How to enter Vrindavana. Class 3

Shri Yuta Padakamalam Shri Guru Vaishnavam Shri Rupam Sagrajatam Sahagana Raghunatam Vitam Tam Sajivam Sadvaitam Savadhutam Parijana Sahitam Krishna Chaitanya Devam Shri Radha Krishna Padam Sahagana Lalita Shri Vishakha Vidamsya He Krishna Karuna Sindho Dina Bandho Jagat Pate Gopisha Gopika Kanta Radha Kanta Namastute Taptakanchanagaurangi Radevrindavaneshwari Vrishabhanu suta devi Pranamami haripriyem Vāñca Kalpata Rubyaśca Kripā Sindhubyaeva ca Patitanam Bhavanabhyo Vaishnavebhyo namo namah Śrī Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya Prabhūnītānanda Shri Advaita Gadadhara Shri Vasadhi Gaurabhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama Rama Rama, Hare Hare Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Hare Aradhyabhagavan Vrajaya Shetanayasta Dhamu Vrindavanam Ramhyaka Chitupasana Vrajavadu Vargenaya Kalpida Shri Mat Bhagavatam Brahmanam Alam Prema Pumartamaham Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhormat Amidam Tatra Dharona Paraha Yantah Praviśyam Amavacim Amprasuktam Sanjivaya Takila Shakti Dharah Svadhamna Anyam Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhormat Amidam So I really consider it as the great blessings of Krishna and Gowardhan. we had Śrīla Radhanāt Swamī Marāj in our place on Dvādushi and he came here and today on Kartikpurnīma Pundarīgoswāmī has come here and it's really amazing because while meditating on the idea of this place we were thinking about six opulences of Bhagavan asvariyasya samagrasya viriyasya yashasavshvya jnana vairagya yoscaiva we were thinking about this and trying to write the constitution of this place according to these six opulences and we also were thinking that each Goswami of the six Goswami represents one of the opulences of Bhagavan and they all together comprise the complete concept of the personality of Godhood. And Pundarigaswami comes here and says the same thing. I didn't tell him anything. He just says it on his own. It's confirmed. And then he said also some other things. And I said, Maraj, you can read my mind? what's going on so what I want to say is that it's a very special place that's the place where desires are fulfilled if it's good desires Giriraj Maharaj has this amazing quality so and of course our deepest desire is to meet Krishna our deepest desire is to come closer to Krishna if not meet him, but come on a distance where we could maybe see his himself. And as Satchinanda Maharaj was saying, there are five guardians of this place, of Vrindavan, who is helping us to enter Vrindavan, or who should give us permission to enter Vrindavan. And one of them is Tulasidevi. Tulasidevi is another manifestation of Yoga Maya. And that's the reason why we are chanting holy name on Tulasidevi. Chanting the holy name on Tulasidevi, we are begging Tulasidevi, who is the guardian, and who is Yogamaya, guardian of this place, to allow us to be in Vrindavan and to remember Vrindavan while we are chanting the holy name. And that's why in the ceremony of initiation which Srila Prabhupada established in our society, we usually give new people these Tulasi beads. and in this way we are helping them to remember about Vrindavan and there are prayers to Tulasi Devi and to Tulasi beads before we start chanting to manifest real form of the Holy Name and the a real form of holy dhamma, throughout chanting. So we don't have so much time today to speak about the inner meaning of the initiation ceremony. But to be very brief, it's the ceremony which helps somebody to identify himself or herself, not with this material body, not with the material mind, not with the roles which we play. I am the mother of such and such children, I am the wife of such and such husband, I am the citizen of such and such country. But this is the ceremony which helps devotees to identify with the eternal spiritual reality. With the reality where eternal lilas of Krishna are going on, still now, when he manifests in many different forms, and where love for him rules supreme. So, that's the meaning, to identify with the eternal reality of the spiritual world, and therefore, while giving the names, we give the main part of the name, which is Devi Dasi, or Dasi, or Dasa. And of course, because we're personal, there are different devidasis and dasas. Otherwise, we would call everyone dasa. Like we were walking around and there was one sick person. The other people of the entourage of Punta Rigas would call him sardar. Hey, sardar, come here. But we are not just dasas. We are very concrete dasis and dasis. So we are giving the name, we are giving a new name and the holy name in this ceremony and of course everything else according to the process of initiation. So you please come one after another and give your vows. You can speak in Hindi, I understand. If I don't understand something, Radha Pramod will tell me. Yesterday we were talking about the important preliminary practices of meditation and also about the five stages of meditation according to the purity of the heart. And we were trying to go deeper into this concept of meditation according to Vaishnava tradition. It's a very specific, special style of meditation, completely different from the meditation which is famous in this world, mindful meditation, although it has some elements in common. But ultimately, the main difference between the two kinds of meditation is in the mood, and the mood of humility and mood of pride or desire to achieve something by meditation in the case of impersonal meditation. And the mood of humility ultimately is there to make us understand that the results of meditation ultimately depend not on us. They are confirmed to us. We cannot demand the results of meditation. The results of meditation, the revelation, which is the main result of meditation, the revelation of higher truth and deeper understanding of reality is only coming to us as a gift. from above. And that's the main thing. And even though there are many things in common, like we also use our mind in meditation. And that's why I will answer the question which Urmila Devi asked last time when she was here. I didn't talk about this yesterday. We'll talk a little bit about this. So, we definitely use our mind, but we don't use our mind whimsically, as we like. The impersonal style of meditation very much depends on kalpana, which is imagination. We imagine something, whatever we like. As I said, according to the mood, the whole world is my mental creation, so I can do whatever I like and the fruits will come. But we are not concerned with this. We are not really into such kind of meditation. We are trying to harmonize our mind with the higher reality. to bring it into harmony with the higher reality and higher truths and therefore we're trying to purify the mind that's the main point of meditation and then the meditation will become spontaneous when we hear about the glorious saints of Raja who achieved the success of meditation, we can understand that it's not at all forceful meditation. They are not really forcing themselves to meditate on certain lilas. Certain lilas manifest themselves in their pure mind and in their pure heart. And that's exactly what Srila Prabhupada also said when somebody asked him, can I meditate on a particular lila while chanting the holy name? And Srila Prabhupada said, yes. And then said, but only if the lila comes on its own into your mind. It's not that I sit and force myself, let's meditate on Denukasura, Vada, how Krishna, Balaram kills Denuka Sura and Balaram is Balaram and I am Denuka Sura. Or whatever. So the idea is that we understand that the result of the meditation, the fruit of the meditation is given to us. It's coming to us. and we are patiently expecting this result we definitely want this result but we are not demanding this result we are patiently waiting when it comes and therefore the main emphasis is on the purification of the mind through the chanting of the holy name that we will repeat again today while studying certain passages from Bhaktisandarva of Srila Jiva Goswami, where he says that meditation starts from the meditation on the holy name. But not only this, with the meditation on the holy name, Kamsa Kamsala Mala, at least 16 rounds. But actually 16 rounds is just nothing. It's just a concession which Srila Prabhupada mercifully gave to us. Therefore, in my own mind, when people give this vow, the main point is not 16 rounds. The main point is at least. And usually people omit this part, which is the most important. At least 16 rounds, not less than 16 rounds. So, we make the emphasis on the purification of the mind through the chanting of the Holy Name, through the natural potency of the Holy Name to purify the heart, but we also give the vows of certain niyamas, certain vows which will help us to keep our mind and our heart pure. These four regulative principles are nothing but the principles which help us to retain the purity of the mind or increase the purity of the mind. And ultimately when the mind becomes purer and purer and purer, it will become more and more sensitive to all the impurities. It's very difficult. It's a difficult condition. when the mind is not so pure, it doesn't matter. You can eat this and that. You can say, you know, Om Tat Sat, everything is Prasad. And this is a new offering mantra. But it's not... When your mind becomes pure, you become very sensitive. Yesterday I told this story about Kathakar who ran away and ran to Yamuna and started bathing in Yamuna because just one inappropriate thought came to his mind. And then ultimately it was revealed that he ate some Mahaprasadam from a temple and the Mahaprasadam from the temple was cooked on the money from a dubious source. And because he ate this Mahaprasadam from the temple, which was cooked on perhaps purchased, the boga was purchased on some not very clean money it created this disturbance in his mind. His mind was so pure therefore he became very sensitive. For us it doesn't matter so much because we can eat anything and the same good old thoughts are coming to our mind. But But what I want to say is that we are making special endeavors to purify the mind, understanding that the result of the meditation, the quality of the meditation, the depth of our meditation very much depends on the purity of the mind. And even ordinary prasadam is not necessarily all the same quality. Everything matters when you reach higher levels of spiritual realization. Just today I read a very funny story about one person, one avadud who was living in Navadvip at the beginning of 20th century. He was a wandering mendicant. He was going here and there and he was begging food. And he usually would come to people, to the homes of people, when they just offered prasad to the deities. And he would demand them, he was a very demanding person, and he would demand them, give me prasad, give me prasad which you offered. And then he would look at this prasad and oftentimes in front of everyone he would start chastising the host from whom he begged this food. And he said, he would just throw it away and say, this is not prasad. Your deity didn't take this prasad because you were unclean. You did this or you did that or you were not very careful. Your deity is starving. Cook again. You're doing nonsense. So some people, they become very sensitive to this point. For us, it really doesn't matter so much. But again, the point is that we have to be careful according to our level of advancement and try to go deeper and deeper and deeper in this process. So what I want to start with, we will definitely start Takrurakatha, I swear it. today, but there will be little introduction before we start. So... I'll start with a little passage, very important passage, which was quoted repeatedly by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. He would attribute a great importance to this passage. This is the passage from Bhaktisandarva, Anuchedda 256, where Śrīla Jīvīga Swami explains again the kram, the sequence of meditation, how the technique of meditation should take place. Yesterday I was speaking about the increasing depths of our meditation according to five stages, smarana, dharana, dhyana, druvanu smrithi, and then finally samadhi, explaining that only in the last stage we have 10% real spiritual experience. Before that, we're kind of approaching to it, and the closer we approach, the more real all these experiences become. And here, Silla Jyugaswami not continues. That's the previous Anuchedha. This was Anuchedha 275. This is Anuchedha 256. So he explains very important things here. He says, So that means that first you have, this I already explained, first you have to preliminary purify your heart by surrender, by sharanapati. But not only. Sharanapati Adi, sharanapati Adi means that you do sharanapati, which basically means surrender to a spiritual master, take the vow. I will do this, I will follow sadhana, strictly, kamsakam, sola mala, brahma muhurtame. So, but from this, many other preliminary practices follow which preliminarily purify and prepare our heart for meditation. So, these preliminary practices, commentators of this verse, they say that it should include besides It's Guru Seva, Sat Seva, the Seva of the genuine devotees. We have to be very respectful, and whenever we see real devotees with pure heart, we should try to serve them, and we should try to serve actually any devotees respecting them. And also hearing is very, very important because hearing increases our faith. The faith is a preliminary quality or qualification for us to become a devotee, and then we should increase our hearing. And you all, I'm sure, have this experience when we hear good katha. After this katha, we feel that the heart has become purer, that the heart has become cleaner than before. And of course, singing kirtana is very important. We have to continue singing Kirtana, it's the most powerful practice in this Kali Yuga. And we should never, in our attempts to practice Smaranam, we should never forget Kirtanam. According to Silla, Jiva Goswami quotes this verse from the second canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. It is said that is the universal process or the universal recipe, universal recommendation for every people. It is said that is the universal process or the universal recipe, universal recommendation for every people. You are nirvidyamananam, you don't have any desires, you're already completely pure. Whatever category you belong to, the akutobhayaam, the fearless process in this age is harinamanu kirtanam, constant kirtan of the holy name. So that's the preliminary practices. To deepen our ability to meditate, to prepare our heart for meditation, and preliminary we just hear the holy name and chant the holy name loudly. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Hare Hare, and take very humble position. But then, listen very carefully, this is something which I didn't say yesterday. Then, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, he continues, Tatra Yadyapi Ekatrenaapi Vyudkramenapi Siddhir Bhavati Eva Tathapi. He says, although this process can be done in any sequence, you can start meditating on the Lila of the Lord, basically after this preliminary surrender. He says, although you can achieve success in this somewhat chaotic process of meditation of Smaranam, he says, nevertheless, it is recommended to do it in a proper sequence. This is one of the important points of this seminar. seminar, it's a scientific process and even though the process of Smaranam is very powerful, still there is a special cram or sequence how you should do this and Shila Jiva Goswami says, Prathamam nam nakh shravana, that I already said yesterday, Antahkarana suddiyartam, Apekshin. First, you should chant the holy name to purify the antahkarana of your heart. And basically, it means you should try to chant the holy name silently. Kirtan is the loud chanting of the holy name. Srila Prabhupada never... He said, it's possible for you to chant the holy name, but only when your heart is silently, but only when your heart is clean. And the same thing Srila Jiva Goswami says, you should try to remember the Holy Name constantly to keep your mind concentrated on the Holy Name. That's the first thing, because if the sound, the vibration of the Holy Name, either silent or not silent, but will be in your heart constantly, Then the process of purification will start very quickly. It will expedite. It will be a very quick process. And it basically means, what does it mean? It means that at one point you will feel that the Holy Name is with you. It's not that you willfully chanting the Holy Name. The Holy Name doesn't leave you. It's there all the time. It's going on internally in your heart and it gives you a very pleasant feeling, very pleasant sensation. It's stable in your heart and it always reverberates in the sky of your heart. So, and when that happens, first you try to force yourself. The initial stages is that we are chanting at least 16 rounds, we are struggling ourselves, we are forcing ourselves, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, But then the Holy Name remains. When your heart becomes sufficiently clean, the Holy Name manifests itself or Himself in your heart spontaneously. And it reaches the level of dharana. And when it reaches the level of dharana, amazing thing happens. This amazing thing. I'm actually sitting here and I noticed some very interesting phenomenon. I'm speaking with the intonations of Shachinandan Maraj. He left such a powerful impression of his energy on this seat that without myself willing to do it, I'm imitating him, but I think it's a good thing to imitate good people. So, Śila Jīva Goswami explains, I try to be myself. Śila Jīva Goswami explains the next step, what happens. When the heart remains, when the Holy Name remains in the heart, when it's firmly established in your heart, then from the Holy Name the form of the Lord starts appearing. You will not only listen or hear the sound of the Holy Name, but spontaneously the form, Rupa, will appear in your mind without so much endeavors. and in the beginning this rub, the form of the Lord will not be stable the name is already stable but the form is not stable you hear the name you know that your heart is chanting the name and sometimes you see the beautiful form of the Lord and Srila Jiva Goswami says Sudeyan Takhkarana in this pure antahkarana rupa shravanene tatudaya yogyata bhavati he said what happens your heart will become yogyata qualified to remember the form and to hear about the form what happens with us now we hear all these verses from Srimad Bhagavatam which describe the form of Krishna No immediate, Ebrava, Pusheeta, Dita Ambaraya, and so many other verses of the 10th kanto of Srimad Bhagavatam, which describe this beautiful form of the Lord. But because we are not qualified to hear, it really doesn't leave lasting impression within our heart. But when the heart is sufficiently purified by the name, then you hear about the form, and the form visibly manifests in front of your eyes, in front of the eyes of your mind. So, Srila Jiva Goswami says, then the yogi attack, qualification to hear about the form, comes due to the purification of the heart by the constant chanting of the Holy Name. And then you can hear about this to your heart content. And while hearing this, you will be more and more established in meditation on the form. And for that, of course, there are plenty of different methodologies developed by our Acharyas. One of these is, of course, to chant the Dhyana mantras. in any puja that I recommend Dhyana Mantra there is Dhyana Mantra for Lord Ramachandra there is Dhyana Mantra for Shiva there is Dhyana Mantra for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and there is beautiful Dhyana Mantra famous, very famous Dhyana Mantra for Gapal Very beautifully, it is the form of the Lord explained, Kasturi Tilikum, he has the Tilikum which is made from the musk, and Lalata Patale on his beautiful forehead, and Vaksaksale Kostubam, on his chest, there is Kostubamani, Nasagri Varamoktikum, in his nose there is not just a pearl, but the best of the pearls, very big pearl in his nose. Karatalevenu, in his hand there is venu, there is flute, Karekankanam, on his wrist, there is bracelet. And Sarvangi Haricandanam, his whole body is smeared with Chandanam, Haricandanam, which means very bright yellow, Chandanam. Sulali tamkanhecha muktavali and his very beautiful kanta, his throat, there is muktavali, the necklace of the pearls. Gopas-tri parivesito and of course he is surrounded by gopis, Gopas-tri, the women from the Gopak past. Vijayate Gopala Chudamani. And he is Vijayate. He is victorious. He is making his triumph in this world. So when the heart is pure, the form of the deity will come spontaneously in the heart. And your addiction to chant these verses will grow more and more and more because these verses will remind you about the form and this will be the second stage of your meditation. From Nama to Rupa. And of course, there are beautiful bhajans which describe the form of the Lord. Sucharu Vaktramandalam Sukarnaratnakundalam Sucharitanga Chandanam Namami Nandanandanam Sudirganetrapankajam Shekishikandam Urdajam Ananga Koti Mohanam Namaminandanam Namaminandanam So, at this stage, the form of the Lord will become alive in your heart. And that means you're qualified to meditate on the Lord. And you hear again and again and again. And by sufficient hearing about the form of the Lord, or the form of the Lord will become firmly imprinted within your heart. Somebody asked a very important question, what is samskara, what is impression? Yesterday I was explaining this process of smaranam, that smaranam is evoking samskaras which are there within our heart. We're invoking these samskaras, we make them alive. and samskaras are subtle imprints in citta. Citta is the subtlest material element. It's made of almost pure sattva. In this material world there is no pure sattva, there is no pure rajas, there is no pure tamas, but it's a very, very pure sattvic element which can hold subtle forms. It's very interesting because the modern science confirms this idea of subtle forms which precede the gross form. There is a very... Please forgive me, actually I have to beg forgiveness from Akrura for this diversion or digression. But still, I will tell you this beautiful biological experiments which are being made in America. one very interesting scientist at Harvard University, he's a biologist, he's studying the process of regeneration. There are different living organisms, you cut them in pieces and they regenerate their organs in a different way. There are even organisms, you can cut their head and the new head will grow up. So the question is where the information about these organs are recorded. It's not in DNA. In DNA there is no such information. Where the structure and they know exactly how it should be, how the new organ should grow according to the old organ. It basically reproduces the old organ. They can grow it up. Many times you can cut the head and it's like Ravana. So you cut the head and your head pumps out after some time. So how the cells know how to grow? And they're completely different cells. They're very divergent. How the differentiation process... process. It's a big mystery in biology. Initially, there was a hope when I was doing my PhD, there was a hope that when we really understand how the genome works, we will understand how this differentiation process is taking place and why we have a body with so many different varieties of different cells, even though it's all stemming from one cell, how they're so different and they're facilitating different functions. So his experiments very clearly, his name is Michael Levin, his experiments very clearly show that it's not anywhere in DNA, it's not anywhere in the growth structure and he suggests that there is a subtle field which the form is recorded. And this subtle field forms the gross form. So it's basically exactly the same idea, the same Bhagavata idea, that all the forms are recorded, the subtle forms are recorded in citta. And that's basically what Plato was talking in his famous metaphor about the cave. That ultimately there is a world of subtle forms, and the gross forms is nothing but the classification of the subtle forms. So, what I'm trying to explain is what is samskara. Samskara is the subtle form in citta. And these forms, and then ultimately, these subtle forms in citta, they are very easily created and they are very easily destroyed in citta. But when the form becomes very stable, when it becomes very deep and stable in citta, then it can grossify and appear in this gross body. There is a process. The process of how we obtain this material body is the process of subtle form which is being created, the vasanas which are created in citta and stored in citta. And when the process of our karma is finished, then the subtle form is poured in. The matter is poured in this form exactly like we do the forms in this factory which we have. So we have the molds. So the samskara is a mold. It's a subtle mold which can function on a subtle level and it can ultimately function on the gross level when this mold becomes grossified. So when the samskara becomes deep and stable, then it's very easy to evoke the samskara. How do you say it properly? Invoke or evoke? Evoke. Invoke. Whatever. See, even this I'm imitating Shachinanda Maharaj. So you invoke this form and when it's very deep and very stable, it's easy for you to invoke this form. So the process of sadhana is actually creating these subtle forms in our citta. what I explained that when the form becomes very firmly imprinted in the heart and some scar of this form becomes so deep that it's always there, even when we don't want, even during our sleep then from the sound of the holy name, the form appears and when we hear again and again and again about the form from Srimad Bhagavatam, from scriptures or chanting these dhyana mantras or chanting these bhajans, then the form gradually becomes solidified and the samskara becomes stable. And then Srila Jivugaswami continues. He says, Samyakudite, Samyakudite, very important. When the form becomes fully formed, When we don't need to make any endeavors to invoke the form, it's always there within our heart. Ca rupi gunanam spuranam sampadyate. He says that from this form, again, spontaneously, the gunas, the qualities of the Lord appear. We not only see the form itself, but we feel something which is within the form, but not so easily visible in the form, but which is hidden in the form, the beautiful qualities of Krishna. And therefore, he says, he stresses this, samyakudite ca rupi gunanam spuranam sampadyate. They come, and it basically means that when the form is established, then it's natural for us to deepen our meditation and we not only see we not only hear the name we not only see the form but we also feel the qualities of the Lord which are within this name and within this form and it's different from kalpana from imagination imagination is forced you're sitting there and you try to meditate and it doesn't work, but you still try again and again and again. But this is a very natural, spontaneous, and beautiful and easy process of meditation. And what does it basically mean? It means that you feel the beauty of the Lord, you feel the kindness of the Lord, the mercy of the Lord. You feel... Like sometimes we look at the human being and we look in his face and we not only see the face, but we see something hidden behind the face. He's little mischievous. So we look at the form of the Lord and we understand he's joking with us. He has put us in this situation and he's joking. He's just enjoying or whatever. we can feel the qualities of the Lord and then what we do we hear the verses which describe the qualities of the Lord the 64 qualities of the Lord described in Bhakti Rasa Amrita Sindhu like one of these is gratefulness and we hear about this and we hear the verses which describe this Srinimaitat pravridam me hridayam napasarpati adgomindati chukrosha Krishna mam duravasinam. This is the verse from Mahabharata where Krishna himself says that when Draupadi, who was being disrobed in this Asad Sabha, in this impious assembly of people, when she frantically, by raising two hands in the air, cried, Govinda. Yad Govinda tichukrosha. When she cried from the depths of her heart, and I was far away at that time in Dvaraka, and Krishna said, because she said this, the depths within my heart growing and growing and growing every day. I still didn't pay this debt. She called me so sincerely. She called my name and I didn't do what she wanted me to do and I feel myself a debtor. So what I want to say is that when we are established in Rupa, then the meditation on qualities of the Lord becomes very spontaneous and natural. And then at that moment, we are qualified to hear again and again and again about the qualities of the Lord. And it becomes very relevant to us and very real to us. And then he says, And then only he says that the real lila will appear in front of, our, the eyes of our mind, when the name becomes established, from the name the form comes, from the form the guna comes, and from guna the parikaras, the loving associates of the Lord come and then naturally we see real lila. Sushtu. He says lilanam spuranam sushtu bhavati. Very important. That the spurty of lila becomes real, sushtu, and very vivid. Whereas when it's forced, when we're forcing ourselves, yes, we may see something, but it lacks life. It lacks real juice of life. So that's basically the process how we should do this. And basically that's the process of increasing our qualification for meditation and gradually increasing the depths of meditation. And as a reward of this, sincere endeavors to purify the heart, to serve the devotees, and to hear about these particular elements of Krishna's entourage, as a reward of this, Krishna reveals to us more and more about himself. and this is real this is not made up in our mind so answering the question which Urmila Devi so importantly asked the other day the story about Brahmana who was cooking rice in his meditation and while cooking rice in his meditation he He tried to check whether the rice was properly cold or not, because the sweet rice should be cold before you offer. So before offering to the Lord, this Brahmana cook who was sitting there and meditating on this process, he touched this rice and the rice was too hot. So he took out his finger. And when he came out from the meditation, he, to his surprise, saw that there is a burn in his finger. In his real gross finger, there was a burn from his meditation. So what is it? And what is the difference of this story from the forced? Yes. So that's She also wants to know about the he, about the process of meditation. It's a special dog. So first of all, as I said, our meditation is according to scriptures. The basis of our meditation is not our imagination. The form of the Lord which we see in the meditation is the authorized form of the Lord described in numerous places in different scriptures, in Srimad Bhagavatam, even in Bhagavad Gita and in other places. The process of this meditation is with the mind. In his case, it was still on the level of the mind. And yes, meditation in all the stages, until the stage of Samadhi is on the level of the mind. Only in Samadhi, we don't need mind. In Samadhi, we leave the mind behind and we see the spiritual reality. And the proof of it, Śrīla Jīva Goswami explains, The proof that we don't have mind in the stage of Samadhi is that we completely forget about ourselves. We don't remember ourselves. With our mind, we always remember. So up to the stage of Samadhi, we use mind for meditation. But we use it very carefully, first of all, according to the scriptures. and our meditation and the process of meditation is also quite carefully crafted by this crumb, by this sequence. And we try to facilitate meditation by hearing the authorized scriptures and repeating the mantras which are compatible with the level of meditation we're in. And gradually, gradually, gradually, as Shilajiva Goswami explains, our qualification becomes higher and higher and higher. And we can meditate deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper realities. And ultimately, we can meditate on the Lilas. What this Brahmana was doing, he was actively serving the Lord in his meditation, but he was qualified to do this because his whole mind was completely there. like imagine we will cook the rice for the Lord in our mind how many times during cooking the sweet rice we will be thinking about many different things in this world you're cooking something for the Lord and at the same time you're running here and there and in the meantime the mental flies getting into the rice which you cook. And ultimately what you will offer to the Lord is just sweet rice with thousands of flies. Because anytime you distracted yourself, the fly is in. So yes, this is a bona fide process. But you have to qualify yourself. And there is a process how to qualify yourself to employ this process. And basically it means that on the level of niṣṭha, you are qualified to be stable in your nam smaranam. Kirtaniya sadahari. This is exactly what Sri Chaitanya Malprabhu explains. This verse, third verse of Shrikshaṣṭaka is this description of niṣṭha. And kirtaniya sadahari means that Sada, all the time, the name is imprinted within your heart and you always hear this name. Therefore it said Kirtaniya Sadahari. And then on the level of Ruchi, you will start seeing the form and when the Ruchi becomes mature because any of the stages is prolonged, it's not just one moment, it has different sub-stages in it. When the Ruchi becomes very pronounced, then the beautiful sweet form of the Lord is established. And then on the level of Asakti, you will feel the qualities of the Lord and you will see the Parikaras who are enjoying these qualities or who are serving the Lord and you will see the interaction and ultimately on the level of Bava you are qualified to come to this Lilas Maranam. So that's basically the gradual process, and we are all qualified for this if we do it properly. So that was my introduction, and now we'll start No, now we'll start the story. We'll start a little bit because I feel obliged to do it, otherwise it's not so good. But I thought it was important to explain the Vaishnava style of meditation and how it is different from whimsical meditation when we want to attract something. We don't want to attract anything, we want to become attracted to Krishna who is all attractive and now we are not attracted to him and if we try to to attract something. This goes completely against the grain of Vaishnava philosophy. So we want to become attracted. For that we should purify our mind through this process of following sadhana and chanting the holy name. So we'll start with Kathar. I'll speak on, as I said, on the verses from 38th chapter of the 10th kanto of Bhagavad Gita, which describes the meditation of Akrura while he is going to Vrindavan. But before that, the Katha starts earlier in 36th chapter. And in 36th chapter, there is a very interesting, peculiar verse. And without the help of Śrīla Jīvīga Swami, we would never be able to understand the deeper meaning of this verse. Without the help of not even just acaryas, there are many different acaryas, but the followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we would never be able to understand what this verse means. That's the sixth verse of the 36th chapter of the 10th Canto. Please repeat after me. Ariṣṭe niḥate daitye krishnanād bhuta-karmanā kamsayādhana bhagavan Narada Devadarshanah. Narada Devadarshanah. Narada Devadarshanah. So this verse said, after I reached the sura had been killed by Krishna, who acts wonderfully, Narada Muni went to speak to King Kamsa, that powerful sage of godly vision addressed the king as follows. So this is where the drama starts. All of sudden, Narada Muni, after Krishna killed Arishta Sura, gets the brilliant idea to come to Kamsa and to tell Kamsa that Vasudev lied to him and his real son is Krishna, still living in Vrindavan. And it's on in one verse. Arishtenihateidaitye kresnanand buddha karmana tamsyatana bhagavan narado deva darsana. So, bhagavan Narada, the great sage Narada, who is deva darsana, who sees the demigods and knows the desires of demigods, He comes to Kamsa after Krishna killed Arishta Sura. So, do you know when exactly, in which months at least, Narada came to Kamsa? When did Krishna kill Kamsa? Just a few days ago. Yeah, that's the local tradition which is not confirmed by our acaryas. Yes, local traditions tend to lump everything in Kartik time. So they also put Kamsavada here on ceturdashi. No problem, let him be killed in Kartik time. Yeah, in reality he was killed at the end of winter on Sivaratri, not Sivaratri, the Cheturdashi before Sivaratri, which is there in February, early February. Do you know when Krishna killed Aristasura? Krishna killed Aristasura and at that time who appeared? Radhakunda appeared. So when did Krishna kill Arista Sura? Don't say just a few days ago. It's a local custom. It's a local tradition. Put all the festivals in Kartikmas. Spring. Yeah, early spring. So, here in one verse Sukadeva Goswami lumps these two events, whereas in reality these two events are separated by practically one year. And without the help of Jiva Goswami, we would not be able to understand why it is and why it is so important. I will explain later, tomorrow, the significance and what was happening within this one year and why Sukadeva Goswami didn't want to explain it in all details. He basically kind of passed by this whole very important year of Krishna's life. But because of Jiva Goswami and the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahprabhu, we know what happened after that. And this background story is very important. I will not tell it now because it's too important. I will start with this story tomorrow. But for now, what is important for us to continue this narration, which is there in 36th chapter, yeah, I will tell a little bit about this verse, and I still have a few minutes of time. So, it is very beautifully explained by our Acharyas. Aristhenia Te Daitye Krishna Adbuta Karmana Krishna is called here Adbuta Karmana he is the creator or he is the performer of amazing wonderful acts Krishna Adbuta Karmana and our chariast Jiva Goswami and Sanatana Goswami and Vishwanath Chakravartyakur they say that Krishna is called Adbuta Karmana Sukadeva Goswami, while saying this, he has very vivid picture of this Arista Suravada. Whatever Sukadeva Goswami speaks, he sees it in front of his eyes and he's wondering what's happening because Krishna, how Krishna killed Arista Suravada, you know what was the means or weapon by which Krishna killed Arista Suravada? No, not fist. His own horn. Aristasura was beautiful, magnificent Daitya with huge horns. Krishna looked at his horns and he said, oh, such nice horns. And the first thing which he did, he just broke the horn of Aristasura and killed him with his horn. and Sukadev Gosvami is seeing this and he says he's a Buddha Karmana because in every other place in every other lila, in every other avatar, Krishna is using weapons, Krishna sometimes is using his chakra, sometimes he is using his saranga bow like in Ramachandra, sometimes as Nrisimhadev he kills with his beautiful nails. But only in Krishna Lila he kills without any weapons, with his very soft and very gentle, nice hands. And he uses oftentimes some things of the demon which are there. and Harishavari Prabhu commentator of the 10th kent of Simad Bhagavan, he says by using the horn of Arishta Sura Krishna wants to show that I'm not killing you, your own karma is killing you your own karma in the form of the horn which grew on your head so at Buddha Karmana means that in Vrindavan Krishna even killing in a very special way, without any weapons with his gentle hands and then you wouldn't believe that with these gentle hands he can kill anyone because they are so soft. So he sees this picture of Arista Suravada and he's called here Devadarshana and he's called Devadarshana and Bhagavan and he's coming to Kamsa because Narada knows that devas are incomplete. They're impassionate. They want Krishna to do his business, to come out from Vrindavan. Enough is enough. For how long you're going to, you know, do this useless thing. You have to do so many other stuff. You have to kill these demons. So many glorious things you have to do. And therefore, Narada Muni is called here deva darshana. He is going to the planets of the devas. He is going to the heavenly planets, and he knows the anxiety which the devas have. And they are very afraid of Kamsa. Kamsa is terrorizing everything. So they want to speed up the whole drama. And therefore, Kamsa, on behalf of the demigods, is coming, not Kamsa, sorry, Narada. Narada, on behalf of the demigods, is coming to Kamsa. and he is disclosing the truth. He is saying, you know that Vasudev, you believed. You are a little foolish and naive. How you can trust these people, Yadavas? They hate you. He lied to you. Krishna is his own son, and Balarama is also his son. You should kill them as quickly as possible, and for that you should bring them here to Madhura, because you sent so many demons and it was all useless. They couldn't do this because Vrindavan is a very special place and Krishna is very powerful in Vrindavan. But in Madhura, you will definitely be able to kill him. Just bring him here. So he's trying to push Kamsa. And of course, for Kamsa, you don't need to repeat this twice. comes and becomes really angry. He becomes really... He always thought that Krishna is something special. He always thought that Krishna is very dangerous, but he never was confirmed. He was never 100% sure that Krishna is the same eight child of Vasudeva who is destined to kill him. So he became furious, and he wants to immediately finish everything. And immediately the beautiful plan appears in his mind. And Krishna, in the form of super soul, is helping him to create this beautiful plan, which will become his end. So he says, he calls his ministers. And his ministers, who are his ministers? Chanura and Mushtika. These stupid fellows who are fighters, who are wrestlers. He calls Chanura and Mushtika and he says, oh, you're great heroes. Please arrange quickly everything. Make this arena of sacrifice and we will call Krishna and Balaram and you will kill Krishna and Balaram. First, Kuvala Epida will try to kill. If it doesn't work, you will kill. if it doesn't work, I will kill them. Somehow or other, we will kill them. And he is fantasizing this. He is doing this Mayavad meditation on killing Krishna. Believe me, he was in Samadhi by thinking about this. He couldn't sleep the whole night. He was thinking how he will kill Krishna. So, and then, but then the question is how to bring Krishna here. He's afraid if he goes himself or if he sends Chanura and Mustika, Krishna knowing about this, he will run away. He's afraid that Nanda Maharaj will be afraid. So he wants to camouflage this whole event very beautifully, he says, Let's do some religious ceremony. All these people, they are very religious, and they like religious ceremonies. So we will make beautiful sacrifice. We will call so many Brahmanas here. They will for sure come. And then he gets an idea. Let's send Akrura to Vrindavan. Because Akrura is the relative of Krishna. He is the uncle of Krishna, and he is the only one whom Nanda Maharaj will believe, whom Krishna will believe, he is the only one who will be able to bring Krishna. So again, this is all, of course, manipulated by Krishna himself, and it's a reciprocation of Krishna with Akrura's meditation. It is explained, he says, Let's read this verse and then I will explain very important implications of this verse. Kamsa calls Akrura to his hall where he's sitting as the king. And he says, My dear Akrura, most charitable one, he calls him Danapate. Akrura was famous for giving charity to everyone. He liked to give charity and by calling him Danapate, charitable person comes implies that please do whatever I ask him. He's very, whatever I will ask you. Please do this charity to me. You're very charitable. Please do this mercy to me. And he's very humble. He's trying to be as humble as possible. He forgets temporarily that he's the king. So he humbly asks Bhoboda napate mahjam kriyatam maitram adritaha. Please do this friendly favor to me, since I respect you, adritaha, your very respectful person. Nanyas tvato hitatamo. Among the bojas and vrishnas, there is no one else as kind to us as you. So, it's basically the only verse where there is the second verse. Atas tvam ashrita somya karya goorava sadhanam yatendru višnum ashritya svartam adyagam at vibhuh. A gentle accruar, I am depending on you to accomplish this important task, just as powerful Indra took shelter of Vishnu to achieve his goals. So he says, even I am so powerful, like Indra. Still, this Indra, he asked his younger brother, who is, you know, little dwarf, to help him. So I am calling you. he is very humble but at the same time he reminds him who he really is I am Indra and you are my little assistant so like Indra asked Avamanadev to help him I am also asking you please go and please bring Krishna and Balaram here so there is a beautiful story behind this which is not described by Sukadeva Goswami but which is described in other Puranas and especially in Harivamsa Purana, that Akrura was for 12 years serving Kamsa very diligently to gain trust. And actually, Srila Sanatangaswami, he explains this in the verse where he glorifies Akrura. I offer my respects to Okrura who served Kamsa on some pretext in order to see and serve his Lord. It's a very beautiful verse. Sanat Nagaswami says that Srila Akrura that Akrura remained for 12 years as a loyal and obedient servant of Kamsa for one sole purpose to see Krishna Didriksaya Shri Krishnaika Krishna Eka Didriksaya because he wanted to see Krishna so much he was ready to serve Kamsa. He became his servant. So the implication of this was that Akrura knew that if he serves Kamsa very loyally and very faithfully, then at one point, Kamsa will send him to Gakula. The desire of Akrura was to go to Gakula, but instead of going to Gakula, he remained in Madhura to come to this moment where his whole life will bring him to Gakula. So it's a very, very important point which we can see is repeated in the history of Aosan Pradaya. Before we come to Vrāja, before we will be able to come to Vrāja, before we will be able to come to Gokula, we should be somewhere away from Gakula and meditate on coming to Vrāč. We should make our desire to come to Vrāč real and genuine, and for that unfavorable circumstances are actually very favorable. When you are in the situation where you have to serve this demon, what could be less favorable than service to Kamsa? What could be less productive in your spiritual life than service to Kamsa? But Akrura was very intelligent. Akrura knew, if I surf to Kamsa, at one point, Kamsa himself will send me to Gokula. And he will say this, in a very beautiful way, he will say, and actually that's the implication, when we are very firm and determined in our services outside of Raj, but at the same time we cherish and grow the desire to come to Vraj, then desire will become so pure and so strong that the fate itself will bring us to Vraj. We cannot come to Vraj by our whimsical desire in reality. And we can see this in the history of Aosampradaya. When Raghunath Das Goswami wanted to be with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he was running away again and again and again. Ultimately he came to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told him, go back, don't be crazy, behave yourself very nicely, the time will come when you are ready and then you will come to me, to me and then you will come to Vrač. And it's not the only story which is there. And there are other stories of the similar motive or the similar nature. There was the story about Vanga Swami Tinkori Goswami who was from Nityananda Vamsha. He is the descendant of Lord Nityananda. And he wanted to come to Vraj to do bhajan. And he would come here to Manohar Das Babaji. And Manohar Das Babaji said, no, you're not ready. Go back. And his wife dies. And he comes and he says, no, I'm free. My wife died. my child is taken care of, I want to come here to Vraj. He said, no, go back and marry again. He sends him back. He says, you're not ready to come here. And we see, of course, there is another story which is perhaps the most striking. When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says to Rupa Goswami and Sanatma Goswami, you're not ready. They write him letter after letter after letter. And this is Rupa and Sanatana Goswami, the purest Nityasidas in our Sampradaya. They're writing him letters and they're begging him, what can we do for you? Can we serve to you? What shall we start? And he doesn't answer their letters. And ultimately he writes just one verse in the letters. Paravyasani nini nari, via grapi griha karma su. that he says that like the lady who has paramour and she is grijini, she is nari she is serving her husband so nicely so that he would not he would not notice anything wrong but in her mind she is always meditating on this She is always asvadayati, she is always feeling distaste. So what I want to say is that, and this is my own experience, when the circumstances become too comfortable and too conducive for bhajan, you become lazy. Sometimes people are in a hurry to move in the temple, and before that they were so eager. And I remember when we were under the communist regime, and everything was illegal, and the kirtans were so sweet and so amazing, and we had to hide, and we had to go somewhere in the mountains to have just half an hour of kirtans so that nobody would hear this kirtan, and it was so sweet. And then all of sudden it became legal and everything became boring. So, in the beginning, the resistance of the environment is very important. Resistance is necessary in this incubation period when your bhakti is not mature yet or is not strong enough yet. Because without resistance, your bhakti will never become strong, your desire will never become strong. The resistance, the external resistance, the unfavorable circumstances in which you are practicing or beginning practicing your bhakti actually help you. Like I know many people, when their family is not favorable, they become such a strong devotees because they have to hide it from the family and they're doing this and they're always conscious about this. And for them it's so precious. It's so important to practice bhakti. They know it. And then if everything is favorable, they don't feel like it. Because again, when our bhakti is immature, the external resistance helps it to become mature and strong. And that's the first very important lesson of Akrura. The first very important lesson of Akrura is that you should not be afraid of unfavorable circumstances. Because this is the nature of the human mind to do everything contrary. If they don't want you to do something, your desire to do this will increase many folds. Especially, we know that forbidden fruit is very sweet. So, in the beginning when bhakti is forbidden, and in case of Akrura, his bhakti was very forbidden. He couldn't practice it openly. He was there, he was hiding his bhakti, and externally he was showing his loyalty, his faithfulness to Kamsa. So this is a very important first lesson of Akrura's life. And he says that the same Kamsa who was so much against Krishna, who was so much against my practicing bhakti and my being's loyal servant of Krishna, the same Kamsa now sending me to Krishna. And the implication here is that when you're mature, everything which was unfavorable for your practicing of bhakti will just push you towards bhakti. Will help you to become Krishna conscious. I experienced it myself. I was doing my service in very unfavorable circumstances and then at one point Krishna said enough is enough, come here. and all those people who wanted me to be there they were very much against me and they said get out of here and here I am this is how it works this is a very important lesson that Krishna knows when you are ready don't be in a hurry just make your bhakti strong make your desire strong for that there are some other things and lessons which Akrura will teach us but this first lesson which I wanted to mention is this lesson of resistance we should not be afraid resistance is good and therefore Srila Prabhupada he was very bold and he knew this and he was saying, don't be in a hurry. Come for Vrindavan for a short while. The time will come when you will be able to come here and to be absorbed and completely immersed in your bhajana. Just recently, disciple of Srila Prabhupada Parvat Maharaj passed away in a few days and he was sleeping just for three hours a day. He was chanting many, many laks a day. He was so absorbed. But before that he was an active preacher. And he was one of the most talented and most successful book distributors. But at one point he just came here. And he didn't want to leave this world from any other place but Radhakund. And he left this world from Radhakund. Even from Vrindavan. He was there in Vrindavan. but he said, bring me back to Radha Kunt. And they brought him back to Radha Kunt and he left this world on the day of disappearance of Gorky Shordas Babaji on the courtesy of Kartik. So that's the reward. That's how it works. So don't be in a hurry. The time will come. There's no doubt about it. But for some time, it's like this, like a little, how you call this, caterpillar. the caterpillar, when the caterpillar is just eating this grass and whatever is there, cabbage, or whatever the caterpillar likes, and the caterpillar doesn't think about anything else. But then at one point the desire to fly comes to little caterpillar's mind. Somehow or other, I don't know how it happens, it happened with us. We were happy caterpillars crawling over the place and eating all kinds of garbage. But then at one point we thought, let's fly. And what could be more insane and absurd than for caterpillar to imagine that he can fly? but still this desire came to the mind and what caterpillar did to learn how to fly went into this how do you call this? cocoon, yes into cocoon and it's not very favorable for flying to be in cocoon it seems very counter intuitive you know that your way to fly goes through cocoon but it does so in the same way it seems like very counter intuitive counter intuitive to serve to serve Kamsa to see Krishna but it is it is like this this is the paradoxical way of spiritual life sometimes to reach the goal you cannot go straight to the goal you have to go this way and this way and do some diversions and you will reach the goal faster than if you would go straight so that's an important lesson of Akrura which I mentioned and with which I finished this katha. Thank you very much. There are a few other very important lessons but I just wanted to start with this in this place how we should be patient and how we should embrace the seemingly unfavorable circumstances in our service, because the circumstances ultimately will show us how precious bhakti is. Otherwise, we will not be able to appreciate bhakti properly. and yes we were talking about the sequence of meditation how the meditation in a natural spontaneous and way develops in a humble heart in the heart of somebody who is trying to achieve the Lord through meditation process through this technique but is not demanding this and is not trying to force krishna to manifest but humbly and patiently serving him through this process of chanting the holy name harry krishna harry krishna krishna kristana harry harry harry rama harry rama rama harry harry okay any questions i yes i answered one question what is samskara. There was another very important question and very beautiful. Does the devotee need to come to the highest level of meditation or samadhi to return back to Godhead. Where will go those devotees who simply follow Srila Prabhupada's instructions? Anyway, that's for tomorrow. And again, Srila Prabhupada's instruction is not to chant. Where will go those devotees who simply follow Srila Prabhupada's instructions to chant 16 rounds? Srila Prabhupada's instructions to chant at least 16 rounds. Please remember, at least 16 rounds, not 16 rounds. Srila Prabhupada's instructions to chant 24 hours a day. That's also his instruction. But we conveniently forget about this instruction and only remember 16 rounds instruction. I will tell this tomorrow, continuing with the story of Akrura. There is a very beautiful point about this. Yeah, this is some scars. I noticed this. At the level of dharana and dhyana, when the focus is already on the form, it seems that elements of imagination may also play a role in our meditation. In such cases, should we take extra precautions to ensure that the object of our meditation and the details in which it is revealed to us are authentic. Yes, definitely. We should definitely take extra precautions and therefore, as I said, and I will stress it again here, the basis of our meditations are scriptures, not our imagination. the ground the foundation of our meditation are the verses of scriptures and therefore we should chant these verses, we should memorize these verses and relish these verses and that's the real meditation as opposed to the meditation which is just a product of our very creative mind fertile mind yes I was wondering is there like we say we go from Nama to Rupa, Guna, Lila and is there systematic hearing from the Bhagavatam because obviously not every verse is describing the Guna, Rupa and Lila of Krishna No, see, the process is like this. We should definitely need in Bhagavata Seva. We should attach our heart to hearing Srimad Bhagavatam. But then, when we are mature, we will become partial and we will want to hear certain sections of Srimad Bhagavatam which nourish our meditation, our particular meditation. In the beginning, we should not be choosy, and Srila Prabhupada warned us against this. He said, don't try to go to certain sections of Srimad Bhagavatam. Just treat Srimad Bhagavatam as it is, in the proper sequence. But when the qualification is there, then naturally, again, spontaneously, our heart will be attracted to certain sections of Shri Mat Bhagavatam which nourish this particular kind of meditation suitable and we will go there at the same time we will still continue serving Shri Mat Bhagavatam and reading Shri Mat Bhagavatam like Goswami suffering down they would come together and Raghunath Bhata Goswami would read Shri Mat Bhagavatam and change Shri Mat Bhagavatam and sing Shri Mat Bhagavatam and they would be in complete samadhi. But for our special bhajana to nourish our meditation, we can go to certain sections or certain verses, memorize specific verses which facilitate our meditation. The other day when Srila Radhanathmarach and Srutakirti Prabhu were here, Radhanathmarachas Srutakirti Prabhu, can you tell us some Prabhupada story connected with Govardhan? And Srutakirti told a story which is exactly answering your question. So, Prabhupada was in Los Angeles and he was doing massage and he asked Srutakirti Prabhu, or it was some other occasion, anyway, he asked Srutakirti Prabhu to read something from Krishna book. and Sutta Kirti Prabhu started reading from Krishna book and he opened the Krishna book on some demons past time where Krishna is killing demons and Prabhupada said he was enjoying so much he was laughing and laughing and laughing and Sutta Kirti Prabhu said Srila Prabhupada especially like the part when it is described that demons were bloody and the blood was oozing so Prabhupada was enjoying this so the next day and Sutta Kirti felt very elated and very happy that he pleased Srila Prabhupada with the reading about the demons and the next day Prabhupada again said please read Krishna book and Sutta Kirti started frantically looking for the stories about killing the demons with a lot of blood in it to please Prabhupada. And he was doing it, and Prabhupada looked at him and said, read anywhere. It's all sweet. So, yes, we should listen to everything which is there in Simad Bhagavatam, but for certain purposes, for certain meditations on the level when we're qualified, we can go in certain sections. and they will become our favorite. And we will meditate very deeply. Yes, Dadas. Hare Krishna. Thank you very much. I wanted to ask you, what is the relationship between Japa and Sankirtan, like singing together? and is it possible to choose and progress just in one? Like for example, if you like Japa, you just continue with Japa and don't pay attention to Kirtan or like... No, it's not possible. Kirtan should be there. Chaitanya Mahprabhu said that out of nine kinds of bhakti allowed, Kirtan is the most. Sarva-sreshta is the best. that this is the best. And that's exactly what Srila Jiva Goswami says. You should continue kirtan because it's fearless. Akutobayam. It's the fearless method. It's the most beneficial method. It's the easiest method. but you should also continue with Japa because it teaches you Smaranam Japa from the very beginning it should be on the level of Upamsu when you very softly chant the holy name but if it's not supported by the power of Kirtana it will be very difficult for you to go into it maybe on a certain level But even we can see even the great saints who still live here or who used to live here in Vraj, they would do Lila Smaranam, they would do Japa. They would do first Japa, then they do Lila Smaranam, meditation. And then they would always do Kirtanam. So these two processes, they are nourishing each other. They are mutually not exclusive. They are complementary to each other, and they help each other. They help to strengthen and to purify our mind. So loud kirtan and very soft and sometimes silent chanting of the holy name, they're all important. And that's what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu showed in his own example. Yes, Brother Pramod. Yeah, no, no. Please, please continue. Could you please suggest how to get taste for kirtan? Because when I sit in kirtan, I think that I would rather chant japa. The taste only comes when there is absorption. If you think about something else, I would rather chant japa, then you will never feel the taste of kirtan. I explained this yesterday. if you are not concentrated or not absorbed in eating any food, the most delicious food will not be pleasurable to you. You will not feel the taste. So the beginning of the taste is to bring, maybe a little forcefully, your mind into the process. But then the mind will like it. But the starting point, the initial point, is to bring the mind into the process, to be completely present while you are doing this. So, I'm sure that Namprabhu is very happy with your loyalty to Japa, but Namprabhu also wants you to become wild in Kirtan. It's again Satyana Namaraj speaking through me. I just can feel it's coming from the asana. going out from the mouse. Yes, Radhapram. I want to ask. Thank you for the lecture. You said yesterday that actually, basically, the desire, if you have the strong desire, then things, they start working very quickly. And I see that in my life, in my experience. Like, if you really desire something, like, very, very bad, then, like, I don't know, Krishna helps. Oh, yeah. For sure. Krishna helps very fast. So the question is how to really get that very, very strong desire. This is the topic of tomorrow's lecture. Okay, Radha Pramata and then Atachi want? Yeah. Maharaj, you are mentioning about chitta. It has that image that is formed. Now, my question is like, now when the jiva enters into the body of Mahavishnu, there is no chitta. So what is that stored in it? When it comes back, it is... It's still... It goes into the body of Mahavishnu with its karma. And karma has particular structures, so... But karma is... That is what are the impressions in Chittai's karma? Yeah, so it goes... Anyway, you can always say Achintya. It's a very safe answer. This very subtle remnants of karma are still there attached to Jiva. Certain questions you cannot answer very logically or rationally because ultimately it's not possible to understand everything how they're sitting in the body of Lord Mahavishnu with some material elements, but nevertheless it's there because when the jiva comes out it comes out with its karma or the other answer which you can give to this question. Again, I don't know which one is right, but it's a possible answer is that the karma of the jiva is stored in chitta of Mahavishnu. And it's a completely spiritual karma. But it's there. Mahavishnu remembers our karma and he very mercifully gives us back the karma which we deserved when we come out of his body. So it's somewhere there. Don't worry. Why Narada took so much time for the gap? Narada? No, Narada didn't take... I will explain tomorrow what is the gap. why the whole year passed and why Sukhada Yugaslami didn't explain what happened during one year. That I will explain. Yes, this month she was before. Thank you so much. You said that with our sadhana we're trying to create samskaras. and what is the advance in Krishna consciousness? Like as of my experience and other devotees experience, I can see that like 10-12 years you practice, you can chant in Brahma Muhurta very easily, so nicely. nicely. And it looks like some scars should create, should have been created, but after times pass and so difficult, it turns. So it was low-pikash-radha or...? Again, no, Silla Rupa Gosvami mentions in one place, in two places, in Bakti-ra-samrita-sindhu. he mentions Garha-samskara. He doesn't elaborate on this. Srila Jiva Goswami doesn't explain exactly what it is, commenting on Bhakti Rasa Vrta Sindhu. it's only said that bhakti leaves this garha samskara, not just and garha basically means very deep samskara like Gaharvan in Varsana so this garha samskara according to some explanations is the spiritual samskara Samskaras not in the material chita, but Samskaras on the soul proper. So, there are Samskaras and there are Samskaras. Material Samskaras are not so stable. Some of them are quite stable, but still, by nature, because material nature is flickering, they could be erased or overshadowed by some other samskaras. But garganta samskara, very deep samskaras, they will always remain with you. So our practices of bhakti, depending on the quality of this practice, either remain these very deep special samskaras, which will always remain with you, Or they will remain little superficial samskaras, maybe still quite strong, but still superficial, like material samskaras, which could be overshadowed, temporarily overshadowed by other material impressions which we have. The proof of it could be given that those people who have very vivid and very real near-death experience, when they come back into this life, their whole life is completely changed because the samskaras which they got are so deep and they become totally transformed. Whereas practicing devotees, because sometimes our practice is not so perfect, is not without offenses. The samskaras which are created by this, they are not so deep. And therefore, our character, our personality, sometimes is not so drastically changed. We still carry on the traces of our material qualities. Whereas it is said, yasyasti bhakti bhakti rakhinchana in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that when our bhakti becomes a khinchana, completely pure, then sarva-ir-gunai-statrasa-masate-surah, then our quality completely changes, we become divine. So, this is the proof. And Shilavishvana Chikravartakur gives a very beautiful explanation of this. He compares this process with alchemical process of purifying the mercury. Mercury is very poisonous. And it's also very difficult to catch. So Mercury is, can be compared with our mind. Our mind is very poisonous and it's also very difficult to catch. It's very quickly. You've seen Mercury, you try to catch and it's already there. In the same way we try to catch our mind that it's already there. And you have to run behind your mind and it's already in different direction. but you can purify mercury and mercury I've seen purified mercury, it becomes solid in the same way our mind also becomes solid when it becomes very pure, it becomes very very stable and solid it's amazing, you can feel it's very heavy, it's mercury but it's completely solid how they do this I don't know but it's a long process, it's very cumbersome process, very difficult process for many many months they have to purify this mercury to make it, to achieve this quality so Biswana Chakra Vita Cruz says that the process of purifying the mercury is to churn, not churn, how to do this when you are grind is to grind it with certain substances and for some time the substance and the mercury despite of your grinding remain separate but then at one point the miracle happened and they combine and the quality changes so he says in the similar way when we practice we have our bhakti and it's somewhere there and we have our mind with its material qualities and traits and they are separate still. And therefore, we are practicing bhakti but at the same time, sometimes we do something nasty or some offensive thing is happening. So, it just means that bhakti did not really penetrate deeply our mind. And at this stage, when the bhakti is not, the mind and bhakti are not really glued together, not really penetrated each other. At this stage, you can experience this kind of thing, that the bhakti becomes a little shuffled away from the forefront of your mind. But it's still there. It comes. Okay. Well, I see the hand, but I don't see who is behind the hand. Yeah, you can... Pranahari Prabhu? Okay. I only see your beard. I wanted to ask and see if I understood this correctly about the Samarana, the anga of Samarana. is it, it doesn't seem accessible directly to the sadhaka because it's dependent on the hearing and chanting, starting with the name. Is that the correct? No. Smarana is also sadhana. All these nine processes of bhakti is sadhana. Sravana, kirtana, visna, smaranana, pada, seven. So it's all sadhana, but it's not the easiest kind of sadhana, very essential, very important kind of sadhana, but not the beginner kind of sadhana. In the beginning, you should, and we all experience this, in the beginning, we hear, we cannot speak about Krishna. Then the desire to speak about Krishna comes. And then when we sufficiently spoke about Krishna, then naturally the thought processes help us to remember Krishna. So it requires certain preliminary preparation. But it's sadhana, it's not siddha. It is. You can do smarana on the level of your perfection, but it is sadhana. You can do it in the beginning level, and you will be able to little bit kinchit anusandhanam this little investigation in the mind you can do the form appears the samskara appears in your mind and you investigate you just you looked at it but then it disappears being overshadowed or being exchanged to another samskara Thank you so much. Everything is made of consciousness. So how better by cultivating like sanskara's, those forms of soul develop or something else? No, no. Soul, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the soul has desires. And the desire is the subtle form, the original desire of the soul to enjoy independently on God, is the subtlest form of our conditioning. When this desire, I can be on my own, I can enjoy without him, I don't need him. When this desire appears, then the whole drama starts. And then it develops into samskara and everything else. But again, this is Achintya. Don't ask me how it happens and why it happens and how the soul fell down from the spiritual world. That's an interesting question. Thank you. That is a different thing, not material sense, spiritual sense, because as a sadhaka, so while practicing, so how it develops the form of the soul in the spiritual direction? Just like Rajivis mentioned. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, it will be revealed to you, don't worry about this. Sometimes devotees have this existential anxiety, how will I know this? Prabhupada said, the holy name is very powerful. And this is exactly what Bhaktivinoda Takura is explaining in the last song of Saranagati. And the holy name comes when the real holy name comes. It reveals my place, my worship, everything else. It entirely depends on our service to the holy name. And when the holy name becomes pure, everything will be revealed. and you will not believe it but it will happen. So we have to have complete faith in the Holy Name and the power of the Holy Name or in the self revelatory process of bhakti. That's very important. The process of bhakti has this quality of self, of being capable of revealing everything by just the process itself. The process is powerful. Our part in it is proper association, desire, proper sadhana and humility. OK, I guess that's it. Thank you very, very much. Shila Prabhupada Ki Jaya. Guru Primadant Li.