Murwillumbah, Australia
January 14, 2000
vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namahnamo maha-vadanayaya krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namahgurave gauracandraya radhikayai tadalaye
krsnaya krsna-bhaktaya tad-bhaktaya namo namah
You know that everyone wants to be happy - all living entities. But Krishna has arranged that no one in this world will ever be happy. They cannot be happy. You should realize that in this world there is no happiness - no tranquility. Even if a man has wealth, and has all means to be happy, still, some dangerous sickness, some problem, some roga, disease, will come. It may be that in one's young age a person may not be weak; but then old age comes; and so many rogas will come. If a man has no roga, nothing-still there are so many problems. His wife becomes sick. Someone else has cancer. Someone else has tuberculosis and someone has something else. Krishna has arranged to give some rope and always tighten it [he places hands around his own neck]. This is because we have forgotten Krishna. If you are not endeavoring for Krishna consciousness, then for so many lives you will be more and more unhappy, with more problems. We cannot know all these things by any other means [other than by the grace] than the guru parampara. That is called amnaya-praha.
Whom can we believe regarding what is good and what is bad? There must be some authority in whom we can believe. That authority should be very kind and selfless. The Vedas, Upanishads, Srimad Bhagavatam are like that; but they cannot speak directly to us. To whom can they speak? To those who are higher-to those like Vyasa, like Sukadeva Gosvami, like Valmiki, like Parasara and others-they can speak directly. If you read Srimad Bhagavatam, then lust may come, ignorance may come; if you read by yourself. But if you hear something from them, from their classes, and you read under their guidance, then you can follow something. For example, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami first heard the entire Srimad Bhagavatam from Vyasa-then he gave classes to Pariksit Maharaja. Sri Suta Gosvami first heard all these things so many times from Sukadeva Gosvami. He was also inspired by Baladeva Prabhu. Thus he could read Srimad Bhagavatam, and so many realizations came. The Bhagavatam inspired him. We should try to follow all these things, so that we can have belief in the epics [scriptures] like the Vedas, the Upanishads, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Bhagavad-gita. And especially the epics which have been accepted by our guru-parampar-from Brahma to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Gosvami Thakura, and after that our Gurudeva and others like Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaja-by being in their guidance. Then we can realize something. The scriptures have told that Hari is parama-tattva-the Supreme Absolute Truth. Hari is Krishna. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the ocean of rasa. He has all kinds of potencies-all kinds of powers. He is also very merciful, and we came only from Him.
We, spirit souls, are not of one kind of but of two kinds-liberated souls and conditioned souls. The liberated souls do not know what this world is. They never forget Krishna. They are always serving Him with love and affection. Unfortunately we have forgotten Him; and He sends us this Maya [illusory energy], and sends us to this world. Maya says, "Oh, you want to taste this world, imitating Krishna? That is why you are forgetting Him?" She then says to us, "I will give you all kinds of wealth, good females, good males, brothers, sisters and so many things." Our attachment, love and affection in this world is vikrita, a perverted reflection. In this world we think, 'I am the owner of all; I am the doer; I am a father; I am a son; I am a mother; I am a husband; I am a king'-like this. Sometimes we go up; sometimes we come down. By the influence of maya pisaca, the witch of Maya, we are going up and down. She has created so many rogas, so many problems. One may be Hitler or Mussolini or he may be a poor person, or he may be of middle class-but everywhere there are problems; everywhere.
If you cook something in the morning, by the evening it will start rotting and you cannot eat it. After two days, oh, you will have to reject it. It will be rotten. And by this, by the juices of these rotten things, this body has been made. The body is also like that-a moment after the soul has gone, it will also rot. Understand?
We are thinking that we are very powerful, but it will take only a second; in one ten-thousandths of a second our body is rotten. What is there in this body? Stool, urine, blood, mucus-oh, such bad things. And yet we are always engaged in collecting all these things which are rotten. Especially, men and women are collecting each other. This is the main thing. Krishna has arranged this and it is called Maya. We know all these things. And we know that we will die. But even so, we are not thinking that everyone will die.
If you knew all these things then why are you not always chanting and remembering? Those who are lucky are in this line-but not fully in line. You cannot control your mind. Gurudeva has given a seed of prema-aprakrta prema-that is, transcendental love and affection. He has given the seed, but we are not satisfied. We want that it should become a tree at once, and fruit should come. But it will take some time in the process. So you should try to know what Gurudeva has given.
These mantras given by Gurudeva are Krishna Himself. These mantras are love, the embodiment of love. Everything is in the mantras, especially in the maha-mantra. Radha and Krishna all the sakhis, all the Vrajabasis-everything is there in the maha-mantra as a seed. Therefore always chant and remember in the guidance of high-class realized souls. Always remain in Vrindavana, chanting and remembering;
tan-nama-rupa-caritadi-sukirtananu-
smrtyoh kramena rasana-manasi niyojya
tisthan vraje tad-anuragi-jaganugami
kalam nayed akhilam ity upadesa-saram
[While living in Vraja, as a follower of the eternal residents of Vraja, who possess inherent spontaneous love for Sri Krishna, one should utilize all his time by sequentially engaging the tongue and the mind in meticulous chanting and rememberance of Krishna's names, form, qualities and pastimes. This is the essence of all instruction. (Sri Upadesamrta 8)]
These are the essence of all teachings. We should try to know this and to follow. We should try to realize these things. We should not waste our time. It is not certain after this life where we will go, or what we will do. Though this Kali-yuga is full of problems, and life is very short, still the mind is not fixed. It is full of rogas and all kinds of bad things [e.g. hrd-roga, the heart disease of lust]. But yet there is some good in it. That is why the devotees of Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga and Dvapara-yuga want to be in Kali yuga. Why is that? By somehow chanting by remembering Krishna, we can attain something. We can have this seed; and then we will have to put it in the soil of our hearts, always hearing hari- katha, and then rasa will come. And then, once rasa comes, you will not be able to give up chanting. If a man has some taste in any good preparations which is given to Thakurji, and his stomach is so big, and taste is coming, then he will take mahaprasada with relish. He will not give it up. He will eat, eat, eat. So, if taste will come in chanting…when will taste come? When rasa, juice will come from hari-nama. What is that juice? In the name he will see beautiful Sri Krishna with beautiful Srimati Radhika. Then he can not take his eyes from there. More juice; Madhumangala will come and do something, and you will see. All the gopis will come and defeat Krishna-so many pastimes you will see.
What Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has experienced in His life, especially in His last days: He would hear the flute of Krishna, and He would at once gallop (quickly pass through) three or five doors, although they were so high and tightly closed. He saw Krishna playing the flute in a garden of Vrindavana, and He became ecstatic. And when Sri Svarupa Damodara and Sri Raya Ramananda came and did kirtana, then His external sense would come. Then He would weep bitterly, saying, "Oh, why you have called me? I was serving Radha and Krishna there, seeing their forms and their vilasa (pastimes). And you have called me here?". All the things that Caitanya Mahaprabhu has shown in His own life, Sri Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis also realized, as did Srila Krishna dasa Kaviraja Gosvami.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written, "My name is Kamala manjari; my marriage was in Javat. I am a kinkari (maidservant) of Srimati Radhika. Visakha is my guru, and Rupa manjari is my mistress.
We will see all this vividly. This is called svarupa siddhi, and then vastu siddhi. We all have the chance to attain this, so I request you to follow the process, and have so much strong faith. Don't lose your time and energy, here and there. Be like Sri Rupa-Sanatana, Rupa-Raghunatha: always chanting and remembering, weeping-in the process. What process?
ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-mahadavagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam
[Glory to the Sri Krishna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years, and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the white lotus moon of good fortune. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious. (Sri Siksastakam 1)]
Nowadays I think that somehow, by good fortune, they came in vaisnava association, but unluckily, they went in bad association, and began to do again what they used to do: making money and all these things. They have made so many groups: "Oh, no one can go from our group." If someone tries to go in good association, all will come and say, "Why are you doing this? Why are you taking this association?". Karna, Duhsasana, Duryodhana and all will come and be against you. If you are bold enough, you can kick them.
Like Raghunatha dasa - what did he do? He left his home, his father, mother and beautiful wife, and went to Lord Caitanya. Mahaprabhu first warned him not to come, "Be mature in your house; you should stay there." Mature means renounced. But then he finally came, Mahaprabhu told "O, you have come out from the well of stool. Krishna has arranged this. And He [Mahaprabhu] put him in the hands of Svarupa Damodara. So you should be strong like this.
Don't be worried. Even if any roga (disease) comes, be happy. Know that Krishna has given you time to always chant and remember. Otherwise we would not have the chance to always chant, and always remember. But if we become blind, no one will tell us, "Oh, do this, do that, do this". So don't worry. Bilvamangala Thakura was blind, and Krishna asked him, "Should I repair your eyes? Should I make them good?". What did Bilvamangala reply? "Never, never, never. I have seen You by these eyes. And I don't want to have eyes that look over the whole world. Then so many worldly desires will come: "Oh, this is beautiful; she is beautiful; he is beautiful." And, "This I want; oh, these are my plans-this is my house, this is my car, this is my dog, these are my children." And they will always abuse me, saying: "Have you not done this?" And they will rebuke me. But if I have no eyes then what can I do? Only 'Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.'
I was also a person like this-always doing this and that, here and there. But then I became sick and I was operated on. At that time, Guru Maharaja put me in charge of Mathura Matha and said, "You should write only Bhagavata Patrika, and all other books you should translate. And you should not go here, there, there and there." I had so much time to read and everything, and gradually I was cured. Again I became somewhat sick, again operated upon - so many operations, about ten operations, here and there, again and again. Now no one can tell me, "You should do this and that", because I have heart disease. Day and night I can chant and remember. Now Krishna has again made me somewhat healthy, and I am coming here. So I am losing my Vrindavana…
So we should not be worried for any roga, any problem. Even if death comes, we should try to embrace it, because then a more beautiful young body will be there. Don't be worried for this. Problems may come, death may come-no harm. Who has sent these problems? Oh, Krishna has sent them, and He will also manage to solve all problems. You should try to hear Hari-katha. Engage your mind. If your mind is not engaging while chanting, you can even walk and sing, here and there. Somehow be engaged. Then a taste will come, and there will be no death.
Gaurapremanande!
Hari, Hari bol!
