Суд над Бхагавад-гитой / Attempt to ban Bhagavad-gita

according to their genuine internal spiritual needs. It is not
altogether surprising nor blameful that an astute disciple, upon
ascertaining a drought of siddhantically viable confidential
guidance at the feet of guru, might opt to go hither and thither in
search for someone who might ably fill the bill. One could hardly
expect to acquire the requisite knowledge of the moods of
Krishna’s nitya-parikara and their anugata-seva just like that,
without receiving proper direction. At which stage in one’s
devotional progress does esoteric instruction concerning the
culture of one’s internal spiritual identity become relevant? The
dictum most sanctimoniously bandied about, “First deserve –
then desire,” should be rightly understood. One deserves to
desire simply when one’s desire is big enough. One’s desire is
big enough when there is no room in one’s heart for any other
desire. Ultimately, the bottom line is this: Dire necessity knows
no law.

Some devotees, though not understanding the intricacies
of their own spiritual identities, may for all intents be esteemed
as elevated uttama-adhikaris, given that they have somehow
cent per cent surrendered body, mind, and words to the service
of the Lord and His Holy Name with undivided faith, realizing
Hari (nami) and Hari-nama to be identical. That is the opinion of
Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as evidenced in Jagadananda
Pandita’s Prema-vivarta. Still, it would not be unreasonable to
infer that these individuals, far from being fully self-realized,
really need to make considerable progress to be all they can
potentially be as representative Gaudiya Vaishnava spiritual
masters in disciplic succession. To be sure, the internal bhava
and pure devotional outlook of a kevala-madhurya-premika-
bhakta (vraja-vasi) would no doubt have to be conscientiously
and meticulously cultivated here and now in this current
lifespan if one were to expect to achieve the highest perfection
this time around. Otherwise, one could hardly expect to fully
transcend all substandard notions (material or spiritual) about
oneself before quitting the present physical body. It’s not good
enough to remain a fallible neophyte with an ambiguous sense
of belonging to the spiritual realm. Everything will be tested at
the time of death, the outcome determined by one’s previously


cultured bhava. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam, tyajaty ante
kalevaram. It is not such a cheap or haphazard affair that “Oh
well, anyway, somehow or other. What me worry.” No! Not that
we apathetically await a windfall of mercy while mulishly
ignoring the purposeful, scientific pursuit of the Gaudiya-
sampradaya’s highest ideal.

It is a fact that the vast majority of those claiming to have
been initiated by a bona fide guru in proper disciplic succession
in terms of either bhagavata-vidhi or pancaratrika-vidhi will not
upon the end of the present lifetime be fortunate enough to
attain the Lord’s manifest vraja-lilas. If we want to be included
among the small percentage that actually succeeds, we will
have to seriously focus and intensify our bhajana. Kripa-siddhi is
very rare – an extremely atypical improbability. Though we in
all our inadequacies hope and pray for such divine dispensation,
we cannot sophistically force the exception to become our rule.
That is not in our hands. The standard success formula, which
largely stresses our willful application of appropriate devotional
practices, should not be artfully ignored. We must scrupulously
deepen and deepen our inner quest. Jivasya tattva-jijnasu. There
should be no other purpose behind any of our life’s activities.
Nartho yas ceha karmabhih. That is deservingness. Do not heed
the die-hard religio-institutional dogmatists. It’s not enough that
children pretend to be adults ad nauseum. A tad of spiritual
common sense may have to be mustered to grasp this point.

Revelation is gained through priti-bhajana.
Vrajendranandana Krishna from within supplies the required
intelligence to one lovingly engaged in devotional service (raga-
bhakti), not to one fearfully engaged merely on the basis of
shastra-vidhi (rudimentary scriptural rules). Priti-bhajana
undoubtedly connotes the ragatmika-bhakti of either the
‘mukhya’-vraja-janas or the sadhana-siddhas and kripa-siddhas
who have been elevated from conditional existence to the status
of eternal Vrajavasi associates of the Lord. The foremost feature
of this priti-bhajana principle is found in the young vraja-gopis’
mode of spontaneous loving service. Ramya kacid upasana
vraja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita. There is no higher expression of
priti to be seen anywhere else. Dumping family ties, household


duties, reputation, feminine bashfulness, as well as all moral
considerations, they run in the dead of night with resolute
enthusiasm to satisfy the senses of Krishna. Lord Krishna
reciprocally unfolds His innermost heartfelt feelings in
proportion to the intensity and depth of His devotee’s loving
sentiments. The young damsels of Vraja, distinct from devotees
in vatsalya-, sakhya-, and dasya-rasas, are ever infatuated and
enthralled to intimately engage with Him day and night (satata-
yuktanam) in keeping with the asta-kaliya-nitya-lila format. It is
of little wonder that Krishna would feel naturally inclined to
reveal to them His highest penchant for the pleasures of
paramour love (parakiya-rasa), awarding them the intelligence
(dadami buddhi-yogam tam) by which they may overcome all
obstacles (so-called husbands, in-laws, superiors) in their
endeavors to unite with Him as their upapati (yena mam
upayanti te).

However, the parakiya disposition of one belonging to
another catalytically diffuses its influence from different angles
all over the land of Vraja to augment both in the Lord and in His
devotees an apprehension of mutual unattainability in various
ways. This effectively intensifies the nuances of love in all the
primary rasas. It is certainly a fact that when applied to the
delusive sense of Krishna’s belonging to another (as the son of
Vasudeva and Devaki, as the scion of the Yadu dynasty, or as a
denizen of any realm other than the land of Vraja), the parakiya
notion hurls His parents, friends, and servants into a deluge of
acute loving desperation. Here, resultantly, the devotee’s mind
and heart are seen to run mad after Krishna in a way
undreamed of in any other quarter of the spiritual world. The
dread of separation from Krishna increases His value in the eyes
of His devotee.

With regard to the madhurya-rasa, however, the parakiya-
tattva finds its ascendancy not in the supposition that Krishna
belongs to any other (as aforementioned), but rather in the
fancy that the young newly wed gopi girls themselves belong to
others – their lawful “so-called” cowherd husbands – and that
Krishna must assume the wife-thief-like upapati-bhava in His
efforts to woo their hearts. The superexcellent speciality of this


parakiya angle of influence is that it augments the succulence of
rasa not so much by intensifying the devotee’s desperation to
serve the lotus feet of Krishna, but by amazingly amplifying
Krishna’s desperation to serve the feet of His devotee. Out of
extreme anxiety to meet the nearly unobtainable,
Shyamasundara forgets Himself, babbles incoherent nonsense,
and wanders aimlessly around in circles like a madman. His
disquietude over being separated from His gopi beloveds
increases their worth in His eyes, making His mind and heart
run after them, with special deference to the supremely luscious
lotus feet of Shri Radhika.

It may be additionally noted in this connection that there
are two brilliantly illuminating developmental features of gopi-
prema described in the shastras: ghrita-sneha, love like ghee,
which is not sweet in of itself; and madhu-sneha, loving affection
like honey, which is always permeated with the sweetest
deliciousness. Although married to another (Govardhana Malla),
a situation which augments the parakiya-bhava in that sense,
Shri Candravali, the right-wing-gopi embodiment of ghrita-sneha,
characteristically traverses the inner path of thinking, “I belong
to Him.” As Krishna congruously reciprocates His devotee’s
bhava, it is seen that He sometimes in the course of His all-
accommodating frolics condescends to nourish Candravali’s
affectionate feelings, but He’s still His own man. Yet Shri
Radhika, the left-wing-gopi embodiment of madhu-sneha, exerts
an entirely different parakiya influence over Lord Krishna on the
basis of Her thinking, “He belongs to me!” As Krishna responds
to Radha’s feelings, He finds that He is no longer His own man.
No longer is He independent. Rather, He, the supreme beloved,
becomes the henpecked lover of She who now dominantly
disports the dignity of being supremely loved by Him. She
becomes His beloved. He madly runs to give Himself to Her, and
She, from time to time, condescends to allow Him to become
Her devoted servant, making Him dance like a puppy dog in Her
hands. She becomes the prepossessing possessor of Him who is
ever-increasingly possessed by Her totally enticing, honey-like,
transcendentally preponderant ever-new supra-mundane
feelings of absolute possessiveness. Thus, in Her absence, Shri


Krishna, transcendentally engulfed in His own amorous
delusions, finds Himself dancing behind a most skillful dancing-
master, Shri Radhika’s roving image, appearing before His
lovesick gaze in every Vrindavana tree and creeper in every
direction.

Parakiya-tattva similarly goes on to manifest another
charming permutation. Radha’s maidservants, like Radha, also
cherish not the humor of belonging to Krishna. They are
radhika-snehadhika sakhis who, though married to other
cowherd boys, treasure the status of belonging to Radhika.
Upon seeing a manjari’s sincere and unwavering devotion to
Shri Radha's lotus feet, a devotion filled with boundless love
greater even than the love He Himself feels for His own
devotees, charming Krishna will embrace her, take the betel
nuts from His own mouth and place them in hers, and place His
own forest garland upon her. Why? She is not His. She belongs
to another (parakiya). She is Hers. Having taken shelter of the
indomitable fortress of Radha’s lotus feet, she has conquered
Him outright. As seen in Shri Sanat-kumara Samhita, Lord
Krishna instructs Sada-shiva, “A person who once surrenders to
Her [Radha], saying, ‘I am Yours,’ attains Me also – without
doing any extraneous sadhana. Of this there is no doubt.
Therefore, O Shiva, one who desires to conquer Me should
surrender wholeheartedly to Her. In this way, one becomes
extremely dear to me.” In Ujjvala N…lamai, Mai-manjari says
to the young, inexperienced Catur, “Catur, let me teach you
what I have learned from my own experience. If you make
friends with Radharai, then within that friendship is
automatically included ecstatic love for Hari.” Again, Krishna
says in the adi Purana, “One who claims to be My devotee is not
My devotee. But one who claims to be the devotee of My
devotee is actually My devotee.” Elsewhere, in the Padma
Purana, Lord Krishna intimates to Narada, “Therefore, if you
want to impress Me, then become wholly devoted to Radha.”

Krishna has personally given Himself to Radha, and as
might be expected, He very much appreciates and identifies
with those elevated individuals who fortunately follow suit.
Indeed, He becomes madly enamored of the manjaris’ sakhi-


snehadhika-based unstinted bodily beauty, a sublimely scented
beauty far surpassing that of the sakhis possessed of other
bhavas. Hence, birds of a feather are seen to flock together.
Since the manjaris are so intimately intertwined with Radhika
and Krishna’s heart is ever given to Radhika, the proximity of
Krishna and Radha’s kinkaris is not so astonishing. Pure
devotees have no desire for mukti. They desire only shuddha-
bhakti. Yet mukti is automatically achieved by them without
their directly endeavoring for it. In the same way, though having
not even the slightest desire to directly associate with the
rascally Krishna, having no desire other than to serve Radha’s
lotus feet, Radha’s maidservants naturally gain optimum access
to the loftiest communion with Radharai’s Krishna,
unimaginable to Radha’s other categories of sakhis and
Krishna’s various other yutheshvari mistresses. If tenderhearted
Shrimati Radharani affectionately shows Her kinkari to Her
Krishna, who walks the path of debauchery, ordering her to
play the role of a transcendental love thief, please hear how that
maidservant will faithfully serve Her. With smiling sidelong
glances, and with the hairs of her body standing up with joy, she
will tightly embrace Him. In this way, she will taste the nectar of
Radhika’s carana-seva. Even though Krishna tells the manjari,
“The queen of My life is very merciful to you,” and even though
He again and again kisses her, embraces her, and maddens her
with the nectar of amorous pleasures, and even though He
creates in her a wonderful wealth of sweetest love, the manjari’s
thoughts nevertheless remain ever absorbed in the nectar
pastimes of Shri Radhika’s lotus feet. When the manjaris’ necks
are embraced by the magnificent arms of Radha’s lover in the
sweet and wonderful rasa-dance festival, splendid with tinkling
bracelets, anklets, and other ornaments, they will always fix
their gaze on the footprints of their queen, having no motive
other than to please Her. Seeing the manjari’s unrivaled love for
Radhika, a love that has outclassed even His own, and seeing
the manjari’s purest motive to intently serve to fulfill Her
purposes, enthusiastic Krishna inundates her with His own
amplified love-bliss, unknown even to His own devotees. Even
so, the manjari’s resolve to sympathetically savor Radhika’s

sweetest ecstasies, which exceed Krishna’s ananda ten million
fold, keeps her always fixed and victorious.

This same parakiya permutation, however, has another
important function. There are many times (perhaps more often
than not) when a manjari must thoroughly resist Krishna’s
advances in order to safeguard her integrity as Radha’s
confidential kinkari. The parakiya sense of belonging to Radha
rather than to Krishna fortunately affords her the necessary
footing and firmness to successfully accomplish the task. This
bears special significance particularly for the sadhana-siddha
manjaris, who are vibhinnamsha-jivatmas possessed of limited
potency. They are anu, very insignificant, whereas Krishna is
vibhu, unlimitedly great and omnipotent. On her own, the
sadhana-siddha manjari could hardly hope to withstand the
onslaught of Krishna’s unlimited attractiveness, sweetness,
beauty, and handsomeness. How could she resist Him? Can a
particle of iron escape the force field of a great magnet? Highly
unlikely. Yet, if there is the influence of a greater magnetism, if
the sadhana-siddha manjari is constantly bound by the force of
greater attraction, greater sweetness, and greater beauty, she
can easily deflect His absolute unlimited wantonness. That is
Shri Radhika. Without Her shelter, who could stand a chance?
Radhika, the supreme svarupa-shakti counterpart of Shri
Krishna, is also vibhu. She too is unlimited, as are Her many
kaya-vyuha confidants. As such, Radhika, on the basis of Her
transcendental preponderance, can effectively ward off the
rapacious cupidity of Her lover, when She deems it necessary to
play hard-to-get. So too, under the auspices of Radha, can Her
privileged vibhinnamsha kinkari, through her bond of affection
to Radha reinforced by her sakhi-guru’s potent directives which
totally accord with Radha’s wishes. On the strength of Radha’s
prevailing influence and her rigid disinclination to breach
Radha’s trust, the manjari boasts the requisite authority and
prerogative to say “no” to Krishna. Resisting, she may address
Krishna in the following words: “Hey, you lampata! Control Your
senses! Forget it! I’m not Yours for the taking. I belong to
Svamini! I’m just Her insignificant messenger. Merciless boy, be
kind to me. Let go of the edge of my sari. Look! The sun is


setting. I have to go to evening arati now. It is not Your fault that
You cannot understand my dear friend's message and You slight
Her valuable gift. You are just too unintelligent to understand.
Krishna, why do You raise the fearsome cupid's bows of Your
eyebrows in that way? O Krishna, O moon of Vraja, if You
neglect my friend and instead try to make advances upon me, I
shall give up my life on the spot!” In this way, the jiva, though
very insignificant, also facilely acquires the power to
purposefully play hard-to-get.

At this juncture, the parakiya influence displays another
noteworthy facet. Unattainability on the basis of Radha’s
dominion appreciably places the sadhana-siddha manjari in a
much fairer light. Due to the inaccessibility of Radha’s
maidservant, which generates an increased fascination within
Krishna’s heart, the value of the infinitesimal becomes greatly
magnified. Something easily obtained can be easily taken for
granted or abandoned. Something rarely gained even after
considerable struggle becomes highly treasured. Krishna can
easily overlook, disregard, or cast aside the minute jiva. What is
the appeal of an insignificant spark compared with that of an
unlimited fire? Radha and Krishna are said to be like a single
ghee lamp with two immaculate, brightly blazing, infinite love-
flames. They are ontologically one soul, yet, inconceivably, They
morphologically manifest as two, differentiated, synergistically
infatuating and infatuated, limitlessly lovable supreme
personalities. In the contest of Their infinitely sublime love-
infatuations, neither admits defeat. Their absolute love-play is
perfect and complete. Yet we see that They, in the course of
Their lilas, from time to time make Themselves scarce, so as to
augment each other’s worth before one another. Sometimes
Krishna disappears to increase the gopis’ love for Himself, or at
other times, when, for instance, She finds that Krishna has
started the rasa-lila before Her arrival to the rasa-mandala,
Radhika, unseen by anyone, indignantly goes into hiding across
the Yamuna to mope a Mana-sarovara lake of tears. No one likes
to be taken cheaply. Everyone likes to be appreciated. Why?
Because the same psychology is originally there in the Absolute.
If the infinite counterpart aspects of the Absolute see the need


to actively expand each other’s estimation of one another’s
worth, then how much more of such necessity exists for the
relatively inconsequential vibhinnamsha-jivas in their approach
to the Lord’s reciprocal relationship. The plight of the jiva is
such that her finitude hardly adds up to very much in face of
the unlimited fancy of the Absolute. Oversimplifying the matter,
some would suggest that the unlimitedness of Krishna’s heart
can certainly accommodate and magnify even the smallest-of-
the-smallest spark of prema. Although that is not incorrect, still,
it may be objectively observed that when the jiva spark
becomes especially splendorous by dancing in proximity to Shri
Radhika’s unlimitedly dazzling love-flame, Krishna’s
appreciation of the jiva becomes extraordinarily enriched and
distinctly sustainable. Do not bother yourself to become too
much infatuated with Krishna. Rather, act in such a way that
Lord Krishna may become ever more infatuated with you.

In the realm of Vraja, parakiya-tattva glistens with yet
another powerful radiance. Manjari-tattva, though commonly
understood to be constituted of a singular mind-set, is in fact
quite bejeweled with diversity. Just as there are left-wing
(vama) and right-wing (daksina) yutheshvari-gopis and sakhis
with many varieties of devotional dispositions, so also there are
many varieties of left- and right-wing manjaris. Rati Manjari is
daksina-mridvi by nature, right wing and very soft and sweet. As
evidenced in Srila Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami’s Vilapa-
kusumanjali, Rati Manjari, from her right-wing vantage point,
stands as perhaps the greatest exemplar of the mood of
belonging to her yutheshvari, Shri Radhika. “I am Yours! I am
Yours! I cannot live without You! O queen, please understand
this and bring me to Your lotus feet.” Among the asta-manjaris,
Shri Lavanga Manjari is also daksina-mridvi, and Shri Rasa
Manjari has qualities similar to hers. However, Shri Rupa
Manjari is vama-madhya (left wing and moderate), Shri Guna
Manjari is daksina-prakhara (right wing and harsh), Shri
Manjulali Manjari is vama-madhya like Rupa, Shri Vilasa Manjari
is vama-mridvi (left wing and sweet), and Shri Kausturi Manjari
is similarly vama-mridvi in nature. The famous Shri Ananga
Manjari is also vama-madhya in temperament. As among


countless snowflakes no two are exactly alike, so too are there
untold varieties of manjari-bhava. It is, therefore, not at all
astonishing that different manjaris are possessed of different
cherished ambitions as well as different feelings toward their
yutheshvari. Just as Radha’s madhu-sneha differs from the ghrita-
sneha of Candravali in terms of owner and owned, as previously
discussed with respect to Shri Krishna’s relationship, so the
sakhi-sneha of the various manjaris also differ. Like Rati Manjari,
many feel within themselves a deep sense of belonging to
Radha. Others, however, boldly embrace the prominent sense
of Radha’s belonging to them. And, as one might surmise, Radha
mercifully reciprocates their feelings. Krishna belongs to Radha,
but to whom does Radha belong? She does not belong to
Krishna. Nor is She self-possessed. She undeniably belongs to
another (parakiya). She belongs to Her manjari maidservant.
Krishna, in response to Radhika’s bhava, again and again runs to
give Himself to Her, but do you think He always finds it so easy?
Certainly not! He’s at the mercy of the manjaris, who may not all
be so kindly disposed toward His unabashed wicked
licentiousness. He often finds Himself futilely begging at the feet
of Radha’s relentless left-wing manjari maidservants who
derisively keep Him at bay, playfully enhancing the
effectiveness of the vipralambha-rasa, which greatly nourishes
the Divine Couple’s mutually intensified emotional ecstasies at
the ripest time of Their imminent union.

Devotees who aspire after the Divine Couple’s eternal,
transcendentally utopian realm of svakiya-mayi sambhoga-lilas
(Ranga Mahal) generally think the parakiya-punctuated
vipralambha-bhava to be antagonistic to the favorable fulfillment
of Radha-Krishna’s desire for continuous relishment of
sambhoga-rasa (nitya-nikunja-vihara). They argue that in the
spiritual world, the ananda savored by the Divine Couple in the
company of Their intimate associates ever-increasingly expands
for eternity anyway, so why wish upon Them the distress of
separation if the intention is to make Them happy? They are
already ever-increasingly happy to be in each other’s company,
so why disturb Them with the aim of increasing Their
happiness? Just let Them be happy. This idea, which does not


accommodate the interplay of the diverse rasas of Vraja Dhama,
is, however, analogous to an immature neophyte disciple’s
inability to understand the positive purpose of the guru’s
chastisement. Shri Guru mercifully punishes a disciple simply to
strengthen, upgrade, and intensify the disciple’s determination
for spiritual progress. Yet the less intelligent neophyte prefers to
be flattered than to bear the weight of the guru’s reprimand,
which seems intolerable. It is certainly a fact that the ananda of
the Lord and His eternal associates eternally expands without
limit. Still, on closer examination it can be clearly observed that,
corresponding to the diverse lila configurations prelimited to
various sectors of Goloka, Krishna and His entourage know
either eternally ever-increasing ananda, eternally ever-
increasing more intensified ananda, or eternally ever-increasing
most intensified ananda. The parakiya element in vraja-lila
certainly intensifies in various ways the priti-bhajana of the
Lord’s ragatmika associates. This enhances the Lord’s ananda-
maya reciprocal dealings with them in a myriad of ways, making
them the objects of His special consideration and affection. As
Krishna becomes mad after the gopis, who are accomplished in
their varieties of parakiya absorption, which overstep the
regulative principles of the shastras, so also, by extension of His
compassionate nature, Lord Krishna becomes very much
inclined toward those sadhakas who, recognizing and aspiring
after the super-excellence of the vraja-gopis’ parakiya loving
sentiments, constantly drink deep of the ambrosial priti-
saturated asta-kaliya-lilas of Vraja. He thus mercifully helps
them by providing necessary intelligence (the ability to see
things in proper perspective) and appropriate knowledge of the
progressive path of madhurya-maya-vraja-bhakti-bhajana (jnana-
dipena bhasvata), by which they themselves may ultimately
achieve the perfectional platform of unalloyed priti for His
absolute pleasure. In this way, Vrajendranandana Krishna
kindly dissipates the darkness of ignorance (ajnana-jam tamah
nashayami) that prompts a sadhaka’s attachment to any other
objective.

From the stage of basic anartha-nivritti, when guru and
Krishna will be satisfied with the intensity of our anxiety, our


desperation, our ardent avidity for attaining our natural eternal
mood of loving ecstasy, bhava-siddhi, there will certainly be
further and further enlightenment by gradual revelation from
both within and without. Then practical attainment of our
authentic, eternal prayojana, our requisite premika relationship
as an assistant of Shri Guru in his or her eternal services to
Radha and Krishna, will be sure and solid by Their grace. At
that stage only, fullest empowerment to act as an agent of
Krishna’s compassion, both internally as a vraja-gopa or gopi
serving in His nitya-lilas and externally as a preacher moving
within this psycho-physical dimension, becomes possible – not
otherwise.

This material world will be repeatedly vyakta and avyakta
(manifest and unmanifest) for the rest of eternity. It is not that
this insignificant point on the eternal time continuum is the all-
important consideration. For all of eternity there will be
innumerable fallen conditioned souls who will need to be
delivered to the supreme perfection by the influence of
someone’s highly qualified and most capable, fully self-realized,
super-consciously empowered preaching efforts. Furthermore, a
most profound truth is that Krishna, being an extremely witty
connoisseur, very often requests the emancipated jiva who has
in the sac-cid-ananda spiritual body attained His pleasure
pastimes at His abode of Goloka to return in the acarya-svarupa
to this material cosmos as a nitya-muktavatara. Such a mukta-
jiva may then act as the greatest emissary of the Lord’s
compassion to the baddha-jivas bound by the network of Maha
Maya’s allurements. Having become the recipient of the fullest
extent of Krishna’s mercy, only the said emancipated jiva, as a
fully enlightened gopa or gopi, has the most splendid,
incomparably beatific experience of the brightest absorbing
prema contrasted against the black background of previous
material existence characterized by abject forgetfulness of the
Lord. The nitya-siddha-jivas as well as Krishna’s divine svarupa-
shakti-tattva counterparts, and even Shri Krishna Himself, being
always transcendentally situated and ever free from the
influence of the modes of material nature, can never have such
an extremely enhanced contrastive experience of the extent of


the Lord’s compassion. Only the emancipated jiva fully evolved
to the acme of individually achievable trancendency can most
perfectly empathize with the plight of the conditioned soul. And
only such a thoroughly unfettered devotee, having perfectly
completed the progressive course of vraja-bhakti-bhajana, can
bring about in Krishna an enhanced appreciation of His own
golden quality of benevolence – an appreciation otherwise
unfeasible in the spiritual world. It is only the emancipated jiva,
therefore, who truly realizes what bliss is in store for the
conditioned soul upon achieving the highest perfection, and as
such, the emancipated jiva is the fittest instrument to deliver
the fallen souls to the highest end. Having the fully actuated sac-
cid-ananda-siddha-deha, the emancipated jiva remains ever
beyond the degrading influence of the modes of material nature.
He or she may, therefore, remain perpetually within the material
world if required for assisting the Lord’s preaching mission,
apparently descending to the second-class or madhyama-
adhikari devotional status without running the risk of falling
down to the material platform. Every disciple wants Guruji to be
such a fully empowered parama-maha-bhagavata-avatara,
coming down from the spiritual world to deliver discipleji to the
lotus feet of Krishna. We will have the rest of eternity to collect
the thousands and millions of disciples, if that’s what Krishna
wants. Not that we push the panic button, childishly play
makeshift lifeguard guru jumping into the ocean of material
existence to “save” the “drowning” souls, become overwhelmed
by the tidal wave of maya, and heroically get ourselves drowned
in the process.

It’s nice that we in all our spiritual infantility intelligently
rely on the power of our guru’s fully self-realized purports in the
matter of serving to assist his preaching mission through the
medium of transcendental book distribution. That is, no doubt,
a tremendous credit. In the end, however, it would surely be
preposterous to expect the books to be fully Krishna conscious
for us, wouldn’t it? Transcendental book distribution certainly
serves to puissantly inculcate ideal spiritual standards upon
humanity. That is the mercy of the acarya-parampara – to give
us some meaningful engagement along the way. Nevertheless,


who have to personally learn and gradually realize the full
gamut of progressive pure devotional experience. This must
necessarily be accomplished by the practical application of
appropriate, authoritatively approved internal rupanuga
methodologies, which are notably illustrated in the writings of
Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami and Vishvanatha Cakravartipada.
The point is that practically every one of us at some juncture
was on the receiving end of the book distribution effort. “Book
distribution effort” means that the books were distributed to
someone, and we happened to be the “someones” to whom the
books were distributed. Why were the books distributed to us?
The idea should be that the books were distributed to us to
induce us to go to the highest end of realizing our eternal
relationship with Krishna in one of the vraja-bhavas. Unless and
until we actually go to that end, the purpose of the book
distribution that was done to enable us to receive the book
won’t be perfectly fulfilled. Therefore we have to go to that end
to make the book distribution effort a complete success. Any
intelligent and thoughtful book distributor should deeply
consider, understand, appreciate, and in due course apply this
principle in practical life. Otherwise, what is the meaning of the
whole affair? How can we deem our transcendental book
distribution a complete success unless the “someone” becomes
fully absorbed in relishing the vraja-bhavas as a result of having
gained an attraction and greed for them? “Someone” – Who? –
The wewe should not idiotically ignore the obvious implication that it is
we
“someones.” “Work now; samadhi later.” That’s all right.
But how much later? How later does later have to be before
later can be considered later enough? Later after some future
God-knows how many births?

Restoration of one’s constitutional topmost vraja-prema-
saturated quality of para-duhkha-duhkhi compassion toward
others, following in the wake of the immaculate moods of the
gopas and gopis of Vrindavana, and achievement of full-blown
self realization in terms of the jiva’s highest potential are in
effect one substance. Prema and compassion are essentially
tantamount in that prema deliberately expresses itself as the
service endeavor to facilitate the happiness and relieve the


distress of Krishna and His devotees, not excluding the fallen
potential devotees of this prison world of threefold sufferings.
Particularly in the higher vraja-rasas – shringara, vatsalya, and
some varieties of sakhya – a natural, supramundane sense of
superiority in relation to Krishna as a lover, son, or friend may
be noticed, wherein the devotee is seen to rightfully manifest
daya-bhava (mercy) as a consequence of karuna (pathos)
toward the Lord. Such occurs in response to suitable uddipanas
(stimuli) due to the intoxicating nature of intensified rati for the
visaya-alambana (object of affection), which naturally covers a
raga-bhakta’s knowledge of Radha-Krishna’s omnipotence. This
is not very astonishing. As the highest features of prema
exhibited in the stages of sneha, mana, raga, anuraga, bhava,
and maha-bhava are unachievable in the present material body
(sadhaka-deha), it is no laughing matter that one progressively
attend to the internal culture of the moods of Vraja, for without
doing so, one could never hope to manifest the suitable eternal
spiritual body (siddha-deha) essentially required for prema’s
maximum expression. Actually, the highest premika compassion
evincible by any jiva can only be gained in the company of
Krishna’s eternal retinue after joining His manifest earthly lilas
in this material world. When that degree of prema brims over to
compassionately inundate the rotting lives of this world’s doleful
detinue, then only can topmost empowered preaching be done
by anyone. As such, it would behoove any aspiring preacher
who wants to realize his or her highest preaching potential to go
to that end, even if it demands a concentrated, purposeful
dedication of considerable time and energy in this lifetime to
preparatory antaranga-bhajana with that long-term aim in view.

Greed-induced multi-aspected absorption in ananda-maya-
vraja-bhakti-bhajana, both internal and external, could never in
its real light be discerned by a deepest intellect to be a selfish or
self-centered affair. It should never be confounded with the
egoistical approach of the Himalayan forest-dwelling
liberationist referred to by Prahlada in his prayers to Lord
Nrisimhadeva, as recounted in Shrimad-Bhagavatam. If it were,
it could hardly be accepted as vraja-bhakti, because by
definition, at its very core, the exclusively selfless, self-giving


service attitude, far above petty concerns for mitigating
personal pangs of material bondage or for private spiritual
satisfaction, is meticulously cultured for the absolute pleasures
of the Lord and His devotees. Lalasamayi, the intense desire for
being reinstated in one’s eternal, constitutional, perfect spiritual
body (siddha-deha) as an eternal resident of Vraja, should in no
way be presupposed by anyone to be any sort of gross or subtle
material or spiritual sense gratification. A surrendered devotee
harbors no ambition separate from the interest of the Lord.
Such a devotee’s only business is to recognize and sensibly
submit to Krishna’s desire to have us back with Him – to serve
Him, play with Him, and dance with Him in the eternal sky of
Krishnaloka. In as much as it honors the Lord’s wishes, a sincere
sadhaka will nobly do the needful, pursuing the favorable
internal cultivation by which His desire may ever be fulfilled.
Not to do so would be utter conceit. This attainment of the
Lord’s nitya-lilas at Vraja-bhumi and onward to Goloka is
coveted only for the purpose of achieving the otherwise
unachievable highest expressible form of pleasure-giving prema.
A true Vrajavasi does not consider personal happiness and
distress independent of Theirs (Radha-Krishna’s) to be in any
way a compelling factor for his or her actions. That is the
speciality of the Vrajavasis’ standard of devotion, which
distinguishes their excellence, far surpassing that of the best
devotees of any other realm. Although in vraja-bhakti liberation
and beatific delight are naturally consequential, as in any other
pure devotional approach, they could never be seen as crucial
elements in a Vrajavasi’s decision-making process, though they
should not necessarily be altogether eschewed or despised.

To say that the genuine, pure-hearted vraja-bhakti-
bhajananandi is selfishly bent on his own bliss, personal benefit,
or comfort zone would be akin to declaring that the gosthy-
anandi preacher is primarily engaged as such to secure for
himself either the spiritual beatitude; the ego-gratifying daksina,
honor, and reputation; or the sheer adventure personally
plundered from his burlesque preaching extravaganzas. One
might exhaustively harp and harp about the hypocritical, cheap,
imitative imposters of either ilk, but that should never ascribe


any improbity to the truly sincere. Negation of the nonessential
in no way suggests a need to negate the essential. In either
authentic case, we should be prepared to acknowledge the
primary focus on the actual sincere service endeavor as distinct
from its pleasurable or remunerative side effects – “eating to
live” as opposed to “living to eat.”

Shrimati Radharani in Her inimitable Krishna conscious
absorption transcendentally experiences more distress than the
combined distresses of all the conditioned souls of the entire
material existence put together. Although Her “distresses” are
transcendental and ananda-maya, as opposed to the niggardly
nature of a baddha-jiva’s suffering, they are nonetheless very
real and unimaginably excruciating. In truth, Her anxieties over
the condition of the incarcerated baddha-jivas, as represented in
the lamentations of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Thakura
Haridasa, constitute but a minor feature of Her complete whole
domain of loving afflictions. It is of little wonder that a soft-
hearted para-duhkha-duhkhi devotee, upon knowing these
things, might opt to compassionately seek in various ways to
somehow help mitigate Her severe amorous excruciations. How
could we conceive that such an attempt to assist in the services
of Her preponderant internal “home” affairs is in any way less
noble than the attempt to alleviate the relatively insignificant
sufferings of the minute individuals of this world? If anything,
the consideration of the magnitude of necessity pertaining to
the primary plight of Radha all the more amplifies the reason to
laud the internal affairs of those enlightened individuals
seriously endeavoring to qualify themselves to become Radha’s
palya-dasis through strenuous antaranga-bhakti-bhajana. They
are neither in the least bhukti-kami nor mukti-kami nor
svananda-kami.

In any case, neither the genuinely pure-hearted gosthy-
anandis nor the bona fide, high-minded, internally inclined
bhajananandis ever purposefully act for their egocentric
personal benefit. Their only aim is to make others happy – for
Ka’s satisfaction ultimatelyKrishna, which is the very basis
of their own fulfillment. By the satisfaction of Krishna through
any program of loving service, the entire creation is benefited,


in the same way that by watering the root of a tree, all leaves,
flowers, and fruits are automatically nourished. The presence of
merely one pure devotee of either standing in this world can
sustain the entire planet. However, for a sadhaka, particularly in
Kali-yuga, no sort of internal bhajana or asta-kaliya-lila-manasa-
seva can ever secure the superlative result without the
practitioner at regular intervals functioning to help uplift the
populace by loudly broadcasting the sankirtana of the Holy
Names of Radha and Krishna. After all, hari-nama-sankirtana
does happen to be the yuga-dharma for this current age. It is
seen that although certainly situated as topmost paramahamsa-
bhajananandis, the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavana, headed by Shri
Rupa, faultlessly epitomized this principle both by their regular
performance of Krishna-kirtana and by their efforts to elucidate
the principles of vraja-bhakti-bhajana in their many writings that
have effectively served to propagate the truths about unalloyed
devotion down through the generations. Indeed, one would do
well to notice that though the Gosvamis always absorbed
themselves internally in the search for Radha and Krishna
through feelings of separation (viraha-bhajana) and in fact did
not actually distinguish themselves as gosthy-anandi itinerant
preachers, still, they externally benedicted the people of this
world by the fruits of their resolute ananda-maya-bhajana. The
incomparable, unswerving life of concentrated bhajana fortitude
exemplified by the Gosvamis and their followers in and of itself
stands ever monumental in the hearts of the anuragi Vaishnavas
and perennially serves as a pre-eminent paragon for the world
at large, conspicuously expressing the greatest good to all
faithful aspirants on the path of inwardly progressive antaranga-
bhakti-bhajana for all time to come.

Ultimately, both real bhajanananda and real gosthy-ananda
spontaneously spring from the ananda-maya platform under the
influence of the Lord’s hladini-shakti or svarupa-shakti, as per the
evolvement of bhava and prema when one transcends the
influence of the three modes of material nature. Anything short
of that, however boastful, could hardly be more than a
semblance of the real thing with relatively little efficacy on any
front. Hence, a consummate gosthy-anandi of any stature always


stands on the solid underpinnings of advanced internal bhajana.
Moreover, the transcendentally situated niskincana ananda-
maya-bhajana-kari, even though veiling himself from the worldly
purview, ever enhances the world by dint of his very presence
in all purity.

Innumerable neophyte “preachers” out on the most
congested streets of the most important cities in the world,
clangorously bellowing the semblance of hari-nama-sankirtana
either on the offensive stage (pratibimba-namabhasa) or the
clearing stage (chaya-namabhasa), could hardly accomplish for
the spiritual welfare of the conditioned souls what could be
achieved by the lips of even one reclusive forest-dwelling
shuddha-nama-bhajananandi. Admittedly, aparadha-nama can
offer the putrid fruit of karmic sense gratification (bhukti) within
the cycle of repeated birth and death. Chaya-namabhasa can
also at best free the heart from material contamination (anartha-
nivritti), augmenting one’s chances for liberation from material
existence (mukti), up to granting residence in Vaikuntha-loka.
Even so, neither aparadha-nama nor abhasa-nama chanted by
the millions could ever in a billion years impregnate the heart of
anyone with shuddha-bhakti-shakti, enkindling the jiva’s dormant
vraja-prema, as would a single recitation of shuddha-nama.

Nama-aparadhis, who generally favor the bhogya-darshana
of Shri Guru, are more or less parasites within the institutional
“body” of the spiritual master. They have not actually evolved
to the status of spiritually functional constituents. Though
donning kanthi-mala and Vaishnava tilaka, worshiping the deity,
professing loyalty to Shri Guru, paying lip-service to the
philosophy of full surrender, holding lofty ecclesial or priestly
positions, and having ample opportunity for spiritually elevating
sadhu-sanga, they in fact remorselessly behave rather like kali-
celas or kaitava-bhaktas (typically categorized as pratibimba-
bhaktabhasa), with little scope for much tangible spiritual
advancement on account of their unrelenting gross and subtle
exploitative tendencies. Indeed, their fanfare of devotional
fervor may be comparable, at best, to cracking nuts with a
shalagrama-shila.


Individuals who have yet to surpass the stage of chanting
chaya-namabhasa, even though earnestly struggling to clear
away offenses against the Holy Name along with their
concomitant repercussions, are comparable to the shadow of a
devotee (chaya-bhaktabhasa) or bhakta-praya, the mere likeness
of a devotee. The chaya-bhaktas, though potentially nearing the
threshold of pure devotion, are not thus far to be accepted as
pure devotees in the true sense. Though affiliated with
sampradayic society through bhagavata or pancaratrika
initiation and having recourse to graceful, spiritually powerful
sadhu-sanga and pure devotional scriptures, all such said
unqualified neophytes could have, at best, but a semblance of
shuddha-bhakti. Quite often, due to imprecise perception,
unwarranted attachment to narrow comprehension of the
acarya’s instructions, confusion, or sheer juvenile speculative
notions about what they imagine to be the reality of Krishna
consciousness, they disastrously obscure, adulterate, or even
obliterate the essential substance of spiritual life. Espousing
rampant, wide-ranging institutionally integrated erroneous
dogmas while clinging to barely-understood institutionalized
ritualistic formulas and formalities, they in due course
imprudently project or spread a relatively distorted semblance
of the pure devotional atmosphere upon the milieux of a bona
fide spiritual establishment. Thus generating a vitiated
semblance of the acarya’s sampradaya, such unskillful persons
knowingly or unknowingly form a virtual impasse for those
inadequately acquainted with the Gaudiya siddhanta, fatefully
hindering the latter’s hopes of gaining even a glimpse of what
would truly constitute ultimate paramarthika attainment.

One who chants shuddha-nama is actually a shuddha-
bhakta in the real sense. And the simple truth is that only a
shuddha-bhakta, whether gosthy-anandi or bhajananandi, can do
much substantial good for anyone. Without chanting shuddha-
nama, who can honestly claim to be having nama-ruci? Without
chanting shuddha-nama, who can responsibly claim to be doing
any kind of empowered jiva-daya? Without chanting shuddha-
nama, who can sensibly claim that Vaishnava-seva has been
truly accomplished?


Furthermore, one might consider this point: those who are
actually pandita or learned in all the scriptural conclusions see
all living entities with equal vision. One who loves Krishna loves
everyone – cares for everyone – not only humans. Mahaprabhu,
Lord Gauranga, expressed this when He asked Thakura
Haridasa about the deliverance of earless beings like snakes,
trees, and stones. There are innumerable microbes floating in
just one cubic inch of air. There would naturally be so many
trees, creepers, insects, lizards, rodents, birds, and other
creatures within or around our shuddha-nama bhajananandi’s
bhajana-kutira – how many souls would be residing within his
very body? The extent to which these countless souls would
benefit by circumstantially associating with his pure-hearted
supplication of shuddha-nama would be inestimable. The
contextual implication would be that if we were to generously
extend the concept of gosthi (family) to those other than human
beings, then it would not be wrong to also consider the
genuinely pure-hearted bhajananandi a gosthy-anandi. He at
least inadvertently, if not consciously, does the highest good to
the greater “family” within his sphere of influence by
instrumentally serving to prompt the advent of Shri Hari-nama
Prabhu, who mercifully dances within his heart, on his tongue,
and in the atmosphere about him. Any sound vibration
produced anywhere on this planet is believed to encircle the
Earth seven times before dissolution. This makes it possible for
his chanting to purify the ethereal atmosphere of the whole
world. The result would be all the more powerful if he would be
living in Vrindavana, where the purificatory benefits mount a
thousand fold. No man is an island.

From another perspective, it may be inferred that even
though the nirjana-bhajananandi outwardly appears to take the
nirjana position, apparently neglecting to expand the “family” of
devotees in this dimension, he could hardly be nirjana in the
absolute sense in that he, in the course of his inner-dimensional
absorption, remains ever associated with the constituent vraja-
jana members of Krishna’s eternal “family” through the agency
of manasa-seva. He is never actually really alone. Because he
selflessly serves to favorably expand the bliss (ananda) of


Krishna’s “family” (gosthi) of eternal associates, he may surely,
in the fullest sense, also be honored as gosthy-anandi. The
purport is that until one at least approaches the stage of
realizing one’s eternal ananda-maya relationship with the
Supreme Absolute Reality in one of the five primary
transcendental vraja-rasas, no one should out of envy, spite, or
feelings of superiority toward others proudly or self-righteously
proclaim oneself to be either gosthy-anandi or bhajananandi,
much less dare to denounce one or the other on the basis of
perverse lopsided religio-institutional bias or immature,
subjectively predisposed shallow superstition. It is better, as a
matter of common decency, to humbly try to chant the Holy
Name with all self-effacement while endeavoring to
progressively qualify oneself to unobtrusively assist the Lord
and His devotees in whatever small way possible, as inspired by
one’s indwelling monitor guru and confirmed by His various
external representatives.

Bearing all this in mind, it might be argued from one angle
or another that the only major consideration in this connection
is the satisfaction of guru and Krishna – that if preaching,
primarily through the medium of transcendental book
distribution, is what satisfies them, then one need not look
beyond the vigorous execution of that activity alone to achieve
ultimate transcendence. Then again, it might be argued that if
one is engaged in the activity of transcendental book
distribution, one is Krishna conscious. Okay, fine. However, one
might perspicaciously ask, “How Krishna conscious?” How
“Krishna conscious” does “Krishna conscious” have to be before
“Krishna conscious” could be considered “Krishna conscious”
enough to be fully “Krishna conscious”? To what extent could a
new bhakta be perfectly “Krishna conscious”? It is declared that
anyone who follows the four disciplinary restraints – no illicit
sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating, and no gambling – and
chants a minimum of sixteen rounds of hari-nama-japa daily is
qualified to make disciples all over the world. Yahoo! Fantastic!
So then, if it is just a matter of outward animation, new bhaktas
also follow the four regulative principles and chant a minimum
of sixteen rounds even without having been initiated. Even


robots can do that! Maybe they should also be allowed to
initiate disciples all over the world. Why only the institutionally
rubber-stamped “gurus”? Robots could also be programmed to
distribute books, or offer aratrikas, or clang a pair of karatalas
for that matter. Let us ask ourselves a crucial question – Is it
what we do, or the actual level of consciousness behind what
we do, that is ultimately important?

We would do well to remember that neither guru nor
Krishna really need our patrams (leaves) or puspams (flowers).
They are pleased by bhakti alone. And just as bhakti is realized
by degrees, so also is guru’s satisfaction, which is an evolvable
thing, answering to the quality of Krishna consciousness more
so than to the quantified outward display of “devotional
service.” Though apparently aroused by the disciple’s external
actions, guru’s pleasure, marked by profuse blessings for further
progress in Krishna consciousness, must indeed be based upon
the qualitative dynamics of the disciple’s internal service
attitude to be real, solid, and spiritually legitimate. In fact, it
may be reasonably established that the resolute desperation to
discover the details of one’s internal constitutional identity as an
eternal resident of Vraja in itself affirms the initial sign of Shri
Guru’s profound benedictions upon a disciple. If such ardent
solicitude is lacking, one might do well to wonder to what extent
Shri Guru’s satisfaction has actually been invoked.

Some less-than-philosophically-astute individuals attempt
to purposefully popularize as institutional dogma a fallacious
understanding that by externally serving Lord Caitanya
Mahaprabhu’s sankirtana movement in vaidhi bhakti alone one
will automatically pop up somehow or other in vraja-lila after
the end of the present life – an unverifiable post-dated check.
They insist that one need not currently concern oneself in the
least with the cultivation of any internal program of raganuga-
sadhana. “Just blindly put your duty-bound nose to the vaidhi
bhakti grindstone. Don’t think; just do! Ma shucah!” This sort of
crafty conclusion, manipulatively framed to camouflage the
spiritual inadequacies or incompetence of a movement’s post-
founder embryonic leadership, may serve to conveniently
dodge or altogether evade deeper queries about the much-


anticipated here-and-now practical application of esoteric
Rupanuga Gaudiya Vaisnavism – at least temporarily. But it
hardly does justice to the subject; moreover, it commits a
manner of violence against the progressive quest of a sincere
candidate who perhaps actually deserves promotion to higher-
level, internal Krishna conscious pursuits.

At a cursory glance, frequently adduced passages from
Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati’s Shri Caitanya-candramrita and
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Shri Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya
may appear to allude to this erroneous impression. However,
these statements could never persuade anyone who has
ventured to seriously scrutinize the various scriptural texts and
commentaries of the Six Gosvamis and their followers to
subscribe to such idiocy. The correct conception is quite the
sound of a different drummer and also not so unmelodious. It is
said in Caitanya-candramrita that yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde
. . . – “to whatever extent a pious person becomes devoted to
the lotus feet of Lord Gaura, to that extent the flood of the
nectar of Radha’s lotus feet spontaneously arises in his heart.”
The word “extent” is crucial here. Similarly discussed is the
matter of attaining the service of Krishna in all primary rasas,
through the preliminary worship of Gauranga Mahaprabhu in
dasya-bhava. Here, the word dasya-bhava in relation to the
service of Mahaprabhu certainly does not connote reverential
servitude in terms of the vaidhi bhakti format, any more than it
would when used to denote the rasa of servitude to Krishna in
Vraja. Rather, particularly for those souls who have the innate
capacity for the conjugal rasa, the word dasya-bhava should
serve only to indicate one’s spontaneous attitude of loving
service to the merciful Radha aspect of Gaura’s personality.
Serving Lord Caitanya in dasya-bhava becomes tantamount to
serving Shrimati Radharani in dasi-bhava (radha-dasya).

Generally, in the Rupanuga-sampradaya, one is advised to
dive deep into the ocean of service to Lord Gauranga’s
Navadvipa lilas, internally conceiving oneself to be a kishora-
brahmana who, as a servant of the servant (dasanudasa) of
Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, accordingly assists to augment
Mahaprabhu’s relishment of various vraja-bhavas. In doing so,


one transitionally surfaces in the nectarean ocean of Radha’s
madhurya-lilas as a blissful kishori-gopi maidservant of the
maidservant (dasy-anudasi) of Shrimati Lalita Devi within the
group of Radha’s sakhis in the land of Vraja. The Rupanuga
approach to gaura-lila and Krishna-lila is not the dull-headed
affair of the prakrita-bhaktas. Indeed, a conscientious internal
culture of bhavas is most certainly required – a culture above
and beyond though not necessarily exclusive of the external
apparently vaidhika program of missionary duties. With this in
mind, the basic unconditional service attitude practiced at the
very onset of a novice’s humble surrender to the acarya’s
external missionary training program may be easily adapted and
internally applied at a more mature stage to fittingly promote
the true, cognitive, esoteric evolvement of one’s eternal
constitutional bhava-deha or vraja-svarupa.

When Gaura’s mercy will flood the heart with an aspiration
to serve Radha’s vraja-lilas, one will come to appreciate the
value of service to the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda. Just as
Gauranga inclusively embodies the bhavas of Krishna’s foremost
svarupa-shakti counterpart, Shri Radha, so also, Nityananda
Rama inclusively embodies the foremost baladeva-svarupa-
shakti-tattva who appears in Vraja as the younger sister of
Radharani, Shrimati Ananga Manjari. Balarama’s Kali-yuga
avatara as Nityananda is markedly more than Baladeva Himself
in that He, unlike Balarama, can directly relish the internal
mood of loving service to the lotus feet of Radha, in the
madhurya-rasa parallel to Gaura’s relishment of radha-bhava. As
previously mentioned, Krishna and His supreme svarupa-shakti
counterpart, Shri Radha, though morphologically differentiated,
are ontologically one. So also is the case with Baladeva and His
topmost svarupa-shakti expansion, Ananga Manjari, from whom
Balarama’s own personal consorts such as Varuni and Revati
expand. All the members of Krishna’s family, including
Balarama, possess the deepest regard, affection, and love for the
sweetest, most eminently loveworthy Shrimati Radharani. Yet,
owing to certain social constraints, Balarama, as Krishna’s older
brother, is practically dispossessed of any opportunity to
directly express His love for Her. So, to fulfill His most


confidential desire to serve Radha’s lotus feet, He accepts an
expanded feminine form as Her younger sister. Still He Himself,
in His masculine Baladeva svarupa, is unable to directly relish
the experience of being in the position of His shakti-tattva
expansion, just as Krishna is unable to directly relish the moods
of Radha. He, therefore, in gaura-lila, accepts the bhava and
complexion of His supreme self-same svarupa-shakti counterpart
to experience that which was transcendentally impossible in
Krishna-lila. Thus Balarama manifests the form of Nityananda
Rama in the same way that Krishna dons His Gaura svarupa to
savor the ultimate loving disposition of Radha in vipralambha-
maha-bhava. As Krishna and Balarama are one, so, similarly,
Radha and Ananga Manjari are one. In fact, Ananga Manjari is
celebrated as a veritable second Radha. Yet, by the will of
Balarama, she acts as dasy-anudasi in the capacity of a prana-
sakhi (upa-manjari of Lalita Sakhi) in the service of Radharani,
just as Balarama Himself functions as servitor Godhead to assist
svayam-rupa Krishna in various ways. Balarama as servitor
Godhead is adi-guru in the vatsalya, sakhya, and dasya rasas.
Similarly, Balarama’s expanded madhurya-svarupa, Ananga
Manjari, is the madhurya-rasa adi-guru, who most
compassionately acts as the liaison linking the jivas with the
confidential services of Radha and Krishna. Her position as
Radharani’s younger sister greatly facilitates this role. This is a
hint as to the import of Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura’s
statement heno nitai bine bhai, radha-Krishna paite nai. Indeed,
it is only by Nitai’s boundless mercy upon the most fallen
conditioned souls that the vraja-gopis’ superexcellent
spontaneous devotional bhavas have been made readily
accessible to the whole world. Just as Ananga Manjari is the
special mercy manifestation of Radha, so Nityananda (in the
mood of Ananga Manjari) is the special mercy manifestation of
Gaura (in the mood of Radha). By Nitai’s special causeless
mercy, one becomes free from material attraction, attains the
land of Vraja, and finds shelter at the lotus feet of the Six
Gosvamis headed by Shri Rupa. By seriously acquainting oneself
with the writings of the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavana and their
authorized representatives, one accesses the truths concerning


parakiya-rasa-maya Radha-Krishna and the appropriate bhajana-
kriya required for attaining Their eternal relationship on the
path of spontaneous loving devotion.

Mere rudimentary vaidhika devotion to the feet of Lord
Caitanya can hardly evoke a highly evolved nectar-flood of
Radha’s direct influence upon anyone. “Extent,” as applied to
the principle of gaura-bhakti, refers to the degree of internal
devotional qualification in one’s approach far more than to any
externally quantifiable mass of regulative devotional practice.
The factual proof that the nectar of Radha’s lotus feet is
extensively flooding one’s heart will be seen in one’s
attentiveness to deeply understand and practically pursue the
path of vraja-bhakti-bhajana. Either sambandhanuga-bhakti
(dasya, sakhya, or vatsalya-bhajana) or kamanuga-bhakti
(madhurya-bhajana) will be practiced under the guidance of the
Gosvamis according to one’s progressively perceivable natural
internal inclination or aptitude for a particular mellow of loving
service to divinity. The edict seva sadhaka-rupena siddha-rupena
catra hi / tad-bhava-lipsuna karya vraja-lokanusaratah mentioned
in Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu truly for all time
applies both externally and internally to sadhakas who have yet
to transcend material bondage as well as to siddhas who are
jata-rati Vaishnavas having attained the perfect realization of
sthayii-bhava, or constant devotional ecstasy. There is no
broadly applicable streamlined institutional lame way out. No
founding acarya of any Krishna conscious establishment ever
casuistically instructed in such a way so as to shrink from the
responsibility of deliberately enhancing or nourishing the
deserving disciple’s progress onto the path of beatified vraja-
bhakti-bhajana.

When purposefully prescribed to forcibly inculcate the
principles of Krishna consciousness, vaidhi bhakti certainly
functions to coercively rehabilitate a conditioned soul’s
misdirected or unconstitutional raga (attraction) or asakti
(attachment) to worldly objects of material sense gratification,
by obliging one to focus upon Krishna-ized sense objects. This
is, no doubt, a step in the right direction, and in the beginning it
is actually required. If, however, one does not intelligently


endeavor in the present life to surpass the rudimentary stage of
obligatory, reverential devotion strictly governed by scriptural
regulations and embark upon the path of spontaneous, internal
raganuga attraction (para bhakti), one will almost invariably
remain a kanistha-adhikari or prakrita-bhakta, moored to the
modes of material nature. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. At
best, one may come to the platform of aishvarya-jnana-mayi
bhakti, gaining fitness for mahima-jnana-yukta-prema. This type
of bhakti, contaminated with knowledge of the Lord’s
supremacy, leads to the spiritually conditional realm of
Vaikuntha-loka or the majestic Vaikuntha-vrindavana on
Krishnaloka, where the aishvarya-lilas of Radha and Krishna are
served in awe and veneration or, at utmost, the opulent realm of
Dvaraka.

Vraja-lokera bhave yei karaye bhajana / sei jana paya
vraje vrajendra-nandana. “One who worships the Lord by
following in the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vraja-bhumi
attains Him in the transcendental planet of Vraja, where He is
known as the son of Maharaja Nanda.” (Cc. Madhya 9.131) All
bona fide Gaudiya Vaishnava Acaryas agree that the madhurya-
lilas of Vraja can only be attained by ascending to the terrace of
kevala-madhurya-prema via the path of raga-bhakti under the
merciful guidance of an emissary of Vraja Dhama. Furthermore,
it is clearly declared by Kaviraja Gosvami in his Shri Caitanya-
caritamrita, with reference to the appearance of
Vrajendranandana Shyama, that raga-marga bhakti loke karite
pracarana. Pracarana means to propagate, to make the super-
excellence of the path of raga-bhakti known to the conditioned
souls of this world. Unless one is exposed to the vibrant,
esoteric transcendentally erotic principles of the spiritually
constituted damsels of Vraja, which surpass all considerations of
mundane morality, one can hardly expect to clearly construe
the lie of its lustful perversion projected upon the illusive
material panorama. It is imperative that the preachers of
Krishna consciousness become solidly acquainted with the
truths regarding the propriety of the sublime pastimes of Radha
and Krishna so as to powerfully eradicate the misgivings
concerning these affairs abounding among scholars, theologians,

and the general populace. It is not enough to unconvincingly
cower behind a glib formula that denounces any open
discussion of the matter before the unconversant. Taboo,
prudery, and timidity concerning the enlightened free
propagation of the correct conception of the thing have only
paved the way for rampant misconception amid those
victimized by the vigorous, widespread propaganda of the
Mayavadi impersonalists, Sahajiyas, professional preachers of
the Bhagavata, and other such demonic elements waylaying an
already darkened contemporary world view devoid of properly
developed personal understanding of the Absolute. Shripada
Shankaracarya purposefully preached his concocted illusionist
philosophy of impersonal monism with the intention to create
within the minds of the people in general an aversion to the
proposition of a tasteless impersonal outcome of religious life. In
this way he indirectly promoted irreligion in the form of
materially “tasteful” lawless sexual indulgence, the result of
which would be a profuse influx of low-life progeniture (varna-
sankara) upon the face of the Earth. His mission was simply to
preface the descent of Lord Gauranga by kindly giving the most
condemned conditioned souls a chance to gain the highest good
upon encountering the sankirtana movement with the Lord’s
maximum munificence in view. Unless the preachers of the
Rupanuga-sampradaya systematically and forcefully present the
topmost personal conception of God as the supreme lover, the
ultimate purpose of Shankaracarya’s undertaking will not be
fulfilled. Moreover, people will not have the opportunity to
clearly see an all-attractive raso vai sah alternative to the
relatively tasteless brahman conception of spirituality, without
which they could hardly have much impetus to abandon the
quest for rasa on the mundane plane. Knowledge of the true
nature of the original spiritual mellow of conjugal love as the
ultimate cause of its dull, shadow-like material reflection
effectively alleviates the problem of mundane affinity by the
power of superior magnetism. Scientific exposition of the
highest madhurya aspect of the Personality of Godhead will
naturally preclude all philosophical aberrations thereof to
benefit the open-minded. Offenders, determined to deny the


authoritative persuasion of the Vaishnava Acaryas, will go to hell
anyway of their own accord. What can be done? We should not
be overly concerned about that.

Aishvarya-jnanete saba jagat mishrita / aishvarya-shithila-
preme nahi mora prita. “Knowing My opulences, the whole
world looks upon Me with awe and veneration. But devotion
made feeble by such reverence does not attract Me.” (Cc. adi
3.16) Aishvarya-jnane vidhi-bhajana kariya / vaikunthake yaya
catur-vidha mukti pana. “By performing such regulated
devotional service in awe and veneration, one may go to
Vaikuntha and attain the four kinds of liberation.” (Cc. adi 3.17)
Lord Shri Krishna desired to appear in this world at the very
end of Dvapara-yuga for two reasons – to personally taste the
quintessential mellows of love of God (prema-rasa-niryasa) and,
beyond that, to purposely propagate the process of raga-marga-
bhakti in the world. In doing so, He would herald the highest
good to the most fallen people of this Age of Kali, who would get
the opportunity to learn of His enchanting vraja-lilas from the
scriptural accounts of His earthly pastimes. Krishna, as lila-
purusottama, tasted prema-rasa from the standpoint of the
visaya-vigraha, the supreme enjoyer and object of prema. Being
relatively unimpressed by reverential devotion, He deliberately
revealed the beauty and sweetness of the Vrajavasis’ purest
love for Him to the world by practically evincing that love in the
course of His manifest pastimes. Yet, until His advent as Lord
Caitanya, His purposes remained largely unfulfilled.
Retrospectively, it appears that Krishna-lila, in fact, simply
paved the way for the Supreme Lord’s appearance as Lord
Caitanya who, for the most part, merely expanded upon and, in
His own way, dynamically reinforced the two original (internal
and external) objectives of Krishna. By tasting prema-rasa from
the standpoint of the ashraya-vigraha, Shri Radha – the
resplendent abode of the highest prema, whose relishment is ten
million times greater than that of Her beloved – Shri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, as prema-purusottama, became increasingly
moved to compassionately distribute vraja-prema in an
unprecedented and unparalleled way. In fact, as detailed
throughout the Gosvamis’ writings, He exuberantly preferred to


bestow that most succulent, mysterious prema that follows in
the wake of Radha’s matchless expressions of maha-bhava
(samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti-shriyam). In this
way, Mahaprabhu abundantly fulfilled what remained unfulfilled
in Krishna’s attempt, by powerfully preaching the process of
unalloyed devotion as He demonstratively practiced it Himself.
If Lord Krishna desired to propagate raga-marga bhakti in the
world by way of exhibiting His madhurya-lilas, Lord Gauranga,
the self-same Lord Krishna appearing in Kali-yuga as the most
munificent devotee of Himself, desired it a thousandfold on the
basis of His audrya disposition. That is precisely what
distinguishes Him as the maha-vadanyavatara. Kindly bear in
mind that the Lord’s aim to propagate the vraja-bhavas is but an
aspect of the external reason for His divine appearance, an
aspect that was not meant to be kept hidden. In fact, to further
this propagation work, the Six Gosvamis and many of their
contemporaries and followers took great pains to elaborately
illustrate both gradual (external) and sophisticated esoteric
(internal) methods of raga-marga-bhajana in their volumes of
literature. Thus, scientifically expounding the principles of vraja-
bhakti, they continue to perpetuate the greatest act of mercy
upon the world’s Kali-yuga populace down to the present day.
That few would be chosen (qualified) does not imply that many
should not be called. We, as living vibhinnamsha jivas, are
eternally parts and parcels of Lord Caitanya. Part and parcel
means “partner.” We are meant to act as partners in the
“business” of the Lord, having the same shared interests at
heart. Suffice to say, more mature “business partners”
representing the Lord’s sankirtana movement should recognize
the gravity of their assigned “business” responsibilities.
Following in the Lord’s footsteps, we should likewise personally
pursue the matchless mellows of love of Godhead (vraja-prema).
Similarly, whenever and wherever possible, we should also
purposefully preach raga-marga-bhakti in the world, showing the
highest munificence to the fallen people of this Age of Kali.
Mercifully spark the lobha or greed for the thing by facilitating
an inspired regard for, and attraction to, the Bhagavata’s
essential message, and then, in due course, help to diligently fan


that spark of lobha-maya-shraddha into a blazing fire of raga-
mayi spontaneity – not that we should beat about the bush,
becloud the issue, sweep it under the rug, or altogether
exterminate the thing. If out of devotional ineptitude,
immaturity, oversight, deceitfulness, miserliness, or sheer
ignorance, we were to grossly neglect or faithlessly sidestep the
forward implementation of this prime, two-fold missionary
objective, then how could we, in good conscience, deem
ourselves as compliant, competently instrumental,
magnanimous agents of guru and Gauranga’s grace?

Deliberating upon the profoundest precepts of the
Gaudiya-sampradaya and the progressive navigation of the
Krishna consciousness movement, we might guardedly examine
how a number of individuals in key ecclesiastico-administrative
positions, due to either inexperience, imprudence, unadorned
obtusity, neglect, or self-aggrandizing, perhaps even diabolical
intents, are, as a matter of fact, irresponsibly steering the
movement in a direction that may not so closely adhere to the
actual course intended by the sampradaya’s founding Acaryas.
So, fine! Let them do like that. Whatever nonsense they think to
do, let them do it. Because in any case the flow of the kevala-
bhakti cult, by the decree of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, will be
apratihata, unobstructed. It will not be checked by any faction’s
substandard, foolish, materially conceived, watered-down
misrepresentation of the sankirtana movement’s fundamental
principles. Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu doesn’t really need the
help of any individual or any group of individuals to accomplish
His missionary goals. They who are internally advanced enough
to precisely distinguish and wholly surrender to the Lord’s
divine loving network undoubtedly inherit the privilege of
assisting Him as His authorized sampradayic agents. If we don’t
act as His instruments to purely propagate the full gamut of
essential teachings of the Rupanuga tradition, it is not that no
one will come forward to do the needful. Lord Krishna
instructed Arjuna, “Even if you do not fight, all the warriors
assembled on this battlefield are already put to death by my
arrangement. Therefore, relinquish your petty weakness of
heart! Acting as My instrument, stand up and fight!” Similarly,


Lord Caitanya has enjoined that the Krishna consciousness
movement be spread to every town and village throughout the
world. And “spread” means to spread in terms of the afore-
mentioned purpose for which the movement is actually meant –
to raise people to the path of spontaneous loving devotion,
principally by way of congregational chanting of the Holy Name
– thus giving them the chance to evolve to the stages of
raganuga-bhava and vraja-prema in this lifetime, not after some
future millions of births, who knows how far down the road.
Mahaprabhu’s purposes will certainly be fulfilled in some way or
other by someone; do not think otherwise. It’s just a question of
who gets the credit.

Neither the territories nor the by-laws nor the treasuries,
logos, or various other external accoutrements of an institution
necessarily constitute the spiritual essence or sampradayic spirit
of the institution, any more than the body of an individual
constitutes the soul of the individual. Just as an automobile is
important in so far as the automobile serves the purposes of its
owner, a spiritual institution can be considered important to the
extent that it actually serves to further the spiritual objectives
of the sampradaya it claims to represent. If the car breaks down
or crashes, the owner may want to junk the thing and accept
another more reliable conveyance. Often it is moralized that the
spiritual master’s institution is the “body” of the spiritual
master. But the body of the spiritual master may become
diseased. If some part of the spiritual master’s body becomes
gangrenous, then it may become necessary to amputate that
part of the body. In other words, the body may become at least
partially if not wholly dysfunctional in the matter of serving the
purposes of the spiritual master. That is not impossible. It is not
that the body of the spiritual master, either in a healthy
condition or in a diseased condition, is the spiritual master
proper. The institution is his body, the printing press is the
heart of that body, his magazine is the backbone of that body,
his disciples are his bodily limbs, the collected hoards of money
are that body’s precious blood, but what constitutes the
consciousness, the essential supra-cognitive aspect of the
acarya’s eternal spiritual existence? One might proffer that his


consciousness is tantamount to his teachings, his personal
ecstasies expressed in the purports of his books. Who would
disagree? But then we should ask whether or not we have even
begun to understand the most basic of those teachings – that
we are not this body. The body of the spiritual master is not the
eternal cognizant essence of the spiritual master proper. The
spiritual master is not his body anymore than we are our
bodies. To say that the spiritual master’s institution is the body
of the spiritual master does not imply that the spiritual master’s
institution is the quintessence of the spiritual master’s
existence. So the conclusion should be that the institutional
“body” of the acarya is not to be equated with the acarya’s
cognitive, essential spirit – the eternal sampradayic truths.
Rather, the body is to be seen as merely the chariot of the soul.
The institution is a body through which the realizations of the
sampradayic soul are to be expressed. Service to the acarya’s
real self interest is not merely a bodily (institutional) affair; it is
to recognize, embrace, uphold, and disseminate the tenets of his
sampradaya’s highest ideology, an ideology expected to be
embodied by his institution.

From another angle, we may say that the body of the
acarya is factually identical with the acarya’s soul, at least in a
qualitative sense, in that the acarya’s body is fully absorbed in
yajna, sacrifice. Bramarpanam brahma havir, brahmagnau
brahmana hutam / brahmaiva tena gantavyam, brahma-karma-
samadhina (Bg. 4.24). All things connected with the
performance of sacrifice – the firewood, the fire, the ghee, the
offered grains, the officiating priest, the performer of sacrifice,
and the sacrifice itself – become merged in transcendence. They
become one in purpose, one in quality, as constituents of
Brahman via pure devotional yajna for the satisfaction of Visnu.
Things that are equal to the same thing are equal to each other.
So in that sense the body of the spiritual master is respected on
the same level as the spiritual master’s soul. Even if his body
becomes diseased or a portion of it becomes gangrenous, he
may still remain fully determined to engage the body in acts of
sacrifice. However, the spiritual master may observe that the
disease of his body is such that it unremittingly obstructs the


body’s reasonable absorption in yajna, by which it could viably
stand as a useful Brahman constituent of his existence, so much
so that he may blamelessly opt to discard his body as useless
for all practical purposes. If the body becomes in some way
contemptuous toward the spiritual master’s real pure
devotional ideal, or if the body becomes contemptible in the
eyes of the spiritual master, then what’s the use of such a body?
In other words, if the institutional “body” of the acarya becomes
deviated from its true purpose, in terms of the function intended
by the acarya’s sampradayic “soul,” then that body becomes
rejectable. We would have to question whether the institutional
body of the acarya is, in truth, fully engaged in yajna. To the
extent that the constituents of the acarya’s institutional body
are fully absorbed in yajna, to that extent they are spiritual.
Conversely, to the extent that they are deviated toward sundry
gross and subtle material pursuits or substandard, conditional
spiritual pursuits, to that extent they could hardly be
considered spiritually fit – or perhaps their legitimacy as actual
constituents should be dismissed. In other words, we should
sagaciously question whether the “constituents” that are
materially or in other ways conditionally absorbed are at all real
constituents of the spiritual master’s institutional body, or are
only apparent constituents having no genuine relation as parts
and parcels of the true form of the acarya’s institution although
seeming to be integrally related. Viewed sanely, they may be
deemed as reflections (pratibimba) of constituents, shadows
(chaya) of constituents, partial constituents, or perhaps
atrophied constituents.

If we accept the body of the acarya as qualitatively
identical to the soul within that body, we might analogously
conclude that the institutional body of the acarya should be
seen as identical to the acarya himself, the sampradaya’s pure
representative. We would then have to willingly admit that
those customarily seen as constituents of the institutional body
who are not purely absorbed in unalloyed devotional yajna as
per the ideals and standards of the acarya’s sampradaya could
hardly be accepted as parts of the acarya’s institution in the
true sense, although claiming to be or masquerading as such.


Granting that the acarya is a maha-bhagavata, an unalloyed
devotee of the Lord, the institution purported to be his body
would necessarily have to embody his ideals as a completely
spiritual manifestation of the purest sampradayic principles, as
an external exemplar of internal devotional substance,
qualitatively one with the acarya. If that were so, then wherever
we would see a dearth of unalloyed devotional substance, we
would have to question whether what we are seeing before us
is, in fact, the real form of the institution. Otherwise, since the
quality of the disciples is said to reflect the quality of the guru,
someone might wonder whether the institutional anomalies
represent impurities or a lack of qualification on the part of the
acarya himself. Hence, they who, though declaring institutional
membership, consciously or ignorantly undermine, either by
precept or by personal conduct, the true sampradayic standards
and decline to comply with the sampradaya’s ultimate purpose
of facilitating the total range of unalloyed devotional experience
in its members, could scarcely themselves be accepted as bona
fide representatives of the acarya’s institution. In other words,
we would have to very seriously question what or who actually
constitutes the institution of the acarya? Once again, we would
have to discerningly separate form from substance or spirit.

Why say that the institution is the body of the acarya?
Given that the acarya is the representative of Lord Caitanya, we
should be able to reasonably conclude that the institution is, in
fact, the body of Lord Caitanya. Yet, it is seen that, in the course
of His manifested earthly pastimes, Mahaprabhu
uncompromisingly dismissed His own devotees who deviated
from standard devotional proprieties. Similarly Advaita acarya
openly rejected a few of His own sons due to their preaching
erroneous conclusions. A son is considered an expansion of his
father’s own body. They were His sons; still, He unhesitatingly
disowned them. In the same way, if on account of sadly sensing
a spiritual impotence, a disciplic incompetence amongst its
membership, Mahaprabhu would deem an institution
established by any eminent representative of His acarya-
parampara effectually useless in the matter of practically
advancing His intended missionary objectives, He may see fit to

altogether discard or perhaps sideline the ineffective
community until (if and when) its half-slumbering constituents
eventually wake up, wise up, and actually take up and
powerfully preach the progressive path of beatified vraja-bhakti-
bhajana for the benefit of the world. Meanwhile, the pure broad-
minded souls adhering to the path illuminated by the expressed
ideals of the Gaudiya Acaryas, whether linked to this, that, or
any other branch of the Caitanya tree, institution or no
institution, will be selected and empowered by Lord Gauranga
to do the sampradaya’s real propagation work. They will be
credited with helping the Lord to fully expand His ten-thousand-
year golden era of maximum mercy within this darkest
nightmare Age of Kali, as the rest remain satisfied with an
ongoing mere semblance of the sampradaya’s legacy.

Sometimes the example is given that the Ganga, even
though filled with filthy debris (stool, corpses, factory waste,
and other assorted garbage), is still the Ganga. It is always pure,
no matter what. So in the same way, the acarya’s institution is
assumed to be always pure, even if it is burdened by many
impurities. But the stool floating in the Ganga is not the Ganga.
Neither are the dead bodies, the oodles of scattered plastic
bags, the laundry soap bubbles, the oil slicks, nor the other
abounding ungodly contaminants carried by the Ganga. The
Ganga is the Ganga. Whatever is impure or rejectable is brushed
aside or disregarded, and then we take our bath in the Ganga.
We don’t take our bath in the stool. We don’t take our bath in
the dead bodies. We take our bath in the Ganga. Ganga water
itself is pure. But if we were to make the mistake of thinking that
the corpses, stool, or other debris are identical with the Ganga,
are as venerable or as important as the Ganga, or are parts and
parcels of the Ganga, then our thinking would certainly be a
grand parade of sheer stupidity. The correct understanding of
the analogy should be as follows: The Ganga is analogous to the
sampradayic flow, not to the institution. The pure form of the
institution corresponds to an obstruction-free stretch of the
Ganga’s riverbed channeling the river’s (sampradaya’s)
powerful current. Superfluous stool, corpses, and garbage
represent various petty anarthas, while massive sand dunes,


crags, and dams correspond to more seriously obstructive
misconceptions, philosophical deviations, and exploitative
tendencies. The unalloyed sampradayic flow that is to be
channeled by an institution is certainly pure. The institution can
also be considered pure and wholesome to the extent that it
actually facilitates the free-flowing current of pure and powerful
sampradayic siddhanta. To that end, the various apasiddhantic
anomalies or non-devotional absurdities vexing an institution’s
state of affairs must be diligently circumvented or discarded by
a concerted institutional anartha-nivritti. At any rate, the bath is
not to be taken in the institution or in the various attending
anarthas. The bath is to be taken in the pure teachings of the
sampradaya obtained wherever we can fortunately gain the
association of genuine, highly enlightened sadhus. Then one will
make progress, becoming purified not by the institution per se
but by availing oneself of, adhering to, and serving the
progressive current of the sampradaya’s unalloyed devotional
teachings.

Another example: If there was no water in Radha-kunda,
who would be interested to go there for bath? A kunda without
water would hardly be considered a kunda. The steps leading
into the kunda facilitate our approach to the water, but if we
were to slip or trip on a loose stepping stone, we might fall on
our butt or break our head before having the chance to take a
dip. The idea is to take bath in the water, not in the steps.
Similarly, the institution is set up to facilitate our access to the
liquid mellows of the sampradayic truths. If we get hung up on
the institution to the point where we fail to honor the
sampradayic truths, then what would be the use of all the
gorgeous socio-institutional arrangements?

To further illustrate, a shower in a shower-room is called a
shower not because there is a nicely tiled shower stall with a
nice shower curtain and a first-class shower fixture, soap dish,
towel ring, and ingenious drainage system. Unless a shower of
water comes forcefully showering out of the shower’s shower
head, a “shower” would be a shower in name only. The
corresponding components of the analogy should be obvious. If
there is no water or just a trickle, who in their right mind would


sensibly accept it to be a shower? Similarly, regardless of
exhaustive institutional sophistication, if at the end of the day
we were to dejectedly notice a scarcity of high-level unalloyed
devotional instruction, or barely a dribble from the orifices of
the elegant institutional fixtures, how could we realistically infer
the presence of a full-force sampradayic flow?

It is not the institution that makes the sampradaya. The
sampradaya is not the institution. Sampradaya means school – a
school of thought, an angle of vision or approach to the
Absolute to be disseminated through the medium of an acarya-
parampara. If the institution preserves and aids endowment of
the pure teachings of the Acaryas to posterity, then the
institution, as a facilitator, is a viable instrument in the hands of
the sampradaya. It’s helping the sampradaya do its job. But if
the institution fails to recognize and responsibly fulfill the
ultimate purpose of the sampradaya’s very existence, the
institution becomes more or less worthless in that the
sampradaya’s true or ultimate legacy would be forbidden to flow
beyond the barrage of shoddy institutional cerebral
misconstructions and auxiliary convolutions thereof. Just as the
Ganga naturally seeks the path of least resistance, so also,
unsurprisingly, the sampradaya’s current flows wherever it finds
a channel unobstructed by the various categories of spiritual
inadequacy and mundane affinity.

Where lives the sampradaya? The sampradaya is not found
in the bricks and buttresses of a bunch of buildings. The
sampradaya is not recognizable simply by a blazing bodily tilaka
decoration or an institutionally standardized mode of attire. The
sampradaya is not the holding of a pompous board of baboons
expert at botching the business on behalf of the spiritual
master. The sampradaya is not a bluffing brigade. Actually, the
sampradaya remains with anyone who truly adheres to the
principles of unalloyed devotion and disseminates the esoteric
axioms of the Bhagavata in a way that powerfully transforms the
hearts of the conditioned souls so as to inspirationally bring
them to the path of unalloyed devotion. A person on the path of
unalloyed devotion has no purpose other than to attain the
spontaneous loving service of Radha and Krishna in the realm of


Vraja and help others do the same. Unless and until we wise up
and actually embrace this understanding of the purpose of Lord
Caitanya’s preaching movement and resolutely help to wholly
fulfill that purpose, there will be so much disturbance and
distress within the institutional fold.

Very often we hear dreadfully erroneous expositions of
abhidheya-vicara doggedly presented as if to preclude any
prospect of pursuing raganuga-bhajana, on the pretext of
protecting the praja from prying into places where the
presumed-to-be poor little fledglings shouldn’t venture –
explaining away the philosophy instead of explaining the
philosophy. Such may appear to be ecclesiastically expedient
but hardly satisfies the soul’s quest for truth. Of course, it may
temporarily serve to ward off inquiries beyond the “preacher’s”
explanatory power. However, by resorting to such impotent
dissertative travesty, one appears to be no better than a
blundering buffoon to individuals conversant with the shastric
conclusions. Preaching is the essence. There is no doubt about
that. Within the compass of any socially interrelating
institutional preaching complex, preaching in some way or
other, either by precept or by example, is virtually inescapable.
That is the significance of both good and bad association.
Atheists also ascend the lecterns to preach their conjectural
world view. It is not so much a question whether or not one is
preaching. Rather, it is more the matter of what is (or is not)
being preached. The intelligent relatively fixed-up disciples can
certainly glean the essence of the Acaryas’ teachings simply by
sincerely studying the shastras. Unfortunately, they then very
often become disappointed and discouraged by the well-
intended misguidance of some of their esteemed rather
neophyte “authorities” who, miserably misrepresenting the
conclusions of the Gaudiya Acaryas, confound the affairs,
thereby practically retarding the submissive disciples’ spiritual
growth by disallowing them to make the progress they really
need to make to actually achieve the ultimate goal of their
rarely attained human life. Time and tide linger for none, life
relentlessly slips through their fingers, and hundreds of


institutionally committed disciples devoid of any inkling of their
eternal constitutional vraja-svarupa clamor at death’s door.

Sometimes the sampradaya appears to broaden its
influence, manifesting many concurrent branches within or even
beyond the margins of any particular institutional milieu, as a
number of pure-hearted, spiritually empowered individuals
endeavor to propagate the correct, unadulterated bhagavata-
siddhanta. At other times, it appears that, due to a dearth of
qualified recipients, the sampradaya reposes its authority in a
singular individual who single-handedly preserves the
sampradaya’s pure spiritual legacy. Such an acarya may not be
at the helm of a huge institution supporting world-wide
missionary activities. Yet because he carries within his heart of
hearts the complete-whole manifestation of Lord Krishna along
with His antaranga-shaktis, he is quite fit to pass on the true
sampradayic tradition. Even though his pure teachings might be
rightly received by just a single qualified disciple, that one
disciple may in turn impress the same upon many. There is
ample precedence for this in the history of Gaudiya Vaisnavism.
Still, at other times, it may be seen that an acarya intentionally
establishes a nation-wide or world-wide institution to facilitate
large-scale propaganda work, but only a few or even only one
among his thousands of initiated disciples actually catch the
essential current of the sampradaya’s teachings and become
perfectly qualified to impart the pure esoteric sampradayic
principles to subsequent generations. That is also not unheard
of. It is understood from acarya-vani that upon contacting sad-
guru a disciple generally requires three lifetimes before coming
to the stage of ultimate perfection, vastu-siddhi. The spiritual
master’s different disciples are not on the same rung of bhakti’s
evolutionary ladder. Some of the disciples are in the course of
their first acquaintance with sad-guru. In this lifetime their
attempt to chant the Holy Name will be, more often than not,
fraught with offense. Owing to meager devotional fortitude, they
will not likely achieve the adhikara required to transcend
rudimentary devotional practices and so must intelligently
submit themselves to the force of stringent vaidhika rules and
regulations to have any devotional standing at all. Others are in


the course of their second attempt. Chanting namabhasa, they
will gradually gain steadiness and the eligibility to pursue the
path of raga. A few may progress to the terrace of bhava and
prema by chanting shuddha-nama, having come to their third
lifetime of service at the feet of sad-guru. After quitting the
present sadhaka-deha, they will be promoted to the prakata-lilas
of the Lord. The chronological sequence of initiation does not
necessarily correspond to the progressive levels of
advancement of the different disciples. Though the acarya’s
senior disciples might rightfully claim or demand the junior’s
customary respect, as per external protocol, the natural esteem
offered to first-class paramahamsas can be genuinely elicited
only when devotees of a discerning eye undoubtingly
acknowledge appreciable levels of practical renunciation
coupled with scripturally sound pure devotional expression.
Certainly, those who chant offensively, regardless of disciplic
seniority or institutional echelon, can hardly be accepted as
bona fide agents of the sampradayic flow. To be real, only an
elevated, spiritually endowed disciple, having achieved the
internal standing of a maha-bhagavata on the basis of shuddha-
nama-bhajana is substantially fit to act as an empowered agent
of the bhagavata-sampradaya. Such a spiritually qualified
individual, though not necessarily assuming any earth-
shattering external institutional hierarchical status, will, in fact,
timely and powerfully manifest the sampradaya’s profoundest
influence. In the interim, many others, institutionally “big” or
“small,” who are more or less preoccupied with varying degrees
of watered-down, exoterically intended philosophy that often
verily accommodate their own subtle or gross personal and
extended self-aggrandizing concerns and who maintain an
apathy toward unalloyed devotional absorption, though perhaps
very much institutionally involved, will effectively remain more
or less on the factual sampradaya’s periphery. When these
spiritually naive, siddhantically unapprised, or materially
ambitious “disciples” endeavor to climb the corporate
institutional ladder to access and occupy key administrative
positions for the purpose of pursuing their sundry ulterior
objectives, what institutional anomalous or farcical


consequences can we not expect? Would we deem sickly or
convalescing in-patients at a hospital to be part of the
established medical institution itself? Would it not be more
realistic to objectively regard them as clients having the good
opportunity to access the convenient medical facility offered by
the hospital? If an in-patient misinterprets or declines to follow
the doctor’s advice or if a patient without passable medical
training and experience decides to do quackery in the hospital’s
lobby, should we take such to be part of the hospital? Is an
attending student at a university to be taken as part of the
educational institution, or is the student simply the recipient of
the institution’s tutelage? Even if we posit the meaninglessness
of a university without students, would it be at all proper for an
upstart student bereft of adequate erudition and wisdom to
pompously profess to be a professor? If a psychiatric patient
having no clear recollection of his or her true identity
impersonates a psychiatrist, would we behold a pinnacle of
sanity? When money talks, everything walks. Bucks – the basis,
preaching – the excuse, futility – the principle, and, as one
might guess, purity (spiritual sanity) – a farce.

We can scarcely see among us deeply absorbed natural
paramahamsas possessed of markedly elevated transcendental
consciousness evinced by expressed mature spiritual insight
and discretion. Nor would we generally expect internally
immersed paramahamsa Vaishnavas to be very much attentive
to the nitty-gritty of direct hands-on institutional management.
Unsurprisingly, fate would often have it that by default various
less spiritually evolved individuals take the helm, even though
they may be unacquainted with – even virtually oblivious to –
the rasika culture of unalloyed devotion, as per the scientific,
systematic exposition of the vraja-bhakti paradigm seen in the
Acaryas’ writings. Still others, often owing to their assorted,
relatively handy material qualifications, are ceremoniously
taken on board as additional digits in the equation, though their
perceptions, conceptions, and judgments are relatively impure
in that they have yet to rise above the four defects of
conditional existence. We could hardly expect the majority of
an institution’s administrators to be on the highest perfectional


platform of Krishna consciousness. As such, canonical or
ecclesiastico-managerial decisions arrived at on the basis of
majority vote may often be fraught with material conception,
apasiddhanta, and compromise by dint of confusion, distortion,
mundane wrangling, or agnosticism devoid of sampradayic
authority, thus rendering the whole show relatively asara, or
useless. It is imperative, therefore, that the religio-institutional
administration have the integrity, willingness, and intelligence to
recognize and accept the salient advice of those impartial few
who are actually pure, spiritually elevated, free from false pride,
unenvious, and beyond the sway of material influences.

The idea that a body of executors dubbed the “ultimate
managing authority” of a societal organization be reckoned,
heralded, or broadly accepted as head of the socio-bodily
infrastructure of such a society is sheer misconstruction and a
flight of the imagination – a calamitous contravention of daivi-
varnashrama principia. Individuals displaying a passion for
administrative overlordship may brandish considerable
diplomatic dexterity in the matter of cleverly hoodwinking lay
practitioners into accepting the alleged legitimacy of various
covertly contrived ecclesiastical managerial maneuvers, but
mere spectacle of tactical proficiency hardly adds up to an air of
brahminical intelligence. Institutional governance is certainly
the prerogative of ksatriya-spirited devotees. In the scheme of
things, these devotees, who do far better when they comport
themselves as righteous rajarsis rather than as menacing
Mafiosi, basically serve as the arms of the institution. Their
function is to protect the society’s movable and immovable
assets, ensure economic stability, see that the various classes of
devotees are peacefully prosecuting their prescribed religious
duties, and curb the cheating propensity of the neophytes. A
rajarsi is considered a saintly administrator, however, on
account of his openness to respectfully abide by the good
counsel of truthful, qualified brahmarsis and advanced unalloyed
devotees of the Lord, who are not so managerially encumbered.
Any initiate acting in any social capacity may be regarded, on
one level or another, as some kind of Vaishnava. Even so, those
who are true brahmanas and paramahamsa Vaishnavas by


quality and work are undeniably the actual head of an
institution’s social set-up. A social body that either doesn’t have
or doesn’t recognize its head is like a ship adrift without its
rudder.

In an acarya’s physical presence, those acting as his zonal
secretaries, as well as diverse other executive representatives,
may easily receive guidance through his direct personal
instructions. An acarya himself acts as the society’s head,
directly approving or disapproving the actions of his society’s
managerial arms as he sees fit. An acarya may even see it
necessary to totally rescind the managerial authority personally
invested in his zonal representatives if the latter deviate from
his expressed will. Such a scenario is certainly not unheard-of.

But what happens after an acarya’s inopportune physical
demise? All his disciples may take refuge in his recorded vani to
gain inspiration and positive direction for advancing the cause
of Krishna consciousness. Still, it would be most unreasonable
to conclude that those somewhat managerially adept individuals
to whom the acarya had delegated certain arm-related
executive responsibilities should, in the acarya’s absence,
suddenly seek to assume the position of the society’s socio-
religious head. Likewise with the subsequently deputed new
generation of international, zonal, and local managers.

We could hardly think those possessed of supposed
executive-class intelligence tilting toward diplomacy,
compromise, duplicity, unjustifiable psychological coercion,
covert administrative wrangling, connivance, collusion, and
conspiracy for the forward march of various “Krishna
conscious” managerial agenda or political ambitions, to be
having a clearer, more advanced shastric perception of reality
than those who are impartial, managerially unencumbered, and,
in fact, to a much larger extent, brahminically occupied. The
attempt of managerially engrossed individuals lacking superior
brahminical transparency to administer institutional affairs
without respecting genuine brahminical counsel simply
perpetuates a socially imbalanced quasi-devotional society of
cheaters and cheated – bungling bhaktas who brainlessly buy
into the burgeoning business of bureaucratic befuddlement. To


show due deference to the spiritual needs of the individuals who
constitute the society, proper brahminical leadership must
always prevail over administrative concerns.

From the Vedic sociological standpoint, we might
mindfully deduce the following:

1) Brahmanas can be seen as spiritually and intellectually
qualified anarchists. To practically function in the capacity duly
prescribed for them in the shastras, they really require a
demilitarized ambience wherein they may peacefully and
creatively exercise their God-given right to be self-regulating,
independently thoughtful people. Naturally, the independence
afforded to them brings with it the highest constitutional
responsibility, namely selfless sacrifice in the direct service of
guru and Godhead.
2) Real ksatriyas are basically noble-minded God-
conscious monarchists. They are meant to rule their domains on
behalf of the brahmanas who in effect have factual dominion
over the world on behalf of Lord Krishna.
3) Vaishyas are theistic charitable capitalists.
4) Shudras are theocentric working-class socialists or
communists.


There is a place for anarchy in human society. There is a
place for monarchy in human society. So also is there a place for
capitalism and communism. The daivi-varnashrama cultural
paradigm scientifically accommodates these four dissimilar
social ideologies in perfect equilibrium under the one banner of
service to the Absolute. It is simply a matter of recognizing,
facilitating, and suitably balancing the needs of different kinds of
people. In view of social distinctions on the basis of diverse
individual psycho-physical dispositions, it would be
irresponsible on the part of any one section of society to
artificially impose a single ideology upon all. This would force a
state of stultification upon the social order. Similarly,
encroaching upon or crippling another’s God-given station
hinders the affected individual’s natural socio-constitutional
development. Members of an establishment erected to facilitate
the gradual progress of internal pure devotional absorption
(antaranga-bhakti) may in the beginning need to be externally or


conditionally engaged in light of various individual psycho-
physical requirements. To that end, many devotees, while
inwardly striving to cultivate pure devotional sentiments, may
outwardly appear to be socially stationed on the basis of
varnashrama considerations that naturally demand certain
prescribed social limitations. One who has achieved a profound
taste for pure devotional practices is in fact no longer obliged to
strictly abide by external varnashrama laws. Vidhi-dharma
chadi’ bhaje krisnera carana / nisiddha papacare tara kabhu
nahe mana. “Although the pure devotee does not follow all the
regulative principles of varnashrama, he worships the lotus feet
of Krishna. Therefore he naturally has no tendency to commit
sin.” (Cc. Madhya 22.142) For such a sadhaka, who is actually
beyond mundane designations and their concomitant
varnashrama obligations, adherence to varnashrama prescripts
is optional. However, as long as one has yet to achieve shuddha-
nama-ruci, as long as one is likely to pursue material desires, in
other words, as long as one’s engagement on the basis of
psycho-physical considerations is an issue, even though one
may pride oneself to be a Vaishnava having received
pancaratrika-diksa, or even if one happens to truly be a jata-ruci
Vaishnava but has preferred to mercifully profile as a social
exemplar, one must respectfully submit to the constraints upon
one’s external status to avoid an escalation of adverse
communal anomalies. Pure Vaishnavas doing the needful to
further the cause of Krishna consciousness may externally act
in any social capacity. Still, when acting as brahmanas, they
must externally adhere to brahminical codes of conduct; when
acting in the administrative capacity as ksatriyas, they must
honorably abide by the standard social etiquette prescribed for
ksatriyas; and when acting as vaishyas or shudras, they must
similarly follow appropriate social protocol. Noncompliance
would be rather roguish. Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself
declared, naham vipro na ca nara-patir napi vaishyo na shudro
naham varni na ca griha-patir no vana-stho yatir va . . . gopi-
bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah. “I am neither a
brahmana, nor a ksatriya . . . The only designation that I wish to
accept is that of a servant of the servant of the servant of

Krishna.” He was transcendentally situated. Yet, externally as a
sannyasi, He very strictly followed the religious duties of the
sannyasa order so as not to effect a decline of social standards.
Harmonious social interdependence and cooperation within any
Vedic cultural institution can come into view only when the
different classes of individuals involved sensibly honor the
specialties and diverse social parameters of each and every
aspect of the daivi-varnashrama system.

Amalgamation of administrative and brahminical functions
is quite objectionable. Even if provisory modifications in the
social complex are justified by force of emergency
circumstances, they would hardly be deemed ideal. Division of
labor is actually required – and for a very good reason. It is not
that individuals functioning in the arms capacity, though they
may be Vaishnavas, should doggedly insist on also acting as the
head, as if there’s no need to acknowledge the presence of
distinguished brahminically qualified Vaishnavas. Nor should
they act as though there is no need for a social head. Nor should
they imagine that a governing body of flapping arm-like
managerially engaged individuals constitutes the highest religio-
institutional headship. If for no other reason than to set a proper
example to benefit others, Vaishnavas playing the part of
administrators (ksatriyas), though perhaps internally very
elevated, should nevertheless attune to their social role in toto
by externally paying due deference to the counsel of devotees
acting in the brahminical capacity. There is ample precedence
for this in the examples of great Vaishnava kings such as
Maharaja Janaka, Maharaja Ambarisa, Maharaja Yudhisthira,
and others. Celebrated saintly ksatriyas appearing in the solar
dynasty extending from Manu to Maharaja Iksvaku and others,
though highly competent to act as gurus in parampara, having
received through disciplic succession the highest conclusions of
the Gita, nonetheless paid humble homage to the brahmanas.
Even the Supreme Guru, Lord Krishna, and Lord Ramacandra,
playing the part of ksatriyas, in the course of Their lilas
deferentially honored and sought the good counsel of qualified
brahmanas to demonstrate the principle by Their own example.
Again, eligible individuals who intend to act in the brahminical


or head-like capacity should voluntarily relinquish arm-like
administrative designations and engagements to accept higher
social responsibilities and, within the context of the institutional
setting, independently situate themselves in such a way that
they can practically function as a clear-thinking head without
being swayed by the temptation to pursue diplomatic affairs
and the like. They should focus on purely brahminical activities
and as far as possible keep themselves aloof from managerial
entanglements and various political exploits so that they may
have the clear-sightedness and purity of heart needed for truth
to spotlessly manifest in their intelligence. Pathana pathana
yajana yajana dana pratigraha – these are the brahminical
engagements, and it is by observable degrees of proficiency in
the execution of these brahminical duties combined with
qualities such as those mentioned in the Gita (shamo damas
tapah shaucam . . .) that the measure of an individual’s
brahminical aptitude is to be appreciated. Brahminically
inclined devotees should be allowed to free themselves from
those activities which tend to deter them from their resolute
absorption in pure brahminical culture. By culture of
appropriate activities consistent with brahminical standards,
they may easily augment their personal purity, achieve
respectability as trustworthy representatives of pure spiritual
values, and gain the recognition and confidence of the
subordinate sections of society. With due respect to all the
prabhus, the current breakdown of love and trust in the society
of devotees is basically attributable to the recurring, unbridled,
Machiavellian dastardly hypocritical deeds of the (what is now
ceremoniously palmed off as) religio-institutional leadership.
The simple truth is that unless an independent, self-reliant
brahminical entity is established beyond the control of the
institutional governing body, there really is no viable, socially
operative, shastrically warranted religio-institutional headship or
armship.

A brahmana’s principal quality of truthfulness may easily
become compromised if he allows himself to come under the
control of the administrative class. His cooperation with an
institution’s administration does not at all require his


subjugation by executive authority, provided he adheres to the
brahminical codes of conduct. Mutual cooperation, as an
expression of love for the institutional founder-acarya, obliges
the executors to execute the will of the brahmanas under the
edicts and precepts of the acarya – not that frank and honest
brahmanas are minimized, affronted, and dominated by the
marshal-spirited managers who in turn flatteringly court the
easily corruptible, money-mad, business-brained, vaishya-like
neophytes and so forth. It is not that a contingency of
opportunistic so-called brahmanas shall be kept under the
thumb of the executors, like pets for interpretively screwing out
“shastric evidence” to momentously suit and justify purposely
perpetrated apasiddhantic, communally imbalanced “party-line”
miscomputations. Just as an acarya’s book trust, though
fashioned to fulfill certain institutional objectives, may be
constituted as an independent managerial authority beyond the
jurisdiction of the institution’s governing body – just as other
trusts such as M.V.T. may be similarly constituted in
collaboration with their mother institution – so in the same way,
a brahminical advisory entity to which a governing body must
be held accountable may also be established above and beyond
the jurisdiction of the institution’s governing body. If the head-
like brahminical council is subordinated by the arm-like
governing body, there is every likelihood that the former may
be headlocked or bullied by the latter into resignedly espousing
the administration’s often-half-baked discombobulated party-
line policies instead of being allowed to stand up independently
for truth, to which the administration must sensibly submit. In
accordance with the principles of varnashrama-dharma, the
governing body (an administrative entity) must be answerable
to the consensus of a brahminical council. The legs are intended
to carry the body under the direction of the head. The belly is to
nourish the entire body to help fulfill the purpose of the body’s
very existence, which is to be ascertained by the head. The
arms are to protect the body’s existence under the guidance of
the head. It is the head, not the arms, belly, or legs, that decides
the purpose and right direction of the socio-institutional body at
large. It is not that the governing-body bureaucrats should


misconstrue the term “ultimate managing authority” to mean
“ultimate authority,” erroneously posing themselves as the
ultimate indubitable institutional overlords. It is not that
devotees acting in an administrative or ruling capacity don’t
need to seek the approbation and blessings of those devotees
who are by and large brahminically occupied. Second-class
intelligent managers are not the ultimate authority in Vedic
society. First-class intellectual brahmana Vaishnavas are the
ultimate guiding authority as per the daivi-varnashrama
blueprint.

Just as an acarya during his physical presence checks the
behavior of his zonal secretaries, so too in the acarya’s absence,
an independently powerful purely brahminical intelligentsia
must be recognized and solidly established to advise, correct, or
even, when required, disband or dethrone the executive
oligarchy when the latter strays from the unequivocal directives
of guru, sadhu, and shastra. Our founder-acarya, seeing the
topsy-turvy Kali-yuga condition of the world, repeatedly
expressed the need to train up qualified brahmanas to assume
the role of social head in order to rectify the ills of a present-day
misdirected state of human affairs. To this end, it may be
assumed that he tried his level best. To advocate that the
establishment of an institution’s brahminical head is in any way
unfeasible is to suggest that either there really is no need for a
body to have a head after all, or that perhaps certain individuals
are attached to a scheme of unbridled institutional dominance,
erroneously thinking that Vaishnavas, who are above
varnashrama, need not conform to varnashrama protocol while
managerially “doing the needful,” or else that the acarya’s
attempt to create a class of spiritually intelligent brahmanas to
guide society was unsuccessful. However, considering his
probable success, they who would be capable of offering
guidance to the whole of greater humanity would certainly be
qualified to positively advise the administrative-class executors
of his relatively tiny institution. One might incisively question
the likelihood of reestablishing a head on a macrocosmic human
society if we ourselves could not even practicably implement
the principle on a microcosmic scale. If a religio-institutional


exemplar of daivi-varnashrama society could not be practically
established, then from what living example of the thing would
humanity at large have to draw? Moreover, if we were to
surmise that the acarya was unable to train up qualified
brahmanas, how could we ever think him successful in the
matter of creating self-effulgent paramahamsa Vaishnavas fit to
model as successor sampradayic Acaryas, transcendental to the
sattvic brahminical qualifications in every respect? It should not
be concluded, however, that “because I’m not very much
spiritually advanced or qualified, none other could possibly be
more advanced or qualified than me” – atmavan manyate jagat.

From the onset of Kali-yuga, brahmanas as a class lost
their headship credibility in the eyes of the subordinate social
divisions as a result of a general increase of religious hypocrisy
and crass, self-centered petty materialism abounding
particularly among those who laid claim to hereditary
brahmanism. Yet simply by sidelining the brahmanas with a
view to arbitrarily administer political affairs, the ksatriyas, who
were no less affected by Kali’s influences, could not sustain the
trust of the similarly dishonest and increasingly selfish Kali-yuga
vaishyas, who in turn sought by various capitalistic maneuvers
to overthrow the self-indulgent hegemonic so-called ksatriya
overlords. And, of course, as history would have it, the shudras
and sundry other humanoid social degenerates, unable to
tolerate the exploitative monkey business of the merchants and
money changers, revolted against their exploiters to uppishly
establish their own brand of hedonistic honesty among thieves.
That’s just the way the Kali-yuga cookie crumbled. However,
despite all that, it was not at all the acarya’s intention that the
Kali-yuga derangement of the varnashrama system should
persist – at least not in the context of a controlled socio-
religious institutional environment. If we are to accept that all
the acarya’s disciplic descendants are Vaishnavas simply by
dint of nama and mantra initiation, and that being a Vaishnava
transcendental to varnashrama considerations renders the call
to externally honor traditional daivi-varnashrama social protocol
null and void even while one advantageously occupies various
socio-religious incumbencies, then why waste our invaluable


time discussing and discussing the acarya’s presumably
insightful instructions concerning the apparently practical
institutional and trans-institutional inculcation of daivi-
varnashrama behavioral standards? Why pay lip-service to the
organization of society in terms of the varnashrama scheme of
societal divisions unless we are willing to exercise the humility,
discrimination, and appropriate determination needed to honor
and follow the attendant inter-class etiquette?

At the end of the day, unless one’s adherence to daivi-
varnashrama-dharma in some way promotes a fondness for
hearing, chanting, and remembering Radha-Krishna’s madhurya-
lila-guna-rupa-nama, unless it enables one to become cognizant
of one’s eternal constitutional relationship with the Lord of
Vraja, moreover, unless all such external psycho-physical bodily
regulation actually helps to bring one to the point of love of
Godhead on the fully self-realized platform, then shrama eva hi
kevalam – the whole affair is simply so much useless endeavor,
leading only to the formation of another material body. Let
everyone immediately get off the material platform and focus
exclusively on the internal culture of unalloyed devotion,
bearing very little if any concern for the rules and regulations of
varnashrama-dharma. Eta saba chadi’ ara varnashrama-dharma
akincana hana laya Krishnaika-sharana. “Without hesitation, one
should take exclusive shelter of Lord Krishna with full
confidence, giving up bad association and even neglecting the
regulative principles of the four varnas and four ashramas. That
is to say, one should abandon all material attachment.” (Cc.
Madhya 22.93) Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam
vraja – the most basic ABCD’s of spiritual life. Reestablishment
of varnashrama principles in society, though organizationally
useful and important on one level as far as institutional progress
or Vedic social intercourse goes, is quite secondary and even
superfluous to the culture of unalloyed devotion. It is neither the
primary concern of the Acaryas nor the goal of the Gaudiya-
sampradaya’s teachings. The Acaryas’ primary objective is to
propagate love of Godhead, vraja-prema, via the process of
nama-sankirtana, and their secondary objective is to reestablish
varnashrama-dharma. Even if it is circumstantially found that an


institution’s bureaucracy deviates in various ways from the
pursuit of these primary and secondary sampradayic or
institutional objectives, even if Kali’s clerically cloaked secret
agents infiltrate various echelons of the institutional
establishment to subvert, hijack, or derail the Krishna
consciousness movement, that will not dissuade the faithful
sara-grahi Vaishnavas, however obscure or unassuming they
may be, from pursuing and, whenever required, overtly or even
covertly preaching the principles of raga-marganugamana-
prema-dharma. Perhaps only a very few who will be associated
with them will fortunately catch the real idea and become
adequately qualified to carry forth the progressive current of
the sampradaya’s rasa-imbued heritage.

Many will be pleased to prostitute the pure devotional
principles for affectedly dignified, institutionally
conventionalized substandard objectives which accommodate
conditional devotional, mixed devotional, quasi-devotional, or
non-devotional attachments. Some would be happy just to get
the hell out of this hellhole and go to Vaikuntha. Others would
be gratified to go to heaven. Some are more than happy to
hoard their collected guru-daksina in their secret Swiss bank
accounts. Others, keen on contractual so-called devotional
engagements, are rapaciously bent on bringing home their
monthly wage packets (Ooops! I mean their grihastha
“maintenance allowances”). Anyway, however we euphemize
the thing, they get their padded positions – their hearth and
home, their conveyances, and their promised pensions upon
retirement. The institution becomes practically like any other
materialistic corporate establishment. It may be pragmatically
convenient to contractually bind people in order to ensure an
externally impressive illusion of managerial success, but in
terms of generating an atmosphere of pure, unconditional
devotion, it does no more than increase our indigestion.
Nevertheless, it’s easier to pay people to do the jobs than to
engage them in acts of pure devotion. So it looks like the jobs
are getting done. The floors are getting swept; the Deities’ bhoga
offerings are getting cooked; the puja is being covered; the
funds are being raised. There is even a semblance of


institutional management. However, no one gets the benefit of
entering an atmosphere that is surcharged with unconditional
devotion, simply because the pure devotional energy is most
conspicuously lacking. Performing services with a view to
gaining material amenities hardly even constitutes karma-yoga,
what to speak of bhakti. Some individuals, making excuses for
themselves, are simply satisfied with short-term genital
infatuations on the plea of “Krishna conscious” home life. Still
others boldly campaign for the institutional ratification of
“Krishna conscious” homosexuality, and so on and so forth.

When an individual or the consensus or joint action of a
body of individuals accords with the principles of sampradaya
as per the decisions of guru, sadhus, and shastras, then only will
the words and deeds of such individuals elicit our
commendation and compliance. Conversely, it would be most
indecorous of an individual or body of individuals deviating in
various ways from standard sampradayic conclusions,
regardless of ecclesiastico-administrative bearing, to expect or
demand anyone’s unreserved avowed allegiance. Our fealty
shall be to the service of truth, not to the service of rationalized
philosophical misconstruction.

Everything is undoubtedly orchestrated by the Supreme
Controller to mete out the various circumstantial requirements
of every devotional candidate. It is not by chance or for no good
reason that one soul gets genuine sadhu-sanga and another has
to hear from an avowed institutional charlatan. We all have to
go through our various positive and negative learning
experiences. No one can avoid cooperating, in some way or
another, with the Lord’s greater cosmic arrangement. However,
it should be noted that one result is attained by directly
supporting the Lord’s unimpeded munificence and another by
indirectly serving as His cheating agent. It is not that, because
we have “joined” a maha-bhagavata’s promising spiritual
institution (society), we cannot become cheaters, we cannot
dull-headedly or mischievously mislead or under-edify people.
“Jaya Gurudeva! Jaya Gurudeva!” But are we actually guiding
them properly? Or are we cheating them by not allowing them
to see what the sampradaya actually intends to teach. Years and


years are wasted in misconception, both for the cheaters and
for the cheated. And then, maybe, if one is fortunate (bhagyavan
jiva), one miraculously stumbles upon someone who can
actually elucidate the essential import of the shastras and
mercifully offer proper internal devotional direction from the
realized platform. Regardless of the extent to which the prakrita-
bhaktas and other show-bottle miserly institutional ignoramuses
pride themselves to be satisfied that whatever they’re doing on
the basis of ulterior personal motives is in some way gratifying
to the ego, mind, senses, or whatever, the true fact is that they
will, in due course, eventually, in some lifetime or another,
dejectedly recognize that their soul has not been satisfied. They
have not become prasannatma. Watered-down philosophy
means watered-down result. Watered-down result means they
are cheated and cannot become fully joyful. Becoming
sufficiently frustrated, they may then, sooner or later,
fortunately come to the position of crying out to Krishna and
honestly begging for the real thing in all humility.

Wherever we will find a realized exemplar of the full array
of unalloyed devotional wisdom, there we will behold a perfectly
holistic representative of Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement.
It may be argued that “Well, we, on various levels, are all
representing the movement in the making.” “Movement in the
making” means to progressively move the bungling bhaktas
from the position of unaccomplishment to the position of
accomplishment, from imperfection to perfection, from impurity
to purity. The idea is that the movement is like a hospital
gradually moving everyone toward the healthy pure devotional
ideal – not that one should idealistically expect everyone in the
hospital to be perfectly healthy and pure. That’s all right. We
shouldn’t unjustly cast aspersions upon the sincere patients
(sadhakas), though they, with all their frailties, have yet to be
fully disinfected. The point, though, is that the doctor should be
healthy and pure. The movement’s Acaryas (leaders) coming in
the acarya-parampara should be pure and self-realized. It is not
that there shall be no subsequent generations of Acaryas. All the
disciples are instructed to come up to the decontaminated,
liberated standard of acarya. The offenseless shuddha-nama-

bhajana/sankirtananandi practically manifesting the pure
attributes of an acarya, who clearly ascertains, follows, and,
from the realized position, propagates the scriptural
conclusions, as per the decisions of the previous Acaryas, is to
be considered a truly viable link in the sampradaya’s disciplic
succession. There really can be no feasible makeshift or stopgap
“blind uncle” vicar. Disciplic succession means from acarya to
acarya or Acaryas, not from acarya to umpteen gazillion
blockheads who, being too spiritually gutless to grasp the
recognized esoteric method of unalloyed devotional realization,
prefer to parade about, presumably on the plea of para-upakara,
preaching any retarded shabby so-called philosophy that
blunderbusses out from their internally bankrupt, institutionally
bamboozled, busy-bodying brainlessness.

Just as the series of crystal-clear lenses of a telescope
brings a distant image within the purview of our eyes, in the
same way, a sampradaya’s transcendental heritage is brought
into the scope of our understanding through a transparent
medium, the chain of pure and spiritually potent
representatives of the acarya-parampara. Dusty, foggy, flawed,
warped, or impotent lenses will not do. A chain is as clear and
reliable as its faultiest lens. To act as transparent medium
means to allow others to clearly perceive the descending
radiance of the bhagavata-siddhanta by purely exemplifying the
perfect application of the principles of bhagavata-dharma (as
per sambandha-abhidheya-prayojana-vicara) on the basis of
scriptural evidence and personal attainment. acarya, in the
Gaudiya line, really means one who is fully Krishna conscious,
who purely teaches the path of unalloyed devotional conduct
(both external and internal) by personally imbibing and
practically demonstrating the unalloyed, unconditional loving
devotional ideals of a Vrajavasi. Whether a nitya-siddha avatara
appears in this world as an acarya, or a sadhana-siddha, having
attained perfection in a previous life, is reborn by the will of the
Lord to act as acarya in the service of the sampradaya, or one or
more individuals in the present life gain the spiritual fitness to
exemplify the principles of vraja-prema-dharma for the benefit of
others, the role of sampradayic acarya is not a matter of


purity, and where there is purity coupled with
realized siddhanta-based raga-mayi unalloyed devotional
expression, rubber-stamping or no rubber-stamping, there we
may hope to see the actual current of the sampradaya.
institutional rubber-stamping. There’s no question of
institutional rubber-stamping. The rubber-stamping of gurus is,
in fact, quite against the principles of sampradaya. It indicates
neither purity nor high-caliber Krishna consciousness. There
actually has to be

No amount of institutional legislation has ever in the past
ensured that the budding disciples will not get any other than
sad-guru, nor does such presently offer any reasonable
assurance to that effect, nor can such ever feasibly promise a
foolproof approach to sad-guru in the future. Glaring testimony
of this statement rests in the much-less-than-unblemished post-
founder-acarya institutional track record. What more need be
said? One gets sad-guru by the grace of God. Having
accumulated suitable sukriti by lifetimes of inadvertent contact
with agents of bhakti, a fortunate jiva becomes inclined toward
the service of the Absolute. When Krishna, who is seated as
Paramatma within the heart, directing the wanderings of every
living entity since time immemorial, deems one the object of His
mercy, then only, by His arrangement, is it possible for one to
get the feet of sad-guru – not otherwise. By the mercy of
Krishna, one gets guru, and by the mercy of a genuinely
elevated Vaishnava guru, one gets Krishna. The institutional
rubber-stamping of guru as well as the recurrently observed
herding of unsuspecting fledgling devotional candidates into
institutionally endorsed liaison with chic-awash, locally lionized,
ecclesiastically rubber-stamped guru figure-heads simply boasts
of a preposterously overestimated shot at managerially
manipulating, governing, or meddling with the entirely
independent will of the Absolute. In reality, though, God’s will is
quite beyond the grip of any theocracy’s ostensibly ironclad
administrative edicts. Those who are God-sanctioned to get the
feet of sad-guru will definitely succeed by dint of Providence’s
inscrutable transcendental system – even without the “aid” of
materially concocted religio-legislative contrivances. And,
despite all the well-intended precautionary legislation, those not


destined to get sad-guru in the present life, though associated
with one or another preaching organization, will be frustrated
time and again, even after repeated futile attempts. Of this there
is ample precedence. The shining example of devotees
authentically empowered by Krishna-shakti to undeviatingly
represent the teachings of the predecessor Acaryas will itself
suffice to satisfy all institutional requirements. Aspiring
sampradayic adherents need only be siddhantically edified and
alerted as to the standard shastric criteria for ascertaining the
fitness of guru. That much institutional governance is legitimate.
Deviants and imposters will automatically be shunned and fall
into disrepute. No amount of artificially imposed ecclesial
governance in the matter of guru appointment under any
clumsy pretext can change for half a hair-breadth the God-
sanctioned progress of a jiva’s sojourn through eternal time. To
advocate otherwise on the plea of administrative safeguard and
quality-control is to indecorously vaunt one’s lack of faith in the
inescapable will of the Supreme and the Acaryas’ actual
instructions concerning the principles of disciplic succession.

It is not enough to proficiently engage the unapprised, sub-
devotional, ass-like neophytes in preliminary sub-religious
purificatory processes. Outwardly epitomizing the strict
adherence to rudimentary vaidhi devotional codes of conduct
alone is not sufficient to qualify anyone as an acarya in the real
sense. Certainly the bona fide bhagavata-acarya has the
enormous task of gradually uplifting two-legged animals to a
reasonable semblance of religious life, but the onus does not
culminate in merely instituting semi-devotional or obligatory
devotional regimentation on the foundation of stereotyped
external religious formulae. An acarya must have the fitness to
elevate the disciple to the pinnacle of ultimate raga-mayi
spontaneous devotional perfection. He himself must exemplify
the standard of unalloyed devotional perfection as inspirational
living proof that the process of rupanuga-bhajana actually
works, that transcendence or divine consciousness is practically
achievable. A language instructor does not merely teach his
students the alphabet. There’s also spelling, grammar,
composition, style, syntax, and so forth. Similarly, a bona fide


sampradayic agent must be competent to offer advanced
instruction to further enlighten the more eligible graduate and
post-graduate disciples. A disciple could hardly hope to reach
the stage of para bhakti for the attainment of life’s ultimate
objective under a neophyte’s insufficient guidance. The velocity
of a disciple’s pure devotional progress is an individual affair,
contingent upon preexisting and presently acquired types and
levels of shraddha. It is not the duty of an acarya to hinder the
advancement of a progressive student by insisting upon the
latter’s exclusive confinement to the regulative principles of
vaidha-sadhana. With all due respect, vaidhi bhakti, being
considerably encumbered and constrained under the sway of
aishvarya-jnana (knowledge of Krishna’s supremacy) and
encroached upon by scriptural injunctions together with
argument, intellection, analysis, and ascription, is not real
bhakti. It is not para bhakti or kevala-bhakti in the real sense.
Unless one comes to the platform of para bhakti, one’s devotion
to guru and Krishna cannot be considered real. Vaidhi bhakti as
applied in the context of Rupanuga Vaisnavism serves only as a
threshold to the house of real bhakti. It is merely a rudimentary
apprenticeship, meant to offer the kanistha-adhikaris a
preliminary footing on the devotional path. It is not that we are
to remain indefinitely on the prakrita platform as life-long
kanistha-adhikaris with no higher superlative devotional idea.
Bhakti that is characterized by the unconditional endeavor to
please Krishna, to love Him because His personality is so
unlimitedly enchanting and lovable, simply because He is the
way He is, the sweetest of all sweets, regardless of whether or
not He is, in fact, the Supreme Personality of Godhead – that is
real bhakti. Real bhakti, para bhakti, is none other than raga-
mayi spontaneous devotion, and raganuga-sadhana-bhakti is
unarguably a necessary bridge to the plane of spontaneous
raga-mayi realization.

Real bhakti is solely the prerogative of the raga-bhakta.
Any expression of devotion to guru and Krishna not based on
raga cannot be accepted as a real devotional expression,
because the devotion on which the expression is based is not
actually real devotion. It is obligatory, fear-impelled ritualistic


devotion, which does not lend itself to the natural, free-flowing
spontaneous loving attraction of the heart toward the
confidential service of Krishna and His dearest devotees. The
acarya may graciously hear and accept a neophyte disciple’s
relatively sincere but rather sentimental childish glorifications
to encourage his disciple’s gradual devotional progress.
Moreover, an aging kanistha-adhikari posing as an intimate
associate of the acarya may naturally take pride in nostalgically
reminiscing about the guru’s past inter-personal dealings, as far
as a tenaciously life-long neophyte’s paltry perception of reality
permits. Yet unless and until one comes to the pure cognition of
one’s ultimate internal raga-mayi relationship with sad-guru, in
consonance with the intrinsic nitya-dharma of the soul as an
eternal denizen of Vraja-dhama, any air of allegiance to or
appreciation of the acarya, the acarya-parampara, or the
acarya’s sampradayic legacy must be considered relatively
petty, shallow, or superficial. As such, apart from the unalloyed
devotee established on the platform of para bhakti or real,
spontaneous raga-mayi devotion, no one would be accepted as a
perfect and complete siddhantically comprehensive and very
real representative of the Rupanuga-sampradaya. Delineation of
the principles of vaidhi bhakti constitutes merely a tiny fraction
of Shri Caitanya’s teachings. If one does not pursue the path of
real devotion, raga-bhakti, and if one does not purposely
endeavor in the course of one’s preaching to encourage others
to surpass the kanistha stage, to upgrade to the path of raga-
bhakti, then it cannot be said that one is viably representing the
tenets of the Gaudiya-sampradaya. To genuinely represent the
Gaudiya-sampradaya as per the principles of rupanuga-dharma,
one must, through the process of extensive hearing about
Krishna’s vraja-lilas and all relevant topics, from the stage of
shravana-dasha, first allow oneself to become attracted to the
sweetest prospect of realizing an intimate relationship with
Vrajendra-nandana Krishna. Then, with intense greed, great
enthusiasm, strong conviction, and one-pointed determination,
one must, following one’s own intrinsic inclination toward one of
the vraja-bhavas, transcend the conditional, vidhi-dependent
kanistha-adhikara and come to the position of firmly embracing


the principles of raganuga-sadhana-bhakti from the stage of
acceptance (varana-dasha) in the madhyama-adhikara. By deep
internal cultivation, characterized by intensified hearing,
chanting, and increasingly constant recollection of Radha and
Krishna’s names, forms, qualities, and pastimes, one can verily
gain the appropriate raga-mayi-bhava as one’s sadhya (apana-
dasha). Then, as a bhavuka or premika maha-bhagavata, from
the realized position, having attained the desired outcome
(sadhya), namely spontaneous loving devotion based on raga or
attraction to the beauty and sweetness of Krishna in His loving
dealings with the Vrajavasis, one can powerfully propagate the
bhagavata-siddhanta in such a way as to positively inspire
adequately fortunate conditioned souls to abandon all
occupations save and except the cultivation of loving service to
the lotus feet of Radha and Krishna on the basis of the
attractiveness of the vraja-lilas and the superlative nature of the
principles of supra-mundane raga. To say nothing of the true
function of various illustrious institutions established on behalf
of the Gaudiya-sampradaya, ultimately, the total material
creation is an institution set up simply to directly and indirectly
facilitate a few fortunate souls’ eventual highest attainment of
the vraja-lilas. To preach raga-marg-bhakti, the path of vraja-
bhakti-bhajana, to the world via the prema-nama-sankirtana
movement of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is to effectuate the
purpose of the entire creation.

If neophyte devotees cannot at least begin to appreciate
the elementary example of compassion toward others, as shown
by Prahlada Maharaja’s expressed anxieties for the fools of this
external realm, then how could we expect them to fathom the
ocean of premika compassion abounding in the topmost
devotees’ transmundane eroticism in the supreme realm of
Vraja? Can a kindergarten pupil understand calculus or
trigonometry? It is necessary for the externally oriented novices
to observe the principle of compassion directed externally
toward the realm easily identifiable to them owing to their own
horrific experiences of material entanglement. Then it may be
possible for them to gradually come to recognize and serve the
superlative, internally applied aspect of the same principle,


appreciable only from a platform of considerable purification.
That is an indispensable part of our basic training. In that sense,
for a novice, earnest engagement in the Lord’s external
preaching mission under rudimentary rules and regulations may
certainly function as a prerequisite for future high-grade internal
bhajana. If, however, one does not intelligently come to the
position of meticulously culturing the internal raganuga-bhava,
then preaching Krishna consciousness remains for the most part
an external affair, a kind of showbottle-ism in the name of
Krishna consciousness. The put-on sankirtana smile may appear
to be temporarily useful in the matter of eliciting an immediate
favorable response from a naive or good-natured audience, but
unless one is actually blissful, having achieved the ananda-maya
status of apana-dasha, attaining the genuine experience of one’s
constitutional spiritual sthayi-bhava as a result of spiritual
trance (samadhi), one’s make-show preaching won’t effectively
generate in others the ruci required to sustain long-term pure
devotional service on the basis of powerfully inculcated spiritual
substance. Nor will it directly foster the preacher’s own ultimate
premika absorption in the moods of Vraja.

It is often rabidly sermonized that “Higher than living in
Vrindavana for one’s personal benefit is to leave Vrindavana for
the benefit of others,” the conclusion naturally being
“Therefore, get out of Vrindavana and PREACH!” Placing the
lotus feet of my spiritual master upon my humbled head, I dare
to offer a few of my observations in this connection. It should be
obvious to any sober-minded devotee that the acarya’s
instructions to this end stand not as a mandate to abandon the
Vrindavana “comfort zone” but rather as a directive to abandon
the self-centeredness of pursuing one’s personal benefit
(material or spiritual) while neglecting the practical cultivation
of the adi-vrajavasis’ sublime para-upakara mood of helping
others become spiritually enriched. Once again, it is the
attitude, the consciousness more so than the action, that is
under scrutiny. Because the endeavor to benefit others is based
on a higher selfless devotional mind-set than performance of
devotional service simply for one’s personal gain, the former,
whether done in or out of the dhama, would in principle


naturally ascend to a markedly more elevated platform. It would
serve us well to remember that our guru-maharaja, Srila A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, after having spent nine
preparatory years in Vrindavana, went out to benefit the people
of the western world as a fully self-realized spiritual master; not
as a “fake it till you make it” relatively unimpressive, struggling
neophyte of a superficially polished cyber-preacher, having little
if any actual cognition, by way of divine revelation, as to the
details regarding his highest potential vraja-svarupa. For the
most part, we have seen over the years that many devotees of
every rank, for diverse reasons, tend to leave, nay, rather flee
from Vrindavana, not for powerfully preaching Krishna
consciousness all over the world, but for pursuing their various
personal and extended personal material requirements. I do not
prefer to expand very much upon this point, for fear of
drastically increasing the bulk of this book. Suffice to say, on
account of maintaining sundry gross and subtle material
attachments, one would certainly be deprived of the actual
internal experience of the dhama even while residing here.
Would it not then be rather presumptuous to expect that the
mere semblance of a devotee, incapable of uttering shuddha-
nama, is in any way fit to establish any more than a mere
semblance of the Vrindavana atmosphere anywhere outside the
dhama? Flying and flying around and around the world on the
plea of supposedly preaching Krishna consciousness or
(mis)managing institutional affairs in and of itself does not
necessarily constitute, in the highest sense, “the benefit of
others” any more than living in Vrindavana necessarily adds up
to merely “one’s own benefit.” Nowhere in the teachings of the
Acaryas is it suggested that it is impossible to reside in
Vrindavana for the benefit of others. In fact, real Vrindavana life,
as exemplified by the Six Gosvamis, means to voluntarily accept
painstaking austerities in devotional service for the benefit of
others.

Shastra has it that fifty percent of a disciple’s devotional
merit automatically goes to the guru’s account, even without the
disciple’s conscious offering. If the disciple consciously
sacrifices on behalf of the spiritual master, both the disciple and


the guru achieve one hundred times the result of the proffered
devotional austerities. It would be the guru’s greatest asset to
have serious, hard-working, sacrificial-minded, lazy-intelligent
rupa-sanatananuga disciples serving to reveal the pure cult of
Vrindavana to the world from the transcendental seat of
Vrindavana or Shri Dhama Mayapura where the result of such
para-upakara preaching work towers a thousand times over and
above that which is achieved by the same preaching done
anywhere else in the world – for the beneficiaries and
benefactors alike. Yes, we should all agree that it is higher to
leave Vrindavana for the benefit of others than to stay in
Vrindavana for one’s own benefit, but who says Vrindavana life
is meant to be for one’s own benefit? Krishna’s gopas and gopis
of Vraja, whose immaculate selfless moods of devotion we are to
emulate, never for a moment consider their own benefit. Their
every endeavor is to sacrifice for the service of others – the
service of Krishna; the service of Radha; the service of Her
friends and maidservants; and the service of Nanda-Yashoda,
Balarama-Shridhama-Subala, Raktaka-Patraka, and the rest.
They come to this Earth planet to do the highest good to others
by generously attracting the conditioned souls to the beauty
and sweetness of their intimate highest para-upakara moods of
loving service demonstrated in the course of the vraja-lils. They
are not misers; nor are their genuine representatives, coming in
disciplic succession.

The simple truth is that achievement of the highest self-
sacrificing moods of the Vrajavasis, whether done within or
beyond the physically manifest boundaries of Vraja-mandala,
requires one’s meticulous assimilation of their consummate
para-upakara loving service attitude. Practical internal
solidification of the spirit of that broad-minded, most
considerate devotional temper is immensely supported by loud
sankirtana of Krishna’s Holy Name. Indeed, favorably assisting
the acarya’s preaching mission anywhere in the world can
certainly help one to get a foothold in the progressive
cultivation of the topmost bhavas of Vraja when done with a
proper conception of the internal counterpart vraja-lila feature
of the externally directed preaching principle. Still, it is not at all

wrong to follow Srila Rupa Gosvami’s advice in Bhakti-rasamrita-
sindhu: “If possible, one should physically reside in Vrindavana.”
Since any devotional service performed in Vrindavana yields a
thousand times the result, one year of such service would yield
the result of the same service done elsewhere for a thousand
years. Thus if the average lifespan were taken to be eighty
years, then one year of para-upakara-based pure devotional
service done in the dhama would be equivalent to more than
twelve lifetimes of the same para-upakara devotional service
done anywhere else in the world. That is the extraordinary
power of this holiest land of Bhauma Vrindavana, as confirmed
by the statements of the Gaudiya Acaryas, in particular our Srila
Prabhupada. Practicing while physically residing in Vrindavana
all varieties of favorable internal and external devotional service
for the benefit of others is the best way to practically capture
the essence of a vraja-vasi’s selfless service attitude. It is the
best way to expedite one’s progress in the affair of realizing the
radiant para-upakara nature of one’s own sthaii-bhava as an
eternal resident of Vraja. It is the best way to expedite one’s
progress in the business of accumulating the heaps and piles of
krita-punya-punjah mercy-credits in one’s transcendental bank
account, actually required for directly joining Krishna’s bhauma-
lilas in the siddha-deha. It is the best way to expedite one’s
progress in the matter of gaining the internal qualification
required to actually preach from the platform of ultimate
perfection. If for any reason one cannot take full advantage of
this greatest spiritual facility manifest on Earth by the mercy of
Lord Krishna and His purest internal devotees, then taking
shelter of the Holy Name while endeavoring to assist Lord
Caitanya’s Sankirtana Movement wherever one may be, one
must endeavor to cultivate feelings of separation from
Vrindavana, based on intensified desires to attain eternal
residence in Vrindavana. Kripa kori’ koro tare vrindavana-vasi.
Then one may also gradually augment the purest para-upakara
nature of an unalloyed vraja-vasi by guru and Gauranga’s divine
grace.

Some fools foolishly foolosophize that performance of the
yuga-dharma has very little if anything to do with the internal


culture of raganuga-bhajana. They hastily relegate nama-
sankirtana to the realm of externals – sankirtana being, of
course, the business of the masses and mere ordinary
bahiranga-bhaktas (external devotees). Their tendency to do
like this, however, simply demonstrates their utter
incompetence to reasonably grasp the inner significance of the
eternally comprehensive, broad-spectrum sankirtana principle
that undoubtedly fosters both external and internal devotional
evolvement. They really ought to be embarrassed and ashamed
of themselves. Hari-nama-sankirtana, as well as its extension in
the form of transcendental book distribution (brihat-bhagavata-
kirtana), when sincerely and purely done for the Lord’s
exclusive pleasure, in fact naturally and very easily elicits within
the heart of a deeply introspective devotee a profound, indelible
impression of the soul’s latent constitutional stri disposition. One
thereby becomes acquainted with the soul’s true position as
part of the cooperative aspect of Shrimati Radharani…’s
complete-whole loving game plan. Stri, the feminine influence,
refers to the principle of expansion. When the stri principle is
pervertedly reflected in the illusory material dimension, where
both so-called males and so-called females are deranged, misled,
and corrupted by a false male egoism (purusa-abhimana)
aberrant to the original temper of the soul, it manifests as the
expansion of a mayic “man’s” loathsome all-entangling empire of
mundane egocentric “enjoyments.” The pure spiritual aspect of
this stri principle, however, exists diversely in all pure
constitutional rasas (dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya)
proportionate to the degree to which masculine consciousness
is discarded in deference to the intensified unalloyed selfless
service temperament that extends to the standard of parakiya-
bhava where the stri dynamic expresses its maximum
deliciousness. Serving to blissfully expand the empire of the
Lord’s satisfaction, Krishna’s transcendental stri enjoyables
purposefully entangle Him in the loving network of amorous
interpersonal reciprocity on the spiritual platform. Radha, Lord
Krishna’s adya-shakti, is known as mula-prakriti, the original root
of all expanded varieties of prakriti, which is intrinsically female,
or ontologically the enjoyed aspect of the Absolute. The


infinitesimal jiva (para prakriti), characteristically possessed of
the spiritual stri quality expanded to a minute degree, is
designed to in some small way facilitate or help to expand the
happiness of the supreme enjoyer, Shri Krishna. This
transcendental stri function of the pure soul is most thoroughly
fulfilled when the subordinate “she” cooperates to fulfill the
purposes of the stri empress, Shri Radha, by directly or
indirectly serving to increase the Lord’s variety of enjoyables.
Purely conducted sankirtana of Radha-Krishna’s all attractive
names, forms, qualities, and pastimes enables the practicing
devotee to tangibly experience what it is to function in that
way, because, through its performance, the devotee, aside from
personally pleasing the Lord, naturally serves to expand
Krishna’s pleasure empire by inducing a myriad of souls to
come forward to serve Him for His satisfaction. Thus, by
performing sankirtana-yajna, one becomes scientifically
acquainted with the true essence of one’s intrinsic stri nature,
which undoubtedly finds its peak expression in all perfection as
a follower of the transcendentally flirtatious damsels of Vraja. As
such, it should be clearly affirmed that shuddha-nama-sankirtana
and the perfection of Krishna consciousness, augmenting vraja-
prema-bhakti-rasa, go together very well.

The performance of yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana,
when inspired by a conscious greed for vraja-prema, powerfully
augments one’s merit in the matter of attaining the
transcendental loving service of Radha-Krishna’s nitya-lilas.
Such sankirtana, done in pursuit of the madhurya-bhavas of the
Vrajavasis according to one’s personal taste (sva-ruci) would
thus be accepted as nija-abhista-bhava-sambandhi (connected
with one’s desired sthayi-bhava or constant ecstatic loving mood
as a vraja-gopa or gopi). It is not merely because the physical
bodily senses of the sadhaka-deha are externally engaged in
activities of devotional service that one’s actions must be
characteristically categorized as vaidhi bhakti. It is the
motivation factor, the internal absorption behind the actions,
that establishes the status of one’s activities more than
anything. When lobha, or greed for the ultimate attainment of
the moods of Vraja, prompts their performances, both


sankirtana of the Holy Name and transcendental book
distribution, done purely as yajna for the satisfaction of Lord
Caitanya, no longer function as vaidhika duties. Rather, they
ascend to the path of spontaneous loving service and become
celebrated as potent constituents of raga-bhajana, bridging the
apparent gap between external and internal affairs. At this
juncture, it would not be superfluous to firmly reiterate that,
strictly speaking, the sole objective of the bhagavata-marga is to
augment raganuga-bhava.

With all due respect for the topics under discussion, one
should mark with utmost interest that the internally perfected
realization of one’s eternal spiritual identity (vraja-svarupa),
whether achieved by the practice of antaranga-bhakti-bhajana
or by kripa or by both, would immensely enhance one’s
preaching proficiency and efficacy. Therefore, it would not look
at all well for a resolute pure devotional aspirant to childishly
neglect to recognize the intersupportive nature of sankirtana
and antaranga-vraja-bhakti-bhajana. In this age, sankirtana-yajna
is the vital force of inspired antaranga-bhajana, and conversely,
beatified antaranga-vraja-bhakti-bhajana is the essential dynamic
behind superlatively empowered sankirtana.

My dear most loveworthy and merciful Radha-
Shyamasundara! May the broad-minded, forward-thinking souls
evermore respect these deliberations, which are replete with
profound concerns for advancing a more progressive culture of
antaranga-bhakti in the lives of Your seriously dedicated
sankirtana devotees. Please let those essence-seeking, deeply
introspective, softhearted individuals who patiently and
sincerely read or hear these verbose utterances very soon
attain the highest transcendental happiness (paramananda) in
the spontaneous loving service of Your lotus feet according to
their innermost heart’s aspirations.




Third Heartfelt Effusion





My dear Shri Shri Radha-Shyamasundara! Crying at the
lotus feet of Shri Guru, one very fallen and destitute soul humbly
offers to You the following unrestrained stream of prayerful
outpourings for Your kind and considerate audience.

He Radhe Shyama! When, by a stream of unprecedented
tenderheartedness, will the cowherd girls of Vrindavana bestow
upon this wretched person the most blessed birth within the
cowherd community of Varsana? When, by the mercy of my
beloved guru, will I appear as a resplendently delightful young
damsel of Vraja? I will never mature beyond the end of my
twelfth year and will remain ever intoxicated with luscious
freshly blooming vama-madhya love-fascinations. My bewitching
spiritually perfect bodily features and transcendental
voluptuousness will lay to shameful waste all the most
beauteous and supposedly charming froglike women of the
lower, middle, and upper planetary systems of this cosmic
creation! By Your beneficent, divine benediction, the laksmis of
Vaikuntha, the queens of Dvaraka, the enlightened ladies of
Mathura, and even the sakhis of Vraja Dhama will highly esteem
the irresistible prepossessing pulchritude of my person! My
transcendental slender-waisted, nicely hipped figure, the color
of creamy golden honey tinged with a rosy hue; my sweet face
with deeply charming, dark, kajjala-lined doe eyes; my blissfully
arched cupid’s bow eyebrows, flawlessly flanking the elegant
tilaka on my forehead and circumscribed with captivating
kasturi gopi-dots; my elegantly raised nose adorned with a
chained, honey-pearl nose ring; my luxuriantly soft and smooth
rosy cheeks and rapturously sportive, glistening honey-
moonbeam playfully smiling cherry lips; my jasmine-entwined,
long braided locks of glossy, dark bluish-black softly curling
hair, bedecked with clusters of campaka flowers and falling
nearly to my feet; my deep crimson, splendidly embroidered,


silk-satin choli, bountifully brimming with newly blooming
adolescent grace; my iridescent indigo skirt and scarlet
diaphanous veil, embellished with ornately embroidered
alternating Radha-golden and Shyama-bluish lotuses, which I
received from the lotus-bud hands of my tenderhearted
mistress, Shrimati Ananga Manjari; and the matchless supra-
celestial, sparkling sapphire-studded, golden earrings, mangtika,
necklaces, armlets, chiming bracelets, finger rings, waist-bells,
delicately jingling nupura ankle-bells, and toe rings, adorning my
graceful limbs; my everything: my heart, my mind, my words
and deeds, and my entire existence – all this will be ever
absorbed in the mercy-mellows of our eternal reciprocal loving
intimacy. Indeed, by the interceding, pity-laden appeal of my
beloved guru, Your very acceptance of my heartfelt
supranatural amorous aspirations and Your mercy glances of
profuse grace upon my humble existence will render the entire
cosmos along with the powerful controllers of the fourteen
worlds utterly subservient to me!

To augment the nuances of paramour love, unlimitedly
gracious Purnamasi-devi will arrange for my marriage to an
overconfident, dunderheaded cowherd boy from the village of
Yavata. Though outwardly feigning fidelity toward him, I will not
be the least interested in keeping his company and will never
ever allow him to defile me or, for that matter, so much as even
touch a hair on my delicate body, which I will have dedicated
exclusively for the prema-sevas of Your pleasure pastimes.
While speaking deceptively charming candy-coated blather, I
will cheat him and my in-laws at every opportunity, to escape
the dungeon of household duties and flee into the forest to
faithfully serve Your nectarous nikunja-lilas.

Having been magnetically drawn by the captivating song
of the flute, I, deeply immersed in parakiya-bhava, will eternally
reside by the beautiful banks of Radha-kunda within the
skillfully secluded, idyllic, mind-alluring, bliss-pervaded
Vamshivadadanandada Kunja near the northern ghata in the
enchanting grove of Shrimati Lalita Devi. My ornately filigreed
golden entrance-gate arbor, lusciously entwined with vine-
clusters of intoxicatingly fragrant malati, juhi, and madhavi


flowers, frequently attended by swarms of intoxicated buzzing
bumblebees and butterflies; my splendidly inviting, personally
landscaped love-bower, bordered by luxuriant, consecutively
coupled, multicolored, sparkling gemstone-like kalpa-vriksa
trees and spiraling kalpa-valli creepers, concertedly bearing six-
seasonal sweet and fragrant fruits and flowers of all description;
my enchanting winding garden walkways, glowingly paved with
intricately picturesque emerald, ruby, lapis lazuli, crystal,
honey-golden onyx marble, and moonstone mosaics of elaborate
paisley and supra-celestial leaf, fruit, and flower designs, flanked
by thick moss, ferns, and varieties of lush, sweet-scented flower
bearing verdure; the adjoining intermittently situated, divinely
engraved, tastefully gem-bedecked, comfortably cushioned
golden bliss-benches beneath the beautifully bending bows of
over-laden kadamba, campaka, bakula, ashoka, parijata, radha-
chori, Krishna-chori, and lovely land lotus trees, graced with
adjacent meticulously sculptured elegant crystal swans,
magnificent emerald and sapphire peacocks, and unblemished
translucent marble supra-delightful, rapturously poised,
flirtatiously dancing love-maidens; my privately placed,
splendidly domed, black-and-gold onyx garden gazebos,
beautified with many flower-creeper-embraced, delightfully
festooned, exquisitely carved ivory-inlaid pillars and arches and
replete with varieties of irresistibly engaging pleasure
accoutrements such as large and small, multi-colored, super-soft
silken pillows, firm, satin-covered love-bolsters, elegantly
carved golden pitchers and goblets for supplying refreshing,
cool water and ambrosial nectar drinks, as well as jeweled pan
boxes and moonstone-studded golden spittoons, plus camara
whisks and large hand-held peacock fans for creating cooling
and festive breezes; my indescribably sweet and attractive,
immaculately sculpted cintamani crystalline kunja love-cottage,
intimately nestled amidst maze-like, consummately love-
inspiring forest-flower-laden courtyards, intriguingly arranged
rock gardens, exotic flower gardens, blissful tulasi groves, and
charming, sweet-scented vineyards continually filled with the
symphonic twittering, warbling, cooing, passionate crying, and
sweet-talking of many varieties of parrots, mynahs, peacocks,


swans, cranes, gulls, doves, pigeons, sparrows, and finches
always ecstatically responding to my love-lorn constant singing
of Your Holy Names – He Radhe Shyama, the splendor of my
personal abode cannot be suitably described by a mere string of
words. When, in the course of Your never-ending love
escapades, will You, by Your unlimited kindness, periodically
come to see my exquisitely enchanting private vilasa-kunja as
one of Your favorite secret pastime paradises?

He Radhe Shyama! When, mercifully coming to grace my
delightful love-bower, along with Your dearmost beloved
Shrimati Ananga Manjari, who is the goddess of my very life, will
the two of You simultaneously, from both sides, embrace me
and kiss my cheeks, knowing me and my everything to be Your
very own?

He Radhe Shyama! When will I be invited into the services
of Your eternal eightfold daily pastimes within the all-blissful
love-groves of Shri Vrindavana? I will ever-attentively in every
way selflessly serve to augment Your absolute delight.
Sometimes I will sweep Your pastime-cottage with my long curly
locks of hair. Sometimes I will massage Your exquisitely
beautiful limbs with fragrant oils, bathe You, dress You in
splendid garments, and decorate You with incomparably
charming flower ornaments made by me and my friends, just to
see them become mercilessly mutilated by Your reckless
ravaging love play. Sometimes I will gently wave a fan of
peacock feathers to remove the drops of perspiration produced
from the heat of Your heart’s passion for each other. Sometimes
I will blissfully offer You varieties of intoxicating honey wine to
initiate the jubilation of a million cupids. You will reciprocate by
forcibly inducing me to drink as well, after which I will not be
able to clearly articulate what Cupid did or did not do to me to
enhance the munificent expansion of Your pleasure pastimes.
And sometimes, when You are in the mood, You will ask me,
Your unworthy maidservant, to sweetly sing from the core of
my heart, while playing the svara-mandalika-vina in ragas
appropriate to Your delightful bhavas, which naturally
accommodate my own desired mood of ever-loving service.


O He Radhe! When, in Your assembly of sakhis, will I get
the chance to see, with my own blooming eyes, incomparably
lovely Lalita Sundari forcing her way between me and Lord
Shyama while endlessly rebuking Him with the most
outrageous, audaciously sarcastic criticisms to prevent Him
from capriciously ripping at my upper garments? When will I,
my glistening honey-sweet lips slightly smiling, relish, with a
love-laden sidelong glance the nectar of His ambrosial,
crestfallen face at that time?

And when, in Your smiling presence, by Your
incomprehensible kindness, will I ever whisper into His ear, “I
love You too!” as Your enchanted, whimsical Shyama, knowing
me to be Yours, passionately embraces me to His heart?

When will I become so blessed as to be in Your company
when Your lover prankishly accosts You along a narrow
footpath, demanding amorous favors as an excise for Your
invaluable loads of carefully concealed bodily beauty?

When, as clouds rumble in the sky, will I, hiding my blissful
smile behind the corner of my veil, apprehensively witness the
witty way the unreliable Shyama boatman entreats You to step
into His old dilapidated boat on the banks of Manasa-ganga at
the foot of Govardhana Hill?

What uncommon price will the uncommon lecherous
gardener demand of me as payment for even the least of His
uncommon tree-grown pearls? O Radhike! Will that day soon
come when I will delightfully embrace the moods of the sakhis,
who, with clever insistence, forcibly assert Your rulership over
the forest of Vrinda as Your messengers remonstratively
demand, at Your behest, a tax on all the produce from Shyama’s
newly harvested astonishing garden-crop of pearls?

He Gandharvike! When will I personally witness Shyama’s
indescribably sweet masquerade as Your new sakhi, His
disguise as a young female snake charmer, His bold intrigue as a
distressed demigoddess, His impersonation of Your foolish
husband, His emergence as a wild, ferocious beast along the
forest path, and His many other guises all donned when
circumstantially needed to access Your loving embrace?


When will a certain inconsolable maidservant become
happy upon seeing You accept the dress and appearance of
Subala Sakha to escape Mother Jatila’s vigilance? My heart will
ever revel in the ecstasy of these pastimes.

He Vrajadhipe Shri Radhike! The ambrosial pastimes of
Your two delicate lotus feet are an ever-enchanting limitless
mercy ocean of sweetness! In this world, the perfected
antaranga-bhaktas standing at its shore are sprinkled with a few
mist-drops of the nectar spray from the crashing waves of that
ocean. I, fortunately encountering the seaside-breezes coming
through the merciful lotus mouths of my beloved guru and all
the eminent Acaryas in disciplic succession, have now become
maddened by the mere scent of that ocean’s proximity. Not
caring for the opinion of others and firmly disallowing anyone or
anything to come between me and my ultimate attainment, I,
though blinded by tears of intense simultaneous hope and
desperation, nevertheless hasten to get a glimpse of that ocean
of premamrita.

He Praneshvari Radhe! When oh when will I, with a purest
heart, be privileged to selflessly and most intimately serve Your
wonderfully enchanting rasa dance festival in the company of
Your beautiful sakhis and most enchanting kinkaris? Sometimes
I will play on the vina, sometimes I will flutter on the flute, and
sometimes I will delightfully sing on the fifth note while blissfully
reciprocating Your beaming smiles. Sometimes I will clap my
hands or chime the karatalas in time with the various rhythmic
drums that serve to set the pace. Sometimes, when Your
unlimitedly charming younger sister will, on Your indication,
prankishly pull frantically protesting me by the hands into the
circle of twirling gopis to dance by her side, You will make Your
ever devoted Shyama dance with each of us in turn! When He
catches hold of my hands, spins me around, and embraces me
by the neck, maddening me with the intoxicating aroma of His
avid cupidity for the nectar lips of Your loyal, unalloyed
maidservants, at once my tongue will desire to become
hundreds of tongues with which to taste the honeydew
sweetness of His kisses! My jubilant nose will desire to become
thousands of noses with which to relish the ambrosial fragrance


of His arms! My eyes will want to become millions of minnows to
swim in the nectar ocean of His unfathomable handsomeness!
My ears will wish to become billions of goblets with which to
quaff the elixir of His fearlessly forward, flirtatious flattery! My
two virtuous, budding raised breasts will shamelessly yearn to
become a host of freshly blossomed saffron-pollen-besprinkled,
honey-laden golden lotus flowers to enrapture His intoxicated-
bumblebee-like heroically roaming eyes! My hands will want to
expand by the trillions to check His persistent whimsical
pinching! My horripilating thighs will urgently require
quadrillions of empathetic reinforcements to sustain my all-but-
swooning everything! And my mesmerized mind, intelligence,
happy heart, and soul will ever remember, honor, and favorably
serve, for Your exclusive satisfaction, the shoreless mercy-
ocean of the peerless pastimes of Your tender lotus feet!

Dearest Shrimati Radharani! When, at the end of Your
nocturnal love festival, as I serve to satisfy You with
extraordinarily delicious, aromatic pan, will You and Your
sweet-hearted Shyama whisper about me into each other’s ears,
knowing the treasures of Your lotus feet to be the most
cherished hope of my heart?

He Radhe! When, having awakened from this dreamlike
conditional material existence, the miserable affectation of male
egoism long forgotten, will I find myself automatically rising to
smilingly muse upon Your Shyamasundara’s distinctive love
marks on my person, still bleary-eyed and languid with fatigue
from the previous night’s rasa festival? Bewildered by a mixture
of lingering loving sentiments, feelings of eternal gratitude, and a
stirring awareness of the urgency of my impending morning
services, I will happily enter Your kunja wind-palace with a few
of my friends to behold the boundless beauty of Your tightly
embracing dark and fair sleepy forms.

When will You, hearing our softly arriving tinkling anklets
amid the sweet early morning warbling, cooing, and twittering of
Vrinda’s waking chorus of many kinds of love-filled birds, my
arrival gradually dawning upon Your still drowsy, half-open
eyes, sweetly request of me just a few minutes more,
anticipating the imminent distress of Your lover’s pangs of


separation? Then and there I will worship you with an aratrika of
ten million glowing smiles!

As the starry firmament slowly fades into the emergence
of a new day, I, stealthily returning unnoticed to my in-laws’
home, will burn with an overwhelming desire to constantly
serve You in a myriad of ways throughout the day and night.

In no time, I will quickly come to assist Your morning
bathing and dressing and help adorn your delicate limbs with
what I know to be Your favorite, exquisitely fashioned, dazzling
sapphire-spangled golden ornaments. After massaging Your
delightful figure with exceptionally fragrant seasonal oils and
helping to blissfully shower You with an abundance of
refreshing flower-scented water, I will remove Your thin white
bathing garment, carefully pat You dry with a luxuriant, soft silk
towel, and, at Shrimati Lalita Devi’s behest, gift You with new
lavishly lacey undergarments lovingly made by me. I will then
carefully dry and comb your long curly tresses and, in the
dressing room, as my friends help to tie Your sari, I will, on the
pretext of fastening Your jeweled ankle-bells, placing my head
beneath Your skirt where no one can notice me secretly kissing
the tips of Your sweet and delicate toes, offer my life’s breath a
million times over in the dust of Your lotus feet. With a happy
heart, I will loosely place above Your incomparably gorgeous,
shapely buttocks, which captivate the unruly eyes of Your
beloved Shyamasundara, a sweetly tinkling crystal-belled
kinkini belt. As my priya-sakhis, upon my request, place
sparkling toe-rings on Your toes, jeweled rings on Your fingers,
and many thin, delicately chiming alternating gold and sapphire
bracelets on Your wrists, I will adorn Your lovely, pure, plump
breasts with heavenly, fragrant kunkuma and dexterously paint
upon them varieties of mind-alluring pictures with kasturi musk.
I will place around Your beautiful neck delightful pearl
necklaces, a gunja-mala, a fine and most meritorious garland of
tulasi leaves, and aromatic garlands of bela and campaka
flowers, all simply to mesmerize the already enamored heart of
beloved Shyama! I will intertwine Your beautiful serpent-like
braid with supra-celestial bakula and jasmine strands bearing
divine redolence known only to the transcendental forest of


Vrindavana, and, with a smirky smile, I will intermittently place,
wherever possible, the plumes of a peacock, knowing Your mind
to be intently absorbed in happy thoughts of Shyama’s
embrace.

He Radhe! Knowing me to be well attuned to the inner
ways of Your heart of hearts, You will tenderheartedly beam at
me with the sweetest radiance. The sight of this will bring
rippling waves of delightful moonbeam smiles to my priya-
sakhis’ moon-like faces! When I hold before You a glistening
sapphire-framed, highly polished golden mirror, You will see
how I so perfectly decorated Your charmingly lovely, rosy-
cheeked honey-face with an exquisite honey-pearl nose-ring,
dangling dark-blue crystal earrings, and a kama-yantra-tilaka.
Noticing Your elegant hair part, marked with crimson mind-
alluring sindura pretentiously proclaiming Your faithfulness
toward Your so-called husband, You will gently smile, becoming
absorbed in the veiled ecstasy of paramour love. With fondness,
You will favor how I faultlessly ornamented your crest with an
effulgent sapphire-bejeweled candrika along with a nicely placed
blue-sapphire mangtika, dangling to border Your curly hairline.
You will see how I carefully painted indescribably enchanting
gopi-dots around the playful cupid-bow eyebrows adorning Your
limitlessly compassionate kajjala-lined eyes and perfectly placed
a splendid musk-dot on Your sweet chin. All these will have
magnificently embellished the inexhaustible loveliness of Your
luxuriant, deep-crimson sari which redoubles Shyama’s
insatiable passion to touch You. Thus beholding Your own
boundless beauty in the mirror, You will all but swoon with a
wish to be at once ravished by the lovelorn, reddish, lotus-petal
eyes of Your dark honeybee-like lover whose supreme honey-
love goddess is none other than my limitlessly lovable You!
Kundavalli will then arrive with a message from Nandagrama. At
that time I will solace You by encouraging You to comply with
Mother Yashoda’s request that You come quickly to cook for
Krishna. Hiding my smile when You openly rebuke me for
enthusiastically supporting such a potentially scandalous affair
within the earshot of Your superiors, I will offer my eternal
dedication to the service of Your lotus feet again and again!


He Radhike! When will my most merciful guru-rupa-sakhi,
to whom I eternally owe my everything, invite me to accompany
You and Your impassioned sakhis to the palatial home of Nanda
Maharaja atop lofty Nand…shvara Hill? There, I will help You
cook an incredibly sumptuous breakfast love-feast for the
pleasure of Shyamasundara and His cowherd boyfriends. When
Mother Yashoda greets us and requests the kinkaris to go to the
bhoga-mandira to make necessary preparations for Your blissful
cooking festival, I will build nicely blazing fires of first-class
cedar wood and engage a few of my friends in helping to keep
them ablaze. Moving like a fire brand, simultaneously cooking
many varieties of tasty dishes, You, being too busy, will instruct
me to quickly stir the pot of rich, creamy milk so it doesn’t
burn. As I am stirring, stirring, and stirring, the milk will
suddenly become thick, thicker, and thickest, upon which You
will order me to quickly add the pre-measured ground
cardamom and rock-candy powder, take everything off the
stove, spread the contents to cool on a marble slab, and roll it
all into nectarean, buttery burfi balls. I will all the while marvel
as You mercifully include Your loving milkmaid in Your loving
services to Your very own beloved Shyama!

He Rdhe! After honey-faced Shyamasundara returns with
His friends from milking the cows and is nicely bathed and
dressed, He will blissfully sit amidst all the boys and eat the
fabulously fragrant breakfast feast, praising the amazing variety
of tasty delicacies. Everyone will float on the waves of ever-
hungry Madhumangala’s unlimitedly humorous wit punctuated
by the unabashed, intoxicating hasya-rasa of all the jovial
cowherd boys. All the while, Shyama will search out the glowing
golden treasure of Your fairest features through the kitchen
window to offer You the nectar of His evocative sidelong
glances. At that time I will do everything within my power to
mitigate Your acute loving afflictions redoubled by the
unfeasibility of intimately meeting with Him in the presence of
His mothers and friends, let alone through the kitchen window.

Afterwards, I will relish a little of the ambrosial remnants
of His adharamrita-prasada personally given to me by Your own
munificent hand. Being especially kind upon me, You will take


me with You to the prearranged morning rendezvous with Your
beloved Shyama within a cave on Nandishvara Hill. When, as I
fan the two of You in the wake of Your luscious love play, will I
shyly lower my smiling face upon hearing Him curiously ask
You, “Who made those nectarean, buttery burfi balls?” To show
special causeless mercy upon Your unworthy, insignificant
milkmaid, You will silently tell about me to Your Krishna with
the indications of Your cupid’s bow eyebrows as Your smiling
eyes mercifully dance in my direction.

In the late morning, Shyama will leave His father’s house
for cow-herding, along with all of His happy, playful gopa-
balakas. He, in various ways, will politely persuade His anxious
parents to desist from following Him to the forest, just to give
His bosom buddies the opportunity to freely frolic with Him to
their hearts’ content. When will I, greatly anticipating the
distresses of Your heart, witness with my own eyes the torment
of the whole of Vraja as they tearfully return to their respective
homes? I will weep to see You collapse into the arms of Your
sakhis as they mercilessly carry You back to the gloom of
Mother Jatila’s jailhouse. I will again and again hear You
anxiously beg to be born as a bird so that You may freely fly
from the confines of household imprisonment to the company of
Your beloved Shyama. Again and again I will hear Your
desperate plea to be reborn as a bamboo to get the opportunity
to drink the nectar of His honey-moonbeam smiling kissy-lips by
becoming His hand-held playful flute. Again and again You will
praise the fortune of His shark-shaped earrings that
unabashedly kiss His soft, sweetly shining cheeks. Repeatedly
engulfed by intense feelings of separation, You will sardonically
eulogize Giri Govardhana as hari-dasa-varya, knowing full well
the incomparably superlative satisfaction Shyama feels by
placing His delicate lotus feet upon the supremely rapturous
mountain slopes of Your firm, amatively swollen breasts. Again
and again You will beg to become like the river Yamuna, that
You might swiftly flow unchecked to the ocean of Shyama’s
unfathomable sweetness. You will fervently pray to become a
breeze, rushing unhindered to whisk away the fragrance of His
person. As You place Your newly made garland of forest flowers


in the hands of the expert maidservant Tulasi to take to Your
beloved, You will flood with a passion to become that very
garland placed upon His broad, handsome sapphire chest.
Plaintively pining but hardly solaced by the succor of Your
sakhis, You will again and again languish by longing to become a
madhavi creeper whose tender tendrils curl to enclasp the torso
of a certain youthful Shyama tamala tree within a forest bower.

When will we, with renewed enthusiasm and happy hearts,
escape the looming prison walls of insufferable separation? On
the pretext of accompanying You and Your sakhis to pick
flowers for worship of the Sun-god, I will take You to a sanketa-
kunja by the side of Your limitlessly lovely lake. Anxiously
anticipating the nectar flood of Your fabulously festive midday
pastimes, I will lovingly reflect upon Your amorous delusions as
I witness You flirtatiously feigning indifference toward a tamala
tree as we hasten along the forest path!

In the suspense of Your lover’s imminent arrival, You will
see Him everywhere, in all directions. Again and again, listlessly
rising up from Your exquisitely ornamented flowerbed within
the jewel-bedecked bower-house, You will impatiently gaze
from the doorway down the forest path, and again and again
You will return to sink in the ever-rising tide of Your desperation
to see Him. When will I bathe Your two exquisitely beautiful
lotus feet with an incessant flood of tears as You, experiencing a
moment as if a millennium, anxiously apprehend the failure of
Your now-much-overdue beloved Shyama’s arrival at our
prearranged tryst? Repeatedly imploring You to patiently
remain just a few moments longer, I will suddenly notice His
rakishly smiling eyes winking at me through the window lattice
of the kunja cottage.

“Not so fast, buster! She’s our property! Don’t touch! We
just took so much time and trouble to exquisitely dress and
ornament Her and You want to ravage everything in a moment!
Do You think You can so freely have our svamini just because
You desire Her? I know You! If You want to realize Your wanton
wishes, You’ll have to pay the price: unswerving loyalty to the
service of the dust of Her limitlessly luscious lotus feet!
Otherwise, go! Go to Shaibya’s friend Candravali! She’s easy! Her


maidservants will eagerly make all the arrangements!” He
Radhe! Boldly asserting the truth of our preeminent proprietary
status, I will pull You behind smiling Lalita, who will stand as a
formidable fortress to ensure the intensification of Your
pleasure pastimes.

Incorrigible Shyama, adopting a disdainful demeanor, will
scornfully smile and flagrantly demand, “What did she say? Who
is this insolent new kinkari anyway? Would she stand so
valiantly if Kandarpa-raja forcibly waged war against her
charming bodily beauty in a cave of Govardhana Hill? If he ever
laid his hands on her, he would definitely teach her a dance or
two!” At that instant, I will quickly hide my jubilantly blushing
self behind my unlimitedly beautiful You to ensure the
intensification of Your pleasure pastimes!

He Radhike! When inconceivably clever Shyama, to
everyone’s astonishment, suddenly eludes the comprehension
of all, somehow penetrating our impervious phalanxes to bind
You in the stronghold of His tight embrace, I will, on Your
indication, stealthily spirit away with His mischievous flute!
Shyama, being mesmerized by the intoxicating fragrance of
Your person, will not at all understand what has happened. At
that time, I will beseech that best descendant of the bamboos,
“O best procuress of the wants of He who loosens the hair-
braids of the innocent gopi girls of Vraja! O you, who,
empowered by our svamini, force the formidable fortresses of
their bodices to give way under the sway of their impassioned
recollection of His indomitable handsomeness! O you, who,
guilty of drinking the ambrosial nectar of the lusty lips of
Radha’s supremely libertine lover boy, wish to escape the
discontent of the deer-eyed gopis to whom that nectar actually
belongs by returning the stolen property a thousandfold! O
wanton vamsi, I know you! The next time Shyama sweetly
presses your mouth to His bimba fruit lips, in His quest to
conquer the pride of the kinkaris, please mercifully whisper into
His ear how we are burning with the desire to attain Him in the
service of our svamini!” I will then secretly slip the vamsi behind
my back to Ananga Manjari who will in turn covertly consign it
to the custody of Lalita Devi. He Radhe! You will then, by the


strength of Your unblemished honor and reputation as a chaste
housewife, manage to free Yourself after a little struggle.
Glancing in all directions, You will sternly admonish all of the
sakhis with Your tightly knitted eyebrows while earnestly
endeavoring to retie the loosened sash about Your trembling
hips.

As entranced Shyama playfully approaches and
dexterously catches the corner of Your sari, You will coyly
smile while looking askance, frowning Your restless, cupid’s-
bow-like eyebrows. Your soft, doe-like eyes will ambivalently
rejoice and brim with tears. Your lusciously quivering bimba
fruit lips will reveal Your intense inner joy. While strenuously
struggling to resist the ambush of His brazenly adventurous
fingers, You will outwardly reproach Your lover by lightly
bopping Him on the head with the play lotus in Your delicate
hand. “Don’t touch me! We’ve just bathed for our worship of the
Sun-god! How will our offerings be suitable if we are sullied by a
rapacious rake like You?” When will I be so privileged with this
sight of Your sweetest kila-kincita and kuttamita moods, which
profoundly delight Shyama with an indescribable happiness
millions of times over and above the bliss He obtains from
complete union?

He Svamini Radhe! Just then, Vrinda Devi, smiling to see
the fun, will intervene, saying to You both, “Hey You two rasika
lovers! The abhijita-muhurta is quickly approaching! Best we not
waste these auspicious moments with any unnecessary
quarreling! If You want to soundly succeed in the consummation
of King Cupid’s loving game plan, then quickly come with all of
Your sakhis to see the beauty of the monsoon forest! This forest
is complimented by the jubilant dancing of many peacocks and
is specially arrayed with a myriad of swings. These swings were
just now fabulously decorated for the pleasure of Your eyes and
the happiness of Your hearts by my expert vana-devi
maidservants!”

At that time, You, being so petitioned, will relent and
sweetly consent to happily traverse the dark monsoon-cloud-
shaded forest path with Your arms about Your glorious dark
monsoon-cloud-shaded lover. Eagerly intent upon climbing onto


the best of all swings with His best of all transcendental
sweethearts, Ghanashyama will fill our hearts with ever-
expanding transcendental bliss as He fills Your sweet ears with
the ambrosial nectar of His flirtatious joking words.

When will I beam with pride as I shower Your splendidly
rapturous dark and fair forms with fine, multi-colored,
supremely fragrant flower petals as the sakhis begin to sing and
push Your swing? Softly rumbling to congratulate You, the
jubilant cloud friends of Krishna will momentarily sprinkle tiny
rain droplets upon You to bring a cool exhilaration upon Your
ecstatic swing festival! You and Your beloved, looking like
incomparably pleasing lightning within a boundlessly beauteous
monsoon cloud, will swing higher and higher as if to
benevolently befriend the clouds and lightning in the sky!

That delightful day will certainly come when I will
personally witness the overpowering magnitude of Your
matchless, divine generosity toward Your multitude of happy
girlfriends. Blissfully sharing Your loving Shyama with Your
most trusted confidantes, You will gradually make all of them
intimately sit with Him on various forest-flower-decorated love-
swings! All glories to Your ever-expanding transcendental
passion for tenderly reciprocating the love of Your fully
surrendered friends and maidservants!

Vrinda will then come to You and secretly whisper
something into Your ear. As I see a slightly mischievous smile
appear on Your face, a blissful curiosity will flood my heart.

He Radhe! Still dizzy from so much exuberant swinging,
everyone will slowly wander with You along the forest path into
a charming spring-flower-filled meadow. There sweetly singing
birds will be warbling in ragas befitting the festival of spring.
Jubilantly smiling and agitated by rippling waves of prema, the
sakhis will spontaneously compose complimentary Krishna love-
anthems in the vasanta-raga. Vrinda’s vana-devis will then
present before You an amazing array of implements just suitable
to facilitate Your forever famous holi pastimes with Your
beloved Shyama. Before You will lay a large variety of delicate
powder balls of fragrant kunkuma, candana, camphor, saffron,
turmeric, and various flower pollens. There will also be excellent


forest-flower-bedecked bows with quivered flower arrows.
Broadly smiling, we will see exquisitely ornamented jewel
syringes for spraying assorted scented fluids produced from
aguru, musk, candana, mud, and juices pressed from varieties of
highly fragrant flowers. All these substances will excitedly wait
in splendid gold-and-sapphire water pots.

Seeing all this, valorous Shyama will exclaim, “Aho! What
is this? How is it that Madhava, the spring season, directly
follows the monsoon season out of sequence? O Madhavi Radhe!
I think it could only be because Your heart’s passion for
conquering the kingdom of Madhava has emerged as this
delightful springtime meadow replete with this formidable
arsenal of superbly suggestive flower-power weaponry!
Certainly there could be no explanation beyond this! Do all of
Your wanton desires so aggressively appear as incontestable
reality? O proud young lady with roguish eyes! Chivalrous
warriors do not speak much but rather prove their prowess by
courageous deeds! If You think Yourself heroic enough to
withstand the onslaught of My flower bombs upon Your
devastating beauty, then, armed with coquettish glances, stand
and fight!”

Glancing confidently from the corners of Your
unconquerably gorgeous kajjala-lined eyes, You will boldly
counter, “Bho bombastically boastful brahmacari! It appears
that it is You who are doing all the superfluous chatter! We will
see how You maintain Your equilibrium and sense control when
You are totally demoralized and devastated by the indomitable
bodily splendor of My sakhi soldiers and manjari bodyguards!”
At that, we will all quickly change into thin white garments
suitable for the occasion. Then Your holi love-assault will
commence in earnest!

He Radhe! When will I have the blessed opportunity to
supply You with Your desired weaponry as You smilingly pelt
Shyama’s unlimitedly handsome chest with powder balls of
sindura and gulala? The sakhis will all simultaneously
reciprocate Shyama’s continuous streams of colored juices by
blissfully pulverizing Him from all directions with a barrage of
colorful powder balls!


Some very fortunate girls will immerse themselves in the
nectar of transcendental musical accompaniment, exuberantly
singing and playing varieties of stringed vinas such as kacchapi,
vicitra, rudra, svara-mandalika, and tampura. Others will
blissfully play on various kinds of flutes, shenais, and
nagasimhas, creating an inestimable exhilaration. Still others,
with amazing dexterity and potency, will zealously play
different mridangas, pakawajas, damarus, and nagara drums in
many varieties of rhythms, together with various bells, chimes,
gongs, and karatalas, all periodically combining to make an
incredibly tumultuous musical uproar!

As multi-colored powders flying in all directions cloud the
air with a dense, colorific confusion, triumphant Shyama,
revolving with great alacrity like a blazing firebrand, will appear
before each overwhelmed sakhi, besmearing one girl’s face,
another’s breasts, and still another’s beautiful belly! Embracing
one happy girl to His heart, catching another girl’s braids,
holding another’s hands, drinking another’s nectarean kisses,
and pinching yet another’s buttocks while biting her neck – in
this way, Your svayam-rupa Gokulananda Shyamasundara will
blissfully befriend each and every one of us by the influence of
Your ever-resplendent, ever-victorious munificence!

When the colorful clouds of ananda dissipate somewhat,
Vrinda and Her vana-devis will approach to offer varieties of
refreshing nectar drinks. Shyama will then take You by the hand
to a private garden, and the selfless sakhis, intoxicated with the
ecstasies of their own amorous afflictions, will stumble off into
their various individual kunjas.

My dear slender-waisted Radharani! I have heard from the
lips of great saintly persons that Your honey-moon-faced rakish
lover, Shyamasundara, has expanded His innumerable energies
through His various agents to manifest all the spiritual and
material worlds, intelligently accommodating the various desires
and attitudes of unlimited varieties of living entities. Is that
really so very wondrous? All the vibhutis of the entire cosmic
creation are said to have sprung from a mere spark of His
splendor! Am I supposed to be very much impressed? So what if
daily He skillfully killed so many terrible raksasa demons,


liberating them by merging them into His brahman effulgence!
Was His bewildering of Lord Brahma by expanding into
duplicate forms of thousands of cowherd boys and calves truly
a display of His mystic opulence? Was His exhaustive dancing
on the hooded heads of Kaliya-naga really very artistic or
graceful? Perhaps if He at that time would have invited You and
Your friends on board for rasa dancing, I would be somewhat
appeased. I have heard of His having devoured devastating
forest fires in His childhood, but what about the now-raging fires
of our desires to see His sumptuous, supramundane,
confidential prema-keli union with You? Some people might
think His instructing the wives of the yajnika-brahmanas to
return home to their husbands and patiently wait for some
future opportunity a most noble and noteworthy display of
kripa. Is it really so wonderful or important that He defied
unduly puffed-up Indra-deva by easily holding up Govardhana
Hill with just the single pinky of His left hand? Couldn’t He
recognize any worthier mountains (mountain-like breasts) to
uphold in this land of Vraja? I dare say He would not ably do the
needful in this regard without the arduous exploits of all the
fingers on both His hands! He may have been able to somehow
lift a little mushroom like Giri Govardhana, but how, under the
present circumstances, will He be able to lift the weighty vama-
giri mountain of Your contrariness? I have heard that in His
previous life as Raghupati Ramacandra He wrathfully killed
Ravana, supposedly to give protection to Sit Devi. Soon after,
however, He insensitively banished Her to the forest, giving Her
unlimited distress merely for the fame and namesake of His
Raghu dynasty. Were these deeds really so commendable or
considerate? How glorious was His ungrateful arrest of Bali
Maharaja or His confining him to the prison of his palace in the
netherworlds? Bali had given to Him everything in the three
words, including his own person, yet Krishna, as Vamanadeva,
in return, only rewarded him with a mere post-dated position as
an insignificant Indra. By that are we to think Him very high-
minded and magnanimous? How heroic was His deliverance of
the elephant Gajendra from the crocodile-jaws of all-devouring
death? How victorious was He when dismantling the


insignificant wasp Hiranyakashipu or when dealing a death blow
upon the demon Hiranyaksa while delivering Mother Earth from
the depths of the Garbhodaka ocean? Let Him now consider the
crocodile of all-devouring time upon us, as if we have any more
of this fleeting afternoon to waste! Let Him, upon a charming
plush flowerbed within a secluded, ornately gilded kunja
cottage, victoriously dismantle the hair-knot of Your loving
anguish in a raging battle against Your tantalizing feigned
belligerence! Let Him, dealing a death blow to the pride of the
most liberal lovers in the three worlds, most mercifully deliver
You from the fathomless depths of Your vast ocean of deepest,
innermost premika distresses (desires) to please Him in every
way!

He Radhe! Only when I see Him carefully placing the
tender arches of Your delicate lotus feet upon the contours of
His blissfully shining cheeks, kissing them with His quivering
coppery lips as streams of tears glide down from His half-closed
all-alluring lotus eyes, will I consider Him to be even a little
intelligent! He Priyeshvari! Shyama is known as bhusana-
bhusanangam, the ornament of all ornaments. His ornaments are
beautified by dint of their being worn by or associated with
Him, the best of all ornaments. Yet, He alone, with or without
ornaments, is not particularly beautiful. Only when He humbly
begs to become Your faithful purusa-bhusana, to selflessly
ornament (be beautified by) Your matchlessly elegant and
splendorous lovely limbs, will He meritoriously attain the apex
of magnificence! Only when I see Him totally overwhelmed and
defeated by the intensity of Your lavishly luscious loving
ecstasy and unconscious, fainted beneath Your bountiful
bosom, will I consider Him to be at all heroic or skillful! All
glories to Your solitary love play within the bumble-bee-
bedecked, blossoming bowers of Vrindavana! He Svadhina-
bhartrike Radhe! Only when I see Him afterwards, at Your beck
and call, deliriously enraptured and amorously turbulent,
unsuccessfully attempting, with uncontrollably trembling hand,
to repaint the smudged kasturi pictures I previously painted on
Your pleasingly plump and beautiful mind-bewitching breast,
will I consider Him to be at all graceful or artistic! Only when I


see Him, upon Your order begging to become the surrendered
servant of Your unalloyed maidservants, taking the dust of their
feet upon His head, will I know Him to be very opulent and
fortunate! Such are the winsome ways of Your immaculately
selfless, love-fascinations! I will attain the pinnacle of bliss upon
witnessing Your peerless pride and joy as You lay Your own
dearly beloved Shyamasundara to rest by the side of she who is
dearer to You than Your own life’s breath, Your darling, most
treasured, incomparably delicate younger sister, Shrimati
Ananga Manjari. At that time, Rupa Manjari, Rati Manjari, Rasa
Manjari, Mani Manjari, and Guna Manjari along with their
associates will come to her supremely opulent Anangambuja
Padma-mandira, eminently ornamenting the heart of Your love-
saturated lake to lovingly serve her lotus feet. I offer my heart
billions of times over in the dust of her lotus feet! When will I
attain even a dust particle of her eternal loving service? In this
way I will surely become especially dear to You. This is the most
cherished aspiration of my heart! In reality, I have no other.
Understanding this, You will always arrange what is best for me.
That is my firm conviction.

He Praneshvari! After some time, all of the sakhis will then
gradually arrive from their various kunjas, having in their own
ways satisfied the Lord of their honeyed hearts. While either
shyly smiling or overtly scowling, endeavoring to cover the
many symbolic inscriptions of Cupid upon their enchanting
loveliness, they will delight You and beloved Shyama with an
exchange of many joking words indirectly insinuating the depths
of their intimacy with Him! Meanwhile, playfully preoccupied
Shyama will suddenly remember . . . and reaching to check His
cummerbund and looking here and there, He will discover the
absence of His . . . “Whe . . . Where is My . . . When did My . . .
Who . . . Who stole My flute?!”

I will inwardly delight to see His nonplussed astonishment
at that time.

He Radhe! In a demanding mode, Shyama will search here
and there, leaving no gopi unturned until He notices me fearfully
glancing toward You for protection!

“I . . . I . . . I didn’t take it! I swear to God, I didn’t!”


“Well, who took it then?!”

“O Shyamasundara! I’m just an insignificant maidservant
who has no separate interest than the interest of my mistresses!
Why do You think the peerless Housewives of Vraja would want
to steal Your useless, old fault-filled flute anyway? We wouldn’t
condescend to even look askance at Your flute! Even if we were
sneak thieves, as You surmise, do You think there are no better
things to steal in this forest than Your inconsiderate,
degenerate, hypocritical and shameless ol’ flute? O ravager of
innocent women! Rupa Manjari is right! It was most probably
You who purposely stole Your own flute, just to have an excuse
to give us all unlimited trouble! That’s precisely what I think
too!”

“Sure, I believe you! You can say whatever you like, but
don’t think I‘m such a fool that I couldn’t notice Your fascinating
fearful countenance!” Saying this, Shyama, playing the part of a
police inspector, will mercilessly arrest me in His snake-noose-
like arms! As He relentlessly frisks every nook and cranny of my
helpless, horripilating person, I will revel in the enchantment of
Your beaming smile.

At that interval, Lalita will “Crack!” break the flute and
“Splash!” throw it in the kunda, exhorting, “Are Mr. Womanizing
Policeman! There is no use wasting time looking for Your
wanton flute in that way. She who actually inspires all of these
blissful pastimes challenges You to a water war within the
nectar waters of Her limitlessly enchanting lake. If You can
valiantly conquer the irresistible kingdom of Her unfathomable
beauty and skill in conjugal affairs as She sports amidst Her
lotus-like lady friends within the blissful waters of Her lotus-
filled kunda, only then will we consider the purpose of the flute
and all Your gallant aggressions to have been served!”

Hearing these daring words of Shrimati Lalita Devi and
considering them reasonable, beloved Shyama will relinquish
His previous pursuits and nobly accept the challenge. He will
then cheerfully proceed along with You and all the sakhis to the
ornately bejeweled banks of Your incomparable liquid-prema-
filled Radha-kunda.


He Radhe! When will that happy day come when, by some
unimaginable good fortune, I will be so blessed to have even the
slightest opportunity to serve Your splashingly exuberant
Radha-kunda water-warring pastimes? After helping You and
some of Your priya-sakhis prepare for battle, I will blissfully
stand with a few of my friends on the steps of a gorgeously
engraved sapphire bathing ghata. There we will clearly witness
the unsurpassed delight of Your beloved Shyama as He enters
the crystal-clear waters like an unruly elephant encircled by His
elated she-elephant gopi love-mates. The rippling reflections of
the glowing gopis’ goldenness will mingle with the reflected
bluishness of resplendent Shyama, generating within the water’s
waves a mezmerising emerald greenness to immerse the minds
of all the onlooking gopis at the water’s edge.

“Is He a dark rasa-filled rain cloud floating on the rasa-filled
waves of transcendental enchantment within Your blissful rasa-
filled splendorous reservoir of nectarean ever-increasing
happiness amidst the fickle lightning-flash gopi embodiments of
shringara-rasa? Is He a boundlessly beautiful bouquet of
blissfully bluish lotus flowers, brazenly breasting the onslaught
of unabashedly blossoming lotus-like water-warring golden gopi
goddesses? Is He an autumnal moon, descending from the
heavens in the middle of the day to boldly plunder the pride of
the cakravaka-like floating breasts of His enthralled, charmingly
contrary, strenuously resisting, honey-moon-faced delightful
sakhi sweethearts?”

Excitedly musing in this way, I will blissfully behold the
inconceivable, all-attractive playfulness and handsomeness of
beloved Shyama as He expands His beauty in an attempt to
forcibly subjugate the sweetness of His countless sakhi
combatants while simultaneously assailing each one of them
with reciprocal volleys of prema-rasa. Amorous Shyama will
wantonly wrestle them hand to hand, chest to breast, neck to
neck, cheek to cheek, mouth to mouth, tooth to tooth, and
finally, dueling tongue to dueling tongue! In an instant, He will
teasingly steal away their wealth of garments and ornaments,
allowing His honey-thirsty bumble-bee eyes to madly drink the
luscious nectar of each sakhi’s eternally resplendent, blissful


lotus-like delicate limbs as they coyly retreat to hide amid the
multitudes of lilies and lotus flowers.

Lalita Sakhi, noticing the rising waves of secret amative
infatuation splashing the lakeshore of my heart, will near the
water’s edge, and after jokingly showering me with splashes of
premamrita, she will quickly catch the corner of my skirt to
playfully pull me in.

“He Lalite! Do you want to make all of your girlfriends
corrupt like you? Misery loves company!” Frantically laughing
and strenuously struggling to free myself from her forceful grip,
very much afraid of what Shyama might do to me if she actually
succeeded, I will somehow deftly manage to escape. As I hastily
recoil my feet from the peripheral waters of the kunda, laughing
Lalita will heartily splash at me again and again. Ananga Manjari,
knowing my innermost intentions, will lovingly glance upon me
with beaming approval.

He Shyameshvari Radhe! At that time my heart, splashed
by waves of amorous amusement, will marvel, “Have the
glistening gopi goldfishes plunged into a play-pool of ever-
increasingly nectarean shyama-rasa, just to become caught in
the love-net of their own boundless amorous obsessions by the
fishermen of Shyama’s ever-enchanting playful glances? Have
they now become utterly overwhelmed and captivated by
encountering His incessant spirited splashing showers of love-
drenched handsome delightfulness? Has Jayashri, the
glamorously glowing, gorgeously golden goddess of victory, now
intervened to totally overwhelm and incapacitate a mortally
mesmerized Shyama? Has She not victoriously vanquished His
every hope of superceding the indomitable preponderance of
Her ever-resplendent, ravishingly curvaceous, triumphantly
transcendent boundless bodily beauty?”

Preoccupied in this way, I will joyously shower volleys of
fragrant flowers to celebrate the ascendancy of vivaciously
playful You, my supremely victorious, water-warring svamini!
Then, along with Your friends, You will delight in making music
by rhythmically slapping the water with Your reddish lotus-like
hands. Just as lotus-like sadhakas, deeply rooted in the nectar-
pool of hearing, chanting, and remembering the gopi’s pastimes


with Your lover, rise to exuberantly dance, celebrating the
festival of sankirtana with the hope of attaining Your eternal
loving service, the happy lotus flowers emerging from Radha-
kunda’s agitated waves will jubilantly dance to the sway of Your
amorous midday pastimes, swaying to and fro as if agitated by
the intense desire for a felicitous festival in the tender touch of
the lotus petal finger tips of Your Shyamasundara’s lotus-like
conjugally clever hands!

He Praneshvari! When, after witnessing the conclusion of
Your blissful water-play, will I be so privileged to catch hold of
Your delicate lotus-bud hands to carefully help You up onto a
beautifully bejeweled bathing platform near the water’s edge?
Rati Manjari and others will then assist in Your massage and
bath. Meanwhile, I, anticipating the confidential flow of Your
heart, will, upon Your sweet indication, go to help Rupa Manjari
gently anoint and bathe Your all-enchanting lover. Upon quickly
bathing and emerging from the nectar mellow waters of Your
kunda, my blissful shapely juvenescent features will become all
but conspicuous through my dripping thin white bathing-
garment. At that time, the sight of my delicate loveliness will, for
Your absolute delight, make the unrestrained, roving eyes of
Your incomparably handsome Shyama savor an inspiration ten
million times greater than that which He achieves from the
mutual fascination of His pure, supramundane direct anga-sanga
with me! Hiding from His view, I will don fresh, thin dry clothes
handed to me by one of my friends. We will then all enter an
indescribably gorgeous temple of jewels within a grove of kalpa-
vriksa trees. There I will joyfully help You and the sakhis dress
and decorate our beloved Lord Shyama. We will offer varieties
of charming, ornately fashioned flower dresses and ornaments
made from various forest flowers, leaves, twigs, and peacock
feathers. Beholding His charming features, I will blissfully muse,
“How sweet! How cute! How lovable! How irresistible! No
wonder She becomes so incredibly impatient!”

He Radhe! Knowing the flow of my heart, You will
indicatively instruct me with the hints of Your assuring, ruthful
eyes. At that opportune moment, I, with a happy heart, will
shyly present effulgently smiling Shyamasundara with the new


bamboo vamsi flute I secretly made for Him at home the
previous day. With Your beaming consent, He will happily
accept. Then, with His lotus eyes blooming, He will cheerfully
inspect its excellence, sweetly flutter a few notes to be sure,
and carefully tuck it into His flower belt. I will blissfully marvel
at how my most merciful You, along with Shrimati Lalita Devi, so
cleverly orchestrated Your sublime lilas to incorporate the
fulfillment of my own heart’s cherished aspiration.

We will then ornament both You and the sakhis with many
varieties of gorgeous, intricately designed, sweetly scented
flower dresses, anklets, belts, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and
candrika crowns. Vrinda will then invite everyone to assist in
serving a superbly sumptuous forest picnic that she has just
arranged for Your beloved Shyamasundara, Subala, Ujjvala, and
two or three other of His most intimate priya-narma-sakhas.
Ever-hungry Madhumangala will also miraculously appear on
the scene just in time to fill his bottomless belly. The vana-devis
will then bring forth many varieties of deliciously prepared
fruits, roots, and nuts gathered from the forest, and You and all
Your girlfriends will carry various milk-sweet preparations
brought from home. I will also bring the homemade succulent
gulkanda-laddus and creamy cashew burfi, which I secretly
prepared with the hopes that Shyama may at this time accept
and delight in them. I will be overjoyed to see Him happily relish
all of our offerings. Thereafter, I will please You and the sakhis
by helping to distribute His nectarean prasada. Thus, I will make
You once again savor the sweetness of His adharamrita kisses!
As Shyamasundara and His friends recline on soft, spacious
flower beds, resting and relaxing while chewing sweet tambula,
You will, out of inestimable gratitude and love for Your ever-
surrendered maidservants, benevolently expand the compass of
His compassion by personally sharing the remnants of His
mercy-kisses with each and every one of us!

Dear most merciful Shrimati Radharani! I will ever attach
the desires of my heart, the activities of my perfect spiritual
body, my eternal life, the transcendentally situated soul of my
very being, my everything, and my all and all to the shoreless
nectar-ocean of the pastimes of Your tender lotus feet. By the


unfailing influence of Your special causeless mercy upon me, my
heart will be ever-increasingly overwhelmed with undeniable,
transcendentally passionate loving attraction to the Lord of
Your life. Still, I will never, abandoning the consideration of Your
ultimate satisfaction, independently endeavor to please Your
beloved Shyama, even if He, in a secluded grove,
unceremoniously tries to force Himself upon my frail existence.
Shyama belongs to You, and You, by Your boundless benignity,
belong to me. Therefore, Shyama, bound by Your gracious
desire, automatically belongs to me within the context of my
loving service to the extended mercy feature of Your pleasure
pastimes. Without Your consent, I will not, and therefore
cannot, do anything. Taking absolute refuge at Your lotus feet
and giving up all egocentric motives, I will do anything and
everything for Your pleasure. You will always be my supreme
svamini. My enthusiastic singing of His Holy Names, my earnest
glorification and recollection of His form, qualities, and
pastimes, my sincere friendships with His devotees, my ardent
longing for His occasional encounter, and my acceptance of His
mercy upon Your ever-loyal, incorruptible, unalloyed
maidservant will be done exclusively with the aim of satisfying
You. Instrumentally acting upon Your expressed wishes or,
when required, simply doing the needful upon anticipating the
flow of Your inner feelings, I will delightfully serve to satisfy the
senses of Your laudably libidinous lover! I will do so not so much
to mitigate His distress but to relieve the para-duhkha-duhkhi
heartfelt anguish You feel when apprehending the disconsolate
condition of His ever-insatiable, transcendentally impassioned
heart. He Svamini Radhe! I will thus have no separate interest
apart from Your own. Regardless of whatever deeds I may
apparently enact for the pleasure of Shyama, my bhavollasa-rati
will remain forever intact and immaculate by dint of my heart’s
constant vicarious absorption in the pleasure of my yutheshvari.
Ultimately, whatever actions I may perform in Krishna
consciousness will be eternally governed by the satisfaction of
my guru-rupa-sakhi.

My dearmost beloved Shrimati Radharani! You
undoubtedly relish ten million times the happiness of Your own


intimate meetings with Shyama by sharing Him with Your
confidential companions! Who can fathom the limits of Your
divine inspirations? Moreover, it is a profound truth that Your
infinitely indomitable beloved Shyamasundara derives a special,
ineffable bliss by agreeing to be astonishingly overwhelmed and
conquered by the love of Your infinitesimal, eternally separated
vibhinnamsha protegee. Therefore, from time to time You are
thrilled to facilitate such a variety of happiness in Him. The
individual soul’s endearing preferential prema for Your lotus feet
causes Your kindness upon her to increase to the highest
degree. Actually, it is her deep love for You and Your amplified
ananda expressed as consequent compassion upon her, more
than anything, that profoundly impresses Him and forces Him
into submission. Thus, some of Your sakhi-snehadhika
maidservants, will certainly, under special conditions
prearranged by You, sometimes agree to meet with Your
beloved when wholly convinced of Your absolute delight. In
doing so, they never breach Your confidential trust and are thus
never deprived of their supremely privileged access to Your
most intimate nikunja-sevas. The amplified ananda within Your
heart spontaneously inundates their intensely absorbed tad-
bhavecchatmika consciousness. This makes it possible for them,
in all circumstances, to relish a pleasure ten million times that
which they could ever access by direct sambhogecchamayi
association with the Lord. There is nothing very astonishing
about that, for they are most affectionately, if not ever
exclusively, committed and selflessly surrendered to the
happiness of Your heart.

O Radhike! When oh when, as the pasha-khela dice board
is placed before You, will I happily hear with my own lucky ears
Your sakhis jestingly humiliating playful Shyama by insolently
declaring, “This is not the forest for tending cows, playing
macho muscle-games, and killing raksasa demons! This is a
brain-game to test the sagacity of skillful persons before the
learned assembly!” To my sudden trepidation, the both of You,
dice in hand, will then unexpectedly decide to stake me alone as
the winner’s prize! Shameless Shyama will cunningly vaunt His
farcical triumph, inciting a riotous dispute among the sakhas


and sakhis. Kundalata, siding with Him, will advocate on His
behalf, prattling so many promiscuous presumptions. In an
instant, eminently erudite Nandimukhi, famous as Paurnamasi’s
foremost disciple, will push her way to the forefront. Boldly
asserting Your obvious upper hand, she will dismiss all opposing
arguments with a single retort. She will then promptly pull
jubilantly laughing me by the arms to You. Catching the base of
my braid, my unlimitedly merciful ganeshvari, Shrimati Lalita
Devi, will then force me, whose gladdened heart is already
Yours, to surrender my head at Your lotus feet, like a sold-out
animal.

He Radhe! When, as the wagering of the flute, kisses,
embraces, ornaments, and clothing begins in earnest, will I, with
great apprehension, hear Vrinda’s panicky messenger parrots
suddenly report the nearing of Mother Jatila to the vicinity of
the Surya-mandira? Being so alerted and helping to quickly
change back everyone’s clothes and ornaments, I will hastily
grab the flower basket and go with You and the sakhis to the
temple of the Lord of the day. Shyama will appear so charming,
returning on the scene disguised as a highly intelligent,
supremely sense-controlled, gentle brahmana boy. How
humorous! When Jatila unsuspectingly accepts Him as Your
priest for the now-very-late worship of the Sun God; when she
credulously instructs You to wholeheartedly surrender to His
lotus feet; when Shyama pleasingly bewilders her with His
outrageously illusive astrological declarations, convincing her of
Your “unblemished” fidelity toward Your imbecile eunuch of a
so-called husband; when she unwarily beseeches Him to
become the permanent priest of her household deity; when
greedy, comical Madhumangala rapaciously appropriates the
daksina and sweets upon Shyama’s pompous refusal to accept –
how will I be able to contain my insuppressible laughter?

How will I be able to bear the sudden, overwhelming swell
of veiled agony within the core of Your heart as You reluctantly
traverse the return path to Yavata? “Has the condensed milk of
Her heart’s jubilation, sweetened by the ever-enchanting sight
of His ever-increasing handsomeness, now curdled at the
prospects of virulent viraha?” Thus deliberating, I will reel with


despair. As we enter the citadel of Your in-laws’ home, Your
intensely distressful feelings of separation will reach insuperable
proportions. How will mere camphor, sandalwood paste, wet
lotus stems, and conciliatory chicanery suffice to alleviate the
conflagration consuming Your heart at that time? Only when
You carefully make manohara laddus, amrita keli, karpura keli,
ananga gutika, and other nectarean sweets for Shyama’s supper
will You become even a little cooled and pacified. Then, as we
return to Your private chamber, You, engladdened and sweetly
smiling, will mercifully sit me down on an exquisite couch and,
reclining to rest for a little while with Your head upon my lap,
softly intimate to me the longings of Your Shyama-infatuated
heart as other maidservants fan You and gently massage Your
delicate limbs.

He Radhe! After we have bathed, dressed, and decorated
You nicely for the evening festivities, You will desperately
beseech me to mercifully show You the Lord of Your life. When I
cheerfully pull You to the top of the candra-shalika, You,
anticipating the quickly approaching evening sky, will see the
clouds of dust upraised by the hooves of the cows. I will then
enthusiastically take You, on some pretext, to a thicket by the
side of the path. There You will have the opportunity to
exchange in an unseen way profoundly ecstatic, meaningful
glances with Your beloved. Shyama, swaggering like an
inebrious elephant, will intoxicate the whole of Vraja as He
returns rollicking home from the pastures with His uncountable
jovial cowherd boyfriends and cows.

“Is He a lordly elephant parading into Vraja with a host of
rapt attendants? I hardly think so, because when have we ever
seen an elephant herding a myriad of cows? Is He a tamala tree
moving on a pathway between the Ganga and Yamuna? No! It
could not be, because tamala trees don’t play sweet, mind-
alluring songs on the flute, and the rivers Ganga and Yamuna
don’t moo like cows and buffaloes! Is He a walking, talking,
playful sapphire deity of divine love benedictions? Maybe, but
why has this one lost His equilibrium upon glimpsing the
sparkling rays of the toenails of Your lotus feet? He Krishangi
Radhe! Just once more, see His charm! His peacock-feathered,


forest-flower crown; His vraja-dhuli-dusted, sweetly curling
locks of hair; His fascinating, sweetly smiling, unlimitedly
kissable honey-moon face with gracefully dancing, elongated
lotus-petal eyes; His ever-victorious, flirtatiously frolicking
cupid’s-bow eyebrows; His shark-shaped earrings sweetly
swinging alongside His gorgeous glistening cheeks which are
splendidly adorned with candana and mineral pigments from the
slopes of Govardhana Hill – O Radhe, just see! His handsome
lion’s neck and beautiful broad shoulders tastefully draped with
a flowing reddish-gold silk-chiffon cadar and a rope for tying
cows; His charming flower-bracelet-bedecked, snake-like
reassuring arms with teasingly tender lotus-like hands pressing
His new vamsi flute to His bimba-fruit lips; His magnificent
Kaustubha-mani adorned chest, a desperate, slender-waisted
gopi’s only wish-fulfilling asylum – just see! His lion-waisted
torso covered with elegant garlands of gunja and tulasi and a
swaying vaijayanti garland reaching down to His knees; His
whirlpool nectar navel drowning the helplessly enraptured
hearts of whoever ventures to view; His generous, handsome
hips wrapped with a crimson brocade sash; His powerful thighs
covered with a glistening golden-yellow dhoti hiked-up above
His auspiciously visible shanks – just see! Just see and hear His
blissfully jingling ankle bells complementing His limitlessly
delicate, soft, and gentle lotus feet now traversing the pathway
to Vraja! Are the concave arches of those two lovely lotus feet
not fittingly contoured to perfectly complement the rotundity of
Your two big and beautiful breasts?” Hearing these cheerfully
expressed amorous infatuations of mine, intended solely to
inspirit Your love-thirsty heart, You will sweetly smile upon
Your happy handmaid, all the while eagerly drinking in the
ambrosial sweetness of Your homecoming Shyama from the
moistened corners of Your overjoyed eyes.

He Shyama-priye Radhe! Upon returning You to Your
quarters, I will, on Your tenderhearted command, gather all the
various previously prepared sweets and go along with two or
three of my closest friends to Nandalaya. There Mother Yashoda
will be overflowing with maternal affection as she sees her
adolescent Shyamasundara returning the cows to the goshala.


With a little persuasion, Shyama will enter His father’s palace for
refreshments, with Batu and Balarama. At that time I will
happily deliver the sweets to Vrajeshvari and humbly bow
before her.

When will that blessed day come when I will be fortunate
enough to be mercifully engaged by Yashoda Mata to help
bathe, dress, and ornament Your beloved Shyama in the
company of her house maidens as she and Mother Rohini return
to the kitchen to continue cooking the evening meal? When I
massage His limbs with pure nicely scented oil, He, unseen by
others, will tug on my veil. In response, I will silently protest by
sternly knitting my creeper-like eyebrows. We will then perform
His abhiseka by pouring pleasantly scented Yamuna water from
exquisite jeweled pots. When I dry Him off with a soft silken
towel, He will secretly pinch my trembling left arm. I will silently
ignore Him, as if I didn’t notice.

Radhe! Is the freshly donned, gleaming golden dhoti
embracing His handsome hips now audaciously posing as a rival
of You who yearn to lovingly envelop their pride in the fury of
Cupid’s erotic embrace? I think Your all-attractive nagara will
surely abandon that rival of meager sway in the progress of
Your culminating intimacy.

As I fasten His ankle bells, He will mischievously tease me
by tugging again and again on my plaited hair. At that time, I,
steeped in the remembrance of Your painful separation, will
take the opportunity to secretly kiss His lotus feet. He Radhike!
When ostensibly dissatisfied Shyama repeatedly removes my
artistically painted gopi-dots from around His ever-enchanting
lotus-petal eyes, I, flustered, my bodily hairs standing on end,
will many times softly appeal to You in restless apprehension.

Just as I finish my perfect final touches, suddenly, to my
sheer astonishment, roguishly playful Shyama, with His two
wayward lotus hands, will shamelessly seize my two firm,
freshly blooming breasts! I will skillfully retreat while
vociferously rebuking Him, exclaiming, “Are! What are You
doing, Shyama? You know I’m just an insignificant maidservant.
I belong to that girl for whom Your avariciousness is actually
meant! Without Her permission, You are not allowed to even so


much as lay a hand on any of us, so why do You bother Yourself
so?”

Beaming broadly, jestfully winking at my shyly smiling
friends, and looking just like sweetness personified, cunning
Shyama will rejoin, “Hey kinkari! I was just demonstrating to you
what I’m going to do to your svamini when we rendezvous this
evening. Why are you so upset? I’m not lying. When you return
to Her lotus feet, just tell Her everything that has happened.”

Just then, as we, like dry scattered leaves blown by a
whirlwind, quickly retire from sight, cheerful Nanda Maharaja
and Balarama will arrive, taking Shyamasundara to the dining
hall for dinner. When will I be blessed with the occasion to
blissfully behold the sweet manner with which beloved Shyama
heartily accepts His evening meal? Sumptuously feasting upon
and praising the many varieties of tasty delicacies offered to
Him at the insistance of Father Nanda, Balarama, Mother
Yashoda, Rohini, and other superiors, Shyama will happily relish
the four types of foodstuffs with great gusto.

Finally, the greatly fortunate Yashoda-mayi will offer all
varieties of sweet preparations saying, “O Lala, happily eat all
these delicious sweets prepared by the peerless hands of the
daughter of Maharaja Vrisabhanu and You will live a long,
healthy, and happy life!”

He Radhe! As charming, quintessentially delicious Shyama
begins to taste one of Your succulently delicious manohara
laddus, He will become suddenly overwhelmed by the
indescribably delicious thoughts of Your incomparably delicious
form, qualities, and nikunja-lilas. When I see His unexpected loss
of appetite perturbing the mind of His mother; when I notice His
love-stricken listlessness, His pretentious muffled belch overtly
indicating the conclusion of His meal, and His persistent
parents’ total inability to persuade Him to eat even a morsel
more; and when I see His affectedly cheerful request to retire to
His shayana-mandira with a few of His intimate friends, I, slightly
smiling, will understand everything!

Unseen by others, I will go to learn from Him the venue of
our evening tryst. When will that auspicious moment come
when I will find Him lying on His spacious bed, His lotus eyes


brimming with suppressed tears of fathomless, overwhelming
love for You? Seeing His condition, I too will be submerged in a
welling stream of love-filled tearfulness as I recall the untold
afflictions of Your inconsolably lovelorn heart!

He Radhe! Receiving the remnants of His repast from the
hands of thoughtful Dhanistha, I will then return to make You
happy by joyfully recounting every detail of what happened at
the house of Nanda. I will inform You about Shyama’s proposed
tryst; feed You His remnants, His ambrosial adharamrita kisses;
excitedly help to ready You for Your abhisara; and blissfully
take You into the night, down a secret forest path to meet the
Lord of Your life!

He Shyama! The enchanting Shyama kasturi musk
anointing Your unlimitedly beautiful body will stealthily rob
Your in-laws of the power to persist with their moral
wakefulness! Your stifled anklets will render their notice of Your
stealthy departure conspicuous by its sonorous slumber! Your
dark bluish-black Shyama-colored dress; Your deep-Shyama-
blue sapphire ornaments; Your beautiful Shyama-bluish-black
braided hair; the dense, dark, nocturnal Shyama-expectant
forest of Shyama-bestowing kalpa-vriksa trees; the Shyama-dark
current of the Yamuna flowing along the side of Govinda Sthala;
and the Shyama-ness of the moonless amavasya night will all
envelop You, every step of the way, at every turn, in
inestimably profound, ecstatically exhilarating Shyama-
exuberant love fascinations! All glories to Your rapturous, madly
Shyama-anxious evening abhisara! I, assiduously anticipating
Your course, will find myself running ahead to carefully brush
aside the ominously obstructive brambles and branches along
the forest pathway to the sanketa-kunja palace.

O Radhe! When will I, overwhelmed with insuperable
distress upon seeing Your incessant torrents of tears, overhear
the sharp rebukes of Lalita Sakhi: “Utkanthita Sakhi Radhe! It
has been hours since our coming to this hard-hearted forest
grove and You still think it wise to wait for Him? You might as
well be happy with Your own disappointment! I’ve told You time
and again not to make any more friendships with that bogus
blackish boy, but You just don’t listen! That nonsense, morally


debased, deceitful, debauched cheater-number-one is black not
only outside – He’s black through and through! No doubt He will
show up at the end of this unbearable night, sporting kajjala
upon His coppery lips, kiss marks on His cheeks and arms, and
a host of candravali crescent-moon fingernail marks on His
chest, along with smudges of kunkuma, won while gallantly
pressing the breast of the girl who is Your constant competitor!
You should angrily take no notice of Him; turn Your face away!
Don’t be so gullible as to believe any of His lamebrain excuses!
And, if You actually want Your ultimate good, don’t, even for a
moment, abandon the dignity of Your disdainful demeanor!”

Hearing these discouraging words from Your dearest sakhi
and feeling inconsolably dejected and let down at heart, You will
indignantly order me to promptly remove anything and
everything that in any way reminds You of unreliable Shyama!
Your Shyama-blue sapphire ornaments – discarded; Your
Shyama-bluish-black clothes – cast aside; Your enchanting
Shyama-kasturi musk body-unguent – disdainfully wiped
away; Your beautiful Shyama-bluish-black hair – bound up and
imprisoned in an anguish-knot behind Your head; the lovely
Shyama-blue lotuses pushed over Your ears – flung afar wilted –
distraught and disappointed! The Shyama-bluish-sapphire-
studded drinking goblets, pan boxes, and spittoons – good
riddance! Has the removal of the elegantly embroidered
Shyama-dark draperies not revealed the absolute Shyamishness
of the darksome night through the window lattice of the kunja
palace? Shall we now throw away the earlier-thought-to-be-
favorable dark’s duration? Unable to discard the diminutive
remainder of the already irretrievable night and helplessly
engulfed in Your inability to forget inconstant Shyama even for a
moment, You will futilely attempt to escape by retreating
behind the closed windows of Your Shyama-darkened eyes!
Seeing nothing but Shyama within and without, exasperated to
the point of total devastation, and collapsing, fainted upon Your
now withering bed of stemless flowers, Your every attempt will
be baffled as You become overwhelmingly sunken in an ocean
of Shyama-blackish oblivion!

He Radhe! When will I, posted by Rupa Manjari at the
pastime palace gate, eyes drowsy with sleeplessness,
relentlessly ignore Your lover who, clasping my ankles with His
two lotus hands while crying and crying streams of tears upon
my feet, blubbers plaintive supplications, wishing to glimpse
even the rays of Your effulgently sparkling toenails! At long last,
unable to any longer suppress my hot tears of yawning
indignation, I will reproach Him mildly, saying, “O Shyama! What
is the use of Your crocodile tears now? The night has already
come and gone! When were You ever in Your whole life sincere
about anything other than Your own madcap infidelity? She is
now peacefully resting and does not want to be disturbed. Your
mother is calling You. Just go! It’s time to go home and milk the
cows!”

My dearmost kindhearted Shrimati Radharani! When, one
morning, as the pitiless crimson shafts of sunlight pierce upward
through the unsuspecting ruby cloudbanks along the eastern
skyline, will I, upon arriving at the palace of Nanda Maharaja,
see nearby with my own two tear-filled eyes, the flag atop the
chariot of Gandini’s son, Akrura? How will I, with my scorched
existence, protect You from the malevolent grip of imminent
providential calamity? How will I have the strength to withstand
the weight of Your inestimable desperation? How will I ever
have the power to console Your infinitely disconsolate heart?

“When insolent Indra inundated the land of Vraja with
torrents of rain and hail, was that not a stroke of unprecedented
good fortune? She then had the opportunity to relish His
matchless sweetness, beauty, and handsomeness without any
distraction as He held up Govardhana Hill continuously for
seven days! Is ill-tempered Indra now revenging his defeat by
withholding his devastating deluge at this dire hour of need?
Why, now, do the hard-hearted cloud friends of Krishna not rain
torrents of tears to daunt His departure?” Thinking thus, will I
not then witness the magnitude of the gopi’s love as they
despondently muddy the ground with their dispirited
Samvartaka-cloudburst constant torrents of tears? Will the
tender creepers of their hopes of somehow permanently sinking
the wheels of the chariot now prepared to at once abscond with


the Lord of Your life not bear fruit? Has not the water of
Vrindavana now become exceedingly salty on account of their
perpetual weeping? Are we to believe His cheating words as He
cunningly promises His early return? We know what “Just now
coming” means in the land of Vraja! “Just now” never comes!
Incessantly crying and crying to no avail, I will throw my
parched self down before the cruel one to supplicate his mercy
upon the denizens of Vraja!

Ha Radhe! The measure of my everlasting love for You, the
outcome of lifetimes of dedicated devotional practices, the
consequence of having served and satisfied many spiritual
masters, the effect of having progressively evoked the causeless
compassion of innumerable Vaishnavas, the result of having
earnestly scrutinized untold volumes of scriptural texts, the
ultimate point of my many lifetimes of determined sankirtana
and transcendental book distribution, the mark of Your
matchless mercy upon Your minuscule me, the degree of my
highest prema – all will be tested by my ability to somehow
solace your hopelessly heavy heart as cruel, inconsiderate
Akrura mercilessly takes Him away. As You stand stunned,
robbed of the very life of Your life, like a painted picture of a
totally traumatized, inconsolable Radha, we will helplessly
behold the last traces of the dust clouds upraised by the wheels
of the chariot as it quickly departs and disappears toward the
precincts of Kamsa’s capital. He Praneshvari! I will ever consider
it my supreme constitutional dharma to carefully minister to the
heart-rending desperations of my gopi mistresses as they,
unable to tolerate Shyamasundara’s absence for the mere
twinkling of an eye and thus cursing the Creator for designing
their bodies with eyelids that blink, become inimitably
maddened with severe su-dura-pravasa feelings of separation in
total disappointment upon His leaving the sweetest land of Vraja
to reside in the opulent city of Mathura.

“Ha Prana-natha! Ha Priyatama! Ha Madhava! Shyama!
Please return again to the path of My eyes! Out of jealous anger,
contrariness, or sheer capriciousness, I would indignantly refuse
to see You or would prankishly play hard to get. Taking You for
granted, we thought You would always stay with us in


Vrindavana to enjoy in our company. Now You have forsaken us
and gone afar! Only now have we come to fully appreciate the
value of a moment of Your company. O Krishna! If I could just
have back all those priceless moments in which I scornfully
denied You, I would never refuse to see You again. Please return
to the tear-worn path of My eyes!” Ha Radhe! When will I,
hearing You submissively sob these wistful words of utter
remorse, be submerged by the irresistible influence of Your
special causeless mercy in an ocean of ever-swelling waves of
prema for Your lovelorn lotus feet.

Ha ha Radhe! Could the young city ladies of Mathura ever
express, in their anxiousness to see Him, a love in any way
comparable to the immaculate kevala-madhurya-prema of Your
incomparably beauteous sakhis of Vrindavana? How rasika was
His display of mercy toward Kamsa’s scentless pumpkin flower
of a maidservant, Kubja, anyway? Was His breaking Kamsa’s
sacrificial bow such an act of chivalry? Let us see Him break the
all-powerful bow of Cupid, which incessantly pierces our hearts
with the painful shafts of premikaa cupidity for His eternal life-
long loving service! Krishna easily killed the enormous fearsome
elephant, Kuvalayapida, but what about the more than
formidable maddened elephants of our excruciating fears of
being endlessly downtrodden and neglected by Him? Okay! So
He triumphantly killed Kamsa, fear of death personified, but
how will He kill our dread of the fateful demise threatening our
ruthlessly abandoned You, without His penitent return to this
land of Vraja?

Ha Radhe! In the madness of prema, I will hear Your
mesmerizing maha-bhava-spirited speeches to the black Krishna
bee who mischievously poses, incognito, as His own messenger
just to savor the delirium of Your piteously impassioned heart!
How encouraging were Uddhava’s notorious jnana-maya
messages, the recollection of which only redoubles our distress?
How considerate was Shyama’s drastic decision to further
dissociate Himself from us by relocating to His cleverly
constructed, far-off island fortress of Dvaraka? How valorous
was His kidnapping princess Rukmini from the midst of a few
insignificant jackal-like so-called princely men of this world? So


what if He miraculously created nine hundred thousand
skyscraper palaces within the twinkling of an eye. Was that
actually so wondrous and magnificently majestic? Was His
simultaneous expansion into sixteen thousand one hundred and
eight husbands, one for each of His sixteen thousand one
hundred and eight queens, really so very astonishing? Did He
not inimitably expand His original form by the millions to
synchronously sport with His millions of gopi wives in Your most
charming realm of Vraja? His love for the exalted queens of
Dvaraka may certainly appear to be very wonderful, but it could
never compare with the concentrated amorous intoxication He
relished in the company of even the least of Your vraja-gopi
girlfriends. In this land of Vrindavana the supreme prankster,
Krishna, made His self-willed adolescent shenanigans successful
by deftly stealing away the garments of the unmarried vraja-
kumaris. Is he now trying to amend His wicked ways by
conversely contributing an unlimited measure of sari cloth to
protect the dignity of the Pandavas’ queen, Draupadi? I have
heard of Shyama’s occasionally condescending to become the
humble order-carrier, servant, and messenger of Yudhisthira.
That, in some way, may appear to endow His character with
slight dignity and appeal . . . until we reflect upon the pitiable
plight of the people of Vraja. All this far-off news sounds so
strange and grating to my aching ears that earnestly long to
hear the bitter-sweet songs of His now heartlessly abandoned
flute!

Rolling on the ground with straw between His teeth, tears
flooding His lotus eyes, His peacock-feathered crown fallen in
the dust of Vraja, He, fawning in this way, would again and again
beg each and every maidservant for the smallest dust particle of
service to the dazzling dust of Your delicate foot-soles. O Radhe!
Did He not mean well by all these antics? Was there not even a
scrap of sincerity? Will Shyama not soon reappear to revive the
people of Vraja and make You happy with His merciful sidelong
glances, sweet love talks, and passionate embraces?

I will never, not even for a moment, accept that our
beloved Shyamasundara is the son of anyone other than Mother
Yashoda and Nanda Maharaja! That He ever left Vrindavana to


save the lives of His “real” parents, Vasudeva and Devaki, is
merely a mayic myth, a ruse! That Satyabhama and the other
thousands of princesses married by Dvaraka-natha are really
none other than You and the other gopis of Vraja is only so
much conciliatory phantasmagoria. How could it be otherwise?
For You and all of Your associates ever remain here to decorate
this sweetest land of Vraja with Your nectar pastimes. He
Radhe! Neither You nor Your Vrajendranandana Shyama ever
take a single step out from the borders of Vraja-bhumi! His
apparent absence is simply His playfulness, which occasions
Him to camouflage Himself against the blackened background of
Your loving delusions so as to shroud the whole of Vraja in a
Ghanashyama monsoon cloud of confusion! Do You think that
when Shyama now exuberantly dances with You at night in the
rasa-lila, it is just a dream? Do You think that when He stands
before You with a smirky smile, when He passionately pulls at
Your sash of kinkini bells, when He forcibly folds You into His
tight embrace, drinking the ambrosia of Your bimba-fruit lips, or
when He piquantly plunges into Your nectar pool of amorous
deliciousness within a cave on Govardhana Hill, He is just a
figment of Your imagination?

He Radhe! In Your land of Vraja, by the influence of His
inscrutable attraction, nectar and poison become indiscernible;
meeting and separation are integrally interconvertible, co-
existing substantialities. Reality becomes illusion and illusion
becomes reality. Stone-like hearts melt, and the softest hearts
break to pieces like brittle stone. Wakefulness is taken as
dream, whereas one’s innermost cherished dreams awaken to
tangible existence beyond one’s wildest dreams! He Karuna-
mayi Radhike! Shyama, in this way, even to this very day,
augments the intense loving attachments of the residents of
Vraja to the point of sublime supramundane excruciation! You
should, please, kindly not blame Him for this, for after all, from
the standpoint of His absolute, masculine autocracy, He is
unable to factually fathom by direct experience the deep nectar
ocean of loving devotion to His lotus feet.

My dear most loveworthy and merciful Radha-
Shyamasundara! May the broad-minded, forward-thinking souls


evermore respect these deliberations, which are replete with
profound concerns for advancing a more progressive culture of
antaranga-bhakti in the lives of Your seriously dedicated
sankirtana devotees. Please let those essence-seeking, deeply
introspective, softhearted individuals who patiently and
sincerely read or hear these verbose utterances very soon
attain the highest transcendental happiness (paramananda) in
the spontaneous loving service of Your lotus feet according to
their innermost heart’s aspirations.


Fourth Heartfelt Effusion









My dear Shri Shri Radha-Shyamasundara! Crying at the
lotus feet of Shri Guru, one very fallen and destitute soul humbly
offers to You the following unrestrained stream of prayerful
outpourings for Your kind and considerate audience.

He Radhe! I long to directly witness how delinquent
Shyama repays His unrequited debt to His beloved gopis by
donning the various moods and characteristics of His own
intensely attracted ragatmika devotees in His form as Lord
Gauranga!

When will I be permitted to personally play a part in the
progressive extension of Your vraja-lilas, the audarya pastimes
of my most merciful Nimai Candra?

Please let me eternally serve, in any small way, the lotus
feet of my dearmost beloved Shaci-suta in the company of the
followers of Nitai and Jahnava Mata. He, the most beautiful of
all, more enchanting than millions and billions of cupids, will
eternally dance in the core of my heart!

My dear unlimitedly gorgeous Shaci-suta-sundara! When
will Your magnificent Gosvamis of Vrindavana, headed by Shri
Rupa, leniently bestow upon this fallen derelict the priceless
treasure of loving service to Your prema-nama-sankirtana-lilas in
the Nitya-navadvipa sector of Goloka-dhama? I will happily
serve in any small way to help augment Your blissful relishment
of the moods of Vraja throughout the day and night.

I yearn to not only see, but to also get, by Your supremely
merciful divine dispensation, the chance to actually participate
in Your blissful nocturnal kirtanas at Shrivasangana in the
company of Your eternal associates. I will ever immerse my
ever-youthful anti-material body, mind, voice, and heart in the
ever-expanding ocean of Your prema-nama-sankirtana pastimes!
Dancing ecstatically while wearing blissfully chiming ankle bells
about my feet, I will at different times play various kinds of


karatalas, whompers, and gongs to help exhilarate Your heights
of premananda! Sometimes I will play on the snakelike
nagasimha horn or conch shell; other times I will play happily
upon the vamshi flute, joyfully generating a festive mood to
encourage Your rapturous dance! At times, I will play on
stringed instruments, and occasionally I myself, exhilarated with
divine exuberance, will blissfully dance, raising my trembling
arms in transcendental delight! At other times, I will again and
again roll in the dust of the feet of all the Vaishnavas, profusely
crying streams of tears in unbounded happiness! I hope and
pray that someday I, at the behest of Your eternal associates,
may sweetly sing the Holy Names of Krishna for You in a voice
overflowing with intoxicating madhura-rasa! At that time You
will recognize me as Your long lost eternal servitor.

Dear honey-faced dancing Lord of my life! When will that
blessed moment arise when You, drenching my entire body with
the torrents of tears gushing from Your incomparably love-laden
lotus eyes, will mercifully enfold my insignificant yet fully love-
saturated person into Your most magnanimous bosom? My
Shaci-suta! My Prana-natha! There is no one more dear to me
than You. Let us always stay with each other, through thick and
thin, and keep each other company! Please don’t deprive me of
Your all-delightful association! Please always stay with me and
never ever abandon me! Kindly let me always have You and You
always have me, and I always dearly love You and You always
dearly love me too! I have none other than You! Without You, I
have no one! Please don’t let anyone, even in a dream, ever take
You away from me! May my heart ever recall Your
indescribably captivating countenance, Your enchanting
gestures, and Your ruthful, reassuring words of love to me in the
privacy of my own dreams! Please let me never, even for a
moment, ever forget You! Since my beloved Srila Prabhupada
revealed to me the enchantment of Your sublime personality, I
have cherished an indelible desire to – in an eternal, unhindered
spiritual body – forever serve the dust of Your lotus feet.

Anyway, what need is there for me to further disclose the
treasures of my troubled heart? After all, they are almost
certainly no more than the overly optimistic self-delusions of a


miserable madman, notorious for his eccentric absorption in the
dreamland of pensive spiritual delirium. When will all my
ungodly anarthas flee far away from my rascal mind? For now, in
my shamefully fallen, condemned condition of material
existence, I am helplessly incarcerated in this vile cesspool of a
mortal stool bag, struggling in this world to do any kind of
devotional service at all. Practically, in my present state, I have
nothing nice to offer. All of my heartfelt hopes and aspirations
for eternal loving service to Your nitya-lilas in the lands of
Navadvipa and Vraja, as also the verbose utterances burdening
the pages of this book, seem to me like so many sky flowers. I
have written these words in response to a dream in which Srila
Prabhupada moved me to do so. He Shaci-suta! Although I
would generally feel disinclined to voice these few inner
thoughts and feelings, at his behest I have inspirationally done
as was prompted by You from within. It is as if You, like a
highway robber, stealthily assailed me along the way,
plundering whatever little wealth of words I was carefully
keeping to myself, only to haphazardly scatter them over the
pages of this book in Your haste to escape my prudent
circumspection!

If I could not somehow or other ultimately achieve the
fulfillment of all these hopes for divine service, then what would
be the meaning of my having joined the Hare Krishna
movement? What would be the value of my having
unassumingly sacrificed by altruistically distributing thousands
and thousands of transcendental literatures in the earlier years
of my devotional career? What would be the purpose of my
having, in my own shameless way, embraced the severe
austerities of the renounced order of life? What would be the
sense of my ongoing struggle to loudly sing the Holy Name?
What would be the point of my living and dying in the holy land
of Vraja? What would be the significance of all these toilsome,
long-winded sentences? What would be the sanity of my
maintaining all these lofty aspirations? What would be the proof
that the Supreme Lord is most merciful to the fallen?

Anyway, my dear Shaci-suta, under the circumstances I
see no option but to remain ever determined to somehow or


other serve the mission of my spiritual master, though I am
hardly able to do anything very substantial. Even if I never
become one of his stalwart “big” book distributors, I could at
least try to assist by humbly helping to keep the bathrooms
clean. I could help wash the pots or carry out the trash when
needed. Then again, I could help by nicely dressing the Deities
with plenty of fragrant flowers. Maybe I could even try to lead a
kirtana from time to time, or perhaps I could help load the buses
with books or help distribute prasada to the devotees and
guests, man the shoe room, or anything, recognizing the
absolute nature of all varieties of devotional service. At least my
lowly insignificance could manage to daily complete a measly
sixteen rounds of hari-nama-japa. I regard any “big” or “small”
position within the acarya’s institution as the post of a menial
servant. I consider any “big” or “small” menial service to Your
sankirtana movement to be tantamount to the exalted service of
Radha’s lotus feet. I pray that my guru will kindly see my
meager attempts in that light.

I pray to the lotus feet of my beloved Srila Prabhupada that
he may forgive my laughably inadequate and sometimes rather
blunt statements presented in this small volume. I am most
certainly a despicable reprobate of a so-called disciple. I
cunningly pretend to be some kind of a devotee just so the
illustrious leaders of what now passes as his Hare Krishna
movement don’t kick me out on my ass.

Dear Srila Prabhupada! Even though I am a contemptible
offender and surely don’t deserve any consideration, I have no
other shelter than the shade of your lotus feet. I am really not at
all very much advanced, and I don’t have much longer to live
within this one miserable, presently flapping dead body. My
erstwhile sinful life of material sense gratification was so
abdominal! Now the cruel black-snake time factor is mercilessly
devouring the feeble remaining span of my mouse-like
existence. Yet somehow, by the influence of your graceful
words, in spite of everything, an undeniable burning anxiety to
attain the lotus feet of supremely handsome and beautiful Lord
Krishna has surged within my heart – a dwarf hoping to catch
the moon. By divine revelation, my internal self-acuity and


heartfelt lofty aspirations for spiritual perfection were aroused
by you in the course of my resolute endeavors to please you by
my pounding performances of nama-sankirtana-yajna. By your
special causeless mercy, the fruition of all my deepest desires,
in good time, will certainly come to pass.

In a dream, you spoke to me the following profound and
particularly meaningful instructions:



“Actually, Aindra, book distribution is not enough.
Our real business is to become bhajananandi; and, by
our personal example, try to encourage as many
others as possible to also become bhajananandi. Book
distribution simply facilitates this.”



In a subsequent dream, you spoke to me again:



“Aindra, I want you to write a book about how to
distribute books.”



Dear Srila Prabhupada, I really don’t know what kind of
book you expected your insignificant, unworthy Aindra Dasa to
write. Whether my attempt is brimming with great hope or
overshadowed by dire hopelessness I can’t really say. Whatever
came from the core of my heart I have submitted with the hopes
that you may smile, even if only ever so slightly (or at least not
get too mad at me). I pray that my verbose outpourings may in
some small way instrumentally serve the purposes of our
predecessor Acaryas.

I don’t expect that many will be interested in troubling
themselves to seriously study the contents herein – yet another
bundle of pages to impudently clutter the increasing shelves of
so many volumes of comparatively greater consequence than
my own that we would hardly have time to read in an eventful
lifetime. Among the few who make even a cursory attempt to go
through this treatise, still fewer may very deeply appreciate or
for that matter actually grasp the essence of what I have
endeavored to present. How compelling could the words of a
minuscule microbe like me be anyway?


In attempting to openly present my personal inspirations
as I have done, I intend not that the reader necessarily embrace
the details of my particular bhava, given that each individual
soul will seek and ultimately realize a unique angle of loving
reciprocation with the Lord according to the individual’s natural
affinity and personal capacity. Rather, the intent is to encourage
one to deepen one’s own bhajana so as to gain an enhanced
internal devotional experience of one’s own. It is not that divine
revelation is beyond the scope of contemporary feasibility. The
Holy Name of Krishna is as real today as ever. Ye yatha mam
prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham. “As all surrender
unto Me, I reward them accordingly.” One should prudently
think, “If it can happen to insignificant Aindra Dasa – if that
rascal can do it – anyone can do it! Then what the hell are we
waiting for! Let’s go for it!”

If, out of fear of being ostracized, I were to ignore my
heart’s calling to responsibly discuss, for others’ benefit, the
subject matter expressed in this book, I would consider myself
to be a faithless misanthropist, a godless nihilist. I am not
unaware of the inevitability of my words raising a few eyebrows.
Still, I have risked writing down these ideas simply with the
hope that I may somehow serve to augment or perhaps even
catalyze an intensified quest for the ultimate aim of Krishna
conscious self-discovery among the non-envious. Faithful
persons who have a glimmer of greed for the attainment of the
realm of Vraja will value this attempt. Let the jata-rati
Vaishnavas assess my merits and demerits. Those who are unfit
to discuss the substance herein perhaps should avoid going
through this book lest they become lamentably confused,
contemptuously censorious, or unduly enmeshed in endless
shallow argumentation.

To the esteemed reader, who has bothered to expend
invaluable human life’s time and energy to peek into these
pages, I offer my humble obeisances again and again. I beg to
place before you a few closing words for your kind deliberation.

It is an incontestable matter of fact that the mass
distribution of transcendental literatures unfolding the
principles of bhagavata-dharma for the propagation of raga-


bhakti throughout the world is the number one missionary
“business” of the Krishna consciousness movement. Only a dull-
headed ecclesial anthropoid would speciously conclude
otherwise. Still, it should be borne in mind that there is really no
mundane dichotomy between the essential message of the
scriptures so proliferated and the application of the primary
methodology promoted by the scriptures themselves, the
congregational chanting of the Holy Name. In fact, the main
function of any scripture propagated by the Gaudiya Vaishnava
sampradaya is to convincingly induce the fallen souls to take up
the practice of the yuga-dharma, hari-nama-sankirtana, without
doing which, one could hardly expect to make much tangible
spiritual progress in this present age. This book also seeks to
pointedly propound the same principle. We should always
remember that Veda Vyasa compiled and wrote down the
scriptures with a view to facilitate the less intelligent, fallen
people of this Age of Kali, who have relatively short memories
and therefore require books as reference material. In previous
yugas, there was no pressing need for the written word. The
shruti-dharas upon hearing only once could immediately
memorize for life the knowledge disseminated through guru-
parampara, which specifically emphasized the appropriate
process of self-realization appurtenant to the respective yuga
circumstantially in progress. Given that scriptural texts were
presented specifically for this present Age of Kali, it would be
ludicrous to surmise that Vyasadeva’s ultimate conclusion
would be in any way divergent from the interest of the kali-yuga-
avatara, Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in the matter of widespread
propagation of the currently appropriate yuga-dharma, the
congregational singing of the Holy Name. One who with great
effort obsequiously goes out to bear the task of transcendental
book distribution without recognizing this essential intention of
the scriptures is like an ass that, lacking much good sense,
simply carries the burden of heavy loads of paper and ink.

In Kali-yuga no other devotional activity supersedes the
currently prescribed yuga-dharma, hari-nama-sankirtana.
Indeed, all other dharmas and all the various adjunct angas of
bhakti must subordinate themselves to the service of the yuga-


dharma to be deemed at all conducive, so far as the proper
progress of the Krishna consciousness movement is concerned.
All doings connected with Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement
may be accepted as sankirtana, or facets of the sankirtana
principle, to the extent that they factually inspire, promote, and
facilitate or at least positively complement direct performances
of yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana.

Temple Deity worship in this age can be seen as sankirtana
only when we recognize the Deity’s intention that His devotees
regularly assemble to satisfy Him by their splendid
performances of yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana. The highest
worship of the Deity in Kali-yuga is undoubtedly the
performance of sankirtana-yajna, the congregational singing of
Krishna’s Holy Names. We nicely care for the Deity, making all
the best arrangements for His pleasure and comfort, simply to
inspire Him to remain with us and glance favorably upon our
performances of nama-sankirtana and thus enjoy in our
company. Even if we don’t feed Him very nicely, He will still be
pleased to stay with us if He sees our keen interest to perform
yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana for His satisfaction. In fact, all
regulative temple functions basically aim to induce novice
devotional aspirants as well as the general public to
systematically associate with the primary devotional process,
nama-sankirtana.

Sweeping or cleansing the temple can be considered
sankirtana in that they serve to facilitate the performances of
hari-nama-sankirtana. No gentleman likes to come to a dirty
place. So if the temple is nicely cleansed, people will be happy
to congregate there to engage in sankirtana-yajna.

Prasada distribution is useful to the extent that it
encourages people to assemble together for the purpose of
congregational chanting and dancing with the devotees. When
the aroma and enchanting taste of Krishna’s prasada inspires
them to get a taste for chanting the Holy Name, then only has
prasada distribution served its highest purpose.

Cow protection is important in human society because the
cow gives her milk to increase the human being’s good brain
substance for understanding subtle spiritual values. If that good


brain substance (su-medhasah) is used for understanding the
importance of performing sankirtana-yajna, the congregational
chanting of the Holy Name, for the satisfaction of Lord Caitanya,
then only can cow protection be said to have served its true
domestic function. Otherwise, cow protection in and of itself
would be a relatively mundane affair of very little pure
devotional consequence.

Unless all varnas and ashramas are aimed at the process of
nama-sankirtana, in pursuit of the highest nitya-dharma of the
soul, then varnashrama could hardly boast an evolved human
dignity.

Making babies can be considered as sankirtana when the
children produced from the coition of the father and mother
become fixed up in pure devotional principles by gaining a
profound taste for practicing the dharma meant for the rescue
of all Kali-yuga conditioned souls, namely nama-sankirtana.
Then the progeny actually does the work of putras and putris by
delivering the parents from the hell-hole of material existence to
the shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet.

Temple management is sankirtana to the extent that the
managers intelligently recognize the real congregational
function of the temple and purposefully do the needful in the
matter of favorably fostering the performances of hari-nama-
sankirtana, both inside the temple and outside as well. The
temple must also serve as a base from which sankirtana parties
go out to publicly propagate the yuga-dharma, the
congregational chanting of the Holy Name.

Book distribution is also sankirtana, primarily because it
serves to widen the scope for large-scale acceptance of the
process of spiritual elevation most recommended in this age,
yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana.

Institutional administration may also be considered
sankirtana to the extent that its influence positively motivates
the devotees of the sankirtana movement to get out of their
doldrums and engage their life’s energies as much as possible
throughout the day and night in the performance of the yuga-
dharma, hari-nama-sankirtana.


Kali-yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana is the yuga-dharma
for this entire yuga, please. Kali-yuga lasts a total of 432,000
years, of which only a mere 5,000 years have passed. The
understanding should be that the process of nama-sankirtana is
applicable to all souls appearing on Earth, particularly in the
human form of life, during this entire 432,000-year period. The
yuga cycles functioning on this planet are not effective on other
higher or lower planetary systems. Hence, it is we who have
presently appeared on Earth who are expected to take full
advantage of the golden nama-sankirtana opportunity for easily
going back home, back to Godhead. It is not that hardly any
more than 500 years after the Lord and His associates
descended to inaugurate the system of sacrifice for this entire
age some other scheme should take precedence. If we don’t
have complete faith in the congregational chanting of the Holy
Name, if we have very little taste and attraction for chanting and
dancing and are thereby relatively disinterested or diverted to
other engagements, leaving ourselves little if any time to
seriously take up the religion of the age, if we don’t recognize
the beauty and value of hari-nama-sankirtana, and if we are not
intent upon practically helping to push forward that most
sublime dharma emphatically prescribed by Lord Caitanya, then
we should simply understand that we are cursed by Yamaraja,
that we have not realized the purpose of the Krishna
consciousness movement, and that we have not truly
comprehended the highest mercy aspect of the Lord’s ongoing
audarya-lila of preaching the sankirtana movement all over the
world. The highest mercy aspect of the Lord’s ongoing audarya-
lila is to elevate fallen conditioned souls to the topmost
perfection of relishing eternal spontaneous loving madhurya
service to Radha and Krishna on the platform of vraja-prema.
There is no doubt about this. Golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-
sankirtana. Any goloka-rasa may be awakened by the
performance of vipralambha-rasa-maya hare-Krishna-maha-
mantra-sankirtana. However, as rasaraja-mahabhava Shri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu mainly descended to this world to freely
distribute the supremely nectarean mellow of radha-dasya, it
should not astonish anyone that sankirtana of the ultimate,

matchless maha-mantra – Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna
Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare
Hare – would primarily appear to distinguishedly stimulate and
nourish that unnatojjvala-vraja-rasa.

Na mam duskritino mudhah prapadyante . . . But who are
the mudhas? The term mudha does not exclusively portray the
other guy. As much as we ourselves, like beasts of burden,
continue to blunderingly bear the encumbering heaps and piles
of corporeal egoism, material attachments, and misconceived
notions about the recommended processes by which the
ultimate philosophical conclusions of the Gaudiya-sampradaya’s
teachings may be practically implemented and realized, that
much we ourselves can be considered mudhas.



naham prakashah sarvasya

yoga-maya-samavritah

mudho 'yam nabhijanati

loko mam ajam avyayam



“I am not manifest to everyone. Because I am concealed
and guarded by My internal deluding potency (yoga-maya), dull-
headed ass-like individuals cannot recognize Me as the unborn
and inexhaustible Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Bg. 7.25)

Kaviraja Gosvami has stated in his Caitanya-caritamrita (adi
17.22), kali-kale nama-rupe Krishna avatara: in this Age of Kali,
Krishna descends from His eternal abode in the form of the Hare
Krishna maha-mantra. Paritranaya sadhunah – it is Shri Hari-
nama Prabhu who descends to deliver the sadhus by
augmenting their faith in the process of sankirtana-yajna while
granting a profound taste for its performance, thus mitigating
their pangs of separation. Vinashaya ca duskritam – it is Shri
Hari-nama who annihilates the demonic anartha-congested
mentality that generates the unfortunate reluctance, disregard,
and sheer disinterest concerning the performance of nama-
sankirtana. In Kali-yuga, not to engage one’s energies in the
performance of yuga-dharma nama-sankirtana can be
considered the primary form of irreligion. Whenever and
wherever there is a decline in its performance – yada yada hi


dharmasya glanir bhavati – and a predominant rise in the
negligence of such – abhyutthanam adharmasya – then, tada, at
that time – dharma-samsthapanarthaya – it is only Shri Hari-
nama, appearing through the lips of the Lord’s pure devotee,
who can forcefully restore the jivas to their eternal occupation,
shuddha-nama-sankirtana. So also, it is Shri Hari-nama who
descends to graciously bestow unalloyed love for Himself
through the culture of nama-sankirtana-yajna. Even so, Krishna-
nama reserves the right to either expose or conceal Himself in
response to an individual’s quality of faith. Regrettably,
disoriented neophytes possessed of persistent mudha-like
tendencies do not recognize the true nature of the Holy Name,
who, though unborn, inconceivably takes birth from His mother,
who takes the form of a pure devotee’s tongue. The beginning,
middle, and culmination of sharanagati (surrender to the Lord’s
shelter) as a practical expression of one’s level of shraddha are
actualized in this age by surrendering to the service of the Holy
Name. And the prime methodology for such surrender is the
propagation of the current yuga-dharma, the congregational
chanting of the Holy Name. This truth was profusely
demonstrated by Shri Gauranga throughout His manifest earthly
pastimes.

Only prema-ruruksu devotees, who are considerably
advanced on the path of pure devotion, can truly understand
the power of the Holy Name and the need to wholeheartedly
take shelter of the process of nama-sankirtana.



bhaktya tv ananyaya shakya

aham evam-vidho 'rjuna

jnatum drastum ca tattvena

pravestum ca parantapa



“My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can
I [as nama-rupa avatara] be understood as I am, standing
[dancing] before you [on your tongue], and can thus be seen
directly [in the proper light]. Only in this way can you enter into
the mysteries of My understanding.” (Bg. 11.54)




atah shri-Krishna-namadi

na bhaved grahyam indriyaih

sevonmukhe hi jihvadau

svayam eva sphuraty adah



“No one can understand the transcendental nature of the
name, form, quality, and pastimes of Shri Krishna through his
materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes
spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are
the transcendental names, forms, qualities, and pastimes of the
Lord revealed to him.” (Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 1.2.234) Here
again, in Kali-yuga, “transcendental service to the Lord”
connotes primarily the congregational chanting of His Holy
Name.

Unfortunately, ass-like (bhara-vh…) externally absorbed
kanistha-bhaktas of meager spiritual standing, though socially
established through Gaudiya-religio-institutional affiliation, have
very little if any true cognition of the eternality, infallibility, and
omnipotence of Krishna’s self-same names, forms, qualities, and
pastimes. Owing to residual sinful reactions, insufficient
accumulation of piety in this and previous lifetimes, and a
tendency to commit nama-aparadha, they are unable to worship
the Holy Name with the determination required to gain much
tangible experience of the efficacy of nama-sankirtana. On that
account, their faith in and concomitant surrender to the direct
prosecution of the yuga-dharma largely lacks firmness. For want
of spiritual insight, they do not clearly ascertain what is and
what is not to be done. Their pursuit of Krishna consciousness
lacks proper prioritization. They disregard scriptural injunctions
even while giving lip-service to the importance of following
scriptural injunctions. They thus fail to submit to the prescribed
process recommended in the scriptures for this age and so give
little importance to the practice of congregational chanting and
dancing. Hence, their degrees of faithlessness in the matter of
congregationally chanting the Holy Name relegate their way of
thinking to the domain of assorted mudha-isms. Shrimad
Bhagavad-gita has it that four kinds of faithful neophyte
devotees begin the process of devotional surrender with the


hope of gaining the Lord’s favor – the distressed (artah), who
are to some extent mukti-kami, hoping to get peace of mind by
chanting the semblance of nama; the inquisitive (jijnasuh), who
are curious about the effects of chanting the Holy Name; the
fortune seekers (artha-arthi), who are to some extent bhukti-
kami, hoping to fulfill desires for material gain by performing
sankirtana; and the wise (jnani), who actually know things as
they are and dutifully perform sankirtana of the Holy Name with
an aspiration to pure devotional progress. All these people are
considered to be more or less pious (sukritinah), eligible for
elevation to the madhyama-adhikara through the association of
pure devotees. Conversely, there are those of us who, even
though posing as devotees, relentlessly decline to acknowledge
the need to intently adhere to the process of nama-sankirtana.
On the pretext of various other devotional engagements and
institutional “responsibilities,” they platitudinously declare
themselves to be exempt from the need to seriously prosecute
the yuga-dharma. Due to miserly weakness under the influence
of the Lord’s deluding potency, they are hard put to see the
connection between the sankirtana performances and the
fulfillment of all material and spiritual exigencies. To the extent
that we fail to appreciate and earnestly actualize the
propagation of nama-sankirtana, residues of the demonic
tendencies persist in our hearts. Correspondingly, the terms
duskritinah, mudhah, naradhamah, and mayayapahrita-jnanah
found in the Gita also indicate our own individual and collective
devotional shortcomings. So, who are the mudhas? We are the
mudhas! Why? Because even though the truth of the importance
of prosecuting the yuga-dharma as the only viable method by
which the goal of life can be practically achieved is staring us in
the face, we continue to ignore the obvious and attach
ourselves to so many superfluous strategies. On the plea of
various Krishna conscious pursuits, we are primed to die losers,
without ever having truly understood or appropriately applied
the science of self realization. Yo va etad aksaram gargy
aviditvasma‡ lokat praiti sa kripanah. “He is a miserly man who
does not solve the problems of life as a human and who thus
quits this world like the cats and dogs, without understanding


the science of self-realization.” (Brihad-aranyaka Upanisad
3.8.10) This very brief human form of life is a most valuable
asset for allaying the tribulations of conditional existence, which
revolve around the quest for ultimate happiness. Therefore, one
who does not utilize this golden opportunity properly for the
achievement of vraja-prema via the process of nama-sankirtana
is a miser.

Unless our lives uphold the performance of hari-nama-
sankirtana, the end of all our endeavors will sport like
ornaments on a lifeless aborted fetus or resound with the
efficacy of a misfired blank bullet or a dud fire cracker. All other
spiritual practices may be considered legitimate to the extent
that they actually enhance the performance of hari-nama-
sankirtana. As much as we engage our time in activities other
than hari-nama-sankirtana or activities other than those that
support, inspire, or facilitate the direct performance of hari-
nama-sankirtana, that much our human form of life may be
considered a devotional wasteland. The Krishna consciousness
movement is not Lord Caitanya’s arcana movement. It is not
Lord Caitanya’s “kitchen-religion” prasada-distribution
movement. Neither is it Lord Caitanya’s management-meetings
movement, nor is it Lord Caitanya’s varnashrama movement,
nor is it a cow-protection movement. It is not Lord Caitanya’s
money-scamming movement; nor Lord Caitanya’s computer-
junkie; social-development; community-service; international-
matchmaking; child-protection; or eating, sleeping, baby-
buggying, and mutual back-scratching or backbiting movement.
We would do very well to clearly mark that the Krishna
consciousness movement happens to be Lord Caitanya’s
sankirtana movement, please. A movement that does not
primarily inspire, promote, and facilitate its members’
concerted absorption in kali-yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana
is hardly a sankirtana movement. Moreover, a sankirtana
movement that neglects to purposely encourage the pursuit of
raga-bhajana for the attainment of vraja-prema is not the
sankirtana movement of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In this Kali-
yuga, there’s no question of pleasing Lord Krishna without
pleasing Lord Caitanya. Human beings with good brain


substance (su-medhasah) intelligently recognize that Lord
Caitanya is immensely pleased by the lobha-maya performance
of sneha-samyukta-nama-sankirtana. There is no universally
viable dharma in this age save the congregational chanting of
the Holy Name.

To reiterate as well as emphasize a point briefly mentioned
in Chapter Two, it should be doubly re-affirmed that in this Age
of Kali the success of any other limb of devotional service – not
excluding the execution of bhagavata-shravana-kirtana, of which
transcendental book distribution (brihat-kirtana) is an extension
– largely depends upon one’s isochronous absorption in the
direct practice of nama-sankirtana. It is seen, with reference to
acarya-vani, that the most highly elevated, self-surrendering
devotees doubtlessly prefer to exclusively embrace the
congregational singing of the Holy Name rather than rely on
other devotional processes for the evolvement of prema. In the
bhakti-shastras the efficacy of nama-sankirtana is well
established above all other angas of bhakti. In fact, nama-
sankirtana stands alone as the greatest devotional practice
(maha-sadhana) and therefore reigns supreme as the only
infallible means of attaining love of Godhead (vraja-prema). It is
not that other forms of devotional service are as good as nama-
sankirtana, but somehow or other nama-sankirtana is not really
good enough (financially viable or whatever), obliging us not to
highlight its performance in any way. If we are to propose that
nama-sankirtana is not good enough to merit our concern, then
any engagement allegedly “as good as” nama-sankirtana should
also be equally ignored. Beyond that, the proposition that any
devotional activity is in any way better than prosecuting the
yuga-dharma should be deemed sheer madness. Any other anga
of sadhana-bhakti deserves to be lauded as sadhana only if it in
some way facilitates one’s active absorption in nama-sankirtana-
rasa. Further, any sadhana that fails to promote but rather tends
to detract from one’s progressive attachment to the process of
nama-sankirtana is simply an anartha, an impediment on the
path of ultimate perfection – even if in the broader sense it is
computed to be some sort of sankirtana.


As one covets a particular mellow of loving relationship
with Krishna (nami), so also one’s reciprocal rasa in rapport
with Hari-nama will manifest. Krishna’s name is the living
embodiment of all transcendental rasas (caitanya-rasa-vigraha).
As Krishna is bhava-grahi janardana, so too is Shri Hari-nama.
The madhurya-bhaktas will cherish a conjugal attitude toward
the Holy Name, the vatsalya-bhaktas will serve the Holy Name in
light of their parental affection, the sakhya-bhaktas will befriend
the Holy Name as they would their best friend, Krishna, and so
on. Merciful Shri Hari-nama Prabhu will appropriately answer to
each individual devotee’s unique approach. Knowledge of
vrajendra-nandana-Krishna-sambandha-tattva, vraja-bhakti-
abhidheya-tattva, and vraja-prema-prayojana-tattva along with
vraja-lila-vicara and so forth, as taught through the shastras, is
essentially required to give shape to one’s worship of the Holy
Name. It is supplementary information, facilitating the
unobstructed attainment of one’s constitutional internal
devotional mood (bhava-siddhi). Although not reliant upon the
force of scriptural injunctions, even one prompted by a spiritual
greed (lobha) for the attainment of the moods of Vraja naturally
seeks favorable guidance, inspiration, and nourishment from
relevant scriptural information. As stated in the Bhagavatam
(11.14.26): “The more one’s heart becomes purified by hearing
and chanting about My beautiful pastimes, the more one can
ably discern the subtle reality of the Absolute Truth (vastu) . . .”
The words tatha tatha pashyati vastu suksmam in this
Bhagavatam verse are significant in that they refer not only to a
proportionately realized perception of the non-material,
eternally substantial existence of the absolute, infinite Godhead
and His infinite integrated counterpart internal spiritual
potencies, but also to the simultaneous, gradual identification of
the svarupa of the sac-cid-ananda-siddha-deha eternal spiritual
body of the integrally existing infinitesimal part-and-parcel living
entity. God-realization and self-realization go hand in hand just
as the sun’s appearance in the firmament simultaneously
facilitates one’s seeing both the body of the sun and one’s own
body. As such, this important instruction spoken by Lord
Krishna to Uddhava undeniably indicates the feasibility of


gradual self-discovery (understanding and perfectly realizing
one’s vraja-svarupa) by internal revelation through the purifying
processes of hearing and chanting, without which vraja-
lokanusaratah (following the moods of the Vrajavasis) and
qualified lila-smarana could hardly be achievable.

Although recognized as a principal feature of raganuga-
sadhana, lila-smarana, particularly in Kali-yuga, is nevertheless
inescapably dependent on kirtana. Endeavoring to separately
practice asta-kaliya-lila-smarana without doing kirtana is simply
an inane attempt to besmear oneself with the hog stool of
worldly illustriousness before the Vaishnava community. Of all
types of kirtana (nama, rupa, guna, and lila), nama-kirtana, the
loud singing of the Holy Name, is said to be primary and most
efficacious. Furthermore, among the varieties of nama-kirtana,
hari-nama-maha-mantra-sankirtana is esteemed as the most
potent. The thirty-two-syllable maha-mantra – Hare Krishna,
Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare
Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare – is affirmed by the shastras to be
the approved taraka-brahma kirtana-mantra for this Age of Kali.
The taraka-brahma kirtana-mantras prescribed for the previous
yugas (Satya, Treta, and Dvapara) are aishvarya- or mixed
aishvarya/madhurya-maya mantras bestowing the attainment of
the Lord’s majestic realms as their fruit. The Hare Krishna
maha-mantra, however, is a kevala-madhurya-maya radha-
Krishna-yugala mantra, which integrates both taraka and paraka
potencies, granting to the lobha-maya-shraddhavan jana
liberation from material existence and, beyond that, the
sweetest fruit of vraja-prema and the attainment of the eternal
realm of Vraja. It is not at all fortuitous that the taraka-brahma
kirtana-mantra corresponding to the present age, in which the
most munificent Lord Gauranga advented to broadcast the
sweetest of all the madhurya mellows of Vraja (radha-dasyam),
be absolutely in consonance with the very thrust of His mission.
Much stress is therefore given to Hare Krishna maha-mantra
sankirtana. In truth, Lord Gauranga, cutting to the point,
inaugurated the yuga-dharma for the present age, the
congregational chanting of the Holy Name (primarily the Hare
Krishna maha-mantra), which, unlike the dharmas established in


?
other yugas by Visnu avataras, is the eternal occupation (jaiva-
dharma) of the soul, inherently possessed of the capacity to
culture the moods of Vraja. In this age everyone, upon invoking
the mercy of the Panca-tattva (shri-Krishna-caitanya prabhu-
nityananda shri-advaita gadadhara shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-
vrinda) by the grace of sat-parampara, can best access the
course of concentrated vraja-bhakti-bhajana through the
medium of Hare Krishna maha-mantra-sankirtana, which easily
and powerfully promotes vibrant, all-round nama, rupa, guna,
and lila absorption in Krishna consciousness. ns a husband is
the life and soul of his wife (vadhu), so hari-nama-sankirtana
performed with a greed to taste the nectar (vraja-bhakti-rasa)
for which we are always anxious is, in fact, vidya-vadhu-jivanam,
the very life and soul of all transcendental knowledge found in
the scriptures. What is the validity of a wife (adhyatma-vidya)
without her husband (nama-sankirtana)? We read about it. We
(armchair) philosophize about it. We distribute millions and
billions of books about it. But to what extent are we actually
living it? Let us take account; how much of it do we actually do

Consider another point: although Krishna-nama-rupa-guna-
lila-kathamrita is relished by the Lord’s devotees both here and
in the spiritual world, any form of preaching to reclaim
wayward, corporeally engrossed jivas is only done in this
material world, which is sometimes manifested and sometimes
not. Just as Paramatma, the Supersoul, is a temporarily
manifested feature of the Lord, appearing only occasionally with
the creation of the cosmos, so also, Shri Guru’s function as
external representative of the Supersoul is a temporary
manifestation. Similarly, preaching cannot really be said to be
an eternal occupation of the Lord and His devotees. The
function of Shri Guru as pertaining to the eternal abode
(sanatana-dhama) as well as the activities or pastimes of the
spiritual world are in the true sense nitya or eternal, whereas,
although regularly resumed again and again with each
successive cosmic creation, the pastimes unique to this realm,
such as the birth of the Lord, the actual killing of demons, and
even preaching to deliver the fallen conditioned souls, should
for all intents and purposes be seen as naimittika or occasional


lilas. Preaching through the medium of mass transcendental
book distribution as we have seen in recent years does not exist
in the spiritual world. It has temporarily manifested in this
material world with the aid of the recently invented printing
press and will continue only as long as “high-tech”
accoutrements grace the face of our so-called “modern”
technological civilization. The performance of prema-rasa-maya-
nama-sankirtana for the Lord’s pleasure, however, is an eternal
function of the soul and is ever featured in the highest realm of
Goloka. It should be noted with utmost interest and deference
that it is this most powerful, eternal aspect of devotional service
which has directly descended from Goloka Dhama as the yuga-
dharma for this terribly fallen age. Only when prema-nama-
sankirtana descends to this dark material world does that
eternal golden sankirtana principle appear to assume a
preaching demeanor as hari-nama-pracara. By such divine
appearance of the loudly broadcasted raga-maya-maha-mantra,
the brightest Holy Name and the darkest Kali-yuga display an
extraordinary contrast, unseen within this world during
previous ages. Thus this Age of Kali and the Holy Name enhance
each other’s value. Actually, however, it is the rasika relishment
of nama-sankirtana which is the eternal occupation of the jiva.
The highest preaching demeanor of nama-sankirtana is
circumstantially (temporarily) manifest according to time (Kali-
yuga) and place (the material world). Mass transcendental book
distribution is not the eternal occupation of the living entity,
though when done in full Krishna consciousness, it in every
respect perfectly accords with the essential sankirtana principle
of pure devotional surrender, in keeping with its ultimately
realizable internal nitya-lila countertype.

The ultimate purpose of all “temporary,” circumstantially
manifested features of God, guru, and various utility-based
forms of devotional service associated with this external field is
to awaken our innate loving service tendency toward the
eternally substantial parallel nitya-lila features of guru and
Godhead. The details of the featured forms change, whereas the
essential ideological substance remains perpetually intact. For
example, in the worship of the arca-vigraha, as found in this


world, the pujari, when decorating the Deity, circumstantially
needs to stick the Deity’s rings and other ornaments on His
limbs with the help of sticky substances like beeswax and Blu-
tack. Undoubtedly, the idea of ornamenting the Lord’s body is
an eternal reality – but the use of Blu-tack? It is not enough to
merely move on the temporarily useful physical platform,
barring any internally reflective counterpart nitya-lila notion
about our externally corresponding pure-devotional
engagements.

The culture of hari-nama-japa-yajna is said to be a
disciple’s first and foremost essential obligation at the feet of
Shri Guru. Though apparently bearing a relatively small radius
of para-upakara audibility, a disciple’s offenseless chanting of at
least a fixed minimum number of Holy Names daily
unquestionably constitutes the top-priority, most substantial
service to Shri Guru and his institution. In fact, the guru imposes
no more imperative order than to regularly complete one’s
prescribed personal japa-vrata. Such is the incontrovertible
status of nama-japa’s enormous significance. Personal
absorption in nama-bhajana is well ascertained to be a far more
weighty devotional responsibility than a devotee’s
transcendental book distribution of any amount. Qualitative and
quantitative increments in the chanting of nama-japa
appreciably augments one’s personal purity. Moreover,
shuddha-nama-japa dynamically establishes one’s internal
spiritual link with Krishna’s antaranga-shaktis, through which
alone one can ever hope to receive the empowerment required
to effectually broadcast the Holy Name. In the same way, one
should properly assess the collective value of congregational
chanting. One must not witlessly underestimate, discount, or
ignore the individual and communal spiritual worth and
weightiness of earnestly executed prema-dharma hari-nama-
sankirtana. It is not that because kirtana performances done
with khol and karatala can be heard for only a relatively short
distance (as is even more so the case with nama-japa) shri-hari-
nama-sankirtana should be viewed dismissively or its concerted
community performance in any way be slighted or abandoned
as if it were in some way outmoded. If such were the intention


behind the instructions of any institutional founder in deference
to the avail of the printing press, then perhaps, referring to the
very scriptures so globally proliferated, we should by and large
incisively question or even prudently decline the validity of
such advice. Nama-japa is the vital force and invigorator for the
Vaishnava individual. In the same way, hari-nama-sankirtana is
the spiritual strength, sustenance, and inspiration for the
collective Vaishnava community. Transcendental book
distribution certainly boasts the capability of heroically
broadcasting knowledge of pure devotional principles to the
remotest corners of the world. It makes for a better mouse trap,
so to speak, only in terms of the amplitude of the word’s
propagability. This, however, does not in any way pose to
overshadow or diminish the greater relative importance of
community-stimulating nama-sankirtana in terms of the latter’s
in-house value, any more than it would overshadow or diminish
the spiritual worth and paramount consequence of the
responsible completion of one’s individually honored nama-japa-
vrata. Thus, when we say book distribution is “better” in terms
of propagability, we should not misconstrue that to mean
“better” or more important in terms of a clearly dissimilar
reference point, namely the in-house value of communal
sankirtana.

No doubt, the dissemination of Vaishnava philosophy via
the medium of transcendental book distribution is for the
classes (intelligentsia). Nonetheless, readily accessible Krishna-
conscious involvement and direct spiritual experience by way of
purely and powerfully performed congregational hearing and
chanting of the Holy Name is markedly elevating and enlivening
for both the classes and the masses! It is not that because hari-
nama-sankirtana is said to be “for the masses” it is not also
meant for the classes. If anything, those who are intellectually fit
to discuss the values of life should be able to gain a more
profound philosophical grasp of the sankirtana principle and
quickly achieve nistha for its sublime application. Beyond that,
the advanced inner circle, the rasika relishers of lila-katha, will
most ably value the thing in the deepest manner. Direct,
localized sankirtana performances with khol and karatala may


not be so extensively audible in the world, having less potential
global mobility than proliferated literatures. Still, on account of
its special inspirational efficacy, far greater importance should
be attached to the nourishing cultivation and maintenance of a
strong individual and collective relishment and appreciation of
eternally nectarous shuddha-nama-sankirtana-rasa within the
Vaishnava community (and beyond) than to the “business” of
transcendental book distribution (brihat-kirtana),
notwithstanding the latter’s useful, temporarily manifest far-
extendable outreach. Hari-nama-sankirtana is not to be taken as
a curiously quaint holiday novelty, a blast from the annals of
Gaudiya Vaishnava history, something we anthropologically
study about in the books. Sankirtana (the congregational
chanting of the Holy Name) is forever the life and soul of Lord
Caitanya’s sankirtana movement! Faith in the process of hari-
nama-sankirtana is the fundamental root of the tree of Krishna
consciousness, the strength of the Krishna consciousness
movement – its essential foundation. If the foundation is weak –
if the root is starved or rotten – then what outcome could we
expect from the whole affair? The philosophy of half the hen . . .
We want the golden eggs, but it’s more economical if we don’t
have to feed the thing. And anyhow, hari-nama-sankirtana don’t
make no money! We have our huge establishments with their
huge attendant overhead expenditures to agonize about. $0 . . .
just pick it to the bone and bring it on home!

For years together, I have observed among many of the
esteemed members of the Krishna consciousness movement
(from top to bottom) the regrettable misconceptions, oversight,
sheer disinterest or total neglect surrounding the token
importance (if any) assigned to the performance of hari-nama-
sankirtana within the society of devotees. I am thus compelled
to humbly remind all concerned that this soul-stimulating,
dynamically absorbing, congregational preaching mode of self
realization, nama-sankirtana-yajna, should increasingly
complement transcendental book distribution and all other
aspects of devotional life with a serious view to bringing the
bliss back into the lives of the bungling bhaktas. It is not that
just because we have joined Lord Caitanya’s hari-nama-


osankirtana movement we therefore don’t need to bother
ourselves to go out on hari-nama-sankirtana. How can we expect
to get ruci for something we scarcely do? Shuddha-nama-kirtana-
ruci is not so cheap that merely by official, institutionally
regimented token gesture or lame lip-service we should expect
to achieve the thing. We have to go deeper, beyond the call of
duty, beyond the ceremonious filing in and filing out of the
stipulated “temple programs.” When Mother Yashoda was
trying to bind Bala Krishna to the grinding mortar, she was
mystified to find that she was again and again two fingers short
of success. One finger represents a devotee’s steadfast extra
endeavor, the other Krishna’s divine dispensation, His special
mercy. Alongside whatever other services we may be doing on
any level, all of us, irrespective of organizational echelon, would
do well to assiduously find or make the time to both privately
and publicly d more hari-nama-sankirtana and see the long-
lasting internal (personal/communal) and external
(outreaching/para-upakara) results. If our authorities disallow,
discourage, disparage, or in any way hamper our focus on the
performance of yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana, then they
are not our authorities. If our gurus instruct us not to
concentrate our energies and resources on the performance of
yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana, then, with all due respect,
they are not our gurus. We should be prepared to disobey the
instructions of millions of “gurus” who in any way dissuade us
from surrendering to the yuga-dharma. Hari-nama-sankirtana is
the best and most powerful process for awakening one’s taste
and attachment for the Holy Name. One who fortunately gains
authentic shuddha-nama-ruci and intelligently amasses
stockpiles of solid background experience in the matter of
relishing the nectar of nama-sankirtana-rasa will most likely
never depart from the path of unalloyed devotional bhajana.

Without having the impulse to enthusiastically practice the
religion of this age, hari-nama-sankirtana, what Vaishnava or
Vaisnavi can claim to have shuddha-nama-ruci?

Without having extensively engaged in vigorous, daily
protracted performances of the yuga-dharma, hari-nama-


sankirtana, what Vaishnava or Vaisnavi can honestly claim to
have ascended to the terrace of prema?

Without purposely promoting the daily promulgation of the
yuga-dharma, hari-nama-sankirtana, what devotional community
can viably proclaim its intent to elevate its members to life’s
ultimate perfection?

Without deliberately stimulating and fostering the
worldwide daily promulgation of the yuga-dharma, hari-nama-
sankirtana, what institution can claim to be truly representing
the sankirtana movement of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu?

Distribute books. Distribute books. Distribute books. But
who is reading the books? Read books. Read books. Read
books. But without practically implementing by sensibly
dedicating a substantial portion of life’s time and energy to the
direct performance of yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana, what
individual or group of individuals can claim to have rightly
comprehended and applied the devotional science enunciated
in the scriptures proliferated by the Gaudiya Vaishnava Acaryas
through disciplic succession?

When deeply considered from the standpoint of a
madhurya-bhakta, hari-nama-japa-yajna can be likened to the
most intimate nikunja-seva of Yugala-kishora. It is tantamount to
Radhe Shyama’s mercifully coming to personally accept one’s
solitary services and enjoy Their pleasure pastimes at one’s own
kunja. Sankirtana-yajna performed privately behind closed
doors, as was done by Lord Gauranga and company at
Shrivasangana, can be compared to Radha and Krishna’s more
intimate rasa-lila relishment among Their inner circle of friends.
Similarly, public nagara-sankirtana smacks of the less intimate
maha-rasa-lila performances, where outsiders (rivals) and
newcomers (sadhana-siddhas) are admitted. Rasa-lila delight
(nama-sankirtana) essentially serves as a kind of foreplay, an
“appetizer” to profoundly stimulate in both Krishna and His
beloveds a mutual attraction for more advanced, deeply
amorous, most esoteric private conjugal pastimes (nama-japa).
The rasa-lila performances (nama-sankirtana) can never be
complete or very meaningful without ultimately arousing the
Lord’s intensified passion for reciprocating the individual gopis’


desires for most confidential sequestered loving services (nama-
japa). Such consummate experience of the deepest personal
reciprocation with the Lord naturally inspires His lovers to
replay nightly the rasa dance in such a way so as to further
more and more intensified intimacy with Him again and again.
Likewise, the consummate experience of genuine, unvitiated
solitary absorption in shuddha-nama-japa unsurprisingly
promotes in a true sadhaka a powerful impetus to exuberantly
dance and chant in ever-inspirational hari-nama-sankirtana on a
daily basis. Such is the synergic correlation between nama-japa
and nama-sankirtana that both reciprocally serve to enhance
the value of one another. Rasa-lila, as a cooperative group effort
to please the Lord, truly tests as well as reveals to Lord Krishna
the enchanting beauty and sweetness of the selfless loving
service attitude of a gopi. As He sees and increasingly
appreciates the beauty and purity of her unstinting,
transcendentally altruistic or para-upakara-punctuated love,
Krishna naturally feels especially inclined to intimately share
Himself with her in ways otherwise unimaginable. Such beatified
cognition of the extent of her beloved Lord and Lady’s special
mercy upon her own unique person naturally moves the sakhi
to share her exhilaration with her confidential associates and
maidservants. Without gaining the advanced experience of such
intimacy, she would hardly have very much to impart to
anyone. The proof of her advancement is seen in her redoubled
purposeful compulsion, on the basis of her own loving ecstasies,
to extensibly encourage others to embrace the same success
formula as she embraced.

In other words, when Krishna notices a sankirtana
devotee’s concerted endeavors to magnanimously share the
priceless treasure of Krishna consciousness with others via the
congregational chanting of the Holy Name, then from within He
dynamically enhances to the profoundest degree an individual’s
personal confidential relishment of hari-nama-rasa through the
medium of nama-japa. Hari-nama-sankirtana, when
enthusiastically performed to satisfy guru and Gauranga,
dynamically dissolves any residual scraps of egocentricity
within the heart of a pure devotional candidate, enabling one to


deeply endear oneself in all intimacy to the Holy Name. When
Hari Nama Prabhu becomes attracted to the benevolence and
sweetheartedness of a devotee, He becomes naturally inclined
to constantly keep the devotee’s company. Krishna-nama is an
all-blissful, all-sentient person. We must always remember that
love is a two-way street. Constant chanting of the Holy Name is
a matter of mutual attraction. Love-birds of a feather flock
together. It can never be a forced affair. The internal revelation
of the beauty and sweetness of reciprocal loving radha-Krishna-
nama-bhajana certainly further enthuses a softhearted devotee
to repeatedly share with others the nectar of the Holy Name
through the medium of loud congregational chanting and
dancing. When, as a pure-hearted hari-nama-bhajananandi, one
dives into the ambrosial ocean of hari-nama-japa, one
progressively surfaces in the nectarous ocean of nama-
sankirtana – and then resurfaces with renewed strength, relish
and realization in the ocean of japananda. Thus, Hari-nama-
sankirtana dynamically promotes the selfless sacrificial service
attitude essentially required for profoundest absorption in vraja-
radha-Krishna-nama-bhajana.

Although it is seen that self-sacrificing shuddha-nama-japa
and empowered hari-nama-sankirtana stand alternately as
inspirational impetuses to each other, it must further be
recognized that nama-bhajana ultimately finds its profoundest,
most exuberant exaltation in the loud congregational chanting
of the Holy Name. This statement, made with reference to the
consideration of the supramundane expansion of Krishna’s
transcendental bliss, is not at all intended to undermine or
sidestep the fundamental importance of an individual’s regular
chanting of nama-japa. Rather, the intention is to illustrate how
nama-bhajana achieves magnified power from the interpersonal
support gained by doing hari-nama-sankirtana in the association
of saintly swan-like devotees. Analogously, the consummate
union of the Divine Couple forms the central jewel in the
necklace of all conjugal pastimes of the Lord. Nevertheless, lila-
vilasa, as described in Rupa Gosvami’s Ujjvala-nilamani, though
preludial to the impending fulfillment, the final conclusion of the
whole affair (samprayoga), nevertheless transcendentally


tantalizes the Lord with a pleasure far surpassing that of the
ultimately achieved conjugal union itself. The appetizers are, in
certain respects, transcendentally more powerfully stimulating
and super-excellently flavorful than the forthcoming feast.

From another angle, it may be remembered that, in the
course of Her pleasure pastimes, wherein Shyama’s happiness is
the very foundation of Her own, Radha’s personal endeavor to
mercifully engage the other sakhis rewards Her with a happiness
far more relishable than the happiness derived from Her own
private meetings with Her beloved Lord. The simple truth is that
Lord Krishna is far more easily attracted, pleased, and
conquered by the cooperative group effort to congregationally
petition His benevolence upon an assembly of individuals
through the process of sankirtana than by an individual’s
solitary or separatistic endeavor. All these things are simply
beyond material calculation and have to be appreciated and
realized by practical samadhi, or pure devotional absorption.
Any experienced self-sacrificing kirtaniya can positively attest to
the greatly encouraging ananda-maya influence and, even more,
to the intensity of internal heartfelt spiritual enrichment noticed
upon the sincere qualitative and quantitative performance of
nama-sankirtana-yajna. It is for this reason that within the
society of devotees more stress should be given to hari-nama-
sankirtana, in pursuit of an enhanced Krishna conscious love,
trust, and enlivenment among the groups of individuals who
make up the society. Again I emphasize: As hari-nama-japa is
required for strengthening the individual devotee, so hari-nama-
sankirtana is essential for strengthening, revitalizing, unifying,
and purifying the Vaishnava community. Moreover, such
cooperative group endeavor to uplift and enliven the Vaishnava
community further enhances the breadth and depth of the
Krishna conscious experience in the community’s individuals.

If we sincerely desire to deepen and redouble our taste for
chanting the Holy Name, then we would do very well to
faithfully consign our intelligence to the instructions of our
predecessor Acaryas, take shelter of Gaura-Nitai, and do more
hari-nama-sankirtana! If we recognize the enormous need to
practically expand the ocean of transcendental fortune and bliss


to touch the lives of other pious souls, in the matter of
increasing and maintaining Krishna’s family of devotees, then
we would surely do well to take shelter of Gaura-Nitai and do
more hari-nama-sankirtana! If we at all acknowledge the
intermutual need to expedite the purification of our Vaishnava
relationships then we would all do very well to concertedly take
shelter of Gaura-Nitai and do more hari-nama-sankirtana! If
we seriously want to go well beyond the bodily concept of life,
to realize the highest constitutional spiritual identity of the self
(vraja-svarupa), then we would do very well to set all worldly
considerations aside, take shelter of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
and do more hari-nama-sankirtana! If we truly desire the
perfection of the vraja-bhavas, by which we could ever hope to
attain the pleasure pastimes of the Lord in the topmost realm of
Vraja, then we would do very well to do more hari-nama-
sankirtana! If we at all see the need to expedite our progress to
the terrace of vipralambha-bhava-maya-vraja-prema for the
pleasure of guru and Gauranga, in consonance with the very
purpose of Their mission, then we would do very well to do
more hari-nama-sankirtana! If we, honestly confessing any
delinquency in the matter of its performance, sense a deficiency
in the evolvement of our individual and collective pure
devotional experience as per insight, revelation, and realization,
then we would, by all means, do very well to abandon all
apprehensions about the thing and simply do more hari-nama-
sankirtana! If we want the lifelong inspiration to carry on with
our transcendental book distribution in a most viable way, then
we would certainly do very, very well to do more hari-nama-
sankirtana in order to deeply appreciate and enthusiastically
share the very essence of what the books are, in so many
words, purposely promoting! Given that we might, with a view
to accomplish the as-yet-to-be-realized final half of Srila
Prabhupada’s mission, deem the reestablishment of
varnashrama-dharma in present-day human society to be of
paramount importance, even still, we would do very, very well
to intelligently put the horse before the cart and concertedly, all
the world over, do more mass hari-nama-sankirtana – to
practically increase the piety and spiritual consciousness of the


masses in order to even hope to make possible that which is
virtually impossible under the present so-called “for the people,
by the people” heinously roguish, demonic, world-domineering
corporatist governmental misleadership. Godless multi-national
money-mongering corporate elitists and other hard-core,
ruthless, raksasa-like terror-breathing global tyrants are not
going to politely wait for us, the members of the Krishna
consciousness movement, to finally, all over the world, wake up
to our inalienable right and responsibility to do more and more
mass hari-nama-sankirtana! Institutional management has
neither the authority to sanction nor the right to interdict or in
any way inhibit the performance of the yuga-dharma. The will of
Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ultimately pulls rank on institutional
authority. Please remember that in Kali-yuga the Supreme
Personality of Godhead descends from Goloka-dhama to protect
the sadhus and annihilate the demons by resoundingly
manifesting as His Holy Name on the tongues of His pure
devotees. The divine descent of kali-yuga-Krishna-avatara shri
hari-nama-rupa alone can effect the downfall of such insidiously
scheming, media-manipulating murderous men of Kamsa’s class!
Even if we prefer to pursue variant paths of spiritual perfection,
or even if our all-devouring exigencies cannot go beyond the
transitory urgency to “put food on the table” and “give peace a
chance,” all the same, we would definitely do very, very well to
have faith in the yajna for this age and simply do more and
more hari-nama-sankirtana! Let us not wait until the fag end
of life, when varieties of physical and mental decrepitude will
render our bodies inoperative, to wisely recognize this principle.
The urgency is enormous. The time is now! Now is the time for
revolution – a revolution of consciousness, a revolution of
priorities. All individual, communal, institutional, and inter-
institutional devotional inadequacies, anomalies, and inequities
– as well as all domestic, public, socio-political, governmental,
and inter-governmental irregularities of this age – can be
positively surmounted simply by intelligently administering
“heavier,” more frequent medicinal doses of life-giving yuga-
dharma shri-hari-nama-sankirtana. Once again, if we’re not part
of the solution, we’re part of the problem. We have busied


ourselves over the years, trying so many other ideas. Why not
sincerely concede to this one and be pleasantly surprised? We
hardly expect to revamp the mental climate of an entire society.
It is unlikely everyone will be genuine enough to rise to the
occasion and seriously implement, but the faithful individuals
who do will beyond a shred of doubt be recognized by Lord
Caitanya and immensely benefited.

The proliferation of transcendental literature is certainly
the best advertising front of the Krishna consciousness
movement. The idea is to canvass in such a way as to persuade
human society’s literate intelligentsia to join the fold of Lord
Caitanya’s sankirtana movement on the basis of convincingly
sound reason and philosophy. Transcendental book distribution
can be compared to a sakhi’s campaign to enlist new girls to
become dedicated followers of Maha-bhava-svarupini, Shri
Radhika. Certainly, no book distributor in the line of Rupa
Gosvami would be caught dead canvassing on behalf of
Candravali! Raga Manjari is perhaps the Lord’s best and most
reliable messenger, having opted to become His vamshi flute.
Knowing the purposes of her svamini’s inner heart, Raga Manjari
serves, in the form of the flute, to mercifully break the resolve of
Radha’s mana, or jealous pouting, forcefully facilitating the
fruition of her mistress’s deepest desires to intimately satisfy
Her beloved Shyama. She similarly serves to satisfy Radha’s
cupidity for expanding the sweet empire of Shyama’s love
dalliances, by artfully calling all the new sadhana-siddha-gopis
for maha-rasa at Vamsivata, near the Yamuna’s shore. The
sadhana-siddha-gopis, possessed of their fully actuated sac-cid-
ananda-siddha-deha and the adhikara for directly participating in
Lord Krishna’s prakata-lilas, having risen from the status of
ordinary human beings, for the first time enter the sacrificial
arena of confidential love dalliances with their beloved Lord
through the Vamsivata “gateway” at the time of maha-rasa. It is
well known that Krishna’s flute has manifest in Kali-yuga as Shri
Mridanga. The mridanga principle has expanded its influence by
appearing as brihat-mridanga, the printing press, which
facilitates mass production and proliferation of Vaishnava
scriptures. Broadcasted bhagavata-katha by means of


transcendental book distribution could, therefore, be suitably
likened to the call of Krishna’s flute, which purposely serves to
arouse intensified purva-raga, or preliminary attraction in the
hearts of the damsels of Vraja. The mercifully extended flute-call
(book distribution) magnetically allures the vraja-sundaris
(fortunate souls) away from their so-called husbands (all
superficially binding mundane considerations) to excitedly dash
off to join the rasa dance festivities (hari-nama-sankirtana).
Hence, they become progressively more and more qualified and
inspired to enter deeply into the intimate nikunja-sevas of the
Divine Couple (nama-japa). Again and again they anxiously
hearken to the overtures of the flute (bhagavata-kathamrita) and
become ever-more-irresistibly enchanted. Again and again they
skillfully shake the shackles of household encumbrances to
exuberantly sing and dance in rasa-lila delight (hari-nama-
sankirtana) in order to transcendentally enrapture the Lord of
all supramundane conjugal beatitude. Again and again they
blissfully receive and personally serve the Divine Couple at their
private pleasure groves within the all-enchanting forest of Vraja
(hari-nama-japa).

What a disappointment! What a let-down! What a
treachery! What a sham! If after so much canvassing, if after
answering to so much flute-calling (transcendental book
distribution), the excited vraja-sundaris (bhakta-gana) find, to
their disillusionment, upon arriving at rasa-mandala (the Hare
Krishna movement), no rasa-lila festival (invigorating, publicly
demonstrated hari-nama-sankirtana)! If, upon reading the
advertisements (books) and expectantly joining Lord Caitanya’s
hari-nama-sankirtana movement, having been philosophically
persuaded to faithfully surrender to the idea of prosecuting the
yuga-dharma, hari-nama-sankirtana, one chances to notice a
pitiful dearth of hari-nama-sankirtana painfully persisting among
the vast majority of the movement’s members in most corners
of the world, would one not wonder as to whether one had in
fact actually found Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement of the
Holy Name? Was it false advertising, or what? The vraja-gopis
were not satiated by rasa dancing for the duration of an entire
night of Brahma. Similarly, anyone who has gained a grain of


regard for kali-yuga-dharma hari-nama-sankirtana would not
very much appreciate the extent to which hari-nama-sankirtana
has been side-lined and so irresponsibly de-emphasized over the
years in Lord Caitanya’s hari-nama-sankirtana movement.
Advertising and advertising . . . but what are we advertising? Do
we have any idea? Have we actually understood? Chanting,
dancing, feasting, and philosophy. The philosophy in the books
is basically to convince us to chant and dance. Feasting is to
energize our chanting and dancing. Chanting and dancing is
required for getting a taste for chanting and dancing. Chanting
and dancing with a taste for chanting and dancing is actually
required to progress to the position of chanting and dancing on
the stage of preliminary love of Godhead, bhava-siddhi. And
chanting and dancing in spontaneous devotional ecstasy on the
stage of bhava-siddhi is an absolute prerequisite for chanting
and dancing in Lord Caitanya’s eternal prema-sankirtana-lilas in
the spiritual sky.

The current bustle about writing, publishing, distributing,
and reading transcendental literatures expounding the science
of Krishna consciousness, though brilliantly facilitating the
widespread inculcation of spiritual values upon the ignorant
populace, is nonetheless a temporarily manifested, externally
oriented phenomenon. Yet, it unquestionably finds its internal
original timeless counterpart in the messenger services and
nama-rupa-guna-lila-katha done by Shri Shri Radha-Krishna’s
nitya-parikara gopa and gopi associates of Goloka Vrindavana.
We must always remember that the real purpose of the
scriptures’ outreach is to advance a purified raga-mayi inreach
in both the receptive reader and the progressive preacher. The
printing press can be considered a raga-marga implement only
to the extent that whatever is printed by the press actually
promotes attraction to and deep attachment for the principles
of vraja-bhakti-bhajana. A printing press in and of itself is not a
brihat-mridanga. If the press is hijacked by materialistic
entrepreneurs to produce volumes and volumes of crow-
infested-garbage-dump-like mundane novels, poetries, and porn,
are we to laud the printing press as a brihat-mridanga? Would it
be at all unreasonable to suggest that the status of the printing


press actually depends on the quality of the service rendered –
the purpose for which the thing is being used? Human life is
meant for purposefulness. Krishna consciousness is like a
razor’s edge. If a razor is utilized as an instrument for shaving,
then it serves its true purpose and may rightly be called a razor.
If it is purposely used to slash another’s jugular vein, however,
one might call it a razor, but in effect it is actually a lethal
weapon. A mridanga exists to enhance the kirtana of the Lord’s
Holy Names. If the mridanga is used to enhance mundane
cinema songs, is it still to be deemed a mridanga? It may look
like a mridanga, it may sound like a mridanga, but is it truly a
mridanga? It is a mridanga in name only. Similarly, if the
“preachers” of the Krishna consciousness movement use the
printing press to present volumes and volumes of articles
exclusively moralizing on the all-importance of varnashrama and
vaidha-marga correctitudes, while evading, suspending,
suppressing, disparaging, or altogether denouncing topics
regarding the practical implementation of the principles of raga-
marga-sadhana, is their printing press still to be deemed an
implement of raga-bhakti? What makes using the genuine brihat-
mridanga printing press a part of the raga-marga process of
devotional service is its use as a tool to propagate the principles
of raga-bhakti. If the press were to be used exclusively for the
purpose of extolling the importance of vaidhi bhakti, without
emphasizing vidhi’s role in the evolvement of raga, it would no
longer boast its pride of place on the path of raga. Preaching can
only be considered a symphonious feature of raga-marga-
bhajana if the aim of one’s preaching is to progressively awaken
a resolute greed for the ultimate attainment of raga-maya-prema
in the hearts of those to whom one preaches. Are there not
innumerable “preachers” of various sectarian denominations
tirelessly “preaching” their wearisome religio-moralistic dogmas
dismally devoid of the slightest scent of even the least of
Vrindavana’s flowers? Are their preach-preachidy-preachments
to be regarded as raga-marga-bhakti? Alternatively, there are
others, well equipped with esoteric shastric data, who
fraudulently make a show of preaching raga-marga-bhakti in the
world to satisfy their self-establishing lust for labha, puja, and


pratistha. Is their preaching to be regarded as instrumental to
anyone’s raga-marga-bhajana? Once again, we scrutinize the
mind-set that backs our activities in “Krishna consciousness.”

In truth, no external action – preaching, book publication,
book distribution, nama-sankirtana, nama-japa, sadhu-sanga,
vrindavana-vasa, arcana, prasada-seva, pot-washing, or
whatever – can be considered an aspect of either ajata-ruci- or
jata-ruci-raganuga-sadhana if it is not prompted by a greed to
attain the perfection of one’s abhista-bhava. If one does not
recognize within oneself a specific attraction to any one of
Krishna’s nitya-parikara vraja-bhava exemplars – if one does not
have a desired bhava – then there is no question of one’s
external engagements in devotional service being prompted by
lobha. Hence, one’s devotional activities can never be accepted
as nija-abhista-bhava-maya, -sambandhi, -anukula, -aviruddha, or
even for that matter -viruddha, simply because there is no nija-
abhista-bhava reference point involved to merit the
consideration of such judgements. If one has neither the
prerequisite lobha nor the inclination toward relevant internal
devotional absorption, the very substance that establishes one’s
eligibility to pursue the path of raga, and if one feels no urgency,
on the basis of such lobha, to propagate raga-marga-bhakti in
the world as per the will of the Lord, then one may preachidy-
preach till one is blue in the face or distribute innumerable
volumes and volumes of transcendental literatures till the cows
come home and still one’s actions will never be deemed any sort
of raga-marga-sadhana nor engender raga-marga-bhava as their
direct outcome. One could hardly expect to gain the outcome of
raganuga-sadhana on the strength of one’s external devotional
engagements if the inward and outward features of one’s
devotional performances do not assume raga-marga
characteristics. If a sadhaka’s action is prompted merely by
shastra-vidhi and guru’s order, then such action is relegated to a
status no loftier than vaidha-marga-sadhana, ropa-siddha-
bhakti, or perhaps niskama- or even sakama-karma-yoga,
depending on the quality of the motivation. For the deserving
lobha-maya-sadhaka, however, who unpretentiously endeavors
to conscionably cultivate the moods of Vraja, differentiating


between favorable and unfavorable practices while inwardly
musing upon the eternal vraja-lila archetype features of all
culturally transfigured varieties of external devotional
engagements, practically anything done as well as any
apparatus employed to internally or externally advance Lord
Gauranga’s mission to flood the world with vraja-bhakti-rasa can
be accepted as part and parcel of the raga-marga dimension.

Much of the paraphernalia diversely utilized in “modern-
world” Krishna consciousness (automobiles, jet airplanes,
amplifiers, computers, cameras, printing presses, cell phones,
audio/video recording and broadcasting devices, refrigerators,
gas burners, electric blenders, neon lights, singing alarm clocks,
disposable diapers, etc., etc.) may be circumstantially accepted
in the attempt to facilitate or expedite the solid external
preaching progress of the Krishna consciousness movement,
but in the end it would be preposterous to think that we could
take these temporarily useful accoutrements with us when we
go to the spiritual world. No doubt, as long as the present-day
oil-based techno-industrial “civilization” holds up, we really
ought to take full advantage of all these gorgeous Kali-yuga
arrangements as far as possible. We must, however,
scrupulously avoid the inanity of becoming unnecessarily
attached to or reliant upon the service methodologies and
preaching paradigms generated by the inclusion of these
various external trappings, to the point of spinelessly minimizing
or even blindly excluding the essential internal culture of radha-
Krishna-prema-bhakti-rasa through the eternally viable process
of nama-sankirtana. Although we should doubtlessly make our
lifelong plans for disseminating Krishna consciousness though
the medium of transcendental book distribution, we should not
naively overlook the inevitability of various God-sanctioned
upheavals in material nature. The sudden demise of our
demonic technologically “advanced” “civilization” is not a
karmic impossibility. If such were to occur at any time, we
would hardly expect to see the continued feasibility of mass
book distribution as we know it today. Will we be left with our
gas-tanks empty, our book-bags empty, our piggy banks empty,
our minds empty, our hearts empty, our lives empty, and our


mouths empty – having never gained a tangible taste or
attachment for the congregational chanting of the Holy Name?
Will such a fate ever force us to finally acknowledge (by default)
the sublime shelter of hari-nama-sankirtana? All of our
computers will have long since crashed. No more e-mail! No
more Internet! No more television! No more printing press! No
more newspapers! Damn, man. None of our mp3 players and
iPods will sing for us any more! You mean we’ll have to do it
ourselves? We may have to close the temples. We may lose our
cozy ashrama habitats. We may have to live – and die – under
the trees! But despite the extreme miseries of life, we must
never desist from our determination to chant the Holy Name of
Krishna, though we are hardly able.

Anyway, as you ramble on through life, dear reader,
whatever fancy be your goal, keep your eyes upon the
doughnut and not upon the hole! Kali-yuga is an ocean of
innumerable hole-like faults. Yet, there is one tremendous
redeeming doughnut-like quality – sankirtana of the Holy Name
of Krishna. The Holy Name is the emporium of all rasas. “There
is nothing to be had in the fourteen worlds but the Holy Name.”
Don’t think these words to be mere cliche or sampradayic
platitudinous mumbo-jumbo. “Don’t think this chanting and
dancing will not lead to the desired goal. It will!” I speak the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me
Krishna! . . . so help me Gaura! . . . so help me Srila Prabhupada!