Sri Bhagavata Rahasya (Secret Truths of the Bhagavatam) -5

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Second, if He left, there must have been a cause. If we go anywhere
for any special reason, then when the reason or cause is finished, we
return. Similarly, KŠa left Vnd€vana for some special reason. After
Kaˆsa was killed He should have returned to Vnd€vana. But He
never returned. Why? What is the answer?
Anyone would want to live in a place where he receives much
love and affection. He would not want to taste any lower kind of love
and affection. For example, if you are eating a rasagulla and someone
offers you Indian g™r or anything similar to eat in its place, you will
not accept it. You will want to accept the rasagulla first. So why did
KŠa, who was perfectly loved by the gop…s, mother Yaod€, Nanda
B€b€ and others, leave quickly one day and never return?
The third question is that, even if KŠa would not return with
the intention to stay forever, why didn’t He come from time to time?
What would be the harm? If someone comes to America from India to
make money, then as soon as there is sufficient money he can return.
Even in the case that he does not return permanently, he can still go to
India from time to time to meet with his relatives. So why did KŠa
not go to meet with His relatives, His father and mother? He should
have gone, but He did not go at all. He sent a messenger, but why
did He not go Himself? A messenger cannot do the same thing that
KŠa can do. KŠa knew that the Vrajav€s…s would not be satisfied.
He thought, “They will only be satisfied if I go there.” But still He sent
the messenger, and gave a letter for them. He told the messenger, “You
should give this sandea, message, to them.”
Even if there was a very important reason for KŠa’s not returning,
there must have been some way that He could have called all the
Vrajav€s…s to Mathur€ or Dv€rak€. There was no lack of space there.
There was so much space. KŠa can do anything. He can supply
all the houses, boarding, and everything else needed, just as He did
when He hosted all the Mathur€vas…s. He could have brought all the
Vrajav€s…s in the same way, and He could have remained in Dv€rak€
and Mathur€ with them. Why did He not bring them?
If you want to know all the answers to all these questions, you will
have to go deep in ®r…mad-Bh€gavatam with any self-realized devotee
who has served his gurudeva and the devotees, and who has also served
Bh€gavatam with (the person) bh€gavatam. What is the meaning? One
must serve Bh€gavatam with a bhakta-bh€gavata, because the lock and
key to its understanding is in the hands of that mah€-bh€gavata. We don’t
want to serve any mah€-bh€gavata and we don’t want to give honor to
all others, and still we want all our queries to be satisfied. How can it
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
110
be? KŠa is so merciful that He sends His various kinds of devotees(
like ik€-guru, d…k€-guru and bhajana-guru), and says to them, “O, go
and give some answers so that they may also become pure devotees.”
Why KŠa didn’t Return to Vnd€vana
Now we will explain the answers to our questions. The first question
was: Why did KŠa leave Vnd€vana? I told one reason—the l…l€ of
prema-sarovara. KŠa was very upset, thinking, “When the gop…s are
with Me, they feel an intense mood of separation in anticipation of
the future. They become as though lifeless—in mah€-bh€va, in premavaicittya”.
You cannot imagine all these feelings—how the gop…s’ hearts
were burning in the fire of separation. KŠa therefore thought, “If
I leave Vnd€vana they will also feel separation, but in that type of
separation mood they will meet with Me—in a dream, or in any other
way. They will see a tamal tree and embrace it as though they were
embracing Me. They will think, ‘Oh, we are meeting with KŠa.’ Then
they will be happy. They will eat their meals and they will decorate
themselves. Therefore I must leave.”
It is true that everyone wants to be where there is plenty of €nanda,
happiness. No one wants to go to a place where there is less happiness
and less love and affection. But this is not the nature of KŠa, the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. His nature is somewhat different.
He has lakhs and lakhs of devotees everywhere. Some of the devotees
in Mathur€ were given great suffering by Kaˆsa. In fact, Devak… and
Vasudeva had been suffering from the very day of their marriage
ceremony. Since the time of their marriage eight sons were born to
them, including KŠa. Thus, about eight years passed. After that an
additional ten years and eight months passed, because KŠa was
living in Vraja for that much time. Altogether approximately nineteen
years passed. Therefore, it may be that Vasudeva and Devak… were
being tortured by Kaˆsa for about twenty years. So many persons
left Mathur€ and scattered here and there; and those who remained
were always weeping and suffering. How can KŠa give them up?
He cannot neglect them. He must also care about them. If He does not
take care, He is not at all merciful.
The P€Šavas were also weeping; and Kunt… also cried to KŠa
so that He would come and help them. Draupad… had also called
Him, crying, “Oh, I’m going to be put to shame in front of everyone.”
Keeping her hands upraised she was bitterly calling out, “O Govinda!
Come With Me to Vnd€vana
111
Now I’m dying.” Under these circumstances, how can KŠa play in r€sa-l…
l€ at Vami-vata, in Vnd€vana? He will also have to save Draupad…. If
any bhakta calls Him, anywhere in this world, He cannot remain aloof.
Otherwise He will have to give up His name, bhakta-v€tsalya— the giver
of mercy to His devotees. He will have to take care of all the devotees.
This is why, although He is tasting so much rasa in Vnd€vana, He
will have to look after all the devotees. That is also why He went to
Mathur€.
There is something more. KŠa has promised: ye yath€ m€ˆ
prapadyante t€ˆs tathaiva bhaj€my aham— “According to the service
rendered to Me by My devotees, I will have to repay them” (G…t€ 4.11).
It was only to the gop…s that He could not keep this promise; He failed
to keep His promise to them. For all others He could keep it, but for
the gop…s it was not at all possible. It is sure that there is no comparison
between any of the entire world’s devotees and the Vrajav€s…s. No one
can compare to mother Yaod€, Subala, ®r…dama, or to the gop…s like
Lalit€, Vi€kh€, and all others. There is no comparison. On the other
hand, Devak… and Vasudeva had also performed very severe austerities
in their past births as Sutapa and Pni. They kept their head down
on the ground and stood on one hand while keeping their feet high
in the air. They remained without
breathing any air or drinking any
water during the heat of summer, the cold of winter, the rainy season
and so on. They continued this for more than 60,000 years. Dhruva
had practiced his austerities for six months, and during the last month
he fasted even from air. But they did this for more than 60,000 years.
And now, in the form of Vasudeva and Devak… they were calling. Will
KŠa not hear? He must hear. This was another reason for Him to
come to Mathur€.
Now I will answer the second question. If KŠa fulfilled His
reason for coming, which was to save Vasudeva and Devak… and to
kill Kaˆsa, then He should have returned to Vnd€vana at that time.
But how could He? All the Y€duvas…s and Mathur€vas…s had scattered
due to fear of Kaˆsa, and His whole kingdom was disordered. KŠa
therefore, gave the kingdom to Ugrasena Mah€r€ja and made him
king. But Ugrasena was very old and powerless; so KŠa Himself
had to manage.
There were two wives of Kaˆsa—Asti and Pr€pti. They went to
their father Jar€sandha, a very big demon who was even more powerful
than Kaˆsa, Duryodhana and all others. Jar€sandha heard from his
daughters that his son-in-law Kaˆsa had been killed by KŠa for
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
112
no reason; he was innocent. They claimed that Kaˆsa had simply
been sitting on the throne when all of a sudden KŠa jumped up,
grabbed him and killed him without any cause. Jar€sandha became
very unhappy to hear this. He therefore took his soldiers, numbering
more than those in the Mah€bh€rata army, about 20 lakhs or crores, and
invaded Mathur€—not only once, but 18 times. Knowing this KŠa
decided, “If I go to Vraja, what will happen? Everyone there will be
killed by Jar€sandha.” So He could not go there. He wanted to go, but
He considered that if Jar€sandha became aware of this, he would think,
“All the Vrajav€s…s are truly beloved and very dear to KŠa; so I must
smash Vnd€vana.” In Vnd€vana there were no soldiers, no army,
no fort—no protection at all, and the Vrajavas…s were not warriors.
They were very innocent—simply grazing cows. In one day, therefore,
Jar€sandha would be able to come and smash all of Vnd€vana.
Nanda B€b€ knew this fact. Therefore, when KŠa met with him
after killing Kaˆsa, He whispered in his ear, “Don’t be upset. I will
come. After destroying Jar€sandha and all the other demons I will
come. I must come. But if I come now Jar€sandha will know, and
after some time his soldiers will attack the Vrajav€s…s. Everything in
Vnd€vana would be destroyed, and I would not be able to save you.
There is no fort, no army—nothing.”
There was yet another reason. Vasudeva and Devak… knew very
clearly that if a person goes anywhere for a job or duty, he will return
to his original place after that duty is completed. Similarly, KŠa
came from Vnd€vana. If He returned to Vnd€vana, He would never
come back to Mathur€ and Dv€rak€. If He were to say, “I am going
to Indraprastha, I’m going to Mithila, I’m going here and there,” they
would never object. They would say, “All right, You may go, and return
very quickly.” If, however, He requested permission from Devak…
and Vasudeva, “I want to go quickly to Vnd€vana, and then I will
return,” they would become very worried and begin to weep—not
saying anything and not giving permission. Why not? Vnd€vana is
rasamayi-bhumi (the land of loving mellow exchanges). They know
that KŠa would not be going there to complete any duty or job; and
He would become totally absorbed in rasa. KŠa is Himself rasa (the
embodiment of the mellow taste of loving affairs), and all the gopas and
gop…s are also rasa. Therefore He would not return. So if KŠa were to
ask, “May I go?” they would begin to weep bitterly. Not only Devak…
and Vasudeva, but all the Mathur€vas…s would weep, “We will die
today.” This is why, although He sometimes wants to go, He cannot.
Come With Me to Vnd€vana
113
If KŠa would sometimes go to Vnd€vana and meet with the
Vrajav€s…s He could then easily return, because Vnd€vana is only
a distance of two fingers from Mathur€—the two places border
each other. They are so near. Besides this, He can even go to Goloka
Vnd€vana, Mithila, or Dv€rak€ in a moment. Why then could He
not go in an hour or two to Vnd€vana? He never went. Why? If He
went for a moment, the separation mood of the gop…s and gopas would
increase lakhs and lakhs of times. It would not subside. Why? If there
is a flame in a lamp, it may be extinguished by a little wind. However,
if the fire is very big, like a forest fire, can it be subsided by the wind?
It will increase more and more.
The separation fire in the hearts of the gop…s and gopas is like this.
It is not like a very little ghee-lamp flame, which will subside. If you
put a frying pan on a stove it becomes reddish, and if at that time
you put one drop of water on it, what will happen? ‘Chhhhhhhunt.’ If
that splash touches you anywhere you will be burnt. The fire of the
separation mood in Vnd€vana is like this. If KŠa goes there for a
moment, or for one or two days, it will burn the Vrajav€s…s more. And
when He again leaves they will die at once. Therefore He does not
return to Vnd€vana.
Opposing Moods of Mathur€ and Vnd€vana
Someone may say that KŠa should bring His father, mother, and all
the gop…s, sakhas and gopas to Mathur€. But this would create a very
difficult situation. There would be some danger. What danger? Rasasankata;
the danger of overlapping rasas, or contradiction of mellows.
In Vnd€vana, KŠa is like a cowherd boy. He is only the son of
Nanda B€b€, without shoes or umbrella, and He serves all the cows,
Nanda B€b€ and Yaod€. In Mathur€ He has no flute, no stick, and
He is not a cowherd boy. There He is a very powerful katriya king.
What kind of king? He is like an emperor, or rather like an Emperor
of emperors. No one can challenge Him there. In Vnd€vana all the
Vrajav€s…s challenge Him. So what would happen if the Vrajavas…s
came to Mathur€? Would KŠa be able to keep His peacock feather
on His head and His flute in His hand? What would He say if Nanda
B€b€ comes? Whom would He address as father and mother? Devak…
and Vasudeva, or Yaod€ and Nanda B€b€? And with whom would
He spend the night? With the gop…s, or with Satyabh€m€ and Rukmin…?
They would all fight.
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
114
®r…mad-Bh€gavatam (10.43.17) states, that in Mathur€, KŠa is
para-devata, Lord of lords, for all the Y€davas. Para-devata means
vninaˆ para-devateti. He is King of kings and worshipable by all
the Mathur€vas…s. In Vnd€vana He is svajana—simply the son of
Nanda B€b€, simply the friend of the cowherd boys, and simply the
beloved of the gop…s. He is not para-devat€. No gopa would worship
Him. Yaod€maiy€ never worshipped Him, and the gop…s can only
worship Him with abuses. They say to Him, “You are k€l€, black. You
are a lampata, womanizer, a cora, thief, and You are black-hearted.”
This is their worship. If all the gop…s go to Mathur€ and abuse KŠa
in this way in front of all the Y€davas, what would happen? There
would be no solution at all.
In Mathur€, KŠa is worshipable by all the Y€davas, and even
by Uddhava, Akr™ra and King Ugrasena. But in Vnd€vana, gopas
like ®r…d€ma and Subala climb up on His shoulders and say, “O, my
horse, go on, go on,” and call out, “Eh, eh, quickly, quickly, quickly,
run!” However, if ®r…d€ma and Subala were to go to Mathur€ and
make KŠa be like a horse in front of all the Y€davas, there would
be a big problem.
Devak… and Vasudeva cannot accept praŠ€ma, obeisances, from
KŠa. Why not? They believe that He is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, and therefore they have awe and reverence for Him. They
have seen His four-armed form. In Vnd€vana, on the other hand,
Nanda B€b€ tells KŠa, “O, bring my paduka (shoes)”. KŠa will put
those shoes on His head and come dancing. If Nanda B€b€ is there in
Mathur€ and, in front of all the Y€davas, orders KŠa, “O my son,
You should bring my shoes,” will He bring those shoes? He will be
confused about what to do.
Moreover, in Vnd€vana, KŠa is with all the gop…s, like R€dhik€,
Lalit€, Vi€kh€ and others. Can He sit with R€dhik€ or perform r€sa-l…l€
in Mathur€, in front of the Y€dus? Can He massage the feet of R€dhik€
in front of them? He cannot. This is rasa-sankula, a contradiction of
mellows. How would KŠa be able to reconcile all these things? He
would be in a dilemma. Therefore He does not bring anyone from
Vnd€vana.
KŠa is thinking, “What should I do?” Due to circumstances,
He cannot go to Vnd€vana. However, if He sometimes sends His
messenger to pacify His father and mother, then, at the same time,
that messenger can learn something there. This is the most important
reason for KŠa’s sending Uddhava—so that he can be admitted in
Come With Me to Vnd€vana
115
the school of the gop…s. Here Lalit€ and Vi€kh€ are the teachers and ®r…
mat… R€dhik€ Herself is the principal. KŠa is thinking that Uddhava
should be admitted there and learn the truths about their prema.
Although he can only try to learn, but not realize these truths, still he
should go and be admitted. He need only know two and half letters.
He cannot know all the svara and vyۖjan (consonants and vowels) of
Vnd€vana; he can never learn that. He need only know two and half
letters—prema (prema, written in the Sanskrit alphabet, has two and a
half letters). In English there is no word like this. In the word ‘l-o-v-e,’
there are four letters. In this way, KŠa sent Uddhava so that he would
learn something about prema. KŠa considered, “When this messenger
becomes qualified, he will come back here and I will be able to share
some of My sufferings with him. Therefore he should be sent.” His main
purpose in sending Uddhava was not that He required a messenger.
He wanted Uddhava to realize a little something. “When he returns I
can weep; and he will realize why I’m weeping and why I’m suffering.
Then I can distribute some of My suffering to him.”
Understanding these Elevated Topics
We should begin from the beginning:
v€co vegaˆ manasaƒ krodha-vegaˆ
jihv€-vegam udaropastha-vegam
et€n veg€n yo viaheta dh…raƒ
sarv€m ap…maˆ pthiv…ˆ sa iy€t
(Upade€mta 1)
“A wise and self-composed person who can subdue the impetus to
speak, the agitation of the mind, the onset of anger, the vehemence
of the tongue, the urge of the belly and the agitation of the genitals
can instruct the entire world. In other words, all persons may become
disciples of such a self-controlled person.”
dad€ti pratighŠ€ti
guhyam €khy€ti pcchati
bhu‰kte bhojayate caiva
a-vidhaˆ pr…ti-lakaŠam
(Upade€mta 4)
“Offering pure devotees items in accordance with their requirements,
accepting pr€sad… or remnant items given by pure devotees, revealing
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
116
to devotees one’s confidential realisations concerning bhajana, eating
with great love the pr€sada remnants given by devotees and lovingly
feeding them pr€sada—these are the six symptoms of loving association
with devotees”.
There are so many important principles here. Then:
tan-n€ma-r™pa-carit€di-suk…rtan€nusm
tyoƒ krameŠa rasan€-manas… niyojya
ti˜han vraje tad-anur€gi jan€nug€m…
k€laˆ nayed akhilam ity upadea-s€ram
(Upade€mta 8)
“While living in Vraja as a follower of the eternal residents of Vraja
who possess inherent spontaneous love for ®r… KŠa, one should
utilize all his time by sequentially engaging the tongue and the mind
in meticulous chanting and rememberance of KŠa’s names, form,
qualities and pastimes. This is the essence of all instruction.”
(After the lecture a drama was performed from Bhad-bh€gavat€mta. In the
drama, KŠa in Dv€rak€ was feeling so much separation from the Vrajavas…s
that He was not able to perform any of His daily duties. He fainted and was
then taken to Nava Vnd€vana (in Dv€rak€) and dressed as a gopa with
peacock feather and flute. When He regained consciousness He spoke to murtis
of the Vrajavas…s. The Dv€rak€vas…s who witnessed this were all astonished.
After the drama ®r…la Mah€r€ja expressed his appreciation and commented
on the significance of the play:)
Really, KŠa is so beautiful in Vnd€vana. By comparison He is
not beautiful in Dv€rak€. Vrajendra-nandana KŠa is lakhs and lakhs
times more beautiful than Dv€rak€dhia KŠa. Even Padm€, an old
lady of 110 years (mother of Kaˆsa and chaste wife of King Ugrasena),
was filled with lust and wanted to embrace KŠa, what to speak of
others. Satyamabh€m€, Rukmin… and all the other queens lost their
composure. KŠa is so beautiful—the essence of all the beauty. He is
manmata manmata, the Cupid of cupids.
P a r t II
Explainations of Songs by
®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
118
®r… N€ma K…rtana
®r… N€ma K…rtana
yaomat…-nandana, braja-baro-n€gara,
gokula-rañjana k€na
gop…-par€Ša-dhana, madana-manohara,
k€l…ya-damana-vidh€na (1)
amala harin€m amiya-vil€s€
vipina-purandara, nav…na n€gara-vara,
vaˆ…-vadana suv€sa (2)
vraja-jana-p€lana, asura-kula-n€ana
nanda-godhana-r€khow€l€
govinda m€dhava, navan…ta-taskara,
sundara nanda-gop€l€ (3)
y€muna-ta˜a-cara, gop…-vasanahara,
r€sa-rasika, kp€maya
r…-r€dh€-ballabha, vnd€vana-na˜avara,
bhakativinoda-€raya (4)
(1) KŠa is Yaod€maiy€’s beloved son and the topmost lover in
Vrajabh™mi. As K€na (an affectionate nick-name) He delights Gokula
and is the wealth of the life of the gop…s. He is an inveterate thief, stealing
the hearts of all, and He punishes the K€l…ya serpent.
(2) These spotless holy names are filled with all of KŠa’s sweet
pastimes. He is the King (purandara—Indra) of all the forests of Vraja.
He is the ever fresh and ever youthful lover, always wearing very
beautiful garments and holding the flute to His mouth.
(3) He always protects the Vrajav€s…s, destroys the demons, and tends
Nanda B€b€’s cows. As Govinda He gives pleasure to the cows, the
land, gopas, gop…s, and the senses. As M€dhava He is the husband of
the topmost Lakm…—®r…mat… R€dhik€. He’s always stealing butter
(the prema of the Vrajav€s…s) to increase their love for Him, and He is
the beautiful son of Nanda B€b€.
(4) Roaming along the banks of the Yamun€, He stole the clothes
of the very young gop…s. He is the enjoyer of the r€sa dance and the
®r… N€ma K…rtan
119
embodiment of mercy. He is most beloved to ®r…mat… R€dhik€ and is
the most expert dancer in Vnd€vana. Bhaktivinoda wants to take
shelter of this KŠa!
Sweet Names of KŠa
When you sing, try to understand the meanings. Among all k…rtanas,
®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura’s Yaomat…-Nandana and vibh€var… ea
aloka-pravea nidr€ ch€ri’ u˜ho j…va, bolo hari hari mukunda mur€ri r€ma
kŠa hayagr…va are very elevated. At the time of Prabhupada ®r…la
Bhaktisiddh€nta Sarasvat… μh€kura, not everyone was allowed to
sing these k…rtanas. Only very advanced devotees used to sing them,
otherwise they were not sung. The moods are so high.
Yaomat…-Nandana is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, KŠa,
covered with m€dhurya (sweet human-like pastimes). Here He is not
addressed as the Supreme Personality; only Yaomat…-Nandana. He
is not even addressed as Nanda-nandana. Nanda-nandana is such a
sweet name, but I think that Yaomat…-Nandana is more sweet. Why?
The devotion and vatsalya love of Yaod€ is superior to that of Nanda
B€b€. The two cannot actually be compared, but when we are in ta˜astha
(the neutral position), we can compare them. From the point of view
of every associate in Vraja, their specific rasa is most superior.
Who is Yaomat…-Nandana? He is that KŠa who is controlled by
Yaod€, and always weeping for butter and chapatis. Although He
weeps, sometimes Yaod€ says, “I will not take You in my lap, and I
will never give You milk.” KŠa throws Himself down, rolls on the
earth and cries, “Mother, mother, maiyeri maiyeri. Main duda piyunga.
I will drink milk”. Yaod€ replies, “Oh, You cannot come in my lap. I
will never take You in my lap and I will never give You milk. You have
now become a thief, a robber. I will never give You milk.”
KŠa is bitterly weeping. Sometimes N€rada comes, sees this
scene and thinks, “Oh, how fortunate is Yaod€. Even though KŠa is
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, she thinks He is her own son.”
She takes hold of KŠa and warns Him, “You should not do that.”
Chastising Him she says, “I will not give You milk.”’ In ®r… N€rada’s
eyes, KŠa is not Yaod€-nandana. He is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, sarva-k€rana-k€ranam, the cause of all causes. N€rada has
never seen this in his life, and now he is seeing it in Vraja.
Sometimes Yaod€ binds KŠa to a grinding mortar. And
afterwards, she weeps for hours and hours.
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
120
It is due to Yaod€ that ®r…mat… R€dhik€ comes to the house of
Nanda B€b€ to, cook and she engages R€dhik€ in that service. When
R€dhik€ comes to her house, she supports and nourishes Her even
more than she does KŠa. Sometimes Yaod€ gives Her something to
eat and R€dhik€ becomes shy. Yaod€ asks, “O, why are You shy? You
are my daughter. You are just as dear to me as KŠa. Don’t think there
is any difference. I love You even more than Your mother, K…rtik€.”
Do you know that Yaod€ is more than K…rtik€? K…rtik€ loves
R€dhik€, but not as much as Yaod€ does. Yaod€ always loves Her—
not as a daughter, but as a newly married daughter-in-law. Yaod€
wants R€dh€ and KŠa to marry, and that is why she has so much love
for Her. I think that if we do a comparative study we will see that she
loves R€dhik€ even more than she loves KŠa. Without Yaod€ there
could be no sweet pastimes. She arranges Their meeting, as though she
does not know anything and is not aware of Their loving exchanges.
Vraja-baro-n€gara. Who is He? Yaod€-Nandana. N€gara and
n€gari, lover and beloved. KŠa played everywhere and He is the
topmost beloved of all the gop…s.
Gokula-rañjana-k€na. Gokula, gopa kula samuha. Samuhe means
all groups: groups of all gopas, groups of all gop…s, groups of all
cows, groups of all cowherd boys, and groups of all the calves. What
transpires in Gokula? Everywhere KŠa plays and performs vil€sa. He
goes cowherding, but why does He go? There is some ulterior motive.
He considers, “If I go this way everyone will be sure that I’m going
to herd cows.” But why is He actually going? Only to meet with the
gop…s. To meet directly, as in Western countries, is not very good. But
meeting in a stealthy way, hiding and meeting, makes KŠa so happy.
The gop…s come with much struggle and great difficulty, not caring at
all for their fathers, mothers, fathers-in-law, neighbors and so on. In
this way KŠa meets them. He performs r€sa with them, and that is
why He is n€gara. Who is k€na? Kanhaiy€ is KŠacandra Himself.
Gop…-par€Ša-dhana. Gop…-pr€Ša-dhana. KŠa is the life and soul
of the gop…s, and the gop…s are also the life and soul of KŠa. Both are
true. Without KŠa the gop…s cannot remain alive. Do you know what
became of the gop…s when KŠa went to Mathur€? We can touch upon
only a little of this confidential subject matter. I want to tell more but I
cannot. I will keep it for future years. I can’t fully explain it in one year.
For several years—two, four, six, eight years—it will be continued.
Yaod€ is also a gop…. All cowherd women, both young and old, are
gop…s. However Lalit€, Vi€kh€ and all others like them are especially
®r… N€ma K…rtan
121
referred to in this context. What is the meaning of gop…? One who can
keep KŠa so secretly in her heart. She who cannot take KŠa out of
her heart is a gop….
Madana-Manohara. KŠa is the Cupid of cupid of cupid of cupid.
He is manmata manmatah. ®r…mat… R€dhik€ is cupida. Cupida means one
who is many l€khs times more enchanting than the Cupid of cupids.
K€l…ya-damana-vidh€na means the punisher of the K€l…ya serpent.
It is curious why ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura has brought this k€l…yadamana-
vidh€na. Previously he was only referring to sweet pastimes,
so why has he brought poison here? Actually it is not poison. In this
pastime KŠa was able to trick the gop…s and bring them near for the
first time. This was the first occasion. The gop…s were six or seven and
KŠa was eight years old. KŠa desired, “O, you should see how
brave I am.” He danced on the hoods of K€l…ya only to show them,
“How qualified and brave I am”. Therefore k€l…ya-damana-vidh€na is
not a very dangerous or harsh pastime.
Amala harin€m amiya-vil€s€. Why has ®r…la Bhaktivinoda
μh€kura brought in this harin€ma? What is the use? KŠa has invested
His full power, sweetness and all His nectarean pastimes in His name.
If you chant harin€ma, Yaomat…-Nandana will come, braja-baro-n€gara,
gokula-rañjana, k€na, and gop…-par€Ša-dhana will all come. They are all
present in harin€ma if you are chanting pure name with a relation to
KŠa. What relation? “KŠa is my pr€na-dhana, the wealth of my
life”—with that relation. Then all the pastimes that I explained will be
very quickly manifested in your heart. This is the process.
Amala harin€ma. You should not think that these are only words.
Amala means pure, amiya means €mta, nectar, and vil€s€ means dancing
and singing in r€sa, playing on swings while everyone sings m€l€-
r€ga and so many other tunes. Sometimes KŠa controls the swing
Himself. R€dhik€ is sitting on the swing and He takes Her very high
without supporting Her. She becomes afraid and cries out, “Oh, stop!
Stop! Stop!” But KŠa does not stop. Her veil and garments begin
to fly, and in Her fear She embraces KŠa very tightly. KŠa wants
this. This is amiya-vil€s€. There are many kinds of vil€s€, as they are
written in Govinda-l…l€mta and other books, and all these amiya-vil€s€
are invested in harin€ma.
Vipina-purandara nav…na n€gara-vara. Vipina-purandara. KŠa is
the Indra of Vnd€vana. Indra here means superior. One of the names
of KŠa is Indra, and He has given this name to the demigod Indra.
KŠa’s name is also R€ma, and He has distributed it somewhat to
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
122
Balar€ma and D€arathi R€macandra. All the names in the entire
world belong to KŠa. Who is dharan…-dhara? KŠa, and He has given
it to šnantadeva. Whose name is Baladeva? It is KŠa’s. But He has
distributed that and all His names to many others.
Vipina-purandara nav…na n€gara-vara. KŠa is ever-fresh and
new. Therefore R€dhik€ tells Lalit€, “O Lalite, can you tell Me who is
that black person? I’ve never seen Him before in My whole life. Who
is that person now playing on the flute? And who is the boy in that
picture painted by Citra? Oh, now I want to commit suicide. Surely I
will commit suicide because Indian ladies are very chaste, but I have
divided My love and affection among three persons. One person is He
who plays sweetly on His flute, another is that black person I have just
seen, and the third is the one in this picture. In this way there are three
personalities. So I must die. I must die.” Lalit€ told Her, “You should
not die. The black person, the one who plays on His flute and the
person who is in this picture are one and the same. So You should not
die.” KŠa is therefore nava-navaya m€na—always nav…na n€gara vara.
Vaˆ… vadana suv€sa. Vaˆ… vandan. There is always a flute on
KŠa’s lips. Even when He sleeps it is close by. Or He may put it in His
sash and then sleep. From His birth to the time He left Vnd€vana, He
could not give up His flute for a moment. When He went to Mathur€
He kept His flute with ®r…mat… R€dhik€. Weeping and weeping He told
Her, “When I return, You should give My flute back to Me.”
Suv€s€. KŠa wears a peacock feather on His head, His form is
three-fold bending, His eyes are very crooked and His cheeks are very
beautiful, very beautiful. There is no comparison to His beauty. KŠa
can only be compared to Himself.
Vraja-jana p€lana. KŠa supports all Vrajav€s…s. How? He kills
P™tan€, Agh€sura, B€kasura, Kaˆsa and all other demons. He also
supports everyone with love and affection. Asura-kula-n€ana. He
destroyed all the demons, by His sweet pastimes. Nanda-godhanar€
khov€l€. He always protects nanda-godhana, the cows of Nanda B€b€
and others.
Govinda m€dhava navan…ta-taskara sundara nanda-gop€l€.
Indra gave KŠa the name Govinda because He always loves all the
gopas, gop…s and everyone else. M€dhava means that He is the husband
of M€dhav…, R€dhik€. Here M€ or M€dhav… does not mean Lakm…;
R€dhik€ is superior to Lakm…, as are all the gop…s.
Navan…ta-taskara. KŠa has so much hunger and greed to take
the butter of all the gop…s. Even when His mother keeps butter for
®r… N€ma K…rtan
123
Him, He steals anyway. If one gop… offers Him butter He says, “I am
not hungry. I don’t want it.” As soon as she leaves, however, He very
quickly enters her house and steals it.
Y€muna-ta˜a-cara. KŠa is always walking on the banks of the
Yamun€. Why? He has promised the gop…s, “I will go there and you
should also go there. I will meet you all there in the early morning.”
He is always waiting there for all the gop…s, and the gop…s may also wait
there for Him. Then they perform so many pastimes together.
Gop…-vasanahara. KŠa took the garments of the gop…s, and there
was no shame in this. They were very young—some were about three
or four, some were older, and KŠa Himself was about seven years
old. So there was no lust. They were bathing naked in the Yamun€
when KŠa said, “Oh, You should not do this. It will be an offense
to VaruŠadeva, the god of the rivers”. Perhaps KŠa wanted to test
them, to see, “If I instruct them, will they obey Me or not?” Why did
KŠa take the gop…s garments? Only highly elevated devotees who are
following the gop…s can know and understand the answer. We cannot
understand. Whatever KŠa instructs them to do, they will do.
But we cannot even obey our gurudeva. Gurudeva will tell us, “You
should do it that way.” And we reply, “If I cannot do it, then what?”
When Gurudeva says, “Jump,” you should do that. You should know
what your gurudeva wants and act accordingly. If you do not, then
you are a baka, crane. The crane stands on one leg, as if performing
severe austerities, as if he is one-pointed. Why? Not to obey a higher
authority—only to catch fish. Similarly, if a disciple does not obey his
gurudeva he is like this. One should know the will and inner mood of
his gurudeva, and act accordingly. I always knew what my Gurudeva
wanted without his telling me and I would follow his will. There was
a disciple of my Gurudeva named šnanda prabhu who was junior
to me. When I was engaged in Mathur€, he also served him there. He
knew exactly when Gurudeva wanted water, and what kind of water
he wanted. He knew when to fan him, when to massage him and so
on. He knew his heart. If a disciple does not know his gurudeva’s heart
he is not a sevaka, servant. He should know gurudeva’s heart and act
accordingly. We see, however, that disciples have so many problems—
newer and newer problems daily. The guru has to tolerate so much. The
disciples may quarrel among themselves, and they may even quarrel
with gurudeva himself. Such disciples are like the baka. We should try
instead to be sevakas.
R€sa-rasika, kp€maya. Kpamaya means that KŠa is full of
mercy. By His causeless mercy He performed r€sa-l…l€ to bring all the
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
124
gop…s. The gop…s are transcendental, but He was very kind to sprinkle
His mercy. Because of this, people all over the world can hear these
pastimes, develop greed, and then follow the process to attain Vrajabhakti.
If there was no r€sa, we could not have imagined the love of
KŠa and the gop…s. Therefore, out of His mercy, KŠa called all the
gop…s with His flute.
Sr…-r€dh€-vallabha vnd€vana-na˜avara. R€dh€-vallabha means
He is the only beloved of ®r…mat… R€dhik€. There is no better adjective
for KŠa than R€dh€-vallabha. Vnd€vana-na˜avara means He is na˜a
vara, the best dancer of Vnd€vana, and He dances everywhere in the
hearts of all the gop…s.
Bhakativinoda-€raya. ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura is telling,
“This very KŠa is my €raya, my shelter. May He kindly always be
manifest in my heart.”
I have given only a very little outline of the meaning of this k…rtana.
Perhaps all pastimes will come in this. So try to do k…rtana in this way.
®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura always spends his nights singing and
continually weeping. Sometimes he makes pur…s and kacor…s, thinking,
“KŠa is now performing r€sa, and afterwards He will come here. So
I should cook these”. His internal mood was that of a gop…. This is our
objective. Try to follow all these proper practices and become very
high-class devotees. Don’t be attached to worldly things, especially
to your anger, lust and problems. Try to keep your feet on the head
of problems. Take a broom daily and try to chastise your mind. The
mind is the only atru, enemy. Others are not atru.
125
Gurudeva, Kp€-bindu Diy€
From ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura’s ®aran€gati
(®r…la Gurudeva asked Bankibih€ri Prabhu to explain the meaning of the song
“Gurudeva, kp€-bindu diy€.”)
BB: Gurudeva! Give me a drop of mercy, make me your servant.
O lord, make me more humble than a blade of grass.
®r…la Mah€r€ja: If anyone insults you, what will you do?
BB: I’ll try not to fight.
®r…la Mah€r€ja: Speak from your heart.
BB: I would try to realize that this is coming from my own karma,
from my own previous abuse of others. And I would try to take it that
this is working that out, and it will be gone now, and from now on I
will not repeat my mistake.
®r…la Mah€r€ja: But if anyone is insulting you, will you insult him
in return, tit for tat? What you will do?
BB: I’ll try to not insult him in return, and not continue the cycle.
®r…la Mah€r€ja: Someone may not be in the cycle. He may tolerate
the insults, but at the same time vow in his mind, “I will have no
connection with this person, otherwise he will insult me.” He may
not honor the other, but rather boycott and say, “I will not be with a
person like him.” Is this good or bad?
BB: It’s bad, because one is not taking responsibility for his own
karma which has brought this about. Instead he is retaliating, but in
a secret way.
®r…la Mah€r€ja: If that other person is an advanced devotee,
serving guru and VaiŠavas, should you honor him or not? Should
you associate with him or not? Bhaktivinoda μh€kura is praying from
his heart, “O Gurudeva, please bless me that I can be so tolerant that,
sakale samm€na korite akati, I will honor others with my heart.” Try
to realize this. It is very important. Suppose a high-caliber VaiŠava
like ®r… Abhir€ma Gosv€m… chastises you. Do you know Abhir€ma
Gosv€m…? He had a very powerful whip. When he was happy with
someone’s activities and service, he touched him with his whip, and
by this he gave that person his full mercy—the realization of prema.
So you should try to honor and associate with pure devotees. If they
want to help you, they will chastise or do anything to you. Otherwise,
they will neglect you as if to say, “He can go to hell, as he likes.”
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
126
®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura therefore prays: sakale samm€na korite
akati deha n€tha. I should honor all others. In what way? According
to their stage of advancement in spiritual life. You should not give
a kani˜ha-adhik€r… the respect of an uttama-adhik€r…. If you give this
improper respect, then you do not know anything. And if you do not
honor high-class devotees according to their qualities, then you may
commit so many offenses. ®r…la Bhaktivinoda Th€kura therefore prays
to Gurudeva, “O Gurudeva, I don’t know how to properly respect all
VaiŠavas. Please give me this quality by your causeless mercy, so that
I can realize how to give proper respect. In this way I will be able to
reconcile any problem.” I told so much in my class, and those who are
fortunate will realize all these things.
sakale samm€na korite akati
deha n€tha! jath€jatha
tabe to’ gaibo harin€ma sukhe
apar€dha habe hata
kabe heno kp€ labhiy€ e jana
kt€rtha hoibe n€tha!
akti-buddhi-h…na €mi ati d…na
koro more €tma-s€tha
BB: I am so fallen and wretched, I have no intelligence, Gurudeva...
®r…la Mah€r€ja: Should one tell this from his heart, or outwardly
only? Is ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura telling this from the core of his
heart, or is he only singing?
BB: Gurudeva has such high qualities, so much intelligence, and
so much understanding of how to become like him, to understand his
heart and to actually make one’s heart like that—through following.
jogyat€-vic€re kichu n€hi p€i
tom€ra koruŠ€ s€ra
karuŠ€ n€ hoile k€‰diy€ k€‰diy€
pr€Ša n€ r€khiba €ra
From the core of his heart he says that he doesn’t find any good qualities
in himself. Actually we are full of anarthas. Practically speaking, we
are made only of anarthas. Gurudeva mercifully drives those anarthas
away and replaces them with all good qualities.
®r…la Mah€r€ja: What is he praying?
Gurudeva, kp€-bindu diy€
127
BB: He’s praying, “Please, please do this for me,” and he’s weeping.
In a very deep and serious way he feels, “I would rather give up my
life than go on being without your mercy and full of anarthas.”
®r…la Mah€r€ja: The devotee thinks in this mood, “I have no
qualification at all. I’m really not a VaiŠava, but I want to be a VaiŠava,
and honor all VaiŠavas.” If this mood is there, there will be no friction,
quarrel, or misunderstanding between devotees, and no problems at
all. I have come to give this point to all devotees.
We should not think, “Oh, he’s my Gurudeva.” Someone with a
different guru thinks, “He’s my Gurudeva, and we are in this group.”
Someone else thinks, “We are in this group.” A pure devotee never
thinks like this. His love and affection are transcendental, above that
of all kani˜ha-adhik€r…s. He gives everyone respect according to their
devotion. He never thinks, “He’s rich, he’s poor. He’s not giving me
money; but another is giving me so much money and helping me with
worldly things.” How does he think? He gives respect according to
others’ level of devotion.
®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu used to give respect like this. All our
guru-varga would love and honor others according to their grade of
love and affection for KŠa and gurudeva. A qualified guru never
thinks, “He is my disciple, he is the disciple of another guru, he is
the disciple of ®r…la Prabhup€da, he is the disciple of ®r…la ®r…dhara
Mah€r€ja, Bon Mah€r€ja or anyone else.” He never thinks, “He’s my
disciple and therefore I have special affection and mercy for him; but
he’s a disciple of Sw€m… Bhaktived€nta, so he is not welcome here, he
should be kept far away.” He gives proper respect to all, as it is told
here: sakale samm€na korite akati deha n€tha. Sakale means `not only in
my group.’
Any qualified devotee cannot be like this. He is above all this. We,
third-class, bogus kani˜ha-adhik€r…s, however, cannot consider that we
should give proper respect to everyone according to their level of love
and affection for KŠa, ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu, ®r… Nity€nanda
Prabhu and for devotees. If any problem comes, we should remember
guru and VaiŠavas and try to reconcile all things, never quarrel with
each other. Otherwise €rati will be performed outwardly, with the
ghee lamp, but not with the heart; and that gurudeva may not accept
our worship. One may say, “Oh, very good. His €rati was performed
with five ghee wicks, but the other devotee used one ghee wick. So
his €rati is not good. Another did it with seven ghee wicks. Seven. But
he is doing it with only one. He’s not respecting me, and where is the
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
128
donation? There is no donation here? He gave flowers, but no money.
He at once gave me 100 dollars but the other person gave nothing.
He’s not a good devotee.”
A high-class guru never thinks like this. He knows his disciple’s
heart and how much affection he has for ®r… Guru, VaiŠavas, ®r…
Gaur€‰ga, ®r… Nity€nanda Prabhu and ®r… ®r… R€dh€-KŠa. If the
disciple is not doing €rati with the lamp, no harm. He will do it by his
eyes, and gurudeva will accept all offerings of €rati by his eyes. This is
actually €rati. A devotee or disciple should be like this.
If a guru is in the highest class, he will not be happy if his disciples
quarrel with other devotees. Our community should be very elevated.
We should try to respect each other. If anyone rebukes us, no harm. We
should think, “It is my karma and it is due to my past birth.” Or, we
can understand that, “KŠa has arranged this to teach us tolerance.”
We should try to realize all these teachings. Then my coming to New
Vraja will be successful.
129
štma-nivedanam
From ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura’s ®aran€gati
€m€ra’ bolite prabhu! €re kichu n€i
tumi-i €m€ra m€tro pit€-bandhu-bh€i
Nothing remains “mine”. Father, friend, brother—You are even these
to me.
bandhu, d€r€, suta, sut€—tava d€s… d€s
sei to’ sambandhe sabe €m€ra pray€s
Those whom I called friends, wife, sons, and daughters are all Your
servants and maidservants. Whatever care I take is only as it relates
to You.
dhana, jana, grha, d€ra ‘tom€ra’ boliy€
rakh€ kori €mi m€tro sevaka hoiy€
If I continue to maintain my wealth, wife, family members, home, it
is because they are Yours. I am a mere servant.
tom€ra k€ryera tore up€rjibo dhan
tom€ra saˆs€re-vyaya koribo bahan
For Your service I will earn money and bear the expense of Your
household.
bh€lo-manda n€hi j€ni seb€ m€tro kor
tom€ra saˆs€re €mi viaya-prahar…i
I know neither good nor bad. I merely serve. I am but a watchman
who guards the properties in Your household.
tom€ra icch€ya mora indriya-c€lan€
r€vaŠa, darana, ghr€Ša, bhojana-b€san€
The exercising of my senses—hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting,
touching—is done according to Your desire.
nija-sukha l€gi’ kichu n€hi kori €r
bhakativinoda bole, tava sukha-s€r
I no longer do anything for my own pleasure. Bhaktivinoda says,
“Your happiness is the essence of everything.”
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
130
Try to hear this explanation very attentively. ®r…la Bhaktivinoda
μh€kura has written this especially for married persons, for both lady
devotees and male devotees. Try to follow it in your daily routine.
From today you can make a vow like this—if you really want to be
a devotee. ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura is our ik€-guru—more than
our d…k€-guru.
Only Serve Those Who Serve KŠa
If a wife is not KŠa conscious, should we support her or not? If a
father is not in the line of bhakti, we should have no relationship with
him. If a husband is not chanting and remembering, and instead
he is thinking, “I am not the eternal servant of KŠa,” we should
have no relationship with him. All our relationships must depend
on whether a relative or friend thinks himself an eternal servant of
KŠa, and whether he is also acting as one. Then we can totally serve
him. Otherwise, we can even give up our guru, as B€li Mah€r€ja did.
B€li Mah€r€ja gave up his Gurudeva, ®ukr€c€rya. Disciples are not
the property of gurudeva. All disciples are the property of KŠa and
Mah€prabhu. Some gurus think that their disciples are their own
property, and that is why they are going to hell.
All the gop…s left their husbands. Bharata Mah€r€ja, the brother of
R€ma, left his mother in a moment. As soon as he knew that she was
against R€ma, he at once gave her up. Vibhiana promptly left his
brother, R€vaŠa, who was making a plan to quarrel with R€ma. He left
him at once. We see that all these devotees were happy. Therefore, all
our relationships should be centered only in relation to KŠa’s service.
There was a person who was very friendly with me. I saw that
he was initiated by ®r…la Bhaktived€nta Swam… Mah€r€ja, your
Prabhup€da; so I was also on very friendly terms with him. When he
first came to me he was renounced, but later he gave up his devotional
practices, like chanting, and became like a M€y€v€d…. He continued
coming to me in a friendly way, but I told him, “Our friendship was
only based on KŠa consciousness. Now, if you are not following, we
can have no friendship at all. Not even for a moment will I have any
relationship with you.” If we want to develop our KŠa consciousness,
our relationships should be based on service to KŠa.
R€vaŠa was a worshipper of ®a‰kara, Lord ®iva, and he offered
his head to him in a fire sacrifice. ®iva became very happy and gave
him ten heads. Although ®iva was always very pleased with R€vaŠa,
štma-nivedanam
131
when R€vaŠa kidnapped S…t€ and became opposed to R€ma, ®a‰kara,
Mah€deva, at once left him. ®iva never supported him in the battle and
R€vaŠa was killed by R€ma. Kaˆsa, Bhasmasura and so many other
demons were also worshipping ®a‰kara. ®a‰kara can give anything,
even kŠa-prema, and they were worshipping him. When they became
offenders to KŠa or R€ma, however, ®a‰kara at once left them and
they were killed.
In conclusion, if you want to be a good devotee, your relations
should be on this basis. Our honor to VaiŠavas and guru-bhai,
godbrothers, will depend on how much faith they have in gurudeva
and pure VaiŠavas, and how advanced they are in bhakti. We should
not think, “He’s my Godbrother. Even if he’s committing offenses, still
he’s my Godbrother and he’s superior to all others.” Never think like
this. Anyone who is chanting and remembering is in our Gaura family.
He may be in ®r… Nity€nanda’s family, ®r…mat… J€hnav€’s family, ®r…
®y€m€nanda’s family, ®r…la Narottama d€sa μh€kura’s family, or any
devotee’s family. A person may be our most bosom friend, but if he is
not in KŠa consciousness, we have nothing to do with him. If you
make friendship with him, you will be degraded.
Try to follow these words in ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura’s song,
which are especially helpful for ghastha-bhaktas. By following this, all
doubts will go away.

133
M€n€sa Deha Geha
Mind, Body, and Home
From ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura’s ®aran€gati
m€n€sa, deho, geho, jo kichu mor
arpiluñ tuw€ pade, nanda-kiora!
Mind, body, and family, whatever may be mine, I have surrendered
at Your lotus feet, O youthful son of Nanda!
sampade vipade, j…vane-maraŠe
d€y mama gel€, tuw€ o-pada baraŠe
In good fortune or in bad, in life or at death, all my difficulties have
disappeared by choosing those feet of Yours as my only shelter.
m€robi r€khobi—jo icch€ toh€r€
nitya-d€sa prati tuw€ adhik€r€
Slay me or protect me as You wish, for You are the master of Your
eternal servant.
janm€obi moe icch€ jadi tor
bhakta-ghe jani janma hau mor
If it is Your will that I be born again, then may it be in the home of
Your devotee.
k…˜a-janma hau jath€ tuw€ d€sa
bahir-mukha brahma janme n€hi €a
May I be born again even as a worm, so long as I may remain Your
devotee. I have no desire to be born as a Brahm€ averse to You.
bhukti-mukti-sph€ vih…na je bhakta
labhaite t€‰ka sa‰ga anurakta
I yearn for the company of that devotee who is completely devoid of
all desire for worldly enjoyment or liberation.
janaka, janan…, dayita, tanay
prabhu, guru, pati—tuhuñ sarva-moy
Father, mother, lover, son, Lord, preceptor, and husband—You are
everything to me.
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
134
bhakativinoda kahe, uno k€na!
r€dh€-n€tha! tuhuñ h€m€ra par€Ša
μh€kura Bhaktivinoda says, “O K€na, please hear me! O Lord of R€dh€,
You are my life and soul!”
®araŠ€gati
This song is for those who want to begin bhakti. It is about araŠ€gati,
surrender to KŠa. First you must come to this stage and then you can
be a devotee, otherwise not. ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura has written
this, and if you want to be a pure devotee, then you must follow it.
When performing k…rtana, do not look here and there. Try to understand
the meaning of this k…rtana and be totally absorbed in it. Then you can
gain something. This song should be sung daily in order to remind
your senses to follow the path of araŠ€gati. Try to promise that from
today, from just now, you will follow this.
M€n€sa, deho, geho, jo kichu mor arpiluñ tuw€ pade, nanda-kiora. What
is the meaning? My mind, my body, my family, and whatever I possess
I am offering at Your lotus feet, O Nanda-kiora. We should not only
say the words, but truly surrender by action. Do not say, “I’m giving
You everything, but the lock and key will be with me.” Rather, we
must totally serve and give Him everything.
“If I have offered everything at Your lotus feet, I have no worry
about anything. There is no need to worry, ‘What should I do? What
should I do? I have so many problems.’ Now there is no anxiety
because I believe that KŠa will solve the problems. You need only
be like watch dogs of KŠa, guarding.1 Always be like a guard. Be
free from maintaining yourself.
Do you understand what Bhaktivinoda μh€kura is telling?
“Whether You look after me or not, whether I am happy or unhappy,
in all circumstances I am Yours. Now it is Your job to look after me or
not. I have given You everything and therefore I never worry. If death
comes, if problems come, still I have no worry. I will be like a watch
dog, always sitting at Your door. If You give me some remnants, as
one gives to his dogs, I will take that; otherwise I will wait for it. I will
only chant and remember You.” This is really araŠ€gati. “Whether
You give me good things or problems, no harm. Now I’m happy. I’ve
given everything to You.”
1 To protect and defend the proper siddhanta, and to defeat material logic and
cheating philosophies.
M€n€sa Deho Geho
135
Nowadays I hear so much from devotees, “My wife has left me
and now my children are like orphans. There are so many problems.”
Lady devotees come and say, “I have a very big problem. My husband
left me. I cannot do anything to prevent it. What should I do? Can you
help?” There are so many problems, so many problems. They try to
do this and that to solve the problems, but everywhere, everything
fails. This is because the root of all these problems is that you are not
araŠ€gata, you have no relation with KŠa and you have no trust in
KŠa and His name. That is why all these problems come.
KŠa has not advised, “You have been brahmac€r… for thirteen,
fourteen, twenty years in the matha (temple) of your Prabhup€da, so
now you can have a girlfriend.” ®r…la Sw€m… Prabhup€da was very
merciful and he engaged you in devotional service. Has he told you
that you should marry? Has KŠa advised you to get a boyfriend or
girlfriend? Who made all these problems? Only you, yourself, made
your problems. If you always serve Him, and depend on KŠa, no
problem can come. Can any problem come to ®r… ®ukadeva Gosv€m…
or ®r… N€rada Gosv€m…? They always depend on KŠa. Similarly,
anyone who depends on KŠa has no problem at all.
Whomever we touch, all his problems go. What is the meaning of
‘touch’? If you want to be touched, try to follow from today onward
with firm faith that KŠa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He
has created the whole world and He is supporting and nourishing the
whole world. Why then can He not support and nourish you? You are
the root cause of all your problems. KŠa wants to take you out of
problems, but you keep making them. When there was only one son
you were not satisfied. You begot two daughters and then again one
more son. Later, when they became somewhat matured, they went
against you and their mother and created so many problems.
Therefore, for freedom from all problems, you should become
araŠ€gata. N€ma (the holy name of KŠa) is so much more merciful
than KŠa. KŠa has invested all His mercy, power, opulence, and
so on in kŠa-n€ma, but you are neglecting it. You depend on your
own job and making money, but this money making creates more
problems—problems, after problems, after problems.
You can realize all these truths because €stra has explained them.
You cannot be happy by endeavoring to solve all these problems. There
is only one problem at the root of all others. You have forgotten KŠa
and you are neglecting KŠa and kŠa-n€ma—especially kŠa-n€ma
in this Kali-yuga.
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
136
If you chant like Harid€sa μh€kura you will see that Lakm… will
come and follow you. She will ask, “Oh, how can I serve you?” Have
you this faith? We have this faith and that is why Lakm… is always
with us. But we tell her, “Wait a little. I have no service for you to do.
Please remain very far away.” We fear even the shadow of Lakm…-
dev…, what to speak of Lakm…-dev… Herself.2 If you are like this, you
will then be able to think, “Very good, very good; there is no problem
at all, no problem at all.” KŠa will quickly solve all the problems.
Your initiation has been given to serve KŠa. You have not actually
received initiation; you have been admitted into the class of initiation.
Try to understand this. D…k€ means ‘di,’ dviya-jñ€na, transcendental
knowledge. You have not yet received transcendental knowledge, but
you should try to get it from your guru and other devotees. You have
entered in the process, but this is actually not true d…k€. A fire sacrifice
alone will not give d…k€. To follow and practice are pre-requisites.
Ksa means washing away of sin. All your sinful activities, bad
practices, unwanted habits and mentalities, and anarthas are washed
by this process. At this time they have not yet been washed completely,
but you have come in the process. By following all these teachings
you will have d…k€.
I know so many disciples who have taken initiation from a bona
fide gurudeva. Why, then, do they fall down? They do not actually try
to follow the process. They think, “We have received d…k€.” Actually
they have only received external d…k€. Although it may take some
years to achieve transcendental knowledge, try to have real internal
d…k€. Without following all these processes you will be weak. After
being brahmac€r… for ten, fifteen, twenty years, you will again become
a mouse. Punar muika bh€va. You know this mouse? Don’t be a mouse.
Try to advance. When you graduate you will become a very good
devotee. At that time there will be no fear of falling and becoming
weak.
2 This means we fear entanglement in material wealth, and we also don’t want
to become attracted to going to Vaikuntha instead of Goloka Vrndavana.
®r… Saccid€nanada Bhaktivinoda μh€kura

P a r t III
Entering the Process
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
140
Observance of Puruottama month
(May 16th to June 13th 1999)
Observance of Puruottam-month
This is Puruottama month. KŠa is Puruottama and therefore this
month is actually KŠa’s month. Among all the incarnations, KŠa
Himself is Puruottama, the supreme person. So this month is also
supreme among all months, as is the month of Karttika. We are also so
fortunate to be here in New Vraja, very near to Girir€ja-Govardhana.
®y€ma-kuŠa and R€dh€-kuŠa are also here—all are here. Vnd€vana
itself has manifested. Peacocks are dancing. So much is reminding us
of ®r… Vnd€vana-dh€ma.
In India we observe this Puruottama month in the presence of
Puruottama, in His own place, Nil€dri, at Jagann€tha Pur…. Devotees
spend one month there, observing certain rules and regulations and
rising early in the morning at 4:00 AM. Those who want kŠa-bhakti,
and those who want to observe this Puruottama month, maintain
many rules from the beginning of the month.
In India we do not shave. But I am not telling you what you should
do; it depends on you. Here it is not so strict because ®r…la Swam…j… has
given some concession to Western devotees. You can follow by always
hearing hari-kath€ and by observing those regulations which you can
easily maintain. At least try to wake up very early in the morning, put
on tilaka, and perform all sandhya practices. If guru-g€yatr… has been
given to you, then with all faith and honor this should be done.
You should also see €rati. You can either perform it yourself, or come
here, where we have a temple in Nirguna’s house and maŠgala-€rati is
performed. If the devotees live very far away, they can do €r€ti where
they reside. Following €rati some k…rtanas should be performed, as we
do here: guru-vandan€ (prayers), guru-parampar€ vandan€, vaiŠavavandan€,
and gaura-nity€nanda vandan€, like hari haraye namaƒ kŠa
y€dav€ya namaƒ, y€dav€ya m€dhav€ya keav€ya namaƒ, and then r€dh€-
kŠa vandan€. In the morning or evening you can make arrangements
to sing: jaya r€dh€ jaya kŠa jaya vrŠd€vana and tulas…-parikram€.
Wherever you are you can offer some water to tulas…, even one or two
drops, and do tulas…-parikrama and k…rtana daily.
Without the mercy of tulas…, Vnda-dev…, you cannot enter in the
realm of pure bhakti. This is true for both Vnda-dev… and Yogam€y€.
Yogam€y€ arranges all the pastimes of KŠa, Mah€prabhu and so on.
Observance of Puruottama Mounth
141
In Navadv…pa there is Prauddha Yogam€y€, and in Vraja, Yogam€y€
P™rŠim€. The kuñja-l…l€ in Vnd€vana is especially arranged by ®r…mat…
Vnd€-dev…. In fact, Vnd€vana is named after her. Without the mercy
of Vnda-dev… you cannot enter the realm of R€dh€-KŠa yugalasev€,
neither can you enter Vnd€vana. Even if you are outwardly in
Vnd€vana, you may still be in the net of m€y€. If you want to actually
be in Vnd€vana, you will have to receive the mercy of Vnda-dev….
Therefore perform parikrama to her form as tulas… at least in this month.
Offer all bhoga to R€dh€-KŠa, Mah€prabhu, or any Deities. Then,
at the time of taking mah€-pras€da, recite the jaya-dhvani prayers and:
ar…ra abidy€-jal joendriya t€he k€l,
j…ve phele viaya-s€gore
t€’ra madhye jihv€ ati, lobhamoya sudurmati,
t€’ke jet€ ka˜hina saˆs€re
kŠa boro doy€moya, korib€re jihv€ jaya,
sva-pras€d-anna dilo bh€i
sei ann€mta p€o, r€dh€-kŠa-guŠa g€o,
preme d€ko caitanya-nit€i
“O Brother, this material body is a lump of ignorance, and the senses
are a network of paths leading to death. We have fallen into this ocean
of material sense enjoyment. Of all the senses the tongue is the most
difficult to control and is always very greedy to taste things. But KŠa
is so merciful that He gives us His pras€da, the remnants from His own
mouth, to help us conquer the tongue. This pras€da is full of nectar.
Take this pras€da and glorify R€dh€ and KŠa. With love call for the
help of Caitanya and Nit€i.”
(G…ti-guccha Song Book)
You should not ‘take’ mah€-pras€da, and you should not ‘eat’ mah€-
pras€da. You should try to serve it. You should not ‘chant’ harin€ma, but
serve harin€ma. You should not ‘hear’ hari-kath€, but you should serve
hari-kath€ with your ears. Never go to ‘see’ the Deities. Instead you can
think, “I’m going before the Deity so that He may see me.” You cannot
see the Deities, but you can pray, “Oh, please see me. Please give me
Your mercy. I cannot see You. With these eyes I see You like a statue
made of stone, gold, copper or brass.” KŠa is not like this and ®r…
Mah€prabhu is not like this. Therefore, try to follow these rules and
regulations, so that this month will be successful.
On Sunday we will make a festival for Girir€ja-Govardhan. From
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
142
Observance of Anukut festival at Giri-govardhana in New Vraja
today, try to prepare some offerings. Some dry preparations can be
made beforehand, and at least 360 preparations should be made. Also
any devotee coming from distant places should be maintained. They
should be hosted with ::gentle, sweet words. Try to look after their
problems—very politely and with sweet words.
143
Devotion in Household Life
Devotion in Household Life
There are two kinds of devotees. Those in the renounced order, like
brahmac€r…s and sanny€s…s, have left their homes, wealth, reputation and
everything else. They have left all kinds of worldly requirements—without
regret. Their only desire is to serve gurudeva, devotees, R€dh€-KŠa,
Mah€prabhu and Nity€nanda Prabhu; and they practice bhajana like ®r…
la Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m…. You know that despite being the son of
a king, Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€mi gave up everything—wealth, wife,
father and mother. We can give up these things very easily, but to give
up the false ego of this body and mind, to give up lust and enviousness,
and to give up desire for prati˜€, self-praise, is very, very rare.
Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m… renounced everything.
Those who have left their homes, wives and children should be
like ®r…la Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m…, ®r…la R™pa Gosv€m…, and ®r…la
San€tana Gosv€m…. When San€tana Gosv€m… understood that one gold
coin remained in the possession of his servant Ÿ€na he said, “O Ÿ€na,
you should take this gold coin and return to your home. Don’t come
with me. You don’t know that this coin is k€la, death; so you should
return.”
Ÿ€na replied, “Oh, I’m giving it up.”
®r…la San€tana Gosv€m… said, “No. You will again be attached. Go
home.”
These are the ideals of brahmac€r…s and sanny€s…s, as well as those
who may not be called brahmac€r…s or sanny€s…s, yet are in the renounced
order. You know ®r…la Vivan€tha Cakravart… μh€kura. Was he a
brahmac€r…, or a sanny€s…? Can anyone say? He was Paramahaˆsa. He
also gave up his wife and everything else, and was living in Vnd€vana.
In order not be influenced by false ego, he kept his name until his last
days—’Vivan€tha Cakravart… μh€kura.’
There was a ghastha bhakta, Mah€r€ja Yudhi˜hira, who was living
with his wife and children. Before his marriage he requested KŠa,
“Please give us a very beautiful wife, very qualified children, great
wealth, and a very big kingdom.” Why? To serve KŠa. How? Not by
wealth and other paraphernalia directly. The Pandavas were thinking
of the many devotees in the world who want to serve KŠa but fear,
“If we chant and remember KŠa, He will take away all our wealth
and possessions.” This fear makes them worship K€l…, Durg€, GaŠea,
®a‰kar€, and other deities instead. Some even worship N€r€yaŠa and
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
144
Dv€rak€dh…a, but they will not worship KŠa because they fear He
will take everything and make them street beggars.
Yudhi˜hira Mah€r€ja therefore prayed, “Please give us a high-class
kingdom, very beautiful wives, very qualified children, and great
wealth and reputation.”
KŠa began to laugh. “Why are you praying like this? It is against
My nature to fulfill this request.”
Yudi˜hira replied, “I’m not asking for our sake. We are worried
about the general people who think, ‘If we chant, remember, and worship
KŠa, we will become beggars.’ We want to show that we worship
You, we have friendship towards You, and we serve You; yet we
are still wealthy like you. If our wives are very beautiful and our sons
very qualified, and if we give lakhs and lakhs of gifts in charity, people
will then think, ‘The P€Šavas are serving KŠa, and they are healthy
and wealthy, and they have such a high position. We should also serve
KŠa. We have nothing to fear; nothing to fear at all. KŠa will give
us everything. We need not go to GaŠea, Durg€, K€l…, ®a‰kar€, and
other demigods. We should always serve KŠa because He will give
all these things more easily.’”
KŠa smiled and said, “Oh, you are really My bhakta.”
The P€Šavas are high-class bhaktas, even higher than N€rada.
KŠa does not go to N€rada’s €rama. Actually N€rada has no €rama;
where will KŠa go? He never goes to the €rama of any i or mah€ri.
We see from the Mah€bh€rata, however, how often He is in the house of
the P€Šavas, resting or performing so other pastimes, and sometimes
serving Arjuna. This establishes the high-class devotion of the P€Šavas.
The Dv€rak€ mahi…s, such as RukmiŠ… and Satyabh€m€, are still higher,
and higher still are the gop…s.
We should come to ®r… Mah€prabhu’s l…l€. Do you know Kolaveca
®r…dhara? He used to quarrel with Mah€prabhu, saying, “I will not give
You these banana flowers or this bundle of sak (spinach).”
Mah€prabhu would reply, “I will have it.” He would take it by force
and say, “I will have to take this.”
®r…dhara would say, “You can go to other shops. There are so many
rich shopkeepers. Why do You always come to me and quarrel? I am
such a poor person, with only a very small garden. When I sell my
produce I use half of the profits to worship the Ganges, and half of the
remainder I use to support some devotees. I barely maintain my life
with the little that is left.”
“You shouldn’t worship Ganges. She is my wife. If you give all that
to Me and worship Me, with that, your worship is already complete.”
Devotion in Household Life
145
“Don’t say that!” ®r…dhara would cry, “That is offensive. You
shouldn’t say that.” To alleviate this offense he would block his ears
and chant, ‘O R€ma! R€ma!’ You should not call Yourself the husband
of Ganges. I don’t want to hear that from You.”
“One day you will know that I am the husband of Ganges, Lakm…,
and everyone else.” ®r…dhara and Mah€prabhu used to quarrel in this
way.
What was he? Was he a family man or a renunciate? He was not a
family man. He lived alone, without any family; but he was also like a
ghastha, because he had his own house. All the rain water used to fall
in his room because there were numerous holes in the roof. There were
no rats in his house because he had no grains. He had a lota (drinking
cup) made of iron that had many holes. Still, Mah€prabhu used to take
and drink water from it.
I think ®r…v€sa PaŠit was higher then ®r…dhara, and he was a
householder. One night his son died while he was performing k…rtana
for Mah€prabhu. He told his family, “If you weep and disturb the k…
rtana, I will jump in the Ganges and give up my body. Don’t disturb
the k…rtana.” What a high-class devotee he was.
One day he was clapping his hands three times and said, “One!
Two! Three!”
Mah€prabhu asked, “Why are you clapping and calling, ‘One, two,
three’?”
®r…v€sa PaŠit immediately answered, “We have nothing to eat
today. There is nothing in my house, and we have so many people living
here. We are four brothers, my wife, their wives, and the children
as well; but we have no grains. What will we take at midday and in
the night? Nothing. But we are performing k…rtana with karat€las day
and night. If we have nothing to eat one day, that is alright. If we still
have nothing to eat on the second day, that is still alright, and if there
is still nothing on the third day and KŠa does not arrange anything,
then all of us will jump in the Ganges.”
Mah€prabhu began to smile and said, “Even if Lakm…, the goddess
of wealth and fortune, goes begging with a bhik€-p€tra (begging
bowl), you will never have to beg; never, never. KŠa may beg for you.
He will do everything by His ka˜€ka, His sidelong glance. He will do
everything for you.”
So we should try to be devotees. If you are in the renounced order,
then give up everything like ®r…la Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m…, ®r…la R™pa
Gosv€m…, ®r…la San€tana Gosv€m… and all the other Gosv€m…s. And if
you are a householder, offer everything to KŠa and Mah€prabhu.
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
146
Don’t keep anything for yourself. You are not the owner of anything
and you are not the doer. If you have so much false ego that you think
yourself the doer, and if you are very attached to your body, then you
are not a follower of ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu. However, if you offer
everything, you can have the mercy of Caitanya Mah€prabhu, R€dh€-
KŠa conjugal, and your high-class gurudeva.
Maintain your life somehow or other, as best you can. Don’t become
so involved in maintenance; try to develop your KŠa consciousness
instead. Always be hopeful and don’t become absorbed in problems.
Try to keep your feet on the heads of your problems. Actually there
is only one problem: How can we remember and how can we serve
Mah€prabhu, Nity€nanda Prabhu, and R€dh€ and KŠa conjugal? If
this problem is solved, then all problems will be solved for ever and ever.
If you don’t solve this problem, there will always be newer and newer
problems, and your mind will be disturbed. If you are only concerned
with chanting and remembering KŠa, all your problems will serve
you and help you—
no matter what problems come. Even if the whole
world is kicking you and insulting you, you will think, “Oh, this is the
mercy of KŠa. I wanted to be solitary and to chant always, continuously.
Now I have this opportunity.” Always remember this loka:
tat te ‘nukamp€ˆ sam…kam€Šo
bhuñj€na ev€tma-ktaˆ vip€kam
hd-v€g-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
j…veta yo mukti-pade sa d€ya-bh€k
(SB 10.14.8)
My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless
mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his
past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart,
words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his
rightful claim.
Try to understand and realize the meaning of this loka. Then you will be
happy forever, with no problems at all. ®r…la ®ukadeva Gosv€m… had no
problems; N€rada had no problems and you actually have no problems.
My only problem is, “How can I inspire you in KŠa consciousness?
How can I fulfill the desire of my gurudeva and my ik€-guru, ®r…la
Bhaktivedanta Sw€m… Mah€r€ja?”
147
The High-class Disciple
The High-class Disciple
R€m€nuj€c€rya was a very powerful €c€rya—very powerful. In the
line of R€m€nuj€c€rya, ®r…la Prabhup€da Bhaktisiddh€nta Sarasvat…
μh€kura took tridaŠi-sanny€sa,not
eka-daŠa sanny€sa. R€m€nuj€
c€
rya
had many learned disciples who were pure devotees. One of them was
highly learned and he knew perfectly all the Vedas, Upaniads, and other
€stras. He had some ego, however, thinking himself very high-cultured
and knowledegable. R€m€nuja wanted to take away that ego—by some
type of operation.
R€m€nuja also had a disciple who was very beautiful, and she was
from a wealthy, highly aristocratic family. Since her childhood she used
to come to him. She was always sitting with him, taking pras€da from
him, and sometimes she used to sit on his lap. Gradually she became
mature and she was given to a very high-class, wealthy person for
marraige. At that time she went to her in-laws house with her husband,
and after six months she returned to her father in Sri Rangam where
R€m€nuja was living. She came to him and began to weep very bitterly.
She said, “O Gurudeva, I am so unhappy. My father-in-law, grandfather-
in-law and mother-in-law always chastise me. They tell me to go
to a well about two miles from my home, up a very steep road. They
give me two or three very big pots, and I have to carry them all. I have
to cook alone for so many persons, and I have to wash all the clothes
of the family—husband, son-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and
so on. I cannot do it alone. When I tell them I need help, they chastise
me. They say, ‘O, your father is so rich. Go and bring two, three or four
servants. If you want to be here with us you’ll have to bring water,
wash the clothes and pots, cook for everyone, and do everything else.’
Day and night I have to do this—but I cannot.” She continued to weep,
“They always chastise me. I want a servant.”
Gurudeva began thinking something, and he called that very highclass
learned scholar-disciple who was honored by all. He told him,
“You should go to my initiated daughter-in-law’s house, and help her
to bring water, to cook, and to do other services. She should be like
a queen and you should serve her—without hesitation and without
complaining, ‘Why should I go there and cook, wash clothes and do
so many other services for this girl?’ “
R€m€nuja was a very powerful guru, and if this disciple had done
anything like this, he would have said, “O, get out!” He was not an
ordinary €c€rya. He was LakmaŠa himself, the younger brother of
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
148
R€m€, so he was very powerful. The disciple, therefore, could not
object. Without hesitation he began to bring water, and he was always
cooking. The householders did not allow him to use soap or anything
like that; so he looked like a dirty person, a cook; and all the villagers
knew him as a cook, and a very low-class person—knowing nothing,
like a servant. But he was a servant with out pay. He was a servant of
his Gurudeva, not of anyone else. He was therefore carrying out orders
without hesitation, without any”noo noo choo choo”—”I will not do.
I will not do”.
After he had been there for over six months, one day a very highly
learned person came to that village. He knew all the Vedas, Upaniads
and other €stras and he challenged that village, “If anyone wants to
debate with me, he can come”. But no one came. Then he began giving
classes. The cook came to his classes—only to see what was going on.
All were charmed by his lectures, by his knowledge of Sanskrit, and by
his knowledge of all the €stras. And he was very proud of his learning.
After some time this cook said, “May I tell something?” All the villagers,
along with that learned person, looked towards him. They said,
“O, he is a cook, a dirty person, and his personality is not so good. He
has a long beard and long hair, and his dhoti is dirty and torn. So what
can he tell? Stop, stop, stop!” The cook said, “I want to speak.” There
were many good persons there, and they said, “Why are you stopping
him? He can say anything he wants.”
At that time he spoke in Sanskrit. He began to recite from €stra, and
he totally cut all the arguments of that m€y€v€d… speaker. Everyone was
looking at him. “How astonishing! How wonderful! How wonderful!”
Everyone clapped, and they all wanted to take the foot-dust of that cook.
That defeated person ran away, and where he went, nobody could
tell. Then all the villagers asked, “Who is that cook?” They knew he
was a disciple of R€m€nuja. All of them collectively went to R€m€nuja
and asked, “Why have you done this? Although that girl is your disciple,
still you should’nt have made him her servant . We think that he
has been insulted. Please be merciful to him and keep him with you.”
R€m€nuja then called his disciple, “ Now you have been operated
upon. I think your false ego has gone. Now you are pure, and now
you can come to me.” He gave him some service, and he gave him
the renounced order, sanny€sa. That disciple became a very high-class
sanny€s…, preaching everywhere in the entire world. Can you be a disciple
like this? This is a real disciple—with no false ego. If I told you
to do as R€m€nuja ordered this disciple, you would be the first person
to tell me, “I cannot do it. Now I’m leaving you.” There would be no
The High-class Disciple
149
daŠava˜ praŠ€mas at all. Giving up all faith in KŠa and in guru, you
would write a paper proclaiming, “He is a bogus guru. He wanted to
engage me in the service of a girl. “
But this was a high-class disciple, and his guru was also a highclass
guru. R€m€nuja gave him love and affection for N€r€yaŠa, and
he became a realized soul.
®r…la Bhaktiprajñ€na Keava Gosv€m…
Here is another example of a very good disciple. ®r…la Prabhup€da
Bhaktisiddh€nta Sarasvat… μh€kura was doing Navadv…pa parikram€
along with thousands of pilgrims. On the third day he came to Navadv…
pa town, in front of the Prauh€ M€y€ temple, which was surrounded
by a big population. All the so-called br€hmaŠas and caste gosv€m…s there
were in opposition to ®r…la Prabhup€da, because they felt he thought
himself superior to br€hmaŠas.1 They made a conspiracy, saying, “We
will punish and kill him. About a thousand of these br€hmaŠas took
sticks, bricks, stones, soda water and hot water; and they threw these
from all the houses. They wanted to kill many devotees along with ®r…
la Prabhup€da. All the devotees ran away, ‘keeping their feet on their
heads.’2 They were running here and there, wherever they found a way.
This was reported to the police, but the police were silent; they were
favoring the caste br€hmaŠas.
There was no way to escape. ®r…la Prabhup€da was alone; all his
senior disciples had fled. One brahmac€r… was with him—in white cloth,
not saffron. He at once signalled to ®r…la Prabhup€da and they both
approached a house. He begged the householders, “O, please open
the door. We want to stay for a moment. He immediatley gave ®r…la
Prabhup€da his own white clothes, and took his sannyas… clothes and
daŠa. In this way he actually took sanny€sa there, and then he somehow
sent ®r…la Prabhup€da, in white cloth, to M€y€pura. No one knew about
1 He was preaching that VaiŠavas are the real br€hmaŠas, superior to caste
br€hmaŠas. He was also giving sacred thread (d…k€) to those who were not br€hmaŠa by
birth. The caste gosv€m…s believed that only if one is born in a br€hmaŠa family one is a
br€hmaŠa.
“There is no consideration whether a man is a sanny€s…, a br€hmana, a ™dra, or a ghastha,
householder. No. Anyone who knows the science of KŠa, he is all right; he is gosv€m…; he
is a br€hmaŠa.” That is the contribution within the last hundred years. And for this reason
he had to face so many vehement protests from this (caste) br€hmaŠa class of gosv€m…s.
They conspired to kill him. Guru Mah€r€ja told me personally. (Taken from BBT Folio)
2 This is a hindi expression meaning, ‘they were running very fast.’
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
150
this, and everyone surrounded that house. They thought, “Oh, ®r…la
Bhaktisiddh€nta Sarasvat… is here; so we must take him.”
He knew this was a very dangerous time. He was Vinodabih€r…
Brahmac€r…. He was very young, perhaps only 21 years of age. But he
was very bold and very strong and he had no fear at all. And in the
meantime some police came and after sometime the public disappeared.
After sometime he also went to M€y€pura, and everyone saw that
®r… Vinodabih€ri Brahmac€r… was now a sanny€s…—not Vinoda Babu.
That same night he changed his clothes, but Prabhup€da accepted him
as sanny€s… disciple. Now you should consider who was Vinodabih€ri
Brahmac€r…. He was my Gurudeva, ®r…la Bhakti Prajñ€na Keava
Gosv€m… ¤ah€r€ja.
We should try to be disciples like ®r…la Bhakti Prajñ€na Keava
Gosv€m… Mah€r€ja. He left his mother and so much wealth. He was
a landlord, and at the age of only sixteen he was in college. He left
everything and went to serve ®r…la Prabhup€da in so many ways that
you cannot imagine. Everyone wanted to give him sanny€sa. It was declared
three times that, “Tomorrow he will take sanny€sa.” Prabhup€da
wanted it, and everything was ready—daŠa, saffron cloth and so on.
The secretary of ®r…la Prabhup€da, however, ®r…la Bhakti Vil€sa T…rtha
Mah€r€ja, who at that time was a ghastha by the name of Kuñjabih€r…
Vidyabhuana, requested Prabhup€da, “If you give sanny€sa to Vinoda,
everything will be ruined. There is no one who can manage all things
like him. We cannot do it; so please wait. If we can find another who
can manage, than you can give him sanny€sa.” Three times everything
was ready—but he was checked.
After Prabhup€da disappeared, he told Vinoda in a dream, “Even
now you have not taken sanny€sa. You must take sanny€sa. My whole
preaching has collapsed, so you should at once take it.” After that
Vinoda took sanny€sa. At that time the three, four, or five magazines
had been stopped. There was no Navadv…pa parikram€ or any other
parikram€. All were stopped; and preaching was also stopped. My
Gurudeva, however, with the same spirit, again started everything.
His first three sanny€s…s were V€mana Mah€r€ja, Trivikrama Mah€r€ja
and I. I was so junior. So junior. But even though I was not qualified, I
always used to jump, without order, to follow him. ®r…la Bhakti Prajñ€na
Keava Gosv€m… Mah€r€ja K…-Jaya! Gaura Prem€nande! Hari Hari bol!
151
The Glory of ®r…la
Raghun€tha D€sa Gosv€m…
The Glory of ®r…la Raghun€tha D€sa Gosv€m…
We must fix our goal. Our goal is the love that ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu
came to sprinkle—one-pointed r€dh€-d€sya:
tavaiv€smi tavaiv€smi
na j…v€mi tvay€ vin€
iti vijñ€ya r€dhe tvaˆ
naya m€ˆ caraŠ€ntikam
“I am Yours! I am Yours! I cannot live without You! O Dev… (R€dhe),
please understand this and bring me to Your feet.”
(®r… Vil€pa-kusum€ñjali 96)
by ®r…la Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m…
Even if KŠa directly comes and offers many things, we will not take
anything from Him. We will only pray to Him, “Please engage me in
the service of Your Pr€nevari, R€dhik€.
The object is to serve ®r…mat… R€dhik€ in Goloka Vnd€vana—nothing
less than this. For this you will have to perform more austerities than
Dhruva Mah€r€ja did. He performed austerities for six months, and you
will have to do it longer. You must also be like Prahl€da Mah€r€ja—to
first make your platform. If you cannot be like Prahl€da Mah€r€ja, you
cannot progress because you will have so many desires. Nsiˆhadeva
Himself told Prahl€da, “I want to give you any boon you request. As
you like, you can ask.”
Prahl€da replied, “I’m not a businessman. I’ll never be one.” He
never accepted anything material. Be like this. Don’t serve KŠa, in
your home or elsewhere, for money or for solving worldly problems.
There is only one problem to solve—how to serve R€dh€ and KŠa
conjugal.
If we can develop the qualities of Prahl€da Mah€r€ja, then we will
be like him. He had many good qualities like akta-droha (tolerance),
maitri (friendship), karuna (compassion) and kp€lu (mercy). If anyone
did mischief to him, he would never retaliate. His father tortured him in
many ways. He gave him poison, threw him in the ocean, dropped him
from a mountain, put him in a pit of poisonous snakes, and sent mad
elephants to trample him. Still Prahl€da never blamed his father. He
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
152
was never upset; he never thought about problems. Whatever problems
came were solved by KŠa. Prahl€da never told KŠa, “Oh, so many
problems are coming.” If you are not of the same quality as Prahl€da,
you will always be upset and you will have many material desires. In
such a condition you cannot hear hari-kath€.
More advanced than Prahl€da is Citraketu Mah€r€ja. You should
then become as elevated as Citraketu Mah€r€ja became in his next life.
Also, always take lesson from Bharata Mah€r€ja regarding how to be
detached from this world and attached to KŠa. We cannot be truly
satisfied by worldly things.
Ultimately, we will only be satisfied by following the character and
teachings of ®r…la Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m…. He is many hundreds of
thousands of times more advanced than Bharata, Prahl€da and others.
How sweet are his prayers in ®r… Vil€pa-kusum€ñjali. The glory of ®r…la
Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m… is not in his renunciation, not in his taking
only mah€-pras€da in Jagann€tha Pur…, nor in his eating the rotten rice
there. This is not his glory. This is for external persons. His glory is in
the following prayers.
r…-r™pa-mañjar…-kar€rcita-p€da-padmago
˜hendra-nandana-bhuj€rpita-mastak€y€h
h€ modataƒ kanaka-gauri pad€ravindasamv€
han€ni anakais tava kiˆ kariye
“ O R™pa Mañjar…, when gauri (golden complexioned) ®r…mat… R€dhik€
is laying with Her head in KŠa’s lap, and Her feet in your lap, and
when you are massaging Her feet, will you, with an indication from
the corners of your eyes, give me your mah€-pras€dam sev€ of gently
massaging Her feet while you fan Her?”
(Vil€pa-kusum€ñjali 72)
And:
h€ n€tha gokula-sudh€kara su-prasanna
vaktr€ravinda madhura-smita he kp€rdra
yatra tvay€ viharate praŠayaih priy€r€t
tatraiva m€m api naya priya-sevan€ya
“O Natha! O nectar moon of Gokula, whose cheerful lotus-face smiles
so sweetly. O crown jewel of the merciful, if You are pleased with me,
then give me this benediction only: I am about to die because I don’t
know where my Svam…n… is. Please take me with You when You go to
meet Her, so that I may engage in Her service.”
(®r… Vil€pa-kusum€ñjali 100)
®r…mad Bh€gavatam Does Not Cheat
153
®r…la Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m… also prays, “I was here in Vnd€vana,
at R€dh€-kuŠa, with so great a hope. But, O ®r…mat… R€dhik€, if You
are not merciful to me, then I have no connection with KŠa. I don’t
need to live at Govardhana or R€dh€-kuŠa; I have no connection with
them. O KŠa, please take me to ®r…mat… R€dhik€. Without R€dhik€
I cannot live.”
Help from Guru
These prayers are the glory of ®r…la Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m…. If a greed
comes to take them into our hearts, we will have no attraction to this
world, to wife, husband, children, wealth or reputation; nothing will
be there. I want to take you all to that realm. Do not be householders
in the worldly sense. If you have lust, or any attraction for this world,
you cannot take what I want to give. You will be deprived of it. I want
to give you this greed. If you are a householder, remain so, but do not
be attached. Do not think, “My gurudeva is very merciful. He has given
me in marriage to a very good devotee.” This is not really his mercy.
We must be like N€rada ¬i. How cunningly he cuts all material
attachments by his words, which are like swords. The guru has not
come to give rupees, wealth or worldly things. Some people think,
“I’ve given so much. I’m doing so much.” But do you know what ®r…
la R™pa Gosv€m… has given to this world? Has he given any money, a
house, lady or boy? He has not come for this. He has come to give the
elevated love of conjugal R€dhik€ and KŠa.
Try to realize what is the glory of the pure devotee, and thus advance
step by step. For this I have come—not to arrange marriages for anyone.
Because they cannot control their senses, I therefore say, “You should
be married.” But this is not actually the message of ®r… Mah€prabhu
and ®r… Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m….
If you are a householder, always serve and always train your children
to be very high-class devotees. Give them some teachings about
renunciation from the beginning, as Prahl€da Mah€r€ja taught his
fellow students, and as ®r…la Harid€sa μh€kura taught Raghun€tha
d€sa Gosv€m….
The guru may be very qualified, but at the same time he may seem
harsh. He may give some slaps with his words. He may say to a disciple,
“You should go away.” Although he may say this, if that disciple leaves
him, not understanding him, then he is more foolish than a donkey.
If you think, “I am helping gurudeva,” you are not correct. You are
not qualified to help him. He is helping you. What harm will there be
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
154
if all his disciples go away? Is there any harm to gurudeva? No. He is
with us only by his mercy. You should realize this, and then you can
understand advanced hari-kath€.
If you chant: Hare KŠa, Hare KŠa, KŠa KŠa, Hare Hare / Hare
Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—your senses will be controlled,
your ears will be controlled, your mind will be controlled, and you will
be controlled. All the creepers and trees will hear; they have ears to hear;
The entire atmosphere and all atoms1 will hear; and they will benefit.
Even if they do nothing, they will be benefitted. If you chant with love
and affection, under the guidance of any vraja-rasika VaiŠava, no one
can stop you on the way to Goloka Vnd€vana.
1 “atoms” means all living entities including all micro-organisims in the air and
water.
155
Honoring Devotees
Honoring Devotees
At the time of sitting for class or other functions, we should try to
honor everyone. In the morning, when we do parikram€ of the mandir
or of tulas…, seniors should go first, and juniors behind. In this way we
are always honoring others and not disturbing anyone. Without giving
honor and being humble, we cannot progress. Juniors must give
honor to seniors, and seniors will teach them with love and affection as
their sons or younger brothers. All the rules and regulations should be
taught. Moreover, if there is a disciple of a disciple of our gurudeva who
is advanced in devotion, who has given up all worldly considerations,
who knows all the transcendental truths, and who is serving guru and
VaiŠavas, he should also be respected. In this way, by not galloping
over the heads of others, we can increase our KŠa consciousness.
®r…la Sw€m… Mah€r€ja preached everywhere in the world, but ®r…la
Pujyap€da ®r…dhara Mah€r€ja was sitting in Navadv…pa. Yet, Sw€m…j…
honored him. Nowadays, because these facts are perhaps concealed,
disciples do not know how Sw€m…j… honored him. He always had so
much honor for my Gurudeva and his other senior godbrothers, and he
treated some of them as ik€-gurus. I also honor my Godbrothers as my
ik€-gurus: Trivikr€ma Mah€r€ja, V€mana Mah€r€ja, and others who
are senior to me. They respect me and I also honor them. Pujyap€da
Sw€m… Mah€r€ja was in the line of VaiŠava-gurus. He respected other
VaiŠavas and he wants you also to show them respect. We should
know this VaiŠava etiquette.
Jagad€nanda PaŠit’s Lessons
You have heard of ®r…la San€tana Gosv€m…, and perhaps you have also
heard the name of Jagad€nanda PaŠit Prabhu. Jagad€nanda Prabhu
was an associate of ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu from their boyhood, and
he was therefore a participant in Navadv…pa-l…l€. In KŠa-l…l€ he was
Satyabh€m€, having some m€na (transcendental loving anger) towards
KŠa. ®r…la San€tana Gosv€m… was the Prime Minister of the Muslim
king. He was so intelligent and learned in all €stras. He once came to
Jagann€tha Pur… and met with ®ri Caitanya Mah€prabhu, and then he
returned to Vnd€vana. Jagad€nanda was also in Pur… at that time, and
he wanted so much to serve ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu.
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
156
Once in Pur…, Jagad€nanda PaŠit brought a pot full of very fragrant
Ayurvedic oil, because ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu would sometimes
faint due to ecstasy in KŠa consciousness. He brought that pot with
great care, gave it to Govinda, and requested, “Oh, you should put
some oil on the head of Mah€prabhu daily.”
Govinda then told Mah€prabhu, “Jagad€nanda has ordered me to
put some oil on Your head. This is a very powerful Ayurvedic medicine.”
Mah€prabhu replied very humbly, “Take this oil to the Jagann€tha
temple and offer it for use in the deepak, the temple lamps.”
The next day Jagad€nanda asked Govinda, “Have you put this oil
on His head?”
He replied, “I could not.”
Jagad€nanda inquired, “Why not?”
“Mah€prabhu ordered me to give this oil to Lord Jagann€tha.”
Jagad€nanda became very upset and, taking the pot of oil, smashed
it on the floor in front of ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu. All the oil splattered
here and there. In his anger he went to his bhajana-ku˜…ra and locked
the door. He remained crying for one or two days, and did not come
to see Mah€prabhu.
Mah€prabhu thought, “Oh, he is angry at Me because I’ve not accepted
his offering. That is why he has not come.”
One day, two days, three days passed. Then, on the morning of the
fourth day, Mah€prabhu went to Jagad€nanda’s bhajana-ku˜…ra and
knocked on the door. He called, “O Jagad€nanda, O Jagad€nanda.”
But Jagad€nanda did not reply. He was only weeping.
Mah€prabhu said, “For three days I have not eaten anything. I have
an empty stomach and now I’m so hungry. I’m going to take bath in the
ocean, and I’m coming back very soon. Prepare all kinds of preparations
for Me.” Speaking in this way He went to the sea, took bath, and
returned after one hour.
In the meantime Jagad€nanda also took bath, changed his clothes
and began to prepare many kinds of vegetables, rice, dal, capatis, tamarind
chutney and so on. He made more than fifty-six preparations and
served them all on two or three very big banana leaves. Govinda was
with Mah€prabhu. He requested Govinda, “Tell Mah€prabhu to take
pras€da.”
Mah€prabhu said, “I cannot. There should be two seats and two
leaves. I will sit with Jagad€nanda and we will take pras€da together. If
he is not taking with Me, then I will leave here with an empty stomach.”
Jagad€nanda replied, not directly, but to Govinda, “Tell Mah€prabhu
He should gladly take. After He finishes, you and I will both take His
remnants together.” Govinda then told Mah€prabhu, “You should take.
Honoring Devotees
157
He will take after You. He will only take Your remnants.”
Then Mah€prabhu took pras€da. After that the remnants were divided
into two. Jagad€nanda became happy, but he did not directly
go and speak to Mah€prabhu about anything; there was still some
scent of m€na. After two or three days he went to Mah€prabhu and
told Him, “I want to go to Vnd€vana. Please order me to go. I want
Your permission.”
Mah€prabhu asked, “Why do you want to go?”
“I wanted to go with You for such a long time, but You would not
take me. So now I want to go and take darana. I want to be there and
serve R€dh€-KŠa conjugal.”
Mah€prabhu said, “You can go, but not for a long time. Go and
see, and then return. Don’t climb on the top of Govardhana. You are
not qualified to remain there in Vind€vana. You may quarrel there
because you will see everything according to your knowledge of rules
and regulations. You will inspect whether the Vrajavas…s are taking bath
or not, and what they are doing or not doing. You will judge according
to your mentality, and you may therefore commit offenses. So don’t
remain there for long. You should return shortly.”
Jagad€nanda then left Pur… for Vnd€vana. When he arrived at the
border he sat under a tree. He thought, “Why did I make such a mistake?
I cannot remain alive without Mah€prabhu. I have done wrong. Should
I return? But how can I return? What reason will I give?” He was in a
dilemma about what to do and what not to do. He remained weeping
in that place for one or two days. Later he somehow consoled his mind
and considered, “I should go.” He entered Vnd€vana and there he met
®r…la San€tana Gosv€m… who told him, “You should remain here, and
together we will see all the places of pastimes.”
Thus they lived together in Mah€van. One day ®r…la San€tana
Gosv€m… left his bhajana-ku˜…ra to do m€dhukari1 while Jagad€nanda
was cooking. Jagad€nanda never went for m€dhukari because he felt,
“I’m not qualified. ®r…la San€tana Gosv€m…, and ®r…la R™pa Gosv€m…
are qualified, but I cannot digest it. Actually it is we who cannot digest
m€dhukari. We are not qualified.”2
So Jagad€nanda remained at the bhajana-ku˜…ra—cooking.
And what
happened? ®r…la San€tana Gosv€m… took a saffron cloth from someone
and wrapped it around his head like a turban. Then he returned to his
1 Begging a little pras€da from different homes, as a bee (madhu) takes a little
honey from each flower.
2 In his humility Jagad€nanda was giving example for the neophytes who are
not actually qualified. Unqualified neophytes would become attached and say to the
householders, “Give me delicious hot sabji and h€lava with ghee.” They are thus controlled
by the disease of the uncontrolled tongue.
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
158
ku˜…ra. In the meantime the pot of kitri was boiling on the stove, making
a ‘taka buk, taka buk’ sound. Jagad€nanda asked San€tana Gosv€m…,
“You are very faithful to ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu.
From where have
you collected His cloth?”
San€tana Gosv€m… simply told him, “It is not Mah€prabhu’s. It
belonged to a m€y€v€d…. He gave it to me and I accepted it.”
“A m€y€v€d…?” Jagad€nanda at once picked up the cooking pot as
though he would throw it.
San€tana Gosv€m… was very humble. With a smile he said, “You are
so attached to Mah€prabhu. I was testing you. I know that you have
such faith in Mah€prabhu that you cannot tolerate seeing any of his
devotees wearing the saffron cloth of m€y€v€d…s. He has rebuked you,
but what is the meaning? He loves you very much, and thus He gives
you the m€dhura-rasa of rebuke. To me He says, ‘O San€tana Gosv€m…,
you are such an honorable person, such a high-class devotee. You are
superior to all others.’ This is like nimb€-rasa, the very bitter juice of a
neem tree.”
When San€tana Gosv€m… was in Pur… he had been feeling, “I’m
so low. I’m such a wretched person.” On his way to see Mah€prabhu
leeches bit him and very foul smelling pus-like juice oozed out from
the pores of his body. But what did Mah€prabhu do? He embraced
him. San€tana Gosv€m… exclaimed, “Don’t touch me, Prabhu! Don’t
touch me, Prabhu!” San€tana Gosv€m… then met with Jagad€nanda and
asked him, “What should I do? Caitanya Mah€prabhu always wants
to embrace me, but I’m so wretched and full of disease. So much pus
is oozing out and still Mah€prabhu touches me. What should I do?
Should I return to Vnd€vana?”
“Yes, you should go to Vnd€vana, “Jagad€nanda PaŠita said,
“Don’t remain here. Otherwise Mah€prabhu will touch you and He
may get some disease. You should quickly go.”
Mah€prabhu heard this and told Jagad€nanda, “O Jagai, you are
a boy of only two days old, and yet you are instructing San€tana
Gosv€m…? He is superior to you yet you have dared to give him advice!
Don’t think you are so advanced. You are only a two-day-old boy, with
no intelligence.” Mah€prabhu taught that we should honor everyone,
especially those who are pure devotees. We should be humble and
try to give honor to others. This is the only way to progress in KŠa
consciousness.
159
Ripples in a Pond
Ripples in a Pond
I’m so happy to have been here for nine days. Especially during this
visit, I have explained very clearly about our objective. I’ve never spoken
like this anywhere in Western countries, although I have explained
all these truths in Mathur€ and Vnd€van. Here there are not so many
advanced devotees; still I explained so many things. But I have only
begun; I have given the ma‰gal€caraŠa, auspicious invocation. On this
basis we will discuss more in future years. We are not meant to remain
always in the same class. Try to be like a river current, otherwise the
‘water’ will become stagnant and dirty, and will not be of any use.
Bhakti is like a current—always new, and always becoming newer and
newer. By this bhakti, KŠa Himself, as well as vraja-prema, always appear
ever-fresh and new.
Ideal Society
Try to develop your KŠa consciousness by following the process
of ®r… R™pa Gosv€m…, ®r… Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m…, ®r… San€tana
Gosv€m…, and others—especially ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura and ®r…
la Bhakisiddh€nta Sarasvat… Gosv€m… μh€kura. Always try to honor all
devotees without consideration of caste or creed, thinking that we are all
in ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu’s family. Try also to respect devotees, not
blindly, but according to their quality of bhakti. After so many years you
are coming to the stage of madhyama-adhik€r…, so try to realize all this.
I’ve heard somewhere that human beings are social animals. Without
society we cannot live. We will have to choose any society, or we will
have to make any society. So we should try to make a society in which
we can chant, remember KŠa and be happy. What is the meaning of
preaching? It is only to make a very good society everywhere, so that
everyone can be happy forever. For that purpose such a society should
be developed here, and for this society, training is required. If this society
is KŠa conscious it will help everyone, and everyone will be happy. Do
not think only of yourself, but of your children, because they will also
be members of the society. Train them in the principles and teachings
of KŠa consciousness. The school which we have begun here should
expand, and all children should be trained there. A committee will be
required to meet and to try to solve problems which arise. If there is
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
160
good will and everyone honors each other, all problems may disappear
and the children will be very well trained and happy.
Whether one is junior or senior, everyone should be honored according
to their position in bhakti. Those who are senior disciples of
®r…la Prabhup€da should be honored, and they should have so much
affection and love for their juniors. In this way a very ideal society
can be made. Your Prabhup€da, my Sw€m…j…, also wanted this, and
he tried for this. Some devotees, however, due to false ego, wanted to
control by intelligence and not by love and affection. Therefore they
could not be successful. The process for achieving success has nothing
to do with controlling. It has to do with love and affection, viva-prema,
universal love.
®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu had that universal love, and we all must
follow Him. If any problem comes, try to reconcile it. You should think,
“It is due to my past karma”, or, “KŠa wants to test me and to operate
on me”—these two things. We must not be angry and upset about
disturbing occurrences. A school should be established for the purpose
of teaching this.
Meetings and classes may be held fortnightly, weekly, or on the
occasion of any festival. This is done for association, and for developing
love and affection towards each other. Sometimes one prabhu can
give class, sometimes another. Everyone can benefit from these classes.
There should be harmony; this is most essential. By harmony you will
be successful.
Preaching and Distributing Books
We have published so many books—as ®r…la Sw€m…j… did. You can distribute
Sw€m…j…’s books as well as mine. There are so many devotees,
disciples and supporters. If each person takes twelve books in a year,
they can distribute thousands—and if more, very good. Very good. So
many thanks to them. ®r…la Sw€m…j…’s girl-disciples used to distribute
his books here and there, at a very young age, as teenagers. Perhaps all
the boy-devotees were book distributors, and all were brahmac€r…s. So
why not take at least twelve books? And those who are expert can take
so many. Do not forget. Try to take the books to your destinations and
distribute them. If devotees have no money to pay, they may be given
books now, and they will pay for them after the books have been sold.
The process ®r…la Sw€m…j… Mah€r€ja adopted for beginners and for
others (to enthuse everyone for book distribution) was beneficial for all.
Ripples in a Pond
161
But my request is that you not only distribute the books; you should go
through and read the books yourselves. Take the nectar and the essence
of the books. Then your preaching will be so high, and everyone will be
attracted and energetic. Try to participate in n€gara-sa‰k…rtana, harin€ma,
and n€mahatta, as ®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura did. This is not just for
human beings. The grass, creepers, animals, and trees, as well as the
atoms in the air and water, will all hear the holy names, knowingly or
unknowingly, and be liberated. KŠa has promised this.
jayati jayati n€m€nanda-r™paˆ mur€re
viramita-nija-dharma-dhy€na-p™j€diyatnam
katham api sakd €ttaˆ mukti-daˆ pr€Šin€ˆ yat
paramam tam ekaˆ j…vanaˆ bh™sa‰aˆ me
(Bhad-bh€gavat€mta 1.1.9)
“All glories, all glories to the all-blissful holy name of ®r… KŠa, which
causes the devotee to give up all conventional religious duties, meditation
and worship. When somehow or other uttered even once by a living
entity, the holy name awards him liberation. The holy name of KŠa is
the highest nectar. It is my very life and my only treasure.”
Pr€Šin€m means those who have cetan (consciousness)—even those with
only a little consciousness, like the trees, creepers, or atoms. N€garasa‰
k…rtana should be performed for every living entity. ®r… Caitanya
Mah€prabhu came and gave this best process to the world.
If you throw any stone in a pond, so many ripples will form around
it, one after another, and they will touch all points on the banks. The
pond is limited, but the ether, the sky, is endless. It extends throughout
the entire viva, universe and it may even touch Goloka Vnd€vana.
Similarly, if a sound vibration is impure here, that impurity also goes
everywhere. All are shouting politics, mundane sounds, and so many
bad things. Now the whole world and the entire atmosphere has been
polluted. This very powerful sound vibration of the holy name will also
go and touch the entire world—even
VaikuŠ˜ha and Goloka Vnd€vana.
It will touch all the trees and creepers, and all the atoms in the water,
sky and everywhere else. It will purify everything, whether you are
aware of it or not.
®r…man Mah€prabhu knew this, and that is why He brought the
holy name. So you should also try to do sa‰k…rtana. If you chant this
sa‰k…rtana, softly or loudly, Hare KŠa Hare KŠa KŠa KŠa Hare Hare
/ Hare R€ma Hare R€ma R€ma R€ma Hare Hare, it will purify the whole
world. It may reach lakhs and lakhs of worlds. It is very powerful; so
try to realize these facts.
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
162
If you are chanting, or you are discussing hari-kath€ anywhere, the
vibration goes all over the world. This is called k…rtana. K…rtana is not
only performed with mda‰ga and karat€las. Discussion of hari-kath€ is
the most powerful k…rtana. It also purifies the whole world. You should
know this theory and try to follow the process that ®r…la Sw€m…j…
brought—actually he did not bring it; ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu brought
it—and he, Sw€m…j…, was in that line. He brought this process to the
Western countries and Eastern countries outside of India.
Sometimes big festivals may be arranged, on occasions such as
Janmatami, Ns…ˆhadeva Caturdai and ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu’s
birthday. If this is not possible, then somehow these holidays should be
celebrated. Try to follow all the rules and regulations according to your
ability. My blessings are always available to you; and your Gurudeva
will help you. Don’t have any doubt about this. What is written in the
€stra is true to the fullest extent.
Practicing the Process
®r…la Bhaktivinoda μh€kura has written two important lines in one of
his songs. These are the essence of everything. In bangala-pay€r (Bengali
verse) he writes:1
kŠera sams€ra koro chadi’ an€c€r
j…ve doy€, n€ma-ruci—sarva-dharma-s€r
“Giving up all improper behavior, carry on your worldly duties only in
relation to KŠa. The showing of compassion to all other souls by loudly
chanting the holy name of KŠa is the essence of all forms of religion.”
KŠera sams€ra koro—you can establish kŠa-sams€ra. Remain with
your children and husband or wife, but the center of all your activities
should be to please KŠa. Do not do anything which KŠa does not
like. To please KŠa means to please Hari, Guru, VaiŠavas, ®r…mat…
R€dhik€, all the gopas, all the gop…s, and ®r…man Mah€prabhu and all
His associates. Here ‘KŠa’ means all—to please all.
KŠera sams€ra koro, chadi’ an€c€r means to give up all unwanted
activities and desires, and to always try to establish kŠa-sams€ra. J…ve
doy€, n€ma-ruci means to have mercy on all j…vas, all living entities. What
is that mercy? People are suffering so much by forgetting KŠa. We
must be merciful and tell them, “Oh, you should chant and remember
KŠa, and be happy forever.” Have confidence in this process. First
have strong faith yourself, and then try to be merciful to others. In this
1 ®r… Nagar-Kirtan, Song 1 Ajna-Tahal, loka 4.
Ripples in a Pond
163
way you will see that everyone is happy. Give j…va doy€ according to each
person’s level. N€ma-ruci. There should be ruci, taste for the name. If
there is ruci, there can be €sakti. Then uddha-sattva, bh€va, will manifest,
and that will lead to prema. If there is no ruci, chanting will only lead
us up to mukti from this world, that is, your death may be stopped.
®r…la KŠad€sa Kavir€ja Gosv€m… has told: prabhu kahena ‘kŠa-sev€.’
When the Chariot Festival in Pur… was completed, the devotees were
not willing to leave there. They all wanted to remain with Mah€prabhu.
But Mah€prabhu requested them to return to their homes. They asked,
“Prabhu, You order us to return to our homes. But what should we do
there?” Now we are in the same situation. I may go back to Vnd€vana,
and you cannot go there because there are so many problems, especially
money problems. In this same way they were asking Mah€prabhu, “By
Your order we will return to our homes. What should we do when we
reach there?” Mah€prabhu replied in two lines:
prabhu kahena, ‘kŠa-sev€’, ‘vaiŠava-sevana’
‘nirantara kara kŠa-n€ma-sa‰k…rtana’
(Cc. Madhya 15.104)
“Serve KŠa, and serve the VaiŠavas.” Prabhu kahena ‘kŠa-sev€. Lord
Caitanya said, “Engage in devotional service to KŠa.” VaiŠava-sevana:
“Serve the VaiŠavas.” Nirantara kara kŠa-n€ma-sa‰k…rtana: “Always do
nama-saŠk…rtana.” According to your ability you can do n€ma-sa‰k…rtana
at all times—with some sense of a relationship to KŠa, and giving up
all kinds of anarthas. Then the name you chant may be n€m€bh€sa. After
n€m€bh€sa, the pure name will come. So always perform n€ma-sa‰k…
rtana, and try to introduce it to others.
Serving the VaiŠavas with Discrimination
In the next year the devotees again questioned Mah€prabhu, “We
know something about kŠa-sev€, as performed by arcanaˆ and all
other means and we also know n€ma-sa‰k…rtana. But how do we do
vaiŠava-sev€?” How did Mah€prabhu reply? He told them, “Try to
realize that there are three kinds of VaiŠavas—kani˜ha, madhyama and
uttama. Kani˜has are always serving the Deities, but they don’t care for
VaiŠavas. They are always engaged in this way, thinking, “This kŠaarcana
is sufficient.” Madhyamas are not engaged only in worshipping
the Deities, but are always worshiping and serving VaiŠavas. The
uttama mah€-bh€gavatas are superior to the other two. They are always
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
164
remembering KŠa’s pastimes and serving KŠa by their m€nas… a˜ak€
l…ya-sev€.2
Not so much has been told for the kani˜has. There is no duty, no
order for them. Regarding the uttama-mah€-bh€gavatas—they are beyond
the control of the Vedas, Upaniads, and so on. Na dharmaˆ n€dharmaˆ.3
They are paramahaˆsa. They see that KŠa is everywhere, and everyone
is somehow serving Him. In their eyes no one is a conditioned soul;
everyone is liberated. They think, “All others are more qualified than
I am in service to KŠa.” They will therefore be tn€d api sun…cena,
very humble within their heart. By their very constitution they will
be like this.
Therefore, it is only for madhyama-adhik€r…s that Caitanya
Mah€prabhu has given the order:
prema-maitr…-kpopek€
ya karoti sa madhyama
(Cc. Madhya 22.73)
“An intermediate, second-class devotee shows love for the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, is friendly to all devotees, and is very merciful
to neophytes and ignorant people.”
I think that almost all of you are going to enter into madhyama-adhik€r…,
and some have already entered. Therefore you have the intelligence to
consider who is a pure VaiŠava, who is not a pure VaiŠava, who is
kani˜ha, who is madhyama, and so on. Most of you are entering in the
madhyama-adhik€r… stage, and thus this instruction, prema-maitr…, is for
you. There should be maitr…, friendship.
Maitr… is of three kinds. The first kind is towards those who are
superior—either madhyama-adhik€r…s or uttama mah€bh€gavatas—
serving
them with a very familiar, affectionate friendship. There should be
maitr…, but with a service attitude.
The second kind is also bosom friendship, to those who are equal
in KŠa consciousness. From superiors you can hear, and with bosom
friends, equal to you in KŠa consciousness, you can have i˜ago˜h…,
sharing ideas and realizations about KŠa. ®r… R™pa and ®r… San€tana
were like this. ®r… Jiva Gosv€m… and ®r… KŠad€sa Kavir€ja Gosv€m…
were like this with ®r… Raghunatha d€sa Gosv€m…. And ®r… Narottama
μh€kura, ®r… ®y€m€nanda and ®r…nivasa also related with each other
as equals.
2 Serving by meditating on KŠa’s eight-fold daily pastimes.
3 They neither perform routine religious activities resulting in piety, nor irreligious
activities resulting in sin. (Manaƒ-ika, loka 2).
Ripples in a Pond
165
The third kind of maitr… shows kpa—(friendly compassion and
mercy)—to those who are also madhyama but somewhat junior; helping
them, but with friendship. You can tell them so many secrets about
KŠa consciousness—like daa-m™la, the ten fundamental principles,
and like the process given by ®r… R™pa Gosv€m….
Give mercy to those who are kani˜has. You can give a glass of water
and say, “Oh, you are a very good devotee.” In this way you are inspiring
them.
Those who are against KŠa should be avoided. How should you
avoid them? Should you quarrel with them by using a stick or harsh
words? Never. But you should not associate with them in transcendental
matters. You can speak with them about worldly things, and engage
in worldly giving and taking, but without attachment. With pure
VaiŠavas, activities should be performed with attachment. If a beggar
comes, like a m€y€v€d… or a poor person, you can give him some pras€da,
and don’t use harsh words like, “Go away, go away. I will not give you
anything. If you become a devotee I will give you.” Don’t speak like
this. Give him something, but not with attachment. However, if there
are any pure VaiŠavas, serve them with attachment, to please KŠa.
This behaviour should be there. Try to honor those who chant
somehow and sometimes. They are madhyama, but madhyama-kani˜ha.
Those who are always chanting with taste are madhyama-madhyama.
And when kŠa-nama automatically comes to your tongue by seeing
a devotee, that devotee is madhyama-uttama (entering the uttama stage).
In the uttama-bh€gavata stage there also are so many divisions—uttamakani
˜ha, uttama-madhyama, and uttama-uttama. Most superior is the
mah€-mah€-bh€gavata, like ®r…la R™pa Gosv€m… and others.
Don’t criticize anyone. Nity€nanda Prabhu was a brahmac€r… in the
renounced order, but He married. He is svatantra-bhagav€n, the supreme
independent Bhagav€n Himself. The Vedas and €stras cannot control
Him. If you see something wrong in an elevated devotee with your
yellow, jaundiced eyes, don’t criticize them. Such devotees are beyond
the control of rules and regulations. They are sadhu and you should not
criticize them. Offer praŠ€ma to them but don’t associate. When your
doubt goes away, or when his character becomes acceptable to you, then
you can associate. Associate with a VaiŠava who is really madhyamaadhik€
r…, whose character is very high and spotless. You should have
no doubt. Thus you can advance and make a very beautiful and strong
community; and you can enter in the process of ®r… R™pa Gosv€m… and
Manaƒ-ik€ of Raghun€tha d€sa Gosv€m….
Secret Truths of the Bh€gavatam
166
You have heard all things. What I wanted to give, I gave through
classes and dramas. Next year I want to come and see that you have
all very much developed, and all of my children are now educated,
helping each other and having some love and affection for all. Thus our
objective may be successful, and we can love ®r… Caitanya Mah€prabhu
and ®r… ®r… R€dh€ and KŠa conjugal.
Morning walk in New Vraja__



End







Om Tat Sat

End

(My humble salutations to  the lotus feet of  Swami jis great Devotees , Philosophic Scholars, Purebhakti dot com       for the collection)

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