My sincere gratitude to all of you for being with us this evening, especially to my esteemed God-Brothers and God-Sisters present here.
Radhanath Swami reveals The Transcendental Abode of the Lord
There is a verse in Srimad Bhagwatam that Vrindavan is the transcendental abode of the Lord where, there is no hunger, no anger, no thirst, and even naturally inimical beings live together peacefully because, Vrindavan is a place where everyone accepts that Krishna is the center of their lives. Therefore there is no selfish desire for one’s own sense gratification. In such a state there is no envy. Where there is no envy, there could actually be real love. That is the spiritual world.
When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was on his journey to Vrindavan, he induced the tigers and deer to dance with one another, to embrace, to even kiss each other in pure spiritual love beyond this material conception. The deer and the tiger are by nature enemies since the beginning of time, but when they were chanting the names of “Hari” for the purpose of pleasing Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as the center of their lives, then all disturbances, envy, and even the misconceptions of their identities as tigers and deer was gone forever. We can understand from the story that it is not like that after Lord Chaitanya left, the tigers began to eat the deer’s.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu awakened in them – jiv jago jiv jago – the dormant love that was within their hearts. When that love is awakened, it becomes the only reality for all of eternity. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu saw them embracing and dancing together, he remembered this verse from Srimad Bhagwatam of how Vrindavan is such a beautiful place because there is no envy. There is only love because everyone is so pleased, so grateful, so deeply appreciated of everyone else’s efforts to please Krishna.
If we actually love Krishna, then we will be grateful and happy with anyone, who was sincerely trying to serve Krishna. That means Krishna is in the center. If we are serving Krishna and we become envious or arrogant toward others, who are sincerely trying to serve Krishna that means we are still putting our own misconceived self in the center. – Radhanath Swami
So I’m not going to try to be a psychologist for deer and tigers, but we can understand from this principle that the tigers, because they tasted the sweetness of the holy names “Hari,” and they really desired to please Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when they saw the deer doing the same, they were loving brothers and sisters. The deer had no fear towards the tigers.
Vaikuntha means the place without anxiety because everyone accepts Krishna is the object of our service. He is a supreme enjoyer, and he is the ultimate object of love. – Radhanath Swami
This verse comes from the chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam, which we are going to speak about today.
Radhanath Swami narrates the story of liberation of Agasura
If you remember, yesterday we spoke about Krishna liberating Agasura. An extraordinary story! As we were telling, Agasura was not just an ordinary asura. Most of the asuras that came to Vrindavan had their specific purpose to kill Krishna. Aga was very sinful, hateful, and envious. Not only did Kamsa send him like the others, but also he had very personal vested interests, because Krishna killed his older brother Bakasura and sister and Putana. His aim was to kill all the calves, all the cowherd boys and Krishna, knowing that if he killed all of them, all the cows, all the mothers, all the fathers, every single vrajvasi would certainly die in grief. He wanted to exterminate the entire community of Krishna. He had an incredible strategic plan to do so. After all the gopas danced blissfully into his mouth and into his throat and then into his stomach, whatever snakes have, then Krishna also went in. He expanded Himself so big that Agasura could not breathe. Agasura was 8 miles long and had incredible yogic powers. As fast as he could, he was expanding himself to get some air but Krishna was expanding faster and ultimately he was liberated.
Unlike most asuras, who enter into the Brahmajyoti, mukti, he was given, sarupya mukti, which means he was given a spiritual body in the spiritual world to be an eternal loving associate of Krishna. His eternal soul entered into Krishna’s body. Krishna reciprocates in extraordinary ways. He allowed Krishna to come into his body, so Krishna allowed him to come into his body. Not only that, he became purified because of Krishna’s association and association of the cowherd boys. He gave the cowherd boys so much happiness. Later, he had actually killed them all.
When Krishna entered into Agasura’s body, all the calves and the gopas were dead. They were unconscious. But, up until that moment he gave them nothing but happiness. They thought he was the most wonderful attraction and such a beautiful playground to play in. So Krishna took that little spark of goodness. Whatever suffering and pain Agasura underwent for a few seconds, he was cleansed of all of his undesirable attachments, and all that was left was, the purity of Krishna’s association. This story gives such hope to everyone.
Radhanath Swami on vow of Lord and meaning of surrender
If somehow or other, as Ram Chandra said, “If, even once, with the sincere and earnest heart, a person comes to me and says, ‘From today, my Lord I am yours!’ then I will give that person my protection. I will give that person myself for the rest of eternity. This is my solemn vow that I speak before you. Even if Ravana were to come and surrender to me sincerely, I would give him all shelter and all happiness forever.”
bahunam janmanam ante
jnanavan mat prapadyate
vasudevah sarvam iti
sa mahatma sudurlabhah
[BG 7.19]
“After many many births of acquiring knowledge, when one finally comes to the perfection, one understands that all I have to do is surrender to Krishna, and such a person attains the ultimate perfection.”
What does it mean to surrender? It means to realize that I am:
jivera swaroop hoye krishnera nitya dasa
I’m eternally depending on Krishna, as his servant, and to serve him with love.
In Vrindavan, that love, that service is so deep and so sweet that if only we can get a glimpse by opening our hearts through bhakti of understanding, the nature of Krishna’s love for us, then we will naturally surrender everything to that love, whoever we may be. – Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami points out the enthusiasm of Parikshit Maharaj
Sukadev Goswami told Parikshit Maharaj that after the liberation of Agasura, the cowherd boys along with Krishna returned to the village of Vrindavan. This event took place in Krishna’s kumar age and in the village of Braj they celebrated this incredible past time one year later, when Krishna and his friends were in the pauganda age. Parikshit Maharaj was listening very carefully. He was already sitting there without eating or drinking anything for over four days, and just see how every word was more precious than the entire kingdom of the world, which he once possessed.
He inquired from Sukadev Goswami, “How is this possible that the cowherd boys are speaking of the killing of Agasura a year later it happened, and they are speaking as if it happened that same day.”
Sukadev Goswami was very excited to see Parikshit Maharaj’s enthusiasm. He told him, “You are the most fortunate because you are eager to hear about Krishna, and one who is eager to hear about Krishna, the transcendental message of Krishna’s teachings, his qualities and his pastimes become newer and newer and newer.”
Krishna is nava-yauvanam-cha, he is forever youthful, his beauty is ever increasing, and his love is also ever increasing. Similarly the transcendental message of Krishna, which is Krishna manifesting within this world through transcendental sound is non-different than Krishna. Srimad Bhagavatam tells that after Krishna left this world, this Bhagavat Purana will be the light in the darkness of this age of Kaliyuga, Why? Because Krishna incarnates as Srimad Bhagwatam and this Srimad Bhagwatam is Krishna’s incarnation in transcendental sound. – Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami describes the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was living in Navadvip as Nimai Pandit, he was once walking just a little distance from the river Ganga, with some of his students. He heard Devananda Pandit reciting Srimad Bhagwatam. Devananda Pandit was the foremost scholar of Srimad Bhagavatam in Navadvip. This indicates that he was the foremost scholar in whole of India, because Navadvip was the highest seat of learning at that time. Lord Chaitanya was very angry, transcendentally angry, when he heard him speaking. But Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s anger is not like ours. It is like a doctor giving bitter medicine, and we see the effects later. Devananda Pandit heard this and it had an effect in his heart. Later he became the servant of a vaishnava, Vrakreshwar Pandit and then his entire understanding changed. Years later, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, after taking sanyass was on his first attempted journey to Vrindavan, he stopped in Navadvip at Koladwip.
There Devananda Pandit came to surrender his heart to him, and he asked, “How should I teach the Srimad Bhagavatam.”
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told, “When you speak Bhagavatam, in your heart you should know, and in your words you should speak in such a way that, every syllable of every word of Srimad Bhagavatam is exclusively glorifying pure unalloyed devotional service. This Srimad Bhagavatam is the manifestation of Sri Radha’s love and Krishna’s presence within this world. Srimad Bhagwatam is amalam puranam.”
Mahaprabhu said, “It is the spotless purana, because from the very beginning Srimad Bhagavatam puts aside every other goal that the Vedas prescribed:
If we are eager to hear with a humble heart, the sound of Krishna’s message will be newer and newer and ever increasing. According to Sukadev Goswami, this is the meaning of good fortune. As devotees we must take this very seriously because our tendency is to be influenced and dragged into materialistic consciousness, where we think good fortune is being very beautiful, learned, wealthy, healthy, powerful, or very influential. There is some good fortune in those things if we use them for Krishna’s service, but the real foundational basis of good fortune of a devotee is to the degree we are eager to hear about Krishna, where we actually have a taste. – Radhanath Swami
Krishna is reciprocating with the sincerity of our heart as we chant his Holy Name-
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna
Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Sukadev Goswami continues.
Radhanath Swami describes Krishna’s lunch pastime with gopas
After Krishna liberated Agasura, he brought his boyfriends to the bank the Yamuna River and said, “Let us sit here and have our lunch. See what a beautiful place this is!” Krishna was glorifying Vrindavan. “See the soft white pure sand on the bank of the Yamuna River. Look at Yamuna Mai, crystal-clear nectarine sparkling waters with lotus flowers, sprouting and blossoming here and there. And close by are thick forests with lovely trees which give sweet fruits and fragrant flowers in all seasons. You can hear the singing and the cooing of birds. This is the perfect place for us to have our lunch.”
Krishna sat down and all the gopas sat in circle around Him. Then there was another circle around that circle, and another circle around that circle. There were so many circles, all with Krishna in the center. The Srimad Bhagavatam explains, it was like a lotus flower where Krishna was the whirl of the lotus flower, and all the gopas were like the petals around the lotus flower: 8 petals, 16 petals, 32 petals, 64 petals, and so on. There were thousands of petals around the lotus with Krishna in the whirl. Krishna was looking at each and every boy, and every boy was looking at Krishna, just as the chakora bird gazes upon the moon, and the full moon fills through its eyes and its heart with the nectar of its rays. Chakora birds do not require any food or water. When they see the full moon, the rays of the moon are like nectar that completely nourish its heart and puts it in ecstasy. Krishna, Vrindavan-Chandra, was that full moon and all the boys were looking upon him like the chakora bird.
Each boy was thinking that ‘Krishna is only looking at me!’ The reason was that Krishna was only looking at them, all of them. How is that possible? It is not that Krishna manifested four heads or eight heads to look in all directions, because he is the cowherd boy appearing to be very ordinary. He is looking in one direction and his back is towards someone in another direction, and boys are in circles around him, then how is it possible? But Krishna is rasa-raj. He is the king of loving relations. He has achintya shakti, and in Vrindavan that achintya shakti is manifesting to its ultimate extent in Krishna’s inconceivable power, to exchange love with his devotee’s.
Srila Prabhupada explains in this regard to Krishna being in the whirl of the lotus. He said that the purpose of this Krishna consciousness movement is simply to teach people how to put Krishna in the center of their lives.
When a community puts Krishna in the center of her life, it’s actually a Krishna conscious spiritual community. But it is the responsibility of each and every member of that community, to both, practice through our sadhana, through our behavior, through our service, and to inspire all others to do the same. When Krishna is in the center, then life is beautiful and blissful. – Radhanath Swami
As they were sitting together, for Krishna’s pleasure, they were making all different types of plates to put their food. Sukadev Goswami mentions that most of them had little sticks with lunch bags hanging from the sticks, which they carried on their shoulders. After going in Agasura’s mouth and seeing Krishna do all that he did, they were very hungry. The boys were thinking that Krishna must be really hungry, so we should be hungry, just so that Krishna will become enthusiastic to take prasad with us.
So they opened their bags and some made a plate out of their own lap. They just put all the different preparations on their laps. Others just picked up a rock and made the plate out of a rock, while others collected a leaf or many leaves and made a little plate. Some collected flowers to be their plates, and some found some bark from the trees to make plates. Some made the very basket that they were caring their prasad as their plate, and they were very proud to show each other, “Look at my plate!” They weren’t proud to outdo each other, but they were proud to give happiness to each other because every plate made everyone laugh. They started looking at their food and honoring their food.
They were saying, “Oh! This is so good, Krishna try this. Sridama try this. Subala try this.” They were all exchanging their food and taking it out of their mouth and putting it in somebody else’s mouth, and then in somebody else’s mouth. Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur said that one boy had a samosa, he emptied it out, and he took jasmine flowers, and stuffed it in the samosa, and then covered it up. Now jasmine flowers smell really sweet, but they taste very bitter. Have any of you eaten jasmine flowers?
So the boy said, “Oh! This is so good, this samosa. Oh! You should try this.”
And another boy said, “Yes! Yes! I will try this,” and everyone was watching. He ate it, expecting samosa, but when he ate the jasmine flower which was very bitter and he made a very disgusted face. And everyone laughed at him. Then the boy became so transcendentally happy that he chased after the person who gave him the samosa, to beat him. You have seen little children; they like to beat each other. The origin of that is the spiritual world, but it doesn’t hurt. The person being beaten is very happy because it is an exchange of love. Everyone was laughing and laughing.
A bee came. Krishna said to the bee, “Oh! Are you Madhumangal, and madhu means honey. If you want his honey, you may have to kill him,” and all the boys were laughing. Now, when I say it, nobody laughs, but if Krishna wants to make you laugh anything he says is the funniest thing in all of existence.
And Madhumangal started chastising Krishna, “Why are you sending this bee to me? “In this way they were playing.
Radhanath Swami brings out the bewilderment of Lord Brahma
There was no one in the world that demigods feared more than Agasura, even though they drink amrita or nectar, which gives an extremely long life and health. Still Agasura was so powerful, cruel, and envious, that the demigods could not have peace of mind as long as he was living. So when they saw that Krishna gave him elevation to Vaikuntha, they were amazed. They came down to celebrate and there they saw the cowherd boys too.
Even Brahma came down to see what Krishna had done. ‘Incredible! My beloved Lord, what has He done! He has killed Agasura and given him liberation in Vaikuntha.’ And then he sees Krishna, joking and playing and eating the remnants of the boyfriends. If we get any little post above somebody else, our tendency is we become judgmental, proud, and we expect honor.
Brahma is the father, the superintendent; he is the controller of the whole universe for 311 trillion years. He doesn’t retire; he doesn’t get old like us. When Brahma is 310 trillion years, he still has the full capacity of his intellect and all of his prowess. And he is a great devotee. But Krishna had a plan. Jiva Goswami tells that Brahma with all good intentions, under the influence of Krishna’s energy, wanted to test Krishna. ‘How is it that, he is the yagna-bhuk, that means, he is the receiver of all the sacrifices and offering of the sages and rishis, and the demigods, and he is just sitting on the ground with these little cowherd boys, joking and eating?’ This is Vrindavan. We read in the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, Atharva Veda, and Upanishads that rishis and sages sing so many hymns of reverence to the absolute truth. They offer so many oblations with reverence. But in Vrindavan they are playing, they are joking, and they are covered with dust, leaves and flowers.
Radhanath Swami describes the stealing of gopas by Lord Brahma and Krishna expanding into calves and cowherd boys
So, Brahma decided to test Krishna. He wanted to see the prowess of this little boy. So by his mystic potency he allured the calves to go farther and farther and farther by tempting them with luscious grasses. And as the boys were playing with Krishna, suddenly they realized that the calves were gone. They were frightened. And Krishna he said to the gopas, “You continue eating your prasad happily, I will personally go and get all the calves. I will bring them back but you should not disturb your lunch.” Krishna loves to serve his devotees. Brahma had stolen the calves and put them in a cave in a mystic slumber. Meanwhile Krishna was looking through the pastures, forests, caves and mountains but he could not find them anywhere. He was just walking around holding the yogurt and rice, looking for the calves. He could not find them anywhere and so he came back to the bank of the Yamuna where they were sitting but boys were not there. Krishna was just standing there, looking around, and he understood that Brahma had taken them.
It is interesting! Sanatana Goswami and Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur agree that Brahma had no power to steal Krishna’s friends. Even though Brahma is the ultimate person in this world, he has a material body but the gopas had pure spiritual bodies. So by Krishna’s own arrangement, Yoga-Maya hid the cowherd boys, just made them disappear, and instantly Maha-Maya produced exact replicas of each one, and those are the ones that Brahma stole. So Krishna was looking around, and his friends and the calves were nowhere to be seen.
For the pleasure of Brahma, and for the pleasure of all the mothers of Vrindavan, Krishna, by his own sweet will, expanded himself into exact forms of each calf and the cowherd boy. How did he do it? It is explained that Krishna is in the heart of every living being, and in Vrindavan Krishna fulfills everyone’s desires. All the mother cows and all the mothers of all the gopas and gopis loved Krishna more than everything in anything. And as a way of celebrating, glorifying, and showing their exalted love for Yashoda, in their hearts they would think ‘Yashoda Mai is so fortunate, if only I had the opportunity to love Krishna as my child.’ Actually they did love Krishna as their own child, but Krishna wanted to give them all the opportunity to physically exhibit that love. This is one of the most incredible stories ever told and which could ever be told.
What is Krishna’s prowess? For the purpose of exchanging intimate love, there were asankhya, limitless cowherd boys, and limitless calves, and Krishna manifested the form and the personality of every one of them: the exact bodily features, the exact tone of voice, the exact memory of everything they have ever experienced in the past, and the identical relationships with all of their different friends, and their parents. They were all Krishna! And then Krishna started playing his flute, and Krishna in the form of all of his friends, just as any other day, started dancing as he played the flute, and they were praising Krishna, and Krishna was praising them.
It is not that Krishna was just like an actor. Krishna was so immersed in these loving relationships with himself in the form of these gopas that they were actually losing themselves in complete reciprocation. See it is not that the boy was thinking, ‘Oh! I am Krishna and there is Krishna playing the flute, so I am going to dance, just to make a nice show of the whole thing.’ Krishna was so lost in the ecstasy, and the love of that gopa, that he became gopa. But he was Krishna.
Radhanath Swami reveals the love of vrajvasis towards their children and astonishment of Balaram
And as they were entering into the village of Vrindavan, they were all blowing their buffalo horns and playing their flutes, and dancing and shouting. All the gopis, the elder gopis especially, and the cows, when they heard the sound of their children’s horns, and they saw them approaching. They felt such ecstatic love for their children like never before. When the cows saw their calves coming, their milk was so profuse with love, and they were weeping constant tears. Cows were licking the bodies of their little calves, practically just licking them up, with uncontrollable motherly affection. The calves were also reciprocating with that same degree and intensity of intimate love with the cows.
When the gopis brought their little children on their lap, even though most of them were just at the end of their kaumara lila, still their breasts filled with milk due to love, and the children were drinking the milk. And as the parents were gazing in the face of their children, it was their child but they were experiencing the same love that they had for Krishna. They bathed their children, smeared them with fragrant natural oils, put beautiful garments on them, and fed prasad to them.
Our acharyas explain that in Vrindavan everything is an expression of love, prema. When Mother Yashoda gives her milk to Krishna, it is her vatsalya prema, her motherly love that is sweeter than the sweetest of nectars. It is liquid love in the form of the most intimate milk, not just coming from their bodies, but coming from the core of their hearts. Now every elderly gopi and every motherly cow was offering the milk of the nectar, of their love, to Krishna, and he was enjoying it.
It is described that for one year, their love for their child was increasing at every moment. It was not stagnant. This is how Krishna reciprocates, ever increasing for all of eternity. That is Vrindavan. Yet there was no, even slight detection that it was anything but their own child. But somehow or other, Sukadev Goswami tells, in the past they loved their children dearly, but their love towards Krishna was always the topmost. But now there was no difference between their love for Krishna, and their love for their children because Krishna was their children. Krishna was reciprocating in fulfilling their innermost desires.
About five or six days before the end of the year, a heard of the cows were on top of Govardhan Hill, and the elder calves, the Krishna calves, were on the bottom of the hill with the gopas. Now generally when cows have little calves, they no longer give their milk to the older calves. But on this day, when the cows saw the Krishna’s calves on the bottom of the hill, they started to cry and they mooed in ecstasy. Calves ran on the hill as if they just had two sets of legs. Cows were literally galloping down the hill and their tails and heads were raised. But it was a very rough terrain. Looking at this the cowherd men were in great distress. It was very dangerous for the cows to be galloping down a rough mountain. And when they got to the bottom of the hill, the calves began to drink their milk, and the cows were licking them, and crying. The cowherd men were in so much distress until they saw their children, who were all Krishna. When they saw their children, their hearts flooded uncontrollably with affection. They smelt their heads and embraced them. They could not give up their association.
Lord Balaram was watching this, and suddenly there was an awakening in his transcendental heart. He was thinking, ‘Nobody could love anyone like this, except Krishna. How is this possible? Nowhere, any time did the cows have so much affection and give all their milk to their elder calves. How did they risk their lives, running down the mountain, and how the cowherd men were weeping and crying so much to see their own children? This kind of love can only be possible when object of love is Krishna. Now that I think about it, it has been like this for a whole year. What is happening? This can only be if all these calves and all these cows are Krishna.’ And then he asked Krishna, “Please explain.” And Krishna explained everything: how Brahma stole all the calves and gopas, and how he expanded Himself to be just like all of them.
If you remember, when we spoke the story of Agasura yesterday, Balaram did not come that day, because it was his appearance day. Again a few days later it was Balaram’s appearance day. Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur tells us why Krishna kept it a secret from Balaram for a whole year. Balaram knows everything. Balaram and Krishna is the same person but by Krishna’s yoga maya potency, even Balaram could not understand that all the boys were gone. Krishna knew that Balaram had deep love and attachment to Sridama, Subala, Stoke Krishna, Sudama and all these Gopas, that Balaram would feel deep separation from them for a whole year, and Krishna did not want to do that. So he covered over up Balaram until just a couple days before his birthday.
Radhanath Swami explains Lord Brahma’s vimohan or bewilderment after one year
In the material world everything is relative. For Brahma, one moment is a year by our calculation and Brahma realized this. Srila Prabhupada writes that he was playing with fire. He was testing Krishna. Krishna was acting like a simple, little, laughing, and playful cowherd boy but still he is Krishna. So Brahma came back to see what kind of mysteries and what kind of fun he may have created.
A year later, he appeared. He was looking down and he saw all the calves and all the cowherd boys, playing with each other and playing with Krishna, just as they were a year before. Brahma was very confused because he had taken those little boys and calves and put them, by his own powers, in sleep, in a cave. So Brahma quickly went back to the cave to see, and they were all sleeping. Then he came back and he saw the same children and calves playing with Krishna. He went back to the cave and he came to them, and he was wondering, ‘Are these children an illusion or are those children who are in the cave an illusion? Are they both illusions? Or is it that when I go to the cave, Krishna puts them there, and by the time I get back here, Krishna brings him back here?’ He was bewildered.
The more you think you know how to do things right, the easier you could become bewildered when things do not go according to your plan. Now we have to make plans, but if we don’t make plans, we don’t get so bewildered. We have to make plans in this world. Brahma is the ultimate plan maker of the universe and this never happened to him before. He was totally confused, ‘What is happening? How is it happening?’
When that confusion came to a summit, where he didn’t even know who he was, or where he was, or what was going on, suddenly every calf and every cowherd boy manifested the form of Narayan. Each one had a blue complexion like the indraneela jewel. Each one had a magnificent golden colored crown, the Kaustubh Mani, beautiful jewels and celestial flowers. Each one had four arms holding: the conch shell, the club, the sudarshan chakra and the lotus flower. Each one had magnificent lotus like eyes. Suddenly he saw before his own eyes millions and millions of forms of his own worshipful absolute Lord Vishnu. And around each Vishnu he saw a Brahma, a Shiva, a Indra, and a Vayu. He saw all the demigods, all the rishis, and all the sages around each one of these Vishnu. He also saw all living beings around each one of these Vishnus. And he saw time, the three modes of material nature, the maha-tatva, and the subtle elements, gross elements, all the ingredients of creation personified offering prayers to each of these forms of Vishnu.
As Brahma was seeing this, he became vimohan or totally bewildered. He didn’t know who he was. He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know how he was. He didn’t know why he was. He didn’t know what this darshan was. He became bewildered to such an extent, he became stunned. He felt like a little child’s play, doll in front of the deity of the supreme personality of Godhead in the temple. Suddenly he realized, he had absolutely no knowledge, no power, nothing in the presence of what he was seeing. The example is given by Sukadev Goswami that snow is white, but in a pitch dark of moonless night, it glows. What do you see in total darkness? A glowworm or a firefly at night will light up the sky. Please understand from their perspective. I, kind of, had a study of fireflies after reading the Srimad Bhagwatam, but I am not going to go into too many details.
Radhanath Swami reveals his realizations on fireflies
I was with Bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaj during his last weeks, and I was staying at one God-sister and God-brother’s house, Taruni Devi and Yadunandan Prabhu. I would come back at night, and the sight was actually incredible. Their house is in the forest and they have a field right next to their house. There were thousands and thousands of fireflies in the sky, and I remember it was a moonless night. So it was pitch dark and these fireflies they are lighting up the sky. To see, as far as the eyes could see, in this field, were just fireflies blinking. It was supernatural! It was more incredible than any type of firework display. Fireflies are very small. So when they are in the pitch dark, they turn their light on; it actually looks as if they are lighting up the universe from where they are. From where we are, we can see a little light coming and they are just lighting up maybe 1 meter. But from their little eyes, they are lighting up the whole universe. ‘This is illuminated by me.’ So they could be very proud.
So one day, as I was just sitting and watching them, chanting japa, I was thinking, ‘What a beautiful display of Krishna.’ Then Yadunandan Prabhu came and sat next to me, and I said “Isn’t this incredible! Krishna’s miracle! How he is giving the power of each of these little insects to light up like this.”
He said “Should I tell you why they do it”.
I said, “Yes”.
He said “Those are the males, and they light up their tails to attract females”.
I said “Why did you have to tell me that. You know, I’m trying to be a sanyasi in everything. I’m never going to be able to enjoy fireflies again like I use to”.
Anyways, I went inside. The example is that when the firefly is in the pitch darkness, he is very proud but when that same fire fly is flying in the presence of the noon day sun, you don’t even know they are there. He could try, as hard as he can, but none of the females will know that he exist, what to speak of anyone else.
So the idea is –
When we tried to display our powers in the presence of someone who has much greater power, than we realize our insignificance. – Radhanath Swami
In this regard, Srila Prabhupada explains that story of when Brahma came to Dwarka, and he was asked by the doorkeeper, “Which Brahma are you?”
“I am the four headed Brahma.”
So then Krishna said, “Yes, come in,” and he saw so many Brahmas with so many heads. And he realized he was insignificant.
Here in Vrindavan, when Brahma saw Krishna’s powers, he felt totally insignificant. When he saw the site of unlimited Vishnus, with unlimited living beings, and unlimited demigods around each Vishnu, Brahma became totally stunned. In fact, momentarily he went totally blind. He actually lost his consciousness. That is how much this affected him. When his consciousness came back, he asked “What is this? Who is this?” And then he opened his eyes again, and all the Vishnu forms had disappeared. He saw Vrindavan! He was looking at Vrindavan a year before, he was looking at Vrindavan so many times, but he never saw what he was seeing now. He was seeing every tree as a kalpavrisksha tree. He was seeing all the ground as chintamani. He was seeing every pebble of sand and dust as more price less than all the jewels in this heavenly worlds. He was seeing the river Yamuna as a flow of nectar, a flow of pure spiritual love, and he saw Krishna, exactly as he was one year before: standing as a little cowherd boy with the same lump of yogurt and rice in his hand, and very innocently looking around trying to find his calves.
premanjana churita bhakti vilochanena
“Unless our eyes are ornamented with the salve of love, we cannot see Vrindavan or Krishna as they are.”
vishaya chadiya kabe shudha hobe mana
kabe hama heribo sri vrindavan
Narottam Das Thakur gives us this prayer: “When will that day come, when I will be free of all egoism, selfishness, and desires for my personal enjoyment, than I will see Vrindavan.”
Radhanath Swami on Prayers by Lord Brahma
Brahma was in Vrindavan but he could not see Vrindavan. But Krishna performed this incredible lila, by displaying it to Brahma. First he bewildered Brahma totally, and then he enamored Brahma by his incredible opulence of Vaikuntha. Brahma saw Narayan, the aishwarya, the ultimate darshan of power that you could have of the opulences. And then it all disappeared and he realized, govindam adi purusham tamaham bhajami, the origin of Vaikuntha, the origin of Narayan, the origin of all the universes and all the creations is this little cowherd boy Krishna, and the supreme ultimate param dhama, abode of the Lord, is Vrindavan.
When Brahma was totally humbled, when he didn’t have a trace of egoism or pride, then for the first time he could see Vrindavan, as it is. Lord Brahma went into a state of transcendental ecstasy. All of his eight eyes were flooding with tears. It is said that the Devas never touched the ground. But Brahma humbled himself totally. He couldn’t care less about such rules and he fell flat on the ground, dandavat. He put his heads on Krishna’s feet and performed an incredible abhishek, bathing of Krishna’s lotus like feet with his tears. He surrendered his body, his mind, his words, and his life. He was seeing Vrindavan, and it is at that moment when he was looking around at the holy dham that this sloka emerged from the mouth of Sukadev Goswami that “Vrindavan is a place, where the trees are pleasing in all seasons. It is the transcendental abode of the Lord where there is no hunger, no anger, and no thirst; where even naturally inimical beings are most intimate loving friends and associates, because in Vrindavan everyone lives together for Krishna’s pleasure. Everyone is tasting the infinite sweetness of Krishna’s love, and Krishna is tasting the infinite sweetness of his devotees love”.
Then Brahma offered beautiful prayers to Krishna. Krishna did not say a word because to Brahma, he was very consistent in his lila – he was just a little boy looking for His cowherd boys, so innocent, and so playful. Krishna was not displaying any aishwarya or prowess. In Vrindavan, Krishna’s power is far beyond aishwarya and that is madhurya. His power is his sweetness, his beauty, the song of his flute, and the intimacy of freedom that he exchanges in his past times with his devotees. But for that year, Krishna was playing the role for Brahma, and he assumed the forms of all these calves and cowherd boys because the love of all these mother gopis and cows was so pure, unmotivated and ecstatic. For that whole year Krishna was not pretending, but he was conquered by their prema, conquered by their love, and was feeling completely dependent on his mothers. This is the most beautiful ornament that Krishna displays in Vrindavan. Krishna becomes dependent upon and conquered by the love of his devotees and the devotees are completely dependent upon and conquered by the love of Krishna. In all the limitless planets of the spiritual world, only in Goloka, and only Vrindavan, does the supreme absolute truth, the personality of Godhead facilitate such sweet loving exchanges.
After Brahma offered his prayers, Krishna did not say anything. But Brahma understood that, ‘It is my duty to go back to Brahma Loka and perform my service and since Krishna is not saying anything that is my confirmation that I should go.’ So he circumambulated Krishna three times and then ascended to his heavenly abode. Then Krishna manifested all of them again and He brought all the calves back to the riverbank where the cowherd boys were waiting for Him. Now by Yoga-Maya’s potency, Krishna’s Hladhini Shakti, all the Maha-Maya’s boys that Brahma stole disappeared and now the original cowherd boys and the original calves manifested exactly where they were and as the cowherd boys saw Krishna coming back with all the calves, they all began to celebrate, “Krishna you are so expert! How possibly did you find all the calves so fast? we were expecting it would take at least a half hour for you to find,” because they were all out of sight, “but you came back in one moment with all the calves. Infact we didn’t even have time to take one bite or even a single morsel of our prasad in your absence, because you’re here so quick. Come and eat Prasad with us”.
The acharyas explain that a year passed, and the boys actually aged a little in that year even though they were in an unmanifested yogmaya lila. But they didn’t know this. They were just marveling at how Krishna came so fast. Whole week could go so deeply into the details of this past time. A full year past and all the food that was on their plates, their rock plates, their leaves plates, their flower plate, their basket plate, their lap plate, it was all exactly as fresh as it was a year before. In Vrindavan a lot of things are made with milk. But it was nava-yauvanam, it was ever a fresh, it was ever new. They had a wonderful feast eating together, joking and laughing together. After they finished honoring their prasad, they were going back to the village of Vrindavan and Krishna pointed, “Look! Look there is Agasura,” and they saw the whole body of Agasura. Now he was liberated, there was no life in it. They were excited thinking that ‘This will be from now on one of our most favorite playgrounds.’
Sridama, Subala, Arjuna, Gandharva, all the cowherd boys were playing their flutes and playing their horns to announce their arrival in Vrindavan, and all the gopas and gopis and cows were waiting for them. The children were so excited because this Agasura was really a very very spectacular feature of enjoyment for them. So literally they were dancing and practically running back into the village, because they wanted to tell everyone, about how Krishna liberated this giant 8 mile snake. All the boys were out of breath, panting and beautiful poems, and they would recite beautiful songs, their explanations of Krishna’s past times for that day. And everybody there, all the gopas and gopis were amazed. ‘Krishna did this today?’ And Parikshit Maharaj was even more amazed, ‘he did it a year before and they were speaking about it with the enthusiasm that he had just done it hours before.’ Parikshit Maharaj asked a question to Sukadev Goswami, “Nature’s law is that a parent naturally has special love for their children. Mothers may love so many children, that’s natural too, but still there’s a special affection for one’s own children”.
Now, I have never been a parent in this lifetime, but I have spoken to many parents, and I have watched many parents and even I had parents. Now I don’t want to talk about myself, but I wasn’t a very good student in school, and I wasn’t the most well behaved little boy. And some of the neighboring children were excellent students and were much better behaved than me. But still my parents loved me more. And that’s the way all parents are for all children. If you have a child and somebody, who is living a couple blocks away is actually much nicer to you, much more successful and more accomplishing, then who do you love more?
Parikshit Maharaj was astounded, “This is something that is impossible. How is it that all the gopas and the gopis loved Krishna more than their own children, even before and after that year.” Sukadev Goswami explained that for every one, nothing is more dear than oneself, because you can’t love anyone unless you are alive. So you are very dear to yourself. He explained that people, who think their body to be their self, might love so many other bodies, but their own body is the vehicle by which they could love the other bodies. When we understand, ‘I’m not the body I am the eternal soul, the atma,’ then whatever it is dear about our body or about anybody else, we can only express it, we can only realize it because of who we are, because we are existing and ultimately who do we love in others? We may have a loved one: it may be a parent, it may be a child, it may be a lover, it may be a friend, but when the soul leaves the body of that person, we put the body on fire or bury it under the ground. It is not the body we love, it is the living force.
Why is it that the self within our self and the self within others is lovable?
mamaivam so jiva loke jiva bhuta sanatana
This is because, every living being, all others and ourselves are part and parcel of Krishna for eternity.
Krishna is the ultimate object of everyone’s love. Krishna is the origin of all love. We love others because they are an infinitesimal part of Krishna. We love our own life because we are an infinitesimal part of Krishna. So when Krishna reveals himself, when we awaken our love for Krishna, then we understand that it is our love for Krishna that is manifesting in every aspect of our affection in this world. – Radhanath Swami
Infact it explains herein and the Srimad Bhagwatam, when that love for Krishna awakens like watering the root of the tree, our love naturally extends to every part of the tree.
This was Brahma’s realization
govindam adi purusham tam aham bhaja mi
ishvara param Krishna sad-chid-ananda vigraha
anadir aadir govinda sarva karana karanam
“Krishna is the origin of everything, the cause of all causes.” For a devotee whatever we see, we naturally see its relation with Krishna.
Sukadev Goswami told, “that anyone,” please listen carefully this is the time to wake up if you are sleeping, “that anyone who sincerely, with an earnest heart hears this past time or even speaks this past time of Krishna giving swarupya mukti to Agasura, of Krishna having his playful loving past times with the cowherd boys, taking prasad in the bank of the Yamuna, of Krishna having all of his friends and calves stolen by Brahma, of Krishna manifesting all the forms of these calves and cowherd boys in reciprocating intimate loving relationships to fulfill all the desires of the Vrajvasis, of Brahma coming down and seeing all these Narayan forms and ultimately realizing that the cause of all causes, the supreme ultimate goal of all existence is to love this little cowherd boy Krishna and surrender our hearts to Him, just by hearing or speaking,” Sukadev Goswami gives us a blessing that, “all of our spiritual desires will be fulfilled.”
Radhanath Swami points out the secret of Antardweep
Bhakti Vinod Thakur explains in his Navadvip Dham Mahatmya that Lord Brahma went back to his abode but he was thinking, ‘Why do I have to be Brahma? I have my I have my duties to perform for Krishna as Brahma I am His devotee, but how much I would like to just be a simple little cowherd boy playing with Krishna in Vrindavan. Just see because of my pride of being the creator and the father and the atmabu, I tested Krishna. I don’t want that to happen again.’
Lord Brahma knew that once in a day of Brahma, Krishna in his original transcendental form of Shyamsundar descends along with Gokul Vrindavan to this earth. And he knew that during the next Kaliyuga after Krishna, once in a day of Brahma, Krishna will come again as Lord Gauranga. So Lord Brahma went to Navadvip, because he knew that is where the Lord would appear. In Antardweep, he performed prayers, tapasya, meditation, and he was chanting the names of Lord Gauranga.
When Sri Nityananda Prabhu was taking Srila Jiva Goswami on the Navadvip dham parikrama, they came to Antardweep. Lord Nityananda Prabhu was telling so many beautiful pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his associates. He was telling about the devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sachi Mata and Jagannath Mishra, because Nityananda Prabhu was there the most intimate and eyewitness participant in these lilas in Navadvip. He was telling him Puranic histories of the glories of Navadvip, even long before Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu manifested His lilas there.
Jiva Goswami asked, “Why this particular island is called Antardweep?”
Nityananda Prabhu explained, “This is where Brahma was in his samadhi of praying for the mercy of the Lord Gauranga. And in the depths of his meditation and prayer, chanting the holy names Lord Gauranga, appeared to Brahma in this place long ago. After Brahma fell at his feet, Lord Chaitanya placed his lotus feet on Brahma’s head and Brahma prayed, “Half my life is finished, I still have another half to do my seva as Brahma. But I feel so embarrassed, I just offended you. Due to my pride and my high position, I thought I could test you. But by your causeless mercy, you exposed my ignorance, and my bewilderment. But I know that in the age of Kali, you’re going to be coming again in this form of Lord Gauranga. I want to be your associate, and I want to be free of all pride of my position, my power, my knowledge, my being the original guru and all of that. I want to serve you with all humility and devotion.”
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu smiled upon him and said, “Brahmaji, I grant you this blessing. When I appear in this form of Sri Gauranga, you will take birth in the family of the yavanas. By social status now you are in the highest position of anyone in the universe. Then you will take birth in a family of untouchables by social status. Your name will be Haridas Thakur and with a heart of the deepest genuine humility, you will constantly chant my holy names –
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
You will chant no less than 300 thousand of my names every day, and you will be my intimate associate. We will live together. And when you pass from this world, you will be singing my names and beholding with your unblinking eyes my beautiful face, and I will embrace you. So now you go back and do your duties in Brahma loka, and very soon we will be together.” And then Lord Chaitanya told Brahma “I want to reveal to you a secret, do not tell anyone. I will appear in this form of Lord Gauranga, to spread the love of Vrindavan to the whole world through sankirtan, the congregational chanting of my Holy name –
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
I will give the devotees of all the other avatars entrance into the sweet, loving rasas of Vrindavan. I am knowing everything as Krishna, but I cannot fathom the intimacy and the sweetness of the love of Sri Radha. I cannot comprehend, what is the happiness she feels when she tastes the sweetness of my love. What is the nature of that love of Sri Radharani, and what is it about me that brings her ecstasy that even I cannot understand? I will appear in the form of Lord Gauranga to taste the sweetness of Sri Radha’s love. I will have her beautiful golden complexion and I will share her love with the world through the Naam Sankirtan movement.” The secret of all secrets,” Nityananda Prabhu said, “was revealed in Antardweep”.
Radhanath Swami describes the glories of Lord Brahma when he appears as Haridas Thakur
Lord Brahma appeared as Haridas Thakur. Brahma’s position is so exalted that it is quite incredible that even the demons who hate Vishnu, worship Brahma. He is really exalted. Hiranyakashipu, you remember the story, when Brahma appeared before Hiranyakashipu, Hiranyakashipu offered his complete dandavats and worshiped Brahma and pray to him as the supreme personality and begged for blessings. Ravana also did tens and thousands of years of tapasya to try to please Brahma and Siva. And when Brahma appeared to him, he was bowing down and worshiping him and offering him beautiful Vedic prayers. So in the Vedic literatures Brahma’s position is really exalted. Asuras could conquer Indra, but we never hear of anyone conquering Brahma. Brahma-loka is above and beyond any other influences. Such an exalted position!
When there was nothing in the universe, but just an ocean, Vishnu laid down and from his navel came up lotus flower and Brahma appeared.
tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye muhyanti yat surayah [SB 1.1.1]
He is the original guru, he is the original father but yet he was yearning and praying with all of his heart. He was longing and begging for the pure intimate love of the residence of Vrindavan.
He took the form of the four Hills at Barasana, so that all the devotees of Krishna, Krishna, all the cows, the calves, and everybody that is dear to Krishna would constantly be stepping upon his heads.
He appeared as Haridas Thakur. In the life of Thakur Haridas, especially his earlier life, all we hear about is one persecution, one in justice after another because he was an untouchable by birth. In Benapul, Ram Chandra Khan tried to seduce him into an illicit activity, so he would be beaten, punished, imprisoned and hopefully killed. But the very prostitute who came to destroy his life, Haridas Thakur made her into a pure vaishnavi and she was so inspired that she spent the rest of her life sitting in front of Tulsi Devi chanting 300,000 names of Krishna-
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
He had to leave that place, and he went to Chandrapur in the area of Adisaptagram. Here lived Balaram Acharya and Yadunandan Acharya, the gurus and the family priests of Raghunath Das Goswami. When Raghunath was a very small boy, his parents called an assembly of Brahmins and scholars, to especially hear Haridas Thakur speaking on the glories of Harinam. Haridas, with such humility, and such honor and respect for every living being, spoke from the scriptures that the real goal of chanting Krishna’s name, which is not different than Krishna, is Krishna prem. And the mukti, the liberation that the impersonal strive for, is an insignificant by-product of prema, love for the personality of Godhead, eternally. Just like before the sun even rises, the darkness is dispelled. He gave that comparison.
Gopal Chakravarti, a very beautiful, learned brahmana, from a very high family, extremely respected with a prestigious position in the government, was outraged. “How dare you! An untouchable speaking from the Vedas, and how are you blaspheming mukti? Saying it is a by-product, insignificant compared to bhakti. I curse you, you fool – if what you’re saying is not true, may your nose and fingers fall off.” The next day Gopal Chakravarti Thakur got a disease, and his nose and fingers fell off. When Haridas Thakur was told, he was praying for him. He felt so sad.
From there Haridas Thakur went to Shantipur, where he became innermost best friends with Sri Advaita Prabhu. Advaita acharya arranged a cave for Haridas Thakur to live near the bank of the Ganga and there he was kirtaniya sada hari.
Srila Prabhupada explains that HaridasThakur was the personified example of the essential quality of a Vaishnava of tolerance. Interestingly when Srila Prabhupada and our acharya speak about tolerance, the particular quality of tolerance they emphasize most is forgiveness. It was there at Phulinagram near Shantipur that Haridas Thakur, simply because he was inspiring so many people, he was dragged before the Kazi and the King. He was sentenced to be beaten, tortured and killed in the public marketplaces. This is Lord Brahma. How many of you would leave your throne and Brahma-loka to be subjected to these things. But this was the happiest moment. Brahma’s life is 311 trillion years and these are the happiest moments. He was being beaten up, mercilessly they were kicking him and smashing him, and the whole time he was taking it as an opportunity to go deeper and deeper into his meditation in Sri Radharani’s and Shri Krishna’s holy names-
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu later told during the Maha Prakash Lila at Srivas Angan, “Seeing them beating you like this, I had to protect you. I called for my sudarshan chakra to punish those murderers. But from the core of your heart, you were praying to me, ‘please forgive them, give them prema bhakti, liberate them from their sins, give them your mercy,’ I couldn’t break your heart by hurting them. So I had to incarnate invisibly and cover your body with my own.” Then Lord Chaitanya actually showed everyone, all the brutal beating marks on his own body. This is Thakur Haridas. And after this he was praying to forgive the executioners. When he saw that his being alive was difficult for them, he went into a maha samadhi and then they threw his body in the river. That would have been the end of it, but he came out of his samadhi, came out of the river and walked directly back to the king and the executioners, to give them another chance. They all begged forgiveness and prayed for his mercy. This is Haridas Thakur.
trinad api sunicena
taror api sahisunam
amani na maan dena
kirtaniya sada hari
We cannot imitate but sankirtan is the Yuga Dharma and Mahaprabhu proclaimed Haridas Thakur to be the Naam-Acharya, that means his example is what we must all follow to properly chant the holy names –
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
We cannot imitate, but this is what we should be praying for. These are the qualities we should try to cultivate in our prayers, in our sadhana, in our seva, in our relationships, and in our life.
Why does Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami gives so much prominence to Haridas Thakur in Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat? Why Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, for all the world, for all time to see, danced with the body of Haridas? Bathed his body in the ocean and said, “From this day on, it is a holy place,” begged for the feast to glorify Haridas. Why? Gauranga Mahaprabhu said that he was the crown jewel of the universe.
namo maha vadanyaya
krishna prema pradayate
krishnaya krishna chaitanya
namine gaura twishe namah
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to give what no other incarnation has given. He has come to give entrance into the Rasas of Vrindavan. That is his special feature. He is tasting the sweetness of vrindavaneshwari, Radha’s love and opening the doors for us, to experience the love of Vraj.
Swaroop Damodar Goswami, in his beautiful prayers explains how Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to give the madhurya-ras of the gopis to the world. And Lord Chaitanya is glorifying Haridas so much, the acharya, because by following in his footsteps and chanting Srimati Radharani’s name and Govindadev’s name, in the spirit he has taught, the doors actually open, where with the genuine, humble heart, we could follow in the footsteps of the residence of Vrindavan.
Rupa Goswami is our ras-acharya. He wrote: Bhakti Rasamrit Sindhu, Lalita Madhava, Vidagdha Madhava and so many of these scriptures, where he is explaining the innermost intimate nature of Radharani’s and Krishna’s love in the rasas of Vraj. Sanatana Goswami is his elder brother and guru, and our sambhandh acharya. When both of them came to Puri, they lived with Haridas Thakur. Day and night they would chant the holy names with Haridas Thakur. Every day they would meet Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when he would come to meet Haridas Thakur at his house, to provide prasada for them. Raghunath Das Goswami is our prayojan-achrya. According to Charitamrita, his initial inspiration to surrender his body, mind, words, and life to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, was his association with Haridas Thakur as a child. This is how Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave prominence, if we sincerely and honestly want to enter into the love of Vrindavan. We must learn to cultivate offense less, pure, chanting of the holy name
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
This is how Krishna fulfilled the desire of the Lord Brahma, after the experience of that transcendental crisis that he experienced in Vrindavan during Brahma Vimohan Lila. Through his prayers he rendered the most exalted devotional service as one of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s dear most associates. He was so deeply loved by all the Vaishnavas. When Mahaprabhu offered him any benediction, Haridas said, “I only want one thing. In every birth I may take, let me receive the remnants of food that have fallen from the plates of your devotees. Let me be even a dog near your devotee, so I could get their association. Who am I, so low and so sinful that I’m asking for such an exalted blessing as this?” That is how he valued the association of Vaishnavas. That is the spirit that he served.
Srila Prabhupada established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He gave us, by his example, by his teachings, by his inspiration that we learn to follow in the footsteps of these great personalities. One of the dearest, most intimate pages within Vaishnava history is that this story of Brahma Vimohan Lila was the very last translation and purports which Srila Prabhupada gave the world before Sri Radharani, Sri Shyamsundar, and Sri Sri Krishna Balaram, brought him back to their eternal abode of Goloka. While he was lying in his bed, at Krishna Balaram temple, with no physical health whatsoever, offering Radharani Krishna, ‘whenever you take me, I am yours.’ He was dictating the translations and purports to this story.
It is very special, very intimate meditation, and some of his purports are very beautiful. He was explaining about the association of the devotees. He said, “In our Krishna Balaram temple, there is a tamal tree. It was in very poor health, practically dying without leaves. But due to the association of the devotee’s, hearing and chanting the glories of Krishna, now that same tamal tree is flourishing and covering with beautiful leaves and flowers, a major part of the courtyard of our Krishna Balaram temple.”
The seed of bhakti, it may be drying up from so many years of neglect, but in the association of the devotees, in the presence of those who really cherish and fortune of seva, hari-katha and hari-kirtan, that creeper of devotion within our own hearts will also flourish. – Radhanath Swami
By grace of His divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, he has given us entrance into his eternal home Vrindavan. Thank you very much.
