20170829 English/Bengali Rādhāṣṭamī Class

20170829 His. Holiness. Jayapatākā Swāmi gave an English Bengali Rādhāṣṭamī class in Māyāpur.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

paramānanda-mādhavam

Śrī Caitanya Iswaram 

Hari Oṁ Tat Sat.

Gurumahārāja: 

I will speak in English as it is easier for them to repeat what I say. 

Today is the auspicious day of Radhasthami and the sages asked, “What is the māhātmya of this day?” There are many things mentioned. This will take the whole class. And then even that will not be the end of it. Like by observing Radhaasthami all your so many births of sins are eradicated, something like a hundred thousand ekādaśī’s or more than that, more, more, more.  [ Haribol ] And if you observe Radhaasthami there are unlimited benefits. You get all the benefits of bathing in the holy rivers.  If you give thousand times more than mount Meru of gold in charity, that is nothing compared to what you get by observing Radha-ashami.

So Kṛṣṇa, He is the all-attractive. He is more beautiful than thousands of cupids, but He is attracted by the beauty of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. His fragrance attracts the mind of everybody, but He is attracted by the fragrance of Rādhārāṇī. Everybody wants to love Kṛṣṇa, but He is trying to love Rādhārāṇī. 

Kṛṣṇa alone how many līlā’s can He do? So, He expanded Himself into two, so that Kṛṣṇa and His hlādinī shakti, Rādhārāṇī. So, everybody has some awe and reverence for Kṛṣṇa, but in Vraja devotees love Kṛṣṇa, but they don’t feel awe and reverence. We cannot imitate them, but that is the speciality of Vraja. So that Kṛṣṇa’s friends, Kṛṣṇa’s parents, Kṛṣṇa’s consorts, they love Kṛṣṇa, but they don’t feel awe and reverence. So, that gives Kṛṣṇa special pleasure. That actually captures Kṛṣṇa’s mind. Amongst all the devotees, those on the conjugal love of Kṛṣṇa are considered more complete. 

So, Rādhārāṇī - the gopī’s are her expansions. The queens of Dwaraka are her reflections, and Laxmī’s are her partial portions. She is the spiritual pleasure potency of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Just as Kṛṣṇa is source of all the incarnations and expansions, Rādhārāṇī is the source of all the energies. So, Krishna is existing in countless universes, and Rādhārāṇī is present in each universe with Him. So She is Shakti Tattva and we are jīva tattva, very small. So we have some eternal rasa with Kṛṣṇa, and that is revealed to us in our spiritual practice. 

First we try to render some service, and gradually by hearing the different pastimes of the Lord we may get attracted. So Kṛṣṇa grabs us by the chin and how he raise’s our head will dictate whether we are - sakhya, vātsalya or madhuryā. If He pulls us up to His waist, we are in Sakhya rasa, if He pulls to the chest we are Vātsalya rasa, He pulls to the face then we are in Mādhurya rasa. Servers are in all the rasas. 

Like Rādhārāṇī, she was churning some butter, and then She started to chant the glories of Kṛṣṇa. Then She thought, “What if my mother-in-law or others hear me?” So, She felt guilty because of Her love for Kṛṣṇa. So, the service she was doing was churning butter. They were two brothers, Viswabhānu and Chandrabhānu. Viswabhānu, he went to bathe in the Yamunā. There was a golden light and that was emanating for a golden baby, and the baby was floating on a lily petal. Baby girl –very beautiful. So, then he took the baby girl and presented her to the queens. So, she was very happy to have such a beautiful baby girl, but her eyes were closed. It seemed that She was blind. So, Nārada Muni, he visited Vraja and he saw Lord Kṛṣṇa. He was very happy. He told Yaśodā that, “You should raise your child with all love and affection.” That will be your worship. But he knew that wherever the Lord appeared, his energy would also be appearing. So, he went to different houses and asked if they had any new born babies, saying that he wanted to bless them. 

So, when he went to Vṛṣabhānu’s house, and at first they didn’t show Rādhārāṇī because they thought that She was blind. 

Nārada Muni asked, “You don’t have any baby girl.”

“We have one but She is blind.”

He said, “Bring her out.” 

They went out and put baby Rādhā in the hands of Nārada Muni. As soon Nārada Muni touched the baby, he was overwhelmed with ecstasy. He couldn’t speak. There were quivering in his body. Tears poured from his eyes. Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja, he was astonished what was wrong with Nārada Muni. After some time Nārada Muni gave the baby back. “You are very fortunate.” And he gave the same instruction that he gave to Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja. Then Nārada Muni, he went out into the forest of Vraja and he prayed that he would see Rādhārāṇī as a Kishori. Rādhārāṇī and some of the sakhi’s appeared to Nārada Muni, and to have the darshan of Rādhārāṇī took some sages some kalpas of austerities. 

Like this Narada Muni has a special darshan of Rādhārāṇī. 

So when Yaśodā heard that her best friend had a baby girl, she wanted to go and see her. The put baby Kṛṣṇa in the same cradle and Kṛṣṇa crawled over and looked at Rādhārāṇī. When His face was over Rādhārāṇī’s face, Rādhārāṇī opened her eyes. The first thing that She wanted to see was Kṛṣṇa. So, there are so many pastimes, and many have all been written by Bhaktipurosattam Mahārāja, because She has unlimited pastimes, but many people think that Rādhārāṇī is a mundane girl. 

Recently some guru in Chandigarh was sentenced for raping two women. He said that he was God. He said, Kṛṣṇa, He has so many gopī’s, then what wrong if he does it? So, these people commit so many offences to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are completely transcendental. So these demons who are claiming to be God and raping woman; this is situation in Kali Yuga. So, people misunderstand what Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa is. 

So Lord Caitanya, He came down to properly explain the position of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. It is Kṛṣṇa who took the mood of Rādhārāṇī, and in the Caitanya Caritamrita there is description of Rādhārāṇī how she is the source of all the shakti’s that gives pleasure. So, what happens in the material world is a perverted reflection. We should understand Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī as the supreme energy. She is very merciful. Prabhupāda said that we should try to please Radharani. If Rādhārāṇī says, “This is a nice devotee.” Kṛṣṇa will not refuse. [Haribol] 

So the spiritual master is considered the representative of Lord Nityānanda and Rādhārāṇī.  [Haribol] 

So today is the sacred day of Radhastahami. I heard announcement that you are offering her gifts. I was thinking what I can give. Then I thought I should give my life. [Haribol] That’s not very useful. So, I should try to give something else to. We are gostanandis. We want to see the number of devotees increase, and like the children they don’t like the corolla, the spinach, the like sweet right away. So, Lord Caitanya is giving us the sweet of devotional service. Then subsequently to keep the sweetness we learn rules and regulations. 

Are there any questions? 

Question: Once you asked to Prabhupāda about Rādhārāṇī. What did Prabhupāda reply to you?

Gurumaharaja: I was a bhakti in Montreol. I have been in the movement maybe two months. I asked a question about Rādhārāṇī. Prabhupāda chastised me. Who are you to ask about Rādhārāṇī. So, She is an esoteric subject. Usually the pastimes are read out very selectively. Because if people misunderstand Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa like the guru in Chandigarh, then they will suffer.  

Question: You have said that we should please Rādhārāṇī, but we have no clear idea we can please Rādhārāṇī. Please guide us.

Gurumaharaja: I knew somebody would ask that. Radha- Mādhava are very supportive of the guru paramparā. If you can please Śrīla Prabhupāda and follow the instructions of our guru, the naturally Rādhārāṇī will be pleased. [Haribol]  We don’t have to speculate. 

Now Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākura told about 13 apasampradāya’s. One of them is Sakhī-bhekī. How some men dress up like woman to please Rādhārāṇī to imitate the gopī’s of Vraja, but this is not accepted by the Achāryās. They are considered an Apasampradāya. They are called the Sakhī-bhekī. So, Āula, Bāula, Kartā, Bhoja... there are thirteen Apasampradāya’s. So, we should follow the bonafide acharya’s, not speculate. 

Hare Kṛṣṇa. Thank you.