Tag Archives: Chaintanya Charitamrita

Is higher spiritual platform a better option for devotees ?

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Hare Krishna.

16th January, 2014, Gurgaon

Quotes-by-Srila-Prabhupada-on-Devotees-Only-Concern

I was very fortunate take darshan of his HH Janananda Maharaj at Sumeet Prabhu’s home today in Gurgaon.

Maharaj is a very quite, simple, deep and yet an affable sanyasi. Taking his darshan I felt as if I had taken a dip in holy water of Ganga river.

Maharaj asked if I have some question, but more than my silly questions I wanted to hear Krishna katha from him. Being less intelligent, questions do not come easily to me and most of the time I forget them when asked so by a senior devotee. Hence when I meet devotees my only interest is to listen to the pastimes of devotees, Krishna, Mahaprabhu, acharayas, their realisation etc. and hoping against hope that this will make my heart soft and I may absorb something.

Fortunately for me, one devotee asked Maharaj a question and as Maharaj replied so patiently, I asked something which was bothering me as a supplementary question.

My puzzle was that Ramananda Raya quoted the verse brahma-bhutah prasannatma (BG 18.54) as higher than sarva-dharmān parityajya (BG 18.66), in his discussions with Mahaprabhu (cc madhya 8). I understood the logic of verse 18.66 being referred to as sanyas which is still within the material world, and also that devotion with knowledge is superior to devotion with rituals and that brahma-bhutah platform is out of the material world, etc. But, I knew that something was amiss in my understanding, and I could not get it. I read the purports (cc madhya 8.65) again and again, but could not get the understanding from my own endeavor. I asked Maharaj to kindly clarify the same to me and Maharaj’s reply not only solved this puzzle but another question as well which I had forgotten since long.

Maharaj replied that yes the Brahma-bhutah platform may be a very high spiritual platform but devotees do not aspire for it. He explained that the distance doesn’t matter what matter is that what are our intentions (consciousness). He gave a very good example. He said consider that two people are walking towards Delhi. The first person is more closer to Delhi than the second. But the first person wants to plant a bomb in the city where as the second person is coming to serve the city. So even if the first person is nearer to Delhi but because his intentions are bad hence being near doesn’t qualify as being any useful.

Maharaj further added that similarly being a simple-hearted devotee of the Lord in the material world is a far better situation than being a spiritually elevated person going towards impersonalism with his own knowledge because there are more chances of the former going back to Godhead and serving The Lord personally than the latter.

Janananda-Maharaj-portrait-

Maharaj’s above reply also solved my other unsolved question `What is the status of those devotees who worship Lord Krishna with devotion and love but without much knowledge ? ‘

Maharaj’s merciful reply cleared the fog in my mind like a bright sun in Delhi’s winter.

All glories to HH Janananda Maharaj.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Why does Krishna has 3 main potencies ?

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Hare Krishna.

DCF 1.0

17th december

I always used to wonder why do we mostly describe Krishna having three potencies. Yes, Krishna explains in Bhagavad Gita that he has three energies but somehow I always used to wonder why only three.  It is also true that that He has unlimited energies and they are only divided in three main energies. But again three !!

I was reading Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita today morning and I got a beautiful explanation

Sri Ramananda Raya describes it in cc m 8.154

sac-cid-ānanda-maya kṛṣṇera svarūpa

ataeva svarūpa-śakti haya tina rūpa

“Originally Lord Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1], the transcendental form of eternity, bliss and knowledge; therefore His personal potency, the internal potency, has three different forms.

Verse 155 connects it with the three main energies.

ānandāṁśe ‘hlādinī’, sad-aṁśe ‘sandhinī’

cid-aṁśe ‘samvit’, yāre jñāna kari’ māni

“Hlādinī is His aspect of bliss; sandhinī, of eternal existence; and samvit, of cognizance, which is also accepted as knowledge.

My silly question got evaporated in no time. The key was  sac-cid-ānanda.

When I started reading reading Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita few months on my i pad it was an eye opener for me, for the extensive detail about each topic I wanted to read more. First I thought let me finish reading Srimad Bhagavatam and then I will read these topics but my interest got better of me and I would read them on my ipad atleast once a week. I also asked HG Rukmini Krishna Prabhu who gave me permission to read it without stopping my regular reading of Srimad Bhagavatam.

I brought Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita book set from Vrindavan during Kartika. After moving into the new apartment though I had kept them in the bookshelves but I didn’t open their cling film packing. I don’t know what came over me last evening and I opened all the books from their film. Priti, my wife, told me not to open as they will get dirty with dust. I told myself that if they are open I, or someone else, will read them and I didn’t bring them home to keep them as show pieces. I also remembered how Pooja mataji told me to read Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita while Guru Maharaj was having Lunch Prasadam at their home few weeks back. I felt nervous but still it was a very good feeling to read the great scripture to Guru Maharaj.  In a strange manner the books seemed to be getting suffocated in their cling films. I ripped open all the cling films from both Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita and Srimad Bhagavatam set.

Somehow I got up extra early today morning and had spare time, the answers I got while reading Sri Chaitanya Charitamrit were amazing. And I still read on my ipad. While writing the above lines I was wondering what  happened today morning and how did I get so many realisations. I wrote 8 Q&A like above on my ipad from just two verses. And I realised that the mercy came via opening the great scripture and they let their potential out while calmly sitting in the book shelves. I realise how these scriptures are non different from the spiritual potency of the Lord and can communicate with us.

All glories to Sri Chiatanya Charitamrita.

All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.