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Every Word is a Song

"Where every word is a song, every step is a dance, and the flute is the favorite attendant . . ."
(Sri Brahma-samhita)

Every word is a song . . . but this is not a sound of this plane. This is from some other world, some other world that is so soft, so sweet, so heart-capturing. It is a world where correct behavior occurs most sweetly and harmoniously. Every word is like a song (katha ganam). Every movement is sweet, like dancing (natyam gamanam api). It has been described in this way. Every-thing is replete with the highest degree of beauty. This is the land of beauty - there everything is beautiful. Everything has the touch of beauty divine. The prime cause is charming, attracting, and arresting heart and soul, "Stop!"

There is a land of such existence. Our aspiration is for such a life (radhika-madhavasam). We can sincerely foster the idea to feel attraction to a life of such a plane, where everything is of a musical character. The flute of Krsna guides everything. That can even draw out the life from the body.

The sound is so charming, it appears that one's very feeling wants to come out of bodily existence. What-ever part of our body is touched with any sort of such dealing, that part seems to disconnect from the other parts, and - if it is possible to imagine it - that part runs to join the subject. If there is color, the eye wants to feel it, as though separating himself from the other parts of the body. There is such a competition: "I don't want your connection, O body! I want to run towards that direction - a call has come from there." The hands, the eyes, the touch - all faculties will compete; whatever part is touched will want to run away from the other friendly companions.

Once, after conducting the parikrama (circumambulation) of the whole Vraja-mandala (the perimeter of Sri Vrndavana), Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada asked his disciples, "Which pastimes attract-ed you most? Which location in Vrndavana has attracted you most?" When he asked me this question, I replied that Kadamkhandi, the place of Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu's bhajana, attracted me most of all. Midway be-tween Nandagram and Yavat there was an asrama where Srila Rupa Goswami settled and used to write his book Sri-Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. That place attracted me most. Again, after a year or two, when we were at Sri Radha-Kunda in the company of Srila Prabhupada, he very suddenly remarked, "Your place. That place of yours . . .Ó I was astounded. "What, where is my place?" He said, "Your place is Kadamkhandi, the place of Srila Rupa Goswami." I thought, "Oh, he had some purpose when he inquired a year or two ago which location was attractive to who; he kept these things on his mind, and accordingly today he is saying, 'Your place.' "

So he was very particular about ruci-pariksa, or to examine the taste of a particular person for a particular lila and a particular group of service. It is necessary for the Acarya to examine his disciple and determine the place where he is to be located.

He must determine where his disciple stands and accord-ingly in harmony with that innate taste help him in his march towards that land of his aspiration.

The destination has been settled, but how shall I reach it? When shall I reach it? Those who come to my aid to take me there - they are my masters, my Gurus: Siksa-gurus and Diksa-guru. Whoever helps me to go there is my Guru. He is my guide who will help me to reach my located destination, the station of my innermost hankering (radhika-madhavasam prapto yasya prathitah krpaya sri-gurum tam nato 'smi). He has helped me to locate my destination; he has educated me how and what to aspire after, and how to reach that highest aspired shelter. I have attained all these things through him. He is my all-in-all in life, the master of my life. There is a boat, and he is the helmsman (guru-karnadharam). I have surrendered unto him, I have accepted him. I have boarded his boat and he is taking me towards the goal of my life.

The human body (nr-deham) has been compared to a boat. By utilizing my resources in this body and mind, my Gurudeva, as the helmsman, is guiding me towards the goal. One who does not take this opportunity after coming into the human species commits suicide. He commits suicide by failing to take advantage of cross-ing the ocean of life and death, birth and death, birth and death. The very nature of the ocean of mundane

existence is waves - life and death, birth and death. The helmsman to take us across this ocean of life and death, birth and death, is Gurudeva. It is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that anyone who misses this chance is committing suicide:

nr-deham adyam sulabham sudurllabham

plavam sukalpam guru-karnadharam

mayanukulena nabhasvateritam

puman bhavabdhim na tares sa atmaha

(Bha: 11.20.17)

Here, the Lord is inferring, "So many boats are passing, and I am helping like a favorable wind. The helmsman is Guru, and I am the favorable wind. The boat is this human body, and you should all take this opportunity to cross the ocean of life, birth, and death. The world is compared to the infinite. It resembles infinity; it is very difficult to cross the ocean of life and death, birth and death. If you want to escape these troubles (janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosanudarsa-nam), you must take the chance. Otherwise, you will lose so much that it amounts to suicide.

Mahaprabhu's grace presupposes some selection, whereas Nityananda's grace has no selection

The grace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu presupposes some selection, but Sri Nityananda Prabhu's grace has no selection. He gives His grace to whoever He comes across. Nityananda Prabhu is so magnanimous that He saves whoever He comes across on His way. His mercy is so raw, undiscriminating, and broad. Nityananda Prabhu is most benevolent. Mahaprabhu has a sort of discrimination, but Nityananda Prabhu does not care for any discrimination whatsoever. Whether one is a fit or an unfit candidate, he is still counted as worthy. Such is His mercy.

Never dare to approach Sri Sri Radha and Krsna, neglecting the grace of Lord Nityananda (hena nitai vine bhai, radha-krsna paite nai). So, our revered Sripada Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja laid stress on Nitya-nanda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu is Lord Balarama. Nityananda Prabhu's grace is stressed for the fallen; His grace is real wealth for them because discrimination has hardly a place in it. Although not much, we nonetheless find some sort of discrimination in the magnanimity of Lord Gauranga. But Nityananda Prabhu is more gen-erous. So first go to Nityananda Prabhu, and by His grace you will go to Mahaprabhu. And by the grace of Mahaprabhu you will easily reach Sri Sri Radha-Govinda in Vrndavana. This is the way shown to us.

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde

vindeta bhaktim krta-punya-rasih

tatha tathotsarpati hrdy akasmad

radha-padambhoja-sudhambu-rasih

(Sri Caitanya-candramrta 88)

"As devotion unto the lotus feet of Sri Gaurasundara is attained by a greatly pious person, unexpectedly the ocean of nectar which is the service of the lotus feet of Sri Radha is accordingly born within his heart."

Percolated by the mercy of Sri Gauranga, try to approach Srimati Radharani. Then there will no possi-bility of any dirt entering you and disturbing you in that plane. That will be percolated by Sri Gauranga. If you have the shelter of Sri Gauranga you can be sure that you will very safely, smoothly, and intimately attain to the service of Srimati Radharani. Otherwise it is very dangerous, and sometimes suicidal. If you do not approach through Sri Gauranga the attempt will be reactionary. It is very dangerous to approach Sri

Vrndavana and Srimati Radharani directly. You must approach commanded by Sri Gauranga. In other words, if you can appreciate the life of Sri Gauranga, the ideal of Sri Gauranga, then kama (mundane desire), etc., will be exhaustively eliminated. You will be really purified to be acceptable to that domain of the highest lila.

So here, in Koladvipa, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave His best to all (kuliya-gramete asi' sri-krsna-caitanya, hena nahi, ya 're prabhu na karila dhanya). He gave the most desirable service, service of the sweetest type. Such service is found in Vrndavana, and Mahaprabhu Sri Caitanyadeva recommended Vrndavana life as the highest. Neither knowledge nor power can even approach this Vrndavana service. In Vrndavana, heart is every-thing. Sri Uddhava also said,

asam aho carana-renu-jusam aham syat,

vrndavane kim api gulma-latausadhinam

ya dustyajam svajanam arya-pathan ca hitva

bhejur mukunda-padavim srutibhir vimrgyam

(Bha: 10.47.61)

"Ignoring society and even scriptures, they (the Gopis) have given themselves up to the Absolute. They gave up their own relatives, and what is socially considered to be holy; they gave up everything for the cause of the service of the Lord." So Uddhava, the highest type of devotee, said, "I aspire after a birth as a blade of grass or some plant in Vrndavana, so that the feet-dust of the Gopis easily falls on my head." So high is the position of the Gopis and Vrndavana. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended that very thing, with the added feature of distributing it to others. Giving it to others, one may have a wholesale dealing with a life so divine. All conceptions of dharma (duty), adharma (irreligion), jnana (know-ledge, renunciation, liberation), etc. - they are very, very low in comparison to these affairs of Vrndavana. Here, the heart is everything. Whoever has tenacity to follow this line has the greatest hope of success in life.

And again, distya yad asin mat sneho, bhavatinam mad apanah (Bha: 10.42.44): "It is supposed that one who gets My connection is fortunate, but I consider it My fortune that I got your (the Gopis') connection. Others say that anyone who gets My connection is fortunate. But I consider Myself fortunate because I have your connection. I am the most fortunate. It is My fortune that I have your connection, so it is sure that I shall be yours - I shall always be yours." Such things were spoken by Krsna when He met the Gopis at Kuruksetra. Such things are unattainable - people cannot even think so high, that such a life is possible. Bhaktya sanjataya bhaktya (Bha: 11.3.31): bhakti will produce more bhakti, and that bhakti will also produce more bhakti - in this way. Nothing else comes as a fruit. Bhakti is such a thing, it is its own reward.

yasyah kadapi vasanancala-khelanottha-

dhanyatidhanya-pavanena krtarthamani

yogindra-durgama-gatir madhusudano 'pi

tasyah namo 'stu vrsabhanubhuvodise 'pi

(Sri Prabodhananda Saraswatipada)

Here it has been told that once the flow of the wind had touched some part of the cloth or dress of Srimati Radharani; that wind touched Krsna's body, and Krsna was besides Himself with cheer, with gladness, with pleasure. "Oh! I felt a touch of the wind that blew past the dress of Radharani - I am so fortunate!" And who is that Krsna? All the religious experts, scholars, yogis, etc., they are all hunting after Krsna's grace and that Krsna, He thinks Himself fortunate if He gets a little touch of the breeze that blew past the dress of Srimati Radharani. So pure is Srimati Radharani. Her surrender, Her service, is so pure, that even a touch of that wind makes Krsna, Bhagavan, the Supreme Lord Himself, think that He has gained the highest fortune. He feels, "I am so fulfilled in My life."

Srimati Radharani's position is first and foremost. Sri Jayadeva Goswami has written that Krsna wants the feet-dust of Srimati Radharani (dehi pada-pallavam udaram, Gita Govinda). However, ordinary people cannot understand this. Only the followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by His grace, can understand anything of the substance of Radha-dasyam, the servitude of Srimati Radharani. So Radha-dasyam is the highest aspiration of the Gaudiya Vaisnava.

After Sri Caitanyadeva took sannyasa, He wandered throughout South India, and conquered the religious conceptions there. At Benares, Sri Svarupa Damodara also wanted to take sannyasa, but the function was half-done. When the Lord arrived at Puri, Sri Svarupa Damodara became as though mad, and with his sannyasa-function half-completed he ran to Puri. His name was Purusottama, and his brahma-cari name was Svarupa Ananda. So, with this name still, he ran to Puri, like a madman, to see his guardian and friend, his everything. He greeted Sri Caitanyadeva with this sloka:

helodhunita-khedaya visadaya pronmilad amodaya

samyac-chastra-vivadaya rasadaya cittarpitonmadaya

sasvad-bhaktivinodaya samadaya madhurya-maryadaya

sri-caitanya-dayanidhe tava daya bhuyad amandodaya

(Sri Caitanyacandrodaya-nataka)

"O ocean of mercy, Sri Caitanya - that mercy which effortlessly dispels all lamentation; that mercy within which absolute purity resides; that mercy within which supreme ecstasy is revealed (overshadowing all else); that mercy which ends all scriptural debates by its appearance; that mercy which charms all directions by its pastimes of divine love - by its absolute sweetness may that all-expansive mercy of Yours, the bestower of all goodness, awaken in our hearts."

Sri Svarupa Damodara fell at the feet of Sri Caitanyadeva, with this sloka on his lips. "O great ocean of mercy, Sri Caitanyadeva, let Your grace be distributed to one and all. You are the ocean of grace let that grace be distributed to one and all. It is the grace which once begun never comes to end in any other wave; it will never produce any bad thing thereafter. Your daya, Your mercy, is of such quality that if anyone gets a particle of it, then in no time that mercy will eliminate any bad position. Mando means Ôbad position,' so aman-dodaya is such daya that won't bring inauspiciousness at any time." Like a mad friend fallen at his feet, Sri Svarupa Damodara sang this sloka to Sri Caitanyadeva. In the line of instruction from Sri Caitanyadeva, Sri Svarupa Damodara is first, then Sri Rupa-Sanatana (vis-vambhara priyankara, sri-svarupa-damodara, sri-goswami rupa-sanatana). Sri Svarupa Damodara's position is such. In Vrndavana, his position is Lalita-sakhi. Bhuyad means asirvada, blessings; "I bestow my blessings to one and all; one and all may get the blessings of Sri Caitanyadeva."

A hint of the particular standard of Srimati Lalita Devi's service has been given by Srila Rupa Goswami:

radha-mukunda-pada-sambhava-gharmabindu--

nirmancanopakarane krta-deha-laksyam

When Lalita Devi finds a drop of perspiration at the feet of Sri Sri Radha-Govinda, she furiously engages herself to remove it. "How has it come there? We are circumambulating Them to see that not the least pain can enter this domain to trouble

Them. But how without our notice has this perspiration appeared? Perspiration, perspiration!Ó So she is furiously chastising herself, and wants to immedi-ately take birth one lakh (100,000) times - with that force she comes to remove that drop of perspiration from the lotus feet of either of the Divine Couple. If the least difficulty is seen in the serving area, the Lord's Associates can't tolerate it in any way, and such eager-ness, self-abuse and earnestness is found in them. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said,

sanatana, deha-tyage krsna yadi paiye

koti-deha ksaneke tabe chadite pariye

(C.c. Antya 4.56)

"O Sanatana, to attain the service of Krsna, I want to immediately die ten million times. I am ready to embrace ten million deaths if that will help me serve Him."

The Hladini-sakti, the feeling potency, is Srimati Radharani. Even She feels dissatisfaction within Herself; "I can't . . ." This holds the extreme position: "I can't do My service, My duty; I can't do it."

At the meeting in Syamanta-pancaka at Kuruksetra, Krsna Himself suddenly fell at Srimati Radharani's feet and begged forgiveness: "I am an offender, a criminal to your position. You are so self-giving, I cannot fulfill My real duty towards You. Your service to Me is so loving, I can't do My duty to You." But Srimati Radha-rani said, "It is I who am committing offenses, because I am still living despite Your separation. In Your separation I am still living - that proves that I am the offender. I am the offender, not You, because I am living. That is sufficient proof that I am not fit for You. Why did I not die with the separation? There is the proof."

Krsna fell at Her feet: "Your position is so high, so high. So long I was without You, increasing My different duties. Without trying to satisfy You, I engaged Myself in consideration of different duties." But Srimati Radharani said, "No, no, it is I who am the offender, that I did not die without Your company. We find in the scriptures that the male has such freedom, but not the female. So I should have died in the separation, and You have no offense that You left Me to do so many duties here and there. You have so many duties to dis-charge, but I am only for Your service. As such, I could not keep up the standard." Such was the meeting at Kuruksetra.

So in Krsna's pastimes, the potencies are Sandhini, Samvit, and Hladini. Hladini holds the highest position because of wholesale self-surrender. Next is Samvit, and then third is the position of the Sandhini. Thinking, feeling, and willing: willing is Sandhini, thinking is Samvit, and feeling is Hladini. Ordinarily we may think that feeling is the last of all, but no, it is the first. Feeling is first. Feeling, real feeling, has been given such a high position. We are all under feeling. We are all searching, and feeling is commanding. We think feeling is the result. No. Feeling is commanding everything. First feeling, then thinking, then willing. Generally the karmis give the better hand to willing - willpower - all command; and the jnanis place everything in thinking - "We command the will, so we are holding the high position." But feeling is at the basis of everything. He, or It, or She - is commanding everything. It has been told like that; we have to understand the position of feeling. Hare Krsna.