Rays of The Harmonist
- Symptoms of Degradation
- "There is no way I can imagine a separate institution"
- Why are we not realizing Bhagavān?
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝Unnecessary gossip about others (paracarcā) and acts of hypocrisy and deceit (kuṭīnāṭī) are symptoms of degradation. These disturbances are bound to occur if there is no taste for harināma and hari-kathā. Those who are desirous of progressing in hari-bhajana must keep distance from the association of anyone who indulges in paracarcā. If they don’t, the dirtiness of their hearts can also affect the hearts of those associating with them.❞ ..
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by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Vāmana Gosvāmī Māhārāja
❝Many preaching centres of the Gauḍīya Maṭha have been established today in the East and West, yet I consider all of them to be a single indivisible unit. I know those who have been favoured by jagad-guru Śrīla Sarasvatī Prabhupāda and those who are his disciples and grand-disciples to be my own people, and I convey my obeisance to them, knowing them to be Gauḍīyas. I know every Vaiṣṇava who is bathed in the current of Śrī Gaura-vāṇī-vinoda (the delight of Śrī Gaura’s message) to be my supreme well-wishing friend and most intimate relative, but there is no way I can imagine a separate institution.❞ ...
Read Moreby Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda
❝Service to the devotees promises more than service to the Lord Himself. The association of the bhaktas is even more beneficial than the association of the Lord. The living place of the bhakta, the abode of śrīla gurudeva, is more favourable for śuddha-bhajana (pure, loving devotional service) than the abode of the Lord.❞ ...
Read MoreDisappearance Day of Srila Bhaktivedanta Vamana Maharaja
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We have heard from Vedic scriptures and Guru that when a high-class Vaisnava is speaking hari-katha, we should think, "It is better not to perform parikrama of Govardhana, or Navadvipa, or anywhere else. Better that I hear hari-katha." Sri Giriraja Govardhana will give us His mercy only after the Vaisnavas have given us their mercy. Govardhana will not speak to us or instruct us, and therefore our hearts will not be so rapidly purified...
The Disappearance Day of Srila Bhaktivedanta Vamana Gosvami Maharaja
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According to the degree of love and affection towards someone, one will experience that much separation for a person. The gopis had so much affection for Sri Krsna, and that is why they felt so much separation when He went to Mathura. We have read about the various stages of their separation in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and other scriptures...
The Five Principles of Raganuga-Bhakti
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We have completed the explanations of the first two slokas quoted and discussed by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his Raga-vartma-candrika, but in summary. The first sloka is:
krsnam smaran janam casya prestham nija samihitam
tat tat katha ratas casau kuryad vasam vraje sada
What’s Favorable For Raganuga-bhakti?
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First I explained abhista-bhava-mayi, which may be in an unripe or ripe stage. In the stage of sadhana it is the absorption that "We are gopis;" and in the siddha stage we will actually become gopis. In both cases, it is abhista-bhava-mayi.
Manasi Ganga And The Secret Of Giriraja Govardhana
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We have come here to Manasi Ganga, which is like the mouth of Sri Giriraja Govardhana. His shape resembles that of a cow, or a peacock, and the lower extremity at Puchari (or Punchari) is like the raised tail of the peacock or the raised hindquarters of the cow. At this end are Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda, which are like the eyes of the peacock. Sometimes, when a peacock is dancing, it will raise its back very high and gracefully bend its long neck back towards the stomach...
Celebration of Dipvali and Annakuta
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On the day of Amavasya we observe the festival of Dipavali. What is the meaning of Dipavali? "Tamaso ma, jyotir gamaya – Do not remain in darkness, come to the light." The meaning is that this world is of mahamaya, or illusion, and it is full of darkness. We conditioned souls are all in darkness...
Calling Us To Govardhana
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We are very lucky that by the causeless mercy of our Gurudeva, Gauranga, Nityananda Prabhu, and Radha-Vinoda-bihari we have now completed our parikrama of Vrndavana, Madhuvana, Talavana, Kumudavana, and Bahulavana, and then Bhadravana, Bhandiravana, Matavana, Baelvana, Lohavana, and Mahavana under the guidance of Vaisnavas.
Govardhana Annakuta
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Today, Annakuta Mohotsava, is a very auspicious day. This day is observed in India during the month of Kartika. Many of Krsna's other sweet pastimes were also performed in the month of Kartika. In this month, under the guidance of Nanda Baba, the Vrajavasis observed Govardhana puja. They did this, having given up the puja of Indradeva, and that resulted in Krsna lifting Govardhana Hill on His little finger...
Sri Vraja-Mandala Parikrama At Govardhana
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Today we are here at Govardhana. Giriraja Govardhana is very kind; he is causelessly merciful. I came here for the first time in 1947 with my Gurudeva, Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja. At that time we were engaged in the performance of Dvaraka parikrama, and we came here briefly while on that parikrama. Since then I have done Vrndavana Parikrama every year for the last fifty-five years...
Dipavali - The Festival of Lights
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Why do we celebrate Dipavali, and in what mood is it celebrated by Vrajavasis?
Dipavali means 'a time of happiness.' When Lord Rama defeated Ravana and reached Ayodhya, a big Dipavali festival was performed there...
With Greed In The Center
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Abhista-bhava-mayi: Whatever practices we execute at the time of our sadhana (the practice executed to attain our goal) will be the same at the time of sadhya (the goal of life, the stage of siddhi, perfection). Sadhakas remember Krsna, Govinda, now, at the time of their sadhana, and they will do so in siddha-sarira (spiritual form as a gopi-manjari) as well. Both remembrances are the same, but one is unripe and the other will be ripe. The subject of the mood will never change, just as kirtana will never be changed, whether in the stage of sadhana or siddha. The sadhakas' absorption in their constitutional mood is called abhista-bhava-mayi.
Sri Guru’s Spiritual Form
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This is the third of the three important slokas discussed by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his Rag-vartma-candrika:
sravanotkirtanadini vaidhi-bhakty uditani tu
yany angani ca tanyatra vijneyani manisibhih
About Songs and So On
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Brahma told Narada, Narada told Vyasa, and Vyasa told Sukadeva Gosvami. The knowledge is coming in parampara. By this we can know the real explanation of Srimad-Bhagavatam and the Upanisads, and that bhakti is the fruit of all the Upanisads, Vedanta, and so on. The guru-parampara has manifested this in this world, so you should know it. If you don't know all these things, then vraja-rasa-bhakti will not come to you...
To Be Covered By Sweetness
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As Lalita trains Srimati Radhika in this way [for Radhika’s naocturnal meeting with Sri Krsna], Rupa Manjari watches, and our guru in this world, as sakhi-manjari in that world, also watches.
The Goal - Vilap-kusumanjali
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In this world we have a guru and we are his disciples, but in raganuga-bhakti (internally) the guru is like a friend. Visrambhena gurau seva. In the spiritual realm, there is no formal relation of guru and disciple as there is in this world. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami used to address Srila Rupa Gosvami as guru, and he respected him as such. Inwardly, however, he saw him as a sakhi, as Rupa-manjari, as he will further reveal in the third verse...
Illuminating the Path to Ragatmika-bhakti
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This surrender and complete dedication of the heart to guru is called tadatmya (oneness of heart) in Sanskrit. When an iron rod is placed in fire, the qualities of the fire enter the iron. When fire permeates an iron rod it is the fire that burns other objects; it is not that the iron rod burns other objects; The iron rod may ‘consider,’ “I am fire,” in the sense that the qualities of the iron have become one with the qualities of the fire; it now does the work of fire.
