English
26th March 2020
Think globally, Act locally!
Gaura premanande Hari Haribol!
Yesterday there were more than 700 participants. Old and new participants both are welcome! New participants who are joining on YouTube, we start chanting at around 6 am and have a japa talk at 6:40 am. The japa talk is being telecasted on YouTube.
Many devotees sent me greetings for the new year. Yesterday, one of the new years began. This is Shakabdha. Like that there is Gaurabdha, Christabdha. January, February are the months of Christabdha. Months named with Narayana, Madhava, Govinda are Gaurabhdha. The Monsoon month is Shakabhdha. Happy New Year for this one also. One month ago, Gaurabhdha began for all of us which is important for Gaudiya Vaisnavas.
With the beginning of Chaitra month, the spring season started. In this month, Lord Balarama performs His rasa dance. We also celebrate the anniversary of that in this season. Madhu and Madhava are the names of March and April. In this month, Lord Balarama reached Vrndavana from Dvaraka and performed rasa dance at Rama-ghata. Only Krsna and Balarama have the right to play rasa dance. No one else has this right. Lord Rama, Narasimha or Parasurama have their single consort or Laksmi who pleases Them.
chintamani prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vriksha-
laksavriteshu surabhir abhipalayantam
lakshmi-sahasra-shata- sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
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 lakshmis or gopis. ( Brahmasamhita chapter 5)
But Krsna and Balarama have thousands of Laksmis or Gopis to please Them. Krsna is God and Balarama is light. Their opulences are absolute.
aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasah śriyah |
jñāna-vairāgyayoścaiva sannām bhaga itīranā ||
Translation:
Full opulent: complete wealth, complete strength, complete beauty, complete knowledge, complete renunciation. One who possesses all these six things completely, he is Bhagavān. (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47)
One is called Svayam and the other is Vaibhav. Bhagavan is applicable to Krsna and Balarama. No one else has this absoluteness of opulences.
500 years ago Balarama hoile nitai - Balarama became Nityananda Prabhu and Nandanandan became Sacinandana or Gauranga. Krsna and Balarama who were dancing in Vrndavana started to perform kirtana in Navadvipa, Mayapur.
udilo aruna pūraba-bhāge,
dwija-mani gorā amani jāge,
bhakata-samūha loiyā sāthe,
gelā nagara-brāje
Translation:
When the rising sun appeared in the East, the jewel of the twice-born, Lord Gaurasundara, awakened, and, taking His devotees with Him, He went all over the countryside towns and villages. (Udilo Aruna, Gitavali song by Bhaktivinod Thakur)
During the early morning hours, Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu started sankirtana and Nityananda Prabhu also joined. Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Gaya where He got Harinama and was initiated. As soon as Gauranga Mahaprabhu returned to Navadvipa from Gaya, He met Nityananda Prabhu and They started the Sankirtana Movement.
Sankirtanayke pitro kamalay taksho vishvambharo ….
They both are merciful (karuna) manifestations. Corona has also come. They are bestowing Karuna on the Corona afflicted world. They performed and showed ways to perform kirtana and dance to the whole world.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
Devotees are writing in the chat sessions that they are singing and explaining the meaning of the songs of Srila Narottam Das Thakur in a zoom conference.
24 hour kirtana is going on in Bhiwandi by different parties. This time, due to Corona 24 hour kirtana couldn’t take place in Noida on Ekadasi, but they did kirtana at 108 homes.
Today we received news from Mayapur. HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja requested all devotees to come out at 5 pm in their balconies everyday and perform kirtana and dance for 15 minutes. When I read this news, I was very happy. A thought came into my mind and I am inspired to say this: Why only Mayapur? Srila Prabhupada said, “Floods from Mayapur should reach the whole world.”
ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha--davagni-nirvapanam
shreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamritaswadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam
Translation:
Glory to the Sri-Krsna-Sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious ( Verse 1 Siksastakam)
The flood from Mayapur is the ocean of transcendental kirtana and this ocean has no boundaries. It goes on spreading everywhere. Can you also perform kirtana between 5 and 5:15 pm in your balcony, courtyard or terrace with your family? Can you do it? As all workplaces are shut, why don’t we start our work as Gaudiya Vaisnavas? This is congregational chanting which means the gathering of devotees and performing kirtana. We can be physically distanced, but we can think globally and act locally. This home based, local act will reach the whole world. This will be our collective prayer as this Hare Krishna chanting is a prayer. The world needs prayers. Hare Krishna devotees will pray and prayers are powerful. These prayers have bhakti and yukti also. These prayers will spread in the sky, in the ether. Words and sound stay in ether. This is their characteristic. Words, taste, form, touch and smell are the five sense objects. Sound is the object of the ears. Hare Krishna sound will be there in ether and these sounds will purify the ether. And because of that, the consciousness of people will improve. This is the strength in sound and especially in the names of the Lord.
namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-shaktis
tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrishi tava kripa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrisham ihajani nanuragaha
Translation:
O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You, by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them. (Verse 2 Siksastakam)
These sounds will purify the whole world. As per Ayurveda, the mind becomes diseased first. Later, it makes the body diseased. Disease grows from subtle to gross. Mind is thinking, feeling and willing. As we get influenced by words, we get healthy or diseased. We will go for pravritti or nivritti.
In Vedanta Sutra, it is said, anavritti sabdat. Taking birth in various forms of life is called avritti, just like editions.
punarapi jananam punarapi maranam,
punarapi janani jatare sayanam
iha samsaare khalu dusthare,
krupayaa pare pahi murare (Bhaja Govindam, Adi Shankaracharya verse 21)
Translation:
Again and again one is born, And again and again one dies, And again and again one sleeps in the mother’s womb, Help me to cross this limitless sea of life, which is uncrossable, my Lord. (Bhaja Govindam, Adi Shankaracharya verse 21)
This cycle of our birth and death can end. That is anavritti. It is possible through sound. Those sounds are from the Bhagavad-Gita, Bhagavatam. The essence of all sounds is the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
iti sodasakam namnam kali kalmasa nasanam
natah parataropayah sarva vedesu drusyate
Translation:
In this way, the collection of sixteen names is the only destroyer of sins in Kali-yuga. No other remedy can be found in any part of the Vedic literature. (Kalisantarana Upanishad, text 6)
Lord Brahma said, “I have studied all the Scriptures from beginning to end and the essence of that is the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.” By mercy of the Lord, these words have reached us and we are chanting them. Those who haven’t received these words can be given it through kirtana. The whole world will benefit along with us. We are Vaisnavas and the whole world is in distress. We can pray for them.
Are you ready to do kirtana at 5pm? This is a request to all of you from Gaura and Nityananda Prabhu who established this movement. This is yet to reach all towns and villages.
yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘krsna’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa
Translation:
Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Krsna as they are given in Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land. (Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 7.128)
suno suno nityananda, suno haridas
sarvatra amar ajna koroho prakas prati ghare ghare giya koro ei bhiksa
bolo ‘krsna’, bhajo krsna, koro krsna-siksa iha bai arna boliba,
bolaiba dina-avasane asi’ amare kohiba
Translation:
Listen, listen, Nityananda! Listen Haridasa! Make My command known everywhere! Go from house to house and beg from all the residents,’please chant Krsna’s name, worship Krsna, and teach others to follow Krsna’s instructions. ‘Do not speak, or cause anyone to speak, anything other than this. (Sri Caitanya-Bhagavata, Madhya-Khanda 13.8)
The Lord instructed Nityananda Prabhu and Haridas Thakur to go to every home and spread the holy names. This instruction is for all Rupanugas or Gaur Nityanandanugas. Please follow this instruction.
Hari Haribol!
