Balrama Rasa Purnima

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Topic: Balrama Rasa Purnima Date:  23^thApril 2024 Speaker: HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj HH Lokanath Swami Guru Maharaj: Gauranga! Krishna Balrama ki Jai! om namobhagavatevasudevayanamah How many Vasudeva are there? You think that only onevasudev is there. But Balrama is also Vasudev because he is also Vasudev’s son. Vasudev should haveideally  8 children but he had 2 sons left and that’s why they are called Vasudev. So, Krishna and Balarama both are Vasudev. There are many tithis today. Today is ShyamanandPandit’s appearance day, Baldev Rasa Purnima and Chaitra Purnima. Today Balram plays rasa dance. And of course, it happens in Vrindavan but not in Vaikunth, Mathura, Dwarka, Ayodhya. It happens only in Vrindavan. So again it is a matter of ignorance, we think that only Krishna plays Rasa dance but Balram also plays it. Śrī brahma-saṁhitā 5.33 advaitamacyutamanādimananta-rūpam ādyaṁpurāṇa-puruṣaṁnava-yauvanaṁ ca vedeṣudurlabhamadurlabhamātma-bhaktau govindamādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁbhajāmi 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. kesavadhrita-sukara-rupajayajagadisa hare(Text 3) (Sri Dasavatara-stotraby Jayadeva Gosvami) Translation 0 Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of a boar! Krishna hasmany forms-Rama, Narhari etc. kesavadhrita-haladhara-rupajayajagadisa hare (Text 8) Translation 0 Kesava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of the wielder of the plow! In these forms,only  Balaram is a form who plays rasa dance with gopisand is competent to do so. And other forms have one Laxmi or Alahadnishakti.   Śrī brahma-saṁhitā 5.29 cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasukalpa-vṛkṣa- lakṣāvṛteṣusurabhīrabhipālayantam lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ govindamādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁbhajāmi 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. But Govinda adipurush has lakhs of Laxmis, similarly Balrama also has many crores of gopis who are ready to serve Balram and plays rasa lila with him. So today is the day- Chaitra Purnima. Since this is Vasant season so it isalso  called asVasant Rasa as well. We are aware of Sharad Purnima where Krsna’s rasa is known. Balrama appeared on Purnima and Krsna appeared on Astami. Balram plays rasa lila today in Vrindavan today on Chaitra Purnima. This description of rasa lila is vividly done in five chapters- Rasa panchadhayay Krsna SB 10.65- Sukadeva Goswami describes Balaram’s Vrindavan visit and mentions about his rasa dance. Uddhaumohibrajbisaratnahi- by Surdas So Krsna says to Uddhav in Mathura  that I cannot forget Vrindavan and the Vrajvasis .I cannot go to Vrindavan but you can go and take my message to them. Please pacify the gopis. Krsna and Balrama have now left Mathura, as they depart from Vrindavan: SoduniyaGopinna Krishna Mathuresi Gela You all listen to this. The demons came here. I have to cut it short to narrate Balrama’s Rasa pastimes.When Akura came, he took them to Mathura. So when he was departing from Vraja, so Krishna and Balarama said that they will come soon but  spenteighteen  years in Mathura and then went to Dwaraka and they spent so many years there and in Vrajaeveryday theVrajavasis waited for them. When will they return.So letters were exchanged between them and postman used to bring letters for Vraj vasis. They also wrote their hearts out in letters and everytime when they used to hear the messages from Krishna, they used to be very eager to listen to it. SoKrishna and Balrama have many responsibilities and Krishna had 16108 marriages and each had 10 sons. Dwarikadeesh is now the king and in Vrindavan he used to take care of the cows but now he is looking after the residents of Dwaraka as well. Now he is very busy, both of them and Dwarakavasis don’t let them go. When they go, then they will never came back. So Krsna sends Balarama from Dwaraka to Vrindavan and Dwarakavasis are ok with that. They believed that he will come back because Krsna is here. He cannot stay without Krishna. ŚB 10.65.1 śrī-śukauvāca balabhadraḥ kuru-śreṣṭha bhagavānrathamāsthitaḥ suhṛd-didṛkṣurutkaṇṭhaḥ prayayaunanda-gokulam Translation Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O best of the Kurus, once Lord Balarāma, eager to visit His well-wishing friends, mounted His chariot and traveled to Nanda Gokula. Suka goswami tells Parskshit Maharaj that Balrama who is God is sitting on his chariot and going to Vrindavan to meet their well wishers and he is very excited to go. Vrajvasis were also excited to him. Vrindavan dham ki jai. So, he reaches Vrindavan. Hari Hari. Now what should we fallen souls can think of both of their excitement to meet each other after fifty-sixty years. We know that Rama, Laxman and Sita came back after 14 years of exile,  they reached Ayodhya so at that time both of the parties were excited to meet and when they came down the Pushpak Viman andall  mothers , Bharat and Shatughan  they welcomed them and it was like a grand meetup. Vraj vasis had more VirahaBhaav than them. Their love for Krishna and Balrama cannot be compared with Ayodhya vasis or Vaikunth vasis but as per spiritual point of view they have minute differences. This happedned in Vrindavan. Balramatouches the feet of elderly people in Vraja and meets his friends and hugs them and those who are younger, so they touch Balrama’s feet. So this is Vaishanava etiquette. He meets everyone. So think that they met after so many years and then they ask how are you? So we just say a few lines and ask about relatives, neighbours, wife and children and ask about the business. Balrama asks about everyone and they also ask Balrama. This is possible that Balrama might haveexpanded  and they had one to one conversations with them just like a lightening reaches from one point to another. So this is shastric knowledge. So they said ŚB 10.65.9 gopyohasantyaḥpapracchū rāma-sandarśanādṛtāḥ kaccidāstesukhaṁkṛṣṇaḥ pura-strī-jana-vallabhaḥ Translation [ŚukadevaGosvāmī continued:] Honored to have the personal audience of Lord Balarāma, the young gopīs smiled and asked Him, “Is Kṛṣṇa, the darling of the city women, living happily? ŚB 10.65.10 kaccitsmarativābandhūn pitaraṁmātaraṁ ca saḥ apyasaumātaraṁdraṣṭuṁ sakṛdapyāgamiṣyati apivāsmarate ’smākam anusevāṁmahā-bhujaḥ Translation “Does He remember His family members, especially His father and mother? Do you think He will ever come back even once to see His mother? And does mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa remember the service we always did for Him? Balarama now Krsna is surrounded with wives and children does he remember us? Does he remember his friends, father, mother andgopis? So Balrama brings his message from Krishna and than shares it with each and every friend, gopi, cows, father and mother and he misses all. So this message is for everyone and Balrama pacifies everyone. So this meeting continued for two months. ŚB 10.65.17 dvaumāsautatracāvātsīn madhuṁmādhavaṁeva ca rāmaḥkṣapāsubhagavān gopīnāṁratimāvahan Translation Lord Balarāma, the Personality of Godhead, resided there for the two months of Madhu and Mādhava, and during the nights He gave His cowherd girlfriends conjugal pleasure. Sofor these two months – Madhu and Madhav or Chaitra and Vaishak Lord Balarama stayed in Vrindavan. And then it is written that every night he used to play Rasa with gopis and today was a mega event. Wehave to understand this that Balrama has his own gopis he cannot play rasa with Krsna’s gopis. He does not play rasa with Srimati Radharani and Balarama has his own gopis and he has Madhurya bhaavand shringar rasa relations with some of the Vrindavan devotees. So today they performed Rasalilatoday on Purnima. ŚB 10.65.18 pūrṇa-candra-kalā-mṛṣṭe kaumudī-gandha-vāyunā yamunopavanereme sevitestrī-gaṇairvṛtaḥ Translation In the company of numerous women, Lord Balarāma enjoyed in a garden by the Yamunā River. This garden was bathed in the rays of the full moon and caressed by breezes bearing the fragrance of night-blooming lotuses. So mild and cool breezesare flowingand at the banks of Yamuna and he is surrounded by thousand of Gopis about to play rasa dance with them. This happened in Rama Ghat in Vrindavan. Sri VrajaDhamaMahimamrta  byKrsnadasaKaviraja Goswami Jai Ram-ghat, Jaya Rohini-nandan। Jai Jai Vrindavan, Basi-jat-jan॥ (7) Translation All glories to Rama-ghata, where Lord Balarama performed His rasa dance. All glories to Lord Balarama, the son of Rohini. All glories, all glories to all of the residents of Vrindavana. When we go to Vraj Mandal Parikrama for example in Khelan Van, so Vrindavan is famous for ghats- Keshi ghat, Vishram ghat. So Ram ghat is famous and Ram’s darshan is also there and when you see him holding a cup of Varuni and when we reach Rama ghat we see a lot of beehives are on the trees and this is a rare sight to see .He likes Varuni and it makes us remember this. Children show the snake dance there and Balarama’s one form is Anant sesha, which is one of the forms of Balarama and Krishna lies on Balaram. So, children earn some money from that. ŚB 10.65.19 varuṇa-preṣitādevī vāruṇīvṛkṣa-koṭarāt patantī tad vanaṁsarvaṁ sva-gandhenādhyavāsayat Translation Sent by the demigod Varuṇa, the divine vāruṇī liquor flowed from a tree hollow and made the entire forest even more fragrant with its sweet aroma. Varun deva send Varuni and he made it available for him and when Balarama drinks it, ŚB 10.65.23 upagīyamāna-carito vanitābhirhalāyudha vaneṣuvyacaratkṣīvo mada-vihvala-locanaḥ Translation As His deeds were sung, Lord Halāyudha wandered as if inebriated among the various forests with His girlfriends. His eyes rolled from the effects of the liquor. Balaramais intoxicated and his eyes are like a drunken man and he performs his rasa dance. The environment is nice, moon is there, and as it begins many demigods come to see this event. As he wanted to start the Rasa dance, so Balaram sees that why is Yamuna not coming here and it should be here. So he thought Yamuna should come near this area so that rasa dance should be done near the bank of Yamuna but Yamuna was doing some delays similarly like the ocean was also delaying at the time of Rama when he wanted to cross the ocean.So just as Rama was angered then Balaram was also angry: ŚB 10.65.26 pāpetvaṁmāmavajñāya yan nāyāsimayāhutā neṣyetvāṁlāṅgalāgreṇa śatadhākāma-cāriṇīm Translation [Lord Balarāma said:] O sinful one disrespecting Me, you do not come when I call you but rather move only by your own whim. There fore with the tip of My plow I shall bring you here in a hundred streams! So you are not coming according to my desire, now I will show you and he picks up his plough and brings her near him. Before this only Yamuna appears and she said that: ŚB 10.65.28 rāmarāmamahā-bāho najānetavavikramam yasyaikāṁśenavidhṛtā jagatījagataḥ pate Translation [Goddess Yamunā said:] Rāma, Rāma, O mighty-armed one! I know nothing of Your prowess. With a single portion of Yourself  You hold up the earth, O Lord of the universe. ŚB 10.65.29 paraṁbhāvaṁbhagavato bhagavanmāmajānatīm moktumarhasiviśvātman prapannāṁ bhakta-vatsala Translation My Lord, please release me. O soul of the universe, I didn’t understand Your position as the Supreme Godhead, but now I have surrendered unto You, and You are always kind to Your devotees. I forgot your strength, valour and I am your devotee and I am under your shelter. Please forgive me.So, this is a noteworthy point, Prabhupada disciples have written this, the place where Rama ghat is there, where he got angry and wanted to bring Yamuna. So there the river bed of Yamuna is very broad. It happened in the same place where he performed his pastimes. Yamuna comes to Balarama and whatever description  of Rasa dance is there on Krsna Purnima , a similar description is given here as well, because Balaram is the first expansion of Krsna and then he further expands and Srila Prabhupada writes that he is 98% Krsna. Only colour difference is there- one is black- Ghanshyam other is white- Balrama. Soin  the rasa dance, Jhulan yatra is performed along with water sports. ŚB 10.65.30 tatovyamuñcadyamunāṁ yācitobhagavānbalaḥ vijagāhajalaṁstrībhiḥ kareṇubhirivebha-rāṭ Translation [Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] The reupon Lord Balarāma released the Yamunā and, like the king of the elephants with his entourage of she-elephants, entered the river’s water with His female companions. Balram enters Yamuna with the gopis and just like elephant plays with his female counterparts similarly he plays with them. ŚB 10.65.31 kāmaṁvihṛtyasalilād uttīrṇāyāsītāmbare bhūṣaṇānimahārhāṇi dadaukāntiḥśubhāṁsrajam Translation The Lord played in the water to His full satisfaction, and when He came out Goddess Kānti presented Him with blue garments, precious ornaments and a brilliant necklace. So Kanti devi after snan gives Balrama a lot of clothes and ornaments. Balram wears blue always and he is called Nilambarand Krishna is called Pitambar. He wears a lot of garlands. ŚB 10.65.32 vasitvāvāsasīnīle mālāṁāmucyakāñcanīm reyesv-alaṅkṛtolipto māhendraivavāraṇaḥ Translation Lord Balarāma dressed Himself in the blue garments and put on the gold necklace. Anointed with fragrances and beautifully adorned, He appeared as resplendent as Indra’s royal elephant. ŚB 10.65.34 evaṁsarvāniśāyātā ekevaramatovraje rāmasyākṣipta-cittasya mādhuryairvraja-yoṣitām Translation Thus for Lord Balarāma all the nights passed like a single night as He enjoyed in Vraja, His mind enchanted by the exquisite charm and beauty of Vraja’s young ladies. So it is like Sharad Purnima, we think that this rasayatra continued for one night and this night so expanded so much that a lot of nights was combined in one and it kept on going. It continued till one night of Brahma. So these are Achintya things. Balarama has conjugal relationships with his gopis So in this way he celebrates this long Purnima with his gopis and he plays with them. Nitai Gaur Premanande. Hari Haribol. Jai Balaram. Jai Chaitra Rasa Purnima in Vrindavan. Sri Tulasi-Aarti mora eiabhilāṣa, vilāsakuñjediovāsa nayanaheribosadāyugala-rūpa-rāśi (Text 3) Translation My desire is that you will also grant me a residence in the pleasure groves of Sri Vrndavana-dhama. Thus, within my vision I will always behold the beautiful pastimes of Radha and Krsna. Tulasi is both Krishna and Balaram’s Preyasi and she should give us residence in this vilaskunj. Nikunjas are in Vrindavan only and not in the vyomspiritual sky. Śrī brahma-saṁhitā 5.43 goloka-nāmninija-dhāmni tale ca tasya devi maheśa-hari-dhāmasuteṣuteṣu teteprabhāva-nicayāvihitāś ca yena govindamādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁbhajāmi Translation Lowest of all is located Devī-dhāma [mundane world], next above it is Maheśa-dhāma [abode of Maheśa]; above Maheśa-dhāma is placed Hari-dhāma [abode of Hari] and above them all is located Kṛṣṇa's own realm named Goloka. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, who has allotted their respective authorities to the rulers of those graded realms. Golok has Mathura, Dwaraka. vrndavanamparityajyapadamekamnagacchati- (Yamal tantra quoted in Laghu Bhagavatam 1.5.461) So this Vrindavan is never left by them and this rasa dance of Krishna and Balaram is performed there only. Gauranga Bolite Habe Pulaka Sarira by Narottama Dasa Thakura viṣayachāriyākabeśuddha ha 'be mana kabehāmaherabośrī-bṛndābana (Text 3) TRANSLATION When the mind is completely purified, being freed from material anxieties and desires, then I shall be able to understand Vrndavana and the conjugal love of Radha and Krsna, and then my spiritual life will be successful. So we should think about this Vrindavan. We should think about this and meditate on this. Papachivasananakodaudola Tyahuniandhalabarachmi- (by Saint Tukaram) We should leave bad desires and we should pray that -make me blind if I see with this bad activities with my  eyesight. Narottama das  thakur says when we will be free from this? For loving devotees, Krishna Balarama and  Vrindavan is there and only they can enter Vrindavan and not Kamis who stay in this material world. So when we are filled with this Kama vasna and then we take repeated birth in Jaipur etc. So this will be our condition. This is accessible for loving devotees only. This pastime is only available for them. When we leave these sex desires and material allurements, then we will be able to enter the pastimes of Radha and Krishna. CC Antya 20.12 ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁvidyā-vadhū-jīvanam ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁprati-padaṁpūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ sarvātma-snapanaṁparaṁvijayateśrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam Translation “ ‘Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.’ When we dochetodarpan, then we will be able to see these pastimes- Drishti gochar. Then we will understand this. Sri Tulasi-Aarti einivedanadhara, sakhīraanugata koro sevā-adhikāradiye koro nījadāsī (Text 4) TRANSLATION I beg you to make me a follower of the cowherd damsels of Vraja. Please give me the privilege of devotional service and make me your own maidservant. We have to accept Anugatya, become a follower of follower.

Śikṣāṣṭakam

tṛṇādapisunīcenatarorapisahiṣṇunāamānināmānadenakīrtanīyaḥsadāhariḥ (Text 3) One should always sing the names of Hari while considering oneself to be lower than grass, more tolerant than a tree, not desiring any honour for oneself and being respectful to others. We have to follow this sadhna and then only we will be sadhana siddha and  will understand these things. Preaching to the faithless is the ninth offence so it should not be told to faithless people. They will not understand. Balarama is lusty like Krishna they will think that and they will do offenses in their lotus feet. Ātmavatmanyatejagat. "Everyone thinks others like himself."This Rasa lila is very confidential we have to be ready for this. Bg. 4.11 ye yathāmāṁprapadyante tāṁstathaivabhajāmyaham mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥpārthasarvaśaḥ Translation As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā. The more we surrender the more we will understand the tattva. Hari Hari.So I have to stop. So read these pastimes of Rasa dance with Krishna in chapters- 10.29,30,31,32,33. Balrama rasa Purnima is in 10.65 in SrimadBhagavatam and you know that it is also available in Krishna book which is a summary study of the same. The 10th canto has 90 chapters and that’s why this Krishna Book has 90 chapters. So read these pastimes in different books.

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