Three Rare Things for a Soul

   A soul very rarely receives a human birth.  And that too, is due to God's Grace.  Of those who have received a human birth, even rarer are those who are true seekers of God's Love.  But just possessing these two is not enough to succeed spiritually unless you also have the association of a true Saint.  If all three occur in the same birth, that soul's spiritual success is virtually guaranteed.  To this end, the Saint gives many opportunities for his association.

Devotional Practice for the Purification of Your Heart

It is only by devotional practice through which your heart becomes pure and then you can attain Divine Love of Shree Krishna. It is impossible to attain the Divine qualities such as truth, non-violence, etc. without the purification of your heart.

Our Aim

   We all have a sadhya. Sadhya means our aim. What is our aim?  Hari-Rati. Hari means God, Rati means Love. Our aim is to attain Divine Love of God. This Divine Love is our biggest treasure. All other treasures and possessions become insignificant in front of this treasure. Shree Maharajji says:

as ras mahaṁ mohiṁ sadguru borī

  "My Gurudev has completely drenched me in the nectar of Divine love. So sweet is this nectar that compared to it, the combined fruits of 'dharm' (virtuous deeds), 'arth' (wealth), 'kaam' (material pleasure) and 'moksh' (liberation) are absolutely tasteless."

muktānām api siddānām nārāyaṇa parāyaṇaḥ sudurlabhaḥ praśhāntātmā koṭiṣhvapi mahāmune

  Even the highly evolved yogis search for this Divine love of Radha Krishna. This Divine Love of Radha Krishna is very rare to attain. So, how will we get this Divine Love? Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explains us that we cannot attain this Divine Love by doing Sadhana or devotional practice.

nitya siddha kṛiṣhṇa prem sādhya kabhu nāy 
śhravaṇādi shuddh chitt karay udāy

  This Divine Love is an eternal entity that cannot be created by any means, not even by Sadhana.  And Shree Maharajji says Divine Love can be attained by doing Sadhana. Now here comes a contradiction. Our scriptures have such apparently contradictory philosophies and knowledge that without a true Saint or a Guru we cannot understand them. On one hand the scriptures say:-

nānugrahastava bina twayi bhaktiyogam

  Without the Grace of God one cannot receive real devotion (Bhakti).  On the other hand, the scriptures also say

nānugraham tava binātvaibhaktiyogaḥ

 "Without doing devotion one will not receive the grace of God". Now these two precepts seem to be contradictive. How will one receive devotion? Through Grace. How one will receive Grace? Through devotion. So what comes first? The chicken or the egg? Did the tree come first or the seed? If you say the seed came first, how could it come into existence without the tree?   And if you say the tree came first, how did it come into being without the seed?

  There is a similar contradiction here. One can ask, without the grace of God how can we do Bhakti? So first God should shower His grace and then we will start doing Bhakti. But how can God shower His grace if we do not do Bhakti? It seems like there is no way out of this puzzle. Does that mean we should not do anything and sit quietly? Well, this circular logic is resolves quite easily.

   Shree Maharajji says that there are two forms of Bhakti  (Devotion) - one is that which we have to practice and the other is that which we will receive when our devotional practice is complete. The one which we have to practice and observe is called Sadhana Bhakti. The one which we will receive is called Siddha Bhakti (Prema Bhakti). This Siddha Bhakti will be attained by the grace of God. It is possessed by Rasik Saints who has been graced by Radha Krishna. So we need to do Sadhana Bhakti and then God gives Siddha Bhakti.

Ved Vyas says in Bhagwat -

bhaktyāsañjātayā bhaktyā vibhratyutpulakañtanum

   "To receive Bhakti, one must do Bhakti". What does that mean? How can someone practice and receive the same thing in return? The verse actually means that we have to practice Sadhana Bhakti and once we have perfected it, we will receive Siddha Bhakti. However, even for the Sadhana Bhakti that we are supposed to do, we tell our Guru, "Guruji! Please grace me so that I can do Sadhana Bhakti". This is impossible. If without our efforts, merely by the Guru's grace everything could be done, then the world would not have remained.  The Guru would have bestowed Siddha Bhakti on everyone, and released them from the bondage of maya.

  God and Guru ask us to first realize and utilize the Grace that They have already showered on us.  God has showered His grace in many ways - God has given us this human life. On top of that, we were born in India where we got a spiritual environment. We were bestowed with faith in God. Again by His Grace, we developed a desire to come to Satsang. And the biggest Grace was that we met a God-realized Saint and got attached to Him. He gave us the knowledge of God, showed us the right path of devotion and taught us how to practice it.  After so many Graces , if we do not utilize them, we have only ourselves to blame for it. In spite of knowing the importance of devotion we become lazy, careless and procrastinate in our spiritual practice. The more we realize and utilize the grace that God has showered on us, the more grace we will receive. If we do not utilize what we have already received, how can we expect more?

 Shree Maharajji says, "I do not expect too much from you all.  I know you cannot enter Golok in one day.  But you do not do as much as you are capable of doing, and that is what makes me feel sad." The reason for this is our own laziness.

ālasya hi manuśhyāṇām śharīrastu mahān ripuḥ

  The biggest disease of the human body is laziness.  We know what we are supposed to do, but being lazy, we do not do it. Hence, in the preparatory stage, we have to work hard to overcome carelessness and do proper Sadhana.  What is is this sadhana, and how is it to be done?  This is explained by Shree Maharajji in subsequent lines of this excellent kirtan.

Swami Mukundanand

Who is Shri Krishna?

kṛiṣhirbhvāchakaḥ śhabdaḥ ṇaṣhch nivṛitti vāchakaḥ tvayoraikya parabrahm kṛiṣhṇa ityabhidhīyate (gopālatāpaniyopaniṣhat)

In the Vedas, the meaning of the word "Krishna" is Satchidanand Brahm (the absolute divinity full of bliss, knowledge and eternity).

'karṣhati paramhañsānām chetañsi iti kṛiṣhṇaḥ'

The one who attracts and entices everybody's heart (mind), the Supreme Soul, is Krishna. Even Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shankar (Shiva), are attracted to Shree Krishna. He attracts His own Self! Is it not astonishing?

The Supreme God, Shree Krishna has three main forms - Brahm, Paramatma and Bhagavan. Just like the three forms of water - steam, ice and water itself (liquid). If we decrease the temperature of water it becomes ice, and if we increase the temperature, it becomes steam. Even though we have three forms, they are fundamentally the same. Similarly, there is only one God who manifests Himself in three different forms.

tattvam yajjñānamadvayam

Let us now understand the meaning and qualities of these three forms of God.

Brahm - This refers to the all-pervading form of God. Two main powers that are revealed in this form. The first is self protection and the second is Swaroopanand (personal Bliss). The other powers are present but are not manifest. Another important aspect of Brahm is that He is formless.

Paramatma - This refers to that form of God that resides in everyone's hearts. The Paramatma also manifests in the personal form as Vishnu, and various avatars such as Narsingh and Varaha. Many more powers are manifest in the Paramatma form, than in the Brahm form. Bhagavan - God reveals all his powers in this form. This is the form of Shree Krishna, in which He manifests. He manifests His Divine Names, Form, Pastimes, Abodes, and Associates.
Bhagavan - God reveals all his powers in this form. This is the form of Shree Krishna, in which He manifests His Divine Names, Form, Pastimes, Abodes, and Associates.

yo sau param brahma gopāl

A question has been asked in the Vedas:

kam paramo devaḥ Who is this Supreme power? Who is Brahm? kasmānmṛityurvibheti Who is the personality that is feared even by death? kasya jñānenākhilam jñātam bhavati What is that, by knowing which everything is known?

The answers to these three questions are given in the Vedas - kṛiṣhno havai hariaḥ paramam daivataṁ The Supreme power is Shree Krishna. govindānmṛityurvibheti Even death fears Shree Krishna. And gopījanavallabha jñānenākhilam jñātam bhavati - By knowing Shree Krishna everything becomes known. So, Shree Krishna is the ultimate Supreme Personality who is the ocean of Divine Love and eternal Bliss. Shree Krishna is Absolute truth and essence of Divine Love and nectar. We, being a part of His Divine personality naturally love Him.

Now here comes the question of Shree Krishna's birth. If we say that He was born, then it means He will die one day. Shree Krishna himself says:

jātasya hī dhruvo mṛityurdhruvam janma mṛitasya cha

"Arjun! The one who is born dies one day." That implies Shree Krishna also died. Is the Supreme Lord also caught in this cycle of life and death? No, let us first understand the meaning of the birth of God. For the Supreme Lord, birth means to manifest and death means disappearance. During Shree Krishna's descension period, He first appeared in front of mother Devaki in the form of the four-armed Maha Vishnu, with His Sudarshan chakra, conch, mace, and lotus.

tamadbhutam bālakamambuje kṣhaṇam chaturbhujam śhankha gadayudayudhaṁ

Having seen this form of God she asked Him to appear as a normal child. When Devaki closed and opened her eyes bhaye prakaṭ kṛipalā dīn dayālā God manifested Himself as a sweet smiling child. So, it was not like a material birth that takes place from the mother's womb. Shree Krishna had a Divine birth, and similarly His body was also Divine.

chidānandamaya deha tumhārī
vigata vikār jāna adhikārī

Only people with Divine vision are able to perceive the Divinity of His form. So His body is chidanandmaya, full of knowledge and eternal Bliss. We have a body and a soul. The soul is immortal but the body is destructible. But the body and soul of God are one. His body is Divine by nature, full of Bliss.

Every sense organ of God's body can perform the functions of the other senses. For example, God's eyes can see, think, smell, and take decisions. This is unlike human senses, where our eyes can only see and ears can only hear, etc. Each one of the senses of God can perform the functions of all the other senses.

paśhyatyachakṣhu saśhṛiṇotyakarṇaḥ

Not only are God's sense organs so powerful but He can also hear without ears and see without eyes! This is unbelievable for us humans!

Now comes a question. What is the need of the Absolute and Supreme God to descend on earth? Why does He leave His Divine abode and come to this material world? Does He want something from us humans? No, He is complete and content in Himself. He does not have the need to search for anything from outside to fulfill or satisfy Himself.

There are many reasons for God's descension. But the main reason of His descension is to shower His causeless grace and mercy on everyone. Grace and mercy are inseparable parts of His nature. This is the reason why He comes to this world repeatedly and does various pastimes.

When God descends on the world, He reveals the glory of His personal and all-blissful Form, His Divine Names and His Pastimes. This provides a basis for the material conditioned souls to engage in His Devotion. By meditating on His Form, and listening to His Pastimes, they get a means for enhancing their devotion. If God had not taken any avatars, the souls in the material world would not have had any basis for engaging in devotion, because the formless Brahm is exceedingly difficult to worship.

So the main motive of celebrating Janmashtami is to understand the secret behind Shree Krishna's Divine descension and our eternal relationship with Him. We must aim to build a firm relationship with Him and constantly realize His presence with us so that we progress quickly on this path and cleanse our mind. By the grace of our Guru, we can then receive Divine Love with which we can relish the sweet leelas (pastimes) of Shree Krishna and enjoy the eternal Bliss of Divine Love.

The Nature of the Worldly Pleasures

   Never forget that the pleasures of the world are sweet, but never the sweetest.  It is for the same reason that discontent persists in our life.  Our mind knows that worldly riches are pleasing and tempting, but it hardly knows why they are not fully quenching and satisfying.  Our mind knows that it desires perfection, but it never knows what the genuine form of perfection is. 

   

We spend our lives in confusion, seeking for an unknown state of happiness.  So, everyone is discontented not due to the shortage of sensual comfort, but because of the desire for the best, and the way they act,  live, and think never ensures any happiness and perfection in their life.

Devotional Path renders a real Service to Humanity

A sincere devotee renders a real service to the entire humanity because the person who has developed his chief interest in attaining Divine Love will never be selfish; he completely detaches himself from the worldly pleasures and material attainments. Therefore, he will naturally think of the welfare of others.

But a person who is only attached to his sensual pleasures, gratifications, and material possessions will always think of his own welfare. So, if people follow the Universal Religion of Bhakti, a natural harmonious atmosphere can be created in our society and the whole world can be peaceful with moralities and ethics.

The Mind alone is the cause of both ̶ Bondage and Liberation

Your mind is everything. If it loses its freedom, you lose your freedom.  If your mind is free, you are also free.  The mind has the natural tendency of getting colored just like a white cloth gets reddened if it is dipped into solution of a red color.  You learn English, naturally you will mix English words and phrases in your conversation.  In the similar manner, if our mind is kept in a bad company, the evil influence of it starts coloring our thought and behaving patterns. 

   

If we wittingly or unwittingly stay in the midst of devotees,  our mind begins meditating on God, His Names, His Forms, His Qualities, His Pastimes, His Abode, and His Associates (Devotees and Saints).  The most important things we should not forget is  ̶  the nature of our Mind changes as per the situations and things amidst which it remains and acts.

Truthfulness and Simple Faith to Reach the Absolute

 The person alone has the opportunity of entering the Abode of God who is not a thief of his own thoughts.   In other words, truthfulness and simple faith are the roads to the Abode of God. Thus, the person who has got faith has all, and who lacks it lacks all.

  Unless you become like a kid in faith, it is rarely possible for you to attain God realization.  God is shaken by the kid-like faith; it is impossible to realize God with the calculating nature of the worldly-minded. It is a bitter reality that we have been suffering in the wheel of birth, life, death, and rebirth due to the lack of faith in God.  The illustration from Ramayan given below clarifies the power of faith very precisely:

Shree Ram, who was God incarnate, had to bridge the ocean prior to He could cross over to Lanka, Ravan’s Kingdom.  But Hanuman, Shree Ram’s faithful monkey devotee and servant, crossed the ocean at a single leap, because of his firm faith in Shree Ram.  Here the servant achieved more than the master, simply via faith alone.