28 January – Basant Panchami

8 March – Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Jayanti

9 March – Holi

1 April – Ram Navami

24 May – Akshya Tritya

1 June – Nirjala Ekadashi

3 July – Guru Purnima

22 July – Hariyali Teej

24 July – Naag Panchami

2 August – Raksha Bandhan

10 August – Shri Krishna Janmashtami

24 August  – Shri Radha Ashtami

24 October – Dusshera

29 October – Sharat Purnima

13 November – Deepawali

14 November – Govardhan Puja

28 November – Kartik Purnima

23 December  – Gita Jayanti

All the scriptures, from the Vedas to the Ramayana, and all other religious books and spiritual paths to God believe that God is omnipresent. He doesn’t merely permeate everything, but He also resides in ours hearts as paramatma. In this form He is not just a divine presence but also a performer of action. He calculates the consequences of our uncountable accumulated karmas or actions of the past, gives those consequences in the form of our present destiny, and most importantly, He notes our current actions. Actions in this sense are our thoughts, not our physical actions.

Karmas were performed by all great Saints. For example, Arjuna killed millions in the war of the Mahabharat. Hanuman destroyed Lanka. But what was the internal state of their mind? This is what God observed, not their external actions. Similarly, our government has particular rules and laws. Only if a person commits a crime with premeditated intention to cause harm is his action called a crime. If it was an accident, his action won’t be judged a crime. For example, the car a person was driving was in good operating condition, he had a license, and suddenly a man walked in front of his car to commit suicide. He won’t be found guilty of any crime, because he had no premeditated intention.

A worldly court can only examine physical evidence. God is not like this. He notes our internal intention, judges it and gives a consequence. God Himself does all this work. If we were to reflect upon and practice this understanding, all crime and wrong actions would come to an end. It also would put an end to all police departments and armies.

Otherwise, if a government gave an opportunity for its citizens in the next 24 hours to do whatever they wanted with no consequences, then after 24 hours you could imagine what condition that country would be in. The capacity for this wrongdoing is in all of us, hidden. But due to fear of the law and punishment, we resist acting out in this way.

So what we have to realize is that God is really and truly seated within and He is noting our every thought and organizing the consequences we will receive for that. He won’t listen to our excuses or give us time in court for our case. He will straightaway give us a punishment. This realization has to be practiced. You heard it – that’s fine. You also read it – that is also fine. Still, it’s not enough. It has to be practiced.

For example, you believe your physical father is your father. This is very firm in your understanding. Why? You repeatedly thought, “He is my father.” You did this on the basis of what he and others told you. So to practise the understanding of God’s presence, repeatedly think, “God is seated in my Heart. I am not alone. We are together.”

Dva suparna sayuja sakhaya samannam vriksham parikhasvajatey.
(Shvetashvataropanishad, 4/6)

The Vedas are also saying this.

Ur prerak raghuvansh vibhushana. (Ramayana)

He is residing in everyone, even in evil rakshasas. Look at the situation that occurred with Hiranyakashipu. He said to Prahlad, “Does God dwell in the home of demons?” Prahlad said, “Yes, He does.” “Well,  is He in this pillar?” “Yes, He is.” Finally when Bhagwan Narsingh appeared, Hiranyakashipu had no doubt about this.

So we have to practice this. Everything we have achieved in the world we have accomplished through practice. When you are driving, you simultaneously talk to friends in the car, talk on the phone, see what is behind you, avoid what is on the road, look to the left and right. Is this some special skill that we humans possess? No, this was all accomplished through practice. All the amazing things that you see circus performers do is the result of practice.

Just add one more practice to what you already know – practice the presence of God. If you do, you will become peaceful. The amount of anxiety, restlessness and lack of peace in the world is escalating. Whether we become a victim of this or transcend it is in our hands.

God gave us such a machine in the form of the mind, that the intellect can’t go against its own judgments. The mind acts according to the intellect, and the senses act according to the mind. None of these can revolt against each other or strike. Whatever the intellect decides, it follows in a straight line all the way down.

A five year old boy is on his way to school and he passes by a shop that is making jalebis, “Oh, yummy!” But he didn’t bring any money with him today. He thinks, “If I take even one, the shopkeeper will punish me! He has a terrible temper.” With great regret, he longingly gazes at the jalebis as he walks past the store, just because his intellect said, “You will get a beating.” So everything is dependent on the intellect. The Vedas say,

Atmanagwam rathinam vidhi shariragwam ratha meva cha…
Kathopanishad 1/3/3-4

God gave us a chariot. There is a passenger seated on this. There are horses, who are being guided by bridles. The reins of the bridles are in the hands of a driver, who is determining the direction of the chariot. Why were we given the chariot? The Vedas say you were given this chariot in the form of the body to go to God. The passenger is the soul. The horses are the senses. The reins are the mind. The driver is the intellect. In the world, horses can run away with a chariot, but our chariot is different – as the intellect dictates, so the other parts have to obediently follow.

In the heat of the hot season, who wants to get up in the morning? No matter who it is, everyone feels sleepy. Your spouse shakes you, “Hey, it’s six o’clock.” “6:00??? Oh, no I have to get up to go to the office.” You don’t think, “Just go to sleep! Forget about the office!” If you forget about the office, they will forget about you by firing you. So in all these instances of life, we are careful. Similarly, we have to come to this realization of God’s presence through practice. If we say, “No, I won’t do it,” we will still have to come back to this even if it is after 10,000 lifetimes. Plus if we do it, we attain peace.

If everyone were to accept and follow this, the pious age of satyuga would come again on this earth. Otherwise, every rule and manner of civil behavior we have to externally enforce. This doesn’t create true peace. Instead we think the really important things to do in life are to make more money, act according to our whims, and engage in as many sensual entertainments as possible. These tendencies will only go away when we remember God’s presence. If we don’t practice remembering Him, then the consequence is tension and the suffering that comes from incarnating in lower species – because there is no guarantee that we will receive a human birth in our next life.

Iha che dashkadbodhum prasharirasya visrasah. (Vedas)

The human form is only occasionally received in millions of lifetimes.

Kabahunk kari karuna nar dehi,
deta Isha binu hetu sanehi. (Ramayana)

God grants this sometimes according to our karmas. Thus, begin by practising this every hour. Don’t say anything aloud. No one has to know what you are doing. For just one second think, “He is seated within.” Then repeat this every 30 minutes. You can still do this while working. You don’t have to enter into meditative trance to do this. Then repeat this every 15 minutes. After this, the feeling, “He really is seated within,” will come naturally.

Think of the pride that a billionaire like Mukesh Ambani or Bill Gates has when they think about their position in life. But what would we feel if we fully realized that supreme God who is the Lord of the universe is seated in our hearts? This feeling would remain and we wouldn’t be able to perform wrong action.

AASTHA INTERNATIONAL (ASTHA), CH 648, 6:30 pm EST, Daily

AAJ TAK (AAJTK), CH 794, 9:00 pm EST, Daily

The lecture topics for Friday, July 29, 2011 are:
- Thakur Ji ne Kishori Ji ka shringar kyon kiya?
- Rupadhyana
- The best language to convey the sweetness of braj ras
- The reasons why we have to surrender our intellect
- Bhagwan aur Mahapurush ke karya/charitra
- plus many more questions by devotees

Please dial-in a few minutes before the designated time to avoid any
disruptions once Satsang has begun.

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Alabeli Sarkar ki Jai!

Shyam mukh chhavi lakhi gai balihar.
One Braj Gopi says to another, “When I beheld Shri Krishna’s beautiful face, I completely surrendered my everything to Him.”

Lakhatahin banata sakhi mukh chhavi jab, hansat Shyam sarkar.
When Shri Krishna laughs, His glorious beauty is multiplied.

Dadim beej sarisa dashanana duti, damakani shveta nihar.
His dazzling white teeth are like the shining white seeds of a ripe pomegranate.

So duti adhara aruima te mili, shvetarun rangadhar.
When the whiteness of His teeth mingle with the redness of His lips, they appear to be reddish-white.

Puni shvetarun ranga me tanu ranga, neelo mili ik sar.
And when the bluish complexion of His face combines with these two…

Lakhi ‘Kripalu’ mukh rang triveni, vidhi hari har manhar.
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj says, “Then seeing the wonderful triveni of these three in Shri Krishna’s face, even Vishnu and Shiva surrender themselves at His lotus feet.” (The triveni is the confluence of the three divine rivers Ganga, Saraswati, and Yamuna near Allahabad. Here triveni refers to the divine confluence of the whiteness of Shri Krishna’s teeth, the redness of His lips and the bluish glow of His complexion.)

Listen to this pad kirtan:

(Excerpted from “Shri Krishna Dvadashapadi”, written and composed by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj.”)

© Radha Govind Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

Anupam neelo tanu sarkar.
The beautiful blue-complexion of Shri Krishna’s divine body is unmatched anywhere.

Kou kaha indraneel mani sam kou, neela jalada anuhar.
Some Rasik Saints have compared it to a blue sapphire, others to a bluish rain-laden cloud.

Kou kaha neela kamala sama neelo, tanu chhavi Nanda-kumar.
Some Rasik Saints have said Krishna’s beautiful complexion is like a blue lotus.

In teenon ka prithak prithak hai, gun budha karahu vichar.
A sapphire, cloud and lotus all have different unique qualities. A sapphire is smooth with a sparkling blue radiance. A bluish cloud is soft and cool. A blue lotus is refreshing and fragrant.

Yate in tinon ke guna ka, mishrana kar taiyar.
If all of these unique qualities were mixed together,

Puni usamen mishran karu chinmaya, prem sudha ras-sar.
And then they were combined with the nectar of divine love, this would to some extent give an idea of the beauty of Shri Krishna’s blue complexion.

Kaha ‘Kripalu’ tanu upama as jas, tanu Vrishbhanu-dular.
According to Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj, the transcendental divine form of Shri Krishna can only truly be compared to the divine form of Shri Radha. (Although Saints use material examples to help us visualise Shri Krishna’s divine form, in reality, it has no comparison to anything in the material world.)

Listen to this pad kirtan:

(Excerpted from “Shri Krishna Dvadashapadi”, written and composed by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj.”)

© Radha Govind Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

Neelamani, tanu lakhi gai balihar.
A Gopi of Braj describes the beautiful form of Shyamsundar (Krishna) to her friend, “I surrendered my body, mind and soul when I saw Neelamani’s (Shyamsundar’s) divine form.”

Tribhuvan sundar Kamdev aru, Rati hai uski nar.
The celestial god Kamdeva is the most beautiful being in our world and Rati, who is equally beautiful, is his wife.

Unte aganit gunit manohar, hain sundar sarkar.
Uncountable times greater than their combined beauty, is the unlimited divine beauty of Shyamsundar.

Unki sundarta unke hi, man ko mohanahar.
Shyamsundar’s beauty is so captivating and charming, that even He Himself is attracted by His own beauty.

Unki chinmaya tanu lakhi gyanihun, manat muktihin khar.
The jnani Saints who are fortunate to experience the limitless sweetness of Shyamsundar’s divine love find their nondual bliss of liberation to be bland and tasteless in comparison.

Shiva, Shuka, Janaka, Sanaka tanu chhavi lakhi, det samadhi visar.
Great jnani Saints like Shiva, Shukadeva, Janak and Sanak and others forget the bliss of their samadhi (nondual transcendence) seeing the overwhelming splendour of Krishna’s divine form.

Rama, Brahmani, Vani, lakhi nahin pativratadhar.
Divine Goddesses such as Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswati can’t maintain their marital vows of fidelity to their husbands once they see the all-attracting beauty of Shyamsundar.

Unke rom rom te santata, bah braj ras ki dhar.
The nectar of divine bliss is continuously flowing from each and every pore of Shyamsundar’s divine body.

Kaha Kripalu un tanu ras chakhat, bhal Vrishbhanu-dular.
Jagadguru Kripalu Ji Maharaj says, “It is only Radha Rani who fully experiences the sweetness of the divine love bliss of Shyamsundar’s divine form.”

Listen to the audio:

(Excerpted from “Shri Krishna Dvadashapadi”, written and composed by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj.”)

© Radha Govind Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

(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.

Brahmadik ki kaun bat jehi,
ratat brahm Ghanshyam.
Shri Radha’s name is chanted not only by the three spiritual governors of this world (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva), but also by the supreme Lord, Shri Krishna, Himself.

Jehi rati maharas-ras payo,
Shankar dhari tanu bam.
It was through the chanting Shri Radha’s name that Lord Shiva was able to assume the form of a Gopi during the age of Dwapar Yuga and experience the nectar of divine love bliss in the pastime of mahārāsa.

Nigam-agam nidhi rasikan deeni, binuhin mol binu dam.
The rasika Saints, through their causeless grace, have made available to you the treasure of the name, ‘Shri Radhey’, which is unattainable even through the Vedas.

Radhey nam pukarat aarat, bhajati taji nij dham.
No sooner does a devotee in distress call out to Her, saying ‘Radhey!’ from the bottom of his heart, than Shri Radha leaves Her divine abode and comes running to him with a deep longing to grace him.

Milyo Kripalu ratan amolak, kaha jagat son kam.
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Jisays, “Since finding the priceless gem in the form of the name ‘Shri Radhey’ through the grace of the rasika Saints, now I have no concern with this material world.”

(Pad kirtan excerpted from the Siddhant Madhuri section of Prem Ras Madira, written and composed by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj)

© Radha Govinda Samiti and Bhakti Bliss

(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