Planet ISKCON

Each year on Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja day, we remember, hear, and talk about Srila Prabhupada, and by doing so, we keep him present in our lives.

I first saw Srila Prabhupada at Brandeis University in Boston, where he had just concluded a program. I had come too late to hear him, but the next day I visited the storefront ISKCON temple on Glenville Avenue, where he was scheduled to speak. When I arrived, the room was already packed, and when Srila Prabhupada began speaking, I had difficulty understanding him; I wasn’t used to his Bengali accent, and the philosophy was new to me. Still, I did hear him say that out of many thousands of men, one would seek perfection. And I thought, That’s me!

When Srila Prabhupada asked for questions, I raised my hand. “There are so many swamis and masters,” I began, “and each one recommends a different method of self-realization and says that his is best. How do I know which is actually best?”

“What is your goal?” Srila Prabhupada replied. “Do you want to serve God, or do you want to become God? . . . If you want to become God, it means that you are not God now. And how can not-God become God? God is God. . . . The real guru teaches that God is in your heart and that you can become godly—but that you cannot become God.”

As Srila Prabhupada spoke, I got the distinct impression that he knew everything about me and was seeing right into my apartment, right to the sign on my wall, on which I had engraved in ornate lettering: you are god.

“What do you think?” he asked. “Do you want to serve God, or do you want to become God?”

I said, “I want to serve God, but I realize that actually I wanted to become God.”

Prabhupada was emphatic in his affirmation: “Yes!”

I immediately offered my obeisances. I had found my spiritual master.

From that first meeting, my whole life’s purpose became to bring people to Srila Prabhupada. I was able to do that for many years, but when Prabhupada passed away, I wondered, What will be my service now?

Now I understand that Srila Prabhupada is always present, and that by speaking of him, hearing about him, remembering him, and, most significantly, by studying his books, we can experience his presence. So, I can continue doing what I was doing when he was personally present—introducing souls to Prabhupada; that is what I feel natural doing. And I know that somehow or other, if someone comes in touch with Srila Prabhupada, his life will be successful.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Two: “Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krsna in the Womb.”

TEXT 18

tato jagan-mangalam acyutamsam
  samahitam sura-sutena devi
dadhara sarvatmakam atma-bhutam
  kastha yathananda-karam manastah

SYNONYMS

tatah—thereafter; jagat-mangalam—auspiciousness for all living entities in all the universes of the creation; acyuta-amsam—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is never bereft of the six opulences, all of which are present in all His plenary expansions; samahitam—fully transferred; sura-sutena—by Vasudeva, the son of Surasena; devi—Devaki-devi; dadhara—carried; sarva-atmakam—the Supreme Soul of everyone; atma-bhutam—the cause of all causes; kastha—the east; yatha—just as; ananda-karam—the blissful (moon); manastah—being placed within the mind.

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, accompanied by plenary expansions, the fully opulent Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is all-auspicious for the entire universe, was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of Devaki. Devaki, having thus been initiated by Vasudeva, became beautiful by carrying Lord Krsna, the original consciousness for everyone, the cause of all causes, within the core of her heart, just as the east becomes beautiful by carrying the rising moon.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As indicated here by the word manastah, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was transferred from the core of Vasudeva’s mind or heart to the core of the heart of Devaki. We should note carefully that the Lord was transferred to Devaki not by the ordinary way for a human being, but by diksa, initiation. Thus the importance of initiation is mentioned here. Unless one is initiated by the right person, who always carries within his heart the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot acquire the power to carry the Supreme Godhead within the core of one’s own heart.

The word acyutamsam is used because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sad-aisvarya-purna, full in the opulences of wealth, strength, fame, knowledge, beauty, and renunciation. The Supreme Godhead is never separated from His personal opulences. As stated in the Brahma-samhita (5.39), ramadi-murtisu kala-niyamena tisthan: the Lord is always situated with all His plenary expansions, such as Rama, Nrsimha, and Varaha. Therefore the word acyutamsam is specifically used here, signifying that the Lord is always present with His plenary expansions and opulences. There is no need to think of the Lord artificially as yogis do. Dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa pasyanti yam yoginah (Srimad-Bhagavatam 12.13.1). Yogis meditate upon the Supreme Person within the mind. For a devotee, however, the Lord is present, and His presence need only be awakened through initiation by a bona fide spiritual master. The Lord did not need to live within the womb of Devaki, for His presence within the core of her heart was sufficient to carry Him. One is here forbidden to think that Krsna was begotten by Vasudeva within the womb of Devaki and that she carried the child within her womb.

When Vasudeva was sustaining the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, he appeared just like the glowing sun, whose shining rays are always unbearable and scorching to the common man. The form of the Lord situated in the pure, unalloyed heart of Vasudeva is not different from the original form of Krsna. The appearance of the form of Krsna anywhere, and specifically within the heart, is called dhama. Dhama refers not only to Krsna’s form, but to His name, His form, His quality, and His paraphernalia. Everything becomes manifest simultaneously.

Thus the eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full potencies was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of Devaki, exactly as the setting sun’s rays are transferred to the full moon rising in the east.

Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, entered the body of Devaki from the body of Vasudeva. He was beyond the conditions of the ordinary living entity. When Krsna is there, it is to be understood that all His plenary expansions, such as Narayana, and incarnations like Lord Nrsimha and Varaha, are with Him, and they are not subject to the conditions of material existence. In this way, Devaki became the residence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is one without a second and the cause of all creation. Devaki became the residence of the Absolute Truth, but because she was within the house of Kamsa, she looked just like a suppressed fire, or like misused education. When fire is covered by the walls of a pot or is kept in a jug, the illuminating rays of the fire cannot be very much appreciated. Similarly, misused knowledge, which does not benefit the people in general, is not very much appreciated. So Devaki was kept within the prison walls of Kamsa’s palace, and no one could see her transcendental beauty, which resulted from her conceiving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Commenting upon this verse, Sri Viraraghava Acarya writes, vasudeva-devaki jatharayor hrdayayor bhagavatah sambandhah. The Supreme Lord’s entrance into the womb of Devaki from the heart of Vasudeva was a heart-to-heart relationship.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

We have gathered here at the lotus feet of Lord Krishna to remember and celebrate His appearance in this world. According to Vedic literature, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead (krsnas tu bhagavan svayam). He is the Absolute Truth, the origin of all that exists. And He is realized in three features, nondual (advaya), as explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11):

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
  tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
  bhagavan iti sabdyate

“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma, or Bhagavan.”

Brahman is the impersonal effulgence that emanates from the transcendental form of the Lord; Paramatma is the localized feature of the Lord, within the heart; and Bhagavan is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna Himself, full in six opulences.

The form of Krishna is not material. Our bodies are material, distinct from the soul, which is spiritual. The Bhagavad-gita (2.13) explains,

dehino ’smin yatha dehe
  kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
  dhiras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” The soul is a nonphysical, nonchemical particle of spiritual energy, and it is the soul that animates the body. As long as the soul is in the body, we say the body is alive. Actually, the body is never alive; the body is just a machine. But it appears to be alive when the soul is present to animate it. And when the soul leaves the body, the body has no capacity to act, to function, and then we say that the body is dead.

In conditioned beings, such as us, there is a distinction between the body, which is made of material energy, and the soul, which is composed of spiritual energy. But in the case of Krishna, there is no difference between His body and soul. Being absolute, His body and He are the same. In our case, there is a difference between us and the body, because our real identity is the soul. If someone’s father passes away, the son or daughter will cry, “Oh, my father has left. My father is gone.” Although the body of the father is there, why do we say, “My father has gone”? Intuitively we know, especially at a time like death, that the body lying there in the room is not the person. The body is just a bag of chemicals. The real person is the soul who has left the body, and so the children and other relatives and friends cry, “Oh, he’s gone,” because he is the soul, not the body.

But in the case of Krishna, He and His body are not different, because He is absolute. There is no difference between His inside and His outside. He is completely spiritual. The Brahma-samhita says, isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah: “Krishna is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful spiritual body.” Anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam: “He is the origin of all, but He Himself has no origin. He is the prime cause of all causes.” That is Krishna.

Everything we see in the material world has a cause. On a simple level, we can say, “I am caused by my parents” (or “my body is caused by my parents”). They in turn were caused by their parents, who in turn were caused by their parents. And if we keep going back, further, further, further, eventually we will come to the original cause, and that is Krishna (sarva-karana-karanam). He is the cause of everything—the cause of all causes. But He Himself has no cause.

This is hard for us to understand in the conditioned state, because everything material has a cause; everything has a beginning and an end. But Krishna has no beginning and no end; He is eternal (sanatana). Eternal means “no beginning and no end.” Even we, as spirit souls, are also eternal. We have no beginning and no end. Our life in a particular body has a beginning, which we call “birth” (or “conception”), and it has an end within a particular body, which we call “death.” But we as spirit souls have no beginning and no end, because we are parts and parcels of Krishna. We are of the same quality as Krishna, just in different quantity. The Lord says,

mamaivamso jiva-loke
  jiva-bhutah sanatanah
manah-sasthanindriyani
  prakrti-sthani karsati

“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” (Gita 15.7)

The living entity is an eternal, fragmental part of Krishna. This is the sublime philosophy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu called acintya-bhedabheda-tattva: the “inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference” of the living entity and the Supreme Lord. We are one in quality with the Lord but different in quantity—He is infinite and we are infinitesimal. Because we have the same qualities, we can have a relationship with Him. Unless there is some commonness, we can’t have a relationship. And because of the difference in quantity—He is the whole and we are the part—our relationship is one of service. It is the natural function of the part to serve the whole. For example, the hand is part of the body, so the function of the hand is to serve the body. If the hand doesn’t serve the body, there is something wrong; it is diseased or dead. So, our natural function is to serve Krishna (jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’). And we are eternal, as Krishna is eternal, and our relationship, our service, is also eternal—it never ends.

Earlier we mentioned the three features of the Absolute Truth: Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan. There are different classes of transcendentalists, who have different spiritual aspirations. Most people are materialists. They are not even interested in spiritual life. They just want to enjoy the world. But when one becomes a little more elevated, a little more purified in consciousness, one thinks of improving oneself spiritually. And when one becomes serious enough, one will actually enter into a discipline in a particular school of thought and practice. So, one category of transcendentalists is the jnanis. Their goal is to merge and become one with Brahman, the impersonal effulgence that emanates from the transcendental body of Krishna. And higher than the jnanis are the yogis. They want to realize the localized feature, the Lord within the heart (dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa pasyanti yam yoginah). And the highest are the bhaktas. They want to enter into a loving relationship with Bhagavan, Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Although in one sense, because the Absolute Truth is nondual (advaya), all transcendentalists are the same, still, from an analytical or objective point of view there are degrees of realization. As stated earlier, Krishna is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. Sat means “eternal,” cit means “cognizant,” and ananda means “blissful.” The jnanis who attain impersonal Brahman realize only the sat feature, eternal existence. The yogis who realize Paramatma have perception of sat (eternity) and cit (knowledge), because they apprehend the individuality of the Lord in the heart. And the bhaktas have full realization of sat, cit, and ananda (eternity, knowledge, and bliss), because real happiness comes from loving relationships. Although one may say that there is a sort of bliss in impersonal Brahman, compared with the ecstatic happiness of loving service to Krishna it is insignificant. There are many statements in the shastra, the Vedic scriptures, to the effect that the happiness realized in relationship to Krishna is like an ocean and that the happiness of merging (or trying to merge) into impersonal Brahman is like a puddle of water in comparison.

tvat-saksat-karanahlada-
  visuddhabdhi-sthitasya me
sukhani gospadayante
  brahmany api jagad-guro

“My dear Lord, O master of the universe, since I have directly seen You, my transcendental bliss has taken the shape of a great ocean. Being situated in that ocean, I now realize all other so-called happiness, the pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman, to be like the water contained in the hoofprint of a calf.” (Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 14.36) Practically, there is no comparison.

Furthermore, to realize impersonal Brahman is very difficult, especially in the present age. And even if one succeeds—or imagines that one has succeeded—there is every chance that one will fall down.

ye ’nye ’ravindaksa vimukta-maninas
  tvayy asta-bhavad avisuddha-buddhayah
aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah
  patanty adho ’nadrta-yusmad-anghrayah

“O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.” (SB 10.2.32)

More likely, they just imagine that they have realized Brahman, but whether they have actually realized it or just imagine they have, because they have neglected the service of the lotus feet of Krishna they fall down (patanty adhah).

We, conditioned souls, are rotating in the cycle of repeated birth and death (samsara), and our goal is to gain release from this samsara-chakra. Such liberation is called mukti, or moksha. The impersonal type of liberation, in which the individual soul merges into the spiritual light, is very hard to achieve—if one can achieve it at all. But even if one does, it doesn’t last. Therefore the Bhagavatam says patanty adhah: they fall down. Why? Because they have no engagement in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

Impersonal liberation is like going to sleep. Intelligent people can perceive that there is misery in material existence, and they want relief. That is one factor that may lead someone to consider spiritual life.  So, a person trying to achieve impersonal liberation is similar to someone who is suffering and tries to escape the suffering by sleeping—“The world is too much.”  Well, all right, you can temporarily escape the misery by going to sleep, but how long can you remain asleep? Eventually you will wake up, and the same miseries will be there.

And being suspended in the impersonal Brahman effulgence can be boring. It is a relief—it is definitely a relief—to be out of the material world, but eventually it gets boring. Someone may go on a cruise: “Oh, boy, I need to get away from things. Let me go on a cruise. I want to enjoy the sea.” And it may be nice for a while, but eventually one gets bored—just water and waves and wind. Eventually one wants to go back on dry land, even though the land is what one wanted to get away from. Although there was frustration and misery on the land, at least there was some stimulation, some variety.

The impersonal jnanis who want to merge and become one with Brahman eventually fall down (patanty adhah), because they become restless. They want some activity, and because they have no idea of the spiritual activities of Krishna consciousness, devotional service to Krishna, patanty adhah, they fall into material activities, and again they suffer, because the result of material activity is material misery.

So, why does the Lord descend? He is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha: eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. And He lives in His spiritual abode, where everything is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. And He is served by great souls completely free of material contamination, liberated from the material bodies that cause so much pain. Why should He come here at all? What does He have to gain?

Personally, He has nothing to gain. But He comes out of His mercy, to deliver us. The material world is compared to a prison house, and we, conditioned souls, are the prisoners. Like prisoners, we are restricted. We can’t just go anywhere and everywhere, wherever we want. Liberated souls can travel anywhere in the universe. They don’t need spaceships or any other such contraptions. They can move about freely. But we are bound. We are not allowed to leave this planet very easily, and even if we do, we don’t really have any other place to stay. So we are bound, and we have to suffer.

I mentioned the body, that there is so much pain in the body. Someone might think, “This swami is very negative about the body.” But the Bhagavad-gita says, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosanudarsanam: one should always perceive the miseries of birth, death, old age, and disease. You might say, “Why does the swami have to be so negative? I want to enjoy the body. I want to enjoy life. I want to enjoy the here and now”—which is good in a certain context—but if I ask any of you, “Truthfully, do you want disease?” “No.” “Do you want old age?” “No.” “Do you want death?” “No.” Well, that is what comes with the body. When you get a material body, those come in the package; they are what you get with it. You may think, “But there is so much happiness in the body. I can go surfing, I can go hiking, I can eat ice cream, I can drink and eat and enjoy with the body.” Well, yes, but it is not actually the body that enables you to enjoy; it is the soul within the body. All the parts of the body may be there when the soul departs, but where is the enjoyment? There is no enjoyment in the body after the soul leaves. We may think that we are enjoying with the senses, but it is actually because of the presence of the soul that we are able to enjoy and work and live.

The body is the medium for the conditioned soul’s experience. For example, I wear eyeglasses. I see through the eyeglasses—the eyeglasses themselves don’t see. Similarly, we have these sense organs—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin—and we perceive through them. They themselves cannot actually perceive. It is the soul that perceives—through the senses of the body. But we don’t need the body in order to perceive happiness. With the body, there is some perception of happiness—but with lots of pain.

There are different schools of philosophy—sad-darsana—and one philosopher has analyzed and concluded that the body is meant for misery. He gives the example of your little finger. How many ways can your little finger enjoy? Not many. And how many ways can it feel pain? So many. Even a little sliver or blister can be so painful. And the finger can be cut, burned, crushed. The body is so vulnerable. But the soul is not. As the Gita says, it can’t be cut, it can’t be burned, it can’t be made wet, it can’t be withered—it is beyond the range of material elements.

nainam chindanti sastrani
  nainam dahati pavakah
na cainam kledayanty apo
  na sosayati marutah

“The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.” (Gita 2.23) Without the body, the soul can enjoy freely, in every way, but without the pain.

And because the soul is part and parcel of Krishna, it derives its real happiness in relation to Krishna. We now are like fish out of water, because originally we come from Krishna, from the spiritual atmosphere, and we have come into the material world and are suffering in a foreign atmosphere. We are always restless, anxious, and fearful.

So, why does Krishna come? He comes to reclaim us, His lost children, to bring us back home, back to Him. That is why He comes. There is no other reason. There is nothing for Him here. He comes only for our sake.

Although He comes into the material world, He doesn’t come in a physical body. He comes in His original, spiritual form (sac-cid-ananda-vigraha). And Krishna in particular comes in a form that resembles a human being. “Man is made in the image of God.” That Krishna comes in a humanlike form is very good for us, because it makes it easier for us in human bodies to relate to Him.

anugrahaya bhaktanam
  manusam deham asthitah
bhajate tadrsih krida
  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) He comes to reclaim us and deliver us, His lost children and devotees.

How does He come? He does not take birth like an ordinary human being, by seminal discharge. Rather, He manifests Himself, or appears.

ajo ’pi sann avyayatma
  bhutanam isvaro ’pi san
prakrtim svam adhisthaya
  sambhavamy atma-mayaya

“Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.” (Gita 4.6)

That is what we read tonight. It is a very esoteric subject, how the Lord appears. But He chooses a completely purified devotee and enters the mind of that completely purified devotee. The name of the devotee whose mind Krishna entered is given here—Vasudeva. And the state that enabled him to receive Krishna within his pure mind is called vasudeva, which means completely beyond the three modes of material nature, completely transcendental—the state of pure goodness, suddha-sattva. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam, sattvam visuddham vasudeva-sabditam: completely pure consciousness is known as vasudeva.

sattvam visuddham vasudeva-sabditam
  yad iyate tatra puman apavrtah
sattve ca tasmin bhagavan vasudevo
  hy adhoksajo me manasa vidhiyate

“The condition of pure goodness, suddha-sattva, in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead is revealed without any covering, is called vasudeva. In that pure state the Supreme Godhead, who is beyond the material senses and who is known as Vasudeva, is perceived by my mind.” (SB 4.3.23, quoted as Cc Adi 4.66)

After Vasudeva received Krishna within his purified mind, or heart, he transferred Him by his spiritual power into the purified heart of Devaki. There was no seminal discharge. The process by which the Supreme Personality of Godhead was transferred from the heart of Vasudeva to the heart of Devaki is called diksa. Diksa means “spiritual initiation.” Diksa takes place between teacher, or guru, and disciple. When the guru is qualified enough, he can carry Krishna within his heart. And when the disciple is qualified enough, he can receive Krishna from the guru—through an exchange called diksa.

The process of diksa is essential for the realization of God (Krishna). There is an entire science of bhakti-yoga, described in Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, and it begins with this process. Guru-padasrayas tasmat: “One must accept shelter at the lotus feet of a spiritual master.” Krsna-diksadi-siksanam: “One must take initiation from him and receive instruction from him.” And visrambhena guroh seva: “One must serve him with intimacy.”

We cannot attain Krishna by our own efforts. We have to receive Krishna by the mercy of one who has Him. Thus Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, a great spiritual teacher, prays to the pure devotee:

krsna se tomara, krsna dite paro,
  tomara sakati ache
ami to’ kangala, ‘krsna’ ‘krsna’ boli’,
  dhai tava pache pache

“Krishna is yours; you have the power to give Him to me. I am simply running behind you shouting, ‘Krishna! Krishna!’ ” (Saranagati, “Ohe! Vaishnava Thakura”)

This act of diksa, as described in today’s verse, is really the culmination of a gradual process. It is not so easy that we just decide, “Oh, let me find a guru who has Krishna, and he will give Him to me, and my business will be finished.” We have to be qualified to receive Krishna, and the process of becoming qualified proceeds gradually. We have to work to come to that stage of purity where we can receive Krishna in our hearts—and not just receive Him in our hearts, but actually see Him face to face. After residing for some time in the heart of Devaki, Krishna came before her, and they saw each other face to face. She saw Him face to face, and He saw her. That is the perfection of Krishna consciousness.

So, we have to qualify ourselves. We have to cleanse the mirror of the heart (ceto-darpana-marjanam).

The process of purification varies from age to age. Although the basic process is the same—Krishna consciousness—in the present age the specific process recommended is to chant the holy names of the Lord:

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

“One should chant the holy name, chant the holy name, chant the holy name of Lord Hari [Krishna]. There is no other means, no other means, no other means for success in this age.” (Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126)

“Chant” is repeated three times for emphasis. “You must do it, you must do it, you must do it.” There was once a cartoon in a newspaper, which depicted an elderly man sitting across from his wife. She was requesting him, “Chant, chant, chant,” and he was replying, “Can’t, can’t, can’t.” That is our misfortune. Shastra, scripture, tells us, “Chant, chant, chant” (harer nama harer nama harer nama), and for no good reason—just some causeless aversion—we say (not necessarily by our words but by our behavior), “Can’t, can’t, can’t.” “Can’t, because I am too busy.” “Can’t, because I prefer other things.” “Can’t, because . . .”—because, because, because. So harer nama harer nama harer nama is emphatic: chant, chant, chant. And kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva: there is no other way, no other way, no other way. Now, that phrase might conjure up images of a fanatical Christian insisting, “Jesus is the only way.” But this nasty eva, the “only way,” is a little different. (And we don’t want to presume that there is anything wrong with “Jesus is the only way,” either.) In this context nasty eva, “no other way,” has a special meaning.

In different ages different methods for self-realization were recommended—in Satya-yuga it was meditation, in Treta-yuga Vedic sacrifice, and in Dvapara-yuga opulent temple worship. In the present age, however, harer nama, chanting the holy names of God, is prescribed. So, nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva means “not by silent meditation, not by elaborate sacrifices, not by ritualistic temple worship,” but by chanting the holy names.

The holy names are not sectarian. There are Christian sects in which practitioners constantly repeat the name of Jesus. We don’t say that you have to chant only the holy name of Krishna. You may chant any name of God. Because God is absolute, any name of God is as good as any other. But you should chant some name. The Muslim tradition also recommends chanting the name of God, of Allah. In Pakistan I came across a book titled Ninety-Nine Names of Allah. In the Vedic tradition there is Visnu-sahasra-nama, “A Thousand Names of Vishnu.” The principle of chanting the names of God is current in every tradition, but it is often overlooked. Then again, in any tradition, the majority of people are conventional. It is only the minority who are really mystical, or spiritual. But within the mystical, spiritual traditions, the chanting of God’s names is advised.

The process of chanting (sankirtana) cleanses the heart (ceto-darpana-marjanam) and makes it a fit place for the Lord to reside. That is what we have to do to prepare to receive Him. We have to chant. And chanting is pleasant, as I hope you have all experienced. It is pleasurable. That’s the other thing: although the results of Krishna consciousness are the highest, the process is also the easiest and most sublime. It’s almost too good to be true, but it is true. Chanting is easy and joyful, and at the same time it cleanses the heart (ceto-darpana-marjanam) and makes it a fit place for the Lord to reside. And that process is accomplished through diksa, the continuing process of diksa, which culminates in perfect realization of Krishna. And then, when one is fully purified and realized, Krishna can’t contain Himself within your heart. He becomes so pleased with your service and so eager to see and embrace you that He comes out of your heart. (Of course, at the same time, He also stays there.) In His own way, He comes out of your heart to look at you and touch you and embrace you and take you by the hand and invite you to come with Him to His eternal abode.

That is the perfection of Krishna consciousness, and it is possible for each and every one of us. We just have to make the effort to chant without offense, and remain encouraged and steady in that effort. And for that, we need association. In every endeavor one needs association. In every field there are associations of people engaged in the same endeavor, because they support each other. There is the chamber of commerce, the diabetes society, the birdwatchers association—there are societies for everything, because in association with others who are pursuing the same goal, we get encouragement to stay on the path and we learn from them, from their experiences, how to improve in our own efforts and quicken our progress. It is a natural thing—and essential. Once we become a little serious, once we develop a little faith and attraction, the next stage is to associate with devotees (adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sangah). That association will really help us.

Chanting is simple, but the real art of chanting is to hear the chanting. Anyone can chant mindlessly, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna . . .” and look at the trees, look at the moon, look at the newspaper, look at the television—but that’s not real chanting. Real chanting means to hear with one’s mind fixed on the sound. This is meditation, mantra meditation, and it takes practice. If you chant for five minutes, will you be able to keep your mind fixed on the sound of the holy name? It will be a challenge. Even one minute is a challenge, because the nature of the mind is to flicker. It is restless. It always wants to go every which way—like the wind. In the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna says that it is harder to control the mind than to control the wind.

cancalam hi manah krsna
  pramathi balavad drdham
tasyaham nigraham manye
  vayor iva su-duskaram

“The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate, and very strong, O Krsna, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.” (Gita 6.34)

How can you control the wind? It is always going here and there. No one can stop it. So how can we control the mind? We can’t. Still, the Bhagavad-gita says it is possible—by practice (abhyasa) and detachment.

asamsayam maha-baho
  mano durnigraham calam
abhyasena tu kaunteya
  vairagyena ca grhyate

“It is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment.” (Gita 6.35)

This is the suitable practice: hearing about Krishna consciousness and then chanting—and hearing—Lord Krishna’s name. We chant and we hear. We practice fixing our mind on the sound of the holy name of the Lord. That is our sadhana; that is our practice. And it is serious business, and hard work. As our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, said, “Chanting is easy”—anyone can articulate the sounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna—“but the determination to chant [and hear with attention] is not so easy.” So that is what we need—that determination (drdha-vratah). And that determination develops in the association of devotees who are serious about chanting and hearing. Therefore the association of devotees is so valuable, and it is most important to maintain favorable relationships with devotees.

There are different offenses to be avoided when one chants. The main offense is to be inattentive while chanting, and another is to offend devotees. Devotees are our best well-wishers. They give us the holy name. They give us support in our efforts to chant. And if we offend them, we cut ourselves off from our best well-wishers, our best friends, our best support for the chanting. We cut ourselves off from the mercy that we so desperately need to progress. But if we pay attention to these two points—chanting attentively and maintaining favorable relationships with devotees—then gradually we can come to the stage of perfection. It takes time, but we can actually come to that stage where Krishna will enter our hearts. He is there already, but He will manifest Himself fully to us, and then, eventually, we will see Him face to face. So we should always, every spare moment, kirtaniyah-sada-harih, chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Whatever you do when you are not chanting should be to place you in a position where you can chant. You may say, “I can’t chant all the time. I have to work. I have to earn money. I have to pay the bills.” That is true, but what is the goal of it all? Why do you want a roof over your head? Why do you want food on your plate? Ultimately, it should be to keep your body and soul together so you can chant the holy names and realize God. That is kirtaniyah-sada-harih, to “always chant the name of God.” We have the body. We must take care of it. We must bathe and dress and eat and sleep. We must get the necessities of life. We must do it all. But why are we doing it? The goal should be to chant the holy names of Krishna and realize Krishna.

Krishna comes to give us this message, and if from this occasion, Sri Krishna Janmashtami, we can just take this message—take it in our heart—that will be the beginning of our perfection. We must take it in our heart and practice it and repeat it to others—repeat it both for the benefit of others and for our own sake. And the results will be glorious. Krishna’s purpose in appearing in this world will be fulfilled, and our purpose as human beings will be fulfilled. And we will all be happy in Krishna consciousness together. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments?

Guest (1): Christians believe in resurrection, and Buddhists and Hindus believe in reincarnation, but personally, I always ask myself, “What is the meaning of starting something and ending something? What is the meaning of several or many lives when we can be comfortable with maybe just one life? Why do we reach only after many lives?”

Giriraj Swami: That is a very good question. We agree with you completely. That is the whole idea. Especially now that we have come to this human form of life, which is achieved after many lifetimes, and especially now that we have come in touch with devotees who tell us about Krishna and the process of bhakti-yoga, we can and should complete our purpose in this world in this life.

labdhva su-durlabham idam bahu-sambhavante
  manusyam artha-dam anityam apiha dhirah
turnam yateta na pated anu-mrtyu yavan
  nihsreyasaya visayah khalu sarvatah syat

“After many, many births one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life before his body, which is always subject to death, falls away. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Krsna consciousness is possible only for a human being.” (SB 11.9.29)

And if we chant seriously—chant and hear and follow the regulative principles that support the chanting and hearing—we can achieve complete success in the same lifetime. That should be our determination.

Still, the Bhagavad-gita explains that if by chance you are not completely successful, then in your next life you continue from where you left off in this one; you don’t have to start all over again. With anything material, you have to start all over again in the next life. In this life you might know seven languages, but in your next life, when you are born, all you can say is “Ga, ga, ga,” and you don’t even know ABC. Materially, whatever you acquire in this life is lost at the time of death. But whatever you gain spiritually through the practice of bhakti-yoga continues in the next life. Suppose in this life you complete only 50 percent; then in the next life you begin from 51 percent. You don’t have to start again from the beginning.

But still, we have the human form of life, and the association of devotees, so why should we take any chances? We should have that determination to be completely successful in this life, just like you said.

Guest (1): Why did we come here in the first place? Why do we have to go through so many lives?

Giriraj Swami: Actually, as mentioned, we all come from Krishna, but when we turn away from Him—when we forget Him and want to enjoy apart from Him—we come under maya and suffer in the material world.

krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga-vancha kare
nikata-stha maya tare japatiya dhare

“When the living entity desires to enjoy separately from Krishna and turns away from Him, the illusory potency of the Lord, maya, immediately takes the soul in her clutches.” (Prema-vivarta)

But in that process, we don’t start at the bottom; we start at the top. We start as an elevated being on a higher planet. So we can reverse the process from that position and go back to Godhead. We don’t start as a germ or an amoeba. But if we are careless, we can keep declining and end up as an amoeba, in the body of an amoeba. But we don’t start at the bottom. We actually start at the top, and if we are attentive and vigilant, we can reverse the whole process in one lifetime. We don’t have to pass more than one life, and we don’t have to see any lower form of life.

Guest (1): Can we say that everything around us is energy—the material world? Animals, vegetables, minerals—everything is life, even if it doesn’t have consciousness by itself?

Giriraj Swami: Well, that is true—everything is energy—but as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, there are two kinds of energies. One is the material energy, and the other is the spiritual energy. The spiritual energy is conscious, alive. And the material energy is dull, dead.

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.” (Gita 7.4)

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 7.5)

What we see alive in the material world is really a combination of the spiritual and material energies—the spiritual spark within the physical body. And as long as the soul is present, there is consciousness. But an inanimate object—say, this piece of metal—has no consciousness. Of course, in an ultimate sense, we could say that there is consciousness everywhere, because Krishna is everywhere. He is expanded within the atoms and in the space between the atoms throughout the entire universe (andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham). But practically, in terms of individual consciousness, animals and vegetables have souls; they are a combination of matter and spirit. Minerals do not have souls; they are material energy. And then there is Krishna, who is completely spiritual.

Guest (1): Are there other forms of intelligence on other planets in the universe, or is it just here on our own planet?

Giriraj Swami: There is, in fact, even more advanced intelligent life on planets other than the earth. Everything is the creation of God. We don’t believe that anything has happened by accident or chance. God has created all these planets to provide different environments for different types of people. Just as there are different relativities on earth—Ojai or Santa Barbara may be relatively more congenial than Alaska or Antarctica—so there are relativities within the universe. Some planets are more heavenly, and some are more hellish. The earth is considered to be in the middle, though a little on the lower side. But there is intelligent life everywhere—and suffering everywhere—and everyone is ultimately meant to become God conscious and go back home, back to Godhead

a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah
  punar avartino ’rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya
  punar janma na vidyate

[The Supreme Lord Krishna said:] “From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Gita 8.16)

Guest (2): You said that the only practice we need to do is chant the name of God. That seems to be asking God to receive from Him the grace of the holy name. But what can we do to prepare ourselves in everyday life to better understand and receive this grace?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, there are practices. Although chanting in and of itself is enough, there are disciplines that we can undertake to make it easier for us to get the full benefit of the chanting, to get the full grace of the Lord. There are certain personal restrictions. But the beauty of chanting is that even if it is hard at first to accept these restrictions, the process of chanting itself, the process of purification itself, will make it easier to accept them—to the point where we won’t even want to indulge in adverse activities anymore.

The first restriction is no eating meat. The second is no taking intoxicants. The third is no illicit sex—no sex outside of marriage, no frivolous sex. And the fourth is no gambling. If we are able to follow these regulative principles, our chanting will be more quickly effective, and we will be better receptacles for God’s grace.

And there are other things as well, such as getting up early in the morning. “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” The early hours of the morning, especially before sunrise, are considered the best for spiritual practice, and therefore we generally rise early. Some devotees, when feasible, get up at two. They may take rest at eight and get up at two. Otherwise, we try to rise by four. Initiated disciples have a certain quota of chanting, which takes about two hours to complete. So they rise by four and complete their quota of rounds between five and seven and still have the rest of the day ahead of them.

And the more serious you are, the more things you can learn to improve your practice. But if you can just manage those four restrictions—and get up early—you will be off to a good start. And if you want to know more, we have volumes of books . . .

Guest (2): Hard news. Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: I was going to ask if you were ready for the answer before I gave it, but I figured that you asked, and you seemed sincere, so I just said it.

But again, the good news is that if you chant, all the other things will become easier. That’s why we don’t emphasize the restrictions at first, because we know that if people just chant, they will lose interest in those indulgent acts, and they will become more and more eager to advance in Krishna consciousness.

Guest (2): Inshallah.

Giriraj Swami: When you said “inshallah,” it reminded me of a group of Ahmadiyya Muslims who would sometimes meet me at our Juhu Beach temple. They told me the same thing, that the prayers offered before sunrise—almost like we say, beginning an hour and a half before sunrise—are heard by God more than prayers offered later in the day.

Inshallah, or insha’Allah, means “if Allah wills.” Allah is a name of God, so insha’Allah means “God willing.” Of course, we also accept the name Allah. Allah is the same as Krishna. But our devotees in Pakistan, instead of “insha’Allah,” would sometimes say, “insha Krishna,” to mean the same thing—“God willing.”

Krishna Bhamini dasi: Maharaja, I was just going to give an example. In the beginning, some people think, “Oh, I have to be a vegetarian” when they hear all the negative restrictions. But the process of spiritual life is so pleasant that they experience a higher taste. They actually prefer our food, prasada, to other things they used to eat. And it is kind of like that with all of the seeming restrictions. As we chant and associate with devotees, we develop a higher taste.

Giriraj Swami: Good point.

Krishna Bhamini dasi: I was going to say one more thing. You already explained it. But in today’s world, fanatical Muslims, or fanatics in any religion, may be chanting God’s names, yet so much violence is going on. They may chant, for example, “Allah, Allah,” yet engage in so much violent activity. They are “God’s warriors,” so to speak. So, you have explained that there are ways to chant God’s names properly.

Giriraj Swami: Correct. One must avoid that offense of offending devotees, and devotees are there in every tradition. One may take the name of God in one’s own tradition, but if one is inimical to devotees in other traditions, that is an offense, not only against the devotees but against the holy name. And if one commits offenses against the holy name, one doesn’t get the benefit. In fact, it is described that when you offend devotees, the holy name is offended and withdraws its mercy. So even though such fanatics are mouthing God’s name, it is almost as if God has left. He has withdrawn His mercy from them, because they are offensive.

Of course, offending devotees is the worst, but offending anyone—causing pain to any living entity—is prohibited. That is the complete injunction. And that is one reason why we don’t kill animals or eat flesh.

So, it is not just a question of mouthing God’s name. One should be in the proper consciousness, the proper mood of service to God and to the devotees of God—in whatever tradition, culture, or community they may be. We should respect and appreciate all genuine devotees, servants of God, and encourage the devotees and chant the holy names. That will bring us all success, and one day the holy name will reveal Himself to us, and we will see Krishna face to face.

prabhu kahe,—“vaisnava-seva, nama-sankirtana
dui kara, sighra pabe sri-krsna-carana”

The Lord [Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu] said, “You should engage yourself in the service of the servants of Krsna and always chant the holy name of Krsna. If you do these two things, you will very soon attain shelter at Krsna’s lotus feet.” (Cc Madhya 16.70)

Hare Krishna!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Sri Krishna Janmashtami, September 2, 2007, Ojai, California]

 

Sri Krishna Janmastami, observed with great enthusiasm and devotion, marks the advent of Lord Krishna on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the waning phase of the month of Shravana, which occurred about 5,000 years ago.

His descent into this world from His eternal abode is not an ordinary birth but a transcendental event meant for the spiritual upliftment of all living beings.

Krishna entered this world through the heart of his father, Vasudeva, who had performed strong penances and austerities for thousands of years in his previous lifetimes.

Vasudeva did this in order to achieve an intense meditation on the Lord by which He was able to attract Krishna to appear as his own son.

Devaki, alongside her husband, had also engaged in long severe penances to attract the Lord. From Vasudeva’s heart Krishna was transferred to the womb of Devaki.

To hide Krishna from Kamsa, Vasudeva carried Him across the Yamuna River to the simple cowherd village of Gokula Vrindavana and left Him in the care of Yashoda Devi and Nanda Maharaja. 

paritranaya sadhunam
vinashaya ca dushkritam
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.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.8)

“There are different kinds of welfare activities in this material world, but the supreme welfare activity is the spreading of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. . . . [E]veryone is under obligations to karma and its reactions. No one can change this. Therefore the śāstra says: One should endeavor for that which is never obtained by wandering up and down the universe as a result of the reactions of karma. What is that? One should endeavor to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. If one tries to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world, he should be understood to be performing the best welfare activity. The Lord is automatically very pleased with him. If the Lord is pleased with him, what is left for him to achieve? If one has been recognized by the Lord, even if he does not ask the Lord for anything, the Lord, who is within everyone, supplies him whatever he wants. . . . The best welfare activity is raising people to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, since the conditioned souls are suffering only for want of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. . . . Because of the ultimate benefit this bestows upon people in general, the Lord very quickly recognizes such service performed by a devotee.”

—From Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.7.44

 

The Radha Krishna Kanhaiya temple in Penang, Malaysia, is a major complex. There are also deities of Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra and Gaura Nitai here.

The temple itself is big but there is also a large conference hall with guest accommodation on the higher floors. In another building there is an ashrama, offices and wonderful prasadam area with commercial kitchen attached.

We visited here during the Jhulan Yatra (swing festival) of Radha and Krishna and every evening many devotees came from the surrounding districts, which, of course, included the tourist hub of Penang Island.

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 22, No. 34

By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 34: August 20–26, 2026)

Paris, New Mayapur
(Sent from Mayapur on August 30, 2026)

Where I Went and What I Did

During the thirty-fourth week of 2026, I lived at ISKCON Paris in Sarcelles for the first five days, and I did harinama for three hours each day in the city of Paris. The fifth day we were joined by Parividha Prabhu and Citralekha Dasi, who were en route from Amsterdam to New Mayapur in central France for the Balarama Purnima festival. The next two days we spent in New Mayapur ourselves. The second day we chanted Hare Krishna in Tours for almost two hours with Harinama Ruci, along with others from the Balarama festival.

I share quotes from a lecture by Srila Prabhupada. I share quotes from Writing Sessions in Cozzile by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I share notes on classes by Srutakirti, Yogindra, Aksayananda, and Rasa Parayana Prabhus.

Many thanks to Dattatreya Prabhu for his steady, generous donations. Thanks to Marat for his very kind donation. Thanks to Czech devotees selling the fruit-nut bars of Damodara.cz for their brahmacari discount. Thanks to Igor for the photo of me at Stalingrad.

Itinerary

August 29–September 21: Mayapur harinamas
September 22: Paris harinama 
September 23: Return to New York 
September 24: NYC Harinam
September 25: harinama to promote Philadelphia Ratha-yatra
September 26: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra

Chanting Hare Krishna in Paris

While I was chanting Hare Krishna at Arc de Triomphe, two UK devotee tourists from the Bhaktivedanta Manor congregation joined in, playing the karatalas and the shakers and chanting and dancing (https://youtube.com/shorts/V4cSPcY2Rzk?feature=share):

Dayal Nitai Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Arc de Triomphe (https://youtube.com/shorts/PNdXTtnKKBw?feature=share):

Marat chants Hare Krishna at Arc de Triomphe (https://youtube.com/shorts/7SQUUEc8IJg?feature=share):

While he was chanting, a passerby danced (https://youtube.com/shorts/clnQ5oAftPI?feature=share):

Gus plays the guitar and chants Hare Krishna at La Defense in Paris, and I play drum and dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/7Cw1vNFlAwU):

Christopher chants Hare Krishna at La Defense (https://youtube.com/shorts/fjPPJ0TQJMw?feature=share):

While he was chanting, a guy danced (https://youtube.com/shorts/tr9w2f2hYAk?feature=share):

Marat chants Hare Krishna at Stalingrad, and a guy dances (https://youtube.com/shorts/3o75-dOINPM?feature=share):

I had never been to our ISKCON Paris temple in Sarcelles for Jhulan Yatra, and it was interesting to see how they celebrated it. 

Today is the appearance day of Lord Balarama, the Personality of Godhead who is the first expansion of Lord Krishna, the original Personality of Godhead. Krishna states in the Bhagavad-gita (4.7):

yada yada hi dharmasya
  glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
  tadatmanam srjamy aham

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself.”

Krishna says, srjamy aham: “I manifest Myself.” He doesn’t take birth like an ordinary human being but manifests Himself in His original spiritual form. For what purpose?

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.” (Gita 4.8) He manifests Himself to protect the devotees, annihilate the demons, and reestablish the principles of religion.

In every sphere of activity in the material world there is deterioration—everything declines. A new house is very nice, but it gradually deteriorates, and eventually, when it is too old, it has to be rebuilt. Similarly, over time our performance of spiritual duties deteriorates, whether we are individuals, families, communities, or a society. And so the Lord comes repeatedly to reestablish religious practice. He appears in order to establish religious principles (dharma), but over time religious practice declines, and so He manifests Himself again and again. We all know how prone we are to allow our practice to deteriorate. Thus, on auspicious occasions like today, Lord Balarama’s appearance day, we can pray to the Lord to manifest Himself and help us to become reestablished in our religious principles and practice.

What Lord Krishna said in the two verses quoted from the Bhagavad-gita is explained elaborately in Srimad-Bhagavatam: When the earth was overburdened by demonic rulers who had amassed large military forces armed with deadly weapons to wage war for personal gain, Lord Brahma, the chief of the demigods in this universe, approached the shore of the ocean of milk. There, accompanied by Lord Shiva and other celestial beings, he worshipped Lord Vishnu, the supreme God of all gods. And in response, Lord Vishnu imparted instructions, which Lord Brahma in turn conveyed to the demigods. He told them that very soon the Lord would appear on earth to diminish the burden of the world and that the demigods, to assist Him, should take birth in the Yadu dynasty. Lord Brahma further stated that Lord Balarama, who is also known as Sankarsana, would precede the Lord and serve Him in every respect:

vasudeva-kalanantah
  sahasra-vadanah svarat
agrato bhavita devo
  hareh priya-cikirsaya

“The foremost manifestation of Krsna is Sankarsana, who is known as Ananta. He is the origin of all incarnations within this material world. Previous to the appearance of Lord Krsna, this original Sankarsana will appear as Baladeva, just to please the Supreme Lord Krsna in His transcendental pastimes.” (SB 10.1.24)

Lord Brahma also told the demigods that Yogamaya, the personal potency of the Lord, would also appear and assist the Lord in His mission.

Preceding the appearance of Krishna and Balarama, Vasudeva, a great devotee in the Yadu dynasty, wedded Devaki, another pure devotee. After their marriage, Vasudeva mounted his chariot with his bride to return home, and Devaki’s brother Kamsa, to please his sister, took the reins of the horses to drive the chariot. Along the way, Kamsa heard a voice from an invisible source, which told him, “You fool, the eighth child of the woman you are carrying will kill you!”

Kamsa, a great demon, became enraged and was ready to kill his own sister on the day of her marriage. But Vasudeva intervened and appealed to him to desist. He said, “How could a qualified person like you kill a woman—your own sister—on the occasion of her marriage? In any case, one day you will die, and in your next life you will have to suffer the reactions to your present activities.” Still, Kamsa was so shameless and cruel that he persisted, and Vasudeva, to save his wife from imminent death, told him, “You have nothing to fear from Devaki. According to the omen, it is her son who will kill you. So I promise to deliver all her sons, who are the cause of your fear, into your hands.” Having faith in Vasudeva’s word, Kamsa was pacified. Still, he imprisoned Vasudeva and Devaki. And year after year, as their children were born, Vasudeva dutifully delivered them to Kamsa, who mercilessly killed them.

Now we shall read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Two: “Prayers by the Demigods.”

TEXT 7

gaccha devi vrajam bhadre
  gopa-gobhir alankrtam
rohini vasudevasya
  bharyaste nanda-gokule
anyas ca kamsa-samvigna
  vivaresu vasanti hi

TRANSLATION

The Lord ordered Yogamaya: O My potency, who are worshipable for the entire world and whose nature is to bestow good fortune upon all living entities, go to Vraja, where there live many cowherd men and their wives. In that very beautiful land, where many cows reside, Rohini, the wife of Vasudeva, is living at the home of Nanda Maharaja. Other wives of Vasudeva are also living there incognito because of fear of Kamsa. Please go there.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Nanda-gokula, the residence of King Nanda, was itself very beautiful, but when Yogamaya was ordered to go there and encourage the devotees with fearlessness, it became even more beautiful and safe. Because Yogamaya had the ability to create such an atmosphere, the Lord ordered her to go to Nanda-gokula.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

King Kamsa was such a demon that he was performing all sorts of atrocities, and Vasudeva was afraid for the safety of his wives. In Vedic culture, the kshatriyas were allowed to have more than one wife. Now that idea seems a bit odd or foreign, but it had its purpose in Vedic civilization. The kshatriyas then were powerful; they could maintain many wives. But, as predicted in Srimad-Bhagavatam, as the present age of Kali progresses, or deteriorates, a husband will have to struggle just to maintain one wife, one family, and if he is somehow able to do so nicely, he is considered a great success in life.

Previously, people were more qualified. They were more opulent. The kshatriyas could have more than one wife, though Lord Ramachandra took eka-patni-vrata, a vow to accept only one wife—Sitadevi. Vasudeva had more than one wife, but he was responsible. He didn’t want any harm to befall any of them, and he arranged for their protection. Vasudeva and Devaki had relatives, who were also family friends, in Gokula—Nanda and Yasoda. And so Vasudeva placed one of his wives, Rohini, under their care. And after Balarama had entered the womb of Devaki, Lord Krishna ordered Yogamaya to transfer Him from the womb of Devaki into the womb of Rohini.

TEXT 8

devakya jathare garbham
  sesakhyam dhama mamakam
tat sannikrsya rohinya
  udare sannivesaya

TRANSLATION

Within the womb of Devaki is My partial plenary expansion known as Sankarsana or Sesa. Without difficulty, transfer Him into the womb of Rohini.

PURPORT

The first plenary expansion of Krsna is Baladeva, also known as Sesa. The Sesa incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead supports the entire universe, and the eternal mother of this incarnation is Mother Rohini. “Because I am going into the womb of Devaki,” the Lord told Yogamaya, “the Sesa incarnation has already gone there and made suitable arrangements so that I may live there. Now He should enter the womb of Rohini, His eternal mother.”

In this connection, one may ask how the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is always situated transcendentally, could enter the womb of Devaki, which had previously been entered by the six asuras, the sad-garbhas. Does this mean that the sad-garbhasuras were equal to the transcendental body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? The following answer is given by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura.

COMMENT

As promised, Vasudeva delivered Devaki’s first six sons to Kamsa, who killed them one after the other. They were actually the six asuras who, because of events from their past life, had taken birth in Devaki’s womb to be killed by Kamsa. So, the question is, Krishna is going to enter the womb of Devaki—does that mean He is on the same level as these asuras who took birth from her womb and were killed by Kamsa? Visvanatha Cakravarti explains:

PURPORT (continued)

The entire creation, as well as its individual parts, is an expansion of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, even though the Lord enters the material world, He does not do so. This is explained by the Lord Himself in the Bhagavad-gita (9.4–5):

maya tatam idam sarvam
  jagad avyakta-murtina
mat-sthani sarva-bhutani
  na caham tesv avasthitah

 na ca mat-sthani bhutani
  pasya me yogam aisvaram
bhuta-bhrn na ca bhuta-stho
  mamatma bhuta-bhavanah

COMMENT

The idea is that the Lord is everywhere within His creation but at the same time is not there. This appears to be contradictory, but the contradiction is resolved when we understand that the Lord in His original form as Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan is not in the material creation; He remains aloof, in His divine abode, enjoying sublime pastimes with His loving devotees. Still, by His expansion as the Supersoul, the Paramatma, He pervades His creation.

PURPORT (continued)

A pure devotee is always transcendentally situated because of executing nine different processes of bhakti-yoga. Thus situated in devotional service, a devotee, although in the material world, is not in the material world. Yet a devotee always fears, “Because I am associated with the material world, so many contaminations affect me.” Therefore he is always alert in fear, which gradually diminishes his material association.

COMMENT

As stated earlier, Yogamaya appeared in Gokula to create fearlessness—freedom from fear of the attacks of demons. But a pure devotee is always afraid of material contamination. Once, Srila Prabhupada gave a class at Bhaktivedanta Manor in which he told the audience, “The difference between you and me is that you can fall down but I cannot fall down.” After the class, Srila Prabhupada was praying in front of the Deities, and one disciple asked him, “What were you praying?” And Prabhupada replied, “I was praying that I may never fall down.” The disciple responded, “But in your talk you said that you can never fall down.” And Prabhupada replied, “Yes, because I am always praying never to fall down, therefore I can never fall down.” So, we should always be afraid of the material energy (maya), of being deluded by maya and being diverted from the true path of Krishna consciousness.

PURPORT (continued)

Symbolically, Mother Devaki’s constant fear of Kamsa was purifying her. A pure devotee should always fear material association, and in this way all the asuras of material association will be killed, as the sad-garbhasuras were killed by Kamsa.

COMMENT

Especially devotees in the grihastha ashrama may have to associate with the material energy—to earn money to maintain their families. Whether they like it or not, they may have to associate with materialistic people. And there is always a danger that by their associating with materialistic people, their consciousness will be affected. So they should be afraid of material association. Of course, circumstantially we have to interact with such people, and we may do so as people normally interact in the workplace. But internally we should be conscious that if we associate with them too much, in the wrong way, it can affect us, and we can become weakened in our determination to progress in Krishna consciousness. We may start to compromise in different ways, which will weaken us even more.

PURPORT (concluded)

It is said that from the mind, Marici appears. In other words, Marici is an incarnation of the mind. Marici has six sons: Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada, and Matsarya (lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, and envy). The Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in pure devotional service. This is confirmed in the Vedas: bhaktir evainam darsayati. Only bhakti can bring one in contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared from the womb of Devaki, and therefore Devaki symbolically represents bhakti, and Kamsa symbolically represents material fear. When a pure devotee always fears material association, his real position of bhakti is manifested, and he naturally becomes uninterested in material enjoyment. When the six sons of Marici are killed by such fear and one is freed from material contamination, within the womb of bhakti the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears. Thus the seventh pregnancy of Devaki signifies the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. After the six sons Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada, and Matsarya are killed, the Sesa incarnation creates a suitable situation for the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, when one awakens his natural Krsna consciousness, Lord Krsna appears. This is the explanation given by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura.

COMMENT

There are different stages of advancement in devotional service, and when one is completely purified, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is revealed within the heart. That purified stage is called vasudeva, or suddha-sattva. It is the same name as that of Krishna’s father, Vasudeva, because Krishna first appeared in the purified mind of Vasudeva and then from the mind of Vasudeva He was transferred into the purified mind—and womb—of Devaki.

So, it is possible that the Lord will manifest Himself to a devotee who is sincere in the practice of devotional service. And before He manifests Himself fully, as He did for Vasudeva and Devaki and for Nanda and Yasoda, He manifests Himself as the holy name (as we all experience when we try to chant offenselessly); as holy scripture—Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavad-gita, or Sri Caitanya-caritamrta; as the holy dhama—Sri Vrindavan, Mayapur, or Puri; as the Deity; and in the hearts, and words, of His pure devotees.

TEXT 9

athaham amsa-bhagena
  devakyah putratam subhe
prapsyami tvam yasodayam
  nanda-patnyam bhavisyasi

TRANSLATION

O all-auspicious Yogamaya, I shall then appear with My full six opulences as the son of Devaki, and you will appear as the daughter of Mother Yasoda, the queen of Maharaja Nanda.

COMMENT

This is the history. Balarama, or Sesa, first entered the womb of Devaki as her seventh son, but by the arrangement of Krishna, through the agency of Yogamaya, He was transferred to the womb of Rohini in Gokula. And thus it appeared that Devaki had a miscarriage. But it is Sesa’s service to arrange for Krishna’s comfort, and so He entered her womb first and created a favorable situation in which Lord Krishna could reside. We often see pictures of Lord Vishnu with Sesa, who acts as the Lord’s umbrella and throne. Sesa expands Himself in so many ways to facilitate the pleasure and comfort of the Lord.

After being transferred to the womb of Rohini, His eternal mother, Balarama took birth in Gokula. His stay within the womb of Devaki was just a temporary arrangement to create a favorable situation for Krishna. Then Krishna Himself entered the womb of Devaki through the mind of Vasudeva and took birth.

For the duration of Their infancy, childhood, and youth, Krishna and Balarama enjoyed together in Gokula, in Vraja. Then, when They were about the age of sixteen, They went to Mathura to participate in a wrestling match arranged by Kamsa. Ultimately Krishna killed Kamsa. Krishna and Balarama did not return to Vrindavan then—They had many pastimes in Mathura and Dvaraka.

Because Krishna and Balarama had not yet received a proper, formal education, Vasudeva and Devaki arranged for Them to study under a guru, Sandipani Muni, from whom They learned sixty-four different arts and sciences. And then They went on to rule Mathura and, finally, Dvaraka.

It is, one could say, a peculiar situation that Krishna was actually the son of Vasudeva and Devaki but was raised by Nanda and Yasoda and never really spent time with His original parents until many years later. And then He was separated from the parents who had raised Him, and He didn’t see them again for many, many years.

After Krishna and Balarama left Vrindavan, the Vraja-vasis were plunged into an ocean of separation. Their only business was crying for Krishna and Balarama. Of course, their crying was not like our material crying. Theirs was transcendental ecstasy. And in that separation, they were experiencing association. Still, they were separated, and many years later, when Krishna was living in royal opulence in Dvaraka, He went to Kurukshetra for a solar eclipse, to perform sacrifices and give in charity, as advised in shastra.

At Kurukshetra there was a great reunion, not only between Krishna and Balarama and Their friends from Vrindavan, but also between Vasudeva and Devaki and Nanda and Yasoda, and between Krishna’s various wives and Draupadi. Their meetings and interactions with each other are very instructive for us—how devotees relate to each other, how they think, and how they feel.

Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Eighty-Two: “Krsna Meets the Inhabitants of Vrindavan.”

TEXTS 31–32

When Nanda Maharaja learned that the Yadus had arrived, led by Krsna, he immediately went to see them. The cowherds accompanied him, their various possessions loaded on their wagons.

Seeing Nanda, the Vrsnis were delighted and stood up like dead bodies coming back to life. Having felt much distress at not seeing him for so long, they held him in a tight embrace.

COMMENT

The Vrsnis from Dvaraka returned to life when they saw Nanda, and they embraced him affectionately.

TEXTS 33–38

Vasudeva embraced Nanda Maharaja with great joy. Beside himself with ecstatic love, Vasudeva remembered the troubles Kamsa had caused him, forcing him to leave his sons in Gokula for Their safety.

O hero of the Kurus, Krsna and Balarama embraced Their foster parents and bowed down to them, but Their throats were so choked up with tears of love that the two Lords could say nothing.

Raising their two sons onto their laps and holding Them in their arms, Nanda and saintly Mother Yasoda forgot their sorrows.

Then Rohini and Devaki both embraced the Queen of Vraja, remembering the faithful friendship she had shown them. Their throats choking with tears, they addressed her as follows.

[Rohini and Devaki said:] What woman could forget the unceasing friendship you and Nanda have shown us, dear Queen of Vraja? There is no way to repay you in this world, even with the wealth of Indra.

Before these two boys had ever seen Their real parents, you acted as Their parents and gave Them all affectionate care, training, nourishment, and protection. They were never afraid, good lady, because you protected Them just as eyelids protect the eyes. Indeed, saintly persons like you never discriminate between outsiders and their own kin.

PURPORT

As Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti explains, Krsna and Balarama had not seen Their parents for two reasons: because of Their exile in Vraja, and also because They are never actually born and therefore have no parents.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti also describes what Devaki thought before speaking this verse: “Alas, because for so long these two sons of mine had you, Yasoda, as Their guardian and mother, and because They were immersed in such a vast ocean of ecstatic loving dealings with you, now that you are once more before Them They are too distracted to even notice me. Also, you are behaving as if insane and blind with love for Them, showing millions of times more maternal affection than I possess. Thus you simply keep staring at us, your friends, without recognizing us. So let me bring you back to reality on the pretext of some affectionate words.”

COMMENT

There are many points here. First is how much Devaki appreciated Mother Yasoda for taking care of her son Krishna. Before Krishna had even seen His real parents, Yasoda and Nanda had acted as His and Balarama’s parents and cared for Them, taught Them, nourished Them, and protected Them. And thus Devaki’s sons never had any fear. She praised Yasoda for being a saintly person who never discriminated between outsiders and her own kin. Of course, on another level Krishna is the Supersoul; He is the most intimate friend and the supreme lovable object for everyone. But in terms of the pastimes, Yasoda did not discriminate that Krishna was not her own son; she and Nanda raised Him as if He were their own.

Also, Devaki was completely free from envy. She saw that Krishna (with Balarama) was so overwhelmed with love that He forgot everything. He just rushed into the arms of Mother Yasoda. And Devaki not only admitted but actually appreciated that Yasoda had more love for Krishna than even she did.

These are some of the qualities that devotees develop in Krishna consciousness. They appreciate the service of others, and they are not envious. They are happy to acknowledge when others have more love for Krishna than they do or render better service to Krishna than they do. And they are full of love. It is described here that when the Vrsnis saw Nanda and Yasoda—even though they had the association of Krishna in Dvaraka and were with Him in Kurukshetra—they felt as if their lives had come back to them. They had so much love and affection for them, and they were most grateful to them for their service to Krishna.

PURPORT (concluded)

Then, when Devaki failed to get any response from Yasoda even after addressing her, Rohini said, “My dear Devaki, it’s impossible just now to rouse her out of this ecstatic trance. We are crying in the wilderness, and her two sons are no less bound up in the ropes of affection for her than she is for Them.”

COMMENT

Yasoda had lost consciousness of everything other than her sons, Krishna and Balarama. And again, Yasoda did not discriminate that “Krishna is my son, but Balarama is Rohini’s.” Nor did Rohini discriminate that “Balarama is my son, but Krishna is Yasoda’s.” Both mothers were mothers to both sons, and both sons saw both as Their mothers.

This type of love develops with Krishna consciousness, but it is also something that we are meant to cultivate. In Srila Prabhupada’s last days, in Vrindavan, His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami exclaimed, “Srila Prabhupada, your disciples love you so much.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Your love for me will be shown by how much you cooperate with each other.” Many authorities, both spiritual and mundane, have commented that love is not just a sentiment but is also a process. Srila Prabhupada said that if we really loved him—if we wanted to show our love for him—we would cooperate with each other for his pleasure, which ultimately means for Krishna’s pleasure (yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado).

By cooperating for the service of Lord Balarama, the family of Vasudeva and Devaki and the family of Nanda and Yasoda were brought together. And that was one of Lord Balarama’s purposes, as foretold by Gargamuni:

       garga uvaca
ayam hi rohini-putro
  ramayan suhrdo gunaih
akhyasyate rama iti
  baladhikyad balam viduh
yadunam aprthag-bhavat
  sankarsanam usanty api

“Gargamuni said: This child, the son of Rohini, will give all happiness to His relatives and friends by His transcendental qualities. Therefore He will be known as Rama. And because He will manifest extraordinary bodily strength, He will also be known as Bala. Moreover, because He unites two families—Vasudeva’s family and the family of Nanda Maharaja—He will be known as Sankarsana.” (SB 10.8.12)

In the purport, Srila Prabhupada explains: “Baladeva was actually the son of Devaki, but He was transferred from Devaki’s womb to that of Rohini. This fact was not disclosed. According to a statement in the Hari-vamsa:

pratyuvaca tato ramah
  sarvams tan abhitah sthitan
yadavesv api sarvesu
  bhavanto mama vallabhah

Gargamuni did disclose to Nanda Maharaja that Balarama would be known as Sankarsana because of uniting two families—the yadu-vamsa and the vamsa of Nanda Maharaja—one of which was known as ksatriya and the other as vaisya. Both families had the same original forefather, the only difference being that Nanda Maharaja was born of a vaisya wife whereas Vasudeva was born of a ksatriya wife. Later, Nanda Maharaja married a vaisya wife, and Vasudeva married a ksatriya wife. So although the families of Nanda Maharaja and Vasudeva both came from the same father, they were divided as ksatriya and vaisya. Now Baladeva united them, and therefore He was known as Sankarsana.”

By Krishna consciousness, by cooperating to serve the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, different individuals, families, castes, and communities can all be united.

Even Balarama considers Himself to be a servant of Lord Krishna. Balarama is the first expansion of Krishna and is the original spiritual master, and He too has the sentiment that He is a servant of Krishna. In fact, every conscious being is imbued with the sentiment of being a servant of Krishna. Balarama, and all of Krishna’s expansions—Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Karanodakasayi Vishnu, Garbhodakasayi Vishnu, Ksirodakasayi Vishnu—all have the sentiment of being servants of Krishna.

ekale isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya
yare yaiche nacaya, se taiche kare nrtya

“Lord Krsna alone is the supreme controller, and all others are His servants. They dance as He makes them do so.” (Cc Adi 5.142)

apanake bhrtya kari’ krsne prabhu jane
krsnera kalara kala apanake mane

“[Balarama] considers Himself a servant and knows Krsna to be His master. Thus He regards Himself as a fragment of His plenary portion.” (Cc Adi 5.137)

It was stated in the beginning that Balarama, or Sankarsana, would appear prior to Krishna in order to serve Krishna and please Him in every respect.

vasudeva-kalanantah
  sahasra-vadanah svarat
agrato bhavita devo
  hareh priya-cikirsaya

“The foremost manifestation of Krsna is Sankarsana, who is known as Ananta. He is the origin of all incarnations within this material world. Previous to the appearance of Lord Krsna, this original Sankarsana will appear as Baladeva, just to please the Supreme Lord Krsna in His transcendental pastimes.” (SB 10.1.24)

That is the duty of the spiritual master—to serve and please the Supreme Lord. Once, Srila Prabhupada asked some disciples, “What is the duty of the spiritual master?” And then he gave the answer: “The duty of the spiritual master is to serve Krishna. And the duty of the disciples is to assist the spiritual master.” Balarama is the original spiritual master because, as Krishna’s first expansion, He is the first servant of Krishna, and He is the first instructor about Krishna. The spiritual master is considered to be the representative of Lord Balarama, or Nityananda Prabhu.

Srila Prabhupada said, “Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate.” In other words, love is not just a sentiment; it is expressed through practical activity. Further, it is evoked by practical activity: loving sentiment is increased by devotional service. The word cooperate consists of co-, which means “together,” “jointly”; and operate, which means to “perform a function,” to “exert power or influence.” Cooperate means that together we perform some function. And we see the perfect example of cooperation in Vrindavan. Nanda and Yasoda and Rohini cooperated to raise Krishna and Balarama. In a broader sense, they cooperated with Vasudeva and Devaki to raise Them. And there was no envy.

Srila Prabhupada gave the example of the different parts of the body, such as the hands and the mouth, which, for the sake of the whole, cooperate to serve the stomach. If the different parts try to enjoy independent of the stomach, they won’t be able to. They will fail—and suffer. If there is a nice rasagulla and the hand thinks, “Why should I give all the food to the stomach? I will enjoy myself,” and then tries to enjoy directly, it won’t be able to. The food is meant to be given to the stomach, and when it goes to the stomach, all the different parts of the body benefit.

Srila Prabhupada elaborated on this analogy by saying that once, the different parts of the body went on strike, thinking, “We do all the work, and the stomach gets all the food. Why should we work for the sake of the stomach?” So they decided to go on strike. As a result, all the parts of the body suffered. They became weak. Then they had another meeting and decided, “We were better off when we were serving the stomach.” So they went back to serving the stomach.

Krishna is the focus of all devotional service. That is the meaning of bhakti—to serve and please Krishna. And the medium for that service is the spiritual master, who represents Lord Balarama, or Lord Nityananda. Srila Prabhupada said, “Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate.” That means we work together, co-operate. We perform the same function, but together, for the pleasure of guru and Krishna. And in that service there is no envy; there is only appreciation and gratitude. Each devotee thinks, “You’ve helped me so much by doing this.” That consciousness develops naturally from bhakti, but at the same time we have to practice; we are in the stage of sadhana-bhakti, devotional service in practice. When we practice cooperation, serving the other devotees and appreciating their service, bhakti develops, and ultimately Krishna manifests Himself. Krishna and all of His associates are revealed to us in that state of pure devotion.

Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments?

Bhakta Adam: What does it mean when you say that Krishna and Balarama took birth from the womb? What is the childbirth process of Krishna? Does He simply appear and His mother thinks that she has gone through childbirth? Because I remember that Mother Yasoda—it says in Krsna book—Mother Yasoda was so tired from the labor of childbirth that she fell asleep and could not remember whether she had given birth to a male or a female child.

Giriraj Swami: Krishna is always everywhere, so He is already in the womb. He is in the heart of every living entity, in every atom, in the space between the atoms. He is everywhere. So He is already in the womb in His Paramatma feature, which is not different from His original feature as Krishna. The Paramatma is an expansion of His original feature. And when the time came, the original Krishna entered the purified mind, or heart, of Vasudeva, and from there He was transferred to the purified heart of Devaki. He was transferred to her womb—took up residence in her womb—where Sankarsana had already made all the arrangements. Then, after a facsimile of labor and childbirth, Krishna emerged.

But there is a difference between Mathura and Vraja. In Mathura, Krishna appeared with four hands, holding the symbols of Vishnu, fully decorated with ornaments. And He explained His divine identity to His parents, who praised and worshipped Him with awe and reverence. And then He transformed Himself into the form of a natural human child—into His original form as Krishna.

In the loving service of Lord Narayana in Vaikuntha, the devotees are always aware of His supreme opulence as God. In Mathura, the mood is mixed. Vasudeva and Devaki had some awareness that Krishna was God—He manifested Himself in His four-armed form to show them that He was God—but they also had a mood of parental affection. Devaki’s motherly affection overtook her awareness of the Lord’s opulence, and she thought, “Oh, if Kamsa finds Krishna, he will kill Him.” So she requested the Lord to withdraw His four-handed form, to become invisible to Kamsa. Then Vasudeva carried the baby Krishna out of Kamsa’s prison, crossed the Yamuna, and came to Gokula, where Yasoda had given birth. She gave birth not only to a baby girl, Yogamaya, but also to a son, who was the original Krishna. But as you said, because she was so exhausted by the labor of childbirth, she was unable to understand what kind of child had been born to her—a boy or a girl or twins. Also, because of her pure affection for Krishna, she did not understand that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then, when Vasudeva came with Krishna from Mathura, that Krishna was absorbed into the original Krishna who had been born to Yasoda. And in place of Krishna, Vasudeva took Yogamaya back to Mathura.

In Vrindavan, the pastimes are all humanlike, nara-lila. And the Bhagavatam says that Nanda Maharaja performed the birth (jata-karma) ceremony for Krishna. Srila Prabhupada explains, “The jata-karma ceremony can take place when the umbilical cord, connecting the child and the placenta, is cut. . . . In this regard, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura desires to prove with evidence from many sastras that Krsna actually took birth as the son of Yasoda before the birth of Yogamaya, who is therefore described as the Lord’s younger sister. Even though there may be doubts about the cutting of the umbilical cord, and even though it is possible that this was not done, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears, such events are regarded as factual.” (SB 10.5.1–2 purport) The manifestation of nara-lila is so perfect and complete that even to that detail Krishna appeared to have taken birth like an ordinary child. But He never was an ordinary child, and He never had a material body.

In relation to Krishna’s birth in Mathura, the Bhagavatam describes that when Vasudeva transferred the Supreme Lord to the heart of Devaki, she became beautiful, “just as the east becomes beautiful by carrying the rising moon.” Later, the Bhagavatam states that “the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, who is situated in the core of everyone’s heart, appeared from the heart of Devaki in the dense darkness of night, like the full moon rising on the eastern horizon.”

The moon, or the sun, always exists. The sun comes above the horizon at a certain point, which we call sunrise, but the sun always exists. It just comes into our vision at a certain time. Similarly, Krishna always exists, but He appeared from the heart, or the womb, of Devaki like the moon appears on the eastern horizon. But Krishna is always there. He always exists.

Urvasi dasi: Maharaja, a devotee should always be aware and careful of maya and contact with the material world, but then again, it is said that a devotee is fearless. How do you get to that point where you can count on Krishna’s mercy and be fearless? It is so dangerous in this material world, and maya is so strong. So, how can we actually feel that we have Krishna’s mercy, so we can be fearless?

Giriraj Swami: The only thing a devotee really fears is forgetfulness of Krishna—maya. If we are always conscious of Krishna and our relationship with Him, we will not be afraid of anything else, because we know that we are not this body, that we are part and parcel of Krishna, that our real relationship is with Him, and that we are under His personal care and protection. If Krishna wants us to stay longer in this body, we will, and if Krishna wants us to leave this body, we will. We are not afraid, because we know we are under Krishna’s shelter.

Once, during the war between India and Pakistan in 1971, a reporter asked Srila Prabhupada, “Suppose a hundred pure, saintly, Krishna conscious people are meditating or discussing together, and someone comes and drops a bomb . . .” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Those who are Krishna conscious are not afraid of a bomb. When they see a bomb coming, they think that Krishna desired the bomb to come. A Krishna conscious person is never afraid of anything. Bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syat. [SB 11.2.37] One who has the conception that something can exist outside of Krishna is afraid. But one who knows that everything is coming from Krishna has no reason to be afraid. The bomb is coming, and the devotee says, ‘Ah, Krishna is coming.’ That is the vision of the devotee. He thinks, ‘Krishna wants to kill me with a bomb. That’s all right. I will be killed.’ That is Krishna consciousness.”

Still, another time, in a different situation, someone asked Srila Prabhupada, “What if some evil person came to attack you, to kill you. Would you protect yourself?” And Prabhupada replied, “Yes. Why should I let some rascal harm Krishna’s devotee?” But that is different. That is not out of fear. That is in the mood of service, to protect Krishna’s devotee. Srila Prabhupada was not identifying with the body but was seeing himself as Krishna’s devotee who had service to do for Krishna, so he wanted to protect Krishna’s devotee from harm—for Krishna’s service. But personally, he was not afraid. The only thing a devotee fears is forgetting Krishna.

And a devotee is always satisfied; he does not want anything but devotional service. He is satisfied with devotional service but never complacent—“Now I have done enough service.” He always wants to do more and better service. But he is satisfied in the sense that he wants nothing but devotional service, and he always has service. No one can take devotional service from him, because it is ahaituky apratihata. It has no cause, and it has no impediment. It cannot be interrupted.

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)

A devotee is not afraid of anything material, because he has Krishna—but he is afraid of losing Krishna due to his own weakness. He always feels himself to be weak and dependent on the strength that comes from superior authorities such as Balarama. The Upanishads state, nayam atma bala-hinena labhyah. One cannot attain the platform of self-realization without spiritual strength, which comes from Balarama. Bala means “strength”—spiritual strength, which comes from Lord Balarama, Lord Nityananda, who is represented by the spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada and the parampara. So, we feel dependent on superior authorities, but we are not afraid of anything material, because we know that the only thing that really matters to us is devotional service and that nothing material can take devotional service away from us. We have nothing to lose, because we can’t lose devotional service, and we have nothing to gain, because we don’t want anything but devotional service. So why should we be afraid? We have nothing to lose or to gain from anyone.

The Bhagavad-gita (6.20–23) says that upon achieving Krishna consciousness one thinks that there is no greater gain and even in the midst of the greatest calamity one is not shaken.

yatroparamate cittam
  niruddham yoga-sevaya
yatra caivatmanatmanam
  pasyann atmani tusyati

 sukham atyantikam yat tad
  buddhi-grahyam atindriyam
vetti yatra na caivayam
  sthitas calati tattvatah

 yam labdhva caparam labham
   manyate nadhikam tatah
yasmin sthito na duhkhena
  gurunapi vicalyate

 tam vidyad duhkha-samyoga-
  viyogam yoga-samjnitam

“In the stage of perfection called trance, or samadhi, one’s mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This perfection is characterized by one’s ability to see the self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness, realized through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.”

The pure devotee is fixed in consciousness because he has what he wants—Krishna—and no matter what happens externally, no one can take Krishna from him. Queen Kunti prayed to Lord Krishna for calamities, because in the midst of all her difficulties Krishna was with her and her sons. In terms of lila, Krishna was with them in Hastinapura, but when the calamities were over and Maharaja Yudhisthira was installed on the throne, Krishna was ready to leave. So Kunti prayed, “When we were in difficulty, You were with us, but now that we are happily situated in our kingdom, You are leaving us.” She prayed, “Let the calamities come again and again. I would rather have all the calamities and have You with us than be situated in material opulence and comfort and lose You.” She concluded:

vipadah santu tah sasvat
  tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato darsanam yat syad
  apunar bhava-darsanam

“I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.” (SB 1.8.25)

Sometimes, being in material difficulty can serve as an impetus to Krishna consciousness. And a devotee may fear being in too comfortable a position lest he or she forget Krishna, lose his or her Krishna consciousness. That is the only fear.

Urvasi dasi: It is interesting, because in my own life, when I examine it, I feel like I am in constant fear of being distracted from Krishna. It is always check and balance, check and balance. I am afraid of my mind going away and being distracted. And yet then when I think about it, I am really not afraid of anything in the material world, because I know that everything that comes into my life is Krishna. For some reason it is being brought into my life. So it is an interesting thing, being full of fear and having no fear.

Giriraj Swami: Indeed. There is a nice verse by King Rahugana of the Sindh province. He was puffed up because he was the king, and he had forced a great devotee, Jada Bharata, a paramahamsa who had hidden his exalted position, to carry his palanquin. And when he felt that Jada Bharata was not carrying it properly, he abused, reviled, him like anything. But Jada Bharata was unaffected. Jada Bharata didn’t want to step on any insects on the way, and because he was always trying to sidestep the ants, the king was jostled inside the palanquin. So he sarcastically criticized Jada Bharata, who was actually young and strong, by saying, “You seem to be very old and weak. You can’t carry the palanquin properly.” Yet however the king tried to insult him, Jada Bharata, being completely free from bodily identification, remained undisturbed.

Eventually Jada Bharata enlightened the king with transcendental knowledge. He told him, “I am not the body; I am the soul. I am not fat or thin or weak or strong or any of the things that you said about the body, because I am the soul and have nothing to do with the body. And so I remain peaceful.” After receiving sublime spiritual instructions from his carrier, the king realized that Jada Bharata was a great paramahamsa. He descended from his palanquin and fell at Jada Bharata’s feet, desiring to be freed from his offenses against the great saint. And King Rahugana said,

naham visanke sura-raja-vajran
  na tryaksa-sulan na yamasya dandat
nagny-arka-somanila-vittapastrac
  chanke bhrsam brahma-kulavamanat

“My dear sir, I am not at all afraid of the thunderbolt of King Indra, nor am I afraid of the serpentine, piercing trident of Lord Siva. I do not care about the punishment of Yamaraja, the superintendent of death, nor am I afraid of fire, scorching sun, moon, wind, or the weapons of Kuvera. Yet I am afraid of offending a brahmana. I am very much afraid of this.” (SB 5.10.17)

So, we are not afraid of any external, material force, but we are afraid of losing our Krishna consciousness. And the quickest way to lose it is to offend a devotee. It is that same idea. We are not afraid of any material danger, but we are afraid of maya—afraid of committing offenses, especially vaisnava-aparadha, that will take us away from Krishna, from loving service to Krishna and His devotees.

Sri Sri Krishna-Balarama ki jaya!
Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Lord Balarama’s appearance day, August 22, 2008, Ventura, California]

We read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter 19:

TEXT 1

vrndavaniyam rasa-keli-vartam
  kalena luptam nija-saktim utkah
sancarya rupe vyatanot punah sa
  prabhur vidhau prag iva loka-srstim

TRANSLATION

Before the creation of this cosmic manifestation, the Lord enlightened the heart of Lord Brahma with the details of the creation and manifested the Vedic knowledge. In exactly the same way, the Lord, being anxious to revive the Vrndavana pastimes of Lord Krsna, impregnated the heart of Rupa Gosvami with spiritual potency. By this potency, Srila Rupa Gosvami could revive the activities of Krsna in Vrndavana, activities almost lost to memory. In this way, He spread Krsna consciousness throughout the world.

TEXT 2

jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda
jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

TRANSLATION

All glories to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu! All glories to Lord Nityananda! All glories to Advaitacandra! And all glories to all the devotees of the Lord!

TEXT 114

loka-bhida-bhaye prabhu ‘dasasvamedhe’ yana
rupa-gosanire siksa kara’na sakti sancariya

TRANSLATION

Due to the great crowds in Prayaga, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to a place called Dasasvamedha-ghata. It was there that the Lord instructed Sri Rupa Gosvami and empowered him in the philosophy of devotional service.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate. The Supreme Lord has multipotencies, which the Lord bestows on His fortunate devotees. The Lord has a special potency by which He spreads the Krsna consciousness movement. This is explained in the Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 7.11): kali-kalera dharma—krsna-nama-sankirtana/ krsna-sakti vina nahe tara pravartana. “One cannot spread the holy name of Krsna without being specifically empowered by Lord Krsna.” A devotee who receives this power from the Lord must be considered very fortunate. The Krsna consciousness movement is spreading to enlighten people about their real position, their original relationship with Krsna. One requires Krsna’s special power in order to be able to do this. People forget their relationship with Krsna and work under the spell of maya life after life, transmigrating from one body to another. This is the process of material existence. The Supreme Lord Sri Krsna personally descends to teach people that their position in the material world is a mistaken one. The Lord again comes as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to induce people to take to Krsna consciousness. The Lord also empowers a special devotee to teach people their constitutional position.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

Lord Chaitanya met Srila Rupa Gosvami at Prayaga. Because of the great crowds that surrounded Lord Chaitanya, He took Rupa Gosvami to a secluded place called Dasasvamedha-ghata. In 1971, when Srila Prabhupada traveled to Allahabad for the Ardha-kumbha-mela, he also visited Dasasvamedha-ghata with his disciples. Lord Chaitanya empowered Srila Rupa Gosvami with His potency to revive Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan and thus spread Krishna consciousness. Only one who is empowered with the potency of the Lord, by the mercy of the Lord, can actually spread Krishna consciousness all over the world. Although Rupa Gosvami lived simply in Vrindavan, wearing a loincloth and sleeping one night under one tree and the next night under another, he wrote books that for generations have enlightened devotees all over the world. Even now we are reading The Nectar of Devotion, which is a summary study of his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, and The Nectar of Instruction, which is his Upadesamrta. And we are benefiting both from the example Srila Rupa Gosvami set when he lived in Vrindavan and from the books he wrote.

TEXT 115

krsnatattva-bhaktitattva-rasatattva-pranta
saba sikhaila prabhu bhagavata-siddhanta

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught Srila Rupa Gosvami the ultimate limit of the truth about Lord Krsna, the truth about devotional service, and the truth about transcendental mellows, culminating in conjugal love between Radha and Krsna. Finally He told Rupa Gosvami about the ultimate conclusions of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

COMMENT

In His talks with Rupa Gosvami, Lord Chaitanya began with the most basic knowledge and proceeded gradually to the highest. Rupa Gosvami begins Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu a little after where Lord Chaitanya began, with pure devotional service, and he ends with the highest perfection of pure devotional service, madhurya-rasa. Although in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu he mentions madhurya-rasa as one of the five principal mellows, he describes it elaborately in another book, Ujjvala-nilamani.

TEXT 116

ramananda-pase yata siddhanta sunila
rupe krpa kari’ taha saba sancarila

 TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught Rupa Gosvami all the conclusions He had heard from Ramananda Raya and duly empowered him so that he could understand them.

TEXT 117

sri-rupa-hrdaye prabhu sakti sancarila
sarva-tattva-nirupane ‘pravina’ karila

TRANSLATION

By entering the heart of Rupa Gosvami, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu empowered him to ascertain properly the conclusions of all truths. He made him an experienced devotee whose decisions correctly agreed with the verdicts of the disciplic succession. Thus Sri Rupa Gosvami was personally empowered by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

PURPORT

The principles of devotional service are only apparently under the jurisdiction of material activity. To be rightly guided, one must be personally guided by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This was the case with Srila Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami and other acaryas.

COMMENT

At the beginning of the chapter, Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami compares Lord Chaitanya’s empowering Rupa Gosvami to Lord Krishna’s empowering Lord Brahma with the Vedic knowledge. Because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He could start the disciplic succession, and He chose Lord Brahma, the first living entity in the universe, to be His first disciple. Similarly, Lord Chaitanya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, with the authority to begin a disciplic succession, and He chose various disciples, such as Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami, to receive knowledge directly from Him. He entered their hearts and empowered them to understand His words and thoughts and to communicate them to others. Even Lord Krishna, to establish the principle of disciplic succession, accepted a spiritual master, Sandipani Muni, and Lord Chaitanya also accepted a spiritual master in the Madhva-sampradaya—Isvara Puri. But Lord Chaitanya’s teaching—acintya-bheda-abheda tattva, “inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference”—is unique. His philosophy goes beyond the other disciplic successions and, as our acharyas explain, includes significant elements from all four.

TEXT 118

sivananda-senera putra ‘kavi-karnapura’
‘rupera milana’ sva-granthe likhiyachena pracura

TRANSLATION

In his book Caitanya-candrodaya, Kavi-karnapura, the son of Sivananda Sena, has elaborately described the meeting between Sri Rupa Gosvami and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

TEXT 119

kalena vrndavana-keli-varta
  lupteti tam khyapayitum visisya
krpamrtenabhisiseca devas
  tatraiva rupam ca sanatanam ca

TRANSLATION

“In the course of time, the transcendental news of Krsna’s pastimes in Vrndavana was almost lost. To enunciate explicitly those transcendental pastimes, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu empowered Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami with the nectar of His mercy to carry out this work in Vrndavana.”

PURPORT

This verse and the following two verses are from Act Nine (38, 29, 30) of the Caitanya-candrodaya, by Sri Kavi-karnapura.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada says that the transcendental “news” of Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan was almost lost. When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura decided to publish a daily newspaper in Bengal and the printer questioned whether he had enough news to publish every day, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta replied that he had enough news from the spiritual world to publish a newspaper every second but that unfortunately there were no customers.

TEXT 120

 yah prag eva priya-guna-ganair gadha-baddho ’pi mukto
  gehadhyasad rasa iva paro murta evapy amurtah
premalapair drdhatara-parisvanga-rangaih prayage
  tam sri-rupam samam anupamenanujagraha devah

 TRANSLATION

“From the very beginning, Srila Rupa Gosvami was deeply attracted by the transcendental qualities of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Thus he was permanently relieved from family life. Srila Rupa Gosvami and his younger brother, Vallabha, were blessed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Although the Lord was transcendentally situated in His transcendental eternal form, at Prayaga He told Rupa Gosvami about transcendental ecstatic love of Krsna. The Lord then embraced him very fondly and bestowed all His mercy upon him.”

TEXT 121

priya-svarupe dayita-svarupe
  prema-svarupe sahajabhirupe
nijanurupe prabhur eka-rupe
  tatana rupe sva-vilasa-rupe

 TRANSLATION

“Indeed, Srila Rupa Gosvami, whose dear friend was Svarupa Damodara, was the exact replica of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and he was very, very dear to the Lord. Being the embodiment of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s ecstatic love, Rupa Gosvami was naturally very beautiful. He very carefully followed the principles enunciated by the Lord, and he was a competent person to explain properly the pastimes of Lord Krsna. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu expanded His mercy to Srila Rupa Gosvami just so he could render service by writing transcendental literatures.”

TEXT 122–131

The characteristics of Srila Rupa Gosvami have thus been described in various places by the poet Kavi-karnapura. An account has also been given of how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu bestowed His causeless mercy upon Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami.

Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami were the objects of love and honor for all the great stalwart devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

If someone returned to his country after seeing Vrndavana, the associates of the Lord would ask him questions.

They would ask those returning from Vrndavana, “How are Rupa and Sanatana doing in Vrndavana? What are their activities in the renounced order? How do they manage to eat?” These were the questions asked.

The Lord’s associates would also ask, “How is it that Rupa and Sanatana are engaging in devotional service twenty-four hours daily?” At that time the person who had returned from Vrndavana would praise Srila Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis.

“The brothers actually have no fixed residence. They reside beneath trees—one night under one tree and the next night under another.

“Srila Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami beg a little food from the houses of brahmanas. Giving up all kinds of material enjoyment, they take only some dry bread and fried chickpeas.

“They carry only waterpots, and they wear torn quilts. They always chant the holy names of Krsna and discuss His pastimes. In great jubilation, they also dance.

“They engage almost twenty-four hours daily in rendering service to the Lord. They usually sleep only an hour and a half, and some days, when they continuously chant the Lord’s holy name, they do not sleep at all.

“Sometimes they write transcendental literatures about devotional service, and sometimes they hear about Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and spend their time thinking about the Lord.”

TEXT 132

ei-katha suni’ mahantera maha-sukha haya
caitanyera krpa yanhe, tanhe ki vismaya?

TRANSLATION

When the personal associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would hear of the activities of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis, they would say, “What is wonderful for a person who has been granted the Lord’s mercy?”

PURPORT

Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami had no fixed residence. They stayed beneath a tree for one day only and wrote huge volumes of transcendental literature. They not only wrote books but chanted, danced, discussed Krsna, and remembered Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes. Thus they executed devotional service.

In Vrndavana there are prakrta-sahajiyas who say that writing books or even touching books is taboo. For them, devotional service means being relieved from these activities. Whenever they are asked to hear a recitation of Vedic literature, they refuse, saying, “What business do we have reading or hearing transcendental literatures? They are meant for neophytes.”

COMMENT

When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura went to Radha-kunda, the babajis were expecting that he would speak on rasa-tattva. Instead, he spoke on the Upanishads, because he knew that so many were imitating advanced devotees or pretending to be advanced devotees. And Srila Prabhupada said that in order of advancement, Sri Isopanisad comes first, then Bhagavad-gita, then The Nectar of Devotion, then Srimad-Bhagavatam, and then Sri Caitanya-caritamrta.

PURPORT (concluded)

They pose themselves as too elevated to exert energy for reading, writing, and hearing. However, pure devotees under the guidance of Srila Rupa Gosvami reject this sahajiya philosophy. It is certainly not good to write literature for money or reputation, but to write books and publish them for the enlightenment of the general populace is real service to the Lord. That was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s opinion, and he specifically told his disciples to write books. He actually preferred to publish books rather than establish temples. Temple construction is meant for the general populace and neophyte devotees, but the business of advanced and empowered devotees is to write books, publish them, and distribute them widely. According to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, distributing literature is like playing on a great mrdanga. Consequently we always request members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to publish as many books as possible and distribute them widely throughout the world. By thus following in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami, one can become a rupanuga devotee.

COMMENT

It is the goal of devotees in the line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa Gosvami to be rupanuga devotees, followers of Rupa Gosvami. In his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Rupa Gosvami describes the categories of devotional service: sadhana-bhakti, bhava-bhakti, and prema-bhakti. And within each category, there are two divisions: vaidhi and raganuga. Srila Rupa Gosvami composed three very important verses about the practice of raganuga-bhakti, which are also quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. One reads,

seva sadhaka-rupena
  siddha-rupena catra hi
tad-bhava-lipsuna karya
  vraja-lokanusaratah

“The advanced devotee who is inclined to spontaneous loving service should follow the activities of a particular associate of Krsna’s in Vrndavana. He should execute service externally as a regulative devotee as well as internally from his self-realized position. Thus he should perform devotional service both externally and internally.” (Brs 1.2.295, quoted as Cc Madhya 22.158)

Externally, one engages in devotional service as a sadhaka, a practicing devotee, and internally, one engages in service in his perfected spiritual body. Followers of Rupa Gosvami, such as Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, have explained that externally we follow Rupa Gosvami and our spiritual master as they were and that internally we follow Sri Rupa in his eternal spiritual form as Rupa-manjari.

But it is easy to misunderstand and misrepresent the instructions of Srila Rupa Gosvami, and in Vrindavan there are many sahajiyas who do that, though they claim to be Sri Rupa’s followers. They try to follow Rupa-manjari and other associates of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna with their physical bodies. They do not follow the behavior of Rupa Gosvami and the Gaudiya Vaishnava acharyas, but they imitate Rupa-manjari and other internal associates of Radha and Krishna. For example, in krsna-lila the residents of Vrindavan do not observe Ekadasi. But Rupa Gosvami, with reference to authoritative scriptures, has instructed in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu that we must observe Ekadasi, and Lord Chaitanya Himself personally observed Ekadasi. But sahajiyas consider themselves to be Vraja-vasis like Krishna’s associates in krsna-lila—or they want to imitate the Vraja-vasi associates of Krishna—so they do not observe Ekadasi. But, following the verses of Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Prabhupada explains in The Nectar of Devotion that one should continue to follow the regulative principles—just like a neophyte devotee, or any devotee who adheres to the standard Srila Prabhupada gave for ISKCON.

When we were in Allahabad for the Kumbha-mela in 1977, His Holiness Lokanath Swami came to meet Srila Prabhupada. Like all of us, Prabhupada lived in a tent, and though his tent was a little bigger and had a heater, it was cold and austere, and he became sick. Sometimes in the afternoon there was sun, and he used to come outside into a courtyard, and I would often sit there with him.

Prabhupada had been encouraging Lokanath Swami to travel by bullock cart throughout India and preach. But Gopal Krishna Maharaja had instructed Lokanath Swami to stay in Bombay to take care of new bhaktas. Lokanath Swami repeated Gopal Krishna’s arguments to Prabhupada, including Gopal Krishna’s description of Lokanath Swami as a “key devotee.” “What is this ‘key devotee’?” Lokanath wondered. Prabhupada replied, “No, you should travel with bullock cart and preach.” Then Lokanath Swami asked, “What about the program for new devotees?” Prabhupada answered, “Our regular program is for new devotees. Our program is the same for all devotees; we don’t have any different program for new devotees.” Then Lokanath Swami explained that some of the devotees had joined because he had preached to them and that they were attached to him personally and might not be able to continue without him. “Those who are very much attached to you personally may accompany you in the bullock cart,” Prabhupada replied, “and you can have the same program in the bullock cart as you travel.”

So, when we quote Srila Prabhupada’s Nectar of Devotion that externally one continues to act as a neophyte, we mean that one continues to follow the regular program Prabhupada gave for all devotees, beginning with the new ones. And as one adheres to the morning program and other principles, one can feel the results—favorable results. But if a devotee is fortunate enough to have some specific taste for some specific service, he is also encouraged to serve according to his taste, while continuing to observe the regulative principles.

Srila Prabhupada concludes the purport by saying that if a devotee writes and publishes and distributes books, he is actually following Rupa Gosvami, and thus one can become a rupanuga devotee. So, Srila Prabhupada’s blessing is upon us if we write, publish, and distribute transcendental literature.

TEXT 133

caitanyera krpa rupa likhiyachena apane
rasamrta-sindhu-granthera mangalacarane

TRANSLATION

Srila Rupa Gosvami has personally spoken about the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in his auspicious introduction to his book Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu [1.1.2].

TEXT 134

hrdi yasya preranaya
  pravartito ’ham varaka-rupo ’pi
tasya hareh pada-kamalam
  vande caitanya-devasya

 TRANSLATION

“Although I am the lowest of men and have no knowledge, the inspiration to write transcendental literatures about devotional service has been mercifully bestowed upon me. Therefore I am offering my obeisances at the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has given me the chance to write these books.”

Srila Rupa Gosvami Prabhu ki jaya!
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Rupa Gosvami’s disappearance day, August 23, 1999, Carpinteria, California]

Today we are celebrating the beginning of Jhulana-yatra, which is steeped in the moods of Vrindavan. When I first began reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, I was struck by the following description in the introduction to Teachings of Lord Chaitanya: “Actually, Vrindaban is as good as the Spiritual Vrindaban, and therefore Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says that underneath one of the desire trees of Vrindaban there is a nice throne decorated with valuable jewels on which Radharani and Krishna are seated. And His dear friends and the gopis are all serving Them: somebody is singing, somebody is dancing, somebody is offering betel nuts and refreshment, somebody is decorating with flowers.

“In India it is still a fashion of recreation to sit on a swinging throne, and, if it is moving, it is very refreshing. In each and every home they have a hanging throne, and when a man comes home from the office, if it is practical, it is moved from time to time and he becomes refreshed. So, similarly, the same system prevails, especially in the month of Sravana, July, when there is the function called Jhulana. During Jhulana, in all the houses—not only of Vrindaban but all over India—the people hang thrones. In every house and village they place Radha and Krishna and decorate Them with flowers and move the throne and offer dancing and kirtan. . . . The temples are decorated, and thousands of people come as spectators. Generally, people go to Vrindaban at that time. Krishna and Radha are seated on the throne, surrounded by His friends.”

Leading into these two paragraphs, Srila Prabhupada wrote, “There is an acharya who describes Vrindaban: When my mind becomes cleansed of all dirty hankering for material enjoyment, then I shall be able to see Vrindaban! So Vrindaban is actually experienced by persons who have finished with material enjoyment. Everything is spiritual. This becomes revealed. . . . As you become more Krishna conscious, as you become more advanced, everything is revealed to you.”

Although I am still waiting for that qualification and that revelation, even in my present state I can by divine mercy relish some of the flavors of Vrindavan during Jhulan-yatra.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 22, No. 33

By Krishna Kripa Das

(Week 33: August 13–19, 2026)

Trutnov, Prague, Paris
(Sent from Sarcelles, France, on August 22, 2026)

Where I Went and What I Did

During the beginning of the thirty-third week of 2026, I flew to Prague, Czech Republic, to participate with the Czech devotees in their four days of sharing kirtan and prasadam at a rock concert called the Trutnoff Open Air Festival. There was so much kirtan that it was like a kirtan mela for me, and I got to see some of my old friends from Poland and Czech Republic. I took many, many video clips of all the ecstatic kirtans there. Monday I chanted at arrivals at the Prague airport for an hour before my flight back to Paris, and the last two days of the week, I lived at ISKCON Paris in Sarcelles and chanted with Paris devotees at Stalingrad and Hotel de Ville.

I share quotes from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam by Srila Prabhupada. I share quotes from Writing Sessions in Cozzile by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami and notes on classes by Niranjana Swami, Bhakti Carudesna Swami, and Vraja Krishna Prabhu.

Thanks to Vidyavacaspati Prabhu for his rides to and from the Prague airport. Thanks to Narakriti Prabhu for his ride to Trutnov and to the sound man at the festival for his ride back to Prague. Thanks to Govinda’s in Prague for all the nice prasadam at the festival. Thanks to Radhanandini Dasi for the photo of me holding an umbrella over Radhanath Swami at Berlin Ratha-yatra in 2005. Thanks to Pavani Devi Dasi for the wonderful prasadam for my return journey to Paris. Thanks to Gourakaruna Prabhu for the photos and videos of me chanting and dancing at the Trutnoff festival.

Itinerary

June 16–August 24: Paris harinamas 
August 25–27: Balarama Festival at New Mayapur 
August 28: Fly to India 
August 29–September 21: Mayapur harinamas 
September 22: Paris harinama 
September 23: Return to New York
September 24: NYC Harinam
September 25: harinama to promote Philadelphia Ratha-yatra 
September 26: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra

Chanting Hare Krishna in Czech Republic

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna through vendor area at Trutnoff Open Air Festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/DM38YPlsNpI?feature=share):

Narayani chanted the first Hare Krishna at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival this year (https://youtube.com/shorts/CLdygu1fByw?feature=share):

Punya Palaka Prabhu, the organizer of our Krishna Camp, chants Hare Krishna at that camp at the Trutnoff Open Air Festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/Cl5ooDu3fn0?feature=share):

As during many of the kirtans, I would play the shakers and dance to the side of the stage as you can see here (https://youtube.com/shorts/MquFz_2rzG4?feature=share):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival on Thursday (https://youtube.com/shorts/frUhD0pq9rM?feature=share):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Thursday, and devotees dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/ameA4adjZV0?feature=share):

Varada Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival on Thursday night (https://youtube.com/shorts/AFhyyNbgibw?feature=share):

Here I chant Hare Krishna at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival the last kirtan on Thursday night (https://youtube.com/shorts/FpcqGn7pbUg?feature=share):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on Trutnov harinama, and a passerby chants and dances (https://youtube.com/shorts/a6yALGGJ0ys?feature=share):

I talked to that enthusiastic young man, who fortunately knew English. He accepted the “On Chanting Hare Krishna” and invitations to our temple and restaurant in Prague. He already knew of Govinda’s.

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on Trutnov harinama, and two passersby dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/JaCi9xG6Vus?feature=share):

Later some guys danced with our harinama party (https://youtube.com/shorts/u4lNf773f8k?feature=share):

Varada Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at a tea stall at Trutnoff Open Air Festival, and people dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/m9OpOLIr9HQ):

Pavani Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival on Friday afternoon (https://youtube.com/shorts/yWqFej5fjvU?feature=share):

While she sang, people danced (https://youtube.com/shorts/VO8CzV3BxLM?feature=share):

After Pavani chanted, Jayagurudeva Prabhu, a Srila Prabhupada disciple from Prague, played devotional songs on guitar. I have no video as I chose to play the shakers and sing the response. I enjoyed talking with him as he is a senior devotee with a lot of appreciation for the writing and painting of my guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami.

Viryavan Prabhu of Poland, who came with his wife, Radhanandini Dasi, and with Kavicandra Prabhu, chants “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya” at Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/kLd0yAKi-rM?feature=share):

Viryavan Prabhu chants “Govinda Jaya Jaya” at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/faL3D9t9ytw?feature=share):

Viryavan Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/GNHXwTuRv-Y?feature=share):

Here he chants another Hare Krishna tune there (https://youtube.com/shorts/fQxP7Rin_z8?feature=share):

Here he chants a third Hare Krishna tune there (https://youtube.com/shorts/ouBGsVG_2F0?feature=share):

Kavicandra Prabhu engages the Krishna Camp audience in chanting Hare Krishna at Trutnoff Open Air Festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/ie3fyK9fy9g?feature=share):

As Kavicandra Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna there, devotees danced in a circle (https://youtube.com/shorts/tdu0gNAt-CM?feature=share):

Kavicandra Prabhu chants another Hare Krishna tune at Trutnoff, and people sway to the music (https://youtube.com/shorts/kW5ZNzDLXqY):

Kavicandra Prabhu chants his final Hare Krishna tune at Krishna Camp at Trutnoff, and people sway to the music (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Z228xXx7LJ4):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival on Friday (https://youtube.com/shorts/m-q0zeXL7tQ):

Later as Vraja Krishna Prabhu chanted devotees danced (https://youtube.com/shorts/9xqTZq9ED4A?feature=share):

Here is more from Vraja Krishna (https://youtube.com/shorts/2b2XUUTE8rI):

At one point, Vraja Krishna engaged the audience in chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra (https://youtube.com/shorts/qM_s0FcQPe4?feature=share):

On Saturday afternoon a band of Trutnov devotees played a few songs. Here they chant “Govinda Jaya Jaya” (https://youtube.com/shorts/Zk2HgEBZxrc?feature=share):

A band of Trutnov devotees chants Hare Krishna there at the Trutnoff festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/hU2Z93NpMDE?feature=share):

Then the Trutnov devotees chanted another Hare Krishna tune there (https://youtube.com/shorts/5lfLHegr3jY?feature=share):

Viryavan Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Open Air Festival on Saturday (https://youtube.com/shorts/I5o-zZn16UM?feature=share):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Camp at Trutnoff (https://youtube.com/shorts/ZEpMVElcsbY?feature=share):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Camp at Trutnoff Saturday, and devotees dance (https://youtu.be/1Rl79Slbw3E):

As he sang, they danced more and more (https://youtube.com/shorts/aIr5kjVzTXQ?feature=share):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants another Hare Krishna tune at Krishna Camp at Trutnoff on Saturday (https://youtube.com/shorts/54ed33LuSuI?feature=share):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Prabhupada tune of Hare Krishna at the Krishna Camp at Trutnoff on Saturday (https://youtube.com/shorts/9KoAtQQ5bec):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Camp at Trutnoff on Saturday night, and people dance (https://youtu.be/bYOdVxpGDPE):

While Vraja Krishna Prabhu chanted, more and more people danced (https://youtube.com/shorts/VJ5b-AMkIDg):

Gourakaruna Prabhu took a video of that kirtan when I was among the dancers (https://youtube.com/shorts/0y03d3FtBGE):

Viryavan Prabhu chants “Govinda Jaya Jaya” on the main stage at Trutnoff Open Air Festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/P_v3iSyzMto?feature=share):

Viryavan Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the main stage at Trutnoff Open Air Festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/NFGdBrvLXBI?feature=share):

Vraja Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on main stage at Trutnoff Open Air Festival (https://youtube.com/shorts/y9H6TeN3K20?feature=share):

Gourakaruna Prabhu shared this video with me of Vraja Krishna Prabhu chanting Hare Krishna from the viewpoint of the stage (https://youtu.be/pdRjq2Ktjns):

After our Hare Krishna bands finished on the main stage, I passed out mantra cards with the Prague restaurant and temple information and “On Chanting Hare Krishna” to the most enthusiastic people in the crowd.