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Gauranga’s instruction- SB/ Sudha Nama- Bhavarupa and Chestarupa bhakti

🌱What are Gauranga ->Acharya’s instructions?

Ways of Saranagati -> Krsna Prema/ loving devotional service.

🌱Why hear Srimad Bhagavatam and Sudha Nama?

For Priti Smarana of Krsna so loving devotional service can overflow.

🌱What should be our short term goal and prayer?

 To be with Nama prayerfully moment after moment so the Rupa and Guna are revealed on Their sweet accord for Priti Smarana 

🌱What can we do so our bhajan can be the way acharyas taught us / Sudha Nama bhajan?

Internal mood ( bhava rupa bhakti) and external action

( chesta rupa bhakti):

🌸Acharyopasana for bhava rupa bhakti:

  1. -Very submissively hear what acharyas are saying in their bhajans and teachings.
  2. -Imbibe their deep and humble mood.
  3. -Get deep into Srila Prabhupada purports and gurujana vakya: SInterurrender/ Saranagati, love of Godhead/ Krsna Prema, loving devotional service.
  4. -Develop attachment to these acharyas/ raga bhaktas. This is the only way to get our bhakti in raga manga/ spontaneous devotional service in the mood of Vrajavasis.

Above things are very potent since they can change our desires deeply and give Krsna seva vasana ( desire to serve Krsna). Our tendency to enjoy is very deep and subtle and cannot be changed otherwise.

We are jiva tattva. Guru tattva has descend down to rescue and transform us. There is no other way this jiva can come out of this clutches of material enjoyment.

 🌸Niskama karma/ karma adhikar/ for chesta rupa bhakti:

  • Perform services given to us in a detached way understanding that it is given simply for our purification and external engagement while we have to internally remember Krsna.

🌱We tend to give lot of emphasis or exclusively do only chesta rupa / external bhakti  and we almost get stuck and crippled there fighting with our mind about ourselves and others/  anarthas. What we perform is only bhakti abhasa and Nama abhasa it namapradha there.

Detachment and steadiness in service comes when we are in mode of goodness. So we should be vigilant of the modes ( BG 16, 17, 18)  and take all measures to stay in sattva.

🌱We also need higher taste to come out of this entangled situation.

Only satovritti(saintly association) can bring us out of that muck and give us the strength and taste. 

Therefore, we should have that serious and sincere saintly association regularly until we imbibe those saintly qualities. 

This is why of all the upadesas in Upadesamrta, satovritti is the topmost and crucial.

This is why SB instructs again and again to take saintly association.

(Acharyopasana : SB 3.29.17 p)

Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Jayatah 🙏🙏

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Niraparadha Nama

🌱cultivate desire for Niraparadh Nama.
🌱It is difficult for who are dwelling in material bodies.
🌱But deep desires when expressed in words brings forth the action
🌱with awareness of aparadhas.
🌱therefore those progressive disciples are protected by Nama Himself
🌱and lead them to spontaneity.

  • HH Vedavyasapriya Swami

*Reflections on Harinam by His Holiness Vedavyasa priya Swami sanga*

• Golokera premadhana Harinama sankirtana

Holy Name/Prema rasa is not something that begins and ends. It has been always present and will remain eternally. 
• My dear Lord, You are glorified by the selected verses uttered by great personalities. Such glorification of Your lotus feet is just like saffron particles. When the transcendental vibration from the mouths of great devotees carries the aroma of the saffron dust of Your lotus feet, the forgetful living entity gradually remembers his eternal relationship with You… SB 4.20.25• We must do contemplative reading of SrilaPrabhupada’s books to sustain good quality of chanting.
Sankirtan ( preaching ) is nourished by japa and japais nourished by Sravanam ( includes systematic study of Srila Prabhupada’s books ).
No sambandha No abhidheya.

_*Prabhupada Vani jabe nahi tumi sunila*_
_*Japa madhye dhyan tara kichula lagila*_
_*Dhyanmagna japa kare tomara uddhara*_
_*Tabe sankirtan kare sarvera uddhara*_• Japa in dham with realized souls, reading SrilaPrabhupada books cements, spur on and generates & sustains the urge and need to chant.
Bhagawatam the book, greatly facilitates the consistency, quantity, quality and intensity of the japa.
• Remind ourselves that the chanting should be exact like a genuine cry by the child for the mother.
As Srila Prabhupad also emphasises, what do you do after completing the rounds ?Do you continue devotional service after the rounds or get back into material activities ?
• tāra madhye sarva-śreṣṭha nāma-saṅkīrtana
niraparādhe nāma laile pāya prema-dhana ( CCAntya 4.71)

“Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is to always chant the holy name of the Lord. If one does so, avoiding the ten kinds of offenses, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead.”•  Siksastakam:
1.    Sloka 1. All glories to the congregational chanting of the Holy name. By chanting the Holy name, our hearts will be cleansed and we will develop intense desire to share the holy name with others.

2.    Sloka 2. All Your potencies are invested in the holy name. When will I clear my offences so that I may develop taste for sharing the holy name with others?

3.    Sloka 3. When I become humble and tolerant and ready to offer respect to others without expectation of return, then only will I be able to give up my shyness about sharing the holy name with others by constant Sankirtan.

4.    Sloka 4. Only when I give up the desire for false prestige, honour and comfortable life will I get the strength to go out and share the holy name without discrimination.

5.    Sloka 5. If I truly realise my position as Your eternal servant, then I will become enthusiastic to serve You by sharing the holy name with others.

6.    Sloka 6.

CC Antya 20.37

“prema-dhana vinā vyartha daridra jīvana
‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana”
“Without love of Godhead, My life is useless. Therefore I pray that You accept Me as Your servant and give Me the salary of ecstatic love of God.”
If I receive the gift of love of Godhead, then my determination to act as Your eternal servant will increase and increase, and I will with enthusiasm go out and share the holy name with others.
 
7.    Sloka 7. O, when will that day come?
 
8.    Sloka 8. When will I only want to serve Krishna aspiring for the mood of Srimati Radharani and her servants?• In BG 9.14 Lord Krsna says”Always chanting My glories, endeavoring to worship Me, these greatsoulsperpetually bow down to Me and worship Me with all their hearts”. What this means is that we should never give up chanting the holy names of Sri Krsna. This chanting of the holy name will take us back to Godhead.

• If we *endeavour* to chant properly then the holy name which is non-different from the Lord will shower His *mercy*. The mercy will come from the spiritual master externally and the Supersoul from within. The mercy is proportional to the endeavour – ye yathāmāṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham. At the same time, more inattentive japa that we will do, our taste will vanish. 
Japa will give us the purity, which will help us in sankirtan. Purity is the force; preaching is the essence.
Interestingly both of these come to us through our Spiritual master. Mantra that we chant – we received from maharaj and the instructions and empowerment to do sankirtan also comes from him. Hence it is said – yasya deve para bhaktir yata deve tatha gurau• 
*Sankirtan*
Srila Prabhupada has said (in NoD) that japa is mainly for our own benefit. Sankirtan is for benefit of everyone who hears the mantra. Sankirtana includes the chanting of the holy name congregationally, preaching the glories of the holy name, distributing the books glorifying the holy name. So Sankirtan = preaching, which is the essence of all activities as per Srila Prabhupada. So Japa will give us the purity, which will help us in sankirtan. Purity is the force,preaching is the essence.

Interestingly both of these come to us through our Spiritual master. Mantra that we chant – we received from maharaj and the instructions and empowerment to do sankirtan also comes from him. Hence it is said – yasya deve para bhaktir yata deve tatha gurau.• Japa is like the fuel and sankirtan is the vehicle that will take us back to godhead. The vehicle cannot move without the fuel and the fuel of japa is used to move the sankirtan vehicle.
Meditating on the acharya bhajans improves my chanting• SB Canto 4
Because of the presence of the Lord in the form of the transcendental vibration, the Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere is evoked. This atmosphere is without fear and anxiety.
SB 4.30.35, Translation and Purport: Whenever pure topics of the transcendental world are discussed, the members of the audience forget all kinds of material hankerings, at least for the time being. Not only that, but they are no longer envious of one another, nor do they suffer from anxiety or fear.
Vaikuṇṭha means “without anxiety,” and the material world means full of anxiety.

CC Antya 1.101

kṛṣṇa-nāmera mahimā śāstra-sādhu-mukhe jāni
nāmera mādhurī aiche kāhāṅ nāhi śuni

TRANSLATION
One has to learn about the beauty and transcendental position of the holy name of the Lord by hearing the revealed scriptures from the mouths of devotees. Nowhere else can we hear of the sweetness of the Lord’s holy name.

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Kindly pick me up from this rubble!

Sri Radha Govinda Deva
  • Depend on the sweet Lord Govinda/ Holy Name with joy as a baby depends on it’s mother’s lap, and let the spontaneous service flow out to the pankaja palasa vilasa… to the soft, fragrant lotus feet of Govinda.
  • But, how is it possible?

My mind is full of everything and everyone but Krsna!

My mind is full of every unpleasant feeling but Priti!

I am so confused, bewildered, lost and disconnected with Krsna!

I have so many things that are bothering me. I think I will be happy and can chant better after I fix them. May be I should ask Krsna to first fix those problems, expectations and demands first. Maybe then I will peacefully chant and serve.

Oh, I am bewildered! What to do? I am scattered! How to handle my material problems? How to make spiritual progress?

I wish I could be connected and brought back to the cooling and soothing shelter of Krsna! I need Him!!

  • I have heard that serving You, the Holy Name/Govinda/Krsna, given by Sri Guru alone can take away all my miseries and struggles, dispel my confusion, give me the needed light to walk the path of this life with peace and joy. All my material and spiritual needs are met simply by deeply connecting with You.
  • Oh! How can I revive my sweet relationship with You, Govinda/ Holy Name?
  • Who is my rescue? I am caught up underneath this huge rubble of material modes?
  • Nitai, Gaura!!! I have heard that you both are the most merciful incarnations with magnificent heart,  so munificiently rescuing souls like me that got stuck underneath the rubble of these modes and are calling out for help.

parama karuṇa, pahū dui jana nitāi gauracandra

saba avatāra-sāra śiromaṇi kevala ānanda-kanda

(The two Lords, Nitai-Gauracandra, are very merciful. They are the essence of all incarnations. The specific significance of these incarnations is that They introduced a process of chanting and dancing that is simply joyful)(Premananda thakura)

  • Very kindly, swiftly come and pick me up too…I beg you…
  • O Nityananda Ram, kindly smash all these rocks of material attachments on me and free me from this dirty rubble.
  • O Gauranga, kindly take me into your loving embrace and teach me the ways of Saranagati, soften my heart and sweeten it with fondness for Govinda!

uttama adhama, kichu nā bāchila, yāciyā dileka kolakahe premānande, emana gaurāńge, antare dhariyā dola

(Without discriminating as to who is elevated or fallen, They embraced everyone. Sri Premananda says, “O brothers, keep that Sri Gaurasundara locked in your heart of hearts)

  • Only then, only then, can I float in the nectar of service to the HolyName/ Govinda, and swim in the joy that flows out of it.
Nitai Gauranga
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Krsna Prema

Krsna Prema is happening with every Hare Krsna mantra we utter, whether we are filled with anarthas or we can’t focus or we are neophytes or we are feeling hopeless and disqualified.

How is that possible?
Krsna Prema to a conditioned jiva is made possible only by Gauranga who brought this premadhana from Goloka Vrindavan, and Nitai who is flooding the world with the same treasure.

sei dvāre ācaṇḍāle kīrtana sañcāre
nāma-prema-mālā gāṅthi’ parāila saṁsāre (CC Adi 4.40)

Thus He spread kīrtana even among the untouchables. He wove a wreath of the holy name and prema, with which He garlanded the entire material world.

nitāi guṇa-maṇi āmār nitāi guṇa-maṇi
āniyā premer vanyā bhāsāilo avanī
( Chaitanya mangala)

  1. My Lord Nityananda, the jewel of all virtues, my Lord Nityananda, the jewel of all virtues, has brought the flood of ecstatic love of God that has drowned the entire world
  • What is our great fortune that these most merciful Lordships gave Their cooling shelter to us?!

parama karuṇa, pahū dui jana
nitāi gauracandra
saba avatāra-sāra śiromaṇi
kevala ānanda-kanda
( Dhamali, Locana Das Thakur)

The two Lords, Nitai-Gauracandra, are very merciful. They are the essence of all incarnations. The specific significance of these incarnations is that They introduced a process of chanting and dancing that is simply joyful.

  • How can I receive Their full mercy?
    Saralata hi Vaishnavata. Simplicity is Vaishnavism.
    (Srila Bhakti Sidhanta Saraswati)

(Acknowledge your disqualification) and simply with open arms beg for the mercy of Gaura and Nitai without any duplicity. ( Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Maharaj)

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