The Two Kinds of Souls

Tu to hai sada se hi Govinda Radhey,
Kaal ras ab ras kaal bana dey.

(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on January 30, 2011, in Shyama Shyam Dham, Orissa, India, explaining this new kirtan verse)

There are two types of souls. The first are called swansh, and the second are called vibhinnansh. Those who are swansh include Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, Saints like Narada and the divine Gopis of Golok. They are all eternally liberated from Maya. They have never been under the control of Maya. The word swansh is made up of “swa” or personal and “ansh” or part. This means these souls are an eternal part of God’s own personal power.

If you fill a pot with ocean water, the water inside the pot is a part of the ocean. The qualities of the water in the pot will be the same as the water in the ocean. If you were to drink a few drops of the ocean of amrit, the nectar that bestows immortality, you would receive the same qualities as the ocean of amrit. So a part has all the qualities of the whole to which it is related. Because swansh have eternally been personal parts of God, they have all the qualities of God.

The second type of soul is called vibhinnansh. “Vibhinna” means separated, so these are parts of God that are separated from God. If these parts belong to God, then why are they described as separated? They are referred to as separated because they have eternally remained turned away from God. What happens when you are turned away from God? Maya controls you. As a result of this, you forget your true identity as a part of God and that God alone is your everything. Such a person is identified with his body and he is attached to those who are related to his body. Due to this attachment, he forgets God.

When someone is turned away from God, he comes under the control of Maya. While under the control of Maya, he sins. After all, he is now overpowered by ignorance. Now he performs actions and is further bound by their consequences, and as a result, he remains stuck in the cycle of birth and death.

What is the solution for this? The one who is turned away from God has to turn towards God. Then what happens is the ignorance that makes you identify yourself as the body is dispelled and it is replaced with the knowledge that you are the soul.

Soul can’t have relationships with one another in the material world. For example, although waves keep on arising on the ocean, their permanent relationship is only with the ocean itself, not to each other. In this way, the souls are only eternally related to God.

Sometimes two waves meet, then one subsides. In other words, wave-to-wave relationships are temporary. The relationship between individual embodied souls, whether between a parent and child or a husband and wife is perishable.

Even if the roof of a house collapsed and all the members of a family died together, what would happen to each of them after death? All of them will go to separate destinations because the actions they performed during their lifetimes were all different. Each will receive a consequence in accordance with those actions. It is not that they will get the same parents, spouse or children again. Due to their different consequences, someone will become a dog, someone a donkey, someone will go do to the celestial abodes – all according to their past actions. There they will meet a new mother, a new father, have a new spouse, produce new sons and daughters. Again at the time of death, all these relations will be separated from each other and each will receive a new birth in accordance with their own past actions.

A train is going from your hometown to Delhi. On board are many different passengers. Each will get off at the station that is their final destination. Not everyone goes to Delhi. Even if they were all to get off at Delhi, they will all go to their respective homes in different neighborhoods and be separated. The world is just like this.

According to our own past deeds, God places us in the wombs of different mothers. God doesn’t force someone to be the son of a king and another to be the son of a beggar. He doesn’t force someone into the womb of a dog and make someone else a tree. God is not doing this whimsically. God grants to each of us a different birth based on our own individual past actions.

Even in human births there are great differences. If you are born to the wife of a meat-eating, alcoholic criminal, there is a good chance you will be like him. Your father will teach you his ways. “Son, why work for someone or have your own business? Rob a bank like me and you can become a millionaire overnight!” Another person is born to the wife of a Saint and starts saying God’s name from his very birth. Another person is born to rich parents and is pridefully intoxicated by this wealth. He laughs at the very mention of God. In this way, the type of rebirth we receive is according to our own individual past actions.

But when a person turns towards God, then Maya runs away from him. Then all of Maya’s relatives – lust, anger, greed, infatuation and so on – they all tie up their bedrolls at once and run away with Maya. This is like the way darkness runs away at the coming of light. No one is able to see it go; it just goes away. Similarly, once Maya goes away, these qualities will leave you forever. They can never return.

Once a person becomes God’s by fully turning towards Him, he becomes united with God. He doesn’t remain separated. Veda Vyas put all this philosophy into a single verse in the Bhagwatam,

“Bhayam dvitiya-viniveshatahsya-dishadapetasya-virparyayo smritih.”

(Bhagwatam 11/2/37) Turn towards God and Guru. Surrender to them completely and then Maya will leave. If you remain turned away from God, your mind will have a reversed understanding. You will identify yourself with the body and then have to  suffer the consequences.

Both God and the soul reside in one place in the heart.

“Dwa suparna sayuja sakhaya samanam vriksham parikasvajatey.”

(Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4/6) But we do not receive His divine qualities even though both are in exactly the same place. God is actually seated within us.

“Ya atmani tishthati.”

(Vedas) Rather it could be said that He permeates us.

“Tailum tileshu kashteshu…”
(Vasudev Upanishad 1/1) God permeates the soul just as oil permeates a sesame seed, as fire permeates wood, as clarified butter permeates milk, as fragrance permeates a flower. God permeates the soul in a similar manner, but we are not benefiting from this. Why is that? Because we are turned away from Him.

God is telling us from within, “Child, come to Me. Don’t go in that direction.” But we respond, “No, I will go towards the world. Everyone is surrendering to Maya, so I will too. If there are a few Saints in the world saying to go towards God, the statements of a few could hardly be taken seriously.”

This is the mistake we have made since eternity. Don’t ask the question, “When did I turn away from God?” People use the logic that Maya overpowered them at some point because they turned away from God. They ask, “Why and when did I turn away from Him?” This didn’t happen on a particular day. Maya has had you in its grip since eternity.

However, if you but once turn towards God completely, that is, if you surrender to Him completely, Maya will leave you and never return. It will never control you again. This is the detailed meaning of this verse.

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The True Givers – Part 2

Hari Guru Do Hi Data Govinda Radhey,
Shesh sansar to bhikari bata dey.

(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on January 18, 2011, in Bhakti Dham, Mangadh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse)

The ones who can truly give are those who possess premanand, divine love – God and the Saints who have realised God. These two possess true wealth. They don’t desire anything beyond this because there is nothing greater to attain. What will they do now? Nothing. Because any action that a person performs is done to to attain something.

A person is sitting with closed eyes. Now he opens them. Why did he do that? There must be a reason, because no action is performed without a reason. First we have some kind of aim and then we act. But all aims end for the one who attains God, which means his actions also come to an end. But what will the Saint now do? He will perform charitable actions that bestow ananda, true happiness. But who could he give this to? The souls do not have a worthy vessel to hold it, and the vessels that a few do possess are full of holes, making that ananda leak out.

We have met Saints uncountable times who have given us that happiness. But after receiving it, we threw it away. Our vessel, the mind, is dirty. Our intellect is mayic, material. For these reasons whenever we met a true Saint, we asked, “Why is he dressing like that? Why is he acting like that? Why is he looking around like that?” and so on. By doing so, we just added to our stock of sin. Instead of gaining, we lost.

Our puny intellect doesn’t let anyone escape its analysis – not even God or Saints. It is constantly evaluating what is good or bad and right or wrong. The proof of what is wrong with us is the wrong we see in others.

So God and Guru are the true givers. But in spite of seeing God in uncountable descensions and after having met innumerable Saints since time immemorial, we did not fully accept them. If we did, it was only for short time. Why? This was due to the intellect’s decision. We thought, “God and Saints are performing the same kinds of actions as me.” We never understood the difference between their actions and ours.

For example, you are eating a ras gulla and enjoying its sweetness and flavor. A Saint is also eating a ras gulla, but he is savoring only God’s bliss. Yet, both appear to be performing the same action. A Saint has children and so do you. In fact, 99.9% of all Saints have had children and lived in family life. The only difference is they had no emotional attachment.

Once Prahlad’s son Virochana and the son of Prahlad’s Guru became infatuated with the same girl. They were both in competition for her. Virochana said, “I am the king’s son. I am better than you.” The other boy said, “I am the king’s Guru’s son, so I am better.” So both of them made a bet and wagered their lives, “If I am greater than you, then I can take your life. If you are greater than me, then my life is in your hands.” But who would be the judge?

The Guru’s son said to Virochana, “Your father should judge this.” Virochana said, “What if you say my father is being partial?” The Guru’s son said, “No, my father said that Prahlad is a Saint and he has absolutely no emotional attachment.” Otherwise, there is no judge who could be impartial in giving a judgement to his own son.

Prahlad decided that the Guru’s son was greater. With no qualms, he peacefully told Virochana, who was his only child, “Alright son, get ready. Place your head in the noose.” But the Guru’s son stopped him and said, “Wait, I have a question. Why am I greater?” Prahlad said, “Virochan is the son of a demon, but you are the son of a brahmin and my Guru.” Then the Guru’s son said, “Then that means you have to follow my orders.” Prahlad said, “Of course.” So the Guru’s son said, “Let Virochana go.” Prahlad just as peacefully removed the noose from his son’s neck. This is the difference that sets God and Saints apart from us.

We are emotionally attached to each and everything in the world, thinking, “This is mine!” You feel this way about your mother and father, but your parents have changed innumerable times in previous lifetimes. However many dogs, cats, donkeys and even flies there are, those souls have all been your mother and father at one time or another. After all, the human form is only received occasionally. We have wandered in lower births for millions of years.

This human form is granted to us only time to time by God. While we were still in the womb of such a birth, we prayed to God, “Please take me out of this intolerable hell! Now I will only worship you!” After taking birth, our mother taught us through attachment to her that God doesn’t exist, “I am your only mother.” As we grew older, we developed many more attachments – a wife, a husband, children, your children’s children – everywhere we are surrounded by attachments to everything.

Someone has a high fever, someone else has been hurt in an accident. We cry for all of them, and on top of that is our own personal pain. It is quite surprising that a human being remains alive despite tolerating so much suffering. But if you were to place your hands around the neck of such a suffering person and pretend to strangle him to help take him out of his misery, he would say, “Hey! What are you doing?! I don’t want to die!” “But you are suffering so much.” “So what! Let me suffer.” This is the state of our ignorance.

So the true givers of happiness are God and the Saint. All else are beggars. The one who surrenders to God and Saint and ends his faith that happiness will come from his worldly attachments becomes divinely gratified.

© Radha Govinda Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

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Worshiping Radha Krishna – Part 3

Ishton men Radha Krishna Govinda Radhey,
Bhavon men madhurya shreshta bata dey.

(Part 3 – Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on January 17, 2011, in Bhakti Dham, Mangadh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse.)

What is the nature of selfless devotion? People are very confused about this, including those who are supposedly learned. There are two areas – Maya’s area and God’s area. For this reason there are two kinds of desires – desires for material things related to the world and desires related to God. Therefore selflessness or niskhamata is of two kinds. One kind is directed towards the world and the other kind is directed towards God.

To have worldly desires is only natural. We perceive the world before us and so we form worldly desires thinking that by fulfilling them we will attain happiness. If clarified butter is poured on a fire, the flames reduce as if the fire is being extinguished, but then they rise up again. Similarly, when we fulfill worldly desires, these desires don’t come to an end, they only grow stronger. The Ved says,

Na jatu kamah kamanam mupabhogena shyamyati... Narad Parivrajak Upanishad, 3/37.

This verse is also in the Bhagwatam, the Vishnu Purana and the Padma Purana. Worldly desires don’t come to end when they are fulfilled; they grow stronger.

A poor person thinks, “If only I could have $100,000.” After attaining this, he starts thinking, “$100,000 is nothing. I want $200,000!” Desires keep on growing like this. The greatest billionaires feel distressed that in the coming year someone else’s wealth will surpass theirs. Even in an ordinary family it is seen that if one person is more financially successful than the others, those who have less feel jealous. This is also seen in the celestial abodes,

Surapatir brahmam padam yachatey.

Indra is the emperor of the celestial abodes. All the other celestial gods like Varuna, Kuber, Yamaraj and others are under his command. Even so, he is not satisfied with his own abode; he desires the abode of Brahma. He feels restless and has no peace of mind.

Remember this: Desires only increase when you fulfill them. This is where everyone is stuck. There are five kinds of desires of the five senses – to see, to hear, to smell, to taste, and to touch. Whatever kind of desire you have, it will either be fulfilled or not. We feel happy when a desire is fulfilled. But after this, that desire grows stronger. This is the double danger with worldly desires.

If someone says he will pray to God to fulfill his material desires, what will happen? Nothing. Why? Because God only listens to His devotees. If one hundred people go to the temple and pray to God to make them prime minister the next day – how is this possible?

Imagine that you are standing on the side of the road and you must reach Allahabad. You flag down an approaching car. The driver wonders, “Who is that person? Why is he trying to stop me?” But he does stop and you tell him, “I must go to Allahabad.” The passenger refuses and as he drives away he thinks,”That person is absolutely crazy. I have no idea who he is but he wants me to take him to Allahabad?!”

But if that driver’s relative were standing by the side of the road or if his Guru suddenly appeared there, he would immediately stop and ask, “Why are you standing here?” “My car broke down.” “Oh! Please come with me.” Without even asking, that person is invited into the car. This is because there is a relationship between the driver and that person. There is a feeling of love and devotion and that is why he stopped.

Similarly, great Saints such as Tulsi, Meera, Sur, Kabir, Nanak, Tukaram asked for something from God, and God had to fulfill their desire, even if that meant making the impossible possible. But what about the other requests that people make? Nowadays people rush to pilgrimage places like Vaishno Devi or a particular Shankar Temple, Ganesha Temple or Durga Temple to ask God for something. What is this? Fruitless effort. God will not listen to even 1% of such requests. Why not?

You had a desire so you went to Vaishno Devi and prayed, “Bless me with a son.” By chance you had a son. You believed, “Vaishno Devi performed a miracle for me!” You went to Vaishno Devi a second time. When you returned home you learned your son had died. Now you believe, “This is all a deception! There is no God. My neighbour had five children and he just had a sixth. But I had just one child and he died!”

If you believe your worldly acquisitions are the result of the grace of God or Guru, when these acquisitions are lost or destroyed, you will blame Him, lose faith in Him and act adversely towards Him. Thus, as long as you haven’t attained God realisation, do not ask God, even by mistake, to fulfill your worldly desires.

(Continued in part 4)

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Worshiping Radha Krishna – Part 2

Ishton men Radha Krishna Govinda Radhey,
Bhavon men madhurya shreshta bata dey.

(Part 2 – Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on January 17, 2011, in Bhakti Dham, Mangadh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse)

Now let’s consider bhava or devotional sentiment. How should Radha Krishna be loved or worshiped? As almighty God? Arjuna listened to the teachings of the Gita from Shri Krishna on the battlefield before the Mahabharat War. Again and again Shri Krishna referred to Himself as supreme almighty God, “There is nothing beyond Me. Everything has arisen from Me. I reside in everyone’s heart.” But Arjuna thought of Shri Krishna as his friend. He said, “You keep on saying that you are almighty God. How am I to believe this? Any one could say this. Show me how you are God!”

Shri Krishna said, “How will you see this? Your eyes are mayic, material. They are made of the same material elements as is this world. Your body and senses are made of material elements and after your death they will merge into material elements. But I am divine. My body is not made of material elements.”

The Padma Purana explains that the body and soul are separate in all living beings, including celestial gods and goddesses. In God’s case, however, God’s body and soul are one. Shri Krishna asked Arjuna, “So how will you see My divine body with your material eyes?” Material eyes only see the material objects of the world – provided a person has good eyesight and light is present. These two conditions must be met. Even so, we can see only a limited distance, and small objects such as atoms are imperceptible to us even with magnification.

So with what feeling should we love God? Even the celestial gods and goddesses are terrified of God in His almighty form. When Narsingh Bhagwan appeared on this earth to kill Hiranyakashipu, all the celestial gods and goddesses said, “We must give thanks to Him. He appeared in our world to kill such a terrible demon. But He is manifesting such a scary and angry form! Who will go first?”

They said, “Brahma, you are His son. You go.” Brahma said, “No, not now.” They then said, “Shiva, you have the power to reduce this world to ashes. Please go.” Lord Shiva also said, “No, I won’t go right now.” Finally they decided, “Send for Prahlad and let him go first. After all, God appeared on his account. When He sees Prahlad, He will cool down. Then we will all go to Him.” When Lord Narsingh saw Prahlad, He started smiling. He took Prahlad in His lap and affectionately hugged and stroked him, as you see parents do with their children. Then all the celestial gods and goddesses, and Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva came forward with songs of praise.

So Shri Krishna said to Arjuna, “First I will bestow on you divine vision, then afterward you will see God.” He graced Arjuna with divine eyes so Arjuna could see His almighty form. But Arjuna started to tremble in fear. He shut his eyes. He started perspiring. Stammering, he said, “I don’t want to look! You really are almighty God! Until now I had no idea. I always accepted You as my friend. Please forgive me!”

So if you worship God’s almighty form, you will not be able to love Him. Instead you will feel afraid. However, God says, “My children, don’t think of Me as a supreme almighty power. Relate to Me in the same way you relate to others in the world.”

The first type of relational feeling with God is that of dasya bhava, the love of a servant for his master. Now our devotional feelings have a way to develop because a master is benign, not angry. In the world we see there are servants in homes. A prime minister or president has a personal assistant. But the familiarity a servant is entitled to with his master is very restricted. The Ramayana says,

Sir bal chalau dharma as mora, sab tey sevak dharma kathora.

When Ram, Lakshman and Sita were leaving Ayodhya to enter the forest, Lakshman would walk behind Ram and Sita in such a way so that he would not step in their footprints. How difficult this is! A true servant instead places only his head wherever his Guru places his feet. Does this mean we have to walk on our head? How is this possible? What this implies is the role of a servant is very difficult. There are many rules of propriety that must be observed.

Beyond this is sakhya bhava, the relational feeling of a friend to a friend. What does a friend do? He places his arm around his friend’s shoulders and informally asks, “Hey, where did you go today?” Still, the rights of a friend are also restricted.

Beyond this is vatsalya bhava, the relational feeling between a parent and child. In this bhava God is loved as your child. You may spank Him, twist His ear and scold Him for being naughty. You may request, “Son, please bring my slippers…” And He will have to bring them! He has become your son. But even this feeling of love still has some restrictions.

Beyond this is madhurya bhava. This is the relational feeling of a lover and a beloved. This is not the same as the love between a husband and wife. The feelings of a lover and beloved are even beyond this. A woman’s husband is at home, but she secretly loves another. This quality of love, which was the love of the Braj Gopis for Krishna, is called jar prem.

Love in madhurya bhava is selfless. This is its uniqueness. Selfless means with no personal desire for one’s happiness. The other unique quality of this bhava is one may think of God as one’s beloved, one’s child, one’s friend, or one’s master. However, those who love God with any of the lower types of relational feelings may not think of Him with the intimacy of madhurya bhava. They do not have this right. A devotee who thinks of God as his master, cannot even love Him as a friend, let alone as a beloved. If any servant were to place his arm around his master’s shoulders, his master would scold him and say, “What is this nonsense! Maintain your distance!” A servant is not entitled to this kind of closeness.

The feelings of a lover and beloved are the most intimate. Whatever the lover asks, the beloved must do. A wife, on the other hand, cannot speak like this to her husband. She has to abide by the rules of propriety that relate to her prescribed duties as a wife. There are many social rules that relate to this kind of relationship. A wife can’t say her husband, “Son, come here.” Her husband would think, “She called me ‘son’?!” His next thought might be to send her to the hospital for treatment.

But God gives us the right to love him with all these relational feelings in madhurya bhava. We may relate to Him and love Him as a Beloved, as a Son, as a Friend and as a Master.

(Continued in Part 3)

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Worshiping Radha Krishna – Part 1

Ishton men Radha Krishna Govinda Radhey,
Bhavon men madhurya shreshta bata dey.

(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on January 17, 2011, in Bhakti Dham, Mangadh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse)

The one who is worshiped (ishta) or the one who is served (sevya) is of many kinds. Some are even mayic or material, such as celestial gods and goddesses. These include Indra, Varuna, Kuber and others. Such ishtas are millions in number. By acquiring spiritual understanding through the teachings of a true Saint, we come to know that the worship of a material personality results in a  material consequence.

The word deva applies to both celestial beings and to supreme God.

Kah paramo devah. Krishno ha vai paramam daivatam.

This verse asks: Who is the greatest deva? Here the word deva refers to supreme God. Similarly, the word divya (divine) refers to both material celestial beings and also to God. The word atma (soul) refers to both the individual soul and God. Only Saints know which  meanings apply to what words in the scriptures. Those with merely intellectual understanding of the scriptures don’t have this knowledge.

One single God has many worshipable forms. These include impersonal brahm or Brahman and paramatma. Paramatma has three aspects: (1)  karanarnoshayi paramatma, (2) garbhodashayi paramatma, and, (2) ksheerodashayi paramatma. Even though these forms are non-different from each other, the aspect of paramatma is superior to impersonal brahm.

Impersonal brahm is completely neutral, and remains this way even when loved or worshiped. Brahm is purely a divine existence. It reveals no divine powers or qualities. For example, a grain of wheat lies in a cabinet for years. An innocent person might say, “I put that grain in there, thinking in ten days it would sprout and then after a month it would be a fully grown plant, but it has stayed the same for years!”

A grain or seed is full of power but this manifests only after it comes into contact with the soil, the sun, water and air. When all these are present, a seed could grow into a plant in one month. Similarly, even though brahm possesses all the divine powers, none of these are manifest. Therefore, brahm is called avyakta shaktik – endowed with powers that remain unrevealed.

Paramatma, on the other hand, manifests powers, form, name, and qualities, but does not perform leelas or divine pastimes, and does not have divine associates. However, don’t be confused about this point – the same brahm is paramatma, because God is only one.

So paramatma has three aspects. Karanarnoshayi paramatma permeates uncountable worlds. Garbhodashayi paramatma permeates one world. Ksheerodashayi paramatma resides in all our hearts, notes our thoughts and gives us the consequences of these actions. This is the object of worship for yogis.

The final and supreme form of God is Radha Krishna, who manifest all the divine powers, including divine love and divine pastimes. Brahm and paramatma are Their other forms.

These three forms all pertain to the same one God, but in the form of Radha Krishna every kind of divine bliss is manifest. That is why this kirtan verse says, “Out of all the worshiped forms of God, I worship Radha Krishna.” There is no other form beyond this.

(Continued in Part 2)

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God is a Magnet

Hari Guru chumbak Govinda Radhey,
Man loha shuddhi matra so kinchva dey.

(Synopsis of a talk by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on January 16, 2011, in Bhakti Dham, Mangadh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse)

A mother and father have four children. They all live in the same home, share the same environment and eat the same food, but the aim and interest of each is different. All four children went to see a Saint. One of them sincerely followed the Saint’s teachings. One half-heartedly following them and then stopped. One didn’t follow them at all. One criticised the family member who was practising devotion, “Why has he started this ‘Radhey Radhey’ in our home?” Why is there so much difference? This verse gives the reason.

Our mind is filled with the stored impressions of actions from uncountable past lifetimes. This is collectively called sanchit karma. During this time we have committed uncountable sins. There is no such sin, even one such as murder, that we have committed just two or three thousand times. We have performed such actions uncountable times. Because we have been in existence as long as God, we have had uncountable births. If we had committed one murder in uncountable lifetimes, then we have committed uncountable murders, because our lifetimes are innumerable. There is no such sin that we have committed in the thousands and millions; we have committed them all uncountable times.

When all of Dhritarashtra’s sons were killed in the Mahabharat War, he called Shri Krishna. Dhritarashtra knew that Shri Krishna was supreme God. He asked, “You know everything. What sin did I commit that all my children died?” Blind Dhritarashtra at that time was sitting alone and weeping. Shri Krishna said, “How many of your previous lifetimes do you remember?” Dhritarashtra said, “Three lifetimes.” Shri Krishna said, “What is uncountable minus three? Can you calculate this? You can’t even calculate the sins from three lifetimes.”

We only see the present, and even in the present we don’t understand what is a right action and what is a wrong action. Not even 1%  of the people in the world understand this, including those who are very knowledgeable. During my lifetime, I have met many great scriptural scholars. They would come to me and ask, “What is sin? What is virtue? What is good? What is bad?” The definition of this is very simple.

That amount of time that we remember God or Guru is the amount of time that we do not commit sin. Everything we do apart from this is a sin.

Now a person can calculate how much remembrance of God he has done during the course of his lifetime. He alone is our only relation. It is for realising God that we were given a human birth. Why have we forgotten this and instead of loving Him we love each other?

So there is one philosophy that applies to sin and virtue: Whatever time your mind is absorbed in loving remembrance of God is the amount of time you are saved from performing wrong actions. Otherwise, we are always performing wrong actions. For example, you loved our mother. Is this wrong? When you go to the temple and say,

Tvameva mata cha pita tvameva tvameva bandhusch sakha tvameva,
tvameva vidya dravinam tvameva tvameva sarvam mam deva deva.

Do you know the meaning of ‘tvameva‘? It means ‘only You’, not  ‘also You’. This prayer says, “Oh my beloved God, You are my only father, You are my only mother, and You are my only property and wealth.”

Yet if a hungry beggar comes comes to the window of your car and starts speaking to you, even though you have $10,000 in your pocket, you will turn your face the other way and say to the driver, “Let’s get out of here!” If you takes something out of your pocket for that beggar, you give the smallest bill you have and throw it at the beggar disdainfully, “Here! Take it!”

You have all been like this beggar in uncountable births. How must that poor person have felt when that money was thrown at him? Yet we have all heard and read and believe that God dwells in everyone’s heart. If you are going to give him something, even if it’s just a few pennies, give it with love. This is just your pride. The different ways in which you have hurt others is part of your sin.

So the amount of attraction one feels for God and Guru depends on the extent of the sin he has committed. This is proof positive of how sinful we are. Is our mind attracted to God and Guru or is it attracted to our worldly relations and property? When you are alone you can assess both and then you will know what is your status. It is our material attachment that has not allowed us to go towards God. If we did go towards God, we were just pretending. If we sincerely went towards God, we went some distance and then turned around and went back to our material attachments.

Take a magnet, for example. Place a variety of needles around it. Some needles are pure iron, some are 10% iron, some are 20% iron and so on. The needles of pure iron will be immediately attracted to the magnet. The ones mixed with another metal will be attracted slowly. The needles that have very little iron will remain where they are. Our minds are similar to the needles.

Papvant kar sahaj subhau, bhajan mor tehi bhavana.

You people are so lucky. You may be traveling by train or airplane and if someone says, “Radhey” even while yawning, you will immediately think he is a good person, “Oh, he said ‘Radhey’!” You have acquired this attraction through the grace of God and Guru. Otherwise you would never have these positive feelings. You might feel instead that God’s name was painfully piercing your ear like an arrow.

When we were building Shyama Shyam Dham, we set up loudspeakers to start playing kirtan at 3 am. I thought, “Everyone will hear God’s name and feel happy.” It didn’t take even a month before I started receiving complaints and that, too, from so-called holy men who have renounced family and home to live in Vrindaban, “Could you please request the Jagadguru Ji to change the position of the speakers so they are not facing in our direction?” It is only our sins that do not allow us to feel receptive to the divine name.

Yavatpapaistu malinam hridayam tava deva hi.

Our attraction to God and Guru is related to the extent of our sin. If one has a perfectly pure mind, he will be attracted immediately, and that, too, just by sight. So if in the future you wish to know how far you have advanced, you can use this as a measure.

© Radha Govinda Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

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Jagadguru Divas 2011

Hari Guru bhaju nit Govinda Radhey,
bhava nishkam ananya bana dey.

(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj at Bhakti Dham, Mangarh, India, on January 14, 2011, explaining this kirtan verse.)

This verse contains the essence of all spiritual philosophy. It mentions four points:

(1) Hari Guru bhaju – The scriptures do not prescribe that our worship should be to God alone. Yasya deve para bhaktir yathe deve tatha gurau. The Vedas explain that the Guru should be worshiped with the same devotion as God. Devotion to both is compulsory.

(2) Nit – Many people practice devotion, but only for a short time. This is like saving $10 and spending $20, or washing your clothes once with soap and afterward making them dirty ten times. If you do this, your clothes will never become clean.

First, we don’t practise devotion properly. Even if we do practise devotion for an hour or two, we do it pridefully. People observe with some awe, “Do you know that person is a tax collector and he worships God for one full hour?” But just ask him what he did during that time. He recited the Hanuman Chalisa or the Shiva Chalisa or Durga Chalisa. He did a little japa. This isn’t devotion.

Even if someone were to properly practice devotion for one hour, afterward he virtually becomes an atheist. How is this so? Just consider one small point, which we need to bring into our understanding: Shri Krishna is seated in our hearts. This is stated everywhere in the scriptures and everyone knows this. “God resides within all!” But how many truly realise this? This realisation should be continuous or nit, not just for 10 minutes, half an hour or 23 hours.

For example, we feel a continuous sense of “I am.” We know the same ‘me’ that existed yesterday is the same ‘me’ that observed dreams while we were sleeping, and it is the same ‘me’ that is existing now. Just as we have a continuous sense of “I am”, we should continuously realise with full confidence that our divine Father, our soul-beloved God is seated in our hearts. If we do this, then we are a true believer.

If we should forget this, even for just a minute, then we start having private thoughts, “No one knows what I’m thinking right now!” There are even those who sit before their Guru and silently criticise him. It may be that the Guru doesn’t know what his disciple is thinking, but God is still dwelling in that person’s heart. He forgot this point.

In fact, everyone forgets this. This is everyone’s shortcoming, regardless of how knowledgeable they are. For this reason, Kripalu has written ‘nit‘ – devotional remembrance of God and Guru should be continuous.

(3) Bhava nishkam – 99% of the devotion that people are engaged in is selfish. There is a huge crowd at a particular temple. Why has everyone gone there? Because the form of God worshiped there performs miracles! On this basis, some temples collect millions in gold. A person places a heap of gold before a statue of Sai Baba. He explains, “God blessed me – I just won the lottery! So, of course, I have to give God a percentage.”

This is selfish devotion. If such a selfish devotee encounters the slightest hardship, “Oh Lord! Hear my cry! My son is very sick.” But your Guru taught you to be selfless – so selfless that even at the point of death you should not request God, “Let me live.” Your material attachments to your family and relations have made you forget spiritual philosophy.

(4) Ananya – People worship a god or goddess, then someone convinces them they should instead practise tantric meditation, so they leave their worship and start that. Then they go to the shrine of a deceased holy man where huge crowds gather and they also worship there.

People pilgrimage to such places simply due to hearsay. The holy man who left this world is gone now. If he was a Saint, he has gone to Golok, God’s abode. What did he leave behind? Just his mortal remains which must have decomposed by now. Still people are convinced, “He performs great miracles!” Even presidents and prime ministers frequent such places.

When we worship celestial gods and goddesses and also supreme God, this means we still don’t understand who is the supreme divine power. If we did understand, then why don’t we worship Him alone? This just means we don’t understand spiritual philosophy, even though we have listened to it a lot. Spiritual philosophy has been explained to us in every age. We have listened to it, understood it and then forgotten it.

So we have to constantly reflect on these four points and practise them. Without practise, neither God nor Guru will give you anything. God Himself is already seated in your heart; what are you receiving from Him? Even if a person were to find a true Saint and stay with him 24-hours a day, this doesn’t automatically guarantee anything. Everything is dependent on practise.

Thus these four important points have been incorporated in this verse:

1. Hari Guru bhaju – worship God and Guru with the same devotion;
2. Nit – your remembrance of God and Guru should be continuous;
3. Bhava niskham – your devotion should be selfless;
4. Ananya – your devotion should be exclusive

If you forget the philosophy of the scriptures, by simply remembering these two lines you could attain your spiritual aim.

© Radha Govinda Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

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The Eternal Competition

Shyama prem Shyam sukh Govinda Radhey,
Hod ho na jitey hare koi bata dey.

(Synopsis of a talk by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on Jan 6, 2011, in Bhakti Dham, Mangadh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse.)

Radha Rani is the supreme form of divine love. This love is the absolute essence of hladini power. It is divine and eternal. Worldy love is the opposite of divine love – it is lifeless and temporary.

When divine love is embodied in the form of mahabhava, this is Radha Rani. Shri Radha is prem, divine love, and Shri Krishna is ananda, divine happiness. Throughout the Vedas, the words happiness, ananda, and ras are used for Krishna.

Raso vai sahah.
Rasagwam hyevayam labdhva-anandi bhavati. (Taittariya Upanishad)

Ananda is also divine and eternal. Ananda (divine happiness) itself has become Shri Krishna, and prem (divine love) itself has become Shri Radha. Which is the greater of these two? There is a competition going on between them. This competition has been going on since eternity, and it is still going on. In this, neither is defeated and neither is victorious.

When Radha Rani sees Shri Krishn, Her love increases. As Her love increases, so Shri Krishna’s bliss increases. Experiencing more of Shri Krishna’s bliss, Shri Radha’s love increases further. Then Shri Krishna’s bliss, happiness and sweetness increase even more. And so this competition between divine love and divine bliss goes on endlessly.

This is also true for any God realised Saint. When a Saint sees Shri Krishna, he closes his eyes and experiences immense bliss. When he opens his eyes he feels, “Oh, now Shri Krishn is even more blissful!” Now the Saint’s love also increases. Shri Krishna accordingly increases the sweetness of His bliss. This causes the Saint’s love to increase even further. This competition between a Saint and supreme God also goes on forever.

© Radha Govinda Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

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The universal law that affects us all

Jo bhi aye jaye vah Govinda Radhey,
Mayadheen mayateet sab hi bata dey.

(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on December 31, 2010, in Bhakti Dham, Mangarh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse)

There are two kinds of people in the world – the souls under the bondage of Maya (mayadheen) and the Saints beyond Maya (mayateet). Saints are very few; mayic souls are more than 99.9% of the total. Whether Saint or soul, whoever comes into this world, one day must go.

A Saint leaves according to his own will. A Maya-bound soul is a prisoner and is taken away. You don’t remember from your previous birth how much pain you experienced when you left your body at the time of death. A person thinks, “Oh! My father! My son! My daughter! My house! I have to leave all this? And I’m going alone? What is happening to me?!” This pain can’t be explained.

Depiction of Yamaraj

So one must leave this world and this applies to everyone. Even the time that supreme God descends on this earth is fixed. When that time arrives, Yamaraj respectfully approaches God and says, “My Lord, Your time has come. I am only reminding You. If You wish to remain longer, please do so. I am only doing my job.”

Yamaraj also appears before a Saint at this time and says, “If it is your wish, please stay longer. I am just reminding you that the time fixed for your leaving has come.”

Saints do not violate God’s laws.  We see Jagadguru Shankaracharya left this world at the age of 32. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu left at the age of 48. Some leave at the age of 50, some at the age of 80. There is no fixed age for a Saint to leave. Rather a Saint’s prarabdh or destiny due to his past actions also determines the time of his leaving.

The "Angel of Death" in Christianity

So just as souls are bound to undergo their destiny, Saints also undergo a destiny. The difference is that if the Saint’s son dies or all his wealth or property is stolen, he remains ever-blissful, “My Lord, this is only your desire. Please do as you wish!” We mourn these losses with great pain, “Oh! My son left this world!” Yes, but everyone knows that whoever comes in this world must leave this world.  Don’t you also know this?

You may not have studied the Vedas and scriptures, but just have a look at the world around you. You see a child dying before his father. You see these things daily – why don’t you accept it? This is the state of our intellect. We see these things but we don’t accept them. We think, “I’m not going to die. I’m only 50 years old!” But now you have become 80 years old. “So what! I’m not going to die now.”

If you pretend you are going to wring the neck of a person who is so elderly he can no longer sit up or a person who is terminally ill, they will shout, “Hey! What are you doing? I don’t want to die!” If you say, “But I want to put you out of your misery.” They will say, “So what! Let me suffer.”

So those who come into this world must leave. Saints leave according to their own will and souls who leave must return to this world. As long as a soul hasn’t been liberated from Maya, he must return to this material jail. What kind of form one receives is a separate point. The one who has practiced devotion and wholeheartedly rendered service to God and Saint will obtain a human form. The one who has merely satisfied his senses and wholeheartedly absorbed himself in the world will go into a lower birth.

So whoever comes into this world must leave – regardless if it is a soul, a Saint, or even supreme God when He descends. Lord Krishna remained on this earth for 125 years. Lord Ram remained on this earth for 11,000 years. Lord Narsingh remained for only ten minutes – but however long anyone remains on this earth, he will have to go eventually. You should keep remembering this philosophy and be prepared. Don’t look to your age and think you are still young. Remain alert all the time.

A person is driving in the city. On the road there are also many other vehicles. He remains extremely alert – what is behind him, what is ahead of him, what is happening to his left, what is on his right. He also has to remember the way and his destination. He keeps all this in mind because if he makes the smallest mistake he will have an accident.

Remain ever-vigilant because you could go at any moment. And what we receive after death is determined what we are emotionally attached to at the time of our death. If you have your father in mind at the time of your death, you must go to that father afterward. If that father is reborn as a dog, that will also be your destiny.

Yanti devavrata devan pitrin yanti pitivratah.
Bhutani yanti bhutejya yanti madyajinopimam. (Gita, 9/25)

In your next birth you will return to the one with whom you were attached in this birth. In this regard, there are a total of four consequences. If you are attached to a tamsi person, you will receive a tamsi consequence (narak or hell). If you are attached to a rajsi person, you will receive a rajsi consquence and remain on this earth. If you were attached to a sattvik person or celestial god, then you will receive a sattvik consequence and enter the celestial abode or swarga for a limited time. If you love God or His Saint, you will attain Golok, God’s divine abode. Decide what your final goal is and love accordingly.

We can’t delay the moment of our death for even ten minutes. You may not even have left your house when this happens – so many people have heart attacks while sleeping. The engineer who designed this hall was from Agra. He was at home in bed with his wife by his side. When his wife woke up the next morning, she saw her husband had died in the night.

When we have to go, we must, and no one knows when that time will be.

Therefore, every moment remain vigilant.

© Radha Govinda Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

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All spiritual practices come to an end

Sab sadhana ka ant Govinda Radhey,
bhakti ki hai adi pai na ant bata dey.

(Synopsis of a talk by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj in Rangeeli Mahal, Barsana, India, on November 22, 2010, explaining this new kirtan verse)

All spiritual practices come to an end. Even this world comes to an end. It began one day, and one day it will end. Your body will also come to an end. The body’s senses, mind and intellect are material, therefore they will also end. Only the soul is eternal. Whatever practices are done by the body, senses, mind and intellect have a beginning and an end.

The consequence of practicing karma is to attain the celestial abode (swarga). After this, karma practices comes to an end. Even that attainment comes to an end eventually. The one who attains entrance to the celestial abode one day must eventually leave the celestial abode.

The consequence of practicing jnana is freedom from ignorance, but this is not liberation from Maya or knowledge of God, therefore this attainment is also temporary.

The consequence of yoga practices is to become established in the self. But because the yogi has not attained God realisation, he is not yet liberated from Maya. This is because he didn’t practice bhakti or devotion to God and didn’t receive divine grace. Therefore his attainment is also temporary.

Whatever other practices may exist – physical and mental austerities, religious vows, repeating mantras or anything else – their outcomes are all temporary.

Why doesn’t bhakti come to an end? One day you started to practice bhakti. This also had to be done with your senses, mind and intellect. What happens first through the practice of bhakti is the mind purifies. No other sadhana or practice will do this. Second, after the mind is completely purified, with His grace, God bestows His divine swaroop shakti upon the bhakti practioner, making that practioner’s senses, mind and intellect divine.

God’s grace is not received through any other practice because devotion is not a part of those practices. It is only through bhakti practice that one receives God’s grace and attains divine bhakti. It is only through bhakti that the senses, mind and intellect are made divine.

That divine bhakti continues for eternity and never comes to an end. That is why this verse explains that all spiritual practices come to an end eventually except for bhakti, which never comes to an end. It remains forever. Sage Narada has said of bhakti,

“Amrit swaroopa cha.” (Narad Bhakti Darshan)

It is immortal, imperishable.

© Radha Govind Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

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