Parikrama. Ter Kadamba
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Вриндаван · 2023
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Opening prayers and kirtan
Vandeham Sri Guru, Sriutapadakamalam, Sri Guru vaisnavam sham, Sri Rupam. Sagradata Saganahamitam sadwitam Sadhutam Paritana Sahitam Krishna Chaitanya Deva, Sri Rda Krishna Pada, Sahagan Ladita, Srivissakavitamsya, Krishna
Karuna Sindhojad, Gopesha Bopikakanta, Radakantana Sute, Taktakančenagurangi Rade Vrindava ne sari, Sabanu su te devni, pre, chau, patru bass, prepa sin duelcha, tita, Bamy, Vaishnavyo Namamaha,
Sri Krishna Chaitanya, Prabhunit, Sriadvaitara, Sriva Sadhibura Bhakta Brinda, Lare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna
Hare Ramaare Rama Rama Rama Hare, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Ramaare Namasrishamanam is Pisachis Putramatraswarupamropam, Tasya, Prajamupurima, Huring,
Ghostavati, Radakundagiri Varamaho, Radikama Davasam Sandy vaya, takeila shakti darah, sham na nyam sha stacha. He He developed this place in a very glorious and very devotional way.
Many years back, when we would come here, there was little dilapidated building on the place of Rupa Goswami Kutir. And now you can see this kunja building, Kadambavan, the pond which he himself did.
Uh, so he's serving this holy Dhama, and it's our sacred duty to serve those people who serve the holy dhama. He's a kṣhetra-sannyāsī. He doesn't leave this place, doesn't go anywhere, not even Bangalore. No Moscow.
No Moscow. Not even Vrindavan. He's just staying here serving Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. And we are here in this place where Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was staying for a long time. Of course, he was traveling by walk in Vraj.
But that was one of his main places of Bhajan. Therefore, it's called Bhajan Kutir of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
Importance of Rupa Goswami in Gaudiya Vaishnavism
And Sanātana Gosvāmī was staying nearby on the bank of Pāvana-sarovara, where we will come after this place. And actually, we are all Rūpānugas, Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas,
the followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu are actually followers of Rūpa Gosvāmī. Because Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he showed what bhakti is. But Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explained what bhakti is. That's the difference.
Of course, showing is the most important. Because if you explain, explain, explain, you know, I know it in my own example, I explain, explain, explain, nothing happens. So you first have to show what bhakti means.
What does it mean to be bhakta? What does it mean to have completely, totally oblivious love for God? And you don't remember anything about yourself, about anything, you just forget everything, you just remember about God.
You know, Krishna says, I told yesterday that this is his main dictum in Bhagavad-gītā, man-manā: you apply my mind to me, you think about me.
But you know Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu showed what does it mean in the highest possible extent. You know, many people think about God, no doubt about it.
But to be so totally completely dedicated by every movement of the mind to God. That's what Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu showed in his example.
And whatever he was doing, whatever he was speaking, was the manifestation of his state of consciousness, extremely elevated state of consciousness.
And he was showing it but again showing it is very powerful but not enough. Showing is more important than explaining, but explaining is also necessary
because if you just show it, then not necessarily people will be able to follow it. Or there is a great chance that instead of following what you want them to do to follow, they will just imitate you.
That's the temptation. You know, people see this manifestations of ecstasy, of love of God, Kṛṣṇa-premā, in the figure, in the personality of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And then there is a great temptation to decide in the mind.
I'm also on the same level.
I can also dance like this, no problem. I can also fall on the ground, I can also roll on the ground, I can also, you know, put my saliva out of mouth, no problem. So this imitation has been very, very prominent in
Gaudiya Sampradaya, all kinds of heterodox sects of Prakrita Sahajayas, they appeared after Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Therefore, we are followers of Rūpa Gosvāmī who explained what Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed. And we have to take these two personalities together.
If we only try to understand Chaitanya Mahaprabhu without the help of Rūpa Gosvāmī, without the help of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī. We will be bewildered.
As many people were bewildered while looking at Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Still to this date, you know, so many stupid series about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu there.
Glorification of Rupa Goswami
But, uh, śrī-caitanya-mano-'bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tala-svayam, rūpa-kā্দāmahyaṁ dadāti svāpadāntikaṁ, Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura glorifying Rūpa Gosvāmī by saying that he actually showed to everyone or explained to everyone what was there in the heart of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Adadanas Trinam Dantair Idam Yachi Punah Punah, śrīmad-rūpa-pādābjaṁ dhūli-syāṁ janma-janmani, that's the praṇāma mantra of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Let's chant it together.
Ādadānaṁ tṛṇair dantair idaṁ yācaṁ punaḥ punaḥ, śrīmad-rūpa-pādābjaṁ dhūli-syāṁ janma-janmani, huli-syāṁ janma-janmani, therefore Gaudiya Padambujo, Papadambojo, Dhulisyam Janma Janmani, Hulisyam Janma Janmani, therefore Goryeya
Vaiṣṇavas they're praying to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī with the straw, with the straw between the teeth, ādadānaṁ tṛṇair dantair idaṁ yācaṁ punaḥ punaḥ again and again and again I am begging Rūpa Gosvāmī. What do I beg Rūpa Gosvāmī for?
śrīmad-rūpa-pādābjaṁ dhūli-syāṁ janma-janmani. Make me a little speck of dust in your beautiful, śrīmad rūpa-pādābjaṁ, at your beautiful lotus feet.
Śrīmad, uh, actually Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains this particular title, śrīmad. It's very interesting and very important for our discussion here in this place.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains why, why Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is called Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Why Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī is called śrīmad-rūpa.
Sri means beauty. Srim of course means also opulence and uh everything else, but in the primary sense, it's beauty, it's the effulgence. Effulgence of beauty.
You know when somebody is very beautiful, you you can just physically see the effulgence which he emanates from him or her. Of course, she. And uh Because he is handsome and she is beautiful. So, uh, so, uh, Jīva Gosvāmī
explains that Śrīmat means, Śrīmat, o man, is matup suffix, matup, which actually means that Sri is inseparable, that Śrī is present, it's a part of svarūpa. If you say just Śrī somebody, that's not a problem.
Anyone can be Sri. Śrī Narendra Modi, Śrī Amit Shah, Śrī... I don't know. Who else? Anyone can be Śrī, but Śrīmad not anyone can be. Śrīmad means that somebody is beautiful by, uh, inseparable, inseparable nature.
By svarūpa, he is beautiful. That the beauty, that the beauty of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is there with him, and you cannot really separate him from this beauty. That's what Śrīmat means. That's what Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam means.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam means that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is there in the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam. You cannot separate Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. She is there with all her beauty, all her effulgence, all her love.
So when Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas were praying to the lotus feet of Rūpa Gosvāmī, they say, "Please place us as dust on your lotus feet, so that we would always be in contact with
this amazing experience of completely, completely, you know, self-forgetful love.
Expressing the ecstasies of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Please give us a glimpse of what does it mean to be in love with Krishna.
And as I said, Svarūpa Gosvāmī, his amazing contribution is that he was able to explain what Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu himself was not able to explain. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was experiencing it.
It's one thing to experience it. It's another, it's completely another thing is to uh to explain it. But to explain it, you need to experience it.
Definitely, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was reflecting the same intensity of divine love as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was experiencing is his heart, but at the same time he had enough, but you know, this experience is so overwhelming, then when you experience it, how you can explain it?
It's not compatible with each other. It's a completely different thing, you know, because uh explaining something you need to use your you by this scientific explanation.
But what I want to say is that it's a very it's a very different different ways of doing this.
But of course, when Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was explaining this, he was experiencing this at the same time, and at the same time had enough dhairya-śakti, the enough śakti on dhāraṇā-śakti to explain it and not to go into the swoon. because when people experience this very deep emotional fits which
Caitanya Mahāprabhu did, they cannot relate to anything. But Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, he had this unique feature. But Silarupa Gaswami, he had this unique feature. He was experiencing it and at the same time exploring it.
Actually it is said it is explained that the main message of Vedas is threefold. It's sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana.
Sambandha means the description of God and the description of how we related to Him, this form of God with whom we are eternally related. And abhidheya means the process and prayojana means the goal.
And Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī wrote three books explaining these three things. Usually we say he is abhidheya-ācārya. Actually, in reality, he is sambandha-abhidheya-prayojana-ācārya.
He is the ācārya of all three aspects of our philosophy because he
wrote Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta where he explained the svarūpa of God, where he explained the svarūpa of the holy place. We will never be able to understand what this Vrindavan Dhamm is in reality unless
we read Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. And then he wrote Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. And Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu is primarily his explanation of sādhana or bhakti in practice or abhidheya.
And then he wrote Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, which is a huge book where he explains prayojana. So these three things are the foundational philosophies
of our sampradāya of the teachings of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī alone, explained in these three treatises, three books.
And people say that, uh, he wrote, uh, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu here. Of course nobody knows where he wrote Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, but let's think that he wrote it here. Because this is the most important book for us.
Definitely Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta is an important book. Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi is the most important book. But the most important of all most important books is Bhakti-rasāmṛta- Sindhu.
Because Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu explains how to reach to the level of Ujwala Nilamani.
If we prematurely imagine ourselves that we are already on the level to understand Ujwala Nilamani, we will do a great disservice to ourselves. We have to really clearly understand the path which leads us to the goal.
First, we have to understand who we are. Then we have to understand what is the goal which is flowing from this understanding of who we are. These are these are two primary understandings.
Practical path of Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu
But then after that, when we understood who we are and who is God, when we understood what is the goal which we are supposed to achieve after understanding who we are and who is God, then the most important thing to understand is how to reach from where we are to where we are supposed to be.
It's like in GPS. GPS means Guru Parampara system. So GPS means you first uh understand where you are and you want and you understand first uh understand where you are and you won and you understand where you want to go.
But the main purpose of GPS is to explain the route which takes you from where you are now to where you want to go.
So that's why we glorify Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī as Abhideya-cārya, because that's that's the most important for us. For him himself, other books were more important, no doubt about it.
He himself was definitely enjoying much more, or not enjoying, but experiencing much deeper things when he was writing other books.
But his mission was Sri Chaitanya Manobisham Stati Tam Yena Bhutale to establish on this earth the mission of Lord Chaitanya.
To make sure that all the people for the rest of eternity who would like to follow the footsteps of Lord Chaitanya will be able to follow. That was his main mission and main contribution.
So that he actually made the path in a very different territory, in a different land, in a land where there is no path. You know, the territory which was supposed to cross is the territory of selfless love.
And there's no, you know, trodden path there in this territory. But Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī did make a very beautiful pathway for us to follow, to ultimately reach this destination.
And of course, you know the very important thing which I want to say, ultimately he was experiencing the highest possible levels of ecstasy. It is said that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, one of her.
one of the features of her love is called Yavatashraya Vriti, which means that when she experiences some sort of emotion, this experience of emotion which she feels uh becomes experienced becomes experienceable by everyone else who is nearby The feelings, the emotions which she experienced in her l heart are so strong that they are reflected everywhere. That uh everyone, animate and inanimate objects of this creation being in the aura of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, will be able to feel the reflection of her feelings.
Flowering kadamba trees at Ter Kadamba
This is called Yāvat-āśraya-vṛtti. And this is very much relevant to this particular place because once uh uh Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī came here. And he came to this Ter Kadamba.
And there was a Kadamba forest here, Kadamba one, little Kadamba Kandi. And he saw that all kadamba trees are dry, and he couldn't understand why all of a sudden they all dried up.
And then next day he came and they sat down uh with Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and this Kadamba Kandi and they started discussing the pastimes of Krishna. They were so immersed and they couldn't stop and for many hours they they lost the count
of time and uh they were talking and talking and talking and then uh Sanātana Gosvāmī opened his eyes and he looked and he saw that all the Kadamba trees are flowering, flowering. They're all green and lush.
So he asked Rūpa Gosvāmī what happened? Why yesterday it was all dry? And today it's all green and flowering. And Rūpa Gosvāmī very humbly said, because you came here. He said, no, no, I came yesterday too.
But the real explanation is that when Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was experiencing separation from Krishna and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, that everything was dry. Because everyone, animate and inanimate, all the animate and in inanimate objects would feel the same separation from Krishna.
And then when he would uh experience the meeting with Krishna, like in this talk in Krishna Katha, then then uh the everything would be blossoming.
So just few more words before Hṛṣīkeśa Mahārāja will show you the beautiful pastime. He is uh the most uh tireless actor in the creation. He can perform the same drama a hundred times a day.
And uh every time it's new uh I heard many I I saw many of his performances. Now it's all you know connected with the mobile phones and you know it's very verying he's following the modern trends.
Anyway, so uh what I want to say a little bit more about Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, why it is so important for us to come here and to pay obeisances to his place of bhajan. Because he's here. That's his eternal place of bhajan.
It's not some temporary place in the map of Braj. It's his eternal place. And the emotions which he experienced, he invested into this place.
Sweetness as the core nature of God
If we would be if our heart would be clean enough we would experience the same same sort of emotions.
What Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did? Why Gauḍīya Sampradāya and the message of Gauḍīya Sampradāya is so special. He did something which nobody before and nobody after could do.
He explained the essence of God in a very special way. You can go to any other sampradaya, you can go to any other religion and you ask what is the essence of God. And the answer will be He is all powerful. Right?
He is omnipresent. He is all-knowing. Isn't it the description of God, the bona fide description of God?
He is the the when the people when people say God, they immediately mean somebody all-powerful, and therefore somebody whom I can get something.
Because if he is so big and so powerful, then naturally I can get something from him. And Chaitanya Mahaprabhu comes and says it's wrong.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Vyāsadeva and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that this is kaitava-dharma, that this is cheating religion. The understanding that God is all powerful is cheating. How is it cheating? Isn't he all-powerful?
It's cheating because by stressing this point, by uh declaring that this is the essence of God. You're cheating because ultimately you want to exploit God. That's where the cheating is.
The cheating is that uh by emphasizing this concept of God as all-powerful, you're implying that ultimately uh your desires have to be fulfilled by Him, not vice versa.
And therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu says comes and says, mādhurya bhāvaprasar. What is the essence of God? Not aiśvarya. Not that He is all powerful, not that He is all-knowing. The essence of God is that he is sweet.
The essence of God is that he is beautiful. That's the Swarupa of God. That's the main nature of God.
And if we want to understand God, we first of all have to understand this point: that mādhurya bhāvasāra is all attractive, he is all beautiful, he is all merciful. And uh everything else may or may not be there.
For the inhabitants of Vrindavan, uh, they couldn't care less whether Krishna is uh all-powerful or not. They couldn't care less whether he is all-knowing or not. They just loved him because he's so beautiful.
So, and when we have this conception of God, we have a chance that we will get rid of our cheating propensities. That's the point.
Unless we understand that this is the essence of God, we will not be able to get rid of the cheating within the heart, of the hypocrisy within the heart.
And therefore, we as Gaudiya Vaishnavas, we always say, no, no, Krishna is not all-powerful. Krishna is little baby, he is Lala. And I have to protect this little baby, you know. And yeah, and Krishna is very happy when we protect him.
Krishna, he may kill Hiranyakṣa, no problem for him. In his boar incarnation, he killed the Hiraṇyākṣa. He may kill Hiraṇyakaśipu, but he cannot protect himself from a mosquito. So there is a, there is a difference.
He can kill Hiraṇyākṣu, but he cannot kill a mosquito. So uh and therefore this has to be understood and this is
what Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is explaining. In Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, he gives the definition of what the pure bhakti means and before that he gave a definition of who is God and why the highest possible form
of God is his sweetest form of Kṛṣṇa. And then on the basis of this explanation he is explaining how we are supposed to behave in this world, how we are supposed to practice our devotional service and everything else.
So this is very important.
And when if the essence of God is sweetness, then the highest experience of God, the highest anubhāva which we have when we approach God or when we have real functional relationship with God, not this functional relationship which we have now.
Now we have relationship with God. He's in our heart. But this is dysfunctional relationship. We couldn't care less about him and he couldn't care less about us.
So even though the relationship are still there, they're eternal. Nobody can break this relationship.
Aesthetic experience of Rasa in devotion
But if the essence of God is beauty, then the experience of God must be of this aesthetic nature. The appreciation of his beauty is the real relationship with God.
Other people, if you ask them how to relate to God, you know, they they will tell, go to church and put your little candle there and then, you know, pray what you want.
So that's their understanding of relationship with God. But Rūpa Gosvāmī's understanding of relationship with God, you become stunned by seeing his beauty. You forget about your candle.
You already prepared it and then because you're so stunned and so uh amazed by seeing this beauty, uh you forget about everything else.
So that's why the main contribution of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in the field of theology is that he explained God as the most beautiful and he explained the emotional experience which is supposed to take place when we approach God and this emotional experience is called rasa.
Rasa means aesthetic pleasure which we experience when we come close to something which is very beautiful. So, and in this way, Rupa Goswami is very very interesting, in a very interesting way.
He applied this Bharata Muni's theory. Bharata Muni is amazing saint who achieved the revelation of how the emotions work.
He explained something which nobody could explain before him. How different emotional experiences take place in this material world.
And then after that, after him, there were many other people who were following his footsteps and explaining this Rasa theory and they were speculating, developing it, you know, explaining it this way, that way.
And there was a controversy among them whether Bhakti is Rasa or not. And most of the people who were following Bharatamuni said no no bhakti is not rasa. Bhakti is not rasa in the real sense.
And then Rūpa Gosvāmī comes and he takes the theory of Bharata Muni. Where he explains different rasa and he says, actually, there is no other rasa, there is only one rasa, this is bhakti rasa. The other people they say this rasa, that rasa, some people will listed bhakti rasa as rasa, some people were categorically opposed to it. And then Rupa Goswami says and he says, comes and he says that
no other rasa is there. No other rasa exists. Because rasa, by definition of Bharata Muni, is a transcendental experience. It's a spiritual experience. It says that Rasa is a spiritual experience.
It's not a material experience. It's not the experience of the material mind. And that's exactly what this is amazing thing. Why I said that this is uh territory where there is no path because it's it's a jungle.
But Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in an amazing way he uh he made the pass through this jungle.
And he said, if you follow this, then at the end, uh, or not even in the end, because Krishna is all powerful, he can give you this experience of rasa even now.
If you pray to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, he can be very merciful to you and he give you this experience of uh rasa of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. It's possible. And And uh we're coming here.
Vṛndāvana actually is the place for beggars. Did you notice it? Yes. But we are beggars. Because we're coming here to beg for this love, for this little remnant of this love. Yesterday we were there in Uchigaon.
And I was thinking while a little sakī's village is called Uchagaon, which means the uh village of pigeons. Why why why pigeons? Why Lalita-sakī lives and is born in a village of pigeons?
And we know that uñchā-vṛtti uh vṛtti is the way of sustaining one's life by collecting grains which are left in the fields. When the crop is harvested
and then few grains are there on the earth, then the pigeons they come and they take this and they become happy.
So I I couldn't figure out why uh Uchagaon is called Uchagaon, but uh the only explanation which came to me is that uh Lalita-sakī uh she is experiencing the remnants of love of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and Krishna.
And therefore she is like this pigeon. The harvest is there, but she's taking little grains which are left over to experience the same. And we are actually here also. We are like pigeons.
We came here on this in this amazing place where love is growing and uh you know great saints they are harvesting this crop of love and few grains are there for us too. You know, we are beggars of love in this place.
And Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, because he's so generous, because he explained everything, this is the best place to beg him to give us some some spiritual experience.
And of course, which līlā would you like to tell, Ṛṣikeśa Mahārāja? One līlā? Huh? Which one would you like to tell? Sweet rice līlā? Anytime, any time. Anytime. And in when in and end. Okay. But okay, I'll think to keep out.
Anyway, I'll I'll tell you uh little bit about this place and the rest Ṛṣikeśa Mahārāja will tell.
History of Ter Kadamba and Nandagram
That this is called Terakadamba. And as I said that uh uh it's Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. He was naming all different places in Vraj, but this particular place definitely was named by Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī himself.
Nearby uh there is uh Nanda Bāgh. Ah, Nanda Bāgh, the bagīcā or little garden of Nanda Mahārāja. And it's close by to Nandagaon, Nandagram. And as you know, Krishna was born in Gokul, Mahavan,
and after that, uh, because demons uh started coming to Gokul
Mahavan one after another, they decided to move and they stayed for some time in uh Chaitigad and they stayed some time in Vrindavan, then they stayed some time in Kamyavan, and finally they came here and settled here.
Actually, this is the place, original place where Krishna's family, Nanda Mahārāja's family, was. That's his ancestral home. Parjanya Mahārāja was uh father of uh oh
sorry not father yeah he was father of uh father of five sons but he was uh he was the son of Ajamida and Devamida, sorry, Devamida.
And then he had five sons, Nanda Mahārāja was one of them, he was the middle son and uh actually it was in uh this uh mahadev place or Asheshwar Mahadev as he is called he was begging to give him sons.
And Nanda Mahārāja was born. And uh ultimately the palace of Nanda Mahārāja was here in this place. And so many amazing pastimes took place there.
Uh One famous pastime which took place in Undergram, which I will tell now, was happened when uh Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill. The other day somebody asked me how Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill.
Because to lift Govardhan Hill you have to first go somewhere in the middle of Govardhan Hill. Otherwise, you know it's it's very difficult to lift it because it will be always, you know, tilted.
So uh the explanation which I heard is uh that there was uh underneath under the earth passage from Chandrasarovar to the middle of Govardhan and Krishna was running through this passage and then somehow or other he.
But actually it's not necessary. Krishna could lift it anyway. So but the point is that you know the point remains that Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill.
Sometimes people they wondering about some things which are not so relevant while forgetting about the most relevant things.
You know, we can believe that Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill, but we cannot believe that he lifted it from from the side of Govardhana Hill if he could lift it it doesn't matter Somehow
or other we need a rational explanation of something which is by nature irrational. It doesn't have any rational explanation. So Krishna doesn't need an underneath passage to to lift a Govardhana Hill because he's God.
So but uh it created a problem for uh Brajbasis. It created huge problem for Brajbasis.
For the time when Krishna was there underneath the Govardhan Hill, they couldn't think about anything else, they were just drinking his beauty. His beauty was flowing into them and they were drinking and drinking and drinking.
Actually Kavikarnapur Maharaj he says that uh during this Govardhana līlā two rains uh were pouring on the uh earth. One rain was the rain of Indra, a huge downpour of rain made by Indra, angry Indra.
But there was another downpour of rain, that was the rain of Krishna's beauty.
To counteract the rain of Indra, Krishna started downpouring his beauty to all the inhabitants of Vrindavan and they were standing there completely stunned. And they couldn't think because their mind stopped completely.
This stunning experience of beauty means that the mind stops naturally. The mind doesn't you know wander here and there, mind is just stationed and just drinking the beauty of Krishna.
So during seven days they didn't have any problem because the beauty of Krishna was there and they couldn't think how is that possible.
But when this whole lila finished and they came home, they started scratching their heads. And they were wondering, you know, this little seven-year-old boy was holding Govardhana Hill.
It's not very big mountain, but still on a pinky of his left hand. How is that possible? And of course, you know, there were fierce arguments within the families,
you know, somebody was doubting how is that possible? And somebody says, no, no, Nanda Mahārāja was helping him, that was the main reason. You know, don't tell me this nonsense.
And but still you know there was a lot of disturbance in the whole of Vraja, in the whole of Nanda Gaon, and they were talking and talking and talking.
And ultimately there is a बैठक, baithak, the sitting place where Nanda Mahārāja and his people were sitting and Upananda called the assembly of all the Brajavasis and all the cowherds came and they were, you know, all very serious people, you know, with their turbans and you know sticks and everything.
And they were sitting and they had very serious look in their face, you know, and very disturbed, you know, who is this Krishna? You know, when he killed Putana, it could be explained some way
or another; when he killed Tṛṇāvarta, okay, no problem. Aghāsura, okay.
But you know, it was all Narayana who was doing it through him. This we all know, but he himself held Govardhana Hill for seven days and the pinky of his left hand. Who the heck is he?
And the main fear was that we're behaving with this Krishna in not in a very polite way. We're not really following the etiquette. And God knows who He is. And maybe we will offend him and anyway.
Upananda called Nanda and he asked Nanda, You know, we have a serious doubt. Your son lifted Govardhana Hill. He must be a great yogi, a demigod or maybe he is God himself.
Nanda Mahārāja started laughing. He said, I always heard that cowherds, Abhiras, they don't become mature till the age of eighty. You know, Abhiras are not very famous for their brain. They don't need much brain substance to take care of the cows.
So Nanda Mahārāja said, you know, you guys I don't know what you are thinking, you know.
Okay, so so what? He lifted Govardhana Hill. You know it's because Garga Ācārya said that he will have qualities equal to Lord Nārāyaṇa. So no problem, he lifted it, but you know, he cannot be anything special.
Because anybody who is special cannot run to me every time when he has some problem on he cannot you know eat too many ladus and then say that my uh bobo is my my stomach is there or whatever. You know.
He cannot be anyone special. He's my son. And anyway, if even if he is somebody special, he's still my son, no problem. And I have to uh I have to rebuke him and I have to do something.
And you cannot imagine how relieved everyone was after hearing this speech of Nanda Mahārāja. Everyone said, oh, thank you very much. Finally, we're relieved. Finally, uh so we don't have to worry.
Calling the cows at Ter Kadamba
Krishna is just our Lala, our little child and uh we still have to do what what we are doing with him. And therefore Krishna used to come here to Ter Kadamba.
He used to come with the cows and he would milk cows and this nandabhag. Nandabhag. And then uh uh you know sometimes Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī would go and pass by Krishna would be uh milking the cow
and uh and uh friends of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī will tell you Krishna is there, don't go this way. Black snake is there. And she would look at them and say, you know, I'm not afraid of black snakes.
And then she would pass by and Krishna would drag the you know the milk the uh from the teeth of the cow into her face and she would become wet from the milk and everyone start laughing at her and she would be so angry and Krishna would look at her face, angry face.
Actually, it's a very special attraction to look at the face of an angry woman.
So and then she would break uh uh you know uh without anyone noticing it she would break her necklace and she would sit down to collect the pearls uh of her necklace and at the same time looking by the corner of your eyes, with the corner of your eyes at Krishna.
So it's a beautiful pastime and Ter Kadamba means Kadamba from where Krishna in a very loud voice a calling. Tirna. Terna in Hindi means uh loud calling, right? Long sound.
Yeah, the sound which can be heard from long distance. So he was calling his cows and he had his special beats and he was counting cows, he was calling cows, the cows would come.
Rishikesh Maharaj will show how they would come. They would raise their ears and would run to Krishna when he would call their name. And Krishna had 108 herds of cows. That's why we have 108 beads on our beads.
And Krishna would call different cows by name and the herd of cow would come and Krishna would count one name. One beat and one poet says that I meditate on Krishna
who is sitting uh uh uh on the branches of Kadamba tree and he's calling the names of the cows and counting the names of the cows on his chanting beads. And I'm chanting his names on my beats and remembering this līlā.
We're chanting his names and he's changing the names of cows. This is what Ter Kadamba means. Here Krishna himself calls those people who have some attraction to him. And that's why we came here.
And hopefully, while seeing us this little herd of Krishna's cows, Krishna will you know put down one bit on his and his chanting bit by counting us as his. So that's why we're here in Ter Kadamba. He loudly called us.
And as Maharaj said, ter means, terna means to call so loud, and he was calling so loud that we heard his calling even in Moscow and in Bangalore and that's why we came here to this place where Krishna is calling all of us.
So Maharaj wants to tell the līlā, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī ki! Prem se! Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī!