Second Period of Devotional Practice

Morning Worship-sādhu saṅge anartha nivṛtti

Bhaktivinod Thakur gives reference from Hari-Bhakti-Vilasa and says:

ekānta bhaktera mātra kīrtan-smaraṇa,
anya parve ruchi nāhi haya pravartana

Those who have got exclusive devotion to Supreme Lord they have only liking to do kirtan and smaran. Forcibly they cannot be encouraged to do any other practice. Such emphasis has been given here.

bhāvera sahita haya śrīkṛṣṇa-sevana,
svārasikī-bhāva krame haya uddīpana

Where there is love relation, real seva is there, otherwise only a show of seva. Devoid of relation there cannot be seva, it is not bhakti. First is relation. If relation (with the Supreme Lord) is established, then despite hundreds of difficulties one will serve the Lord. He will never give up seva. Without relation, one will serve only to fulfill his material desires and when they are fulfilled he will stop serving. They do not serve for the sake of seva. They will observe Kartik with some other motives. In such service there is no love. For love there should be relation, any kind of relation, master-servant relation or friendship relation, whatever it may be. That relation should be with the Supreme Lord. Then automatically you will have the impetus from the heart to serve, otherwise how? Is it only to show others we have said in the meeting, to hear, not to practice it in your life?

ekānta bhakatera kriyā mudrā rāgodita,
tathāpi sei saba nāhi vidhi viparīta

A devotee who has great attachment for the Lord will serve the Lord even when seen performing opposite actions. A devotee will not speak for himself, he speaks thinking of everyone’s welfare, but a true sevak understands the inner meaning of the devotee’s words and though not ordered externally, he serves appropriately because he has love and has entrance into the heart of the devotee. He understands and serves even when performing seemingly opposite actions. This is called service, serving mood towards the Worshipable Object.

sarva tyāga karile o chārā sukaṭhina,
pratiṣṭhāśātyāge yatna payibe praviṇa

If there be desire for name and fame, (pratishtasha) then there will be no bhajan, ultimate goal is something else. Vehemently our Guruvarga have said against this ‘pratishtasha’ comparing it to pig’s stool (suvar ki vista), i.e. the pigs who feed on human stool and faeces and give out their faeces, like that, it has been so much condemned, severely. You have to think about this.

prabhate gabhīra rātre madhyāhne sandhyāye,
anartha chāriyā lao nāmera āśraya

Giving up all other ulterior motive, one should chant Harinam.

ei rūpe kīrtana smaraṇa jei kare,
kṛṣṇa-kṛpā haya śigrha, anāyāse tare

When kirtan, smaran is performed in this way then one will attain Krishna’s mercy soon, very easily he will attain his eternal welfare. Sincere effort should be there, sincerely he wants to serve. Then Krishna will see, Krishna’s own personal associates will see, they will come at our back. You can get their grace.

śraddhā kari’ sādhu sange kṛṣṇa-nāma laye,
anartha sakala jāye niṣṭhā upajaye,
prātaḥakāle nityalīlā karibe cintana,
cintite cintite bhāvera haibe sadhana

Here what is said as thinking ‘cintan’ it is not of a sense-enjoyer’s mind thinking, but it is of a serving mind. A devotee is always in a prayerful mood of seeking grace of the Supreme Lord. I have umpteen desires in me, I have body-consciousness in me i.e. feeling I am this gross body, I have so many unwanted things within me. A devotee prays to the Lord always, Oh Lord, Oh Gurudev, Oh Vaishnav, please protect me, please protect me, so that I think and remember You only. By such thinking they will come at your back for they are always ready to help you. But there should be sincere desire and effort, and then they will come.

Morning pastimes of Radha-Krishna

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 Govind-lilamrta)

Simultaneously we will think of the morning pastimes of RadhaKrishna. Radharani will take bath early in the morning. Why? Not for Herself, but for the service of Krishna. She takes bath nicely, wears ornaments and dresses Herself in beautiful clothes that are pleasing for Krishna. Ultimate goal is to satisfy Krishna. We do to show to worldly people, this is the difference. One is the cause for bondage and the other is Supreme Devotion, not only liberation (mukti). Yashoda mata calls for Radharani thinking by eating the food preparations made by Radharani my dear child’s life span will increase because She has Durvasa Rsi’s blessing. So she has this sort of insistence. And thus Radharani gets nice opportunity and She comes along with Her sakhis and gets busy in cooking. Lord relishes those items which are prepared with great love. Where there is no love, it does not taste good. Even in the material world it is like that. The food prepared by a cook does not taste good and what is cooked by mother it tastes so good because she prepares it with love. The cook cooks only to earn money, so it does not taste any good. Also, when food is served by those who do not love us, food does not taste good. It makes us think, have we come here to eat and you will get ready to run from there. Even the poorest of the poor wants to be loved. Even if you offer a burnt roti with love, he will eat it. So also Lord’s seva is to be performed with love. And all gopis including the new gopis who arrive there get busy and Radharani has Her eye on all and makes everyone happy. After Krishna eats, Radharani distributes His remnants to Her sakhis and She also honors it with great pleasure.

In the morning, Krishna makes the pastimes of waking. It is mentioned here but not in detail. Sakhas (gwal-bal) will come and call “Kannaiya, now it is time for milking the cows.” His principal sakhas Sridham, Vasudham and all are there. They call Him, but Krishna does not get up. “Kannaiya, it is time.” They become worried because even though Krishna wakes up He feels sleepy and again goes to sleep. Oh, like this, a very difficult situation. What to do? They go and inform Yashoda Devi and she comes to wake Him up. We have no eligibility to speak about these pastimes. Then Purnamasi arrives and explains to Krishna very nicely and makes Him understand that He should wake up. Then finally when Krishna wakes up, all His associates are happy. They take bath together and sit down for breakfast together. And before that they did milking of cows as per their routine. So, when all others are waiting, they milk the cows first, then have bath together and sit down for breakfast together. They go out for cow-herding taking along cows and calves. I take shelter of such Krishna and also such Radharani.