Sri Bepin Sakhi Vilas - Part 3

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EDITORIAL

 

December 7, 1999 VNN5037

Sri Bepin Sakhi Vilas - Part 3

 

BY HRSIKESANANDA DAS

 

EDITORIAL, Dec 7

(VNN) — Written in 1970

by Tridandi Swami

Lalitananda Vana,

Vrindavan, U.P., India

 

Continued from part 2...

 

Through unalloyed submission to the Feet of Sri Guru

one may become the recipient of a generous portion of

Divine Grace, and through a process of initiation, by

which we receive Mantra Shakti (the divine enlightening

potency) and Sri Hari Nam (The spiritual self-same all

conscious Divine Name of the Supreme Lord, Whose

constant repetition, meditation, and whole-hearted

service, becomes both the Means and highest End of

pure existence) one may obtain spiritual rebirth.

 

The important point is the Sri Guru must belong to the

bona fide Guru-parampara (the spiritual uninterrupted

chain of perceptoral Order originating from the Lord

Himself). If this chain has been interrupted at any place

there can be no manifestation of Divine Grace and the

Divine Enlightening Potency, in the disciple. Sri Guru

must be a self realized and God realized Paramahansa;

otherwise he is not the eternal spiritual representative of

the lord. One must be very careful in his search for the

genuine spiritual Preceptor!

 

After receiving Diksa (spiritual initiation) from Sri Guru

one's spiritual life begins.

 

From the divine Power instilled by Sri Guru-dev all

ignorance of looking upon the temporary material body

as one's self is slowly erandicated and one becomes

identified with one's soul as self.

 

From the beginning of sandhana until all accumulated

sins and the dense darkness of lust and anger are

washed off the heart of the pure soul in God realization

(Prema Bhakti), it is a gradual purifying process of

unfolding of the innate dormant nature of the soul.

 

This grandual process has nine primary stages which

are: (I) SRADDHA, (II) SADHU-SANGA, (III)

BHAJANA-KRIYA, (IV) ANARTHA-NIVRTTI, (V)

NISTHA, (VI) RUCI, (VII) ASAKTI, (VIII) BHAVA,

and (IX) PREMA. The steps from Sraddha to

Anartha-nivrtti are from utter material bondage to the

souls freedom from the clutches of Maya, the Deluding

Energy of Godhead.

 

Then, after self realization the soul develops in her

sandhana from Nistha to Prema of final liberation in

God realization, which is attainable even while not

separated from one's gross and subtle coverings.

 

Prema concerns the Siddha-deha (i.e., the eternal supra

mundane Chit body of the pure soul) alone, and

although outward signs of the internal bhavas (spiritual

feelings) may become manifest on the external body,

they are purely spiritual expressions of the soul's divine

love for the Supreme Lord.

 

These nine stages of grandual spiritual awakening are the

stairway to be climbed by all who truly wish to know the

secret to Sri Vraja Lila and take part therein. So, for my

own spiritual benefit as well as others I shall give here a

brief explanation of each stage as revealed on the

mundane plane, through the Six Goswamins, by Lord

Chaitanya Himself: (I) SRADDHA means faith. Faith in

the Supreme Lord Krishna as the only Shelter,

Protector, Provider, and Object of loving devotional

service (Bhakti). This faith is the divine seed of Prema

Bhakti. (II) SADHU-SANGA simply means to live in the

company of pure devotees in order to follow in their

faultless footsteps. This stage has unlimited power, and

all those vain and foolish persons who would try not to

treand these steps shall find all the fruits of their spiritual

labors entirely tasteless and without any base. (III)

BHAJAN-KRIYA means spiritual practices in the stage

of bondage according to the directions of Sri Guru and

the Scriptures.

 

The different types of spiritual practices in which to

engage one-self are many and varied (vide, Sri

Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu), but there are nine eternal

functions which are primary: sravanam I e., Listening to

the glories of the Lord, kirtanam i.e., Singing the Names

of the Lord, Visnu-smaranam i.e., Meditating on the

beauty, pastimes, etc. of Krishna, panda-sevanam i.e.,

Serving His Divine Feet, arcanam i. e, Worshipping the

Lord, vandanam i.e., bowing down and supplicating

one's self before the Lord, dasyam i.e., Serving the

Lord as a servant, sakyam i.e., Serving Sri Govinda as

the Divine Friend, and atma-nivedanam i.e., complete

self surrender to the Lord, Who is the only shelter to all.

 

Besides these nine primary functions there are five

others which are most important for those who are

interested in the realization of Sri Vraja Lila: (I) To live

always in Sri Vraja Dham both mentally and physically;

(2) To serve Sri Arca-vigraha or the Divine Image of the

Lord, which is the fifth manifestation of the supreme

Divinity graciously manifest to the view of the fallen

jivas by the inconceivable and unlimited spiritual power

(Yoga-Maya) of the Lord.

 

This is probably the most misunderstood aspect of

Vaishnava philosophy by the ignorant fallen beings who

view everything on the surface only. Let it suffice to say

that only the soul in the state of Divine Grace can

comprehend this purely transcendental aspect to the

manifested Supreme Person; (3) To listen to the

Srimand Bhagavatam, which is the sum and substance

of all sacred revealed scriptures, from the mouth of a

Vaishnava (pure devotee of the Lord); (4) To live only

in the company of pure Vaishnavas whose divine

companionship can purify even the greatest sinners; (5)

To chant always the Divine Names of Krishna without

inter-mission. It is said by Sri Rupa Goswami the even a

short time practice of these Five, while being free from

spiritual offenses, has the power to awaken Prema

Bhakti in the heart of a devotee.

 

(IV) ANARTHA-NIVRTTI, which follows close in the

wake of honest and whole-hearted Bhajana-kriya, means

the removal of all the obstacles, offenses, and defects,

that cloud pure Bhakti. Such obstacles as

mis-identifying one's self with one's temporary material

body and mind, to misconceive one as deand when the

body is destroyed, attachment to material sense

enjoyments and anger against any opposition to such

enjoyments. Obstacles caused by offenses against the

Holy Name, and desire for the selfish mundane fruits of

one's pious actions (Karma). Also keeping mundane

associations, disinclination, and thinking of worldly

pleasures while meditating on the Lord, as well as being

prone to lust, anger, avarice, vanity, and jealousy, etc.

To be completely freed from all such obstacles is

Anartha-Nivritti.

 

Once a soul engaged in spiritual practices has reached

the purified stage of anartha Nivritti through spiritual

realization, he may progress to the next step, (V)

NISTHA or firmness and steand-fastness, both

physical, mental, and verbal, in striving for the unfolding

and realization of Krishna and Sri Krishna Vraja Lila.

(VI) RUCI, which follows close in the wake of Nistha,

is the development of a strong taste or liking for spiritual

life concerning the Lord and a corresponding dislike for

all things on the mundane level.

 

When Ruci for the service of the Supreme Lord

develops into full maturity and Sri Govinda alone

becomes the sole Object of one's life, an intense

attachment for the Lord develops, it is called (VII)

ASAKTI. Asakti makes one's heart so transparent that

the Lord's Reflection appears therein as if the Lord hand

appeared in Person. As one's soul in the stage of Asakti

begins to taste the divine Sweetness and transcendental

Beauty of the Supreme Lord Govinda, all worldly affairs

and talks became unbearable.

 

When this Asakti and Ruci soften the heart, mind, and

ego, and one's soul becomes filled with sublime loving

emotions for the Lord, it is called (VIII) BHAVA.

 

This Bhava, which is the normal innate nature of the soul

proceeding from the Internal Potency of the Lord

Himself, is like the Divine Glow of the rising Sun of

Prema.

 

When Bhava develops to such a degree that the heart

and entire mental quantum of the most andvanced

devotee completely melts in divine loving emotion, it is

called (IX) PREMA, which is the highest and most

complete stage of God realization and liberation from

bondage.

 

In this stage, Lord Krishna Himself, with all His Eternal

Associates and transcendental Realm, appears before

the spiritual vision of the Prema-bhakta (realized

devotee) in his completely transparent heart.

 

To the self realized Prema-bhakta all sense of I and mine

is completely directed to Sri Hari alone, and he feels

about his Lord, "Oh my Beloved Krishna, I am Thine

and Thou art mine!"

 

The soul who has fortunately achieved the supreme

wealth of Krishna Prema now beholds the Lord and all

this Dear Ones, Face to face, and experiencing the

transcendental Beauty of the Lord and His realm, the

divine Fragrance of His Supra-mundane

(sat-chit-ananda) Body, the captivating Sound of His

Flute, and the sacred Touch and Taste of His moon-like

Person, the freed soul laughs, weeps, and completely

melts in Divine Love. In this stage the devotee, who has

become almost unaware of the material world and even

his own existence, practically gives up eating and

sleeping and remains in constant communion with his

beloved Krishna and His Nitya-Lila completely

unmindful of external conditions what-so-ever. With the

realization of Krishna and His Associates there is

simultaneous realization of one's own shay behave and

eternal spiritual body. Then, deep in spiritual

communion the pure soul enters the divine

transcendental Realm of Lord Hari and in his

siddha-deha (eternal spiritual body) he joins the Nitya

Lila of Sri Sri Randha Krishna and forever drinks the

ever progressive divine nectar there in. For some souls

whose sthayi bhava is Mandhura Rati, it is through

spiritual subservience to the Siddha-deha of one's Guru,

Sri Rupa and Rati Manjaris and others, and Sri Lalita

and the Sakhis, that one may eternally serve the Lotus

Feet of the Divine Couple in Vraja.

 

To the common people deluded by Maya into the

labyrinth of worldliness Sri Sri Randha Krishna Vraja

Lila may appear like the unwholesome and perverted

love of this sinful world

 

So long as one's heart is polluted by sense egoism and

one mis-identifies one's true self with his gross body

and subtle mind, and so long as one's mind is darkened

by the dense quagmire of sex mindedness there can be

no possibility of entering into the transcendental nature

of the Divine Love Dalliances of Sri Sri Randha

Govinda in Vraja-dham.

 

It is only by giving up all sense enjoyments, renouncing

completely all attachments to mundane kith and kin, and

leading a life of extreme asceticism and intense spiritual

practices, that one, through complete self effacement,

may realize the supreme beauty of the Divine Sex.

 

That Sri Vraja Lila is the eternal supra-mundane

Love-sports of the Counter Whole Divine Moiety (Sri

Radha) with the Predominating Original Whole Divinity

(Krishna), the Original Whole having projected Itself out

into a reciprocal Counter Whole, without losing the

Original Whole (Ct Upanishand).

 

The fallen souls deluded by Maya, who see only the

gross changeable opposites of this temporary world,

cannot imagine the where-abouts of Vraja Lila, but those

rare and blessed souls, who by sincere spiritual

practices have transcended the mundane plane, realize

Sri Vrajadham in their heart of hearts and attaining a

supra-mundane (Chit), all conscious body

corresponding to their own sthayi bhava, they may enter

Vraja and for-ever participate in the Divine Love Sports

Therein.

 

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the atheistic fallen

souls who think the world as the only reality and that

there is only one life to be enjoyed like a pig, eating,

sleeping and mating until death, will commit the colossal

offense of viewing this divine subject on the mundane

level and rejecting it altogether as being sensual and

imaginary. Although the divine transcendental Beauty

and Reality of the Eternal Lila of the Lord will even

remain unaffected by their wrong ideas, still, for this

great sin they shall be thrown by Maya deep into the

depths of delusion and endless sufferings until by the

cause-less mercy of the pure devotees they may be

pulled out of the bottomless well of this world by the

rope of Divine Grace.

 

May all truly good people take shelter unto the Glorious

FIVE forever, and by Their mercy cross the impassable

ocean of Maya as if it were the small hoof print of a

calf.

 

By writing this small booklet on the principle of Sri

Randha-Krishna Vraja Lila, I have been blessed that my

wicked and unruly mind has been engaged in the

purifying thoughts of the Supreme Lord of all, and if

this humble booklet will give any spiritual insight unto

the reanders of the English knowing world, then my

efforts shall be doubly rewarded.

 

Hey Sri Sri Hari, Guru, Vaishnava! May you all give me

a drop of Your Limitless Mercy that the eternal Love

Games of Sri Sri Randha Krishna may heart with Their

divine splendor, for then only may I one day enter the all

blissful Realm of Vraja and forever swim and sink in the

limitless ocean of bhaktas (the sweetness of divine

service) where I may eternally drink the nectar of the joy

of my dearest in Divine Love, Sri Kunda Latika Manjari,

following in the wake of Sri Rupa Manjari, being

directed by Sri Lalita Sakhi in the Prema Seva of the

Divine Couple, Sir Sri Randha Srila Govindandeva,

Who, seated upon a magnificent jeweled throne in a

lovely bower on the bank of the Yamuna (the

transcendental River of Vraja) are being most lovingly

served by the Dearest Sakhis.

 

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA

KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE

RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE