Alachua, USA, May 23, 2001
(Singing) Sri krsna caitanya prabhu doya koro more. . . Lamenting, we should pray like Narottama dasa, "Be merciful. I have no qualification. I am an offender and am filled with all unwanted things. O Nityananda Prabhu! Be merciful to me. O Advaitacarya, you have brought Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Radha-Krsna - you have brought Them in the shape of Caitanya Mahaprabhu to give the love of Radha-Krsna. Oh, please be merciful. Give me just a drop of Your mercy. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare."
If we are praying from our heart, then we can receive the mercy of Advaitacarya, Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu. We cannot achieve Their mercy without the mercy of Sad Gosvami, and especially Rupa Gosvami. "O Rupa Gosvami, be merciful to me. You are jagat-guru. Oh, you are the heart of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You are the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You are everything." priya-svarupe dayita-svarupe prema-svarupe sahajabhirupe, like this we should pray. "So be merciful to me. Otherwise I may die."
But Narottama dasa is praying to his Gurudeva now. "Oh, if you are not merciful to me, then there is no one who will be merciful to me, even Sad Gosvami. O Gurudeva, be merciful to me." And then he prays, "O Srinivasa Prabhu, please give me your association. But I am unqualified for your association, so please give me the association of your pure disciple, Ramacandra Kaviraja. You are always giving him your association, and always telling him hari-katha, hari-katha, nothing else."
So you can sing any song of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Narottama Thakura, Premananda dasa or Govinda dasa. Absorbed in chanting, You can sing and can remember these Vaisnavas. They will give you transcendental power. This is the process, weeping and chanting. But we have so many desires, and our hearts have become very hard - more hard than even iron and stone. But if you are following this process, quickly everything will come. By this process, you can sing any song.
Rupa Gosvami has written Sri Krsna-Namastakam:
nikhila-sruti-mauli-ratna-mala
dyuti-nirajita-pada-pankajanta
ayi mukta-kulair-upasyamanam
paritas-tvam harinama! samsrayami
What is the meaning?
Madhava Maharaja: Srila Rupa Gosvami prays at the lotus feet of Nama Prabhu and explains: nikhila-sruti-mauli-ratna-mala. All the Vedas and Upanisads are praying and doing arati to Nama Prabhu. dyuti-nirajita-pada-pankajanta. They are praying and offering arotika at His lotus feet. Who is that Nama Prabhu? mukta-kulair-upasyamanam - He is always served by liberated souls, so I bow down and I surrender myself at the lotus feet of Nama Prabhu.
[Aranya Maharaja:] Nikhila-sruti-mauli-ratna-mala. Here Srila Rupa Gosvami is saying that the Vedas contain all knowledge, but the crest jewels on the head of all the Vedas are the Upanisads, in which the most excellent, transcendental knowledge has been given. But what are the Upanisads doing? They are taking a lamp with panca pradipa, five ghee wicks, and are offering arati - not directly to Harinama, but to the rays, the effulgence, coming out of the tips of the toenails of Harinama. So Srila Rupa Gosvami is saying, "O Harinama, you are glorified by all the dynasties of liberated sages, so I take complete shelter of Your lotus feet."
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Srila Rupa Gosvami is telling that the Upanisads are doing arati to only the rays of Harinama. Who is Harinama? Himself Krsna - He is nondifferent from Harinama. But Harinama is even more than Krsna. So all Vedas are glorifying Name, but still, they are very far away from Name. They cannot taste all the rasas which are in Name. So I pray to only liberated persons, very high-class persons - not only liberated, but also those who have followed the process of raganuga bhakti and who know what is prema, sneha, mana, pranaya, raga, anuraga, bhava and mahabhava, especially the mahabhava of Srimati Radhika. Those who realize this can glorify and can chant the holy Name, otherwise not.
We are always full of offenses. Those who are not committing so many offenses may be chanting nama-abhasa, a semblance of Name. What is that? Those who are in the association of high-class raganuga Vaisnavas and who know all tattvas - who is Krsna, who is rasa-Krsna, who is Srimati Radhika, what is prema-tattva, and what is rasa-tattva - oh, these persons can touch the glories of the Holy Name when they chant Hare Krsna.
evam-vratah sva-priya-nama-kirtya jatanurago
(SB 11.2.40)
["By chanting the holy name of the Supreme Lord, one comes to the stage of love of Godhead. Then the devotee is fixed in his vow as an eternal servant of the Lord, and he gradually becomes very much attached to a particular name and form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As his heart melts with ecstatic love, he laughs very loudly or cries or shouts. Sometimes he sings and dances like a madman, for he is indifferent to public opinion."]
Oh, these persons are full of high-class ecstasy. Asta-sattvika moods will come to them. They can chant the pure Name, because it has been told in Padma Purana: Nama cintamanih krsnas caitanya-rasa-vigrahah ("The holy name of the Lord is fully identical with the Lord"). What is the meaning of rasa-vigraha? Name is vigraha of full of rasa, an endless ocean of rasa. But we don't realize anything. Only liberated persons having prema, sneha, mana, pranaya, etc., can chant the Holy Name.
Mahaprabhu said: nayanam galad-asru-dharaya and yugayitam nimesena caksusa pravisiyitam. And beyond these is the eighth sloka: aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam. Even Srimad-Bhagavatam does not openly tell this mood. It has been covered there, but in Caitanya Caritamrta, Mahahprabhu has opened it up. But who will realize this? It is this mood that is our goal of life. If we have had a taste in any of this, if even just a little bit of taste has come, we cannot reject this, and we will never return to worldly life. Quickly we will give up worldly life.
And the second verse:
jaya namadheya! muni-vrnda-geya!
jana-ranjanaya param aksarakrte!
tvam anadarad api manag-udiritam,
nikhilogra-tapa-patalim vilumpasi
If a little bit of taste has come, even namabhasa, then namadheya! muni-vrnda-geya! Which munis? Sukadeva Gosvami, or Narada Gosvami, Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, Mahaprabhu Himself, or Sankara. Mahadeva Sankara is always chanting the transcendental sound - Hare Krsna Hare Krsna. Brahma with four mouths and even Sankarsana with His thousands and thousands of mouths, and thousands and thousands of tongues - chanting and remembering with His thousands and thousands of minds - still He cannot recount all the glories of Name. He desires more and more tongues, more hearts and more minds - unlimited - to relate all the glories of Name.
Jaya namadheya! What is the namadheya? Oh, You are Himself Krsna. Krsna has invested all His power, mercy and everything in His Name. In fact, He has made Name more powerful and more merciful than He Himself is. Understand? Krsna alone is not so merciful, but the combined mercy of Radha and all is in Name. namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis. But we are so unfortunate. We have no taste in this. Jaya namadheya! muni-vrnda-geya! jana-ranjanaya param aksarakrte! Oh, only to be merciful and to sprinkle mercy, He has come in the shape of the Name.
Name is of two kinds-sabda-brahma and sabda-samanya. What is sabda-brahma? Transcendental Name, Himself Krsna and Radhika. And what is sabda- samanya? Only words, having no power. He has heard from anywhere, from a bogus guru who is not realized and who is not chanting. Oh, this guru has made up his mind that "I should not chant more than 16 rounds. Never, never, it will be an offense if I chant more"-he is bogus. If anyone is receiving all these Names from such a guru, or is reading Srimad-Bhagavatam and hearing from any unauthorized person, and he is chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, thinking he has no need of guru at all - diksa or siksa - because Name is Krsna Himself - such a person is a bogus offender. We should try to be far away from such persons.
Namadheya! muni-vrnda-geya! jana-ranjanaya param aksarakrte! So, to be merciful, You have descended in the form of aksara. What is aksara? Syllables. If anyone chants but has no honor even, no harm. For beginners it is all right. Without honor, without knowing the glories and he utters this Name, what will be the result? All kinds of difficulties, sorrows, sufferings, birth and death and everything, even all kinds of anarthas, will go away. You should hear patiently all these things and try to realize these facts.
After that:
yad-abhaso 'py udyan-kavalita-bhava-dhvanta-vibhavo
drsam tattvandhanam api disati bhakti-pranayinim
yad-brahma-saksat-krti-nisthayapi, vinasam ayati vina na bhogaih
apaiti nama! sphuranena tat te, prarabdha-karmeti virauti vedah (4)
If a brahma-jnani has attained brahma-jnana and he is liberated, but yad-brahma-saksat-krti-nisthayapi. Even when one is qualified to have brahma-jnana, then what? Will he be sarvam kalyana? Will all auspiciousness come to him? His aprarabdha karma will be destroyed by his resolute meditation on impersonal Brahman, but he will still have to suffer for his prarabdha karma. What is prarabdha karma? There are four kinds of karma - prarabdha, aprarabdha, kuta and bija - and the root cause is avidya. Prarabdha karma-what is the meaning?
You should all try to know this, because we are here in a training center for seven days. You have already attended seven days in Badger. You should know that we are in the training center. I may examine you. Even if you are not qualified, I may call on you. I may question anyone who is sitting here, so you should be alert to be called upon to speak at any time. Yad-brahma-saksat-krti-nisthayapi - one may have achieved brahma-jnana but yet he will have to suffer his prarabdha karma. Prarabdha karma-what is it?
[Aranya Maharaja:] Prarabdha karma means the reactions to our fruitive activities which are fructifying in this life, in the form of this body and. . .
[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Our body has been given only for experiencing our prarabdha karma, but our karma, good and bad, is an endless ocean - including that karma which is still to come. There is more than just the karmas which we are tasting now, for which this body has been created. When will we taste all these things? Again new karma comes out from the stored-up karma - that is apraradha - the results of the activities performed in previous lives which are not yet fructified. And why does it come? It comes from ignorance. What is ignorance?
krsna bhuli' sei jiva anadi-bahirmukha
ataeva maya tare deya samsara-duhkha
["By forgetting Krsna, the living entity has become materialistic since time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy of Krsna is giving him different types of miseries in material existence." (Cc. Madhya 20.117)]
Forgetting Krsna-this is our main ignorance. So all will go away. Only by one Name, if it is manifest in our heart. What is the meaning of krsna-nama? Oh, we cannot take it by our tongue.
atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah
(Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhu 1.2.234)
["Therefore material senses cannot appreciate Krsna's holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Krsna consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord's holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord's food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Krsna really is" (Madhya 17.137).]
If you are surrendered, then it may be that first all your offenses will go, and krsna-nama will come on your tongue for a moment and He will dance. But this is very rare. We should beg for this. If one name will come and dance on our tongue, then all kinds of karma - prarabdha and aprarabdha - can easily go. But you will have to taste something. Even brahma-jnanis have to taste their karmas. But if anyone utters even one Name, and He is coming and dancing on your tongue, then all avidya
agha-damana-yasoda-nandana! nanda-suno!
kamala-nayana-gopi-candra-vrndavanendrah!
pranata-karuna-krsnav-ity aneka-svarupe
tvayi mama ratir-uccair-vardhatam namadheya (5)
You can chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. O Krsna! You are agha-damana. What is the meaning? You have killed Aghasura, who is the embodiment of all kinds of offenses. "Oh, I am so offensive. Be merciful. As You did for Aghasura, You should take away all of my offenses. Yasoda-nandana. O Krsna! Your Name contains all these things. They should come saturated with rasa in my heart."
suditasrita-janarti-rasaye, ramya-cid-ghana-sukha-svarupine
nama! gokula-mahotsvaya te, purna-vapuse namo namah (7)
O Krsna! Come in my heart with Your full appearance. You are the mahotsava of Gokula. Mahotsava means festival of love. O Gokula-mahotsava! Anyone who sees You, meets You, remembers You or chants Your name enters Your festival of love. O Gokula-mahotsava! You should manifest Yourself in my heart. All the Vedas, the Maha-Bharat and Srimad-Bhagavatam have come in Your Name.
narada-vinoj-jivana! sudhormi-niryasa-madhuri-pura!
tvam krsna-nama! kamam, sphura me rasena rasane sada (8)
Oh, You are very fond of Narada, when he plays on the vina and sings radhika-ramana:
narada muni, bajaya bina, 'radhika-ramana' name
So Your Name, being saturated with rasa, should manifest in my heart.
You should not be idle or weak at all, but always chant, always chant. If you are fixed in chanting, this will help you more than making money. Money can kill you, and money can rob you of all your transcendental energy. But Name is very powerful and merciful. He cannot cheat you, and He cannot kill you. You know, if you have so much money and you go outside, anyone will come and shoot you and take your money. Money brings many problems - where to keep it, where to keep it? This problem always comes with money. Even Name Prabhu will be merciful and give you so much money so that you can maintain your life. He can give you Svarga, the heavenly planets with, oh, so many beautiful ladies, not just one but so many - and they will not divorce you. Name can give you so many at a time - thousands of Apsaras, heavenly angels - Urvasi, Menaka and more. The ladies of this earth cannot equal their footdust. And these earthly husbands? They are bogus! Oh, Krsna will give everything, even Vaikuntha. Or more than Vaikuntha, Dvaraka. In Vaikuntha, all are Laksmi, Satyabhama, Rukmini and all others. If you like, Nama Prabhu can engage you in their service. Not in their service - you will yourself be a queen of Dvaraka. And if you are rejecting this, then you will come to Vrndavana. So you should have a strong will, and from today you should try to increase your chanting and have so much faith that Name can give you anything, whatever you like - money, wealth, reputation, position, everything - and even Krsna!
Gaura premanande! Hari bol!
