Sri Radhastami: Do Not Cheat Yourself

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj,
Sri Radhastami class, part 1
23 September 2012

Today is a very good day, today is the holy appearance day of Srimati Radharani. I will tell something about Her appearance today. You have all heard the kirtan,

রাধা-ভজনে যদি মতি নাহি ভেলা ।
কৃষ্ণ-ভজন তব অকারণ গেলা ॥

radha-bhajane yadi mati nahi bhela
krsna-bhajana tava akarana gela

"If you do not worship Srimati Radharani, your worship of Krishna is nothing."

Without worshipping Radharani, without Her mercy, we cannot do anything—we cannot do any service. Radharani's lotus feet are non-different from the lotus feet of Sri Guru. If we do not serve the Guru, we cannot get the Lord—without mercy of Radharani we cannot get the mercy of the Lord. She is the acme of divine love ("Radhika-charana-padma, sakala sreyera sadma—the lotus feet of Sri Radha are the abode of all auspiciousness, the supreme goal of life"). The highest power, the highest thing is that, but "vando muni savadhana mate (বন্দোঁ মুঞি সাবধান মতে)"—I carefully offer my obeisance there.

What kind of rasa, taste, does Radharani get? Krishna Himself thought, "What sort of feeling does Radharani experience when She serves Me? Why does Radharani cry when She chants My Name? I must taste this!" So, the Lord Himself appeared in this Kali-yuga in a combined form of Radha-Krishna as Gauranga Mahaprabhu. He came to Gaura Dham:

শ্রীগৌড়মণ্ডলভূমি, যেবা জানে চিন্তামণি,
তার হয় ব্রজভূমি বাস ।

sri-gauda-mandala-bhumi yeba jane chintamani
tara haya vraja-bhume vasa

"Those who always think about Sri Nabadwip Dham, reside in Sri Vrindavan."

গৌরপ্রেমরসার্ণবে, সে তরঙ্গে যেবা ডুবে,
সে রাধামাধব-অন্তরঙ্গ

gaura-prema-rasarnave se tarange yeba dube
se radha-madhava-antaranga

"One who swims in the waves of the nectarean ocean of divine love for Sri Gaura is an intimate associate of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava."

So, if somebody thinks about Gaura Mandal, the abode of Gaura, they live in Vrindavan. We do not chant "Radhe! Radhe!" We only chant Radharani's kirtans on Her appearance day, other than that we always chant, "Nitai Gaur, Nitai Gaur!" Why? Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared in this world as a combined form of Radha-Krishna—if you chant, "Radhe, Radhe," you will not get Radharani. It is necessary to serve Radharani, that means to serve Gurudev.

You can see in Vrindavan that some chant, "Radhe, Radhe" and ask for money. This is not good. Do you think they get Radharani in this way? Guru Maharaj said that in next life such people will be born as monkeys. Once, I asked Guru Maharaj who the monkeys in Vrindavan are, and Guru Maharaj replied, "They are fallen babajis." They say, "Radhe, Radhe," but they are doing this for their own enjoyment, for their own eye exercise—they are not serving Radharani. Real service to Radharani is actually service to the Guru. Otherwise, you take the name of Radharani and earn some money in this way—do you think this is Radharani's service? No. They do this for their own enjoyment, for their own purpose—they are using Radharani for their own benefit, they are using Guru for their own benefit instead of serving the Guru. This is not spiritual consciousness, this is material consciousness. You cannot get Radharani in this way.

It is necessary to know bhajana-siddhanta (what the real service is)—if you do not know it, you will not get anything.

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