All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga

His Divine Grace Srila Govinda Maharaj
President-Acharya of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math 

The holy abode Sri Nabadwip Dham: 

By the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu we are all now present at His place of Pastimes, Sri Nabadwip-Dham, a very auspicious and transcendental place. Mahaprabhu appeared in Sri Mayapur and played here in the nine islands of Nabadwip: Antardwip, Simantadwip, Godrumadwip, Madhyadwip, Koladwip, Modadrumadwip, Jahnudwip, and Rudradwip. These are the nine islands and everywhere here Mahaprabhu’s Pastimes are going on, they are eternal.

Vrindavan Dasa Thakur said:
 

adyapiha caitanya ei saba lila kare
ya’ra bhagye thake se dekhaye nirantare
Those pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are still going on, and those who are very fortunate can see that through their transcendental vision. Everything is always covered by illusion, Maya, and to our eyes this Nabadwip-Dham is also covered by that illusion. There are two types of Maya: Yogamaya and Mahamaya. Yogamaya is always giving nourishment to her Lord, whereas Mahamaya prevents any disturbance from entering that plane.

Our soul is now covered by illusion: we are attracted by the Chaya-shakti, the shadow-power of Krishna, therefore we now live far from that transcendental world. But when Krishna will bestow His mercy upon our head, Maya will remove the illusion from us and we will be able to see the transcendental Dham and we shall also be able to serve there. 

The Maya-shakti is very heavy for us because we are very tiny souls. She is always attracting us through her illusion. In one way, it is for our rectification, no doubt, but it is not a happy position for the conditioned souls. However, we will get relief from this environment if we try to know our position, and what is Krishna consciousness. 

If we do this, then by the mercy of Krishna and His devotee we will get strength to come out from the illusory environment, and, when we try, Krishna will help us. That assistance comes to us through His devotees. 

Everything comes through the proper channel. Sometimes direct mercy comes from the upper level, but normally, or generally, it comes through the established proper channel:
 

sadhu-shastra-kripaya yadi krisnonmukha haya
sei jiva nistare, maya tahare chadaya

(Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 20.120)

The mercy of the sadhu and Guru takes us to the transcendental level. When we can stand firm in our position there, then Mayadevi will leave us. It is necessary to try to preach this type of conception. As much as we have it ourselves, we are to distribute this clear vision and give it to others. Everywhere there is some possibility, from the lowest level up to the highest; everyone can try to give some good to others. Actually our only life’s goal is Krishna consciousness, and it is coming through sadhu, Guru and Vaishnava. It comes from their mercy through our sincere activity of service to them. 

You are fortunate to be connected with such knowledge. Somehow or other, you have received some experience and inspiration, and that is why you have come here to hear about the glories of Mahaprabhu, and you are trying to increase your mood of devotion as much as possible. Many devotees constantly feel disturbances from many things. From within themselves they are subject to kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsaryya: lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness, and jealousy. The only way to gain relief from such a position has been given by Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu:
 

vaco vegam manasaè krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhiraè
sarvvam apimam prithivim sa shisyat

(Sri Upadeshamrita)

It is necessary to try to control these tendencies within us, and it is only possible through service. When the mood of eternal service to Krishna will reveal itself in our heart, then everything else will leave us. At that time our intention will always be directed only for the service of Sri Guru-Vaishnava. 

The Scriptures say, sadhu-sanga! A sadhu is one who is a perfect servitor. He is always engaged in service to Krishna with his full energy. One who has no desire for himself or anything except service to Krishna—he is a real sadhu. Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita says:
 

Krishna-bhakta—niskama, ataeva ‘shanta’
bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami—sakali ‘ashanta’

(Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 19.149)

Ashanta means people who are always disturbed by the illusory environment. However, one can automatically get relief from the reactions of his bad activities if he can have no desire for his own purpose but can constantly try to give satisfactory service to sadhu, Guru and Vaishnava.

Many of our friends always feel disturbances from their mundane activities. But they can control them very easily—the method is to try very intensely and exclusively to engage themselves in service to Guru and the Vaishnavas. Such service goes directly to Krishna. If they try in that way they will get relief from the illusory environment. 

We are always between hopefulness and hopelessness! Hope comes when we are correcting ourselves in line with the transcendental world, but when we are disconnected from that level, then a hopeless position comes to us. It is, therefore, always necessary to keep connection with that transcendental level, and if we try in the way of service we will gain relief very easily.
 

kama esa krodha esa, rajoguna-samudbhavaè
maha-shano maha-papma, viddhy enam iha vairinam

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita 3.37)

There are three kinds of qualities or modes of nature (gunas) always playing within our body and mind: sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna. Of these, sattva-guna sometimes can give a good result for our practising life, but the true practising life is mainly beyond the three qualities of nature, and that is called nirguna. Krishna advised in Srimad Bhagavad-gita: “You always try to stay in the level of nirguna where these three, sattva-guna, rajo-guna and tamo-guna, have no play.”

Sattva-guna can give us auspiciousness and take our mind to an auspicious level, but Krishna consciousness lives beyond even that. Attachment to Krishna is necessary. Rupa Goswami Prabhu quoted:
 

Krishna-bhakti-rasa-bhavita matiè
kriyatam yadi kuto ’pi labhyate
tatra laulyam api mulyam ekalam
janma-koti-sukritair na labhyate
Hankering is the main thing necessary to gain that transcendental knowledge. When that will reveal itself in our heart fully, other disturbances will automatically leave us, just as when the sun rises in the east, all darkness is dispelled from our section of the Earth. So it is necessary for us to have hankering for Krishna-bhakti. 

We can see in the Vedas many varieties of auspicious practising moods. The Vedanta, Puranas, Upanisads, etc. are all always indicating the nirguna plane and trying to take us to that level. If we cannot stay in that nirguna level we will not receive the full result, therefore our activity, mood, and everything, whether viddhi or raga, should always be such as to try to take us to that higher level. But we must want it, then we can go there, otherwise not.
 

bhukti-mukti-spriha yavat
pishaci hridi vartate
tavad bhakti-sukhasyatra
katham abhyudayo bhavet
When attachment and attraction for mundane things live within our heart, they are called pishaci, witches. If witches have us under their spell, then how can Krishna-bhakti live there? Srila Rupa Goswami says it is not possible. Still, if we try with our best mood of service to attain that position, we must get it. It may be sudden or it may be after a long time, but if we try we must get that position, there is no doubt. That attempt is called sadhana. Sadhana is ‘the means to the end.’ Generally our sadhana guides us to the upper level, and prevents us from falling down to a lower level.

Shravanam-kirttanam, etc. is bhakti-sadhana, but other kinds of sadhana exist under the guidance of different departments of Vedic knowledge, such as yoga-sadhana, jnana-sadhana, karmma-sadhana, etc. The intention of all these types of practice is to take us to a higher position. But the topmost position, and the actual need for our supreme transcendental benefit, is only bhakti-yoga. Without bhakti-yoga, other kinds of sadhana such as bhukti or mukti cannot give us the proper result. So if we try to practise shravanam, kirttanam, smaranam, vandanam, etc.—the nine kinds of bhakti-sadhana under the guidance of a proper sadhu—then we will easily receive the good result.

This navadha-bhakti-pitha is Nabadwip-Dham. Each of the nine islands of Nabadwip give some special facility for our practising life. This place where this holy temple Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math has been established, Koladwip, is called pada-sevana ksetra, the place where we can gain direct connection with Krishna through the worship of His lotus feet. But if we really want that then we should sincerely try to get it through the expert—then easily we can have His connection. 

In the Scriptures we can see that Krishna’s devotee always tries to satisfy the devotees. That position is the supermost position, but at present we are living in another position, that is, mano-jagat, which means the mental world; and that mental world has grown up from the Maya-jagat, the illusory environment. First we must try to disconnect ourselves from the mental world, and fully surrender to Krishna, then we will receive help from Him.
 

Krishna yadi kripa kare kona bhagyavane
guru-antaryami-rupe shikhaya apane
From Krishna comes inspiration to attain the transcendental world. He will send a sadhu, a Guru, a Vaishnava, and through them we will receive some light and strength—easily we shall be able to practise with their help, and attain our destination.

There is no doubt that all of you here are fortunate to have a connection with the transcendental world and to have hankering, otherwise why would you have come here? You must try to achieve that transcendental plane through your mood of service, and you will get it very easily if you try in the proper way. The proper way is to satisfy Guru and the Vaishnavas. 

When Srila Guru Maharaj established this Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math he simply wanted a place to practise devotional life along with a very few followers. But now it has grown in a very big way, and day by day in order to help others, it is growing bigger. But the line of Srila Guru Maharaj is a very exclusive devotional line.

If we want to serve Srila Guru Maharaj exclusively and not see anything else, we will be relieved of all troubles. We must try to serve Guru very attentively, for only then will we get that chance, otherwise we will be cheated. Srila Guru Maharaj was very simple-hearted. He did not want to cheat anyone, and that is why he did not make many complications. In his life he only showed Krishna and Krishna-bhakti. We are also trying to proceed within the line of his vision, but if his mercy will not act within us, we will not get that. 

So in an exclusive way we must try to satisfy Srila Guru Maharaj. Then he will be very happy. 

Under the guidance of our mind we may try many things, but that is not really bhakti. Our mind is always going this way and that way. The fickle and mad mind can do anything, but a good result will not always come from that. If we do good things then a good result will come to us, if we do not, then a bad result will come to us; such is our position. We will gain relief from the illusory environment only if in an exclusive way we try to follow our Gurudeva. 

Many people can say many things, also the shastras are very vast! All the Scriptures are full of knowledge no doubt, but they are so vast that we cannot discover from them what is good for us. But the sadhu, Guru and the Vaishnavas simply try to satisfy Krishna, and if we follow them, we will easily get the full result of all scriptural advice. Therefore we shall try to proceed in a simple way. Mahaprabhu has also instructed us that it is not necessary to do many things—just chant Hare Krishna, engage in Vaishnava-seva and do Prasada-seva:
 

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirttana, bhagavat-shravana
mathura-vasa, shri-murttira shraddhaya sevana
sakala-sadhana-shrestha ei panca anga
Krishna-prema janmaya ei pancera alpa sanga

(Sri Chaitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 22.128 & 129)

Try to satisfy the servitors of Krishna and you will easily receive the result—Krishna-prema, through them. This path is very simple. 

Chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, and engage in Vaishnava-seva. Don’t look this side or that, but give your attention only to the service of Gurudeva and the Vaishnavas, and that will be helpful for you.

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