"O gatekeeper of Vrndavana! O Soma, all glories to you! O you whose forehead is decorated with the moon, and who is worshipable by the sages headed by Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Narada! O Gopisvara (Shiva), desiring that you bestow upon me that prema for the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava who perform joyous pastimes in Vraja-dhama, I offer obeisances unto you time and again."
There are various festivities where Lord Krishna’s rasa lila is celebrated – this festival being just one of them.
The purnima or full moon of Damodara month is the second full moon of the autumn season, and rasa lila is again celebrated. This second rasa yatra is celebrated more in Bengal, whereas the first one is celebrated more in Vrindavana.
On this day one should perform full worship of Radha and Krishna with many flowers, and place them in a rasa mandapa surrounded by the gopis.
Sri Krishna Vasant Rasa is similar excepting that it is in the Spring (Vasant), at this time everyone dresses in yellow. On this full moon night the devotees usually leave out pots of sweet rice payasam for the Lord to enjoy during His rasas.
The following is a marvelous description of Lord Nityananda Prabhu written by the celebrated author of the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, when the Lord appeared to him in a dream
The following is a marvelous description of Lord Nityananda Prabhu written by the celebrated author of the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, when the Lord appeared to him in a dream:
In the village of Jhāmaṭapura, which is near Naihāṭi, Lord Nityānanda appeared to me in a dream.
I fell at His feet, offering my obeisances, and He then placed His own lotus feet upon my head.
"Arise! Get up!" He told me again and again. Upon rising, I was greatly astonished to see His beauty.
He had a glossy blackish complexion, and His tall, strong, heroic stature made Him seem like Cupid himself.
He had beautifully formed hands, arms and legs, and eyes like lotus flowers. He wore a silk cloth, with a silk turban on His head.
He wore golden earrings on His ears, and golden armlets and bangles. He wore tinkling anklets on His feet and a garland of flowers around His neck.
His body was anointed with sandalwood pulp, and He was nicely decorated with tilaka. His movements surpassed those of a maddened elephant.
His face was more beautiful than millions upon millions of moons, and His teeth were like pomegranate seeds because of His chewing betel.
His body moved to and fro, right and left, for He was absorbed in ecstasy. He chanted "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa" in a deep voice.
His red stick moving in His hand, He seemed like a maddened lion. All around the four sides of His feet were bumblebees.
His devotees, dressed like cowherd boys, surrounded His feet like so many bees and also chanted "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa," absorbed in ecstatic love.
Some of them played horns and flutes, and others danced and sang. Some of them offered betel nuts, and others waved cāmara fans about Him.
Thus I saw such opulence in Lord Nityānanda Svarūpa. His wonderful form, qualities and pastimes are all transcendental…
"Let me offer my obeisances to Lord Śrī Nityānanda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose opulence is wonderful and unlimited. By His will, even a fool can understand His identity."
CC. Adi-lila 5.1
HAPPY NITYANANDA TRAYODASI FOR EVERYONE!!!
JAI SRI NITYANANDA PRABHU!
May Śrī Nityānanda Rāma be the object of our constant remembrance...
TODAY IS THE MOST GLORIOUS AND AUSPICIOUS APPEARANCE OF LORD VARAHA
(The second incarnation of the Lord, in the form of a boar)
The following is a narration spoken by the great sage Maitreya to Vidura describing how Lord Varaha was born from Lord Brahma's nostril and how he killed the demon Hiranyaksa and lifted the earth from the nether regions of the universe:
"O sinless Vidura, all of a sudden, while Brahmā was engaged in thinking, a small form of a boar came out of his nostril. The measurement of the creature was not more than the upper portion of a thumb.
O descendant of Bharata, while Brahmā was observing Him, that boar became situated in the sky in a wonderful manifestation as gigantic as a great elephant.
Struck with wonder at observing the wonderful boarlike form in the sky, Brahmā, with great brāhmaṇas like Marīci, as well as the Kumāras and Manu, began to argue in various ways.
Is this some extraordinary entity come in the pretense of a boar? It is very wonderful that He has come from my nose.
First of all this boar was seen no bigger than the tip of a thumb, and within a moment He was as large as a stone. My mind is perturbed. Is He the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu?
While Brahmā was deliberating with his sons, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, roared tumultuously like a great mountain.
The omnipotent Supreme Personality of Godhead enlivened Brahmā and the other highly elevated brāhmaṇas by again roaring with His uncommon voice, which echoed in all directions.
Playing like an elephant, He entered into the water after roaring again in reply to the Vedic prayers by the great devotees.
Before entering the water to rescue the earth, Lord Boar flew in the sky, slashing His tail, His hard hairs quivering. His very glance was luminous, and He scattered the clouds in the sky with His hooves and His glittering white tusks.
Diving into the water like a giant mountain, Lord Boar divided the middle of the ocean, and two high waves appeared as the arms of the ocean, which cried loudly as if praying to the Lord, "O Lord of all sacrifices, please do not cut me in two! Kindly give me protection!"
Lord Boar penetrated the water with His hooves, which were like sharp arrows, and found the limits of the ocean, although it was unlimited.
Lord Boar very easily took the earth on His tusks and got it out of the water. Thus He appeared very splendid. Then, His anger glowing like the Sudarśana wheel, He immediately killed the demon [Hiraṇyākṣa], although he tried to fight with the Lord.
Thereupon Lord Boar killed the demon within the water, just as a lion kills an elephant. The cheeks and tongue of the Lord became smeared with the blood of the demon, just as an elephant becomes reddish from digging in the purple earth.
Then the Lord, playing like an elephant, suspended the earth on the edge of His curved white tusks. He assumed a bluish complexion like that of a tamāla tree, and thus the sages, headed by Brahmā, could understand Him to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead and offered respectful obeisances unto the Lord.."
--extract from the Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 3 Chapter 13--
A fanciful landlord once became very anxious to see the sun in a new-moon night sky. The flattering sycophants of the landlord said, "When you, our lord, desires, it must be fulfilled. We should set up in this world such an exemplary deed so that everyone will glorify you and follow the same example."
Flattering thus, one of the sycophants brought in a huge lanternand held it up towards the sky, saying, "Look here, my lord, can you see the sun?"
Two other sycophants then pleaded, "The sun cannot be seen in such a little amount of light from one lantern. Let us arrange for ten crores of candle-power lighting."
So even that was arranged for, as the landlord desired. Some of the scientific-minded friends of the landlord made an attempt to show the sun to the landlord with the help of powerful electric lighting arrangement. But all such efforts made by the scientists concerned were simply in vain.
Then a considerate person who was present there explained to the landlord that he could never see the sun in the night even if all the electric lighting arrangements in the world were assembled together -it would simply be a wastage of power, money and time. So, he must wait till sunrise to see the sun. Only with the help of sunshine can one see the sun. The sun can never be seen with the help of any other artificial light.
PURPORT
Similarly, every attempt of the materialistic scientists, archaeologists, and other people under illusion, to see and realize the eternal form of the transcendental Supreme Lord, full of bliss and knowledge, with the help of so-called mundane knowledge acquired through material senses and speculative reasoning, is only self-deceiving.
As the sun can never be seen in the night even with the help of hundreds of artificial lighting arrangements, similarly, the constitutional form of Lord Shri Hari and the spiritual master and the Vaishnavas is never visible through hundreds of attempts with the help of so-called mundane knowledge acquired by the material senses of the living entities.
As the sun is visible only in the sunlight, realization of the truly constitutional forms of Lord Shri Hari, guru or the Vaishnava, will only be possible under their mercy.
The spiritual master can not be assessed through a slighted understanding. Any living being conditioned under illusionary mentality can not make a proper assessment of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Controller of illusion and of the real Vaishnava who is conversant with Krishna Consciousness.
His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada
"O wicked mind! What kind of Vaishnava do you think you are? Your pretentious show of chanting Lord Hari’s holy name in a solitary place is only for the sake of attaining the false prestige of a worldly reputation-it is nothing but pure hypocrisy."
"Why do you needlessly suffer the torment of blaspheming the devotees of Lord Hari, attempting to achieve their eminence, thereby only proving your own fruitless foolishness? The desire for spiritual eminence is easily fulfilled when one becomes a devotee of the Lord, for eternal fame automatically follows the heels of a Vaishnava. And that fame is never to be considered a temporary worldly opulence."
--From the Vaisnava Ke? "Who is a Real Vaisnava?"(verses 1 and 5) by His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada--
Honey and the Foolish Bumblebee
Once a bumblebee saw a transparent glass bottle full of honey, and it wanted to enjoy the contents. Without realising that the honey was covered by the glass bottle, the foolish bee tried again and again to relish it.
Sitting upon the bottle, the bee concluded finally that it had relished the honey. In fact, it could not even touch the honey, not to speak of relishing its sweetness. The bee was simply self-deceived.
PURPORT
The materialistic persons and commonplace so-called vaisnavites believe that they have relished the nectar of devotion. In fact, they can not even discover the source of transcendental mellows of devotion, Lord Krishna.
In modern times, some people while listening to chanting and performing musical recitations of the compositions of such stalwarts like Candidas, Vidyapati and the like on the pastimes of Lord Shri Krishna, believe that they have relished the transcendental mellows of love from Lord Shri Krishna. In fact, they never reach the province of Lord Shri Krishna's pastimes or His transcendental mellows.
Some awful religious renegade and turbulent heretic like Kalapahadh, the notorious iconoclast, may think that they can demolish and destroy Deities and temples of the Supreme Godhead, or some egotistic so-called preachers may boast of finding out quite a good number of faults and discrepancies in the holy scriptures like Shrimad Bhagavatam and Shrimad Bhagavad Gita!
Even Ravana, the great king of demons, intended to abduct Sita Devi with an idea of enjoying her. In fact, they could not even have a look at the object of their lust and desire, not to speak of touching them. Ravana simply deceived himself by abducting only the shadow-form of Sita Devi and failed in his attempt to enjoy her.
If anyone tears up a map of India in anger and jealousy, and thinks that he has destroyed the entire state of India, then it is nothing but his foolishness. Similarly, people who are inclined to go against Shri Hari and the spiritual masters including all Vaishnavas, under the illusory materialistic knowledge, simply expose themselves as the most foolish entities on this earth.
Shri Chaitanyadeva has said:
aprakrta vastu nahe prakrta gocar
vede puranete ei kahe nirantar
"Spiritual substance is never within the jurisdiction of the material conception. This is always the verdict of the Vedas and Puranas." (Cc.Madhya Lila 9.195)
"Yes, No, Very Good”
A simple villager picked up some English through listening. He memorized only a few English words, such as `Yes' and `No', and `Very good'. But he never attempted seriously to understand the application of these words in the proper context. He only knew that a sort of respect for an `English-speaking' person could be attained by using those words in front of people.
Once a few dacoits made a plan to commit a murder and then escape making it look as if that villager had been the culprit.
When the villager was brought to the law court, the judge asked him in Bengali, "Did you commit the murder ?"
The foolish villager thought that if he could speak some English in front of the judge, then the judge might have great respect for him, considering him to be a follower of Western culture, and thus he may be relieved from the allegation of murder.
Contemplating thus, the villager replied to the judge, "Yes!"
The judge asked, "Was there anyone else with you?"
Promptly the villager replied, "No!"
Then the judge said, "Do you realise that you will have to go to jail?"
Now the villager thought that he should put forth his protest against such an injustice by applying his last resort. In order to confirm that he was a perfect gentleman, and that he did not commit the murder, and that he should never be thrown in prison, he replied to the judge's question, saying, "Very good!"
PURPORT
Even in the field of devotional service, many people often deliver a lot of scriptural quotes in a parrot-like fashion, without proper understanding of the instructions, religious terminology and the injunctions that they receive from the pure devotees. They simply hanker for respect from the people in that manner.
But eventually their position becomes similar to that of this villager. In the case the scriptural quotes and authoritative injunctions are not properly assimilated and digested, the righteous community never appreciates them. It is also not possible to be released from the clutches of `maya' or illusion through such a parrot-like verbiage.
It is often observed in pubic meetings, assemblies and popular mundane literature that many so-called "men-of-letters of modern civilization deliver such ludicrous verbosity on the subjects of devotion, devotees, and the Supreme Godhead. Pure devotees simply consider those deliberations similar to those of the villager mentioned above, who did not realize anything beyond `Yes, No, Very good. ‘Those persons are ultimately destined to suffer imprisonment under the merciless clutches of `maya'.
Brahma said: "I shall tell thee a secret! On the bank of the Jahnavi, at Navadvipa, which is called Goloka Dhama, shall Govinda, in a two armed form, as Gauranga, the Great One, the Great Mystic, Who is transcendental to the three modes of material nature, and Whose form is eternal, reveal Bhakti to the world."
--from the Caitanyopanisad from the Atharva Veda--
A wealthy landlord called upon a goldsmith in his village and requested him while giving him a lump of pure gold, “You are to make a nice pot for my milk with this gold. You should not make it in any way impure by mixing any kind of alloy in it.”
The goldsmith agreed, “Yes sir”, and went away with the gold-lump. Thus getting a lump of pure gold in his possession, the goldsmith was tempted to steal it. However, he apprehended that he would be punished by the landlord if he cheated him entirely, so he made up a plan to prepare a stone-pot and gold-plate it so that he would not be accused of stealing the gold.
When the goldsmith took the gold-plated stone pot to the landlord, the landlord asked him in great astonishment, “What is this thing you have brought?”
The goldsmith replied, “O sir! This is a golden pot. I have made it with hard labour.”
The landlord said,” Are you joking? This is a stone pot!”
The goldsmith told him, “O sir, this is a ‘golden’ stone pot.
PURPORT
Those who consider casteism among the Vaishnavas, classifying them as brahmana-Vaishnavas, ksatriya-Vaishnavas, vaisya-Vaishnavas, sudra-Vaishnavas, or as candala-Vaishnavas, simply indulge in a speculative inference as "golden" stone pot. Either one should be considered as `Vaishnava', or as brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, or sudra. Either one should call it a `golden pot', or a `stone pot.' Mango-cake (amsatva) must be prepared from mango itself, and no one can call something `mango cake' if it is made of `jackfruit' (knathaler amsatva).
Similarly, it would be wrong terminology to ascribe the quality of a sudra to a Vaishnava. Whenever one is accepted to be a `Vaishnava', then it is confirmed that he does not belong to any mundane social classification such as brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra or low-born candala and the like, nor even Hindu or non-Hindu. Any terminology such as `Hindu-Vaishnava' or `Yavana-Vaishnava' is utterly absurd and also offensive.
--From the Upakhyane Upadesha by His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura--
There was once a frog that lived in a pond. One day, her son happened to see an elephant near a tank. The baby frog returned to it’s mother and enthusiastically told her, “Mother, today I saw a huge animal!”
The mother frog asked, “Really? How big was the animal?”
The baby frog replied, “Oh, it was much bigger than you are.”
The frog puffed up her body and asked, “This much bigger?”
The baby replied, “Oh no, much bigger.”
The mother puffed up her body more and asked, “Even this much bigger?”
Her child replied, “No, no mother, much bigger than that.”
In this way the mother frog gradually puffed up her body more and more and each time the baby-frog would continue to tell her, “much bigger, much bigger”.
Finally, while trying to puff up her body beyond limit, the frog’s belly exploded with a big bang.
PURPORT
The insignificant living entities who consider themselves as “para-brahma” (para = supreme, brahma = Absolute Being), or as if nothing is equal to or greater than themselves in spite of the fact that they’re simply misconceived insignificant entities constitutionally engaged in devotional service, take a fancy to be equal in perfection with a liberated soul. They are usually destroyed like a puffed-up frog due to their false ego...
(By narrating this fable of the exploding frog, Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada used to instruct that it is better to be a good man than to be a big one. “I am Brahaman,” “I am siddha” , “I am Vaishnava” , “I am pandita” , “I am self - realized”
This sort of false ego is the root cause of the fallen entities’ bondage. One who is enlightened with pure devotion for Shri Hari, never conceives himself to be the lord of this material nature or the enjoyer of this material world, as a great worker, a great preacher, and the like. Such a person should realize himself as insignificant as eternal dust-particles under the feet of his spiritual master and of all the Vaishnavas.
He possesses a very candid humility all the time in his heart. A living entity can never be para-brahma, just as Ravana can never be Lord Shri Ramachandra.)
There was once a poor widow who, through great hardship, was struggling to bring up her only son. As she realised that he was her only hope for the future, she appointed a tutor for him although she would sometimes have to borrow the money to pay for the tuition fees.
Once, after being promoted to class VII, the boy was being taught Geometry by the teacher in English. As soon as the boy read out loud, “Let ABC be a triangle”, the boy’s mother rushed into the classroom and screamed at the teacher thus :
“This boy is supposed to be advancing in his studies after being raised to class VII, but you are still teaching him ABC - he learned all this when he was an infant - and to think I am paying you 10 rupees a month! From today you are no longer required here. You are only fit for teaching a primary school if all you can teach is ABC!”
The widow’s outburst was so violent that it left no scope for the teacher to argue and he was compelled to leave the place.
PURPORT
The arguments put forward by persons desiring other than Krishna consciousness, along with the karmis, jnanis, yogis, ascetics and the like, including so-called religious communities, are similar to those expressed by the widow. They say, “We have become totally worthless through serving all the time in this world”. This sort of slave-like mentality is the root cause of all troubles. If we were to accept servitude even after entering into the domain of religion, and to serve Godhead in complete servitude even after liberation, then how will we advance? Only when we are ignorant, and conditioned under illusion, then our slave mentality is intensified. But upon liberation, the realisation “aham brahmasi” that “I am Brahman” should be developed. Upon listening to such an argument, pure devotees will argue that devotion or service to Godhead is the eternal position of all conscious living entities. Such devotion, when cultivated through different stages of performing devotional service (sadhana bhakti), ecstatic devotion (bhava bhakti), and loving devotion (prema bhakti) , confirms verily the eternal utility of devotion itself.
Servitude to Lord Krishna while performing devotional activities is known as sadhana bhakti (performing devotion), whereas intimate servitude or service to Shri Krishna, after liberated realisation, is prema bhakti (loving devotion). Service to Godhead in the liberated stage is irresistible service (apratihata seva).
A,B,C,D or ka-kha-ga-gha may be practised while learning the alphabet on the elementary level; then again even after becoming the topmost man of letters, one has to cultivate the variegatedness and artistic delicacy of that very alphabet.
Those who are impersonalists, speculate just like the widow as narrated in this story, advocating that A,B,C,D should only be practised by children in the elementary level and that these letters are of no use to any learned person.
It is not that servitude to Shri Krishna should be offered only during devotional performance, but it must be renewed even upon attaining perfection through liberation as service to Lord Krishna is our eternal profession. Servitude or service offered to Lord Krishna is our eternal profession. Servitude or service offered to Lord Krishna after attaining the stage of liberation is to be considered as real and the most perfect form of service. Servitude to illusion (Maya) and servitude to Lord Shri Krishna should never be considered equal.
--Upakhyane Upadesha by His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktissidhanta Sarasvati Thakura--
"O brothers! No material efforts can ever produce the awakening of rasa, factual transcendental mellows. The pure devotee of the Lord never sings the glories of any mundane mellows that are born of the dull material world."
--Prakrita Rasa Shata Dushini (A hundred warnings against mundane mellows)--
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