Gaura Purnima 2008

Happy Gaura Purnima

2008

Advaita Saptami 2008

I had a good experience today. After so many months of being unable to visit the temple, I finally went today for the occasion of Advaita Saptami. This occasion is always exciting, because it means that Nityananda's and then Mahaprabhu's advent days are coming up. :-)

Thankfully, and unlike as usual, I turned up in time for the Rajbhog arati so I was able to have a good darshan of the deities. Today the deities were dressed up beautifully, apparently in Rajasthani style. I found myself wishing that I had brought my camera, but never fear, take a look at this beautiful picture from the temple's Flickr site:

What I liked most about it was the fact that Krishna's hair could be seen. Usually Krishna's hair is covered because of the ornate headdresses or flower garlands, but today it could be seen and I always love it when His hair is showing.

While I was enjoying the darshan, it seemed that nobody was there to pass the arati flame etc. through the crowd - almost unbelievable. I sprang into action and took care of it myself; first taking the 'first' arati and then the second, then the "water spray" thing (what is that called?) and then the prasadi-flowers through the crowd.

Such great mercy! I never imagined that I could be allowed to this, after so many months of not coming to the temple. What can I say? I was so grateful for the experience.

Mahaprabhu will deliver you

It is not just Vaishnavas who we have to be wary of offending because, as Mahaprabhu says, we should be wary of offending anyone!

ananta brahmANDa yata, saba mora dAsa
eteke ye para hiMse sei yAya nAza

All are My servants throughout
the innumerable universes, so
anyone who commits violence
against any of them is destroyed.

In the context of the dialogue, Mahaprabhu is speaking about the evils of Vaishnava-aparadha and in this verse speaks of aparadha in general, so while 'hiMsa' usually means violence, in this context it is 'aparadha' that is meant.

And then comes one of the most beautiful images I have ever seen in literature:

bAhu tuli' jagatere bale gaura-dhAma
"anindaka hai' sabe bala kRSNa-nAma

Raising His arms and addressing the world, Gaura
said: "All of you chant Krishna's names without offenses!

anindaka hai' ye sakRt kRSNa bale
satya satya muJi tAre uddhAriba hele"

If one says 'Krishna' even once without
offense, I will certainly deliver him."

(CB 3.19.210..213-214)

Dear me, such a beautiful image. Beautiful Mahaprabhu raising His arms aloft and imploring the world to chant 'Krishna' without offenses and promising to personally deliver them!

Pancha-tattva pic

This is a photo of a picture of Sri Pancha-tattva which is present in the bhajan-kutir of Sri Pran Krishna das Babaji Maharaj. It shows Sriman Mahaprabhu in His sannyasa-lila dancing in ecstasy with His associates for the Jagannath-Baladeva-Subhadra deities of Puri. Surprisingly, Sri Srivas Thakur (playing mrdanga) is depicted with long hair.

I like this picture, if only I could go to India and get pictures as beautiful as this.

Mahaprabhu The LORD!

I love this little extract from Caitanya-bhagavata that I spotted the other day. The scene is set like so:

A sannyasi arrived at the house of Advaita Prabhu and, after the normal niceties, desired to ask Advaita Acharya a question. "How is Keshava Bharati related to Chaitanya?" Advaita was in a quandary, for how could he answer? The Lord has no superior, but Chaitanya had accepted Sri Keshava Bharati as master. Contemplating on both the worldly and spiritual aspects of the question, Advaita replied, "Keshava Bharati is Chaitanya's guru. But you already knew this so why did you ask?"

At that moment, Advaita's young son Achyutananda came running into the house after play and had heard the words of his esteemed father. In mock anger he chastised Advaita for describing Chaitanya as an ordinary mortal having a guru, and corrected his "misconception". What follows are the beautiful words of Sri Achyutananda as he describes Mahaprabhu as the Supreme Lord and identifies Him as Maha-Vishnu, the Creator:

ananta brahmāṇḍa sei caitanya-icchāya
saba caitanyera loma-kūpete miśāya

"By the will of Chaitanya, innumerable universes
issue forth from the hair-pores of His body".

jala-krīḍā-parāyaṇa caitanya-gosāñi
viharena ātma-krīḍa-āra dui nāi

"It is Caitanya Gosai who enjoys His own
pastimes in the [Great Ocean] with no other."

yata dekha mahāmuni - mahā abhimāna
uddeśa nā thāke kāro, kothā kāra nāma

"It has been observed that the great sages who were very
proud of themselves did not know their situation or their names."

punaḥ sei caitanyera acintya-icchāya
nābhi-padma haite brahmā hayena līlāya
haiyāo nā thāke dekhite kichu śakti
aveśeṣe karena ekānta-bhāve bhakti

"By the inconceivable will of Caitanya, Brahma appears
from the lotus flower that sprouts from His navel.
Yet after his appearance he has no power to see anything
until he worships the Lord with one-pointed devotion."

tabe bhakti-vaśe tuṣṭa haiyā tāhāne
tattva-upadeśa prabhu kahena āpane

"Observing his devotion and being pleased thereof, Prabhu
[Caitanya] imparts the tattva of everything unto him."

tabe sei brahmā prabhu-ājñā kari' sire
sṛṣṭi kari' sei jñāna kahena sabāre

"Obeying the will of Prabhu, Brahma begins to create.
He then imparted that knowledge unto others."

sei jñāna sanakādi pāi' brahmā haite
pracāra karena tabe kṛpāya jagate

"The four Kumaras headed by Sanaka received that knowledge
from Brahma, and mercifully preached it throughout the creation."

(CB 3.4.162-169)

Achyutananda went on to say a few mote things. After hearing thus, Advaita Acharya was so impressed that he embraced his son and shed tears of joy, as did the sannyasi who heard the boy's glorification of Mahaprabhu and similarly wept joyfully.

May we all be blessed with the boon of joyful tears after hearing such beautiful narrations.

Mahaprabhu's Beautiful Lotus Feet

For years I have been telling anyone who'll listen about the glories of Mahaprabhu's beautiful Golden Lotus Feet. Mahaprabhu's lotus feet are the most beautiful golden colour, softer than a rose. His toenails are so shiny, you can see your face in them.

And guess what! I just found out it's confirmed by scripture!

aruNa kamala yena caraNa-yugala
daza nakha yena daza tarpaNa nirmala

"His two feet are like reddish lotuses,
and His ten toenails are like ten shiny mirrors." (CB 3.4.33)

How nice it is to get your inclinations confirmed by shastra. :)

"May Our Family Increase!"

I was going through CB Madhya-khanda today, the chapter describing Sri Gaurahari's return to Navadvipa from Gaya after receiving diksha from Sri Ishvara Puripada. As Mahaprabhu recounts the basic details of His trip to Mother Sachi and the other Vaishnavas, his joyful memories cause him to faint and revive in a constant cycle, body horripilating and tears streaming from His holy eyes at the very mention of Gaya as "pada-padma-tirtha", and ecstatically crying "Where is Krishna?" to the astonishment and amazement of the residents of Navadvipa.

ārambhilā mahāprabhu āpana-prakāśa
ananta brahmāṇda-maya haila ullāsa

As Mahaprabhu began to manifest
Himself, unlimited universes rejoiced!

'prema-vṛṣṭi karite prabhura śubhārambha'
dhvani śuni' yaya yathā bhāgavata-vṛnda

'The auspicious beginning of Prabhu's distribution
of prema is about to begin.' Hearing thus, all the
devotees immediately ventured to that spot.
(CB 2. 1. 47-48)

Finding Himself unable to speak, Prabhu directed only a few of His associates (Sriman Pandit, Sadashiva Brahmachari and Murari Pandit) to meet the next morning at Shuklambhara Brahmachari's house where He promised to give fuller details. As that most auspicious day dawned, Sriman Pandita joyfully came to Srivasa Thakura's beauteous garden to pick flowers for offering to Mahaprabhu, and revealed the news of his impending meeting with the Lord to Srivasa, Gadadhara, Gopinath and Ramai, who were also picking flowers for their morning worship. After relating the happenings of the previous day to them in detail, Sriman Pandit urged them that there was every reason to believe him and his description was greeted with the triumphant and joyful chanting of Hari-nama from his listeners.

prathamei balilena śrīvāsa udāra
"gotra bāḍāuna kṛṣṇa āmā' sabākāra"

The magnanimous Srivasa was the first
to speak: "May Krishna increase our family."

gotraṁ nu vardhatām iti

May our family increase.
(CB 2.1.73-74)

This is the magic mantra!!!!! "Gotraṁ nu vardhatām iti" - the most holy words spoken by Bhakta-avatara Srivasa Pandit in the Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, the magic words in seed form that will bestow great blessings upon the world!! How wonderful!!! The most wonderful and benevolent mission of Mahaprabhu is about to start, and billions of jivas will be drawn to His fold!! Indeed so:

'tathāstu' 'tathāstu' bale bhāgavata-gaṇa
'sabei bhājuka kṛṣṇacandrera caraṇa'

'So shall it be!' 'So shall it be!' exclaimed the devotees.
'Let everyone worship the feet of Krishnacandra!'
(CB 2.1.76)

Ramanavami 2007 Contemplations

And for Ramanavami 2007, I tracked down some mentions of similarities between Rama-Lakshmana and Gaura-Nitai, irrepressibly sweet.

Can any Vaishnava hold himself when contemplating the explosive joy and gladness of the first meeting of Gauracandra and Nityananda?? When Gauracandra stood directly in front of Nityananda, the latter recognised Him as the lord of His life. Gauracandra indicated to Srivasa to recite a verse from Bhagavatam (barhApIDaM..), upon which Nityananda lost consciousness in ecstasy and fell to the ground after hearing it. After awaking, He roared in anand and danced up for joy, sighed deeply while gazing upon the beautiful face of Gauracandra and laughed loudly, clapping his hands and displaying all the ecstatic symptoms. The sight was frightening to some of the assembled Vaishnavas, who feared that Nityananda may hurt himself in the extremes of ecstasy.

dharite nArilA yadi vaiSNava-sakale
vizvambhara lailena ApanAra kole
When all the Vaishnavas failed to hold Him still, Vishvambhara personally took Him on His lap.

vizvambhara-kole mAtra gelA nityAnanda
samarpiyA prANa tAne hailA niSpanda

As soon as Nityananda was taken on Vishvambhara's lap,
He surrendered His life to Him and became motionless.
(CB 2.4.20-21)

bhAse nityAnanda caitanyera prema-jale
zakti-hata lakSmaNa ye-heNa rAma-kole

prema-bhakti-bANe mUrchA gela nityAnanda
nityAnanda kole kari' kaGde gauracandra

Nityananda floated on the waters of Caitanya's love, just as
Laksmana remained in the lap of Rama after being hit by the
shakti-shela arrow. Nityananda lost consciousness due to being hit
by the arrow of prema-bhakti. Holding Nityananda
on His lap, Gauracandra began to weep.

ki Ananda-viraha haila dui jane
pUrve yena zuniyAchi zrI-rAma-lakSmaNe

The bliss of separation relished between the Two was
alike to that relished by Sri Rama and Laksmana previously.

gauracandra nityAnande snehera ye sImA
zrI-rAma-lakSmaNa vahi nAhika upamA

There is no limit to the affection between Gauracandra and Nityananda
other than that which is found between Rama and Laksmana.
(CB 2.4.23-26)

Krishna's love for Rama

In the most holy Sri Laghu-bhagavatamrita of Srimat Rupa Gosvamipada, some delightful verses inform us thus:

"Because He enjoys humanlike pastimes as Lord Krsna does, the form of Lord Ramacandra is most dear to Lord Krsna.

"The words of Lord Krsna in Brahmanda Purana:

'Matsya, Kurma, and many others are My personal forms. Still, Ramacandra, the son of Dasaratha, is most dear to My heart.'" (LB 2.305-306)