04/03/98 - 1726

Innermost Desire of Sri Caitanya

USA (VNN) - by Sridama Sakha das

Opening Lecture in Malaysia by Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayan Maharaja 28th January 1998

Srila Maharaja opened his class by voicing his warm appreciation of the Malaysian devotees, and then consoling one young man whose wife had recently passed away.

He then began to tell us what a high quality disciple Arjuna was to his Guru, Dronacarya .

Dronacarya and Drupada Maharaja, the father of Draupadi, were both disciples of the same Guru, and were very close friends. Their friendship was not affected by the fact that Drupada Maharaja was a prince, and Drona a simple brahmana. When their school days drew to a close, Drupada promised to give Drona any boon he wished for. In answer, Drona replied that he would not ask for the boon there and then, but would wait till such time that the need arose.

In due course of time, Drona married, and a son, Asvatthama, was born to him. Unfortunately however, Drona was so poor, that he was not even able to feed his son adequately. One day, the young child cried for milk, but Drona was unable to afford to give him even this. In desperation, and with tears in his eyes, he mixed flour with water, telling his little boy that it was milk.

Seeing what wretched condition his life had come to, he remembered his old friend Drupada, who had promised to help him in the past.

Meeting Drupada Maharaja in his palace, he explained his situation of extreme poverty, and asked the king to give him a cow, or some money so that he would be able to support his wife and children. However, the king harshly refused to give Drona anything, and ordered him to leave at once.

Weeping bitter tears, Drona returned home, vowing that he would get his revenge.

Some time later, Dronacarya was teaching his many students the art of warfare. Among them were Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula, Sahadeva, Yudhisthira and Duryodhana. When their training was complete, the students all approached him, and began to offer him many kinds of gifts as daksina. However, when Arjuna came forward, Dronacarya told him that he didn't want any kind of gift from him. Rather, he said, Arjuna should go and capture Drupada, bind him up, and bring him back. Having received this order, Arjuna at once went and defeated the whole army of Drupada. When he had captured Drupada, Arjuna bound him to his chariot, and took him before Dronacarya . Arjuna then forced Drupada to prostrate himself before the feet of Dronacarya .

At this, Dronacarya became extremely happy. Praising Arjuna very much, he then asked Arjuna to make him a promise. His request was that, should they ever be pitched against each other in battle, that Arjuna should not hesitate to fight against and defeat him. Arjuna could still offer his pranams to him first, but still he should fight. "This is my mano'bhista (heart's desire)" he told Arjuna.

When Arjuna asked Dronacarya why he was making this drastic request, Dronacarya explained that it was the will of Krsna, Who wanted to be able to defeat all the demons at one time. However, the demons would only be ready to fight if Dronacarya and Asvathama were there to support them. Thus it was that the fulfillment of Krsna's desires hinged on Dronacarya and his son's participating in the battle. Otherwise, it would not take place, and the demons would not be slain.

Ekalavya, the self assumed disciple of Dronacarya, ultimately cut his own thumb off, and presented it before his Guru. However, he did not give his heart, and therefore we do not value his sacrifice as being very praiseworthy. Arjuna never tried to give his thumb to Dronacarya, and nor would any Guru ever want this. Rather, what does Guru ask for?

sri-caitanya-mano-'bhistam
sthapitam yena bhu-tale
svayam rupah kada mahyam
dadati sva-padantikam

When Dronacarya had made this request of Arjuna, Arjuna immediately agreed to do it. So we can understand how he was Dronacarya's dearest disciple.

However, devotees who are aspiring for spiritual perfection should be even higher than this, and know sri-caitanya-mano-'bhistam sthapitam, Caitanya Mahaprabhu's innermost desires. These words are spoken by Narottama Thakura, and he is telling us that Rupa Gosvami is the topmost of all devotees. There is no-one else like him. Why? Because he knows the heart of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And Who is Caitanya Mahaprabhu? He is Krsna, Who has taken the heart, beauty and golden complexion of Srimati Radhika. Does anybody know the innermost desire of His heart? In all of the world, only Rupa Gosvami does. The desires of Caitanya Mahaprabhu are very, very high, and confidential, and nobody else can fulfill them.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu had so many disciples, who served Him in such a variety of ways. His servant Govinda dasa would massage Him. At other times, different servants like Kala Krsnadasa or the brahmana Ballabha Bhattacarya would give Him prasadam, or carry His danda and kamandalu. Caitanya Mahaprabhu honoured Santana Gosvami so much for His service to Him. Haridasa Thakura also served Caitanya Mahaprabhu. How? By chanting three lakhs nama per day. Advaita Acarya and Nityananda Prabhu did so much preaching work, spreading the Lord's mission everywhere by nama sankirtana.

However, none of them were so near and dear to Mahaprabhu as Rupa Gosvami. Mahaprabhu once slapped Rupa Gosvami on the back, saying: "How do you know My heart? How can you read it? You have been able to fulfil My very heart's desire." And what is that? What is that Rupa Gosvami has done? He has fulfilled the mano 'bhista, the inner desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is two things: He is full of causeless mercy, and He's rasika sekhara. Anyone can go to Him, and He will give them Krsna-prema. In comparison, Krsna is not so merciful. If you go to Him, and ask for the nectar of bhakti, He will only give it to you if you have a pot to receive it. And, if you do have the pot, you will only be able to receive as much bhakti from Him as you have capacity for. But if you approach Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He will give you a pot Himself, as well as filling it up. In the Jharikhanda forests He even bestowed that mercy on the wild beasts, insects and plants. And what did He give? Parakiya-bhava. Only Srimati Radhika and the gopis have this parakiya bhava, unwedded love. They are not married to Krsna, but they are beloved to Him, just as He is to them. This mood is not even found in Sita or Rukmini or Satyabhama, but only in the gopis. So this was Caitanya Mahaprabhu's desire, to bring this highest thing to this world, and to sprinkle it on all, regardless of qualification.

This desire of Caitanya Mahaprabhu was fulfilled by Rupa Gosvami. In his writings, he established the identity of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and revealed what He had come to give. With this knowledge Rupa Gosvami opened the eyes of all. He revealed what is Krsna prema. He explained the meanings of santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya. He told us Who is Krsna, Who is Srimati Radhika and who are the gopis. In such books as Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Ujjvala-nilamani, and Vidagdha-madhava he disclosed all of this hidden knowledge, and gave it to the whole world.

Whatever we know, we only know by the mercy of Rupa Gosvami. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give manjari bhava, and Rupa Gosvami established it. This was his contribution. Caitanya Mahaprabhu only distributes this most precious and divine gift once in every day of Lord Brahma. Otherwise, no-one has ever given it before, anywhere in the material world.

Rupa Gosvami has revealed that Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to fulfil three personal desires, and to sprinkle His mercy on the material world. What is that mercy? Raga marga bhakti. It is this which He came to preach, not vaidhi bhakti. And what is the meaning of raga-marga? The means by which we can experience the same raga which was in the gopis' hearts. So Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give this, and Rupa Gosvami established it. Only such a highly qualified, intimate associate such as he could accomplish this, and only by following him can one achieve it. It cannot be fulfilled by massaging the Lord's body, by giving one's thumb in sacrifice, nor by chastising an offender in front of the lotus feet of one's Guru. Never. No-one else can give this high love. Only Rupa Gosvami can give it, because of his identity as a topmost gopi serving the conjugal forms of Radha and Krsna. This is why.

If one can help his Guru to establish the same mission in this world, then one is surely the very topmost servant of one's Guru. But if one does not understand one's Guru's heart, and knows nothing of Krsna-bhakti, than how can one do it? It is not possible. One may be able to speak on such topics in an external way, but this is not pure bhakti. Our objective is to attain suddha-bhakti, prema bhakti. What is prema-bhakti? It is raganuga, and nothing else. Any other kind of bhakti is not pure bhakti, as we have been told by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Only prema bhakti is pure bhakti.

So we must understand our Guru's heart, and what he wants from us, and *secure* that thing. One who cannot do this is not a first class Guru-sevaka. Quarrelling with and offending many devotees is not bhakti. Many devotees are now comitting offences, disobeying their Gurudeva, quarrelling, and engaging in politics. And although they may be giving so many orders, and performing so many activities, it is all external.

If Gurudeva will tell them, "Oh, you should go and preach raganuga." Can they do it? Never. Therefore Guru will only give this instruction to a qualified disciple, who, knowing his wish will do it automatically. Such devotees are truly sevaka. Se-va-ka. The word has three syllables. What does sevaka mean? Servant. But there are different levels of servant also. Gurudeva may instruct a disciple in a certain way, but, rather than fulfilling the order, the disciple will come up with all kinds of excuses instead. "Oh, how can I do that? I cannot do it." With such a "se-va-ka", we subtract the "se", or "seva", and are left with "vaka". So what is Vaka? Devotee: Crane. Vakasura. Srila Maharaja: Yes, Bakasura, crane. Standing on one leg in the water, with closed eyes, it appears that he is performing a great austerity. But secretly, he's watching the water for ripples, and, if he sees a fish, he immediately snatches it out of the water and devours it. So he's only a crane, a "vaka", not a sevaka. So we should fulfil the real heart desire of our Guru, and then we will truly be Guru-sevaka. Sometimes Gurudeva will ask his disciples for money. But actually he never wants or needs money for anything. He will only ask this of his disciples because they are so neophyte, and he is trying to purify them, and bring them higher. But what does he really want? That his disciple know what is pure love and affection, and be fixed in the service of Radha and Krsna conjugal. So if you are able to do this, then he will be so very much happy, because this is his innermost heart desire. I also want that you should all become qualified, and gradually come to understand service to Guru, service to Krsna, and thereby attain Krsna prema.

Do you know the meanings of vani and vapu?

Govinda Bhakata: Vani means to serve the instruction of the Guru and vapu means to be in the presence of the Guru and to serve his body.

Srila Maharaja: Which is better?

Govinda Bhakata: Vani.

Srila Maharaja: Actually, the body and words of Sri Guru are equally transcendental. These days, there are some people who claim that serving the body of the Guru isn't necessary, and that only his words are. However, they are comitting offence. Because neophyte devotees are bound to see a difference between the words and body of Guru, for them vani has been stressed over vapuh. However, when they become more advanced, they will realise that vapuh and vani are non-different. Just as there is no difference between the body and words of Krsna, so does the same apply for Guru, who is also transcendentally situated.

Try to take all of these things into your hearts, and become qualified. Do not become politicians or hypocritics, you do not know when you are going to die. We can achieve the high class of prema which Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to give very easily. How? By associating with, hearing from and following, with fixed determination, a very qualified Vaisnava. Then, when Krsna sees our sincerity of heart, He will bestow His mercy on us. nayam atma pravacanena labhyo Gaura premanandi haribol!

If you would like to read more material by Srila Narayana Maharaja,
then please contact the following sites:
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/paul.mcfarland/contents.html
http://hgsoft.com/bvnm