The Nectarian loving affairs of Sri Radha Krishna

The Manifestation of Mercy 

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada
          

If we are convinced of the necessity of consulting a real sadhu, we should be able to find him and he will explain to us the mode of life recommended in the sastras, which we should lead in this world for the benefit of our souls. The sadhu is a transcendental person whose life is wholly regulated by the scriptures. The Absolute Truth is never partial or less than complete. The awakened soul of the sadhu is necessarily and completely free from all touch of untruth or half-truth. The life recommended by the scriptures is the life that is led by the sadhu. It is not possible for worldly persons to understand, unassisted, the nature of spiritual living; because it is categorically different from the life currently led by them. This difference between the two is not confined to this or that isolated aspect. It is to be found in every single detail of conduct. The change from worldly to spiritual life is not of the nature of reform, but is truly a complete revolution.The Lord is Pleased to Accept The person who is liberated from the bondage of the world continues to perform the ordinary natural functions of the body and mind, apparently in the same way as one who is in the bound state. He also appears to eat and drink, sleep and die like ordinary worldly people. The process of eating of such a person is thus described in the sastras: A person whose body and mind have been accepted by the Lord is privileged to approach the Lord and offer Him food and drink. The Lord is pleased to accept the food offered by such a person. By the Lord’s acceptance the food is spiritualized in the same way as the body and mind are spiritualized by their dedication to the Lord. This dedication of all food to the Lord is, in the case of such a person, truly an act of renunciation of all material food. The food that is accepted by the Lord is spiritualized and is changed into mahaprasada or “the great blessing.” The sadhu accepts the mahaprasada not for the purpose of appeasing hunger or from the acquisition of bodily or mental health and strength, or for any other worldly purpose; but with the object of being enabled thereby to avoid the traps laid for him during his sojourn into this world by sensuous temptations of all kinds, including that of eating, and obtains by thus honoring the mahaprasada the inclination for the spiritual service of the Lord. Honoring the maha-prasada is thus different from eating, although to the uninitiated both may seem to be identical. The external form appears to remain the same although the real nature of activity is radically changed. The result is that whereas by mere eating the sensuous inclination is strengthened, by honoring the mahaprasada, gluttony and its attendant vices are radically cured.Mahaprasada literally means “the great favor.” The benefit to the soul that results by honoring the mahaprasada is also open to the bound jiva, but if the bound jiva honors mahaprasada his soul is benefited. The food that has been offered by the sadhus to the Lord is categorically different from ordinary food. To take ordinary food is harmful for the soul. By honoring mahaprasada, not only is the soul saved from the bad effect of eating, but is positively benefited by obtaining the inclination for spiritual service. The sastras, therefore, tell us to give up eating and honor the mahaprasada.” If the palate is conquered every other sense is conquered.” We can never be freed from the attraction of sensuous temptations until we give up eating altogether and learn to honor the mahaprasada. By honoring the mahaprasada our sensuousness is diminished and ultimately disappears altogether. And it is only then that we are enabled to understand the real meaning of the sastras. Not For Enjoyment  The sadhu helps the fallen jiva to regain his natural state of freedom from sin, by the constant service of bringing about the descent of transcendental sound in the form of words uttered by his lips and the mahaprasada in the shape of food that is offered by him to the Lord. The sound uttered by the sadhu and the mahaprasada are not things of this world. They are not identical with ordinary sound or ordinary food which are only means for the gratification of our sensuous appetites. The word of God and mahaprasada cannot be enjoyed, or in other words cannot be used for the gratification of the senses, because they are spiritual. Those who enjoy the kirtana, or any spiritual discourse, or eat the mahaprasada for appeasing hunger or for gratification of the palate are guilty of sacrilegious acts which serve only to prolong the state of sin and ignorance. The greatest possible calamity that can befall the human soul.The kirtan of Hari is the constant and natural function of all the faculties of the jiva soul in the state of its freedom from all affinities with this changeable world. Because the Absolute Truth is identical with Hari, Hari has to be served exclusively, constantly, and by all the faculties of the soul. The only function of the voice is to chant the kirtana of Hari, which is identical with and inseparable from the simultaneous service of Hari by all the other senses. One who does not employ his voice constantly and exclusively in chanting the kirtana of Hari has no access to the service of Hari by any other faculty. Qualification to Chant The kirtana of Hari has therefore to be chanted by being humbler than a blade of grass. There can be no trace of worldly vanity. There can be no seeking after any worldly advantage. The only object should be to please Lord Hari.Absolute Truth is a living person and not an abstract principle. He has the power of communicating His commands to us and expressing His approval and disapproval of our activities. No one can understand His command who does not fully submit to Him.The Absolute Truth is not anything limited or partial; neither can it be divided. It is not dependent on any condition except Itself. It is always one and the same. Listening to or chanting of it is always and necessarily beneficial—­being the natural function of the soul. Any other view of its nature will stand in the way of that perfect humility, the outcome of absolute submission which is the indispensable condition of its realization. Enemy of Hypocrisy A chanter of the kirtana of Hari is necessarily the un-compromising enemy of worldliness and hypocrisy. As a chanter of the kirtana of Hari, it is his constant function to dispel all misconceptions by the preaching of the truth in a most unambiguous form without any influence of person, place or time. That form has to be adopted which is least likely to be misunderstood. It is his bounden duty to oppose any person who tries to deceive and harm himself or other people by misrepresenting the Truth either due to malice or genuine misunderstanding. This will be possible if the chanter of kirtana is always prepared to submit to be trodden on by thoughtless people if any discomfort to himself will enable him to do good to his persecutors by chanting the truth in the most unambiguous manner. If he is unwilling to chant the kirtana under all circumstances due to consideration of self-respect or personal discomfort then he is unfit to be a preacher of the Absolute Truth. Humility implies perfect submission to the Truth and no sympathy for untruth. A person who entertains any partiality for untruth is unfit to chant the kirtana of Hari. Any clinging to untruth is opposed to the principle of humility born of absolute submission to the Truth.Those who serve the truth at all time, by means of all their faculties, and have no hankering for the trivialities of this world, are always necessarily free from malice born of competing worldliness; and are, therefore, fit to admonish those who are actively engaged in harming themselves and others by the method of opposing or misrepresenting the truth in order to attain the rewards of such a policy in the shape of a perpetuation of the state of misery and ignorance. The method which is employed by the servant of the good preceptor for preventing such misrepresentation of the truth is a part and parcel of the truth itself. It may not always be pleasing to the diseased susceptibilities of deluded minds, and may even be denounced by them as a malicious act with which they are only too familiar, but the words of truth from the lips of a loyal and humble servant of Hari possess such beneficent power that all effort to suppress or obstruct them only serves to vindicate to impartial minds the necessity of complete submission to the Absolute Truth as the only cure of the disease of worldliness. Humility that is employed in the unambiguous service of the Truth is necessarily and qualitatively different from its perverted prototype, which is practiced by the cunning people of this world for gaining their worldly ends. The professors of pseudo-humility have reason to be afraid of the preachings of the servants of Hari, (one whose duty it is to expose the enormous possibility of mischief possessed by the many forms of so-called spirituality) when they are taken to task for serving the untruth.

ALL THOSE WITH DOUBTS PLEASE GET BACK TO ME AT syamamkundadasa@yahoo.co.in , AS I DELETE OFFENSIVE COMMENTS. YOU CAN ALSO MAIL ME AT syamakundadasa@radhakunda.com . THAKNK YOU

Thanx to my nice friend Bhakta Brett for this nice article.

Many people often wonder what is the view of Lord Jesus Christ in the Krishna consciousness movement.

Srila Prabhupada, the foremost exponent of the Krishna
consciousness movement explains that Jesus is Krishna's representative, son of God, and spiritual master.

Below are excerpts from Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, and conversations about Jesus Christ and his
relationship with Krsna.

"If one loves Krishna, he must love Lord Jesus also. And if one perfectly loves Jesus he must love Krishna too. If he says, "Why shall I love Krishna? I shall love Jesus," then he has no knowledge. And if one says, "Why shall I love Jesus? I shall love Krishna", then he has no knowledge either. If one understands Krishna, then he will understand Jesus. If one understands Jesus, you'll understand Krishna too"
(Srila Prabhupada - Room conversation with Allen Ginsberg, May 12, 1969 / Columbus - Ohio)

As Lord Jesus Christ said, we should hate the sin, not the sinner. That is a very nice statement, because the sinner is under illusion. He is mad. If we hate him, how can we deliver him? Therefore, those who are advanced devotees, who are really servants of God, do not hate anyone. When Lord Jesus Christ was being crucified, he said, "My God, forgive them. They know not what they do." This is the proper attitude of an advanced devotee. He understands that the conditioned souls cannot be hated, because they have become mad due to their materialistic way of thinking. In this Krsna consciousness movement, there is no question of hating anyone. Everyone is welcomed to come and chant Hare Krsna, take krsna-prasada, listen to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, and try to rectify material, conditioned life. This is the essential program of Krsna consciousness.
(Path of Perfection Chapter 3: Learning How to See God)

Christian, Muhammadan, Hindu-it doesn't matter. If he is simply speaking on behalf of God, he is a guru. Lord Jesus Christ, for instance. He canvassed people, saying, "Just try to love God." Anyone-it doesn't matter who-be he Hindu, Muslim, or Christian, is a guru if he convinces people to love God. That is the test. The guru never says, "I am God," or "I will make you God." The real guru says, "I am a servant of God, and I will make you a servant of God also." It doesn't matter how the guru is dressed. As Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Whoever can impart knowledge about Krsna is a spiritual master." A genuine spiritual master simply tries to get people to become devotees of Krsna, or God. He has no other business.
(Science of Self Realization Chapter 2: Choosing a Spiritual Master)

So Lord Jesus Christ said, "My Lord, hallowed be Thy name." He wants to glorify the name of the Lord. And some people says that there is no name of God. How? If Lord Jesus Christ says "Hallowed by Thy name," there must be name. The name is there, but he did not pronounce it because the people at that time will not be able to understand or maybe some reason, but he says there is name. So we are making this propaganda, Krsna consciousness movement, the "Hallowed by Thy name. My Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, let Your holy name be glorified." This is our movement. It is not a sectarian...(Lecture: Bhagavad Gita 3.27 Melbourne June 27, 1974)

Sometimes Sri Krsna descends Himself, and sometimes He sends His representative. The major religions of the world-Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Moslem-believe in some supreme authority or personality coming down from the kingdom of God. In the Christian religion, Jesus Christ claimed to be the son of God and to be coming from the kingdom of God to reclaim conditioned souls. As followers of Bhagavad-gita, we admit this claim to be true. So basically there is no difference of opinion. In details there may be differences due to differences in culture, climate and people, but the basic principle remains the same-that is, God or His representatives come to reclaim conditioned souls.
(Raja Vidya Chapter 6 :Knowledge of Krsna's Appearance and Activities)

Just like Lord Jesus Christ. He was so badly treated and still he was thinking, "Father, they do not know what they are doing. Please excuse." This is suhrdah. He is praying to God This is sadhu, mahatma. Suhrdah prasanta. Not that... In India there are examples like Haridasa Thakura, Prahlada Maharaja. And the Western countries also, Lord Jesus Christ, he is saktyavesa-avatara, God's son. And he tolerated so much. These are the examples of mahatma. Don't misunderstand that we are preaching that mahatmas are only in India. No. By the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead there are mahatmas even amongst the birds, even amongst the beasts, even amongst the lower than animals. Because this Krsna consciousness movement is going on in different places, in different circumstances.(Srimad Bhagavatam 5.5.3 --vrndavana Oct 25, 1976)

Conversation with Father Emmanuel - In 1974, near ISKCON's center in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, Srila Prabhupada and several of his disciples took a morning walk with father Emmanuel Jungclaussen, a Benedictine monk from Niederalteich Monastery. Noticing that Srila Prabhupada was carrying meditation beads similar to the rosary, Father Emmanuel explained that he also chanted a constant prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, be merciful unto us." The following conversation ensued.

Conversation with Cardinal Danielou - "Thou Shalt Not Kill" or "Thou Shalt Not Murder"?
At a monastic retreat near Paris, in July of 1973, Srila Prabhupada talked with Cardinal Jean Danielou: "... the Bible does not simply say, ..Do not kill the human being.' It says broadly, ..Thou shalt not kill.'... why do you interpret this to suit your own convenience?"

From Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers - Discussions between Peace Corps Worker Bob Cohen and His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Jesus Christ Was a Guru - The spiritual leader of the Hare Krsna movement here recognizes Lord Jesus Christ as "the son of God, the representative of God... our guru... our spiritual master," yet he has some sharp words for those who currently claim to be Christ's followers...

A devotee of Krsna is friendly to everyone. Therefore it is said here that he has no enemy (nirvairah). How is this? A devotee situated in Krsna consciousness knows that only devotional service to Krsna can relieve a person from all the problems of life. He has personal experience of this, and therefore he wants to introduce this system, Krsna consciousness, into human society. There are many examples in history of devotees of the Lord who risked their lives for the spreading of God consciousness. The favorite example is Lord Jesus Christ. He was crucified by the nondevotees, but he sacrificed his life for spreading God consciousness. Of course, it would be superficial to understand that he was killed. Similarly, in India also there are many examples, such as Thakura Haridasa and Prahlada Maharaja. Why such risk? Because they wanted to spread Krsna consciousness, and it is difficult. A Krsna conscious person knows that if a man is suffering it is due to his forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with Krsna. Therefore, the highest benefit one can render to human society is relieving one's neighbor from all material problems. In such a way, a pure devotee is engaged in the service of the Lord. Now, we can imagine how merciful Krsna is to those engaged in His service, risking everything for Him. Therefore it is certain that such persons must reach the supreme planet after leaving the body.
(Chapter 11 Bhagavad gita text 55 purport)

Excerpts on Sri Gadadhara Pandita

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Los Angeles, CA : May 30, 2000
Tridandisvami Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja

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Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada came to this world with the mission of Iskcon – Vaisnavism. What was that? It is the same mission as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And who is Mahaprabhu? He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krsna Himself. But He is also more than that; He is not only Krsna. He is the combination of both Srimati Radhika and Krsna. Sri Krsna has combined with Srimati Radhika, His power.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to be always absorbed in Radha's mood. Krsna Himself could not possess Her beauty or Her instrinsic mood. Radhika has adhirudha mahabhava, and even more than that. Krsna's mood goes up to mahabhava, but after that, the mood of how to serve and please Him, He Himself does not know. He has to learn that by going to the school of Visakha devi, and sometimes Lalita devi. Without the help of Lalita and Visakha, He cannot relish the mood of Srimati Radhika.

This was the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu – to give the service of these moods. Krsna Himself could not do this, but when He took the beauty and the intrinsic mood of Radhika, He could then relish everything in Gambhira, under the guidance of Svarupa Damodara (Lalita) and Ramananda Raya (Vishaka).

At this time Gadadhara Pandita, who is Radhika Herself, serving Sri Krsna in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's pastimes, was watching to see whether or not Mahaprabhu was playing Her role perfectly. If Sri Krsna as Mahaprabhu would make a mistake in feeling and displaying the mood of Radhika, Gadadhara Pandita prabhu would 'twist the ears' of Krsna. He would say, "O, You are doing wrong, You should it do it like this."

Once, when Mahaprabhu was singing: barahapidam nata-vara-vapu, Gadadhara Pandita quickly came and said, "O, You should do it like this:

barhapitam nata-vara-vapuh karnayoh karnikaram
bibhrad vasah kanaka-kapisam vaijayantim ca malam
randhran venor adhara-sudhayapurayan gopa-vrndair
vrndaranyam sva-pada-ramanam pravisad gita-kirtih

[''Wearing a peacock-feather ornament upon His head, blue karnikara flowers on His ears, a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and the Vaijayanti garland, Lord Krsna exhibited His transcendental form as the greatest of dancers as He entered the forest of Vrndavana, beautifying it with the marks of His footprints. He filled the holes of His flute with the nectar of His lips, and the cowherd boys sang His glories.'' (SB. 10.21.5)]

Although Sri Krsna as Mahaprabhu was perspiring, His heart melting, and His tears falling like heavy rain, there was some defect in Krsna, and Gadadhara Pandita therefore instructed Him.

To think that Lord Sri Krsna had taken away the beauty and intrinsic leftwing mood of Radhika to become Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and that Gadadhara Pandita had thus become Rukmini, is quite wrong. It is not like this.

Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja came for the same object and mission as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu – the jivas should be given raga marga. They should know the identity of Srimati Radhika and the nature of all Her moods. However, when Srila Swami Maharaja came to New Jersey, Boston, and New York, he realized that he had to cut so many jungles. If the land is not fertile, how can the seed of this bhakti be given? The jungles were very dense and wild, with so many wild beasts, dangerous animals and poisonous snakes. It took time, but Srila Swami Maharaja kept everything reserved in his books. He told his disciples to read about the life and character of Prahlada Maharaja, Citraketu Maharaja, and others. He had so little time, because the bell rang and Krsna called him: ''I cannot remain without you. I need your service. Please come at once.'' He was then bound to go to his Prabhu. He has given everything in his books.

Yes, he has given everything, but you will have to go deep into them, through any pure Vaisnava:

yaha bhagavat pada vaisnavera sthane
ekanta asraya kara caitanya carane
(Antya-lila 5. 131

["'If you want to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam,' he said, 'you must approach a self-realized Vaisnava and hear from him. You can do this when you have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.'"]

[The second excerpt is from a lecture given by Srila Narayana Maharaja on the morning of July 8, 2000. There, Srila Narayana Maharaja explained the essence of Sriman Mahaprabhu's appearance in a most interesting way:]

Lord Sri Krsna is the supreme almighty, but if you go deep into the scriptures you will see so many more things about Him, as given us by Srila Rupa Gosvami. Sri Krsna wanted to attract the fallen souls to Him, and He wanted to give the ocean of rasa, Srimati Radhika's mahabhava, to the world – but He could not. He could only give His own love, not love TO Him, which only Radhika has in completeness. He would therefore have to steal Her beauty and mood. He could not steal it, however, because Radhika is always alert and more clever and intelligent than Him. He could only have the wish, and therefore He had to beg Her. Her sakhis were also present when He prayed, "I beg Your mercy, Your beauty and Your mahabhava." Srimati Radhika replied, "Yes, I'm donating it for some time, but You will have to attend the class of My sakhis (Visakha devi in the form of Sri Ramananda Raya, and Lalita in the form of Sri Svarupa Damodara) so that they can sprinkle that upon You. And I will also be there (as Sri Gadadhara Pandita). Krsna was thus able to come and give what no other incarnation or acarya gave before: manjari bhava, direct service to Srimati Radhika as Her maidservant.

Transcriber: Padmavati dasi
Typist: Premavati dasi
Editor: Syamarani dasi