Varieties of Worship

It is very important to understand that there are many varieties of worship directed toward Sri Krishna and depending on the devotee's desire he will get a certain type of result.

In this regard Sriman Bhaktivinod Thakur mentions in his book Jaiva Dharma; "When one worships Krishna through the path of karma, the mind is purified, and one may obtain material fruits, freedom from disease, or liberation. But the same worship of Krishna through the path of bhakti produces only prema for krishna-nama. When karmis (those who follow the path of karma) observe Ekadasi, it eradicates their sins; whereas when bhaktas observe Ekadasi, it enhances their hari-bhakti. Just see what a world of difference there is!

The difference between sadhana performed as an aspect of karma, and sadhana performed as an aspect of bhakti is clear, but it is very subtle and only one who has Bhagavan’s mercy may know it. The bhaktas obtain the primary result, whereas the karmis are caught up in the secondary results, which may be broadly divided into two categories, namely, bhukti (material sense enjoyment) and mukti (liberation)".

Sri Krishna mentions this to his long time friend Arjuna;

" As they approach me I reward them accordingly"

"To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me"

"To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance"

"My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding"

In conclusion, pure devotion is not about ourselves, it is aboutpleasing the transcendental senses of the all attractive lord Sri Krishna and his Associates. Serving his holy abode and blissfully glorifying him via his Holy name.

The Golden Form

O Lord Krsna,

Your golden form is the life of the devotees.
It is the philanthropist that gives in charity the nectar of

Pure Love Of God.

When shall I whole-heartedly love this golden form?
When will I finally understand the secret of this golden form,

and the splendour of Srimati Radharani's jeweled toenails

shine in my heart?

Sri Caitanya-Candramrta

Ch 7 Verse 68 - Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati

Sannyasa Sukta

(Maha-Narayan Upanisad 4.12)

Om na karmana na prajaya dhanena tyagenaike amrtatvam anasuh /

parena nakam nihitam guhayam vibhrajate yad yatayo visanti /

vedanta-vijnana suniscatartha sannyasa yogad-yataya-suddha-sattvah /

te brahma-loke tu paranta-kale paramrtat-parimucyanti sarve /

dahram vipapam parame’ sma bhutam yat-pundarikam

pura-madhya sagmstham /

tatrapi dahram gaganam visokas-tasmin yad antas tad upasitavyam /

yo vedadau svarah prokto vedante ca pratistatah /

tasya prakrti-linasya yah para-sa mahesvarah //

Translation

One can achieve immortality in association with the Lord, not by ones own pious deeds, nor by the pious deeds of one’s sons, nor by the accumulation of wealth, but only by renunciation of all enjoyment for oneself and offering everything to the Supreme Lord. This state of perfection, which is attained by the real sannyasis, is situated far beyond this world, and is difficult to reach for the ordinary man.

Those sannyasis, having realized the actual conclusion of the Vedas, having given up personal sense enjoyment for engagement in the Lord's service, and being completely free of the influence of the material modes, at the end of their lives become freed from the material world and enter that Vaikuntha realm.

There is a lotus situated within the body, in the middle of the heart, a place free from all suffering. It is the spiritual sky, free from all material contamination and lamentation. There resides the object of our worship.

He who is glorified at the beginning of the Vedas, and is firmly established at the end of the Vedas, who resides beyond the material sphere, who is second to none, He is the Supreme.

Give Me More Capital

Give me more capital.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, "0 lord of the universe, I only pray for spontaneous devotion to you without motive for any reward. I want a natural serving attitude." Prema means affection, love. Prema means, "I shall serve you, and in remuneration you must give me more of a tendency to serve you—more energy and more hankering to serve you. My affection for you will be enhanced and the interest will become capital just as in the money-lending business." In this way, a devotee prays to Krsna, "I am serving you, and if you want to pay me something, then give me more capital to increase my serving tendency so it may be more enhanced.

"Wherever I am born according to my karma, I aspire only for your service, my Lord, and I pray for unmoti-vated service, not for anything else in return." The general temptation that surrounds us on four sides is of four classes: money, followers, women, and liberation, and that means dharma, artha, kama, and moksa. In this way, the gradations of different goals of life have been represented.

But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, "I have no attraction for any of these things, but only for You, my Lord. I don't even aspire after liberation. I will not even ask, 'Give me liberation, for, being liberated, I will be able to serve You better.'" That sort of condition must not be placed on divinity. This is the purest of prayers: "According to my karma, I may be bird or beast, here or there, or even in hell—it does not matter. My whole aspiration is concentrated on one thing alone: I pray that my attraction for You may never be lost. I pray that it may always be enhanced."

Excerpt from and informal talk by

Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

Radhika Carana-Renu by Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura

'The Dust of the Lotus Feet of Sri Radhika" (Sri Prema-bhakti-candrika 9)

radhika carana-renu, bhusana kariya tanu,
anayase pabe giridhari
radhika-caranasraya ye kare se mahasaya,
tan 're mui yaon balihari

One who adorns his body with the dust of the lotus feet of Srimati Radhika will easily get Lord Giridari. By taking the lotus feet of Srimati Radhika as his asraya or sole refuge, he becomes an exalted devotee - to him I say, "Excellent! Bravo!"

Jaya jaya 'radha' nama, vrndavana yan'ra dhama,
krsna-sukha-vilasera nidhi
hena radha-guna-gana,
na sunila mora kana,vanchita karila more vidhi

All glories to Sri Radha whose divine abode is Vrndavana! She is the wealth of Krsna's blissful pastimes. If my ears never hear such glories as Radha's, then I have been cheated by the hands of fate.

tan'ra bhakta-sange sada, rasa-lila prema-katha,
yena kare se paya ghanasya
maihate vimukha yei, ta'ra kabhu siddhi nai,
nahi yena suni ta'ra nama

One who is always in the association of devotees who hear about and discuss prema-katha, topics on divine love, such as the rasa-lila pastimes in Vrndavana, he will get the lotus feet of that Krsna whose bodily hue is like a dark-blue monsoon cloud. He who is adverse to hearing and discussing these topics, will never achieve the goal of life, nor do I ever want to hear his name.

krsna-nama-gane bhai, radhika-carana pai,
radha-nama-gane krsna-candra
samksepe kahinu katha, ghucao manera vyatha,
duhkhamaya anya katha-dvandva

O brothers! By chanting Krsna's names, one can get Radhika's lotus feet; and by chanting Radha's names one can get the moonlike Lord Krsna. In a few brief words I have told what gives relief to this aching heart - other talks are simply full of misery with conflicting words and thoughts.

Wholehearted Allegiance

Diseased and conditioned, the living entity (Soul \ Atma ) transmigrates throughout the universe. Sometimes he is situated in the upper planetary system and sometimes in the lower system. In this way he leads his diseased life. His disease can be cured only when he meets and follows the expert physician, the bona fide spiritual master. When the conditioned soul faithfully follows the instructions of a bona fide spiritual master, his material disease is cured, he is promoted to the liberated stage, and he again attains to the devotional service of Krishna and goes back home, back to Krishna.

A conditioned living entity should become aware of his real position and should pray to the Lord, "How much longer will I be under the rule of all these bodily functions such as lust and anger?" As masters of the conditioned soul, lust and anger are never merciful. Indeed the conditioned soul will never cease rendering service to such bad masters. However, when he comes to his real consciousness, or Krishna consciousness, he abandons these bad masters and approaches Krishna with a frank and open heart to achieve His shelter. At such a time he prays to Krishna to be engaged in His transcendental loving service. - The Beauty of Krishna - Chapter 10 by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami

"All of you should remain in close co-operation with the objective to propitiate the Supreme Lord with wholehearted allegiance to the grace incarnate form, Gurudeva, who is the Absolute Counterpart of the Supreme Lord. All of you should somehow maintain your livelihood in this most perishable non-eternal world, with the only objective of satisfying the Supreme Lord. Don't give up worship of God inspite of hundreds of troubles, hundreds of humiliations and hundreds of abuses. Don't be discouraged by seeing that most of the conditioned souls in this world are not accepting the service of Sri Krishna sincerely, without deceitfulness. Never give up your own worship, and never give up your only wealth, the 'be-all and end-all' of your life, which is the hearing and chanting of the glories of Sri Krishna. Always do Hari kirtan with the qualities of being humbler than blade of grass and more forbearing than tree." -Sriman Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati said this to his Disciples, just prior to entering Nitya Lila.

In conclusion we should take good care of our spiritual selves and see to it that we follow the process of devotional service as outlined by Sriman Mahaprabhu and his confidential associates. Life is short lets not waste time. You and I will be tested of this there is no doubt so lets not blame anyone for our lack of sincerity. We can only blame ourselves. The cheaters will be cheated and those who truly desire the eternal association of Sri Krishna and his Associates will have their wish granted. Ajd

Maya's Illusion

Maya's illusion is like the foam which mixes again with the sea.

No one is mother, father, or relative;

Like the sea foam, they remain a short while only.

And, as the sea foam merges into the sea,

this precious body of five elements disappears.

Who can say how many ephemeral forms the embodied soul has taken.

Poem by Abhaya Charan de

Gayatri entered the ear-holes of Brahma ji

The sound of Krsna's flute is the transcendental blissful sound; hence the archetype of all Veda, is present in it. The Gayatri is Vedic rhythm. It contains a brief meditation and prayer. Kama-gayatri is the highest of all the Gayatris, because the meditation and prayer contained in it are full of the perfect transcendental sportive activities which are not to be found in any other Gayatri.

The Gayatri that is attained as the sequel of the eighteen-lettered mantra is kama-gayatri which runs thus: klim kama-devaya vidmahe puspa-banaya dhimahi tan no 'nangah pracodayat. In this Gayatri, the realization of the transcendental pastimes of Sri Gopijana-vallabha after perfect meditation and the prayer for the attainment of the transcendental god of love are indicated.

In the spiritual world there is no better mode of endeavor for securing the super excellent rasa-bedewed love. As soon as that Gayatri entered into the ear-holes of Brahma, he became the twice-born and began to chant the Gayatri. Whoever has received the same Gayatri in reality. has attained his spiritual rebirth.

The status of a twice-born that is obtained in accordance with one's worldly nature and lineage, by the fettered souls in this mundane world, is far inferior to that of the twice-born who obtains admission into the transcendental world; because the initiation or acquisition of transcendental birth as a result of spiritual initiation is the highest of glories in as much as the jiva is thereby enabled to attain to the transcendental realm.