Vaishnavas generally advise anybody who is in distress, to remember Lord Sree Narasimha deva.
For remembrance, utterance of Sree Narasimha Mantra is essential.
Lord Sree Narasimha deva removes all anti-devotional desires so that the sincere aspirants can remove the root cause of suffering, which is— ‘aversion to Supreme Lord Sree Krishna’. Simultaneously, it may also give non-eternal benefits. Utterance of the Holy Name should be from the core of the heart, with firm belief.
True Vaishnavas do not want to disturb their object of worship, the Supreme Lord and His Absolute Counterpart Gurudeva, for their worldly difficulties. If they require any kind of relief from physical disease, they take the help of doctors.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
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In this realm of dvitiya-abhinivesa – where a person is absorbed in anything other than the Supreme Absolute Reality – each individual is separated from every other by one thing – illusion. In such a place, one indeed distinguishes between ‘you’ and ‘me’, and ‘yours’ and ‘mine’. Consequently, one person’s self-interest cannot be reconciled with the self-interest of another. There is even a disparity of interest between mother and son, husband and wife, master and servant, and teacher and student.
Such incongruity, however, does not exist in the spiritual world, where the Absolute Truth, the son of the king of Vraja (advaya-jnana Sri Vrajendra-nandana) is the exclusive Object (visaya) of interest. The sole interest of the residents of the spiritual realm is to bring Him happiness.
It thus follows that in that place where everyone has one interest only and where only one person enjoys being the cynosure of that interest, the manifestation of duality would be impossible.
In that realm, there is no difference between ‘your’ master and ‘my’ master, for there, to speak of ‘my’ master’s glories is to automatically speak of ‘your’ master’s glories, and vice versa: when you speak of ‘your’ master’s glories, I only hear the glories of ‘my’ master.
There is one other extraordinary legend about Srila Raghunath Das Gosvami, a great devotee of Supreme Lord Sree Krishna.
One day he was exhibiting pastimes of suffering from indigestion. One of the residents of Vraj, Sri Vitthalnath came with two doctors from Ballabhpur to cure Srila Raghunath Das.
After examining him, the doctors said that the indigestion had been caused by eating rice and milk.
Sri Vitthalnath was astonished to hear this diagnosis and said, “This is impossible. This man never eats anything but buttermilk.”
Srila Raghunath Das Gosvami then spoke up, saying that he had indeed eaten milk and rice in the course of his meditation on the pastimes of Srimati Radha and Sree Krishna.
Once, there was a magician. A friend told him that he was experiencing difficulties in his marriage. He said, “I have everything I need, but my wife is not congenial. She is always doing something to displease me, so I am not happy. How can I control her? You are a magician. Can’t you help me? You must know a spell or something.” The magician gave him a magic wand and said, “Your wife will obey you, whatever you command.” The man went back to his house with the wand and ordered his wife, “Come here!” and his wife came. “Go there!” he said, and his wife went. “Sit here!” he commanded, and his wife sat down. But after doing this for sometime, he realized he was still not happy. Why? Because his wife had become like a robot! He realized that for them to have a joyful relationship, she must have her independence, the ability to think independently. Only if she served willingly could there be happiness. If consciousness is destroyed, there can be no happiness. In the same way, God is not so ignorant that He will choose to suppress the relative independence of the jivas. He retains it and His counterpart, Gurudeva, does the same. But they make the jivas understand that they are eternal servants of the Supreme Lord and that by serving Him they will become happy. They try to change the jivas mentality by showing them their own ideal character and example, and by explaining to and inspiring them. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Sree Krishna does not want to destroy the relative independence of His minute particles. With whom will He enjoy His pastimes? In order for service to exist, there must be both a servitor and the Served. Only then does prema or divine love become a possibility. There can be no such love where there is only one person. The living beings who are now here in this material world have forgotten Sree Krishna, but ultimately, when they experience the awakening of the eternal nature of the self, they will cry for the Lord with great earnestness and perturbation. And God will taste and relish their emotion. Why should we deprive God of that pleasure?
In our family life, the husband blames the wife and the wife blames the husband. Parents blame children and children blame parents. The younger brother blames the older brother and the older brother blames the younger brother. All out of ignorance, one person is blaming the other.
If you become disturbed you cannot perform bhajan.
Srila Narad Goswami told Sri Dhruva– Perform bhajan, but WITHOUT ANY HOSTILITY.
You are the cause of your own miseries. You should repent for your own actions. If you perform Sri Hari bhajan, Sri Krishna bhajan, with the proper mentality and one-pointed devotion, then whatever appears to be against you, such as circumstances or family members, will automatically become congenial, automatically. But you are not to demand this.
You are to just perform bhajan.
When Sri Krishna is satisfied everybody will be satisfied.
What is the interpretation of the word ‘Bhagawan’ (God)?
We find words in the Gita— ‘Bhagawan uvaca’ (Supreme Lord said).
The Gita indicates that the Supreme Lord is speaking. Sree Krishna is referred to as Bhagawan in the Gita.
The inner significance of the word Bhagawan is— “Bhaga’ means opulences, and ‘van’ means one who possesses. We have some conception of God, but in the Vedic literature there are definite descriptions and definitions of what is meant by God, and what is meant is described in one word— Bhagawan.
Bhagawan possesses all opulences, the totality of knowledge, wealth, power, beauty, fame and renunciation. When we find someone who possesses these opulences in full, we are to know that He is God. There are many rich, wise, famous, beautiful and powerful men, but no one man can claim to possess all of these opulences.
Only Sree Krishna claims to possess them in totality.
Another interpretation of Bhagawan is that ‘Bhaga’ signifies ‘shakti’ (potency). Interpretation of Bhagawan is ‘Sarvashaktiman’— One who possesses infinite opulences.
Once Srila Madhavendra Puri ji, a devotee of Supreme Lord Sree Krishna was on the way to Sreedham Puri. While on his way to the South, Sree Madhavendra Puri arrived at Remuna. Seeing the beautiful Sree Gopinath deity in Remuna, Srila Madhavendra Puri was overwhelmed with love, and started singing His Names and danced for some time in ecstasy. Being extremely satisfied with the exquisite offerings to Lord Sree Gopinath, he asked one of the Brahmin servitors what foods were offered to the deity. The brahmin answered: “In the evening we offer to Sree Gopinath twelve bowls of Amrita-keli, a thickened milk preparation that is like the nectar of the gods. This kheer is famous everywhere as Sri Gopinath’s kheer and no offering anywhere in the world is its equal.”
As the brahmin spoke, other servants of Lord Gopinath started to make the Amrita-keli offering to the deity. Srila Madhavendra Puri thought that if he could just get a taste of this preparation unsolicited, he would be able to one day make it himself and offer this kheer to his own Sree Gopal deity. However, this very thought of eating the kheer shamed him. After watching the arati ceremony, Srila Madhavendra Puri went outside and sat in the empty market-place, chanting the Holy Names. Srila Madhavendra Puri followed ayachaka-vritti, which means that he would never ask for food from anyone, only accepting the food that was spontaneously offered to him. He was able to do this because he never felt hunger or thirst, as he was constantly engaged in drinking the nectar of prema and that kept him satisfied.
In the meantime, the pujari had finished his duties and was taking a rest when he had a vision of the deity in a dream telling him, “Get up! Open the door. I have put a bowl of kheer aside for the sannyasi. It is hidden behind the pleats of My dhoti. You did not see Me hide the bowl there because of My maya. The sannyasi, whose name is Madhava Puri, is sitting in the marketplace. Quickly take this kheer to him.”
The pujari was startled by the dream and immediately got up. He bathed, opened the door to the altar and found a bowl of the kheer behind the deity’s cloth, just as he had been told. He took the bowl and went to find Srila Madhavendra Purī. He wandered through the market, shouting, “I have kheer here for Madhava Purī. Sree Gopinath has stolen it for you. Take it and eat it with joy, for there is no person as fortunate as you in the three worlds.”
When Srila Madhavendra Puri heard the pujari shouting in this way, he approached him and identified himself. The pujari gave him the kheer and then fell at his feet. He recounted the whole story to Srila Madhavendra Puri, sending him into paroxysms of divine love for Lord Sree Krishna. He respectfully ate the prasada and then, after washing the clay bowl, broke it into many small pieces and wrapped them up in his outer garment. Each day thereafter, he would eat a piece of the clay bowl and once again feel the same ecstatic love. Knowing that word of this miracle would spread by morning, Srila Madhavendra Puri became fearful of the celebrity that would inevitably befall him and the crowd of people that would then surround him. So, he paid his obeisances to Lord Sree Gopinath from that very place and left for Puri before dawn.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami had another vision of the Supreme Lord later in his life.
While staying at Chakratirtha near Sri Govardhana, Srila Sanatana Gosvami would regularly circumambulate Sri Govardhan hill. As he grew older, he became too weak to circumambulate on a daily basis without becoming excessively fatigued. One day, Lord Gopinatha Himself came in the form of a cowherd boy to fan him when he became too tired from walking. After refreshing Srila Sanatana Gosvami in this way, the boy climbed onto the hill and brought down a (shila) stone marked with Sri Krishna’s footprint. He gave the shila to Srila Sanatana Gosvami and said, “You have grown old. There is no longer any need for you to trouble yourself to this extent. I am giving you this shila from Govardhana. If you circumambulate this shila, you can consider yourself to have circumambulated Govardhana.” Then He disappeared.
Srila Sanatana Gosvami was overwhelmed with pain and began to cry upon losing sight of the cowherd boy’s charming form.
(Bhakti-ratnākara 5.728-741)
Supreme Lord appears in front to Srila Sanatana Goswami
— Once, there was a magician. A friend told him that he was experiencing difficulties in his marriage.
He said, “I have everything I need, but my wife is not congenial. She is always doing something to displease me, so I am not happy. How can I control her? You are a magician. Can’t you help me? You must know a spell or something.”
The magician gave him a magic wand and said, “Your wife will obey you, whatever you command.”
The man went back to his house with the wand and ordered his wife, “Come here!” and his wife came. “Go there!” he said, and his wife went. “Sit here!” he commanded, and his wife sat down.
But after doing this for sometime, he realized he was still not happy. Why? Because his wife had become like a dog! He realized that for them to have a joyful relationship, she must have her independence, the ability to think independently. Only if she served willingly could there be happiness. If consciousness is destroyed, there can be no happiness.
In the same way, God is not so ignorant that He will choose to suppress the relative independence of the jivas. He retains it and His counterpart, Gurudeva, does the same. But they make the jivas understand that they are eternal servants of the Supreme Lord and that by serving Him they will become happy. They try to change the jivas mentality by showing them their own ideal character and example, and by explaining to and inspiring them.
God does not want to destroy the relative independence of His minute particles. With whom will He enjoy His pastimes? In order for service to exist, there must be both a servitor and a served. Only then does prema or divine love become a possibility. There can be no such love where there is only one person.
The jivas who are now here in this material world have forgotten Sree Krishna, but ultimately, when they experience the awakening of the eternal nature of the self, they will cry for the Lord with great earnestness and perturbation. And God will taste and relish their emotion. Why should we deprive God of that pleasure?
— Taking the Holy Name and the direct experience of the Supreme Lord are one and the same thing. — A holy place is there where the topics of Sree Krishna are being discussed. — If I seek the path leading to the ultimate good, I must ignore the countless voices of popular wisdom and listen to that of the realized souls — the sraut vani.— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad.
There is a pastime told in Jagannath Puri that there was a flower gardener’s daughter who had learned Sri Gita-Govindand would sing it with great emotion. Lord Jagannath was attracted by her singing and would go to listen to her, only returning to the temple after she had finished singing.
One day, when the king of Orissa came to see the Lord Jagannath deity, he saw that the Lord’s body was covered in dust and his clothes were filled with thorns. He asked the pujaris the reason for the Lord’s disheveled condition, but no one could explain how it had come about. The servants of the deity were afraid that they would be punished, but that night, Lord Jagannath appeared to the king in a dream and explained that no one was to blame for his clothes being soiled that day. He had gone to listen to the gardener’s daughter and had become covered with dust and thorns while hiding in the garden.
The king was struck with wonder by his dream and immediately sent for the gardener’s daughter to be brought to the court in a palanquin. After making inquiries from her, he decided that she should sing for Lord Jagannath in the temple, rather than obliging the Lord to leave the temple and get all dirty. This was the beginning of the tradition of the temple engaging girls named deva-dasis sing Sri Gita-Govindafor Lord Jagannath’s pleasure.
Once Srila Madhavendra Puri (a devotee of Sree Krishna) was on the way to Sridham Puri. On the way he arrived at Remuna. In Remuna, he went to have darshan of Lord Gopinath. Seeing the beautiful image of Sree Gopinath in Remuna, Srila Madhavendra Puri was overwhelmed with love, and started singing His Holy Names and danced for some time in ecstasy. He asked one of Sree Gopinath’s Brahmin servants what foods were offered to the deity. The Brahmin answered: “In the evening we give Sree Gopinath twelve bowls of amrita-keli, a thickened milk preparation that is like the nectar of the gods. It is famous everywhere as Sree Gopinath’s kheera, and no offering anywhere in the world is its equal.”
As the Brahmin spoke, other servants of Sree Gopinath started to make the amrita-keli offering to their deity. Srila Madhavendra thought that if he could just get a taste of this preparation, he would be able to one day make it himself and offer it to his own Lord Gopal deity. However, this very thought shamed him, as it is improper to desire the food intended for the Lord. After watching the arati ceremony, Srila Madhavendra went outside and sat in the empty market-place, chanting the Holy Names. Srila Madhavendra followed ayachaka-vritti, which means that he would never ask for food from anyone and only accept the food that was spontaneously offered him. He was able to do this because he never felt hunger or thirst, as he was constantly engaged in drinking the nectar of Sri Krishna-prema and that kept him satisfied.
In the meantime, the pujari had finished his duties and was taking rest when he had a vision of the deity in a dream telling him, “Get up! Open the door. I have put a bowl of kheera aside for the sannyasi. It is hidden behind the pleats of My dhoti. You did not see Me put it there because of My maya. The sannyasi, whose name is Madhava Puri, is sitting in the marketplace. Quickly take this kheera to him.”
The pujari was startled by the dream and immediately got up. He bathed, opened the door to the altar and found a bowl of the kheera behind the deity’s cloth, just as he had been told. He took the bowl and went to find Srila Madhavendra Puri. He wandered through the market, shouting, “I have kheera here for Madhava Puri. Gopinath has stolen it for you. Take it and eat it with joy, for there is no person as fortunate as you in the three worlds.”
When Srila Madhavendra heard the pujari shouting in this way, he approached him and identified himself. The pujari gave him the kheera and then fell at his feet.. He recounted the whole story to Srila Madhavendra puri, sending him into paroxysms of divine love for Sree Krishna. He respectfully ate the prasad and then, after washing the clay bowl, broke it into many small pieces and wrapped them up in his outer garment. Each day thereafter, he would eat a piece of the clay bowl and once again feel the same ecstatic love. Knowing that word of this miracle would spread by morning, Srila Madhavendra Puri became fearful of the celebrity that would inevitably befall him and the crowd of people that would then surround him. So, he paid his obeisance to Sree Gopinath and left for Puri before dawn.
When Srila Madhavendra arrived in Sree Jagannath Puri, he visited Lord Jagannath and became ecstatic with love at seeing Him. News of the miracle at Remuna had reached Puri even before he had and countless people came to see him and pay him their respects. “The nature of fame in this world is well known: even if one does not seek, it comes anyway as a result of one’s destiny. Though Srila Madhavendra Puri was afraid of being distracted by celebrity and ran away from it, when one has love for Supreme Personality of Godhead, then celebrity comes flowing to him without being sought.”
There was a deity of Lord Krishna named Sri Rasika Ray in the house of Chandra Sharma, a resident of Jaipur in Rajasthan. As a result of offenses in the performance of service to this deity, this Brahmin had no descendants to continue the family line. So, one day Lord Jagannath Dev appeared to him in a dream and told him to bring the deity to Puri and to give it to Srimati Ganga Mata if he wished to be rid of the effects of his offenses.
The Brahmin did as he was told and appeared at Srimati Ganga Mata’s door to offer her the service of Sri Rasika Ray ji. At first she was not ready to accept, as it was impossible for her to give the kind of royal service which was due such a deity. Finally, the Brahmin simply hid the deity amongst the Sri Tulasi plants and went away. Sri Rasika Ray ji appeared to Srimati Ganga Mata in a dream and told her that He wanted her to accept and serve Him. Having been so ordered, Srimati Ganga Mata joyfully took the deity in and organized a festival in His honor.
At present there are five pairs of deities in the Ganga Mata Math: Sri Sri Radha Rasika Ray, Sri Sri Radha Shyamasundar, Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohan, Sri Sri Radhavinoda and Sri Sri Radharaman. Other than these, the Damodar Shalagram Shila of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, a dancing figure of Sri Gauranga and a Gopal deity are also present on the altar there.
According to the information given by the Math, Srimati Ganga Mata appeared on the Shukla-dashmi of Jyestha in AD 1601 and entered the eternal pastimes in AD 1721.
Devotees of Lord Krishna may be born in any race, in any caste, or indeed in either sex. They are still to be considered the best of human beings and worshipable by all. There are many examples of women who attained the supreme achievement of pure devotional service to the Lord.
When Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami was visiting the pilgrimage centres of northern India, he found a Shri Shalagram Sila on the banks of the Gandaki River. He took the worshipable stone form and carried it with him wherever he went, attending to the shila as Sri Vrajendranandana Krishna Himself. One day he thought that he would like to worship the Lord in a deity form so that he could expand his service. On the very next day, he found that the Shri Shalagram Sila had transformed itself into Shri Radha Raman to fulfill the wish of His devotee. This deity stands alone without any form of Srimati Radha standing by His side. Instead, as a symbol of Srimati Radharani, a silver crown is placed on His left side.
The story is also told in the following way. It is said that Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami used to daily worship twelve Shri Shalagrams. He developed a desire to serve the Lord in the form of a deity, thinking that in this way he would be able to worship him in a much better way. The Lord within his heart knew his feelings and through a rich merchant had many beautiful items used in the worship of the deity, such as ornaments and clothes, sent to him. Srila Gopal Bhatt Goswami began to worry that all these beautiful objects would be wasted because there was no way that he could use them unless he had a deity in human form. That night, he put the Shri Shalagrams to rest and in the morning he saw that one of them had been transformed into the Sri Radha Raman deity.
The annual festival commemorating Sri Radha Raman’s appearance, when He is bathed publicly, takes place on the full moon day of Vaishakh. The Radha Raman temple is considered one of the most important in Vrindavan.
One day Srila Madhavendra Puri (a devotee of Sree Krishna) was circumambulating Sree Govardhan in a state of total intoxication and absorption in love for Sree Krishna. When he arrived at GovindKund, he took his bath and sat down beneath a nearby tree to perform his evening sandhya meditation and rituals. While he was doing so, a young cowherd boy carrying a pot of milk approached him and said with a smile, “What have you been thinking? Why don’t you ask for something to eat? I have brought you some milk.Drink it.”
When Srila Madhavendra Puri saw the beautiful lad, he was so overcome that he completely forgot his hunger and thirst. Instead he asked him, “Who are you? Where do you live? How did you know that I had not eaten?”
The cowherd boy answered, “I am a cowherd and I live in this village. In our village, no one ever goes hungry. Some people beg for food, but if someone doesn’t ask, then I bring him something to eat. The womenfolk came here to fetch water and saw that you had not eaten. They sent me here with this milk for you. But it is nearly milking time and I will have to leave. I’ll come back later to fetch the pot.”
Srila Madhavendra Puri was astonished to see the boy walk away and disappear. He drank the milk and then washed the pot and put it aside, waiting for the cowherd boy to return . He sat under the tree chanting the Holy Names until the end of the night when he started to doze. While asleep, he had a dream in which the cowherd youth came to him and led him by the hand to a wooded bower.
The boy said, “I live here in this bower, but I am very uncomfortable due to the summer heat, the rains and the winter cold. Go and tell the village folk to help you uncover Me, and take Me to the top of the hill and build a shelter for Me. Then bathe me with cool, clear water. I have been waiting for you for a long time, wondering when you would come to serve me. I was waiting for your loving service so that I could show Myself and thereby save the entire universe.”
“My name is Gopal, the lifter of Govardhana. Krishna’s great grandson, Aniruddha’s son Vajra, established My service so many years ago, but the pujari in charge of My service hid me here when he fled out of fear of the Muslims. Since then I have been here. It is good that you have finally come here, now please dig Me up.”
When Srila Madhavendra awoke, he began to cry from his intense feelings of love, thinking, “Alas! Sree Krishna himself came to me in the form of a cowherd boy and I was unable to recognize him!” However, after a few moments he brought himself under control in order to carry out Sree Gopal’s orders. He took his morning bath and then gathered the village folk together and said, “Sree Gopal, the lifter of Govardhana, is the deity of this village, but He is buried in this bower. Go and bring shovels, we have to dig Him up and release Him.”
The village people enthusiastically started to clear the bower and soon discovered a large deity who was covered in earth and weeds. The strongest of the local people lifted the deity up and carried Him to the top of the hill where they placed Him on a large rock throne. In order to carry out the grand abhishek ceremony, the local Brahmins had water from Govinda Kund filtered and carried to the site in a hundred new jugs. When word got out of the discovery of the deity and it was announced that His puja and abhishek would soon be held, a joyful noise arose in all directions, musicians played on their instruments and the people danced and sang. The mountain was covered with all kinds of offerings, ghee, milk, yogurt and sandesha, all gifts from the local people.
Srila Madhavendra Puri himself performed the abhishek bathing ceremony.
After this, Sree Gopal was bathed with the hundred jugs of water. After bathing the deity in this way and then oiling Him once again, Srila Madhavendra Puribathed Him again in water scented with sandalwood and perfumes poured from a conch.
After the bath was completed, the entire body of the deity was dried with a cloth and He was dressed in a clean cloth and decorated with sandalwood, tulasi and flower garlands. Just as Sree Krishna instructed the cowherds at the end of the Dvapara Yuga to worship Govardhana with a mountain of foodstuffs, so in the Kali Yuga, Srila Madhavendra Puri ordered a mountain of food to be prepared for Sree Giridhari Gopal. Ten Brahmins were engaged in preparing the rice, another five in cooking vegetable preparations, another five or six Brahmins prepared various types of breads, which were all brought together in one place to be heaped up in the shape of a mountain. A pile of rice was surrounded by many clay pots filled with soups, cooked vegetable preparations, milk, yogurt, whey, shikharini(a drink made of yogurt, milk, sugar, camphor and pepper), rice pudding,butter, and cream, etc. When the mountain of food was ready, Srila Madhavendra Puri made the offering along with many jugs filled with water. Sree Gopal, who had not eaten for such a long time, hungrily ate everything He was offered. Even so, by His merciful touch, all the pots were again filled. Only Srila Madhavendra saw how the Lord did this.
Afterwards, Srila Madhavendra offered the deity a mouthwash and then pan. Then he performed the arati ceremony, after which he brought a new bed for Sree Gopal to rest upon. When Sree Gopal was finally taking rest, Srila Madhavendra Puri fed the prasad of the anna-kuta festival, first to all the Brahmins and then to all themen, women and children, of the village.
Word spread to all the villages of the area that Sree Gopal had made His appearance, and people from each village took turns having their own feast on different days in His honor. “The people of Vraja are naturally affectionate toward Sree Krishna. And Sree Krishna, too, is affectionate to them.”
(Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.4.95)
The people of Vraja are naturally affectionate toward Sree Krishna. And Sree Krishna, is affectionate to them.
Once Supreme Lord Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was performing Sankirtan Pastimes at the house Srivas ji. Srivas Pandit’s only son died as kirtan was being performed in his house. Srivas Pandit was afraid that the sounds of mourning from the women’s quarters would disturb Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu while He was engaged in singing the Holy Names. So he went directly into the house and tried to quiet the women by explaining spiritual truths to them. When they still didn’t stop their loud lamentations, Srivas Pandit threatened to throw himself into the river and drown if they did not stop making noise. This had the desired result.
Later on that night, however, the kirtan came to a stop and Sree Mahaprabhu said, “Something doesn’t seem right. Has some tragedy taken place in the pandit’s house?”
Srivas Pandit answered, “How can anything be wrong, when I have Your smiling face in my home?”
However, some of the other devotees said, “Prabhu, Srivas’ only son died in the evening about an hour after sunset.”
Sree Mahaprabhu asked, “Why did no one say anything before now?”
The devotees answered, “Lord, Srivas told us not to, because he was afraid that it would interfere with Your pleasure in kirtan.”
Sree Mahaprabhu said, “How could I ever abandon devotees who love Me to this extent!”
After this, Sree Mahaprabhu went inside and sat beside the child’s dead body and brought him back to consciousness. He asked, “Child! Why do you want to leave the house of such a devotee as Srivas?”
The dead child answered, “The few days that I was to spend in Srivas Pandit’s house are over, now I am following Your wish in going elsewhere. I am a living being without independence; I cannot go against Your wishes. Please be merciful to me, that I never forget Your lotus feet, wherever I go.”
When Srivas Pandit’s family members heard the child speak such wisdom, they immediately forgot their distress and stopped mourning. Mahaprabhu said to Srivas Pandit, “From this day on, Nityananda and I will be your sons. We will never leave you.”
Before taking sannyas, Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordered Srila Jagadish Pandit to go to Nilachala to preach Sree Krishna-bhakti and the religious practice of the age, Sree Harinama-sankirtan.
When Srila Jagadish Pandit arrived in Sreedham Puri, he went for Lord Jagannath’s darshan and melted with love when he saw Him. On his way back to Bengal, however, he felt extreme separation from Lord Jagannath.
(Thousands and thousands of people go on pilgrimage to Puri every single day. All of them take darshan of Jagannath, but how many of them are overcome by feelings of separation when returning home? Perhaps once in a while some fortunate individual is able to feel such emotions. If one truly feels such pangs of separation, then this is a sign of Jagannath’s mercy; if not, then one has not truly received the grace of the Lord.)
Lord Jagannath Deva saw Srila Jagadish Pandit crying and so mercifully appeared to him in a dream and told him to take His vigraha and serve. Simultaneously, He appeared to the king of Orissa and ordered him that at the time of the nava-kalevara, when the wooden deity of Lord Jagannath is renewed, the outgoing form should be given to Srila Jagadish Pandit. As a result of this dream, the Maharaj considered it to be a great honor to give Srila Jagadish Pandit, Lord Jagannath’s outgoing form, which is known as the samadhi-stha-vigraha.
When Lord Jagannath’s deity was handed over to Srila Jagadish Pandit, he wondered how he will carry such a large deity. Srila Jagadish prayed to Lord Jagannath, asking Him just how he could possibly carry the heavy figure of the deity all the way back to Bengal. Lord Jagannath answered him that for his sake He would become as light as a cork. Then Srila Jagadish Pandit was to cover Him with a new cloth and then carry Him suspended on the end of a staff.. Lord Jagannath further told him that he wouldhave to make permanent arrangements to stay wherever He would sit down on the ground.
Srila Jagadish enlisted the aid of two Brahmins, and they took turns carrying Lord Jagannath as far as the village of Yashra on the banks of the river Ganges, near the town of Chakdaha in Bengal. Srila Jagadish Pandit left Lord Jagannath with one of the Brahmins and went to take his bath in the Ganges and to perform oblations of Ganga water. While he was gone, the Brahmin found that Lord Jagannath was suddenly becoming very heavy and that he was no longer able to hold Him up. When Srila Jagadish Pandit came back from his bath, he saw Lord Jagannath sitting on the ground and realized that the Lord wanted to stay in that very spot.
Chakdaha is a historical site and an ancient holy place. During the old times, it was known as Rathavarma. Pradyumna killed the demon Sambara there during Krishna’s incarnation at the end of the Dvapara age and thus it was known as Pradyumna-nagara. Prior to that, when King Bhagiratha was bringing down the mother Ganga in order to save the Sagara dynasty, he buried the wheel of his chariot here. Thus the town was also given the name Chakradaha, which in time has been corrupted into Chakdaha. When the local people heard that the Lord Jagannath deity from Puri had come to stay in Yashra, they flocked there in thousands to seek His darshan.
This is how Srila Jagadish Pandit decided to remain in Yashra rather than return to his home in Sreedham Mayapur.
how Srila Jagadish Pandit decided to remain in Yashra
Sri Shukdev Goswami started speaking about the Lila-katha (pastimes of Sree Krishna) to Sri Parikshit Maharaj after holding discourses on 1st Skandha (Canto) to 9th Skandha (Canto) of Sreemad Bhagavatam, for making the foundation of being eligible to hear pastimes of Sree Krishna. — His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj.
Supreme Lord Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in His third verse of Sree Shikshastaka has taught us, if we are to do Hari-nam without tenfold offences, we should have these four qualities: (1) We should be humbler than a blade of grass, (2) more forbearing than a tree, (3) should not have the desire of getting name and fame from others but, (4) give respect to all in the consideration that our object of love, Sri Krishna, is existing in the heart of every living being. It is good for sincere aspirants to rectify themselves by condemning or subduing their own evil doings or evil thoughts. Only then, by their own ideal character, can they warn others in regard to these. A bona fide sadhu never has any kind of hostile mentality to anybody or any living being in this world. He may condemn the evil practices or doings but he has got no enmity for the persons who are doing such sinful acts. So, sadhus are always calm and serene. Nobody in this world can divert a sadhu’s mind from his concentrated devotion to the Lord.
Nobody in this world can divert a sadhu’s mind from his concentrated devotion to the Lord.
Sree Nityananda Prabhu once told Srila JIva Goswami, “Listen to My words. Sree Navadvipa extends over sixteen krosas. Within the sixteen krosas of Navadvipa, which are non-different from Vrndavana, there are nine islands, which form an eight-petaled lotus floating on the water. In the middle of the eight islands, or petals, lies Antardvipa. And within Antardvipa, lies the very central point, Mayapur. The eternal pastimes of Lord Sree Chaitanya take place within Yogapitha and the circle of Mayapur, the circumference of which measures three and a half miles and the diameter measures just over one mile. Because the Panca-tattva are seated at the Yogapitha, it is the most glorious of all places.
“Very soon, by the desire of the Lord, this will be nearly hidden under the waters of the Ganges. Then later, by the powerful desire of the Lord, the dhama will again be revealed and shine effulgently. The eternal dhama is never really lost but is temporarily covered, and then again it appears to our eyes.
“My worshipable Lord eternally resides at Mayapur, situated on the east bank of the Ganges. Although in the eyes of common people, Sree Visvambhara took sannyasa and left Navadvipa to go elsewhere, actually My Gauranga Dev never gives up Mayapur or Navadvipa. The devotees can perceive His daily lila.
From Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur’s book, Navadvip Dham Mahatmya.
Sri Saranga Thakur was a devotee of Supreme Lord Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
He is also known as Sri Sringadhar and Sri Sarngapani. He used to live in Modadrumdwip. The name of the town is Mamgachi. He would sit in a secluded place by the banks of the Ganges to meditate and chant the Holy names. Through these practices he obtained many miraculous powers.
At first, Saranga Thakur did not want to make any disciples for fear of disturbances to his bhajan, but Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu repeatedly encouraged him to do so.
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur writes in his Anubhashya: “Having been ordered by Sree Mahaprabhu to take disciples, Sri Saranga Thakur decided that he would make a disciple of the first person that he met the following morning. As fate would have it, the next morning, a dead body washed up against him while he was taking a bath in the river Ganges. He revived the corpse and made him his disciple. This disciple was known as Sri Thakur Murari, or sometimes as Sri Saranga Murari.
In the Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidhana, it is further said that Sri Murari was a boy who had been killed by snakebite and his parents had set his uncremated body afloat on a raft in the river Ganges, as was the custom in that time. Sri Saranga Murari Thakur himself became an empowered preacher of Sree Mahaprabhu’s dharma. Descendents of his disciples still live in a village named Shava. (“corpse”).
Sree Saranga Thakur’s deities were served in the town of Mamgachi. The original temple was built in front of a bakula tree. The deities of Sree Radha Gopinath can be seen in this temple, as can the deity of Sree Mahaprabhu’s other parshad, Srila Vasudeva Datta Thakur, Sri Madana Gopal. The devotees who do parikrama of Sree Nabadwip Dham visit this temple for darshan.
This disciple was known as Sri Thakur Murari, or sometimes as Sri Saranga Murari.
What is the interpretation of the word ‘Bhagawan’ (God)? The inner significance of the word Bhagavan— ‘Bhaga’ means opulence and ‘van’ means one who possesses. Bhagavan possesses all opulences, the totality of knowledge, wealth, power, beauty, fame and renunciation. When we find someone who possesses these opulences in full, we are to know that he is God. There are many rich, wise, famous, beautiful and powerful men, but no one man can claim to possess all of these opulences. Only Sree Krishna claims to possess them in totality. Another interpretation of Bhagavan — ‘Bhaga’ signifies ‘shakti’ (potency). Interpretation of Bhagavan is ‘Sarvashaktiman’— One who possesses infinite opulences.
Bhagavan possesses all opulences, the totality of knowledge, wealth, power, beauty, fame and renunciation.
Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared at Sreedham Mayarpur in the town of Nadia, just after sunset on the evening of the 23rd Falgun, 1407 Advent of Sakabda answering to the 18th February, 1486 of the Christian era. The moon was eclipsed at the time of His birth and people of Nadia were then engaged, as usual on such occasions, in bathing in the Bhagirathi with loud cheers of ‘Haribol’.
His father Sree Jagannath Misra was a brahmin of the Vedic order, and His mother Srimati Sachi Devi was a model good woman, both descended from Brahmin stocks originally residing in Sylhet.
Sree Mahaprabhu was a beautiful Child and the ladies of the town came to see Him with presents. His mother’s father. Pandit Sree Nilambar Chakravarti, a renowned astrologer, foretold that the Child -would be a great Personage in time ; and he therefore, gave Him the name Sree ‘Visvambhar’.
The words of Sri Gaurasundara, those words that Sri Guru always repeats to us, declare that in the case of a person who does not want any personal advantage, who is inclined to serve Godhead, who is anxious to get across the ocean of the world to the further shore of the spiritual realm, for such a person to appreciate worldliness is, alas, more harmful than swallowing poison.
When Sri Guru bestows on us the mantra (which relieves one from the mental platform), in which he has been instructed by the Supreme Lord’s own, it is only then that we realize the fact that the service of the lotus feet of Sri Guru is the only cause of all well-being.
— From the lectures of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Goswami Thakur ‘Prabhupad’.
the service of the lotus feet of Sri Guru is the only cause of all well-being
The love for Supreme God — Sree Krishna, is inherent in every individual soul. Due to forgetfulness of our relation with Sree Krishna, we are envelopedi by the illusory energy consisting of three primal qualities– Rajah, Sattva and Tamah and pass through cycles of births, deaths and threefold afflictions. Love of God is not to be borrowed from somebody, only it is to be awakened by the association of a pure bona fide devotee.
Love is to be awakened by the association of a pure bona fide devotee.
Greatest Hurdle of Sree Krishna’s bhakti The greatest hurdle of Sree Krishna Bhakti is committal of offence at the Lotus feet ofVaishnavas. We should not neglect paying respects to superior Vaishnavas. Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu never tolerated disrespect to senior Vaishnavas. So, it will be unwise to sacrifice eternal benefit for the sake of mundane temporary benefits. — His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj ji.
You will find, in the Gita, Supreme Lord Sree Krishna first told Arjuna, “Perform your work according to your own competency. Do not attempt to do the work of others who are of a different nature.”
But ultimately, He says, “Sarva-dharman parityajya, mam ekam saranam vraja” (18.66). “Give up all the relative duties I have spoken about earlier and take absolute shelter of Me. You are my own person. You are related to Me. You are part of My own potency. I have hitherto advised you to act according to your own capacity, but you will obtain your actual, eternal welfare when you take absolute shelter of Me.”
When we take absolute shelter of the Supreme Lord, we will not be committing sin by giving up those relative duties. But, take careful note of the words, “mat-krte”: for Me. “Performing household duties or brahmacari duties have become too difficult, so I have given them up.” Thinking like this, you are committing sin. You are violating the vedic injunctions. But if you take shelter of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna, then automatically you are performing service for all.
Generally, we refer to those who have given up their household life as sadhus. But if one thinks “I am married. I have a wife and children. I have no funds to maintain them. So, I have given up household life. I am moving along the road, begging. I have become a sadhu.” then such a person is not a sadhu. He is committing a sin. But if , then all the family members are benefited. “Mat-krte tyakta-karmanas tyakta-svajana-bandhavah”: “For Me.”
— from the lectures of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj.
A person lives within household life, serving Sree Krishna
There was a Brahmin who was worshipping Lord Shiva. He was very poor and desired wealth. Lord Shiva appeared to him and told him, “If you want wealth, you should go to Vrindavana. On the banks of the river Yamuna is the Dvadasha-aditya tila. There you will find Sri Sanatana Goswami. He has a sparsha-mani (touchstone). If you touch iron with that touchstone, it will turn it into pure gold. If you ask him, he will give it to you”. The Brahmin very enthusiastically went to Vrindavana. He climbed up the Dvadasha-aditya tila and there was Sri Sanatana Goswami, performing his bhajan.
The Brahmin said, “Lord Shiva appeared to me and told me that you will give me a sparsha mani. Do you actually have one?
Sri Sanatana Goswami answered, “Yes I have one. Do you want it?”
The Brahmin replied, “Yes”, so Sri Sanatana Goswami pointed and said, “It’s over there.”
“Where?” asked the Brahmin.
“There,” replied Sri Sanatana Goswami.
“There? But that’s a pile of rubbish,” said the Brahmin.
Sri Sanatana Goswami then confirmed, “Yes, somewhere in that pile of dust and rubbish there is a sparsha – mani. If you can find it you can have it.”
So the Brahmin looked through the rubbish, and sure enough, there it was-the touchstone!
Anything of iron, he touched would turn into gold. He was very happy. He was touching and getting gold. But Lord Shiva blessed him, and therefore, he had good intelligence. He began to think, “The whole world is looking for a touchstone like this. But Sri Sanatana Goswami had it lying in a rubbish bin, so he must have something more valuable than this.”
He went back and asked Sri Sanatana Goswami, ” Do you have something more valuable?”
Sri Sanatana Goswami replied, “Yes, I do have something millions of times more precious. Do you want it?”
The Brahmin said, “Yes, please. I do.”
Sri Sanatana Goswami then told him, ” First take your touchstone and throw it into the Yamuna, because you cannot receive what I have until you are freed from all these other attachments.”
The Brahmin had faith in the words of a Sadhu. To get the treasure of Krishna Consciousness, there has to be a great leap of faith in the words of the Sadhu.
The Brahmin threw the touchstone into the river Yamuna, knowing that it would never be seen again.
Sri Sanatana Goswami said, “I will now give you a touchstone that will give you something greater than all the gold in creation. The greatest treasure is the treasure of Sri Krishna – Prema. That treasure is lying dormant within your heart. There is only one means of achieving it; through the touchstone of the very sincere chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Sri Sanatana Goswami initiated him in the chanting of the Holy Names and he became the possessor of the ultimate wealth.
In a town in Bengal, there was a man who worked in an office. He lived with his wife and two children. One of the children was only three or four months old and the other was seven years old. One day, the man told his wife, “You will have to prepare breakfast early today because I have to go into the office early. After I eat, I shall leave right away.”
When the wife went to cook, she first put the baby on the bed and then went into the kitchen. But, whenever she would enter the kitchen, the child would cry. She thought, “With the child in my lap, how will I be able to cook? It is very difficult.” She was thinking what she should do. Then she thought of a way she could manage. She called the seven-year-old child.
“Darling, come here!” she called. “Do you know that red toy in the shop?” ”Yes, I know it,” the child answered. ”Go and buy that toy, but be sure that it makes a nice jingling sound.”
The child took some money and went off to buy the toy. He brought it home and gave it to the other. The mother laid the baby down on the bed and hung the red-coloured toy with the jingling sound above him, at the end of a rope. The baby saw the toy and immediately started to play with it, hitting it from side to side. The child was most delighted as he continued to slap the toy and hear the jingling sound. For one hour he played like that, and the mother went to do her cooking. After that, the child started to feel hungry. For the entire time that the child was playing, he did not remember his mother. But, now that he felt hungry, he thought, “Oh, where is my mother?” But his mother did not come. Then, he started crying, signifying, “I am hungry! Come!” He could not speak, so he beckoned his mother by crying. “Come to me and suckle me! I am hungry!” His mother, however, was busy cooking. “No,” she thought, “let the child cry.”
After some time, the child stopped crying and went back to playing with the toy – jingle, jingle, jingle. After playing like that for a while, the pangs of hunger returned. His hunger increased and increased and he became more and more unhappy. He began to cry for his mother even more loudly than before.
His mother heard the crying of the baby, but thought that she should first finish her cooking. Finally, the hunger became unbearable for the child. The child thought, “I don’t want toys!” All he could think about was his mother. His crying became louder and louder until he was screaming. He started to throw his arms about and kick his legs, in a tantrum. Then the mother thought, “Oh, I cannot stay away any longer!” The mother ran toward the child, embraced him and suckled him.
Similarly, the Supreme Lord has given us toys – the toy of a wife or husband, toys of children, toys of buildings, toys of radios, toys of videos, toys of computers. Seeing this, Krsna thinks, “They are absorbed in their toys! I have no worries. I am engaged in My pastimes in the transcendental realm. They do not want this. They want those things instead. Here, take this computer! Take that video! Take this! Take that!”
Upon the awakening of his real self (atma), a man feels the want of the sweetest affection of the Supreme Lord. He cries, “Oh Supreme Lord! In this world, nothing gives me happiness. Everything is temporary. Everyone is selfish. You are my most beloved! Where are You? I have forgotten You! Come! Come! I am in a furnace! Come! Come!” Weeping, he calls, but Krishna does not come. “I am engaged in My pastimes,” Krishna says. For some time, the man then becomes absorbed in the affairs of his family and relatives, and forgets Krishna. Time passes and he cries again, “Where is My beloved Supreme Lord? Where is He?” Crying, crying. But, the Supreme Lord still does not come. Ultimately, he shouts, “I do not want a house! I do not want anything! Nobody is mine – You are mine! Oh beloved Supreme Lord! Come! Come! Come!” He cries and weeps, tossing his arms and legs about. Then Krishna cries, “Oh!” and comes to him. This sort of perturbation of the heart, extreme eagerness for getting Bhagavan, must be there.
When we associate with the suddha bhakta who is crying for Sri Krishna, then the eternal nature of atma will be awakened. You have love for God. Love is there in your soul. It exists, but it is presently enveloped by the external potency of the Supreme Lord and you have become averse to Sri Krishna. Passing through different species, our minds have become enveloped by so many evil desires.
— Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj ji.
How will Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna come to you?
Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta is universally adored name and scripture. It is commonly known to everyone across the globe. But the difficulity is, there are thousands of commentaries on the Geeta, and in these commentaries the commentators have expressed their own views. They all have different views and ordinary people are confused about the actual message of Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta.
The speaker of the Geeta is the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. Only those who have entered into the heart of Sri Krishna can understand the real implication and significance of His sayings and the purpose of His speech and advice. Outside people cannot understand.
In India, and outside India, you will find many people who say — We do not believe Krishna is Supreme Lord because He took birth and, therefore, He was a human being. He may have many powers, perhaps even superhuman powers. He may even be a great politician, a great diplomat. But He is still only a human being.
Even those who have gone through the Geeta may also speak like this. It is most astounding. When I ask them — Have you gone through the Geeta? The reply is — Oh, yes.
I ask them — How! If you have gone through the Geeta, then you should accept the teachings of the Geeta.
Supreme Lord Sri Krishna mentions in Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta (7.7) –There is nothing superior to Me.
With emphasis, Sri Krishna says that He is the Supreme Lord. We read the Geeta, but we do not believe the teachings of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Why is this? He also says in the Geeta (9.24) — I am the only Master and the only Enjoyer of all yajnas (sacrifices).
There are many verse in Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta substantiating Sri Krishna as Supreme Lord.
In the Geeta (10.8), He says — I am the cause of all creation, the origin of all the things.
In verse (14.27), He says — I am the cause of the impersonal formless God (Brahm). That impersonal, formless God is the halo of own light of Sri Krishna, emanating from Sri Krishna Himself. And so on.
Sri Krishna is the Supreme Lord. How can we know the Supreme Lord? Without His grace, no one can know Him. If anybody says — Yes. I can know Him, then he will be equal to or greater than the Supreme Lord. But the Supreme Lord, Infinite and Absolute, is One. Nothing can be outside the Infinite. If you say — This flower is outside the Infinite, then the Infinite becomes finite. Even particle of dust cannot be outside the Infinite, or the Absolute will lose His position. The Absolute is One. The only way to get Him is to take absolute shelter at His Lotus Feet and to act according to His will. There is no other way to get Him except by means of exclusive, pure devotion.
Therefore, only those who have surrendered to Sri Krishna, who have access to the heart of Sri Krishna, can understand the implication and significance of His teachings. Those without knowledge of Sri Krishna, who have not submitted to Sri Krishna, how can they know. They may write many commentaries, but they cannot comprehend the actual significance of the teachings of Sri Krishna.
Even Sri Arjuna took the shelter unto Sri Krishna, means he also surrendered unto Sri Krishna, before he was imparted with this divine knowledge. He says in the Geeta (2.7) — I have lost my natural valour. I am bewildered and cannot ascertain what is right and what is wrong. I submit to you. I am your disciple. Please advise me regarding my eternal welfare.
(From the lectures of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj)
Our Most Revered Gurudeva used to advise us “Finite human beings, taking any decision by their finite intellect and wisdom for their own benefit, commit mistakes and the result is reverse. If we take absolute shelter to the Lotus Feet of Guru-Vaishnava-Bhagavan, by Their grace, the light of transcendental knowledge will descend to our heart and solve all problems.” In my life I have practical experience of it. — His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj.
Dasavatar by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
Dates of travel / Ukraine Europe / preaching programs by Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math
Dear Devotees,
Hare Krishna.Dandvat Pranam.I had been travelling to Orissa, Bengal and Tripura for preaching programs. Programs were quite nice and well managed. During Tripura program, Chief Minister of Tripura, Deputy chief minister of Tripura, Governor of Tripura. CHief Justice of Tripura High court came to Math for blessings of Lord Jagannath and met all devotees.
Likewise we had a large gathering in Bengal. The scale of this gathering was similar to gathering when couple of years back, Srila Gurumaharaj visited Goalpara on the ocassion of Sri Ram Navmi.
This program in Medinipur, Bengal was organized in a College ground. It had a water-proof pandal with a capacity of 3000 congregation. During morning hours, pandal was occupied to full capacity, however by evening, equivalent number of people were standing outside pandal. Likewise we have a large Nagar Sankirtan and Prasadam distribution.
Two major illustrious points to mention are — about 100 sannyasi / brahmcharis attended the program. Secondly, main organizers (4-5 god brothers), were quite young (about 25-30 years of age)
I have just returned to Delhi after GBC and special member meeting at Kolkata.
Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami explains that according to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Divine Love is the strongest spiritual force on earth which can establish love and unity among all human beings and thereby establish real peace in the world. Divine Love is more powerful than ahimsa. Ahimsa means not to commit violence, this is negative, but love means doing positive good to others, this is more covetable and effective.
What benefit will we derive by coming to the temple and hearing the glories of the Supreme Lord from the lips of the devotees?
Wherever we see the benefits we will attend it. Nobody needs to be taught to earn money. Everybody understands money is necessary. They are earning money day and night; whether in Singapore or America. They know that without money they cannot move. This is our necessity. Nobody has to be taught about this. Similarly, when you understand why one performs worship of Sri Krishna then you will give time to attend.
This human birth is very precious. After passing through many births in different species, trees, insects, aquatic animals and land animals you get a human birth. It is said that you must pass through 80 lakhs of different species before you attain a human birth. So, a human birth is very rare and valuable.
You can only perform worship of Sri Krishna in the human species. Even birth as a demigod is not congenial for harinam. No other creatures can perform harinam. Because you are human you can accept the Supreme Reality, you can perform bhajans and you can worship Sri Krishna. You have this human life and you should utilise it properly and not waste it.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
An important element of devotional service is the regular observance of Vaishnavas’ appearance and disappearance days. On these occasions one should remember them, pray for their mercy and glorify their qualities in kirtana.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
A surrendered devotee will always say from his heart —
Marabi rakhabi yo icchha tohara, nityadas prati tuya adhikara.
O Lord! You may kill me or let me live. This is your choice. You have complete right on this slave of Yours. Whether I live in this world or not will depend on Your desire. I will not say anything, as I am Your servant. The only condition would be that please continue to engage me in Your services.
Sree Prahlad Maharaj while discussing surrender unto Supreme Lord, mentions that one cannot perform bhakti without surrender or sharnagati. Sharanagati is the foundation of bhakti. That is why it is said that Sreemad Bhagavatam begins, where Sreemad Bhagavad Geeta concludes. Sreemad Bhagavad Geeta’s message is sharangati.
‘Sarva dharman parityajya maamekam sharanam vraj.’
i.e. leave all sorts of ‘dharm’ and surrender unto Me.
One of the great Vaishnav Acharya Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur clarifies that sharnagati means, to submit unto the will of Supreme Lord. He explains the concept of sharnagati through 52 song compositions written by Him.
O Lord Sree Krishna! I am handing over everything that I possess unto You…………….This is Sharanagati. Atma-nivedan. Surrendering ourself unto Him.
In another bhajan He writes, manas deha geha, yo kichhu mora,
arpilun tuya pade Nand-kishore!
O Nandkishore! Son of Sree Nand! Sree Krishna! I have surrendered all of my possession like mind, thoughts, body, house, everything whatever belongs to me, unto You.
He further explains, that what will happen, when someone surrenders ‘self’ unto Supreme Lord.
He writes, sampade vipade, jivane marane,
daay mam gela, tua o pada varane.
My Dear Supreme Lord, I am Yours. In whatever way, You want to maintain me, I will accept the conditions because this will be Your desire. Whether wealthy or poor, whether life or death, whatever You will desire for me, I will accept, I am not worried.
Jahe vidhi rakhe Ram, tahe vidhi Rahiye……this is sharanagati.
“Although very ferocious, the lioness is very kind to her cubs. Similarly, although very ferocious to non-devotees like Hiranyakasipu, Lord Nrisimha Dev is very affectionate and kind to devotees like Prahlada Maharaja.” (Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)
This expresses thoroughly the glories of Sri Nrisimha Dev’s unique mercy.
Devotion to Sri Nrisimha Dev enhances bhakti and destroys uncongenial adverse motivations.
Actually, love for God head Sree Krishna, is inherent in every individual soul.
Due to forgetfulness of our relation with Sree Krishna, we are enveloped by the illusory energy consisting of three primal qualities— Rajah, Sattva and Tamah and pass through cycles of births, deaths and threefold afflictions.
Love of God is not to be borrowed from somebody, only it is to be awakened by the company of pure bona fide devotee.
One of the great Vaishnav Acharya Srila Bhakti Vedant Narayan Maharaj once explained the ‘chir haran’ pastimes of Sree Krishna, wherein He stole the clothes of Gopis when they were taking a dip in river Yamuna.
Although it may seem so, but this is not a deed of a material person overcome with lust, where a person filled with lust pulls a cloth of a girl. Pastimes of Sree Krishna are not like these because Sree Krishna has always offered adequate respect to women. For e.g. Demon Putna came to kill Him. She picked Him up like a mother and took Him in her lap like a mother. Although she wanted to kill Him by poisoning Him but she fed Him with her milk. Merciful Sree Krishna wondered to give her a position similar to His mother. So, Sree Krishna Who gave Putna a life in Vaikuntha similar to His mother, because she ‘only’ acted like a mother, how can He dis-respect any woman?
In the pastime of Chir-haran, Sree Krishna saved Draupadi from the assembly of men. He punished those who tried to de-robe her or bring defame to women, how He can show dis-respect to any woman?
Maharaj ji also said that Narakasur had held 16000 girls, women as captive to fulfil his desires. Sree Krishna killed him and released all those women. After He killed Narakasura, He said to all of them — You are now free to go back to your place of residence. I can arrange to drop you to the destination. All of them replied in unison — No, no. we cannot go anywhere. We are ready to become your servants, but cannot go back. No one will accept us. Please provide us Your shelter.
Sree Krishna out of His Causeless mercy, accepted their prayers and married them and made them queens. He gave each separate palace to live in.
Such were His pastimes with women, so how can He defame Gopis by taking away their clothes?
We must always go through the appearance pastimes of Sree Krishna which will reveal to us that Sree Krishna is not an ordinary human being. He is transcendental., He is Bhagavan.
Please go through the pastimes of Supreme Lord Sree Krishna, when He stole the clothes. Sree Krishna at that time was about 5 years old and Gopis were of 5 or maximum 6 years old. If we will move back in time, we may recall that, children of 5-6 years used to roam here and there without clothes. So, under these circumstances of a boy lift the clothes of girls, when they were bathing, nothing should be mis-interpreted from such pastime.
Since our minds are polluted, hence we always have polluted thoughts.
Once His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj ‘Vishnupad’ was sitting on a stage with a sannyasi of Ramanuja sampradaya. During his lecture that sannyasi explained that Sree Krishna performed such pastime only to convey to worldly people that one must not bathe naked.
Hence one cannot understand pastimes of Sree Krishna, without understanding Sree Krishna.
“Circumambulation of the Holy Abode of Supreme Lord Sri Hari is one of the principal devotions out of 64 kinds of devotion as indicated by Sri Rupa Goswami in his writing Sri Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu”
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj.
Once, Srila Madhvendra Puripad travelled to Sri Vrindavan, where he went to Sri Giriraj Goverdhan. Srila Madhvendra Puri was almost mad in ecstacy for love of Godhead. Sometimes, he would stood up and sometimes he would fell to ground. He circumambulating Sri Goverdhan hill, Srila Madhvendra Puri went to Sri Govind-kunda and took his bath. Then he sat beneath a tree. Suddenly an unkown cowherd boy appeared from no-where with a pot of milk and placed the same in front of Srila Madhvendra Puri. He smiled and said, ‘Hey Puri, please drink this milk. Why do not you beg some food to eat? What kind of meditation are you undergoing?’
Observing the beauty and hearing the sweet words, Srila Puri forgot all hunger and thirst. He asked, ‘Who are you? Where do you reside? How did You know that I am fasting?’
The Cowherd boy replied,’ I am a cowherd boy, I reside in this village. In My village, no one fasts. In this village a person can beg food from others. Some people drink only milk, but if a person does not ask anyone for food, I supply him all eatables. The women who come here to take water saw you, and they supplied Me with this milk and sent Me to you. I must good soon to milk the cows, but I shall return and take back this milk pot from you.’
Boy left and suddenly could not be seen. Srila Madhvendra Puri’s heart was filled with wonder. He drank the milk, washed the pot and kept it aside. He waited for the boy, but He did not return.
He could not sleep and sat while chanting Holy Name of Supreme Lord. Eventually he dozed off.
He had a dream.
He saw the same boy. The boy came before him and holding his hand,took him to a bush in the forest. The body pointed Srila Madhaendra Puri towards a bush and said, ‘I reside in this bush, and because of this I suffer very much from severe cold, rain showers, winds and scroching heat. Bring the people of the village and get them to take Me out of this bush. Then situate Me nicely on the top of the hill. Construct a temple on top of that hill. Install Me. Bathe me with large quantities of cold water so that My body is cleansed. For many days I have been observing you, and I have been wondering, ‘When will Madhavendra Puri come here to serve Me? I accept your service due to your ecstatic love for Me. Thus I shall appear, and by My audience (darshan) all will be delivered. My name is Gopal, lifter of Govardhana Hill. I was installed by Vajra (Krishna’s great grand-son). When the bad elements attacked, the priest who was serving Me hid Me in this bush in the jungle. Then he ran away out of fear of the attack. Since then I am staying in this bush. It is very good that you have come here. Now just remove Me with care.’
And the body disappeared. Srila Madhvendra Puri woke up and began to lament and cry.
After morning bath, he went to the village and gathered everyone. He said loudly, ‘Sri Govardhan-dhari, diety of the village, is lying in the bushes. Let us go there and rescue Him. We have to dig Him up.’
After hearing this, everyone accompanied him and according to his directions, cut the bushes, cleared the path and entered. They were pleased to see the Deity covered with dirt and grass. After cleansing the deity, some strong men assembled to carry Him to the top of the hill, as the deity was too heavy. A big stone was made into a throne, and The Deity was installed upon it. Another bid stone was placed behind the Deity for support. Under the guidance of Srila Madhvendra Puri, when the Deity was being installed, nine hundred pots of water were brought from Sri Govind Kunda. Women folk began to sing and musical sounds of bugles and drums began to play. All the milk, yogurt and clarified butter in the village was brought to the festival. Various foods and sweetmeats, as well as other kinds of presentations were brought there. The villagers brought a large quantity of Tulasi leaves, flowers and various kinds of garments. Then Srila Madhvendra Puri personally began the Abhisheka.
Mantras were chanted, initially the Deity was massaged with a large quantity of oil. After the first bathing, further bathings were conducted with pancha-gavya and then with pancha-mrita. Then the maha-snan was performed with ghee and water, which had been brought in one hundred pots. After the maha-snan was finished, the Deity was again massaged with scented oil. Then the last bathing ceremony was performed with scented water kept within a conch-shell. After the body of the Deity was cleansed, He was dressed very nicely with new garments. Sandalwood pulp, Tulasi garlands and other fragrant flower garlands were offered. After bathing ceremony was finished, incense and lamps were burned and all kind of food were offered before the Deity. Finally everyone offered various prayers and then obeisances, falling flat before the Deity in full surrender. The villagers have brought such large quantities of the entire stock of rice, dhal, etc that the entire surface of the top of hill was filled. Five to seven men have prepared a huge quantity of chapatis, which were sufficiently covered with ghee, as were all the vegetables, rice and dhal. Pots of yogurt, milk, buttermilk, shikharini, sweet rise, cream and sold cream were placed alongside the vegetables. In thie way the Annakuta ceremony was performed, and Sri Madhvednra Puri Goswami personally offered everything to Gopal.
Can anyone imagine that inspite of all the people present in the villages, why would Sri Gopala wait for Srila Madhvendra Puri when He said to him, ‘For many days I have been observing you, and I have been wondering, ‘When will Madhavendra Puri come here to serve Me?’?
The answer to this query is given by Sri Gopala Himself, ‘ I accept your service due to your ecstatic love for Me’
Manvantara in Hindu units of time, on a logarithmic scale.
Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in this very Kaliyuga of Vaivasvata Manvantara by taking the form and mode of worship of Srimati Radharani, principally to taste the sweetness of Supreme Lord Krishna.
Simultaneously He also distributed Sree Krishna-prema to all, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. He is the Highest Munificent Form of Godhead.
Although He is Supreme Lord, He takes the Form of devotee to teach others about how to love Sree Krishna, by practising Himself. So it is very essential to go through His teachings— ‘Shikshashtaka’.
The difference between a realized soul and conditioned souls in this world is that the realized soul, by the grace of Supreme Lord, has got the capacity to tolerate all afflictions and tribulations, but a conditioned soul cannot.
A conditioned soul remaining in darkness cannot solve any problem.
When light comes, problems created by darkness are automatically removed.
Parampujyapad Srila Bhakti Vedanta Swami Maharaj in one of His sermons said – When one is enlightened by knowledge by which ignorance is destroyed, then his knowledge reveals everything as sun lights up everything at daytime. Supreme Lord, who is All-Bliss, is self-effulgent. He descends to a completely surrendered soul.
— from the letters of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj.
Srila Rupa Goswami used to perform bhajan in a place near Ter Kadamba in Nandagaon. He would come practically every day to visit Srila Sanatan Goswami when they were both in the area, for Srila Rupa Goswami considered Srila Sanatan Goswami to be his spiritual master.
One day, Srila Rupa Goswami wanted to offer some special prasadam to Srila Sanatan Goswami. At that time, a very charming little gopi (cowherd girl) brought some milk, sugar, rice, ghee, camphor and saffron and said, “Why don’t you cook this for your spiritual master?” Srila Rupa Goswami offered the preparations to Supreme Lord and then gave to Srila Sanatan Goswami on his arrival, and they ate the prasadam together. The first taste of this khira (sweet rice), brought about uncontrollable ecstatic love; tears poured from their eyes, their hairs stood on end, they perspired, trembled, and rolled on the ground. Srila Sanatan Goswami said, “Where did you get this sweet rice?”
“Oh! A little girl gave this to me. She cooked this preparation with her own hands.”
“Tell me about this girl.”
When he heard the description, Srila Sanatan Goswami said, “You have caused me to accept service from our worshipable object of service, Srimati Vrindavaneshvari, Srimati Radharani.”
Srila Rupa Goswami was very ashamed. But this is the way of Krishna Consciousness simultaneous joy and pain, meeting and separation. Though they were ashamed and feeling pain in their hearts due to having accepted service from Srimati Radharani, still they couldn’t stop eating the sweet rice. And that sweet rice was putting them in realms of ecstasy that will never be understood.
That night Srila Rupa Goswami was lamenting, but Srimati Radharani personally appeared to him in a dream to pacify him and tell him it was her desire to teach the world through her devotees how a devotee does not want to accept service from the Lord, but simply wants to offer service without expecting anything in return. This is the essence of Srimad Bhagawatam.
We have been brought nearer by science physically but our hearts are apart now. Cultivation of love can remove this distance between hearts.
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad preached the Doctrine of Divine Love of Lord Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Love for Sree Krishna— the Absolute Whole, will foster love for all. Non-violence is automatic in the culture of pure love.
Love of God is the greatest spiritual force on earth which can bring unity of hearts among all human beings. Cultivation of Love for Sree Krishna— ‘Sri Krishna-prema’ is to be widely propagated for bringing abiding peace in the hearts of the people which is the basis for progress of human civilisation.
Amongst all spiritual practices, Sri Hari-Nam-sankirtan is the best and most effective sadhan (means) to attain ‘Sri Krishna-prema’ in ‘Kaliyuga’. This spiritual practice of ‘Sri Hari-Nam-sankirtan’ is a universal dharm under which banner, people of all sects and rank can unite.
In India, and outside India, you will find many people who say — We do not believe Sri Krishna is Supreme Lord because He took birth and, therefore, He was a human being. He may have many powers, perhaps even superhuman powers. He may even be a great politician, a great diplomat. But He is still only a human being.
Even those who have gone through the Geeta may also speak like this. It is most astounding. When I ask them — Have you gone through the Geeta? The reply is — Oh, yes.
I ask them — How! If you have gone through the Geeta, then you should accept the teachings of the Geeta.
Supreme Lord Sri Krishna mentions in Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta (7.7) –There is nothing superior to Me.
With emphasis, Sri Krishna says that He is the Supreme Lord. We read the Geeta, but we do not believe the teachings of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Why is this? He also says in the Geeta (9.24) — I am the only Master and the only Enjoyer of all yajnas (sacrifices).
There are many verse in Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta substantiating Sri Krishna as Supreme Lord.
In the Geeta (10.8), He says — I am the cause of all creation, the origin of all the things.
In verse (14.27), He says — I am the cause of the impersonal formless God (Brahm). That impersonal, formless God is the halo of own light of Sri Krishna, emanating from Sri Krishna Himself. And so on.
Sri Krishna is the Supreme Lord. How can we know the Supreme Lord? Without His grace, no one can know Him.
The only way to get Him is to take absolute shelter at His Lotus Feet and to act according to His will. There is no other way to get Him except by means of exclusive, pure devotion.
Therefore, only those who have surrendered to Sri Krishna, who have access to the heart of Sri Krishna, can understand the implication and significance of His teachings and Sree Geeta.
Srila Narad Gosvami gave Sri Dhruva some advice, and the mother of Sri Dhruva, Srimati Suniti, also advised him thus: “If you have any kind of hostile mentality against your stepmother, then you will not succeed in your worship of the Lord. You will not receive His grace. Your stepmother is not the cause of your miseries. You are the cause. You have brought this upon yourself through some behavior in a previous birth. You are now reaping the fruits of that behavior:
“Do not blame others for your afflictions. You do not realize that you are receiving the same afflictions that you once inflicted upon others. God is omniscient. There cannot be any mistake in His judgement. You should tolerate this.”
Sadhus think like this. A sadhu does not retaliate against the oppression of others. Goodness always emanates from the sadhu. He cannot give any injury to any living being of this world. The tendency towards harm is completely absent from his character, so how can he do harm? He always does good towards others.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj.
During a solar eclipse, people go to Kuruksetra to bathe and perform other rituals. In the scriptures, you will find descriptions of the immense glories of this practice. During the time of Lord Krishna’s pastimes on Earth, there was a solar eclipse where Lord Krishna came from Dvaraka to Kuruksetra with all His personal associates. At that time, Sri Krishna was the King, Emperor and Sole Proprietor of Dvaraka. All His subjects, consorts and personal associates were very eager to go to Kuruksetra during the solar eclipse so they could bathe, perform sandhya and other rituals. If they could perform these sacrifices with the brahmanas, they could get immense fruits. To fulfill this desire of His subjects, Sri Krishna said, “All right, we shall go.” So, all the numerous subjects, consorts and personal associates came to Kuruksetra. Sri Krishna intentionally invited everyone except the Vrajavasis-the devotees of Vraja.
Sri Narada Gosvami was very shocked by this. He approached Sri Krishna , saying, “The Vrajavasis love You so much. They are experiencing extreme separation grief by not seeing You. You are inviting everyone in the whole world but You are not inviting the Vrajavasis? What offense are they guilty of? Have they committed an offense by loving You? I cannot tolerate this!” Then Sri Krishna said, “They are our own people. No one has to send invitations to one’s own. Parents do not invite their children, and vice versa. They are our own. Outside people are invited. How can I invite the Vrajavasis? You are right, I intentionally did not invite them because they are saturated with love for Me. They have no interest in performing sacrifices to obtain mundane benefits. If they come, the results of all these ritual practices will be destroyed. For this reason, I have not invited them.”
Although not invited, the Vrajavasis came to learn that Sri Krishna was coming to Kuruksetra. The Vrajavasis thought, “Kuruksetra is much closer to Vraja-mandala than Dvaraka is. We should avail ourselves of this rare opportunity to see Sri Krishna ! We can have darsana of Sri Krishna ! We should not miss this chance!”
But they could not venture to go there. Why? They thought, ” Sri Krishna has become the Emperor. His standard is very high, and we are merely cowherd men and women. We are poor people. Perhaps Sri Krishna has forgotten us. If we go there, He will not recognize us. Someone of such a high position will not come to see ordinary people like us. Previously He was a cowherd boy in our Vraja-dhama, but now He has become King. But we are extremely grief-stricken. We cannot tolerate this separation.”
Thinking like this, the Vrajavasis reasoned, “A man might forget everything else, but he will never forget his parents, even if they live far away. If Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda go there, then Sri Krishna will bow down to them and make obeisances.” So they went to Nanda Maharaja, saying, ” Sri Krishna is coming to Kuruksetra! We are too grief-stricken with separation grief. We have not seen Him for such a long time, but we do not have the courage to go there. We do not know if Sri Krishna will give us the opportunity to see Him, as His present standard of living is so high. But, if His parents go there, then Sri Krishna will come to them as their son and offer obeisances.”
Then Nanda Maharaja and Sri Yasoda said, “No, no. This is not correct. He has not come here for such a long time! He has so many consorts and servants serving Him there. He is so wealthy now. His wives are also wealthy. We are only cowherd men and women. We have nothing. After so long, how can we go? If we go there, will He come to see us? If we go to Kuruksetra and are deprived of seeing Sri Krishna , we shall die!”
When Sri Krishna , the Emperor of Dvaraka, entered Kuruksetra, so many cavalry units, elephants, horses, etc. accompanied Him. Only those who had permission were allowed to go to speak with Him. He was surrounded by servants. There were four gatekeepers, one in each direction. The King’s parents, Vasudeva and Devaki were also there. The brahmanas had gone to start the sacrifices. So, no one was permitted to disturb the King.
Nanda Maharaja, Yasoda Devi and all the cowherd boys and other friends of Sri Krishna approached where He was. Nobody acknowledged them. Armed forces, cavalry and elephants surrounded Sri Krishna .
Nanda Maharaja approached one of the guards. “I have come to see my beloved son,” he said.
“Who is your beloved son?” a guard asked him.
” Sri Krishna .”
“How is that? You are a poor person. He is the King! His parents are already here-Vasudeva and Devaki. We do not believe you! From where have you come? Why are you claiming that He is your son? We do not believe you!”
Nanda Maharaja cried, “I shall die!”
The guard said, “I am doing my work as per the order of the King. If I do anything against His orders, I shall be dismissed. Do you have a permit?”
“No.”
“Then I cannot let you in,” the guard replied.
Then all the cowherd boys, carrying their small cow prods, cried, “My friend! My bosom friend! Kanhaiya!”
“What? He is the King! His friends are like this? You are paupers! I do not believe you!”
Then the gopis cried, “We are the consorts of Sri Krishna !”
“What? The consorts are already here. Satyabhama, Rukmini and all the other queens are here! From where have you come? Show me some permit from the King or His Prime Minister!”
Then, Yasoda Devi said, “I told you that, if I go to Kuruksetra and I am deprived of seeing Krishna, I shall die! I have nothing left. My life is finished!” She cried loudly, “Gopala!” and fell unconscious.
At that time, Sri Krishna was with the brahmanas, who requested Him to start the sacrifice. Sri Krishna removed all His royal garments and became a small, naked boy, crying, “Mother! O Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” He cried and cried and cried and ran to sit on the lap of Yasoda Devi. Now, without Sri Krishna ‘s presence, all the ritual sacrifices were destroyed. By hearing one single call from Yasoda Devi, Krsna could not remain there.
Then Sri Krishna met the gopis and the others. The gopis attracted Krsna. They said, “We are not very happy seeing You here. There are so many cavalrymen, elephants and chariots-we should go to Vrndavana. There, it is sweet. All this is Your majestic aspect. So, please allow us the opportunity to see You in better circumstances by coming with us to Vrndavana. Please do not remain here! “He Gopinatha! He Gopinatha! Vrndavane calo! He Gopinatha!”
In that mood of the gopis, saturated with gopi-bhava, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu pulled the chariot from the Jagannatha Temple (Kuruksetra) toward Gundica (Vrndavana). During the chariot festival, Sri Krishna , Sri Baladeva and Sri Subhadra make the trip in three chariots.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu pulled the chariot from the Jagannatha Temple
“O Kesava! You assumed the form of Vamana to trick the great demon Bali Maharaja by Your steps, and to purify all living entities by the water that emanated from the nails of Your lotus feet. All glories unto You, Lord of the universe.”
This soul always remain as soul, it can never become super-soul.
Many people feel that we are ‘Brahm’ and due to some reason we are suffering from the clutches of ‘Maya’, thus we are known as soul. This is totally incorrect.
Reason being that ‘Brahm’ is title for Omnipotent or Omnipresent. One who is omnipotent or omnipresent can never suffer at the hands of Maya or material energy. Neither this material energy nor Maya is so potent that it is able to engulf the Omnipotent. And how is it possible that One who is omnipotent suffers at the hand of His own potency. If He suffers then He cannot be termed as Omnipotent. Under such circumstances the meaning of the word omnipotent will be null. Then how could we be able to address such entity as ‘Brahm’.
Let us assume that upon meditating this soul will become omnipotent or Brahm. Still it seems unlikely that this is possible. If the soul was Brahm initially and later on his potency took over him then all sorts of meditation to become ‘Brahm’ would be useless. We meditate to get rid of threefold miseries of this world and since ‘Maya’ can take over us even when we become ‘Brahm’ and turn us to become a soul then all sort of meditation processes are useless.
Some people claim that when soul unifies with the super-soul, soul becomes super-soul. This is also incorrect. As soul is immortal and so is super-soul. If soul looses its own identity by entering in super-soul then the scriptures would be rendered incorrect which claims that soul is immortal or soul never dies. For e.g. in chemistry water constitutes of H2O. Even when water enters ocean, its formula remains intact. It does not break. Even if we try to break water, and make it into two, water will not remain as water, it will break into oxygen and hydrogen.
If the soul was to become God eventually then the devotees like Sree Hanuman, Sree Brahma, Sree Uddhava, Sree Shabri, Sree Ras khan, Sree Bhakti Vinode Thakura, Sree Narottam Dasa won’t be praying to Lord in order to get a chance to serve Him.
They pray,’O Lord, please have mercy upon us. Kindly grant us a boon that we shall never forget You and we shall never be devoid of Your Love’. Had the soul not having their separate identity then all the prayers by such pure devotees of Lord won’t carry any meaning.
In temples we find that the devotees repeat the same thing every day. Every morning and every evening is aratika and kirtana. Is there anything new? There is aratika in the morning, midday and the evening – the same program everyday.
Sri Narada Goswami has been uttering Sri Krishna – Nam from time immemorial. But still he cannot completely taste Sri Krishna-Nam.
When speaking of the glories of the utterance of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said “prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam.” At every step, you experience the taste of full, complete, transcendental ambrosia. It will never become stale. If we say, “I have finished it. It has become stale! Find something new for me,” then we have not understood anything.
Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not hear about the lives of Sri Dhruva and Sri Prahlada once only. “We have not yet heard the full story,” He would say. We might say that we have heard the biographies of Sri Dhruva and Sri Prahlada, but Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wished to hear the full biographies not one time, but one hundred times. “Again!” He would say, “Please tell Me again.” If, after hearing, you have the desire to hear again, then you have entered into the spiritual, devotional realm. Otherwise, you are outside and have learned nothing about spiritual life – nothing.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
The present-day world appears to be running fast towards destruction.
As per Indian scriptural evidence, the conditioned souls are enveloped by Lord’s illusory energy consisting of three primal qualities— Sattva, Rajah, and Tamah. ‘Tamah’ indicates tendency to commit vice or to inflict injury. In fact, tamah tendency has now engulfed the whole world and is spreading over like fire and showing its most monstrous destructive ugly appearance.
By Rajah-guna living beings are created, by Sattva-guna they are maintained and by Tama-guna they are destroyed. Living beings are non-eternal. Human beings are the best amongst all kinds of created species, because they have got the discriminating power between good and bad, eternal and non-eternal, vice and virtue. Eating, sleeping, defending and mating are equal in beasts and human beings but human beings are superior because of their discriminating power. Practically it is demonstrated now that the human beings have become the greatest enemy of their own species. They are causing unnatural deaths without considering the innocence of the killed— whether they are children or women, whom the killers have never seen and who have never done any harm to the killers. It is the greatest shame of such human beings to claim the false vanity of being the best amongst created beings.
The Supreme Lord does not think much about sins of other living beings who have got no such discriminating power. They do actions out of instinct. But God has bestowed discriminating power to human beings. In spite of that if they commit heinous crimes, surely they will be punished. They will never be spared. They are lowering the status of humanity. We may commit heinous crimes by deceiving ignorant human beings, beasts and birds, but we cannot deceive Supreme Lord Who is Omniscient. Lord is residing in the heart of every individual soul.
‘Karmanye va dhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana’ —Bhagvad Gita
As human being has got relative independence, he can do good and bad deeds by good or bad use of his relative independence. But the fruits of those deeds are controlled by Supreme Lord and not by conditioned souls of the world. Out of ignorance, conditioned souls always have the aptitude to blame others for their sufferings.
When human beings have lost the capacity to understand difference between civilization and non-civilization, good and bad, they have lost everything. There is one pithy saying to know the criterion to understand which is good and bad, beneficial and non-beneficial— ‘When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; and when character is lost, everything is lost.’
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
Pilot Nikson was flying his plane and was locating the defence facilities of German army, during world war- I. He was accompanied by his four colleagues, all from air-force. They entered German air-space and were hiding their plane in clouds. Nikson as pilot wanted clear view of the defence sites, hence took risk of lowering his plane. Suddenly a jolt shook him. His plane was hit. German army was firing at their plane and suddenly plane was in flames.
Mr. Nikson wrote in his biography, ‘I was a firm non-believer in God. I observed that my burning plane was loosing height rapidly and would soon crash. There was no chance of survival. I murmured, ‘If there is any God, save me.’ I went blank after that. I do not know what happened after that. I regained consciousness after a long time. When I recovered a bit, I was told that I remained unconscious for almost 2 months. When I inquired about my colleagues, I was told that somehow the burning plane re-entered the French border and fell with a loud thud. Nothing remained in the place. All were dead. Your pulse was quite slow but running. You were hence taken to Army hospital in Paris and doctors worked very hard to save you. When all were discussing in detail about the crash, I began to re-collect all the minute details of events. Then I recalled how I have murmured, ‘If there is any God, save me’. A shiver ran in my spine and from that day, I had firm faith in God and His existence.’
He continues to write, ‘After I was discharged I began going to church and began inquiring about God from various fathers (priests). I thought that since I know that God exists then I should find Him and talk to Him. I was not satisfied with the answers I got and eventually began reading many holy books. I was still not satisfied. My desire to meet God increased day by day. After all He saved me that other day and I should meet my saviour. I was advised to visit India to learn further about God. I was informed that sages of ancient India had researched deeply into this topic. I resigned from the Royal Air Force, and came to India to research on God.’
The same pilot Nikson came to India. His complete name was Ronald Nikson and became known as Professor Nikson in the Lucknow University. He was acquainted with Dr. Gyanendra Nath Chakravarty (Vice-Chancellor) as they had met in England earlier and became good friends. Dr. Gyanendra appointed Professor Nikson in the English department of Lucknow University.
Sri Krishna says in Gita that I help those, who look for me, sincerely. Wife of Dr. Chakravarty , Srimati Manika Devi was a devotee of Sri Krishna. She taught and explained various Indian scriptures namely Srimad Bhagwad Gita, Upanishads, Vedant and Srimad Bhagwatam and eventually initiated him and re-named him as Sri Krishna-prema. The same Professor Nikson established a centre at Mirtola (about 14 miles from Almora in the state of Uttar Pardesh) under the name ‘Uttar Vrindavan’. It is said that he realized the Supreme Lord here and used to talk to the Lord. Thus Lord fulfilled his desire.
The essence of the this topic is that Professor Nikson has concluded that he was a firm non-believer in God but he developed firm faith in God with that single incident. This means that God exists. There are many examples to prove that God exists. The only way to realize His existence is by submitting to Him. A sincere absolute surrender would bring Him to you. For e.g. to receive some education we have to submit to a professor or a teacher. Submission means you are accepting that the said professor is more learned than you in that sphere of education, thus he will impart you with that education once you submit to him. Similarly once we submit to Supreme Lord, He will impart us with knowledge to realize Him.
Do not blame others for your afflictions. You do not realise that you are receiving the same afflictions that you once inflicted upon others. God is omniscient. There cannot be any mistake in His judgement.
– His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj.
Out of compassion for the fallen souls, Sri Krisna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu descended to this world with His personal associates and divine abode to teach ‘saranagati’ ——- surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and to freely distribute ecstatic love of God, which is ordinarily very difficult to obtain.
Obtaining Love of God
This ‘saranagati’ is the very life of the true devotee of the Supreme Lord.
We, the souls are the servants of Supreme Lord Lord Krishna eternally.
In the seventh chapter of Sree Bhagavad Geeta Lord Krishna explains that soul is part of My potency.
This means soul is servitor of Super-soul. Soul was servitor of Lord, soul is servitor of Lord and soul will remain servitor of Lord. All scriptures and pure devotees of Lord certify and declare openly this truth.
One must understand that by staying in this material world and forgetting the super-soul, this servitor of Lord suffers from threefold misery. When this soul (servitor of Lord) serves the Lord, or practice devotional process for Lord, he remains in transcendental ecstasy and he is not bothered by any threefold miseries.
One who attains this exalted state of devotion is instantly liberated from the cycle of birth and death.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
The Vedic arya-sastras are divided into two sections:”smarta (literature based on smrti) and paramartha (transcendental literature based on sruti). Those who are eligible (adhikari) for the smarta section do not have any natural inclination or taste for the paramartha-sastras.
The thoughts, principles, activities and life goal of every human is constituted according to his respective ruci (inclination) . Generally, smartas accept those scriptures which are in accordance with their respective ruci. Having greater adhikara for smarta-sastra, they do not demonstrate much regard for paramarthika- sastra. Providence is the agent behind the creation of these two divisions. Therefore, undoubtedly the maintainer of the world must have a hidden purpose in having made such an arrangement.
As far as I understand, the purpose is that the jivas sequentially make progress in their level of consciousness by remaining steadfast in their respective adhikara. By deviating from one’s adhikara, one falls down. According to one’s activities, a person attains two types of adhikara:karmadhika ra and bhakti-adhikhara. As long as one maintains his karmadhikara, he derives benefit from the path shown by the smarta section. When he enters bhakti-adhikara, by transgressing the karmadhikara, then he develops a natural ruci (inclination) for the paramarthika, or transcendental, path. Therefore, providence has made these two divisions of sastra: smarta and paramartha.
Adhimasa (extra month), also called mala masa (impure month), is devoid of all auspicious activities
By dividing the whole year in twelve parts, the smarta-sastras have ascertained the auspicious, or religious, activities for these twelve months. All the karma, religious activities which are part of the varnasrama system when allotted to the twelve months, leave the extra month (adhimasa) devoid of any such activity. There is no religious performance in adhimasa. In order to keep lunar months and solar months in tally, one month has to be excluded every 32 months. The name of that month is adhimasa (extra month).* Smartas have discarded this extra month, considering it abominable. They gave it names such as mala masa (impure month), cora masa (thieving month), and so on.
From the perspective of paramartha-sastra, adhimasa is superior and advantageous for Hari-bhajana
On the other hand, the most worshipable paramartha-sastra acclaims adhimasa as the most outstanding month for transcendental activities. Since life in this world is temporary, it is not proper to spend any part of one’s life meaninglessly. It is imperative for the jiva to remain continuously engaged in hari-bhajana at every moment. Thus, the adhimasa, which comes every third year, may also become useful for hari-bhajana. This is indeed the deep meaning of paramartha-sastras. Even though karmis perceive this month to be devoid of all auspicious activities, for the deliverance of all the jivas, paramartha sastra, on the other hand, has ascertained that period as the most conducive for hari-bhajana. Paramartha sastra says, He jiva! During this adhimasa why should you remain lazy in hari-bhajana? Srimad Golokanatha Himself has ascertained that this month is the best of all. It is superior even to the greatly pious months of Karttika, Magha and Vaisakha. In this month, you should perform arcana of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna with special rules, or moods, for bhajana. You will thereby attain all types of perfection.
Srila Gaura Kishore Das babaji Maharaj would gather dry foodstuffs from the householders of the holy dhama by begging, and offer them in his hand to the Lord. To cook, Srila Gaura Kishore Das babaji Maharaj would often collect dry wood from the pathways and wash discarded pots he found along the roadside near the Ganges.
To meet his practical necessities such as clothing himself, he would go to the shore of the Ganges River and collect and wash the discarded cloth that had been used to cover the corpses in the burning grounds. In this way he always remained independent of others by using rejected items that served no purpose for anyone.
Srila Bhakti Vinode Thakur often related the behavior of Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babaji Maharaj as an example of “nirapeksa,” or total indifference to worldly existence.
Sri Jagannathdev has told the following to king Indradyumna (he who constructed the temple in Puri):
Vaisakhasya site pakshe tritiyakshaya sañjika
tatra mam lepayed-gandha lepanairati-sobhanam
(Utkal Khand, Chapter 29)
‘In the 3rd day of the bright fortnight during the month of Vaisakh, Akshaya-tritiya, smear My Transcendental Spiritual body with fragrant sandalwood paste.’
In Sri Vishnudharmottar it is written, ‘anulepana mukhyanta chandanam parikirtitam’ – sandalwood paste is superior among other smearing articles. This is also mentioned in Sri Narad Puran.
Chandan-Yatra in Narendra Sarovar
Sri Purushottamdev has ordered the Vaishnava king Sri Indradyumna, His servant at that time, to smear fragrant sandalwood paste on Lord Jagannath’s Transcendental Spiritual body on Akshaya-tritiya, the 3rd day of the bright fortnight during the month of Vaisakh. Following that order, even today Sri Jagannathdev’s vijaya-vigraha, Sri Madanmohandev is boarded on a palanquin everyday starting from Akshaya-tritiya till the 8th day of bright fortnight in the month of Jyesta and is taken from Sri Jagannathdev’s temple to the banks of Sri Narendra sarovar (lake). Sri Madanmodandev sails in the boat along with His minister, Sri Loknath Mahadev and others.
This Narendra sarovar is also called ‘Chandanpukur’ because the Chandan-Yatra of Sri Madanmohan takes place here. This ‘Chandanpukur’, which is 873 feet long and 743 feet wide, is situated almost a mile away from Sri Jagannathdev’s temple in the North-East direction. This huge sarovar is bound on all the four sides and there are stone-made steps. The king’s subordinate, Narendra Mahaptra, has established this sarovar (lake), in the 13th century.
narendrer jale govinda naukate cadiya
jalakrida kare saba bhakta gan lañya
saba bhakta lañya prabhu namilena jale
saba lañya jalakrida karena kutuhale
(Composed by Sri Vrindavan Das Thakur in Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat)
Sri Govindadev’s Chandan-Yatra is described in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita and Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat. It is also described there that Sriman Mahaprabhu used to take devotees to Sri Jagannath temple after sporting in the waters of Chandanpukur. Later, Sri Madanmohan has come to be known as vijaya-vigraha of Sri Govinda.
About three hundred years ago, the king of Bengal, Pratapaditya moved Sri Jagannathdev’s representative Sri Govindadev from Sri Purushottam to a place called Raipur near Takir after conquering Utkal. From then on the Chandan-Yatra in Narendra sarovar is performed for Sri Madanmohan instead of Sri Govindadev
Logically, If you churn yogurt or milk, then only you can make butter.
When a devotee says to us, “There is no ingredient in the water by which you will get butter. All your efforts are a waste of time.”
We answer, “No, you have lost your mind. I shall go on churning for thousands of births!” ( We think that by churning water, we shall get butter.)
Likewise, this world is devoid of existence, devoid of knowledge and devoid of happiness. If you devote all your energy to this world, you keep on churning, you will not get rather you will be in want of eternal existence, in want of eternal knowledge and in want of eternal happiness.
Sri Krishna is the embodiment of All-Existence, All-Knowledge and All-Bliss.
Therefore, to get eternal existence, eternal knowledge and eternal happiness, we should worship Sri Krishna.
In the Gita, Sri Krishna says:
anityam asukham lokam
imam prapya bhajasva mam
(Bhagavad-gita, 9.33)
“You have forgotten Me and thus you have come to this non-eternal world.”
So start worshipping Him.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
According to Indian scriptural evidence, human beings who have got the opportunity to be born in this Kaliyuga of the seventh Manvantar are supremely fortunate.
Span of life of Kaliyuga is 4 lacs 32 thousand years. Double of Kaliyuga is the span of life of Dwaparyuga. Triple of the span of life of Kaliyuga is the span of life of Tretayuga and span of life of Satyayuga is four times more than that of Kaliyuga. Total span of life of four ages is 43 lacs 20 thousand years. Span of life of four ages multiplied by 71 is equal to the span of life of one Manu. One day of the creator Brahma is equal to the spans of lives of 14 Manus.
The present Kaliyuga of the seventh Manu or Vaivasvata Manu is very significant in the sense that Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu— The Combined Manifestation of Sri Radha-Krishna, The Most Munificent Form of Godhead appeared and distributed highest Sri Krishna Prema— transcendental divine love of the highest order— the highest bliss to all irrespective of caste, creed and religion.
Sree Krishna The Most Sweet Form of Godhead who appeared in Dwaparyuga just before this Kaliyuga and had His pastimes only with His personal associates, did not distribute that highest Sri Krishna Prema to anybody.
Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also taught the easiest way of getting Sri Krishna-Prema by chanting the Holy Name without tenfold offences.
After the disappearance of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj, we are celebrating His appearance day on 24, 25 and 26 March at His appearance place, Gwalpara, Assam.
The Geeta has shown a clear-cut way as to how one should follow the gradual steps in one’s oneward march to the Destination of all human life, according to the particular inclination and aptitude of individuals in their abnormal existence of self-forgetfulness, which should all harmoniously and favourably be subservient to Unalloyed Devotion or Bhakti, which is the normal nature of a freed soul.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Hriday Van Goswami Maharaj
Soul ascension. Spiritual transformation. Consciousness and body human faith and person.
When Srila Raghunath Das Goswami was at home, he was devising a plan for how he would be delivered from his material entanglements, he heard that Sri Nityananda Prabhu had made an auspicious appearance in the town of Panihati. Thinking that Sri Nityananda was the deliverer of the most fallen and that by His mercy he would surely be able to find his freedom, he went across the Ganges to Panihati where he found the Lord sitting under a tree on a wooden seat, surrounded by his associates.
As soon as Srila Raghunath saw Him from a distance, he fell down like a rod. The merciful Lord Nityananda immediately had him brought close to Him and, understanding the deep-rooted desires of Raghunath’s heart, arranged for him to perform a service to the Vaishnavas so that he could realize them.
“Like a thief, you don’t come near me, but simply try to run away. Now that I have caught you, I shall punish you. I want you to feed all my followers chipped rice and yogurt.”
When he heard Sri Nityananda’s command, Raghunath’s mind was filled with joy. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 3.6.50-1)
The festival which Lord Nityananda ordered Srila Raghunath to put on is still celebrated as the Panihati Ciriadadhi Mahotsava.
Sri Nityananda Prabhu and a manifestation of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself celebrated the festival, eating on the banks of the Ganges just as though They were cowherd boys on the banks of the Yamuna River. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Their associates, numerous Brahmins and countless men and women from the area enjoyed a feast of milk and chipped rice and yogurt and chipped rice. The opportunity to serve the Lord and His devotees in this way was something that could not come about except for some great fortune.
On the following day, Raghunath Das Goswami emotionally asked Sri Nityananda through Srila Raghava Pandit how he could possibly gain freedom from his material entanglements and find the association of Sri Mahaprabhu. Like an ocean of mercy, Sri Nityananda Prabhu placed His feet on Srila Raghunath’s head and said,
“You arranged this feast on the banks of the river and Sri Mahaprabhu was merciful to you and came here himself to enjoy it. He blessed you by accepting the offering of chipped rice and yogurt. Then, after watching the devotees dancing, He took prasad in the evening. Lord Gauranga came here just to deliver you and now He has removed any impediments which remained. He will turn you over to Svarupa Damodar and making you His confidential servant, He will keep you by His side. Go home now and forget your worries. You will soon be able to go to the Lord without any difficulties.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita 3.6.139-143)
— As a result of accepting the shelter of a sadhu’s lotus feet, a person performs Hari-bhajan, and as he gradually becomes free from anarthas, he becomes cognizant of the nature of the transcendental reality.
— Only a sadhu who knows the imports of all shastras, who is devoted to Sri Bhagavan and who is intent on bhajan, is a genuine guru. Those who speak in order to appease the fancies of the living being’s mind and thus try to attract it are not worthy of the title guru; rather they are the living-being’s enemies. Never associate with them no matter how fond of their charming words you may be.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Srirupa Siddhanti Goswami Maharaj
Before taking sannyas, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordered Srila Jagadish Pandit (one of His devotees) to go to Nilachala to preach Sri Krishna-bhakti and the religious practice of the age, Harinama-sankirtan.
When he arrived in Puri, Sri Jagadish went for Lord Jagannath’s darshan and melted with love when he saw Him. When on his way back to Bengal, however, he felt extreme separation from Lord Jagannath.
Lord Jagannath Deva saw Srila Jagadish crying and so mercifully appeared to him in a dream and told him to take His vigraha and serve the same. Simultaneously, He appeared to the king of Orissa and ordered him th,at at the time of the nava-kalevara, when the deity of Lord Jagannath is changed, the outgoing form should be given to Srila Jagadish Pandit. Thus, when he met Sri Jagadish, the Maharaj considered it to be a great honor to give him LordJagannath’s outgoing form, which is known as the samadhi-stha-vigraha.
Srila Jagadish prayed to Lord Jagannath, asking Him just how he could possibly carry the heavy figure of the deity all the way back to Bengal. LordJagannath answered him that He would become as light as a cork; Sri Jagadish should simple cover Him with a new cloth and then carry Him with the help of a staff. Srila Jagadish would have to make permanent arrangements to stay wherever Lord Jagannath was set down on the ground.
Srila Jagadish enlisted the aid of two Brahmins, and they took turns carrying Lord Jagannath as far as the village of Jashora on the banks of the mother Ganges, near the town of Chakdaha in Bengal. Srila Jagadish left Lord Jagannath with one of the Brahmins and went to take his bath in the Ganges. Suddenly, the Brahmin found that Lord Jagannath was becoming very heavy and that he was no longer able to hold Him up. Thus when Sri Jagadish came back from his bath, he saw Lord Jagannath sitting on the ground and realized that the Lord wanted to stay in that very spot.
Fortunate souls can have darshan of Lord Jagannath at Chakadaha in Bengal, even today. The holy site is managed by Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math.
Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta is universally adored name and scripture and is commonly known to everyone across the globe. But the difficulty is this: there are thousands of commentaries on the Geeta, and in these commentaries the commentators have expressed their own views. They all have different views and ordinary people are confused about the actual message of Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta.
The speaker of the Geeta is the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. Only those who have entered into the heart of Sri Krishna can understand the real implication and significance of His sayings and the purpose of His speech and advice. Outside people cannot understand.
In India, and outside India, you will find many people who say, ‘We do not believe Krishna is Supreme Lord because He took birth and, therefore, He was a human being. He may have many powers, perhaps even superhuman powers. He may even be a great politician, a great diplomat. But He is still only a human being.’
Even those who have gone through the Geeta may also speak like this. It is most astounding. When I ask them, ‘Have you gone through the Geeta?’ The reply is, ‘Oh, yes.’ I ask them, ‘How! If you have gone through the Geeta, then you should accept the teachings of the Geeta.’
Supreme Lord Sri Krishna mentions in Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta (7.7), ‘There is nothing superior to Me.’
With emphasis, Sri Krishna says that He is the Supreme Lord. We read the Geeta, but we do not believe the teachings of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Why is this? He also says in the Geeta (9.24), ‘I am the only Master and the only Enjoyer of all yajnas (sacrifices). There are many verse in Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta substantiating Sri Krishna as Supreme Lord. In the Geeta (10.8), He says, ‘I am the cause of all creation, the origin of all the things.’ In verse (14.27), He says, ‘I am the cause of the impersonal formless God (Brahm).’ That impersonal, formless God is the halo of Sri Krishna’s own light, emanating from Sri Krishna Himself. And so on.
Sri Krishna is the Supreme Lord. How can we know the Supreme Lord? Without His grace, no one can know Him. If anybody says, ‘Yes. I can know Him.’ then he will be equal to or greater than the Supreme Lord. But the Supreme Lord, Infinite and Absolute, is One. Nothing can be outside the Infinite. If you say, ‘This flower is outside the Infinite,’ then the Infinite becomes finite. Even particle of dust cannot be outside the Infinite, or the Absolute will lose His position. The Absolute is One. The only way to get Him is to take absolute shelter at His Lotus Feet and to act according to His will. There is no other way to get Him except by means of exclusive, pure devotion.
Therefore, only those who have surrendered to Sri Krishna, who have access to the heart of Sri Krishna, can understand the implication and significance of His teachings. Those without knowledge of Sri Krishna, who have not submitted to Sri Krishna, how can they know. They may write many commentaries, but they cannot comprehend the actual significance of the teachings of Sri Krishna.
Even Sri Arjuna took the shelter unto Sri Krishna, means he also surrendered unto Sri Krishna, before he was imparted with this divine knowledge. He says in the Geeta (2.7), ‘I have lost my natural valor. I am bewildered and cannot ascertain what is right and what is wrong. I submit to you. I am your disciple. Please advise me ragarding my eternal welfare.’
Supreme Lord’s transcendental glories are revealed to the heart of the bonafide votaries according to the degree of submission. Degrees of submission to God are ad-infinitum, so revelations of the glories of Divinity will also be ad-infinitum.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
The duration of the four ages or yugas have been described as follows:
the duration of Kaliyuga is 432000 solar years, double is the duration of Dvapar yuga, triple is the duration of Treta yuga and quadruple is the duration of Stya-yuga. The four-yugas combied are called one divya-yuga or catur-yuga. The reign of one Manu is comprised of 71 such divya or catur-yugas. The span of life of fourteen Manus is the duration of one day of the life of Sri Brahma.
Similar also is the duration of one night of Sri Brahma.
At the end of one day of Sri Brahma or at the end of a kalp, partial annihilation takes place.
Source: Dasavatar, by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
After the disappearance of Srila Svarupa Damodar Goswami, Srila Ramananda Raya and the Six Goswamis, Srila Srinivas Acharya, Srila Narottama Thakur and Srila Shyamananda Prabhu, a dark age descended on the world of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Those unable to understand the transcendental purity of Sree Mahaprabhu’s dharm of love started numerous heretical sects or apasampradayas.
Srila Totarama Das Babaji named thirteen such heretical sects:
aul, baul, kartabhaja, neria, daravesha, sain
sahajiya, sakhibheki, smarta, jata-gosaïi
atibarii, curiadhari, gauranga-nagari
tota kahe ei teror sanga nahi kari
Educated upper class Bengali society was shocked and disgusted by the practices of these heretical sects and came to identify Sree Mahaprabhu’s religion with the lower classes, the uneducated and immoral. People of the gentle classes thus had no understanding or faith in Sree Mahaprabhu’s true religion. The most munificent incarnation Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took pity on these bewildered persons and in order to reclaim them for his path of divine love sent his eternal associate Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur into this world.
Possessed of superhuman prowess, the Thakur wrote more than a hundred books in several different languages with the goal of defeating all the unorthodox views opposed to the true doctrines of Sree Mahaprabhu’s religion.
The result was that many members of discerning society and others from all over the world came to recognize the un-equalled value of Sree Mahaprabhu’s teachings.
The founder of the Chaitanya Math and the worldwide Gaudiya Maths, Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad, based His mission on the books and teachings given by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur and set into motion the fulfillment of Sree Mahaprabhu’s message, found in the Chaitanya Bhagavat:
prithivite paryanta ache jata desha-grama
sarvatra saïcara haibeka mora nama
My name will pervade every village and country in the world. (Chaitanya Bhagavat 3.4.126)
Bali Maharaja had begun the performance of a fire-sacrifice in the field known as Bhrigukaccha on the bank of the Narmada River. He was a greatly charitable person. Brahmanas who were desirous of his charity were going to the place where the sacrifice was being held.
A new brahmana will beg alms after the sacred thread ceremony. Following this custom, Lord Vamana deva set out for the sacrificial arena of Bali Maharaja, holding His danda, waterpot and umbrella to beg alms from him. Lord Vamana deva was walking while holding His umbrella. Being small in size, He was completely covered by the umbrella. When the brahmanas saw Him from a distance, they thought that the umbrella was walking by itself, so they were very astonished. Later, they understood that a brahmana boy of small stature was underneath the umbrella. The brahmanas tried very hard to overtake him, but were unable to do so.
Lord Vamana deva bewildered all the brahmanas with His maya and became the first to arrive at the sacrificial arena.
The auspicious arrival of Vamanadeva in His brilliant effulgent form diminished the brilliance of the sacrificial fire. Understanding that a great personality had arrived, Bali Maharaja, his priests and others present there, rose up from their seats and welcomed the Lord by offering proper respects.
Later on, Lord Vamanadeva, the protector of dharma, said to Sri Sukracarya, the foremost of the Bhrigu dynasty brahmanas and guru of the demons, “Your disciple Bali Maharaja has undergone many difficulties. Please perform the yajna again for his welfare.”
Sri Sukracarya replied, “My disciple has seen You; he has chanted Your name and glories. Your rare lotus feet have been placed upon his head. Is my disciple still so impure that I have to perform a yajna to bless him?”
“There may be discrepancies in pronouncing mantras, observing the regulative principles in serial order and moreover, there may be discrepancies in regard to time, place, person, articles and paraphernalia. But when Your Lordship’s holy name is chanted, everything becomes faultless.”
‘Try to come to My Home-town of Braj-mandal, sometime.’……….
By the blessings of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj, we are pleased to announce that Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math is organizing 30 day long Braj-Mandal Parikrama. (Circumambulation of Sri Braj Mandal)
The details:
(1st Oct to 1st Nov, 2017)
1- Mathura 1 Oct to 5 Oct
2- Govardhan 6 Oct to 12 Oct
3- Barsana 13 Oct to 18 Oct
4- Gokul Mahavan 19 Oct to 25 Oct
5- Vrindavan 26 Oct to 1 Nov
Devotees will travel by Bus to Kamyavan from Goverdhan on 9-10 October.
From Barsana to NandGaon on 15-16 October and on 17 October to Kosi.
Please note:
1. Devotees interested in participating in this Braj Mandal Parikrama, must reach Sree Radheyshyam Ashram, Bengali Ghat, Mathura on Saturday 30 September, 2017.
2. Upon arrival devotees must deposit Rs 7500/- per person in the office and get a reciept and badge from the office. This will cover staying, prasadam and Bus charges during parikrama.
3. There will be a group photo for all the devotees participating in Sri Braj Mandal Parikrama and Guru Puja on 1 November, at Kesi Ghat on the banks of river Yamuna.
A brief description about Sri Radharani from Sri Brahmavaivarta Purana is as under:
In the arena of highest divine mellow in the abode of Goloka She, who appeared from the left hand side of Sri Krishna and got attracted and ran towards Him, is known as ‘Radha’. Srimati Radha appeared from Sri Krishna and is His non-different manifestation. Hence She is dear-most to Sri Krishna. From the sweat pores of Sri Radharani million crores of cowherd girls and from the sweat pores of Sri Krishna, million crores of cowherd boys and cows appeared.
Once King Vrishabhanu was engaged in the worship of Yogamaya on the banks of river Kalindi in order to get a beautiful baby. Yogamaya Katyayini, being satisfied by his worship, gave the an effulgent egg to king Vrishabhanu and said, “I am subdued by your wife’s devotion; give this egg to her. You will be blessed with a beautiful baby girl. As soon as king Vrishabhanu placed the egg in front of his wife Srimati Kirtida, the egg broke and Sri Radha rani appeared.
Regarding the appearance of Sri Radharani it is also said –
by the fruit of the penances of king Vrishabhanu on the banks of river Yamuna, Srimati Radharani self-manifested on an unprecedented hundred petal lotus flower in Yamuna. Sri Vrishbhanu was extremely pleased being blessed with a wonderful and most beautiful baby girl but saw that the eyes of the baby were closed. He was all the while unhappy internally for the baby being sightless.
One day his friend king Nanda along with his wife Srimati Yasoda devi and the child Sri Gopal came to his place. While Sri Vrishabhanu was narrating his sorrow to king Nanda one surprising incident took place. Baby Gopal crawled towards Srimati Radharani and touched her. She immediately opened her eyes. Sruimati Radharani had taken a vow that she would open her eyes for the first time only when Sri Krishna will be there. Hence as soon as Sri Krishna came she opened her eyes.
— Excerpt from the lecture given by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj (All India Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math) on September 05, 2011 on the day of Radhastami.
His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
Which karma are to be performed and which are to be avoided?
The devotional scriptural prescript is always to remember Sri Vishnu and never to forget Him. There may be hundreds of devotional forms.
The purpose of the list of devotional forms, or positive assertions, is to remember Sri Krishna and the purpose of the list of prohibitions, or negative assertions, is never to forget Sri Krishna.
Any action which may no be in the list of prescribed devotional forms but makes us remember Sri Krishna is allowed, and any action which may not be in the list of prohibitions but makes us forget Sri Krishna is prohibited.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
The name ‘Krishna‘ denotes that He pleases all by attracting all.
All others, other than Supreme Lord Shri Krishna are being attracted by Him.
As for example– It is the nature of the magnet to attract iron and it is the nature of iron to be attracted by magnet. But when there is rust on the iron, this nature is not seen to be manifested. When the rust is removed iron immediately runs towards the magnet.
All living beings of this world in their real selves have got attraction for Shri Krishna i.e. have got natural love for Shri Krishna. It is not to be borrowed from somebody else.
When soul by misuse of his relative independence becomes averse to Shri Krishna is enveloped by the illusory energy of Supreme Lord and is hurled down into this world of ocean of births and deaths.
A fortunate soul by the previous good impressions of the eternal good deeds, when comes in contact with the bonafide pure devotee, the eternal nature to love Krishna is awakened in him/her.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj.
Supreme Lord Sree Balarama, serves Supreme Personality of Godhead Sree Krishna in His five Forms of Sree Maha-Sankarsana, Sree Karanodasayi Vishnu, Sree Garbhodasayi Vishnu, Sree Ksirodasayi Vishnu and Sree Anant-Shesa.
Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur has written as follows in the Amrta Pravaha Bhasya (commentary) of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta:
Sree Balaram, Who is one of the First Four Expanded Forms of Sree Krishna in Dwaraka, can be called the Original Sree Sankarsana. He is Sree Maha-Sankarsana in the second manifested expanded Four Forms of Sree Narayana in Vaikuntha. He serves Sree Krishna by taking the Form of Sree Maha-Sankarsana amd Four other forms i.e. Sree Karanodasayi Vishnu, Sree Garbhodasayi Vishnu, Sree Ksirodasayi and Sree Anant-Shesa. He Himself, while assisting in the pastimes of Sree Krishna, with the four Forms of Sree Maha-Sankarsana, Sree Karanodasayi Vishnu, Sree Garbhodasayi Vishnu and Sree Ksirodasayi Vishnu, does also the work of creation. Sree Shesa Who is known as Sree Ananta performs a variety of Sree Krishna’s service. In this way, Sree Balarama tastes the divine nectar of the service of Sree Krishna accepting all these Forms.
sei ta’ ‘ananta’ ‘sesa’—bhakta-avatara
isvarera seva vina nahi jane ara
sahasra-vadane kare Krishna-guna gana
niravadhi guna ga’na, anta nahi pa’na
eta murti-bheda kari’ Krishna-seva kare
krsnera sesata païa ‘sesa’ nama dhare
(Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi-lila 5.120-124)
“That Sree Ananta Shesa is the devotee avatara of Godhead. He knows nothing but the service of Lord Krishna. With His thousands of mouths He sings the glories of Lord Krishna, but although He always sings in that way, He does not find an end to the qualities of the Lord. The four Kumaras (Sanak etc.) hear Srimad Bhagavatam from His lips, and they in turn repeat the glories of Lord to be immersed in the ocean of transcendental bliss of love of God. Sree Ananta Shesa serves Lord Krishna by assuming the forms of the Lord’s umbrella, slippers, bedding, pillow, garments, easy chair, residence, sacred thread and throne. He is thus called Lord Shesa, as He is the last manifested Form of Sree Krishna to serve Him. He takes various forms for the service of Krishna.”
Through Srila Rupa Goswami, Supreme Lord Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught the world about Lord Krishna’s Vrindavan pastimes and the process for attaining Sree Krishna in Vrindavan.
Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami writes,
“Through the mercy of Sri Sanatan Goswami I have learned the devotional doctrines, while by the grace of Sri Rupa Goswami I have been able to discover the extensiveness of the divine aesthetics of devotion.”
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.5.203)
The Lord taught about sacred rapture and Vraja’s pastimes of love through Srila Rupa Goswami.
Who can effectively describe the subtleties of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s lila?
Just as the Lord enlightened the heart of Sree Brahma with the details of the creation and thus made the manifestation of the cosmos possible, so did Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu eagerly impregnate the heart of Srila Rupa Goswami with spiritual potency so that he could revive Sree Krishna’s Vrindavan pastimes which had almost been lost to memory. (Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.19.1)
His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj entered eternal pastimes of Supreme Lord Sree Radha-Krishna on 20 April 2017.
He was President Acharya of All India Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math, as well as World Vaishnav Association. He is Founder Achrya of GOKUL (Global Organization of KrishnaChaitanya’s Universal Love).
He is dear disciple of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj ‘Vishnupad’, Who is dear disciple of Jagadguru His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Goswami Thakur ‘Prabhupad’, Founder of All Gaudiya Maths, Gaudiya Missions and Chaitanya Math.
Maharaj ji is such a personality, He preached the teachings of Supreme Lord Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sree Harinam Sankirtan not only in India but across 32 countries of the world.
President Acharya of Gopinath Gaudiya Math – Pujyapad Bodhayan Maharaj, President Acharya of Gaudiya Vedant Smiti – Pujyapad Paryatak Maharaj, President Acharya of Saraswat Gaudiya Math – Pujyapad Govind Maharaj, Founder Acharya of Vrinda Mission – Pujyapad Paramadvaiti Maharaj, Founder Acharya of Srila Sant Goswami Gaudiya Math – Pujyapad Bharati Maharaj, General Secretary of Gaudiya Mission – Pujyapad Sannyasi Maharaj, President Acharya of Gaudiya Sangha – Pujyapad Sadhu Maharaj Founder Acharya of Sree Madhav Goswami Gaudiya Math – Pujyapad Mahavir Maharaj and Pujyapad Jayapataka Maharaj, Pujyapad Radhanath Maharaj, Pujyapad Gopalkrishna Maharaj from ISKCON
consider His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj as Their Shiksha Guru and have great respects for Him.
Srila Tirtha Maharaj is a perfect example of Guru-nishtha, Guru mein samarpan, Guruji ki agya palan. He is perfect example for all Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
His Gurudeva said about Him that I have many disciples, but only one disciple is as per my desire/mind and that is Srila Tirtha Maharaj.
By rendering service to Sri Shyama (Sri Krishna), one attains His transcendental abode, which is full of spiritual bliss and astonishing, varietgated pastimes.
…………….. And within that spiritual world, one attains the eternal shelter of Sri Shyama.
Srila Sanatan Goswami has been called the Bhakti-siddhantacharya, or the teacher of devotional doctrine, by which is meant the teacher of sambandha-jïana, or of the basic relations between Bhagavan (God), man and the world.
The founder of the Chaitanya Math, His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur ‘Prabhupad’, whose various branches have spread throughout the world, mercifully gave His disciples a poem entitled “Who is a Vaishnava?”
The nectarean instructions which are found in this poem mention the teachings of Supreme Lord Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Srila Sanatan Goswami from Sree Chaitanya Charitamrita.
tai dushta mana nirjana bhajana
pracaricha chale kuyogi-vaibhava
prabhu sanatane parama yatane
shiksha dila yaha, cinta sei saba
So, wicked mind, you have deceptively been preaching nirjana-bhajana, the practice of the eremetic life, which is nothing more than a display, like that of a misleading yoga practitioner interested in the mystic powers. Study the teachings of the Supreme Lord to Srila Sanatan Goswami very carefully and meditate upon them.
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur Prabhupad thus instructs us all to give great attention to the Supreme Lord’s teachings to Srila Sanatan Goswami, or those teachings which He gave to the world through Srila Sanatan Goswami.
‘Try to come to My Home-town of Braj-mandal, sometime.’……….
By the blessings of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj, we are pleased to announce that Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math is organizing 30 day long Braj Mandal Parikrama. (Circumambulation of Sri Braj Mandal)
The details:
(1st Oct to 1st Nov, 2017)
1- Mathura 1 Oct to 5 Oct
2- Govardhan 6 Oct to 12 Oct
3- Barsana 13 Oct to 18 Oct
4- Gokul Mahavan 19 Oct to 25 Oct
5- Vrindavan 26 Oct to 1 Nov
Devotees will travel by Bus to Kamyavan from Goverdhan on 9-10 October.
From Barsana to NandGaon on 15-16 October and on 17 October to Kosi.
Please note:
1. Devotees interested in participating in this Braj Mandal Parikrama, must reach Sree Radheyshyam Ashram, Bengali Ghat, Mathura on Saturday 30 September, 2017.
2. Upon arrival devotees must deposit Rs 7500/- per person in the office and get a reciept and badge from the office. This will cover staying, prasadam and Bus charges during parikrama.
3. There will be a group photo for all the devotees participating in Sri Braj Mandal Parikrama and Guru Puja on 1 November, at Kesi Ghat on the banks of river Yamuna.
Lord Vamandeva, the protector of brahman-dharm, once said to Sri Sukrachtya, the foremost of the Bhrigu dunasty brahmans and the guru of the demons – Your disciple Bali Maharaj has undergone many difficulties. Please perform the yajna for his welfare.
Sri Shukrachrya replied – My disciple has seen You, he has chanted Your Name and glories. Your rare lotus feet have been placed upon his head. Is my disciple still so impure that I have to perform a yajna to bless him?
Sreemad Bhagavatam (8.23.16) says — There may be many discrepancies in pronouncing mantras, observing the regulative principles in serial order and moreover, there may be discrepancies in regard to time, place, person, articles and paraphernalia. But when Your Lordship’s holy Name is chanted, everything becomes faultless.
Source: Dasavatar by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
This is fact that His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj is transcendental and so are His pastimes. Both are for our benefit. His pastimes towards the end of His transcendental visit on this earth especially in between 12 and 22 April were full of realizations and inspiration for His disciples and devotees. Everyone headed for Kolkata irrespective of where he/she were? Some left their jobs, some their shops, some left their families and some came with families for the Darshan of His Divine Grace. Medically some organs of His transcendental body were working and some were not. Some reports were good and some were not. Hence, no one could predict what will happen next? He could stay for two hours or two days or two months or two years, depending upon His own desire.
On 17th April, 2017, 5pm Dr. Shuvanan Roy (famous Cardiologist, Fortis Hospital, Kolkata) paid a visit. Observing His Divine Grace, he said – This is a miracle. He is surviving under these parameters. This is absolutely transcendental.
Dr. A.K. Atri (Head of department of Surgery, Government Medical College, Chandigarh) expressed similar thoughts.
Dr. Amitabh Mukherji of AMRI Hospital and niece of Srila Gurudeva (His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj), Dr. Sushmita Guharoy (Head of I.C.U., R.N.T Hospital) had been attending Srila Gurudeva for more than three years, with utmost care and affection. Devotees of Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math are thankful to them for their efforts.
18th April morning brought surprisingly good news for all. Pulse rate increased from 24 to 34, breathing rate went up from 17 to 21. Sri Tatpar Maharaj (personal assistant of Srila Gurudeva) mentioned that he saw Srila Gurudeva moving His lips and fingers of His holy feet while meditating on the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha-Govind ji.
However, on 20th April, around 10:12pm His parameters began to decline. Sri Prasad Prabhu immediately asked Sri Sanandan Das Brahmchari that he should sing one of the bhajan which is dear to Srila Gurudeva ……Radha Kund tat Kunj Kutir, Goverdhan Parvat Yamuna Tir…..Immediately all began to sing this bhajan. All ran towards to room of Srila Gurudeva.
And….while listening to this bhajan, Srila Gurudeva began His journey to Golok dham.
Whole night devotees came pouring in for His Darshan and continued with Sankirtan while sitting around Him.
The Supreme Lord is eternal, self-effulgent, always free from material contact, supremely pure and the sole all-pervading, all-knowing witness and overseer of the entire universe.
No reasonable person can present an evidence that these words may also be a description of the individual spirit soul.
— Srila Madhvacharya ji (Sri Tattva Muktavali 61)
Source: Back to Godhead Magazine/ July-August 2016
Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta is universally adored name and scripture. It is commonly known to everyone across the globe. But the difficulity is this: there are thousands of commentaries on the Geeta, and in these commentaries the commentators have expressed their own views. They all have different views and ordinary people are confused about the actual message of Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta.
The speaker of the Geeta is the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. Only those who have entered into the heart of Sri Krishna can understand the real implication and significance of His sayings and the purpose of His speech and advice. Outside people cannot understand.
In India, and outside India, you will find many people who say, ‘We do not believe Krishna is Supreme Lord because He took birth and, therefore, He was a human being. He may have many powers, perhaps even superhuman powers. He may even be a great politician, a great diplomat. But He is still only a human being.’
Even those who have gone through the Geeta may also speak like this. It is most astouding. When I ask them, ‘Have you gone through the Geeta?’ The reply is, ‘Oh, yes.
‘ I ask them, ‘How! If you have gone through the Geeta, then you should accept the teachings of the Geeta.’
Supreme Lord Sri Krishna mentions in Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta (7.7), ‘There is nothing superior to Me.’
With emphasis, Sri Krishna says that He is the Supreme Lord. We read the Geeta, but we do not believe the teachings of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Why is this? He also says in the Geeta (9.24), ‘I am the only Master and the only Enjoyer of all yajnas (sacrifices). There are many verse in Sreemad Bhagwad Geeta substantiating Sri Krishna as Supreme Lord. In the Geeta (10.8), He says, ‘I am the cause of all creation, the origin of all the things.’ In verse (14.27), He says, ‘I am the cause of the impersonal formless God (Brahm).’ That impersonal, formless God is the halo of Sri Krishna’s own light, emanating from Sri Krishna Himself. And so on.
Sri Krishna is the Supreme Lord. How can we know the Supreme Lord? Without His grace, no one can know Him. If anybody says, ‘Yes. I can know Him.’ then he will be equal to or greater than the Supreme Lord. But the Supreme Lord, Infinite and Absolute, is One. Nothing can be outside the Infinite. If you say, ‘This flower is outside the Infinite,’ then the Infinite becomes finite. Even particle of dust cannot be outside the Infinite, or the Absolute will lose His position. The Absolute is One. The only way to get Him is to take absolute shelter at His Lotus Feet and to act according to His will. There is no other way to get Him except by means of exclusive, pure devotion.
Therefore, only those who have surrendered to Sri Krishna, who have access to the heart of Sri Krishna, can understand the implication and significance of His teachings. Those without knowledge of Sri Krishna, who have not submitted to Sri Krishna, how can they know. They may write many commentaries, but they cannot comprehend the actual significane of the teachings of Sri Krishna.
Even Sri Arjuna took the shelter unto Sri Krishna, means he also surrendered unto Sri Krishna, before he was imparted with this divine knowledge. He says in the Geeta (2.7), ‘I have lost my natural valor. I am bewildered and cannot ascertain what is right and what is wrong. I submit to you. I am your disciple. Please advise me ragarding my eternal welfare.’
(From the lectures of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
Satiated by the prayers of devotee Prahlad, Lord Nrisimha deva wished to grant a boon to him, but Sri Prahlad had no desire of taking any boon.
The person who serves the Lord with the desire for worldly pleasures or for the Lord’s blessings to get worldly benefit is not an actual servitor but a trader. Then Lord Nrisimha deva said that if He did not give Prahlad a boon, His designation as Varad-arshabha, the Supreme Conferrer of boons, would be defamed. So Sri Prahlad replied — O Lord, if You wish to grant me a boon, please grant me the boon that there may not be any desire in my heart to ask a boon from You.
Lord Nrisimha deva replied — This cannot be accepted as your prayer for a boon because you have deceived Me.
Sri Prahlad then submitted this prayer to Lord Nrisimha deva — My father struck Your holy body with his mace and he behaved maliciously with me because I worship You. Kindly purify him.
Lord Nrisimha deva said to Sri Prahlad – Your father has seen Me and received My touch. Did this not purify him? O Prahlad ! do you think the dynasty in which you have taken birth is still impure? Along with you, twenty-one of your ancestral generations have become purified.
trih-saptabhih pita putah pitribhih saha te nagha
yat sadho sya kule jato bhavan vai kula-pavanah
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.10.18)
(O sinless one, O sadhu, Your father has become pure along with twenty-one forefathers. The reason for this is that having taken birth in their dynasty, you have become the purifier of that dynasty.)
Lord Sri Nrisimha deva has two dispositions. He is terrible with non-devotees, but with devotees, He is very affectionate and caring.
The favour of Lord Sri Nrisimha deva is very necessary for neophyte devotees who have the weakness of non-eternal propensities
He re-established the supreme authenticity and decorum of the Vedas, and founded the philosophy of ‘brahmakaran-vad’ (Brahm as Ultimate cause).
In later ages, the Vaishnav stalwarts built the philosophy of bhakti upon this same foundation stone. Source: Dasavatar by Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
Srila Gadadhara Pandit Goswami, devotee of Supreme Lord Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, went to live in Puri as a kshetra-sannyasi.
Srila Chaitanya Mahaprabu Mahaprabhu gave him the service of the Sri Tota Gopinath deity and told him to live in the Yamesvara Tota, or garden.
When Sri Mahaprabhu showed determination to go to Vrindavan, the devotees finally gave Him permission to leave after Vijaya-dashami.
Srila Gadadhara Pandit Goswami was unable to tolerate the idea of separation from the lord and also wished to remain with Him, but Sri Mahaprabhu reminded him of his vow to remain in Sri Jagannath Puri and forbade him to go to Vraja. Srila Gadadhara said to Him, “Sri Jagannath Puri is wherever You are. My vows to remain in Puri can go to hell.”
Sri Mahaprabhu again told him not to abandon his service to Lord Gopinath. Srila Gadadhara answered, “Seeing Your lotus feet is worth a million services to Lord Gopinath.”
When Sri Mahaprabhu said, “If you abandon your duties to Lord Gopinath, you will be at fault.”, Srila Gadadhara answered that he was willing to take that responsibility, but he would not disturb Sri Mahaprabhu by following alongside Him..
Other than Sri Mahaprabhu’s intimate associates, no one is able to understand the extent of Srila Gadadhara Prabhu’s devotion to Sree Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Love on the path of spontaneous devotion is not easy to comprehend. Srila Gadadhara was ready to abandon his vows, his service, everything for the sake of Sri Mahaprabhu.
When they all arrived at Cuttack, Sri Mahaprabhu called Srila Gadadhara and said, “Your decision to break your vows and leave your service has been made a reality. If you come with Me, that will make you happy. But do you want your own happiness or Mine? It will make Me unhappy if your vows to remain in Sridham Puri and to serve Lord Gopinath are broken. If you want My happiness, return to Puri and take up your vows again. That is all I have to say.”
When he heard Sri Mahaprabhu’s words, Srila Gadadhara fell to the ground in a faint. Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya comforted him on Sri Mahaprabhu’s order and then accompanied him back to Puri.
a) Aishvarya-pradahan. Realization in which reverence inspired by knowledge of His opulence is prominent. The aishvarya-pradhan feature is Sripati Narayan, the husband of the demi-goddess of fortune.
b) Madhurya-pradhan. Realization in which sweetness is prominent. The madhurya-pradhan feature is realized as Radhanath Sri Krishna, the beloved of Srimati Radha.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Pragyan Keshav Goswami Maharaj
Srila Bhakti Pragyan Keshav Goswami Maharaj
Source: Sri Srimad Bhakti Pragyan Keshav Goswami Maharaj / His Life and Teachings
By performing parikrama of dham, our love and attachment to the Supreme Lord increases and we lose interest in any matter not related to the Supreme Lord.
Sri Mayapura and Sri Navadvip dham are not parts of West Bengal or India or a land of matter. Sri Navadvip dham or Sri Mayapura dham has descended. As Sri Gaurhari is beyond our comprehension, His dham is also beyond our comprehension.
The following events took place in 1930 while Jagadguru Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Goswami Thakur ‘Prabhupad’ was still present. A month-long festival was being held at the Calcutta Bagh Bazaar Gaudiya Math for Sri Janmashtami. Each day a different dignitary was invited to sit as Honorary Chairman of the evening meeting. Some students of world-renowned Nobel laureate scientist, Sir C. V. Raman were amongst those who came regularly to listen to the lectures of the Gaudiya Math preachers. One day, these students came to see Srila Prabhupada and complained that every day a different distinguished person was being made Honorary Chairman, but their professor, whose fame had spread throughout the world, had not even been invited.
Srila Prabhupada answered that he had no objection to making Sir. Raman Honorary Chairman for one evening. He asked Srila Paramgurudeva (His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Maharaj) to take charge of inviting him. Srila Paramgurudeva first went to Sir Raman’s house but did not find him there. The scientist’s wife sent him with an orderly to Sir Raman’s laboratory on Circular Road. There, Srila Paramgurudeva met with him on the second floor where he was sitting in a corner of a huge loft, engaged in his research activity. Sir Raman spoke neither Bengali nor Hindi and so their conversation took place in English.
Upon being asked by Sir Raman the reason for his coming, Srila Paramgurudeva answered, “A large month-long religious gathering is being held by the Bagh Bazaar Gaudiya Math on the ocassion of Sri Krishna Janmashtami. On each day, a different dignitary of the city is invited to grace the chairman’s seat and we humbly invite you to do the same.”
Sir Raman answered, “I do not believe in your Keshto-Bishtu (Krishna-Vishnu). I have no faith in anything that cannot be confirmed by direct sensory experience. I cannot waste my valuable time with imaginary things. I would gladly attend any conference dealing with science or education, but not a religious one.”
Srila Paramgurudeva said. “Your own students have been coming regularly to listen to the Math’s swamijis speak. It was their desire that you be honoured in the same way that so many other Calcutta community leaders has been. I have been asked by my Gurudeva to invite you, so please accept our invitation.”
Sir Raman then challenged Srila Paramgurudeva: “Can you show me your God? If you can show Him to me, I will go.”
One side of the lab room in which the conversation was being held was a windowless, door less wall, on the other side of which lay the whole of north Calcutta. Srila Paramgurudeva asked, “I can see nothing on the other side of this wall, but if I say that there is nothing there, will that be true?”
Sir Raman answered, “Perhaps you cannot see what is there, but you could with the appropriate instruments.”
Srila Paramgurudeva then asked him, “There is a limit to what your instruments can do. You can only see as far as they allow you. Can you say that there is nothing beyond these limits?”
Sir Raman replied, “Never mind. I will not waste my time on this. I will not give my attention to anything that is not within my sense experience. I will only spare my valuable time if you can actually show me your God. Can you do it?”
Srila Paramgurudeva: “If your students were to say to you that they will study your scientific findings only if you can show them the truth of what you have realized through your experiments, what would you say?”
Sir Raman: “I would make them realize it!”
Srila Paramgurudeva: “Can you make them realized before teaching them?”
Sir Raman: “No, I would first have to show them the process by which I have come to realize the truth. They will have to follow that process if they want to have the same realization. First they will have to earn their B.Sc. degree, then their M.Sc. Then they will have to study with me for another five years. Then I will be able to make them understand.”
Srila Paramgurudeva: “If this is true for you and your scientific knowledge, then can the seers of ancient India not say exactly the same thing? Follow their process and see whether you experience God’s existence or not. You are not able to show the scientific truths you profess to your students until they have adopted your process. Similarly, if you want to experience or understand God, you have to follow the process by which that is accomplished. If it does not happen, then you can deny the value. But how can you deny the value without having experimented?”
Sir Raman could not answer.
Srila Paramgurudeva’s quick-wittedness and presence of mind was such that it was impossible to get away with an illogical statement in his presence. Such capacity does not come with simple book learning. Only one who has surrendered himself to his spiritual master and has come to direct realization of the truth through his mercy can display such divine power. To such a person, a display of intelligence without any basis in realization cannot get very far.
As per the scriptures, Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna’s plenary portion is Sri Sadashiv and Sri Sadashiv’s partial manifestation is Lord Shiva.
From the perspective of Lord Krishna’s pastimes in opulence and majesty (aishvarya), Lord Krishna is Sri Shiva’s worshipful Deity, who is always loved, honored and respected by him.
However, in naravat-gat-vichar, Sri Krishna plays another role — that of an ordinary human being. He performs pastimes as a very young, small child who cannot do anything independently. His mother Srimati Yashoda devi, feeds Him and tends to all His needs. During these human-like pastimes, Lord Shiva might come and give Him benedictions.
In the scriptures called Puranas, it is stated that when Lord Krishna resided in Dvaraka, He worshiped Sri Shiva to beget a child from the womb of His wife Jambavati. Although Sri Shiva is worshiped by Lord Krishna in those pastimes, he never thinks himself superior.
Sri Shiva is always conscious that Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that he is Sri Krishna’s Eternal servant.
It is essential to have a clear understanding of these truths.
One who knows these perspectives or considerations can understand the relationship between Sri Shiva and his Lord.
Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu once visited His devotee Srila Gauri Das Pandit, alongwith His brother Sri Nityanand Prabhu.
When They were to leave, Srila Gauri Das Pandit requested Them to stay permanently at his place in Ambika-Kalna (West Bengal). In order to fulfill the desire of His devotee, Sri Mahaprabhu carved the deities of Himself and Sri Nityanand Prabhu from the nearby Neem tree.
Sri Mahaprabhu told Srila Gauridas pandit that there is no difference between Them and the deities. Srila Gauri Das Pandit prepared four plates of food (bhoga) and offered to Sri Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityanand Prabhu and the two deities. All four sat down and honored the Prasadam.
After eating food prasadam, They rested for a while and then sought permission to leave. Srila Gauri Das Pandit requested Them to stay. At that instant the two deities began to move towards the door.
Srila Gauri Das Pandit ran after Them and stopped Them. At this, the Original Supreme Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityanand Prabhu started towards the door.
Srila Gauri Das ran after Them and requested Them to stop.
Then Sri Mahaprabhu said – You have to choose One of the pair. Either We two will stay or They will stay. Nityanand and I are directly present in these forms. You can tell either the deities to go, or we can leave. You choose.
Srila Gauri Das chose the real Gaur – Nitai (Sri Mahaprabhu – Sri Nityanand Prabhu) to stay and said that the deities could leave.
The real Gaur-Nitai entered into the temple of his house and stayed there, whereas the deities left the house.
They are still present at Ambika-Kalna, in West Bengal.
The Name of Supreme Lord, the deity form and the original form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are all one. No distinction should be made between Them, for all Three are of transcendental, spiritual substance.
Deities
Reference – Sri Chaitanya and His Associates / by His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
— A flatterer is neither a guru nor a preacher.
— Other than the ear, there is no route to a vision of the non-material Supreme Entity.
— His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Goswami Thakur ‘Prabhupad’.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, is the origin of unlimited expansions and avatars. He is the Avatari.
His first expansion is the Sankarshan or Sri Balaram. This same Sri Balaram appeared with Lord Chaitanya as Sri Nityananda Prabhu.
Sri Balaram’s expanison, Sri Maha-Sankarshan has His abode in the Vaikuntha planets, and He in turn expands as the Purush-avataras in the work of creation of the universe, first as the Sri Karanodakashayi Vishnu, Who lies in the causal ocean, then as Sri Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, Who lies in the ocean within the individual universes, and finally as the Kshirodakashayi Vishnu, Who not only lies in the ocean of milk, but is the Director of the individual universe and is present as the indweller of every living being within the universe.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordered Sri Nityananda Prabhu to preach pure devotion in Bengal. While wandering through Ganges valley, Lord Nitai was attracted by Srila Raghava Pandit’s pure devotional attitude and came to his house in Panihati. Along with Him came the three Ghosh brothers, Srila Govinda, Srila Madhava and Srila Vasudeva, who were known for their ability as kirtaniyas.
When they started singing, Lord Nityananda fell into a trance-like state and started to dance. When He had finished dancing, He sat on the deities’ altar; Sri Nityananda Prabhu’s entourage and Raghava Pandit performed an elaborate abhishek ceremony to honor Him. After the bathing ceremony, they dressed and garlanded Him, whereupon Lord Nityananda sat down again on the deities’ throne while Srila Raghava Pandit held the parasol.
At this moment, a miraculous event occurred. Lord Nityananda Prabhu, still in a trance-like state, ordered Srila Raghava Pandit to quickly bring Him a garland of kadamba flowers. Srila Raghava answered that kadamba trees were not yet in flower. Lord Nityananda Prabhu told him to look around the grounds of his house and he would find the flowers. As Srila Raghava searched, he was amazed to find kadamba flowers blossoming on a lime tree. He quickly picked the flowers and made a garland, which he placed around Lord Nityananda’s neck.
A few moments later, the house was filled with the fragrance of damanaka flowers. Lord Nityananda Prabhu said that Sri Mahaprabhu Himself had come from Puri wearing a damanaka garland to hear the kirtan.
Srila Narahari Chakravarti Thakur mentions this dance and kirtan in his Bhakti-ratnakara.
When Srila Raghunath Das Goswami was at home, he was devising a plan for how he would be delivered from his material entanglements, he heard that Sri Nityananda Prabhu had made an auspicious appearance in the town of Panihati. Thinking that Sri Nityananda was the deliverer of the most fallen and that by His mercy he would surely be able to find his freedom, he went across to Panihati where he found the Lord sitting under a tree on a wooden seat, surrounded by his associates.
As soon as Srila Raghunath saw Him from a distance, he fell down like a rod. The merciful Lord Nityananda immediately had him brought close to Him and, understanding the deep-rooted desires of Raghunath’s heart, arranged for him to perform a service to the Vaishnavas so that he could realize them.
“Like a thief, you don’t come near me, but simply try to run away. Now that I have caught you, I shall punish you. I want you to feed all my followers chipped rice and yogurt.”
When he heard Sri Nityananda’s command, Raghunath’s mind was filled with joy. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 3.6.50-1)
The festival which Lord Nityananda ordered Srila Raghunath to put on is still celebrated as the Panihati Ciriadadhi Mahotsava.
Sri Nityananda Prabhu and a manifestation of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself celebrated the festival, eating on the banks of the Ganges just as though They were cowherd boys on the banks of the Yamuna River. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Their associates, numerous Brahmins and countless men and women from the area enjoyed a feast of milk and chipped rice and yogurt and chipped rice. The opportunity to serve the Lord and His devotees in this way was something that could not come about except for some great fortune.
On the following day, Raghunath Das Goswami emotionally asked Sri Nityananda through Srila Raghava Pandit how he could possibly gain freedom from his material entanglements and find the association of Sri Mahaprabhu. Like an ocean of mercy, Sri Nityananda Prabhu placed His feet on Srila Raghunath’s head and said,
“You arranged this feast on the banks of the river and Sri Mahaprabhu was merciful to you and came here himself to enjoy it. He blessed you by accepting the offering of chipped rice and yogurt. Then, after watching the devotees dancing, He took prasad in the evening. Lord Gauranga came here just to deliver you and now He has removed any impediments which remained. He will turn you over to Svarupa Damodar and making you His confidential servant, He will keep you by His side. Go home now and forget your worries. You will soon be able to go to the Lord without any difficulties.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita 3.6.139-143)
According to the Koran and Vedic literature, the heavens are subject to annihilation. At the time of annihilation, the heavenly planets, the earth and the hellish planets are destroyed. A new creation starts again.
‘One day the earth will be changed to a different earth, and so will be the heaven [The Koran 1:48]’
‘The sun and moon will be joined together [The Koran 75:9]’
‘The sky is split as under. [The Koran 84:1]’
The Kingdom of Supreme Lord, which lies beyond the coverings of material universe is eternal. In the kingdom of God, there is not need of sun and moon. This proves that the kingdom of God is never subject to creation or destruction.
‘That supreme abode of Mine is not illuminated by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach there, never return to this material world. [The Gita 15.6]’
‘Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. [The Koran 24:35]’
‘He is the source of light in all luminous objects. [The Gita 13.19]’
The real truth is that God and His kingdom are factual. Even the pious demi-gods who dwell in the heavenly planets have fallen short of achieving that eternal abode.
As stated in Vedic literature and the Koran:
‘The foolish who admire the enjoyment of the heavenly planets should take note that even demi-gods who are residents of heaven, are always looking to the eternal abode of the Supreme Lord. [The Rig Veda 1.22.20]’
‘The demigods have no power to relieve or to avert your distress. Those, whom they invoke, themselves, seek the way of their Lord. Which one of them shall be the nearest? They hope for His grace and fear His chastisement. [The Koran 17:56-57]’
