Learn to Love Lord
'We must think, "I do not know anything. Gurudev, I am only following your
order and serving you out of love for you. I do not know how much love I can
have, but I am serving you because I love you. What will become of me, what I
will get – I do not care about it."'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Service to
Gurudev's Mission
"Gurudev told his opinion, told to follow his instruction, and if you do not
follow it, then whatever glorification you make it will not give any relief
to Gurudev. If you want to help Gurudev's mission, then you must follow his
instruction."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 5 min | 13 October 2018)
(5)
A Labor of Love
'You are at present in an adulterated conception of your own life. The mind,
intelligence and exploiting energies of different kinds are all adulteration.
So, all kinds of adulteration will be eliminated from your existence. When
your existence is purified, your real self within will come out in its
pristine glory, and you will find that you have a happy devotional connection
with the Supersoul.'
Fri, 2 August 2024
From Hell to
Heaven and Back
'Sadhus do not want even heaven because they know that both heaven and
hell are within the fourteen worlds of this material universe. When you
accumulate a lot of piety, you go to heaven and stay there for as long as
your piety lasts. Once that piety is finished, you will have to come down
here again.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Choose Your
Association Wisely
"We should be careful with our association—we must always reject bad
association because it can remove us from the spiritual service. We must see
who gives a good instruction, who follows Gurudev's instruction and gives
Gurudev's conception properly."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.9 Mb, 11 min | 13 October 2018)
(6)
Homeward Bound
'It is easy, and it is also difficult. It is easy because it is our inborn
tendency, it is our home, and we will not find satisfaction anywhere else, so
we must go there and there is hope that we may reach there one day. But the
difficulty is that we are far away from that home comfort now, we have lost
that land.'
Sat, 3 August 2024
Sadhus'
Clothes and Sadhus' Hearts
'We are neither enjoyers nor renunciates. Looking at my clothes, you may
think, "Oh, Maharaj is a renounced person." But I am not a renunciate. Those
who live a renounced life are false renunciates. Such people externally show
renunciation to impress others, but internally, they have subtle material
desires.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Proper
Adjustment
"We cannot understand properly what is necessary for our spiritual life
because we are always attacked by the illusory environment—we work under
Maya, and Maya always tries to remove us from our service: we always think
about kanak, kamini, pratistha."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | 14 October 2018)
(7)
The Land of Beauty
'It is easy, and it is also difficult. It is easy because it is our inborn
tendency, it is our home, and we will not find satisfaction anywhere else, so
we must go there and there is hope that we may reach there one day. But the
difficulty is that we are far away from that home comfort now, we have lost
that land.'
Epilogue: The Key to it All
'It is not fixed where you will be carried after death by the current of your
previous karma; therefore, try make best use of whatever time is
available to you before your death. You have freewill, so the days before
your death are, to some degree, in your hand to use: use this time with the
utmost care for God realization. There is nothing as important for all of us
as this.'
Sun, 4 August 2024 (Divine Disappearance Day of Srila B.R.
Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)
Genuine Gurus'
Mission
'We can attain such great things (we can come to the holy feet of Govinda!),
but we are not trying to attain anything because cannot give up small things.
Please think about all these things carefully, then you will understand what
we are trying to say.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
Srila Guru Maharaj Remembers "I was born at midnight, Saturday 10th October, 1895. Navami tithiunder
the same sign as Lord Ramchandra. Krishna-paksa [dark moon fortnight]. Sriman
Mahaprabhu was also born on a Saturday. I was the second child. The first was
a daughter, but she died early, so Ram Kavach [a protective mantram and
amulet] was given to my mother for the protection of the next child, that is,
myself. So I was born after my mother took Ram Kavach...."
Giving
Gurudev Place In Your Heart
'It is necessary to make gurudev happy by knowing who he is, by understanding
him and by serving him. We must serve our gurudev trying to please him. One
time, a husband and a wife came to take initiation from Srila
Prabhupad...'
•
Download / listen to the audio (46.6 Mb, 97 min | Bengali | 10 August
2018)
Today in the calendar:
Amavasya. Festival in honour of the disappearance of Om Visnupad
Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya-varya Astottara-sata-sri Sri Srimad Bhakti
Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj.
Make the
Festival, with Heart and Soul
"I am telling to everyone who is staying in the temple, to every centre: you
must make a festival for Srila Sridhar Maharaj. If you want to show that you
want to serve Srila Sridhar Maharaj, then make a good festival on this
day."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | 15 July 2012)
In honour of Om Vishnupad Srila
Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj:
~ Pranam-mantra ~
devam divya-tanum suchhanda-vadanam balarka-chelanchitam
sandrananda-puram sad-eka-varanam vairagya-vidyambudhim
sri-siddhanta-nidhim subhakti-lasitam sarasvatanam varam
vande tam subhadam mad-eka-saranam nyasisvaram sridharam
"I worship Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the
bestower of all auspiciousness, my only shelter and the master of all
renunciates. He is my Lord who possesses a transcendental form, whose face
expression is very grave, who is clad in the holy clothes the colour of the
newly risen sun. He is an abode of intense joy; the only genuine master whom
one can accept and surrender to; and an ocean of divine knowledge and
renunciation. He is a repository of holy scriptural teachings and pastimes of
the highest devotion and a dear follower of Srila Saraswati Thakur
Prabhupad."
What Is Sri
Chaitanya Saraswat Math and Its Distinctions "To explain to this world what Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is, what its
purpose, preaching matter or distinctions are, is an extremely difficult
task, but it is even more difficult to make those who are engrossed in and
inspired by the commonplace ideas appreciate it even partially..."
শ্রীচৈতন্য সারস্বত মঠ কি ও তাঁর বৈশিষ্ট্য
শ্রীচৈতন্য সারস্বত মঠ কি ও তাঁর উদ্দেশ্য, প্রচার্য্য-বিষয় বা বৈশিষ্ট্যের কথা
জগতে বোঝাইতে হইলে যেরূপ সুদুরূহ ব্যাপার, প্রচলিত ভাব-ধারায় বিভাবিত ও
অনুপ্রাণিত বিশ্বের তাহা আংশিকভাবে উপলব্ধি করাইবার চেষ্টাও ততোধিক গুরুতর
কার্য্য । কিন্তু এই মঠের প্রতিষ্ঠাতা আচার্য্য ওঁ বিষ্ণুপাদ শ্রীল ভক্তিরক্ষক
শ্রীধর দেব গোস্বামী মহারাজ ও তাঁর স্থলাভিষিক্ত সেবাইত আচার্য্য ওঁ বিষ্ণুপাদ
শ্রীল ভক্তিসুন্দর গোবিন্দ দেব গোস্বামী মহারাজ ও তাঁর মনোনীত বর্তমান সভাপতি
আচার্য্য ওঁ বিষ্ণুপাদ শ্রীল ভক্তি নির্ম্মল আচার্য্য মহারাজ শ্রীল
ভক্তিসিদ্ধান্ত সরস্বতী ঠাকুরের পথ অনুসরণ করে শ্রীকৃষ্ণচৈতন্য মহাপ্রভুর শিক্ষা
শুদ্ধভাবে আচার-প্রচারের মাধ্যমে ভারতসহ সারা পৃথিবীতে বদ্ধ জীবকে উদ্ধারের জন্য
অক্লান্ত পরিশ্রম করে চলেছেন ।
Do Not Compromise
with Maya
"So many problems came in their time, and they did not back off—they spoke
the truth; but we are ready to compromise our principles—we compromise what
Mahaprabhu teaches us with other things. Srila Sridhar Maharaj saw a big
dream that Mahaprabhu's proper conception would be preached all over the
world by Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and that is happening now. We must not
surrender to maya."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.8 Mb, 11 min | 7 June 2019)
Autobiography of Srila
B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj
Srila Guru Maharaj's extensive recollections of his childhood and youth,
as well as the coming to the lotus feet of his Gurudev and later on
starting Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.
Photo Album: (35 photographs, 3.4 Mb)
A collection of selected photographs of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksak
Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj is now added to the archive of photographs.
Our Literary Heritage
An extensive collection of publications and holy books most mercifully
presented to us by devotees who tirelessly collected, transcribed, and
presented carefully in a book-form the holy transcendental discourses of His
Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj containing
unprecedented and much appreciated and extolled by the entire Vaishnava
universe siddhanta. We invite everyone to come in touch with the
touchstones of these holy books and embrace the supreme nourishment and
fulfilment that any sincere seeker shall find therein.
Exalted,
Esteemed, and Inimitable
"We have no quality or qualification to glorify Srila Bhakti Raksak
Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. He is a super personality. Srila Sridhar Maharaj
conquered, possessed the heart of Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati
Thakur through his service and devotion."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.1 Mb, 10 min | 26 July 2014)
Festival of
Solemn Service
"Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's disappearance festival is
coming soon and all over the world devotees are making some ceremony on this
day. No actual disciple wants to see their Gurudev's disappearance day—it is
about the love and affection, about a good connection between the Guru and
the disciple..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.9 Mb, 9 min | 28 July 2011)
Make the
Festival, with Heart and Soul
"I am telling to everyone who is staying in the temple, to every centre: you
must make a festival for Srila Sridhar Maharaj. If you want to show that you
want to serve Srila Sridhar Maharaj, then make a good festival on this
day."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | 15 July 2012)
The Root of Our
Fortune
"Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj came in this world to rescue us, and he
created our Guru—by his grace we have got shelter of our bona fide
Guru. So, we must worship his lotus feet."
•
Download / listen to the audio (7.6 Mb, 22 min | 22 October 2011)
Relation With
Guru: Watch Out
"Srila Gurudev gave much honour and much respect to everybody, both his
godbrothers and his disciples. However, a disciple should also understand—if
Gurudev gives me respect, it does not mean I will now jump and sit on his
head."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.4 Mb, 6 min | 19 July 2020)
Spoken on the appearance day of Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj
in 2019:
"They Cannot Steal Our
Hearts"
"People in this world want money, things, this, and that, they always search
for material things, but we are not like that. They want to enjoy Krishna's
things, but devotees always enjoy their practice. That is the main
thing."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min | 1 August 2019)
Brief History
"Soon after Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's disappearance
in 1937, Srila Sridhar Maharaj also left Chaitanya Math in Mayapur,
empty-handed, wearing only his clothes. Feeling very sad, he went to
Vrindavan and stayed in Pavan Sarovar..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.2 Mb, 9 min | 1 August 2019)
Pure Rupanuga-Dhara
"Actually, anyone can manage a temple, but who did Srila Prabhupad make his
acharya (successor) from within his heart? Who could preach the pure
conception? Who was the pure Rupanuga-dhara?"
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min | 1 August 2019)
At Ultadanga and
Godavari
"When Srila Sridhar Maharaj joined in 1926, Srila Prabhupad was staying at
Ultadanga. Srila Sridhar Maharaj had passed his Bachelor degree and got
admitted to a law college, when one day he got some message that a great
sadhu was giving lectures at Ultadanga."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.8 Mb, 5 min | 1 August 2019)
Supreme Fortune and
Earnest Prayer
"I am praying to Srila Guru Maharaj and Srila Gurudev, 'Wherever you are, you
can see all the situation. What is your desire? Your desire is not that they
occupy the building, your desire is to preach Sri Rupa-Raghunath katha all
over the world, but how will you fulfil your desire?'"
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.1 Mb, 6 min | 1 August 2019)
Spoken on the appearance day of Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj
in 2020:
Our Great Fortune
"Today is a very auspicious day because tomorrow is the appearance day of our
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math's Founder Acharya—our Param Gurudev, Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj. I am giving my full humble
obeisance at the lotus feet of my beloved Gurudev, and our Param
Gurudev...."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 7 min | 8 November)
Srila Sridhar Maharaj:
Appearance and Early Days
"The name of Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj's father is Upendra Chandra
Bhattacharya. His birthpalce is in Hapaniya. His mother's name was Sri Gauri
Devi. By the will of the Lord, when Srila Sridhar Maharaj appeared, he was
the eldest son. How did his parents get this kind of son? There is some
history behind it."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.8 Mb, 7 min)
Srila Sridhar Maharaj: Powerful
Preaching
"When Srila Sridhar Maharaj left his house and joined Gaudiya Mission, Srila
Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur was very pleased. Even before taking
sannyas, Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj was a great preacher. He was
always very enthusiastic to preach."
•
Download / listen to the audio (4.3 Mb, 11 min)
Suggested kirtans:
Sri Guru Parampara kirtan Arati kirtan Guru-vandana Pancha-tattva-vandana Vaishnava-vandana Srila Prabhupad's kirtan Nityananda-vandana Mahaprabhu-vandana Radha-Krsna-vandana Viraha-giti Closing
This day in 2013 (Bengali):
• Morning Bengali class of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya
Maharaj:
(Download,
13.8 Mb, 40 min)
• Morning kirtans:
(Download, 15.9 Mb, 47 min)
• Noon class of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
(includes a ten-minute archive recording of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda
Dev-Goswami Maharaj's Bengali lecture at the end, which was played during the
class to the assembled audience):
(Download, 11.5 Mb, 34 min)
Some preparations and items that are known to be favourite to His Divine
Grace Srila Sridhar Maharaj include: natural orange juice (with just a little
sugar), cholar dahl (split chickpea dal) or kolai dal (urad dal), alu bhaji
(deep-fried potato chips), sukta, muri, puri/luchi with alu bhaja, aloo dum,
samosa, pineapple chutney (anaraser chutney), puspanna, figs (dumur), chaunsa
mango.
Mon, 5 August 2024
Money Does
Not Buy Devotion
'What is the use spending millions of rupees? You will not come to the Lord
even if you practise for millions of lifetimes. Why? Because there are too
many offences. Paid people cannot chant kirtan, just as paid people
cannot be servitors.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Strongest Faith
"There are different kinds of faith—kamala-sraddha, taranga-sraddha, drdha
sraddha, sudrdha sraddha. Depending on what kind of faith you have, that
kind of devotion will come to you. Not everybody has the same faith for the
Lord, for the Guru."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.4 Mb, 7 min | 14 October 2018)
Inner Fulfillment
The revised electronic version of the book, suitable for all electronic
devices, is now available for download. (Format: ePub. Size: 4.9 Mb)
• HOME COMFORT •
Foreword
'Sincere practitioners are themselves an introduction to the subject of
genuine, joyful, spiritual life, but they are not able to visit everyone
personally. Therefore, we are taking the opportunity afforded by the modern
scientific age to print books to broadcast such wisdom widely.'
Part One
'Please listen attentively to what I shall explain. I shall try to explain
the subject to you in a scientific way, in general, independent of all
religious conceptions. First of all, we are to understand that there are
three planes of life: the plane of mundane enjoyment, the plane of
renunciation, and the plane of dedication.'
Tue, 6 August 2024
Higher and
Highest Devotion
'When you water your devotion, watch out that you do not pour too much
water – do not enter where you have no right to go. Always speak about the
subjects that are suitable for the level (rasa) of the audience in
front of you.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Beneficial
Association
"What is association? What is good association? Sadhus always speak
about Krishna-katha, Bhagavat-katha, about spiritual things. Bad association
means you should not listen so much to gossips, do not listen to others
criticising Vaishnavs."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | 14 October 2018)
Part Two
'Higher things do exist, but the general man in this world has no knowledge
about them. We are indeed experiencers and have some knowledge, but only to a
particular degree and standard. We cannot venture to calculate what is beyond
our reach. But if those who actually have experience of that plane come to us
and give us some information, then we can gain some understanding from their
investigation and their real connection with the subject matter.'
Wed, 7 August 2024
Learn the
Conception
'We must learn this conception. We are not devotees. If we can become
servitors of devotees, that is sufficient for us. Please practise Krishna
consciousness in this way. Please serve the Lord and think about the benefit
of your own soul.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
Храм Шри
Джаганнатхадева
«Господь Джаганнатх — не объект, на который смотрят; Джаганнатх — видящий.
Когда джива оставит эго „смотрящего“ и полностью утвердится в чистом
эго объекта для видения и наслаждения Господа Джаганнатха, тогда она
достигнет настроение служения и сможет обрести даршан Господа Джаганнатха,
смотря на Него глазами божественной любви, исполненной настроения
служения.»
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Sincerity in
Service
"We must understand what is favourable to devotion and accept it, and we must
reject what is unfavourable to devotion. Sincerity, nistha, means when
you do something, you must do it properly and do it regularly."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.2 Mb, 9 min | 14 October 2018)
Part Three
'So if you want to get out of this dreaming life and enter reality, then
raise yourself to the standard of finding the plane of reality, however
subtle it may be, for that cannot be devoured by death. Collect your energy
to build up something permanent. At present you are investing your energy in
something that is going to be demolished at the next moment—a foolish
attempt.'
Thu, 8 August 2024
Start
Practising Sincerely
'We must preach in this world what we have got from our guru. How can
you help others? If you share what you have got from your guru with
others, you will be doing great help to them. First you must serve the Lord
Krishna yourself...'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Association: Root of
(Mis?)fortune
"First we must understand what is good association, what is bad association.
When somebody is talking to you, what kind of talk are they doing? Is it
actually beneficial to your spiritual life or harmful? Those who are always
covered by the illusory environment cannot understand their Guru, their
Gurudev's mercy."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.8 Mb, 8 min | 15 October 2018)
Part Four
'You can discuss the entire position in the company of saints and, in this
way, make progress in your life and save yourself. But if, having received a
human birth, you lose this chance (you do not try to help yourself properly,
do not try to attain a wholesale relief), then you are committing suicide or
even worse than that.'
Today in the calendar:
Gaura Chaturthi. Disappearance of Srila Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj.
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj: "Even if you do
not know anything about the Vaishnav mentioned in the calendar, you must
still give them 'jay' on this day."
In honour of Srila Vamsi Das
Babaji Maharaj:
"In 1914, when Srila Prabhupad arrived a few days before the festival of
Sriman Mahaprabhu's appearance, he met with Srila Vamsidas Babaji Mahasaya,
an affectionate associate of Srila Gaurakishor Das Goswami Maharaj, in the
yard of a large gymnasium in Kuliya. At that time, Srila Vamsidas did not
speak to anyone—he would only constantly sing on his own the verses from
‘Prarthana’ written by Srila Narottam Thakur Mayasaya for his holy Lordships
Sri Sri Gaura Nityananda, whom he served with pure loving devotion. Seeing
Prabhupad, Srila Vamsidas Babaji Maharaj became extremely happy and, overcome
with feelings, said, 'My Gaura's very own has come.' After that, he cordially
welcomed Prabhupad, gave him a place to sit and began to sing ‘Prarthana’ by
Thakur Mahasay. It was heard that he would every day somehow gather champaka
flowers, string them into two garlands and offer them onto the necks of Sri
Sri Gaura Nityananda. After Srila Prabhupad had seen this service, he told us
much about the loving service of Srila Vamsidas Babaji Maharaj and said that
he was constantly engaged in a much cherished service in ardent adherence to
Srila Narottam Thakur Mahasaya. Prabhupad also said at the time that outside
people could not grasp the unholy practises that Srila Vamsidas Babaji
Maharaj displayed in order to deceive the outside people. The activities and
actions of a perfected Vaishnav of an unfathomable character can never be
perceived by enjoyers, renunciates and imposter devotees."
(From 'Saraswati Jayasri')
Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj remembers:
Srila Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj was the only sadhu who was recognised by
our Guru Maharaj (Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad) as a
sadhu. Indifferent to the world, Srila Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj lived a
strict life of a babaji. He would be seen smoking publicly and living in his
ashram with so many things scattered around it (fish scales, etc.) as he
wanted to keep himself aloof from the society. He was indifferent to all
those worldly things; he was actually searching after Krishna in his heart.
Despite so many contradictory symptoms in his character, he had the
recognition of our Guru Maharaj as a real living Vaishnava. Our Guru Maharaj
rejected so many Vrindavan babajis as being imitators, but Srila Vamsi Das
Babaji Maharaj was not an imitator—he really hankered for Krishna.
Once, there was an earthquake and a temple of Gaura Nitai was demolished.
When somebody expressed their concern about the Deities inside the temple,
Srila Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj said to his audience, "Gaura Nitai are not the
sort of children who would be bashed—They had already fled. Gaura Nitai are
not some material substance that They would be smashed by a crushed
temple."
Another peculiarity was that Srila Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj had lived almost
all his life in Nabadwip, but before passing away he went back to his own
home somewhere in the district of Mymensingh (East Bengal, Bangladesh) and
left his body there. Before he passed away, there were many itchy,
blood-oozing sores on his body and he used to advertise it, "Come and see
what type of a sadhu I am! You are yet to see it! You can see all this is
the result of my bad karma! I am the worst type of man! Do not take me as a
saint, as a sadhu—I am the worst of the worst! Otherwise, why would so many
things have come to my body?" So, in the end, he went once to Vrindavan, then
left it, went to his previous home, and left his body there.
Srila Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj would roam the streets of Nabadwip half-mad. I
have seen him several times when I came to stay here alone, and sometimes I
used to come to his ashram. One evening, I was sitting here and saw him
walking by very much enraged—he was shouting, "Why are you crowding here?!
Can you not see that Rupa Manjari is here?! Why are there so many of you
wandering here?!" He spoke, perhaps, in the mood of Yasoda, and it seemed
apparently irrelevant—he said, "Sri Rupa Manjari has come here, why are you
all crowding here? Go away!"
Another time, some gentleman was singing a song of Srila Narottam Das
Thakur. When he finished singing, Srila Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj remarked,
"You have only superficially repeated the sound, but the real influence, the
real impression, the inner voltage is unknown to you. Those who are hit by
the strong feeling suggested by this song can know the power underlying it,
but you are merely repeating the sound physically, you do not feel the volt,
the energy within it. The voltage of the meaning of this song has not struck
your heart." He remarked like that. Ordinary men who exist on the surface
only repeat sounds, but those whose hearts have been touched by the deep
underlying meaning can understand what that song contains...
"For a particular purpose it may be all right to keep a beard, but that is
not the custom, neither with the sannyasis, nor with the babajis. Srila
Sanatan Goswami had a full beard and Mahaprabhu ordered, 'Take him to a
barber and remove it.' Neither sannyasis, nor babajis keep such things. So,
we do not like to keep it either. During the Chaturmasya, for the vrata, it
is mentioned in the sastra that we can keep hair and beard, otherwise
generally not. At the same time, it is not that if one keeps long hair and
long beard he cannot be a Vaishnav. There was Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj, an
independent Vaishnav. Our Guru Maharaj (Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati
Thakur Prabhupad) also gave respect to him as a Vaishnav, but he had a big
beard and did not shave at all. He was very negligent, he did not follow any
sort of fashion—he did not allow any barber to shave him. Still, he was a
respectable Vaishnav. As for yourself, if you keep a beard only to satisfy
the Muslims for the purpose of your service—if you approach them to collect
money and you can render good service to your Gurudev through that, then, for
this purpose, to keep the safety of your vocation, you may keep a
beard."
(Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj)
It can sometimes be very hard for us to accept the different natures of
the devotees in this Krishna consciousness mission. If someone will stick to
only one attitude, then he must be doomed to failure. There are many
devotees—and many different natures. As an example, you can see in our
own Sri Guru-varga that Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur has one kind of nature,
Srila Gaura Kisor Das Babaji Maharaj has another kind of nature, Srila Bhakti
Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's nature is of another type, and Vamsi Das Babaji
Maharaj's nature is yet another. But they are all
siddha-mahapurusas—perfected souls. Also Srila Jagannath Das Babaji
Maharaj has another type of nature, and our Srila Guru Maharaj yet another.
So who are you to follow?
You cannot follow the activities of anybody, but it will be good for your
practitioner's life if only you take the guidelines from your Gurudeva and
do not try to imitate anyone.
We heard that Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj ate fish and would often smoke a
water-pipe. He would light the tobacco first, offer it to Sri Sri
Nitai-Gaura, and then he himself would take that. But if you try to imitate
him you must fall down.
Devotee: Did They accept that offering?
Srila Govinda Maharaj: Yes, They accepted. Vamsi Das Babaji Maharaj's
position was such that he was a paramahamsa Vaishnav in vatsalya-rasa, so
Nitai-Gaura could not ignore his offering. But you cannot imitate him.
Question: It was the disappearance day of Vamsi Das Babaji
yesterday. Could you tell us something about that?
Actually, there are many followers of Mahaprabhu. Not so much is written
about many of them, but because they are followers of Mahaprabhu we give
their name in the panjika (calendar). We always pay obeisance to them
because they serve Mahaprabhu. Gaura Kishor Das Babaji Maharaj, Jagannath Das
Babaji Maharaj and others are our line and like many previous Gurus and
babajis in our line, they lived and did bhajan in Radha Kunda, but
after that they came to Nabadwip. We respect them as our Guru-varga, and that
is sufficient for us, it is not so important to know the detailed history of
their lives. Sometimes, the description of their life is not written anywhere
in the scriptures, but we always follow our Srila Sridhar Maharaj's
panjika and we give their name in it.
Make Effort
'Listening to Hari-katha from them, taking shelter in them, we must make
sincere effort. I did not know that it was wrong, but when I came to the holy
feet of a bona fide guru and learnt about these things, I gave it up. I had
taken a lot of beating, a lot of orders from Maya! But now all that misery is
gone after I accepted my Master's holy lotus feet.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Improving
Spiritual Life
"We do not think what is the service to the sadhu, what is the sadhu's
priority. What for have we come to Krishna consciousness? We must first see
to our spiritual life, we must not think about our material interest—we must
follow Gurudev's instruction."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min | 15 October 2018)
Part Five: Sri
Guru and His Grace
'A gentle touch of Sri Guru’s merciful hand can wipe off incessant
tears from all weeping eyes. A patriot or a philanthropist makes the problem
only worse in his frantic and futile attempt to alleviate the deep-rooted
pain of a suffering soul, as an ignorant doctor does in eagerly handling an
unfortunate patient. O the day when this poor soul realizes the causeless
grace of Sri Gurudev!'
Sat, 10 August 2024
Cure from
Material Misery
'There are two things in this world, sreyo and preyo.
Preyo means that which is pleasing to you, and sreyo means that
which brings benefit to you. Why do you sometimes not like to hear what is
beneficial?'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Rusty and Nasty
"What is service in spiritual life? The main thing is that you must make your
Gurudev happy. If we see how our Guru-varga preach Krishna consciousness,
what they do to make their Gurudev happy, how they serve their Gurudev, then
we can understand what service is."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.9 Mb, 6 min | 15 October 2018)
Foreword
'We love to read a book which we have never read before. We are anxious to
gather whatever information is contained in it, and with such acquirement our
curiosity stops. But this is not study. The student is to read the facts with
a view to create, and not with the object of fruitless retention. Students,
like satellites, should reflect whatever light they receive from authors, and
not imprison the facts and thoughts just as the magistrates imprison the
convicts in the jail!'
Sun, 11 August 2024
Live for the Lord
'It is not enough to only know something – you must practise yourself. You do
not need to sing any nice tune or anything like that. The Lord does not want
to hear nice tunes. When you chant kirtans, you must call out to the
Lord, that is all there is to it. It is necessary to realise the meaning of
what you chant or read.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (48.5 Mb, 98 min | 19 January 2019 |
Bengali)
শ্রীল গুরুদেবের লীলাগুলো(২য় ভাগ | ১ জানুয়ারি ২০২১)
"গুরুমহারাজ স্কুলে বেশি পড়েন নি, তবু তিনি প্রিন্টিং প্রেসে প্রুফরিডিং করতেন ।
আমরা লেখাপড়া শিক্ষা যা করেছি কত জড়বিদ্যা পড়েছি কিন্তু এখন বাংলা লিখতে গিয়ে
১০টা ভুল হয় । আর গুরুমহারাজ যখন ইংরেজিতে চেক সই করতেন, আমি দেখলাম এত হাতের
লিখা সুন্দর ! আমিও এত সুন্দর করতে পারি না ।"
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
What Is Service?
"Even if it looks like worship, if it is what our mind tells us to do, it is
not bhajan—service is serving your Guru and Vaishnavs under the
guidance of your Guru and Vaishnavs; without the guidance of the Guru, it is
not service."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min | 15 October 2018)
Preface
'For spiritual advancement of life we must go to someone who is actually
practicing spiritual life. So if one is actually serious to take instructions
from a siksa guru, or instructing spiritual master, I can refer him to
one who is the most competent of all my Godbrothers. This is B.R. Sridhar
Maharaj. I consider Sridhar Maharaj to be even my siksa guru, so what
to speak of the benefit that others can have from his association.'
Introduction
'“What you are searching for, that is! Don’t be disappointed.” The
Vedas say that the object of our inner search exists. The common search of
all your hearts is existing, and your thirst will be quenched.
So prepare yourself, after your long search, to receive that long missing
nectar in its full form and quality. Awake! Arise! Search for your fortune
and you cannot but have that. It is your birthright. It is the wealth of your
own soul. It cannot but be within you. You have no other business, no other
engagement but Krishna-anusandhana, the Search for Sri Krishna: Reality the
Beautiful.'
Mon, 12 August 2024
Course of Life
'A bad day is not a cloudy day. A bad day for us is the day when we go astray
from our service to the Lord and Hari-katha. Whenever we cannot hear the Holy
Name of the Lord, that day is a bad day for us. You must remember what I am
going to tell you. What I said yesterday was actually only an
introduction.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Learn Siddhanta
"How much our Guru-varga has been trying to teach proper Krishna
consciousness, to teach proper etiquette! Take Gurudev's instruction, take
his association and you will become a proper devotee."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min | 15 October 2018)
Krishna Consciousness: Love and Beauty
'We have to sacrifice ourselves for Krishna, because He is the absolute good,
beauty, and love. Faith and selflessness are required to such a high degree.
If we accept Krishna consciousness as our highest ideal, then so much
sacrifice is necessary, but sacrifice means life: “Die to live.” There is no
loss by sacrifice. We can only gain by giving ourselves.'
Tue, 13 August 2024
Special
Arrangement for Kali-Yuga
'The duration of human life continues to slowly decrease. So, Lord Krishna
thought, "How can people who live for only such a short time in this age come
to Me? It is very hard for them. They do not have time to practise
meditation, sacrifices or Deity worship... I must make some arrangement for
them."'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Lucid Living
"Our life is very short—we can leave our body at any time. What have we got
this body for? We must understand it and utilise this human body for the
service of the Guru. You cannot conquer maya unless you surrender to
your Guru properly."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | 16 October 2018)
Saints, Scriptures, and Gurus
'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.'
Today in the calendar:
Gaura Navami. Disappearance of Tridandi-swami Bhakti Prasun Bodhayan Maharaj
(a diksa and sannyas disciple of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur
Prabhupad).
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj: "Even if you do
not know anything about the Vaishnav mentioned in the calendar, you must
still give them 'jay' on this day. We must always remember disappearance and
appearance days of all Vaishnavs. If we can remember such personalities, such
great souls, it will bring a great benefit to our spiritual life."
"We should always check the calendar, and when we see some dates mentioned
there, even if we do not know anything about the Vaishnav or events mentioned
there, we can at least give 'jay' to them—that also brings some good sukriti,
some purification to us. Seeing the calendar and taking devotees' names early
in the morning, from the beginning of the day, is very good for all
devotees."
"Wake up, look into the calendar and give 'jay' to your Guru and
Vaishnavs. Always pay obeisance to your Guru and Vaishnavs when you wake up
in the morning, always give them 'jay'. Always keep faith and show
respect to them. Always see the calendar—whose appearance day it is, whose
disappearance day it is. Even if you cannot make a festival, at least you can
give them 'jay', it will bring you benefit. When you give 'jay'
to your Guru and Vaishnavs, it brings you sukriti. For example, today
is the disappearance day of a Vaishnav—give 'jay' to him, remember
him. We must always remember the words of Vaishnavs. If I remember the words
of Vaishnavs, I get some benefit, some deposit through that."
Wed, 14 August 2024
Beyond Religious
Bigotry
'Somebody asked me, "Maharaj, it is the Boishakh month now, so we do
Nama-kirtans in every province, going house to house – we do
four-prahar and eight-praharkirtans. But why does it
not bring any benefit to our village?" I explained why.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
Шри Рудрадвип
«Остров Шри Рудрадвип разделён течением Ганги на две части: одна часть
острова находится на западном берегу, где находится город Навадвип, а вторая
часть, где мы находимся сейчас, расположена на восточном берегу. Хотя по воле
Господа никто не живёт в этих местах, киртан славы этого места
воспевается вечно».
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
What Is Proper
Surrender?
"Sometimes you cannot understand the mercy of Gurudev, you cannot understand
what Gurudev says—that is because of your ego, because there are so many bad
elements within you, because you are not surrendered fully."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.6 Mb, 10 min | 16 October 2018)
Fossilism vs. Subjective Evolution
'Science means not to extend the jurisdiction of exploitation, knowing fully
well there will be a reaction. By extending the space of exploitation, we
will also surely be exploited. If one knowingly commits an offense, then he
is charged with more punishment. So, so-called scientific advancement is
suicidal.'
Thu, 15 August 2024
Innermost Desires
'We must become humbler than a blade of grass, we must have more tolerance
than a tree, and we must respect others. This is what Mahaprabhu taught, but
can we do it? Can we be humble, tolerant and give honour to others? We are
always busy thinking about ourselves...'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Devotional
Relationship
"Days are passing very quickly while we waste time on so many nonsense
things, on sleeping, eating, enjoying. We must learn something from Gurudev.
We must have full surrender, and surrender means not just saying it with your
mouth—you must show what your surrender is."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 8 min | 16 October 2018)
Origin of the Soul
'How does the soul first appear in this world? From what stage of spiritual
existence does he fall into the material world? This is a broad question,
which requires some background information. Because the soul is atomic, his
freewill is imperfect and vulnerable. The result of that free choice is that
some are coming into the material world, and some are going to the spiritual
world. So, the responsibility is with the individual soul.'
Fri, 16 August 2024 (Fast on Sri Pavitraropani Ekadasi; Start
of Hari-Smaran Month)
Fortune, Faith
and Frauds
'Whatever your situation is, chant the Holy Name. A genuine guru will
never encourage you to do what is bad for you. A genuine guru will
guide you down the right path: he will show and explain to you nicely how you
can come to the Lord, which path you must take.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
Today in the calendar:
Gaura Ekadasi. Fast on Pavitraropani Ekadasi. Beginning of Sri Sri
Radha-Govinda's Jhulan Yatra. Beginning of the month-long Sri Hari Smaran
Festival at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.
Question: We hear that Sri Hari Smaran festival has begun. What
activities or reading do you recommend for us?
You can read Srila Sridhar Maharaj's book
Sri
Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam, that will be good. Sri Sri
Prapanna-jivanamritam is a good book, you can read it and remind yourself
of many good things (practise smaran). I have also given you some
books—Guidance 4, Guidance 3. You can read all these books and you can
get everything in them. My books are very easy to understand, I am not
writing in very high language, so they are easy to understand.
(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)
—: Sri Hari Smaran Month :—
(16 August—18 September)
17 August(Sat)
Disappearance of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu
19 August(Mon)
Appearance of Lord Baladev (Baladev Purnima) (fast until midday)
27 August(Tue)
Appearance of Lord Sri Krishna (Sri Janmastami) (fast until midnight)
28 August(Wed)
Sri Nandotsav, Appearance of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj
Prabhupad
10 September(Tue)
Appearance of Sri Lalita Devi
11 September(Wed)
Appearance of Srimati Radharani (Sri Radhastami) (fast until noon)
15 September(Sun)
Appearance of Srila Jiva Goswami, Lord Vamanadev
16 September(Mon)
Appearance of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur
17 September(Tue)
Disappearance of Srila Haridas Thakur
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Depend On Your
Guru
"Krishna has given all His power to our Gurudev, and all you need to do is to
listen properly to his advice, his order. We are not independent. If we do
some service under the guidance of Guru and Vaishnav, then we can realise
everything properly."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.1 Mb, 6 min | 17 October 2018)
Knowledge Above Mortality
'When knowledge comes in connection with the absolute, it loses its filthy
characteristic. Then we can have full knowledge, which will lead us to
prema-bhakti, love of God. Everything is meant for Krishna. He is the
only enjoyer of everything. He is the absolute autocrat, and He is the
absolute good. We are all His servants, and everything is meant for His
satisfaction. We must come to this understanding.'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
Preface 'It has been vividly illustrated herein that a life without surrender unto
the lotus feet of Sri Krishna is utterly futile, and the most treasured
perfection achieved through exclusive surrender has been revealed. This will
especially encourage those who are aspiring to enter the land of devotion,
drawing them onward to the lotus feet of Sri Hari.'
Publisher's Note 'Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamrtam, The Life-nectar of the Surrendered Souls,
is the crown-jewel of divine literatures as the eternal elixir of life for
the exclusively surrendered souls, the bestower of the perpetual relish of
full-fledged nectar, and the awakening and sustaining fountainhead of life in
Divine Consorthood.'
Foreword 'Surrender is the indispensable necessity in the life of a devotee, and
Life-Nectar of the Surrendered Souls will sustain and fortify the surrendered
souls as the nectar in their lives of Positive and Progressive
Immortality.'
Sri Ekadasi Guidance Guidelines on how to observe and honour this holy day: Ekadasi takes an
indispensible part in the life of a sincere practitioner. At Sri Chaitanya
Saraswat Math, Ekadasi and paran are observed with affection and without
fail according to the dates given in the Calendar.
Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj about fasting on ekadasi and
accepting material facilities:
"One time, a devotee came here from Vrindavan on the day of
ekadasi. He reached in the evening and, after taking bath in the
Ganges, attended kirtans, danced, circumambulated the temple and so
on. Then, I asked him whether he would take any anukalpa. He replied,
'Generally, I do not take anything, but if you like, then, of course, I must
take anukalpa. Your will is greater than my fasting.' That was his
decision.
"My Guru Maharaj (Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur)
always wanted maximum energy: you should take good food and do good service.
That was his maxim. Krishna is not a liquidated party: take full
prasadam and do full service. Do maximum service, and you should take
whatever is necessary for that. You are to take it for the cause of Krishna,
not for your own cause. You are Krishna's, so if you grow weak, His service
will be hampered, and both you and Krishna will be losers thereby. 'My
soldiers will be well-fed and well-working.' That was our Guru Maharaj's
principle. Napoleon said, 'One full-fed soldier is equal to ten half-fed
soldiers.'
"So, prasad-seva: if it is service, then it must be taken in a
serving mood, of course. But, at the same time, the individual position of a
devotee should be taken into consideration. Sahajiyas do not Fast on
ekadasi at all: 'Oh, we are in Vrindavan, and there is no fasting in
Vrindavan.' But Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Prabhupad did not like that –
it is sahajiya (imitation) if you go on feeding your senses in the
name of Krishna-bhakti (devotion to the Lord). For the service to Krishna, it
is necessary to keep up the body and to provide nourishment to it, so we must
take what is necessary for service. We do not like it if by fasting a loss of
energy is effected. If fasting does not hamper your service, you may go on
fasting – perhaps, your gurudev wanted that...
"For service, I must accept what is necessary to make me physically
fit so that I can render more service. So, accepting material things is not
objectionable. It is fruitful, not detrimental. Rather, it produces something
of a pure character, which helps everyone. This is how a disciple receives
and accepts things. At that same time, he may even blame himself, 'I cannot
go on with my worldly life without the help of this or that!' He will blame
himself, but the underlying spirit must be, 'If I do not take it, I shall be
unfit; I will not be able to do my bit of service to the Lord, to my
gurudev.'
"Moreover, by taking up renunciation, I will be a loser. I will incur
a loss for myself, for the world, and my guru's service will be
hampered. In this spirit, devotees are to take everything. For the cause of
Krishna, for the cause of their guru, they will accept anything.
"Suppose there is a very miserly karmachari (manager). Because
he does not want to spend money, he may not attain a particular result; then,
some difficulty comes, and the opportunity is lost. This manager will be held
responsible by the proprietor: 'Why did you not spend money? Why are you
afraid of spending money from my store? Because of your miserly habit, the
opportunity has been lost! Why should you not spend My money for My
interest?' So, to render service to Krishna, to my gurudev, to
Vaishnavs, to the world, to everyone, I must keep up this mundane body, and I
am entitled to take something for that.
"Miserliness is mayavada; it is the renunciation spirit, and it
will mar Krishna's interest. What we need is yukta-vairagya: I shall
take from the store of Krishna to keep myself fit and to do service. It is
Krishna's account, and if I do not do that, I should be a separatist, a
mayavadi, a renunciationist. I shall render maximum service to
Krishna, and I must take without any hesitation whatever is necessary to make
myself fit for the service; otherwise, I shall be punishable."
•"Sri
Ekadasi"
(Sri Sri Prema Vivarta)
"One day, Gaurahari left the Gundicha Temple and sat in the Jagannath
Vallabha garden. It was pure Ekadasi, and the Lord spent the whole day and
night chanting the Name of Krishna..."
•SONG:
Suddha-bhakata |
শুদ্ধ ভকত-চরণ-রেণু "I carefully observe the holy days related to Madhava, they are the mother
of devotion."
•SONG:
Sri hari-vasare |
শ্রীহরি-বাসরে হরি "On the holy day of Sri Hari, Sriman Mahaprabhu, the life and
soul of the universe, began dancing..."
"You do not need to know the meaning of each ekadasi tithi because if
you know it, you will want to get this result, that result, etc."
(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)
Sat, 17 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran; Disappearance of Srila
Rupa Goswami Prabhu)
Think about Your
Real Self
'If we are born as humans but behave like animals, then we waste this
opportunity. Animals only sleep, eat, fear and procreate. I am not saying
that you must not eat and sleep, but what you must understand is that life is
not only for eating and sleeping!'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Greatest Gift
"Who can understand the extent of Nityananda Prabhu's help to us? We can
understand easily how merciful Gurudev is, how kind Gurudev is to us. He is
giving us, presenting us such good things. We must only accept it."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.4 Mb, 7 min | 17 October 2018)
Knowledge Above Mortality
'When knowledge comes in connection with the absolute, it loses its filthy
characteristic. Then we can have full knowledge, which will lead us to
prema-bhakti, love of God. Everything is meant for Krishna. He is the
only enjoyer of everything. He is the absolute autocrat, and He is the
absolute good. We are all His servants, and everything is meant for His
satisfaction. We must come to this understanding.'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
(1) Prelude to Approaching Nectar 'An auspicious invocation, a humble petition, an introduction to the book
and its chapters, and the theme of the philosophy of the book have, to the
best of my ability, all been entered within this first chapter named
Upakramamrtam or Prelude to Approaching Nectar.'
In honour of Srila Rupa Goswami
Prabhu:
Question: How can anarthas be
removed?
Answer: If you loudly chant the prescribed
number of rounds of the Holy Name of Krishna, unwanted habits and qualities
will go away, and all slothfulness, etc. will vanish—even those who are
averse to the Lord, the outside people, will not be able to avert it
then.
Question: How can one follow this advice if
one is completely covered by anarthas?
Answer: Sriman Mahaprabhu bestowed all power to
Sri Rupa Goswami Prabhu, and you must earnestly beg at the feet of this Sri
Rupa Goswami Prabhu and his followers for this mercy of Mahaprabhu.
Especially, we must with all our heart pray to Sri Nam Prabhu for His
service. Nam Prabhu is Nami Prabhu (the Holy Name and He whose Name it is are
non-different)—He will reveal Himself in your heart.
(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj, Guidance 3)
Srimad
Rupa-Goswami-Prabhura Sochaka শ্রীমদ্রূপগোস্বামি-প্রভুর
শোচক "O my very goal of life, Sri Rupa Goswami! He is extremely merciful, an
ocean of great qualities. Whoever gets his mercy, gets the feet of Chaitanya
and attains Radha and Krishna in Vraja Dham (Vrindavan). His nature is such
that he gave mercy to the worst, most sinful, fallen, miserable souls. How
much more can one mouth possibly say? Please accept me! May I always, at
every moment, remember your lotus feet—please hear this prayer of
mine!"
Srila Rupa
Goswami Prabhu (1)
"Tomorrow is Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's and Srila Gauridas Pandit's
disappearance day. We want to say something about them because our Guru
Maharaj Srila Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj and our Gurupadpadma are
Rupanuga-dhara—they are holding Srila Rupa Goswami's flag."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min | 29 July 2012)
Srimad Rupa-pada-rajah Prarthana Dasakam
"Srila Rupa Goswami is the mine of the most precious treasure, the leader of
the associates of Lord Chaitanya. Despite my lowliness, when
will—disregarding all my various qualifications and disqualifications—Srimad
Rupa Prabhu grace me with the dust of his holy lotus feet?"
Srila Rupa
Goswami Prabhu (2)
"We must all pray to Srila Rupa Goswami, 'Prabhu, wherever you are staying
now, please forgive our offences. Please engage us to serve your servant,
please tolerate us. Prabhu, please accept us as a dog at your lotus
feet!'"
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min | 29 July 2012)
Srila Rupa
Goswami Prabhu
"He is actually an associate of Mahaprabhu. Before that, in Dvapara yuga,
he was an associate of Krishna, and Krishna Himself sent him to teach us,
the fallen souls. On his disappearance day we can ask him for some mercy
so that we can continue our service to the Lord."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.9 Mb, 9 min | 18 August 2013)
Rupa Sanatan:
First Encounter
"Rupa and Sanatan stayed in Ramkeli-gram in Malda district, Gauda Mandal and
worked for the emperor Hussein Shah. They heard that somebody tried to
start kirtan, and, understanding that it had to be Mahaprabhu, they went to
meet with Him."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | 13 June 2015)
Service Subordination
"We start service by the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu, by the mercy of
Radharani. Without Their mercy we cannot do anything. One day, Sanatan Goswami came to Rupa Goswami. He asked him, 'For so many days I have not taken sweet rice..."
• Download
(1.7 Mb, 5 min | 21 September 2009)
Dignity of the Divine Servitor:Descent of
Knowledge "When in Vrindavana, Rupa Goswami wanted to offer his Guru, Sanatan
Goswami, some sweet-rice. He thought, 'My Gurudeva likes sweet-rice. If I can
secure some milk, sugar, raisins, nuts, etc., I shall be able to make some
sweet-rice, offer it to Krishna, and then to my Gurudeva.' A little later, a
young girl, perhaps twelve or fourteen years of age, came to Rupa Goswami's
bhajan-kutir in Kadam Kandi..."
Sri
Rupa-Sanatan Siksa(EPUB file, 0.5 Mb)
"Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita: Sri Rupa-Satana Siksa, read and expounded by His
Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj." An electronic
version of the published previously online matter available now for download,
reading and worshipping on phones, tablets, eBook readers, etc.
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Goswamis, namely Sri
Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatan Goswami, Sri Raghunath Bhatta Goswami, Sri
Raghunath Das Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Goswami, who
are always engaged in chanting the Holy Name of Krishna and dancing. They are
just like the ocean of love of God, and they are popular both with the gentle
and with the ruffians, because they are not envious of anyone. Whatever they
do, they are all-pleasing to everyone, and they are fully blessed by Lord
Chaitanya. Thus they are engaged in missionary activities meant to deliver
all the conditioned souls in the material universe."
•SONG:
Sri Guru Parampara |
শ্রীগুরুপরম্পরা "Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is nondifferent from Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and is the very life of Sri Rupa's followers. Srila Svarup Damodar Goswami, Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu, and Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu are dear to Visvambhar."
•SONG:
Ei-bara karuna kara |
এইবার করুণা কর "O worshippable Vaisnava, be merciful to me this time. O saviour of the
fallen, without you there is no one. If anyone comes to you, their sins go
away."
•SONG:
Vaisnava
thakura dayara sagara |
বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর দয়ার সাগর "O worshippable Vaishnav, ocean of grace, be merciful to this servant.
Give me the shade of your feet and purify me. I clasp your feet. Mercifully
give me a drop of faith and bestow upon me the wealth of Krishna's
Name."
•SONG:
Ki-rupe paiba seva |
কিরূপে পাইব সেবা "I am so wicked, how will I ever get service? I do not have any attachment
to Sri Guru and Vaishnavs! It is not possible to conquer maya by engaging in
maya. I see no other way to get relief except for the mercy of
sadhus."
•SONG:
Ye anila prema
dhana |
যে আনিল প্রেমধন "I will break my head on a rock, I will enter into fire. Not finding the
association of Sri Gauranga, who performed His Pastimes with all these
associates, Narottam Das weeps."
•SONG:
Sri Rupa-manjari-pada |
শ্রীরূপমঞ্জরী-পদ "The lotus feet of Sri Rupa Manjari are my wealth, my bhajan (service), my
puja (worship), the wealth of my life, and whatever ornaments I may have. Her
lotus feet are the very life of my life."
In honour of Srila Gauri Das
Pandit Goswami:
At Gauri Das Pandit's
House
"Gauri Das Pandit was a grihastha devotee who lived in Kalna. His
brother was the father of Jahnava and Vasudha. Once, Mahaprabhu and
Nityananda Prabhu came to Kalna by boat and decided to visit Gauri Das
Pandit's house..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 8 min)
Come to Krishna's
Family
'What problem is there for you if you use your life to serve Krishna's
family? What problem is there? Do you think that if you turn your family into
Krishna's family, then Krishna will take away all your family members? If you
make your family Krishna-centred, you will get relief from all
sins.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
শ্রীল গুরুদেবের লীলাগুলো(৩য় ভাগ | ১ জানুয়ারি ২০২১)
"গুরুমহারাজকে সন্ন্যাস দিয়ে পরম গুরুমহারাজ বললেন যে ত্রিদণ্ডী সন্ন্যাস মানে
তিনটা জিনিস : ঠাকুরকে রাখা করা, মঠকে রাখা করা আর ভক্তদের রাখা করা । আর
গুরুদেব কি করে মঠকে রাখা করছেন শুনবেন ?"
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Pure
Surrender—Key to Pure Solution
"We should not bargain with the Guru—when Gurudev tells you something, you
should listen properly and show with your action, with your service that you
are a proper servitor of your Guru. You must show your Guru with your
actions, 'I am not independent.'"
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.1 Mb, 9 min | 17 October 2018)
Six Philosophies of India
'Bhaktivinoda Thakur, the nineteenth century founder of the Krishna
consciousness movement, sings in one song: “O my Lord Krishna, I see that
everything is available in Your world, which has an infinite, variegated
nature. Separated from You, however, we are always feeling miseries. A
continuous flow of suffering has swallowed us from birth to death, and we
cannot tolerate the pain of such misery. And so many relief agents: Kapila,
Patanjali, Gautama, Kanada, Jaimini, Buddha, are running towards us, offering
their solutions.”'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
(2) Nectar of Scriptural Word 'This second chapter, Sri Sastra-vachanamritam, The Nectar of Scriptural
Word, describes surrender as corroborated in the Revealed Scriptures headed
by the Vedas (Sruti) and the Religious Codes (Smrti).'
Mon, 19 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran; Sri Baladev Purnima –
full fast until midday)
Seek Out Eternal
Shelter
'You think that those who have millions of rupees must be living a happy
life – you think that if a person is a chief minister, they live a very happy
life because they travel everywhere by plane. But even the chief minister
worries, "What if I do not get elected next year? What will happen then?"
They are nagged by worries, too, so much so that they cannot sleep. What is
the way out of all this suffering?'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
Understanding
Baladev's Glory
'Gurudev appears with the power of Nitai Thakur eternally. Baladev
Prabhu does not appear now, Nitai Thakur is also not manifest, so Their
pastimes have stopped – this is not true. Gurudev comes in the form of
Baladev, in the form of Nityananda and brings the souls who have taken
shelter in him to Gaurasundar. Their appearance pastimes are happening
eternally – They eternally appear in the form of the guru.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (38.7 Mb, 72 min | English | 3 August
2020)
শ্রীশ্রীবলদেব-প্রসঙ্গ
(শ্রীউপদেশ, চতুর্থ খণ্ড)
"পরমারাধ্যতম শ্রীল গুরুবর্গের শ্রীপাদপদ্মের কৃপা প্রার্থনা ক'রে শ্রীশ্রীবলদেব
প্রভুর ভুবনমঙ্গলময়ী আবির্ভাব – তিথিতে ভগবৎ-কথা শ্রবণ করছি । শ্রীবলদেবই বলরাম,
বলভদ্র ইত্যাদি নামে অভিহিত । কৃষ্ণের দ্বিতীয় বিগ্রহ হয়েও, কৃষ্ণ হয়েও ইনি
কৃষ্ণের সেবা-বিগ্রহ রূপ ধরেছেন । কৃষ্ণ নিজেই অন্যরূপ ধরেছেন। লীলার
পুষ্টিসাধনের জন্য তিনি বলদেবকে পৃথকভাবে প্রকট করেছেন । তাই কৃষ্ণাভিন্ন বলদেব।
কৃষ্ণ তাঁর ঐ দেহে বিলাস করেন। আর তিনি কৃষ্ণের সেবাবিগ্রহ—তিনি সর্বশ্রেষ্ঠ
সেবা-বিধানকারী ।"
(3) Acceptance of the Favorable 'Everything should be done that encourages the service of Sri Krishna and
His devotee, and whatever is conducive to the state of exclusive surrender
must be executed: such a firm conviction is called
anukulyasya-sankalpah—Acceptance of the Favorable.'
Today in the calendar:
Purnima. End of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda's Jhulan Yatra. Appearance of Lord
Sri Baladev. Fast until midday.
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj: "It is a very
auspicious day in our spiritual life. We must do some service for Baladev
Prabhu's appearance day. Remember this. If you only fast and give some flower
to Gurudev, that is not sufficient. It is necessary to do some more
service. Do more and more service to our Gurudev. Baladev is Mul-Sankarshan,
He controls everything, and He is also ashraya-vigraya (embodiment of
shelter), non-different from Nityananda Prabhu and Gurudev. We always ask for
shelter at the lotus feet of our Gurudev, but the problem is that when we get
this shelter at our Gurudev's lotus feet, we forget to serve after
that."
"He is adorned with a shining spotless crown, bangles, and ankle bells; His
curly hair plays on His lotus cheeks, and earrings embellish the beauty of
His lotus face; dressed in fine clothes of rich blue colour like that of a
cloud, He is as captivating as a snow-capped mountain; He is also carrying a
great plough and a club. This Balaram—One who fulfils all
desires—do I offer my prayers to."
Today is a very important day in our spiritual life, in our practising
life. This is our life: without Gurudev's mercy we have nothing. In India,
some devotees are worshipping Radha-Krishna's Jhulan Yatra today, but we are
making a programme for Baladev, who is nondifferent from Gurudev and
Nityananda Prabhu. This is our line, the line of Rupanuga Guru-varga. We
always first offer everything to our Guru. If you do so much for Lord Krishna
but have no faith in your Guru, the result will be nothing; if you worship
Gauranga Mahaprabhu without worshipping Nityananda Prabhu, the result will be
nothing; and if you worship Krishna but do not worship Baladev, the result
will be nothing too. Moreover, it says in the scriptures that if you worship
Krishna and do not worship your Guru, you are actually a great sinner. So, we
must always first offer our full obeisance, full dandavat to our Guru, to
Nityananda, Baladev (Guru-Balaram, Guru-Nityananda).
(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)
Sri Baladev
Tattva (1)
His Divine Grace reads to the devotees about Sri Baladev on Sri Baladev
Purnima in 2018: "You cannot prosper in your spiritual life without taking
shelter of Baladev. If you take shelter of Gurudev, then you will get
everything."
•
Download / listen to the audio (5.2 Mb, 15 min | 26 August 2018 |
Bengali)
Sri Baladev
Tattva (2): Appearance and Pastimes
His Divine Grace reads to the devotees about Sri Baladev on Sri Baladev
Purnima in 2018: "In Rama-lila, Laksman is younger than Ramachandra, so could
not serve Ramachandra properly because a younger brother is always afraid of
the elder brother. Therefore, in the pastimes of Krishna, Baladev became an
elder son—when Krishna performed His pastimes, Balaram was always with
Him."
•
Download / listen to the audio (4.9 Mb, 14 min | 26 August 2018 |
Bengali)
Sri Baladev
Tattva (3): Later Pastimes
His Divine Grace reads to the devotees about Sri Baladev on Sri Baladev
Purnima in 2018: "Although Sri Baladev is Vishnu-tattva, He Himself serves
the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna as His foremost servant. He also engages others
in the service of Krishna and exhibits the pastime of acting as the original
spiritual master. In spite of all this, during His manifest pastimes in this
material world, He Himself performed the pastime of accepting a guru in order
to teach the importance of taking shelter of a guru."
•
Download / listen to the audio (5.3 Mb, 15 min | 26 August 2018 |
Bengali)
Baladev Purnima: A
Special Day
"In India, some devotees are worshipping Radha-Krishna's Jhulan Yatra today,
but we are making a programme for Baladev, who is nondifferent from Gurudev
and Nityananda Prabhu. This is our line, the line of Rupanuga
Guru-varga."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.7 Mb, 11 min | 13 August 2011)
Devotion Conquers—Ego Repels
Lord Balaram, Kaliya-daman Lila, Saubhari Muni, Sudama Vipra, the sun, a
vessel, a drum, a pig, and a drop of water—all these are woven together
to guide us towards perfect devotion.
•
Download / listen to the audio (10.4 Mb, 30 min | 9 August 2014)
Asraya
Vigraha Sri Baladev
"Without the shelter of Nityananda Prabhu, without the shelter of Baladev
Prabhu, we cannot think about Krishna. We must understand how to serve, how
to give nourishment to Baladev."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.5 Mb, 11 min | 10 August 2014)
Sri Baladev
Prabhu: Krishna's Merciful Alter Ego
"What is the glory of this pastime? It shows that Balaram ploughs and
cultivates (karsan) and at the same time also attracts, pulls towards
Him (akarsan). In other words, Baladev, or Gurudev, removes all bad
elements from the hearts of practitioners."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.9 Mb, 8 min | 15 August 2019)
Baladev Lila:
"Can We Be Friends?"
"I want to tell a little bit about Baladev's lila from what is written
in Srimad Bhagavatam. You have all heard that Kamsa sent so many
demons to kill Krishna and Krishna killed them all, but Srimad
Bhagavatam describes how Baladev killed Pralambasur."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | 15 August 2019)
Baladev Purnima: Double Festival in Russia
"Today, everybody is celebrating Sri Sri Baladev Prabhu's appearance day
everywhere. Today is also the Deities' installation day in Saint Petersburg
temple, our main centre in Russia. Even Madhavendra Puri showed us how
important it is to serve the Deities..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 5 min | 13 August 2011)
Hari-katha of His Divine Grace in a class spoken on the adhivas of Lord
Baladev's appearance in 2020:
Step Your Service Up
"We should not waste our time on our own enjoyment, we must give our time for
the enjoyment and happiness of our Lord, our Gurudev. I know everybody will
be working, it is Monday, the first day of the week days, but we must still
do some service for Baladev Prabhu's appearance day. Remember this. If you
only fast and give some flower to Gurudev, that is not sufficient."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.8 Mb, 9 min | 2 August 2020)
Disciple's Core Quality
"To receive and digest chastisement, it is necessary to have tolerance. How
many devotees can tolerate chastisement? Very few. When Gurudev chastises
you, you must be quiet—you have no right to say a single word."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 4 min | 2 August 2020)
On Cows and
Baladev-Tattva
"(1) Krishna likes cows, and if we can make cows happy,
Krishna will always be happy. (2) Sachi Mata understood
that Nityananda Prabhu was non-different from Baladev—that Baladev Himself
had come as Nityananda Prabhu."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min | 2 August 2020)
Sweeter Than the
Sweetest
"Krishna's pastimes are very sweet. Krishna's beauty, Krishna's pastimes,
Krishna's love, Krishna's smile, everything about Him is sweet, sweeter, and
sweeter than the sweetest..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min | 2 August 2020)
Prasadam—Pivot of
Practising
"You are not to take what is not offered to the Lord. Always take
prasadam, then all your diseases will be removed. Always cook with
care and always make sure what you have cooked is edible. If the cook is not
good, then neither Krishna, nor Gurudev will be happy."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.8 Mb, 7 min | 2 August 2020)
Clear Conception
"You can read Srila Sridhar Maharaj's book Sri Sri
Prapanna-jivanamritam and remind yourself of many good things (practise
smaran). I have also given you books—Guidance 4, Guidance 3. You can
read all these books and you can get everything in them."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.4 Mb, 8 min | 2 August 2020)
Ideal Service Mood
"In this world, there are all sorts of misconceptions prominent all over the
world, but you must establish the conception of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math,
the conception of Srila Sridhar Maharaj, Prabhupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta
Saraswati Thakur. When you get some pleasure in your heart through service,
then no matter how much disturbance comes, nothing will be able to stop
you—you will still feel more and more enthusiasm, attachment and enjoyment
through that service."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.4 Mb, 9 min | 2 August 2020)
•SONG:
Sri Dasa-Avatara-Stotram |
দশাবতারস্তোত্রম্ "O Lord of the universe! You have assumed the form of Balaram! All glory to You! On Your white body You wear garments the colour of clouds and the color of the River Yamuna when she is frightened by the striking of Your plough."
শ্রীআশ্রয়বিগ্রহ-শ্রীবলদেবের মহিমা
ওঁ বিষ্ণুপাদ শ্রী শ্রীল ভক্তি নির্ম্মল আচার্য্য মহারাজের হরি-কথামৃত:
শ্রীআশ্রয়বিগ্রহ-শ্রীবলদেবের মহিমা আর শ্রীগুরুচরণ-সেবার অর্থ: শিষ্যের জীবন আর
একমাত্র প্রবৃত্তি; এবং শ্রীল ভক্তিবিনদ ঠাকুরের শরণাগতির ১৯ গান "সর্ব্বস্ব
তোমার চরণে সঁপিয়া".
Sri Baladev Purnima(26 August 2018 | 3 photographs, 0.2 Mb)
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj observes
the holy appearance day of Lord Baladev at the temple in Nrisingha Palli in
the circle of local devotees holding a quiet but sweet evening programme.
Sri Baladev
Purnima(15 August 2019 | 4 photographs, 0.6 Mb)
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj grants his
merciful darshan on the holy appearance day of Sri Baladev Prabhu and
speaks to the assembled and worldwide devotees about Sri Baladev Prabhu, His
unique and special qualities and pastimes.
Darshan of Sri
Gurupadpadma (3 August 2020 | 2 photographs, 0.2 Mb)
Sharing a glimpse of the holy darshan of Sri Gurupadpadma Om Vishnupad Srila
Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj on the holy appearance day of Sri Baladev
Prabhu, the embodiment of shelter, non-different from Sri Guru Tattva.
Tue, 20 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran)
Proper Surrender
'You should leave everything to the Lord and rely on Him. At the same time, I
am not saying that you must leave everything to the Lord and sit idle. It is
necessary to have faith, but you must not challenge the Lord. The first and
foremost quality is surrender. Only those who have surrender can actually see
that the Lord is providing everything.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Turning
Homebound
"We use our life to do nonsense thinking that we will go to heaven... This is
not right because we all have come from the same family. We are now separate,
going here and there because of our karma, but we must remember that we must
get to our destination."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 4 min | 18 October 2018)
Beyond Christianity
'Christianity is incomplete Vaishnavism—not full-fledged, but the basis of
devotional theism. We find the principle of “Die to live” there to a certain
extent, at least physically. The Christians say that the ideal shown by Jesus
is self-sacrifice. In our consideration, however, that is not full-fledged
theism, but only the basis. The conception of service to God is there, and a
strong impetus to attain that, so the foundation is good, but the structure
over the foundation is unclear, vague, and imperfect.'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
(4) Rejection of the Unfavorable 'The principle to reject everything opposed to the service of the Lord and
His devotee, and to similarly abstain from everything opposed to an attitude
of surrender, is known as pratikulya-vivarjjanam—Rejection of the
Unfavorable.'
Wed, 21 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran)
Misdirected
Worship
'Your debt to your father, mother, sages, demigods – all debts are cleared if
you serve the Lord, and if you worship Krishna, all demigods are
automatically worshipped. That is why we should be worshipping Krishna. And
if you are to worship Krishna, you cannot worship Him directly...'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Price for the
Advantage
"There are so many faults in the age of Kali, but there is also one great
quality in it: Krishna Himself comes in the form of His Name. If we take
shelter of the Holy Name—if we chant properly, without offence—then we can
understand the real truth."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.1 Mb, 3 min | 18 October 2018)
Levels of God Realization
'Self-surrender is the very basis of our highest fortune. We cannot but
surrender ourselves to whatever beautiful and valuable thing we have come
across. Our appreciation for any higher thing is shown by the degree of our
surrender to that. So, we can measure the quality of the truth we are
connected with only by the intensity of our surrender.'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
(5) Confidence in the Lord's Protection '"Certainly Lord Krishna will protect me, because He is the friend of the
devotees. He will definitely bless us with all auspiciousness and success."
Within this chapter, such faith is sustained.'
Thu, 22 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran)
Deepest Faith
'It is first necessary to have faith. Faith comes as the result of
sukriti (not everybody has the fortune of coming in touch with
sadhus and getting faith). Once sufficient sukriti is
accumulated, faith comes. There are four kinds of faith...'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
Шри Суварна Бихар
«В сатья-югу здесь жил царь по имени Шри Суварна Сен. Он был глубоко
привязан к материальной жизни, поэтому всегда занимался делами царства и даже
в старости не отходил от дел: погружаясь больше, чем когда-либо, в
материальную жизнь, он всё время думал о том, как приумножить своё богатство
и имущество. Благодаря сукрити, которое царь Шри Суварна Сен накопил
за прошлые жизни, ему посчастливилось повстречать вайшнава...»
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Sarveswar and
Nirgun Krishna
"When we are born, our mothers tell me, 'This is your father,' and we believe
it because only the mother knows who the father is. In the same way, we must
believe properly what the scriptures say."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | 18 October 2018)
The Krishna Conception
'Surrender is not a lip transaction. Surrender means not only to surrender
one’s possessions, but to realize that the possessions themselves are false.
I am not a master of anything. I am not even master of myself. Surrender
means to give everything to the guru, and rid ourselves of the unholy
connection of so many possessions.'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
(6) Embracing the Lord's Guardianship '"O Krishna, please protect me! My dear Lord, kindly accept me as Your
own." Such a prayer, as well as the prayer to obtain Sri Krishna as one's
lord and master, is the supreme solace to the hearts of the pure devotees,
and is known by them as Embracing the Lord's Guardianship.'
Fri, 23 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran)
Beyond Illusory
World
'If you want to reach this attainment, it is necessary to give something, to
sacrifice something. There are some rules. We are not tell you to do so many
things, you all know the rules and regulations, but you still cannot leave
your attachment.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Foundation of
Surrender
"When one surrenders to the Lord, even if they are unable to understand
Krishna consciousness, if they practise sravanam, kirtanam, they too
will get a great benefit through that. Through sravanam and
kirtanam, we can clean our heart and understand what a devotee of
Krishna is."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3 Mb, 9 min | 19 October 2018)
The Hare Krishna Mantra
'We must not accept the name as a foreign thing: He is our friend. We should
be quite at home with Him. We are going to attain a very soothing and
friendly connection by the realization of the holy name of Krishna, which is
all-good, all-beautiful, and all-charming. By chanting the holy name we will
attain our most desirable end of life and go back to God, back to home, and
not to any foreign country.'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
(7) Full Self-Surrender 'To summarily offer everything—from body and its paraphernalia up to pure
soul—unto the lotus feet of Sri Hari, is known as Full Self-surrender. All
selfish pursuits are abandoned and every endeavor is for Krishna alone, and
that too, up to the point of completely depending on Krishna for one's
personal means and ends. Having thus cast oneself unto the holy lotus feet of
one's Lord, one can never be swayed from that position, and he engages in
pure devotional service with all his heart forever.'
Sat, 24 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran)
Turn Home
'You must always chant, "Krishna, Krishna" and always follow the four
regulative principles I have told you about just now. We can give up
everything. Please have some faith in the Lord. If you can chant the Lord's
glories and Names, I will be extremely happy.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Strict and
Straight Preaching
"This is what Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur teaches us: you cannot
just close your mouth, you must do what is necessary—you must practise the
real conception and you must preach it also."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 5 min | 19 October 2018)
Service of the Holy Name
'There are so many sayings in the scriptures to encourage our realization of
the holy name in different ways, but Srila Rupa Goswami has given us a
central thought: atah sri krsna namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih.
Our senses, physical or mental, are ineligible to come in touch with the
transcendental. But when we have a serving attitude, He comes down to us of
His own accord.'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
(8) Surrender in Humility '"O Lord, please protect me, protect me..." Such an internal sense of
heartbreak in the devotees, which causes their remembrance in love, in all
circumstances, of the extension of grace from the unequaled and unexcelled
ocean of compassion, Sri Hari, and which characteristically causes them to
ever remember their feeling of most lamentable destitution, is known by the
learned as Surrender in Humility.'
Sun, 25 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran)
Gross and
Subtle Cheating
'If I make up my own teachings or conception (which is not found anywhere in
the scriptures) and go about telling others about it, how will that work? How
can any random idea be accepted as a path? There are scriptures, and we must
follow what is prescribed by the scriptures.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Do Not Ruin
Yourself
"Maya (illusory environment) is always very active, and we can fall down any
time. We must become servants of Nityananda Prabhu, servants of Gurudev,
servants of devotees—if we can become their footdust, that is sufficient for
our spiritual life."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | 20 October 2018)
Nectar of the Holy Name
'Not only the sound of the holy name of Krishna is necessary, but also the
proper meaning, the substance, the spirit of the sound. Only the physical
aspect of the holy name is represented in nama-aparadha, offensive
chanting, not the real name. The real name is all spiritual.'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
(9) Words of Nectar from the Supreme Lord 'Herein, collected from the Holy Scriptures headed by
Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita, are words of nectar
directly from the lotus mouth of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is
the nectar to vanquish all sorrow and darkness for the souls surrendered to
the lotus feet of Sri Krishna, and also for those aspiring for exclusive love
for Krishna. It nourishes the lives of the devotees, pleasing their hearts by
fulfilling all their cherished desires for devotional service.'
Mon, 26 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran)
Watch for Milestones
'If you progress down the path of spiritual life, you will be able to
understand how long there is left for you to go to reach the Lord. How will
you understand it? If a boy studies at school, he has to take exams, then he
can progress to the next grade. But here, you yourself can examine
yourself.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
In honour of the
festival of Sri Krishna Janmastami:
• Complete fast till midnight is
spiritually auspicious and prescribed for all devotees whose health permits
it, provided it does not interfere significantly with their service
duties.
• Those who cannot observe complete
fast can take anukalpa prasad (similar to what is taken
on ekadasi).
• Necessary medication can be taken
even if you are fasting (if the medication should not be taken on empty
stomach, some anukalpa can be taken).
• As per the instruction of and
tradition established by Param Srila Guru Maharaj Om Vishnupad Srila B.R.
Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj in Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, devotees spend
the day engaged in various services for the pleasure of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga
and read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (not
Bhagavatam) continuously from the beginning to the end (parayan).
Closer to midnight, the pastime of Krishna's birth can be read from Srimad
Bhagavatam.
• The appearance of Lord Krishna is
at midnight, so, as each year in every branch of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math,
devotees hold a grand celebration offering a special arati and festive bhoga
offering (grain and non-grain) to the Lordships at midnight.
• After the midnight arati, devotees
honour anukalpa prasadam (no grains, like on ekadashi) and retire to rest to
awaken for the mangal-arati and continue the celebration the next day on Sri
Nandotsav. The grain prasadam is kept aside and lovingly distributed to all
the devotees the next day, on Sri Nandotsav. Another special bhoga offering
is made on this day, and the prasad is distributed to the devotees.
• His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila
B.N. Acharya Maharaj: "You must understand what we are making the Janmastami
festival for. To show ourselves and our big ego? No. We are making this
festival to give much nourishment to the devotees through Hari-katha, through
Krishna-katha, by giving good things to them."
Sri Krishna Janmastami Kirtans (Year 2020)
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj chants holy kirtan
prayers on Sri Krishna Janmastami day in the company of august Vaishnavs and
devotees all over the world: • Jaya Dhvani, Vandana
• Sri Guru-charana-padma
• Kabe Sri Chaitanya more karibena daya
• Ohe Vaishnava Thakura
• Parama Karuna pahu dui jana
• Yasoda Nandana Krishna
• He deva bhavantam vande
• Janama saphala ta'ra
• Suno he rasika-jana
• Gopinath mama nivedana suna
• Jaya Radha Madhava
• Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
•
Download / listen to the audio (20.4 Mb, 49 min | 12 August 2020)
Reality the Beautiful
'Afterwards, Ramananda Raya and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had some other
talks, and Mahaprabhu said, “Ramananda, as long as I live I want your
company.” Ramananda replied, “Yes, I must take shelter of Your divine feet
and live there for the rest of my life.”'
• SRI SRI PRAPANNA-JIVANAMRITAM •
(10) Divine Remnants of Nectar 'In the preparation of this book, those who have infused vitality within
my poor heart, or who have assisted in the study, reading, or amendment of
the book, or who have in any other way contributed toward its production—unto
the lotus feet of all those well-wishing Godbrothers and good devotees who
have extended or who may in the future extend their goodwill upon this humble
soul, I hereby offer my obeisances again and again.'
In honour of Sri Krishna Janmastami (Hari-katha from the holy lotus
mouth of His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj,
spoken in 2020 and 2019):
Recommendation • Is "Madhava-tithi" only ekadasi? • What is your advice to those who want to take
initiation? • What do we read on Janmastami
day? • Is it possible to take medication on
Janmastami?
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.2 Mb, 3 min)
Prayerful Meditation
"Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani are our meditation, we always worship
Them, but we do not want to become sahajiyas—it is not cheap, it is the
highest attainment! We must pray to the Lord today. We must express what is
our present position. We are in this situation at present—how can the Lord
rescue us from this kind of situation?"
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 6 min)
Misconceptions
about Lord Krishna's Appearance
"Without Lord Krishna's appearance life is meaningless. If you read Srimad
Bhagavad-gita, you can easily understand the meaning of Janmastami and
who Krishna is. People can say many things, but our vision is not like
that—we see it in a different way."
•
Download / listen to the audio (8.1 Mb, 20 min | Incl. reading from
Guidance 3)
Entering Another Plane
"If you can fulfil Gurudev's desire, if you can follow everything and become
a 100% devotee, a surrendered soul, then you will have the strongest faith
that what Gurudev said ('If you follow Krishna consciousness properly, you
will not have to come again') is the truth."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.2 Mb, 3 min)
Sri
Krishna Janmastami: Celebrate and Realise
"What we are making the Janmastami festival for? To show ourselves and our
big ego? No, we are making this festival to give much nourishment to the
devotees through Hari-katha, through Krishna-katha, by giving good things to
them."
•
Download / listen to the audio (9.3 Mb, 27 min | 22 August 2011)
Sri Krishna Janmastami
Message
"Good things are coming to us in the future. All devotees should stay
together—we must all together celebrate this Janmastami vrata
maha-mahotsav, serving Krishna's devotees with tolerance, humility and
giving honour to others."
•
Download / listen to the audio (0.8 Mb, 2 min | 23 August 2019 |
English)
"Raise the Anchor,
Sir!"
"In the devotional line, this body is compared to a boat, and the helmsman of
the boat is the Guru. If we can stay aboard the boat that Gurudev is sailing,
then we can cross over the Viraja River and come to stay with Krishna in
Goloka Vrindavan."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 8 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Gopal's Pastimes
"When Kamsa got the news of the child's birth, he was astonished that it was
a girl, Maya. When he killed her, she rose in the air and said, 'He who will
kill you already lives in Gokula.' After that, Kamsa began his atrocities.
Who did he send first? Putana."
•
Download / listen to the audio (6.3 Mb, 18 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Lord's
Stealing and Rewarding
"There are many other pastimes that Lord Sri Krishna performed. There was
also a funny pastime at Chir Ghat. This pastime has a deep meaning. Many
think this is funny, but actually it is not—this pastime is all about
self-surrender."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Mercy Incarnate
"By a great mercy and fortune, we have got the darshan of
sadhus, Guru and Vaishnavs in this lifetime. Having got their
darshan, we have got everything! By getting their darshan,
hearing Hari-katha from such Vaishnavs, hearing about such Vaishnavs'
qualities purifies the heart."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Fall at the Lord's
Feet
"It is my prayer to you all—please, always chant the glories of the
Vaishnavs, Gurudev, and the Lord. We also pray to the Lord that you may all
always engage in service, in Hari-katha, in the kirtan, and that not a
single day may pass in your life without it..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.9 Mb, 6 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Tue, 27 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran; Sri Janmastami Mahotsav,
full fast until midnight, then anukalpa)
Account of
Krishna's Appearance
'I am telling you what Sri Sukadev Goswami spoke from the tenth canto of
Srimad Bhagavatam. This is a chapter about the mystery of Baladev's and
Krishna's appearance to destroy Kamsa.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (29.4 Mb, 55 min | English | 12 August
2020)
"Without Lord Krishna Life Is Meaningless" A beautiful and extensive chapter from Sri Guidance,
Volume 3 (page 32): "We have no relation to the appearance of Lord
Krishna any more. When a demon of enjoyment is born within our hearts at
every second, what is the necessity of Krishna's appearance? When the soul
becomes again favourable towards Lord Krishna, Lord Krishna appears at that
time in the heart of this soul. By the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, Lord
Krishna descends within the hearts of the souls covered by the darkness of
ignorance every year in the rainy season."
Sri Krishna Janmastami Kirtans (Year 2020)
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj chants holy kirtan
prayers on Sri Krishna Janmastami day in the company of august Vaishnavs and
devotees all over the world: • Jaya Dhvani, Vandana
• Sri Guru-charana-padma
• Kabe Sri Chaitanya more karibena daya
• Ohe Vaishnava Thakura
• Parama Karuna pahu dui jana
• Yasoda Nandana Krishna
• He deva bhavantam vande
• Janama saphala ta'ra
• Suno he rasika-jana
• Gopinath mama nivedana suna
• Jaya Radha Madhava
• Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
•
Download / listen to the audio (20.4 Mb, 49 min | 12 August 2020)
Today in the calendar:
Krishna Ashtami. Sri Sri Krishna Janmashtami (Appearance Festival of Lord Sri
Krishna). Complete fast until midnight, then no grains.
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj: "We should
actually be more affectionate with Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda. Tomorrow is
actually the main day—today we are fasting for the Lord, but tomorrow we are
making a festival for Nanda Maharaj."
(Sri Krishna
Janmastami: Service Festival)
"That child Krsna, who, awakening by the sound of butter-churning,
stealthily enters the homes of the cowherd ladies, swiftly blows out the
lamps with the breeze of His lotus mouth and devours the fresh butter—may He
kindly protect me." (Composed by Sri Krishna
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu)
he krsna karuna-sindho
dina-bandho jagat-pate
gopesa gopika-kanta
radha-kanta namo 'stu te
"O my dear Krishna, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the
distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cowherdmen
and the lover of the gopis, especially Radharani. I offer my respectful
obeisances unto You."
"We futilely enjoy many petty senses and the distress it causes
makes us so thirsty that we create a petty phoney version of Sri Krishna.
Because of our false identification, we are fed the idea that instead of
Supreme Lord Krishna a demon-killer Krishna is born on this day. Being
engrossed in enjoyment, does anyone of us ever think what is the necessity to
worship Krishna? How many forms have we assumed being swooned by enjoyment
and how long have we been rejecting the necessity of Lord Krishna's existence
and appearance! We have no relation to the appearance of Lord Krishna
anymore. We merely spend our lives revolving within the cycle of birth and
death. We are always busy reading the news about floods and famine, and just
to get some happiness we become obsessed with various gross and subtle
enjoyment. When a demon of enjoyment is born within our hearts at every
second, what is the necessity of Krishna’s appearance? When the soul becomes
again favourable towards Lord Krishna, Lord Krishna appears at that time in
the heart of this soul. By the mercy of Sri Gurupadpadma, Lord Krishna
descends within the hearts of the souls covered by the darkness of ignorance
every year in the rainy season (August–beginning of September). His
appearance occurs at midnight on the eighth lunar day of the dark fortnight
in the month of Bhadra. Despite this calculation, Lord Krishna's appearance
day occurs eternally. His appearance is not just some historical fact, it is
an eternal truth."
(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj, Guidance 3)
Some of the kirtans that can be sung on this holy day:
•SONG:
Sri Guru Parampara |
শ্রীগুরুপরম্পরা "By Krishna's association, Brahma became devoted to Krishna's service. By
Brahma's association, Narad Muni became devoted... All the Gurus in this
succession are associates of Sri Gauranga. I pray for their remnants."
•SONG:
Janama saphala ta'ra |
জনম সফল তা'র "The birth of one who, by good fortune, has once seen Krishna is
successful. Developing the heart's eyes and seeing Krishna, such a soul
abandons all delusions. Krishna is expert at play in Vrindavan..."
•SONG:
Suno he
rasika-jana |
শুনহে রসিক জন "The transcendental qualities of Sri Krishna are innumerable. Krishna is
the spiritual master of the entire universe, a wishfulfilling desire-tree,
and the captain of the boat in the ocean of material existence."
•SONG:
He deva bhavantam vande |
(হে) দেব ভবন্তং বন্দে "The transcendental qualities of Sri Krishna are innumerable. Krishna is
the spiritual master of the entire universe, a wishfulfilling desire-tree,
and the captain of the boat in the ocean of material existence."
•SONG:
Jaya
Radha-Madhava |
জয় রাধামাধব "Glory to Radha-Madhava, the beloved of Srimati Radharani! Glory to
Kunja-bihari, the Enjoyer of pastimes in the groves of Vraja."
•SONG:
Yasomati-Nandana |
যশোমতীনন্দন "Sri Krishna, who is known as Kana, is Yasoda's darling son, Vraja's paramour, Gokula's delight, the gopis' life and wealth, the enchanter of Cupid, and the conqueror of Kaliya."
•SONG:
Hari he dayala mora |
হরি হে দয়াল মোর "O Hari! O my merciful Lord! All glories to You, the Lord of Radha! So many times I have avoided You, but this time please take me as Your own."
In honour of the
festival of Sri Krishna Janmastami:
• Complete fast till midnight is
spiritually auspicious and prescribed for all devotees whose health permits
it, provided it does not interfere significantly with their service
duties.
• Those who cannot observe complete
fast can take anukalpa prasad (similar to what is taken
on ekadasi).
• Necessary medication can be taken
even if you are fasting (if the medication should not be taken on empty
stomach, some anukalpa can be taken).
• As per the instruction of and
tradition established by Param Srila Guru Maharaj Om Vishnupad Srila B.R.
Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj in Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, devotees spend
the day engaged in various services for the pleasure of Sri Sri Guru Gauranga
and read Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (not
Bhagavatam) continuously from the beginning to the end (parayan).
Closer to midnight, the pastime of Krishna's birth can be read from Srimad
Bhagavatam.
• The appearance of Lord Krishna is
at midnight, so, as each year in every branch of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math,
devotees hold a grand celebration offering a special arati and festive bhoga
offering (grain and non-grain) to the Lordships at midnight.
• After the midnight arati, devotees
honour anukalpa prasadam (no grains, like on ekadashi) and retire to rest to
awaken for the mangal-arati and continue the celebration the next day on Sri
Nandotsav. The grain prasadam is kept aside and lovingly distributed to all
the devotees the next day, on Sri Nandotsav. Another special bhoga offering
is made on this day, and the prasad is distributed to the devotees.
• His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila
B.N. Acharya Maharaj: "You must understand what we are making the Janmastami
festival for. To show ourselves and our big ego? No. We are making this
festival to give much nourishment to the devotees through Hari-katha, through
Krishna-katha, by giving good things to them."
Sri
Krishna Janmastami: Celebrate and Realise
"What we are making the Janmastami festival for? To show ourselves and our
big ego? No, we are making this festival to give much nourishment to the
devotees through Hari-katha, through Krishna-katha, by giving good things to
them."
•
Download / listen to the audio (9.3 Mb, 27 min | 22 August 2011)
Sri Krishna Janmastami
Message
"Good things are coming to us in the future. All devotees should stay
together—we must all together celebrate this Janmastami vrata
maha-mahotsav, serving Krishna's devotees with tolerance, humility and
giving honour to others."
•
Download / listen to the audio (0.8 Mb, 2 min | 23 August 2019 |
English)
"Raise the Anchor,
Sir!"
"In the devotional line, this body is compared to a boat, and the helmsman of
the boat is the Guru. If we can stay aboard the boat that Gurudev is sailing,
then we can cross over the Viraja River and come to stay with Krishna in
Goloka Vrindavan."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.7 Mb, 8 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Gopal's Pastimes
"When Kamsa got the news of the child's birth, he was astonished that it was
a girl, Maya. When he killed her, she rose in the air and said, 'He who will
kill you already lives in Gokula.' After that, Kamsa began his atrocities.
Who did he send first? Putana."
•
Download / listen to the audio (6.3 Mb, 18 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Lord's
Stealing and Rewarding
"There are many other pastimes that Lord Sri Krishna performed. There was
also a funny pastime at Chir Ghat. This pastime has a deep meaning. Many
think this is funny, but actually it is not—this pastime is all about
self-surrender."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.5 Mb, 5 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Mercy Incarnate
"By a great mercy and fortune, we have got the darshan of
sadhus, Guru and Vaishnavs in this lifetime. Having got their
darshan, we have got everything! By getting their darshan,
hearing Hari-katha from such Vaishnavs, hearing about such Vaishnavs'
qualities purifies the heart."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.2 Mb, 7 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Fall at the Lord's
Feet
"It is my prayer to you all—please, always chant the glories of the
Vaishnavs, Gurudev, and the Lord. We also pray to the Lord that you may all
always engage in service, in Hari-katha, in the kirtan, and that not a
single day may pass in your life without it..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.9 Mb, 6 min | 23 August 2019 |
Bengali)
Sri Krishna
Janmastami: No Pain, No Gain
"If we want to get the Lord, we must make an effort—we must practise
bhajan, kirtan, worship, proper behaviour, Vaishnav seva, etc.
We must try our best—we must worship, arrange programmes, practise
sravan and kirtan, serve, offer bhoga, practise daily
well."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.8 Mb, 5 min | 3 September 2018 |
Bengali)
Sri Krishna
Janmastami: A Private Pastime
"Gopal performed many pastimes. You all know that it is going to be
Radhastami, the appearance day of Srimati Radhika, in fifteen days. There is
a story about how She appeared."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | 3 September 2018 |
Bengali)
Sri Krishna
Janmastami: Eternal Pastimes
"Krishna performed so many pastimes in Nanda-gram, but Kamsa would not stop.
Kamsa kept trying to kill Krishna—he had sent many demons (Aghasur, enormous
Bakasur, Vatsasur, etc.), but all of them were defeated by Krishna..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (3.3 Mb, 10 min | 3 September 2018 |
Bengali)
Sri
Krishna Janmastami: Adhikar For Abhisekh
"When people do Durga puja or some other pujas, they usually
fast, so here too—if you are to do the abhisekh of Lord Sri Krishna in
the evening, if you want to get this opportunity, you must fast the whole
day; otherwise you cannot bathe the holy body of Gopal."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | 3 September 2018 |
Bengali)
Kirtans • Mayura-mukuta pitambara-dhari • Jaya Radhe jaya Krsna jaya Vrndavan • He
deva bhavantam vande (Krsna Vandana) • Hari Haraye Namah Krsna • Hare
Krishna maha-mantra.
•
Download / listen to the audio (6.3 Mb, 18 min | 3 September 2018)
"Tell me
about Krishna!"
"Today is the adhivas of Sri Krishna Janmastami, it is a very good day and we
must tell something about Krishna's pastimes. Who knows Krishna? Only
Krishna's parsad (associate), can understand Krishna's
lila."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min | 13 August 2009)
Dear and
Dearmost
"Today we are speaking about some of Krishna's childhood pastimes. We can
actually get Krishna's mercy only through devotees. We always first take
shelter of our Guru's lotus feet because otherwise, without this shelter, we
cannot get any connection with this line."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.9 Mb, 6 min | 13 August 2009)
Appearance of
Lord Krishna
"This festival is celebrated all over the world, and you heard that even in
Nabadwip Dham many people do not know about Krishna consciousness, do not
know about Rupa Goswami's line, but they know Krishna and they fast the whole
day and night for Krishna."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.1 Mb, 7 min | 14 August 2009)
Emporium of All
Rasa
"In Krishna-lila, everything is there—santa-, dasya-, sakhya-,
vatsalya-, madhura-rasa—that is why Krishna is considered the
Supreme Personality of Godhead."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 7 min | 20 August 2011)
Sri Krishna
Janmastami: Service Festival
"We should actually be more affectionate with Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda.
Tomorrow is actually the main day—today we are fasting for the Lord, but
tomorrow we are making a festival for Nanda Maharaj."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | 22 August 2011)
Sri Krishna
Janmastami: Our Fortune and Focus
"We feel very fortunate today to have got a bona fide guru and we are
spending this day for Lord. Many people have a holiday today and are enjoying
with material things, but Krishna's devotees' enjoyment is for Krishna. That
is their hope, that is their fortune."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | 22 August 2011)
Krishna—Purnatama
Bhagavan
"To protect religion and destroy non-religion, the Lord comes to this world
again and again in different ages. On this day, taking a human form, Krishna
appears to bestow auspiciousness onto the world and rescue the fallen
souls."
•
Download / listen to the audio (6.1 Mb, 17 min | 28 August 2013 |
Bengali)
Connect With the
Centre
"We have some material desires and this is called bhava-rog (heart
disease). Who can remove this disease? Who can be our doctor? Krishna can,
but where will you get Krishna? You should think how many per cent you can
surrender yourself. It depends on you."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min | 28 August 2013)
Sri
Krishna Janmastami: Path Back to Home
"We are taking so many things, but our hunger will not finish, there will
always be some material desire. But if you surrender to Krishna, to His
devotee, and if you worship Krishna, if you chant the Holy Name of Krishna,
you will get real benefit, you can go to your real home."
•
Download / listen to the audio (10 Mb | 18 August 2014)
Wed, 28 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran; Sri Nandotsav,
Appearance of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad)
Come Home with Me
'If you come with me, you will be able to come there. Hearing this, you
think, "Oh no! My wife and son will now go with him!" No. I am not telling
you to physically come with me – I am saying that you must leave Maya's
family and come to Krishna's family.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
Today in the calendar:
Krishna Navami. Janmastami-vrata paran is at 5:19:11–9:31:37. Sri
Nandotsav. Appearance of Visva-varenya Tridandi-swami Sri Srimad
Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad.
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj: "Today we are
also making a big festival—we must make Nanda Maharaj happy." "We should
actually be more affectionate with Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda. Tomorrow is
actually the main day—today we are fasting for the Lord, but tomorrow we are
making a festival for Nanda Maharaj."
"Those who fear rebirth in this world may follow the advice of the Vedic
scriptures—others may follow the Mahabharata—but as for
me, I follow Nanda Maharaja, in whose courtyard the Supreme Absolute Truth
plays as a child."
Yasoda's Darling
Krishna
"You know that Krishna was born from Vasudev and Devaki, but how fortunate
Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda Ma are! They got Krishna as their son and could
serve Krishna..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.4 Mb, 5 min | 13 August
2009)
Patita-Pavan
"We worship Lord Sri Krishna, who is so merciful, but Gauranga Mahaprabhu is
even more merciful. Nityananda Prabhu said, 'Prabhu, what are you doing? If
You do not rescue them, then why is Your name patita-pavan?'"
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.6 Mb, 6 min | 4 March 2020)
Krishna's
Childhood Pastimes
"Although Krishna lived in Nanda-gram, He spent much time playing with His
cowherd boyfriends in Gokul. He showed so many things in His pastimes—He
played with cows and dust of Vrindavan (dhuli-khela), He ate soil, He killed
demons..."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.6 Mb, 5 min | 22 August 2011)
Sri Krishna
Janmastami: Service Festival
"We should actually be more affectionate with Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda.
Tomorrow is actually the main day—today we are fasting for the Lord, but
tomorrow we are making a festival for Nanda Maharaj."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2 Mb, 6 min | 22 August 2011)
Rely On Gurudev
"Gurudev is nondifferent from Krishna; at the same time Gurudev is like
Radharani. Many obstacles will come in our practising life, but if we
remember Krishna, if we remember our Gurudev and if we serve our Gurudev,
then they must protect us."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.3 Mb, 6 min | 6 August 2002)
In honour of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad's appearance:
namah om visnupadaya krsna-presthaya bhutale
swami sri bhaktivedanta prabhupadaya te namah
gurvajnam sirasi-dhrtva saktyavesa sva-rupine
hare-krsneti mantrena pascatya-prachya-tarine
visvacharya prabaryaya divya karunya murtaye
sri bhagavata-madhurya-gita-jnana pradayine
gaura-sri-rupa-siddhanta-saraswati nisevine
radha-krsna-padambhoja-bhrngaya gurave namah
"I offer my humble obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada, who is Krishna's beloved associate and who came down to
this plane from Goloka. Taking the order of his guru on his head, he is the
saktyavesa (empowered) avatar of Nityananda Prabhu personified. He
distributed the Hare Krishna mantra all over the Eastern and Western world,
delivering and uplifting all fallen souls. He is the best of millions of
Jagad Gurus, because he is the personification of divine mercy. He has
distributed the sweet nectar of Srimad Bhagavatam and the transcendental
knowledge of Srimad Bhagavad-gita all over the world. He is constantly
engaged in exclusive devotional service to Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati
Thakura, Srila Rupa Goswami, and Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. I offer my humble
obeisances unto Srila Prabhupada, who is like a bumble-bee always tasting the
nectar of the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha and Govinda."
Beacon Light
His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj is giving a concise
account of the close relationship between Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and
Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad.
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.1 Mb, 3 min | 10 March 2016)
Srila Swami
Maharaj Prabhupad
"Without his mercy we would not have been able to think anything today, but
we are very happy and we are making today a festival for Srila Swami Maharaj,
on his appearance day. Everybody must pray for his mercy."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.9 Mb, 9 min | 15 August 2009)
Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad's Mission "Srila Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj Prabhupad has made
a channel to the West, and so many devotees come now through that channel.
Without his mercy we would not have been able to think anything today, but
now, getting the association of international devotees, we feel very
happy."
Prayers to Sri Vaishnav Thakur:
•SONG:
Ei-bara karuna kara |
এইবার করুণা কর "O worshippable Vaisnava, be merciful to me this time. O saviour of the
fallen, without you there is no one. In every birth I aspire for the dust of
your feet."
•SONG:
Ohe Vaisnava
Thakura |
(ওহে) বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর "O worshippable Vaishnav, ocean of grace, be merciful to this servant.
Give me the shade of your feet and purify me. I clasp your feet. You can give
Krishna, you have that power. Calling, 'Krishna!' 'Krishna!', I run after
you."
•SONG:
Ki-rupe paiba seva |
কিরূপে পাইব সেবা "I am so wicked, how will I ever get service? I do not have any attachment to Sri Guru and Vaishnavs! Prabhu, you see no fault in others, you are the saviour of the fallen. Please deliver Narottam this time!"
•SONG:
Dhana mora nityananda |
ধন মোর নিত্যানন্দ "The feet dust of the Vaishnavs is where I sport and take bath, Vaishnavs'
name is the water oblation. My mind is intently fixed upon the remnants of
Vaishnavs, and I am elated hearing the name of Vaishnavs."
Thu, 29 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran)
All That
Glitters Is Not Gold
'I told you that there many gurus roaming in this world, just as there
are many doctors roaming in this world. Some doctors will give you medicine
and say, "Eat whatever you want," but will your disease go away like that?
Tell me.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Servant
Consciousness
"This is the main thing that we must understand in our spiritual life. It is
not necessary to be a Vaishanv—it is necessary to be a servant of a Vaishnav.
Try to understand what the siddhanta, the main conception, is."
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.3 Mb, 4 min | 20 October 2018)
Preface
'We are happy that we have been relieved of this horrible type of malady by
the mercy of His Divine Grace. He is our “eye-opener,” our eternal father,
our eternal preceptor and our eternal guide. Let us therefore bow down at his
lotus feet on this auspicious day.'
—: Sri Hari Smaran Month :—
(16 August—18 September)
10 September(Tue)
Appearance of Sri Lalita Devi
11 September(Wed)
Appearance of Srimati Radharani (Sri Radhastami) (fast until noon)
15 September(Sun)
Appearance of Srila Jiva Goswami, Lord Vamanadev
16 September(Mon)
Appearance of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur
17 September(Tue)
Disappearance of Srila Haridas Thakur
Fri, 30 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran; fast on Sri
Paksavardhini Mahadvadasi)
Do Not Cheat Yourself
'People say many things. If you pour water on a seed, the seed will spout and
grow, but if you pour too much water on it, it will rot. If we try to enter
where we have no right to enter – if we want to know more and more – the
sprouts of our devotional seeds will be destroyed. Remember this.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Traversing Maya-Samudra
"O Lord! I am doing so many offences—thousands of thousands of offences. I
have already fallen into so much maya. I do not have any qualities—and
I have no other way, I surrender to you, I am throwing myself at your feet!
Please hijack me!"
•
Download / listen to the audio (1.7 Mb, 5 min)
Introduction
'A gentle touch of Sri Guru’s merciful hand can wipe away the
incessant tears from all weeping eyes. A patriot or philanthropist makes the
problem only worse in his frantic and futile attempt to alleviate the
deep-rooted pain of a suffering soul, as an ignorant doctor does in eagerly
handling an unfortunate patient. Oh the day when this poor soul realizes the
causeless grace of Sri Gurudeva.'
Sri Ekadasi Guidance Guidelines on how to observe and honour this holy day: Ekadasi takes an
indispensible part in the life of a sincere practitioner. At Sri Chaitanya
Saraswat Math, Ekadasi and paran are observed with affection and without
fail according to the dates given in the Calendar.
Srila B.R. Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj about fasting on ekadasi and
accepting material facilities:
"One time, a devotee came here from Vrindavan on the day of
ekadasi. He reached in the evening and, after taking bath in the
Ganges, attended kirtans, danced, circumambulated the temple and so
on. Then, I asked him whether he would take any anukalpa. He replied,
'Generally, I do not take anything, but if you like, then, of course, I must
take anukalpa. Your will is greater than my fasting.' That was his
decision.
"My Guru Maharaj (Srila Prabhupad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur)
always wanted maximum energy: you should take good food and do good service.
That was his maxim. Krishna is not a liquidated party: take full
prasadam and do full service. Do maximum service, and you should take
whatever is necessary for that. You are to take it for the cause of Krishna,
not for your own cause. You are Krishna's, so if you grow weak, His service
will be hampered, and both you and Krishna will be losers thereby. 'My
soldiers will be well-fed and well-working.' That was our Guru Maharaj's
principle. Napoleon said, 'One full-fed soldier is equal to ten half-fed
soldiers.'
"So, prasad-seva: if it is service, then it must be taken in a
serving mood, of course. But, at the same time, the individual position of a
devotee should be taken into consideration. Sahajiyas do not Fast on
ekadasi at all: 'Oh, we are in Vrindavan, and there is no fasting in
Vrindavan.' But Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Prabhupad did not like that –
it is sahajiya (imitation) if you go on feeding your senses in the
name of Krishna-bhakti (devotion to the Lord). For the service to Krishna, it
is necessary to keep up the body and to provide nourishment to it, so we must
take what is necessary for service. We do not like it if by fasting a loss of
energy is effected. If fasting does not hamper your service, you may go on
fasting – perhaps, your gurudev wanted that...
"For service, I must accept what is necessary to make me physically
fit so that I can render more service. So, accepting material things is not
objectionable. It is fruitful, not detrimental. Rather, it produces something
of a pure character, which helps everyone. This is how a disciple receives
and accepts things. At that same time, he may even blame himself, 'I cannot
go on with my worldly life without the help of this or that!' He will blame
himself, but the underlying spirit must be, 'If I do not take it, I shall be
unfit; I will not be able to do my bit of service to the Lord, to my
gurudev.'
"Moreover, by taking up renunciation, I will be a loser. I will incur
a loss for myself, for the world, and my guru's service will be
hampered. In this spirit, devotees are to take everything. For the cause of
Krishna, for the cause of their guru, they will accept anything.
"Suppose there is a very miserly karmachari (manager). Because
he does not want to spend money, he may not attain a particular result; then,
some difficulty comes, and the opportunity is lost. This manager will be held
responsible by the proprietor: 'Why did you not spend money? Why are you
afraid of spending money from my store? Because of your miserly habit, the
opportunity has been lost! Why should you not spend My money for My
interest?' So, to render service to Krishna, to my gurudev, to
Vaishnavs, to the world, to everyone, I must keep up this mundane body, and I
am entitled to take something for that.
"Miserliness is mayavada; it is the renunciation spirit, and it
will mar Krishna's interest. What we need is yukta-vairagya: I shall
take from the store of Krishna to keep myself fit and to do service. It is
Krishna's account, and if I do not do that, I should be a separatist, a
mayavadi, a renunciationist. I shall render maximum service to
Krishna, and I must take without any hesitation whatever is necessary to make
myself fit for the service; otherwise, I shall be punishable."
•"Sri
Ekadasi"
(Sri Sri Prema Vivarta)
"One day, Gaurahari left the Gundicha Temple and sat in the Jagannath
Vallabha garden. It was pure Ekadasi, and the Lord spent the whole day and
night chanting the Name of Krishna..."
•SONG:
Suddha-bhakata |
শুদ্ধ ভকত-চরণ-রেণু "I carefully observe the holy days related to Madhava, they are the mother
of devotion."
•SONG:
Sri hari-vasare |
শ্রীহরি-বাসরে হরি "On the holy day of Sri Hari, Sriman Mahaprabhu, the life and
soul of the universe, began dancing..."
"You do not need to know the meaning of each ekadasi tithi because if
you know it, you will want to get this result, that result, etc."
(Srila B.N. Acharya Maharaj)
Sat, 31 August 2024 (Sri Hari Smaran)
Soul's Plight
'There are 60,000 jiva souls standing in a queue to get a nice body at
every moment, and only one of them gets a human birth. Everybody gets a body
according to the result of their actions.'
•
Download / listen to the audio (83.1 Mb, 168 min | 20 January 2019 |
Bengali)
—{ Sri Gurupadpadma's Worldwide Address }—
Appreciating Sadhu
(1)
"You can get proper advice through good association, and you can become a
proper servant of Vaishnavs through that. Without the association and advice
of a proper, perfect sadhu, you cannot realise proper things.
Everything comes from the sadhu."
•
Download / listen to the audio (2.5 Mb, 7 min | 22 October 2018)
Surrender to Sri Guru
'We must accept any way and any alliance that will help us gain entrance into
that realm. We shall try to have even the slightest connection with that
perfect goal of our innate aspiration. We are helpless; we are hopeless in
the midst of disappointment. We are in extreme danger. We rely on our free
will, our capacity of selection for our own good, but it is too minute and
helpless to guide us. What danger we are in! All around us are witnesses to
this danger. How important is a real guru who can guide us to our real
welfare.'
'Hari-vasar activities are like this. Every day when the
sankirtan started, Mahaprabhu started to dance. They would start at
Srivas Pandit's angan early in the morning and first sing the 'Gopala
Govinda' song..'