FIRST ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN PATRON-LEADERS WEEKEND OF BHAKTI

Weekend of Bhakti

Date: June 23, 2007

Verse: Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.43
Speaker: HH Radhanath Swami
Location: ISKCON New Vrindaban
[www.newvrindaban.com]
Occasion: First Annual North American Patron-
Leaders Weekend of Bhakti ______

[note: transcription is not verbatim]

krsne sva-dhamopagate dharma-jnanadibhih saha

kalau nasta-drsam esa puranarko ‘dhunoditah

TRANSLATION: This Bhagavata Purana is as

brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the
departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode,
accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons
who have lost their vision due to the dense
darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get
light from this Purana.

PURPORT: Lord Sri Krsna has His eternal dhama,

or abode, where He eternally enjoys Himself with
His eternal associates and paraphernalia. And His
eternal abode is a manifestation of His internal
energy, whereas the material world is a
manifestation of His external energy. When He descends on the material world, He displays Himself
with all paraphernalia in His internal potency, which is called atma-maya. In the Bhagavad-gita the
Lord says that He descends by His own potency (atma-maya). His form, name, fame, paraphernalia,
abode, etc., are not, therefore, creations of matter. He descends to reclaim the fallen souls and to
reestablish codes of religion which are directly enacted by Him. Except for God, no one can establish
the principles of religion. Either He or a suitable person empowered by Him can dictate the codes of
religion. Real religion means to know God, our relation with Him and our duties in relation with Him
and to know ultimately our destination after leaving this material body. The conditioned souls, who are
entrapped by the material energy, hardly know all these principles of life. Most of them are like
animals engaged in eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. They are mostly engaged in sense
enjoyment under the pretension of religiosity, knowledge or salvation. They are still more blind in the
present age of quarrel, or Kali-yuga. In the Kali-yuga the population is just a royal edition of the
animals. They have nothing to do with spiritual knowledge or godly religious life. They are so blind
that they cannot see anything beyond the jurisdiction of the subtle mind, intelligence or ego, but they
are very much proud of their advancement in knowledge, science and material prosperity. They can
risk their lives to become a dog or hog just after leaving the present body, for they have completely
lost sight of the ultimate aim of life. The Personality of Godhead Sri Krsna appeared before us just a
little prior to the beginning of Kali-yuga, and He returned to His eternal home practically at the
commencement of Kali-yuga. While He was present, He exhibited everything by His different activities.
He spoke the Bhagavad-gita specifically and eradicated all pretentious principles of religiosity. And
prior to His departure from this material world, He empowered Sri Vyasadeva through Narada to
compile the messages of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and thus both the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-
Bhagavatam are like torchbearers for the blind people of this age. In other words, if men in this age of
Kali want to see the real light of life, they must take to these two books only, and their aim of life will
be fulfilled. Bhagavad-gita is the preliminary study of the Bhagavatam. And Srimad-Bhagavatam is the
summum bonum of life, Lord Sri Krsna personified. We must therefore accept Srimad-Bhagavatam as
the direct representation of Lord Krsna. One who can see Srimad-Bhagavatam can see also Lord Sri
Krsna in person. They are identical. [End of purport]

[Invocatory prayers]

I am very grateful for this opportunity to serve all of you, trying to speak something on this illustrious
verse which was selected today by Malati Prabhu and Rukmini Prabhu.

In 1922, Srila Prabhupada first met his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, on the
rooftop of 1 Ultadanga Junction Road in Calcutta. At the first instance of meeting his Guru Maharaja,
Srila Prabhupada was given the order, “You are an intelligent young man. You should take this
message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and teach it to the to world in the English language.” Srila
Prabhupada prepared for this mission for many years to come. Eleven years later he took initiation at
Rupa Gaudiya Math in Prayag. In 1944 he began writing Back to Godhead magazine, then in the
1950’s he retired from his family life and went to Vrindavan. He had already written his comments on
Bhagavad-gita and after taking sannyasa, while residing at Radha-Damodar temple, he commenced
what he considered the most important mission of his life: to translate and write commentaries on
Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Why specifically he gave so much of his energy to this purpose we find in this verse today. Krsna
descended to this world from Goloka Vrindavan, he appears only once in a day of Brahma in his
original form which is approximately 4 billion 320 million years and his night is equal to that. Krsna
reveals his Vrindavan lila in this way only once in 8 billion years. And at the commencement of Kali-
yuga, Krsna incarnated in his literary incarnation in the form of Srimad-Bhagavatam which the acaryas
tell us is absolutely non-different from Krsna. Srila Prabhupada explains here that by attentively
hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam we can gain the same experience as in the direct personal presence of
Krsna. All the blessings of being with Krsna directly are accessible simply by hearing Srimad-
Bhagavatam. It is the essence, the cream of all Vedic literatures. In Bhagavad-gita Krsna tells Arjuna:

traigunya visaya veda nistrai-gunya bhavarjuna

That the Vedas mainly deal with the three modes, in fact all the scriptures in the world mainly deal
with this, how to improve our sense gratification, the karma-kanda system and how to abandon sense
gratification by knowledge, jnana-kanda. Krsna says the Vedas mainly deal with this subject, but rise
above them, be free from the dualities and the anxieties for gain and safety and be established in the
self.

In the pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam itself we read how Vedavyasa after compiling the four Vedas,
Upanisads, Puranas and the summary of all them, the Vedanta Sutra, he was not satisfied as his
existence in this world was only to show compassion. He gave so much spiritual literature, more than
had ever been seen. While lamenting, Narada Muni approached him as and told him that as of now, all
of these literatures are tainted with cheating, you have not explained exclusive unadulterated pure
devotional service and revealed the Supreme Personality of Godhead and his beautiful pastimes and
devotees.

No doubt there are many references to the Lord in the scriptures, but they are mixed with low levels
of aspiration, therefore Bhagavatam begins, that all these lesser forms of spirituality are kicked out.
Pure devotional service culminates in the love of the residents of Vrindavan for Krsna, and that
culminates in Srimati Radharani’s ecstatic love in separation.

When Srila Prabhupada began this great endeavour to give these entire 18,000 verses of Bhagavatam
in English, he wrote an elaborate introduction with a life sketch of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and
explained why, that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who also only appears once in a day of Brahma, who is
Krsna who comes to taste Srimati Radharani’s love for him and distribute love, Lord Caitanya’s life is
the perfect manifestation of Srimad-Bhagavatam. His relationships with his devotees and compassion
are literally the visualization of the teachings of the Bhagavatam. Lord Caitanya taught Srimad-
Bhagavatam, amala puranam, that Srimad-Bhagavatam is the spotless Purana.

Srila Prabhupada explains that Vedavyasa studied the histories and took the essence of them, not only
from this planet or universe but millions of planets and universes. Whatever histories were for the
ultimate benefit of humanity he extracted exclusively that, and from the wide range of the Puranas he
extracted only the essence and that is what we have here.

Simply by attentively hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada explains, one can achieve the
level of a paramahamsa. To hear means to follow, and through this comes realization. Vedavyasa
spoke this literature to Sukadeva Goswami. We know the story how Sukadeva Goswami was in the
womb of his mother for twelve years, because he simply refused to leave the womb as he would
rather be in the womb than be disturbed by all of these modes of nature. And this is before Kali-yuga.
He was already liberated and Brahman realized, but when he heard the glories of Sri Krsna from his
father he eagerly came out to hear more. Vedavyasa spoke Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sukadeva
Goswami realized it.

When Pariksit Maharaja was cursed to die in 7 days, he made his choice. When I was a little boy there
was a very famous TV show called “Run For Your Life”, hosted by a wealthy doctor who was going to
die in a year. He wanted to really enjoy in this last year. Every week he was parachuting with a
beautiful lady in people loved this show, he was a hero, after a year they had to extend his life for
another year till the ratings went down.

But Pariksit Maharaja chose to give up his palace and family and fine foods and go to the bank of the
Ganges with sadhus and fast till death hearing the glories of the lord. That was his eagerness. If you
want to actually understand Srimad-Bhagavatam, you have to follow in the footsteps of Pariksit
Maharaja. Following in the footsteps means understanding what is his spirit and imbibing that, it was
the number one priority in this life to hear about Krsna. It was not just a regulation to come to
Bhagavatam class, it was not just a form of spiritual entertainment because it feels good to hear
Srimad-Bhagavatam, it was urgent, there as a sense of great need. Unless you have hunger, you
cannot digest properly, unless there is lobha, a desperation that I need Krsna, I need the mercy of the
Vaisanava, then when it comes we can’t digest.

Pariksit Maharaja was starving, he didn’t want anything else, only hari-katha, so similarly many of us
have been reading Srimad-Bhagavatam for many decades. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur
says every word of the Bhagavatam, if you understand it attentively, you will know Krsna. We must
follow in the footsteps of Pariksit Maharaja, we must feel a need. Austerity is important. If we’re
feeling very comfortable with our material situation or distracted by our material complications, how
much attention can we really give to the Srimad-Bhagavatam?

We must comprehend the reality: padam padam yad vipadam, that there is danger at every step in
this material world. We should never be complacent, it’s an illusion. Terrorism is growing, nobody
knows if they’ll be safe today or tomorrow. There is the breakdown of ecology, floods, droughts, entire
cities could be washed away by the ocean.

It’s a very, very dim society we live in, what to speak of disease. I read a report that one out of two
and a half people today will die out of cancer. Cancer doesn’t just come when you are old. In our
congregation in Bombay a four year old girl had cancer. And there is a children’s cancer hospital full of
patients.

Yet we are complacent. The example is like a goat that is standing in the line of a slaughterhouse but
keeps getting grass and doesn’t see what is in front and stepping forward. If we open our eyes we will
see the need for spiritual life.

kaumara acaret prajno dharman bhagavatan iha

Prahlad Maharaja’s little friends were only five years old and told him that we are only children, now is
the time for us to play study but Prahlad told them no, you don’t know when you’re going to die, this
is the most important subject.

Once a woman went to see Aristotle and told him, “My son, is very young, I want him to study under
you, please give him knowledge.” Aristotle asked her, “How old is he?”

“Oh, he’s very young, just five years old.”

“Madam, he is already five years too late.”

It’s serious. Srila Prabhupada with such emotion, and compassion and tears in his eyes would plead
with us to please take this Krsna consciousness seriously, it is the most serious thing in creation. But
maya is always trying to distract us away and give us some excuse for something else, the excuse of
our needs, our health, or how devotees have mistreated me, but even if your excuses are accurate,
the reality remains the same: that there is a great need, the soul is longing for God. In our human
life, which is so rare, and is diminishing with every click of the second hand of the clock, it is so
important.

Pariksit Maharaja taught us how to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam. He didn’t hear from the professional
reciters, he heard it form parampara from Sukadeva Goswami, who heard it from Vedavyasa and lived
it. Srila Prabhupada studied the Bhagavatam under the gurus and that’s what his purports are about,
therefore when we give Srimad-Bhagavatam to others, they are directly hearing from Srila
Prabhupada. Therefore Srila Prabhupada, out of his compassion, wanted us to read and distribute and
live by theses books. It is so important.

ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham

Krsna will reveal himself in his name, in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, according to how we
surrender our hearts in him, how we make him a priority in our life. Lord Caitanya with his devotees
showed how to taste and love Srimad-Bhagavatam. There were three devotees that Vrindavan Das
Thakur says revealed certain essential spiritual qualities, and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, although the
Lord himself, took shelter of them.

One was Paramananda Puri, he was the Godbrother of Isvara Puri, Lord Caitanya’s spiritual master.
Lord Caitanya worshipped him as he was a senior Vaisnava, to honour them the same as your own is
guru is a part of Vaisnava culture that Lord Caitanya followed very strictly. Paramananda Puri in
krsna-lila was Uddhava. We read how Uddhava was sent to Vrindavan by Krsna from Mathura to give
a message to the gopis and gopas. He was thinking that “I will be so benevolent and give them relief
from their separation of Krsna,” but when he saw their total absorption in Krsna, he realized in
comparison “I have no love.” He prayed and performed tapasya-he was a prince and Krsna’s best
friend-but his prayer was “Let me be even a bit of grass in Vrindavan so I can be there forever.” He
meditated on Krsna in such a humble state that “Perhaps the gopis will step on my head.”

For those of you who have done the Govardhan parikrama, just behind Kusuma-sarovara, there is
Uddhava’s abode, his baithak, that is where he is eternally residing where he is completely immersed
in Krsna, in receiving the dust of the feet of the gopis. He was totally immersed in meditation on
Krsna’s pastimes, form, name, and Lord Caitanya manifested his glories to the world.

The second devotee is Svarup Damodar, whose immersion was in kirtanam. In Vrindavan-lila he is
Lalita Sakhi. Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami tells that when Srimati Radharani would be in intense
separation from Krsna, Lalita knew her heart so well that she would sing songs to pacify her. In the
same way Svarupa Damodar Goswami was the only one who truly knew Lord Caitanya’s heart.

When Lord Caitanya was dancing in Ratha-yatra, he offered a prayer in the mood of Srimati
Radharani. Nobody understood the meaning of that prayer, but Rupa Goswami wrote an explanation
and Lord Caitanya saw it and he went to Svarupa Damodar Goswami saying, “You’re the only person
who knows my mind, how does he know?” Svarupa Damodar Goswami said, “Because you have given
him your causeless mercy, there is no other way.”

Rupa Goswami was so humble. When he met Lord Caitanya at Ramakeli, with straw in his teeth he
said, “I’m the lowest of the low, you’ve come to deliver the most fallen so our claim is first.” Lord
Caitanya picked up them and embraced them and cried and bestowed his full mercy upon them.

Raghunath Das Goswami, our prayojana guru, who is teaching us the highest principles, Lord Caitanya
put him under the care of Svarupa Damodar Goswami. Wherever state the Lord was in, Svarupa
Damodar Goswami would sing kirtan accordingly. In Rathayatra Lord Caitanya almost like a puppet
was enacting the beautiful songs of Svarupa Damodar Goswami with his eyes. Lord Caitanya would go
completely out of his material existence when Svarupa Damodar Goswami would sing.

One day they were doing kirtana in the streets of Puri. Lord Caitanya was so overcome with ecstasy
that he danced into a well. Everybody knew that that well was deep and with no water. The devotees
ran furiously to see the condition of the Lord and they thought they would find him lying in the dirt at
the bottom, but when they got there they found it full to the top with sweet soft water, and Lord
Caitanya was floating at the top. That was the power of Svarupa Damodar Goswami’s kirtan.

And the third person was Gadadhara. In Krsna-lila he is Srimati Radharani. Gadadhara’s absorption
was in constant recitation of Srimad-Bhagavatam. In fact, during Lord Caitanya’s lila in Puri, Lord
Caitanya would go every day to the temple to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam three hours daily from
Gadadhara who would be absorbed in Bhagavatam all day. Lord Caitanya was so absorbed. It is
explained in Caitanya Bhagavat that Gadadhara told the story of Dhruva Maharaja. This took many
hours but after completing it Lord Caitanya would say read it again, repeatedly. Lord Caitanya would
not allow him to go on to the next story till he had read the story of Dhruva a hundred times. And
then after some days they came to the story of Prahlada Maharaja. This too is many chapters and
after completing it Lord Caitanya would tell Gadadhara, “Read it again!” In Srila Prabhupada’s original
publications, the story of Prahlada was several volumes. Again Gadadhara read the story a hundred
times.

It is not that he was only speaking about the Tenth Canto. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was not only
tasting the nectar, but he was teaching us in the role of a devotee, how seriously we should absorb
ourselves in Srimad-Bhagavatam, how seriously to absorb ourselves in chanting the holy names and
through Uddhava in remembering Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada, after working harder than all of his disciples, when we would go to sleep, he would
be up for most of the night writing his purports to Srimad-Bhagavatam. He would call it his devotional
ecstasies. In one purport in Caitanya-caritamrta, he writes that just as Krsnadas Kaviraj Goswami is
giving us the summary of the Lords’ lila knowing he could die before completing it, similarly I am very
old, I have so many physical frailties, so in case I cannot complete the Srimad-Bhagavatam,
Prabhupada took some time off to write Krsna Book so for all time to come devotees would have
Krsna’s beautiful pastimes right from his heart.

And then in the midst of translating Srimad-Bhagavatam, he decided to write Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.
That’s not just an essay in between. In the original publication it was seventeen volumes, and that’s
right in the middle of the Bhagavatam. He understood that to really understand the Bhagavatam
properly, we must understand Lord Caitanya’s life and associates. He began the Bhagavatam with the
introduction of Lord Caitanya, and the Bhagavatam ends:

nama-sankirtanam yasya sarva-papa pranasanam pranamo duhkha-samanas tam namami harim

param
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Hari, the congregational chanting of whose
holy names destroys all sinful reactions, and the offering of obeisances unto whom relieves all
material suffering.”

We must take very seriously, our responsibility as human beings is to know God and to love God. The
greatest gifts the Lord has given us is his holy name, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the association of
devotees. Srila Prabhupada writes that we should hear Srimad-Bhagavatam with rapt attention, we
cannot hear like this unless we are pure in mind and action. We cannot be pure in mind and action
unless we are pure in eating, sleeping, mating and defending. We must live our life around the
teachings of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, otherwise there will be no realization. We must simply learn
Srimad-Bhagavatam from the proper source in the parampara. With that serious mood of need we
must study according to Srila Prabhupada’s instructions on how to live our life.

I would like to say one more thing that is important. The essence of the Bhagavatam is to always
remember Krsna and the easiest process to do that is to chant the names of Krsna. Prabhupada said
99% of our advancement comes from chanting the holy names. That is Bhagavatam. Caitanya
Mahaprabhu taught us this is how to live our lives.

But what does it mean to chant the holy names? There is one beautiful purport wherein Srila
Prabhupada quotes Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, please listen carefully. Prabhupada says
unless one is living a life in which one is meek and humble, one could chant the holy names of the
Lord birth after birth after birth and not attain the goal.

We understand that all this comes by chanting, by performing devotional service, so there is an
argument that simply by chanting all these qualities will come, but Prabhupada says here unless you
are meek and humble you aren’t chanting properly. Part of the process of chanting is to follow the
regulations, how to live, what our attitude should be. To be meek and humble means to have a service
attitude towards God, the Vaisnavas, and all living beings. Unless we have that, our chanting will have
minimal effect and many births may pass before we finally come to the conclusion.

In one purport of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada is explaining how in this world today, people
are competing so much for sense gratification, money, profit, power, adoration, distinction, but a real
devotee is one who has nothing to do with this competition any more.

Arjuna was fighting it for Krsna, not for sense gratification. Prabhupada explains devotees have to
cultivate being free from envy, from pride, and a devotee should be everyone’s well-wisher, not trying
to defeat others and be better than others but to serve others, that is Vaisnava. That is the spirit we
find in all the great devotees of Srimad-Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrta and that is how we will
attract Krsna. That is what Srila Prabhupada has given us in all his books.

Thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada ki jai! It is now time to end.