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7 July 2020
The flawless teachings of Srila Prabhupada
Chanting is taking place from 700 locations. More than 1000 devotees are chanting within the zoom conference. Welcome to you all. I had asked you to comment or to ask questions. You keep on doing it. Your comments are posted on the Facebook page entitled "Chant with Lokanath Swami" as well as on Loksanga every day. We also read and you should also read. You will receive inspiration and you will get complete benefit by reading the comments. Daily you can visit Loksanga and the Facebook page.
Question 1: Can you explain vishrambha in one word?
Gurudev uvaca: Vishrambha means intimacy or trust. Trust in the Lord.
ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ pratikūlyasya varjanam rakṣhiṣhyatīti viśhvāso goptṛitve varaṇaṁ tathā ātmanikṣhepa kārpaṇye ṣhaḍvidhā śharaṇāgatiḥ
Translation: The above verse explains the six aspects of surrender to God: 1) To desire only in accordance with the desire of God. 2) Reject what is not in favor of devotion. 3) The faith that God will surely protect me. 4) To maintain an attitude of gratitude toward God. 5) To see everything we possess as belonging to God. 6) To give up the pride of having surrendered. [Sanatan Goswami, Hari Bhakti Vilas 11.676]
Feelings of surrender manifest in this vishrambha. Our confidence in the Lord and the Lord's confidence in us is manifested in this. As well as the absence from restraint. Restraint means we remain away from the Lord and follow all the formalities. We give more attention to the opulence of the Lord. That the Lord is great...
aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva sannam iti bhagam itīṅganāḥ
Translation: The Supreme Personality who possesses all aiswarya or riches, all virya or strength, all yasa or fame, all Sri or beauty, all jnana or knowledge and all vairagya or renunciation is called Bhagavan.” (Visnu Purana 6.5.47)
...From far we greet and praise the Lord. This is called restraint. In visrambha there is no restraint. We think the Lord is mine. This type of connection with the Lord makes Visrambha sakhya, visrambha vatsalya, visrambha madhurya.
Question 2: Please explain how is Santa rasa, one of the primary rasas when it does not have any seva bhava. How to understand?
Gurudev uvaca: There are 5 primary rasas and 7 secondary rasas. In 5 rasas, there is Santa rasa. In santa rasa there is Bhakti bhava or seva bhava, but it is not displayed. When such a devotee gets the association of devotees who are dedicated and surrendered, then his bhava will evolve and will accept full fledged dasya rasa. We explained the characteristics of a Santa rasa devotee. They are "nishthavan and anasakta" They are more elevated than devotees with secondary rasas. In reality, the Lord is a treasure mine of all mellows. He is complete of all rasas. One of them is Santa rasa. One time when 4 kumaras went to Vaikuntha then they didn't remain silent. They became active and started to preach.They started doing "yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna'-upadesa". They preached gyana and vairagya. These Santa rasa devotees become elevated devotees.
Question 3:How Ajmila went to the Namabhasa stage? As it takes anartha nivritti to go on that stage.
Gurudev uvaccha: First, there is nama-aparadh. The person keeps on chanting. Ajamila was also chanting Narayana! Narayana which was mixed with offenses. He had not said Narayana for the first time when the Yamadutas came. Every day he called his sons many times by his name, Narayana. He chanted more than 108 times. He called them to have lunch and other activities by calling their names. In this way, he chanted Narayan. By continuously taking the name of Narayana, anartha nivritti happened and he became free from offenses.
But when Yamadutas came he called Narayan in helplessness. The Lord assumed that He is being called and then immediately he sent the Visnu Duttas and hence He was liberated from death. There are 3 stages - nama aparadh, namabhasa and suddha nama. Then for suddha nama he went to Haridwar to chant the holy names. Then he realized Abhinatva naam namino (Krsna is non different from His name). Then the same Visnu Duttas came and he proceeded to Vaikuntha.
Question 4: We are so fallen then how we can reach Vishrambha Stage?
Gurudev uvacha: nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
Translation: Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.[ CC Madhya 22.107]
This is a principle. So right now however fallen we are. ....
patita-pāvana-hetu tava avatāra mo sama patita prabhu nā pāibe āra
Translation: Your incarnation is just to reclaim the conditioned, fallen souls, but I assure You that You will not find a greater fallen soul than me. Therefore, my claim is first.[ Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu Doya Koro More by Narottama Dasa Thakura]
...Devotees say,” Oh Lord, you won't find anyone more fallen than me.” Right now whatever we are is as per our svarupa. We have the right to become that. No one can change that. We have an eternal relationship with the Lord and we have the right to perform His eternal service. We can reach the visrambha stage.
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya.
So keep on hearing and kirtana.
dīna-hīna jata chilo, hari-nāme uddhārilo, tāra śākṣī jagāi mādhāi
Translation: The holy name delivered all those souls who were lowly and wretched. The two sinners Jagai and Madhai are evidence of this. [Hari Hari Biphale Janama song verse 3 by Narottama Dasa Thakura] Who were as fallen as Jagai Madhai who were uplifted by Harinama? Ajamila got uplifted. You cannot compete with Ajamila in terms of sins. If they are uplifted, then why won't we get uplifted? If we have faith in the Lord and we are surrendered then we can be uplifted. Harinama is not an imagination. Faith should be there. Then any fallen soul of this world can progress and be delivered. It is our right to achieve this. Lokamanya Tilak from Pune has said that freedom is our birthright and we will get it. He wanted national freedom. For that, he was so enthusiastic and determined.....
utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt saṅga-tyāgāt sato vṛtteḥ ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati
Translation: There are six principles favorable to the execution of pure devotional service: (1) being enthusiastic, (2) endeavoring with confidence, (3) being patient, (4) acting according to regulative principles [such as śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam – hearing, chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa], (5) abandoning the association of non-devotees, and (6) following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These six principles undoubtedly assure the complete success of pure devotional service.[ Nectar of instructions verse 3]
......So perfection is possible. Then why won't you, Vidvan Gauranga, and why are you fearing?
Question 5 :We understand or say both Lord Rama and Krsna are the same, but their Dhama are different. Why so?
Well, they are one and different also. Acintya Bheda bhed.
advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam ādyaṁ purāṇa-puruṣaṁ nava-yauvanaṁ ca vedeṣu durlabham adurlabham ātma-bhaktau govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
Translation: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.[ Sri Brahma Samhita 5.33]
Krsna and all His incarnations are one. Well, they are one and different also. ekoham bahuśyāma [One Lord manifests Himself into many]. Every incarnation has His abode. Vaikuntha is not just a single planet. It’s been written in Gopal Campu that when is Krsna preparing Himself to advent then all the incarnations were proceeding to Goloka to merge within Him. When Krsna appeared then He was not alone. All the incarnations were there merged in Him. All the incarnations have their abodes and devotees. They are Their devotees eternally. There is no need of wondering why they have different dhamas if they are the same. We are saying that Krsna, Rama, Narasimha are one, but they have different abodes.
Question 6:Do we have any family relationships in Goloka with other devotees or we just love Krsna?
Gurudev uvaca: The question can also be asked, “Do devotees over there just love Krsna and not His devotees? Lord said that before loving Me, love the devotees. If you love Me, then love my dog. Srila Prabhupada also used to say this. Lord says" One who says one is My devotee is not My devotee". But one who claims to be a devotee of My devotee is indeed My devotee. Here also there are so many inter-relationship. Relationships over here are not eternal. If relationships are existing over here then we should understand that relationships will be existing in Goloka too.
ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam chandāṁsi yasya parṇāni yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit
Translation: The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is said that there is an imperishable banyan tree that has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.[ BG 15.1]
We are seeing the reflections here. The relationship exists in Goloka that's why it also exists here. As we are taking the name Rasa also means relationship. Sakha's are not just Krsna's friends. They are sakha's of other friends also. Gopis have their sons too. But they keep on thinking if they can have a son like Krsna. Of course, there is love for their son. When they think in such a way then Krsna performs Brahma Vimohan Lila. Krsna went to everyone's house as a cowherd boy and in this way, He became Their son. In this way, there is a variety in Godhead. So mayavada destroys all relationships. They say there is a "Jyoti" and there is no form and if there is no form there are no relationships.
cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa- lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
Translation: [I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs.][ BS 5.29]
Lord Brahma said that there are desire trees, Surabhi cows which are maintained by Krsna. There are different forms, and there are different residences and relationships with love is there. There are relationships not only with Krsna, but with others too.
Question 7:What are the qualities in Radharani which are not in Krsna?
Gurudev uvaca: This was one of the internal reasons for the appearance of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There are 3 reasons mentioned in Caitanya-caritamrita. Rukmini also has said this to Lord Dvarakadhish that there are somethings which I know little, but Radharani knows. Then the Lord said,”Haven't you read Bhagavatam which mentions Me as abhigya svarat.” When Rukmini said, “You don't know" then the Lord decided to appear as Radharani. Then He said that He will have a Radha realization. He will know what's there extra in Radharani or bliss which She relishes because of Krsna.
Question 8: What is the relationship of Madhavacarya with Gaudiya sampradaya?
Gurudev uvaca: We are not just the Gaudiya Sampradaya, but we are Brahma Madhava Gaudiya Sampradaya. There is acintya bheda bheda. There are many branches which are developed of this Madhava sampradaya. They are different, but one too. Vaishnava sampradaya means worship of Visnu.
bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ
Translation: After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.[ BG 7.19]
They all believe in Vasudeva as the supreme. In this, we are the same. But some differences also there. There is a difference in Bhava. They have Aiswarya sakhya, Aiswarya Madhurya. Gaudiya Vaisnavas have Vishrambha vatsalya, sakhya, Madhurya. This is the difference. Caitanya Mahaprabhu added all specialties from various sampradayas. He added mayavada khandan and vigraha aradhana from Madhavacarya sampradaya. We should think from the point of view of acintya-bheda-bheda.
Hari Haribol
