A Very High Topic
by Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja
[
My
heartly blessings, and so much thanks to those who have organized this
gathering and festival. My heartly blessings to the preachers who came here to
join this festival and teach you so many good things. My blessings to the
cooking department, to those have served me in my book distributions, in
chanting the holy name, in preaching here and there, and especially to those
who served my Navadvipa project. I pray to the lotus feet of Sri Giriraja
Govardhana, Sri Caitanya Maharaprabhu, Sri Nityananda prabhu and Sri Sri Radha
Vinoda-bihari to sprinkle their mercy on all these devotees.
These
days we have been discussing a very high topic. I know it is beyond your limit.
It is beyond the limit of understanding for the neophyte devotees, but I am
still telling it – for senior devotees. They should know this topic and preach.
You must
remember that it is Srila Rupa Gosvami through whom we want to know ourselves
and identify ourselves as rupanuga Vaisnavas, and that in the rupanuga line
Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is prominent. Both Rupa Gosvami and Raghunatha
dasa Gosvami have written books to enter raganuga-bhakti. Srila Rupa Gosvami
has written Sri Upadesamrta, so do not reject this book. And Srila Raghanatha
dasa Gosvami has written Sri Mahah-Siksa.
In Sri Mahah-Siksa it is stated
yadiccher avasam vraja-bhuvi
sa-ragam prati-janur
yuva-dvandvam tac cet
paricaritum
svarupam sri rupam sa-ganam
iha tasyagrajam api
sphutam premna nityam smara
nama tada tvam srnu manah
[“My dear
mind! Please hear me. If you are eager to gain residence in Vraja on the
platform of ragatamika-bhakti, and if you desire to obtain the direct service
of nava Yugala-kisora, Sri Radha-Krsna, then birth after birth always
distinctly remember and bow down with great love to Srila Svarupa Damodara
Gosvami, Srila Rupa Gosvami and his elder brother Srila Sanatana Gosvami, and
all other associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who are the recipients of His
mercy.” (Sri Manah-siksa, verse 3)]
If you
want to be in Vraja and serve in raganuga-bhakti, with love and affection, then
follow Sri Manah-siksa. Do not think this is a third-class book. If you neglect
Upadesamrta and Manah-siksa, you cannot advance in rupanuga bhajana* [See
Endnote 1].
I have
instructed all sannyasis to preach from these two books first, for these two
are the backbone of raganuga-bhakti. My request to all senior devotees in this
country is that they try to help all new devotees by the process described in
Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, and thus they will all gradually enter
raganuga-bhajana.
Yesterday
I told you that Lord Krsna sent Uddhava to Vraja. In Vraja, Uddhava begged
admission into the college of love and affection, but the gopis rejected him.
Is it written in Srimad-Bhagavatam that when he went to the gopis they asked
him, “Uddhava, you are a friend of Krsna. You are black but not that same black
Krsna. You are dressed in His garments and ornaments, and you are wearing His
garland.
The gopis
continued, “There are two kinds of love and affection. One is artificial, with
selfishness and a cause, and the other is selfless and without a cause. We have
pure love and affection without selfishness. Krsna’s love and affection is also
very pure, so why has that love broken? Can you tell us?”
Uddhava
was scratching his head and thinking about their inquiry, but he could not
reply.
The gopis
began to give examples of selfishly motivated love: “A bumblebee goes to a
flower and takes honey from it, and then flies away to another flower.
“A beggar
will go to any wealthy person’s door and stay there waiting, and as soon as the
master of the house comes to the door and give some donation, that beggar won’t
stay there any longer. He will go away at once.
“A deer
may live in the forest, but if that forest is burnt in a fire, he will leave it
and go to another.
“So many
birds take shelter of a green tree, but if that tree is burnt and dries up, no
bird will remain there.
“A
prostitute wants money. If a wealthy and beautiful person goes to her, she
only wants his money. When his money runs out, she will rebuke him and expel
him from her house.
“A
student in school or college gives much honor to his teachers and professors,
but when he graduates and leaves that school or college, he has nothing more to
do with them.” These are examples of affection with a cause.
“But our
love and Krsna’s love was causeless. Can you tell us why it was broken at
Krsna’s end?”
Because
Uddhava could not reply, the gopis rejected his application for admittance in
their school.
This
subject is very deep and high. I am not telling all these things for neophytes,
because they cannot digest it. But gradually, by continual hearing, they will
be able to do so.
Sri
Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindhu states that you should try to begin bhakti with
guru-seva, by establishing the desire of Gurudeva. Chant more. Don’t be
weak. If I have returned to
Nayanabhirama
and Yasoda Kumara [See endnote 2] should try to publish a book in Russian, on
the topic I have spoken about this week. [turning to them he said:] You should
be ready. You should compile a book and publish it very soon.
[returning
to the audience:] When Uddhava was just about to leave
When
Uddhava arrived in Vrndavana in the evening, what did he see?
[Padmanabha
Maharaja speaks – See Endnote 3.]
The night
finished with these discussions. In the morning Uddhava took bath, uttered his
gayatri-mantra and looked towards a forest of many kadamba trees. He saw that
hundreds of thousands of gopis were lamenting there. These gopis had not
returned home since Krsna left for
The gopis
saw Uddhava’s beauty and black complexion similar to that of Krsna. They saw
that he was wearing Lord Krsna’s garments and garland, and because of that the
sweet fragrance of Krsna’s body was upon his own. The gopis smelled that aroma
and thus, knowing he was coming from Krsna, said to each other, “He looks like
Krsna, but he is not Krsna.” They saw the golden chariot upon which he arrived
and thought, “Who has come on this chariot. It is not Krsna who has come here.
Now He is a prince in
Uddhava
heard this and thought, “Why did I come on a golden chariot? It was not proper
to come in this way. Lord Krsna told me to do so and I followed, but now I see
that I have done wrong.”
One of
the sakhis said, “He is a servant of Krsna, so Krsna may have sent him to
pacify His father and mother. Perhaps he does not know the way to
Nanda-bhavana. Why has he come to us? We used to have some relationship with
Krsna, but now that relationship is finished. So why did He send a messenger to
us?”
Uddhava
was standing and simply looking at the gopis. One gopi, Srimati Radhika, had
entered deeper into the forest and fainted, and another gopi had placed some
cotton under Her nose, to see if She was still alive. The gopis saw that She
had some life, but was about to die. All the other gopis approached Uddhava,
and took him to see Her.
Returning
to consciousness, Srimati Radharani saw a bumblebee there and thought,
“Krsna cannot be without young ladies. Now He is in
etah param tanu-bhrto bhuvi gopa-vadhvo
govinda eva nikhilatmani rudha-bhavah
vanchanti yad bhava-bhiyo munayo vayam ca
kim brahma-janmabhir ananta-katha-rasasya
[“Among
all persons on Earth, these cowherd women alone have actually perfected their
embodied lives, for they have achieved the perfection of unalloyed love for
Lord Govinda. Their pure love is hankered after by those who fear material
existence, by great sages, and by ourselves as well. For one who has tasted the
narrations of the infinite Lord, what is the use of taking birth as a
high-class brahmana, or even as Lord Brahma himself?” (Srimad-bhagavatam
10.47.58)]
This
world is fortunate because
Uddhava
realized something and he began to speak: “We also want that love and affection
for Krsna but we have none. The whole world wants that love and affection for
Krsna – including those who are fearful of worldly pain. We – Narada Rsi and
others like us – don’t want the birth of Brahma or any brahmana. We want this
kind of love and affection. We want to serve the gopis.”
asam aho
carana-renu-jusam aham syam
vrndavane kim api
gulma-latausadhinam
ya dustyajam sva-janam
arya-patham ca hitva
bhejur mukunda-padavim srutibhir vimrgyam
[“The
gopis of Vrndavana have given up the association of their husbands, sons and
other family members, who are very difficult to give up, and they have forsaken
the path of chastity to take shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, Krsna, which
one should search for by Vedic knowledge. Oh, let me be fortunate enough to be
one of the bushes, creepers or herbs in Vrndavana, because the gopis trample
them and bless them with the dust of their lotus feet.” (Srimad-bhagavatam
10.47.61)]
Uddhava
prayed, “I want to be any blade of grass in Vrndavana. In this way, when the
gopis go to meet Krsna, they will keep their feet on the grass and I will be
fortunate to have their foot-dust on my head. The Vedas and Srutis want this,
but they cannot attain it. So I want to be a blade of grass in Vrndavana.”
Finally, he became a blade of grass in Uddhava-kunda.
vande nanda-vraja-strinam
pada-renum abhiksnasah
yasam hari-kathodgitam
punati bhuvana-trayam
[“I
repeatedly offer my respects to the dust from the feet of the women of Nanda
Maharaja's cowherd village. When these gopis loudly chant the glories of Sri
Krsna, the vibration purifies the three worlds.” (Srimad-bhagavatam 10.47.63)]
He began
to pray to the lotus foot-dust of the gopis: “Vande nanda-vraja-strinam pada-renum abhiksnasah – I want to be the
foot-dust of the gopis. I want to be one dust particle, at the lotus feet of
one gopi, Srimati Radhika. In a separation mood the gopis have glorified Krsna,
So, I want to serve just one lotus dust particle.”
Gopi-gita,
Brahmara-gita, Venu-gita, Yugala-gita and Pranaya-gita – these chapters are the
life and soul of Srimad-bhagavatam. If you will hear the harikatha of the
gopis, you will give up all your anarthas, your heart will be pure, and you will
attain krsna-prema. And it may be that soon, in a couple of births, you will
become the maidservant of the gopis, and at that time your life will become
successful.
Uddhava
returned to
Service
to the gopis, and especially to Srimati Radhika, is the aim and object of our
life, but how should we follow in order to achieve that goal? You will have to
come to Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Upadesamrta. I wanted to speak about some verses
from Upadesamrta and Manah-siksa, but now there is no time. You must read and
learn Upadesamrta, Manah-siksa and Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, and follow all the
limbs of bhakti:
sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
[“Hearing
and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia
and pastimes of Lord Visnu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the
Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia,
offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's
best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him” (Srimad-bhagavatam 7.5.23)]
I am
requesting that if you have no problem to come, you should join our Vraja-mandala
parikrama and Navadvipa-dhama parikrama. By touching the
Gaura
premanande.
[Endnote
1: “There is a difference between ragatmika and raganuga devotees. Those in
this world who have raga (attachment), and who are just reaching the stage bhava,
are raganuga. And those devotees who have not reached this stage but who are
developing some greed (raganuga-pravrtti), will eventually be qualified to
practice raganuga-bhakti. They are not practicing raganuga yet, but they are
approaching it. Sri Caitanya Maharpabhu came only to give this greed; and those
who already have greed, to give them bhava; and those who have bhava, to give
them prema. What kind of prema does He give? Not Srimati Radha’s mood. Not
unnatojjvala-kamatmika-bhava (sambhoga-icchamyi), a direct conjugal
relationship with Sri Krsna, but unnatojjvala-tat-tad-bhava-icchamayi (a
conjugal relationship with Krsna through Srimati Radhika). (Srila
Maharaja’s lecture in Varsana, India: November 1996)]
[Endnote
2: Nayanabhirama prabhu was translating all of Srila Narayana Maharaja’s
classes there in
[Endnote
3: Srila Narayana Maharaja spoke on the same topic in
“Uddhava
had so much love and affection for Krsna, but vraja-prema was a totally new
thing for him. When he arrived in Vraja, he realized this. He saw Krsna
playing everywhere. All the sakhas were playing with Him. Millions of millions
of cows, their udders bulging with milk, were hankering after Him. Milk was automatically
flowing from their udders because of their spontaneous love. The very beautiful
calves, black and white, were jumping here and there. Nanda Baba's big
bulls were fighting with each other. And the gopis were churning butter.
“As
Uddhava saw that scene of sunset, beautiful ghee lamps flickered in the gopis
rooms. These lamps were not like this dead light of electric bulbs.
They were soft and sweet. Fragrances were emanating from the varieties of
flowers. Bumblebees were humming, blowing the conch-shell song of
Cupid. Everywhere birds like the cuckoo were singing, and peacocks
calling kee kaa kee kaa were dancing about. And all the gopis were
churning and singing, Govinda Damodara Madhaveti. The gopis were all very beautiful,
and mother Yasoda was beautiful to the extreme. If Krsna's
mother had not been beautiful, how could He have become so
beautiful? He would have been only black; but because of her, His beauty
was like the luster of pearls.
Uddhava
saw all this, but in a moment the curtain of that scene was dropped. Now
he observed that all the residents of Vrndavana were weeping for Krsna, "O
Krsna, where are you? Where are you?" Cows were not going to
graze. They were all simply weeping, keeping their heads and eyes towards
Early the
next morning Uddhava went to Kadamba-kyari, where all the gopis were maddened
and just about to die. Somehow, by the mercy of Krsna, he saw the gopis
there. It was for this that Krsna had sent him to Vrndavana - to try to
be admitted in the school of the gopis. Krsna had told him, "Be
admitted in the school in which I was admitted. Then, when you return, we
can speak something about love and affection. So go and become
qualified."
Uddhava, however,
was not qualified for admittance in the school of the gopis. His
examination score was about 25%, and the gopis needed to see more than
85%. Although they rejected him, still he entered the school and saw the
very high-class of students there. He saw professors like Visakha and
Lalita, and he saw the principal, Radhika Herself. Now he knew something
of the glories of the gopis. He realized something of their love for
Krsna. He had never seen anything like this, and now he felt, "If I
want to love Krsna, I must be admitted in this school. But I am not
qualified." He thus requested the gopis, "If you don't admit me
in your school, can you at least take me as a servant? To give water like
a servant? To clean the school?"
The gopis
rejected even that, and told him, "You should go. Return to
Editorial advisors: Sripad Madhava Maharaja and
Sripad Brajanatha dasa
Transcriber and
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Editor: Syamarani
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