Emona durmati meaning – Put good news to good use

Today, we'll discuss about the meaning of the Vaishnava song, Emo Na Durmati. So, this is a song by the great Vaishnava Acharya, Bhaktunath Thakur. Prabhu hai, is addressing the Lord.

Emo na durmati, samsara bhitare, bodhiya chinnu aami tava nijjan kono mahajane pathaiya dile tumi So, Bhaktunath Thakur is praying over here. Emo na durmati. Durmati is bad intelligence, misdirected mind, evil consciousness.

This, because of this misdirection of my consciousness, samsara bhitare in this material existence, deep inside my material existence, bodhiya chinnu aami I have fallen into this existence. Bodhiya, falling, this word brings to mind the standard metaphor used for talking about material existence in the scriptures and that is the metaphor of a well. Andhagupam it's a deep, dark well.

When somebody falls into a well, it is very difficult to get out, especially if the well has no steps or doesn't have adequate walls or anything like that, adequate holes in the walls or some footholds and handholes, where you can come out. It's very, very difficult. So, often it is said that all of us have fallen into samsara, which is like a deep, dark well.

So, although Bhaktivedanta Thakur does not use that metaphor specifically here, but still the usage of bodhiya, I have fallen into. And further, inside samsara, samsara bhitare So, what has caused me to fall deep into samsara? It is a misdirection of my consciousness. It is my evil mind, emona durmati.

So, bodhiya chinnu aami So, the human form of life is meant to come out of material existence. We use our intelligence to direct our quest for happiness towards spirit and therein find lasting happiness. But instead, we direct our search for happiness towards matter and we use our higher intelligence to seek material pleasure in newer and better ways.

And although those days don't turn out to be better, ultimately, the pleasure is the same, but in the process we incur bad karma and we go deeper into material existence becoming more and more attached and more and more entangled. And, not only do we have no ability to come out, we don't even have much desire to come out. So, seeing our pitiable plight, the Lord helps us.

pathaiya dile tume tava nijjana tava nijjana You're nijjana, you're intimate person, you're intimate associate. kono mahajane He's a mahajane. Now, He does not use the name ko or which mahajane specifically.

The Bhagavatam talks about twelve mahajanas, but Srila Prabhupada explains that twelve is not a limiting number. Anyone who follows the instructions of Guru Sadhu Shastra, that person gradually becomes a mahajana. So, kono mahajane.

So, you send one such mahajana. Bhaktivinoda Thakur's focus in this particular song is not on his particular spiritual master. It is on the principle of mercy that is manifested by the Lord through the spiritual master.

So, he focusses on that principle of mercy more than the person over here. Kono mahajane. Therefore, without mentioning the name, he says kono mahajane.

Some mahajane you send. You send him. And then what happens? And then And then So, here That mahajana was very merciful to me.

Saw that I was very, that mahajana saw that I was very fallen. He spoke these words to me. Oh, you who are fallen.

Here, a wonderful good news. That on hearing this, your heart will become cheerful. It will become jubilant.

So, it's significant that our message, the message that Krishna comes to give is not a message of doom and destruction or misery and pessimism. It is a message of love and hope and joy. That's what is indicated over here.

Your heart will become joyful. Sometimes, we may focus too much on the pessimistic seeming side of how mortal existence is futile and not, we may not focus adequately on the supreme optimism of undying love and our aspirations for love and happiness are meant to be fulfilled and will be fulfilled in our relationship with the Lord. So, that happiness is what we are looking for and that happiness is what we will get if we devote ourselves to the Lord.

So, So, So, this great soul came and saw that I am very fallen. He was merciful and he saw that I was fallen and spoke these words to me. Normally, the great souls are always compassionate but when they see souls who are very fallen, they become all the more compassionate.

This is quite in contrast to a person who is very pompous and self-righteous. Now, when such a person sees people engaged in sinful activities, people who are fallen, the person just becomes more self-righteous and more supercilious and thinks that these people are so degraded, they are so fallen, they are just going to go to hell and our devotion, our purity, our knowledge of Shastra, all this is meant to make us more compassionate nor more judgemental because if we become judgemental about others, we can't help others. We want to help and the way to help is by having a soft compassionate heart.

Certainly, we have to have philosophical discrimination to understand what is a spiritually elevated state and what is a spiritually degraded state. That is definitely required but also, even if we say somebody is spiritually degraded, that does not make us superior to that person and that definitely doesn't mean that we have a right to flaunt our superiority over that person. No.

So, if someone is in a fallen state, that should evoke our compassion not our condescension. So, So, on seeing me fallen, he became compassionate and spoke these words to me. The mood of the Acharya is like that of a doctor.

When a doctor sees a very sick person, the doctor doesn't think this person is so sick, let me reject that person. No. Doctor urgently wants to spring into action and help the person.

So, he spoke these words to me. Now, this is a doctor may use medicine. A doctor uses medicine to cure.

The medicine that the spiritual master, the Mahajana, uses is the words of Krishna Katha, the words that convey Krishna's message and that is the medicine that he gives over here. Ohe Dina Jana Oh, oh fallen person. Ohe Dina Jana Shuno Bhalo Katha.

Please hear this joyful story. Joyful news. Katha when it is used in today's parlance it usually means story.

But the way it is used in Bengali, it quite often means what is the news? Kaha Katha. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked Dharadas Thakur, what is the news? Kaha Katha. So, Shuno Bhalo Katha, it means hear the good news.

Ulla Seetha Behi Inya. Your heart will become joyful by hearing this news. Now, actually Bhaktanath Thakur lived at a time when the Vedic culture was still very much there at least in India and Bengal Bhaktanath Thakur lived and preached primarily.

So, people more or less understood that if we are fallen, understood that they were often, they were fallen. If somebody would eat meat, somebody would drink or do all those sort of things, it was understood that a person was fallen. But here, so it's understandable that if a saintly person says Ohe Dina Janna Shuno Bhalo Katha Oh, fallen person, I will speak to you something which will make you happy.

It's interesting, if we today go to somebody and say, Oh, fallen person, I have got some good news for you to make you happy. He says, I am not fallen. Who says I am fallen? That will probably be the first response.

And that is because people are so fallen that they don't even realise that they are fallen. It's just like a person when he is a little intoxicated, that person understands that I am that I am now drunk and I have to be careful. If I don't take support of a wall or if I don't ask help of a friend, I might fall on the ground and I can't drive now because I may cause an accident.

So therefore, when a person is little drunk, that person is aware that I am drunk. But when the person becomes too drunk, so intoxicated that the person doesn't even realise, the person may have fallen into a gutter. You know, the gutter water is going through the mouth and somebody asks, Hey, fallen is in terrible condition.

Come, please give me your hand. I'll pick you out. I always fall and I am enjoying at last.

That is because so intoxicated that the person doesn't even realise that I am intoxicated. So, that is the condition of people today. That's why today we have to adopt the formula of Pramodan Saraswati where he says, No, you are a great person and I hold a straw between my mouth while I approach you.

And please accept the message of Lord Chaitanya. So, the principle of giving the message of love remains the same. But the process or the specific words that we use, the method that we use, that will vary according to time, place, circumstance.

So, we may not be able to, we will not find it appropriate, it will not be appropriate for us and we'll find it counterproductive if we use Ohe Dina Jana. But for a person who is at least having some sense of spiritual sanity, that person will understand that I am very fallen. And there is no object to be addressed as Ohe Dina Jana.

He will focus only more on, not that I am fallen. Oh, you have got some good news for me. Bhalo Katha.

And that Katha will make my Hia Ulla sit. So, I want to hear that Katha. What is that Katha? Please tell me.

So, Tomare Tarete Shri Krishna Chaitanya. Navadvipe Avataara Tomahe No Koto Dina Hina Jane Korile Na Bhava Paara So, Tomare Tarete For the sake of delivering you Shri Krishna Chaitanya That Lord Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahapuru for delivering you Navadvipe Avataara has appeared in Navadvip Tomahe No Koto Dina Hina Jane Like you many many fallen souls Dina Hina Jane Korile Na Bhava Paara He has taken them out of material existence. So, here he is explaining that the good news is the descent of Lord Chaitanya.

So, and why is the Lord Chaitanya descended? It's such a personal rapport that Bhaktivinoda Thakur has that he is speaking, why has the Lord come? Tomare Tarete He has come for delivering you and this is the very personal essence of bhakti. Each of us needs to feel that Krishna loves us and Krishna wants us to come to Him and He has come to deliver us. So, Tomare Tarete, for delivering you.

Shri Krishna Chaitanya Navadvipe Avataara Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is Janna Avataar, Janna Avataar of Kali Yuga has descended Navadvipe Avataara In Navadvipe He has descended Avataara. Avataar means Avataar Tithi Avataar One who descends is called the Avataar. So, descends means He exists in the higher spiritual realm at the appropriate time He descends from that realm to this realm and firstly He says Tomare Tarete, He has come for you and then to substantiate it further He says Tomahe Na Koto Dinahi Na Jane Korile Na Bhava Paara Tomahe Na Koto Tomahe Na Koto means like you Many people Dinahi Na Jane Fallen people He has Korile Na Bhava Paara He has delivered them, taken them out of material existence So, again going back to the doctor's metaphor somebody says that just for treating you there is a famous doctor who has come to this particular village or this particular city Oh really? I really want to know about it That itself will create some eagerness but then we may want to know is this a newfangled doctor what is his authenticity, what is his credibility but then he assures us that not only has he come for us, not only does he have compassion but he also has competence A good doctor needs to have these two qualities, compassion and competence.

Compassion means a doctor wants to do good to the patient Doctor is truly truly cares and wants to heal the patients and secondly competence means the doctor feels that doctor has the skills to help the patient somebody has the desire to remove a bullet lodged into somebody's leg but the person does not have the necessary skills then in trying to remove the bullet the person may lodge the knife inside the leg also and make things worse so he is telling in the first line he has compassion then he is saying that his competence is seen from his track record what is the track record? Like you many many many many foreign people Kori Lena Bhava Paara He has taken them out of material existence Kori Lena Bhava Paara so this is the special quality of Lord Chaitanya that he not only is descendent for you but he has also delivered many people like you implies that actually don't think that your case is exceptional there is a track record of delivering people like you sometimes you may feel that I am so fallen that I cannot be delivered but there are people as fallen as us and more fallen than us also who have been delivered by the mercy of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and therefore we are also capable of being delivered by Him. That is the implication here of what Bhaktivinoda Thakur says. So he is further describing the glory of Lord Chaitanya and he says that the scriptures had promised that this Lord will be descending so to deliver us in every age the Lord comes.

He says in the Bhagavad Gita which is the essence of the Vedic literature Krishna says in 15.15 that I am the essence towards which all the Vedas are pointing. So Vedera Pratigna is that whenever there is decline of religion I will come and I will establish Dharma and thus make up this prepare the path for rescuing you. So Vedera Pratigna Rakhi Bharata Re.

Rakhi Bharata Re. So to protect that Pratigna Rukma Varna Viprasuta. So that is general Vedera Pratigna that the Lord will come in every Sambhavami Yuga Yuga will come in each Yuga but then there is also Chaitanya Upanishad which states that the Lord will come in a golden form.

So Rukma Varna Viprasuta. Rukma Varna. Rukma Varna is golden complexion and is Viprasuta.

He will come in a Brahmanas family. Rakhi Bharata Re. So he will come for what purpose? For delivering us, for protecting us.

Maha Prabhu Name Nadiya Mataya Sange Bhai Avadhuta. So he will come by the name of Maha Prabhu. Maha Prabhu Name.

Now the name Maha Prabhu has a great secret behind it. Prabhu refers to this being the Lord. The word Prabhu is used consistently in the Chaitanya Upanishad to refer to the Lord.

Master, the supreme master or master both are referred to by the word Prabhu. But that Prabhu has come in the Mahabhav of Srimati Radharani. Mahabhav is the supreme emotion of love that is manifested through Radharani.

So Krishna has come to taste the sweetness of the devotion of Radharani. So Prabhu has come to taste Mahabhav and thus he becomes Maha Prabhu. Maha Prabhu Name Nadiya Mataya Nadiya Mataya Nadiya Mataya means he maddened Nadiya.

So what is the meaning of maddening? The Chaitanya Tamrita and in general the Gaudiya Vaishnava literature repeatedly use the word Premo Unmad. So Unmad is Mataya, similar, it is madness. So the madness of love, the intoxication of love, the mania of love.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made everyone in Nadiya. So earlier what was news was Navdeep. Navdeep was the specific place where you could see the township where Lord Chaitanya appeared.

But his influence spread far beyond that. So Nadiya is the broader district. All of which he maddened Nadiya Mataya.

He maddened everyone in Nadiya over there and Sange Bhaiya Vadhoota Sange with him Bhaiya Vadhoota He along with him he had his brother who was a Vadhoota. So it's interesting that Nityanand Prabhu was not a blood brother of Lord Chaitanya. His blood brother was Vishwaroop who an elder brother had departed from the world after taking sannyas.

He departed from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's world by taking sannyas and eventually as a sannyasi he departed from the world. So this blood brother was not there but when Nityanand Prabhu came the bond between Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda was so deep and the relationship of Nityanand Prabhu with Sachi Mata was just like that of a son and mother that it was understood that he is for all practical purposes the brother of Lord Chaitanya. And although in this particular relationship they were not brothers but they were not blood brothers but it was also understood that they were incarnations of Krishna Balaram.

So Krishna Balaram are brothers and similarly Chaitanya and Nityananda are brothers. So Sange Bhai so this Lord Chaitanya has with him his brother Nityananda and what is his characteristic? Avadhuta means he is transcendental rules and regulations. He is so advanced so advanced spiritually that he doesn't care for rules and regulations.

Rules and regulations are meant to elevate those people who are caught in material existence but those who are already elevated those are already exalted they don't need rules and regulations and Nityananda Prabhu falls in that exalted category. So now he is describing further about this particular incarnation Lord who has incarnated that who was known as Nandasutra. Nandasutra refers to Krishna the son of Nanda Maharaj.

The one who was known as Nandasutra he has now come as Chaitanya Goswami. So Goswami it's interesting we usually use the word Goswami with respect to Rupa Goswami but Chaitanya Goswami is also appropriate because Goswami refers to one who has conquered the senses and certainly Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had conquered the senses and quite often the word Goswami is used for Nandasutra. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was also in the renounced order but more importantly he is the master of the senses in general because he is Rishikesh.

So Chaitanya Goswami. So that Lord who that same person who was earlier Nandasutra he has now come as Chaitanya Goswami. So his name when he was born was Nimai and Vishwambhar but then after he took sannyas he gave the name Shri Krishna Chaitanya.

So one who awakens Krishna Chaitanya everywhere and in short he is referred to as Chaitanya. Chaitanya Goswami Nijanama Koridana. Nijanama.

Nijanama is one's own name Koridana. So here Chaitanya Mahaprabhu comes in the mood of his devotee and he doesn't urge people to chant his own names. He actually was at one time in Advaitacharya chanted his names.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was quite upset. He said you should not do this. He was very almost angry and so angry the devotees were approaching.

So he did not literally chant, he did not ask people to chant his own names. He asked people to chant Krishna's names. But philosophically we know that he and Krishna are not different.

So in that sense he is the Lord playing the role of a devotee and in the mood of a devotee he is telling don't chant my names, chant my Lord's names. But because he is the Lord, so in that sense, in that sense of philosophical oneness, with an awareness of philosophical oneness, Bhaktivinoda Thakur is saying he is giving his own name. Nijanama Koridana.

Now we wonder what is there to do charity in the name. But the point is that giving the charity of the name means that he is revealing the sweetness of the name. He is giving the inspiration to chant the holy name.

And he is giving the blessings by which the chanting of the names will have potency. That when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, especially in South India tour and even in North India tour, when he would embrace somebody or when somebody would just have the fortune of seeing him chanting, that person would be like electrified with the current of Krishna Bhakti and Krishna Prem. And that person would also start chanting and gaining, feeling ecstasy in chanting.

So when he says he is giving the holy, giving the charity of the holy name means he is giving in charity the knowledge of the glory of the holy name. He is giving in charity the taste for the holy name. He is giving in charity the inspiration and the ability to chant the holy names.

So, nija naam kori daana. In this way, he is giving his own name in charity. Tari lo jagat means he has delivered the whole world.

And because he has delivered the whole world, You also please go. Go nija paritraana. And take your own deliverance also from him.

So, now, in one sense, Bhaktivinoda Thakura is envisioning the situation and he is also prophesying the situation. He is envisioning, because at that time of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Tari lo jagat was not yet true. Because Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was not known much beyond Bengal and Orissa area.

But Bhaktivinoda Thakura had the prophecy that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was, as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself has predicted, his holy name is going to spread in every town and village. And therefore, he is going to deliver the world. And Tari lo jagat is delivered.

So, now, it is all the more true for us at our time, because we see practically in every continent all over the world, people have become attracted, people have become transformed, people have been delivered. So, we too can be delivered by him. So, therefore, you also go please.

Go to him. And take your own deliverance also. So, it's interesting that the Guru doesn't think that I am going to deliver you.

So, Bhaktivinoda Thakura is envisioning that he is reporting to the Lord and this other word is that your representative. It is your intimate servant. A great Mahajan came and spoke these words to me.

So, the spiritual master doesn't think that I will deliver you. The spiritual master says, I will show you the way to Krishna. I will inspire you to go to Krishna and Krishna will deliver you.

So, that is being reflected over here, where it is said, He has delivered everyone. Therefore, you also go and take your deliverance also. So, Shatrughapada writes how that the spiritual master, that the parampara is the via media, but the experience of Krishna is direct through the via media also.

So, it's direct experience. We all have a personal relationship with Krishna and it is that personal relationship that the spiritual master revives. Take your own deliverance.

So, on hearing the story, on hearing, so, that is how this narrative of Bhaktivinoda Thakura started. This is my spiritual master, a representative of yours came and told me, hear this story. Hear this, not this katha, of course, hear this news.

So, on hearing this news, it's like if we hear the news, oh, there is a sale going on over here, 50% off, then immediately we'll go to that place and we'll see what we can purchase. So, similarly, the Mahajanas come and tell us that Chittan Mahaprabhu's mercy is available. So, go and take it.

Say katha, shuniya, asiyanchi natha. Asiyanchi natha, oh natha, oh master, oh lord, I have come to you now. Tomar charan tale.

Where have I come? I have come to your lotus feet. Tomar charan tale. So, Bhaktivinoda Thakur, he's himself an exalted Acharya.

He's himself a ittya siddha associate of the lord. But when he's coming in front of the lord, he's not saying that I'm your eternal associate. He's saying my qualification in coming to you is that I have been referred to you by your intimate servant.

Generally, when we go to meet some big person, that person will ask the reference, who told you about me? And, you know, if that person doesn't know us at all, then that person may not give us time. So, if we have a contact through whom we approach, then, oh, this person has sent you. Okay, please come.

I would like to talk with you. What would you like? What can I do for you? So, like that, now, with us, between us and Krishna, there is always an intimate relationship. But Krishna loves his devotees and those who have devoted their lives to him, the spiritual masters.

Krishna wants to glorify them in this world also. And he glorifies them by making them the way by which we can come out of this world. So, he glorifies them by by making them the way by which we come out of the world.

That means we have to have connection with Vaishnavas. We have to have connection in the devotee community by which we will be able to come out of this material existence. So, it is by their reference that we approach Krishna.

Se katha shuniya. So, on hearing their story, during this news, I have come to you. Tomar charan tale.

To your lotus feet. Bhakti vinod kandiya kandiya. Apana kahini bole.

Bhakti vinod. So, Bhakti vinod is crying, crying. Why crying? Actually, just as a beggar, when the beggar comes before, when the beggar is in a very pitiable condition, the beggar is crying, I have not got any food for three days.

Please give me some charity. Please give me some alms. Please give me something.

So, the more pitiable the condition of the beggar and the more desperate the appeal, then the more likely is the donor to give some charity. So, now that is, our condition is also similarly pitiable. But unfortunately, we don't realise that because we are so caught in our own megalomania, our own thinking how great I am or how great I will become.

And because of that, we don't realise that we have a precious opportunity to get out of material existence. And we have the opportunity to get out of the misery, all the miseries that are there in material existence. But unfortunately, not realising this opportunity, we stay on in material existence.

So, that is our misfortune. But one who has become a little philosophically aware, understand how miserable we are, and therefore, when we come before the Lord, Kandiya, Kandiya, My dear Lord, I have got so many conditionings, so many attachments. I have committed so many sins in the past.

I have offended so many devotees. Please, my Lord, forgive me. Please have mercy on me.

Apani kahini bole My Lord, I am telling you my story. Please deliver me. Please have mercy on me.

Please take me back to you, my Lord. Please take me back to you. So, what is the story of Bhaktivinoda Thakur? Let us make that the story of our heart also.

When we hear Krishna Katha from devotees, let that enliven us. And Ullasi Taha Behiya Let that enliven our heart, and with that enlivened heart, let us march towards Krishna. Let us go to Krishna and tell him, Krishna, I want your shelter.

Please, hearing your glories from your devotee, I have been inspired to come to you. Thank you.