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Morning.

HH Lokanath Swami:

There are still three chapters awaiting us. Let’s see if we can reach them in the remaining two days.

The gopis are not experiencing any fear of the dark, dense forest. The only thing on their minds is Krsna. So, the Lord has again disappeared. He arranges like this to reveal the gopis’ incredible devotion for Him. The gopis were lamenting, and now Radharani is joining them.

Srimati Radharani cries out, "O master! My lover! O dearmost, where are You? Where are You? Please, O mighty-armed one, O friend, show Yourself to Me, Your servant!"

We do not have these sentiments for the Lord in our heart, but at least let us repeat these divine words of the great Srimati Radharani. The gopis’ goal is Krsna, and by hearing and chanting these words, we too can develop the desire to have the same goal— Krsna. Right now, we desire maya, not Krsna. We are greedy for cheap metal, not gold. We can get this gold if we want, but instead, we are satisfying ourselves with metal.

So at least we should do some lip service to these verses and in this way hope the same desires as the gopis will enter into our hearts. These words of Srimati Radharani are surcharged with spiritual power. They are coming out from the deepest core of Her heart. The Lord can see the essence of our words. He can see where our words are coming from. He is very intelligent, clever. We cannot cheat Him. Her words are emanating from every pore of Her body. Her whole body is speaking. All the bodily parts are crying out for the Lord.

When the gopis came across Srimati Radharani they could see that She was in a worse condition than they. Together, they went to the banks of the Yamuna. They were not tired and thinking to go home. Their minds, bodies, and words were fixed on just seeing Krsna again. They had no thoughts of anything else, absolutely no remembrance of anything else, neither family or children— nothing outside of Krsna. They sat on the bank of the Yamuna and prayed, waiting and hoping that He would return to them.

While there, they sang the Gopi Gita. This beautiful song they sang remembering Krsna. This is a very powerful song. Even if we do not understand it, it will still have effect on us. If a fire comes near us we cannot help but feel its heat. This cannot be avoided. If we enter into the fire, we will be burnt. So, even if we just hear these verses, we will be touched by them, what to speak if we try and understand each word and verse.

"Oh Dear, sweet Krsna, we have been searching everywhere for You. Please come to us."

When Maharaja Prataparudra was giving Lord Caitanya a foot massage in a garden, after the Ratha Yatra, the King sang a verse from the Gopi Gita and when the Lord heard it, His ecstasy increased.

SB 10-31-9 "The nectar of Your words and the description of Your activities are the life and soul of those suffering in this material world. These narrations, transmitted by the learned sages, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow good fortune upon whoever hears them. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are the most munificent."

There is no better process for relieving the burning of this material life than to immerse ourselves in these wonderful pastimes. By hearing, our sinful reactions are destroyed and there is all auspiciousness. When Lord Caitanya heard, "Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are the most munificent," He stood up from His prone position and looking at Maharaja Prataparudra, He said, "You are bhuri-da janah— the most munificent person— for sharing this with Me." He embraced the King, a very close embrace. The King had been trying for such a long time to get the mercy of Lord Caitanya, and now by the grace of this Gopi Gita, he received it.

Srila Prabhupada gave this Krsna Katha to the whole world. He lived and breathed Bhagavata Katha: morning walks, conversations, lectures, letters, talks, at night translating. How big a bhuri-da janah must be Srila Prabhupada. How dear he must be to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Krsna.

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Evening.

HH Lokanath Swami:

We can see the Lord by hearing these stories. Hearing is the beginning of devotional service, and it leads to darshan of the Lord. This is His mercy: that He has given us these stories to hear. We should not hear Bhagavat Katha for just seven days but all the time. "Nityam Bhagavata sevaya." Not just one week a year but every day of the year.

Gargamuni went to Gokul. He is expert in the Jyoti Sastra. He knows past, present, and future.

SB 10-8-18 "Demons cannot harm the demigods, who always have Lord Visnu on their side. Similarly, any person or group attached to Krsna is extremely fortunate. Because such persons are very much affectionate towards Krsna, they cannot be defeated by demons like the associates of Kamsa."

If we say with love, "Please, Lord, wake up my dormant love for You," that love will surely be awakened in due course of time. Those individuals, families, societies, nations that love Krsna will be protected from all kinds of demons like lust, greed, and anger. Krsna always stays on the side of His devotees, protecting them.

Why was victory certain for the Pandavas? Because Krsna was on their side. When Janardana is there, victory is there without doubt. Without looking, you can know the outcome of the battle. The biggest victory will be to defeat that demon of death. By remembering Krsna at the last moment, we will defeat this cycle of birth and death and return home. Just by hearing this katha. "Ante Narayana smriti." This hearing will lead to remembrance. All we have to do is sit quietly and listen. We should not just listen to the rasa lila or just the lila of the 10th Canto. No, we should hear all of the pastimes of the Lord in His various incarnations.

Every demon has a certain kind of anartha within. For example, Putana was a deceiver. So when we hear of their being killed, that bad quality within us will also be diminished. Our acaryas have told us which of the demons represents which anartha. So, we should not try to just hear Madhurya lila. The qualifications for properly appreciating Madhurya lila will come when we have carefully heard all the previous pastimes also.

Gargamuni said, "Your son has all the qualities of Narayana." We understand that what is being said, is that Krsna has all the qualities of Narayana and more. Krsna has all of Narayana’s qualities but four more also. He has the sweetest pastimes, the sweetest form, the sweetest love for His devotees and the sweetest flute playing. "You should look after Him very carefully, just as you would a valuable jewel."

Now, Krsna is old enough to leave home and He has learnt to steal butter. Complaints were coming to Mother Yasoda, continually. One time, the gopis had an istaghosti to discuss how to catch this Krsna in the act of stealing their butter. They decided to place bells over the pots and when He would try and steal the butter they would hear Him, and so catch Him.

So, Krsna went on with business as usual. But He noticed that all the doors to the houses of the gopis were open. Usually they were locked. Krsna could smell something was going on. He entered a house very carefully, and climbing on the shoulders of a friend, He saw the bell hanging over the pot and knew it was a trap. Krsna told the bell not to ring. So the Lord took the butter and started to distribute the butter to His friends. When He was about to eat the butter, the bell sounded. "What about our deal?" said Krsna.

The bell said, "Offerings to You cannot be made without the ringing of a bell."

One day, Mother Yasoda gave her maidservants other services and decided to herself churn the butter. She was thinking, "My son is going to steal butter from the houses of others, so, today I will make the best-quality butter so that He will not go elsewhere." Mother Yasoda made every effort to make a perfect offering to her son.

As she worked, she sang the pastimes of her son, and the effort of the work made her whole body shake. The acaryas have revealed that her breasts were shivering because the [reserves of] milk inside were aware that Yasoda was churning milk to make butter for Krsna. "For sure He will fill His stomach on His mother’s butter. He will not want to drink us." The breast milk was thinking like that.

The malati flowers that decorated Mother Yasoda’s hair fell from her head as she labored. The petals were thinking, "We should not be on the head of the Queen of Nanda but rather at her feet."

Krsna awoke and went looking for His mother, and when His mother saw Him she continued working. Krsna wanted her breast milk. The Supreme Lord who is atmarama, completely self satisfied, needed the breast milk of Yasoda Mataji. Feeling ignored, Krsna reached over and stopped the rod from churning. Yasoda was happy to see this because it showed that first, Krsna was growing strong and healthy, and second, that He was intelligent enough to know that by stopping the rod, He would be stopping her from working. She was feeling that He was developing well.

Yasoda embraced Krsna and gave Him her breast milk. As she fed Him, she looked down at His beautiful face with great love and affection. The Lord is drinking milk and looking at His mother, and the mother is looking at her son as He is drinking. Both are deriving great pleasure from just looking at each other.

Seeing the milk boiling over in the kitchen, Yasoda put her son to one side and rushed to save it. This milk in the kitchen pot was thinking, "Krsna is going to be satisfied by drinking Yasoda’s milk, He will not drink us. Let us jump in the fire! What’s the point in living?" Even the milk is a devotee of Krsna in Gokul.

Krsna, losing the attention of His mother, got angry. Biting His reddish lips, with false tears in His eyes, He took a stone and broke the pot and ran off. Mother Yasoda returned, saw the mess, and concluded that Krsna had been up to mischief. She went looking for Him with a stick in her hand. Mother Yasoda found Him distributing the yogurt to the monkeys. He was looking around as He did so, in great anxiety. When Krsna saw His mother He started running. That Lord who cannot be approached by the greatest yogi was caught by the love of Mother Yasoda.

Seeing the fear in her son’s eyes, Mother Yasoda put down Her stick and decided to tie Him to the grinding mortar. This mortar had assisted Krsna many times in His stealing. The Lord would use the mortar to stand on and reach the pots of butter. Therefore, Mother Yasoda thought it appropriate that the mortar be punished also by being tied together with Krsna.

This pastime shows how the Lord of all creation, can come under the control of His pure devotees.

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Your servant,
Ekanath dasa

© CHAKRA 22 January 2002