Second period of Devotional Practice (2nd Yama Sadhana)

Morning Worship: sādhu saṅge anartha nivṛtti

In the second period you have to think about the next stage to get the ultimate goal prema. First is sraddha, then association of bona fide sadhus, taking shelter of a bona fide Guru, and as per his direction you practice devotional forms to worship Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. And the highest devotional form is Nama Sankirtan. By that you remove our ulterior desires. Then you can get the next higher stage.

nāma grahaner kālākāla-vicāra nāhi
nāma sarvaśakti samanvitā

There is no restriction of doing Harinam, any time, in any place, in any circumstance, you can do it. All powers have been given to the Holy Name. The Name is all powerful, then the form, Supreme Lord’s transcendental form. Name is also a form. ‘Shabda brahma, Para-brahma’ that is also form. Supreme Lord has not got such gross form, finer than sound Shabda Brahma is form Shabda Brahma and when your heart is sanctified then that form will be revealed. Even jivatma, the soul, is a particle of the marginal potency of Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. It cannot be destroyed by atom bomb, nothing can destroy it, it is eternal. And the Prime Cause, His form is not such that it will get destroyed by these material things. Name is form, it will be revealed in your heart. By getting Name you have got everything. You cannot understand this.

Our most revered Parama Gurupadapadma Bhakti Siddhanth Saraswati Gosvami Thakur taught all his disciples at Sri Mayapur through one of his sincere servitor Sajjan Maharaj. He is not Maharaj, he is a brahmachari, and all are calling him Maharaj because he is very competent in serving his gurudeva, for that reason. Now ten years at a stretch he served his gurudeva Bhakti Siddhanth Saraswati Gosvami Thakur and after that he put one question, ‘Ten years I served Guru and also vaishnavas but I did not get anything. What is the reason?’ There are other disciples, they have got such question but they have got no courage to put such question. They are very eager what their Gurudev will answer. All came near to Bhakti Siddhantha Sarawati to hear. Bhakti Siddhath Saraswati Thakur asked Sajjan maharaj, ‘Have you not got Harinam?’ ‘Yes, I have got.’ ‘Then you have got everything.’ ‘Oh, only sound.’ ‘Sound is the Ultimate Reality. From that sound infinite brahmanadas, vaikuntas emanate’. In this world by sound we mean, it indicates something else. Sound is not the thing itself, it is something else. There is difference, by uttering ‘water’ you cannot quench your thirst, you have to take ‘water’ thing. But here Name and Named same, identical. When your heart or your mind will be sanctified, totally sanctified, then, all is in the Name and Name itself is form, eternal form will appear. For that reason it has been stated here to do Harinam. Harinam means direct service of Krishna. But you do not understand what is this, (think it is) only sound, because we have not acquired that qualification to understand.

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 bestows all kinds of eternal welfare to the conditioned souls. Nama Himself is Supreme Lord. Nama Himself descended in this world and we are not uttering Supreme Lord’s Name, but we did not give Him any value, attention, this is very unfortunate. You have descended to bestow mercy to the conditioned souls. How? ‘Nama vigraha svarupa tina eka rupa, tina cid-ananda rupa’ there is no difference in the three. You have appeared in the form of Names Krsna, Govinda, Gopinath, etc. and have invested all powers in these Name. It is not just to chant them and tell to others, but to have faith in Them. By chanting the Names of the Lord we have His direct association. What association? We do not see Him (we think). We will not see Him now because there are impurities within our mind, ulterior motives. When we go on chanting Harinam and become purified, we will realize in the Name Himself there is form, that will manifest. There is no gross form. It will appear and it is finer than sound. And that sound is transcendental sound, not this material sound, not the sound of the material sky. All powers have been invested in the Holy Names, and no rules and regulations have been imposed to utter the Holy Name. So, have direct contact with the Supreme Lord. You chant the Holy Names of the Lord but say I have not met the Lord, I have not met the Lord. Both statements are opposite, contradicting each other. In chanting of the Name you have contact with Supreme Lord. Nama Himself is Supreme Lord. We cannot understand, what is this? We think in gross form He will appear and speak. That also He can do. But, if Bhagavan appears in this world then also you cannot understand, Bhagavan, Guru, you cannot understand. For that you have to acquire the capacity to understand. Without that qualification how you can know? That eye is something different, spiritual devotional eye.

All powers have been given to the Name and there is no restriction. Everywhere you can do. Wherever you are doing, always doing Harinam always you are in contact with Supreme Lord. Now, without offense you have to do, otherwise if you do something with other motive then Bhagavan will not appear there. Bhagavan is for Himself and by Himself. He is not for anybody else. All are from Him, in Him and by Him and for Him. If you utter for His satisfaction then He will come. So much compassion of Supreme Lord that He has given to all the enslaved jivas of this Kali yuga, do Harinam and you will get everything. But misfortune, greatest misfortune, in spite of all that, due to ten fold offenses we have got no liking to do Harinam.

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)

During eating, ‘khaite’ is in Bengali, ‘suite’ is during the time of lying down, there is no restriction of time and place.

sarvaśakti nāme dila kariyā vibhāga,
āmāra durdaiva nāme nāhi anurāga
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya 20.19)

ekānta bhaktera mātra kīrtan-smaraṇa,
anya parve ruchi nāhi haya pravartana,
bhāvera sahita haya śrīkṛṣṇa-sevana,
svārasikī-bhāva krame haya uddīpana

All are glories of Sri Krishna kirtan. A devotee who has got one-pointed devotion gives more of his attention to kirtan and smaran. We saw this in our Gurudev. He praised any one who did kirtan loudly. I also would perform nrtya-kirtan, dance and singing of kirtans, to show to others what a great devotee I am, to get name and fame. And Guruji would say very good. What is so good about it, seeking prestige is a very bad thing, then why Gurudev would say good, good? Prabhupad said (in his song ‘Vaishnav ke’) ‘kara uccaih svare harinama-rava, sei duti katha bhulo na sarvatha kara uccaih svare harinama-rava phalgu ara yukta baddha ara mukta kabhu na bhaviha, ekakar saba’. One who does not call Lord’s Name in loud voice (uccaih svare) is phalgu vairagi, fake renunciate, that means phalgu river which has undercurrent, water is there under the sand but outside you will not see, see only sand. That is not actual renunciation (vairagya), only showing external vairagya and inside mind all desires and the things of this world will go on. If you utter the Holy Name, of course in the association of sadhus and without ten fold offenses, then you will get the objective.

Where there is one-pointed devotion you will have only liking to do kirtan and remembrance and by that kirtan his real self will be manifested and then he will serve Krishna in that manifested form, transcendental form, automatically. For serving Krishna no force is to be applied.

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

It is very difficult to give up desire for name and fame, very difficult, almost impossible. We can give up connection with money and also sex, but it is very difficult to give up the desire for name and fame. So if you cannot give up that you cannot have progress in bhajan. Just the reverse will be the result. You can very often be committing offense to vaishnavas and if Supreme Lord is not satisfied nothing you will get. Last snare of maya and also this pratishasha is horrible, greatest obstacle in bhajan.

prabhate gabhīra rātre madhyāhne sandhyāye,
anartha chāriyā lao nāmera āśraya,
ei rūpe kīrtana smaraṇa jei kare,
kṛṣṇa-kṛpā haya śigrha, anāyāse tare

In this procedure you do Krishna Sankirtan then Krishna will grace you and you will be rescued from the clutches of maya.

śraddhā kari’ sādhu sange kṛṣṇa-nāma laye,
anartha sakala jāye niṣṭhā upajaye

By firm faith and association of sadhus if you do Krishna Nama, all ulterior desires will be removed and your mind will be completely concentrated to the Object of Worship.

prātaḥakāle nityalīlā karibe cintana,

Simultaneously you have to think about the transcendental pastimes of different periods in the second period in the morning.

cintite cintite bhāvera haibe sadhana

Only I hear and I repeat and my mind is somewhere else then you will not get the actual fruit. In the mind you have to think. You have to think, you have think, double, twice it is said.

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)

In the morning Radharani takes bath and adorning Herself in fine beautiful clothes and ornaments which are pleasing to Krishna, comes with Her sakhis with great enthusiasm, being called by Yashoda Mayya. Where is Javat and where is Nandagram! In those days these things(vehicles) were not there. In those days we would walk 10, 12 miles to school and now if one walks one mile he will die, feel exhausted. The present times are different, so the health also is bad. If anybody is asked to go one mile then he will fall down on the ground unconscious. At that time all the students, pupils are going to school at 10 miles, or 12 miles or 16 miles, going and also coming. Now we cannot do this. Now all say, let us go by vehicle.

Here Radharani comes every day. Her body is transcendental, so no question in that regard. In material body we feel pain in the feet, etc. But no such pains there because all have transcendental bodies. They come from Javat to Nandagram, may be one and half mile or more, and daily they come and no vehicles. Radharani and the gopis arrive there at the right time and together do the cooking with great enthusiasm in the service of Krsna. Krsna accepts all those services rendered with love. ‘bhaktera dravya prabhu kari kari khaya abhaktera dravya-pane ulati na caya’ The Lord grabs the offerings given to Him by His devotees, and that which is given by a non-devotee is of no interest to Him. Lord refused to eat the offerings of Duryodhana, and relished the dry vegetables curry at Vidura’s place. Yashoda Mayya serves Krishna the food prepared with great love by Radharani and Her sakhis and later the remnant prasad which is transcendental and bliss giving and is honored by Radharani and all. We have to take shelter of such Radharani. I do not have inclination for service but Radharani is magnanimous, She has Her attention on all and gives seva opportunity even without asking, and if you beg for seva you will get it for sure.

Here Krishna also dances to the tune of the devotees to give pleasure to them. He sleeps and awakes, and again sleeps and again wakes up to give pleasure to His devotees. After break of sleep at the secret grove(kunja bhanga lila), He again goes to sleep and got up in the morning. He is playing this pastime and also gets drowsiness. His sakhas, His confidentes, bosom friends Madhumangal and others they try to awake, Krishna wake up, now it is time. Krishna wakes up and goes back to sleep. What is this? Krishna has got this sort of tiredness then we must have, for showing others. Then all approach Yashoda Devi how to awaken Krishna and all get worried over the matter. Paurnamasi will try to convince Krishna by her talks and Krishna finally wakes up after giving service to all and says now let us go, it is time for milking of cows. Later, Krishna to give pleasure to His sakhas goes to take bath with them. Those who are not in their platform will wrongly think that Krishna is like us, so the pastimes of Krishna are called lila. Afterwards after taking bath together, they all sit down for breakfast. This is not meals at the river side (pulina bhojan), this is breakfast at home with His friends. When they are going very far (for cow-grazing) then they take breakfast at home and when they go to nearby place they come back home and then have food. I take shelter of such Krishna.