Planet ISKCON

On the Caitra Purnima, the full moon day of the month of Caitra, Sri Vamsivadananda Thakura took birth within this world. It was a sweet moon and everyone sang in great joy at the appearance of such a great soul.

Vamsivadananda Thakura is also known as Vamsivadana, Vamsi dasa, Vamsi. It was in the house of Sri Madhava dasa that Vamsivadananda Thakura took birth. His mother’s name was Srimati Candrakaladevi. Vamsivadananda Thakura is the avatara of Krsna’s flute. 

The day that he took birth, Caitanya Mahaprabhu was staying in the house of Sri Madhava dasa.  Advaita acarya Prabhu was also present.  Madhava dasa was a greatly devoted soul and was very attached to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Lord was very affectionate towards his son, Vamsi.

Sri Narahari Cakravarti Thakura writes in his Bhakti-ratnakara (4.23) that when Srinivasa acarya went to visit the birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Mayapura during his pilgrimage to Nabadwipa, he met Vamsivadananda Thakura. At that time Vamsivadananda Thakura bestowed his blessings upon the young Srinivasa acarya who also managed to take darsana of the holy feet of Sri Visnupriya devi. Narahari writes, “Vamsivadananda Thakura sat the young  Srinivasa acarya upon his lap and wet his head with tears of ecstasy in love of Godhead.”

After the disappearance of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Vamsivadananda Thakura was engaged as a servant by Visnupriya devi. It is said that he became the foremost recipient of her mercy.  After the disappearance of Visnupriya devi he took the Mahaprabhu deity established by her to Koladwipa which is presently the town known as Nabadwipa dhama. There he established the worship of the Mahaprabhu deity. There, he also established a deity of Krsna known as Pranavallabha. 

 Vamsivadananda Thakura was a lyrical poet and a composer of songs. All his songs are especially sweet and mellow and express deep moods of devotion. In one famous song he has expressed the separation felt by Mother Saci upon the sannyasa of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Vamsivadananda Thakura has also composed songs about Krsna’s dana-lila, nauka-vilasa,  and vana-vihara-lila.

HG Braja Vilasa prabhu announces the upcoming Give To Nrsima 12 Day Matching Fundraiser beginning on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya (May 10) until Nrsimha Caturdasi (May 22), to help complete the Nrsimha Wing.

The Nrsimhadeva Wing is 80% complete and scheduled to be finished by Nrsimha Caturdasi. We humbly beseech every devotee to help finish the new temple and home of our Divine Protector by participating in this matching fundraiser. HG Ambarisa prabhu will be matching all donations and pledge payments dollar for dollar in support of this campaign.

There are many sponsorship options, including the extended Nrsimha Brick seva opportunity, as well as a General Donation option. Every dollar will be matched and used for the completion of Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Wing. Even if you have already given before or been a sponsor, please help again.

Go to the Give To Nrsimha Campaign page and show your support during the 12 day matching fundraiser.

“O devoted one, one who builds a beautiful temple for Lord Nrsimhadeva will be freed from all sinful reactions and he will enter the Vaikuntha planets.”

Nrsimha Purana

 

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For Sri Hanuman Jayanti, I quote Sri Prahlada’s glorification of Hanuman from Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta (1.4.40–52):

“Hanuman is much more fortunate. For many thousands of years he has enjoyed serving the Lord constantly, without obstruction.

“He is the most powerful person. When he was just a child, the demigods favored him with several wonderful benedictions. Thus he became immune to old age and death.

“He is free of all fear, he maintains great vows, and he performs auspicious deeds. Outstanding among heroes, he is an exceptional servant of the Lord of the Raghus.

“With playful disregard he jumped across thousands of miles of fathomless ocean. Expertly, in the capital of the Raksasa king, he comforted Mother Sita in her distress.

“He boldly threatened his enemies, burned Lanka, and destroyed its citadel. When he brought back news of Sita, he received his master’s deep embrace.

“It was Hanuman who acted as his Lord’s best carrier, his tail serving as a royal white umbrella, his broad back a comfortable seat for the Lord. And it was Hanuman who directed the project of bridging the ocean.

“He fulfilled the desires of Vibhisana. He destroyed the military force of the Raksasas. And he had the special power to deliver the healing herb called visalya-karani.

“He was the very life of his soldiers. Always giving great pleasure to his divine Lord and the Lord’s younger brother Laksmana, he devotedly served as carrier for Them both.

“Supremely intelligent and valorous, he brought victory for Lord Ramacandra. He added to the spotless fame of his Lord, who killed the king of the Raksasas.

“It was Hanuman who encouraged Mother Sita. And by the Lord’s order, this Hanuman, the one true recipient of his master’s favor, still lives in this world, though unable to bear separation from the Lord.

“He keeps himself alive by constantly hearing the glories of Lord Rama. Staying by the side of the Lord’s Deity, He is present even today with the same splendor as always.

“Hanuman’s greatness is well known from scriptural statements like ‘The chief of the monkeys became perfect by acting as the Lord’s servant.’ His servitude is proof of the Lord’s mercy.

“Although Hanuman obtained from the son of Dasaratha the boon of liberation without striving for it, he never wanted to accept liberation without the opportunity to serve. To that Hanuman I offer my obeisances.”

For Balarama Rasa-yatra, we shall read from Srila Prabhupada’s summary study of the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, called Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead— about Lord Balarama’s visit to Vrindavan after He and Krishna had been away from Vrindavan for many years.

In our meditation on the deity of the Lord, we begin from His lotus feet and then gradually progress upward to His ankles, knees, thighs, waist, navel, chest, neck, and face. Srimad-Bhagavatam is also a form of the Lord, and so we begin its study with the lotus feet, which are the First and Second Cantos, and gradually progress upwards until we get to the Tenth Canto, which is compared to the Lord’s smiling face. The topics in the Tenth Canto are very elevated and can actually be fully appreciated only by liberated souls—because Krishna’s pastimes with His pure devotees are enacted on the liberated platform—but on special occasions like Balarama Rasa-yatra we do explore such topics.

On this occasion some years ago, I was in Vrindavan tending to a disciple, Arca-vigraha dasi, who was preparing to leave her body. Many senior devotees would come every day and read to her, discuss with her, and chant for her, and on this particular occasion I read the same pastime—about Lord Balarama’s visit to Vrindavan—from both the Tenth Canto and the Krsna book. The basic features of the pastime were the same in both texts, though there were little differences in terms of details and revelations of insights into the pastime. Today I shall read from the Krsna book, Chapter Sixty-Five: “Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana.”

TEXT

Lord Balarama became very anxious to see His father and mother in Vrndavana. Therefore, with great enthusiasm He started on a chariot for Vrndavana. The inhabitants of Vrndavana had been anxious to see Krsna and Balarama for a very long time. When Lord Balarama returned to Vrndavana, all the cowherd boys and the gopis had grown up; but still, on His arrival, they all embraced Him, and Balarama embraced them in reciprocation. After this He came before Maharaja Nanda and Yasoda and offered His respectful obeisances. In response, Mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja offered their blessings unto Him. They addressed Him as Jagadisvara, or the Lord of the universe who maintains everyone. The reason for this was that Krsna and Balarama maintain all living entities. And yet Nanda and Yasoda were put into such difficulties on account of Their absence. Feeling like this, they embraced Balarama and, seating Him on their laps, began their perpetual crying, wetting Balarama with their tears. Lord Balarama then offered His respectful obeisances to the elderly cowherd men and accepted the obeisances of the younger cowherd men. Thus, according to their different ages and relationships, Lord Balarama exchanged feelings of friendship with them. He shook hands with those who were His equals in age and friendship and with loud laughing embraced each one of them.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

There are many points in just this one paragraph. First, Lord Balarama offered obeisances to Nanda and Yasoda, who had played the roles of His parents, and they in turn offered their blessings to Him—yet they referred to Him as Jagadisvara, the Lord of the universe. It appears contradictory that the Lord of the universe is offering obeisances to Nanda and Yasoda and that they are offering blessings to Him. But in transcendental pastimes there are two considerations: rasa and tattva. Rasa means the transcendental mellows exchanged between the Lord and the devotee in a loving relationship, and tattva means their existential positions. Although in terms of tattva, Balarama is the Personality of Godhead, vishnu-tattva, and Nanda and Yasoda are devotees, in terms of rasa, their transcendental relationship, Nanda and Yasoda are in the position of parents to Balarama and Krishna (vatsalya-rasa).

Queen Kunti prayed to Krishna,

gopy adade tvayi krtagasi dama tavad
   ya te dasasru-kalilanjana-sambhramaksam
vaktram niniya bhaya-bhavanaya sthitasya
   sa mam vimohayati bhir api yad bibheti

“My dear Krsna, Yasoda took up a rope to bind You when You committed an offense, and Your perturbed eyes overflooded with tears, which washed the mascara from Your eyes. And You were afraid, though fear personified is afraid of You. This sight is bewildering to me.” (SB 1.8.31) The image of Mother Yasoda with rope in hand and Krishna trembling in fright with tears in His eyes—even though Krishna is feared by fear personified—caused Kunti to become transcendentally bewildered.

In Krishna’s pastimes there are many such intricacies that can bewilder the intellect, and so we should mainly just hear and relish such topics; that is our first business. Once, when we were touring India with Srila Prabhupada, in Indore, a disciple asked him, “In some places we read that Lord Brahma is born from the lotus that sprouts from the navel of Lord Vishnu and that then he creates the different planets (as described in Srimad-Bhagavatam), but then in other places we read that all the planets, the different planetary systems, are contained within the stem of the lotus that sprouts from the navel of Lord Vishnu. How do we reconcile these two versions?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “It is inconceivable. We cannot understand these topics with our tiny brains. Our only business is to love Krishna.” So, we study scripture—bhagavata-sravana, hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam is one of the five most potent processes of devotional service—and we want to understand the science of Krishna consciousness, rasa and tattva and other elements—but we cannot really fully comprehend, or accommodate, these vast topics in our tiny brains, so ultimately we just surrender and hear and relish.

Another point is that Nanda and Yasoda addressed Balarama as Jagadisvara, as if to say, “We hear that You and Your younger brother are the Lords of the universe. Why, then, do You not protect Your elderly parents?” There is a slightly sarcastic, accusatory tone. On a very high level of Krishna consciousness, a devotee, out of pure love, can accuse or quarrel with the Lord. On the transcendental platform, we find the full range of emotions; everything exists there, but in its original, completely pure state (suddha-sattva), beyond the modes of material nature. Everything there is done out of love for Krishna. In the material world, anger is usually mixed with hatred. But in the spiritual world, the anger—transcendental anger—is mixed with love.

The Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu and Caitanya-caritamrta and other scriptures inform us that beyond even the stage of prema there are further developments of transcendental love. Here is the general progression given in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-
  sango ’tha bhajana-kriya
tato ’nartha-nivrttih syat
  tato nistha rucis tatah

 athasaktis tato bhavas
  tatah premabhyudancati
sadhakanam ayam premnah
  pradurbhave bhavet kramah

“In the beginning there must be faith (sraddha). Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees (sadhu-sanga). Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders (bhajana-kriya). Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits (anartha-nivrtti) and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service (nistha). Thereafter, one develops taste (ruci) and attachment (asakti). This is the way of sadhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions (bhava) intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love (prema). This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Krsna consciousness.” (Brs 1.4.15–16, as Cc Madhya 23.14–15)

Generally we understand that devotees progress from sraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, and anartha-nivrttih to nistha, ruci, and asakti all the way to bhava and prema—but in the spiritual world there are developments beyond prema.

prema krame badi’ haya-sneha, mana, pranaya
raga, anuraga, bhava, mahabhava haya

“Love of Godhead (prema) increases and is manifest as affection (sneha), indignation (mana), love (pranaya), attachment (raga), further attachment (anuraga), ecstasy (bhava), and sublime ecstasy (maha-bhava).” (Cc Madhya 23.43) Beyond even prema is mana, a sort of transcendental anger, but that is possible only beyond the stage of simple prema—only for the residents of Vrindavan.

TEXT

After being received by the cowherd men and boys, the gopis, and King Nanda and Yasoda, Lord Balarama sat down, feeling satisfied, and they all surrounded Him. First Lord Balarama inquired from them about their welfare, and then, since they had not seen Him for such a long time, they began to ask Him different questions. The inhabitants of Vrndavana had sacrificed everything for Krsna, simply being captivated by the lotus eyes of the Lord. Because of their great desire to love Krsna, they never desired anything like elevation to the heavenly planets or merging into the effulgence of Brahman to become one with the Absolute Truth. They were not even interested in enjoying a life of opulence, but they were satisfied in living a simple life in the village as cowherds. They were always absorbed in thoughts of Krsna and did not desire any personal benefits, and they were all so much in love with Him that in His absence their voices faltered when they began to inquire from Balarama.

COMMENT

The different stages of advancement are hierarchical, and the qualities of each prior, or lower, stage are also included in the subsequent, or higher, stages. So, in the above description of the residents of Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada describes them in terms that apply to any pure devotee, on the platform of uttama-bhakti:

anyabhilasita-sunyam
  jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-
  silanam bhaktir uttama

“When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Krsna favorably, as Krsna desires.” (Brs 1.1.11, as Cc Madhya 19.167)

As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam’s First Canto:

tulayama lavenapi
  na svargam napunar-bhavam
bhagavat-sangi-sangasya
  martyanam kim utasisah

“The value of a moment’s association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which are for those who are meant for death.” (SB 1.18.13) By such association, beginning with even one moment, one can eventually attain pure devotional service and, like the residents of Vrindavan, have no interest in elevation to heavenly planets or merging into impersonal Brahman, what to speak of enjoying the opulences of the world. The Vraja-vasis were interested only in loving Krishna and serving Him. Their mood fits the basic definition of pure devotional service, which applies from the beginning stages of sraddha and sadhu-sanga up to the most advanced stages of anuraga and maha-bhava. So, too, with the different rasas: the elements of santa-rasa are included in dasya-rasa, the qualities of dasya are included in sakhya, the qualities of sakhya, including santa and dasya, are included in vatsalya, and the qualities of all four are included in madhurya.

It is not that when we become advanced we desire material things. No. One disciple said to Srila Prabhupada, “When we are liberated, when we become paramahamsas, then we can do anything and it wouldn’t affect us because we will be on the transcendental platform. So then when we are paramahamsas we can also have sex.” And Srila Prabhupada replied that this was foolishness and told a story of a servant of the king. The king would ride in a boat and the servant would walk alongside on a path that ran along the river, pulling the boat from the land, and the king would have a little excursion. So, the king was very pleased with the servant’s work and told the servant, “I am very pleased with you; I will give you whatever you like.” The foolish servant replied, “I would like a velvet carpet to be placed along the path so that when I’m pulling the boat it will be soft under my feet.” Srila Prabhupada said that this is foolishness because the servant could have gotten anything; he didn’t have to pull the boat anymore. He could have attained a boon far greater than doing more or less the same thing but in a little different way. So, in response to the devotee’s comment—“Oh, if I become a paramahamsa I can have sex”—Srila Prabhupada said that a paramahamsa is in a position to relish on a much higher platform than that. Asking for sex after attaining the transcendental platform would be like asking for extra facility to pull the boat on the thorny path. The idea is param drstva nivartate, that on the highest level one experiences a higher taste and has no interest in elevation to heavenly planets or merging into impersonal brahmajyoti, what to speak of enjoying worldly pleasures that are meant for those who are bound for death.

Now the residents of Vrindavan are about to speak to Lord Balarama with faltering voices, feeling separation from Krishna:

TEXT

First Nanda Maharaja and Yasodamayi inquired, “My dear Balarama, are our friends like Vasudeva and others in the family doing well? Now You and Krsna are grown-up married men with children. In the happiness of family life, do You sometimes remember Your poor father and mother, Nanda Maharaja and Yasoda-devi? It is very good news that the most sinful King Kamsa has been killed by You and that our friends like Vasudeva and the others who had been harassed have now been relieved. It is also very good news that You and Krsna defeated Jarasandha and Kalayavana, who is now dead, and that You are now living in a fortified residence in Dvaraka.”

When the gopis arrived, Lord Balarama glanced over them with loving eyes. Being overjoyed, the gopis, who had so long been mortified on account of Krsna’s and Balarama’s absence, began to ask about the welfare of the two brothers. They specifically asked Balarama whether Krsna was enjoying His life surrounded by the enlightened women of Dvaraka Puri. “Does He sometimes remember His father Nanda and His mother Yasoda and the other friends with whom He so intimately behaved while in Vrndavana? Does Krsna have any plans to come here to see His mother, Yasoda, and does He remember us gopis, who are now pitiably bereft of His company? Krsna may have forgotten us in the midst of the cultured women of Dvaraka, but as far as we are concerned, we still remember Him by collecting flowers and sewing them into garlands. When He does not come, however, we simply pass our time by crying. If only He would come here and accept these garlands we have made. My dear Lord Balarama, descendant of Dasarha, You know that we would give up everything for Krsna’s friendship. Even in great distress one cannot give up the connection of family members, but although it might be impossible for others, we gave up our fathers, mothers, sisters, and relatives. But then Krsna, not caring a pinch for our renunciation, all of a sudden renounced us and went away. He broke off our intimate relationship without serious consideration and left for a foreign country. But He was so clever and cunning that He manufactured very nice words. He said, ‘My dear gopis, please do not worry. The service you have rendered to Me is impossible for Me to repay.’ After all, we are women, so how could we disbelieve Him? Now we can understand that His sweet words were simply for cheating us.”

COMMENT

These words of accusation against Krishna are quoted in the Caitanya-caritamrta in the discussion of the high states of love of God exhibited by the Vraja-vasis in relation to Krishna—that they call Him a cheater. Srila Prabhupada explains that Krishna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, also wants some variety. He gets tired of always being worshipped by Vedic hymns and mantras and elaborate sacrifices and worship. Sometimes he wants someone to chastise Him, but who can chastise Him? Only the most pure devotees.

One example is Mother Yasoda with the whipping stick, chastising Krishna for His naughtiness in breaking the butter pots, eating butter and yogurt, and feeding His friends and monkeys. Another is the gopis chastising Him for being a cheater.

Srila Prabhupada told the story of Lord Gladstone, the nineteenth-century prime minister of Great Britain. Ordinary people couldn’t see the prime minister, but a big man came to see him, and the prime minister’s secretary said, “Please wait; he is engaged now. He will see you after some time.” The man waited and waited, but there was no news from inside. So he pushed open the door a little to see what was happening, and when he looked in, he saw the great prime minister of the United Kingdom on the floor on his hands and knees with his grandson on his back, directing him like a man riding a horse: “Giddyap! Giddyap! Go right! Go left!” So, he was still the prime minister even when he was playing the part of a horse for his grandson, but sometimes he wanted to take a break from his position; he wanted to forget that he was the prime minister and just enjoy with his beloved grandchild.

So, Krishna also likes to take a break, so to speak, from being the Supreme Lord, the ruler of the universe—not just the universe but all the universes—and just relax with His intimate loved ones. That is His Vrindavan lila. It is said that He enjoys the chastisements of His friends in Vrindavan more than all the Vedic hymns because that chastisement comes from such a deep level of pure love. He says, “If My beloved consort reproaches Me in a sulky mood, that steals My mind from the reverent hymns of the Vedas.” (Cc Adi 4.26)

Here the gopis are saying that Krishna had said, “I cannot repay My debt to you” and just as He was leaving Vrindavan for Mathura had said, “Do not worry, I shall return,” but then didn’t come back. They were making garlands for Him, thinking, “Oh, if He comes today we will be prepared,” but He never came.

TEXT

Protesting Krsna’s absence from Vrndavana, another gopi said, “My dear Balaramaji, we are of course village girls, so Krsna could cheat us in that way, but what about the women of Dvaraka? Don’t think they are as foolish as we are! We village women might be misled by Krsna, but the women in the city of Dvaraka are very clever and intelligent. Therefore I would be surprised if such city women could be misled by Krsna and could believe His words.”

Then another gopi began to speak. “My dear friend,” she said, “Krsna is very clever in using words. No one can compete with Him in that art. He can manufacture such colorful words and talk so sweetly that the heart of any woman would be misled. Besides that, He has perfected the art of smiling very attractively, and by seeing His smile women become mad after Him and give themselves to Him without hesitation.”

Another gopi, after hearing this, said, “My dear friends, what is the use of talking about Krsna? If you are at all interested in passing time by talking, let us talk on some subject other than Him. If cruel Krsna can pass His time without us, why can’t we pass our time without Krsna? Of course, Krsna is passing His days without us very happily, but we cannot pass our days happily without Him.”

COMMENT

We are on a platform where it is easy to forget Krishna. It is nothing for us to forget Him. In fact, we have to do everything we can to remember Krishna. But they are trying to forget Krishna but can’t, no matter how much they try. That actually begins in the stage of sadhana. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his Madhurya-kadambini elaborates on this verse, two verses from Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu—adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango, and so on. He describes that at the stage of asakti, just before bhava, if your mind wanders from Krishna, it automatically comes back. You don’t even know how it comes back; it is automatic. In the earlier stages, when we chant japa, we have to try to fix our mind on the sound of the holy name, and even then, after a while—we don’t even know how much time or how many beads have passed—we realize that our mind is somewhere else. We don’t know how we left the holy name or how we got onto a different topic, which then led to another topic and then another topic, and so on. But at the stage of asakti it is the opposite: if your mind wanders, it automatically comes back. So, what to speak of the gopis, who are on the highest stage: they are fully absorbed in remembrance of Krishna, and even if they want to forget Him, they can’t.

TEXT

When the gopis were talking in this way, their feelings for Krsna became more and more intense, and they were experiencing Krsna’s smiling, Krsna’s words of love, Krsna’s attractive features, Krsna’s characteristics, and Krsna’s embraces. By the force of their ecstatic feelings, it appeared to them that Krsna was personally present and dancing before them. Because of their sweet remembrance of Krsna, they could not check their tears, and they began to cry without consideration.

COMMENT

This is a very important point: why did Krishna leave Vrindavan and remain away for so long? After all, the residents of Vrindavan, and especially the gopis, were His best devotees. They had the greatest love for Him. One answer is that when Krishna was in Vrindavan the gopis were always afraid of His separation. There is a very exalted stage where you can be with Krishna yet feel separation from Him. This was demonstrated in the pastime of Prema-sarovara. Radha and Krishna were together, sitting next to each other, and a bumblebee was hovering around Them and causing some disturbance, and Srimati Radharani wanted the bumblebee chased away. So Madhumangala chased away the bee and came back and announced, “The madhu has gone and will not come back.” Now, the word madhu can refer to a bee, but it can also refer to Krishna; it is one of His names. So even though Srimati Radharani was sitting right next to Krishna, when She heard “Madhu is gone and will not return,” She took it as referring to Krishna, burst into tears, and went into a deep mood of separation. And even though Krishna was sitting right next to Her, He could not bring Her out of Her ecstatic trance of separation. Then He, too, began to cry, and Their tears of love created a pond, which became known as Prema-sarovara.

So, Krishna perceived that as long as He remained in Vrindavan, the residents, especially the gopis, would always fear His separation; they would feel separation from Him and be preoccupied with His physical presence and absence. And He thought that if He left Vrindavan, the gopis wouldn’t focus on that. They would feel separation, but in the intensity of their feelings of separation they would feel Krishna’s presence, unlike when He was physically in Vrindavan and they would feel His presence only when He was physically with them. If He left, they would feel His presence all the time—through their intense feelings of separation.

This point is elucidated in Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta with the example of fire and ice. Sometimes if something is very cold, like dry ice, it burns. Dry ice is so cold that if you touch it you get burned. So, when the feelings of separation become so extreme, so intense, they lead to the experience of meeting, of being together. The gopis and other residents of Vrindavan could have gone to Dvaraka, but they actually preferred not to, because the happiness they were relishing in separation was even greater than the happiness they would have relished in Krishna’s association in Dvaraka.

Here we can see that in expressing their intense feelings of separation from Krishna, the gopis are experiencing His presence even to the extent of seeing His lotus eyes and His smile, and His dancing with them and even embracing them.

TEXT

Lord Balarama, of course, could understand the ecstatic feelings of the gopis, and therefore He wanted to pacify them. He was expert in presenting an appeal, and thus, treating the gopis very respectfully, He began to narrate the stories of Krsna so tactfully that the gopis became satisfied.

COMMENT

Here is another way that they and any devotees can feel the presence of the Lord—by hearing about His pastimes. The verse tava kathamrtam tapta-jivanam says that krsna-katha is the best medicine for those who are suffering tapa. Tapa means “misery,” or “heat.” It can mean material miseries—that is also there. By krsna-katha one gets relief. But it can also refer to the misery of feeling separation from Krishna. Krsna-katha also gives relief from the fire of separation.

TEXT

To keep the gopis in Vrndavana satisfied, Lord Balarama stayed there continuously for two months, namely the months of Caitra (March-April) and Vaisakha (April-May).

For those two months He kept Himself among the gopis, and He passed every night with them in the forest of Vrndavana to satisfy their desire for conjugal love. Thus Balarama also enjoyed the rasa dance with the gopis during those two months.

COMMENT

Here is an important point that is mentioned in the commentaries on this chapter. There were two sets of gopis—Krishna’s gopis and Balarama’s gopis—so it is not that Balarama enjoyed the rasa dance with Krishna’s gopis. That would have been rasabhasa, a disturbance in the rasa. There are His gopis, who are attached to Him in madhurya-rasa, and so He had His rasa-lila with them. And He pacified the other gopis—those who were attached to Krishna—by speaking about Krishna.

TEXT

Since the season was springtime, the breeze on the bank of the Yamuna was blowing very mildly, carrying the aroma of different flowers, especially the flower known as kaumudi. Moonlight filled the sky and spread everywhere, and thus the banks of the Yamuna appeared very bright and pleasing, and Lord Balarama enjoyed the company of the gopis there.

The demigod known as Varuna sent his daughter Varuni in the form of liquid honey oozing from the hollows of the trees. Because of this honey the whole forest became aromatic, and the sweet aroma of the liquid honey, Varuni, captivated Balaramaji. Balaramaji and all the gopis became very much attracted by the taste of the Varuni, and all of them drank it together. While drinking this natural beverage, all the gopis chanted the glories of Lord Balarama, and Lord Balarama felt very happy, as if He had become intoxicated by drinking that Varuni beverage.

COMMENT

Varuni is a devotee, and when Balarama was drinking the Varuni beverage, He was actually drinking Varuni’s love and devotion. In a similar way, Krishna would drink Mother Yasoda’s breast milk, but it wasn’t ordinary milk; it was her love in liquid form. So, Varuni is also love in liquid form, and Balarama was drinking it and becoming intoxicated.

TEXT

His eyes rolled in a pleasing attitude. He was decorated with long garlands of forest flowers, and the whole situation appeared to be a great function of happiness because of this transcendental bliss. Lord Balarama smiled beautifully, and the drops of perspiration decorating His face appeared like soothing morning dew.

While Balarama was in that happy mood, He desired to enjoy the company of the gopis in the water of the Yamuna. Therefore He called the Yamuna to come nearby. But the Yamuna neglected the order of Balaramaji, considering Him intoxicated. Lord Balarama became very much displeased at the Yamuna’s neglecting His order. He immediately wanted to scratch the land near the river with His plowshare. Lord Balarama has two weapons, a plow and a club, from which He takes service when they are required. This time He wanted to bring the Yamuna by force, and He took the help of His plow. He wanted to punish the Yamuna because she did not come in obedience to His order. He addressed the Yamuna, “You wretched river! You did not care for My order. Now I shall teach you a lesson! You did not come to Me voluntarily. Now with the help of My plow I shall force you to come. I shall divide you into hundreds of scattered streams!”

COMMENT

All the entities in the spiritual world are conscious and personal. The Yamuna is also personal. In fact, it is described that she has her own identity and is also the gopi Visakha in liquid form. So everything is personal. There is no dead matter in Vrindavan; it is all conscious and personal.

TEXT

When the Yamuna was threatened like this, she became greatly afraid of the power of Balarama and immediately came in person . . .

COMMENT

The personified form of the Yamuna River came to Balarama.

TEXT

. . . falling at His lotus feet and praying thus: “My dear Balarama, You are the most powerful personality, and You are pleasing to everyone. Unfortunately, I forgot Your glorious, exalted position, but now I have come to my senses, and I remember that You hold all the planetary systems on Your head merely by Your partial expansion Sesa. You are the sustainer of the whole universe. My dear Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are full with six opulences. Because I forgot Your omnipotence, I have mistakenly disobeyed Your order, and thus I have become a great offender. But, my dear Lord, please know that I am a soul surrendered unto You, who are very affectionate to Your devotees. Therefore please excuse my impudence and mistakes, and, by Your causeless mercy, may You now release me.”

COMMENT

She was repentant. It does happen—devotees forget the Lord’s supremacy. In krsna-lila, which is nara-lila, humanlike pastimes, Krishna and Balarama resemble ordinary human beings, and one can forget Their position. It happened with Brahma when he stole the cowherd boys and calves, and it happened with Indra when he sent the torrents of rain. But because the Lord is affectionate to His devotees, if they repent—and any genuine devotee will repent—the Lord rectifies them and brings them back to His service, properly situated again.

It is described that when Indra sent torrential rain down on the residents of Vrindavan, for a moment Krishna thought, “Let Me just kill him; He is such a disturbance,” but then He thought, “No, I should be merciful to him. I should curb his false pride and bring him back to his senses.” In gaura-lila, when Vallabha Bhatta was proud of his knowledge and scholarship, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu humbled him just like Krishna humbled Indra and brought him to a better position in devotional service.

So, Yamuna-devi sincerely regretted her offense in not obeying the command of Balarama. In a genuine mood of repentance, she asked to be forgiven. She knew that He was affectionate to His devotees, and she wanted Him to show that affection toward her because she was His surrendered devotee. She was just temporarily covered by some illusion, some misconception.

TEXT

Upon displaying this submissive attitude, the Yamuna was forgiven, and when she came nearby, Lord Balarama enjoyed the pleasure of swimming in her waters along with the gopis in the same way that an elephant enjoys himself along with his many she-elephants. After a long time, when Lord Balarama had enjoyed to His full satisfaction, He came out of the water, and immediately a goddess of fortune offered Him a nice blue garment and a valuable necklace made of gold. After bathing in the Yamuna, Lord Balarama, dressed in blue garments and decorated with golden ornaments, looked very attractive to everyone. Lord Balarama’s complexion is white, and when He was properly dressed He looked exactly like the white elephant of King Indra in the heavenly planets. The river Yamuna still has many small branches due to being scratched by the plowshare of Lord Balarama. And all these branches of the river Yamuna still glorify the omnipotence of Lord Balarama.

Lord Balarama and the gopis enjoyed transcendental pastimes together every night for two months, and time passed so quickly that all those nights appeared to be only one night. In the presence of Lord Balarama, all the gopis and other inhabitants of Vrndavana became as cheerful as they had been before in the presence of both brothers, Lord Krsna and Lord Balarama.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Sixty-fifth Chapter of Krsna, “Lord Balarama Visits Vrndavana.”

COMMENT

Hare Krishna. Sri Balarama Rasa-yatra ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Are there any questions or comments?

Jagarini dasi: It seems that especially in Indra’s pastimes in Vrindavan his anger was not coming from love. Where is the explanation for such an advanced devotee to become so bewildered that he could become actually hateful of the residents of Vrindavan?

Giriraj Swami: Like the other demigods, Lord Indra is a devotee, but with material desires. His main fault was his pride, and he wanted to be honored and worshipped, and so he became covered. Of course, it is the Lord’s pastimes and we don’t want to minimize King Indra, but still he does have material desires. He must be very pious to be in that position and have the Lord’s association, but still he has material desires and when people identify with their material desires and their material desires are frustrated, they become angry.

Like you said, that anger was not on the transcendental platform of mana, like the gopis’. That was just anger born of the frustration of material desires. In fact, one word for anger is kamanuja. Anuja means “younger brother” and kama means “desire,” so wherever there is material desire, its younger brother, anger, follows behind. That was the case with Indra. It was the Lord’s pastimes for our benefit as well, but still that was the case.

And that’s not transcendental love or mana, which is seen in the pure devotees in Vrindavan. That happens—even with Lord Brahma, what to speak of Indra. Once, a disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, “Lord Brahma was such a great devotee. He created the universe and made such beautiful prayers in the Brahma-samhita, and he is the first teacher in our line. How could he have become bewildered?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “He is a devotee, but the great devotees are in Vrindavan.” And that was Lord Brahma, what to speak of Indra. So he is a devotee, but not on the level of the devotees in Vrindavan.

Akruranatha dasa: When one gopi was saying that “The women in Dvaraka wouldn’t be so easily cheated like us,” was she indirectly glorifying the love of the gopis compared with the love of the women in Dvaraka?

Giriraj Swami: It’s true that in the gopis’ simple love for Krishna they would accept whatever He said or did. In the pastime when He stole their garments, gopi-vastra-harana-lila, they threatened Krishna: “If You don’t return our garments, we will complain to Your father Nanda Maharaja.” But Krishna said, “I don’t care. He can’t do anything against Me.” So they said, “We’ll complain to Kamsa. He is the king, and he will chastise You for Your misbehavior.” Srila Prabhupada comments that although they made those threats against Krishna, they never actually took any action against Him—because of their pure love. So, it could be an indirect statement that the sophisticated ladies in Mathura might not have been so submissive and surrendered.

Raxit Jariwala: When we hear of the pastimes of the Lord, we understand that we cannot emulate His activities, cannot copy or imitate Him. So, what is a devotee to take from these pastimes? Is it the simple contentment of hearing them and knowing that these activities are going on in the spiritual world, or is there some more significance or benefit?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, there is benefit on both levels—rasa and tattva. By hearing about the Lord’s pastimes with His devotees in the spiritual world, we can become attracted to them and aspire to join them. There is a verse at the end of the five chapters dealing with the rasa dance, which says that in order to bestow mercy upon His devotees, Krishna displays humanlike pastimes so that they will become attracted to Him and His pastimes and want to engage in His service.

anugrahaya bhaktanam
  manusam deham asthitah
bhajate tadrsih kridah
  yah srutva tat-paro bhavet

“When the Lord assumes a humanlike body to show mercy to His devotees, He engages in such pastimes as will attract those who hear about them to become dedicated to Him.” (SB 10.33.36) By hearing these pastimes, we can think, “I want to go to Vrindavan. I want to live in Vrindavan eternally and have a relationship with Krishna as a servant or a cowherd boyfriend or as a parental figure or as a young gopi.” By hearing about Krishna and His loving relationships with His devotees in Vrindavan, you may develop that desire.

Devotee: You have explained the transcendental anger of Balaramaji. Can you share some pastimes with your guru maharaja when he exhibited transcendental anger?

Giriraj Swami: I’ll tell one. I’ve had my own experiences, but because you asked for one that would be instructive to all disciples, I’ll tell this other one.

When Srila Prabhupada was in Juhu in 1977, he was very ill and was not coming down from his quarters, where he was served by a select group of disciples. Srila Prabhupada was very particular about his prasada being served on time, and once, Nava Yogendra Swami brought it late and Srila Prabhupada became very angry. Afterwards, Nava Yogendra Swami asked him, “Srila Prabhupada, when you become angry we become so bewildered we don’t know what to do, we don’t know what to think, we don’t know how to feel. How should we feel when you become so angry?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “You should feel jubilant. There are so many people loitering on the street who have no one to look after them, who have no one who cares for them and will correct them if they do something wrong. So you should feel jubilant that you have a master who cares for you and will correct you if you do something wrong.”

Thank you all very much.

Hare Krishna.

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Balarama Rasa-yatra, April 16, 2011, San Jose, California]

Today being Earth Day, I thought of a prayer that resonated with me in my youth: “The earth is the Lordís, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall sta

Later, when I met Srila Prabhupada, I came across a verse spoken by the Lord Himself, Krishna, which confirmed and expanded the same principle: “A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (Bhagavad-gita 5.29)

How, then, should we deal with the earth and its resources? “Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.” (Isopanisad 1)

Thus one should be happy and satisfied in Krishna (God) consciousness.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Shri Shyamananda, Shrinvasa and Shri Narottama Dasa Thakura are all eternal associates of Shri Gaurasundara.  For the purpose of preaching the holy message of Sri Caitanya all over the earth they appeared within this world.

Sri Syamananda made his appearance at Utkala in the village of Dharenda Bahadurpur. His father’s name was Sri Krsna Mandal and his mother’s name was Sri Durika. Sri Krsna Mandal, who descended in the line of sad-gopas, had many sons and daughters who unfortunately passed away before the birth of this son. For this reason this son was named Dukhiya.

As time passed, the purificatory rites, his first taking of grains, tonsure (the hair-cutting ceremony) and the rites for beginning his education were performed, one after the other. The scholars were astounded to see his profound intellect.

Within a short period he completed his studies of grammar, poetry and rhetoric. When he heard of the glories of Sri Gaura-Nityananda from the Vaishnavas of his village, a very deep attachment to Their lotus feet developed in him.

Sri Krsna Mandal was himself a very advanced devotee. Seeing that his son was always absorbed in thinking of Gaura-Nityananda. He told him that he should be initiated into the divine mantra.

The boy replied, “Sri Hrdaya Caitanya is my guru. He is at Ambika Kalna. His guru is Sri Gauri dasa Pandita. The two brothers, Sri Gaura-Nityananda, are eternally present in his house. If you give your permission, I will proceed to there to become his disciple.”

Sri Hrdaya Caitanya was very pleased by him. He told the boy, “From now your name is Krsna das. Since early this morning I was feeling that someone would come today.” Sri Hrdaya Caitanya could see that his new disciple was extremely intelligent and at the same time very devoted, so he ordered him to go to Vrindavana to study the shastras under the tutelage of Srila Jiva Gosvami. 

Srila Jiva Gosvami was extremely happy to receive Duhkhi Krsna dasa into his care. Krsna das very carefully began to serve Jiva Gosvami as well as study the literatures of the Gosvamis.
Srinivasa Acarya and Narottama dasa Thakura also came to Sri Jiva at this time to study under him. Thus Krsna das had the opportunity to meet them.

Krsna das requested Srila Jiva Gosvami for a special service. Sri Jiva instructed him to sweep the forest grove of Sevakunja everyday. From that day he began to carry out this service with great pleasure. 

One day while Krsna das was cleaning the kunja, his heart filled with love. Just then he happened to notice a very beautiful ankle bracelet lying in the dust. He picked it up, touched it to his head and then bound it in the corner of his upper cloth. “I’ll give it to whomever it belongs to when they come to look for it,” he thought.

The next morning the gopis noticed that Srimati Radharani’s left ankle bracelet was missing. Radharani explained, “Last night, when I was dancing in the kunja, it must have fallen off. Please look for it and bring it back to me.”

When the gopis came to search for the bracelet, Visakha devi noticed Krsna das sweeping the grove. She asked him, “Have you found an ankle bracelet here?” Duhkhi Krsna dasa was so mesmerized by her sweet words and radiant form, which was like that of a demigoddess descended from heaven, that he simply stared at her dumbfounded. Again she asked him, “Have you found an ankle bracelet here?”

After a few moments, Visakha devi returned with Srimati Radha Thakurani who stood in the shade at the foot of a large tree. Visakha called out to Krsna dasa, “Bhakta, the person who lost her ankle bracelet has come to receive it.”

Visakha then told him, “O best of the devotees! Our Sakhi wants to give you a benediction to express her gratitude.”

Duhkhi Krsna dasa saw the holy waters of Radha kunda before him. After offering his obeisances, he immersed himself in her waters. Thus he attained a transcendentally beautiful feminine form. Coming out of the sacred kunda, he stood before Visakha devi and offered prayers. Taking this ‘forest sakhi’ by the hand, Visakha approached Srimati Radha Thakurani, and the new sakhi fell down at Her lotus feet. Then Srimati Radharani decorated her forehead with tilaka using the ankle bracelet and the kumkum of her lotus feet.

“This tilak will remain on your forehead. From today you will be known as Shyamananda. Now you can go.” After She said this, Srimati Radha Thakurani and Her sakhis were no longer to be seen. Dukhi Krsna dasa’s trance broke and he found himself as before, alone and in his male body: yet with the tilaka applied by Srimati Radharani still on his forehead. Being overwhelmed with emotion, he repeated over and over, “What have I seen?”

Sri Shyamananda, Srinivasa and Sri Narottama began to pass their days in great bliss, studying the literatures of the goswamis and begging a little to eat from door to door. The three of them resolved to continue in this way and thus devote the better part of their time to serving and worshipping Sri Krsna in Vrindavana.

The goswamis held a council together and decided that these three should be sent to Gaudadesa to preach the teachings of Mahaprabhu as presented in the gosvami literature. One day Srila Jiva Gosvami called the three of them together and informed them of this decision. Thus the three of them accepted that order on their bowed heads.

May 10 is Akshaya Tritiya, one of the most important days in the Vedic calendar. Akshaya Tritiya is the appearance day of Lord Parasurama, and it is also the day that the Ganges descended to the earth. Most devotees know it as the beginning of Candana-yatra, but actually many of Lord Krishna’s other pastimes also took place on this day, specifically those which highlight Krishna’s generous and intimate reciprocation with his devotees.

The very word Akshaya means “that which never diminishes”. Any service or charity one performs on this day will be paid back many times over. On this day, Sudama gave the Lord a tiny portion of chipped rice and was rewarded with untold opulence.

Draupadi was protected by Krishna twice on this day, once when He provided her an unlimited sari at the dice game in return for a tiny piece of cloth, and later, when she needed to provide food for Durvasa muni, the Lord took a single grain from her pot and satisfied the hunger of all the sages.

“If the devotee offers something to the Lord, it acts for his own interest because whatever a devotee offers the Lord comes back in a quantity a million times greater than what was offered. One does not become a loser by giving to the Lord; one becomes a gainer by millions of times.”

Krsna Book Ch. 81, The Brahmana Sudama Blessed by Lord Krishna

Traditionally, this is the best day for starting important endeavors. Vyasadeva and Ganesa chose this day to start writing the great epic Mahabharata, for example, and every year construction of the huge Ratha carts in Puri also starts on this day.

This year’s Akshaya Tritiya begins the Give To Nrsimha 12 Day Matching Fundraiser until Nrsimha Caturdasi, May 22 (India time), to raise funds to finish Lord Nrsimha’s wing in the TOVP which opened on March 2. Ambarisa prabhu is kindly matching all donations and pledge payments. The wing is 90% finished and scheduled for completion on Nrsimha Caturdasi.

Take advantage of this all-auspicious day and give a General Donation of any amount, make a Pledge Payment or sponsor a Nrsimha Brick inscribed with your name and placed under the Lord’s altar (last opportunity), a Prabhupada Medallion or Prabhupada Award. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar. Go to the Give To Nrsimha 12 Day Matching Fundraiser page on the website.

“O devoted one, one who builds a beautiful temple for Lord Nrsimhadeva will be freed from all sinful reactions and he will enter the Vaikuntha planets.”

Nrsimha Purana

 

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By Raas Raman Krishna Das Srila Prabhupada’s disciples are striving very hard to fulfill his desires to spread Lord Chaitanya’s movement in every nook & corner of the world. ISKCON ROHINI, situated in the north-west area of Delhi is another feather in Srila Prabhupada’s cap. HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj has finally made it making
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Post year 1977, many new temples have added to the count of 108 temples left behind by Srila Prabhupada. The Ramnavami of the year 2024, witnessed an addition to the count of ISKCON Temples in Delhi. The count of temples in Delhi has reached eighteen in number granting an opportunity to the residents to be
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A few days on the weekend after the actual day of Rama Navami, the devotees from Toowoomba, a regional Queensland city, celebrated a festival in a local school sports stadium.

It was well attended and everyone enjoyed kirtan, drama, dance, offering of flowers to Lord Ramachandra and wonderful prasadam. I was invited to also lead kirtan and give a lecture on the wonderful activities of the Lord.

Shyama Bhakti DD: Hare Krishna, dear devotees! Jai Srila Prabhupada! Akshina Mangala Devi Dasi, a dedicated book distributor from ISKCON Baltimore, embarked on a noble mission in Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh, India. There, she bestowed upon her hometown a treasure trove of wisdom by building a library in the main temple, housing a set of Srimad
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The TOVP Nrsimhadeva’s Wing is 80% complete and scheduled to be finished by Nrsimha Caturdasi, May 22 (India time). The entire ISKCON world witnessed the opening of the Wing on March 2 this year, and in just another few short years the TOVP will be officially opened, and all our beloved Mayapur Deities relocated to Their new home.

To finish the work on the Nrsimha Wing as planned, we again appeal for the help and cooperation of all devotees. There are many sponsorships available or even a general donation of any amount can help. Please visit the Give To Nrsimha Campaign page on the TOVP website and help finish the Lord’s temple.

“O devoted one, one who builds a beautiful temple for Lord Nrsimhadeva will be freed from all sinful reactions and he will enter the Vaikuntha planets.”

Nrsimha Purana

 

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TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit: www.tovp.org
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I was bathing my son at the very edge of the shallow end of some kind of pool. Water lapped at his soft, pale skin and his brown eyes gazed into mine with unwavering trust. 

I turned to retrieve some kind of soap, and in a second he had slipped from my hands. My whole body lit fire with absolute terror - I watched my son sink below the dark blue water, his glowing form vanishing so quickly into the depths. His gaze still held mine - the gaze of trust. 

Thoughts chased through my mind within those horror-stricken milliseconds - 

Dive down, now! Quickly, there's still time! 

     But how will I find him in the darkness?

Just keep your eyes open!

    How deep is this water? What if I run out of air?

Then come back up to the surface and keep diving until you find him! 

    What if he slips out of my hands? He's so small, so slippery. 

Do it now, Bhakti! 

And then, within the chaos of those thoughts, a shrapnel of light pierced my consciousness:

I could plunge into the chaos and the drama of desperately trying to rescue my son - 

Or I could wake up. 

Wake up from this dream. 

Do it now, Bhakti. 

I dragged myself from the depths of that dream, washing ashore to consciousness. I laid in bed, taking deep breaths, and I glanced over to see my baby boy sleeping beside me, his face angelic, his breathing steady. 

A strange, grounded peace permeated my body. One could say that I had just experienced a nightmare that could haunt me for years to come. But I saw it for what it was - a nightmare. No more substance than a ghost. I had chosen to disentangle myself from the drama of something that never happened. 

I had chosen reality.  

I've heard all my life from the scriptures that this material world is compared to a dream, and lying in bed that night I realized that teaching deep within my heart. I can get so caught up in the drama of this world, entangling myself in pain and sorrow. But there is a spiritual reality to wake up to. A place where I belong, a place where there is no drama, only the electrifying wonder of living out my soul's purpose of serving and loving God and others. 

I have had nightmares regarding the health and safety of my child since the day he was born. Sometimes they feel so real I wake up saying things to my husband and he just has to realize that I am half sleep talking. Maybe this is a phenomenon other mothers can attest to. 

And you know what? Maybe even swapping tales of nightmares would be strangely gratifying. 

But it's all drama.  

Because none of them were real. 

So what IS real? What to talk about instead? What to absorb my mind in instead? 

I realize that those questions are the ones that lead me to God, because He is real and above this nightmare. He is the shore of peace. 

athato brahma jijnasa 

"Now is the time [in this human form of life] to inquire into the Absolute Truth" 

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We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations.”

TEXT 23

asmat-prasada-sumukhah kalaya kalesa
  iksvaku-vamsa avatirya guror nidese
tisthan vanam sa-dayitanuja avivesa
  yasmin virudhya dasa-kandhara artim arcchat

TRANSLATION

Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Maharaja Iksvaku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sita. Under the order of His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Ravana, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Lord Rama is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His brothers, namely Bharata, Laksmana, and Satrughna, are His plenary expansions. All four brothers are visnu-tattva and were never ordinary human beings. There are many unscrupulous and ignorant commentators on Ramayana who present the younger brothers of Lord Ramacandra as ordinary living entities. But here in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the most authentic scripture on the science of Godhead, it is clearly stated that His brothers were His plenary expansions. Originally Lord Ramacandra is the incarnation of Vasudeva, Laksmana is the incarnation of Sankarsana, Bharata is the incarnation of Pradyumna, and Satrughna is the incarnation of Aniruddha, expansions of the Personality of Godhead. Laksmiji Sita is the internal potency of the Lord and is neither an ordinary woman nor the external potency incarnation of Durga. Durga is the external potency of the Lord, and she is associated with Lord Siva.

As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Ramacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord’s internal potency, and by Laksmiji Sitadevi.

Lord Ramacandra was ordered by His father, Maharaja Dasaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the king of Ayodhya. One of His younger brothers, Laksmanaji, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sitaji, desired to go with Him. The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Dandakaranya Forest, to live there for fourteen years. During their stay in the forest, there was some quarrel between Ramacandra and Ravana, and the latter kidnapped the Lord’s wife, Sita. The quarrel ended in the vanquishing of the greatly powerful Ravana, along with all his kingdom and family.

Sita is Laksmiji, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant for being worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Sri Ramacandra. A materialistic man like Ravana does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sitadevi from the custody of Rama and thus incurs great miseries. The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Ramayana that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Ravana. Ravana was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Lanka, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Ramacandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sita, Ravana was killed, and all his opulence and power were destroyed.

Lord Ramacandra is a full incarnation with six opulences in full, and He is therefore mentioned in this verse as kalesah, or master of all opulence.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

Srimad-Bhagavatam is the supreme scripture, or book of knowledge, in the science of God. It explains the Absolute Truth in detail. The Vedanta-sutra says, janmady asya yatah, that the Absolute Truth is that from which everything emanates, and Srimad-Bhagavatam begins with the same words—janmady asya yatah—and proceeds to explain that the Absolute Truth is a person, the Supreme Person, Krishna. Krishna expands Himself into various plenary portions and portions of plenary portions, and the Bhagavatam, after listing so many incarnations of Godhead, says, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam, that all of the abovementioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord but that Lord Krishna is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead.

So, Lord Rama is an expansion of Krishna. There are so many expansions of Krishna mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam, but Rama is an expansion of Vasudeva, who is an expansion of Krishna. Laksmana is an expansion of Balarama, who is the first expansion of Krishna. Bharata and Satrughna are also direct expansions in the category of visnu-tattva. They are all God but manifest in different forms. Sri Brahma-samhita gives the example that from one candle you can light a second, from the second you can light a third, from the third you can light a fourth, and so on. All the flames are the same fire, and all have the same strength, but still, there is one original candle, and that is Krishna. Still, Rama, Laksmana, Bharata, and Satrughna are all God. They are all the same as Krishna, but they descend into the world for different pastimes. The verse says, avatirya. Avatara means “one who descends.” They descend from the spiritual world into the material world out of mercy—prasada—for the conditioned souls, to deliver the conditioned souls from the quagmire of material existence.
All of us here, from Lord Brahma to the insignificant ant, have somehow or other fallen into the material world and thus are forced to suffer. We are being attacked at every moment by some sort of misery, big or small, gross or subtle. Certain major sufferings, major miseries, afflict all of us, and they are mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita: janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi—birth, death, old age, and disease. None of us wants these miseries, but they are forced upon us. Once we come into the material world and accept a material body, we are forced to suffer repeated birth, disease, old age, and death—and rebirth.

As explained in the Vedic literature, the purpose of life is to become free from this repetition of birth and death. And the way to become free is to become God conscious, Krishna conscious. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says, yam yam vapi smaran bhavam, that in whatever state one leaves one’s physical body, one attains the same state in the next life.

 yam yam vapi smaran bhavam
  tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
  sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.” (Gita 8.6) The Bhagavad-gita further states that if one thinks of Krishna at the time of death, one will go to Krishna—back home, back to Godhead.

anta-kale ca mam eva
  smaran muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
  yati nasty atra samsayah

“And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (Gita 8.5)

The Lord descends into the material world to show us who He is. Everyone speculates about God. They know that God is the oldest, so sometimes they imagine that He must be an old man with a beard and gray hair. They know that God is the ruler of the universe, so they imagine that He must sit on a throne. Therefore God Himself descends into the material world to show us who He is, and He does so in His original form as Krishna as well as in the form of Lord Ramachandra, who has the same full potency as Krishna. Thus Ramachandra is described here as kalesa: He is full in all opulence. The Lord displays His pastimes to attract the fallen, conditioned souls to Him to engage in His service. The pastimes of Krishna and those of Rama are very attractive.

The history of Lord Rama, summarized in Srimad-Bhagavatam and elaborated on in the Ramayana (in particular, we accept the authoritative version of the Ramayana by Valmiki), has existed for thousands of years, and people still read it, hear it, recite it, and stage dramatic performances of it. It is ever fresh, as the Lord is ever fresh. We never tire of hearing the pastimes of the Lord. The ordinary news of the conditioned souls is not so attractive or fresh. Once, when a newspaper reporter from The New York Times came to meet Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada held up the Bhagavad-gita (it could just as well have been Srimad-Bhagavatam) and said, “Every day your employer prints so many newspapers. Especially on Sunday, the paper is so big that one can hardly carry it. But after reading it an hour, people throw it away. Here is the Bhagavad-gita. People keep it and read it for a lifetime, and in this way it has been read for the past five thousand years.” And the newspaper reporter acknowledged the truth of what Srila Prabhupada had said.

So, these descriptions of the pastimes of the Lord are ever fresh. We relish them year after year, day after day, moment by moment. The pastimes of Lord Ramachandra and Lord Krishna can be discussed eternally, and to cover even the basic history would take many days and hours, so in the limited time we have today we can’t really discuss it in detail. But I will comment on this one point that is mentioned in the verse, that the great demon Ravana, who was very materially powerful, kidnapped Sita, and that in the end he was killed by Lord Ramachandra and his entire dynasty and opulence were destroyed.

Sita is the energy of the Lord. In fact, everything we see is the energy of the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita Lord Krishna says that He has two energies—the spiritual energy, which includes the living entities, and the material energy, which we experience as earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and ego.

bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh
  kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
  bhinna prakrtir astadha

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.

apareyam itas tv anyam
  prakrtim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho
  yayedam dharyate jagat

“Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.” (Gita 7.4–5)

Basically, whatever we see is the energy of the Lord—either the material energy or a combination of the material and spiritual energies. The Lord Himself is fully spiritual (sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah). But until our senses are completely purified and spiritualized, we cannot see Him in His original form. What we can see is the Lord’s energy, which is His property and is meant to be engaged in His service. If you go into someone’s house, whatever is there is meant for the pleasure of the proprietor of the house. Of course, if the proprietor is a devotee, he knows that Krishna is the true proprietor and therefore everything is meant for His pleasure. But in any case, you can’t take the property for yourself or use it for yourself—at least not without permission.

Sita is the internal potency of the Lord, His pleasure potency, and Ravana made the grave mistake of coveting her, lusting after her, to the extent that he abducted her, which was a great insult to not only her chastity but also the dynasty of Lord Ramachandra.

It is a long story, but ultimately Lord Rama, who on the order of His father was in exile in the forest, gathered together a band of monkeys and bears who marched on Lanka armed with trees and boulders; they didn’t have any other weapons. And Ravana had a massive army with very sophisticated weapons. When Rama and His forces reached the southern tip of India, they had to cross the ocean to reach Lanka. And at that stage Rama glanced over Lanka with red-hot angry eyes, as described in the next verse:

yasma adad udadhir udha-bhayanga-vepo
  margam sapady ari-puram haravad didhaksoh
dure suhrn-mathita-rosa-susona-drstya
  tatapyamana-makaroraga-nakra-cakrah

“The Personality of Godhead Ramacandra, being aggrieved for His distant intimate friend [Sita], glanced over the city of the enemy Ravana with red-hot eyes like those of Hara [who wanted to burn the kingdom of heaven]. The great ocean, trembling in fear, gave Him His way because its family members, the aquatics like the sharks, snakes, and crocodiles, were being burnt by the heat of the angry red-hot eyes of the Lord.” (SB 2.7.24)

There at the ocean a small incident took place that is very instructive in terms of bhakti. After Rama cast His glance, the ocean personified came before the Lord and said, “You may use my water as You like. Indeed, You may cross it and go to the abode of Ravana, who is a great source of disturbance. Please go kill him and regain Your wife, Sita. Please construct a bridge over my waters and spread Your transcendental fame.” So, Lord Rama’s soldiers, chanting Rama’s name, started to hurl into the ocean great stones, all of which floated, and thus they constructed a bridge over which Rama and His army could pass. There at the shore a small squirrel was putting little grains of sand in the ocean, to contribute to the effort, and Hanuman, the mighty servant of Rama, chastised the squirrel, “What are you accomplishing with your little grains of sand? Can’t you see that I am throwing these huge boulders? Get out of my way.” And the squirrel replied, “But I want to serve Lord Rama, too.”

Lord Rama overheard this exchange and rebuked Hanuman: “This squirrel wants to serve Me, just like you. And he is serving to his capacity, just as you are. In My eyes you both are the same. And besides, I am the one who is making all the boulders float. Ultimately, I am the one who is doing everything.”

This is a very instructive point. The qualification to engage in devotional service is simply one’s sincere desire. One’s material qualifications don’t matter. The Lord doesn’t require anyone’s service; He just wants to see our mood of devotion. If one has the sincere desire to serve, that’s enough. Whether one is an insignificant ant or spider or squirrel—or a great monkey like Hanuman, a powerful human being, or Lord Brahma himself—what the Lord sees is the living entity’s sincere desire to serve. That is what He considers—whether we are sincerely serving to our full capacity, however great or small that capacity may be. It is said that the Lord sees not what we give but what we hold back. If a poor man can afford only ten dollars and he gives ten dollars, the Lord will see that he has given to his capacity. And if a rich man can afford ten million but gives ten thousand, the Lord will see, “Oh, he gave Me ten thousand, but he is keeping 9,990,000 for himself.”

The essence of bhakti is the desire to serve the Lord fully, to one’s capacity, and the opposite of bhakti is the desire to exploit the Lord or the Lord’s energy, as exemplified by Ravana. He didn’t want to serve the Lord. He wanted to steal the Lord’s energy, to enjoy the Lord’s property, in opposition to the Lord, in defiance of the Lord, and that is demonic.

Sita, the Lord’s energy, is Lakshmi, who is associated with wealth, opulence, good fortune. Generally, conditioned souls, who are materialistic, want Lakshmi—they want to engage Lakshmi in their service. But Lakshmi is meant to be engaged in the service of her husband, the Lord, Narayana. As devotees, we worship the Lord and His energy together as the complete whole—as Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, Lakshmi-Narayana, Lakshmi-Nrsimha—and that satisfies both the Lord and us. But if we, like Ravana, try to enjoy the Lord’s energy independent of the Lord, we will never be satisfied, and in the end we will be vanquished and all that we have will be lost.

The pastimes of the Lord are not mythological stories. They are factual—recorded in authentic books such as the Ramayana and Srimad-Bhagavatam—not imaginary or merely symbolic. Although there are lessons to be learned from the pastimes, the persons and events are real. Rama is real, Sita is real, Lakshman is real, Hanuman is real, Ravana is real, Lanka is real—they are all real. And we can learn from these historical accounts. In ordinary affairs, people say that the only thing we learn from history is that people learn nothing from history—and that may be true in material society, where people don’t learn. But in the association of devotees we can learn and improve. By hearing the pastimes of the Lord, we can learn that the Lord’s energy is meant to be engaged in the Lord’s service. We can learn from the example of Hanuman, who jumped over the ocean to Lanka to find Sita and discovered her in an asoka grove. His purpose was not to exploit her, enjoy her, or keep her for himself. His purpose was to find her for the sake of Rama, so that she could be reunited with Him to serve and please Him. The Lord’s energy is meant to be engaged in the Lord’s service.

Once, a devotee told me that Srila Prabhupada had said that all of our service here in the material world is meant to bring Radha and Krishna together in the spiritual world. I wasn’t sure about that statement, so I asked Srila Prabhupada, and he replied that materialists are like Ravana and that they have kidnapped Sita, or Lakshmi. And that we, as devotees, act as Hanuman to get Lakshmi back from Ravana and return her to Rama, or Narayana, by engaging the materialists’ money in the service of the Lord. Of course, Rama is an expansion of Krishna, and Sita, or Lakshmi, is an expansion of Radha. Transcendentally, accepting money from the materialists and engaging it in the Lord’s service is reuniting Radha and Krishna.

Especially in Kali-yuga, everyone has these two tendencies—to serve the Lord and engage the Lord’s energy in the Lord’s service, and to exploit and try to possess the Lord’s energy and enjoy it for ourselves. The process of bhakti-yoga is meant to purify the consciousness, so that the Ravana-like tendency to exploit and enjoy slackens and the devotional tendency to serve becomes more prominent. And the way to purify our hearts, especially in the present age of Kali, is to chant the holy names of the Lord.

The Personality of Godhead appears in different ages. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (4.8),

paritranaya sadhunam
  vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
  sambhavami yuge yuge

“To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.” He says, paritranaya sadhunam: to deliver the devotees, vinasaya ca duskrtam: to destroy the miscreants, and dharma-samsthapanarthaya: to establish the principles of religion, sambhavami yuge yuge: I appear in every millennium. Yuge yuge means “in every age, or millennium.” In Treta-yuga He appeared as Lord Rama, some two million years ago. In Dvapara-yuga He appeared as Lord Krishna, some five thousand years ago. And yuge yuge suggests that He also appears in Kali-yuga; in Kali-yuga He appeared as Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
  sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
  yajanti hi su-medhasah

“In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krsna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons, and confidential companions.” (SB 11.5.32) Krsna-varnam means that He is in the same category as Krishna, which means that He is Krishna—because no one else can be in the same category as Krishna other than Krishna—and is always singing the glories of Krishna. Still, tvisakrsnam: His color is not blackish like Krishna’s in Dvapara-yuga; as described in sastra, it is golden. Sangopangastra-parsadam: He is accompanied by His associates. Every incarnation descends with eternal associates—Rama with Sita, Laksmana, Bharata, Satrughna, and others; Krishna with Nanda, Yasoda, Balarama, Radharani, and others; and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with Nityananda Prabhu and others. Yajnaih sankirtana-prayair: in Kali-yuga intelligent people (su-medhasah), people who have good intelligence, will worship (yajanti) the Lord by sankirtana-yajna, by the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. And that is the method by which the heart is cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam), the demonic mentality of Ravana is vanquished, and the devotional mood of Sita, Laksmana, Bharata, Satrughna, Hanuman, and others—even the squirrel—is manifest.

nitya-siddha krsna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya

“Pure love for Krsna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (Cc Madhya 22.107) Nitya-siddha krsna-prema—pure love of Godhead exists eternally within the heart. ‘Sadhya’ kabhu naya—it is not to be gotten from any other source. Sravanadi-suddha-citte—by hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord our consciousness is purified, and karaye udaya—that eternal love is awakened.

This is our goal. By hearing the pastimes of Rama, the pastimes of Krishna, our love for Them awakens. When we chant the maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—our love for Radha-Krishna, Sita-Rama, and Gaura-Nitai awakens. That is Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy.

Two full chapters in the Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam are devoted to summarizing the Ramayana. Srila Prabhupada remarks that everyone wants Rama-rajya, the ideal kingdom that existed during the reign of Lord Ramachandra. Lord Rama cared for the citizens like a father, and the citizens, accepting Him as their father, loved and obeyed Him. Although He became king during Treta-yuga, because of His good government the age was like Satya-yuga, and everyone was fully religious and happy. Srila Prabhupada states that the same conditions can be evoked now by the chanting of the Lord’s holy names, which have been made available to us by Lord Chaitanya—by Lord Ramachandra, who has so kindly appeared in the present age as Chaitanya-chandra.

“If people take to this sankirtana movement of chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Rama, they will certainly be freed from the contamination of Kali-yuga, and the people of this age will be happy, as people were in Satya-yuga, the golden age. Anyone, anywhere, can easily take to this Hare Krsna movement; one need only chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, observe the rules and regulations, and stay free from the contamination of sinful life. Even if one is sinful and cannot give up sinful life immediately, if he chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra with devotion and faith he will certainly be freed from all sinful activities, and his life will be successful. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam. This is the blessing of Lord Ramacandra, who has appeared in this age of Kali as Lord Gaurasundara.” (SB 9.10.51 purport)

We should take advantage of the mercy of the Lord. Out of His causeless mercy upon all living entities (asmat-prasada), He appears in every age (yuge yuge)—as Rama, as Krishna, and in the present age as Krishna Chaitanya. And we should take advantage of the special mercy that He gives us in the form of the sankirtana movement, which teaches people to engage in the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and in the entire process of devotional service (bhakti-yoga). Lord Krishna gave the preliminary instructions in the science of God, the science of bhakti-yoga, in the Bhagavad-gita; Lord Chaitanya and His followers, especially the Six Gosvamis, explained the science elaborately; and Srila Prabhupada has presented it to us in a way that we can very easily follow, to cleanse our hearts and awaken our love for God. But those little Ravana-like demons in our hearts keep telling us, “You can enjoy. Why should Krishna have all the fun?” Of course, we want to enjoy—that is natural. The Absolute Truth, Krishna, is by nature full of pleasure (ananda-mayo ’bhyasat), and we, as His parts and parcels, are also meant for pleasure. But we cannot enjoy real, eternal pleasure based on these dead bodies, these bags of blood and stool and other such things. We, as spirit souls, can enjoy true pleasure, ananda, on the spiritual platform, in relationship to the Supreme Soul, in the spiritual energy, in the spiritual world.

The Lord doesn’t want us to suffer. He wants us to be happy, but He knows that we can be truly happy only in relation to Him. Therefore He comes—as the ideal king as Lord Rama, in His original form as Krishna, and most recently in His devotional form as Krishna Chaitanya—to show us the way. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with Nityananda Prabhu came especially to give us this method of chanting Hare Krishna and dancing, hearing the pastimes of the Lord (krsna-katha), worshipping the Deity, and taking krsna-prasada. And this method, as described by one great devotee, is kevala ananda-kanda: simply joyful—just chanting, dancing, hearing about Krishna and His incarnations, and taking prasada.

So, we should take advantage of this wonderful opportunity that has been given to us by Lord Rama, who has appeared as Lord Gaurasundara, and which has been presented to us in the most pleasant and accessible way by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Even the smallest effort—by anyone—can bring the greatest result, as demonstrated in the pastimes of Lord Ramachandra. He engaged even monkeys and other creatures of the forest in His service, and in the end He took all the residents of Ayodhya back home, back to Godhead.

na janma nunam mahato na saubhagam
  na van na buddhir nakrtis tosa-hetuh
tair yad visrstan api no vanaukasas
  cakara sakhye bata laksmanagrajah

[Sri Hanuman says:] “One cannot establish a friendship with the Supreme Lord Ramacandra on the basis of material qualities such as one’s birth in an aristocratic family, one’s personal beauty, one’s eloquence, one’s sharp intelligence, or one’s superior race or nation. None of these qualifications is actually a prerequisite for friendship with Lord Sri Ramacandra. Otherwise how is it possible that although we uncivilized inhabitants of the forest have not taken noble births, although we have no physical beauty, and although we cannot speak like gentlemen, Lord Ramacandra has nevertheless accepted us as friends?

suro ’suro vapy atha vanaro narah
  sarvatmana yah sukrtajnam uttamam
bhajeta ramam manujakrtim harim
  ya uttaran anayat kosalan divam iti

“Therefore, whether one is a demigod or a demon, a man or a creature other than man, such as a beast or bird, everyone should worship Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears on this earth just like a human being. There is no need of great austerities or penances to worship the Lord, for He accepts even a small service offered by His devotee. Thus He is satisfied, and as soon as He is satisfied, the devotee is successful. Indeed, Lord Sri Ramacandra brought all the devotees of Ayodhya back home, back to Godhead.” (SB 5.19.7–8)

Thank you very much.

Guest: I have heard that Lord Rama is green. Do you know anything about how can someone be green?

Giriraj Swami: The Lord’s body is spiritual—sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. Although the scriptures describe the Lord and the spiritual world in terms that correspond to our experience in this world, the reality of the Lord is different from anything we have ever experienced here. Lord Rama is greenish, but His complexion is not a material green as we see in this world but a spiritual hue from which the material color green comes.

Madhusudana dasa: Lord Rama is described as being the color of freshly sprouted grass.

Devotee: How long does it take for a soul to be transferred to another body?

Giriraj Swami: As soon as the next body is ready, one leaves the present body, just as when one’s next step is secure, one gives up the last one.

vrajams tisthan padaikena
  yathaivaikena gacchati
yatha trna-jalaukaivam
  dehi karma-gatim gatah

“Just as a person traveling on the road rests one foot on the ground and then lifts the other, or as a worm on a vegetable transfers itself to one leaf and then gives up the previous one, the conditioned soul takes shelter of another body and then gives up the one he had before.” (SB 10.1.40)

Devotee: So, it varies between each body?

Giriraj Swami: When the next body is ready, one leaves the present body, but depending on the type of body, one may take less or more time to be born. The period of gestation may vary. For example, in the case of a human being, after the soul is placed in the womb of the mother through the semen of the father, it takes nine months for the embryo to grow and develop to the stage when the entity is ready to come out of the womb and be viable. That period will vary according to the species.

Of course, our actual goal is to become free from the repetition of birth and death. And the main process by which we can attain liberation, especially in the present age of Kali, is to chant the holy names:

kaler dosa-nidhe rajann
  asti hy eko mahan gunah
kirtanad eva krsnasya
  mukta-sangah param vrajet

“My dear king, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: simply by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.” (SB 12.3.51)

As mentioned, the chanting cleanses the dirty things from the mirror of the mind, or heart:

ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
  sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
  sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam

“Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krsna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Krsna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.” (Siksastaka 1)

The first of the dirty things within the heart is false identification with the body; that is the first misconception. We think, “I am this body, and everything in relation to this body is mine—to enjoy.” And whatever we do that follows from the premise that “I am the body” takes us further and further from the goal. Srila Prabhupada gave the example that if in a mathematical problem you make a mistake in the first step, even if you perform all the other steps perfectly, you will likely get further and further from the solution—because you made a mistake in the first step. So if from the beginning you think you are the body—given that in fact you are not the body but are the soul—then even if you do everything thereafter perfectly for the sake of the body, you will get further and further away from the actual goal. So, we have to understand from the beginning that we are not the body, that we are the soul within the body, and that to act for the benefit of the soul is in our real self-interest.

Everyone wants his self-interest—that is natural—but people don’t know what their real self-interest is. Unless they know what their real self is, how can they know their real self-interest? Na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum: they do not know that their real interest is to serve Vishnu, or Krishna, and go back home, back to Godhead.

na te viduh svartha-gatim hi visnum
  durasaya ye bahir-artha-maninah
andha yathandhair upaniyamanas
  te ’pisa-tantryam uru-damni baddhah

“Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Visnu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.” (SB 7.5.31)

There is no harm in wanting to pursue one’s self-interest, but we should know what our real self is. The first instruction of the Bhagavad-gita is that we are not this body but are the soul within the body. And our spiritual life proceeds from that understanding.

After we gain theoretical knowledge, we must realize the knowledge, and by faithfully chanting the holy names, we can actually realize that we are not these bodies but are eternal spirit souls, eternal servants of Krishna. First we hear. For example, we hear in theory that rasagullas are sweet, and we want to try one. And when we actually taste one, our knowledge becomes realized. Then we know the sweetness of a rasagulla by practical experience, and we want others to experience that taste. So, by chanting with attention, one can actually realize that he is not this body but is the soul within the body, and one can taste the sweetness of Lord Krishna’s holy name. Thus, Srila Rupa Gosvami, who actually realized the sweet nectar of the holy name, could write,

tunde tandavini ratim vitanute tundavali-labdhaye
  karna-kroda-kadambini ghatayate karnarbudebhyah sprham
cetah-prangana-sangini vijayate sarvendriyanam krtim
  no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krsneti varna-dvayi

“I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Krs-na’ have produced. When the holy name of Krsna is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert.” (Vidagdha-madhava 1.15)

But first we have to realize that we are not this body, that the body is just a machine that the soul inhabits for some time.

Chanting is a serious practice—although the process is easy. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Chanting is easy, but the determination to chant is not so easy.” Anyone can say “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare,” but the determination to chant a prescribed number of rounds daily and to be attentive while chanting—to actually hear every word and every syllable—requires some effort. Still, if we can do that, we can realize that we are not these bodies but are actually parts and parcels of Krishna, eternal servants of Krishna. Then we will act exclusively for the pleasure of Krishna, and that will be our pleasure—greatest pleasure—and satisfaction.

sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
  yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
  yayatma suprasidati

 “The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.” (SB 1.2.6)

The natural function of the part is to serve the whole. Srila Prabhupada gave the example that the hand is part and parcel of the body, so the natural function of the hand is to serve the body, to serve the stomach. If there is a nice rasagulla (we are talking so much about rasagullas, I hope they have some!) and the hand thinks, “Why should I feed the stomach? I will enjoy myself,” and then tries to absorb the rasagulla directly, to enjoy the rasagulla separately, it can’t. The hand is not meant to enjoy apart from the stomach. But if the hand feeds the stomach, then the hand and all the other parts of the body are naturally nourished and satisfied. In the same way, if we try to enjoy independent of Krishna, we can’t. We are not meant for that. We are part of Him and are meant to serve Him. And if we do serve Him, then all of Krishna’s other parts and parcels are satisfied. And if we want to enjoy independent of Krishna, we can try—that is what is going on in the world today: everyone is trying to enjoy independent of Krishna. But they are not successful. They are never satisfied. They always want something more, something new, something better—they are never satisfied. We can be happy and satisfied only when we serve Krishna with love, for His pleasure.

Devotee: People seem to do that very happily—go through the ups and downs of never being satisfied and then forging back into looking for satisfaction without Krishna. They seem to do it happily.

Giriraj Swami: Yes, ordinary people keep doing it over and over again. Punah punas carvita-carvananam: chewing the chewed again and again. You get a piece of sugarcane and chew it to get the juice out. And afterwards, you throw it away. If you come back and start to chew it again—you can chew it, but there is no juice, nothing more to be gotten. Ordinary conditioned souls, in the bodily concept of life, try to squeeze some pleasure out of the body, and after getting whatever little pleasure they can, they keep trying to get more and more out of it. But they are never satisfied.

matir na krsne paratah svato va
  mitho ’bhipadyeta grha-vratanam
adanta-gobhir visatam tamisram
  punah punas carvita-carvananam

“Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krsna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.” (SB 7.5.30)

So, what is the way out? Krishna consciousness—realized by the mercy of pure devotees.

naisam matis tavad urukramanghrim
  sprsaty anarthapagamo yad-arthah
mahiyasam pada-rajo-’bhisekam
  niskincananam na vrnita yavat

“Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaisnava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by becoming Krsna conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination.” (SB 7.5.32)

Such pure devotees, following the scriptures and previous authorities, induce us to chant the holy names of the Lord.

harer nama harer nama
  harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
  nasty eva gatir anyatha

“In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari.” (Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126)

A vivid example is Valmiki Muni himself. He was a robber and murderer. He would plunder innocent people on the road, kill them, and take everything. But he happened to associate with the great devotee Narada Muni, who requested him to chant the holy name of Rama. Valmiki refused: “I am a murderer—what have I to do with chanting God’s name?” But then Narada asked him to meditate on the meaning of death by repeating the word mara, which means “death.” Valmiki agreed, and by repeating mara, mara, mara, mara he came in effect to chant Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama. Living in a previous age, he was able to meditate on the holy name of Rama for many thousands of years, and when he was liberated, he wrote the Ramayana. By the power of the holy name, his heart became purified, and he became a great devotee and rishi (seer), empowered to glorify and personally serve the Lord. So, anyone, even the greatest sinner, can become the greatest devotee of the Lord by serving the instructions of a pure Vaishnava and chanting the holy name of the Lord.

Sri Sri Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman ki jaya!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Rama-navami, April 14, 2008, San Diego]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sri Rama-navami is the holy birthday of Lord Sri Ramachandra. He is known as Maryada-purushottama for He always set an excellent example of how to be a king, husband and individual person.

He appeared with His three brothers, Bharata, Laksmana and Shatrughna, in treta-yuga. They appeared as the sons of King Dasaratha in the Surya dynasty of King Ikshavaku.

Lord Ramachandra performed many yajnas during His time and gave charity to brahmanas, sages and others in need. When He was banished to the forest for fourteen years, He met an old lady by the name Sabari who was a very great devotee of His who would constantly wait for Lord Ramachandra to visit her. She would everyday pick sweet and juicy fruits for Lord Rama and taste them to see if they were fit to be eaten by the Lord.

When Lord Rama actually happened to visit her, she was extremely happy and offered the best fruits to Him. Lord Rama was so pleased by her pure and sincere devotion that He gladly accepted the tasted fruits from her. This shows how the Lord is pleased by the mood of devotion and service attitude. He only sees our devotional mentality and nothing else.

Sri Rama Navami is the best occasion for offering service to Lord Ramachandra and receive His unlimited blessings. Among all kinds of offerings, the offering of prasadam to those who visit the temple on Sri Rama Navami is the best.

There are innumerable stories and narrations in Ramayana in which one can meditate, reflect, and seek inspiration. Hearing these stories can nourish our minds, hearts, and souls. 

While on a work trip to the UK nearly a decade ago, just weeks after learning about Krsna Consciousness, I had a paradigm-shifting experience in a London church.  One beautiful, rain-free morning, I took a walk through the neighborhood where I was staying. Time permitting, on these kinds of excursions, I always like to step […]

The post Unexpected Lessons in a London Church appeared first on ISKCON News.

Art of Smart Work Class by HG Radheshyam Prabhu
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Ekadasi is the 11th day of the Moon’s lunar phase, and Kamada Ekadasi falls on the Shukla Paksha (waxing phase) in the month of the Chaitra (March-April). This day is also called ‘Chaitra Shukla Ekadasi.’

Ekadasi is a most auspicious time for spiritual advancement through fasting, increased hearing and chanting of the Lord’s glories and the Holy Names and charitable acts. Please consider donating to the completion of Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Wing in the TOVP, now 80% complete and scheduled to be finished by Nrsimha Caturdasi, May 22. Go to the Give To Nrsimha Campaign page on the TOVP website for more information.

  NOTE: Kamada Ekadasi is observed on April 19 in the U.S. and April 20 in India. Please refer to your local calendar through www.vaisnavacalendar.info.

  View, download and share the TOVP 2024 Calendar​.

 

The Glories of Kamada Ekadasi

From the Varaha Purana

The glories of Kamada Ekadashi are found in the Varaha Purana in a conversation between Maharaja Yudhishthira and Lord Krishna. Referring to this conversation while speaking to some great sages of the universe:

Sri Suta Goswami said, “Oh sages, let me offer my humble and respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord Hari, Bhagavan Sri Krishna, the son of Devaki and Vasudeva, by whose mercy I can describe the fast day that removes all kinds of sins. It was to the devoted Yudhisthira that Lord Krishna glorified the twenty-four primary Ekadasis, which destroy sin, and now I shall recount one of those narrations to you. Great-learned sages have selected these twenty-four narrations from the eighteen Puranas, for they are truly sublime.

“Yudhishthira Maharaja said, ‘Oh Lord Krishna, Oh Vasudeva, please accept my humble obeisances. Please describe to me the Ekadasi that occurs during the light part of the month of Chaitra [March-April]. What is its name, and what are its glories?’

“Lord Sri Krishna replied, ‘Oh Yudhishthira, please listen to Me attentively as I relate the ancient history of this sacred Ekadasi, a history Vasishta Muni once related to King Dilipa, the great-grandfather of Lord Ramachandra.

‘King Dilipa asked the great sage Vasishta, “Oh wise brahmana, I wish to hear about the Ekadasi that comes during the light part of the month of Chaitra. Please describe it to me.”

‘Vasishta Muni replied, “Oh king, your inquiry is glorious. Gladly shall I tell you what you wish to know. The Ekadasi that occurs during the light fortnight of Chaitra is named Kamada Ekadasi. It consumes all sins, as a forest fire consumes a supply of dry firewood. It is very purifying, and it bestows the highest merit upon one who faithfully observe it. Oh king, now hear an ancient history which is so meritorious that it removes all one’s sins simply by being heard.

“Once, long ago, there existed a city-state named Ratnapura, which was decorated with gold and jewels, and in which sharp-fanged snakes would enjoy intoxication. King Pundarika was the ruler of this most beautiful kingdom, which was inhabited by many Gandharvas, Kinnaras, and Apsaras among its citizens. Among the Gandharvas were Lalit and his wife Lalita, who was an especially lovely dancer. These two were intensely attracted to each other, and their home was full of great wealth and fine food. Lalita loved her husband dearly, and likewise Lalit constantly thought of her within his heart.

“Once, at the court of King Pundarika, many Gandharvas were dancing and Lalit was singing alone, without his wife. He could not help thinking about her as he sang, and because of this distraction he lost track of the song’s meter and melody. Indeed, Lalit sang the ending of his song improperly, and one of the envious snakes who was in attendance at the king’s court complained to the king that Lalit was absorbed in thinking of his wife instead of his sovereign. The king became furious upon hearing this, and his eyes turned crimson with rage.

“Suddenly he shouted, ‘Oh foolish knave, because you were lustfully thinking of a woman instead of reverently thinking of your king as you performed your court duties, I curse you to at once become a cannibal!’ “Oh king, Lalit immediately became a fearful cannibal, a great man-eating demon whose appearance terrified everyone. His arms were eight miles long, his mouth was as big as a huge cave, his eyes were as big as the sun and moon, his nostrils resembled enormous pits in the earth, his neck was a veritable mountain, his hips were four miles wide, and his gigantic body stood a full sixty-four miles high. Thus, poor Lalit, the loving Gandharva singer, had to suffer the reaction of his offense against King Pundarika.

“Seeing her husband suffering as a horrible cannibal, Lalita became overwhelmed with grief. She thought, ‘Now that my dear husband is suffering the effects of the kings’ curse, what is to be my lot? What should I do? Where should I go?’ “In this way Lalita grieved day and night.
Instead of enjoying life as a Gandharva’s wife, she had to wander everywhere in the thick jungle with her monstrous husband, who had fallen completely under the spell of the king’s curse and was wholly engaged in terrible sinful activities. He wandered aimlessly across the region, a once-beautiful Gandharva now reduced to the ghastly behavior of a man-eater. Utterly distraught to see her dear husband suffer so much in his dreadful condition, Lalita began to cry as she followed his mad journeying.

“By good fortune, however, Lalita came upon the sage Shringi one day. He was sitting on the peak of the famous Vindhyachala Hill. Approaching him, she immediately offered the ascetic her respectful obeisances.The sage noticed her bowing down before him and said, ‘Oh most beautiful one, who are you? Whose daughter are you, and why have you come here? Please tell me everything in truth.

“Lalita replied, ‘Oh great age, I am the daughter of the great Gandharva Viradhanva, and my name is Lalita. I roam the forests and plains with my dear husband, whom King Pundarika has cursed to become a man-eating demon. Oh brahmana, I am greatly aggrieved to see his ferocious form and terribly sinful activities. Oh master, please tell me how I can perform some act of atonement on behalf of my husband. What pious act can I perform to free him from this demonic form, Oh best of brahmanas?

“The sage replied, ‘Oh heavenly maiden, there is an Ekadasi named Kamada that occurs in the light fortnight of the month of Chaitra. It is coming up soon. Whoever fasts on this day has all his desires fulfilled. If you observe this Ekadasi fast according to its rules and regulations and give the merit you thus earn to your husband, he will be freed from the curse at once.’

“Lalita was overjoyed to hear these words from the sage. Lalita faithfully observed the fast of Kamada Ekadasi according to the instructions of the sage Shringi, and on Dvadasi she appeared before him and the Deity of Lord Vasudeva and said, ‘I have faithfully observed the fast of Kamada Ekadasi. By the merit earned through my observance of this fast, let my husband be free from the curse that has turned him into a demoniac cannibal. May the merit I have gained thus free him from misery.’

“As soon as Lalita finished speaking, her husband, who stood nearby, was at once freed from the king’s curse. He immediately regained his original form as the Gandharva Lalit, a handsome heavenly singer adorned with many beautiful ornaments. Now, with his wife Lalita, he could enjoy even more opulence than before. All this was accomplished by the power and glory of Kamada Ekadasi. At last the Gandharva couple boarded a celestial airplane and ascended to heaven.

“Lord Sri Krishna continued, ‘Oh Yudhishthira, best of kings, anyone who hears this wonderful narration should certainly observe the holy Kamada Ekadasi to the best of his ability, such great merit does it bestow upon the faithful devotee. I have therefore described its glories to you for the benefit of all humanity. There is no better Ekadasi than Kamada Ekadasi. It can eradicate even the sin of killing a brahmana, and it also nullifies demoniac curses and cleanses the consciousness. In all the three worlds, among movable and immovable living entities, there is no better day’

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Kamada Ekadasi from the Varaha Purana.

This article has been used courtesy of ISKCON Desire Tree

 

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Today is the appearance anniversary of Sripada Ramanujacharya, the principal acharya in the Sri, or Lakshmi, sampradaya. In a letter dated November 22, 1974, Srila Prabhupada wrote, “We find great shelter at the lotus feet of Sri Ramanujacharya because his lotus feet are the strongest fort to combat the Mayavadi philosophy.”

And in the early days of ISKCON in India, beforevwe had Srila Prabhupadaís Bhagavad-gita As It Is in Hindi, Prabhupada would refer people to read the Hindi edition of the Gita with Sri Ramanujacharya’s commentary.

Srila Prabhupada often told a story about Sri Ramanujacharyas merciful, compassionate nature. As he related it in Ahmedabad in 1972, “The servants of Krishna take all risk for Krishna’s sake. Just like Ramanujacharya. Sri
Ramanujacharya’s spiritual master said, ‘My dear son, the mantra which I am giving, you chant silently and you will be delivered. It is so powerful. Don’t chant this mantra loudly so others can hear.’

“Ramanujacharya thought, ‘If this mantra is so powerful that if others hear it they will also be delivered, then why not?’ He immediately went to the market and began to chant the mantra. So, his spiritual master became very angry, that ‘I told you not to chant loudly, so that others may not hear.’ And Ramanujacharya replied, ‘My Lordship, I have done offense unto you. That’s all right. For this I am prepared to go to hell. But if this mantra is so powerful, I must speak it to everyone.’ ”

In this mood, following in the footsteps of Sripada Ramanujacharya, Srila Prabhupada broadcast the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita everywhere, to everyone.

We pray and aspire to follow in their footsteps.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami