Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.
This mail is in continuation of the series "Transcendental Qualities of Lord Sri Rama", based on the transcription of the wonderful class given by HG Vaijayantimala Mathaji on S.B.5.19.4. In this verse 8 qualities of Lord Ramachandra is mentioned by Hanumanji.
1. viśuddhānubhava-mātram - The Lord, whose pure form is uncontaminated by the modes of material nature, can be perceived by pure consciousness.
2. ekam - one without a second.
3. sva-tejasā dhvasta-guṇa-vyavastham - by His own spiritual potency, vanquished the influence of the modes of material nature.
4. pratyak - transcendental, not to be seen with material eyes.
5. prashāntam - undisturbed by material agitation.
6. sudhiyopalambhanam - only in pure consciouness, or Krishna consciousness, can one perceive the transcendental form of the Lord.
7. anāma-rupam - without a material name and form.
8. niraham - without a material ego.
We had sent the first two parts of this offering in July and August. Our sincere apologies for not being able to continue the series for a while. We saw the first 4 qualities of Lord Rama as described by Hanumanji in the previous two mails. In this mail we will see the next 2 qualities.
5. prashāntam - undisturbed by material agitation.
shānta itself is peace. prashāntam means highly peaceful. Srila Prabhupada says "A person who is not disturbed by the modes of material nature is peaceful". In Bhagavad Gita Krishna also calls that person as "dhirah" - meaning one who is not disturbed even when there is sufficient provocation. Lord Rama was undisturbed even when He was asked to go to the forest. In Ramayan it is said, His face was like a lotus when He was told that you are going to be coronated. His face was like a blooming lotus, when he was told no coronation and you have to go to forest. He was completely unaffected.
In Kali yuga, 99% of the people are disturbed. That is why Bhagavatam itself says in 1.1.10, "O learned one, in this iron age of Kali men have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed". The main reason for disturbance is given in S.B.3.9.6 "asad-avagraha ārti-mūlaṁ", meaning we are catching hold of temporary things which is the root cause of anxiety.
If we are disturbed then there is no peace in our life. If we are not peaceful then we cannot chant or read the scriptures. So our Maharaj gives some of the tips to remain "prashāntam ". Let us try to practice them.
1. As far as marriage is concerned, there should be two souls with only one mind.
2. We should maintain "give and take" policy with all the relationships.
3. We have to remember 3 c's be cool, calm and composed in all situations.
4. We have to understand that by worrying, we are unnecessarily wasting our time. In the word cinta (worry) and cita (funeral fire), just one dot is missing. A person who worries too much has to go the funeral fire very soon.
5. Anger should be completely avoided. The mind is the leader of the senses. We are thinking so many things in our mind, so the mind becomes warm. We have to bring down the temperature of the mind. There are 4 tips to keep the mind cool.
a. Put snow on the head and fan it with cold air.
b. Apply tilak on the forehead.
c. Take a fresh bath.
d. Get in touch with the Lord through the scriptures and chanting.
6. The names of Krishna being non-different from Krishna Himself should spread peaceful attitude in whole of life. Passion should be decreased. We should be passionate only in the service of Krishna.
7. We should be satisfied with whatever Krishna gives.
6. sudhiyopalambhanam - only in pure consciousness, or Krishna consciousness, can one perceive the transcendental form of the Lord
We may have a question that the Lord is having so many transcendental qualities, is it possible for us to perceive the Lord. Yes, we can perceive the Lord by pure consciousness or Krishna consciousness. In the Upanishad 1.2.23 it is said "The Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be obtained by giving expert explanation about Krishna or by extreme brain intelligence or by hearing so many lectures. He can be obtained only by one who Krishna Himself chooses". We cannot question Krishna, why He is not selecting us. We should only have the faith and be surcharged with the attitude of eagerness to attain the Lord. This eagerness attitude is nothing but Krishna consciousness. If we have the eagerness to do our devotional service, Krishna will be pleased and He will provide the visa to enter His abode. If Krishna decides to give visa to a pure devotee, He gives visa even to the person who is attached to the pure devotee. We have to catch hold of the pure devotee. Even though we may be disqualified, but if we have the association of pure devotee, then our visa is confirmed.
To understand this, there is a small pastime in Caitanya Caritamrta. There was a great impersonalist named Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. By the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he became Krishna conscious. He became a great devotee of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Once he thought of providing lunch to Mahaprabhu. So he invited Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu also accepted his invitation. In 6 hours of time, his wife cooked number of dishes. The whole room was filled with hundreds and hundreds of pots of prasadam. Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu came and saw the prasadam. He said that He is a sanyasi and how can He take so much prasadam. But Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said that He is bluffing. He is not a sanyasi. In Jagannath Puri, He is taking 52 times hundreds of pots of prasadam. In Vrindavan, He goes to all His relatives' house and takes prasadam everywhere. He ate the whole stack of offering as Govardhan. In comparison to that, his offerings are nothing. In other words, being a true devotee of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sarvbhauma Bhattacharya considered Him as non-different from Lord Jagannath and Lord Krishna. He kindly requested Caitanya Mahaprabhu to take all the prasadam. He served nicely. This Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya had a son-in-law and his name is Amogha. His nature is to find faults with others. When serving prasadam to Mahaprabhu, Bhattacharya did not want Amogha to see that. So he held one stick in his hand to guard Amogha from entering into the room. In between Bhattacharya left the guard job and went to serve Mahaprabhu. At that time Amogha entered into the room and saw Mahaprabhu's plate full of so much prasadam. He started blaspheming Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He said that the sannyasi should eat only one time that too very little prasadam. When Bhattacharya heard this, he came with the stick in his hand and started chasing Amogha. Then Amogha ran away from that place. Bhattacharya's wife cried profusely and started beating her chest and mouth and said let her daughter become a widow. She said that she doesn't want a son-in-law who is blaspheming Krishna or Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So much was their love for Caitanya Mahaprabhu that even if the offender of the Lord is their own son-in-law they wanted him to be punished for his offense. Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked them to cool down.
Amogha was an offender because he blasphemed the Lord. As a result, he was about to die of cholera. Amogha did not receive an opportunity to be freed from all offenses after being attacked by the disease, but Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and his wife were very dear to the Lord. Because of their relationship, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu excused Amogha. Instead of being punished by the Lord, he was saved by the Lord's mercy. All this was due to the unflinching love of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
The pure devotee is very dear to Krishna. When we become his servant, then Krishna takes us even though we may not have any qualification. Our only determination is to become Krishna conscious.
Krishna willing, we will see the other 2 qualities of Lord Sri Rama in the next mail.
Thank you very much.
Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Anuradha devi dasi
Abu Dhabi.
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