Part Seven
The Land of Beauty
7:1 “Where every word is a song, every step is a dance, and the flute is the dearmost companion…” (Sri Sri Brahma-samhita)
Every word is a song… but this is not a sound of this plane. This is from some other world, some other world that is so soft, so sweet, so heart-capturing. It is a world where correct behaviour occurs most sweetly and harmoniously. Every word is like a song (katha ganam). Every movement is sweet, like dancing (natyam gamanam api). It has been described in this way. Everything is replete with the highest degree of beauty. This is the land of beauty – there everything is beautiful. Everything has the touch of beauty divine. The prime cause is charming, attracting, and arresting heart and soul, “Stop!” There is a land of such existence. Our aspiration is for such a life (radhika-madhavasam). We can sincerely foster the idea to feel attraction to a life of such a plane where everything is of a musical character.
7:2 This is Vrndavan. Vrndavan is so friendly, so sweet, so near to us, and such a wellwisher of ours. We are quite at home there – sweet, sweet home. Svarupe sabara haya, golokete sthiti: in our innate and innermost existence, we are members of that plane. Now we have come out, and we have scattered our consciousness all over the surface. Cover, cover, cover – there are so many layers and they are all dry things. And the substance, the spirit, is within. Eliminating this body cover, the mental cover, the liberation cover, the Vaikuntha cover – then I may enter into the land of Vraja. Vrndavan resides within me, if I can find my friends everywhere. They are my friends and relatives, and they will give me all-pleasing experience, ecstasy. Mahaprabhu came with this news for us. “Oh, you are a child of that soil; why do you suffer here, my children, my boys? Why do you suffer? Amrtasya-putrah: you are a child of that soil, and you are suffering so much, coming in the desert? You home is so resourceful, so sweet, and you are running in the desert? What is this? Come! Leave this poisonous charm, this suicidal charm. This charm, maya – charm, misunderstanding charm – this is suicidal. Leave this apparent charm! This is poisonous, like a witch. The witch has charmed you here and made you spellbound. Come along with Me! I shall take you to your home which is so very sweet!” In general, this is the call of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu.
7:3 This should be the course of our life, our cherished goal. Srimad- Bhagavatam tells us this. Home, sweet, sweet home. You are a child of that soil. In one word, that is the goal. Why is that the highest goal? Because that is your home. Svarupe sabara haya, golokete sthiti. This one word ’home’ is sufficient to attract you. You are wandering in a foreign land, but here is your home. You’ll get home comfort here, and you won’t be able to deny that. So, back to God, back to home, back to Godhead.
7:4 A man should be judged by his ideal. The greatness of the ideal he is trying to realise is to be marked. The man of the future, the man of tomorrow, should be judged by his ideal. If his ideal is great, he is great, because if he is sincere, tomorrow or very soon he will reach it. So our ideal is the all-important factor. We may not attain our high ideal very easily. It is not inferior ‘merchandise’ to be disposed of cheaply in the market; it is most valuable. But whatever the cost, no matter. We should feel within, “I want no less than that highest thing, that Advaya-jnana, that Autocrat. That Goodness Autocrat, the Supermost Commander of everything. I want Him, and nothing less, and I should live and move, and feel in myself that whatever I shall do, at every second, I am meant for that. I am meant for my ideal. I have no time to waste or to hesitate for anything. “If every moment I move in every way with the ideal in my heart, I shall always make some progress towards it. If I can just stay in touch with my ideal, that will guide and inspire me. In any and every action, whatever I shall do or undo, eat, rest, etc., my ideal will be overhead. And that will gradually take me out of all these entanglements and enticements, and one day or other I shall be able to reach it.”
7:5 Back to Godhead – there is home. Unsettled, we are running hither and thither with no principle of life, so our position is very sad. But this is a troublesome life. To think, ‘I can’t put my faith anywhere,’ means that I can’t find a friend anywhere. I am friendless, moving amongst foreigners or maybe enemies. But I must have a friend or some friendly atmosphere. I must come into such company in which I can put full faith, in which I can believe and trust, otherwise my life will be miserable. If wherever I cast my glance I think, “I can’t trust, I can’t trust, all are enemies” – to live in such an atmosphere is to in a particular prison-house; all uncertainty, all untrustworthiness; that is very deplorable position. So, by God’s grace sraddha should come to us: “I can not only trust and believe, but I cannot but show my regard to a personality of the higher position.” Gurum evabhigacchet.
7:6 The destination has been settled, but how shall I reach it? When shall reach it? Those who come to ma aid to take me there – they are my master, my Gurus: Siksa-guru and Diksa-guru. Whoever helps me to go there is my Guru. He is my guide who will help me to reach my located destination, the station of my innermost hankering (radhaika- madhavasam prapto yasya prathitah krpaya sri-gurum tam nato’smi). He has helped me to locate my destination; he has educated me how and what to aspire after, and how to reach that highest aspired shelter. I have attained all these things through him. He is my all-in-all in life, the master of my life. There is a boat, and he is the helmsman (guru- karnad-haram). I have surrendered unto him, I have accepted him. I have boarded his boat and he is taking me towards the goal of my life.
Epilogue
The Key to it All
This Nabadwip Dham, on the banks of the Ganges, ahs such great value, especially for the realisation of our highest self, as recommended by Sriman Mahaprabhu. It is the land of love, sweetness, charm and beauty – all are synonymous. It is heart –capturing. Our real existence is neither in our knowledge nor our power, but in our heart. Really, our proper identification is with our heart. So, in which direction our heart is moving, that is the all- important factor in our life. It is a heart-transaction.
Mahaprabhu recommended: “Don’t rely on your knowledge, reasoning capacity, or power, but the heart-transaction is all-important in you. The inner factor of your existence is in your heart. So try to guide your heart towards sweetness – towards home. And your real home is not here where we are wandering around with no certainty throughout eight million four hundred thousand species according to our karmma. But only in the human birth, with the help of the Divine Agent, can we go back to our home: to home and affection.”Home is there, where the environment will take care of us, our fortune, and our comfort, independent of our consideration. The affectionate paraphernalia there will help us very affectionately and lovingly. So we should make good use of this opportunity to go back to God, back to home, our sweet, sweet home.
Mahaprabhu recommended the path: “With the help of the Divine Agent and the revealed Scriptures, try to go there yourself. Your present position is uncertain. After death it is not fixed where you will be carried by the current of your previous karmma, therefore try to utilise for the best whatever time is available before your death. You have free-will, therefore those days before your death are to some degree in your hand to use, so that time you must utilise with the utmost care for God-realisation.” There is nothing so important as this for all of us.
The advice in common for us all is: “Give up all your duties and jump into the one duty, to go back home. There everything is full and complete, and everyone will look after your real interest. So you must go there: back to God, back to home.”
The Maha-Mantra and its glories
The Supreme Mantra of the Holy Name of the Supreme Lord –
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
The Glories of the Holy Name –
Harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam Kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
The Holy Name, the Holy Name, the Holy Name alone – in this age of Kali there is no other shelter, no other shelter, no other shelter.
(Brhan-Naradiya-Purana)
kaler dosa-nidhe rajannasti hy eko mahan gunah kirttanad evy krsnasya mukta-bandhah param vrajet
O King, this age of Kali is a reservoir of wrong, yet it has but one glorious quality; in this age, simply by chanting the Glories of Sri Krsna, the soul is freed from the bondage of Maya and attains the shelter of the Lord Himself.
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 12.3.51)