Hare Krsna,

It is a common understanding in Gaudiya theology that the spirit soul is Ananda-mayo-bhayasat. We are hankering after pleasure. The living entities, like the Lord, are full of consciousness, and they are after happiness. The Supreme Lord Krsna is the reservoir of all pleasures. The Lord is perpetually happy, and if the living entities associate with the Lord, cooperate with Him and take part in His association, then they also become happy.

Unfortunately, the conditioned living entities, out of ignorance and illusion, is searching for happiness in the wrong place. Rather they have a wrong understanding of happiness.  These living entities do not understand the difference between the happiness and bliss (Ananda). Happiness is just a temporary absence of misery. We eat a nice, sumptuous food and we feel happy for a short time. The hunger returns again. We watch TV for a short time, we feel good temporarily, and the miseries reappear. This is the cycle of so-called happiness in this material world. Actually we should be desiring ananda and not mere happiness. This happiness is derived from sense enjoyment – by the contact of the material senses with the sense objects. Since the material body and senses are temporary and not perfect, the happiness gained through this body is also temporary. We should actually be focusing on the need of the soul; the soul craves for pleasure and bliss. Since the Supreme Lord Krsna is the reservoir of all pleasures and bliss, it is natural that we derive such pleasure from the Supreme Source, Krsna.

In BG 1.5.18, it is mentioned that as far as happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in due course of time, just as in course of time we obtain miseries even though we do not desire them. Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport that the philosophically inclined person must not be tempted by such temporary material positions. He should try to get into the permanent life of bliss and knowledge where he will not be forced to come back again to the miserable material world, either in this or that planet. Miseries and mixed happiness are two features of material life, and they are obtained in Brahmaloka and in other lokas also.

Since the conditioned living entities are clueless as to where to find real happiness, the Lord sends His great philanthropic souls (such as Srila Prabhupada) who travel on the earth in behalf of the Lord to show compassion to the fallen souls, who are averse to the sense of subordination to the Lord and are thus suffering. (SB 3.5.3) They teach that real pleasure can be obtained when one renders devotional service to the Supreme Lord, Krsna. By devotional service only does one’s heart become completely purified from all material coverings like karma, jnana and yoga  – concepts that do not lead to real happiness. Only in such a purified stage does the Lord, who is seated in everyone’s heart with the individual soul, give instruction so that the devotee can reach the ultimate destination of going back home, back to Godhead, and attain a state of ultimate bliss. Devotional service is su-sukham kartum avyayam. It is everlasting and is joyfully performed.

It is important that we chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra sincerely and regularly to remove all material contaminations from our heart. This material contaminations cover the true knowledge of where we can find real happiness and bliss.

SB 1.2.19: As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature’s modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

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Hare Krsna!

Why Uddhava alone remained behind can be understood from the following verse of Srimad Bhagavatam.

SB 10.2.31: O Lord, who resemble the shining sun, You are always ready to fulfill the desire of Your devotee, and therefore You are known as a desire tree [vānchā-kalpataru]. When ācāryas completely take shelter under Your lotus feet in order to cross the fierce ocean of nescience, they leave behind on earth the method by which they cross, and because You are very merciful to Your other devotees, You accept this method to help them.

In the purport to above verse, Srila Prabhupada explains that the acarya gives the suitable method for crossing the ocean of nescience by accepting the boat of the Lord’s lotus feet, and if this method is strictly followed, the followers will ultimately reach the destination, by the grace of the Lord. This method is called acarya sampradaya.

In this lesson, we see that the Supreme Lord left behind His pure devotee Uddhava to help the conditioned souls cross over the dark ocean of material existence. The Lord entrusted Uddhava to disseminate specific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead. These great devotees teach the conditioned soul the purpose of human life, they are not the material bodies but spirit souls, they have eternal transcendental existence in the spiritual world, and there is a process to go back home, back to Godhead. The process is bhakti-yoga – loving devotional service unto the Supreme Lord Krsna.

“Uddhava was considered to be the best amongst all devotees of that time, and therefore he was directly instructed by the Lord’s grace, so that people might take advantage of Uddhava’s knowledge after the disappearance of the Lord from the vision of the world. This is one of the reasons why Uddhava was advised to go to Badarikāśrama, where the Lord is personally represented by the Nara-Nārāyaṇa Deity. One who is transcendentally advanced can gain direct inspiration from the temple Deity, and thus a devotee of the Lord always takes shelter of a recognized temple of the Lord in order to make tangible advancement in transcendental knowledge by the grace of the Lord.” (SB 3.4.30 P)

We have seen this example of the Lord sending or keeping behind His pure representatives since time immemorial. Even more recently, we have seen how Srila Prabhupada, a pure and bonafide representative of the Lord, continued the mission of his spiritual master to bring the transcendental knowledge about the Supreme Lord to the English-speaking world. Similarly, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu entrusted the Six Goswami to write books on devotional service and spread the glories of bhakti-yoga to the world. Rūpa Gosvāmī, for example, in order to help subsequent devotees, published such devotional books as Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Thus it is the duty of the ācārya to publish books that will help future candidates take up the method of service and become eligible to return home, back to Godhead, by the mercy of the Lord.

Why is the Supreme Lord so eager to disseminate transcendental knowledge about Himself? That’s because, as the Lord Himself said in Bhagavad Gita, one who knows the transcendental nature of His appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains His eternal abode (BG 4.9)

One who can understand the truth of the appearance of the Personality of Godhead is already liberated from material bondage, and therefore he returns to the kingdom of God immediately after quitting this present material body. The devotee, simply by understanding the transcendental nature of the body and activities of the Lord, attains the abode of the Lord after ending this body and does not run the risk of returning to this material world.

The qualification for becoming a representative of the Lord is to be transcendental to the three modes of material nature. As the Lord is not affected by the modes of material nature, so a pure devotee of the Lord is also not affected by the modes of nature. That is the primary qualification for being one with the Lord. A person who is able to attain this transcendental qualification is called jīvan-mukta, or liberated, even though he is apparently in material conditions. Uddhava was in such a transcendental position, and thus he was selected to be the factual representative of the Lord in His bodily absence from the vision of the world. Such a devotee of the Lord is never affected by material strength, intelligence or even renunciation. Such a devotee of the Lord can withstand all onslaughts of material nature, and therefore he is known as gosvāmī. Only such gosvāmīs can penetrate the mysteries of the Lord’s transcendental loving relationships. (SB 3.4.31 P)

Therefore one must accept the ācārya sampradaya such as Uddhava; otherwise one’s endeavor will be futile. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura therefore sings:

tāṅdera caraṇa sevi bhakta sane vāsa

janame janame haya, ei abhilāṣa

One must worship the lotus feet of the ācārya and live within the society of devotees. Then one’s endeavor to cross over nescience will surely be successful.

In this age, the best way to cross over the nescience of material existence is to always chant the holy name of the Lord. This is taught by none other than Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who is none other than the Supreme Lord Krsna Himself. This time Krsna Himself appeared as Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu to teach us the yuga-dharma of this age which is the congregational chanting of the holy name.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna!

This forum topic is timely. This month we are celebrating Gita Jayanti – the day when Lord Krsna spoke Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield. Arjuna was bereaved and confused due to his bodily relationships; he was lamenting about the possibility of killing his friends, relatives, and teachers. Unable to deal with this bereavement and confusion any longer, he surrendered to Krsna.

“Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.” (BG 2.7)

And thus Lord Krsna spoke the transcendental messages of Bhagavad Gita that ultimately got Arjuna out of his anxiety and confusion. This is one example of subduing bereavement with transcendental knowledge.

Another example comes from the 9^th chapter of 2^nd Canto. Lord Brahmā, the first spiritual master, supreme in the universe, could not trace out the source of his lotus seat, and while thinking of creating the material world, he could not understand the proper direction for such creative work, nor could he find out the process for such creation. (SB 2.9.5) After years of penance and finally obtaining vision of the Supreme Lord, Lord Brahma requested the Lord to instruct him by which he can generate living entities, without being conditioned by such activities. (SB 2.9.29) Thus, the Supreme Lord spoke the famous Catuh-sloki verses of Srimad Bhagavatam. After the Lord left, Brahma began to re-create the universe, full with living entities.

Therefore gaining transcendental knowledge is the goal of human life. Athato brahma jijnasa. One must inquire about the Absolute Truth. We struggle in this material world because we are driven by false ego. We think this material world is a place of real enjoyment and happiness. We do not know how to navigate the various sufferings in this material world. We have forgotten our eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord. Our memory is lost because we are now covered by His material energy.

The entire process of devotional service is to purify oneself of the contamination of material nature and put oneself on the spiritual platform, where he is qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord. The living entity is liberated. His material contamination is temporary, and his actual position is that he is liberated. This liberation is achieved by Krsna consciousness, which begins from the point of surrender to Krsna. This understanding is reached through the power of the transcendental knowledge and the mercy of Supreme Lord and His devotees.

When a conditioned soul is seriously anxious to get of the influence of the material clutches, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated with him as Paramatma, gives him this knowledge. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-Gita, “Give up all other engagement. Just surrender unto Me.” It is to be accepted that the source of knowledge is the Supreme Person. This transcendental knowledge cannot be imparted by anyone other than the Supreme Lord or His representative.

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta Lord Caitanya instructs Rūpa Gosvāmī that the living entities wander in life after life, undergoing the miserable conditions of material existence. But when one is very anxious to get free from the material entanglement, he gets enlightenment through a spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa. This means that Kṛṣṇa as the Supersoul is seated within the heart of the living entity, and when the living entity is serious, the Lord directs him to take shelter of His representative, a bona fide spiritual master. Directed from within and guided externally by the spiritual master, one attains the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is the way out of the material clutches.

As it is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita, after many, many births the knowledge comes to the conditioned soul that Vasudeva is great, He is master, and He is Lord. The individual soul is servant, and therefore he surrenders unto Him. At that time he becomes a mahatma, a great soul. Therefore a fortunate living being who comes to this understanding, through the power of transcendental knowledge, has his liberation assured.

That’s why we should be eternally grateful and indebted to Srila Prabhupada, who appeared to give this transcendental knowledge to us. He reminded us who Krsna is, our relationship with Him, our actual position in this material world, and how we can go back home, back to Godhead.

cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei | divya-jnan hrde prokasito | prema-bhakti jaha hoite | avidya vinasa jate | vede gay jahara carito

“He opens my darkened eyes and fills my heart with transcendental knowledge. He is my Lord birth after birth. From him ecstatic prema emanates; by him ignorance is destroyed. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character.” (Sri Guru-vandana 3)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna!

This forum topics needed good amount of reflection. I have many spiritual desires, but I was not sure about my core desire. Because of deep material conditioning, my core desire does not manifest clearly in my heart yet. When I started in the Krsna consciousness movement, I had lofty goals. But as my devotional journey progressed and as I continued to chant the holy name, my shortcomings started becoming manifest. I gradually started to realize how fallen, insignificant, and unqualified (for devotional service) I am. This is the potency of chanting the holy name. Ceto Darpana marjana. Our hearts become cleansed as we chant the holy name. In the early days of bhakti, I might have been foolish to desire the personal association of Lord Krsna. But now I feel too distant and unqualified to even aspire for this goal. I am not like Uddhava who particularly desired to achieve the Lord’s association.

“O Vasu, I know from within your mind what you desired in the days of yore when the Vasus and other demigods responsible for expanding the universal affairs performed sacrifices. You particularly desired to achieve My association. This is very difficult for others to obtain, but I award it unto you.” (SB 3.4.11)

In the purport to this verse, Srila Prabhupada writes that everyone is at liberty to desire as he likes, but the desire is fulfilled by the Supreme Lord. Everyone is independent to think or desire, but the fulfillment of one’s desire depends on the supreme will. Only the pure devotees can know, by the mercy of the Lord, that the personal association of the Lord is the highest perfection of life. The Lord assured Uddhava that He would fulfill his desire.

Yes, so desiring the personal association of the Lord is our ultimate goal. But achievement of this goal is realistically too far away because of my existing anarthas and not being fully Krsna consciousness yet. There are many milestones I need to cross to get to the ultimate goal. I need to be a better devotee. I need to aspire to be a pure devotee. I need to learn how to serve the devotees better. I need to learn how to practice kindness, love, tolerance, and compassion. I need to learn how to please my spiritual master. I need to transform my heart. I need to learn how to love Krsna more. I need to learn how to practice gratitude. I need to learn how to practically apply the teachings of Srimad Bhagavatam. I need to learn how to even chant the holy name properly.

Therefore, if I am asked what my core desire at this stage of my bhakti life is, I will say that it is to chant the holy name of the Lord offenselessly. I want to chant the suddha-nama at least once in this lifetime. This is my core and most urgent desire. I understand everything else can be achieved by the pure chanting of the holy name of Lord Krsna. I want to chant more and chant better. This is the goal of my life. Other complementary desires are, I want to always stay in the association of advanced devotees (like our teachers of this course), I want to serve the devotees, and I want to always study and imbibe the teachings of Srila Prabhupada in his books.

“My dear king, the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is able to uproot even the reactions of the greatest sins. Therefore, the chanting of the saṅkīrtana movement is the most auspicious activity in the entire universe. Please try to understand this so that others will take it seriously. One who constantly hears and chants the holy name of the Lord and hears and chants about His activities can very easily attain the platform of pure devotional service, which can cleanse the dirt from one’s heart. One cannot achieve such purification merely by observing vows and performing Vedic ritualistic ceremonies.” (SB 6.3.31-32)

I therefore pray to my dear teachers and all my Vaisnava classmates in this study group to bless me so that my core desire is fulfilled.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna!

“The supreme occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that by which man can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.” (SB 1.2.6)

This verse describes the perfect in the human form of life. Be to a pure devotee of Sri Krsna. To attain this goal, Srila Prabhupada provides three principles: (a) protecting the cow, (b) maintaining the Brahminical culture, and (c) become a pure devotee of the Lord.

There is a co-relation between all these three principles. They are all dependent on each other. This is how I see their co-relation. There is no doubt that we should all aspire to become a pure devotee of the Lord. Not even a pseudo-devotee. Just 100% pure devotee. This is the lofty standard that Srila Prabhupada has set for all of us. Our goal is not to go to heavenly planets or even Vaikuntha. Our goal is to go back to the supreme abode of Lord Krsna, Goloka Vrndavana. Goloka is the home of Godhead, our home. In order to become a pure devotee, we have to maintain our sadhana (devotional practice) very strictly. Ideal standard is to chant the holy name of the Lord constantly (kirtaniya sada harih).

In order to do so, we have to minimize our material entanglements and anxiety. There is to be presence of some element of peace to perform bhakti. A disturbed mind, disturbed body, and disturbed environment are not conducive to bhakti. This means we have to live in harmony with Mother Earth. All the natural disturbances that we face in today’s world is because we kill our motherly cows. Cows are the representative of motherhood and Mother Earth. When we kill the cows, we disturb Mother Earth and create imbalance. According to the ancient Vedic texts the cow is the representative of Mother Earth. And, when the cow and the bull are mistreated, Mother Earth withdraws her bounty. In chapter 3 (Canto 3), Srila Prabhupada explains that “according to Vedic economics, one is considered to be a rich man by the strength of his store of grains and cows. With only these two things, cows and grain, humanity can solve its eating problem. Human society needs only sufficient grain and sufficient cows to solve its economic problems. All other things but these two are artificial necessities created by man to kill his valuable life at the human level and waste his time in things which are not needed.” In order words, we need to reduce artificial necessities of life to have sufficient time and mental peace to perform our sadhana.

Next, maintaining Brahminical culture is important. We need qualified and bonafide teachers to guide human society. Human society should develop brahminical culture on the basis of protecting cows. The brahmana cannot take any other food except it is made of milk preparation.

“Human civilization will advance only on the basis of brahminical culture and cow protection. As soon as there is falldown from brahminical culture, and as soon as there is discrepancy in the protection of cows, there will be no more peace in the world. Therefore He specifically said, go-brahmana-hitaya ca. This Krsna consciousness movement is for the protection of brahminical culture and cows. Then automatically the peace of the world will come, if two things are done. This is Vedic literature. They pick up the essence of the things, and all other things follows. Just like meditation. Meditation means… Not meditation, the yoga system. Yoga indriya-samyamah. Yoga system means to control the senses. This is the primary factor of practicing yoga. Now the senses, we have got five senses acquiring knowledge and five working senses.” (Srila Prabhupada Lecture Los Angeles, December 4, 1968)

Thus, we see there is a nice correlation between the three principles of cow protection, Brahminical culture, and becoming a pure devotee. However, a large part of the world does not know this. Hence ISKCON is the only institution that can teach these principles to the world. We can distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books, propagate these principles in our lectures and writings, live by these principles ourselves – all with the goal to make the whole world Krsna conscious. If we cannot preach directly, we can assist devotees preach directly.

“Without becoming a devotee of the Lord, one cannot perfect one’s human life. The perfection of human life is to be elevated to the spiritual world, where there is no birth, no death, no disease, and no old age. That is the highest perfectional aim of human life. Without this aim, any amount of material advancement in so-called comforts can only bring the defeat of the human form of life.” (SB 3.3.28 P)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

Krsna’s eternal pastimes, especially His appearance and disappearance, are very difficult to understand. “Kṛṣṇa appears and disappears in innumerable universes, just as the sun appears and disappears during the day. Although the sun appears to rise and set, it is continuously shining somewhere on the earth. Similarly, although Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes seem to appear and disappear, they are continuously existing in one brahmāṇḍa (universe) or another. Thus, all of Kṛṣṇa’s līlās are present simultaneously throughout the innumerable universes. By our limited senses we cannot appreciate this; therefore, Kṛṣṇa’s eternal pastimes are very difficult for us to understand.” (CC Madhya 20.397 P)

To someone who is not so well-versed with Krsna philosophy, it is really bewildering to understand His activities. His annihilation of the Yadu dynasty before His disappearance may sound cruel and merciless to a neophyte. His appearance in a prison cell in Mathura and His subsequent escape to Vrindavana in the middle of the night may put a question mark on His Godly qualities. However, to a person well-trained in sastra and who has been practicing devotional service for some time, he/she could see Krsna’s sweetness and love in all these pastimes. Things may look different at a superficial level, but there is a deeper meaning underneath. It’s like pealing an onion. There are layers and layers of meaning in Krsna’s pastimes and activities. Therefore, we need to hear Krsna’s pastimes from bona-fide sources. Otherwise, we would be bewildered. If we understand that Krsna and His devotees are not subjected to the laws of material nature, we would be able to appreciate His appearance and disappearance pastimes. Krsna does everything out of His sweet will and to give pleasure to His devotees. His going to Gokula after birth is to give pleasure to Vrajavasis and especially to Mother Yasoda and Nanda Maharaja.

As Krsna says in BG 4.7-9: “Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion – at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium. One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.“

Superficially Krsna appears to annihilate the demons and deliver the pious. But the truth is Krsna wants to reciprocate in loving exchange with His dear devotees. Before Krsna appeared, Lord Brahma heard an onem, “The Supreme Personality of Godhead would appear on the earth very soon along with His supreme powerful potencies, and as long as He remained on the earth planet to execute His mission of annihilating the demons and establishing the devotees, the demigods should also remain there to assist Him. They should all immediately take birth in the family of the Yadu dynasty, wherein the Lord would also appear in due course of time. The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, Kṛṣṇa, would personally appear as the son of Vasudeva. Before His appearance, all the demigods, along with their wives, should appear in different pious families in the world just to assist the Lord in executing His mission.” (Krsna Book 1)

Therefore, we need to understand that most (if not all) members of the Yadu dynasty are the demigods who appeared on Krsna’s order. Subsequently, when it was time for Krsna to wind up His pastimes, He had to return the demigods to their respective abodes and duties. Thus, He devised a make-show brawl of a fight among themselves, kill each other, and return to where they came from. The following purport sums up Krsna’s purpose.

SB 3.3.15 P: “The Lord and His associates appear and disappear by the will of the Lord. They are not subjected to the laws of material nature. No one was able to kill the family of the Lord, nor was there any possibility of their natural death by the laws of nature. The only means, therefore, for their disappearance was the make-show of a fight amongst themselves, as if brawling in intoxication due to drinking. That so-called fighting would also take place by the will of the Lord; otherwise there would be no cause for their fighting. Just as Arjuna was made to be illusioned by family affection and thus the Bhagavad-gītā was spoken, so the Yadu dynasty was made to be intoxicated by the will of the Lord, and nothing more. The devotees and associates of the Lord are completely surrendered souls. Thus they are transcendental instruments in the hands of the Lord and can be used in any way the Lord desires. The pure devotees also enjoy such pastimes of the Lord because they want to see Him happy. Devotees of the Lord never assert independent individuality; on the contrary, they utilize their individuality in pursuit of the desires of the Lord, and this cooperation of the devotees with the Lord makes a perfect scene of the Lord’s pastimes.”

SB 1.3.35 P: The Supreme has nothing to do, but because He is omnipotent, everything is performed by Him naturally, as if done automatically. As a matter of fact, the appearance and disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His different activities are all confidential, even to the Vedic literatures. Yet they are displayed by the Lord to bestow mercy upon the conditioned souls. We should always take advantage of the narrations of the activities of the Lord, which are meditations on Brahman in the most convenient and palatable form.

SB 1.8.27 P: The Supreme Personality of Godhead has no direct connection with material activities. All His acts and deeds, which are exhibited even in this material world, are spiritual and without affection for the modes of material nature. In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says that all His acts, even His appearance and disappearance in and out of the material world, are transcendental, and one who knows this perfectly shall not take his birth again in this material world, but will go back to Godhead.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

When we meditate on someone, we usually meditate because of that person’s good qualities such as kindness, love, compassion, mercy, beauty, gratitude, etc. These very qualities of the person make dear to someone. We do not prefer to meditate on someone’s bad qualities. In this lesson, Uddhava, being a great devotee he is, meditates on Lord Krsna by noting his contradictory behavior.

The subject of contradictions is really interesting. One aspect of life that we come across all the time is that of contradiction. For example, in society we want to balance the two opposing elements of individual freedom and societal order, yet one generally comes at the cost of the other. Some may argue that the need to balance out contradictory elements is an unnecessary one and that there is no utopian existence where opposing elements can co-exist together. We face similar difficulties when we deal with the relationship between God, material nature, and individual souls. Is there complete unity between all of them, or is there duality? This perennial question has been answered differently in different metaphysical traditions, some preferring dualism and some monism.

According to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, neither of the two concepts does complete justice to the nature of the Absolute. In Gaudiya philosophy, God is simultaneously one and different from his energies, including material nature and the individual soul. God has both transcendent and immanent features that co-exist together. The Gaudiya tradition proclaims that it is only by the inconceivable power of God, acintya-shakti, that these apparently contradictory attributes simultaneously exist in the Absolute.

Therefore, when we see Uddhava meditating on Krsna’s contradictory behavior, it should not bewilder us. Krsna is the Supreme Absolute Truth. He is the source of everything. Thus even apparent evil or wrong behavior should find its proper function in relation to him. All so-called dualities are accommodated and harmonized in Krsna, thus enhancing His beauty.

The so-called contradictory behavior that we see in Krsna is basically a manifestation of His sweet will to facilitate the exchange between Him and His devotees. Damodara lila is full of such contradictions. Krsna is feared by fear personified, but still He feared Mother Yasoda’s stick. Krsna cannot be bound (as He is all pervading), but still He chose to be bound by Mother Yasoda’s rope. Krsna is always self-satisfied but He developed a desire to drink Mother Yasoda’s breast milk. He is beyond the three material modes, but still He displayed transcendental anger when Mother Yasoda dropped Him down from her lap. Krsna is fully opulent (He is the husband of Goddess Laksmi) but still He steals butter. Krsna is unconquerable but still He is caught behind by Mother Yasoda. He gives liberation to others, but the very same Krsna cries for liberation from Mother Yasoda after He is bound to wooden grinding mortar. As Manvantara right quoted from Sri Damodarastakam, “those superexcellent pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s babyhood drowned the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy.”

Krsna is beyond all contradictions. By his own will, Krsna takes on a finite appearance to facilitate the exchange between the infinite Absolute and the finite soul. This finite form does not diminish his infinite nature, rather it enhances it, and the subsequent sweetness of the exchanges between Krsna and the individual souls enchant and captivate the hearts of many who come in touch with Krsna’s pastimes. The all-powerful, unconquerable Absolute becomes helpless in front of the selfless love of His devotee. This is indeed a beautiful contradiction. These very contradictory qualities make the Lord so dear to everyone.

As Srila Prabhupada writes in SB 3.2.20 Purport, “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, appears in this world for two missionary purposes: to deliver the faithful and to annihilate the miscreants. But because the Lord is absolute, His two different kinds of actions, although apparently different, are ultimately one and the same. His annihilation of a person like Śiśupāla is as auspicious as His actions for the protection of the faithful.”

SB 3.2.22 Purport “Persons with a poor fund of knowledge belittle the Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, not knowing His exalted position as the Lord of everything. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord has explained His position clearly, but the demoniac, atheistic student squeezes out an interpretation to suit his own purpose and misleads unfortunate followers into the same mentality. Such unfortunate persons merely pick up some slogans from the great book of knowledge but are unable to estimate the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Pure devotees like Uddhava, however, are never misled by such atheistic opportunists.”

However, a pure devotee like Uddhava can see beyond these contradictions of Krsna and see His all-loving nature. In this way Uddhava manifests spontaneous loving symptoms.

SB 3.2.23 P: “The Lord accepts the least qualification of the living entity and awards him the highest reward. That is the standard of His character. Therefore, who but the Lord can be the ultimate shelter?”

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

The forum  topic is ‘Uddhava’s spontaneous love’; I was meditating on the meaning of spontaneous love. There are two kinds of devotional service in practice (sadhana-bhakti) – vaidhi bhakti and raganuga bhakti. Vaidhi Bhakti means service according to regulative principles. Raganuga refers to the point at which, by following the regulative principles, one becomes a little more attached to Krsna and executes devotional service out of natural love. If one attains the stage of Raganuga bhakti, he cannot think of any other thing except Krsna.  That is why, the people of Vrindavana were always thinking of Krsna spontaneously. Thus in this lesson we see that Uddhava’s displayed spontaneous love by remembering the childhood pastimes of Krsna.

NOD 15: Examples of spontaneous devotional service can easily be seen in Kṛṣṇa’s direct associates in Vṛndāvana. The spontaneous dealings of the residents of Vṛndāvana in relationship with Kṛṣṇa are called rāgānugā. These beings don’t have to learn anything about devotional service; they are already perfect in all regulative principles and have achieved the spontaneous loving service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For example, the cowherd boys who are playing with Kṛṣṇa do not have to learn by austerities or penances or yogic practice how to play with Him. They have passed all tests of regulative principles in their previous lives, and as a result they are now elevated to the position of direct association with Kṛṣṇa as His dear friends. Their spontaneous attitude is called rāgānugā-bhakti.

To understand Kṛṣṇa means to understand Kṛṣṇa in His personal form with His internal energy, His external energy, His expansions and His incarnations. To meditate on Krsna means meditating on Krsna Himself, His form, qualities, pastimes, associates, abode, paraphernalia, etc. Because Krsna is the Absolute Truth, there is no difference between Krsna and His various aspects.

In this chapter, Uddhava displayed spontaneous love for Krsna by meditating on certain aspects of Krsna. There is a certain pattern in his meditation. In verses 12-14, he remembers the attractive beauty of the Lord. He remembered that the Lord’s form is the ornament of all ornaments. His beauty surpassed the dexterity of Brahma in creating beautiful objects. He also remembered the absorption of the gopis; he speaks this out of his own experience in Vraja, having seen their love. (SB 10-46-47)

In verses 15-24, Uddhava remembers Lord Krsna’s mercy and His bewildering activities such as His mercy to Sisupala and Putana. The bewildering acts of Krsna gave Uddhava distress. He remembers how Krsna, although unborn, took birth; He lived in Vraja out of fear of the enemy (even though He is feared by fear personified). Although all-powerful, He fled from Mathura. Although the Lord is all-powerful, He still submits before Ugrasena.

In verses 25-34, Udhava remembers the childhood pastimes of the Lord in Vraja.  Although there is no difference between the Lord’s pastimes of appearance and disappearance, devotees do not generallt discuss about His disappearance. Therefore, Uddhava began narrating the pastimes of Krsna from His birth, although Vidura inquired him about the Lord’s disappearance. (SB 3.2.25)

In this way, Uddhava taught us how to meditate on Krsna in spontaneous love. The key point to note is that the meditation atttitude must be favorable to bhakti. “

NOD 15: The attraction of the gopīs for Kṛṣṇa and the affection of the members of the Yadu dynasty are both accepted as spontaneous, or rāgānugā. The attraction of Kaṁsa to Kṛṣṇa in fear and the attraction of Śiśupāla in envy are not accepted as devotional service, however, because their attitudes are not favorable. Devotional service should be executed only in a favorable frame of mind. Therefore, according to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, such attractions are not considered to be in devotional service. Again, he analyzes the affection of the Yadus. If it is on the platform of friendship, then it is spontaneous love, but if it is on the platform of regulative principles, then it is not. And only when affection comes to the platform of spontaneous love is it counted in the category of pure devotional service.

Uddhava’s meditation on Krsna childhood pastimes inspires me to study Krsna book regularly. It is amazing that Srila Prabhupada gave us the Krsna book first so that we can meditate on Krsna. By constantly meditating on Krsna and chanting His holy name, we become purified and qualified to return home, back to Godhead.

SB 2.1.6: The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

The qualities of Uddhava are like an ocean. No amount of glorification and description will do justice to them.

We got a glimpse of Uddhava’s exceptional nature in the first chapter (of Canto 3).

SB 3.1.25: Then, due to his great love and feeling, Vidura embraced him [Uddhava], who was a constant companion of Lord Kṛṣṇa and formerly a great student of Bṛhaspati’s. Vidura then asked him for news of the family of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead.

In Srila Prabhupada’s purport to this verse, two qualities stand out – Uddhava’s respectful demeanor, scholarly nature and companionship. He bowed down to when he met Vidura. Vidura was older than Uddhava, like a father, and therefore when the two met, Uddhava bowed down before Vidura, and Vidura embraced him because Uddhava was younger, like a son. Uddhava was a great scholar in logic, and he was known to be a son or disciple of Bṛhaspati, the greatly learned priest and spiritual master of the demigods. However his highest quality is that he was a constant companion of Lord Krsna.

The second chapter enumerates further on Uddhava’s qualities. He is a nitya-siddha. At 5 years old, he would be so absorbed in his service to Krsna that when called for breakfast by his mother, he would not come. (SB 3.2.2-3) Through this example, Srila Prabhupada is instructing us how we can engage in the service of the Supreme Lord from a very early age. We can have dolls of Krsna and serve by dressing, feeding and worshiping them; in this way we will develop attachment for the Lord.

Prahlāda Mahārāja said: One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life — in other words, from the tender age of childhood — to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is most rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete perfection. (SB 7.6.1)

Uddhava’s life is a great example of Prahlada Maharaja’s quote above.

The other thing about Uddhava that touched me deeply is his bhava – ecstatic symptoms. This shows he is situated in pure love of Godhead. Any mention of Lord Krsna would bring him into ecstasy.

SB 2.1.4-5: For a moment he remained dead silent, and his body did not move. He became absorbed in the nectar of remembering the Lord’s lotus feet in devotional ecstasy, and he appeared to be going increasingly deeper into that ecstasy. It was so observed by Vidura that Uddhava had all the transcendental bodily changes due to total ecstasy, and he was trying to wipe away tears of separation from his eyes. Thus Vidura could understand that Uddhava had completely assimilated extensive love for the Lord.

“Feelings of ecstasy are displayed by highly advanced devotees of the Lord. There are eight kinds of transcendental changes in the body — tears, shivering of the body, perspiration, restlessness, throbbing, choking of the throat, etc. — and all were manifested by Uddhava in the presence of Vidura.” (SB 2.1.4 Purport)

It is stated in Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu (1.2.187)

“Anyone who, by his actions, mind and words, lives only for the transcendental loving service of the Lord, is certainly a liberated soul, even though he may appear to be in a condition of material existence.”

One who is unable to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead by going through the pages of the Vedas may take shelter of one of the Lord’s devotees, such as Uddhava, in order to advance further in knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Brahma-samhita says that it is very difficult to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead from the Vedas, but He is easily understood from a pure devotee like Uddhava. The Lord authorized Uddhava to speak on His behalf. Unless one has such authorization, one cannot understand or preach the devotional service of the Lord.

Uddhava was in such a transcendental position, and thus he was selected to be the factual representative of the Lord. Such a devotee of the Lord is never affected by material strength, intelligence or even renunciation. Such a devotee of the Lord can withstand all onslaughts of material nature, and therefore he is known as gosvami. Only such gosvamis can penetrate the mysteries of the Lord’s transcendental loving relationships.

The important takeway for me from this lesson is that we too can reach the platform as Uddhava is in. Srila Prabhupada and the acaryas have outlined the process.

“The nine different modes of devotional service, such as hearing, chanting and remembering, are the beginning of the process. By regular hearing of the glories and pastimes of the Lord, the impurities in the student’s heart begin to be washed off. The more one is cleansed of impurities, the more one becomes fixed in devotional service. Gradually the activities take the forms of steadiness, firm faith, taste, realization and assimilation, one after another. These different stages of gradual development increase love of God to the highest stage, and in the highest stage there are still more symptoms, such as affection, anger and attachment, gradually rising in exceptional cases to the mahā-bhāva stage, which is generally not possible for the living entities. All these were manifested by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the personification of love of God.” (SB 3.2.6 P)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna,

The essence of this forum topic is sadhu-sanga. The whole point of going on a pilgrimage is to associate with sadhus. Association with a great personality is most important. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta Lord Caitanya says that sādhu-saṅga, the association of a great saintly person, is very important, because even if one is not advanced in knowledge, simply by association with a great saintly person one can immediately make considerable advancement in spiritual life.

In Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, we have seen Lord Caitanya going on a pilgrimage to South India and other parts of India. He did not just visit the holy places to take bath in the sacred rivers or visit the temples. He associated with advanced devotees such as Ramananda Raya, Venkata Bhatta, Paramananda Puri. The Lord even met met Lord Śiva and his wife Durgā in the dress of a brāhmaṇa and brāhmaṇī at Sri Saila-parvata. We have seen a similar example with Lord Nityananda. He left home with a sannyasi (who came to Hadai Pandit with a request that he allow his son to travel with him to all the holy places). Thus Lord Nityananda left home, wandering to the holy places by His own sweet will and ecstasy. Thus Mahaprabhu and showed us how to travel to holy places of pilgrimage and associate with the sadhus.

Srila Prabhupada explains beautifully that “places of pilgrimages are meant for eradicating the sins of the pilgrims, and they are distributed all over the universe just to give facility to all concerned for attaining pure existence and God realization. One should not be satisfied, however, merely by visiting the places of pilgrimage and performing one’s prescribed duties; he should be eager to meet the great souls who are already there, engaged in the service of the Lord. In each and every place of pilgrimage, the Lord is present in His various transcendental forms.”

It is not to be concluded that a holy place has no potency. It definitely has. A tīrtha, or holy place, is a place where great saintly personalities visit or reside. Although the holy places were already places of pilgrimage, they were all purified by visit of pure devotees. Many people go to these holy places and leave their sinful activities there, thus becoming free from contamination. When these contaminations pile up, they are counteracted by the visit of great personalities like Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His strict followers. Places of pilgrimage are always infected by the sins left by the sinners who go there, but when a personality like Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu visits such a place, all contaminations vanish. (CC Madhya 9.4)

However the pure devotees of the Supreme Lord have greater purifying power than the holy places themselves. Even Mother Ganges waits for pure devotees to bathe in her waters so that all the accumulated sins in her water are eradicated by their touch.

O Sūta, those great sages who have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord can at once sanctify those who come in touch with them, whereas the waters of the Ganges can sanctify only after prolonged use. (SB 1.1.15)

Dear Lord, Your personal associates, devotees, wander all over the world to purify even the holy places of pilgrimage. Is not such activity pleasing to those who are actually afraid of material existence? (SB 4.30.37)

Pure devotees of the Lord are more powerful than the waters of the sacred river Ganges. One can derive spiritual benefit out of prolonged use of the Ganges waters. But one can be sanctified at once by the mercy of a pure devotee of the Lord. (SB 1.1.15 P)

When a pure devotee goes to a place of pilgrimage, he desires to purify that holy place of pilgrimage. Many sinful men bathe in the holy waters of the places of pilgrimage. They take their baths in the waters of the Ganges and Yamunā at places such as Prayāga, Vṛndāvana and Mathurā. In this way the sinful men are purified, but their sinful actions and reactions remain at the holy places of pilgrimage. When a devotee comes to take his bath at those places of pilgrimage, the sinful reactions left by the sinful men are neutralized by the devotee. Tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni svāntaḥ-sthena gadā-bhṛtā (Bhāg. 1.13.10). Because the devotee always carries the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, wherever he goes becomes a place of pilgrimage, a holy place for understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is therefore the duty of everyone to associate with a pure devotee and thus attain freedom from material contamination. Everyone should take advantage of the wandering devotees, whose only business is to deliver conditioned souls from the clutches of māyā.

In the case of Vidura, he travelled to the holy places to purify himself in order to achieve greater piety and advance nearer to the Lord. A hidden meaning could be that the places of pilgrimage themselves got purified by Vidura’s visits. Thus there is a nice reciprocation between the pure devotee and the places they visit. A pure devotee’s visit makes a place holier.

Thanks to Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, we now have ISKCON temples in all the major cities of the world. Thus there is no dearth of holy places and holy name. Just by visiting an ISKCON temple, attending the morning program (and hearing Srimad Bhagavatam), and partaking prasadam, one will obtain million times more benefit than by merely following the ritual of visiting a holy place but not associating with the sadhus.

arvatra prakāśa tāṅra — bhakte sukha dite

jagatera adharma nāśi’ dharma sthāpite

“The Lord has so distributed Himself all over the universe just to give pleasure to the devotees, to give the common man facility to eradicate his sins, and to establish religious principles in the world.” (CC Madhya 20.219)

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!