You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani and You are widely distributing pure love of Krsna! We offer our respectful obeisances unto You! Sri Caitanya caritamrta (1968 edition) Madhya Li

[Tamohara dasa ADMIN.]

 Govinda Dasadasa

 

Namo maha vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te, krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah!

 

O most munificent incarnation! You are Krsna Himself appearing as Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu! You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani and You are widely distributing pure love of Krsna! We offer our respectful obeisances unto You!

Sri Caitanya caritamrta (1968 edition) Madhya Lila-Chapter 23 -Life's Ultimate Goal--Love of Godhead -continued....…

23.49:

TEXT 49:

dadhi yena khanda-marica-karpura-milane

'rasalakhya' rasa haya apurvasvadane

SYNONYMS

dadhi--yogurt; yena--as if; khanda--sugar candy; marica--black pepper; karpura--camphor; milane--being mixed; rasala-akhya--known os delicious; rasa--mellow; haya--becomes; apurva-asvadane--by an unprecedented taste.

TRANSLATION

"Yogurt mixed with sugar candy, black pepper and camphor is very palatable and tasty. Similarly, when permanent ecstasy mixes with other ecstatic symptoms, it becomes unprecedentedly tasty.

23.50:

TEXT 50:

dvividha 'vibhava',----alambana, uddipana

vamsi-svaradi----'uddipana', krsnadi----'alambana'

SYNONYMS

dvi-vidha--two kinds; vibhava--particular ecstasy; alambana--the support; uddipana--awakening; vamsi-svara-adi--such as the vibration of the flute; uddipana--exciting; krsna-adi--Krsna and others; alambana--the support.

TRANSLATION

"There are two kinds of particular ecstasies [vibhava]. One is called the support, and the other is called the awakening. The vibration of Krsna's flute is an example of the awakening, and Lord Krsna Himself is an example of the support.

23.51:

TEXT 51:

'anubhava'----smita, nrtya, gitadi udbhasvara

stambhadi----'sattvika' anubhavera bhitara

SYNONYMS

anubhava--subordinate ecstasy; smita--smiling; nrtya--dancing; gita-adi--songs and so on; udbhasvara--symptoms of bodily manifestation; stambha-adi--being stunned and others; sattvika--natural; anubhavera bhitara--within the category of subordinate ecstasies.

TRANSLATION

"The subordinate ecstasies are smiling, dancing and singing, as well as different manifestations in the body. The natural ecstasies, such as being stunned, are considered among the subordinate ecstasies [anubhava].

In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, vibhava is described as follows:

tatra jneya vibhavas tu

raty-asvadana-hetavah

te dvidhalambana eke

tathaivoddipanah pare

"The cause bringing about the tasting of love for Krsna is called vibhava. Vibhava is divided into two categories-alambana (support) and uddipana (awakening)."

In the Agni Purana it is stated:

vibhavyate hi raty-adir

yatra yena vibhavyate

vibhavo nama sa dvedha-

lambanoddipanatmakah

"That which causes love for Krsna to appear is called vibhava. That has two divisions-alambana [in which love appears] and uddipana [by which love appears]."

In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, the following is stated about alambana:

krsnas ca krsna-bhaktas ca

budhair alambana matah

raty-ader visayatvena

tathadharatayapi ca

"The object of love is Krsna, and the container of that love is the devotee of Krsna. Both of them are called by the learned scholars alambana-the foundations." Similarly, uddipana is described:

uddipanas tu te prokta

bhavam uddipayanti ye

"Those things which awaken ecstatic love are called uddipana."

te tu sri-krsna-candrasya

gunas cestah prasadhanam

Mainly this awakening is made possible by the qualities and activities of Krsna, as well as by His mode of decoration and the way His hair is arranged.

smitanga-saurabhe vamsa-

srnga-nupura-kambavah

padanka-ksetra-tulasi-

bhakta-tad-vasaradayah

"Krsna's smile, the fragrance of His transcendental body, His flute, bugle, ankle bells, conchshell, the marks on His feet, His place of residence, His favorite plant [tulasi], His devotees, and the observance of fasts and vows connected to His devotion all awaken the symptoms of ecstatic love."

In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, anubhava is described as follows:

anubhavas tu citta-stha-

bhavanam avabodhakah

te bahir vikriya prayah

prokta udbhasvarakhyaya

The many external ecstatic symptoms or bodily transformations which indicate ecstatic emotions in the mind, and which are also called udbhasvara, are the anubhavas, or subordinate ecstatic expressions of love. Some of these are dancing, falling down and rolling on the ground, singing and crying very loudly, bodily contortions, loud vibrations, yawning, deep breathing, disregard for others, the frothing of saliva, mad laughter, spitting, hiccups and other similar symptoms.

All these symptoms are divided into two divisions-sita and ksepana. Singing, yawning and so on are called sita. Dancing and bodily contortions are called ksepana.

The Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu describes udbhasvara as follows:

udbhasante svadhamniti

prokta udbhasvara budhaih

nivyuttariya-dhammilla-

sramsanam gatra-motanam

jrmbha ghranasya phullatvam

nisvasadyas ca te matah

The ecstatic symptoms manifest in the external body of a person in ecstatic love are called by learned scholars udbhasvara. Some of these are a slackening of the belt and a dropping of clothes and hair. Others are bodily contortions, yawning, a trembling of the front portion of the nostrils, heavy breathing, hiccupping and falling down and rolling on the ground. These are the external manifestations of emotional love. Stambha and other symptoms are described in Madhya-lila (14.167).

23.52:

TEXT 52:

nirveda-harsadi----tetrisa 'vyabhicari'

saba mili' 'rasa' haya camatkarakari

SYNONYMS

nirveda-harsa-adi--complete despondency, jubilation and so on; tetrisa--thirty-three; vyabhicari--transitory elements; saba mili'--all meeting together; rasa--the mellows; haya--becomes; camatkarakari--a cause of wonder.

TRANSLATION

"There are other ingredients beginning with complete despondency and jubilation. Altogether there are thirty-three varieties, and when these combine, the mellow becomes very wonderful.

Nirveda, harsa, and other symptoms are explained in Madhya-lila (14.167). The transitory elements (vyabhicari) are described in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu as follows:

athocyante trayas trimsad-

bhava ye vyabhicarinah

visesenabhimukhyena

caranti sthayinam prati

vag-anga-sattva-sucya ye

jneyas te vyabhicarinah

sancarayanti bhavasya

gatim sancarino 'pi te

unmajjanti nimajjanti

stayiny-amrta-varidhau

urmivad vardhayanty enam

yanti tad-rupatam ca te

There are thirty-three transitory elements known as vyabhicari-ecstatic emotions. They especially wander about the permanent sentiments as assistants. They are to be known by words, by different symptoms seen in the limbs and in other parts of the body, and by the peculiar conditions of the heart. Because they set in motion the progress of the permanent sentiments, they are specifically called sancari, or impelling principles.

These impelling principles rise up and fall back in the permanent sentiments of ecstatic love like waves in an ocean of ecstasy. Consequently they are called vyabhicari. [To be continued.....]

[Synonyms, Translation and Purport by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedantaswami Prabhupada reproduced herein by this menial servant.]

All glories to the lotus feet of Acarya Srila Prabhupada!

Jaya Sri Krsna-caitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadadhara Srivasa adi Gaura bhakta vrnda!

Hare Krsna Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Krsna Hare Hare,

Hare Rama Hare Rama,Rama Rama Hare Hare!

[Tamohara dasa ADMIN.]

THE PATH OF PERFECTION

[By His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedantaswami Prabhupada]

CHAPTER 8

Failure and Success in Yoga -continued.....

We have formed this International Society for Krishna Consciousness in order to teach people what they have forgotten. In this material world, we have forgotten the service of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa; therefore we have become servants of māyā, the senses. Therefore, in this Society we are saying, “You are serving your senses. Now just turn your service to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and you will be happy. You have to render service – either to māyā [illusion], the senses, or to Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.”

In this world, everyone is serving the senses, but people are not satisfied. No one can be satisfied, because the senses are always demanding more gratification, and this means that we are constantly having to serve the senses.

In any case, our position as servant remains the same. It is a question of whether we want to be happy in our service. It is the verdict of Bhagavad-gītā and the other Vedic scriptures that we will never be happy trying to serve our senses, for they are only sources of misery. Therefore Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu prays to be situated in Kṛṣṇa’s service. He also prays,

ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ

patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau

kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-

sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

“O son of Mahārāja Nanda [Kṛṣṇa], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.” (Śikṣāṣṭaka 5) This is another way of asking Kṛṣṇa to engage us in His service.

Loving devotional service can only be rendered to the personal form of Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara. The impersonalists emphasize the virāṭ-rūpa, the universal form exhibited in the eleventh chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, but it is stated therein (11.21) that the demigods are very much afraid of this form, and Arjuna says,

adṛṣṭa-pūrvaṁ hṛṣito ’smi dṛṣṭvā

bhayena ca pravyathitaṁ mano me

tad eva me darśaya deva rūpaṁ

prasīda deveśa jagan-nivāsa

“After seeing this universal form, which I have never seen before, I am gladdened, but at the same time my mind is disturbed with fear. Therefore please bestow Your grace upon me and reveal again Your form as the Personality of Godhead [Kṛṣṇa, or Śyāmasundara], O Lord of lords, O abode of the universe.” (Bhagavad-gītā 11.45) There is no question of loving the virāṭ-rūpa. If Kṛṣṇa comes before you in the virāṭ-rūpa form, you will be so filled with fear that you will forget your love. So don’t be eager like the impersonalists to see the virāṭ-rūpa form; just render loving service to Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa.

We have more or less seen Kṛṣṇa as the viśva-rūpa during wartime in Calcutta in 1942. There was a siren, and we ran into a shelter, and the bombing began. In this way, we were seeing that viśva-rūpa, and I was thinking, “Of course, this is also just another form of Kṛṣṇa. But this is not a very lovable form.” A devotee wants to love Kṛṣṇa in His original form, and this viśva-rūpa is not His original form. Being omnipotent, Kṛṣṇa can appear in any form, but His lovable form is that of Kṛṣṇa, Śyāmasundara.

Although a man may be a police officer, when he is at home he is a beloved father to his son. But if he comes home firing his revolver, the son will be so frightened that he will forget that he is his beloved father. Naturally, the child loves his father when he’s at home like a father, and similarly we love Kṛṣṇa as He is in His eternal abode, in the form of Śyāmasundara.

The viśva-rūpa was shown to Arjuna to warn those rascals who claim, “I am God.” Arjuna asked to see the viśva-rūpa so that in the future we may have some criterion by which to test rascals who claim to be God. In other words, if someone says, “I am God,” we can simply reply, “If you are God, please show me your viśva-rūpa.” And we can rest assured that such rascals cannot display this form.

Of course, Arjuna was offering all respects to the viśva-rūpa form. That is a natural quality of a devotee. A devotee even respects Durgā, Māyā, because Māyā is Kṛṣṇa’s energy. If we respect Kṛṣṇa, we respect everyone, even an ant. Therefore Brahmā prays,

sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā

chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni bibharti durgā

icchānurūpam api yasya ca ceṣṭate sā

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

“The external potency, Māyā, who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit [spiritual] potency, is worshiped by all people as Durgā, the creating, preserving, and destroying agency of this mundane world. I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, in accordance with whose will Durgā conducts herself.” (Brahma-saṁhitā 5.44) Thus when we pray to Kṛṣṇa, we pray to Durgā immediately, because Durgā is His energy. And when we pray to Durgā, we are actually praying to Kṛṣṇa, because she is working under the direction of Kṛṣṇa.

When the devotee sees the activities of Māyā, he sees Kṛṣṇa immediately, thinking, “Oh, Māyā is acting so nicely under the direction of Kṛṣṇa.” When one offers respect to a policeman, he is actually offering respect to the government. Durgā, the material energy, is so powerful that she can create, annihilate, and maintain, but in all cases she is acting under Kṛṣṇa’s directions.

Through bhakti, pure devotion to Kṛṣṇa, we can leave the association of Māyā and be promoted to the eternal association of Kṛṣṇa. Some of the gopas, Kṛṣṇa’s friends, are eternal associates, and others are promoted to that eternal position. If only the eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa can play with Him and others cannot, then what is the meaning of becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious?

We can also become eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa through pious deeds executed in many, many lives. Actually, in the Vṛndāvana manifest in this material world, the associates of Kṛṣṇa are mainly conditioned living entities who have been promoted to the perfect stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Thus promoted, they are first of all allowed to see Kṛṣṇa on the planet where Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are being enacted. After this, they are promoted to the transcendental Goloka Vṛndāvana in the spiritual sky. Therefore it is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.12.11), kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ.

Bhakti-yoga means connecting ourselves with Kṛṣṇa, God, and becoming His eternal associates.

Bhakti-yoga cannot be applied to any other objective; therefore in Buddhism, for instance, there is no bhakti-yoga, because they do not recognize the Supreme Lord existing as the supreme objective. Christians, however, practice bhakti-yoga when they worship Jesus Christ, because they are accepting him as the son of God and are therefore accepting God. Unless one accepts God, there is no question of bhakti-yoga. Christianity, therefore, is also a form of Vaiṣṇavism, because God is recognized. Nonetheless, there are different stages of God realization. Mainly, Christianity says, “God is great,” and that is a very good assertion, but the actual greatness of God can be understood from Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Accepting the greatness of God is the beginning of bhakti. Bhakti-yoga also exists among the Muhammadans, because God is the target in the Muslim religion. However, where there is no recognition of a personal God – in other words, where there is only impersonalism – there is no question of bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga must include three items: the servitor, the served, and service. One must be present to accept service, and one must be present to render service. The via media is the process of service itself, bhakti-yoga.

Now, if there is no one to accept that service, how is bhakti-yoga possible? Therefore, if a philosophy or religion does not accept God as the Supreme Person, there is no possibility of bhakti-yoga being applied.

In the bhakti-yoga process, the role of the spiritual master is most important and essential. Although the spiritual master will always come back until his devotees have achieved God realization, one should not try to take advantage of this.

We should not trouble our spiritual master but should complete the bhakti-yoga process in this life. The disciple should be serious in his service to the spiritual master, and if the devotee is intelligent, he should think, “Why should I act in such a way that my spiritual master has to take the trouble to reclaim me again? Let me realize Kṛṣṇa in this life.” That is the proper way of thinking. We should not think, “Oh, I am sure that my spiritual master will come and save me. Therefore I will do as I please.” If we have any affection for our spiritual master, we should complete the process in this life, so that he does not have to return to reclaim us.

In this regard, there is the example of Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, who, in his previous life, was elevated almost to prema-bhakti, the highest platform of devotional service. However, since there is always a chance for a falldown, somehow or other he fell down. In his next life, he was born in a very rich brāhmaṇa family, in accordance with the principle enunciated in the sixth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā (6.41): śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe. Unfortunately, as is often the case with rich boys, he became a prostitute hunter.

Yet it is said that his spiritual master instructed him through his prostitute, saying, “Oh, you are so attached to this mere flesh and bones. If you were this much attached to Kṛṣṇa, how much good you might achieve!” Immediately Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura resumed his devotional service.

Although the spiritual master assumes responsibility for his disciple, we should not take advantage of this. Rather, we should try to please the spiritual master (yasya prasādād bhagavat-prasādaḥ). We should not put our spiritual master in such a position that he has to reclaim us from a house of prostitution. But even if he has to do so, he will do it, because he assumes this responsibility when he accepts his disciple.

The bhakti-yoga process should be completed in this life, because in this life we have all the instruments necessary to become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious. We have mṛdaṅgas and cymbals and tongues with which to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Even if we don’t have mṛdaṅgas and cymbals, we have a tongue. No one has to purchase a tongue. We also have ears with which to hear the sound that the tongue vibrates. Therefore we have all the instruments we need with us – a tongue and ears.

We have only to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and use our ears to hear this vibration, and all perfection will be there. We don’t have to become highly educated scientists or philosophers. We have only to chant and hear.

Thus we have everything complete. Pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idam: everything created by God is complete. This aggregate earth, for instance, is complete. There is sufficient water in the oceans, and the sun acts to evaporate this water, turn it into clouds, and drop rain on the land to produce plants. And from the mountains, pure rivers are flowing to supply water throughout the year. If we want to evaporate a few hundred gallons of water, we have to make many arrangements, but the creation is so complete that millions of tons of water are being drawn from the ocean, turned into clouds, and then sprayed all over the land and reserved on the peaks of mountains so that water will be present for the production of grains and vegetables.

Thus the creation is complete because it comes from the complete, and similarly our bodies are also complete for spiritual realization. The complete machine is already with us. We have only to utilize it to vibrate the transcendental sound (śabda) of Hare Kṛṣṇa, and we will attain complete liberation from all material pangs.

[To be continued.....]