20150111 A Class on How to do Devotional Service

Gurumahārājā:

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

paramānanda-mādhavam

Śrī Caitanya Iswaram

Hari Oṁ Tat Sat.

So, we are having our Sunday feast lecture. I just wanted to mention one thing on the Bhakti Vriksha program. I heard a secret from Prema Padminī and Vijaya Veṇu Gopal and Varada Kṛṣṇa. They have a new Bhakti Vrksha format. The same thing,  but faster. They call it 4G – give, give and give and Gaurāṅga, but since it is a secret anymore, you have to enquire yourselves, but because you want to make 5000’s Bhakti Vksha’s you may need this 4G method. The beauty of the Bhakti Vksha is that there is just one meeting a week, and then another meeting for some organisation. Some husbands and wives are worried, “Oh no! I will never see my husband; I will never see my wife in the house.” You don’t have to worry about it. They can keep plenty of time for the house. That depends how close you live to the temple and if you want to attend the temple.

The Acharya’s have sung, Grihe thāko, bāṇe thāko, sadā hari bole ḍāko. You see in South India there are a lot of temples of Nārāyaṇa, and in Kanchipuram there is a Deity of Vaikunthanath. So, the Deity of Vaikunthanath, Nārāyaṇa, he doesn’t descend to the material world, He always stays in the Vaikuṇṭha. To descend in the material world he has his Viṣṇu Avatar – Mahavisnu, Garbodakshayi Viṣṇu and Ksirodakshayi Viṣṇu. Anantadev. Some are avatars and some are in the spiritual world. 

In the spiritual world Nārāyaṇa has four arms, but Krishna and Ram, they are special. They are both in the spiritual world, and they also descend to this material world as Avatars. So, Kṛṣṇa was here in Dwapara yuga and Ram was here in Tretā Yuga, and Kṛṣṇa came as a devotee in Kaliyuga as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. 

So, in this material world, it is called an illusion, because it is temporary, but the material world is real, but it is temporary. So, most people are fully conscious of their bodies, and they want bodily pleasures. So, sometimes the same body gives us suffering. So, although we have a body which has senses and can enjoy; the same senses can cause us to suffer. Now it is winter in Chennai. Very pleasant; it is winter also in Delhi, freezing cold, fog in the air. It gets to near eight degrees in the day and one or two or zero in the night. So, the same senses which we enjoy here will freeze in Delhi. So, we want to have the happiness which is not dependent on the senses, and that is possible by Bhakti Yoga. While we are in the material world we are going to enjoy through the senses, and sometimes we will suffer, but side by side we should cultivating our spiritual form. We hear how, “We are not this body.” But most people, they don’t think at all in this way. That’s why reading the Bhagavad-gītā is so important.

There are nine practices of Bhakti Yoga – śravaṇaṁ, kīrtanaṁ, smaraṇaṁ, pada sevanaṁ, vandanaṁ, dāsyaṁ, shakyam, ātmā nivedanam; hearing, chanting, remembering and offering service. Offering prayers, being a servant, being a friend and offering everything. So, how many accept I left one out just to test you. I only mentioned eight. 

Archanam... worshipping the Deities. The Deities are also Avatars; and Archa avatars - new, medium or old, we can have a relationship with them. Like Śrī Raṅganātha. They are very, very old. They came from the Ksirodakshyi ocean, they were worshipped by Lord Brahmā, even Vivaswan, the sun God, and like this they came down to Lord Ram. Bibhishana was going to take them to Sri Lanka, but they ended up staying in Śrīraṅgam with the help of Lord Ganesha. So, there are ancient Dieties – Raṅganātha, Jagannātha Puruṣottama, medium old Deities like Laxmi-Narasimha Deities in Vijayavada, only five thousand years old, or like our Deities here, they are three years old.

All the Deities which are installed by Prāṇa Pratiṣṭhā and mantras in the correct way, they are there to give Their blessings for you, but if someone offends pure devotees, then those Deities will accept their offerings. So, most devotees are very careful not to offend any Vaiṣṇavas.

Paramātmā is present in everyone’s heart. So, the Vaisanava sees that and offers his respect to all living entities. Someone who worships the Deities and does some service, but disrespects the Vaiṣṇavas and the general people, they are known as Prakrita Bhaktas or neophytes because they respect the Deities but they disrespect the devotees. So, we should be very careful not to disrespect anyone. Then we can easily reach the Vaikuṇṭhaloka.

If we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra; this chanting includes all the other practices. So, that’s why this chanting and hearing are so highly recommended. Also Kṛṣṇa is present in his holy names, and one of the rare services that one can even offer in the presence of Krishna; like you won’t offer prayers to Kṛṣṇa if He is there, but the Gopī’s would chant Hare Kṛṣṇa even when Kṛṣṇa was present. Also when we do Deity worship they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and other mantras. 

So, this chanting awakens our dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa, He gives very easily bhukti and mukti because that doesn’t entangle him at all, but if He gives prema bhakti, then He has to sometimes put Himself under the care of His devotee, like mother Yaśodā in the month of Dāmodara tied His belly up with a rope. So, liberation in the light – take it, but Prema Bhakti, He gives seldom. However, Lord Caitanya, He gives out this Prema Bhakti very liberally. He is Kṛṣṇa in the mood of Rādhārāṇī. Rādhārāṇī is very merciful. She is Madana-Mohana-Mohinī. Kṛṣṇa can even attract Cupid by His beauty, but Rādhārāṇī, she can attract Kṛṣṇa. Therefore she is known as Madana-Mohana-Mohinī. So, if Krishna wants to experiment what love His devotee feels for Him, He comes as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When He was about nine years old, His father thought that it was about time to give Him the Upanayam. This is the sacred thread giving ceremony. So, He picked out an auspicious date. I don’t know if it was Poṅgal day or what day. Maybe you know. So, He invited His neighbours, relatives, everyone over. 

So, Jagannātha Mishra, he was going to have a big festival for Lord Caitanya’s Upanayanam. So, on that day he shaved up Lord Caitanya. “Where is that hair? I want the hair.” They took him down to the Ganges to bathe. They gave Him a saffron clothe to wear and a stick, and a begging bag. So, Lord Caitanya, He bent over and picked up His stick. Then He remembered that in this līlā he would become a sanyasi. He would deliver the fallen souls and give them pure Kṛṣṇa bhakti. When He bent over and picked up the walking rod, he started to emanate brahmā tez, brahmā effulgence. The sin personified was watching. But when he saw Lord Caitanya, he got frightened and he ran away. Does the personified sin run away when he sees you? But when he saw Lord Caitanya he ran. Lord Caitanya felt so much mercy building up. He started roaring... roaring, and all the elder Brahmans they watched and they said, “Very good, very good.” And then His father told Him the mantra in His ear, and he gave him the brahman thread with three strands. Then Lord Caitanya went to the neighbour’s houses. He showed His begging bag, “Viksham dehi”, and the ladies from the houses, they were smiling, and they gave him rice, potatoes and things. So, this way Lord Caitanya was showing His Vāmana līlā again. So, in Kaliyuga it is prohibited to be a Karma Sanyasi. Some people can take Vaiṣṇava Sanyas, but it means always staying in service, but most people get married. You can see how the grihasthas, they have so much opportunity to serve the Lord. 

Lord Caitanya came to see His brother for six years. He visited Chennai, Tirupati and various places. Each night He would stay with a different grihastha. The husband will receive Him and wife would pour water. The wife would pour water on His feet, and the husband would clean His feet and massage. He would come in and wife would cook Him prasādam, and the husband would serve the Prasād. Then the grihastha families and the neighbours, they would sit down and hear lecture from him. Bhagavad Puran tells how Kṛṣṇa did this in some places. So, like this Lord Caitanya was giving out His mercy to thousands of grihastha’s. How many of you would like Lord Caitanya to visit your house? 

I am told that the Deities would close. So, I will go and take darshan now. So, please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa 

Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Ram Hare Ram

Ram Ram Hare Hare (everyone)

Worship the Deities and listen to the classes.