Nectarian flow of Srila Gurudev's Hari katha through the heart and voice of Sri Prem Prayojan Prabhu in the service to his beloved Srila Gurudev

A few words from my inspiration and my dearest friend Radha-Syamasundara :)

I adore Prem Prayojana very much as an enormous inspirational uplifter. Despite the challenges in his life, he remains sweet, powerful and magnetically attractive for thousands of genuine students who are on their way to the deep mystery of Krishna Consciousness world. Prem Prayojan has irresistible magnetic charisma. He is a very effective media that changes people’s lives to a deeper degree of their growth into their own undiscovered bliss , through the flow of hari-katha. For me personally he is an extended and generous hand of my spiritual guide Srila Gurudeva, Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja, about Whom I would like to quote the words of one wise person quite suitable here,” Lessons we learn from teachers who are not just good and perfect, but who also show affection to the student, go deep into our minds.” We came to this world with great enthusiasm and own purpose. Our journey for unconditional love is continuing and we are hopefully growing and expanding with our primary intentions to discover more about our internal source of pure thriving.

Radha-Syamasundara dasa
Adelaide

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SADHANA BHAKTI

Sri Prem Prayojan Prabhu

World Tour 2002

11 August 2002, Prague

Fortunate people come in contact with the teachings of Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And in the beginning with so much enthusiasm, optimism and hope, they begin to apply themselves to the practice of devotional service, as they understand it to be. Then after ten, fifteen or twenty years, they find themselves in the same situation they were when they started, still identifying with the material body, still being affected by mundane desires and attachments, and on top of that, then entering into mid-life crisis. So they find themselves in the same position they were before, but now they are older. Becoming discouraged, they loose faith in the process of bhakti, evidenced by their complete absorption in economic development. This is not the gradual progression of bhakti described in the scriptures. Adau sraddha-in the beginning you have faith, then you become burnt out, and after that you engage in economic development. It has not been described in this way. Why is it that so many devotees have this experience?

If you want to enter into the process of pure bhakti, we should understand what pure bhakti is. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, in his Bhakti Tattva Viveka, a deliberation on the Truth about the true principles of devotion, says that most people who come to the line of devotional service actually do not attain devotional service because they have not understood what it is. Therefore, they practice something else which has the appearance of bhakti but which is not bhakti; such practice does not give the result which has been advertised in all of the sastras. Ourselves in our life, have had this experience of practicing for many years and not achieving any realization or detachment from this world. If this is the case, we should try to erase everything that we think we know about bhakti, and then try to hear from authorities what is real bhakti. We must give up all previous misconceptions because they did not work-they were wrong-and just start again, think again, hear again from qualified authorities about bhakti-tattva.

We know that there are three types of bhakti according to Rupa Gosvamipada. He has defined bhakti as follows:

anyabhilasita-sunyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam

anukulyena krsnanu-silanam bhaktir uttama

Uttama (transcendental) bhakti means the continuous, unbroken, uninterrupted cultivation of all the endeavors of the body, mind, words and internal moods which is meant exclusively for the benefit of Krsna. Such endeavors must be completely devoid of even the slightest scent of other desires and must not be covered by karma, jnana, yoga, dry tapasya, false renunciation and other kinds of practices which are not connected with pure bhakti. This pure bhakti is anukulyena krsnanu-silanam-it is a practice which is ‘anu’ (anygatya), performed under the guidance of a liberated acarya. If devotional service is not performed under the guidance of a liberated acarya, the practice will not become transcendental. This is the definition of pure bhakti.

This pure bhakti is of three types: sadhana-bhakti, bhava-bhakti and prema-bhakti. Sadhana-bhakti is the first one. If we are not practicing sadhana-bhakti, then we are not doing any bhakti because this is the first one-it starts with sadhana. When sadhana is mature, it becomes bhava-bhakti, and when bhava-bhakti is mature, it becomes prema-bhakti. So if we want to begin our bhakti, we have to know the meaning of sadhana. I am posing this question-What is sadhana-bhakti?

Devotee 1: Rules and regulations.

Devotee 2: under guidance of a spiritual master. . .

BV Aranya Maharaja: but in that world, the relationship between Guru and disciple does not continue because in that world Guru is sakhi and maidservant of Radhika, and the disciple becomes the same. Two girls in a village are not Guru and disciple; they are sakhis, they are friends. So the relationship of Guru and disciple will not go on in that world, in Vrndavana. But anugatya means following, guidance-this relationship will go on always. So what is sadhana? Somebody is saying rules and regulations; others do not know. He says saranagati, surrender. So far everyone is wrong. Would anyone else like to try? What is sadhana? This is a very important point because we want to know if our activities are bhakti. We wake up in the morning and we want to do sadhana-bhakti.

Devotee 3: regular activity.

BV Aranya Maharaja: OK, if you want to know what sadhana is, instead of imagining, instead of going by some rumors-I heard a rumor that sadhana is this, I heard a rumor that sadhana is that. No, we should go directly to the description of bhakti given by Rupa Gosvami in Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhu. There definition of sadhana bhakti has also been explained in Caitanya Caritamrta. What is that definition?

krti-sadhya bhavet sadhya-bhava sa sadhanabhidha

nitya-siddhasya bhavasya prakatyam hrdi sadhyata

This is sadhana-bhakti given by Rupa Gosvamipada. This is very important because sadhana-bhakti is your first stage. If you do not know what is sadhana-bhakti, how can you do it? And if you cannot do sadhana-bhakti, you will not be doing bhakti and the result of bhakti-which is realization, taste and detachment from this world-will not come. So it is no wonder that thousands and thousands of devotees around the world practice for so many years and then they go back into material energy and become attached, same as before-only now they are wearing neckbeads and sometimes not even. Why? Because of ignorance-no proper training and education. Only distributing millions of books will not do. You should know what is written inside them.

Bhakti Sar Maharaja developed the first traveling Sankirtan Party in America-Radha-Damodara. At that time many many busses were going out, with hundreds of devotees distributing thousands of books and collecting thousands of dollars every day. Prabhupada came to see the party. When Srila Prabhupada came, everyone was very happy, thinking, “We have done very great things.” Prabhupada went in the bus. He looked at the driver and said, “In Bhagavad Gita is stated this and this and this-what verse is it. Can you tell me the verse?” The driver did not know the verse, and Prabhupada was disgusted, completely disgusted. He told them, “All devotees should know what is written in my books. They should know siddhanta, philosophy. Otherwise, all of your other activities will be of no use.” This is what we see-thousands of devotees distributing millions of books, collecting billions of dollars and then falling down into the gutter of sense gratification again. Why? This is very important. Those who know bhakti-tattva are not impressed by only external activity. It is very easy to make an external show of bhakti, but if you do not understand actually what is pure bhakti, this show will not last; it will not go on. Very soon it will all be finished. I think you have all experienced and seen this.

So, the first type of bhakti is sadhana-bhakti and has been defined:

krti-sadhya bhavet sadhya-bhava sa sadhanabhidha

nitya-siddhasya bhavasya prakatyam hrdi sadhyata

Krti means by the senses. This physical body has five knowledge-acquiring senses, five working senses and one internal sense, the mind. Krti-sadhya-the word sadhya means accomplished, that which is accomplished by the senses and mind. Kriti-sadhya bhavet sadhya-bhava-that which is accomplished by the senses and the mind in order to achieve sadhya-bhava, one’s goal. What kind of goal? The sadhya-bhava, the goal, is the stage of bhava. Sraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, anartha-nivritti, nistha, ruci, asakti, bhava. The goal of sadhana-bhakti is bhava-bhakti. So when the senses are engaged in the angas of devotional service with the intention of attaining bhava-bhakti-that is called sadhana-sadhanabhidha.

The verse is: krti-sadhya bhavet sadhya-bhava sa sadhanabhidha. What is sadhana? Sadhana is the engagement of the mind and senses in the angas of bhakti for the purpose of attaining bhava-bhakti. To repeat: Sadhana-bhakti is the engagement of the mind and senses in the angas of bhakti for the purpose of attaining bhava-bhakti. Then the question may come: “Oh, this sadhana is practiced in order to attain bhava? Where does this bhava come from?” Thus, we come to the second line of this sloka. Nitya-siddhasya bhavasya. This bhava is a potential which is eternally existing in the heart of the jiva-nitya-siddhasya. Siddha means accomplished or established, and nitya means eternally. This bhava cannot be developed in stages. It is eternally perfect and is situated within the heart of the jiva. And by sadhana-bhakti you attain bhava. It is not that you attain it from somewhere else. Nitya-siddhasya bhavasya prakatyam hrdi sadhyata. Prakatya means to manifest. That potential which is there, which has always been there, is manifested in the heart by sadhana.

However, we should understand that sadhana does not create bhava-bhava is there but in a latent position. When we do sadhana, that potential bhava manifests. It is just like fire in stone. If you take two stones and bang them together, a spark will jump out. The stones did not create fire; the energy of fire was in the stone and by the striking, that energy was released and became manifest. So similarily, bhava (the ecstatic love for Krsna) is a potential within the heart, and by sadhana that potential is manifest so that you can realize that it is there. This is sadhana-bhakti.

The goal of sadhana-bhakti is bhava. It is very important to understand this. The endeavors which are performed to attain bhava by the senses is called sadhana. So now what will you do? I will use my senses to try to attain bhava. But then the question comes-what is bhava? Can you suggest? If you do not know what bhava is, how can you use the senses to try to get it? You have to know what it is you are trying to attain. Otherwise how can you try to attain it? Bhakti is not for blind people wandering around in the dark, hoping that one day they will go back home, back to Godhead. We have to know what we are doing and where we are going. Otherwise, we will not able to reach our destination.

Therefore, bhava-bhakti has been described by Srila Rupa Gosvami in this way:

suddha-sattva-visesatma prema-saryamsu-samya-bhak

rucibhis citta-masrnya-krd asau bhava ucyate

First of all, we should know that bhava is not a material phenomena. It is suddha-sattva-visesatma. It is a phenomena composed entirely of visuddha-sattva. It has nothing to do with matter, gross or subtle; it has nothing to do with the modes of material nature. Even it is beyond the level of brahman, which is pure, suddha, but not visuddha. When this visuddha-bhava appears, it is just like one ray of the sun of prema. If prema is like the sun, one small ray coming out from the sun can be called ‘bhava’. So bhava is the first appearance in a very minute form of prema, which is the highest destination (prema prayojana). So what is it composed of? Suddha-sattva-visesatma means on the platform of visuddha-sattva (pure existence), visesatma-there is a special combination of samvit-sakti and hladini-sakti. Samvit-sakti means the transcendental potency of knowledge, or cognizence, consciousness and hladini-sakti is ananda, the pleasure potency. When ananda (hladini) and the cit-samvit combine together, this is called bhakti-sakti. But bhakti-sakti appears on the platform (in the athmosphere) of sandhini-transcendental existence. Bhava-bhakti is a special manifestation of samvit and hladini on the platform of sandhini.

When the ray of prema manifests in the heart, what happens? Rucibhis citta-masrnya-krd asau bhava ucyate. Rucibhis citta-masrnya: citta means the heart, the consciousness. Masrnya means ‘melting’, becoming very very soft and tender. So rucibhis citta masrnya: the heart becomes very very soft and tender due to ruci. Rucibhis citta-masrnya-krd asau bhava ucyate-this is called bhava. In other words, the goal of sadhana-bhakti is to come to the stage of bhava-bhakti where the heart is very soft and tender. If by doing sadhana, you are becoming more and more tough and angry and hard and completely callous to yourself and everyone else, then you can understand that you are going in the wrong direction because sadhana’s goal is bhava, and bhava is the stage of softness of the heart.

What does it mean to have a soft heart? Rupa Gosvami is saying: rucibhis citta-masrnya. Ruci-there are some tastes which are coming inside which cause that tenderness. Those tastes are of three types: bhagavat prapta abhilasa, anukula abhilasa and sauhard abhilasa. The softness is experienced in the form of three types of tastes. These three types of tastes are in the form of abhilasa. Abhilasa means a hankering, a longing, a desperate eager desire to attain something which you do not have. Perhaps you can understand this if you have seen a begger in India. It may be that that beggar has a terrible disease, he cannot walk, he has no money, no food, no home, nothing. If you see a begger and you look in his eyes, he is not puffed up. Have you seen? He is not puffed up at all, and his mood is very pathetic. If someone feels that they do not have anything, they are destitute and have not yet attained anything that they desire, they will be quite humble. This is why the devotee who is coming in bhava becomes very humble-because he feels like that. Everything that he may have in this world has no value, and everything which has value he feels he does not have. Therefore he is like a begger-very soft and humble and gentle, in a very pitiable state of mind. Why? Because his heart has become soft. Bhava means rucibhis citta-masrnya-the heart is melted and has become very tender because it is full of unfulfilled desires-that is called abhilasa.

What is that abhilasa? Abhilasa is of three types. The first one is bhagavat prapta abhilasa. That means the desire to attain your Istadeva, your beloved Lord. Because you have not attained Krsna (Isthadeva or Isthadevi), then the heart is always melting, melting, “Oh, where are You, Krsna, where are You?” This is the sign of the appearance of bhava-bhagavat prapta abhilasa. The second one is called anukula abhilasa. Anukula abhilasa means the desire to render some service which is anukula, very favorable to your beloved Radha and Krsna. Many people render service on this worldly platform, but this desire is to render service which is favorable to Them in that world as They are performing Their pastimes. Sometimes They need something and the devotee’s heart is filled with the yearning, “I want to be able to supply just what They need, at the right time when They need it. I want to be there to render that essential service which will be so pleasing to Them.” That is called anukula abhilasa.

Then the third abhilasa is called sauhard abhilasa-not so hard to remember. I think you might forget the others but this is not hard to remember-sauhard abhilasa. The word sauhard abhilasa comes from the Sanskrit term ‘suhrt’. When you add an ‘a’ to ‘su’, it becomes sau; when you add an ‘a’ to ‘rd’, it becomes ‘hard’. Suhrt becomes sauhard abhilasa. Su means beautiful and rt means heart. When two people have a relationship wherein their hearts have become beautiful, meaning that they share so much intimacy with each other, they are called sakhis. The word sakhi has also come from this. Suhrt, sakhi and sauhard all have the same root in Sanskrit. It means two people have a friendship which is very very intimate. When this desire comes to have such intimate relationship with your Istadeva, with Radha and Krsna, this is called sauhard abhilasa.

Sadhana-bhakti is the engagement of the mind and senses in the angas, the limbs, of devotional service with the intention of attaining bhava. This bhava is of the the nature of a very soft and tender heart being overwhelmed with the desire to attain your beloved Radha-Krsna, to render some special service to Them which is just what is needed at the right moment, and also to have a very intimate heart connection and friendship with Them. When we are hearing, chanting and remembering in this direction, this being our aim and object, then we can call our practice sadhana-bhakti. Only regulations-regulation is “I wake up at 3:30!” The alarm goes off, I jump out of bed, take shower and then put on tilaka. Then I sing a song-I don’t know what it means or anything, but anyway we sing it every morning. That’s what we do; that is our regulation. And after some time, I run out and tell everyone to set their alarms for 3:30 and wake up, sing songs which they do not know and go out and tell someone else to do the same thing. This is our sadhana. Everyone is doing so many things but without any understanding of what they are doing or what is the goal. How long can it go on?

Only following rules and regulations is not sadhana. Real sadhana will begin after nistha, the stage of steadiness. The sadhana which is performed before that stage is called sadhana-abhasa, a semblance of sadhana. From adhau sraddha tatha bhajana-kriya, anartha-nivrtti, nistha-up to here this is a semblance of sadhana. Why? Because up until this point, the devotee does not know what kind of mood, what kind of potential is there in his heart. How can he chant and remember and pray that it will come out if he does not know what his goal is, what potential is in the jiva’s svarupa? Do you understand this point? In the beginning, the devotee is chanting and remembering but it cannot really be called sadhana-bhakti because sadhana-bhakti is the hearing, chanting and remembering performed to manifest bhava, a particular bhava, a mood.

Bhava is of five types: santa rati, dasya rati, sakhya rati, vatsalya rati and madhurya rati-passive mood, service mood, friendship mood, parents’ mood and lovers’ mood. Bhava is of five types. So unless the devotee has a little realization of what kind of relationship his soul has with Krsna, he will not have the determination to try hard and pray and hear and be absorbed in order to manifest it. When he comes in the stage of ruci, the taste that he has in devotional service will be a particular taste. When ruci comes, he will have a taste for a particular rasa. If his soul is in sakhya-rasa, he has a taste: “Oh, I want to hear about Sridama, Subala, Dama, Vasudama, Stoka Krsna, Labanga, Madhumangala, Ujjvala, Kokila and all the sakhas.” And if he has taste in vatsalya-rasa, parents’ mood, then he likes to do kirtana, he likes to pray, he likes to hear the pastimes of Yasoda Maiya, Nanda Baba, Prajanya Maharaja, Rohini Maiya, Pivari, Tungi, Kuvara and all the parents who love Krsna like their child. He wants to hear about them. Though he is not realized perfectly, his taste (the ruci that comes after nistha) indicates what kind of eternal relationship he will have. So in that stage, now his real sadhana begins-because sadhana means what you do to attain your goal. If you do not know what your goal is, then how can you do sadhana?

So now he has a little realization: “My soul is related to Krsna in madhurya-rasa,” for example. Then what will he do? He will always absorb himself in hearing, chanting and remembering the kirtanas which are in madhurya-rasa, the katha which is in madhurya-rasa. Therefore, his hearing, chanting and remembering is called sadhana, because it is aimed to his goal. If someone prays first to Hanuman upon waking up in the morning, and after this he prays to Lord Nrsimhadava, then he reads stories of Narayana, and then he chants and remembers Krsna stealing butter as a baby, what is he doing? His chanting and remembering is going here and there; it is not going in one direction towards his goal. Therefore, it is not called sadhana. So, once he understands his goal (sadhya), then his efforts to attain the goal-hearing, chanting, remembering-is called sadhana. It will start after nistha. Therefore, the first thing that we should try to do is to come to the stage of nistha so that our real sadhana-bhakti can begin.

Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was born into a very wealthy family. His father was Govardhana Majumadara, and his uncle was Hiranya Majumadara. Only Govardhana had one son, Raghunatha was an only child, and Hiranya had no sons at all. So because he was the only son of two wealthy brothers, they gave him everything he wanted. One could say he was spoiled, but actually he was not, because he had good character. From his very childhood, he had good association. His diksa-guru was Yadunandana Acarya, who was a disciple of Advaita Acarya. Raghunatha also received much mercy and blessings from Vasudeva Datta. Yadunandana Acarya lived very close to Raghunatha’s village, Krsna-pura, in the area called Saptagram. Saptagram means seven villages. His father and uncle were the zamindars of the seven villages, comprising a very large area. Nearby was one village called Candapura where Yadunandana Acarya and the family priest, Balarama Acarya, were staying. Haridasa Thakura left Benepal came to live in Candapura with Balarama Acarya after he delivered that prostitute whom Ramacandra Khan had sent to try to make him fall down.

So when Ragunatha dasa was a small boy, he had so much association with Yadunandana Acarya, Balarama Acarya and Haridas Thakura, what to speak of others who also sometimes visited. When he was only a small boy, he would see Haridasa Thakura coming and he would happily call out, “O dadu, dadu!” He would run and give his obeisances and come and play in the lap of Haridasa Thakura, who would coax him, “Can you chant? Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.” And he would teach Raghunatha so many pastimes from Srimad-Bhagavatam-Druva Maharaja, Prahlada Maharaja, Ambarisa Maharaja, Citraketu Maharaja, Bharata Maharaja, all the Upakyas of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Thus, when he was a boy, he formed very good, strong impressions and he became completely convinced that the goal of life is Krsna, not any of these material things. “My father and uncle are very rich and they are entangled in this. I do not want to be like them.” He thought in this way.

When he was about eleven years old, he went to Santipura. Caitanya Mahaprabhu had just taken sannyasa in Katwa and by a trick of Nityananda Prabhu, had been brought back to Santipura. He wanted to go to Vrndavana but Nityananda tricked Him and brought Him to Santipur. At that time Ragunatha dasa was a young boy. He went there and met with Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And only seeing Him, serving Him, taking His remnants after Mahaprabhu had taken prasadam, then Advaita Acarya and others would arrange that this boy could take Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s remnants. It made such a deep impression in his life that he could not forget Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When he returned to his home, he was always thinking of Mahaprabhu all the time. He did not want to stay in his home any more; he wanted just to be with Mahaprabhu. He tried to run away many times, but every time his father sent many soldiers who would catch him and bring him back. Thus, he was living like a prisoner in his own home.

One day Caitanya Mahaprabhu left Puri and was going to Vrndavana. On the way He came again to Santipura and Ragunatha dasa, who was now grown up some more, went to meet with Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Without speaking with him and only looking at his face, Caitanya Mahaprabhu could understand everything. He told him:

“sthira haya ghare yao, na hao vatula

krame krame paya loka bhava-sindhu-kula

(CC Madhya 16.237)

“Hey Raghunatha! Be steady. Go back to your home. Don’t be mad. Don’t be an insane person. You can cross over the endless ocean of material existence, but you have to go step by step by step.” Do not invent your own process-the backdoor, the shortcut, the detour. Do not invent your own process. Follow the real process. Be confident that if you will observe it step by step by step, not changing the order of the stages, following the stages in their right position, what will happen? You will cross over this material existence and attain your goal. Definitely you will! Make a plan today: yes, I am leaving this world. I will serve my Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Radha-Krsna forever in Goloka Vrndavana. Today make this decision and try to know what the stages are, and with confidence follow them one by one. You will definitely attain your goal.

Mahaprabhu told him:

markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhaya

yatha-yogya visaya bhunja’ anasakta haya

(CC Madhya 16.238)

Do not try to show your renunciation on the outside. This is called markata-vairagya, monkey renunciation. There are three types of renunciation which are completely bhogus. One is called markata-vairagya, monkey renunciation. A monkey is very renounced-a monkey does not have any fancy clothes, he does not have a very extensive wardrobe; he is naked. He does not even have a house; he lives in the trees. He just takes some roots and fruits from the forest so it appears that the monkey is a very good sannyasi, very renounced. The monkey is sitting calm and quiet in a tree, but he is looking around for something to steal. Otherwise he is looking for she-monkey, and then all of a sudden, you will see how renounced the monkey is. If you are walking through Seva Kunja wearing your spectacles, that means it is your first time in Seva Kunja. Ten seconds later a monkey comes and snatches your spectacles and he is gone up the tree with your spectacles, chewing on them and looking at you. He is waiting for you to come with a bunch of bananas from the marketplace. Then he will give your spectacles back. These monkeys in Vrndavana are very intelligent. They are not renounced at all. This is one type of renunciation-monkey-renunciation. Someone externally gives up everything in this world. They do not do any activities in this world, but they are just making a show, “I am sadhu. I am a pure devotee. I am not an ordinary mundane materialist. I am a great sadhu.” But inside they have so many material attachments and desires. Their minds are always seething like a sesspit, filled with bad smelling-desires for sense gratification. This is called markata-vairagya.

There is another type of vairagya called phalgu vairagya. This is another name for same idea. There is a river in India called Phalgu River. This river is dry; there is no water but if you just move the sand, the water is flowing underneath the sand. Like this, it seems from the outside that a person is renounced, but if you just uncover a little, inside all the material desires and attachments are still flowing. So this false renunciation is very very dangerous in spiritual life. If you try to renounce the world without having proper steadiness (nistha), then what will happen? Your renunciation, instead of helping you develop devotion to Krsna, will make your heart becomes harder and harder. The goal of our sadhana is bhava, which is characterized by a soft heart. But if you falsely renounce and become an angry person, you will make offences to others. You will have to suffer the reactions for those offences in the form of Maya grabbing you by the throat and connecting you with so many sense objects by force. You cannot check it-Maya is so powerful and the jiva is tiny. So to make a false show of renunciation is very bad and very dangerous.

The third type of renunciation is called smashana vairagya. Smashana means a crematorium. In India when someone dies, they take the body to the crematorium. There in front of everyone, they remove the cloth so that everyone can see the dead body. They set fire to the funeral pyre and all the relatives watch the body burn. And because there is so much liquid in the head, it might explode when the brains blow, so the eldest son has to take some implement and break his father’s skull so that it does not explode and splatter on everyone. (Similarly, when we do a fire sacrifice, we have to crack the coconut before we put it in the fire. Otherwise it will boil inside and the coconut will explode.) This is Vedic custom. Why? To create in everyone a samskara, an impression, regarding the nature of the material body. A burning body melts like polystyrene in fire-it just disappears like that. If you go and see your beloved relative’s body turning into ash and charcoal before your very eyes, some realization will come that we are not the body.

This is why Indian culture is very good, very helpful. There is an educational experience in all of the rituals meant to be observed. And what happens? At the cremation ground, all the relatives see the body being burned and they realize, “I am not this body. This life is temporary. Oh, my relationship with God is the most important thing. I have been wasting my time,” and they become very renounced. Then, when the burning is over, they go back to their homes. They have something to drink, something to eat and get chatting again, and quickly they forget everything that they were feeling at the creamtion ground. Again they become attached, again they forget God, and again they go on as if they are this body. So this is called smashana vairagya. Renunciation comes for a few moments, but the next day it is gone again. So if those who have not come to the stage of nistha make a show of renunciation, it will be markata vairagya, phalgu vairagya or smashana vairagya. If it will not be real renunciation, it will not be steady and it will also be detrimental (ãóáèòåëüíî) to the development of devotion. Devotion means how the heart becomes soft and tender with so many sensitive feelings, not how we will become callous (îãðóáåâøèìè) like a piece of stone, performing all kinds of austerities.

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu told Raghunatha dasa Gosvami: markata-vairagya na kara. “Do not do false renunciation-loka dekhaiya-just to show others, to impress others. This phrase loka dekhaiya is very important. When you are doing bhakti-chanting, remembering, praying, all these things-do not try to make a show to others. If you do this, you will loose whatever progress you are making, whatever feelings are coming. Why? Bhakti is very confidential. Krsna wants to reveal in your heart very confidential things, but if every time He will reveal something and you display it outside, then He will not have any trust in you. You should have faith in Krsna, but Krsna should have faith in you, too.

So the first thing Rupa Gosvamipada told in Upadesamrta is vaco vegam. Control your tongue. Whatever realization is starting to come, do not distribute it in the marketplace just to acquire some reputation for yourself. Try to hide your bhajana. Whatever progress and advancement you are making, try to hide if you want to progress. Take the example of baking bread-keep the oven door closed. If you open the oven door before the bread is baked, it will fall. So keep your door-keep your heart-shut. Do not reveal your realizations here and there. If there is any very high-class advanced devotee with whom you have a very intimate relationship, you can say something, just give a hint, and he will understand everything. Otherwise keep the door closed until the mood is ripe, till it is baked. Therefore, Caitanya Mahaprabhu said: markata-vairagya na kara loka dekhaya. Do not make a show of your spiritual practices because if you do, your heart will be polluted by prathistasa, the desire for reputation. If the desire for reputation will come, you will lose everything-you cannot be pure.

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu told Raghunatha: yatha-yogya visaya bhunja’ anasakta haya. Yatha-yogya means appropriate. Visaya bhunja’ means to enjoy the sense objects of this world which are appropriate for the stage of your life, but without being attached to them. An ordinary person takes his meals two or three times a day so do not deny this thing, but take something appropriate. What you eat should be sattvika before you offer it to Krsna; then it will become transcendental. And then take only as much as you need and be satisfied. If it is cold, you should wear some warm clothes. In your house you should have some utensils so that you can live without disturbance for yourself and for your family members. You can enjoy the ordinary things of the world in an appropriate way but anasakta haya-do not be attached to them. Everywhere in sastra it is said, “If you want to become perfect, follow Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.” That does not mean to follow his behavior at the end of his life when he gave up eating and sleeping and was rolling on the ground, crying ‘Radhe Radhe’ all the time. Follow him from the beginning of his life through the stages. When he was younger, living with his parents, this was the teaching that Mahaprabhu gave to him so we should try to follow this first.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu then told him:

antare nistha kara, bahye loka-vyavahara

acirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara

Try to have nistha, steadiness, inside. Be steady in your hearing, chanting and remembering of Krsna inside. And bahye loka-vyavahara: on the outside you should behave like everyone else. Do not try to be a celebrity. Just be a regular person. This is Mahaprabhu’s teaching. But do not let anyone know that inside you are cultivating nistha, steadiness, in hearing, chanting and remembering. When I say ordinary person, this means an ordinary person at the time of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. In the villages in Bengal, the ordinary people were quite pious. They did not eat meat, they did not gamble, they did not take intoxication, so ordinary person does not mean an ordinary person walking around the street in Prague, with cigarettes in one pocket and marijhuana in the other pocket. I do not mean like this. An ordinary person means an ordinary pious person.

This is the teaching of Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Ragunatha dasa Gosvami and He promised him: acirat krsna tomaya karibe uddhara. If you will follow this order that I am giving you, then very soon Krsna Himself will deliver you from your entanglement in this world. Krsna will arrange it. He will make a special situation in your life where you will have sadhu sanga. You won’t have to work all the time. Krsna will make your life easy so that you will have the time to dedicate yourself more to go from the stage of nistha to ruci, asakti and bhava. So this teaching is very very important because this is relevant to the general mass of devotees everywhere. They should observe this first. Mahaprabhu told Ragunatha dasa Gosvami to try to come to the stage of nistha. As I mentioned before, if you want to attain something, first you should know what it is and then you can try to attain it.

In describing nistha, Srila Visvanatha Cacravarti Thakura said that nistha is characterized by the absence of five obstacles when hearing, chanting and remembering about Krsna. The first obstacle is called laya. Laya means lazyness or sleepiness. This laya is in three degrees: kirtana, sravana and smarana. The grossest form of laya is when we become tired during kirtana. The drums are banging, the bong is clanging, the kartalas are chiming, the microphone is turned up all the way, everyone is dancing, the room is shaking-and you feel sleepy! That is described as a very cronic case of laya. If you overcome this gross stage and do not become sleepy during kirtana, then the next subtle stage of laya is sleepiness that comes at the time of hearing. It may be that you are not tired in kirtana, but if someone is giving lecture and you are hearing about the pastimes of Krsna, you fall asleep, despite your efforts to stay awake. This stage is not so chronic, but it is not very healthy. And if you have overcome tiredness while chanting and tiredness while hearing, then comes the next stage, called smarana, tiredness while doing smarana, remembering. Smaranam is very hard. I only know a few devotees, who do not nod off while chanting japa and remembering. There are not many devotees who can sit for three, four hours at the time and remain completely absorbed in Krsna’s pastimes. If they stop chanting, no harm. Their japa will become manasika, they will do japa by mind, being very absorbed. But sleeping-this is one sign that nistha has not come yet. So laya is the first obstacle--the tendency to dose during the activities of devotional service (in kirtana, sravana and smarana).

When this obstacle goes, there is still another one. The next obstacle is called viksepa, meaning interruption. The devotee has made some progress. He has served his Gurudeva so much and has some sukriti now. His Guru wants to help him go to a high level, so the Guru told him some meditation to do at the time of chanting Gayatri or at the time of chanting harinama. He told him that he should meditate that he is in Vrndavana on the bank of Yamuna in a forest of kadamba flowers and gave him so many instructions. So the disciple is sitting and chanting Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare and thinking, “I am in Vrndavana on the bank of Yamuna. The lotus flowers are blooming and the sweet fragrance is coming in the breeze. The bumblebees, humming, are going here and there. The peacocks are calling ‘kee kaw’ and the cucoos are cooing. The forest of Vrndavana is so nice. Radha and Krsna are walking on the bank of Yamuna in the soft sand holding each other’s hands, looking at each other from the corner of Their eyes and speaking all kind of nonsense to each other because Their hearts are so overwhelmed with love.” The devotee is meditating like this and then, “Oh, did I lock the door of my car or not?” “Where is my passport?” Like this. This is called viksepa. He is not lazy, sleepiness is not coming. He is concentrating but his concentration gets interrupted by some material impression. That is called viksepa. If viksepa is going on, then the devotee is not in the stage of nistha.

If viksepa will go away, then there is another obstacle called apratipatti. Apratipatti means even though he is not tired, and even though viksepa (interruption) is not coming, still he feels indifference, neutral, towards his Isthadeva, Radha and Krsna. He is indifferent, having no inclination to serve Them. He is not sleepy; his mind is steady but he is not feeling any eagerness to render service, to remember the services of Radha and Krsna at the time of chanting. This indifference which occurs despite the absence of laya and viksepa is called apratipatti.

The next obstacle is called kasaya. Kasaya means that the devotee is a very nice, friendly person. Everywhere he goes, he is kind and friendly to everyone. But sometimes, something happens and all of a sudden he becomes angry with someone, or he meets someone and for no reason he has some kind of reaction or prejudice against that person. He does not like him for some reason. The tendency to become suddenly consumed in anger, malice or enviousness to someone is called kasaya. This defect in the behavior is another symptom that nistha has not come yet.

One more obstacle is called rasasvada. Rasa means taste and asvada means relishing. So tasting some rasa-but not transcendental rasa, material rasa-is called rasasvada. It means that the devotee may not be tired, there may be no interruption but in the atmosphere of his heart, there is some inclination towards the sense objects and this pollution is there in him. It may be that someone is chanting and sometimes some thought of sense objects comes in his mind, some kind of sense gratification, but he ignores it and goes on with his meditation. But sometimes some feeling of sense gratification comes in the mind, and he begins to contemplate it. He does not ignore it or kick it out. He has some taste for contemplating the material experience-this is called rasasvada, the fifth obstacle. The absence of these five obstacles indicates the appearance of the stage called nistha.

Mahaprabhu told Raghunatha dasa Gosvami: “Don’t make a show. Don’t be pretentious. Be like an ordinary person. Try to engage yourself in hearing, chanting and remembering and fix your goal to come in the stage of nistha.” When your chanting, remembering and hearing is such that you don’t have laya (laziness), viksepa (interruption), apratipatti (indifference to the service of Krsna), kasaya (the impetuous nature of sometimes becoming caught up in anger and malice) and rasavadana (the tendency to contemplate the material experience), then you are in nistha. This is a very good level. Krsna Himself will start to arrange your life so that you can go to the next stage. In our spiritual life, we should be very careful. We should try not to be artificial, making a show, only to collect reputation from others. Rather, we should try to find out what is real bhakti, what is really the process, and with integrity and honesty, without any self-deception, we should try to see, “Am I making progress in the right direction in my life?” This is real.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura said that we try to measure nistha by two criteria: one is called saksad-bhaktir-vartini and the other is called anukula-vastur-vartini. You can tell if someone has nistha or not by these two criteria. Saksad-bhaktir means: Does that person have steadiness in the activities which are directly bhakti? What is directly bhakti? Actually, sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam are directly bhakti. All the angas of bhakti are included in these three angas. For example: arcanam. You worship the Deity, but if you are not remembering the glories of the Deity and serving by mind at the time of the arcana, then your arcana is aparadha. Vandanam is what? When you offer prayers while you are chanting, and if you are chanting, you should be remembering what you are chanting also. So in vandanam, chanting and remembering are there. Dasyam-service. Service is accepted when you are doing the service with affection for the person you are serving.

Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja said, “When you offer your obeisances, if you don’t pray, ‘I want to give up my false ego,’ then your obeisances are just like doing push-ups.” Someone does push-ups because he wants strong arms, but does he make spiritual advancement? No. Obeisances will be bhakti when bowing down with the mood, “I am the servant. Namah.” Namah means obeisances-na means nivrtti, mah means ahankara-namah means “I give up my false ego. I am bowing down. I am not this body, this mind, my past, present or future. I am none of these things. The essence of myself, my soul, I am offering at the lotus feet of my beloved Lord.” This is called namah! So unless this feeling is in the heart at the time of bowing down, then you are just doing push-ups. You will have strong arms, but you will not make progress in bhakti. The essence of dasya mood, bowing down and rendering service, is the loving remembrance of your istadeva. Do you remember the story of Duryodhana when Krsna came to his palace? Duryodhana had prepared hundreds of tasty preparations on gold plates to offer to Krsna but was it bhakti? No. So only cooking is not bhakti. It will be bhakti when you are cooking and doing hearing, chanting and remembering at the same time. You must be thinking, “I am cooking for Krnsa. Krsna is becoming skinny these days, so I will prepare something with lots of fat and protein in it for Him so He can put on a bit of weight.” With relationship, then, when we are serving, this service is devotion.

Actually, saksat-bhakti means hearing, chanting and remembering. We should not think that just distributing books, making a gurukula, opening a restaurant, and other such activities are bhakti. If you are distributing books and telling people, “This book is about yoga and meditation,” you are not directly speaking about Krsna. This is not chanting. If you are doing something and thinking, “Everyone will respect me. I have distributed so many books,” or “My restaurant is making so much money,” this is not bhakti. Direct bhakti is hearing, chanting and remembering Krsna’s nama, rupa, guna and lila. Activities other than these may help you make some sukrti only, because they have some little connection with Krsna. You can measure your nistha by how much steadiness you have in saksat-bhakti, and if you are steadily engaged in all of these things throughout the day without any break, then you can think that you have some nistha.

The other symptom is called bhaktyanukula-vastur-vartini. It means steadiness in the qualities which are favorable for devotion. What kind of qualities are favorable for bhakti? These qualities are not bhakti, but they are favorable for someone who wants to practice bhakti, such as being humble, being silent, being respectful to others, being kind, friendly, learned. All of these things can help, so they are called bhaktyanukula-vastur-vartini. But these qualities are not themselves saksat-bhakti. Why? Even mayavadis and atheists also try to be humble, they try to respect people, they try to be friendly, they try to be learned-so this is not saksat-bhakti. If someone is steady in these qualities, you may think that they have nistha, but it is not for sure. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains that it may happen that sometimes a person who is very sattvika (in the mode of goodness) has the qualities which are favorable for bhakti all the time, but they are not steady in saksad-bhakti. Their behavior is very good, they have exemplary character, and they are very humble and respectful to everyone, ut they are not continually engaged in hearing, chanting and remembering Krsna’s nama, rupa, guna and lila. Therefore, it cannot be said that that person has nistha although externally it seems by his behavior that he has nistha. Nistha can only be understood for sure by the symptom of saksad-bhakti.

On the other hand, a person may not exhibit perfect behavior all the time-it may be that on some occasion, he shows some arrogance for a moment-but he is steady in saksad-bhakti, really he has nistha. Why? Because the little defect in the behavior which appears occasionally is coming by a little touch of the mode of passion still affecting him. It is only a touch, but because he is continuously engaged in saksad bhakti, the modes of nature will not hold him back, and after some time, that will also go away. This is explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam (First Canto, Chapter 2):

nasta-prayesv abhadresu

nityam bhagavata-sevaya

bhagavaty uttama-sloke

bhaktir bhavati naisthiki

Here naisthiki is nistha. Nistha is not the stage where all anarthas have gone. Nasta-prayesu-prayesu means ‘almost’ gone. Almost all the anarthas have gone-not completely. That is called ‘bhaktir bhavati naisthiki’. When he is in nistha:

tada rajas-tamo-bhavah

kama-lobhadayas ca ye

ceta etair anaviddham

sthitam sattve prasidati

When he is in nistha, tada rajas-tamo-bhavah-the effect of tamo guna and raja guna, such as some lust or anger or pride, do not disturb him. Now because he is in nistha in saksad-bhakti, ceta etair anaviddham-any touch of the modes of nature cannot stop his progress. Before nistha, the modes of nature would make a disturbance in his life, but once nistha in saksad-bhakti comes, then any little defect in his character will not check his advancement. The modes of nature may still be there a little, but they cannot stop him. Why? Because if he will keep on in the stage of nistha, what happens? Nistha hoila upajaya prema antaranga. From the platform of nistha, the first waves of love start to rise in the form of ruci, taste. So, more important than the cultivation of the qualities which are connected with devotion is the cultivation of devotion itself. If you attain that, even if some qualities are not perfect, it will not affect you. Soon they will go away. Sthitam sattve prasidati-very soon he becomes situated in sattva, and there is no rajas and tamas for those who have nistha.

So we should try to make this nistha our short-term goal. But it might not be so short for some. Ruci, asakti and bhava are very high. Actual transcendental realization will begin to blossom in the stage of ruci. Why? Because that is where real sadhana-bhakti starts. Real bhakti begins in ruci. Nistha is the platform where you can start. Someone who is doing bhakti in the stage of nistha will quickly come to ruci. So we should try to become qualified to perform bhakti by having nistha, steadiness in our hearing, chanting and remembering. Until nistha comes, it will be bhakti-abhasa-up until and including the stage of nistha. And then, when ruci comes, it will be real bhakti. Why? Because sadhana is what you do to attain nitya-siddha-bhava. In ruci you have a realization of what kind of bhava you are trying to achieve, and therefore, from that stage, it is called real sadhana.

This is enough siddhanta for today. I hope you have learned something practical that you can apply in your life. Don’t think that the process of bhakti does not work. The process works! But it only works for those who know what the process is. So you should try to understand what we are doing. Some may tell you that if you go to the train station, you can catch the train for Navadvipa, but you have to know the process. When you get to the train station, first you have to go to the ticket counter and purchase a ticket. Next you have to go to the right platform. Then you have to get on the train at the right time to catch the train for Navadvipa. Then you have to get on the coach which is appropriate for your ticket so you don’t get thrown off for going in the first-class carriage with a third-class ticket. So there are some details that you have to know. If you just go to the train station and sit down on the track, what will happen? Splat!

Yes, we know that by performing devotional service, we can go back home, back to Godhead, but there are a few details that we also have to know. Otherwise, it will be -splat! And we have seen so many like that, right?

So today, I have given a practical overview of what steps we can take to make some genuine progress, so that we will go forward and not go backwards, not go up and go down again, but gradually gradually go up and attain our goal. We are not interested in making thousands and thousands of devotees who are all ignorant. In 1971, Prabhupada wrote a letter to all the devotees, telling them, “Now we have enough devotees. [There were only about 500.] I want you to boil the milk. Otherwise, if we don’t boil the milk, then we will be cheating the customer.” In India, after milking the cow, people take a gallon of milk and mix in ½ gallon of water, and then they sell it. So you are not actually buying milk, you are buying watered-down milk. They are cheating the customer. So if you have lots of devotees, but no one knows what bhakti is, then you are cheating the customer. Better to have less devotees who are expert and qualified, and they can make other devotees who also becomes expert and qualified-slowly. There is no use to have thousands of devotees who are ignorant and only making offenses to each other because they don’t know what real bhakti is, and then they all fall down. Better to have a small group of devotees who go back home, back to Godhead forever.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said, “It is better to have an empty cowshed than a cowshed full of sick cows.” If you have a cowshed full of cows but they are all sick, they will not give any milk. They are only making noise. You have to take care of them, feed them and give them medicine day and night and you get no milk, so what is the use? Better to have an empty cowshed. His idea here is that we should try to become qualified and help others to become qualified so they become pure and perfect devotees and lovers of Krsna.

This is why we are taking so much trouble to explain these siddhantas. If someone understands them and lives their life accordingly, they will make some genuine progress. We do not want to cheat the customer. We are trying to follow the teachings of Srila Prabhupada.

Gaura premanande!