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Confirmation from our hearts

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We receive confirmation from our heart’s approval, our inner approval. We must trace it to there because that took me to my Guru. Guru is all in all, but who took me to my Guru? It was my inner sentiment, my inner guide. It did not like anything else in the environment but instead selected that advice.

Many others do not care to come here, and many may ridicule this life, but what made ‘me’ come here? I cannot deprecate that internal approval, consciousness and sincerity. Therefore, that is an important factor and ultimately we have to depend on that internal consciousness the most. When collecting advice from the Scriptures and when seeking or relying on advice from a sadhu, the only thing that takes me there is my internal approval, my inner friend. If it were not for that I would not have come. Indeed, so many others do not come. So who has taken ‘me’ to this plane?

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Draupadi’s Prayer

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Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj illustrates how Śrī Kṛṣṇa of Vṛndāvan is the fundamental shelter of all.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra is the representation of mind, and Vidura that of the conscience. Dhṛtarāṣṭra represents the mind only: the mind’s inclination more so towards enjoyment: wife, children, and so on.
Bhīṣma represents a sense of duty, which may be vitiated.
Vidura holds the highest position.

The sense of duty may be misdirected, as we see in the case of the endeavor to disrobe Draupadī.

Bhīṣma did not oppose this. He is a sober man and a devotee, but his conscience was cowed down by his sense of duty. Of course, he explained this:

“Yudhiṣṭhir understands more about the conception of duty than I do, and when he did not give any opposition, then I could not.”

That was Bhīṣma’s explanation.

“What is the real direction of the Veda in this condition? The purport of Veda is known more so by Yudhiṣṭhir than myself. So, when he tolerated, I could not say anything.”

But Vidura did not care for this. He simply thought, in general, about the goodness of the dynasty in the future and boldly approached Dhṛtarāṣṭra:

“Under your care, taking advantage of your guardianship, what are these brutes doing? They are bringing danger to your dynasty by such actions. Are you dishonoring the Pāṇḍavas or are you dishonoring your own self? Draupadī is part of your family, so should you not help her in such a distressed state?”

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Zone of Nectar

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We are in such an area. What is to be done? Try to get out. Try your best to get out of this mortal area. The saints inform us, “Come home dear friend, let us go home. Why are you suffering so much trouble unnecessarily in a foreign land? The spiritual world is real; this material world is unreal: springing and vanishing, coming and going, it is a farce! From the world of farce, we must come to reality. Here in this material world, there will be not only one war, but wars after wars, wars after wars.

There is a zone of nectar, and we are actually children of that nectar that does not die (srnvantu visve amrtasya putrah).

Somehow, we are misguided here, but really we are children of that soil which is eternal, where there is no birth or death. With a wide and broad heart, we have to approach there. This is declared by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and the Bhagavad-gita, the Upanisads, and the Srimad-Bhagavatam all confirm the same thing. That is our very sweet, sweet home, and we must try our best to go back to God, back to home, and take others with us.

World War III: LET IT BE

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Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar MaharajStudent: Many people are worried about nuclear war. They think it may come very soon.

Sridhar Maharaj: That is a point on a line, a line on a plane, a plane in a solid. So many times wars are coming and going; so many times the sun, the Earth, and the solar systems disappear, and again spring up. We are in the midst of such thought in eternity. This nuclear war is a tiny point; what of that? Individuals are dying at every moment; the Earth will die, the whole human section will disappear. Let it be.

We must try to live in eternity; not any particular span of time or space. We must prepare ourselves for our eternal benefit, not for any temporary remedy. The sun, the moon, and all the planets appear and vanish: they die, and then again, they are created. Within such an eternity we have to live. Religion covers that aspect of our existence. We are told to view things from this standpoint: not only this body, but the human race, the animals, the trees, the entire Earth, and even the sun, will all vanish, and again spring up. Creation, dissolution, creation, dissolution—it will continue forever in the domain of misconception. At the same time, there is another world which is eternal; we are requested to enter there, to make our home in that plane which neither enters into the jaws of death nor suffers any change.

 
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Nothing can obscure our spiritual progress except our own false ego.

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Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj

  • Nothing can obscure our spiritual progress except our own false ego. I am my own worst enemy.
  • Devotion to the Absolute means sacrifice – “die to live.”
  • If we have an idea of the infinite broadness and depth of the Absolute, how can we value anything here?
  • To identify with the interest of our family, society, or country is extended selfishness.
  • When everything is measured from the standpoint of selfishness and not the universal interest – that is the cause of all our troubles.
  • We must learn to critique ourselves and appreciate the environment.
  • The infinite comes down to welcome, to fully embrace the finite – that is Vrndavana.
  • In Vrndavana, not a corner is left neglected. Every grain of sand, every blade of grass, is well represented there with personality.
  • Existence without consciousness is to exist with no purpose. But when existence is endowed with consciousness, it can search for its own good; ecstasy.
  • Our relationship with the subjective is that of reverence and devotion to the higher entity, and not that of exploitation or enjoyment.

(DIVINE WORDS Of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhar deva Goswami)

Ecstasy can exist by itself.

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You are not a child of this soil. You may be captive here, but this is not your home; this is a foreign land.

If we cross beyond the vision of light-consciousness, we shall find the real necessity of our existence: happiness – ecstasy – and divine love.

After establishing ourselves in the realm of consciousness, we must establish ourselves in the realm of divine love, ecstasy and beauty.

Ecstasy is above light; transcendental mellow is above consciousness. Beauty and charm are above mere consciousness and understanding.

Feeling is not complete in itself. Feeling must be for something. So the fullest conception of a perfect thing is something which is full in beauty or ecstasy.

 
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About Jiva Tattva

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Divine Words of Guardian of Devotion

Consciousness means to be endowed with free will. Without free will, no consciousness can be conceived. Consciousness means free will. This individual point of consciousness (jiva) means very meager free will. By the exercise of his free will, the jiva is asserting itself. It may go that side (Vaikuntha), or this side (the land of exploitation). Some jivas are going that side; some are coming to this side from the marginal plane.

Free will is the first action of coming into the land of exploitation. It is by free choice. Svabhava, or independence, is already there in the jiva – the very nature is there. But as the resulting consequence, we see that some jivas have taken their chance on this side. They did not accept submission, but wanted to dominate. With this germinal idea of domination, the jiva enters into the world of exploitation. The consequence of exploitation is added to his free will, then that is the basis of all these developments in variegated nature. The original starting point is like that — the vulnerability of the free thinkers. Free thinking is vulnerable because it is very meager, small, anu-caitanya, anu-svairiatva – limited freedom, limitation of free will. That is the cause of this world.

Maya is automatically the effect of the outcome of the vulnerable free will of the jiva. The world exists, just as the prison house exists due to evil desires for the encroachment on another’s property. If that misdeed is absent, then the prison house is absent. Prison houses are necessary. Kara-kartr – Durga-devi is kara-kartr. It is mentioned in Brahma-samhita, chayeva yasya bhuvanani vibharti durga. Kara-kartr – prison keeper.  Why prison?  There are prisons because there is a vulnerability in the choice of freedom, leading to encroachment on another’s property. Otherwise, no world is necessary. But because it is possible, prison houses are there. If the disease is absent, hospitals are absent. No disease — no hospital. No crime — no prison house. No misuse of free will – no world!

No blame for the existence of this world or our suffering should be put on the shoulders of Krsna, nor on Maya. You and you alone are responsible for your own suffering. You are weak — your thinking, your capacity, your everything is weak.

Once in Puri, one gentleman came to our Guru Maharaja, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada, and put a question:

“How did our life in bondage begin? How it first started? Who is responsible – God, Maya, or jiva? There are three factors –God is there with His paramount power, Maya is there which comes to capture the jiva, and the jiva is independent we are told. Then how did it begin? What was the first cause of such a beginning – the jiva’s contact with the world? The jiva is free, and God is, of course, absolutely free and Maya is there. Maya is playing with us. But when it first starts, who is responsible?“

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Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.8

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Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj

तत्तेऽनुकम्पां सुसमीक्षमाणो
भुञ्जान एवात्मकृतं विपाकम् ।
हृद्वाग्वपुर्भिर्विदधन्नमस्ते
जीवेत यो मुक्तिपदे स दायभाक् ॥ ८ ॥

tat te’ nukampam susamiksamano
bhunjana evatma-kritam vipakam
hrid-vag-vapurbhir vidhan namas te
jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak

My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.

SB 10:14:8

Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila Bhakti Rarhak Sridhar Maharaj) quotes SB 10:14:8 and says,

With the help of the Guru, the Sastra, and the previously experienced persons, I shall try to stand the test, that, “Yes, because the bile is so, everything is tasting bitter. But this process will remove the bile. I shall have to wait for some time, and when the bile is gone, I shall taste sugar candy as sweet.”

Divine Quotes

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Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

Some Quotes of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev Goswami Maharaj

1. If you follow the path of surrender, real knowledge becomes your servant.

2. Faith in the devotees grants us the most substantial help.

3. Faith is the only capital by which we can make our journey towards the Infinite.

4. If we do everything for Him, everything will be very beautifully done.

5. He who loves Me, does not really love Me; but one who loves my servitor – his love for Me is more real.

6. The soul can only be satisfied in the Absolute Beauty; any partial representation of the Absolute, or even eternal existence, cannot satisfy his quest.

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‘Navadvipa Special’ train and we are there

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The ‘Vrndavana Express’ and the ‘Navadvipa Special’

Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj

Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj

Devotee:

In Brhat-Bhagavatamrta, Sanatana Gosvami shows the travels of Gopa Kumara as he is going through different stages of realization. But is that necessary for everyone?

Srila Sridhara Maharaja:

Not everyone. Of course, you will have to pass through those stages unconsciously – Viraja, Brahmaloka, Sivaloka, Vaikuntha – but there is no stopping at any station. You will quickly go towards the destination. You may go anywhere unconsciously, passing through various stages to reach there. Very quickly you can pass unknowingly and unconsciously. If there is any special attraction to any stage, one may have to stop. But if our guide is strong enough he will tell us, “No, no! No stopping here! Come! No charm is here. What you see here is already known and that is only a distraction – no bhakti. Come!”

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