3 June 2020
Super Excellence Of Gaudiya Vaishnavism Day 4
Hare Krishna!
Today I welcome you all to the Japa talk. Devotees from 857 locations are chanting. Nirjala Ekadasi Mahotsava ki jai! Glories to those who observed Nirjala Ekadasi! It’s a matter of pride. You survived and you are ready to take chanting ahead. You would have chanted 64 rounds or more. Jaya Pancali Mataji is saying yes. Yesterday you all had taken the pledge. I hope you have fulfilled it. You had stopped eating and drinking and spent your whole day listening to Hari katha and doing Sankirtana. I hope you all have done 64 rounds of chanting.
langhnam param aushadham
Langhnam is also a medicine and it is very helpful while fasting. You may feel discomfort while observing fasting, but it is very beneficial and helpful for the body. This has many benefits from the mental and spiritual point of view. Yesterday you observed a fast for Nirjala Ekadasi. You left water and food, but you drank the holy name of God. ( Ram nama or Krsna nama) Glories to you.
We will continue with the super excellence of Gaudiya Vaisnavism. This picture is of Mayapur. Here Nityananda Prabhu is in blue garments and is taking Jiva Goswami on Parikrama of Navadvipa Mandala.
There is a prediction of the appearance of the 4 acaryas in scriptures. You can read it in Bhavisya Purana. I read it yesterday. Whenever they visited Navadvipa Dhama then at that time Caitanya Mahaprabhu would give them His darsana. This happened 500 years ago, way before the Praktya-lila of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
In Navadvipa Mahatmya it is mentioned by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur that Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the 2 best beliefs and practices from every 4 sampradaya and implemented them into the Gaudiya Sampradaya. Caitanya Mahaprabhu even used these practices for preaching purposes. So what are those 2 practices?
1) From Brahma Sampradāya (Madhva):
Madhva haite sāra-dvaya kariba grahaṇa/ eka haya kevala-advaita-nirasana
Kṛṣṇa-mūrti nitya jāni’ tāṅhāra sevana/ sai ta’ dvitīya sāra jāna mahājana
Translation: From Madhva I will receive two essential items: his complete defeat of the Māyāvāda philosophy, and his service to the Deity of Krsna, accepting the Deity as an eternal spiritual being.
1) Kevala-advaita-nirasana = his complete defeat of the Māyāvāda philosophy
2) Kṛṣṇa-mūrti-sevana = service to the Deity of Krsna
2) From Śrī Sampradāya (Rāmānuja):
Rāmānuja haite āmi lai dui sāra/ ananya bhakti bhaktajana-sevā āra
Translation: From Rāmānuja I will accept two great teachings: the concept of bhakti unpolluted by karma and jñāna, and service to the devotees.
1) Ananya bhakti = the concept of bhakti unpolluted by karma and jñāna
2) Bhakta-jana-sevā = service to the devotees
3) From Rudra Sampradāya (Viṣṇu Svāmī):
Viṣṇu haite dui sāra Kariba svīkāra/ tvadīya sarvasva bhava rāgamārga āra
Translation: From Visnusvāmī’s teachings I will accept two main elements: the sentiment of exclusive dependence on Krsna, and the path of rāgabhakti.
1) Tvadīya sarvasva bhava = the sentiment of exclusive dependence on Krsna
2) Rāga-mārga = the path of rāgabhakti
4) From Kumāra Sampradāya (Nimbārka):
Tomā haite laba āmi dui mahāsāra/ ekānta rādhikāśraya gopībhāva āra
Translation: And from you I will receive two excellent principles: the necessity of taking shelter of Rādhā, and the high esteem for the gopis’ love of Krsna.
1) Ekānta rādhikāśraya = the necessity of taking shelter of Rādhā
2) Gopī-bhāva = the high esteem for the gopis’ love of Krsna
Whatever two best practices were there in other sampradayas were added by Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Gaudiya Sampradaya. In this way Gaudiya Sampradaya became more complete and super excellent.
There are two types of Sadhana Bhakti-
1. Vaidi Sadhana Bhakti
2. Raganuga Sadhana Bhakti – This Bhakti is based on Rasamrta Sadhna Bhakti.
Other sampradayas are engaged in Vaidi sadhana, but Gaudiya Sampradaya practices Raganuga sadhana.
Sri Krsna in Goloka Dhama is thinking about His appearance on earth. Therefore, Before His appearance on earth the Lord had a few questions in His mind:
prema-rasa-niryāsa karite āsvādana
rāga-mārga bhakti loke karite pracāraṇa
rasika-śekhara kṛṣṇa parama-karuṇa
ei dui hetu haite icchāra udgama
Translation
The Lord’s desire to appear was born from two reasons: He wanted to taste the sweet essence of the mellows of love of God, and He wanted to propagate devotional service in the world on the platform of spontaneous attraction. Thus He is known as supremely jubilant and as the most merciful of all. [CC-Adi-lila 4.15- 4.16]
He made a plan that when He appears then He will taste Prema Rasa and preach raganuga bhakti.
This pastime is part of the discussion between Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sanatana Goswami in Varansi. This discussion was 2 months long. Even Krsna and Arjuna conversed only for 45 minutes, but the same Sri Krsna who came on earth as Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave 2 months long instructions to Sanatana Goswami. These instructions are famous as Santana Siksa.
aiśvarya-jñānete saba jagat miśrita
aiśvarya-śithila-preme nahi mora prīta
Translation[Lord Kṛṣṇa thought:] “All the universe is filled with the conception of My majesty, but love weakened by that sense of majesty does not satisfy Me.[CC Adi lila- 4.17]
mora putra, mora sakhā, mora prāṇa-pati
ei-bhāve yei more kare śuddha-bhakti
āpanāke baḍa māne, āmāre sama-hīna
sei bhāve ha-i āmi tāhāra adhīna
Translation
”If one cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, thinking of Me as his son, his friend or his beloved, regarding himself as great and considering Me his equal or inferior, I become subordinate to him.[CC Adi lila- 4.21-22]
Our knowledge is covered with aisvarya jnana. This covers the jiva’s love for the Lord. The jiva experiences that the Lord is so great and I’m so tiny. He keeps on serving, but he has little love. The Lord likes it when a jiva understands that the Lord is my son, friend, husband then such feelings are complete with loving devotion. This is Prema bhava.
When Srila Prabhupada was residing at Radha Damodara Temple he was preparing himself to spread the holy names. (ISKCON)
pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
Translation
”In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.”[CC Made Lila 25.264 purport]
There he was taking darsana of Srila Rupa Goswami. He could see the samadhi of Srila Rupa Goswami and his bhajan kutir. He could easily see his Samadhi from his room, but right now here he is in the kitchen. Srila Prabhupada was Rupanuga. He wrote many purports in which the people can experience the super excellence of Gaudiya Vaisnavism or Rupanuga and with the help of this holy name could easily be spread.
goloka-namni nija-dhamni tale ca tasya
devi mahesa-hari-dhamasu tesu tesu
te te prabhava-nicaya vihitas ca yena
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
Translation
Lowest of all is located Devi-dhama [mundane world], next above it is Mahesa-dama [abode of Mahesa]; above Mahesa-dhama is placed Hari-dhama [abode of Hari] and above them all is located Krsna’s own realm named Goloka. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted their respective authorities to the rulers of those graded realms. [Sri Brahma Samhita- 5.43]
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. [ Sri Brahma Samhita-5.29]
This is Goloka which is Krsna’s abode. goloka-namni nija-dhamni There are two parts of Goloka – Vrndavana and Mayapur. Mayapur is also called Svetadvipa. There is also Svetadvipa dhama where Sirodakasayi Visnu lives. Krsna and Caitanya Mahaprabhu are Supreme, hence Goloka dhama is also supreme. In the Goloka pastimes Madhurya lila goes on. Other places aisvarya katha goes on. Other are below this. Like Devi Dhama and then Mahesh Dhama of Sada Siv. Half of Mahesh Dhama is there in the spiritual world and the other half is there in the material world. Then below that there is Hari Dhama where other incarnations of the Lord reside. Then Saket Dhama of Ayodhya Dhama is above Vaikuntha Dhama and above all is Goloka Dhama. All this is there. These are not just spiritual beliefs. These places actually exist. In these places only the present exists. There is no past and future.
Usually there are discussions related to rasa. Without rasa we cannot progress on our spiritual path. Mellow or rasa which the Gaudiya Vaisnavas experience is the topmost. There are actually 7 rasas which are known as Guna, but here the 5 topmost are mentioned.
1. Santa Rasa,
2. Dasya Rasa,
3. Sakhya Rasas (friendly mood),
4. Vatsalya Rasa (parental mood), and
5. Madhura Rasa(erotic mood)
This is also from a conversation between Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Rupa Goswami. You should have a complete set of Caitanya-caritamrita in your home. It is available in many languages like English, Hindi and Marathi. If you do not have Caitanya-caritamrita then you can’t call yourself a Gaudiya Vaisnava. This chart is not made from imagination, but it is actually education given by Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Sanatana Goswami.
In Santa rasa there is attraction for Krsna and giving up of worldly hankerings. Generally all Krsna devotees possess Rasa bhava. Santa Bhaktas have feelings for the Lord, but they don’t do anything. Moving forward to Dasya, Dasya means Trishna – feelings of getting something in return.
āśhā-pāśha-śhatair baddhāḥ kāma-krodha-parāyaṇāḥ
īhante kāma-bhogārtham anyāyenārtha-sañchayān
Translation
Held in bondage by hundreds of desires, and driven by lust and anger, they strive to accumulate wealth by unjust means, all for the gratification of their senses. [BG- 16.12]
In Dasya Rasa the feeling of serving also starts to develop which is known as seva bhava. Devotees of Santa Rasa are always calm. They don’t want to do anything for God. They must have feelings to serve, but never takes steps to proceed. They are not Krishna conscious. They don’t even offer anything to God.
patraṁ puṣhpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayachchhati
tadahaṁ bhaktyupahṛitam aśhnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
Translation
If one offers to Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water, I delightfully partake of that article offered with love by My devotee in pure consciousness.*[BG- 9.26]
Therefore the difference between Santa and Dasya rasa is seva.
Next is Sakhya Rasa, they have feelings of devotion, sacrifices and serving Krsna. We call it Vishrambha. Jiva and the Lord have some things in common. Here acintya-bheda-abheda comes which means there is a difference and there are similarities also. Jiva experiences the similarities – abheda. He understands that there is no difference between him and the Lord. He too understands that he belongs to the Lord. You may call it Vishrambha Sakhya.
Let us move ahead towards vatsalya. All the qualities are included into this one, the only addition is palan gyana. Palan gyana can be understood like when we admit students to a school then we ask who is the guardian of this student? Similarly, Jiva thinks that he is the guardian of the Lord. This bhava is gifted by God. He thinks that it’s his duty to improve the Lord. Just like Jagannatha Misra used to think.
Then Madhurya rasa includes all the Rasas with an additional ninanga dana.
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ
Translation
Abandon all varieties of dharmas and simply surrender unto me alone. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions; do not fear. [18.66]
Other rasas have some short falls.These are examples of Santa rasa. The four Kumaras were in Santa rasa. Then one day they went to Vaikuntha and smelt the Tulasi and were promoted.
The Lord’s Svarupa has fragrance. The Lord has said that He is the fragrance of the earth. When these devotees smelt this fragrance they became devotees of dasya rasa.There are many devotees in Vaikuntha and dasya rasa is prominent over there. Worship and glorification of the Lord always goes on over there.
The Lord has said to Arjuna in Bhagavad-Gita, “You are My devotee and friend.” Friendship between Arjuna and Krsna is covered with aisvarya jnana. When he saw the Universal Form then he said that they ate together in the same plate, but now he was asking for forgiveness. Sakhya rasa is also there in Vrindavan, but this relationship is mixed with aisvarya. When it said that you and I are same, then it is vishrambha sakhya.
Gaudiya Vaisnavas experience this. This is being explained over here. There is vishrambha sakhya aisvarya sakhya with all the other rasas. The Lord appeared in the prison house, but Mother Devaki is praying to the Lord. This rasa is covered with aisvarya. Mother Yasoda beats and punishes the Lord because He commits a mistake. This is vishrambha vatsalya. Parents are the elders so here Yashoda is elder than the Lord. Not only her, but all the Vraja vasis experience this vishrambha vatsalya rasa. In Vaikuntha there are many lokas. They have amsas. Krsna expands as Narayana and Radharani expands as Laksmi. In all Vaikunthas there are Laksmis, but in Vrindavan there are millions of Laksmis. Laksmis of Vrindavan are called Gopis. In Vaikuntha the Lord pleases only one Laksmi, but in Vrindavan there are many Gopis. This vishrambha madhurya is a speciality of Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
By understanding this you can proudly say that we are Gaudiya Vaisnavas. That we are Hindus is nothing in front of this. You can write your comments in the chat session.
Hare Krishna!