Janmashtami. SB.10.2.16
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Гита-нагари · 2023
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Welcome and significance of Janmashtami
Yam Pravra Jantamano Peta Mapetakrityam, Dwaipaya Navirahakatarajuhava Putreititan Mayatayotaravobinedus, Tam Sarva Bhuta Hridayam muniman no osmi Narae namaskriti na ramche rota maam, Deviam sara svatim vya sam, ta tou djayaam, di rayet, nashta pray Shabdrishu, nitam Bhagavat Sevaya, Bhagavatama sloka bhaktivati naishtiki.
So I'm very happy to congratulate you with this beautiful day of Janmashtamy, which is a very special day.
The results of any spiritual practice which are being done in this day magnify many faults because according to the understanding of Vedic astrology.
The special days, especially the days of appearances of some Krishna avatars, of Krishna Avatars in this world, they are not different from Krishna Himself.
By doing some devotional service on those particular tithis, especially if the constellations are also completely aligned with this particular Tithi, we get tremendous benefit because we come directly in contact with Krishna.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains that following particular days and observing certain rituals and certain vows on particular days, is the way of engaging time in the service of the Lord.
The time itself, the energy of the time, the power of the time is helping us to come closer to the Lord if we do everything properly. And of course, we know that the proper observance of such days is fasting.
And fasting is called Tupavas in Sanskrit, which basically does not mean that you starve yourself to death. Fasting means being closer to God. Literally it means up sitting close to God.
So fasting means you free yourself as much as possible from the ordinary material activities sleeping and what else is there eating, sleeping and of course mating and defending, you free yourself from this activity and try to bring your consciousness closer to God.
And for that, speaking about God from the scriptures, speaking about Krishna is the most important element.
Because by speaking about him, by the sound vibration of Hari Katha or Krishna Katha, we We are supposed to be transported into another realm. That's the mystery or the beauty of Krishna Katha.
If Krishna Katha is performed properly, it's not just ordinary talk. There is some transcendental potency, and as uh Sukadev Gaswami himself says that uh Krishna Katha like Ganga.
Ganga has a tremendous purifying effect, tremendous purifying power. So much so that even if somebody just uh sees Ganga, or even if somebody just uh says uh the word Ganga, he is already purified. Believe it or not.
You may not notice the effect of purification immediately because we are quite dull-headed. You know, those who are sensitive, they feel this purification immediately.
But those who are a little dull-headed they may need some stronger measures for purification like some good portion of sufferings or something like this. But again, Ganga has this tremendous effect.
Whoever takes passing Ganga, whoever remembers about Ganga, whoever sees Ganga, how she is flowing gracefully from Himalayas to the plains and how she is basically purifying everything on her way, or even whoever pronounces the name Ganga, he's being purified.
So Shukadev Gaswami says that in a similar way, whoever speaks katha, whoever listens katha, and whoever just happens to be there passing by where Katha is going on, and I believe there will be some passers-by in this Katha as well.
They three are being purified. But guess what? Somebody who speaks is purified to the utmost extent. Because he has to be attentive while speaking, you know. When you're sitting and listening, you don't have to be attentive.
Your mind may be in Ganga somewhere else. Not in the Katha.
But the full effect of purification by listening to Krishna Katha takes place if you are attentively present and the listener, attentive listener who is listening with face and reverence to what is being spoken, is definitely being purified.
And I personally have this experience, and I'm sure every one of you has this experience.
That when you come and when you come and you see it and you have problems, anxieties, uh troubles in your mind, in your life, and then you start speaking Krishna Katha, and somehow or other everything disappears.
If uh Katha really takes place. So this is actually how Lord Brahmā in Brahma-saṁhitā glorifies Krishna. Ananda Chinmaya Rasap, no, Anand Chinmaya Rasap Pranitah Mahā-pratibhab.
Prabhupati Bhavita Bi uh Tabiriya Eva Nij no no no not this one.
Another one ananda chinmaya rasa anyway anyway in this verse he says that smaranamu petis whoever is recollecting the beautiful Lilas of Krishna in his mind. The Lord Himself is freeing him from this material existence.
Recitation of Srimad Bhagavatam Tenth Canto
Anyway, maybe we will remember this beautiful verse a little later. So, again, after this introduction, let's uh first hear what Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks about this occasion.
And I will read one verse from the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the second chapter, or maybe two verses, two very important verses from the second chapter of the 10th canto which is called Prayers by the Demigods.
So let's chant together sixteenth verse Bhagavan Api Vishmatma Vishvatma Baktanam Abhayankaraha, Avishesha, Amsa, Bhagna, Manaha, Anakadundub hehe, Bhagavan ativishvatma, Bhagavan Ativishvatma, Bhaktanam Bhayankara, Bhaktanam Bhayankara, Sam Sabhena, Avisamh. Mana Anakadundubhek, Mana Anakadubh, Mana Anakadunbek, Bhagavan,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Hapi also. Vishvatma, the super soul of all living entities, Bhaktanam of his devotees, Abhayam Karaha always killing the causes of fear.
Avishesha entered Amshabhagina with all of his potential opulences. Shadai Swaryapurna Manaha in the mind anakadundubhakadun of Vasudeva Translation and purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.
Does the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Super Soul of all living entities, and who vanquishes all the fear of his devotees, enter the mind of Vasudeva in full opulence.
The word Vishvatma refers to one who is situated in everyone's heart. Ishvarah Sarva Bhutanam ghrit desher juna tishtati. In otherother meaning of Vishvatma is the only lovable object for everyone.
Because of forgetfulness of this object, people are suffering in this material world. But if one fortunately revives his old consciousness of loving Krishna and connects with Vishvatma, one becomes perfect.
The Lord is described in the third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as follows: Parāvareṣu mahad-aṁśa-yukto hy ajaḥ. There is one more word, very important word, which I will explain, which is missing here.
Although unborn, He is, uh, aja. He is aja. Even though he is unborn, the Lord, the master of parāvareṣu. Parāvareṣu.
He is the master of this material world, and He is the master of the transcendental world beyond this world.
Parāvareśo, the Lord and Master of Everything appears like born like a born child by entering the mind of the devotee. And very important word, yathāgni. He is like fire.
The Lord is already there within the mind. And this is important. He is already there. And consequently, it is not astonishing for him to appear as if born from a devotee's body.
The word āviśat significant that the Lord appears within the mind of Vāsudeva. Literally, He entered. Āviśat. There was no need for a discharge of semen.
It is the opinion of Śrīpāda Śrīdhara Svāmī and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura. And in the Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, says that consciousness was awakened within the mind of Vasudeva.
Śrīla Rāghavācārya also says that Vasudeva was one of the demigods and within his mind the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as an awakening of consciousness.
And I will also read this next verse which is very beautiful and important. I will skip Sanskrit.
While carrying the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead was in the core of his heart, Vasudeva bore the Lord transcendentally illuminating effulgence, and thus he became as bright as the sun.
He was therefore very difficult to see or approach through sensory perceptions.
Definition and significance of a holy Dhamma
Indeed, he was unapproachable and unperceivable even for such formidable men as Kamsa, not only for Kamsa, mas for all living entities. Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda. The word dhāma is significant.
Dhamma refers to the place where the Supreme Personality of Godhead resides. In the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said, dhāma svena sadā nirasta-kūhakam, satyam paraṁ dhīmahi.
In the abode of the Supreme Personality of God, there is no influence of material energy. Dhāma svena sadā nirasta-kūhakam.
Any place where the Supreme Personality of Godhead is present by His name, form, qualities, and paraphernalia immediately becomes a dhamma.
For example, we speak of Vrindavana Dhamma, Dvaraka Dhamma, Mathura Dhamma, Gita Nagari Dhamma. Because in these places the name, fame, qualities, and paraphernalia of the Supreme Godhead are always present.
Similarly, if one is empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to do something, the core of his heart becomes a dhamma. And thus one becomes so extraordinarily powerful
that not only his enemies, but also people in general are astonished to observe his activities. Because he is unapproachable, his enemies are simply struck
with wonder, as explained here by the words durāsadaḥ durasado ati durharas uh durdharṣaḥ. The word pauruṣaṁ dhāma has been explained by various ācāryas.
Śrī Vīrarāghava Ācārya says that these words refer to the effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vijaya Dvaja Tirtha says that they signify Vishnu Tejas. And Śukadeva says bhagavat-svarūpa.
This is a different Śukadeva, one of the commentators of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrī Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī of Sanātana Gosvāmī says that these words indicate the influence of the Supreme Lord's effulgence.
And Vishwanath Chakravati Thakur says that they simply uh they signify the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Okay Namaste Krishna
Praṣṭhāya Bhūtale Śrīmate Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Iti Nāmine, Namaste Saraswati Devi, Gauravani Pracarine, Nirvishesha Shunyavadi Paschatyadesha Tarine Vanchakalpatarubhyash cha kripasindhubhya eva cha Patitanam pavanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namah bevacha patitanam pavanibyo, vaisnaveby namu maha
Jaya Sri Krishna Chaitanya Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadadhara Srivasadi Gaura Bhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Yantah prawišsi ma vatch, mumpraçupta, sandziv, ja te ki la shakti daraus, vadam na nyam shastana,
Shravahadim, Prananda, Bhagawate, Purchae Dubi, Swash Vishwasi Kalah pra Sidatam Dayantu Bhutani Shivamithodiamanas Chabadram Bajata Dokshay
Universal process of the Lord's appearance
Adesha tamo mati rapya to ki. So here the immaculate conception of Devaki is being described in the next verse it will be exactly described how Sri
Krishna, who entered the mind of Vasudeva in the verses which we read from his mind is being transported into the mind of Devochi, and from the mind of Devochi he goes to her heart and ultimately to her womb.
We all know that religious people they like to speak about immaculate conceptions. But here is the real process of immaculate conception is being described in a very universal terms.
And ultimately, if we want to celebrate Janmashtami in the real sense of this world we have to conceive the Lord previously and on this day happily give birth to the Lord.
So here is the mechanism how we can become intimately related with the Lord as much as Basudef and Devaki became intimately related with him through their devotional service.
This mechanism, very beautiful mechanism, which we have to understand very clearly, is described by Krishna himself in the 11th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. And this is a universal mechanism.
It works every time when the Lord comes.
Whether He comes in His full fledged form, as it is said here, Shadashwariapurna, whether he comes and his avatar and manifests himself and his special bodh, his Dhamma, or whether he comes to us in some way or another, or manifest Himself for us in a particular form.
Sometimes the Lord becomes visible to everyone. When the Lord becomes visible to everyone it is called Avatar. Sarvepa Shyantu. Everyone can see me when this desire, when this sankalpa comes to the Lord's heart.
I want to become visible to everyone. This is called avatar, and then the Lord becomes visible. But then in our individual practice, He also manifests Himself.
And this manifestation has exactly the same mechanism as his manifestation in his full-fledged form as Bhagavan. As Avatar, when he comes as Krishna, as Rama, or as Varaha, or Vamanadev, or any other incarnation.
So he himself, please listen very carefully because this is very important and very beautiful and very scientific process which is described in the 11th Kanto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
The Lord Sri Bhagavanu Vacha, he himself says, Saisha Jiva Vivara Prasutihi. This jiva Krishna himself calls himself, he speaks about himself in the third person, Saicha Jiva.
This jiva, uh, jiva in this particular uh case does not mean individual soul. Jiva in this particular case means uh the Lord Himself, who enlivens everyone, who is the source of life. He is jiva.
Because of him, this world is full of life. Because of him, we are alive. Only because he is present in one way or another. As soon as he is not present, as soon as he abandons us, we will become dead.
We are already as if dead, you know, because we because of forgetfulness of him. So he himself calls himself I'm this living force which is enlivening everything and uh everyone.
Saiesha Jiva Vivara prasuti hi and uh I come I come uh into the body of the living entity or I come in this world pranena gashena Guham Pravishtaha. First he comes and then Manomayam Sukma Mupetiarupam
Matrasvara Varna iti Stavishtaha.
Transformation of sound vibration into form
Very beautiful, very interesting concept. He says that initially, my initial appearance in this world, I am appearing as the sound vibration.
It doesn't matter whether we're talking about the Avatar of the Lord, great Avatar of the Lord, or we're talking about his appearance in our individual life, the first Lord comes as the sound vibration.
And when He manifests Himself fully as the sound vibration, he takes over our prana. This is very clearly said here.
Sayesha jiva vira prasuti hi pranena goshenna guhampravi When the sound vibration, the meaning, the scientific meaning and the relevant meaning for us of this statement is that when the sound vibration of the holy name becomes so powerful and so prominently manifested within our life that it takes over our prana.
Whenavrana becomes one with the sound of the holy name. Like there is a beautiful story that once uh there was a uh god brother of Srila Prabhupada Kinshina Krishna Das Babaja Maharaj.
And he was famous in all Gaudiya Mat for his chanting of the holy name and he was always chanting, constantly chanting, non-stop.
So once he got a little sick, and uh they called an Ayurvedic doctor, an Ayurvedic doctor started taking his pulse to make a diagnosis. Ayurvedic doctors do. And for a long time he was taking and reading his pulse.
And then he looked at the people who were taking care of Babaji Maharaj and he said, there is no vata, there is no pitta, there is no kapha, there is only Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare.
There is nothing else in his pulse. Only this. So this is exactly what Krishna says here.
When the Holy Name, when the vibration of the Holy Name takes over our prana, uh takes taking over means becomes one with the prana, becomes unified with the prana.
When we start breathing the Holy Name, when the Holy Name is regulating or our activities according to the vibrations and the rhythm of the Holy Name, when this happens, then this is the first stage of manifestation of the Lord.
When this happens in our life, the presence of the Lord becomes very prominent.
And then from that, prāṇena ghoṣeṇa. First he comes as a ghoṣa. Ghoṣa means vibration. With the prana. So I was talking about this a little bit yesterday.
And then he said, guhaṁ praviṣṭāḥ manomayaḥ sūkṣma-rūpaḥ. Then after this, practically immediately or very soon, very quickly
The Lord uh guhaṁ praviṣṭāḥ. He uh enters into our heart uh manomayaḥ sūkṣma- rūpaḥ. In the subtle form, he comes within our mind.
So from the sound vibration which becomes one with the breeze of our life is prana, he enters our heart and enters our mind in a subtle form.
It basically means that from the sound we can see the manifestation of the Lord within the heart or within the mind.
Sometimes people they try to meditate on the Supreme Lord, they sit and they try to do this Buddhistic style of meditation and they just start imagining the Lord and you know this Leela or that Leela and uh you know sometimes they even smile, sometimes they snore uh as a result of this meditation.
This is not meditation. This is mockery. This is uh uh this is a completely wrong approach because we are trying to force the Supreme Lord to enter our mind.
He can enter our mind only Himself according to His sweet will when He wants it. And He will want it.
He will enter the mind and the heart very easily, spontaneously, on his own, very happily, when the mind and the heart are prepared for this.
And to prepare the mind and the heart for this, you first have to unify your prana with the sound vibration of the holy name.
So when this happened, after that, in his sūkṣma-rūpa, you know, you know, sūkṣma-rūpa of the Lord, the subtle form of the Lord, is know, Suksma Rupam of the Lord, the subtle form of the Lord, is not the mental form.
When we are imagining something, it's not sūkṣma-rūpa of the Lord. It's just very gross imagination, kalpana. We just, you know, this is not the Lord. This is a caricature of the Lord.
This is some, you know, some mockery of the Lord. The Lord can only come Himself by His own sweet will when the prana becomes purified, when the heart becomes purified, because our prana is purified.
And prana is purified because of the sound vibration of the Holy Name. So nothing else we have to do. Only chant the Holy Name sincerely with the heart, trying to unify prana with the Holy Name.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. But this is not the most amazing. The most amazing in the third stage of manifestation.
First, the Lord manifests us the vibration of the holy name in our prana, uh becoming unified with prana. Then he manifests himself, his līlā or his form or his qualities within our mind. Exactly like this.
First the name, and then his rūpa, guṇa, and līlā. And then it is said here, matrasvara varna it istavistaha. And then he takes gross form. Gross form means visible form. Gross form, the Lord is never gross.
He is the most sukmas, the most subtle of anything subtle. But gross form means he becomes visible outside. This is actually the dynamic which many great saints uh uh you know experience themselves.
This is not just theory uh this is uh the explanation of the Lord Himself how He comes. You know, He comes first as a sound vibration, then He takes over our heart.
First He takes over our pran, then He takes over our heart, and then He comes to us and he sits and he says, Hello, I'm here. You know, you called me.
Hari bol. So he comes in one form and another as a sphūrti, as some vision, or in a very tangible form, visible to our eyes.
Absence of fear upon divine manifestation
This is how the Lord comes, and as I said, this is the mechanism of his arrival of his coming into this world, whether he comes as Krishna himself or whether he comes individually to us in our personal spiritual experience.
So, and this is exactly what is being explained here. It is explained that after long struggle, long spiritual practice, a lot of sacrifices,
a lot of sufferings, which Vasudeva anakadundubhi underwent for the sake of the Lord. Ultimately the Lord whom he tried to remember in the form of his holy name entered his mind.
And it is explained here in the second verse, the Lord Viṣvātmā, He's already everywhere. He's Viṣvātmā. Viṣvātmā means that He is in the heart of every living entity. He is already in our heart.
Why is it said that he entered? This entrance of the Lord, whether he is entering in this world or he is entering within our mind or within our heart is that his presence becomes very tangibly felt within our existence.
It's one thing to have some idea or some concept that the Lord is there, yeah, maybe He is in my heart. But usually we don't feel that He is in the heart.
You know, usually we feel that, you know, somebody else is in the heart, or something else is in the heart. You know, it's a theory.
You know, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ, Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes this verse, īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ.
He is, yeah, he's he's but entering means we feel it, we understand it unmistakably, not believe in it, but feel it, understand it. And you know for that you have to pay the price.
Basically, the whole description of the previous verses beginning from the very beginning of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Bhagavatam is the description of what Vasudev Maharaj has to go through and what are his qualities.
You know, it's not a cheap thing that the Lord enters into your mind. It's a very amazing event.
And to stress this, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who sees this, he says that when this happened, Vasudev Maharaj became amazingly brilliant. So brilliant that people couldn't see him. You know, we know that when the sun is very bright, it blinds us.
So exactly the same thing happened because the Lord Himself personally, with all his energies, entered the mind of Vasudeva Mahārāja, he became unapproachable and all the fear went away. All the fear dissipated.
It's very, very important uh description uh which is relevant to us.
Uh when this miracle will happen to us and hopefully it will happen to us at one point of our spiritual practice, you know, the presence of the Lord, the first immediate presence of the Lord is felt by complete absence of fear.
I am completely fearless. I'm completely peaceful. And externally it manifests that we become brilliant.
You know, you've been to museums and all that, you know. Artists, they usually they depict all the saintly persons with some effulgence around them.
Whether the effulgence was there or not was not clear. But the effulgence is supposed to be there. The effulgence, the word effulgence in Sanskrit is dhāma.
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in the second purpūrta that when the Lord enters, he can only enter dhāma. Dhāma means home, house.
He can only enter his own home, his own house, his own place, and when he enters uh this place uh where he enters becomes brightly effulgent, becomes very effulgent. And this is exactly what is being explained.
So I mean when the Lord will enter your heart, don't be surprised that people will just will not even see you because you will just blind them by your effulgence.
It is said that even Kamsa was bewildered. Even Kamsa, his enemy, was completely bewildered.
But you know it would be nice if this would happen in the very beginning, but we know that actually before it happened, Vasudeva Mahārāja had to go through hell, basically.
You know, on the day of his wedding, we all know the story, so I will not go into details of this story. I will try to explain with some details another story which is not as well known as this one.
But we know that the whole story starts on the wedding day, which is supposed to be a very joyful occasion, and you know you are completely enamored by your bride who is very beautiful, Devakī was very beautiful, and he is the beautiful young prince, and she is the beautiful young princess.
And this is just you know, usually older the fairy tales they end at this point. But the fairy tale about Krishna starts with this point. To explain that, you know, this is not the end, this is the beginning of troubles.
So they are driving in this beautiful chariot, and Kamsa is of course there as a uh as the driver, and then, of course, the
Akashvani, the voice from the sky tells Kamsa, you fool, how you can be so dull-headed, my dear Kamsa, that you are just driving your own death. And the eighth child of Devakī will kill you.
And we know you know that Kamsa immediately changes his mind immediately changes his mood and after being the very obedient and joyful chariot driver, he becomes murderer. He takes his sword and he wants to kill Devakī.
And by all means, Vāsudeva is trying to convince him not to do it. But can you imagine how much stress he underwent? He and Devakī.
You know, at least he was able to speak, uh, trying to convince, and Devaki was just you know sitting there with the sword of Kamsa at her throat. It's a very stressful wedding day.
So that was the beginning of the happy marriage.
And then the rest of the happy marriage they basically spent in a prison house of, uh, Kamsa's, being threatened and tortured, and you know every child which was born was killed in front of their eyes.
It's I mean because we know this story and because we are little, you know, not so sensitive, uh we are not so much impressed by this.
But if we try to imagine, you know, little baby whom you just gave the birth, whom you were waiting for nine months, you know, and then your brother comes, takes this baby, swirls him I mean and
This is what Vāsudeva and Devakī were the witnesses. They went through this for many years. For at least eight consecutive years, they were sitting there in this prison cell of Kamsa.
And also this all very significant because it also has something to do with us. It's not only this story which uh took place 5000 years back.
This story is also depicting the difficulties which we have to pay, the price which we have to pay. I mean, it may not be so drastic, but we all know that to purify our heart we have to go through some difficulties.
Why? Because we are attached to the dirt which is there in the heart. We don't want to let it go. We are very much attached to the dirt within our heart because it's our dirt. And we like everything which belongs to us.
You know, whatever is intimately related with us is very dear to us. So all the problems which we have are very difficult to part with because they are part of us.
And we can, it's very difficult for us to even imagine how we will live without these anarthas, without all these difficulties.
So that's why when we go this route, when we really want to go spiritual life, we have to be prepared that the difficulties will be there. But this is the purifying difficulties.
This are the difficulties which will help us to ultimately receive the Lord because the Lord will never come to the place which is not his own abode. First, we have to make our heart his own abode.
Importance of truthfulness in spiritual practice
We have to make it completely clean. And for that, preliminary conditions are also there. It's very interesting that here Maharaja Vāsudeva is called Ānakadundubhi.
Ānakadundubhi is another name of Vāsudeva Mahārāja, which basically means that when he was born, the demigods were rejoicing and they were playing all the musical instruments, especially these big, big drums.
Anaka is a big drum. They were banging, banging. So when he was born, the demigods were rejoicing because a very rare soul appeared in this world.
And it is explained what is the rare unique quality of Vāsudeva Mahārāja, which is again important for us because it also speaks something about us, what, what is the initial quality uh which we must have if we want to become successful in our spiritual life.
The unique quality of Vāsudeva Mahārāja, which was well known, which was famous all over the world, which was so famous that even Kamsa, his demon, believed him and accepted his proposal.
His quality, which unique quality which Vāsudeva Mahārāja had, and by which he became famous, was his truthfulness. He was completely, totally honest person. He was very sincere. This is a very important lesson for us.
If we want to become successful in our spiritual life, the initial condition is sincerity, honesty, lack of desire to hide our problems. The same thing is uh exemplified by Arjuna.
The word, the very word Arjuna means he is straightforward. It is said that the most important uh quality of Vaishnava is Sharalata. Sharalata means simplicity. Simplicity means honesty. Honesty means straightforwardness.
I'm not trying to hide my problems. I'm open about this. I am trying to find a solution to my problems. And that's why Arjuna is so honestly manifesting his weakness in the first chapter of Bhagavad-gītā.
And that's exactly what is being hinted here when Vasudeva Mahārāja is called Anakadundubi.
He reached to the stage of spiritual development when the Lord Himself enters his heart and becomes brilliantly present within his uh heart and within his mind, because he is so sincere and he's so honest.
So very important thing. And that's why he is successful here.
Anyway, so let's uh go according to the according to the storyline a little bit about this whole thing because we are uh we are uh celebrating this very special day.
Pure sattva state for divine realization
So first few words about this purity of the heart of Vasudev, which is a necessary condition for us to experience the presence of the Lord. In the fourth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is very important.
Before we came to before we will before we'll start speaking about the stories, let's talk a little bit philosophy preliminarily. We have to become 10% pure. This is the bad news. News on a very good day.
But the good news is that we can become 10% pure. The only condition for this is our desire. Nothing else. The Lord Himself will help us to purify our heart. So the very word Vasudev means completely pure.
The very word Vasudeva uh means that he is 100% pure
and this is explained in the fourth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam where it is said, Sattvam Vishudam Vasudeva śabditam, that viśuddha-sattva, the pure sattva, the spiritual sattva, the sattva without any contamination of material modes of nature, without any contamination of tamo-guṇa or rajo-guṇa, is called Vāsudeva.
So the word Vāsudeva means totally pure without any tinge of material contamination. sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ vāsudeva-śabditam and next line uh Lord Shiva speaks this verse uh explaining his own experience.
The next line he says, yadyate tatra pumān apāvṛtaḥ. And this stage, pumān, pumān means puruṣa, puruṣa means the Supreme Lord, yadyate pumān apāvṛtaḥ. And this stage of complete purity, the Lord becomes uncovered.
The Lord which is covered now, completely covered from the eyes of ignorant people of this world, the Lord which is somewhat covered from sadakas, devotees who are not yet perfect, who more clearly can feel the presence of the Lord but still they don't see him directly. This Lord becomes completely uncovered when the heart becomes purified.
So that's the condition. The heart has to become sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ, has to become the abode of viśuddha-sattva. And this Vishuda Sattva is a very interesting concept.
It's a very interesting Concept, yeah, which is explained by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī in Bhagavat-sandarbha. First of all, he explains why viśuddha-sattva, the complete transcendental situation.
Viśuddha-sattva basically means the realm or completely transcendental situation which we can reach in which the Lord becomes visible.
And first he explains why viśuddha-sattva is called sattva because it's easy to mix viśuddha-sattva with ordinary sattva and sometimes people make this mistake.
So the question which he asks why this completely transcendental state is called practically by the same name as sattva-guṇa of this world. Is it not bewildering? And he answers, no, it's not bewildering.
There is a very great significance and very practical way.
He says that Vishuddha Sattva is the spiritual cognitive state, the state of spiritual cognition, the state in which spiritual awareness is awakened within our heart.
The ability, the faculty of seeing spiritual reality becomes uh prominent within our heart.
But he says that material sattva, this viśuddha-sattva or śuddha-sattva is called sattva because material sattva has similar qualities. That's material sattva, sattvic element of this material world
also reveals to us something which is not visible when we are in tamas-guṇa and rajas-guṇa. So basically the transition from the uh material state to the spiritual state goes through this material sattva.
Material sattva is very important. It reveals to us something. Lord Krishna Himself explains this in Bhagavad-gītā that sattvāt sañjāyate jñānam. From sattva jñāna is being born. Jñāna means spiritual knowledge.
The spiritual knowledge is the product of sattva-guṇa. And when it's material sattva, then the spiritual knowledge or the knowledge of the presence or existence of the God comes to us as an intuition.
The sattvic people, people who cultivate sattva, they intuitively feel there is God. They don't have direct experience of the Lord. But the intuition is there. They kind of.
There must be somebody, you know, otherwise who is always watching me from behind. Especially when I'm trying to hide something.
You know, we have sometimes this strange feeling, you know, when our when we're trying to hide something and then from within somebody tells us, you know, you may hide it, but not from me, my dear sir. I know what you are doing.
Don't do this, it's not good. So sattva-guṇa and you know many people don't have this intuition. Why? Because they are totally Rajasic and Tamasic. So viśuddha-sattva is the revealing element.
Material sattva also reveals us something which is not visible. Pure sattva reveals to us God. Because of this viśuddha-sattva, because of this completely spiritual situation, the Lord becomes visible within our heart.
Philosophy of existence consciousness and bliss
And very beautifully, please listen, I understand that's a little difficult philosophy, but Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains the nature of this viśuddha-sattva in a very beautiful way. First of all, it's viśuddha.
Viśuddha means there's no tinge. Material sattva is always always contaminated by some tinges of lower modes of material nature. So there is no such thing as pure sattva in this material world.
Viśuddha sattva, always transcendental, always spiritual. And he says it's sattva. Sattva means the being. Sattva means the existence.
But he says, because it's Vishuddha Sattva, very beautiful, please, please listen, you will be rewarded by this concept.
He says that the essence of being is cognition. The essence, the center of being, of the existence is cognition.
You know, of course, there are many things in this world which don't have any cognition, don't have any consciousness. But, but you cannot really in the full sense of the word say that they exist.
The essence of existence is awareness. The consciousness is the essence of existence. And then he says that the essence of consciousness, what is the essence of consciousness? The essence of existence is awareness.
Consciousness. What is the essence of consciousness? Please guess. What is the essence, the core nature of the consciousness?
The core nature of existence is consciousness because the consciousness is the background of existence. Even this dull material world cannot exist without consciousness behind it.
So the consciousness is behind the existence. The consciousness must be behind the existence of this world. What is behind the consciousness? What is the essence of consciousness?
How, c'est sac-cid-ānanda, sat, cit, ānanda. Ananda is the essence of consciousness. The bliss is the essence of consciousness. So he says it's a very interesting, very interesting concept.
Sat, cit, ānanda, then they're hierarchically not on the same level. Ānanda is higher than cit consciousness. Consciousness is higher than being existence.
So Ananda is the essence of it, and this Vishuddha Sattva is the condition uh which sometimes manifests the existence.
It is said that uh when the samvit uh portion of Lord's energy is present in this condition of Vishuddha Sattva, it manifests Adharashakti. Adharashakti basically means the energy which upholds everything.
The energy of the existence. So you know this Vishuddha Sattva can manifest the world, the transcendental world, the transcendental Dhamma, the Transcendental Abode of the Lord.
It is uh Jīva Gosvāmī says: when the samvit potency of the Lord is predominant in viśuddha-sattva, then you have Ātmā-jñāna.
Basically it means when your heart is purified, when by the spiritual practice, by the spiritual process, you purified your existence and you achieved some sort of Vishuddha Sattva condition,
then you become very stable, because you know that's why Saintly people sometimes they live very long time.
They may not be fully realized in a spiritual bliss but uh because this uh existence potency is present, they may live very long time, like there are yogis who are living for 400, 500, 700, thousand years.
Sometimes they you know they live it even in the material body. Why? Because of this Vishuddha sattva. Vishuddha sattva can give you amazing resilience and longevity and whatever is.
Then it is said when the cheat potency or samvit potency is predominant in Vishudha Sattva. You can have Atmagyan. You understand your soul. You understand the nature of your soul. You know your Swaroop. You know who you are.
It is said uh when at the uh uh ātmā-vidyā sorry ātmā-vid uh when the bliss potency is more present in uh uh in this condition of viśuddha-sattva then bhakti or devotion uh guhya-vidyā
appears but when the all three conditions are there please listen. When all three are there, when the existence, consciousness and bliss are equally prominent, what will happen? Uh what will appear at this point?
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says this is the point when Krishna himself appears.
So again, please uh by looking at your gloomy faces I can understand that you know uh it's too late for such high philosophy. But it's a very interesting concept.
Ultimately Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that you can reach very pure state of your existence. You can reach transcendental state of your existence. But it's not a guarantee that you will see the Lord at this stage of life.
Not necessarily.
You may live very long life, uh, you may be very stable, very peaceful, you may reach this, you know, because you are in contact with the energy of stability, Aḍharāśakti of the Lord. Uh, you may uh you know understand the nature of your soul perfectly well, understand you're not this body and know all these intricacies of the soul.
Uh you may uh even have very uh great devotion. But only when all these three conditions are together then the Lord manifests himself.
Then Janmashtami takes place. Janmashtami is this moment where in the condition of Suddha Sattva, complete total purity of the heart, we are expecting the Lord to come and the Lord makes his appearance by his own sweet will.
And there are two ways of doing this. Uh because it's already late, so uh oh. When should I stop? Actually our time is over, right? Who is half an hour? Okay. So l let me give something.
The last will be stories, so don't worry. So but that was the uh the explanation because
Role of fear in initial practice
what we see in the uh beginning of the tenth canto of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam. Śukadeva Gosvāmī in a very beautiful and philosophical esoteric way is explaining how the Lord makes its appearance in this world.
He explains the universal laws which govern his appearance in this world. And one example of Vāsudeva, how he becomes totally effulgent after going through all these problems and being in the prison cell
of Kaṁsa for a long time. How the fear which is signified by Kaṁsa ultimately purifies his heart completely. It is explained by Śrīla Prabhupāda in one of the purports.
Śrīla Prabhupāda repeats what Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura himself repeats some other commentators of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam who say that Kaṁsa is the fear personified. Yeah, he is a fearful demon.
But he served uh a very
significant purpose uh because uh because of Kaṁsa uh Vāsudeva and Devakī were able to conceive the Lord how because Kaṁsa, as uh Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda explained in the purports uh in connection with Balarāma's appearance, uh Kaṁsa is the fear of material existence. When the human being becomes somewhat sātvika and understands the real miserable nature of this world and this material existence and become fearful of uh entering again
into this place which is dukkhaya mashashpatam going through the miseries of you know being in the womb of mother going through all this you know difficult birth process and all the diseases and old age and death again when one becomes fearful of material existence he becomes very serious about his spiritual life unless we really understand what a precarious condition we are in, what difficult condition we are in, we will never become serious.
If we still have some hope, I will become one day, I will become happy, you know. I fulfill all my desires and I'll become so happy, you know.
The problem is that by that time you will be 85 years old and you know, good for nothing. You know, unless unless the asha, the hope for material happiness is completely dead within our heart.
And the fear of material existence enters within our heart, we will never become serious about spiritual life. We will do uh we will do spiritual practice uh in case it works. Something like this. Who knows?
Uh I'm not sure but uh anyway, maybe it will work out at the end of the day. We'll do it, you know, we all know this driving Japa. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Krishna.
This is not what Vasudev Maharaj was practicing. He was very serious. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Ram, Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare.
The prison cell of Kamsa signifies the condition of the mind of somebody who understood the seriousness of our situation in this material world. And the fear of material existence puts us in this prison.
That somebody who is very clearly understanding the problem of this material world, he puts himself into the prison. You know, like uh, you know what is the prison we put ourselves? This prison is called Gitanagari, right?
You know, or we come to them some monastery or ashram, uh we start practicing celibacy. This is prison. You know if you tell people outside that I'm a monk, they say okay good luck. You know. This is the prison.
The rules and regulations of spiritual life is the prison. Because the rules and regulations say uh you don't go beyond this point. Within this point no illicit sex, only sex within marriage.
So within this point, within this, you know, borders uh you can do something beyond this you cannot do. That's prison. This is what prison means.
So this is what being explained and the fear is very important because the fear is the stimuli, is the instigating factor for us to do spiritual practice in the beginning.
It is said that vaidhi-sādhana-bhakti, what is the pravṛtti, what is the uh impetus to perform uh sādhana-bhakti, vaidhi-sādhana-bhakti, that's the fear. I don't want to waste my time. I don't want to be born again.
I don't want to come again in this boring place where there are such long lectures. I want complete bliss. So which is spiritual existence.
So the situation of uh Vasudeva Mahārāja with his quality of complete sincerity, honesty, complete absence of desire to hide his problems. This is all conditions of vaidhi-sādhana-bhakti.
Progression to spontaneous devotional service
Which becomes successful, and when they become when this process becomes successful, one becomes completely effulgent, and the Supreme Lord comes to our mind, and ultimately He comes within His four-handed form and says you, called for me, I am here for you.
But there is another process, luckily for us.
And the 10th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam explains these two processes. One is the difficult process of vaidhi-sādhana bhakti, which is compared with the prison cell of Kaṁsa, which is very important to have this fear and everything else and that's uh kind of initial stages of our bhakti but then we know you know that
Krishna ultimately uh does not come to Vasudeva Mahārāja. He comes to Vasudeva Mahārāja for how long? Just a few minutes.
You know, he comes, he says, you've, you know, for eight years Vasudeva Mahārāja uh was waiting for this appearance. He even lied to Kamsa uh completely against his nature.
He went through immense miseries to have Krishna as his son. Krishna comes to his son, he says, yes, yes, yes, I appreciate your endeavors. Very good, very good. Please bring me to Nanda Mahārāja.
He basically says, I don't belong to here. I don't belong to this prison cell.
I belong to the land of complete freedom and this land of complete freedom is called Gokula, Mahavan, Vrindavan, Brihadvan, whatever you call it it's the land of complete bliss and happiness.
And uh our acharyas they explain that ultimately we should not be in the prison cell of vaidī-sādhana-bhakti. We should not do our spiritual practice from this point to this point. And not more than this.
You know, sometimes people they give the vows to me. And they say, my dear such and such, I vowed to chant sixteen rounds of Mahā-mantra mantra every day.
And I usually asked at this point, and if you by chance chanted seventeen rounds, you will break your vow. Because you just vowed to me that you will chant sixteen rounds and not more. This is vaidī-sādhana-bhakti.
This is vaidī-sādhana-bhakti, uh, but uh at one point and it's necessary. Why it is necessary? Because uh we are undisciplined.
By nature, the spirit soul in this material world becomes undisciplined, uh our attachments are become completely distorted, we become attached to drugs, to uh illicit sex, to all kinds of stuff.
So initially, we need some period of discipline. You know, and for that we need to put ourselves into the prison cell of rules and regulations. But Krishna comes to us and says, you know, I don't want to stay here.
Bring me somewhere else. Somewhere where there is no rules and regulations. Krishna, believe it or not, does not like rules and regulations.
He likes to steal, he likes to do some mischief, he likes to do all kinds of, you know, and he instigates his devotees to do the same.
You know, he tells Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, you please lie. And I will look how it will work. He is teasing his devotees. He is uh a very peculiar person.
He's not this four-handed Vishnu who is standing there and saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, everything is good. You know, he says no, bring me to Vrindavan. So basically this tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam first
explain how Krishna on this day appears in Mathurā in the prison cell of Kamsa and the heart of Vasudeva first and then goes to the heart of Devakī and then appears externally from their heart.
But then immediately we're being transported together with Krishna into the land of Gokula.
When Nanda Mahārāja is making an amazing festival uh celebration of Kṛṣṇa's appearance. And he's not in a prison cell and he is not completely uh regulated by all the strict rules and everything else, uh, he is governed by love.
Appearance of Krishna in Vraj
So the little story which I want to tell again, the story which is not so well known, but which is explained by Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī in Gopāla-campū is how Krishna appeared in Vraj.
From this description of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam given by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, it appears that Krishna was born in Madhura and then he was brought to Vraj. But according to the concept of Gauḍīya Vaishnavas,
It's completely logical to say that Krishna appears in Madhura and then he goes to Vraj. You know, if Krishna is God of love, if he is attracted by love, if the love is the most important factor in our life, then why
he would not appear to in Vraj immediately?
So our ācāryas go to the great uh detailed studying of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam trying to prove that actually Krishna was born in Vraj as well at the same time when he was born in Madhura. He was born from Mother Yaśodā.
Again and again and again Śukadeva Gosvāmī calls Krishna Gopika-suta. He is called him uh he calls that he is ātma-jaḥ, that he is born from Nanda Mahārāja. Again and again and again he said he is born there.
So how Krishna was born in Madhura we know. It's a dramatic story, it's very tragic story. How Krishna was born in Vrindavan, only our ācāryas know, and only they see it with their transcendental vision.
As much as uh uh Śukadeva Gosvāmī, while he is explaining this līlās, he sees this līlās by his own eyes.
It is explained by Sanātana Gosvāmī in his commentary to the 10th canto of Śrīmad Bhagavatam, then sometimes Śukadeva Gosvāmī says Śuka uvāca, and sometimes he is called Śrī Śuka uvāca. And when he is called Śrī Śuka uvāca, it means that, you know, specifically he says that in the fifth uh chapter of the tenth canto of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, uh Śukadeva Gosvāmī starts explaining Nandotsava, the beautiful festival which Nanda Mahārāja celebrated in Vraj on the next day, on Navami day, tomorrow of appearance of Krishna.
And it is said, Śuka-vāca, and he starts explaining this how Nanda was completely overjoyed when he heard that his son was born. So Sanātana Gosvāmī says that he's called Śuka-vāca because he sees this festival.
Not only he sees this festival in his meditation, he uh takes part in this festival, and the signs of his taking part of this festival becomes visible in this body, and he becomes beautified by this signs.
You know, during this festival of Nandotsava, the people of Vṛndāvana they were throwing haldi and yogurt and cream and butter in each other.
So Sanātana Gosvāmī says, and this moment of time, when Śukadeva Gosvāmī starts explaining this Nandotsava, he enters into the Nandotsava of original Vraj and the spiritual Vraj and he gets the marks or beautification of all these ornaments and he becomes completely covered by yogurt and you know can you imagine this Śukadeva Gosvāmī sitting and all of a sudden the you know the yogurt appears and the cream and the butter appears there.
And therefore, he is Sri. Therefore, he is so beautiful. At this moment of time, because he is transported in his meditation into the spiritual realm. So basically this is what Jīva Gosvāmī is doing.
He is explaining what happened, which even Śukadeva Gosvāmī didn't explain somehow rather Śukadeva Gosvāmī didn't explain what happened in Vraj in this moment of time. And you know, this is a long story.
I only have few minutes, so I will skip some parts of the story because Nanda Mahārāja was a leader of the cowherd people for a long time.
Actually, according to the uh Nandagram tradition, I spoke with one uh Goswami from Nandagram, from traditional lines of Goswamis who were serving uh Krishna you know hundreds and hundreds years back in Nandagram.
They say that it's well known in Nandagram that Nanda Mahārāja was 96 years old when Krishna was born, 96 years old, and Yaśodā was not much younger. So what happened in Vraj?
For a long time, Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā didn't have any children. And it was a source of their immense misery.
They were loved dearly by all the people in Vraj, and all the people in Vraj they were completely morose seeing that uh their leader does not have an issue. There were, you know, his brothers, his elder brother.
Nanda Maharaj was the middle brother. There were five brothers of Parjania Maharaj, uh Upananda, Sunanda, Nanda, Abhinanda, and Nandana. So Nanda was the middle brother and who was the best of all.
It is said, Srila Jivagaswami says that all the brothers, all the sons of Parjani Maharaj were called Nanda: Abhinanda, Upananda, Sunanda, Nandana, and Nanda. They were all very joyful. But the best was Nanda.
Nanda the middle. So much so that while retiring from the kingdom, Parjani Maharaj, who was the king of this cowhad people, he wanted to give the throne, his position of the king to the eldest son Upananda.
And he gave the raj tilak, he gave the crown to him and all the insignia of the king. And in the eyes of everyone, there was a big assembly.
The people came from Mathura, you know, all the important people came, all the cowherd people came. Upananda, he took uh very gracefully and gratefully all the insignia of king from the hands of his father.
And directly came to Nanda who was sitting there completely oblivious and unaware, and put the crown on his head. And he said, You know, he's much better than me, let him become the king.
And in this moment of time, everyone uh was joyful and everyone said Haribol, Haribol, Haribol, please tell I understand it's difficult to see it for two hours after shh.
Observance of Ekadashi by Nanda and Yasoda
Anyway, so but the point is that uh for a long time, and here is very important uh point of our story for a long time they couldn't have any child.
And then all the elders in this community they came together and they decided. You know, in the Vedic culture, if you wanted to fulfill some desire, what you do?
What is the method of fulfilling your desire in Vedic culture? Yagya. You're true representatives of Vedic culture.
So they all gathered together and they called Nanda Maharaj and they said, uh this is completely wrong, something goes wrong. We should do big yagya. We should invite the best Brahmanas from everywhere.
And the best Brahmanas will do big yagya. And in this way, our desire and your desire will be fulfilled. We love you so dearly. So they made this big arrangement.
Everyone came and they sat at the yaja, and the best Brahmanas, they were chanting the best mantras with the best of their ability, they were putting a lot of gear into this, and fire was so big.
And everyone was so beautiful, so joyful, and the only one who was not joyful was Nanda and Yaśodā. And everything was so successful. Everything was extremely successful.
Like now we're going to do some also Yagya and everything was successful. But the end result was zero.
And the Nanda mahārāja uh sat together after yagya with Yaśodā and he asked her what do you think what was the reason why this yagya was not successful.
The mantras were chanted properly, all the ingredients were the first class, the most pure, everything was so beautiful. Why didn't it work? And Yaśodā didn't say anything. She just hang her head.
And the Nanda mahārāja said, Yes, I know and you know. Because we want something which cannot be fulfilled through yagya. For a long time he says, I see this extremely beautiful boy. He comes to me.
Sometimes he pulls my doty. Sometimes it seems like he is right here with me. Sometimes I see him in a dream. Sometimes I hear his beautiful laughter. He's so beautiful.
He's like Atasi Flower. A tassi flower is some bluish flower. And Yaśodā says, Yes, I see this boy, I see this boy too. And he cannot come through yagya.
So while sitting in Khalsadik together, they decide to do something very powerful and very effective, and this is the last thing which I will tell. I will not be able to tell anything else. But this is the secret.
Because we're talking about two different ways of appearing the Lord in our life. One is the prison cell of the rules and regulations. Another one is this extreme greed.
When you are so greedy to have the Lord, that you see His vision, you almost see Him, you almost hear His laughter.
And to solidify and to make successful your vow to achieve the Lord, uh you do something which is directly related with the Lord.
And yagya is not the proper means to do it because yagya is completely has completely different nature. So they decided to do different yagya. The yagyavic decided they decided to do is a simple one.
They decided to fast on ekādaśī. And just by one year of fasting on ekādaśī, without going all this through all these dramas, without going through all these austerities, uh, you know, just one year fasting on Ekadashi, completely properly, following all the rules and regulations.
It's actually called dvādaśī-vratam because ekādaśī-vratam is ekādaśī-vratam, but dvādaśī-vratam when you follow the fast on daśamī, ekādaśī, properly follow all the rules and all dvādaśī, so
at the end of this year, Krishna has come to the womb of Yashoda and ultimately was born on this day after being eight months in her womb. So basically, what I wanted to say that there are two ways of practicing bhakti.
One is vaidī-bhakti, which is necessary in the beginning. But at one point we have to develop the greed. And the greed comes when we hear how beautiful is the Lord.
And when we hear how beautiful is the Lord, when we hear the beauty of his name and we experience this, then the greed comes.
And that's why we chanted Nanda Nanda Nashtaka, which is describing the beauty of the Lord and His līlās. Basically, this is something which I wanted to say. Thank you very much for your attention.