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WORLD January 22, 1999 VNN2897 Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja In Malaysia (Final Report) BY SRIDAM SAKHA DAS  MALAYSIA, Jan 22 (VNN) — (December '98) Evening class 12/8/98The next evening Srila Maharaja told the whole story of how Krsna was bound to the grinding mortar by Yasoda and how he pulled down two arjuna trees by dragging the grinding mortar between them. After this he began to talk about the potency of hearing Krsna's name and pastimes. "Hearing the name and lilas of Krsna is not material. There is a very great difference between the mortal and immortal world. Even if one has a just a little sraddha, honor for these transcendental sounds, Krsna's name and lilas, then these words, which are Krsna Himself will come in the heart, clean it and make it pure, even though there may be so many anarthas and ignorance there. Gradually one's sraddha will become thick, all bad habits and anarthas will disappear, and one will quickly develop his Krsna consciousness, from nistha, ruci, bhava, asakti up to prema. If saints have come from far away, and those who could come to hear from them don't, then they're killers of their own souls. nivrtta-tarsair upagiyamanad bhavausadhac chrotra-mano-'bhiramat ka uttamasloka-gunanuvadat puman virajyeta vina pasughnat (Glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is performed in the parampara system; that is, it is conveyed from spiritual master to disciple. Such glorification is relished by those no longer interested in the false, temporary glorification of this cosmic manifestation. Descriptions of the Lord are the right medicine for the conditioned soul undergoing repeated birth and death. Therefore, who will cease hearing such glorification of the Lord except a butcher or one who is killing his own self? SB 10.1.4) "To kill an animal or even to kill one's self is not really killing, but those who won't hear Hari katha are losing their lives for lakhs and lakhs of births. Quickly this hearing will make you pure, so don't neglect. Start bhajan from today, this evening - you don't know when you are going to die. Try to give up bad habits. There may be a rasagula, a very good indian sweet, but if it is poisoned then mother will say 'don't take it!' So we are like this, you can have faith in me, we are like a mother and a doctor, you have can have faith in sadhus. Remain in your family life, no harm, do your job, any job, but don't cut fishes and animals, follow the four regulative principles. This story I told is from Srimad Bhagavatam, it is not imagination, it is true, and if anyone will hear these words their heart will be changed. They will become blissful and happy, and they will go to Krsna. If any advanced bhakta hears, what happens? 'I want to become a mother like Yasoda, or a friend like Sridama, or beloved like the gopis, I want to serve like them.' There are so many mothers, fathers and friends of Krsna and so many gopis also. Among them all, the gopis are serving the best. Why them and not others? Because only they will give everything. Even their shame they will give, their whole bodies and senses. Parents will only give half of their love and time to Krsna, and the other half to their children. So by hearing all these lilas, some greed to follow the gopis will come, and that is why Srimad Bhagavatam has been given. Especially the books by Srila Raghunatha das gosvami. But you cannot get any benefit without hearing. You may read but there will be no effect. "Krsna can give us anything. No-one else can, not even Narayana. He cannot make you a palya dasi (maid servant) of Srimati Radharani. If you pray to her, then she can give you this. Her treasure is more. You must pray to Her to become Her dasi. Only ask Her for Vraja prema, nothing else. If by some misfortune you do ask for moksa or wealth, oh, She will easily give it to you. "Once in Mathura there was low caste lady fruit seller. She would go to all the villages calling out 'mangos, oranges, guavas, bananas' and everyone would come to buy from her. One day she heard the name 'Yasoda nandana', the very attractive and beautiful child of Yasoda. Someone had told her 'Just by seeing Him, your mind will be taken, and it will never return.' Hearing this, the fruit seller lady became filled with desire to see Him. She crossed the Yamuna and went to Nandagaon, and, with her basket on her head she started calling out Krsna's names instead of the names of the fruit. After three days had passed with no success, she made a vow that she would not return from Nandagaon unless she saw Krsna. Because she was crying for Krsna so much, He could not resist to come. Climbing from Yasoda's lap, He took two handfuls of grains and went to see her. When he at last reached her, she simply gazed and gazed at Him giving Him her whole heart. Krsna kept on asking her for fruits, and at last she came back to full consciousness. On the way to see her, although Krsna didn't realize it, all of the grains which He had been holding had gradually trickled from His hands, and so now He had nothing to pay with. Seeing this, the lady told Krsna that she would give Him fruits if He would sit on her lap, and call her 'Mother'. "Krsna was worried at this, because she was from a low caste, and if He was seen doing this He might get into trouble. So, after looking left and right to make sure that no-one could see, He jumped onto her lap and said once 'O mother' and quickly jumped off again. The lady then gave Him all the fruits He could hold, after which Krsna happily left, dancing His way back into the house. When Yasoda saw the good quality fruit which He had brought she became very pleased and started to feed them to everyone. And yet the original amount of fruit never diminished. Meanwhile that lady simply gazed vacantly in front of her and never moved, her heart and mind stolen away by Krsna. When at last she got up to leave, and she reached the Yamuna, she realised that her basket was very heavy. Taking it from her head and looking inside, she saw that it was full of priceless gems, each one worth more than all of Kamsa's wealth put together. But now she realized that they were all worthless, so she threw them into the Yamuna. Mad with love of Krsna, her heart melting she chanted the names of Krsna 'Govinda Damodara Madhaveti..' along the bank of the Yamuna, never to return home. Some time after, her body was found by the bank of Yamuna and put into fire. Krsna had called her and in a very beautiful shape she went to Goloka Vrndavana. She is there now, eternally loving Krsna as a mother like Yasoda. "So if guru gives this you can never repay him. He wants to give you the same wealth that Krsna gave to that fruit seller lady, so don't waste your life, your body, and try to be like her, always singing "Govinda Damodara Madhaveti.." How? Not like a song, a sangeet, but from the core of your hearts, and then Krsna will hear. But if you simply make music, then Krsna will not hear, He knows so much music, much more than you. From even His finger so much music will come. Inferior devotees can do so much music, but if you are hearing and chanting like the fruit seller lady then Krsna Himself will come." 12/9/98 The next day was Srila Maharaja's last day in Malaysia. In the morning he and a number of the male devotees recorded a bhajan tape in Bala Singam prabhu's recording studio under his expert guidance. Krsna das prabhu gave Srila Maharaja a photograph of Srila Prabhupada in a recording studio, and Srila Maharaja gazed at it for some time. Srila Maharaja was first recorded chanting a number of invocations. After that, he sang the songs "Hari hari kabe mora hoibe sudina", "Sri Rupa manjari pada", 'Radha-Krsna prana mora yugal kisora' and "hari haraye namah krsna" by Srila Narottama das Thakura as well as "vibhavari sesa" by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and "radhe jaya jaya madhava dayite" by Srila Rupa gosvami. At the end he sang the maha mantra, whilst the devotees sang the refrains throughout. At the end of the tape Srila Maharaja was recorded speaking about some of the bhajans which had just been sung. That evening Srila Maharaja told more demon killing pastimes, including those of Aristasura, Vatsasura and Bakasura. "When Bakasura came and tried to swallow Krsna, Krsna became unbearably hot, and Bakasura was forced to regurgitate Him. Once again the demon attacked Krsna, and Krsna very expertly pinned his lower beak to the ground with His lotus foot, and with His hands ripped the demon's other beak upwards, killing him. Bakasura represents duplicity and hypocrisy. We see now that there are so many bakas, they are uncountable. What is a baka? The embodiment of duplicity and hypocrisy. Those who wear kanthi mala and tilak, but who are very tricky. Outwardly they act like a friend, but inwardly they are an enemy. From the outside they give sweet words, but inside they have a knife. So Krsna recognizes and kills them. So we see that they're falling down quickly, quickly. If one is practicing spiritual life then he should be far away from these bad qualities and behaviour. If one is attached to followers, wealth, women, children also, to criticizing vaisnavas for very petty reasons then they are not vaisnavas, they are offenders. We should make Krsna our centre, seeing our family members as His property. Grhastha asrama is allowed. The gopis were all married. So many of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's associates were also householders. The Pandavas too. We should not be attached, but for Krsna we can do all these things because we cannot be sannyasis yet. At the age of 50, 60 we can renounce our wealth and possessions, and give them to our son and daughter-in-law. Then in vanaprasthi you can continue to live with your wife, and then eventually leave her in the care of your son and daughter-in-law, like Bhaktivinoda Thakura did. We can learn so much in family life. It should be like a ladder, a school, training us how to love Krsna, otherwise it is very bad. Those who've tasted married life in previous lives, who have good impressions will not need to marry. But those who pretend to be brahmacaris, or even sannyasis, and who preach throughout the whole world, but who have so much attraction for wealth and women inside will fall down. They pretended to be renounced for wealth and reputation. They are bakasura. You cannot kill them yourself. Who will kill? Krsna, Baladeva." Srila Maharaja then asked various devotees to tell the story of how Krsna killed Aghasura. Having finished the last class that he would be giving in Malaysia for this tour, Srila Maharaja spoke some parting words to the large group of devotees and guests. "My pranam to all of you who have arranged and who have helped. Don't have so much faith in reading. Everything is within these books, but it is locked. 'I will read them all and become a paramahamsa.' (laughter) No. By this you will not realize anything and you'll fall down. Only a vaisnava can open it for you and then you'll be able to understand something. Krsna will come in the form of words, and He'll clean your whole heart, and then you'll eventually realize everything. If a qualified vaisnava is not present, then you can read, it is ok, but it is better to hear from him. You may have read Srimad Bhagavatam so many times, but what you are hearing now you have not heard in lakhs and lakhs of births. All this I have heard from my guru maharaja and other vaisnavas. This Krsna-katha is so vast, it is like an unlimited ocean. So try to take all of this, what vaisnavas have told, into your hearts." At last our blissful and fruitful stay in Malaysia with Srila Maharaja had come to an end. Eight fortunate devotees received harinama from Srila Maharaja, and seven more received mantra diksa. The programmes in Malaysia were very successful, and none of it would have been possible had Bala singam prabhu and Jag mohini didi not opened up their large house to not only Srila Maharaja but also to all of his travelling party as well. Together they and all of the other local devotees tirelessly managed, shopped, cooked, served, cleaned, transported and hosted devotees in a mammoth offering of service to Srila Maharaja. Thanks to their surrender, Krsna arranged for many guests to come to the well organized and smooth running programmes. Thus Srila Maharaja was inspired to speak many hours of blissful Krsna katha for the benefit and pleasure of all. Gaura Premanande! These reports could not have been produced without the help and guidance of a certain person who wishes to remain nameless. I am very neophyte, I don't know siddhanta, and I am very much subject to come to false conclusions about what I hear or see. Having what I've written edited by this person has certainly helped me realize that. Therefore, I would just like to offer whatever credit is due to him. If you would like to read more material on or by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, then please contact the following websites: http://www.igvp.com http://www.igvp.com/tours http://hgsoft.com/agrahya/ http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/2469 http://www.angelfire.com/ar/goloka/index.html http://www.angelfire.com/va/vaishnavism/news.html Comment on this Story This story URL: http://vaishnava-news-network.org/world/WD9901/WD22-2897.html
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