Go Deeper

Verse 4 of Sri Siksastakam
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the golden avatar of Lord Sri Krishna, appeared on this earth just 520 years ago, and displayed his pastimes as a devotee, one madly searching after Himself.
He instructed his disciples and followers to write hundreds of volumes of books on philosophy. But He Himself left only Eight Beautiful
Verses of Instruction.

Here in the blog, i present one verse per day over the next eight days. Feel free to comment on these verses. They contain the complete theory and practice of pure love for God, from the lips of Sri Krishna Caitanya, God in the role of His own devotee.

na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagad-isa kamaye
mama janmani janmanisvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi

Dear Lord, as the controller of the universe you fulfill everyone's desires.
But i’m not asking you for any material desire.
I don’t want wealth, fame, followers, beautiful companions or heavenly surroundings.
I want only one thing:
let me serve you, Lord, with intense love,
in this life, and in all my lives, birth after birth.

Commentary:
As the universal Supersoul, Krishna stays with each jiva soul as they wander thru all species of life. He inspires and fulfills everyone’s needs in this karmic world. He also witnesses everyone’s actions and He is the subtle controller of the universe, directing His material energy and its administrators, the demigods. This is the reality behind the mask of maya, and this is how a devotee sees the world.

Desire is part of the intrinsic nature of the living being. To desire is to be; it's not false or illusory. Everyone wants to fulfill their desires. But a devotee gradually transforms their desires from selfish, material ones into pure, spiritual ones. In the beginning stage, a devotee approaches the Lord to fulfill his/her own desires, or to relieve himself or herself of distress. "God, please help me; i'm suffering." Or "God, give us our daily bread." And our iPods, laptops and other comforts of life.

In the middle stage, a devotee “dovetails” his/her desires and interests to do work on behalf of Krishna. A musician plays music and does kirtan for Krishna, a carpenter builds altars or renovates temples, a writer writes to enlighten his readers on how to connect with Krishna. However, a devotee is careful never to aspire for wealth or prestige. Sometimes these things may come to him, by his karma, or thru his service on behalf of Krishna. But he/she never collects money or followers by making himself look advanced. He/she sees material opulences like money and prestige as "weeds" growing alongside the beautiful creeper of bhakti, and is careful not to cultivate them, as they are potentially harmful to the growth of the tender bhakti creeper.

When a devotee reaches a high level of bhakti thru practice and the grace of a pure devotee, he/she no longer prays for anything material. Even liberation from the material world and oneness with God is seen as something without any value. The only desire that remains for the advanced devotee is for service and devotion — love itself— because the devotee experiences a taste from bhakti higher and more sublime than anything else. Motivation from this point forward is only to please the Lord and his pure devotees, and thus increase the sadhaka’s taste for bhakti.

This prayer by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches us to deepen our serving mood to the extreme, by removing any kind of business exchange between us and the Lord. All material considerations are to be dropped. All self promotion is to be stopped. Now the only business remaining is service, sweetness and love between the devotee and Krishna. This is the standard of bhakti taught by Lord Caitanya and all His bona-fide followers. This standard was practiced by all the acaryas in the line coming from Sri Caitanya, including our own divine master, om visnupada paramhamsa A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Anyone who claims to be a follower must act according to this example.

Secret Key to Perfection

Verse 3 of Sri Siksastakam
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the golden avatar of Lord Sri Krishna, appeared on this earth just 520 years ago, and displayed his pastimes as a devotee, one madly searching after Himself.
He instructed his disciples and followers to write hundreds of volumes of books on philosophy. But He Himself left only Eight Beautiful
Verses of Instruction.
Here in the blog, i present one verse per day over the next eight days. Feel free to comment on these verses. They contain the complete theory and practice of pure love for God, from the lips of Sri Krishna Caitanya, God in the role of His own devotee.

trnad api sunicena
taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniya sada harih

Translation:
When will i feel more humble than the grass?
When will i learn to be tolerant, just like a tree?
When will i not seek respect from others?
When will i offer respect to everyone?
When I can act like this, i shall constantly chant the names of Lord Hari!

Commentary:
Grass bends when you step on it, but then returns to its standing position. Real humility means to take shelter of sad-guru and never again become proud of our false self. A tree tolerates excess heat and cold, abuse and even its own destruction, without reacting or defending itself.

We wish to receive honor from others because it feeds the conceit of our false self’s importance. We judge others according to our exploitive mind, giving some respect, some indifference, and some hatred. If we see all living beings as spirit souls we can respect everyone as equal in quality.

When we acquire these qualities of humility, tolerance, detachment and respect for others, then we are free to chant the holy names of the Lord constantly.

This verse of Sri Siksastakam is said to be the "siddhi pranali mantra" -- the key to attaining a perfect spiritual body.

Lamentation of a Devotee

Verse 2 of Sri Siksastakam
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the golden avatar of Lord Sri Krishna, appeared on this earth just 520 years ago, and displayed his pastimes as a devotee, one madly searching after Himself.
He instructed his disciples and followers to write hundreds of volumes of books on philosophy. But He Himself left only Eight Beautiful
Verses of Instruction.
Here in the blog, i present one verse per day over the next eight days. Feel free to comment on these verses. They contain the complete theory and practice of pure love for God, from the lips of Sri Krishna Caitanya, God in the role of His own devotee.

namnam akari bahudha nija sarva saktis
tatrapita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrisi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah

Translation & Commentary:

Your holy names appear in a variety of forms and languages.
And you invest all your personal powers in them.

(Your names have infinite power to purify and attract the soul, because They are non-different from you, the all-attractive Supreme Soul.)

And my Lord, you make no restrictions of time or place
for remembering your divine names.

(There is no need for a priest or moderator, for qualification,
or for being a member of any caste or creed.)

Your mercy is unequalled, Bhagavan.

But my condition is most unfortunate!

Despite your generosity, I have not become attached to any of your names!!

Saturating the Soul in Ecstasy

Verse 1 of Sri Siksastakam
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the golden avatar of Lord Sri Krishna,
appeared on this earth just 520 years ago, and displayed his pastimes as a devotee, one madly searching after Himself.
He instructed his disciples and followers to write hundreds of volumes
of books on philosophy. But He Himself left only Eight Beautiful
Verses of Instruction.
Here in the blog, i present one verse per day over the next eight days.
Feel free to comment on these verses. They contain the complete theory and practice of prema bhakti- pure love- from the lips of Sri Krishna Caitanya,
God in the role of His own devotee.

ceto darpana marjanam
bhava maha davagni nirvapanam
sreyah kairava candrika vitaranam
vidya vadhu jivanam
anandambudhi vardhanam
prati padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma snapanam
param vijayate sri krsna sankirtanam

Supreme glory to the practice of Sri Krishna sankirtan, the chanting of the holy names of God.
This practice cleanses the mirror of the mind,
making the mind transparent.
As a downpour extinguishes a raging forest fire, this practice floods the internal fires of exploitation and alienation burning in the heart,
putting them out forever.
As cooling moonbeams open a white lotus flower at night,
this practice gently spreads the lotus of good fortune
(to one lost in darkness).
This practice is the beautiful young bride of realization.
It expands the infinite ocean of bliss.
Chanting the divine names gives one a taste of pure nectar at each step, completely saturating the soul in ecstasy.

Summit of Compassion

drstah sprstah kirtitah samsmrto va
durasthairapyanato vadrito va
premnah saram datumiso ya ekah
sri caitanyam naumi devam dayalum

Sri Caitanya Candramrtam (verse 4)
by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakur

I sing the glories of the infinitely merciful Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya.
He alone is able to reward the essence of all spiritual loving exchanges to one who sees or touches him.
Although it is very difficult to see him or touch him, he comes forward and embraces everyone he comes across.
Even if one only glorifies or remembers him, offers obeisances to him or thinks of him affectionately from a remote distance, Sri Sacinandana offers that person the most rare spiritual perfection, Krsna prema.
His divine play is to relish the taste of prema of Himself and distribute that prema to others.
He is the Supreme Person, uniquely beautiful and charming.
He is the summit of compassion.

On Humility

Srila Prabhupada is "Siksa Guru Extraordinaire." He was constantly instructing his disciples both in person and thru his books and correspondence. Beyond that, he taught as a true Acarya, thru his personal example. He was extremely humble. Here in this excerpt of a letter to his disciple, Paramananda, (June 17, 1970), he expresses his natural humility:

“You have rightly observed that I am simply trying to execute the order of my Spiritual Master. Whatever is being done it is not on account of my intelligence or endeavor because I am simply an instrument in the hands of my Spiritual Master. I do not know how far I have got the capacity to carry His order, but I may say that I have a sincere desire to do it.”

Then Prabhupada uses his own example of humility to instruct his disciple about the secret of developing love of Krishna:

“This is Parampara system. If a student tries to satisfy his immediate Acarya or the Spiritual Master, that is the only qualification for advancing in Krsna consciousness. This is explained in the Guruvastakam -- yasya prasadad bhagavata prasado.”

Prabhupada quotes the verse by Srila Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur that he taught his disciples to sing daily at mangal aratik:

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto pi

“By whose grace (the guru), the Lord’s grace is received.
Without whose grace, there is no shelter anywhere.”

The secret of how to get the blessings of Krishna, Prabhupada explains to Paramananda, is to take shelter of guru. There is no other way, no shortcut. And to take shelter of guru, the disciple must feel himself helpless. This is humility.

Prabhupada in Paris

Morning Walk in Paris, 11 June 1974

Paramahamsa: My question is: A pure devotee, when he comments Bhagavad-gita, someone who never sees him physically, but he just comes in contact with his commentary, explanation, is this the same thing?

Prabhupada: Yes. You can associate with Krsna by reading Bhagavad-gita. And these saintly persons, they have given their explanations, comments. So where is the difficulty? Everyone is helping you.

(Editor’s note: Srila Prabhupada says you can get help from the previous acaryas—Prabhupada refers to them here as ‘saintly persons’—in the form of their commentaries. So associate with pure devotees and Krishna by reading their words, Prabhupada is saying here.)

Pusta-krsna: You've said that the Bhagavad-gita is Krsna's mind.

Prabhupada: Bhagavad-gita is Krsna. Krsna is not different from His mind. Why do you say like that? This is material conception, the soul is different from body, the mind is different from soul. But Krsna has no such difference. Therefore He's called absolute. Advaya-jnana. His mind and Krsna are the same. Krsna and His name is the same. Krsna and His words are the same. This is Krsna understanding.

Paramahamsa: Is that why Christ didn't utter the name of Krsna?

Prabhupada: No, he said, "Hallowed be Thy name. Hallowed be Thy name." So there is name already. That means he gave you chance to find out the name. And as he came to India, so you come to India and you'll get the name.

Pusta-krsna: He was helping to lay the foundation for sankirtana movement.

Prabhupada: Yes. "Hallowed be Thy name." Yes. This is a chance for others to think, "Hallowed be Thy name." The name is glorified. "So where the name is glorified? Find out."

Prabhupada: What is that prayer?

Pusta-krsna: One devotee, he asked to Christ, "How should I pray?"
He said, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever."

Prabhupada: Very nice prayer. Very nice prayer. (pause)

Pusta-krsna: This is vandanam. Yes, Srila Prabhupada?

Prabhupada: Hmm.

Nitai: Srila Prabhupada, is there some gradual development in all those nine processes of devotional service, beginning from hearing?

Prabhupada: Yes. Adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sangah [Cc. Madhya 23.14-15]. This chanting and hearing should be in the association of devotees. First of all, one must have faith that chanting is good. Then he should chant in the society of the devotees. Then it will develop. He can chant anywhere. But if he chants along... Therefore sankirtana. Bahubhir milita. Many devotees, chanting together, that is called sankirtana. So one, our movement is sankirtana movement, many devotees together would chant the holy name of God. Then it is very quickly successful. Just like a person who comes to our center in the association of the devotees, after few weeks, he also becomes devotee. Quickly. And there are many others, they are seeing that there is a group like this, but because they do not come, they do not understand. Therefore the quick development process is to execute devotional service in the association of devotees, sadhu-sanga:
sadhu-sanga, sadhu-sanga -- sarva-sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya
 [Cc. Madhya 22.54]

Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that sadhu-sanga, association of devotees, is very, very important. Even for a moment, if there is association, he immediately comes to the path of perfection. (pause) So if you actually remain a sadhu, devotee, then anyone who will come with your association, he'll be perfect by association. Means, this process of perfection will begin immediately.