Welcome to Creeper of Devotion! "If one gets the chance to hear from elevated saints the topics of the qualities of Sri Krsna, which are like a flowing river of nectar, and drinks this nectar with single-minded absorption and faith, then hunger, thirst, fear, lamentation, illusion and other such unwanted detriments will never be able to assail one." (Srimad Bhagavatam, 4.29.40)
“If you want to do anything good to the world, talk about Krsna. Try to distribute Him— - He who can compensate for all other alternatives. Only try to distribute that central, absolute thing to help the people and the environment, and don'’t have any other sort of duty.
- Srila BR Sridhar Maharaja, commenting on CC Madhya 7.128"Only try to distribute this teaching of sarva-dharmän parityajya, mäm ekam saranam vraja to whomever you meet. If you want to do good to others, only give this highest thing. Engage yourself in this way and you will become more and more confirmed in your position, and so many others will be benefitted. No other more holy duty than this can be there."
om ajnana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
priyah so’yam krsnah sahacari kuru-ksetra-militas tathaham sa radha tad idam ubhayoh sangama-sukham tathapy antah-khelan-madhura-murali-pancama-juse mano me kalindi-pulina-vipinaya sprhayati
"My dear friend, now I have met My old and dear friend Krsna on
this field of Kurukshetra. I am the same Radharani, and now we are
meeting together. It is very pleasant, but I would still like to go to
the bank of the Yamuna beneath the trees of the forest there. I
wish to hear the vibration of His sweet flute playing the fifth note
within that forest of Vrndavana.”
"All of the associates of Krsna act as if they are dumb when it comes to expressing themselves about their own loving exchanges with Sri Krsna. They personally relish Krsna’s pastimes, but they cannot tell anything about their experiences. Radhika will also not tell anything about how She meets with Krsna. Sometimes, in the early morning, Syamala visits Srimati Radhika and asks, “I want to hear something from You. I want to take bath in hearing Your krsna-katha; I want to hear how You met with Krsna last night.” Srimati Radhika replies, “I don’t remember. I went there and I saw Him, and then I fainted, and I don’t know anything about what happened after that.”
"Mahaprabhu said, “I have not a scent of that prema.” In this way, He is also as if dumb."In Srila Raya Ramananda’s conversation with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (Ramananda-samvada), Raya Ramananda – who is Visakha in Krsna’s pastimes – barely told anything. He was simply replying to Mahaprabhu’s questions, one after another. In Mahaprabhu’s instructions to Srila Sanatana Gosvami (Sanatana-siksa), what did He tell? He did not say anything about the confidential pastimes of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna, nor did He reveal how the gopis serve Them."What has Mahaprabhu told in His instructions to Srila Rupa Gosvami in Sri Rupa-siksa? He told next to nothing regarding Radha and Krsna’s pastimes. And finally, He ordered Rupa Gosvami to reveal all that He Himself could not."Even Rupa-manjari cannot tell anything. Only Rupa Gosvami can tell; he tells everything.
...
"He tells us what he has seen: In the form of Rupa-manjari he is serving Krsna and Srimati Radhika. He is obeying the orders of Srimati Radhika and stopping Krsna from entering Her kunja. He is seeing how Krsna, being so much pleased, is begging her to be allowed to enter Radhika’s kunja and is placing His head at her (Rupa-manjari’s) own lotus feet to attain her (Rupa-manjari’s) mercy.Sri Rupa Manjari"Srila Rupa Gosvami is very clever. He has written all his prayers as though he has not already experienced the fruit of those prayers. Although he has actually experienced his personal services to Radhika, he is writing prayers as if he has never experienced this – for us. What he felt in the form of Rupa-manjari, he has very cleverly shared with us by means of his prayers."Rupa Gosvami has personally taken darsana of Radha and Krsna, but for the true, sincere sadhaka, he has written this verse in his prayer, “Gandharvika Prarthan-astakam”:
Source link [entire class]: August 6, 1998: "The Mercy of Srila Rupa Goswami""Srila Rupa Gosvami is teaching by his own example how a rupanuga Vaisnava prays to Srimati Radhika. Those who want to follow him never pretend to have already attained ekadasa-bhava (gopi-bhava, or manjari-bhava). Those who pretend to be already on that platform when they are actually not so, are actually mad; they have no sense at all. We should always pray as Srila Rupa Gosvami prayed. Then, by the mercy of the gopis and by the mercy of Srimati Radhika, we can realize all the truths hidden within Rupa Gosvami’s prayers. Srimati Radhika will give this realization. She will at once be pleased and give Her service."Srila Rupa Gosvami teaches us how to pray: “Vrndavane viharator iha – O, when will that time come? O my dear Srimati Radhika-devi, You are very merciful, so please be merciful to me. Please sprinkle Your mercy upon me.”"...If Srimati Radhika hears these prayers uttered from the core of one’s heart, Her heart will melt and She will bestow Her mercy.
"Srila Rupa Gosvami has skillfully written prayers such as this, filled with the pastimes of Krsna. He is Rupa-manjari, a prominent nitya-siddha (eternally perfect) associate of Radha and Krsna, but in the form of a sadhaka he is explaining to us the pastimes and the process to understand and enter them, so that we may be helped. This is his mercy."
"“Gadadhara Pandita is celebrated all over the world for his gentle behavior, his brahminical attributes, and his steady love for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.”
"“No one can describe the characteristics and ecstatic love of Gadadhara Pandita. Therefore another name for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Gadadhara-prananatha, ‘the life and soul of Gadadhara Pandita.’"
“No one can say how merciful the Lord is to Gadadhara Pandita, but people know the Lord as Gadaira Gauranga, ‘the Lord Gauranga of Gadadhara Pandita.’”
Caitanya Caritamrta Antya Lila 7.166, 163-164
"Sri Gaurahari had so much affection for Sri Gadadhara Pandit that He couldn't be without him for a moment. Sri Gadadhara Pandit appeared the year after Lord Caitanya. Gadai and Nimai were inseparable as childhood playmates....Nimai Pandit regularly teased Gadadhara by challenging him with illogical questions.
...Sri Kavi Karnapura states that in Vraja-Lila Gadadhara Pandit is the daughter of King Vrshabhanu, Srimati Radharani. Gadadhara Pandit served as Lord Gaura's chief assistant during His Navadwipa-lila.
...Gadadhara Pandit also took the renounced order of life and went to Jagannath Puri to be with Lord Caitanya. Accepting kestra sannyasa (renunciation without leaving the dhama), he served the deity of Tota Gopinath with full love and devotion. Regularly, Sri Caitanya came to relish Sri Gadadhara Pandit's rasika reading of Srimad Bhagavatam. Lord Caitanya concluded His manifest pastimes by entering the deity of Tota-Gopinatha.
Although Gadadhara Pandit was barely forty-eight when the Lord departed, he quickly became old because of the intense anguish he felt in separation from his beloved Lord Gaurasundara. He couldn't stretch his arms to offer a garland to his deity. Understanding His servant's difficulties, Sri Tota-Gopinatha sat down to facilitate Gadadhara's loving service. To this day, Sri Tota-Gopinatha is the only sitting deity of Krishna.
...Sri Gadadhara Pandit's danta (tooth) samadhi stands near the Vamsi Gopala temple in Vrndavana."
yatha radha priya visnos
tasyah kundam priyam tatha
sarva-gopisu saivaika
visnor atyanta vallabha
Padma Purana
'Amongst all the gopis, Radhika is the best and most beloved of Krsna. Therefore for someone to attain Her mercy is very rare; even for great souls such as Narada it is rare. But if someone really desires that prema, that Radha-dasya, which even Narada is praying for while performing austerities at Narada-kunda, then if they bathe just once with great devotion in Radha-kunda, the kunda will bestow everything upon them.'
"Is it not more difficult than that? After all, anyone can go there and bathe, but it must be ascertained whether or not we are really bathing with feelings of bhakti. If we bathe with great humility and faith, then those whose hearts are impure will become a little pure, those whose hearts are already a little pure will become a little more pure, and those whose hearts are completely pure will attain the direct service of Sri Radha and Krsna.
"The highest ideal is shown by Raghunatha das Goswami - how he left everything, took exclusive shelter of Radha-kunda, and said, 'We desire nothing besides the mercy of Radhika':
tavaivasmi tavaivasmi
na jivami tvaya vina
iti vijnaya devi tvam
naya mam caranantikam
Sri Vilapa-kusumanjali #96
'O Srimati, I am Yours only, Yours only' - he wanted Radhika to hear him say this twice. 'I cannot live without You, so please bring me to the shelter of Your feet and appoint me to Your service.'
If we bathe at Radha-kunda, our hearts will become purified, an attraction for Radha-dasya will arise within us, and if we have similar feelings of pleading as Rupa and Raghunatha das Goswamis had, then we will certainly attain Radhika's direct mercy.
radhika ujjvala-rasera acarya
radha-madhava suddha prema vicarya
ye dharila radha pda parama yatane
se paila krsna pada amulya ratane
radha-pada bindu kabhu krsna nahi mile
radhara dasira krsna, sarva vede bale
[Gitavali 3, 4, 5 by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura]
"Those who very carefully worship Radhika's feet will meet Krsna in the snap of a finger, but what does it mean to meet Krsna? Where is Krsna complete? Without Radhika is He complete? Therefore only where there is the youthful couple is Krsna complete. Only by the mercy of Radhika will one be able to have Their darsana and attain the qualification to serve Them.
"...what do the Vedic scriptures declare? What to speak of just Radhika, Her dasis are also very instrumental in helping one to meet Krsna. They will say, 'Come, you can meet Him here.'...Sometimes Krsna says to these dasis, 'I belong solely to you. As you say, I will do.' So what to speak of Krsna's feelings towards Radhika Herself, who is the acarya of ujjvala-rasa.
"Sometimes when They play games like chess and tic-tac-toe together, Radhika says, 'You don't know how to play, therefore I will not play anymore!' Sometimes Krsna applies Her tilaka, and She says, "You haven't applied it correctly. It should be like this.' In this way She instructs Him, and is therefore the acarya of ujjvala-rasa."
"Whatever merit one obtains by performing austerities and penances for ten thousand years is achieved by a person who observes Varuthini Ekadasi. The merit one achieves by donating a great amount of gold during a solar eclipse at Kurukshetra is gained by one who observes this Ekadasi fast.
Indeed, he who observes this one Ekadasi with love and devotion certainly attains his goals in this life and the next. In short, this Ekadasi is pure and very enlivening and a destroyer of all sins."
"...the beginning stages of sadhana have been compared to the darkness of night. If you try to walk anywhere in the darkness, you may stumble or step into a ditch or even upon a snae, so there is some fear. Or if you enter a jungle you may be attacked by a tiger or lion. There are also thieves and dacoits to be wary of.
Thieves don't come in the first part of the night because at that time most people have just settled in and can be easily awakened, but they come nearer to morning when most people are in deep sleep. There are also such thieves and fearful adversaries in the beginning stages of bhajana. At this point the stars in the evening sky have not yet disappeared, meaning lust, anger, greed, envy and madness have not disappeared from our hearts.
Our many anarthas, which have been compared to tigers and snakes, are hidden in all directions. But will the practice of sadhana alone make the sun of spiritual perfection rise? When does the sun rise? When the appropriate time comes, and not before. So here one thing is possible: if a lamp is lit in the night, then snakes and other fearful adversaries will flee. It is the guru who lights the lamp for us by giving us Harinama and making us hear harikatha.
Then the anarthas which remain within us will begin to fade, but is that alone enough to make the sun rise? The sun of full realization of the Nama will rise according to its own sweet will; it is fully independent.
atah sri krsna namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhi hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah
Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu, 1.2.234
'The material sense cannot perceive the name, qualities, form and pastimes of Sri Krsna. Only when one is fully absorbed in serving Him does the real nama appear on one's tongue, bestowing full realization of Him.
Just as the sun rises at precisely the appropriate time, when the time is right the Nama will appear on a devotee's tongue and illuminate everything within his heart. And just as when the sun rises there is no need of any electric light or candle because everything is automatically illuminated, when the nama bestows full realization upon a devotee, he will have a clear understanding of himself in his constitutional position, and all of his fear will vanish.
eka krsna name kare sarva papa nasa
premera karuna bhakti karena prakasa
'Simply chanting Krsna's name without offenses vanquishes all sinful activities, and thus bhakti, which is the cause of prema, becomes manifest.'
CC Adi-lila, 8.26
By its mercy the nama will fully reveal itself, but as long as it hasn't arisen in the heart, we can only endeavor to mae the darkness go away, meaning we must continue executing sadhana in an effort to rid ourselves of our anarthas."
the personal deities of Srila Vrndavana das Thakura
As Vyāsadeva has compiled all the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana dāsa has depicted the pastimes of Lord Caitanya.
Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana dāsa has composed Śrī Caitanya-mańgala. Hearing this book annihilates all misfortune.
By reading Śrī Caitanya-mańgala one can understand all the glories and truths of Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda and come to the ultimate conclusion of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.
In Śrī Caitanya-mańgala [later known as Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata] Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has given the conclusion and essence of devotional service by quoting the authoritative statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
If even a great atheist hears Śrī Caitanya-mańgala, he immediately becomes a great devotee.
The subject matter of this book is so sublime that it appears that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has personally spoken through the writings of Śrī Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura.
I offer millions of obeisances unto the lotus feet of Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura. No one else could write such a wonderful book for the deliverance of all fallen souls.
Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi-Lila, 8.34-8.40
