Boro kripa koile krishna song meditation

Song ppt

Pray. Pray Krishna. So today we will discuss about the song of prayer that Shri Prabhupada composed on Jaladuta, the ship that took him to America.
As Shri Prabhupada approached the Boston fire on this ship, so all alone, about to do something historically unprecedented, give the message of pure devotion to Krishna to a highly materialistic western society. This song reveals Shri Prabhupada’s consciousness. What was his contemplation? In fact, when a warrior is about to go for a war, the thing that the warrior thinks about most is the weapons.
Of course, the strategy to use the weapons is there also, but the weapons are important. So weapons and the strategy how they are going to be used. So this song reveals Prabhupada’s war strategy.
The song was actually composed by Shri Prabhupada with nobody to hear him, he was all alone. Only person hearing it was Krishna. And in fact, for some time, the song was lost.
Later on, it was just discovered almost accidentally. Of course, it was not an accident, it was serendipity. It was a divine providence.
And that the profoundly devotional heart of Shri Prabhupada and his faith in the process of pure devotion is revealed in this song. So let’s look at it. Krishna, you have been very merciful to me.
I am a fallen person. For what purpose you have brought me over here, I do not know. Now whatever you want me to do, please do it with me.
Now, if we look at the history of Shri Prabhupada’s life as given in Lamrit, before he embarked on this historic trip, actually, Prabhupada struggled tirelessly to share Krishna Bhakti in India. And seeing that Indians were not interested, he decided to share it in America and get Americans interested so that Indians would also become interested. Seeing that the Americans are interested, seeing the Americans who are like models for us, they are doing it.
So Prabhupada talked with thousands of people practically during his outreach and he mentioned to them that he had a desire to go to America and Prabhupada did not have funds, he did not have contacts, he did not have assistance and yet we see that he endeavoured tirelessly. So the point is that he endeavoured tirelessly but Prabhupada is giving credit to Krishna for having brought him there. He is not thinking that, oh, I had almost several hours outside the office of Sumti Murarji somehow to get an appointment with her and then I had to convince her somehow to give me passage on Jal Roota, how much I have troubled, how many troubles I have taken.
No, a devotee does not see the troubles one has taken, a devotee sees that it is Krishna’s grace that has enabled me to go beyond those troubles, to make a way ahead in spite of those troubles and a devotee focusses not on one’s own sacrifice but in Krishna’s grace. Therefore he says, Krishna, you have brought me here. Boro Krupa Koile Krishna.
Actually, you have been very merciful to me that you have brought me here. Adhamera Pravarti. So bringing Prabhupada to Krishna, Prabhupada says, is mercy.
Now materialistic Indians may think, oh, going to America is a great opportunity for us. Because America is a land of liberty and opportunity. But Prabhupada was thinking in entirely different terms.
Adhamera Pravarti was thinking that I am a fallen person because my spiritual master has given me an instruction to preach in the western world and I have not been able to do it. Muktsananda Thakur gave the instruction in 1922 and Prabhupada was thinking I am 44 years late. Prabhupada out of his great transcendent humility would say that I was in maya that’s why I did not pick up that instruction immediately.
It was not maya, it was Krishna arranging to prepare Prabhupada through a lifetime of preparation. Anyway, the point is now Prabhupada has got the opportunity to fulfil the instruction of the spiritual master and that itself a disciple considers to be a blessing and for that blessing Prabhupada is grateful to Krishna. So, to get an instruction from a spiritual master is a blessing.
To get the opportunity to fulfil the instruction is a blessing and to actually fulfil the instruction is also a blessing. Now, Prabhupada has got the opportunity to fulfil the instruction by having come to America. So, he is saying, Thank you Krishna.
You have done an immense favour to me. I am very happy. But, what is the reason you have brought me here? Now, America, Americans at that time were culturally, intellectually, religiously, educationally, linguistically in practically all possible ways quite different from India and Indians.
So, how were they going to become devotees? So, it was inconceivable. In fact, many of Prabhupada’s godbrothers even considered it impossible. But, Prabhupada is saying that I do not know what is your purpose.
But, surely you must have some purpose. So, a devotee, it’s not that when you become a devotee suddenly everything becomes clear. There is always a light ahead of us showing us, go this way, go this way, go this way.
No, often we may be in situations also where things may be unclear for us. So, Prabhupada writes in a purport that a devotee may be perplexed but a devotee is never discouraged. Perplexed means to not know what to do.
Discouraged means to not want to do anything. A devotee wants to serve Krishna always. So, in that sense, a devotee is never discouraged because Krishna is the source of all love and is the source of all hope.
So, a devotee never becomes hopeless or feels forsaken. But still, though the devotee wants to serve Krishna, it’s not at all time, how I should serve Krishna is clear. So, there is perplexity.
So, Prabhupada is very candidly speaking to Krishna, Krishna, why have you brought me here? You know, this phrasing of Bengali is so sweet and the import is so intimate that it is as if Prabhupada is talking to a close friend. Krishna is that close friend. And suppose, sometimes children play a blindfold game and then after being blindfolded, one person is taken from, a child is taken to another place or a person is taken to another place and then, such a strange place, why have you brought me here? So, like that, Prabhupada is interested himself to Krishna and this is, this profound trust of his heart in Krishna is revealed.
Krishna, why have you brought me here? But whatever it is, you must have a purpose. You never do anything arbitrarily. You know, life may not be logical but it is always teleological.
Logical means what we can comprehend with our intelligence. Teleological means that which has ultimate meaning that in history, in nature and life, there is some ultimate purpose that is being served. So, life is teleological because Krishna is ultimately in control.
There is a purpose for which things are happening. And, Prabhupada has that faith and he is saying that whatever you have brought me for, Krishna, please do it with me. And, now that he emphasises in the next verse, There must be some work, purpose for which you have brought me here, Krishna.
Now, anuman is speculation, we may say. Is speculation bad? Prabhupada often said speculation is bad. But then, there are times when we don’t know for sure and at that time, we have to make inferences.
So, anuman doesn’t have to mean speculation. It can mean inference also. So, I make an inference because you don’t do anything just like that.
So, you spoke through my spiritual master that I should preach to the best and you have arranged for me to come to the best. Therefore, you must have some work for me, Krishna. Ei anumane, nahi keno anibena.
Otherwise, why would you have brought me to here? Ei ugrasthane. This terrible place, this ugra. Now, the word ugra normally would conjure images of something very ghastly, maybe some bloody battle where bones are scattered and blood is flowing or something like that.
skyscraper lit skyline of America with its smooth roads and flashy cars and overall opulence. Who would think of that as ugrasthana? But Prabhupada is seeing this from the point of view of for him, ugra is not just something which appears materially unpleasant but ugra is that which is spiritually alienated from Krishna. So, for a devotee, Krishna is the essence of life and this connection with Krishna is terrible.
So, because the civilisation that he saw in front of him was so lost in materialism, so he felt that this is an ugrasthana. He says, Oh Krishna, why have you brought me to this terrible place? Ugrasthane. Now, we will describe what is this ugrasthana further.
What is it that makes it ugra? rajas tamo gune era sabaiyachana vasudeva katha ruchi nahi se prasanna So, rajas tamo gune era that by the modes of passion and ignorance sabaiyachana all of them are covered over, all of them are having their consciousness obscured. So, Prabhupada is so deeply rooted in the Shastra Chakshu that he is not seeing the prosperity of America which is what would catch the attention of most people. Prabhupada noticed it.
But what he saw is the spiritual calamity that he beheld in front of him. People being covered over by the modes of passion and ignorance were disconnected from God and because they were covered by the lower modes, they were unlikely to understand or relish the message of God even if he gave it to them. Vasudeva katha ruchi nahi se prasanna So, now Prabhupada knows that what is he going to come and do over there? He is going to speak Krishna katha.
But if people are covered by lower modes, how will they understand Krishna katha? They won’t get any pleasure in it. So, nahi se prasanna and this is what Prabhupada sees as his primary obstacle. For him, his weapon in coming here is speaking Krishna katha.
And the obstacle was like there may be a sword, but if the other person is wearing armour, the sword will just sword attacks will be blocked and made useless by the armour. Now, the armour is of course meant to protect, but armour checks also the attack. So, like that Prabhupada is that these people are covered by the lower modes and those lower modes will make make them impervious to Krishna’s message.
Very difficult for them to understand. So, Prabhupada is giving a glimpse of his heart over here. He is not concerned about the other obstacles which would have obvious obstacles which have occupied the minds of lesser mortals.
Now, he is not thinking that oh I have come without any money, I don’t know how I will be received because the person who is going to meet me I never met him before, will he be, will I get a proper place to stay, I just recovered from a heart attack, how will my health stay on. He is not thinking of any of these things, any of the considerations of roti, kapda, makan. Now, food, clothing and shelter, they are actually going to be grave challenges for Srila Prabhupada because nothing is guaranteed.
He as we know went just with 40 rupees which are practically less than just a few, one or two meals worth in America. First of all they are not even convertible because there are not many Indians in America at that time and so Indian currency is not convertible also. But what an adventure it is that Srila Prabhupada has come here and he is now thinking, not even thinking of bodily considerations, he is thinking only of missionary considerations and the missionary consideration is that okay, how will these people understand Krishna Katha.
So, this is the Boston Pyre and so Prabhupada came to this place when he decided to go to America. This was the place where he approached and it was seeing this coastline that Prabhupada composed this song and now he presented the problem that they can’t understand but then they can understand by your mercy Krishna. So, please have mercy.
That is his prayer now. So, if your mercy and now your mercy is causeless, they are undeserving for your mercy, they have not done anything to see the mercy but still you are causelessly merciful. So, if somehow you get become merciful then everything is possible.
You are such astonishing person my dear Lord that you can do anything. So, Prabhupada writes in the Ishopanishad, one of the last purports, he says that the Supreme Lord is so powerful that he can make a dog enter into an elevated Brahmana and he can make a Brahmana into a degraded dog eater. So, the Lord can change.
Now, we think of power simply in terms of say lifting something heavy. Krishna is powerful because he lifted Govardhan Hill. That is power definitely but the power that matters most in terms of changing our lives, in terms of helping us to find happiness is the power of transforming our hearts and Prabhupada is expressing confidence that Krishna you have this power.
For you everything is possible. Those who met Sri Prabhupada in the early days, his disciples and other admirers and other scholars of religion, one of the things that struck them about Sri Prabhupada was that Krishna was such a intimate reality for him. Prabhupada would talk about Krishna as if he is a very familiar friend and Prabhupada would tell devotees that you just serve Krishna, you just try to serve and Krishna will give you intelligence.
A devotee who had dropped out of a college, Prabhupada asked him to become the editor of ISKCON’s magazine. How will I be able to do that? No, just try, Krishna will help you. And Prabhupada said, Krishna will give you intelligence.
So, a devotee’s self-confidence is actually not self-confidence, it is Krishna confidence. I may not be capable of doing things but Krishna is capable of doing anything and everything and I have faith in Krishna. So, Krishna everything is possible for you, everything is possible and you can even make these people who are covered by the modes of passion and ignorance, you can even make them understand your message.
How will they be able to understand Now, the concept of rasa is so deep and it is actually for a rasika audience, it is for a refined audience. So, the sweetness, the mellows of Krishna bhakti, at one level it’s dancing and chanting and singing that seems to be loud and so effusive that is one aspect of bhakti but apart from that there is also the aspect of personally, individually relishing relishing the nectar of Krishna consciousness, whether it has been the holy name, whether it has been scripture, association of devotees, darshan of deities, all that requires rasa and how can an unrefined audience understand this? So, just as it requires a person with some expertise in art to understand, to relish a masterpiece of art, similarly, devotion in some of the external activities may be immediate dancing, singing might be likeable for some people, for many people even but then to relish the rasa of bhakti requires a refined consciousness. So, Prabhupada is saying, how will they be able to understand it? So, please O Prabhu, O Krishna, do this grace on me and bring them under your control, help them to become purified so that they will be able to understand your message and relish that message.
So, by your desire everyone has come under illusion by your desire and maya’s trap can be destroyed by your desire. Now, ultimately refers to Krishna’s sanction. It is not that Krishna wants people to go into illusion but when somebody wants to try out material enjoyment, forgetfulness of Krishna, Krishna allows that.
So, he says that ultimately nothing could have happened without his sanction. So, even all these people who are under illusion, they are not out of your jurisdiction, Krishna. They are under illusion but illusion is under you.
So, they are still under your jurisdiction. So, you can transform them and transfer them from maya’s jurisdiction to your own personal jurisdiction and that’s how they will become free from illusion. So, when devotees speak about Krishna to others, this is a good consciousness to have.
It’s not that we think that I will speak so eloquently that people will become inspired and transformed by my speech. No. We simply want to become a channel of Krishna’s compassion and it is Krishna alone who is doing everything.
It is he from our heart who is giving the words to speak and it is he who is there in the hearts of others, of the audience and he is helping them to understand and he is giving them inspiration to change themselves. So, when we want to share Krishna’s message, this sort of meditation can bring us both humility as well as vitality. Humility because we know that we are not the doers.
Vitality means energy because we understand that Krishna is the doer and Krishna is supremely compassionate. Krishna wants us to share his message and Krishna wants these people to get his message. So, we pray.
By your desire their illusion can also be destroyed. If it is your desire, my dear lord, sometimes you may speak about Krishna and people may not understand or accept at all. So, why does it happen? Because they are not yet spiritually mature.
They are not yet become open-minded. They do not have the desire to come towards Krishna. So, when Krishna, when the right time comes, when Krishna wills, they will come.
They will So, if it is your desire that they become delivered now, then my message will become understandable to them. So, please make that happen. So, Prabhupada is not thinking, oh my pronunciation is so poor.
When Indians go to America, they often give toffel and before that they try to train themselves so that they don’t have, they can remove their Indian accent and speak more like American and thereby make themselves more intelligible and more appealing to Americans. Prabhupada is not thinking in these terms. He is not saying to Krishna, Krishna please go to my English pronunciation so that people can understand my message.
He is saying that Krishna, if you desire, then then they will understand. And he is not even saying they will understand, the glasses that I will give, they will understand your katha. So, Prabhupada is clearly saying himself simply as an instrument for Krishna.
So, he is saying that it is your message which I will be speaking and it is you who in their hearts will enable them to understand and this way, if you so desire, you will deliver these people. So, a devotee’s sense of non- doership comes not from not taking, looking responsible to do things but from understanding that ultimate success depends on Krishna no matter how much we do. And in that sense, it is Krishna who is the ultimate doer.
So, Prabhupada recognises this and acknowledges this over here. And then, So, now he brings us to the crux of his message. So, Krishna, you have descended as the Bhagavad Katha.
You are manifested as the message of the Bhagavatam. And since you are omnipotent, the message of the Bhagavatam is omnipotent. And what happens if somebody, if one hears again and again, then the result is one becomes sober.
The word dheera comes many times in the Bhagavad Gita. A dheera person is not disturbed by bodily changes because that person understands that my real existence is beyond the body. So, what the Bhagavat Katha does is not just give us an intellectual understanding.
Yes, it does give us an intellectual understanding of our transcendental identity. But along with that, it elevates us to a higher level of consciousness. It elevates us to spiritual consciousness by which we can understand experientially.
We can realise and relish experientially a higher non-material enrichment, a devotional fulfilment in connection with Krishna. And by that, we realise, oh, this is so fulfilling that material pleasures are insignificant and material problems are also insignificant. Yes, they may concern me at times because I have to live and serve in the material world, but they don’t have to disturb me because at my core, I am an indestructible soul and I am forever safe with Krishna.
Krishna always loves me and I can love him back and our life of love can go on no matter what happens in this world. So by hearing Bhagavad Gita, we start realising and relishing Krishna’s love for us and start developing love for him and relishing that love too. And in that way, we become veera, we become sober towards other things.
So Prabhupada is saying and hear that this is his faith. Yes, these people are materialistic, they are covered by the lower modes, but somehow they keep hearing Bhagavatam again and again, then they will all become sober. So this is the essence.
Prabhupada went to America and then travelled all over the world to give Bhagavad Gita and help people to become sober. Now Prabhupada goes into the Bhagavatam and here he speaks verses from the second chapter of the first canto, wherein he speaks verses which talk about how he has, how the process of hearing works. So Prabhupada puts these Sanskrit verses in the middle of his song.
So he is not concerned so much about original copyrights or it’s my song, nobody else should take it and I should not quote it. He is simply concerned about conveying the message that is important for the audience to hear. So he has spoken the message which he wanted to speak himself beseeching Krishna and now he is further expressing his confidence in the weapon that he is going to use.
That weapon is outlined in the Bhagavatam. Among all sections of the Bhagavatam, the ones that Prabhupada quoted the most that is 1.2 section, 1.2.6-22 when Prabhupada explains that this has, this is, this verses outline Dharma, the way to transcendence. That’s in a book by that name Prabhupada lectures on these verses and compiled together and Prabhupada is standing over here.
He is quoting some of the verses over here to illustrate this point that how the process of hearing, how by Bhagavatar katha one can become dheerahaya. That process is described now by Prabhupada. shunvatam svakatha krishna punya shravana kirtana pradyantastho ya badrani vidunoti saharitsatam shunvatam when we hear svakatha krishna, krishna is present in our heart only and if we hear his message punya shravana kirtana now just hearing and speaking about his message is auspicious but further pradyantastho ya badrani if one hears about it eagerly intensely then anarthas in the heart what happens is krishna enters into our heart and then illusion has to go out of our heart illusion can have no place in our heart pradyantastho ya badrani vidunoti gets completely washed away because krishna is our well-wisher suhrut satam satam is the spiritualists the devotees ultimately so krishna is there suhrut he is great well-wisher so prabhupada is outlining the process that he is going to use this in the bhagavatam so what happens when one starts hearing nashtaprayesho badresho nityam bhagvata sevaya bhagvateer uttamasloke bhaktir bhavati naishtike so one’s devotion becomes extremely strong irrevocable fact and bhagvateer uttamasloke and to that lord who is uttamasloke bhaktir bhavati naishtike so if we regularly serve the bhagvat hear the bhagvat and serve the bhagvatas then most of the anarthas from our heart will be removed and strong irrevocable devotional service will be established in the heart so prabhupada continues to tell his audience to understand now he said that nothing is beyond the jurisdiction of krishna consciousness so even for this problem there is a solution solution is yes hearing is difficult it is not relishable if you are covered by the modes of passion ignorance but if one keeps hearing then that hearing itself destroys the lower modes the lower modes and they are manifested as lust and greed so from the consciousness these get removed prabhupada says that as long as lust anger greed are tormenting us that means we are not spiritually advanced we are not absorbed in krishna but once we become absorbed in krishna then the influence of the modes of passion subsides then we don’t feel this torment in the heart this pinch in the heart and once this torment is removed you become peaceful you become joyful you become situated in the mode of goodness so a person may be just sitting and hearing but sitting and hearing can bring about such dramatic transformations evam prasanna manaso bhagavad bhakti yogata bhagavad tattva vijnana mukta sangas se jayate so evam prasanna manaso once the craving one is free from the craving for material pleasure one is situated in connection with krishna one feels joyful prasanna manaso and then bhagavad bhakti yogata one is practising bhagavad bhakti also yoga it connects with krishna reservoir of all pleasure and then bhagavad tattva vijnana then initially one just feels joyful but then eventually one becomes more and more cognisant of the reality who am I what is my relationship with krishna who is krishna he is so all attractive and he loves him loving him is supreme happiness for me so all this bhagavad tattva becomes vijnana becomes a realisation doesn’t remain just a theoretical conceptualisation it becomes a relishable realisation and then as one starts relishing krishna bhakti then one starts rejecting material enjoyment material bondage and in this way mukta sangas jayate one becomes free from sanga from material association and then once this happens vidyate hrdaya vrantis shityante sarva samshaya shiyante chhase karmani drishte vatmanishvare so this is very graphic sanskrit vidyate hrdaya vrantis not in the heart of attachment to worldly things that is cut off normally we have two obstacles on the spiritual path at the subtle level one is created by the mind that is desires and attachments and the other is created by the intelligence which is doubts so both get removed by the process of bhakti chhityante sarva samshaya all the doubts get removed all the attachment get removed and then one no longer does any further karma one never doesn’t do anything that will cause further bondage chhiyante chhase karmani drishte vatmanishvare one understands that atma is eshvara not the parameshvara but the atma is eshvara in the sense that the soul is beyond the body the soul is eshvara is controller and in this way one attains goes towards liberation so now Ropadhar now after quoting this extract from the bhagavatam returns back to his word analysis rajas tamo hateta be pahi be nistha rudhair abhadra satya guchi be tahar so rajas tamo ham hate if you just hear Krishna’s message then what will happen the lower modes will go pahi be nistha they will get relief from the endless torments of material existence which one is subjected to in the lower modes and rudhair abhadra satya that actually abhadra the inauspiciousness in the heart guchi be tahar they will all go away now prabhupada prays ki kore bhujavo katha barosehi chahi kshudra mi di nahi na kono shakti nahi so he says ki kore bhujavo katha how are they going to understand the message it’s going to be difficult impossible for them to do it on their own but i want one help from you barosehi kshudra mi di nahi na kono shakti nahi so he says prabhupada has done such a heroic such a bold activity to go to america single handed and yet he is saying di nahi na i am so fallen i am worthless kono shakti nahi i don’t have any strength he is not thinking that by the power of my eloquence by the effulgence of my personality i am going to influence people he is thinking krishna you give me this baro please i depend on your blessing that somehow by your blessing they will understand your message if therefore that my lord if you have brought me here to speak your message then whatever is your desire i will do what you wanted me to do so this prabhupada specific prayer and that prayer is with devotion but even the even his concludes with an admission that this is what i think should happen but if you have some other plan i will surrender to you my dear lord but krishna has all mercy has all potency to make even them understand therefore he is requesting krishna to help people understand krishna katha and if this is not your purpose in bringing me here my dear lord i will accept whatever you want me to do akhila jagat guru bachan se amar alankrita kori bar khamatha tomar akhila jagat guru that oh lord you are the master of the whole world spiritual master jagat guru of the whole universe bachan se amar my words alankrita kori bar please ornament them khamatha tomar and you have the capacity to ornament now prabhupada is not talking about say literary ornaments similes and puns and things like that prabhupada is talking about the ornament of devotion and of devotional potency let my speech be infused with your devotional potency and thereby they will be attracted they will become inspired so if you have mercy on him my dear lord so my speaking will become pure and potent now prabhupada is himself pure hearted but he is not making grandiose claims of his own purity he is saying my katha will become pure if you have mercy on me and then if such a pure katha they hear then when a doctor goes to a patient and says the patient is sick and the patient is suffering so much that even the doctor thinks will this patient be cured i don’t know but if a doctor wants to actually cure the patient at least the doctor has the confidence that i do something or i consult other doctors to diagnose and decide what to do or i send the patient somewhere else but if the doctor that they will all become spiritually joyful and that’s why he is eager to administer the message of krishna katha in fact he has gone practically more than half the world across to administer this message so if you have brought me here my dear lord if you have brought me to dance over here then i surrender my dear lord please make me dance and how should i dance i am completely surrendered to you i have no free will of my own whatever you tell me i will do it just as a puppet dances according to the puppeteer so please make me dance expressing utter surrender over here to krishna saying that please guide me how wonderfully krishna made prabhupada dance despite being the puppet we can also dance according to krishna we can also do service for him and we can also return back to him thank you