Aug 14: Faith in Guru and Surrender to the Lord
The satsang started with Nama Sankirtan by Sriramji from Houston, Texas.
Sri Narayanan from Boston spoke in relation to the Janmashtami.
“We celebrate quite a few events – Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturti, etc. Where in our scriptures is the authority or the authenticity of such celebrations? In Srimad Bhagavatam, in the 11th Canto, the Lord describes the qualities of a Bhakta to Uddhava. In that, He mentions, “It is the duty of my devotee to always worship my form, go on pilgrimages, celebrate my birth and festivals related to me, sings my divine names and my divine glories… “. So it is Lord Krishna Himself who is the authority for our celebrations.
This satsang happens in the context of the Janmashtami. And we are celebrating this great festival in our satsang through Nama Sankirtan and Katha Shravanam. Can there be a better way to celebrate Krishna’s birth?”
Following the introductions, Sri Narayanaswamy from Seattle spoke on Surrender and faith.
“We all celebrated Janmashtami. Lord Krishna was born and He visited all our residences! How could He visit all the houses at the same time? It is simply because He is a ‘Lila Lola’ (conjurer of divine plays). In Brindavan, He was found with each of the hundreds of Gopikas who were playing ‘raasa’ with the Lord. Likewise, He entered our houses, as well as our hearts! When we talk about Krishna, Mahabharata comes to our mind. – He has shown us two key principles – Surrender to the Lord and Faith in Guru.
The Kurukshetra battle was in the offing. Duryodhana rushes to Dwaraka to seek Krishna ‘s help, as also Arjuna from the Pandava’s side. Duryodhana was the first to come. He sat at the head of Lord Krishna who was asleep. Arjuna came later and sat by His foot. As soon as Krishna woke up, He saw Arjuna. He welcomed both of them. Duryodhana rushed and said, ‘Krishna! I came first. Entertain my request first!” Krishna said, “But I saw Arjuna first!” While Duryodhana was anxious about Arjuna’s request, Krishna said, ‘Two options – one: I will not touch arms, but will remain by your side. Two: I will offer all my gallantry’. Arjuna, unhesitatingly said, ‘Prabhu! You are the Jagadguru! Please be with us. That is all we want!’. Duryodhana heaved a sigh of relief and passed on the accepted all the military power of Krishna’s army. What happened eventually? All of us know that the Pandavas prevailed over the Kauravas in the battle. It was possible only due to the faith of Arjuna on his Guru, Lord Krishna. When Guru’s blessings are abundant, no harm can near, and victory is ours.
In another instance, we see that when the Kurukshetra battle was over and the Pandavas were seated around Krishna in a tent, when Draupadi said, ‘Krishna! I have a question to you! Everybody says you are ‘Aapat Bhaandava’. You rushed to Gajendra’s call. You rushed to Prahalada’s call. But, in my case, I shouted and cried for a long time, and you came in very late, when I was ill-treated in the court. What sin did I commit?’. Krishna smilingly replied, ‘Draupadi, when Duschadana wanted to remove your clothes, you did not call me first. You called your husband, the elders, the great warriors on the court, and all the brave men. Even after that, you trusted your own might and fought with Duschadana. Only at the end, when you ran out of options did you raise both your arms and called me. Did I not come then?’ Draupadi replied, ‘Krishna! I understand. I surrendered to you only as a last resort. Had I surrendered to you earlier, the story would have been different. Thus surrender to the Lord is important.”
Now, can we see Krishna? Kanchi Paramacharya says, it is not possible to see Him because Krishna denotes black. Our mind is filled with darkness. How can one see a black spot in darkness? Krishna says in Bhagavat Gita, ‘Hey Arjuna, you cannot see Me with your naked eye. I am granting you special sight to ‘see’ me’. So, its not possible to see Him with our eyes. However we can see Him in our heart. Having created the entire universe, He is hiding like a thief, nowhere else, but in our own hearts. So all we need to do is find him there – and that is Bhakti – make your heart white. This is possible only through a Guru’s blessings . ‘Gu’ denotes darkness and ‘Ru’ denotes removal. Thus Guru is indispensible to dispel the darkness.
What is the fundamental difference between Mahabharata and Ramayana, given that both Rama and Krishna are avatars of the Lord. Krishna’s avatar is a display of the Lilas, while Ramavatar is a human incarnation. It is simply impossible to impersonate Krishna, be it stealing butter, killing his demon-uncle or dancing on a snake. On the other hand, Rama lived as a truthful person, a honest husband (ekapatni vrata), obeyed his father’s word, protecting the surrenderer, being a best friend etc. Thus Krishna’s advices can be ‘heard’ and assimilated, where Rama’s life should be lived.
When Rama was informed that his coronation was being cancelled, he stood unmoved, with the same smile he sported on his face since morning – his expressions were unchanged even when he had to give up all grandeur and go to the forest. Sorrows may come but we should see them with equanimity and consider them as the grace of God.
In the Mahabharata war, no one could conquer Dronacharya. Krishna asks the Pandavas to utter a lie to fall him – and accosted Yudhishtra with this idea. Yudhishtra turns Him down, because he wouldn’t utter a lie. After Krishna’s convincing words, Yudhishtra shouts ‘Ashwattama hatah’ – in a high voice and ‘kunjarah’ in a low tone. Is it right for the Lord to be an accomplice in untruth?
Tiruvalluvar says, ‘poimaiyum vaimai idatha purai theerntha nanmai payakkum enin’ – it is okay to utter a lie if it is going to provide relief to a suffering person. A person bound to kill another, loses his target and asks you if you saw the target. You can lie there (by saying you didn’t know) because you are indeed saving a life.
Thus let us have faith in our Guru and surrender to the Lord and be thankful to our Guru for the satsangs we are enjoying.
The satsang ended with prayers with Mahamantra.
Jul 31: First Anniversary – Rukmini Kalyanam
For any activity to succeed, be it spiritual or otherwise, we need the grace of Lord. How do we know that our activity is being blessed by Lord? The Lord’s presence can be felt in various ways, like through pleasant showers or a great Mahan comes when we undertake the activity (like Vamana in Bali’s sacrifice), or unexpectedly anything auspicious happens.
Likewise, our Friday satsangs started on August 1, 2008 and today is the first-year completion of the satsang and it happens to be on an Ashada-Friday A Friday on Ashada (Aadi) month is considered auspicious, because it is special to Lakshmi Devi. What to say of today, when it is verily Varalakshmi Puja! It is indeed a blessing.
The grace of Mahalakshmi is required to attain the Lord. In Srirangam, only after Mother’s darshan and after a big Pradakshina around the temple, can we have Lord Ranganatha’s sanctum. By the time we reach the Lord’s sanctum, it is said, that the Mother quickly goes from her place to the Lord’s sanctum and apprises of our ensuing visit and places a recommendation on our behalf to show His compassion on us! In Tirupati, Lakshmi Devi resides in the heart of Lord Balaji. Everytime a devotee comes and falls at the Lord’s feet, Mother looks at us and then at the Lord to see if the Lord blesses him. First her divine sight (‘kataksha’) falls on us. In Vaishnava Sampradaya, Lakshmi Devi’s krupa only can reach us to the Lord. Even the fact that Varalakshmi Puja precedes Janmashtami by 2 weeks shows this very fact!
We sometimes mistake that Lakshmi is the goddess of monetary benefits alone. However, that is incorrect. There are 8 different Lakshmis. Even those who wish for Moksha have to pray to Moksha Lakshmi. Let us pray to Mahalakshmi and our Sadguru Maharaj that our satsang flourish in a grand manner, and more and more devotees get an opportunity to attend satsangs.
Signifying the fact that there are 8 forms of Lakshmi Devi, In Srimad Bhagavatam, the birth of Mahalakshmi is in the 8th Canto – 8th Chapter – 8th Sloka. During the churning of the milky ocean, she appears with enchanting beauty as a lightening.
Then it mentions how everyone wants to marry Lakshmi Devi, while the mother sees that everyone has a vice if he has a virtue. There was no one other than Lord Vishnu who did not have a vice, but only had virtues. And it was only the Lord who stood without any expectations. Hence she chose Lord Maha Vishnu as her match – ‘ramaa mukundam nirapeksham iipsitam’
Lakshmi Devi wishes to to be with the Lord in every of His avatars. Another wedding of Lakshmi Devi, this time in the form of Rukmini Devi, with her consort, Lord Krishna is described in great detail. Today we shall listen to “Rukmini Kalyanam” by Gayathriji from Boston.
Following this, Gayathriji gave a wonderful talk on Rukmini Kalyanam.
We talk a lot about the necessity and importance of Satsang. We all desire. The best desire is to desire for Lord – the more we listen to the glories of the Lord, our desires for the Lord increases. Rukmini’s wedding is an illustration of this very fact.
The Lord created Dwaaraka and he ruled it. The wedding of Balarama with Revathi was also over, and it was time to get Lord Krishna married.
Bhishmaka was the king of Vidharba. He had 5 sons – Rukmi, Rukmaratha, Rukmakesan, Rukmabaahu, Rukmamaali, and a little daughter – Rukmini. She gets a lot of satsang through Sadhus in the palace. They talk about the creation of the Universe, Matsya Kurma Avatars, Dhruva Charita, Prahlada Charita, and Rama Avatar. They say, the very valorous Lord Rama has now incarnated as Lord Krishna. They talk about the Lord’s birth, Puthana Moksha, Shakatasura Vadham, Navaneetha Lila, Brindavan Lilas, Vanabhojanam, Yagna Patni Uddharana, Kaliya Moksha, Govardhana Uddharana , Murali gana, Rasa Kreeda and Kamsa Vadam. The very same Lord is now ruling Dwaraka.
Rukmini would long to marry Krishna and look at her dad. Her dad knew his daughter’s heart. The 5 sons never had a chance to have satsang, so these stories do not interest them. Her dad would think, ‘Will I be fortunate to have Lord Krishna as my son-in-law?’ The next day, in court, he expresses this wish. Everyone but Rukmi is happy about the decision. He opposes it and says, ‘Dad! Are you a lunatic? Krishna’s status is no match to us! He is pitch dark, while our Rukmini is golden. He is a cowherd. He has no education! He went to school only for 64 days! His parents were in prison! He is hiding from his enemies and lives inside the seas!’
Bhishmaka stopped him short and said, ‘You talk so because you lack Satsang. You cannot bad mouth someone because you don’t know about him. Do whatever you like.’
Rukmi decided that Sishupala, his close friend and the son of Dhamagosha (king of Chedi) was the apt match to Rukmini and he sent invitations to everyone for the wedding. Rukmini was in the ‘kanya matam’ and when she learned of this news, she was depressed and broke down. ‘Who will meet my Gopala and convey my message to him! There is just one day to go’, she thought. ‘Can I send the cloud as the messenger? No! the cloud will be busy drinking the waters of the seas. Can I send the bee? No, it will be lost in the honey of the Lord’s Vyjayanthi Mala. How about my companions? No, its not possible in a day. Mind is the fastest! So why not send it? If my mind goes to Sri Krishna, how can it ever return?’
One should not go in search of a Guru. We donot have the intellect to judge a Guru. If our thirst for God is true, the Lord sends a Guru. That was when the Guru came in the form of a Bhagavata, singing ‘Kshemam kuru Gopaala…’. Consoled, she invited the Bhagavata and the girls, after paying respects, conveyed this information.
The Bhagavata said, ‘Lord Krishna would certainly be a great suit to you. Don’t worry, these invitations are only man-made. Don’t worry about it. I am on my way to Dwaraka, I will take your message.’ The Guru takes the message of the devotee to the Lord. Rukmini wrote 7 crisp, sweet slokas as her message for Krishna.
The Bhagavata appeared at Krishna’s court in Dwaraka in no time. The Lord paid his respects and inquired. ‘I am coming from Vidarbha and I have a message from Rukmini.’, said the Bhagavata. ‘Go on, read it yourself’, said the Lord.
He read it wonderfully, just as Rukmini would herself read it for Krishna.
Shrutvaa gunaan bhuvanasundara shrunvataam te
Nirvishya karna vivarair haratonga taapam’
Rukmini debates on how she would address the Lord.
“ ‘Swami’ ? No, he would think I am saint. How about ‘raaja raaja raaja..sri..’ No. it would seem like a citizen with a petition! How about ‘Prabhu’ ? no it would mean I am a beggar expecting money. How about ‘Prananatha’? No! Krishna may think, how dare this girl address me as her saviour even before marriage!”
Finally she picks the word ‘Bhuvanasundara’ – a word that describes the sum and substance of the Lord’s beauty and prods Krishna to read further.
The letter contained answers to all of Krishna’s questions if he read the letter.
Krishna, ‘Bhuvanasundara! Hmm! Are you entranced by my looks? Do you know about my character?’
She says, ‘Shrutvaa Gunaan!’ – I have heard all about your character.
Krishna, ‘What have you heard about me?
Rukmini, ‘Your character is such that all the worldly miseries are lost by merely listening to them. Only one misery(‘thaapa’) is left behind – and that thaapa is the longing to attain Your Feet. ‘
Krishna, ‘Now that you have heard about me, have you seen me?’
Rukmini, ‘Roopam – akilaartha laabam’ – Your form is the essence of the world. The more I listen to your glories, the more I get your form in my Dhyana and that is how I have seen you.
I am not an expressive girl. I am a shy person by nature. Now I overcome my shyness and write this letter. Please understand how desperate I am to reach you, Oh Krishna! Not only me, any one who listens to your glories and gets your form in Dhyana, will long to attain you!’
Krishna, ‘You desire to attain me! Have you done enough merits to attain me?’
Rukmini, ‘poorthe ishta datta dharma’. Yes Indeed I have done all the merits. But Krishna! You are not the one that can be reached by accruing merits, are you? How can you be reached? You can be reached only by ‘aatma samarpana’ (surrendering oneself to You). Here I surrender myself. Please accept me.’
Krishna, ‘Well, If I do accept you, you are going to be in the women’s harem and I am a king. How am I to meet you?’
Rukmini, ‘My marriage with Sishupala has been arranged. In our family custom, the bride will perform Gauri Pooja before the wedding and so I will be there and you can take me from there.’
Krishna, ‘Should I elope with you?’
Rukmini, ‘Nay! Only a coward does that. You are a man of courage and valor. Please bring your bow ‘saarnga’ and defeat anyone who opposes you and rightfully take me as kanyashulkam.’
Krishna, ‘Okay, If I don’t show up at the Gauri temple on the day of the wedding, are you going to marry Sishupala?’
Rukmini, ‘I will take hundreds of births to attain you. Not in one birth shall I get wedded to anyone other than you.’
Saying so, Rukmini signs ‘-Yours Rukmini Devi’.
The Lord is extremely pleased with this surrender of Rukmini Devi, gets his chariots ready and goes to Vidarbha desa followed by Balarama.
Rukmini is dressed like a bride in a magnificent silk saree with borders of swan-designs. Her hair is beautifully plaited and decked with ornaments and flowers. Her earrings are moving back and forth. She sports a beautiful ‘kasturi tilaka’ on her forehead and wears different kinds and sizes of ornaments on her neck. Her fingers shine with finger rings and wears a toe ring on her toe. Her head is bent down and she walks at the pace of a swan, holding a lotus on one hand and her friend’s hand with the other. She gets the blessings of all elderly women there.
Suddenly, she hears the sound of Panchajanya and senses the smell of Tulsi, which gives away the fact that the Lord has arrived there to take her. At that moment, she sees the Bhagavata – her eyes well with tears of gratitude and folds her hands in respect. After all, can we ever repay a Guru who takes us to the Lord?
The princes waiting to see Rukmini are blinded by the glitter on the gems in her finger-rings. As her head bends down in shyness, her curly hair falls on her forehead. In the pretext of setting it right, she raises her forehead and her eyes meet with that of the Lord. The moment their eyes meet, the Lord takes her on His chariot and rides her away in a flash. The enemies see with awe at the divine couple. One of them shouted, ‘Hey! Krishna has taken away the bride. Let’s chase him!’ the other, still unable to come out of the awe, ‘Oh! What a wonderful sight it was!’
When Shishupala hears the news that Rukmini has been taken by Krishna, he screams at Rukmi in anger, ‘I trusted that you will get me married to her. You betrayed me!’. Rukmi waged a war against Krishna and the Yadava, but eventually loses. Rukmi, out of shame, goes to a place called Bhojagatam.
Krishna brings Rukmini to his parents – Devaki and Vasudeva. On an auspicious day, when all the Mahans, Rishis, Sadhus, Bhagavatas Devas and other elders are present, the Divine Couple are united in a wedlock, as described by Sri Narayana Thirtha in his ‘Kalyana tharangam’.
“Acharya vachanaat sarvam akarotu yadunandhanah vaachaama gocharaatmaanam vasudevasva maayayaa
Dwaarakaa nagari madhye sahasrasthamba mantape
Rathna simhasanaaroodam sagalatram jagusurah
Alokaye rukmini kalyana gopalam….
Neelamegha nibhaakaaram baalaarka samaana chelam
nilambaranujam gopa baalakam neelalakandham ”
Nishaji added something that she listened to Sri Ramuji’s speech about this: ‘When Rukmini heard Govardhana Udharanam lila, she was pretty sure the Lord will accept her, for that Lila verily goes to show that the Lord does not forsake anyone who surrenders unto Him.’
Narayananji added, ‘Our Swamiji would say that all our Puranic stories have philosophies behind them but it is not necessary to look at philosophies when it comes to Bhagavatam, for the very stories are filled with Bhakti Bhaava. Still, if there is a dry-hearted person who wants to look at philosophy behind this particular episode, there is certainly one!
Rukmini Devi represents the Jivatma which longs to attain the Paramatma and Lord Krishna is the Paramatma. The 5 brothers of Rukmini represent the 5 senses. These five senses always try to get us into worldly matters and away from God. When the quest for God is true, the Guru comes by Himself and takes the message of the devotee to the Lord. If the message is delivered by the Guru, the Lord Himself comes. We usually imagine that it is we who who have to go to temples to see the Lord. But the fact is, the Lord Himself comes right to our place and takes.
‘Rukmini Kalyanam’ is indeed the merger of the Jivatma into the Paramatma.
The satsang ended with prayers with Mahamantra Kirtan.
Jun 12: Bhagavatam and Mahans
The Namasankirtan was led by Sri Aravindji from Orlando, FL.
After introductions, Mukundji from Redding CA talked on Bhakti and Bhagavatam.
In Bhagavatam, Prahalada very beautifully mentions the types of Bhakti:
“Sravanam Kirtanam Vishnoh smaranam pada sevanam archanam vandamam dasyam sakhyam athma nivedanam”
Sravana ( is hearing about God’s Lilas , his virtues and stories),
Kirtana (singing of His divine glories),
Smarana (remembrance of His name and his charithra),
Padasevana (service of His feet),
Archana (worship of God). Our Guru Maharaj always says that one should do bhakti in a very soft way (lalitham). One should place the flowers at the Lord in a soft manner and instead not throw them/
Vandana (prayer and prostration to Lord),
Dasya (cultivating the servant sentiment with God),
Sakhya (cultivating the friend-Bhava) and
Atma-Nivedanam is complete surrender of the self to God.
Our Guru Maharaj often tells His devotees that there is no such thing called big or small when one performs service [kainkaryam] to the Lord. If one person gets to lift the deity using his shoulders and another carries the umbrella for the Lord, both the services are considered the same. This is Dasya Bhakti.
Sakhya Bhakti – one can confide their sufferings and troubles to the Lord. Doing so, the Lord will alleviate us from the sufferings or make the suffering not a burden on us. But on the other hand, if we whisper our sufferings and troubles to our friends, they will only mock at us instead of being any help!
It is a fact that mere reading of Srimad Bhagavatam leads to liberation. This is very lucidly seen in the case of Atmadeva’s Charithra where Gokarna performed Srimad Bhagavata Saptham for his brother Dundukari, who attained the Holy feet of the Lord by listening to Srimad Bhagavatam with rapt attention. Such is the greatness of Srimad Bhagavatam. Read about this story in detail here.
Let’s take another example that lucidly shows the importance of reading Srimad Bhagavatam. There was a great Mahan by name Poondhanam. He lived in Kerala and was an ardent devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan. He used to do Bhagavata Parayanam on a daily basis since he believed that Srimad Bhagavatam is verily Lord Krishna. When his family commitments increased and it was becoming difficult to read Bhagavatam in peace, he was on the look for a suitable place outside his house and he found a good place in his own garden. The spot was between two banana trees. Having found the place, he prepared a seat to keep the holy text and placed flowers on it everyday. He very much liked the third canto which describes the Vaikunta, the abode of Lord Vishnu.
He had a desire to visit Vaikunta. So he pleaded to the Lord, to show him the greatness of Vaikunta. So that very night, the Lord gave him a glimpse of Vaikunta. While he was going round Vaikunta, he saw two Vishnu Dhutas(aides of Lord Vishnu) approaching him and they immediately fell at his feet and got his blessings. This scene completely shook Poondanam and was wonder struck as to why they fell at his feet. Nervous as he was, with a little courage he went and asked them as to why they fell at his feet. They started to explain what had happened to them. They were the banana trees that were planted in Poondanam’s garden. Since they were fortunate to listen to Srimad Bhagavatam on a daily basis, they were blessed to become Vishnu Dhutas(aides of Lord Vishnu)! They were very grateful to Poondhanam because of whom they reached Vaikunta. After witnessing this scene in his dream, he woke up from his sleep and stepped outside his garden. He saw that the two banana trees had fallen.
Thus it is clearly seen that by performing Srimad Bhagavata Parayanam can certainly lead one to Mukti.
Narayananji from Boston shared some thoughts after the lecture.
In most Puranas, we often read many seemingly unrealistic stories. But incidents that we see in the life-history of Mahans very similar to these stories prove that they indeed are true. One example we can quickly think of is from Narada’s life-history. By consuming the Uchchishta( food left-overs) of the Sadhus, he gained Jnana. A very similar incident can be found in the life-history of Sri Bodendra Saraswathi Swamigal where Swamigal’s uchchishta made a deaf and dumb boy chant and dance in Bhakti. Read more about Sri Bondendral here.
Another example that one can quote is from Srimad Bhagavatam. Kubera had two sons, Nalakoobura and Manigriva. They are enjoying with some women unmindful of anything else near Mandakini river in Kailash and that instant, Sage Narada passed by and his eyes caught sight of this loathsome sight. Any other normal human-being would have become very angry on seeing this sight. The women, on seeing him, fled away. However the two siblings who were drunk, stood in front of him. But the sage, who was compassion personified, says, “Oh! My sons of Kubera, for this act, you shall be born as trees”. He further added that Lord Krishna will come and free them.
Sage Narada’s words came true and they were born as Arjuna trees in the back-yard of Lord Krishna’s house.
Yashoda Maiya tied Krishna in a rope to a mortar and Krishna goes through these two trees with the mortar. When he squeezed through the trees with the mortar tied around his waist, the trees break up and the two sons of Kubera came out and immediately prostrated unto the Lord’s feet. They sang a beautiful stuti singing the glories of the Lord. They say that the Lord gave ears only to listen to the glories of the Lord. He gaves us mouth and voice only to sing His glories and Divine Names.
Lord Krishna, having listened to the Sutti, spoke to the siblings on the glory of the mahatmas. He told them it is because of the will of Narada that he had come to deliver them. When a Mahans’ sight falls on us, then the darkness (sins) are vanquished and it is imminent that we reach the holy feet of the Lord. Srimad Bhagavatam is verily Lord Krishna. Akin to how the Lord relieved the two sons of Kubera, the Lord in the form of Srimad Bhagvatham liberated the two banana trees. There it was Sage Narada was instrumental for their liberation through Lord Krishna and here, its Poondhanam who was instrumental in the liberation of the banana trees through Srimad Bhagavatam.
Aravindji from Orlando mentioned about the significance of guru and divine names of the Lord. He briefly talked about Gajendra Moksha and also an incident from Yogiramsurathkumar’s life. One night Yogi in the middle of the sleep suddenly woke up and walked to a well. He found a horse lying deep inside the well. No sooner he started chanting the divine names of the Lord than the horse jumped from the well and ran away.
The satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.
Mar 6: A leaf from a Bhagavatottama’s life
The satsang started off with Nama Kirtan by Zivanji and family from Chicago, IL. This was followed by a quick round of introductions, after which Narayanan from Boston gave the discourse.
“It is said that “Shravanam” or hearing to the Lord’s glories is the easiest means removing the sins that we have accrued, and to attain chitta shuddhi which in turn leads us to liberation. Prahlada Swami in Srimad Bhagavatam, for this very reason, states “Shravanam” as the first step to Bhakti.
But as we go ahead reading Bhagavatam, in the first chapter of the 10th canto, we find the following Sloka:
“Nivrutta darshair upageeyamanat bhavaushadaat strotra manobiraamaath |
Ka uttamasloka gunanuvaadath puman virajetha vina pashughnat || “Having spoken of the different dynasties and lineages in the Ninth canto, Sage Sukacharya very briefly speaks of the “Yadhu” dynasty, the kings of the dynasties and also about Lord Krishna’s life. A worried Parikshit asks the sage, ‘Oh Holy One! You have expounded the all the clans and kingdoms in great detail. You have spoken greatly of my grandfather. But why have you cut short the story of Lord Krishna. I have been all along waiting to listen to His divine exploits. Am I not fortunate enough to listen to them? Have I committed such a grave sin as killing a cove that I am not fortunate enough and entitled to listen to Krishna Katha?”
Cow is considered to be very sacred and is considered to be a form of the Lord himself. Killing of a cow is considered as a grave sin. He asked Sage Sukha “Did I kill a cow (‘pashughnat’) and incur so much sin that I am not able to listen to Krisha Katha?”
It is only due to the merits accrued in the past that we are gifted to listen to Krishna Katha. We see this in our daily life don’t we? How many people try to escape away from a Krishna Katha discourse happening next door, with silly reasons as “I don’t have time”, “I have already heard it” and so on?
Now comparing the two facts, firstly we said, the sins getting destroyed by listening to Krishna Katha and secondly if one has sinned then he cannot listen to the stories of Lord Krishna. Does this not sound like a chicken and egg paradox?
Srimad Bhagavatam provides the solution for this conundrum and this can be found in Bhagavatham itself. Krishna’s life-history is depicted in the tenth canto only. The first nine cantos lead us to wash away our sins so that we can listen to Krishna katha in the tenth canto. The first nine cantos beautifully explain the glories of the devotees of the Lord and that makes us mature enough to listen to the stories of the Lord himself in the tenth canto. Otherwise we may ask silly questions and not enjoy the ‘bhaava’ of the katha.
Once a devotee asked our Guru Maharaj as to why Lord Krishna did Rasa Leela. In reply to this question, he asked him to only see and enjoy all the good deeds that he had done, by killing the demons etc. In fact Rasa Leela starts with the term “Bhagavaan api”. We should come to terms that we are talking about the glories of the Lord.
Talking about Rasa Leela, our Guru Maharaj once mentioned an interesting take away point. The playful games of Krishna and the Gopis are celebrated as Holi, specifically in the North of India. In south India, in villages, it is celebrated as the festival of ‘Kaama’. ‘Kaama’ is cupid or the Lord of love. On the same day, when the Lila of Lord Krishna’s Rasa with the Gopikas is celebrated, also celebrated is the burning away of ‘Manmadha’ (Kaama) by Lord Shiva through His third eye. Both Shiva and Krishna were bereft of lust and they exhibited this in different ways. While Lord Shiva showed that He had conquered lust by destroying Kaama, Lord Krishna did so, by Rasa Lila. How can one say that Lord Krishna is devoid of any lust?? If we take the Krishna Ashtotara (which contains the hundred and eight names of Lord Krishna), there is one name that is unique to Lord Krishna only – “Aanadi Brahmacharinae Namaha” – He is an eternal celibate!
Our Guru Maharaj beautifully explains this fact: A person has no craving for wealth. One way to do this is to embrace the path of sanyasa by renouncing everything in this world and sit in the forest thinking about the Lord, thereby eliminating the need to touch money. The other way is to be in the family and accumulate a lot of wealth but not be greedy by giving away all the wealth as charity. Is it not?
By listening to the stories of Bhaagavatas (devotees of the Lord), we become mature enough to listen to the stories of the Lord. Now who is a Bhagavata? Anyone who chants the name of the Lord (even once in his lifetime) is verily a Bhagavata. A Bhagavatottara is one who incessantly chants the name of the Lord. A Bhagavatottama (the superlative) is one whose very touch and sight makes people chant and dance to the joy of Nama. Today, we will speak of one such Bhagavatottama.
The Lord when he took Rama Avatar showed the ideal path of leading a life. In Krishna Avatar Lord showed His “Parakrama” (power) throughout His lifetime. But the message (about surrender) that he conveyed was very subtle. In order to make the message more blatant , the Lord wanted to take yet another avatar and as He loved the Krishna Avatar, He decided to take the form of Krishna avatar in kali yuga and make the message very clear. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Navadeep on a full moon day in the year 1486. That day happened to be lunar eclipse. No sooner was he born than he started sending out the message for the Kaliyuga which was chanting the Divine Names of the Lord. And how did he accomplish this? By being born on a lunar eclipse day! it is considered very auspicious to do any sadhana on the day of eclipse and the merits accrued would be far more than any other normal day. Navdeep being a place of learned scholars, this fact was a no-brainer. All of them had gathered in the banks of the Ganges to perform Japa and Hari Nama Sankirtan!
Right from his childhood, akin to Lord Krishna, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (he was fondly called Nimayi or Gauranga)’s life was filled with pranks and mischiefs.
In Krishna’s leela’s we read a nice episode called “Yagna Patni Uddharana”. The learned scholars didn’t possess any compassion or mercy in their heart and were haughty about their knowledge and once continued to do Yagas without realizing that the hungry Lord Sri Krishna and his friends were in their neighborhood. It is seen how Lord Krishna showers His compassion on their spouses and eventually gets the scholars to His feet. That’s a beautiful episode in Bhagavatham.
Akin to this, in the life-history of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he subdues the ego of so many different pandits and it is seen how he takes them to his feet. There once lived a pandit by name Keshav Suri, who hailed from Kashmir. He was a very learned scholar. In those days there was a practice called Digvijaya, where pandits go to any places to conquer other pandits. They debate with other pandits and enslave the losers. This Keshav Suri Pandit was a very successful ‘Digvijaya pandit’ and he had a battalion of pandits who always followed him. He happened to visit Navadeep and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was taking classes to young disciples. Keshav Suri wanted to debate with Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The latter being very humble in nature didn’t want to debate and hence was reluctant. Digvijay Pandit immediately composed hundred verses on the Ganges. The pundit who was very complacent that Mahaprabhu couldn’t have grasped any of the verses, asked him to comment on the 100 verses and speak about their pros and cons. To his surprise, Mahaprabhu recited all the verses one after another in quick succession. He recited all the hundred verses and gave the positive and negative points about the verses and commented as to how they should be written. This really angered the Digvijay Pandit but he agreed that they were genuine mistakes. This pandit who had the blessings of Lordess Saraswati went to her and asked her as to why he failed in front of a small lad. She immediately replied that he was not a small lad and that he was Lord Krishna himself.
There was another Pandit by name, Sarvabhauma in the royal court. He was very haughty about his knowledge and didn’t want to take the path of Bhakti.
Once while Mahaprabhu was with Sarvabhauma Pandit, the latter took a verse from Srimad Bhagavatam (Canto 1, Chapter 7) that goes ‘aatmaraamaascha munaya: nirgrantaat apyurukrame…’), expounded on this verse and gave nine different commentaries. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took the same verse and gave sixty one different commentaries! There was no other way for the pandit but to surrender on to his feet.
We have seen in Krishna leela about the sons of Kubera, Nalakupura and Manigriva. They are inherently good natured but after having consumed a liquor called ‘varuni’ they misbehave in front of Narada in intoxication and become trees in the spell of Narada’s curse, only to be liberated by Lord Krishna during His childhood.
In a very similar case, there are these two sinners, Jagayi and Madayi who are liberated by Mahaprabhu. They are Brahmins but they commit so many atrocities and sins. They were in fact numb to making sins and they only committed sins all the time. It was obviously Mahapranhu who was destined to correct these two people.Once during a Nagara Sankirtan, when Mahaprabhu was absorbed in the ecstasy of Nama Kirtan, Nityananda Swami (who was always with Mahaprabhu) who was leading from the front, spotted Jagayi and Madayi. On seeing them he requested them to chant the Names of the Lord. Sinners as they were, they started to mock Nithyananda Swami and the stronger of the two, Madayi hit him and Nithyananda Swami started to bleed profusely. Seeing this, Mahaprabhu came to front and when Madayi was about to strike him again, Jagayi stopped him saying that he was on the verge of death and asked him not to hurt the Swami anymore. After having given the first aid to Nityananda Swami, Mahaprabhu immediately embraced Madayi and thanked him for his compassion. This very act of Mahaprabhu made him realize his folly and immediately surrendered himself to Mahaprabhu Eventually, both became his followers. Mahaprbhu liberated them by initiating them in Nama.
He has liberated so many people by mere touch and by singing the maha mantra and he made the wild animals like lions and tigers dance to his tune of the Mahamantra.
In Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Krishna embraces his very ardent devotee Trivarka (Koobja) who had a hunchback and the moment Lord Krishna touched her, she became a beautiful woman.
Being a Sanyasi, Mahaprabhu went around the country on foot. He even visited South India, all the way to Sri Rangam and Kanyakumari. On such a visit to a place called Sri Kurmam in Andra Pradesh happened this wonderful incident.
Vasudeva lived in that town and was a leprosy patient. He had sores all over his body and worms dwelling in his wounds. He was an outcast from the village for obvious reasons. However he was so kind at heart that he would take the worms that fell from his sores put them back on, for he did not wish to deprive them of their food!
Having heard the news of Mahaprabhu’s arrival, Vasudeva was all excited to have the darshan of the great mahatma. However, the next day Vasudeva missed the darshan of Mahaprabhu and wept bitterly. Seeing the heart of this great devotee from far away, Mahaprabhu ran and came back, merely to give darshan to Vasudeva. The moment he saw Vasudeva, he embraced him and showered all his love. This very act of his turned Vasudeva into a very handsome man and cured him of his leprosy. Vasudeva’s joy knew no bounds and he immediately prostrated to Mahaprabhu. Thanking Mahaprabhu profusely for his compassion, Vasudeva asked as to why he cured him, for his disease kept him grounded and now that he was cured, his ego of being handsome will play havoc. Mahaprabhu in reply told him that it was all Gods’ grace and that his ego will not shoot up if he chanted the Divine Names of the Lord and left.
We could go on with such great incidents from this Mahatmas’ life, but we are time constrained.
Lord Rama had to come down for fourteen thousand years and Lord Krishna took about hundred twenty five years to accomplish their tasks, while Mahaprabhu lived for only forty-eight years and in that span, he spent only a part of it carrying his mission and was very successful and till date Mahamantra kirtan is carried out in different places.
His only literary work was Shikshashtakam, consisting of eight verses talking of the Glories of the Bhagavata, the Lord and the efficacy of His Divine Name.
Our Guru Maharaj in his maha mantra kirtan, sings –
“Chaithanya devaruum Nithyanandharum Bakthi vellam paaiychiya Keerthanam Paadeere!”The mantra (“Hare Rama..”) with which Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nithyanandji flooded the world with devotion.
Nithyanandji’s jayanthi is on the ninth of March and Mahaprabhu’s jayanthi is on tenth of March and we are all thankful to the Almighty for having given us an opportunity to listen about the Mahatmas during this time.
After the discourse, Sri Vinodji who is traveling from India shared some of his experiences with our Guru Maharaj.
The satsang wrapped up with Namakirtan with prayers for Namadwaar and the economy.
