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Сверхпроводник Духа
Гуру — поток преданности
Нектар, дающий жизнь

Риши — джн̃а̄нинас таттва-дарш́инах̣ [Бхагавад-гита, 4.34]. Они выражают, высказывают то, что увидели; то, что им открылось. Они стали сверхпроводниками. Я не смог бы объяснить это с глубоко научной точки зрения, даже если бы захотел. Но вкратце идея такова: когда по медным проводам идет ток, они нагреваются, потому что часть сопротивления материала току преобразуется в тепло. Но некоторые виды керамики, охлажденные до абсолютного нуля [−273 °C], становятся сверхпроводниками. Сопротивление току в них нулевое, и поэтому они становятся сверхпроводниками.

Вот как следует понимать глубину смирения и самоотрицания, которые проявляют вайшнавы. Никто не проявляет бо́льшего смирения, и одновременно с этим, никто не может явить столько же или больше, чем проходит через них. Как это понять? — Через них нисходит и проявляется высочайший поток, а они говорят: «Я такой низкий, такой падший»… — Они стали сверхпроводниками.

Нам нужно понять, что говорит Шрила Шридхар Махарадж: в смирении нет утверждения, агрессии. Скорее, наоборот, противоположность самоутверждению до такой степени, что человек предлагает себя как инструмент. Обладающие столь глубоким смирением достигли в этом плане «абсолютного нуля». Сознание Кришны измеряется от обратного: насколько человек не стремится к самоутверждению, агрессии и считает, что он занимает низкое положение, — мы понимаем, что в такой степени он соприкоснулся с глубокой, возвышенной, великой духовной субстанцией.

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Original tape in English

Video with Russian subtitles



English

Srila Bhakti Sudhir Goswami Maharaj

SuperConductor of Spirit:
Guru is Current of the Devotion

Dive Deep into Reality | Beauty Over Power


[Preface]

Goswāmī Mahārāj: The actual, substantial devotees of the Lord, they’re rare to be found in this world. But, Guru Mahārāj reminds us, “There’s another world where everyone is of that quality.” And, there’s gradations still, but everyone is of that quality. Right. But in this world, su-durlabhā bhāgavatā hi loke [Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya: 13.2.4].

#00:00:29#

[Introduction]

#00:00:44#

Conception is the substantial thing. The objective world is the least aspect. It is conception where substance is to be found. This is the world; the objective world of misconception. But there’s another world based on pure conception. So, bhakti-latā-bīj means a conceptual seed. So, under the under the in... the dust of the lotus feet of one place Saraswatī Ṭhākur says, you know, dhūlī, it means under the influence of that divine substance which is personified in a particular devotional personality. Coming under their influence, beginning to see things the way they see things. Through that, through the devotional eye, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena, santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti [Bs: 5.38.1–2]. Doesn’t say that the premik-bhaktas are seeing the Paramātmā in their heart. Right, yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ [Bs: 5.38.3]. But, the acintya-guṇa-svarūp of Śyāmasundar-Kṛṣṇa is manifest in their hearts. The deep heart’s core means their... their deepest plane of internal consciousness. Where in the svarūp form... the devotional form expression; the form expression of their devotion is manifest.

#00:02:15#

[Dive Deep into Reality:
Mādhurya—The Sweetness]

We’re all inconceivably fortunate to have even a remote connection with this plane, but, by the grace of our Guru-varga. Sometimes in the words of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur, he said, “What is that illumination?” That momentary glimpse like, coruscating flashes of lightening brilliance. Where for moments we may have a glimpse of that plane, of that higher reality of the soul’s potential and identity in that domain. But, it’s all a gift, the wealth of Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur.

#00:03:13#

[SuperConductor of Spirit—
Guru is the Current of Devotion—
Life-giving Nectar]

So, that’s Guru Mahārāj’s point, “Can the Infinite make Itself known to the finite?” Then, how does he do that? Āmnāya−Revealed Truth, it won’t be acquired truth based upon pratyakṣa, or parokṣa: individual experience, collective experience. Right. It will be Revealed Truth. He’ll make Himself known. How? Through sādhu, śāstra, Guru, Vaiṣṇav agents. As Guru Mahārāj says, “The ṛṣis...” Interesting that, that word is used. The Sanskrit, it means like dṛśi, dṛṣṭvā—to see, observe. So, they’re observers of reality. Right, seer’s in that sense. Darśan means to see. It also means, it’s synonymous with philosophy and view point; perspective.

#00:04:13#

The Sanskrit word for ‘to create,’ is sārṣṭi or sṛṣṭi. Right. They’re not told... They’re not creating anything, the ṛṣis. They’re and even—just as a side point—great literary analyst will actually point out all writers, in varying degrees are under the influence of other writers. No one’s writing anything—quote, end quote—‘original.’ So, someone even wrote a book called The Anatomy of Influence. However, you can find someone is influenced by another thinker, another thinker, another think... It’s like a Guru-paramparā. Right. You can make it original expression, but to say that you’re just totally creating something without any influence from anyone, is a dishonest position.

#00:05:16#

So, the ṛṣis, jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ [Bg: 4.34.4]. What they’ve observed, which been revealed to them, their expressing, they’re giving emph... [emphasis] to that. They achieve a state of which called Superconductivity. Without getting into the science of this—which I couldn’t if I wanted to. The ideas we know like, wires connect... you know, like a copper wire, you know, current passes through, but they get hot. Because, some resistance to the current translates into heat. But here we’re told, if these ceramics are reduced to absolute zero, they achieve a state of superconductivity. There’s zero resistance to current and so they become superconductors. That, this is how to understand the, the depth of negativity and humility that is expressed by the Vaiṣṇavas.

#00:06:19#

Because, on one hand, there... there’s no greater depth of humility being expressed. And, at the same time, the ou... the output of current cannot be equaled or surpassed. So, how is that possible? It’s the highest-level current that’s passing through them and being expressed. And they’re saying, “I’m so low, so fallen.” They become superconductors. So, if we understand what Guru Mahāṛāj is saying, “Is humility, there’s no assertion, there’s no aggressiveness in humility.” Rather, it’s the opposite of that, it’s non-assertion to the point of offering oneself as an instrument. And, the greater the depth of humility, means they’re approaching in this sense, absolute zero in terms of humility. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is measured in the inverse, to the degree that one is non-assertive, non-aggressive, and conceives of them self in a low position. We can understand, that is the outcome of being in touch with deep, higher magnitude of spiritual substance.

#00:07:32#

So, Kavirāj Goswāmī, what he expresses in his humility is painful to hear, but if we measure it in the inverse, we can understand he’s approached the absolute zero, right? Where there’s zero resistance to current. Arjuna has zero resistance to current. Śrīla Prabhupād, Swāmī Mahārāj, had zero resistance to current, the order of the Guru. There’s a current. Guru Mahārāj sometimes, he calls it, “Rādhārāṇī’s suggestion.” The suggestion comes for sevā, and then ego creates resistance, and is thrown off in a type of heat dissipation. Whereas, when there’s zero resistance to that, as Prabhupāda said in, vyavasāyātmikā buddhir, ekeha kuru-nandana [Bg: 2.41.1–2]. Reading the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, where Viśvanāth [Ṭhākur] glosses this as, “The resolute determination to offer oneself fully to the order of Guru.”

#00:08:37#

That’s what Prabhupād did. That’s what Kavirāj Goswāmī does. It’s what Arjun does. Once, in this regard, Prabhupād said, “Arjun, he chants the supreme mantra.” You think, “Oh, you mean the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra?” Not in this context. He said, “The supreme mantra, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava” [Bg: 18.73.4]. I’m prepared to act according to your instructions. Guru Mahārāj to Gurudev, “Will you act, are you prepared to act according to my instructions, or follow your mind?” It’s Bhagavad-gītā. It’s personified. These are not trivial dialogue or conversation. It’s very critical and important, emana durmati, saṁsāra bhitare... [Śa: 8.1]. There’s a reason, everything’s connected. They’re not just random things being appreciated. They’re all connected.

#00:09:34#

So, zero resistance to that current, offering oneself as an instrument, an agent. As Guru Mahārāj says, “When you give the class, we offer the flower garland to the book and then offer ourselves as agent for divine revelation.” The book is posing as in a passive position, as a book, digital media, or any other way. Right. But actually, it’s spiritually conscious substance in a passive representation. So, the devotees for whom the spiritually conscious substance is a living, dynamic, accessible, palpable thing, they’re offering themselves in service, bhajanīya sarva-sad-guṇa viśiṣṭā. This is the natural outcome of one’s really has some appreciation.

#00:10:32#

Just to talk so much about Kṛṣṇa, this, that, or the other thing, unless one offers oneself in service, and not only directly, but, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ [Cc: Madhya-līlā, 13.80.4]. And Guru Mahārāj spells it out quite clearly. Not only slave, but slave of the slave of the slave, not even directly the slave. We know in recording, like MIDI, the Musical Instrument Digital Interface. So, you have, what do you call it? The master unit, and the other unit is called the slave. The slave does whatever you do on the master unit, the slave unit does. It’s something like that. Master-slave relationship. But we’re very afraid to hear these terms because of secular humanism. So, we get nervous and start to sweat when we hear about slavery and master-slave relationship. Right.

#00:11:43#

But what we ignore is when Kṛṣṇa says, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham [Bg: 4.11.1–2]. “If you become my slave, then I become your slave.” The infinite comes under the control of the finite. That we fail to factor. Kṛṣṇa is addicted to the love and affection in the hearts of His devotees, ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno, hy asvatantra iva dvija [SB: 9.4.63.1–2]. Ninth canto, Ambarīṣ. First canto He said, “Svarāṭ: He’s independent.” We were saying, “Oh, that means there’s nothing you can do.” But here He’s saying, “In the presence of devotion, it’s as if I lose my independence.” That’s how powerful śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī ca sā [Brs: 1.1.17.4] devotion is.

#00:12:40#

That Kṛṣṇa becomes, in this sense, powerless in the presence of devotion. The supreme powerful becomes powerless or becomes the plaything of the devotee. So, the ladies of Vṛndāvan can say, [clapping of hands] “Gopāl, dance. Come on, dance.” And Kṛṣṇa starts dancing for their amusement. Guru Mahārāj compares all these great devotees to different lenses. Through the lens, you can see what is otherwise invisible. So, what was not visible or what was invisible to the naked eye, through the medium of the telescope, what was remote and far became nearer and clearer to us. So, Guru Mahārāj talks of the telescopic system.

#00:13:40#

A series of lenses that Govinda is like a jewel in the palm of Rūpa and Sanātan. And as they rotate the jewel in their palm, coruscating flashes of brilliance, perspective, realization, understanding are being revealed. Rūpa Goswāmī showing one way, Sanātana Goswami showing in another way. Very beautifully expressed there by Baladev. So, by hearing the devotional expressions of different devotees, different paths are open to us. Different aspects of what they say resonates in our hearts and gives us some encouragement to go forward. When we speak of sādhus, we mean those who represent these things.

#00:14:44#

We want the association of those who, you know, Kṛṣṇa loving people, the superior devotees. As this conception is coming from Caitanya-caritāmṛtam, from our Guru-varga, we consider the real sādhus like Gurudev, Guru Mahārāj, Swāmī Mahārāj Prabhupād. These are the three sādhus that predominantly we’re focused on. And to the degree that their teachings are reflected in different servitors, we acknowledge that and we seek out that sort of association. We say, “Oh, what they’ve given is being expressed here.” To not recognize that would be detrimental. It’s not… Sometimes people think it is, what is it?.. being unchaste.

#00:15:44#

No, we are chaste to the lotus feet of Srī Guru. And as Prabhupād wrote in his Vyās-pūjā offering to Saraswatī Ṭhākur, he said, “There is only... When we speak of the fundamental principle of Gurudev, we speak of something that is of universal application. Thus, there does not arise any conception of distinguishing mine from yours or anyone else.” He said, “There is one Guru.” Then what? “Who appears in an infinity of forms to instruct you and me and all others.” Right. And Saraswatī Ṭhākur says, “And the Vraja-gopīs searching for Kṛṣṇa.” Everything they see as a possible…They’re looking for… what do you say? As a… that could possibly help them, bring them in connection with Kṛṣṇa. And there Saraswatī Ṭhākur says, “Wherever we see the lotus feet of Sri Guru reflected, we acknowledge that and accept that. That is not being unchaste to our Guru.” Right.

#00:16:52#

Just as in the case of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. Sometimes people thought that of us, but we thought, “This is what... what we’ve heard from Śrīla Prabhupād is pure devotion, is a pure representation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I find the current here.” He’s saying, “This current is our… it is life-giving nectar. We’re that dependent upon it.” Sometimes, he said, “Like the current of a river. Sometimes it’s very narrow, sometimes it’s very wide. But it’s that current that we seek.” And he gave another example. He said... when they talk about the…There are some places where the Gaṅgā enters the Jamuna or the Saraswatī different. So, they say, “Which is it?” And he said, “The saying is, it’s the current.” So, when the water enters the current of the Gaṅgā, it’s Gaṅgā. When it enters the current of Saraswatī, it’s Saraswatī.

#00:17:58#

So, we are… our serving life’s necessity is to be in touch with that current, where that current is flowing. So that’s on the sādhu side, sādhu-saṅge sato vṛtteḥ. We’re told, “Those in the same line, but who are superior, who are acknowledged as superior.” I remember, this is like in Los Angeles in 1981. I’m reading Bhagavad-gītā. I’m reading the śloka,

#00:18:31#

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.13)

#00:18:41#

Believe that’s it. But suddenly I’m reading this, and I’m thinking of all the things I’ve heard from Guru Mahārāj. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha [Bg: 9.13.1]. Mahātmās. Well, who… if you trace the Mahātmā thread; great souls, who were the greatest souls? The Vraja-gopīs. Rādhārāṇī and Vraja-gopis, they who are daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ [Bg: 9.13.2]. Gopīs, they’re totally under the shelter of the daivīṁ prakṛti. And what do they do, bhajanty ananya-manaso [Bg: 9.13.3]. Twenty-four hours engagement. Guru Mahārāj says, “Only possible in madhura-rasa.” So bhajanty ananya, if to the extreme, must mean madhura-ras; gopī-bhājan.

#00:19:38#

So... But anyway, I found this sort of concepts streaming out of the śloka, and I’m thinking, “Where did this come from?” And I realized, “Oh, because I’m hearing from Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj all these other concepts, when I go to look at these things, new things are streaming out, new possibilities of interpretation.” When we say, “Acquire the proper angle of vision.” What is that, gopī-bhāv, the angle of vision of Rādhārāṇī and Vraja-gopīs. How they see things, how they see Kṛṣṇa. What is their method? Vraja-śaraṇaṁ, how they’re offering themselves to Kṛṣṇa, completely, without expectation of any sort of remuneration, ‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana [Cc: Antya-līlā, 20.37.2]. What Guru Mahārāj refers to as compounded interest.

#00:20:35#

Like, someone invests some money, then the interest comes. What does a real capitalist do? Takes the interest and increases the capital. Now it draws more remuneration. Take that interest, expand the capital, and the interest will keep expanding, and the capital will keep expanding. So, Guru Mahārāj said, “That’s the nature of pure devotees. They say, dāsa’ kari’ vetana, means salary, ‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana” [Cc: Antya-līlā, 20.37.2]. Let... I just want to be your servitor with prem as my salary. And what is prem? Increased serving capacity. So, when the interest comes, which we would take it to be enjoyment, ecstasy, or whatever, the devotee’s taking that and increasing their serving capacity. So, everything should be like that. Then that means sincerity can be increased. As the...

#00:21:33#

As Guru Mahārāj would say, “According to the inner awakenment of a devotee is how they view Guru, how they view Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī, the Vraja-gopīs, the whole thing.” And how we view what is the meaning of being sincere. How we view offering ourselves, dīkṣā-kāle bhakta kare ātma-samarpaṇa [Cc: Antya-līlā, 4.192.1]. We’re told, “Really, what is dīkṣā?” We’re going to take it a notch higher, more connotative view. We say, “If we read it care...” It’s when ātma-nivedanam is achieved. Right. When one totally offers oneself. Just as the Vraja-gopīs says, sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg: 18.66.1–2]. Invert it, vraja-śaraṇaṁ.

#00:22:31#

What do they do? They’re pulling babies off their breasts. They’re letting things burn in the oven. They’re throwing their husbands out of the way and running to Kṛṣṇa. That’s what they do. And they’re the leaders of anyone who’s seriously aspiring in the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement. Just to know that these things are there should give us some encouragement to be attentive to our present. That... And that’s what Guru Mahārāj said. Just hearing these, we can’t, we’re not qualified to discuss them, other than in summary form, not to go into detail. Saying, “But just knowing that should give us enough encouragement, inspiration in our present position to dedicate and rededicate ourselves.” No one was ever a loser for surrendering themselves, ever. Right.

#00:23:37#

We’re sitting here trying to calculate about it. That’s a losing proposition, the calculative position. But no one was ever a loser for just utterly, totally surrendering themselves and becoming utterly and totally dependent upon Kṛṣṇa. But we’re... our faith is weak. But Guru Mahārāj says, “As you go east, automatically you’re withdrawing from west.” But as you start embracing Kṛṣṇa conception, taking shelter, pursuing the path of a surrendered soul.

#00:24:23#

bhagavad-bhaktitaḥ sarvam ity utsṛjya vidher api
kaiṅkaryaṁ kṛṣṇa-pādaikā-śrayatvaṁ śaraṇāgatiḥ

(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam: 1.35)

#00:24:32#

Actually, this will give you everything. Sometimes Guru Mahārāj, he liked to tap. Especially when he’s very happy about something, like tapping. And I sat at his lotus feet and he said, he said, well, actually, [chuckling] he said many things tapping on that chair. One was, “I say, reality must be dancing. What do you say?” [Laughing.] But that’s a subject for another time. But this time he said, “You’re familiar with the expression, no risk, no gain.” “Uh huh... yes!” And I say, “That’s what I’ve done. Look, I’m a good boy. You know, I risked everything and then I got your holy lotus feet. And now I got it. So, I couldn’t be happier. Yes, I understand that principle.” And I, I didn’t actually say all these things. I’m just filling you in on the mood.

#00:25:40#

So, but Guru Mahārāj, he, as Gurudev said, “He’s expert at setting traps.” That’s how he would defeat his opponents in debate. And he would count. If he starts counting like this, that’s like one fault, two. He’s making a list of all the things wrong. And he’s got them there. And then he goes through them again. And then he sets traps. And then you fall in these traps and you’re finished. [Laughing.] But you’re, you’re happy to be trapped in the trap. So, he said, “No, you’re familiar with this question, no risk, no gain.” Like, “Yes, Mahārāj.” He said, “And I’m saying it like, cause that’s it. That’s every, you risk and you get, that’s the mood, Prabhu.” You know. And he said, “You know, but there’s a higher stage. And I’m like, “Oh, really?”

#00:26:38#

He said, “Yes, it’s called all risk and no gain.” And I’m like, [gesturing]. “Could you just run that by me again? Did you say all risk and no gain?” And then Guru Mahārāj, as I fallen in the trap and he’s like, “Yeah.” And I’m saying, “I need to read the fine print on this contract. All risk and no gain?” Yes. Now he is really smart. Like he knows I’m totally bewildered. Cause I can’t understand how this is going to have a happy ending, that this is going to turn out well. So, he said, “Yes.” He said, “That is gopī-bhājan.” That is the, let me say, the modus operandi of the Vraja-gopīs.

#00:27:39#

All risk and no gain. I think, “Really?” And he said, “You see, because we think this world is the substantial thing and we have every little faith in the spiritual.” Right. We think that the prospect being put forward by Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is all risk and no gain, vaikuṇṭhera pṛthivy-ādi sakala cinmaya [Cc: Ādi-līlā, 5.53.1]. Here the spirit of the world is made out of cinmaya. Spiritually enriched consciousness, and enriched with what? The ultimate expression of dedicated... dedicating tendency. What do you think? So, because they think this world is substantial, I’m risking everything, and that the Kṛṣṇa conception, or God, or whatever, is an abstract thing, it’s not really get your hands around, arms around.

#00:28:46#

Although, in Kṛṣṇa conception, you can. That should be, like, noted. And you think, “I’m risking everything and gaining nothing.” He’s saying, “But the Vraja-gopīs, their mood is, you know, all risk, no gain. They’re willing to risk everything to gain nothing.” Means, their... it’s for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. Whatever pleases Him. The last verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam,

#00:29:19#

āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām
adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā
yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo
mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ

(Śikṣāṣṭakam: 8)

#00:29:32#

Have no other Lord than You. And that means no other interest, also. Not just, like, Lord, or some kind of a word. This is just saying, “You’re... You are who is important to me.” How important? That, if what makes you happy makes me sad, I’m okay with that. Then that, we think, like, “Gosh, you’re trying, you know, to convince me that I should, my... my target should be making someone else happy, even if it makes me totally miserable.” Right? Put that on the website. So, you think, when it appears to be all risk and no gain, because like Dali said, when they said, “Dali, Salvador Dali, do you believe in God?” He said, “Yes, but I have no faith.” An honest answer.

#00:30:30#

They’re saying, “Because we have no faith, we think it’s all, ‘I’m risking everything, and what am I gaining?’” But as, when the association of devotees and genuine Vaiṣṇavas, as your faith starts to grow, then the hold that this world, the stranglehold it has on the heart starts to be loosened, bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś, chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ [SB: 1.2.21.1–2]. So, he said, “Then you start to realize, as the shift takes place, and you realize, ‘What’s here? All of this will vanish.’ It’s only even, you know, talking about quarks, and this, like, it’s not even really here, in another sense. And it’s just, it will all certainly vanish. But we can live in the plane of our faith.” He’s saying, “So what appeared to be all risk and no gain, converts into all gain and no risk.”

#00:31:38#

You didn’t risk anything. It was only this deluded, egoistic imposition upon persons, places, things of this world that we thought we owned or meant something to us. So, what we’re trying to sell people on is the idea that you’ll sacrifice yourself, be a member of the suicide squad, and everything’s for Kṛṣṇa, and if we’re crushed by, you know, what he does, it’s all good. No, we have to be honest. We don’t feel like that. But the highest devotees feel like that. And really, truly. And that comes from no less than Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. And New Age thought, which is primarily under the influence of humanistic thinking, always putting emphasis on being positive. You should be positive, think positive, talk, create a visualization, etc., and then you’ll get a positive outcome.

#00:32:44#

It all sounds [coughing] good, but there’s something lacking there as well. Because they fail to understand the value of negativity. Negativity is good in this context. We have another context where we’re saying, “No, there’s the negative, and the world of exploitation, and the neutral position, world of renunciation, and the positive world of service.” That’s not how we’re talking. We’re in another context now. We’re talking about current. Here negativity, in my talk right now, means humility. So, the depth of negativity means the depth of humility. What is the outcome? It attracts the positive Kṛṣṇa. Rādhārāṇī is the predominated moiety, the supreme negative. Kṛṣṇa is the predominated moiety, the supreme positive.

#00:33:42#

I remember as a child being given a magnet and two magnets. And knowing when you would put the positive, positive, it would go, “Woohpoou.” You can’t put them together. They repel each other. But when you take positive and negative, they go, “Pfft.” You can’t keep them apart. That’s what is meant. The supreme negative, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, by Her humility, Her self-giving, Her self-offering. Her means, ārādhanā, ārādhita, means Her way of serving is to offer Herself, not to give other things. We think, “Oh, I’ll give something.” That’s another type of service. What is wanted here is ātma-samarpaṇ, self-offering. That is what makes Her who She is. Total self-oblivion and self-offering to Kṛṣṇa without self-extinction.

#00:34:41#

That is irresistible to Kṛṣṇa. He’s drawn like a magnet. Kṛṣṇa Himself coming as a devotee to show this. And not just to show it, but out of intense desire, eagerness has been awakened in Him. It’s the same. It must be true in the original. Not that His position would be any different. You could make the same case, apāraṁ kasyāpi praṇayi-jana-vṛndasya kutukī [Cc: Ādi-līlā, 4.52.1]. Right. That this curiosity was awakened in Him. How?.. The outcome of what? Association with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the Supreme Devotee wakened the curiosity within Him to experience Her position.

#00:35:38#

guru-rūpa-hariṁ gauraṁ rādhā-ruci-rucāvṛtam
nityaṁ naumi navadvīpe, nāma-kīrtana-narttanaiḥ

(Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam: 1.3)

#00:35:51#

Guru-rūpa-hariṁ gauraṁ—the Guru-rūpa of Kṛṣṇa. Meaning, the one who’s going to bring us in connection with Kṛṣṇa, right, through devotion. The Guru-rūp of Kṛṣṇa is Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga-Mahāprabhu. They’re saying, “Oh, He’s come in the mood of a devotee.” Which devotee? Which mood of which devotee? Rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ, enveloped in the heart and halo of Rādhārāṇī. That’s who Gaurāṅga-Mahāprabhu is. And He’s teaching... what is He want, the sort of exclusive devotion that She alone, we’re told possesses, mahābhāv. But Her kind of unconditional dedication to Kṛṣṇa. In the last śloka of the Śikṣāṣṭakam, it says,

#00:36:59#

āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām
adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā
yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo
mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ

(Śikṣāṣṭakam: 8)

#00:37:14#

It’s so beautiful. And this is the end of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛtam and the Antya-līlā, the Śikṣāṣṭakam prayers. And what is she saying there, adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā [Śikṣāṣṭakam: 8.2]. If it’s pleasing to you, not to, or for whatever reason, not to reveal yourself—adarsanaṁ, not to show yourself to me, not to reveal yourself to me, that’s my happiness. You think, “Who can say that and really mean it?” But is there some mysterious message there, even for the beginners, the lower section, for us? That... Because we’re always pressing the holy name or the book, or what, to give us something. We’re trying to squeeze something out of it. Right.

#00:38:16#

But She’s saying, “If, for whatever Your reasons are, You’re not revealing Yourself to Me, You’re not presently revealing, I’m happy with that. I’m unconditional. It’s My allegiance to You, My dedication to You, My devotion to You, is not dependent upon You responding in a particular way.” That’s what unconditional means. And Guru Mahārāja, alluding to Mādhavendra Purī, in his verse, what is it... mugdhaṁ māṁ nigadantu nīti-nipuṇā bhrāntaṁ muhur vaidikāḥ. I forget exactly how it goes, but it ends on this line, govinda-pāda-spṛhām.

[Note: The full verse as follows:

mugdhaṁ māṁ nigadantu nīti-nipuṇā bhrāntaṁ muhur vaidikāḥ
mandaṁ bāndhava-sañcayā jaḍa-dhiyaṁ muktādarāḥ sodarāḥ
unmattaṁ dhanino viveka-caturāḥ kāmam mahā-dāmbhikam
moktuṁ na kṣāmate manāg api mano govinda-pāda-spṛhām

(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.4.3–4, Purport)]

Where he’s saying, he has a list of everyone who’s against the pursuit of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. You know, whether it’s family, friends, society, the social structure, whatever it is. You know.

#00:39:24#

And you’re saying, “I’ve joined the cult, I’ve lost my mind, I’m misguided, I’m ignorant. You know, I’m not aware of the latest scientific discoveries or AI, whatever it is.” But... And beautifully he says, “Add one other thing to it.” Because you can have this list of all the reasons why I should be discounted or be just dismissed as being foolish. He’s saying, “That I gave up everything for this pursuit; pursuing Kṛṣṇa conception.” He said, “Add to it, I don’t have it.” It’d be one thing, “I gave up everything and I got it.” He’s saying, “No, add this to it. I gave up all of you and all of your considerations and your world and everything that goes with it for the very thing that I have yet to achieve.” He said, “But I’m not going to budge an inch from my aspiration to serve, to achieve the holy lotus feet of Govinda, govinda-pāda-spṛhām.”

#00:40:42#

It’s very beautiful. So Śrīla Guru Mahārāja will say, “If as an aspiring servitor you can say, ‘After all this time, all this energy invested—and its varying degrees for various devotees, practitioners—that I have nothing to show, I’ve achieved nothing. But I have no other shelter, I’m not interested in pursuing anything else, I’m still determined to go in this direction.’” Then Guru Mahārāj says, “Then you might be a devotee.” [Laughing.] Even then he wouldn’t say, “Then you’re a devotee.” He said, “Then you might just be a devotee.”

#00:41:35#

Because that’s the mood of the devotee, adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā [Śikṣāṣṭakam: 8.2]. Even with... how will fare through non-achievement? It’s easy if you think you’re accumulating something. Also, what is the parallel in... oh, Mādhavendra Purī, ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha he, mathurā-nātha kadāvalokyase—this śloka—kiṁ karomy aham [Cc: Madhya-līlā, 4.197]. What if... without... what will I do now in Your absence? So it’s thematically consistent and you see a connection that devotion proper... how do you say?.. stands in the absence of connection.

#00:42:39#

In the absence of connection of Kṛṣṇa and the absence of the connection of Guru. As Guru Mahārāja says in Śrī Guru and His Grace, “This will be the true test of whether you’re a disciple or not, in the after, disappearance of Guru or in the absence of Guru, how you’re able to stand.” So that person who has this sort of singularity... singular purpose cannot be deviated from that. Even back to like the śrotrīyaṁ brahma-niṣṭam [Mu: 1.1.12], tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta, jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam, śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ [SB: 11.3.21.1–3]... niṣṇātā, niṣthā, they’re... they’re just laser focused on this one thing. Not their achievement, but their attempt to serve however remotely, govinda-pāda-spṛhām, to serve the lotus feet of the Lord and through the agency of His devotees. Right.

#00:43:53#

And it is this laulyam; hunger, hankering, they have that. Right. We’re in a diseased condition. Only by serving them through service, the sort of appreciation and hunger and hankering that they possess is transferred to the heart of the aspiring servitor. There’s no other way. Only by serving such devotees does this plane open up to us. It’s not janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate [Cc: Madhya-līlā, 8.70.4]. It’s not... you could... not only saying, “Is there nothing you can do on your own to get it?” It says, “Ten million births, janma-koṭi-sukṛtair, ten million births of accumulation of sukṛti will not give it to you.” And you think, “Well, that’s discouraging.” [Laughing.]

#00:44:55#

But it says, “But come in connection with the service of the lotus feet of someone who has it, and it can be awakened in you, by dent of that service. Crossed over, Guru Mahārāja said, “Even the...” Generally, we think of a sequence. Kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, then appreciation for the devotee, and then śāstric depth and understanding, being able to defeat misconception; that which is opposed to Kṛṣṇa conception, the madhyama-adhikārī, and then the uttama, mahā-bhāgavata. Guru Mahārāja said, “A third class, kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, can bypass the madhyam; second-class stage, by service to a mahā-bhāgavata.”

#00:45:51#

That’s how valuable that is. Can, by dent of that service connection, bypass madhyam-adhikārī. Sakhyāya te mama namo’stu namo’stu nityaṃ, dāsyāya te mama raso’stu raso’stu satyam [Vk: 16.3–4]. It’s similar. Yeah, and they’re saying here, sakhyāya means intimacy. Dāsyāya, we have dāsya-rasa. So Dās Goswāmī, the prayojan-tattva-ācārya, it’s also from Vilāpa-kusumañjali. He’s saying, and the way Guru Mahārāja would paraphrase this, he’d say, “If there is no superior servitor present, why would I enter that plane?” It’s one of the deficiencies of Mīrābai, who does not recognize superior servitors. It’s always Mīrā and Kṛṣṇa. No Rādhā, no Lalitā, no Rūpa, no Rati.

#00:46:47#

So Dās Goswāmī is saying, “If there’s no superior, what would I be doing there? My focus is on the least sevā.” Like lalitā-caran of Lalitā-sakhī. Rādhā-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharma-bindu, nirmañchanopakaraṇī-kṛta deha-lakṣām [Śrī Lalitā-aṣṭakam: 1.1–2]. The greatest magnitude of intensity for the least aspect of sevā. That’s the line, the Rūpānuga line. That’s Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s line. Then, but in answering the call of service, then other things are possible. That’s why it’s also pūjala rāga-patha gaurava-bhaṅge. The higher, more intimate, that’s above. We’re concentrating here and what’s before us and what’s appropriate and accessible to us.

#00:47:41#

If the call for sevā takes us into that higher plane momentarily, we’re prepared to answer that. But only out of genuine service necessity, not out of curiosity. And Guru Mahārāja’s saying, “Passport is insufficient to enter that plane. You need a visa.” Passport is a general thing, visa’s specific. You’re granted a visa when the visa-granting officer on behalf of that country determines that it’s in the interest of that country to give you admittance. Not that it’s in your interest, that’s already a given, it’s understood. But when it’s determined it’s in the interest of that country to give you admission, you’re allowed. And that’s the way it is. When it’s determined, then it will be in the interest of the upper world to call you there, to give you admission there, then you’ll enter. Not because you’re curious or you think it’s interesting or any such thing, or you have some intense hunger and greed.

#00:48:53#

Laulyam is a double-edged sword. It’s told to be a disqualification and a qualification. When there’s the greatest magnitude of eagerness for sevā, that’s a good thing. But just the greatest magnitude of eagerness for curiosity, tourism; spiritual tourism, thinking that world is pleasing to your eyes, mind, and senses as an object. You’re taking yourself to be a subject and thinking the name of Kṛṣṇa, the form of Kṛṣṇa, the qualities of Kṛṣṇa, the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, the abode of Kṛṣṇa, taking them to be objects of enjoyment, that disqualifies one. We have to understand, we are an object. That is the super... the subjective... the super subjective realm. And in Guru Mahārāj’s words, the super, super subjective realm, means the aprākṛta-līlā of Kṛṣṇa.

#00:49:52#

So those who are substantially in connection with that, like the prayojana-tattva-ācārya is saying, “I worship the intimate plane that remains above as worshipable, and I’m focused on the service that is before me, happily.” And this is from Dās Goswāmī, who is the prayojana-tattva-ācārya, and has his secret identity in that plane. And he is expressing that sort of thing. So, it’s not something that’s just targeting beginners, like, “They will be told to move along these lines, but…” No, it’s always and forever. And epitomized in Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī Herself, who is promoting others in the service of Kṛṣṇa.

#00:50:48#

I’ve mentioned that within days of joining Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement, they’re trying to encourage the new devotees. And there’re so many Prabhupād says. And we’re told that Prabhupād said, “When…” And I might have heard this, “When someone new comes, that Rādhārāṇī goes to Kṛṣṇa and appeals on their behalf, ‘Kṛṣṇa, you must accept them. They’re better than me.’ Which is impossible and inconceivable, but that is Her heartfelt expression.” And hinted at toward the end of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛtam in the Antya-lilā, and Śrīla Guru Mahārāj interpreting, saying that, “She wants to promote others.” And that in itself is a very beautiful thing.

#00:51:49#

She wants to promote others for, you can say, direct service to Kṛṣṇa. She’s trying to arrange that. And the way Guru Mahārāj portrays this is that She’s saying, “But in some instances there is no one who can do the desired service except Herself.” Very like, a type of sweet humility. But She wants to promote others. But Her mood being reflected in the hearts of Her servitors, they not only want to promote others but really, they want to promote Her. Because they’re saying, “This will be beneficial for everyone,” mahābhāva-svarūpā śrī-rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī [Cc: Ādi-līlā, 4.69.1]. No one can exact, extract more superior quality and quantity of Kṛṣṇa than Her.

#00:53:00#

So, by analysis we can say, “Oh, these servitors of Her, they’re so tactful and they’ve created... and strategic in their target, their goal.” But out of gratitude, Śrīmātī Rādhārāṇī is sharing mahā-bhāv with them, which is beyond the constitutional capacity of a jīva to taste or experience even direct connection with Kṛṣṇa. By a jīva soul directly interacting with Kṛṣṇa, they cannot taste what they can experience in Rādhā-dāsyam. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is mysterious and works in the inverse.

#00:54:02#

And actually, we see in time because of Mahāprabhu and the Goswāmīs. Rādhārāṇī is teaching everyone what is Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. We think, “Oh, there are these great sages and one guy had a big long beard. And he said this and he had giant Tulasi beads and another thing.” No, Rādhārāṇī is revealing Kṛṣṇa, Her and Her group. All the great devotees, they are Her group. The Śikṣāṣṭakam comes from Her. All of these things do. And ultimately the real heart. What did that sign say? Information with heart? [Devotee in audience, “Yes.”] We saw a sign. Information with heart. Not just information, but information with heart. Heart to heart transaction.

#00:55:01#

No one has, in other words, no one has more heart than Her. We’re not interested in knowledge or information, but information with heart. [Laughing.] And that comes from Her. She’s the greatest lover of Kṛṣṇa. That can mean different things. One of the things it means is no one has more love for Kṛṣṇa than Her. So that means no one can impart more love of Kṛṣṇa than Her. The supreme served and the supreme servitors. Predominating moiety, half, and Kṛṣṇa’s better half, the predominated moiety. Rādhārāṇī, svarūp-śakti, hlādinī-śakti, and those fortunate jīvas.

#00:55:57#

They, under the shelter of the āśraya-vigraha, Śrī Guru and his grace, they get the opportunity to render divine loving service under Her guidance and Her serving group, the Rūpānuga line, vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī [Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj: 1.4]. So, he’s saying, “Vilas means play, and divine play. Vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī, may the divine words and the kīrtan and the preaching of Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, may that play in our hearts eternally.” That’s a devotee. That’s a pure devotee. The Master’s voice is playing in your heart. That’s what’s happening to all of us. Every day of our lives, the Master’s voice is playing in our hearts. And that’s why we have some conflict. [Laughing.]

#00:57:00#

Because we can hear the Master’s voice playing in the heart and then realize, “I need to improve.” But the real devotees are saying, “Oh, I don’t want to hear that voice. I want to do wrong. I can’t... I don’t want to hear that voice. I want to do some wrong.” No, real devotees are saying, “No, may I be so blessed, fortunate that I may hear my Master’s voice in my heart eternally. And high fidelity, try and be faithful to what is heard.” That’s what it is. Only a devotee can do that.

#00:57:51#

Prabhupād had an epiphany reading Cakravartī Ṭhākur’s explanation of vyavasāyātmikā buddhir, ekeha kuru-nandana [Bg: 2.41.1–2]. Where he says in the realization—and this is Prabhupād, such perfect disciple—saying, “I have no other reason to exist than to fulfill the order of my Guru.” He could say that, and he personified that. Right. He said, “I don’t exist for any other purpose than to fulfill the, or offer myself in service to the order of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, to give the wealth of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur to the world, śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho tad dātum īśo bhavān [Śrīmad Bhaktivinod-viraha Daśakam: 9.4], the service of the holy lotus feet of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, otherwise known as Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement.”

#00:58:51#

When the Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa, and Mahāprabhu are seeing each other, they’re thinking, “Anyone who has this type of behavior, quality, characteristic, must have some connection with Mādhavendra Purī.” That’s how we understand things in spiritual circles, is by dent of spiritual connections and qualities, characteristics, behavior. That’s how we can detect, really, substantially, who is who, what is what, and who is connected to whom, nāma-śreṣṭhaṁ manum apī sacī-pūtram atra svarūpam [Śrī Muktā-caritām: 2.1]. Manum... They ask Guru Mahāprabhu, “What does it mean?” He said, “The mantraṁ, the supreme mantraṁ, and two, the Gayatri ma... and Kṛṣṇa-mantra.”

#00:59:36#

nāma-śreṣṭhaṁ manum api śacī-putram atra svarūpaṁ…

[Svarūpa Dāmodar]

…rūpaṁ tasyāgrajam uru-purīṁ māthurīṁ goṣṭha-vāṭīm
rādhā-kuṇḍaṁ giri-varam aho! rādhikā-mādhavāśāṁ…

[like Chaitanya Saraswat Maṭh praṇam mantraṁ]

(Srī Muktā-caritām: 2)

…nityaṁ rūpānuga śrī-kṛtamati-guru-gaurāṅga-rādhā-jitāśā

(Guru Maharaj motto for SCSMaṭh: 4th line)

āśā-bharair amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ kathañchit…

(Vk: 102.1)

…rādhikā-mādhavāśāṁ,
prāpto yasya prathita-kṛpayā…

(Srī Muktā-caritām: 2)

#01:00:14#

Guru Mahārāj said, “Normally, devotees will never say they have anything.” Right. They’ll say they’ve not got. Right. They’re aspiring. They don’t say they have. They’re aspiring servitors. But Gurudev said, interestingly, here in the last line, because he’s praising his Guru-varga, Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī says, prāpto yasya prathita-kṛpayā śrī guruṁ taṁ nato ’smi. “By the grace of Śrī Guru, I’ve got all these things. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa, the māntraṁ, the abode of Mathurā, Girirāj-Govardhan, the aspiration to serve Rādhā, rādhikā-mādhavāśāṁ, all of these things.” This is what we get by the grace of Śrī Guru. It cannot be denied. So as fallen as we are, we cannot deny the substance of the grace of Śrī Guru, Gaurāṅga, Rādhā-Govinda. So, we know this line, the followers of Śrīla Bhaktivinod, Sarasvatī Ṭhākur, it’s Mahāprabhu’s line, the Rūpānuga line. They are exclusive aspiring servants of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Captured by Radha Raman Das
Edited by Tradish Das

Bg: Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā

Brs: Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu

Bs: Brahma-saṁhitā

Cc: Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta

Mu: Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad

Śa: Śaraṇāgati

SB: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

Vk: Vilāpa-kusumañjali




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«КНИГА СЕРДЦА»

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Сверхпроводник Духа
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Нектар, дающий жизнь

Риши — джн̃а̄нинас таттва-дарш́инах̣ [Бхагавад-гита, 4.34]. Они выражают, высказывают то, что увидели; то, что им открылось. Они стали сверхпроводниками. Я не смог бы объяснить это с глубоко научной точки зрения, даже если бы захотел. Но вкратце идея такова: когда по медным проводам идет ток, они нагреваются, потому что часть сопротивления материала току преобразуется в тепло. Но некоторые виды керамики, охлажденные до абсолютного нуля [−273 °C], становятся сверхпроводниками. Сопротивление току в них нулевое, и поэтому они становятся сверхпроводниками.

Вот как следует понимать глубину смирения и самоотрицания, которые проявляют вайшнавы. Никто не проявляет бо́льшего смирения, и одновременно с этим, никто не может явить столько же или больше, чем проходит через них. Как это понять? — Через них нисходит и проявляется высочайший поток, а они говорят: «Я такой низкий, такой падший»… — Они стали сверхпроводниками.

Нам нужно понять, что говорит Шрила Шридхар Махарадж: в смирении нет утверждения, агрессии. Скорее, наоборот, противоположность самоутверждению до такой степени, что человек предлагает себя как инструмент. Обладающие столь глубоким смирением достигли в этом плане «абсолютного нуля». Сознание Кришны измеряется от обратного: насколько человек не стремится к самоутверждению, агрессии и считает, что он занимает низкое положение, — мы понимаем, что в такой степени он соприкоснулся с глубокой, возвышенной, великой духовной субстанцией.

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Original tape in English

Video with Russian subtitles



English

Srila Bhakti Sudhir Goswami Maharaj

SuperConductor of Spirit:
Guru is Current of the Devotion

Dive Deep into Reality | Beauty Over Power


[Preface]

Goswāmī Mahārāj: The actual, substantial devotees of the Lord, they’re rare to be found in this world. But, Guru Mahārāj reminds us, “There’s another world where everyone is of that quality.” And, there’s gradations still, but everyone is of that quality. Right. But in this world, su-durlabhā bhāgavatā hi loke [Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya: 13.2.4].

#00:00:29#

[Introduction]

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Conception is the substantial thing. The objective world is the least aspect. It is conception where substance is to be found. This is the world; the objective world of misconception. But there’s another world based on pure conception. So, bhakti-latā-bīj means a conceptual seed. So, under the under the in... the dust of the lotus feet of one place Saraswatī Ṭhākur says, you know, dhūlī, it means under the influence of that divine substance which is personified in a particular devotional personality. Coming under their influence, beginning to see things the way they see things. Through that, through the devotional eye, premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena, santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti [Bs: 5.38.1–2]. Doesn’t say that the premik-bhaktas are seeing the Paramātmā in their heart. Right, yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ [Bs: 5.38.3]. But, the acintya-guṇa-svarūp of Śyāmasundar-Kṛṣṇa is manifest in their hearts. The deep heart’s core means their... their deepest plane of internal consciousness. Where in the svarūp form... the devotional form expression; the form expression of their devotion is manifest.

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[Dive Deep into Reality:
Mādhurya—The Sweetness]

We’re all inconceivably fortunate to have even a remote connection with this plane, but, by the grace of our Guru-varga. Sometimes in the words of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur, he said, “What is that illumination?” That momentary glimpse like, coruscating flashes of lightening brilliance. Where for moments we may have a glimpse of that plane, of that higher reality of the soul’s potential and identity in that domain. But, it’s all a gift, the wealth of Śrīla Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur.

#00:03:13#

[SuperConductor of Spirit—
Guru is the Current of Devotion—
Life-giving Nectar]

So, that’s Guru Mahārāj’s point, “Can the Infinite make Itself known to the finite?” Then, how does he do that? Āmnāya−Revealed Truth, it won’t be acquired truth based upon pratyakṣa, or parokṣa: individual experience, collective experience. Right. It will be Revealed Truth. He’ll make Himself known. How? Through sādhu, śāstra, Guru, Vaiṣṇav agents. As Guru Mahārāj says, “The ṛṣis...” Interesting that, that word is used. The Sanskrit, it means like dṛśi, dṛṣṭvā—to see, observe. So, they’re observers of reality. Right, seer’s in that sense. Darśan means to see. It also means, it’s synonymous with philosophy and view point; perspective.

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The Sanskrit word for ‘to create,’ is sārṣṭi or sṛṣṭi. Right. They’re not told... They’re not creating anything, the ṛṣis. They’re and even—just as a side point—great literary analyst will actually point out all writers, in varying degrees are under the influence of other writers. No one’s writing anything—quote, end quote—‘original.’ So, someone even wrote a book called The Anatomy of Influence. However, you can find someone is influenced by another thinker, another thinker, another think... It’s like a Guru-paramparā. Right. You can make it original expression, but to say that you’re just totally creating something without any influence from anyone, is a dishonest position.

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So, the ṛṣis, jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ [Bg: 4.34.4]. What they’ve observed, which been revealed to them, their expressing, they’re giving emph... [emphasis] to that. They achieve a state of which called Superconductivity. Without getting into the science of this—which I couldn’t if I wanted to. The ideas we know like, wires connect... you know, like a copper wire, you know, current passes through, but they get hot. Because, some resistance to the current translates into heat. But here we’re told, if these ceramics are reduced to absolute zero, they achieve a state of superconductivity. There’s zero resistance to current and so they become superconductors. That, this is how to understand the, the depth of negativity and humility that is expressed by the Vaiṣṇavas.

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Because, on one hand, there... there’s no greater depth of humility being expressed. And, at the same time, the ou... the output of current cannot be equaled or surpassed. So, how is that possible? It’s the highest-level current that’s passing through them and being expressed. And they’re saying, “I’m so low, so fallen.” They become superconductors. So, if we understand what Guru Mahāṛāj is saying, “Is humility, there’s no assertion, there’s no aggressiveness in humility.” Rather, it’s the opposite of that, it’s non-assertion to the point of offering oneself as an instrument. And, the greater the depth of humility, means they’re approaching in this sense, absolute zero in terms of humility. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is measured in the inverse, to the degree that one is non-assertive, non-aggressive, and conceives of them self in a low position. We can understand, that is the outcome of being in touch with deep, higher magnitude of spiritual substance.

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So, Kavirāj Goswāmī, what he expresses in his humility is painful to hear, but if we measure it in the inverse, we can understand he’s approached the absolute zero, right? Where there’s zero resistance to current. Arjuna has zero resistance to current. Śrīla Prabhupād, Swāmī Mahārāj, had zero resistance to current, the order of the Guru. There’s a current. Guru Mahārāj sometimes, he calls it, “Rādhārāṇī’s suggestion.” The suggestion comes for sevā, and then ego creates resistance, and is thrown off in a type of heat dissipation. Whereas, when there’s zero resistance to that, as Prabhupāda said in, vyavasāyātmikā buddhir, ekeha kuru-nandana [Bg: 2.41.1–2]. Reading the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, where Viśvanāth [Ṭhākur] glosses this as, “The resolute determination to offer oneself fully to the order of Guru.”

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That’s what Prabhupād did. That’s what Kavirāj Goswāmī does. It’s what Arjun does. Once, in this regard, Prabhupād said, “Arjun, he chants the supreme mantra.” You think, “Oh, you mean the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra?” Not in this context. He said, “The supreme mantra, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava” [Bg: 18.73.4]. I’m prepared to act according to your instructions. Guru Mahārāj to Gurudev, “Will you act, are you prepared to act according to my instructions, or follow your mind?” It’s Bhagavad-gītā. It’s personified. These are not trivial dialogue or conversation. It’s very critical and important, emana durmati, saṁsāra bhitare... [Śa: 8.1]. There’s a reason, everything’s connected. They’re not just random things being appreciated. They’re all connected.

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So, zero resistance to that current, offering oneself as an instrument, an agent. As Guru Mahārāj says, “When you give the class, we offer the flower garland to the book and then offer ourselves as agent for divine revelation.” The book is posing as in a passive position, as a book, digital media, or any other way. Right. But actually, it’s spiritually conscious substance in a passive representation. So, the devotees for whom the spiritually conscious substance is a living, dynamic, accessible, palpable thing, they’re offering themselves in service, bhajanīya sarva-sad-guṇa viśiṣṭā. This is the natural outcome of one’s really has some appreciation.

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Just to talk so much about Kṛṣṇa, this, that, or the other thing, unless one offers oneself in service, and not only directly, but, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ [Cc: Madhya-līlā, 13.80.4]. And Guru Mahārāj spells it out quite clearly. Not only slave, but slave of the slave of the slave, not even directly the slave. We know in recording, like MIDI, the Musical Instrument Digital Interface. So, you have, what do you call it? The master unit, and the other unit is called the slave. The slave does whatever you do on the master unit, the slave unit does. It’s something like that. Master-slave relationship. But we’re very afraid to hear these terms because of secular humanism. So, we get nervous and start to sweat when we hear about slavery and master-slave relationship. Right.

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But what we ignore is when Kṛṣṇa says, ye yathā māṁ prapadyante, tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham [Bg: 4.11.1–2]. “If you become my slave, then I become your slave.” The infinite comes under the control of the finite. That we fail to factor. Kṛṣṇa is addicted to the love and affection in the hearts of His devotees, ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno, hy asvatantra iva dvija [SB: 9.4.63.1–2]. Ninth canto, Ambarīṣ. First canto He said, “Svarāṭ: He’s independent.” We were saying, “Oh, that means there’s nothing you can do.” But here He’s saying, “In the presence of devotion, it’s as if I lose my independence.” That’s how powerful śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī ca sā [Brs: 1.1.17.4] devotion is.

#00:12:40#

That Kṛṣṇa becomes, in this sense, powerless in the presence of devotion. The supreme powerful becomes powerless or becomes the plaything of the devotee. So, the ladies of Vṛndāvan can say, [clapping of hands] “Gopāl, dance. Come on, dance.” And Kṛṣṇa starts dancing for their amusement. Guru Mahārāj compares all these great devotees to different lenses. Through the lens, you can see what is otherwise invisible. So, what was not visible or what was invisible to the naked eye, through the medium of the telescope, what was remote and far became nearer and clearer to us. So, Guru Mahārāj talks of the telescopic system.

#00:13:40#

A series of lenses that Govinda is like a jewel in the palm of Rūpa and Sanātan. And as they rotate the jewel in their palm, coruscating flashes of brilliance, perspective, realization, understanding are being revealed. Rūpa Goswāmī showing one way, Sanātana Goswami showing in another way. Very beautifully expressed there by Baladev. So, by hearing the devotional expressions of different devotees, different paths are open to us. Different aspects of what they say resonates in our hearts and gives us some encouragement to go forward. When we speak of sādhus, we mean those who represent these things.

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We want the association of those who, you know, Kṛṣṇa loving people, the superior devotees. As this conception is coming from Caitanya-caritāmṛtam, from our Guru-varga, we consider the real sādhus like Gurudev, Guru Mahārāj, Swāmī Mahārāj Prabhupād. These are the three sādhus that predominantly we’re focused on. And to the degree that their teachings are reflected in different servitors, we acknowledge that and we seek out that sort of association. We say, “Oh, what they’ve given is being expressed here.” To not recognize that would be detrimental. It’s not… Sometimes people think it is, what is it?.. being unchaste.

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No, we are chaste to the lotus feet of Srī Guru. And as Prabhupād wrote in his Vyās-pūjā offering to Saraswatī Ṭhākur, he said, “There is only... When we speak of the fundamental principle of Gurudev, we speak of something that is of universal application. Thus, there does not arise any conception of distinguishing mine from yours or anyone else.” He said, “There is one Guru.” Then what? “Who appears in an infinity of forms to instruct you and me and all others.” Right. And Saraswatī Ṭhākur says, “And the Vraja-gopīs searching for Kṛṣṇa.” Everything they see as a possible…They’re looking for… what do you say? As a… that could possibly help them, bring them in connection with Kṛṣṇa. And there Saraswatī Ṭhākur says, “Wherever we see the lotus feet of Sri Guru reflected, we acknowledge that and accept that. That is not being unchaste to our Guru.” Right.

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Just as in the case of Śrīla Guru Mahārāj. Sometimes people thought that of us, but we thought, “This is what... what we’ve heard from Śrīla Prabhupād is pure devotion, is a pure representation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I find the current here.” He’s saying, “This current is our… it is life-giving nectar. We’re that dependent upon it.” Sometimes, he said, “Like the current of a river. Sometimes it’s very narrow, sometimes it’s very wide. But it’s that current that we seek.” And he gave another example. He said... when they talk about the…There are some places where the Gaṅgā enters the Jamuna or the Saraswatī different. So, they say, “Which is it?” And he said, “The saying is, it’s the current.” So, when the water enters the current of the Gaṅgā, it’s Gaṅgā. When it enters the current of Saraswatī, it’s Saraswatī.

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So, we are… our serving life’s necessity is to be in touch with that current, where that current is flowing. So that’s on the sādhu side, sādhu-saṅge sato vṛtteḥ. We’re told, “Those in the same line, but who are superior, who are acknowledged as superior.” I remember, this is like in Los Angeles in 1981. I’m reading Bhagavad-gītā. I’m reading the śloka,

#00:18:31#

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.13)

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Believe that’s it. But suddenly I’m reading this, and I’m thinking of all the things I’ve heard from Guru Mahārāj. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha [Bg: 9.13.1]. Mahātmās. Well, who… if you trace the Mahātmā thread; great souls, who were the greatest souls? The Vraja-gopīs. Rādhārāṇī and Vraja-gopis, they who are daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ [Bg: 9.13.2]. Gopīs, they’re totally under the shelter of the daivīṁ prakṛti. And what do they do, bhajanty ananya-manaso [Bg: 9.13.3]. Twenty-four hours engagement. Guru Mahārāj says, “Only possible in madhura-rasa.” So bhajanty ananya, if to the extreme, must mean madhura-ras; gopī-bhājan.

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So... But anyway, I found this sort of concepts streaming out of the śloka, and I’m thinking, “Where did this come from?” And I realized, “Oh, because I’m hearing from Śrīla Śrīdhar Mahārāj all these other concepts, when I go to look at these things, new things are streaming out, new possibilities of interpretation.” When we say, “Acquire the proper angle of vision.” What is that, gopī-bhāv, the angle of vision of Rādhārāṇī and Vraja-gopīs. How they see things, how they see Kṛṣṇa. What is their method? Vraja-śaraṇaṁ, how they’re offering themselves to Kṛṣṇa, completely, without expectation of any sort of remuneration, ‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana [Cc: Antya-līlā, 20.37.2]. What Guru Mahārāj refers to as compounded interest.

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Like, someone invests some money, then the interest comes. What does a real capitalist do? Takes the interest and increases the capital. Now it draws more remuneration. Take that interest, expand the capital, and the interest will keep expanding, and the capital will keep expanding. So, Guru Mahārāj said, “That’s the nature of pure devotees. They say, dāsa’ kari’ vetana, means salary, ‘dāsa’ kari’ vetana more deha prema-dhana” [Cc: Antya-līlā, 20.37.2]. Let... I just want to be your servitor with prem as my salary. And what is prem? Increased serving capacity. So, when the interest comes, which we would take it to be enjoyment, ecstasy, or whatever, the devotee’s taking that and increasing their serving capacity. So, everything should be like that. Then that means sincerity can be increased. As the...

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As Guru Mahārāj would say, “According to the inner awakenment of a devotee is how they view Guru, how they view Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī, the Vraja-gopīs, the whole thing.” And how we view what is the meaning of being sincere. How we view offering ourselves, dīkṣā-kāle bhakta kare ātma-samarpaṇa [Cc: Antya-līlā, 4.192.1]. We’re told, “Really, what is dīkṣā?” We’re going to take it a notch higher, more connotative view. We say, “If we read it care...” It’s when ātma-nivedanam is achieved. Right. When one totally offers oneself. Just as the Vraja-gopīs says, sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg: 18.66.1–2]. Invert it, vraja-śaraṇaṁ.

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What do they do? They’re pulling babies off their breasts. They’re letting things burn in the oven. They’re throwing their husbands out of the way and running to Kṛṣṇa. That’s what they do. And they’re the leaders of anyone who’s seriously aspiring in the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement. Just to know that these things are there should give us some encouragement to be attentive to our present. That... And that’s what Guru Mahārāj said. Just hearing these, we can’t, we’re not qualified to discuss them, other than in summary form, not to go into detail. Saying, “But just knowing that should give us enough encouragement, inspiration in our present position to dedicate and rededicate ourselves.” No one was ever a loser for surrendering themselves, ever. Right.

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We’re sitting here trying to calculate about it. That’s a losing proposition, the calculative position. But no one was ever a loser for just utterly, totally surrendering themselves and becoming utterly and totally dependent upon Kṛṣṇa. But we’re... our faith is weak. But Guru Mahārāj says, “As you go east, automatically you’re withdrawing from west.” But as you start embracing Kṛṣṇa conception, taking shelter, pursuing the path of a surrendered soul.

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bhagavad-bhaktitaḥ sarvam ity utsṛjya vidher api
kaiṅkaryaṁ kṛṣṇa-pādaikā-śrayatvaṁ śaraṇāgatiḥ

(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam: 1.35)

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Actually, this will give you everything. Sometimes Guru Mahārāj, he liked to tap. Especially when he’s very happy about something, like tapping. And I sat at his lotus feet and he said, he said, well, actually, [chuckling] he said many things tapping on that chair. One was, “I say, reality must be dancing. What do you say?” [Laughing.] But that’s a subject for another time. But this time he said, “You’re familiar with the expression, no risk, no gain.” “Uh huh... yes!” And I say, “That’s what I’ve done. Look, I’m a good boy. You know, I risked everything and then I got your holy lotus feet. And now I got it. So, I couldn’t be happier. Yes, I understand that principle.” And I, I didn’t actually say all these things. I’m just filling you in on the mood.

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So, but Guru Mahārāj, he, as Gurudev said, “He’s expert at setting traps.” That’s how he would defeat his opponents in debate. And he would count. If he starts counting like this, that’s like one fault, two. He’s making a list of all the things wrong. And he’s got them there. And then he goes through them again. And then he sets traps. And then you fall in these traps and you’re finished. [Laughing.] But you’re, you’re happy to be trapped in the trap. So, he said, “No, you’re familiar with this question, no risk, no gain.” Like, “Yes, Mahārāj.” He said, “And I’m saying it like, cause that’s it. That’s every, you risk and you get, that’s the mood, Prabhu.” You know. And he said, “You know, but there’s a higher stage. And I’m like, “Oh, really?”

#00:26:38#

He said, “Yes, it’s called all risk and no gain.” And I’m like, [gesturing]. “Could you just run that by me again? Did you say all risk and no gain?” And then Guru Mahārāj, as I fallen in the trap and he’s like, “Yeah.” And I’m saying, “I need to read the fine print on this contract. All risk and no gain?” Yes. Now he is really smart. Like he knows I’m totally bewildered. Cause I can’t understand how this is going to have a happy ending, that this is going to turn out well. So, he said, “Yes.” He said, “That is gopī-bhājan.” That is the, let me say, the modus operandi of the Vraja-gopīs.

#00:27:39#

All risk and no gain. I think, “Really?” And he said, “You see, because we think this world is the substantial thing and we have every little faith in the spiritual.” Right. We think that the prospect being put forward by Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is all risk and no gain, vaikuṇṭhera pṛthivy-ādi sakala cinmaya [Cc: Ādi-līlā, 5.53.1]. Here the spirit of the world is made out of cinmaya. Spiritually enriched consciousness, and enriched with what? The ultimate expression of dedicated... dedicating tendency. What do you think? So, because they think this world is substantial, I’m risking everything, and that the Kṛṣṇa conception, or God, or whatever, is an abstract thing, it’s not really get your hands around, arms around.

#00:28:46#

Although, in Kṛṣṇa conception, you can. That should be, like, noted. And you think, “I’m risking everything and gaining nothing.” He’s saying, “But the Vraja-gopīs, their mood is, you know, all risk, no gain. They’re willing to risk everything to gain nothing.” Means, their... it’s for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa. Whatever pleases Him. The last verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam,

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āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām
adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā
yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo
mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ

(Śikṣāṣṭakam: 8)

#00:29:32#

Have no other Lord than You. And that means no other interest, also. Not just, like, Lord, or some kind of a word. This is just saying, “You’re... You are who is important to me.” How important? That, if what makes you happy makes me sad, I’m okay with that. Then that, we think, like, “Gosh, you’re trying, you know, to convince me that I should, my... my target should be making someone else happy, even if it makes me totally miserable.” Right? Put that on the website. So, you think, when it appears to be all risk and no gain, because like Dali said, when they said, “Dali, Salvador Dali, do you believe in God?” He said, “Yes, but I have no faith.” An honest answer.

#00:30:30#

They’re saying, “Because we have no faith, we think it’s all, ‘I’m risking everything, and what am I gaining?’” But as, when the association of devotees and genuine Vaiṣṇavas, as your faith starts to grow, then the hold that this world, the stranglehold it has on the heart starts to be loosened, bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś, chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ [SB: 1.2.21.1–2]. So, he said, “Then you start to realize, as the shift takes place, and you realize, ‘What’s here? All of this will vanish.’ It’s only even, you know, talking about quarks, and this, like, it’s not even really here, in another sense. And it’s just, it will all certainly vanish. But we can live in the plane of our faith.” He’s saying, “So what appeared to be all risk and no gain, converts into all gain and no risk.”

#00:31:38#

You didn’t risk anything. It was only this deluded, egoistic imposition upon persons, places, things of this world that we thought we owned or meant something to us. So, what we’re trying to sell people on is the idea that you’ll sacrifice yourself, be a member of the suicide squad, and everything’s for Kṛṣṇa, and if we’re crushed by, you know, what he does, it’s all good. No, we have to be honest. We don’t feel like that. But the highest devotees feel like that. And really, truly. And that comes from no less than Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. And New Age thought, which is primarily under the influence of humanistic thinking, always putting emphasis on being positive. You should be positive, think positive, talk, create a visualization, etc., and then you’ll get a positive outcome.

#00:32:44#

It all sounds [coughing] good, but there’s something lacking there as well. Because they fail to understand the value of negativity. Negativity is good in this context. We have another context where we’re saying, “No, there’s the negative, and the world of exploitation, and the neutral position, world of renunciation, and the positive world of service.” That’s not how we’re talking. We’re in another context now. We’re talking about current. Here negativity, in my talk right now, means humility. So, the depth of negativity means the depth of humility. What is the outcome? It attracts the positive Kṛṣṇa. Rādhārāṇī is the predominated moiety, the supreme negative. Kṛṣṇa is the predominated moiety, the supreme positive.

#00:33:42#

I remember as a child being given a magnet and two magnets. And knowing when you would put the positive, positive, it would go, “Woohpoou.” You can’t put them together. They repel each other. But when you take positive and negative, they go, “Pfft.” You can’t keep them apart. That’s what is meant. The supreme negative, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, by Her humility, Her self-giving, Her self-offering. Her means, ārādhanā, ārādhita, means Her way of serving is to offer Herself, not to give other things. We think, “Oh, I’ll give something.” That’s another type of service. What is wanted here is ātma-samarpaṇ, self-offering. That is what makes Her who She is. Total self-oblivion and self-offering to Kṛṣṇa without self-extinction.

#00:34:41#

That is irresistible to Kṛṣṇa. He’s drawn like a magnet. Kṛṣṇa Himself coming as a devotee to show this. And not just to show it, but out of intense desire, eagerness has been awakened in Him. It’s the same. It must be true in the original. Not that His position would be any different. You could make the same case, apāraṁ kasyāpi praṇayi-jana-vṛndasya kutukī [Cc: Ādi-līlā, 4.52.1]. Right. That this curiosity was awakened in Him. How?.. The outcome of what? Association with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the Supreme Devotee wakened the curiosity within Him to experience Her position.

#00:35:38#

guru-rūpa-hariṁ gauraṁ rādhā-ruci-rucāvṛtam
nityaṁ naumi navadvīpe, nāma-kīrtana-narttanaiḥ

(Śrī Śrī Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam: 1.3)

#00:35:51#

Guru-rūpa-hariṁ gauraṁ—the Guru-rūpa of Kṛṣṇa. Meaning, the one who’s going to bring us in connection with Kṛṣṇa, right, through devotion. The Guru-rūp of Kṛṣṇa is Gaurāṅga, Gaurāṅga-Mahāprabhu. They’re saying, “Oh, He’s come in the mood of a devotee.” Which devotee? Which mood of which devotee? Rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ, enveloped in the heart and halo of Rādhārāṇī. That’s who Gaurāṅga-Mahāprabhu is. And He’s teaching... what is He want, the sort of exclusive devotion that She alone, we’re told possesses, mahābhāv. But Her kind of unconditional dedication to Kṛṣṇa. In the last śloka of the Śikṣāṣṭakam, it says,

#00:36:59#

āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām
adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā
yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo
mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ

(Śikṣāṣṭakam: 8)

#00:37:14#

It’s so beautiful. And this is the end of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛtam and the Antya-līlā, the Śikṣāṣṭakam prayers. And what is she saying there, adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā [Śikṣāṣṭakam: 8.2]. If it’s pleasing to you, not to, or for whatever reason, not to reveal yourself—adarsanaṁ, not to show yourself to me, not to reveal yourself to me, that’s my happiness. You think, “Who can say that and really mean it?” But is there some mysterious message there, even for the beginners, the lower section, for us? That... Because we’re always pressing the holy name or the book, or what, to give us something. We’re trying to squeeze something out of it. Right.

#00:38:16#

But She’s saying, “If, for whatever Your reasons are, You’re not revealing Yourself to Me, You’re not presently revealing, I’m happy with that. I’m unconditional. It’s My allegiance to You, My dedication to You, My devotion to You, is not dependent upon You responding in a particular way.” That’s what unconditional means. And Guru Mahārāja, alluding to Mādhavendra Purī, in his verse, what is it... mugdhaṁ māṁ nigadantu nīti-nipuṇā bhrāntaṁ muhur vaidikāḥ. I forget exactly how it goes, but it ends on this line, govinda-pāda-spṛhām.

[Note: The full verse as follows:

mugdhaṁ māṁ nigadantu nīti-nipuṇā bhrāntaṁ muhur vaidikāḥ
mandaṁ bāndhava-sañcayā jaḍa-dhiyaṁ muktādarāḥ sodarāḥ
unmattaṁ dhanino viveka-caturāḥ kāmam mahā-dāmbhikam
moktuṁ na kṣāmate manāg api mano govinda-pāda-spṛhām

(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.4.3–4, Purport)]

Where he’s saying, he has a list of everyone who’s against the pursuit of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. You know, whether it’s family, friends, society, the social structure, whatever it is. You know.

#00:39:24#

And you’re saying, “I’ve joined the cult, I’ve lost my mind, I’m misguided, I’m ignorant. You know, I’m not aware of the latest scientific discoveries or AI, whatever it is.” But... And beautifully he says, “Add one other thing to it.” Because you can have this list of all the reasons why I should be discounted or be just dismissed as being foolish. He’s saying, “That I gave up everything for this pursuit; pursuing Kṛṣṇa conception.” He said, “Add to it, I don’t have it.” It’d be one thing, “I gave up everything and I got it.” He’s saying, “No, add this to it. I gave up all of you and all of your considerations and your world and everything that goes with it for the very thing that I have yet to achieve.” He said, “But I’m not going to budge an inch from my aspiration to serve, to achieve the holy lotus feet of Govinda, govinda-pāda-spṛhām.”

#00:40:42#

It’s very beautiful. So Śrīla Guru Mahārāja will say, “If as an aspiring servitor you can say, ‘After all this time, all this energy invested—and its varying degrees for various devotees, practitioners—that I have nothing to show, I’ve achieved nothing. But I have no other shelter, I’m not interested in pursuing anything else, I’m still determined to go in this direction.’” Then Guru Mahārāj says, “Then you might be a devotee.” [Laughing.] Even then he wouldn’t say, “Then you’re a devotee.” He said, “Then you might just be a devotee.”

#00:41:35#

Because that’s the mood of the devotee, adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā [Śikṣāṣṭakam: 8.2]. Even with... how will fare through non-achievement? It’s easy if you think you’re accumulating something. Also, what is the parallel in... oh, Mādhavendra Purī, ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha he, mathurā-nātha kadāvalokyase—this śloka—kiṁ karomy aham [Cc: Madhya-līlā, 4.197]. What if... without... what will I do now in Your absence? So it’s thematically consistent and you see a connection that devotion proper... how do you say?.. stands in the absence of connection.

#00:42:39#

In the absence of connection of Kṛṣṇa and the absence of the connection of Guru. As Guru Mahārāja says in Śrī Guru and His Grace, “This will be the true test of whether you’re a disciple or not, in the after, disappearance of Guru or in the absence of Guru, how you’re able to stand.” So that person who has this sort of singularity... singular purpose cannot be deviated from that. Even back to like the śrotrīyaṁ brahma-niṣṭam [Mu: 1.1.12], tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta, jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam, śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ [SB: 11.3.21.1–3]... niṣṇātā, niṣthā, they’re... they’re just laser focused on this one thing. Not their achievement, but their attempt to serve however remotely, govinda-pāda-spṛhām, to serve the lotus feet of the Lord and through the agency of His devotees. Right.

#00:43:53#

And it is this laulyam; hunger, hankering, they have that. Right. We’re in a diseased condition. Only by serving them through service, the sort of appreciation and hunger and hankering that they possess is transferred to the heart of the aspiring servitor. There’s no other way. Only by serving such devotees does this plane open up to us. It’s not janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate [Cc: Madhya-līlā, 8.70.4]. It’s not... you could... not only saying, “Is there nothing you can do on your own to get it?” It says, “Ten million births, janma-koṭi-sukṛtair, ten million births of accumulation of sukṛti will not give it to you.” And you think, “Well, that’s discouraging.” [Laughing.]

#00:44:55#

But it says, “But come in connection with the service of the lotus feet of someone who has it, and it can be awakened in you, by dent of that service. Crossed over, Guru Mahārāja said, “Even the...” Generally, we think of a sequence. Kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, then appreciation for the devotee, and then śāstric depth and understanding, being able to defeat misconception; that which is opposed to Kṛṣṇa conception, the madhyama-adhikārī, and then the uttama, mahā-bhāgavata. Guru Mahārāja said, “A third class, kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, can bypass the madhyam; second-class stage, by service to a mahā-bhāgavata.”

#00:45:51#

That’s how valuable that is. Can, by dent of that service connection, bypass madhyam-adhikārī. Sakhyāya te mama namo’stu namo’stu nityaṃ, dāsyāya te mama raso’stu raso’stu satyam [Vk: 16.3–4]. It’s similar. Yeah, and they’re saying here, sakhyāya means intimacy. Dāsyāya, we have dāsya-rasa. So Dās Goswāmī, the prayojan-tattva-ācārya, it’s also from Vilāpa-kusumañjali. He’s saying, and the way Guru Mahārāja would paraphrase this, he’d say, “If there is no superior servitor present, why would I enter that plane?” It’s one of the deficiencies of Mīrābai, who does not recognize superior servitors. It’s always Mīrā and Kṛṣṇa. No Rādhā, no Lalitā, no Rūpa, no Rati.

#00:46:47#

So Dās Goswāmī is saying, “If there’s no superior, what would I be doing there? My focus is on the least sevā.” Like lalitā-caran of Lalitā-sakhī. Rādhā-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharma-bindu, nirmañchanopakaraṇī-kṛta deha-lakṣām [Śrī Lalitā-aṣṭakam: 1.1–2]. The greatest magnitude of intensity for the least aspect of sevā. That’s the line, the Rūpānuga line. That’s Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s line. Then, but in answering the call of service, then other things are possible. That’s why it’s also pūjala rāga-patha gaurava-bhaṅge. The higher, more intimate, that’s above. We’re concentrating here and what’s before us and what’s appropriate and accessible to us.

#00:47:41#

If the call for sevā takes us into that higher plane momentarily, we’re prepared to answer that. But only out of genuine service necessity, not out of curiosity. And Guru Mahārāja’s saying, “Passport is insufficient to enter that plane. You need a visa.” Passport is a general thing, visa’s specific. You’re granted a visa when the visa-granting officer on behalf of that country determines that it’s in the interest of that country to give you admittance. Not that it’s in your interest, that’s already a given, it’s understood. But when it’s determined it’s in the interest of that country to give you admission, you’re allowed. And that’s the way it is. When it’s determined, then it will be in the interest of the upper world to call you there, to give you admission there, then you’ll enter. Not because you’re curious or you think it’s interesting or any such thing, or you have some intense hunger and greed.

#00:48:53#

Laulyam is a double-edged sword. It’s told to be a disqualification and a qualification. When there’s the greatest magnitude of eagerness for sevā, that’s a good thing. But just the greatest magnitude of eagerness for curiosity, tourism; spiritual tourism, thinking that world is pleasing to your eyes, mind, and senses as an object. You’re taking yourself to be a subject and thinking the name of Kṛṣṇa, the form of Kṛṣṇa, the qualities of Kṛṣṇa, the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, the abode of Kṛṣṇa, taking them to be objects of enjoyment, that disqualifies one. We have to understand, we are an object. That is the super... the subjective... the super subjective realm. And in Guru Mahārāj’s words, the super, super subjective realm, means the aprākṛta-līlā of Kṛṣṇa.

#00:49:52#

So those who are substantially in connection with that, like the prayojana-tattva-ācārya is saying, “I worship the intimate plane that remains above as worshipable, and I’m focused on the service that is before me, happily.” And this is from Dās Goswāmī, who is the prayojana-tattva-ācārya, and has his secret identity in that plane. And he is expressing that sort of thing. So, it’s not something that’s just targeting beginners, like, “They will be told to move along these lines, but…” No, it’s always and forever. And epitomized in Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī Herself, who is promoting others in the service of Kṛṣṇa.

#00:50:48#

I’ve mentioned that within days of joining Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement, they’re trying to encourage the new devotees. And there’re so many Prabhupād says. And we’re told that Prabhupād said, “When…” And I might have heard this, “When someone new comes, that Rādhārāṇī goes to Kṛṣṇa and appeals on their behalf, ‘Kṛṣṇa, you must accept them. They’re better than me.’ Which is impossible and inconceivable, but that is Her heartfelt expression.” And hinted at toward the end of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛtam in the Antya-lilā, and Śrīla Guru Mahārāj interpreting, saying that, “She wants to promote others.” And that in itself is a very beautiful thing.

#00:51:49#

She wants to promote others for, you can say, direct service to Kṛṣṇa. She’s trying to arrange that. And the way Guru Mahārāj portrays this is that She’s saying, “But in some instances there is no one who can do the desired service except Herself.” Very like, a type of sweet humility. But She wants to promote others. But Her mood being reflected in the hearts of Her servitors, they not only want to promote others but really, they want to promote Her. Because they’re saying, “This will be beneficial for everyone,” mahābhāva-svarūpā śrī-rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī [Cc: Ādi-līlā, 4.69.1]. No one can exact, extract more superior quality and quantity of Kṛṣṇa than Her.

#00:53:00#

So, by analysis we can say, “Oh, these servitors of Her, they’re so tactful and they’ve created... and strategic in their target, their goal.” But out of gratitude, Śrīmātī Rādhārāṇī is sharing mahā-bhāv with them, which is beyond the constitutional capacity of a jīva to taste or experience even direct connection with Kṛṣṇa. By a jīva soul directly interacting with Kṛṣṇa, they cannot taste what they can experience in Rādhā-dāsyam. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is mysterious and works in the inverse.

#00:54:02#

And actually, we see in time because of Mahāprabhu and the Goswāmīs. Rādhārāṇī is teaching everyone what is Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. We think, “Oh, there are these great sages and one guy had a big long beard. And he said this and he had giant Tulasi beads and another thing.” No, Rādhārāṇī is revealing Kṛṣṇa, Her and Her group. All the great devotees, they are Her group. The Śikṣāṣṭakam comes from Her. All of these things do. And ultimately the real heart. What did that sign say? Information with heart? [Devotee in audience, “Yes.”] We saw a sign. Information with heart. Not just information, but information with heart. Heart to heart transaction.

#00:55:01#

No one has, in other words, no one has more heart than Her. We’re not interested in knowledge or information, but information with heart. [Laughing.] And that comes from Her. She’s the greatest lover of Kṛṣṇa. That can mean different things. One of the things it means is no one has more love for Kṛṣṇa than Her. So that means no one can impart more love of Kṛṣṇa than Her. The supreme served and the supreme servitors. Predominating moiety, half, and Kṛṣṇa’s better half, the predominated moiety. Rādhārāṇī, svarūp-śakti, hlādinī-śakti, and those fortunate jīvas.

#00:55:57#

They, under the shelter of the āśraya-vigraha, Śrī Guru and his grace, they get the opportunity to render divine loving service under Her guidance and Her serving group, the Rūpānuga line, vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī [Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj: 1.4]. So, he’s saying, “Vilas means play, and divine play. Vilasatu hṛdi nityaṁ bhakti-siddhānta-vāṇī, may the divine words and the kīrtan and the preaching of Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur, may that play in our hearts eternally.” That’s a devotee. That’s a pure devotee. The Master’s voice is playing in your heart. That’s what’s happening to all of us. Every day of our lives, the Master’s voice is playing in our hearts. And that’s why we have some conflict. [Laughing.]

#00:57:00#

Because we can hear the Master’s voice playing in the heart and then realize, “I need to improve.” But the real devotees are saying, “Oh, I don’t want to hear that voice. I want to do wrong. I can’t... I don’t want to hear that voice. I want to do some wrong.” No, real devotees are saying, “No, may I be so blessed, fortunate that I may hear my Master’s voice in my heart eternally. And high fidelity, try and be faithful to what is heard.” That’s what it is. Only a devotee can do that.

#00:57:51#

Prabhupād had an epiphany reading Cakravartī Ṭhākur’s explanation of vyavasāyātmikā buddhir, ekeha kuru-nandana [Bg: 2.41.1–2]. Where he says in the realization—and this is Prabhupād, such perfect disciple—saying, “I have no other reason to exist than to fulfill the order of my Guru.” He could say that, and he personified that. Right. He said, “I don’t exist for any other purpose than to fulfill the, or offer myself in service to the order of Saraswatī Ṭhākur, to give the wealth of Bhaktivinod Ṭhākur to the world, śrī-rādhā-pada-sevanāmṛtam aho tad dātum īśo bhavān [Śrīmad Bhaktivinod-viraha Daśakam: 9.4], the service of the holy lotus feet of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, otherwise known as Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement.”

#00:58:51#

When the Sanoḍiyā brāhmaṇa, and Mahāprabhu are seeing each other, they’re thinking, “Anyone who has this type of behavior, quality, characteristic, must have some connection with Mādhavendra Purī.” That’s how we understand things in spiritual circles, is by dent of spiritual connections and qualities, characteristics, behavior. That’s how we can detect, really, substantially, who is who, what is what, and who is connected to whom, nāma-śreṣṭhaṁ manum apī sacī-pūtram atra svarūpam [Śrī Muktā-caritām: 2.1]. Manum... They ask Guru Mahāprabhu, “What does it mean?” He said, “The mantraṁ, the supreme mantraṁ, and two, the Gayatri ma... and Kṛṣṇa-mantra.”

#00:59:36#

nāma-śreṣṭhaṁ manum api śacī-putram atra svarūpaṁ…

[Svarūpa Dāmodar]

…rūpaṁ tasyāgrajam uru-purīṁ māthurīṁ goṣṭha-vāṭīm
rādhā-kuṇḍaṁ giri-varam aho! rādhikā-mādhavāśāṁ…

[like Chaitanya Saraswat Maṭh praṇam mantraṁ]

(Srī Muktā-caritām: 2)

…nityaṁ rūpānuga śrī-kṛtamati-guru-gaurāṅga-rādhā-jitāśā

(Guru Maharaj motto for SCSMaṭh: 4th line)

āśā-bharair amṛta-sindhu-mayaiḥ kathañchit…

(Vk: 102.1)

…rādhikā-mādhavāśāṁ,
prāpto yasya prathita-kṛpayā…

(Srī Muktā-caritām: 2)

#01:00:14#

Guru Mahārāj said, “Normally, devotees will never say they have anything.” Right. They’ll say they’ve not got. Right. They’re aspiring. They don’t say they have. They’re aspiring servitors. But Gurudev said, interestingly, here in the last line, because he’s praising his Guru-varga, Raghunāth Dās Goswāmī says, prāpto yasya prathita-kṛpayā śrī guruṁ taṁ nato ’smi. “By the grace of Śrī Guru, I’ve got all these things. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa, the māntraṁ, the abode of Mathurā, Girirāj-Govardhan, the aspiration to serve Rādhā, rādhikā-mādhavāśāṁ, all of these things.” This is what we get by the grace of Śrī Guru. It cannot be denied. So as fallen as we are, we cannot deny the substance of the grace of Śrī Guru, Gaurāṅga, Rādhā-Govinda. So, we know this line, the followers of Śrīla Bhaktivinod, Sarasvatī Ṭhākur, it’s Mahāprabhu’s line, the Rūpānuga line. They are exclusive aspiring servants of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

Captured by Radha Raman Das
Edited by Tradish Das

Bg: Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā

Brs: Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu

Bs: Brahma-saṁhitā

Cc: Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta

Mu: Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad

Śa: Śaraṇāgati

SB: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

Vk: Vilāpa-kusumañjali


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