Ellalong, N.S.W. Australia,
February 3, 2000, am
In the Gita it has been told,
ananyas cintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate
tesam nityabhiyuktanam yoga ksemam vahamy aham
'Ananyas cintaya' Na-anya. You know what ananya means?
[Govinda Bhakata dasa:] One pointed; exclusive; no diversion.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Sarva dharman parityajya, mam ekam. What does 'mam ekam' mean?
[Syamarani dasi:] Only to me.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Then what is the meaning of ananya? It has also been said, 'api cet su duracaro bhayate mam ananya bhakti'. What is the meaning of ananya here? Prabhu?
[Vraja Vallabha dasa:] Exclusive.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] What is meaning of exclusive?
[Govinda Bhakata dasa:] Only to Krishna.
[Prema Prayojana dasa:] Excluding everything except for one.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] If it is Radha and Krishna who we are serving, is it ananya or not? Who are you worshiping? Krishna or Radhika? If you are worshiping both, it will not be ananya.
[Syamarani dasi:] Sakti, saktimatayo aveda (there is no difference between the energy and the energetic, Radha and Krishna).
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] But even so, they come as Krishna and Radhika. They are always two.
[Syamarani dasi:] So just serve Radhika.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Yes, then it will be ananya. And our relation with Krishna is to please Radhika. She is our worshipful deity, our isvari. What does isvari means?
[Syamarani dasi:] Worshipful deity.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Our Deity is Radhika. I am an eternal maidservant of Radhika. My relation to Krishna is not direct. Krishna is the beloved of Radhika; so to please Radhika, I am serving Krishna under Her guidance. In this way it is ananya - in our line of disciplic succession.
But, if you are worshiping Sriman Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda, there will be four; and in that case there is no ananya. How can we reconcile this? Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself, and He has come to give Krishna-prema to this world. He is therefore like guru. If anyone is worshiping guru, and also Mahaprabhu, or Radhika, or Radha-Krishna conjugal, this is not even 'two'. It is still one. I am under the guidance of gurudeva, and I am serving Srimati Radhika with Her beloved.
Here Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the guru. Consider Him 'saci-sunum nandisvara-pati-sutatve guru-varam'. Although He is Krishna Himself, taking the dhuti (luster) and the inner mood of Sri Radhika, He has descended to this world to give Krishna-prema. He is like a guru. He is the guru of Srila Sanatana Gosvami, and the guru of Srila Rupa Gosvami in Prayaga. He also empowered and inspired Sri Raya Ramananda. So we should consider Caitanya Mahaprabhu as guru. Then there is no duality - only one. Saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair. Guru is non-different from Krishna.
na dharmam nadharmam sruti-gana niruktam kila kuru
vraje radha-krsna pracura-paricaryam iha tanu
saci-sunum nandisvara-pati sutatve guru-varam
mukunda-presthatve smara param ajasram nanu manah
"O my mind, whatever has been told in the Vedas, Upanisads and everywhere else, about dharma and adharma - don't follow it. You should try to follow: 'vraje radha-krsna pracura paricaryam'. Be in Vraja. Pracura means exalted service. Always engage in service to Radha and Krishna. If you want this, you should begin from the conditioned stage - always giving up all adharma. One may think, "I have a son, I must look after him, nourish him and protect him. If I do not do so, what will happen? He will be destroyed." If you want to do vraje radha-krsna pracura-paricargam, then you will have to forget your wife, children, worldly duties, dharma (religious duties), adharma (irreligious activities) and everything else. You will have to forget - unknowingly and unintentionally. Then you will be forgetting like Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, like Srila Rupa Gosvami, and like the gopis. Though they had children, and though they were serving their husbands, still, when they saw Krishna, they became attracted. And when Krishna played on His flute on Purnima, they left everything. The nitya-siddha gopis went without any obstruction; they quickly went. And their husbands had nothing to do, because Yogamaya created other gopis, to replace them. Regarding those who had children, however, what did they do? They had some greed to go. They wanted to go and they began to go, but their husbands came and forcibly stopped them. They were kept in their rooms and were locked up; and their husbands threatened them with dandas. Danda means stick. The husbands said, "Oh, I will break your legs." And what became of those gopis? Flames. They felt great separation, and that fire of separation was bigger than a forest-fire or a sea-fire. Everything was burnt. Their bodies were not burnt. Rather, their kasayas [their worldly-like auspiciousness and inauspiciousness] were burnt. Previous to this they had thought, "He is my husband," and "I have children." It was this mood that was burnt. At once the milk in their breasts dried up, and they forgot their children, husbands and everything else. And then they quickly reached Krishna.
[Navina Krishna dasa:] But they were locked inside their rooms.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] So there were two things. They had love for their children, and all their family members had so much love for those gopis. This was shuba (auspiciousness). It also left, meaning it was burnt out. Shuba and ashuba, dharma and adharma, auspiciousness and unauspiciousness - everything was burnt. Then, those gopis who were married and had children quickly left home and they met Krishna first. If anyone has love and affection for Krishna like this, Krishna will manage everything for them. There will be nothing to manage. The devotee will quickly forget what is dharma and what is adharma. He will not consider, "Oh, I married her, and these children will now be orphaned. What shall I do?" He will forget. Krishna may then send Yogamaya and tell her, "You should quickly arrange that their children and wives remain well." What is dharma? Worldly religion. And what is adharma? The opposite.
[Devotee:] Irreligion.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] There are four things: Karma, akarma, vikarma and kukarma. All worldly dharma is karma. Akarma means to not do that, and vikarma means to do the opposite. We have nothing to do with all these bogus things. Let worldly persons do them. When you agree to serve Radha and Krishna conjugal - night and day - at that time there will not be a single minute to give to these minds. At that time the mind is one and the heart is one. How can one go towards worldly things and also go towards Krishna?
So, 'saci-sunum'. 'Saci-sunum nandesvara pati'. Nandisvara-pati is Nanda Baba. Nandisvara-pati sutatve. And his son is not Dvarakadish. He is not the son of Devaki and others like her. Saci-nandana is the same as Nanda-nandana or Yasoda-nandana. But you will have to reconcile this by thinking that, "He is my Gurudeva". So we should obey him. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is saying that, "You should do pracura-paricarjam". He has come to give His teachings to all. "Mukunda-prestha." Also, regarding gurudeva, try to think, "He is very dear to Mukunda." 'Param ajasram nana manah'. Always be like this. I have explained this in Murwillumbah.
yadiccher avasam vraja-bhavi sa-ragam prati-janur
yuva-dvandvam tac tet paricaritum arad abhilaseh
svarupam sri rupam sa-ganam iha tasyagrajam api
sputam premna nityam smara nama tada tvam srna manah
Hear carefully; very carefully. Yadiccher. "If you want, O my dear mind." He is pacifying his mind, patting the back of that mind and saying, "O, you are very good; a very good person. He is like a mother with her child. Yadiccher - If you want to be in Vrajabhumi always - not anywhere else - only in Vrajabhumi, and especially in Nandagram. The mind may ask, "Do you want to be in Varsana? Where? Do you want to be in Vrindavana, at Rasastali? Do you want to be in Seva-kunja? What do you want?" Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami replies, "Prabhu, if you are so merciful, then please keep me in Radha kunda." So, if you want to be in Radha kunda, in Vrajabhumi, sa ragram, with raga, prati-janar, in all janmas, births.
[Devotees:] In every birth, birth after birth.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Because he has said, "in every birth", it may seem that Srila Raghunatha das Gosvami does not know anything. Why? Suppose I say, "My Gurudeva was so merciful that whatever he gathered regarding siddhanta and rasa, in so many past births, he gave me. He sprinkled his mercy." It may seem here that I have made a big mistake. He is transcendental and eternal. If I say, "In so many births," it seems that this is against our siddhanta. Then we will think he was a conditioned soul. But why then, does Krishna say: 'janma karma ca me divjam.' "O Arjuna, we have both taken so many births. You have forgotten, but I remember." How do we reconcile this? Is there any birth of Krishna? No? Oh, certainly there is.
In Brahma's day there are lakhs and lakhs of births of Krishna - in this universe, in that universe, here and there. In Brahma's one day Krishna comes in the womb of Yasoda, but He does not have only one mother and father. He is not satisfied with only one mother and father. He becomes the son of lakhs and lakhs of gopis, and cows also. How can you say He has no birth? And this fact is also true regarding His associates like Nanda Baba and Yasoda. We should try to reconcile it. If there is no birth, there are no sweet pastimes.
It is only jnanis who think Krishna has no birth and no pastimes. We do not like jnanis at all. If we see a jnani coming, we say, "Dandavat Prabhu." (At this point Srila Gurudeva made some gesture, as if looking away disdainfully).
Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami is telling his mind, "If you want to be in Vrindavana, with raga; if you want to serve Radha and Krishna with love and affection..."
What is raga? You should know the answer.
adau sraddha tatah sadhu sango
tato nartha-nivrttih syat
First comes anisthata bhakti, then nisthata bhakti, and then ruci. Ruci is of two kinds. Then, crossing ruci, asakti comes. Asakti is first to bhajana: sravanam, kirtanam, and so on. And then there is asakti to bhajaniya, to Sri Krishna, or to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, or to Radha-Krishna. Then suddha-sattva will come, at which time bhava or rati manifests. Rati is not raga. After bhava, prema will come; and after prema comes sneha, mana, pranaya, and then raga. Raga is on the eleventh stage. It is so high. What is raga? There are so many associates of Krishna in Vrindavana, in Vraja - like Yasoda, Nanda Baba, Sridama, Sudama and the gopis. They are called ragatmika because they have raga. Raga is in their atma. If anyone wants to serve Krishna in their mood, and if he has some greed for that, then, under their guidance, endeavoring for raga, he will be called raganuga. Srila Rupa Gosvami, in his male, sadhaka body, is following in the footsteps of the ragatmikas. Therefore he will be called "like" raganuga bhakta. Actually he is ragatmika jana, a ragatmika associate of Krishna, in the form of Sri Rupa Manjari. Why is he following like a raganuga bhakta? To teach us. Srimati Radhika has ordered him, and Krishna has ordered him, to sprinkle this exalted ragatmika bhakti.
So you should engage in all of these practices:
sankhya-purvaka-nama-gana-natibhih kalavasani-krtau
nidrahara-viharakadi-vijitau catyanta-dinau ca yau
radha-krsna-guna-smrter madhurimanandena sammohitau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau
Chant not less than one lakh of nama daily. If there is time, you can chant three lakhs; no harm. I have heard that a very high class of leader said, "If you chant more than 16 rounds, you will go to hell. So you should not chant. Instead of that you should go on book distribution; and do this and that - cowherding, supporting cows, nourishing cows, and guru kula. And you should go here and there to make some money - for yourself, and also for ourselves. You should go on making money. If you are chanting more than 16 rounds, you have no time to do all these things, and so our whole mission will collapse and you will not go Back to Godhead."
What is this? Cheating. That person is cheating himself and all others. We should be very careful about these cheaters. They are self-cheaters and cheaters of others.
"Ragam". Ragam means. We have a cloth. It was white, but we put it in colored water and dyed it. Then it became colored. If you put it in again, it becomes more colored, and again, still more colored. So raga is that fully saturated love and affection for Krishna. In the gopis it is perpetual; in the Vrajabasis it is perpetual and transcendental. Somehow, by the grace of your guru, by his pure association, and by hearing from him, I will think, "Oh, I want to serve my dear Krishna like mother Yasoda. I would like to serve Radha-Krishna conjugal like Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Ragunatha das Gosvami, Sri Svarupa Damodara, and Sri Raya Ramananda. This greed may come. Greed is the adhikar, qualification, for raganuga. Nothing else; nothing else.
One may think, "First we should be free from worldly desires, all kinds of unwanted things, and all kinds of anarthas, and offences - then it will come." But this is not the process. It will never come by such thinking. Even if one is enveloped in lust, as Bilvalmangala Thakura was, by the association of a high-class vaisnava, by hearing all these topics, one will develop agreed to serve Krishna with raga.
I must follow anyone who is very wealthy in this way. If you want to be a rich person then you will have to follow any wealthy person. Who are wealthy? Those who have the highest wealth of Vraja prema. Who are they?
The antaranga priya jana - the most intimate associates: Sri Svarupa Damodara, Sri Raya Ramanananda, Sri Rupa Gosvami and his agraja, his elder brother and guru Sri Sanatana Gosvami, the most revered Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Srila Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Narottama dasa Thakura. Srila Krishnadas Kaviraja Gosvami is not inferior. Do not think him to be inferior. Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura is the incarnation of Srila Rupa Gosvami, Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana is the incarnation of Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura is the incarnation of all - Gadadhara Pandit. He is the seventh Gosvami, and not less than the six Gosvamis in any respect. But he thinks that, "I am the dust of the lotus feet of Sri Rupa Gosvami and all others." This is his greatness. Krishna says, "I want to follow the devotees. When they walk, their foot dust will come in the air, and I will be 'abhisekhed', or bathed in that dust. I want that." What is this? The greatness of Krishna.
So we must try to be dina-hina, very humble. If anyone is not humble, Krishna's mercy and His devotee's mercy is so far away. But this humility is not artificial. One may say, "Oh Prabhu, I am doing pranama to you. I am your servant." And, at the same time, one hand is here. (Gurudeva put his hand on his own throat, indicating that the person is putting his hand around the 'Prabhu's' throat). As your bhakti increases, that svabhavika, constitutional, natural humility will come. And we should try to keep it very secret. These pure devotees are bandhari, in possession of Vraja prema. They are the root of all these things. They are sisya parampara, and one gets greed by reading the books compiled by them or written by them. They have given Vrajariti bhajan, the process of sadhana-bhajana to attain Vraja, in Ujjvala nilamani, Bhakti rasamrta sindhu, etc. - especially in the books of Sri Rupa Gosvami. Srila Rupa Gosvami writes about astakaliya-lila and how you can serve Radha and Krishna. The books Dan keli Cintamani, and Dan keli Kaumadi are the highest books, and Sri Caitanya caritamrta is not less. It is the very highest. Though it is Bengali, it is more difficult to understand than Sanskrit. In fact, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has written a Sanskrit commentary on it. He has also written one book called Vrajaritti Cintamani. Have you heard the name? Some say, "Don't speak the name of all these books; otherwise you will go to hell. We should not try to remember all these things." But why did our acaryas write? And why did they preach through their guru parampara? How can we enter Vrindavana? They have given the process in those books.
tan-nam-rupa-caritadi-sukirtananu
smrtyoh kramena rasana-manasi niyojya
tisthan vraje tad-anuragi-jananugami
kalam nayed akhilam ity upadesa-saram
(Sri Upadesamrta, 8)
This is the essence of all upadesha, instructions, and I think there is no more better process than this. This is the condensed form of all instructions. So, if you want greed, then you will have to follow these things - giving up all desires how to maintain: "Oh, if I will do like this, then who will look after my children, wife and house?"
This process has been told for rare persons; not for all. I think the instructions of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura are especially needed in this age, because he and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada are the recent acaryas. So we should try to read their books. Srila Svamiji has not said anywhere, "You should not read any book of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Read only my books. Everything is here, and so you should not read anything else." I think if Srila Svami Maharaja was present, he would have perhaps translated the rest of Srimad Bhagavatam 10th Canto, and given explanations, as well explanations to so many other books - Brihad Bhagavatamrta, Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu, and Ujjvala Nilamani. And I think that he may have translated the asta kaliya lila padadi of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. Even though he has written everything, so many things are yet to be written. If Srila Rupa Gosvami will come again, will he sit idle? What will he do? Will he be in trance? Or, will he be writing many books? You should hear this. And if by good luck a greed comes, then try to follow. Otherwise you will only appear to do sravanam kirtanam visnu smaranam pada-sevanam, arcanam, vandanam, dasyam, sakyam, atma-nivedanam. And after this there will be so many worldly things to do. You will do so many activities, of dharma, keeping far away from adharma.
[Brajanatha dasa:] And doing varnasrama.
[Syamarani dasi:] Gurudeva, you said we should not be in anxiety about worldly maintenance, but…
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] When bhakti will come, automatically you will be like this. So why not be like this from the beginning?
[Syamarani dasi:] You said yesterday that Draupadi put up her hands so that Krishna would save her. But what about when it is in relation to service to guru? For example, many devotees here are engaged in organizing for this festival; and they are experiencing anxiety that it comes out right. What about that type of anxiety?
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Oh, when you will be advanced in bhakti, all these things will be managed automatically, without anxiety. This was the case with Sri Sukadeva Gosvami, Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana Gosvami. But if you are in sense, and if you are thinking, "What will become of that?" then you will have to maintain all these things. Are you understanding?
[Brajanatha dasa:] Her point is that if one organizes for Hari katha, like this festival.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Try to take the essence of what I am saying. You may think, "Should I go to pass stool or not?" You should go, if you are considering it. Understand? "Should I do this or not? Should I manage or not for Hari katha?" Then you must do it. And by this, if you are engaged totally, that stage will come. However, if you are engaged totally.
sankhya-purvaka-nama-gana-natibhih kalavasani-krtau
nidrahara-viharakadi-vijitau catyanta-dinau ca yau
radha-krsna-guna-smrter madhurimanandena sammohitau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau
'Nidrahara' means giving up even sleeping. And, 'radha-krsna-guna-smrter madhurimanandena samohitau': "Oh, Radhe, where are you? Oh Latite, Vishake." Sometimes the six Gosvamis were in Radha kunda and sometimes in Syama kunda. And they were always weeping and weeping. One who is like this has no time to speak with anyone and to manage for meetings. For the benefit of the world, Krishna told His devotees, "Oh Prabhu, don't weep. Sometimes you should go to the world." He told this to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Thakura, to Srila Svamiji, and to all gurus. But quickly they return to Goloka Vrindavana. For them it is a moment. For a transcendental person, to live in this world for 60, 90, or 100 years - what is this?
[Navena Krishna dasa:] Less than a moment.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was like this. He used to be sometimes in sense (external consciousness), sometimes in half sense and half samadhi, and after that he was fully in samadhi. Sometimes He became like a tortoise, and He sometimes assumed another shape. Then, in a second, He would come back to external consciousness and say, "Oh, what I was doing? Am I doing something wrong? Am I Caitanya? Who..."
Gaura Premanande!
[Govinda Bhakata dasa:] You said that the nitya siddhi gopis went to the Rasa dance, and Yogamaya arranged another body which stayed at home. But those who are not nitya siddha, they…
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] They had some things which were wrong. They had gone to their husbands, and they had children. So that body could not serve.
[Govinda Bhakata dasa:] But in the fire of separation they burnt up all subha and asubha.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Bas.
[Govinda Bhakata dasa:] Then how did they go? If they were locked in their houses, then how could they go?
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went. He was impeded by so many gates. How did He jump and pass through them?
[Prema Prayojana dasa:] Gurudeva, you were mentioning so many sastras of the Gosvamis. But if someone has not gone deeply in Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Caitanya caritamrta, the books of Srila Svami Maharaja and others, if they try to read Dan Keli Kaumadi and Krishna Bhavanamrta, what will be the result?
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] They will go to hell.
[Navena Krishna dasa:] Without any fail.
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] There will be no consideration. However, suppose any high-class devotee is explaining these topics in class. If that lusty, bad, wicked person is there, not knowing anything but wanting to do bhajan, and if he is somewhere in a corner - hearing... How beautiful these things are.
