Tesham satata-yuktanam
bhajanam priti-purvakam
dadami budhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
Translation
To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
Purport by Srila Prabhupada
In this verse the word budhi yoga is very significant. We may remember that in the second chapter the lord instructing arjuna said that he has spoken to him of many things and that he would instruct him many way of budhi yoga. Now budhi yoga is explained. Budhi yoga is itself means action in Krishna consciousness itself that is the highest intelligence. The ultimate goal of progress Is Krishna People do not know this therefore the association of the devotees and the bonafide spiritual master is very important. One should know that the goal is Krishna and when the goal is aside the path is slowly but progressively chi versed and the ultimate goal is achieved. A person may have a bonafide spiritual master and may be attached to a spiritual organization but still he is not intelligence enough to make progress then Krishna from him give instruction so that he may ultimately come to Him without difficulty. The qualification is that a person always engages himself in Krishna consciousness and with love and devotion renders all kinds of services. He should perform some sort of work for Krishna and that work should be done with love. If a devotee is intelligent enough he will make progress in the path of self realization. If one is sincere and devoted to the activities of the devotional service. The lord gives them a chance to make progress and ultimately attain to Him. To those who are constantly devoted and worship me with love I give the understanding by which they come to me.
Everyone must have a spiritual master and should show due respect to him:
I remember in 1976, our beloved gurudev A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad is visiting the new vrindavan and one devotee had a question. To Srila prabhupad he said, ‘Many people challenge that there is no need but accepting a spiritual master because Krishna is within my heart and he is directing me’. So Srila Prabhupad became very grave and he looked to this devotee and a very stern and compassion of glance, he said, ‘You do not know how to answer this question? In Bhagavad Gita Krishna explains who He speaks to from within the heart’.
Tesham satata-yuktanam
bhajanam priti-purvakam
dadami budhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love I give the understanding from within the heart by which they can come to Me. If you are not constantly, 24 hours a day devoted and worshiping God with love, you are not hearing God from within your heart. There are so many voices within our heart. Therefore unless one is in that platform Krishna says in Gita, how He speaks.
tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsinah
For those who want to know the truth, they must approach bonafied spiritual master inquire submissively and render service. The self realized soul can get knowledge because he has seen the truth. This is the word of God. For those who are constantly devoted, He speaks within the heart. But those who are not, Krishna says if you want to know the truth you must approach gurudev. Now this is very special analysis that we are here about to explain. For one who is constantly devoted and worships the Lord with love because he has seen the greatness and the glory of God. He realized in himself to be utterly, insignificant, the lowest amongst low and the most neophyte amongst neophytes. Therefore those who are truly advanced, out of humility they fall at the feet of the bonafide spiritual master. Those who are not advanced, they think they already advanced and they do not need guru. If you look at the most advanced paramhamsas in the history they are giving all credit to their spiritual master.
How Sanatana Goswami showed respect to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:
Sanatana Goswami approached Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that My dear Lord, please understand Sanatana goswami is the greatest scholar in Vedanta, he was also from the highest saraswat Brahman family. And he was so influential that the Nawab Hussain Shah, who was then the conqueror of Bengal, understood that the only way to bring the people under his influence is, he has to take Sanatana Goswami as his prime minister because everyone would follow whatever Sanatana said. So he forcibly arrested Sanatana Goswami and made him the prime minister. Such a quality! But when Sanatana Goswami approached Sri Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu, he fell dandavat like a rod on the ground and when tears flowing from his eyes and the heart soft with humility, he prayed, ‘My Lord, I am the most fallen, the most sinful of all living beings. You delivered Jagai and Madai but that was not difficult. They were only sinful but I have become the servant of sinful persons that is even worse.
Patita-pavana-hetu tava avatara
mo sama patita prabhu nā pāibe āra
Narottam Das Thakur, the great paramahamsa vaishnav prays in the mood of Sanatana Goswami, ‘My dear Lord, you are the deliverant of the most fallen and my opinion is, if you search throughout the whole universe you will not find anyone more fallen than me. So my claim is first. Pls save me’. This is the nature of the great souls. Our spiritual master Srila Prabhupad, would often be asked, ‘Are you a pure devotee?’ He would say, ‘I may or may not be a pure devotee. All I know is my guru maharaj is a pure devotee and I am always speaking his words and I am never forgetting his lotus feet and that is my only shelter. Krishna tells Udhav
Mad-bhakta-pujabhyadhika
That worship of my devotee is more pleasing than worshiping me.
Sadhavo hrdayam mahyam
Sadhunam hrdayam tv aham
Mad-anyat te na jananti
Naham tebhyo manag api
Lord Krishna says that my devotee is my life and soul because my devotee knows no one but me and I know no one but my devotee, because the devotee is always subordinate to my love, I am always subordinate to his love. The sweetness of bhakti is understood in this principle. The reciprocation of the love between the Lord and his devotees how each is captured is enslaved by the love of the other. This is bhakti. The mayavadis and brahmavadis they want to become God. Aham brahmasmi.
Krishna being subordinate to Nanda Maharaj:
But in vrindavan, Krishna is carrying the shoes of Nanda Maharaj on his head to bring him everyday when he comes home from the pasture grounds. With great difficulty, as a small child, he can’t carry heavy sandals on his head. ‘My dear father, pls accept this service’. One great poet prayed that I do not want the elevation to the heavenly planets. I do not want any amount of wealth or position in this world. Nor I even want mukti, liberation. I do not even want go to vaikuntha to worship the Supreme Lord Narayan. My goal in life I simply want to worship Nanda Maharaj because it is this Nanda maharaj whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the absolute truth, the cause of all causes, the creator, maintainer and annihilator of everything, that supreme truth is playing like a little child in the court of Nanda maharaj. Taking his shoes everyday and placing upon His head as an active humble service. The Lord becomes subordinate to the love of His devotees. ThereforeKrishnasays
Bhaktya tv ananyaya sakya
Aham evam-vidho ‘rjna
It is only by his pure devotion his pure love that I can be understood as I am. ‘Bhakta vatsal’ He has purchased by the love of the heart of his devotees.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu being subordinate to Sachi Mata:
Lord Sri Chitanaya Mahaprabhu in His divine leela, appeared in this world, Sri Nava Dweep Dham about 500 hundred years ago. He exhibited the natural condition of love that He eternally experiences within the core of His hearts with His devotees. Lord Chaitanya is none other than Krishna himself, who has appeared in the guise of a devotee and one of the most important contributions of this great avatar of Sri Chitanya is more than any other time He glorified the natural love that he eternally posses for those who surrendered their lives to Him. There is one more example explained by Kaviraj Goswami in Chitanya Charitamrita that every year many devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu from all around would come to Jagannatha Puri Dham to spend four months during the summer season and chaturmassya. It is described that at the end of this period after exchanging all beautiful and wonderful pastimes it was always that most difficult time where they have to separate where all the devotees would have to go to their respective places where they had their service to the Lord. So in one such occasion Sri Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu was seeing them all before they departed and sharing with them His great love and there is no greater joy to the Supreme Lord than glorifying His devotees. As He was seeing His devotees off he spoke to Srivas Thakur, he said, ‘My dear Srivas in your home you should always perform the congregation of chanting of Holy name. And I will always be there and you will see me. No one also see me but you will see me whenever the chanting is going on. And when you see my mother Sachi mata, pls give her this Jagannath prasad and this cloth from my hands. My mother’s love for me is so much in so great that I am concord by that love. In deed like a mad man I have loved her to take the renounced order of life, sannyas. In this way I have given up all religious principles. My most cherished property in life is my love from my mother. And I have given that up and love turned in the ocean of despair. What sort of crazy thing have I done?’ Lord Chaitanya after taking sannyasi returned to his mother and when he saw her tears and said ‘My dear mother, If you like, I will give up this vow that I have taken, I would stay home with you only’. She said ‘No that is not possible. How will I live when people discredit you in this way?’ So, on the order of his mother he went to Jagannath Puri and stayed at Vrindavan. Lord Chitanya continued that, ‘My dear mother, everyday she offers me nice food stuff and on one occasion she offered all the things that I like the best, nice rice, various vegetables, curries made from banana leaves, banana flowers, sugar candy, different types of cut pieces of ginger fried. All the preparations she do that I like the best and then she sat with all these preparations on plate and held it on her lap and she began to cry, very hysterias that everything I have prepared for him but he is not here to accept it. What shall I do? In this way she wept. Responding to her pure love I came and I ate all that food. Krishna says in Gita,
patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
that anything prepared with love Krishna accepts with great pleasure. And after taking that food she looked down and she saw that the plate was completely empty. In the core of her heart she knew that I have personally come and eaten it all. But externally she was so humble; she was thinking it is not possible. What have I done? What an offence I have committed? I am making an offering and I forgot to put anything in that plate. So she went to the kitchen and she looked into the pots and she saw there were still things in the pots. She had Eeshaan, her assistant, cleansed the alter ones again and again she made another offering. This is something that happens almost every day. Explain to my mother that she should have this great faith that whatever she does for me although she may not see me she should know that I am personally present to accept her offerings’.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu glorifying the three devotees:
Then he turned to three devotees from the village of khanda. Their names were Mukunda Das, Raghunandan and Narahari. He turned to Mukunda Das who is the father of Raghunandan and he said, ‘Who is the father? Are you the father? Or is your son Raghunandan your father?’ Mukunda Das said, ‘My son Raghunandan is my father because he introduces me to Krishna Consciousness. He is the one in our home that instituted devotion to Krishna. The real father is the one who takes you into Krishna. So Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu became very pleased upon hearing this and he began to glorify Mukunda Das to all the devotees. With tears in his eyes, there no greatest pleasure to the Lord than glorifying his devotees. He said ‘Mukunda Das appears to be ordinary man. He is a physician. He is the royal physician. He is the personal doctor for the king’. Everyone around accept me considers him to be very ordinary man but let me tell you a secret. One day he was standing next to the king, who was on a very high platform. The royal platform on his thrown and he was instructing him on various medical advices. The sun was burning very hot over head. So, one servant came with a very large peacock fan and he placed it above the king’s head to shade him. When Mukunda Das saw the peacock fan he thought of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna and in the ecstasy of love he fainted and he felt all the way down from the platform and the king very worried, personally got down from his throne, climbed down the steps and went down to lift him and said, Are you in much pain? Are you hurt?’ Mukunda Das said, .No, no. I am not hurt’. The king said, ‘What happened?’ Try to understand the mind of the devotees. They never try to tell people they are great devotees. He could have said all, ‘I saw the peacock fan and I felt in ecstasy in love’. Then everybody would have gone, ‘Jai! Jai!’ and touched his lotus feet. But Mukunda said, ‘actually my dear king, I have epilepsy and because of this epilepsy, I had a fit and I fell down and I fainted. But now I am alright. So, there is no problem’. It was only Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and even the king understood such a humble and exalted devotee. The great souls will never admit their greatness. That is their greatness. So Lord Chaitanya instructed Mukunda Das that ‘You should earn material and spiritual wealth in your life’. Then he told Raghunandan that he should worship the Lord in the temple. And he told Narahari that you should stay here with me in the association of devotees and you should preach the glories of the Holy Name. He gave these three instructions. Mukunda Das told him, ‘You earn your livelihood. You raise your family. But you always remember Krishna and offer everything as an offering of love and you help support the propagation of Krishna Consciousness’. He told Raghunandan, ‘You remain in the temple and you keep it nicely for the entire world to come, all the devotees and worship the deities with great love. And He told Narahari, ‘You stay in the association and in the renounced order and you preach’. These are the three instructions that the Lord has given and they all equal.
Devotees from all ashrams of life are equal to God:
According to a particular person’s tendency and nature in life, one remains in family situation and earn his livelihood but always remembers Krishna with great devotion. He is always endeavoring to support those who are propagating devotion to Krishna. One remains within the temple worships the deity and one is preaching. This is the family of the society of the devotees. The greatest disease is when pride comes in our heart and one thinks he is better than another. The tendency of grihasthas, their pride is their thinking. If you do not have a nice job, if you are not a professional man, earning livelihood, wearing suit and tie and preaching in this way, then you are not really doing very much service. After all, who are all these Brahmacharis? They are all rejects of this society, who just come to live in the temple because I can’t do anything else who will listen to them? They are parasites. I am earning money. I am supporting them. I am maintaining them. I am God. God is the only supporter. He is the only maintainer. You are nothing. By His grace you are allowed to do some service. That is only your position. Therefore the grihasthas always thinking, ‘I am the lower of all others’. The real grihasthas are thinking, ‘These persons have given up everything. What have I given up? So little? Let me offer this little service. And then the persons in the temple they are thinking, ‘Just see I am so close to Krishna. I am very great. Everyone else is coming to visit every now and then but I am always at the feet of Krishna. How special am I? I am better’. This is a great disease. Poojari should be thinking, ‘I am so fallen, I am so sinful that Krishna keeps me right next to him because if I go away, Maya will just drag me’. The preachers are thinking ‘Why these grihasthas have their children and they have their wife and they are enjoying sense enjoyment and they have nice house and furniture. These neophytes, they will never go back to Godhead unless they become like me. Staunch, saffron, vaishnav. This is a disease. The preacher of Krishna consciousness is thinking himself, ‘I am just the humble servant. Actually these grihasthas are very responsible people. Look at the austerity they have to go through. They have to live with the woman. They have to live with children crying and screaming all night long. I would die within 30 seconds if I have to live in their home. How austere? They have to work and make money. I can’t do it. So therefore let me just be their servant by preaching Krishna Consciousness, by trying to enliven them and inspire them’. In this way vaikuntha, vrindavan is the place where everyone is thinking, that everyone is better than me. And they understand that
gṛhe thāko, vane thāko,
bolo hari bolo
bhakti vinod thakur has sung,
gṛhe thāko, vane thāko,
bolo hari bolo
sukhe thāko, duḥkhe thāko,
bolo hari bolo
That whether you are grihastha or a sannyasi makes no difference. You just chant the Holy Name of the Lord with the quality of devotion and you will become free from all happiness and distress in this world and attain devotion to Sri Hari. But what does it mean to chant the holy name of the lord with devotion?
trnad api sunicena
taror api sahishuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih
Sri Gaur Sundar Mahaprabhu had said, ‘One should take oneself more humble than a grass, more tolerant than a tree. One should be ready to offer all respect to others and expect nothing in return’. So Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not say Mukunda Das, Raghunanda and Narahari, one is better than the other. As far as you are concerned they were all three equal. They were all equally dear to his heart. What does it mean to make spiritual advancement? It doesn’t mean to perform tapassya. It doesn’t mean to renounce the world that does not mean give donations of hundreds of millions of rupees. Spiritual advancement is only to be calculated by how dear we become to the lord? How dear we became to Guru and Krishna. So Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was sharing tears of love to all three of these grate devotees. Sri chaitanya mahaprabhu also understood that it is absolutely necessary that these three classes of men must work together in harmony. If you have met any of the three, the spiritual society will be incomplete. There must be pure grihastha devotees who are working responsible, who are giving a very good image to the society by their honesty, by their nobility, that are constantly striving to assist to preach the Krishna Consciousness, spreading the word of God or the name of God. That is essential. But it is also essential that there are brahmacharis, who are maintaining the temple, maintaining the ashram, maintaining the place where we can come together to here the glories of the Lord and worship the deity of the Lord. And it is also essential for sannyasi’s to be giving up all responsibilities of this world and simply preaching the message of the Lord, inspiring and enlightening others. So the glory of our congregation is when we become humble devotees and we precede the glory of everyone’s service. Each devotee is unique individual contribution to offer to Radha Gopinath. Every single devotee has a unique and personal contribution that he is offering. A sincere soul is not interested in whatever defects or faults may be there. But he simply sees how this devotee is so special to Krishna. And in his own field of life, how he is offering something very special and very important to the Lotus Feet of Gurudev and Krishna. And when we all come together in the spirit of harmony and love for one another, then Krishna will manifest himself, reveal himself to the whole world. Then Lord Chaitanaya embraced each and every one of them with tears in his eyes.
Vasudev Dutt’s wish:
And then Lord Chaitanaya looked at one devotee, his name was Vasudev Dutt and when Sri Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu saw him he just began to cry and he began to speak the glory of devotee as it he had one thousand mouths and then vasudev Dutt could not tolerate, hearing his own glories and he approached the Lord about his head low in humility and said, ‘My Lord, I know that you could fulfill every one’s desires. I am begging and pleading that you fulfill one desire for me’. Lord Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu said, ‘Vasudev Dutt, whatever you desire, Krishna will fulfill’. Vasudev dutt began to speak, ‘My Lord, when I see the conditioned souls in this world suffering, my heart breaks. I cannot tolerate it. Seeing the pains, the turmoils that everyone is going through in this world due to their sinful activities, bring so much distress greed to my heart that I cannot bear it. Therefore my one desire in life is this. Please fulfill it. But all the sins, of all living beings within this universe come upon my head. Let me perpetually, eternally suffer in the most hellish conditions of life and let them all go back to the spiritual world and enjoy the happiness of your loving association’. Vasudev Dutt with the heartful of compassion and sympathy for all living beings begged the Lords lotus feet with his tears as he begged just one benediction in life. Sri Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu heard this, his heart became softened and he began to weep. There is no greater satisfaction that the Lord has when he sees the love of his devotees for one another and essentially every living being is a devotee. Some have forgotten. Some have remembered.
Jiagara swarup hoi krishner nitya das
In fact Lord Chaitanya after hearing this, he said, ‘I have come to this world. I have descended simply for the satisfaction of Vasudev Dutt. I am simply his man. I am always subordinate to his love. My dear Vasudev Dutt because your desire is so pure, so selfless and so full of love, that Krishna will deliver everyone. He will send everyone back to Godhead simply because of your desire. But you need not suffer for their sins’. In this way Sri Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu embraced him with great affection. In this way on and on and on, Lord was embracing and glorifying each and every one of his devotee. So if you want to know how to please the Lord, by pleasing those who are most dear to His heart, that is the process.
yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi
When one pleases his spiritual master, Krishna is supremely pleased. To those who are constantly devoted and worshiping with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to me. There are ten offences against the chanting of the Holy Name and the first is, the vicious of all offenses to spiritual progress is to disrespect those who are broad casting with the Holy Name throughout the world.
Kali kale nam rupe Krishna avatar
Krishna has descended within his name and therefore who are spreading the glories of the Holy Name, those who are selflessly giving everything for the purpose of distributing the proper understanding of the chanting the Holy Name. There are most dear to the Lord. Whether they are grihasthas, brahmacharis, vanaprasthas or sannyasis, Krishna is not concern with external designations. He is concerned with the love and compassions that you have for others, to bring them up, with the divine medicine, Hari Naam, Krishna’s name. So let us take very seriously. The service of the devotees and the service of the Holy Name, these are the only two things required to attain the perfection of life. To sincerely chant the Holy Names and to sincerely honor, worship and serve the devotees from the most insignificant devotee to the greatest paramahamsa we are their humble servant.
