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JapaTalk : 1 March, 2024  Speaker: H. G. Vedanta Chaitanya Dasa Theme: Seeing the Supreme Sub Theme: Importance of Mayapur festival Firstly, I would like to offer my humble obessainces at the lotus feet of Gurumaharaj and all the assembled devotees. om ajnana-timirandhasyajnananjana-salakaya cakshurunmilitamyenatasmaisri-guravenamah nama om vishnu-padayakrishna-preshthayabhu-tale srimatebhaktivedanta-svaminitinamine namastesaraswatedevegaura-vani-pracarine nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine Jaya Sri-Krishna-Chaitanya PrabhuNityananda, Sri-AdvaitaGadadharaSrivasadi-Sri Gaura-Bhakta-Vrinda. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna KrishnaKrishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama RamaRama Hare Hare Today I will speak on the topics which Gurumaharaj has instructed me to speak. It is my privilege to be at Mayapurdham. Since, Mayapur is a dham we are privilege to take part in various celebrations. All the heads of GBC’s, various Maharaj’s and Sanyasis devotees have reached Mayapurdham and we are getting their association. When we attend Mayapur festival, we easily get the darshan of great sanyasis and Maharaj’s. We are very fortunate to get their darshan at Mayapurdham. We get their association by listening to them in various programs like Srimad Bhagavatam classes. Yesterday’s lecture was given by Bhakti Vikasa Swami Maharaj and today’s class is by Bhakti Chaitanya Swami Maharaj. It is our good fortune to hear from various sanyasis. As is mentioned by Gurumaharaj in his book – Mayapur festival was started in the year 1971. Gurumaharaj has not missed any festival from 1972 till date. Even though Gurumaharaj is very busy he takes out time from his busy schedule and attends this Mayapur festival each year. Lesson : This Mayapur festival is very important and we have to take part in this important festival. This year also Gurumaharaj has arrived at Mayapurdham. A big festival was held here yesterday on the ocassion of 150th Birth anniversary of Srila Bhakti SiddhantSaraswati Thakur. It was attended by many devotees connected with the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya. A huge pandal was erected and many senior Vaishnava devotees and sanyasis attended the program. They glorified Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Maharaj and later abhishek was performed. In the TOVP – Temple of the Vedic Planetorium – a museum was inaugurated yesterday for Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakura at 4pm. On 29th February, 1st March and 2nd March in TOVP the world’s largest temple of Lord Narsimha Deva is being inaugurated. Today, H. H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj and H. H. Jayapataka Swami Maharaj will take part in this function. They will address the assembled devotees. Amrish Prabhu is also present here. Gurumaharaj is also present here for the inauguration. This Mayapur festival is celebrated for 1 month. Then there is Shravan Utsav, Kirtan Mela and Navdvipa Mandal Parikrama. Before Gaur Poornima there will be a boat festival for the Radha Madhav deities. There are many planned festivals celebrated throughout the entire month. It is like a very big festival in Mayapur. Requesting all the devotees – to participate in this Mayapur festival. It is Gurumaharaj’s desire that all his disciples should take part in this Mayapur festival. It will be a valuable experience to take part in this festival. It is difficult to take darshan of these exalted devotees and get their association at one place. Only in the Mayapur festival – we are able to get the association of all the exalted devotees alongwith their darshan and shravan. In the Uddhava Gita – Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa instructs Uddhava personally – that taking part in such festivals is also an important anga of Bhakti. Taking part in such festivals enhances our devotional service. We get a lot of inspiration from such festivals hence they are known as Utsava. In case you cannot attend it this year kindly plan and attend it next year. The festival has just begun. Sub Theme: SrilaBhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur (Seeing Kṛṣṇa – an important Principle) Once a very rich landlord had come to meet SrilaBhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. The landlord on meeting him personally asked him a confidential question. “Maharaji, you are practicing Sadhana Bhakti from such a long time. Have you ever seen the Lord?” Many people ask us also when we go for preaching. “Prabhujihave you seen the Supreme Lord or what is your experience?” Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura asked him, “See, what difference will it make in your spiritual life whether I get to see the Supreme Lord or not. Rather than seeing the Supreme Lord it is important for us to be in the range of the Supreme Lord’s eyesight. Even if we endeavor to see the Supreme Lord with our material eyes we cannot see Him. It is mentioned in the Bhakti Rasamrit Sindhu ataḥśrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādinabhavedgrāhyaṃindriyaiḥ | sevonmukhe hi jihvādausvayamevasphuratyadaḥ  Translation: Therefore, material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṇa really is. [BRS :1.2.234] Hence Lord is also known as Adhoksaja. Our material senses are insufficient to appreciate the Supreme Lord. We cannot see the Supreme Lord with our eyes. If we were capable of seeing the Supreme Lord with our material eyesthen we would have been attracted to Him long back. We have no attraction for the Supreme Lord means we have not seen Him. Secondly, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura mentioned that we have to be in the range of the Supreme Lord’s eyesight. One should come under the glance of the Supreme Lord. It will make a huge difference in our lives. A lot of things happen due to the Supreme Lord’s glance. With reference to the senses of the Supreme Lord it is mentioned in the Brahma Samita by Brahmaji. aṅgāniyasyasakalendriya-vṛtti-manti paśyantipāntikalayanticiraṁjaganti ānanda-cinmaya-sad-ujjvala-vigrahasya govindamādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁbhajāmi  Translation: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane. [BS : 5.32] It means that Lord can see with His eyes and also accept the various offerings with His eyes. Lord can create progeny with His eyes. Lord can hear and smell with His eyes. When we offer bhoga to the Supreme Lord, does He eat with His mouth? No. Lord eats with His eyes. Seeing the nice foodstuff offered to the Supreme Lord – is as good as eating with His eyes. While creating this universe how does Lord create the Jiva’s? He does so by His glance. Various universes are created by – from the skin pores of Maha Vishnu. Due to the Supreme Lord’s glance all the jiva’s within the body of Maha Vishnu – enter the prakriti and are born. Lord creates various Jiva’s by His glance. Lord’s glance is very powerful. His glance is also known as Glance of Mercy. namo deva damodaranantavishno prasidaprabhoduhkha-jalabdhi-magnam kripa-drishti-vrishtyati-dinambatanu grihanesha mam ajnamedhyakshi-drisyah Translation: 0 Supreme Godhead, I offer my obeisances unto You. O Damodara! O Ananta! O Vishnu! O master! O myLord, be pleased upon me. By showering Your glance of mercy upon me, deliver this poor ignorant fool whois immersed in an ocean of worldly sorrows, and become visible to my eyes.[Sri Damodarashtaka Verse No. 6] When we go to the temple, we donot go there just to see the Lord, but to get Lord’s glance. Once in the temple of Banke Bihari at Vrindavan, a blind man was standing in the queue to take the Supreme Lord’s darshan.  Other’s in the queue thought what will this blind man do standing in this queue. There were some college students – they started making fun of this blind man. The blind man replied back – “I am blind. I cannot see, the Lord. I am not going to see the Lord. I am going there so that Lord can glance on me. Lord is not blind, He can see me.” All the kids were silent. When we see the Lord nothing major happens to us. When the Supreme Lord glances on us it has a huge impact on us. One more important thing - Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said –“Instead of endeavoring to see the Supreme Lord, we should serve the Lord in such a way that the Lord Himself comes to see us.” Then certainly Lord will see you and you will be able to see the Supreme Lord. It would be very laborious when we endeavor to see the Lord all by ourselves. How much time, will be required when the Lord wishes to see us? Lord can see us within 1 second. Eg: When I desire to see and meet Narendra Modiji. I will have to take appointment, wait for some months. They will ask me – the justification for meeting. Fill form, give application, attach Adhar Card. We will have to follow many protocols. It might take many years to meet Narendra Modiji. No guarantee on whether I will be able to meet him. Just imagine, if Narendra Modi wishes to meet me. Even if I am very busy, they can kidnap me – as Narendra Modi wants to meet you. They will make me stand before him. Narendra Modi can see me very easily. I donot have to make any special endeavor. We desire to see the Supreme Lord. Hence, it is very difficult for us. Rather we should serve the Lord under the guidance of Sri Guru and Vaishnavas. Lord will desire – to see us. (He will think – who is this devotee of mine?) Serving me so nicely and chanting so well. I want to see him,he is performing his devotional service so nicely. A devotee was telling in his class, that when we go to Vrindavan, many devotees and Brajvasis call out. RadheRadheShyammilade. You all must have heard it. There feelings is “Hey Srimati Radha Rani, may I attain Sri Shyam Sunder. The senior devotee was mentioning that – our consciousness should not be that we want to meet the Supreme Lord. This is not our goal. Our goal is given to us by Srila Prabhupada – Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa Maha Mantra. We donot wish to meet the Supreme Lord. If we get a chance we will meet the Supreme Lord. Our goal is to serve Bhagvan Sri Kṛṣṇa. When we chant we donot ask hey Srimati Radharani – please arrange the meeting for us with Sri Shyamsunder. This is not our demand. We are asking Srimati Radharani to engage us in the service of the Supreme Lord and Vaishnavas. We are praying for seva. When we – accept this theory then we will be considered as a Gaudiya Vaishnava. We desire not to see the Supreme Lord but to serve the Lord, Srimati Radharani and Vaishnavas. This is our goal (Prayojana). Chaitanya Mahaprabhu tells the vedic knowledge has sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana. The knowledge of prayojana gives us the goal or purpose of our life. It is very important for us to understand why are we doing devotional service? To serve Bhagvan Sri Kṛṣṇa is our real goal or prayojana. We cannot see Lord Kṛṣṇa. How can we see Lord Kṛṣṇa or which type of eyes are required to see Him? This is mentioned in the Brahma Samita premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥsadaivahṛdayeṣuvilokayanti yaṁśyāmasundaramacintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ govindamādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁbhajāmi Translation: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love. [BS 5.38] In this verse it is mentioned that one whose eyes are tinged with devotion. Like we apply kajal in our eyes. A person who has applied devotional service or love of Godhead in his eyes. Such a person is able to see the Lord always due to his pure devotional service. Lord cannot be see with our material eyes. If we endeavour to see the Lord. What will happen, is mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita Sub Theme: Fools neglect Bhakti avajānantimāṁmūḍhāmānuṣīṁtanumāśritam paraṁbhāvamajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram Translation: Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be.[BG 9.11] Lord tells that when the fools see Me or understand Me with their material eyes or senses they consider me to be an ordinary human being. Lord tells in another sloka of the Bhagavad Gita that He doesnot give his darshan freely to everyone. Sub Theme: Results for Impersonalists In this context, Lord tells that nāhaṁprakāśaḥsarvasya yoga-māyā-samāvṛtaḥ mūḍho ’yaṁnābhijānātilokomāmajamavyayam Translation: I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible.[BG 7.25] Lord tells that I donot manifest Myself to everyone. For some people their eyesight is covered by My internal potency. People cannot see Me. In this condition, if the conditioned soul endeavours to take the Supreme Lord’s darshan is not a good proposal. Sub Theme: Preaching pastimes of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Once Srila Bhaktisiddhanta was taking many devotees for the Vraj Mandal Parikrama. Approximately 10,000 devotees attended the parikrama. You can imagine, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura was preaching on such a grand scale. They would walk with him. Srila Prabhupada happened to get this information, that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Swami Maharaj is taking devotees for Vraj Mandal Parikrama. Srila Prabhupada desired his association and wished to see him. Srila Prabhupada went to Kosi. This was the place where Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Swami Thakurawas camping or had halted. There was an announcement, those devotees who wish take the darshan, can proceed to the Seshashahi temple and those who stay back can attend the special talk given by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. Many devotees left for taking the darshan of the deities. Srila Prabhupada thought that I should wait and hear from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. I will learn a lot from his association. Srila Prabhupada waited. Only a few devotees i.e. 25 devotees out of 10,000 devotees stayed back to hear from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura started giving the talk or discourse. Normally, when we go to give lectures and the attendance is low, we feel bad. When Srila Prabhupada was giving a class on the Introduction to Bhagavad Gita, not a single person was present physically. Srila Prabhupada thought for some time and then delivered the class on Bhagavad Gita. This class was recorded and later it was printed as an introduction to Bhagavad Gita. That day, nobody heard the class. But now, lakhs and crores of people are reading the introduction to Bhagavad Gita and due to it, many have realised the Bhagavad Gita. When the disciples of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura would go for preaching, he would encourage them by stating do not be discouraged if noone comes to hear you. Even if noone come, we should sing the glories of Lord Hari in front of the four walls. Return only after completion of your pravachan. Srila Prabhupada was sitting in front of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. He started by telling that those devotees who have gone to take the Lord’s darshan cannot take the darshan of the Lord actually. They have – actually perfomed eye exercises and will make no difference in their lives. We get the first darshan through the medium of shravan. Till a devotee does not take the darshan of the Lord through his ears, he cannot take the darshan of the Lord through his eyes. 1stdarshan is through the eyes. As per Navavidha Bhakti Prahlad Maharaj tells that śrī-prahrādauvāca śravaṇaṁkīrtanaṁviṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁpāda-sevanam arcanaṁvandanaṁdāsyaṁ sakhyamātma-nivedanam itipuṁsārpitāviṣṇau bhaktiścennava-lakṣaṇā kriyetabhagavatyaddhā tan manye ’dhītamuttamam 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. [ŚB 7.5.23-24] Srila Prabhupada – mentions that whatever difficult situations we face in our spiritual life like our relationship with our devotees or knowledge about the Vedas or about seva. The main reason – for all such difficulties is deficiency in hearing. A devotee who does proper shravanam is able to take darshan of the Lord in a better manner. Srila Prabhupada tells that when I heard the pravachan of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura sitting in front of him. I could not understand 25% of the pravachan. In spite of all this SrilaPrabhupada would hear attentively. Sub Theme: Initiation pastime of SrilaPrabhupada We are introduced to Gurumaharaj by our councellors, when we are to be initiated. Maharaji, he is an aspiring devotee and wishing to be initiated from you. Once, a sanyasi had taken Srila Prabhupada in front of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura as he aspired to be initiated from him. Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj told – “Yes, I know him as he hears me attentively”. This is a special thing. Bhaktisiddhanta knew Srila Prabhupada as he was an attentive listener not by performing a big seva. When we hear from our guru’s attentively. That will attract our guru’s attention towards us. A big professor had come to meet Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. He told I would often meet your father. I would recite the Bhagavad Gita slokas for him. I have met your father Bhaktivinoda Thakura many times and have taken his darshan. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura said “You have not seen my father”. He did not understand the statement of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. He further told – that we take the darshan of the Sadhu’s by using our ears. You have not heard from him. When you have heard from him, I will accept that you have actually seen him. Lesson: When we go to take darshan of the Guru we should not narrate our story only. Some people start their own Bhagavad Katha – Maharaji, this is happening in my home. My wife doesnot listen to me. What will happen by such a Bhagavad katha? Have you gone to hear Bhagavad Katha from your gurumaharaj? So infront of Guru, we should not do our own Bhagawad Katha nor glorify our own seva. We tell – Maharaj it is due to your mercy. But the tag line is that I have done this. It is very important to hear from our Guru. When we hear in reality, we get Guru’s darshan. Thank you very much for your valuable time. Hare Kṛṣṇa!    

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