[flashvideo filename=http://prabhupadanugas.eu/wp-content/video/srigurucarana.mp4 width=590 height=320 /]
Sri Vyasa Puja Offering August 22, 2011
By Yasoda Nandana Dasa
nama om vishnu padaya krishna prsthaya bhutale
srimate bhaktivedanta swamin iti namine
_____________________________________
namaste sarasvate deve gauravani pracarine
nirvisesa sunyavadi pascaya desatarine
_____________________________________
bhaktisiddhanta sisyaya bhaktivedanta namine
prasannaya prasantaya tasmai sri gurave namah
(Sri Ananta ram sastri – Srila Prabhupada stotram, 1976)
bhagavad vandana khadyam guru vandana purvakam
ksiram sarkaraya yuktam khadate hi visesatah
(Sri Vedanta Desika-Stotra Ratna Bhasya)
akshnoh phalam tvadrsa darsanam hi
tanoh phalam tvadrsa gatra sangah
jihva phalam tvadrsam kirtanam hi
sudurlabha bhagavata hi loke
(Hari Bhakti sudhodaya)
In 1977 in late May, I had the opportunity to render some menial service to your Divine Grace just prior to your taking rest. One such occasion you asked me to massage your lotus feet as you were gradually dozing. After some time you seemed to fall asleep.
I kept chanting and massaging your feet and I noticed how Your Grace occasionally would murmur Sri Krishna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda and then rest again. Then after some time, the names of Lord Krishna would manifest again on your tongue.
It dawned on me that you never really went into tama-guna-svapna or sleep in the mode of ignorance, but you were always fully conscious of your beloved Lord Krishna even while resting. Such is your transcendental perfection.
You have described this amazing level of suddha-sattva in your English rendition of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhupada’s Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu, The Nectar of Devotion:
“…It may be questioned why devotees of Krishna should be attacked by dizziness, which is usually considered a sign of the modes of ignorance. To answer this question, Srila Jiva Gosvami has said that the devotees of Lord Krishna are always transcendental to all the modes of material nature; when they feel dizziness or go to sleep, they are not considered to be sleeping under the modes of nature, but are accepted as being in a trance of devotional service.
There is an authoritative statement in the Garuda Purana about mystic yogis who are under the direct shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “In all three stages of their consciousness – namely, wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep – the devotees are absorbed in the thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, in their complete absorption in the thought of Krishna, they do not sleep…”
Books: The Nectar of Devotion – 1970 Edition | Nectar of Devotion 30 | Further Features of Ecstatic Love for Krishna: Dizziness
You have clearly explained the unique and amazing position of such Maha-bhagavatas in your lucid purport of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto:
etad isanam isasya
prakriti-stho ‘pi tad-gunaih
na yujyate sadatma-sthair
yatha buddhis tad-asraya
This is the divinity of the Personality of Godhead: He is not affected by the qualities of material nature, even though He is in contact with them. Similarly, the devotees who have taken shelter of the Lord do not become influenced by the material qualities.
“…. Even His learned devotees are not affected by the influence of the material modes. The great six Gosvamis of Vrindavana all came from greatly rich and aristocratic families, but when they adopted the life of mendicants at Vrindavana, superficially they appeared to be in wretched conditions of life, but factually they were the richest of all in spiritual values.
Such maha-bhagavatas, or first-grade devotees, although moving amongst men, are not contaminated by honor or insult, hunger or satisfaction, sleep or wakefulness, which are allresultant actions of the three modes of material nature. Similarly, some of them are engaged in worldly dealings, yet are unaffected. Unless these neutralities of life are there, one cannot be considered situated in transcendence. The Divinity and His associates are on the same transcendental plane, and their glories are always sanctified by the action of yogamaya, or the internal potency of the Lord. …”
Srimad-Bhagavatam “Creation” Lord Krishna’s Entrance into Dvaraka: SB 1.11.38
Srila Prabhupada, you have mercifully revealed why a pure devotee’s voice and sound vibration are so potent.
My dear Lord, You are glorified by the selected verses uttered by great personalities. Such glorification of Your lotus feet is just like saffron particles. When the transcendental vibration from the mouths of great devotees carries the aroma of the saffron dust of Your lotus feet, the forgetful living entity gradually remembers his eternal relationship with You. Devotees thus gradually come to the right conclusion about the value of life. My dear Lord, I therefore do not need any other benediction but the opportunity to hear from the mouth of Your pure devotee.
Purport
“… A pure devotee always engages in the service of the Lord, taking shelter of His lotus feet, and therefore he has a direct connection with the saffron mercy-particles that are strewn over the lotus feet of the Lord. Although when a pure devotee speaks the articulation of his voice may resemble the sound of this material sky, the voice is spiritually very powerful because it touches the particles of saffron dust on the lotus feet of the Lord. As soon as a sleeping living entity hears the powerful voice emanating from the mouth of a pure devotee, he immediately remembers his eternal relationship with the Lord, although up until that moment he had forgotten everything..”
Srimad-Bhagavatam “The Creation of the Fourth Order”, Lord Vishnu’s Appearance in the Sacrificial
Arena of Maharaja Prithu : SB 4.20.25
Srila Prabhupada, Let us always be strive to hear your transcendental divine instructions and ambrosial voice. You have brought this sublime transcendental sound from the spiritual world.
“… This chanting of Hare Krishna, this transcendental vibration is not any material thing. It is imported from the transcendental abode, golokera. Goloka means the transcendental abode of Krishna. Golokera prema-dhana.
From there, the transcendental abode of Krishna. Just like the sunshine, wherefrom it has come? From the sun planet. Everyone knows it. Although you cannot go there, it is far, far beyond your reach, but you can understand that the sunshine is coming from the sun globe. There is no doubt about it. Similarly this vibration, this shining, is coming from Krishna, Goloka. Golokera prema-dhana. And prema-dhana means this chanting is in love with Krishna. Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana,…”
Lecture — Los Angeles, November 13, 1968
Srila Prabhupada, You are the captain of the ship for those who are desirous to cross over the ocean of material existence and obtain the lotus feet of Sri Krsna. You are the true representative of Suta Goswami.
dustaram nistitir
tvam nah sandarsito dhatra
dustaram nititirsatam
kalim sattva-haram pumsam
karna-dhara ivarnavam
We think that we have met Your Goodness by the will of providence, just so that we may accept you as captain of the ship for those who desire to cross the difficult ocean of Kali, which deteriorates all the good qualities of a human being.
Purport
Learned men, therefore, must be cautious of this age, and if they at all want to cross over the dangerous ocean of Kali, they must follow the footsteps of the sages of Naimisaranya and accept Sri Suta Gosvami or his bona fide representative as the captain of the ship. The ship is the message of Lord Sri Krishna in the shape of Bhagavad-gita or the Srīmad-Bhagavatam
Books: Srimad-Bhagavatam “Creation”: SB 1.1: Questions by the Sages : SB 1.1.22
“…The Supreme Lord and His transcendental abode are both sanatana, as are the living entities, and the combined association of the Supreme Lord and the living entities in the sanatana abode is the perfection of human life. The Lord is very kind to the living entities because they are His sons. Lord Krishna declares in Bhagavad-gita, “sarva-yonisu…aham bija-pradah pita.” “I am the father of all.” Of course there are all types of living entities according to their various karmas, but here the Lord claims that He is the father of all of them. Therefore the Lord descends to reclaim all of these fallen, conditioned souls to call them back to the sanatana eternal sky so that the sanatana living entities may regain their eternal sanatana positions in eternal association with the Lord. The Lord comes Himself in different incarnations, or He sends His confidential servants as sons or His associates or acaryas to reclaim the conditioned souls…”
Books : Bhagavad-gita As It Is – Macmillan 1972 Edition | Bhagavad-gita As It Is | introduction:
You have indirectly referred to your advent and position as a nitya-siddha Maha-bhagavata in some of your beautiful bhasyas.
“…Therefore each and every avatara, or incarnation of the Lord, has a particular mission, and they are all
described in the revealed scriptures. No one should be accepted as an avatara unless he is referred to by scriptures.
It is not a fact that the Lord appears only on Indian soil. He can advent Himself anywhere and everywhere, and whenever He desires to appear. In each and every incarnation, He speaks as much about religion as can be understood by the particular people under their particular circumstances. But the mission is the same-to lead people to God consciousness and obedience to the principles of religion. Sometimes He descends personally, and sometimes He sends His bona fide representative in the form of His son, or servant, or Himself in some disguised form…
Bhagavad-gita As It Is – Macmillan 1972 Edition | Transcendental Knowledge | Bhagavad-gita 4.7:
PURPORT:
“…When there are too many asuras in the world, then it becomes a hell for those who are devotees of the Lord. Due to the growth of the asuras, the mass of people who are generally devoted to the Lord by nature and the pure devotees of the Lord, including the demigods in higher planets, pray to the Lord for relief, and the Lord either descends personally from His abode or deputes some of His devotees to remodel the fallen condition of human society, or even animal society. Such disruptions take place not only in human society but also among animals, birds or other living beings, including the demigods in the higher planets..”
Srimad-Bhagavatam : Canto 1:”Creation” Dhritarastra Quits Home : SB 1.13.50
“…Bhagavad-gita (4.11) states: ye yatha maṁ prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham. “Although the Lord is equally kind to every living being, the living beings, for their own part, are able to please the Lord to either a greater or lesser extent.” The demigods are called sakama devotees, or devotees with material desires in mind, while the pure devotees are called niskama devotees because they have no desires for their personal interests.
The sakama devotees are self-interested because they do not think of others, and therefore they are not able to satisfy the Lord perfectly, whereas the pure devotees take the missionary responsibility of turning nondevotees into devotees, and they are therefore able to satisfy the Lord more than the demigods. The Lord is unmindful of the nondevotees, although He is sitting within everyone’s heart as well-wisher and Supersoul.
However, He also gives them the chance to receive His mercy through His pure devotees who are engaged in missionary activities. Sometimes the Lord Himself descends for missionary activities, as He did in the form of Lord Caitanya, but mostly He sends His bona fide representatives, and thus He shows His causeless mercy towards the nondevotees.
The Lord is so satisfied with His pure devotees that He wants to give them the credit for missionary success, although He could do the work personally. This is the sign of His satisfaction with His pure, niskama devotees, compared to the sakama devotees. By such transcendental activities the Lord simultaneously becomes free from the charge of partiality and exhibits His pleasure with the devotees…”
Books: Srimad-Bhagavatam | The Status Quo | Brahma’s Prayers for Creative Energy | SB 3.9.12
The Personality of Godhead Lord Vishnu descends by His will to the material planets in His innumerable incarnations for particular purposes, and again He goes back to His own abode. When He descends He is called an avatara because avatara means “one who descends.” Neither the Lord Himself nor His specific devotees who come to this earth are ordinary living entities like us
Books : Srimad-Bhagavatam | Canto 3.13.47 | “The Status Quo” | The Appearance of Lord Varaha
It is clearly stated here that the material world is not created by the personal will of the Supreme Lord; it is created by His external energy because the living entities want to enjoy it. This material world is not created for those who do not want to enjoy sense gratification, who constantly remain in transcendental loving service and who are eternally Krishna conscious.
For them, the spiritual world is eternally existing, and they enjoy there. Elsewhere in the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that for those who have taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this material world is useless; because this material world is full of danger at every step, it is not meant for the devotees but for living entities who want to lord it over the material energy at their own risk.
Krishna is so kind that He allows the sense-enjoying living entities a separate world created by Him to enjoy as they like, yet at the same time He appears in His personal form. The Lord unwillingly creates this material world, but He descends in His personal form or sends one of His reliable sons or a servant or a reliable author like Vyasadeva to give instruction.
He Himself also instructs in His speeches of Bhagavad-gita. This propaganda work goes on side by side with the creation to convince the misguided living entities who are rotting in this material world to come back to Him and surrender unto Him.
Therefore the last instruction of Bhagavad-gita is this: “Give up all your manufactured engagements in the material world and just surrender unto Me. I shall protect you from all sinful reactions
Books: Srimad-Bhagavatam | Canto 3.21.20 | “The Status Quo” Conversation Between Manu and Kardama | PURPORT:
Out of your immense compassion for the fallen souls you descend to the middle class platform to reach and reclaim the fallen souls.
“If one is expert in Vedic literature and has full faith in the Supreme Lord, then he is an uttama-adhikari, a first-class Vaiṣṇava, a topmost Vaishnava who can deliver the whole world and turn everyone to Krishna consciousness.” (CC. Madhya 22.65)
With great love and affection, the maha-bhagavata observes the Supreme Personality of Godhead, devotional service and the devotee. He observes nothing beyond Krishna, Krishna consciousness and Krishna’s devotees.
The maha-bhagavata knows that everyone is engaged in the Lord’s service in different ways. He therefore descends to the middle platform to elevate everyone to theKrishna conscious position
Books: Sri Caitanya-caritamrita | 1975 Edition | The Lord’s Attempt to Go to Vrindavana | Madhya 16.74
One requires Krishna’s special power in order to be able to do this. People forget their relationship with Krishna and work under the spell of maya life after life, transmigrating from one body to another. This is the process of material existence.
The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna personally descends to teach people that their position in the material world is a mistaken one. The Lord again comes as Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu to induce people to take to Krishna consciousness. The Lord also empowers a special devotee to teach people their constitutional position
Sri Caitanya-caritamrita | 1975 Edition Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Instructs Srila Rupa Gosvami | Madhya 19.114
The nitya-baddhas are always conditioned by the external energy, and the nitya-muktas never come in contact with the external energy. Sometimes an ever-liberated personal associate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends into this universe just as the Lord descends.
Although working for the liberation of conditioned souls, the messenger of the Supreme Lord remains untouched by the material energy. Generally ever-liberated personalities live in the spiritual world as associates of Lord Krishna, and they are known as kṛṣṇa-pariṣada, associates of the Lord.
Their only business is enjoying Lord Krishna’s company, and even though such eternally liberated persons come within this material world to serve the Lord’s purpose, they enjoy Lord Krishna’s company without stoppage.
The ever-liberated person who works on Krishna’s behalf enjoys Lord Krishna’s company through his engagement.
The ever-conditioned soul, provoked by lusty desires to enjoy the material world, is subjected to transmigrate from one body to another. Sometimes he is elevated to higher planetary systems, and sometimes he is degraded to hellish planets and subjected to the tribulations of the external energy.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrita | 1975 Edition | The Process of Devotional Service | Madhya 22.14-15:
janme janme prabhu sei divya jnana hrde prakasito
Srila Prabhupada, our master, kindly bless us so that we are always situated at your lotus feet and absorbed in your divine unrevised teachings and instructions.
Your eternal servant
Daso’smi
Yasoda nandana dasa
Speak Your Mind