Aradhana

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Japa Talk Date- 28th March 2025 Speaker- Guru Maharaj Theme- Aradhana Sub-theme: Aradhana retreat of Sachidananda Prabhu Gaur Nityananda Ki Jai! This address is for everyone. As I am in Pandharpur, so Pandharpur’s devotees are sitting here in front of me and zoom temple is houseful. They are always the audience of Japa talk. But today's Japa talk is specially focused on those devotees who have reached Mayapur Dham. Mayapur Dham ki jai! They are now going to Ekachakra gram. Around 300 to 350 devotees have reached Mayapur and from there they are going to Ekachakra gram. And I am seeing not all but some of those devotees. So, all these devotees have reached there for retreat. Sachidanand Prabhu takes retreat to somewhere once or twice a year. And this time they have reached Mayapur. I do not have full information, but I came to know that the main topics of this retreat are Aradhana, meditation, forgiveness and like that. So, this Japa talk is for retreat devotees. And everyone is welcome. Everyone can hear this. Special welcome and congratulations for those devotees who have reached for retreat. And many thanks to Sachidanand Prabhu for organizing such retreats and for giving more and more education to the devotees. Educated devotees become initiated. Time to time keep giving such education by retreat. So only few thoughts I can present. Sub-theme: Radha, who does Aradhana Aradhana! If meditation is the topic, then meditation is also Aradhana. Aradhana, worship is not complete without meditation. anayārādhito nūnaṁ bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ yan no vihāya govindaḥ prīto yām anayad rahaḥ Translation- Certainly this particular gopī has perfectly worshiped the all-powerful Personality of Godhead, Govinda, since He was so pleased with Her that He abandoned the rest of us and brought Her to a secluded place. (ŚB 10.30.28) This is Radha. There is pastime. 'Hey! Whose lotus feet are these?’ When Gopis were searching for Krsna, first they saw symbols of Krsna's lotus feet or they saw Braj marked with Krsna's lotus feet prints. Then after going little further, they saw someone's foot prints beside Krsna's foot prints. That means someone was going with Him. Some Gopis inquired, “Whose lotus feet could these be?” So, one gopi said, “you fool, don't you understand? Otherwise, whose lotus feet could these be?” anayārādhito nūnaṁ, definitely, these must be Radha's lotus feet. How is Radha? The one who does aradhana. Radha's name is Radha because She does Aradhana. The topmost worshiper is Radha. Jai Sri Radhe! And then the whole world does worship. Sub-theme: Worship of the devotees is superior than the worship of the Lord ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param tasmāt parataraṁ devi tadīyānāṁ ārādhanānāṁ Translation- “[Lord Śiva told the goddess Durgā:] ‘My dear Devī, although the Vedas recommend worship of demigods, the worship of Lord Viṣṇu is topmost. However, above the worship of Lord Viṣṇu is the rendering of service to Vaiṣṇavas, who are related to Lord Viṣṇu.’ (CC Madhya 11.31) Lord Siva has said this. ‘Among all worshipable lords Lord Visnu's worship is topmost.’ Don't worry. Krsna is Supreme, but here 'Visnu' is mentioned. Yeah, such things happen in the scriptures. Visnu means Krsna or when Vaikunth is mentioned, but it indicates Vrindavan only. Or sometimes love is called as lust. Lord is sometimes called as Brahma, so Brahma means the Supreme Lord. Or lust means love. Visnu means Krsna. Vaikunth means Vrindavan. So, Sivaji told Parvati, ‘Worship of Lord Visnu is topmost. He should be worshipped.’ But Sivaji doesn't stop by saying this. Further he said tadiyanam samarcanam. Tasmat parataram devi, wait, wait, superior to the worship of Lord Visnu is worship of tadiyanam. Tulasi krsna preyasi namo namah, tulasi is also tadiya or cow is also tadiya. Tadiya means his; madiya means mine. Ganges in tadiya. What about Lord’s devotees? Lord’s devotees too are tadiya. For the Lord they are madiya; for us they are tadiya. Worshipping them is superior to worshipping the Lord. ādaraḥ paricaryāyāṁ sarvāṅgair abhivandanam mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā sarva-bhūteṣu man-matiḥ- (ŚB 11.19.21) mad-bhakta-pūja abhyadhikā- Lord Himself has said, My devotees are more worshipable than Me. Sub-theme: Lord’s worship is incomplete without worshipping the devotees. Recently I was in Mayapur and there bhaja gaurāṅga kaha gaurāṅga laha gaurāṅgera nāma re ye jana gaurāṅga bhaje sei amāra prāṇa re Translation- Worship Gauranga, chant Gauranga, speak about Gauranga day and night. Whoever serves Gauranga is as dear to me as my very own life. Chant Gauranga’s names, at least do this much worship; but those who worship Gauranga, sei amāra prāṇa re, they are my life. Devotees keep saying- radha krsna prana mora jugala kishor. Radha and Krsna are the life of devotees, but along with that, other devotees are also the life of devotees. When the priest offers arati to the Lord, at the end of offering every item he turns and offers arati to all the devotees present there. Maybe you do not understand ‘what’s going on? Lord’s arati is going on and at the end, every item is offered to the devotees as well.’ Sri krsna caitanya prabhu nityananda sri advaita gadadhara sri vasadi gaura bhakta vrnda. Gaura bhakta vrnda, all devotees of Lord Gauranga. Gaura bhakta vrnda, the devotees of Lord Gauranga cannot be separated from Gauranga. They are inseparable. Meditation or worship of Panchatatva is complete when we worship Gaura bhakta vrnda. If we worship the Lord, but commit offenses at the lotus feet of His devotees, then we remain third class. Lord considers them third class. He worships, glorifies the Lord with full heart, but blasphemes the devotees. Yasya deve para bhakti yatha deve tatha gurau Yasya ete kathotha hi artha prakasyanta mahatmanah Translation- Anyone who has developed unflinching faith in the Lord and the Spiritual Master can understand the revealed scripture unfold before him. (ŚU 6.23) This is very special statement. Among the devotees there are spiritual masters; they perform the role of gurus. So here it is said yasya deve para bhakti, Your para bhakti, supreme devotion; deve, means ‘the object of meditation’ in Saptami vibhakti (sanskit). Deva becomes deve. Yasya deve para bhakti, who have para bhakti in the Lord, yatha deve tatha gurau, gurau is Saptami, means ‘in the guru’. Deve and gurau, the Lord and the spiritual masters, both of them should be worshipped. Then that worship is complete. Sub-theme: We do Aradhana in Mangalacaran Vande aham, in the first line of mangalacaran we are doing Aradhana, Vandana, worship, śrī-yuta-padakamalaṁ, yuta means two, ‘of both feet’. If they are having only one foot, first thing is we should not see like that. To see faults in the body of the devotees, ‘he is black, he is lame’, to see or think like this is an offense. So be cautious. So, vande ahaṁ śrī-guru śrī-yuta-padakamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam sa advaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca Svāhā. Svāhā. Svāhā. Gurun, siksha gurus and vaisnavan, everyone is included in this mangala caran. The Aradhana, worship of Sad-goswamis, and then Panchatattva; do you remember the mangala carana? First Guru then Vaisnava, then come down, next sloka is for Sad-goswamis and then Panchatattva, then finally Radha Krsna, and not only Radha Krsna, but with Them, Lalita Vishakha and anvitāṁś, other Asta-sakhis and Gopis and Manjaris. Sub-theme: Sankirtan yajna covers all processes of worship in all Yugas These are few thoughts regarding Aradhana. In fact, the method of Aradhana krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah Translation- In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions. (ŚB 11.5.32) yajnaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti, call it Aradhana or yajanti, worship which comes from ‘yaj’ dhatu; so, in Kaliyuga we worship by performing yajnas. But in SB 11.5.32 it is mentioned that which yajna should be performed in Kaliyuga? Sankirtan yajna! By this yajna devotees will yajanti, worship the Lord. It is strong recommendation of Jiva Goswami that when we worship the Lord, Sri vigraha Aradhana nitya nana, we do sringar, offer arati, do abhishek and all, then there must be Harinama with that. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! Or we can sing the glories, bhajan or Sandhya arati, mangal arati. Aradhana is complete when it is done with such singing. In Satya Yuga Lord is worshipped by doing meditation. You have reached there in Mayapur for retreat and now going to Ekachakra gram, so you were taught by Sachidananda Prabhu, how to meditate, how to do meditative chanting, how to meditate on the Lord’s form, first fixing the object of meditation. So, in Satya yuga meditation was the process of worshipping the Lord. But when we perform sankirtan or kirtan, then it is complete in itself. nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto ’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ Translation- The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Kṛṣṇa Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Kṛṣṇa’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with māyā. Kṛṣṇa’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa Himself are identical. (CC Madhya 17.133) When we do chanting we do meditation, which is the process of worship of Satya Yuga. ‘Mantra Meditation’. In Hari bhakti vilas the process of chanting is given. Mantrartha cintanam, we should meditate on the meaning of the mantra. If we have not done this meditation then this is one of the biggest offenses. Vaisnava aparadha is the topmost offense. Topmost is very bad. Don’t think that ‘Vaisnava aparadha is supreme, so let’s do this supreme work.’ Be careful. This is most degradable, not supreme. So, there are ten offenses against the Holy name, but ‘not to chant with attention’, no other offense can match with this offense. So, chanting without attention is one great offense. When we meditate while chanting and doing kirtan, then we are doing Aradhana like Satya Yuga. What is the process of worship in Treta yuga? Tretayam yajatau makhai. ye yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt Translation Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṇu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. (ŚB 12.3.52) Svaha, svaha, perform yajna. This Hare Krsna Mahamantra is Sankirtan yajna. We do sankirtan yajna means the process of worship of Treta Yuga is covered. Dvapare paricaryayam, in Dvapara the process is Aradhana, worship. Doing chanting in itself is Aradhana, worship. This Harinama is complete, nitya mukto and purna suddho, purna, complete. So, you did chanting, kirtan, then everything is complete. You did meditation also and you did yajna also and you did Aradhana, arcana too. That’s why it is said harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā Translation- In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari. (CC Ādi 17.21) When we do Harinama, then everything is covered. It is complete. This is the beauty of this sankirtan or chanting of Mahamantra. Sub-theme: Avoid Dham Aparadha So, these are few thoughts regarding Aradhana. As there are ten nama aparadha, there are ten dhama aparadha also. You devotees who have reached Mayapur for retreat and doing parikrama also, I think you were doing 64 rounds chanting as well, for few days everyday 64 rounds. So, you were doing Aradhana and parikrama. When we do dham parikrama, we serve the dham. It is considered as Pada-sevanam. śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥsmaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁsakhyam ātma-nivedanam Translation- Prahlāda Mahārāja said: Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one's best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words)—these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service. One who has dedicated his life to the service of Kṛṣṇa through these nine methods should be understood to be the most learned person, for he has acquired complete knowledge. (SB 7.5.23) When we do pāda-sevanam, as you have done Mayapur parikrama, not complete parikrama, but you have visited some places and you are going to Ekachakra gram, there also you will do parikrama. So, remember dham aparadhana and make sure that you avoid them. Do not commit offenses at the feet of Dham. Among Dham aparadha, the biggest aparadha is to commit offense at the lotus feet of those who reveal dham unto us. As in Nama aparadh topmost is Vaisnava aparadh, here in Dham aparadh, first offense is those who narrate the pastimes of the dham, adyapiha sei lila kare gaura-raya kona kona bhagyavan dekhibare paya Translation- Śrī Caitanya eternally enacts His transcendental pastimes in the holy dhāma of Māyāpura, but only those who—by dint of their innumerable pious deeds—have a pure heart are able to see them. (Navadvip Mandal Mahatmya) They will tell you, ‘even today Lord is performing His pastimes here.’ Like that they will introduce, reveal dham to you. To commit offense at the lotus feet of such devotees is dham aparadha. Those who narrate katha in dham, those who are engaged in dham seva, why to commit offense against them? What we should do? We should serve them, we should worship them, as we were hearing few minutes before. In our Gaudiya Vaisnava there is famous statement ‘Guru gaurango jayatah’, all glories to guru and Gauranga. All glories to the assembled devotees. So, those who have assembled in dham, serve them. yasyātma-buddhi-kuṇape tri-dhātuke sva-dhiḥ kalatrādiṣu bhauma ijya-dhīḥ yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile na karhicij janeśv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ Translation- One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth — such a person is no better than a cow or an ass. (ŚB 10.84.13) We went there and considered the dham, tirtha as the place of bathing. Let’s bathe in some pond or Ganges. When bathing is done, then yatra is complete, it’s finished; now let’s run towards airport or station. Such offenders, ignorant are compared to go-kharaḥ. What should be done? na janeśv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ, jña means the knower and abhijña means one who knows everything. So, the priest of the dham, the guru, we should reach at their lotus feet and should hear from them. Sub-theme: How to purify the mind? You were not performing such offense as you were engaged most of the time in sravanam and kirtanam. You were hearing from Sachidananda Prabhu. You must have taken bath also. You should. Ganga Maiya ki Jai! We are not against bathing, but only bathing will not work. Sarvatma snapanam, your soul’s, sarvatma, body, mind and soul; body is also called as atma. Only body should not be cleaned in dham, but mind should also get purified and that is possible when we will spend time with abhijña, the knowers. Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur once asked to one disciple when he left in between the class, ‘where had you gone?’ ‘Oh, I went to have darshan. Arati was going on.’ He thought after hearing this, Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur will be happy and will say, ‘well done!’ and to the other devotees he will say, ‘You fools, why didn’t you do that? He left in between to attend the arati. He is saying he took darshan. You fools, you haven’t taken darshan.’ He must have thought like that. Okay, time is up. We had more topics. Sub-theme: Contemplate on what you heard This Sravan kirtan is Aradhana. When we hear such seminars, we do mediate with knowledge, if you listen carefully and with faith. ‘Hey what happened? You are taking only one person to Vaikuntha.’, Gokarna said,’ You have brought only one plain and taking only one person, but katha was heard by thousands of devotees.’ So, in the answer the Visnudutas, the airhosts said, ‘Yeah, they may have heard, but in between they were sleeping. Their bodies were here, they were sitting here, but their minds were somewhere else. Or even if they heard the katha, when they went back to their work, they forgot everything.’ So, what should be done? Whatever is heard in the katha, seminars should be contemplated on. After Sravanam kirtanam first comes smaranam. Smaran should be the result of Sravan kirtan. And this smaran should be kept nicely in the heart. That’s why one should contemplate on it, manan, place it nicely in the heart. Just like cows or animals eat two times. First, they just swallow and then they sit down and bring back that food to their mouth and then chew it. This nicely chewed food becomes juice and then blood and all. The contemplation is called as nidhi-dhyasan. Then comes dhyan. When should one do dhyan? All the times. What gopis used to do? smartavyaḥ satataṁ viṣṇur vismartavyo na jātucit sarve vidhi-niṣedhāḥ syur etayor eva kiṅkarāḥ Translation ‘Kṛṣṇa is the origin of Lord Viṣṇu. He should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time. All the rules and prohibitions mentioned in the śāstras should be the servants of these two principles.’ (CC Madhya 22.113) Smartavyah, one must remember. Gopis and Radharani used to remember Krsna all the time. See, here Gopis are remembering, but it is said smartavyah satatam visnuh. Here Visnu means Krsna. And vismartavyo na jatucit. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, you want to worship the Lord, do Aradhana, then how should be that Aradhana? ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayas tad-dhāma vṛṇdāvanaṁ ramya kaścid upāsanā vraja-vadhu-varga-vīrya kalpita śrīmad-bhāgavatam amalaṁ purāṇaṁ premā pum-artho mahān śrī-caitanya mahāprabhor matam idaṁ tatradaraḥ na paraḥ Translation- The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is to be worshiped along with His transcendental abode, Vṛndāvana. The most pleasing form of worship for the Lord is that which was performed by the gopīs of Vṛndāvaṇa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless authority on everything, and pure love of God is the ultimate goal of life for all men. These statements, for which we have the highest regard, are the opinion of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (Caitanya-mañjusā) Aradhana, Upasana, the way vraja-vadhu-varga did, do such Aradhana. There must be meditation and remembrance. By Sravan kirtan we can remember, ‘Ahh, we remember Krsna’. Soul gets reminder. ‘Yeah, Krsna is like this.’ So, we should remember things related to Krsna or related to the devotees of Krsna. Visnu and Vaisnava, this is the pair; and then Vaikuntha. And Aradhana should be performed for both of them. We were in Melkote. There also we did smaran. Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted two specialties from each Vaisnava Sampradaya. One of the two specialties of Sri Sampraday is Vaisnava sevan, serving the devotees. We should learn this and do Aradhana and service to Lord Visnu and Vaisnavas. We offer bhoga to the Lord and prasad to the Vaisnavas. This is Aradhana, seva, love for them. We should love not only the Lord, but also the devotees. Okay, thank you. Happy journey to all those who have reached for retreat. Have a good time and you can share your realizations with those who could not come for retreat. Share with others whatever you have learned in retreat. By doing this you will serve those devotees. Now it is your turn of guhyam akhyati prscati. Hare Krsna!

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