The Supreme Lord reserves the right to not be exposed to our sense organs (Part 2)
I request you to always follow a Pure Vaiṣṇava and hear Hari-Kathā from him. Take his shelter for a long time. Do Harīnām and develop your sevā mood. Day by day you should increase your Dhāma-sevā and your Nāma-sevā. Don’t just come for Hari-Kathā then take prasādam and then go to sleep. This is not proper bhajan. Day and night you have to increase your bhajan and gradually your consciousness becomes more uplifted. In Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta it is written :
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-sudhā-pānād
deha-daihika-vismṛteḥ
teṣāṁ bhautika-dehe ’pi
sac-cid-ānanda-rūpatā
“Having drunk the nectar of devotion to Kṛṣṇa, those devotees forget their material bodies and relationships. Thus even while living in material bodies, they assume the transcendental nature of eternity, knowledge, and bliss.”
If you go on hearing Hari-Kathā from a Pure Vaiṣṇava and you can drink this nectar then you can forget all of your body and mind and everything related to it. Such a personality has to be 100% transcendental, not 50% or 80% or even 90%.
Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur used to explain Śrīmad Bhāgavatam at noontime in Godrumdvīp. There were only one or two devotees there, one of which was Kṛṣṇa dās Bābājī Mahārāj, the personal servant of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur. Sometimes, Gaura Kiśor dās Bābājī would cross the river and also come to listen. Only two persons were hearing from such a high class personality as Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur. Can you imagine? If you heard such pure transcendental Hari-Kathā from such a Vaiṣṇava then you would slowly forget about everything material. You would no longer think about your body or your mind or anything related to them. You would become just like a man who is intoxicated from wine and doesn’t even remember if he is dressed or not. He would not even know how to walk down the street. If you hear from such personalities then you would feel compelled to follow. Otherwise, not putting into practice what you learned would be a useless waste.
Consider Śaṅkar Bhagavān who always walks with his eyes half closed because he is not so interested in what is happening in the world. He sees only the Transcendental Līlās of the Lord. We have to develop this quality if we truly desire to see the Supreme Lord.
In the Padma Purāṇa we find a verse which Śrī Kṛṣṇa spoke to Nārada:
nāhaṁ vasāmi vaikunthe yogināṁ hṛdaye na cha
mad bhaktā yatra gāyanti tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada
“Neither do I reside in Vaikuṇṭha nor in the hearts of the yogīs, but I dwell where My devotees sing My Name, O Nārada!!” (Padma Purāṇa)
Here it is explained that wherever Pure Devotees do saṅkīrtan, the Supreme Lord is directly present there. Conditioned souls cannot see Him. But if a Pure Devotee like Śrīla Prabhupāda is speaking Hari-Kathā then he does directly see the Lord. But all others who surround him cannot see Him.
Once it happened that Śrīla Prabhupāda was speaking Hari-Kathā on the banks of Rādhā Kuṇḍa. When he spoke the name Rādhārāṇī, he immediately went into internal consciousness and half fainted. All aṣṭa-sātvik-vikārs were coming to him. His hands were shaking. But then immediately he checked up his feeling, not wanting to disclose in front of public.
Also, Śukadev Gosvāmī wanted to speak so many things but as soon as he spoke the name of Rādhā he could no longer speak properly. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam there is only one indication about Śrī Rādhā’s name, “anārādhitā nūnam”. Kṛṣṇa is totally satisfied by Her. Ārādhitā means worship. So when those Pure Devotees speak Kṛṣṇa-Kathā then they can see everything. But we think that we are this body made of five elements, so Māyā-devī is making a fool of us and we cannot see Kṛṣṇa. All the elements – earth, water, fire, air, either – all of them go back to their forms again. Everything in the material world is temporary. We get this body and then after that all the elements must return to their original form. All the air from the body goes back into air. All of the water element returns to water. This is inevitable. Everything, including all of our money and wealth, is temporary.
Earlier I said that the Supreme Lord can reserve the right of not being exposed to our sense organs. Kṛṣṇa and His Śakti are not different. We cannot think of them as being separate. Srila Jīva Gosvāmī told that Kṛṣṇa has one kind of energy which can prevent you from looking at Him, which is called- “Kṛṣṇa sat prakāśa śakti”. Sri Kṛṣṇa can arrange things in a way that you can see Kṛṣṇa, or that you cannot see Him even though He is right in front of you.
For example, in Puruṣottam Dhāma, in the Chariot Festival, Caitanya Mahāprabhu made seven groups. Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted to show us how to satisfy Jagannātha completely. That is why he arranged 108 Mṛdaṅgas in seven groups with everyone loudly chanting the Holy Names:
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
No one could hear anything except for the Holy Names. Simultaneously, each group was thinking that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was only in their group. Each saṅkīrtan party thought, “He is dancing and chanting only with us!” The masses could not ascertain that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was concurrently singing and dancing in all of the groups. Only King Pratāparudra and Sarvabhauma could see Mahāprabhu present in all of the groups at the same time. Why? Because it was the desire of Mahāprabhu. And when the Lord has a desire, Yogamāyā arranges everything according to His will. That is the duty of Yogamāyā. Thousands of devotees were present but only a couple could see Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in multiple saṅkīrtan parties. That is because Kṛṣṇa reserves the right to not be exposed to our sense organs.
A devotee once asked me, “How can I see Kṛṣṇa when my mind and body is completely material? Is it even possible?” Actually, we are not even capable of serving our Gurudev if he is above the level of madhyam adikhārī because he is on the transcendental platform. We cannot serve such a pure devotee because his position is so different from our position. In order to serve him, I first must go up to his level. Then and only then can I truly serve my Gurudev.
Someone might ask, “Oh, Mahārāj, sometimes we see that this or that devotee is serving Gurudev.” That is technically correct but that level of service is a kind of practice. This kind of abyāsa yoga should only be done under the guidance of a pure devotee. In this way he can give a sevak a chance. Maybe the sevak is not yet fully qualified to serve his Gurudev but by practicing he can gain qualification.
A Pure Devotee is always merciful and can give a disciple a chance to cook for him or to wash his clothes. But in reality a disciple generally doesn’t even have the right to receive the darśan of Śrī Guru. It is too easy to commit an aparādha at his Lotus Feet. Something like 99.9 % of devotees commit some aparādha. That we can easily see in our Gauḍīya History. Disciples are material and can rarely understand a Pure Devotee’s activities.
What is the purport? We should try and keep a safe distance from Guru and Vaiṣṇavas. Likewise with Nāma Prabhu. If we want to do Nāma sevā then we have to improve our practice. Otherwise Nāma sevā is not attainable. If the sun is in the sky then everything else is clearly visible; without the sun there is only darkness. The same applies with pure Vaiṣṇavas. They are manifestations of the Lord Himself. This is called sat prakāś vastu.
Śrī Guru, Dhāma, and Nāma are all self-manifesting. That’s why when Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu comes here to this world, then thousands of people have the chance to see Him. He goes to take bath in the Gaṅgā, He goes on Saṅkīrtan, He goes to the market.
Capal Gopāl also saw Mahāprabhu. Kolaveccha Śrīdhar was also there in the market. Every day Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to him and started a fight. Mahāprabhu complained, “Oh this is a very exaggerated price!” Every day He tried to bargain with Kolaveccha Śrīdhar who was unable to understand that he was quarreling with the Supreme Lord Himself. Kolaveccha Śrīdhar was in the habit of worshiping Gaṅgā-devī with half of his daily income. And Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu kept asking him, “Why don’t you worship me?” God Himself was joking with Śrīdhar but still he could not understand that Mahāprabhu was actually the Supreme Lord. One day in Śrīvās Aṅgan, Mahāprabhu was calling all of His devotees. He also asked them to summon Śrīdhar. When Śrīdhar arrived, Caitanya Mahāprabhu showed him His form as the Supreme Lord. Only then could Śrīdhar realize at whom he was looking.
Also, Capal Gopāl developed leprosy because he had committed a great offense to Śrīvās Ṭhākur. Once, when Capal Gopāl was sitting on the bank of the Gaṅgā where Mahāprabhu took bath, he begged Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to forgive him. Mahāprabhu declined and instead told him he would have to suffer life after life.
If one receives full kṛpā, then he can see that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is indeed the Supreme Lord. One day, a tearful devotee approached Garga Muni. The devotee said he had heard that the Supreme Lord had taken birth in Gokul and he asked to see Him. Upon Garga Muni’s inquiry he learned that the devotee was blind. The Muni asked the devotee whether he could perceive any vision in his heart. The blind man answered that he could see a very excellent boy playing in his heart. Garga Muni explained to the blind devotee that who he saw in his heart was in fact Gopāl. A blind person could lack exterior vision but have such perfect interior perception. The Muni offered to help the man by restoring his eyesight. But Garga Muni also warned the man that if he blessed him with restored vision it would also have the effect of forcing him to perceive the material world. The Muni impressed upon him the auspiciousness of his present condition of only having Gopāl in his line of sight. The devotee very quickly decided that he was fine as he was and did not need any eyes for material vision. He had no desire to be put in a position to also have to see Kaṁsa, Śiśupāl and all other material persons.
This is very instructive Siddhānta. In Goloka Vṛndāvan there is no Śiśupāl, Kaṁsa, or Dantavakra. Only when that Goloka descends to this material world do we see Kaṁsa, Śiśupāl, Jarāsandha, Pūtanā, and so on. It is the same Vṛndāvan, but here on this material planet there is some sort of specialty present. Here we can see Govinda as well as Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha and the rest.
In this Kali Yuga, it is not possible for us to watch the Supreme Lord directly. But Śrīla Prabhupāda and Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur can close their eyes or can open their eyes and either way they can always see the Supreme Lord.
premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
“I worship the primeval Lord, Govinda, who is always seen by the devotee whose eyes are anointed with the pulp of love. He is seen in His eternal form of Śyāmasundara, situated within the heart of the devotee.” (Brahma Saṁhitā Vers 38)
When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu manifested his Līlā in Puruṣottam Dhāma, all the devotees clearly saw Mahāprabhu and knew Him to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Haridās Ṭhākur, Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Sanātan Gosvāmī and Raghunāth dās Gosvāmī could all see that He was the Supreme Lord. But in Puruṣottam, Rāmacandra Purī could not see this. He is the godbrother of Iśvara Purīpāda. He took dīkṣā and Harīnām from Mādhavendra Purīpāda. But still he could not understand that Mahāprabhu was the Supreme Lord.
Rāmacandra went inside the Gambhīra Mandir and told Mahāprabhu that He was so greedy. He claimed that so many ants had come to take crumbs from sweet rice or sweet balls that Mahāprabhu must have eaten the previous night. He found fault with the Supreme Lord Himself. Rāmacandra had no capacity to understand who Caitanya Mahāprabhu was the way the Gosvāmīs and other Pure devotees could.
Rāy Ramananda would alternately see Mahāprabhu as Rādhā Govinda and at other times he would see the Divine Couple in the combined form of Mahāprabhu Himself. His perception would fluctuate back and forth like this. Mahāprabhu had to ask Rāy Ramananda not to tell anyone about this pastime just so others would not think they were crazy!
So how in Kali Yuga can we meet with the Supreme Lord? We can only do so through saṅkīrtan.
sādhu-saṅge kṛṣṇa-nāma ei mātra cāi
saṁsāra jinite ār kono vastu nāi
“Desire only to remain in the association of the Pure Devotees and chant Kṛṣṇa Nāma. Besides this, there is no other way to conquer the cycle of birth and death in the material world.” (Jagadānanda Paṇḍit – Prema-vivarta)
This is the only solution. Always maintain yourself in sādhu-saṅga of Pure Devotees and chant Harīnām. To chant Kṛṣṇa-Nāma without the association of the sādhus means also to have to proceed with difficulty. Therefore in one word the solution is in sādhu saṅga. We are to secure the company of a standard realized soul, then everything will fall into place, and the king of the sādhus is Śrī Guru.
The best time to chant Harīnām is at 3 o’clock in the morning. If you want to get the nicest products in the market, the best time to shop is very early. At that time, everything is so fresh and abundantly available. Nāma-Haṭṭa is the marketplace of the Holy Name. The market is open at that time but you are sleeping.
Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur came home from his office and took some light prasādam and then took rest until 10 o´clock. After that he woke up and did Harīnām all night. If you want to get power then you have to discipline yourself in the same way.
Brahmacārīs and sanyāsīs should not sleep more than four hours per day. Those who follow brahmacarya will automatically have plenty of energy restored inside their bodies. They do not unnecessarily expend their energy. If your mind and sense organs are all focused internally then that means that you do not have any material desires. Such a person wants only to search for the Absolute Truth. Situated like this, all of one’s sense organs stop their external activities and retreat. Then only is it possible to see Gopāl, Śrī Nāthji inside of the heart when doing Harīnām.
When properly chanting Gāyatrī, the sādhaka can see the whole body of Gopāl starting from His toenails up to His head. Otherwise, Kāma-gāyatrī is useless. It isn’t necessary to go to Jagannāth Purī to see Ratha Yātrā. You can actually see it from here but it needs practice.
Now I want to tell you something about Mādhavendra Purī and what Caitanya Mahāprabhu wants to advise us. Śrīla Mādhavendra Purīpāda is a realized soul, an eternal associate of Caitanya. He appeared before Caitanya Mahāprabhu but still he is the eternal associate of Mahāprabhu. How we can understand this point? Eternal pārṣads can arrive before or after or even with Caitanya Mahāprabhu to perform their līlās together. The relative arrival time does not matter. Their only desire is to fulfil Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s desire. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur, and Śrīla Prabhupāda are all the eternal associates of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
Even now if you find one devotee who wants to implement the inner heart’s desire of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then you can be certain that he is also an eternal pārṣad of Mahāprabhu. These personalities are not interested in money, position, pratiṣṭhā, etc. They will just spit on these things. But Vaiṣṇava pratiṣṭhā is unique. You cannot spit on it. Pure Vaiṣṇavas can accept Vaiṣṇava pratiṣṭā. Śrīla Prabhupāda advises us in this way:
“vaiṣṇavī pratiṣṭhā, tāte kara niṣṭhā, tāhā nā bhajile labhibe raurava”
Be steady feast in (your acceptance of) the prestige that comes from being a Vaiṣṇava. If you do not observe this then you will go to the hellish planets known as Raurava.
Three times Gopāl appeared to Mādhavendra Purīpāda. Mādhavendra Purī was doing Harīnām at the banks of Govinda Kuṇḍa and in the late afternoon Gopāl came with a pot full of pure milk. He asked Mādhavendra Purī why he was fasting and Mādhavendra Purī asked Gopāl how he knew he was fasting. The small boy responded that the ladies from his village who come to take water from Govinda Kuṇḍa told him and that is why he came over to check on him. The boy was so beautiful and very charming. Mādhavendra Purīpāda still could not understand who the beautiful boy was because Gopāl is Kṛṣṇa and He reserves the right of not being exposed to anyone’s senses. Gopāl chose to personally deliver milk to Mādhavendra Purī. So in the same way Gopāl can also appear in front of us! Why not?
In Vṛndāvan, many pastimes are told of Kṛṣṇa appearing directly to His devotees. Kṛṣṇa plays with the devotees. Gopāl went first directly to Mādhavendra Purīpāda, and then he visited him in a dream. The first time Mādhavendra did not realize that it was Gopāl. But then later, when he fell asleep, Gopāl came to see him in a dream. Gopāl told him, “I am the one who was bringing milk to you.” Then he requested Mādhavendra Purīpāda to bring Him out of the forest and explained to him that he had been waiting for a long time see him.
There were so many rich persons who could have done this sevā but Gopāl chose Mādhavendra Purī because he is niṣkiñcan. He didn’t own any possessions but his devotion was so high that Gopāl wanted only to be served by him. Gopāl is eager to give us His sevā but we have to be qualified.
When Mādhavendra Purī woke up, he called to the Brajavāsīs to help him to pull Gopāl out of the bushes. Afterwards, they established Gopāl on Goverdhan Hill where they began to serve Him nicely. Some time passed and again Gopāl went to Mādhavendra Purī in a dream. He told him, “Oh, Mādhavendra Purī, I have been in this forest a very long time. My body is burning. Please go to South India and arrange for some Malayan Chandan (Sandelwood). I want you to go; don’t send anyone else.” Mādhavendra Purī then arranged for two of his disciples to serve Gopāl in his absence.
On the way to Orissa, Mādhavendra Purī arrived at a place called Remuṇā where Khīr Chor Gopināth was staying. Before that pastime happened, He was known simply as Gopīnāth. When Mādhavendra Purīpāda reached that temple, he saw that the Gopīnāth sevā was done very nicely there. In the evening, after ārati, Mādhavendra Purīpād saw how the sevaks arranged a special khīr (sweet rice) in twelve pots. He wondered how he could find out how to make such nice khīr so he could also offer it to Śrī Nāth Ji in Vṛndāvan. His first thought was to taste the khīr to discover how it was made. But then he chastised himself thinking that he should not entertain such a thought. He felt guilt that he could be so greedy as to want to taste khīr intended for Gopīnāth.
Remorseful for having had such thoughts, Mādhavendra Purīpāda went to the market place chanting the Holy Name. In the meantime, when the ārati offering was over, the pujārī locked the temple and went to his room to take rest. After falling asleep, Gopīnāth came to him in a dream and said, “Oh pujārī-ji, get up. I took one nice pot of khīr. Open the temple and then bring this pot to my devotee named Mādhavendra Purī.” The pujārī got up and went into the temple as instructed and found that Gopīnāth had actually kept one pot of khīr under his cloth. The Lord really had stolen one pot! The pujārī took the pot and went to the market calling out for Mādhavendra Purī. He found him and told him, “Oh, you are very lucky. Gopīnāth stole this khīr for you. Take it.”
Again Mādhavendra Purī felt bad and was thinking that Gopīnāth went to so much trouble to steal that pot of khīr for him. He felt very sorry and broke down in tears. He finally took the khīr.
After he had washed the pot, he crushed it into pieces that he kept in his cloth. In that way, he tasted a piece of the pot every day and was regularly relishing prema and crying.
Mādhavendra Purī decided he should not stay at that place because in the morning all the locals would come and ask, “Who is that person for whom Gopīnāth is stealing Khīr?” The people would likely arrive with garlands wanting to wash his lotus feet. He thought it more advisable to disappear before that happened. Very early the next morning Mādhavendra went to Nīlācal Dhāma. He told the paṇḍās that Gopāl had come to him in a dream and said His body was burning and that he should bring Him some candan. He asked the pujārī if they could help arrange that. They replied, “Yes! Why not? We can see that you are a great devotee!” They then informed the King of Purī who arranged for a lot of candan and camphor to be provided to Mādhavendra. They also wrote a decree for him stating that he was a devotee and was legally carrying candan with the king’s permission. The official document stated that no party should treat Mādhavendra Purīpāda as a thief.
When Mādhavendra returned to Remuṇā, all the devotees there gave him khīr and other items. In the nighttime, Gopīnāth again appeared to Mādhavendra Purī. This time Gopīnāth commented, “Oh, you are going through so much trouble on my behalf. I and Gopāl are the same so you don’t need to go to Vṛndāvan. My body and His body are the same. You can apply candan on Me here.”
Mādhavendra called all the paṇḍās to tell them that Gopīnāth wanted to take the candan here. He asked them to arrange some nice devotees to rub the candan so for 21 days they continually applied it. That is why we celebrate the nice Candan Yātrā Festival.
When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to go to Remuṇā with all of His devotees, Nityānanda would speak of all the glories of Remuṇā. Nityānanda and Advaita Ācārya took dīkṣā from Mādhavendra Purīpāda. Caitanya Mahāprabhu told Nityānanda Prabhu, “You constantly think about how lucky Mādhavendra Purīpāda is that Gopāl came to him in his dream three times plus also directly appeared in front of him, but we cannot see Him.” Then Nityānanda Prabhu laughed and said to Mahāprabhu, “YOU are Gopāl!”
In this way, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is giving us the lesson that if we want to see Kṛṣṇa in this life we have to improve our bhajan and become like Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur, Śrīla Gaura Kiśor dās Bābājī Mahārāj, and Jagannāth dās Bābājī Mahārāj. Kṛṣṇa can manifest Himself directly, in a dream, or through Harīnām. Either way, you can realize Him.
Sometimes ordinary people ask devotees that come to beg alms whether they have seen Kṛṣṇa. The devotees cannot say they have; they have to admit they have never seen Kṛṣṇa. But I told you on the Appearance Day of Śrī Śanta Gosvāmī Mahārāj how strongly he replied to this question. “Yes. I have seen Kṛṣṇa because the Deity in the Temple is Kṛṣṇa Himself.”
“pratimā naha tumi– sākṣāt vrajendra-nandana…..”
My dear Lord, You are not a statue; You are directly the son of Mahārāja Nanda…. (C.C. Madhya 5.96)
If you have one hundred percent belief that Govindajī is there in Jaipur then you can be sure that you have had darśan of Kṛṣṇa. This is beyond understanding!
In Katwa there was a small boy named Raghunandan Ācārya. Every day his father worshipped Śālagrām Śilā. One day, the father had to leave for an extended period of time so he asked his young son to do the bhoga offering. He told him that after his mother finished cooking he should offer the bhoga as he sees it is done each day. The boy enthusiastically promised he would do so.
Later, when the son approached Ṭhākurjī, he asked him, “Oh, Gopāl, you have to take this bhoga. Please take it.” The boy went out of the room and waited for some time. After a while, he clapped his hands three times the way he always saw his father do it. The son simply imitated his dad. He returned to the temple room but saw that the offering was still there untouched. He asked Gopāl, “Why didn’t you eat? If you don’t take the offering it will create a problem for me with my father.” Then he admonished Gopāl with a stick and threatened, “I can beat you.” Gopāl then complied and appeared and took the bhoga.
When the small boy went back to his mother she asked him, “Where is the prasādam?”
The boy replied, “Gopāl has eaten it all.”
In the evening, when the father came home, he asked for prasādam. The son told him, “Gopāl took everything.”
The father asked, “Oh, really!?” and took his son to the temple where he handed his son a laddhu and told insisted, “Now you go and give this to Gopāl.”
The boy went inside the temple room and said to Gopāl, “Gopāl, my father has brought a laddhu for you.” But Gopāl did not come and take it. The boy said, “In the afternoon you took what I offered. Why don’t you take this now? If you don’t, my father will blame me and call me a liar.” Again the boy brandished a stick. Quickly, Gopāl appeared and took half of the laddhu. The father saw this happen and believed his son.
Although the father was senior in age, his son was actually more senior because he had more bhakti. Because of this episode, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu one day joked with Mukunda in Puruṣottam Dhāma. He challenged Mukunda, “I have a doubt. Are you Raghunandan Ācārya’s father or is he your father?”
Mukunda answered that his young son Raghunandan Ācārya was actually the father because the boy had taught him Kṛṣṇa Bhakti. Lord Caitanya said, “Yes, you got Kṛṣṇa bhakti from him so he is actually your father. You are not the father because you did not believe.”
In this way, you must understand that the Deity is exactly equal to Kṛṣṇa provided that you believe it one hundred percent. We can also demonstrate this with another example. There is the pastime of Sākṣī Gopāl. Two Brāhmaṇas went on a pilgrimage and the elder one wanted to offer his daughter to the younger Brāhmaṇa who was serving him on the pilgrimage tour. The younger Brāhmaṇa asked the elder one, “How can you give me your daughter? You are so high class and I am so low class.” Then the elder Brāhmaṇa promised his daughter to the younger one in front of Gopāl as the witness.
When the elder one later declined to relinquish his daughter, the younger Brāhmaṇa approached Gopāl in Vṛndāvan. He reminded Gopāl how the elder Brāhmaṇa had made a promise in front of Gopāl as the witness to give his daughter to him in marriage. He requested Gopāl to come with him and be his witness. Gopāl asked, “How can I go? Deities never go anywhere.”
The young Brāhmaṇa responded, “If you can speak then you can also move!”
Then Gopāl decided to travel a long distance from Vṛndāvan to the village Vidyānagar in South India. People in the village were wondering how the Deity got there since He was clearly very heavy. Some wondered if He had been carried. Others were saying the Deity was too heavy to have been carried for such a long distance.
When questioned, the elder Brāhmaṇa told the boy and the Deity that he could not remember the promise he had made to let the younger Brāhmaṇa marry his daughter. “I forgot,” he claimed. Then the young Brāhmaṇa mocked him, “Oh, now you cannot remember!”
Then Gopāl started to speak. He said, “That senior Brāhmaṇa did promise to give his daughter to this other Brāhmaṇa and he did so in front of me!”
Then all men in the village were astonished and agreed that since the Deity spoke up as a witness the marriage had to be arranged.
If we have one hundred percent belief in Kṛṣṇa then Kṛṣṇa will reciprocate. He will tell us, “Yes I am Kṛṣṇa!” But if our faith is only developed to 50%, then we cannot see Him. Our consciousness has to be developed to 100% and then and only then will Kṛṣṇa appear to us.
In Kalna there is also a pastime where Gauridās Paṇḍit is looking for Gaura Nitāi and crying out, “Oh, I cannot allow you to go away from me!”
They respond, “But we have so many things to do. We need to go.” Then Gauridās Paṇḍit demanded, “No, you cannot go.”
Then the Deities told him to make two forms out of wood that looked the same as They did. When there were two pairs, Gauridās Paṇḍit was offering them Bhoga and they asked him, “whom of us should stay here.”Then he told Them, “ I don’t want the Deities here. I want YOU here.” At that moment, the Deities started to walk away. Immediately Gauridās caught them and said, “No, don’t go, don’t go. You stay here in temple.”
In this way, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu proved that He and the Deity are non-different. This pastime occurred only 500 years ago. You can go to Kalna, and everybody there knows the pastime.
Lord Caitanya also gave a clue to Śacīmātā along this line. He told her that very shortly He would be present in two incarnations: one as Harīnām and one as a Deity. In that way, the Deity is like Kṛṣṇa himself; the Holy Name is also like Kṛṣṇa himself. If you want to attain that stage of realization, then you have to do Harīnām in a mood of sevā and cry out. You must also very carefully avoid bad association.
Śyāmānanda Prabhu was the disciple of Gauridās Paṇḍit and he was doing a lot of sevā every day. He carried 22 heavy pitchers of Gaṅgā water daily and this caused him to develop some bodily problems. He was a very nice devotee. Once, Gauridās Paṇḍit was gone and Śyāmānanda was doing all of the sevā alone. Some days passed and his Gurudev was still not back even though Gaura Pūrṇimā was coming up very soon. Śyāmānanda was wondering what to do and he started to send invitations out to all the Vaiṣṇavas. But when his Gurudev came back, he chastised him. Gauridās Paṇḍit asked him, “Who gave you the order to send out invitations!?” He was so angry that he sent Śyāmānanda away from his temple.
Śyāmānanda was crying and went on the bank of Gaṅgā. There he arranged a separate feast. His Gurudev arranged the usual temple feast. At the time of the temple offering, the Deities were gone! Gauridās Paṇḍit had not seen the Deities leave but the altar was empty! Someone then informed him that Gaura Nitāi had gone to be with his disciple Śyāmānanda and they were dancing on the banks of the Gaṅgā! Gauridās Paṇḍit took a stick and went to the Gaṅgā to bring Gaura Nitāi back to the temple. But when Gaura Nitāi saw him they ran and jumped into the heart of Śyāmānanda. Only then did Gauridās Paṇḍit realize what a great devotee his disciple Śyāmānanda was. He embraced him and began to cry.
In the chanting of the Holy Name there is one more point. You don’t need to take Dīkṣā. Harīnām is more than sufficient. But Raghunāth dās Gosvāmī and Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur said a disciple must take Dīkṣā. Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur also told that if you have 100% faith in Harīnām then you don’t need to take Dīkṣā. If you truly understand that everything is complete in Harīnām then it is O.K. to not receive Dīkṣā. But to cut material bondage you must take Dīkṣā because that will help you to cut the strong relationship with Māyā.
gurau goṣṭhe goṣṭhālayiṣu sujane bhūsura-gaṇe
sva-mantre śrī-nāmni vraja-nava-yuva-dvandva-śaraṇe
sadā dambhaṁ hitvā kuru ratim apūrvam atitarām
aye svāntardhātas caturbhir abhiyāce dhṛta-pādaḥ
O mind, I grasp your feet and beg you with sweet words: Please cast away all hypocrisy and develop intense, unprecedented love for my spiritual master, Vrajabhūmi, the people of Vraja, the Vaiṣṇavas, the brāhmaṇas, the Gāyatrī mantra, the holy name, and the transcendental shelter that is the fresh young couple of Vraja, Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. (Śrī Manah-śikṣā Text 1)
Everywhere it is written that you must take Dīkṣā:
dīkṣā-puraścaryā-vidhi apekṣā nā kare
jihvā-sparśe ā-caṇḍāla sabāre uddhāre
“One does not have to undergo initiation or execute the activities required before initiation. One simply has to vibrate the holy name with his lips. Thus even a man in the lowest class [caṇḍāla] can be delivered.” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 15.108)
True avoidance of asat saṅga means that you are doing sat saṅga all of the time. We should only be interested in hearing from our Gurudev, from Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur, from Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Thakur and so on. Then we can get real power and the confusion that is so prevalent everywhere these days will leave us.
Gaura Hari Hari bol