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25 July 2020
Religion without philosophy is sentimentalism
jaya śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya nityānanda; jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura bhakta vrṇda
Translation: O Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all glories to You. O Prabhu Nityananda, all glories to You. O Lord Advaitacandra, all glories to You. O devotees of Lord Gauranga, all glories to you all.[Jaya Jaya Sri Krsna Caitanya Nityananda Song verse 1 by Narottama Dasa Thakura].
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Chanting is taking place from 818 locations.
That Gopinath who was served by Mukunda Datta and offered food by Sri Raghunandana is still there in Shrikhand, even today. Still the worship of Lord Gopinath is continuing. He still has that half laddu in His hand which He had left half eaten. Even today when devotees take darsana they can see that laddu.
Yesterday during our discussion, some devotee asked whether Mukunda Dasa and Mukunda Datta are the same.
The answer is they are not the same. Haridas Prabhu tried to answer this question. Earlier I told you or an announcement is going to be made that when the questions are being asked, the answers can be given by those who know it. Syamalata Mataji is asking questions. She keeps on asking questions. Before asking questions, you should do some research. Search the answers given by sadhu, sastra and acarya. You can ask your Siksa Guru. You all should have a counsellor. Take help from those who are older than you on this path and have more experience and knowledge. If you have more faith in them, accept them as a guide, friend and philosopher. You have to read Prabhupada’s books. You have to read more, as you have so many questions. You have to keep Prabhupada books in your home. Not only should you keep and worship, but there should be nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. You are chanting extra rounds on Ēkādaśī and during Caturmasya. It is welcomed. It can be called dharma. But along with it, philosophy is also important. Knowing tattva is very important. Prabhupada always repeated about religion and philosophy. Prabhupada said, “Books are the basis.” Sastras supports Dharma.
This Mukunda Datta was a companion and classmate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was famous as the best singer of Mahaprabhu's Mandali. Mukunda Dasa was a doctor of Shrikhand and Mukunda Datta was a singer of Navadvipa. Try to research it, but you have to know that they are both different.
(kiba) jaya jaya gorācāńder āratiko śobhā jāhnavī-tatạ -vane jaga-mana-lobhā jaga-jana-mana-lobhā
Translation: All glories, all glories to the beautiful Arati ceremony of Lord Caitanya. This Gaura-arati is taking place in a grove on the banks of the Jahnavi (Ganges) and is attracting the minds of all living entities in the universe.[ Gaura Arati Verse 1]
The Sandhya Arati which we sing regularly, also has the name of Mukunda. You should know this Arati.
narahari-ādi kori' cāmara dhulāya sañjaya-mukandaa-bāsu-ghos-̣ ādi gāya
Translation: Narahari Sarakara and other associates of Lord Caitanya fan Him with camaras, and devotees headed by Sanjaya Pandita, Mukunda Datta, and Vasu Ghosa sing sweet kirtana. [ Gaura Arati Verse 4]
It has been said here that Mukunda and Vasu Ghosa are singing.
bosiyāche gorācāńd ratna-siḿhāsane ārati koren brahmā-ādi deva-gaṇe
Translation: Lord Caitanya has sat down on a jewelled throne, and the demigods, headed by Lord Brahma, perform the arati ceremony. [ Gaura Arati Verse 3]
Mukunda Datta's name is mentioned in Gaura Arti. He also went to Jagannatha Puri with Mahaprabhu. The Mukunda who is mentioned in the Sandhya arati is the singer, Mukunda Datta. The arati was taking place on the banks of River Ganga in Navadvipa. It is this Mukunda Datta who was singing during the arati. He was an associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Someone asked about Raghunath Das Goswami.
We all should know about Raghunath Dasa Goswami as we are becoming Gaudiya Vaisnavas. He is one of our six Goswamis. He was the son of a landlord. You are not reading books like Caitanya-caritamrta, Caitanya Mangal, or Caitanya Bhagavat. There are so many scriptures. There are many books about Goswamis as well. We must read them. In our Vaisnava calendar, we have special days of appearance and disappearance of Goswamis and Acaryas. We must try to read about them on these days. In Adil ila of Caitanya -caritamrta, you can get a lot of information about many devotees. For your information, there is a book entitled Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika written by Sri Kavi Karnapura. It describes the identities of the prominent associates and followers of Sri Caitanya, in krsna-lila. Like Mukunda Datta was Vrinda Devi in Krsna Lila. Gaura Gano means the devotees of Lord Gaura. This book is worth reading. You have to get it from somewhere. You have to read it. You have to become a student. We are all students. We must study the textbooks. We have a syllabus and we have teachers. Gurus, Acaryas and Siksa Gurus teach us. We should also do self-study. Bhakti Sastri courses are also there. There are daily sloka wise Bhagavatam classes in the temple. You can go to the temple or hear online.
A Sloka a day keeps Maya away. We need to get trained in this way. Then we can become firm and develop devotional life. All these Gaudiya Vaisnavas are exemplary heroes for us. So-called heroes of Bollywood and Hollywood, make them zeroes. Their value in our life should be zero. There are many other people like politicians or scientists or any other such materialistic people who influence our minds. We must leave them. We should make our Gaudiya Vaisnava Acaryas our heroes. We must learn their teachings and try to follow them. There are many more Acaryas in other scriptures like Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagavatam. There are Gaudiya Vaisnava devotees. Many ancient devotees appeared again in Caitanya Lila. Sanatan Goswami says if we want to become a Gaudiya Vaisnava then following the Vaisnava Acaryas is more important for us, because they were the devotees of Braja.
They teach us Braja bhakti. All four Sampradayas have their Acaryas. Among all these sampradaya Vaisnavas, the Gaudiyas are special. We have to follow them so that we can also learn Braja Bhakti. We keep on talking about the 4 rasas: dasya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vatsalya-rasa, and madhurya-rasa. We must have such examples in our minds to keep friendship, parental or conjugal love, but we must have clarity. One is Aiswarya mishrit and another is Vishrambha. This Vishrambha Sakhya, Vatsalya Madhurya belongs to Vrindavan.
aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad-dhama vrndavanam ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena va kalpita
We are the worshippers of this Vishrambha mood. Caitanya Mahaprabhu and all His associates all together teach this. They relished it and also gave it to us by establishing it. Their Katha and their teachings are most essential for us. It will encourage you to become devotees of a similar mood. In Marathi, there's a saying - see and understand the character of all these great Gaudiya Vaisnava acaryas and then follow them and take the lesson from it.
You are given some time to write your questions and realizations in the chat. Kanaka from America has been detected positive for Coronavirus. Pray for him. You can write to him that you are praying. If someone has a birthday, wish them.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
If you know them, you can write their glorification. In this way, you can communicate with all. If you know the answer to their queries, you can answer them.
guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati. If you are answering, then it is prīti-lakṣaṇam. It is the symptom of love. This multi-dimensional, inter-relationship is not only with me. It should also be among all of you who are present here today, and your neighbours and all devotees. This is how it will develop in Goloka. We are a family so we should have a give and take relationship, ask and answer.
You should visit the Facebook page to read these messages, all the questions, their answers, birthdays and other information is all available there. You can get your answers as well on the page.
Hare Krsna to you all. Gaur Premanande
