[In most of his morning and evening classes given during the
Kartika parikrama this year, Srila Narayana Maharaja read from his
Hindi translations and commentaries of Sri Manah-siksa, Sri Bhajana-rahasya
and Sri Vraja-mandala Parikrama; and every ten minutes or so he called
on Sripad Aranya Maharaja to translate what he had just read.
Sripad Aranya Maharaja also mostly read from the English translations
of those books, and now and then translated Srila Maharaja's additional
words.
Sometimes Srila Maharaja spoke additional katha, but for
the most part he read. He completed the entire Manah-siksa (twelve
verses) and also the fifth and sixth chapters of Bhajana-rahasya (dealing
with the subjects of the stages of asakti and bhava (attachment to
Srimati Radhika and Lord Krsna and transcendental emotions in relation
to Their service). His evening readings of the Vraja-mandala Parikrama
book coincided with the places visited by the international parikrama
pilgrims earlier that day.
You will be gradually receiving the classes and parts of
the classes in which Srila Maharaja did not do readings. In his
final class he glorified sadhu-sanga; so in the meantime, until those
classes are ready, kindly accept this belated transcripiton of his
class on the same subject, given on his recent visit to Italy.]
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written in his song, Kabe Aha Gauranga
Baliya:
vaisnava dekhiya, padiba carane, hrdayera bandhu jani
vaisnava thakura, prabhura kirtana, dekhaibe dasa mani
"Seeing a Vaisnava devotee, I will fall at his lotus feet, knowing
him to be the only true friend of my heart. Accepting me as his servant,
the venerable devotee will then reveal to me the most confidential
kirtana for worshiping the Lord. (verse 5)]
Here, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura is glorifying sadhu-sanga. Hrdayera
bandhu: there is no one in this entire world more dear than that Vaisnava.
Worldly fathers, mothers and other relatives are dear, but not as
dear as that Vaisnava. They may also give suffering; but a sadhu will
take away all your sufferings. For this reason the scriptures tell
us:
‘sadhu-sanga', ‘sadhu-sanga' – sarva-sastre kaya
lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya
["The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment's
association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success."
(Caitanya-Caritamrta, Madya, 22.54)]
Sarva-siddhi haya. Even by one moment's association with such sadhus,
all of one's desires will be fulfilled. It is not worldly desires
that are referred to here: "O Lord Krsna, I want to marry. Please
help me." "All desires" means the best among all desires:
"O Lord Krsna, please take me to the shelter of Your lotus feet
and give me vraja-bhakti."
This is confirmed in the following verse from Sri Brhad-Bhagavatamrta:
mahat-sangama-mahatmyam
evaitat paramadbhutam
krtartho yena vipro 'sau
sadyo 'bhut tat-svarupavat
["The glory of mahat-sanga is super-astounding. By the influence
of that glory, Jana Sarma's life immediately became successful, like
that of his Guru, Svarupa. He became a personal friend of Sri Krsna
by the association of Svarupa, who was known as Gopa Kumara in this
world. That he immediately attained bhagavat-prema demonstrated the
immense value of association with a great personality. Just like Svarupa,
within an instance that brahmana felt fully gratified. (Sri Brhad-Bhagavatamrta
2.7.14)]
By the time the Mahabharata battle was over, Duryodhana and his ninety-nine
brothers had been killed. On the side of the Pandavas only six were
remaining – the five Pandavas and Lord Krsna. On the side of
Duryodhana only three remained –Krpacarya, Krtavarma and Asvattama.
All others were put to death – top to bottom.
Vidura had left home before the war began, because Duryodana was opposed
to his devotion to Lord Krsna. Rejecting that place, he gave up his
bow and arrow and crown and said, "I have nothing to do with
anything or any place that has no relation with krsna-bhakti”.
He then traveled to Ayodhya, Dvaraka and Mathura.
The battle was finished in eighteen days, after that Vidura returned
to Maharaja Yudhisthira's palace in Indraprastha, and from there he
went to Hastinapura. When he arrived there, all his family members
became very happy and they felt as if their life had returned to them.
All the Pandavas had been weeping in separation of him, and now he
had returned.
He had come only momentarily, however, because he had left his old
life and was now a sannyasi – and more than that – a paramahamsa.
He went to meet Maharaja Dhrtarastra, who was now in Hastinapura under
the care of Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula, Sahadeva and Yudhisthira. He had
come in the dead of night, around midnight, and told Dhrtarastra,
"Why are you still staying here? What do you want? All your sons
have been killed. All your divisions of soldiers have been destroyed.
What more do you want done to you?" Dhrtarastra replied, "What
can I do? I am blind!" Vidura replied, "Yes, you are really
blind. You are blind externally, by your eyes, and you are also blind
internally. From today onwards you should give up this palatial building,
and come with me." "How can I?" "Oh, you can.
I will help you. You are like a dog to whom Bhima throws some bread
and calls to you, "Tututututu." You have no shame at all!
No shame at all! You are a shameless person." Dhrtarastra began
to weep and asked, "What should I do?" Vidura said, "Come
with me; we should leave in the midnight hour. I will take you to
Haridwara and to Hrsikesa, to the very deep jungle forest. And there
you will meditate on Krsna." Dhrtarastra replied, "I am
ready."
Then Dhrtarastra, his wife Gandhari, and Kunti-devi, the mother of
the Pandavas, fled from the back door. They went to Haridwara and
after that they went to Hrsikesa. They took bath in the Ganges River,
Vidura taught him how to meditate on the mantra of Krsna, and they
began to chant, "Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya." After fifteen
days they became very lean and thin. They had stopped taking their
meals and were now always remembering their mantra – chanting
and meditating. While Dhrtarastra was meditating, a mystic fire emanated
from his body, and his body was consumed in that fire. While outside
observing her husband, who burned in the fire of mystic power
along with his thatched cottage, his chaste wife entered the
fire with rapt attention.
In this way, although Dhrtarastra had been an enemy of Sri Krsna's
pure devotees, the Pandavas, by the mercy of a pure devotee like Vidura,
he was delivered.
In Srila Sanatana Gosvami's Brhad-bhagavatamrta, Gopa Kumara (who
is known as Svarupa in Krsna's pastimes) tells his personal history
to his disciple, the Mathura brahmana, Jana Sarma. Previous to this,
Jana Sarma had executed no devotional practices to speak of –
like Pariksit Maharaja. Pariksit Maharaja heard Srimad-Bhagavatam
for only seven days and nights. He was only hearing. He did not practice
any of the other nine limbs of bhakti. However, simply by hearing,
he received gopi-bhava.
Jana Sarma heard all philosophical truths and all about Krsna's glories,
and he had no realization of what he had heard. However, when his
Gurudeva, Svarupa (in the form os Gopa-kumara), put his hand on his
head and said, "Oh, you should now realize all that I've spoken"
at once, in a moment, without any sadhana or bhajana, he saw Krsna's
abode and realized, "I am in Goloka Vrndavana, in Vraja."
Being situated in sakhya-rasa there, Krsna met him, embraced him,
and he fainted.
Svarupavat – he became just like Svarupa. And, if you will have
strong faith in sadhu-sanga, you can all become like that – by
that sadhu-sanga. So believe in this.
mahat-sangama-mahatmyam
evaitat paramadbhutam
krtartho yena vipro 'sau
sadyo 'bhut tat-svarupavat
["The glory of mahat-sanga is super-astounding. By the influence
of that glory, Jana Sarma's life immediately became successful, like
that of his Guru, Svarupa. He became a personal friend of Sri Krsna
by the association of Svarupa, who was known as Gopa Kumara in this
world. That he immediately attained bhagavat-prema demonstrated the
immense value of association with a great personality. Just like Svarupa,
within an instance that brahmana felt fully gratified." (Brhat-Bhagavatamrta
2.7.14)]
The glory of sadhu-sanga is so high, so extraordinary and wonderful,
that in a moment Jana Sarma became like his Guru, Svarupa, without
performing sadhana.
Svarupa was a personal associate of Krsna in Goloka Vrndavana, and
by the order of Srimati Radhika he came to help Jana Sarma. He is
an eternal associate with no need to have ever done sadhana and bhajana.
He is like Mother Yasoda and Nanda Baba, and like all the sakhis of
Srimati Radhika. It is not a fact that they previously did sadhana-bhajana,
as we must, and after that they became matured. However, as Gopa-Kumara,
he played the role of a conditioned soul doing sadhana and gradually
developing to perfection.
On the other hand, the Mathura brahmana was a conditioned soul. By
constitution he was an eternal sakha (cowherd friend) of Krsna, and
by the mercy of Gopa-kumara, Svarupa, he realized his pure form.
By nature we are all eternal associates of Krsna; we are transcendental.
But we are not realizing that now. Similarly, Jana Sarma was not realized,
but by the mercy of his nitya-parikara (eternal associate of Lord
Krsna) Guru, Svarupa, sent by Radhika from Goloka, he became the same
as him.
Mother Yasoda is eternally Krsna's mother. She never had to practice
bhakti-yoga to become so. As previously mentioned Svarupa was also
like that, but, as Gopa-kumara in this world he showed how conditioned
souls can become perfect by execution of sadhana coupled with the
mercy of the pure devotees.
There are two kinds of mercy (krpa): Vaisnava-krpa and Krsna-krpa.
There are two kinds of sraddha (faith): laukiki (material and weak)
and paramarthika (transcendental and powerful). Paramarthika-sraddha
is also of two kinds: vaidhi (regulative) and madurya (spontaneous,
with a transcendental greed to enter Vrndavana as a gopi). Do you
understand? The second kind is very, very difficult, and very rare.
From that type of sraddha, nistha, ruci, asakti, rati and prema comes
–and that prema is of the nature of ruddha, adhiruddha and madana.
How can we receive this? Only by the mercy of Krsna or His associate.
Without mercy we cannot do anything. Here we see that, like Gopa-kumara,
by sadhana our bhakti can gradually be matured in so many births in so
many kalpas (millenniums). And what became of Jana Sarma? By his Guru
placing his hands on his head, he at once closed his eyes, opened
them, and saw that he was not in this world but in transcendental
Goloka Vrndavana. He saw how Krsna was returning home from cow-herding,
he met Krsna, Krsna embraced him and he fainted.
How could this occur? One may have such a doubt. We have a Guru and
we are chanting, but we are not tasting any spiritual fruit. Why?
It is because there are so many defects in our bhakti. So how did
it happen that the impossible became possible – that at once,
in a moment, in a second, without any sadhana or bhajana, Jana Sarma
went to Goloka-Vrndavana and met with his friend Krsna, with Srimati
Yasoda devi and Nanda Baba, and with the gopis and all other Vrajavasis.
Don't doubt this. This was a miracle; you should believe this. Why
should you not doubt? Because if you doubt, your bhakti cannot
mature and you cannot become a real devotee.
anyabhilasita-sunyam
jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-
silanam bhaktir uttama
["The cultivation of activities that are meant exclusively for
the pleasure of Sri Krsna, or in other words the uninterrupted flow
of service to Sri Krsna, performed through all endeavours of the body,
mind and speech, and through the expression of various spiritual sentiments
(bhavas), which is not covered by jnana (knowledge aimed at impersonal
liberation) and karma (reward-seeking activity), and which is devoid
of all desires other than the aspiration to bring happiness to Sri
Krsna, is called uttama-bhakti, pure devotional service." (Sri
Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.11)]
Hear this very carefully. Whatever you do, do for Krsna. Be open;
quite open – not covered. If you want to hide anything from anyone,
if you want to do something but in a hidden way, it means you are
ashamed of what you are doing. If you are in sadhu-sanga and still
you want to hide something; this is an offense. You should have an
open book policy – having nothing to hide, being fully surrendered,
and not doing anything for yourselves. Then, if you will be in sadhu-sanga,
in a moment, by the grace of your Gurudeva this miracle will be possible
for you.
But Gurudeva should be of the quality of Svarupa. If Gurudeva is not
like him, he cannot give such blessings to his disciple. A guru can
help his disciple to the degree he himself is qualified. He can be
kind to his disciple to that degree.
I think that you are very, very lucky that you have come in the line
of Srila Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada. You should hear hari-katha
and become like him – whether you are in family life or you are
a brahmacari or sannyasi, it doesn't matter.
Editorial Advisors: Pujyapada Madhava Maharaja and Sripad Brajanatha
dasa
Transcriber: Janaki dasi
Editor: Syamarani dasi
Typist: Vasanti dasi
Bhakti Discourses 
