I will now speak about the fifth stage of bhakti, called krsna-asakti. Suppose a man has left his wife, children, worldly position, and so on, but he has not yet come to the point of ruci, what to say of asakti. He must fall down, and in fact, he is already fallen. Whether he is a sannyasa, a brahmacari, or in any other asrama, it does not matter. External dress is not important; mood is important...
We should not always remain in the kanistha-adhikari stage. There should be a way to go up to something superior, but our minds will not go there. We should try to make advancement through someone who is superior, through those who are practically serving, whose minds are there, who know Prabhupada’s mood, and who know the very deep process of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami that Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja has written about in his books. We should try to go very deep...
The fourth yam (stage or period) of sadhana is ruci, taste. In this stage of ruci, especially the second kind of ruci, it does not matter whether or not the Deity is decorated, or whether or not His face, mouth, hands, and so on are complete. Even though Jagannatha has only two round eyes and no hands, Caitanya Mahaprabhu saw Him as Krsna and cried out to Him, "O Vrajendranandana, I want to meet You. My heart is breaking...
Now we are coming to our subject - where we left off in Badger. Why do we prefer Ambarisa Maharaja over Prahlada Maharaja? Prahlada Maharaja is a siddha-bhakta and parama-mahabhagavata (a perfected devotee situated at the stage of prema, love of God), and Ambarisa Maharaja is a sadhaka-bhakta (a practitioner at the stage of bhava-bhakti) So why do we want to follow Ambarisa Maharaja?
I was telling yesterday that our ears, nose, tongue, and all of our senses are mundane; but Krishna's Name, krsna-katha, krsna-seva, and all things relating to Krishna are transcendental - purely transcendental. How then can these mundane senses touch the transcendental Name and other items of bhakti?
Once there was a wife who mistreated her husband and then rejected him. Because the husband was fully absorbed in that lady, he became so shocked and bewildered that he was about to die. We should always remember these things. When you are chanting and remembering in the association of high-class Vaisnavas, these bad attachments will leave and renunciation is bound to come. If it is not coming, something must be wrong...
You should try to be humble, but you cannot become humble simply by artificially acting so. If your bhakti increases, humility will come naturally. If you're not increasing your sadhana-bhajana of chanting Hare Krsna, not serving your Gurudeva and Vaisnavas...
Caitanya Mahaprabhu is weeping and uttering this, and the other jewel-like verses of Sri Siksastakam. Everything - all moods and all objects of our life - are in these eight slokas. All the Vedas are present there, Srimad-Bhagavatam is there, and Caitanya-caritamrta and the essence of all the books of our Gosvamis are there. But how can you realize this?
We must have some moods at the time of arati. It should not be performed without mood. When you are making an offering, you will also have to have mood. It may be the mood of Yasoda Ma, who is offering everything to Krsna and then distributing to all others. Or, if your svarupa (constitutional position) has the...
The bhakti that is defined here in that verse, raganuga-bhakti or Vraja-bhakti, can never be achieved simply by great quantities of sukrti. It can be achieved only if you are so fortunate as to have darsana and association of a rasika-bhakta of Vraja. That high-class devotee's heart is saturated with love and affection, like an Indian rasagulla, and everywhere there is rasa and rasa. If you squeeze a rasagulla, rasa will come out and still so much rasa will remain inside...
Now come with me to Raya Ramananda on the banks of the Godavari in South India, where some discussions were going on. Mahaprabhu was asking questions and Raya Ramananda was replying. Krsna is endless, and therefore Mahaprabhu is also an endless ocean of love and affection. Even Krsna Himself cannot know how deep is the love and affection in Srimati Radhika and the gopis. He has a scale to measure it, but the love and affection for Krsna in Srimati Radhika and the gopis is so deep that His scale becomes a failure...
A devotee asked Srila Narayana Maharaja if there was any special significance in Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja having expressed a desire to go to Govardhana at the very end of his life. The following is Srila Narayana Maharaja's reply...
Come with me. Let us join Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in our minds as He went from Puri to South India to search for His brother, Visvarupa. This was only a pretext, however. Actually, Mahaprabhu wanted to make all of South India, and the entire world, pure devotees. He wanted them to all chant and remember Krsna, and be happy forever.
Sanatana Gosvami was very happy. It has been written: raja more priti kore emor bandhana. My wife is loving me so much that it is bondage for me. The father is giving love-it is bondage for me. What is the meaning of this sloka, do you know? It is a very important thing. If you want to follow Rupa and Sanatana, you should know this meaning and then you can follow them...
Our subject is now very exalted, and I request you all to hear this high, sweet and powerful tattva-katha very attentively. I know that some of the devotees will hear it, but will keep it in cold storage after I leave. Never keep it in cold storage. We should try to go over what we have discussed, again and again, in our minds. If anything else enters your mind just after hearing hari-katha and you focus on that thing, the hari-katha may leave your heart...
Narottama dasa Thakura, Srinivasa Acarya, and Syamananda prabhu were associates. Srinivasa Acarya was a high class of acarya. Once he was sitting in an asrama, and nearby were a newly wedded girl and her husband. Approaching the asrama, the carriers of the wedding palanquins thought to stop there for water and cooling shade. They put the palanquins down there and took water. Seeing the wedding party...
Page 40 of 48