Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

suddhir nrnam na tu tathedya durasayanam

vidya-srutadhyayana-dana-tapah-kriyabhih

sattvatmanam rsabha te yasasi pravrddha-

sac-chraddhaya sravana-sambhrtaya yatha syat

suddhih — purification; nrinam — of persons; na — is not; tu — but; tatha — in such a way; idya — O worshipable one; durasayanam — of those whose consciousness is contaminated; vidya — by ordinary worship; sruta — hearing and obeying the injunctions of the Vedas; adhyayana — study of various sastras; dana — charity; tapah — austere penances; kriyabhih — and ritual activities; sattva-atmanam — of those who are situated in pure goodness; rishabha — O greatest of all; te — Your; yasasi — in the glories; pravriddha — fully matured; sat — transcendental; sraddhaya — by faith; sravana-sambhritaya — which is reinforced by the process of hearing; yatha — as; syat — there is.

O greatest of all, those whose consciousness is polluted by illusion cannot purify themselves merely by ordinary worship, study of the Vedas, charity, austerity and ritual activities. Our Lord, those pure souls who have developed a powerful transcendental faith in Your glories achieve a purified state of existence that can never be attained by those lacking such faith.

Purport:

Even if a pure devotee is lacking the above qualifications, such as Vedic study and austerity, if he has unflinching faith in Lord Krishna the Lord will save him because of his devotion. On the other hand, if one becomes falsely proud of one’s material qualifications, including ordinary piety, but does not devote himself to hearing and chanting the glories of Krishna, the result will ultimately be nil. The transcendental spirit soul cannot be purified by any amount of material piety, charity or scholarship. Only the transcendental Supreme Lord can purify the transcendental living entity by bestowing His mercy within the heart. The demigods were astonished at their good fortune. Even by hearing about Krishna, one achieves all perfection, but they had entered the Lord’s own city and were seeing Him standing before them.

Oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā

cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai Srī-Gurave namaḥ

Srī-Caitanya-mano-‘bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale

Svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam

Vande ‘ham Sri-Guroh Sri-yuta-pada-kamalam Sri-Gurun Vaisnavams’ ca

Sri-Rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-Raghunathanvitam tam sa Jivam

sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam Krsna-Caitanya-Devam

Sri-Radha-Krsna-padan saha-gana-Lalita-Sri-Visakhanvitams’ ca

Hey Krishna Karuna Sindhu dina bandhu Jagat Pathe, Gopesha Gopikakanta Radha Kanta namostute, Tapta Kanchan Gaurangi Radhe Vrindavaneshwari, Vrishabhanu Sute Devi Prana mami Hari Priye

Vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha kripa-sindhubhya eva cha patitanam pavanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo namaha

Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Adwaita Gadadhara Srivasadi Gaur Bhakta vrinda

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

I offer my sincere gratitude for each and every one of you who have chosen to spend your Sunday morning at Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir. We, in the association, so many sincere devotees to hear the words of Srimad Bhagavatam. Today we are reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11, Chapter 6 text number 9. In this place in Srimad Bhagavatam we find, Lord Sri Krishna, Krishnas tu Bhagawan Swayam, who is the source of all incarnations of Godhead, janmady asya yatah, aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate, who is the source, the creator, the maintainer, the ultimate destroyer of the entire cosmic creation. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ‘rjuna tisthati, who is personally seated in the heart of every living entity. Suhrd sarva bhutanam, who is forever unconditionally the most intimate benefactor and friend for all beings. These are eternal truths, nothing can change that. Whether one is Ravana, Hiranyakashipu, or anyone else, still Krishna remains. He may be very displeased with us; He may arrange some purification or even punishment for our purification. But Krishna’s motive in every situation is He is the intimate loving well wisher and friend of all living beings.

Samo ‘ham sarva-bhutesu, He is equal to everyone, ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham but reciprocates according to our devotion, our surrender. In the first nine cantos of Srimad Bhagavatam, we learn the philosophy of the highest truth and how to gradually approach that highest truth. Sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati, this verse cannot be stressed enough.

Parikshit Maharaj with only seven days to live, less than seven days because after he had this, received this curse from Shringi, the son of Samik Rishi, you know the news had to come to him, then he had to leave his home, and he had to walk in the clothes of a beggar to Shutala, which is on the banks of the Ganga, and then a little bit of time, had to come for all the Sages and Rishis from throughout the world and the universe to assemble. And after everyone was there, discussing who is going to answer Parikshit Maharaj’s questions- what is the prime duty for every human being? What is at the heart and essence of all scriptures and all dharmas? What is the prime duty of a person that is about to die? The Srimad Bhagavatam, Vyasdev tells us, some of the people who were there. Vyasdev was one of them so he was an eye witness to the whole event. He knows past, present and future. He didn’t need to be but he was there. The greatest Yogis, the greatest Pandits, the greatest Rishis, they all assembled.

Every twelve years at Prayag, there is Kumbh Mela, where so many leaders of spiritual organisations come but this was the concentrated essence of that principle of great souls coming together because there was such a need. The sixteen year old Shukadev arrived. Everyone without any argumentation, without any hesitation from anyone, they wanted to hear Shukadev Goswami speak. Such great sages. Some of them were hundreds and thousands of times his age, literally, people like Vishwamitra, Vashishta, they were the Gurus of Ramachandra in previous Yugas. There were people there like Kashyap who was, you know in Satya Yuga, father of Devatas. They didn’t have cell phones then so please turn your cell phones off. Why they wanted to hear from a little boy like Shukadev? Because, a qualification they all had, a qualification to actually hear the Srimad Bhagavatam, not just listen, not just study, not just memorise, but hear, is that they had no envy. Krishna tells Arjuna this in Bhagavad Gita that you are qualified to hear this message because you have no envy. You are My devotee and My friend.

Shukadev Gswami describes so many great devotees of so many different Avatars, Narayan, Padmanabha, describes the whole creation from Brahma to Dhruva to Prahlada, the Pandavas, Kunti, Ambarisha, Prachetas, Arantideva, Hanuman. In the tenth canto the crescendo of the Srimad Bhagavatam, he describes the appearance of Krishna, in that prison cell of Kamsa in Mathura, in Gokul. He explains Krishna’s pastimes from the time he was just an infant child, how there was a great ceremony celebration in Gokul when little infant Gopal just began to slant Himself. So He was just making those attempts to get up from the laying position. They called Brahmans to chant mantras and do Yagyas and they had kirtans and musicians. Nanda Maharaj and the other Gopas were giving in charity; they were serving cows in special ways to invoke blessings upon the child. And when He was hardly a day or so old, Putana, the great Rakshasi, she came, the cruellest intentions, such deception. Her heart was passionate to drink Krishna’s blood and eat His flesh, to kill Him with poison and she disguised herself as the most well wishing motherly friend and Krishna reciprocated. Somehow or other the last moment, just before her death she felt some, she felt some motherly affection for Krishna and Krishna drank her milk and drank the poison, and drank her life, because she approached Him as a mother, Krishna gave Putana the liberation of being an eternal motherly nurse for Him in the spiritual world.

Shukadev Goswami describes Krishna and Balaram learning to walk together being dragged while holding on to the tails of the calves, through the dung and the urine of the cows and bulls mixed with the dirt of Vrindavan and how Krishna enjoyed. The Absolute truth the Supreme Father of all living beings who has revealed such aishwarya, such opulence, power, majesty in previous incarnations, He is taking so much joy being dragged by a tiny little calf through the dung, the urine and the dirt of Vrindavan. That’s why even here in some of our places in Radha Gopinath Temple, our walls are covered with cow dung and urine with the dirt of Vrindavan mixed in it. And if we think that any marble or gold or jewels are more valuable than that, that’s because we just don’t understand Krishna didn’t want to be dragged in that stuff. He enjoyed being dragged through the dung and the urine and the dirt of Sri Vraj Bhumi. If we want to understand what pleases Krishna we cannot do it by our own speculative processes. Krishna reveals Himself.

So these Leelas are so nicely described. Krishna’s ‘Sakhya ras’ pastimes with His friends, they play, they joke, they fight while they are herding the calves and later the cows. Krishna’s loving pastimes in ‘Vatsalya Ras’ with Yashoda Mai, Nanda Maharaj. For one year during the Brahma Vimohana Leela, He shared the relationship of a child for mothers and fathers with all the cows and bulls and all the elderly Gopas and Gopis of Vrindavan. And during the Ras leela, especially in five chapters Shukadev Goswami explains the ultimate loving exchanges between Krishna and the Gopis, the cowherd ladies of Vrindavan, cowherd girls. In Vrindavan many asuras, demoniac people came to destroy Krishna, to destroy all of His devotees, to pollute His abode and Krishna without the help of any weapon, He didn’t even call for His Sudarshan Chakra once. He killed all of the demons in such playful ways. Yeah sometimes He just, His little soft hand, He would just hit them, sometimes with His little lotus feet, which were softer than freshly budded lotuses, He would dance on their heads; sometimes He would drink their milk. Sometimes with His little arm He would squeeze them and choke them to death, Trnavarta. In this way, Aghasura, He just danced in this giant serpent’s mouth; He saw all His friends were dead inside. He just expanded His body and came back out as a little cowherd boy.

To Indra, Indra tried to destroy all of Vrindavan and everyone in Vrindavan, and Krishna is so playful, He is the Paramatma in Indra’s heart, He could have just cut him off, and killed him in a second with His sudarshan chakra, with any weapon, with His fingers He could have killed Indra but instead with His little finger He lifted Govardhan Hill, seven days, seven nights. It killed Indra’s ego and Indra surrendered to Him. Brahma surrendered Him. By His own will, Akrura His uncle brought Him to Mathura, and there with His little fist He killed, with Balaram, Chanura Mushtika, He killed Kamsa, killed all Kamsa’s soldiers. Later He moved to Dwarka. As we discussed yesterday He married 16,108 queens, some people ask, if Krishna is teaching us by His example, why He? Because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I haven’t yet to meet one man who could satisfy fully one wife. And one wife who could fully satisfy one husband. But every one of the queens fully satisfied Krishna and Krishna fully satisfied each one of them, simultaneously. They didn’t have to wait in a queue.

Krishna expanded Himself in all the forms and like the Gopis in Vrindavan during Ras Leela, when they were with Krishna in their palace; they weren’t thinking Krishna is in every other palace. They were thinking Krishna is just here with me, His full attention, His full affection is with me. And as spoken yesterday, these princesses, they were in the most desperate condition we can imagine, they were taken as prisoners, hostages, their lives were hopeless, they turned to Krishna in complete helplessness. There is no one else in the entire creation of Brahma that can help us. We have given our hearts our lives to You. To the rest of the world, we are just waste. Krishna is Deena-bandhu the friend of those in the most distress, when those people come to Him for shelter. And He took these girls who were really from a Kshatriya perspective in the lowest condition and He put them for the rest of history to come in the highest position, of being His queens. Of course they had descended, they were all expansions of Lakshmi Devi, of Sri Radha, of Rukmini, from the spiritual world of Sri Dwarka, but still there’s a lesson He gave us this, whatever our condition, if we take shelter of Krishna, He can put us in the highest place of His eternal loving servant.

So where we are reading today, Krishna has been performing His leela for one hundred and twenty five years in this world. The tenth canto begins with Bhumi, Mother Earth, taking the form of a cow, the most helpless creature, not creature, the most helpless person, who is completely dependent on compassion of the human beings. She was not, she was not being respected, she was being exploited, she was being abused. All the gifts she was giving on behalf of Krishna to the world were being manipulated and exploited by people with greed, with envy with limitless thirst for power. Brahma brought Bhumi Devi along with Shiva and all the principal Demigods, the Devatas to the shore of the ocean of milk because neither Brahma or Shiva or any of the Demigods or any of the Rishis, or any of the sages or any of the kings could do anything about this. They approached Vishnu, prayed through the Purusha Shukta prayers and Brahma got the message to share with all the others that He is coming and they should come also, take their birth in the Yadu and Vrshni and other such dynasties.

Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge, in Krishna’s Leela, in Kurukshetra, just before the great war of the Mahabharata, Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita and He revealed this truth. He descends to this world again and again to res-establish the principles of religion, to annihilate those who are exploiting, manipulating in a demoniac way and to give protection, encouragement to His devotees and to the pious and ultimately He appears to reveal such beautiful pastimes that people throughout history could attain the ultimate perfection of Prema Bhakti, ecstatic love, simply by hearing about them and following in the footsteps of those who follow them.

So Krishna has done everything He came to do but there was one problem. He came to relieve the burden of the earth but now if He leaves, the Yadu dynasty was so powerful, more powerful than all the Demigods, they were His associates, they were His family, they were so undefeatable and in separation if He was ready to leave the world, they would be in so much separation, they could go mad. Somehow or other, He had to remove the Yadu dynasty and He does so in such instructive wonderful ways that only He could do to teach the whole world, the highest truths but if we read about these pastimes from the scriptures, we cannot really understand. We can even become bewildered. Therefore, Krishna has given us the instruction, evam parampara praptam, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya, tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet, unless we hear from Gurus, who have received and who are representing the true Paramparas or devotional lineages, we cannot get the proper understanding, because these proper understandings do not come by our intellectual prowess. They come by Grace, by the Lord’s mercy and Krishna explains to whom and why He gives that mercy.

So the Demigods, they are all now assembled in Dwarka having the wonderful Darshan of Lord Sri Krishna, offering prayers, essentially telling Krishna that everything that we prayed for, You have fulfilled. But before the Demigods came, Krishna arranged, great instructive way, to remove the Yadu dynasty from this world, because there was no power in the universe that could overcome them. The only people that could overcome the Yadu dynasty was the Yadu dynasty itself. So He turned them against each other, not for philosophical reasons. There was no reason for them to fight. But somehow or other they drank some stuff and they became bewildered and they offended great Vaishnavas, like Narada Muni. Somehow or other the Yadu dynasty tried to play a trick and Narada and the other great saints, they understood Krishna’s will. It wasn’t that they were just angry.

When Narada Muni cursed Nalakuvera, Manigriva, it seemed like a very angry curse, for the sons of Kuvera, Demigods, so beautiful, so strong, so wealthy, so full of knowledge, to take birth as trees, for thousands of celestial years to just stand there. Seems like a serious curse, but they got to see Krishna, they got purified over those thousands of years. They definitely lost their false egos and when they saw Krishna performing His little leelas in Gokul, their hearts were enchanted, they fell in love with Him. They understood what true wealth is, the mercy of Krishna. You see, we cannot get love for Krishna, without the mercy of Krishna. So the mercy of Krishna which comes through the mercy of Krishna’s devotees, is the highest, most precious of all wealth, it’s the only real wealth.  

And similarly, Narada cursed, all the members of the Yadu dynasty. You are as….they dressed Samba up as a young girl and they, just like in our drama, they put all sorts of, our drama festival, they dress up people and they have all sorts of special effects, well they made him look like he was pregnant and just about to have a baby. Will it be a boy or a girl?  Whatever they said, it was going to be neither one, so they were trying to trick them. They were thinking they were so intelligent they could trick the great sages. They were told, “Ahh you want to know what Samba’s child will be? Will be the cause of the destruction of the entire Yadu dynasty” and suddenly they lifted up Samba’s saree or whatever he was wearing and there was this lump of iron, what to do with it? They ground it but then one little piece was left, they threw it all in the ocean. So this had already happened and now the Demigods understood, Krishna has made all the arrangements for His departure and they all assembled to extend their prayers, their gratitude and knowing Krishna’s nature, He came as the servant of the Devatas to this world and they knew Krishna’s heart that He would leave the world as the servant of the Devatas. So they actually told Him, with all humility, if it is Your wish, please go back to Godhead. He is Godhead. But now You could leave this world.

In this particular prayer, the Demigods with their experience, their personal experience, Brahma, Shiva, as well as their observation of the whole universe, the only way that anyone could ever, receive the real perfection of life, love for Krishna, one must get the mercy of Krishna, through our faith, through our faith in Krishna’s mercy, through our faith that if we please Krishna, Krishna will give us everything, samsiddhir Hari toshanam, ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭha varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya, samsiddhir Hari toshanam, success of all of our efforts, our life, whatever role we may be playing, is that the sincere intent of our efforts, of our wishes to please Krishna. Shushrusoh shraddhanasya Vasudeva katha ruchih, San mahatsevaya viprah punyatirtha nesevana, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ, just by hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, with faith, Krishna within the heart is so pleased that He removes all the obstacles to pure devotion. But to get that faith, to get that taste, Shushrusoh shraddhanasya Vasudeva katha ruchih, San mahatsevaya viprah punyatirtha nesevana, only possible when we hear from and render service to great souls.

The Demigods in their beautiful prayer are emphasizing this principle, that however people know, even if they memorise all the scriptures and can teach them to others in a spell binding way, however many austerities may perform, however much piety or charity one may give, it’s not possible to get love for Krishna by any of these means. It’s only by having faith in Krishna. Such faith that we are eager to hear about Him, eager to chant His glories, eager to please Him through our service. Raga-dvesa-vimuktais tu visayan indriyais caran atma-vasyair vidheyatma prasadam adhigacchati, Krishna tells in Gita, by following all these rules and regulations of freedom, one can get the mercy of the Lord, Prasadam and through that mercy only can we transcend lust, anger, envy, greed, illusion. Only by such mercy can love for Krishna, Prema, awaken in our heart. It’s a sublime concept, nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya, prema pumartho mahan. Prema is within the heart of every being. It’s who we are. It’s what we are, it’s how we are. But we can’t find it unless it’s awakened and there is nothing we can do to awaken it. Even we gain all the eight mystic siddhis of being supernatural yogis or any other means, it doesn’t awaken.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Sanatan Goswami, that, love for Krishna is very rare because one who loves Krishna, Krishna becomes subordinate to that love. He becomes indebted forever to one who has that love and who serves in that love. But it can be easily achieved by one who is sincere, serious and has no ulterior motives and that sincerity is in how we, adosha tatata sadhu sango ta bhajan kriya, in this verse by Sri Rupa Goswami, in the beginning there’s just a little faith, that faith brings us to the capacity where we can appreciate the association of devotees. When we hear in the association of devotees, we render little service, we appreciate, then Krishna, He nourishes that faith for us and then we have enough faith for Bhajan Kriya, enough faith to actually practice the principles of devotional service. Shravan, Kirtan, Smaran, Vandan, Padsevan, Dasya re, Pujan sakhi jana, Atmanivedan, we have faith that if I engage in these nine processes of devotional service, under the order, direction, inspiration of our gurus, then I will achieve that perfection, Krishna will be pleased upon me. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye mama janmani janmanīśvare bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi, what is perfection? This verse of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu makes it very clear. For a true devotee the perfection of life is to please Krishna, to serve Krishna, Krishna if You want. Vritrasura was pleased to become a demon and go to hell if that pleases Krishna. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu praised Him so much as being such a great soul.

To serve Krishna, to please Krishna in whatever situation He puts us in. That’s the goal of a devotee’s life. I don’t want wealth, I do not want beautiful opposite sex, I do not want to be famous as a scholar, I do not even want liberation, the cessation of suffering. I just want to serve You and I want to please You. Queen Kunti prayed, vipadah santu tah sasvat tatra tatra jagad-guro bhavato darsanam yat syad apunar bhava-darsanam, her and her children, the Pandavas were put through so many difficulties, she didn’t pray to Krishna that we gave our lives to You, why did we have to suffer for so many years? She prayed; let those calamities come again and again and again, for in the face of these calamities I remember You. Not just passively, not just formally but from the core of heart, Krishna I am Yours, and when I remember You I see You and when I see You, I transcend all the obstacles of birth and death. And the next verse Kunti Devi prays, janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān naivārhaty abhidhātuṁ vai tvām akiñcana-gocaram, what materialistic people strive with all their hearts and souls to achieve are the greatest obstacles to get Krishna’s mercy- wealth, beauty, high birth, fame, great knowledge, these things make people proud, give people that type of arrogance where they think they are better than others. They cannot with feeling call out Your Holy Names.

In this spirit, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu staged a wonderful pastime in Sri Navadwip Dham. When He returned from Gaya, He established the Sankirtan Movement. But He would only dance among His most intimate associates. What is Mahaprabhu’s dance? Radha bhava duti subalitam, Lord Chaitanya is Krishna experiencing the love of Sri Radha. The Kirtans at the house of Srivasa are considered non-different than the Ras Leela in Vrindavan, because Lord  Chaitanya is Krishna and Radha in one form dancing and so many of His most intimate personal associates from Vrindavan are there. The ecstasies that they were revealing could not be understood properly by common people so Lord Chaitanya only performed His Kirtan in the association of these most intimate purified associates. He was very strict about that.

Every day one brahmachari who is Brahman, he would come to Srivas, pleading, please allow me just one time, just for a moment let me come in your house to see Sri Gaur Sundar dance. Srivas would say it’s beyond my power, Lord Chaitanya, He would not even allow my mother in law to be there. He didn’t say that, but that happened. I cannot allow anyone. Only those people Lord Chaitanya personally select can come into these Kirtans and the Brahman he was very, he wasn’t arguing, he was begging, please everyday he would come just one time and Srivas understood this Brahmachari was very austere. He had a faultless life, he was completely pious. He was very austere. He would not eat any cooked food. He only drank milk. According to Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, it was raw milk, because he wouldn’t cook it. He was very austere and he was very learned in the scriptures.

So Srivas said you are so pious and you are so austere, I’ll, I’ll hide you, that’s the only way I can fulfil your desire. I’ll just hide you and you can stay for just a very short time. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to Srivas’s house. He induced the devotees to begin the Kirtan. He was dancing, ecstatically dancing and all the devotees were dancing and that brahmachari was just looking. But how can you trick the omniscient Lord who is in the heart of the brahmachari, how can you trick the Lord? So Sri Gauranga, He stopped the Kirtan. He said, “I am not feeling ecstatic love for Krishna, why is this?” And the Kirtan would begin again, He’d stop it, “there is no love for Krishna awakening in My heart. Is there someone in this room that is not supposed to be here?” and He looked at Srivas. You cannot tell a lie to the Absolute Truth. The Absolute truth could tell lie but that lie is the Absolute Truth. So Srivas said, “There are no atheists here. There are no people trying to enjoy sense gratification here but there is one brahmachari who is a Brahman, he only drinks milk, he is very austere, he is very pious, he really wanted to see Your dancing.”

Lord Chaitanya, out of His mercy to all of us, what to speak of that brahmachari, He became angry, very angry, He raised both of His hands with his index fingers pointed up. He said, “Get him out of here, he has no right, he has no qualification to be here to see My dancing. It is not by drinking milk that one could see Me, it is not by austerities, it is not by cultivation of knowledge, it is not by perfecting of the yogic processes, it is only by pleasing Me through devotion that one could see Me. Get him out before I destroy him and destroy the whole world.” Now I am speaking but Lord Chaitanya was like thunder. He was angry, because He really wanted to make an impression. So the brahmachari who was hiding behind something, he stood up and everyone could see him and he, very humble, he walked out. As he was walking out, in his heart he was grateful, for a moment I got to see the Lord dance but the Lord is so merciful, so kind He punished me because I am offensive, I am disqualified. Usually austere brahmacharis don’t like to be chastised like this but he liked it even though he was totally humiliated in front of everybody. He understood the Lord’s mercy is always perfect; it’s always for our well being.

So he walked out, chastised and grateful, he was humbled. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in His chastisement He said, “What was the qualification of Gajendra? What was the qualification of Hanuman and Sugriva? What was the qualification of the Gopis to see the Supreme Lord?” Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu upon seeing the gratitude within the heart of this brahmachari, He called him back. Lord Chaitanya placed His lotus feet on top of the brahmachari’s head and gave him ecstatic love for Krishna. He was totally unqualified until that point. Lord Chaitanya made Him qualified and why did Lord Chaitanya make him qualified? Even though he had no qualifications, somehow he was dear to Srivas, a devotee. By pleasing a devotee Lord Chaitanya ultimately gave him the chance. Lord Chaitanya told him, after giving him Prema Bhakti, “It is not by your austerities or your knowledge or your high birth that you can love Me. It is only by Bhakti, devotional service.” Then Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, ecstatic love awakened in His heart, all the devotees chanted and not only was the brahmachari seeing Lord Chaitanya dance in ecstasy, he was part of the Kirtan.

So let us end class by briefly analysing this principle of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. What is the qualification? Queen Kunti said it’s not by beauty, Kubja was really ugly. She was a hunchback. Yet she was given ecstatic love because of her eagerness to serve the Lord with faith. Kubja is quite incredible. What was her faith? She was a personal associate of Kamsa, in the sense that she used to make that sandalwood paste and provide it to Kamsa. Now the garland maker, he also used to make garlands for Kamsa, when Krishna walked in he understood this is the enemy of Kamsa. Kamsa is going to kill me if I do something for Him. But Kubja, unhesitatingly went right against her master Kamsa and gave the Chandan to Krishna. She had no beauty, she had no qualification, she wasn’t a Yogi but she had an eagerness to serve Krishna with so much faith. Krishna lifted her up, and made her beautiful, not just physically, but her heart, He gave her Prema Bhakti. As far as high birth, Prahlada was born in a family of demons, Asuras. He is forever famous as the son of Hiranyakashipu, the nephew of Hiranyaksha and his grandson was Bali Maharaj. Gajendra was born in a family of elephants. Krishna tells Uddhava that there is no way to approach me except through loving devotion, through Bhakti, through faith in this process of Bhakti.

Gajendra was an elephant, he had no knowledge. Elephants don’t study the Vedas. He definitely was not austere. He was enjoying all kinds of you know, elephants, female elephants and he had so many children and he was bringing them to nice heavenly places to bathe and smell the lotus flowers. What was Gajendra’s qualification? Jatayu, he was old, he wasn’t beautiful, he had no wealth, he was born in a family of vultures. But yet because of his service, because of his faith willing to even, willing to risk his life to serve the servant of Sri Ram, Sita. Not only risk his life, give his life. And as he was dying, he was not thinking, I did all this for Mother Sita, now I am laying here bleeding with my wings cut off, my legs cut off. Why didn’t Ram save me? He didn’t think like that. Devotees never think like that when they are properly situated in their consciousness.

Jatayu was just chanting the names of Ram with gratitude and love. I was given this blessing to give my life for Ram’s beloved. Kaliya, Kaliya was a snake who tried to kill Krishna in so many ways. He tried to squeeze Him to death, he tried to bite Him, he tried to submerge Him in poisonous waters and he killed so many others. But when the Nagapatnis prayed for his, for the Lord to be merciful to him and when he was humbled by the Lord ’s dancing upon his hoods, Kaliya took shelter, he surrendered and now he is eternally glorified as a pure devotee and one of the intimate associates of Krishna. What was his qualification? Devotion, faith awakened in his heart. Vidura was from a social position that disqualified him from everything else. He was disqualified from any real government position. He should have been king but he was disqualified because of his birth. But his qualification was his devotion, his willingness to serve, his faith in the process of devotional service.

Dhruva was only five years old. Prahlada was only five years old. Usually the qualification is you see the world a lot and you are getting older, even the most ancient great Rishis worship little five year old Prahlada. Sudama, how much wealth did Sudama have? He was in total poverty but yet, because he wanted to serve Krishna, he wanted to please Krishna, he had faith in hearing the glories of Krishna. He was given the highest perfection. So this was Lord Chaitanya’s message to this brahmachari. Its only devotion, there is no other qualification. Vibhishan was born in a demon family, he was the brother of Ravana but he was given the highest perfection. And we also find great kings like Ambarish who had wealth, who had fame, who had power, they were given devotion because they wanted to please the Lord, akinchana gochara, nothing was theirs. Everything was Krishna’s property to be used in Krishna’s service.

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and Prakashananda Saraswati, they were the most profound scholars in the entire world. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was a, he was an incarnation of Brihaspati, the Guru of the Devatas. The greatest scholars, the greatest Sanyasis from all over the world, were coming to learn from him. Yet none of that scholarship could give him the faith in devotional service. But Gopinath Acharya prayed for him, his brother in law. Gopinath Acharya said, “all your knowledge, all your learning, all your fame, being the Guru of the king and all the scholars, your heart is just like a dry rice cake therefore love for Krishna cannot enter, therefore you cannot understand Krishna as He is.” We can only understand Krishna by the mercy of Krishna. Prakashananda Saraswati had no appreciation for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, no appreciation for the pastimes, the form or the name of the Lord in truth. Although he had tens and thousands of Sanyasi disciples. But when they actually appreciated devotion, when Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya developed faith, in the service of the Lord, when Prakashananda Saraswati developed faith in pleasing the Lord, even these greatest of scholars who had no drop of love for Krishna attained full love for Krishna.

So any material resources we have, any material abilities we have are niether qualifications or disqualifications. Whether we have or don’t have. Shabari had nothing, but she had faith in her Guru, to stay here in this little cave on the banks of the lake, Pampa sarovar and Ram will come and deliver you, she had faith. This is the humility that Vaishnavas must have. Then in the association of devotees, by pleasing Krishna, by serving Krishna, prasadam adhigacchate, we can attract Krishna’s mercy because there is no other way of attracting Krishna’s mercy. Tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo, bhunjana evatma krtan vibhagam, a devotee who patiently passes through even many years of difficulties, but has this faith that if I please Krishna, with a grateful heart, then, then that’s the perfection of my life. That person alone, who goes through the troubles of life with this faith in Krishna, with his humble disposition in Krishna, only, no one else does Krishna give the mercy of Prema.

In this beautiful verse spoken by the Devatas in Srimad Bhagavatam, we are given, the proper attitude with which we come together to hear about Krishna and chant His Holy Names, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare and Lord Chaitanya taught us how to enter into the Ras of Vrindavan through this chanting. And of all the great eternal associates who had descended from Goloka with Him, He proclaimed Haridas Thakura to be the Nama Acharya. What was his qualification?  How many troubles he was put through? How many times he was misunderstood and accused of things? But he had faith, he had humility and he was grateful that Krishna had come in this world in the Holy Name and it’s accessible to everyone. Thank you very much!

This faith is especially accessible to those who hear from great souls. Srila Prabhupada personally, he infused his compassion, the compassion of all the previous Acharyas, the compassion of the Pancha Tattva and Sri Sri Radha Gopinath in his books, and how many thousands, millions of lives have been transformed by coming in connection with these sacred books. To share Srila Prabhuada and all of our Parampara Acharya’s compassion with others we are very excited to participate in this year’s marathon of book distribution. In giving, we do receive. So please let us, individually and collectively, it’s not the rainy season now. But recently we, personally witnessed all of us, it doesn’t have to be the rainy season to flood. Let us flood Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and the whole world, with Prasadam, with Krishna’s mercy, thank you very much!   

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Radhanath Swami

H.H Radhanath Swami is one of today’s most beloved and respected spiritual teachers. A Bhakti Yoga practitioner for 40 years, he is a guide, community builder, philanthropist, and acclaimed author.Born and raised in Chicago,at the age of 19 he discovered India's Mystical devotional tradition and now spread his message of compassion and love around the world.

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About Me

Radhanath Swami

H.H Radhanath Swami is one of today’s most beloved and respected spiritual teachers. A Bhakti Yoga practitioner for 40 years, he is a guide, community builder, philanthropist, and acclaimed author.Born and raised in Chicago,at the age of 19 he discovered India's Mystical devotional tradition and now spread his message of compassion and love around the world.