19950124 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.27

Lecture Code: 19950124

Scripture: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

Verse: 6.1.27

Date: 24-Jan-1995

Place: Bangalore, India

 

Transcribed By: Medhavini Sakhi DD

Transcribed On: 30-Jul-2019

 

First level proofer: Neetu Gupta

First level proofed on: 20-May-2020

 

Editorial Changes (non voice): Usha

Date: 5-Jan-2021

 

STATUS: Completed

 

Source:

https://archives.jayapatakaswami.com/courses/304945/lectures/5000887

Title:

 

vande ‘ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaishnavams ca

sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa jivam

sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam Kṛṣṇa -caitanya-devam

sri-Rādhā -Kṛṣṇa -padan saha-gana-lalita- sri-visakhanvitams ca

           

The following is the class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on January 24th 1995 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The class begins with the reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6^th canto, chapter 1, verse 27.

 

 

sa evaṁ vartamāno ’jño

 mṛtyu-kāla upasthite

matiṁ cakāra tanaye

 bāle nārāyaṇāhvaye

 

Translation:

 

When the time of death arrived for the foolish Ajāmila, he began thinking exclusively of his son Nārāyaṇa.

Purport:

In the Second Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.1.6) Śukadeva Gosvāmī says:

 

etāvān sāṅkhya-yogābhyāṁ

 svadharma-pariniṣṭhayā

janma-lābhaḥ paraḥ puṁsām

 ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ

 

The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by acquirement of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of one’s occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life.” Somehow or other, Ajāmila consciously or unconsciously chanted the name of Nārāyaṇa at the time of death (ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ), and therefore he became all-perfect simply by concentrating his mind on the name of Nārāyaṇa.

 

It may also be concluded that Ajāmila, who was the son of a brāhmaṇa, was accustomed to worshiping Nārāyaṇa in his youth because in every brāhmaṇa’s house there is worship of the nārāyaṇa-śilā. This system is still present in India; in a rigid brāhmaṇa’s house, there is nārāyaṇa-sevā, worship of Nārāyaṇa. Therefore, although the contaminated Ajāmila was calling for his son, by concentrating his mind on the holy name of Nārāyaṇa he remembered the Nārāyaṇa he had very faithfully worshiped in his youth.

In this regard Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī expressed his verdict as follows: etac ca tad-upalālanādi-śrī-nārāyaṇa-namoccāraṇa-māhātmyena tad-bhaktir evābhūd iti siddhāntopayogitvenāpi draṣṭavyam. “According to the Bhaktisiddhānta, it is to be analyzed that because Ajāmila constantly chanted his son’s name, Nārāyaṇa, he was elevated to the platform of bhakti, although he did not know it.” Similarly, Śrīla Vīrarāghava Ācārya gives this opinion: evaṁ vartamānaḥ sa dvijaḥ mṛtyu-kāle upasthite satyajño nārāyaṇākhye putra eva matiṁ cakāra matim āsaktām akarod ity arthaḥ. “Although at the time of death he was chanting the name of his son, he nevertheless concentrated his mind upon the holy name of Nārāyaṇa.” Śrīla Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha gives a similar opinion:

mṛtyu-kāle deha-viyoga-lakṣaṇa-kāle mṛtyoḥ sarva-doṣa-pāpa-harasya harer anugrahāt kāle datta-jñāna-lakṣaṇe upasthite hṛdi prakāśite tanaye pūrṇa-jñāne bāle pañca-varṣa-kalpe prādeśa-mātre nārāyaṇāhvaye mūrti-viśeṣe matiṁ smaraṇa-samarthaṁ cittaṁ cakāra bhaktyāsmarad ity arthaḥ.

Directly or indirectly, Ajāmila factually remembered Nārāyaṇa at the time of death (ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ).

 

 

 Jai Kṛṣṇa Balarām

 

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: So, thus end the Bhaktivedanta Swami translation and purport of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam canto 6, chapter 1, text 27 in the matter of the history of the life of Ajāmila.

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

 

It is very very important as we can see, to always go on chanting the holy names. Ajāmila kept calling his son.

 

Even accidentally calling out the holy names, he got so much blessing. As I mentioned yesterday, how important it is to consciously chant.

 

Unfortunate people are saying, I can’t chant now, let me chant when I get old. Now I have to watch TV. We are discussing how actually now TV and all new channels, new things for India., so people are getting infatuated.

 

But already in the west, people are so much fed up with so much TV. They limit. They `actually limit, so much only you can watch TV. First finish your study. They limit. Many places, they have already practically, they turned off the TV.

 

I just read in a paper a few days ago. In Bombay, somebody was watching TV. All of a sudden, the father got angry, opened the window and threw the TV set out of the high rise. When everyone heard the crash, they all looked out of the window and saw that TV. All of a sudden, they all stated tossing. Within one and half hours, there were 287 TVs smashed. After that they said, now they could relate to the neighbors as human beings. They could hear the children playing. Otherwise before everyone was glued to the TV set.

 

This is called bhog tug or Indian tug in common parlance in the west. It stops the brain from working if you watch too much of these programs. So much violence they are showing and sinful activities in the movies that constantly people are getting subjected.

 

So, they are finding that the crime rate is going up because of all these things or many problems. So here we are giving a positive alternative.

 

Ajāmila has showed that by regularly chanting the name of Narayana, Narayana, he got the blessing.

 

Now Lord Śiva and Viṣṇu in Śiva Puran, he explains that if you do a sahasranama of Narayana, Viṣṇu, that is equal to one name of Ram. And if you do 3000 sahasranam, it is equal to 1 name of Kṛṣṇa. So, by chanting

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

 

so many, like 48000 names of Viṣṇu. 48 times you can say the sahasranam by one Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, something like that. anyway, whatever calculations, very effective.

Means of course we read this morning, Madhu Pandit read from I believe, it is Nectar of devotion or may be it is the nectar of the holy name, I couldn't hear what  he was reading exactly, but he mentioned how chanting the holy name is enough but because we have to chant it without offense , see Ajāmila  chanted without offense. That was his saving grace. He wasn't committing any of the 10 offenses. He was not sinning because he was chanting, he was unconsciously chanting. He might have been sinning but he wasn't doing it with any fixed, because of ignorance he was sinning.

 

So, somehow, he got all these blessings. Because he wasn't making any offense. But we make offenses sometimes to the holy name. And that's why the Deity worship and following all the rules and regulations of cleanliness and deity worship can help us be conscious and to avoid committing offenses to the holy name. Although it is most important to chant, even more than Deity worship, but Deity worship is important because we are not able to chant purely.

 

So, worshiping the Deity helps us to get a proper consciousness.

 

Someone Mataji may need Hindi translation?

 

So, here we find all the ācāryas, they really studied this, this point. The acharyas, they are reading all the places of the Bhāgavatam and each verse, they are trying to understand what is the meaning.

 

Every verse is filled with meaning.

 

See sometimes, it really hurts when we hear people say, today we are going to have a reading from the Bhāgavatam. This is one of the Hindu mythology. This is not a mythology, this is purana, its history. This is the history may be from many millions of years ago or even another period, another creation or another yuga, certainly it was in another yuga, but it's not imagination.

Otherwise why all those acharyas, Sridhar Swami, Viraraghava Acharya, Vijaydwaja Tirtha, very great acharyas, they have all given their commentary. They are not taking this as just   or fiction. These are factual history of what happened. These   a practical example of the power of the holy name.

 

You see when I was in Malaysia, that time the Hindu Samaj leaders, they came to see me. That how, people are getting converted from Hindu Dharma and using all these words, you are worshiping idols. Idol worship is prohibited in certain śāstras of other religions, certain scriptures, holy books. This is not idol worship. This is a Deity worship.

 

It's not the false idol and we shouldn't use the word idol. Although it has become a common vernacular, common language for the Hindus to refer in English to the Deity as Idol. We commented earlier how this is all trick of the translators who originally were in the British Raj, they were translating all the Hindu śāstra using these types of words which would eventually undermine one's faith in the veracity of the Vedas by saying Deities are Idols, saying that Puranas are myths. These are not, these are all.

 

Vigrahas, in sanskrit, the word is arca avatar. Incarnation of the Lord in a Deity form, in a worship able form. Worship able Deity, Prabhupad translated.

 

Similarly, the Puranas or Itihasam, the history, they are considered the pancham veda, the fifth veda.

 

You can imagine if you had called the Bible or the Quran or any other such similar book a or legend, there would be riots, there would be fut wars and everything being caused. When the Hindus themselves because of innocence and the naive what this verse means, they often use it very casually.

 

So, in places where the Hindu are in minority and people know what the words mean, then they turn around and say, look you all people are saying idol worship, so you are sinners. He didn't respond and they are converting like that. So, this is we have to reanalyze the vocabulary and in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness we are very careful to use the proper words that give the real meaning that we want to communicate.

 

So, we should understand this Ajāmila is fact. It happened. Long ago. But it really happened. And this is a true history, that’s why all these great acharyas.

 

That’s why Vyasa Deva wrote it, that’s why Sukadev Goswami spoke it, that’s why Sūta Goswami spoke it, that’s why the sages in Naimiṣāraṇya hearing it and that’s why all these ācāryas are studying it and giving their commentary. They are taking it that this is a factual history and they are trying to understand why did a sinner like Ajāmila get liberated when he was only chanting his son's name who happened to be called as Narayana. Then he analyzed, well it is because somehow or the other by chanting the name of Narayana, knowingly or unknowingly he got purified. Even though he was calling the name of his son, but nonetheless he was thinking about the name of Narayan. And like this, somehow or the other by remembering Narayana, he got purified.

Smaraṇa samartam citam bhaktyā smaran

 

devotional consciousness, by going on chanting the holy names of the Lord.

 

So, this is very important story to understand the potency of the holy name.

 

You go on practicing chanting chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa every time, and then when time of leaving this body comes, it will be natural to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

 

Nectar of devotion says that if someone suddenly gets or if they hit themselves like they kick in their foot or hurt their toe or something, if they just chant the name of Viṣṇu, they chant the name of the Lord, that alone is enough to deliver them back to the spiritual world. Such things have happened in history.

 

So, you can test yourself if someone suddenly like that hits their toe or something, then they chant Oh Kṛṣṇa or they chant aaaaaa, ooooooo or someother you know oooo, things we don't mention even.

 

Finally, you fail the test you see, the little mini tests. It was a chance to remember Kṛṣṇa, what if death comes like that? Would you remember Kṛṣṇa? The people, they should be practicing in every spare moment, while they are cooking, they can go on chanting

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

 

I was talking to one student, I said why don't you chant some more rounds?

 

No, I have no time, I have to spend one hour riding in the bus to school, one hour coming back, then I have to study.

 

So, when you are riding in the bus, why don't you chant. What will the people think? Why do you care what the people think? You go on chanting. Let them think what they want. We use the time. Otherwise standing there wasting the time. I didn’t think about that.

 

So, like that, there is so much time in the day we could be chanting, morning walks, anytime we are travelling and we can spare some specific time for good chanting in the morning, rising early and chanting to get quality chanting. So somehow or the other we should just use up every possible time we can for chanting and hearing.

 

If I don't have time to read, I can listen to the tape of the Guru. You can listen to my tapes of my lectures; tapes are there so people can hear. Even while they are working, they can go on listening to the message, Isn’t it?

 

So, the point was that death is the final exam. So, Narayana anta smriti, we can remember Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. Then you automatically pass, you go back to Kṛṣṇa. That’s a, we have to be ready anytime. Before, previous yugas, you could expect to die by old age. Nowadays, there is no guarantee. There is, even with Rāma , you know when Kṛṣṇa  where Brāhmaṇa  came and complained to Kṛṣṇa  how is it my son died.

 

Similarly, it also happens, in Padma Purana, it mentions how one Brāhmaṇa came and said what is this that my son died before I did. That means what kind of king are you. You are a useless king because your government is so disorganized that the son can die before the father. In other words, the kings were so much in harmony with God and Nature that nothing would happen in the kingdom out of the ordinary which we cannot imagine today.

 

So, this shows what our government, what position. And Rāma He was very upset. How could this be? I had to find out the cause so then He was advised that you go on tour your whole kingdom and you find out that someone is doing irreligious principles in the name of religion and it is causing all these problems.

 

So then, He went, looked east west and finally He went on one side. There He found that there was a with big hair and beard hanging from his feet from a tree, over some lake. And he is doing you know big austerity. Then He said, what are you doing my dear sir, I am going to go to swarga by force. I’m doing austerity that I go to swarga.

 

Who are you?

 

I'm such and such person and so you are Brāhmaṇa ? what are you doing actually?

 

So, he said, I am a śūdra and this is my purpose. I am going to enter into heaven by force. I’m just hanging here until they are bound to take me.

 

So then immediately Lord Rāma went and chopped his head off. People could still misunderstand that He did it because he was a śūdra. That's not the real purpose, that is an incidental. Just because he was a śūdra he had a tendency to speculate and not do according to śāstra.

 

Where is it mentioned in any śāstra that you hang on your feet from a tree until you can be taken to swarga?

 

There are so many ways if you want to go to swarga, you come and do meditation, you can do Deity worship, you can do pious activity but hanging from the, you know, he is doing so much tapasya, but what’s happening, he was like, people were dying. Was creating a whole disruption in the karma of the kingdom.

 

Here somebody is doing tapasya which was irreligious. this is speculative. As soon as this happened, then brought that child there was and the child regained his life.

 

Agastya Muni and others helped and Lord Rāma to bring back the life of the dead child. That's what they say. So, when he brought the dead child, he said keep the child in oil. Keep the body preserved. We are going to find out the cause and when the cause is cured, then we would bring back the child to life. So, they actually kept the body in oil so it won't decay and after the cause was found out, somehow this guy was doing these things, it was causing Brāhmaṇa s to pass out. Like that there are so many subtle causes for death and for disease.

 

Says in the court, in the name of God when people vow, I speak the truth and nothing but the truth. I solemnly swear on this holy śāstra and so on. When they take such vow and they go on lying. I didn't do anything. And they did it, right. And the Judge, he gets on people, lawyers are lying and may be even the judge sometime is lying. So, if all these things are going on, then the atmosphere becomes polluted and that creates plague to come down, plague and diseases in the society. So, all kinds of subtle causes for problems. But we shouldn't do anything speculative. We don't know when we are going to die. 

We cannot go to the prime minister and tell him, look my son died, you bring him back to life. Nobody will can do that, maybe he will give you 5000 Rupees from the prime minister's fund. Baksheesh for your dead son. If it was due to some natural cause or something. Otherwise, no. So, nobody can get that I am going to live to a 108.

 

Everyday people are riding their two wheelers, riding their three wheelers, riding their four wheelers, and they are meeting their end They are getting run over also.

 

So, we have to watch where we are going. We have to be very careful. We have to know that anytime we could leave this body. Therefore, we should be prepared. Nārāyaṇa anta smrthi.

 

To remember Lord Kṛṣṇa at all times.

 

So those people who say later, when I get old, they are foolish. What do you mean old? How long you are going to live?

 

How many thinks that I will get old and die? What is the guarantee?

 

At the age of, women are getting breast cancer, men are getting over 40, prostate cancer. So many causes of death, you don’t have to wait till you get old. You can die anytime.

 

People are smoking and dying, left and right. Your neighbor is smoking. You are breathing the smoke, you are getting cancer and dying.

 

The real thing that I will chant later, this right out you tell him, you are a fool. What do you mean later?

 

What is the guarantee that you are going to live till you are old?

 

You think this is satyayuga?

 

Everybody lives till they are old?

 

There is no such guarantee. Doesn't take time. All of a sudden, the doctor tells you have got 6 months. Finished. If you are lucky, you are getting a warning.

 

So, we hope everyone would take advantage, take the lesson from Ajāmila that how the holy name is so powerful.

 

Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and you can be perfect. You can achieve all the perfection. Look at Ajāmila was rascal number 1. Even by chanting Narayana, he got delivered. You can lesser rascal than Ajāmila and you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa nicely, then naturally your success will be assured.

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa.

 

Thank you.

 

We have the Deities, Kṛṣṇa Balaram, Nitāi Gaura, Prabhupad give all the strength to everyone to serve them.

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

 

Any questions?

 

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami:

Not really contradictory. If one is gradually being awakened, then it is not Rāma eva hi kevalam.

 

Sometimes, people sticking to a process which is not really a dharma. In the name of dharma, it may be a dharma, but a sub religious principle.

 

Just like being honest. It is a sub religious principle. It is a part, it’s not a dharma in itself. Just if you are honest that is a religion. But it is a quality of religion to be honest. But religion means your relationship with God.

 

Dharma means development of your relationship with Kṛṣṇa. If you have just a series of sub religious principles and have no understanding and no consciousness and no relationship, and knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then by doing all those things you simply are going to be in karmas.

 

You are not actually progressing out of the material world. We have to have some connection with the absolute truth, with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the point.

 

Sometime people stick to some idea which might appear to have some relation with Dharma, but it might only be a sub religious principle or it may be that one is already graduate. Just like if someone goes in first grade, but they never graduate. Every year, they go back in first grade, first grade, first grade, first grade, they never go to second grade. They just stick to the same thing. It’s not, some principles are there to purify us, we go to the next grade. I never leave my first grade. I love my first grade. Until I am 100 years old but I will be in the first grade, primary school.

 

Does this make sense?

 

What is the use of going again and again and again the first grade?

 

Once the first grade finishes, you learn you’re a aa,ee ee or you learn your ABCs and go on to the second grade. So, some religious principle are there to train us and bring us up the next level. But if the person never goes on to the next level, then after a time you can say that he is wasting his time. Or, he is just putting an effort but the car is not going ahead. It’s like someone is running the wheels but the brake is on because it is not moving. You take off the brake. Go ahead. You can say ok there is some benefit, He is not going back. At least he is staying in the same place.

 

What does he say?

 

Doesn't say he is falling. It is said that you are putting energy but you are not getting the fruit. You are not getting the fruit from that because you are not going ahead. So, what is the progress, how we can measure our progress, how much we are developing our consciousness of God.

 

How much are we developing our consciousness of Bhagavan?

 

Our attraction to hear about Bhagavan. It is a personal test. Since as you say, everything is meant to bring us to that end. And every practice we are doing is to gradually purify us and make us more attracted to serving and hearing about the glories of Kṛṣṇa.

 

So, we can judge in our own personal consciousness, am I more attracted to serving Kṛṣṇa? Then I am making progress. Am I more attracted to simply, more attracted to the sports, more attracted to cinemas and more attracted to this and that, then we know that we are still very neophyte? I have to get more association and build up my attraction to Kṛṣṇa. This is not really a contradiction. We have to see it from the right perspective. If we do even a beginning activity, you get a inspiration, you go the next activity, next, so you are making progress. This is when someone gets stuck up and they are not increasing in there, then you should know something is wrong.

 

Somehow you get in the mud and the wheels spin in the car and they don't go forward. For some reason they got stuck up. So, the energy is being spent but they are not making progress from that point. So, it is actually a very progressive statement that we should analyze our own progress and see that we are making progress. That could apply to people at different levels.

 

Someone may be in a very neophyte or may be even little more advanced. We can get stuck up at any level. So, we want to keep on progressing and if we are not progressing at some point we just get stuck at the same level, then we should be consulting with Guru and Shastra and we see what is the problem.

 

Even Vyasadev asked his Guru Nārada Muni, why I am not feeling satisfied. Because if we are progressing spiritually, we should be satisfied.  You should feel some inner satisfaction.

 

So Vyasadev wasn't feeling satisfied and that is going to be described later on in the later chapters. There was also inspiration for VyasaDev to write the Bhagavat Shastra, Bhagavat Purana. Because after writing all the Vedas, he wasn't feeling happy in his heart. Until he wrote Bhagavat, then he felt peace of mind.

 

Devotee:  A devotee should meditate on which form of the Lord and while worshipping the Lord what should be the mood of the devotee? Is it the mood of Vaikuntha in all reverence or in the loving mood? Who is going to reciprocate? Rādhā Kṛṣṇa  or Laxmī Narayan? With worship or without?

 

Of course, Lord Caitanya recommended that we should all worship Kṛṣṇa. But if somebody is very much attached to another form of Viṣṇu, other than Kṛṣṇa, like Ram or Narasimha, some other form, then in some case, He will make an exception when He saw that they are sincerely attached to that form.

 

But otherwise, if one does not have that kind of very strong fixation on a particular form, and they are open to more or less any form of Viṣṇu, then worship Kṛṣṇa because that is the original form.

 

But when we worship Kṛṣṇa from this conditional state, we cannot imitate being one of his brajavasi or cowherd friends or anything. We cannot just immediately come and want to put an arm around the Deity and go out with the cows because that would be all artificial.

 

So initially we approach the Lord. Although we worship Kṛṣṇa, we approach Him in awe and reverence. We approach Him in the mood of service as a servitor in the mood of dāsya.

 

But we hear about Kṛṣṇa 's pastimes and we hear about His majestic aspects, His avatars all the cantos of the Bhagavat tell about different incarnations, we hear about all the incarnations that have been scheduled. And we also hear about Kṛṣṇa 's own intimate pastimes, own revealed pastimes and in this way, then gradually we get attracted to the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. But we know that what Kṛṣṇa is doing is not some mundane activity. Because Kṛṣṇa 's pastime are very much human like.

 

So, we don't know Kṛṣṇa 's position as the supreme Viṣṇu. Anantadeva, Ananta Viṣṇu. We don't know that He is the supreme Viṣṇu. Then sometime we could get confused just if we hear about Kṛṣṇa 's pastimes and think that what He is doing is a like a human being. You won't understand the inner significance of it.

 

So therefore, first it is recommended that we know all about the Viṣṇu Tattva, the basic essential factors and then when we understand how Kṛṣṇa is the supreme Viṣṇu, we can understand that although He is doing this activity, He is stealing butter from the monkeys, it is not that He is a thief. He is the proprietor of everything.

What He can steal?

But somehow monkeys have come and they are great rishis and sages who have come in the form of monkeys and He is playing and giving them the nectar, food from His own hands. Or from His mother's point of view, Oh He is my little child and He is stealing the butter. What butter will be left for me to feed Him. She also simply concerned out of love.

So, she is chasing after Kṛṣṇa, would you stop stealing the butter? And Kṛṣṇa is running away and playing and all these things.

 

So, these are very great people are pandits, sometime they can figure out how God is running around, stealing butter. But for the devotees, once they understand Kṛṣṇa 's position, naturally even they feel attracted by all these activities. Because it shows how the Lord can also come down to a very personal, loving relationship with His devotees. He leaves all of His majestic side and He just becomes intimately connected with all His devotees and loving relationships and that has got very beautiful attractive features. More beautiful than features of Narayan.

 

But if we make the mistake and think that Kṛṣṇa is a ordinary human, then we would be big aparadhi and offender and we would fall down from our position. So not get that confusion and not misunderstand Kṛṣṇa 's position.

 

Therefore, we have to worship in a awe and reverence and until we are formally follow in this planet. In that way, we are worshipping in a sense like we would worship Lakshmi and Narayan although we are worshipping the form of Kṛṣṇa and Balaram.

 

So that we also remember Kṛṣṇa and Balarām’s pastimes, we do Govardhan pūjā, we do Janmāṣṭamī, we do many jhulan yatra, we do so many different pastimes, so in this way devotees gradually get attracted to this loving form of the Lord.

 

So, this is the prescribed procedure. So, when one gets very advanced and in their devotional service, they naturally become attracted to serving Kṛṣṇa in a particular mood and that time they serve Kṛṣṇa by following some resident of Vṛndāvan. That's called rāgānugā. But we don't artificially imitate that. We first start off at sadhana bhakti and then gradually these things are developed by the mercy of Guru and Kṛṣṇa.

 

There are 5 rasas. 4 of them are active and one is passive. The Guru, we worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the Guru. We cannot directly approach Kṛṣṇa. We have to go through the Guru. Since we are to worship the Lord first in the mood of dāsya, then as we are developed, some people remain in dāsya, it is not like a material thing that one is better than the other in some mundane sense. There are different devotees who have got different relationships with the Lord.

 

Some one's relationship may be dāsya, may be sakhya, may be vātsalya, may be in servitude through friendship, parental or conjugal. We have to do our devotional service in this material world in any case in the mood of dāsya until such time we are awakened to any other rasa if we happen to have any other rasa.

 

So, the Guru is the one who controls and guides and acts as the transparent via media for giving all this understanding. He introduces us in the spiritual world to Kṛṣṇa and to the associates that we have to assist.

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa. Thank you.