Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.11.18-19
16th December 1999
ŚB 9.11.18
tata ūrdhvaṁ brahmacaryaṁ dhāryann ajuhot prabhuḥ trayodaśābda-sāhasram agnihotram akhaṇḍitam
Synonyms
tataḥ — thereafter; ūrdhvam — after mother Sītā’s going into the earth; brahmacaryam — complete celibacy; dhārayan — observing; ajuhot — performed a ritualistic ceremony and sacrifice; prabhuḥ — Lord Rāmacandra; trayodaśa-abda-sāhasram — for thirteen thousand years; agnihotram — the sacrifice known as Agnihotra-yajña; akhaṇḍitam — without ceasing.
Translation
After mother Sītā entered the earth, Lord Rāmacandra observed complete celibacy and performed an uninterrupted Agnihotra-yajña for thirteen thousand years.
ŚB 9.11.19
smaratāṁ hṛdi vinyasya viddhaṁ daṇḍaka-kaṇṭakaiḥ sva-pāda-pallavaṁ rāma ātma-jyotir agāt tataḥ
Synonyms
smaratām — of persons who always think of Him; hṛdi — in the core of the heart; vinyasya — placing; viddham — pierced; daṇḍaka-kaṇṭakaiḥ — by thorns in the forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya (while Lord Rāmacandra was living there); sva-pāda-pallavam — the petals of His lotus feet; rāmaḥ — Lord Rāmacandra; ātma-jyotiḥ — the rays of His bodily luster, known as the brahmajyoti; agāt — entered; tataḥ — beyond the brahmajyoti, or in His own Vaikuṇṭha planet.
Translation
After completing the sacrifice, Lord Rāmacandra, whose lotus feet were sometimes pierced by thorns when He lived in Daṇḍakāraṇya, placed those lotus feet in the hearts of those who always think of Him. Then He entered His own abode, the Vaikuṇṭha planet beyond the brahmajyoti.
Purport
The lotus feet of the Lord are always a subject matter for meditation for devotees. Sometimes when Lord Rāmacandra wandered in the forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya, thorns pricked His lotus feet. The devotees, upon thinking of this, would faint. The Lord does not feel pain or pleasure from any action or reaction of this material world, but the devotees cannot tolerate even the pricking of the Lord’s lotus feet by a thorn. This was the attitude of the gopīs when they thought of Kṛṣṇa wandering in the forest, with pebbles and grains of sand pricking His lotus feet. This tribulation in the heart of a devotee cannot be understood by karmīs, jñānīs or yogīs. The devotees, who could not tolerate even thinking of the Lord’s lotus feet being pricked by a thorn, were again put into tribulation by thinking of the Lord’s disappearance, for the Lord had to return to His abode after finishing His pastimes in this material world.
The word ātma-jyotiḥ is significant. The brahmajyoti, which is greatly appreciated by jñānīs, or monistic philosophers who desire to enter it for liberation, is nothing but the rays of the Lord’s body.
yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam
tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
“I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited and which displays the varieties of countless planets, with their different opulences, in millions and millions of universes.” (Brahma-samhitā 5.40) The brahmajyoti is the beginning of the spiritual world, and beyond the brahmajyoti are the Vaikuṇṭha planets. In other words, the brahmajyoti stays outside the Vaikuṇṭha planets, just as the sunshine stays outside the sun. To enter the sun planet, one must go through the sunshine. Similarly, when the Lord or His devotees enter the Vaikuṇṭha planets, they go through the brahmajyoti. The jñānīs, or monistic philosophers, because of their impersonal conception of the Lord, cannot enter the Vaikuṇṭha planets, but they also cannot stay eternally in the brahmajyoti. Thus after some time they fall again to this material world. Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ (Bhāg. 10.2.32). The Vaikuṇṭha planets are covered by the brahmajyoti, and therefore one cannot properly understand what those Vaikuṇṭha planets are unless one is a pure devotee.
When we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, when we put our hands up like this, it means that we are surrendering our life and soul and everything to Kṛṣṇa, absolute surrender.
So there are some interesting points of discussion. Too bad I don't have my glasses, then I could refer to the text. Anyway, I'll try to remember what we just heard. I'm not a scholar, so I'm not going to be able to do much justice to the Sanskrit shlokas as such.
You may remember, if you have read Īśopaniṣad, how it is mentioned, the devotee is praying that, My dear Lord, please remove this glaring effulgence which actually is blinding our vision and disenabling us to see the beauty of your honeymoon-like face. Actually, Kṛṣṇa has a very, very, very honeymoon-like face. It is not just a moon face, sometimes he is called as candra-mukhī. He actually has a honey face, honeymoon face, full of sweetness and ever delightful beauty, which enchants the hearts of persons who are fortunate enough to have his darśana. So, Prabhupāda has spent a considerable portion of this purport in not exactly denouncing or decrying, but he wants to put the things in proper perspective with regard to the plight of the impersonalists who prefer to pursue spiritual life as a matter of a kind of subtle self-gratification, primarily to become liberated from material existence which they see as disadvantageous.
So, they think that God or the Absolute Truth is nirākāra, that He is without any qualities, without any form, without any feelings, etc. And therefore they see, or they have as such, at best, the adhikāra to have the access to Brahman realization, brahmānanda. But brahmānanda is compared to a drop of happiness in comparison to the ocean of happiness of Kṛṣṇa-prema.
So, Śrīla Prabhupāda has pointed out in this purport how it is that Lord Rāmacandra, after he finished his long-term sacrifice, returned to his own abode and wanted to make it very clear to all of us that Kṛṣṇa does exist in His own abode, surrounded by His multifarious śaktis, parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate. The Lord has multifarious potencies and has mentioned in Kṛṣṇa book that Kṛṣṇa Himself, although we've just described how He has a honeymoon face and how His face is enchanting and inspiring prema in the hearts of His devotees, but Prabhupāda says that Kṛṣṇa alone is not particularly very beautiful. He is not particularly very beautiful, but when He is surrounded by His śaktis, primarily Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Her sakhīs, when the devotees, in pursuit of vraja-bhakti, will get the mercy of seeing Kṛṣṇa in the nikuñja bowers of Vraja, surrounded by His intimate lovers, then their bliss is incomparable.
There is no equivalent to the degree and intensity of transcendental happiness that the vraja-bhaktas, primarily the gopīs of Vṛndāvana and the followers of the gopīs, experience in envisioning the transcendental sweetness of the inter-exchange of loving affairs between Kṛṣṇa and His gopikās. So, as Prabhupāda has mercifully brought us from the realm of Rāma-līlā into the realm of Vraja, and to give expression to the degree of intensity of vipralambha-bhāva, which is experienced by the vraja-vāsīs in their relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Actually, no other realm and no other form of devotion to Godhead is comparable to the love of the vraja-vāsīs in the realm of Vraja.
The principle which has been discussed is referring to Lord Rāmacandra's lotus feet being pricked in the forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya. Mind you, this forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya, it's nice that this is mentioned here in the Bhāgavatam because this helps to set the scene. Sometimes we wonder why it is that we're studying about Rāma-līlā and various other līlās, but it helps to set the scene and helps us when we finally enter into the discussions about Kṛṣṇa's vraja-līlā and when we will have the opportunity to study deeply the Gosvāmīs' literatures.
Then, just like in one book called Haṁsadūta, there is mention of how Kṛṣṇa is in reality the embodiment of all the daśāvatāra, the ten incarnations of Kṛṣṇa, but in His own body these different manifestations are presenting in accordance with the gopīs' anxieties of feelings of separation of Kṛṣṇa. I'm not able to go into the details here, but the principle here I'm discussing is that the whole Bhāgavatam is like a golden ring which acts as a setting for the jewel or the diamond, cintāmaṇi jewel, of the vraja-līlās. It is meant to show the super-excellent nature of the vraja-līlā.
So, in this Daṇḍakāraṇya forest it is told that at one time Lord Rāmacandra happened upon these great ṛṣis, sages. They are called the Daṇḍakāraṇya ṛṣis. As a result of Lord Rāmacandra's blessings, these Daṇḍakāraṇya ṛṣis became as the muni-cārī gopīs in Vraja, with the adhikāra for entering into mahā-rāsa and dancing with Kṛṣṇa for the night of Brahmā and ever onward.
Kṛṣṇa dances rāsa dance every night. Mahā-rāsa is a less intimate form of rāsa-līlā, which is inclusive of the newcomers and various other groups of gopīs. But in the more intimate rāsa-līlās of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, you will find that there are only the sakhīs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and the mañjarīs also.
Whether anyone wants to understand and accept the truth of this, but in reality, the maidservants of Rādhārāṇī, they also can dance with Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa dance and do everything by the mercy of their svāminī. They can do everything for the pleasure of their svāminī. This is a very deep tattva.
Some Vaiṣṇavas and Bābājīs in Vṛndāvana, they will say that it is never possible, that it never happens. But the real truth is that it certainly does happen. But it will not be a selfish affair. It will be a completely selfless and self-giving transaction between Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī's maidservants, simply for the pleasure of Rādhā.
There are two types of kāmānuga-bhajana in the rāgānuga line mentioned in Nectar of Devotion, Srila Prabhupada’s Nectar of Devotion - so I guess I have a right to discuss it to a certain extent (BRS 1.2.299) (Bhaktivinoda also mentions it Jaiva Dharma Ch21). There is one type of kāmānuga-bhakti, which is called as keli-parāyaṇā sambhogecchāmayī. Sambhogecchāmayī kāmānuga-bhakti. And then there is what is called tat-tad-bhāvecchātmikā kāmānuga-bhakti. And, they will be followers of, respectively, two types of gopīs. The sambhogecchāmayī... the icchā means they have a desire for sambhog. Sambhoga is not to be, please don't take the word in the mundane sense.
The difference between prema and kāma. Ātmendriya-prīti-vāñchā—tāre bali 'kāma', kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-icchā dhare 'prema' nāma.
Prema is the selfless desire, self-giving desire, to augment the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa's senses. And kāma is the self-gratifying desire for one's personal sense gratification. So when we speak of sambhoga in the transcendental spiritual sense, it simply means that the gopīs are going forward to meet with Kṛṣṇa, to play with Kṛṣṇa, to joke with Kṛṣṇa, and to satisfy Kṛṣṇa in a myriad of transcendentally cunning ways.
So those who have desire for sambhoga in their relationship with Kṛṣṇa, they cultivate what is called as a kind of nāyikā-bhāva. Nāyikā, nāyikā means heroine. So as such, they follow in the footsteps of the nāyikās who are nitya-pārikara of Kṛṣṇa, or eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa.
Now those who are coming in the category of tat-tad-bhāvecchātmikā, rāgānuga-bhakta, or kāmānuga-bhakta, I think it's important to discuss this because after all, at least to a certain extent, we can't go in depth in the public forum. But it is important to understand the principles, not only of sambandha-tattva. Sambandha-tattva-jñāna is for the purpose of establishing kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam.
That Kṛṣṇa is svayaṁ bhagavān. When we say svayaṁ bhagavān, it means vrajendra-nandana Kṛṣṇa, svayaṁ rūpa Kṛṣṇa. No one else is svayam. Svayam means original. So the origin of all other manifestations of Kṛṣṇa is svayaṁ rūpa Kṛṣṇa.
The sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya, they had been initiated by Nārada Muni into the Gopāla-mantra, and they were constantly absorbed in the pursuit of their iṣṭa-devatā, their paramour, vrajendra-nandana Kṛṣṇa. When they saw Rāmacandra in Daṇḍakāraṇya, they were appreciating that if this expanded form of Godhead is so beautiful and enchanting, then how enchanting our vrajendra-nandana Kṛṣṇa must be. So that augmented their anxiety for meeting Kṛṣṇa. It increased their pūrva-rāga for meeting Kṛṣṇa.
And as I mentioned, by the blessings of Rāmacandra, they were able to take their birth and directly associate with vrajendra-nandana Kṛṣṇa. Now, our ācāryas have pointed out… I hope I don't say anything which makes anybody angry, but nevertheless, I'm going to proceed and beg for the forgiveness of anyone who might feel unhappy about anything that I'm saying. But I feel it is important to discuss, since I'm here. If I wasn't here, I wouldn't be discussing it. But somehow or other, by Kṛṣṇa's arrangement, I'm sitting here, so I'm discussing.
Our ācāryas have made the point, and it's a very important point for us to understand in the matter of cultivating sambandha-tattva-jñāna. What to speak of understanding the principle of prayojana? It is absolutely necessary to cultivate sambandha-tattva-jñāna so that we don't deviate our attention to other objectives in the pursuit of our spiritual perfection. But we should also understand the prayojana-siddhi. We should understand what the goal is.
Otherwise, what is the use of our pursuit? Abhidheya-tattva is for establishing us in the proper pursuit of the siddhānta by the necessary activities of devotional practices. But we have to know what is the goal of all of our practices in order to take inspiration more and more. Śrīla Prabhupāda, in Science of Self-Realization, in his description or his discussion on this Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava song, he is told that the purpose of this International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is to give everyone a chance to become gopī-janas.
But, of course, that is not to say that this International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is not meant to facilitate the pursuit of other bhāvas. Prabhupāda, in the very next paragraph in his discussion, says that this Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement can enable everyone to become eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa as father and mother, as friends of Kṛṣṇa, and as servants of Kṛṣṇa. So he says, this Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement.
So, when we discuss, just like sometimes you may have noticed, I'm sure that most of you have come in contact with a list of our ācārya-paramparā, which will give the mañjarī-siddha-deha of each ācārya. We should not be disturbed by this if we have any other bhāva. But we should understand the purpose in showing this is to encourage those who desire the mādhurya-rasa, which is considered analytically as the most intense form of bhakti-bhāvanā, by Rūpa Gosvāmī himself.
After all, we do follow the teachings of Rūpa Gosvāmī, so we have to consider these points also. It is meant to encourage, to say, that if you want to enter into the intimate services of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, if you want to assist in the nikuñja-sevā, then it is available here. You don't have to go anywhere else.
The buck stops here [American Idiom]. You can have it here. You can have it by the grace of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. You can have it at the feet of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. You don't have to go to the Bābājīs and the various other Nimbārkīs and others. We are not deprecating their attachment to their particular path, so much so, as we are saying, that when you have everything at your disposal, why think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? Like a horse or a cow, everything is here. Prabhupāda has given everything.
So, it is important to understand that, as I was beginning to discuss, and unfortunately we don't have much time, but our ācāryas have made this point. Ācārya, particularly means Śrīla Prabhupāda, has made this point, reiterating the statements of our predecessor ācāryas, that svayaṁ rūpa Kṛṣṇa, the lover of Rādhārāṇī, the friend of Subala, the darling son of Nanda-Yaśodā, this svayaṁ rūpa Kṛṣṇa, He is the only one hundred percent, absolutely complete Personality of Godhead.
All others, all other expansions, even up to the svayaṁ-prakāśa manifestation, who danced with the other gopīs in mahā-rāsa, in Kṛṣṇa-bhāvanāmṛta it is described that there are two different things which happen during mahā-rāsa. Sometimes, or during rāsa-līlā, sometimes, Kṛṣṇa expands His svayaṁ-prakāśa manifestations to stand by the side of each gopī, and each gopī is thinking that she is with Kṛṣṇa alone. Of course, she is not seeing that Kṛṣṇa is standing, the svayaṁ rūpa Kṛṣṇa is standing with Rādhārāṇī.
They don't see. Rather, those who are in the competitor camps, they would prefer not to think that Rādhikā is the cause of their success. At least, sometimes they acknowledge, but most of the time they have a different mood. They want to think of their, at least their, sakhīs want to think of their individual group leaders' personal qualification. But in any case, sometimes Kṛṣṇa expands and sometimes He is going like a firebrand, dancing so quickly in the midst of the gopīs that no one can understand when He is coming and when He is leaving their company. So, in these instances, this is usually an occurrence in the more intimate rāsa-līlās, where Rādhā is making the arrangements for all of her sakhīs to associate with her svayaṁ rūpa Kṛṣṇa and get the experience of svayaṁ rūpa Kṛṣṇa.
So, in any case, Śrīla Prabhupāda has mentioned like this and our ācāryas, particularly Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he advocates that therefore, because the other manifestations, up to the svayaṁ-prakāśa manifestation, as we have explained, they have only up to ninety-three percent of the completeness of the beauty and sweetness of svayaṁ rūpa Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, our ācāryas, they advocate that we should focus our attention on the service of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, because that Kṛṣṇa who is with Rādhārāṇī is the one hundred percent Personality of Godhead.
So, if we take heed, just like Subala, it is mentioned, of course, we understand that all the rasas in Vraja are meant to enhance Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's mādhurya-līlās in the realm of Vraja. They are all meant to, in various ways, increase the experience of vipralambha in the heart of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and in the heart of their devotees also. Our siddhānta, our philosophy, is in pursuit of vipralambhamayī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-līlā. This is the prerogative of the Gauḍīya-sampradāya.
The Nimbārka-sampradāya also preach Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, but their Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa is sambhogamayī. So, they prefer to worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in svakīya-rasa, but we prefer to worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in the parakīya-rasa. And without getting into too much detailed discussion, as it's almost nine o'clock already, and I was told that I should at least stop before twelve, so we cannot discuss at length, but it should be noted that this vipralambhamayī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-līlā is the topmost aspect of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-līlā.
I was speaking with one Nimbārkācārya, who was telling me that what is the use of vipralambha? Because the ānanda, experience, in the dealings of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in the nitya-nikuñja-vihāra, which is the goal of the Nimbārka, they want to go to a realm where there is no question of vipralambha. They say that vipralambha is pratikūla. Pratikūla means that it is against the pleasure of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, that they are not happy with vipralambha.
So therefore, why impede their happiness? Why create distress in their heart? This can be likened to the immature disciple who is unable to understand the chastisement of his guru. Because the disciple is not able to understand the chastisement of his guru, he doesn't understand that the chastisement is for increasing the intensity of his adhikāra, to serve Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa on a higher and higher platform of perfection.
So in the Nimbārka philosophy, their goal is to enter into a realm where there is no Mother Yaśodā, there is no Nanda-bābā, there is no Subala, there is no Madhumaṅgala, there are no cows even. Although it's on the Goloka planet, there are no cows. There is a realm for them.
But there may be peacocks and some parrots and some trees and creepers and things like that which will not distract Kṛṣṇa from His association with Rādhā and Her sakhīs. There is no Candrāvalī, there are no competitors. There is only Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī's sakhīs and maidservants. And that is called nitya-nikuñja.
In that realm, there is only what is called sambhoga-rasa. There is no vipralambha-rasa. And the attitude is of svakīya. Kṛṣṇa is eternally associated in the mood of belonging to each other. Svakīya means one's own, belonging to oneself.
But this can be understood as the need for vipralambha because in the nitya-nikuñja, the ānanda is eternally ever-increasing anyway. So what is the need for vipralambha to increase the intensity of the ānanda? It sounds like a very good question. But our answer is that there is eternally ever-increasing, there is more-eternally ever-increasing and there is most eternally ever-increasing. So in this way, we can understand the contribution of the Gauḍīya-sampradāya.
Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is directly Kṛṣṇa Himself, came to relish the topmost aspect of Rādhārāṇī's vipralambhamayī experiences. Rādhārāṇī certainly has other. Even on the Goloka planet, there is the realm of Vraja, which is the most extensive realm.
But there are other sectors as well, where there is this nitya-nikuñja-vihāra going on, there is the realm of, there are different Śvetadvīpa also, the realm of Dvārakā is there, and the realm of Mathurā, Mathurā-Dvārakā. And outside the realm of Dvārakā, on the perimeters of the Goloka planet, is what is called as Goloka Vṛndāvana or Vaikuṇṭha Vṛndāvana, where Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa is worshipped in majesty, awe and reverence, as we do in our beginning stages.
Those who don't go beyond the worship of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in the mood of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, they will attain this realm of Vaikuṇṭha Vṛndāvana on the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet, where the reverential worship or majestic worship of Kṛṣṇa is going on.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has told, don't mind me saying, but if we don't have, if we've not gone that far, then we should understand that we have not so much to be so proud about in the matter of our progress in devotional life. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that even if one is residing in this Vraja-bhūmi, even if he is doing the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa worship, worshipping the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa vigraha in the land of Vraja-bhūmi, but if he is doing so without his siddha-deha, then he will not attain Vraja. Rather, he will attain the maidservant of Rukmiṇī in Dvārakā, or he will enter into the realm of Vaikuṇṭha, Vaikuṇṭha meaning Vaikuṇṭha Vṛndāvana.
But he will not be able to enter into the realm of… Mind you, I'm not purposely preaching rāga-bhajana, but we should understand that in due course of time, as our enchantment for the sweetness of Kṛṣṇa-līlā, as is being discussed here by Śrīla Prabhupāda's grace, this enchantment will gradually cause us to inquire more and more deeply into the tattvas and into the actual need, the actual necessary process by which one can actually enter into the realm, which is the goal of the Gauḍīyas. For the most part, the Gauḍīya-vaiṣṇavas aspire to Vraja-līlā.
And to enter into Vraja-līlā, if anyone has read Caitanya-caritāmṛta, you can know it very well that by cultivating vaidhī-bhakti alone, without enhancing his inner heart's desires and appreciation for the attitude of loving service in their feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa, of the vraja-vāsīs, primarily the vraja-gopīs, that if we will not go, allow ourselves to appreciate and try to catch up this mood, which is nothing but the very mood of unalloyed devotion that Śrīla Prabhupāda wants every one of us to have.
Śrīla Prabhupāda wants to give us all these things. No doubt. We have to upgrade our adhikāra for having access to the things. When we upgrade our adhikāra, then with our own eyes, we will see everything in the Bhaktivedanta Purport. It's a question of our adhikāra. Everything is there.
Just like here, in this purport, if you will recall, Śrīla Prabhupāda is mentioning how the gopīs are crying and crying on account of thinking of the worth, how Kṛṣṇa's soft, delicate lotus feet, which they dare to even place on their hard breasts, hardened breasts. Breasts are hard because there are the deep feelings of transcendental amorous love for Kṛṣṇa. But they dare to place His soft lotus feet on their breasts.
So they are thinking, how is it possible that He could consider, in reality, even though we fear that His feet may be discomforted by placing them there, but it could not be nearly as painful for Him as His traversing the forest path in our separation. To be real, we should understand that in Bhāgavatam, this line where they are expressing how His soft lotus feet must be pricked by the sharp thorns and the pebbles on the Vraja footpath.
But we should know, first of all, Kṛṣṇa has explained in Kṛṣṇa-bhāvanāmṛta also that the cāmarī deer with their big tails, they are always sweeping the path for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. There is no question of sharp stones and thorns and brambles on the forest path. Furthermore, you never hear the gopīs complaining or expressing intense pain of the prospect of Kṛṣṇa's feet being pricked on the forest path when He is with them, wandering through the forest. You never see that.
So it should be understood that such an expression is an expression of their intense vipralambha. It is an expression of their intense feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa. My dear Kṛṣṇa… Because remember, this expression was told at the time when Kṛṣṇa had disappeared from their midst. And they are praying and begging Kṛṣṇa again and again in various ways of supplication to please again kindly condescend to make Your appearance in our midst. Not because we want to gratify ourselves in Your company. Because our hearts are pained.
What they are really trying to say is that You think that Your feet are pricked here and there, but You should think of how our hearts are pained. And actually Kṛṣṇa is thinking of how their hearts are pained. That's why He makes His reappearance in their midst. He is not reappearing in their midst for His self-gratification. But He is reappearing as a reciprocation on the basis of a mutual desire to selflessly satisfy each other. And that is the meaning of unalloyed devotion. That is the meaning of vraja-bhakti. Vraja-bhakti, just like to give an example of the distinction of two different realms.
In Dvārakā, Rukmiṇī Devī, she is sleeping with Kṛṣṇa. No doubt. You can read about it. I don't know if I have ever discussed this publicly or not, but you can read about it in the chapter in Kṛṣṇa book, Kṛṣṇa's daily pastimes, daily activities.
So the cock crows and Rukmiṇī is condemning the cock, saying, Oh, why does the night have to end? And Kṛṣṇa is getting up from the bed, releasing Himself from Rukmiṇī's embrace, going about His daily activities, meditating on Himself, and then entering into the Sudharmā assembly house. All the expansions of Kṛṣṇa merge into one to enter into the assembly house. So we should understand what is the cause of the expression of Rukmiṇī. Rukmiṇī, she has desires for self-satisfaction mixed into her desires for pleasing Kṛṣṇa.
It is mentioned by our ācāryas that approximately 50-50 are the desires of the queens of Dvārakā for satisfying themselves and satisfying Kṛṣṇa. Because there's a mixture of the desire to see her husband, Kṛṣṇa condescends to satisfy her desire by sleeping with her husband. And when she's hearing the cock crow, the disgust which is expressed will also be in terms, to a large extent, of her feelings of distress on account of her self-satisfaction being interrupted. So Kṛṣṇa condescends to fulfill her desires.
But look at the difference between this example and the example of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Rādhārāṇī also sleeps with Kṛṣṇa in parakīya-rasa. But she has no desire to sleep with Kṛṣṇa. She has no desire to see Kṛṣṇa for her self-gratifying purposes, for her self-satisfaction.
Rather, also it's mentioned how the cock is crowing when Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa are at Nidhuvana in the niśānta-līlā. Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa are together in their embrace and the cock is crowing and Rādhārāṇī is telling them to go and coo in hell. Rukmiṇī was telling them to go to hell also and Rādhārāṇī is telling them to go to hell.
But her purpose in telling them to go to hell and Rukmiṇī's purposes are different. Her purpose in telling them to go to hell is that why are you interrupting Kṛṣṇa's pleasure in meeting with me? She has no desire to sleep with Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa has a desire to sleep with her and she condescends to fulfill Kṛṣṇa's desire.
It is quite different. It looks the same. Just like Śrīla Prabhupāda has made the point in one purport. He says it is not what we do but it's the attitude with which we do whatever we're doing. Just like Kubjā, she also sports with Kṛṣṇa. But her mood is what is called kāmaprāyā.
Her mood is the mood which is nearly verging on mundane lust. It is similar to the gopīs' prema but it is merely verging on mundane lust. Now, Kubjā is considered to be the personification of the puruṣa-śakti of Kṛṣṇa.
That puruṣa-śakti of Kṛṣṇa acts in this material world to cause every jīva to experience this puruṣa-bhāva. So, in the purport, incidentally it is mentioned there, how Prabhupāda mentions how it is that because Kubjā was asking Kṛṣṇa, please, to remain with her, not to leave immediately. Remain for some time and enjoy with her.
But Kṛṣṇa politely pointed out to her that it would not be possible. In the purport, Prabhupāda mentions how it is that because Kṛṣṇa's mundane realm so-called mundane realm of this material cosmos, it is vyakta and avyakta. So, it is not possible for Him to remain in this material world, indicating that this puruṣa-śakti of Kṛṣṇa, just like the mahāmāyā-śakti, is only manifested within this material realm.
So, similarly, this puruṣa-śakti is a śakti which is active in the material realm only. So, as such, Kubjā will be able to meet with Kṛṣṇa intermittently when there is the manifestation of the cosmos, during the prakaṭa-līlās of Kṛṣṇa on the earthly planet.
So, in the purport, Śrīla Prabhupāda mentioned that a devotee, especially those who are desirous of the conjugal rasa of Kṛṣṇa, but he said devotees, especially them. So, it means all devotees, actually, that it does not do very well for them to think in terms of being the enjoyer of Kṛṣṇa, because actually Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer.
To the extent we realize that, to the extent that we give up the self-centeredness, to that extent we qualify ourselves to enter into the topmost realm of Vraja and experience the topmost bliss, the topmost happiness of rendering ever-increasing self-giving. Selfless means that we have no interest for ourselves, but rather we only desire the happiness of Kṛṣṇa. This principle has to be understood.
Without understanding this principle, then how it is that we can enter into the more esoteric principle in terms of the details of vraja-bhakti by following in the footsteps of any particular associate of Kṛṣṇa whom we choose by our own heart's inclination to follow. But we have to understand at least the basics. Just like sometimes it is said some devotees or some Vaiṣṇavas here in Vraja, they want to say that actually Śrīla Prabhupāda preached the mood of Prahlāda.
But it may look like that. Sometimes it is seen that Prabhupāda and even Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Ṭoṭā-Gopīnātha, when He was hearing from Gadādhara Paṇḍita, Bhāgavatam, it is also seen that He was relishing this Prahlāda-śikṣā and the pastimes of Dhruva Mahārāja, etc. It is seen. But we have to see what is the antara-bhāvanā, how Mahāprabhu, He was not relishing in the mood of Prahlāda in actuality, but He was taking this śikṣā and applying it to augment His own relish of approach to Kṛṣṇa.
Mahāprabhu had His sthāyī-bhāva. So similarly, Śrīla Prabhupāda also has His sthāyī-bhāva, or His constant flow of ecstasy. When it is seen that He is advocating or giving stress to Prahlāda-śikṣā, what He really wants to say is that if you cannot see the principle of compassion, because Bābājīs in particular, many of them, I don't want to overgeneralize, because that sometimes is a mistake.
Because Prabhupāda has mentioned, just like He has told to Mother Daivī Śakti, I guess she's left, that these Bābās at Bhāgavata-nivāsa, just a few minutes down the road, where it is said by many authorities in Vraja that Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī's govardhana-śilā is situated there. Prabhupāda said that these Bābājīs are bona fide akiñcana-bābājīs. They should be respected as bona fide akiñcana-bābājīs. So there are bona fide akiñcana-bābājīs in Vraja.
But, many of these Bābājīs, they decry preaching. They are so much bent on preaching about not preaching, to the point where they will say that we are, we advocate, we're interested in gopī-prema and therefore we're only interested in cultivating the rāga-bhajana and we have no interest in this preaching business which is in the mood of Prahlāda.
But I dare say to all of them who will be thinking like this, that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and our Śrīla Prabhupāda, they have made this point very, it's a very sanguine point and very important point, that if you cannot see the principle and appreciate the principle of compassion as it is exhibited in an elementary form as Prahlāda, then how can we accept that you're actually seeing the principle of compassion as it is truly manifested in a superlative form in the gopīs? How can we accept this?
First things first. First understand A, B, C, D. Then when you actually understand that, then you graduate to the upper class. So, Prabhupāda has given, it may be mistaken by some unfortunate personalities that Prabhupāda has given vaidhī-bhakti. Actually, Prabhupāda has given the whole thing.
But he requires us to gradually upgrade our transcendental intelligence by which we can enter into relishing the thing as it is. And that requires that we at least at first understand the principle of compassion upon the fallen conditioned souls. After all, it wasn't Prahlāda that inaugurated the saṅkīrtana movement. It was Kṛṣṇa in the mood of Rādhā. His external purposes were not separate from the fulfillment of His internal desires to relish rādhā-bhāva.
If we don't understand, if we try to separate the external purpose from the internal purpose, in the purport of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Prabhupāda is told how it is that Rādhārāṇī and her sakhīs experienced ten million times the happiness of their own happiness of personally meeting Kṛṣṇa by making the arrangements for each other to meet, to make arrangements for others to meet with Kṛṣṇa.
This saṅkīrtana movement of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is for the purpose of facilitating the experience of that kind of gopī-bhāva, the experience of ten million times the happiness of their happiness of personally meeting Kṛṣṇa by making the arrangements for others to meet with Kṛṣṇa. One time Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote a letter to Rāmeśvara, bless his heart, to confirm that yes, your understanding or your idea that this book distribution is following in the mood of the gopīs is quite correct because the principle is that what is self-realization? Self-realization means to realize what we actually are.
If we can't realize what we actually are, then how are we self-realized? So what are we? What is jīva? It is mentioned. What is Rādhā? What is hlādinī-śakti? Hlādinī-śakti is a manifestation, Rādhā, it is mentioned by Rūpa Gosvāmī that Rādhā is the personification of Kṛṣṇa's compassionate nature. She is karuṇāmayī, she is the embodiment of karuṇā-śakti, which is non-different from hlādinī-śakti.
So as such, this compassionate nature, which is exhibited by Rādhārāṇī and the expanded forms of Rādhārāṇī, mind you, Rādhā is mūla-prakṛti, she is the root of all other manifestations of prakṛti. So we have to conclude that ultimately, even though it may be said that some jīvas are expanded from Balarāma, some jīvas are expanded from Kṛṣṇa, some jīvas are expanded from Rādhā, some jīvas are expanded from Śaṅkarṣaṇa, from Mahā-Viṣṇu, like this.
But we should understand that as Rādhā is mūla-prakṛti, therefore, as Prabhupāda has mentioned in several places, that the jīva is part and parcel of the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa. And as such, it is the nature of the jīva to be compassionate. Without understanding the principle of compassion, without realizing ourselves as part and parcel of the compassionate nature of Kṛṣṇa, then how can we claim to be self-realized?
So it is very essential. The elementary form is given to us in the beginning. At least see this to isolate the principle, because Prahlāda, it may not be so easy to understand the principle in the example of the gopīs or devotees of the higher nature, the higher realm, because it is more subtle. In the nature of Prahlāda, though, it is an easily isolatable principle, which can be easily observed by everyone in order to impress this point.
So therefore, anyway, I'm carrying on. I shouldn't carry on like this. I'm sorry. I hope I'm not keeping you, but it's already almost 9.30. And everyone will be missing prasādam and all these things. It is the beginning of puruṣottama-māsa.
Anyway, this is an important thing. So what is preaching? Preaching is the expression of the very compassionate nature, which is the essence of gopī-bhāva or gopa-bhāva or any bhāva in the realm of Vraja, it is the very essence. So when we say preaching is the essence, it is quite correct, because preaching is the means and the end of acquiring and giving proper expression to the pure compassionate nature, which is the mainstay of vraja-bhakti. So I guess we should stop there.
If there's any discussion or questions, I don't know if you want to go any further with this. Does anyone want to discuss anything before we close? I hope I've not disappointed all of you too much. I don't make it a habit of sitting here, so you don't have to hear these things too often. Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Yes, you want to say something?
"What is the importance of puruṣottama-māsa?"
That could be a long discussion, but we won't make it too long. The importance of puruṣottama-māsa is because Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are the presiding deities of puruṣottama-māsa. It's to be understood by honoring their month you attain Goloka-dhāma, in a nutshell.
By intensifying your sādhana, bathing in Yamunā, Rādhā-kuṇḍa is also there, offering ghee lamps daily. It should be a daily vrata to offer ghee lamps. I mentioned yesterday that you get the benefit of offering 10 million ghee lamps by lighting it with a tulasī stick, with a dry tulasī stick, please, from a dead tulasī plant, not using, don't take a stick from a green tulasī, a live tulasī plant, like that, and doing parikramā, taking darśana of Govardhana Hill as many times as possible, there's unlimited benefit.
It is mentioned, yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ. We should know that our goal is Kṛṣṇa-prema. As we've explained, what is prema? Prema is for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa, to endeavor to satisfy Kṛṣṇa. So, to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, there should be some dṛḍha-vrata in our bhajana. Dṛḍha-vrata means a strong determination, a strong vow, determined vow. Bhajante māṁ, worshiping Me.
So, in order to actually worship Kṛṣṇa, what is a determined vow? Determined vow means that we will not be deviating. It is only by undivided devotional service that you can understand Kṛṣṇa as He is. It is only by undivided devotional service. That means… What is it? Oh, I forgot. I forget the verse. It's slipping my mind. But, sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. To come to the spiritual platform, one has to do undivided devotional service by which you can actually understand Kṛṣṇa's janmas and karmas in truth. Then you go back home, back to Godhead.
So, this undivided devotional service means te dvandva-moha-nirmuktāḥ. Te dvandva-moha-nirmuktāḥ means that you will not see that there is any, there's no duality. The illusion or the delusion of thinking that something is favorable, one circumstance is favorable for worshiping Kṛṣṇa and another circumstance is not favorable for worshiping Kṛṣṇa. Actually, all circumstances are favorable for worshiping Kṛṣṇa because the environment is always friendly. Even if it appears to be an adversity, it is also favorable for taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa and worshiping Kṛṣṇa.
So, one can always worship Kṛṣṇa in all circumstances with a firm determination when he goes beyond this dualistic conception of happiness and distress as a criterion for considering whether it is possible to worship Kṛṣṇa or not. So, one can come to this, this position of coming, going beyond a duality if one is freed from yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpam, freed from sinful reactions and janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. This puṇya-karmaṇām means the same puṇya-karmaṇām, kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ. As we were expressing yesterday, kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ means heaps and piles of pious activities by which one gains the facility of actually playing with Kṛṣṇa, dancing with Kṛṣṇa, in his eternal pastimes.
So, it is essential, no matter who we are, no matter what our condition, what our position is, that we can always take advantage of this kind of facility like Puruṣottama-vrata or Ekādaśī-vrata. We were mentioning how a monkey attained Goloka-dhāma even by unknowingly observing Puruṣottama-vrata by fasting and taking holy bath.
So, if by unknowingly you can attain Goloka-dhāma, it doesn't say which sector of Goloka-dhāma he attained. But you can understand that if by unknowingly you can attain Goloka-dhāma, then what to speak of if we are actually cultivating the desires to enter into the realm of Vraja, etc. So, this Puruṣottama-vrata, it is good for all.
And if you are having the guru problems and the steadiness of mind problems or any such kinds of problems that may be manifesting, we should understand why it is that these problems are coming. It's not happening by chance. Any such problems will be coming because of our previous saṁskāras, our previous, our pūrva-saṁskāra, our previous degree of accumulation of sukṛti by which our transcendental intelligence is gradually increased with birth after birth. Janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām. Birth after birth.
So, we're not in our last birth now and we're not in our future birth now. We're in this birth now and in this birth now we can, there are so many things we can do by which we can increase our sukṛti. And what is the purpose of increasing our sukṛti? There's ajñāta-sukṛti, just like the monkey example. He was, he fell into the water accidentally and drowned in the water in a holy place and he attained Goloka-dhāma because he, it so happened he did that during Puruṣottama-vrata.
So, ajñāta-sukṛti is there. But higher than ajñāta-sukṛti is jñāta-sukṛti. Jñāta-sukṛti means to accumulate sukṛti by doing transcendentally pious activities knowingly. You know that it's good. No one's stopping you from circumambulating Tulasī Devī. No one's stopping you from watering Tulasī Devī. Tulasī Devī can give you prema. Every dust grain of Vṛndāvana can give you prema. Govardhana Hill can give you prema.
So, but if you don't have tears to offer to Yamunā Devī, then take some water from her and offer. At least your own tears. Her water is undoubtedly liquid prema. But best is if you can offer something from your side. You offer your tears of anxiety that, how will I progress to the ultimate goal of my life? At least crying because we can't cry for Kṛṣṇa. Watering Tulasī Devī with your tears. Who's doing that? Who's stopping you from doing it? Who's stopping you from crying at the feet of Govardhana? Who's stopping you? So, don't bathe in Rādhā-kuṇḍa. But offer your tears. Who's stopping you? No one's stopping anyone. Who's stopping you from chanting at least one lakh nāma daily? No one's stopping you.
It's a question of the icchā. Kṛṣṇendriya-priyecchā. There should be some desire. If you want to go back home, back to Godhead, then, all right, why take the difficult course? This is the easy course. If something is being given away practically for free, then why work like a dog? Go and get it. Come to Vraja.
Just like in the Kārttika-māhātmya, it is mentioned in, excuse me, it is recorded in Mathurā-māhātmya. The Kārttika-māhātmya is recorded in Mathurā-māhātmya by Rūpa Gosvāmī. He says that Kārttika month comes every year. Of course, Puruṣottama month comes every three years. But the principle is the same. Kārttika month comes every year.
And Vraja-dhāma is not difficult to attain in this world. It's not like you have to do some interplanetary travel to get here. Especially those who are born in India. But how many people are coming to Vraja? It's not so difficult. There are airplanes. Modern amenities have made it so easy. So Kṛṣṇa's statement in the Kārttika-māhātmya, it's more, even more applicable in this age of Kali. He says that Kārttika comes every year. Vraja is not difficult to attain in this world. Still, the fools rot in the world of birth and death because they don't come to Vraja during Kārttika. Similarly, they don't come to Vraja during... Why? Why not come? Why not do Puruṣottama-vrata? It is a very simple thing.
Who's stopping anyone from coming and offering a lamp to the Deity? If the old folks are doing it, you think that they don't know what they're doing? But we're too embarrassed or something. Somehow we think that, oh, I can't, everyone will be looking at me and thinking that I'm trying to show myself to be such a bhakta, or something stupid like this. If you know what's good for you, do it and pray to Kṛṣṇa, to please be merciful to me and take me to your lotus feet. That's all. Okay. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla-prabhupāda kī jaya.