martes, 6 de septiembre de 2011

A HAPPY FATHER’S DAY






HariKatha


&


HariKatha





----- Original Message -----
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Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2011 2:22 AM
Subject: [SPAM]: A Father's Day Darsan

Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja
A HAPPY FATHER’S DAYDarsana After The Morning Walk
San Francisco, California: June 17, 2007

Srila Gurudeva: Is Father’s Day for daughters only, or also for males?
Devotees: For males also.
Srila Gurudeva: Then why are the males not giving me any gifts? I have more affection for my daughters. None of the men told me it was Father’s Day.
Sripad Damodara Maharaja: Srila Gurudeva, you said on the morning walk that even though the father has so much affection for his son, he may not show it directly. He may not take the son on his lap. We know you love your sons best; therefore you are not showing it.
Srila Gurudeva: I have more affection for my daughters.
Srila Gurudeva: My blessings for all of you today is that pure bhakti will come in your hearts – the greed for service in raganuga-bhakti will come. May you attain your highest goal.
     What is your highest goal?
Caru-candrika dasi: Manjari-bhava.
Devotees: Radha-dasyam.
Srila Gurudeva: Radha-dasyam (the personal service of Srimati Radhika).
     In the West, after the sons’ marriage, the fathers and sons separate from each other. The sons no longer render service to their fathers. In India, even when their mothers and fathers are very old, the children continue to serve. Nowadays, however, except in the villages, where old persons are still taken care of by their grown children, a ‘wind’ has come to India from Western countries. Old persons are suffering as a result, as they are not allowed to even live with their families. I want you all to follow varna-asrama-dharma, an example of which is serving one’s parents.
Gokula dasa: If we are in family life, we should take care of our mother and father?
Srila Gurudeva: Yes; and have good relations with your brothers. Lord Rama wanted to give His kingdom to Bharata, and Bharata wanted to give the kingdom to Rama. They were quarreling about this point. Nowadays it is the opposite; we quarrel for our own ownership. We should be like Rama and Bharata.
     Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has told us to be like trees. A tree gives its leaves, fruits, branches, flowers, juice, fruits, shade, and wood to others. We should try to not live for ourselves, but for others.
     Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja left everything in his old age and traveled the entire world to benefit others. I also travel only to bring the highest benefit to all – to follow our guru-parampara.
Mahaprabhu dasa: My thirteen year-old daughter, Tulasi dasi, is here to see you.
Srila Gurudeva: She came with you from Australia? To hear hari-katha?
Mahaprabhu dasa: Yes. She took initiation from you a few years ago, and now she wants second initiation.
Srila Gurudeva: (To Tulasi dasi) How many rounds do you chant daily?
Tulsi dasi: I am building up.
Srila Gurudeva: How many rounds are you chanting now?
Tulsi dasi: Two rounds a day.
Srila Gurudeva: Very good, very good. But no diksa now.
     You will automatically increase your chanting when you will realize the glories of the holy name – that the holy name can save you from the pain of endless birth and death. Money and worldly things cannot make you happy; but these holy names will give you everything up to krsna-prema, and you will be able to serve Radha and Krsna forever. When you realize this, then you will chant more. When I come to Australia, you can receive the diksa-mantras.
Syamarani dasi: You said we should follow varnasrama-dharma. You said we should serve our mother and father and brothers.
Srila Gurudeva: Not only on Father’s Day, but every day.
Syamarani dasi: What if our mother, father, and brother are non-devotees?
Srila Gurudeva: Grhasthas (householders) should do so, and those who are renounced, who have given up the world, should serve their holy master.
Syamarani dasi: A householder should serve his non-devotee, material mother and father?
Srila Gurudeva: Yes, they should serve their mother, father, and brothers – whether or not their family members are devotees – otherwise they will have to go to hell. Everyone who is not a pure devotee has debts to others in this world. When my father used to come to Mathura, I would take his foot-dust on my head.
Sripad Madhava Maharaja: His father was a devotee.
Srila Gurudeva: Even though I am a sannyasi and he was a grhastha, I did so. He was my first guru. He taught me Mahabharata, Ramayana, and other scriptures.
Sripad Madhava Maharaja: They serve their parents in order to inspire them to become devotees. The parents receive good impressions by remembering how their devotee children always give respect to them, and bring them prasadam and the good news about what is best for their eternal welfare.





This article from the Rays of The Harmonist Monthly On-line Edition is being resent by harikatha@harikatha.com.
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sri sri guru gauranga jayatah!
Year-4, Issue 5
Posted: 20 June 2011
Dedicated to
nitya-lila pravista om visnupada
Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja

Inspired by and under the guidance of
nitya-lila pravista om visnupada
Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja

Associate Your Mind With The Divine
 
by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada


First, we should define true devotion. To that end, we may turn to the second verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam:
dharmah projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsaranam satam
vedyam vastavam atra vastu sivadam tapa-trayonmulanam
srimad-bhagavate maha-muni-krte kim va parair isvarah
sadyo hrdyavarudhyate ’tra krtibhih susrusubhis tat-ksanat
In this Bhagavata Purana, where fraudulent religiosity and all other mundane goals of humankind have been utterly forsaken, the supreme spiritual duty (parama-dharma) has been expounded. That parama-dharma is pure bhakti-yoga, exemplified by those saints who are absolutely free from envy and full of compassion for all living beings. Knowing (vedyam) the Supreme Truth within, uproots the three forms of misery and grants the highest form of auspiciousness (sivadam). When those with ample spiritual merit desire to listen to the message of this beautiful Bhagavatam, which was authored by maha-muni Sri Narayana Himself, then the Supreme Lord Sri Hari is immediately and permanently captured within their hearts. What is the need of any other message?
The word projjhita means “that from which all pretensions have been uprooted”. Persons who have already transcended the mundane regions are known as sadhus, and the religion of the sadhus is impressed upon us throughout Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Envy, or matsarata, is the combination of the five obstacles, namely lust (kama), anger (krodha), selfish greed (lobha), pride (mada) and delusion (moha). By indulging in these passions we develop envy (matsarata). Sadhus are free from such envy.
The term vastava-vastu in this verse means the positive, absolute entity. We should have access to that positive entity and not the negative side, or the dreamlike representations of objects. By the reverential study of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the threefold-miseries – namely, adhyatmika (misery caused by mind), adhidaivika (misery caused by the demigods) and adhibhautika (misery caused by other living entities) – are completely eliminated.
* * *
Krsna-prema-rasa should be our desired goal. We should be rasika and bhavuka, and never become devoid of rasa.*
_____________________
* When various transcendental emotions are perfectly combined, the resultant form of ecstasy is called rasa. One who is perfect in the science of incorporating and realizing transcendental emotion is called rasika, and one who has been elevated to the stage of constantly relishing such pure, transcendental emotion, or bhava, is called bhavuka.
If you are forgetful about rendering your service to Sri Krsna, you will be denied the entire benefit and compelled to walk upon the stage of this conditioned life. So the true duty of the mind is to associate with the Divine through the senses. We are now deeply absorbed in our passionate senses, which are flying in different directions and are never concentrated on the One And Only. Consequently, we deviate from that Absolute and find hundreds of mundane entities appearing before us.
They tempt us and we engage ourselves in rendering service to them. When we are assured that the only duty of the soul is to render service to the Over-soul, and that our other affiliations are but temporal, we decide that we should fully emerge from the varied engagements of this world that are placed before us. We then come to understand that we are part and parcel of the Fountainhead, the Over-soul, and although we are not the Substance itself, we are fractional parts of one of His potencies. At that time, we naturally conclude that in the transcendental region, no foreign thing should be included, and in this world, we do not find the unalloyed position of transcendence.
* * *
When we suppose ourselves to be part and parcel of this phenomenal universe, we develop the erroneous notion that we are merely subordinate fractions of the phenomenal plane in which we now experience our conditioned life. At present, we are quite enwrapped by two inert wrappers; one made of matter and one made of obstructing subtlety. Hence we run the risk of subscribing to the view that we are correct to identify ourselves with inert matter. Or, if we are more intelligent, we may notice that we have an astral body as well.
In that case, we can be drawn away from the Absolute into increasingly refined ideas of the limited concrete world of matter. Thus, our duty should not be confined to these two foreign wrappers, which are associated solely with foreign things – namely, the material body, which has sense, and its various subtle instruments for sensing – and consequently suppose that the purpose of such equipment is merely to move from the concrete toward the abstract. The refinement of such ideas varies according to our fitness in empirical activity, but all such phenomenal activity applies solely to the external and internal bodies, not to the soul.
We have our own position in the intermediate plane, the land between consciousness (cit) and matter (acit). We call that plane tatastha. Some souls are conditioned and some are liberated. Liberation is nothing but returning to our original state – that is, to our eternal position of service to the Supreme Eternal Being, as we are eternal beings.
If we want to be under the control of temporality, we may accomplish as much by trying to enjoy this world, which affords us occasional, mundane happiness; and yet the normal provision of this world is perpetual misery, as all experienced men have observed.
This contradiction itself is very puzzling. Why have we come to this place? We have exercised our free will to play on a particular plane and we have been abusing our free will in order to become the doer. In other words, we have taken an initiative to enjoy this world, and we have thereby submitted ourselves to the trap of the laws of karma.

Adapted from The Gaudiya, Volume 27, Number 8
by the Rays of The Harmonist team
 

 



Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja
THE DISAPPEARANCE DAY OF SRIVASA THAKURAAN EXCERPT ON HIS GLORIES


[June 25, 2011 (in America) is the disappearance day of Srivasa Thakura, who is the intimate associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and who is Sri Narada Muni in krsna-lila. Srila Gurudeva spoke on a drop of his glory on his disappearance day of 2002, and we are enclosing his words of wisdom herein. The main topic of Srila Gurudeva’s class was the subject of ruci, or taste for krsna-bhajana, and he gave Srivasa Thakura as an example of a pure devotee who had no taste in material affection due to his taste for bhajana:]
        Vamsi dasa Babaji was always in a mood of intimacy with Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You, on the other hand, are always engaged in maintaining your life. Sometimes business is very good, and you think, "Oh, this is very good." And sometimes it is down and you think, “What to do? What to do? What to do?” You forget to chant and you forget to worship. This is not ruci (taste for bhakti). If you are in the stage of ruci, all items for your maintenance will come to you automatically. If anything is not coming for your maintenance, like money, food, or anything else, you will not worry.
       When Srila Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja was residing near Govinda-kunda, he saw that many persons were engaged in eating very delicious food at a picnic. He thought, “I should also have some delicious food.” And then he replied to himself, “You want delicious food? Very good. I will arrange that right away.” He took some very bitter neem leaves, ate them, and told himself, “Take this and be satisfied.” Sometimes he used to eat the mud of the kundas (ponds) and thus he became blind, but he didn't care. He was simply absorbed in chanting, "O Radhe! Radhe! Where are You?"
premamayi radhe, radhe, radhe
vrndavana vilasini, radhe, radhe
vrsabhanu-nandini, radhe, radhe
kanu-mana-mohini, radhe, radhe
astasakhira siromani, radhe, radhe
          He prayed, "Tomara kangala tomaya dako, radhe radhe. I am a very poor beggar, begging Your darsana." He was always chanting, “O Radhe, O Radhe,” and he was always in a mood of separation from Her. If you, on the other hand, are worried for your maintenance, thinking, “Today there is no food!” “Our business is down!” “My relative has died!” and you are busy in those thoughts, how will you attain krsna-prema?
        You should follow Srivasa Pandita. During kirtana one day, his only son died and his wife and relatives began to weep. He told them, “If you disturb the kirtana, I will jump in the Ganges at once.” Mahaprabhu had also been participating in that kirtana, and when He understood what happened, He entered the son's room and told that dead boy, “Why are you sleeping? Wake up.” The boy then opened his eyes and began to speak. He said, “I am doing very well in the place where I have just taken birth. It is favorable for doing bhajana there, and here it is not.” Mahaprabhu then told him, “Yes, go there.”
         In this world, it is essential to maintain our life. Without this, we can't do our bhajana. But don't be worried about this. Your maintenance will come automatically, according to your previous activities. If something comes, that is okay, and if something that you have collected is lost, still, don’t worry.
         Suppose you have deposited many thousands of dollars in a bank, but somehow your business failed and your money was lost. Don't worry about that. You cannot achieve krsna-prema, or anything else, by money. You cannot eat your bank money. You can only eat two capatis or two slices of bread – nothing more. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura quotes in his Bhajana Rahasya:
alabdhe va vinaste va
bhaksyacchadana-sadhane
aviklava-matir bhutva
harim eva dhiya smaret
(Padma Purana)
"The mind of one who has taken shelter of the holy name is undisturbed even if food and clothes are not easily obtained, or if they are obtained but then lost. Leaving behind all material attachments, he takes complete shelter of Govinda."
        Chant Hare Krsna without any worry. Remember Srivasa Pandita and his four brothers, who chanted throughout the night, “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare,” and “Hari haraya nama krsna yadavaya namah.”
        There was nothing to eat in Srivasa Pandita's house, and Mahaprabhu told him, “You chant Hare Krsna day and night, but you should also try to maintain yourself. Make some money by working or by begging. Somehow or other you should maintain yourself and your family.”
        Srivasa Pandita replied, “We will not do so. We will only chant.” Then he clapped three times as he said, “One, two, three.” Mahaprabhu asked, “What are you doing?” Srivasa Pandita replied, “I will wait one day, and if there is no food, I will wait for another day, and then for a third day. Then, if nothing comes by the third day, I will jump in the Ganges. I will say ‘Hare Krsna’ and jump.”
        Mahaprabhu then told all the devotees, “Those who have sincerely taken shelter of the holy name and are sincerely chanting will never have to beg. Laksmi, the Goddess of Fortune herself, may beg, but My devotees will never have to do so. I will take responsibility for the maintenance on My own head, and I will arrange everything for them. I will maintain them; this is My promise.” Have strong faith in this.
[Devotee:] Gurudeva, you described some of the glories of Srivasa Pandita. You said he was not even concerned when his little son died during the kirtana. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu told the boy to come back, but he said, “No, I am in a better place now.” My question is: what better place could he be in? He was already in Mahaprabhu's kirtana with Srivasa Pandita.
[Srila Gurudeva:] Krsna had called him to participate in the pastimes He was performing in prakata Vraja in one of the universes. He was playing with Krsna and His associates there, and he was very happy. He therefore told Mahaprabhu, “Let me stay here; I am very happy here.” It may be that due to his sadhana-bhajana he had become a gopi and he was residing with all the gopis. He may have been with Sri Rupa Manjari, so why would he want to return? His new situation was the fruit of his serving Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja
Good Questions, Great AnswersMorning walkFrielendorf, Germany: July 10, 2007

Devotee: Gurudeva, I am looking for a guru. What are the qualities of a good guru – a bona fide guru?
Srila Gurudeva: He knows all sastra – Vedas, Upanisads, and all other Vedic scriptures – and thus he can remove devotees’ doubts. He has some realization of the Supreme Lord, and by that realization he is able to transfer Krsna from his own heart to his disciple. He is quite detached from worldly things, but we cannot see this symptom.
      We can understand that a person is able to remove all kinds of doubts by how he responds to our inquiries. However, if one can remove doubts but does not personally follow the rules and regulations of bhakti, that person cannot be guru.
       Where is the reporter?
Brajanath dasa: I spoke with him last night. He will be here at 5:30. He said he will meet you this morning at 5:30 or 6:00 o’clock.
Gauracandra dasa: Gurudeva, can I ask a question? Krsna has created the material world so that He can enjoy pastimes of delivering the suffering fallen jivas. He cannot enjoy this pastime in the spiritual world because in the spiritual world no one is suffering. Only in the material world does Krsna have the opportunity to exhibit compassion.
        I, a jiva, am suffering in this material world. Does this mean that Krsna doesn’t love me so much? Does it mean that He loves His pastimes of deliverance more than He actually loves me? Does He place the jivas here to suffer just so that He can manifest His pastimes of compassion?
Srila Gurudeva: Krsna can accomplish so many things by one activity. He has come from Goloka Vrndavana to relish the love and affection of the Vrajavasis, especially the gopis, and more especially Radhika. Those who hear all of Krsna’s sweet pastimes with the Vrajavasis will be liberated and develop krsna-prema.
        Krsna has also come to establish religious principles:
yada yada hi dharmasya  glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya  tadatmanam srjamy aham
paritranaya sadhunam  vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge
                                                           Bhagavad-gita 4.7-8
"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion, at that time I descend Myself.  To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I appear millennium after millennium."
Gauracandra dasa: I am wondering how much Krsna loves me, compared to how much He loves His pastimes. It seems that I have to suffer so that He can be compassionate.
Srila Gurudeva: You cannot realize Krsna’s love at this time, but when you have attained the bhakti of Uddhava you will realize that He has so much love and affection for you. He is causelessly merciful. He comes here for so many reasons, about twelve reasons, as I explained yesterday. He comes here to help persons like you.
       Do you still have the doubt? Has it not yet been removed?
Gauracandra: I know I am stupid, Gurudeva. I have got so much to realize.
Srila Gurudeva: We cannot imagine Krsna’s love. It is beyond the limit of our knowledge. He is samadarsi, which means that He is equal to all. He comes to this world, but He is not attached to it. One of His names is Ananta, which indicates that He is unlimited.
      If you love Him, you will realize, “He loves me.” If you do not love Him, you will think, “He is neglecting me.”
      Kamsa thought, “Krsna is my enemy. He is coming to kill me.” But Krsna did not kill him. Rather, Krsna liberated him from all worldly considerations, so that he would no longer commit offences to devotees. So, Krsna is very kind.
Devotee: I suppose this refers to the verse:
ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham
mama vartmanuvartante manusyah partha sarvasah
                                                      Bhagavd-gita, 4.11
"In whatever way My devotees surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Prtha."
Srila Gurudeva: Yes.
Sacinanadana dasa: Can I ask a question? A bhakta once came to Srila Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji, along with his new wife. Srila Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji told him, “Every day you should do puja to your wife.” Is this appropriate for us? And if it is, then how should it be done?
Srila Gurudeva: You can daily wash her feet and then take her foot-bathing water on your head. (With sarcasm) You can pray like this, “Oh devi, be kind to me.” And if she beats you, you should say, “O devi, I am now satisfied.”
Feeling that he had attained nothing by staying with Babaji Maharaja, a young man left him. Then, after about two weeks he returned to Babaji Maharaja with a beautiful young lady from a wealthy family, whom he had married. He offered pranama to Babaji Maharaja and said, “Babaji Maharaja, I have entered the samsara, the material world. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written in his Gitavali: ‘krsnera samsara kara chadi’ anacara – we should give up our offences and perform bhajana as family men.’ Therefore I have collected a krsna-dasi. Please be merciful to her, and to me also, so we can engage in bhajana and have a successful material life as well.”
          Babaji Maharaja replied, “You have done so well! I am so pleased! You have collected one krsna-dasi? Then you should do one thing: you should offer puja to this krsna-dasi. Every day you should cook an offering for her, and offer her pranama and some flowers saying, ‘You are a krsna-dasi, and very dear to Sri Krsna.’ But beware. Don’t try to enjoy her, otherwise everything will be destroyed for you and you will descend into hell!
         Hearing this, the boy was astonished and was rendered speechless. Frightened, he called his ‘krsna-dasi’ and quickly left. Was deceiving Babaji Maharaja an easy thing? It was not possible to deceive him. (Taken from Srila Gurudeva’s Prabandhavali, Chapter Five, this indented quote has been added by the editors)
 Madhusudana dasa: Gurudeva, there are two things necessary to advance in bhakti; one is sadhana, devotional practice, and one is guru-krpa, the mercy of guru. If I have these two things, do I require any separate effort to develop raganuga-bhakti? Or, does it appear spontaneously?
Srila Gurudeva: When your guru will be merciful, he will pray to Krsna for you. Krsna knows everything, so He will be very kind. His heart will melt, and He will have mercy upon you so that you will attain success.

Madhusudana dasa: I don’t have to make any special effort to develop raganuga?
Srila Gurudeva: Both are needed; sadhana must also be performed.
       When Yasoda was trying to bind Krsna, she vowed, “I will bind Him, otherwise I will not eat anything.” Perspiring, sometimes she was thinking, “What is this?! I am not binding Him?? Oh Narayana, Narayana! I must bind my son!” Seeing her great determination, Krsna was at once bound, merely by the rope that tied Yasoda’s hair.
sva-matuh svinna-gatraya
visrasta-kabara-srajah
drstva parisramam krsnah
krpayasit sva-bandhane
Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.8.18
"Because of Mother Yasoda's hard labor, her whole body became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were falling from her hair. When child Krsna saw His mother thus fatigued, He became merciful to her and agreed to be bound."
Sripad Nemi Maharaja: So we should just meditate, “Narayana, Narayana, Narayana.”
Srila Gurudeva: Without Narayana, our destination cannot be reached.
Sripad Sudhadvaiti Maharaja: Without Narayana Maharaja, there is no destination.
Sripad Nemi Maharaja: Srila Gurudeva, if we remember slokas from Sri Vilapa-kusumanjali while we are chanting harinama, is this like remembering Krsna’s pastimes, or is it like remembering asta-kaliya-lila?
Srila Gurudeva: You can think as you like. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami has given asta-kaliya-lila in Vilapa-kusumanjali, but in brief. It is all right to think in this way.
Aristastana dasa: Gurudeva, every day we are chanting in the song Sri Guru-carana-padma, “Janme janme prabhu sei (Sri guru is my lord, birth after birth).” Is it that we are only starting to serve Gurudeva in this life and that it will now go on forever, or have we already started in past lives?
Srila Gurudeva: Some have performed bhakti in previous lives, and some are new. Regarding those who are now advanced, they have performed devotional activities in past lives. Regarding those who don’t know much about bhakti, but are beginning to develop sraddha by hearing from bona fide Vaisnavas, they are new.  It may also be true that some persons have accrued sukrti in previous lives, from having previously accepted a guru and are now joining again, but they may not be very sincere, whereas a new devotee may advance more quickly if he is sincere.
Kamala-kanta dasa: Srila Gurudeva, one of your preachers once said that bhakti cannot be checked by any material cause. What does it really mean?
Srila Gurudeva: What do you mean by ‘material cause’?
Kamala-kanta dasa: Well, entanglement in the material world.
Srila Gurudeva: If someone is helping his gurudeva by giving a great deal of money, and if his gurudeva really spends this money on book publication, temples, and service to guru and all other Vaisnavas, then, although that money is material and some sin may have been committed by various donors, it will help in that person’s development of bhakti. Do you understand?
     A flower and water are material, but when it is offered to Thakuraji it becomes transcendental.
Prakasatma dasa: Yesterday you were speaking in your class about Ananta Vasudeva. [See endnote 1] I am wondering; when the maha-purusa (self-realized acarya) leaves this world, is it usual that his mission goes into chaos?
Srila Gurudeva: Not necessarily. If one is like Ananta Vasudeva, then for him it will be chaos. After our Gurudeva departed from this world, even after over forty years, we have been very good. On the other hand, anyone who is engaged in nonsense activities and offenses must suffer in chaos. By serving one’s gurudeva with visvambhena-guru-seva (intimacy) one very quickly develops krsna-prema, but if one commits offenses he goes to Rasatala (the lowest planetary system).
         There is a sloka in sastra which states that if the root of the lotus is situated in the water, it blossoms under the sun. If there is no water, however, that same lotus will wilt and dry up.
Sripad Madhava Maharaja:
narayano ‘pi vikrtim yati guroh pracyutasya durbuddheh
kamalam jalad apetam sosayati ravir na posayati
                                                   Jaladakhyana-samhita

"When a lotus flower is situated in water, the rays of the sun cause it to blossom. The same sun, however, will wither a lotus which is not situated in water. In this example the disciple is compared to the lotus, Sri Guru to water, and the Supreme Lord to the sun."
Prakasatma dasa: So we have to pray to the guru that he will always be…
Srila Gurudeva: Guru is the root of bhakti. Guru, Vaisnava, and sadhu are the roots. A sadhu is able to describe to us the glory of gurudeva, because he himself is guru.
Devotee: I have a question. We know that sri guru’s position in Krsna-lila is as a manjari. What is his position in Caitanya-lila?
Srila Gurudeva: What do you mean by ‘manjari’?
Devotee: I don’t know.
Srila Gurudeva: I see that it was for you all that I spoke about raganuga and related topics in my class. Don’t jump to the top. Begin from the bottom, not from manjari-bhava, otherwise you’ll be…
Sripad Madhava Maharaja: He is not asking what is guru’s manjari form in Radha-Krsna’s pastimes…
Srila Gurudeva: What does he want to know?
Sripad Madhava Maharaja: What is the form of guru in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes?
Srila Gurudeva: It is better that you desire to know how your anarthas will disappear, and how your sambandha-jnana (relationship) with Krsna will strengthen. Don’t go beyond that. You are new, so where have you heard about manjari-bhava? Perhaps someone has told you that you are a manjari? It is best not to think about this at your stage.
Sripad Suddhadvaiti Maharaja: Srila Gurudeva, Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja used to say that sraddha (implicit faith that by performing bhakti all other subsidiary activities are automatically accomplished) and sukrti (spiritual credits accrued by performance of bhakti in previous lives) are interrelated; they are linked. We hear that according to previous sukrti we get sadhu-sanga; still, all of us Westerners took birth in the families of cow-eaters. Is that the reason why it is seen that the sraddha of most Westerners remains kamala (soft and pliable) for a very long time?
Srila Gurudeva: It may be; it may be.
Sripad Suddhadvaiti Maharaja: We had accumulated sukrti, but still we took birth in a family of mlecchas.
Srila Gurudeva: Yes.
Sripad Suddhadvaiti Maharaja: So, how much sukrti was there?
Srila Gurudeva: We think that Western persons live in bhoga-bhumi.
Sripad Madhava Maharaja: The place of enjoying material life.
Srila Gurudeva: Not sadhana-bhumi (the place of sadhana-bhakti). But now, by the grace of a maha-purusa (self-realized soul), they are coming in the devotional line.
Sripad Suddhadvaiti Maharaja: But their sukrti is meager?
Srila Gurudeva: It may be that their sukrti is okay. Otherwise, how is it that they are now becoming advanced? Padmanabha Maharaja and all others here were cow-eaters, but just see what became of them. See how they have become advanced.
Sripad Nemi Maharaja: His question is: If we had the sukrti to get the sanga of a very beautiful sadhu, then why did we take birth in the family of cow-eaters? It seems strange that both would be there?
Srila Gurudeva: But now you do not take cow-meat; do you?
           One thing more: Even if you would have eaten cow-meat throughout your life, but in the end of your life, by the mercy of Krsna or guru and Vaisnavas you have chanted only a few holy names, then all your sins will go away.
            Have you read about the pastime of Ajamila? He not only ate meat, but he engaged in numerous abominable sinful activities. Still, all his sins disappeared by chanting nama-abhasa (a semblance of the pure holy name of Lord Narayana). So, there is nothing to fear or worry.
Sripad Padmanabha Maharaja: Can it also be possible that someone was a devotee in his previous life, but he then committed some heavy vaisnava-aparadha is now cursed to take birth in some bhoga-bhumi, or in some family of cow-eaters? Is that also possible?
Srila Gurudeva: It may be; it may be. If one commits guru-aparadha, he must get some sinful result.
Srila Gurudeva: (To Jiva-pavana dasa) When will you take sannyasa? Or, will you remain married throughout your life?
Jiva-pavana dasa: I am waiting for your order.
Srila Gurudeva: Your son is already a sannyasi, but you are still now where you were before.
Jiva-pavana dasa: I have a three year plan but you can make it three weeks if you like.
Devotee: I would like to ask about Vraja-prema. What are the rasas included in Vraja-prema?
Srila Gurudeva: There are twelve rasas in Vraja, but the main ones are three: sakhya (friendship), vatsalya (parent-hood), and madhurya (amorous love). Santa is present there, but it is covered. It does not manifest.
[Endnote:
             I will tell you a story about Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasavti Gosvami Thakura. He had two disciples, named Ananta Vasudeva and Sundarananda, who were both very brilliant and had sharp memories. They both served Srila Prabhupada while he was in this world, and at that time they were controlled by his influence.
              After Srila Prabhupada left this world, they became ‘guideless,’ and no one could control them. Ananta Vasudeva became the President of the Gaudiya Mathas all over India and also took sannyasa. However, after some time he and Sundarananda began to think, “Our Gurudeva, Srila Prabhupada, was not qualified to give siddha-deha (one’s perfect spiritual form) and manjari-bhava. He has not indicated that he will give that to us. It is better to have another guru, and retake diksa from him.”
             Criticizing Srila Prabhupada in so many ways, they both went to a babaji of Navadvipa, took shelter of him, and received [so-called] siddha-bhava from him. They threw the books of Srila Prabhupada, such as Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, in the Ganges River, and did other very nonsense things with those books. What became of them as a result of criticizing their Gurudeva and disobeying him? Lust came in their hearts and they could not check it.
           Ananta Vasudeva gave up his sannyasa asrama and married a lady, and then he went to Vrndavana to engage in bhajana. He was hosted at the Radha-ramana Gosvami temple, where the Radha-Ramana Gosvami eventually took all the property and gold that he had collected from his disciples. The Gosvami also took away all the books that he had printed and expelled him from his house.
        Ananta Vasudeva eventually became so depressed that he took poison and died, and his disciples took him in the night and gave him [so-called] samadhi. And what became of Sundarananda? At last he became totally mad, at which time he began smearing his own stool all over his body.
           We should be very careful about guru-aparadha. (July 9, 2007, Srila Gurudeva’s evening class)]
      [When Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada entered his unmanifest pastimes, the Gauòiya Matha became divided over who would be the next acarya. Ananta Vasudeva was nominated, but in time it was seen that he was not qualified. Many devotees asked my Guru Maharaja what to do, and he told them that if a guru is fallen he should be given up, and a bona fide guru accepted instead. If a disciple does not realize that his guru is unqualified at the time of diksa but finds out later, he should reject that person and accept a real guru. If one’s diksa-guru is unable to give pure bhakti, then one should humbly ask his permission to take shelter of a qualified çiksa-guru. However, if the disciple is refused permission, then he must conclude that this so-called guru is selfish and worldly-minded, and should therefore be rejecte d. (Srila Gurudeva’s Prabandhavali, Chapter Six)]

[Srila Gurudeva: After Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, there was a person named Ananta Vasudeva prabhu. He was very qualified, but he became charmed by a lady devotee and left his sannyasa. They married, after which all became against him and said, “Now you should enter family life. This behavior is like that of a dog who eats something and again vomits it.” At that time he was very powerful. He had money and so many disciples, and he began to torture his god-brothers, the disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Thakura, who opposed him.
Satyarupa dasi: What was the cause of the friction?
Srila Gurudeva: It came about because he was attracted to his own lady-disciple and married her. His god-brothers told him that in Srimad-Bhagavatam and other scriptures it is written that such behavior is not a good thing for Vaisnavism.  They said, “You should go with her; and you should vacate your position as acarya.” Everyone turned against him. He was at that time very wealthy and had a great deal of power. His god-brothers left his place and established their own mathas here and there. (And Interview with Srila Gurudeva in Murwillumbah, Australia, January 15, 2000)]





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Harikatha y Purebhakti

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