Hare Krishna
I would like to know wheter if it is possible for a jivatma doing sadhana have a vision of God (even if it lasts only a few seconds) and how to be worthy to get it, my only goal of life is to see and serve Lord Krishna or a liberated soul from the spiritual world.
Thank you very much to all of you, specially to Rashmi Mataji and your greatest answers :)
Replies
Dandavat pranam prabhuji,
As far as I am aware (reading from Jaiva Dharma), until one realizes one's swarupa in Krsna Lila, there is always a possibility of fall down. Vaishnav Aparadha for example can destroy a very advanced creeper of Bhakti (and even the Guru, no matter who he is, is unable to protect such a disciple). Even at the stage of Bhava, though devotee is seeing the Lord's Form, Qualities and Pastimes, the tendency to sin (i.e disease of material existence) still remains in ones heart in hidden form. Only when the Siddha Deha is realized, does one never fall down, that is why Bhakvinoda Thakur uses the line "e dehara kore sarvanasha". Actually in Sri Krsna Samhita, Thakur tells us that as the Lord's pastimes appear in our hearts like a garland due to the effect of the name, our body is purified of those vices which take the form of the demons. So when Sri Krsna is dancing on Kaliya in our hearts, He is actually destroying our false ego and pride. The holy name is everything!
Joy Nitai!
Joy Nitai! Yes I agree, however the form actually manifests during the first stages of Suddha Nama (when you are existing the stage of Ananrtha Nivritthi and entering Nistha). Final stages of Suddha Nama manifest the our Siddha Deha and takes us directly to the Nitya Lila.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur confirms this in his bhajan:
premera kalika nam, adbhuta rasera dham,
heno bala karaye prakas
Lord is visible to the devotee according to the devotee’s desires.
What the dear lord cant do for His devotees.
He is fully under their control, despite being independent and equal to everyone.
Its not unusual for devotees to have His personal darshan at all, because of their strong desire to see Him.
Such strong desire will never raise in the hearts of philosophical speculators.
Anyway, Lords words to Sri Durvasa muni is best proof that He is fully under control of His devotees:
As you know everything is a part and parcel of god so everything you see in this world comes from krishna. so indirectly you are seeing krishna everywhere. But to see a universal form of krishna as arjuna did in mahabharat, we have to become arjuna.
Lord krishna said to arjuna :
B.G. Chapter 11, verse 53
The form which you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means that one can see Me as I am.
B.G. chapter 11, verse 54
My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.
I suggest you re-analyze deeply chapter 11 of Bhagavad gita to understand why lord krishna gave his supreme darshan to arjuna.
Hare krishna
Nitai Gaur Hari bol! My koti koti dandavat pranam to all the devotees reading this. All the other Vaishnavs have given beautiful answers to this question, I will try and add a little bit according to our previous acharayas :)
The only substance that is really capable (in this world at least) of giving us darshan of Sri Gaur Krsna is the Nama. Hari-nama is non-different from Sri Hari Himself, and thus Lord Hari is fully situated within His name in His divine form. However due to Namaparadha a Sadhaka cannot see the form when chanting. In order to combat this, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura gives a solution in his commentary to Hari-nama Cintamani. The solution comes in a form of a "Bhajan Krama" (or a procedure in which bhajan/chanting is to be performed). Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura recommends first that you chant the Name very very clearly with correct pronunciation, understanding its meaning. Once the meaning becomes clear in your heart, you should try and meditate on a Form of the Lord. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that once can either "search out a form in one's heart" (i.e imagine a form of the Lord, which is in accordance with scripture), or "mediate on the beautiful deity of Sri Sri Radha Krsna". In this way, the Sadhaka should try and capture the form of the lord in his/her heart. By practising this process, very soon (Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says "svalpe dine" or "in a few days"), whenever you chant the name, the form of Sri Sri Radha Krsna will become one with the sound of the name in your mind. This stage corresponds to anartha-nivvrtthi, and at this stage, the fully spiritual form of Lord Gauranga Krsna will spontaneously manifest in your heart (with it fully forming in the stage of Nistha).
On a personal note, one should try and be humble and have full faith in the Lord. One should have special faith in Lord Nityananda Prabhu and sing and write His names, because Lord Nityananda Prabhu easily forgives all offences against the holy name (even the most sinful Vaishnav Aparadha) and by His mercy you will see the form very quickly. The Name and Nitai's mercy is what is needed :) That is why Padma Purana says:
"ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi
na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau
svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ"
"‘Therefore material senses cannot appreciate Kṛṣṇa’s holy name, form, qualities and pastimes. When a conditioned soul is awakened to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and renders service by using his tongue to chant the Lord’s holy name and taste the remnants of the Lord’s food, the tongue is purified, and one gradually comes to understand who Kṛṣṇa really is"
Here the word jihvādau (meaning beginning with the tongue, i.e chanting) is very very important, as Nama-seva is the way in which we can have darshan of the fully spiritual form of Sri Krsna :). Jaya Harinama! Jaya Bhaktivinoda Thakura! Jaya Nityananda Prabhu!
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
Dandavat Pranams prabhu, for your feelings of separation for the lord. He has said in Gita - dadami budhi yogam tam - I give the intelligence to person depending on the level of surrender. He decides when He wants to give darshan or benediction to someone. He is not bound by our desire to see Him. We cannot imagine in what form, to what extent and when the mercy will come. That is why the mercy is causeless.
YOu continue pining for Krsna and He will show you the path forward. The very fact that you are crying every night for Krsna shows that you have some realisation, otherwise you wouldnt be able to stay up nights crying for the lord.
Happy crying prabhu. One request, please share your realisations with me. You can write to me separately on mail. I would love to grow and learn to have feelings of separation from the lord.
There is a bhajan we sing - nayana jamuna jhare anibara, tunhara birahe giridhari - meaning eyes are raining rivers of tears in your separation, Giridhari (part of Mam Mana Mandire, Raho Nishidin.....). Whenever I come to this part, I realise how inadequate my devotion is - I have never even aspired to see the lord. You are crying for the lord - you are much much higher than me. Please guide me prabhu and give me some mercy, so that I also progress on my path towards my Giridhari.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
Hare Krishna , PAMHO
We may have a desire to get darshan of the lord , But dont hanker to have Krishnas darshan become such a devotee and serve vaishnavas and Guru in such a way that Krishna wants to have a Look who this guy is , This I Heard from one of Prabhupadas Lectures ,All Glories To Srila Prabhupada
Hi, Mario
According to my experience, one of most very easy process in bhakti to go is by association of liberated soul this is more important then our sadhana( our sadhana can't help you to get rid of full anartha,it help you after the association of saintly devotees, other wise useless,we still counting our bid but having love for krishna)but by association you will relize your heart full with joy and anartha(base of faith, how much you faith , that much anarth will get vanish), onces you got association of liberated soul you will see the krishna (see the krishna is base on diferent level faith) very instanly by delay then we will go for next process of sadhana bhakti , but liberated soul is very rare in whole universe or in earth,still they are presence in various holy and non holy places
protect ur faith from wrong association ,because its destroy faith less than factor of second
Hare krishna
The Manifestation of the Deity
Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj explains why the Lord appears in His Deity form.
When Śrī Śrī Gāndharvā-Govindasundar manifested in Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh, Śrīla Guru Mahārāj composed this verse for the invitation to the festival:
chid-dhāma-sevāmaya-dṛṣṭi-yoge
sevā-vibhāvaiś cha sadā samṛddham
śrī-nāma-rūpaiś cha guṇair vilāsair
bhakte chidānanda-ghanaṁ tanoti
(Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj)
The Lord’s Name, the Lord’s Form, the Lord’s Qualities, and the Lord’s Pastimes are all transcendental, and transcendental existence can manifest itself at any time in any direction. We know that the Lord’s Name is the transcendental vibration form of the Lord, and this form of the Lord manifests in the clean heart of a devotee and then dances on their tongue. Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur said in his song,
kṛṣṇa-nāma dhare kata bala
viṣaya-vāsanānale mora chitta sadā jvale
ravi-tapta maru-bhūmi-sama
karṇa-randhra patha diyā hṛdi mājhe praveśiyā
variṣaya sudhā anupama
hṛdaya ha-ite bale jihvāra agrete chale
śabda-rūpe nāche anukṣaṇa
(Śaraṇāgati: Śrī Nāma-māhātmya, 1–2)
[“How much power does Kṛṣṇa’s Name possess? My heart constantly burns in the fire of mundane desire like a desert scorched by the blazing sun. The Name enters the core of my heart through the gateway of my ears and showers incomparable nectar. Forcibly, the Name then moves from my heart to the tip of my tongue and continuously dances there in the form of sound.”]
Similarly, the Lord’s Name, Form, Qualities, and Pastimes all very mercifully appear in the form of the Deity; everything that exists in the Pastimes of Kṛṣṇa is present with the Deity, and when the Deity manifests Himself, He gives His devotees chid-ānanda-ghanaṁ: eternal concentrated transcendental ecstasy. This is the description given by Śrīla Guru Mahārāj in his sanskrit composition. Why does the Deity manifest? To give the most concentrated form of transcendental ecstasy to the devotees.
The Lord’s Pastimes are revealed to the devotees in the form of Deity. In this way, Kṛṣṇa’s gives the gift of Himself to this mundane world. This is the vision of the Gauḍīya sampradāya. Śrīpād Mādhavendra Purī saw the forms of Gopāl and Gopīnāth with this vision, and wherever He went, Śrīman Mahāprabhu always saw with this vision and showed it others. That the Lord manifests Himself in the form of the Deity to give joy to the hearts of the devotees means that the Deity comes to take our service and that service is what gives us joy. In other words, through our service to the Deity, we will feel joy that is transcendental. All joy of this type is nitya-līlā; it is part of the Lord’s eternal Pastimes.
Those who cannot conceive of the Deity, however, must at least honour the scriptural evidence about the Deity. Otherwise, they will go to hell.
archchye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhir
viṣṇor vā vaiṣṇavānāṁ kali-mala-mathane pāda-tīrthe ‘mbu-buddhiḥ
śrī-viṣṇor nāmni mantre sakala-kaluṣa-he śabde-sāmānya buddhir
viṣṇau sarveśvareśe tad-itara-sama-dhīr yasya vā nārakī saḥ
(Padma-purāṇa)
If someone cannot feel the transcendental nature of the Deity, that is not so much of an offence, but if they will not follow to the scriptural injunctions for honouring the Deity, then they must go to hell. Those who worship the Deity do not worship anything material, and the form of the Deity Himself is not material. We must believe this whether we can see it or not. The scriptures instruct us: “You must be conscious about this. You cannot recognise the difference between gold and imitation, but gold is always gold, and you must give honour to that.” From Śrīla Rupa Goswāmī Prabhu in Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Śrīla Jīva Goswāmī Prabhu in Bhakti-sandarbha, and in many other places, we receive this warning: “Don’t forget that you are in the presence of Kṛṣṇa. When you are in front of the Deity, you are in front of Kṛṣṇa Himself, and you must give proper honour to Him.”
Śrīman Mahāprabhu went to the Jagannāth Temple every day to see the form of Lord Jagannāth and always glorified Their Lordships Balabhadra, Subhadra, and Jagannāth. In this way, He set an example for us. When He would stand in front of Jagannāth, He would see Jagannāth as Kṛṣṇa playing flute and attracting the gopīs.
dekhena jagannātha haya muralī-vadana
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 16.85)
Śrīman Mahāprabhu always saw Jagannāth as Kṛṣṇa in this mood. Everything depends on the mood (bhāva) of the devotee.
We must honour the scriptural injunctions about the Deity. For that reason, we are holding a formal devotional function to install the Deity, but the vital point is that the Deity automatically manifests whenever any pure devotee of the Lord pays obeisance. Prabhupād Śrīla Saraswatī Ṭhākur established the service of the Deity in his Temples in this way for his devotees, but some formal installation function is also necessary for the junior, neophyte devotees.
When we offer worship, we follow the processes that are written in the scriptures. But if you put anything in front of a higher devotee, they will immediately think it to be Kṛṣṇa’s prasādam; they will think that Kṛṣṇa has taken it and now it has come to them. This is the feeling of higher standard devotees. We are all very neophyte, junior, and unqualified. We have only soft faith (komala śraddhā), and to make our faith strong, we are holding this function according to the directives of the scriptures.
We are so fortunate that Kṛṣṇa has given us the opportunity to join this festival for the manifestation of the Deity. So, we will honour it properly. Through saṅkīrtan, everything will be fulfilled, and the hearts of the devotees will be filled with joy.
Source
Spoken 18 May 1996.
Reference
archye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhir
viṣṇor vā vaiṣṇavānāṁ kali-mala-mathane pāda-tīrthe ’mbu-buddhiḥ
śrī-viṣṇor-nāmni-mantre sakala-kaluṣa-he śabda-sāmānya-buddhir
viṣṇau sarveśvareśe tad-itara-sama-dhīr yasya vā nārakī saḥ
(Padma-purāṇa)
“Those who consider the Deity of Viṣṇu to be stone, Śrī Guru to be a man, a Vaiṣṇava to be a member of a particular caste, the wash from the feet of Viṣṇu or the Vaiṣṇava, which destroys the contamination of Kali, to be water, the Name of Viṣṇu and mantras for worshipping Him, which destroy all contamination, to be ordinary words, or Viṣṇu the Lord of all lords to be equal to others are destined for hell.”
Hare Krsna Dear Mario prabhu,
PAMHO.
I have heard in lectures that we should desire only devotional service. What will happen if the lord comes in front of us - we will be gratifying our eyes only by looking at Him na. Would it not be better to do so much devotional service that the lord wants to look at us and see who is this devotee ?
If the desire to see the lord is there, He will surely fulfill once we qualify to be able to see Him. He is there right here right now, both where you are and where I am, across the globe. Still we are not able to see Him because we are conditioned.
One way to see Him is through the eyes of knowledge - gyaan cakshu. For that, we have to study the scriptures and hear from authoritative sources. There are detailed descriptions of the lord in scriptures - Srimad Bhagawatam various places, the sandarbhas are there written by the acharyas.
Best of luck prabhu.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
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