him, is the only means through which
we can attempt to approach Him, and then – and only then, He may manifest Himself.

“Sraddha, sadhu-sanga, serving tendency—that is the visa.” As we have heard, Srila Sridhara
Maharaja is the one who gives the visa. We may ask: Who is the appointed consul? There may
be a number of them – just as one country has a number of representatives posted in various
countries. But, at least for us, it is quite clear – it is our guru. Our only concern should be, “How
can I please him?” For if I please him, then even though I may be disqualified in so many ways, I
still have a chance for that krpa – just as Amogha was told by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

You are the object of My affection because you are the son-in-law of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya.
Everyone in Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya's house is very dear to Me, including his maids and
servants and even his dog. And what to speak of his relatives? (Cc. Madhya 15.283-284)

Who serves whom?

Externally disciples seem to be the servant, but internally we consider guru is the servant of so
many disciples. He tries to make them fit for the service of Krsna, just as when you go to the
temple to worship with certain things, so many things are cleaned in such a way that it may be
acceptable by Krsna. So guru is also serving, he is helping so many persons so they may be fit to
serve Krsna. He is rendering service to so many. (Srila Sridhara Maharaja)

On the other side, there are some gurus who take service from their disciples while thinking of
themselves as guru, as Srila Puri Maharaja said, “If you think that you are a guru – you are a
gauru, a cow.”

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Taking the position of a guru inspired by false ego, for cheap adoration, or to exploit others by
taking donations, or for any other ulterior motive (subtle or gross) other than to guide souls in
their search for Krsna is very wrong!

guravo bahavah santi

sisya vittapaharakah
durlabhah sad-guru devi
sisya santapa-harakah

O goddess, there are many gurus who are expert at taking away the money of their disciples, but
a real guru who is expert at taking away the miseries of his disciples, is very rare. (Padma
Purana)

Such an attitude of exploitation can never satisfy Krsna, nor can it benefit the jiva who is
supposed to be a recipient of the highest truth. Such a jiva is then bereft of his eternal prospect.
The charlatan who poses as a guru will never be given entrance into that highest realm, for the
eternal associates of Sri Krsna will bar his entrance there. It is a conscious world and nothing can
pass unnoticed by them. Those agents are on high alert so that no unqualified person can disturb
the pastimes of the Lord.

It is very unfortunate that this kind of posturing can be seen in Vaisnava society today.

Accepting the position of an acarya is not a light matter and should be taken up only by the
instruction of a higher agent directly or via inspiration. If an individual has truly been inspired by
a divine agent or has been inspired by maya to live in a fools paradise—this will be shown in his
words and deeds. As the saying goes, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

The Best servant

Though he is our guardian and master, simultaneously Sri Guru is the best servant.

na ca tasman manusyesu
kascin me priya-krttamah
bhavita na ca me tasmad
anyah priyataro bhuvi

One who is explaining this secret of Bhagavad-gita to My devotees, that person he is priya-
krttamah – he is most dear to Me. (Gita 18.69)

Gita is my most favorite thing, and he who distributes the inner meaning of Gita is the most
favorite to Me. He who continues the line of Gita to the public, he is My best devotee.

While serving his guardians and serving us by presenting us with many invaluable instructions
and insights through his spoken and written word, our Divine Master has received recognition
from the higher agents, as well as from a number of nirupadhi Vaisnavas—those free from
malice.

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The spoken word, sound—this is the method by which a genuine Vaisnava and acarya is
recognized. In the same way, those that are not properly situated in guru-tattva are revealed by
the medium of sound and are then checked by those genuine agents.

Furthermore, due to his good-hearted nature and infinite kindness, Srila Guru Maharaja always
thinks of our ultimate good, although he has been used and abused a number of times. In spite of
all these personal ‘injuries,’ our Gurudeva does not stop giving and trusting.

As a result of his selfless sacrifice, Sri Guru creates a unique association of sincere, loving and
caring individuals who are genuinely advanced in spiritual life. We consider ourselves truly
fortunate for having the privilege of association and service of such Vaisnavas.

Radha-pada Darsana

This year, on October 31st, on the Sukla-paksa Trayodasi during the month of Karttika, devotees
celebrated the day that Srimati Radharani dressed in Subala-vesa – the dress of the cowherd boy
Subala. In the dress of a cowherd boy, the lotus feet of Radha are visible during darsana. This is
called radha-pada-darsana and only happens one day in a year. Indeed, it is a rare occasion.
Thousands of devotees packed the courtyard of the Radha-Damodara Temple from morning to
night with great expectations of glimpsing the lotus feet of Sri Radha.

The pastime of Radha accepting Subala-vesa (Subala-milana) is described in the book

Sankirtanamrta, written by a recognized Vaisnava named Dina Bandhu Dasa who followed after
the time of Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. Srila B.R. Sridhara Deva Gosvami summarizes
Subala-milana as follows:

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Sometimes Subala played proxy for Radharani. One day in the pasture ground, Krsna suddenly
felt extreme separation for Radhika. Krsna sent for Subala, “Oh my Radha – please go and fetch
Her, I can't live without Her. Suddenly I have so much earnestness for Her union that I can't
stand. Somehow you must manage.”

Subala replied, “But how is it possible to take Her in the jungle in broad daylight?”

“Anyhow,” Krsna said, “You must manage.”

Subala came and proposed to the sakhis of Radharani that, “Such is the condition, Krsna can't
stand; He can't tolerate the separation of Radharani. He is so eager, He is going mad.”

"You have to manage somehow."

"How is it possible?"

A meeting was to be arranged nearby in the jungle. This is known as Subala-milana. They
discussed amongst themselves. Subala was a boy, fair looking. His figure, face and color
resembled something like Radharani. So Subala was sent to Radharani's house and he took the
dress of Radharani. The other party, anti-party [Jatila] approached, “Subala, why have you come
here?”

Subala replied, “One calf is missing and its mother is roaring, so I have come to find out if the
calf has come here.”

In this way Subala managed to escape detection. Then Subala interchanged the dress of
Radharani and Radharani was converted into Subala. Subala took the dress of Radharani and
remained there in the room. One calf was also given to Radharani on Her breast. Taking the
small calf [in her arms], She was given a hint where Krsna was waiting at the edge of the jungle.

She approached in the garb of Subala. Krsna was mad and beside Himself. He could not detect
that Radharani had come. “Oh, Subala, you have come back? You could not bring Her?

Radharani began cutting jokes, “No, it is not very easy to get Radharani in the daytime.”

Then Krsna could not tolerate, “What to do, I can't tolerate My life any longer!”

Radharani said, “If you say, I will bring Candravalli.”

“No, no”, said Krsna, “Curd cannot satisfy the thirst of milk. It is not possible.” “Oh, you could
not manage.” And being disappointed Krsna fainted. Then Radharani embraced Krsna.

“My Lord, you can't recognize Your maidservant. You failed to recognize me? You have such
little liking for me in you that you could not recognize Me?” Then Krsna was again pacified and
regained consciousness.

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In Vrndavana, to commemorate this pastime, on the Sukla-paksa Trayodasi, all the major
temples dress Radharani as Subala. Due to Her wearing a cowherd boy’s dhoti, Radharani’s feet
are visible at that time (radha-pada-darsana).

During all other times of the year the feet of Srimati Radharani are not visible to the devotees.
One can thus imagine what intensity arises in the devotees when the day of radha-pada-darsana
arrives — very, very intense indeed.

It is worthy to note that when radha-pada-darsana is given, it happens in an indirect way and not
directly. In the dress of Radha the pada-darsana is never given, but in the dress of Subala it
happens indirectly. Such is the way of those things that are most sacred in Gaudiya Vaisnavism.

The understanding of Subala-milana is possibly deeper than most of us are prepared to

recognize. Krsna can only be approached thru Radharani, and Radharani is also not to be
approached directly. Only by approaching Her representative can one approach that plane of
divinity. Also, we must consider that even in the matter of the darsana of Sri Murti, the darsana
of Radha’s lotus feet is available only indirectly and only once a year — a rare occasion.

When such a darsana of the Deity is considered so rare, then what can be said of the darsana of
Radharani directly? If such a connection with the Deity is rare, then how much higher and rarer
is the direct darsana of Sri Radha?

Yet, ever so often, we find that the concept of radha-dasyam (becoming Radha’s servant) is dealt
with rather casually, when in fact one should hold the desire of such exalted service above one’s
head with the greatest reverence. Reverence for that highest plane of spiritual attainment is in
great demand and thus one should treat such with the greatest respect, abandoning familiarity.

Familiarity in that arena for the neophyte will lead not to success but to ruin. The aspiration for
the service of Sri Radha and the darsana of Her lotus feet is always to be kept above our heads
as our greatest aspiration and the ultimate goal of life. We should not think that it is such an easy
attainment, nor should we make it the topic of public lectures and pamphlets in the name of
attracting many followers or disciples.

Failure to heed such warnings, as given by our previous acaryas, lead not to the darsana of
Srimati Radharani but to the inspiration to live in a fool’s paradise — fools rush in where angels
fear to tread!

Those that approach the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani thru the prescribed method of
worshipping Lord Gauranga in sankirtana are indeed engaged in the proper approach – not those
who think they can approach Her directly by performing various concocted gopi and manjari
meditations. As Prabodhananda Sarasvati assures us:

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde

vindeta bhaktim krta-punya-rasih
tatha tathotsarpati hrdy-akasmad
radha-padambhoja-sudhambhu-rasih

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One who is extremely fortunate may get the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. As much as one
can devote his full attention to the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya, to that extent he will be able to
taste the nectarine service of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani in Vrndavana. The more one
engages in the service of Sri Caitanya, the more one finds oneself in Vrndavana, tasting the
nectar of the service of Sri Radha. (Caitanya-candramrta 88)

Purporting this verse Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami spoke as follows:

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has also said, “Stick to the rulings of the class you are fit for, then
you will see automatically.” Strictly stick to gaura-lila, Mahaprabhu, and you will automatically
find within your heart that radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi is flowing. Don’t attempt directly to have it.
It will come automatically, spontaneously. Not intellectually you shall approach that, for that will
give you a bad prejudice. Not only that, but it will be harmful prejudice and you will have to
expend more energy to do away with that layer of misunderstanding. So our Srila Prabhupada
[Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura] did not allow these things. Do your duty in your plane,
according to what you deserve, and that will come naturally. That is his instruction all through,
not only temporarily, but all through. Don’t do like that, for then you will get Maya instead of
Yogamaya.

He knows it fully well, She knows it fully well – when you are to be taken into the confidential
area, and that cannot be acquired by any other thing but His sweet will—the flow of Her sweet
will, or His sweet will. Try to have the natural thing, not any thing of imitation or any reflection.
Reflection and shadow – these two kinds of misconception may come there. Reflection is more
dangerous.

Those who are actually wise will consider the above instructions of Prabodhananda Sarasvati,
Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and Sridhara Deva Gosvami not as an
admonishment, but as a blessing – an indirect benediction. Gaura Haribol!

Appearance of Radha-kunda

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FORWARD

Thousands of devotees from across India and from around the world recently gathered in
Vrndavana for Karttika and on the evening of October 11th the appearance of Radha-kunda was
celebrated. In the days leading up to October 11th many devotees made their way to Radha-
kunda and took a holy dip in the kunda that is considered as non-different from Srimati
Radharani. The 11th evening saw the greatest crowds as devotees [especially Vraja-vasi women]
bathed in Radha-kunda throughout the night.

The 11th verse of Sri Upadesamrta by Rupa Gosvami states that if one even once bathes in
Radha-kunda that one attains love of Krsna. The reasons however for the majority of the Vraja-
vasi women bathing in Radha-kunda on that night were not to attain love of Krsna. As one
respected Gosvami from Vrndavana told me, “These women are mainly concerned with getting
male progeny. Many are not fertile and bathe in Radha-kunda with the hopes of getting the
blessings of entering motherhood.” Charming, but not exactly the benediction Rupa Gosvami
had in mind when he composed Sri Upadesamrta.

Those seeking motherhood aside, the majority of devotees who come to Radha-kunda for a holy
dip indeed desire to attain love of Krsna. The verses of Sri Upadesamrta certainly seem to
encourage a bath at Radha-kunda, but a question is in the air regarding who is actually qualified
to bathe at Radha-kunda and who isn’t.

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In the article that follows, the most revered guardian of devotion, Swami B.R. Sridhara Deva
Gosvami gives his illumination to the 11th verse of Sri Upadesamrta and sincere devotees
everywhere will certainly heed Srila Sridhara Maharaja’s words of guidance.

In 21st century contemporary Vaisnavism, there are many opinions about many things and these
opinions are not always in harmony with each other. In a world of contradictory opinions we can
always find our way by looking to those who stand above the common thinking, who are
lighthouses of the conception of pure devotion, who are paramahamsas in the truest sense of the
word and whose lives are cent per cent the example to be followed. Srila Sridhara Maharaja is
indeed such a beacon and his words are our guiding light.

SRI UPADESAMRTA TEXT 11

krsnasyoccaih pranaya-vasatih preyasibhyo ’pi radha

kundam casya munibhir abhitas tadrg eva vyadhayi
yat presthair apy alam asulabham kim punar bhakti-bhajam
tat premedam sakrd api sarah snatur aviskaroti

TRANSLATION

It has been established by great sages that amongst all the beloved Vraja-Gopis, Sri Radha is
Krsna’s most treasured object of love. Similarly, Her kunda is just as dear to Him. One who
bathes even once in the waters of Radha-kunda attains love for Krsna which is extremely
difficult to achieve even for great devotees, what to speak of ordinary devotees.

ILLUMINATION

In general it has been urged that if one takes bath in Radha-kunda, one’s devotional qualities can
improve. But this must be treated with proper regard and devotion, otherwise an offense will be
committed. Our Guru Maharaja advised, “Don’t dive and try to take advantage of a bath. No! Put
a drop or two on your head.” He also commented that bathing does not mean to dive into Radha-
kunda with this physical body. The soul must take bath there. Physically you are to honor. Many
are seen diving deep into the waters of Radha-kunda, sometimes swimming, taking bath etc. But
our Guru Maharaja did not allow us to do so. We did as he did – he would take some water and
put it on his head, without touching Radha-kunda with his feet. That was his example that we
have seen. He did not like anyone diving and taking bath in Radha-kunda. Radha-kunda is not to
be considered as a physical utility. Radha-kunda should be revered. Radha-kunda is Radharani in
the form of liquid, so great respect should be given to that kunda.

Loving regard is very precious. It is not available anywhere and everywhere. It is not so cheap. It
is the highest wealth of our soul that can attract Krsna towards us. It is not so cheap that you will
think, “I have got that – I can take bath regardless and then I’ll get so much devotion.” Don’t
venture! First try to understand what is raga and when you get raga you can play there, you can
play freely. But you must be sure one hundred percent to have the correct attitude concerning the
divinity of Radha-Govinda. Otherwise, you will think it is all mundane.

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The Sahajiyas think that they already have attained that high plane and they are in a position to
swim and play in Radha-kunda. But this destroys the real quality of the thing, and so they are
pests to the Gaudiya Vaisnava society. It is not so cheap. Therefore the external practice of those
higher things has been discouraged by our Guru Maharaja in the strongest terms. Raga-bhakti is
far, far above. It is not a very ordinary thing to be sold in the market. We hate those who say that
they have raga-bhakti. They are enemies of the sampradaya of Mahaprabhu. Is raga so cheap?
There are so many signs of an ordinary man, the scent of the beast is in him, and he has attained
raga-bhakti? Only to destroy them, the Gaudiya Matha has come – to destroy those imitators of
raga-bhakti.

Some of Svami Maharaja’s disciples have gone to that camp. They think they will easily attain
that which is the highest attainment of the whole theological world. These misguided souls have
gone against their guru as well as the vehement opposition of our Guru Maharaja, who gave a
warning against such adulteration – love for God is not so cheap! Mahaprabhu Himself says:

na prema-gandho’sti darapi me harau

krandami saubhagya-bharam prakasitum
vamsi-vilasyanana-lokanam vina
bibharmi yat prana-patangakan vrtha

I have not the slightest tinge of divine love within my heart. When you see me crying in
separation, I am only making a false show of devotion. The proof that I have no love for Krsna is
the fact that while not seeing his beautiful face as He plays His flute I continue to maintain my
insect-like existence. (Cc. Madhya 2.45)

Na prema gandho’sti – what to speak of prema proper, I do not even have an infinitesimal scent
of real devotion. I can’t trace even the remotest scent of divine love in me. There is not a drop of
real raganuga-bhakti within me – that is an infinite ocean. My attempt is a sham – it is all
artificial. Mahaprabhu is blaming Himself in such a way. But from the background raganuga-
bhakti is completely filling Him up and capturing Him wholesale.

We must not be overconfident of our previous acquisition – “I have acquired so much. I have
made so much progress.” I must not be satisfied with a certificate of my own making.
Mahaprabhu Himself says, “I am taking the Holy Name and I am showing so many tears in the
Holy Name of Krsna. Why? It is all a false show. My crying is only a show to canvas others to
see what a great devotee I am.” We must have so much confidence in ourselves to think that we
have become a devotee. In this way we must be very, very careful.

Kotisv api mahamune – Krsna Dasa Kaviraja Gosvami and Narottama Dasa Thakura were
thinking, “The whole world is absolved from sin, but I am neglected, I am left as the only
exception. I am so low and ill fated that I am rejected from that most benevolent infinite lila. I
alone am rejected. I could not utilize this great fortunate wave.” This should be the real tendency
of a genuine Vaisnava who has actually come in relation with the Infinite. Whenever the finite
comes in touch with the Infinite his temperament cannot be otherwise. Our temperament should
be that, “I am empty; I did not get anything. I feel emptiness within me. I can’t get the goal. My
life is frustrated. Neither do I get a drop of grace from the Lord nor the world that I have left. I

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have no alternative, O Lord. If You don’t accept me then I am undone. Please, just make me the
servant of the servant of the servant. Give me the remotest connection to You. Don’t leave me,
my Lord. I can’t tolerate this craving for You.”

This heart-felt, heart-rending prayer must come from the Vaisnava devotee of the Lord. Any
charm for the outside world is fully eliminated for that person, from the core of his heart and in
the near future his heart will be filled with the nectar of the grace of Krsna.

Radha-kunda and Syama-kunda are the representation of two forms – the Predominating Moiety
and the Predominated Moiety. And although they are two, there is a channel underground which
shows that they are actually both one unit. They are apparently two, but actually one. When the
Predominating Moiety and the Predominated Moiety become one; that becomes Mahaprabhu Sri
Caitanyadeva. In Vrndavana They are divided into two but there is a connecting link. Svarupa-
damodara has given us this sloka:

radha-krsna-pranaya-vikrtir hladini-saktir asmad

ekatmanav api bhuvi pura deha-bhedam gatau tau
caitanyakhyam prakatam adhuna tad-dvayam caikyam aptam
radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalitam naumi krsna-svarupam

The love of Radha-Krsna is the divine manifestation of the hladini-sakti. Though originally one,
They have become separated eternally. They have again become one as Sri Caitanya. I offer my
respects unto that Lord, who is Krsna Himself, with the sentiment and complexion of Radharani.
(Cc. Adi 1.5)

Who is Mahaprabhu? Just as Radharani had Her most intimate friend Lalita, who knew the real
heart of Radharani – so here, Lalita’s avatara was Svarupa-damodara and He fully knew who
Mahaprabhu was. He has given this ontological acquaintance of Mahaprabhu. We cannot say
whether winter is first, or summer, or rainy season, or autumn – they are moving in a cyclic
order. Similarly the lila of Krsna and Mahaprabhu is eternal. In Kali-yuga He is coming as
Mahaprabhu Sri Caitanyadeva, and in Dvapara-yuga, He is coming as Krsna – but time is an
eternal factor in nitya-lila. Generally we consider that Satya-yuga is first, then Treta-yuga, then
Dvapara-yuga, then Kali-yuga. Again, after Kali-yuga comes Satya-yuga, Treta, Dvapara and
Kali – in a cyclic order. So whether Mahaprabhu is first or Krsna is first is unquestionable. It is
revolving in a cyclic order.

In this verse, Svarupa-damodara says that first Radha-Govinda are combined, and we see that in
Dvapara-yuga They are separate for their lila. In ancient times, they divided Themselves for the
purpose of lila. But they are one – ekatmanam. Sometimes They are combined for lila, and
sometimes They are separate for lila. The Whole was one combined as Mahaprabhu and later we
find the Whole is separated in vrndavana-lila as Radha-Govinda. Both vrndavana-lila, and
navadvipa-lila are eternal. In the highest eternal ontological quarter we find lila of both types. In
one compound there is Vrndavana where we find that Radha-Govinda are having Their pastimes
and They are separate there. In gaura-lila we find Radha-Govinda combined and both of Them
try to distribute Themselves to others. What was previously confined to Their own circle, in
gaura-lila we find that that rasa is being distributed to others. Audarya and madhurya – two

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specific characteristics of two lilas and two avataris. Both of them are avatari, the source of all
avataras. It is the highest conception of the ontological aspect of the Absolute, but in two phases.
In one They are tasting Their own sweetness in Their own lila, and in another place They are
trying to distribute that sweetness to the other souls. This is the difference.

Radha-bhava-dyuti suvalitam naumi krsna-svarupam – the close embrace of the potency and the
owner of the potency. The predominating and the predominated tendency is mixed, but an
extraordinary ecstatic feeling is there. Krsna is overpowered by the potency, and He Himself is
searching after something – krsnasya atmanusandhana. This is the influence of Radharani over
Krsna; Krsna is transformed into a devotee and He is searching for Himself. Sweetness is tasting
itself and becoming mad and that sweetness is living, not dead. It is endowed with life.

Mahaprabhu is the ultimate source. What is the proof? Atma-trpti – He is tasting His own
happiness, ecstasy, beauty and is dancing in madness. Through kirtana He is distributing that
ecstasy to others. He is tasting Himself and that makes Him dance. The Absolute must have this
symptom.

atma-siddha-savalila-purna-saukhya-laksanam
svanubhava-matta-nrtya-kirtanatma-vantanam
advayaika-laksya-purna-tattva-tat-paratparam
prema-dhama-devam-eva naumi gaura-sundaram

He is the source of self-evident perfect bliss that is full of natural loving pastimes. His dancing
arises from the intoxication of overflowing spiritual bliss, and His chanting of the Holy Name
and fame of the Supreme Lord arises from the attempt to enjoy and distribute that spiritual bliss.
These two characteristics are the natural and fundamental substantial symptoms of the perfect
absolute principle. Therefore He is asamordhva – no one can equal or surpass Him, for He is the
unalloyed Supreme Truth. O sing with joy the unending glories of my golden Lord Gaurasundara
the beautiful, the divine abode of pure love. (Sri Prema-dhama Deva Stotra 66)

In my Prema-dhama Deva Stotra I have written that He is the Ultimate Reality. Why? Two
things are represented in Him – one is that He is dancing in ecstatic joy, feeling ecstasy within
Himself and secondly, He is distributing that to others. This is Gaura. The highest principle of
ecstatic energy cannot but be such. He is dancing and that dancing explains that inner propensity
of ecstatic joy. Sat-cit-ananda – in ecstatic joy He is dancing. And kirtana means distribution of
that joy to the environment; it is assertive. Ecstatic joy is assertive. That is self-assertion and self-
distributed. He is distributing ecstatic joy. That we find in Gauranga.

On the highest level of ontological conception there are two phases of lila – one confined within
Himself, and another attracting everyone and distributing everything to one and all. To us gaura-
lila is more useful because our prospect is there. Through Mahaprabhu only can we have
entrance into the other aspect of His lila when He gives it. If we approach Him we are sure to
have entrance into that lila.

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde

vindeta bhaktim krta-punya-rasih

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 tatha tathotsarpati hrdy akasmad
radha-padambhoja-sudhambu-rasih

One who is extremely fortunate may get the mercy of Sri Gauranga. As much as we devote
ourselves to the lotus feet of Sri Gauranga, to that extent we will automatically be able to taste
the nectarine service of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani in Vrndavana. The more one engages
in the service of Lord Gauranga, the more one finds oneself in Vrndavana, tasting the nectar of
the service of Sri Radha. (Caitanya-candramrta 88)

This is a stanza by Prabhodananda Sarasvati. Yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde vindeta bhaktim

krta-punya-rasih – those who have great sukrti will invest in Gauranga. Prabhodananda Sarasvati
says that you will automatically find that everything has been offered to the divine feet of
Radharani. She will accept us in Her confidential service, and give us engagement, “You have
good recommendation from Navadvipa. Yes, I will immediately appoint you in this service.” If
you invest your money in the Bank of America, it will go there. Similarly, your investment in
Navadvipa will automatically take you to Vrndavana. It may be unknown to you how the
company has carried you there, but automatically you will find that you are in that rasa. Such an
arrangement is there. As much as we are able to connect ourselves with gaura-lila, automatically
we find that without any trouble we are already there in krsna-lila in the camp of Radharani. We
are blessed. We are carried to the camp of Radharani in Vrndavana.

Additional Notation:

In 1932, during the month of Karttika, while lecturing at Radha-kunda, Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura made the following comment.

"Those who are still attached to this body and mind can never attain the qualification to bathe in
the kunda of our Vrsabhanu-nandini; I say this at all times! But those who are not attached to this
body and mind – they are eternally qualified. This body has been produced by our mother and
father – one who still deliberates upon this body or deliberates upon the mind cannot bathe in Sri
Radha-kunda! Only one who is knowledgeable of his aprakrta body and intrinsic internal nature
can bathe there.

"We are fallen souls! These words should always remain in our ears. They will be most
beneficial for us life after life. By hearing such words we will be protected from offences."

The above quote was published in numerous books and periodicals of the Gaudiya Math during
that period [1932-33].

Further research into the topic of who takes a full body bath at Radha-kunda as opposed to those
who simply put a few drops of water on their heads as a reverential bath has revealed that only
Sahajiyas, most of ISKCON and a few stray sannyasis with no authority actually take full body
bath at Radha-kunda. The vast majority of Gaudiya Vaisnavas, including all of the Gaudiya
Matha and most respectable Gosvamis and even some Sahajiyas do not take full body bath at
Radha-kunda. YES – even some Sahajiyas say that Radha-kunda is too high and is always to be

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shown the greatest respect. That being said, where does that leave those who neglect the caution
given by Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami and other acaryas.

Modern Science and the Vedas

In 1959 two American atomic scientists, Dr. Emillo Segre and Dr. Owen Chamberlain were
awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the antiproton, proving (theoretically)
that matter exists in two forms — as particles and antiparticles. According to one of the
fundamental assumptions of the new theory, there may exist another world, or an anti-world,
built up of anti-matter. This anti-material world would consist of atomic and subatomic particles
spinning in reverse orbits to those of the world we know. If these two worlds should ever clash,
they would both be annihilated in one blinding flash.

That same year (1959) A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada published a small essay Easy
Journey to Other Planets. He began this work by quoting the above information and went on to
say that indeed, two worlds did exist, the material and the spiritual, but the nature of the spiritual
world was that it could never be annihilated.

I first read Easy Journey to Other Planets in 1969 and for many years after that I wondered why
there hadn’t been further research into the concept of antiparticles or anti-worlds. Almost 40
years later I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the theory of anti-worlds has been a hot topic
of physics research all those years and remains so even today. In fact the anti-world theory now
occupies a prominent place in theoretical physics as the Multiverse Hypothesis, sometimes
known as Parallel Universes.

Parallel Universes

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Progress however in the Multiverse Hypothesis hasn’t been much to write home about. Concepts
keep changing and no one has yet to make actual contact with a Multiverse or Parallel Universe.
In other words there haven’t been any tangible results in the field of Multiverse research. But of
course, the scientists (physicists) who are doing the research are worthy of respect, honor, great
laudations and sizable salaries because, even though unable to actually ‘prove’ their theories,
they are great and deserve the perks of greatness, because they are able to think about such lofty
concepts. They are great minds.

But what about the writers and commentators of Vedic literature who spoke of the anti-material
world (Paravyoma and Vaikuntha) many centuries before the great minds of the west even
realized that the Earth wasn’t flat! Aren’t those Vedic seers worthy of being counted as great
thinkers, great minds and men of scientific fiber? If so, then why do we not give them their due
and, more importantly, why do today’s scientists, physicists and researchers not pay closer
attention to their ancient achievements? I don’t have the answer for that.

Lets look at some of the Vedic concepts and achievements in addition to Parallel Universes that
have become trends in modern scientific disciplines and even quintessential to science itself.

In Kapila-deva’s system of Sankhya, the analytical study of material nature, matter develops
from subtle to gross. The qualities of an element exist before the gross manifestation of the
element. That is quite different than the way most of us think of matter. For example, aroma is
the quality of earth and we therefore think that first there is the substance earth and then the
aroma. But in the Sankhya, or Vedic way of thinking, it is just the opposite. First there exists the
quality of aroma and then earth is manifest – everything begins from the subtle plane and moves
toward the gross.

The subtlest aspect of matter in Sankhya is ‘vibration’ – also thought of as a sound vibration or
frequency. That most subtle existence that precedes every and all aspects of matter is a vibration
or sound called tan-matra. In layman’s terms, in Sankhya, a vibration or sound lies at the basis of
matter. Everything springs from that original vibration — the basis of everything lies in sound.

String Theory

Respectively, String Theory (a developing branch of theoretical physics that combines quantum
mechanics and general relativity into a quantum theory of gravity) has connotations similar to the
Sankhya conception of tan-matra or sound vibration being the basis of matter.

Then there is the theoretical physics concerning Dark Matter or the missing mass in the universe.
Physicists conclude, based on research, that as much as 80% of the mass of this universe has
gone missing or is undetectable. Simply put, to account for the amount of gravity in the universe,
80% more matter than is visible is required. Where is it?

The first person to provide evidence and infer the existence of a phenomenon that has come to be
called ‘dark matter’ was Swiss astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky, of the California Institute of
Technology in 1933. Zwicky applied the viral theorem to the Coma cluster of galaxies and
obtained evidence of unseen mass. Zwicky estimated the cluster's total mass based on the

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motions of galaxies near its edge and compared that estimate to one based on the number of
galaxies and total brightness of the cluster. He found that there was about 400 times more
estimated mass than was visually observable. The gravity of the visible galaxies in the cluster
would be far too small for such fast orbits, so something extra was required. This is known as the
"missing mass problem". Based on these conclusions, Zwicky inferred that there must be some
non-visible form of matter that would provide enough of the mass and gravity to hold the cluster
together. That was the beginning for the search for Dark Matter.

Dark Matter

Seventy-six years later, science is still looking for Dark Matter. They know it is literally
everywhere, but it escapes detection and thus they are unable to observe it. Millions of
taxpayer’s dollars are spent every year by western super powers in the search for Dark Matter.
Nothing has turned up yet.

On a parallel platform, Sankhya identifies a material element that among its other qualities is, for
the most part, elusive (emphasis on elusive). It is everywhere (all-pervading) but at the same
time undetectable (ethereal). That element in Sankhya is called nabhas, or as mentioned in
Bhagavad-gita, kham.

The activities/qualities and characteristics of the kham element in Sankhya can be observed as
accommodating space/room for existence. Space itself, both internal and external, is the element
kham. This then, if taken notice of by physicists, may very well fit nicely into the ‘missing mass
problem’. Kham, being a material element, could theoretically be assigned a numerical code in
the periodic table of elements like everything else – then they might find what they are looking
for.

In the Vedic way of thinking the physical element is secondary to its qualities — when the
qualities of a particular thing are understood, it is as good as or better than having the grosser
subject at hand. In that sense modern science has already discovered Dark Matter, because they
have understood something of its qualities… they just haven’t realized it yet.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam we find the following verse:

bhutanam chidra-datrtvam bahir antaram eva ca

pranendriyatma-dhisnyatvam nabhaso vrtti-laksanam

The activities and characteristics of the ethereal element can be observed as accommodation for
the room for the external and internal existences of all living entities, namely the field of
activities of the vital air, the senses and the mind. (Bhag. 3.26.34)

In his purport to this verse, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada says that the Sankhya
understanding of nabhas or kham (that he has called in English ‘the ethereal element’) is the
basis for great scientific research:

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This verse is the potential basis of great scientific research work, for it explains how subtle forms
are generated from the ethereal element (nabhah), what their characteristics and actions are, and
how the tangible elements, namely air, fire, water and earth, are manifested from the subtle form.

Sankhya does not simply list the basic material elements, but it explains quite scientifically how
those elements evolve from the subtlest plane of existence up to the divisions of the universe —
this is quite elaborate and scientific indeed.

Yet for science to take full advantage of the Sankhya understanding of matter and to discover
how the universe came into being, they will have to do more than just add kham/nabhas to their
list of elements, they will have to add ahankara (ego), mana (the mind) and buddhi (intelligence)
to their table of elements for, indeed, Sankhya lists these as material elements. However, these
elements ahankara, mana and buddhi are categorized as even more subtle than kham, because
they are closer in character to atma, consciousness.

Beyond the gross and subtle material elements being added to the scientific table of elements,
Sankhya says that a complete understanding of existence, of reality, is not possible without
adding two transcendental, anti-material concepts – namely atma and Paramatma (consciousness
and super-consciousness). This, it seems, science struggles with even more than Dark Matter.
We have dubbed it ‘Light Matter’.

The most intriguing physics discovery by far has to be the theory of the Warp Drive or the
Alcubierre Drive, named after its inventor, the Mexican theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre
Moya. Most of us know about the Warp Drive from science fiction movies like Star Trek and
Contact, but Moya had the real deal.

In his 1994 physics paper Moya proposed a method of stretching space in a wave that would in
theory cause the fabric of space ahead of a spacecraft to contract and the space behind it to
expand.

The ship would ride this wave inside a region known as a warp bubble of flat space. Since the
ship is not moving within this bubble, but carried along as the region itself moves, conventional
relativistic effects such as time dilation do not apply in the way they would in the case of a ship
moving at high velocity through flat space-time. Also, this method of travel does not actually
involve moving faster than light in a local sense, since a light beam within the bubble would still
always move faster than the ship; it is only ‘faster than light’ in the sense that, thanks to the
contraction of the space in front of it, the ship could reach its destination faster than a light beam
restricted to traveling outside the warp bubble. Thus, the Alcubierre drive does not contradict the
conventional claim that relativity forbids a slower-than-light object to accelerate to faster-than-
light speeds.

Pretty neat stuff – and NASA certainly thought so, mounting their ‘Time Warp’ program at a
cost of many millions of dollars for more than a decade before they finally gave it up. “Yes,
Time Warp is possible.” they said, “We just can’t do it!” Shucks!

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But we are not surprised to find this same theory mentioned many thousands of years ago in the
Vedic literature as a siddhi, or mystic perfection, by which one can travel to another planet or
another galaxy without conventional propulsion and in zero time.

One may argue that although this is mentioned in the Vedas, it is doubtful that they were able to
do it. That argument could be applied, but first one should realize that they could think about it
thousands of years before NASA. Whether they could do it or not is irrelevant. After all, NASA
was only thinking about it – they never actually did it either.

See the fun – the Vedic knowledge is easily dismissed or not recognized at all. These are simply
stories and myths they say, but theoretical physics/science — now that’s something you can
believe in!

It might be fair to ask, “Who writes this stuff?” Have the intelligent people in this world
forgotten how to think for themselves? Have we simply become the faithful followers of
whatever ‘science’ has to say? Have we lost our reason and logic? Apparently some have!

If we were to list all the scientific discoveries that Vedic civilization has given to the world,
some in common use today like the one, the zero, the binary system, calculations regarding
astronomical phenomena and more yet to be discovered or understood like the Warp Drive
theory, then this article would become a book. So here we stop.

The Ontological Position of Srila

Prabhupada’s Place of Bhajana at Sri Sri
Radha-Damodara Mandira

Shortly after taking sannyasa in 1959, His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami
Prabhupada took residence at the most important temple in Vrndavana, the Sri Sri Radha-

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Damodara Mandira at Seva Kunja. Sri Nirmal Candra Gosvami, the present Sevaite-acarya of
Radha-Damodara Mandira, who was a young man at the time, remembers when Srila
Prabhupada first came to reside at Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Mandira:

He used to come here regularly and take darsana… He was standing before the deities and my
father (Sri Gaura Candra Gosvami) gave him a garland and some maha-prasadam. Actually at
that time my father’s eyesight was very poor but somehow he understood that this person was
not an ordinary sadhu. He approached him and requested him to stay here at Radha-Damodara
Temple and perform his bhajana.

From that time until Srila Prabhupada’s entering the eternal lila of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara on
November 14, 1977, for nearly two decades, he maintained close friendship with the Sevaite
family of Radha-Damodara Mandira, recognizing their position in the temple as custodians in the
Sevaite-acarya line. The present Sevaite-acarya, Sri Nirmal Candra Gosvami, is the 14th
generation descended from Adi Sevaite-acarya, Krsna Dasa Gosvami, who was personally
appointed by Srila Jiva Gosvami himself. Srila Prabhupada’s affectionate dealings with all the
family members of Sri Gaura Candra Gosvami are still spoken of with great fondness and love
by those who were there. Srila Prabhupada never forgot or failed to appreciate those who
recognized him before the whole world did. In a letter to Sri Gaura Candra Gosvami, Srila
Prabhupada indicated in a clear way that he recognized the position of the sevaites at Radha-
Damodara Mandira:

I do not wish to disturb the position of the sevaites at Radha-Damodara temple, but simply if I
am given facility to live there with my disciples, it will be my pleasure to serve Their Lordships
Sri Sri Radha-Damodara to my best capacity.

For six years, from 1959 to 1965, Srila Prabhupada lived in two rooms that adjoin the center
courtyard of the temple. It was in these two rooms that Srila Prabhupada began to formulate his
plan to spread Krsna Consciousness around the world, and it was at the Radha-Damodara
Mandira that Srila Prabhupada became fully empowered by Sri Sri Radha-Damodara and all of
our acaryas, headed by Srila Rupa Gosvami, to fulfill the desire of the Golden Volcano of Pure
Love, Sri Sri Gaurasundara, by taking the names of Krsna to every corner of the world.

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In his rooms at Radha-Damodara, Srila Prabhupada would fervently pray to Sri Sri Radha-
Damodara Thakuraji, his guru Senapati-visvacarya Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura Prabhupada, Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada, the Sampradaya-acarya, and all the
saints in our illustrious Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya for empowerment to
fulfill the desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, which was manifest in his own guru and became
his order. It was there he began his translations of Srimad Bhagavatam, that would later become
the most recognized edition by scholars and the educated echelons of every country in the world,
finding its way to all the elite libraries on the planet. It would also become the standard edition
for all Vaisnavas around the world. In his small rooms at Radha-Damodara Mandira, Srila
Prabhupada would begin his campaign to spread the creed of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, which is
the pinnacle, the very zenith of all religious thought, to every city, town, and village.

Srila Prabhupada would daily beg madhukari from the temple Sevaites, then in his own kitchen,
while gazing through the window at the samadhi of Srila Rupa Gosvami, pray for the mercy of
the Supreme Lord and all His servants while simultaneously honoring the prasadam of Thakuraji
Sri Sri Radha-Damodara. In the samadhi courtyard, next to the puspa-samadhi of his guru, he
was given the final order to leave what he would later call his, ‘eternal place of bhajana’, in
order to carry out the orders of his gurus. Sri Nirmal Candra Gosvami remembers:

Srila Prabhupada once told my father (Sri Gaura Candra Gosvami) that it was at Radha-
Damodara he received direct permission from his Gurudeva to go to the west and preach.
Actually he said it was an order, not permission…Srila Prabhupada told my father about his
sphurti-darsana (revelation) at the puspa-samadhi of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and he
said he understood this order was absolute because this happened at his Gurudeva’s samadhi.

Taking the order of his guru on his head, in old age, and with practically no money, he executed
his campaign with full faith in the protection and guardianship of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara. It can
be said with sraddha (faith) alone, Srila Prabhupada set out to do the impossible. Because he had

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full faith in his guru and the blessings of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Thakuraji, he was able to
accomplish the task.

“I have left Bharata Bhumi (India), just to execute the order of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in
pursuance of Lord Caitanya’s order… I think that His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura is always seeing my activities and guiding me within my heart by his words. It is to be
admitted that whatever work I have done is through the inspiration of my spiritual master. If
there is any credit to my activities, it is all due to His Divine Grace.” (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami
Prabhupada)

On the order of his guru, Srila Prabhupada set out to help the conditioned souls all over the world
find their way back to Vrndavana and attain the ultimate goal of life, love for Krsna. In order to
do that he gladly left his comfortable position in Vrndavana and took on almost impossible
hardships for one of his age.

Srila Prabhupada did not travel for his personal sense gratification; to increase his credentials as
a ‘man of the world’, or to see the sights, as is common with the ordinary conditioned soul on his
sojourn in this material world. He had but one determination, to spread the Holy Name to every
town and village as desired by his guru. For that purpose, he gave up an easy life of bhajana at
Sri Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Mandira. With unwavering strength of mind, steadfast resolve and
fortitude, he fearlessly pierced the heart of Kali-yuga and began his preaching campaign in New
York City. He epitomized the type of sadhu that Visvacarya-senapati Sarasvati Thakura had
hoped for and desired to produce. The rest is history. The impossible became possible by the
mercy of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara and His servants. Srila Prabhupada fulfilled the prophecy of
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who predicted an extraordinary soul would appear and spread the
Holy Name around the world. That extraordinary soul was none other than His Divine Grace
Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada.

Today thousands from around the world are finding their way to Vrndavana, all by the mercy of
Srila Prabhupada, and when they come, they all visit the rooms of Srila Prabhupada, his
bhajana-kutira which he called, ‘The Center of The Spiritual World’, to get the darsana of Srila
Prabhupada who is eternally present there.

I eternally reside in my rooms at the Radha-Damodara Temple. (Srila Prabhupada)

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Countless devotees of Krsna sit in awe and reverence in the place Srila Prabhupada began his
life’s calling. For first time visitors it is a very emotional experience to be present in the place
Srila Prabhupada planned his campaign to save them from the clutches of Maya. Some sit for
hours on end chanting the Holy Name with tears of love for Srila Prabhupada, realizing the
impossibility of ever repaying him for his causeless mercy upon them. Every year the numbers
grow as more and more people take to the creed of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Golden
Avatara. Srila Prabhupada considered his rooms so important that he told his disciples, even
before he entered the eternal pastimes of Sri Radha-Damodara; they should begin the seva there.

Sri Srimad Jagad-guru Svami, Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha Maharaja remembers:

Srila Prabhupada called a meeting in May 1977 with a few of his sannyasis. Then he told us,
‘Generally the worship in the spiritual masters bhajana-kutira doesn’t start until after his
departure. But I want to initiate the system of worship now, so I know that it is going on.’

Srila Prabhupada instructed his disciples that they should keep a photograph of him in his room
and offer him the maha-prasadam of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara. Srila Prabhupada requested that a
written inventory of all the paraphernalia in his rooms including books, manuscripts, pots, plates,
spoons, cups, etc. be meticulously kept. Srila Prabhupada further requested that his sannyasi
disciples should be the ones to maintain the rooms and do service there.

Even after building his temple in Ramana-reti, the glorious Krsna-Balarama Mandira, Srila
Prabhupada would regularly visit the Radha-Damodara Mandira and take prasadam in his
rooms. In 1972, he delivered a lecture series on the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu in the courtyard of
Srila Rupa Gosvami’s samadhi and bhajana-kutira adjacent his kitchen. Srila Prabhupada always
stressed the importance of his rooms at Radha-Damodara temple and the overall importance of
the mandira as a whole.

Those who stay there will realize that those acaryas are still living there. And if one is actually
advancing in the spiritual field, they can still take instruction from the acaryas living there. It is

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up to the individual, how he realizes this by his devotional service. By staying there you must
realize how pure the environment is. The environment itself gives a high taste of consciousness.
Radha-Damodara is there and the great acarya’s samadhis are there (Srila Rupa Gosvami
Prabhupada, Sri Jiva Gosvami Prabhupada, Sri Bhugarbha Gosvami Prabhupada, Krsna Dasa
Kaviraja Gosvami Prabhupada, etc). There cannot be any better place to live than at Radha-
Damodara. (Srila A.C Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada)

To better understand the ontological position of Srila Prabhupada’s rooms at the Radha-
Damodara Temple, it is important to understand the significance of the mandira and area of
Vrndavana it is situated in. Svami Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha Maharaja has written in the
widely distributed book Sri Damodara Katha:

To properly understand Vrndavana and the importance of the Radha-Damodara Mandira, one
should clearly understand the ontological position of Sri Rupa, Sri Sanatana, and Sri Jiva. In the
nitya-lila of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna, the madhurya-rasa is considered the topmost. In the
madhurya-rasa, Sri Radha is the supreme reservoir of prema for Sri Krsna. The whole plane of
the madhurya-rasa is the majesty of Her sentiments of devotion and love for Sri Krsna. This
highest expression of prema for Sri Krsna is called maha-bhava and it is exclusively the domain
of Sri Radha.

Sri Radha has a multitude of confidential associate servitors imbued with aspects of Her loving
sentiments for Sri Krsna, chief of which are the asta-sakhis – Lalita-devi, Visakha-devi, Citra-
devi, Indulekha-devi, Ranga-devi, Tungavidya-devi, Campakalata-devi and Sudevi. Of these
eight gopis, Lalita-devi and Visakha-devi are the principle two and of these Lalita-devi is the
constant advisor to Sri-Radha. Under the shelter and care of Lalita-devi are the younger gopis
known as manjaris. These manjaris are of very tender age and are the choicest servants of Sri Sri
Radha and Krsna during Their various intimate loving pastimes in the forest of Vrndavana. Like
Sri Sri Radha and Krsna the gopis and the manjaris all have especially pleasing spiritual bodies
made of the supremely transcendental substance known as cinmaya-rasa. As such there is no
material desire that can contaminate the prema-lila of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and Their intimate
associates. One should never think that the love of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna is on the same
platform as the so-called love that exists in the material world. Sri Radha-Krsna prema is
transcendental and above the contamination of the modes of material nature characterized by
lust, anger, and greed.

Chief among the manjaris who perform the most intimate service to Sri Sri Radha-Krsna are
Rupa-manjari, Lavanga-manjari and Vilasa manjari. These three manjaris have incarnated on
earth as Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, and Jiva Gosvami respectively to reveal the lila-
sthanas of Radha Krsna, and to establish the truth of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna for the benefit of
all human beings.

Rupa Gosvami is known as the abhidheya-acarya (reveals the practice), Sanatana Gosvami is the
sambandha-acarya (reveals relationships) and Jiva Gosvami is the tattva-acarya (reveals how all
the truths fit together). Abhidheya is the principle status in which one is able to serve Radha-
Krsna. Sambandha is the knowledge of Radha-Krsna, the living entities and their intrinsic

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relationship of service. Tattva means the ultimate truth about Radha-Krsna, Their energies,
associated, supreme abode, and pastimes.

Of all the places of lila in Vrndavana, the area where the rasa-lila of Radha and Krsna was
performed is most glorious. During those divine pastimes of rasa-lila, Sri Krsna suddenly took
Sri Radha to a secret place in Vrndavana and there in that magnificent grove Sri Krsna became
bound by the ropes of Sri Radha’s affection. Thus Krsna became known as Damodara, bound by
the love of Sri Radha. This place of magnificent beauty and charm in the rasa-lila of Sri Sri
Radha and Krsna is none other than the site where the mandira of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara is
located.

In a nutshell, Srila Narasingha Maharaja has given a synopsis of the ontological position of the
Radha-Damodara Mandira and the Thakuraji’s most intimate servants. Some say that the very
spot the Radha-Damodara Deity stands is the place Krsna became bound by the affection and
love of Srimati Radharani. The Deity was manifest from the hands of Srila Rupa Gosvami, the
Sampradaya-acarya, and presented to Jiva Gosvami in 1542. Although displaying pastimes of
leaving Vrndavana in the year 1670, the Thakuraji again returned to Vrndavana in the year 1739
and has resided in Vrndavana since that time.

Srila Prabhupada wrote the following prayer, a testimony to where he found his eternal asraya
(shelter) and an indication that he did indeed see the original cause of all causes, Sri Sri Radha-
Damodara Thakuraji at His home in the mandira:

Vrndavana is a charmingly beautiful place, and situated there in the grove known as Seva-kunja
is the sacred temple of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara. I take the lotus feet of these Deities as my only
shelter, and I petition them to be kind upon me and guide me to life’s ultimate goal.

Since the time that the closest associates of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu established The
Radha-Damodara Mandira, many saintly persons have come to visit and live there. It was no
coincidence that Srila Prabhupada was invited to do his bhajana at the mandira of Sri Sri Radha-
Damodara. Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Thakuraji wanted Srila Prabhupada in His own house.

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Jiva GoswamiRupa Goswami

If we examine history we can come to understand that Srila Jiva Gosvami, the Tattva-acarya,
gave formal residence to the eternal sabha (association), known as the Visva Vaisnava Raja
Sabha, (the bona-fide acaryas of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya). These
rajas (kings) all sat at the feet of the Emperor, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Jiva Gosvami
Prabhupada also gave the paraphernalia that goes along with that association, namely the
writings of the chief servants of the Supreme Lord Gauracandra. The library, which not only
included the works of the Six Gosvamis but also of such luminaries as Sripad Krsna Dasa
Kaviraja Gosvami and all the other leaders of the sampradaya, was originally situated next to the
altar in the room that is now dedicated to the Six Gosvamis. Paramount to the library and
learning center were Srila Jiva Gosvami’s own writings, which included the Sat Sandarbhas.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura elaborates on the importance of these Sandarbhas for
the followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

Srimad Jiva Prabhu preached the Bhagavata-dharma by the command of Sri Sri Rupa-Sanatana.
The people who were accepted as disciples by Sri Rupa-Sanatana, the leaders of the sabha later
became directors of the sabha. Srila Jiva Prabhupada, upon becoming the director of the sabha,
termed the teachings which Sri Rupa had propagated in the sabha as the Bhagavat Sandarbhas
or the Sat Sandarbhas. The members of the Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha know these Sat
Sandarbhas to be the teachings of Sri Rupa-Sanatana and thus engage themselves in hari-
bhajana. (Sarasvati Thakura, 1919)

In very recent times those with good intent have tried to revive the Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha.
In the future, such an association will fully bloom after again taking up residence at the Sri Sri
Radha-Damodara Mandira. Once again, the rajas (kings) of our sampradaya will again convene
at their home in Seva-kunja at the Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Mandira. That is the heartfelt hope of
this author.

The Radha-Damodara Mandira has always been the headquarters for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s
movement in Vrndavana. Whether being used for that purpose or not, it will for all times remain
the headquarters of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. It was for this reason
that Srila Prabhupada’s first choice for the headquarters of his mission, The International Society
for Krsna Consciousness (ISKCON), was the Radha-Damodara Mandira. Srila Jiva Gosvami was
so important to Srila Prabhupada he once said:

My mission is to develop the glories of Srila Jiva Gosvami all over the world.

It was the desire of Srila Prabhupada to establish a learning center which he coined as the
Rupanuga Para Vidya Pitha, at the Radha-Damodara Mandira. But this learning center was
nothing new, Srila Prabhupada simply wanted to revive what had already manifested by the
mercy of Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhupada. For reasons known fully only to Sri Sri Radha-
Damodara Himself, the desire of Srila Prabhupada went unfulfilled in his lifetime.

If we examine history, we find that Jiva Gosvami became the first professor of the Rupanuga
Para Vidya Pitha, shortly after the departure of Sri Krsna Caitanya and Rupa-Sanatana. With the

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library containing the written manuscripts of the Six Gosvamis and the other luminaries of the
sampradaya, Srila Jiva Gosvami created the first Krsna Conscious University. His star students
became Narottama Dasa, Dukhi Krsna Dasa, and Srinivasa Prabhu. These three, upon receiving
their credentials from Professor Jiva Gosvami Prabhupada, were given the titles Thakura,
Syamananda, and Acarya respectively. From that point, they became rajas of the sampradaya,
leaders of the Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha. These three kings of the sampradaya can also be
called the first book distributors for Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission. With the written
manuscripts of the Six Gosvamis, these three jagad-guru paramahamsa Maharajas were sent off
by Srila Jiva Prabhupada to Bengal and Orissa to convert the masses to the Krsna Consciousness
movement. Srila Jiva Gosvami also used the University as a place to convert others to the creed
of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He would cordially invite scholars and pundits from all over India to
the Radha-Damodara Mandira for discussions on spirituality. By this method he converted many
to the fold of Mahaprabhu.

Taking these histories into consideration, the ontological position of Srila Prabhupada’s rooms
becomes more apparent. Srila Prabhupada also received credentials at the Radha-Damodara
Mandira. It was at this place he became fully empowered to preach Krsna Consciousness around
the world. Sri Nirmal Candra Gosvami remembers:

Srila Prabhupada once told my father that at Radha-Damodara he received direct permission
from his Gurudeva to go to the west and preach. Actually he said it was an order, not permission.
Already he had the direction, but now it was an instruction.

It can be said that Srinivasa Acarya, Syamananda Prabhu and Narottama Dasa Thakura were the
first real book distributors. With the written manuscripts of the Six Gosvamis and other
luminaries like Krsna Dasa Kaviraja Gosvami, at the bequest of Srila Jiva Gosvami, they set out
from the Radha-Damodara Mandira to spread the creed of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The second
giant wave was Srila Prabhupada who took the bhakti-sastras outside of Bharata-varsa.

As mentioned earlier in this essay now thousands of devotees from around the world come to
Srila Prabhupada’s bhajana-kutira, they want to see the rooms where it all started. But among
those coming many do not understand one important point.

The Radha-Damodara Mandira is not most important because Srila Prabhupada lived there, but
rather Srila Prabhupada lived at The Radha-Damodara Mandira because of the importance of the
temple.

The Radha-Damodara Mandira is the most important temple in all the Vraja, nay all the world. It
is the very center, the heart of the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya and the root of Vrndavana.
Srila Prabhupada wanted to be at the center of the Spiritual World.

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This corner at the Radha-Damodara Mandira is just like the hub of the wheel of the Spiritual
World, it is the center. (Srila Prabhupada)

It is also a sad fact that many come to Prabhupada’s study where he began his writings but
completely neglect Srila Prabhupada’s kitchen, which ontologically is also his place of bhajana.
It may be argued whether or not the kitchen is more important than Srila Prabhupada’s study.
The general consensus is that Srila Prabhupada’s study is the most important, to the neglect of
his kitchen. But it was the kitchen where Srila Prabhupada daily took the prasadam of Sri Sri
Radha-Damodara, the place he received the remnants, the very mercy of Sri Sri Radha-
Damodara. It was from the kitchen that he peered out his window at the bhajana-kutira and
samadhi of Srila Rupa Gosvami and prayed ardently for Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhupada’s
mercy upon him to fulfill the desire of his guru. So which room is more important? The place he
received the prasadam or the place he began to distribute the prasadam? The study is where he
began his distribution campaign. In my opinion it cannot be conclusively proven either one is
more important. To some the study may be seen as more important, to others like me who is in
need of the prasadam and mercy of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara and all his servants it may be the
kitchen. If one considers the kitchen more important, and another the study, in my opinion, both
are correct.

The position of Srila Prabhupada’s rooms and their significance cannot be measured or
delineated in one small essay as the glories of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara and His House, the
Radha-Damodara Mandira are expanding at every moment. Srila Prabhupada considered his
rooms to be the very epicenter of the Spiritual World. Therefore their ontological position cannot
be fully described. The Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Mandira truly is the center of the Spiritual
World, the most mystical magical place on this planet.

If I have any good instruction to give, it is this: Come to Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Mandira! First
offer obeisances to the presiding Deity, Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Thakuraji, then to the other

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Deities. Then circumambulate the temple, which contains the govardhana-sila of Srila Sanatana
Gosvami (the circumambulation of this govardhana-sila is equal to a full parikrama of
Govardhana Hill), then go to Srila Prabhupada’s study and take his darsana, then go to his
kitchen and beg for the prasadam that is distributed there. If the pujari does not freely offer you
prasadam, then beg for it until he gives you some. But when you come to the Radha-Damodara
Mandira, don’t come just to take darsana and do parikrama – there are enough pure devotees
who polish that sacred ground daily with their holy feet. Come to Sri Sri Radha-Damodara and
offer yourself to Him. Ask for His seva at His home in the mandira.

There can be no better place on earth to render service than at the Radha-Damodara Mandira.
There can be no better place to visit or to live than the Radha-Damodara Mandira, and there can
be no better place to give of oneself than at the Radha-Damodara Mandira.

Sri Sri Radha-Damodara is ready for His servants to come to His Holy Abode and render service
to Him. Life in the material body is short, the opportunity may not come again for a very, very
long time.

Praying at the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara Thakuraji and all His servants this lowly
soul begs for their prasadam and mercy on his head. He also humbly requests the Vaisnavas to
overlook any imperfections or faults in this composition.

The Ultimate Encouragement

"Don’t feel discouraged, Krsna and His devotees are reaching out to you. They are reaching to
embrace you. Their causeless mercy is our greatest fortune. For some reason unbeknownst to us,
we have this opportunity. We are being canvased into that sankirtana , as He has appeared as
Mahaprabhu."

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tyaktva sva-dharmam caranambujam harer bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi
yatra kva vabhadram abhüd amusya kim ko vartha apto ’bhajatam sva-dharmatah

"One who has forsaken his material occupations to engage in the devotional service of the Lord
may sometimes fall down while in an immature stage, yet there is no danger of his being
unsuccessful. On the other hand, a non-devotee, though fully engaged in occupational duties,
does not gain anything." (Bhag. 1. 5.17)

Purport: As far as the duties of mankind are concerned, there are innumerable duties. Every man
is duty-bound not only to his parents, family members, society, country, humanity, other living
beings, the demigods, etc., but also to the great philosophers, poets, scientists, etc. It is enjoined
in the scriptures that one can relinquish all such duties and surrender unto the service of the Lord.
So if one does so and becomes successful in the discharge of his devotional service unto the
Lord, it is well and good. But it so happens sometimes that one surrenders himself unto the
service of the Lord by some temporary sentiment, and in the long run, due to so many other
reasons, he falls down from the path of service by undesirable association...The stress is given
here to surrendering unto the lotus feet of the Lord, even if there is a chance of falling down,
because even though one falls down from the prescribed duties of devotional service, he will
never forget the lotus feet of the Lord. Once engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, one
will continue the service in all circumstances. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that even a small
quantity of devotional service can save one from the most dangerous position. There are many
instances of such examples in history. Ajamila is one of them. Ajamila in his early life was a
devotee, but in his youth he fell down. Still he was saved by the Lord at the end. [purport: 1.5.17]

The verse to which Srila Prabhupada refers above is Bhagavad-gita, 2.40. In his purport His
Divine Grace writes:

"Activity in Krsna consciousnes, or acting for the benefit of Krsna without expectation of sense
gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such
activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage. Any work begun
on the material plane has to be completed; otherwise the whole attempt becomes a failure. But
any work begun in Krsna consciousness has a permanent effect, even though not finished. The
performer of such work is therefore not at a loss even if his work in Krsna consciousnes is
incomplete. One percent done in Krsna consciousnes bears permanent results, so that the next
beginning is from the point of two percent, whereas in material activity, without a hundred
percent success there is no profit."

Herein we find the ultimate encouragement – to pursue a life of devotion, no matter what the
circumstance. From the very beginning of both the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam we
learn that if one pursues the path of devotion, attempting to live for the pleasure of the Lord,
sacrificing one’s own material attachments – even though one may encounter some type of
difficulty, the Lord is so merciful that He says there is nothing lost. Sometimes devotees find
themselves in a difficult situation, unable to follow the prescribed process, unable to keep the
best standard, or perhaps due to some weakness a principal is broken. In such a circumstance a
true devotee will consider themselves fallen, but still there is all encouragement for the devotee
to march ahead, because there is nothing to gain by turning back. The material world has nothing

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valuable to offer. Our repeated attempts to find happines independent of Krsna gives us some
inclination of this. But until one is able to taste spiritual life fully and relish all aspects of it, we
will remain attracted to the many lures of the expert material energy.

Due to association of worldly-minded people, we find ourselves developing habits of those that
are trapped by the allurements of this fallible world. In order to comprehend that there is a life,
which is indeed fulfilling; a life beyond the heartbreaks of this world, takes positive engagement.
It is necesary to be amongst those with a different standard of life – a selfless life, a life that is
spiritual by nature rather than a material one. Spiritual life is not fantasy nor theory. Spiritual life
is devotional life and is all about practice.

From sastra we read, hear and learn, but at some point we must put our learning into practice.
Due to our material conditioning, this is not easy as we are taught to believe that we are our
bodies and we require so many material things to sustain our ‘self.’ But the good news is that the
more one engages in a life centered on Krsna, the more it will come naturally.

If we listen to the guidance of sat-guru, we will find that spiritual life is very balanced. It is true
that in certain circumstances, some devotee’s may not receive much direct guidance, but Krsna
promises that He will always help His sincere devotee. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.22) Krsna tells
Arjuna, “I preserve what you have and carry what you lack.” There may be times in life when we
are without something, which we feel is necesary for our well-being. But faith and dependency
on Krsna is the key. Faith will allow us to see reality. That ultimate benefit Krsna promises will
come by our engagement in devotional service, not in working for separate interest, but by
sacrificing and endeavoring for the highest cause.

It is only through yajña, the purificatory process of sacrifice, that we can make substantial
advancement. Srila Sridhara Maharaja describes sacrifice as being joy. Generally we relate the
concept of sacrifice as being painful. But to the devotee sacrifice is joy. As in an intimate
relationship – a relationship bound by love – a lover is lost in the concern of how to please their
beloved. The self-interest of the lover is lost – only the interests of the beloved remains as the
inspiration to live. In this way devotees put aside their self-interests for the interest of their Sweet
Lord.

That is a very joyful engagement, to find that we have the opportunity to be part of something so
wonderful. With this thought, one is easily able to leave aside the trivial matters in life, which
prevent us from moving ahead to discover the happiness for which we are always hankering. The
type of enjoyment we find in pursuing our personal affairs is like a roller-coaster ride in the
amusement park of this material world. Sometimes high, sometimes low, but always promoting a
vomiting sensation.

Still, we pursue those ambitions, trying to establish a permanent place for ourselves in this
mortal world. In this way we waste our valuable lives away and experience the fire of the cycle
of birth, disease, old age and death. Although this world has very little to offer positively, the
illusory energy covers our intelligence and allows us to forget the agony of our numerous
previous lives. Maya is expertly engaging those who are not sincere about finding the Absolute

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Truth: Sri Bhagavan – The Proprietor of all opulences, Hrsikesa – the Master of the senses, Sri
Krsna – Reality the Beautiful.

Those who spend their time in seva amongst the Vaisnavas will experience that those very
moments have a deeper sense of satisfaction over any other activity. Even if the situation may be
awkward, as we are often unable to be in a proper frame of mind due to various circumstances,
nonetheles, that activity is very uplifting. But there remains emptiness in activity that is separate
from the aim of pleasing Krsna and His devotees. That which distances us from the Lord is
unnecesary. If we perform activity solely for the pleasure of the Lord, verily we do nothing
unnecesary. That which distances us from the Lord is sin. Sin is, in a word, the unnecessary.

We are created for a higher purpose. We are aliens to this planet. We are from a different realm,
we do not belong here. Our place, our nourishment, is in a different realm. For reasons of our
own self-interest, we have landed ourselves in this material world. But this world is like an
insane asylum. In general, everyone here is mad, experiencing delirium. All are convinced, as
crazy people are, that they are something or somebody else – a bird, a beast, a king or a god. As
our gurus have explained: collectively they are experiencing this delirium, collectively they are
suffering and therefore collectively this world appears real.

Everyone is acting out a part in this material world, convinced this is who they are. “I am so and
so with such and such birth, from such and such land, with such and such designation and duty.”
But in reality, just as the sane can recognize who is crazy, the aware, and the self-realized can
see us very clearly for who we truly are. They see us beyond the roles we play in the drama of
this mayika jagat, this illusory world. We have to wake up and rise out of the conviction that we
are who we think we are (mortal beings), possessing minds and senses as the only way to
experience happiness. You are something so much more than this small role you are trapped into
playing, no matter how large your role is by material measure. You are far beyond who you think
you are. This is what the sastra reveals. Within you is the potential of unlimited knowledge and
bliss. The real you, the atma, is eternal. Not here today and gone tomorrow. Krsna is beckoning
His devotees to come and live the eternal life. Mahaprabhu is distributing the chance. Lord
Nityananda is begging one and all to experience the nectar of the Holy Name.

With the medicine of the Holy Name, devotional service and association, we start to have
realization. We come out of our mental delirium and begin to feel, “Yes, I comprehend the truth
a little. I have had a glimpse.” To the extent that you have realized, to that extent you can be
engaged further. One should not deny themselves realization. Realization is the fruit of our
activity. Without realization, advancement cannot be made. The suffering of this material world
will always trap us if we do not act upon our realization. We should never lie to ourselves. As
soon as we have received the mercy of the Lord, being able to understand even the smallest truth,
we must confirm that with sadhu and sastra and make a step forward. Don’t live in the unknown.
Don’t be afraid of the truth; we exist only to embrace it. Put yourself forward, whenever the
circumstance is favorable, move closer to the truth.

Yearning for kith and kin means longing to be at home amongst our friends and family. We want
so much to feel at home. We search for an environment that can give us the comfort of home.
We spend our lives making arrangements, creating a home for ourselves, but death comes calling

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and we have no choice but to go. We hanker to experience genuine relationships, and we are
always searching for that. But in this world we pass from one relationship to another,
experiencing disappointment after disappointment. Where can we lay our hearts? Where are our
true well-wishers?

Lord Caitanya says our home is Goloka. Our true well-wishers reside there. That is our true
family and we will not be satisfied in our pursuit until we reach there. Godhead is our real home
because we are made of the substance of that realm, sat-cit-ananda, eternality, consciousnes and
bliss.

So do not be discouraged. Remember the instances of the examples in history of the Lord’s
devotees who experienced difficulty in their own lives. Somehow along the way they stumbled.
But Krsna – always being merciful – cannot forget even the smallest performance of devotional
service. Krsna accepts everything when offered with devotion. We were recently discusing how
to make the offering to the Deities. The essence of how to make a proper offering is to offer it
with devotion. There are some procedures, but Krsna’s accepting the offering does not depend on
the procedure. Krsna’s acceptance of the offering depends on the quality of bhakti that the
offering is made with.

Krsna once came to visit Vidura. The Lord arrived unexpectedly while Vidura was out collecting
alms. Vidura’s wife was home and received the Lord, but had nothing to offer other than some
bananas. So after welcoming the Lord with proper respect she peeled the bananas, and began
offering them to Krsna. Being overwhelmed with having Krsna in her home, she didn’t realize
she was offering the Lord the peels and not the fruit of the banana. Nonetheless, the Lord was
eating her offering with relish. And although it was the peels rather than the fruit, the Lord
accepted the devotion. It is not the fruit or the peel that He preferred, but it is the bhakti which
He was relishing.

Don’t feel discouraged, Krsna and His devotees are reaching out to you. They are reaching to
embrace you. Their causeless mercy is our greatest fortune. For some reason unbeknownst to us,
we have this opportunity. We are being canvased into that sankirtana movement, as He has
appeared as Mahaprabhu. And somehow in someway, His benevolent devotees are engaging us.
Therefore whatever we do, we should try to do with a genuine heart. Try to make it real. Try to
make what we are doing a genuine attempt to please the Lord and this will make Krsna happy.

The idea is that whatever you do in your day, make sure that your endeavor is to make your guru
smile. If you can make your guru smile, your day will be successful. We should approach
devotional service in that mood, “What will make my spiritual master smile?” How can I free
him of some burden, he is such an important devotee. His time is so important; he must not
worry about me. No, I won’t be so irresponsible that he has to worry about me. I have to be
responsible enough and engaged properly so that he will feel, “Oh I need not worry, my disciples
are engaged very nicely in devotional service.'”

We can make our lives and our pursuit for Krsna Consciousnes very complex. We can put our
noses into other peoples’ affairs, conjure up great arguments and make it difficult to develop the

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qualities of a Vaisnava. Or we can make it extremely simple – make your spiritual master smile.
Live simply and endeavor with a genuine heart.

The problem is that some sadhakas are adding many unnecesary complicated elements to their
lives. For the most part, we are trying to run away from the fact that we simply need to surrender.
“Stop the wild goose chase, mind your own business, and surrender” – that is what Srila Sridhara
Maharaja says. Why are you worrying about everyone else’s affairs; checking what this and that
devotee is doing, passing some judgment here and there. Meanwhile we avoid the endeavor to
become perfected in our own devotional service. Why are we not endeavoring to find the faults
within ourselves? No doubt it is difficult to look introspectively, but we have so much
encouragement and support, we need not fear. We need to be cautious only of the material
energy, we need not fear of Krsna. Krsna and His devotees are our only solace, shelter and
strength.

In Vaikuntha there is no fear. Vaikuntha means ‘without fear.’ There is no disharmony there. The
devotees in the spiritual world are all living without fear, as their interests are united with the
Lord. The suddha-bhaktas present in this world are also experiencing this reality. But it is not an
intellectual thing. Our gurus remind us that empirical philosophers who study the scriptures as
text books, but are not engaged in devotional service, can never understand the soul. They cannot
experience the sweetnes of the relationship between Krsna and His devotees. They are trying to
lick the honey bottle from the outside. But that bottle is sealed tight. There is no tasting the
honey from the outside. Tasting only happens once you get inside.

When our spiritual masters have been so merciful, inviting us inside the bottle through
devotional service, why are we still trying to lick the bottle from the outside? They have invited
us to come inside. They have brought us near, revealing there is an endless ocean of sweetness to
experience.

Sometimes we meet sadhakas who say they have been practicing spiritual life for such a long
time, but still are without any taste and are losing faith. Obviously, there is a problem. What is
that problem? The problem is most likely that they are in unfavorable association. Proper sanga
will inspire and motivate. Sat-sanga, favorable association, will encourage us. It will make us
feel that we must never give up. Somehow, in someway, find a way to be part of that sweet life, a
life revolving around Krsna’s pleasure. Sometimes the sanga is proper, but the sadhakas’
attitude or ambition is wrong. If one’s attitude is wrong, then progress cannot be made. As the
old analogy goes, “You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” Therefore, one
has to be in proper association and one has to have the proper service attitude. Then, with proper
guidance and service engagement, progress is certain.

The soul is known as anu-caitanya, or atomic consciousnes. With this consciousness comes free
will. But as our consciousnes is atomic, our free will is also imperfect. Due to the imperfections
in our free will, we are subject to illusion. Although the intrinsic nature of the soul is to always
search for nourishment guided by its free will, as long as the soul is covered by maya, its true
nature will remain dormant and the spirit soul will be unable to experience the awakening of real
happiness. The atma can only truly flourish in transcendental association.

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In Lord Caitanya’s message, we do not find the eternal damnation of the many worldly religions
that say, “If you don’t accept these laws, you will not go to God after death, instead you will go
to hell forever. You will not get a second chance! You will have to rot in hell for eternity.” This
is the type of eternal damnation they have created. This type of religion will not appeal to the
intelligent. How can the followers of such a religion regard their God as ‘most merciful’ when
the same God can send one to eternal damnation? A truly merciful Godhead considers that even
though His devotee may encounter difficulty, even though they may not be succesful in this life,
still there is a chance, always a chance. This Lord is known as Dina-bandhu, friend of the fallen.
He is Sri Krsna, the summum-bonum of the Vedas, Lord of the universe.

In Krsna Consciousness there is always the opportunity to make advancement. As long as the
Lord’s devotees are present, there is an opportunity to make advancement, to get aboard the train
of service. The train is as long as the parampara is. If the parampara ends, the train ends; then
access to divya-jñana, divine knowledge, also ends. So that parampara is the most worshippable
thing. That Absolute Truth is still available through the parampara. Those who are searching for
the Truth are trying to find someway to get aboard that train, to become qualified pasengers to
board that train. By Mahaprabhu’s and Lord Nityananda’s causeless mercy, everyone is being
called aboard. They have invented a vehicle that can accommodate everyone. The price of the
ticket is only sincerity.

Not only is this bhakti movement giving relief to our souls, it is also the greatest benediction for
all humanity. Even though at times our guru may need to carry a stick, like a parent looking out
for his children, Sri Guru is looking out to protect his beloved disciples from the dangers of
Maya’s lures and snares. Just as we should not be discouraged by the trials and tribulations of the
mortal world, we should also not be discouraged as we are learning to crawl, walk, talk and so
on, in our spiritual lives. If we submit ourselves, Sri Guru will guide us perfectly back home,
back to Krsna.

Guru is someone who teaches you to think. Not only to think, but how to think for yourself. The
real guru does not play games of mind-control. The genuine spiritual master helps you to
understand tattva, the truth of the universe, for yourself. First become conscious, and then
become Krsna conscious. Comprehend it, feel it, realize it for yourself. He is not here to think for
you. Not at all, especially not our guru, he doesn’t want to think for you.

We all must have our dedication in service. In this way we may also try to relieve the burden of
our spiritual master somehow, in some way. We should always humbly seek engagement that
fulfills the service necessity. Purifying ourselves, eliminating our false egos. Not to think we are
Lords of this mortal plane, but that we are loving servants of the Lord of Love – Govinda,
Gopinatha, Madana-mohana. And from this world, by the grace of Guru and Gauranga, by the
grace of Lord Nityananda, we will be taken to that eternal plane of Vrndavana. But where will
He place us? That is up to His Own Sweet Will.

Simply seek out a way to fulfill the Vaisnava's desires – that will catch the attention of Krsna.
This is the secret. Krsna cannot be captured, but by love Krsna is captured. Nobody can capture
God, but yet we find He says He is caught. Who has caught Him? His devotees have caught
Him. He says, “I am a slave of My devotee. What can I do? I live for My devotees, I can do

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nothing else.” So the Supreme has been captured. No one has figured out how to capture God.
But bhakti has captured the Lord, and the Lord has captured His devotee. Perfection has been
attainted through the simple act of surrender. Beginning with a simple act of sacrifice, perfection
can be obtained.

Mahaprabhu says – sadhu-sanga, krsna-nama, these are the most important things. We can
easily comprehend why we need association, but why do we chant? Because our guru has asked
us to. Our nama-guru and diksa-guru has given us that Maha-mantra. He has given us that sound
vibration and we are trying to chant it purely by his guidance. Our attitude should not be, “Krsna
I want to see You, Krsna I want to get the fulfillment of chanting Your Holy Name,” but, “Krsna
I want to please You. Please allow me to please You in some way, I want to satisfy You.” So
through the Holy Name we try to give ourselves in service. Those who try to relish the Holy
Name without approaching in the mood of service will be unfortunate, as they will not be able to
chant the pure name of the Lord. They will only be able to chant offensively, nama-aparadha or
nama-abhasa, the shadow of the Holy Name. So close, they may have come, yet they will
remain so far.

Be careful not to commit nama-aparadha. Study the offenses to the Holy Name and learn how to
avoid them. Once leaving the stage of offensive chanting, be attentive of nama-abhasa as it is so
potent it will give you anything and everything you so wish for. It will give you fame, wealth and
health, but all these things are undesirable by the real devotees. It will give you anything you
desire because everything is contained within it – everything but pure Love of Sri Radha-
Govinda. Only suddha-nama, the pure Holy Name can give you love for Sri Krsna. Only when
you have come to the realm of suddha-nama by sadhu-sanga can you develop prema, the
ultimate attainment of the spirit soul.

They are big steps, but in sadhu-sanga, they are natural and sweet steps. Depending on our
quality of faith, to that extent we will experience the Lords’ sweetness. In good association and
by willing engagement in constant devotional service, our adhikara, or level of realization will
increase. Eventually, you will find you have no doubt in Krsna and the process of Krsna
consciousnes – mare krsna rakhe ke, rakhe krsna mare ke – “If Krsna wants me to be harmed,
nothing can protect me. If Krsna wants to protect me, nothing can harm me.”

Krsna is all in all. When we keep close company of the devotees we discover this reality. We
witness that they have so much conviction, determination and strength by faith in their guru. We
are touched when we see with what conviction and purity our Guru Maharaja serves Srila
Prabhupada, Srila Sridhara Maharaja, Srila Puri Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and the
parampara. We are so impressed that we pray to develop the desire to have a similar type of
faith and conviction, aspiring to live so selflessly as he does in the labor of Divine Love.

“The most wonderful thing ever invented is Love Divine” – this is one of our Guru Maharaja’s
favorite quotes of Srila Sridhara Maharaja. Who is fortunate enough to experience Divine Love?
Who is so fortunate other than the devotees of Sri Nitai-Gauranga? Mahaprabhu’s devotees are
supremely fortunate of all in the three worlds. Even the demigods are trying to take birth here to
get the chance to participate in Mahaprabhu’s movement of Divine Love. This is what the
Srimad Bhagavatam informs us. Nitai-Gaura Premanandi Hari Haribol!

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 Prabodhananda and Prakasananda

Question: Some scholars of Gaudiya Vaisnavism claim that the associate of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, Prabodhananda Sarasvati and the Mayavadi sannyasi Prakasananda Sarasvati are
one and the same person. Can you comment on this?

Answer: Actually, such a conclusion about Prabodhananda is nothing new. This claim has been
propagated for centuries and has been accepted amongst some sections of Gaudiyas – in
particular within the ranks of the Prakrta-Sahajiyas. The Sahajiyas have been supported in their
claim by mundane scholars who have attempted to fortify their theory through a combination of
elaborate word-jugglery, misapplied logic and inadequate historical research. However, from the
historical and sastrika perspective it is clear that Prabodhananda was never a Mayavadi sannyasi.
Rather, he was a tridandi-sannyasi in the Sri Vaisnava sampradaya, who became a follower of
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

The Life of Prabodhananda Sarasvati

In 1511 when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was touring South India, He observed the caturmasya
vow in Sri Rangam and stayed at the home of the Bhatta family. The Bhatta family was headed
by three brothers, Tirumala, Venkata and Prabodhananda, who were all members of the Sri
Vaisnava sampradaya. During the four months of Mahaprabhu’s stay in Sri Rangam,
Mahaprabhu and his teachings profoundly influenced all three brothers, and especially
Prabodhananda and his young nephew Gopala Bhatta. After Mahaprabhu’s departure from Sri
Rangam, Prabodhananda accepted the renounced order of life in the Sri Vaisnava tradition and
travelled to Vrndavana, spending the remainder of his life living in Kamyavana writing such
works as Sangita-madhava, Radha-rasa-sudhanidhi, Caitanya-candramrta, Vrndavana-satakam
and Navadvipa-satakam. His nephew and disciple Gopala Bhatta Gosvami later joined him.

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The Origins of the Prabodhananda/Prakasananda Misconception

The misconception that Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati was previously a Mayavadi has its origins
in a book called Rasika Ananya Mala (circa.1650) written by one Bhagavata Mudita. Although
Mudita claimed to be a Gaudiya Vaisnava, he had stronger leanings towards the Radha-Vallabha
cult of Hita Harivamsa. (1)

According to Bhagavata Mudita, Prabodhananda was originally a proud Mayavadi sannyasi that
came to Vrndavana and was converted to Vaisnavism by Harivamsa’s disciple Paramananda.
Paramananda introduced Prabodhananda to Harivamsa and due to serving the feet of Harivamsa,
Prabodhananda attained perfection. Prabodhananda then wrote his Sri Vrndavana-satakam
though the inspiration of Harivamsa and later wrote a prayer in praise of Harivamsa called Sri
Hita Harivamsa-candrastakam. Such is the claim of Bhagavata Mudita.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. According to various Gaudiya Vaisnava
works, it was actually Harivamsa who came to take shelter of Prabodhananda after Harivamsa
was rejected by his guru Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami (Gopala Bhatta Gosvami repudiated
Harivamsa when he refused to follow his orders and ate betal nut on the holy day of Ekadasi). It
should be pointed out however that Harivamsa’s taking 'shelter' of Prabodhananda can only refer
to his appreciation of Prabodhananda’s written works. It is highly unlikely that Prabodhananda
would have given any personal shelter to Harivamsa, knowing full well that his nephew, Gopala
Bhatta Gosvami had rejected him for disobeying his instructions. (2)

Since no other biographical account of Srila Prabodhananda tallies with Mudita’s farfetched
claims, we can only conclude that the Radha-Vallabha sect, eager to have such a great rasika
author as Prabodhananda Sarasvati within their line, reconstructed Prabodhananda’s biography.
If indeed Sri Prabodhananda was a follower of Harivamsa, then how is it that his Samadhi, in the
Kaliya-daha district of Vrndavana, is in the hands of the Gaudiya sampradaya? There is no
historically recorded dispute between the Gaudiyas and the Radha-Vallabhis over the samadhi,
thus we must logically assume that Prabodhananda was always a Gaudiya Vaisnava with firm
allegiance to the lotus feet of Sriman Mahaprabhu.

In 1718, about 60 years after Mudita’s claim, an obscure Oriyan author called Anandin wrote his
Rasika-vadini commentary on Prabodhananda’s Caitanya-candramrta wherein he concluded that
Prabodhananda was previously the Mayavadi Prakasananda Sarasvati. This idea steadily gained
popularity amongst some sections of Prakrta-sahajiyas and scholars. Yet there are various
reasons why Anandin’s theory should be considered to be untenable.

Evidence from Sri Caitanya-bhagavata

Firstly, we find in Srila Vrndavana Dasa Thakura’s Caitanya-bhagavata the following

conversation between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Murari Gupta:

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 kasite padaya beta prakasananda
sei beta kare mora anga khanda khanda
vakhanaye veda, mora vigraha na mane
sarva ange haila kustha, tabu nahi jane

“There is one wretch in Kasi called Prakasananda, who cuts My body into pieces while teaching
the Vedas. He explains the Vedas but does not accept My form. His entire body is afflicted by
leprosy, yet he does not come to his senses.” (Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-khanda, 3.37-38)

This conversation must have took place somewhere between 1504 and 1509 as Mahaprabhu was
still performing His grhasta-lila. What is clear from this discussion is that at that time,
Prakasananda was the leader of the Mayavadis of Kasi. However, it is accepted by all that
Mahaprabhu visited Sri Rangam in the year 1511 and stayed at the home of Venkata Bhatta and
his brothers Tirumalai and Prabodhananda who were of the Sri Vaisnava sampradaya.

daksina bhramanakale prabhu gaura-raya

bhatta-grhe cari-masa anande goyaya

“During His travels in South India, Sri Gaura-raya happily spent four months at the house of the
Bhatta family.” (Bhakti-ratnakara 1.85)

Later, in 1513, the Lord traveled to Kasi and converted Prakasananda Sarasvati and his disciples.
Thus, the mundane scholars and Sahajiyas would have us believe that Prabodhananda was a
Mayavadi in 1509, a Sri Vaisnava in 1511, and again a Mayavadi in 1513!

Furthermore, it is said that Prakasananda was an established acarya with many thousands of
disciples. How is it possible that Prabodhananda left Sri Rangam after Mahaprabhu’s visit, took
eka-danda sannyasa, travelled to Kasi and suddenly collected sixty-thousand disciples – all in
the space of about two years?

Another important point is that according to the above verse from Caitanya-bhagavata,
Prakasananda Sarasvati had contacted leprosy due to his many offenses. Yet there is no literary
evidence to show that Prabodhananda was ever afflicted with leprosy at any time in his life.

Evidence from Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika

In his Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika, Kavi Karnapura has written:

tungavidya vraje yasit

sarva-sastra visarada
sa prabodhananda-yatir
gaurodgana sarasvati

“The gopi Tungavidya, who is most learned in all the scriptures, has today become the sannyasi
Prabodhananda whose words are all used in the glorification of Lord Gauranga.” (Gaura-
ganoddesa-dipika 163)

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In gaura-lila we find various examples of Mahaprabhu converting impersonalists to Vaisnavism.
A prime example of this is Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya who is considered to be the incarnation of
Brhaspati, the preceptor of the demigods. However, it cannot be accepted by any real Vaisnava
that Srimati Radharani’s intimate associate and one of Her immediate personal expansions, Sri
Tungavidya-devi, would appear as Prakasananda Sarasvati – an offender to the Vaisnavas and to
the transcendental body of the Lord.

Srila Kaviraja Gosvami’s Caitanya-caritamrta

In the Caitanya-caritamrta Srila Kaviraja Gosvami has narrated in great detail the conversions of
impersonalists such as Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya and Prakasananda Sarasvati. If such an
important personage as Prakasananda Sarasvati became Prabodhananda Sarasvati – the author of
various transcendental literatures explaining the highest levels of bhakti-rasa – would not
Kaviraja Gosvami have also written about this in order to show the greatness and munificence of
Mahaprabhu? Why would he only narrate one half of the story when Prabodhananda was a dry
Vedantin, but neglect to recount the glorious second half of the story after his conversion by
Mahaprabhu, when he made a complete volte-face and became the author of some of the most
profound rasika literatures of the Gaudiya sampradaya?

Of course, the question may also be raised why Prabodhananda was not specifically mentioned
by Kaviraja Gosvami in Caitanya-caritamrta. Actually there were a number of great Vaisnavas
that were not mentioned by Kaviraja Gosvami. Out of their profound humility, such mahajanas
requested Kaviraja Gosvami not to mention their names in his magnum-opus. Srila Narahari
Cakravarti has written in his Bhakti-ratnakara (1.209-225):

“Some have described the pastimes of Sri Gopala Bhatta, while others have not. Those who
cannot understand the reason for this busy themselves in useless speculation, the result of which
is that the seed of aparadha sprouts in their hearts. Previously, great rasika poets who were very
capable of describing such events did not do so in order that others would be able to describe
them in the future. Although Thakura Vrndavana Dasa described the pastimes of Mahaprabhu he
did not mention the Lord's South Indian tour. Vrndavana Dasa was the incarnation of Srila
Vyasadeva, by the desire of Veda Vyasa, he did not describe that part of the Lord's lila. Being
empowered by Veda Vyasa, Sri Krsna Dasa Kaviraja took pleasure in elaborately describing that
South Indian tour. But he also omitted certain parts so that later poets could elaborate on them
just as a guru keeps remnants of food for his disciples to accept as prasadam. A layman cannot
understand the writing of a great poet therefore people should give up their speculations on such
writings and simply try to accept them as they are. Before attempting to write about Mahaprabhu
and His associates Sri Kaviraja made a serious effort to understand their characters in depth.
Vaisnava poets would always approach the devotees of Mahaprabhu in order to understand their
desires. After taking their guidance and permission the poets would write. Having taken
permission from many devotees, Krsna Dasa Kaviraja wrote several books. Sri Gopala Bhatta
would not permit his name to be mentioned in any of the books, although he did authorize and
encourage Sri Kaviraja to write. As ignorant persons we will never know why Gopala Bhatta
forbade his name to be mentioned. Perhaps his humility did not allow it. Kaviraja could not
reject his order and thus Gopala's name is mentioned rarely in Sri Kaviraja's books. I have heard

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from one old Vaisnava that Lokanatha Gosvami gave the same order that his name not be used.”
(3)

Evidence from Srila Prabodhananda’s Caitanya-candramrta

Some scholars have also formed conclusions about Prabodhananda based upon the peculiar
notion that a pure devotee and parsada of the Lord may retain some previous samskaras that can
be traced in his writings in order to determine his background. Of course, it is possible and is
often the case that a Vaisnava describes his condition before being blessed by the Lord and he
may cite his own history to illustrate the merciful dispensation of Mahaprabhu— but this is
usually done quite explicitly. This would especially be expected to be so in the case of
Prakasananda Sarasvati, who could have used the rich emotional and philosophical contents of
his conversion to appeal to so many others influenced by Mayavada.

The conclusion of this psycho-analysis of Caitanya-candramrta has been reached by speculating

that Prabodhananda alluded to his Mayavada past by using ambiguous statements and various
revealing terms such as jnana, mukti, kaivalya, jyotir etc. What these scholars fail to recognize is
that words such as these are not the monopoly of the Mayavadis—all these words are used by
Vaisnava acaryas both in their primary theistic sense as well as in the monistic Advaitic sense
while debating with Mayavadis. This novel approach to the subject hardly provides concrete
evidence to prove Prabodhananda’s previous impersonal tendencies.

If we follow this flawed logic and concede thatthe Caitanya-candramrta is semi-

autobiographical, then we must also conclude that Srila Jiva Gosvami was previously an
impersonalist since he refers to the word ‘mukti’ over 156 times in his Sandarbhas and the word
‘brahman’ appears over 470 times! If we apply the same technique to the works of all our
previous acaryas, then we could probably conclude that they were all previously Mayavadis!
Should we accept that any acarya that profusely usesthe philosophical terms kaivalya, brahman,
mukti, moksa, jyotir etc. was previously a follower of Advaita-siddhanta?

There are a large number of verses in Caitanya-candramrta where impersonalists are mentioned
as recipients of Mahaprabhu’s mercy, but generally they are not mentioned alone – rather, they
are included amongst other pseudo-transcendentalists such as karmis, jnanis or amongst demigod
worshippers, sinners etc. In other words, according to many verses found in the Caitanya-
candramrta it could just as easily be proven that Prabodhananda was previously a karmi, jnani,
papi (or all of the above). Although the scholars claim to be unbiased researchers, it seems that
they are extremely selective in which words they choose to describe Prabodhananda. By
resorting to such a faulty method of analysis, the scholars betray the fact that their conclusions
are actually biased and predetermined.

Evidence from the Descendents of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami

Some time back we took the opportunity to visit Sri Rangam and interview Sri Muralidharan
Bhatta, the present-day descendent of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, to ask him about Prabodhananda
Sarasvati. When we explained to him that some scholars claim that Prabodhananda was
previously a Mayavadi, he emphatically stated:

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“No, this is impossible! No one in our family ever took eka-danda, because we are arcakas
(temple priests). If this happened, the incident would be well known to everyone in Sri Rangam.
Our whole family would have become disgraced and we would lose the right to worship Lord
Ranganatha. Nowadays things have become very liberal, but in those days they were very
conservative - very strict. Maintaining the purity of our line is very important to us arcakas, and
if one of us gave up Ramanuja’s teachings and became a follower of Sankara, our line would
have become polluted.” (Conversation with Muralidharan Bhatta, 20th July 2004)

Prabodhananda’s Connection with Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami

Some scholars (such as Sundarananda Vidyavinoda) have concluded that Prabodhananda was
never a member of the Sri Vaisnava community. However, if we study the works of previous
acaryas we find that it is indisputable that Prabodhananda was previously a Sri Vaisnava, since
he was the uncle of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the son of the head-priest of Ranganatha in Sri
Rangam.

This relationship between Prabodhananda and Gopala Bhatta is collaborated in the eighth chapter
of Sadhana-dipika by Srila Radha-Krsna Gosvami:

srimat prabodhanandasya
bhratursputra krpalayam
srimad gopala bhattam tam
naumi sri vraja-vasinam

“I offer my humble respects unto Gopala Bhatta Gosvami who was a resident of Vrndavana and
the nephew of Prabodhananda and the object of his mercy.”

It is also explained by Sanatana Gosvami Prabhu in the mangalacarana-sloka of Hari-bhakti-

vilasa that Prabodhananda was the guru of Gopala Bhatta:

bhakter vilasams-cinute prabodha-

nandasya sisyo bhagavat-priyasya
gopala-bhatto raghunatha dasam
santosayan rupa-sanatanau ca

“Gopala Bhatta, the disciple of Prabodhananda, who is dear to the Lord, has collected these
devotional activities for the delight of Ragunatha Dasa Gosvami, Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana
Gosvami.” (Hari-bhakti-vilasa 1:2)

The Vacillating Opinions of Sundarananda Vidyavinoda

The scholar Sundarananda Vidyavinoda also speculated that Prabodhananda was previously a
Mayavadi and initially refused to acknowledge Prabodhananda's affiliation with the Sri
sampradaya. Drawing from evidence given by the commentator Anandi and works of the Radha-
Vallabha sect, he wrote in his work Vaisnava-vandana o Vaisnava-abhidhanam that
Prabodhananda and Prakasananda were one and the same person, implying that Prabodhananda

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never belonged to the lineage of Ramanuja. One of Vidyavinoda’s arguments was that Anandi’s
Caitanya-candramrta commentary should be considered to be more reliable since his
commentary was written earlier than Narahari Cakravarti’s Bhakti-ratnakara. Yet Anandi’s
commentary has many flaws and is not fully trustworthy from an historical perspective. For
example, he ascribes the famous verse anarpita-carim cirat by Svarupa-damodara Prabhu to
Sanatana Gosvami instead. Why Vidyavinoda would place more importance in the words of an
obscure commentator over the writings of Narahari Cakravarti is unclear.

However, a few years later, Sundarananda Vidyavinoda acknowledged the futility of his previous
arguments and wrote the following in his book Paratattva-sima Sri Krsna Caitanya -

Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvamipader pitrvyadeva o gurudeva Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvatipada,

jini purve alvar-sampradaya bhakta chilen, tini tahar javatiya rasa-granthe alvar-sampradayer
rasa-vicarer nyunata pradarsana koriyachen

“Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvamipada’s uncle and spiritual master Sri Prabodhananda Sarasvatipada,
who was previously a member of the Alvar-sampradaya, has demonstrated the inadequacy of the
Alvar-sampradaya’s approach to rasa through all his rasa literature.”

The Title ‘Sarasvati’

Some say that Prabodhananda must have accepted eka-danda sannyasa because his name was
Sarasvati – one of the dasa-nami sannyasa titles prevalent in the Sankara sampradaya. The
Bhakti-ratnakara explains the actual reason why Prabodhananda was known by this appellation:

keha kaha prabodhanandera guna ati

sarvatra haila yara khyati sarasvati

“Some say that Prabodhananda had many great qualities and thus he became famous everywhere
as ‘Sarasvati’ (Bhakti-ratnakara 1.148)

It should also be pointed out that it was extremely uncommon for Mahaprabhu to change the
names of those who converted to Vaisnavism. Even those associates who had Sakta names such
as Gauridasa and Kalidasa retained them. If indeed He did change their names, it would certainly
be an explicit Vaisnava name (ie. Vidyanidhi – Premanidhi), rather than a synonymic difference
(such as Prakasananda becoming Prabodhananda).

Conclusion

Whereas Prabodhananda became the celebrated author of rasika-granthas, nothing is known of

the fate of Prakasananda. Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja concludes the following:

“Prakasananda was converted to Vaisnavism and he also might have gone to Vrndavana, but he
did not get much recognition from the Vaisnava society. He was both rejected from this side and
did not receive much respect from the other side – he has almost gone to unknown quarters.”
(Conversation, January 2nd 1983)

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It is acceptable that mundane academics who lack sraddha in Mahaprabhu and His followers will
draw their own opinions based on empirical analysis, considering Prabodhananda Sarasvati to be
an ordinary jiva. However, it is deplorable when those that profess to be Vaisnavas derive the
same conclusions that the expansion of the hladini-sakti, Tungavidya-devi, could possibly take
the mood of a Mayavadi in gaura-lila.

From studying the above evidences found in the writings of the the previous acaryas, we must
conclude that only those with an inadequate fund of knowledge will try to equate the pure
Vaisnava Prabodhananda with the Mayavadi Prakasananda.

FOOTNOTES

1) In his vraja-bhasa translation of Prabodhananda’s Vrndavana-mahimamrta written in 1650,

Bhagavata Mudita claims to be a siksa disciple of the Gaudiya Vaisnava acarya Sri Haridasa
Pandita Gosvami, an associate of Srila Krsna Dasa Kaviraja and the mahanta of the Radha-
Govinda Temple in Vrndavana. It has also been said by some scholars that after Haridasa
Pandita, Bhagavata Mudita became the mahanta at the Radha-Govinda temple – this is
contestable however since it is a well known fact that the successor of Sri Haridasa Pandita was
Srila Radha-Krsna Gosvami. All in all, the background of Bhagavata Mudita seems to be
plagued with inconsistent information.

2) There are also doctrinal reasons why Gaudiyas cannot accept that Prabodhananda would have
accepted Harivamsa. Firstly, the followers of Harivamsa falsely claim that Gopala Bhatta
Gosvami only had faith in the primacy of Krsna and not Srimati Radharani. Secondly, Harivamsa
was an advocate of svakiya-bhava (married union between Radha-Krsna) and Gopala Bhatta
Gosvami worshipped Radha-Krsna in the mood of parakiya-bhava (paramour rasa).
Furthermore, Harivamsa put more emphasis on sambhoga (union) rather than vipralambha
(separation). Lastly, Harivamsa rejected most of the angas of vaidhi-bhakti (observance of
Ekadasi, worship of Tulasi, strict performance of arcana etc) all of which Gaudiya Vaisnavas
strictly follow.

3)
sri gopala bhattera e saba vivarana
keha kichu varne keha na kare varana
na bujhaya marma haite kutarka ye kare
aparadha-bija ta’ra hrdaye sancare
parama rasika purva purva kavi-gana
varnite mamartha haiya na kare varnana
pascate samartha kari mane vicariya
rakhaye se sakalera sukhera lagiya
prabhu-lila varnila thakura vrndavana
daksina-bhramana adi na kaila varnana
vyasa-rupa tinho ta’ra ke bujhe asaya
pascata varnive veda-vyasa icche kaya
krsna-dasa kaviraja tare dainya kari
daksina-bhramana adi varnila vistari

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 rakhilena madhye madhye varnana karite
varnive ye kavi-gana tahara nimitte
yaiche isthadeva mukhe annadi bhunjiya
patre avasesa rakhe sisyera lagiya
kavi-rita e kichu varnite nahi anta
kutarka chadiya asvadeha bhagavanta
prabhu ara prabhu-bhakta-ganera carita
vividha prakare varne haiya savahita
bhakta iccha pravala janiya kavi-gana
prabhu bhakte sambodhiya karena varnana
krsna-dasa kaviraja maha-hrsta heya
varnilena grantha anekera ajna laiya
sri gopala bhatta hrsta haiya ajna dila
granthe nija-prasanga varnite nisedhila
kene nisedhila iha ke bujhite pare
nirantara ati dina mane apanare
kaviraja tara ajna nare langhivare
nama matra likhe anya na kare pracare
lokanatha-gosvamiha icche ajna kaila
pracina vaisnava mukhe e saba sunila

Sampradayika Sannyasa

Bhaktisiddhanta
Madhvacarya Ramanuja Acarya Visnu Svami
Sarasvati

According to Sanskrit etymology, the word 'sannyasa' means 'renunciation' or 'abandonment.' It

is a tripartite compound of san (collective), ni (down) and asa (from the root as, meaning 'to
throw' or 'to put'). So a literal translation of the word would be 'laying it all down'.

kamyanam karmanam nyasam

sannyasam kavayo viduh

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 sarva-karma-phala-tyagam
prahus tyagam vicaksanah

"The giving up of activities that are based on material desire is that great learned men call the
renounced order of life (sannyasa). And giving up the results of all activities is what the wise call
renunciation (tyaga)." (Bhagavad-gita 18.2)

Here renunciation means giving up one's material attachments and possessions for one's own
purification of heart and spiritual advancement. Sannyasa is not just a feeling or merely changing
of the robes, but in its highest sense, this term indicates, renouncing the apparent sense of
identification (samyak-nyasa) with one's self. Another term for a sannyasi is one who is the
perfect trustee (samyak-nyasi) of the Lord's belongings i.e, a renunciate who has totally given up
self-identification of the material world. Such a sannyasi is a prati-nidhi (representative of the
Lord) and not a nidhi-pati (the owner of wealth).

Real renunciation means to engage everything in the service of the Lord and to fix one's
aspiration to serve Him with great determination -- not just simply renouncing for the sake of
renouncing. If one does so, he is not actually a sannyasi.

anasritah karma-phalam
karyam karma karoti yah
sa sannyasi ca yogi ca
na niragnir na cakriyah

"One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the
renounced order of life, and he is the true yogi, not he who lights no fire and performs no work."
(Bhagavad-gita 6.1)

This basic understanding of sannyasa is found in all the sampradayas, but here we should clarify
what separates the Gaudiya Vaisnava sannyasa tradition from other sampradayas.

ONLY A BRAHMANA CAN TAKE SANNYASA

The necessary qualification for taking sannyasa according to Vedic tradition is that one has to be
a brahmana, Even if one is not born in a brahmana family, but possesses the qualities of
brahmana, then he is a brahmana in the highest sense. Any person, whether he is a brahmana,
ksatriya, vaisya, sudra or less by birth, can take to the sannyasa-asrama and attain the proper
qualification through the practice of devotional service.

jata-karmadibhir-yastu samkaraih samskrtah sucih

vedadhyayana-sampannah sad sat karmasvasthitah
saucacarasthitah samyag vighasasi guru-priyah
nityabrali satyaparah sa vai brahmana ucyate

"On whose birth and subsequent works have all been purified by the appropriate samskaras, who
has the qualities of purity and cleanliness, who is devoted to Vedic study, who performs worship

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of the Supreme Lord Visnu, and who instructs others in that worship, who is a paragon of the six
activities of a brahmana, whose behaviour is never impure, who eats the remnants of his guru's
prasada, who is dear to the guru, who always carefully follows his vows, and who is fixed in the
truth is known as a brahmana." (Bharadvaja Muni)

While all sampradayas accept that only a brahmana has the qualification to take sannyasa, it is
only the Gaudiya Vaisnavas that accept a person as a brahmana on the basis of his qualities and
not simply his birth. In this way we can say that the Gaudiyas are much more conservative by
following the law of the sastras, than the other sampradayas, that stress janma and not guna.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SANNYASA

In sannyasa, there are four stages: kuticaka, bahudaka, hamsa and paramahamsa.

According to the Vedic system, when one accepts the renounced order, he stays outside his
village in a cottage and his necessities -- especially his food, are supplied from home. This is
called the kuticaka stage. When a sannyasi advances further, he no longer accepts anything from
home. Instead, he collects his necessities, especially his food, from many places. This system is
called madhukari, which literally means 'the profession of the bumblebees.' As bumblebees
collect honey from many flowers, a little from each, so a sannyasi should beg from door to door
but not accept very much food from any particular house; he should collect a little bit from every
house. This is called the bahudaka stage. When a sannyasi is still more experienced, he travels
all over the world to preach the glories of Lord Vasudeva. He is then known as hamsa. The
sannyasi reaches the paramahamsa stage when he finishes his preaching work and sits down in
one place, strictly for the sake of advancing in spiritual life. An actual paramahamsa is one who
completely controls his senses and engages in the unalloyed service of the Lord.

Sannyasis can be further divided into two sections -- Brahma-sannyasis and Visnu-sannyasis.
Brahma-sannyasis take up the Mayavada philosophy, accepting one among ten different
sannyasa names (dasa-nami) -- Tirtha, Asrama, Vana, Aranya, Giri, Parvata, Sagara, Sarasvati,
Bharati and Puri. However, Visnu-sannyasis are those who follow the path of devotional service
to Visnu or Krsna.

The Mayavadi sannyasi from the Advaita school of philosophy considers himself as God and his
concept of life develops under such an illusion. When a person fails to become the Lord of the
universe it is like the sly fox that attempts to taste grapes and failing to do so says, "The grapes
are sour!" The Mayavadi sannyasis are frustrated in their attempt to enjoy the world, therefore
they say the world is false, or 'the grapes are sour'. They don't understand that Krsna is the
Supreme Truth and that the world is His energy -- the material energy of the Supreme Truth
cannot be false, but we must know that this energy is inferior to His spiritual energy.

sannyasi haiya niravadhi 'narayana'

baliveka prema bhakti yoge anuksana
na bujhiya sankaracaryera abhipraya
bhakti chadi matha mudhaiya duhkha paya

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"Sannyasis always say the Name of Narayana and worship Him in prema-bhakti-yoga, Not
understanding the position of Narayana, the followers of Sankaracarya give up the path of bhakti
-- such fools attain only trouble and misery". (Cb. Antya 3.54-55)

The Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy instructs one to become a vidvat-sannyasi. This means one
knows things as they are. A devotee knows that everything belongs to Krsna and that He is the
proprietor of all. Such a devotee is certainly a vidvat-sannyasi. Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy is
that one should accept things as the mercy of Krsna and nothing for one's own sense enjoyment.

Regarding performing duties as a sannyasi, Mayavadis think that a true sannyasi has no duties
and has no obligations to fulfill. He does not have to think about the wellbeing of another. His
supreme and only dharma is to be ever immersed in atma-vicara -- self-absorption and trying to
become one with Brahman. If he does not do so, he is not a sannyasi. Some Mayavadi sannyasis
have become so degraded that there is a section of them who eat everything just like hogs and
dogs. Such a degraded form of sannyasa is certainly prohibited in this age of Kali. Actually,
Sankaracarya's principles for the acceptance of sannyasa were very strict, but later the so-called
sannyasis of his school became degraded because their false philosophy propounds that by
accepting sannyasa one becomes Narayana.

The Gaudiya Vaisnava sannyasi engages himself fully in the service of Godhead by spreading
His message and thus gives some benefit to the public. This type of sannyasa, compared to the
Mayavadi sannyasa is categorically different. The Gaudiya sannyasi is not adopting an attitude
or tactic of leaving all of the engagements of this world as a result of becoming disgusted with its
many temptations. Rather, he is engaging himself in the higher duty of the upper world through
an agent, so his body has got utility. Maintaining a connection here, he is drawing some higher
principle from above and distributing that in the environment. That is another conception of
sannyasa, and it has positive value.

TRIDANDI-SANNYASA AND EKADANDI-SANNYASA

vagdando'tha mano-dandah
kaya dandas tathaiva ca
yasyaite nihita buddhau
tridanditi sa ucyate

"One who accepts in his mind the rod of chastisement for his speech, body and mind is known as
a tridandi -- one who has accepted the threefold rod of chastisement."(Manu-samhita 12.10)

Presently tridandi-sannyasa is only found in the Gaudiya sampradaya and Sri sampradaya. A
sannyasi's tridanda represents kaya, mana and vakya or body, mind and words. This means that
a sannyasi must dedicate these three things to the service of the Lord. In addition, according to
the exact regulative principles, it is said that Visnu-svami of the Rudra sampradaya added the
jiva-danda to the tridanda making it four dandas, bound together as one. This is symbolic of
unalloyed devotional service to the Lord.

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Alternatively, Mayavadi sannyasis carry the ekadanda. They are unable to understand the
purport of tridandi-sannyasa and as such they are not inclined to dedicate their lives to the
service of Mukunda. They simply think of merging into the existence of Brahman because of
their frustration with the material world. However ekadanda-sannyasa does not have any
sastrika background, whereas tridandi-sannyasa is mentioned in various sastras such as Manu-
samhita, Harita-samhita, Jabalopanisad and Srimad Bhagavatam.

SANNYASIS OF THE SRI AND MADHVA SAMPRADAYA

The sannyasa samskaras of the Sri sampradaya are very similar to the Gaudiya Vaisnava
tradition. In the Ramanuja sampradaya, first the place is prepared and the candidate is shaved
and dressed. Visnu-homa is performed, the previous acaryas are worshipped and the five
Vaisnava samskaras (panca-samskara) are enacted on the canditate. Having been given the
particular mantras of the sampradaya, the person then performs worship of the guru-parampara
and salagrama, Then the sannyasa candidate is given the dress and mantra of the sannyasa-
asrama.

In the Gaudiya sampradaya the system is similar. After purifying the place, Visnu-homa and
worship of the acaryas of the sampradaya is performed using five articles of worship. Then the
qualified candidate may be given sannyasa-diksa. Alternatively one may simply establish asanas
and worship the acaryas and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates and then accept
sannyasa-diksa.

In the Sri Vaisnava sampradaya it is mandatory that a person go through the stages of
brahmacari, grhastha and vanaprastha before accepting sannyasa. In this case there is not much
scope for a Sri Vaisnava to preach full time because when they finally accept sannyasa they will
have spent most of their life in the other asramas. Therefore in their late stage of sannyasa all
they can do is some intense sadhana to achieve Vaikuntha liberation. That is why today there are
not that many active Sri Vaisnava sannyasis with the exception of some jiyars from Andhra
Pradesh. However, nobody has heard of them outside their own community, proving that their
preaching is very limited.

As far as the Madhva sannyasis are concerned, they are probably the most reserved and
conservative of all the sampradayas. The rituals that the Madhva sannyasis follow are so
complex and time-consuming that their preaching is minimal and lacks dynamism. Most of their
time is spent in elaborate Deity worship. They don't see the necessity to reach out to the common
people who are affected by the modes of passion and ignorance and who are in the most need.
Rather, they give more prominence to the welfare of their own Madhva brahmana community.
By becoming gurus and role models for their own small society, their sampradaya has now
become totally communal and has no capacity for world preaching.

THE INTERNAL SIGNIFICANCE OF GAUDIYA VAISNAVA SANNYASA

Our Gurudeva, Srila Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha Maharaja has written the following about
Gaudiya Vaisnava tridandi-sannyasa:

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"From the time of the Six Gosvamis until now, the sannyasa-mantra given to the tridandi-
sannyasis has been different than the mantra received by Mahaprabhu. The mantra given at
present was first given by Sanatana Gosvami. However, until the time of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura, the tridandi-sannyasa of the Gaudiya Vaisnava line was not visible. In 1918
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura took sannyasa from a photo of Srila Gaura-kisora Dasa
Babaji Maharaja. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta is known as a self-made sannyasi, a self-manifest
sannyasi. It was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta who organized the present standard of the Gaudiya
Vaisnava sannyasi -- the dress, the danda, etc. Everything was done by him. The mantra which
he gave was the same as the one given by the babaji class, such as Gaura-kisora Dasa Babaji
Maharaja and Jagannatha Dasa Babaji Maharaja. This same mantra is presently being given to
all the sannyasis in the Gaudiya Vaisnava line." (The Meaning of the Sannyasa Asrama)

When a Gaudiya Vaisnava accepts the external signs of sannyasa, one should understand that his
first and foremost goal is to preach Krsna Consciousness and to take the lead as a commander for
preaching to the general populace about the urgent necessity of accepting the Supreme Lord and
Holy Name. Indeed, preaching Krsna Consciousness is the best welfare activity. It is described
by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as para-upakara -- work for the true benefit of others.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself was so merciful and magnanimous in distributing love of God
to us almost for nothing. He set an example to this world as a perfect sannyasi who totally
renounced this world, possessing the highest mood of bhakti.

anarpita-carim cirat karunayavatirnah kalau

samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti-sriyam
harih purata-sundara-dyuti --kadamba-sandipitah
sada hrdaya-kandare sphuratu vah saci-nandanah

"May that Lord, who is known as the son of Srimati Saci-devi, be transcendentally situated in the
innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has
appeared in the age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no other incarnations ever
offered before -- the most sublime and radiant spiritual knowledge of the mellow taste of His
service." (Cc. Adi 1.4)

The Vilapa-kusamanjali expresses the highest summit of devotion -- a sublime, sweet and
reassuring hope. In this verse we find the inner ideal of sannyasa and the purport of the
sannyasa-mantra.

asa-bharair amrta-sindhu-mayaih kathancit

kalo mayatigamitah kila sampratam hi
tvam cet krpam mayi vidhasyasi naiva kim me
pranair vrajena ca varoru bakarinapi
(Vilapa-kusumanjali 104)

Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami's devotion is so exclusive to Srimati Radharani that he is saying that
without Her service he doesn't even care for Krsna. "It is shameless for me to say this, but I don't

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even want Vrndavana, I don't want Krsna. Your mercy is everything to me." This is the high
aspiration of Raghunatha Dasa.

When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu received the sannyasa-mantra from Kesava Bharati, he first
whispered the mantra to him. He said, "Is this the mantra that you will give me? I have heard it
in a dream, 'tat tvam asi.'" The common understanding of this mantra is "You are that!" (you are
Brahman). Murari Gupta revealed to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu another, more acceptable
meaning of this mantra, which Caitanya Mahaprabhu in turn gave to Kesava Bharati: "You are
His!" It is considered that at that time Sri Caitanya initiated his sannyasa-guru into the Vaisnava
conception of this mantra and then received the mantra back.

For Caitanya Mahaprabhu, it is proper to say that, "I am His -- I am Krsna's." The meaning of the
mantra that sannyasis coming from Sanatana Gosvami receive, however, is "I am Hers -- I am
Srimati Radharani's. I exclusively engage myself in the service of Srimati Radharani." Actually,
She is the highest devotee -- She is the only one who can please Krsna. All bhakti goes through
Srimati Radharani. She is tadiya, most dear to Krsna. In that way we should see everything.

Gaura-lila is non-different than krsna-lila. But gaura-lila can be said to be higher, in that it is
more magnanimous; it is being distributed (audarya). Mahaprabhu is giving out this ecstatic
ocean of krsna-prema. He is experiencing at every moment the great ecstasy of the love of
Radha and Krsna, prema pumartho mahan. This is the highest level of devotion.

And it is said, ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena -- the worship shown by the gopis of
Vrndavana is the highest, because they gave up everything, renounced everything. They didn't
care for their families; they didn't care for their personal happiness at all. They simply were
interested in pleasing Krsna. When they met Krsna in Kuruksetra after so long, they were very
happy to see him. They pleaded, "Actually, we are only simple village girls with cows as our
wealth; we have no qualification; we only know family life; we have not done any austerities; we
don't know the Vedas; we are not anyone special. We are not yogis who will be satisfied simply
to meditate upon You, but we would like to live with You as Your family." In that way they are
humbly approaching Krsna. Krsna considered how fortunate He was to have the gopis'
wonderful affection.

In the same way, Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said,

na prema-gandho 'sti darapi me harau

krandami saubhagya-bharam prakasitum
vamsi-vilasy-anana-lokanam vina
bibharmi yat prana-patangakan vrtha

"My dear friends, I have not the slightest tinge of love of Godhead within My heart. When you
see Me crying in separation, I am only making a false show of devotion. The proof that I have no
love for Krsna is the fact that while not seeing His beautiful face as He plays His flute, I continue
to maintain My insect-like existence." (Cc. Madhya 2.45)

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The gopis are exemplifying this same extreme mood of devotion. This is saranagati -- surrender.
In a higher sense, another term could be used, atmaniksepa. This means to throw oneself
desperately toward the lotus feet of the Lord, "I am Yours to be used in Your service as you like,
as you see fit."

aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam

adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va

"If you like you may embrace me or if you like you may trample me, but use me as you like."

This is the symptom of the surrendered souls that they are ready to be used by the Lord in any
way. Srila Prabhupada wrote in his arrival prayer, 'naco gao' -- "As You wish me to dance, I
shall dance. And if You don't wish me to dance, I won't dance. It is Your choice, my Lord. I am
Yours to be used in Your service." The renounced order, both its external and internal
significance, was thus epitomized in Srila Prabhupada. He preached widely and internally fully
embraced the service of Srimati Radharani. He renounced the world and became the servitor of
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada who organized the present established order of
Gaudiya Vaisnava tridandi-sannyasa.

To him we offer our eternal love and gratitude with utmost sincerity.

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.

Daiva-varnasrama

Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Question: We have heard that Bhaktivinoda Thakura instructed Srila Bhaktisiddhanta to

establish the system of daiva-varnasrama. My question is, what is daiva-varnasrama? Is it
something different from varnasrama as we generally know it?

Answer: Yes, daiva-varnasrama is significantly different from what is generally conceived as

varnasrama, the four social and spiritual orders of life designed to maintain human society. In
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varnasrama there are various duties according to one's position that a person has to perform.
Because of being in the material world these duties may not always be spiritual, such as earning
money to maintain one's family members, etc.

Four fields of activities are there in human society; dharma, artha, kama and moksa [duty,
accumulating energy or acquiring wealth, material enjoyment and liberation]. The system of
varnasrama guides one through these four stages from dharma to the attainment moksa. But
daiva-varnasrama basically omits artha and kama.

The concept for daiva-varasrama is explained in Srimad Bhagavatam in this way:

dharmasya hy apavargasya
nartho 'rthayopakalpate
narthasya dharmasaikantasya
kamo labhaya hi smrtah

"All occupational engagements [dharmasya] are certainly meant for ultimate liberation. They
should never be performed for material gain [arthaya]. Furthermore, according to sages, one who
is engaged in the ultimate occupational service should never use material gain to cultivate sense
gratification [kamah]." [SB 1.2.9]

kamasya nendriya-pritir
labho jeveta yavata
jivasya tattva-jijnasya
nartho yas ceha karmabhih

"Life's desire should never be directed toward sense gratification. One should desire only a
healthy life, or self-preservation, since a human being is meant for inquiry about the Absolute
Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one's work." [SB 1.2.10]

Essentially varnasrama is tainted with materialism and is sometimes called asura-varnasrama or

demoniac, whereas daiva-varnasrama is cent-per-cent devotion to pleasing the senses of Krsna
and attaining the ultimate goal of life, love of Krsna. Therefore it is daiva or thoroughly divine.

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For a person in Krsna consciousness [the system of daiva-varnasrama] there is no such thing as
artha or acquiring material gain. Everything belongs to Krsna. We do not acquire or possess
anything. Therefore there is no question of personal proprietorship for one who is actually in
Krsna consciousness. Everything belongs to Krsna. Even one's family members, money etc,
everything belongs to Krsna. As such there is no kama or material enjoyment because everything
is meant for Krsna's pleasure.

Separate interest is what distinguishes a person following asura-varnasrama from a devotee

following the system of daiva-varnasrama. A person in asura-varnasrama may have separate
interests, while a devotee of Krsna in daiva-varnasrama has no separate interests whatsoever.
This was the conception of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta — give up separate interest, it is simply the
cause of death!

Without a doubt these are troubled times in the world today with economic issues out of control,
global warming, environmental disasters, the war in Iraq and so on. But what the people do not
understand is that these disturbances, whether caused by nature or by governments, are actually
being caused by separate interests and the enjoying mentality that ensues. Separate interests and
material enjoyment are the sole cause of material sufferings.

Devotees as well as people in general want a better world to live in and better servant
governments to protect them, but what they do not understand is that they themselves are the
architects of their own misfortunes. Be it the misfortune of natural disturbances or corrupt and
repressive government — the miseries of the material world are born upon the heads of the living
entities out of their own activities.

Everyone in the material world wants money because money enables material gain and the
enjoyment of the senses. Even neophyte devotees sometimes fall victim to this scenario. But
advanced devotees of Krsna, who believe wholeheartedly in Srimad Bhagavatam, know that all
wealth is to be engaged in the performance of dharma. And in particular, all money in excess of
what is required to maintain a healthy, legitimate and dignified life is to be engaged in the
performance of sankirtana-dharma, the duty or responsibility of spreading the congregational
chanting of the Holy Names of Krsna.

Any avoidance of this principle results in karmic reaction in varying degrees according to the
deviation. We sometimes distinguish between a devotee and a non-devotee by referring to the
non-devotee as a karmi. But in fact, a karmi is anyone who maintains separate interests from
Krsna, however important one thinks those separate interests to be. In other words, to be counted
as an actual devotee of Krsna, one has to give up all separate interest, give up all sense of false
ownership of wealth, give up material enjoyment and engage everything for the pleasure of
Krsna. That is what it means to be a devotee of Krsna.

sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam
tat-parattvena nirmalam
hrsikena hrsikesa-
sevanam bhaktir ucyate

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"Bhakti or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders
service unto the Supreme, there are two effects. One is freed from all material designations, and
one's senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord." [from Narada-
pancaratna as found in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.12]

To this end, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta conducted his mission on four principles, derived from the
instructions of Sri Caitanaya Mahaprabhu to Sanatana Goswami. These principles, as found in
Caitanya-caritamrta, are to preach the principles of pure devotional service to the masses, to
open centers for the cultivation of Krsna consciousness [love of Krsna], to cultivate the service
of Sridhama Mayapura, and to teach people how to practice renunciation.

krsna-bhakti, krsnaprema-seva-pravartana
lupta-tirtha-uddhara, ara vairagya-siksana

"You must explain Krsna's devotional service, establish centers for the cultivation of love of
Krsna, excavate the lost places of pilgrimage and teach people how to adopt the renounced
order." (Cc. Antya 4.80)

This is the formula to establish this in the world today. Otherwise simply to establish a system of
varna and asrama that does not have Krsna as its center on each and every aspect of life will not
actually do any good to the world. As Srila Bhaktisiddhanta used to say, "This world is only
lacking one thing, devotion to Krsna."

If the world is to become a better place, then Krsna must become the center of everyone's live.
Krsna consciousness is all that is needed. We are not masters of this world. Indeed we are far
from it. We are servants of Krsna. We are dependant on Krsna and Krsna holds the only
Absolute position. This is the actual reality of life.

Self Manifest Deities

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 [Editors Note: The last segment of this article touches upon a very sensitive issue — the
disappearance of the Deity at ISKCON Mayapura and the position of the acarya being eagerly
taken by unqualified and ambitious disciples. The value of publishing this information in Krsna
Talk may be controversial and some may not think that this should have been done. The editors
have reflected on this deeply and after taking into consideration that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura, on many occasions published articles in which offenders of the Vaisnavas and
popular Sahajiya groups were taken to task, it was decided that the facts needed to be addressed.
Truth is not always palatable, especially for those who want to continue in this world of illusion.
Nonetheless the truth must be spoken — it is the duty of a disciple.]

Question: I have heard that sometimes in India the deities of Ganesa physically drink milk when
offered to them. Is this true?

Answer: Yes. There were such rumors of Ganesa deities drinking milk; but what spirituality do
we find there? None. You can add those rumors to the thousands of stories created by Hindus to
excite the masses into reaffirming their faith in Hinduism. When these stories are let loose, then
millions of Hindus crowd to the Ganesa temples and every Tom, Dick and Santosh claims that he
or she saw the phenomena. Then everyone starts claiming that the photos of Ganesa in their
homes are drinking milk. This is good business for the dairy industry but does not reflect any
spiritual principle whatsoever. Rumor also has it that Ganesa drank beer, 7-UP and engine oil —
so you can see how such rumors get carried away. Then after a few months everything is
forgotten and it’s back to Hinduism as usual.

However, it is the opinion of some intelligent people here in India that the Ganesa milk
phenomena was contrived to compete with some of the Christian evangelist propaganda. The
incident certainly sounds like the claims of Christians showing the signs of stigmata on their
hands and feet or like the weeping Madonna, etc. The Ganesa phenomena however would
probably have been more convincing if he had eaten laddus and not simply drank a few drops of
milk.

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My conclusion is that, as with the stigmata and the weeping Madonna, etc — the Ganesa ‘milk
phenomena’ is also a hoax.

Question: During my many travels in India I have visited certain temples where it is claimed
that the Deity of Visnu or Krsna was self-manifest. So my second question is, whether it is
possible that God self-manifests His Deity form or is it always necessary that an acarya or
representative of God be instrumental in establishing a Deity?

Answer: When traveling in India and visiting holy places and ancient temples a ‘grain of salt’ is
sometimes advised before blindly believing everything one hears, but it is a fact that since
ancient times until quite recently the Supreme Personality of Godhead has indeed self-manifested
His Deity form in many places in India. In every instance these self-manifested Deities can be
believed as such when we see that great spiritual personalities such as Ramanuja, Madhvacarya,
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and others worshipped these Deities. What great personalities accept,
we take to be a reality. Otherwise simply believing at face value every story a priest, a panda or
a brahmana tells can be misleading.

Radha-ramana
Some of the ancient self-manifested Deities include; Saligrama in Gandaki, Ranganatha at
Srirangam, Nara-Narayana in Badarinatha, Balaji in Tirupati, Narasimha-deva in Mangalagiri,
Ahobilam and Nrsimhapalli, Jagannatha in Puri, Vitthala-Krsna in Pandharpur and others. In
more recent times, self-manifested Deities include: Radha-Ramana in Vrndavana, Tota-
Gopinatha in Puri and Kasisvara Pandita’s Mahaprabhu Deity, now in Jaipur.

All these Deities mentioned above have been accepted by previous acaryas as self-manifest and
therefore the same can also be safely accepted today.

An interesting point that I will attempt to make here is that all bona-fide Deities are actually self-
manifest. It simply depends on how you define ‘self-manifest’ and under what conditions the
‘self-manifestation’ takes place. That is to say that, the acaryas and those that are near and dear
to Krsna and Visnu are non-different from the Lord Himself. Therefore, if a bona-fide acarya or
pure devotee installs the Deity we may also consider that it is self-manifest.
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 acaryam mam vijaniyan navamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyasuyeta sarva-devamayo guruh

“One should know the acarya to be as good as Myself. One should never disrespect him. Never
envy him or consider him to be a mundane man for he is the sum total of all the
demigods.”(Srimad Bhagavatam 11.17.27)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Subjective Reality or even more strongly put, Super-
subjective Reality. The Deity [arca-vigraha] is the manifest form of Godhead that appears to
accept service from His devotee or devotees. The potency of pure devotion attracts Krsna and He
manifests Himself to accept His devotees service but the point still remains that ‘He manifested
Himself,’ thus ‘self-manifest.’

If one is not a pure devotee or acting under the direct order of a pure devotee, then ones attempt
to establish a Deity form of the Lord will amount to establishing a lifeless statue and nothing
more. India has thousands of such statues.

Most of the principle Deities worshipped by Gaudiya Vaisnavas were either established by the
direct family members of Lord Krsna or manifest by the pure devotees of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu.

Many of the main Deities in Vrndavana were established 4,500 years ago by Vajranabha the
great grandson of Dvaraka Krsna. Vajranabha’s father was Aniruddha, son of Pradyumna, who
was Krsna’s son. Under the direction of Vajranabha [then king of Mathura] the first Deities of
Krsna were manifest in the Vraja such as Madan-mohana, Govindaji, Gopala the lifter of
Govardhana, Gopinatha, Dauji [Balarama], Harideva, Garuda-Govinda, Kesava, Gopesvara
Mahadeva [Siva] and so forth.

During the lila of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the first Deity of Mahaprabhu was established by
Visnupriya-devi after Mahaprabhu had accepted sannyasa. The first Deities of Gaura-Gadadhara
were established at Campahati by Dvija-Vaninatha, the brother of Gadadhara Pandita and the
first Deities of Gaura-Nitai were established by Gauridasa Pandita. For one who has heard the
narration of what transpired at Gauridasa Pandita’s house on the day of the installation it is quite
clear that these were ‘self-manifest’ Deities in the truest sense of the word [for details of this
event please see Chapter Seven of Bhakti-ratnakara].

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 Guru-Gauranga-Gandharvika-Giridhari

During the time of Bhaktivinoda Thakura the Deity of Gaura-Visnupriya was manifest at
Yogapitha in Mayapura. Following Bhaktivinoda, Sarasvati Thakura constructed the Adbhuta
Mandira at Yogapitha and established Deities of Gaura-Radha-Madhava, Panca-tattva, Laksmi-
Narasimha, Gaura-Gadadhara, Jagannatha Misra, Saci-mata and Nimai. Also the Deity of
Ksetrapala Mahadeva was established at Yogapitha. Sarasvati Thakura also established Deities
of Guru-Gauranga-Gandharvika-Giridhari and the four sampradaya-acaryas at Sri Caitanya
Matha in Mayapura.

Then in various Gaudiya Matha establishments throughout India, Sarasvati Thakura established
Deities such as Sri Sri Gaura-Vinoda-Madhava (in Puri), Sri Sri Gaura-Gopi-Gopinatha (in
Alalanath), Sri Sri Gaura-Vinoda-Vilasa (in Naimisaranya), Sri Sri Gaura-Vinoda-Ramana (in
Cuttack), Sri Sri Gaura-Vinoda-Vaibhavananda (in Mumbai), Sri Sri Gaura-Vinoda-Vinoda (in
Benares) and so forth.

Sarasvati Thakura established Deities to preside over the holy places and to establish in this
world the highest conception of Gaudiya Vaisnavism — nay, the highest conception of theism
ever to see the light of day — Sri Sri Gaura-Radha-Govinda.

mahaprabhu sri-caitanya, radha-krsna nahe anya rupanuga janera jivan

“Mahaprabhu Sri Caitanya is non-different from Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and is the very life of those
Vaisnavas who follow Sri Rupa Gosvami.”

Srila Sridhara Maharaja explains:

“Our Guru Maharaja [Bhaktisiddhanta] installed almost everywhere this Mahaprabhu and
Radha-Govinda, meaning that Mahaprabhu is combined Radha-Govinda. Mahaprabhu means

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Radha-Govinda. Svarupa-damodara has given us a sloka about the ontological nature of
Mahaprabhu-

radha-krsna pranaya vikrtir hladini saktir asmad

ekatmanav api bhuvi pura deha-bhedam gatau tau
caitanyakhyam prakatam adhuna tad-dvayam caikyam aptam
radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalitam naumi krsna-svarupam

‘The loving affairs of Sri Radha and Krsna are transcendental manifestations of the Lord’s
internal pleasure-giving potency. Although Radha and Krsna are one in Their identity, They
separated Themselves eternally. Now, these two transcendental identities have again united in
the form of Sri Krsna Caitanya. I offer my obeisances unto Him, who has manifested Himself
with the sentiment and complexion of Sri Radha although He is Krsna Himself.’ (Caitanya-
caritamrta Adi. 1.5)

“Guru Maharaja [Bhaktisiddhanta] wanted to show in this form of installation of the Deities, that
the highest order of worship is here – that Mahaprabhu combined, who is giving the rasa, and
the Radha Govinda with Their paraphernalia which They are tasting within Their own circle –
that highest order of sweetness is being distributed by Mahaprabhu Himself in His lila. They are
of the same level, layer, and the same dignity, and same highest position. To show, to represent
this to the worldly intellect and devotion, Guru Maharaja has taken this method in the worship, in
arcana, as favorable for his preaching about Radha-Govinda in Vrndavana.” [Sridhara Maharaja,
transcript: April 23, 1982]

To this end Sarasvati Thakura established many Deities of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu standing by
the side of Radha and Krsna — thus giving emphasis to this most high and exalted theistic
conception. This above all is the essence of the Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy.

Since the time of Sarasvati Thakura many of his disciples carried on the disciplic succession and
established Deities in the holy dhama, throughout India and around the world. These Deities
included Gaura-Nitai, Radha-Govinda, Panca-tattva, Sri Narasimha-deva, Jagannatha, Subhadra
and Baladeva, Krsna-Balarama, Gaura-Gadadhara, and particularly the Deities of Sri Sri Guru-
Gauranga-Gandharvika-Govindasundara, Gaura-Radha-Vinodananda, and Gaura-Radha-
Vinodabihari — thus retaining and spreading the Gaudiya concept of mahaprabhu sri caitanya
radha krsna nahe anya.

All these Deities and more were established by the bona-fide representatives of Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta.

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 Prabhupada's Radha-Govinda

Iskcon Gaura-Radha-Govinda in Kolkata

Our Guru Maharaja, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in keeping with the highest
conception of Gaudiya Vaisnavism, also established Sri Sri Gaura-Radha- Govinda in Kolkata
and Sri Sri Gaura-Radha- Madhava at Mayapura [the center of his preaching activities] but
unfortunately after the disappearance of our Guru Maharaja some over intelligent disciples, not
understanding our Guru’s intentions and being eager to occupy his position without authority
took the post of acarya. In so doing they displeased our Guru Maharaja and eventually lost sight
of the proper conception of Gaudiya Vaisnavism. Indeed, so many offences were committed
during those dreadful years that the original Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda, worshipped by
our Guru Maharaja since his childhood, disappeared from the altar at Mayapura and a short time
later the Deities of Sri Sri Gaura-Radha-Madhava also de-manifested! The details are too painful
to recount here, but it is a fact that these things have happened. The saddest part of the story
being, that those who are at present in charge of our Guru Maharaja’s institution have developed
amnesia and are not willing to take the necessary steps to rectify the situation.

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 Original Gaura-Radha-Madhava in Mayapura

The point of contention involving the history of the Deities at ISKCON Mayapura and what
should be the proper Deity conception in the futuristic temple being planned at ISKCON
Mayapura [the Planetarium] is indeed a sensitive issue. Since the original Deities at ISKCON
Mayapura disappeared, other much larger Deities have been placed there to right the wrong but
the original Deity conception has been over-shadowed and all but forgotten. The fact is that the
conception of the highest truth once visible in the original Deity arrangement of Mahaprabhu
being the combined form of Radha and Krsna has been lost in the confusion.

In private meetings this was brought to the attention of numerous senior ISKCON members,
sannyasis, gurus and GBCs before last years GBC meetings but to little or no avail. None of
those approached had any argument or rebuttal to the above statements — most simply had a
hazy memory of what had happened and showed apathy towards doing anything to rectify the
situation. In fact one senior sannyasi commented that ISKCON was having too many land issue
problems at Mayapura and that the leaders would not be willing to give attention to such a minor
issue as the Deities.

Unfortunately worrying about land ownership issues and neglecting the Deity is not the way to
solve their problems. Try to rectify things at the center and all other maladjusted issues will
automatically fall into place. That is Krsna consciousness. Serve the center and all else will be
adjusted.

The arrangements that Krsna manifests Himself and the arrangements that Krsna manifests
through his pure devotees are non-different. One should give special care and attention to such
matters, maintaining them for the benefit of future generations.

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Meditation Techniques and the Holy Name

Question: There have been some recent discussions about techniques for meditation and
controlling the mind while chanting japa [the Holy Name]. It is often said that we are doing
mantra meditation, so I was wondering if our acaryas or the sastra have recommended any
particular techniques that we can use while doing mantra meditation?

Answer: The mantra meditation that you speak of [in Sanskrit] is called mantra-dhyana, which
culminates in the stage of samadhi [trance]. This is a developmental process and one has to pass
through many stages before reaching perfection. But why we are faced with the difficulty of
being unable to control the mind while chanting japa should first be understood.

The very nature of the mind is flickering and restless like the wind. For this reason it is
sometimes seen that a person will adopt the yoga practices of pranayama and asana as a means
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to control the mind. In Hari-bhakti-vilasa by Sanatana Gosvami, the process of pranayama and
asana for a devotee is mentioned in the fifth chapter, as performed with pranava [omkara] or
kama-bija. There it is said that while sitting in either padma-asana or svastika-asana one should
chant the mantra sixteen times while inhaling, chant the mantra sixty-four times while holding
the breath and chant the mantra thirty-two times while exhaling.

Sanatana Gosvami also recommends that the practitioner meditates upon Visnu [Krsna] and
states that one should remember Rudra as the out-going breath, Brahma as the in-going breath
and Visnu as the breath that is retained within.

After explaining thus, Sanatana Gosvami relates the glories of pranayama by citing a verse from
Padma Purana wherein Devahuti and Vikundala glorify the process of pranayama.

Sanatana Gosvami suggests that one perform pranayama before taking bath (within the confines
of one's house), before performing arcana [Deity worship] and before chanting gayatri [japa].

As for the process of yoga, in and of itself, one should remember that many great yogis in ancient
times, who were expert in yoga meditation again became mentally disturbed and fell down from
their position. In Bhagavad-gita also, Arjuna is seen to reject Krsna’s instruction to follow the
yoga process.

“O Madhusudana, this system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and
unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady.” [Bhagavad-gita 6:33]

In Prema-pradipa, Bhaktivinoda Thakura says the yoga system with no connection to krsna-
prema is effectively a waste of time and energy.

“The domination over material nature attained in the practice of yoga is only a temporary result.
In that position the ultimate result may be far off and time and again impediments are observed.
In the path of yoga there are hindrances at every step.

“First, at the time of practicing yama and niyama, religiosity is awakened, and as a result of
attaining this insignificant result one becomes known as religious-minded, even though no
attempt has been made to achieve prema.

“Second, during the long period of practicing asana and pranayama one achieves a long life free
of disease by controlling the breathing. But if there is still no connection with prema, then one's
long life free of disease becomes a source of trouble.

“Third, although by the process of pratyahara one achieves control of the senses, if prema is
lacking this is called dry or insignificant renunciation. The reason is that for attaining the
ultimate goal, enjoyment and renunciation give equal results. Useless renunciation simply makes
one stone-hearted.

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“Fourth, during dhyana, dharana, and samadhi, even if material thoughts are removed, if prema
is not awakened the living entity loses his individuality. If the understanding, ‘I am Brahman’
does not awaken pure love, then that results in destruction of his existence.

“Therefore, please consider: the ultimate goal of yoga is excellent, but the path is full of
difficulties. You are a Vaisnava as well as a yogi, therefore you can understand my words
without bias.” (Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Prema-pradipa, Second Ray)

If we want to control the mind we should first understand why it is that the mind continues to
wander here and there. The principle reasons are two, anarthas and aparadha [impure qualities
and offenses to the Holy Name]. This being the root cause of mental instability, the mind will
again return to its wanderings when the artificial means of control [yoga] are withdrawn.

The chanting of the Holy Name itself is the principle means of bringing the mind under control
while chanting japa. Only the process of self-purification, by the chanting of the Holy Name,
will remove anarthas from the heart and release us from offenses.

gite namaparadhesu pramadena kathancana

sadasankirtayan nama tad-ekasarano bhavet

"If one may sometimes, because of foolishness or immaturity, commit offenses to the Holy
Name, then the remedy for such offenses is to continue one's regular chanting of the Holy Name,
and take shelter of Him with all earnestness."

namaparadha-yuktanam namany eva haranty agham

avisranti-prayuktani tany evartha-karani ca

"If one becomes determined, and continues his chanting of the Holy Name, and does not give up
the process of chanting, the Holy Name will remove all his sins, and grant to him, the most
valuable spiritual benefit."(Padma Purana)

Bhaktivinoda Thakura

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With this in mind one will have to do whatever it is that is necessary to rigorously begin the
concentrated and prolonged chanting of the Holy Name. Bhaktvinoda Thakura recommends that
if the mind is distracted then one should cover ones head with a blanket.

“Another effective method for ridding oneself of apathy towards the Holy Name is to sit in a
closed room alone and meditate on the Name as did the previous sages. Or one can cover the
head and face with a cloth and concentrate on the sound of the Holy Name. This will
immediately fix the mind firmly on the Holy Name; slowly, one develops attraction for the
Name, and the offense of apathetic inattention will vanish. (Harinama-cintamani Ch.12)

Other recommendations for effectively chanting of the Holy Name are given by Bhaktivinoda in
Harinama-cintamani as follows:

"One must make it his daily routine to chant for an hour in the company of saintly Vaisnavas in a
sacred, undisturbed place. Taking note of the Vaisnavas’ devotional attitude and their relish for
the Holy Name, the neophyte should try to emulate this mood and gradually rid himself of his
apathy to chanting. Step by step, his mind and attention should become fixed in the Holy Name.
By constant chanting, the sweetness of the Holy Name makes him anxious to taste more of that
nectar."

"Advanced Vaisnavas advise that chanting is best performed in the presence of Tulasi-devi and
in a place of Lord Krsna's pastimes. The chanter should always seek the association of saintly
devotees and emulate their discipline. He must follow in the footsteps of previous acaryas in the
joyful method of worshiping the Lord through His Holy Name. He may begin with an hour of
such chanting, then two, then increase it to four until finally he will chant not less then three
lakhas [192 rounds of japa] of Holy Names a day. This helps him to soon sever his links with
materialism.”

“One must diligently complete the chanting of the daily prescribed number of Holy Names
according to one's vow. But another kind of distraction occurs when one is too eager to complete

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the fixed number of Holy Names even at the sacrifice of quality. One must therefore always
insure that he chants his rounds sincerely. Also, one should better improve the quality of his
chanting rather than try to increase his daily number of rounds for show. The Name of the Lord
should always be pronounced distinctly. Only by the grace of the Lord can this be achieved.
Thus one should pray to the Lord that he never falls victim to the wiles of the illusion of
distraction, and that he can continue to taste the full nectar of the Holy Name.”

“The order of discipline (sadhanakrama) for realizing the identity of the Holy Name with the
Lord is as follows. The devotee must in the beginning discard the ten offenses and simply absorb
himself in the Holy Name by chanting constantly. He should distinctly pronounce the Holy
Name and meditate upon the transcendental sound vibration. When his chanting is steady, clear
and blissful, he will be able to meditate upon the Syamasundara form of the Lord. With chanting
beads in hand, he should thus seek out the transcendental form of the Holy Name, which will
appear when his vision is pure.”

“Another method he may employ to see this form is to sit in front of the Deities, drink the
beautiful sight of the Lord with his eyes and meditate upon the Holy Name. After reaching the
stage where the Holy Name and the form of the Lord become one, he must then absorb the
transcendental qualities of Lord Krsna into his meditation. Thus the Holy Name and the qualities
of Krsna merge to become one through constant chanting.”

“Next, he goes on to practice the remembrance of particular pastimes of the Lord. This
remembrance, called mantra-dhyana mayi upasana, facilitates further absorption into the Holy
Name. This lila-smarana or pastime-meditation also gradually becomes one with the Holy
Name, form, and qualities.”

“At this point, the first rays of nama-rasa, or the transcendental mellow of the Holy Name, dawn
on the horizon of perception. Chanting the Name in great delight, the devotee sees Krsna
surrounded by cowherd boys and girls under a desire tree at the Yogapitha. Progressively, the
devotee's practice of lila-smarana intensifies to the point where he begins to meditate on the
most confidential pastimes of the Lord known as the asta-kaliya-lila, or the eightfold pastimes of
Radha and Krsna. When he reaches maturity in this meditation, rasa rises in full glory.
(Harinama-cintamani chapters 12 and 15)

The sound of Krsna’s Name is non-different from Krsna therefore meditation on the Holy Name
means to concentrate on the sound of Krsna’s Name, His guna [qualities], His rupa [form] and
His lila [pastimes].

The neophyte [kanistha] devotee may try to employ yoga techniques and other such practices
while chanting the Holy Name, but for the madhyama-adhikari devotees no such techniques are
required. Avoiding the ten offenses to the Holy Name the madhyama-adhikari devotee becomes
absorbed in the Holy Name thru proper association [sadhu-sanga], service [seva], hari-katha
[philosophical discourse] and accepting responsibility [sannyasa] under the guidance of sri-guru,
the spiritual master.

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Association and service quickly absorb the mind of a devotee and all wandering tendencies are
easily checked. The path of the madhyama-adhikari is long and strenuous. During this period of
spiritual development it is imperative that the devotee pay close attention to the devotional
philosophy and the opinions of sastra and sadhus.

Madhyama-adhikari means proper adjustment and proper conception — accepting and rejecting
those things favorable and unfavorable for devotional service. To this end a proper understanding
of Vaisnava philosophy is crucial. Mental speculation and dry philosophical arguments have no
value in progressive Krsna consciousness but Vaishnava siddhanta, axiomatic truths received
through divine revelation, are essential for understanding.

The uttama-adhikari devotee is always absorbed in the Holy Name of Krsna due to his
spontaneous attraction for the all-attractive Name of Krsna itself. Krsna’s Name is complete with
guna, rupa and lila therefore the uttama-adhikari or the pure devotee of Krsna finds complete
fulfillment of Krsna Consciousness in the Holy Name itself.

Personal [as opposed to impersonal] meditations sometimes begin with meditations on the
universal form [Virata-rupa], then meditations on the Super Soul [Paramatma] and then
meditations on the Supreme Personality of Godhead [Bhagavan], His guna, rupa and lila — as
explained in Srimad Bhagavatam.

Throughout the Vedic literature, Krsna’s guna, rupa and lila in Vrndavana are proclaimed as
qualitatively and quantitatively greater than those of His other incarnations such as Narayana,
etc. Therefore the devotees of Krsna choose places such as Mayapura, Jagannatha Puri and
Vrndavana as their preferred place of bhajana [practicing devotional life] and absorb themselves
in Krsna’s nama, guna, rupa and lila in such places.

In the event that one cannot live in such holy places one should then reside in a place made holy
by the presence of the Deity and advanced Vaisnavas — but living alone in an unholy place is
never recommended by those who know the science of Krsna Consciousness.

Although japa is certainly an important aspect of the practicing life of a devotee, the equal and
even superior process of kirtana and sankirtana should not be overlooked or underestimated.
Kirtana and other such forms of congregational chanting (such as preaching, writing, and book
distribution), when led by a pure devotee, are fully absorbing and purifying. Kirtana is highly
recommended by our acaryas and in kirtana the mind is easily controlled.

kirtana prabhave, smarana haibe

se kale bhajana-nirjana sambhava

“Internal remembrance (smarana) can occur by the power of kirtana, and only then is solitary
(nirjana) service possible.” (Srila Sarasvati Thakura - Vaisnava Ke)

In fact in any stage of Krsna Consciousness — whether you are a kanistha, a madhyama or an
uttama-adhikari the process of kirtana and sankirtana is recommended and highly fulfilling.

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 More on Christianity: Only Krsna
Consciousness Can Enhance Krsna
Consciousness

Editors Note: Krsna Talk #61 Real Religion is Not Man Made received more responses than
usual from our readers. Since the topic has stimulated such interest we have decided to answer
some of the comments in this Krsna Talk.

Question: Wasn't there perhaps sincerity in some of these religions at the time when they
emerged? God is omnipresent and, after all, a man in the desert who had some desire to know
truth would experience an aspect of God's beauty, power, love etc. He could feel that to be God
and not yet know about Sri Krsna, due to his unfortunate karma of not being near a pure devotee.
Does it mean that he has no realization just because he doesn't yet know about Krsna?

Answer: Yes, he may have 'realization' about Krsna's external energy and he may even develop
a vague understanding of the impersonal aspect of God, but who God is, what is His personality
and what are His characteristics will remain unknown to such a soul until he comes in contact
with a bona-fide religious process - one given by God Himself and not created from the
flickering mind of men.

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Question: Can't God manifest, at least incompletely, to some sincere souls, leading them ever
closer to the most complete realization and comprehension of Him?

Answer: The external energy of God sometimes works in that way and as a result one may adopt
a more pious way of life. This in turn may lead to better association and a better quality of life.
Then, after many such lifetimes, one may come in contact with real religion. In this way it is said
in the Caitanya-caritamrta that after wondering throughout the universe for millions of lifetimes
one, by the grace of Krsna, meets a bona-fide guru. And from the bona-fide guru one gets the
seed of devotion.

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva

guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

After being born and reborn again and again throughout the entire material creation, some
fortunate soul may, by the grace of Krsna and the guru, be given the seed of the creeper of
devotional service. (Caitanya-caritamrita, 2.19.151)

Question: I used to be a practitioner of the Yogananda path (Self Realization Fellowship). In

those days I sometimes meditated 2-4 hours daily, praying with all my heart at times to know
God, to love God. Sometimes I felt great bliss. I felt it was God answering my prayers. When I
met devotees and heard about Krsna, I felt God had answered my prayers to know Him more
completely.

Answer: Yes, I was a follower of Yogananda also and I prayed to God to please guide me. The
Supersoul [Paramatma] guides the wanderings of all living beings - some are guided to the night-
club and some are guided to the lotus feet of a pure devotee. It deeply depends on one's desire. I
know many followers of Yogananda in California and they haven't even adopted a purely
vegetarian diet - so how much they have gained from their meditations is certainly a question, at
least as far as I am concerned.

Question: I saw God in the sunset, the nature, rocks, etc. I knew nothing more, but I knew there
was more, but I did feel an aspect of God's presence. I believe that led me further on. I did not
know Krsna, but I was praying to Him and He answered even when I knew Him not. Is this not
the position of some origins of religions too, at least some practitioners in them?

Answer: Some people say they saw God in LSD or in sacred mushrooms but all that is vague
and incomplete. Krsna also says that He is the shark [jhasanam makaras casmi] but no amount
of association with a shark will make you Krsna conscious. In fact the shark will, sooner or later,
kill and eat you! God is everywhere but to know Him we have to serve the pure devotees.

The so-called realizations of God in the environment are usually a product of the mind and are
not actually realizations of God. The mind is one of the senses and one of the eight material
elements. The mind actually has no power to realize God. God is realized in consciousness and
not in the mind. Mind and even intelligence are material. Consciousness however is not material
and can therefore perceive God when He chooses to reveal Himself. Self-realization is a
subjective experience and all that you have referred to above falls into the category of objective

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endeavors to know the truth. From objective endeavors a vague understanding of impersonal
Brahman and a hazy understanding of the Paramatma may be reached, but not Krsna.

It is a hard lump to swallow for many of us with Judeo-Christian backgrounds - but the fact is
that Christianity is not a transcendental religion. As I mentioned in my previous article, for all
the 2,000 years of Christianity, the Christians still do not know what the soul is. Understanding
the soul is the first step in God realization. Christians haven't even made the first step in 2,000
years. They still think they are the body. Why? Because Christianity is a man-made religion. It is
not bona-fide or transcendental.

Question: I think it is possible to appreciate good aspects of other faiths without watering ones
own philosophy down or creating some kind of rasabhasa, although this danger is always there
of course.

Answer: The principle to see the best in everything is indeed laudable and this is certainly true
of the 'romanticized ideal' of Jesus. But herein lies the problem - what was the ideal of Jesus?
Who was Jesus and what did he actually teach? As it turns out, there is no reliable source to
answer these questions other than the Bible, which was created after the Council of Nicea in 325
CE. This council, convened by the Roman emperor Constantine and attended by 318 Church
Fathers of the then loose-knit cult of Christianity, was motivated by political and despotic
ambitions. At the council the divinity of Jesus [as good as God] was fabricated and any
reasonable understanding or Gospel of who Jesus might have been [such as the views of Arian
and the Gnostics] was henceforth driven into extinction.

When the Church fathers assembled at Nicea the council began with a punch out. The commonly
accepted story amongst scholars is that Bishop Nicholas of Myra rushed across the hall and

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hardily punched Arian in the nose. Thus the stage was set - there was a preconceived doctrine to
be put in place regarding the divinity of Jesus Christ and anyone who didn't heed this doctrine
would be dealt with in the strictest physical terms! For the past 1681 years the Bible has been
delivered as 'The Infallible Word of God' on the end of a sword and now its being delivered on
the end of a bayonet [cloaked in democracy].

Christianity began as a Jewish heresy, born from dissatisfaction with the status quo of Judaism
and a need for change. Unfortunately, men and not God inspired those changes and for the past
2,000 years the same thing has continued - men are dissatisfied with the status quo of the Church
and so they set about creating new reforms, new doctrines, new political alliances, new dogmas
and New Age concepts. The plot thickens and the distance between superstitions about God and
the Absolute Truth increases.

Many contemporary Vaisnavas like to pick and choose what they want to believe about Jesus. In
doing so they neglect the example of Jesus himself. For example: Jesus was a student of the
Torah [the Old Testament] and Jesus says he came to uphold/fulfill the 'Laws of Moses. But
which Christian or proponent of Christ these days bothers to follow the laws of Moses? It was
good enough for Jesus but they don't take the trouble to follow it themselves.

The Laws of Moses, were given to Moses by the God of Abraham, Jehovah. Some may argue
that the God of the Old Testament is actually Krsna but this cannot be established from the texts
itself.

In the Old Testament the two sons of Adam, Cain and Abel, make an offering to God. Cain
offers grains and the fruits of the land because he was a tiller of the fields. Abel offered
slaughtered lambs to God because he was the herder of sheep. It is said that God ignored the
offerings of Cain and only accepted the 'blood' offering of Abel! So how can any sane person say
that this is the same God as Krsna?

The Old Testament God is the God that causes famine to fall upon the Earth and among other
atrocities causes his so-called chosen people [the Jews] to eat their own children. Here we find
God speaking in the Bible, but how could anyone possibly compare this to the words of Krsna in
the Bhagavad-gita?

"Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the
fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you. Even the
most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the
wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his
children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict
on you during the siege of all your cities. The most gentle and sensitive woman among you - so
sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot -
will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter the afterbirth from her womb
and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the
distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities." [God spoke: Deuteronomy 28:53-57
(also Lev 26:29)]

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And why does God bring this wrath upon his people?

"Because thou serve not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the
abundance of all things." [Deuteronomy 28:47]

The question arises, how can we love such a God, a God which Jesus himself revered in the
Torah? The God of Jesus could not have been Krsna.

And let us not forget the poor little witches of all ages [young and old] that perished under the
tyranny of the Church. How did the Church get into such a morbid mind-set in the first place?
Because it says in the Bible that witches exist and witches should be killed ["Thou shalt not
suffer a witch to live!" - Exodus 22.18].

Here is a quote in that regard that was sent to me by a friend.

"During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so [Exodus 22:18]. The Bible
commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church, after eight hundred
years, gathered up its halters, thumb-screws, and firebrands, and set about its holy work in
earnest. She worked hard at it night and day during nine centuries and imprisoned, tortured,
hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean
with their foul blood. Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never
had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry." [Mark Twain, Poet/Author]

The simple fact is that although seemingly firm in their convictions about Jesus, most
contemporary Vaisnavas have not made a thorough study of the Bible or of Christian history.
Their knowledge is mostly derived from romanticized hearsay, the propaganda of the Church or
the propaganda of Church dissidents [New Age gurus in favor of Jesus being something different
from the Church]. That is to say that even the 'ideal' of Jesus is something that has been

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exaggerated and romanticized, but has no actual basis, other than having been borrowed from
pagan and other much wiser traditions than Christianity.

If one studies the Bible objectively like many intelligent people have done, then an obvious
conclusion is that today's 'Fundamentalist Christians' are actually following the Bible! This
means that the Bible was created with a fundamentalist mentality, whereby anyone who does not
accept Jesus goes to Hell and witches and heretics should be put to death. In the past Christians
performed many atrocities based on Biblical authority and the same ideal continues among the
Christian right wing today. On the other hand, the liberal Christians have no authority for what
they think the teachings of Jesus are, other than their speculations. They have no scripture to
support their views.

Question: There are certain things that I have appreciation for in Christianity such as that
Christians in general have a very clear understanding that they are not God. This gives them a
much better position than the great amount of atheists, Buddhists and Mayavadi's out there
dominating the 'spiritual' scene in the West. Devotion to a personal God remains a central theme,
and I think it is for this reason our acaryas have spoken of Vaisnavism as extended Christianity.
I have yet to meet the first Buddhist who changed his outlook to Vaisnavism, whereas Christians
have done so in larger number. So, I do feel your statement, about it being misfortunate if one
appreciates Christianity, to be rather strong.

Answer: I mostly disagree with your statement. In the first place Christianity is admittedly one
of the main causes of atheism in the modern world. Christian dogma and Christians have done
more to turn intelligent people away from God than Darwin and the host of scientists in his
wake. In fact, some atheists are more God conscious with their 'humanistic views' than Christians
with their Bible-banging rhetoric and lack of knowledge.

Furthermore, the Christians are Mayavadis in that they say that the guru [Jesus] is God. As for
Christians like the Mormons, their belief is that they themselves will become 'gods' and rule their
own universe. And as for the early Christians, they are the one's that took the divinity out of
nature and declared themselves 'Lords' of the material world. Thus they are largely to blame for
the environmental holocaust.

Christians may have an idea that God is a person but what type of person is their God? In their
opinion, God has given them the right to exploit the material energy for their fullest enjoyment.

"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28)

Ultimately every Christian believes in Heaven, but it is clear in the Bible that Heaven is on this
Earth after the Day of Judgment and that the saved will inherit and enjoy the Earth. The idea that
Heaven is somewhere in the sky is an idea that came into Christianity much later, after the time
of Jesus. Early Christians were an apocalyptic cult that was awaiting the final battle between
good and evil in which evil would be destroyed and they would inherit the earth after the Day of
Judgment. Christians are still waiting for the apocalypse and the Day of Judgment - one has but

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to read The Book of Revelations to understand this fact or just tune into any Sunday morning
televangelist program.

It is also a fact that since the alleged time of Jesus, every Christian generation has preached that
they are living in the 'End of Times', that Jesus was coming within their generation to judge the
living and the dead and to bring God's kingdom to Earth. This is still the Christian worldview in
2006.

And what does Jesus say he will do on ‘Judgment Day’? Check this out:

"The son of man will dispatch his angels to collection from his kingdom all who draw others to
apostasy [to reject Jesus], and all evildoers. The angels will hurl them into the fiery furnace
where they will wail and grind their teeth." [Matthew 13-41]

The success in preaching Krsna consciousness in the west has not been due to people having a
favorable Christian background, but rather the success has been due to certain political doctrines
[constitutions] in the west granting freedom of religion. Particularly there is the constitution of
the United States [where Krsna Consciousness got a foot hold in the west] that guarantees
freedom of religion, but this doctrine was not the work of Christians - it was the work of Deists
who made up most of the founding fathers of America. In fact, it was the fear of a Christian
theocracy taking control in America that prompted the founding fathers to separate church and
state.

You say that devotion to a personal God remains a central theme in Christianity and that because
of this Christians have converted to Vaisnavism in larger numbers, but I do not find this to be
entirely true. Many of the devotees who first joined Krsna consciousness in the 1960's and 1970's
had practiced some sort of impersonalism, Zen, etc. Very few were practicing Christians, if any.
The greater number of devotees from the west, who have converted to Krsna Consciousness did
so after rejecting Christianity and the materialistic culture that Christianity fostered. They
rejected Christianity because of Christianity's lack of knowledge of even the most basic spiritual
points, because of Christian hypocrisy and because of Christianity lacking compassion for other
living beings. The fact is that hardcore Christians rarely, if ever, convert to Vaisnavism.

Question: I have been personally present when my Gurudeva spoke appreciatively of

Christianity, and he did not do that just to be polite or for preaching purposes.

Answer: Yes, that may be the fact [the romanticized ideal is laudable], but according to
Sarasvati Thakura and also according to Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Christianity is not something
that is desirable for a Gaudiya Vaisnava. Bhaktivinoda Thakura considers that some men of
small intelligence gave birth to a very wild idea and that this is not acceptable to intelligent men.

"Some philosophers say that because of the first living entity's sin, all the other living entities are
imprisoned in the material world. Later, punishing Himself for their sins, God delivers the living
entities."

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"Deliberating on the virtues and faults of this world, some moralistic monotheists concluded that
the material world is not a place of pure happiness. Indeed, the sufferings outweigh the pleasures.
They claim that the material world is a prison to punish the living entities. If there is punishment,
then there must be a crime. If there were no crime, then why would there be any punishment?
What crime did the living entities commit? Unable to properly answer this question, some men
of small intelligence gave birth to a very wild idea. God created the first man and placed him in a
pleasant garden with his wife. Then God forbade the man to taste the fruit of the tree of
knowledge. Following the evil counsel of a wicked being [a snake], the first man and woman
tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge, thus disobeying God's command. In this way they fell
from that garden into the material world filled with sufferings. Because of their offense, all other
living entities are offenders from the moment of their birth. Not seeing any other way to remove
this offense, God Himself took birth in a humanlike form, took on His own shoulders the sins of
His followers, and then died [was crucified]. All who follow Him easily attain liberation, and all
who do not follow Him fall into an eternal Hell. In this way God assumes a humanlike form,
punishes Himself, and thus liberates the living entities. An intelligent person cannot make sense
of any of this!" (Tattva-viveka)

One may also note that since many western devotees in contemporary times came from Christian
cultures, that our acaryas sometimes were generous in their statements about Christianity. But at
the same time we may also note that they were very outspoken and direct about any concoctions
within their own Indian traditions. Thus, it is for those of us from Christian cultures to speak out
about Christian concoction as our acaryas have done in speaking out against Hindu concoctions.

Question: I have some appreciation for the Christian monk Thomas Keating. For me he has
many saintly qualities. I genuinely feel I am not mistaking 'being nice' for saintliness here. It is
about displaying the qualities of saintliness as we know them from our Vaisnava scriptures:
tolerance, humility, devotion to God. He may not have the philosophical understanding of the
Vaisnava conception, but he displays certain qualities of a devotee to a much higher extent then
so many followers of krsna-bhakti that I know.

Answer: I have never met Thomas Keating but I have met several Vaisnava paramahamsas so I
also have some idea about saintly qualities. As per my understanding, one may have 'saintly
qualities' to some extent but without proper knowledge one is not actually a saint. If a person has
no proper knowledge of the soul or of God then such a person is a neophyte [kanistha] and it is
not possible for the neophytes to have 'saintly qualities' - that would be a contradiction

Thomas Keating in your opinion may have saintly qualities, but in fact so do many atheists such
as the Dalai Lama or even Amrta Ma for that matter. Mahatma Gandhi was also considered a
saint [a saint among politicians, but a politician among saints]. These personalities that I mention
may have tolerance, humility and so-called devotion to God but the question is, to which God?

Of course, the Dalai Lama says there is no God. Amrta Ma and others like Sai Baba say they are
God, and all Christians [Thomas Keating included] say that Jesus is God or that the God of
Abraham is God. The fact is that all the above are mistaken. Jesus is not God nor did he say he
was and the God of the Old Testament, the God of Abraham, was a pagan God [one of many] in

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early Judaism - not the monotheistic God that he is made out to be today. So without knowing
who God is - then all the so-called saintly qualities one may have simply fall short of the mark.

Even if one blindly accepts that everything that Jesus taught is true still it does not compare to
even a drop of the great ocean of Krsna Consciousness. Sarasvati Thakura put it this way: "The
highest morality taught by the noble Jesus does not come even near the principles of amorous
love enshrined in the devotees of Krsna." (Srila Sarasvati Thakura - Interview with Prof. Suthers)

In addition to the above it is also a fact that India has produced thousands of sadhus over the past
2,000 years, having saintly character and many of them as great as or greater than the alleged
Jesus - particularly since the time of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. As for the Vaisnava literatures
[produced by the saints of India] that deal with the Absolute Truth and the ultimate goal of love
of God - the Christian world has nothing to even slightly compare.

In the opinion of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, these so-called Christian priests [monks] are comparable
to the Putana demon. Christianity amounts to soul killing because it pats everyone on the back
and tells everyone to just believe in Jesus, to be happy in this material world and then go to
heaven to enjoy when they die - because Jesus died for their sins. There is nothing spiritual in
such a conception. Christianity, when taken to task, has no spiritual knowledge or proper
conception of Reality.

Question: I have been reading some writings of Christian mystics and some articles by Thomas
Keating, and they convey a certain degree of realization that goes much beyond what most
people know of Christianity. They also seem to have developed good techniques for meditation,
that have helped me in my own japa. I think more devotees could benefit from a better system
for nama-japa since, for the great majority of devotees, it doesn't get very far beyond the level of
chanting with a totally distracted mind.

Answer: The Christian mystics and others that you speak of were at best trying to reach God by
the ascending process whereas what Bhagavata devotee have to offer and what is given by your
guru and the sadhus is coming down to us unadulterated and full of transcendental nectar -
descending in parampara. Those given to the ascending process can never know Krsna nor do
their processes actually enhance Krsna Consciousness. Only Krsna Consciousness can enhance
Krsna Consciousness.

Since receiving your email I have also read some of the articles of Thomas Keating and in none
of them did I find any spiritual knowledge that even remotely approaches the beginning chapters
of Bhagavad-gita. Keating often refers to parables and stories from the Bible and tries to squeeze
out some truth - but alas he only comes up with some sentiment and an occasional sub-religious
principle. In none of his articles did I find any information about the soul or who God is.
Religion without proper knowledge is sentiment and knowledge without religion is speculation.

As for the 'good techniques for meditation' developed by Christians and the writings of Christian
mystics, one should question from where these techniques and writings have come? Are they
'God sent' or simply the product of mental interpretations? I am highly doubtful that such

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techniques have any real applicability to Krsna Consciousness. Rather, I am of the opinion that
such interests develop from our own anarthas and lack of faith.

If one is interested in 'techniques' to improve one's Krsna conscious sadhana, then our
recommendation is that one should study the books of the six Gosvamis and their bona-fide
representatives.

External techniques are actually of no use in Gaudiya Vaisnavism. Gaudiya Vaisnavism is built
on three spiritual principles; sraddha, saranagati and seva [faith, surrender, and service]. If one
is having trouble controlling the mind while chanting or developing the qualities of a Vaisnava
then one should question one's own sincerity. A wandering mind is due to anarthas and
aparadhas and not because of a lack in technique.

We may say that people like Thomas Keating are sincere and have many good qualities, but what
lies within, only God [Krsna] knows. Krsna directs the wanderings of all living beings
throughout the universe and when a soul is sincere he directs that soul to the lotus feet of a bona-
fide guru. So are we to assume that even though Mahaprabhu has come, Bhaktivinoda Thakura
has come, Sarasvati Thakura has come, Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada has come, Sridhara
Maharaja has come, Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja has come and many other Vaisnavas [all
teaching and leaving their books behind to guide us] that Krsna has just overlooked the sincerity
and qualities of gentlemen like Thomas Keating - leaving them to fare for themselves in the
shadow of the cross? Or could it be that beneath a veil of saintly qualities they remain envious of
the Personality of Godhead and lack the sukrti, due to their bad karma from previous lives, to
recognize and accept Krsna Consciousness? If that is the case, then we should learn from their
mistakes and not from their literature.

A staunch disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta by the name of Sadananda Prabhu was of the opinion that,
"If a religion doesn't even have a clear concept of what the individual atma is, what to speak of
God, it is not worth the name 'religion' at all."

Sadananda Prabhu is also on record as having said to another Vaisnava that, "If he didn't like the
razor-sharp distinctions in bhakti, he could return to his old mysticism." "Mysticism," he said,
"appears only where bhakti is not present."

[Note: Sadananda Prabhu was the first person from a Judeo-Christian background [Germany,
1933] to embrace Gaudiya Vaisnavism and become a disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura. He was a strong preacher and as is evident from the above quotes, he gave up
completely any sentimental attachments for Christianity.]

Question: People have an aversion to fundamentalism. Hardly anybody goes to Church here
anymore, the old way just doesn't work anymore. So in order for me to effectively preach
Vaisnavism, an appreciative view of the aspects of Christianity that are also present in our
tradition is only helpful.

Answer: Yes, many people have an aversion to fundamentalism as you have mentioned but not
all. There are over 50 million Christians in America who are hardcore fundamentalists [and they

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have the guns]! That's a lot of people. These fundamentalist Christians, given the political
authority, would imprison you and every other Hare Krsna devotee in the world. In fact,
wherever the fundamentalist Christians, Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox Christians have the
clout they use that to interfere with the spreading of Krsna Consciousness. Russia, Serbia,
Germany, USA and even India are places where this has recently occurred. Real Christianity is a
religion of fundamentalism and fanaticism. It is not a religion of love or even of peace as the
propaganda tells us. Throughout history whenever there has been a Christian theocracy, there has
been repression, torture and death brought upon the people. Even Martin Luther, who stood up
against the oppression of the Catholic Church, after coming to power himself brought about his
own brand of repression and sanctioned the burning of thousands of so-called witches and
heretics. In England, when the Protestants came to power, they persecuted the Catholics and
when the Catholics came to power they persecuted the Protestants. Thousands of innocent people
died! In Ireland this fight is still going on for the past couple of centuries.

Then there are the Muslim fundamentalists and they number in the many millions also. So to say
that there is no market in this world for fundamentalism is not accurate. Fundamentalism may
also be a good thing - it depends on what type of fundamentalism we are talking about.

Krsna Consciousness is purified fundamentalism. The Absolute Truth [Krsna] is the fundamental
basis of Reality. To speak this conception directly [frankly and straightforward] and to point out
that the cheating religions of the world are the principle cause of suffering may not be
appreciated by the liberal left, but compromising the truth and becoming duplicitous is not the
solution - it only serves to perpetuate the delusions of ignorance that Christianity has spread
around the world for more than 2,000 years.

People should be informed that Christianity is a man-made religion and that because of such it
has no real value for spiritual advancement. Preaching means philosophical war against
ignorance. Truth will set us free!

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 Fools Rush In Where Angels Fear to Tread
Transcribed from an informal talk at Nabadwip Sri Caitanya Sarasvata Matha on 13th March,
1981.

"Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, preached exclusively this

Madhurya-rasa, but with great precaution. What is not that thing, he used perhaps 90% of
his energy to point out the negative side - "This is not Madhurya-rasa" - and clear away
the negative side. He had to spare, in his words, 'gallons of blood' to establish what is not
that Madhurya-rasa."

Question: In Sri Brahma-samhita it is described that Sri Sri Radha and Krsna are seated on a
divine throne, and the whorl of the lotus flower upon which They are seated is described as a
hexagonal figure. What is the meaning of this hexagonal figure?

Srila Guru Maharaja: I am sorry, but we are not to enter into the discussion of such higher and
subtle position of the Lila of Radha-Krsna. That is not to be brought into public, and that is the
distinction between the Gaudiya Math and the sahajiya section. The sahajiyas are trying to
imitate all this things, but we have no faith in imitation. The higher Lila will come in an
individual case, and it will awaken in an irresistible way. When the programme of the sadhana
stage is finished it will come automatically, spontaneously. We are believers in that, and not to
know the form already and then we will reach there -- that is not the policy accepted by Guru
Maharaja, Prabhupada:

pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

MP3 Recording of Srila Sridhara Maharaja saying this sloka.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur also said, "Stick to the rulings of the class you are fit for, then you will
see automatically."

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde

vindeta bhaktim krta-punya-rasih
tatha tathotsarpati hrdy akasmad
radha-padambhoja-sudhambu-rasih
(Sri Chaitanya-chandramrta 88)

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Strictly stick to Gaura-lila, Mahaprabhu, and you will automatically find within your heart that
Radha-rasa-sudhanidhi is flowing. Don't attempt directly to have it. It will come automatically,
spontaneously. Not intellectually you shall approach that, for that will give you a bad prejudice.
Not only that, but it will be harmful prejudice and you will have to expend more energy to do
away with that layer of misunderstanding. So our Srila Prabhupada did not allow this things.

Do your duty in your plane, according to what you deserve, and that will come naturally. That is
his instruction all through, not only temporarily, but all through. Don't do like that, for then you
will get maya instead of yoga maya.

Srila Prabhupada would be very much disturbed, disturbed if he heard that someone is
interfering with the higher Lilas in those books. He did not like it.

He knows it fully well, She knows it fully well, when you are to be taken into the confidential
area, and that cannot be acquired by any other thing but His sweet will - the flow of Her sweet
will, or His sweet will. Try to have the natural thing, not any thing of imitation or any reflection.
Reflection and shadow, these two kinds of misconception may come there. Reflection is more
dangerous.

In Harinam also is has been stated like that. On our way that sort of temptation may come, bu t
we must not think that everything will come within the fist of our intellect.

acintyah khalu ye bhava

na tams tarkena yojayet

Which is inconceivable, don't take it under the jurisdiction of reason. When it will be extended to
you, you will be astounded only to find a peep into that. Na tams tarkena yojayet : don't try to
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drag that into the zone of reason. This is autocratic in its nature. It may come in one shape to
you, it may go in another shape to another gentleman. It is so expansive and so free in its nature.
It is infinite. Rather the Infinite is the base of those pastimes. Always prepare yourself. Hanker.
But don't make it an object of your experience.

When Mahaprabhu talked about the higher Lilas it was as if He was in a trance. As if in a trance
He gave a description of His wonderful experience of Krsna-lila. Several times we find that sort
of deep Lila : the higher Lila of Krsna being related by Mahaprabhu Himself: the Govardhana-
lila and the Jalakeli-lila when He jumped unconscious into the ocean and for hours was carried
by the waves of the sea to Cakra-tirtha from Swargadwar. The jalakeli of Krsna, he described
how it is. Also at Chatak-parvat -- there is no end to His Lila . When His body was transformed
like a pumpkin, then also He described a Lila, but the nature of that description was not any book
produced thing. It cannot be taken into black and white. It is such a thing. So we receive caution
often, that: "Don't try. It will come automatically. Go on with the program that is given by the
Sastra and the Guru and it will be. If you have such a possibility of fortune then it will come to
you. It is not a natural experience that can be given to this and that. It is not to be tackled in such
a way."

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde

Engage your full attention in Gaura-lila and that will come automatically within you. From the
indirect way it will come to you from the higher domain. When it will be pleased it will come
down for some time to give you experience, and you will simply be astonished, "What is this!"
Then even when gone, withdrawn, you will have nothing to lament. A living thing. Try to come
to get the whole. We cannot make it our object. Such higher thing! Such higher thing.

Even it is very hard to get an ordinary man's conduct with his intimate friends, and so it is with
the Lila of the Supreme Lord. How can we dare to enter into that, and especially publicly. It is
not possible. Externally we can try to give some description of the outer possibilities, but not the
actual thing. We won't venture to enter there.

Question: Can they draw something general, like the lotus flower?

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Srila Guru Maharaja: A lotus flower is representing the idea of beauty, softness, and such
things. And different petals representing different platforms of rasam. In such a way we can take
it -- beauty, softness. No mundane ideas should be drawn there-- only distant similarity. But
categorical difference should always be there.

Reading restricted

Even we are not allowed by our Master to read the books where They are described: Govinda-
Lilamrtam, even Stava-kusumanjali, even Ujjvala-nilamani. He did not allow us to study and to
discuss it. Rather, he would be very much disturbed, disturbed if he heard that someone is
interfering with the higher Lilas in those books. He did not like it.

Dusta phala karibe arjjana - Srila Bhaktivinod Thakura gives warning that we will get only a
bad result if you venture to cross the line, a bad effect will come to you. Aparadha. From the
lower position, anartha, the steps are shown. Sraddha, sadhu-sanga, sravan, kirttan, then
anartha-nivrtti - the undesirable things will vanish altogether. Then ruci, then asakti, then
bhava-bhakti - the sprout of real devotion. Then prema-bhakti, and sneha, mana, pranaya, raga,
anuraga, bhava, mahabhava. By such steps we are to approach there.

" Oh, he has two lives. He is married with Krsna and 'she' has got a child."

Once Prabhupada remarked, though how you will take it I do not know; one gentleman, of
course he was a senior, wanted to discuss these things with Prabhupada. He laid much stress on
that, and ultimately he left the association of Prabhupada and lived a secluded life. Previously he
did much service to the mission, that gentleman. Prabhupada remarked," Oh, he has two lives.
He is married with Krsna and she has got a child." Such remark was there that he was a man, but
taking himself a Gopi he wanted to culture about the life of the Gopis - intimate connection of
Krsna and Gopis. In this way he wanted intensely, but Prabhupada remarked in that way: "Oh, he
has turned into a lady, a Gopi, and after coming in contact with Krsna she produced a child!"

Another time the Guru Maharaja of Prabhupada, Srila Gaura Kisora Babaji, was in a hut near the
Ganges. Another disciple of Prabhupada, leaving Prabhupada went to imitate Prabhupada's
Gurudev, Gaura Kisora Babaji, and constructed a tiny hut nearby and imitated his bhajan,
Harinam and the discussion of Narottam Thakura -- all this things -- and observed strict
vairagyam in his physical life. Gaura Kisora Babaji remarked one day that only by entering a
labor room and imitating some pain of giving a birth to a child, a child will not come by that
imitation of the sound. Many important previous events are necessary, then a child will come.
Only imitation will not give birth to a child. Such was his remark to that gentleman.

Pure goodness

So, Suddha-sattva, pure goodness, you must come in connection with what is known as Suddha-
sattva first. Visuddha-sattva, the nirguna world. Suddha-sattva means nirguna. You must come
in connection with nirguna, then only may you try to approach the subtle happenings or events
there.

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So, not to satisfy curiosity. "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." With this spirit we must
approach the whole thing. At the same time we may not be, by God's grace, a disbeliever by
considering, "I shall judge the whole thing to the last details then I shall accept what you say."

His attention was always towards the basis, and the fruit will come of itself.

There are many things below, but the charm and reasonableness of the higher plane, that is
enough to convince a person to come this side, and these high Lilas should be left high above
your head. Very cautiously we are to handle all this Lila, especially Madhurya-lila.

Just the other day I was thinking, about a year after joining the Mission, Prabhupada arranged for
the full Karttik month to preach in Vrndavana. He asked the Maharaja, Bharati Maharaja at that
time, to explain the Seventh Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam : the story of Prahlada, not the story
of Krsna, Radha-Krsna, Yasoda or anything of Vrndavana, but, "Preach suddha-bhakti of
Prahlada first. They are ripe in sahajiya. Just try to make them understand that 'Enter the plane of
bhakti; what to speak of Krsna lila- that is far, far above'."

So, in Vrndavana the people rather wonder, "What is this? They are explaining Bhagavatam, but
leaving the Tenth Canto they are explaining the Seventh Canto, the Prahlad-lila, the lower
portion of bhakti. That is wonderful and strange."

Again, I found later on that Srila Prabhupada himself gave a lecture between Radha Kunda and
Syama Kunda. There is a boundary line between the two. There he used to explain for a few
days. The Upadesamrtam of Srila Rupa Goswami was read by him and explained. He did not
explain about Srimati Radharani, nor about Krsna, but about that Upadesamrtam - the basis. His
attention was always towards the basis, and the fruit will come of itself: "Poor water onto the
root; poor water onto the root, and the fruit will come up itself."

He himself explained this while sitting in the middle between Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda.
He explained not only Bhagavatam, but Upadesamrtam, Upadesamrtam is the substance of
Mahaprabhu and the language of Rupa Goswami.

vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam

jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat

And the last sloka:

krsnasyocaih pranaya-vasatih preyasibhyo'pi radha

kundam casya munibhir abhitas tadrg eva vyadhayi
yat prestair apy alam asulabham kim punar bhakti-bhajam
tat premedam sakrd api sarah snatur aviskaroti

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These topics were explained by Srila Prabhupada and not even anything of Govinda-lilamrtam or
Visvanatha Chakravarti's Sri Krsna Bhavanamrta - these things were left. So, our training was in
this line.

Pujala raga-patha gaurava bhange, that is always upon our head, that the prospect of our life's
future, life after life, cannot be finished. We shall rather foster the hope, the pure hope that we
may be taken in one day in that camp. With this idea.

Question: Sometimes in Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Srila Krsna Das Kaviraj Goswami makes
reference to Govinda-lilamrtam, Ujjvala-nilamani and other such confidential selected works.
How are we to take that?

Srila Guru Maharaja: There are three chapters of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta that we were
generally not allowed to enter into, including the discussions with Ramananda Raya, to a certain
extent. Where the Lila portion of Radha-Govinda is mentioned, we had no entrance into that
Lila. Of course when parayan (consecutive chanting of the whole book) is going on, we go on
reading but without giving any particular attention to the Lila of highest order of raga. That was
barred: "Don't try to come into details there. That will come automatically when the time will be.
Do not make it a discussion of the public. Do not take it in the public eye."

So much so that the following incident happened in Vrndavana. Prabhupada had a friend there
from his childhood, an attorney, who came to see him, so Prabhupada went to give a return visit
to this friend from his boyhood. Sripad Paramahamsa Maharaja was with Prabhupada and they
went to give the return visit. They were told, "He is upstairs." They went there and saw that a
Goswami was explaining the Rasa-lila section of Srimad Bhagavatam. Prabhupada just bowed
down his head and came away. Immediately he came away. Then his friend also came down,
leaving that Rasa-lila discussion, and said, "Yes, the Rasa-lila explanation is going on, but you
did not take your seat at all. You just bowed down your head and came down. What is the
matter?"

Srila Prabhupada replied, "Our Guru's order is such that, 'If you attend Rasa-lila explanation you
will commit offense'. That will be offense to attend Rasa-lila explanation, so I had to come back.
This is my Guru's order. To attend Rasa-lila explanation is aparadha. "

Gurudev's will

So, for us, such strict behavior he has shown. And we also do that, especially myself. At so many
other places they show the Rasa-lila with dolls, but I never do that. Following what is true to my
understanding of my Gurudev's will and his words, I do not make any show of Jhulana-lila or
Rasa-lila or anything of that type. I find in my heart that this is not desirable of my Guru
Maharaja. But in so many Maths I see at present, I hear also, that they are doing that, but I
strictly abstain from that sort of showing. The Jhulana-lila, the Rasa-lila. That is too high for us, I
considered. I must be true to my hearing of the words of my Gurudev if I want my realization
and not any position: the position of some sort of popularity. To attract people by such show, and
to make money, or to make a favorable field for preaching, they may do like that, but I do not do.
I do not want popularity nor any position of a higher Acarya. I am a student.

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Still I am a student. I consider myself to be student. A faithful student. What I heard from my
Gurudev, I try my best to stick there, to keep my position there as I heard from him. I do not
want to mutilate that in any way to suit to my purpose. I try not to do that. Of course for big
propaganda they may take different ways as they think. They are now free. But I am not a
member to do so -- to go on in such way. I try.

Reckoned sincere

When Prabhupada offered me to go to the West, I replied simply that I did not consider myself
fit to go to the West, "I will not be able to show success there." I mentioned two defects. Then
some sannyasins showed much reverence to me, "What is this? So many persons wish this
opportunity. You are prepared to lose this chance? You neglect to take advantage of such a
position, that you will be a world preacher. Do you have no hankering for that?"

I replied, "Yes, Maharaja, I have no hankering to have such a position. My only humble ambition
is that I may be reckoned as a sincere devotee of Mahaprabhu, Sri Caitanya Dev. No other
ambition I have in my mind such as to become a world preacher and so on. "

Crave for mercy

In my nature I am such. I want truth, and hope and crave for the mercy of the Vaisnavas and you
all, that I may not have that ambition, but to be the humblest, the most humble servant of the
Lord, that I may not be misguided.

I may engage myself in the lowest form of service. Tad dasa-dasa-dasanam dasatvam dehi
prabho. My faith may be so firm and may be of such quality that the least offer of His service, of
Divine Service, may satisfy me. I may not get the chance there in the higher officer class. With
my lowest connection with the Divinity I may go on satisfied with my life.

Mahaprabhu says, "Just consider myself a speck of dust at Your feet, Krsna."

ayi nanda tanuja kinkaram

patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja-
sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya

O Nandanandana, son of King Nanda, although I am Your eternal servitor, I have fallen into the
terrible ocean of material existence due to the fructification of my own deeds (karma). Please
graciously consider me to be a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.

That may be our guidance, "Consider me to be one of the specks of dust that are at Your feet."
That is too much! Our faith should come to such a grade in quality that we may be satisfied to
become a speck of dust at His feet. Then by His sweet will, anything may happen. But our
humble aim should be to have even the least connection of the Divinity real. Not a concocted
Krsna.

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 pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

Very sweet. The raga-patha is on the head. We are servants of the raga-patha. We are in viddhi-
marga, under sastric rule. We must live and move under sastric rule, and always keep the raga-
patha upon our head.

Greatly perturbed

Once an incident happened while our Srila Prabhupada was at Radha Kunda. A panda in his talk
made a side remark that, "We are brahmins in Vraja. We can bless Raghunatha Das Goswami."
Prabhupada was perturbed by such a haughty remark, "Das Goswami is our highest Acarya in
our camp, in the Gaudiya Camp. And that fellow, he says that he is able to bless Das Goswami,
and I am to hear that?" He stopped taking food, and remarked, "If I was an ordinary babaji I
would not care. I would leave the place. But I am running with a motor car here as an Acarya. I
have responsibility. I am moving here in the pose of an Acarya that I shall protect the
Sampradaya. I shall brush the dust of undesirability from the Sampradaya. How can I tolerate
such a remark against my Guru?"

He left his food: "Until any pratikar (any suitable objection and correction, cure) is given to me,
I won't take any food. I cannot take any food."

This is reality

I think I did something to give vent to the feeling of my Gurudev today! I did something today to
clarify his position.

Pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange - this is enough. Tad dasa-dasa-dasanam dasatvam dehi

prabho... This is not figurative thing, this is not mere poetry, Mahaprabhu says:

naham vipro na ca nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro

naham varni na ca grha-patir no vana-stho yatir va
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bharttuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

I am not a priest, a king, a merchant, or a laborer (brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra ); nor am I a
student, a householder, a retired householder, or a mendicant (brahmacari, grhastha,
vanaprastha, sannyasi ). I identify myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the
lotus feet of Sri Krsna, the Lord of the Gopis, who is the personification of the fully expanded
(eternally self-revealing) nectarean ocean that brims with the totality of Divine Ecstasy.

This is not only an ornamental thing. It is reality. This is reality. To feel ourselves to be actually
mean is really to become eligible for the higher service. So much selflessness, so much self
abnegation is necessary for a unit here of the lowest order to enter into that domain. So much self
abnegation is necessary, then we can come into that plane. There is a plane of undercurrent, an
undercurrent plane. and if we really want to contact with that, we shall have to be such finest of

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the fine in us, and with no demand. In this negative way we are to transform ourselves, then we
can have a touch of that plane where we can come.

The least tinge of exploiting, any speck of the ambitions life, will not take us there - that is
another thing: pratistha. Pratistha is self-establishing, to be stable, to be immortal, to be
invincible - it is not self giving, but it is the self-establishing tendency: "I must stay. I must live."
But, if necessary I must die for the interest of Krsna.

marobi rakhobi - yo iccha tohara

nitya-dasa prati tuwa adhikara

"Slay me or protect me as You wish, for You are the master of Your eternal servant."

A suicidal soldier! For the cause of the country, if necessary I must die. I must efface myself. I
may be effaced. If it is necessary my very existence may be effaced for the satisfaction of Krsna.
"My very existence may be effaced if it is necessary." Such temperament, such selflessness, of
such degree is necessary to find that plane. So much subtleness.

Let us be blessed by Prabhupada Srila Sarasvati Thakura. All glory to Guru and Gauranga. All
glory to Guru and Gauranga!

Seeing the Treasury

(To the devotees gathered there...)

You are helping me to take out from my inner heart so many beautiful and so many valuable
things. It is through your help that these old memories are coming again fresh to me. I am forced
to take out those things of the inner nature of my previous life which I got from my Gurudev as
wealth. Again I have the chance of seeing that treasury. I am given the opportunity by this
recapitulation of what I heard from the divine feet of Gurudev.

This is our education, what I got from the divine feet of Gurudev. I just sincerely put it to you all.
It is such.

pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange

He instructed that we must not go to live in Radha Kunda. One day near Lalita Kunda, the
Swananda Sukhanda Kunja is there, and there is a single-story building. He said, "A second story
is necessary, but I will not be able to live there."

I asked, "If you will not live on the first floor, who will live there? What is the necessity of
further construction?"

"No. You don't know. Better persons will live there: Bhaktivinod Thakura, Gaura Kisora Babaji
Maharaja. They will live there, and we shall stay on the ground floor and we shall serve them."

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Again he said, "I shall live in Govardhana. Radha Kunda is the highest place: the place of our
Guru Maharaja, our Gurudeva's. They will live here in closer connection with Lila, but we are
not fit to live there. We shall live in Govardhana, just a little far away. Because we shall have to
come and serve our Gurudev, we must be near, but we must not live in closer connection with
them. We are not fit."

pujala raga-patha gaurava bhange

The whole tenor of his life was such: "That is high, high. And from below we are to honor that. "
We are to establish in the whole world this sort of posing: the proper regard of that higher Lila:
"That is too high."

One day in Allahabad - perhaps it was that very year Sripad Swami Maharaja was initiated -
while speaking in a park Srila Sarasvati Prabhupada said, "I am out to give a challenge to fight
with any person to show that the highest position is occupied by my Gurudev, by Srila
Bhaktivinod Thakura and by Mahaprabhu. Let anyone come to fight with me to decide. I am
ready. I am ready to give that challenge to anyone and everyone. Let them come to fight with
me. I am ready to establish the throne in the highest place - my Gurudev."

pujala raga-patha gaurava bhange

"Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, preached exclusively this

Madhurya-rasa, but with great precaution. What is not that thing, he used perhaps 90% of
his energy to point out the negative side - "This is not Madhurya-rasa" - and clear away
the negative side. He had to spare, in his words, 'gallons of blood' to establish what is not
that Madhurya-rasa."

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 Jesus in the Vedas

A recent flurry of articles and website postings have been made to indicate that the fable of Jesus
is mentioned in the Vedas [Bhavisya Purana]. Many Vaisnavas have been enthused [confused]
by these Vedic findings, confirming Jesus as a messenger of God [Krsna] and a pure devotee.
However, a closer look at the prediction of Jesus found in the Bhavisya Purana strongly suggests
foul play or interpolation on the part of Christian Missionaries in India during the late 18th
century.

Although the Bhavisya Purana is certainly a bona-fide literature, its predictions concerning
certain events cannot be taken as absolute because of evangelical interference.

The Bhavisya Purana is considered to be one of the major 18 Puranas of the Vedic canon. As
the name suggests, it mainly deals with future events (bhaviysati). The Bhavisya Purana is also
mentioned in the ancient text of the Apastambha-dharma-sutras, so it is to be taken as an
original Puranic literature dating from the time of Vyasadeva.

However, there are four known editions of the Bhavisya Purana, each having different
predictions from the other, but suspiciously having one consistent prediction - that of Jesus.

One edition contains five chapters, one contains four, another contains three and yet another
contains only two. Additionally, the contents in all four editions differ in various degrees - some
having extra verses and some having less. Due to these circumstances, it is difficult to ascertain
which of the four is the original text of the Bhavisya Purana, if indeed an original text still exists,
but suspiciously all four editions do mention Jesus.

The Venkateswar Steam Press edition of the Bhavisya Purana printed in Bombay in 1829 (and
reprinted by Nag Publishers in 2003) is probably the most complete version available, containing
all the main features of the four manuscripts. Since none of the four editions of the Bhavisya
Purana predate British Rule in India, this further suggests a discrepancy, plus the fact that all
four versions mention Jesus.

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The consistent prophecy in all four editions that seems to indicate an interpolation concerns the
so-called meeting of Maharaja Salivahana and Jesus. This is found in the 19th chapter of the
Pratisarga-parva. However, in examining this section, certain flaws can be found which betray
its dubious origins. The section begins thus:

vikramaditya-pautrasca
pitr-rajyam grhitavan
jitva sakanduradharsams
cina-taittiridesajan

bahlikankamarupasca
romajankhurajanchhatan
tesam kosan-grhitva ca
danda-yogyanakarayat

sthapita tena maryada

mleccharyanam prthak-prthak
sindhusthanam iti jneyam
rastramaryasya cottamam

mlecchasthanam param sindhoh

krtam tena mahatmana
ekada tu sakadiso
himatungam samayayau

"Ruling over the Aryans was a king called Salivahana, the grandson of Vikramaditya, who
occupied the throne of his father. He defeated the Sakas who were very difficult to subdue, the
Cinas, the people from Tittiri, Bahlikas and the people of Kamarupa. He also defeated the people
from Roma and the descendants of Khuru, who were deceitful and wicked. He punished them
severely and took their wealth. Salivahana thus established the boundaries dividing the separate
countries of the Mlecchas and the Aryans. In this way Sindusthan came to be known as the
greatest country. That great personality appointed the abode of the Mlecchas beyond the Sindhu
River and to the west. One time, that subduer of the Sakas went towards Himatunga (the
Himalayas)." (19.19-22)

At the very outset, this section is fraught with historical inaccuracies. Salivahana was the king of
Ujjain (in modern day Madhya Pradesh), and while it is not surprising that Salivahana traveled to
the Himalayas, the enemies that he supposedly vanquished in battle before he went, should be
looked into more thoroughly. Historical research tells us that the only invading force that
Salivahana actually subdued were the Sakas, who entered India from the north-west regions. But
as for his defeating the Cinas (Chinese), Bahlikas (Bactrians), Kamarupas (Assamese), Romas
(Romans) and the Khurus (Khorasans, or Persians), there is no historical evidence that validates
Salivahana doing this, nor is their any historical proof of the Romans and the Chinese ever
invading India. The Bactrians (Greeks) came earlier during the Gupta Period and the Persians
(Moguls) came later. The people of Assam were simply a small hill-tribe during this period of
Indian history [conquering which would not have warranted Vedic verse]. The text continues:

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 hunadesasya madhye vai
giristhan purusam subham
dadarsa balabanraja
gaurangam sveta-vastrakam

"In the middle of the Huna country (Hunadesa - the area near Manasa Sarovara or Kailasa
mountain in Western Tibet), the powerful king saw an auspicious man who was living on a
mountain. The man's complexion was golden and his clothes were white." (19:22)

After Salivahana defeated the Sakas he established his empire, thus the Salivahana period of
Indian history began, circa 78 CE. According to this apparently interpolated section of the
Bhavisya Purana, at some point after establishing his kingdom, Salivahana traveled to the
Himalayas and met Jesus. Yet Christian scholars opine that Jesus was born in 4 BCE and was
crucified somewhere between 27 and 36 CE. If we entertain the idea that Christ somehow
survived the crucifixion and met Salivahana in the Himalayas, this would make him around 80
years old at that time. Yet surprisingly, the description of Jesus in the Bhavisya Purana does not
mention that he was an old man.

The text continues with Salivahana asking Jesus, "Who are you?" to which Jesus replies:

isa-putram mam viddhi

kumari-garbha sambhavam

"I am the Son of God (isa-putra) and I am born of a virgin (kumari-garbha)."(19:23)

The idea common amongst Christians that Jesus was born of a virgin only came into existence
several centuries after Jesus and was not part of early Christianity. Thus, it is unlikely that Jesus
would have spoken of his birth as such.

The Christian idea that Jesus was born of a virgin is based on the following verse found in the
Christian version of the Old Testament in the Book of Isaiah:

"Behold, a virgin has conceived and bears a son and she will call his name Immanuel."

However, the original Hebrew text of the Book of Isaiah does not mention anything about a
virgin:

hinneh ha-almah harah ve-yeldeth ben ve-karath shem-o immanuel

"Behold, the young woman has conceived - and bears a son and calls his name Immanuel."
(Isaiah 7.14)

The Hebrew word for virgin is 'betulah' yet it appears nowhere in this verse of Isaiah. The word
used is 'almah' which simply means 'a young woman'. Isaiah only uses 'almah' once. However,
the word 'Betulah' is used five times throughout the Book of Isaiah, so Isaiah obviously made a
distinction between these two words.

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After Jesus has introduced himself to Salivahana he explains that he is teaching religion in the
distant land of the Mlecchas and tells the king what those teachings are:

mlecchasa sthapito dharmo

maya tacchrnu bhupate
manasam nirmalam krtva
malam dehe subhasubham

naigamam japamasthaya
japeta nirmalam param
nyayena satyavacasaa
manasyaikena manavah

dhyanena pujayedisam
surya-mandala-samsthitam
acaloyam prabhuh sakshat-
atha suryocalah sada

"Please hear from me, O King, about the religion that I have established amongst the Mlecchas.
The mind should be purified by taking recourse of proper conduct, since we are subject to
auspicious and inauspicious contaminations - by following the scriptures and concentrating on
japa (repetition of God's names) one will attain the highest level of purity; by speaking true
words and by mental harmony, and by meditation and worship, O descendant of Manu. Just as
the immovable sun attracts from all directions the elements of all living beings, the Lord who
resides in the Surya-mandala (sun globe) and is fixed and all-attractive, attracts the hearts of all
living creatures." (19:28-30)

Nowhere in the Gospels do we find in the ministry of Jesus the above teachings to his followers.
Furthermore, in this passage, Jesus is advocating the worship of the Sun-god (again, something
that is absent in his instructions to the apostles). Japa, meditation, the negation of both good and
bad karma, are all concepts that are familiar to eastern religions such as Hinduism and
Buddhism, but not to the Abrahamic religions of the west.

Considering the above anomalies and the fact that no edition of the Bhavisya Purana can be
found prior to the British period in India, we can only deduce that the Bhavisya Purana was
tampered with by the Christian missionaries who added the chapter on Jesus. Their motive is
obvious - to make the personality of Jesus acceptable to the Hindus, in order to convert them to
Christianity.

In 1784, the famous Indologist Sir William Jones wrote the following letter to Sir Warren
Hastings, Governor General of India, confirming our suspicions.

"As to the general extension of our pure faith in Hindoostan there are at present many sad
obstacles to it... We may assure ourselves, that Hindoos will never be converted by any mission
from the church of Rome, or from any other church; and the only human mode, perhaps, of
causing so great a revolution, will be to translate into Sanscrit... such chapters of the Prophets,

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particularly of ISAIAH, as are indisputably evangelical, together with one of the gospels, and a
plain prefatory discourse, containing full evidence of the very distant ages, in which the
predictions themselves, and the history of the Divine Person (Jesus) is predicted, were severally
made public and then quietly to disperse the work among the well-educated natives." (Asiatic
Researches Vol. 1. Published 1979, pages 234-235. First published 1788).

It may also be noted that throughout the Pratisarga-parva of the Bhavisya Purana we find the
stories of Adam and Eve (Adhama and Havyavati), Noah (Nyuha), Moses (Musa), and other
Biblical characters. These we also consider to be added by zealous Christians.

In conclusion, the Bhavisya Purana may well be a genuine Vedic scripture prophesying future
events, but from the above analysis we can say with certainty that the Jesus episode of the
Bhavisya Purana is not an authentic Vedic revelation.

Inconceivable Topics

Question: I have heard it said recently by some devotees that the origin of the jiva (regarding the
soul's falling or not falling from the lila of Krsna) is inconceivable and that we cannot imagine or
understand how or from where the soul has come into this material world. Can you please
comment on this controversial topic?

Answer: With our tiny brains so many things in Krsna consciousness are inconceivable. Not
only is the origin of the soul inconceivable but Krsna's name, His form, qualities, and pastimes
are all inconceivable to us. Who could conceive that the Absolute Truth (the source of all
existence) is crawling as an infant child in the courtyard of Nanda Maharaja or suckling the
breast of Mother Yasoda?

The great devotee, Raghupati Upadhyaya says,

srutim apare smrtim itare bharatam anye bhajantu bhava-bhitah

aham iha nandam vande yasyalinde param brahma

"Those who are afraid of material existence worship the Vedic literature. Some worship smrti,
the corollaries to the Vedic literature, and others worship the Mahabharata. As far as I am
concerned, I worship Krsna's father, Maharaja Nanda, in whose courtyard the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, is playing."

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That the Absolute Truth is crawling in the courtyard of Nanda Maharaja is inconceivable to even
the greatest thinkers that the world has ever known, but it is a fact.

When we rely on the capacity of our tiny brain then all such things may be inconceivable.
Knowledge or proper understanding of the Absolute Truth is obtained through the descending
process (avaroha) and not through the ascending process (aroha). Aroha depends on the mind
and senses, which are inherently defective and thus knowledge obtained in this way is also
defective or incomplete.

Avaroha means the process of receiving transcendental knowledge through the disciplic
succession of self-realized souls. Such knowledge when received submissively enables one to
understand the Absolute Truth.

The sound that comes to us through (disciplic succession) the process of avaroha is also called
sabda-brahma or transcendental sound vibration that is not subject to bhrama (mistakes),
pramada (illusion), vipralipsa (cheating), or karanapatava (imperfect perception).

On the other hand any form of knowledge or understanding (particularly regarding the Absolute
Truth) sought through the process of aroha is most certainly wrought with the four defects of
bhrama, pramada, vipralipsa, and karanapatava.

If we want to know the origin of the soul or to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead
we must first hear from authorities with faith (sraddha). This is called sravana-dasa, hearing
from authorities with faith.

Then comes varana-dasa, acceptance. When we faithfully hear from authorities the next natural
step is to accept what the authorities have said. Only faith allows us to embrace transcendental
knowledge. If for some reason we lack the essential faith and rely on our tiny brains for
understanding, then the truth remains inconceivable and beyond our understanding or power of
recognition. When we lack the proper faith then even after hearing the truth we will fail to
recognize it.

Acceptance or varana-dasa must be followed by sadhana-dasa, the stage of practice. Practice

means to follow in the footsteps. This means that the knowledge from spiritual authorities must
be followed and passed on to others without adding anything of our own concoction. What the
self-realized authorities say we accept as truth.

Then we come to the stage of prapana-dasa or attainment. In prapana-dasa there is realization

of the Absolute Truth. That which has been accepted on the basis of faith now becomes fully
realized.

By the grace of our spiritual teachers we can accept the truth after hearing with faith and thus
such matters as the inconceivable origin of the jiva can easily be understood even in our
neophyte stage of spiritual life.

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If we do not have real faith then even after hearing the truth we will not accept it or embrace it
fully. The issue of the origin of the jiva is only inconceivable in the minds of those devotees who
have not embraced the transcendental knowledge passed down in our disciplic succession.

Our spiritual master Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has stated:

"The conclusion is that no one falls from the spiritual world, or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the
eternal abode." (S.B. purport, 3.16.26)

Shortly before the close of Srila Prabhupada's manifest pastimes he left instruction that if his
disciples had any questions regarding philosophy that they should approach his godbrother, Srila
B.R. Sridhara Maharaja.

As it turned out, the origin of the jiva and the jivas falling or not falling from the spiritual world
was one of the first philosophical questions to be raised after the departure of Srila Prabhupada.
Thus the disciples of Srila Prabhupada approached his godbrother Srila B.R. Sridhara Maharaja
for clarification and instruction. Srila Sridhar Deva Goswami Maharaja stated as follows:

"The brahma-jyoti, the non-differentiated marginal plane, is the source of infinite jiva souls,
atomic spiritual particles of non-differentiated character. The rays of the Lord's transcendental
body are known as the brahma-jyoti, and a pencil of a ray of the brahma-jyoti is the jiva. The
jiva soul is an atom in that effulgence, and the brahma-jyoti is a product of an infinite number of
jiva atoms.

"Generally, souls emanate from the brahma-jyoti which is living and growing. Within the
brahma-jyoti, their equilibrium is somehow disturbed and movement begins. From non-
differentiation, differentiation begins. From a plain sheet of uniform consciousness, individual
conscious units grow. And because the jiva is conscious it is endowed with free will. So, from
the marginal position they choose either the side of exploitation or the side of dedication.

"Because the soul is very small, his freedom is also imperfect; a soul in the marginal position is
very vulnerable. Freedom does not mean absolute freedom. Because the soul's existence is small,
his freedom is defective -- there is the possibility of committing a mistake. Freedom of the
minute soul does not mean perfect freedom. Complete freedom would be perfect reality, but the
minute soul is endowed with the smallest atomic freedom. This is the position of the atoms of
consciousness, and this is why they are vulnerable. They may judge properly or improperly; that
is the position of those who are situated in the marginal position. If the soul were not endowed
with the freedom to determine his position, we would have to blame God for our suffering. But
we cannot blame God. The starting point of the soul's suffering is within himself." (Sri Krsna -
Reality the Beautiful, ch-4, Origin of the Soul)

When approached about this subject, Srila Sridhara Maharaja made no reference whatsoever to
the jiva ever having been in the lila of Krsna before his having fallen down to this material
world. Rather Srila Sridhara Maharaja makes it quite clear that the jiva originates in the marginal
plane of existence.

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This is called srota-pantha, hearing and accepting knowledge through the disciplic succession.
Those who struggle with embracing the proper Gaudiya Vaisnava siddhanta regarding to origin
of the soul (as described above) are either the victims of a poor fund of faith or they are simply
suffering from the reactions of vaisnava-aparadha.

When we lack the essential faith to hear from authorities about the knowledge pertaining to even
the simplest truth (as the jiva issue) then what chance do we stand to understand the higher lilas
of Radha and Krsna in Vrndavana, where every word is a song and every step is a dance and
from where once having gone no one ever returns.

Jivas and the marginal plane

Devotee: I have read the book "Our Original Position" (OOP) published by the Iskcon GBC
Press in which it is stated that the jivas (living entities) come to this material world after falling
from grace in the spiritual world. Is this 'fall philosophy' correct according to sastra and previous
acaryas?

Swami Narasingha: No, it is not at all the correct understanding of how the jivas came into
material existence. The book (OOP) does not properly represent Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy
nor does it properly represent the teachings and conclusions of our spiritual master Srila A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada.

One of the authors of OOP has stated that in his opinion the views in OOP provide broad
evidence of a fall/no fall paradox of the soul's origin being rooted in Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition
as follows:

"OOP provides broad evidence from within the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition to show that Srila
Prabhupada's paradoxical claims on the soul's origin are firmly rooted in that tradition." (Heresy
and the Jiva Debate by Howard Resnick [Hrdayananda Dasa Gosvami] - The Hare Krsna
Movement -The Post-charismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant)

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Having gone through OOP in great detail, we fail to see how the authors have done anything
other than ignore the crucial points surrounding the jiva issue, misinterpret the sastra (Gaudiya
Vaisnava tradition) and create imaginary interpretations. Truthfully speaking, outside of the
limited circle of Iskcon, no Gaudiya Vaisnava philosopher accepts the OOP book as
authoritative. The book reads like the papal dogma of Christianity rather than the philosophy of
Gaudiya acaryas. In fact the authors of OOP make statements that are so absurd, no intelligent
person will take them seriously.

According to the OOP book A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada sometimes says the jiva falls
from association with Krsna and sometimes he says the jiva does not fall. This then becomes a
paradox. A paradox is a statement, proposition or situation that seems to be absurd or
contradictory, but in fact is or may be true. OOP therefore suggests that the jiva falls and doesn't
fall simultaneously. But when A. C Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada himself states the
conclusion, then the so-called 'paradox' created by some of his followers, vanishes.

According to the Bhaktivedanta purport on Srimad Bhagavatam 3.16.26:

"The conclusion is that no one falls from the spiritual world, or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the
eternal abode."

This conclusion, which completely negates the so-called paradoxical view created in the OOP
book, is also upheld by sastra and previous acaryas such as Jiva Gosvami, Bhaktivinoda
Thakura, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and all bona fide devotees in the Gaudiya Vaisnava
sampradaya. The conclusion is that the jivas, that are now conditioned by the modes of material
nature and originate in the 'tatastha' or the marginal plane of existence, did not fall from the
spiritual world.

Ignoring the conclusion of their spiritual master, the authors of the OOP book insist that the jiva
falls from the spiritual world. Thus their opinions are taken simply as faulty interpolations.

The actual position of the jiva is marginal. The marginal plane, as the origin of the jivas between
the material and spiritual worlds, has been stated in sastra and by previous acaryas. There, in that
marginal plane, the jivas are in a state of equilibrium but due to their innate nature they gradually
become attracted to either the spiritual or material energy of the Supreme Person.

When one accepts the direct meaning of the sastra (amnaya vakya) it is understood that the jivas
are tattastha-sakti - i.e. they are the marginal potency of Godhead.

BRHADARANYAKA UPANISAD states the following about the marginal position of the jiva:

tasya va etasya purusasya dve eva sthane bhavata

idam ca paraloka-sthanam ca sandhyam trtiyam
svapna-sthanam tasmin sandhye sthane tisthan ete
ubhe sthane pasyati idam ca paraloka-sthanam ca

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"The jiva-purusa should inquire about two locations, the material world and the spiritual world.
The jiva is situated in a third position, called svapna sthana, on the border between these two
places. Situated in this marginal place, he can see both the material and spiritual worlds".
(Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 4.3.9)

tad yatha maha matsya ubhe kule'

nusancarati purvam ca param caivam
evayam purusa etav ubhav antav
anusancarati svapnantam ca buddhantam ca

"Just as a large fish living in the river wanders from one bank to the other, so the jiva is of
similar quality, and is equipped to wander in the Karana waters between the material and
spiritual worlds (svapnanta and buddhanta)." (Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 4.3.18)

JIVA GOSVAMI writes in his commentary to Sri Brahma-samhita 5.21 and quotes Sri Narada-
pancaratra:

yat-tatastham tu cid rupam sva-samvedyad vinirgatam

ranjitam guna ragena sa jiva iti kathyate

"Although spiritual and conscious by nature, the jiva lives on the border between the spiritual
and material worlds. When it chooses to enter the material world, it becomes contaminated by
the modes of nature. That is said to be the spirit soul."

BHAKTIVINODA THAKURA writes the following in numerous books:

ubhaya-kula dekhite dekhite bhogecchara udaya

haile tahara cit-surya-svarupa krsna haite bahirmukha haya

"The moment that the jivas desire to enjoy independently while gazing at the two banks of the
river, they become averse to Krsna, who is like the sun."

tini cit u jadera sandhi-sthale tatastha-sakti-karttrka prakatita haiya sei sthana haite cijjagata u
mayika-jagata ubhaya sthana dekhite lagilen. Ektu bhagavaj jnanakrsta haiya yahara sei jnana-
samsarga-prasanga cidabhilasi hailen, tahara nitya-bhagavadusmukhata-prayukta cicchakti-
vilasagata-hladini-bala-prapta haiya krsna-parsada-rupe cijjagate nita hailen. Yahara
svecchakrame anyaparsvasthita mayate mohita haiya lobha karilam, tahara mayakarttrka ahuta
haiya mayika jagate akrsta haoyaya mayadisa karanarnavasayi purusavatara-karttrka jada-
jagate niksipta hailen. Iha kevala tahadera nitya bhagavadvaimukhyera phala. Maya-
madhyagata ihavamatra mayavrtti avidya tahadigke lipta kavila. Avidyalipta haiya tahate
abhinivesa karate avidya-bandh karme cakre padilena. Esthale karma-phala-bhoji paksira
sahita tahadera tulana haila.

"The jiva appeared by the marginal energy at the dividing line between spirit and matter. From
that position, he began to gaze at the spiritual and material worlds. Those jivas who were
attracted somewhat to realization of the Supreme Person became desirous of the spiritual realm

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because of that contact of knowledge. They then obtained strength from the hladini potency of
the abundant cit sakti, which made them favorable to the Lord eternally, and they were brought
into the spiritual world as associates of the Lord. Those who, by their own free will, became
bewildered and became greedy for maya situated on the opposite side, being beckoned by maya,
then became attracted to the material universe, and were thrown in the universe by
Karanarnavasayi Visnu, the controller of maya. That was but the result of their eternal aversion
to the Supreme Lord. The moment they entered the material realm, they became overcome by
ignorance, the function of maya. Overcome by ignorance, they fell into the wheel of binding
karma in order to become fully absorbed in their task." (Mahaprabhura-siksa ch.7)

"It should be understood that the jiva soul is neither produced of this material world, nor created
in the transcendental world. They are originated from the marginal line between the
transcendental and mundane spheres." (Tattva Viveka 2.4,page 55)

"Among the unlimited potencies of Sri Krsna, there is one known as tatastha-sakti (border-
potency). From that sakti comes out the jiva-souls remaining at the junction of the two worlds,
viz., the transcendental and the mundane ones, may contact them both. In its composition it is
only the atomic cit (pure sentience) . . . On account of the purity in its composition, it has got the
capacity for being the eternal denizen with divine bliss in the transcendental power." (Jaiva
Dharma, chapter 4)

"A jiva is a spark of the eternal consciousness. A jiva is first situated on the line of demarcation
between the material world and the spiritual world. There those jivas who do not forget their
relation with Krsna derive the power of consciousness and are drawn into the spiritual world,
they come in eternal touch with Krsna and enjoy beatitude arising from the worship of Krsna.
And those who forget Krsna and give themselves up to maya's enjoyments, maya with her own
force draws them into herself. It is from that very moment that we fall into the misery of this
world." (Jaiva Dharma, chapter 7)

"The semblance or dim reflection of the internal Cit-potency is the jiva-sakti (potency) or
tatastha-sakti stationed in between cit-jagat and a-cit-jagat or mayika-jagat whereas the shadow
or perverted reflection of that internal cit potency is the maya-sakti or external a-cit potency. All
the jivas emanate from the tatastha-sakti of God and accordingly the mundane worlds emanate
from the maya-sakti of God." (Bhagavat-arka Marici-mala, chap. 1, Intro)

"The jiva-souls are emanated from the jiva-sakti of Sri Krsna and they are spiritual but atomic. In
the very self of the jiva-soul or in his constitution practically there remains no maya. As jiva-
souls are atomic in size and being emanated from the tatastha-sakti of Sri Krsna (viz. from the
intermediary-potency which exists in between cit-jagat and mayika-jagat) jiva-soul is liable to be
subjected to maya when he becomes averse to his constitutional right of serving the Lord. Jiva-
soul in bondage misconstrues himself as the doer and enjoyer, therefore is affinated to the
adopted bodies that are provided by prakrti. A jiva by dint of spiritual virtue may possess
steadfast devotion to Sri Krsna and getting rid of worldly affinity goes back to the abode of
bliss." (Bhagavat-arka Marici-mala, ch. 7, text 34, purport)

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"The constituent particles, in the form of pencils of effulgence of Maha-Visnu are manifest as the
individual souls (jivas)." (Brahma-samhita 10, purp.)

"The cit-potency of God is boundless, so is His maya-potency also enormous; between them are
the innumerable minute jivas. The Jivas emanate from the tatastha-sakti (border potency) of Sri
Krsna; so is the nature to tatastha (border potency) of Sri Krsna." (Jaiva Dharma, chapter 15)

"The root of all actions is the desire for acts, the root of which again is avidya. Avidya is the
name for the forgetfulness of soul's essential nature that 'I am Krsna's servant.' This avidya did
not commence within the course of the mundane time. That root of karma of the jiva arose when
he was at the tatastha position. As such, the beginning of karma is not to be traced within
mundane time, and, on that account karma is beginning-less." (Jaiva Dharma)

"There are two types of jivas liberated from maya, nitya-mukta, eternally liberated, and baddha-
mukta, those who were bound but became liberated. The jivas who were never bound by maya
are called nitya-mukta. The nitya-muktas are also of two types, aisvarya gata nitya mukta and
madhurya gata nitya mukta. The former are the associates of Lord Narayana in Vaikuntha and
are the atomic particles from Mula Sankarsana. The latter are the associates of Lord Krsna in
Goloka. They are the atomic particles of Sri Baladeva situated in Goloka Vrndavana." (Jaiva-
Dharma, Chapter 17)

BHAKTISIDDHANTA SARASVATI THAKURA has written on the nature of jiva as follows:

"Before acquiring material designations, the living entity is supremely pure. Even though he is
not engaged in serving the Supreme Lord, he remains situated in the neutral position of santa-
rasa due to his marginal nature. Though the living entity born from the marginal potency does
not at that time exhibit a taste for serving the Lord due to a lack of knowledge of self-realization,
his direct propensity of serving the Supreme Lord nevertheless remains within him in a dormant
state. Though the indirect propensity of material enjoyment, which is contrary to the service of
the Lord, is not found in him at that time, indifference to the service of Hari and the seed of
material enjoyment, which follows that state of indifference, are nevertheless present within him.
The living entity, who belongs to the marginal potency, cannot remain indifferent forever by
subduing both devotional and non-devotional propensities. He therefore contemplates
unconstitutional activities from his marginal position. As a sleeping person dreams that he is
active in the physical world without actually being involved in activities, when the dormant
indifferent living entity of the marginal potency exhibits even a little apathy to the service of the
Supreme Lord and situates himself in a neutral, unchanging condition for even a little time, he is
infected by impersonalism. That is why the conditioned soul desires to merge in the impersonal
Brahman, thus exhibiting his mind's fickle nature. But due to neglecting the eternal service of the
Lord and thereby developing the quality of aversion to the Lord, he cannot remain fixed in that
position. In this way aversion to the Lord breaks his concentration of mind and establishes him
as the master of this world of enjoyment.

"Due to being situated in the marginal position, living entities who are averse to Hari assume the
nature of mixed consciousness; in other words, when the marginal energy living entities mix
with the external energy, they consider themselves the enjoyers and then enter the material

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world. The cause of the spirit soul's coming to live in this world in aversion to Krsna is his
misuse of his free will. When this aversion becomes strong, the living entities accept a material
mind and body in order to enjoy the temporary material world and thus come under the control
of fruitive reactions. And when, on the strength of pious activities, they become transcendental to
the varnasrama principles, which distinguish superior and inferior behavior in this world, they
become paramahamsas by perfecting themselves through sadhana. Those who become
paramahamsas are the Hari-janas. And those who fall from the platform of paramahamsa and
engage in fruitive activities while associating with matter are situated on the platform of
varnasrama. (From 'Brahmana & Vaisnava')

"Lying in between the cit (internal spiritual) and acit (external deluding cosmic) potencies of the
Lord, the jiva souls are freed from the shackles of the triple qualities of maya by the loving
service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna." (From the essay - Sri Krsna)

"Jivas are of two kinds - (1) Nitya-Mukta (eternally free), (2) Nitya-Baddha (eternally enslaved).
Free jivas are never enslaved. They are serving the Supreme God in five different functions in
His eternal blissful abode, where there is no change, no destruction, no misery. Jiva, once entered
there never comes back here. The inconceivably narrowest line of demarcation between land and
water or the line where land and water meet is called 'tata'; so also the meeting line of the cit
world or the eternal abode of the Supreme Lord and the acit world or the tata region of Maya is
called tata. The power of the Supreme Lord displayed at the tata is known as the tatastha (lying
at the tata) or marginal power. All the jivas being the display of this power, have the inherent
oscillating tendency and capability of going to the cit or the acit world. Tata not being a resting
place, jivas must go this side or that; those preferring the acit, fell into the clutches of the octopus
Maya, when these mortal costumes of mind and body were put on him as a punishment. The
satanic frenzy in which the jiva dislikes the blissful and eternal service of his Master and prefers
to quench his thirstful desires of enjoying matter, opens before him a perpetual spring of liquid
fire and poison at which he begins to drink deep. Thus in going to lord it over Maya, jiva became
enslaved by her." (Vaisnavism -Real and Apparent)

SRIDHARA DEVA GOSVAMI MAHARAJA spoke of the origin of the jivas as follows:

"The brahma-jyoti, the non-differentiated marginal plane, is the source of infinite jiva souls,
atomic spiritual particles of non-differentiated character. The rays of the Lord's transcendental
body are known as the brahma-jyoti, and a pencil of a ray of the brahma-jyoti is the jiva. The jiva
soul is an atom in that effulgence, and the brahma-jyoti is a product of an infinite number of jiva
atoms.

"Generally, souls emanate from the brahma-jyoti which is living and growing. Within the
brahma-jyoti, their equilibrium is somehow disturbed and movement begins. From non-
differentiation, differentiation begins. From a plain sheet of uniform consciousness, individual
conscious units grow. And because the jiva is conscious it is endowed with free will. So, from
the marginal position they choose either the side of exploitation or the side of dedication.

"Because the soul is very small, his freedom is also imperfect; a soul in the marginal position is
very vulnerable. Freedom does not mean absolute freedom. Because the soul's existence is small,

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his freedom is defective, there is the possibility of committing a mistake. Freedom of the minute
soul does not mean perfect freedom. Complete freedom would be perfect reality, but the minute
soul is endowed with the smallest atomic freedom. This is the position of the atoms of
consciousness, and this is why they are vulnerable. They may judge properly or improperly; that
is the position of those who are situated in the marginal position. If the soul were not endowed
with the freedom to determine his position, we would have to blame God for our suffering. But
we cannot blame God. The starting point of the soul's suffering is within himself." (Sri Krsna -
Reality the Beautiful, ch-4, Origin of the Soul)

BHAKTI PRAJNANA KESAVA MAHARAJA states as follows:

"When the thoughts of a jiva in the tatastha realm, which is in between the spiritual and material
worlds, gravitates towards independence and its accompanying temporal, material pleasures; the
immediate result is forced descent to the material universes." (Vaisnava-vijaya)

SRI PURI GOSVAMI MAHARAJA has this to say about the jiva:

"The characteristic of the marginal potency is of its being able to be influenced by both the
spiritual and material energies.

From Brhadaranyka-sruti 2.1:

yathagneh ksudra visphurlinga vyuccharanti

evam eva asmad atmanah sarve lokah sarve devah sarvani bhutani vyuccharanti

"Just as many tiny sparks are emitted from a blazing fire, similarly many varieties of minute
living entities are produced from the Supreme Lord. This living entity has option to either stay in
the material world or attain the spiritual world, he is in the middle position at the demarcation
between these two worlds and has equal opportunity to go to either of these worlds. This
marginal position can be described for more clarity: Just as a huge fish can move either to one
bank or the opposite bank, similarly the living entity, from his MARGINAL POSITION can go
either to the material or spiritual worlds, and is dependent on whether he is dreaming (in illusion)
or awake in knowledge. The word 'tatastha' is further examined. The boundary between the land
and the water is called the bank (tatastha). This is usually a narrow strip so minute that it cannot
be seen with a naked eye. If we compare the spiritual world to the ocean and the material world
to be the land, that minute strip or boundary is the corresponding position of the living entity.
Both these worlds are huge in comparison to the minute living entity. Thus in the middling
position being the marginal energy, partial characteristics of both sides are present in the living
entity. By proper spiritual cultivation, he can be spiritualized or conversely in being ignorant, can
fall into the material whirlpool. Originally, the living entity is constituted of spiritual elements,
not material. Nevertheless, it can be overcome by the force of material attraction. Without the
association of pure devotees, the living entity cannot be released from his precarious position. In
Caitanya-caritamrta is described how the living entities, though minute sparks of the Supreme,
are either bonded or eternally liberated." (Bhakti Siddhanta Sara - Essence of Pure Devotion, ch
-Yogamaya & Mahamaya)

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OUR CONCLUSION

From sastra and the opinions of acaryas as quoted above it is quite clear that there is no
possibility of fall down from the spiritual world, Vaikuntha or Goloka Vrndavana. That Iskcon
leaders continue to preach the apa-siddhanta (false conclusion) of the fall of the jiva from the
spiritual world (as they have done in the OOP book) is indeed unfortunate and misleading.

In 1981 Iskcon leaders challenged the wisdom of Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami when he tried to
help them with a correct understanding of the marginal position of the jiva, but they returned his
kindness with insult and offense. Having offended such a pure Vaisnava and calling him a
'mayavadi' for upholding the position of the jiva as marginal, Iskcon has now adopted the 'fall
philosophy' that is tantamount to impersonalism (because such a 'fall philosophy' suggests the
fallibility of the spiritual world) as their institutional doctrine. This is clearly an anartha
(bhrama-tattva) that results from Vaisnava-aparadha.

In 1987 Iskcon leaders made an official apology to Srila Sridhara Maharaja for their offensive
behavior towards him but then they continued to neglect his instructions and guidance in the
matter of properly understanding Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy. That Sridhara Deva Gosvami
Maharaja should be approached and accepted as an authority on philosophical issues and
questions was the direct instruction of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada to his disciples
shortly before he departed from this world in 1977. The statements of Iskcon leaders in this
regard have been documented in the book, Our Affectionate Guardians.

In order to gain an accurate understanding on the origin of the jiva and numerous other
philosophical and devotional topics, literally a thousand devotees or more have turned away from
Iskcon to seek spiritual guidance elsewhere. One would think that losing so many devotees and
even losing prominent leaders and gurus would urge that society to re-assess their understanding
of Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy, but unfortunately it does not. Iskcon leaders continue to lead
their members into a philosophical abyss, while they feast on the bitter fruits (nimboli) of
misconception.

The onus is now on Iskcon leaders to either accept the conclusions of sastra and acaryas as
mentioned in this article or to prove the statements of sastra and the acaryas to be faulty. In
particular we would be interested to see how they will prove the statement of A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Svami Prabhupada as faulty when he states, "The conclusion is that no one falls from the
spiritual world, or Vaikuntha planet, for it is the eternal abode."

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 The Worship of Lord Narasimha

QUESTION: I have seen on your website that you have installed and worship Deities of Lord
Narasimha in your ashram. When Gaudiya Vaisnavas are devotees of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna why
do you worship Lord Narasimha?

ANSWER: The goal of a Gaudiya Vaisnava is to develop pure love for Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and
all aspects of our practices lead to that end and to that end alone. Therefore, we worship Lord
Narasimha who has the capacity to purify a heart filled with lust, to destroy the desire for fame
and cunning behavior, to purify us from duplicitous dealings, to bestow fearlessness upon our
weary souls and who's lotus feet bestow love for Sri Sri Radha-Krsna.

By the association of Lord Narasimha's devotees all obstacles (anarthas) are cast far away and
one develops loving attachment for the holy names of Radha and Krsna.

Lord Narasimha also gives the benediction of being able to worship Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and to
live peacefully without disturbance in the holy dhama (in this case Govindaji Gardens).

The devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who have an affinity for Mayapura-dhama are often
found to have an affinity for Lord Narasimha. This was especially true for the great Krsna
consciousness pioneer, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and in recent times Srila Bhakti Pramoda
Puri Gosvami. Both these great personalities manifested an affinity toward Lord Narasimha. Sri
Advaita Acarya is also purported to have worshipped Lord Narasimha in the form of a
Narasimha-saligrama with Tulasi leaves and Ganges water when He called Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu to manifest in this world at Mayapura. So it is only natural for a follower of Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu to have an affinity toward Lord Narasimha.

We find at Yogapitha, the birth site of Sri Caitanya, that the Deity of Laksmi-Narasimha is
established next to the shrine of Sri Sri Gaura Gadadhara. Srila Bhaktivinoda has said that Lord
Narasimha attends the mangala-aratika at Yogapitha every morning. Thus a Deity of Lord
Narasimha is established there.

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Also at Nrsimhapalli in Navadvipa-dhama there is a very ancient temple of Lord Narasimha who
came to that place and manifested His Deity form. After killing Hiranyakasipu Lord Narasimha
came to rest at Nrsimhapalli and the Demigods and great devotees came there to worship Him.

At Gopinatha Gaudiya Matha, in the section of Mayapura known as Isodyana (the Garden of
Srimati Radharani), Srila Puri Maharaja worshipped the Deity of Laksmi-Narasimha along with
the worship of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha and Sri Sri Gaura-Gadadhara. And every year on the day
before Srila Puri Maharaja's Vyasa Puja all the devotees would go to Nrsimhapalli for darsana
and a festival of kirtana and Hari-katha. Invariably the Hari-katha always touched upon the
section of Srimad Bhagavatam call Prahlada-caritra wherein the pastime of Prahlada and Lord
Narasimha is described. This section of Bhagavatam was also a favorite of Srila Gaura Kisora
Dasa Babaji Maharaja as it was for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates in Jagannatha
Puri.

gadadhara parena summukha bhagavata

suniya prakase prabhu prema-bhava yata
prahlada-caritra, ara dhruvera-caritra
sata-vrtti kariya sunena sarhita

"Whenever Sri Gadadhara would recite the Prahlada-caritra and Dhruva-caritra from
Bhagavatam, the Lord would manifest various symptoms of love. The Lord would hear the
glories of Prahlada and Dhruva hundreds of times."
(Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya.10.13-14)

Sometimes pseudo-devotees of Radha-Krsna denounce the worship of Lord Narasimha and

reject the chanting of Narasimha mantras. Such devotees do not know that if they themselves
were to worship Lord Narasimha they might become free from their cunning and deceitful
behavior and advance in their worship of Radha-Krsna.

However, we do not find in the writings of the Six Gosvamis that the gopis in Goloka Vrndavana
worshipped Lord Narasimha. But neither did they worship Saligrama-sila or the Tulasi plant, all
of which are recommended activities for devotees in the stage of practice.

Also we do not find any temples of Lord Narasimha established by the Six Gosvamis in
Vrndavana. This absence of temples of Lord Narasimha in Vrndavana is certainly
understandable because Lord Narasimha is not present in His fierce form where the love
dalliances of Radha-Krsna are in progress.

But at Kesavaji Gaudiya Matha in Mathura established by Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava
Gosvami Maharaja we find that the Ugra (angry) form of Lord Narasimha is established in a
small shrine on the roof of that Matha (although no formal sringara or worship is offered). So at
least in some situations we do find that Lord Narasimha is present in Vrndavana.

At Srivasangan in Mayapura, which is considered non-different from the mood of Vrndavana,

and the place where Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu began His Sankirtana movement, there is a Deity
of Ugra Narasimha killing Hiranyakasipu. The Deity is placed just in front of the Panca-tattva

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Deities. This is so because one day Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to the house of Srivasa
Pandita and manifested His mood as Narasimha. Since that time devotees have always
considered Lord Narasimha to be the protector of the sankirtana movement. This pastime is
mentioned in Caitanya-bhagavata Madhya-khanda, ch. 2, 253-269

"Walking by the riverbank, He (Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu) saw a herd of cows. They were
mooing and drinking water. With raised tails some ran in the four directions. Some fought. Some
napped. Some drank water. Seeing them, the Lord began to roar. I am He! I am He!" The Lord
shouted again and again. In this way He ran to Srivasa's house.

"Srivasa, what are you doing now?", the Lord roared. Within his home, Srivasa was worshiping
Lord Narasimha. Pounding again and again, Sri Caitanya broke the door open. Whom do you
worship? On whom do you meditate? Look! The person you worship has come!" the Lord
roared.

"Srivasa saw a form like blazing fire, Then his meditation broke. He looked in the four
directions. He saw Sri Caitanya sitting in a virasana yoga posture. Sri Caitanya had four arms.
He held a conch-shell, cakra, club, and lotus. He roared like a maddened lion. Slapping the palm
of His hand against His left shoulder, He made a great sound. Seeing all this, Srivasa trembled.
Then he became stunned. He did not move.

"The Lord roared, O Srivasa! For so many days you did not know My true identity? Because of
your loud sankirtana I left Vaikuntha and came here with all My associates. Not knowing Me,
You left Me and went to Santipura. I will rescue the devotees. I will kill all the demons. Don't
worry. Now recite prayers to Me." Gazing at the Lord, Srivasa wept tears of love. The fears in
his heart died. Now He was confident. His whole body was filled with joy.

"He offered dandavat obeisances. Then, folding his hands, he recited prayers. By his nature,
Srivasa Pandita was a great devotee of the Lord. He accepted the Lord's order. By the Lord's
desire, he recited prayers."

The Deity form of Ugra Narasimha is usually not worshipped by the devotees of Mahaprabhu or
by the devotees of Radha and Krsna except in special situations or in special places. The Ugra
form of the Lord is very fearful and hard to please. Of course such has become the fashion
among certain devotees, but it is actually imprudent on the part of a devotee to think that he can
pacify Lord Narasimha when the Lord is in an angry mood.

At the time of killing Hiranyakasipu Lord Narasimha manifested great anger, so much so that the
Demigods, great devotees like Narada Muni, and even Laksmi (the Goddess of Fortune) were
afraid to approach Him. Only the pure devotee like Prahlada Maharaja was able to approach
Lord Narasimha at that time. So who are we to think that we are more qualified than great
devotees like Narada or that we are equal to Prahlada Maharaja? But such is our audacity.

During the Ratha-yatra festival each year in Jagannatha Puri when Lord Jagannatha goes to the
Gundica temple Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to take His sankirtana devotees for darsana of
Lord Narasimha at a small temple just adjacent to Gundica. In that temple Sri Caitanya

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Mahaprabhu performed congregational chanting of the holy names of Krsna and danced in
ecstatic love of God before the Deity. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to manifest the bodily
symptoms of love of God before the Deity such as loudly chanting the Holy Name, dancing in
ecstasy, shivering and sometimes fainting.

Based on all these facts it is safe to say that the aspiring devotees should not unnecessarily avoid
the worship of Lord Narasimha, for such would be an offence.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written five beautiful prayers in 'Sri Navadvipa Bhava Taranga'
for receiving the mercy of Lord Narasimha. These prayers are certainly assurance to all sincere
devotees that the worship of Lord Narasimha is purely in the line of aspiring love and devotion
to Sri Sri Radha and Krsna. Those prayers are as follows.

e dusta hrdaye kama adi ripu chaya

kutinati pratisthasa sathya sada raya
hrdaya-sodhana ara krsnera vasana
nrsimha-carane mora ei to' kamana

Within my sinful heart the six enemies headed by lust perpetually reside, as well as duplicity, the
desire for fame, plus sheer cunning. At the lotus feet of Lord Narasimha, I hope that He will
mercifully purify my heart and give me the desire to serve Lord Krsna.

kandiya nrsimha-pade magibo kakhana

nirapade navadvipe jugala-bhajana
bhaya bhaya paya yan'ra darsane se hari
prasanna hoibo kabe more daya kari

Weeping, I will beg at the lotus-feet of Lord Narasimha for the benediction of worshipping
Radha and Krsna in Navadvipa, perfectly safe and free from all difficulties. When will this Lord
Hari, Whose terrible form strikes fear into fear itself, ever become pleased and show me His
mercy?

yadyapi bhisana murti dusta-jiva-prati

prahladadi krsna-bhakta-jane bhadra ati
kabe va prasanna ho'ye sa krpa-vacane
nirbhaya karibe ei mudha akincane

Even though Lord Narasimha is terrifying toward the sinful souls, He offers great auspiciousness
unto the devotees of Lord Krsna headed by Prahlada Maharaja. When will He be pleased to
speak words of compassion unto me, a worthless fool, and thereby make me fearless?

svacchande baiso he vatsa sri-gauranga-dhame

jugala-bhajana hau rati hau name
mama bhakta-krpa-bale vighna jabe dura
suddha cite bhajo radha-krsna-rasa-pura

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He will say, "Dear child! Sit sown freely and live happily here in Sri Gauranga-dhama. May you
nicely worship the Divine Couple, and may you develop loving attachment for Their Holy
Names. By the mercy of My devotees, all obstacles are cast far away. With a purified heart, just
perform the worship of Radha and Krsna, for such worship overflows with sweet nectar."

ei boli' kabe mora mastaka-upara

sviya sri-carana harse dharibe isvara
amani jugala-preme sattvika vikare
dharaya lutibo ami sri-nrsimha-dvare

Saying this, will that Lord delightedly place His own divine lotus-feet upon my head? I will
experience sublime love for the Divine Couple Radha-Krsna and undergo the ecstatic
transformations called sattvika. Falling on the ground, I will roll about at the door of Sri
Narasimha's temple.

(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, - Sri Navadvipa Bhava Taranga, 36-40)

Parampara

Question: I have heard it said that there are some gaps in the list of names in the Gaudiya
parampara and that some of the names given there are actually fictitious names of personalities
that never really existed. Do you think this could be true?

Answer: In "Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika" Srila Kavi Karnapura lists the parampara of the Gaudiya
Vaisnavas from Lord Brahma up to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as follows:

tatra madhvi sampradayah prastavad atra likhyate

paravyomesvarasyasic chisyo brahma jagat-patih
tasya sisyo narado'bhud vyasas tasyapa sisyatam
suko vyasasya sisyatvam prapto jnanavarodhatat
tasya sisyah prasisyas ca bahavo bhutale sthitah
vyasal labdha-krsna-dikso madhvacaryo maha-yasah
cakre vedan vibhajyasau samhitam sata-dusanim
nirgunad brahmano yatra sa-gunasya pariskriya
tasya sisyo'bhavat padmanabhacaryo mahasayah
tasya sisyo naraharis tac-chisyo madhava-dvijah
aksobhyas tasya sisyo'bhut tac-chisyo jayatirthakah
tasya sisyo jnanasindhus tasya sisyo mahanidhih
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 vidyanidhis tasya sisyo rajendras tasya sevakah
jayadharma-munis tasya sisyo yad-gana-madhyatah
srimad-visnupuri yas tu bhakti-ratnavali-krtih
jayadharmasya sisyo'bhud brahmanah purusottamah
vyasa-tirthas tasya sisyo yas cakre visnu-samhitam
sriman laksmipatis tasya sisyo bhakti-rasasrayah
tasya sisyo madhavendro yaddharmo'yam pravartitah
kalpa-vrksasyavataro vraja-dhamani tishitah
prita-preyo vatsalatojjvalakhya phala-dharinah
tasya sisyo'bhavac chriman isvarakhya-puri-yatih
kalayamasa srgaram yah srgara-phalatmakah
advaitah kalayamasa dasya-sakhye phale ubhe
sriman ragapuri hy esa vatsalye yah samasritah
isvarakhya-purim gaura urarikrtya gaurave
jagad aplavayamasa prakrtaprakrtatmakam

"I shall now begin this book by describing the disciplic succession descended from Sripada
Madhvacarya. Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe became the disciple of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, Lord Narayana. Brahma's disciple was Narada. Narada's disciple was
Vyasa. Vyasa then transmitted transcendental knowledge to his disciple Sukadeva. Sukadeva
taught the same knowledge to his many disciples and grand-disciples in this world. The famous
Madhvacarya received initiation from Vyasa personally. Madhvacarya carefully studied all the
Vedas from Vyasa, and later wrote his book 'Mayavada-sata-dusani', where he proved that the
Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person, full of all transcendental qualities, and not the quality-less
impersonal Brahman. Madhvacarya's disciple was the exalted Padmanabhacarya.
Padmanabhacarya's disciple was Narahari. Narahari's disciple was Madhava-dvija. Madhava-
dvija's disciple was Aksobhya. Aksobhya's disciple was Jaya Tirtha. Jaya Tirtha's disciple was
Jnanasindhu. Jnanasindhu's disciple was Mahanidhi. Mahanidhi's disciple was Vidyanidhi.
Vidyanidhi's disciple was Rajendra. Rajendra's disciple was Jayadharma Muni. Among
Jayadharma Muni's disciples was Sriman Visnupuri, the famous author of the 'Bhakti-ratnavali'.
Another disciple of Jayadharma was Brahmana Purusottama. Purusottama's disciple was Vyasa
Tirtha, who wrote the famous book Sri Visnu-samhita. Vyasa Tirtha's disciple was Sriman
Laksmipati, who was like a great reservoir of the nectar of devotional service. Laksmipati's
disciple was Madhavendra Puri, a great preacher of devotional service. Madhavendra Puri was
the incarnation of a kalpa-vrksa tree in the abode of Vraja. This tree bears as its fruits the
mellows of servitude to Lord Krsna, friendship with Lord Krsna, parental love for Lord Krsna,
and conjugal love for Lord Krsna. Madhavendra Puri's disciple was Sriman Isvara Puri Svami.
Isvara Puri carefully understood the mellows of conjugal love for Lord Krsna, and was able to
distribute that fruit to others. Sri Advaita Acarya displayed the sentiments of servitorship and
friendship for the Lord, and Sriman Ranga Puri manifested the sentiment of parental love for
Lord Krsna. Lord Caitanya accepted Sriman Isvara Puri as His spiritual master. The Lord
proceeded to flood the entire world with spontaneous transcendental love for Krsna." (Gaura
Ganoddesa-dipika 22-25)

The above-mentioned disciplic succession given by Kavi Karnapura has been accepted by
Bhaktivinoda Thakura and this is evident from the following statement:

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ei samasta vakyadvara spasta pratita haya ye, Sri brahma sampradayai Sri Krsna Caitanya
-dasadiganer guru-pranali. Sri Kavi Karnapura Gosvami ei anusarre drta kariya sviyakrta
'Gaura Ganoddesa-dipika' ya guru-pranalir krama likhiyachen. Vedanta-sutra-bhasyakara Sri
Vidyabhusana u sei pranalike sthira rakhiyacchen. Yahara ei pranalike asvikara karen, tahara
ye Sri Krsna Caitanya-carananucara-ganer pradhana satru, ihate ara sandeha ki?

"It is evident that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu belonged to the Brahma sampradaya, as it descends
through Madhvacarya. Kavi Karnapura confirmed this line of disciplic succession in his Gaura
Ganoddesa-dipika, and the writer of the commentary of the Vedanta, Sri Baldeva Vidyabhusana,
did so again (in his Prameya Ratnavali). Is there any doubt that those who do not accept this line
of disciplic succession are the principle enemies of the followers of Sri Krsna Caitanya?"
(Bhaktivinoda Thakura - Sri Mahaprabhur-siksa, Ch.2)

Bhaktivinoda further states in Chapter Two of Sri Mahaprabhur-siksa that anyone who does not
accept these statements is an atheist:

Sri Krsna Caitanya sampradaya svikara karata gopane guru-parampara siddha-pranali svikara
Karen na, tahara kalir guptacara. Ihate sandeha ki?

"Anyone who refuses to accept such statements is a promoter of atheism. Those who accept the
authority of Sri Krsna Caitanya but secretly do not accept this disciplic succession of spiritual
preceptors are actually agents of Kali. Can there be any doubt about this?" (Bhaktivinoda
Thakura - Sri Mahaprabhur-siksa, Ch.2)

Considering the position of Srila Kavi Karnapura, it is highly unlikely he would have simply
fabricated a list of names to make up the parampara of Sri Caitanya. Kavi Karnapura was the
son of Sivananda Sena and he was thus always associated with pure devotees and with the
eternal associates of the Supreme Lord. The information that Kavi Karnapura gives us about the
identities of Mahaprabhu's associates in Gaura-lila and their corresponding identities in Krsna-
lila is extensive. It is therefore quite unlikely that having access to such confidential information
as regards the eternal associates of the Lord that he would at the same time fabricate a fictitious
parampara.

As Kavi Karnapura has heard from senior devotees about the identities of Mahaprabhu's
associates, he similarly heard from them regarding the parampara. In fact, although it may not
be mentioned in any particular book, it is widely accepted that Sri Caitanya heard about the
parampara of Madhavendra Puri at the time of his initiation from Isvara Puri, the disciple of
Madhavendra.

If what Kavi Karnapura had written in Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika regarding the Gaudiya-

sampradaya parampara was indeed false - then the senior Vaisnavas present on the planet at that
time would indeed have objected to those statements. Yet such objections were never raised. On
the contrary, the community of Vaisnavas and pure devotees of Sri Caitanya accepted the
writings of Kavi Karnapura as bona-fide transcendental literature.

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Just as we have heard from our spiritual master about the lineage of our parampara, so it has
always been the tradition among Vaisnavas that a spiritual master informs and enlightens his
disciple regarding their parampara.

The fact that there are also sometimes gaps in the parampara list of names, does not mean that
there is an actual break in the parampara. This topic has been briefly explained by Bhaktivinoda
in Jaiva-dharma as follows:

sampradaya-pranali ki sampurna-rupa rakha haiyacche?

madhye madhye ye sakala pradhana acarya haiyacchen,
tahader namasakala sampradaya pranalite acche.

"Is there a list of names of spiritual masters in the parampara given without any breaks?
From time to time, only the more important spiritual masters' names are included in these lists."
(Jaiva-dharma - Ch.13)

Although envious persons or persons with a poor fund of knowledge are sometimes quick to
criticize the Gaudiya-sampradaya for such apparent breaks in their parampara, the fact is that
there are also apparent breaks in other recognized and established sampradayas such as the
Madhva- sampradaya and the Ramanuja sampradaya.

These apparent breaks are also acknowledged as existing by Madhva and Ramanuja followers,
but these apparent breaks are not considered as defects in their respective sampradayas.

In the books 'Sampradaya Paddhati' and 'Mani-manjari' written by Hrsikesa Tirtha and Narayana
Panditacarya respectively (both direct disciples of Madhvacarya) the parampara of the Madhva
sampradaya is given as follows:

Hamsavatara, Brahma, Catursana, Durvasa, Jnanasindhu Tirtha, Garudavahana Tirtha, Kaivalya

Tirtha, Jnanisa Tirtha, Para Tirtha, Satya-prajna Tirtha, Prajna Tirtha, Acyuta Preksa, and
Madhvacarya.

The gap between Acyuta Preksa (the guru of Madhva) and Prajna Tirtha (the previous acarya) is
approximately 400 years. The reason for this gap is explained that, during this time the
Vaisnavas in that area were being terrorized by the Naga Babas, and other militant followers of
Sankaracarya. They had gone completely 'underground' as a result of it. After the time of
Madhvacarya the social climate changed and the Vaisnavas were able to resume their normal
behavior and lived openly in society, establishing Mathas, keeping parampara records, etc.

A similar gap, but this time of approximately 3,000 years, is found in the Ramanuja
sampradaya. The recognized parampara of the Ramanuja sampradaya from Visnu up to
Ramanuja is as follows:

Visnu, Laksmi, Visvaksena, Alvars, Nathamuni, Pundarikaksa, Rama Misra, Yamunacarya, and
Ramanujacarya.

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From the Alvars (4000 BC to 2700 BC) to Nathamuni (584AD) there is a gap of more than 3,000
years. Despite this apparent gap the Ramanuja parampara is accepted by all Vaisnava scholars
as a bona fide sampradaya. Also, it has been noted that during the period of the Alvars, only
Nammalvar and Madhurakavi were connected as guru and disciple respectively. All the other ten
Alvars were independent of each other. In other words they were not related in any way as guru
and disciple.

The point of contention wherein some persons try to establish that one must be in a disciplic
succession that can produce a list of names of its parampara (guru to disciple) from the present
day back to its very origin and prove the validity of those names by producing old texts where
such names are mentioned is not actually necessary, nor is such a method accepted by other
sampradayas as the ultimate pramana (proof). If it were so, then it would not be possible to
factually prove an unbroken chain of disciplic succession in any sampradaya in the world today.
Even those so-called sampradayas of Babajis in Vrndavana and Mayapura who claim to have an
unbroken disciplic succession, can only prove such by creating imaginary literature and
fabricating lies in support of their fallacious claims.

Actually the evidence supporting the validity of any sampradaya via old books, historical
records and all such related materials are for the most part empirical evidence and this is
considered secondary to the most important type of evidence known as srota-pantha or having
heard from previous acaryas.

The mind and intelligence being material elements of this mundane world are prone to rational
thought and want proof of everything by the process of empirical knowledge. Ultimately
empirical knowledge is defective because it is gathered by the imperfect senses. The process of
srota-pantha however is the process by which realized knowledge of the Absolute Truth is
passed down from guru to disciple without any loss. This process depends not on empirical
evidence to prove its validity, but the process of srota-pantha depends solely on hearing with
faith.

The empirical philosopher cannot accept the reality of faith because he or she has no experience
of faith. Such less spiritually advanced persons do not know that faith (sraddha) is a spiritual
substance more real than all the empirical knowledge of the mundane world combined.

Faith allows the descending eternal knowledge (sabda-brahman) to flow through the realized
spiritual master to the heart of a qualified disciple completely unobstructed by any material
defect. The knowledge of the empiricist however is always wrought with troubles and defects
because it is an ascending process and depends solely on the material mind, intelligence, and
senses, which are imperfect.

Those faithful devotees who have accepted the authority of the parampara mentioned by Kavi
Karnapura in "Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika" are factually the persons responsible for fulfilling the
prediction of Sri Caitanya of spreading Krsna consciousness all over the world. This is indeed
another valid proof (pramana) of the validity of their parampara, for as Krsna Dasa Kaviraja
Gosvami states in Caitanya-caritamrta - only those who are empowered by Krsna can spread the
holy name of Krsna:

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 taha pravartaila tumi,--ei ta 'pramana'
krsna-sakti dhara tumi,--ithe nahi ana

On the other hand those who doubt the integrity of Kavi Karnapura and his followers such as Sri
Baladeva Vidyabhusana, and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura are to be compared to a thorn in the leg
of the Supreme Lord and the association of such unfortunate persons should be rejected.

The Proof of Your Devotion

Question: I once heard a devotee say that the proof of when your devotion has become real
bhakti is when you can take the betel-nut prasadam from the mouth of Krsna and place it in the
mouth of Radharani. Is this the actual standard by which we are to measure or understand when
we have real bhakti?

Answer: If this is how you are to measure real devotion, then you are either dead or dreaming!
Dead means that you have already left this mortal world and you are residing in the eternal
pastimes of the Supreme Lord, and dreaming means that you are wasting your valuable time with
sahajiya thoughts. In this life real bhakti or devotion is never measured in such a way.

The measure of ones real devotion is taken from the negative feeling and not from the positive.
The less you feel that you have devotion, then the more you actually have it. Or the more you
feel that you have devotion, then the less you actually have it. One who thinks he is the lowest is
actually the highest and one who thinks he is the highest is actually the lowest.

"I have no love or devotion to Krsna. I am so, unfortunate. If I had even a drop of pure love of
Krsna I could not maintain my life in this mundane world for another moment." That should be
the tenor of our thought.

The negative feelings of the devotee attract Krsna. In the negative sentiment we find that the
devotee has become very meek and humble. Krsna finds this humility very relishable. And where
we find the positive feeling, "Yes, I have real devotion" then the devotee becomes puffed up with
false pride and Krsna is displeased.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has shown the negative line in His Siksastakam prayers. Mahaprabhu
says, "Durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah, I have no love for Your holy name."

We can approach the holy name of Krsna formally, but without entering the negative line of
thought as Mahaprabhu prays, then we cannot chant the holy name of Krsna from the core of our
heart. First admit, "I have no devotion, no love for Krsna." Not only should we feel that we have
no love or devotion for Krsna but we should also feel that we have no good qualities whatsoever.
We are bankrupt of anything favorable for real devotion. We are the lowest of mankind. Worse!
We are the lowest of the low. Then we can come to the platform of humility. Then real devotion
begins. Then we can have real bhakti.

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But our problem is that we think that we are something special, that we have rights and that
Krsna should honor us by showering us with praises, followers, and wealth. We want to be
respected and acknowledged for our insignificant service. We want to be called "Prabhu" or
"Maharaja" or "Visnupada" or "Prabhupada" or by some other honorific title. We are offended is
someone calls us "Dasa." We are offended when we are asked to serve another Vaisnava because
we want to be the guru and to be served by everyone. That is our disease. Therefore we cannot
chant the holy name of Krsna from the core of our heart and we are simply rotting in this
material existence.

We want prestige (an honorable position) but we should know that prestige is our greatest
enemy. We should look upon prestige as if it were the stool of a hog and hatefully reject it.

jader pratistha, sukarer vistha,

jano na ki taha 'mayar vaibhava

"Materialistic prestige is as disgusting as the stool of a hog. Do you not know that it is only a
mere illusion cast by the potency of Maya?" (Vaisnava Ke?, verse 2)

So give up everything and accept the lowest position. Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami,
Haridasa Thakura and others were very dear to Lord Chaitanya because they rid their hearts of
false prestige. Although they were highly qualified devotees they accepted the lowest position
and though of themselves as having no good qualities. They were humble and therefore they
were very dear to Lord Caitanya.

trnad api sunicena, taror api sahisnuna

amanina manadena, kirtaniyah sada harih

"One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honor to
others without desiring it for himself is qualified to always chant the holy name of Krsna."

Haridasa Thakura is recognized by Mahaprabhu as the Namacarya, the perfect example of

chanting the holy name of Krsna. Haridasa was a lower cast by birth, but although he was
adorned with all good qualities and very dear to Lord Chaitanya he never clamored for position,
or to be respected in society.

In the material world no one is satisfied with the body they have or with their position in society.
Everyone wants a change of position. Women want the position of men. Men want to become
women. Everyone wants recognition and everyone is suffering because they do not accept their
natural position given to them by the Supreme Lord.

Everyone wants to change, to move up the so-called ladder of success. I cannot become God so
let me become a master (Prabhu) or a sannyasi or let me become a guru, then I will be successful
and satisfied. But this is simply Maya's illusion of success. Change this, change that and then you
will be happy. Then you will be advanced in Krsna consciousness. This idea should be rejected.

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If change comes to us by the desire or the order of the higher Vaisnavas then we should accept
change. Otherwise one should learn to be satisfied with whatever service Krsna has given
him/her. That is a sign that you have real devotion.

Our only desire should be to serve and we should also desire that any remuneration for our
service should simply be more energy for more service, more service and more hankering for
more unmotivated service. Let no other desire enter our heart.

Everything for Krsna and nothing for one's self. That should be our attempt. Total self-
abnegation to the highest degree and that will take us to a plane of higher life, higher thinking,
die to live!

The life of a devotee is based on sacrifice, death of the false ego. As much as there is sacrifice,
there is life for a devotee, die to live. If we cannot sacrifice/serve then we might as well never
have been born in the human form of life.

The closer we come to Krsna, we may think that He is very far away, but we will not abandon
our service. We will go on with our service in separation.

aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam adarsanam marma-hatam karotu va

yatha tatha va vidadhattu lampato mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah

"Krsna may embrace me in love or trample me under His feet. He may break my heart by hiding
Himself from me. Let that debauchee do whatever he likes, but He will always be the only Lord
of my life."

Mahaprabhu uttered this verse and it is the deep heartfelt sentiments of Srimati Radharani that
He is expressing. The greatest devotee of Krsna is Srimati Radharani. She has the greatest love,
the greatest devotion to Krsna.

Srila Sridhara Maharaja once said that if Krsna is indifferent to His devotee then that is more
intolerable than punishment. The law of love cannot tolerate indifference. Even punishment is
more desirable than indifference. In punishment Krsna is closer, but if He is indifferent to us then
we may naturally feel that everything is lost or that we are unwanted.

When we are chastised or punished by our master then this is a sign that our master cares for our
improvement, but if he is indifferent then that may mean that he is disgusted with us. Therefore a
devotee never resents chastisement because he knows it to be the mercy of Krsna.

But the fact is that because Krsna is an autocrat He is sometimes indifferent and we must be
ready to tolerate that and not make any demand of Krsna to show us any special attention. Our
service must be like that of a slave, without rights or demands. In all circumstance we must go on
with our service.

So we will know that our devotion has become real bhakti when we have no demands to make of
the Supreme Lord, not even the prayer to become pure so we can serve Him better.

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Let whatever karma or suffering is due to us from our previous sinful activities fall on our heads,
but let us never deviate from the one pointed desire to serve the Supreme Lord, be it in Heaven
or in Hell.

Gayatri as Radharani

Question: I have read in an article that brahma-gayatri worships Srimati Radharani. Where does
this conception have its origin?

Answer: The origin of gayatri is Krsna Himself and therefore the conception of gayatri
worshiping Srimati Radharani finds its primeval origin in Krsna. The meaning of brahma-
gayatri is self-effulgent; "Above the three planes of mundane experience, bhur, bhuvah, svah, is
the soul, savitur, who shows us everything just like the sun. Above the soul is the super-
subjective plane which is varenyam, most venerated and worshipable. That worshipable plane of
existence is called bhargo, brilliant and illuminating. The super-subjective area, bhargo, is the
plane known as the svarupa-sakti which is the internal pleasure potency of deva, Krsna, Reality
the Beautiful. That bhargo is His own divine potency, Srimati Radharani. Let us meditate upon
the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani, whose extended self and essential nature, maha-bhava, is the
svarupa-sakti, and who enthuses our capacity of devotional service. Let us surrender unto Her
divine service."

Gayatri springs from the flute of Krsna. Gayatri-muralista kirtana danam radha-padam
dhimahe - the flute song of Krsna only sings the glories of Srimati Radharani.

I once quoted this portion of a verse to a learned scholar who sarcastically remarked, "That is
found in many places." Why this gentleman said like that I do not know, but the fact is that since
the universe began until now the clear and pristine explanation of gayatri as Krishna's flute
glorification of Srimati Radharani can only be found in one place and one place only, the
Gayatri-Nigudhartha by Srila B.R. Sridhara Maharaja.

The Gayatri-Nigudhartha is a realized explanation of brahma-gayatri that manifested in the heart

of Srila Sridhara Maharaja by the divine grace of his Gurudeva, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura. Srila Sridhara Maharaja wrote the Gayatri Nigudhartha in 1974 and it was published in

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his Matha's journal with a limited distribution. Later in the early 1980's many western devotees
took shelter of Srila Sridhara Maharaja after the departure of our Guru Maharaja, Srila A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. At that time the Gayatri-Nigudhartha began to receive a
much wider circulation, being printed in several of Srila Sridhara Maharaja's books.

Srila Sridhara Maharaja has mentioned that Jiva Gosvami has drawn the conception of gayatri to
Krsna but that he (Sridhara Maharaja) felt the tendency within to show that brahma-gayatri
worshiped Srimati Radharani. Thus he wrote Gayatri-Nigudhartha in Sanskrit.

These days some unscrupulous persons are trying to present themselves as the revealers of the
hidden meaning of gayatri but due to envy they do not quote the Gayatri-Nigudhartha or give
credit to Srila Sridhara Maharaja for his spiritual genius. Thus they are not able to give us more
than the general explanation that, "Yes, gayatri worships Radhika."

In Gayatri-Nigudhartha Srila Sridhara Maharaja gives a most detailed meaning of brahma-

gayatri and draws its ultimate meaning to the worship of Srimati Radharani. Without taking this
line of approach, as shown by Srila Sridhara Maharaja in Gayatri-Nigudhartha, it is not possible
for anyone to demonstrate to us how gayatri actually worships Radharani.

Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja has described the Gayatri Nigudhartha as follows: "The
explanation of brahma-gayatri, the mother of all Vedas, signifying devotional worship unto
Srimati Radharani, sri radhanudhyana-para, explanation which was revealed in the depth of
realization of Pujyapada Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja, possessed with the divine grace of
Paramaradhya Sri Srila Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura) upon his head - is
deeply appreciated by those fortunate, intelligent devotees who are aware of the relishable beauty
of pure devotional service."

Srila Sridhara Maharaja has said, that OM is the seed mantra which contains everything within it.
Bhur is where we are, bhu-loka, the world of our experience. Bhuvah (Bhuvarloka) is the world
of mental acquisition, the background of our experience. The mental world (Bhuvarloka) means
acceptance and rejection. Svah (Svaloka) is the plane of decision, the world of intelligence. In
this way the material world is composed of three general layers, bhu, the physical world,
bhuvah, the mental world, and svah, the intellectual world. These three planes of experience have
been summarized in a word, tat.

Savitur generally means surya, the Sun - that which shows or illuminates, that by which we can
see. But actually the world is not shown to us by the Sun, but by the soul. The Sun can show
color to our eyes, the ear can reveal the sound world, and the hand can reveal the touch world.
But really, in the center is the soul. It is the soul who gives light to this world. All perception is
possible only because of the soul. So savitur can only mean soul, like the Sun, which shows us
everything.

Varenyam means puja: worshipable, venerable. This indicates that although within this plane
(the objective world) the soul is the subject, there is another domain that is to be venerated and
worshiped by the soul. That is the Supersoul area.

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That worshipable plane of existence is known as bhargo. Bhargo means the subjective area, the
area of the Supersoul. Bhargo is svarupa-shakti. Bhargo belongs to whom? It belongs to Deva,
to Krsna.

Deva (devasya) means who is beautiful and playful, that is Krsna, Reality the Beautiful. He is
full of lila, pastimes and beauty combined. His domain is bhargo, brilliant and it is varenyam, to
be venerated by the soul. Svarupa-sakti is the extension of Srimati Radharani. She holds the full
energy to serve Krsna. Bhargo is no less than the extended body of Srimati Radharani. Bhargo
means Radharani and Deva means Krsna.

Dhimahi, come to meditate. Dhimahi means to participate in the spontaneous flow, the current of
devotion in Vrndavana. Dhiyo yo nah pracodayat, the capacity to serve will increase within us.
That is the remuneration of prema. The result of prema (divine love) will be that we are given
more energy to serve.

Gayatri is the song of deliverance that also means sankirtana. The sankirtana of Mahaprabhu
improves us toward the highest goal and reinstates us in our highest serving position. Gayatri
(and thus kirtana) in connection to Mahaprabhu will always excite us to be mindful about
Srimati Radharani's lotus feet and to obey Her orders.

For a clear and detailed understanding of what Srila Sridhara Maharaja has revealed in brahma-
gayatri it is recommended that one study the Gayatri-Nigudhartha which can be found in Sri
Gayatri Mantrartha Dipika, a chapter summary and excerpts with purport published by Sri
Narasingha Caitanya Matha.

Sri Gayatri Nigudhartha

bhvades-tat savitur-varenya-vihitam ksetra-jna-sevyarthakam

bhargo vai vrsabhanu-jatma-vibhavaikaradhana sri-puram
bhargo jyotir-acintya-lilana-sudhaikaradhana- sri-puram
bhargo dhama-taranga-khelana- sudhaikaradhana- sri-puram
bhargo dhama-sada nirasta kuhakam prajnana-lila-puram
devasyamrta-rupa-lila-rasadheraradha-dhih-prerinah
devasyamrta-rupa-lila-purusasyaradha-dhih-presinah
devasya-dyuti-sundaraika-purusas-yaradhya-dhih-presinah
gayatri-muralista-kirtana-dhanam radha-padam dhimahi
gayatri-gaditam mahaprabhu-matam radha-padam dhimahi
dhir-aradhanam eva nanyad-iti-tad- radha-padam dhimahi

"With all of your thoughts and heart's desire, fully engage yourself in the pure devotional service
and worship of bhargo, the supreme goddess Srimati Radharani, who is the unlimited origin and
possessor of the svarupa-sakti of Krsna, the Supreme Beautiful Godhead (deva). Being the
ultimate and all harmonizing potency of Krsna, She remains His eternally unexcelled beloved
servitor. In order to fully enrich and promote His lila-vilasa, She manifests Herself in variegated
congenial forms. It is She Who manifests Herself as dhama (Goloka) the abode of Krsna, in the
form of beautiful effulgence (saundarya-jyoti) and opulence (vaibhava), adorning and glorifying

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Him all around. It is She who extends Herself as lila-sakti (the potency principle which promotes
the bliss giving pastimes of Sri Krsna in variegated colorful, tasteful, mystically opulent and
beautiful ways). She is the unlimited ocean of love of Krsna personified (mahabhava-svarupini).
Therefore adore Her as the supreme goal of life, Who gives venerable, blessed intelligence,
realization and taste of enhanced loving worship towards Her and Her eternal beloved deva, Sri
Krsna, the all fulfillment of life. The sound of gayatri is none other than the divine flute song of
Krsna. This flute song is naturally filled with Radha prema and dedicated to serve pleasure unto
Her. What is the special characteristic of this all-attractive flute song in the life of devotional
aspirants? It deeply attracts all souls to the unending beauty, glories and qualities of His eternal
beloved Srimati Radharani, and situates them correctly in their own respective positions in Her
eternal ecstatic service. Krsna's flute song thus deeply inspires the devotees to embrace an artist-
servitor in the divine service-concert of His eternal consort Srimati Radharani through
harmonious service performance. The innermost meaning of this flute song for all devotees is
radha-padam dhimahi which means to wholeheartedly embrace and engage yourself in the
service of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani with all devotional love. The highest and innermost
instruction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is radha-padam dhimahi."

(Note: Video footage of Srila Sridhara Maharaja explaining gayatri is available for watching and
downloading on gosai.)

Worship of Govardhan

Question: Some devotees worship Govardhana as Krsna or Balarama and others worship Him as
the best devotee of Krsna (Srimati Radharani). How should we worship Govardhana?

Answer: Govardhana Hill holds a very unique position. On one hand He is non-different than
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna and on the other hand He is a devotee of Krsna in
santa-rasa (neutrality). As for the worship of Govardhana we are to worship Him as Krsna. This
is what we have been shown by Krsna Himself and by our Gaudiya Vaisnava acaryas. Some
devotees also worship Govardhana-sila as both Krsna and Balarama but this is not a bona-fide
conception.

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One may be surprised to know that Govardhana is in santa-rasa and even more surprised to know
that Radha-kunda is also in santa-rasa. But it is a fact, Radha-kunda, Govardhana Hill, Yamuna
and many other entities in Vrndavana are in santa-rasa. Srila Sridhara Maharaja mentions this as
follows:

"Everything in Vrndavana is necessary for the pastimes of Radha-Govinda. Everything in the

spiritual environment has its indirect value... Another example of santa-rasa is Radha-kunda.
Radha-kunda, the bathing place of Srimati Radharani, where Krsna enacts his pastimes of
conjugal love, is considered to be the highest place in Vrndavana. The gods and devotees all
praise Radha-kunda. Should we think it to be an ordinary body of water? Rather, how exalted is
the position of Radha-kunda. Then there is Govardhana Hill. That is also a kind of pose.
Apparently it is a hill, but Govardhana is worshiped as Krsna Himself." (Subjective Evolution of
Consciousness, Ch-5)

The highest worship of Govardhana (Govardhana-sila) is performed with gunja-mala (small red,
white, and black beads). The gunja-mala is the representation of Srimati Radharani. When Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave Govardhana-sila to Raghunatha Dasa Goswami to worship He did so
with gunja-mala. Dasa Gosvami, our prayojana-acarya, worshiped Govardhana with gunja-mala
and thus achieved the highest perfection in love of God. (For further details see Caitanya-
caritamrta, Antya-lila 6.287-307)

Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja has written the following describing the Govardhana-sila
and Gunja-mala as non-different from the Divine Couple, Sri Radha Krsna:

"Once, Sri Sankarananda Sarasvati came to Sri Puri Dhama from Sri Vrndavana to deliver to
Sriman Mahaprabhu a piece of the Govardhana stone together with a string of 'gunja-mala'
(beads) wrapped in two bundles of cloth which he presented to Sriman Mahaprabhu who, at that
time was residing at Gambhira. The Lord became exceedingly pleased on receiving these
invaluable items. In continuous remembrance of the divine pastimes of Sri Radha-Krsna, He
used to wear the mala (beads) round His neck. By contemplation of the Govardhana stone as
non-different from the transcendental body of Sri Krsna, He used to place this stone over His
head and eyes, becoming overwrought with loving emotions. In the loving moods, He would
exuberantly place it on His head or near His nose as if to catch the overpowering transcendental
fragrance of the stone and more often than not, would drench it with tears flowing from His eyes.
In this regard, Sriman Mahaprabhu used to visualize the Govardhana stone and the gunja-mala
together as the personification of the Divine Couple Sri Radha-Krsna."

Some devotees worship Govardhana-sila as the best devotee of Krsna because Raghunatha Dasa
Gosvami has referred to Govardhana as 'hari-dasa-varya.' These devotees take it that because
Srimati Radharani is actually the best devotee of Krsna therefore Govardhana is Radharani and
they worship Govardhana-sila as 'Girirani' and not as Giriraja - thus they do not offer Tulasi
leaves to Govardhana. This is a novel idea, but it does not find support from our acaryas. (Note:
We have not been able to find the term 'girirani' nor the term 'hari-dasi-varya' in any of the
Gaudiya literature.)

Dasa Gosvami has written:

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giri-nrpa-hari-dasa-sreni-varyeti-nama-
mrtam idam uditam sri-radhika-vaktra-candrat

"O Govardhana, O king of mountains, O hill whose nectar name "the best of Lord Hari's
servants" flows from the moon of Sri Radha's mouth..." (Stavavali, Sri Govardhana-vasa-
prarthana-dasaka, v.8)

Govardhana is called "hari-dasa-varya" but it appears from this verse that it is Srimati Radharani
Herself who has given Govardhana his illustrious title.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura also mentions 'hari-dasa-varya' in Stavamrta Lahari, v.8 as
follows, but there is no indication that he is referring to Radharani or that one should not offer
Tulasi leaves to Govardhana:

vina-bhavet kim hari-dasa-varya-

padasrayam bhaktir atah srayami
yam eva saprema nijesayoh sri-
govardhano me disatam abhistam

"Without taking shelter of the feet of the hill that is the best of Lord Hari's servants and full of
love for the divine king and queen, how is it possible to attain pure devotional service? May
Govardhana Hill fulfill my desire."

Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja used to recall that when his Gurudeva, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was staying at Candrasekhara Bhavan (Caitanya Matha) in
Mayapura, which is considered non-different from Govardhana Hill, that he observed his guru
daily offering fresh water and Tulasi leaves to Govardhana-sila. Example speaks louder than
precept - our acarya has instructed us by the method of his own practice.

Of course, it is laudable to want to raise our glance and try to recognize the representation of our
most worshipable object, Srimati Radharani, in doing this we should not neglect the example of
our acaryas or neglect to give proper attention to the eternal ontological truths.

If we were to accept the proposal that Govardhana is non-different than Srimati Radharani, then
ontologically what position would Radha-kunda hold? The lila of Krsna is a complete organic
whole and each part compliments another - all rising in a great symphony to the culmination of
madhurya-prema at Sri Radha-kunda. Radha-kunda is non-different from Srimati Radharani, the
abode of pure love for Krsna. But if we accept Govardhana as equal to Radha-kunda then a
discrepancy is created in the Lord's lila. When something is superior, it cannot have an equal,
otherwise it is not superior. The superiority of Sri Radha-kunda as above all other spiritual
abodes and places of lila is explained by Srila Rupa Gosvami as follows.

vaikunthaj janito vara madhu-puri tatrapi rasotsavad

vrndaranyam udara-pani-ramanat tatrapi govardhanah
radha-kundam ihapi gokula-pateh premamrtaplavanat
kuryad asya virajato giri-tate sevam viveki na kah

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"Due to Sri Krsna's having taken birth there, the abode of Mathura is superior even to Vaikuntha,
the realm of spiritual opulence. Superior to Mathura is the forest of Vrndavana because there the
festival of the rasa dance took place. Superior to Vrndavana forest is Govardhana Hill because
Sri Krsna raised it with His lotus hand and performed many pastimes there with His devotees.
Yet superior even to Govardhana Hill is Sri Radha-kunda because it immerses one in the nectar
of Sri Krsna's divine love. What intelligent person would not desire to render service to this
magnificent pond, which is splendidly situated at the base of Govardhana Hill?" (Upadesamrta,
v.9)

Govardhana Hill is indeed superior to other places in Vraja but it is not superior or even equal to
Radha-kunda.

Quoting Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, there is another example that shows us that
Govardhana is not equal to Radha-kunda. Srila Sridhara Maharaja explains:

"Pujala raga-patha gaurava-bhange. Prabhupada instructed that we must not go to live in

Radha-kunda, the most sacred place of pilgrimage. One day near Lalita-kunda, where there was a
single-story building at Svananda Sukhanda Kunja, he said, 'A second story is necessary, but I
will not be able to live there.' I asked, 'If you will not live on the first floor, who will live there?
What is the necessity of further construction?'

"'No. You don't know. Better persons will live there; Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Gaura Kisora Babaji
Maharaja. They will live there, and we shall stay on the ground floor and we shall serve them.'
Again he said, 'I shall live in Govardhana. Radha-kunda is the highest place, the place of our
Guru Maharaja, our Gurudevas. They will live here in closer connection with lila, but we are not
fit to live there. We shall live in Govardhana, just a little far away. Because we shall have to
come and serve our Gurudevas, we must be near, but we must not live in closer connection with
them. We are not fit.'" (Follow the Angels, Part Two)

Indeed, if in the conception of Srila Sarasvati Thakura (whose conception is non-different from
that of Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami) he had considered Govardhana as non-different from Srimati
Radharani then he would not have suggested it as our place of residence. Pujala raga-patha
gaurava-bhange, his suggestion was that we should keep our position a little distant and below.
That is the tenor of the proper approach to the highest domain. Dasa Gosvami and Sarasvati
Thakura both revered the service section of the Lord's lila, thus they desired to reside at
Govardhana and kept Radha-kunda as their most worshipable object

The fact is that even if devotees take shelter of Srimati Radharani in madhurya-rasa, if they
neglect to accept the example of our previous acaryas, then their bhajana is not accepted by the
Supreme Lord. Therefore, we should perform our bhajana following exactly in the footsteps of
our acaryas.

In the lila of Krsna the residents of Vraja also saw Govardhana Hill as non-different than Krsna.
They did not see Govardhana as Radharani. In fact Krsna manifested His form to the Vraja-vasis
as Govardhana Hill for all to see (this was also seen by Radharani and other gopis).

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Srila Sridhara Maharaja has mentioned the Govardhana-lila in the following way.

"It is also described here that when the Vraja-vasis worshipped Him and engaged in sacrifice for
His satisfaction, they saw Govardhana Hill as the Supreme Person, extending His hands,
accepting the things offered to Him, and feeding Himself.

"At that time, Krsna pointed out, 'You see! You thought that Govardhana Hill was only a heap of
stone. No, it is living, it is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.' At that time, Krsna revealed
Himself as Govardhana Hill and showed how it is also His extended self. According to
authorities in our line, Radha-kunda is the extended self of Srimati Radharani and Govardhana is
the extended self of Krsna. And so we worship a stone from Govardhana Hill, a part of Giridhari,
as Krsna Himself. We may understand from this that a part of the infinite is infinite. And yet so
feeble is our ordinary vision that although Govardhana-sila is a part of the infinite, and therefore
also infinite, to our material vision it is only a piece of stone.

"A part of the infinite is also infinite. The Govardhana-sila represents Krsna as the master and
keeper of cows. Within Govardhana is that mild and soft conception of God the Beautiful. We
beg for His mercy, His affection, and His gracious glance upon us." (Loving Search for the Lost
Servant, Ch. 4, Lord of the Cows)

Srila Sridhara Maharaja also says,

"Krsna expressed Himself in Bhagavatam and other places, where we find that He says 'I am in
Govardhana'. 'Govardhana and Myself, inseparably we are connected. Anyone who will worship
Govardhana, he will worship Me.' And this idea, Mahaprabhu gave it to Dasa Goswami Prabhu.
And then in Gaudiya Vaisnava school that worship of Govardhana sila is continuing. And his
entrance into the raga marga, direct in the line of divine love towards Krsna."

If we want to sincerely serve Sri Sri Radha Govinda, then we have to accept Them as our
acaryas have done - then the Lord reveals Himself as He is. We are not to conjecture what He is
or try to capture Him and make Him an object of our imagination. As it is said, "It is folly to
think that we can bring the infinite into our fist and make Him an object of our whim. He is an
autocrat and therefore it is better to have a true glimpse of Him according to His will rather than
to try to capture Him with our tiny brains." (Anonymous Monk)

Chanting the Holy Name

Question: How should we chant the Holy Name of Krsna? What should be our mood and what
should be our meditation?

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Answer:

krsna-nama cintamani akhila rasera khani nitya-mukta suddha-rasa-moy

namera balai jata saba la'ye iha hata tabe mora sukhera udoy

"The Holy Name of Lord Krsna is a cintamani jewel. It is a philosophers stone, a gold mine
filled with the unlimited moods of loving exchange (rasa). It is the spring from which all nectar
flows. It is eternally liberated. It is pure and sweet. When all impediments to the pure chanting of
the Holy Name are taken away and destroyed, then my happiness will know its true awakening."
(Saranagati, Sri Nama-Mahatmya, tx-8)

This verse is sung by, Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The Holy Name of Krsna is filled with the deepest
mellows of devotional service. Therefore we must approach the Holy Name with great attention
and respect. This of course presupposes having received the Holy Name from the lips of a pure
devotee of Krsna. Chanting that is done independent of the shelter of the Lord's pure devotee will
not have its full effect. So first we must take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and then begin
the chanting process.

The Holy Name is not an ordinary sound that is produced from this material plane. The Holy
Name of Krsna comes directly from the spiritual world and manifests on the lips of the pure
devotees.

golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana

"The chanting of the Holy Name of Krsna comes directly from the spiritual world."

Unless and until the impediments (anarthas) to the pure chanting of the Holy Name are removed
we will not be able to experience the full potency of the Holy Name.

krsna-name bhakta kabhu jada-buddhi kore na

anartha na gele name rupa dekha deya na

"The genuine devotee never maintains materialistic conceptions about the Holy Name of Krsna.
If the deviations that impede devotional service (anarthas) have not been expelled, then the
chanting of the Holy Name will never reveal the beautiful form of the Lord." (Prakrta-rasa-sata-
dusini, v.29)

Therefore we must take the Holy Name of Krsna in great earnestness and with the guidance of
advanced devotees, then we will undergo purification and thus become eligible to taste the nectar
of the Holy Name.

When we are on the path of the Holy Name many agents of Maya may come to test us or to
distract us from our endeavor. These are most notably kanaka, kamini, and pratistha - the desire
for wealth, sense pleasure, and popularity.

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In "Vaisnava Ke" (Who is a Vaisnava?) Srila Bhaktisiddhanta has compared kanaka, kamini, and
pratistha to a ferocious tigress who devours one's Krsna consciousness.

kanaka-kamini, pratistha-baghini", chaddiyache yare, sei ta' vaisnava

seianasakta", seisuddha bhakta", samsara tatha paya parabhava

"The desire for enjoying cheap fame and material distinction acts like a ferocious tigress who
devours one's Krsna consciousness. Similarly dangerous are the desires for enjoyment of wealth
and women. Someone who has transcended these materialistic desires through devotional service
is indeed a real Vaisnava. Someone with such Krsna conscious characteristics is truly unattached
to material life. He is actually a pure devotee of Lord Krsna! Thus the cycle of repeated birth and
death is easily defeated by a pure devotee of the Lord!

Our first goal in Krsna consciousness is to become a pure devotee of Krsna. Without becoming a
pure devotee of Krsna one cannot enter into the mysteries of chanting the Holy Name.
Professional kirtana, frenzied dancing, and the mastery of knowledge (though popular in some
societies) are not the symptoms of pure devotional service in love of God, nor do such things
help us to progress in the right direction. One has to develop real detachment from wealth, sense
pleasure, and the desire for popularity. To achieve that goal we should be aware of the enemies
within and with great earnestness we should strive to drive them out and not give them any
opportunity to flourish.

Sometimes we hear that we should 'dove-tail' our desires in the service of Krsna, but the problem
with the 'dove-tailing' process is that the desires themselves become nourished by such a process
and never actually go away. What is recommended is that the serious devotee should accept
those things favorable to pure devotion and immediately give up the connection with anything
detrimental to pure devotional service. The path of exclusive surrender to Krsna begins in that
way.

anukulyasya sankalpah, pratikulya-vivarjjanam

raksisyatiti visvaso, goptrtve varanam tatha
atma-niksepa karpanye, sad-vidha sarnagathi

"Acceptance of those things favorable to devotional service, the rejection of unfavorable things,
the conviction that Krsna will give me protection, the acceptance of Krsna as one's guardian or
master, full self-surrender, and humility are the six types of surrender." (Hari-bhakti-vilasa
11.676 and Caitanya-caritamrta 2.22.97)

Service is all-important in the process of chanting the Holy Name, but service presupposes
surrender. First surrender then serve. Without surrender, what we call service is actually self-
deception. Service means that there must be a master and the servant is surrendered to the master
- then the transaction is one of service. Service does not mean to fulfill ones desires and then
offer the result to Krsna. Service means to directly fulfill the desires of Krsna under the direction
of His bona-fide agent, the spiritual master.

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When one is properly situated in the chanting process then meditation begins. Our foremost
meditation should be on the sound vibration of the Holy Name. Then in due course the Holy
Name will manifest as guna, rupa, and lila (qualities, form, and pastimes) of the Supreme Lord in
the heart of the qualified devotee. An independent endeavor to meditate on the Lord's qualities,
form, and pastimes is not actually required. All that is required is that we chant the Holy Name
purely. Then from within the Holy Name everything will be revealed.

Self-realization is a descending process. When the heart of a devotee is purified, then Krsna
takes His seat there and takes complete charge of His devotee. But if we have no faith in the
Holy Name or if we want things cheaply without having the necessary qualifications then we
will search here and there until we find a so-called guru who will guide us in perfecting an
external show of devotion.

Those who have faith in the Holy Name never recommend any other process for perfection than
purely chanting the Holy Name.

jada-sunya aprakrta nama chada bole na

"Other than the pure transcendental names of Krsna, which are completely free from all material
contact, nothing else should be spoken." (Prakrta-rasa-sata-dusini, tx-45)

bhoge mana, jade sraddha cit prakasa kore na

name sraddha na hoile jada-buddhi chade na

"Those whose minds are absorbed in the spirit of enjoyment of matter, and who possess
materialistic faith, can never experience the revelation of pure spiritual consciousness. Without
absolute faith in the Lord's Holy Name, one's mundane mentality can never be cast off."
(Prakrta-rasa-sata-dusini, tx-70)

Faith is all-important for success in spiritual life. When proper faith is at the foundation of our
spiritual journey then such faith will guide us and take us to the proper agent of Krsna. When
faith is at the foundation then having come in connection with Krsna's agent we will adhere to
his instruction and follow his example as our life and soul. When faith is at our foundation then
we will find that we have avoided both the cheaters and the cheating mentality that deceives the
faithless. Let faith be our guide.

The Vision of Guru

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Devotee: It has been said that the disciple should see his guru as a direct manifestation of Srimati
Radharani. Is such actually appropriate?

Narasingha Maharaja: It is a fact that the higher devotees may have such a vision of guru, but
such big words do not look good in the mouth of the neophyte.

In Gaudiya Vaisnava-siddhanta Srimati Radharani is the highest conception of guru-tattva but

many things are required before we are to come to that stage. If a neophyte devotee speaks such
high things, îMy guru is Radharani,î but such a devotee is lacking in the qualifications of a pure
devotee, then the higher conception from his mouth becomes a mockery.

First one should understand that our guru is all in all, he has given us everything for our spiritual
advancement. Therefore, we are fully indebted to Sri Gurudeva. We must feel eternal gratitude
toward Sri Gurudeva. Our gurudeva has given us the Holy Name of Krsna (the highest form of
Reality), and the proper conception of chanting the Holy Name.

The Holy Name of Krsna is not simply an external sound vibration, internal conception is
required, proper conception. The name of Krsna chanted by the Mayavadi and the Name of
Krsna chanted by the Vaisnava are not the same thing. The former is nama-aparadha, like the
milk touched by the lips of a serpent and the later is as pure as amrta, eternal nectar.

The Mayavada conception is that Krsna is formless, no features, no activities, no senses etc. and
such a conception puts one in the category of a pasandi or an offender to the Supreme Lord.

Sri Gurudeva has given us the conception that Krsna is the supreme proprietor, the supreme
enjoyer, and the dearmost friend of all living beings. Sri Gurudeva imparts to us the conception
that we are the eternal servants of Krsna and that service to Krsna must be preformed with full
surrender of kaya, mano, vakya or body, mind, and words. Such a conception places us on the
threshold of pure devotional service.

Next Sri Gurudeva gives us the vaisnava-mantras (diksa-mantras) that assist us conceptually in
the chanting of the Holy Name and aid us in our internal development, rasa.

Hari-Bhakti-Vilasa states that one who is initiated into the Vaisnava-mantra and who is devoted
to worshipping the Supreme Lord is a Vaisnava. To be accepted as a Vaisnava is indeed no small
affair and to discard or neglect the diksa-mantras that Sri Gurudeva has given us is paramount to
spiritual suicide.

It is stated in Gopal Bhatta Goswamiís introduction to Sat-Krya-Sara-Dipika that one who has
given up his diksa-mantras will have to be reinstated (re-initiated) into the status of a Vaisnava:

kevalam sri guru govinda tastad bhave tat patnyas tad bhave tat putrat, tad bhave satirtha guru-
bhratus tad bhave sajatiyananya sarana sadhutah punah panca-samskara-purvaka sri
bhagavan-nama-mantra grhanam punah samskaratisaya suddhasya tasya sri visnu-pujanam
tannamadi sravana-kirtana-smarana-vandanadi purvaka mahotsavadikam varniyam

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“One should again accept Name and mantra from oneís own spiritual master. If the guru is not
present (left his body), one should accept from the guruís wife, son or respected godbrother or
from any other pure sadhu having similar qualities. Thus, becoming exceedingly pure by having
accepted the panca-samskaras again, he should offer obeisance to and worship Lord Visnu, by
fully engaging in hearing, chanting and remembering the Name, form, qualities and pastimes of
Lord Visnu.î

Therefore, we should be most attentive to the Holy Name of Krsna and to our diksa-mantras, as
if they were our very life and soul.

If we think that we have the higher realization but we do not chant purely and we neglect our
diksa-mantras, then we are sure to fall down. Actually if that is our position, we are already
fallen.

Next, we should understand how Sri Gurudeva has placed us in connection with the service of
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his foremost eternal servants. To enter Krsna-lila is very, very
difficult. But one who has achieved the service of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is automatically
accepted in Krsna-lila. The foremost service to Mahaprabhu is to spread His sankirtana
movement (this includes book distribution and all other aspects of the Hare Krishna Movement).
Not only is such a devotee accepted in Krsna-lila but also such a devotee will find that he has
been automatically transferred to the service of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani in Vrndavana.

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde vindeta bhaktim krta punya rasih

tatha tathot sarpati hrdy-akasmat radha padambhoja sudhambhu-rasih

One who is extremely fortunate may get the mercy of Sri Gauranga. As much as we devote
ourselves to the lotus feet of Sri Gauranga, to that extent we will automatically be able to taste
the nectarine service of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani in Vrndavana. The more one engages
in the service of Lord Gauranga, the more one finds oneself in Vrndavana, tasting the nectar of
the service of Sri Radha. (Caitanya-candramrta 88)

Then we must understand and appreciate how Sri Gurudeva has brought us in connection of the
Lordís associates such as Svarupa Damodara, Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, and so forth.

The most intimate associate of Sri Gauranga in his vipralambha-lila (pastimes of separation) in
Jagannatha Puri is Svarupa Damodara. Svarupa Damodara is Lalita in Krsna-lila, the most
favorite friend of Radharani. Other than Svarupa Damorara very few devotees could understand
the mind and heart of Sri Gauranga, especially when the Lord entered deep within the feelings of
separation.

Sri Rupa Gosvami is the manjari-gopi in Krsna-lila named Rupa Manjari and in Gaura-lila Sri
Rupa is connected with the innermost feelings of the Lordís heart through a vicarious
relationship. Sri Rupa did not live personally with the Lord nor was he present for many of the
Lordís pastimes at Gambhira, where the Lord manifested extreme feelings of separation for
Krsna. But Rupa Gosvami was connected to the Lord through the Lordís instructions and
through His service. Thus Sri Rupa was able to understand the Lordís heart when He danced and

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chanted in front of Lord Jagannatha in a most unusual way. For such, Sri Rupa Gosvami was
appointed as the head of the Gaudiya-sampradaya and authorized to distribute raganuga-bhakti,
spontaneous love in the mellows of sweet devotion.

Not only are we to understand that Sri Rupa is the head of our Gaudiya-sampradaya but also we
are to understand that entrance into the Lordís intimate domain is possible for the jiva only by
the same method as shown by Sri Rupa, humble submission and strict obedience to the Lordís
instruction while serving in separation. This is our method of raganuga-sadhana.

It is an important point to understand that the indirect method of approach is a superior means to
the end (dasa, dasa, dasa, dasanudasa) and Sri Gauranga has recommended such a path for all
jivas.

The direct approach to Krsna is flawed from the outset because it clashes with the very nature or
constitutional position of a jiva. By nature and constitutional position the jiva requires shelter,
asraya. And this is particularly true when it comes to rasa with Krsna. A jiva does not have the
capacity to directly associate with Krsna in any given rasa and again, particularly in madhurya-
rasa. The jiva requires the shelter and recommendation of the Lordís parsadas, eternal associates.
So Mahaprabhu has recommended this method.

gopi bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa dasanudasah

“Our position is that of the servant, of the servant, of the servant, of the followers of the
Vaisnavas (gopis).î

Sri Sanatana Gosvami was the older brother of Sri Rupa and he has given us the vaidhi, rules and
regulations, in adjustment to the path of raganuga-bhakti.

So Sri Gurudeva has brought us in connection with these three important personalities in Gaura-
lila and by doing so he has increased our good fortune many millions of times. We must gain
such appreciation for Sri Gurudeva before we can understand his highest status.

If we have not understood all these matters concerning Sri Gurudeva then we have not actually
understood what he is or what he represents. Simply shouting îjaya gurudevaî with no proper
understanding is only giving lip-deep service.

Then we are to appreciate that Sri Gurudeva has brought us in connection with the most holy of
holy places, Sri Mathura-mandala, the residents of the Dhama, Sri Radha-kunda, Sri Giri
Govardhana and lastly Sri Gurudeva has placed within us the great hope that one day we will get
the divine service of Sri Sri Radhika Madhava-sundara in Their eternal abode.

Raghunatha dasa Gosvami has said in his prayer that he has received all these things from Sri
Gurudeva and so he bows his head with all respect at the lotus feet of Sri Guru.

nama-srestham manum api saci-putram atra svarupam

rupam tasyagrajam uru-purim mathurim gostavatim

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 radha-kundam giri varam aho radhika-madhavasam
prapto yasya prathita-krpaya sri gurum tam nato ’smi

Later on, in the absence of Sri Gurudeva, Dasa Gosvami has said that the world is empty and
vacant, he says that without the presence of Sri Gurudeva the great Govardhana Hill seems like a
big python coming to devour him. And Radha-kunda, the holiest place on Earth, seems like the
gaping mouth of a ferocious tiger.

sunyayitam mahagostham girindvo ajgaraye te

vyaghra tundaya te kundam jivatu rahitasya me

"Now that I do not have the association of the sustainer of my life (Sri Rupa), Vraja seems
completely empty and desolate, Govardhana Hill seems like a huge python and even Sri Radha-
kunda seems to be like the gaping mouth of a ferocious tiger." (Sri Prathanasraya
Caturdasakam, Verse 11)

Srila B. R. Sridhara Maharaja has commented that such a feeling of separation as felt by
Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami will naturally come into the heart of a sincere disciple who
experiences separation from Sri Gurudeva.

So before we make much of boasting and declare that our gurudeva is Srimati Radharani we
should first try to follow in the footsteps of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, our prayojana-acarya,
and appreciate the proper conception of Sri Gurudeva beginning from the first step and
gradually, with proper qualification, come to the ultimate realization.

How Great is Srila Prabhupada?

(Adopted from a talk given at Govindaji Gardens for the Vyasa Puja celebration of Srila
Prabhupada. September 1, 2002)

If we enter the ocean by boat we can navigate our direction to a destination based on the stars.
The stars are compared to so much knowledge found in the Vedas. One of those stars in the sky
is called Dhruva-loka. In modern science Dhruva-loka is called the Pole Star or North Star.
When we are in the ocean if we lose sight of that star, if we cannot see that star then we cannot
benefit from all the other stars. We will be lost in the ocean. The Pole Star doesn't move. It is
fixed in one place. As long as we can see the Pole Star, which never moves, than we can
determine so many things by the other stars which are moving. But if we do not have a fixed
bearing with the Pole Star then we are lost.

Sri Guru may be compared to the Pole Star because with the help of the guru we can derive great
benefit from the Vedic knowledge. But without the help of the guru we will be bewildered in our
attempt to understand the Vedic knowledge.

The Vedic knowledge is sometimes compared to a 'jungle of knowledge'. Not just an ordinary
jungle but a very dense jungle. In this material world we are already in the jungle of material

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misconceptions. If we want to search for God then we must come out of misconception. To
fulfill our search we may enter into the study of the Vedas. But if we study the Vedas without the
help of the guru we may eventually come to conclude that there is no God. Or we may conclude
that there are many Gods. Or worst of worst we may conclude that, "I am God. We are all God".
In this way, without the help of the guru, we may become bewildered and meet with ultimate
ruin.

In the Vedic literature there are various opinions. In the Visnu Purana it says that Visnu is
Supreme. In the Siva Purana it says Siva is the Supreme. In the Markandeya Purana it says that
Durga is Supreme. And in the Upanisads it is mentioned 'aham brahmasmi' - 'I am Brahman'. So
one may think that there are many Gods, or that there are so many Gods that there is no God at
all. We may think that what the Vedas say cannot be true because there are too many apparent
contradictions. Or we may take 'aham brahmasmi' as the ultimate conclusion and then conclude
that we are all God. This is what happens to persons who study the Vedas without the help of the
bona-fide guru.

Srila Vyasadeva compiled the Vedas in four divisions, Atharva Veda, Sama Veda, Rg Veda,
Yajur Veda. Then he compiled the Puranas and other literatures. Lastly he wrote Vedanta-sutra.
Vedanta means the end of knowledge. After revealing so much knowledge Vyasadeva tried to
bring his writing to an end, to the conclusion of knowledge. After he completed Vedanta-sutra
however Vyasa still did not feel satisfied. He was not satisfied within himself. His mind was
troubled. He crossed the ocean of knowledge but still he was not satisfied.

Then the guru of Vyasadeva, Narada Muni, came and Vyasadeva inquired from his guru why he
did not feel satisfied. Vyasadeva asked his guru why even after completing all the departments of
knowledge he was not satisfied? Then Narada Muni said, "Actually you are a cheater. You have
cheated the people of the world and you have done a very wrong thing. You have only indirectly
described the truth in so many divisions and so many facets and even when bringing it to an end
you are simply misleading the people."

Then Narada instructed Vyasa, "Without directly coming to describe the lila of Krsna, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead you have not done justice to truth. Now you have to give the
meaning of all these things in one book." Then Vyasadeva wrote the Bhagavata Purana, Srimad
Bhagavatam.

Bhagavatam is the natural commentary on Vedanta-sutra. The message of the Bhagavatam is

summarized in the beginning, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. So that is the meaning. Of all the
Devas, of all the incarnations of the Supreme Lord, Krsna is the Supreme and original.
Vyasadeva revealed in Bhagavatam that Krsna is the asraya-tattva. In other Vedic literatures
Vyasadeva only revealed the asraya-tattva in part, not in full. If you are a ghost then Siva, who is
known as Bhutanatha, is your asraya (shelter). Siva stays in the cremation grounds and he gives
shelter to so many ghosts. In Kailasa also many ghosts are given shelter. If you are a materialist
then Durga is your asraya. If we are a materialist then we get everything from this material
nature by the grace of Durga. But when we are ready for the perfection of life, Vyasadeva
revealed, "Narayana is the asraya-tattva, because Narayana resides in Vaikuntha, which is above
this material world".

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But in Srimad Bhagavatam Vyasa revealed that the highest plane is called Goloka. Because
Vaikuntha is above all the material world everything is under the shelter of Vaikuntha. Because
Narayana is the Supreme Lord in Vaikuntha everything is under His shelter. Then Vyasa
revealed, "If we journey to the highest place in Vaikuntha and look towards the spiritual sky,
from there we will see a land known as Goloka Vrndavana." Goloka Vrndavana is above
Vaikuntha and in that place Krsna is the Supreme, Sri Sri Radha-Krsna are Supreme (Krsna is
the visaya [enjoyer] and Radha is the asraya [shelter].

Above Vaikuntha is Goloka Vrndavana and Krsna resides eternally in Goloka Vrndavana, giving
shelter to all His devotees. Vyasadeva therefore described that the lotus feet of Krsna are the
Supreme shelter of all living beings. Krsna confirmed this also - jiva bhuta sanatana. Krsna said
in Bhagavad-gita that all these jiva's have come from Him. All living beings are His parts and
parcels. He is their ultimate shelter.

So the dearmost representative of Krsna comes to the world to represent this message of
Vyasadeva -Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There have been many gurus in the
world since the time of Vyasadeva, but all of them did not represent the ultimate conclusion of
Vyasadeva. Someone may ask, "Is there any thing special about your Prabhupada, your Guru?"
Naturally we will say, "Oh of course, about my guru there are many special things". Even if our
guru never left the village in which he was born, still we will think that our guru has many
special qualities. And if we are asked we will say, "My guru saved me from the ocean of
ignorance. That is the special quality that makes our guru different from all others and especially
dear to us."

om ajnana-trimirandhasya
jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri-gurave namah

Without guru our eyes are sealed in darkness. We are born into darkness, into ignorance, but our
guru opens our eyes with the torch light of knowledge. This common point we will find between
all bona fide gurus and bona fide disciples.

But about our Guru Maharaja, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, we must say that
there is a special characteristic found in him that is very rare and to this day we have not seen
that it has been duplicated. And what is that? It is that previously what was only known in India
and only in the most cultured spiritual sections of society -that thing which was only known
there, he took that out of India to every town and village in the whole world.

prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama

sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

This is the prediction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that the Holy Name of Krsna will be spread
in every town and village of the world. By the mercy and instruction of Srila Prabhupada, the
Holy Name of Krsna was spread all over the world. From far away places in the North such as
Siberia and deep into the Southern reaches of Africa and Australia, to China in the Far East and

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throughout the Western world -the Holy Name of Krsna and the worship of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna
was carried everywhere under the guidance of Srila Prabhupada.

A guru or a great acarya may spread Krsna Consciousness in a village or even in a state or a
country but to spread Krsna consciousness throughout the whole world, that indeed is very rare.
For example, Ramanujacarya, a very great Vaisnava saint, spread Visnu-bhakti in Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka and Andhra. When Ramanuja went to Kerala he tried to start there but they told him
to leave. Ramanuja is considered to be the sakti of Ananta, still when he preached in Kerala they
did not accept, they told him to go. Who can speak better than Ananta, who has a thousand
mouths, and knows all the Vedas? But still Ramanuja was not successful in Kerala.

There is a place called Tananur in Karnataka where Ramanuja debated with sixty thousand Jain
philosophers and defeated them. At that time Ananta personally manifested through Ramanuja
and defeated and converted the Jains. If we visit the Yoga Nrsimha temple in Tananur we will
see one Deity of Ramanuja and behind him is Ananta. The Sthala-purana there says that on that
day Lord Ananta Himself came there and with many mouths he was arguing many points with
the Jain scholars and He defeated them all. So Ramanuja was indeed a very great personality, yet
he could only spread his mission successfully in three states, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and
Andhra.

Another very great saint in India was Madhvacarya. He is considered to have been an incarnation
of Bhima and Vayu. He was a very great philosopher, very learned and highly elevated
spiritually. But Madhvacarya was only able to spread his mission successfully in Karnataka.
Practically speaking, outside of Karnataka nobody has heard of Madhvacarya. Of course, on
occasion he preached in Varanasi, but the people of Varanasi never became the followers of
Madhvacarya. Varanasi remained what it had always been, a place of Mayavadi philosophers.

Both Ramanuja and Madhvacarya were indeed very great personalities, but their spiritual
influence was more or less regional. However, in the time of Srila Prabhupada he not only had an
influence in a few states in India but he traveled around the world twelve times and successfully
spread his mission very widely. Because of his preaching work the name of Krsna and
Vaisnavism is known in almost every country in the world. With this consideration we may ask,
"How great is Srila Prabhupada?"

When the mission of Ramanuja, who held the sakti of Ananta, was successful in only three states
and the mission of Madhvacarya, who is Bhima and Vayu combined, was successful in only one
state then what is the power and greatness of that person who spread Krsna Consciousness
throughout the whole world? How great is Srila Prabhupada?

When Ramanuja and Madhvacarya toured India for spreading their missions they had to contend
with the opposing elements of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, the materialists, and the Mayavadi's.
But when Srila Prabhupada went out into the world to spread Krsna consciousness he had to
contend with all of the above and more. Especially the scientists, who hold a grip on the whole
world, were a formidable opposition to Krsna consciousness, but Srila Prabhupada defeated them
and many of them surrendered and became his disciples.

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Srila Prabhupada had to fight with many opposing elements and in countries where the culture
was not at all favorable for spiritual advancement in Krsna consciousness. Yet he established
over one hundred temples, asramas, and Krsna conscious communities throughout the world.

With our mind we might try to imagine who he was, what power stood behind him, what is his
eternal spiritual identity. Some of the greatest thinking Vaisnavas I have ever had the good
fortune to meet considered that Srila Prabhupada was the sakti of Nityananda, of Baladeva.

Ramanuja held the shakti of Ananta, but Ananta is an amsa of Baladeva. Amsa means a part -
Baladeva is the source of Ananta. Baladeva means the spiritual potency of Godhead, the full
spiritual potency and energy of Godhead. In Gaura-lila, Nityananda Prabhu and Baladeva are
considered non-different. Many great transcendentalists in our times, who witnessed what our
Guru Maharaja achieved, have concluded that he was the sakti of Nityananda Prabhu, a
saktyavesa-avatara. That means that he was empowered with the sakti of Sri Nityananda Prabhu
to spread Krsna consciousness throughout the world.

Nowadays we may meet a big svami or a guru (especially in India) who has many disciples and
when asked, "Who are you?" he will say, "I am Bhagavan, I am God!" or he may say "I am the
Jagat-guru (the spiritual master of the universe)." But when our Guru Maharaja, Srila
Prabhupada was asked "Who are you?" he would say, "I am the humble servant of my gurudeva.
My only credit is that I am the obedient servant to the order of my guru. All the success that I
have is due to the grace of my guru."

Although it is the opinion of many great devotees that our Guru Maharaja was a saktyavesa-
avatara of Nityananda Prabhu, still by his own words he considered himself to be the humble
servant of his guru. Our Guru Maharaja had such a vision that he could see that the whole world
could become God conscious, Krsna conscious, but still he considered himself the humble
servant of his guru.

If we have love for someone then we may naturally exaggerate their qualities, because that is the
natural way of love. But even without any exaggeration due to our love for our Guru Maharaja if
we say that Srila Prabhupada was one of the greatest saints to have ever come to this Earth, it
cannot be taken as an exaggeration - his life and achievements stand as evidence for his
greatness.

Is Sannyasa Forbidden in Kali Yuga?

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Some time ago, a sannyasi who could not maintain his vows of renunciation wrote an apologetic
letter on the internet addressed to his disciples and friends wherein he explained the numerous
reasons why he could not continue in the renounced order of life.

In order to excuse his weakness, the apologetic sannyasi quoted a verse from the Brahma-
vaivarta Purana to substantiate his opinion that Sannyasa is not meant for the people of Kali-
Yuga.

asvamedham gavalambham sannyasam palapaitrkam

devarena sutopattim kalau panca vivarjayet

“Five things are forbidden in the age of Kali – horse-sacrifice, cow-sacrifice, acceptance of
sannyasa, offering flesh to the forefathers and begetting a child in the womb of the wife of one’s
elder brother.” (Brahma-vaivarta Purana, Krsna-jnama Khanda 185.180).

Regrettably, by quoting this verse from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana as evidence that the
sannyasa-asrama is ineffective in Kali-yuga, our former sannyasi has inferred that his own
spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, as well as his parama-guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura and all other great acaryas like Sri Ramanuja and Sri Madhva were misguided or even
foolish for having accepted sannyasa and having awarded sannyasa to their disciples in Kali-
yuga.

The now retired sannyasi has unwittingly fallen into the clutches of the anti-devotional parties
who use this very same argument against Srila Sarasvati Thakura and his pure representatives.
The anti-devotional parties argue that in the Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Caitanyadeva Himself
quotes this verse indicating that even if one has the qualities of a sannyasi, it is not recommended
in the age of kali.

However this verse was quoted by the Lord in connection with cow killing during his
conversation with the Chand Kazi, and not in connection with sannyasa. Furthermore, soon after
His dialogue with the Kazi, Mahaprabhu traveled to Katwa in order to take sannyasa Himself
from Sri Kesava Bharati. We also find that when Mahaprabhu resided in Purusottama-dhama,
many of His close associates were sannyasis. Sri Svarupa Damodara, Paramananda Puri, Ranga
Puri, Visnu Puri, Brahmananda Bharati, Kesava Puri, Govinda Puri, Sukhananda Puri,
Brahmananda Puri, Nrsingha Puri, Nrsingha Tirtha and others were all in the renounced order of
life. Mahaprabhu’s own diksa-guru Sripada Isvara Puri Gosvami was also a sannyasi, so how
could Mahaprabhu possibly be against the acceptance of sannyasa in kali-yuga?

In the book, The Golden Staircase, Srila Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja explains what type of
sannaysa has been forbidden in this present age.

“The answer is explained in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. This is a general question not only for the
Gaudiya sampradaya, but also for the followers of Ramanuja, Madhvacarya, and even
Sankaracarya. The Buddhists may not care for the directions of the Puranas, but the Sankara
school and the Vaisnava schools accept sannyasa. Sankara was a sannyasi and for the most part

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his successors were all sannyasis as well. This is true of Ramanuja also, Madhvacarya, and the
Visnusvami sampradaya also.

The interpretation is this: in this present age, sannyasa in the strict sense of karma-sannyasa is
forbidden. Karma-sannyasa means that you leave everything, and that type of sannyasa is not
possible in this present age. It is described in the sastras that in Satya-yuga, as long as a man’s
bones exist, that is how long he will live. Along with the longevity of the bones, the life will be
there. In Treta-yuga, life may be maintained by the nervous system; but it is stated that in kali-
yuga ‘kalav-annagatah pranah’ – one’s longevity depends on food. Therefore sannyasa in the
strict sense is not possible in kali-yuga.

Previously, Valmiki was engaged in tapasya for so many years that the insects captured his
whole body and reduced his flesh into earth, yet he remained present within his bones. Then
later, by the help of some spiritual miracle his whole body was restored. But in this present age,
without food it is not possible to live. All penances have been especially adjusted for kali-yuga,
and the only continuous fast allowed in this present age is for twenty-four hours - not more than
that. In other ages, at least twelve days fasting was generally done. If a person had done anything
wrong, then according to the smrti-sastra, twelve days fasting was the standard punishment for
any sins. But in kali-yuga, twenty-four hours fasting is the maximum because without food a
man cannot survive.

If he were to take karma-sannyasa while being so extremely dependent on material giving and
taking, then he wouldn’t be able to maintain his existence. But the life of Vaisnava tridandi-
sannyasa, which is not very extreme – take prasadam, do service – is a sort of modified form
based on yuktahara viharas ca, and one living according to this principle can take sannyasa.

Mahaprabhu took sannyasa, Sankaracarya, Ramanuja – all the pioneers of the different
sampradayas took sannyasa. That has been interpreted as karma-sannyasa, but still, sannyasa is
of several kinds. There is also vidvat-sannaysa, which is considered by the salvationist section to
be the highest. Their idea is that when one has fully realized that his connection with this
material realm is a negative one, he will finish his material encasement and enter into the
spiritual sphere. When he is fully established in this firm consciousness that ‘my connection with
the material world will be injurious to me,’ he will then relinquish his body and go away to the
spiritual sky. That is vidvat-sannyasa.

There is also narottama-sannyasa:

yah svakat parato veha

jata-nirveda atmavan
hrdi krtva harim geyat
pravrajet sa narottamah

In the narottama system of sannyasa, one has realized the presence of or existence of God within
his heart, and thinking of Him, he leaves his present engagement and duties of the household and
remains outside, anywhere and everywhere – under a tree or in a cave or wherever – careless of
his physical needs. He does not immediately relinquish his body, but he takes whatever food he

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gets and when he does not get any food he fasts, and in this way he goes on. He leaves his
household for good; that is narotttama-sannyasa.

And there are also different stages of sannyasa mentioned in the sastra: kuticaka, bahudaka,
hamsa and paramahamsa progressively. But tridandi-sannyasa is when the sannyasi engages
himself in the service of Godhead by spreading His message and doing some good to the public,
and that characteristic is different. It is categorically different. The tridandi-sannyasi is not
adopting an attitude or tactic of leaving all the engagements of this world as a result of becoming
disgusted with its many temptations. Rather, he is engaging himself in the higher duty of the
upper world through an agent, so his body has got utility. Remaining here, maintaining
connection here, he is drawing some higher thing from above and distributing that in the
environment. That is another conception of sannyasa, and it has positive value.

This is a similar engagement to that performed by the Lord’s closest associates. When an
incarnation of God comes down, His favorite parsadas, His friends and servitors, are also sent by
Him to come down to do some service to help Him. There are also sub-agents who have received
some engagement from the higher agent, and by moving within this world in that capacity, they
can earn more spiritual wealth than those who are very eager to disconnect completely from this
material plane. They want to try to utilize their connection with this mundane plane to earn some
substantial wealth of the upper house. So like the Lord’s parsadas, the tridandi-sannyasis want
to work as God’s agents.”

Although members of the anti-devotional parties and their unwitting dupes attempt to condemn
the sannyasa-asrama by using the verse from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana, the following verse
from the same Purana has conveniently escaped their attention.

dandam kamandalum rakta-vastram matranca dharayet

nityam pravasi naikatra sa sannyasiti kirttitah

“A sannyasi accepts only a danda, water-pot, and saffron-cloth and resides near a village – this is
the wealth of the sannyasa asrama.”(Brahma-vaivarta Purana 2.36.9)

In fact, throughout the vast body of Vedic literature, only one verse can be found wherein the
sannyasa order is apparently forbidden in the age of kali. In all the other sastras that were
written for the people of this present age a man is repeatedly urged to take up sannyasa.

brahmacari grhastho va mrtadaro vanecarah

jnatva samyak param-brahma tyaktva sangan-parivrajet

“After he has come to understand the nature of the Supreme, a student, a householder, or a
forest-hermit should become detached and become a wandering mendicant.” (Smrti-sastra)

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura desired to reinstitute the system of daivi-varnasrama

and with this in mind took up the tridanda of a sannyasi to preach the sublime message of Sri
Caitanydeva all over the world. It is bewildering that one can claim to be a follower of Srila A.C.

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Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada, in the line of Srila Sarasvati Thakura and in the same breath
imply that sannyasa has no value in today’s society!

Indeed, it is lamentable that in this age many men have taken up the garb of renunciation and
later discarded it to enter family life. What is even more unfortunate is that when such persons
cannot admit that the fault lies with themselves they instead vilify the sannyasa-asrama as being
impractical, useless, or even dangerous in kali-yuga. Such a ‘sour-grapes’ philosophy betrays a
significant lack of faith in Sri Guru, the sattvika-sastras, the Vaisnavas and Sri Caitanyadeva
who has Himself accepted the sannyasa-asrama in the age of kali.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura accepted sannyasa for the purpose of preaching Krsna
consciousness all over the world and he passed that on to his disciples who in turn passed that on
to their Godbrothers and disciples who in turn passed that on to their disciples, and who in turn
passed that on to their disciples. Therefore the conclusion is that if a man wants to preach Krsna
consciousness and serve his Gurudeva with all his energy then he should certainly take sannyasa.
This is called sadhu-vrtti, following in the footsteps of great acaryas.

The disciples mentality

(Art of Sadhana - Ch XV)
The word diksa refers to the process of surrendering to a spiritual master. The genuine spiritual
master is one who is most dear to the Supreme Lord, one who is His intimate associate. A person
who takes shelter of such a spiritual master is recognized by Krishna as one of His own. The
Lord immediately bestows a transcendental body on such a surrendered soul and, in this body,
the disciple has the good fortune to serve the divine form of the Lord.

The primary characteristic of a disciple who has received initiation and direction in the practice
of worship from his spiritual master is visrambha, an honest desire for faithful and loving service
to the spiritual master, the Vaishnavas and the Supreme Lord. The secondary characteristic is
that he seeks to destroy all his sinful activities.

The divya-jnana, the transcendental knowledge of sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana, is

received by the disciple as part of initiation. The self-revealed scriptures, the Vedas, are the
supreme authority (pramana) on spiritual subject matters. The scripture and the nine prameya
(teachings) based on scripture are collectively called dasa-mula, the ten basic elements of
spiritual knowledge. The nine prameya consist of the seven aspects of relationships
(sambandha) -- Krishna Himself, Krishna's energies, Krishna's divine mood (rasa), the soul, its
bondage and its liberation, and the inconceivable oneness and difference of the Lord and the
individual soul. To these seven are added abhidheya, bhakti, and prayojana, love of God.

Along with all of this knowledge comes an important side effect: the destruction of one's sinful
reactions. Thus the direct result of initiation is love for Krishna. Mahaprabhu confirms this in the
following statement to His own spiritual master:

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 kiba mantra dile gosani kiba tara bala
japite japite mantra karila pagala

"What mantra have you given me, O gurudeva! What powers does it possess? As I chant this
mantra, I feel that it is turning me into a madman."

(Chaitanya Charitamrta 1.7.81)

If one does not develop love for Krishna nor feels any attachment to the chanting of the Holy
Names after being initiated, but remains inclined to sinful activities, falling down from time to
time, it is then clear that either knowingly or unknowingly, that person has committed terrible
offenses to the Lord, the guru or the Vaishnavas. One should then think: "I have only made a
pretense of surrendering myself. I have used my initiation simply as an excuse to engage in sense
gratificatory activities."

IGNORANCE MEANS REJECTING THE LORD

A lack of interest in the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna is the conditioned soul's chief defect. The
basis of all sin is ignorance, whose symptom is the rejection of Krishna. The seed of all sin, i.e.,
the tendency to sin, is present in the flaw of ignorance. From there, sinful activity is inevitable.

Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami compares this deficiency in the conditioned jivas to coming
under the influence of a witch's spell.

sei dose maya pisaci danòa kare tare

adhyatmikadi tapa-traya tare jari mare
kama krodhera dasa hana tara lathi khaya
bhramite bhramite jadi sadhu-vaidya paya
tanra upadesa-mantre pisaci palaya
krsna-bhakti paya tabe krsna nikate jaya

"For rejecting Krishna, the witch of illusion punishes the jiva, causing him to suffer the three
kinds of misery--adhyatmika, adhibhautika, and adhidaivika. The unfortunate conditioned soul
then becomes the slave of his desires and his frustrations, suffering their kicks and abuse. After
wandering through the universe in this condition, if he somehow finds a saintly person to act as
an exorcist, then through his powerful instructions, the witch's mastery is overcome and she runs
for her life. The fortunate individual then finds pure devotion to Krishna and goes to Him."
(Chaitanya Charitamrta 2.22.13-15)

The devotee then turns to Krishna and prays as follows:

kamadinam kati na katidha

palita durnidesas
tesam jata mayi na karuna
na trapa nopasantih
utsrjyaitan atha yadupate

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 sampratam labdha-buddhis
tvam ayatah saranam abhayam
mam niyunksyatma-dasye

"I carried out so many evil orders of my wicked masters--lust, anger, greed, bewilderment,
intoxication, and envy--that I have lost count. Yet, despite my faithful service, these masters
have never taken pity on me. I am so shameless that the faintest desire for devotional service has
never once manifested in my heart. O Lord of the Yadus, today I have finally come to my senses
and I throw off my shackles to take shelter of Your fearless lotus feet; please engage me in Your
personal service."

(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 3.2.25, Chaitanya Charitamrta 2.22.16)

PURITY'S CHARACTERISTICS

Pariksit Maharaja made the following significant statement about how one can recognize purity
in a devotee's character: "The person whose self has been washed clean never abandons
Krishna's lotus feet (dhautatma purusah krsna-pada-mulam na muncati--Srimad Bhagavatam
2.8.6)."

Visvanatha further clarifies:

"The sign of a pure heart is the inability to abandon the service to Krishna's lotus feet" (mat-
pada-seva-tyagasamarthyam eva suddha-cittatva-cihnam). If somehow or other one sees that
such a devotee is affected by lust or anger, such incidental characteristics should be considered
like the bite of a snake with broken teeth; an insignificant setback which does not have long-term
effects on the devotee's devotional life (atah kvacit kama-krodhadi-sattve'pi utkhata-
damstroraga-damsanavat tasyakimcitkaratvam jneyam). There is no poison in a snake's broken
fangs, so its bite is not considered a significant problem, even though it appears very dangerous
to the uninformed observer. Similarly, lust, anger and greed may cause some disturbance in a
devotee's mind, but do not result in his mind being permanently contaminated."

The Lord accepts the offerings of those devotees of purified mind. Other than the association of
such pure devotees, the jiva has no other hope of attaining any value of significance in life.

One should not think, however, that all one has to do is to sit and listen to the spiritual master's
instructions. One has to act according to those instructions. If a disciple does not take up the
devotional practices or sadhana recommended by the guru then how can he expect to achieve
spiritual perfection?

In the Chaitanya Charitamrta, the Lord says that, on receiving initiation from the spiritual
master, one should worship Krishna and serve the guru. Then one becomes free from the control
of maya and attains Krishna's lotus feet. (Chaitanya Charitamrta 2.22.25)

tate krsna bhaje kare gurura sevana

maya-jala chute paya krsnera carana

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In his commentary to the above-mentioned verse, Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Thakura writes: "It is through a combination of bhajana and service to the spiritual master that
one becomes free of maya's net and attains Krishna's lotus feet."

Srila Prabhupada also says,

"Our eternal spiritual identity is to be the dust of the lotus feet of Rupa and Raghunatha."
Therefore, we have no other duty in life than to follow their example. He has further affirmed,
"Without the performance of harinama-sankirtana, no other practices of Bhakti yoga such as
residence in Mathura or association with devotees are complete. However, even if I only engage
in harinama-sankirtana, I will win all the fruits of residence in Mathura, associating with
devotees, serving the deity in loving faith, and listening to the Bhagavatam. Simply through
harinama-sankirtana, all perfections come to the jiva."

Our spiritual master instructed us to chant 100,000 Names daily without offense, keeping our
objectives clear. If we cannot follow this instruction, how can we expect to become free of all the
contamination in our hearts? As stated by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the performance of
harinama-sankirtana is glorious in seven ways. It cleans the mirror of the heart (ceto-darpana-
marjanam); it extinguishes the conflagration of material life (bhava-maha-davagni-
nirvapanam); it distributes the cooling moon rays of auspiciousness (sreyah-kairava-candrika-
vitaranam); it is the life of transcendental knowledge, which is like its consort (vidya-vadhu-
jivanam), it increases the ocean of divine bliss (anandambudhi-vardhanam); at every step, it
gives a taste of the full ambrosia for which we have always been anxious (pratipadam
purnamrtasvadanam); and it bathes the entire self in divine ecstasy (sarvatma-snapanam).
Mahaprabhu Himself repeatedly stated that there was no worship superior to the worship of the
Holy Names. "All will attain perfection through the chanting of the Holy Names. Chant these
Names constantly; I give you no other rules." (Chaitanya Bhagavata 2.23.78)

Do we have any hope of attaining the supreme good if we ignore these instructions of the Lord
and the spiritual master?

THE SERVANT'S VOW OF SERVICE

The devotee who desires to reach the level of nistha should make the following vow:

"According to the instruction of my spiritual master, I must absolutely complete chanting a fixed
number of Names on my japa beads daily, as well as daily offer a fixed number of obeisances to
the devotees and to the deity form of the Lord. I absolutely must perform my prescribed service
at certain fixed times of the day. I must observe the fortnightly Ekadasi fast. Upon rising in the
brahma-muhurta period, before dawn, I shall remember Krishna and His devotees' lotus feet in a
particular way, then bathe. After this, I will sit down and meditate on the mantra into which my
guru has initiated me. Then I will perform puja to the deity, study the devotional scriptures, and
sing the hymns written by the great authorities. All these things I shall do every day without fail.

"I shall never welcome any thoughts other than thoughts of Krishna; I shall absolutely give up all
useless controversy and gossip. Every day, I shall unfailingly hear the spiritual instructions of my

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guru and advanced devotees and then discuss those topics with my godbrothers, rather than
wasting time in fruitless conversations. I will not allow any of the valuable time given to me in
this human form of life to be wasted by giving way to sloth and laziness. I will therefore not lose
a moment to sleep that is not absolutely necessary for maintaining my body, but will employ
every moment in a way that is spiritually profitable.

"I will be very careful to avoid the association of anyone who is overly attached to material
enjoyments, or of the wives of other men, or of womanizing men. Indeed, I shall avoid the
company of anyone who is not a devotee of Krishna, for it is said:

asat-sanga tyaga ei vaisnava acara

stri sangi eka asadhu krsnabhakta ara

'The essence of Vaishnava behavior is to give up the association of the unsaintly. By unsaintly it
is meant those who are attached to the opposite sex and those who are non-devotees.'
(Chaitanya Charitamrta 2.12.195)

"Every day without fail I will complete chanting the Maha-mantra consisting of 16 names and 32
syllables a fixed number of times. Even when not chanting on my beads, I will constantly repeat
these names without counting. Without completing my japa and chanting my ista-mantra, I will
not even touch water, what to speak of taking food. My spiritual master who has initiated me
with the ista-mantra is my only true friend in both this world and the next. If I cannot win his
pleasure, then all my spiritual practices are for nought. Through his mercy I can win the mercy of
the Supreme Lord. If I displease him I have no other recourse. If Krishna is displeased with me,
my spiritual master can intervene on my behalf, but if the spiritual master is angry or dissatisfied
with my actions, then all my spiritual practices are as worthless as oblations of clarified butter
poured on the remains of a fire sacrifice. The service of my spiritual master's lotus feet is the real
treasure of my spiritual life. Any spiritual practice performed independently of him is without
value. Whatever hearing or chanting I engage in should be done for the pleasure of my spiritual
master alone. I should always meditate on these words sung by Narottama dasa:

sei vrata, sei tapa sei mora mantra japa

sei mora dharama karama

'The feet of Sri Rupa Manjari are my real wealth. They are the object of my vows. They are the
goal of my austerities and penances, they are the goal of my mantra and my japa. They are the
purpose of my religious observances, my every activity.'(Prarthana 8)

"If my guru rebukes or criticizes me, I should take it as a great fortune. I should remember that
whatever spiritual practice I engage in, all is being done for his pleasure. I should give this
consideration pride of place in my consciousness, remembering Sarvabhauma's words to
Mahaprabhu: ajna gurunam hy avicaraniya: 'The orders of our gurus are never to be debated.'
(Chaitanya Charitamrta 2.10.145)

"I pray that my intelligence never becomes so contaminated that I criticize the words of my
spiritual master. May such a wicked mentality never manifest in my heart, not even in my

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dreams. Any arrangement he makes for me is for my ultimate good. I pray that I never consider
him to be an ordinary mortal by entertaining negative judgements of his words or actions. I will
always remain on my guard against such a disaster.

"Because the guru is affectionate towards his disciples, if I approach him with my doubts, he will
lay those doubts to rest with his answers. May I never forget for even a moment that my spiritual
master is the source of all auspiciousness. The Supreme Lord has taken the form of my guru in
order to give me the mercy of initiation and spiritual teaching. May I never forget at any time
this manifestation of compassion of the Lord's revealed form as the guru. The duty of the
disciple is to always seek the pleasure of his spiritual master, whose only purpose is to carry out
the orders of the Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on this earth. I should always
consider the servants of my guru to be worthy of my respect. Whoever is dear to my guru is dear
to me.

"If I can keep on doing my devotional service with this attitude of unswerving, constant faith in
my spiritual master, then through his satisfaction I will quickly become qualified for all
perfections. My spiritual master has assured me that through the Holy Name I can attain all
perfection, therefore, I will faithfully chant the Holy Names without committing offenses, while
always making a determined effort to strictly follow his orders. On the strength of the Holy
Names in which my guru has instructed me, I will become eligible for the treasure of raganuga
bhakti and for the great fortune to taste the sweet flavors of the most elevated spiritual relations,
never given prior to the appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu."

THE DEVOTEE'S PRAYER

Sri Guru's mercy is everything -- guru-krpa hi kevalam. Therefore one should pray as follows:

"I am most fallen and useless, O Lord. May my spiritual master be pleased with me. May he give
me the spiritual strength to follow his directions. May all the obstacles in my worship of the Lord
be removed so that at the end of my sojourn in this world, I may sit alone far from the hustle and
bustle of the material world, and with a steady mind, chant the Holy Names with feeling. May
the Lord be merciful and allow me to give up my last breath in this way. Knowingly or
unknowingly I have committed so many offenses to His lotus feet, and even now I continue to
commit such offenses. O Lord, please forgive all such offenses and give me a place at Your lotus
feet. Make my life complete by allowing me to associate with those who are dear to You.

"For so long I have simply made a pretense of being initiated. In fact, I have not done that which
a surrendered soul should do; I have not strictly followed my spiritual master's instructions, thus
I have not made even a little advancement in spiritual life. All the contaminations in my heart
prior to initiation are still there today, so how is there any hope of my attaining the divine
realization which is said to be the real sign of initiation? Like a lump of iron my heart is without
feelings. Even though I chant the Holy Names, it does not melt. Thus I am thinking,

aparadha phale mama citta bhela vajra-sama

tuwa name na labhe vikara

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"Due to offenses, my heart has become as hard as a thunderbolt. Therefore no ecstatic
transformations take place when I chant your name." (Bhaktivinoda Thakura)

tabe jani tahe aparadha achaye pracura

krsna-nama bija tahe na haya ankura

"Thus I know I have committed so many offenses to the Holy Name; for though I have planted
the seed of the Name, no creeper of love has sprouted."(Chaitanya Charitamrta 1.8.29)

"O gurudeva! Now in the evening of my life, I have become so forlorn and hopeless. O Lord! O
You who see no fault in anyone! Be generous to me and give me your mercy. Help me to be free
of all offenses so I develop a taste for the Holy Names which you have instructed me to chant.
Allow me to earn the right to be called the genuine servant of your servants. With your divine
vision, you see me perfectly, externally and internally. You know everything I do; therefore I
pray that everything I do--my behavior, my devotional service--be a source of pleasure to you.

"O Lord, forgive all my offenses, whether I have committed them willingly or unwillingly.
Forever give me a place among all your servants, at your lotus feet, where there is no more
lamentation, no more fear, no more death. Your feet are the only shelter for one like me who has
found no refuge anywhere in this world. Your feet are the source of ultimate good for one like
me who has found no value anywhere else in this world."

bhumau skhalita-padanam
bhumir evavalambanam
tvayi jataparadhanam
tvam eva saranam prabho

"Those who trip and fall have only the ground as an aid to again get up. O Lord, those who
commit offenses to You, have no one but You as a recourse."

So, my dear devotees, tread carefully the path of devotion. Always pray for the mercy of
Krishna, the guru, and the vaishnavas. Remember that progress in devotion depends on progress
in humility--that is the art of sadhana.

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 The internal meaning of rathayatra and
nama-bhajana: Part 1
(A lecture given in Srila Puri Maharaja's room at Gopinatha Gaudiya Matha, Jagannatha Puri on
the day of Hera Pancami, june 29th 1998)

Kaviraja Gosvami Prabhu has relished the great joy of Krsna's pastimes in Vraja. He writes:

anyera hrdaya-man, mora mana - vrndavana

mane 'vane' eka kari'jani
tahan tomara pada-dvaya, karaha yadi udaya
tabe -tomara purna krpa mani

"For others, the sensuous mind is at the heart of their being, but my mind is Vrndavana. I
consider both y mind and Vrndavana to be one. Were you to place Your lotus feet there in my
Vrndavana-mind, I would deem it the fullest expression of Your mercy." (Caitanya-caritamrta
Madhya 13.137)

"Otherwise, abandon all these attempts to deceive both us and Yourself. If You really want to be
merciful to Me, then leave Your horses and elephants, these crowds of courtiers and Your kingly
raiment. Don't try to show off all Your finery to Me. If You want to come to Me, then put on
Your cowherder's dress! Come with Me to Vrndavana!"

krsna lana vraje jai - e bhava antara -

"I will take Krsna and go back to Vraja." This mood was always in the gopis hearts. (Caitanya-
caritamrta, Madhya 1.56)

"If You want to come with Me, then put on Your cowherder's dress! Come with Me to our old
haunts by the Yamuna's banks, at the base of the keli-kadamba tree. Stand there next to Me - then
I will believe You have truly blessed me. Otherwise, I consider all this to be nothing more than a
gross deception."

"Do You remember Me at all? What do You think we are - yogis? Masters of the yoga system?
Do You think that by performing breathing exercises and torturous asanas, meditating and
concentrating on You, we will be able to capture You in our hearts? Dear friend, just think a
little. Why are You behaving in this way? Today is the day of the full-moon, let's go down to the
Yamuna." As soon as Radha mentioned the word purnima, She became despondent. This is
Radharani's condition.

What can we understand about Radha? For a moment there I got a little emotional while
describing Her mood, but we have no real power to understand the extent to which the gopis'
hearts burned with desperation at not seeing Krsna. We are like children in a traveling theater
party. You have never heard manohara-sahi kirtana. Wheni was a lad studying at school,

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Baruipur High School, a rasa-lila festival was held at the Raya Chauduris' house. Many excellent
performers came to sing there, some in the garana-hati style, others in the manohara-sahi. Some
of them were just young boys, but they had been taught so well that one time, when the audience
was disorderly, one of them started to sing so beautifully that tears filled everyone's eyes. Our
schoolmaster, who was an educated brahmana with an M.A. would go there and listen to the
kirtana from beginning to end. We followed his example and would also attend. But this kirtana
was such an amazing thing - it had such an incredible effect on everyone. Since I myself used to
be able to sing a little, I would also experience the same. This often happens at plays and
performances. But who amongst us, performers or audience, could truly understand what is being
experienced by Radha and Krsna who are performing the lila itself?

Now today, after so long, there is a solar-eclipse here in Kuruksetra. It is as though a great
holiday is taking place in our country. It has been so long since there has been a solar-eclipse. All
this royalty has come to Kuruksetra on this occasion looking to fulfill their innumerable material
desires. Some are seeking wealth, others are looking for sons and heirs, while others are simply
seeking pious credits towards future happiness. But the Vrajavasis have come because they are
burning with the desire to catch even a momentary glimpse of Krsna. "Krsna is coming. Surely I
will be able to see Him."

In expectation of meeting them, Krsna had told Daruka to decorate His chariot very nicely, to
make it look opulent. And now, accompanying that opulently decorated chariot and horses and
elephants, Krsna's royal retinue. Krsna Himself has mounted the chariot dressed in an elaborate
royal costume. As He sits there, watching and waiting, the people of Vraja approach Him and see
Him for the first time in so many years.

Krsna's father Nanda and His uncle Upananda are standing there, waiting expectantly. They had
prepared o many things to say while waiting to see Him again, but now that He is there before
them, they cannot find the words to say anything. They merely repeat, "My child! Gopala!" But
beyond that, they can say nothing. And even those few words are lost in a flood of tears. Nor can
Krsna hold back the tears which start to flow in torrents over His cheeks. The other Vrajavasis
also are overcome with emotion. Nanda Baba lets Krsna go - how much longer can he hold Him?
No further words are possible. All Nanda and Krsna can do is shed tears and their tears mix as
they fall. An exchange of words in which the tears falling from their eyes are the language.
Nanda and Upananda finally let Krsna go and it is Mother Yasoda's turn to greet her son. But she
too is only capable of saying, "Dear child, Gopala!" and is then speechless.

Now it is the turn of Krsna's friends. They had intended to chastise Krsna - to say, "Brother, why
did You forget us? Don't You ever think about us at all?" this is what they had intended to say,
but they are unable to speak. They think, "How can we tell our brother Kanai everything that we
have gone through? What is the use of saying anything?" And so they say nothing.

Then it came to Radharani's turn to meet Krsna:

"Did You think of Me at all?"

"What are You saying? Of course I do."

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This is when Krsna Dasa Kaviraja Gosvami writes what Radha says:

anyera hrdaya-man, mora mana - vrndavana

mane 'vane' eka kari'jani
tahan tomara pada-dvaya, karaha yadi udaya
tabe -tomara purna krpa mani

"For others, the sensuous mind is at the heart of their being, but my mind is Vrndavana. I
consider both y mind and Vrndavana to be one. Were you to place Your lotus feet there in my
Vrndavana-mind, I would deem it the fullest expression of Your mercy." (Caitanya-caritamrta
Madhya 13.137)

"The minds of other people are filled with the desire for riches. They desire one thing after
another. They can do as they please; I have nothing to do with them. My mind id absorbed in the
spirit of Vrndavana. All this mysterious deception of Yours has no place there. If You really
want to be merciful to Me, put on Your cowherd garb and take Me back to Vrndavana. Throw
off Your royal robes and raiment. We boil over when we see all these opulences, the royal
elephants and steeds, the crowds of courtiers. We cannot bear to see them. Send them all away
and come with us. Take on the appearance of a herdsman again. Wear the clothes You wore
when you took the cattle to pasture and take us back home with You. Only them will we believe
that You have given us Your complete blessings."

After She had finished saying this, Radharani started to cry. She continued speaking, "So You
have come today to teach Me about yoga. Yogis perform various difficult breathing exercises
and physical postures, meditating an concentrating so that they can hold You in their hearts. So
now I have to start these practices before I can think of You? My every ingoing and outgoing
breath cries out for You alone: everywhere I look, I see nothing but Your form. And now I have
to learn yoga on top of this? This is what we already know about yoga. You sent Uddhava to
teach us the path of knowledge, and now You have come personally to give us lessons in yoga."
With these words, Radha burst into tears.

Then Krsna said, in order to console Her, "I have killed so many demons. There are still some
left to be destroyed. Once they have been taken care of, I will come back to you." But Radharani
was in no state to accept these assurances. She turns to Her girlfriend, addressing her as sahacari,
'companion'. Priyah so'ham sahacari - "Companion, this is the same person my beloved Krsna... "
Tad idam ubhayoh sangama-sukham - "and this is the same pleasure of union." Tathapy-antah-
khelan-madhura-murali-pancana-juse mano me kalindi-pulina-vipinaya sprhayati (Caitanya-
caritamrta, Madhya 1.76)

"You are the same person You were, and I the same person I was; and the joy of seeing each
other is the same as that we had in the past, it is true. But still, all that I can think of are the
kalindi-pulina-vipina, the banks of the Yamuna where You first stole My mind, the antah-
khelan-madhura-murali-pancama-juse, the playing of Your flute on the fifth note. If You really
and truly wish to console Me, then be united with Me as before on the banks of the Yamuna.
Anyway, stop telling us to be this or that, to be yogis or something else that we are not."

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Radharani then began to sob uncontrollably and Krsna was unable to remain silent. He tried to
comfort Her once again by saying, "I have destroyed so many demons, killed so many enemies.
There is only one left now. Once I have destroyed him, I will come back to You."

What wonderful language Krsna Dasa Kaviraja Gosvami uses! He can because he has true
feelings arising from direct experience. We do not know how to feel these sentiments. We have
only managed to get a peek, the slightest glimpse. But this is what bhajana - krsna-bhajana - is all
about. Simply carrying a japa-mala around in your hand is not krsna-bhajana. True, I am carrying
a japa-mala myself, but where are my thoughts? Where is my bhajana? What is the secret of
bhajana? Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote the songs of Bhajana-rahasya, but we have not
entered into that mystery. Of course, we were given some general directions by Srila Prabhupada
to do asta-kaliya-lila-smarana, that is, remembering Krsna's pastimes in Vraja according to the
different times of the day, so no one suold think that this is something outside our tradition.
Some, like the people in Vrndavana, says, "The members of the Gaudiya Matha are dried up,
withered people. Their bhajana has no dynamism, no pizzazz." We, on the other hand, see that
everything they are doing is simply for a momentary emotional experience, nothing more, what
is the use of that? This is what I was trying to show when I talked about the boys in the traveling
theater party. They had been taught how to do these things by their families. They had been told,
"At this time you should cry. At this point you laugh, and so on." Then when they came and put
on the performance, they did as they had been taught, and we who were in the audience had an
emotional response to them.

But how will real spiritual experience take place? It will come as a result of chanting the Holy
Name. By chanting the Holy Name, the time will come when tears automatically flow from the
eyes. And if it is only a fleeting experience, or even if it doesn't happen, it is still potent. Today, I
had some feeling, but what can I do? It was only momentary. How much better it would be if this
was our permanent condition in service to Krsna! Not that as soon as my heart gets a little soft
and a little moisture comes into my eyes that I start to think what a great bhajananandi I am. And
then I start to have a low opinion of others, thinking that none of them are doing any real
bhajana. That no one but me is truly chanting the Holy Name. When all these thoughts enetr my
mind, I have to chastise myself: this is not really bhajana.

Krsna-bhajana cannot take place without the Holy Name. Without the Holy Name it just cannot
happen. Mahaprabhu glorified the Holy Name so extensively. And what is more, we need the
grace of guru.

naham ijya-prajatibhyam tapasopasamena va

tusyeyam sarva-bhutanam guru-susrusraya yatha

"I, the soul of al beings, am not as pleases by sacrifices and service to the family, nor austerities
and renunciation, as I am by service to the guru." (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.80.34)

This verse refers indirectly to the four asramas or stations of life. If I perform all the duties of my
particular station perfectly, I will still not bring full pleasure to the Lord. You may ask, "What
then will satisfy Krsna if not that?" He says, tusyeyam sarva-bhutanam guru-susrusaya yatha,
"The pleasure that I get from seeing someone engage in wholehearted service to his spiritual

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master is greater than the fleeting satisfaction of seeing him or her fulfill the duties of their
station in life, commendable though this may be."

Thus Krsna showed by His own example how to serve guru. He and His friend spent an entire
night carrying bundles of firewood on their heads. Incredible! We cannot even begin to imagine.
The Supreme Lord Himself! The Supreme Lord is talking with His friend Sudama and says,
"Sudama, do you remember? One day, Guru Ma (the spiritual master's wife) said to us, '
Children, we have no more wood. How will I be able to cook?' then I said, 'Don't worry, Mother.
We will go off to the woods immediately to gather fuel.' We went into the deepest jungle and
collected firewood and made huge bundles which we helped each other place on our heads. Then
suddenly, black clouds started to gather and the rain began to pour down. Before you knew it, the
forest was flooded. And we two fiends stood holding hands with the bundles on our heads and
telling each other not to drop the wood. And the rain kept on thundering down."

So we too are disciples and that is what we would do. But is that why we came to the spiritual
master? To carry bundles of wood on our head? But this is Krsna Himself, and He is not doing it
just to impress people. These two friends are carrying a heavy bundle of firewood - no
insignificant thing - they are standing there carrying bundles of wood in the midst of a heavy
downpour, their clothes completely drenched.

In the meantime, at the asrama, neither Sandipani Muni nor his wife, the guru-patni, were able to
sleep a wink the whole night. She was thinking, "I sent the children out to fetch wood and now
they are undergoing such difficulties." In the middle of the night, Sandipani Muni got up and
started looking for them. He cried out, "Where is Krsna? Where is Sudama? O Gopala, where are
You?" Then he saw before him that wondrous sight. Oh, the tears from his eyes suddenly let
loose and began to wash over his chest. Sandipani Muni praised the two disciples, "What can I
say? You have set the standard for service to the standard of service to the spiritual master."
Then he gave them a benediction: "I bless you that you will never forget anything that I have
taught you, neither in this life or the next." Their spiritual master then further blessed them.

So, if this mood was permanent, if it were a sthayi-bhava, that would be better. But tell me, what
process do you advise to attain it? Chant the Holy Name without offences.

nama vina kali-kale nahi naya dharma

sarva-mnatra-sara nama ei sastra-marma

"In the age of Kali, there is no religion other than the chanting of the Holy Names. The Holy
Name is the essence of all sacred utterances - thi is the conclusion of all the scriptures."
(Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi 7.74)

We do not have to memorize a large number of different mantras. There are just a few things to
pay attention to with this, our essential mantra: you must chant it properly, avoiding offences.
But that will not happen simply by carrying a japa-mala around in your hand. Many people carry
a mala but are busy gossiping with one another. Our motto is aviksepena satatyam - 'chant
constantly, without distraction.' That is why when people ask me, 'Are we to never meditate on
Krsna's pastimes? Are we to be bereft of this nectar forever?' I answer, 'Go ahead. Meditate on

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them. And instruct others to do the same. But the price of that meditation is steadfastness (nistha)
in the Holy Name' This is stated in the Bhakti-rasmarta-sindhu (1.4.15-17):

Adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sangah - at the stage of sadhu-sanga you take shelter of the spiritual
master's lotus feet. Then bhajana-kriya follows -

kona bhagya kona jivera sraddha yadi haya

tabe sei jiva sadhu-sanga je karaya
sadhu-sanga haite haya sravana-kirtana
sadhana-bhaktye haya sarvanartha-nivartana
anartha-nivrtti haile bhaktaye nistha haya
nistha haite sravanadye ruci upajaya
ruci haite bhaktye haya asakti pracura
asakti haite cite janme krsne prity-ankura
sei bhava gadha haile dhare prema-nama
sei prema prayojana sravanananda dhama

"If, by good fortune, a living entity develops faith (sraddha) in Krsna, then he begins to associate
with devotees (sadhu-sanga). From the association of devotees, one begins devotional service by
hearing and chanting about Krsna. This is called sadhana-bhakti and through it one becomes free
from all unwanted contaminations (anartha-nivrtti). When one is freed from all unwanted
contamination, he becomes steadfast in his devotional practices (nistha). When fixed in
devotional practice, a taste (ruci) is awakened. After such taste is awakened, a deep attachment
(asakti) arises, and from that attachment the seed of love for Krsna grows in the heart. When the
ecstatic emotional stage intensifies, it is called love of Godhead. Such love is life's ultimate goal
and the reservoir of all pleasure." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 23.9-13)

Here the process is given in its entirety. Examine these steps carefully. So what is nistha,
naisthiki bhakti? Jiva Gosvami defines it in his commentary to Bhakti-rasmarta-sindhu (1.4.15):
aviksepena satatyam 'consistency without distraction' citta-viksepa-rahita jei nairantarya. I have
observed that as I am meditating on the Holy Name, other thoughts come and go. I will start to
thinking about who knows what. I see a crow and I start thinking about crows. I see a stork and I
start thinking about storks. How many different ways there are for the mind to get diverted. But
where is the constancy without distraction? Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote in his Harimana-
cintamani, "I have counted a hundred thousand Names, but krsna-prema eka bindu na haila guna-
mani - not a drop of love for Krsna has manifested in me." So where is that intense love? All I
am concerned with is a number, a counting game. Ah! Hare Krsna.

And what did the Namacarya, Haridasa Thakura do? He would chant his lakhs of Names
sometimes silently, sometimes aloud, throughout the entire night. When the sun rose in the
morning, he would say to himself, "What, the sun has already risen?" no one knew when he
would close his eyes, day or night. Can we imagine that? So study the matter, this is naisthiki
bhakti - aviksepena satatyam. So I am telling you all: 'Do it! Do bhajana. Perform your bhajana
and hopefully this mood, this emotional attitude, will come. But wait until you have achieved
naisthiki-bhakti and then come and ask me. If you don't have naisthiki-bhakti then how can you
expect it to come?'

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I will explain naisthiki-bhakti further. The Bhagavata says:

tada rajas tamo bhavah kama lobhadayas ca ye

ceta etair anabiddham sthitam sattve prasidati

Tada: When naisthiki-bhakti has arisen, then all eth characteristics of passion and ignorance and
other defects will disappear from the heart. When one is situated in the mode of pure goodness,
then the mind is clear and contented. The contentment of the soul is not long in following. And if
we don't reach this point, then how can we attain something as pure as divine emotion?

What is our goal? In order to make it clear to us what our ultimate destination is, Srila
Prabhupada gave us general directions for the asta-kaliya-lila-smarana one Karttika month. He
said, do it. But first chant the Holy Name. Let a little nistha in chanting arise first. aviksepena
satatyam. Let that condition where the mind is fixed and free from distractions arise to some
extent. All I see are distractions, the mind being distracted - citta viksepa. On the other hand, if
through meditating on the Lord's pastimes some benefit is derived, then that is another way of
going about it. But if our mind is constantly being diverted to other things, then how can the
intense eagerness for the esoteric realms of bhajana awaken? Therefore when my disciples
become unhappy and ask, "Maharaja, are we going to continue in this dry, emotionless condition
forever?" I answer, "If you have reached the stage of naisthiki-bhakti, then you can do as you
will. And you can also instruct others to do the same. But if you have not arrived at the state of
naisthiki-bhakti, then how do you expect to be able to advise others in that way? And other than
the Holy Name, there is no other way of reaching that state."

It just doesn't happen that your consciousness is purified by any method other than the Holy
Name. You must have steadfastness in the Holy Name, you must have developed a fixed
devotional attitude - naisthiki-bhakti. Do you understand what I am getting at? Are you going to
insist, "We need to relish the nectar of Krsna's lila?" Your heart has first to reach a certain level
of purity before you can reach Krsna's pastimes. As long as it is filled with many different kinds
of desires, lust, anger and greed, do you think that you will be able to experience the
transcendental mellows? Have you arrived at the platform of pure goodness, suddha-sattva? That
is why the Bhagavatam has stated: tada rajas-tamo bhavah - consider this point carefully. Have
you seen this verse?

adau sraddha...
sraddha-sabde visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya
krsna-bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya

"The word sraddha or faith means the firm conviction that all things are accomplished through
devotion to Krsna." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 22.32)

This is where firm conviction comes in. first you need this faith, then you will get association
with devotees. Through this association you come to take shelter of a pure devotee. Visvanatha
Cakravarti has given two categories of association of devotees, one of which is service to the
great saints. One starts with faith and then goes on to devotional association. This is followed by

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bhajana-kriya or engagement in devotional service. This consists of hearing and chanting and so
on.

kona bhagya kona jivera sraddha yadi haya

tabe sei jiva sadhu-sanga je karaya
sadhu-sanga haite haya sravana-kirtana
sadhana-bhaktye haya sarvanartha-nivartana
anartha-nivrtti haile bhaktaye nistha haya
(Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 23.9-11)

When a devotee reaches the stage called jata-ruci, then he experiences certain ecstatic symptoms
like tears in the eyes etc. In the Bhagavata, there is a verse - tad asma-saram hrdayam batedam
(Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.14). Asma-sara -nothing but stone, as hard as a thunderbolt.

aparadha-phale mama, citta bhela vajra-sama

tuwa name na labhe vikara
hatasa haiye hari, tava nama ucca kari
bara duhkhe daki bara bara

"Due to offences my heart is as hard as a thunderbolt, so when I chant I experience no emotional

transport. O Hari, I have lost hope and so I loudly cry out Your Name again and again in my
great distress."
(Gitavali, Siksastaka 6)

So a certain amount of distress is necessary, don't you think?

dina-daya-maya karuna-nidan
bhava-bindu dei rakhaha paran
kabe tuwa nama uccarane mora
nayane jharaba dara dara lora

"O Lord, you are filled with mercy for the pitiful, You are a treasure house of compassion.
Please keep me alive by giving me a drop of divine feeling. When will tears pour from my eyes
as I utter Your Holy Name?"(Gitavali, Siksastaka 6)

So where then can we find this spirit?

tad asma-saram hrdayam batedam

yad grhyamanair hari-nama-dheyaih
na vikriyetatha yada vikaro
netre jalam gatra-ruhesu harsah

"Certainly that heart is made of stone when, in spite of one's chanting the Lord's Holy Names, it
is not transformed upon the advent of ecstasies when tears fill the eyes and the hairs stand on
end."
(Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.14)

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Consider this for a moment. If you haven't attained ruci and you fake it; you manage to wring an
itsy-bitsy tear out of your eye somehow. Once it has been shed, you think, "Oh! Now I can
perform bhajana. Now I can relish the Lord's pastimes."

When I was in Bagh Bazaar Gaudiya Matha, I used to give evening lectures on the Bhagavatam
to which many cultured people came to listen. In the course of doing so, I started lecturing on
Krsna's childhood pastimes from the Tenth Canto. My godbrother Madhusudana Maharaja was
in the audience and there were many others too, who came and relished all these topics. But
word of these readings reached Srila Prabhupada - he was in Puri-dhama at the time. Prabhupada
then said that relishing Krsna's pastimes should not be done in all times and circumstances.

prathamam namnah sravanam antahkarana-suddhy-artham apeksyam. suddhe cantah-karane

rupa-sravanena tad-udaya-yoyata bhavati. samyag-udite ca rupe gunanam sphuranam
sampadyate. sampanne ca gunanam sphurane parikara-vaisistyena tad-vaisistyam sampadyate.
tatas tesu nama-rupa-guna-parikaresu samyak sphuritesu lilanam sphuranam susthu bhavati

"First it is expected that one should hear the Lord's names in order to purify the heart. Once the
mind and intelligence have been purified in this way, one can hear about Krsna's form, through
which one's qualification to visualize it is obtained. When the form of the Lord has been clearly
visualized, one can experience His qualities. Once these have been clearly understood, one
develops one's own individual spiritual characteristics through the particular characteristics of
the Lord's associates. Thus, once the name, form, qualities and associates of the Lord have been
realized, a clear realization of Krsna's activities will follow."
(Krama-sandarbha commentary to Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.18)

Prathamam namnah sravanam antahkarana-suddhyartham. One has to first engage in hearing the
Names of the Lord so that the mind and intelligence are purified. After this one can begin
hearing about Krsna's form through which one's qualifications to visualize it becomes possible. I
have heard about His form - Syamasundara. That is one of Krsna's Names. So what is this
syama, this blackish form? Once I know about Krsna's form, I can start to hear about His
qualities. What are His characteristics? For instance, he is affectionate to His devotees, and so
on. We hear about His glorious nature. Only after this do we come to lila-katha. First rupa, then
guna, and only afterwards lila. If we don't follow this sequence and attempt to relish Krsna's lila
prematurely, then we might feel some temporary emotion, but it will not be permanent, fixed
bhava. That is why Prabhupada told us, Mahaprabhu repeatedly heard the life-stories of Dhruva
and Prahlada from Gadadhara Pandita Gosvami. Why did He set this kind of example? The
reason was that He wanted us to renounce false emotion and become capable of experiencing the
real mood. That is why He told us to do things this way. Part II

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The internal meaning of rathayatra and
nama-bhajana: Part 2
(A lecture given in Srila Puri Maharaja's room at Gopinatha Gaudiya Matha, Jagannatha Puri on
the day of Hera Pancami, june 29th 1998)

Continued from Part I

Prathamam namnah sravanam antahkarana-suddhyartham. One has to first engage in hearing

the Names of the Lord so that the mind and intelligence are purified. After this one can begin
hearing about Krsna's form through which one's qualifications to visualize it becomes possible. I
have heard about His form - Syamasundara. That is one of Krsna's Names. So what is this
syama, this blackish form? Once I know about Krsna's form, I can start to hear about His
qualities. What are His characteristics? For instance, he is affectionate to His devotees, and so
on. We hear about His glorious nature. Only after this do we come to lila-katha. First rupa, then
guna, and only afterwards lila. If we don't follow this sequence and attempt to relish Krsna's lila
prematurely, then we might feel some temporary emotion, but it will not be permanent, fixed
bhava. That is why Prabhupada told us, Mahaprabhu repeatedly heard the life-stories of Dhruva
and Prahlada from Gadadhara Pandita Gosvami. Why did He set this kind of example? The
reason was that He wanted us to renounce false emotion and become capable of experiencing the
real mood. That is why He told us to do things this way.

You may say, "I have heard Prahlada's lila once. I may even have heard it several times. What's
the use of listening to it again? What will I gain from hearing it another time?" but haven't you
noticed that Mahaprabhu Himself set the example of listening to these stories repeatedly? He
would go to Gadadhara Pandita Gosvami over and over again and ask him to recite Dhruva-lila
and Prahlada-lila. This was the example that He gave. All this to teach us a lesson: we arrive at
the Tenth Canto gradually, bit by bit.then we begin to relish Krsna's lila. We have to earn the
qualifications to hear the Tenth Canto. If we start prematurely, then our situation will be just like
that of people watching a play, like the audience at a theater troupe's performance, as I described
earlier.However, in order that we might develop an idea of what our future prize will be, of what
the ultimate goal of our spiritual practice is, Srila Prabhupada arranged for a special program to
be held during Karttika month's niyama-seva. So once again I am not saying, "Don't do it." Many
people will create confusion after hearing what I have said. I am not saying not to do it, I am
saying one has to give precedence to the Holy Name. Give precedence to the Holy Name. When
your chanting becomes offenceless then you will experience the taste of sacred rapture in the
Name itself. And you will come to the state of constancy with out deviation or distraction. After
that, gradually, bit by bit, you will earn the qualification to relish Krsna's lila. Is that not so my
dear child?

Even so, this doesn't mean that we can go on without making an effort. Because in order to
progress, we have to have greed or eagerness. We have a verse that says:

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 krsna-bhakti-rasa-bhavita-matih
kriyatam yadi kuto'pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mulyam ekalam
janma-koti-sukrtair na labhyate

"O friend, if you should find it anywhere, that heart absorbed in Krsna-rasa so rare be quick to
buy, how much the soul's in need! In that bazaar is posted just one price; millions of pious works
will not suffice, the only cost is paid in coins of greed."(Padyavali 14 also quoted in Caitanya-
caritamrt, Madhya 8.70)

Krsna-bhakti-rasa-bhavita-matih - even millions and millions of lifetimes of pious activities will

not give us this attitude of absorption in the sacred rapture of Krsna devotion. The words lalasa
or laulya means greed or intense eagerness. This is the most essential factor. If someone should
somehow develop this intense eagerness to hear Krsna's pastimes, then there is nothing that I can
say. That is why I repeat once again, that I am not saying, "Don't do it". But I am telling you that
this is what our Prabhupada told us to do. Why did he tell me to stop discussing the Tenth Canto?
I went on and started reading from the Eleventh Canto. Prabhupada told us that the nectar of
Krsna's lila is there in the Tenth Canto, but when will we gain the qualifications to relish them?
So I take it that this is what is important for us to learn. If we want to attain real worthiness, then
we have to give pride of place to the Holy Name, that we may chant without committing
offences. So that we can chant offencelessly. After all, the Lord has invested the Name with all
His potencies. Sarva-sakti dila name kariya vibhaga (Caitanya-caritamrta,Antya20.19). And
there is no restriction as far as when or where one can chant the Holy Name. Nor does it matter
whether one is pure or impure. In the morning I might be wearing a contaminated cloth, one that
I have slept in all night, but the order remains, even in dirty clothes, "Chant the Holy Name."

khaite suite yatha tatha nama loya

desa-kala niyama nahi, sarva siddhi haya

"One can chant the Holy Name in any condition at all, whether eating or lying down. There are
no rules governing the time and place for chanting; one can attain all perfections in any case."
(Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya 20.18)

This is the contribution that Mahaprabhu made. One says I will get up early in the morning
before sunrise, I will take my bath, clean my teeth, wash my face. I will put on tilaka etc. and
only then will I sit down and chant. But Mahaprabhu is so merciful. What did He say? He said:
chant wherever you are, in whatever state you find yourself.

Our Paramananda prabhu came to Srila Prabhupada when he wa svery young so Prabhupada
loved him very much. He came when he was just a child...we heard that he was only eleven years
old. In an article about Bhaktivinoda Thakura he wrote that he came when he was thirteen, but I
heard that in fact he was eleven. Anyway, when he took shelter of Srila Prabhupada, he was still
very young and so Prabhupada always treated him with special affection, like his own child. He
used to sleep in the same room with Srila Prabhupada, so we would hear Prabhupada call out, "O
Paramananda! Get up! Get up and do some chanting!" He would groan and Prabhupada would
say, "What will you gain by groaning?" So Prabhupada would get him up in this way.

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We have to make the necessary effort in order to develop a love for the Holy Name. We have to
pray to the senior Vaisnavas, our guru-varga, that we can surrender our pride for there is no place
for egotism in devotional life. "I have become a great bhajananandi. What other people are doing
is not devotion. You call that bhakti? You chant, I'll just listen." We once had this attitude. "You
chant, I'll just listen." You have to chant yourself too. The Holy Name is everything to us. That is
why it is said -

nama vina kali-yuge, nahe anya dharma

sarva-mantra-sara nama, ei sastra-marma
Kaviraja Gosvami Prabhu also writes:
bhajanera madhye srestha nava-vidha-bhakti
krsna-prema krsna dite dhare maha-sakti
tae madhye sarva-srestha nama sankirtana
niraparadha laile nama paya prema-dana

"Of the various kinds of devotional practices, the best are the nine varieties of devotion, each of
which possess great power to bestow on the practitioner love of Krsna and thus Krsna Himself.
Of these nine practices, the best is nama-sankirtana. If one chants without offences, he will attain
the treasure of prema." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya 4.70-71)

jayati jayati namananda-rupam murarer

viramita-nija-dharma-dhyana-pujadi-yatnam
katham api sakrd attam muktidam praninam yat
paramam amrtam ekam jivanam bhusanam me

"All glories, all glories to the blissful form of Murari which is His Name, through which all my
efforts to perform religious practices, meditation and ritual worship have come to a halt. Simply
by uttering the Name once in any way at all brings salvation to any living being - it is the
supreme nectar; it is all that keeps me alive; it is my only ornament."
(Brhad-bhagavatamrta, 1.1.9 )

Puri-dhama. Why did Mahaprabhu choose to live in Puri-dhama? While here, He was always
absorbed in the mood of Radharani in separation, crying constantly. He came here at the age of
24, He then spent six years traveling the length and breadth of India, and then the last eighteen
years of His life here. The first six of those years were spent in the company of the devotees,
chanting, dancing and preaching. But the last twelve years were all in the Gambhira, in the
intoxicated madness of Radharani's divyonmada. He even jumped into the ocean and floated all
the way to Cakra-tirtha where he was caught in a fisherman's net. The fisherman thought that he
had become a ghost, some kind of living-dead man. Meanwhile Svarupa Damodara and other
associates of the Lord were looking for Him. They saw the fisherman, frightened out of his mind,
saying, "A ghost! A zombie!"

Svarupa Damodara said, "I am an exorcist. I know all the mantras to exorcise ghosts. I will take
care of that zombie. Show him to me." When they saw Mahaprabhu, He was lying there with all
his limbs distended so that He was much taller than usual. The devotees started to sing the Holy
Names in sankirtana until eventually Mahaprabhu came back to consciousness. All these events

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are absolutely true. None of it is made up. It is neither false, nor were these events a pretense for
the sake of impressing the world.

Whatever Mahaprabhu said is absolute truth. He taught by His words and His example. apani
acari dharma jivere sikhaya. He Himself put into practice religious principles and only then did
He instruct others. There is Mayapura He created a garden of love. An orchard which produces
fruits of love. That's what is said. He made an orchard of the fruits of prema - prema phala paki
pare, mali asvadaya- when the fruits ripened and fell, the gardener Himself relished them
(Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 9.162) And as He relished the fruits, He said:

ekala malakara ami kahan kahan jabo

ekala va kata phala pariya bilabo
ekala uthana dite haya parisrama
keha paya, keha na paya, rahe mane bhrama
ataeva ami ajna dilun sabakare
jahan tahan prema-phala deho jare tare

"I am the only gardener. How many places can I go? How many fruits can I pick and distribute?
It would certainly be a very laborious task to pick the fruits and distribute them alone, and still I
suspect that some would receive them and others would not. Therefore I order every person
within this universe to distribute these fruits of love everywhere."

He didn't say, "You don't have to give them in California" or "You don't have to give them in
Russia" did He?

jahan tahan prema-phala deho jare tare

khaiya hauk loka ajara amare
jagat vyapiya mora habe punya khyati
sukhi haiya loka mora gahibeka kirti
bharata-bhumite haila manusya janma jara
janma sarthaka kari' karo para-upakara

"Therefore I order every person in this universe to distribute these fruits of love everywhere...let
people eat these fruits and become free from old age and death...people will become happy and
sing My praises...anyone who has taken a human birth in the land of Bharata-varsa should
perfect his life and engage in welfare activities for the rest of the world."

prthivite ache jata nagaradi grama

sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

"My name will be glorified everywhere throughout this earth, in every town and village."

Nowhere did Mahaprabhu say that the fruits of love were to be distributed only in India and
nowhere else - prthivite ache jata nagaradi grama. And not just on this earth planet of ours - there
are so many other planets, is it not so?It is for this reason that we...first Bhaktivinoda Thakura
prayed tearfully in this way, "Why should the English be left behind?" He himself wrote Sri

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Caitanya - His Life and Precepts. Do you have that book? It was written in a very abbreviated
form, so many years ago. Our godbrother Svami Maharaja first found it in a library in Montreal.
Bhaktivinoda wrote, "When will that day come when we will dance with our arms upraised,
singing the Holy Name with our light-skinned brothers of Europe?" All these things are found in
the eighteenth or nineteenth volume of Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Sajjana Tosani.

From that moment, the international preaching work was begun. Of course, people like
Vivekananda went to the west, but their message was different. Our preaching of the Holy
Names is entirely for the sake of pure devotion. These others were preaching mayavadi
philosophy. Mahaprabhu gave no quarter to the mayavada doctrine. The Padma Purana has
clearly criticized it:

mayavadam asac chastram pracchanam bauddham ucyate

mayaiva vihitam devi kalau brahmana-murtina

"The unholy doctrine of mayavada philosophy is said to be a disguised form of Buddhism. I

appeared as a brahmana in the age of Kali to promulgate this philosophy."

The Padma Purana calls it an'unholy doctrine'. Why? Because the Mayavadis say brahma satyam
jagan mithya jivo brahmaiva naparah - the only truth is Brahman. The living entity is nothing but
Brahman. This is their entire teaching summarized. The only truth is Brahman and the world is
false. It has no real existence. And they say jivo brahmaiva naparah - every living being is in fact
Brahman. Kaviraja Gosvami gives many arguments against this philosophy. The jivas existence
comes out of eth Supreme Lord, the Parambrahma. As Krsna Himself states: aham sarvasya
prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate - "I am the source of everything. Everything arises from Me."
All religions, actions -whatever exists has its origin in Him. Anyone who considers this will
engage in the worship of the Lord - iti matva bhajante mama budha bhava-samanvitah
(Bhagavad-gita 10.8).

This is the spirit of devotion. Those who possess this spirit, those who are wise, worship the Lord
with this devotional attitude. The Lord said this in the Bhagavad-gita. There, the Lord taught
karma, jnana, gradually explaining everything. Then finally He said:

sarva-guhyatamam bhuyah srnu me paramam vacah

isto'si me drdham iti tato vaksyami te hitam

"Now hear My supreme teaching, the most hidden of all hidden treasures. You are extremely
dear to me, and really this is why I am explaining this for your true benefit."
(Bhagavad-gita 18.64)

Then the Lord followed this by saying, sarva-dharman parityaja...sarvadharman, which

Visvanatha Cakravarti explains means varnasrama dharma, so it is not only that the brahmanas
will make others do and the ksatriyas will do everything. No. And Mahaprabhu Himself gave His
identity as beyond varnasrama. One identity is sopadhikamor 'with material qualities', the other is
nirupadhikam or 'without material qualities'. Mahaprabhu gave the nirupadhikam identity, the
transcendental identity of the soul.

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 naham vipra na ca narapatir napi vaisyo na sudro
naham varni na ca grhapatir no vanastho yatir va
kintu prodyan nikhila paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanu-dasah

" I am not a brahmana, nor a ksatriya; I am not a vaisya nor a sudra, I am not a brahmacari, nor a
householder, not a vanaprastha, not a sannyasi. But since Lord Sri Krsna, the maintainer of the
gopis and the overflowing ocean of nectar, is the only source of universal, transcendental bliss, I
claim to be a servant to the servant of the servant of His lotus feet."
(Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 13.8, Padyavali 74)

This is the transcendental identity. The jiva is transcendental. This is the essence of the jiva. The
material (sopadhika) identity of the self is "I am a ksatriya, I have a B.A., I am a king etc." These
are all upadhis, the disguises of the soul.

sarvopadhi vinirmuktam tat-paratvena nirmalam

hrsikena hrsikesa-sevanam bhaktir ucyate

"Bhakti is defined as the engagement of the senses in the service of the Proprietor of the senses.
This service is to be free from any contamination by identity with the body, and pure through
being exclusively fixed on Him."
(Bhakti-rasamrta Sindhu quoting Narada Pancaratra )

All these superfluous designations have nothing to do with the soul itself. The real identity of the
soul is gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanu-dasah - 'the servant of the servant of the
servant of the lover of the gopis' lotus feet'. This is the transcendental identity of the soul. I am
not a brahmana, nor a ksatriya; I am not a vaisya nor a sudra, I am not a brahmacari, nor a
householder, not a vanaprastha, not a sannyasi. My real identity cannot be found within the
varnasrama-dharma. What is my true identity? gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanu-dasah
- 'the servant of the servant of the servant of the lover of the gopis' lotus feet'. I am the servant of
Krsna's servant's servant. To be Russian or Indian - these are not pure identities. Do you
understand?

Everyone has such a pure identity: everyone from every nation has the same essential nature.
There are not a multitude of different natures. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written all this in his
Siksamrta. "According to the pure character of the soul, all people of all countries have the same
religion." But the mundane identity causes one to think, I am a brahmana, I won't take water that
has been touched by that person for it will contaminate me - all this kind of thing. Is it not so?

However, because we identify with the pure soul does not mean that we eat anything that is
given to us by anybody. Why not? When we do so, their mentality affects us, enters into us.
Yogis, yoga practitioners, don't eat just anything they get from anyone. They will not eat
everything that falls into their hands. Why not? Because their performance of yoga will be
adversely affected. They are performing yoga with a particular objective and if they eat the food
of a sensual or materialistic person, then those tendencies will have an affect on their thought
processes. Do you follow me? But in your country these things go on. Why should we avoid

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eating other peoples food? Because if we do, their mentality will encroach upon ours. If we eat
the food of a sexually indiscriminate person, then his promiscuity will enter my nature. Do you
understand?

Thus we do not, as a rule, eat the food of just any person. We only take maha-prasada, the food
which has been offered to Krsna. And you will remark that the food offered to Lord Jagannatha
has a special power. Bhaktivinoda Thakura especially praised the dahl-prasada. It is so
wonderful, it does not cause any indigestion. I used to be afraid of eating urad-dahl at one time,
because I tended to have severe stomach problems. So I used to avoid urad-dahl. But here, if you
eat Lord Jagannatha's urad-dahl prasada, you will have absolutely no digestion problems.

So my dear child, if anyone has any problems understanding, then he should come and ask me. I
will not consider it a disturbance. The point is that we don't take food anywhere that is devoid of
pure devotion. Wherever pure devotion is practiced, there is no need of any further
consideration. For example, if someone comes with maha-prasada and I say, "No, you are a
foreigner, I won't eat anything that you have touched", this is improper. I do not say that because
he is bringing me maha-prasada which cannot be contaminated by anyone's touch. Even Brahma
and Siva ecstatically accept Jagannatha's prasada; they are so happy that they dance while eating
it. And in this book (Sri Ksetra by Sundarananda Vidyavinoda), it is said that Jagannatha
Himself eats all the offereings here every single day. Of course, everything I have said about
maha-prasada is not it true glory. That is found in the following verses of the Hari-bhakti-vilasa:

brahmavan nirvikaram hi yatha visnus tathaiva tat

vikaram ye prakurvanti bhaksane tad dvijatayah
kustha-vyadhi-samayuktah putra-dara-vivarjitah
nirayam yanti te vipra yasman navartante punah

"Visnu-prasada does not become transformed any more than Visnu Himself. Any brahmana who
thinks so will become a leper and lose his wife and children, he will go to hell whence he shall
never return."
(Hari-bhakti-vilasa, 9.134)

Of course, this verse is trying to frighten people a little! But just think how many people have
touched maha-prasada! Even so, no one says, "An outcaste or a low caste person has touched it,
now I won't eat it." That is why the vesre says, brahmavan nirvikaram. Do you think that if you
were to touch Visnu that he would be transformed somehow? If a leatherworker touches him,
does he become one?

So Lord Jagannatha has come out onto the open road to allow everyone to see Him. So many
people are coming and touching Him. Some climb onto His chariot. We normally don't do that,
but last time Singhaniya Mahasaya took me right up onto it. But if someone touches Jagannatha
that doesn't mean that He has become contaminated or lost His caste-status! He is the father of
everyone, the father of the universe as it is said in Bhagavad-gita: pitaham asya jagato mata
dhata pitamaha (Bhagavad-gita 9.17)

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Mahaprabhus's religion is extremely generous, is extremely generous. His pastimes are the
audarya-lila - supreme munificence. He embraced everyone - his religion is all-embracing. He
would embrace everyone. He even embraced Vasudeva Vipra, who was afflicted with leprosy.
Worms and insects were feeding off Vasudeva's sores. If they fell out, he would put them back
in. It is frightening to even think of these things. It is disgusting even to hear about it. Imagine if
we were to see it! Still, Mahaprabhu embraced him and transformed him into a handsome young
man. Then Vasudeva said to the Lord, " Previously people used to hate me. Now I am afraid that
I will be proud because of what You have done." But Mahaprabhu answered: kabhu na badhibe
tomara visya taranga - "The waves of material sense objects will never entangle you."

jare dekho, tare kaho krsna-upadesa

amara ajnaya guru hana taro ei desa
kabhu na badhibe tomara visya taranga
punarapi ei thani pabe mora sanga

"Instruct whomever you see in Krsna consciousness. By my command become a guru and
deliver this land. The waves of material sense objects will never entangle you and one day you
will have my association again in this very place." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 7.128-9)

That which then takes place has never before been seen. He was completely covered in leprous
sores. This is al completely true.

So many people criticize me. They say, "Maharaja doesn't allow people to discuss the higher
realms of devotional achievement. That is not the case. I am not holding back on that account.
But you must be on the platform of naisthiki-bhakti. You explain all this, Baba. May everyone
reach the stage of naisthiki-bhakti. Because, then as the Bhagavata says:

tada rajas tamo bhavah kama-lobhadayas ca ye

cta etair anabiddham sthitam sattve prasidati

One may be a very learned person, but if one talks about the highest realms of spiritual life
without the adhikara, it is dangerous. I am not objecting to someone doing that, but people must
have the proper qualifications.

adhikara na labhiya siddha-deha bhave

viparyaya buddhi janme saktira abhave

"If someone meditates on his spiritual body without having the proper qualifications, he develops
the wrong conception because he is insufficiently strong."

Have you ever heard this verse quoted? I have not criticized others who speak on these higher
topics. Please understand this clearly. I have never criticized or blasphemed them. I would never
do it because I would become an offender to a Vaisnava if I did so. But I do warn you all - first
deserve, then desire, first deserve, then desire...

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 Go Deeper

There is a lot of history to our parampara. We cannot simply speak substantially on topics of
Krsna Consciousness according to our whim, because it is always under lock and key. The
keeper of the key is above us. According to His wish, a dumb man can eloquently speak the
Vedas, or a blind person can see the beauty of the Himalayas, or a lame man can cross
mountains. Actually it is in His hands. When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura sent the
first devotees to the west for preaching, he told them, "Go forth with this message of Sriman
Mahaprabhu, and listen very closely to what you say."

Sarasvati Thakura used the words 'subjective reality,' 'subjective experience' and 'subjective
plane' to describe various aspects of the philosophy of Krsna Consciousness. What they were
after, what they were trying to get in touch with, was reality descending, coming down to the
proper recipient. So his conception of preaching was that in the authorized speaker in front of a
bona-fide audience, things that neither one has ever heard before may descend through the
speaker. This is not the type of thing that we can easily understand, but as we go on and discuss,
you will see that this is something that we have been a part of since the beginning. In another
very simple way, Srila Prabhupada said, "I did not write these books, Krsna did." Vyaso-vetti na
vetti va.

But what did he mean, "Krsna wrote these books?" In Caitanya-caritamrta, Ramananda Raya
tells Mahaprabhu, "What I am saying is simply passing through me; I do not even know if it is
correct or not." Everything was revealed in the heart of Brahma at the beginning of creation in
the same manner. Tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye. Ramananda Raya tells Mahaprabhu, "You
also are causing me to speak, and it is passing through me. It is wonderful, but I am not sure if it
is even right, only You the listener, you will be able to say if it is right or not."

The subjective experience of Krsna Consciousness is coming down to us through the guru; it is
coming to us through the agency of our guru. In the beginning, we do not generally have any
qualification to draw down Krsna; we are like a dead battery that can not draw the radio
message. With some force, the agent of Krsna turns up the volume and blasts out the message,
almost to the point that even the deaf can hear it, and respond. But what must happen is that the
hearer must become alive in that plane, and eager for that message. The message is infinite.
When the first devotees were sent to the western world for preaching, in 1933, heading that

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group of devotees was Bhakti Hrdaya Bon Maharaja, who was the second or third sannyasi
disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta had only eighteen sannyasi disciples.
Our Srila Prabhupada had fifty-seven, and some of Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers had over one
hundred. Srila Puri Maharaja had one hundred and twenty-seven sannyasi disciples.

Sripada Bon Maharaja was amongst Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's sannyasi disciples, and he headed
the first group of devotees to the west; they went to England. This is pre-World War II, in 1933.
Many of the prominent (and at that time respected) personalities in World War II were also there
at that time. Bon Maharaja met Goebbels and Rommel, and distributed a book called Sree
Krishna Chaitanya. I have a copy of that book; it has been out of print for a long time. Its about
eight hundred pages, and it is in par-excellent English. Nishikant Sanyal, Prabhupada's
Godbrother, wrote it, and there is an elaborate introduction by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta himself.
When that book was ready, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta announced, "Now we are ready for preaching
in the west."

When the devotees were sent to England, there was a very formal function in Calcutta, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta said to his disciples, "Go forth with this message of Mahaprabhu to all nations
and all creeds of men and women in the world; carry forth this message, preach it boldly, and
listen to what you say, for this will also purify you." With this he sent them out into the world for
preaching.

Only so much knowledge of Godhead can be learned by any living entity. The message is
broadcast vigorously and then a living entity has to turn his head with submission towards that
message. Once the initial message finds its place in the heart, then we may draw more and more.
It is actually our eagerness in the first place to know Who is God, which brings guru into our
midst. It is said, that if you try to find a guru on you own, you will most likely accept someone
who gives you a rasagula.

What the acaryas tell us is that the living entity cannot "find a guru," but rather, acceptance of
guru is a descending process. We cannot ascend to the plane of the guru, but it is by his mercy
that we may have contact with him. We may conduct our search, and that is how we exhibit our
sincerity. Our search is there, but one can never find guru independently; he is only revealed.
Therefore, even if someone has accepted a guru, but the guru goes away in devotional service,
that person should not feel any hardness, any resentment towards that person. One should not
feel cheated. One should rather feel that "I received what I deserved." If you examine without
prejudice, you may find, although your guru may have gone away, that you gained something
from that relationship. You may find that there is some little thing to help you, any small thing.
Then you may say, "Yes, I received something," and be happy with it. Having made a step in the
right direction, you may then go on with your earnestness, and pray to Krsna, and he will send
you further guidance. If you blame even that fallen guru, you are blaming Krsna, saying, "There
is nothing wrong with me, I deserve the best; why am I cheated?" That approach is very self-
centered, and self-centeredness distances us from divinity.

Rather, we should understand that, "the only defect is in me." This will align us with divinity,
and the clouds of so much confusion and misunderstanding will go away, and the sun of Krsna
will shine bright in our life. No one is cheated in this world; every one is a self-deceiver, and a

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self-cheater. There is no one to blame; it is not healthy to blame the environment. It is more
healthy to blame one's own self, for in doing so we leave room within ourselves for self-
improvement. This is one of the keys on the ring of the secrets of how to progress: do not blame
others, blame yourself!

Our sampradaya is a descending process, not an ascending process. This has to be kept in mind
always. The more you keep this in mind, and try to put it into normal practice, the more it
becomes a reality, rather than a dry theory. We are in control of nothing; Krsna controls every
thing. Grace is coming to us; He is everywhere, and He is behind everything. For example, you
can not actually serve yourself prasadam, unless you are just really hungry and must go do your
service. Prasadam means mercy, and mercy is descending. You cannot conjure your own mercy.
Of course, we know that in informal gatherings, we do practical things -- we have a way that
devotees go and take prasadam, and that is not a problem. But you add all these things together,
there are many little things, and suddenly that living conception of everything is descending, it is
gone, it vanishes, and then it is only a theory.

In this connection, consider Arjuna, who could not put on his own armor. If he picked up his
armor and put it on, and sheathed his own sword for battle, it was all useless, because these
things were benedictions given to him. They required that he had to be dressed in his armor. So
we are like Arjuna also, in that sense; many things are given to us, but we have to receive them
in a proper way. You cannot receive gayatri mantra independently; you cannot give it to
yourself. You cannot take sannyasa; it is something that is given. We receive initiation, we do
not take it, we do not take prasadam, we must receive it and honor it. I have had a very pluralistic
experience in Krsna Consciousness in the last fifteen years. I have spent many days, many
months in the asramas of some of the senior Godbrothers of Srila Prabhupada; Srila Sridhara
Maharaja, and Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja. There I saw, heard, and learned many
things; some things on a very practical, day to day level, and some things on a very high
philosophical level. So one day many years ago, a devotee came to the asrama of Srila Sridhara
Maharaja. He was a Prabhupada disciple from South America. He wanted to receive sannyasi, so
there was some talk, then Srila Sridhara Maharaja told him, "You stay here for some time, and
we will see. Try to do some menial service here in the matha."

Then with a happy heart, that devotee went to do some menial service. He went to the prasadam
hall, grabbed a bucket and a spoon and started serving prasadam. One of the older devotees, who
had been in the asrama for fifty years, came over and asked, "What are you doing?" He replied,
"Oh, I am serving prasadam. Guru Maharaja told for me to serve prasadam," the man said,
"What did he tell you?" "Guru Maharaja told me to do some menial service." The older devotee
said, "This is not menial service; menial service means sweeping the cow barn. Serving
prasadam is very high.

Who can give the mercy of Krsna. A new devotee can be engaged in serving prasadam, he is
serving prasadam by carrying it to the devotees, but what will you value more, prasadam given
by a new devotee, or prasadam given by your guru's hand? Same prasadam, same offering, same
Krsna's plate, but you will value the prasadam given by your guru's hand more than the
prasadam given by the new devotee. The giver of the prasadam is also in that line, that mercy
line, and he is an important factor. Mercy is descending.

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There are many subtle practices in our spiritual tradition. Sometimes one practice or another may
be omitted or dealt with subconsciously due to some practical necessity, but this may eventually
become a problem. Over the years, many simple practices in Krsna consciousness have been left
aside in the name of practical necessity -- then gradually, the conception of what we are actually
dealing with slips away. This should be checked and we should try to deepen our understanding
about even the simplest of practices that we perform.

High devotion does not necessarily mean that it must always be the discussions of Krsna-lila.
High devotion also means understanding what is prasadam and similar such things that we have
come to take for granted. High devotion means to understand the inner meaning, or the substance
of all the practices in Krsna consciousness. What is serving prasadam, what is serving the Deity,
and so forth. All these seemingly simple ordinary daily practices are not really ordinary at all,
they are divine activities with a deep connection in the spiritual world of eternal pastimes of the
Supreme Lord. Therefore, we should endeavor to make our most sincere attempt to go deeper
into even that which is seemingly the most insignificant thing in Krsna consciousness.

Bhaktivedanta
Question: We have heard it said that Srila Prabhupada (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja)
received the name "Bhaktivedanta" from his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.
Others have said that he received the name "Bhaktivedanta" from Srila Sridhara Maharaja and
yet others are saying that he received the name "Bhaktivedanta" from Srila Kesava Maharaja.
Can you please say something to clarify this issue?

Answer: When our Guru Maharaja (Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) was initiated
in 1933 he received both hari-nama and mantra-diksa at the same time. At his initiation Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta named our Guru Maharaja, Abhaya Caranaravinda dasa, meaning one who is
fearless, having taken shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta did not
confer any other names or titles upon our Guru Maharaja during his lifetime.

In later years, after the disappearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, our Guru Maharaja was engaged
in writing articles for a Bengali journal published by his Godbrother, Srila Bhakti Saranga
Goswami Maharaja -- Goswami Maharaja and other leading Vaisnavas of the time were so
impressed with the writing and preaching capabilities of our Guru Maharaja that Goswami
Maharaja conferred upon our Guru Maharaja the name/title "Bhaktisiddhanta."* This was indeed
the most honorific title a disciple could ever expect to receive -- the very title of his guru.

*Note: When registering the "League of Devotees" in Lucknow during the early 1950's our Guru
Maharaja referred to himself in that document as "alias Abhaya Caranaravinda Bhaktisiddhanta
Das Adhikary" and his signature can be seen on the original document [BBT Archives].
(reproduced here in part)

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According to the practice of name giving and awarding titles to deserving disciples, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta had never given the name of his gurus, Srila Gaur Kisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja
or Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura to anyone. Accordingly, some of the senior disciples of Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta thought that the name/title "Bhaktisiddhanta" should not be given to any
disciple, however deserving. This matter was discussed among the senior Vaisnavas with whom
our Guru Maharaja was regularly associating and in a mood of deep respect and harmony it was
decided that our Guru Maharaja would be given the name/title "Bhaktivedanta."

During those discussions it was recognized by all present that our Guru Maharaja was a fixed up
preacher in the line of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and that the inspiration of Srila Bhakti Saranga
Goswami Maharaja to bestow an honorific name/title upon our Guru Maharaja was directly
inspired by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta.

In the days of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, certain senior disciples were often called upon when some
particular point or issue was in need of clarification -- Srila Sridhara Maharaja was among those
select few disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta who were able to clarify even the most difficult
points of spiritual understanding.

Accordingly, in the discussion where the honorific name/title for our Guru Maharaja was being
discussed, Srila Sridhara Maharaja suggested that our Guru Maharaja be given the name/title
"Bhaktivedanta." The name "Bhakti-siddhanta" and Bhakti-vedanta" are synonymous in
meaning. Thus the adjustment was made in keeping with the original inspiration felt by Srila
Bhakti Saranga Goswami.

And thus it was and from that time on our Guru Maharaja became known amongst his
Godbrothers as "Bhaktivedanta." This occurred in Calcutta in 1939.

Some persons may look upon this event in our contemporary Vaisnava history as being of little
significance -- the simple act of bestowing an honorific title upon a Vaisnava. But apparently not
so for everyone -- the event was so moving spiritually that Srila Bhaktiprajnana Kesava
Maharaja decided for the future to name all his sannyasi disciples "Bhaktivedanta" -- a title
synonymous with "Bhaktisiddhanta." This standard is still carried out among the disciples of
Srila Kesava Maharaja even to this day more than half a century later.

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So, in contemporary times our Guru Maharaja was the first person in the line of Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta to receive the name/title "Bhaktivedanta" (1939).

In 1959 when our Guru Maharaja accepted sannyasa, Srila Kesava Maharaja retained our Guru
Maharaja's title "Bhaktivedanta" given by Srila Sridhara Maharaja and then gave our Guru
Maharaja the sannyasa name "Swami," which was chosen from the list of 108 names of
sannyasis authorized by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta in "Gaudiya Kanthahara." Thus, our Guru
Maharaja then became know as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja or simply "Swami
Maharaja" amongst his Godbrothers. Our Guru Maharaja retained the initials "A.C." for "Abhaya
Caranaravinda" from his first initiation, but officially his sannyasa title and name was
"Bhaktivedanta Swami."

In the Gaudiya tradition a sannyasi is called "Swami" and this is added as a prefix to the
sannyasa title like "Bhaktivedanta" and the name of the particular sannyasi follows such as
"Swami" in the case of our Guru Maharaja. However, if our Guru Maharaja had strictly kept this
tradition then his name would have been written thus: "Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami." In a
letter to his disciple Rayarama Dasa, our Guru Maharaja explained something of the
complexities of his name as follows:

"So far the title "Swami" is concerned, although this word is used generally for sannyasins, this
"Swami" is my particular name as a sannyasi. Therefore, it must be suffixed at the end of my real
name, A.C. Bhaktivedanta. So far the prefix "Swami" is concerned, every sannyasi has got to do
that, but two ways "Swami" (Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami) is not good looking. The end
"Swami" is necessary because it is my sannyasa name. The first "Swami" may be transformed
into "Goswami", which is on the same order of "Swami." Therefore, I use the prefix "Tridandi
Goswami" and suffix "Swami, as I have printed on my card enclosed herewith.* That will be
nice. In small lettering, it can be written above my name "Tridandi Goswami." Vaisnava
sannyasins are known as "Tridandi Goswamis," and Mayavadi sannyasins are know as only
"Swami."

*Note: The ‘card' of our Guru Maharaja, 1969, and his letterhead, 1960, are presented here for
the devotees to see.

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After the establishment of our Guru Maharaja's mission, the International Society for Krsna
Consciousness, in the western world, our Guru Maharaja stated in a letter to a senior disciple that
he wanted all his qualified disciples to continue the title "Bhaktivedanta." However, this has only
been done by one of our Guru Maharaja's senior disciples and that is Sripada Bhaktivedanta
Tripurari Maharaja.

Due to the successful preaching campaign of our Guru Maharaja, the name/title "Bhaktivedanta"
has now become famous all over the world with special reference to the "Bhaktivedanta
Purports" of Srimad Bhagavatam.

There are now many "Bhaktivedantas" in different parts of our sampradaya, but as for fulfilling
the purport of "Bhaktivedanta" our Guru Maharaja has set the standard in all respects and it
behooves other Vaisnavas with this honorific title to strive to live up to the standards that our
Guru Maharaja has set as a world-class preacher. Certainly one should beware of being a
"Bhaktivedanta" in name only.

To Be a Servant

The truth should be spoken in a straightforward way, so that it will benefit others. I have heard
that, in the greater Krsna consciousness movement, certain women clamor to be called Prabhu.
Actually, all devotees are called Prabhu, but a real devotee clamors, "Call me your servant, call
me your dog." Why do you want to be called Master? Why demand, "Hey, call me Master!" and
expect others to respect you? Where did we learn this, "Call me master?" "Call me your dog; call
me your servant." Do not lose sight of this; do not lose sight of the service attitude.

I met Srila Prabhupadas sister. I was a sannyasi at that time, a young sannyasi, and I offered my
obeisances to Srila Prabhupadas sister, Pisima. The devotees gave her all respect, but she had no
demand to be called Prabhu. Today we hear demands to be in the front of the temple, then later
we hear the demand to be in the back of the temple. Front, back — the problem is the demand.

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Women are close to Krsna consciousness by birth, by life, by society; they are much closer to
Krsna consciousness than men are. It is the life that most men do not get until we are very old.
What is that life? One is protected and given some service to perform. Women do not have to be
involved in arguments; they can actually live the real life of a devotee. They can easily develop
Vaisnava humility and the habit of serving others. It is that last little step that is so difficult.

So many people receive some prestigious position. Unfortunately, these honored positions have
sent hundreds of devotees to their spiritual graves. When there is a war, we do not expect the
women to grab the bayonets and run onto the battlefield. Why would someone want to demand
that bayonet? That is very dangerous. It is the natural position in society for a woman to be
protected, and it is so easy to become Krsna conscious from that position, because it is the
position of the servant. Men run the risk of thinking that they are in charge. In reality, they are
not in charge of anything.

Nobody but Krsna is controlling anything; everyone is simply trying to whittle down the ego and
discover who we really are. "I am a servant; I am a servant of Krsna. To actually be Krsna's
servant, one must be the servant of His devotees. We should be saying, "Call me servant, not,
"Call me Prabhu. That is a spiritual defect. We clamor for things; we want things that are not
good for us. We should understand what it means to be a servant; that is the deeper
understanding. To make spiritual advancement requires an appreciation for the proper service
attitude, and also an appreciation for prasadam. They are intimately connected.

What is prasadam? What is our realization of prasadam? Sometimes in accepting prasadam,

Mahaprabhu would become very emotional. Sometimes he would become very anxious and
shout, "Oh! It is tasted by Krsna! Other times he would shed tears, sometimes he would choke
up, and sometimes all of these emotions would manifest at once. If we are taking prasadam for
granted, thinking that it is food, then we are accepting prasadam for enjoyment, and that is our
mistake. In his purport of Text One of Sri Upadesamrta, Srila Prabhupada writes that if one
accepts prasadam only because of its palatable taste and eats too much, then he will fall victim
of the senses. He will be captured by maya. He goes on to explain that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
teaches us to avoid palatable dishes even while honoring prasadam. In Caitanya-caritamrta
(Antya 6.227), the Lord states:

jihvara lalase yei iti-uti dhaya

sisnodara-parayana krsna nahi paya

He who runs here and there seeking satisfaction of the palate and who is attached to the desires
of the stomach and genitals is unable to attain Krsna. Even if it is mahaprasadam, we can spoil
our experience of it. We can victimize ourselves with the enjoying spirit even while taking
mahaprasadam. Instead, we must remember always to honor prasadam.

Once, Srila Prabhupadas plate came out of his room in Vrindavana, and I reached to take a
rasagula that remained on Srila Prabhupadas plate. The servant quickly moved the plate out of
reach and picked up the rasagula, crumbled it, and dropped it into the dhal. Then he took the
sweet rice and poured that into the dhal. I just sat there watching him, wondering why he was
doing this, mixing all the different preparations that Srila Prabhupada had left. It all became a

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yellow-green mixture. And then he offered me a scoop of that mixed mahaprasadam. Noticing
my expression of wonder, he said that Srila Prabhupada had told him to do this to his
mahaprasadam, otherwise devotees would eat it just for sense gratification. And from that day,
for the next seven or eight months, Srila Prabhupadas mahaprasadam was only distributed in
that way.

We do not regularly mix all the mahaprasadam together; people would think that we were mad.
That order was temporary, to teach us an important lesson on how to properly honor prasadam.
Sometimes, some particular conception may descend in the company of the very high and
genuine Vaisnavas, and then that will be followed, maybe not for all time, but for some time,
following a particular mood. The instruction was not, "Make sure you mix all the prasadam.
That was not the instruction; the instruction for all time is, Do not become the enjoyer; remember
that prasadam is Krsnas mercy.

Krsna consciousness is a descending process, but unfortunately we are dealing with it by the
ascending process. Technically, you should not even serve yourself prasadam. If it can be
arranged, you should not serve yourself. During special circumstances, it may be a practical
procedure because all the devotees are very busy. We may certainly make such changes because
it is practical, but sometimes that accommodation for a special circumstance may become a new
standard. But is the new standard correct?

Prasadam should be given. Prasadam is also not to be served by bhaktas; it is actually to be

served only by initiated devotees. Who can serve the Lords mercy to another living being?
Somebody off the street who just came in? Do we spot such a person and say, "Hey you! Come
serve prasadam! No, it is not possible, actually. Do you think that you can just catch anybody
and say, "Come on, serve Srila Prabhupadas prasadam? No, only the sannyasis, only the older
ladies, older grhasta men; only senior devotees can do that. And if someone is in maya, are they
going to serve Srila Prabhupadas prasadam? No, only devotees of some devotional status can do
that.

Prasadam is not an object. Part of honoring prasadam is the act of giving and receiving. Many
of the younger devotees received cookies from Srila Prabhupada when they were children. If
Srila Prabhupada is offering you a cookie from the vyasasana, and at the same time the temple
president is at the door saying, "Oh dont worry Prabhu, Ill give you a cookie, what would you
do? You would say, Ill be back for this one later, and you would go to Srila Prabhupada. Is that
just so that you can say you got a cookie from Srila Prabhupada? No, that is not why. When the
Lords mercy is distributed by the Lords pure devotee, a double potency is there. The temple
president is also the Lords devotee, but taking the opportunity when available to connect with the
higher Vaisnavas is very beneficial.

Some may consider devotees to be ordinary people, but actually, devotees are not ordinary. We
can keep always the mercy of the Supreme Lord by catching the feet of the devotees. Catch the
feet of His dear devotees! That is the best way to access His prasadam. All devotees in the Krsna
consciousness movement should try, according to their capacity, to develop a deeper
appreciation for those things that are seemingly ordinary, because we experience them every day.

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Somebody once asked me how I became a devotee. I said, "Prasadam, and they thought,
"Maharaja is an old, old devotee -- that must have been some high philosophical point. No, it is
easy to understand: I became a devotee for prasadam, and I remain a devotee because of
prasadam. What is prasadam? It is the Lords mercy. I became a devotee by His mercy, I remain
a devotee by His mercy, and independent of His mercy, I am finished.

We Are Suddha Saktas

Once we counted Raghunatha Dasa Goswami’s gurus, and we found that he had nine gurus. So
then the question is, “Which one of his gurus is most important?” He had nine gurus:
Yadunandana Acarya was the mantra guru who gave him initiation, diksa. Then on the way to
meet Mahaprabhu, he received the blessing of Nityananda Prabhu, by putting on that yogurt and
rice festival; you may have heard about this. Who is Nityananda? He is Baladeva, he is the
original guru tattva, so is it possible that he served Nityananda Prabhu and abided by his orders,
but he did not find any guru there? Did he only see a Vaisnava there, only a devotee?

No, there is guru tattva; Nityananda is also his guru. Then Nityananda Prabhu sent him to Puri,
and Mahaprabhu turned him over to Svarupa Damodara, and said, "You will give him training."
Svarupa Damodara became his teacher. Living in Puri at that time was Namacarya Haridasa
Thakura. He is the acarya of chanting of the Holy Name; could he just pass him by, saying, "Oh,
no he is not my guru?" No, he had to accept him, “He is also my guru, Namacarya Haridasa
Thakura.”

Sri Rupa and Sanatana were also living there, the sambhanda acarya and the abhideya acarya --
the foremost of the six Goswamis. First, Raghunatha Dasa Goswami lived in Puri under the care
of Mahaprabhu and Svarupa Damodara, and he later lived under the care of Rupa and Sanatana
for a long time. Also living there at that time was Gadadhara Pandit. Gadadhara Pandit is guru
tattva for the madhurya rasa bhaktas in Caitanya Lila, and Mahaprabhu is the principal Deity.
The madhurya devotees are under Gadadhara Pandit, and the vatsalya and other devotees are
under Nityananda Prabhu. So he is also accepting Gadadhara Pandit as guru. Gadadhara Pandit is
Radha bhava; he is an incarnation of Srimati Radharani. So can he not accept that as guru? So he
also accepted Gadadhara Pandit as guru.

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After the disappearance of Mahaprabhu, all these great personalities began to vanish from the
earth very quickly, and Raghunatha Dasa was in great despair. He decided to commit suicide; the
world became so bleak in the absence of Mahaprabhu and all the devotees leaving one after
another that he decided to take the path of suicide. Narottama Dasa expresses this same
sentiment when he prays, "What will we do now? They are all gone!" and beats his head on a
stone. It is not a happy day when the Lord’s devotees vanish from this world, from our sight. So
he was very distressed and he decided to give up his life, and he thought that the best way is if he
can jump from the top of Govardhana Hill, and in this way he will finish his life. Actually, this is
love despair.

If you have seen Govardhana Hill, you may understand that one would have to jump about one
hundred times. You would do better jumping off a garage roof; it is not very high – better to
climb a temple, or a tree even. Govardhana Hill is very gentle; there is no place from which to
jump. Because that was his heart’s sentiment, he went to Govardhana with this in mind, but there
he found Rupa and Sanatana. They were living there on the order of Mahaprabhu, and he found
that Mahaprabhu was living with Rupa and Sanatana. This is what he found there: that his
Supreme Lord is living within their hearts. For him, Rupa and Sanatana are like expansions of
Mahaprabhu, non-different from Mahaprabhu. They are Rupa and Sanatana, and yet he finds
them to be non-different. So then he gave up this idea of jumping from Govardhana Hill and he
remained under their shelter for many years.

Raghunatha Dasa Goswami has shown us by the example of his life that we may have many,
many gurus who first may bring us in some connection with Krsna Consciousness. Maybe it is
our parents; maybe it is a friend at school, or some general connection draws us towards the first
Sunday feast. What ever it is -- it may be something at home, such as Back to Godhead
magazine. What first put us in connection to Krsna is called vartmana-pradarsaka guru, and we
may have many of this type, but it is said that you should only have one mantra guru. You
should have only one initiating guru, but siksa gurus you may have many.

Raghunatha Dasa Goswami had many gurus who gave him much instruction and guided him
through his life. He himself is known as the prayojana acarya: he shows us the highest
perfection of devotion in the line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Raghunatha Dasa Goswami
announces to the world what is the highest aspiration and achievement for a Gaudiya Vaisnava, a
follower of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; he shows what is that highest achievement. He announces
this in his prayers and in his poems, in his poetic expressions. At the very end of his life he
announces this; therefore he is known as the prayojana acarya.

What is the perfection? What is that highest perfection of any Gaudiya Vaisnava? It is the thing
that Srila Prabhupada saw in his father when he was a boy, but did not recognize in him until he
had become a disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta. There was something in Srila Prabhupada’s
father that later — as a disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta, as a Gaudiya Vaisnava — Srila
Prabhupada could understand, “My father was pure devotee of Krsna.” When he was growing up
he had no such understanding. His father was just his father; he used to get him to buy not just
one toy gun, but two toy guns. But as an adult, as a disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta, then he
came to note one very special thing in his father, so much so that he boldly wrote in the Krsna
book dedication, “To my father, Gour Mohan De, a pure devotee of Krsna.”

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But if you study Gour Mohan De’s life, you will see that there are three million such pure
devotees of Krsna. They worship Krsna at home, they go to the shop and they come back, they
visit temples and they give some gifts to sadhus, and other such things. So what is it that
distinguishes his father from so many Hindu gentlemen raising their families in pious India,
close to one hundred years ago? It is that very thing which is announced by Raghunatha Dasa
Goswami. He announced that our highest aspiration is to be accepted into the line of service to
Srimati Radharani. That is called Radha-dasyam: service of Srimati Radharani. Radha-dasyam
supersedes even service to Krsna. Srila Prabhupada’s father was doing this all along, when
Prabhupada was a boy.

You will read in Satsvarupa Maharaja’s book that Prabhupada is telling, "My father used to
gather many sadhus and he would take care of them, and even he would give them a hookah.” A
hookah is a pipe. That social custom was the order of the day; now it is low-fat yogurt. But in
those days there were so many sadhus of different types, and there were the sadhus who had the
hookahs, and so they were offered the hookah. If Murari Caitanya were to offer me a hookah,
any devotees attending the lecture would get up and walk out, saying, “He is bogus.” But Srila
Prabhupada’s father had a hookah and offered it to the sadhus. That was the basic idea; what
ever the sadhus want, they get it, and they will be happy. Then of course he would give them
laddus, puris, subjis, and very nice refreshments, and then he would ask some benediction. And
what would he ask, what would Prabhupada’s father ask those sadhus?

Prabhupada’s father would ask, "Please bless my son that he will become a devotee of Srimati
Radharani and spread her glories all over the world.” So as a youth this made some sense to him,
but not as much sense as it would make later. When Srila Prabhupada met his eternal master,
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur, then everything came into clear focus. He then knew
what was to be his purpose in this world, what he was to do.

This is all going on in the plane of lila of the eternally liberated souls. Some people think that
when they are born, the eternally liberated souls are thinking, "I’m just waiting to start my
movement,” while rocking in their mothers’ arms. No, they are acting as children at that point.

Srila Prabhupada used to laugh and talk about his "maya;" he used to call it his “maya:” He was
a follower of Gandhi, and when he said that we would say, "Oh Prabhupada! No maya for you!”
But he would laugh. Even when a liberated soul comes into this world he does not manifest, in
most cases, why he has come here until he makes the connection with the line of Mahaprabhu,
the descending line of the Supreme Lord. Then, making that connection, things come down to
him and are revealed, such as what is his purpose here, what is his mission here. So that is the
announcement of Raghunatha Dasa Goswami; he has announced that in his writings, in his
prayers: his deep heartfelt aspiration for the service of Srimati Radharani.

You all know Radha-kunda, and you know many people come to Radha-kunda, and they do
there what is called dandavat parikrama. They offer full dandavats — they put one stone, walk
to the place of the stone, again go down, offering prayers, and in this way they go all the way
around Radha-kunda. It takes a couple of hours. Many years ago, the Diwan of Bhaghpur came,
and with his royal family was doing dandavat parikrama of Radha-kunda. One personal servant
of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta who happened to be there at that time came running and said, "Oh

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Guru Maharaja, the Diwan of Bhaghpur has come with his whole family and they are doing
parikrama of Radha-kunda! It is wonderful that they have such devotion for Srimati Radharani."
Then Srila Bhakti Siddhanta shocked everyone there. He said, "Actually, their devotion is just
the opposite of ours. They have heard that Radharani is dear to Krsna, and so they have some
regard for Her. Ours is just the opposite: the only reason we have any interest in Krsna is because
He is dear to Srimati Radharani — we are on this side, not on that side.”

When you have gone through the whole thing you realize that we are suddha saktas; we are
worshippers of the Energy of Godhead, the Devotional Energy of Godhead. If you do not believe
it, then just start reading Srila Prabhupada’s books carefully and you will understand the
importance of this conclusion. The whole of the Srimad Bhagavatam is to present one thing, and
only one thing -- that Srimati Radharani is the foremost servant of Krsna.

Radharani alone is the one who can please Krsna: She is the mother of devotional energy. And as
a jiva soul, the highest attainment is to be accepted as a servant in the descending line of Her
grace

Pure devotion and the competitive spirit:

Part 1
All glories to Sri Guru, Sri Gauranga and the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Saraswata
Sampradaya!

It is sad to say that in our contemporary Gaudiya Vaishnava community, many of us are
Vaishnavas in name only. We make a show of devotion, but what we are calling devotion is in
fact the observance of few rules of moral behavior at best. In essence, it is thus not devotion at
all. Moreover, in the name of pure devotion, we are also abusing the ideal of yukta vairagya,
renunciation with proper adjustment to time, place and circumstances. We are not supposed to be
followers of Ekalavya, who was rejected by even his own guru Dronacharya. We must take stock
of our true standing on the bhakti marga? Service to the spiritual master is based on surrender,
and not on just following a few moral codes. Service to the guru means following the pure
devotional path according to his instructions. It goes beyond morality. Krishna proved this when
He instructed Arjuna to kill his own kinsmen. Krishna told Arjuna: "Do it! You will not incur
any sin. I shall protect you." It was not "moral" to kill Dronacharya, Bhishma and all the other
great and pious heroes fighting for the Kauravas, but Arjuna surrendered to Krishna, his guru. He
thus surpassed the mundane principles of morality, which involve following rules and
regulations to keep peace and order in human society. We must not neglect the instructions of
our diksha guru. For, if we are not surrendered, we cannot actually render any true service to
Krishna. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada gave us the proper conception of
yukta vairagya for our present times. We should try to understand it properly if we are to serve
the cause of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

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Surrender to Krishna gives life

In the Bhagavad-Gita (18.66), Sri Krishna told Arjuna, "Abandon all varieties of religion (sarva-
dharman) and take exclusive shelter of Me. I shall deliver you from the reactions of your sinful
activities. Do not fear." sarva-dharman indicates "all kinds of religious attitudes." This means
that we must without hesitation reject all other methods of spiritual advancement other than
surrender. Srila Rupa Goswami also recommends that we cultivate devotion free from personal
interests (anyabilasita-sunyam) and the tendencies toward karma and jnana (jnana-karmady-
anavrtam). Surrender is the primary characteristic of bhakti. It cannot be found anywhere else.
Other attempts to reach the Absolute by adopting the path of karma yoga or jnana yoga, for
example, are destined to disappoint us. Sharanagati, or surrender to Krishna, is the name Srila
Bhaktivinoda Thakur gave to a collection of wonderful songs of his own composition. In the
introductory song of that book, Bhaktivinoda writes,

sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu jive daya kari

sva-parsada sviya dhama saha avatari
atyanta durlabha prema koribare dana
sikhaya saranagati bhakatera prana

Out of compassion for the fallen souls, Sri Krishna Chaitanya came to this world with His
personal associates and divine abode to teach sharanagati, surrender to Krishna, and to freely
distribute ecstatic love (prema) for God, which is ordinarily very difficult to obtain. This
sharanagati is the very life (prana) of the true devotee."

This song clearly says that without surrender, a devotee is without life (prana). Surrender to guru,
Vaishnavas and Krishna will give us back our life. We have nothing to lose. This is the benefit of
the bhakti process. On the other hand, if a person has a good character, but no devotion, he can
be considered a moralist at best. The soul gives life to the body, which is otherwise dead.
Similarly, a life of so-called devotion without surrender is like a useless corpse. It is impossible
to achieve divine love (prema) without surrender. In this regard, we can learn a good lesson from
the famous story of Ekalavya.

The story of Ekalavya

Once, when Arjuna, the celebrated Pandava, was still a boy, he, his brothers and his cousins
studied the military sciences from the great master Dronacharya. At that time, Ekalavya, the son
of Hiranyadhanu, the king of an aboriginal tribe, was moved by his faith to approach
Dronacharya and request him for instruction in archery. Dronacharya refused to teach his
prospective disciple because he wanted to test his faith, but Ekalavya was stubbornly determined
to learn archery from the master. So unbeknownst to Drona, Ekalavya went to the forest and
fashioned an image of him out of clay. He then began to practice archery in front of this image
all day long. Concentrating his mind on Dronacharya in this way, Ekalavya gradually became the
most expert archer in the world, more skilful than even Arjuna. Arjuna was not only Krishna's
intimate friend, but also Dronacharya's dearest disciple. The master had once promised him, "No
one will ever excel you in this art. You will become the best archer on this earth and so will you
remain, I promise you!" One day, the Kauravas and the Pandavas went together for a walk in the

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forest when they suddenly saw something quite astonishing. Lying peacefully on the ground was
a dog whose mouth had been sewn closed by seven arrows. The boys thought that one who could
perform such extraordinary feat was undoubtedly the best archer in the world. They also thought
that perhaps he was even better than Arjuna. As they continued to penetrate deeper into the dense
forest, they came across an unknown archer tirelessly practicing his marksmanship. It was he
who had shot the arrows at the dog because the animal had been barking and disturbing his
concentration. When the boys returned to the palace, they related the incident to Dronacharya in
detail. Arjuna humbly reminded Dronacharya of his promise that no one would ever excel him in
archery. Dronacharya, who was very surprised to hear of the existence of such an expert
bowman, went to the forest with Arjuna to meet him. When they reached Ekalavya's cottage,
they saw him sitting down before the clay image of Dronacharya and shooting arrows with great
expertise. As soon as Ekalavya saw them, he paid them their due respects, honoring Dronacharya
as his master. When Dronacharya heard that Ekalavya considered him to be his guru, he
requested dakshina from him. Dakshina is the donation or gift given to a priest or one's own
guru. In ancient times, masters used to demand their due dakshina from their disciples at the time
of initiation. Ekalavya stood with folded palms in front of Dronacharya, and told his master that
he was ready to do whatever he ordered. Dronacharya then demanded that Ekalavya give him the
thumb of his right hand. Though the loss of the thumb meant that he would no longer be able to
shoot, Ekalavya cut it off without hesitation.

A dangerous example

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur explains that Krishna, bhakti and the bhakta partake of
the same absolute nature. A devotee enjoys a special position because the Lord is favorably
inclined to him. On the other hand, a non-devotee may have many good qualities and moral
virtues according to the standards of worldly life, but all these assets have no value in the eyes of
the Lord. Any one who thinks that morality surpasses bhakti will fail to catch this subtle point.
Though Ekalavya had initially been rejected by Dronacharya, he was moved by his own faith to
make an image of clay of his master. He had then achieved perfection in archery by practising in
front of that image. This seems to be an example of devotion to the master. Indeed, it seems that
Ekalavya was completely surrendered to his guru. Otherwise, how could he cut away his thumb
without thinking twice? However, it is my humble opinion that a devotee on the path of
surrender must dismiss the example of Ekalavya. When Dronacharya refused to instruct
Ekalavya in archery, he had good reasons for not doing so. Ekalavya should have waited for his
guru's mercy, but he did not. Instead he concocted his own way of achieving his mercy by
moulding the image of clay and training in front of it. In fact, the mind of Ekalavya was tainted
by the desire to become a famous, skilful archer. He wanted to surpass Arjuna's dexterity in
bowmanship. This was not at all a good attitude, especially if we consider Arjuna's status as a
pure devotee of the Lord. The desire to be "bigger" or more famous than another Vaishnava is
not devotion at all. This was also against the desire of Dronacharya. Therefore, Ekalavya
committed guru aparadh by neglecting Dronacharya and Vaishnava aparadh by being envious of
Arjuna. This is perhaps the reason why later on Ekalavya was killed by Krishna and merged into
His brahmajyoti effulgence. This is the way Krishna deals with the demons. They achieve
sayujya mukti, the liberation that is always despised by devotees. Ekalavya's dealings with
Dronacharya were also tainted with impersonalism. He really did not take the instructions of his
guru to heart. Instead of following the directions of the living guru, he used his guru's clay image

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as a means to achieving his own cherished ambition. Ekalavya tried to draw his guru's attention
to himself instead of surrendering to his guru. This shows that his devotion was artificial. In
other words, he outwardly showed the behavior of a disciple, but his heart was consumed by
egotism. Similarly, one should not have the outward dress of a Vaishnava while harboring the
attitude of a mundaner. Penances without the sanction of the guru and the Vaishnavas do not fall
in the category of bhakti. Materialistic people with a demoniac mentality also perform many
austerities, but their aim is to get material benefit and enjoy sense gratification. Although
Ekalavya was not interested in gross sensual pleasure, his austerities had not been sanctioned by
any senior authority. Thus the expert Dronacharya was able to detect that his devotion was mere
pretense. For these reasons, therefore, Ekalavya's example is a dangerous one, particularly for
beginners on the path of bhakti.

Remove Ekalavya from our hearts

We are living in difficult times. We have to face many problems even in the association of other
Vaishnavas. Senior members of our Gaudiya Vaishnava community are somewhat puzzled by
the nature of these problems. They too confess that they have no idea of how to bring about
positive solutions. The subject matter is very intricate and requires more analysis. What must be
done? It is true that if we stick to the instructions of our guru, Krishna will remove the ghost of
Ekalavya from our mind. We must surrender and if we are sincere, the Lord will accept our
service. We should not be Vaishnavas in name and dress only. We should stop thinking and
acting like Ekalavya. We have to become saragrahi Vaishnavas, not just worshipers of the form
like Ekalavya. In the words of Srila Sridhar Maharaj we have to dive deep into reality. Lochan
Das Thakur stated that we are just chewing a piece of dry wood instead of sugarcane.

ikhu danda bhavi kaṭha cuṣili man

kemone paibi mitha

How will we taste the sweetness of the sugarcane juice by sucking on a piece of dry wood?
Sugarcane looks like dry wood but is sweet and tasty. Vaishnavas in name or dress may put on
many programs, but are not able to inspire pure devotion in others. Vaishnavas who are
externally oriented are always busy building more temples and expanding their religious
organizations. Unfortunately, they have little or no time to cultivate devotional practices such as
hearing and chanting in the association of other devotees or counselling neophytes in how to
strengthen their faith. If we chew the dry wood of false surrender, how can we taste the
sweetness of bhakti? Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur explained the symptoms of surrender in
sharanagati:

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptritve varana

abasya rakhibe krsna — visvasa, palana
bhakti-anukula-matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula-bhava varjanangikara

"The ways of sharanagati are humility, dedication of the self, acceptance of the Lord as one's
only maintainer, faith that Krishna will surely protect, execution of only those acts favorable to
pure devotion and renunciation of conduct averse to pure devotion."

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 sad-anga saranagati hoibe jahara
tahara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"The youthful son of Nanda Maharaj, Sri Krishna, hears the prayers of anyone who takes shelter
of Him by this six-fold practice."

Unless we surrender to Krishna, He will not accept any prayer from us. How then will He accept
any service? This is indeed very sad. By nature, we are the eternal servants of Krishna, but as we
lack surrender, sincerity, or both, we are unable to serve Him. The sign of sincerity is accepting
that Krishna comes to us through our guru. All scriptures confirm this. My spiritual master, His
Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami Maharaj, told me that so-called freedom is
detrimental on the spiritual path. We should not detach ourselves from the desire of guru and
Vaishnavas as Ekalavya did. We should not try to establish moral codes other than surrender to
the will of guru and Krishna. We should not feel envious of others' opulence as Ekalavya did
with Arjuna. The example of pretentious devotion set by Ekalavya can infect the heart of any
aspirant on the spiritual path. Devotion to guru and Krishna should never be performed with an
aim to achieving material benefits. Therefore, we have to keep very alert and remove the weeds
of unwanted desires as soon as they sprout. In conclusion, I request the readers of this piece with
folded palms to excuse all my offences and bless me so that I may become a true disciple of my
Gurudeva and a true servant of all the Vaishnavas. Continued: Part 2


 Continued from Part 1
 All glories to Sri Guru, Sri Gauranga and the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Saraswata
Sampradaya!
 If we study the example set by all our previous acharyas, we will find that competition is
not a religious principle. Nowadays, however, we see that in the Vaishnava Sampradaya,
especially the Sri Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Saraswata Sampradaya, almost all societies
and acharyas are trying to show that they are better than the others. That is one reason
explaining all those articles on the Internet that seem to have defeating others as their
only purpose.
 Every disciple naturally follows his or her spiritual master’s mood and so preaches in the
same competitive spirit. If a follower asks his master, "Can I achieve my spiritual goal
through chanting the Holy Name and propagating my society and acharya’s glories as
much as possible?", the acharya replies with silence as a sign of his tacit approval –
maunam sammati-laksanam. As a result, the Madhva Gaudiya Saraswata world as a
whole sometimes looks like a battlefield.
 We seem to think that our acharya or society’s qualifications are proved by the number of
supporters, devotees, or centers they possess, or how much wealth and mundane opulence
they have accumulated. As a result, so many devotees in our sampradaya seem to be
running after religion, wealth, sense pleasure and liberation in Mahaprabhu’s name,
instead of seeking Divine Love, the fifth goal of life or Panchama Purushartha that He
really came to give.
 Mahaprabhu said prithivite ache jata nagaradi gram / sarbatra prachar hoibe mor nam.
"My name will be spread in every town and village, everywhere in the world." This
prediction has for all intents and purposes come true and His name has indeed spread to

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 almost every corner of the globe, leaving hardly any place untouched. Even so, most
senior devotees in the sampradaya are feeling frustration at the way the present
Vaishnava organizations and their acharyas are behaving. They feel that instead of
spreading Mahaprabhu’s message, the followers of these groups are engaged in subtle
politics against other devotees -- pure or impure -- in order to promote their own society
and acharya.
 When devotees begin to lose their taste for chanting the Holy-Name after long practice,
they naturally want to know why. We have heard from our acharyas that when this
happens, it is because from the starting point of our bhajan life, knowingly or
unknowingly, we have been committing offences. When this happens, some of us remain
active in our society and follow its acharya without any real hope or enthusiastic mood.
Others leave their society with a negative attitude to Vaishnavas in general. Such former
devotees are now engaged in some business or work in mundane places to make their
livelihood. This is a synopsis of the current situation in the Vaishnava world.
 Prabhupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur once said that we have not
come into the association of Vaishnavas in order to become construction workers in
brick, wood, and stone. If it is necessary to sell the bricks and other wealth in order to
spread Mahaprabhu’s message of Divine Love, we should do that. We should try to
cultivate this attitude in the service of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur
Prabhupada, Prabhupadas Rupa, Sanatana and Sri Jiva Goswami, and Sri Krishna
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu!
 Are we preaching just to increase the mundane wealth of our particular society? If so,
what do we achieve? Are we really following the path of the previous spiritual masters?
Or are we simply using their name and words to further our own ends of increasing
mundane wealth? Is this why Prabhupadas Rupa, Sanatana, and Sri Jiva Goswami set the
example of building glorious temples for their Deities, while they themselves spent the
rest of their lives under trees, writing books?
 Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur has sung in one of his kirtans (Kalyana-kalpa-taru) as
follows:
 mukhe bolo prem prem bastuta tyajiya hem
shunya granthi anchale bandhan
 "We are repeatedly speaking and preaching about Divine Love to others, but actually we
are far from it. We have lost this diamond by our present activity. Now we have nothing,
an absolutely empty pot in the name of full divine pot."
 At another place in same kirtan, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote as follows:
 akaitaba krishna prem jena suvimala hem
ei phal nriloke durlabh
kaitabe vanchana matra hou age jogya patra
tabe prem haibe sulabh
 "Divine Love is like a rare piece of bright gold or diamond. When we are absolutely free
from hypocritical activities and surrender absolutely to His service, then we will be
qualified to get this Divine Love. Actually the diamond of Krishna Prema is very rare on
this planet. Rather than taking shelter of hypocrisy to deceive others, we should try to
become worthy to receive Divine Love, for though Prema is very rare, it comes very
easily to those who have attained eligibility by ridding their hearts of hypocrisy and the
desire to deceive others."

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 If we examine the essence of the above quote, we see that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur is
explaining that what we are nowadays calling Prema (Divine Love) is actually fakery or
deceit. My beloved Spiritual Master, His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Promode Puri
Goswami Maharaj, explained in one of his discourses that the first symptom of feeling
separation is tears at the time of chanting the Holy Name. He himself would ask, "Where
are my tears? Tears don’t come easily to me, even if I put hot peppers in my eyes!"
 Srila Gurudeva expressed himself in this humble manner just to teach us a lesson, for I
often saw him in the middle of the night, secretly crying and lamenting to someone out of
separation from Krishna’s service. What is the present condition of our hearts regarding
the feeling of separation for Krishna? How can we pretend to have Divine Love (Prem)
as long as we maintain selfish goals and are more and more dedicated to achieving them?
 According to Srila Narottam Das Thakur, apana bhajana katha na kahiya jatha tatha, "
which means "we should not show or discuss our feelings of separation to anyone and
everyone." We should keep them secret so that they can grow and develop. Nowadays,
we are showing off, broadcasting our so-called mood of separation and our secret relation
with Krishna to neophyte people in order to attract them to our camp. Furthermore, we
are discussing very intimate topics of Radha-Krishna’s conjugal pastimes to those
neophyte devotees, just to show off that we have full knowledge of Vaishnava siddhanta.
But look at Mahaprabhu’s example: He discussed such matters in a very intimate place,
the Gambhira in Jagannath Puri, where He lived for eighteen years along with Swarupa
Damodar Prabhu and Ray Ramananda Prabhu, His most intimate associates. Are we
really following the above instructions of Narottam Das Thakur and the example given
by Mahaprabhu?
 Nowadays, though we belong to the same sampradaya, we criticize each other in order to
steal devotees from other camps to make our own bigger, so we can show off our power.
And we do it all in the name of preaching abroad! Is this the type of preaching
Mahaprabhu showed? We all know what His standards of behavior were. When He
converted Prakashananda Saraswati, the leader of the impersonalist camp, He did not do
so in a challenging mood or in order to prove Himself on the field of competition.
Though Prakashananda was an impersonalist, Mahaprabhu still displayed the Vaishnava
qualities of humility and politeness to him.
 Once upon a time, when Mahaprabhu was visiting Kashi, Sripad Tapan Mishra and
Chandrashekhar Acharya requested Him with great feeling to establish pure devotion in
their town, because as devotees they were tired of constantly being insulted by the
impersonalists. At that time, Mahaprabhu was invited to a Brahmin’s house where the
impersonalists congregrated. The leader of the Mayavadis, Prakashananda Saraswati,
asked Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu why He did not associate with them.
Mahaprabhu replied with humility, "The instruction of my spiritual master is that foolish
persons should only chant the Holy Name, instead of reading Vedanta, the essence of all
scripture. I am fool number one according to my spiritual master’s judgment, so how can
I associate with all of you who are giving such learned discourses from the scripture?
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam / kalau nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva gatir
anyatha //"
 In this way Mahaprabhu tried to say that the essence of Veda and all Scriptures is Sri
Holy Name. Then Mahaprabhu went on to make the following statement about Krishna
Prema, quoted in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita:

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  krishna vishayak prema-- parama purushartha
jar age trina tulya chari purushartha
panchama purushartha premanandamrita sindhu
brahmadi-ananda jar nahe ek bindu
 Among the five purushartha, Prema is the best, better than other four purusharthas:
religion, wealth, sense pleasures and liberation. Next to the fifth purushartha, these four
goals of life are valueless, like a piece of grass. The fifth purushartha, Krishna Prema, is
like an ocean of blissful nectarean love. Even Lord Brahma, the son of God and creator of
the universe, has not tasted a drop of it.
 Then, with proper Vaishnava etiquette, Mahaprabhu defeated Shankararachaya’s
commentary and established His own siddhanta: God is opulence, full-bliss, eternity, and
consciousness. After that, Prakashananda, the Mayavadi sannyasi, and his group of
followers surrendered to Mahaprabhu’s lotus feet. The point is that Mahaprabhu did not
display a competitive or aggressive challenging mood, even to these opponents. Contrast
this with our attitude nowadays, when we behave in this manner even with those who are
in our own same sampradaya, what to speak of the Mayavadis.
 Again, in Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Krishna shows us that the challenging and
competitive spirit are not included in devotion through the story of Arjuna, Ugrasena
Maharaj and a pious Brahmin whose children had died as soon as they took birth.
 Once, there was a Brahmin in Maharaj Ugrasena’s kingdom, whose wife had given birth
to nine baby sons. Unfortunately, every time she gave birth, her children would die for no
apparent reason. The father of these babies widely accused the king, Maharaj Ugrasena,
of responsibility for their death. Each year, the Brahmin would come to the King’s
palace, carrying his dead child, and shout curses at Maharaj Ugrasena, blaming him for
the death of his child. The king himself remained silent, showing tolerance as an acharya.
 After the ninth such death, Arjuna, the third Pandava happened to be present and heard
the Brahmin hurling invective at the king. He asked him what was his complaint. The
Brahmin blamed the death of all his children on the sinful activities of the king. Arjuna
was astonished to hear the Brahmin’s accusation, but was convinced that what he said
was true. Arjuna was filled with false pride and the desire to defeat Maharaj Ugrasena
and so told the Brahmin that the next time his wife was ready to give birth, he should call
him. He would go and protect the child from the forces of death.
 The pious Brahmin felt it was strange that Arjuna was claiming he could succeed where
Vasudeva, Sankarshan, Pradyumna and Aniruddha had all failed. "How can you save my
children?" he asked. Arjuna immediately replied, "I am Arjuna and I carry the Gandiva
bow. I don’t care for all these others. I will show you my power when your wife gives
birth."
 The Brahmin still had doubts, but Arjuna very proudly gave his promise that if he was
not able to save the Brahmin’s next child, he would enter the fire and destroy his body.
 When the time came, the Brahmin remembered Arjuna’s promise and sent for him.
Arjuna went to his house equipped with his bow and other weapons. On arriving, he
chanted a few mantras to protect the area and sat down in front of the Brahmin’s wife to
watch over her.
 Unfortunately, Krishna’s beloved friend Arjuna forgot Krishna out of pride on that day.
When he chanted the mantra for protection, he did achaman for purification of his body
and mind using the mantra namah Shivaya instead of the Krishna Mantra. Arjuna sat in

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 front of Brahmin’s wife with his fighting-bow, awaiting the messenger of death, but as
soon as she gave birth, her child died, as had happened every time previously. Arjuna was
astonished to see the child die right in front of him.
 He set off to find out where the child had gone after death. He searched in so many places
without finding the child. Finally, he had to admit his failure and arranged to keep his
promise by entering a fire to end his life. Lord Krishna immediately appeared and spoke
to Arjuna, "Please come with me and I will show you where that Brahmin’s children have
gone." Then both went to Mahakalpur and Krishna ordered Karanodashayi Vishnu to
give back the Brahmin his ten children.
 The teaching to be taken from the above story in the Srimad Bhagavatam is that when we
commit offences to the acharya, Vaishnavas and God, our whole devotional practice is
nipped in the bud. Favoring the words of the Brahmin, Arjuna, committed offence to
Maharaj Ugrasena, who was an acharya. Due to that offence, he forgot Vasudeva,
Sankarshan, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, i.e., his relation with God. Thus when the
Brahmin told Arjuna that Vasudeva, Sankarshan, Pradyumna and Aniruddha had failed to
save his children, Arjuna pretended to be more powerful than them. With his proud
answer to the Brahmin, Arjuna committed an offence to the lotus feet of the Chaturvyuha
(God). Therefore at the time of achaman, he uttered namah Shivaya instead of a Krishna
mantra. In this way, there are so many examples in the scriptures showing that
competitiveness and the challenging mood destroy pure devotion.
 From the above facts, it is shown that when we commit offences towards the acharyas
and Vaishnavas, we are pulled away from the lotus feet of God. Though Arjuna was
Krishna’s dearest devotee, his offence caused him to take on a competing mood and to
challenge Maharaj Ugrasena and Vasudeva, Sankarshan, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.
 Please, readers, do not take any offence from me, I am simply expressing my heartfelt
worries. Kindly bless me that I may follow the proper devotional path. I wish to continue
writing more on this topic, giving more evidence from other scriptures.

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 Anartha-nivrtti

Several months ago we wrote an article called, "Hearing from A Rasika Acarya" wherein we put
great emphasis on the qualifications of the person who hears Hari-katha of a confidential nature.
Our emphasis was on anartha-nivrtti, overcoming mundane impediments in the heart: first
deserve, then desire.

Since then an old friend has taken much time and effort to compile a very lengthy essay to de-
emphasize the necessity of anartha-nivrtti. Personally we feel that, although this essay was well
written, it nonetheless amounted to 31 pages of 'begging the question.' A response, is available
online: "The Standard for Higher Lila,"

Anartha thakara kale lila-gana kore na, "While still contaminated with anarthas, one should
never sing songs about the Lord's confidential pastimes." This verse was composed by our
param-guru Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in Prakrta-rasa-sata-dushini, a masterful
discussion of one hundred defects of the sahajiya school. [Available online: Prakrta-rasa-sata-
dushini ]

When two disciples of a particular guru disagree on any issue they may always turn to their
param-guru for clarification. In this issue the param-guru is Sarasvati Thakura and his opinion is
stated above, 'anartha thakara kale lila-gana kore na.' Although many devotees propose that
purification (anartha-nivrtti) can be easily dismissed in favor of rasa-vicara (hearing rasa-lila),
such a standpoint is taken by Sarasvati Thakura as symptomatic of the sahajiya practices.

Of course, such devotees are fond of quoting the last verse of the Rasa-lila chapter of
Bhagavatam wherein it is stated as a benediction that even one with lusty desires becomes
purified by hearing with great faith the Lord's pastimes with the gopis. The bona fide acaryas
always stress the holy name (with great faith and surrender) as the central focus in devotional
life. To date no one has ever been able to show us where an acarya has established a method of
practice for conditioned souls based ONLY on the principle of hearing lila-katha.

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Our friend has quoted Jiva Gosvami as stating that hearing rasa-katha is one of the most
powerful forms of sadhana. This is certainly true, but as amply proven with innumerable
references from the teachings of our prominent acaryas in Who is Following Whom, qualification
is required. All the bona fide acaryas since the time of Sri Rupa Gosvami have promulgated
respect for the developmental practices of bhakti-yoga, and to avoid jumping over any particular
stage.

In Bhakti-sandarbha, Srila Jiva Gosvami outlines the gradual process to spiritual realization:

prathamam namnah sravanam antahkarana-suddhy-artham apeksyam suddhe cantah-karane

rupa-sravanena tad-udaya-yoyata bhavati / samyag-udite ca rupe gunanam sphuranam
sampadyate / sampanne ca gunanam sphurane parikara-vaisistyena tad-vaisistyam
sampadyate / tatas tesu nama-rupa-guna-parikaresu samyak sphuritesu lilanam sphuranam
susthu bhavati

"First it is expected that one should hear the Lord's names in order to purify the heart. Once the
mind and intelligence have been purified in this way, one can hear about Krsna's form, through
which one's qualification to visualize it is obtained. When the form of the Lord has been clearly
visualized, one can experience His qualities. Once these have been clearly understood, one
develops one's own individual spiritual characteristics through the particular characteristics of
the Lord's associates. Thus, once the name, form, qualities and associates of the Lord have been
realized, a clear realization of Krsna's activities will follow."

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura confirms:

adhikara avicara rupanuga kore na, anartha-anvita dase rasa-siksa deya na

"The followers of Sri Rupa Gosvami are never neglectful in assessing anyone's spiritual
qualifications. The followers of Sri Rupa never instruct a servant who is engrossed in material
impediments about the science of rasa (intimate devotional mellows)." (Prakrta-rasa-sata-
dushini)

rati age, sraddha pache rupanuga bole na, krama patha chadi siddhi rupanuga bole na

"The followers of Sri Rupa never preach that transcendental attachment is reached before one
develops pure faith. The rupanugas never teach that the perfection of devotion can be reached by
abandoning the consecutive order of developmental stages on the path." (Prakrta-rasa-sata-
dushini)

sadhana chadile bhava udaya to haya na, raganuga janile-i sadhana to chade na

"If the preliminary practices of devotional service (sadhana) are neglected, then the awakening
of ecstatic emotions (bhava) can never occur. Even one who has attained realization of
spontaneous devotional service (raganuga-bhakti) should never give up practicing the regulative
principles of devotional service." (Prakrta-rasa-sata-dushini)

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The most practical evidence which may indeed help our readers to arrive at their own conclusion
as to with whom and where the higher lila of the Supreme Lord can be discussed, might be as
easy as walking down Bhaktisiddhanta Road in Mayapura. The Gaudiya Matha Mission with all
its branches (including ISKCON) on Bhaktisiddhanta Road, together with Caitanya Sarasvata
Matha and Devananda Gaudiya Matha in Koladvipa, were originally the creation of Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. For close to one hundred years the mission he established
has been functioning with its various branches, and in none of those establishments do we find
lavish discussions on rasa-lila, manjari-bhava, and all such things going on in public or in the
presence of unqualified devotees. Recently, this has become somewhat of a novelty in the
western countries among certain groups, but it is far from the standard practices established by
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta.

Action speaks louder than words. The missions of Sarasvati Thakura, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada, Srila B.R. Sridhara Deva Gosvami Maharaja, Srila B.P. Puri Gosvami
Maharaja, Srila B.D. Madhava Maharaja, Srila B.S. Gosvami Maharaja, Srila B.P. Kesava
Maharaja and all others in the illustrious line of the Sri Caitanya Sarasvata Parampara have put
into action in all of their institutions the concept of pujala raga-patha gaurave bhange. "The
path of raga-marga, spontaneous love of God, must always be kept above our head, observing a
respectful distance."

Srila Sridhara Maharaja once commented, "the real existence of Bhaktisiddhanta is there" in this
verse, pujala raga-patha gaurave bhange. [Audio recording available on line: Bhaktisiddhanta-
vani] Although unknown to some devotees in the western world, Srila Sridhara Maharaja kept
the pujala-raga-patha verse as the motto of his Matha, engraved on an arch above the kirtana
hall inside thecompound.

Beginning sometime in 1981, greatly fortunate western devotees began to hear from the lotus
lips of Srila Sridhara Maharaja many of the intricate points of pure devotion and spontaneous
love of God (raganuga/rupanuga-bhajan) following in the line of Sri Rupa-Raghunatha. In the
years that followed, Srila Sridhara Maharaja revealed a great treasure of the inner wealth of
Gaudiya Vaisnavism to the western world. Such noteworthy gems of siddhanta were drawn to
our attention by the grace of Srila Sridhara Maharaja as the madhurya commentary (Nigudartha)
on Brahma-gayatri [Brahma Gayatri Bhasya], the acme of dedication as found in our prayojana-
acarya, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, and revealed in his inner mood of Radha-dasyam, Radha-
pada-seva.

Srila Sridhara Maharaja revealed these and many more charming and beautiful aspirations of
pure devotion. But with every breath came "pujala-raga-patha gaurava bhange." Do not rush
ahead, fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Do not become a fool, follow the angels. [ Fools
Rush In Where Angels Fear to Tread ]

Whenever asked about the path of raganuga-bhakti, Srila Sridhara Maharaja always responded
in the same way: "pujala raga-patha gaurave bhange" – The path of raga-marga, spontaneous
love of God, must always be kept above our head, observing a respectful distance. There was
never any other explanation of raganuga-bhakti coming from the lotus mouth of Srila Sridhara
Maharaja than this.

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Once, when Srila Sridhara Maharaja was asked to speak about the pastimes of Krsna he replied
as follows:

"I am sorry, but we are not to enter into the discussion of such higher and subtle position of the
lila of Radha-Krsna. That is not to be brought into public, and that is the distinction between
Gaudiya Matha and the sahajiya section. The sahajiyas are trying to imitate all these things, but
we have no faith in imitation. The higher lila will come in an individual case, and it will awaken
in an irresistible way. When the program of the sadhana stage is finished it will come
automatically, spontaneously. We are believers in that, and not to know the form already and
then we will reach there. That is not the policy accepted by Guru Maharaja, Prabhupada. Pujala
raga-patha gaurava-bhange.

"Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura also said, 'Stick to the rulings of the class you are fit for, then you
will see automatically.'

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde vindeta bhaktim krta-punya-rasih

tatha tathotsarpati hrdy akasmad radha-padambhoja-sudhambu-rasih
(Sri Chaitanya-chandramrta 88)

"Strictly stick to Gaura-lila, Mahaprabhu, and you will automatically find within your heart that
Radha-rasa-sudhanidhi is flowing. Don't attempt directly to have it. It will come automatically,
spontaneously. Not intellectually you shall approach that, for that will give you a bad prejudice.
Not only that, but it will be harmful prejudice and you will have to expend more energy to do
away with that layer of misunderstanding. So our Srila Prabhupada did not allow these things.

"Do your duty in your plane, according to what you deserve, and that will come naturally. That is
his instruction all through, not only temporarily, but all through. Don't do like that, for then you
will get maya instead of yoga maya."

It appears that our old friend is not familiar with the books of Srila Sridhara Maharaja, or those
of Srila Sarasvati Thakura. Some may say that Srila Sridhara Maharaja was only a philosopher,
while they themselves are rasika-bhaktas, but such a statement is more telling of one's ambition
than of one's position as a real acarya.

Pujala raga-patha gaurave bhange is not merely a warning, so that one might not make a
mistake and go forward prematurely, although it certainly is that also. Pujala raga-patha
gaurave bhange is a direction that implies the recognition of an intrinsic quality, a fundamental
aspect of the nature of the soul. The soul (tattasta-jiva) is not a parsada of Krsna or of Radha,
but a servitor whose eternal position is lower and a little distant.

The place of residence of the liberated jiva in the Gaudiya-parampara is Govardhana, not Radha-
kunda. And the service of the jiva is also selected according to Their necessity. So to practice
pujala raga-patha gaurave bhange in this life will bring about the greatest fortune for all
conditioned souls and prepare us (in the sense of making us fit) for eternal service in the spiritual
realm.

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Srila Sridhara Maharaja commented that this conception (pujala raga-patha gaurave bhange)
should be preached in every nook and cranny of the world for all time. It is not something to
dismiss so easily. If we do dismiss this instruction, then it is we who are the losers.

It came as a shock to us when one evening, while sitting in Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja's
room in Mayapura, he mentioned that those sannyasis who want to hear rasa-lila but are actually
not qualified will have to take the risk of becoming mundane women in their next birth. They
will not, he said, get the aprakrta-gopi-svarupa. They will attain just the opposite, the material
body of a woman. At that time, just to keep a sense of humor, a sannyasi standing nearby said,
"Oh Guru Maharaja, that might explain why there are so many sincere Vaisnavis on the planet."

Sannyasa itself is the life of pure devotion, a life of service to Guru and Krsna, twenty-four hours
a day, astakaliya-lila. Yet we see in these unfortunate times that a man gives up his vows of
sannyasa, then enjoys the shackles of marital life for some years, criticizes pure devotees and
their followers, and then reappears on the scene after a decade or two - but this time as a
raganuga-bhakta. Shame, shame, shame. We are not impressed.

The real question is why do those who want Krsna-lila resent it when stress is placed on purity
first. First deserve and then desire. Is it too much to ask? Purity is the price one has to pay. The
actual price one has to pay for eternal life is surrender to one's guru.

prasanna haile guru sarva-siddhi haya', gaura-krsna-krpa tanre haya suniscaya

"If the guru is satisfied with his disciple, then all perfections are possible. Without any doubt,
Gaura and Krsna's mercy will be showered upon him." (Srila B.P. Puri Gosvami Maharaja, On
Love and Separation, pp. 131)

To establish in his essay the glories of hearing from a rasika-acarya, my old friend has given us
evidence from Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. In this regard Srila Puri Maharaja has stated as
follows:

"Apnader videshe ek-ti prakrita-sahajiya-dol srishta ho'yechhe" In your foreign countries there
has appeared a party of prakrta-sahajiyaism. And it is not a matter of inventing something; what
they speak is there in 10th Canto, in the works of Gosvamis, and Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti
Thakura. But the very fact of their speaking such higher topics to unprepared audiences, ignoring
the glories of the holy name, Who is the only real path to this higher lila, is namaparadha.
Mahaprabhu never did like this. He was relishing these topics with few of His antaranga-
bhaktas, and He was inspiring masses to perform nama-sankirtana, and Himself performed
sankirtana with great numbers of people. Pracara should be nama-pracara. Remember: I don't
like pseudo-Vaisnavism. I don't like pseudo-Vaisnavism. I don't like pseudo-Vaisnavism."

So it is safe to say that those who are actually followers of Srila Sridhara Maharaja and also of
Srila Puri Maharaja will not go to such places where the intimate lilas of the Supreme Lord are
being discussed among unqualified persons. I might add that the standard of my Guru Maharaja,
Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, was no different than that of Srila Sridhara
Maharaja, Srila Puri Maharaja or of any of the stalwart followers of Sarasvati Thakura.

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There is a fundamental defect in those who quote Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in an attempt
to justify their involvement with rasa-vicara (discussions of rasa-lila), and that is that they are
jumping over the head of Sarasvati Thakura.

But this is not the first time such a mistake has been made. There is the precedent of Harivamsa
(and his followers), a disciple of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami who took support for engaging in rasa-
vicara from Prabhodananda Sarasvatipada, but failed to follow Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. Srila
Sridhara Maharaja explains:

"That sort of deviation is found in many places in the succession. Just as there is one Harivamsa,
he was a disciple of Gopala Bhatta. But he practically deviated. It is thought that he is supported
by Gopala Bhatta's guru, Prabhodananda Sarasvati, who was a great devotee, and who has
written many books: Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi and many books of high-style writing are there. He
supported Harivamsa to a certain extent, who was a disciple of Gopala Bhatta. There is a line
from Harivamsa. Harivamsa was not accepted in toto by Gopala Bhatta, who was guru of
Harivamsa. Another branch, as if coming down from Harivamsa, they are known as Hari-
vamsini. Theoretically they have recognition of Gopala Bhatta, but practically there is some
deviation. They are more addicted to the rasa-vicara (discussion of lila). But Gopala Bhatta, the
direct connection [his true followers], they are very careful to deal with this rasa, high type. Just
as our Guru Maharaja, he is very cautious about to deal with the higher rasa, pujala raga-patha
gaurava bhange. That rasa should be kept always over our heads. We are talking something
about Him very hazy, and giving much respect."

The standard for dealing with the higher Subjective Plane of Reality has been given to us by
Sarasvati Thakura. He has come down from the eternal lilas of Lord Gauranga to show us how to
adjust our relationship with the Absolute Truth, the Super Subjective Plane of Reality, pujala
raga-patha gaurava-bhange.

There are no losers among those who accept the path shown by Sarasvati Thakura. When you are
qualified you will be accepted in that higher realm: Back to Home, Back to Godhead.

However, if you are not qualified but insist on engaging in higher topics of discussion, then you
are, in effect, creating a disturbance in the Lord's lila. Then unfortunately in your next life you
will get the corresponding body in material nature.

We are not saying one should never hear Krsna-lila. What we are saying is that one should first
be concerned with attaining the proper qualifications necessary to enter such a high plane of
existence. It should not be considered so cheaply. I wonder why my old friend is so adamantly
opposed to my emphasis on attaining the basic qualifications before entering into higher topics
prematurely. His own siksa-guru has recommended the same thing in the book Sri Vraja
Mandala Parikrama, as follows:

"So whenever the Vaisnavas are discussing any topic, it is correct to approach that assembly in a
mood of reverence. My Guru Maharaja instructed us never to read the 10th Canto of Srimad
Bhagavatam.

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"I remember that although he restricted us from reading these particular pastimes it was not
because he was forbidding us from reading it; but it was just to make sure that we would be
extremely careful in approaching these subjects with the utmost care and reverence without a
tinge of mundane contamination.

"Therefore these topics and this sentiment should be carefully exposed and partially hidden; but
nevertheless they must be revealed according to time and circumstance, taking into consideration
each individual's qualifications and eligibility."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Vraja Bhava

Question: I was recently invited to a program in Eugene, Oregon where it was said that the
program would be in "vraja-bhava" so I was wondering how special is vraja-bhava and how does
one actually attain it? When I went to the program there were various Hindi bhajans that I had
never heard before and also some bhajans of Mirabai.

Answer: What many western devotees call vraja-bhava is available in any village kitchen in
Uttara Pradesh, India. There are so many songs sung by the village people in and around
Vrindavana but those are not the standard songs of pure devotion, particularly the songs of
Mirabai. The pure aca rya never recommends his disciples to sing such songs.

Mirabai has been rejected by the Gaudiya-sampradaya as a psuedo-vaisnavi. There are some
people who say that Mirabai was a half disciple of Srila Jiva Goswami but this is a concoction.
Some say that simply by placing her hands over the eyes of the Rana of Mewar that he obtained
Krsna darsana. Also some devotees are saying that Mirabai merged into the body of Krsna in
Dwaraka and never came out again. But these are simply stories which have no ontological
backing. These stories are rejected by the suddha-bhakti school.

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Mirabai is not accepted as a suddha-vaisnavi by the followers of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Sri
Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura. Therefore the followers of Bhaktivinoda and Saraswati Thakura
never teach their disciples to sing the bhajans of Mirabai. To teach one's disciple to sing the
bhajans of Mirabai is equal to putting a kerosene rag in the mouth of that disciple.

Our Guru Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada sometimes said regarding Mirabai, "I have no objection to
her songs". However Mirabai's songs were never established as standard bhajans in his mission.
As far as the common person is concerned he had no objection. If a common person sings the
songs of Mirabai there may be some namabhasa for that person. But for suddha-bhakti he has
never recommended the bhajans of Mirabai. Mirabai is not in the suddha-bhakti school, what to
speak of the raganuga, rupanuga, or rasika school. She is rejected by the Gaudiya-sampradaya as
a bahiranga-bhakta, an external devotee.

Srila B.R. Sridhara Deva Goswami Maharaja comments as follows:

"Our Guru Maharaja announced, "We are suddha-sakta." We are worshippers of the potency, but
not this mundane potency, but the potency wholesale dedicated to the possessor of the potency.
Without retaining Her individual independence, cent per cent dependent - such potency very very
rarely can be conceived. 'Direct approaches to Me that is not proper;' but approaching through
proper channel, through the devotees, that is proper approach. That is real approach; so Gaudiya
Matha eliminates Mirabai and so many other apparent devotees to be real devotees because they
are mad in praise of Krsna, but not so much for the devotees of Krsna. (Feb 15, 1982, Sri
Caitanya Saraswata Matha, Navadwipa Dhama)

As regards real vraja-bhava, Krsna says in Bhagavad Gita (18.66)

sarva-dharman parityaja mam ekam saranam vraja:

"Give up all your duties and come to Me. And your present duties good or bad, whatever you can
conceive from your present position - give up everything and come straight to Me. I'm
everything to you."

Here the word 'vraja' is used by Krsna to indicate Vrndavana, the Lord's own abode. In
Vrndavana all the inhabitants are absorbed in the sweet mellows of spontaneous love of God. In
a word they are absorbed in vraja-bhava, the mellows of loving devotion, found only in
Vrndavana. So the fundamental principle of vraja-bhava is surrender. First surrender to Krsna.
There must be complete surrender to Krsna, otherwise vraja-bhava will not manifest. Surrender
means that we have given up all our tendencies to consume (enjoy). The attempt to assert one's
self upon others must also be abandoned. This is real humility. In material life we want to assert
ourselves over others and take everything for our own enjoyment. But vraja-bhava is just the
opposite.

Neophytes, who have no real understanding of vraja-bhava, sometimes may advertise their
program as being rasika or as being in the mood of vraja-bhava. Yet these persons have little or
no real understanding of the exalted nature of the love of the inhabitants of Vrndavana nor do

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they have a clear conception of the path of attainment, even though they may claim to be
following a rasika-acarya.

In fact, we see that their so-called vraja-bhava is only exhibited on Sundays, while the rest of the
week they are absorbed in ordinary mundane activities. Those who are actually tasting vraja-
bhava cannot tolerate even for a second to engage in ordinary financial dealings simply for the
purpose of extending their material facilities.

Those who actually relish real vraja-bhava embrace a life of renunciation (sannyasa) and reject
those things which are unfavorable for devotional service (pratikula). In this regard Srila
Saraswati Thakura has said:

'aham-mama' bhava-sattve nama kabhu haya na

bhoga-buddhi na chadile aprakrta haya na

"The holy name is never revealed to one who is situated in the bodily concept of life and thinks
in terms of 'I' and 'mine.' If one doesn't reject the enjoying mentality, the transcendental platform
will never be attained."

anarthake 'artha' boli' ku-pathete laya na

"One should never mistakenly call material obstacles "useful for devotional service", thereby
following the wrong path."

In his Anubhasya to verse 28 of the last chapter of Caitanya-caritamrta (Sri Gaudiya Matha
edition) Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura has also written as follows:

"Those who are barren of the treasure of prema, propelled by duplicity, declare to the whole
world their false attainment of prema, although in reality, by an external display of prema or by
announcing it to one and all, it is positively impossible for such hypocrite destitutes who are
deprived of the wealth of Krsna-prema to ever attain it. To make their great fortune known to
everybody, adepts of prakrta-sahajiyaism often expose to each other insincere external symptoms
of prema (such as shedding of tears). Rather than calling such hypocrite sahajiyas as 'premik',
real suddha-bhaktas go as far as to completely reject their association knowing it to destroy
bhakti. Suddha-bhaktas never teach one to designate such persons as 'bhaktas' thus equaling them
with suddha-bhaktas. At the rise of genuine prema, the jiva hides her own glory and strives for
Krsna-bhajan.'

"The hypocrite prakrta-sahajiya party in their greed for wealth, women and fame (kanaka-
kamini-pratistha) offend suddha-bhaktas by labeling them as 'darsanik pandita' or (great
philosophers), 'tattva-vit' (ontology experts), suksma-darsi (acute observers), and in turn they
adorn themselves with the titles 'rasika', 'bhajannandi', 'bhagavatottama' (uttama-bhagavata), 'lila-
rasa-panonmatta' (intoxicated by drinking sweet mellows of lila), 'raganugiya-sadhakagraganya'
(the foremost aspirants on the path of raganuga-bhakti), 'rasa-jna' (the knowers of rasa), 'rasika-
cudamani' (unsurpassed rasikas) etc.'"

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"Having contaminated bhajan-pranali with the waves of their own materialistic emotions, they
become attached to abominable practices; what they actually adore in themselves is pseudo-
vaisnavism. These kinds of preachers go to describe aprakrta-rasa, making their respective
mundane emotions a part and parcel of Krsna-seva. Unaware of aprakrta vipralambha-rasa, they
take prakrta-sambhoga, which in essence is a perverted reflection of rasa (virasa), as actual rasa."

Those who have prema never boast of their love for Krsna because the nature of pure love for
Krsna is that one who has it feels that he doesn't have even a drop of it. Those who say they have
prema, who say they are rasika, and who claim to be the distributors of vraja-bhava are basically
cheaters. They have cheated themselves, and they are cheating others. They have deviated from
the path of our acaryas.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in the introduction to the 4th verse of Siksastaka in his Amrta-
pravaha-basya states:

premera svabhava - yaha premera sambandha

sei mane - krsne mor nahi bhakti-gandha

"The nature of prema is such that one who has got real connection with prema will think with
dainya (humility). 'I possess not even a trace of bhakti'"

The so-called preachers of 'vraja-bhava' are always outraged when we speak on such topics
according to the standard of our acarya Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. The psuedo-
vaisnava says that the jungle (aranya) is cut and now it is time to preach rasa-lila throughout the
world. But such foolish persons do not realize that they are living in the jungle and the weeds of
misconception have overgrown their creeper of devotion.

When challenged about their false conceptions, the so-called preachers of 'vraja-rasa' become
angry and say that their tears are the proof that they are absorbed in prema. Yet these so-called
rasika and prema-bhaktas do not show us any of the other qualities of pure devotion such as
dainya (humility) etc., only a display of tears.

In this regard, the Guardian of Devotion, Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Deva Goswami
Maharaja, has explained,

"By practicing, one can acquire that mental condition of shedding tears, and one can show many
feats as though he were a real devotee. Merely the display of some peculiar external
characteristics does not prove the presence of pure devotion. Real devotion is 'sudurlabha' - a
very, very rare achievement."

Pure devotion is such a rare commodity that it can hardly be attained by one days devotion per
week, especially when that devotion is adulterated with the enjoying spirit and other such gross
anarthas.

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Those who are bona-fide preachers of the religion of divine love, as inaugurated by Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, do not engage in rasa-vicara (discussion of rasa in public). The bona-fide preacher
always preaches nama-pracara - the glories of the holy name.

This was emphatically stated by His Divine Grace, Srila B. P. Puri Goswami Maharaja:

"In your foreign countries there has appeared a party of prakrta-sahajiyaism. And it is not a
matter of inventing something - what they speak is there in 10th Canto, in the works of the
Goswamis, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. But the very fact of their speaking such higher
topics to unprepared audiences, ignoring the glories of the Holy Name, who is the only real path
to this higher lila, is namaparadha. Mahaprabhu never did like this. He was relishing these topics
with a few of His antaranga-bhaktas, and was inspiring masses to perform nama-sankirtana, and
He Himself performed sankirtana with great numbers of people. Pracara should be nama-
pracara." (Feb. 7, 1996, Sridhama Mayapur, Gopinatha Gaudiya Matha)

We must be very strict and very, very vigilant about these points. That was the standard of Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura and that has been followed by his most stalwart disciples,
such as Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srila B.R. Sridhara Deva Goswami
Maharaja, Srila B.P. Puri Goswami Maharaja. Srila B.D. Madhava Maharaja, Srila B.S.
Goswami Maharaja, Srila B.P. Kesava Maharaja, and all others.

In conclusion, vraja-bhava requires complete surrender at the lotus feet of Krsna and the spiritual
master. It is not a cheap thing! It requires a life of dedication. When one comes in connection
with vraja-bhava he does not go out to sell cars the next day, carrying on life as usual, going out
mountain biking on the weekend with his family and engaging in so many ordinary mundane
activities. Vraja-bhava means "die to live", the absolute abnegation of all things mundane, and
that is followed by full submission to guru and Krsna - that is vraja-bhava. Not simply singing
Hindi bhajans - that is only namabhasa. It is not suddha-nama or pure devotion.

Pujala raga-patha inscription - Sri Caitanya Saraswata Matha

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 My Guru is Radharani

Question: I have seen in the composition "Prabhupada Lila-Smarana-Mangala-Stotram" that you

have indicated Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was in madhurya-rasa. However, we
have also heard from other great souls quoting Srila B. R. Sridhara Deva Goswami Maharaja that
Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja has shown affinity for sakhya-rasa. This apparently has been
shown in Swami Prabhupada's prayer written on the good ship Jaladutta while he was on his way
to the western world. So my question is, being an admirer of Srila Sridhara Maharaja how do you
harmonize your opinion about the rasa of your Guru Maharaja with that indicated by Srila
Sridhara Maharaja?

Narasingha Maharaja: What Srila Sridhara Maharaja has spoken, we should take that upon our
head. After the departure of our Prabhupada, it is appropriate that we should accept the direction
of Srila Sridhar Maharaja. Almost these very same words were uttered about Srila Sridhara
Maharaja by our Guru Maharaja in a letter to Sripad Govinda Maharaja (Our Affectionate
Guardians, pp. 8. ). So to accept Srila Sridhara Maharaja's opinion is quite natural for anyone
who even remotely knows something of his higher subjective realizations and of his intimate
relationship with our Srila Prabhupada.

When Srila Sridhara Maharaja heard the recitation of the poem composed by our Guru Maharaja,
"Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Krsna," he commented that there was indeed strong indication of our
Srila Prabhupada being in sakhya-rasa. Srila Sridhara Maharaja said, "He has expressed himself,
his eternal position, the acme of his aspiration. In Vrindavan he has established Balarama and
Krishna and Nitai Gaura, and he is saying like that, Nitai Gaura are Krishna and Balarama. It's
almost clear that he comes from that group. And now he's again there. Hare Krishna."

Such a statement by Srila Sridhara Maharaja is not to be taken lightly. A short time later there
was some objection to Srila Sridhara Maharaja's referring to our Guru Maharaja as being in
sakhya-rasa. Some of Srila Prabhupada's disciples for some reason took objection to Srila
Sridhara Maharaja's statement. Srila Sridhara Maharaja was shocked by the immaturity of those
disciples who objected. The consideration of rasa was obviously not a topic that those disciples

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were familiar with. Indeed their harshness in dealing with Srila Sridhara Maharaja reflected their
extremely neophyte state of Krsna consciousness.

At that time Srila Sridhara Maharaja made reference to the effect that because of the special
empowerment of Sri Nityananda Prabhu that our Guru Maharaja might have couched his
madhurya tendencies in deference to Lord Nityananda.

The idea given by Srila Sridhara Mahraja was that it is possible that our Guru Maharaja was in
madhurya rasa, but out of deference to Nityananda by whose potency he was influenced for his
preaching campaign, Srila Prabhupada may have veiled his madhurya sentiments. Therefore
some of the sakhya influence of Nityananda Prabhu was shown outwardly, keeping madhurya in
the backgound.

It was not unthinkable for Srila Sridhara Maharaja to say such a thing-that our Guru Maharaja
was outwardly showing sakhya influence and keeping his madhurya sentiments in the
background. Certainly such is not unreasonable.

To be a follower of Srila Sridhara Maharaja does indeed mean to adhere to his instructions and
opinions. Last but not least, his instruction was that one should come to the plane of eternal truth,
by surrender-to know the truth in the core of one's heart, anuraga.

Some devotees may be in favor of our Guru Maharaja in sakhya-rasa while others may favor him
in madhurya-rasa but to establish a right and a wrong in this matter may not be as black and
white as some would like it to be. The truth is subjective-as He wishes us to see Him, so we shall
see Him.

In the life of our Guru Maharaja there were innumerable indications for thinking that he was
connected to Krsna-lila in madhurya-rasa. We have tried to show practically, by those
indications, how Srila Prabhupada is very dear to Srimati Radharani. Only a portion of those
indications have been recounted in the song "Prabhupada Lila-Smarana-Mangala-Stotram."
Those were as follows: (1) That Srila Prabhupada's father praying to the vaishnava-sadhus asked
for their blessings that his son become the servant of Srimati Radharani. (2) That Srila
Prabhupada took mantra-diksa (initiation) from Sri Saraswati Thakura (Vrsabhanavi Devi Dayita
Dasa also known as Nayana-mani Manjari in his siddha-rupa). (3) That Srila Prabhupada
received his most cherished instructions to print books from his Guru while they strolled along
the banks of Sri Radha Kunda (the most sacred place of pilgrimage for the followers of Sri Rupa
and Raghunatha dasa). (4) That Srila Prabhupada's chosen place of bhajan in Vrindavan was just
behind the samadhi of Srila Rupa Goswami (Rupa Manjari). (5) That Srila Prabhupada after
completing his world preaching mission returned to Vrindavana and selected Kartikka month
(the month non-different from Srimati Radharani) as the time of his departure and his entrance
into the eternal lilas of the Lord. (6) And lastly Srila Prabhupada manifested a great desire just a
few days before his pastime of departure to go to Govardhan Hill, the eternal place of residence
of the followers of Sri Rupa and Raghunatha dasa. These and other indications of Srila
Prabhupada being the dear most servant of Srimati Radharani were expressed in "Prabhupada
Lila-Smarana-Mangala-Stotram"

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It may be said that one can not judge the rasa of a particular devotee simply by his external
movements or place of residence etc. However such a statement may be taken as only partially
true. Otherwise Gaudiya-vaishnavas would not choose the Holy Dhams such as Vrindavana,
Navadwipa, and Jagganatha Puri as their preferred places of residence/bhajan. The prakata-lila
(external movement) of the pure devotee is not necessarily devoid of aprakata-bhava (one's
internal feelings of love of Krsna). Although the movements of the pure Vaishnava are certainly
deeply mysterious and not easily understood, such may nonetheless give us some perspective on
the level of their intimacy with the Supreme Lord.

Further biographical information that has not been mentioned in the "Prabhupada Lila-Smarana-
Mangala-Stotram" indicating the intimacy of Srila Prabhupada in Radha Krsna-lila is as follows.
(1) When choosing to establish his mission "The League of Devotees" at Jansi, India Srila
Prabhupada chose a building known as "Radha Smarak" (Radha Memorial) to set up his offices.
(2) When Srila Prabhupada went to Delhi for printing his Back to Godhead magazine he chose a
residence in the Chippiwada, Radha Krsna temple. (3) When choosing a printing press to begin
the publication of his life's work Srimad Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada chose the Radha Press in
Delhi. (4) When introducing his disciples to the worship of Sri Guru, Srila Prabhupada requested
us to daily sing the prayers to the spiritual master composed by Viswanatha Cakravarthi
Thakura, in which the glorify the spiritual master as a servant of the divine couple in madhyura-
rasa (nikunja-yuno rati-keli-siddhyai) is mentioned. (5) Srila Prabhupada's favorite bhajan was
"jaya radha madhava jaya-kunja-bihari, gopi-jana-ballabha" (This song was sung whenever Srila
Prabhupada gave Srimad Bhagavatam class).

In any case, we have many such remembrances of our Divine Master which have unfolded in our
heart so as to impel us to contemplate him as a follower of Sri Rupa Goswami and an eternal
member of the intimate circle of the madhurya-rasa. We feel it proudly in our heart the Srila
Prabhupada was the confidential representative of Srimati Radharani who was especially
empowered by Sri Nityananda Prabhu to spread Krsna consciousness all over the world.

nama om visnupadaya krsna-presthaya bhutale

svami sri bhaktivedanta prabhupadaya te namah
gurvajnam sirasi-dharyam saktyavesa sva-rupine
hare-krsneti mantrena pascatya-pracya-tarine
visvacarya prabaryaya divya karunya murtaye
sri-bhagavat-madhurya-gita-jnana-pradayine
gaura-sri-rupa-siddhanta-saraswati nisevine
radha-krsna-padambhoja-bhrngaya gurave namah

"I offer my humble obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada,
who is very dear to Lord Krsna on this Earth, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Taking the
order of his guru on his head, be became empowered by Nityananda Prabhu to act as a
saktyavesa-avatara. He distributed the Hare Krsna mantra all over the Eastern and Western
world, delivering and uplifting all fallen souls. He is the best of millions of jagat-gurus, because
he is the personification of divine mercy. He has distributed the sweet nectar of Srimad
Bhagavatam and the transcendental knowledge of Bhagavad-gita all over the world. He is
constantly engaged in exclusive devotional service to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura,

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Srila Rupa Goswami, and Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. I offer my humble obeisances unto Srila
Prabhupada, who is like a bumblebee always tasting the nectar of the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha
and Govinda." (pranam-mantra composed by Sripad Govinda Maharaja upon Srila Prabhupada's
personal request)

As Srila Sridhara Maharaja has said, "If we raise our head a little higher and look up then we
shall find Radharani and Gurudeva. It is Radharani who is instrumental in accomplishing the
function of Gurudeva from behind. The source of grace for the guru is coming from the original
source of service and love. Saksad dharitvena samasta sastrair, we are asked to see Gurudeva not
as opaque but as transparent, to such a degree that through him the highest conception of service,
the first conception of service can be seen. It can be obtained there. If we are earnest then we
shall find the highest link from the original source. We are requested not to see guru as limited in
his ordinary personification, but as the transparent mediator of the highest function in his line. If
only our vision is deep, we can see that according to the depth of our sraddha, our vision, guru-
tattva is very particular, very noble, very broad, wide and very deep." (Follow the Angels,
pp.163. Available from Mandala Publishing Group: http://www.mandala.org/)

In summary we may conjecture that our Guru Maharaja, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada is in madhurya-rasa simply because he saw his guru as Srimati Radharani. His guru
is Srimati Radharani. A simple observation-he saw his guru as Srimati Radharani. This was also
confirmed by Srila Sridhara Maharaja on several occasions as follows:

"Swami Maharaja has clearly written that his guru is Radharani, it is there. Krsna, Radharani will
be pleased if you help me in this campaign. Is it not written there, e-punya koribe jabe radharani
khusi habe dhruva ati boli toma tai. So he has admitted that his guru is Radharani. So we aspire
after the service of Radharani, under the direction of Sri Rupa and other devotees, not
committing any wrong." (Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Krsna)

"In general rasa, general service of Krishna he preached in the West. Though he knew and
admitted that, 'My guru is Radharani.' Radharani, my gurudeva, has ordered me to preach in the
west. And Krishna, my friend, you are to help me, because Radharani will be satisfied, my
gurudeva. Your bigness is also like that. So, You must come to help me"

Certainly Srila Prabhupada will forgive us if we have over stepped our bounds in our endeavors
to serve him with our full hearts love and devotion.

We offer our humble apologies to anyone and everyone if we have made any offence in
following our heart felt intuition and pray that you will kindly forgive us.

Srila Prabhupada Lila-Smarana-Mangala-Stotram

(1)
jayore sva parisada srila swami prabhupada
abhaya amrta para gati
tomara carana padma dhuli moro sreya-sadma
tahe mama nitya paranati

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All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He is always
accompanied by his associate servitors, his internal nature is just like the sweetest nectar and
externally he appears like fearlessness personified. I continually offer my full prostrate
obeisances unto the dust of his lotus feet which are the all auspicious shelter and goal of my life.

(2)
sat jana vandita mama cira vanchita
prabhupada-padme sukha-seva
tava seva parasade purila se hrdi sadhe
tava guna-sobha mana-lobha

The blissful service of the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada is glorified by the topmost saints and
devotees. To obtain the unalloyed service of his lotus feet is the only cherishable goal of my life.
That eternal desire is always being fulfilled by the nectar of His Divine Grace and therefore the
beauty of his unlimited transcendental qualities continually charms my heart. Now my dear
devotees please hear with great care and attention the narration of Srila Prabhupada-Lila-
Smarana-Mangala-Stotram, the transcendental qualities and pastimes of His Divine Grace, the
topmost servant of Srimati Radharani .

(3)
sri nandotsava-dine nija sakhi-gana-sane
premananda-nimagna sri radhe
sukha iccha parakasa daki nija priya dasa
kahilena "pura ei sadhe"

On the day when the grand festival of Sri Nanda Maharaja, celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna
was being held, Srimati Radharani accompanied by Her sakhis, who were all deeply absorbed in
the bliss of krsna-prema, called for one of Her dearmost servants. Srimati Radharani, the
Absolute Qyeen of Vrindavana, spoke thus revealing Her happy thoughts, "You must fulfill one
desire of mine."

(4)
aji subha divasete mama krpasisa sathe
avatirne hao dharanite
sri kamala-dhani tatha tava gaura-seva-katha
pracarila bhavisya-vanite

On this auspicious day you must incarnate on the earth along with my blessings and spread
Krishna consciousness in every town and village of the world. My very dear Sri Kamala (another
name of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura) has already announced your coming and she has also
predicted your devotional service unto My Lord Gauranga.

(5)
is†a-devi-pade-nami tabe he sri krsna-premi
e dharara kroda dhanya-kore

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 avatirna hoile nami sri vaisnava grha swami
sri gaura-mohana-paribare

That unalloyed servant of Sri Krishna (later to be known as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada), who's heart was filled with the most inconceivable love of Godhead, paying
obeisances and offering countless prayers at the lotus feet of the Supremely Worshipable
Goddess of Fortune then appeared on the Earth in the renowned Vaishnava family, headed by Sri
Gaura Mahan.

(6 & 7)
nija putra-tare tini parama kalyana mani
prarthana karila sneha bhare
he vaisnava sadhu gana koro krpa anuksana
mora prana ei putra-pare
mama putra e abhaya yena radha-dasa hoiya
nitya-kala seve radha-dhana
parama gaurava-bhange kirtana koruka range
tanra guna bhariya bhuvana

Invoking the blessings of the Vaishnava sadhus upon his son, Gaura Mohan prayed to all of them
with great sincerity, "O sadhus, O Vaishnavas please bestow your blessings upon this dear son of
mine, who is my life and soul, so that he can become the servant of Srimati Radharani eternally
serving Her, the Supreme wealth of life. Please bless him so that he can preach and sing Her
qualities and glories in a most grand way, inundating the whole world."

(8)
pare eka subha-kale tvadiya karuna bole
milila sri gurudeva-sathe
sri visnu-kirana dyuti sudivya karuna-murti-
rupa tumi herila tanhate

Afterwards, at an auspicious moment arranged by the grace of Srimati Radharani Srila

Prabhupada met his spiritual master (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura). He saw the
divine grace of Srimati Radharani in his gurudeva and understood him to be an effulgent Ray of
Vishnu, His Divine Grace personified.

(9)
bhayahina pracaraka bhakti sadacara daksa
prabhu bara se dayita dasa
nija drdha citta-mate nama dila sva-sisyete
isa abhaya carana dasa

That great divine master Sri Varsabhanavi Devi Dayita Dasa (another name of Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, meaning the servant of the lover of Sri Radha) who is expert
at practicing pure devotional principles and who is a fearless preacher of the Divine Message of
Godhead now conferred upon Srila Prabhupada the name Abhaya Caranaravinda according to his

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own firm self-confident character. The meaning of that name is that he is the servitor of the lotus
feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead which are the abode of all fearlessness and hopes for
the pure devotees.

(10)
radha kunda ta†angane ati antaranga sthane
ela tanra sandra premavesa
gadha anuraga-mane sarva-atma nivedane
mathe tule nila gurvadesa

In the most intimate place of the madhurya pastimes, namely Sri Radha-kunda, Srila Prabhupada
experienced the full ecstacy of Krsna-Prema. Whole heartedly surrendering unto Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura with intense love Srila Prabhupada received upon his head
the most holy order of his Gurudeva, "If you ever get money print and distribute books."

(11)
rupa-saraswati-srota guru iccha-ajnamata
premabhare kirtana karite
pradarsila e jagata sakala saubhagya yata
ase garo guru-nis†ha hate

By singing and preaching with great loving devotion that sublime message of his Gurudeva,
which is pure devotional knowledge of the Rupa-Saraswati (Rupanuga) stream, Srila Prabhupada
has shown to the world that all good fortune manifests from adherent devotional service unto the
lotus feet of Sri Guru.

(12 & 13)

sri sri radha-damodara sri jivera mandira
prabhu-datta nija kutirete
ara rupa-samadhite vraja-raga avesete
bhajana korila rasa-prite
sudha-bhakta-ratna-mani rupe nitya-kala tini
sethaya rahena virajita
yetha radha-pada-seva dhari rasa-murti-sobha
nirantara hana prasphu†ita

In the temple of Sri Jiva Goswami, namely Sri Sri Radha Damodara Mandir and Sri Rupa
Samadhi, in his rooms given by his divine masters, Srila Prabhupada performed his bhajan in the
loving devotional mood of the Vraja-gopis.

Srila Prabhupada lives eternally in his place of bhajan as the precious gem among the pure
devotees where the loving devotional service of Srimati Radharani constantly blooms
personifying the beauty of divine ecstatic mellows.

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 (14, 15 & 16)
parama suhrda haye gaura-prema-vani laye
pascatya desete aila yabe
bhai boli sri krsnere sambodhiya samadare
pratharna korila ei tabe
bhai tava punya habe radharani khusi habe
dhruva ati boli toma tai
labhive se bhagya aro yadi tumi khusi koro
bhagya-devi-rupa sri radhai
sri siddhanta saraswati- rupa dhari se srimati
more ajna dila pracarite
se iccha purna koro amara vacana dharo
tabe pari tanhare sevite

Leaving behind the sacred land of Vrindavan and taking a great risk in his old age, Srila
Prabhupada came to the western world as our Ever Well Wisher carrying with him the message
of Gaura-prema, love of Lord Gauranga. Upon his arrival he ernestly prayed to Lord Krishna
addressing Him as "bhai" (O Brother) in an intense loving way.

"O dear brother, my dear and intimate friend! I tell You this in a most definite way. You can
acheive some invaluable merits by pleasing Srimati Radharani. You (Lord Krishna) can really
attain even more fortune if You can now please Her, the Supreme Goddess of all good fortunes.

Srimati Radharani Herself in the form of Sri la Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura ordered me to
preach Her message. Therefore please take my word and advice and fulfill Her desire; then only
can I attain success and serve my Guru fully

(17 & 18)

atula saubhagya-kani tanra ei divya-vani
sri nama sri saci-putrasraye
sri svarupa sanatana rupa-prabhu guru-gana
sabe maha krpanvita hoye
ama-bhakta sabakare dena pravesadhikare
sri radha-sevika-gan-angane
vrndavana-govardhane kabhu radhakunda-pane
parama abhis†a siddhi dane

The mine of incomparable good fortune is the message of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada - "If someone takes shelter of Krishna-nama, and Lord Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu, the son of mother Saci, along with their dear associates, Sri Swarupa Damodara,
Sanatana Goswami, and Sri Rupa Goswami - They being greatly pleased with such a person
bestow upon him entrance into the embrace of the dear associate servitors of Srimati Radharani
at Govardhana, Vrindavana, and sometimes at Sri Radhakunda - blessing them with the supreme
fulfillment of the ultimate goal of Krsna-prema.

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 (19)
sri radhika priyankari sri kartika-masa bari
giriraja hrdayete smari
tinho apraka†a hoila nitya lila pravesila
raje yeta radha-sange hari

Completing his missionary activities in the western world Srila Prabhupada retutrned to
Vrindavana. Accepting the month of Kartikka, which is nondifferent from Srimati Radharani,
bearing Giriraja Govardhana in mind and embracing the lotus feet of his most worshipfull Lord
in the core of his heart Srila Prabhupada made his disappearance from this world and entered the
nitya-lila, the eternal loving pastimes of Goloka where Lord Govinda is always effulgently
present with His dearmost Srimati Radharani.

(20)
ei pantha pradarsane siksa dila amargane
kon vastu-siddhi laksya haiya
kori basa govardhane dainya atma-nivedane
labha sri radhika-ganasraya

By showing us his disappearance from this world in the month of Kartikka and by revealing his
desire to go to Govardhana Hill Srila Prabhupada has thus shown us the path which leads to the
fulfillment of the ultimate aim and object of life, that is to obtain supreme shelter in the camp of
Srimati Radharani's associate-servants with humble self surrender, residing always at Sri
Govardhana.

(21)
kabe tana aprakrta bhava-guna-bibhusita
jivana-caritra-madhurima
satya kori e vastave amari sampada habe
e jivane dani sukha sima

When will that day be mine, in some distant lifetime, when the beauty of Srila Prabhupada's
transcendental life, possessed by the qualities of pure love for Sri Sri Radha Krishna actually
become my only wealth giving me a taste of the highest happiness ? O when will that day be
mine?

(22 & 23)

sakala hrdaya diye sutivra akankha loiye
se ase rohi mui hina
kabe sei bhagya habe e jivana dhanya habe
kabe mor asibe se dina
pranabari pratisthane tanri krpa-saktyadhane
labhi eka-nis†ha tanu-mana
e dina sevaka tanra guna-gantha-sambhara
kori yabe satata kirtana

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Let us always pray to remain the humble and obedient servants of Srila Prabhupada. With a
burning heart, filled with an intense longing for his association, this poor and lowly insignificant
begger humbly prays for that fortunate day when the life of his servant will be empowered by
His Divine Grace with firm determination so that I may with one pointedness, not caring for
anything else, constantly sing with my body and mind the sweetest glories of Srila Prabhupada's
unlimited transcendental qualities and pastimes.

After the Disappearance of the Guru

Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

(This article is adapted from a lecture given by Swami B. G. Narasingha Maharaja on the
tirubhava anniversary of Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, October 31,2000 at
Radha Damodara Temple, Sri Vrndavana Dham.)

Question: What are the types of disciples who become manifest after the disappearance of the
guru?

Answer: There are gradations and sub-gradations of all things, but basically the disciples of the
guru manifest in three main categories: kanistha, madhyama, and uttama. The gradation in the
development of sraddha (faith) may be taken as the basic differentiating factor in these three
types of disciples.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple has very little sraddha–his faith in the instruction and spiritual
teachings of the guru is very meager and he has no faith in the Vaishnavas.

maha-prasade govinde nama-brahmani vaisnave

svalpa-punya-vatam rajan visvaso naiva jayate

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"For those who have amassed very few pious activities, their faith in maha-prasad, in Sri
Govinda, in the Holy Name and in the Vaishnavas is never born."

The kanistha-adhikari disciple worships the physical form of his gurudeva and may shout "Jaya
Prabhupada!" at the top of his lungs, but such glorification of the guru is lip deep only, because
the kanistha-adhikari disciple has no proper service attitude, faith, or surrender.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple proclaims his gurudeva to be the only bona fide guru. Having
rejected the ontological position of Srila Rupa Goswami as the Acharya of the followers of Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu the kanistha-adhikari disciple thinks, "Because my gurudeva is the
"Founder-acharya," the efficacy of the guru-parampara is no longer applicable. All other
branches and sub-branches of the guru-parampara are all rendered useless."

The kanistha-adhikari disciple thinks that his gurudeva is Absolute in all circumstances–he is
unable to understand and properly harmonize the relative and Absolute statements of the guru.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple has no subjective realization of his gurudeva and he does not
know anything of the ontological position of his gurudeva in terms of guru-varga and aprakrta-
lila. He is materially attached to the formal institution of his gurudeva but he is lacking in
siddhanta or philosophical understanding of the truths (tattvas) concerning the Absolute Truth.
For all his endeavors the kanistha-adhikari disciple simply becomes absorbed in society
consciousness but not God consciousness.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple lacks proper discrimination and he is thus offensive to pure
Vaishnavas. He considers his gurudeva as non-different from the formal institution, non-
different from his murti, and non-different from his books but he cannot recognize his guru on an
internal plane. The kanistha-adhikari disciple knows that, "Everything is in Prabhupada’s books"
but he does not know what that "thing" really is.

On certain holy days the kanistha-adhikari disciple expresses his mundane sentiments of how his
gurudeva saved him from material life but the kanistha-adhikari disciple cannot follow even the
four regulative principles. Sometimes however the kanistha-adhikari disciple does rigidly follow
the four regulative principles but he does not follow the internal principles of pure devotional
service, nor does he have any capacity to recognize the flow of divinity.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple measures everything from the external or relative point of view.
The kanistha-adhikari disciple prides himself in external achievements of acquiring land,
constructing buildings, amassing money and gathering many followers, but he has no concern for
or understanding of inner spiritual life. The kanistha-adhikari devotee is a bahiranga-bhakta, an
external devotee.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple sometimes thinks that he has become a rasika-bhakta and tries to
relish the mellow of the higher lilas of the Supreme Lord. But due to his lack of genuine
qualifications, the kanistha-adhikari disciple displeases his spiritual master and creates a
disturbance in the eternal lilas of the Lord.

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Due to management propensities, expertise in business, or often by default (time spent in the
mission) the kanistha-adhikari disciple rises to a position of prominence and authority within the
institution of his gurudeva. He then creates havoc and great disruption by turning the spiritual
mission of his gurudeva into a mundane institution for profit, adoration, and distinction.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple sometimes occupies the living quarters of his gurudeva as his
own. He strives for more and more control over the institution. He despises the spiritual
advancement of his Godbrothers and he uses the money collected for devotional service to log
court cases against his Godbrothers simply to further his own selfish ends.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple who is attached to women and attached to the association of
women sometimes becomes guru in the institution of the spiritual master–-he then cheats his
disciples by collecting donations from them simply for maintaining his material attachments.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple also sometimes takes sannyasa and becomes a guru in the
institution of his gurudeva but he later gives it up and marries one of his disciples or engages in
numerous other non-devotional activities. The spiritual intelligence of the kanistha-adhikari
disciple is always bewildered by maya but he is nonetheless very expert in making excuses why
he has failed to live up to or why he has abandoned his duty to the spiritual master.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple thinks that time and physical proximity with the guru enables one
to understand the purpose of the guru. Such kanistha-adhikari disciples do not know that only
faith and surrender to the guru will enable one to know the real purpose of the spiritual master.
Physical proximity alone never gains one the adhikara (qualification) to understand the Absolute
Truth.

yasya deve para bhaktir, yatha-deve tatha gurau

tasyaite kathita hy arthah, prakasante mahatmanah

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are
all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.38)

Not understanding the true purpose of the spiritual master the kanistha-adhikari disciple
sometimes returns to the university to obtain a degree. He says that if he has a Ph.D. certificate
then people will take him more seriously when he speaks about the teachings of his gurudeva.
The kanistha-adhikari disciple does not know that if he simply becomes a pure devotee of
Krishna, then the whole world will be attentive to what he has to say.

Thus the kanistha-adhikari disciple is of no spiritual credit to the greatness of his gurudeva.
Unfortunately the kanistha-adhikari disciple is an embarrassment to his gurudeva and thus he
misses the opportunity of attaining love of God, prema-bhakti.

The kanistha-adhikari disciple believes that despite his not pleasing the spiritual master, the
spiritual master will take him back to Godhead anyway. However, due to his many offenses the
kanistha-adhikari disciple does not have the mercy of the spiritual master and thus the eligibility
of his going back to home, back to Godhead is highly unlikely.

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We should sincerely pray at the lotus feet of gurudeva and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu so that they
may be pleased to save us from the mentality of becoming a kanistha-adhikari.

The madhyama-adhikari disciple is greatly superior to the kanistha-adhikari as he shows us

proper discrimination and places great emphasis on the vani or instruction and spiritual teachings
of the spiritual master. The madhyama-adhikari disciple has guru-nistha or firm faith in the guru
and this is confirmed by his engaging in a strong practicing life of Krishna consciousness.

The madhyama-adhikari disciple gives preference to substance over form and thus he becomes
more and more absorbed in God consciousness and free from the shackles of society
consciousness and institutional considerations. Whenever it is necessary, the madhyama-
adhikari disciple may sacrifice the relative consideration for the sake of the Absolute
consideration.

In the beginning, the madhyama-adhikari disciple is interested to carry out the vani of his
gurudeva "to the letter of the law" but he often fails to understand the "spirit of the law." An
advanced madhyama-adhikari disciple, however, understands the underlying spirit of the law
and thus he does not follow the law simply for law’s sake. An advanced madhyama-adhikari
disciple can discriminate between relative and absolute instructions given by the spiritual master
and he understands how such instructions are to be applied according to time, place and
circumstances.

The madhyama-adhikari disciple realizes the non-difference of the plurality of gurus in the
guru-tattva principle and seeks the association of those higher thinking (uttama) devotees of the
Supreme Lord. Thus the madhyama-adhikari disciple makes spiritual advancement and he
begins to manifest the personal character of one absorbed in pure devotional service.

Superior to the madhyama-adhikari disciple is the uttama-adhikari disciple, who due to his
advanced faith, has fully surrendered to his gurudeva. The uttama-adhikari disciple realizes the
subjective nature of the guru principle and the ontological position of his beloved gurudeva.
Seeking the dust of the lotus feet of the followers of Sri Rupa Goswami as life’s ultimate goal the
uttama-adhikari disciple fully pleases his spiritual master.

sri-rupanuga janera pada-padma dhara

ekanta bhavete tandera anugatya kara

Take hold of the feet of the followers of Sri Rupa Goswami and follow them with exclusive
commitment." (Sri Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura)

The uttama-adhikari disciple knows that his gurudeva is present by his side at all times. The
uttama-adhikari disciple experiences union is separation from his gurudeva–-he so much
perceives the continuous presence of his gurudeva that he sometime feels that his gurudeva has
taken possession of every atom of his existence.

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The uttama-adhikari disciple tactfully avoids the association of the kanistha-adhikari disciples
because it pains his heart to see their systematic destruction of the mission that their gurudeva
labored so diligently to establish.

The uttama-adhikari disciple can do great benefit to the whole world because he is the abode of
all good qualities and the reservoir of love of God.

Does God Exist?

Question: I have a friend who says that you cannot know whether God exists, because you
cannot see Him, so he says it is wrong to base your life upon a guess. He also asks why devotees
quote the scriptures; aren¹t they able to think for themselves?

Answer: The devotees quote the scriptures because the scriptures are the recorded examples of
those highly advanced souls and great thinkers who have gone before us in the search to know
the Absolute Truth. What they have recorded in their notes, in their doctoral dissertations, that is
known as scripture. The experience of what is good and what is to be avoided on the path leading
to God consciousness is recorded in the scripture. The words of the scripture are like so many
lighthouses showing us the way through the fog or darkness of material conception.

Scripture cannot be understood by persons with a dull brain. Only those with buddhi or purified
intelligence can understand the scripture. Is it not intelligent to take advantage of knowledge
which is already recorded in authorized books? In a court of law, a lawyer will cite the previous
cases in the legal annals. Are we to assume that the lawyer has no capacity to think on his own
simply because he quotes law books? The doctor also may be found to consult so many medical
texts when attempting to cure a patient of a particular disease. Should we then assume that the
doctor has no ability to diagnose the patient on his own? Experience shows us that the good
doctor and the good lawyer have volumes of related books for their reference. So why should it
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be any different in the search for God? If relevant textbooks are available, should one not take
advantage of such books? The scriptures are written on the basis of personal experiences of those
who have had some success in the world of consciousness, God consciousness. The scriptures
say, "This has been discovered. Go there are see for yourself."

A man of scriptural knowledge is indeed a free thinker, a self-thinker. The ability to think for
one’s self is in fact a qualification to become God conscious. God consciousness cannot be
achieved by the dull brain. What is a dull brain? One who thinks he is the material body made of
material elements, he has got a dull brain. Such persons can not think for themselves because
they do not know what the self is. Under the guidance of scripture one becomes self-aware. Then
one’s real thinking begins. Then one can think for one’s self.

A person in material consciousness is never a self-thinker, because such persons are always
under the mental and physical impressions of the material body, which is false. Only one who
has understood the difference between matter and spirit can be a self-thinker. Such persons
always take the scripture in close alliance with their practices. It is therefore not a sign of
weakness that one quotes the scriptures. Rather, it is a sign of spiritual advancement.

Someone may say that we must prove that God exists. They will say, "Show me God, I want to
see Him." But we will say, "Because you cannot see God does not prove that He does not exist."
Should a blind man say that the Sun does not exist simply because he cannot see it? The blind
man cannot see the Sun but his blindness does not disqualify the existence of the Sun.

The argument may be put that the blind man cannot see the Sun but he can feel the Sun’s rays.
He can feel the soothing warmth of the rays of the Sun. So we must be able to have some
tangible experience of the existence of God before we accept Him fully. That is not
unreasonable. Although the material eye has no capacity to see the transcendental form of God,
we can nonetheless feel that He exists. Feeling is a higher and more reliable sense than sight. But
that feeling is not skin deep, like the perception of the Sun’s rays; it is heart deep. With the
feelings of one’s heart one can confirm that God exists. God is on the deepest side of our
existence. In the deepest plane of our consciousness, in the core of our heart, His existence can
be felt. Indeed it is a profoundly personal experience, not something for the sightseers of the
mundane world. "Show me God!" and He simply dances before your eyes. It is not like that.
Many things are required if we want to see God.

It is not unreasonable. First qualify yourself. "First deserve, then desire." Is there any valuable
thing in this world that you can have simply upon demand? Simply saying, "I want to be rich!"
Do you become rich? No, many things are required before that. Simply saying, "I want to be a
doctor!" Do you become a doctor immediately? No. Then why should one think that the demand
to see God should be met immediately? First, deserve, then desire. It is such.

An atheist has no proof that God does not exist, so is it not risky to base one’s life on something
which is just a guess? The position of the theist is always more positive than that of the atheist.
Let us consider for a moment. There are two men. One is a theist and the other an atheist. Each
lives out his life according to his creed, and in the end both men have to die. Let us say for the
sake of argument that when the theist dies there is no God. Then what does it matter? He

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believed in God, but in the end there was no God. So what does it matter? Death comes and life
is over, finished, the end. No loss, no gain, it’s simply over.

On the other hand the atheist dies and he was wrong. There is a God! Then what, what does he
do now? It’s too late. He again takes birth in the material world and suffers and enjoys according
to the deeds of his past life. So to be an atheist, one has to admit, is quite a risky proposition. The
position of a theist is always safer and more desirable than that of an atheist.

The devotees of Krsna are not muktivadis, those who want liberation from material sufferings.
Nor are the devotees of Krsna jnanis, who want to know God through knowledge, calculation,
and speculation. Nor are the devotees of Krsna among the karmis and sahajiyas, the sensualists,
who want to experience God with their material senses, like the eye. The devotees of Krsna are
bhaktas. They simply want to love God, and the reciprocation of their love for Him is indeed the
greatest confirmation of His existence. Hare Krsna.

A Particle of Dust

Question: What should be the highest aspiration of a Gaudiya Vaishnava? Should one aspire
after the position of a manjari who can enter the groves of Vrindavana to serve Radha and
Krsna? What should be our aspiration?

Answer: We are to conceive of the plane of divine lila or pastimes of the Supreme Lord as
infinitely greater than we are. In that subjective plane of reality all things animate and inanimate
are superior to us. We are units of finite consciousness, yet we falsely think that we can demand
a position in the highest plane of divinity. It is ludicrous. It is heresy to think such.

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We want so many things of the higher plane, but we are not fit for that service. We are not ready
to pay the price of the highest service, but we think that we are somehow or other qualified for
that. We have heard that some position is there in the manjari section which is most desirable,
but we think that leaving all else aside we can simply jump to that position or march through that
world as a soldier and conquer our objective. But it is not like that.

First we must qualify: "first deserve, then desire." We want not the position of the master but of
the most negligible. First we must aspire for the most negligible position in the subjective plane
of divinity, not for the highest position. What is that most negligible position? It is this:

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram patitam mam visame bhavambudhau

krpaya tava pada-pankaja sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya

"O son of Nanda Maharaja, I am your eternal servant, yet because of my own karma, I have
fallen into this terrible ocean of birth and death. Please accept this fallen soul and consider me a
particle of dust at your holy lotus feet."

The most negligible position one can hold in the relativity of the Absolute Truth is that of a
particle of dust in the infinite world of lila. Such is to be the highest aspiration of any Gaudiya
Vaishnava in this world. We are not to aspire in the beginning for the service of others ó we must
first aspire to be accepted into that domain by the Lord and His personal associates.

If we say that we want the highest, it is paramount to sense gratification. "We want" means sense
gratification. "I want this, I want that", it is sense gratification. It is not for His pleasure, this "I
want, I want" mentality. It is better, for His (Krsna's) pleasure, to prepare oneself in this life to
become a particle of dust or a blade of grass in that higher plane of infinite lila. That is more
desirable and such a noble desire will not go unnoticed by the residents of that plane.

asam aho carana-renu-jusam aham syam

vrndavane kim ape gulma-latausadhinam
ya dustyajam svajanam arya-patham ca hitva
bhejur mukunda-padavim srutibhit vimrgyam

"The gopis of Vrindavana gave up their husbands, children, and families who are very difficult to
renounce, and sacrificed even their religious principles to take shelter of the lotus feet of Krsna,
which are sought after even by the Vedas themselves. O! Grant me the fortune to take birth as a
blade of grass in Vrndavana, so that I may take the dust of the lotus feet of those great souls upon
my head." (Bhag. 10.47.61)

To become a blade of grass in the plane of the infinite is no small achievement, what to speak of
seeing or associating with Krsna directly. It is no small thing. Such is shown to us by Uddhava,
the intimate friend of Krsna. And taking it one step further, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has shown
us that the position held by a particle of dust at the lotus feet of Krsna is the most desirable.

To achieve the most negligible position in the infinite will require the highest qualifications
possible in this present plane. The highest qualifications attainable here for the sadhaka (devotee)

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may earn him the most negligible position in the higher subjective world of lila. It is not a cheap
thing.

We must become a slave to His (Krsna's) will. Then it may be possible that we are taken there by
the higher agents of that plane. Otherwise, it is heresy to think that I will get that higher position
by my own endeavor. Our siksa-guru, Srila B.R. Sridhara Deva Goswami Maharaja used to call
such a mentality, wild goose chasing.í In reality any aspiration that has no basis in the concept of
divine slavery has no practical application in the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. Smarana,
meditation on lila, and so many other things of the sahajiya school are not the qualifications to be
admitted there. Only surrender is necessary, the surrender of a slave.

When the necessity arises in the divine lilas, then the qualified slave of divinity is admitted to
that arena and no others. Without surrender, without the slave's mentality, we are not qualified
for the higher service. So that should be the aspiration of one who understands the nature of the
transcendental world: let me become the slave of the Lord.

aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam

adarsanam marma-hatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato
mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah

"Krishna may embrace me in love or trample me under His feet. He may break my heart by
hiding Himself from me. Let that debauchee do whatever he likes, but He will always be the only
Lord of my life."

This is the slave mentality "I am His slave ó His slave in divine love. He is free to do anything
and everything as He wishes, I am His slave." But we are not ready to accept that position and
that is why we are not qualified for participation in the highest lilas of the Lord.

There are many devotees and even sannyasis and babajis who go on with manjari-seva
meditations and other things of that section, when not even the slightest trace of the real
qualifications are found in them. Such persons become mundane women in their next life. They
are never promoted to the plane of divinity through the process of imitation.

Srila Gaura Kishora dasa Babaji, the guru of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, used to
say, "Simply by entering the maternity room and imitating the sounds of labor one will not give
birth to a child. Many events are necessary before that."

The plane of infinite lila is so charming that even the particle of dust there is worshipable for us.
How then shall we approach that plane? Pujala raga-patha gaurava-bange ó the plane of the
highest raga (lila) must always be kept above our heads. With the plane of higher lila above our
heads we shall march on, tad dasa-dasa-dasanam dasatvam dehi me prabhu. I am the servant of
the servant, of the servant of the Lord's servant. I want such a position and nothing else. That
should be our approach.

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This sloka "pujala raga-patha gaurava-bange" was composed by Srila Saraswati Thakura, the
guru of our Guru Maharaja Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and it was his desire
that this position be preached, not temporarily, but for all time, in all places, in all circumstances,
and in very nook and corner of the universe. That was the mission of Srila Saraswati Thakura.
He came to fight with all misconceptions about the Absolute Truthóhe came to establish the path
of divine love, divine slavery.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura could not tolerate it when the higher subject matter was
dealt with inappropriately. And what did he consider ëinappropriateí? That the topic of lila was
taken to the public eye ó this should not be done. Why? Saraswati Thakura considered such as
aparadha, an offense against the Lord of love. Invasion of privacy; to take the higher topic of lila
to the public is an offense. In the time of Saraswati Thakura such was never the indulgence of
any member of the Gaudiya Matha, nor did any of his bona fide disciples venture in that way
after his disappearance.

We have heard many narrations from our Guardians (gurus) that exemplify how much regard
Saraswati Thakura had for the higher plane of divinity and how ever so carefully he dealt with
that plane. From Srila Sridhar Maharaja we once heard that Saraswati Thakura did not allow his
disciples to read (study and discuss) such higher books as Govinda-lilamrtam, Stava-
kusumanjali, Ujjvala-nilamani, and even certain portions of Caitanya-caritamrta wherein the lila
of Radha Krsna is discussed. Whenever Saraswati Thakura heard that someone was reading
those books, he took it that an offense is being committed by interfering in the higher lilas. So if
such a measure of caution is given by one who on one hand was the most dynamic and
progressive preacher of Krsna consciousness in the 20th century, and on the other hand so
cautious in dealing with the higher lilas, then how much caution should we, the fallen souls,
exercise when approaching such matters? It is only logical that we should follow his example
and exercise extreme caution.

The most profound example of the mood in which Saraswati Thakura approached divinity was
related to us by Srila B.P. Puri Goswami Maharaja as follows: "At the close, before his entrance
into his eternal pastimes, in the morning he requested Srimad Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja
to sing Sri Rupa Manjari-padaí of Sri Narottama dasa Thakura, and Naveen Krsna Prabhu to sing
Srila Bhaktivinode Thakuraís ëTuha daya sagara tarayite prani. This was the commentary on
Siksastaka. After giving this instruction to sing, Sri Srila Prabhupada began to repeat his famous
counsel: Implicit obedience to the precepts laid down by Srila Rupa Goswami through the
medium of the spiritual master is the wealth of our devotions. In this instruction, he outlined the
true method of our devotional practices as well as the real disciplic succession. Furthermore, in
hearing the song of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura (tuya daya echana parama adara), Sri Srila
Prabhupada clasped his hands to his forehead and profuse tears of humility rolled down his
cheeks. These personal gestures reminded us of our lamentable plight in not having any
attraction for the holy name."

If you want the highest position, then take this example. Keep the lotus feet of Sri Rupa
Goswami (Sri Rupa Manjari) on your head as your supreme wealth and cultivate with every
atom of your existence great humility and attachment for the holy name of Krsna. This is the
highest aspiration of a Gaudiya Vaishnava.

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 Sri Krsna Janmastami

(The following transcript is from a lecture given by Srila Narasingha Maharaja on Sri Krsna
Janmastami on the 4th September 2007 at Govindaji Gardens)

Janmastami, the appearance day of Lord Krsna, is the eighth lunar day after the full moon. When
Krsna manifests in this world, the moon takes on a dark color during that phase. In regards to His
appearance and activities, Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita:

yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham

O descendent of Bharata, whenever there is a decline in religious principles and a rise of

irreligion, at that time I personally appear. (Gita 4.7)

Krsna says that whenever there is a rise of irreligion or a decline of religion, He appears in this
world. Throughout the Vedas, the Highest Entity of truth is known as Bhagavan. In Bhagavad-
gita we find the words, sri bhagavan uvaca. This means that the Highest Entity is speaking the
Bhagavad-gita. Also, in the Srimad Bhagavatam we find the words, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam
(Krsna Himself is the Supreme). Krsna is the avatari –the source of all avataras. In this world,

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there are different ages – Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvarpara-yuga and Kali-yuga – and during
these yugasthere are scheduled descents of Bhagavan. Whenever Bhagavan comes into this
world, He has a purpose that will benefit all species of life.

Unfortunately, we live at a time when anyone with a little money can print a poster exclaiming,
“I am Bhagavan!” But such ‘Bhagavans’ cannot give any real benefit to the people. Of course,
many of these ‘Bhagavans’ perform some social work by opening hospitals etc. Opening
hospitals is good, but the government has been opening hospitals for a long time. Mother
Theresa opened many hospitals and Fidel Castro of Cuba has also opened many hospitals around
the world – yet we would not call Mother Theresa or Castro Bhagavan! Opening hospitals is a
very good thing, but it is also a very ordinary thing. Opening a hospital is nothing new or
extraordinary. However, whenever Bhagavan appears, He does wonderful, extraordinary
activities that human beings cannot imitate.

In the scriptures we find that Krsna lifted Govardhana Hill. At present, Govardhana Hill is seven
kilometers long, but in the time of Krsna it was five kilometers in height. In the evening when
the sun would set in the west, the shadow of Govardhana Hill would fall upon Mathura – that is
almost forty kilometers away. Therefore Govardhana is called Giriraja, the king of the
mountains. Today people consider Nanga-parvata as the biggest mountain in India or Everest as
the biggest mountain in the Himalayas, but originally Govardhana was bigger than both of these
mountains. However, if you visit Govardhana today it is nearly seven kilometers long but hardly
forty meters high at its highest point. Govardhana is slowly disappearing from our sight. Still,
there are stones on Govardhana as big as houses. Where is the ‘bhagavan’ who can lift even one
of these stones from Govardhana? Krsna lifted the entire Govardhana Hill, but these
‘bhagavans’cannot imitate this.

If you want to buy a silk sari, you have to be careful. You can go from shop to shop and find
nylon, Dacron, jute, but not silk. If you want pure silk you have to go to a reputable place that is
approved by the government, or a family shop that has been in business for over a hundred years.
Otherwise you will be cheated. Similarly, why would there be nothing to guide you when you are
looking for God? Think about it. There will be a parampara, an authorized agent, and authorized
books. There will be standards.

Most people are too simple! Somebody may have some terrible disease and they are told, “Take
your medicine, but at the same time pray to our Swami.” They continue to take their medicine,
pray to the Swami and ultimately they live. Then they announce, “I prayed to the Swami and I
lived!” Then this news spreads and the Swami becomes famous. But there is another fellow who
prayed to Swami, but he died! He doesn’t come back and tell you – he can’t, because he’s dead!
That is what is known in English as a ‘loaded deck.’ There are also atheists who don’t pray to
God at all – but they take their medicine and also recover. There are people that never pray to
God but make millions and become extremely rich. Don’t think that the proof of God is that you
will get money, or that your health will improve when you pray to Him. The transient nature of
sickness and wealth are simply features of this world.

We Want to see Our God Enjoy

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Whether in illness or health, a devotee will always pray to Krsna, “My success or failure is up to
You.” If he doesn’t get rich, or he doesn’t recover from an illness, he doesn’t blame Krsna.
Somebody might say, “Just see, you prayed to Krsna and nothing happened – you didn’t get any
money, your health did not improve – there is no Krsna!” But the devotee will simply laugh and
say, “No, you don’t understand. Krsna had more important things to do.” The devotee says that,
“I have my karma and I don’t expect Krsna to solve all my problems. He is not my servant, I am
His servant.” There is a difference. Many people in the world have a hard time understanding
suffering, and when they pray to God they expect that suffering, pain, disease and poverty will
disappear. When that doesn’t happen they finally say, “There is no God!”

Recently I had a discussion with one Christian gentleman who proposed that Jesus was greater
than Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He said, “Caitanya Mahaprabhu was absorbed in His own love for
Krsna, and in that love for Krsna He left this world. But Jesus was much more merciful and
selfless – he accepted crucifixion for everyone’s benefit.”

I told him, “Yes, this is the difference between Vaisnavism and Christianity. We want to see our
God enjoy – and you want to see your God murdered.” Later I wondered, “Why do they think
like that?” I realized that suffering is a difficult thing to explain. If you don’t understand the
concept of karma, you won’t understand suffering and finally you will want God to suffer also.

There are five main subjects that Krsna explains in Bhagavad-gita, and one of these subjects is
karma – what is action and what is reaction. Without this knowledge you cannot understand why
there is suffering in this world and you will subscribe to the idea that God is very cruel. “He
makes me suffer, so He should suffer Himself.” This type of thinking has evolved in some
religions. God must come and suffer. He must die. An ultimately what happens is that, rather
than becoming religions of peace and love, they become religions of violence and intolerance.
Under these types of religions, many people are put to death. These are not real religions. They
are not based on real knowledge. They are based on false or misinterpreted knowledge. Real
religion is based on knowledge and there is no superior book of knowledge than Bhagavad-gita.
This was Krsna’s gift for the whole of humanity, for all time.

The Mother of Civilization

Bhagavad-gita is famous throughout the world and the knowledge found in Bhagavad-gita, to
this date, is unsurpassed. It has such a depth of knowledge that even if a scholar of Bhagavad-
gita reads it again tomorrow, he will find new wisdom in it. That is because Krsna is infinite and
the words spoken by Him are also infinite. Any other body of knowledge has some limitation.

Everyone is fascinated by the knowledge of computers now, but can a computer tell us how
many particles of sand there are in Mumbai? Can a computer tell us how to make a grain of rice?
No! A computer is only as intelligent as the person that programs it. One day, the wonders of the
computer and the wonders of the cell phone will be of no more importance than the wonders of a
Tata truck. What is a Tata truck? Nowadays such trucks are commonplace, but when the Tata
truck was first introduced on the road, people lined up for kilometers to see it. Now we think,“I
need the latest type of cell phone, I need the biggest and fastest computer.”This is called maya-
sukhaya. Today, if I purchase the best radio available, would everyone be happy to sit around
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and listen to it for hours? Of course not! Nobody cares for the radio anymore. But when the radio
was first introduced, whole villages would sit in front of it and listen. Nowadays a radio is
nothing. We became tired of the radio and it was replaced by something else that caught our
attention.

But Bhagavad-gita has held the attention of the intelligent people of this world for over five
thousand years. Some people claim that the Bible is older than the Gita, but historically speaking
that is not true. Millions of people were reading Bhagavad-gita before the Bible was even
invented – and it was invented! It has not come from God.

dharmam tu saksad bhagavat-pranitam

Real religious principles are established by the Supreme. (Bhag. 6.3.19)

Some say that the Bible came to India a thousand years ago and that the Bible inspired the
Indians to write the Vedas, Upanisads, Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranas. Then where
did Ayurveda come from? That is also a part of the Vedas. Did that come from the Bible also,
wherein it says that one shouldn’t take medicine? How did a book that says that you shouldn’t
take medicine suddenly become the source of the Vedic texts on medicine? The Ayurveda has
extensive knowledge regarding the science of medicine and surgery. Thousands of years before
the people of Europe had even learned what medicine was, surgery was going on in India,
metallurgical science was there, theories of atomic energy etc. The idea that the Vedic literature
was inspired by the Bible was simply propaganda, created to establish Europe as being the
original center of civilization. In order to do that, Asia was put down.

During the nineteenth century, there was much talk amongst European scholars about the origins
of civilization. Upon discovering India, some scholars became quite perplexed and their main
task was to keep the origins of civilization in Europe. This is called the ‘eurocentric worldview’.
They said that the Aryans came from Europe to India and made India civilized. However, one
difficult point to explain for them concerns the food found in both cultures, In Europe a thousand
years ago there was basically only bread and something that you shot in the forest. That was it!
And the only spice they had was salt. How did non-vegetarians with such a limited cuisine of
bread, meat and salt come to India and create a whole thali? Not only a thali – a Gujarati thali, a
North Indian thali, a Punjabi thali, a South Indian thali, and so many other varieties of food!
Even today in Italy they have the most complete cooking culture in all of Europe. But still, there
is not much variety. If you go to Germany, you may get five or six different preparations. If you
go to Norway and other such places, there is mostly fish. There is not much variety.

And then there is also music. More or less, the only instrument that truly came from Europe was
the guitar. How did the guitar come to India and transform into the sitar, the vina, or the
tambura? There is so much detailed knowledge of music in India. Therefore how can India not
be the mother of civilization?

For many years, so-called scholars said that the Vedaswere simply mythology. Ramayana,
Mahabharata and the Puranas were basically just tales for children. But let us ask one question
– how many years does it take to fully study Sanskrit grammar? How long does it take to study

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and compose Sanskrit poetry? It takes twenty to twenty-five years for someone to become a
kavi(poet). After becoming such great poets, why did the ancient rsis decide to write fairy tales
for children? That would be like attending a classical music academy for many years and after
finishing your studies, going to Mumbai simply to compose jingles for Coca-cola commercials
on TV! It is more likely that after learning the highest standard of music, you would go on to
perform and present classical music. It is foolish to say that the Vedas, which are written in the
most advanced language, are simply mythological stories and histories that never really
happened.

Monkey Caste

In India, it is well known that the oldest God on this planet is Visnu, Krsna, or Rama and
everybody knows that civilization began in India. The ksatriyasleft India after Parasurama
destroyed their dynasties. They settled in the west during the Pre-Egyptian era and started
civilizations all over the world. After these civilizations grew, people began to wonder where the
first civilization originally came from. At one time, people said that civilization began in
Baghdad, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. Here in India we have the Ganges and
Yamuna – the Sumerians had the Tigris and the Euphrates. But in modern times, that idea has
basically been rejected.

The knowledge is there that India is the mother of civilization, but that knowledge is being kept
hidden. If somebody wants to update the history textbooks, someone will object,“No, no, no –
why do you want to update our textbooks?” Darwin’s theory has been disproven a hundred times
all over the world, but still, when new textbooks are printed in India, they propagate Darwin’s
Theory of Evolution. Then one may argue, “If Darwin’s theory is correct, why worry about caste
at the time of marriage? We all come from monkeys anyway.” That is Darwinism. In India
everyone is concerned with class and caste. That is natural. But in the textbooks that your
children study, it says that we all evolved from apes. One day your son will tell you, “Father,
why does it matter who I marry? It is written that we all come from monkeys anyway.” Monkey
caste! Of course, I may be joking about it, but society considers caste and community to be very
important. Yet the educational system says that we all come from monkeys. That is the so-called
knowledge our schools and universities teach.

The Spectrum of Krsna’s Lila

Real knowledge can be found in every word of Bhagavad-gita. In the purport to this verse, yada
yada hi dharmasya, Srila Prabhupada has placed emphasis on one particular word srjami. Srjami
means that Krsna was not created here – Krsna came here as He is. Krsna exists beyond the
universe and the knowledge of this is in this one word – srjami. Srjami means that Krsna is not
born according to the laws of karma. We are born from a womb, but Krsna is not born from a
womb. The Bhagavatam explains that when Devaki and Vasudeva were in Kamsa’s prison, all
the demigods came to offer prayers and then Visnu appeared. Everything was basically human-
like up to that point, but then He made His grand appearance. First He appeared to Devaki and
Vasudeva as Visnu. He was fully decorated and holding a conch-shell, disc-weapon, club and

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lotus. Vasudeva and Devaki prayed to Visnu,“Please become our son.” Then He manifested as
baby Krsna. Krsna was not born in a maternity ward, or with the aid of a midwife, nor from the
womb.

The story goes on to tell how Vasudeva and Devaki became fearful of Kamsa discovering Krsna,
how Vasudeva swaddled Him, how the gates mysteriously opened and how Vasudeva escaped
undetected from the dungeon while the guards slept. That is the wonderful appearance of Krsna.

We have all seen pictures of ourselves when we were small children. Can you imagine being
able to live at any stage of your life at any time, all at once with no confusion? That is Krsna.
Krsna can live as a baby, a child, a youth, a young man. He can live in all stages of life
simultaneously. He is not born, enduring a period of growth from childhood to manhood and old
age. He is eternally a child, eternally a youth and eternally an adult all at once. Is this
impossible? Yes, it is impossible! It does not fit into the spectrum of the possibility of this world.
He is beyond this world. The scriptures say that Krsna walks and He does not walk, He talks and
he doesn’t talk.

tadejati tan naijati tad dure tadvantike

tad antarasya sarvasya tad u sarvasyasya bayatah

The Lord is moving very swiftly and at the same time he is very still. He is very near to
us and at the same time he is very far from us. He is within everything and he is outside
of everything. (Isopanisad 5)

You and I were born and we grow old. We cannot show ourselves as we were two years back.
That is impossible. We continue to age and there is no going back. Krsna is not like that – He is
living every stage of His life simultaneously. Our experiences in life are actually very small. But
Krsna lives a life beyond our experience. He is nava-yauvana, ever youthful. He is always a
young boy. He is all of these things simultaneously and everybody that is eternally with Him is
also like that.

When you calculate the timeframe of the Mahabharata, Krsna was around 125 years old when
He spoke Bhagavad-gita. But according to those who saw Him, He looked as though He was
only sixteen or seventeen years of age. If any of us reached 125 years of age, our skin would
become wrinkled and our hair would fall out from our heads. We never hear that Rama or Krsna
became old. We become old men and women, our teeth fall out, our hair falls out, we become
deaf, but we don’t hear that Rama or Krsna ever became old. Old age is something that only
happens in this material world to people who are born according to karma. Old age is under the
law of karma, and Krsna and Rama are above karma.

In this world we can only be at one place at a time. The key word is ‘time’ – remove time, and
then see what happens. But you cannot remove the time factor in this world. This is known in
Sanskrit as the kala-cakra, the wheel of time. It is fixed and it pervades everything and
everywhere – up, down, inside and outside. Time influences everything, right down to the atoms
and in between the atoms. If we could remove time we could be at two places at the same ‘time.’

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Some people define eternity as, ‘a long ‘time’. But, no! Remove time and what remains is
eternity. Eternity means no past, no present, and no future. The element of time is a dominant
energy in this world and it is understood in terms of past, present and future. But in the world of
Krsna, there is no concept of time. Time is absent – there is no past, no present or future. That is
called adhoksaja, – beyond. We must always keep this in mind when thinking about the pastimes
of Krsna and Rama.

The Challenging Nature of Krsna’s Pastimes

When we think about the pastimes of Rama, it is quite straightforward. Lord Rama stands
morally upright in society. He performs great sacrifices and goes to the forest when He is sent
into exile. His life is very harsh, He has to fight to retrieve Sita etc. Rama’s pastimes are much
simpler as compared to Krsna’s. Rama’s pastimes as a child are not given much emphasis. When
we think of Rama, we generally think about His activities as a man when He is sent to the forest,
loses Sita, fights with Ravana and becomes the king of Ayodhya. His childhood pastimes are not
an important part of His lila.

When thinking about Krsna’s pastimes however, it is somewhat challenging. Krsna is so

mischievous because He is displaying His pastimes as a boy. But when thinking about Krsna we
have to remember that He is not subject to the laws of material nature. He is not within the
jurisdiction of karma. When the ordinary people think of Krsna, they consider, “Oh, He steals
butter and gives it to the monkeys, He steals the girls clothes etc.” If a small boy of six years old
goes and steals the ladies’ clothes, what is that? It is mischief. We would consider such a child
naughty and innocent. That is Krsna. But some people think of Krsna as if He were some lusty
old man stealing the clothes of the ladies – if you think like that then you are mixing in nastiness
and wickedness. Krsna is a mere boy. He sees the clothes, laughs and steals them. He steals the
butter and gives it to the monkeys. Such activities are charming. Ultimately, Krsna does not steal
anything, because everything already belongs to Him. He doesn’t steal anybody’s wife, because
all wives already belong to him. One must be philosophically minded when thinking of Krsna.

Krsna is made of sat (eternity), He is made of cit (knowledge), and the most important element
found in Krsna is called ananda (bliss). Factually speaking, we don’t know what eternity is, we
don’t know what knowledge is and we don’t know what bliss is. We think these are abstract
things of which we may have some experience. What is knowledge? Is knowledge something
that we study in school for passing exams and getting on with life? Is knowledge something we
simply find in a book? No. What is bliss? Does bliss simply mean happiness or laughter? Is
Krsna simply made of laughter? Krsna is saccidananda-vigraha – He is the pure form of all
those things. Krsna is not an atma inside a body. Krsna is His body. You, on the other hand, are
an atma within a body. Daily, so many bodily changes appear, but inside you are same.
Externally your voice changes and even your mind changes – but you, the atma, remains the
same. The atmanever changes. The atma is also sat-cid-ananda, and the atma has a form also.
We are of the same quality as Krsna.

This world is a foreign land. We don’t come from this place. We cannot permanently stay in this
place, and we are destined to move on. It is just a question of where and when we going to move.

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You can move laterally across this world, you can even travel down to Patalaloka, the lowest
planetary system in this universe. You can go up to the celestial regions of Svargaloka for some
time, but like a politician’s term in office you will go up and then you will eventually come
down. You cannot stay there. But when you reach Vaikuntha, the spiritual realm, there is no
coming down. Vaikuntha is a complete world, with complete universes and complete planetary
systems. Everything there is sat-cid-ananda. There is no janma, mrtyu, jara, vyadhi, (birth,
death, old age, and disease). It doesn’t exist. There is no time there, no lust, no hate, and no
greed. If you removed lust and greed from this world, all the major cities would disappear. They
are all driven by lust and greed. This is the material world. If you removed lust and greed there
would be no wars. Greed is the most horrible thing there is. That mentality of “I want, I want” is
what causes us to suffer. It is what causes the world to suffer.

Krsna’s birth may seem like a common birth in the sense that He looks like a baby, but higher
knowledge informs us that He existed before He entered this universe. Before He came onto the
stage, He existed. The stage I refer to is His lila. We have seen actors that can play any role – an
actor ages in a movie and gradually becomes an old man, one actor may play different roles in
the same movie. There are even actors that can play male and female roles in the same film.
Sometimes we don’t even recognize them if they are really good, and can’t accept that it’s the
same person because the makeup artist has done such a good job. Krsna also has a makeup artist.
That makeup artist is called Yogamaya. She makes up all the things for presenting the lila of
Krsna, just as in a drama. There are certain examples in this world that help us to understand the
higher world to some extent, but ultimately it depends upon realization. Realization means we
have to transcend the limitations of this world and understand what is real. The process for self-
realization and realization of Krsna in this age is the chanting of His Names:

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

This is the mantra, the meditation, and the process to awaken our eternal consciousness of Krsna.

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 Sri Radhastami

(The following discourse was spoken by Srila Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada in the Sarasvata
Natya-mandira, Sri Gaudiya Matha, at 6:00 pm in the evening of Sri Radhastami, September
19th, 1931)

There is one personality whose name is not referred to in the Srimad Bhagavatam, yet the
readers of Srimad Bhagavatam nuture the hope of becoming that person's devoted servant. May
that personality, who is everything to Bhagavan, completely destroy our false-ego and grant us
shelter at Her feet.

Today is Her appearance day. Having accrued all varieties of compassion from Bhagavan, she
distributes that as gifts to all. May that personification of great mercy manifest within our hearts
and make Her appearance there. May Her appearance day be the concern of our adoration.

Generally we hear that the whole world is maintained by Govinda. Many people discuss about
Govinda in this way. Yet there is one whom Govinda Himself considers as His sarvasva –His all
in all. Without taking shelter of that personality, we will not be able to comprehend what
sarvasva actually means. The word sva means‘one’s own’, and sva also means‘treasure.’ Sva
means Govinda’s own and also one who is Govinda’s treasure. She is the complete wealth of

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Govinda – the wealth of the wealth of Govinda. She is Govinda’s sarvasva-vastu. When we
make Her our worshippable object, then we will understand the actual meaning of worship.

All the sastras loudly proclaim that those things in relation to Bhagavan are the objects of
worship. Apart from Him, no one else can be worthy of the word aradhya (worship). At present
we are bound by ignorance and we have forsaken our search, cheating ourselves out of attaining
prema. At the time when anarthasarise, we mistake Him for something else. Our ultimate goal is
artha (that which is necessary), the opposite of which isanartha. If we do not serve those
innermost necessary ideals, or perfections that are available to us, and if we do not gain
instructions on the matter of service, then we will be ruled by our own false-ego, rendering
service unto something else other than that which is actually worthy of service.

Only divine love for God is worthy of worship. Understanding this point clearly, we live with the
fervent hope that we will eventually be counted amongst Her retinue. Otherwise, it is better for
us to die thousands of times.

asa-bharair amrta-sindhu-mayaih kathancit

kalo-mayatigamitah kila sampratam hi
tvan cet krpam mayi vidhasyasi naiva kim me
pranair-vrajena ca varoru bakarinapi

"O Varoru, my beautiful, most magnanimous Goddess, my heart is flooded with an ocean
of nectarean hopes. I have somehow been passing my time until now eagerly longing for
Your grace, which is an ocean of ever cherished nectar. If still you do not bestow Your
mercy on me then of what use to me are my life, the land of Vraja or even Sri Krsna who
without You, is simply a mighty hero the destroyer of demoniac forces like Baka."
(Vilapa-kusumanjali102)

ha natha gokula-sudhakara su-prasanna

vaktraravinda madhura-smita he krpardra
yatra tvaya viharate pranayaih priyarat
tatraiva mam api naya priya-sevanaya

"O Lord, O ambrosial moon of Gokula, O Lord whose beautiful face is like a lotus
flower, O sweetly smiling one, O You who are soft and compassionate, so I may render
service unto You, please take me to where Your beloved sports in loving pastimes with
You."(Vilapa-kusumanjali 100)

This is the devotee’s only desirable hope – when will that ocean of nectarean hopebear fruit? I
believe it is imperative that I maintain my life because of that hope. But because our eagerness
does not increase, that hope is not completely attained – that hope is not fruitful. If that hope is
not fulfilled today, if today Govinda’s sarvasva does not manifest in our hearts, then we have
been deceived. You will not be able to find anyone more unfortunate than us in the history of the
world. If we are cheated out of serving that personality whose mercy awards us everything we
need, including residence in the Lord’s holy dhama, and all things connected to Him, and if we

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cannot understand Her identity or discover Her within the 18,000 verses of the Srimad
Bhagavatam, then our study of the Srimad Bhagavatam has been pointless.

Being intimately acquainted with Her identity, Sri Gaurasundara has spoken to us on the topic of
unnata-ujjvala-rasa (the highest mellows ofconjugal love) , explaining the various ways of
serving the Lord and the process of pure service. It is only because He spoke to us about ujjvala-
rasa that we may understand the topic, as well as the opposite – the meager splendor of material
rasa.

In order to incite us to render service unto Him, Bhagavan has personally given us knowledge of
Himself in so many ways. However it is necessary that we fully understand that personality who
has rendered such perfect service to Bhagavan that He has made Her the object of His own
service. Those who praise Her can award us the qualification to serve Her and they can manifest
anuraga (attachment) for Her lotus feet within our innermost heart. The intelligence and strength
to serve Her is attained by accepting the association of Her beloved friends who are under Her
shelter – in this way we may realize that service to Her is our highest objective.

When we can understand, through the instructions of the mahajanas, that She is Bhagavan’s
sarvasva, we must proceed to serve Her, knowing that the prosperity of worship only exists in
Her. From this day forward, Her appearance day, if we engage in Her service then we shall
become qualified to reach the pinnacle of the highest type of auspiciousness.

All of us do not pray for that highest auspiciousness. But if by some ajnata-sukrti we obtain the
association of one of the associates of Vrsabhanu-nandini, who is the personification and source
of supreme auspiciousness, and if we are granted the actual good fortune of hearing genuine
discussions about Her, then we can attain the inspiration to journey along the path of highest
auspiciousness.

If we deprive ourselves of rendering service to and taking shelter of She who means everything
to Nanda-nandana, the emporium of rasa (akhila-rasamrta-murti)as well as Her associates, then
we will never attain the qualification to serve Govinda. Firstly, to understand Her identity, we
believe that it is necessary to know Her name. But while studying the Bhagavata we cannot find
any occurrence of Her name, we only find descriptions of Her form, qualities, the distinctive
characteristics of Her companions and Her pastimes. In Bhagavatam, we find everything about
Govinda’s all in all, with the exception of Her name. But we discover this in the verses of
Srimad Bhagavatam:

jnanam me paramam-guhyam yad vijnana-samanvitam

sarahasyam tad-anganca grhana gaditam maya

"To be merciful upon you I will teach you the most esoteric knowledge of Me, including
the realization of My nature and entourage, the inconceivable mystery of loving devotion
or prema-bhakti, and its constituent part in the form of devotional practice or sadhana-
bhakti. Now hear My message attentively, and accept what I impart to
you."(Bhag.2.9.30)

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 kalena nasta pralaye vaniyam veda-samjnita
mayadau brahmane prokta dharmo yasyam mad-atmakah
tena prokta sva-putraya manave purva-jaya sa
tato bhrgv-adayo ’grhnan sapta brahma-maharsayah

"The message of the Vedas is eternal religion, non-different from Me. When in the course
of time those eternal teachings disappeared from view with the universal cataclysm, I
imparted them to Lord Brahma at the dawning of a new creation."(Bhag 11.14.3)

The Lord explained all these topics to Brahma, the original person, but after some time the
people of this world forgot the Lord’s words because the stream of their thoughts were subjected
to the effects of old age and destruction.

jnanam parama-guhyam me yad vijnana-samanvitam

sarahasyam tad-anganca grhana gaditam maya

“As I speak, listen to Me and try to understand. Knowledge about Me is extremely confidential.”
That knowledge is endowed with realization, it is knowledge possessed with confidentiality – it
is the supreme secret. Rahasya meansrahasi sthitah – this means that those secrets cannot be
assimilated by any external force, nor can any branch of those secrets be grasped. Due to the
currents of thought that exist in the external world, we have forgotten the essential objective of
taking shelter at the feet of those who have true knowledge of the atma. Bhagavan is ever ready
to bestow this knowledge.

Bhagavan told Brahma: “As I speak, listen to Me and try to understand. Without My mercy no
one is eligible to hear or assimilate this message. Only through My mercy can anyone obtain this
confidential knowledge. What am I? What is My form? What is My svarupa? What are My
qualities? What are the distinctive characteristics of My confidantes? What is My lila? My
supramundane pastimes that are surcharged with rasa far exceed the path of mundane
sentiments. There is no way to attain this without the potency of My mercy. I am the storehouse
of all transcendental qualities – I am not speaking about those qualities that are contaminated
with the modes of passion and ignorance, but of those that are the foundation for creating,
maintaining and destroying the universe. I am distinguished by these attributes and I am the
active cause of all effects, thus I am the essential original principle. This can only be realised by
attaining My mercy.”In this way the words mad-anugraha (My mercy) have been used.
Information concerning Bhagavan’s parts and parcels, information on confidential topics related
to Him, information concerning realized knowledge – specifically that which is endowed with
spiritual consciousness, and information concerning His opulence – these are all supremely
confidential and non-dualistic. It can never be initiated at any period or for any reason without
the express mercy of the Lord. This secret knowledge is thoroughly expressed in the beginning
of thecatuh-sloki verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam. We are most fortunate that Sri Gaurasundara
has revealed this to the world.A secret topic has been mentioned, but the name of that personality
about whom this secret is concerned has not been uttered.Because it is a secret, it should not be
revealed to those advocating foolish ideologies and thus it has not been openly disclosed. After
hearing the pastimes of Nanda-nandana as narrated in the Bhagavata, such people do not gain
strong faith, and rejecting all these topics they simply deliberate upon the impersonal non-dual

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nature of the Lord, which is favorable to their mundane realisations. Some of them consider it
reasonable to merge into that. Without hearing from a proper source, their perceptions will be
perverted. Due to their vehement hatred of service to the Lord, such persons can never
understand topics concerning the intrinsic nature of bhakti. Due to the trajectory of the sun, the
appearance day of the Supreme Goddess who is fully imbued with rasa, has arisen in our own
radiantly pure hearts. The roaming sun is revealing that Supreme Goddess. Therefore, today the
demigods are also showing us great favour by revealing this secret.

It is our duty to surrender unto one who is acquainted with that secret. A poet by the name of
Manohara Dasa has said:

radha-pada-pankaja bhakata ki asa

dasa manohara kara ta ’piyasa

"The hope of the devotees is that they may serve the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. This
is also Manohara Dasa’s desire."

The exclusive aspiration of the greatest devotees of the Lord is service to the lotus feet of Radha:

sri radha-pada-dasyam-eva paramabhistam hrda dharayan

karhi syam tad-anugrahena paramadbhutanuragotsavah

"When will I relish that most wonderful festival of attachment to the lotus feet of Sri
Radha by holding that most supreme desire of serving the Divine Couple, within my
heart?" (Radha-rasa-sudhanidhi 259)

In his asta-padis, Sri Jayadeva has said:

kamsarir-api samsara-vasana-bandha srnkhalam

radham adhaya hrdaye tatyaja vraja-sundarih

"The enemy of Kamsa (Sri Krsna) abandoned the other beautiful damsels of Vraja and
took Radha within His heart, for she was like a chain that tied him tightly to his supreme
and essential desire to enjoy the rasa dance." (Gita-govinda 3.1)

At the rasa-sthaliall the gopis are present with Gopinatha, absorbed in playful pastimes of rasa.
When Varsabhanavi (Srimati Radharani)arrived at the rasa-sthali, She saw that unlimited
gopiswere dancing in a circle, all of them fully occupied in serving the Lord. Feeling sorrow
within Her mind, the daughter of Vrsabhanu Maharaja thought,“Today My Krsna is in the hands
of others! Today My own associates are busy enjoying pastimes with Him!” Thus, to nurture
vipralambha-bhava – which actually nourishes sambhoga-rasa – rather than taking part,
Varsabhanavi ran away from the rasa-sthali. At this point Jayadeva Prabhu has written, “Krsna,
the enemy of Kamsa, suddenly broke away from the rasa-sthali.”Samsara-vasana-bandha
srnkhalam – with thoughts of Radha in His heart, Krsna abandoned all the other beautiful
damsels of Vraja. When someone rejects the shelter of Radhika, any expertise they may have in
pleasing the senses of Krsna can never conform with exclusive heartfelt service to Him. All the

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gopis are direct expansions of Radhika, and while they remain proudly under the shelter of
Krsna’s sarvasva, Srimati Radhika, they can supply Krsna the topmost pleasure:

sriman rasa-rasarambhi vamsi-vata-tata-sthitah

karsan venu-svanair gopir gopinathah sriye ’stu nah
(Cc. Adi 1.17)

Srimad Gopinatha nurtures the mellows that manifests during the rasa-lila. Standing at the shore
near Vamsi-vata, He attracts all the gopisby the sound of His flute. May He grant us all
auspiciousness.

We will never assent to enjoying Sri Krsna (sambhoga) without taking shelter of She who is His
all in all.To shed light on this, the author of the asta-padi reveals something that supplements the
description in theBhagavata when he says, tatyaja-vraja-sundarih – as all the gopis danced in
the rasa-lila, Krsna abandoned them in order to find Sri Radhika who resided in His heart. The
fetters of the love of all the other gopis are powerless, weak and susceptible in comparison to the
bonds of Varsabhanavi which are extremely strong and powerful. All the gopis took shelter of
Vrsabhanu-nandini’s adhirudha-mahabhava– overwhelmed by mohana, madanaand other
intense feelings of separation, they went to find Krsna. They all understood that without taking
shelter at the lotus feet of Varsabhanavi, Govinda’s sarvasva, madhura-rasa is never completely
nourished. All the loving sentiments with which the various gopisperform their services,
simultaneously exist in Varsabhanavi exclusively in their entirety. Deserting all the other gopis,
who were immersed in feelings of prositabharttrka etc. Krsna was attracted by Varsabhanavi’s
captivating charms, since She possesses all these loving sentiments in full. Thus He set out to
find that personality who even attracts the all-attractive One. The gopisare expansions of
Radhika and are eternally a portion of She who is the original source – they could not bind
Krsna, for He completely belonged to Radhika. Thus She enticed Krsna, who attracts everyone,
from the rasa-sthali. One can only understand such topics if the functions of the soul have
awakened to the taste of madhura-rati(divine love). But those whose hearts contain an intense
mood of vatsalya-rasacan also completely appreciate the sweetness and beauty of such pastimes.

All the gopiscame to participate at the rasa-sthali, attracted by Krsna and charmed by the sweet
sound of His flute. Again, when Varsabhanavi, the complete embodiment of madhura-rati,
desired to offer service, then the object of our service Nanda-nandana Gopinatha Radha-ramana
discarded the general attraction of all the other gopis and was captivated by Sri Varsabhanavi’s
charm. He who is most attractive became attracted. Therefore, when liberated jivas attain the
eligibility to fathom Radhika’s identity, they consider the following:

karmibhyah parito hareh priyataya vyaktim yayur jnanina

stebhyo jnana-vimukta-bhakti-paramah premaika-nisthas tatah
tebhyas tah pasu-pala-pankajadrsas tabhyo ’pi sa radhika
prestha tadvad iyam tadiya-sarasi tam nasrayet kah krti

"The jnanishave attained the distinction of being dearer to Lord Hari than those who
follow the path of karma. Even dearer to the Lord are those who have abandoned
knowledge, understanding that the path of bhakti is higher. Even more superior are those

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 who have attained love for Krsna. The gopis are most exalted of all, and amongst them
Sri Radhika is certainly the dearmost of Sri Krsna. And Radha-kunda is as dear to Krsna
as She is. Therefore, which fortunate soul will not take shelter of Radha-kunda?" (Sri
Upadesamrta 10)

krsnasyoccaih pranaya-vasatih preyasibhyo ’pi radha

kundam casya munibhir abhitas tadrg eva vyadhayi
yat presthair apy alam asulabham kim punar bhakti-bhajam
tat premedam sakrd api sarah snatur aviskaroti

"It has been established by great sages that amongst all the beloved Vraja-Gopis, Sri
Radha is Krsna’s most treasured object of love. Similarly, Her kunda is just as dear to
Him. One who bathes even once in the waters of Radha-kunda attains love for Krsna
which is extremely difficult to achieve even for great devotees, what to speak of ordinary
devotees." (Sri Upadesamrta 11)

Sri Radhika is the abode of Sri Krsna’s intense love, and amongst all other dear associates, She is
the most illustrious and the most beloved in all respects. Uddhava and other great devotees pray
for the dust of the feet of the gopis, and all the gopis consider themselves most fortunate if they
obtain Her shelter. The topmost devotees, who are drawn towards madhura-rasa and who have
reached the topmost levels of devotion to Bhagavan, take refuge in the land of Varsabhanavi’s
pleasure pastimes and bathe in Her lake, Radha-kunda. With a sentient attitude they constantly
bathe and reside there. Those who have loyalty towards Saibya and Candra do not even have the
qualification to drink there. To constantly reside on the banks of that lake and to bathe there with
a mindful attitude is not achieved by any common, fortunate person. So long as the divinity of
Varsabhanavi’s youth and nature does not become the subject of our reflection, we will never
fully comprehend the glories of achieving Her shelter.

In order to perform bhajana, it is essential for the students of theBhagavata to know Her Name.
Bhajana begins with nama. One cannot begin bhajana starting with lila.

prathamam namnah sravanam-antah-karana-suddhyartham-apeksyam. Suddhye cantah-

karane rupa-sravanena tad-udaya-yogyata bhavati. Samyag-udite ca rupe gunanam
sphuranam sampadyate sampanne ca gunanam sphurane parikara-vaisistyena tad-
vaisistyam sampadyate.Tatas tesu nama-rupa-guna-parikaresu samyak sphuritesu
lilanam sphuranam susthu bhavatity-abhipretya sadhana-kramo likhitah.

"For the purification of the heart it is necessary first of all to listen to the chanting of the
Holy Name. After the heart has been purified by listening to the Holy Name the fitness
for the manifestation of the holy Form is attained on hearing the recital of scriptural
accounts of the divine form. After the full appearance of the divine form, the divine
qualities manifest themselves. After the appearance of the divine qualities, due to the
characteristic traits of servitors, the knowledge of the distinctive and perfect identification
of the devotee arises. Subsequent to this, after the full manifestation of the Name, form,
quality and servitor has taken place, the transcendental activity of God manifests itself.

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 For this reason this account of the successive stages of sadhanais written." (Krama-
sandarbhacommentary on Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.18)

Therefore, if our contemplation on rasa is not born from an attraction to the Holy Name, then we
are not qualified to study Bhagavan’s form, qualities and pastimes. Some may have attained
external, mundane perfection in grammar, however, as long as their conduct conflicts with that
of realized souls, the topic of the Lord’s rasa-lila will never be grasped by them. For this reason,
Sri Gaurasundara has explained nama-bhajana. Along with the taraka-brahma-nama (the Divine
Name that grants deliverance)we find the word ‘hare’ and if one does not understand the primary
meaning (vidvad-rudhi) of this word, there will be difficulty. Even when we consider the word
‘rama,’many times we are compelled by historical concerns. Repeatedly, allegorical and
metaphysical theories, as well as the fictitious notion of imposing human nature upon the
Supreme Lord ruin our pure intelligence. Those who lack rahasya-jnana(knowledge of
confidential truths) and try to be an intermediary for darsana of Radha-Govinda, will finds that
knowledge concealed from them. In the maha-mantra, the word ‘Hara’ which denotes
Varsabhanavi, becomes the word ‘Hare’ in sambodhanatmaka-pada (the vocative case). In the
maha-mantra, the word ‘Rama’refers to Radhika-ramana Rama in the vocative case. Those who
have not achieved the qualification to enter into madhura-rati and have not obtained rahasya-
jnana consider that ‘Hare’ is simply the vocative form of Hari. Some even say that the word
‘rama’ means atma-rama (one who is self-satisfied) and go no further than that.

To declare that Purusottama alone exists is to present only half of His true identity. Those words
that do not express the other half only mislead us. When we are cheated of the conception of a
Supreme Divine Couple, we will also reject the idea of the non-difference between saktimana
and sakti (the Potent and the Potency) – then, whatever small understanding we may already
have of Purusottama also degrades, and results in the theory of an impotent God.

The conception of Radha-Govinda is the most complete. Discussions on anugatya-dharma

towards Purusottama who exists alone can only terminate in vatsalya, sakhya and dasya-rasa –
the topic of unnata-ujjvala-rasais not discussed. Direct words such as Radhanatha, Radha-
ramana etc. describe His totality and completeness; words such as Brahman or Paramatma can
never establish this. All those who traverse through the kingdom of sadhana-bhakti,and then the
realm of bhava-bhaktiin search of prema-bhakti must realise that the topmost pinnacle of prema-
bhakti is only found in the divine love of Varsabhanavi and nowhere else. Without Her shelter,
the jiva achieves very little eligibility.

When we pass over Devi-dhama, Viraja, Brahmaloka, and we cross beyond all the conceptions
of opulence found in Paravyoma, as well as the informal moods of friendship and parental
affection found in Goloka, situated in our eternally perfect spiritual identity and familiar with the
topics of Radha-ramana, then our qualifications will be so great that we will consider ourselves
extremely fortunate and our service shall rise to the zenith of perfection. This cannot simply be
called‘realization,’ or aparoksa-anubhuti. It is not the aparoksa-anubhuti described by the
jnanis. This thing is an extraordinary affair called mohana and madana. These things are known
as udghurna,citra-jalpa and maha-bhava.Presently we reside within our gross bodies, which
present many obstacles for us – even the sensitivity of our subtle bodies causes us problems. If
the pursuit of our soul is without the unhindered and incessant shelter of Varsabhanavi, then we

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will never find it. Thus, taking the dust from the feet of the best of rupanugas, Srila Dasa
Gosvami Prabhu, upon our heads, we earnestly pray:

ha devi! kaku-bhara-gadgadayadya vaca

yace nipatya bhuvi dandavad udbhatartih
asya prasadam abudhasya janasya krtva
gandharvike! nija-gane gananam vidhehi

"O Goddess Gandharvika! Feeling intense distress I fall on the ground like a stick and
implore You with many words and in a faltering voice to be merciful to this fool and
accept me as one of Your own associates." (Gandharva-prarthanastakam 2)

(First printed in The Gaudiya, Vol. 10, No. 11 in October 1931, and reprinted in Sri Caitanya
Sarasvata Matha's periodical, Sri Gaudiya Darsana, Vol. 4, October 1958)

Ekalavya and Arjuna

Many people consider Ekalavya’s 'guru-bhakti' to be ideal, but there is a unique deliberation
concerning this topic.

King Hiranyadhanu's son was named Ekalavya. Ekalavya was, by caste, a nisadha (candala). In
order to learn astra-vidya, Prince Ekalavya approached Dronacarya. Because Ekalavya possessed
a low class mentality, the acarya refused to initiate him in the teachings of the Dhanur-Veda.

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However, Ekalavya was determined to learn the martial arts from Dronacarya and went off into
the forest. There he constructed an idol of Dronacarya made of clay and by continuously
practicing in front of that artificial guru he became very expert in astra-vidya.

Arjuna was Dronacarya's most beloved disciple. The acaryahad told Arjuna that none of
Dronacarya's disciples would ever be able to excel Arjuna in skill.

One day Dronacarya instructed the Kauravas and the Pandavas to leave the royal capital and go
to the forest for hunting. As they made their way through the forest, they saw a dog whose mouth
had been blocked with seven arrows. Seeing this, they were most astonished. Whoever had shot
these arrows was far more expert than the Pandavas. Realizing this, they went in search of that
person. Gradually they understood that it was Ekalavya, the son of Hiranyadhanu, who had
tested his archery skills on the dog's mouth.

The Pandavas returned to the capital and, approaching Dronacarya, submitted this unusual story
to him. With a mood of humility, Arjuna told Dronacarya that it seemed that he had another
disciple who was more expert in archery than Arjuna. Dronacarya listened to these words and
was surprised. He went with Arjuna into the forest and there they saw Ekalavya continuously
shooting arrows like rain, fully absorbed in the science of archery.

Taking the opportunity Dronacarya came forward and approached Ekalavya, and seeing
theacarya, Ekalavya immediately offered his prayers at his feet, and with folded hands he
introduced himself as his disciple and remained standing. Dronacarya told Ekalavya, "You must
give guru-daksina."

Ekalavya replied, "Please tell me – whatever it is, I am ready to give it!"

Then Dronacarya told Ekalavya to cut off his thumb and give him that as his guru-daksina.
Ekalavya executed the order of his Gurudeva. Ekalavya did not protest in any way and
unhesitatingly executed his guru's instruction.

Initially Ekalavya's guru rejected him because he considered him to be born of a low caste, yet
due to his faith in Dronacarya, he established a clay deity of him and became invincible – thus
his guru-bhaktiwas established as ideal. On the other hand, Arjuna was envious towards
Ekalavya, because by his perseverance, Ekalavya had become expert; therefore Ekalavya was
ruined by Dronacarya – this is the common opinion.

But this is not the opinion of the devotees, nor is it a true conception. Everything about
Bhagavan is supremely true, everything about the principles of devotion are supremely true and
everything in relation to the devotee is supremely true. These are the three truths – Bhagavan,
bhakti and bhakta. Everything a devotee does is good; everything a non-devotee does is not very
good. The non-devotee has many bad qualities because he is not engaged in satisfying the senses
of Bhagavan. Those that think that mundane laws are greater than Bhagavan cannot
accommodate those words regarding the supreme truth. Such persons are
nirvisesavadis(impersonalists) which is to say that they cannot accept the non-differentiated
specialty of Bhagavan, bhakti and bhakta.

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What was Ekalavya’s fault? This analysis is essential. He wore the mask of guru-bhakti, yet he
was actually inimical towards his guru. Whether his guru actually considered Ekalavya to be
disqualified by his low-birth, or was simply testing him — whatever the reason may be, when his
Gurudeva did not wish to teach him the science of warfare, it was Ekalavya’s duty to accept his
guru's instruction upon his head; but Ekalavya did not accept that. He had the aspiration to
become great.

Externally, without a guru, his practices would not have been considered lawful, or he would not
be in a favorable position to become great without accepting a guru. To this end, Ekalavya
concocted a clay form of his 'guru'. He only did this to attain greatness by learning the Dhanur-
veda. In this way, his main intention was to satisfy his own senses. He did not offer himself as a
sacrifice to his guru's desire and his own intentions were not sincere. Some may say that
ultimately Ekalavya happily accepted the heartless order of his guru without protest, but if we
consider this topic deeply and with keen discernment, we can observe that Ekalavya considered
mundane morality to be superior to transcendental devotion. When the guru requests something
to be given as daksina, then one must offer it to him – it was that sense of morality that inspired
him to cut off his thumb. Ekalavya did not offer it with spontaneous devotion. The very nature of
bhakti is that it is spontaneous and simple.

If Ekalavya had unmotivated and natural devotion within his heart towards Hari, Guru and
Vaisnava, then the guru, Dronacarya, the best of Vaisnavas, Arjuna, and Bhagavan Sri Krsna,
would not have been displeased with his behavior. Ekalavya’s attempt to learn the Dhanur-
vedaand his hankering to become great were not accepted by his Gurudeva. Deep within
Ekalavya’s heart, he desired to try and become greater than Arjuna, the best of Vaisnavas. The
aspiration to become greater than the Vaisnavas is not devotion – it is anti-devotional and it is
the dharma of the Ativadis (1). According to worldly considerations, the desire to become great
is regarded as good. But the effort to take a subordinate position behind a Vaisnava and the
attempt to take shelter of a Vaisnava – that is bhakti.

Ekalavya wanted his expertise to be greater than that which could be acquired by learning Vedic
sciences directly from a mahanta-guru– Arjuna notified Dronacarya of this. If Arjuna had not
mercifully pointed this out, then the victory of impersonalism would have been proclaimed
extensively. People would not have approached a mahanta-guru to accept any type of
knowledge; they would have desired to create their own contradictory, concocted, clay, lifeless
gurus in order to learn various sciences or devotional teachings. In this way, atheistic theories
would have been established. Therefore, Arjuna had no envy towards Ekalavya; it was actually
his causeless compassion towards Ekalavya and the world.

If Ekalavya had been an honest devotee of his guru, then Krsna would not have killed such a
guru-bhakta – He always protects His devotees. But finally Ekalavya was killed by the hand of
Krsna. This is how Ekalavya finally met his end (2).

Sri Caitanyadeva has said that we cannot judge devotion simply on the basis of external
austerities. The asurasperform penances that even the demigods cannot perform (3). Against the
wishes of his guru, Ekalavya wanted to become greater than the Vaisnava. Therefore he was
killed by Krsna and attained impersonal liberation. Asuras are always killed by Krsna and the

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devotees of the Lord are protected by Krsna (4). The proof of this is Hiranyakasipu and Prahlada.
Thus we should never attempt to become greater than the Vaisnavas. If we do not wear a mask of
guru-bhakti, we will never become impersonalists. This is what the pure devotees have taught in
relation to the narrative of Ekalavya. Expertise in performing mundane activities is notguru-
bhakti. Taking shelter of the Vaisnavas is actually true devotion.

(FromUpakhyane Upadesa, Vol. 2)

FOOTNOTES:

(1) The Ativadis are an apasampradaya that originated in Orissa under one Jagannatha Dasa
during the time of Mahaprabhu. The word 'ativadi' means 'one who thinks he is very inteligent'
(ati – very, vadi – intelligent). For more information, see Krsna Talk No.32
(http://gosai.com/writings/ativadi-apa-sampradaya)

(2) Ekalavya’s demise is found in Chapter 48 of the Udyoga-parva of Mahabharata wherein

Krsna kills him as He battles with Jarasandha’s army.

(3) asure o tapa kare, ki haya tahara

vine mora sarana laile nahi para (Cb. Madhya 23.46)

(4) Madhvacarya, in his Mahabharata Tataparya Nirnaya has commented that Ekalavya was the
amsa of the demon Manimanta.

yuddhva ciram rana mukhe bhagavat sutah asau

cakre nirayudham amum sthiram ekalavyam
amsena yo bhuvam agat maniman iti sma
sa krodha tantraka ganesu adhipo nisadah

Fighting for a long time with Ekalavya, who was steadfast in battlefield, Pradyumna rendered
him weaponless. Previously there was a group of demons known as the Krodha-tantra-ganas,
amongst whom there was a prominent demon named Manimanta. Ekalavya is the amsa of that
Manimanta. (MTN 14.40)

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 Srila Sarasvati Thakura’s
Disappearance Day

(The following is a lecture on the disappearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
given on 7th December 2007 at Kaliya-mardana Krsna Asrama in Mulki, South India. After
singing the song ‘Jayare jayare Jaya Paramahamsa Mahasaya’ Srila Narasingha Maharaja
spoke as follows…)

This song was written by Gopala Govinda Mahanta, an admirer and follower of Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. This song passed the scrutiny of all of Sarasvati Thakura’s
initiated disciples. We know that Srila Sridhara Maharaja appreciated this song very much and
he would always have it sung on the day of Srila Sarasvati Thakura’s disappearance. Gopala
Govinda Mahanta was not an initiated disciple of Sarasvati Thakura. Generally we put so much
emphasis on proper initiation in order to become a proper disciple and properly understand Krsna
consciousness. But what is initiation? There have been many people who have taken initiation
from the beginning of time till now, who later became the enemy of their guru. Simply taking
initiation does not mean anything. Yet it is a formality that is kept intact because if we remove
the form, then anything goes – there has to be some form. Srila Sarasvati Thakura emphasized
that we are the followers of substance, not form. However, we have to give it some form,
otherwise how will we find the substance? There has to be some organization, and therein lies a
problem – giving form to the substance of God consciousness and thus allowing people to
connect, and simply becoming an institution in the material world which is all about form and
nothing about substance.

Therein lies the problem. This world is a problem! It is not a nice place. Yesterday afternoon I
was looking at the river here. It was so beautiful. But as I looked down I saw a big fish come up
and eat ten other smaller fish. Then there was a crab that was crawling around trying to pinch
everything in sight. So even within beauty, if you go a little further, you will see that there is
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only suffering, destruction and death. Presently we are making a beautiful ghataby massacring
all the shellfish that are around there cutting our feet. We’re chopping them, smashing them,
eliminating their existence. That is this material world – a place of elimination. When you
minimize the dangers in your proximity then that is considered to be nice. There actually isn’t
anything nice. We say, “It’s a beautiful sunny day”, but actually the sun is killing people – it’s
giving people skin cancer; it’s causing the algae to grow in the water. At the same time, if we
don’t have any sun, we’d die.

‘ENJOY’ IS NOT A WORD IN A VAISNAVA’S VOCABULARY

Some religionists think, “God created this world for us to enjoy.” But another view says, “Well
actually this whole universe could disappear in a second – it could just fall into a black hole in
space and disappear. In fact, we’re lucky to be around because black holes are everywhere and
there’s only a few safe spaces in the universe.”

This place doesn’t seem to be meant for enjoyment – it seems to be set up for fragile existence
and ultimate destruction. The Christians are totally wrong – God did not create this world for our
enjoyment. Eternally it is meant for His service. But some living entities are determined to enjoy.
People want to enjoy this material world, but everywhere there is disaster and destruction, and
now and again one may find a little safe zone where material life can go on haphazardly for a
while. But the whole universe is screaming in our face that, “There’s a better life than
enjoyment, find out what it is!” The prospect of enjoying separate from Krsna does not work.
Therefore there is no enjoyment – there is only the illusion of enjoyment. In fact, Srila Sridhara
Maharaja said that Vaisnavas should not use the word ‘enjoy’. When somebody visited his
birthplace at Hapaniya, he asked,“So you went to Hapaniya?”

They replied, “Oh yes Guru Maharaja, we went there and enjoyed it very much”

He said, “No, no – that is not a word in a Gaudiya Vaisnava’s vocabulary”.

Sometimes I’ve seen amongst devotees saying goodbye to each other and they say, “Enjoy your
trip to Vrndavana.” It’s not about enjoyment.

WHAT IS INITIATION?

So, as we were saying, generally much emphasis is given to initiation, but when it comes down
to it, what is initiation? Is it just a ceremony? Is it just receiving some beads that cost a few
rupees in the market? Is it receiving some mantras and then writing them on a piece of paper and
memorizing them? Is it receiving a sacred thread that is also purchased in the market? Is it
offering grains into the fire that is said to be the mouth of Visnu? What is it?

Initiation is actually a heart connection. It’s also described as knowledge of one’s eternal
relationship with Krsna that constitutes initiation. Many people have knowledge, but knowledge
can be very theoretical. But when there’s a heart connection, when it’s deep within the plane of
faith (sraddha), then that connection is made and that is initiation. It is possible to make that

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connection without going through all the required ritualistic steps. For example, anyone can
chant the Maha-mantra. Still it is recommended that one should take shelter of a bona-fide guru
and learn the process of devotional service.

If you go back to ancient times, we see that Sukadeva Gosvami didn’t take initiation. When he
was born, he immediately ran away from home and went to live in the forest. Vyasadeva wanted
to instruct him, so he sent out his disciples to collect wood and instructed them to chant a verse
from the Bhagavatam. Vyasadeva knew that if Sukadeva would hear this, he would become
attracted. When Sukadeva heard that verse he came out of his conscious equilibrium of being
unconcerned about the world and asked the disciples,“Where did you get this sloka?” The
disciples directed him to Vyasa’s asrama, and there he heard the Srimad Bhagavatam. However
he did not undergo the rituals of diksa. So in the ancient world things were predominantly based
on substance. Initiation meant receiving the mantra, and receiving instruction from the guru –
there was no ritual. Lord Brahma was initiated by Krsna – they didn’t sit down and perform a
yajna or any type of ritual. But these things developed in time because we’re not Lord Brahma or
Sukadeva Gosvami. Therefore, personalities of the class of Sukadeva and Brahma developed a
system because people in this world require such.

THE NECCESSITY OF INSTITUTIONS

Particularly in this age institutions are unavoidable. There are institutions and organizations for
everything. The Deist movement in America that is credited as being the religion of the founding
fathers was not based upon Christianity at all. In fact, most of the founding fathers could not
stand Christianity. They thought it was a foolish idea that was detrimental to human society and
they are the ones credited with the most enlightened political doctrine that is called the American
constitution.

But the Deists didn’t have any institution. They didn’t have any churches, they didn’t have any
meeting hall, and they had no official name. They didn’t do any preaching, they didn’t have any
coded book. They had some letters by Thomas Paine that inspired them, but it wasn’t a scriptural
canon. Eventually they vanished.

Christianity was building churches everywhere. You go to some countries and there’s a church
on every corner. Even within half a mile of the Vatican there’s twenty more churches. They’ve
got them on the corner of every single ancient city. That was their mood – the more churches, the
better. People go to churches, so open more churches – make an institution. The Deists had
nothing so they were almost forgotten. So there has to be some rules and institutionalization in
this world, there has to be some buildings.

One friend of mine, when he started preaching he said, “Temples are not important. First just
make a temple in your heart”. But then when he got a lot of money he started opening temples.
First he was criticizing Prabhupada and ISKCON for opening many temples, but then when he
got money and a lot of followers he also started building temples. If you have a message, you
have to have an institution that people can come to. But simply joining that institution and
simply going through all the rituals does not constitute real initiation.

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RADHARANI – THE FIRST AND LAST WORD OF THE ABSOLUTE

Real initiation is born from sraddha. What is the first and last word of the Absolute? When you
chant the maha-mantra, the first word is ‘Hare’ and the last word is ‘Hare’. That is the first and
last word of the Absolute. What is Hare? Hare means Radharani. She is the internal potency of
Krsna, and where you find that first is in sraddha. She is Sraddha-devi. The effulgence of Radha
is sraddha. That comes and shines on the living entity. Our journey to the Absolute begins with
faith, and it ends with service to Radharani. There are many types of service –serving Lord
Narayana, serving Lord Narasimha, serving Lord Rama, serving Lord Krsna in Dvaraka or
Mathura and serving Lord Krsna in Vrndavana in various rasas and this finally comes to the
highest type of service. Krsna is Vrajesvara, but Radha is Vrajesvari, the feminine controller who
controls Krsna by Her love, devotion and surrender – then Krsna Himself becomes a servant of
Radharani.

The first and last word of the Absolute truth is Hare – faith in the beginning, and divine service
in Goloka in the end. Everything else is there to help us find where that faith is. Faith is the
fundamental basis, and faith changes and takes different shapes. It is called nistha, it is called
bhava and it is called prema. There are nine stages that faith goes through. Faith itself becomes
prema– pure love of Krsna. That has many shades and varieties also.

SCIENCE IS BORN OUT OF RELIGION

All these things have to do with capturing the plane of our heart – not the brain. Calculation can
be our enemy, and the brain can be a dangerous and fickle sense. The brain means the mind.
Once I was talking with a man at a university who said, “I’ve realized the truth”,and he pointed
to his head. And I replied, “I’ve realized what is meant to be true”, and I touched my heart.
Bhaktiis not in the head, bhakti is in the heart. But that doesn't mean this material organ that
pumps blood – otherwise when the heart dies, then bhakti also dies. Intuitively, when we speak
of the self, we point to the heart.

We intuitively know that the self is there. Even an animal has certain intuitions. There are many
God-given intuitions. However, as human beings, we sometimes have less sense than animals.
When an animal sees something hurts him, he stays away from it. But human beings create
machines that kill them, cigarettes, junk food etc. You’d think they would change their lifestyle,
but no! Even if it’s killing them they don’t stop. But when an animal is suffering, it analyses why
and stops. So on some level, human beings are dumber than animals, because they can’t give up
the cause of their suffering. In science we understand that there are reactions to certain
experiments. If you boil water, this happens; if you add this chemical, that happens etc. But then
on the physical plane, do they really think that they can do anything to anybody and nothing will
happen? That means they are less intelligent. They can’t figure out what is actually the cause of
their suffering.

Intelligent human beings can understand certain things, but there is a certain propensity that
always arises, and that is the search for God. People in atheistic societies have tried to drive God
out and they’ve destroyed anything to do with religion. But as soon as that regime is gone,

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religion just comes back again. This is not something that is created. This essential drive in the
human being is not due to his weakness. Some people think that religions appeared because
people thought, “Well, I can’t explain the universe, I don’t understand biology or chemistry, I
don’t know how things work. I have a necessity to know, so I guess God did it all.”

Recently there was an article by a scientist from England and she begins by saying that for
centuries modern science and Christianity have banged heads. When Christianity was developing
they didn’t know about the universe, they didn’t know the order of the planets, they didn’t know
that the world was round etc. Then science came along and discovered all these things and found
out that what the Bible said and what the church said wasn’t true. The scientists then said that
religion was invented simply because people didn’t understand the world around them. This lady
points out that that idea falls flat on its face when you come to ancient India because at the time
that the Vedas were written, there was great scientific knowledge. In fact it is written in the
Vedic literature that the world is not flat, that there’s the order of the planets, that there’s a thing
called an atom etc. So the argument that God was created out of necessity because mankind did
not understand the universe doesn’t work when you look at Vedic civilization because they knew
all these things and still they concluded that, “God did it”.

Some people say that science and religion cannot be harmonized in any way, but that’s also
wrong. All this scientific knowledge was there in Vedic times – in fact, some of the greatest
scientists in the ancient world were great spiritualists also. Actually science is born out of real
religion, and therein lies the issue – science in general has never examined real religion. They
have only examined the concocted religions in the western world. They have never closely
examined the body of Vedic knowledge. You will find that some of them have, but with a biased
viewpoint - they don’t like the color of the people who wrote the Vedas, they don’t like the
language of the Vedas because it kind of makes them look bad.

Voltaire, the famous French philosopher, once said, “Everything has come down to us from the
banks of the Ganges.” But those kinds of statements don’t get popularized; they get forgotten.
There are scientists now, who we would call educated researchers, that say there is a creator, and
that the universe screams this in your face all day long, nonstop. The most intelligent conclusion
is that the world was created and in order for there to be creation there must be a creator. When
they finally stop arguing about whether or not there is a creator, they finally come to the
question, “If there is a creator, is He personal or impersonal?”Right now this debate is on a very
unintelligent level. These scientists are actually less intelligent. Prabhupada said, “The reason
they cannot understand is because they are meat-heads. They eat meat.”

TAKING OVER THE WORLD

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura liked this type of preaching – he liked to challenge
misconceptions, be they religious, philosophical or historical. Of course, historical
misconceptions are not so important, but scientific misconceptions are very important. For
example, look at Darwinism - its not even knowledge, it’s an unproven idea that still rules the
world. Darwinism was already on the way out during the time of Bhaktivinoda and Sarasvati
Thakura, its death grip was broken, but still Darwinism is being taught in schools. The old guard

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dies slow, but the good news is that finally they will die and the new guard takes over and then
new ideas have some scope.

Young people are making a big noise about the government, the economy etc, but they don’t
understand that they don’t run this world – they don’t control money until they get to about fifty
years old in most cases. Those above fifty run the world. They control all the money and
everybody else is simply eating biscuits. That’s the way it is, and that’s the way it’s always been.
Actually, the truth is America doesn’t even control it’s own money – the European Bank does.
Other organizations control the so-called wealth of America. It’s the economic plan.

Prabhupada was also planning – he was walking up and down the room thinking how to take
over the world. Many times he’d ring his bell and his secretary would come in, thinking he needs
something. Then Prabhupada would say, “Books for the intelligent, prasadam for the masses –
this is what we have to do”. He was not just sitting in his room thinking about some small thing.
He was thinking about how to take over the world.

In the material sense there are many people trying to control the world, and from a religious
sense also there are many people that want to control the world. Nowadays there are some people
who want to control India and convert India to Christianity. There was a recent e-book I saw
online written by some Christians who want to convert India to Christianity. The book was called
‘Exposition of Damnable Heresies” – that kind of title belongs somewhere in the 1700’s. The
next thing to follow that is witch burning. This is the sort of book that they used to shake in
peoples faces before burning them alive. Let these people loose and they would do it again. They
would light everybody who’s not a believer on fire. They have an office – it used to be called
‘The Congregation of the Holy Office of the Inquisition’, Now it’s called ‘The Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith’. They adjusted the sound of the name, but the business is the same.

Sometimes it disturbs me how devotees become so smalltime in their thinking. Sometimes they
say, “Well, what about me? What about my life?” I tell them, “You don’t have a life. You’re just
dying, and then the day comes when it’s finished. What do you mean, ‘your life?’Did you
prescribe to be born somewhere, a certain size, a certain color? Did you prescribe for this? Did
you even request it? You had nothing to say about it! So where do you get this idea of ‘my life’?
What part of it is yours? You don’t know how many hairs are on your head, you don’t even
know what your skullcap looks like, but you say, ‘I want to lead my life’.

KRSNA WANTS A REVOLUTION

One friend of mine left Krsna consciousness on the plea that, “Well, I never really had a
relationship.”Fifty million lifetimes of buzzwords like ‘relationship’… what are you talking
about? It is simply something going on in the material mind. Your life belongs to Krsna. We’re
just riding on a chariot that doesn’t even belong to us. If you want to qualify that then become a
devotee of Krsna – then your life belongs to Krsna. Devote your life to Krsna – that’s living your
life properly. What is this thing about ‘fulfilling a relationship’? Who? Where? Show me! There
is no fulfillment in the material world. In the end there’s only disappointment. Then you will
surround yourself with photographs and trinkets, trying to convince yourself that you’re fulfilled.

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When you’re dead and gone, they will tie them all up and throw them in a box. Did you ever see
all those black and white photos from the turn of the century and World War II? Those were
somebody’s dear photos and now they’re just in an antique shop somewhere gathering dust.
Nobody knows who those people were. And even if you do make your mark and do something
great in this world, they’ll probably write something about you in the history books that is
wrong. You could be the next Tesla, but it’ll be a hundred years later before we find out what
you actually did. You could be a jerk and go in the history books as a wonderful person, or you
could be a wonderful person and go down in history as a jerk! And how long will your name be
famous? There are names like Pythagoras and Plato from the ancient world, but how many
hundreds and millions of people have come and gone since then? What is your real prospect?
What is your life all about? What matters? Devotees are not supposed to be like the everyday Joe
in this world with a mundane job. That’s not what Krsna wants. Krsna wants a revolution! He
doesn’t necessarily call for a violent revolution, but He wants a revolution of consciousness.
When you have a revolution of consciousness that means a change of lifestyle. This thing where
devotees try to live the American dream and settle down in middle class America in row housing
with a two-car garage has nothing to do with why they came to Krsna consciousness. They
should just give it up!

One acarya has said, “I’m selling my house and moving to Vrndavana.” Then in the next verse
he says, “If nobody wants to buy my house, then I’m just going to give it away’. The point is that
there are better things. If you can’t cash out, then give it away, burn it, throw it away – who
cares? Srila Sridhara Maharaja says, “Get out of the fire of the thing that charms you and keeps
you in the fire, whatever it is.” There is nothing more important than Krsna Consciousness.

Unfortunately most living entities never realize this. Hundreds of billions of people are dying
every day and they don’t realize the real purpose of life, they just float through. They accept
some good times, some bad times, and just move on – not upwards. They’d be lucky to simply
attain a second human life – and that’s almost impossible. This is not the India of Satya-yuga
where people are going to heaven or to Vaikuntha. This is the India where 2.4 million people are
dying of AIDS and going to hell. What is the meaning of going to hell? It means that they’re not
getting a good, prosperous, wholesome birth in their next life. Practically everyone in India
believes in reincarnation. But they just think that they’re going to be a human in their next life.
They don’t think, “What about all the dogs? Where did they come from? What about all the fish?
Where did they come from?” They just think, “I have many lives, next life I’ll be born in this
village.” Well, maybe... as a crow or a goat! Even that is doubtful.

KRSNA’S VISION IS BROADER THAN THE INSTITUTIONS

Krsna consciousness is the most important thing. We say that Krsna consciousness is not a
matter a life and death – it’s more important than that. Sarasvati Thakura had such a view. Can
you imagine? He sends out an invitation to come for the Gaura Purnima, festival, so people
naturally come. They spend the whole day together, and then, when the people go to leave he
tells them, “Don’t cheat me like this.”They are stunned and tell him, “We’re just going back to
our home. We have a job”, and he says, ‘That doesn’t matter – nothing matters. You come now
to Krsna.”

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They’re not really seeing what he’s seeing. It would be like coming to the temple and seeing
Krsna Himself sitting on the altar eating, and after seeing that, you said, “Well, I’ve got to go
now. I have to get back to work.” Who would do that? If you saw that, you couldn’t go back to
work anymore. If you realize Krsna, you won’t do that anymore, unless that is what Krsna wants
you to do.

Kunja-bihari was the secretary of the Gaudiya Matha. He had a job and gave all his money to the
mission of Sarasvati Thakura. And whenever he could take a loan, he took a loan and he also
gave that. He’s already giving his salary, so how is he going to pay back the loan? Usually if you
take a loan you have to keep some of your salary to pay the loan; but he took all the salary and
gave it. Eventually he left and went to work in Basra in Iraq where he got a higher paying job so
that he could pay back the loans that he took. Finally Sarasvati Thakura contacted him and he
came back. Nobody tells if he paid back the loans because that’s irrelevant. What we’re told is he
gave everything in the service to his guru.

Professor Nisikant Sanyal was another disciple of Sarasvati Thakura who was also like that. He
worked as a professor at Cuttack University. He would get his monthly salary from the university
and he would give everything to his guru – everything! And then Sarasvati Thakura would give
half back to Professor Sanyal’s wife and say, “This is for your matha”. ‘Matha’ means their
household.

Now, Prabhupada didn’t do that, and most of his disciples didn’t do that. They didn't just come
and give everything. But everyone has to face this reality – if what we’re doing is not benefitting
Krsna Consciousness, if it’s not in the association of devotees then it’s just a waste of time.
That’s the real vision of life. Even people with big institutions decide what they’re doing only
based on their institution –they don’t do things for the benefit of others. But if those others are
going to join their institution then “of course we can do that”. But if it’s just for the broad benefit
of others then, “No, we don’t want to do that. We can’t help others.” This is not Krsna’s vision.
Krsna’s vision is much broader than the institution.

Once, Srila Prabhupada said, “Bring five hundred children for the gurukula.”Then one devotee
said, “But Prabhupada, we don’t have five hundred children in ISKCON.” Prabhupada said,
“ISKCON, Schmishcon! Just bring children!” He didn’t care if they were ISKCON children or
not – bring children into the school and give them a proper training. Of course, that was the ideal
– in the end it became something different. But it wasn’t that Prabhupada was thinking, “It has to
be our ISKCON children. The children have to sign up and be in ISKCON first.” It was, “Let us
train children. Let us train people.” It wasn’t just for one group– it was for the world. It was not
that he was creating a little clique that was for itself and by itself. No – this is for Krsna, and in
order to be for Krsna you have to be attentive to the will of Krsna. When you’re inattentive to
Krsna’s will, you miss an opportunity. Many spiritual institutions evolve into a scenario of
missed opportunities that ultimately becomes their total lifestyle.

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 What is an Asrama?

Thekarmi or the fruitive worker, who is only inclined to eat the fruits of his own labor, will
always find it difficult to appreciate the concept of an asrama. Being always engaged in
passionate pursuits to materially benefit himself, his family, friends, his town, state or country,
how can he ever conceive of the transcendental nature of the selfless activities that completely
form the foundation of asrama life? In his mind, the only criterion for any institution to exist is
based upon how much it contributes materially to society – and he is more than ready to
condemn any such institution that does not. He lacks the understanding that an asrama cannot be
designated as a mere institution of this world. On the contrary, it is a place where the Supreme
Lord Himself takes up residence in order to receive the loving service of His dear devotees.

Though an asrama is far beyond the scrutiny of any mundane observation, the fruitive worker
dares to question its existence. Certainly, an asrama is not a place for that ass of a man who
thinks that if God exists then He is only meant to supply the material necessities of society. On
the other hand, when dry toil wears out those faithless laborers that are always vigorously
endeavoring to attain their desires, they fall back on the misconception that merely abstaining
from work will give them freedom from their current dissatisfaction. However, sooner or later
they bounce back to perform fruitive work, realizing that they cannot hold their position by such
abstention. Thus they meet dissatisfaction at every step. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna says:

na karmanam anarambhan naiskarmyam puruso’snute

na ca sannyasanad eva siddhim samadhigacchati

A man cannot attain the state of divine consciousness free from material action simply by
abstaining from action. Neither can perfection be attained simply by renunciation. (Gita. 3.4)

Furthermore, in the Srimad Bhagavatam we find the following verse:

naiskarmyam apy acyuta-bhava-varjitam

na sobhate jnanam alam niranjanam

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 kutah punah sasvad abhadram isvare
na carpitam karma yad apy akaranam

Even if knowledge of the self is free from the reactions of mundane activities, it is unappealing if
it is devoid of the proper conception of the Infallible Lord. What is the use of fruitive activities,
which are always inauspicious, if they are not utilized for in the service of the Lord? (Bhag.
1.5.12)

Affinity to either artificial renunciation or exploitation of material nature is but a diseased

condition and the normal position of the soul can only be through dedication to the Supreme
Lord Sri Krsna. An asrama is thus a place that facilitates a lifestyle centered on the Supreme
Lord and His teachings under the guidance of a bona-fide acarya.

The Definition Of Asrama

In a general sense asrama refers to a residence where holy people live and perform religious
austerities. In Sanskrit the term asrama is broken down as – aryata sramyate yatra iti asramah.
This means that an asrama is a place where people strive to attain immortality. Also, the term
‘asrama’is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘srama’ that means exertion or fatigue. The term
‘asrama’ has been used in Sanskrit literature to mean both a place and mode of life associated
with religious exertion, and also as a place where there is no exertion (a-srama). In a way, both
usages are proper and can be harmonized to mean that an asrama is a place where there is no
exertion for selfish material ends, but all exertion is only to serve the Supreme Lord and His
devotees. Wherever this ideal is found, that place can be termed as an asrama irrespective of any
material consideration. In such a mode of life the residents of the asrama never incur any karma,
or reaction since their activities become transcendental. The same concept can be found in the
following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam:

vanam tu sattviko vaso gramo rajasa ucyate

tamasam dyuta-sadanam man-niketam tu nirgunam

Residence in the forest is in the mode of goodness, residence in a town is in the mode of passion,
residence in a gambling house displays the quality of ignorance, and residence in a place where I
reside is transcendental. (Bhag. 11.25.25)

True Philanthropy

There is a widespread misconception amongst the spiritually illiterate people of the current age
regarding the practical functions and obligations of an asrama. Indeed, there seems to be no
discrimination amongst them whatsoever in judging what actually qualifies to be called an
asrama. Any remote establishment in the countryside with a temple where people live a simple
life passes off as an asrama. Moreover, nowadays people expect that an asrama should perform
social welfare activities like building schools and hospitals, although such responsibilities solely
rest on the national government.

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It was the Christian missionaries, who came to India in the Eighteenth Century that introduced
institutional welfare work to Indian society. Such philanthropic activities were used as a means
to convert Hindus to Christianity. In order to counteract this, the Ramakrishna Mission and other
Hindu asramas and religious institutions adopted similar welfare schemes.

However, the original ideal of an asrama is solely concerned with the spiritual upliftment of
society and is totally independent of any obligation to perform any type of mundane social
welfare. The crisis of birth, death, old age, and disease are the actual problems of this world, and
the main objectives of an asramashould address the difficulty of how to escape the cycle of birth
and death and reach the eternal spiritual platform. True philanthropic activities are eternal in
nature, unlike those that simply feed the temporary necessities of bodily existence. Some may
argue that a poverty stricken destitute will never be able to understand the philosophy of life
unless he is fed properly. However, when there are enough people ready to listen to the spiritual
message of the asrama, it is pointless to divert ones resources pursuing mundane philanthropy
and thus neglect the main objectives of the asrama. This might sound similar to the utilitarian
concept, “Maximum good to the maximum number of people” – the only variation being that the
asrama is there to provide the maximum spiritual good to a maximum number of interested
people. On the other hand, the intrinsic quality of a genuine Vaisnava is that he is para-duhkha-
duhkhi– he is distressed to see the distressed condition of others. A Vaisnava will go out of his
way to alleviate the miseries of such people to whatever little extent possible. Thus the concept
of an asrama can be understood to be a wholesome environment built on spiritual foundations
and objectives, collecting resources for its basic sustenance and projects, and sensitive to the
miseries of the people in general.

Nowadays, politicians and world leaders are busy accumulating huge amounts of money for
themselves and cheating the public in the name of economic development, while they constantly
fight for more and more power. The devotees of the Lord, on the other hand, may also sometimes
collect huge amounts of money – not for themselves but only to show that Krsna has sovereignty
over everything that exists and to bring about a God conscious revolution amongst the masses.
The devotees of the Lord don’t exist in order to enjoy the facilities of the asrama, neither do they
retire to the forest to renounce everything. They find the golden means and constantly engage
themselves in using everything in the service of the Lord. In reality there is no scarcity of basic
necessities on this planet. A few people in power artificially create such scarcities out of narrow-
minded greed. The devotees of the Lord stand up to fight such gross ignorance and uproot it from
the source.

The Role of the Guardian

Anasrama cannot be maintained as a place of informal get-togethers of neophytes who lack

proper training in spiritual philosophy and etiquette. Such a place, lacking expert guidance,
depending solely on textbooks and the subjective opinions of its members, can only lead to
confusion and havoc. The guidance of a true guardian is necessary and is the very life of the
asrama. Without submitting to the guardian by the way of initiation and receiving proper
instructions to understand spiritual knowledge, the members are but nothing more than spiritual
orphans.

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 tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham

In order to understand the Supreme, one should humbly approach a spiritual master who is
learned in the scriptures and has full of faith in the Absolute. (Mundaka Upanisad 1.2.12)

Thesastras describe the characteristics of a true spiritual preceptor in the following way:

krpa-sindhuh susampurnah sarva-sattvopakarakah

nihsprhah sarvatah siddhah sarva-vidya-visaradah
sarva-samsaya-samchetta nalaso gurur ahrtah

One who is an ocean of mercy, who is fulfilled in all respects, who has all good qualities, who
works for the benefit of all souls, who is free from lust, who is perfect in all respects, who is
well-versed in the scriptures, who knows the science of Krsna, who can remove all the doubts of
his disciples, and who is always alert in the service of Krsna is known as a genuine guru. (Hari-
bhakti-vilasa 1.45-46)

The very nature of spiritual knowledge is that it is descending and can never be understood by
any scholastic research. This means that it is passed down through the disciplic succession, or the
parampara system, to the qualified student who has whole-heartedly submitted to his spiritual
preceptor. Unlike material sciences that can be taught in a scholastic or empiric method, spiritual
knowledge can only be realized within the heart by the process of surrender, sincere questioning
and service to the spiritual master. Thus, if there is no spiritual master and only textbooks, the
process is incomplete.

Asrama and Varnasrama

smartavyah satatam visnor vismartavyo na jatucit

sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur etayor eva kinkarah

Krsna (Visnu) should always be remembered and never forgotten at anytime. All rules and
regulations mentioned in the sastra should be subservient to these two principles. (Padma
Purana 6.71.100)

Anasrama is built around the above concept centered on Krsna or Visnu. Apart from the physical
meaning of a hermitage, the term asrama is also used in the sense of varnasrama, i.e. the four
orders (asrama) or occupations (varna) to which every human being belongs. According to
varnasramathere are four orders of life namely, brahmacari asrama (celibate student life),
grhastha asrama (married life), vanaprastha asrama (life in the forest) and sannyasa asrama (the
renounced order). Varnasramabased on ones occupation are again classified in four divisions –
brahmana(priestly class), ksatriya (administrative class), vaisya (merchant class), and
sudra(worker class). The whole varnasrama system is structured around the principal of
constantly serving the Lord and without it the structure becomes dysfunctional. The same has
been explained in the following slokas of Srimad Bhagavatam:

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 mukha-bahuru-padebhyah purusasyasramaih saha
catvaro jajnire varna gunair vipradayah prthak

ya esam purusam saksad-atma-prabhavam isvaram

na bhajanty avajananti sthanad bhras†ah patanty adhah

From the mouth of Brahma, the brahminical order has come into existence. Similarly, from his
arms, the ksatriyas have come, from his waist the vaisyas have come, and from his legs the
sudrashave come. These four orders and their spiritual counterparts (brahmacari,grhastha,
vanaprastha, and sannyasa) combine to make human society complete. If one simply maintains
an official position in the four varnasand asramas but does not worship the Supreme Lord Visnu,
he falls down from his puffed-up position into a hellish condition." (Bhag.11.5.3-4)

However, in the modern age, the essence of this varnasrama system as the guiding principal for
all activities has been mostly lost. It is said in the scriptures, kalau sudra-sambhavah – “In the
age of Kali everyone is a sudra.” The traditional social customs are not followed, although
formerly they were followed strictly. Although externally the caste system which is mistakenly
based on ones birth exists, the true essence of varnasramacan only be found in small groups of
devotees who accept the daiva-varnasramasystem. Daiva-varnasrama follows the original
classification based on the natural qualities of a candidate, as opposed to congenital
considerations. Moreover the followers of daiva-varnasrama place more emphasis on being a
Vaisnava above any other classification of the varnasrama system. The scriptures enjoin that the
Vaisnava is above the varnasrama system:

sat-karma nipuno vipro mantra-tantra-visaradah

avaisnavo guru na syad vaisnavah sva-paco guruh

A brahmana may be expert in mantra, ritual, and the six kinds of brahminical work performing
and teaching sacrifice, studying and teaching scripture, giving and receiving charity but if he is
not a Vaisnava he cannot be a guru. On the other hand, a Vaisnava, even if born in a family of
untouchables, may be a guru. (Padma Purana)

With the advance of the age of Kali the moral and spiritual deterioration in society is very acute.
The following verse in Srimad Bhagavatam gives some of the symptoms of the age of Kali:

dure vary-ayanam tirtham lavanyam kesa-dharanam

udaram-bharata svarthah satyatve dharstyam eva hi
daksyam kutumba-bharanam yaso ’rthe dharma-sevanam

A holy place will be considered to be no more than a body of water located at a distance. Beauty
will simply depend upon one’s hairstyle. Filling the belly will become the supreme goal of life
and insolence will be accepted as truth. A man who can maintain his family will be regarded as
an expert, and religious principles will be observed only for the sake of attaining fame. (Bhag.
12.2.6)

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Consequently, to maintain a healthy Krsna conscious lifestyle is almost impossible without a
facility where we may find the association of like-minded devotees and a spiritual environment
where every object, action, or person reminds one of Krsna. Those who are intelligent enough to
recognize the futility of the rat-race of material existence and are in search of a meaningful
spiritual mode of life will always yearn to be a part of such a spiritual family or asrama. Those
that submit their lives and become members of such a spiritual family are not bound to any
obligation in this material world that they have left behind.

devarsi-bhutapta-nrnam pitrnam na kinkaro nayam rni ca rajan

sarvatmana yah saranam saranyam gato mukundam parihrtya kartam

O King, a person who has given up all duties to take full shelter of Mukunda, who affords shelter
to all, is no longer in debt to the demigods, sages, ordinary living beings, friends, relatives,
mankind or even one’s forefathers. (Bhag. 11.5.41)

Conclusion

World peace is, and has been for many decades, a favorite topic of discussion for almost all
kinds of people or institutions – be it the United Nations, political parties, environmental
organizations, so-called spiritual or religious organizations, educational institutions and, cultural
societies– they all harness popularity in the name of world peace. Yet war after war is being
fought even after harping on so much over world peace. On introspection however, the truth is
that peace initially begins at an individual level. As mentioned previously, inactivity cannot
bring peace, as the very nature of the soul is dynamic and activities centered on bodily
maintenance and enjoyment only lead to frustration. Just as in music, if even a single string is out
of tune the result is an uneasy discord. Similarly, unless the soul co-operates favorably towards
the organic scheme of Krsna Consciousness, it cannot attain peace. The asrama is thus not a
sedentary place, full of the grave faces of people who were unsuccessful in vocations – it is a
harmonious place sheltering fortunate people with fine intelligence that have found the true joy
of the soul in the transcendental service of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna.

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 Envy

The word ‘envy’ is applied in many places and is used in connection to various things – envy of
another’s good fortune, being disturbed at seeing the wealth of others, displeasure and jealousy
etc. are some of the various examples. Wherever the word ‘matsarya’ (envy) has been explained
in the Vaisnava scriptures, it is fully understood that its influence is the competitor of divine love
(prema).

dharmah projjhita-kaitavo ‘tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam

"The path described in the Bhagavatam is entirely devoid of any dishonest purpose. It is held in
adoration by those who are free of the flaw of envy." (Bhag.1.1.2)

In these words of the Srimad Bhagavatam, it has been revealed who is eligible to receive the
highest conception of dharma. In the scriptures, it is indicated that prema-rasa is the topmost
dharma. One who is non-envious is eligible to receive that. The quality of non-enviousness is
called nirmatsarata. Although respected commentators have explained matsaryaas feeling
miserable at seeing the happiness of others and taking pleasure in the sufferings of others,
nevertheless, they have not revealed the broader meaning of this word and the general populace
cannot understand it.

The ignorant baddha-jivas are tightly bound in the material world by six things – lust, anger,
greed, illusion, madness and envy. These are said to be the six categories. These are the
transformations of the fivefold miseries – ignorance, forgetfulness, self-absorption, attachment
and jealousy. Absorption in material objects in relation to the origin of lust has been explained in
Srimad Bhagavad-gita (2.62-63):

sangat sanjayate kamah kamat krodho’bhijayate

krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smrti-vibhramah
smrti-bhransad buddhi-naso buddhi-nasat pranasyati

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In association with material attachment, lust develops; from lust anger arises. From anger,
delusion appears. Delusion means unlawful material greed. From material greed, moha or
bewilderment of memory appears. Frommoha, intelligence is destroyed, which means that one
becomes mad and bereft of the understanding of what is right and wrong. By madness one is
destroyed which means that the living entity becomes ruined by envy. This instruction has also
been mentioned (Gita 3.43):

evam buddheh param buddhva samstabhyatmanam atmana

jahi satrum maha-baho kama-rupam durasadam

"O mighty armed Arjuna, knowing that individual unit of consciousness to be superior to the
intelligence, steady the mind with firm intelligence and conquer this indomitable enemy in the
form of lust."

Considering the jiva as fully spiritual, beyond intelligence, with determination and through
proper siddhanta, by subduing the mind, one must conquer the formidable enemy of lust.

From all of these instructions, it can be understood that this sprout of lust, arising due to the
misconception of one’s own svarupa, in due course of it’s development, becomes transformed
into the tree of enviousness, and thereby the dharma of the jiva, which is prema, remains
inapproachable. There is lust in anger, and in greed there is anger as well as lust. In illusion there
is anger and lust. In madness there is greed, anger and lust. In enviousness there is madness,
illusion, greed, anger and lust. We may understand that the word ‘mada’ (insanity) refers to the
six types of bewilderment which includes being intoxicated by one’s beauty, one’s caste, one’s
education etc.

All sufferings of the jiva arise due to enviousness. Ignorance, the desire to commit sin, sin, the
desire to perform pious activities and pious activities – all of these are included within envy. On
one side is Vaisnava dharma, which refers to service to the Vaisnavas, mercy to the living
entities and a taste for the Holy Name – on the other side, is enviousness. Whoever feels pleasure
at the distress of others can never display mercy to the jivas. The sweet mood of love for the
Lord cannot arise within him. He has innate hatred or enmity towards the Vaisnava. Only those
who are without envy can fully accept the purport of the trnad api verse. Sriman Mahaprabhu
has spoken (in the third verse of Siksastakam):

trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna

amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

"One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree who gives due honour to
others without desiring it for himself is qualified to always chant the holy name of Krsna."
(Siksastakam3)

One who is devoid of envy cannot have false pride due to wealth, material beauty, caste,
education and material strength; therefore he knows himself to be lower than a blade of grass. A
non-envious person cannot be dominated by anger and cannot be envious towards others;
therefore he is more tolerant than a tree. In other words, he is most munificent. Being devoid of

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all false conceptions due to caste, education etc. a non-envious person becomes endowed with all
good qualities and thus has no desire for name and fame. Thus he never expects any respect for
himself. An non-envious person finds happiness in the happiness of others and is sad at the
miseries of other; therefore he gives proper honour to all living beings. Generally, with mercy he
shows respect to all jivas; with proper honour he respects the brahmanas; he appropriately
satisfies those within the cultured section of society who have become somewhat inclined
towards Vaisnavism, and he serves the lotus feet of the Vaisnavas.

By his very nature, the person who is without envy –

1) Does not make offences to sadhus.

2) Does not consider the demigods to be independent, for his intelligence is absorbed only in
Krishna, yet he does not disrespect them.

3) Shows appropriate respect to the spiritual preceptors.

4) Appropriately honours the bhakti-sastras which includes the srutis etc.

5) Gives up unnecessary arguments and develops the faith that namaand nami are non-different.
He considers the Holy Name as the highest worshipable reality.

6) Does not engage in sinful activities on the strength of the Holy Name.

7) Does not consider pious activities such as dharma, vows, austerities etc. to be equal to the
Holy Name.

8) Makes an effort to develop faith in the faithless, but does not instruct them about the Holy
Name until that faith has awakened.

9) Has complete faith in the glories of the Holy Name that is described in the sastras.

10) Does not identify himself with material conceptions.

O readers! Non-enviousness alone is liberation and enviousness is entanglement. Thus, in Sri

Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 9. 361) it is said:

caitanya-caritra suna sraddha bhakti kari

matsarya chadiya mukhe bala hari hari

Endowed with full faith and devotion, listen to the lifework of Sri Caitanya... Cast aside envy
and let your mouth sing, Hari, Hari!

(From Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakurera Prabandhavali)

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 The Five Precepts of
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

(The following transcript is from a class given on 4th December 2008 in Bangalore, India)

Through His teachings and by His actions, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has defined five things that
are considered the most important things in Krsna Consciousness. Srila Kaviraja Gosvami has
explained these in his Caitanya-caritamrta:

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana

mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

One should associate with devotees, chant the holy name of the Lord, hear Srimad Bhagavatam,
reside at Mathura and worship the Deity with faith and veneration. (Cc. Madhya 22.128)

Sadhu-sangha

Vaisnava sanga, association with the devotees, particularly means senior devotees. Since our
mission began twenty-two years ago, we've been keen to see that all the devotees as much as
possible get the right association, even if it is outside of our mission. For example, we were
always anxious to take our devotees to see Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja. We welcome
other representatives of other bona-fide lines of Sarasvati Thakura. We do not fear any bona-fide
preacher. Rather, we welcome such devotees.

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However, we have a strong disdain for people who are marketing Krsna consciousness for what
we consider name and fame, and along with that, distorting the philosophy of Krsna
Consciousness or perverting it in some way. We completely ignore those people that claim to be
higher Vaisnavas. According to the ‘chart’ that I have, they don't make the grade. And it is not
that we're the only ones that have a chart. No – many others have that same chart and they fully
agree.

But the principle is that we associate with devotees and we do not neglect the opportunity to
associate with higher Vaisnavas who are superior to ourselves. We have shown that, and a lot of
people have difficulty nailing us because that’s our track record. I went to Srila Sridhara
Maharaja, I went to Srila Puri Maharaja – but I don't go to such-and-such Maharaja. So they can't
nail me down and say, "Oh, he doesn't recognize any higher devotees". I have a record – I
recognized higher Vaisnavas, but there are others that I don’t recognize at present. That's the
challenge. However, these people did not recognize Srila Sridhara Maharaja and Srila Puri
Maharaja, and now they’re telling me they've found a great rasikacarya. That doesn't really have
any value for me.

There’s a proper way to cultivate Krsna Consciousness and there's a proper line. We have to
understand what that is. Of course, we learn that by following our guardians. We have a sanga
and we welcome other Vaisnavas, but we have a standard that we look for. We are not
judgmental – at first we are open and then we judge by the result. In this way we come to reject
certain levels of association. But we've always kept the principle of Vaisnava sanga. We have
created a sanga of like-minded devotees with some seniority there for guidance, and we
recognize the higher Vaisnavas if they are present on this planet.

Mathura Vasa

Mathura–vasa means to live in a holy place, to live in the dhama. A dhama is a holy place where
Vaisnavas reside. There are many secondary dhamas like Dvaraka, Badarinatha and so many
others, but for Gaudiya Vaisnavas there are three dhamas – Vrndavana-dhama, Navadvipa-
dhama and Puri-dhama.

The temple where we live is considered to be an outpost, like an ambassador’s office in a far off
country. Once inside that building it is as if you are in that country. When you walk into the
Indian embassy in San Francisco it smells like an Indian bazaar. Why is that? Because every
officer’s wife has cooked with Indian spices and his tiffin is sitting on his desk. An assault on an
embassy is a direct assault on that country. The embassy is non-different by governmental
arrangement from the country. So the asrama or temple is called a ksetra, and by the divine
arrangement of Krsna, that is the extended potency of the dhama.

By living in a temple or an asrama or by regularly frequenting such a place, it can be considered

that you’re living in the dhama. That is one of the main principals that Mahaprabhu has outlined.
It is called mathura-vasa –residence in Mathura. Mathura being the greater thing and then that is
extended to Navadvipa, Jagannatha Puri and the place where the Deity resides.

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We have a few nice asramas. We have many beautiful Deities– from the colossal sized
Jagannatha to small Radha-Damodara. We have Radha-Madhava, Gaura-Nitai, Gaura-
Gadadhara, Sri Nrsinghadeva, Prabhupada’s murti, Salagrama-sila, Govardhana-sila, Govinda-
kunda. And we have service in Vrndavana-dhama at Srila Rupa Gosvami’s samadhi and
Prabhupada’s place of bhajana.

This is a very, very special place. There are hundreds of vyasasanasof Srila Prabhupada, there
are puspa-samadhis, there are rooms of Srila Prabhupada in many temples, but there is only one
bhajana-kutira at Radha-Damodara, and there is only one samadhi of Rupa Gosvami. We have a
place of residence there and we have service there, so in both ways we are fulfilling this
instruction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu – one should live in a holy place; one should live in the
dhama.

Bhagavata-sravana

Bhagavata-seva or bhagavata-katha– one should hear regularly transcendental literature,

particularly the Srimad Bhagavatam. Bhagavata-sravana also means Bhagavad-gita, Caitanya-
caritamrta and any literature that describes Krsna and the process of Krsna Consciousness as the
way and the means. When there are no classes we should be reading. If we're not doing either
one then that is a minus and we have to improve on that.

Nama-kirtana

Nama-sankirtana or kirtana is the most important of all. You might not be able to do so many
things, but do sankirtana. Sankirtana means the congregational chanting of Hare Krsna, not
alone. Not doing japa. I remember one time in the history of the movement in the west,
sankirtana was banned in Argentina. You could not sing on the street and you could not pass out
literature. They were very restricted. So they went out on the street and chanted japa. And people
asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m practicing Indian meditation and yoga.”

In this way they found a means. But traditionally, going out on the street with a japa bag would
not be considered congregational chanting. But in this case, japabecame sankirtana.

Sankirtana means congregational chanting, and the distribution of Bhagavatam also comes under
that category. That was one of the major contributions of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta. In fact he said
that the mrdanga can be heard from a distance, but the printing press can be heard all around the
world. We take many things for granted now. Everything around you, you subconsciously
assume that they’ve always been here – CD players, computers etc. But no – there was no
electricity in the world one hundred and fifty years ago and the world was already very old.
Great civilizations had already come and gone. Without electricity, without motorcars, people
traveled from here to there and back. They managed even without electricity.

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The printing press was not always there. It was there in a very primitive, rudimentary way in
China and some other places, but it was the Gutenberg printing press in Germany that changed
the world. That printing press changed the Western world and it has certainly changed India.
What is everybody reading this morning, right now as we speak? Everybody’s reading a
newspaper which was printed during the night while you were asleep and it was at your door
when you woke up this morning.

From newspapers to brochures, to propaganda and billboards – it’s all print, print, print.
Everything is printed. What do you find that’s written by hand? Very few things. Everything’s
printed. Printing has entered every aspect of life, and at one time it didn’t exist. There was no
advertising, there were no printed brochures telling you how to do things, no safety manuals –
nothing like that existed. It was all handwritten announcements and handwritten books. And it
was very costly. It would cost half a lakh of rupees or more just to get a handwritten Bhagavad-
gita.

So when the printing press appeared, it changed the world, and one of the major things was that
it gave people information and knowledge. This created revolutions and wars. People like Marx,
Lenin, Mao – they had their books. They changed the political landscape of a quarter of the
world or more with their ideas. Information changed the world. And then of course it drove
education. People wanted to be able to read what’s on that piece of paper. So it drove people to
learn how to read. Otherwise, who cared to read? What could you read? There was the Bible, and
that was basically it. You didn't need to know how to read – storytellers were all around. You
didn’t have to read, you just listened. There were storytellers not just in India, but everywhere in
the world. In the evenings they would sit around and tell fantastic stories of their heroes or their
histories.

But then these stories were printed, so in every way it changed the world. And of course, by the
time Srila Sarasvati Thakura was present, it was already well established and it was a very
powerful tool. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura recognized this as a form of sankirtana.
Sankirtana is spreading the message of Krsna, the name of Krsna, the sound of Krsna. Of course,
the sound isn’t there in the book, but the knowledge is written there.

Now the printing press has graduated into the computer and that includes the internet. We preach
by the internet, we’ve published a number of wonderful books that have achieved acclaim all
over the Vaisnava world, even amongst our so-called 'enemies'. When your adversaries praise
you, then you know you’ve really done something. Close to home we pat each other on the back,
but when somebody who’s outside says it, that’s more meaningful. And when somebody who is
your adversary recognizes your good qualities, you can't get better praise. In a sense, that’s a
good thing.

I read a story the other day –there was a Christian king called Richard the Lionheart and Saladin,
who was the leader of the Muslims and they were having a huge battle in Jerusalem. Suddenly
Saladin’s men killed King Richard’s horse. Richard was in the midst of battle and Saladin was in
his camp eating grapes watching. When Saladin saw that King Richards’s horse had been killed,
he ordered his men, “Send him a new horse”.

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The Hindu’s used to do that too. Once Emperor Aurangzeb was hunting in the forest when some
Hindus captured him. Then they put him in a nice palanquin and took him to his home in Delhi.
Aurangzeb killed all those Hindus who brought him home. In Gita it says insult is worse than
death. This was their stupidity. They should have got rid of Aurangzeb when they had a chance.
They shouldn’t have followed the notion that an insult is worse than death. They were confused
with their pride, and then they suffered. That’s not how to deal with an enemy.

Saladin recognized Richard as a great warrior. "How can he fight without a horse? Give him a
new horse." And Saladin became famous for this type of chivalrous behavior. Before World War
One, even the Kaiser of Germany, built a monument to Saladin because of his virtuous character.
This man may have been Muslim, but he had such great character. So even some of our so-called
non-admirers, recognize the literature that our little asrama has published.

Sri Murtira Sraddhaya Sevana

The last thing is called arcana-seva, worshipping the Deity. And again in our asrama we’re
doing that.Dhama-seva is being in a place where the Deity is worshipped, and Deity worship is
yet another thing. So wherever the devotees live, wherever their asramas are, they should
establish and worship the Deity. That means attending aratikasof the Deity, serving and making
offerings to the Deity, helping in the seva-pujaand singing for the Deity. This constitutes arcana.
We have that going on. That’s a plus also. So we have more pluses than we have minuses.

Now, in another general sense I put emphasis on certain things. What I have just discussed is
sastric, but then there’s the personal arrangement of things. One of the main things that I put
more emphasis on than anything else is having a proper service attitude. It is the thing I give
most preference to. I’ve explained this a lot in relation to children and young people growing up.
I know other groups have children of eight or nine years old chanting sixteen rounds a day – in
the end they throw their beads away, they hate Krsna Consciousness and they just go screaming
off into the material world, do drugs and all nonsense whatever they can do. Sometimes they
even come back to Vrndavana to do their nonsense right in front of everybody and say, “So,
what are you gonna do about it?”

One godbrother came to me once and told me that his daughter was chanting sixty-four rounds a
day. I thought, "She must be miserable!" There’s no chance that a thirteen-year-old girl is
relishing the Holy Name eight hours a day with her japa beads. This is not possible. She should
be making flower garlands for Krsna, she should be cooking for Krsna, or she should be
associating with devotees. She should be doing some japa – but not beaten with some particular
regiment. Anyway that particular girl didn’t turn out so well either, I don’t know anybody who
did well by such pushy regiments. So I’ve explained many times that I don’t put emphasis on
such rigid regiments. They are important and regulation in any of these things is important, but I
first put emphasis on the proper attitude of service – how to serve Krsna properly, what should
be our attitude of service.

After that, I put emphasis on harmony between the devotees. This is because once Prabhupada
wrote a letter to the devotees and he said “It is more of a problem to me when you are fighting

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with each other. It is more of a problem than if you break one of the regulative principles." I read
this and I thought, "Yes, because if I have a problem, I suffer. If you do some nonsense, you
suffer. But if you start shouting at your godsister or godbrother, then two people are suffering
and everybody who has to listen to that nonsense, also suffers. In this way you’re spreading the
suffering."

And I read the other day, according to Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the forest fire that Krsna
extinguishes represents internal quarrel amongst devotees. I’ve seen temples in situations where
everybody attended mangala-arati, everybody went on sankirtana, everybody chanted sixteen
rounds and when quarreling took place, it destroyed the whole temple – just as fire can burn
everything. So we must get beyond petty quarrels because they have the potential to grow into
politics and backstabbing and finally burn everything.

Krsna kills most of these obstacles that are represented by demons. The first demon that Krsna
kills is Putana who represents the false guru. First one must escape the clutches of false guru
propaganda. “I am God!" or "I will give you siddha-pranali!" or "I can give you prema” – all
this is bogus. One has to escape from that and find a bona-fide representative of Krsna, then real
progress can be made. There are many anarthas and they’re all represented by demons. But this
particular one was described as a forest fire. This fire was burning at a place called Davanala-
kunda and Krsna sucked it up. There was no demon particularly mentioned that caused the fire,
and I noticed that there's not much description about this pastime. Sometimes we read in the
news that there’s a big fire wherein five people die and millions of dollars worth of damage –
when the fire department comes in after the fire is over, they discover that the fire started
because of a matchstick – just a small matchstick. It doesn’t require a truck to come crashing
through your house to create devastation, it just takes a little thing. The potential of fire is within
that small matchstick. So this is like internal fighting. I’ve always tried to keep that to a
minimum, get people to sort things out and be aware that these things are not disturbing just for
oneself – they’re disturbing for everybody and they have the potential to ruin everything. They
also have the potential to create Vaisnava aparadha.

The reality is if you get it –you deserve it. One man cheats another man – that means he cheated
him in his previous life. Nobody gets something for nothing. Everything is a karmic reaction.
Therefore we should not blame others who harm us. In India, if you say one thing against
someone, or their caste, or family, then they will practically march armies to Kuruksetra and
fight till the last man for their honor. This is nonsense. Just forget about it! What about the
quality of forgiveness?

What do you think? Were you were born with the wings of an angel, or born wearing a golden
kavaca? No! We should understand that we have done so many wrong things in this world. We
have even killed people, what to speak of cheating. We did these things and that’s why we’re
still here in this material world.

The general rule is forgiveness –don’t be offensive, don’t attack others. You may have the right
to, but you don’t have to exercise that right. If you exercise that right, the wheel of karma just
keeps going round. Yesterday I was reading about the history of Genghis Khan. Before he was
born, so many of these tribes were killing each other – "You killed my brother, so I’ll kill your

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brother." "You killed my father, so I'll kill your father!" They were doing this for thousands of
years and finally Genghis Khan came and said, ‘I'll kill all of you!” He killed all the tribal
chieftains, united all the tribes and became Genghis Khan. And as soon as he died, they divided
into four groups and started killing each other again.

Revenge is not part of Vaisnavism, just as fear is not a part of Vaisnavism. In the West they say,
"We are god-fearing people." They don’t say, "We are God-loving people." When you read the
Bible you had better be afraid because their God will smite you down in a second! Their God can
get mean and nasty. Even some sects of early Christians realized this. They thought, "Wait a
minute– what has this got to do with love and forgiveness?" So they rejected the Old Testament,
which basically means the Jewish Torah, as being the work of the devil.

So fear is not a part of Vaisnavism – abhaya(fearlessness) is part of Vaisnavism. Everyone

should develop the quality of abhaya. If we analyze what fear is, we can see that it is anxiety in
the mind. It goes to the nervous system, goes to the heart – it can even kill you. You can become
so afraid that you can actually die of fear. Where does it come from? Why are we afraid?
Because of misidentification and attachment. People misidentify themselves with something they
are not. In the west if you’re a member of a cult, you are considered to be brainwashed. But the
biggest cult is the army. All armies brainwash their soldiers. Politics brainwashes the masses.

Recently I saw something about the war in Yugoslavia in the 1990’s. All these people are kissing
the flag. They're all thinking, "I’m Serbian!" "I’m Croatian!" "I’m Muslim!" "I’m Christian!",
but they are none of those things. They believe in all these false attachments to the point that
they will kill somebody. In some religions, the desire to kill people of other faiths is considered
to be the quality of a religious person, but in Vaisnavism the desire to kill your enemy is not a
good quality. That’s why good Vaisnava kings gave it all up – because these two things don’t go
well together. The great Kulasekara Alvar finally turned his kingdom over to his ministers, went
to Sri Rangam and served the Deity for the rest of his life. King Prataparudra was the Vaisnava
king of Puri, and he is recognized by mundane historians as having destroyed his kingdom by
spending all his money on lavish sankirtanafestivals, prasadam distribution and so many other
arrangements for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He didn't care for politics and economics, and the
whole thing went down.

The two things – this world and that spiritual world – don’t mix, and Krsna Consciousness is not
about making the kingdom of God on earth. It's about getting off the earth…not like some crazy
cult that wants to catch the tail end of a comet and tells its members to kill themselves. Such
horrible things have happened in this world. Krsna Consciousness says live your life fully. You
have four choices – brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha andsannyasa. You can stay there, you
can move through one or two; you can go through all four – but get them right! Don’t be a
brahmacari then a sannyasi then a grhastha. Don’t put your pants on, then your underwear –
that’ll simply look foolish. First put on your underwear, then your pants. Get it right! There’s an
order to things. Theoretically it is not necessary to move through all the asramas. Brahmacari
means student life. Then there is grhastha asrama, but there is also grhamedhi life. What is that?

That is that selfish family life– I, me and mine. That is not good, that is called grhamedhi. That
does not give you liberation. That does not free you from samsara. Grhasta life frees one from

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samsara up to a certain extent, and then you have to take the next step. In other words, it keeps
you in a position until you are ready to take the next step. If you are a grhamedhi, you will hate it
– you will hate the idea of vanaprastha, you will hate the idea of giving up anything for Krsna.
You want everything for yourself – that is called grhamedhi. Grhastha asrama can lead you to
liberation, but the grhamedhi never gets released. A grhastha gets some release in the sense that
the opportunity of the next step is appealing. Then it’s the common strength to accept it. Then
vanaprastha and then sannyasa life.

It’s not always necessary, but what’s necessary in all of them is the chanting of the Holy Name
of Krsna, Vaisnava sanga, staying in a holy place, serving the Deity and reading the Srimad
Bhagavatam. These five things are the essential things for everybody in every stage of life.

Tad Visnoh Paramam Padam

(The following is a class by Srila B.G. Narasingha Maharaja given on 20th January 2000 at
Karighatta in South India)

There are four Vedas, and it is taken that the Rg Vedais the principal one. Veda means
knowledge and it has two major divisions – material and spiritual. There is the mundane
knowledge of this phenomenal world and there is the spiritual or transcendental knowledge that
is called in Sanskrit sabda-brahma, or knowledge of that which lies beyond the senses. In the
modern world people are very busy with sensual knowledge –that which they can acquire
through experimentation, what they acquire through touch, sight etc. Knowledge about
transcendence is almost an imaginary thing in society. In other words, people doubt that it
actually exists. When people want higher knowledge they look towards the heavens; they want to
know something about life on other planets, life in another galaxy, but this is also within the
mundane world. The desire to know something about life up there is also mundane because that
is within the material sky. Transcendental knowledge lies beyond the material sky in the spiritual
sky. The Vedas deals with all knowledge – mundane and transcendental.

To a certain extent we may discover mundane knowledge without the help of the Vedas. For
example in the Vedas there are many references to flying machines and even inter-planetary
travel and communication. Nowadays we have airplanes, rockets, space shuttles etc. All this is
happening by man's own endeavor. First the Wright brothers invented the first airplane, and in

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time man traveled into space. Man is doing all of this without any reference to the Vedas.
However, long before man even dreamt of flying, flying was there in the Vedas. But man has
learnt to fly without directly approaching the Vedas. Thus, to a certain extent, material
knowledge can be gained by ones own endeavor. TheVedas also inform us that there is life on
other planets, but at present we have not discovered that by our own efforts. Yet the proposal is
there. You can save so much time if you accept Vedic knowledge.

Why should we accept Vedic knowledge? The Vedic knowledge says there is life on other
planets. Why should you accept that? Because it is quite logical. The Vedas proposed flying
machines and inter-planetary travel thousands of years ago and now you have to come to know
that is possible. So why should you reject the other proposal made by the Vedasthat life is there
on other planets? First accept that there is life on other planets. Whether you can contact that life
or not is another question. But you can answer that primary question, "Yes, there is life on other
planets, there is life throughout the universe." According to the Vedic knowledge of the universe,
there is no place where life does not exist, and that life is in many variegated forms. Yet we
struggle with the principle of accepting a higher authority and therefore we want to know
everything through our own hard work, experiments and research.

We doubt the proposal that life exists throughout the universe, then for many years we presume
that life can only exist in certain limited circumstances – that we can only find life here on this
planet. If it is too hot, like on the sun, then how is it possible for life to exist there? If it is too
cold, like the moon, then how is it possible for life to exist there? But then we discover that
within our own world, deep within a volcano in the ocean, where the water is thousands of
degrees – a place where we could never have imagined anything living before – some life-form
can live within that extreme circumstance. So life exists in all places regardless of how extreme
the environment may be. We may have experience of that – we may not. But through the Vedas
we can know what is not knowable to us in this world. As I said, to a certain degree we may gain
knowledge of this world by our own endeavor. But as regards transcendence, as regards that
which is beyond the material field, that which is beyond the material sky, which is lying within
the spiritual sky and is unknown and unknowable, the only means is the Vedic authorities, the
Veda itself and the parampara.Parampara means the guru-disciple succession – a continuous
line running for thousands of years that receives higher knowledge and cultivates the practices of
sadhana, the practices to attain a higher realization. Only through this method can that which is
beyond this world become known to us. This way of experience is actually far more substantial
than how we experience the world today.

How do you experience the world today? You touch it. You see it. You hear it. You want to have
some reciprocation with it. By doing these things you are sure that it exists. The spiritual world,
the experience of transcendence, has more reality than that. In the morning we wake up and see
the sun rising on the horizon. When knowledge of transcendence awakens in the heart, it is a
more substantial experience than seeing the sun rise.

Those who are great sages, who are great mountains of realized knowledge so to speak, have a
higher consciousness. They say that that transcendental world is the only reality and everything
in this phenomenal world, eventually vanishes. So, the primary interest of a human being should
be to journey towards transcendence and discover what is beyond this world.

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Unfortunately we are all very, very busy with this world without even the slightest information
that there exists another world beyond this one. When we say the “transcendental sky” we do not
simply mean a sky filled with light where only a bird may be happy to fly and soar. The spiritual
sky is filled with spiritual planets much greater than the planets of this mundane world. These are
the Vaikuntha planets. There life exists without any material defect. The material defects are
birth, death, old age and disease. These four things are the problems that everyone has to deal
with. In Vaikuntha there is no such thing as birth, death, old age and disease. Once going there
one never becomes old, one never becomes diseased, and one never dies. So the real purpose of
human life is with this. That should be our direction – towards the transcendental world. How
will we achieve that world? That should be the goal of life, and to achieve that goal one can look
towards the Vedas. In the Rg Veda it says:

om tad visnoh paramam padam

sada pasyanti surayah
diviva caksur atatam

Visnu means the Supreme Person. The Absolute Truth is ultimately a person, a divine entity. His
lotus feet are the most negligible part, the lowest part of His transcendental form and they are
above all in this world. They are like the sun that passes in the sky. The sun is seeing all and
blessing all. Similarly the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord are above all in this world, seeing all
and blessing everyone. Before any work is performed, before any activity is taken up, the Vedic
way is to remember the lotus feet of Visnu. We are moving under the watchful eye of the
Supreme Lord at all times – we are under His glance, we are under His care, we are under His
guardianship. Therefore there is no need for fear.

Fear in the Vedas is called bhaya. In varying degrees everyone is fearful in this world. Because
of fear so much suffering is there. But there is no need of fear if we always remember that above
everything the Supreme Lord is there, the Supreme controller. His watchful eye, His grace is
always upon us. If we remember this then there is no need of fear and one can live life free from
anxiety.

How to approach transcendence? That is the main subject of the Vedas. For those who are not
ready to accept transcendence, for those who are not ready to accept the guardianship of the
Supreme Lord, there are many other departments of knowledge to help in this temporary life.
And gradually they may awaken to understand the ultimate value of human life.

Ancient Vedic civilization based itself on the transcendental goal, not on material achievements.
Temples were grand and gorgeous whist people’s homes were very simple. Why did they live
like that? We look back on them now and wonder that if they had the ability to build such
marvelous wonders in stone, why didn’t they build homes for themselves that would last for
hundreds of years? It is because they knew that ultimately this world is not our home. The temple
represents transcendence –the abode of the Supreme Lord. That is grand and glorious. That will
stand forever. But our life? Thousands upon millions of us we will simply come and go. This
world is not our home – we cannot stay here forever. They applied this idea practically and lived
very simply. Why do you want to build a home here? You cannot remain here forever. You have
to fix your gaze, your consciousness, on the higher world and pass this life in a simple manner.

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At the end, when our body falls into the dust or is consigned to flames, our eternal consciousness
will reach that transcendental world.

The Vedic people lived by the conception that the Supreme Absolute Truth, Visnu or Krsna, is
always above all. In this way they lived happily.

Pandita Sri Gadadhara Gosvami

(The following article was originally written by Srila Sridhara Maharaja in Bengali for Sri
Gaudiya Darsana, Vol.2, Number 1, 12th August 1956)

Amongst the dear associates of Sri Gauranga, Sri Gadadhara Gosvami is the topmost. Just as the
position of Sri Radhika, in comparison to others, is undisputedly the topmost in the madhurya
pastimes of Sri Krsna, similarly in the most magnanimous pastimes of Gaura-Krsna, in the
service of audarya-madhurya-rasa, the character of Sri Pandita Gosvami, in comparison to
others, is the topmost object of attraction for Sri Gauranga – the embodiment of sweetness with
magnanimity. The mahajanas see radha-tattva within Pandita Gadadhara.

The appearance day of Pandita Gadadhara is during the summer time, on the new moon of the
month of Jyestha (May/June); his disappearance is one month after on the new moon of the
month of Asadha (June/July). The specialty of the character of Pandita Gosvami as an intimate
companion is the offering of silent and complete self-submission. Only those that are capable of
relishing within their hearts the incredible bliss of seeing the astonishing contradiction of a
begging-bag upon the shoulder of Laksmi-devi, are qualified to directly experience the
extraordinary glories of the personality of Srimat Pandita Gosvami.

During his childhood he was very simple, indifferent, modest and extremely courteous, devoted
to the Lord and the brahmanasand affectionate towards his friends. He was polite, yet timid; he
was surrendered to the Lord, yet he felt offensive; he was fully realized, yet he felt ignorant; he

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was a leader, yet considered himself an obedient servant. Though he had firm faith in his dear
Lord Sri Gauranga, the sidelong glances of the ordinary followers that had taken shelter of
Gaurasundara made him hesitant and timid. Being madly engrossed in thoughts of his guru,
Gaura, caused him to forget His Deity mantras. Even a little faith in Sri Gauranga attracts His
heart – so much so that due to His affection towards such a person, he accepts even an insult
from him as an honour. Basically, Sri Pandita Gosvami’s character is the neglected
personification of one who has willingly accepted a beggar’s garb after giving away all his
personal wealth.

Sri Gadadhara’s wealth is not like the external wealth of Hariscandra’s kingdom nor is his
sacrifice like that of Sibi’s or Dadhici’s sacrifice of their material bodies. It is not like the
sacrifice made by the nurse Panna of her dear son, nor like the self-immolation of Queen
Padmini etc. Similarly, it is also not like Socrates’ reason for propagating self-realization or
Jesus Christ’s bodily sacrifice for the sake of the delivery of the world. For the knower of the self
who is situated on a higher plane, bodily sacrifice is a very ordinary thing.

The wealth that is derived from the svarupa or inherent nature makes any other type of sacrifice
seem futile. Even if the devotional wealth of the liberated souls or even the nature of the object
of prema is realized in our hearts – still, deeply understanding and conceiving the cordial nature
of the incontestable sacrifice of the inner wealth of Pandita Gosvami is only possible through his
compassion and that of his intimate associates.

It is not possible for all these esoteric subjects to be immediately understood as if they were
ordinary mundane topics. Nevertheless, considering the necessity, we are giving a general
overview. Moreover, just as it is a responsibility to ascertain particular limits while considering
what substance is worth giving, similarly it is certainly wise to ascertain the specialty of a gift
while considering the qualification of its recipient.

As much as the recipient of the gift is highly qualified, that much is the glory and the result of
giving the gift. In the same line of thought there is no comparison of objective and subjective
excellence of Pandita Gosvami’s self-surrender. After all, the wealth of Sri Radha’s love is the
topmost substance and Sri Krsnacandra, the son of a brahmana (as Sri Caitanya), is the topmost
recipient.

While reflecting on this subject, we are reminded of the tale of Sri Yajnavalkya. Having studied
the highest knowledge of the self and after reaching the final stage of questioning, in answer to
the curiousness of the curious of even higher truths, Yajnavalkya Rsi, in a serious way, declares
it as being the limit of curiosity.

We are incapable to fully comprehend the glories of Sri Pandita Gosvami, therefore
themahajanas have left us that divine knowledge concerning the true identity of Gadadhara. Yet
due to our misfortune, we are unable to establish our faith in this matter. We commit offenses
due to our lack of faith and become absorbed in our own selfish pursuits.

Moreover, some claim that Gadadhara, the very wealth of Sri Radha’s form, is a part of
Nityananda-Baladeva, while others say that he is concealed within a part of Gadadhara Dasa. But

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by flying one’s own flag of mental speculation one will become an offender to sambandha-tattva
and one’s attainment of svarupa-siddhi will be obstructed. Some people are unable to understand
the method of Gadadhara’s worship of Gaura-Krsna, and consider the Lord of Visnupriya,
Gaura-Narayana, as being influenced by a mood of enjoyment and sambhoga, addressing
Narayana as one who takes the role of a nagara. Sri Gaura is Sri Krsna with the mood of Radha,
and Gaura without Radha is Sri Krsna. Sri Krsna is the object of worship for all rasas beginning
with madhura. He is not in the same category of bhagavata-tattva as Sri Rama etc. Sri
Gaurasundara, as the son of a brahmanaor as the best of sannyasis, Sri Krsna Caitanya, never
accepted the mood of a nagara, nor did He ever enter into discussions and the like with the
wives of other men at any time. The notion that He was an example of parakiya-sambhoga is
rasabhasa, it is an offence, it is against the conclusions of the mahajanas and is an atheistic
misconception.

In Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Sri Caitanya-caritamrtaand other authorized works of the

mahajanasthere is absolutely no example of Gaura-nagaraphilosophy. This ideology is not
mentioned and does not exist therein.

A husband engages in Deity worship and his dutiful wife serves him by trying to help him in his
worship. But at that time, she will not think of conjugality and engage in amorous talks with him,
as this will impede his worship of the Deity. Similarly, when He is in the bhava of Sri Radha, the
only concern of Krsnacandra is selfless service to Sri Krsna– in other words, Sri Gauranga’s
nature is to worship Sri Krsna through His own lila, and Sri Radhika’s form as Sri Gadadhara
devotedly worships His adorable Lord accordingly throughout his whole life. Thus, Gadadhara’s
form is an eternal manifestation.

Sri Radha-Krsna eternally personify the divine pastimes of Vraja, and Sri Gadai-Gauranga,
eternally residing in Navadvipa, personify the mood of audarya (magnanimity). When there is
the sweetness of Vraja, that is Sri Radha-Krsna – when there is the audaryaof Navadvipa, that is
Sri Gadadhara-Gauranga. By being fully absorbed in one or the other, all other conceptions are
eliminated. Sadhakas reject all types of common ideologies and should accept that revered path
prescribed by the mahajanas.

Sri Gauranga is the Lord of love divine. Sri Krsna is also the Lord of love divine, but because
His predominant rasa is sambhoga not everyone has the qualification to fully understand Him as
such. However, Sri Gauranga, who is the shelter of the rasas of vipralambha and audarya, is the
Lord of love divine even for the ordinary fallen souls who have cultivated faith in Him.

Sri Nityananda Prabhu distributes that Lord of love to even the lowest of mankind and in the
form of Sri Guru, he wanders door to door for the sake of the living entities.

Also Sri Advaita Prabhu invoked the prema-avatara, Sri Caitanya-candra, and brought Him
down to earth, showing the path to that supremely benevolent Lord.

Srivasa Pandita and others participated in the sankirtanapastimes of the Lord of Love, Sri
Gauranga, and were valuable assistants that served the Golden Lord in His pastimes.

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Sri Svarupa, Rupa, Sanatana, Raghunatha. Jiva etc. were the currents springing from the fountain
of ambrosial prema who enlivened the entire world (this fallen and most hopeless soul begs and
yearns for just a single drop of that ambrosia. His one and only hope is the mercy of Sri Guru
and the Vaisnavas).

Sri Gauranga, the Lord of Love Divine, accepted that form in order to sing the glories of the
topics of divine love of Sri Krsna. Amongst all the treasures of prema, the dearest to Him is the
bhava of His most beloved, which He fully accepts. When this realization dawns on Him and Sri
Radha is in His proximity then He plunders Her bhava. Sri Krsna does this in order to worship
Himself in the same mood as Sri Radha.

But even when Sri Krsna is amongst the devotees in gaura-lila, He is the same Sri Krsna. This
means that the subordinate gopi-priti of Sri Radha’s must also fully manifests there. Gadadhara’s
love for Gaura is extraordinary. But the form of his love is the opposite. When Krsna adorned
Himself with the garment of Radha’s bhava, Sri Radha became bereft of Her bhava. That is the
form of Gadadhara.

Hidden behind Gaura’s worship of Krsna in the bhavaof Radha is the beloved of Sri Gadadhara –
the One for whom everything is dedicated, whose direct and most glorious form the eyes hanker
to see, in whom is reflected the look of the most close associate – a exceedingly eager and thirsty
look hankering for prema. The One who is worshipped accepted the role of a worshipper. The
worshipper offers to the Worshipped (who has taken the role of a worshipper) everything up to
the very award of worship and appears as the personification of the greatest fortune of
sarvatmarpana – completely offering the self to Godhead.

Therefore, one who has attraction or love towards the worshippable Worshiper and strongly
desires to attain the invaluable wealth of the shelter of Gaura’s associate, Sri Gadadhara, should
follow his type of bhajana for Sri Gauranga and thus they will discover the results of such
bhajana. The followers of Sri Gadadhara becomes the relishers of Sri Radha’svipralambha-rasa
which is greater than the highest form of bhava.

gadai-gauranga jaya jahnavi-jivana

sita-pati jaya srivasadi-bhakta-gana

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 Grha-Pravesa – Entering a New House

On the morning of Friday, April 10, 1931, parama-bhagavata Sriyukta Nitya-Gopala Ghosa
Mahasaya, one of the most important helpers of the preachers of Sri Gaudiya Matha, who has
great faith in the Vaisnavas and who is dedicated to the Holy Name of the Lord, having finished
constructing his new home, sanctified it with the foot dust of His Divine Grace Om Visnupada
Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada, only entering it after the Guru and his
pure Vaisnava servants. Those who perform grha-pravesa, following the rituals of the
materialistic karma-kanda Smarta paddhatis, certainly fall down again and again into the dark
well of materialistic household life; but that householder who reject such common conceptions
and is always entertaining spiritual topics, maintaining a mood of humility and submission,
always inviting the paramahamsa maha-bhagavata and the pure devotees to his home and filling
his new home with hari-bhajana benefits his town and indeed the whole world.

For this purpose, filled with causeless mercy, the savior of the fallen Sri Srila Prabhupada and
his associates stepped into the home of Sriyukta Nitya-Gopala Ghosa Mahasaya and spoke hari-
katha and performed kirtana with the understanding that entering a spiritually surcharged house
and entering the matha are non-different. In this place Srila Prabhupada manifested some
ambrosial instructions. That morning, Srimad Ananta Vasudeva Paravidyabhusana B.A,Sriyukta
Haripada Vidyaratna MA. BL. and Pandita Sriyukta Pramoda-bhusana Chakravarti Pratna-
vidyalankara Mahasaya performed sankirtana for the satisfaction of Gauranga. At the request of
Sri Srila Prabhupada, the Gaudiya editor Sripada Sundarananda Vidyavinoda Prabhu read and
explained the precepts of the duties of grhastha-asrama from the Srimad Bhagavatam, 4th
Canto, 22nd Chapter, wherein Maharsi Sanat-kumara's gives instructions to Maharaja Prthu.

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That same day in the evening, Sri Srila Prabhupada and his associates came to the home of
parama-bhagavata Sriyukta Nitya-Gopala Ghosa Mahasaya and delivered instructions
concerning the grha-pravesa performed by the spiritually minded householder. At that time we
had the chance to hear that and we consider ourselves to be most fortunate. We have published
some of that here).

******************************************************************************
**********************

By the powerful association of the representatives of a paramahamsa, one removes the risk of
falling into the dark well of family life and the same powerful association with liberated family
members allows one to become a paramarthika-grhastha. When one does not constantly
deliberate upon Srimad bhakta-bhagavata and Srimadgrantha-bhagavata, then there can be no
auspiciousness in that house. Those who do not live every moment by the mercy of the
Bhagavata, will not be able to understand the meaning of the two instructions of Sri
Gaurasundara – these two commandments serve as a guiding light towards the ultimate goal of
life:

anasaktasya visayan yatharham upayunjatah

nirbandhah krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam ucyate

prapancikataya buddhya hari-sambandhi-vastunah

mumuksubhih parityago vairagyam phalgu kathyate

"Things should be accepted for the Lord's service and not for one's personal sense gratification.
If one accepts something without attachment and accepts it because it is related to Krsna, one's
renunciation is called yukta-vairagya.

When persons eager to achieve liberation renounce things that are related to the Supreme, though
they are material, this is called incomplete renunciation." (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 2.253-542)

Grha-pravesa is the duty of every Vaisnava, because the house will become conducive for hari-
bhajana.It is not possible for those that follow grha-vrata-dharma. It is better to enter the house
and make the vow that, “I shall serve Krsna.” It is incomparably better than those that follow
futile monkey-like renunciation (markata-vairagya). Firstly, one who follows such useless
renunciation is not a good sadhaka. If family life is favorable to hari-bhajana, then one should
accept the grhastha-asrama, and if family life is unfavorable then one should certainly reject the
dark well of household life. If one shows aversion to family life simply to demonstrate the
gymnastic feats of useless renunciates, then the rejection of household life will never be
beneficial. It will only be a matter of a couple of days before such immature vairagiswill fall
down.

There is no difference between entering a spiritual household and entering a matha; but do not
mix the grha-pravesaof the grha-vrata and the grha-pravesa of the Krsna-vratatogether just as

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you would mix muri. Those that belong to the school of the grha-vrata cannot understand these
words. For those whose life is governed by the Srimad Bhagavatam, their attachment to grha-
vrata-dharmais completely destroyed. Those who enter household life following the laws of the
external world will be increasingly absorbed in grha-vrta-dharma. Just as the acceptance of the
sannyasa-asrama is most essential for the Lord's devotees, similarly entering the grhastha-
asrama and grha-pravesaare also essential for the Lord's devotees.

Grha-pravesa should only be performed by the Lord's devotees, the non-devotees should not
perform it. When the Lord's devotee performs the grha-pravesa, we should understand that he
has actually entered his matha. Performing grha-pravesais for creating a conducive environment
to constantly serve Krsna. Collecting more than necessary (atyahara), over endeavoring (praya),
gossiping (prajalpa), neglecting the scriptural injunctions (niyamagraha), bad association (jana-
sanga) and mental restlessness (laulyam) – a spiritually minded householder should always keep
these things far away. With enthusiasm (utsaha), determination (niscaya), patience (dhairya) he
should constantly cultivate such various divisions of bhakti such as hearing and chanting etc; he
should completely reject female association which is not according to scriptural law, association
with those who are attached to women and those who are dominated by a feminine nature and he
should abandon the bad association of non-devotees of Krsna. He should perform his activities
by following the virtuous examples of Prthu, Ambarisa and other mahajanas, all his ordinary and
spiritual activities should be done while cultivating a favorable mood of hari-seva. The
spiritually minded householder should curb the impulses of speech, mind, anger, tongue,
stomach and genitals. That man who is who is totally indifferent to all the instructions given in
Sri Upadesamrta and is obsessed with household affairs almost has the nature of an animal. He
deviates from grhastha-dharma and becomes firmly attached to grha-vrata-dharma. “I will not
accept grha-vrata-dharmanor useless renunciation and for the sake of hari-bhajana I will
perform the spiritual activities of grhastha-dharma and act as a caretaker for Krsna by earning
money honestly to perform Krsna-bhajana” – in this way one who is spiritually minded will
make this vow when entering the house. Immorality makes hari-bhajana impossible, only when
one is moral can hari-bhajanabe performed.

It is not possible to serve Hari while collecting a multitude of sins, and it is also not possible to
serve Hari by performing various works of piety. For those people who think about the limited
boundaries of their piety, who wish to enjoy the fruits of their own heroic works and who desire
to nourish their crooked mentality, there is no other way for them to be freed of their
misconceptions except by the exclusive worship of Sri Hari through the execution of grhastha-
dharma. By the endeavors of trying to satisfy his senses, the sensual grha-vrati will fall down;
but by completely endeavoring to serve Krsna, he acquires auspiciousness. By
niyamagraha(infatuation with ritualistic ceremonies) and niyama-agraha (disregard for the
scriptural injunctions), one becomes a grha-vrata. Many people think, “I will enter my new
house, shut the doors and chant japa! That will be auspicious and I will also be recognized as a
spiritually-minded householder.” But after many days chanting on beads they will fall into the
dark well of the basest pleasures. If they did not perform kirtana after hearing the words
delivered from the divine mouth of the associates of the paramahamsas, if they do not construct
their lives properly, they will descend into grha-vrata-dharma.grhastha devotees will try to do
everything possible to help those who have given up everything and who constantly perform
Krsna-bhajana.

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The present business of Sri Gaudiya Matha is to engage all of mankind in the service of Sri Hari
– to this end Sri Gaudiya Matha is willing to spend many, many gallons of blood. Those who are
reluctant to take up this opportunity of service and are immersed in grha-vrata-dharma, are
aware of this. The spiritually-minded householder works hard for his wife and children, and
works just as hard to serve Hari. Knowing that his wife and children belong to Bhagavan, he
feeds them and takes care of them. Otherwise, just as one does not feed a snake bananas and
milk, if the association of family members is unfavorable then one should remain aloof from
them. Such spiritually-minded householders have absolutely no interest in material pleasures, he
only tries to serve Hari twenty-four hours a day. He is krsnarthe akhila-cesta (‘Serving Krsna at
all times’) at all times and in various ways he is busy serving Hari. Grhastha devotees fully
respect the spiritual concepts of duty and morality, but as regards mundane ethics, they have
neither love nor hatred towards them. For one whose consciousness is always immersed in divine
service, all his mundane obligations are concluded by his performance of spiritual duties.

Tirumangai Alvar took birth in the Kallara tribe. Even though he preached hari-bhakti,
influenced by his past samskaras, he was involved in robbery. Yet his heart was moved by
spiritual ethics, and he even managed to make robbery favorable to serve Lord Hari. Only the
devotees of Bhagavan know the art of utilizing any activity in the service of Hari. When Jagad-
bandhu Bhakti-ranjana Mahashaya could have done many things with his wealth, he made his
accumulated money favorable by engaging it in the service of Hari. He mastered the spirit of
service in such a short time! Amongst unlimited multitudes of jivas, one can scarcely
comprehend how one came to the Lord so suddenly. He surrendered everything to the service of
Hari.

He decided that, “This family and home is His, and if I perform service to Hari, whatever will be
left will be His prasadamand I shall accept His remnants.” He had only to realize that his losses
and gains were all connected to the service of Hari; he was not involved in either sin or piety. By
trying to deceive the Supreme Lord by one's sin or piety, exploitation or renunciation, morality
or immorality, one will be forced to reap the fruits of good and evil. But if all results go to the
Almighty, the jiva will not be involved in the consequences of good and evil. A man robs others
to enjoy for himself, but Tirumangai Alvar robbed others for the service of Visnu, and thus he
did not have to pay for the results of his plundering. All the ways by which Jagad-bandhu Babu
had to resort to in order to earn his fortune and all the difficulties he encountered found their true
meaning when he offered the fruits of both morality and immorality in the service of the
Supreme Controller.

But relying upon the Holy Name is no reason to sin. “Since Tirumangai Alvar served Hari by
robbing people, then let all looting be used to serve Hari” – such arguments come from the desire
to commit sinful activities on the strength of chanting the Holy Name. Jagad-bandhu Babu's
material activities were unexpectedly used to serve Hari. The idea that,“First we should become
good materialists and then we will become servants of Hari” – this sort of argument is
unfavorable in cultivating devotion. Even if the divine will utilizes activities that are due to one's
previous samskara, in the service of Hari, such acts cannot be considered as the rule or as an
example for ordinary people. Although Tirumangai Alvar was committing crimes, although
Jagad-bandhu was facilitating service by inappropriate ways sometimes, through the results of

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their extraordinary sukrti, the considered everything as the property of the Supreme Lord, and
being utilized in that way, it became beneficial.

Engaging in karma is futile. The path of karma-kanda never brings the jiva any auspiciousness –
they are just like a football. One minute the jiva is up, the next minute they are down again and
they are constantly moving around. By receiving a good thrashing for his sins, the jiva gradually
takes to the path of piety, then once again when he has been deceived by the illusory flowers of
piety, he again turns to the path of sinful activities. Due to this he takes to the path of
renunciation– the desire to renounce everything up to the point of moksa. These are known as the
specific activities of devotion to the Lord.

Whether a devotee resides in the house or he resides in the matha - the result is the same. A
devotee is always vigilant; every act he performs is for worship of the Almighty, and not for the
worship of Satan or an attempt to enjoy for himself.

Questions and Answers on Baladeva Tattva

(The following is an excerpt from a questions and answers session with Srila Narasingha
Maharaja on the occasion of Baladeva Purnima at Govindaji Gardens on 16th August 2008)

Question: In the Mahabharata is appears that Balarama was mostly in favor of Duryodhana.
Lord Balarama abstains from the Kuruksetra war and goes on tirtha yatra. He returns at the end
of the war when Bhima and Duryodhana were engaged in fighting. He protests that Bhima
played foul by hitting Duryodhana on his thighs and He almost kills Bhima. How do we
understand this lila of the Lord?

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Srila Narasingha Maharaja: Why doesn’t Balarama come here and kill all of us? Are we such
great devotees? Do we have no fault within? Is there nothing mundane left within us? Are we so
perfect? I wish we had leaders like Duryodhana in the world today. He was tens of thousands of
crores better than any leader we have seen in this world for thousands of years. In actual fact he
was a very righteous person. It wasn’t that Balarama just arbitrarily liked him – He liked him for
good reason. He was a righteous leader and the people who lived in Duryodhana’s kingdom were
all very happy. Of course, difficulties broke out due to a family affair and the family was
divided. So it is a good question – why did Balarama like Duryodhana? Who was Duryodhana?
This is a good chance to analyze and get our brain cells working. It’s easy just to say, "Oh,
Duryodhana was a demon!" In which way was Duryodhana a demon? Did he have big teeth? Did
he eat meat? Yes, but is that what made him a demon? Bhima also ate meat. Is Bhima a demon?
Vasistha Muni was also non-veg – do we consider him to be a demon? What is a demon? It is
always good to analyze. Generally it is all very one-sided when people think, "Duryodhana was a
bad chap from the very beginning." He also had many good qualities and he liked Lord
Balarama. It is not that Duryodhana didn’t like Lord Krsna.

The Mahabharata is very, very complicated. Srila Sridhara Maharaja once said that, "The
Mahabharata is mundane." Don’t expect to see the Mahabharata laced with transcendental
truths. There is no Vaikuntha where mahabharata-lilais going on. There is Ayodhya, the place of
rama-lila; there is Vrndavana; there is even a Dvaraka plane – but there is only one place where
Mahabharata is still showing, and that is in some material universe. In some material plane the
Mahabharata is still going on and in that way it is a mundane lila. It has no place in eternity and
the transcendental world. I have pointed out a number of times that the purpose of mahabharata-
lilais simply to attract our attention because within the Mahabharata there is the Bhagavad-gita.
That is where there is transcendental knowledge. Things don’t just end. After the Gita is spoken,
is it all over? Is that the way a good drama is played out? No – there is a build up, a crescendo
and then it finally comes to a climax. The Mahabharata is just one big drama. The whole
purpose of it is that Krsna will speak the Gita. But is it that once Krsna has spoken the Gitawe
close the book? No – many different things happen years after the battle of Kuruksetra.

One thing to note is that in the Mahabharata Krsna’s vrndavana-lila is not discussed. Years ago
in India they made a television series of the Mahabharata and they added a section with Krsna in
Vrndavana. All the upper class sadhus and people said, “What is this? This is a concoction!
Krsna’s vrndavana-lila is not mentioned in Mahabharata. Why are you putting it there?” It is a
completely different plane. This is transcendental.

So firstly, we should understand that everything in the Mahabharataisn’t transcendental. We

assume that Balarama shouldn’t side with Duryodhana because Duryodhana was a demon. But
Duryodhana wasn’t a demon. He was a very righteous person. Duryodhana liked Krsna and he
very much liked Balarama. The problem was that he didn’t like Arjuna. This is the drama. They
were ksatriyas. Now we can also look at this from the spiritual side – Balarama is all-knowing.
From the spiritual side Balarama is omniscient. He knows everything and He knows who is
going to win in the end. But He is appreciating.

It is not that there is nothing spiritual about the Mahabharata. It is mixed. Wherever the Lord is,
wherever His avataras are, that is spiritual. But everything that comes out of that affair is not

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necessarily spiritual. In other words, we can hear every day about the battle of Kuruksetra and
we can hear about Arjuna’s numerous love affairs as he goes around the world marrying
different women and having children etc. We can hear about these things life after life, but those
narrations won’t take us back to Godhead. It may create a little piety within us because of who
Arjuna ultimately is, but that doesn’t take us back to Godhead. But if we hear about Krsna in
Vrndavana and we become absorbed in hearing about those lilas – if we hear about those lilas
properly, then each hearing is a step back to Godhead. It is completely different because those
lilas are going on eternally in the spiritual world, but the mahabharata-lilais going on in the
material world. So in one sense, we don’t want to hear too much about the Mahabharata or else
we’ll just remain in this material world. We have to separate something there.

One thing to note is that Duryodhana, as big as a demon as we might say he is, was better than
any of the present government leaders anywhere in the world. If Duryodhana returned today it
would be a relief. All the slaughterhouses would be closed, there would be no killing of the cow;
all the criminal politicians would be executed; all the bars, brothels and places of degradation
would be shut down immediately. In that way, Duryodhana was very pious.

You may have heard of the great western philosophers like Tolstoy, Descartes, Kant etc. They all
drank – there was no teetotalers in western philosophical circles. Einstein and Schopenhauer
smoked cigars; they were mostly non-vegetarian, although some of them were vegetarian
because they had some intelligence. They were not like the philosophers of India – Jaimini,
Vyasa, Madhva, Ramanuja who had a lifestyle that lived up to the level of their philosophy.
Philosophers in the west have every bad habit there is. We call them ‘armchair-philosophers’.
They actually have no practicing life behind that philosophy. Sometimes a principle of
vegetarianism crops up. Tolstoy became a vegetarian, but there were also many non-vegetarian
Vedic brahmanas in the ancient world. It’s not all about being a vegetarian. Does being a
vegetarian mean you are a saint? Actually in the vegetarian movement we find a tremendous
aversion to Krsna consciousness. The vegetarian movement in the western world is very pro-
abortion also, whereas a large section of the non-vegetarian world is vehemently anti-abortion.
These people drink, smoke and eat meat but they protest abortion, while many of the new-age,
‘free-thinking’ people have lost the plot when it comes to freedom.

What does freedom mean? Does freedom mean that you can eat razor blades? Is that freedom?
Well, yes – you are free to eat razor blades, but that’s insanity. If I want to shoot you in cold
blood, is that freedom? No, that’s murder. That is a misuse of freedom and so is abortion. So you
will find that many people in the vegetarian movement and yoga circles are strongly averse to
Krsna. However, I have seen people that are non-vegetarian who have a more positive idea about
Krsna consciousness, he asrama and devotees. We have friends in Mysore who have helped us
many times, who aren’t even vegetarian. Of course we look at that as a bad quality. They should
continue to be favorable towards Krsna, the devotees and devotional service, and leave foods in
the mode of ignorance behind. Yet by their habit they can’t do that. But are they demons?

So it is not so easy to draw a line and state who is a demon. If you draw that line you might draw
it through your own heart. We all have anarthasand what are these anarthas? They are demons.
It is not that they are compared to demons – they are demons! Krsna accepts so many devotees
to serve Him and they undergo purification. Duryodhana’s purification was that he was finally

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killed by Bhima in the presence of Krsna and Balarama. Balarama walked away in the end– He
didn’t want to see it. But Balarama knew what was going to happen.

In the end Duryodhana died in the presence of Krsna, and it is also said that everybody who died
at Kuruksetra attained moksa. It doesn’t specify what type of moksa they received. They
certainly didn’t go to Goloka Vrndavana, but they got some form of higher position in their next
life. Once there was a Hindu army officer in Amritsar. He was white-haired older gentleman and
he told Prabhupada, "I am always having some problem in my mind because an astrologer told
me that in my previous life, I was in the Kuruksetra war and I fought against Krsna." Srila
Prabhupada just said, "That is not possible. Everybody that died at Kuruksetra went back to
Godhead. You are still here so obviously you weren’t there." Prabhupada just popped his bubble.

Ultimately, we should look at it as being all for the good. The Mahabharata is a drama with
many lessons in life. Although Duryodhana had all good qualities, he had one bad quality and
that one bad quality brought him down. That bad quality was that he was envious of Arjuna. It’s
not that if you are envious of a family member and you have all good qualities, you will be
brought down – that’s not the lesson. The lesson is that he was envious of someone who was
dear to Krsna. He was envious of the Pandavas.

Bhisma, on the other hand, is a great devotee, but he shot Krsna! He shot Him with arrows! Have
you ever been shot with an arrow? It’s not like in the movies – in a film, a man is shot and he
keeps running and fighting. That doesn’t usually happen. When a hole is made in you, you go
down. Not once, not twice, but many times Bhisma fired arrows in Krsna. But Krsna took them
to be like the flowers offered by the Gopis. How is that possible? Because they are in their
ksatriya bhava.

Nowadays, some people claim to be ksatriyas, but most of them are just brutish animals. To be a
ksatriyayou have to be trained in dharma-sastras. They don’t know anything about dharma–
they are just barbarians. When ksatriyasspar with each other, they really fight. They still practice
like this in Kerala even today. They don’t train with sticks, they use knives. Any master of
martial arts in Kerala has at least ten knife wounds; otherwise he wasn’t trained very well. It’s
most likely that his guru put half the scars on his body while training him. Every once in a while
they would practice and one of them would die – now that’s real practice!

We are not ksatriyas. For us, we sit round with the devotees after a nice bhajana program with a
big bowl of sweet rice and some hot puris. But for a ksatriya they like a good bloody battle.
Nothing makes them happier. There is nothing worse for a ksatriya than to stop fighting. That’s
boring for them. It’s like a Marwadi who can’t open his shop. There is no bigger hell for a
traditional Marwadi than the day that the market’s closed.

An answer to a question is not always linear. That is not how everything goes. We may wish that
it was a little straighter, a little clearer and a little easier to understand, but sometimes it’s a lot
more complicated than that. Once in a while we may find a quote by an acaryawho, seeing a
particular situation, sheds some light on a particular point. But ultimately it’s not that every
single point has an explanation. There are some points that nobody has even endeavored to speak
about. In the Caitanya-caritamrta there is one section where Lord Nityananda is chasing

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Caitanya Mahaprabhu. After the kirtana everybody is exhausted and they can’t even stand up.
Only Mahaprabhu is standing and dancing and Nityananda chases Him into a garden. Suddenly
He sees Mahaprabhu by a tree, and Mahaprabhu turns into Radharani. This verse is there in
Caitanya-caritamrta but there’s no purport. We would think that He’s Radha and Krsna
combined and at that moment He showed the svarupa of Radha. But there is no commentary.
One of the meanings is that we don’t need to voice our opinions about everything. The next verse
says that seeing this, Nityananda turned around and immediately stopped pursuing Mahaprabhu.
In other words, if even Lord Nityananda is not going to pursue it at this point, then why should
we?

So we cannot question Balarama. We may ask, “Why did He do that?” Some mundane scholars
may do that and try to find some discrepancy. In the same way they will also question Krsna and
ultimately say that He is not Bhagavan. This lila is being played out in a very intriguing way. If
Krsna and Balarama killed all the demons immediately then the drama would end very early on
and the Mahabharata would not be a very popular book. Even in modern movies, there’s always
a point where it looks like the hero might get killed, but he never does. The heroes never get
killed. In Ancient Greek tragedies however, you can expect the hero to get killed. They had a
different way. In fact, if you where a hero in a Greek drama, you were definitely going to be
killed! The Mahabharatais the ultimate drama. Its complexities go beyond the possibility for
someone to have imagined it. When imagination takes over it cannot become too complex. At a
point it just loses the plot. The cursing, the counter-cursing, the relations with the family and
other people – an ordinary mind could not present such a story.

Question: in Gaudiya Vaisnavism we worship many aspects and forms of Krsna such as Radha-
Krsna, Gaura-Nitai, Gaura-Gadadhara etc. But how significant and important is it to worship
Krsna and Balarama together and what is Balarama’s mood or role in Krsna’s pastimes as
Krsna’s elder brother?

Srila Narasingha Maharaja: Some say that Prabhupada established Krsna-Balarama because of
his family lineage. Some people have indicated that this is an indication of his rasa. And others
have said it was because Ramana-reti was the place of Krsna and Balarama. If you go to
Bombay, Prabhupada installed Sita-Rama. What does that mean? That doesn’t mean anything.
Bombay is a place of Rama bhaktas. Prabhupada establishes a Rama Deity to bring the Rama
bhaktas to the Radha-Krsna temple, to worship Gaura-Nitai, to do sankirtana and to chant Hare
Krsna. He was preaching.

After the time of Prabhupada, many Krsna-Balarama Deities were established. I think there is
one in Mysore. This is called a ‘one-track mind.’ They have a Krsna-Balarama temple, and they
have a Krsna-Balarama ratha-yatra–everything is all about Krsna and Balarama. I don’t know
what their idea is, but they took it upon themselves. It is not something that Prabhupada said – to
establish Krsna-Balarama everywhere. Ramana-reti, where the Krsna-Balarama Temple is in
Vrndavana is the place of the cowherd boys; it’s a place of the cowherd boy’s rasa and lila.
Personally, as a disciple of Prabhupada, above rasa, above everything, I think it was Prabhupada
doing something very unique again and catching everybody’s attention. One more Radha-Krsna
temple in Vrndavana would not be much of a new contribution. That wouldn’t get anybody’s
attention. So he established Krsna and Balarama in Ramana-reti and everybody was so happy.

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Nobody was saying, "Wait a minute! This isn’t the highest rasa!”Instead, everybody was saying,
"This is amazing, this is fantastic, this is wonderful. Ramana-reti, yes! And you have Krsna-
Balarama.”

However, it is true that if you look at the life of a great spiritual personality, there’s what is
called prakrta-lila and aprakrta-lila. Prakrta-lila are those activities that they did in this world
and their aprakrta-lila is their eternal connection. So we would expect to see, particularly at high
points and time-to-time, where that prakrta-lilais moved by that aprakrta-lila. So with Krsna-
Balarama that also must be so.

However, in regards to Prabhupada installing Krsna-Balarama in Vrndavana, personally, I don’t

see it as the ultimate definitive proof that defines Srila Prabhupada’s rasa. I see it more in light
of who Gaura-Nitai are in krsna-lila. I see it more in light of the sankirtana movement, like
Prabhupada installing Sita-Rama in Bombay. But some people do take it that way; that’s a very
individual thing.

In Kali-yuga Krsna and Balarama appear on the horizon of Gauda as Gaura-Nitai. Although
They are brothers, They are not born in the same family. But actually neither are Krsna and
Balarama. Balarama’s mother is Rohini and Krsna’s mother is Yasoda. Nityananda is not born
from Saci-mata, but nonetheless, Gaura-Nitai are considered to be brothers and are non-different
from Krsna and Balarama.

How Balarama became the elder brother can be traced back to rama-lila when Laksmana was the
younger brother. He had to do the biddings of Rama that he didn’t really like and finally He said,
"This is the last time I am going to be Your younger brother. Next time I’m going to be the older
brother and You will listen to Me! I will be looking after You!” The older brother is always
protecting the younger brother. Of course, all this is just in the lila but in a higher sense, from the
point of krsna-lila, these eternal worlds eternally exist, so it is not that one comes before the
other. But if there had to be one before the other, it is Krsna before Rama – not Rama before
Krsna, because the full potency must exist before the partial potency.

One time Prabhupada was driving in the car, the first year that the Krsna-Balarama Temple
opened, and he asked, "Who is stronger, Krsna or Balarama?" Balarama is the strength potency
of Krsna, so one might think that He is protecting Krsna. He is older than Krsna, He is bigger
than Krsna etc. Most of the time you knew that when Prabhupada asks a question you are not
going to get it right, so it was better to shut up and wait for him to give the answer. Finally
Prabhupada said that Krsna is stronger than Balarama. The proof is that Balarama is leaning on
Krsna for relaxation which means that Krsna is stronger.

Once when someone ask Srila Puri Maharaja why do you worship Gaura-Gadadhara? Srila Puri
Maharaja said, “Because without worshipping Gaura-Gadadhara you cannot understand Radha-
Krsna.”Of course, about half the devotees in the room almost fell on the floor with shock! But no
such statement could be made that, “If you don’t worship Krsna and Balarama, you cannot
understand Radha-Krsna” – the two are not connected there. The worship of Gaura-Gadadhara
and Radha-Krsna are connected. The worship of Panca-tattva is connected there, and even
Gaura-Nitai are connected there. But there is no connection going towards Krsna-Balarama. This

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is an individual devotee preference. It is not a stepping-stone that everyone should take in the
progress of proper siddhantaand in the development of rasa. You cant just worship Radha-Krsna
and not worship Gaura-Nitai – this is not acceptable. You may have Radha-Krsna Deities in the
house and no Deities of Gaura-Nitai, but you worship Gaura-Nitai by chanting the Panca-tattva
mantra. The mantra you chant is more important than the vigraha that you worship.

Sri Krsna Janmastami

(The following is a public lecture by Srila B.G. Narasingha Maharaja on the occasion of Sri
Krsna Janmastami, given on August 22nd 2011 at Govindaji Gardens)

Today we are celebrating the appearance day of Lord Sri Krsna. Krsna appeared 5237 years ago.
That makes the birthday of Krsna the oldest celebrated religious festival in human history. Not
only is it the oldest, but it is the original basis of many religious stories told in Buddhism,
Christianity, Zoroastrianism and many other different religions around the world. The first story
of God coming on this earth is the story of Krsna. We have that story of Krsna because it was
recorded in the Srimad Bhagavatam 5000 years ago. There is also another book, written around
the same time called the Hari-vamsa. The spiritual knowledge and wisdom around Krsna is
explained in the Bhagavata Purana. But there are many little details, because Krsna did not
come alone. When God appears in this world, He comes with His brothers, sisters, mothers,
fathers, aunts, uncles, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, His whole dynasty, many friends – He
brings His whole village. The details of all that are in the book Hari-vamsa. There are so many
details of Krsna – what food He likes, what clothes He likes to wear, what musical instruments
He plays, what battles He fought, what language He speaks. That is the first question – when

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God came to this world, what language did He speak? He appeared in India, but in India there
are many languages. The answer is that He spoke your language! Whatever language you spoke,
that’s the one He spoke. He even spoke the language of the animals. Krsna had many pets– cows,
deer, and horses, even dogs – and He could speak to all of them in their own language. So many
of these details are in the book Hari-vamsa and today we will discuss some of those details.

I am not here today to convince you that Krsna is God. You may need to know more about why
we say that Krsna is God, but today I am not going to discuss those things. We are going to talk
about some of the details such as who was Krsna’s mother, who was Krsna’s father etc. But the
details are complicated. I can barely keep up with my own family – what to say of Krsna’s?
Krsna’s family is very complex.

In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that Krsna comes whenever there is a decline in religious
principles. He comes in every age (yuge yuge). Krsna is known as a great actor, like in a drama,
so when Krsna comes He often comes in various disguises. He doesn't always come as the
original Krsna – He comes as avataras. Sometimes Krsna shows His full power, and sometimes
He only shows a part of His power. Whenever Krsna comes in human society, He has a mother
and a father. He selects who will be His mother and who will be His father from His devotees.
But the interesting part of the story is that Krsna has an original mother and father also. The
original mother and father of Krsna are known as Yasoda and Nanda. So, 5237 years ago Krsna
appeared in this world with Yasoda and Nanda as His parents. But at the very same moment, He
accepted another mother and father known as Vasudeva and Devaki. Generally the story is
simplified and we are told that Krsna was born with one mother and one father, but that is not the
detailed story. Krsna appeared in the village of Vrndavana and His mother was Yasoda and at the
exact same moment, Krsna appeared in Mathura and His mother was Devaki. The Krsna born in
Vrndavana is known as Svayam Bhagavan – the original Krsna. The Krsna that appeared in
Mathura is Visnu. The most striking difference between Krsna and Visnu is that Krsna is dvi-
bhuja (two handed) and Visnu is catur-bhuja (four handed). There are also other forms of God
and if we see them, we will run away in fear. But those who see Krsna, the original beautiful
form of God, runs towards Krsna in love. Krsna is the most lovable object in our life.

Yasoda and Nanda are always the mother and father of Krsna. When Krsna comes to this world,
He sends His mother and father first and they are born. Then, when the time is perfect, Krsna
appears from His mother, just like the sun rising out of the ocean. His birth is a miracle. When
this happened over 5000 years ago, this story spread all over the world. That story entered
different cultures and different religions and thus you will find in different places around the
world the story of God appearing on this earth. But His birth is a miracle. We must understand
that we are born in a certain way, but Krsna is born differently. We are born due to our karma,
but Krsna does not come due to karma. He simply appears. Then the dream begins and Krsna’s
mother thinks, “Oh, I have given birth to this baby.” When Krsna came in this way to Mother
Yasoda, He also brought His sister at the same time. Mother Yasoda then fell asleep and
everyone in the house also slept, and in the bed with Yasoda was baby Krsna and a baby girl.

Now in Mathura, a big drama had been going on for a long time. Vasudeva and Devaki had been
put in prison by Kamsa and they had been there for many years. Whenever any children were
born to them in prison, Kamsa would come and kill the baby immediately. Devaki was the sister

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of Kamsa. The reason Devaki and Vasudeva were in prison was because of this – on the day of
Devaki’s marriage to Vasudeva, Kamsa put his sister and her husband into his chariot to take
them to their new home. Suddenly there was a sound from the skies. A great voice declared,
“Kamsa, you are such a fool! You are proudly driving the chariot with your sister, but her eighth
son is going to kill you!”

Now Kamsa was not a good man. He was a thousand times worse than today’s politicians! He
was greedy, evil and violent. He was an asura – a demon. When Kamsa heard this voice, he was
shocked. He grabbed his sister’s hair, pulled out his sword and attempted to cut off her head. He
was thinking that, “If I kill my sister, she will have no children, then there is no chance of her
eighth son killing me.” But Vasudeva immediately grabbed him, “What are you doing? Would
you kill your own sister? People will wonder what type of man you are! You will get such a poor
reputation. “

It was a very critical situation with Kamsa, so finally Vasudeva said, “You don’t have to worry
about her. When any children are born, I will bring them to you immediately and you can kill
them.” Vasudeva spoke many flattering words to Kamsa to cool his anger and he made this very
extreme promise.

After a year had passes, Devaki gave birth to a son and Vasudeva brought the baby to Kamsa but
he told him,“This is the first baby, but your problem is with the eighth child.” So Kamsa agreed
and let them keep their son. But then a very strange thing happened – it was already strange but
it’s going to get stranger! Narada Muni came to see Kamsa and Narada thought, “This king is so
evil and he is already causing so much suffering to innocent people. We need to speed up his
karma!” It was also said that the eighth son would be Krsna, and Krsna had killed Kamsa in a
previous life. Kamsa’s name in his previous birth was Kalanemi. Narada Muni told him that,
“The eighth son will be Krsna, your old enemy, and He will kill you. But you can’t trust Krsna –
He may come as the second son, or the third. It’s better you kill all the children.”

Actually, nothing happens by accident. Even an accident is ultimately not an accident. Life is
complicated and it involves previous lifetimes. You have things in this world because you have
an education and you work, but that is not everything. You have things because of what you did
in a previous life, in ten previous lives, in one hundred previous lives. This life is complicated.

After talking to Narada, Kamsa arrested his sister and her husband and put them in prison. Every
year, as children were born, he killed them in the prison. If we examine the story at this point, it
is clear that Kamsa is evil. But a saint was the one who gave the suggestion to him to kill all the
children! So the question arises, who were these poor children? Why were they killed What was
their karma?

When Kamsa was Kalenemi in his previous birth, the children of Devaki that he was killing were
his own sons. Their grandfather was Hiranyakasipu, one of the greatest demons ever known in
the universe. He cursed his own grandsons that they would take birth and they would be killed in
that way. This is the family business of demons – they don't even have good wishes for their own
children. So these first six children were previously the six sons of Kalanemi and Kamsa killed
them all. He was killing his own children.

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Then the seventh son appeared. This was Krsna’s brother, Balarama. In India Balarama is very
famous. He is also known as Sankarsana. Ananta is His expansion. But Krsna told Yogamaya,
the spiritual power of Krsna who helps create the lila of Krsna, “Take My brother to Vrndavana
before He is born, so that He does not have to face Kamsa.” Everyone in the prison thought that
Devaki had had a miscarriage. The next year, on this day, on the lunar calendar, Krsna appeared
in two places at the same time. He came to Mother Yasoda as a baby with two arms, and with
His sister. In Mathura, at the same moment, Krsna also appeared as Visnu with four arms.

In Vrndavana, after seeing Krsna, Yasoda slept. But in Mathura, Vasudeva and Devaki didn't
sleep. They understood that, “Bhagavan has become our son!” Vasudeva and Devaki offered
prayers in glorification of the Lord. If we study those prayers, we can clearly understand who is
God. If we understand who is God, we will automatically understand who is not God! We will
immediately broom out so many bogus bhagavans.

After hearing their prayers, Visnu took the form of baby Krsna. At that moment, everybody in
the world slept. Nobody was awake. When you have had a successful day, you are able to have a
good sleep. When God appears on the earth, everyone has a good sleep, even the demons. At that
time, all the locks on the prison door opened and Vasudeva picked up baby Krsna and walked
out of the prison. It was flood season and he came to the river Yamuna which parted and
Vasudeva and Krsna crossed the river. He then came to the village where Yasoda and Nanda
lived. Generally we call that whole area as Vrndavana, but that village is actually known as
Gokula. Vasudeva entered that house, the door opened and he saw Mother Yasoda sleeping. He
saw one little baby girl and he picked her up and replaced her with Krsna. Then he crossed the
Yamuna, returned to Mathura, entered the prison and immediately the all doors closed again.

So now there are two Krsnas in the bed with Yasoda. The Visnu-avatara from Mathura entered
into the body of the original Krsna and they became one. Then at that moment, everyone in the
house woke up, heard the baby crying and they all came running to see. For a moment, Mother
Yasoda thought, “Where is the girl?” because she remembered that there were twins – a boy and
a girl. But when she saw the beauty of Krsna, she forgot about everything and thought that it
must have all been a dream.

Meanwhile, in Mathura, that baby girl began to cry and everybody woke up. The guards heard
the crying and ran to Kamsa to tell him that the eighth child had been born. When Kamsa
entered, Devaki told him, “This is your niece. Please don't kill this girl. You are in danger from a
boy – the eighth son was supposed to kill you. This is a girl.” But no – he pushed them down,
grabbed the baby by the feet and he prepared to smash her head on the wall. Suddenly, that baby
slipped out of the hand of Kamsa, stood in the sky and took the form of Goddess Durga with
sixteen arms holding many weapons. This goddess has many names – Durga, Bhadra, Bhadrakali
– she has many names. She chastised Kamsa, “You are a bigger fool than we thought! The one
who has been born to kill you has already appeared!” Then she disappeared into the sky. Kamsa
had killed the six sons of Devaki who were previously his own sons, but this could not change
his destiny. The will of God is above everything. He had done many horrible things, but he had
changed nothing.

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Kamsa then apologized to his sister and brother-in-law and allowed them to leave the prison and
return home. Some time later, Kamsa’s associates came to him and told him that Vasudeva and
Devaki were not to be trusted. They suggested that they should be imprisoned again and all the
children in the whole kingdom up to ten years old should be killed. Anybody here who knows
the Jesus story will immediately remember the same thing happened in Judea. The only
difference is that this is the original story. The other is a duplicate.

So due to bad company, Kamsa arrested his sister and her husband again and put them in prison
for sixteen years. Then he started a campaign to kill all the children. For this program he
employed one friend named Putana. She came to poison Krsna, but Krsna killed her and saved
all the children in the whole kingdom. But when Putana was killed, at once Kamsa knew where
Krsna was. He didn't need to kill any more children. For sixteen years Kamsa sent powerful
demons with magic powers to kill Krsna, but one by one, Krsna killed them all. After sixteen
years, Krsna came to know about His other mother and father being locked up in prison by
Kamsa, so He went to Mathura. There, He fought with elephants and wrestlers and finally He
fought with Kamsa, and with His left hand He hit Kamsa and killed him. Then He set His mother
and father free.

These activities are known as krsna-lila and by hearing krsna-lila we can be freed from karma.
This means we can be freed from suffering. All of you today have come from your homes; some
of you have even come from a different country to this place. This means that you have an
original place – Krsna also has an original place.

Krsna says that He is God and He shows it – not once or twice, but many, many times by His
knowledge, His activities, by His power, by every means He proves that He is God. But
nowadays, particularly in India over the last fifty years or so, like to imitate Krsna. They like to
say that they are God. Then we read in the newspapers that such-and-such bhagavan went to
hospital. If we go to hospital, then that is alright – we are humans so we may have to go to
hospital. But in India, God goes to hospital! Then they will say that, “That is his lila!” What fool
wants to go to a hospital? Nobody!

It should also be noted that Krsna was on this earth for 125 years. Sixteen years He was in
Vrndavana and that is known as His lila of youth. Vrndavana is known as the original home of
Krsna, and that eternal home of Krsna is beyond our temporary time/space reality. One of the
characteristics of God is that He doesn't grow old. Have you ever seen a picture of Krsna as an
old man? He is nava-yauvana– ever youthful. This year I went to the Vatican and I saw pictures
of‘God’ there. He had white hair, a big white beard and wrinkled skin. Now what if you were
God? Would you like to be old or young? It is obvious – we would want to be youthful. There
are many ideas of God, but the original idea is Krsna and He is always youthful, He is never old.
And when God wants to remove your sin, He just does it. He doesn't have to die or suffer to do
it. At Kuruksetra, Krsna was 55, but when he is with Arjuna at Kuruksetra He looks like a
sixteen-year-old boy. He has no moustache or beard because He never grows old.

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