10 April 2020
When the going gets tough, the tough get going!
Hare Krishna!
We welcome the new participants. I noticed many new faces who were chanting with us.
This modern technology known as the internet, zoom conference, social media is also a gift from God. This is one of the products of the material energy but, “Utility is the principle”. We can engage everything in the Lord’s service. Hare Krishna devotees are making use of this technology. Hence, we all are chanting in this conference and are able to see and hear each other. I was wondering what would have happened if Coronavirus had spread and there was no social media. That would be a real lockdown situation. In this situation, all Hare Krishna devotees are very busy preaching. I said all, but not all are busy. You can make use of this internet facility.
The kathas are in three languages, Hindi, English and Marathi. They were telecast live yesterday. 10 am in Marathi. I had given this Bhagavat katha in Durban, South Africa, which is being released for the first time here. It is new for you. It is being telecast in English at 5:30 pm and there is a katha in Hindi at 8 pm. Take advantage of it. We are doing,
yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘krsna’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāna guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa
Translation:
Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Krsna as they are given in Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land. (CC Madhya-lila 7.128)
You also do this. The internet and social media is there. We can say that by the Lord’s mercy, there is an arrangement to do kirtana or guhyam ākhyāti prcchati – explaining and inquiring about the confidential service of the Lord.
Yesterday I saw the report sent by the devotees of the East Coast of America. They wrote that they are doing kirtana on zoom conference. The leader, mrdanga and kartala players are sitting at various places, but doing kirtana together. They are experiencing that they are together. You can take advantage and can also do the same. This lockdown has happened, but preaching must not stop – ever. The benefit of the whole world lies in this only. We have to favour them.
paropakaram vahanti nadya, paropakaram duhanti gaaya
paropakaram phalanti vriksha, paropakaram idam shareeram
Translation:
Rivers flow for Paropkar (Charity), Cows give milk for Paropkar, Trees bear fruits for Paropkar, similarly this body is also meant for Paropkar.
This body is meant for the welfare of others. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu said,
bhārata-bhūmite haila manusya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra
Translation:
One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India (Bhārata-varsa) should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people. (CC Adi-lila 9.41)
You are Hare Krishna devotees and hence Bharatiyas. All followers of Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu were instructed by Him to do welfare of others if he wants to make his life successful. Eat, drink, enjoy and preach. Revati Raman Prabhu wrote that he delivered a seminar to 50 devotees. All reports are being published on Chant japa with Lokanath Swami Facebook and Loksanga. Please read that.
Keep chanting. Chant while facing obstacles. If “the going gets tough, the tough get going”. If going ahead is becoming difficult due to any reason like Coronavirus, devotees becomes tough and make their faith stronger. They engage themselves in chanting, kirtana and preaching with more determination. This is the work of the Lord, although we are doing it. The Lord wants preaching to take place. We are fortunate that we have been selected, employed by the Lord. Feel proud to say that we are Krsna Bhaktas, Rama Bhaktas or Gaura Bhakta Vrindas. Hanuman was a bhakta of Rama. That is something to be proud of. Becoming a government servant is not a big achievement. We must identify that we are eternal servants of Krsna.
jiv krsna-dās, e biśwās,
korlo to’ ār duhkho nāi
krsna bolbe jabe, pulak ha’be
jhorbe āńkhi, boli tāi
Translation:
If you just understand that the spirit soul is the eternal servant of Krishna, you will never have any more sorrows. Chant Hare Krishna and your eyes will fill with tears and your body will feel transcendental shivering. Chant, chant “Radha-Krsna!” Everyone chant! (Gitavali, Nagara Kirtana Song 4, Radha Krsna Bol Bol, Bhakti Vinod Thakur)
śīta ātapa bāta barisana
e dina jāminī jāgi re
biphale sevinu krpana durajana
capala sukha-laba lāgi’ re
Translation:
Both in the day and at night I remain sleepless, suffering the pains of the heat and cold, the wind and the rain. For a fraction of flickering happiness I have uselessly served wicked and miserly men. (verse 2, Bhaja Hu Re Mana, Govinda Dasa Kaviraja)
In this world, we become servants of someone and there is no benefit from that. If we don’t get any job then we become a servant of a dog. Then we are described as miserly as we are serving cripple minded or low class people. One is brahmana and another is krpana. We should serve brahmans, vaisnavas or jivas. Economically krpana (miserly) persons might be the richest, but they are low class or narrow minded. We don’t serve saintly people, but wicked people. This has no fruit. We have to taste the fruit of Krsna prema.
e dhana, yaubana, putra parijana
ithe ki āche paratīti re
kamala-dala-jala, jīvana talamala
bhajahū hari-pada nīti re
Translation:
What assurance of real happiness is there in all of one’s wealth, youthfulness, sons, and family members? This life is tottering like a drop of water on a lotus petal; therefore you should always serve and worship the divine feet of Lord Hari.
(Verse 3, Bhaja Hu Re Mana, Govinda Dasa Kaviraja)
mām upetya punar janma
duhkhālayam aśāśvatam
nāpnuvanti mahātmānah
samsiddhim paramām gatāh
Translation:
After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection. (BG 8.15)
We need to always remember the uncertainty or temporary nature of this world. How is this world? It is just like a drop of water on the lotus petal. Our situation is also the same as we keep on serving some people in this world.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
We need to chant like Srila Namacarya Haridas Thakur. We need to follow in his footsteps. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave him the title of Namacarya. He was asked to learn different aspects from different acaryas – like renunciation from Raghunath Das Goswami and the Nectar of Devotion from Rupa Goswami. He wants us to learn how to chant from Srila Haridas Thakur. He is also called Brahma Haridas Thakur as Lord Brahma appeared as Haridas Thakur. Lord Brahma is our first acarya. He is not only the generator of the universe. We come in his disciplic succession. We are known as Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnavas. He appeared as Haridas Thakur at the time of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He chanted 3 lakh names daily. He took birth in a Muslim family, but still he was engaged in chanting. Many obstacles came in his way, but he didn’t stop chanting. One night, a prostitute came with the desire to enjoy with Haridas Thakur, but he continued chanting and stopped that prostitute.
balavastha krida sakta, yuvavastha taruni rakta
Translation:
As soon as you are a young man, you start looking for young women with the desire of lust.
In his youth Srila Haridas Thakur controlled such thoughts of sense enjoyment. Once he was imprisoned by the Kazi. He was locked in. Today we have been imprisoned in our homes. But has kirtana stopped? No! In fact, he preached to many prisoners and he started to chant with them. He increased the difficulties of the Muslim government. Then he was beaten in 22 market places. Did he stop while being beaten? No! He said, “No matter if my body gets cut into pieces, I will continue to chant.” (Even if my body becomes khand khand, I will chant akhand) Chanting is the calling of the soul. The soul is the one who chants.
nainam chindanti śastrāni
nainam dahati pāvakah
na cainam kledayanty āpo
na śosayati mārutah
Translation:
The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. (BG 2.23)
Once in Phulia, he was chanting in a cave where a poisonous snake was living. His visitors were afraid to visit and hence they said they would not come again. But Srila Haridas Thakur fearlessly kept on chanting. He said, “Let’s see who goes out of the cave. Me or that snake?” Then by the next day the snake left that cave and his chanting continued without obstacles.
Then Srila Haridas Thakur was in Jagannatha Puri. It was becoming difficult for him to chant as he was getting old. Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu sent Jagannatha maha-prasada to him via Govinda. He refrained from honouring the prasada as his chanting was not yet completed. Then the next day, Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu came and said, “You are not supposed to complete your rounds because of old age.” But still he didn’t stop.
We need to ask you to chant more. Why only 16? Chant 32 or 64 rounds. But here Lord Caitanya is saying to Srila Haridas Thakur to chant less, but he kept on chanting. We pray at his lotus feet to get a taste to chant more after completing the prescribed 16 rounds. We can always engage ourselves in kirtaniyah sada harih.
Hare Krishna!
6 April 2020
Social Distancing from worldly attitudes
Hare Krsna
Are you all situated in bliss and happiness? Stay safe. Be in your homes. You are all getting information from various people, from the Prime Minister up to local administrative heads and from doctors from WHO. All are informing you about what is good for you, what are the do’s and don’ts. How to save ourselves from the fast spreading Coronavirus and how we should not get entangled in its bad effects. Be aware! All these notices which you are getting through various mediums like print media , electronic media , social media all are spreading awareness about it. Our happiness lies in knowing, understanding and following all this information. This is for your own benefit as well as for others’ benefit. There are some Hare Krishna devotees who profess that they don’t care about all these notices. Not only for yourself, but also for others and to take care of others you must follow these guidelines. Don’t be careless, be careful. Follow all the rules and regulations.
Along with these, there is one more thing. Since you have a lot of time now, it’s loot sako tor loot lor ….
asat-saṅga-tyāga, — ei vaiṣṇava-ācāra
‘strī-saṅgī’ — eka asādhu, ‘kṛṣṇābhakta’ āra
Translation:
“A Vaisnava should always avoid the association of ordinary people. Common people are very much materially attached, especially to women. Vaisnavas should also avoid the company of those who are not devotees of Lord Krsna. ( Caitanya-caritamrita , Madhya, 22.87)
How is the behaviour of a Vaisnava? He stays away from asat-sang, mayavi or illusory association of worldly people, from people desiring material satisfaction , liberation, mystic achievements etc. Those who stay away from such asat-sang are called Vaisnavas. This curse of the Coronavirus is also proving to be a ‘boon’, as we are automatically staying away from such asat-sang. We should leave asat-sang, but satsang is a must.
‘sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya
Translation:
The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success. ( Caitanya-caritamrita , Madhya, 22.54)
Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu was conversing with Raya Ramanand. He enquired from him, ‘Which is the situation of real pain?’. Whatever Mahaprabhu wanted to explain he is getting it explained by Raya Ramanand. Raya Ramanand explained, “Not to get the association of devotees is the real painful situation.” We are not able to meet devotees. If we are not able to meet devotees, not get their association then it’s a painful situation. Stay at home. Like Krsna who never goes out of Vrndavana.
Vrndavana parityajj ekam padam na gachhati
Lord Krsna never a lifts a foot out of Vrindavan. He always likes to stay in Vrndavana.
You also don’t step out of the house at all. We will be unhappy not getting the association of devotees. But we are getting association in this way, like on this Zoom conference right now. We are getting association. “Utility is the principle!” All these electronic media, internet social media, we are spiritualising the social media. Sitting at home we are getting association. Also apart from the japa and Japa-talk, all day long so many leaders are doing Katha, istagosti and even meetings are unstoppable. Some days back on Rama Navami, we had small meeting of our Bureau members. There is some planning being done for katha, kirtana and meetings. This all is possible I think all day long. If you search, you will get association. You can also take darsana on YouTube, Facebook etc. Audio and videos are available. I am also doing Katha in English in the evening. 5 parts are completed. Even though they are completed, they are not over as they are still available on YouTube. The katha is ‘Karunavatar Gaur Bhagwan’ in English. Besides me so many Kathakars and kirtaneers are narrating the glories of the Lord on the internet.
We all should take full advantage of this golden opportunity, as it’s a rare opportunity available to all of us. So exploit it fully.
avatirne gaura-candre vistirne prema-sagare, yena majyanti majyanti te maha anartha sagare (Caitanya-candramrita by Prabhodanand Sarswati)
Prabhodanand Saraswati has explained that Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared and vistirne prema-sagare, expanded the ocean of love. Due to Coronavirus everything is jammed. Traffic is at a halt. Everything is at a halt. People can’t move around at all. But in this situation also this prema sagar is expanding even more and more. Waves and ripples of this prema sagar are spreading far and wide, through the medium of media. So many vibrations are being created through this media. Very easily we souls , hearers, and seers are benefiting. Yesterday we took such beautiful darsana of Lord Vitthala from Pandharpur on the internet even though the temple is closed. Tirupati Balaji darsana is also closed, but we are getting darsana through the internet. We are also getting darsana of devotees. We are doing sravana and kirtana. By this sarvatma snapanam is happening. We can immersed ourselves in this vistirne prema-sagare, Get immersed in this prema sagar. Get drowned in it. You won’t die, but you will be enlivened. Prananti. You will get a new life. Prabhodanand Saraswati Thakur said,
avatirne gaura-candre vistirne prema-sagare, yena majyanti majyanti te maha anartha sagare
Currently ISKCON is making good association available to the whole world. Others are participating and fulfilling their roles, but then it also becomes your duty. You also have to put your share in it as per your capacity and facilities available. Everyone has to spread this prema sagar, spread these Kathas, kirtanas by way of preaching for ones own purification as well as.
ye tv aksaram anirdesyam
avyaktam paryupasate
sarvatra-gam acintyam ca
kuta-stham acalam dhruvam
sanniyamyendriya-gramam
sarvatra sama-buddhayah
te prapnuvanti mam eva
sarva-bhuta-hite ratah
Translation:
But those who fully worship the unmanifested, that which lies beyond the perception of the senses, the all-pervading, inconceivable, fixed, and immovable-the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth-by controlling the various senses and being equally disposed to everyone, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all, at last achieve Me. ( BG 12. 3 and 4)
For the benefit of all the souls as all the souls are our family members.They are our brothers and sisters. Devotees have such expanded vision. They are not low thinkers and low minded, but they have a broad vision, a vision for the future. A Krsna conscious person can have such broad vision because he carries the Lord in his heart. The Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, but those who perceive the Lord’s presence in their hearts, their heart becomes big and magnanimous as the Lord is residing in it. Then low mindedness is not possible at all. Persons become high thinkers. Have a vision for the future. Keeps the whole world in his heart.
Again back to what Prabhodanand Sarswati Thakur said , yena majyanti majyanti te maha anartha sagare
One is prema sagar and other is maha anartha sagar. This whole world is a maha anartha sagar. This is the experience now that we have come to the banks of this anartha sagar. We have made our home into a temple or Vaikuntha. Devotees have installed Deities or pictures of the Lord in the house. We have so many scriptures in our house. We have Tulasi Maharani. On the walls of our house we have pictures of the Lord and devotees of the Lord, and possibly some may even have a cow at home. We have a kitchen in the house which is dedicated to preparing bhoga for the Lord. Such is our home where after offering bhoga to the Lord, that is honoured as prasada. Although we are in this anartha sagar, we have reached the banks of this ocean. We have converted our home into a temple. The atmosphere in the house, and our actions are Lord centred where lots of sravanam and kirtanam is happening. If someone rings up, then we don’t say Hi!Hello! But we say Hare Krsna! Haribol! Our whole lifestyle is surcharged with Krsna consciousness. We dress ourselves in the way that the residents of Goloka or Vaikuntha do, not like Meri pataloon englisthan ki and juta Japan ka’ . We have thrown pataloon in the gutter. We are wearing dhoti now. We have thrown Jeans out. Women devotees drape themselves in sarees or like the attire of Gopis. Then even if we are in the house we have reached the bank of this anartha sagar, reached the beach. We were moving with the flow of this material world, but now have reached the shore. We don’t belong to this world, but being in the world so we are out of this world. We have become transcendental to this world, have surpassed the three modes of nature. We are different. We don’t belong to this world.
Sitting at home, this prema sagar of sravana kirtana is available to us. The whole world is in our hands if you have smart phones in your hands. Both are there. Prem sagar as well as maha anartha sagar is available through this medium of media. Be aware! It’s not that this social distancing that we have follow is just refraining from going out in society, to work etc, we have to distance ourselves from the peoples’ worldly attitude of watching movies and so many such unwanted things. All these things are also available on media. We have to also do distancing from such Maya – physically, mentally, vocally , kayen manasa vacha. Srila Prabhupada would say , ‘Society friendship ,love’. People of this world are busy in worldly friendships, worldly love, which is only lust. We have to stay away from this during lockdown and always. Our principal is…
anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulyasya varjanam
raksisyatiti visvaso goptrtve varanam tatha
atma-niksepa-karpanye sad-vidha saranagatih
Translation:
”The six divisions of surrender are: accepting those things favorable to
devotional service, rejecting unfavorable things, the conviction that Krsna will
give protection, accepting the Lord as one’s guardian or master, full self-
surrender, and humility.”( Hari bhakti Vilas , verse 11.417 by Srila Sanatan Goswami)
Whatever is favourable should be accepted and unfavourable should be discarded, Such determinations and options (sankalpa and vikalpa.) we have to opt for. In scriptures it is also said, ‘Heya and Upadheya’. Heya refers to things to be discarded and Upadheya things to be accepted.
Pray to the Lord that He bestows us with the right kind of intelligence . It’s the job of intelligence to distinguish between sat and asat , Krsna and Maya, favourable and unfavourable. We cannot understand this with the help of the mind. It’s the work of intelligence. That is why the Lord said,
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
Translation:
To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me. (BG 10.10)
To whom does the Lord bestow intelligence?
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
Those who worship Him constantly. Now there is an opportunity these days that you can worship the Lord constantly . Then the Lord will bestow you with intelligence and we will reach closer to the Lord. We will reach more and more closer to the Lord. We have to go close, closer and closest to the Lord. Take full advantage of the situation and try to achieve personal spiritual advancement.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
5 April 2020
Suprabhātam! (Good Morning!) We chant so that our morning can be a “Good Morning”. If we don’t chant then how can it be a Good Morning. It will be “Bad Morning” (Kuprabhat).
Chanting is taking place from 575 locations. Where is 1000 and where is 575? Zoom has made some changes to the password. Possibilities are there that yesterday the number of participants was crossing 1000. I don’t know why. Has everyone been informed regarding the changes to having a password to join? All the smart chanters have joined. Others might not be knowing that a password is needed. They will get to know about the change today or by tomorrow. Please take note of the change of the use of a password. I don’t know if it will change again or not. Please inform others about this change so that they can join.
All of you chanted extra on Kamada Ekadasi. All have taken vows to chant 64 rounds. Those who didn’t chant 64 rounds are requested to write in brief why they couldn’t. And those who have chanted more than 64 rounds are requested to write about their number of extra rounds and why they chanted extra. There must be a reason for chanting extra rounds. This will be posted on Loksanga and this is daily news now. This will be posted on Chant Japa with Lokanath Swami on Facebook. You can see and I can also see. Few devotees in this world chant 64 rounds daily. Those who chant 64 sometimes get the confidence to chant 16 rounds easily daily. This is the benefit of chanting 64 rounds.
Chanting more than 16 rounds pleases the Lord. Additional rounds please the Lord more. Chanting more rounds means fighting with the mind. Prabhupada would say, “Preaching is fighting”. While chanting we don’t preach to the world, but to the mind. We are preaching to ourselves. We discipline the mind. Or it may be that these are prayers to the mind to worship the lotus feet of the Lord.
bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana
abhaya-caraṇāravinda re
Translation:
O mind just worship the lotus feet of the son of Nanda, which make one fearless.[ Bhaja Hu Re Mana song by Govinda Dasa Kaviraja]
This can be the prayer to the mind while chanting.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
When we say the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and try to hear it, then the mind doesn’t want to hear and it runs somewhere else. It is busy with some other thoughts. We wake up with such a mind. Jiva Jago. At the time of chanting, we preach to the mind. If we do 16 rounds, we preach to the mind. The more we chant, the more we preach. One thing is that we should chant more every day.
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
Translation:
The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.[ SB 1.2.6]
Performing devotional service is dharma. Adhokshaja is the Lord’s name. This is not the name of demigods. Adhokshaja refers to Visnu Tattva. The highest dharma of human civilization is to render devotional service to the Supreme. There should be apratihata (constant) bhakti. Nowadays there is talk of constant kirtana or chanting. Daily we have to do kirtana from 5:00 to 5:15 pm. I received news from many cities such as Nagpur, Bhiwandi, Noida, that devotees are chanting for half-hour slots in their homes and covering 24 hours. Sadhana Bhakti Mataji, Venugopal, and many more devotees are doing kirtana in their respective homes for half an hour. Japa is an important part of bhakti. There are many limbs of bhakti. By adopting them one after another we are busy 24 hours. Kirtana or bhakti should be non stop. It’s not only on Sundays. Christians go to the church on Sundays. Our Muslim brothers go for Namaz on Fridays. Namaz happens 5 times a day, but it’s difficult to say how many do this. Bhakti should be ahaituky and apratihatā. Ahaituky means there should not be any material reason to do bhakti. Bhakti should not be for dhanaḿ, janaḿ, sundarīḿ and kavitāḿ. Caitanya Mahaprabhu also has said that and many scriptures say the same thing. Sadhu, Sastra, and Acarya say in one voice ahaituky apratihatā bhakti. There are prayers to perform shraddha bhakti and day by day we should increase concentration, intensity and focus while performing bhakti.
akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā
mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena
yajeta puruṣaṁ param
Translation:
“Whether one is without desire (the condition of the devotees), or is desirous of all fruitive results, or is after liberation, one should with all efforts try to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead for complete perfection, culminating in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”[ SB 2.3.10]
This happens when we practice. By practice only we can have more focus, intensity and attentiveness.
asamsayam maha-baho
mano durnigraham calam
abhyasena tu kaunteya
vairagyena ca grhyate
Translation:
The Blessed Lord said: O mighty-armed son of Kunti, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by constant practice and by detachment.[ BG 6.35]
Arjuna asked his question on our behalf and even though he was not in that situation, still he asked the question to the Lord.
cancalam hi manah krsna
pramathi balavad drdham
tasyaham nigraham manye
vayor iva su-duskaram
Translation:
For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krsna, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind.[ BG 6.34] He asked oh my Lord my mind is very obstinate and takes me to various thoughts. I can stop hurricanes but the controlling mind is more difficult than it. When Arjuna shared this confidential thing unto Lord then He said yes Arjuna, the mind is restless.
The Lord is saying it’s difficult but not impossible to control the mind. It is very possible. Then how to do it? abhyasena tu kaunteya. By practice.
The act of chanting is one kind of preaching. When we go for Nagar Sankirtana with mrdangas and karatals then we inspire others to chant. But we do Japa for our welfare and the purity of our mind. We should preach to our minds. And this is a daily practice. If Japa is not there then there is no practice. We do this practice with the help of Hari …
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare.
…and as we chant we ask for Their help. “O Krsna and Radhe Please see my mind and I’m being bothered.” Srila Prabhupada said that as we chant we are supposed to be in deep meditation and we should chant attentively. But the mind troubles and might be that intelligence is helping the mind. There is the possibility that senses are joining that team and putting forward difficulties. Srila Prabhupada said that when we go to meet any friend we might have to deal with a dog at the gate. He doesn’t allow us to go inside as it keeps on barking. Then only one option remains – to call and take help from the friend. Then our friend and master of the dog will come out and he may say something to that dog and control it. And it becomes easier to stop it’s barking in one minute. Then it’s done as you can go inside and meet your friend. In chanting also the same situation is there. We want to meet Krsna, get His darsana. But the mind keeps on barking like a dog and doesn’t allow us to think of the Lord and reach Him. In such a situation, we may have to call the Lord with a loud voice and with more intensity. It’s not that we should do bhakti seasonally and occasionally. We need to practice it every day and we can increase our Japa a little more and we can chant with more love. We should chant with feelings such as…
yugāyitaḿ nimeṣeṇa
cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam
śūnyāyitaḿ jagat sarvaḿ
govinda-viraheṇa me
Translation:
O Govinda! Feeling Your separations I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.[ Sri Siksastakam verse 7]
….life is useless without the Lord. “This world is zero without You.” When the Lord hears such prayers, such as call made by Draupadi then He will surely hear. This is food for thought for the day. Contemplate on this further and translate this into action.
Thank you
Hare Krishna
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