Krsna is controlled by the love of his devotees
For many of us it might be only once per year that we are here at Sri Maan Mandir, for others it may be the only time in the life. Under the beautiful stars of Vrindavan in this holy place that is so very isolated from all modern life, commercialism & materialistic comforts we can deeply experience the simple beauty of Sri Vraja Dhaam. Maan Mandir is worshiped as one of the most important of all holy places by the residence of Vrindavan because it is here that love clearly conquers the object of love especially here pure un alloyed devotion brings the supreme all powerful personality of godhead Sri Krsna under helpless subordination. The Lila that is eternally enacted here is the deepest mystery of the Holy Scriptures, it is the essence of transcendence, and it is here that Krsna who is the proprietor of everything, in all spiritual & material worlds becomes a beggar, begging for the love of his devotees. We have read in Srimad Bhagvatam how Krsna conquered Putana such a deadly Rakshashi twelve miles in size, without supernatural mystic perfections; he accomplished this insurmountable feat when he was hardly a few days old infant baby, he hadn’t even learnt to lean up from his cradle. He killed Agha eight miles serpent whom the demigods with their thunderbolts were trembling in fear. Krsna is unconquerable, he showed his universal front Arjuna in the eleventh chapter of Bhagavad Gita, the all devouring form of time but in Vrindavan the humility, the pure innocent love of the devotees conquers Krsna; he who is Atmaram who is perfectly self satisfied becomes not just hungry but starving for the affection of his devotees thus he begs.
Sri Radha is the personification of love for Krsna
There are innumerable stories of the Lilas that take place here; I would like to share one that I heard many times from the local residence of this place. Shri Radharani is the best of all singers, in fact whatever musical abilities exist in all spiritual & material worlds have their fullness origin in her, she only sings for the pleasure of Krsna. Ther is beautiful bhajan which explains that, she is Kockil vaani? 0.21.10her voice is like a cuckoo multiplied infinitely. How does she has such a sweet voice? Because in the spiritual world all qualities exists as the expression of heart’s love for lord Krsna. Because her love is unlimited all of her devotional expressions are unlimited, the sweetness of her voice is unlimited, and this is something that cannot be comprehended by whose mind is limited by material conceptions. Krsna longs to hear her sing, he asked Shrimati Radharani, if she would be his musical guru & teach him how to sing. She sang a line of a beautiful raga & told him to repeat it, he did so however it was all wrong, she sang it again & Thakur ji Shamasundar sang even worse the next time. She sang again, Sri Radha Raman sang even farther off tone the third time; then she realised that he was doing it with some purpose because he simply wanted her to go on singing so she became angry.
No one can avoid Krsna
This is called Maan lila, actually Rupa Goswami tells us that a pure soul in this world gives up the pushing’s of anger so how does anger exists in the pure spiritual world which should be of satva. It exist as the willing offer of the heart to increase the pleasure of Krsna so she was angry; she said, I do not want to see you, I don’t want to hear you, be away from me. In loving affairs there is nothing more painful than neglect; when we are praised or when we are chastised at least our existence is being acknowledged but when we are neglected our heart becomes void. This was the state of lord Krsna. The Vraja gopis were trying to do everything they could to reunite Radha & Krsna. She said I don’t want to see anything any blue, but the gopis said, but all your clothes are blue & the sky is blue. She said I don’t want to hear his name but they said in Vrindavan every bird, every insect, every living entity is chanting his name. Krsna placed the crown of his head on her lotus feet, some time he would even bathe them with his tears. Radharani’s heart would melt & she would caste her beautiful smile upon the lord. Shrimati Radharani is always conquered by the love of Krsna & Lord Sri Krsna is always conquered by the love of Shrimati Radharani.
The lord who simply desires love from his devotees
Our Gaudiya vaishnava Siddhanta is not to try to be with Krsna, that is Radharani’s position; we desire to be the servant of the servant of the servant of her servants that position ultimately give the greatest pleasure to Krsna & therefore it brings great pleasure to our own hearts. The purpose of this human life is to purify our hearts, these wonderful past times at Sri Maan Mandir cannot be understood by our intelligence but it does give us the revelation that Bhakti is the only means of approaching Krsna. bhaktyä tv ananyayä çakya, Krsna said it is only by pure devotion that I can be understood as I am, he is Bhaktavatsal he favours only one who has simple & humble devotion. Our power, our knowledge, our fame, our wealth, our abilities brings no satisfaction to Krsna. He does not need that; he is the possessor of all knowledge, all strength, all beauty, all wealth, and all fame. But if we have devotion, if we have sincere desire to serve, to serve the servants who the lord love dearly; the lord considered himself unable to repay the debt. That is the ultimate understanding of the absolute truth. In the western scriptures we read about the God who is almighty, who throws fire & stones upon the sinners & who award the pious with great benevolence. That is the lord how he exists in this material world but in the transcendental realm of the supreme most of all spiritual worlds, the supreme lord in his al beautiful form of Shamasundar is eternally immersed in the oceanic nectar of the love of his devotees.
Sharing the message of lord is the priceless gift to the world
Srila Prabhupada taught us that, we must in the beginning stages worship Krsna & Sri Radharani with reverence, strictly following the regulative principles. Through this process of chanting of the holy name & hearing of the glories of the names & past times of the lord will cleanse our hearts in the perfect state of transcendence, by the mercy of guru & vaishnavas Shrimati Radharani awakens Bhakti within our hearts. Sri spiritual master came to this world to give us that. Here at Maan Mandir we should pray from the very core of our hearts that on this moon lit night that this be our real goal. We only think that ultimately matters is how we are awakening the dormant love of Krsna from within & how we are helping others to dot same; that is in fact the charity that wins the heart of Krsna, that is the charity that attracts the mercy of Sri Radharani. When King Pratapa Rudra chanted that verse, tava kathämåtaà tapta-jévanaà, Caitanya Mahaprabhu became ecstatic. That verse explained that one who shares the message of pure devotional service with others is most munificent who brings the greatest welfare to all living beings. Mahaprabhu embraced him with tears in his eyes & said, you are most munificent. In Goloka Vrindavan Shrimati Radharani is eternally engaging everyone in the most ecstatic joy of serving Krsna & she appears in this world as lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu to share that joy even with sinful wretched souls who have rejected the supreme personality of godhead since time immemorial.
We are all beggars…. begging for the mercy of lord
We have come here to Maan Mandir to beg for mercy, to the degree we feel empty, insignificant & unqualified we can actually beg with the whole heart; a proud person cannot really beg, it is lips service. We must understand our fragile helpless condition in this world & how far we are away from Krsna consciousnesses with tear in our heart beg, begging for Bhakti, begging for the opportunity to be a dear servant of Sri Guru & Gauranga, begging for the only reality in all existence, divine love. Without that we are in poverty.
Nobody can match the devotion of Vrajavasis
Here at Maan Mandir life is so simple. I first came here exactly thirty years ago, while living in Vrindavan whenever I would come to Barsana I stayed here, at that time it was very simple, just dirt on the ground & these buildings were not here, just some ancient ruins resembling small caves & two great vaishnavas lived here. Such a simple life, to get water we had to walk all the way down stairs & carry a bucket all the way up. There is no food, no cooking we would go down to the villages behind Maan Mandir & do mädhukaré, beg for some vraja rottis, such a simple life but every night twenty or thirty children from the villages would come up & for about two or three hours have incredible dancing kirtan with gongs, with bells, with drums, with cymbals. There was little temple made out of straws with a painting of Krsna, very ancient painting. One small boy about four years old took me by the hands & brought me in front that painting of Krsna in old straw hut & he said with such conviction & faith, “this is my God” my heart was shattered, such conviction, such faith; I considered in comparison that I was an atheist. This is the sweetness of Vrajavasis. Such natural, simple, implicit faith that Krsna is their friend, their lord & their protector.
Only Radha & Krsna can save us/ simplicity in devotion attracts Krsna’s heart.
One day a rumour came that, a man eating leopard that killed several people & that leopard was seen coming up this mountain. There were two great devotees staying here & myself just three of us, where we are sitting now was used to be a simple earth, we slept on the earth under the mo light & the trees. One night this devotee was holding a small branch of a tree. I asked, why are you holding that stick? I never saw you with this before. He told me about the man eating leopard. I asked him, do you really think that you can protect yourself from a man eating leopard with a simple stick; it’s hardly half inch thick. He said, no, it’s impossible this stick can’t do anything to help us; however we have complete faith that Radharani will protect us if it is her will. However she is pleased when we try our best, we make our effort but we know that our effort will never be successful; it is ultimately only the mercy of Sri Radhagopinath that can save us & he was smiling & immediately went to sleep. Myself I was listening if anything is coming but then I was thinking that, he has that stick so there is nothing to worry about I happily went the sleep. That is the simplicity of Bhakti that is very Lila. Not by our material calculations can we save ourselves from death, but just by having faith, faith in the mercy of Krsna. Simplicity means no duplicity no ulterior motives. When our heart is actually simple, actually innocent, and deeply grateful then Bhakti naturally manifests. So let us pray for that simplicity, let us pray as beggars to be servant of the servant if the servant with pure devotion. Bhaktivinod Thakur prayed when will that day be mine when I can chant the holy name of Krsna without offence, when will that day be mine when I genuinely feel compassion for the fallen souls; this should be our prayer. Then certainly Shi Radharani will fulfil that prayer.
