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Prayers of Akrura

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SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM

Prayers of Akrura
(SB 10.40.25-29)

Thus mistaking the temporary for the eternal, my body for myself, and sources of misery for sources of happiness, I have tried to take pleasure in material dualities. Covered in this way by ignorance, I could not recognize You as the real object of my love.

Just as a fool overlooks a body of water covered by the vegetation growing in it and chases a mirage, so I have turned away from You.

My intelligence is so crippled that I cannot find the strength to curb my mind, which is disturbed by material desires and activities and constantly dragged here and there by my obstinate senses.

Being thus fallen, I am approaching Your feet for shelter, O Lord, because although the impure can never attain Your feet, I think it is nevertheless possible by Your mercy. Only when one’s material life has ceased, O lotus-naveled Lord, can one develop consciousness of You by serving Your pure devotees.

Obeisances to the Supreme Absolute Truth, the possessor of unlimited energies. He is the embodiment of pure, transcendental knowledge, the source of all kinds of awareness, and the predominator of the forces of nature that rule over the living being.

Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda 4

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Sri Chaytanya Mahaprabhu saying:

“I have advented to propagate the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of Krsna and by this I will deliver this sinful material world. In this age, those demons and evil forces that have never accepted My lordship and authority will weep in joy by chanting My names. Furthermore, I will vigorously distribute this ordinarily most rare devotional service, which is always most earnestly sought after by the demigods, sages, and perfected beings, to even the most abominable sinners, dog-eaters, untouchables, and women. However, those who, becoming intoxicated with education, wealth, family heritage, and knowledge, criticize and offend My devotees, I will deprive of everything and they will never know My true identity.”

Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda 4, by Vrndavana dasa Thakura’

CC Madhya 8.77

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CC Madhya 8.77

nandaḥ kim akarod brahman
śreya evaṁ mahodayam
yaśodā vā mahā-bhāgā
papau yasyāḥ stanaṁ hariḥ

Synonyms
nandaḥ — Nanda Mahārāja; kim — what; akarot — has performed; brahman — O brāhmaṇa; śreyaḥ — auspicious activities; evam — thus; mahā-udayam — rising to such an exalted position as the father of Kṛṣṇa; yaśodā — mother Yaśodā; vā — or; mahā-bhāgā — most fortunate; papau — drank; yasyāḥ — of whom; stanam — by the breasts; hariḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Translation
Rāmānanda Rāya continued, “ ‘O brāhmaṇa, what pious activities did Nanda Mahārāja perform by which he received the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa as his son? And what pious activities did mother Yaśodā perform that made the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa call her “Mother” and suck her breasts?’

CC Madhya 19.96

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CC Madhya 19.96

śrutim apare smṛtim itare bhāratam anye bhajantu bhava-bhītāḥ
aham iha nandaṁ vande yasyālinde paraṁ brahma

Synonyms
śrutim — Vedic literature; apare — someone; smṛtim — corollary to the Vedic literature; itare — others; bhāratam — the Mahābhārata; anye — still others; bhajantu — let them worship; bhava-bhītāḥ — those who are afraid of material existence; aham — I; iha — here; nandam — Mahārāja Nanda; vande — worship; yasya — whose; alinde — in the courtyard; param brahma — the Supreme Brahman, Absolute Truth.

Translation
Raghupati Upādhyāya recited, “Those who are afraid of material existence worship the Vedic literature. Some worship smṛti, the corollaries to the Vedic literature, and others worship the Mahābhārata. As far as I am concerned, I worship Kṛṣṇa’s father, Mahārāja Nanda, in whose courtyard the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, is playing.”

Purport
This verse recited by Raghupati Upādhyāya was later included in Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Padyāvalī (126).

Lord Sri Baladeva

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The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the fountainhead of all incarnations. Lord Balarāma is His second body.

These two are one and the same identity. They differ only in form. Lord Balarāma is the first bodily expansion of Kṛṣṇa, and He assists in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental pastimes.

That original Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in Navadvīpa as Lord Caitanya, and Balarāma appeared with Him as Lord Nityānanda.

May Śrī Nityānanda Rāma be the object of my constant remembrance. Sańkarṣaṇa, Śeṣa Nāga and the Viṣṇus who lie on the Kāraṇa Ocean, Garbha Ocean and ocean of milk are His plenary portions and the portions of His plenary portions.

Lord Balarāma is the original Sańkarṣaṇa. He assumes five other forms to serve LordKṛṣṇa.

He Himself helps in the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and He does the work of creation in four other forms.

He executes the orders of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the work of creation, and in the form of Lord Śeṣa He serves Kṛṣṇa in various ways.

In all the forms He tastes the transcendental bliss of serving Kṛṣṇa. That same Balarāma is Lord Nityānanda, the companion of Lord Gaurasundara.
( cc.adi.5. 4-11)

Where is Kuliyā Aparādha-Bhañjana Pāṭa?

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Aparādha-Bhañjana Pāṭa Kuliyā Kothāya (Where is Kuliyā Aparādha-Bhañjana Pāṭa?) was first published in Sajjana Toṣaṇī, Vol.7 issue 2 in 1895.

Herein, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura discusses the significance of the village of Kuliyā and establishes its true whereabouts.

Aparādha-Bhañjana Pāṭa Kuliyā Kothāya
(Where is Kuliyā Aparādha-Bhañjana Pāṭa?)

by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura
(translated by Swami B.V. Giri)

Someone’s question has come to our hands. The questioner is a wise Vaiṣṇava. We will therefore proceed to answer this question carefully.

Presently, in many places in Bengal there are various villages in Bengal named Kuliyā. The Kuliyā we have been specifically asked about is a place unrivalled in the whole world. Why does history speak with special regard to that Kuliyā? The name of that Kuliyā is Śrīpāṭa Kuliyā. Śrīmad Gaurāṅga Prabhu, the avatāra who has come to deliver us in the age of Kali, resided in this place for seven days, chastised a great offender named Cāpāla Gopāla, and freed a scholar of Śrī Navadvīpa from his offences. Here, a resident, who lived near Maheśvara Viśārada’s dam, named Devānanda, who was a paṇḍita that recited the Bhāgavata, was purified of his offences to the devotees. At this place, a paṇḍita who was expert in Tantra named Kṛṣṇānanda had contracted a great disease due to Vaiṣṇava aparādha, and was mercifully delivered by Śrīman Mahāprabhu from his offence and from the disease. What better way could there be to decide where the holy town of Kuliyā is, other than deliberating upon the books written by paṇḍitas who were the contemporaries of Śrīman Mahāprabhu?

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Sri Gundicha Marjan Lila

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Gaudiya Gosthipati Srila Sri Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami

The cleansing of the Guṇḍichā Temple is summarised by Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī in Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta.

sri-gundicha-mandiram atma-vrindaih
sammarjayan kshalanatah sa gaurah
sva-chitta-vach chhitalam ujjvalam cha
krishnopavesaupayikam chakara
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 12.1)
“Sri Gaurasundar swept and cleansed the Gundicha temple with His devotees, making it as cool and bright as His own Heart and a befitting sitting place for Sri Krishna.”

Sriman Mahaprabhu cleansed the temple with brooms, waterpots and His own cloth, accompanied by hundreds of devotees.

premollase sodhena, layena krishna-nama
bhakta-gana ‘krishna’ kahe, kare nija-kama
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 12.85)
The Lord swept in the ecstasy of prema while calling the Holy Name of Krishna. The devotees also called out, ‘Krishna!’ as they engaged in their service.

dhuli-dhusara tanu dekhite sobhana
ka̐ha ka̐ha asru-jale kare sammarjana
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 12.86)
The body of the Lord became covered with dust and dirt and was beautiful to behold. The Lord cleansed some areas of the temple with His tears.

trina, dhuli, jhinkura, saba ekatra kariya
bahirvase lana phelaya bahira kariya
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Madhya-lila, 12.88)
Combining all the grass, dust and sand into a pile, the Lord began to gather it into His outer cloth and throw it outside.

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About Srila Sri Gadadhar Pandit Goswami

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In Gaura-lila, Gadadhar Pandit is holding the helm. Everything belongs to him, still he has to admit he’s dispossessed, that Gauranga has taken everything! He is exhaustively dedicated to Gauranga. So Srila Kaviraj Goswami says, «Te̐ho laksmi-rupa, ta̐ra sama keha nai: he represents the main potency of Gauranga, and no one is to be compared with him.» This is the conclusion of Srila Kaviraj Goswami about Sri Gadadhar. He is Gaura-premamaya, the embodiment of Sri Gaura’s love.

Gadadhar Das represents the halo of Radharani, but Gadadhar Pandit represents Her mood, Her nature — Her heart. It is as if Mahaprabhu has taken away Gadadhar Pandit’s soul, and the body is still standing! That is the position of Gadadhar Pandit. He is quite empty, and following Mahaprabhu. He is not full in himself. Something, the most important thing, his heart, has been taken by Mahaprabhu, so he has no other alternative but to follow Him. He is wholly given to Mahaprabhu. Gadadhar Pandit’s position, the part he played, was something like that of Radharani, Her heart stolen by Krishna, the empty body still standing. Radha-bhava-dyuti-suvalitam naumi Krsna-svarupam: He was fully engrossed in the conception of Sri Gauranga. Gauranga had taken everything from him, so he had no other alternative. He was fully engrossed, captured completely by Him.

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About Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur

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There was another thing I also heard about him from another source, Ram Gopal Vidyabhusana, an M.A. and Barrister-at-law.

Ram Gopal Vidyabhusana told me, “Once we went to visit him. We had heard that a Government officer, an educated man, had become a Vaisnava Babaji. So we went to see him, and someone amongst us asked him, ‘Please speak something about Krsna and Krsna-nama (the Holy Name of Krsna).’

“After a moment, Bhaktivinoda Thakur then said, ‘Oh, you want to hear something about Krsna, you want? You want Krsna-nama?’

“Then the consequence of that enquiry had such an influence on his body and mind, that as it is written by him personally in his own poem, Sri-Nama-Mahatmya:

Cakse dhara—From my eyes tears flowed; dehe gharmma—my body perspired; murcchita haila mana—I fell into a faint; kari’ eta upadrava—the Holy name created a great turmoil in me; citte varse sudha-drava—causing a rain of nectarine current in my heart; more dare premera sagare— and casting me into the ocean of ecstasy, of Love; kichu na bujhite dila, more ta’ batula kaila—I could not feel the environment around me, and became as though mad; mora citta-vitta saba hare—I lost myself in that though

That gentleman, Ram Gopal Vidyabhusana said, “I saw with my own eyes that all these symptoms were displayed in his body and mind, simply upon hearing our enquiry. Bhaktivinoda Thakur said, ‘You are so fortunate, you have come to hear Krsna-nama from me? Krsna—! Krsna—!’ In this way, he entered into another domain, and so many symptoms and expressions appeared in his body and mind—convulsions, tears, all these things.” I heard this from an eye-witness.

Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhara Deva Goswami

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.29.49

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आस्तीर्य दर्भै: प्रागग्रै: कार्त्स्‍न्येन क्षितिमण्डलम् ।
स्तब्धो बृहद्वधान्मानी कर्म नावैषि यत्परम् ।
तत्कर्म हरितोषं यत्सा विद्या तन्मतिर्यया ॥ ४९ ॥

āstīrya darbhaiḥ prāg-agraiḥ
kārtsnyena kṣiti-maṇḍalam
stabdho bṛhad-vadhān mānī
karma nāvaiṣi yat param
tat karma hari-toṣaṁ yat
sā vidyā tan-matirjaya

Translation

My dear King, the entire world is covered with the sharp points of kuśa grass, and on the strength of this you have become proud because you have killed various types of animals in sacrifices. Because of your foolishness, you do not know that devotional service is the only way one can please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You cannot understand this fact. Your only activities should be those that can please the Personality of Godhead. Our education should be such that we can become elevated to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.