Nama Om…
Hari Haraaya Naama Krishna Yadavaya Naamahari, Gopal Govinda Ram Sri Madhusudhan
Mukham karoti vaachalam…
So in India today is the New Year eve. Krishnabdha, In the Christian calculation. There are many different yearly calculations. Tamil Nadu, they observe Pongal and the day before Pongal they burn the old things. There is smoke all over the city. They take it symbolic as getting rid of the old things of the old year which they don’t want. The next day, the day of Pongal they give gifts to each other. So they all wear new clothes and usually on that day we have our Ratha Yatra. Many people participate. So we heard that in Kolkata and Mayapur it is 11 degrees Celsius and here in Chennai it is about 30 degrees Celsius. So as South India is very close to the equator, it is much warmer. And Mayapur is just on the Tropic of Cancer, so beyond that becomes sub-tropical and Mayapur is just the limit of the Tropics.
So I was listening to a class that Prabhupad gave in Boston. He told the Boston people that you are not Americans, you are not the body and the body stays sometimes and then in perishes. But the soul never dies. So then he said it is very important that everybody chant the Hare Krishna maha mantra. It is only three words – Hare, Krishna and Rama. So even a child can say this. Three words – Hare, Krishna and Rama. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! (Guru maharaj did little kirtan then). So this evening I went to see where the devotees are staying, they are staying in a multistoried high rise luxurious flat. It has five bedrooms and so we made a surprise visit. I was happy to see how the devotees were staying. As the living room is very big, you can have a program there also. And I got some message from a devotee how he was active during the Damodar month. So I hope that all the temples will send their scores in to the CDM – Congregational Development Ministry. Most temples have already sent but some are still pending. Those who have sent the total lamps offered exceed 2.5 million lamps and if we get the rest of the temples to send their results, then it will be very interesting. Prabhupad said to expand the Krishna consciousness propaganda unlimitedly. So this is a good step in the right direction. 2.5 million – that is a good result but we hope to see it increase year by year. Today my physical therapist returned and we did almost 300 exercises. So he is not coming tomorrow because he is going to pray for the auspicious new year, at least that is what he said! In Mayapur, from sunset to sunrise tonight, to usher in the New Year, they are having non-stop kirtan. And the guest houses are fully booked because people want to enter the new year in the auspicious vibration of chanting Hareeeee Krishna!! So Raseshwari and Shyama Madhavi devi dasis are doing a great austerity, coming down from Mayapur and cooking here, because my diet is like that. They have to wash all the plates in hot water, wash all the veggies in hot water. So it takes more time, more energy and we are having some preparations which I did not have before. Tonight we had some kind of Mexican preparation. I don’t know what it is called. A type of chapati made of corn flour or something. And that is rolled over to hold a variety of solid items, cottage cheese. (I would think that would be tortillas or burritos – this is my addition, Jayaraseshwari dd). So it was a whole meal in a sandwich. So we hope you leave all the bad habits in the last year, in the new year go to the temple and pray to the Lord and His consort for benediction of your awakening of love of Lord Krishna. So now we will have the compilation of the Krishna Caitanya book.
Srivas Pandit said we will all gather together at one place and do kirtan chanting the holy names of Lord Krishna, and let the sinful atheists say whatever they want to say, but we will not listen to them.
So in the Paadhyavali it is said as follows:
“Let the garrulous populace say whatever they like, we shall pay them no regard. Thoroughly maddened by the ecstasy of the intoxicating beverage of love for Krishna, we shall enjoy life running about, rolling on the ground and dancing in ecstasy.”
Haribol!
Srivas prabhu said the following words to mother Sachi:
“Give up all your anxieties and sadness”. So Srivas is telling mother Sachi to give up her anxieties and sadness. She should understand that her Son is not insane.
I tell you this is not insanity. He has achieved devotion to Krishna. Other people who are not devotees will not be able to understand this fact. Don’t tell all these things to the people who are not devotees. Krishna will reveal many secrets to you. So if mother Sachi starts going around and telling all these mysterious activities of her Son, then Krishna may reveal to her many of His secret, confidential, wonderful pastimes.
After speaking these words to mother Sachi, Srivas Pandit returned to his home. Sachi was relieved that her Son was not affected by madness.
Mother Sachi, she in any case, continued to feel anxiety inside her. Because she had a fear that eventually her Son may leave home. So thinking this, she felt fear.
So in this way Lord Vishwambhar He resided in Navadvip. If He doesn’t reveal who He is, who can know Him? So in the Shwetaswatara Upanishad it says that nobody knows the Supreme Lord, yet He is the knower and the object of knowledge. In the Mundaka Upanishad and Katha Upanishad, it is stated that the Lord is attained by the one who He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.29, Lord Brahma prays to Lord Krishna:
“My Lord if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.”
So Prabhupad was saying we should not try to see the Lord, we should act in such a way that He wants to see us. To see the President of a country is not so easy, but if he wants to see you, it is not very difficult for him. So we should try to serve guru and Krishna in such a way that Krishna wants to see us. Lord Caitanya is teaching how to serve Krishna in separation. This separation, this service attitude is something very special. Most people approach God, praying for some material benefits – raise in the salary, some profit or nice house, good marketing education, beautiful wife or husband and so many material things. But when they actually serve the Lord wanting to be satisfied, that is a very rare thing. So Lord Caitanya is showing how this service attitude can awaken our love for Lord Krishna.
That was the last verse of the chapter of Srivas removes the speculation about the disease of Nimai. Gauuuuurrrruuuuuunnnnngaaa!
Any questions?
Let me wish you a happy new year in advance!! I will see you next year!!
Names of devotees attending online were read by repeater.
Question: Rasamanjari devi dasi: how we can explain to a non-devotee about the service attitude to Krishna or God?
Guru maharaj: How we saw Prabhupad would explain it this way – he would demonstrate how the person was serving different people throughout his life. Serving the parents, serving one’s dog, serving, one’s relatives, serving one’s friends and going on and on with all the services we do. If we are in a job, we serve our boss, so our nature is that we are servitors. But actually the person we should be serving is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And by serving Him, since we are part of Him, we naturally feel happy and satisfied. When the devotees in New York first in the Matchless Gifts ashram, Prabhupad said you should bow down. Then someone asked, well, why should we bow down? Prabhupad answered, if you do it, you will know. Then he did it and he said, oh! now I know! Because it is our position to bow down before God and God’s representative, and when we do that we feel happy.
There are piles of flowers and hearts (Guru maharaj referring to the online messages.)
Q: Lalitha Karthikeyan: Separation seems to be painful as we see Lord Caitanya and mother Sachi and devotees in separation. How to understand it is ecstatic and blissful?
Guru maharaj: You see, in the spiritual reality, there is no difference between union and separation. Because both are focused on the Absolute Truth. And because when one is feeling separation, they would be more focused. Sometimes in the presence of guru or Krishna, someone is thinking something else. What is for dinner? When will the class get over? So many things. But when we feel separation, nothing else is in the mind, we just want to be with that person. Lord Caitanya when He would feel separation, His hairs on His body would stand on end, He would get quivering in His body, He would cry in ecstasy, His voice would be choked up, sometimes He would fall unconscious on the ground. So these may seem like suffering, but a moment of that separation or suffering is more valuable than a lifetime of material sense gratification. Because that separation is something real and that is a manifestation of love of Krishna and that is what Krishna reciprocates with us. If we have love for Krishna, then He reciprocates.
Are there are any prasadam?
Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
31 December 2018