HH Radhanath Swami: I am so happy to be once again amongst all of you. I sincerely thank you for kindly coming and offering your precious time in these very precious human lives to attend our auspicious Sunday festival at Radha-Gopinath temple. It is a very great privilege for us to have the chance to serve you in whatever small way we can. We should never take service to the devotees to be a job or a chore. It is a privilege. It is a blessing coming from Krishna. And how we appreciate that blessing with a grateful heart is how Krishna will reciprocate with us. It is only after millions and millions of birth, by inconceivable good fortune that we are allowed to personally serve the servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Let us treasure this blessing as the highest ideal of our lives. We should be very grateful if any devotee is wiling to accept service from us, whatever that service may be. In Krishna consciousness there is no high and low as in material life. High and low is based on one’s sincerity, one’s integrity, one’s dedication, one’s gratitude and one’s love. Those who live by these holy principles are high in the eyes of God, and in the eyes of those who love God. Today we have very special guests amongst us.

We are so grateful they have come. I will give very brief introduction because if I speak what is in my heart it will be very quickly time for Prasadam. Better Krishna reveal their opulences by the words coming from their own mouths. We have one of our dearest well-wishers, friends- Srila Bhakti Caru Maharaj. He is one of the most exemplary and deeply loved devotees by Vaishanavas all over the world. People naturally love him because he loves people. He’s given his heart to Srila Prabhupad’s service for the past over 30 years. Faithful, dedicated, his projects are glorious. His love for Prabhupad is being manifested in people’s hearts by his Abhay Charan series shown on television, watched by people all over the world. His beautiful devotional singing, wherever anyone goes in the world they will hear the Cd’s and tapes of Bhakti Caru Maharaj playing. From the Samadhi of Mayapur to the Pujari room of Los Angeles. And his Vaishanava qualities and his dedication to the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Prabhupada are simply glorious, astounding. Let us welcome His Holiness Srila Bhakti Caru Swami.

Devotees: Hari bol. Hari bol. Hari bol.

HH Radhanath Swami: We also have our dear friend and well- wisher Panditji Maharaj. He’s born and raised in a little village called Chiksoli, the place where Chitra Sakhi appeared in this world. It is in the forest of Gabarvan, just behind Srimati Radharani’s eternal home- Barsana, Vrajbhumi. By Sri Radharani’s mercy I have had the pleasure and fortune to know these people for about 33 years. When I was just a little beggar roaming around Vraj, they would give me their rotis and their love. And I learned much by seeing their natural, spontaneous devotion. They’ve risked their lives to protect the integrity of Vraj Bhumi. Materialistic people were trying to cut all the trees from Gabarvan. And these are not gentle, business men with business suits; these are gundas, dacoits, people who will kill for a few paisas. But they stood up, really risking their lives to protect the integrity of the mountains, the trees, the holy places of Vraj. Each year he goes to America to do Bhagavat Katha to raise funds to restoring the holy places of Vrindavan. Let us welcome Sri Panditji Maharaj to Sri Radha-Gopinath temple.

Devotees: Hari bol. Hari bol. Hari bol.

HH Radhanath Swami: And of course we know Panditji’s guru maharaj- Ramesh Baba Maharaj. Ramesh Baba Maharaj has always been a very kind, merciful sadhu to all of our devotees over the years. We now request Srila Bhakti Caru Swami to illuminate our hearts with his devotion.

HH Bhakti Caru Swami: Hare Krishna. I was actually requesting HH Radhanath Maharaj to speak, but Maharaj is insisting that I do. A few exchanges went on between maharaj and me and then finally I had to surrender. So I will try to speak something because, Maharaj is insisting and I told him that since he is my senior I have to listen to him. Specially, I have a portfolio called Vaisnava etiquette. Before coming to the class, while waiting for Radhanath Maharaj, I was speaking to Radha-Krishna Prabhu and then when maharaj came I continued speaking to him about the same topic and the topic was- What makes Krishna consciousness spread? What inspires people to take to Krishna consciousness? In this temple through HH Radhanath Maharaj that point becomes very clear, and that is what Srila Prabhupad very emphatically presented through his 4 principles: Srila Prabhupad’s books/teachings are the basis, preaching is the essence, purity is the force and utility is the principle. Krishna consciousness is a very profound topic. It can be quite complicated but, the way Srila Prabhupad gave it, it actually became very simple, yet Srila Prabhupad’s presentation of Krishna consciousness is most sublime and most profound. In simple words Srila Prabhupad’s presentation can be described as, it is so simple that even a child can appreciate and understand it. And it is so profound that the greatest philosophers in the world can completely get lost in it. That is what Srila Prabhupad’s presentation is like. Prabhupad made one point very clear that he was not presenting anything new. Srila Prabhupad simply dictated the message that has been flowing from time immemorial, through the chain of disciplic succession, through the chain of self- realized souls starting all the way from Brahma. So that is what Srila Prabhupad came to give. And Srila Prabhupad was very emphatic, very cautious about one point and that is the purity of this message. Srila Prabhupad was very cautious about the presentation of the message; it must be done in an absolute pure way, without any deviation. Srila Prabhupad used to say, “the responsibility of the spiritual master is that he carries the message without any distortion from the message that he himself received from his spiritual master” And that’s what constitutes the chain of spiritual master and disciple. The original spiritual master is Krishna. He imparted this message to Brahma through Gayatri mantra. By playing his flute He gave the Gayatri mantra to Brahma. And meditating on this Gayatri mantra this transcendental knowledge was revealed in the heart of Brahma. That point has been very wonderfully presented right at the beginning of Srimat Bhagavatam. Tene Brahmarida adikavaye muyhanti yatsuharaya (16:32). Krishna imparted this knowledge to the original kavi- Adikavi-Brahma. This transcendental knowledge- divya gyan- or Brahma gyan. This knowledge is so deep and so complex that it bewilders even the demigods- Muyhanti Yatsuharaya. After receiving this knowledge Brahma imparted this knowledge to his disciple- Narada Muni. It is interesting to note that from Brahma two disciplic successions actually started- one side is the Prajapatis who are going to help him with procreation, filling up the universe with living entities. The other side started with Narada Muni. Narada Muni didn’t want to get involved in material affairs. Brahma didn’t mind that his youngest son was not interested in materialistic involvements of filling up the universe with progeny or prajas.

One day Narada Muni saw that Brahma was in a trance and tears were flowing from his eyes, the hairs were standing on end, his body was trembling. Seeing Brahma in that way Narada Muni could recognize that he was experiencing an inconceivable emotion internally. When Brahma came out of his trance Narada Muni asked him that all this while I used to think that you are the greatest personality, you are the Supreme. Please tell me who is it, thinking about Him you are experiencing these emotions internally through your meditation. Then Brahma spoke to Narada Muni about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this way Narada Muni became the link through Brahma of the Bhagavat or the transcendental knowledge of Godhead and His teachings. In this way disciplic succession started which is known as Bhagavat Parampara. We belong to that parampara. Our understanding is that the ultimate goal of life is to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead and mold our lives according to the instructions of that Supreme Personality of Godhead. The instructions that the Lord Himself gave 5000 years ago, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, that is Krishna katha, that is Bhagavad Gita. The words spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, and the foundation of this parampara, or this culture is the knowledge about the Supreme Personality of Godhead that have been imparted by the individuals who are very closely related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. The devotees of the Lord spoke about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that is Srimat Bhagavat. In this disciplic succession a very interesting phase manifested, when the Supreme Personality of Godhead revealed His pastimes 5000 years ago in the land of Vrindavan. Krishna’s Vrindavan pastimes are unusual, because in Vrindavan pastimes Krishna reveals some relationships that were not known to the devotees before; a relationship that is not known to the devotees even in Vaikuntha, a relationship that was not available even in Ayodhya, even in Dwarka. Generally in the spiritual sky, in Vaikuntha, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is worshipped as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and everyone else serves Him in awe and reverence, in Aishaja. With the understanding that God is God and, everyone must serve Him with that understanding, that relationship is shantya and dashya. Vaikuntha is the region where only these two mellows are prevalent- shantya ras and dashya ras. But in Vrindavan pastimes a very unique relationship was revealed by Krishna- relationship of friendship, parental and conjugal. These 3 relationships with the Supreme Personality of Godhead are available only in Vrindavan, nowhere else. Originally these relationships are available eternally in the spiritual sky in Goloka Vrindavan- spiritual Vrindavan. The topmost region of the spiritual sky- Goloka is manifested through Krishna’s Vraj lila- Vrindavan pastimes. Otherwise it was not revealed. That point has been very wonderfully explained by Srila Sanatana Goswami in his Brihad Bhagavadamrita, that even from Dwarka one cannot enter into Vrindavan. For example, Gopkumar, a cowherd boy who by the mercy of his spiritual master and chanting the mantra that his guru gave him, was making gradual advancements. He went from earth planet to the heavenly planets, and then he reached the highest region of the universe- satyaloka. Then penetrating through the coverings of the material nature he came to Vaikuntha, from Vaikuntha he was elevated to Ayodhya then to spiritual Dwarka. But still his heart was not content then one day Narada Muni when he came to Dwarka he noticed that this particular spirit soul was not fully content even in Dwarka, so he asked Gopkumar what’s the matter? You are in Dwarka you are receiving so much mercy from the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself but still your heart is not content, what’s the matter? Then Gopkumar told Narada Muni how his heart was actually hankering for a young boy who wears peacock feathers, who wears flower garlands, and who plays the flute. Then Narada Muni said that I can see that your attraction is for Krishna in Vrindavan, but in order to go to Vrindavan you have to go back to the earth planet to Bhoma Vrindavan- the Vrindavan in the earth planet. And in that Vrindavan you have to perform sankirtan, that is with all the love of your heart you have to call out to the Lord, Hey Govinda, Hey Gopala. And Gopkumar did that he came back to the earth planet to Bhoma Vrindavan, the Vrindavan on the earth planet and he performed sankirtana, calling out to the Lord with all the love of his heart. As a result of that he was elevated eventually to Goloka Vrindavan. So we can see from this that even from Dwarka one cannot enter Vrindavan. Some rare personalities can go like Udhav, when he was sent by Krishna he went to Vrindavan. How did Udhav feel when he went to Vrindavan? When he saw the gopis? He saw how deep their love for Krishna is, and his pride was smashed. Udhav is the greatest devotee of Krishna in Dwarka. Udhav is the greatest devotee of Vasudev in Dwarka and he had some pride that he was the best of Krishna’s devotees. But when he went to Vrindavan that pride was shattered, seeing the love of the gopis’ for Krishna. Then what did Udhav desire? He simply wanted to become a blade of grass or a creeper in Vrindavan. So some rare individuals can enter into Vrindavan from Dwarka, but that’s not the norm.

Now after performing His Vrindavan pastimes, Krishna considered that I revealed My very special Vraja lila but how will anyone ever enter into Vrindavan? Entering into Vrindavan is not going to be possible for anyone. This point has been very wonderfully explained by Nityananda Prabhu. After Nityananda Prabhu took Jivagoswami in the parikrama of Navadwip, he sat down and started to instruct Jivagoswami, and at that time he made this point. And this point has also been explained in Sri Caitanya Caritramrita (Adilila, 6th chapter). Nityananda Prabhu pointed out that Krishna considered after revealing His Vrindavan pastimes that how one will not be able to enter into Vrindavan, because a devotee will serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Boydhi Bhakti , following the rules and regulations of the scriptures. It is natural that a devotee will serve the Lord following the rules and regulations of the scriptures or according to Boydhi Bhakti. And by rendering devotional service to the Lord following Boydhi Bhakti when one attains his perfection, he will be elevated to Vaikuntha. From Vaikuntha, even from the topmost region of Vaikuntha- Dwarka, one cannot enter into Vrindavan. So Krishna considered that the devotee will go to Vaikuntha and will not be able to enter into Vrindavan, therefore Krishna decided to come as a devotee. When the devotee Krishna is served through Boydhi Bhakti then the gate of Vrindavan will become wide opened to him. This same point has been very succinctly made by Srila Prabhodananda Sarswati. He is saying, yatha yatha gorpadaravinde vinde tauh bhakting krito puna rashi tatha tatha utsarpati ridi akarsmat radha padam bhoja sudam bhorashi (32:37) Yatha yatha gaurpadaravinde vinde tauh bhakting krito puna rashi- due to heaps of pious activities when one develops his attachment to the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, tatha tatha utsarpati- accordingly springs forward from the depth of his heart, radha padam bhoja sudam bhorashi- the nectar emanating from the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. Jai Shree Radha- Gopinath ki Jai. Jai Shree Gaur-Nitai ki Jai. Gaur Premanande. So Krishna Himself considered after performing His Vrindavan pastimes how will anyone enter into His Vraja lila. In order to make that happen Krishna appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Krishna appeared as a devotee. Now what kind of a devotee? What kind of a mood of devotion? Radha bhav nomi Krishna Swarupum (34:26). Krishna apperared in the mood of Srimati Radharani, with the internal feelings of Srimati Radharani. It is not only bhava, the bhava of Srimati Radharani is maha bhava, maha bhava swarupini Radha thakurani, Srimati Radharani is the personification of maha bhava, the highest form the most profound devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So Krishna came assuming the maha bhava of Srimati Radharani and duti the complexion of Srimati Radharani. Krishna is Ghanashyam , his complexion is like monsoon cloud but that dark complexion here has been covered by the complexion of taptokancha Gaurangi (35: 46), the complexion of Srimati Radharani, which is like the molten gold. Kumkum (35:57) . Srimati Radharani’s complexion is so brilliant that when the red of kumkum is blended with molten gold, that color becomes ashamed in front of the color of Srimati Radharani’s complexion. So assuming that complexion, and assuming that mood, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared; Krishna appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Krishna is appearing this way to create the good fortune for everyone to enter into Krishna’s Vrindavan pastimes. Vrindavan pastimes mean relationship with Krishna as a friend, relationship with Krishna as the parent or relationship with Krishna as a lover. Vrindavan means these three moods, these three relationships. Now the specialty of these 3 relationships, why they are not available in Vaikuntha is because these 3 relationships are not possible if we are aware of the fact that Krishna is God. So therefore in order to develop these 3 relationships with Krishna one has to forget that Krishna is God. Because friendship is only possible amongst equals. Now who will consider himself to be equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead? To be a friend means to deal with Krishna as an equal. Like the cowherd boys, Krishna’s friends sometimes wrestle with Krishna and the condition of wrestling is that the loser has to carry the winner on his back. Now Krishna’s friend in this wrestling bout defeats Krishna and Krishna is the loser, so now the friend demands that Krishna will have to carry him on his back and Krishna refuses to do this. Krishna says, “no I didn’t lose there was a banana peel and I slipped on that and you jumped on me and claimed that you defeated me” So a deep argument takes place and finally the friend forces his way onto Krishna’s back. In order to force one’s way onto Krishna’s back, one will have to step onto Krishna’s body to climb onto Krishna’s back. Now will any devotee ever dare to go to the alter…I don’t even have to say the rest. So you can see how impossible it is for a devotee to deal with Krishna in that way, but in Vrindavan that is how the devotees deal with Krishna. Well at least amongst friends the relationship is among equals, the friends become equal to Krishna, but consider parents, there the devotees have become superior to God and God has become inferior. Now how is it possible? That is why Vrindavan is so special. Vrindavan is so special because Krishna made that arrangement there through yovamaya that everyone forgets that Krishna is God. Here we have to understand that this forgetfulness is not forgetfulness out of ignorance but it is forgetfulness caused out of intense love. One type of forgetfulness is due to ignorance, but this forgetfulness of Vrindavan is not due to ignorance. It is not that the devotees of Vrindavan do not know that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead but due to the influence of yovamaya, due to the intense love for Krishna their attitude is, well even if Krishna is God so what? It’s not important that Krishna is God it doesn’t really matter, even if Krishna was not God I would have loved Him the way I love Him. The only thing that matters is love and it does not matter what Krishna’s position is. Whether Krishna is God or not does not matter, all that matters is our love for Krishna. And that is what yovamaya is causing; out of intense love they forget that Krishna is God. And that is why Vrindavan is so special.

In order to create that good fortune for us Krishna came as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And our business is to simply serve Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, although He came as a devotee we have the clear understanding that He came to enable us to love Him. He came to enable us to develop our loving relationship with Krishna. And if some day our service becomes successful, if we achieve the success of that devotion to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then the gate of Vrindavan will open up to us. That gate will open and in place of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu we will see Radha- Krishna, because it is Radha and Krishna that became one as Sri Caitanya Maprabhu. Through our service to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu we will see that this personality is the unified form of Radha and Krishna, just as Ramananda Roy saw by the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is what Srila Prabhupada came to give. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave this most wonderful opportunity for a living entity to enter into Goloka Vrindavan, to enter into Krishna’s Vraja lila. And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu predicted that this Krishna conscious movement would spread all over the world in every town and village. That prediction although it is impossible, has become possible by Srila Prabhupada. In the short span of 10 years, he spread this movement all over the world. Srila Prabhupada was sent by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to fulfill His prediction. And it is by Srila Prabhupada’s divine arrangement that somehow or other we have received this wonderful good fortune, otherwise Vraja prema would not be available to us. This special prerogative would have been available only to some rare personalities like Panditji and Maharaj, not to us. But Srila Prabhupada has created that good fortune for us and Srila Prabhupada is giving us the perfect understanding, how to become engaged in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement. Serving Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu through Boydhi Bhakti means serving Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu through sankirtan. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu served in a very special way, sankirtan yajna kare Krishna aradhan (46: 32), this type of aradhana is done through sankirtana. (46: 40), this wonderful good fortune has been created by Srila Prabhupad for us and somehow or other due to our heaps of pious activities we have been able to receive this good fortune, now we must take full advantage of this good fortune and make our life successful. Thank you very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupad.