A LECTURE IN WASHINTON DC BY

SRILA BV NARAYANA MAHARAJA

17 May 1998

On 17th May Sunday morning, Srila Maharaja spoke for some time before a full room.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu is so merciful. He is the embodiment of love, affection and prema. Raso
vai sah. He is rasa, the juice, the taste of mellow. He has come to sprinkle His mercy to all, to the
grass, to creepers and to animals. He is non different from Krsna, rasika-sekhara. What is the
meaning of rasika-sekhara?

Lalita mohan: "The taster of mellow."

Prema prayojana: "The connoisseur of rasa."

Srila Maharaja: The relisher of all mellows. We are all part and parcel of Gauracandra. We
cannot be separated from Him. But still, Krsna does not interfere with our free will by trying to
control us. But if you disobey Him, then maya will crush you. But you will not die, and
eventually you will come to Him.

You cannot be happy if you do not serve Him. He has given this propensity for love and
affection to all jivas. We can see that it is present even in very dangerous animals like lions and
hogs, and in plants too, though we may not be able to see it. Although we are conditioned, we
have love for our wives, husbands, sisters and country men. Not only this, but we also fight with
them too. This is because the tendency for love and for anger are not different. Both are
manifestations of love.

Sometimes love can be expressed in anger. We see how Yasoda-devi sometimes lovingly gives
her milk to Krsna and caresses Him, but at other times twists His ears. So they are the same
thing, they are not different. So in this world sometimes we serve other beings, and sometimes
we cut them, and take their flesh. This comes from our original nature to love, but here in this
world we have become misguided. But if you change your habits and by good fortune you come
to the service of a suddha Vaisnava, then by his influence, maya will quickly run away. Thus you
will be able to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and will surely be happy forever.

So Caitanya Mahaprabhu came for this purpose. Prior to His advent, He came as Narasimha,
Varahadeva and all of the other incarnations, to cut down the jungles of demons, who kept
growing back again. Finally He came as Krsna, destroying all the demons in Mahabharata, and
teaching atma-dharmas. However, not satisfied by this, He adorned Himself with the internal
mood and complexion of Srimati Radharani and came to distribute love and affection as
Caitanya Mahaprabhu. As Mahaprabhu, He never killed any demons, but rather He changed their
mentality.

Krsnadasa Kaviraja was worried to write Caitanya-caritamrta, because it was so high, and people
would not be able to understand it. But he knew that if He did not do it, then the devotees would
suffer without it. However, he reasoned, just as the crow has no taste for the sweet manjaris of
the mango tree, preferring the bitter taste of neem fruits, similarly the non-devotees would not
read the Caitanya-caritamrta anyway.
Within the Caitanya-caritamrta, Krsnadasa Kaviraja at first established what was the goal and
object of our spiritual practices (sadhya), after which he explained the process to attain it
(sadhana). This is all contained in the conversations which took place between Mahaprabhu and
Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami.

At present, people think that they should put all their attention in how to attain the ultimate goal,
without understanding clearly beforehand what that goal is. But this is quite wrong. Before we
decide how we are going to progress, we should at first know where we are going. So Krsnadasa
Kaviraja at first explained our prayojana, which is to attain the highest love and affection for
Radha and Krsna. Our prayojana is not to take darsana of Them. Never. Ravana, Kamsa,
Jarasandha, and Hiranyaksa have all been able to have a darsana of Rama, Krsna, and
Varahadeva. So this is not our aim. Rather it is to achieve the love by which we can serve Radha
and Krsna conjugal. The kind of love which Radha has for Krsna is the highest of all, and we
cannot touch it. But we can touch that which is in the maidservants of Radhika. So Caitanya
Mahaprabhu came to sprinkle this mood of the gopis, those who are engaged in serving Radha
and Krsna. He has explained there in Adi-lila, Third and Fourth chapters what is the highest love
and affection, and then how we can achieve this goal. It is all spoken in Rupa-siksa, Sanatana-
siksa, Ramananda-samvada and also in the Rathayatra festival.

Now I'm going to explain one sloka, what love and affection is:

pranata-dehinam papa-karsanam

trna caranugam sri-niketanam

phani-phanarpitam te padambujam

krnu kucesu nah krndhi hrc-chayam

("Your lotus feet destroy the passions of all embodied souls who surrender to them. Those feet
follow after the cows in the pastures and are the eternal abode of the Goddess of Fortune. Since
You once put those feet on the hoods of the great serpent Kaliya, please place them on our
breasts, and tear away the lust from our hearts.")

I am speaking about the time when Krsna disappeared from the rasa dance. All the gopis were
suffering in separation and became totally mad. "Where is Krsna? What is He doing? We are
dying now!" In this way they prayed by the side of the beautiful Yamuna. There were no trees,
so the moon was illuminating the white sands on the shore. All of the gopis collectively wept and
lamented. "We have left everything for You, our mothers and fathers, brothers, and husbands.
We have left our children, and our cows, whose milkbags are now overflowing with milk. But
You have left us alone in this fearful jungle."

Oh, we should all be ready for this! Otherwise, we will never be able to serve Radha and Krsna
conjugal. So bhakti is transcendental from the beginning, sadhana-bhakti, bhava and prema
bhakti. It is always transcendental. It is not on the platform of the mind. It is called:

anyabhilasita sunyam

jnana karmady anavrtam

anukulyena krsnanu
 silanam bhaktir uttamam

At the present time, although you are serving Krsna you are not looking at Him directly, nor do
you realise anything about Him. Still, you are chanting and remembering something, and even
that kind of bhakti is transcendental. But when we are desireless, spiritually and materially, and
our bhakti is not covered with karma or jnana and is spontaneous, flowing, continually, like a
stream of honey being poured downwards, always, day and night, when everything we do is for
Krsna Himself, only, then it will be pure bhakti. When we endeavour for these things to attain
that uttama-bhakti by these senses then it is called sadhana-bhakti, which is divided into vaidhi
and raganuga bhakti. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu never had anything to do with vaidhi-bhakti. It
has been given enough by all incarnations of Krsna in the past, so Caitanya Mahaprabhu never
came to give it.

So after practicing, our bhakti will become somewhat matured and manifest as svarupa-sakti, the
combined essence of which is hladini and samvit. In this shape of love suddha-sattva will come
in the heart. After that we'll practice for prema-bhakti and will come to svarupa-siddhi. After
this, in the stage of vastu-siddhi we will take birth in Vrndavana from the wombs of gopis, at
which time prema, sneha, mana, pranaya, raga, anuraga, anubhava and mahabhava will gradually
arise. In this way we will realise what is this mood of Radhika that Caitanya Mahaprabhu
descended to this world to sprinkle.

So here in the rasa-pancadhya, in Thirty-first Chapter (of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto),

Sukadeva Gosvami is explaining what was that love. It is also two sided. One side is meeting and
the other is separation. Both must be there, otherwise neither Krsna nor the devotee can relish it.
So here, when He was dancing and singing with the gopis and contacting each of their bodies, it
is called meeting. And when Krsna disappeared from the rasa they all became mad. Those who
have not served Him like the gopis will not be able to realise what is separation. If a mother is
not attached to her child, then how can she realise what is separation? Only a very good mother
who is bhavuka, loving, can weep when her child is not there. A mother has more affection for
her children than the father. He will maintain them by hard labour, but the affection, feeding by
her breast milk, and keeping them in her heart, only a mother can do. Yasoda-devi has more
affection for Krsna than Nanda Baba. We can see everywhere. Krsna is weeping and Yasoda is
twisting His ear, but still He will come running, "O Mother! O Mother!" to her lap. So if a
mother does not have such a feeling of love for her children, she will not feel any separation
when they go. At our stage, we are only capable to realise separation since we have been
separated from Krsna. However, we don't realise love, because we have never known it. If a
child is separated from his parents then he will feel love, because the relationship is already
there. But we are coming from tatastha-sakti, so potency, prema is there but in its constitutional
form in a covered form. So we should think that we have been separated from Krsna and we
should try to realise this:

nayanam galad asru dharaya

vadanam gadgada ruddhaya gira

pulakair nicitam vapuh kada

tava nama-grahane bhavisyati

Caitanya Mahaprabhu is saying that, "When will that day come, when, chanting Krsna's names I
will weep bitterly, and the eight sattvika-bhavas will decorate My body. Then I will roll down on
the earth crying 'Krsna! Krsna!'"
We know that we are separated from Krsna and want to weep, but we cannot do it. So
Mahaprabhu is Himself saying, "When will such a day come that I will be able to weep like
this?" First by practicing sadhana-bhakti through our senses and body, chanting, always
remembering Krsna, serving prominently in the association of Vaisnavas more qualified than
ourselves, then suddha-sattva may come. First nistha, then ruci, then asakti, and then suddha-
sattva will come. So we should try to see whether our bhakti has come to the stage of nistha or
not, or whether our nistha has come to the stage of ruci. If ruci has come, then we are so
fortunate. And, if not, then we'll have to develop it up to nistha or ruci. I know that our bhakti is
not at the stage of nistha, but we can change. I know that in Western countries it is very easy to
change wives and husbands by divorce. So our bhakti can be changed in this way. Even knowing
that in our whole lives it will never give us happiness we can do hard labour day and night for
worldy pleasures. But we'll have to give this all up, and follow chanting and other practices day
and night. But because we do not have strong faith we cannot do it. So our bhakti is not very
high. But sometimes we pose that, "Oh I am very advanced in bhakti, now I am a guru, I am
fully qualified." But only when our whole time is spent on these practices will Krsna arrange
everything, and we'll not have to spend all our time working here and there. Krsna is so kind, He
has said that if one gives up everything in this world for Him, then He will personally take on
His head and shoulders the responsibility to go and serve that devotee. He has said:

ananya cintayanto mam

ye janah paryupasate

tesam nityabhiyuktanam

yoga-ksemam vahamy aham

But we do not have this kind of faith. Only by this can pure bhakti come. But how? By hearing
the glorifications of the devotees in whom this matured prema is there.

So, weeping, the gopis are saying to Krsna: pranata-dehinam papa-karsanam. Krsna at once
appears and tells them, "Why do you want to see Me? Why do you want to touch Me? Why do
you want to keep My hands on your heads? Why do you want to keep My feet on your bodies? I
don't want this. You are married women, and this is very sinful."

Krsna is trying to give arguments to justify not being with the gopis, but they are more intelligent
than Him, and much more expert in logical arguments. In answer, they tell Him, "But we have
heard from Uddhava, Paurnamasi, and Gargacarya that You are Narayana. And even You have
told us this Yourself! So if You are Narayana, then we know that even by uttering Your holy
name, sinful persons such as Ajamila and Valmiki immediately became purified, in a second. We
know that we are full of so many sinful activities, and that is why You say You don't want to
touch us. But we want to touch Your lotus feet. pranata-dehinam papa-karsanam - You touched a
stone in Your incarnation as Rama, and it became the very beautiful woman Ahalya, who was
more beautiful than angels. We know that Sabari touched the lotus feet of Rama and became
liberated forever. So we know that if we touch Your lotus feet that we'll become purified, and
You will not have to suffer our sinful reactions, papa-karsanam. All the sinful activities of those
who have offered themselves, surrendered themselves to You totally, disappear in a moment. So
although You say that You will not touch us because You are worried that You will be affected
by our sins, papa, we know that it is a lie."

When Krsna was defeated by them in this way, He tried another argument, "But I cannot put My
feet on your bodies because they are too hard."
The gopis replied to that: trna caranugam. "You are always pursuing the cows barefoot for miles,
over sharp stones and thorns, when the ground is very hot in summer, and very cold in winter.
What about Your soft feet then? Our bodies are not like hard and sharp like that."

Defeated again, Krsna then says, "Yes, but you are the wives of other men. I cannot touch you."

So the gopis then reply: sri-niketanam. "But Laksmi is continually serving Your lotus feet,
keeping them always on her lap. So why do You keep them there? She's not Your wife!"

There is one story in the Puranas. Krsna came in the form of Vamanadeva, to give the universe
to Indra, because it had been stolen by Bali Maharaja. Vamanadeva went before Bali Maharaja in
the form of a dwarf brahmana boy, without umbrella or shoes. He waited with all the other
beggars, while Bali Maharaja satisfied them all. At last, seeing the Lord, Bali Maharaja offered
his pranams to Him, seeing Him to be a brahmana boy. He offered to give Vamanadeva
anything. Vamanadeva told him that He simply wanted three steps of land on which He could
build a bhajana-kutira to worship Bhagavan. Hearing this, Bali Maharaja roared with laughter,
thinking that just as Vamanadeva was small in size, so He was in intelligence. "I own the
fourteen planetary systems! Why do You not request for some valuable jewels? I can give You
the hand of any highly beautiful, qualified and chaste lady in marriage, or anything that You
want. Why do You only ask for this tiny piece of land?" Vamanadeva replied that He only
wanted what was strictly necessary to maintain a simple life, and that three steps of land were
sufficient for Him. But when it came time to claim that land, in two steps Vamanadeva easily
covered the entire universe. Seeing this, Bali Maharaja offered his very self to the Lord.
Vamanadeva then offered him a boon, so Bali Maharaja requested Him to come to his palace and
to become his doorkeeper. However, in that palace there were many hundreds of doors, and, Bali
Maharaja explained, he might enter or leave by any one of them. Therefore he asked
Vamanadeva to simultaneously guard each one of them, so that he would be able to see the Lord
at all times. In this way, he quickly controlled the Lord by his love and affection.

But meanwhile, Laksmi was becoming very unhappy, in the absence of her husband. She then
asked Narada where the Lord had gone, who told her that He had gone to cheat Bali Maharaja.
However, he explained, devotees are very clever. Although Vamanadeva had thought to trick
Bali Maharaja, Bali Maharaja had ended up tricking Him. Therefore, Narada suggested, Laksmi-
devi should now go to the kingdom of Bali Maharaja in the guise of an elderly brahmani, and use
another trick to claim Vamanadeva back again.

When Bali Maharaja saw her, he invited her to ask for what she wanted. Indicating Vamanadeva,
she declared, "I want Him. He is my husband, and I cannot bear the separation from Him any
longer."

Hearing this, Bali Maharaja began to laugh, saying, "Oh, He came to cheat me, and now you are
coming to cheat me too!" He then told Laksmi that he also could not let Vamanadeva go, so
therefore Vamanadeva should expand yet again, thus allowing Him in his "original" form to
return back home with her. So this is the reason why Laksmi always keeps the feet of Narayana
so secure in her lap.

Devotee: Massaging them . . .

Srila Maharaja: Massaging, no! To control Him. If His feet are in her lap, then He will not be
able to go here and there.
So the gopis say: sri-niketanam. "How can You keep Your feet in the lap of such a chaste lady
for eternity? Why won't You do it for us?"

Defeated by this, Krsna next argues that, "My hands and feet are so soft, and I cannot touch them
to your bodies which are very hot due to the fire of separation, or I will get burnt." So the gopis
reply: phani-phanarpitam. Phana means the hood of a snake. So the gopis say, "But You put
Your feet on Kaliya's heads, which were full of burning poison! So we cannot believe what You
are saying. Please, come and put Your lotus feet on our heads."

Without separation there cannot be love, and without love a person cannot experience separation.
So we should try to develop it, by hearing all these pastimes. I have described only one sloka, but
all the slokas of Srimad-Bhagavatam have so many deep meanings. So we can explain all the
slokas of Srimad-Bhagavatam, such as tavakathamrtam tapta jivanam, in different ways, in
different moods, especially in the meeting and separation. Whatever we put energy into, we will
progress in that direction. So if you will not put your whole energy towards whole Krsna, then
how will you realise Him? Caitanya Mahaprabhu came, and He mercifully distributed this
causelessly. Gaura premanandi Hari Haribol!