From Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhu, Dakshin Part. ‘Therefore, glow of the Holy Name can destroy all great sins and also can rescue us from earthly attachment.’

taṁ nirvyājam bhaja guṇa-nidhe pāvanaṁ pāvanānāṁ
śraddhā-rajyan-matir atitarām uttamaḥ-śloka-maulim
prodyann antaḥ-karaṇa-kuhare hanta yan-nāma-bhānor
ābhāso ‘pi kṣapayati mahā-pātaka-dhvānta-rāśim

One who has got the aptitude to chant Krishna-nama is addressed as Guna-nidhe—who is richly endowed with all good qualities. Krishna-nama is the greatest redeemer of all redeemers, glories of whom are sung by the liberated souls, suddha bhaktas, the cause of all causes, ‘avatari’—the cause of all incarnations. It is advised to practice devotion with firm faith, without hypocrisy, without any delay and with simple heartedness, why? Because as the glow the Sun removes all darkness, like that the glow of the Holy Name entering into the heart can destroy all sins and nescience.

Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur’s instructions (His own writing in Bengali)

parama pāvana kṛṣṇa tānhānra charaṇa,
niskapata śraddhā saha karaha bhajan,
jānra nāma suryābhās antare praveśi,
dhvaṁsa kare mahāpāp andhakārarāśi,
ei śikṣāṣṭake kahe kṛṣṇalīlā-kram,
ihāte bhajan krame līlāra udgam,
prathame prathama śloka bhaja kichu din,
dvitīya ślokete tabe hauta pravīṇ

By remembering Siksastaka and then we can remember all the pastimes of Radha Krishna of the eight periods (Astayama). Without Siksastaka we cannot enter into the pastimes of Radha Krishna. In this way we have to do, first we should give attention to the first sloka, first verse and when we are well-established in it, then the next verse we should cultivate it, practice it.

chāri śloke kramaśaḥ bhajana pakkva kara,
pañcam ślokete nija siddha deha vara,

Without getting the realized self that is beyond this material phenomena, the Absolute is spiritual, transcendental, that state if you reach then you have contact with the Transcendental Supreme Lord. By remaining with false ego you cannot go there. Sidda deha vara in the fifth verse,

ei śloke siddhadehe rādhāpadāśraya,
ārambha kariyā krame unnati udaya,

If you want what our Guruvarga wants to give us, the highest prema then you have to take shelter of Radharani. Our procedure is like this, through Radharani you can go there. And Sri Radharani is also the transcendental Complete Spiritual potency and we should be in the realized state as Her servant or maid-servant.

chaya śloka bhajite anartha dure gela,
tabe jāna siddhadehe adhikāra haila,

How can you understand that you are entitled to get this realized form? When by doing Harinama you have ecstatic feelings, nayanam galadashru dharaya vadanam gadgada ruddhaya gira pulakair nicitam vapuh kada tava nama-grahane bhavisyati—by uttering the Holy Name eyes will be adorned with sacred glamour of the rolling down of tears, voice will be choked and the whole body will be horripilate. Doing Harinam no tears are coming, nothing, then there must be some offences there. For that reason these ecstatic feelings are not being manifested. By that you can understand whether you have attained realized state or not. When you get these feelings then you are entitled to enter into these pastimes, i.e. transcendental pastimes.

adhikāra nā labhiyā siddhadeha bhāve,
viparjya buddhi janme śaktira abhāve
sāvdhāne krama dhara yadi siddhi cāo,
sādhura carita dekhi śuddha buddhi pāo,
siddhadeha peye krame bhajana karile,
aṣṭakāla sevāsukha anāyāse mile,
śikṣāṣṭaka cinta kara smaraṇa kīrtan,

You have to think about, remember and to chant or to speak about this, then you can have entrance into the transcendental pastimes.

krame aṣṭakāla-sevā habe uddīpana,
sakala anartha jābe pābe premadhana,
caturvarge phalguprāya habe adarśana

Krame aṣṭakāla-sevā habe uddīpana—gradually the service in the eight periods of eternal pastimes will manifest.

That sort of inspiration will come to us. Sakala anartha jābe pābe premadhana — all kinds of ulterior desires will be removed and you will get the wealth of love. Caturvarge phalguprāya habe adarśana — religiosity, wealth, sensuous enjoyment and desire for salvation will go away. All these desires for material piety and others, religiosity, wealth, sensuous enjoyment and desire for salvation are obstacles in getting the highest objective. All these will vanish by doing Krishna-kirtan. In this way by remembrance of Sikshastaka you will get everything.

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ
bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ
vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ
prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ
paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam

All attainments you can get by performing Krishna-sankirtan. Here, principal seven attainments are mentioned; cleansing of the mirror of the heart, extinguishing of the forest fire of birth, death and threefold afflictions, bestowing auspiciousness which is eternally soothing like moonlight, the life of spiritual learning i.e. awakening of the real self, increasing of the ocean of bliss, bestowing at every step sweet taste of complete transcendental ambrosia, the holy immersion of body-mind-real self. Let there be supreme victory for the chanting of the Holy Names of Sri Krishna.

saṅkīrtana haite pāpa-saṁsāra-nāśana
citta-śuddhi, sarva-bhakti-sādhana-udgama
kṛṣṇa-premodgama, premāmṛta-āsvādana
kṛṣṇa-prāpti, sevāmṛta-samudre majjana
(Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya 20.13-14)

By performing congregational chanting of the Holy Names, one can destroy the sinful material existence, purify the unclean heart and awaken all varieties of devotional service. The result of chanting is that one awakens his love for Krishna and tastes transcendental bliss. Ultimately, one attains the association of Krishna and engages in His devotional service, as if immersing himself in a great ocean of love.

Along with Sri Shikshastaka verses, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur has given provision to remember the transcendental pastime of Krishna.

Thinking of Krishna-lila (pastimes of Krishna):

niśante kirtane kuñja bhaṅga kare dhyāna
krame krame citta lagne rasera vidhān

By remembering and performing Kirtan of nisanta-lila or kunja-bhaga-lila, the mind will gradually relish the rasa.

The mind is the cause of our bondage and the mind is the cause of liberation. Mind’s nature is to think. If one sits here (in the Math) and thinks of the worldly matter, he will enter into the material world. And sitting at home if he thinks about the service of Krishna, he is in Krishna’s service. So it is said you have to meditate on the pastime of awakening of Sri Sri RadhaKrishna in their secret grove at the close of the night along with Kirtan. If you think and do some practice, then you will get the fruit. Without doing anything how can you get it? Gradually you will get the taste of transcendental bliss.

rātryante trastavṛnderita bahu-vira-vaibodhitau kirasārī
padyair-hṛdhyair api sukha-śayanād-utthitau tau sakhibhiḥ
dṛṣṭau hṛṣṭau tadātvoditarati-lalitau kakkhaṭīgīḥ saśaṅkau
rādhā-kṛṣṇau satṛṣṇāv api nija-nija dhāmnyāpta talpau smarāmi
(Govindalilamrita)

Vrinda Devi apprehending day-break sends Shuk-Sharika (male and female parrots) and other birds to start chirping to awaken Sri RadhaKrishna. These birds are not ordinary birds. Earlier we have heard that those who have not attained perfected bodies, cannot serve Krishna. So the birds who are serving there are also not ordinary; they all are associates of RadhaKrishna. Now here, we are doing the activities of the birds. You may say, “Swamiji, you are calling us birds and by that disrespecting us?” We are in fact under these birds, what is disrespect in that? They are singing the glories of RadhaKrishna so lovingly. Hearing Shuk’s singing of Krishna’s glories, devotees of Krishna are pleased. Then the hearts of associates of Radharani get sunk. Then Sharika, the female parrot sang the glories of Radharani more, by which Radharani’s associates become happy. That time the hearts of associates of Krishna get sunk. Like this, the competition goes on with sweet words. Waking up the object of worship by some force, by compulsion or by making a loud noise of instruments is not correct. They should be woken up by sweet words so that They open up Their eyes by Their sweet will. Shuk-Sharika have the eligibility because they have sweet voice. Hearing their sweet songs, Radharani feels happy and opens up Her eyes by Her own will. Along with Shuk-Sharika, even Gopis are also singing melodiously. Now, Radharani is awakened but Krishna is not awakened. Krishna remains with closed eyes. So long, Gopis had the responsibility to awaken RadhaKrishna, but when Radharani is awakened, their responsibility to awaken Krishna is over. Though Krishna is in front of Radharani, She cannot wake Him up by shaking Him. Radharani has difficulty because Krishna does not open up His eyes. There sleep is not like Kumbhakarna’s sleep. Kumbhakarna’s sleep is of tamo-guna—the mode of ignorance. There is no existence of tri-guna—satva, raja and tama, in Dham. There everything is nirguna. There is a female monkey of the name ‘Kakkhati’ to serve RadhaKrishna. Krishna is doing the pastime of not opening up His eyes to give service to Kakkhati. That monkey is also a personal associate of RadhaKrishna. Krishna is bhakta-vatsal—gracious to all devotees. He does not lose sight of even the smallest of the smallest servitor. Gopis are not giving permission to Kakkhati to serve because her voice is very harsh, but she wants to serve, she has got the desire to serve. She is giving her signs to all the Gopis indicating, “You are unable to do so let me do my duty.”

“No, your sound is very harsh. No, No..”

In this way, she is disheartened. But Krishna will not open His eyes until she is allowed to do the sound. For Krishna, her harsh sound is also sweet.

We also have heard from our Gurudev about one devotee, very devoted, whose voice was not good. Prabhupad says I will hear from him. It is ok if the voice is not good, if he has devotion then that is good. Devotees also have this kind of feeling.

Sakhis were forced to give permission to Kakkhati despite her harsh sound when their efforts were not producing results and it was getting late. She then makes her screaming harsh sound and Krishna woke up. There is so much convenience in Krishna bhajan, He is bhakta-vatsal; He does not leave anyone. Here, we are doing activities like birds in one way, whether it is sweet or not, still we are doing. And the work of the monkey is done by the bell, hearing the ‘tong, tong..’ high sound Krishna wakes up. Therefore, we are called birds, actually, we are not, we are under the birds who are serving; we have to surrender them, they are not ordinary birds so we should not consider it insult when compared with them. This way RadhaKrishna wakes up. Their sleep is not like ours which in tamo-guna; They are performing such pastime for giving service to the devotees. They look at each other and go to their respective homes and sleep in Their respective beds. Everything there is transcendental, not like here that we need a torch light if it is Amavasya—the dark moon Tithi. There everything gets illuminated by the shining of RadhaKrishna. It is not that They will be able to see the things after the sunrise only. The sun, moon, stars, etc. get the shining from RadhaKrishna only; they are not independent.