MORE IMPORTANT THAN SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM

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MORE IMPORTANT THAN

SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM

(Alachua, USA, May 23, 2001, am)

 

Unlike Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Srila Raghunatha dasa

Gosvami, Srila Jiva Gosvami, and Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu has not written very much. He only wrote eight slokas, and they are

known as Sri Siksastakam. There are a few other slokas that He wrote, and one

example is the following:

naham vipro na ca nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro

naham varni na ca grha-patir no vana-stho yatir va

kintu prodyan nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher

gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah

(CC Madhya 13.80; Padyavali 63)

[ " I am not a brahmana, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya or a sudra.

Nor am I a brahmacari, a householder, a vanaprastha or a sannyasi. I identify

Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of

Sri Krsna, the maintainer of the gopis. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is

the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with

brilliance. " ]

There are other slokas that are attributed to Mahaprabhu, but they are not

authentic. The Siksastakam slokas are authentic, and they are more important

than the Vedas, Upanisads, and other sastras. I think that they are even more

important than the Srimad Bhagavatam. We can say that Srimad Bhagavatam is the

bhasya, commentary, of the Siksastakam. This is so because Sri Siksastakam was

spoken - by whom? It was not spoken by Vyasa, who is only kala, an incarnation.

It was spoken by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the source of all incarnations. Sri

Siksastakam should be considered to be the most important sastra and superior to

all others.

In Siksastakam, all kinds of sadhya and sadhana - the goal and the process

- have been given. But only fortunate persons can realize this. Caitanya

Mahaprabhu, with Raya Ramananda and Svarupa Damodhara, used taste the

explanations, the meanings, and the hidden sweet pastimes of Krsna in these

slokas - from beginning to end, from 'ceto darpanam marjanam' to 'aslisya va

pada ratam.' If anyone realizes this and is following the prescribed process,

then he must have some taste and he will not deviate.

Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam. A sadhaka should know that Krsna's

name, Hare Krsna or Hare Rama, are both Krsna and Radha. These names are even

more than Krsna and Radhika Themselves, because They have invested Their whole

power, all of Their mercy and all Their sweetness, in these sixteen names. There

are not really sixteen names; they are manifestations. Actually, there are

really only two names: Hare Krsna or Hare Rama - Radha and Krsna. If one

realizes that Radha and Krsna are these names, that the names are in some cases

even more powerful than Radha and Krsna Themselves, will he chant only sixteen

rounds daily or he will chant more? A person knows that if he doesn't eat and

drink, he will not survive. That is why, 'round the clock, he is competing and

quarreling with others to maintain his life, doing business, and making money in

any way he can. Why? To survive.

When you know the fact that only the name is powerful enough to save

your, this name becomes your life and soul. You will be always chanting without

any break. Your chanting will be flowing like an uninterrupted stream of honey,

or like the flow of a river without any stop. We see the Ganges coming from the

Himalayas, all the way to the ocean, with no break at all.

If anyone is always chanting in this way, with no break, then when his

mind tries to wander he will remember: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna Hare

Hare. And, while he is sleeping, he will remember: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna. When

he is walking: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna Hare Hare. If he chants all

the time, he will automatically remember, and this is called harinama. Also, he

will be chanting with a very high-class, strong relation with Krsna. He will

think, " Krsna is mine. " He will take diksa and receive divya-jnana.

What is divya-jnana? All the tattvas, like krsna-tattva, maya-tattva,

jiva-tattva, bhakti-tattva, radha-tattva, rasa-tattva, and vilasa-tattva, are

transmitted through the process called diksa. I think we have not properly taken

diksa. There is something lacking. You have not completed the course of diksa.

Certainly there is something missing. Otherwise, if divya-jnana is present, then

all kinds of sins, aparadhas, and anarthas will have gone. Desire for sense

gratification will have gone. There will be no roga, illness, at all, and all

kinds of auspiciousness will be there. At that time, how can we forget

Radha-Krsna, Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu? It will not be possible. If these

symptoms are not there, we can understand that something must be lacking in

ourselves.

We should discuss these eight slokas of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,

according to the explanations of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Then you can

understand something. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has explained everything about

the name.

How should we chant the name? Tan nama rupa caritadi. If you study the

instructions of Rupa Gosvami and Bhaktivinoda Thakura, then you will not think,

" Oh, I have done everything by chanting sixteen rounds. It doesn't matter

whether my mind was wandering here and there. There is no harm in that. " This is

not chanting. Chant by mind. How? By remembering the sweet pastimes of that very

name which you are chanting. Also, chant with the tongue: Hare Krsna. This is

very powerful. Always be absorbed in that chanting, under the guidance of any

pure rasika, tattva-jna devotee of Vrndavana. Always be in Vrndavana, by body or

by mind, and then you can realize something. If you cannot do this, then you

cannot realize anything. If there is no taste for hearing hari-katha or for

chanting harinama, then you will be weak and you may deviate. You should not be

like this.

We will try to explain the Siksastakam, and you should try to follow it.

It can save you. Your food, lodging, and maintaining of life will automatically

be taken care of. If you have taken shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, Krsna, you will not have to do anything for your

maintenance. Haridasa Thakura, Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, and others did

not make any endeavor for maintaining their lives; everything came

automatically.

We don't want to become old and we don't want any suffering, but this is

coming anyway - without invitation. Similarly, your maintenance will come

without invitation, without any effort. If you don't believe this, then you can

experiment. For seven days, do nothing but chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna

Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama. Everything will be taken care of.

ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam

sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam

anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam

sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam

[siks. 1; Cc. Antya 20.12]

There are so many glorifications of the name. But in what way has Caitanya

Mahaprabhu glorified the name? From this sloka to the last sloka, aslisya pada

ratam, He has glorified the name. Rupa Gosvami was the only one to realize

everything that Mahaprabhu had invested in these slokas, and then he spoke:

tunde tandavini ratim vitanute tundavali-labdhaye

karna-kroda-kadambini ghatayate karnarbudebhyah sprham

cetah-prangana-sangini vijayate sarvendriyanam krtim

no jane janita kiyadbhir amrtaih krsneti varna-dvayi

[ " I do not know how much nectar the two syllables `Krs-na' have produced.

When the holy name of Krsna is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We

then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we

desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of

the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses

become inert. " (CC Antya-lila 1.99)]

Only Rupa Gosvami can say this; we cannot. By the mercy of

Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Rupa Gosvami can glorify nama.

What is the meaning of ceto darpanam marjanam? There are two cittas - one

is cit and one is citta. Citta means maha-tattva, the covering of the soul,

which is anucit-infinitesimal. But here, citta means heart. Ceto darpanam

marjanam. In a mirror, if the mirror is clear, you can see your face and your

whole body. If that mirror is dirty, however, then you cannot see. Similarly, if

you want to wash this mirror of the heart, then chant the name. What kind of

name? This is the question. The way that we are chanting now will not suffice at

any time. You should know this.

A very small child did not want to go to school, but his father and mother

forcibly took him in the car and drove him there. Even though he was weeping,

they put that baby on the teacher's lap by force, and left him there.

Throughout the day he was weeping, but his teacher was very merciful and very

sweet to him. His teacher gave him a brightly colored book, and on the first

page he saw so many pictures. He said, " A-apple, B-ball. Oh, see the football!

C-cat, D-dog. " The boy became very happy. Then the teacher asked him, " Can you

read? " " Yes, A-apple. " In this way he began, and his teacher praised him, " Oh,

you are now a good student. You have read everything completely. " The teacher

also brought him an apple and said, " You can have this. " Thus the boy became

very happy, and the next day he was asking his mother, " When will I go to

school? " After some days the child had to learn some difficult things, and when

he could not learn, his teacher twisted his ear. He then

became puzzled. The guru also acts like this. Somehow, even though you are

fully unqualified, you should enter the school of diksa. If you do enter, you

will see that our goal is very far away, but by those beginners' practices we

can never achieve our goal. In the beginning the guru never tells the full

reality. When does he tell him? He does so when the disciple is more advanced

and he can tolerate the chastising of gurudeva and the chastising of the

Vaisnavas. Then the disciple can realize something, and then the guru can tell

him something. What will he tell him? He will reject his disciple's bad habits,

saying, " This is not good. You should be like this. "

So, you should chant the name even if you have no taste at all. If you

have no taste in hearing, if you are sleepy, you should still go to class, and

simply by being there a taste will come very soon. Ceto darpanam marjanam. The

citta is washed by chanting of the name, but not by chanting as we are now

doing. That name should be somewhat pure.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura has explained all these things. Why? Our tongue is

mortal, and the pure name is transcendental. Transcendental name has nothing to

do with these material things. It cannot come on the material tongue or in the

material mind. Pure name cannot be touched by these material things. It is a

very wonderful thing. Then how can we touch it? If that high-class, pure name

will come, then your ceto darpanam marjanam is going on. Your mirror will become

clear and then you will see, but you should know something more. In the mirror,

the form does not really come. The reflection that you see is opposite - your

right eye will be seen on the left side, the left will be on the right side, and

this nose will be backwards also. You see your heart here on the left side and

in the mirror it is opposite. Even seeing your form in the mirror, you cannot

have full realization. You will get some idea, but you will still have to

realize more. Tomorrow we will discuss

Sambodhana Bhasya, and see how we can chant this transcendental name with our

tongue. If that transcendental name comes only one time, even it is abhasa, you

will be fortunate.

Gaura premanande!

Devotee: If one is not chanting the pure name, is there any

benefit at all? Is the heart becoming purified?

Srila Narayana Maharaja: There is benefit even if it is namaparadha. You

can become wealthy, and you can have all kinds of sense gratification very

easily.

Devotee: Will the heart be cleaned at all by chanting namaparadha?

Srila Narayana Maharaja: No. You must be under the guidance of

Vaisnavas. First hear hari katha, the glorifications of name, and then, by

hearing, and chanting and chanting, then nama abhasa will sometimes come. It

will always be namaparadha, but sometimes not. By practicing intensely, then

namabhasa will come more and more. Then if you are so fortunate and you are

chanting one lakh daily, then sometimes pure name will come. Then tears may come

and heart melting. If it comes, then you may think that namabhasa is coming

somewhat. If namabhasa will come, then you can realize so many things, and then

suddha name. Suddha name can come only by the causeless mercy of any Vaisnava

who is always chanting pure name or by the causeless mercy of Krsna, otherwise

not. Thank you.

 

 

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