Second period of Devotional Practice (2nd Yama Sadhana)

Morning Worship: Sadhusange Anartha nivritti

Association of devotee-sadhus, best of the sadhus is Guru, taking shelter of Guru, and as per his direction to start bhajan, among all kinds of bhajan (devotional practices) Nama Sankirtan is the best, and by bhajan removal of ulterior desires.

In the second period we have to think seriously about association of sadhus, not saffron cloth, but those who have got one-pointed exclusive devotion to Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. This is the original quality of a sadhu. He will be ashamed that he is not a sadhu. There may be other qualities. But the main quality is exclusive devotion to Supreme Lord. We have to associate with such sadhus. Such sadhus and bona-fide guru are the same. You take shelter of a bona-fide guru and as per his direction you practice all devotional forms, mainly or principally Nama Sankirtan. By the utterance of the Holy Name, Krishna’s Name, all ulterior desires will be removed. In the second period we have to think all these things.

nāma grahaner kālākāla-vicāra nāhi
nāma sarvaśakti samanvitā

All powers have been invested in the Holy Name. At any time, in any place, in any circumstance you can do Harinam, even while walking, any time, there is no restriction. When chanting on mala some purity is to be maintained. But Harinam can be done even sitting in the lavatory, it is not objected.

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! Certainly Your Holy Name can bestow all kinds of eternal welfare to the conditioned souls. So, You have mercifully manifested in this world with Your Principal transcendental Names like Krishna, Govinda, Gopinath, etc., not in secondary Names (gauna nama) that are in relation with this material world. Harinam is Vaikunta Nama, Goloka Vrndavan Nama. You have bestowed all powers to these Names and You have not imposed any rules and regulations for the utterance and remembrance of the Holy Names. In other practices of devotion (sadhan) there are many rules and regulations but in Nama Sankirtan no restrictions have been imposed. It is the topmost limb of devotion. At any time, at any place, one can perform Nama Sankirtan. If you are ill and are lying down, you can do Nama kirtan lying down itself. There is no need for mala, even without mala you can do Mahamantra even when lying down. So much easy it has been made. It will give fruit.

Calling the Lord by His name is the process especially recommended for Kaliyuga. Each yuga has different Mahamantra, but Kaliyuga’s mahamantra is vocative (sambodhanatmak), direct. There is mahamantra in Satya yuga also, i.e. ‘narayana paraveda narayana paraksharah narayana paramukti narayana para gatih’. In Hyderabad during Nagar Sankirtan these four yugas mahamantras used to be chanted. In Treta yuga, sacrifice is the yuga-dharma, but the taraka mantra (mantra for liberation) is ‘rama narayananta mukunda madhusudana Krishna keshav kamsare hare vaikunta vaman’. In Dvapara yuga, the yuga-dharma is ‘puja’ worship, but the taraka mantra mahamantra has to be chanted in every yuga which liberates, and is ‘hare murare madhukaitabhare gopal govinda-mukunda-shaure yajnesh narayana Krishna vishnoh nirasrayam mam jagadeesh raksh’. And Kaliyuga’s mahamantra is taraka (liberating) as well as paraka, bestowing Supreme love for Lord, in this special Kaliyuga which bestows supreme eternal welfare, and is vocative (sambodhanatmaka) ‘Hare Krishna!!’ meaning ‘Hey Radhe!! Hey Krishna!!’ for calling Them. ‘Hey Radhe Hey Krishna, Hey Radhe Hey Krishna Hey Krishna Hey Krishna Hey Radhe Hey Radhe Hey Radhe Hey Radharaman Hey Radhe Hey Radharaman. What does Hey mean? It is used for calling. By just calling it is done. O Supreme Lord, You are so merciful to the conditioned souls, out of such compassion You have made easy for the conditioned souls to remember and chant Holy Names. But when offenses to Holy Name exists, what can happen if you have been given the opportunity to chant and you are chanting the Holy Names of the Lord? People say, do some piety, charity, etc. But in Kaliyuga this(Holy Name) is the only shelter. ‘harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva gatir anyatha’. ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare’ directly calling out to Lord. But due to misfortune there is no liking for chanting of the Holy Names. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu is expressing His extreme regret for this sad plight of the conditioned souls of this world.

It is made so easy for the conditioned souls of Kali Yuga. They cannot perform penance, physically rampage. You do Harinam, any where, any time, any circumstance, any age, you do Harinam, you call Him, you will get.

aneka-lokera vāñchā — aneka-prakāra
kṛpāte karila aneka-nāmera pracāra
khāite śuīte yathā tathā nāma laya,
deśa-kāla-niyama nāhi sarvasiddhi haya,
sarvaśakti nāme dila kariyā vibhāga,
āmāra durdaiva nāme nāhi anurāga
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya 20.17-19)

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

A true bona-fide devotee is he who has got one-pointed exclusive devotion to Supreme Lord, he is sadhu. He has got liking to do only kirtan and smaran, only chanting of the Holy Name and remembering. Where there is no one-pointed exclusive devotion (ananya bhakti) there is no taste for kirtan and smaran, there is taste for other forms of devotion like inclined to Karma kanda, etc. He can not give attention to kirtan much, wants to do something gross. Ananya bhakta has taste only for kirtan and smaran and in them he gets inspiration, revelation (spurti). Without devotion there cannot be spurti. ‘atah sri Krishna namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaiah sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah’. The Name will descend to the tongue of a devotee who is inclined to serve sincerely. Therefore without ananya bhakti you can not even utter the Holy name correctly for His satisfaction. ‘ananya bhaktera matra kirtana-smarana’. By your own capacity you cannot do Harinam. Harinam will descend when you shall become inclined to serve. For this first you have submit and after submission, taking shelter of it if you do anything, then that is called bhakti, for His satisfaction. Without submission no bhakti can be performed.

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

Ananya bhakta’s all actions are inspired by pure love, ‘anuraga’, originating from delightful relation. Who is an ananya bhakta? When one gets a chance to serve if he feels lightning has struck, then he is not ananya bhakta. Even if he shows externally he is serving or inclined to serve, he cannot be an ananya bhakta. An ananya bhakta’s all actions are inspired by pure love, in spite of serving day and night he thinks I have done nothing. Prakrta-bhakta i.e. one who is still on the platform of material understanding, when does little seva will say I did so much, though he did nothing much, but will think I will die serving like this. Do we die by serving? In Sarbhog (math) they complained, serving day in and out we are dying. (To think so is) Great offense. All-knowing Sarvajna complained to me, you are not paying attention to this small math. What is the matter? Here we are 4-5 persons, some times devotees visit here. But you are not paying any attention to us. I go for collections daily, to collect subscriptions, bringing subscriptions day in and day out I am dying. And he, doing cooking always, is dying. And the other is dying doing worship of the deities (archan) daily, and another is dying washing vessels day in and day out. You are not giving any attention to us. Yes, I have to give attention. Then they suggested, we will hire some persons, one for monthly collections, one pujari for archan, one cook and one for washing vessels. And what we will do? We will wag our tails, and eat and sleep. Then life will become a waste, useless. Five people for five different sevas which can be accomplished by just one person when one has knowledge of his relation with the Lord (sambandha jnana) and has one-pointed devotion.

ekānta bhakatera kriyā mudrā rāgodita,
tathāpi sei saba nāhi vidhi vipirīta,
sarva tyāga karile o chārā sukaṭhina,
pratiṣṭhāśātyāge yatna payibe praviṇa

Caution has been given here. More worse and dangerous than desire for wealth and woman, is desire for prestige, name and fame. A man who has desires for wealth and women, knows that he has evil desires. One who acts in pursuit of these pleasures knows he is committing sin. But desire for prestige cannot be easily recognized and known. So with this desire for prestige in heart one’s chances of committing sins to Guru and Vaishnavas are more. Any time he may commit an offense. So this desire for prestige has been compared to pigs’ stool, so very condemned. All qualities will vanish when with desire for prestige one commits offenses to Guru and vaishnavas. When there is hindrance to acquire this prestige, anger comes. So caution has been given here to give up desire for prestige.

prabhate gabhīra rātre madhyāhne sandhyāye,
anartha chāriyā lao nāmera āśraya,

All the time chant the Names of the Lord.

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

For one whole month we got good chance for Sankirtan of Lord’s Names all the time. From early morning after getting up we are performing kirtans at dawn, morning, pre-noon, after-noon and it ends at mid-night, and again pre-dawn, like this very exhausting for us, but very good for Maharajas. Performing kirtans daily we are dying. How many days you did? Twelve days and so many more days to go, we grumble. It should not be like this. But this is the position of many sevaks.

anartha chāriyā lao nāmera āśraya,
ei rūpe kīrtana smaraṇa jei kare,
kṛṣṇa-kṛpā haya śigrha, anāyāse tare
śraddhā kari’ sādhu sange kṛṣṇa-nāma laye,
anartha sakala jāye niṣṭhā upajaye,

We have performed lot of bhajan, but anarthas are not leaving us at all, I have so much disturbances within mind. Nothing has happened. Just by the semblance of the Holy Name (Namabhasa) all sins get destroyed. For sure there is some anomaly. This is because there is material ego, material desire, and so offensive chanting is happening, not real name. With faith in the association of Sadhus chant the Holy Names. All ulterior desires will vanish and steadiness(nishta) in bhajan will come.

prātaḥakāle nityalīlā karibe cintana,
cintite cintite bhāvera haibe sadhana

After singing the glories of Sankirtan, then it is said you will get the eligibility to meditate on the pastimes of the Lord, not otherwise.

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
(Govinda-lila-amritam)

Those who have pure consciousness they chant the Holy Names of the Lord always. Nama Sankirtan is a great festival of Gokul. Radharani and the gopis come, they also perform kirtan only. By hands they perform seva and by mouth sing the glories of the Lord and His names, Nama kirtan. Radharani after getting up early in the morning takes bath and dresses Herself nicely in fine clothes and ornaments which are pleasing to Krishna, not to show to others.

Prabhupad gave an example to make us understand and remember always. Param Pujyapad Gosvami Maharaj is our Gurudev’s elder god-brother. He was sent abroad on prachar. Before going he was made to wear a big coat and a very costly pair of shoes. What has happened to Gurudev? I am a sadhu, why all these things for me? Without wearing these things you cannot do prachar there in London. Without good proper dress people will not be impressed and give attention to you. And he was given chanting beads(mala) in his hand. Every body was not given mala like this. Another disciple of Prabhupad who saw this got himself a very nice coat and a pair of shoes and wore them thinking I will also get bhakti and came. Seeing him Prabhupad said ‘Oh, he is doomed!’ He gave up his ordinary slippers. If the goal is wrong, everything is wrong. A devotee does everything for Lord’s pleasure and for no other reason.

Yashoda Mayya calls and Radharani comes along with Her sakhis. Because She has great love Krishna She does not feel any difficulty in performance of seva. In the transcendental world everything is transcendental, so no worries and getting seva is bliss. But when we get seva it is as though lightning struck us and say I am doomed, I am dying. By serving one gets bliss and by not serving one is unhappy. For us, if we get seva we are unhappy and if we do not get seva we say Radharani is not giving us seva. This is opposite of what devotees think. So it is said, what is offered in service with love, Lord accepts it. Lord snatches and eats things from devotees and does not give even a mere glance for non-devotee’s offerings. After Krishna loving accepts the food prepared by Radharani, She takes the remnants of Krishna.

And Krishna makes the pastimes of waking up in the morning to give happiness and pleasure to parents and through this pastimes gives service opportunities to others too. He gives pleasure to the cows too. He thinks about all. After milking of the cows, Krishna along with His sakhas takes bath. His sakhas love for Him is so much that they do not want to be separate from Krishna even for a moment and cry for Him. So taking bath together, they all sit for breakfast and Yashoda Mayya feeds them. We take shelter of such Radharani and Krishna.