Monthly Archives: February 2016

Nityananda Trayodasi

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Hare Krishna,

20th Feb, 2016, Gurgaon

Nityanand_Trayodasi

Today is the most auspicious Nityananda Trayodasi, Lord Nityananda Prabhu’s appearance Day.

Lord Nityananda is the eternal associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rarely is the name Nimai (Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) taken without that of Nitai (Lord Nityananda). Mahaprabhu cannot be approached or understood without the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, who is the cardinal guru of all the universes and serves as an intermediary between Mahaprabhu and His Devotees. He is the Lord’s active principle in both creation and lila. He is the second body of the Lord, manifesting as Balaram to Shri Krishna, Lakshman to Shri Ram and Nityananda Prabhu to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. All other forms and expansions of the Lord emanate from this second body. Nityananda Prabhu is thus the source of Sankarshan, all the Vishu’s, and Ananta Shesha. As Vishnu tattva He and Advaita Acharya are worshipped in the same category as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Nityananda Prabhu appeared on this day 13th day of waxing moon in the month of Magha in Ekachakra. There was big massive drought in the whole area but as soon as Nitai came out from the womb of Padmavati, as the son of Hadai Pandit, there were beautiful rains and instantly crops and flowers and fruits and grains started growing abundantly. He was so beautiful and so kind. Nobody knew who he was. That He was Balaram himself. He was God… When He would sit on somebody’s lap, he had a beautiful golden complexion and his limbs were so soft, he was described like a little puppet made out of butter. Even if somebody had the most difficult problems in life, tremendous frustration, anxiety disappointment, bewilderment, they knew, if they took Nitai on their lap and just looked at his beautiful lotus like eyes and saw his beaming smile, whatever worries, frustrations and anxieties disappeared forever. They could never comeback.

(www.radhanathmaharaj.net)

Therefore Narottama dasa Thakura advises that Today is Nityananda Prabhu’s avirbhava, appearance day. Let us at least remember today nitai-pada-kamala. That is wanted… Nitai carana satya, tahara sevaka., nitai-pada sada koro asa. Therefore we should always expect to be under the shelter of nitai-pada-kamala. Narottama boro duhkhi. Narottama dasa Thakura, he’s acharya. He is presenting himself… That is acharya. Means he is not duhkhi, but he’s presenting himself as duhkhi. That is acharya. Acharyas, they are never duhkhi. But taking the common man’s position, he says, narottama boro duhkhi. Or, in other words, Narottama… Narottama means the best of the human being. So here in this material world one may be the best of the human being, very exalted position, but everyone is duhki, unhappy. Narottama boro duhki, nitai more koro sukhi: “Only Nityananda can make me happy. Otherwise not possible.” Rakho ranga-caranera pasa. So today is Nityananda Prabhu’s appearance day. We shall always pray Nityananda Prabhu, “Kindly keep me under your shelter so that. I am very duhki; I am very unhappy. Under the shelter of Your lotus feet I shall be happy.” And that is real happiness.

( Srila Prabhupada, lecture on Nityananda Trayodasi, Bhuvaneshvara, Feb 2, 1977)

Srila Prabhupada Serving In The Mood Of Lord Nityananda
The soul of every living being is pure. The soul of every living being is intimately loved by god. Nityananda Prabhu saw everything on that platform. And interestingly, our beloved guru maharaja Srila Prabhupada, how similar his mission was to lord Nityananda Prabhu’s. Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur in 1922 gave practically the same instruction as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave to Lord Nityananda Prabhu. “Go to the west and without discrimination give love of god in the English language all over the world”. Who has have ever given an instruction like that before? In the spirit of Nityananda Prabhu, Srila Prabhupada took that in his life and soul and he went, just as Nityananda Prabhu was like an ascetic beggar going house to house.

Nitaynanda_Prabhu_feet

Nitai Guna-Mani amar by Srila Locana Dasa Thakura (Sri Caitanya Mangala)

“My Lord Nityananda is the Jewel of all Transcendental Qualities”

(1)
nitai guna-mani amar, nitai guna-mani
aniya premer banya bhasailo avani

(2)
premer banya loiya nitai aila gauda-dese
dubilo bhakata-gana dina hina bhase

(3)
dina hina patita pamara nahi bachhe
brahmar durlabha prema sabakare jache

(4)
abaddha karuna-sindhu nitai katiya muhan
ghare ghare bule prema-amiyar ban

(5)
lochan bole hena nitai jeba na bhajilo
janiya suniya sei atma-ghati hoilo

(Translation by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja)

It is said that Nityananda Prabhu is more merciful, more magnanimous, more munificent than Gauranga Mahaprabhu. So we are singing that song, nitai guna-mani amara, nitai guna mani…

1. Srila Lochana Dasa Thakura says, “Nitai came to Gauda-desa with a flood of krishna-prema, with a flood of love of Godhead. He made the whole world inundated with that flood of prema.”

2. And with that flood, He came and inundated the whole land. Dubilo bhakata-gana dina hina bhase, those who are bhaktas, devotees they all drowned, they all blissfully drowned in that premer banya. But the dina hina, the fallen souls they floated, they floated!

3. Nityananda Prabhu offers this pure love of Godhead, indiscriminately. It is pure love of Krshna that is rarely obtained. He distributes this prema with two hands! Two hands! He never discriminates whether one is patita or pamara, most degraded, qualified or not qualified. Brahmar durlabha prema, it is very difficult even on the part of Brahma to get this prema, but Nitai gives it indiscriminately.

4. That prema is sindhu, like an ocean; karuna-sindhu, an ocean of mercy. It is said that Nitai broke down the strong embankment of that ocean of love. He completely devastated that dam. That ocean of love is an unlimited ocean. So then a flood came, it rushed in! It was a heavy rush that flooded into every home, ghare ghare bule prema-amiyar ban, and inundated the whole world.

5. Srila Locan Dasa Thakura says, “He is an unfortunate fellow who doesn’t take shelter of Nitai and does not do the bhajana of Nityananda Prabhu, not begging for the mercy of Nitai. He willingly commits self-suicide,  atma-ghati hoilo.

All glories to Nityananda Trayodasi.

All Glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Value of a moment’s association with a pure devotee

by

Hare Krishna.

14th Feb, 2016. Gurgaon

Srila Prabhupada at Radha Damodar Temple

‘sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya      (CC Madhya 22.54)

“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.

One must be very meek and submissive and try to live peacefully by lending the ear to the speeches of the transcendentally self-realized soul who speaks on the message of Bhägavata-dharma, or the religion of glorifying the Supreme Lord and His devotees. To glorify a great man is a natural instinct for living beings, but they have not learned to glorify the Lord. Perfection of life is attained simply by glorifying the Lord in association with a self-realized devotee of the Lord.* The self-realized devotee is he who surrenders unto the Lord fully and who does not have attachment for material prosperity… It is imperative, therefore, that one sincerely seek the association of pure devotees and hear them patiently and submissively from any position of life. (Srimad-Bhägavatam Introduction)

The best association is the service of the devotees of the Lord, and by that association one can become the highest qualified man by the grace of the Lord’s pure devotees. As we have already seen in the life of Srila Närada Muni, he became the topmost devotee of the Lord simply by the association of pure devotees of the Lord. By birth he was the son of a maidservant and had no knowledge of his father and no academic education, even of the lowest status. But simply by associating with the devotees and by eating the remnants of their foodstuff, he gradually developed the transcendental qualities of the devotees. By such association, his taste for chanting and hearing the transcendental glories of the Lord became prominent, and because the glories of the Lord are nondifferent from the Lord, he got direct association with the Lord by means of sound representation… Therefore the Bhägavatam always recommends the association of the mahat, or the great soul, for opening the gate of salvation.  (SB 2.10.41p)

..a pure devotee, who is preparing to transfer himself to the spiritual kingdom, is also freed from the association of the three modes of material nature. We have to seek the association of such devotees. For this reason we have begun the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. (SB 3.25.24p)

Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj

Let me share a recent experience. We were very fortunate that HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj visited Gurgaon temple on 25th December 2015. During the lecture Maharaj asked how many devotees read Bhagavad Gita daily. Many hands went up, but quiet less as a percentage considering the hall was packed with devotees. Maharaj then spoke about the importance of reading Bhagavad Gita daily and asked everyone to read at least one verse daily and then emphasised ‘with purport’. Now, since 2 years, I have been posting one Bhagavad Gita verse and its purport daily on a few whatsapp groups meant for preaching. Initially I would carefully read it myself but as time passed it became more or less a duty to post it so either I would read it hurriedly or just read the verse skipping the purport entirely. I would read the purport carefully only when someone in those whatsapp groups would ask a question from the purport. Sitting there in front of HH Gopala Krishna maharaj it really hit me that I am posting Bhagavad Gita verse daily for others to read but I am myself skipping the same. I thanked Maharaj in my heart, sought forgiveness from Srila Prabhupada, and promised that from now onward I will diligently read these daily verses I am posting. Now I have made it a point that even if I am in a hurry while posting the verse in the morning and can’t read it that particular time, I do not read anything else till I have read the daily verse. Suddenly reading the daily verse carefully has become a priority for me and it is enriching my minuscule devotional life. This is simply the result of association of a pure devotee, Maharaj’s words hit straight at my heart.

Gopal Krishna Maharaj

…the conclusion is that everyone can become a sädhana-siddha, a devotee of the Lord, simply by association with the pure devotees. ( SB 2.3.15p)

All glories to HH Gopala Krishna Goswami Maharaj.

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Let’s progress firmly in Krishna consciousness

by

Hare Krishna.

7th Feb, 2016. Vrindavana.

Radha Govind Devji Jaipur

Sambandh, abhidheya and prayojana.

“The Vedic literatures give information about the living entity’s eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa, which is called sambandha. The living entity’s understanding of this relationship and his acting accordingly is called abhidheya. Returning home, back to Godhead, is the ultimate goal of life and is called prayojana.
 
“Devotional service, or sense activity for the satisfaction of the Lord, is called abhidheya because it can develop one’s original love of Godhead, which is the goal of life. This goal is the living entity’s topmost interest and greatest wealth. Thus one attains the platform of transcendental loving service unto the Lord.
 
“When one attains the transcendental bliss of an intimate relationship with Kṛṣṇa, he renders service to Him and tastes the mellows of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

                                                                                                                                                          — CC Madhya 20.124-126

The whole Vedas are divided into three states. Sambandha: what is our connection with God? That is called sambandha. And then abhidheya. According to that relationship we have to act. That is called abhidheya. And why do we act? Because we have got the goal of life, to achieve the goal of life. So what is the goal of life? The goal of life is that to go back to home, back to Godhead. That is goal of life.

                                                                                                — Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, Madras, 2nd  Jan, 1976

..the Vedānta-sūtra consists of four chapters. The first two chapters discuss the relationship of the living entity with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is known as sambandha-jñāna, or knowledge of the relationship. The third chapter describes how one can act in his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called abhidheya-jñāna. The relationship of the living entity with the Supreme Lord is described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’. “The living entity is an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme God.” (Cc. Madhya 20.108) Therefore, to act in that relationship one must perform sādhana-bhakti, or the prescribed duties of service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called abhidheya-jñāna. The fourth chapter describes the result of such devotional service (prayojana-jñāna). This ultimate goal of life is to go back home, back to Godhead.

                                                                                                                                                              — CC Adi 7 106p

I was hearing a lecture by HH Bhakti Vidyapurna Maharaj on the same topic and Maharaj explained  these three terms in a simpler way as well the relation between them.

Sambandha : attraction, what draws the mind.
Prayojana : attachment.

Both the above are moods, they create feelings but there is no activity.

Abhidheya : This is the actual expression of the above two.

So we become attracted towards Krishna and then due to that attraction we become attached to Krishna and then we want to do something. The real meaning comes with service.

We say mind has three functions: thinking, feeling and willing.

If something is attractive we think about it,  if we are not attracted then we won’t think about it. Feeling is when we get attached to it. Then..willing.. we actually do something about it. So we see Krishna, we become attracted to Krishna then we become attached to Krishna and then we finally want to serve Krishna.

So it is in abhidheya that we understand the knowledge, contemplate on it and then practice that knowledge. It is application. How we are related to Krishna and what we want to achieve, what is it’s purpose.

Abhidheya is the most important and critical part among the three and I am sharing some nectar, which I heard in last few months, on how we, as aspiring devotees, can traverse this wonderful and exciting journey,  making it more enriching and less painful (for us and those around us!)

Who am I and what is my eternal duty?

My real identity is that I’m a servant of Krishna and my duty is to serve Krishna.

My current role as a father, mother, husband, wife, daughter, doctor, businessman, artist, etc. is the ‘service’ Krishna has given me. I have to perform all these ‘services’ but I’m none of these.

jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’

“It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.”

                                                                                                                                         — CC Madhya 20 108

As aspiring devotees we  must drill it in our head that

Krishna is the controller and Krishna is the supreme enjoyer.

Hence, I am not the controller, I am not the enjoyer. (we should practice to remember this when we face challenging situations at home, and everywhere else in our life)

And I’m not even the doer. I can only desire. And Krishna may or may not fulfill all my desires, knowing well what is good for us at this stage.

More importantly, as an aspiring devotee, I should be very conscious of what are my desires ( at least my conscious desires, I have no control at our stage on my subconscious desires, but those too are are changing while I sincerely practice Krishna consciousness). I should daily read scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta or vaishnava prayers and then note down on a piece of paper or a writing pad what should be my desires.

I should then practice to pray for these right kind of desires. It is a very nice sublime and enriching practice to speak and express such desires in front of our deities at home. It is an amazing experience. It also brings a lot of humility as we regularly (if not daily!) realise our helplessness as we fail despite our best intentions. It also acts as a catalyst for urgency and significance of  mercy from above. We realise the minuteness of everything we thought will hold us good in this world, my intelligence, my willpower, even my good intentions…

I can also practice to be more sensitive and contemplate regularly what is happening around me (my circumstances)  and then sincerely beg Srila Prabhupada and Krishna for guidance as to what I have to learn from changing, and challenging, circumstances in my life. This may help me learn without Krishna having to put a bomb under me to wake me up ! Become a conscious cooperator. And I should  be ready to ‘walk the talk’ and face any kind of ‘music’ which may crop up to get me out of my present groove.

Chanting attentively, which means trying to chant Nama conscious and Nama pleasing rounds, will ensure that I am sincerely seeking shelter of the spiritual energy of the Lord.

And in the meantime, whatever be my present ashram or situation, I have to sincerely try hard to practice the culture of Love, and not culture of lust. Every single challenge is training ground for us to progress in Krishna consciousness. I have to aspire and live the ‘madhyam’ culture in my daily life.

All this would definitely be a big struggle but this struggle for Krishna will help me develop my ‘weakened’ spiritual muscles. And this struggle is a very sweet struggle because I’m struggling for Krishna. And there is reciprocation in this struggle, it is NOT one sided, with me acting merely like a puppet. It is a dynamic relationship. It takes two to tango, ashraya and vishaya, subject and the object.

The whole journey is like a child who is learning to walk. He falls down and trips and sometimes gets hurt too. But the child remains enthusiastic, determined and endeavors hard to learn how to walk. And His parents are there to help him. The child too has the confidence that they will protect him. Yet sometimes to a child it may look cruel that even as he is trying hard to walk, the child tries to hold on to a support, struggling to even stand properly, the parent pushes that support a little further away from him. In reality the parent do that because they know it will help the child to learn to walk and gain some confidence in his own ability, even at a slight risk of child falling down on the ground and getting hurt a bit, but they are always next to the child to protect him. As a grown up, the child will always look back and be nothing but grateful to his parents for all their patience to help him walk, realising that they had no selfish interest other than his own benefit.

Same is the case of the beautiful relationship that develops between an aspiring devotee and Krishna. And it is just the beginning of the sweetest relationship a soul can ever taste.

A Note of caution. All these words may help me’understand’ it all this a bit but I will ‘realise’ it only when I practice it in my daily life, this knowledge is for application. And the best time to start practicing is… TODAY!

( As we struggle to implement all the above steps in our life it might be good idea to take shelter of Srila Rupa Goswami (by praying to him, reading his books & going to his samadhi) and praying to Sri Govind Devji (picture above), our acharaya and Deity of abhideya respectively)

Here is a short video of one of the most sweet mangal artis I have ever attended, at Radha Govind Devji temple, Jaipur.

Radhe Govind… Bhajo Radhe Govind, Paar Lagaa Dey Govind,

Jay Sri Radhe Krishna, pyaare Krishna…

राधे गोविन्द  भजो राधे गोविन्द  पार लगादे गोविन्द !!

जय श्री राधे कृष्णा प्यारे कृष्णा…

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.