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From: Follow the Angels

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Nama: More Than Mundane Sound

If we take the Name, then there must be service. Sat-sanga. Sadhu-sanga krsna nama. Service means to dedicate oneself completely to that which we serve. In that way we shall take the Name. For what purpose are we taking the Name of the Lord? Kanaka, kamini, pratis ha: not for money, not for sense gratification, not to achieve popularity. We are ready to sacrifice ourselves completely for Him, for His Name. With that attitude we shall take the Name. It is not limited. The whole life within the fist we shall give for His satisfaction. The whole of our energy, we shall risk it for the satisfaction of the Holy Name. We must approach with this attitude. It is guaranteed. The pursuit, the attempt is backed by our whole energy, our whole life, the whole prospect, everything.
With this attitude we shall have to search for a drop of Vaikuntha nectar. Otherwise it is useless. Die to live. Sacrifice, seva. Seva means death—death of the material ego. Seva means to give one’s own self to a particular purpose. The seva of Krsna means to give up this mad self, this mundane, concocted self. Try to be saved from our present position. This is not a very laudable thing, our present position; it is a mortal thing, the result of many reactions. So get rid of this shelter. Get out of it, as soon as possible. And enter into the land of confidence and goodness and fairness and sweetness. Try to enter that.

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A great tragedy

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Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar MaharajMAHAPRABHU’S SANNYAS – A great tragedy

We must return back to Godhead, back to home. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, “Your home is a beautiful land. You must try for that. Why are you always troubled with the horrors of war, epidemic, earthquake, undesirable disease, stealing, dacoiting, and fighting with so many neighbors? At the bottom of all this is the fact that you have identified yourself with this material world and this body of flesh and blood. You have to retrace your path and go back to your home.” That is what is necessary. Our homeland is such a lovely and beautiful and divine place. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s sannyasa is all for us, and it is for the purpose of taking us back home, where we can have home comforts, home sweetness. If we have any home-consciousness within, then we must appreciate such a proposal: home sweet home.
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s sannyasa is apparently very cruel to His devotees, and to His family members, but it was meant only to take us to our home. To work out the ecstasy of union, it was necessary for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to show separation from His devotees and relatives. Separation and union are mutually helpful. Mahaprabhu’s sannyasa, His renunciation, is a great tragedy of separation.

Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev Goswami

This is impossible! impossible!

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In Vrndavana Radha-Govinda are separate and here in Navadvipa They are combined. More power! Combined! And They had made their mind up to loot – “Take as much wealth as you can. We are giving it to you all.” This is impossible! impossible! What does Prabodhananda Sarasvati say?

kaivalyam narakayate tridasa-purakasa puspayate
durdantendriya-kala-sarpa-patali protkhata-damstrayate
visvam purna-sukhayate vidhi-mahendradis ca kitayate
yat karunya kataksa vaibhavavatam tam gauram eva stumah
(Caitanya-candramrta 5)

Kaivalyam narakayate – if one can get a taste of the dish that is distributed in Navadvipa, if one can get a slight taste of that dish then, kaivalyam narakayate – permanent emancipation will seem to him to be like hell which has been so much preached and admired in so many sastras. Kaivalya-mukti means eternal emancipation from this world of exploitation. The trouble is the tendency to exploit – that is the trouble found by the experts of those areas. What is the trouble? The exploiting tendency forces us to connect with the environment and we have to suffer severely from the reactions. So how to successfully get out of the action-reaction problem? Prabodhananda Sarasvati says, “Oh, you talk so much about kaivalya that you will have no possibility of coming into connection with the exploiting tendency, action-reaction – that is like hell to those that come to see Sri Gauranga-deva’s lotus feet.”

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The Hidden Treasure of the Sweet Absolute

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Srimad Bhagavad-gita —The Hidden Treasure of the Sweet Absolute

Introduction

वन्दे श्रीगुरुगौराङ्गौ राधागोविन्दसुन्दरौ ।
सगुणौ गीयते चाथ गीतागूढार्थगौरवम् ॥

vande śrī-guru-gaurāṅgau rādhā-govinda-sundarau
sa-guṇau gīyate chātha gītā-gūḍhārtha-gauravam

Bowing down to the holy feet of Sri Guru, Sri Gauranga, and Sri Sri Radha-Govindasundar, all accompanied by Their associates, I sing the glories of the hidden treasure of Srimad Bhagavad-gita.

Since Srimad Bhagavad-gita is very familiar to the learned society, an acquaintance of the conceptions of this edition may be given here. We are followers of the school of thought descending from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, so this edition is based on the Sri Gita commentaries of the pre-eminent, exalted Sri Gaudiya Vaisnava Acharyas — Sri Visvanath, Sri Baladev, and Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur.

By the grace of our worshipful Spiritual Master, Om Visnupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad, and from indications in the commentaries given by the aforementioned great pure devotees, in places some new light has been shed, revealing deeper meanings. The devoted reader will appreciate this particularly with regard to the four verses (10.8–11) which were described by Sri Visvanathpad as the four essential verses (chatuh-sloki) of the book.

Generally, Sri Gita is known as an excellent study of the science of religion. The language of Sri Gita is simple and sweet; its mood is grave, extensive, and radical; its thought is succinct, lucid, and impartial; and its logic is sound and natural. The eloquence of the prologue, epilogue, exposition, review, analysis, synthesis, and delivery of Sri Gita is unprecedented and charming in the extreme. Sri Gita is activation for the lazy, courage for the fearful, hope for the hopeless, and new life for the dying. Sri Gita unifies and sustains all ranks, whether revolutionary, occultist, optimist, renunciationist, liberationist, or full-fledged theist. From the atheist of grossly crude vision to the most elevated saint, the essential conceptions of all classes of philosophers are illustrated with clear and powerful logic. The devotees of the Lord (bhagavad-bhaktas) and persons on the paths of action, knowledge, and yoga (karmis, jnanis, and yogis) will each find the essence of their paths dealt with in a comprehensive and illuminating manner, and thus the book is highly esteemed by all.

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This place Imilitala is the place of origin of Gaura-tattva

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tintidi-talastha-yamunormi-bhavanaplutam
nirjanaika-radhikatma-bhava-vaibhavavritam
syama-radhikapta-gaura-tattva-bhittikakaram
prema-dhama-devam eva naumi gaura-sundaram

(Srila B.R.Sridhar Dev Goswami)

At the place known as Imilitala, on the bank of the Yamuna river, Sri Gaurasundara sat beneath the ancient tamarind tree growing there since the previous age. He sat beneath the tree’s branches and, seeing the dancing waves of the river, the memory of jala-keli was aroused withing him. He became immersed in thoughts of those confidential sporting pastimes of Lord Krishna in the water with the Gopis. Undisturbed, in that secluded place, his whole being was pervaded with thoughts of Radhika, her beauty and her sweetness.

This place Imilitala is the place of origin of Gaura-tattva, for it was here that Syamasundar Krishna became totally radiant in the halo and the heartfelt mood of Sri Radha. Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanyadev eternally dwells in this place, his thoughts captured by the inconceivable sweetness of Sri Radha’s feelings of devotion. I fall at the feet of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the golden volcano of divine love.

Light from Light

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Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar MaharajKrishna consciousness is the cause of Krishna consciousness! And we have to get help from the sadhus who have got Krishna) consciousness within them. Just as, from one candle another candle may be lit. A candle cannot produce light from within, but it is to be lit from another candle – it is something like that. We are to awaken our buried Krishna consciousness, which is covered by ‘anyabhilasa-karmma-jnana’; so, that light, that association, will come to help the sleeping Krishna consciousness within us, and our consciousness will arise from it’s sleep and show itself, as it is. So, the method is that: to take sadhu-sanga – krsna-bhakti janma-mula, haya sadhu-sanga – association with the sadhu, devotee of Krishna, is the root-cause of Krishna consciousness.

At the same time, it is told that Krishna consciousness is ahaituki, causeless. How are we to harmonise these truths? – Krishna-bhakti, faith in Krishna, or devotion to Krishna, we can get from the sadhu; at the same time it is told that it is ’causeless’.

In this connection, Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur has explained the meaning of ahaituki in this verse from Srimad Bhagavatam:

sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
yatho bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma suprasidati

(SB 1:2:6)

[“The supreme occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that by which man can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be causeless and uninterrupted, to completely satisfy the self.”]

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Caturmasya’s real importance

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Devotee: Maharaja token austerity for caturmasya, yoghurt fast, spinach fast, milk fast, dhal fast. So I am noticing this month…

Sridhara Maharaja: That is of less importance. The real importance should be given to self-giving. These are so many methods to promote that self-giving, atma-nivedanam. That is the real thing. The real capital and all these, they are devised only to help atma-nivedanam. Samarpanam, Prahlada Maharaja says in his advice. So many advices are given in so many places by so many scriptures. But the very gist of them is samarpanam, give yourself. Only to effect that all these advices have been devised, different ways, suiting to different environment. But the very substance for everything samarpanam. Just as the ghee is poured into the fire so put yourself into the fire Krsna and gradually give yourself into the hands of the sadhu, Mahaprabhu, Gauranga. Only doing some penances this or that, they are less important thing.

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Nabadwip Dham is the place of Their blessings.

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By distributing Mahaprabhu’s message we are not going out to do anything bad but according to our conception we are trying to do the holiest thing. Our purpose is of the holiest type ever possible to conceive, so we must go forward with this program to do good for others, the best for others, and at the same time to get it for ourselves. There can be no engagement more holy than this in the world. It is the holiest engagement and has the blessings of the Lords Nityananda and Sri Gauranga. It is duty to Them. It is Their department. Preaching is the special department of Sri Guaranga and Nityananda Prabhu. Nabadwip Dham is the place of Their blessings. Our prayer to Them is that, absolving us of all offences, They may utilize us. Here in Koladwip, Nabadwip, at the place of forgiveness of all offences, aparadha-bhanjan-pat, we are praying that They may forgive us for all our previous offences and engage us in Their service to spread Krishna consciousness together with Gauranga consciousness.

DIVINE WORDS of Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaja

Dive deep into God-consciousness

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It is the key to the highest success of life and it will take you to your Home. And that Home is so sweet! It is not a foreign land; not that you will take so much risk only to go to some unknown place, where you may be dealt with in any way. There will be no such apprehension, no such doubt or suspicion. But as much as you will be able to make progress on that side, you will find such sweetness, such home-like comfort and confidence.

Focusing on our fortune

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Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami MaharajWhy is happiness eluding us? Because we are never satisfied. No matter how much we get, we always hanker for more. Such is the nature of every one of us in all fields and walks of life. How then could finite material objects and flickering bodily or intellectual pleasures satiate our infinite hankerings?
For as long as we go on searching for happiness within the material plane, our efforts and endeavours are destined to be irrevocably frustrated. Due to their natural limitations, material objects and goals simply cannot satisfy our limitless hankerings. Only by seeking out the beauty and love of the unlimited spiritual realm can we hope to be successful in our common quest for lasting happiness.

Waiting to help us

The Lord is always there, even in the worst period of our lives. He is waiting, waiting to help us. We must only look up for His grace, with sincerity with all sincerity. He is everywhere, waiting; “My boy, look at Me. Don’t make much of the external environment. I am here, very near to you. You have cast your focus aside, you have cast your consciousness outside. Make it internal and you will find Me here. Make it above. You are looking down to secure servants and comforts, but if you look up, for existence higher than you, you will find Me in that plane. Look up! Don’t look down, searching for servants.”
You want to become a master and thus are searching for servants, hunting after things for your service. Take the opposite course, become a servant and search for your master, your Lord, then you will be uplifted, taken up to a higher domain. If you want to live in a higher domain you will have to serve. If you want to be a master, then you will have to come down in the lower zone, where you can be a master.
This is neither exaggeration nor imagination, it is something scientific. You can enjoy only those that are of a lower position. So, by attempting to enjoy, mean association becomes inevitable. Only by preparing for higher service will you be able to come in contact with your soul’s higher position.
Sacrificeby sacrifice you go up; by enjoying spirit you will have to go down. We are to understand what is exploitation and enjoyment, and what is higher service. Divine service is pure, and in that service there is also a pure type of joy and ecstasy. By giving we become gainers and by extorting we become losers. This scientific truth should be understood.

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