In our morning
class we were discussing the eighth sloka of Srila Rupa Gosvami's
Nectar of Instructions. In that regard we have explained, and we
have also heard in the explanation of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami
Maharaja: we should know who Caitanya Mahaprabhu is, and for what
purpose, for what mission, He descended from the spiritual
realm.
“You should know who your Prabhupada is. You
should know. Then you can glorify him, otherwise you cannot.
”
Mahaprabhu is not different from Radha-Krsna conjugal. Krsna
wanted to fulfill the sum of His desires-especially to relish the
highest moods of Radhika which were not even in His own heart. He
wanted to understand how She loves Him, and in what mood She
serves Him, that makes Him controlled by Her. Krsna has love for
Radhika, and in separation and other times He becomes mad for
Her. But she becomes totally mad because of her adhirudha
mahabhava. This subject matter is very deep. Even Krsna does not
have adhirudha mahabhava, and that is why He could not be so mad
for Srimati Radhika. Even Lalita, Visakha, and the other
asta-sakhis have very elevated moods toward Krsna. Still, He
cannot have that. This is because He is the object of love and
they are the containers, the abodes, of love.
Krsna
wanted to relish all this. And, because He was so merciful, He
wanted to show the process by which we can achieve that service
which is like that of the gopis. He wanted to give everyone this
raga marga-this process of love and affection that the Vrajavasis
have in their hearts.
However, He could not give it, nor
could He relish all these things.
Why? It is because He
does not have that mood of the gopis. Therefore, in the form of
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He went to the school of Lalita and
Visakha, and He was trained there. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
Sacinandana Gaurahari, is the same as Krsna, but not the same-He
is something more. He is Krsna combined with Radhika's mood and
beauty.
Now He is doubled. His mercy is doubled and His
taste has been doubled.
Now He has the mood of Radhika.
As Krsna, He only had that Krsna mood.
He was previously
only the object of love, but now He is both. He is the object of
love, and at the same time He is the abode of love.
This is the first reason Krsna descended from there-to relish
that love. Secondly, He came to preach the process of high-level
love and affection. He was so merciful.
We should try
to know all these truths. If you are a senior Vaisnava, you
should try to hear these topics. Why should you remain in the
same class? Bhakti is a transcendental flow; she cannot remain in
any one place. Similarly, the devotion in our hearts for Radha
and Krsna, and for Mahaprabhu, is like a stream. It should go on
gradually increasing.
It should not be stopped at any
place.
You should know who your Prabhupada is. You
should know. Then you can glorify him, otherwise you cannot. He
has also descended. He is an associate of Mahaprabhu, and He has
descended to give that same mood and mission of Mahaprabhu. He
has not only come to preach, "You should do kirtana, and add that
to whatever you are already doing." He also did not come only to
establish yuga-dharma. That is the job of Maha Visnu, not of
Krsna. It is not Krsna's function. Who is Maha-Visnu? Sri Advaita
Acarya. He is the amsa of the amsa of the amsa of the amsa of the
Kala of Krsna Himself. He is a part of the part of the part of
the part of Krsna. Being so far away, He can preach with kirtana,
but He cannot give Vraja-bhakti. Never. He is not qualified for
this. Only Krsna can do this. When He came, therefore, He
preached through sankirtana that highest love and affection, as
well as the process to achieve it.
So Srila Swami
Maharaja was not an ordinary person whom you can know and
realize. You have to come to his level, and then you can
understand who he is and why he came to this world. He is not an
ordinary historical person.
If you don't know who he
is, how can you glorify him? Sri Svarupa Damodara can glorify
Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Raya Ramananda can glorify Him, and
Srila Rupa Gosvami can also glorify Him-because their standard or
level is the same as that of Krsna. They are always His eternal
associates. So you must know who Prabhupada, your Gurudeva, was.
He was not an ordinary devotee. He came to fulfill the desire of
Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He preached the same mission as told by
Srila Rupa Gosvami.
He is a follower of Rupa Gosvami,
and he was very happy to say that, "I am Rupanuga". You should
know what is Rupanuga. Even Srila Sanatana Gosvami, the Guru of
Rupa Gosvami, felt very great happiness in thinking that, "I am a
follower of Srila Rupa Gosvami. I should follow Rupa. He is so
high."
So Srila Swami Maharaja came only to preach this
mission. As I told before, however, he saw that the land was
barren, not fertile. There were so many weeds and thorn trees
here and there. Although he had to cut all these things, he
actually came to give something else-the same thing that Rupa
Gosvami came to give: "Sri Caitanya mano'bhistam sthapitam yena
bhutale. Because he understood the innermost desire of Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he was able to establish His mission in this
world." Therefore first know who he is; then you can glorify him.
You should not think that he was only a preacher of harinama. You
should not think that he only wrote so many books, and published
and distributed them. This is not his glory. What is his glory?
He is a Rupanuga Vaisnava-serving Radha-Krsna conjugal in the
same way as Rupa Manjari.
Prabhupada has written
everywhere that we should know our aim and object. Although we
don't know it at present, we can know it by hearing.
You
can see this in the dialogue of Sri Raya Ramananda and
Mahaprabhu, in the dialogue of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Mahaprabhu
in Triveni and Prayag, in the dialogue of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
and Srila Sanatana Gosvami in Kasi, Varanasi, and you can see it
in the dialogue between Sri Svarupa Damodara and Srivasa Pandit
at the Ratha-yatra festival.
These are very high topics.
You should go deep and hear these topics from any realized
person. Then you can know what is our aim and object.
We must follow Rupa Gosvami, whom Prabhupada followed. I think it
will not be better to think we are "Prabhupadanuga". Don't
discover any new thing. It will then be a new way and full of
thorns. Following what he has given, we should go, closing our
eyes, running, with no fear of falling.
We see that
Srila Swami Maharaja was not happy in his last days. He had made
so many sannyasis, as you know. If they had followed him totally
they would never have fallen down. Hearing hari-katha from
superiors, and following their instructions, a man cannot
deviate. Why have so many disciples given up their sannyasa? Why
have most of the brahmacaris who were doing arcana deviated? Why
did the desire come to marry? Why? Are they happy? They think
that they were with Prabhupada for a long time.
They
think that they served him and he has trained them in a special
way. But what was that special training? That they should take
sannyasa, and then give it up and go to hell? Did they receive
special training how to fall down? I think this is not the case.
We should try to know and realize all these things. If a man will
serve Prabhupada, then he will be like him. If a person is
serving him internally and externally, then he must be on the
same level as him. After taking sannyasa Prabhupada never
deviated. No worldly desire ever came in him. I think that this
was not the training of Prabhupada. He was very worried for them,
and he used to discuss all these things with me. I explained the
sloka:
["Devotion, direct
experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other
things-these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken
shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way
that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come
simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person
engaged in eating." SB.11.2.42]
Sri Sukadeva Gosvami is
telling hari-katha to Pariksit Maharaja. He gives the example
that you are very hungry and you are taking mahaprasadam-one
handful after another. One handful, a second, a third, a forth,
and a fifth. If you are really taking it, three things will come
at the same time. Virakti, tusti, and pusti. Gradually your
hunger will subside. Some tusti, satisfaction, will come
according to how much you are taking, and pusti, nourishment,
will also come at the same time. When you fully take, then full
satisfaction will come, you will feel strength, and you will have
no desire to take any more. Three things. Similarly, if you are
following anyavilasita sunyam, real bhakti in the real process,
if you are chanting and remembering and hearing hari-katha
through the proper channel and proper process, at once you will
realize Krsna in that proportion, and detachment from worldly
things and sense gratification must manifest. It is bound to
come, and you will be satisfied. Three things will come:
performing bhakti, realizing some rasa, taste, and detachment
from worldly things.
You have been chanting and
remembering for so many years-some of you for thirty years, but
these three things are not coming. We are not realizing anything
and we have no taste. Your hearts is not melting by chanting and
remembering, tears are not coming, and you are not satisfied. You
are always speaking about problems, problems, and problems, and
higher and higher waves of problems. You are not happy and
detachment from worldly desires is not coming. Why? There is some
loophole in your process. Otherwise there is some loophole in
your Guru with whom you are associating. It will be either of
these two things. If your Guru is all right, then there is some
loophole in your practice. We should realize this. Why is
detachment is not coming? I want to make more money. I want to
taste new, new wives, and new, new husbands. I am daily rejecting
the old ones and taking new ones.
Why is this coming?
Has Srila Ragunatha dasa Gosvami, Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila
Sanatana Gosvami, or any of our Gosvamis, done like this? Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada was a naistika
brahmacari from the beginning. Is there any example anywhere in
scriptures or in the history of Gaudiya Vaisnavas? You cannot
say.
Never. Srila Swami Maharaja has not instructed like
this. Has he said that we should go to the atheists' university?
He has shown the way how to enter the school of Srila Gaurakisora
dasa Babaji and the university of Namacarya Srila Haridasa
Thakura. We should believe that this is the first principle of
bhakti.
'sraddha'-sabde-visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya
["Faith means
unflinching trust in something sublime. When one is engaged in
the duties of Krsna consciousness, he need not act in
relationship to the material world with obligations to family
traditions, humanity, or nationality. Fruitive activities are the
engagements of one's reactions from past good or bad deeds. When
one is awake in Krsna consciousness, he need no longer endeavor
for good results in his activities. When one is situated in Krsna
consciousness, all activities are on the absolute plane, for they
are no longer subject to dualities like good and bad. The highest
perfection of Krsna consciousness is renunciation of the material
conception of life. This state is automatically achieved by
progressive Krsna consciousness." Bg. 2.41 purp.]
What
is the meaning? You should know this.
Sripad Aranya
Maharaja: In the very first stage of bhakti, sraddha, faith will
come. But what is this faith? Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja
Gosvamipada has written this in Sri Caitanya Caritamrta. Faith
means the unflinching conviction that simply by rendering
devotional service to Krsna, by hearing, chanting, remembering,
and serving the lotus feet of Krsna, I have no requirement to
perform any other activities. I have no other obligation.
Everything will be achieved simply by rendering service to Krsna.
There is nothing else and no other responsibility for me.
Srila Narayana Maharaja: We know that Haridasa Thakura never
attended any school. Was he admitted in any school since his
birth? Never. Yet, Mahaprabhu made him Namacarya Haridasa
Thakura. Why? He was qualified to be a Namacarya. If anyone has
faith in the Name, thinking that by chanting the Name his life
will be successful, and he is chanting and rembering with this
faith, then he has no need to go to any school, any college, or
anywhere else. Has Srila Swami Maharaja told anywhere that you
should go to this bad university or that bad university? What
will be the result? Those who are going will be like historians.
They will not believe in God. They will not believe in Name and
harikatha. They will not believe that Caitanya Mahaprabhu came
from Goloka Vrndavan (Svetedvipa). They will think, "Krsna was
not God." Gradually this belief will come. They will compare
Caitanya Mahaprabhu with Buddha.
They are bound to do
so. They will not be able to have faith in Caitanya Caritamrta
and in Srimad Bhagavatam.
Was Srila Sukadeva Gosvami
admitted in any school? Yes, he was admitted. Where? In his
father's school. His father instructed him, "You should hear
Srimad Bhagavatam and you should chant and remember." By birth,
Srila Sukadeva Gosvami was a high class of brahma-jnani. But then
he attained the mercy of his father.
["All different
varieties of atmaramas [those who take pleasure in atma, or
spirit self], especially those established on the path of
self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material
bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the
Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses
transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone,
including liberated souls." SB. 1.7.10] What is the
meaning?
Sripad Aranya Maharaja: In the Srimad
Bhagavatam, the sages of Naimisaranya asked Sri Suta Gosvami, "Oh
Suta Gosvamipada, please tell us. Sukadeva Gosvami was absorbed
in Brahman, he was completely self-satisfied, atmarama, having no
desire, and no attraction to taste anything. He was completely
self-satisfied, So why is it that he underwent the study of the
Srimad Bhagavatam? There are so many verses.
It is such
an arduous task to study the eighteen thousand verses of Srimad
Bhagavatam." In reply to this, Suta Gosvami spoke this atmaramas
ca verse. "Even those who are liberated, those who are completely
self-satisfied, develop a very intense attraction to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead because He is filled with most wonderful
and astonishing transcendental qualities which are all beyond thenature of this material world."
Srila Narayana Maharaja:
Krsna is so beautiful. He is so sweet. He is so fragrant. Even
creepers, trees, animals were charmed. You have read in Caitanya
Caritamrta that Mahaprabhu was going to Vrindavan and chanting
Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna He, Rama Raghava Rama
Raghava Rama Raghava Raksamam; and the animals were hearing on
the way. Although they were very dangerous, somehow they touched
the feet of Mahaprabhu and received His sweet powerful glance. At
once they changed and began to chant, 'O Krsna, Krsna!' A mad
elephant, taking his trunk, called, 'O Krsna, Krsna' in his
language. The tigers forgot their malice and enmity with the deer
and others. Serpents, snakes, bears and lions were all following
Him at the same time.
You cannot believe all this now.
But it can be, if you are not going to college and if you can
hear all these things in the council of a high class of devotees.
Then you yourself will also be able to do this. I am realizing
this. So many 'tigers' and 'bears' are now following. Very
intellectual giants have forgotten to quarrel and they are coming
to us.
We want those who have no regard, those who want
to cheat others and play with their lives, to know their
Gurudeva.
You should not stop at any point. My request
is that you should try to open the blockage from your stream of
bhakti. You should read Srimad Bhagavatam with very deep
meanings. First try to hear. Then you will know what is your
object, and then worldly desires will be gone. Only one desire
will remain-how to serve Krsna.
I want this. I have
come to remind you of all these things. Don't go in the stream of
sense gratification. There is no harm if you are living worldly
lives as householders. No harm. But from there, with your family,
try to develop your Krsna consciousness. There were so many
associates of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and Krsna also, who were
family men.
The Gopis have showed us how, even in
worldly, family life, we can develop our love and affection for
Krsna. The gopis are the only examples of this in this world, as
are the associates of Mahaprabhu, like Sri Svarupa Damodara, Sri
Raya Ramananda and Sri Rupa and Sanatana.
They are all
liberated, eternal associates, but they were practicing as though
they were sadhakas. Why? To teach us.
What they were
doing? Sankhya-purvaka-nama-gana-natibhih kalavasanikrtau. How
pathetic (in the mood of intense separation) was the tone of your
Praphupada. He was weeping, singing with tears and so many other
symptoms. Have you heard any of his bhajanas? The mood of his
heart is coming forth. You should hear and think about what he is
telling-how he is following bhakti. He has come to teach all
these things, and I am requesting you all to follow.
You must know your aim and object: that the mood of the gopis is
the highest. Something is there in the transcendental,
constitutional position of those who are coming to the line of
Mahaprabhu. Otherwise you would not have come to this line.
Never. There is something there, and that is why He attracted
You. You know that neither wood nor any other material can be
attracted to a magnet. The magnet will attract iron-if it is
pure. If you are pure or impure, if you have somehow come in the
line of Mahaprabhu, then in your constitutional form there must
be something of gopi-bhava. Otherwise how could you have come?
There are innumerable persons in this world-but you are coming.
Therefore I think you have some qualities to know all these
things. If you are hearing from any bona fide Vaisnava and you
are always in his guidance, then you must develop your Krsna
consciousness.
So I think that you should try. One day,
very soon, you will become old.
Death is very near.Your
power and beauty and your curly hair will disappear. Your
intelligence and money will not be able to save you from old age
and death. In the days that are left, therefore, try to achieve
that goal, and be happy in this life and forever.
We
can come to Prahlada Maharaja. This goal, gopi-bhava, is the
highest; but how will we be able to follow this process from the
beginning? You should read, under the guidance of any pure
devotee, about the life of Prahlada Maharaja from the beginning.
What was he doing? Although he had been put in a school, when his
father asked, "What has your gurudeva taught you? What is the
best thing you realized in your school?", Prahlad never said that
he had learned something from the guru in the school. Why?
Because his Guru is Narada, and he was taught by him when he was
in the womb of his mother. So he was attending school, he was
hearing their classes, but all their talks were going in one ear
and out the other. Nothing remained and he never followed
them.
He always followed Narada. From the beginning of
his life he was chanting Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare
Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. He was going to
school, but never accepting anything from his teachers. His
father used to think, "He is demolishing all my work. He is
against me. He is like an enemy." I want to ask you: can you tell
what happened when Prahlad Maharaja was brought to his father?
When his father asked him what he'd learned, what did he
reply?
Govinda Bhakata Prabhu: Prahlad replied, "O
father, tat sadhu manye asura varya dehinam." He very politely
said, "Asura varya dehinam", "O best of the demons". He was
congratulating him. "You are a demon, but you are the best of the
demons." Hiranya Kashipu was feeling very proud and happy that,
"Yes, he knows my position as a great demon." Prahlad continued,
"Those who have taken the vow to enjoy temporary material things
in this world are always full of anxieties. They try in so many
ways to enjoy, and they make a vow: "eat, drink, and be merry;
for tomorrow we may die. So now we should enjoy to the maximum."
Still, they only experience anxiety. "Such enjoyment is likened
to one who falls into a blind well." Once there was a man walking
in the forest, and he saw a tiger, and this very furocious tiger
started to chase him. As the man was running he saw a well, a
ditch covered over by grass. He saw two branches growing out from
the walls of the well and, holding on to the branches, he lowered
himself down to get away from the tiger, who by this time was
just looming over him. However, he saw that below him there were
some very venomous cobras that were raising their hoods and
extending their tongues. His legs were dangling just over the
snakes. At the same time there were two rats-one on each branch.
One rat was black, another white, and they were nibbling away at
the branches. His situation was now very, very
precarious.
Srila Narayana Maharaja: Like ours.
Govinda bhakta prabhu: So our situation also is like that. At
any moment we may die. Death is imminent.
Srila
Narayana Maharaja: What do the tigers represent? They are roaring
like death at the top of the well. The many snakes are our many
problems-daily problems, problems, and problems. Go on.
Govinda bhakta prabhu: Death who looming over his head and at the
same time there were problems coming from all directions. In the
meantime the rats were nibbling away. The two rats, one black and
one white, signify nighttime and daytime. In due course the karma
of that life will run out. The rats are nibbling away at his
duration of life. At any time the branch will break.
Srila Narayana Maharaja: And there was also a branch over his
head.
Govinda bhakta prabhu: Above him there was a
branch with a beehive, and there were some very beautiful, golden
translucent drops of honey beginning to fall. As they began to
fall, the man stuck his tongue out to catch them. He than began
to enjoy, and he forgot the reality of his situation.
Srila Narayana Maharaja: "O, most tasteful." He forgot all the
dangers.
We know that our fathers and forefathers have
died. And we know that all who were put to death were never
happy. Still, we want that old age should not come to us, and
that we will not die. We are always making efforts to make
ourselves more beautiful, more powerful, and more intelligent. We
want to be expert in sense gratification. But moment by moment
the two rats are nibbling. One second, two seconds, three
seconds; then one hour, then twenty-four hours, then a day, then
seven days, then one month; and after twelve months, then one
year, and then one yuga. In this way our life is diminishing, and
still we never think that we will die. We are satisfied like mad
persons. And what is the honey? It is the very beautiful, very
sweet love and affection of wives, husbands and children. If not
of husbands and wives, then of new, new, new girlfriends and
boyfriends.
Brajanatha prabhu: Today we saw a dog in a
car, next to the driver.
People love their dogs so much.
This is also like honey.
Srila Narayana Maharaja: They
are making hospitals and charitable funds for that dog They
think, "After my death everything will be for that dog". But when
they will die, they will become dogs. They don't realize this.
You should realize it. You can die at any moment. Day by day your
longevity is decreasing. Second by second. We ask, "What is your
age?" "Oh, you want to know my age? My age is one hundred." But
this means that one hundred years have already gone.
First of all you should know that Sri Sukadeva Gosvami is
speaking and Pariksit Maharaja is hearing. You should think that
you are in the council of Pariksit Maharaja, and all the
teachings are coming through Sri Sukadeva Gosvami. From where did
he learn them? From Krsnadvaipayana Vedavyasa. From where has he
received these teachings? From Narada Gosvami. Narada Gosvami
received them from Brahma. And from where has Brahma collected
all this knowledge? From Krsna Himself. These are the teachings
of Krsna Himself.
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