Happy Friendship Day!

मन तेरो साँचो यार, ब्रजराज कुमार |
जैसो जीव करे प्यार, तैसो करे प्यार यार |
O my mind! Only Shree Krishna, the prince of Braj, is your true friend. 

As the soul loves him, so does he love the soul.

आज है फ्रेंडशिप डे, गोविन्द राधे |
साँचो फ्रेंड हरि गुरु, बस दो है बता दे ||
On the occasion of Friendship day, it is to be contemplated today that only God and Guru are our true eternal friends.
 

What is the importance of foot dust?

The scriptures have emphasized special significance of foot dust for devotees on the path of devotion.

It is stated in Chaitanya Charitamrita:

भक्त पदधूलि आर भक्त पद जल भक्त भुक्त अवशेष तिन महाबल,
एई तिन सेवा हैते कृष्ण प्रेम हय |

"The food dust, foot wash and food remnants of a devotee of Shree Krishna has such agreat spiritual power, that an aspiring devotee can easily obtain the divine love of Shree Krishna, through the grace of the Guru, by regularly using these as prasad."

 
Thus, the foot dust of the lotus feet of a Guru and Shree Krishna are extremely important in the process of devotional practice and on the path of devotion.  By using and consuming this as prasad, one can cleanse his heart and mind quicker, thereby become deserving soul of the divine love of Shree Radha Krishna sooner.

 

God is our eternal relative

Our relationship with God is eternal. We do not have this kind of everlasting and endless relationship in this material world. Our material father, mother and son will die one day. They are not our real father, mother or relatives. Our true relationship is only with God.   Why is that?  This word sambandh, or relation, is made from the Sanskrit root bandh, with the prefix sam, and the suffix un.  It means eternal and complete bond.  Do you have such a bond with your father?  No, he passed away twenty five years ago.  And recently my mother also passed away.  One of my daughters has also died.  That means they were not your sambandhis. That is why all the scriptures strongly state:
vedaiśhcha sarvairamevavedyo

vedāñtakṛit vedavidevidevachāham

Shree Krishna says "Arjun! What do you have to understand from all the Vedas and Vedic scriptures? Only this much that your relationship is only with Me, and you must love Me exclusively." Lord Brahma says:

bhagavān brahma kārtsnyen triranvīkṣhya manīśhayā 

tadadhyavatsatkuṭastho ratirātman yato bhavet

He says, "I have churned the Vedas and the other scriptures three times and have come to the conclusion that they declare only one thing - Your eternal relationship is with Shree Krishna alone, and you have to love Him." Shree Maharajji says that God keeps on watching us and eagerly waits in anticipation, "When will this soul come to me and love me? I shall liberate him from all bondages that very instant, and bestow upon him the nectar of Divine love." Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said:
                                                    tomār aham yadi kahe ek bār

Dear Soul! Just say it once with all your heart, "O Shree Krishna! Only you are mine." Not, "You are also mine and this material world is also mine."  Do not divide your affection between your material father at home and your eternal father, God.We could ask God, "You are never seen, and my father at home loves me dearly." God says, "Accept that you are mine." We can question again, "On what basis should we accept this statement?" God says, "Accept it on the basis of knowledge. Understand fully and decide firmly that you are not this material body but the eternal soul.  You will then realize that the soul's eternal relationship is only with God."

You will attain this knowledge of your relationship with God from the Guru.  Understand this from the Guru in various ways, so that you become convinced.  Then on the basis of this knowledge, you must repeated contemplate about your relationship with God.

Inspirational Quotes by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

• The world itself is a teacher that is always teaching the individual soul by constantly showering unhappiness and pain, thereby feeding detachment. This detachment from the world constantly pushes the soul towards God.  Maya is like the loving mother who slaps her child so that the child does not walk on the wrong path, and pushes the child towards God.

• One who aspires for divine love should aim to be more humble than a blade of grass and more forbearing than a tree.  Believe all to be superior to oneself, and believe oneself to be the most sinful of all.  This feeling will destroy the ego and give rise to true humility, only then will the mind and heart be purified.

• Just as by watering the root of a tree, its branches, leaves, flowers and fruits etc. automatically receive water, in the same way all the various gods and goddesses are automatically worshipped when the Supreme Lord Krishna is worshipped.  But on the other hand, if one puts water on all the leaves, flowers, branches and fruits of a tree without watering the root, the tree would dry up eventually (in a very short amount of time).  Likewise, even if one worships all the heavenly gods and goddesses, this worship is absolutely useless unless and until the Supreme Lord Krishna is worshipped.

• Do not bear ill-will toward anyone, even those who bear ill-will toward you.  Remain neutral.  Even if someone has committed sins, a true aspirant should not think or speak of them.  Prior to God-realization everyone in the world is a sinner.  It does not take more than a moment for a great aspirant to fall and for a sinner to rise.

Happy Father's Day

 

तू तो मेरा पिता हरि गोविन्द राधे।
एक बार मेरा सुत कहि के बुला दे।।  
An individual soul says, "O Shree Krishna!  You are my real, eternal Father.  Just once call me your son."
सब जीव भाई भाई  गोविन्द राधे।
सब का है एक पिता कृष्ण बता दे ||
All individual souls are brothers and Shree Krishna is the eternal Father of all souls.  

- Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

Happy Goverdhan Puja

Shree Krishna enacted the famous Goverdhan leela pastime upon the earth, in which he lifted the Goverdhan Hill on the little finger of his left hand, to protect the residents of the land of Braj from the rain caused by Indra, the king of heaven and the celestial god of rain. However, Krishna’s little cowherd associates were not impressed. In their eyes, Krishna was merely a lovable friend, and so they did not believe he could lift the hill.

When Shree Krishna lifted the Goverdhan Hill, his cowherd friends applied their sticks to the bottom of the hill, thinking that they were the actual lifters of the hill. At the end, Indra accepted defeat and came seated on his white elephant. He apologized for having sent the torrential rain, without realizing Shree Krishna’s supreme position.

Now, when the cowherd boys saw Indra, the King of heaven, coming and offering obeisance to their friend Krishna, they realized that Krishna is God. So, they began looking at him fearfully from a distance. Seeing their devotional sentiment change from friendship to awe and reverence, Shree Krishna lamented, “That loving exchange we were enjoying has vanished. They are now thinking I am God.” So by his Yogmaya power, he made them forget the significance of what they had seen, and they again felt that Shree Krishna was nothing more than their friend.

Why do we need a Guru? Explanation by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

After detaching the mind from the world, and before surrendering to God, there is need of a divine entity, without whom one cannot attain the Supreme goal.  That entity is a God-realized Saint or Guru.  It is the Guru, who decides which path is best for each devotee to surrender to God.  Again, it is he who dispels all doubts faced by the aspirant on the path.  Mere detachment is not enough to attain God.

The Bhagavad Gita states:
                                 tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśhnena sevayā upadekṣhyanti te jñānaṁ 
                                                                   jñāninastattvadarśhinaḥ
Shree Krishna says to Arjun, "Learn the Truth by approaching a spiritual master.  Inquire from him with reverence and render service unto him.  Such an enlightened Saint can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the Truth.”

The Ramayan also says:
                                        guru binu bhava tarai na koī”; “guru binu hoī ki jñāna”
“Without the guidance of a Guru, one cannot cross over the ocean of material existence.”  Again it says, “Without the guidance of a Guru, one cannot attain the knowledge of God.”  Thus, the unanimous view of all scriptures is that we must surrender to a Guru in order to know the unknown entity called God.

Watch this video lecture by Shree Maharajji on the topic, "Who is a Guru" with 

English Subtitles:

HAPPY GURU POORNIMA!!

jayati guruvara jayati guruvara, jayati guruvara pyāre
All glories to beloved Gurudev; all glories to beloved Gurudev.

tū hī brahmā tū hī viśhṇu, tū hī śhankar pyāre
Beloved Gurudev!  You are Brahma; You are Vishnu and you are Shankar.

tere pāche chalata naṭavara, chahata pada raja pyāre
Even Shree Krishna walks behind you, beloved Gurudev, desiring the dust of your Lotus Feet.

harihiṅ bhāveṅ śhuddha mana tohiṅ, patita bhāveṅ pyāre
While God accepts only pure-hearted souls, beloved Gurudev accepts even sinful souls.

tū karāve jñān hari ko, śhruti purānana pyāre
Beloved Gurudev!  You bestow knowledge of God as revealed in the Vedas and Puranas.

tū batāve hari milan kī, sādhanā bhī pyāre
Beloved Gurudev!  You also teach the method of uniting with God.

śhuddha mana ho jāya to tū, prema bhī de pyāre
And once the heart is pure, you bestow Divine Love to the surrendered soul. 

 

 

 

God is Causelessly Merciful - by Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj

Shree Krishna is eagerly waiting to meet you, but you are not aware of this fact.  Even if you were, you don’t believe it.  You think, “How can it be possible that he wants to meet me?  It can’t be true.”  It is such feelings and lack of faith alone that has kept you away from Shree Krishna for ages and ages.  The moment you truly believe that he is causelessly merciful and loves you selflessly, you will establish firm faith in him.  That very moment will be the golden moment of your life.

 

In this world, you have never seen or met anyone who is causelessly merciful and graceful.   This is probably the reason for your lack of faith.  If you believed that your Beloved Shree Krishna is restless to meet you right now, then you too could develop a burning desire in your heart to meet him.   At that very moment, he would come and lovingly embrace you.

Shree Krishna carefully observes your thoughts of every moment; He constantly watches you—how do you perform devotional practice, how do you practice roopdhyan and sankirtan of his names and attributes.  He always remains hopeful and waits for the moment you will perform his roopdhyan and sing his glories correctly, so that he may bless you with Divine Love.  But due to lack of faith in his causeless mercy, you become careless. Understand the divine secret that he is closer to you than your own soul, always waiting for you to be completely surrendered. 

 

 

"Desires" - Which ones are condemnable and which ones are worth adopting?

All material desires right up to the abode of Brahma and even the desire for moksh (liberation) are condemnable and all desires relating to Shree Krishna, for the sake of our happiness, are neither condemnable nor adorable.

All desires relating to Shree Krishna purely for his happiness are praiseworthy and should be embraced.  The nature of devotion is that all desires for our own happiness are to be completely discarded.

It is in our nature to make ever new desires by constantly thinking and imagining that there is happiness in the material world.  This nature of ours will continue to torment us until we reach the last stage of God-realization.  At that level, it will become your very nature to love Shree Krishna wholeheartedly.  In fact you will not be able to survive without loving him.  Even a moment of forgetfulness will torment and suffocate you.  Therefore, the aim of all our desires should be to love and serve Shree Krishna solely for his happiness.

PRACTICE DEVOTION WITHOUT DELAYING

In this world, there are few fortunate ones, who move towards God. Amongst them, only a few are fortunate enough to get the association of a genuine Saint. Amongst them too, there are a few who are fortunate enough to get the Divine knowledge. Nevertheless, there is one flaw, which does not let them progress. It is their habit of procrastination. When it comes to worldly activities, we do these immediately. We never defer activities like attaching our minds somewhere, or showing aversion somewhere, or insulting someone, or causing damage to someone. We do these instantly. But we always postpone God related activities. Vedas say – "Don’t leave anything for tomorrow. Who knows, tomorrow may not come in your life". So, do not procrastinate even for a moment. Start practicing devotion right from this moment. 

SHED TEARS FOR GOD

Shedding tears will purify your mind, everyone remember this, memorize this statement of Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj. Cry out to God like an innocent child, Shree Krishna (God) will come running. Throw away all your knowledge, all the dirt-garbage that you have accumulated. When you realize yourself to be an insignificant, weak, shelter less, humble, fallen sinful soul, from within, then tears will start flowing incessantly, then your mind will be purified, and then Guru will Grace you. With the Grace of your Guru, you will see Shree Krishna (God), you will receive the Love of Shree Krishna (God) and you will be blissful forever. 

GOD,SOUL AND MAYA ARE ETERNAL

ब्रह्म,जीव, माया तत्त्व, गोविंद  राधे,

तीनों है अनादी अनंत बता  दे.

Brahm, Jeev, Maya Tattva, Govind Radhey. Teenon hai anaadi anant bata de

There are 3 eternal entities: God, soul and Maya. They have no beginning nor end. They are eternal and will always remain eternal. They haven't been created nor can be destroyed.

ब्रह्म जीव चेतन, गोविंद राधे,

ब्रह्म शक्ति जीव ,याते अंश बता दे.

Brahm Jeev Chetan, Govind Radhey. Brahm Shakti Jeev Yatey Ansh Bata De.

Supreme God and the souls are chetan, full of life. The soul is a power of God and it is an ansh or part of God.

ब्रह्म शक्ति माया जड़ , गोविंद राधे .

जीव माया शाषक ब्रह्म  बता  दे .

Brahm Shakti Maya Jada, Govind Radhey. Jeev Maya Shashal Brahm Bata De.

Another eternal power of God is Maya, which is lifeless. The governor of both Maya and the souls is God. They are both His powers and are governed by Him.

INCREASE PATIENCE,HUMILITY AND MODESTY

Patience, Humility, Modesty are all divine qualities, you should increase these. The more these qualities increase, the more your Sadhana has progressed and one person tells you a sentence and you are feeling it from within then you have not done Sadhana. You are under a false impression. You are merely uttering Ram Ram, Shyam Shyam, Radhey Radhey, this is not enough. (Always remember to do Roop Dhyan, bring God in your mind). Increase so much humility that you develop this hobby that someone criticizes you and you do not feel it. Someone says in front of you that you are selfish, cunning, a cheat and a miser and you are feeling happy - Yes, you are right. Only Hari and Guru should remain in your mind, there should be no other matter of Raag or Dvesh (Matter of Love or Hatred) in your mind. You all practice this for your own welfare and it will also make Me happy.

FROM THE MOUTH OF JAGADGURU

There are just two areas- Shree Krishna and the Material world.

The mind alone is the performer of all good and bad actions. If the mind is attached to Shree Krishna, you will attain divine knowledge and divine bliss. If your mind remains attached to the material world, you will continue to suffer in ignorance and misery.

Therefore you should always practice detaching your mind from the world, and attaching it to Shree Krishna alone.

For this, Rupadhyana , loving remembrance of Shree Radha Krishna is absolutely essential. Attentively listen to the divine words of your guru, strictly follow his instructions and engage yourself in devotional chanting, Sankirtana.

Always feel the presence of Shree Krishna and Your Guru with You. Avoid Committing spiritual transgressions.

- YOUR’S KRIPALU

DEVOTION TO SHREE KRISHNA - THE ONLY MEANS FOR PURIFICATION OF HEART

“Taistanyadhani puyante tapodaanjapadibhi

Nadharmajam taddhrudaym tadpishandhrisewaya”( Part 6-2-27)

“Vedic karm such as charity, fire sacrifice, penance, fasting etc does destroy sin, but it cannot purify the heart.” You may ask that when sins are destroyed, will not the heart be automatically purified? But it is not so. Let us say that a person has committed the sin of killing a cow. If he performs the atonement for it according to Vedic karm, his sin will be destroyed, but his sinful mentality will remain. Thus, he will commit sin again. Now, he may repeatedly commit sin, and then do the atonement for it, but the heart will never be purified in this way.

Secondly, the sin is committed in a short time, but the performance of the atonement takes an exceedingly long time. Besides, even if we suppose that all the present sins have been destroyed through actions of atonement, there will still be innumerable accumulated sins from endless past lifetimes. These will never be destroyed even by repeated atonement, because the accumulated sins of endless past lifetimes are infinite. Thus, to purify the heart, devotion has to be performed. Adi Shankaracharya has said:

“Shudhayati hi naantratma krishnapadambhoj Bhaktiyuke”  

“Without devotion to the Supreme Lord Shree Krishn, the heart can never be cleansed.” And when the heart is not cleansed, there is no guarantee that external repentance for sins will prevent the person from committing sins in the future. The conclusion is that the mere performance of karm without devotion, is not only incapable of giving liberation, it does not even result in the purification of the heart.

DO NOT HIDE YOUR FAULTS

Everyone has faults. Instead of accepting our shortcoming and trying to improve upon them, we try to hide them. We refuse to accept that we are faulty. On the contrary, we try to exaggerate our good qualities before others, including our level of devotion. We try to show off that we are high level devotees. We do not realize that whatever progress we have made on this path due to the mercy of God and Guru.

SURRENDER TO SHREE KRISHNA

       

In Bhagwad Geeta Shree Krishna tells Arjuna: “O Arjun!  Abandoning all concerns of religiosity and irreligiosity, simply surrender to Me.  Then I, who dispense justice to all, will cease to be a mere judge.  Bestowing My Grace, I will pardon all the sins of your innumerable past lives, and grant you liberation.”  This is the immense Grace of God?  In the world, even if a criminal surrenders himself to the law, he is made to suffer punishment for his past crimes.  But God is so Merciful that once you surrender to Him, He not only forgives all past deeds, but also bestows His Divine Bliss for the rest of eternity.  If this is not Causeless Grace, then what is?  Hence, the objection that God demands a price for His Grace is refuted.  If a washer man were to clean our clothes and not charge us for it, we would say that he has done us a favor, even though the clothes could become dirty again.  In comparison, when we surrender our mind and intellect to God, He cleans them forever, and that too, without any charge.  When a woman marries, she automatically becomes the owner of her husband’s property.  Similarly, when we surrender to God, we immediately become possessors of his unlimited Knowledge, Bliss and Love.

SHREE KRISHNA IS FOREMOST OF ALL FORMS OF GOD

ब्रह्म के अनेक रूप, गोविन्द राधे,

सर्वरूप आश्रय कृष्ण बता दे.

Brahma ke anek roop, Govinda Radhey. Sarvaroop aashreya Krishna bata dey.

God has uncountable forms, but three are main: Brahma, Paramatma, and Bhagawan. Bhagawan Shri Krishna is foremost of all the divine forms of God because all the divine powers are revealed in His personality; they are only partially revealed in the other forms. There are not multiple Gods, rather one God has different forms related to the powers that are manifested. For this reason, the form of Shri Krishna has special importance.

THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF HUMAN BIRTH

The goal of human life is to attain Divine love which is only possible with the Grace of God. To receive His Grace you have to wholeheartedly surrender yourself at His lotus feet and love Him selflessly. This is called divine love devotion. In fact our desired object, the Divine love, is Divine by nature which is beyond the material world, so there cannot be any direct approach to it, neither through our material intellect nor senses.

In this material world every person is born with certain tendencies and likings. As he grows, his likings take the shape of desires, and to fulfill those desires he works for his whole life. The life ends but desires never end. Everyone is devoid of real happiness, that is why they run after everything that pleases them.

This world has been created in such a way that every living being perceives two kinds of objects and situations; one is soothing to the senses and the mind, and the other is non-soothing. When a person perceives such an object which is soothing to his mind, his brain nerves feel a sweet comfort, and this feeling strengthens his faith that the world is sweet. This faithful imagination gives more imaginary pleasure which further multiplies his faith, and thus, this cycle of misunderstanding goes on forever.

You feel happy when you are having a good time, but at the same time your inner conscience declares a discontent that appears in the shape of a ‘desire to have more.’ The happiness that you receive from the world reaches to a certain depth in your mind, but the proclamation to receive total contentment comes from the very bottom of your mind which is next to your soul. Material joy, happiness, pleasure and felicity can never reach the very bottom of your heart and mind. There remains a big gap, and that gap can be observed by you if you sincerely think over it alone. This is the fact of life, and the truth of material happiness.

Material truth is the experience and perception of temporary discontented pleasures of the material life with a growing hope for future fulfillment that can never happen because ‘the present’ is always wholly or partially discontented. The Divine truth is God Himself Who is loving, kind, and friendly; Who is eternally yours and always with you in every situation.

Your innermost conscience is already desiring God’s love and His association. The moment your conscious mind begins to believe this fact, you begin to feel a kind of secure fulfillment in your life. This is the beginning of your spiritual life.

The nature of human mind is that it becomes attached to the object or person it faithfully remembers, and adopts the qualities of that where it is attached. When the mind is attached to material phenomena it develops only good and bad qualities, and always remains bound to the material dimension. When your mind is attached to God it develops devotional qualities and, in time, you may receive God realization with the Grace of God and your Divine Spiritual Master.

Thus, your ultimate goal of life is only God realization.