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WORLD  Dhama Parikrama And Harinam BY GOKUL  INDIA, Oct 1 (VNN) — Thousands of devotees attended parikrama in Navadwip-dhama in 2002.Dhama Parikrama and Harinam: Why do we not reap the benefits from them? A lecture by HDG Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Gosvami Maharaj Spoken in 1987 during Kartika Vraja-mandala Parikrama (circumambulation of the holy region of Vrindavan during the month of Kartika), this lecture was originally published in Hindi in Hari Katha Sudha, by the Chandigarh branch of Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math in March 1999. Transcriber's note: Once every three years, Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math organizes Vraja-mandala parikrama of 84 kosas. (1 kosa 3km) It runs for the whole month of Kartika. As of this publication (October 2002), Vraja-mandala Parikrama is currently underway. I remember the Vraja-mandala parikrama that was performed in 1987. During the last days of the parikrama in Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math, Gokul-Mahavan, our most revered Srila Guru Maharaja, His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj, raised a question to himself in order to instruct us. As we increase our endeavor for devotion, our attachment to this world increases rather than our attachment to the Supreme Lord. Why is this so? While Srila Guru Maharaja was delivering a transcendental discourse from his lotus mouth, I recorded the divine and sublime words of Guru Maharaja. To purify my heart and to please the devotees who have affection for Sri Guru, I am making a small attempt to present the same transcendental words as they are. Kuldip Chopra Bhatinda (Punjab) Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja: You have all performed Vraja-mandala parikrama for so many days. You have heard the glories of parikrama. By performing parikrama, our love and attachment to the Supreme Lord increases and we lose interest in any matter not related to the Supreme Lord. We got the opportunity to practice the five most important processes of bhakti: sadhu-sanga (association with the devotees), nama-sankirtana (congregational chanting of the Holy Name), bhagavata-sravana (hearing), mathura-vasa (residing in Mathura) and sraddhaye-sri-murti-seva (worship of the deities with faith and affection). Of all these processes, harinama-sankirtana is the best. We did perform sankirtana also, but the dirt of our inner self has not been removed. I know that my heart is full of tendency for enjoyment and to accept whatever is unfavorable to the Supreme Lord (bhagavad-itar-pravrti). One can know the cause for something by seeing the results. All of the sadhus say that one gets liberation from this world by performing parikrama. One's tendency for sensual enjoyment vanishes and one gets love and affection for the Supreme Lord. But my love and affection for this world have increased and my material worries have increased. I have done so much sadhu-sanga, followed the sadhus, and performed sankirtana. Why have I not reaped the benefits of performing parikrama? Once in Jalandhar, one mataji asked a similar question to our Guru Maharaj. I have been coming to the temple for the past fifty years and performing circumambulation of the temple. I have also been hearing hari-katha from sadhus. I have been doing this for the past fifty years; yet if I look inside, I have fallen more. My affection for the world has increased. Why? I also have the same question. I am saying this for myself. I have full confidence that our Guruji, Param-Guruji, and Mahaprabhuji never deceive us. Vaisnavas never speak false. When a sadhu speaks falsely, he is not to be considered a sadhu. A sadhu is never a cheater; he cannot cheat anybody. Whatever he says is for our benefit. But why are we not getting benefited? Mahaprabhu teaches us. Mahaprabhu's associates teach us. There cannot be any cheating in their instructions. We have seen the face of our Guruji externally. He does not look like a cheater. We have heard that just by going close to him, one's head would bow down by itself. Many people used to come to our Param-Guruji with the thought that they would argue with him on the scriptures and defeat him in argument. But nobody was able to speak after coming in front of him. Such was his divine aura that heads used to bow down by themselves. His words cannot be false. So it is correct that it is beneficial to do Vraja-mandala parikrama. Worldly attachments will be destroyed and devotion increased. But why is the opposite effect happening? In my opinion, the reason is that we are not doing it as it should be done. Surrender is necessary for devotional practice. Three things are required. The Bhagavatam says that one should hear and perform sankirtana about Cakra-pani Sri Krsna (Sri Krsna, the holder of the disk weapon); hear the divine pastimes of the Lord's birth and other activities; and perform kirtana of the Lord's Name, which reveals the pastimes of the Lord, while remaining free from attachments and bad association. When we will do so, we will get transcendental power. Bhakti, detachment, and knowledge of the Supreme Lord will all come together. This can be explained by one example. Suppose I can eat one kilogram of food. If I eat ¹ kg, ¹ of my hunger will be satisfied and I will get energy in similar proportion. If I eat halfway, it will be half satisfied; if I eat ² kg, it will be ² satisfied. When we eat fully, all our hunger will be over and we will get full satisfaction. As we eat, our appetite fills in the same proportion and we get satisfaction. A saranagata bhakta will get God's realization along with bhakti. Detachment or reduction in attachment to this world will also come. He will lose interest in whatever is not favorable to Krsna; he will get vairagya, complete detachment. All three will come. We performed Vraja-mandala parikrama, engaged in sravana and kirtana, did everything, but still we have not got attachment to Bhagavan. Then we should understand that we are lacking in surrender to the Supreme Lord. Whatever bhakti a surrendered soul does, he gets equal detachment from the things that are unfavorable to the Supreme Lord. If our attachments in this material world are increasing, we should understand that there is some fault in our surrender. First of all I am not performing bhajan and whatever little I am doing is not according to the prescribed rules. Therefore I am not getting the desired result. The scriptures are not giving false information; Vedavyasji is not deceiving us. There is a mistake in our following; the fault is in our practice. There are six symptoms of saranagati (the process of surrender): Anukulyasya sankalpah: Accepting whatever is favorable to Bhagavan. But we do not accept favorable things all the time. Definitely, this is our fault. Pratikulyasya varjanam: Rejecting whatever is unfavorable. We do not reject whatever is unfavorable to Bhagavan. When surrender will be pure, then bhakti will come, God realization will come, and detachment to unfavorable things will come. Scriptural statements cannot be false. Firm Faith: Whatever external or internal problems (e.g., lust, anger, greed, attachment, etc) we might have, only the Lord can give us emancipation from them all. This faith is lacking in us. That is our mistake or fault. Seeing the Lord as our sole Protector: I have not accepted the Supreme Lord as the maintainer in the complete sense. My bodily needs, mental needs, and spiritual needs are being satisfied by the Supreme Lord only and no one else. I have not accepted the Supreme Lord as the only maintainer. Humbleness: We are proud of our birth, wealth, and education. Therefore, we are lacking humbleness. Atmanivedana: Self-surrender. We should think, "I do not belong to this world. I belong to the Supreme Lord." But we are lacking in this consciousness. I am committing mistakes in saranagati. This is one of my faults. We do not have any interest in serving the deities of the Lord and commit offenses to them. We externally claim to have taken shelter at the feet of sad-guru and suddha bhakta but do not have faith in the deities manifested by the suddha bhakta -- the object of worship of the suddha bhakta. Therefore, we do not have faith in honoring prasad and possess "rice and dal mentality" in honoring prasad. By honoring prasad, attachment to the material world is destroyed. However, even after so much prasad seva, why have the worldly attachments not been destroyed? Are the scriptures false? mahaprasade govinde nama-brahmani vaisnave svalpa-punyavatam rajan visvaso naiva jayate One who possesses a limited amount of pious deeds does not see the Lord's remnants as maha-prasad and does not see the deities of Govinda as the Supreme Lord Himself. The mentality that "this is a metal deity" or "this is a stone deity" remains. If the president of India were to come here, what would happen? Everyone would start welcoming him and honoring him out of fear. But the grandfather of the grandfather of the grandfather of the president, the Master of the uncountable universes is present here; do we have this realization about Him? This is also a fault. It is said by Vedavyasa Muni that seeing the deities as stone or idols is an offense. Our heart becomes dirty by this. Whatever is being offered to the deities should not be considered as simply dal, rice, and vegetables. It is said that by honoring prasad, one can get full control over his senses. (bhai-re) sarira abidya-jal, jodendriya tahe kal, jive phele visaya-sagore ta'ra madhye jihwa ati, lobamoy sudurmati, ta'ke jeta kathina samsare krsna baro doyamoy, koribare jihwa jay, swa-prasad-anna dilo bhai sei anna-mrta pao, radha-krsna-guna gao, preme dako caitanya-nitai Bhaktivinode Thakura has given the essence of the scriptures. Has he written something false? Do we have a proper understanding of prasad as the remnants of the Supreme Lord? We do not see the deities as non-different from the Supreme Lord Himself, so what can we understand about prasad? We will leave the prasad. I have heard about our gurudeva that before coming to the Math, he used to eat only once a day and, even at that, only boiled vegetables. He performed many austerities in the Himalayas and remained without food for three days. But after taking shelter of Prabhupada (Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada), he started taking prasad. While we were living with Guru Maharaj, we did not see him taking anything other than prasad. Occasionally, when he was ill, if we tried to give him something after consulting with the doctor, he would say, No! Taking only prasad is good; otherwise, my disciples will also imitate me. We used to say We shall cook something separately for you and give it to you in the morning. Otherwise you may fall ill. However, Guruji always refused; otherwise everybody else would start doing the same. By practicing it himself, one teaches others. Guruji took all the trouble to follow it himself. He used to say, No problem! It may be 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock. I will take the prasad whenever it comes from the temple. Why did he do this? His Guruji established the deities. They are the Supreme Lord Himself. By honoring their remnants, all troubles will be over. That was his philosophy. Whatever a vaisnava gives is also prasad. I am seeing that I lack all these qualities; therefore, all the unwanted things are coming. I do not have proper intelligence to see the deities as non-different from the Supreme Lord Himself. There must be some reason for this. The worst is this tongue. It is most difficult to control the tongue. Of all the senses, the tongue is the most uncontrollable. Whoever can control the tongue can control everything. Whoever cannot control the tongue cannot control the senses. What is the meaning of getting control over the tongue? Does it mean to remain without eating? If that were so, our Guru Maharaj would have performed many austerities. Why did he start honoring prasad after leaving tapasya (austerities)? If we honor prasad with proper respect, our non-eternal propensities will go away. It is very difficult to control the tongue. By not eating, eating only once a day, eating vegetables, or living on air, one will not be able to remove the hankerings of the tongue. Not eating one day causes over-eating the next day in similar proportion. We eat more on dvadasi day after not eating on ekadasi day. The tendency to eat does not go away. Our previous acarya Thakur Bhaktivinode has given us the remedy that by honoring prasad one can get control over the tongue. If you want to control the tongue, honor prasad: the remnants of food which has been offered to the Lord. Our tendency to revolt against the Supreme Lord will vanish by honoring prasad. Why am I not accepting the things that are favorable to devotional service? Why do I not give proper respect to bhagavat-prasad? We have to analyze this. Guruji and Bhaktivinode Thakur are not speaking falsely. What am I lacking inside? We have to look at this. Honor the Lord's prasad. Take the remnants of the Lord. Such a simple path to follow. All your propensities to revolt against the Supreme Lord will vanish. Therefore, seeing the Lord's deities as stone and seeing Sri Guru as an ordinary human being are the two biggest mistakes. So, we find faults in Guruji. One will go to hell by considering Guru to be an ordinary human being. I must have this fault. I must have committed some offense against Guruji. Otherwise, why am I not getting benefit even after doing so much service? The reasons are considering Guruji to be human and considering the caste of a vaisnava. What family does the vaisnava belong to? Is he a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, or candal? Whatever family a vaisnava takes birth in, he is pure. Haridasa Thakur took birth in a Muslim family. Our heart becomes polluted by seeing the vaisnava on the basis of caste; we have to go to hell. A vaisnava is dear to the Supreme Lord. He can take birth in any family. The pure devotee is always nirguna irrespective of the family of his birth. I am telling you about the pure devotee, not the pretender devotee. We might posses this fault in us which is preventing the cleansing of our heart. Similarly, we must not see the water of Visnupadi Ganga and Yamuna as ordinary water. The water that has been used to wash the feet of a vaisnava is not ordinary! Ordinary water just cleans the dirt of the body, but the water that has washed the feet of a vaisnava destroys the ill effect of Kali Yuga. The water that has washed the Lotus feet of Lord Visnu destroys the ill effect of Kali Yuga. Yamuna water is not ordinary water. It destroys the ill effect of Kali Yuga and gives bhakti. By considering the water of Ganga or Yamuna to be ordinary water, one goes to hell. The foot-wash water and the dust of the feet of devotees are the strength of devotional practice. They give the benediction of devotion to Sri Krsna. Our Gurudev, by his causeless mercy on us established the deities of the Supreme Lord here. The prasad of the Lord, after being honored by a vaisnava, becomes maha-maha-prasad. One should not leave such prasad. Otherwise we will consider the deities as stone and prasad as rice, dal, etc. This is not good. Our gurudeva performed his devotional practice with great care because we are the followers of exemplary acts. Whoever we see as the best, we follow. The Lord and His Name can destroy all kinds of ill effects of Kali Yuga. The Holy Name can give love of Godhead. One should not consider such Names to be ordinary words. What will happen by doing so? By considering the ordinary names of this world to be equal to the Name of the Supreme Lord and considering the Lord's Name to be ordinary, one goes to hell. Why is our heart not getting cleansed of dirt? What is the reason? There must be some fault; we have to remove it. Considering the demigods to be equal to or independent of the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna causes one to attain hell. The Supreme Lord is complete; therefore He is one. The Supreme Lord cannot be three, four, or thousands. He may have infinite pastimes. All demigods are under Him. Brahma, Rudra and others are all His devotees and subordinates. One who considers Brahma, Rudra and other demigods to be equal to Narayana is a pretender. This is the opinion of the scriptures. We have got such false ideas and that is the reason we are not able to get any benefit even after doing so much. This is not surrender. Offenses are being committed at the feet of guru, vaisnava and the Holy Name. It is the most horrible offense to criticize the Name, guru and vaisnava. One will not achieve the Supreme Lord by chanting the Holy Name if he is criticizing sadhus and guru. He will go to hell. Even while chanting the Holy Name, one will go to hell. A small amount of nama-aparadha (offense to the Holy Name) gives the boon of dharma, artha and kama. If we are not careful about this, our heart will remain polluted by all of these offenses. Here I have done my self-examination. So many days have been spent doing parikrama, following vaisnavas, and chanting the Lord's name loudly. You might be thinking that I am doing a lot of kirtana and dancing. But what is the result? The heart is still as polluted as before. Saranagati must be missing. There is some fault in our surrender. Nama-aparadha is going on. Dhama-aparadha (offense to the holy place) is going on. That is why we are not getting the desired results. Therefore, in this holy dhama, to bestow mercy on us, our guruji, who is the dear most of the Supreme Lord, gave us shelter and installed his object of worship at different places for our eternal benefit. Guruji is always present here. Just as the Lord is always present everywhere, His manifestation of guruji is also eternally present. Therefore, we pray at the lotus feet of guruji. I am in such a miserable condition. How can I avoid committing offenses? Pure surrender can only be achieved by the mercy of the vaisnava. If we don't have faith in the vaisnava, all our deeds are useless. How to get spiritual benefit so that we get faith in the vaisnava? I want to stay under the guidance of the vaisnava for the remaining days of my life. I want to remove all of my anarthas by devotional practice. This is my prayer at the lotus feet of guruji. Our siksa guru Parampujyapada Puri Goswami Maharaj is present here. He feels compassion for us; that is why he comes here after taking so much trouble. How much affection he has! He thinks that our guruji is not present. "If I don't go to the parikrama then they will be discouraged." So he comes and gives his blessings. Although he has affection for me, I pray to him to give me mercy and to remove all the bad desires from my heart. You are free from any desire; that is why you have come here. You have come to the dhama because you have got the mercy of guru and Bhagavan. You all please bless me; then I will get spiritual benefit. vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah * * * * * To read more articles by and about HDG Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj, visit the GOKUL website at http://www.gokul.org For more information on Srila Tirtha Maharaj, or to be placed on our newsletter mailing list, contact GOKUL at bhakti@gokul.org Contact VNN about this story  Send this story to a friend
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