Varsana Swami

[Guest guest]

[The transcript is not verbatim and unfortunately there are some missing

sections too. We hope that despite these faults the text will still bring

pleasure to the Vaisnavas]

 

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September 3, 2006

Verse: SB 7.14.39

Speaker: HH Varsana Swami

Location: ISKCON New Vrindaban [www.newvrindaban.com]

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drstva tesam mitho nrnam avajnanatmatam nrpa

tretadisu harer arca kriyayai kavibhih krta

 

TRANSLATION: My dear King, when great sages and saintly persons saw mutually

disrespectful dealings at the beginning of Treta-yuga, Deity worship in the

temple was introduced with all paraphernalia.

 

PURPORT: As it is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.3.52):

 

krte yad dhyayato visnum tretayam yajato makhaih

dvapare paricaryayam kalau tad dhari-kirtanat

 

"Whatever result one obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Visnu, in

Treta-yuga by performing sacrifices and in Dvapara-yuga by serving the

Lord's lotus feet one can also obtain in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the

Hare Krsna maha-mantra." In Satya-yuga, every person was spiritually

advanced, and there was no envy between great personalities. Gradually,

however, because of material contamination with the advance of the ages,

disrespectful dealings appeared even among brahmanas and Vaisnavas.

Actually, an advanced Vaisnava is to be respected more than Visnu. As stated

in the Padma Purana, aradhananam sarvesam visnor aradhanam param: of all

kinds of worship, worship of Lord Visnu is the best. Tasmat parataram devi

tadiyanam samarcanam: and recommended more than worship of Visnu is worship

of the Vaisnava.

 

Formerly, all activities were performed in connection with Visnu, but after

Satya-yuga there were symptoms of disrespectful dealings among Vaisnavas.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has said that a Vaisnava is he who has helped

others become Vaisnavas. An example of one who has converted many others

into Vaisnavas is Narada Muni. A powerful Vaisnava who has converted others

into Vaisnavas is to be worshiped, but because of material contamination,

sometimes such an exalted Vaisnava is disrespected by other, minor

Vaisnavas. When great saintly persons saw this contamination, they

introduced worship of the Deity in the temple. This began in Treta-yuga and

was especially prominent in Dvapara-yuga (dvapare paricaryayam). But in

Kali-yuga, worship of the Deity is being neglected. Therefore chanting of

the Hare Krsna mantra is more powerful than Deity worship. Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu set a practical example in that He did not establish any temples

or Deities, but He profusely introduced the sankirtana movement. Therefore

Krsna consciousness preachers should give more stress to the sankirtana

movement, especially by distributing transcendental literature more and

more. This helps the sankirtana movement. Whenever there is a possibility to

worship the Deity, we may establish many centers, but generally we should

give more stress to the distribution of transcendental literature, for this

will be more effective in converting people to Krsna consciousness.

 

It is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.47):

 

arcayam eva haraye pujam yah sraddhayehate

na tad-bhaktesu canyesu sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah

 

"A person who is very faithfully engaged in the worship of the Deity in the

temple but does not know how to behave toward devotees or people in general

is called a prakrta-bhakta, or kanistha-adhikari." A prakrta devotee, or

neophyte devotee, is still on the material platform. He certainly engages in

worshiping the Deity, but he cannot appreciate the activities of a pure

devotee. It has actually been seen that even an authorized devotee who is

engaged in the service of the Lord by preaching the mission of Krsna

consciousness is sometimes criticized by neophyte devotees. Such neophytes

are described by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura:

sarva-prani-sammananasamarthanam avajna spardhadimatam tu

bhagavat-pratimaiva patram ity aha. For those who cannot properly appreciate

the activities of authorized devotees, Deity worship is the only way for

spiritual advancement. In the Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 7.11) it is clearly

said, krsna-sakti vina nahe tara pravartana: without being authorized by

Krsna, one cannot preach the holy name of the Lord throughout the entire

world. Nevertheless, a devotee who does so is criticized by neophyte

devotees, kanistha-adhikaris, who are on the lower stages of devotional

service. For them, Deity worship is strongly recommended. [End of purport]

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada is mentioning in this purport the loving reciprocation

between the Lord and his devotees in which each try to glorify the other

more. The devotees do not want to be glorified because they are humble, and

neither does the Lord as he is atmarama, he doesn't need or want anything.

But he desires we worship and glorify him to purify ourselves of the demons

within. Syamasundara Prabhu was explaining the archetypal demons yesterday,

lust, greed, anger, etc. who appeared in the universe in the different ages

as Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa, Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Sisupala, Dantavakra,

and in this age as Jagai and Madhai.

 

The first six are archetypal of the six enemies: lust, anger, greed,

madness, illusion, envy. Most people don't acknowledge them, and the demons

like to stay in the darkness. They thrive in darkness. But as Jesus said,

"There is nothing hidden that will not become known."

 

This is frightening that all the demons in our hearts will be exposed and

our pride in ourselves will be shattered .This also means that the treasure

in our hearts will be uncovered, love of God, the actual nature of the

living entity. Coming to the material world, just like the rain falling, the

clean drops become dirty when they fall upon the dust and filth on the

ground.

 

Because the soul is by nature part and parcel of Krsna, eternal and full of

knowledge and bliss and meant to serve the Lord eternally in transcendental

rapture, when the soul comes in touch with material nature he becomes

contaminated and his transcendental nature becomes compromised. The demons

are calling attention to ourselves, so even when we chant Hare Krsna, we

think, "What is in it for me, what are people thinking of me, when will I

finish so I can get on with real life?"

 

These are demons. If we don't confess and shield our hypocrisy, then Krsna

will say "OK, keep it." He doesn't want to get involved unless we ask him.

When we ask him to please rescue us, then he may come. Nrsimhadeva is

popular, "Let him tear the demons apart"-this satisfies our bloodlust, but

the real demons are within our own hearts. The Lord works through his

devotees. There is a very beautiful instruction in the Mahabharata:

 

Draupadi never really got over her insult which made such a deep impression

in her heart. She was always trying to incite Bhima and Arjuna to retaliate.

But Maharaja Yudhisthira was always very sober and equipoised. Draupadi

tried to incite him too, but he gave such a precious instruction. He said,

"Krsna brings us together in varieties of association to work out our

karma."

 

Sometimes we see certain devotees and think, "Oh no, here he comes", but

spiritually not feeling joy to see a devotee is an offence. That means we

are seeing materially. Rather, "Here comes the person who is going to hold

up the mirror and show me the karma due to me", so I should be grateful that

Krsna is doing that through this person.

 

But if I think materially then *I* should be glorified. But Krsna glorifies

the devotee by purifying him. Look at the difficulties Srila Prabhupada had

to undergo. Why did Krsna allow these inconceivable difficulties to his dear

servant who is trying to preach his guru's message?

 

There are two dimensions to this, that it is Krsna's way of glorifying him,

he pursued so determinedly. Krsna and all the avataras appeared to

Prabhupada in the dream after his heart attack, and told him that we are

with you. Prabhupada wrote in his diary that "I have no devotion or

knowledge, but I do have faith in the holy name and my guru has ordered me

to spread it throughout the world." Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers often

only discouraged him, but he had faith in the prediction of Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu that the holy name would spread worldwide, he had faith that

Krsna consciousness is the message of universal brotherhood and worship.

 

Krsna explains to Gangadevi, when she, as the representative of all the holy

rivers, detected that Krsna's pastimes were coming to a close. Like an hour

before sunset you can see the sun is preparing to go down. So the holy

rivers could tell that the dusk is approaching of Krsna's lila. They were

fearful, so Ganga, as the representative of all the holy rivers, came to

Krsna in Dvaraka and told this to him: "We have come to request you if we

can follow the footsteps of Sarasvati and go underground as in Kali people

will only come to us to cleanse them of their sins and we will be overly

polluted."

 

Krsna said "No, take heart because in 5000 years (not 4500 when Mahaprabhu

appeared, but 5000 years) my mantra upasaka, the worshipper of my name will

appear and sanctify the whole surface of the earth and when western devotees

come to bathe in your waters they will purify you." This obviously refers to

Srila Prabhupada.

 

There is a verse in the Padma Purana:

 

nama cintamanih krsnas caitanya-rasa-vigrahah

purnah suddho nitya-mukto 'bhinnatvam nama-naminoh

 

The holy name of Krsna is blissful, transcendental, and bestows all

benedictions as it is nondifferent from Krsna. It is not touched by maya, it

is the very form of rasa, and it is as powerful as Krsna.

 

So this verse mentions how the brahmanas, by their preaching, sanctify the

three worlds by the dust of their lotus feet. We are now in the midst of

many festivals like Radhastami and Vamanadeva's appearance, who appeared as

a dwarf brahmana.

 

In the pastimes of Lord Gauranga 500 years ago, when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

received his mantra diksa as a twice born, the Lord took a begging bag and

went out to all the neighbours and the residents of Nadia as well as the

devatas who descended to give what they could in charity. Everyone saw that

this young, golden brahmana revealed his form, contained within him, of

Vamanadeva. Lord Gauranga become Vamana, begging. What is he begging from

all of us? Three little footsteps of his calculation, not much. But his

first step traversed the earth, second, the whole universe and a little

beyond inviting the Ganga to descend. Bali then told him to place the third

on his head, atmanivedana.

 

The earth means our gross [word missing], outer space means subtle

misconceptions, and the third means our soul. Not that he needs these, but

he created us to reciprocate love with him eternally, and when our hearts

and soul are at war with our demons and our devotion is interrupted, it

cannot satisfy us or the Lord.

 

This is part of that loving competition mentioned here, the Lord and devotee

always try to glorify each other. Mahaprabhu is always glorifying Advaita

Acarya, trying to take the dust of his lotus feet, and Advaita Acarya knew

he was the Lord and was also trying. They would get angry and fight when one

would take the other's dust. They were competing for it as it bestows

bhakti. Srila Prabhupada is listing in this verse the qualities of the

brahmanas. As described by Krsna in the 18th chapter of Bhagavad-gita,

austerity, self-control, austerity purity, tolerance, honesty and faith

these are the brahmana's qualities.

 

These come from Krsna. He appears when we chant his holy name with faith and

devotion. Srila Prabhupada explains the importance of these holy days so we

can meditate on these great personalities. Who are we? Who are they? They

have come by the mercy of the Lord to free us from our karma and battling

with the internal demons. There is so much talk of jihad, but what does

jihad mean? It means go to war with your internal demons and pray to the

Lord to protect you and lead you to victory. Sometimes when the name comes

on our tongue, the mind goes elsewhere.

 

What is the significance of these holy days, of every day, of the holy name

which is nondifferent from the Lord himself which has been distributed

indiscriminately by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and even more by Srila

Prabhupada?

 

Srila Prabhupada came here and he was looking with great devotion and

praying to Sri Sri Radha Vrindavan Chandra-and whatever success this place

has in revealing itself as the Holy Dham is because of Srila Prabhupada's

mercy and by following his instructions. Srila Prabhupada turned to the

devotees who were behind him and said very gravely, "Krsna consciousness has

two rails which have to go together: pancaratrika vidhi, placing Radha

Vrindabanchandra as the centre of our lives and the community."

 

And whatever success has been achieved here is largely due to that. Srila

Prabhupada was emphasizing and in his own words, if the Deity worship, which

was introduced in the Treta yuga as something the brahmanas and vaisnavas

could unite and celebrate, and then it became the yuga-dharma in Dvapara, so

Srila Prabhupada said this must be accompanied by bhagavat-dharma which he

spent a week teaching here in 1972, in Bahulavan. Sri Sri Radha Damodar and

Jagannath were there too.

 

If your worship of the Deity is not accompanied by proper hearing chanting

and preaching, it will become a burden. To hear this was shocking as for us

Radha Vrindabanchandra were always our life and soul, and this was a

prediction that our life and soul would become a burden if not protected by

hearing, chanting and preaching.

 

Then we heard a tape later, from LA, as Srila Prabhupada wanted both places

to be centres of Deity worship, where he said in a lecture, he saw the

garland was not what it should be, he gave a whole lecture on it. This was

slightly more shocking: "If you do not develop bhava in the worship of the

Deity, then when your guru leaves, you will think that "That rascal has left

me such a burden to worship."

 

We like to masquerade as devotional. Here once one devotee presented himself

as the most fallen, but Srila Prabhupada said, "You are not the most

anything." This is the false ego and it is deceptive.

 

All the dormant seeds sprout from the rain but the weeds also sprout with

the bhakti lata bija. After a drought when it rains, if you're not a farmer

you don't know what is a crop and what is weed. Rice and weed look similar

but later you find it is a weed. So the guru is the expert agriculturalist.

It is a culture, harmonious working by the Lord's arrangement for sustenance

and edification. Nature is a reflection of Krsna's Brajabhumi, everything in

nature is a lesson of our relationship with Krsna. The beauty of nature is

not something to enjoy, but to study our relationship with him and return to

him.

 

The archetypal demons appeared in various ages, the anarthas in our hearts

are microcosms of these demons. You see their behaviours that they were the

personification. Just like Kumbhakarna had the benediction that he would eat

for six months. We also tend to be greedy in eating. We like to see it in

Kumbhakarna but who wouldn't like to do that? Personification of this

ignorance, we used to see it in the early days esp. here in New Vrindaban,

we didn't get much to eat in the week, would get government food, when the

feast came there was always the tendency to indulge and then go to sleep.

 

It's not just night sleep but the day dream that we are the enjoyer,

Mahaprabhu was calling out to awake from the night and day dream and wake up

that we are meant so serve Krsna eternally.

 

These six demons are also in Krsna lila, the sad garbhasuras, or the 8

daughters of Sacidevi, eight elements, have to be cast away by the Lord's

mercy and our willingness before the splendour of the soul can shine

through. Kamsa represents fear, Vasudeva and Devaki were always fearful, a

devotee should cultivate fear of material existence. Srila Prabhupada

appreciated western devotees but said we don't have sufficient fear of maya.

 

Krsna pastimes reveal what happens internally in our hearts when we chant:

all the demons get fearful. Even in the west, in the appearance of the Lord

there are prophesies that the king will become fearful, like Herod. The

child is hidden and gradually conquers and shows his power and emerges

victorious. When the infant Krsna in our hearts grows, perfect love destroys

all fear. In our ignorance we think we are fearless, as displayed on bumper

stickers in West Virginia. We proclaim this because we are fearful. Srila

Prabhupada told a story when he was a child and got on a tram and the

conductor intimidatingly said, "Where is your ticket?" and Prabhupada

replied, "Here is my father!"

 

A devotee should be afraid of material existence, but we should know that

Srila Prabhupada is very close if we follow his instructions. The appearance

of the name agitates our anarthas and therefore it takes humility. The false

ego will leave you alone largely if you don't confront it. Like Krsna made

commotion in the lake and Kaliya was so disturbed by that. Nobody knew that

there was a 1000 headed serpent in the depths of that lake. Everyone knew

there was something wrong with the lake as all was dead around it. This is

like the conditioned nature, we have that serpent in our hearts, but if you

don't confront it, it won't harass you too much, it just saps all your

energy in devotional service. But if you allow Krsna's holy name to confront

that false ego then it rises up like Kaliya.

 

When Krsna jumped in to confront Kaliya, the Vrajavasis were practically

dying, and Balarama had to restrain them from jumping in. He reminded them

of Gargamuni's prediction? Balarama's smiling helped them.

 

Krsna was appreciating this verse [not sure which], the competition is of

love so everybody wins. Krsna encourages, if we glorify him he glorifies his

devotee. Krsna was contemplating this verse, this illustrates her quality of

keeping Krsna under her control. She was in maan, divine pouting, but she

was doing it for Krsna's pleasure. He was feeling so bereft and asked the

sakhis what to do. They told him, "Why don't you approach her as a barber's

daughter" which is an outcaste occupation. A barber is muchi, cutting hair

and attending to other bodily needs.

 

Krsna, on this advice, appeared to Srimati Radharani's entourage. We have to

approach the Lord through his devotees, it's arrogant to think we can

disrespect his representatives and have love for him. He dressed up with a

barber's kit and approached the sakhis and said, "I want to do some

pada-sevanam for Srimati Radharani."

 

"All right, bring her in. What is your name?"

 

Krsna said, "My name is Navina-sakhi. This just means "New Sakhi". It was

not very innovative.

 

"OK you can serve her pink lotus feet. That dye enhances the hue and

fragrance of her lotus feet, you can apply it and paint her feet."

 

So she started doing that and Krsna was so enthralled by that service. He

was thinking, "This is the perfection of my life! How can I do this

eternally?" Then it dawned on him like a revelation:

 

nama cintamanih krsnas caitanya-rasa-vigrahah

purnah suddho nitya-mukto 'bhinnatvam nama-naminoh

 

He remembered the verse that "I'm nondifferent from my holy name," and in

great rapture he began writing "Syama" in all different ways on her feet.

 

Srimati Radharani said, "Hey, what are you doing?" and the sakhis said, "She

is writing your name!What are you doing?" Krsna started making a mess in

his ecstasy and she kicked him in the chest. So Navina sakhi had these pink

lotus feet imprinted upon his chest and to him that was the perfection of

his existence. Visnu has Bhrgu Muni's feet imprinted, but Krsna always

cherishes the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani.

 

Therefore Mahaprabhu said I'm not brahmana, etc. grhastha, I identify only

as gopi-bhartur pada kamalayor dasanudasa, servant of the servant of the

servant many times removed from the direct service of Krsna. Srimati

Radharani is the adi-guru even of Krsna. In Caitanya-caritamrta there is

this passage:

 

"O my beloved friend Vrnda, where are you coming from?"

"I am coming from the feet of Sri Hari."

"Where is He?"

"In the forest on the bank of Radha-kunda."

"What is He doing there?"

"He is learning dancing."

"Who is His master?"

"Your image, Radha, revealing itself in every tree and creeper in every

direction, is roaming like a skillful dancer, making Him dance behind."

 

So the unique flavour of Gaudiya Vaisnava teachings, as distinct even from

Nimbarka which emphasizes the gopis and Srimati Radharani, as Mahaprabhu

emphasizes, as Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur explained to his disciples

who were appreciating the dandavat parikrama of Radha Kunda, is that our

angle is because Srimati Radharani loves Krsna, so do we and so can we if we

take shelter of her. The very essence of critical siddhanta in Mahaprabhu's

unique teaching is of the asraya vigraha, necessity of shelter of the

devotee as the representative of guru, who represents Srimati Radharani who

teaches all mellows of devotional service to others.

 

The essence of this element of siddhanta is that we jivas are insignificant

and how much love can we offer and receive? Therefore by serving the

servants of Lord Gauranga, the maidservants of Srimati Radharani, we offer

our devotion through parampara to guru, who offers it to Lord Nityananda who

is Balaram and serving under the direction of Srimati Radharani who alone

knows how to best serve Krsna. Thus our service reaches Krsna very much

enhanced and capable of satisfying him, then we can actually receive through

parampara a taste of that nectar which we are always hankering for: pure

devotional service.

 

We come into this world with false ego which is such a burden in our

devotional service, and we have the opportunity to leave this world with

love of Krsna which will lead us back to him, which is represented by the

feet of the devotees. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu distributed this and it was

further done by Srila Prabhupada. Mahaprabhu established that love is higher

than knowledge. He gave us the Siksastaka, and the one verse which Krsnadas

Kaviraja Goswami said is so important that you should string it around your

neck so you will never forget it is:

 

trnad api sunicena taror iva sahisnuna

amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

 

One can chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking

himself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than

the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all

respects to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of

the Lord constantly.

 

The tree lives to give to others, fruit, fuel, and the tree never protests.

The devotee should be like this. Remembering what Maharaja Yudhisthira told

Draupadi: "Krsna brings us together in varieties of association to work out

our karma."

 

The burden of sinful reactions is such that we have no enthusiasm for

devotional service. Balaram relieves us of that but he will only appear in

our hearts when we are humble. When Balaram certifies that this devotee is

sincere, then Srimati Radharani accepts us into that land which is simply an

extension of her serving mood. New Vrindaban is nondifferent from Vrindavan,

but we have to become pure to see it as it is. Srila Prabhupada planted the

seed of the spiritual world here in the soil of West Virginia which is

gradually blossoming as a place of pilgrimage where conditioned souls can

find relief from the blazing fire of material existence by chanting the holy

names of the Lord in humility.

 

Yugalakishora Das: As long as false ego is not disturbed, whatever we do in

life is polluted but my question is what to do when it rises up?

 

Maharaja: Srila Prabhupada said chanting Hare Krsna is Krsna dancing on your

tongue, this is the essence of chanting. You want to deny your faults but

all can see that you have those propensities so what do you do? The part of

the human body which is most like a serpent is the tongue, but it is most

important as it can chant Hare Krsna, but if it doesn't then it expresses

venom by criticizing others. So the black snake should keep Krsna on the

tongue.

 

What happened to Kailya? The Srimad Bhagavatam gives one version, but

Sanatana Goswami gives another version: When Krsna was dancing on Kaliya's

hoods--the beginning was pretty much the same--Krsna would dance on the

rising head, and when the hoods got down to a reasonable level, Krsna

decorated them. It was already decorated as his hoods had jewels. But he

reached out and lifted all the gopis on Kaliya's hoods and they had

rasa-lila. Everyone was in amazement to see this. Normally rasa-lila is in

the dead of night, but now all could see it in the day. Krsna took his

chadar as a bridle and flute as whip and they went for a joy ride on Kaliya.

Then at the end Krsna told him, "Since you are offensive you have to go, but

now that you have the marks of my lotus feet, Garuda will leave you alone."

 

Kaliya told him, "If you ever need a ride, call me and I will come from

wherever I am. If Garuda is tied up with something, I'll come in the blink

of an eye." Sometimes when Krsna goes to Kamsa's wrestling arena, he goes to

Mathura up the Yamuna on Kaliya.

 

So we should use the tongue to carry the Lord's holy name anywhere he wants

to take us. And if you ever feel envy, malice, or lack of appreciation for

devotees, know that that is Kaliya. It can be hot anger like envy, or cold

anger like lack of appreciation. The tongue wants to criticize and the ego

finds gratification in that, but this kills our soul. So we should express

our appreciation with the same Kaliya-like tongue, and Krsna, who goes far

away from criticism, reappears in our consciousness.

 

When it comes to matters like false ego, everybody asks questions AFTER

class.

 

Thank you very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.