The Foundation of Bhakti and Key to Prema

[Bankebihari dasa]

Thinking oneself to be even lower and more worthless than insignificant grass which is trampled beneath everyone's feet, being more tolerant than a tree, being prideless, and offering respects to all
others according to their respective positions, one should continuously chant the holy name of Sri Hari.

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"He used to sell medicines and sometimes he would manufacture various original formulas... Once he had a tonic for concentration, which he suggested I use during my examinations at school... I said, "Abhaya Da, I am happy you gave me this tonic. But why don't you give me the tonic that you use yourself?" "Which tonic is that?", he asked. I replied, "The tonic that helps you to be such an advanced Vaishnava, to give such wonderful hari-katha and sankirtana, the tonic of krsna-prema which you use secretly." In a humble way he smiled and said, "Oh, I am working on that, but I have not yet been able to produce it."...................

He said, "About that tonic we used to discuss. I have not yet been able to manufacture that tonic, but I do know the formula." I said, "Please let me know the formula if it's not a secret." At that time he said, "This is the formula: trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna. amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih. It's not a secret. Someday soon I will preach it all over the world."

-- conversation between A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and Dr. O.B.L. Kapoor while Prabhupada was still in family life in the 1930's.

'Trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna.' I have explained this so many times. You can also pray in this way: "O Prabhu, I don't want anything. I don't want any beautiful ladies, nor any high class of learning, nor any worldly things. I don't even want mukti, Laksmi-Narayana seva, or Rukmini-Krishna seva. I don't want any of these." "What do you want?" "Ahaituki bhakti tvayi janmani janmani." What is ahaituki bhakti? In its highest form it is the mood of serving Srimati Radhika. Unnatojjvala parakiya manjari mood is the highest.

And then what will happen? By practicing like this, faith will come. 'Ayi nanda tanuja kinkaram patitam mam visame bhavambudhau, krpaya tava pada-pankaja sthita dhuli sadrsam vicintaya.' What is this? You will realize your relationship to Krishna. You will realize who you are - gopi or friend or whoever you are. In this next stage you can think of yourself as a gopi. Then you may come in the raganuga process; otherwise not. At that time what will you weep for? 'Nayanam galad asru dharaya vadanam gadagada rudhaya gira, pulakair nicitam vapuh kada tava nama grahane bhavisyati.' "O Krishna! O Radhike! O Mahaprabhu! When, while chanting Your Name, will my heart melt, and will tears come automatically. My heart is harder than a stone. It is not melting and there are no hairs standing on end. There are no symptoms of my taking the Name. O Prabhu, please be merciful to me. Take my stone-like heart." When automatic weeping comes, the heart will be melted. This will not be to cheat others, to show others, like so many do without their hearts actually melting. Their hairs may stand on end, they may fall down on the earth, but is their heart melting? This should be done with our hearts melting. How will it manifest?

He will chant, "O Govinda, O Radha-Ramana!" He will be overwhelmed. His hair will be standing, his heart melting, and he will be out of sense. Sometimes he will feel that Krishna is here, and he will run to embrace Him. But Krishna will quickly move backwards in a crooked way. At once Krishna will see that, "He has come to embrace Me." He will quickly disappear, and thus increase your taste and eagerness. If you have that scale which I gave you, then think in this way.

Knowing all siddhanta is not sufficient. Even if you are siddhanta-vit, knowing all established truths and conclusions, this is not sufficient. You should have that mood as your goal, and use that scale to see what is in your heart. Then, 'nayanama galad asru dharaya, vadanam gadagada rudaya.' Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is weeping, "When will that day come that I will be like this?"

-- excerpt from lecture by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja