Sri Krishna Kathamrita

Tav k QaaMa*Ta& TaJaqvNaMa(

tava kathmta tapta-jvanam

Bindu

Fortnightly email mini-magazine from Gopal Jiu Publications

Issue No. 342

r a-til Ekda

17 January 2015

Circulation 7,590

Highlights

Whom Should I Select as Guru?

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The Glories of Srila Raghunandan Thakur

The Poet Uddhava Das
Sin on the Strength of Chanting
Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode
The First Attraction Part 8
From Srila Jiva Goswamis Gopla-prva-camp, 15th praa.

Whom Should I Select as Guru?

His Divine Grace A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Guru is one who eradicates the ajna, andhakra
the darkness of ignorance. ajna-timirndhasya
jnjana-alkay In the darkness, if someone brings
a lamp, the jna-rpa, torchlight of knowledge, he is
guru. There may be different degrees, but anyone who
opens the spiritual eyes, he is guru. In stra it is said,
gurur api krykryakam ajnata if I accept someone as
guru, but later on it appears that he does not know what
is to be done and what is to be not to be done, then Srila
Jiva Goswami says that, paritygo vidhyate, such a guru
should be rejected. The degree that one is on doesnt
matter. If the guru teaches Krishna consciousness,
then he may be on a lesser degree, but he is accepted as
guru. There is no question of rejection, because Krishna
is actually jna, or personified knowledge. One who
teaches Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead:
One has to know Krishna, one has to surrender to
Krishna, this kind of teaching is required.
If the guru says, I am Krishna. Everyone is
Krishna. The poor man is Krishna. The poor man
is Narayan. then he is not a guru. He is misguiding.
Avaiavo gurur na syt. This is the stric injunction.
Generally, a qualified brhmaa becomes guru. That
is natural. Brhmaas are the head of the society.
Without becoming a brhmaa no one can become
guru. That is a fact. Because brhmaa means brahma
jntti brhmaa one who knows Brahman is a
next column

His Divine Grace

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

brhmaa. This means a qualified brhmaa, not just

a born brhmaa, so-called brhmaa. A brhmaa
must be qualified. stra says a-karma-nipuo vipra,
even if a brhmaa is expert in executing the six kinds
of business, and mantra-tantra-virada, and very
well known in the Vedic mantras and hymns and
everything, but if he is not a vaiava, he does not know
viu-tattva, or ka-tattva, then he cannot become
a spiritual master. avaiavo gurur na syd vaiava
va-paco guru However, if one is a vaiava, who
knows viu-tattva and ka-tattva, even if he is born
in a family of va-paca, dog-eaters, cala, he can be
accepted as guru. The real test is whether the guru is
a vaiava, whether he know the science of Krishna.
That is also confirmed by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:

Issue Three Hundred Forty Two, Page 2

[q k* Z<ak QaaMa*Ta ibNdu

Top right 2
iu kahe bpu una
sakali khile puna
avaea kichui n rkhi

top left 2
kib vipra, kib nys, dra kene naya
yei ka-tattva-vett sei guru haya

Whether one is a brhmaa a sannys or a

dra regardless of what he is he can become
a spiritual master if he knows the science of
Krishna. [Cc. madhya 8.128]
It doesnt matter whether he is a sannys or a
ghastha or born in brhmaa family. yei ka-tattvavett Anyone who knows Krishna, he can be a
guru, not others. That is the statement of the stras.
Someone who is not a vaiava cannot become guru.
From a lecture in Ahmedabad, 13 December 1972.

The Glories of
Srila Raghunandan Thakur

When Mukunda Das returned he told the boy to bring

him some prasdam remnants. The child said, Oh father,
Gopinath ate everything and didnt leave any remnants.
uni aparpa hena
vismita hdaye puna
ra dina blake kahiy
sev-anumati diy
bira bhira haiy
puna siy rahe lukiy

Hearing this uncommon news, Mukundas heart

became astonished. The next day, in the name of his
work, Mukunda again instructed Raghunandan to
serve Gopinath. Mukunda then left the house, but
came back again and hid himself.
r raghunandana ati
haiy haraita mati
gopnthe lu diy kare
kho kho baleghana
arddhaika khite hena
samaye mukunda dekhi dvre

r Raghunandana Mahim
By Sri Uddhava Das
Uddhava Das is a well known Gauya poet. He was born
in the village of Tenga Vaidyapur in the Mursidabad district
of West Bengal. His birth name was Krishnakanta Majumdar,
and he was a disciple of Radhamohan Thakur, one of the
great-grandsons of Srinivas Acharya.
prakaa r khaa vsa
nma r mukunda dsa
ghare sev gopntha jni
gel kona kryntare
sev karibra tare

r raghunandane ki ni

In Srikhanda lived the devotee Sri Mukunda Das. In his

home they served the deity Gopinath. One day Mukunda
had to go elsewhere for his work, so he asked his son Sri
Raghunandan to perform the deity service.
ghare che ka sev
yatna kari khoyib
eta bali mukunda calil
pitra dea py
sevra smagr laiy
gopnthera sammukhe il

Krishna is served in this home. Feed him

carefully. Saying this, Mukunda set off. Receiving
this order from his father, Raghunandan came before
Gopinath with various items of service.
r radhunandana ati
bayakrama iumati
kho bale kdite kdite
ka se premera rase
n rkhiy avaee
sakala khilya alakite

At that time, from the doorway, Mukunda saw

Raghunandan with great delight offering a lu in
his hand to Gopinath. Eat! Eat! the boy said, and
Gopinath ate half of the lu.
ye khila rahe tena
ra n khila puna
dekhiy mukunda preme bhora
nandana kariy kole
gadagada svare bale
nayane barikhe ghana lora

[Suddenly,] Gopinath stopped eating and wouldnt

take any more. Seeing this, Mukunda became
overwhelmed with ecstatic love. He took his son on his
lap, and while crying spoke to him in a choked voice.
adypi r khaa pure
arddha lu nche kare
dekha yata bhgyavanta jane
abhira madana yei
r raghunananda sei
r uddhava dsa rasabhane

Even today in Srikhanda, those who are greatly

fortunate can still see that half-eaten laddu in
Gopinaths lotus hand. Thus Sri Uddhava Das sings
the glories of Raghunandan, who is non-different
from Madan (Cupid).
Translated from Kishori Das Babajis r Gaurga Prada Vargera
Scaka Krtana. Vaishnava Research Institute. Halisahar, West
Bengal. 2005. Bengali. Page 47.

Sin on the Strength of Chanting

Sri Raghunandan was only a child. He said, Eat!

Eat! and started crying. With great love, Krishna
then secretly ate everything leaving no remnants.
siy mukunda dsa
kahe blakera pa
prasda naivedya na dekhi

Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode

The pseudo-vaiavas say that One name of Krishna
takes away more sins than a sinner can commit
during a lifetime. Therefore if the holy name is with
us, where is the fear of committing sin? We chant

Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu

Issue Three Hundred Forty Two, Page 3

top right 3

Photo by Thakur Saranga Das

Top left 3

The deity of Gopinath worshiped by Raghunandan in Sri Khanda

the holy name and we perform sinful activities. At

first there will be gain and loss, but eventually there
will be no trace of sin. Such persons who think like
this and who, after taking shelter of the holy name,
willingly commit new sinful activities, are known as
hypocrites or offenders to the holy name.
There are some stories illustrating this offensive
attitude. Once a householder gave up committing
violence to others and took shelter of the holy names.
Later, because of some bad association, he developed
a desire to eat fish and meat. Then, for satisfying
his inclination, he firmly resolved that, Today I
will chant another ten thousand holy names to free
myself of the sin of eating fish. One who thinks like
this and chants the holy name after taking fish is
an offender to the holy name. Another story: One
renounced vaiava once saw a beautiful young lady
and developed the following desire, Since I always

chant the holy name, if I

give harinma initiation to
this girl and accept some
service from her, then all
the sins that may be there
will surely be destroyed by
our chanting. Moreover,
she will become a vaiav
and association with the
vaiavas is very rare. Besides
that, by associating with her
I will learn many things
about gop-bhva. Where
can one achieve such rare
association? Thinking thus,
he made that lady a vaiav
and started accepting
service from a vaiava. Thus
his nmpardha reached its
peak. Considering these two
examples, ghastha-vaiavas
and renunciates should
carefully avoid offenses to
the holy name.
From Bhaktivinode Thakurs article
Nma-bale-ppa-pravtti, a tendency
to commit sin on the strength of the
holy name, translated by Brijbasi
Das from rla Bhaktivinoda hkurera
Prabandhval, Sri Chaitanya Math,
Mayapur, 2004.

The First Attraction Part 8

From Srila Jiva Goswamis
Gopla-prva-campu, 15th praa

Paurnamasi continues explaining to Vrinda how the

gops are the wives of Krishna in the eternal spiritual world,
and how this is something which the authors of various
authoritative scriptures agree upon. While narrating the
Bhgavatam, Sri Sukadev Goswami described this truth
in such a way that even those completely unaware of the
real glories of the Lords relationships in the spiritual world
would be able to understand it. Sri Sukadev Goswami simply
said that since the Lord is the husband of everyone (because
of being the Supersoul), he is also the husband of the gops.
In this way he makes everyone understand the truth, which
would otherwise be very difficult to digest.
Paurnamasi (continues):
gopn tat-patn ca sarvem eva dehinm
yo nta carati so dhyaka kraneneha deha-bhk

Issue
Three Hundred Forty Two, Page 4
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He who lives as the overseeing witness within

the gops and their husbands, and indeed within all
embodied living beings, assumes forms in this world
to enjoy transcendental pastimes. (Bhg. 10.33.35)

The antaraga-bhaktas, internal devotees, know

well that the gops in this material world are of two
types, married and unmarried. The gops [who appear
in this world and are unmarried here] are nitya-siddha,
eternally liberated. They are all-auspicious and are
actually the eternal wives of Krishna. The gops [who
are married to other cowherds] and who are filled
with other moods such as the young maidens, adult
ladies, and elderly women as well as their husbands
and their children for such souls, too, Krishna is
the Lord. What more can be said? For all the vrajavss, whose life and soul is Krishna and who have a
spiritual body suitable for performing pastimes with
the Lord, Krishna becomes attracted to such bodies
and, remaining invisible (anta) to the external world,
he performs eternal pastimes (krdana) with those
devotees. That same Krishna sometimes makes such
pastimes visible to the material world.
[Translators Note: These pastimes are eternal
and Krishna is the husband of these gops. However,
the gops who already have another husband in
the spiritual world do not possess such feelings of
conjugal affection for Krishna. They have other

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Top right 4

[q k* Z<ak QaaMa*Ta ibNd

appropriate feelings and Krishna reciprocates with

each of them according to their particular mood.]
Paurnamasi (continues): Therefore, since he has
an eternal conjugal relationship with the gops, it is
not fitting to call their relationship in the spiritual
world a paramour relationship. The appropriate
thing is to describe their relationship as being the
same as the married relationship between Lakshmi
and Narayan in Vaikuntha. This eternal married
relationship is described beautifully in rmad
Bhgavatam 10.90.48 (jayati jana-nivso All glories
to the Lord of all the living entities.) The final line of
this verse says, vraja-pura-vanitn vardhayan kmadevam His blissful face always increases the lusty
desires of the pura-vanita, the queens of Dwaraka.
Vraja-pura-vanita certainly also includes the gops.
Also, Uddhava says in the rmad Bhgavatam
(10.47.58) et para tanu-bhto bhuvi gopa-vadhvo
Among all those who are embodied, these gops
are topmost on the planet. Thus, he implies that
such a destination attained by the gops is also desired
by those who are mumuks, desirous of liberation,
those who are muktas, already liberated, and devotees
like himself. How elevated are these gops who roam
around in Vraja, and how can they be compared to
the degraded living entities who have developed a
perverted reflection of such pure love?
Having said like this, Uddhava noticed that such
feelings [of the greatness of the gops] have also
arisen in the Lord. Thus, he says (Bhg. 10.47.60),
nya riyo ga This favor [of being embraced
by Lord Krishnas arms] was never bestowed even
upon Lakshmi.
In this way, he shows the superiority of the gopwives over Lakshmi-devi.
Vrinda (her delighted mood now restored): Why, then,
did they not feel happy about their marriages (to other
men)? And moreover, why did you not make them feel
happy about it? Certainly nothing is impossible for you.
[To be continued.]
Translated by Hari Parshad Das from the Gopla-prvacamp. Published by Sri Nityasvarup Brahmachari. 1912 AD.