Krishna ’s appearance

Gaura Govinda swami maharaja

Mathura Meets VrindaVan

17 Krishna ’s appearance Mathura and Vrindavan Exactly at the same time when Yasoda- mata gave birth to Krishna in Vrinda- van, in Mathura, in the prison house of Kamsa, Devaki also gave birth to a child. That is described in the tenth canto of theB h ā g a v a t a m. Lord Hari appeared in Mathura in a four-handed form. He had a crown on His head and with His four hands He was holding a śakha, cakra,
gadā,a n d padma — a conchshell, disk, club and lotus.Kanaka-kuala-kara, on His two ears there were golden earrings, and a bright effulgence was coming out of His body. Although it was a dark and cloudy night, by the effulgence coming from the body of Lord Hari everything was illuminated.

Seeing this wonderful child, Devaki paid obeisances with folded hands and offered prayers. Vasudev immediately took bath. How could he take bath in the prison house? He did so by medita- tion within his mind,manasā-snāna. Also in his mind he observed a grand festival for the birthday of Lord Hari and gave away innumerable cows in charity to the
brāhmaasand vaiavas. Like Devaki, he also offered prayers to Lord Narayan. Then Narayan told him, “Immediately take Me to Vraja-Gokul and put Me on the lap of Yasoda-mata.”
Hearing this, Vasudev was very, very happy. By the wonderful will of Lord Hari, those who were guarding the prison all fell asleep. All of the strong iron doors and shackles opened and Vasudev was free to leave. Exactly at the same time when Vasudev was leaving the prison of Kamsa, Yasoda-mata gave birth to a second child, a daughter.
When Vasudev came to the bank of the Yamuna he saw there was a great flood. The


water was very high and all of the land was inundated. He thought, “How can I cross?” Just then Vasudev saw Mahamaya in the form of a she-jackal crossing the Yamuna. So Vasudev followed her.
Finally he came to the quarters of Nanda Maharaja. There he put his son on the lap of Yasoda-mata and took Yasoda’s daugh- ter with him.


Hearing this, Snigdha Kantha said, “What is this? Yasoda-mata gave birth to one son and one daughter, and Va- sudev took the daughter. What hap- pened to the son?”
Madhu Kantha said, “This is a very con- fidential matter. Yasoda-mata’s daughter wassākāt-yogamāyā. By her potency, Yo- gamaya kept the son of Nanda hidden, and Vasudev could not see Him. He only saw the daughter.”

The son of Nanda and Yasoda issvaya bhagavān, the original Supreme Personal- ity of Godhead — ete cāśa-kalā pusa kas tu bhagavān svayam.2 Nanda-nandana ka, yaśodā-nandana kai s svaya bhagavān, and all avatāras are His plenary
portions or portions of His plenary por- tions —asa andkalā. From the womb of Devaki came the four- handed form Vāsudev, who is aprābhava- prakāśa of Krishna. Krishna has two types of expansions,prābhava-prakāśa and vaibhava-prakāśa. In the temporary category ofprābhava come the incarnations Mohini, Hamsa and Sukla. In the eternal category comes Dhanvantari, Rishabha, Vyasa, Dat- tatreya, Kapila, etc. Thevaibhava-prakāśa are partially powerful. In this category comes Kurma, Matsya, Nara Narayan Rishi, Varaha, Hayagriva, Prishnigarbha, Baladev, Yajna, Vibhu, Satyasena, Hari,

Vaikuntha, Ajita, Vaman, Sarvabhauma, Rishabha, Vishwaksena, Dharmasetu, Sudama, Yogeswar, Brihadbhanu, etc.
When svayam bhagavān Krishna comes, all of His portions and portions of portions, asaand kalā, all come within Him. The son of Vasudev is Vāsudev, a four-handed form of the Lord. Vāsudev is a plenary portion of Krishna. So when Vasudev put his son on the lap of Yasoda, that Vāsudev entered into the child Krishna who was already lying there. Just as all rivers flow down to enter into the ocean, similarly all the plenary portions and portions of the plenary portions of the Lord all come and enter into the original Lord. By the activity ofyoga-māyā, Vasudev could not understand any of these things.

In theHari-vaśa (2.4.11) it is described how Lord Hari simultaneously took birth in two places:
garbha kāle tv asapūre aame māsi te striyau devakī ca yaśodā ca suubāte sama tadā In the eighth month of pregnancy, which is consideredasapūra, incomplete, Yasoda and Devaki both gave birth at the same time.*
Just after that, Yasoda gave birth to a daughter, Yogamaya. Mahamaya is a portion of Yogamaya, and she was thus also there. Vasudev took away this Ma- hamaya and handed her over to Kamsa, while Yogamaya stayed, hidden, in Vrajabhumi. In this way it was declared that the eighth child was a daughter, not a son. Kamsa was cheated.

Madhu Kantha then said, “When Yaso- da-mata gave birth to Krishna, all were asleep. Everyone slept through the whole night. Then in the morning Lord Hari started crying, “Kwaaa! Kwaaa! Kwaaa!” Everyone woke up. Yasomati also woke and saw her nice son.
Seeing her wonderful, very beautiful son, mother Yasoda completely drowned in the ocean of blissfulness. She couldn’t think what to do. She was shedding tears of bliss and love. From her breast, milk was flowing. The new-born child was there in her lap and Yasoda was very bliss- fully looking at Him.

Yasoda-mata’s voice was faltering in joy. She could not speak anything, and was simply shedding tears of love. Up until that day she had only looked at the sons of others. Today she was looking at her own son. Tears poured from her eyes and milk flowed from her breasts. Her whole sari became completely soaked. Again and again Yasoda-mata looked at the beautiful lotus-like, moon-like face of her son. All the nurses,g o p a s , andg o p ī s awoke,

hearing the crying sound of the new- born child. Everyone came and said, “Oh, it is not a daughter, it is a son! Yasoda has given birth to a son!”
Everyone was very happy and bliss- ful. It was as if all of Gokul, Vrajab- humi, had drowned in an ocean of blissfulness. All theg o p a s andg o p ī s came running to Nanda Maharaja’s quarters to see Yasoda’s newly born son. The demigods were dancing in the heavenly planets, beating drums and singing, “hari hari hari-bolo! hari-
bolo! hari-bolo! hari-bolo!” The fourteen planetary systems resounded with the sound of “hari-bolo”.

In the heavenly planets thedeva-nārīs, the wives of the demigods, were showering flowers. All of thegopas andgopīs were dancing blissfully. Embracing one another with love and affection, they were all drowning in an ocean of happiness.
Immediately Nanda Maharaja took bath according to Vedic rites. Then he per- formed the jāta-karma-saskāra — purifi- catory ceremony for childbirth.Brāhmaas came and utteredsvasti-vācana, prayers for auspiciousness.

Many musicians came playing variet- ies of musical instruments. The sound of drums, kettledrums, and other musical instruments resounded throughout all of the three planetary systems.
The three planetary systems were completely filled with supreme happi- ness,mahā-ānanda. Prithivi-devi, Mother Earth had been very, very distressed and over-burdened by thea s ur a s , demons. Now the demons were to be killed and Prithivi-devi would be relieved of her heavy burden. All of thesādhus, vaiavas, and dvijas, brāhmaas, were happy.

The Appearance of Lord Krishna

Ananda Vrindavan Campu Kavi Karnapur
The Appearance of Lord Krishna

Now we will discuss the truth about the transcendental birthplace of Bhagavan and the appearance of Lord Shri Krishna. Once upon a time, Bhumi, the predominating deity of the earth, felt overburdened by differ­ent demons posing as members of the royal order. Feeling aggrieved upon seeing her miserable condition, the lotus-born Brahma appealed to Ksirodakasayi Vishnu, the maintainer of the universe, saying, "Please de­liver Goddess Bhumi who is feeling greatly distressed by these demoniac kings. Only You can remove this terrible influence from the earth."

The time for an appearance of the Lord coincided with two internal desires of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. First the Lord desired to descend on earth to increase the fortune of Yasoda and Nanda. Also at that time Krishna wanted to relish the sweet mellow of srngara rasa (par­amour love) while enacting His worldly pastimes. For these two reasons the Lord appeared within the material creation on Bhuloka, (earth planet), along with His parents, friends, and other eternal associates Another distinction of Lord Krishna's earthly pastimes is that when the eternally liberated gopis such as Shrimati Radharani, Candravali, and oth­ers appeared, the Srutis personified also appeared in the homes of other gopis, because they had previously cultivated the desire to serve Shri Krishna as Vraja gopis. The Dandakaranya sages, upon seeing the svakiya bhava (the sweet conjugal relationship) of Lord Ramacandra and Sitadevi, de­sired to have the same relationship with their Lord Madana Gopala. Upon attaining perfection in their sadhana they achieved the fortunate position of appearing as gopis in Vrndavana. Yogamaya, Lord Krishna's pastime potency who possesses unlimited abilities, appeared invisibly in Gokula to arrange this, and perform other difficult tasks on behalf of the Lord.

Shri Nanda, Yasoda, and others appeared in Brhadvana (Mahavana) before the Lord. The gopas, gopis, and other eternally liberated associ­ates appeared after the Lord. Then those who had attained perfection by sadhana, namely the sruti-caris and muni-caris, took birth in Vrndavana.Learning of Krishna's imminent appearance, the earth personified, feel­ing like a wife happily greeting her husband after a long separation, im­mersed in unlimited joy. At the time of Krishna's birth the general mass of people tasted the inner bliss that devotees forever relish. Auspicious signs abounded everywhere. As Vishnu's conchshell Pancajanya opens in a clock­wise fashion, similarly, auspicious sacrificial fires glowed in all directions. Pure gentle breezes brought a refreshing coolness like devotees who satisfy and sanctify everyone with their calm, sweet, and affectionate be­havior.The whole atmosphere became as completely purified as the heart of a devotee. The devotees once again found peace and prosperity in wor­shiping the lotus feet of Lord Hari. Fruits filled the jubilant trees. But the envious demons exhibited various inauspicious signs of degradation such as rapidly aging bodies and symptoms of imminent death. The desire vines of the celestial denizens seemed to be hanging in the air as if eager to produce fruits. At that time all the directions became felt as pure and joyful as the mind of a devotee who has received the mercy of Lord Hari. Just as gems, mantras, or medicines can a remove a poisonous disease from the body of a man, the advent of the Lord relieved the world from the contamination of material existence and the sinful effect of the de­mons. Happiness gradually replaced the distress in everyone's hearts.

The bodies of all creatures manifested extraordinary beauty and youth­ful vitality. Men felt extremely joyful and displayed virtuous qualities. Throughout the world people behaved cordially and interacted amicably. Happiness twinkled in everyone's eye. At the end of Dvapara-yuga, which completely destroys faults and doubts, an auspicious, favorable, obstacle-free time appeared on the eighth day of the waning moon in Bhadra month. Just at that sweet moment the Rohini Naksatra, along with the good quali­ties of the moon and an auspicious conjunction of stars called Ayusman, appeared in the sky to give shelter to gentle persons.As the living entity comes out from the womb of his mother and the moon appears on the lap of the eastern direction, Yogesvara Shri Krishna, the personification of complete bliss, appeared amidst great festivities. As the moon appears in the lap of the eastern direction, which is like a beautiful bride, Krishna manifested the wonderful pastime of His appear­ance out of His love and compassion for the conditioned souls.Due to austerities performed in previous lives, Vasudeva and Devaki received the opportunity to momentarily relish parental affection for Lord Shri Krishna when He appeared before them in His form as Vasudeva. There­after in fear of Kamsa, Vasudeva brought Vasudeva Krishna to Gokula. There the Supreme Lord appeared as Govinda before Nanda and Yasoda, His eternal parents who have been smothering Him with the sweetest form of parental love since time immemorial. The four symbols of Vishnu (sankha, cakra, gada, padma) adorned His hands and feet. The flute, flower garland, and kaustubha mani, although present within Him, had not yet manifested.
In fear of cruel Kamsa, Vasudeva decided to transfer all his wives ex­cept Devaki to Gokula. He sent Rohini to the house of Vrajaraja Nanda. By the sweet will of the Lord, Yogamaya arranged for the seventh child of Devaki (Balarama) to enter the womb of Rohini. As a result, Balarama appeared in the home of Vrajaraja Nanda before the birth of Krishna. Lord Hari, who is bliss personified, appeared in the home of Nanda Maharaja, the king of Vrndavana for three reasons: to engage the self satisfied sages in devotional service, to please the devotees by performing sweet transcendental pastimes, and to relieve the earth's burden caused by the demons. At the time of His majestic birth Krishna employed His inconceivable powers to appear in a body of eternity, bliss and knowl­edge. Everyone in the maternity room swelled with joy upon seeing the Lord's exquisite transcendental form that looked like a creeper of beauty.
Mother Yasoda resembled a lake of spiritual ecstasy in which a brilliant blue lotus of personified bliss had appeared. Neither the wind nor the bees relished the fragrance of that blue lotus. That unborn lotus was never touched by the waves of the modes of nature. Even Lord Brahma could not see it, what to speak of ordinary men. After Yasoda and her family members fell asleep in the maternity room, Hari cried beautifully like a newborn baby. His crying sounded like the maha-vakya omkara announcing the auspicious arrival of His pastimes. Omkara is a transcendental vibration that had previously emanated from the mouth of Lord Brahma. When the ladies of Vrndavana heard the sweet sound of Krishna's crying, they woke up and ran to see the Lord. With the mellow of their matchless overflowing affection they anointed His body.

The natural fragrance of Krishna's body smelled just like musk. After the ladies bathed Krishna in sweet ambrosia, He looked cleansed and beauti­ful. Then they smeared His body with fragrant sandalwood pulp. The pre­siding deity of the house sent a campaka flower resembling the flame of a lamp into the maternity room to worship that ornament of the three worlds. With the strength of His little arms, delicate as the tender leaves of a tree, Krishna made all the lamps in the maternity room look like a garland of lotus flower buds. The ladies of Vrndavana saw baby Krishna like a blossoming flower made of the best of blue sapphires, or like a newly unfurled leaf of a tamala tree. Krishna looked like a fresh rain cloud decorated with the musk tilaka of the goddess of fortune of the three worlds. The ointment of the great­est auspiciousness lined His eyes. His presence filled the maternity room with good fortune. Although a mere baby, Krishna had a head full of curly hair. To hide the unique signs on His hands (goad, fish, conch etc.) the Lord folded His delicate petal-like fingers into His lotus palm. At that time Krishna laid on His back with His eyes closed.

Mother Yasoda awoke amidst the joyous chattering of the elderly gopis. Leaning over the bed she admired her gorgeous son. But upon noticing
her own reflection on Krishna's body, she imagined it another woman. Think­ing that a witch had assumed her form to kidnap Krishna, Yasoda became bewildered and yelled, "Get out of here! You go away!" Spontaneously she cried out to Nrsimhadeva to protect her precious son. Beholding Krishna's tender face, Yasoda showered tears of affection that looked like an offering of a pearl necklace.Yasoda saw Krishna's body as a mound of dark blue musk, softer than the butter churned from the milk ocean. Overflowing with nectar, His charm­ing body appeared like the foam of milk, but being dark blue in color it seemed the foam was full of musk juice. Admiring the supremely delicate form of her son, Yasoda worried about His safety and feared the touch of her body might hurt his tender body.

As she leaned over the bed Yasoda bathed Krishna with the milk dripping from her breasts. The elderly gopis instructed Yasoda how to caress the baby in her lap, and affectionately push the nipple of her breast into Krishna's mouth to feed Him. Due to Yasoda's intense love, personified bliss flowed from her breasts as steady streams of milk. When milk sometimes spilled out of Krishna's bimba fruit red lips onto His cheeks, Mother Yasoda would wipe His face with the edge of her cloth. After feeding her son, Yasoda gazed affectionately at Him in wonder.
She saw her child's body as made of dazzling blue sapphires. His mouth resembled a red bimba fruit and His hands and feet looked like exquisite rubies. Krishna's nails shone like precious gems. In this way, Yasoda thoughl her child was completely made of jewels. Then she perceived that His naturally reddish lips looked like bandhuka flowers, His hands and feei resembled Java flowers, His nails looked like mallika flowers. Yasoda ther thought, "Krishna's whole body seems to be made of blue lotus flowers. H< does not appear to be mine." After thus deliberating within herself Yasod; became stunned in amazement.
The beautiful, soft curly hairs on the right side of Krishna's chest resemblei the tender stems of a lotus. Seeing the mark of Shrivatsa on His chesi Yasoda thought it was breast milk that had previously spilled out of Hi mouth. She tried unsuccessfully to remove these 'milk stains' with th edge of her cloth. Struck with wonder, Yasoda thought this must be th sign of a great personality. Observing the sign of Laksmi (a small golde line) on the left side of Krishna's chest, Yasoda thought a small yellow bii had made a nest amidst the leaves of a tamala tree. Could this be a stree of lightning resting on a rain cloud, or could it be the golden streaks mar1 ing a black gold-testing stone? Krishna's delicate, leaf-like hands and fee glowing pink like the rising sun, looked like clusters of lotus flowers floe ing in the Yamuna.

Sometimes Yasoda saw the curly, dark blue locks of baby Krishna as swarm of bumblebees surrounding His face. Intoxicated from drinking too much honey nectar, the bees just hovered in the sky. His thick, beau­tiful blue hair appeared like the dark night. The two lotus eyes of Krishna looked like a pair of blue lotus buds. His cheeks resembled two huge bubbles floating in a lake of liquefied blue sapphires. Krishna's attractive ears looked like a pair of fresh unfurled leaves growing on a blue creeper.
The tip of Krishna's dark nose appeared like the sprout of a tree, and His nostrils looked like bubbles in the Yamuna River, the daughter of the sun god. His lips resembled a pair of red Java flower buds. Krishna's chin ri­valed a pair of ripe, red jambu fruits. Seeing the extraordinary beauty of her son fulfilled the purpose of her eyes and submerged Yasoda in an ocean of bliss.
The elderly Vrajavasi ladies addressed Vrajaraja Nanda, "O most for­tunate one, you fathered a son!" Previously Nanda Maharaja had felt deeply aggrieved over his long-standing inability to obtain a son. His heart was like a small lake that had completely dried up during a long hot sum­mer. But when Nanda Maharaja heard of his son's birth he felt as if the dry lake of his heart had been blessed with a sudden downpour of nectar. The gentle sound of Krishna's voice removed all his grief and lamentation. Now he bathed in the rains of bliss, swam in the ocean of nectar, and felt embraced by the joyful stream of the celestial Ganges.
Eager to see his son, Nanda's body thrilled with astonishment and waves of ecstasy as he stood outside the maternity room. Because he had accu­mulated heaps of pious activities, it appeared that the King of Vrndavana was now shaking hands with the personification of pious deeds. Anxiously standing in the background, Yogamaya induced Nanda Maharaja to en­ter the maternity room. He rushed in to see his son, the personified seed of condensed bliss. It seemed that all the auspiciousness of the three worlds now resided within Krishna, the original cause of everything. Nanda saw his son as a perfectly charming person. The kajala around Krishna's eyes looked like lines on a black creeper of beauty. As the very embodiment of Nanda's good fortune, Shri Krishna bloomed like a beautiful flower in a garden of desire trees.

The aparajita flower is compared to the body of the Queen of Vrndavana. Her son is like the representative of the Upanisads that are compared to the fruit of the desire creepers. By seeing his glorious son Nanda felt that he had attained happiness, perfection, and the fulfillment of all his de­sires. Meeting that embodiment of bliss overwhelmed Nanda with im­measurable satisfaction. He stood motionless, stunned; his hair stood erect and tears flowed from his eyes. He appeared like a person carved in stone or a figure drawn in a painting. For some time Nanda Maharaja remained in this semi-conscious state like a sleeping man about to awaken. Upananda, Sunanda, and other relatives felt extremely joyful while ob­serving the best of brahmanas perform the rites of purification for Krishna's birth. To insure his son's welfare Nanda Maharaja donated newborn calves to each and every brahmana, thus turning their homes into abodes of surabhi cows. These cows had gold and silver plated horns and hooves, and jeweled necklaces adorning their necks. In addition, Vrajapati Nanda filled the courtyards of their homes with hills of gold, jewels, and sesame seeds. While Nanda distributed charity, the kamadhenus, touch- stones, and desire-trees lost thieir power to produce valuable items. Even the jewel-producing oceans lost their stock of jewels, and the goddess of for­tune, the abode of lotuses, had but one lotus in her hand. The auspicious news of Krishna's wonderful appearance spread in all directions by word of mouth. Delight danced in the hearts of Nanda, his brothers Upananda and Sunanda, and all the other gopas.The gopas brought many varieties of delicious dairy products such as milk, yogurt, butter, wet cheese, and hard cheese in jewel-studded pots. The pots were tied to the ends of bamboo poles with jute straps and car­ried on their shoulders. Bedecked with many precious jeweled ornaments, the gopas appeared very handsome. They dressed in beautiful yellow cloth defeating the brilliance of lightning, and held staffs topped with gold and jewels in their lotus hands. As a great ocean spreads its waves in all direc­tions, the birth of Krishna filled the Vrajavasis with unbounded bliss. The gopas and gopis enjoyed a grand festival by happily eating and by splash­ing each other's bodies with a mixture of yogurt, butter, milk, and con­densed milk.

The society girls visiting Nanda Maharaja's house experienced more happiness than they had ever felt since their birth. Their minds saturated with joy and satisfaction. Hearing the delightful description of Krishna's birth carried away the chariots of their minds and made them abandon all other duties. They became possessed with the desire to see Krishna. Sparkling rubies hung from the necklaces adorning the society girls. Their diamond-studded armlets shown more beautifully than drops of crystal clear water. Their jewel inlaid golden bangles boasted unparalleled el­egance. For this unique festival they took out some highly ornamental waist-belts from their jewel boxes and tied them around their hips. The sweet jingling of the waist-bells resting on their broad hips enhanced the beauty of these society girls. They attracted the minds of everyone with their bulky golden anklets, loosened hair braids, and graceful gait, which resembled the smooth gliding of swans. Their minds entered a state of enchantment as they gazed upon the captivating beauty of Krishna's tran­scendental body. To worship Krishna they brought golden trays full of aus­picious articles such as fruits, flowers, yogurt, durva grass, uncooked rice, and jewel bedecked lamps. They covered the offering plates with splen­did yellow silk cloth and held them in their soft lotus hands. Their jeweled ankle-bells vibrated pleasantly as they walked.

Beholding the astounding beauty of the delicate baby, the society girls considered the purpose of their eyes fulfilled. They perceived Krishna's perfect birth to be like the appearance of the leaves of an important herbal medicine. Krishna resembled a blue lotus floating in the lake of His parent's affection. After bestowing their blessings for Krishna's prosperity, they worshiped Krishna with fresh flowers and a constant shower of loving glances. With great enthusiasm the society girls glorified Vrajesvari Yasoda since she had attained the essence of all good fortune by having Krishna as her son.Leaving the maternity room, the society girls entered the assembly hall of Nanda Maharaja's palace. Their faces looked exceedingly beautiful as they sung melodious songs, which resembled the soft sweet humming of bees moving amidst a cluster of lotus flowers. All the guests bathed in a nectar shower produced by these soothing sounds. Overwhelmed with love, they filled their lotus palms with fragrant oil, turmeric paste, and fresh butter and started smearing each other's faces and bodies. They looked very attractive with their smiling faces and glittering white teeth. Their red lips seemed more beautiful than red bandhuka flowers. This incredible display of elegance smashed the pride of the goddess of for­tune of the three worlds. Carried away with joy over Krishna's birth, they fearlessly threw cheese balls, butter, and yogurt at each other. One could mistake the white balls of cheese for hailstones, solidified moonlight, or white mud from the floor of the milk ocean. Then they showered each other with buttermilk, aromatic oils, and water mixed with turmeric.

Cymbals, damru drums, bherries, and big drums vibrated auspicious sounds in specific melodies. A celestial concert of precise poetical meters, proper rhythms, and metrical compositions suddenly manifested there. The musical ensemble inspired the society girls to sing and dance in mirth and merriment. Though not good singers, by the will of the Lord they sang with great virtuoso. Their wonderful songs filled Nanda Maharaja's heart with joy. The combined vibrations of brahmanas' chanting Vedic hymns, the recitation of Puranic lore, and the panegyrists' prayers trans­formed the ethers into sabda brahman.
The joy of Krishna's birth celebration taxed the drains of Nanda's capital city as they swelled to the brim with milk, yogurt, and other auspicious liquids. Soon rivers of this nectar flooded the streets of the town and permeated the entire atmosphere with a sweet fragrance. Disguising them­selves as birds, the demigods descended to Vrajapura to happily drink the flood of nectar. The Vrajavasis decorated their cows with gold and jeweled ornaments. Then in great excitement they smeared them with oil, fresh butter, and turmeric paste. Beholding Krishna in their hearts, these fortunate cows looked like the essence of the earth's auspicious-ness. The whole world resounded with their jubilant bellowing. Absorbed in the ecstasy of Krishna's birth, they forgot about eating and drinking. The festival drowned the gopis in an ocean of joy. After offering oil, vermilion, garlands, and utensils in charity to all the assembled gopis, Rohini, the wife of Vasudeva, asked them to bless Krishna. Upon comple­tion of the sacrifice, Upananda and the other relatives felt constant hap­piness while taking their baths. Keeping the King of Vrndavana in the front, Nanda's relatives offered opulent cloth, jeweled ornaments, tambula, garlands, and sandalwood pulp to the guests. Then they humbly requested all in attendance to bless that wonderfully auspicious boy who had just appeared in Vrndavana.

The Celebration of Krishna's Birthday

One year Nanda Maharaja organized a grand festival (nandotsava) to celebrate Krishna's auspicious birthday. Krishna sat upon a celestial golden throne and all the Vraja gopis came to worship Him. The loud pounding of the bheri drums, the "dhinta dhinta" sounds from the mrdangas and dundubhis, the bols from the madalas, and the skillful beats on the dolaks announced the auspicious festival of Krishna's birthday. The joyous vibra­tion of the occasion was enhanced by the excited voices and jingling ankle-bells of the elderly gopis as they greeted the various guests. The learned brahmanas bathed Krishna with thousands of streams of pure water poured from crystal pitchers while purifying the environment with perfectly enunciated mantras. This added waves of attraction to Krishna's already gorgeous body. They dried Krishna with a fine linen cloth, dressed Him in a yellow silk dhoti and caddar, decorated Him with glittering gems, and anointed His forehead with tilaka made of gorocana. After fixing His jeweled bracelets and armbands, they tied some durva grass around His wrist with turmeric soaked thread.Following the local customs of such blissful festivals, the merciful Yasoda blessed Krishna by showering flowers upon His head. The elderly gopis sang traditional Vraja bhasa songs and waved lamps respectfully before the Lord. He, who is kind to His friends and the object of the gopis' love, sat quietly on His asana accepting arati. Then with great enthusiasm the Vrajavasis joyfully offered gifts to Krishna and gave Him a variety of creamy
milk sweets.

To properly complete the festival, Yasoda had her servants invite the general public. Yasoda offered palatable food to the wives of the village leaders, the married women and the young girls of Vrndavana. Nanda Maharaja invited the cowherd men such as Sananda, Upananda, and their wives to take the sumptuous foods cooked by Rohini, the crest-jewel among women. When the cowherd men arrived Yasoda honored their youngest sons by worshiping them and offering pearl necklaces. Though pained by separation from their husbands because they had to accompany their mothers-in-law to the festival, the newly married gopis put on ornate and elegant ankle-length dresses. The tender faces of these newlyweds glowed splendidly under the fine fabric of their veils. Feeling intensely attracted to Krishna; the gopis disclosed their loving sentiments by offering Him their sidelong glances in charity. Their bangles fell silent as they embraced Krishna with their eyes. They felt as if they were behold­ing a bouquet of beautiful flowers. No one noticed the auspicious meet­ing of Krishna and the gopis.

Though they had seen Krishna before, the young unmarried gopis like Dhanya-sakhi just stood with their mothers and gazed timidly upon Him as if it was the first time. While bathing in the lake of Krishna's exquisite beauty, the unmarried gopis expressed their desire to be His wives by offering Him mental flowers scented with camphor. They became shy, however, when Krishna accepted their proposal with a favorable glance. No could detect the infinite bliss the gopis now relished within their hearts. At that time, Krishna's pet parrot left His side and landed on the lotus feet of a gopi whose heart throbbed with love. Hoping to develop a rela­tionship with Krishna, that excited gopi respectfully welcomed the parrot. Understanding the hint of the parrot, Krishna cast the fresh lotus garland of His glance toward Radha, the daughter of Vrsabhanu. Krishna's glance seemed to say, "O parrot! I saw this gopi Radha looking at Me from the watchtower as I took the cows to the forest."No one else saw this secret exchange of sweet love. Understanding that Radha's body had become slender due to Her purva-raga, Krishna looked upon Her with great compassion. Then Yasoda, shining with all auspi­cious qualities, smiled gently and took lotus-faced Radhika and the other gopis to another room to feed them. After worshiping His best cows with scents and garlands, Vrajaraja Nanda escorted his guests to a wide jeweled veranda and sat them down on wooden seats.Then he bathed their feet, performed acamana, and of­fered arghya. Nanda arranged for Rohini and the wives of Sananda and Upananda to respectfully serve them first-class food and drink on gold plates. At the conclusion of the meal. Nanda personally gave them betel nut, cardamom, scents, garlands, and ornaments. After the elderly men, children, and babies had eaten the feast, the married women and girls sat down in two rows to eat. Radhika and others received respect according to their position. Yasoda swam in an ocean of happiness as she personally served the gopis. In a voice that sounded as sweet as pattering raindrops of nectar, Yasoda spoke to each guest, "Please do not feel shy. Just eat to your heart's content."
Yasoda affectionately served everyone, and then honored them with offerings of betel nuts, garlands, ointments, sindura, and gold embroidered cloth. Finally, Yasoda, the crest jewel of good fortune, embraced each of the gopis before sending them home. Smiling broadly, Yasoda distributed the remnants of the feast to the sinless residents of the village. Nanda Maharaja presented gifts to the dancers and musicians while Yasoda blessed them with her upraised palm. Upon concluding the festival, Yasoda thought holding such a festival everyday would surely fulfill all her de­sires. For a moment she felt a touch of sadness, fearing that she may not have fully satisfied all the guests.

(BHAJANA PRANALI) Bhaktyvinoda Thakura

CHAPTER FIFTEEN Hari nama cintamani

THE BHAJANA OF CONFIDENTIAL WORSHIP OF THE HOLY NAME

(BHAJANA PRANALI)







All glories to Shri Gadadhara Pandita and Lord Gauranga; all glories to Lord Nityananda,; all glories to Shri Advaita Acarya, the Lord of Mother Sita; all glories to all the devotees of Lord Chaitanya. One who rejects all other processes of elevation and simply immerses himself in the chanting of the holy name is truly a magnanimous soul and is glorious in all respects.



Lord Chaitanya said, "My dear Haridasa, simply on the strength of your wonderful devotion, you are conversant with all knowledge. All the Vedic philosophical conclusions about the Absolute Godhead, the jiva, maya, the pure name of the Lord, namabhasa and namaparadha are revealed in your speech. It is therefore rightly said that the Vedas gleefully dance upon your tongue." The Lord, fully satisfied with His devotee, now desired to hear the precepts of namarasa, the rare spiritual science of the sweet mellows of the holy name, from the mouth of Shrila Haridasa.



Lord Chaitanya continued, "Now please instruct Me about namarasa. How can a jiva become eligible to receive it?" Shrila Haridasa Thakur then prayed at the Lord's lotus feet, submitting with intense prema that whatever he would speak on this subject would be inspired by the Lord Himself.



The true Rasa



In the Vedas the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called Rasa. This rasa or the nectar of transcendental love permeates the spiritual Kingdom of God. Worldy poets dabble in a rasa that is totally mundane. Factually, theirs is not rasa but a perversion of it.



The rasa that is transcendental and ever situated in pure goodness, beyond the jurisdiction of the twentyfour elements of material nature, is in truth the real rasa. It is unknown even to the atmaramas, the self-satisfied mystics who have surpassed material nature but are yet unable to perceive transcendental variegatedness. Rasa is eternal, full of cognizance and ever-blissful, eversheltered at Lord Krishna's lotus feet.



The Supreme Absolute Truth exists as saktiman or the Energetic and sakti or the Energy. Qualitatively, saktiman and sakti are the same, though differences between the two are to be appreciated. Saktiman is always the Supreme Controller, willful and independent; sakti always displays His full and supreme potency. His sakti or potency manifests in three ways: the cit potency or the spiritual nature, the jiva, and maya or the material nature.



The cit potency reveals the Supreme Truth, His name, abode, pastimes and beauty. Lord Krishna is that Supreme Truth. His exquisite dark complexion, syama, is His beauty. Goloka is His abode and the place of His pastimes. His name, abode, form, qualities and pastimes are everexistent features of the nondual spiritual substance, and the display of these transcendental varieties is the function of His cit potency.



Lord Krishna is the original form of all transcendental qualities. His eternal divine nature is His spiritual potency. There is no inherent difference between the form of Krishna and His divine nature. Yet spiritual variety (rasa) creates an impression of difference, which is exhibited in the spiritual world.



Mayasakti is the external potency



The reflection of the spiritual potency is called mayasakti or material nature. She is also known as the external potency. She has produced this material world or Devidhama as ordered by Lord Krishna.



There are two types of jivasakti



The marginal region (tatastha) of the spiritual potency manifests the jiva-sakti. The jiva is eternal and inconceivably one with and yet simultaneously different from the Supreme Lord. He is Lord Krishna's spiritual energy and is therefore meant to be part of the transcendental paraphernalia of the Lord's service.



There are two categories of jivas: nitybaddha and nityamukta, or eternally conditioned and eternally liberated souls. The eternally liberated jiva is entitled to render eternal devotional service. The eternally conditioned jiva is engrossed in material activities. He can also be said to be of two types: extroverted and introspective.



The introspective nityabaddha jivas are searching for the Absolute Truth. The extroverted jivas are totally absorbed in the external features of gross matter and thus are far removed from Krishna. They simply want to exploit things meant for Lord Krishna's service for their own enjoyment. The more fortunate and pious jivas amongst the introspective ones come into contact with devotees and in their association take to the chanting the Lord's holy name, which transports them through the portals of the spiritual world. The less fortunate introspective jivas are attracted to the paths of karma and jnana by which they worship various demigods or finally merge into the impersonal Brahman.



The flowering of rasa



The holy name of Lord Krishna is the bud of the flower of rasa, which is the essence of pure transcendence. By the grace of Krishna, rasa is propagated in the material world in the form of His holy name.



With the first opening of the bud of the holy name comes the realization of the enchanting Syamasunder form of Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan. The Lord's sixty-four transcendental qualities are like the irresistible fragrance from the partially blossomed flower.



When this flower comes into full bloom, it manifests the eternal and confidential pastimes of Lord Krishna known as the asta-kaliya-lila, or the eightfold loving affairs of Shri Shri RadhaKrishna. And although this manifestation is transcendental, it still appears in the material world.



The bhaktisakti



Latent within the jiva are the miniscule spiritual potencies of ahlada (bliss) and samvit (knowledge). With the flowering of rasa, the svarupasakti (the internal potency of the Lord Himself) descends to contact and revive these tiny spiritual potencies of the jiva; all this is effected by the causeless mercy of the holy name. The svarupasakti descends as Bhakti-devi, who embodies the full mixture of the hladini and samvit potencies. This mixture is called the bhaktisvarupamsakti, the potency of the form of pure devotion. When his latent bliss and knowledge are infused with this bhaktisvarupamsakti, the spontaneous loving attitude required for entering the asta-kaliyalila appears in the heart of the chanter of the holy name.



The churning of rasa



Thus one reaches a state of perfection known as sthayibhava, or permanent emotion, which is also known as rati. Four bhavas combine to transform rati to rasa. The four bhavas are: vibhava, anubhava, sattvika, and vyabhicari (or sancari).



Vibhava, the element that excites loving sentiment, has two subdivisions: alambana and uddipana. Alambana or the root is again of two parts: the visaya (subject) and the asraya (recipient). The devotee of Lord Krishna is the asraya, and Lord Krishna Himself is the visaya. Lord Krishna's transcendental beauty and qualities are known as uddipana or the impetus. Thus where there is alambana (the root relationship of the devotee and Krishna) and uddipana (the impetus of the realization of Krishna's form and qualities), lila and rasa can occur.



Anubhava (the external symptoms of the internal permanent emotion) is what results from vibhava, or the effect of alambana and uddipana. When these emotions become more intense, they are transformed into sattvikabhava (loving emotions that cannot be checked). At this same time sancaribhava (emotions that set into motion the progress of rasa) come into play.



Rasa is like a machine. Rati, or permanent emotion, is the axle of this machine. Once the machine starts moving by the combined energy of the four bhavas, the permanent emotion (sthayi-bhava) is then converted into rasa. The devotee, who is the asraya (like a shelter or container), becomes the relisher of that rasa. And that rasa is the Vraja-rasa or the spiritual mellow of Vrindavan. That rasa is the essence of everything, and is for the jiva the highest goal. The Vedas expound four goals - dharma, artha, kama, moksha; but in fact the pinnacle of all these perfections is rasa. The fully realized and perfected beings are entitled to taste that rasa.



Elevation via the Hare Krishna mahamantra



Amongst the introspective jivas, he who is attracted to pure devotional service is the most evolved. The jiva can take up the path of bhakti only after he has accrued sufficient sukriti or piety from previous births. When such a jiva develops strong faith or sraddha, he comes into contact with a pure devotee spiritual master. By the grace of the spiritual master, he is initiated into the chanting of the Hare Krishna mahamantra -the holy names of the Divine Couple.



Though this jiva is blessed with sraddha, his desire for material gain poses an obstacle on his path of progress. The spiritual master graces the jiva with a disciplinary process suitable for overcoming this obstacle. Thus he gains spiritual strength from chanting. Chanting on Tulasi beads and meditating on a fixed number of holy names every day is the best form of worship, and will surely lead to success. Therefore, in the beginning, a little time should daily be spent in seclusion for full concentration upon the holy name. In degrees, as chanting increases, a more profound relationship with the holy name is developed, and the material impediments fall away.



The path of bhakti features two important engagements, one of which is Deity worship, the other chanting and meditating upon the holy name. Although both engagements are expedient, chanting and meditating on the holy name is preferred by the more deeply serious devotees.



Many elevated pure devotees at times chant aloud the holy names on their beads, and then at other times meditate upon Krishna's pastimes on the beads. The advantage of performing kirtan, or audibly chanting the maha-mantra on the beads, is that three kinds of devotional service hearing, chanting and remembering are accomplished simultaneously. Of course, all the nine limbs of devotional service reside in the holy name; of them, hearing, chanting and remembering are the best. Chanting automatically manifests the other limbs of devotional service, like pada-sevanam, dasyam, sakhyam, atma- nivedanam, and so on. Thus the process of Deity worship is automatically accomplished by the devotee surrendered to the holy name. But the devotee attracted to Deity worship will have to acquire attraction for hearing and chanting in order to attain complete perfection in Krishna consciousness.



Who is eligible to chant the holy name?



Three kinds of jivas are captivated by external material phenomena: the gross materialists, the karmis and the jnanis. They are therefore extroverts all, chasing after false hopes for happiness in the realm of fleeting appearances. The gross materialist endeavors for sensual delights. The karmi aspires for ephemeral heavenly bliss in the hereafter. The jnani is wholly concerned with how to mitigate his existential suffering. After surpassing these stages, the jiva becomes truly introspective, seeking entrance into the realm of the internal spiritual energy. The introspective jivas are divided into three categories: kanistha, madhyama, and uttama (neophyte, intermediate, and advanced).



The neophyte devotee rejects demigod worship and worships only Krishna, but with certain material motivations due to lack of sambandhajnana. Simple and naive, he is not offensive; he is just selfpreoccupied. Therefore, although such neophytes are not considered to be pure Vaishnavas, they are certainly to be accepted as Vaishnava-praya or resembling Vaishnavas.



The intermediate or madhyama devotee is pure and is very firmly situated in faith. The uttama or advanced devotee is completely indifferent to material things and is fully surrendered to Krishna. The pure name avails Himself to those who have exclusive faith in Krishna. Stepbystep advancement in hearing, chanting, and remembering



The order of discipline (sadhanakrama) for realizing the identity of the holy name with the Lord is as follows. The devotee must in the beginning discard the ten offenses and simply absorb himself in the holy name by chanting constantly. He should distinctly pronounce the holy name and meditate upon the transcendental sound vibration. When his chanting is steady, clear and blissful, he will be able to meditate upon the Syamasundara form of the Lord. With chanting beads in hand, he should thus seek out the transcendental form of the holy name, which will appear when his vision is pure.



Another method he may employ to see this form is to sit in front of the Deities, drink the beautiful sight of the Lord with his eyes and meditate upon the holy name. After reaching the stage where the holy name and the form of the Lord become one, he must then absorb the transcendental qualities of Lord Krishna into his meditation. Thus the holy name and the qualities of Krishna merge to become one through constant chanting.



Next, he goes on to practice the remembrance of particular pastimes of the Lord. This remembrance, called mantradhyana mayi upasana, facilitates further absorbtion into the holy name. This lila-smarana or pastime meditation also gradually become one with the holy name, form, and qualities.



At this point, the first rays of namarasa, or the transcendental mellow of the holy name, dawn on the horizon of perception. Chanting the name in great delight, the devotee sees Krishna surrounded by cowherd boys and girls under a desire tree at the Yoga Pitha. Progressively, the devotee's practice of lila-smarana intensifies to the point where he begins to meditate on the most confidential pastimes of the Lord known as the asta-kaliya- lila, or the eightfold pastimes of RadhaKrishna. When he reaches maturity in this meditation, rasa rises in full glory.



The svarasiki process of worship



Asta-kaliya-lila smarana is also known as svarasiki worship. In this stage of bhajana, one is awarded the opportunity to accordingly serve Krishna in the times and places of his pastimes. Now the devotee realizes the full grace of his spiritual master, who, in his eternal spiritual form (siddha-svarupa), guides the disciple to a sakhi (confidential gopi) who in turn introduces him into the pastimes of the Lord. Of all the gopis, Shrimati Radharani, the daughter of King Vrisabhanu, is the most excellent. She embodys the highest spiritual sentiment, mahabhava. Serving Krishna under Her leadership is the supreme spiritual experience.



The five main rasas or spiritual mellows are: santa (neutrality), dasya (servitorship), sakhya (friendship), vatsalya (parenthood), and shringara or madhurya (conjugal). Of these, shringara or conjugal is the highest. Devotees eligible to enter the conjugal rasa are the recipients of the special mercy of Shri Krishna Chaitanya.



In the conjugal rasa, Lord Krishna has many yutheswaris or female group leaders; but everyone prefers Shrimati Radharani. She is the direct manifestation of Lord Krishna's svarupa-sakti or spiritual potency, and all the other vraja-gopis are Her expansions. She is the Absolute embodiment of all the rasas. It is therefore the goal of devotional service to enroll in Her yutha or group. Service to Lord Krishna in Vraja is impossible without first taking shelter of the vrajagopis. One should furthermore aspire to enter Shrimati Radharani's camp and serve directly under Lalitadevi.



When the material coverings are removed, the spiritual goal is acheived



As the devotee becomes disciplined in rasa, the gap between sadhana (practice) and bhajanasiddhi (perfection of worship) closes. Soon, the servitor's spiritual form begins to take shape. By the mercy of the yutheswari, he becomes easily overpowered by attraction to Lord Krishna. This strong spiritual attraction eradicates the gross and subtle material concepts of form that captured him when he turned away from Krishna. Thus the jiva gains entrance into Vraja in his original spiritual form.



Up to this point, the jiva's progress in spiritual life can be framed in words. Beyond it, there are even higher stages of Krishna consciousness that are indescribable. These will be revealed by the grace of Krishna. The cultivation of the conjugal loving relationship with the Lord is the highest mode of service; by this, everincreasing Krishnaprema will be experienced. By adopting the bhaumavrajarasa, or the vrajarasa revealed on this material plane in Vrindavandhama, one becomes eligible to enter such conjugal love.



Shri Ramananda Raya said, 'Therefore one should accept the mood of the gopis in their service. In such a transcendental mood, one should always think of the pastimes of Shri Radha and Krishna. After thinking of Shri Shri RadhaKrishna and Their pastimes for a long time and after getting completely free from material contamination, one is transferred to the spiritual world. There the devotees attain an opportunity to serve Shri Radha and Krishna as one of the gopis. Unless one follows in the footsteps of the gopis he can not attain the service of the lotus feet of Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja. If one is overcome by knowledge of the Lord's opulence, he can not attain the Lord's lotus feet even though he is engaged in devotional service." (Shri Chaitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 8.228230)





Becoming a Gopi Means:



The devotee who is inclined to cultivate the conjugal rasa must accept the form of a gopi under the guidance of a superior vrajagopi. One can become a gopi when eleven transcendental sentiments adorn the heart. They are: 1) sambandha (relationship), 2) vayasa (age), 3) nama (name), 4) rupa (form), 5) yutha-pravesa (entrance into a group), 6) vesa (attire), 7) ajna (instructions), 8) vasasthana (place of residence), 9) seva (service), 10) parakastha (excellence), 11) palyadasi-bhava (the mood of a kept maidservant).



Five stages of consciousness ascended in bhavasadhana



The cultivation of these eleven gopi sentiments develops through five stages. They are: 1) sravana-dasa (the stage of hearing), 2) varana-dasa (the stage of acceptance), 3) smarana- dasa (the stage of remembering), 4) apana-dasa (stage of application), and 5) sampati-dasa (stage of inheritance).



Shrila Ramananda Raya says, 'One who is attracted by the ecstatic love of the gopis does not care about the regulative principles of Vedic life or popular opinion. Rather, he completely surrenders unto Krishna and renders service unto Him.' 'In this liberated stage the devotee is attracted by one of the five humors (rasas) in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. As he continues to serve the Lord in that mood, he attains a spiritual body to serve Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan.' (Shri Chaitanyacaritamrita, Madhya 8.220, 8.222) So saying, Shrila Ramananda Raya instructs us to first attain the form and mood of a vraja- gopi in order to obtain service in the conjugal relationship.



When a sadhaka devotee, having heard about Lord Krishna's pastimes, is attracted to the conjugal mellow, he should take further instruction on rasa from a realized, saintly spiritual master. This is called the stage of hearing or sravana-dasa. When the sadhaka devotee anxiously and eagerly accepts the conjugal mellow, varana-dasa commences. Then, by pure remembrance of the sentiments of rasa, he desires to practice them: thus he reaches the third stage, smarana-dasa. When he is able to perfectly invoke these sentiments of rasa, he attains apana- dasa or prapti-dasa. Finally, when he can separate himself from all his temporary material designations and is steadily fixed in that original spiritual identity for which he yearns, he has reached sampati-dasa: the inheritance of his spiritual identity.



Bhajan from the stage of sravanadasa to smaranadasa



If, after having tested the disciple, the spiritual master determines that he is eligible to perform bhajan and serve in the shringara rasa, he then confidentially informs the disciple about his eternal spiritual form as a manjari in Shrimati Radharani's camp, under the supervision of Shri Lalitadevi. The spiritual master teaches the disciple how to develop the eleven sentiments of the gopis, how to meditate on the asta-kaliya-lila, and how to properly be established in both.



So that he may fully understand them, the sadhaka is shown his siddhadeha or spiritual identity, viz. his spiritual name, form, qualities, service and so on. The spiritual master also discloses who the parents of the sadhaka's manjariidentity are, at which house she was born, who her husband is, and so on. At this point, the disciple must spurn all Vedic religious pursuits and simply be a fully surrendered maidservant of Shrimati Radharani, the camp leader; thereafter, the guru will reveal in detail the disciple's eternal service to Shrimati Radharani in the asta-kaliya-lila. The sadhika (now a female sadhaki) embraces these revelations in varanadasa. He enters into smaranadasa when he actually remembers them for himself. In this way, the sadhaka prepares himself for spiritual birth as a gopi in Vraja.



A digression on the subject of ruci



But in the beginning the spiritual master and disciple must together sort out the disciple's natural inclination (ruci) for rasa. If the disciple finds his natural taste coincides with the identity indicated by the spiritual master, he should so inform his guru and embrace that identity as his life and soul. But if the disciple does not have a natural taste for the selected identity, he must frankly reveal this to his spiritual master, who will give him another identity. If the disciple has a taste for the new identity, he should accept it. His inherent nature will then manifest itself.



Ruci or taste is the natural devotional propensity born out of bhaktisukriti, or previous devotional service. It may therefore be long standing or only recently developed. But in either case ruci is natural to the soul. When this inclination is determined by the spiritual master, it must be confirmed by the disciple. If the inclination is not fixed, the spiritual master's instructions on rasa will not take effect.



Those who are not attracted to the shringararasa, preferring dasya, sakhya or vatsalya, must likewise receive instructions from the spiritual master on these relationships in order to get the fruit of their devotion, or else return to a life of anarthas.



The great devotee Syamananda at first was not aware of his own siddharuci or permanent devotional propensity; he was made to embrace the sakhyarasa or the mood of friendship. Later, by the grace of Shrila Jiva Goswami, he attained his real position.



If an inappropriate ruci is falsely attached to the sadhaka, it is compared to the gopi identity's acceptance of a husband. But by the grace of his spiritual master, the sadhaka at last attains Krishna's service in the parakiya rasa or paramour relationship. Rasa comes to a full bloom only in the parakiya mood. The summit of Lord Chaitanya's teachings is that the parakiya attitude is the permanent feature of the pastimes of the Lord, both in their appearance [when Krishna descends to Vrajabhumi] and their disappearance [into the invisible Vraja of the transcendental world].



The conjugal rasa is completely transcendental



Shringararasa is totally devoid of even an iota of materialism. The transcendental jiva, in order to enjoy and exchange pure rasa, becomes a transcendental gopi and renders devotional service to the transcendental personalities of Shri Radha and Shri Krishna in the transcendental realm of Vrindavana. There is not the slightest tinge of the mundane man-woman relationship in Vrndavana. Only the purest essence of conjugal love is manifested in the perfected identity of the soul. And realization of this is available only from a pure devotee spiritual master. Other than by his grace, this inconceivable truth can never be understood. It is beyond the realm of speculation and pedantic scrutiny. Its realization is extremely rare.



The transition from smaranadasa to apanadasa is crucial



Perfection eludes the disciple if he does not elevate himself from the stage of smarana-dasa to apana-dasa. The confidential process of apanadasa is most exalted, devoid of the false posturing of karma, jnana or yoga. Externally, the devotee engages himself fully in the chanting the holy name, leading a renounced and simple life. Internally, he keeps the splendorous



Editor's note: refer to C.c. Adi 4.50, purport, for further elaboration on this topic. flames of rasa burning with pure intensity all the time.



Those sadhakas who are prone to a pompous external display of devotion or who fail to steady and properly direct their internal spiritual aspirations are unable to elevate themselves from the platform of smarana to apana-dasa. Thus the sadhaka may linger, unaccomplished, through many lifetimes of devotional practice.



This path of worship or bhajana is the simplest, but if the purity of the bhajana is in any way disfigured by a tinge of the contaminated desires for recognition, distinction or preference, then the sadhaka is thrown off the path of vraja-sadhana or bhajana in the mood of Vraja. One must approach the spiritual master with simple humility and learn this pure process properly.



By always remembering that he is pure spirit soul, part and parcel of the Absolute Whole, that he has a transcendental original form that is allperfect, that He has forgotten his perfect spiritual state and come under the clutches of maya, that he is offensive to Lord Krishna, being inebriated with the false designations of his gross body, but by the mercy of his spiritual master he can regain knowledge of his real self the method for the reawakening of the disciple's original identity can be quickly accomplished.



Two methods of sadhana: vaidhi and raganuga



There are two methods of sadhanabhakti: one is vaidhi (rules and regulations) and the other is raganuga (spontaneous). In the beginning, these two methods appear to be contradictory, but upon comprehension of their real purpose, the differences between them are dissolved. The vaidhi method of sadhana arises from respect for the regulations of scripture. Raganugasadhana is born out of an intense attraction for the activities of the residents of Vraja. The first is the usual method, whereas the second is extremely rare and confidential.



To the stage of apanadasa via vaidhi sadhana



The vaidhibhakta cross checks all his activities of service to Krishna with scriptural injunction. Thus his beginning faith (sraddha) for the process of devotional service leads him step by step to nistha (firm faith), then to ruci (taste or attraction), then asakti (attachment). When he reaches the first stage of spontaneity and slight bhava, he discards his dependence upon scriptural directives as an impediment to his progress. After this, he is elevated to the stage of apana-dasa, where the difference between devotees following vaidhi and raganuga disappear.



To the stage of sampatidasa via raganugasadhana [continued from the section subtitled "Bhajana from the stage of sravanadasa to smaranadasa"]



In the smaranadasa stage of raganugasadhana, the eleven sentiments of the gopis are first remembered by the sadhaka; these sentiments must adorn his emotions before he can remember the astakaliyalila. There are five levels of remembrance in smaranadasa.



Initially, his remembrance will not be steady; this level is called smarana. Sometimes he remembers the sentiments, his position and his service, and at other times he forgets. But by steady practice of smarana, gradually he reaches permanency of remembrance, or dharana. As one meditates on every aspect of the subject of remembrance, part by part, minutely, dharana develops into fixed meditation - this is dhyana. When dhyana becomes continual, is is called anusmriti. Following anusmriti is the fifth level of remembrance, samadhi, when the devotee has no interest in anything other than perfect absorption in the pastimes of Lord Krishna.



From the samadhi level of smarana-dasa, the crucial ascension to apana-dasa or the stage of application takes place. For one who is not adept, elevation through the five stages of smarana-dasa to apana-dasa may require many yugas of effort; for a dexterous sadhaka, reaching apana-dasa is accomplished quickly. In the apana-dasa stage, identification with the psychophysical body is reduced to insignificance. His spiritual identity (svarupa) becomes more and more predominant. Intermittently, it manifests and he experiences sublime ecstasy in rendering devotional service to Shri Shri RadhaKrishna in Vraja. These experiences develop until he spends long periods of time in Vraja interacting with the residents in his vraja-svarupa, seeing the dhama and the transcendental pastimes within.



The devotee's constant namabhajana inevitably brings about a face to face meeting with Lord Syamasundera. By the Lord's merciful will, all trace of the devotee's subtle body of mind, intelligence and false ego are extinguished with the demise of the gross body of five elements. Thus he enters the sampati-dasa stage. This is when the devotee's pure spiritual form fullymanifests, free of material coverings. In the mood of pure bhava, he takes up his eternal service to Shri Shri RadhaKrishna in the transcedental dhama. He thus becomes a sadhana-siddha or a perfected soul now reinstated in his svarupa through practice of sadhana and bhajana. He now serves the Lord in the company of the nityasiddhas, the eternal associates of the Lord who were never conditioned.

SRILA GAURA KISHORA DASA BABAJI MAHARAJ

SRILA GAURA KISHORA DASA BABAJI MAHARAJ

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The next in the parampara, after and is an associate of Bhaktivinoda Thakura - a great paramahamsa babaji by the name of Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. Technically he was the disciple of Bhagavat dasa Babaji Maharaja, who was a disciple of Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja.
In 1897 Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja came to Mayapur Navadwipa Dhama from Sri Vrndavana Dhama, where he was accredited the exalted title "Bhajananandi". Srila Bhaktivinoda (Kedarnath Datt), seeing the transcendental behaviour of Babaji Maharaja, would use him as an example of nirapeksa (indifference), as his level of renunciation was beyond belief.

This Vaisnava saint's life was an example of utter humility and poverty, the true attributes of a Vaisnava. Gaurakisora never accepted any material object from anyone. For his clothing he used the discarded loin cloths from corpses left on the bank of the Ganges. For food, he would collect rice by begging, soak it in river water, and garnish it with salt and chilly. He never asked favors from anyone and lived a fully detached life, devoid of all possessions.

Very little information is available about the past life of Gaurakisora except that he was born in a Vaisya family in the village of Bagjana near Tepakhola on the bank of the Padma. As a householder, Gaurakisora was known by the name Vansidasa (different from Vamsi das babaji). At that time he was engaged in some agricultural trade and from the income took care of his wife and family honestly. After the death of his wife, Gaurakisora renounced his home and went to Vrndavana, where he was initiated into Vairagi Vesha by Bhagavata dasa babaji, one of the foremost disciples of Jagannatha dasa babaji.

Srila Gaurakisora lived on madhukari, begging and slept beneath a tree. He would lie prostrate, offering his humble obeisances to the residents of Vraja, considering them as embodiments of Lord Krsna. He even offered his obeisances to the flowers, trees, and land around him. He spent about thirty years at Vraja mandala serving the deities there. Afterwards, perhaps by the direction of the Supreme Lord, he left for Navadvipa.

During his stay at Navadvipa, Gaurakisora underwent various transformations of spiritual moods. Sometimes he danced on the bank of the Ganges chanting, "Gaura, Gaura", while at other times he would lie on the ground in an unconscious state. He joyfully moved throughout the groves located on the bank of the Ganges, considering them sites of the divine sports of Sri Sri Radha Govinda. His only clothing was a strip of cloth around his waist and often went totally naked. He chanted japa on beads or sometimes knotted a cloth and used that as a substitute for japa beads. Occasionally, he went to Godruma Dvipa to listen to Bhaktivinoda Thakura recite ”Srimad Bhagavatam.

Babaji Maharaja would often visit Bhaktivinoda. During his last days in retirement, absorbed in Krsna katha, he would hear Srimad Bhagavatam at Bhaktivinoda's house and they would discuss together. Though Babaji Maharaja could neither read nor write he was regarded as vastly learned and self-realized. His only possessions were the Tulasi beads around his neck and the japa mala he kept in his hand. Sometimes he wore no Tulasi mala on his neck and would chant on knotted cloth as beads - such was his renunciation. Sometimes he would live under an old broken overturned boat, and other times he would scatter fish bones around a place he occasionally used as his bhajan kutir to make materialists think he was a fish-eater, and thus they would not disturb him. But by his pure bhajan he purified the three worlds.

He was the guru of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, the founder of the Caitanya Mathas and Gaudiya Mathas.

In 1898 when Bhaktivinoda's son, who was now residing in Godrumadwipa in Navadwipa Dhama, first came in contact with the person who was to be his spiritual master, Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, the crest jewel of avadhutas was wearing a tigerskin hat and carrying a basket with puja paraphernalia inside. He offered the boy four or five pieces of rope for chanting his rounds on, and a tilak stamp for marking the body with Hare Krsna carved on it. Bhaktivinoda later told his son, "You must take initiation from Babaji Maharaja, and don't return to this house if you don't." Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji used to walk across a bridge at the same time daily, so on one occasion Bhaktivinoda's son, Siddhanta Saraswati, blocked his path and in all humility said, "If you don't give me initiation then I will finish my life by throwing this useless body off this bridge." Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja didn't want any disciples - he himself had taken siksa from Bhaktivinoda, and this was Bhaktivinoda's dear son! Siddhanta Saraswati told him how his father had instructed him to become Babaji Maharaja's disciple or not return home, so in 1900 Babaji Maharaja gave him the name Varsabhanavi-devi-dayita dasa. He then gave his new initiate the tiger skin hat and basket that had been given to Gaura Kisora by his spiritual master Bhagavat dasa Babaji, which he in turn had received from Jagannatha dasa Babaji.

In 1908 Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja lost his external eye sight, so he then stopped travelling and just chanted and performed worship of Krsna. Being aloof from external consciousness, sometimes he would not dress his body - instead he would sit in his bhajan kutir internally absorbed in Krsna's pastimes and in a very deep voice be heard calling the names of the gopis of Vrndavana.

Once Srila Varsabhanavi-devi-dayita dasa, Siddhanta Saraswati, offered to take Babaji Maharaja to Calcutta to see an eye specialist, but he refused saying, "Never! I will never go to the material world." His disciple protested, "But in Calcutta I could serve you nicely. You wouldn't have to undergo any inconvenience." But Babaji Maharaja was adamant declaring, "I will never accept this service. Better I throw myself in the Saraswati (Jalanghi) and drown."

Once Babaji Maharaja turned up at the Yoga Pitha (Lord Caitanya's birthplace) at two in the morning. Amazed, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati enquired how he got there in the pitch black of night. Babaji Maharaja replied, "Someone brought me here." "Who could have brought you such a distance at this time?" enquired Bhaktisiddhanta. Finally his mind concluded, "It must have been Krsna who personally brought you here or else how did you cross the Ganges? How did you find your way across the dark fields?" But Babaji Maharaja would not answer more than, "One person brought me across the river, that's all."

One day Srila Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja wrapped his body and two feet with a cloth. Sitting covered like this he said, "Many persons, after being informed by others, come here to collect the dust from my feet. I tell them I am not a Vaisnava. If you go to the vicinity where there are Vaisnavas with their feet pretentiously decorated and extended to touch, you can have unlimited dust. How can I bless you? I don't have barfi or sandesh or rasagulla, or even sweet words. How can I bless you? Nowadays people are interested in spiritual masters who can give these things - wealth, good wife, sweet words - these cheating things are now taken as anakula (favourable)."

Every virtuous person looked forward to rendering service to Srila Gaurakisora. However, he rarely allowed anyone the chance to serve him. Once Manindracandra Nandi, the Maharaja of Kasimbazar, sent a distinguished messenger to escort Gaurakisora to the former's palace. Gaurakisora, however, did not accept the Maharaja's invitation saying that if he visited the palace he may feel tempted by the wealth of the Maharaja which may result in a strained relation between the two. Hence, Gaurakisora suggested that instead of him visiting the palace, let the Maharaja free himself completely from the shackles of wealth by donating everything he owned to his relatives and then come to live with Gaurakisora in a specially prepared shed where both of them could practice Haribhajan in peace."

Srila Gaurakisora was very selective about accepting invitations for food. He believed that partaking of food here and there could adversely affect the spiritual life of a devotee. Once a devotee name Haren babu partook of prasada offered at the festival held at Bhajan kutir at Navadvipa. For this Gaurakisora stopped communicating with Haren for three days. On the fourth day Gaurakisora explained that the prasada of the above festival had been financed by a woman of questionable profession, a pumscari (one who is moved by other men).

Once, on the eve of Sanatana Gosvami's disappearance day, Gaurakisora decided to celebrate the occasion. The devotee attending him asked who would provide them with the materials for the celebration. Srila Gaurakisora replied: "Remember not to speak to anyone about it. We shall miss a meal and continue around the clock chanting the holy name. This could be the typical festival for those of us who have taken the vow of poverty."

Narendra Kumar Sen, a resident of Agartala (Tripura), once approached Gaurakisora to learn about Guru pranali or Siddha pranali. Gaurakisora told him, "The Supreme Lord cannot be realized through worldly knowledge. Only through the chanting of the holy name can the true nature of the Lord be revealed. As the Lord is revealed from the letters comprising the Nama, the devotee gradually begins to understand his own nature and becomes acquainted with seva.

Once a physician told Gaurakisora that he intended to move to Navadvipa and take up charitable practices. Gaurakisora advised the physician that if he truly desired to live in Navadvipa then he should give up the plan for a charitable practice because it would only encourage materially minded people to save money. Those who sincerely practiced Hari bhajan should never get distracted by the chains of welfare activities.

A young seeker wearing only a kaupina, once stayed with Gaurakisora for some days. later he arranged, through the agency of an employee of a female estate owner, to obtain five kathas of land as a donation from the woman. When Gaurakisora heard about this he was extremely annoyed: "Navadvipadhama is beyond this material world. How can a worldly land owner dare to hold land here and even think he can donate five kathas out of it? A mere grain of sand of the transcendental Navadvipa is more valuable than all the precious gems in this world put together. Moreover, how advanced could this young kaupina clad devotee be if he dares to collect so much land in lieu of his bhajan merit?"

Once a devotee offered some sweets to Lord Gauranga and then took the offering to Gaurakisora, urging him to partake of it. Gaurakisora told the devotee, "Those who are non vegetarian, those who commit adultery, or offer food to Lord Gauranga with a particular motive, their offerings never reach Lord Gauranga and are never sanctified as prasada."

Srila Gaurakisora regularly begged for rice, after which he would cook the rice, offer it, and partake of the prasada. He never touched any foodstuff offered by someone else. Once during monsoon, Gaurakisora stayed in the rest house at Phulia Navadvipa. Some prasada was left in a vessel for him to respect later. Meanwhile a snake passed by the vessel and a woman there happened to notice it. When Gaurakisora sat down to take prasada the woman appeared there and informed him about the snake. Gaurakisora, however, firmly stated that he would not touch the prasada until the woman left. After the woman left, Gaurakisora said, "Look how maya works! Taking the form of compassion, maya attempts to hit deep into her target slowly. Maya can assume countless forms. She always prevents a mortal being from practicing Haribhajan."

Giribabu and his wife once ardently requested Gaurakisora to stay in their house at Navadvipa. Gaurakisora was moved by their sincere devotion and finally agreed to oblige them on the condition that he would live only in their toilet room where he would perform Hari bhajan. Giribabu tried to persuade him to change his mind but Gaurakisora remained firm. Giribabu reluctantly arranged to have the toilet thorougly cleaned and Gaurakisora used it for Haribhajan. A realized soul can practice Haribhajan anywhere in an unconcerned manner, and wherever he resides, that place becomes Vaikuntha.

Srila Gaurakisora was a highly spiritually advanced soul. He never allowed deceitful practices or any discussion which was not within the purview of the holy books. One day when a devotee questioned Gaurakisora about a well known reiciter of ”Srimad Bhagavatam, who was in the habit of chanting "Gaura, Gaura", Gaurakisora remarked, "He doesn't say "Gaura, Gaura. Rather what he means to say is, "More More" (`Money, Money.') Those who recite ”Srimad Bhagavatam for payment are not entitled to chant the name of theSupreme Lord."

Srila Gaurakisora never delivered discourses openly, yet his spotless character drew everyone to him. Upon meeting Gaurakisora, even a staunch materialist would become inclined take up Haribhajan.

On 22nd June, 1914 Bhaktivinoda Thakura passed from this world into his samadhi, deep meditation, on Lord Krsna in Bhakti Bhavan, and then on November 17th, 1915 Gaura Kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, on the auspicious Utthana Ekadasi, also left this world. His body was placed into a samadhi tomb, but sixteen years later, due to flooding, the samadhi had to be moved. There was a clamour of local babajis trying to claim the samadhi, but the bold Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati (Varsabhanavi-devi-dayita dasa) told everybody frankly, "I am the only disciple of Paramahamsa Babaji Maharaja. Even though I have not accepted sannyasa, I am a celibate brahmacari and by the grace of Babaji Maharaja I am not secretly addicted to abominable habits or involved in fornication as some monkey-like people are. If there is someone amongst the people here present who is a renunciate of stainless character, then he can have Babaji Maharaja's samadhi. We have no objection to that. He, who within the last year, or the last six months, three months, one month or at least within the last three days, has not had illicit connection with a woman will be able to touch this spiritual blissful body. If anyone else touches it he will be completely ruined." Hearing these words, the Inspector of police, who had come to judge for a fair and honest decision said, "How will evidence be had for this?" Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati replied, "I have faith in their word." At this, one by one all the bogus babajis slipped away without a word.

Srila Gaura Kishor dasa babaji maharaj ki jaya

Pancha Samskara: El Proceso de Iniciación por Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Pancha Samskara:
El Proceso de Iniciación
por Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Las sastras explican que la persona que recibe panca samskara puede practicar dos tipos de devoción (1) y alcanzar felicidad permanente en la morada eterna de Sri Hari:

avapta-panca-samskaro labdhva-dvi-vidha-bhaktikah saksat krtya harim tasya dhamni nityam pramodate (2)

Las personas que lean con fe esta instrucción, querrán entender el esignificado de la expresión panca-samskara. Para ayudarlos, primero explicaremos el sentido convencional de ese término y luego presentar su trasfondo más profundo. Las smrti sastras explican panca-samskara como sigue:

tapah pundram tatha nama mantro yagas ca pancamah
ami hi panca-samskarah paramaikanti-hetavah

"Tapa, pundra, nama, mantra, y yaga - estos cinco elementos componen el panca-samskara. Son la causa de intensa devoción por el Señor Hari". (3)

Cuando la persona fiel se entera sobre el panca-samskara, se acerca a un maestro religioso y con humildad le pide iniciación, o diksa. El maestro, luego de estimar la sinceridad del estudiante, compasivamente le da tapa y pundra para que santifique su cuerpo. Algunos grupos religiosos otorgan tapa herrando el cuerpo del estudiante en diversas partes, con los símbolos de la caracola, el disco, el garrote y el loto del Señor Vishnu. Otros grupos religiosos imprimen el nombre de Hari con barro, usando un sello de sándalo. Con referencia a tapa, las smrti sastras declaran además:

hari-namaksarair gatram ankayet candanadina
sa loka-pavano bhutva tasya lokam avapnuyat (4)

"Quien marca su cuerpo con las sílabas del nombre de Hari usando pasta de sándalo, purifica al mundo y luego de la muerte alcanza el reino de Dios".

En la Sri Sampradaya, de Ramanuja, el tapa se otorga marcando el cuerpo con los símbolos de la caracola y el disco, pero Sri Chaitanyadeva ha instruido que marquemos el cuerpo con Harinama usando pasta de sándalo en vez de herrarlo. Esta regla es una bendición para las almas de Kali-yuga.

Pundra, o marcas de tilaka, son líneas verticales pintadas en el cuerpo. Las sastras interpretan estas marcas verticales ya sea como símbolos representativos del Templo de Hari o como Sus huellas. Conforme a esto, cada grupo religioso tiene sus propios preceptos para pundra y que son aceptados universalmente dentro de dicho grupo particular. (5)

Nama, o el nombre, es el tercer samskara. Con compasión, el maestro articula el nombre de Hari al oído del estudiante fiel. El estudiante deberá recitar diario este nombre.

{Recibir el nombre quiere decir que uno entiende ser un un sirviente de Hari. Durante la iniciación, el maestro también le da l estudiante un nombre personal que indica devoción a Hari. En la Sri Sampradaya, de Ramanuja, se dan nombres Rama Krishna Dasa, Narayana Dasa, Ramanuja Dasa etc. En la Gaudiya Sampradaya se usan nombres como Sri Govinda Dasa, Sri Nityananda Dasa, Sri Chaitanya Dasa. Desde tiempos Sriman Mahaprabhu se han usado nombres como Ratnabahu, Kavikarnapura, Premanidhi, etc. Más tarde se han usado nombres como Bhagavatabhusana, Gitabhusana, Bhaktibhusana etc.}

El cuarto samskara es mantra. Por su misericordia, el maestro le da a su querido estudiante un mantra de dieciocho sílabas.

{Mantra es la recitación de una oración corta que se relaciona con la deidad particular que uno adora. En la adoración a Krishna se otorga un mantra de diceciocho sílabas.}

El quinto y último samskara es yaga o adoración de la deidad. Con el mantra recibido de su maestro, el estudiante comienza a adorar a la salagrama sila o a la sri murti, la Deidad de Vishnu. Esto es el yaga. Por recibir panca-samskara, los cinco sacramentos, la persona fiel se adentra en el bhajana-kriya, la adoración personal de Dios, lo cual a la larga conduce al amor puro por Sri Hari.

Al analizar las etapas que conducen al amor por Dios, notamos que fe o sraddha es la primera etapa. Sin sraddha no hay manera de obtener amor por dios. Ya con fe, uno busca la compañía santa, llamada sadhu-sanga. Esto lleva a refugiarse a los pies de un maestro espiritual. A esto le sigue la iniciación o panca-samskara. Panca-samskara da lugar al bhajana-kriya, la adoración personal de Dios.

El bhajana-kriya conduce al anartha-nivrtti, la etapa en la que uno despeja de l corazón lo indeseable. Después de anartha-nivrtti la fe propia se puede desarrollar y entra en la etapa de nistha o fe madura. De nistha se desarrolla gusto o ruci. Esto lleva a la etapa de asakti o apego profundo. De asakti brotan emociones espirituales llamadas bhava. Esto finalmente madura en un estado llamado amor por Dios, prema. Por lo tanto, todos deben buscar el refugio a los pies de un maestro espiritual y recibir panca-samskara, que es la fuente del bhajana. Sin el panca-samskara, el bhajana no será espontáneo. Por el contrario, se ejecutará con dificultad.

Cierta gente cree que es posible obtener prema, o amor por Dios, sin el panca-samskara. Esto es incorrecto. El alma condicionada de este mundo se ha vuelto hostil a lo Divino, y en consecuencia su naturaleza espiritual original está deformada. Como resultado debe santificarse antes de que se pueda desarrollar dicha naturaleza espiritual. ¿Y cuál es el medio para alcanzar este estado de pureza? El mejor camino es mediante el samskara, la santificación. Sin el samskara, ¿cómo será posible dejar esta naturaleza deformada? Si vemos que la naturaleza de alguien no se encuentra deformada, pensamos que en alguna vida previa, por la misericordia del maestro espiritual, debió haber recibido samskara, y por la fuerza del samskara ha alcanzado su naturaleza espiritual verdadera en la que ha aparecido el prema o amor por Dios. De lo contrario, pensamos que esta persona ha sido santificada imperceptiblemente por la misericordia inconcebible del Señor Mismo. No importa cómo lo veas, el sanskara siempre está presente.

Por otra parte, el samskara no es necesario para personas liberadas, pues su naturaleza no está deformada. La deformación de la naturaleza espiritual original del alma es la causa de su cautiverio en este mundo. Por este motivo, la vida sin samskara del alma condicionada es impura. Aun si una persona ha alcanzado prema debido a un samskara del pasado, de todos modos en la presente vida de nuevo recibe samskara para dar el ejemplo correcto para el beneficio de todos.

Los samskaras existen en todas las religiones y en todos los países. Entre más pura sea una religión, sus samskaras serán más sagrados y completos. Aunque no hemos tenido la oportunidad de estudiar en detalle los samskaras de todas las religiones, por lo menos podemos decir que los samskaras de la religión aria parecen ser de un orden superior que los samskaras de otras religiones. En particular, los samskaras de la cultura vaisnava son la mejor parte de la religión aria. Ninguna otra práctica es tan sagrada y completa.

Surge la pregunta, ¿si la práctica del samskara que se encuentra en la cultura vaisnava es tan buena, por qué entonces quienes lo practican se encuentran todavía atados a naturalezas deformadas? La respuesta es que el samskara vaisnava es el mejor, pero en la actualidad (6) se practica solo de nombre. Tanto el profesor espiritual como el estudiante obstruyen su propio avance espiritual al sentirse contentos solo con los aspectos externos del samskara, como acabo de describir.

En la actualidad, la relevancia más profunda de los samskaras no es entendida en absoluto. Cuando el estudiante se somete al maestro, el maestro le da panca-samskara y luego lo abandona. Nada bueno puede surgir de ese tipo de panca-samskara.

Externamente el estudiante se ve bien, pero internamente no hay nada. Los símbolos de la caracola, disco y nombre divinos de Hari están marcados en el cuerpo. La lengua pronuncia el nombre de Hari y se lleva a cabo la adoración con mantra de la salagrama sila o la sri murti, pero el estudiante permanece adicto a un sinnúmero de prácticas pecaminosas. ¡En la noche consume bebidas embriagantes y practica el libertinaje!

Oh, buen maestro, ¿de qué manera has beneficiado a tu estudiante? ¿Qué diferencia existe en él antes y después del diksa? En realidad está peor. Se ha vuelto un hipócrita. No siente el remordimiento: "Soy pecaminoso. Es falta mía. ¿Cómo puedo dejar de pecar?". Hoy en día nadie piensa así cuando se refugian en un maestro espiritual. Siguen las actividades pecaminosas sin la menos preocupación. ¡Qué desventura!

¿Por qué esto? La razón es que existe el tipo equivocado de relación entre e lmaestro y el estudiante. La sastra da reglas que guían esta relación, pero no se siguen. El estudiante que arde en el fuego de la vida material, que analiza el predicamento en el que se encuentra y concluye: "mi naturaleza con la naturaleza matrial no es permanente, y por lo tanto debo refugiarme en un maestro espiritual para llegar a los pies de Dios", ha llegado a la etapa de la fe y está calificado para refugiarse en un maestro espiritual. El maestro deberá estudiar al estudiante por un año y fijarse en su expiación. A esto se le llama tapa.

Durante este período de examen, se anima al estudiante a que lleve a cabo todavía más más expiación, y cuando el maestro queda satisfecho hierra al estudiante con los símbolos de la caracola y el disco. Las marcas son permanentes y simbolizan la pureza que el estudiante debe mantener por el resto de su vida. Esto es tapa, el primer samskara del alma fiel. En inglés definimos la palabra tapa como como "arrepentimiento, expiación, y la impresión permanente del sentimiento superior del alma". Tapa tiene que ver no solo con el cuerpo, sino también con la mente y el alma. Si solo es físico, como al herrar o estampar, entonces tapa no ha ocurrido realmente y la práctica religiosa se vuelve una hipocresía. En la actualidad, este tipo de hipocresía ha debilitado a la cultura vaisnava. Sin tapa, o arrepentimiento interior, el alma no puede vivir como vaisnava. Sin tapa, todo el proceso es inútil. Sin tapa, el corazón permanece impuro. Por lo tanto, buenos amigos, ¡busquen la expiación sin demoras!

Cuando el maestro ve que el estudiante ha recibido correctamente tapa (en otras palabras, ha ocurrido la expiación genuina), entonces, por su misericordia, el maestro le da urdhva-pundra. ¿Qué es urdha-pundra? ¡Es refulgencia! También se le llama urdhva-gati, la senda del avance. Después de recibir tapa, el estudiante acepta voluntariamente la cantidad adecuada de renunciación de las actividades mundanas. Esta es la senda del avance. Sin embargo, si el estudiante no acepta ninguna renunciación, su tapa o expiación será inútil. ¡Tanto esfuerzo! ¡Tanto ascetismo! ¡Tanta renunciación de su felicidad! Tanto trabajo para controlar la lujuria, la ira y la avaricia, que será todo una obra inútil si uno no ejecuta estas austeridades para obtener Vaikuntha, el reino de Dios.

En otras palabras, al refurigarse en Sat Cit Ananda el Señor Hari, el alma sigue la senda del avance, urdhva-gati. La iluminación del alma, la mente y el cuerpo se llama urdhva-pundra. La aversión a la vida material y el apego al Señor Supremo se llama tapa y pundra, y esos dos adornos le son indispensables al alma condicionada.

Sin urdhva-pundra, el cuerpo es como si estuviera muerto. Al darnos cuenta de esto debemos bañarnos en la expiación. Sin urdhva-pundra la mente ase va a la derivay desarrolla apego por los bajos objetos de los sentidos y así pierde su tiempo discutiendo los temas más bajos. ¡Oh, alma arrepentida! No demorres, marca el cuerpo, mente y alma con urdhva-pundra y sigue la senda del avance que lleva al reino de Dios. Sin urdhva-pundra se extingue la naturaleza real del alma. Por tal motivo, adopta urdhva-pundra.

Cuando el maestro ve que el querido estudiante brilla con tapa y urdhva-pundra, le otorga nama, el santo nombre de Dios, que despierta la naturaleza eterna del alma. La naturaleza eterna del alma es servidumbre a Dios, y por saborear el néctar del nombre santo del Señor, el alma es llevada a la morada suprema. Dice entonces: "Soy Hari Dasa. No soy el disfrutador de este mundo. Incluso Maya misma está conectada eternamente a Krishna y debo utilizarla a ella en el servicio a Krishna". El alma eterna entonces queda encantada cantando el nombre de Hari. Por refugiarse en el néctar del santo nombre del Señor , el alma toma conciencia de su propia naturaleza espiritual. ¡Las personas inteligentes siempre cantan el nombre de Hari! Que la mente siempre recuerde el nombre de Hari. Que el alma siempre esté adornada con el nombre de Hari.

Debido al afecto que siente el maestro, le da a su estudiante un mantra que le permite experimentar el néctar del santo nombre del Señor. El mantra es un tipo de oración que contiene el nombre de Dios conjugado gramaticalmente en el caso dativo. (7) El mantra también incluye ciertos adjetivos que califican el nombre de Dios y permite que se exprese un humor o gusto particular. Por darle el maestro un mantra al estudiante, le ayuda a saborear el santo nombre al seleccionar un "sabor" adecuado para él. Cuando decimos "namah", reverencia a Hari, empleamos la cuarta terminación o el caso dativo. El caso dativo expresa la relación adecuada entre el adorante, el adorado y la adoración que permiten experimentar fácilmente el sabor del santo nombre.

La felicidad de la persona que ha recibido un mantra no conoce límites. Quienes analizan el significado del mantra de dieciocho sílabas, usado generalmente en la adoración de Sri Krishna, saben que es una muestra condensada del sabor que existe en el Señor. (8) Lo mismo ocurre con el gayatri de veinticuatro sílabas o otros mantras usados para dorar al Señor. (9) Quienes no han recibido un mantra solo podrán especular sobre el sabor del santo nombre, pero desafortunadamente la mayoría de sus reflexiones serán inútiles. Por tal motivo debes recibir un mantra. Quienes lo han recibido lo consideran el samskara más importante.

Hay quienes saben de estos principios, pero no están fijos con firmeza en la cuestión de la adoración por no haber recibido de un maestro calificado tapa, pundra, nama y mantra. Todo tema contiene sus reglas normativas, y quienes rechazan las reglas normativas de la adoración experimentan con frecuencia dificultades. Por eso se dice:

sruti-smrti-puranadi-pancaratra-vidhim vina
atyantiki harer bhaktir utpatayaiva kalpate

"El servicio devocional al Señor que ignora las obras literarias védicas autorizadas, como los Upanisads, Puranas y Narada-pancaratra, es solo una perturbación innecesaria en la sociedad". (10)

¡Por lo tanto, amigos míos! Con lógica y razonamiento puro reciban tapa, pundra, nama y mantra de un maestro calificado. No solo se volverán felices, sino que al establecer este enlace divino con Dios beneficiarán a toda la gente que los rodea.

El maestro, por su amor, a paso seguido le explica a su estudiante la técnica de yaga o adoración a la Deidad. Sin adoración a la Deidad, el alma condicionada no puede avanzar apropiadamente. Aunque uno haya recibido tapa, pundra, nama y mantra, la condición material del alma no se ha mitigado por completo. Solo al haber complacido al Señor Hari, el alma se libera de este mundo material cuando llega la muerte. Por tal motivo, el yaga es necesario hasta el final de la vida incluso entre quienes han recibido mantra. . Aunque uno viva en este mundo sin apego por la materia, continúa el peligro de la materia. En consecuencia, yaga, la senda de adorar a la Deidad, es la manera correcta de tratar con la materia. Yaga es la técnica de adorar al Señor empleando todas las facultades físicas y mentales de la vista, el tacto, el olfato, el gusto, el pensamiento, la discriminación y la acción.

Utilizar cada una de estas facultades para adorar a salagrama, por ejemplo, es una buena forma de cultivar el amor por Dios. El servicio a Sri Vigraha, la Deidad, recibe el nombre de Vaisnava yaga. Sin importar la situación en que nos encontremos, debemos vivir en este mundo trabajando. Por eso, la persona que ha recibido mantra tiene la obligación de pasar su vida adorando a Dios con devoción siguiendo las reglas de la adoración a la Deidad. El maestr compasivo, al enseñar yaga, rescata a su estudiante del océano de la existencia material.

Yaga es el quinto y final samskara. La persona sin yaga no tiene vida y será forzada a recibir los resultados de su karma. Por tal motivo uno debe vivir en este mundo como vaisnava y ocuparse en adorar a la Deidad. Se ofrece una explicación detallada de los principios de adoración a la Deidad en el libro Sri Chaitanya-siksamrta, en la discusión bajo el rubro de vaidhi-bhakti. (11)

Han quedado explicadas tanto la comprensión convencional como la relevancia interna de la expresión panca-samskara. Pero todavía surge una pregunta. ¿Por qué en la actualidad los maestros no le dan este tipo de instrucciones a sus estudiantes? La respuesta es que debido a los efectos degenerativos del tiempo, la comprensión del hombre sobre el papel del maestro espiritual ha quedado corrupto en extremo. Hoy, la gente recibe instrucción de kula-gurus, maestros por herencia familiar o personas similares, y por lo tanto son incapaces de refugiarse en un maestro calificado. En las sastras se dice que el estudiante seriamente inquisitivo deeb acercarse a un maestro espiritual que ha logrado refugio y fe en los Vedas y Dios, y entregarse a Él.

tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam
sabde pare ca nisnatam brahmany upasamasrayam (12)

Cuando uno se entrega así, el océano material se reduce de tamaño al de la pisada de un becerro. Sin embargo, si esa entrega es solo de nombre, será inútil. En el presente la mayoría de la gente no quiere el cobijo de un maestro genuino porque muy pocos quieren resolver los problemas de la vida. Sin embargo, es responsabilidad del alma viviente de este mundo buscar un maestro y resolver esos problemas. El Señor Se revela ante el estudiante serio en la forma de un maestro que lo pueda rescatar. Es bueno sentir un gran deseo de tener un maestro, pero es erróneo aceptar a cualquier persona solo para satisfacer los deseos propios. El maestro genuino llegará ante cualquiera que esté buscando sinceramente, pero antes de que el estudiante acepte al maestro, deberá también examinarlo durante un año. Sin un examen, la relación maestro-estudiante solo es una perturbación.

Después de un estudio detallado llegamos a la conclusión de que si uno no acepta correctamente el pancha-samskara, el alma condicionada no podrá desarrollar devoción intensa por Sri Hari. Por tal motvio, el panca-samskara es en extremo necesario.

Referencias

(1) La devoción es de dos tipos, a saber el vidhi-bhakti, el servicio devocional efectuado conforme la las normas regulatorias, y el raganuga-bhakti, el servicio devocional efectuado siguiendo el humor de los asociados de Krishna en Vrindavan.
(2) Prameya Ratnavali (de Baladeva Vidyabhusana) 8.5
(3) Prameya Ratnavali 8.6
(4) Prameya Ratnavali 8.6
(5) Para más información sobre el tilaka, ver la obra de A.W. Entwistle, "Vaisnava Tilakas", publicada en los boletines 11 y 12, 1981-1982, de la "International Association of the Vrindavan Research Institute".
(6) Finales del siglo XIX, en Bengala.
(7) Como Krishnaya o Ramaya.
(8) El mantra Gopal de 18 sílabas es un ejemplo de esto.
(9) El kama-gayatri que usan los Gaudiyas es un ejemplo de esto.
(10) Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.101.
(11) El texto original de este artículo usó el tiempo futuro, indicando que el libro Sri Chaitanya-siksamrta todavía no había sido publicado.
(12) Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.3.21.