Bhakti Shastri (158) Nectar of Devotion Chapter 12 & 13

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So let’s look at the lens over here.
Hare Krishna. Welcome back to our bhakti shastri course. We’ll be discussing the last among the 64 items of devotional service.
So till now, we have discussed various items, which demonstrate how the bhava, the devotional emotion towards Krishna can be evoked by various activities when they are done with a proper attitude. Let’s now look at this chapter 12, which Prabhupada has entitled as Further Aspects of Transcendental Service. So here we will see, Hearing the Revealed Scriptures.
So normally, in our Dhyanapeetam, we talk about the Vedic scriptures. The Vedic scriptures are books that are in pursuance of the Vedic version. That means that Prabhupada’s books are also Vedic scripture, because they are telling us the same message.
You know, the Vedas themselves, the letters in the opening, the Vedas, Rig Veda and other Vedas are meant to be recited. And they are very precise and specific, even in which pronunciation is that. And they were memorised in multiple ways so that the exact letter could be preserved.
And the potency there is primarily in the precise recitation. Whereas in the Puranas and the Itihasas, they are also recited, no doubt. The focus there is on meaning.
And the Puranas and Itihasas are an open-ended body of literature. Open-ended means the Acharyas comment on it. In fact, the very word Smriti indicates that which is remembered and then explained.
So, Bhakti Sanskrit Akhara would give the example that just as a person may change their dress according to the season. So, similarly, the same knowledge is explained differently by different Acharyas. That means the different dressing is given to the same knowledge according to time, place, circumstance.
So, that means the scriptures are an open-ended body of knowledge. So, Goswamis wrote books. Those books are also scriptures.
And subsequent Acharyas like Vishwanath Thakur have written books. They are also scriptures. So, Prabhupada has written books.
They are also scriptures. The scriptures are an evolving body of knowledge. And Prabhupada makes this clear when he says that any book which gives enlightenment in the matter of advancing in devotional service is considered to be revealed scripture.
And then Prabhupada used Madhvacharya’s list and any other literature written in pursuance of such revealed scriptures. And then there are references which substantiate this point. And then Prabhupada quotes one of the Palashruti verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam.
That the Bhagavatam starts with saying that That’s 1.1.3. So, relish the nectar. Relish. Rasa.
And then it ends with one of the verses towards the end of the Bhagavatam. This is 12th Canto, 13th Chapter, 15th verses. Towards the end of the Bhagavatam, he says that Once one has relished this taste, then what will happen? One will not have any taste for anything else.
Because this is so captivating that one is elevated to a different level of a level of purification and elevation where nothing else remains appealing. Then there is So, this is especially talking about Now, the emphasis of this verse is that it’s referring specifically to Mathura. One can go to many holy places, but now there is a reference over here.
You look at the Brahmanda Purana reference. What is it saying in the Brahmanda Purana? It said that all the results of travelling to all the pilgrimages in three worlds can be achieved simply by touching the holy land of Mathura. So, we discussed earlier also in the Updesha Amrit by Rupa Goswami about how there may be many pure holy places and they may all have enormous potency, but still there is a hierarchy.
And there by So, like that Mathura Puri and then it goes on to Rasotsava. There’s a whole long verse over there. So, how Vaikuntha is great, but above that is Mathura Puri.
That’s where Krishna appeared. And above that is the twelve forests of Vrindavan. Above that is Govardhan.
Above that is actually above that, like that there is a whole hierarchy. Like the twelve forests of Vrindavan, that’s Govardhan. And then finally, there is Radhakund.
So, in the hierarchy, if we take it further, there are many, many holy places, but the Mathura Mandal, where Krishna personally descended and performed at various pastimes, Mathura Mandal includes Vrindavan. That is very special. Then we have rendering service to devotees.
So, Prabhupada quoted the famous verse, famous verse which is Lord Shiva telling Parvati in the Padma Purana. He says, So, Lord Shiva is telling Parvati here, all the kinds of Aradhana, Sarvesha. There are many, many different forms of Aradhana.
You discussed how Vedic culture offers multi-level worship. What is supreme is the Aradhana of Vishnu. That is supreme.
And higher than that also is means associated with. Here, specifically, it refers to devotees. Why? Because Prabhupada would give the example that if you want to please a millionaire, what can you do for the millionaire? It’s very difficult to please the millionaire.
But if you please the dog of the millionaire and give some treat to that dog, the dog starts wagging the tail and becomes very happy. The master also becomes happy. So, like that, the way to the heart of Krishna is through the heart of His devotees.
Krishna is Lakshmipati. He doesn’t need anything. But if we serve His devotees, we do something for them which they need.
And Krishna becomes very pleased by that. So, that’s why rendering service to devotees is so important. And in the Adi Purana, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, Those who think they are my devotees, they’re not actually my devotees.
So, it seems like a paradoxical statement. Those who are my devotees are not my devotees. What does it mean? He says, no, those who claim to be my devotees are not my devotees.
But those who say they are the devotees of my devotees, They are the servants of my devotee. maṁ bhaktānāṁ ca ye bhaktās Those are the devotees of my devotee. teme bhakta-janā smṛitāḥ They are actually my devotees.
So the way to Krishna is through his devotees. And that’s why rendering service to them is extremely important. In fact, Krishna consciousness becomes a real tangible appealing when we are in the association of devotees.
Especially advanced devotees for who are living in Krishna consciousness. And there are many verses like that. Significant list of verses there.
So I quote this verse also. Adi Purana verse also like that. There are all these verses from Bhagavatam also.
Then just by, even by remembering the activity of such a devotee, one can become purified. What then can be said of rendering service to that devotee. These are the glories of associating with, not just associating with devotees but serving the devotees.
So there is a difference here between associating with devotees and serving devotees. Generally association should lead to service, no doubt. But associating can also mean hearing from the devotees.
Hearing is also one form of service of course. When we go to our spiritual master, often we do not get the opportunity to do any direct service to him. That’s what we may feel.
But if we are getting the opportunity to hear from him, that is also service. Reading Srila Prabhupada’s books also is a service. Hearing the lectures of Vaishnavas is also service to that Vaishnava.
So because that devotee is rendering service to Krishna by speaking about Krishna and we are rendering service to Krishna and that devotee by hearing about Krishna. So service is what unites devotees with Krishna at the centre and hearing and chanting are services like that. So hearing is also one service but here this verse can refer specific service to Vaishnavas.
Then serving the Lord according to one’s position. So here the word title may seem a little from the title it may seem unclear what it is referring to but if you look at what Prabhupada is saying, perform the ceremonies for the Lord according to one’s financial position. What does it mean? So there are enough festivals at Janmashtami.
Now in the early days of the movement when Srila Prabhupada was present and for some time immediately after that ISKCON was a temple based movement. So all the festivals are celebrated in the temple itself. But over now ISKCON has expanded and it’s more a congregation based movement.
And there are different parts that sometimes there are in one city there may be many temples or even if there is one big temple there may be different communities in different parts of the city centred around some programmes in those communities, those particular areas. So now when a festival is celebrated, a big festival is celebrated in the temple say Janmashtami. But then local devotees in small, in different areas of the city may celebrate Janmashtami separately also.
So this refers to celebrating the festivals of the Lord. The advantage of having different celebrations is that people who are not ready to come to the temple, people may not want to travel so much distance or people may not want to get too much into the crowd which are there when there are big festivals and big temples. So they may come for smaller programmes in the houses or organised by those, in the houses of those who are their acquaintances or in localities which they are more familiar with.
So that way Krishna’s mercy which is specially available on holy days can be made accessible to more and more people. So even when one’s own house one can, if Govardhan Puja is there say, now one can cook some bhoga and give it to the temple deities. Similarly one can have Govardhan Puja at one’s home also and cook items and make a Govardhan of those items.
So that is the idea of celebrating festivals according to one’s capacity. In general when we have deities at home our home deities should be considered expansions of the temple deities but expansions are not meant to act as equivalent replacements. That means in general when we when we have deities in our home that should be to expand our service to Krishna not to replace our going to the temple.
That means that whenever there are major festivals we should prefer to go to the temple. But along with that the progression is I guess Krishna is in the temple but I want Krishna to be in my home also. So Krishna as a deity is in the temple and the same Krishna when we have a sincere desire to serve and the senior Vaishnavas bless then the same Krishna manifests as a deity in our house.
So whenever we have the opportunity to serve the deities in the temple we should take that opportunity and when that is not possible then we also have at our home deities. Just so that we can serve the deities at home that we shouldn’t stop going to the temple for programmes. We shouldn’t have alternate festivals each festival at our home and think that now I have no need to go to the temple.
Of course once a person starts a separate centre. So there is a huge significant distance between the temple and a different centre then this is going to become a separate centre where there are many devotees coming and growing and that’s going to be a different issue and one can talk with the local authorities and finalise the things. But in general the idea is that every devotee should contribute to celebrating the festivals of the lord.
Whether that celebration is in the temple or in one’s home or in one’s community that will vary. In general the mood of a devotee should always be to increase one’s devotional service. So if we can increase one’s devotional service by having deities at home certainly we can have deities and if we can increase our devotional service by celebrating festivals at our home or in our community certainly we can do that also.
The idea is that we should not use one form of service as an excuse for minimising another form of service. So the way we are best devotionally nourished that is what we should see based on Gurusadha Shastra and render service accordingly. Now there’s a very important vaja, Urja Vrata performing devotional service in Karthik.
One of the most important of the ceremonial functions is called Urja Vrata. So Urja Vrata, actually the month of Karthik is said to be the month of Radharani. It is also called the Damodhar mass.
This is the month in which there are maximum version of festivals. Right from the beginning when there is Gopashtami and there’s Govardhan Puja and right in the heart of Karthik we have Prabhupada’s disappearance and then there are many many festivals that are there in this one month and not only are there many festivals but the whole month itself is a festival because we throughout the month we sing the Damodhar Ashtak and offer the lamp to Lord Damodhar and there are many this is the last month of Chaturmas. Now in general the Bhavata Bhakti is not a path of austerity but austerity to the extent is Anukul to Bhakti that is accepted.
So some of our Acharyas have observed Chaturmas quite very strictly. You know Bhaktisiddhanta Sri Thakur before he took on very vigorous preaching he would observe Chaturmas very severely. He would just once a day he would just in one mouthful whatever he would be able to eat he would just with his hands with his mouth directly on the floor whatever was on the floor he would eat like that and very strictly he would do.
So that was not what he recommended later on when he became a spiritual master and had disciples but the principle is Chaturmas is a time for austerity and the last one in Chaturmas is Kartik. So devotees often do different kinds of chanting extra rounds, reading more of the scriptures or going to Yatras. Kartik is a time when many devotees try to make it arrange their life in such a way they can go to Vrindavan and have Darshan of the Deities there, be there for many of the important festivals.
It’s a very spiritually potent month and Kartik Mahatmya is a section which is quite well known from the Padma Purana and gives various glories of Kartik innumerable glories in fact and the last five days of Kartik which are also the last five days of the four Chaturmas they are called as Bhishma Vratas and they are also filled with spiritual potency and devotees who can observe special Vratas on those days they can get very great spiritual benefits by that. So performing devotional service in Kartik that’s what is mentioned over here. So here Prabhupada quotes from the Padma Purana Rupa Goswami has said that the Lord may offer liberation or material happiness to a devotee but after devotional service has been executed particularly in Mathura during the month of Vrindavan the devotees want only to attain pure devotional service unto the Lord.
So what does this mean? Now we may wonder sometimes when we get to perform devotional service what is the result of that? One time Prabhupada asked Prabhupada what is the result of this chanting? So Prabhupada said more chanting. What does it mean? That when we chant our love for Krishna increases and when our love for Krishna increases we want to stay more and more connected with Krishna and the way we stay connected with Krishna is by chanting more. So that’s how chanting leads to more chanting.
So similarly what is the success of our devotional service? The success is not that people come and praise us. Yes some people may come and praise us also. But that is not the primary success.
That is not the goal with which we do service. The success of devotional service is that our desire to serve Krishna increases. Our attraction to Krishna increases.
We want to do more and more for Krishna. So what happens is if we render service in Karthik as the Pandav Purana was saying then we get such a taste in service. Our desire for Krishna and service to Krishna increases so much that other desires like the desires for material enjoyment and the desires for liberation they get just kicked out of the heart.
They have no more any place in the heart and one simply aspires for pure devotional service. So that’s how it is. Then now the next point is observing festivals, celebrating the Lord’s activities.
Now this may seem similar to the earlier point which I mentioned where serving the Lord according to one’s position. There are also performance ceremonies but this specifically refers to Krishna Janma Dinamahotsav. Sanskrit wording is like that.
It refers to the festival Janmashtami and if you look at the reference also what is said. The Bhavishya Purana is put in. My dear Lord Janardana please let us know the date when your mother Devaki Devi gave birth to you.
If you kindly inform us about this then we shall observe a great celebration on this date. We O killer of Keshi, we are souls 100% surrender unto your lotus feet and we wish only to please you with our ceremonies. Just like if we have a friend, we ask the friend, when is your birthday? Please tell me.
So here this is like that in Bhavishya Purana. It’s much more reverential mood but still the idea is the same. My dear Lord, we want to celebrate your appearance.
Celebrate the festival glorifying your merciful descent to this world. So the reference specifically talks about Janmashtami. Now Janmashtami is the day when Krishna as in Janmashtami the 8th day of the month, Krishna appeared on that day.
Now when Krishna appears on some momentous occasion thrilling moment in the life of a devotee because that descent of Krishna is one of the strongest evidences of Krishna’s love for all living beings. It is because Krishna loves all of us that’s why he descends to this world. He descends and gives his mercy to everyone.
He performs pastimes, he establishes dharma and he actually leaves a legacy for all for a long long time to come for subsequent generations of devotees and aspiring devotees to hear about his pastimes and thereby become purified and ultimately liberated. So that’s why so naturally because we love a person we want to celebrate that person’s birthday. That’s natural love but when it comes to Krishna it’s even more special because Krishna has specially descended for us descended to elevate us.
Then there is serving the deity with great devotion. Now from Adi Purana it’s quoted a person constantly engaged, who is constantly engaged in chanting the holy name and who pulls transcendent pleasure being engaged in devotional service is certainly awarded the facilities of devotional service and is never given just mukti. So the point here is that serving the deity takes one beyond mukti and takes one far far ahead.
We’ll come back to this item when we talk about deity worship in the five important forms of devotional service and then now recitation of Srimad Bhagavatam among devotees. So now this is a long item but the essential point here is that Bhagavatam is what enables us to connect with Bhagawan in one of the most important ways through which Ravanam Kirtanam. So we see that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the Radhar Pandit they would recite Srimad Bhagavatam so intensely and they would sit hours and hours together and later on when they would be reciting Srimad Bhagavatam both of them would have tears in their eyes and the Radhar Pandit’s copy of Srimad Bhagavatam the copy was still there but because of the tears the text of the Srimad Bhagavatam had got washed, the text had got washed away from the book the words had got washed away such was their ecstasy and this ecstasy comes for advanced devotees but we also if we keep practising Krishna Consciousness sincerely and we also slowly but surely start getting a taste and that taste goes deeper and deeper as we move forward in our spiritual life then there is associating with advanced devotees so here, now these items when we look at these items, these same items or similar items will come in the next item also, we look at this, so chanting the holy name and living in Mathura so let’s look at the five potent forms of devotional service wherein these five items are repeated again now these are the last five items and to some extent the earlier items that have been mentioned, they are repeated here but it’s not exactly the same thing that is being repeated, there are subtle differences and even if there are some similarities, the similarities are also meant to drive home the point that this is so important Sri Prabhupada writes in one of the purports of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita there is some of the qualities of soul are repeated and those qualities of the soul are repeated because this is so important to understand soul is for example or for example so Avinashi is said once in 2.17 Nahanyate is said again in 2.20 so like that there is a repetition and Prabhupada writes repetition of a point is necessary to make sure that there is no ambiguity in understanding it, that the point is clear, so for that purpose the repetition is sometimes done and similarly here actually if we go technically into the Sanskrit and look at points carefully we will see that there is no repetition there are subtle differences but even if we don’t go into the Sanskrit technicalities and even if we feel that there is some repetition, that repetition is not necessarily undesirable because that repetition drives home the emphasis of the point to be conveyed just like we have it in Harer nama harer nama harer nameva kevalam nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva gathir anyatha harer nama harer nama harer nameva kevalam so harer nama the name of lord Hari chant the name of lord Hari so what is happening in this verse is harer nama harer nama harer nama that is said three times and then kevalam, as if to emphasise it kevalam is said that only the holy name so now this itself, first saying it three times and then kevalam and then as if that were not enough further what is said nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva, there is no other way there is no other way nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva gathir anyatha anyatha there is no other way available so like that the repetition doesn’t necessarily indicate something wrong repetition simply indicates that there is this point which is extremely important so what are the five potent forms of devotional service these five potent forms of devotional service let’s look at these items now so mathura mandale sthiti shri murtir angri shreyana shri bhagvata bhagvata artha asvada shri nama sankirtana sajati asya snigdha shri bhagvata bhakta sanga sajati asya snigdha shri bhagvata bhakta sanga so let us look at these points mathura mandale sthiti mathura mandale is the area of mathura to live in that mathura place shri murtir shri murti is the deity angri shreyana angri is the lotus feet then shri bhagvata artha artha is the meaning we just don’t understand the meaning but asvada we relish the meaning bhagvata rasa alaya so like that artha asvada so shri bhagvata artha asvada and then shri nama sankirtana that’s straightforward enough and this is a very deep point shri bhagvata bhakta sanga that is there but then sajati asya snigdha shri bhagvata bhakta sanga sajati sajati means of the same category snigdha associating with devotees, serving with devotees sajati asya, sajati asya means that sajati asya, jati actually means you could say it simply means caste but actually the meaning is much deeper over here we know that the castes were decided by not just by birth but by psychophysical orientation so people who have propensity to be intellectual and to study are classed as brahmanas and like the same for different classes so actually different castes so we could say the castes are more of human types there are humans of different types there is one human type that is intellectual there is another human type that is administrative and like that there are different human types so serving the devotee refers to sajati asya so what it refers to is that when we have million association of devotees we need the association of like minded devotees if I am a book distributor and I associate with somebody who is a temple constructor then I will say that one of the most important services is book distribution and that was no, ok book distribution is good but after reading books what people have to come somewhere, we need temples magnificent temples only then people will come people will be attracted, people will become devotees so there can be conflict both are right, Srila Prabhupada at different times emphasised different things Srila Prabhupada had a habit of encouraging everyone so when he would be writing to those devotees who are developing a farm community say in Nivrindavan at that time he would tell them there is no service more important than the development of these farm communities because they are going to be our centres of our alternative culture that’s what we want to show modern culture that you can live without technology, you can live based on Krishna, centred on Krishna you can live simply and live happily and then there was a gurukul starting in Dallas, Prabhupada wrote to the gurukul administrators these children are not ordinary children, they are Vaikuntha children sent to us by Krishna and taking care of them is such an important responsibility there is no service more important than this and then of course when the devotees were raising funds to build temples in India especially in places like Mayapur or Vrindavan, he would say this is, Prabhupada would say about Vrindavan this is the heart beat of his corn so there is no project more important than the Vrindavan project and then there was book distribution and Prabhupada would say there is no service that is more important than book distribution so now, every devotee can arrange for a battery of pet quotes the quotes which support what we want to say and it’s good to have these quotes, no doubt but what we have to understand is that there is no service more important, doesn’t mean that there is no service as important there is no service more important than this but there can be many services as important as this and all the services that we are doing, all the services help us move closer to Krishna and Sri Prabhupada gave different definitions of success for us and because we are all individuals so we may be attracted by and inspired to fulfil different aspects of Sri Prabhupada’s mission and vision so some devotees may be attracted to build temples some devotees may be attracted to develop farm communities some devotees may be attracted to Prabhupada said that the back bone of farm women so he said we need to have it going on some devotees may feel inspired I want to take up this service and do this service most important for me so like that different people may have different things to say different devotees may feel inspired to do different things in Krishna’s service and we have to be broad minded enough to recognise that others can have a definition of success that is different from mine so when we meet such devotees what should we do actually we shouldn’t try to impose our definition of success on them nor should we let them impose their definition of success on us that means that if we have taken the guidance of senior Vaishnavas and we are doing a service which is helping fulfil the broad vision of Srila Prabhupada in some way then we should be confident that this is the way I am serving Krishna and I will make a huge advancement by this and this is also a tangible contribution which I am making of course no contribution is very big but every contribution is significant small but significant contribution this is how I feel inspired to do and it’s not that if somebody else is inspired by something else I should say am I actually doing service there is no need for me to feel insecure by the same time there is no need for me to make that person insecure oh you are doing temple construction, what bhakti submission are you doing no you should do bhakti submission there is no need to do like that let different devotees take up different aspects of Srila Prabhupada’s vision and mission and let them fulfil that and in that way we can keep moving forward steadily marching on and on in our journey towards Krishna now this way we can have Sajatiyasya Snigdha, Snigdha means affectionate, Ajatiya means having the same mentality, same attraction, same kind of desire Sajatiyasya so that’s how we need the association of devotees association of devotees that is like minded, association of devotees that inspires us and where we can all in a like minded way move onwards towards Krishna so the way I will feel inspired doesn’t have to be the same in which somebody else has to feel inspired because all of us are individuals and Krishna is an individual but Krishna is an infinite individual so Krishna can reciprocate with my individuality and Krishna can reciprocate somebody else’s individuality also and in that way Krishna can attract everyone and that’s how we can move forward in devotional service steadily, rapidly, smoothly now let’s look at these items more, residing in Mathura when we talk about when we talk about these items of devotional service the five potency forms, this is the place where mercy resides, this is the place where special potency is available looking at the holy places now what exactly happens in the holy places, actually there are three aspects to it there is textual description there is sensual perception and there is devotional realisation all these three when they combine there is an extremely potent experience let me explain what this means now there has to be we want sensory perception when we go to a when we go to a holy place you want to see this is the place where Krishna performed the pastime this is the place where there is a temple, this is Govardhan this is the place where where the Gopa friends of Krishna, they also put a stick when Krishna was lifting up Govardhan they also wanted to assist, so they also put a stick over there so like that there are places where Krishna performed pastimes, and we want to see those places, so that sensory perception is important seeing those places is also purifying you want to see the same Yamuna where Krishna performed pastimes so seeing is definitely important, but seeing alone is not important Bhaktisanta Thakur would say that at one time in a holy place he went to the deity, he went to a temple and he took darshan from far away and devotees in temple said please come closer and see he said from a far distance it is enough that the lord has seen there is no need for me to see the lord I have come here as a servant and he has seen me and he has blessed me by his merciful eyes, that’s enough for me so of course at other times he would indeed go close and take darshan of the lord also, but the mood he was telling us through this particular example is that when we go in front, our mood is a mood of service, and even when we take darshan, the darshan is not like it’s not done with an enjoying mentality it’s done with a serving attitude service attitude, we want to engage our eyes in the devotional service of Krishna and the way we do that is by letting the eyes meditate on each limb of Krishna starting from his lowest feet upwards and thereby purify our eyes and purify our heart, so this is the mood of a devotee and when we go in the holy places certainly there is sensory perception that we do, but along with another sensory perception itself may not lead to much benefit if there is no textual description, so there is sensory perception, there is textual description textual description can come from what we have read earlier or it may come from the devotees who have read and they tell us about the holy places and that’s why some devotees they may have gone to some holy places on pilgrimage alone earlier and they may have got some sweet experiences but when they come later in the association of devotees and then there is kirtan and there is hearing and then it’s a dramatically different experience it’s far deeper and richer because the bhakti potency is experienced, it becomes much more accessible when we come in the association of devotees and hear so textual description if we read books like Bhakti Ratnakar in which there is a description of say the travels of the lord’s devotees and when they come to a particular place the main thing that happens is the devotees when they see that place in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when he would come to a particular place, he would not just see that place, he would remember oh what are the pastimes that Krishna has performed over here and those thoughts of those pastimes would flood through his heart and he would become overwhelmed by ecstasy so how do thoughts of those pastimes come, of course we can say he is the supreme lord and he always remembers those pastimes, he only performs those pastimes, that is true but how will the same thing happen for devotees, especially sadhaka devotees like us, it will happen when we have heard about it, so we hear from the scriptures and we hear from those who have told us about the scriptures, told us based on the scriptures and then when we see those wonderful places, so that is the external sensory perception that is there, then there is the from the head, there is the textual description and when we combine both of them and inject them with the devotion, then there is, what happens is there is devotional contemplation with the devotional attitude of Krishna, thank you, this is the place where you have lifted govardhana thank you for descending to this world, thank you for performing such wonderful pastimes thank you for allowing me to practise devotional service and then we remember the details of the pastimes what Krishna did, what the Gopas did, what the Gopis did, what the Shuddamai did and how Krishna acted and all this attracts our heart and then the heart becomes filled with ecstasy so all these three have to be there for us to have the potent experience of the holy holy place, so now for very advanced devotees whether they are in Vrindavan or outside Vrindavan their heart is so attracted to Krishna that even when there is no sensory perception, you can just close their eyes and they can have recollection of their past sensory perceptions actually Prabhupada at one time was in America and the devotees had built a big temple for him, a big temple and in that they had made a big room for him and as soon as Prabhupada came they said, oh Prabhupada this room is so nice it is just like my room in Radha Damodara temple now many of you have been to Radha Damodara temple the rooms of Srila Prabhupada which have been now taken over by the Skandivudis, the Skandivudis are caring for it they have been trying to care for it for a long time, so there the rooms are quite small actually and the room that Srila Prabhupada had been provided in this temple so devotees are a little puzzled now why is Prabhupada saying that this is a big room, majestic room and this is a tiny room, so why is Prabhupada saying that this room is just like that room the point that Prabhupada was making was that was the place where he was serving Krishna that is the place where he is serving, this is also a room where he is going to serve Krishna he is going to write about Krishna, speak about Krishna meet devotees of Krishna and tell them about how to advance in Krishna consciousness, so the activity that Prabhupada was going to do was the same and Prabhupada when he saw this also his heart was so much in Vrindavan consciousness all the time that even when he saw his room he saw what, a facility for glorifying Krishna and he remembered the first facility that he had earlier when he was in Vrindavan, so that’s how for an advanced devotee even if there is no sensory perception directly, there is an indirect perception that there is another room which was serving the same purpose as the room Vrindavan was serving so even there is no sensory perception there is indirect sensory perception, still there is immense there is this flood of devotion that comes up, so we see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu it is said that whenever he would see any forest, he would think oh this is Vrindavan whenever he would see any river, he would think this is Jamuna, whenever he would see any hill, he would think oh this is Govardhan and whenever he would think like this his ecstasy would increase and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would run into the river and he will bathe in that river so now when he is doing this what is the meaning of this, yes he is experiencing ecstasy and there is some sensory perception which is not exactly the same as Vrindavan if it were exactly entirely the same, then Lord Chaitanya did not have to go to Vrindavan at all if he sees any river, any forest is Vrindavan, then he can just be any forest and be happy about it, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was happy in that forest also, because that forest reminded him of Vrindavan, but at the same time he continued moving forward and ultimately after trying many times, he did reach Vrindavan and then as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu describes, his ecstasy just became so high just over flooded completely in his heart that means that yes there can be recollection of the holy place in a different place at other places also and that recollection is also it’s a sign of devotion and it’s also favourable for increasing our devotion at the same time it is not a substitute all the time devotees also want to go to the holy places, they want to take darshan in the holy places and they want to relish those holy places that is with respect to going to the holy places and relishing the remembrance of Krishna through sensory perception scriptural description and devotional contemplation when one does that, one can get special devotional experiences in those holy places, very intense, unforgettable experiences one can get and after that moving forward if one says there is the five important forms of devotional service there is the going to the holy places there is deity worship, there is the association of devotees, like minded devotees so let’s look at deity worship now interestingly Rupa Goswami gives a very enigmatic sort of prayer which is told by by one Gopi to other people, others Gopi says that if you are still attracted to your material life with family, friends and things like that then don’t go and see Krishna who is playing a flute on the Keshi Ghat now what does this mean? actually it’s an indirect glorification it’s an indirect glorification that if one does this, what will happen by one’s doing this, if one goes and beholds the beauty of Krishna then that beauty of Krishna is so captivating that that captivation will cause our material infatuation to go away and we will no longer be attached to material things, so indirectly what it is saying is please go and see Krishna in Keshi Ghat in Vrindavan because then you become free from your material attachments but it is told in a poetic way, in a opposite way sometimes poetic things are often said in a indirect way to convey not just the meaning but to convey the meaning with sweetness so with sweetness, so Deity Worship we have discussed earlier also about Deity Worship, about how Deity Worship gives us sensory experience of God we can touch the Deity we can see the Deity, we can bathe the Deity, we can dress the Deity and in this way we can get sensory experience of God through Deity Worship and the glories of Deity Worship are talked about repeatedly in the scriptures and these five potent forms of devotion service, Shri Prabhupada has incorporated into our morning programme which he gave in the temple and which is also which devotees at home also can do as much as is possible for them so the idea is, if you see how are these five potent forms of devotion service there in the morning programme, of course it is centred around the Deity, we have darshan of the Deity starting from Mangala Aarti then there is again Shringara Aarti then there is Nama Sankirtan so there is Kirtan that happens repeatedly and Kirtan that happens in all the pujas that is there, then of course the chanting of the Holy Names in the form of Chapa also is there and then we have, in the association of devotees we hear Shrimad Bhagavatam over there and then in the association of devotees we render service to each other so we are getting the association of devotees and in the community of devotees we will all find some devotees who are Sajatis who are like-minded and when you get those association of like-minded devotees that takes the devotional ecstasy to a higher level the devotional experience becomes richer in the association of like-minded devotees and then there is going to a holy place so going to a holy place happens at multiple levels Prabhupada would say, the temples are in Vaikuntha, he would often compare the temples with the material world and he would say that certain places in the material world are in goodness, certain are in passion, certain are in ignorance but the temples, the forests are generally in goodness, the cities are in passion and even the cities if there are degraded places like say brothels or wine houses they are in ignorance but the temples may be in cities but the temples are in Vaikuntha why? because the Vaikuntha activities are happening in the temple etragayanti madhubhakta tatratishtami narada etragayanti madhubhakta etragayanti madhubhakta where I am being glorified tatratishtami narada there I reside oh Narada, the lord Narayana Narada Muni said wherever I am being glorified the temple is a place where the lord is regularly glorified there are the biggest kirtans are there there are the flasks of various flasks are there where devotees were trying to dedicate their life to Krishna.
Naturally there is spiritual potency over there. So going to temple is also like going to a holy place. And that’s why Srila Prabhupada wanted to create replicas.
Where there was Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada wanted to create New Vrindavan, a place of pilgrimage in America. And like that devotees have made different communities, there can be New Jagannath Puri, there are different places all over the world where devotees try to replicate to some extent the mood of the holy places that are there. So of course these, as I said earlier, our home deities, they are meant to expand our service to Krishna.
They are not entirely equivalent substitutes of the temple deities. So like that New Vrindavan is not exactly the same as Vrindavan. But still one can get some glimpse of that.
And like that depending on the intensity and the purity of the devotional service that is performed at a particular place, that can give us also holy experiences. So going to a holy place along with, say, going to the local temple or the local devotional retreat centre that might be there, but going to the Tirtha and Dham like Mayapur and Dham, that is also very important. At one time, Srila Prabhupada encouraged devotees to come to Mayapur during, say, the annual Mayapur festival.
And some devotee leaders, some of the GBC, they said, Prabhupada, but sending devotees is, you know, it’s expensive. So Prabhupada was quite annoyed by this answer. He said, you know, feeding prasad to devotees also is expensive.
He said, are you going to stop that just because it’s expensive? No, he said, this is vital for the spiritual nourishment of devotees. And that’s why we have to do it. So devotees try to go to yatras whenever possible.
And nowadays, because it’s a big organisation, so sometimes the Mayapur festival becomes very crowded. So some devotees may not go to the Mayapur festival. They may go for separate yatras.
And the idea of yatras is yatras should not be just taken as picnics. I mean, we are bored with our job and our home, and we just want a break, and we go for yatras. No, actually yatras should be also the mode of service.
And yatras should not become an escape way from our regular responsible service. We have services in our devotee community. We do those services.
And then, once in a while, we adjust those services and go for yatras also. And in that way, we can make steady spiritual advancement. Now, moving forward, when we look at these different items of devotional service, the five potent forms.
See, the Prabhupada gives, based on Rupa Goswami’s text, various references for each of these items. And he especially concludes by saying that these five items, the last five items, they are, as I said, hearing shramad bhagavatam, associating with devotees, worshipping the deity, chanting the holy name and going to a holy place. There are such potent forms of devotional service that even for a neophyte devotee, with the performance of these activities, can evoke tremendous devotional feeling.
So, devotional feeling here refers to bhava bhakti, rising to the level of bhava bhakti. So, that is the potency of these forms of devotional service. And the more we tap the potency, the more we can rapidly advance in devotional service.
And Rupa Goswami, in this way, actually Prabhupada is representative, will they remove the whole process of devotion from the realm of abstract feelings or intangible. Oh, devotion is just a feeling. I have to feel devotion for Krishna.
Yeah, that is good, but how will that feeling come? Is it just that there’s a longing for the feeling that will bring the feeling? Yes, longing is okay. Longing is okay, but along with the longing, what is also required is a process to bring about the changing. So, the longing is good, but along with the longing, there has to be changing.
A longing of the heart should be accompanied by a process for changing the heart. And a process for changing the heart involves exposing ourselves to all these devotional stimuli. When we expose ourselves to these devotional stimuli, by this, our heart becomes attracted to Krishna.
We started this discussion by talking about amnesia. How a person who has forgotten can have the memory revived by exposure to stimuli from one’s earlier life. Similarly, we can have our past, our memory revived by the practise of devotional service.
So, our memory of Krishna, which has been covered over, that can be revived. Nitya-yuga. Nitya-siddhi-sibhavasya.
So, as I said, a bhava which is there, which becomes awakened. That is the definition of sadhana bhakti. We engage ourselves in such a way that that bhava which is dormant becomes awakened.
And when that bhava becomes awakened, we make rapid spiritual advancement thereafter. Till we become purified, and then we move forward. So, in our next class, we’ll conclude this discussion and then we’ll move on to spontaneous devotional service.