Madhyahna kalia bhajan - Mid-day worship - Worship with taste (ruchi bhajan)

Earlier I had no opportunity to come. First sraddha, after that association of sadhus, taking shelter of bonafide guru and as per his direction to start bhajan. by bhajan to remove our ulterior desires, in the second period. In the third period there will be fixation of mind to the Object of Worship. After that you can worship of Supreme Lord with taste. This is the gradual procedure shown by Bhakti Vinod Thakur.

nāma sādhakera ahaituki kṛṣṇa bhakti binā anya kāmanā nahi.

Actually we who perform Hari Nama cannot have any other desire except causeless devotion to Sri Krishna. If there are ulterior desires then it will be kirtan for that end, it will not be real kirtan of the Lord. So Nama sadhak will take the name of the Lord for the Lord. Causeless devotion is attained by the mercy of Suddha Bhakta. The nature of the atma (atma vrtti) is causeless devotion. Who can manifest this? Bhakti Vinod Thakur wrote kirtans on 'Sharanagati'. Sharanagati is atma's nature. But it cannot happen without the mercy of suddha bhakta Sad-guru. So in the end says 'rupa-sanatana pade dante trna kari bhaktivinoda pade duhun pada dhari'. Ultimately what our Bhakti Vinod Thakur has taught us, we memorise the six-fold sharanagati but by that we cannot get sharanagati. An awakened soul can awake other dreaming or sleeping soul. By our own effort we cannot.

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ
kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye
mama janmani janmanīśvare
bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukḥ tvayi
(4rd Verse of Sri Shikshastaka)

gṛha dravya śiṣya paśu dhānya ādi dhana

Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur has elaborated each desire specifically in detail. House, property or non-eternal things of the world, desire for making disciples with worldly motives, desire for domestic animals, desire for paddy – crops, etc. All these constitute wealth and we pray for these.

strī putra dāsa dāsī kuṭumbādi jana

These represent man-power, desire for wife, children, servants, maid servants and other relatives. We should not pay for these.

kāvya alaṅkāra ādi sundarī kavitā
pārthiva-viṣaya madhye e saba vāratā
ei saba pāibāra āśā nāhi kari
śuddha-bhakti deha more kṛṣṇa kṛpā kari

Pray from the heart. Lord is impartial, because He is Almighty, He is Supreme Lord, no body can bribe Him. What thing you will give Him, He Himself will give you. He is complete in Himself, nothing is outside Him. So you say from the heart I want You, I do not want all these things. Then immediately you will get. That sort of propensity, that sort of inclination in the mind, whether exists in me? So, why you are blaming Supreme Lord and others? You yourself want this. (Lord says) I have got some sort of affection. You see, parents have got some sort of affection for their children. When the child wants something which is not good for him, but several times that child is crying crying and crying and parents have got some sort of weakness to him. Alright, take take, but not from the heart. Like that Supreme Lord also, let them go, go into the world and enjoy. They do not want Me.

śuddha-bhakti deha more kṛṣṇa kṛpā kari
premera svabhāva yāṅhā premera sambandha

Indication of Mid-day pastimes of Radha Krishna: A hint has been given here about the mid-day pastimes of Radha Krishna.

madhyanhe anyonya samgodita vividha-vikaradi-bhusapramugdhau
vamyoutkanthatilolau smaramakha litady ali-narmaptasatau
dolaranyambu-vamsi-hrti-rati-madhupanarka-pujadi-lilau
radha-Krishnau satrsnau parijana-ghataya sevyamanau samrami

All the ecstatic feelings of highest order including Astasattvik-vikar – eight principal ecstatic feelings, thirty-three kinds of other subordinate ecstatic feelings – sanchari – all kinds of highest sweet inciting transcendental ecstatic feelings are manifested in Radha-kunda. Some extraordinary ecstatic feelings are Vamya – crookedness of prema, Utkantha – supreme eagerness to get contact with the object of love. By hearing jokes of Sri Lalita and the other sakhis Radha-Krishna get happiness. There are innumerable pastimes like swinging ceremony(dola), pleasant strolling in the forest(vana-vihar), water sports in ponds and rivers(jala-keli), stealing of flute(vamsi-harana), and other transcendental amorous pastimes(rati-krida), drinking of sweet honey (madhu-pana), worship of Sun-God (Surya-puja)etc. Radha-Krishna while engrossed in these transcendental pastimes are served by gopis. I remember such pastimes of Radha-Krishna.

It is my misfortune that I am not getting the opportunity to remember every pastime of the Lord. This is the niyama-seva during Damodara Vrata. Niyama-seva means to remember Sri Sikshastaka eight Verses along with eight periods of pastimes of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna. But as I am not well I am told to remember some two or four and not others. You sit in your room and do, but it does not happen there because I am not a perfect being (siddha-purush). Only in vaishnavas' association it is possible, otherwise other thoughts come to the mind. This is my misfortune.

Niyama seva means eight periods of pastimes, daily regularly you have to hear this. That is called Niyam seva. Because of my physical difficulty, because I have got some arrangement for the devotees if we hear some periods of pastimes and some we give up, then you are not getting the actual fruit. For that reason this sort of misfortune has come to me. By seeing me you are not to follow it. You have to hear, you have to remember all the periods of pastimes of Radha-Krishna. That is called niyama-seva. You have come to observe niyama-seva, Damodara Vrata, regularly everyday. If it is not possible for you to come because of your engagement in another service, you have to remember it privately. Privately it becomes not possible for me because we will avoid some things, conditioned souls like me. Congregational or with the company of sadhus that is benefit that in spite of our forgetfulness, they make us remember. For that reason, in spite of my forgetfulness they are compelling me to remember. This is the benefit of the association of bona-fide sadhus.

In the mid-day pastimes those ecstatic feelings that manifest do not happen at other times. What has been written here I have no eligibility to explain this in great detail and many have no eligibility to hear them also because we are still in body-consciousness, think I am this body. There is thirst for material enjoyments of this world (asat-trshna) by thinking I am this body which is temporary and non-eternal, a few here may have such consciousness. But this is about the transcendental spiritual realm. There is no material body there. In all these pastimes of Radharani has got no material form, She has transcendental spiritual form, purest form. And all the devotees are transcendental. How can we conditioned souls, enslaved jivas can think about this? So, for this reason Bhakti Vinod Thakur or other vaishnavas they do not describe it fully because they will understand like their own body and bodily relations. That fear is there. But it is something completely different. When one has such body consciousness that I am this body, he cannot perform bhakti. So how can he understand about prema bhakti, completely different. We are simply reciting the words and hearing. If understands wrongly he will become sahajiya thinking it like ordinary man-woman relation. But this is most sublime and most blissful, even if one gets a drop of it his material life will be gone, nothing will remain. So much so, the four Kumaras (chaturshan) are deep in Supreme bliss of ‘brahmananda’ (merging into the existence of the Absolute) but when the aroma of the tulasi leaves offered at the lotus feet of Narayana reached their nose, they did not see Narayana, still it attracted their hearts so much that they gave up ‘brahmananda’ and began worship of Narayana.

karmibhyaḥ parito hareḥ
priyatayā vyaktiṁ
yayur jñāninas tebhyo
jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ
(Srila Rupa Goswami Sri Upadeshamrita verse 10)

Leave alone karmis and jnanis, those who are emancipated, liberated souls, Bhakti attracts them too. Krishna is He to whom even Narayana gets attracted. Also, Krishna Himself gets attracted to His Own form, He forgets Himself. So, the gopis without desiring direct contact with Krishna, they make the union of Srimati Radha with Krishna because they consider we do not have such highest degree of devotion to have direct contact with Krishna, that Krishna’s sweet and ecstatic feelings will not manifest. So it is their endeavor to make the union of Srimati Radha with Krishna possible by which they experience more happiness when Krishna’s transcendental sweetness increases. This is because even crores of gopis cannot please Krishna like Radharani. Radharani thinks about every one, She is magnanimous. So, taking the mood and the bodily luster of Radharani Nandanandana Krishna became Gauranga, most magnanimous. Radharani engages all in the service of the Lord, She even gives Her chance of service to others. So, Krishna is captivated by Her love for Him. She is an embodiment of love for Krishna and is very merciful(audarya). Gauranga Mahaprabhu is mercy incarnation!! Narottam Das Thakur has written ‘grhe thaka vane thaka ha gauranga bole daka, narottama mange tara sanga.’ He did not see anyone’s qualities, whether one lives in the house or in the forest, if he calls ‘Ha Gauranga’ I desire his association (he says).