Day 2: Second Yaam
Harikatha, Sreela Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Goswami Maharaj
5:46am to 8:10am. O Supreme Lord! Your Holy Name bestows all kinds of eternal welfare to the conditioned souls. For that reason, your Holy Names have no direct or indirect connection with the non-eternal material world. These Holy Names have descended in this world. Supreme Lord has bestowed all powers to His Names and no restriction is imposed to utter the Holy Names. No restriction of time, space— rules and regulations, for utterance and remembrance of the Holy Names. O Lord! You are so merciful, out of compassion you have made easy for the conditioned souls to remember and chant Holy Names, but due to my tenfold offences and my greatest misfortune I have got no liking for Holy Name which has been made so easily obtainable.
-
Second Period of Devotional Practice
Morning Worship-sādhu saṅge anartha nivṛtti
Association of Sadhus, pure devotees, and taking shelter of a bonafide Guru, as per direction of Guru to start bhajan, by doing bhajan all ulterior desires should be removed, this is the second period of spiritual practice, second stage.
nāma grahaner kālākāla-vicāra nāhi
nāma sarvaśakti samanvitāAny where, any place, any time you can do Harinām. Harinām is All-powerful.
nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
etādṛśi tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ
(2rd Verse of Sri Shikshastaka)“O Supreme Lord! Your Holy Name bestows all kinds of eternal welfare to the conditioned souls. For that reason, You have expanded Yourself in Your Principal Holy Names such as Krishna, Govinda, Gopinath, etc. In every Name You have invested all powers and for utterance and remembrance of them no restrictions regarding time, space have been imposed. O Lord! You are so merciful to the conditioned souls that out of compassion You have made easy for the conditioned souls to remember and chant Holy Names, but due to my tenfold offenses and my greatest misfortune I have got no liking for Holy Name which has been made so easily obtainable.”
Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His own dispensed second verse is expressing His great regret that in spite of that (Your such mercy and compassion) I have got no aptitude to do Harinām.
aneka-lokera vāñchā — aneka-prakāra
kṛpāte karila aneka-nāmera pracāra
khāite śuīte yathā tathā nāma laya,
deśa-kāla-niyama nāhi sarvasiddhi haya,
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya 20.17-18)Always you can do Harinām, while eating, while sleeping, or while moving, every where, you can even do in the lavatory without mala.
sarvaśakti nāme dila kariyā vibhāga,
āmāra durdaiva nāme nāhi anurāga
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya 20.19)So easy it has been made but my great misfortune is that I have got no inclination to do Harinām.
ekānta bhaktera mātra kīrtan-smaraṇa,
anya parve ruchi nāhi haya pravartanaIt is said giving evidence from Hari-bhakti-vilasa. Kīrtan is the foremost and by kīrtan all other limbs of devotional practice are accomplished; only by kīrtan and along with it remembrance (smaran) too. Without remembrance bhajan is not possible. So if kīrtan is performed for any other purpose, it is not bhajan and so, attached smarana to kīrtan. 'Kaliyuga kevala nāma ādhārā, sumir sumir nara utarahin pārā' why it is repeated twice (the word sumir sumir), to say kīrtan should be accompanied by smarana, remembrance.
We heard about this in Kolkata Math. A devotee came to the math to perform bhajan. He would not join for kīrtans, but would come and sit only for prasādam. When was asked why he is not joining kīrtans, he said my head spins when I hear kīrtans, and when taking prasādam I feel good. Not like this. This is a disease.
ekānta bhaktera mātra kīrtan-smaraṇa,
anya parve ruchi nāhi haya pravartanaA pure devotee who has got one-pointed devotion to Lord has got liking only for kīrtan-smarana, and he cannot be persuaded to change his taste to any other form of devotion.
bhāvera sahita haya śrīkṛṣṇa-sevana,
svārasikī-bhāva krame haya uddīpanaWhen one serves Krishna with delightful relation (sthāyi-bhāva) such service is inspired by pure love and no force, pursuance is needed, and the service is automatically accomplished. This is because of the relation.
In the material world we see such instances. I remember an instance I witnessed as a child. Mother was ill and she was advised rest. Father told she needs to take full bed rest and should not get up even to use lavatory. We, brothers and sisters, were roaming around without a worry, not bothering which pant or frock we were wearing. But mother was troubled thinking there is no one to care of my children, no one to change their clothes. She got down from her bed, helped us wear fresh clothes, and sat down with a soap bar to wash our soiled clothes. How is this possible for one who is lying on bed? This is love! In love a mother does not care for all these troubles.
We have got no liking to serve Vishnu and Vaishnav. Why? We have got no relation with them, love relation. When there is love relation, without serving them we cannot remain. We will have natural aptitude to serve. But we have got no relation with them. That is the main cause.
ekānta bhaktera mātra kīrtan-smaraṇa,
anya parve ruchi nāhi haya pravartana,
bhāvera sahita haya śrīkṛṣṇa-sevana,
svārasikī-bhāva krame haya uddīpana,
ekānta bhakatera kriyā mudrā rāgodita,
tathāpi sei saba nāhi vidhi viparīta
Pure devotees may even perform actions which may seem to be against regulated devotion, but their service gives pleasure to the Lord and the devotees. All their attention is on the Lord. Lord can instruct them to serve rightly, but even in a different manner one can serve Lord and please Him, this only pure devotees know because they have great love for the Lord. Ordinary devotees do not know this. ‘tathapi sei saba nāhi vidhi viparīta’. The rule (vidhi) is to please the Lord, to please Guru.
sarva tyāga karile o chārā sukaṭhina,
pratiṣṭhāśātyāge yatna payibe praviṇaWe can give up everything, but it is very difficult to give up desire for name and fame. 'Sukathina' means almost impossible, to give up name and fame, the last snare of maya. If you cannot conquer it you cannot have progress in devotional practice.
prabhate gabhīra rātre madhyāhne sandhyāye,
anartha chāriyā lao nāmera āśraya,That means always, always you should do Harinām sincerely, without ulterior desires.
ei rūpe kīrtana smaraṇa jei kare,
kṛṣṇa-kṛpā haya śigrha, anāyāse tareOnly by making sound you will not get the objective. You have to understand the purpose. In this way you have to do Harinām giving up all ulterior desires. With one pointed devotion if you do kīrtan smarana, then Krishna will think, His personal associates will think, Gurudev will think that he is sincere, he wants something and they will come at our back. Then we will be rescued.
śraddhā kari’ sādhu sange kṛṣṇa-nāma laye,
anartha sakala jāye niṣṭhā upajaye,When all those desires will be removed then you shall have concentration of mind, fixation of mind to the Object of worship.
prātaḥakāle nityalīlā karibe cintana,
cintite cintite bhāvera haibe sadhanaOnly by thinking, thinking you will get. Your mind is somewhere else and you are sitting here thinking, Oh it is getting late, it is getting late. I have got some other practices. What to do, I am a householder. I have come here, I have committed a mistake by coming here. Swamiji is going on, going on, going on. His mind is somewhere else. By that he is not staying here. There should be thinking, thinking of all the pastimes along with Sikshastaka kīrtans.
Morning pastimes of RadhaKrishna
rādhāṁ snāta-vibhūṣitāṁ vrajapayāhūtāṁ sakhībhiḥ prage
tad-gehe vihitānna-pāka-racanāṁ kṛṣṇāvaśeṣanām
kṛṣṇaṁ buddham avāpta-ḍhenu-sadanaṁ nirvyūḍha-go-dohanaṁ
susnātaṁ kṛta-bhojanaṁ saha-caraistaṁ cātha tāṁ cāśrye
(Sri Govinda-lilamrta)These are eternal pastimes, and all these we are seeing here in this world in non-eternal relations, what we are doing actually they have got no existence at all. It seems that we have got direct connection, but these are all perishable, temporary, nothing will go with us.
In the morning, being called by Yashoda Devi, Radharani comes along with Her confidentes (sakhis) from Javat to Nandagram. Yashoda Devi thinks, by eating the food prepared by Radharani my darling son's life span will increase and so, invites Radharani. And Radharani is also having great eagerness to serve. So, early morning taking bath She comes along with Her sakhis dressing and decorating Herself in beautiful clothes and ornaments, not to show to others but to bring pleasure to Sri Krishna. Her purpose is to give pleasure to Krishna and we cannot understand this.
We had heard from our Guru Maharaj one instance. Srila Gosvami Maharaj is a senior god-brother of our Guru Maharaj. Goswami Maharaj is a sannyasi. Prabhupad, his Gurudev called him and told him that you cannot do prachar by going to London in these worn out and faded clothes. What should I do? He got him one big coat and made him wear the coat. I came giving up family life and I am made to wear such a big coat. What to do? Not these sandals (paduka), remove them. He said, get him good shoes, people there do not respect those who do not wear shoes, they all wear shoes. And he got him good shoes, and made him wear them. Goswami Maharaj got worried and thought what is happening to me, I am doomed!! You have to go like this and do prachar there. Prabhupad gave him japamālā, tulasi mālā after chanting on them. What to do? Whatever Gurudev orders, I have to follow. So he went on prachar. Seeing all this, another sannyasi thought I also can do like this. I also go for collections, I will get even more costlier coat for me, and buy a very good pair of shoes and wear. He bought coat also and shoes also and wore them. He gave up his slippers. Prabhupad saw this and said he is doomed!! To one he said like this and to the other he made him wear coat. He wears them, not out of his own will, but because Gurudev told, for prachar it is needed, so it is ok and so he wore them. But the other sannyasi did not understand the mood behind the acceptance and thought I am also sannyasi, if I also wear costly shoes I will get more devotion. His line of thinking is this. Brainless! He has no attention towards his service to the Lord and the devotees, if he had attention to it he would have understood. So Prabhupad said so.
Here Radharani’s all endeavors are to please Krishna and not for Her own pleasure or to show to others. Thinking Krishna will be pleased, She comes to cook along with Her sakhis. And those who are new sevikās they remain far away from the group and are disheartened thinking, oh we will not get any chance for seva. Radharani has Her attention on all and calls for the new sevikā and asks her to wash vessels. In this manner She gives chance for seva to all. She cooks there with great love and after Krishna eats, Radharani honors His remnant prasad with great satisfaction. But for prasad She will not eat anything. And there are Her friends, the gopis also. This is Radharani’s pastimes. In the pastimes She cooks and all the time serves and also honors remnants.
And Krishna gives pleasure to all, not that He will give pleasure to kānta-rasa devotees only and not others, it is not so. They are all His personal associates. There are Yashoda Mayya, Nanda Maharaj and sakhās too, He gives pleasure to all. Now, Krishna awakes. We have heard about His various pastimes written in Govinda-lilamrita, but we have no eligibility to speak. Krishna gets up and seeing His sakhās by His side He sleeps again. His pastimes are beyond our comprehension, and we think like this, Yashoda Mayya is illiterate. And finally when He wakes up, Yashoda Mayya Nanda Baba are very happy that our child has got up. Sakhās also are happy because they have also been trying to wake Him up for quite sometime and the Sakhās are not aware of His night pastimes. That is why He is performing pastimes like normal human beings do. Then He goes along with Sakhās for milking the cows. Sakhās are so very attached to Krishna that they do not leave Him at all. When they do not see Him, they cry calling out “Kannaiya, Kannaiya, Come here, let us have bath.” They take bath together and sit down for breakfast together. And Yashoda Devi feeds them all.
Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya
Math © 2025
info@bbtirtha.org