Author Archives: Rasa Rasika

We Should Not Do Anything Artificial
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“Should we think of Krsna’s forms and pastimes while chanting japa? We should not do anything artificial. As Prabhupada has said, the chanting is not an artificial imposition on the mind. Prabhupada has recommended that if we just hear the chanting then the time will come when simultaneously we will think of the form of Krsna. To concentrate on the sound may seem routine. Of course, that is only our neophyte stage.”

From Japa Reform Notebook
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Concetrate On Your Business
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“Japa is its own world, contained as if within a glass ball. Concetrate on your business and don’t go wandering off into a nowhere’s land, like Antarctica. You have Radha and Krishna. Do your chanting. Keep pressing down on it. You know how to chant. Perseverance and concentration. While I’m chanting, I should be wrapped up in the world of chanting. There should be nothing else going on.”

From Bhajan Kutir #157

Should We Quit Chanting?
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It is recommended that even if one commits offenses, one should continue chanting the Holy name.
In other words, the chanting of the Holy name makes one offenseless.

In the book Nāma-kaumudī it is recommended that if one is an offender at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava, he should submit to that Vaiṣṇava and be excused; similarly, if one is an offender in chanting the holy name, he should submit to the holy name and thus be freed from his offenses.

SB 7.5.23-24 purport

Remember To Bring The Mind Back
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“We are asking him to do something he can’t do — give up all distraction. Rather than ask for the impossible, ask him to add something.
We tell newcomers they don’t have to change their lives, but just add chanting. This is similar advice….you are already chanting, so please remember to bring the mind back.”

From Bhajan Kurtir #38
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

The Dust Quickly Clears
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“Due to the contamination of material association, through many, many millions of births, one’s heart is always covered with the dust of materialism, but when one engages in devotional service and constantly chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, the dust quickly clears, and one is elevated to the platform of pure knowledge.”

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.11 purport

Japa Poem
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Trusting that Krishna will accept my
effort, I chant attentively in my mind.
I pray within and dutifully count
the quota. It’s close between us, me
and the mantras, a lifelong bond
continued in illness. I tell myself
the ardor isn’t dwindling, it’s just
the outer performance. My heart is still
with Him as good as in my vigorous
youth. I chant alone and like it that way
because I don’t like to expose
my weakness to others. Alone with Him,
I privately offer my best and trust
that Krishna will accept my effort.

From Bhajan Kutir #243

As We Have Been Taught
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“As long as we chant as we have been taught we will not com­mit the first type of disruption, varna-vyvadhana. But a sub­tle form of this dis­rup­tion occurs when we don’t pro­nounce the mantra prop­erly. Srila Prab­hu­pada refers to a “hiss­ing sound” that is some­times pro­duced by a poor chanter and in a lec­ture he made a car­i­ca­ture of slurred chant­ing, and said “hurkr­ish hurkr­ish krishkr­ish” and said “Not like that. But with priti, with love.”

by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
From Viraha Bhavan #140

I Kept Fixed On Just Hearing
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My speed was under seven minutes per round. I made audible sounds of the mantras, but barely audible, in order to keep the speed and not overexert. My mind didn’t wander. It stayed fixed on whispering the syllables.
I kept fixed on just hearing and did not have many good japa thoughts. I was content to just occupy myself in the yajna of the sound vibration.

Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
From Bhajana Kutir #35

Prepared More Than Three Hours
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yāta-yāmaḿ gata-rasaḿ
pūti paryuṣitaḿ ca yat
ucchiṣṭam api cāmedhyaḿ
bhojanaḿ tāmasa-priyam

TRANSLATION
Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things is dear to those in the mode of darkness.

PURPORT
The purpose of food is to increase the duration of life, purify the mind and aid bodily strength. This is its only purpose. In the past, great authorities selected those foods that best aid health and increase life’s duration, such as milk products, sugar, rice, wheat, fruits and vegetables. These foods are very dear to those in the mode of goodness. Some other foods, such as baked corn and molasses, while not very palatable in themselves, can be made pleasant when mixed with milk or other foods. They are then in the mode of goodness.

All these foods are pure by nature. They are quite distinct from untouchable things like meat and liquor. Fatty foods, as mentioned in the eighth verse, have no connection with animal fat obtained by slaughter. Animal fat is available in the form of milk, which is the most wonderful of all foods. Milk, butter, cheese and similar products give animal fat in a form which rules out any need for the killing of innocent creatures. It is only through brute mentality that this killing goes on. The civilized method of obtaining needed fat is by milk. Slaughter is the way of subhumans. Protein is amply available through split peas, dāl, whole wheat, etc.

Foods in the mode of passion, which are bitter, too salty, or too hot or overly mixed with red pepper, cause misery by reducing the mucus in the stomach, leading to disease. Foods in the mode of ignorance or darkness are essentially those that are not fresh. Any food cooked more than three hours before it is eaten (except prasādam, food offered to the Lord) is considered to be in the mode of darkness. Because they are decomposing, such foods give a bad odor, which often attracts people in this mode but repulses those in the mode of goodness.

Remnants of food may be eaten only when they are part of a meal that was first offered to the Supreme Lord or first eaten by saintly persons, especially the spiritual master. Otherwise the remnants of food are considered to be in the mode of darkness, and they increase infection or disease. Such foodstuffs, although very palatable to persons in the mode of darkness, are neither liked nor even touched by those in the mode of goodness. The best food is the remnants of what is offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In Bhagavad-gītā the Supreme Lord says that He accepts preparations of vegetables, flour and milk when offered with devotion. Patraḿ puṣpaḿ phalaḿ toyam. Of course, devotion and love are the chief things which the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts. But it is also mentioned that the prasādam should be prepared in a particular way. Any food prepared by the injunctions of the scripture and offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be taken even if prepared long, long ago, because such food is transcendental. Therefore to make food antiseptic, eatable and palatable for all persons, one should offer food to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 17.10