Importance of the month of Kartik
Haribol! Please forgive for being late but I was in another meeting. I wish to extend my very sincere gratitude to all of you for so kindly being with us on this very auspicious and special Sunday festival day. The reason this strange looking red curtain is blocking our view of the alter and consuming so much of the space of the temple room is that the pujari’s are organizing for the pleasure of Radha Gopinath and all of the assembled devotees a beautiful extraordinary Darshan tonight, if you want to see it you have to come. I was just back there and it’s incredible how a spirit of devotion service can empower people with such incredible creativity and enthusiasm, no one gets paid and nobody gets prestige because nobody even knows who did what. But for the pleasure of the devotees and the pleasure of the Lord devotees find the greatest joy and meaning in life. Today is Sarad Purnima, the full moon of the autumn season. In the Krishna book, Srila Prabhupada explains “how many people of India consider that this is the most beautiful night of the whole year? What happened five thousand years ago approximately? When Sri, Sri Radha Gopinath were performing their eternal pastimes of the spiritual world on this earth in Shri Vrindavan Dham as the moon was rising. We will explain something on that subject at the end of today’s discussion.
We would like to begin by talking something about a month of Kartik. Today according to the Gaudiya Vaishnava Calendar is the first day of the month of Kartik. The twelve months of the Calendar according to the Vedic system each month is given the name of Krishna. But this particular month Damodar is also called Kartik, Kartik is the name of Srimati Radharani. In the Bhaktirasamrtasindhu Rupa Goswami tells that Urjavrat is the spiritual practices that are prescribed during this month. Srimati Radharani is the Urjeçvaré which means she is the supreme goddess of the entire Lord’s potency. Our Acaryas and our scriptures teach us that whatever spiritual practices are sincerely perform during this month, especially in Vrindavan are specially blessed by Srimati Radharani. It is the time of the year wherein accessing the grace of Shri Radha, accessing the love within our heart is made especially available, if we take the opportunity. Of course Srila Prabhupada explained that wherever there is a temple or a setting where devotees are gathered together in a common spirit of speaking about Radha and Krishna, chanting the glories of Radha and Krishna and serving in the mood of Vrindavan, that place is also Vrindavan, so we are in Vrindavan now by Srila Prabhupada grace. In a few days many of us will be in Mayapur which is non-different than Vrindavan, so many beautiful opportunities being provided for our spiritual progress. During the month of Kartik several very sacred festivals are honored, for today’s class I would like to very briefly discuss some of the events that we will observe during this month with your permission.
Cherishable pastimes of Hanumanji
Today is the first day of Kartik is Sarad Purnima which we will use as culmination for this class but it is also the day of the disappearance day of Murari Gupta which is quite significant. Çré-kåñëa-caitanya, rädhä-kåñëa nahe anya, Radha and Krishna appeared as Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in this age of Kali. Just as many of Krishna’s eternal associates assisted Lord Caitanya in his pastimes so did the associates of his many Avataar’s. Murari Gupta is Hanuman, Hanuman represents selfless service. In fact if you go to Vrindavan even today you will find in all the different sides of Vrindavan there are temples of Hanumanji. Because he is such an example of Bhakti, he is the protector of Dham. In fact in Kurukshetra Krishna chariot, who was on the flag of the chariot? Everyone very loudly please, Hanuman. So we can only approach Vrindavan, we can only approach the path of Bhakti through this spirit servitude and Hanuman represents this spirit of service, unmotivated, uninterrupted service. So absorbed in Shri Rama that when he saw Sita putting, what is that called? Sindüra, she was putting in that line of her hair. Hanumanji asked, “Why are you doing that Sita Devi? She said, because its make Rama happy. So next day Rama came to Visit Hanuman and his entire body was covered with Sindüra, he said, why have you done this? He said because, “Sita told me it makes you happy, his only motive was to make Lord happy.
One day he was crying in separation from Shri Rama, someone ask why are you crying? Because I want to see Sita and Rama, he said don’t cry they are in your heart. They are in my heart so monkeys have strong nails, he ripped open his chest like an open heart surgery, ripped open his chest, ripped open his all his ribs and went right to his heart and then ripped open his heart and really it was open heart surgery. He looked there and there Rama and Sita personally appear to give him their Darshan and everything healed immediately and there was no problem because he has spiritual body anyway, but this is his absorption. When Rama needed an herb, Rama wanted an herb and Hanuman he wanted to do so much extra service he brought the whole mountain in which the herb was in. So Hanumanji represents unmotivated, uninterrupted service in which no obstacle will ever distract us. So many obstacles came before Hanumanji when he was trying to cross over the Indian Ocean to Srilanka to give Sita Rama’s message. But he proved nothing could distract him. So we begin the month of Kartik by remembering Shri Hanumanji and being in this mood of unmotivated, interrupted service and he appeared as Murari Gupta. We can give many classes on Murari Gupta, so much to be said.
Hanumanji as, Murari Gupta in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes
When Nimai, Lord Caitanya as a child who was playing his pastimes as a student Murari Gupta was one of his classmates and Murari Gupta was very much concern with talking about Lord Rama, Lord Krishna but Nimai was always be challenging people with grammatical puzzles. The devotees wanted to run away because they didn’t wanted to talk about all these material things but at same time Nimai was so beautiful, because he was actually Rama himself. Murari couldn’t give up his association but Murari Gupta was such a scholar they would debate, Lord Caitanya would debate with him back and forth, back and forth and Lord Caitanya would sometime defeat him, then he would say Murari go home do your studies come back and I have more questions for you tomorrow. Then Lord Caitanya touched Murari Gupta and with that touch his heart literally exploded with ecstatic love, his entire body was thrilled, was trembling in Divine ecstasy, tears pouring from his eyes, his hairs were standing on end and he was thinking this Nimai is not ordinary child. Just by his touch such potency to awaken love. Now when Lord Caitanya returned from Gaya and revealed himself as a greatest of all devotees Murari Gupta was his constant associate and friend.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s benediction to Murari Gupta during the Mahäprakäça Lila
During the Mahäprakäça Lila, Lord Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was fulfilling all the desires of all the devotees. He called Murari Gupta and he said Murari look and see me and suddenly Lord Caitanya transformed and revealed the Darshan he became Lord Rama with a complexion like Durba grass holding a golden bow and by one side was Sita and on the other side was Laxman and there were thousands and thousands of monkey soldiers all with folded palms offering prayers. Then Murari Gupta looked down at himself and happens to see that he had tail, he had become a monkey and he fell unconscious. Then Lord Caitanya called out Hanuman, hanuman don’t you see that Ravana, what he has done? Go and give my message to Sita, immediately Murari Gupta got up in the mood of Hanuman ready to serve. He said Laxman don’t you remember, don’t you remember who you are? He said, look at Laxman for his sake you lifted entire Gandhamadana Mountain and flew thousands of miles with it. Look at Sita seeing her Dilemma in the clutches of Ravana you shed a shore less ocean of tears of love for her. Now I am reminding you, “I am Rama and you are Hanuman. Then he asked Murari Gupta I will give you any benediction you like, whatever you ask. In the spirit of Hanuman, Murari Gupta only asks for one benediction. He said I am very low, I am very fallen, I am very undeserving but if you want to give me a benediction, just bless me with this that in every birth I may take, allow me to be in the association of your devotees. Whoever considers you their master and they is your servant let me be the servant of the servant of such servants of yours. That was his only desire, to be the servant of the servant of the Lord’s devotees.
Murari Gupta love for Lord Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
Today is the disappearances day of Murari Gupta, one day Murari was thinking of the various incarnations of the Lord. How Lord Rama, how he toward the end of his Lila, it will take too long to discuss this details but he was thinking that if Lord Caitanya leave’s it will unbearable to live, I don’t want to see this final pastime of Lord Caitanya. Therefore, before he leaves I will end my own life. So he got a really sharp knife specially for cutting conch shell and he was planning for actually end his life with it. But Lord Caitanya knows everything he is within the heart of all living beings. One day he came, on that very day he came to Murari Gupta’s house and said Murari are you my servant, Murari said yes I am your servant. So you will do anything I ask you, anything you ask I am yours. He said, give me that knife. Murari said, what knife, who told you about a knife there is no knife. He said I know that knife that you want to kill yourself with. He said my lord I can’t bare the idea of your living me and Lord said but I cannot bear that you leave me. So Lord Caitanya went right into his house and knew exactly where the knife was hidden and he took it. Then Lord Caitanya told him that I cannot live without my devotees, you are the pleasure and joy of my life is to be like with devotees like you. In this way the inconceivable, mysterious nature of love between the Lord for the devotees and the devotees for the Lord, this is how the month of Kartik begins.
Narottam Das Thakur was so dear to Lord Caitanya that he gave him his own love
In a few days is the disappearance day of Narottam Das Thakur one of the greatest of the devotees of the Lord. The last lecture I gave on Narottam das Thakur was of six hours, so I will spare you from having to go through that. Narottam Das Thakur was the son of the king very, very wealthy person and he was the air to everything. But by hearing the pastimes of Lord Caitanya and hearing about the associates of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in his heart grew such a deep desire to go to Vrindavan and dedicate his whole life to the service of the devotees. Just by hearing about the devotees he had committed his life to serve them and was willing to give everything and anything for that blessing. The more he heard about them, the more he was feeling pains of separation. Knowing his heart Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally appeared to him and gave him his own love. Lord Caitanya invested in Narottam Das Thakur his own love which is Radha’s love for Krishna. Ultimately Narottam Das Thakur left everything and went to Vrindavan, where he took initiation from Lokanath Goswami became best friends of Srinivas Acarya, Shyamananda and students of Jiva Goswami and the history of his humility, love, compassion even upon the people who hated him, who try to destroy him, his ecstasies. Tens and thousands of people from Brahmana Scholars to murders and dacoits were transformed into pure compassionate lovers of God by the influence of Narottam Das Thakur. His songs, his poems and his example are one of the deepest greatest inspirations for Gaudiya Vaishnava’s over the past four hundred and fifty years. To love God means to love those who love God too, in fact it means to love everyone. When Srinivas Acaryas disappeared from this world Narottam Das Thakur was feeling such separation, such deep friendships that he wrote that beautiful song je änilo prema-dhana koruëa pracur which even today we sing for disappearance of Vaishnava’s. When his very, very dear friend Ramchandra Kaviraj disappeared from the world Narottam Das Thakur was in the forest in the highest of love in separation from the Vaishnava. One day Ganga Narayana Cakravarti and one other devotee in Mursidabad area, I think Gambhila he went into the Ganges and he told devotees please take the water of Ganges and pour it over me. As they did wherever the Ganges water touched that part of his body turned into the milk and merged into the Ganga and they were weeping, they didn’t want to put anymore water on him but he said no, no put, put bathe me. In this way his body merged in to Mother Ganga and he returned to the spiritual world to join Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu and all of their associates.
By seeing the beautiful form of Virachandra the blind regains his vision and love for God
Also this month is Virachandra the son of Lord Nityananda Prabhu who manifested such compassion. He was the compassionate energy of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. Beautiful story of once he came to Khetrigram for one of the Gaurpurnima festivals and he was dancing or this may have been Shrikhanda he was dancing and dancing and anyone he glanced upon their love of God was awakening. There was one blind man who could hear the excitement of everyone watching Virachandra dancing and he didn’t say anything but in his heart of heart he heard about it. He said I will give anything, if even for one second I could have the vision to see him dance; this was only desire in his heart. Lord reciprocates with our desires, at that moment in front of everybody a person born blind who never saw the light of day suddenly his eyes opened, he has perfect twenty-twenty vision but more than that he had spiritual vision. He saw the beautiful form of Virachandra glancing upon him, smiling and the person began to dance in ecstasy, and his life became perfect. Not only could he see but he could see God wherever he looked from that day on.
Appearance of Radhakunda and Shyamakunda
During this month Bahulastami day that Shri Radhakunda and Shyamakunda appeared within this world. After Lord Krishna liberated Aristasura who came in the form of huge demoniac bull srimati Radharani she said to Krishna when he came to her, that now you have killed a bull a male cow so you are contaminated by this sin do not touch me. Krishna said but he was a demoniac, he was in a guise of a bull. If I didn’t do that he would have killed all of you. She said that’s a detail, whatever, still he was in the form of the bull. Oh! What must I do? She said you should go to all the holy places in the whole universe and take your bath. So Krishna with his heal of his foot he stumped it in the ground and made an impression and then he personally called for all the holy places in the whole universe to personally appear there and all came personified with folded hands. He said please fill this kund with all of your waters; they filled it that was Shyamakunda. Govindji took his bath and then came out and he said to Radharani you took the side of a demon, why don’t you now purify yourself by talking the bath in my kund. She said I will not take bath in your kund because the sin of killing cows is in your kund, I will make my own kund so she found one of the hoof prints of Aristasura and her and Sakis and Gopis they took of their bracelets and broken them into like little shovels and they were digging. She made chain of Gopis that went all the way to Manasi Ganga and they were handing buckets of water. Seeing Radharani and Gopis working so hard Krishna was not happy, so he turned to the personification representing all the holy places in the universe and that person came out of Shyamakunda and approached Srimati Radharani with folded palms, bowed at her lotus feet and prayed please I am the very embodiment of all the holy places in the universe, the only desire we have in our lives is if you bestowed this supreme fortune and blessing upon us. We beg a benediction from you, because he was so sincere with such love Sri Radhika replied, what is that benediction? He said allow us to fill your kund also, so she smiled and looked at Krishna and said so be it. The water from Shyamakunda over flooded and filled Shri Radhakunda and Krishna told Srimati Radharani as you are most dear to me similarly Radhakunda is equally dear to me. Every day in the afternoon Radha and Krishna with their most intimate associates performs their Rasalila and other such pastimes on the bank of Shri Radhakunda.
Radhakunda is mercy of Shri Radhika
Rupa Goswami quoting from the scripture as declared to us that Radhakunda is the holiest of all holy places. Of all the planets within the universe the earth is most holy because so many of the Avatars of the Lord come. Of all places on earth Bharatvarsa, India is very Sacred because of so many of the pastimes the Lord has performed in so many incarnations here. Within India the holiest place is the area of Mathura where the source of all Avatars’ the Avatari took his birth. In all of Mathura the holiest place is the forest of Vrindavan where Krishna performed his most intimate pastimes. In forest of Vrindavan the holiest place is Govardhan and in the area of Govardhan the most sacred of all sacred places in the entire creation is Radhakunda. The water of Radhakunda is the liquid love of Srimati Radharani and just by seeing that water, touching that water what to speak of bathing in that water, if we have the proper consciousness to access that blessing Radha’s love fills our heart and perfects our lives. On the Bahulastami at mid-night hundreds and thousands of Brajvasi’s in pilgrims who be there taking their bathes at Shri Radhakunda.
Krishna is hungry for the love of his devotees
Dipavali or Diwali, it is the day in Rama Lila when after fourteen years exiled into the forest Rama Sita and Laxman and returned to Ayodhya and everyone welcomes them with the lamps of their love. For this festival Yashoda Mai woke up very early in the morning because she wanted to churned special yogurt in to butter for the pleasure of Krishna Gopal who is sleeping in his little bed. As she was churning, she was churning, churning, churning making butter she would sing songs about Krishna pastimes. Shri Vrindavan, when Krishna was out herding the cows during the day he would perform so may Lila’s, this is later on of course all the calf’s and the gopas would tell the other Brajvasi’s and all they the next day they would just remembering and composing beautiful songs about those pastimes. When Krishna was just a small child, Yashoda Mai was with him all day and all night and practically everything he did, everything he said was so absolutely charming, it was permanently imprinted in Yashoda Mai’s heart and her and the other Gopis would compose beautiful poems just to help each other remember Krishna twenty-four hours a day. So she was be singing about Krishna not exactly to help them remember more accurately it was just an expression of their spontaneous love to compose these songs. As she was singing about Krishna beauty, Krishna pastimes immersed in remembrance of him milk begin to flow from her breast. Now God is atmaram he self satisfied, God is not in need of anything but his nature is he is always hungry for the love of his devotees. As that milk was flowing from Yashoda Mai it was her motherly love for Krishna manifesting. Now as been explained so many times before Krishna does not accept what you offer but the intention in which it is offered. So many ladies throughout history milk comes out of them but it doesn’t wake Krishna up but Yashoda Mai it was her love, that milk was her love and Krishna was so thirsty for that milk that he woke up and came out of his bed walked right over to Yashoda Mai and put one hand on the churning rod to stop her and demanded stop all these other business and give your milk. So her heart melted and Krishna climbed up on her lap and she begins to feed him her milk and all how he was enjoying that love, so beautiful. This is God who in some religions appears as a very, very stern father who throws thunderbolts and destroys universes. Maha Vishnu, Karnarvasayee Vishnu is only an expansion of an expansion, of an expansion of Gopal and what happens he sucks. Little Gopal was sucking little mother Yashoda milk with all his might; he was really sucking very enthusiastically. Mahavishnu when he sucks the entire universe goes into his belly, not the universe the entire cosmic manifestation all the unlimited universes. This is Krishna, conquered by the love of his devotees. Who is more loveable, Mahavishnu devouring cosmic manifestations or Krishna crying for the milk of his mother, should we take a vote. Say Haribol, if Krishna is your vote, Haribol! You are Gaudiya Vaishnava.
Yashoda Mai binding Krishna with rope represents her love
So was Krishna was enjoying his mother’s love but then the milk started boiling in the next room where had milk cooking. That was very, very special milk, padmagandha milk that was sweet like Lotus nectar from the choices of cows of all Nanda Maharaj’s herd and that milk was so sacred, so fragrant, and so nutritious and she was making a special preparation just for Krishna on Diwali. So she put Krishna down so that she could save that milk, so she can offer something so delicious to Krishna, who is all for Krishna. Now Krishna wanted to attract the whole world for all time to come, so he was thinking, why she has left? He wanted to teach the world that exclusive devotional service for the pleasure of Krishna is the highest perfection. So he appears to be angry and he took a stone and broke the pot which she was churning. Then he went to the next room and he saw grinding mortar and he climbed up the grinding mortar and there was butter in a clay pot hanging from ropes from the ceiling. So he broke it open and he reached up and started to eat it and then he called the local monkeys and so many monkeys came into the house of, on to the court yard and Krishna was personally feeding to all the monkeys. In his heart of hearts he was thinking in my past life as Lord Ramchandra you risked so much to serve me but fighting that battle against Ravana and at that time I was living in the forest and I have nothing to give you in return, so now come and take this butter. So the monkeys were enjoying and Krishna was enjoying and Yashoda Mai came back after saving the milk and Krishna was gone the pots broken, where is he? Then he saw his little tiny butter foot prints on the floor, she follow them. There Krishna was on grinding mortar eating butter and feeding at to monkeys and meanwhile many of his friends were watching and he was looking very nervously in all direction to see if his mother was coming. She picks up a stick, not to hit him she would never hit him. But she had to teach him a lesson; she wanted to show him the stick. Prabhupada in gurukul he said, never hit children but you can show them a stick if they disobey. So mother Yashoda Picked up a stick and she was very quietly sneaking up to Krishna. The monkey saw her and they were so scared, they all started diving through the windows, diving away and running and then Krishna looked around and he saw his little cow herd friends all running away. Then he saw Yashoda Mai approaching him with stick, so he jumped off the grinding mortar and ran. Yashoda ran after him, he was running, she was running, he was running and she was running. Flowers were falling from her hair, some of the flowers were on Krishna side and some were on Yashoda side. The one’s that were on Yashoda side they said, they were thinking to themselves that she is having such difficulty catching Krishna may be access weight is slowing her down so they dived to the floor to make her lighter. Those who were on Krishna side were thinking that she is going to catch Krishna and punish him we don’t want to be a part of this, so they jumped off. Ultimately no one can catch Krishna but by Krishna own will he was captured by his mother’s love and Krishna was crying he was actually crying. The Kajal, the black mascara around his eyes were mixing with his tears and it was flowing and making streets down on his face, on his chest, his lips were quivering, his limbs were trembling, his eyes were restlessly moving in different direction he could even look at his mother and he cried out mother, mother please put down that stick I am sorry, I promise that I never do this again just give me another chance. Queen Kunti remember this scene and great love and she was glorifying Krishna, that he who is feared by fear personified was afraid of is mother. Now in Bhagavad-Gita eleventh chapter we read about the Viratrupa, the universal form even Arjuna the most fearless warrior in the entire world he was very afraid to see this Darshan of Krishna. The Viratrupa is just an expansion of an, expansion of an, expansion, insignificant expansion of Gopal. He is the original source of all incarnation; he is the original source of all existences. His personification in this world is all devouring time, was he really afraid of his mother, was he just pretending to make the pastime interesting, and was it just like a show. No, he really was afraid, acintya Shakti Krishna’s inconceivable potencies. By the power of his mother’s love he was actually exhibiting this feelings, this is the sweetness and the beauty of Krishna. He who is beyond all fear exhibits this emotion in reciprocation to the pure unalloyed love of his mother. Yashoda Mai didn’t like to see Krishna like this so she threw the stick away, Krishna you should not be naughty. She had other chores to perform that day, it was holy day. To protect Krishna from doing other mischief because he was very mischievous that day, after all there were monkeys with clause and there bulls with horns, insects and so many ways that he could hurt himself. So she was performing her duties, she took a silk rope the same rope that is use to tie the calves and she was going to bind Krishna around the waist and tie him to the grinding mortar. But as she put the silk rope around Krishna waist it was two fingers too short, what to do? She picked up another piece of rope tied a tight knot put the two ropes together put it around Krishna’s waist it was exactly two fingers too short. Another rope, bigger rope tied that with the other two ropes when she put it around Krishna waist it was two fingers too short. She picked up every rope in the entire house and soon other Gopis found out about this and they all came from their houses with all their ropes, there were mountains of ropes and Yashoda Mai’s house and all the Gopis together were helping Yashoda Mai tie them all together and even though there was enormous portions of ropes all tied together when she went to put it around Krishna’s waist it was exactly two fingers too short. This is God, Krishna didn’t grow it’s not that Krishna became fatter and fatter and fatter, he was the same. His waist was probably this big and the ropes would have circumambulated Bombay but it was two fingers too short. Now if you ask a Mathematician to try to figure out how that possible the only conclusion is you have to surrender to Krishna to understand, Krishna is inconceivable. Krishna can put a banyan tree into a banyan seed, for Krishna he is unlimited. One time Yashoda Mai looked in Krishna’s mouth to see if he ate dirt and she saw the entire universe within his belly, within his mouth but his mouth didn’t grow, she saw all the planets and all the Devatas and all the human being and all the eight million four hundred thousand species of life and she saw herself, everything in a mouth this big that is Krishna. So Yashoda Mai she was perspiring, her Sari was loosening, she kept tying more and more and more of ropes and some of the Gopis were saying don’t you see Krishna is not going to let you get tie him up, some were saying that must be in favor of Krishna he doesn’t want him to be tied up after all, there is no way. But Yashoda Mai was so motherly was thinking no, no I will tie him and she was in her mind she was thinking I have to protect him no matter what. She was also thinking I just have to find out how much rope is going to take to bind my son. Seeing the determination of her love Krishna allowed himself to be bound by a tight knot. Those two fingers Vishvanath Cakravarti Thakur explains they are representative, to bind Krishna two things are important one is our enthusiasm, our enthusiasm and determination to serve under all circumstances but that’s not enough the other is Krishna mercy. Unless Krishna allows himself to be tied no matter what we do it cannot. Our enthusiasm is just an expression of our sincerity to attract Krishna mercy.
Krishna keeping the word of his pure devotee Narada Muni
There is a verse in Bhagavad-Gita,
räga-dveña-vimuktais tu
viñayän indriyaiç caran
ätma-vaçyair vidheyätmä
prasädam adhigacchati
That one who follows the regulative principles of freedom, who follows the path of Bhakti sincerely can attain the mercy of the Lord and by that mercy we become free from all the attachments and aversions of this world.
Krishna wanted to show the worlds for all time to come that he is conquered by the love of his devotees. He wanted to show the world forever that Bhakti, love and devotion is the supreme power because it is the power of Srimati Radharani Krishna’s supreme pleasure potency, all devotion is her power. Even a drop of her love that manifest to any of our hearts can conquer Krishna. When we are totally conquered by love for Krishna, Krishna is conquer by that love that is the deepest mystery and highest secrets of all wisdom cultures and all scriptures. Krishna was bound by the rope of Yashoda’s affection. But then Krishna, when Yashoda Mai went back to do her duty he wanted to perform some more mischief, apparently he saw two Arjuna’s trees in the court yard and he crawled and pulled that grinding the mortar between the trees and crawled the little more and both the trees crash down to the ground and Nalakuvera and Manigriva came out of those trees, two great Demi-gods sons of Kuvera who were extremely arrogant. Because of that arrogance they were selfish and disrespectful and the offended the great Rsis Narada. Out of his mercy, he understood nothing less than making them into trees will curb their pride but let them become Krishna’s associates. They became trees in Krishna court yard, they were trees for a long time but it culminated that they got to watch Krishna’s Lila’s and ultimately Krishna deliver them and gave them pure devotion service.
Massive offering to Giriraj
Few days later this month is Govardhan Puja perhaps the favorite most of the entire Lord’s Lila’s. Nanda Maharaj was performing his annual traditional family worship of Indra with great amount of food and other types of paraphernalia and little Gopal were only seven years old. He said, father what are you doing? What is this sacrifice? Who is it for? What is the purpose of it, what do you hope to gain from it? I am your son so you should not keep any secrets from me. So Nanda Maharaj explains my father and his father and his father for generations we are doing this because we are cowherd men. We require grains, we require crops because if it is not grass the cows have nothing to eat and they will die and if we don’t have food then we will not survive we are farmers, we absolutely depend on rain and rain is the gift of Indra. So every year we make this Puja to offer our gratitude to Indra and also to satisfy Indra so that he would provide rains. Krishna replied, first he spoke the common amongst philosophy which is quite technical actually but in essence he said, if you do good you will get good Karma, if you do bad you will get bad Karma. Demi-Gods all they can do they can supply the reactions to your Karma. So if you are good people then Indra has to give us rain and if you are not good people he doesn’t have to give us rain, so what do we need this Indra for? Actually, our cows depending on the grass that grows on Govardhan Hill and the Brahmans, if we please Brahmans they are so close to God then God is pleased then Demi-gods have to give whatever you want. So let’s take all paraphernalia for Indra and worship the Brahmans, the cows and Govardhan hill and Nanda Maharaj Said lets first worship Krishna then we will do this Krishna said no, no let us do this immediately and then Krishna gave very elaborate instruction of how to do. So they cooked huge feast, gigantic feast, Prabhupada describes and Srimad Bhagvatam describes so many of the preparations, they made mountains and mountains and mountains of Bhoga and they offered it to Govardhan hill. Then Giriraj Govardhan personified himself as a gigantic supreme divine person and Krishna who is the same person as Giriraj Himself was on the ground and bow down and all the Brajvasi’s bow down and then Giriraj took all the offerings with his hands and ate them instantly. Mountains, lakes, kund’s and different kinds of Bhoga and after he finish all of it, he wanted more and very loudly he cried out give me more Aniyor and there was nothing left. So then by Krishna’s arrangements he offered a tulsi leaf Giriraj said, now I am satisfied. Then Krishna led all the Brajvasi’s to circumambulate, they did full parikrama of Shri Giriraj and then they did so many nice Puja’s and mean while Giriraj whatever he ate he returned it all, he manifested all of this mountains, mountains of Bhoga now it was Mahaprasad. Krishna under his instruction Nanda Maharaj and the others distributed it to everyone without discrimination everyone had feast of Prasad. The Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Sudra’s, the animals, the monkeys, the cows, the peacock, and the deer’s everyone was feed Prasad, it was wonderful joyous festival.
Krishna lifting Govardhan Hill
Everyone was so happy except Indra, he was not happy. He is a devotee, he is a great devotees Indra please don’t offend Indra unless you really have connection to Krishna and then if you have with Krishna you won’t offend Indra either it. Indra was so angry he called Samvartaka cloud; these are clouds for devastation of the universe. You may be inconvenience by the rain today nothing it’s just a little cloud from the Arabian Sea. But these clouds, Samvartaka clouds within a matter of ours they make the whole world into an ocean, one ocean. Indra said, this talkative child Krishna due to his influence Nanda Maharaj and Brajvasi’s took all there was meant for me and offered it to this mountain, destroy them. Torrance of rain started pouring down, now for us rain comes in drop there were no drops they were pillars, pillars of water massive pillars of water were pouring down from the sky. The Brijvasi saw this there was dark, lightning thunder like we have never seen and everyone came running to Krishna, and the Brijvasi had the cows in front of them. They say Krishna it’s very cold and it’s raining very hard and Indra is very angry and look your cows are cold. Poor cows they were trying to cover their calves and they were moving in great pity and the bulls they were looking at the sky. Krishna smiled, he said follow me I will protect you and Krishna went to Govardhan hill and as effortlessly as a little child lift some mushroom from the ground he lifted Govardhan hill. It made a tumultuous sound. Now that time Govardhan Hill was so high and so big that its peaks were piercing the clouds, it was like Himalayas in those days now for internal confidential reasons it is been getting smaller. Krishna lifted that hill and as he lifted it he uprooted it from the earth and effortlessly brought it over his head and balance with the little finger of his left hand. He was still smiling and he cried to all the Brajvasi’s please come bring all your cows and all your calves’ and all your family members and everyone else. Now look at Giriraj, he was so pleased by his offerings to him he has become an umbrella. So everyone came under Govardhan Hill, seven days and seven nights they all remained under Govardhan with Krishna in this beautiful Darshan of Giridhari threefold bending form holding the flute, holding the hill every now and then he was play his flute. The cowherd boys would very afraid when he started playing his flute because they were thinking we have seen the effects of Krishna’s flute, when he plays his flute solid matter melts and liquid becomes solid. So if he is playing his flute so sweetly that Govardhan hill may melt in ecstasy and drown all of us. So of were saying Krishna please stop playing your flute and other Gopas were saying no, no, no, no Govardhan is a very Sober person Giriraj will not melt he will protect us. This may all the different residence of Vrindavan; Krishna just by his glances and his smiles was fully reciprocating with everyone’s loves, twenty four hours a day for seven days. No one had to sleep, everyone was fully nourished, fully enthused just seeing that beautiful form of Giridhari and he smiles and glances conquered their heart with ecstatic love, they never wanted that rain to stop.
Krishna crushes the ego of Indra
Meanwhile they were in ecstasy underneath the hill not a drop of water came in, Indra was over there and he was screaming at the Samvartaka cloud harder, harder, harder and after some days those clouds were totally depleted and exhausted they came to Indra and said we give up. Then Indra himself personally on his elephant started shooting thunderbolts and bringing the highest possible winds, cyclones, Hurricane, tornadoes everything bashing against Govardhan hill and after seven days of all that Indra did not have the power to remove one leaf from a single tree of a Govardhan Hill, he could not move even one centimeter, one grain of sand Govardhan Hill. Nothing and even the animals that were on top of Govardhan Hill were just having nice time, he couldn’t even disturb them the reason because of the tip of the little finger of Krishna was touching the bottom of that massive hill and just from his finger he was energizing, surcharging Giriraj with so much pleasure that nothing could affect him. Indra was humiliated because everyone was watching, everyone’s watching seven days all of his personal powers, all of his most powerful representative servants they couldn’t uproot a single blade of grass from Giriraj. So he gave up and he left and the sun came out and Krishna as still smiling, he said now the rains are ended you can all go home. No one wanted to go home but Krishna said, go home you have duties to perform. So everyone left the cowherd boys brought the cows but then the cows looked back and they ran back and surrounded Krishna they couldn’t leave him. So with this glance he was herding them out and he place the hill just as it was exactly before the storms. Krishna was inspecting to see how everything was around Brajbhumi and Indra he realized he committed a massive offense. He went to his guru Brihaspati and said what should I do I tried to destroy Vrindavan, now I understand that Gopal is God, he is the supreme absolute truth, he is the personality of Godhead due to my false ego I forgot, I was so caught with anger. Brihaspati said oh! Very bad you are a fool, you are really a fool. He said you cannot approach Krishna directly you try to destroy him. Only if a devotee approaches him on your behalf will he forgive you. So go to his cows, so Indra went Surabhi, mother of the Surabhi cows and she took pity on him. At Surabhi Kund she went to Krishna and she said Indra, Krishna completely ignored Indra. He is the little cowherd boy, he was the king of heaven nothing Ignore him. Then Surabhi said Indra is genuinely repentant for what he has done, please forgive him. On the strength of Surabhi’s love and compassion Krishna forgive Indra and he fell at Krishna’s lotus feet beg forgiveness. Showing that we have all made so many offensive in our lives and in previous lives but if someone who Krishna loves and someone who loves Krishna a dear devotees praise our on our behalf then Krishna will hear our prayers for give us and uplift us. Indra after condemning his own false pride and ego thinking he was the controller, he said Krishna from now on you are our Indra and Krishna was given the name Govinda.
Krishna enjoying with his Gopas
Another festival during the month of Kartik is Gopastami this is the first day that Krishna is given the charge of the cows. During his Kumar Lila he was in charge when he entered into his Poganda Lila since from six years old to ten years old he was given charge of cows, nine hundred thousand cows. On this day of Gopastami Yashoda Mai made nice shoes for Krishna because taking care of cows you have to them long distances into the forest and into the pastures. Krishna told Yashoda Mai that I am the servant of the cows unless you make the same quality shoes for all my cows then I will not wear shoes. Now what nine hundred thousand times four, you can use your calculator later but that how many shoes, so Krishna went bare foot and he would herd his cows throughout the day and then with his Gopa friends they would play so many beautiful games, all games which are simply actions and words to exchange love, that’s all. Originally every word, every movement, every action is simply a way to express our pure unalloyed love for God and each other, that’s what the spiritual world is. Even moving a finger like this, now so many of you are moving the fingers you are not even aware that you are moving the fingers, yes. So many of you are moving your legs because I am giving too long of class because your legs are paining. So we move so much and we speak so much but in the spiritual world every single movement the slightest detail is conscious expression of pure ecstatic love, every sound that comes from us is an expression of our pure ecstatic love. Sometimes so many strange sounds come out of us where there is intentional or unintentional but the original of all sounds, the origin of all movement, the origin of all every particular function of the senses the mind, the heart is to exchange love for what purpose to do we exchange love to give each other highest pleasure that’s the spiritual world. So when Krishna would play these games with the cowherd boys we cannot imagine what type ecstasy that is. Every movement of every cowherd boy was just an offering of ecstatic love to Krishna and every movement of Krishna was for the purpose of reciprocating with every single cowherd boy. They would play can you imagine, how enjoyable these games were because they were so enjoyable there was no possibility of them ending. So Krishna’s Lila Shakti, Yoga Maya Potency she every day just before lunch would facilitate one of Kamsa’s Asura’s to come to Vrindavan to interrupt the games. All of sudden there is Kesi or there is Aghasura and they had to end their games because Krishna had to do his beautiful Lila’s of liberating the demons and watching because Krishna would it on such an exciting suspenseful dramatic ways, everybody would increase their appetite watching and it would increase Krishna appetite doing, why was that because Yashoda Mai and different mother of the Gopas had cooked for them, they had their lunch containers, Prabhupada said they had their Tiffin’s, they are packed lunches. Because Lila Shakti wanted them to enjoy their lunches much as possible by Krishna grace they have huge appetites sometimes they go to the bank of Yamuna and they makes circles around Krishna, like lotus Krishna was like the whorl of the lotus and all the other Gopas were like petals, circles of petals around Krishna. There would, be thousands and thousands and thousands of Gopas they all be around Krishna. Each one of them would be looking to see what Yashoda Mai made for Krishna that was very important. Krishna would be looking saying what did your mother cooked for you? Then one of the boys would take a bite and say oh! This is very good Krishna would you like to taste it and Krishna said yes, yes let me taste it. Boys would take a bite and Krishna would take it and take a bite and Krishna would take a bite and give they were all sharing their Prasad with each other, trying to make each other happy. In this way Krishna is enjoying with his friends and one great miracle is every single cowherd boy is thinking Krishna is only looking at me, he is only smiling at me and they are in the circle around Krishna and Krishna didn’t four heads to look in all four directions, he was only looking in one direction apparently he had only one head and two eyes in this form. But every Gopa was thinking he is only looking at me. This is Krishna’s unlimited capacity to exchange love so perfectly with all living entities simultaneously. In the spiritual world no one is envious because Krishna is fully satisfying every one. Because I don’t know Hindi it’s not disturbing me.
Krishna’ extraordinary reciprocation with his cows
When he was tied at the end of the day on the day of Gopastami, was around Gopastami time that Krishna delivers Dhenukasura and one the day of Krishna would climb the Ter Kadamba tree and he would call all of his cows individually and personal by name. Now can you imagine calling nine hundred thousand names? Haridas Thakur chanted three hundred thousand names a day as a Hundred and ninety two rounds multiply by that by three, how many rounds is that? Five seventy six, Krishna Nanda Prabhu you are revealing super excellence opulence’s. He is saying five hundred and seventy six rounds that are how many Krishna would chant how long it would take you to say five hundred and seventy six rounds. Now Krishna called all nine hundred thousand names with name this is the difference you me and God. Krishna would say Shamali but another would hear Davali and another cow would hear Surabi. In this way every cow would personally hear name through Krishna’s voice and every one of them when they heard and each one was thinking Krishna is only calling for me, of all the cows he just calling my name and the cow would be in such filled with love that tears would flow from her eyes and she would respond to Krishna by making some sound and they come running back to the Ter Kadamba tree all of them and Krishna would be counting each one of them as they come back. If any didn’t come Krishna didn’t come back Krishna would jump of the tree and go and get them. Then they would come back in the village of Nanda Goan and for the Gopis a moment is like Twelve years or more, they were gone throughout the whole day intensely feeling separation form Krishna. Yashoda Mai would be there running toward him, Nanda Maharaj would be coming and big feast prepare for him. All the Gopis would be standing Krishna would glances upon them and they would glances back and this exchange of glances completely satisfied the hearts of every little Gopi.
Srila Prabhupada gave us the greatest gift the love of Vrindavan
Gopastami is also the day we celebrate Gadadhar Das, Srinivas Acarya then there is Uttan Ekadasi which is also disappearance day of Gaur Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj. But there is another day in Kartik which is very, very special to us, a day that make all the other day of Kartik accessible to us is the disappearance day of His Divine grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. On November 14 1977, Srila Prabhupada he left Vrindavan in 1965 with forty rupees boarded the Cargo Ship Jaladutta sailed across the Arabian Sea, across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and cross over the Atlantic Ocean took almost forty days, I think he thirty eight days he was on the Jaladutta. Sea sickness, heart attacks so many difficulties and he wrote in his diary that I am feeling such deep separation from my Lords Shri Govinda, Gopinath, Madan Mohan and Radha Damodar. I am feeling such deep separation from Shri Vrindavan Dham but I am on this mission on the order of my Guru Dev Shri Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur in pursuance of the instruction of Lord Caitanya. I am very unqualified completely depending on their mercy, so far away from Vrindavan. Prabhupada went to New York City, and as Jananivas Prabhu was so beautiful explaining in that magnificent class this morning. Prabhupada circled the world fourteen times taking great risk in old age just to teach people the love of Vrindavan. When by the arrangement of Shri Radharani and Shyamasundar it was time to him to leave this world they him back to Shri Vrindavan Dham. Wherein Krishna Balaram Mandir with loving devotees all around him, chanting the holy names and with loving devotees all around the world chanting and praying. He returned into the eternal Lila of Shri, Shri Radha Shyamasundar in spiritual world of Goloka Vrindavan. In Srila Prabhupada lives and his departure and his eternal grace through his books, through his devotees, through his love he is giving us entrance into Vrindavan Dham.
Essence of Srimad Bhagvatam
Srimad Bhagvatam has twelve cantos’, its culmination is the tenth canto where it describes the beautiful pastimes of Krishna in Vrindavan and the very culmination, essence of the tenth canto is the five chapters describes the Rasalila. Our great Acarya explains we have to approach the Rasalila properly if we want actually understand it, with realization. Vishvanath Cakravarti Thakur explains unless we first understand how Krishna creates and his various other incarnations and his relationships with devotees like Dhruva and Prahlad and Ambaréña and the Pandavas we cannot approach Vrindavan Lila. Srimad Bhagvatam is consider the literally body of Krishna, the primary cantos are like his lotus and we must carefully start from the beginning and gradually under the guidance of a proper guru and the association of devotees we must try to deeply understand, assimilate and apply these teachings to our lives. When we do that with genuine honestly eventually we are prepared to approach the tenth Canto which is consider the face of Lord Krishna. And ultimately through total surrender total detachment from materialistic selfishness we can approach the five chapters of the Rasalila, Raas Païcayat which is the Lord’s beautiful smile, tonight we are celebrating the Rasalila. We understand that the love between the gopis and Krishna is the highest expression of pure ecstatic spiritual realization in the entire spiritual and material worlds. Krishna tells in Bhagavad-Gita,
yoginäm api sarveñäà
mad-gatenäntar-ätmanä
çraddhävän bhajate yo mäà
sa me yuktatamo mataù
He describes the greatness of Yogis but of all Yogis one who loves me with pure devotion and faith is most intimately united with me in yoga and is the highest of all.
bhaktyä mäm abhijänäti
yävän yaç cäsmi tattvataù
Only by pure unalloyed devotion can I be understood and can one attain my abode,
Bhaktyä tv ananyayä çakya
aham evaà-vidho ‘rjuna
Only by such uninterrupted love and devotion can I be understood as I am.
bhakto ‘si me sakhä ceti
rahasyaà hy etad uttamam
Arjuna you can understand this because of your love and because of your Bhakti and because you are my friend,
bahünäà janmanäm ante
jïänavän mäà prapadyate
väsudevaù sarvam iti
sa mahätmä su-durlabhaù
After many births and deaths of cultivating knowledge, when one comes to the point of real knowledge, the highest knowledge one surrenders to Vasudev knowing me to be the cause of all causes and that is.
sarva-dharmän parityajya
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto me. I will protect you from all sinful reactions. The culmination of Bhagavad-Gita,
man-manä bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yäjé mäà namaskuru
mäm evaiñyasi satyaà te
pratijäne priyo ‘si me
Always think of me and become my devotee. Worship me and offer your homage unto me. Thus you will come to me without fail, I promise. We see this quality in the Pandavas, in Hanuman, in Ambaréña, Prahlad, in Dhruva, in Prachetas and ultimately we see it in purest highest form the residence of Vrindavan and among all the residence of Vrindavan in its most intimate inclusive and sweetest form in the gopis. We read Shri Caitanya-Caritämåta that the Gopis did not know or conceive of anything except Krishna’s pleasure. Going to hell was not even a question thinking about, if it would give Krishna pleasure. Their love is spotless, pure, and unselfish, this is love. If there is selfishness it’s not love, it’s Kama Lust. People say love in this world but it’s a corruption. Love is selfless, love is, I am only concern with the welfare of my beloved even if it causes me pain that was Gopis. Krishna wanted to reciprocate with their love, their pure unalloyed love, the perfection of the perfective liberated souls love for God that is what Rasalila is. No romance of this world, no lust of this world, no selfishness, it is the highest expression of the pure liberated souls love for God exclusively.
Description of Rasalila Dance
Krishna stood under the Vamsivata tree as he saw the beautiful autumn moon rising on arisen of Vrindavan there was a breeze of Yamuna and the beautiful song of her current, there was peacocks coin and the sweet birds chirping, wobbling, chilling and singing. There was wonderful fragrance of blooming Malika, Malati and various other Mogra flowers and all of the trees and the sky were displaying the most extraordinary beauty for the pleasure of Krishna. River Yamuna was pushing forth magnificent fragrant lotus flower. Experiencing this atmosphere Krishna was feeling in his heart this is the perfect time and place to give pleasure to the Gopis. He played the fifth note of his flute Vamsi, when he blew into the flute it was not like you and me blow into the flute. We just some from air our lungs makes a sound, yes may be good sound but this is transcendental. It was the intimate, ecstatic love of Krishna for each of this Gopis that emerged from his heart of hearts and came through his mouth as his breath and filled the hole of the flute. When that same sound came out it was the sweetest of all music, the original cause of all music. It was Krishna; the inner most love of Krishna’s heart in sound Vibration soaring through the air the atmosphere of Vrindavan and personally directed into the ears of the Gopis. Lord Caitanya described when that flute sound entered into the ears of the gopis it went into their hearts and it was like bird made a nest in the ears so no other sound could possibly be heard by them and when it entered into their heart, Hari he stole their hearts, he stole their consciousness. They felt him calling and whatever they met have been doing was irrelevant. They left their duties; they left their relationship in the middle of the night and ran out to meet with Krishna under the Vamsivata tree. There they came before Gopinath, the Lord of the gopis. Seeing him standing in his beautiful threefold bending form they offer their hearts, their lives and Krishna thank them for coming. He said you have risked everything to come here I am very much happy with you and now you are seeing the beauty of Vrindavan forest in this elegant moon light and we have meet, so now you can go home. Gopis were crying and drawing curve lines with their toes on the ground they wanted to stay, there was beautiful discussion. Ultimately the Gopis conquered Krishna and they stayed but then Krishna left as they were having beautiful Lila together all of Gopis and Krishna, Krishna left. The Gopis they were searching through the forest asking the moon and the stars, asking the trees and the river, the flowers where is the son of Nanda, where is Shyamasundar searching and searching and searching. Ultimately they found two pairs of foot prints and they understood that there is one Gopis who loves Krishna more than any of the rest of us. This Gopis, her worship and her love for Krishna is supreme, he left everyone only for her. Then they saw there was only set of foot prints, that this Gopi must have been tired so Krishna is carrying her, then they saw only half of foot prints Krishna must have been gone up on his tip toes to pick some flowers for her. This section of the Bhagvatam reveals more than any other scripture the supremacy of Sri Radha’s love. Krishna left all other Gopis to show the world that the source of all love, the highest love is the love of Shri Radharani. This is the ultimate culmination of the Bhagvatam, the ultimately culmination of all of Vyasdev Vedic scripture the love between Radha and Krishna. Then Krishna left Radharani and the Gopis see her crying and they were all crying with her. In this section of Bhagvatam we find the beauty the sweetness of love and separation, they were all crying together Radharani and Gopis they recited the Gopi-Gita, beautiful songs for love for Krishna in separation. Then Krishna manifested before them and Krishna revealed to them, that I only left you to increase the quality of your love, to increase the bliss of your love for me and for no other reason. And your love for me is so great that I have no power to repay you, even with everything I am and everything I have in all material and spiritual worlds, in an entire lifetime of brahmä I cannot repay you for your love for me. Krishna revealed he is totally conquered by the love of his Gopis. So please be satisfied with that love, it was after revealing these qualities than Krishna performed this Raas-dance with Srimati Radharani and the Gopis. The dance of pure spiritual love on the bank of the Yamuna, in the forest of Vrindavan and sometimes they refresh themselves by bathing in the Yamuna and performing water sports among all the lotus flowers and that they would dance and dance and dance. Do you know how long they dance an entire night time of Brahma, what is that? Four Yuga cycles multiplied by thousands times, it’s about 4.3 billion years that how long he dances with them and they never even had to go to sleep, that was the nature of their love. But Krishna who can do anything he compress that 4 billion three hundred million years into one night. Krishna, he revealed to the world that Prema, the pure love is the only thing that really satisfies his heart.
All we need is Radharani’s mercy
Sukadeva Goswami was such a Goswami that didn’t even, he was so fix in his total absorption into the supreme that he didn’t even recognize the different between male and female. Rupa Goswami, Sanatan Goswami, Raghunath Das Goswami, Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu the crest jewel of all Sanyaasi’s, the greatest renunciate who had nothing to do with sex life, who had nothing to do with material possession, who had nothing to do with any type of ego or enjoyment of this senses they all unanimously agree that the love for the Gopis is the highest and purest spiritual state of renunciation and detachment. Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu he taught his Sanyaasi’s that the perfection of renunciation is the Gopis love and Srimad Bhagvatam shows of all the Gopis Shri Radha is supreme. If anyone gets the mercy of Shri Radha then Krishna is oblige to accept that person. Prabhupada would says like this, “that in Vrindavan people say Jai Radhe more than Jai Krishna, because they know if they call Radharani name, if they please Radharani she will say Krishna this devotees is better than me please accept and Krishna has no choice he must accept. So this is the supreme method of Yoga is to somehow connect our self to Radharani’s mercy, the divine feminine potency of the Lord. Radharani’s love is so deep and so intimate that Krishna himself who knows everything past, present and future, who knows every ones heart inside and out he is thinking, what is the glory of Radharani’s love? What is in me that Radharani sees that invokes such happiness? What is it that she tastes when she experiences my love? Her bliss is greater than mine by millions and millions of times, I want to taste it.
Rädhä-bhäva-dyuti-suvalitaà naumi kåñëa-svarüpam
One absolute truth is divided into two parts as Radha and Krishna to enjoy love. Now the two have become one again as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Krishna who wants to taste the sweetness of Radha’s love and he comes to do this in this material world so that he could distribute that same love to everyone and anyone without discrimination of where they are coming from, what they have done, who they are? All we have to do is chant the holy names according to his direction,
Tåëäd api sunécena
taror api sahiñëunä
amäninä mänadena
kértanéyaù sadä hariù
To be humble like a blade of grass, tolerant like tree; ready to offer all respect to others and accept none in return, in this spirit of being the servant of the servant of the servant Krishna will reveal all of his opulence’s within the name. Krishna’s form, qualities, Krishna’s abode Vrindavan Goloka, Krishna’s associates, Krishna’s pastimes, Krishna’s love are all within the name if we can just chant in this spirit Krishna reveals our eternal relationship with Krishna and gives himself, Shri Radharani gives herself to one who chants in this spirit. This is Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission to give the highest revelation of Radha’s love to us through the congregational chanting of the holy name, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare, Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama, Rama Hare, Hare. Through our connection to Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, if we serve one another with humility and sincerity, if we act as instruments of Prabhupada and the Acaryas compassion towards everyone in this world and if we sincerely chant the holy names we can gain entrance in to the Rasalila
Déna-héna jata chilo, hari-näme uddhärilo,
tära çäkñé jagäi mädhäi
Narottam Das Thakur sang this with conviction, realization and experience, by Lord Caitanya’s mercy the holy names have descended with such grace that even Jagai and Madhai attained Goloka Vrindavan through chanting, the two most abominable criminals. This is the gift that Srila Prabhupada gave to the world; Prabhupada was living at the Radha Damodar temple. There is a beautiful Lila in Vrindavan where and Radharani were having their Rasalila and Krishna came late so Radharani tied Krishna around the waist with some flower bedeck creepers and tied him to a tree, Kadamba tree I believe. This is Radha Damodar, just Yashoda Mai bound Krishna by the waist with her love; Radharani bound Krishna by the waist by her love. Prabhupada lived there in Radha Damodar, Rupa Goswami Samadhi, and Jiva Goswami Samadhi this is right in the heart of Krishna’s eternal Rasalila. Beyond veneer of the earthly perception Krishna’s pastimes are eternally taking place in Vrindavan Dham. When Krishna by his mercy gives us the eyes to feel it and to see it, Srila Prabhupada was all those years right at Sevakunj in the heart of Krishna’s Rasalila. He never left there; he brought the grace of Radha and Krishna Shri Vrindavan and Rasasthali in his heart to share with whoever he met with the whole world and he gave that gift to word of his books and through the society he established. So if we simply become genuinely humble, deeply attached to hearing Krishna words, his pastimes, deeply attached to the chanting the holy names and serving Srila Prabhupada’s divine Mission then Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will come lift us up, like he lifted Raghunath Das Goswami and bring us to Radhakund Govardhan and the Rasalila. Let us thank Srila Prabhupada for this supreme blessing he had bestowed upon the world and let to be very grateful for the devotees who have so kindly connected to that current of grace, on this holy day of the moon that night of Raas Purnima. There will be no Darshan till 6 o’clock, we will have a very short kirtaan and then after that you can go down and take Prasad, it’s raining out. So where you take Prasad will be according to your imagination, you may want to start going now but we will have just few minutes Kirtaan then we will have few hours Kirtaan beginning at 6 o’clock and the Raas Purnima Darshan will be opened at that time.
Thank you very much!
Srila Prabhupada ki jai!
