Rathi Krishna dasa April 16th, 2011
The Yoga of Forgiveness
As part of his monthly satsang series at Yogamaya Studio in New York, Srila Dhanurdhara Swami recently gave a talk entitled “The Yoga of Forgiveness” wherein Maharaja discusses forgiveness and explores the possibilities of overcoming deep resentment from the standpoint of bhakti and yoga psychology.
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Dhanurdhara Swami March 4th, 2011
February 26, 2011
Sri Vrindavana
Japa Thought
For me, good japa meditation boils down to inner necessity. How much do I need the holy name, not just from a platform of understanding, but from my heart?
What creates that feeling of need? It is humility only. The extent to which we humbly realize that our existence, sustenance, and even devotion rests beyond our power, is the extent to which we feel need, especially for the grace of the holy name.
How to get that humility? Well, one thing we can do is to admit the obvious: Everything beyond God's mercy is failing or will fail in time.
The foundation of everything in spiritual life is the humble mood. Without a deep sense of the need for God's mercy, real spiritual life does not begin and nama bhajan remains tasteless.
Dhanurdhara Swami January 20th, 2011
Śrī Caitanya sat attentively at the feet of Śrī Īśvara Purī, his spiritual master, who had just promised to reveal to Him the one verse that embodies the essence of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Īśvara Purī then revealed the conclusion, a verse that would form the foundation of Śrī Caitanya’s mission.
“One who chants the names of one’s beloved Lord without material attachment or inhibition awakens deep attachment to his Lord. As his hearts melts with ecstatic love, he laughs very loudly or cries or shouts. Sometimes he sings and dances like a madman oblivious to public opinion.” (Bhāg. 11.2.40)
No serious student of the Bhāgavatam questions that nāma-kīrtana is highlighted within the text.[1] How does that, however, make it its essence, the one topic that helps unify the myriad of subjects found within the Bhāgavatam that are geared to establishing Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead?[2]
To decipher the actual theme of any book the first place to look is the history of its composition, specifically the intention of the author in writing the text. That account is told in the Bhāgavatam itself:
Śrī Vyāsa, the empowered editor of the Vedas, had just failed in his attempt to edit them in a relevant way for this present age of discord called Kali. Seeing his despondency, Śrī Nārada, his spiritual master, confirmed what Śrī Vyāsa had already suspected: he had not sufficiently glorified Krishna. Shaken by his teacher’s rebuke, Śrī Vyāsa entered into meditation to garner the realization necessary to properly complete his task. The result was the Bhāgavatam, a text systematically and directly glorifying Krishna in 18,000 beautiful verses meant to be read and sung in various melodies. The intention and final composition of the author of the Bhāgavatam is therefore kṛṣṇa-kīrtana, the praise or glorification of God in His fullest manifestation as Krishna.
A study of the standard practices of devotion also reveals the same truth. There are nine practices, beginning with hearing (śravaṇaṁ), chanting (kīrtanaṁ), and remembering (smaraṇaṁ). Each is traditionally represented by a particular exemplar. Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the main speaker of the Bhāgavatam is the specific exemplar for kīrtana because he devotionally recited the text non-stop for seven days, thus further affirming the Bhāgavatam as kīrtana.
We have discussed the Bhāgavatam as kīrtana in itself to support the contention of kīrtana as the book’s soul. Another way to understand kīrtana, specifically nāma-kīrtana, as the essence of the Bhāgavatam, is to understand the key message the song delivers. What is the main message of the Bhāgavatam?
To decipher the theme of a complex text, classical hermeneutics places stress on, among other things, the first and last thing spoken in the text. The crux of the Bhāgavatam is thus initially revealed in the first exchange between King Parīkṣit (a dying ruler and great devotee) to that same Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the saintly monk that appears at his death to enlighten him.
The King asks:
“What is the duty of a man who is about the die and what should he not do?” (Bhāg. 1.19.24)
Śukadeva replies:
“O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous of all material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge.” (Bhāg. 2.1.11)
As Śukadeva’s first instruction points to nāma-kīrtana, similarly the very last verse of the Bhāgavatam and Śukadeva’s final instruction to Maharaja Parīkṣit also supports nāma-kīrtana as the text’s fundamental teaching:
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Hari, the congregational chanting of whose holy names (nāma-sankīrtanaam) destroys all sinful reactions, and the offering of obeisances unto whom relieves all material suffering.” (Bhāg. 12.13.23)
Every age (yuga) has a particular practice effective for that epoch. As the Bhāgavatam was written specifically for the present age called Kali-yuga, one would expect the text to represent whatever that practice would be. Thus any evidence for nāma-kīrtana as the prescribed practice for Kali-yuga would also be a kind of support for nāma-kīrtana as the essence of the Bhāgavatam.
Such evidence is found in the eleventh canto of the Bhāgavatam, where the recommended spiritual practice for each age is listed along with the incarnation who inaugurates that practice. The following recommendation is made for this age:
“In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting (sankīrtana) to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krishna […]” (Bhāg. 11.5.32)
Although nāma-kīrtana is certainly highlighted in the Bhāgavatam, how is one to understand the many other diverse subjects that are apparently unrelated to nāma-kīrtana? If the essence of something is that which pervades everything, how then is nāma-kīrtana the svarūpa (the inherent nature) of such assorted and apparently unconnected topics as calculation of time from the atom to the dynasty of Kings?
Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī gives the clue to the resolution of this quandary. At the beginning of Śrī Bhakti-sandarbha he describes the two ways in which one can approach the text: for good instruction or to relish one’s relationship with Krishna.[3] First we need good and repeated instruction to finally surrender to Krishna, at which time one awakens one’s relationship with the Lord. Having thus done so, one’s approach shifts. No longer needing just instruction, one now relishes each statement in the Bhāgavatam, including the instructional ones, as inspiration for one’s particular relationship with Krishna.
In other words, as it is this sense of our relationship with Krishna while chanting the holy name that is the essence of the Bhāgavatam, and each and every text of the Bhāgavatam is ultimately meant to inspire this relationship, it follows then that the whole Bhāgavatam is intimately connected to nāma-kīrtana.[4]
The tenth canto, although just one of twelve cantos, is by the far the most substantial in both its depth and shear number of verses. This is the part of the Bhāgavatam that not only fully delineates Krishna’s pastimes (līlā), but is considered the fruit of all the other subjects in the text studied before. Any analysis of the Bhāgavatam as nāma-kīrtana, must therefore also show the relevance between Krishna’s pastimes and nāma-kīrtana.
Hearing the pastimes of Krishna is directly connected to the practice of nāma-kīrtana because a mature sense of our relationship with Krishna, the key to devotional chanting, is awakened and nourished by hearing about the activities of one’s beloved, especially with those devotees whose relationship one inherently covets.[5]
And although it is true that the practice and goal of bhakti is to absorb oneself fully in thoughts of Krishna, especially His līlā, nāma-kīrtana still remains the foundation of such remembrance as within His name also rests His form, quality, and pastimes. That within Krishna’s name is his pastimes is seen within the initial verse cited about the essence of the Bhāgavatam where the result of chanting the names of one’s beloved Lord are crying, laughing, and other emotions. Such symptoms of pure chanting are the spontaneous response to the awakening of various līlās in one’s heart as a result of chanting the holy name. And nowhere is it recommended to give up nāma-kīrtana at this stage. Rather nāma-kīrtana remains the root of remembering the Lord’s pastimes, especially for that person who has properly heard them as delineated in the tenth canto. And that was the example of Śrī Caitanya, especially in the last eighteen years of His life in Purī. There in the Gambhīrā[6] He continuously chanted the holy name and nourished His relationship with Krishna, in this case in the mood of Śrī Rādhā, with narrations and songs based on the Bhāgavatam spoken and sung by His most confidential associates, Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya and Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara.[7]
It should be noted here also, that Śrī Caitanya’s example also shows the healthy relationship between nāma-kīrtana and the other forms of kīrtana. Although nāma-kīrtana remained the base practice, the others forms of kīrtana are not to be neglected. The genuine rūpa, guṇa, and līlā-kīrtana based on the Bhāgavatam are also essential in the life of the serious practitioner.
One question remains: if nāma-kīrtana is the essence of the Bhāgavatam, is it the main mode of expression of the residents of Vṛndāvana as described in the tenth canto? The answer is no. The residents of Vṛndāvana are not chanting kīrtana as a practice to achieve love of Godhead. Rather their kīrtana is an expression of such love (the goal of practice) that manifests accordingly as calling Krishna’s name (nāma-kīrtana),[8] speaking about His form (rūpa kīrtana), talking about His qualities (guṇa kīrtana), or singing His pastimes (līlā kīrtana).[9] Nāma-kīrtana, however, remains the essence of the Bhāgavatam for the reasons mentioned above; it is the main process recommended by the Bhāgavatam to achieve love of Godhead and it is within itself simply kīrtana.
Conclusion: The essence of any text and path of yoga is samādhi, absorption in the object of one’s meditation to the point of non-awareness of anything external to that object. In bhakti-yoga such absorption in Krishna is best attained by the practice of nāma-kīrtana. Nāma-kīrtana is thus the essence of the teachings of the Bhāgavatam best exemplified by the spontaneous nāma-kīrtana of the eternal residents of Śrī Vṛndāvana:
“O virtuous lady, if trees or other obstacles block Krishna from sight even briefly, His companions at once shed tears and call in anxious drawn-out voices, “Śrī Krishna! Śrī Krishna!” (Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta 1.6.104, spoken by Rohiṇī to Devakī)
[1] It should be noted that the Bhāgavatam specifically recommends śrī kṛṣṇa–kīrtana. You will not find the practice of kīrtana emphasized in the texts regarding the worship of Śiva, Durgā, or even Viṣṇu to nearly the extent it is promoted in the Bhāgavatam in relation to Śrī Krishna.
[2] In Tattva-sandarbha Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī describes Bhāg. 1.3.24 as the theme verse of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which declares Śrī Krishna as the original personality of Godhead.
[3] Śrī Bhakti-sandarbha, Anuchedda 1
[4] It should be noted that the various subjects in the Bhāgavatam are also meant to attract a wide variety of people to devotional service.
[5] In the first of his seminal verses outlining the practice of rāgānugā-bhakti, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī writes, “The devotee should always think of Krishna within himself and one should choose a very dear servitor of Krishna in Vṛndāvana. One should constantly engage in topics about that servitor and his loving relationship with Krishna […]” (Brs 1.2.294)
[6] Śrī Caitanya spent the last eighteen years of His life in a small cave-like room in the house of Śrī Kāśī Miśra, the paṇḍita to the King of Purī, called Gambhīrā.
[7] “Two people—Rāmānanda Rāya and Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvami—stayed with the Lord to pacify Him by reciting various verses about Krishna pastimes and by singing appropriate songs for His satisfaction.” Cc. Antya-līlā 6.9
[8] A particularly beautiful example of nāma-kīrtana in the Bhāgavatam is when Krishna asks the cowherd boys to do kīrtana of the names of Balarāma and Himself to awaken the Vedic brāhmaṇas from slumber. See Bhāg. 10.23.4.
[9] A brief list of kīrtana as the main activity in Goloka, based on the Bhāgavatam:
Dhanurdhara Swami December 1st, 2010
November 22, 2010
Sri Vrindavana
I escort a small group of visiting western pilgrims on my favorite Vrindavana hike. Just a mile from the temple, a secluded forest path paralleling the Yamuna escorts us past the multitude of Vrindavana flower garden farms. Just as pleasing as the beautiful farms are the scattering of locals who occasionally cross our path greeting us warmly with a Vrindavana hello, “Jaya Radhe!”
Unfortunately, the worst floods in nearly forty years have wiped out this season's crop and even destroyed many of the flower bearing trees. Still, the beauty of Vrindavana is evident.
We continue our walk. An extraordinarily blissful farmer is walking our way. His beaming smile and glistening eyes reflect a happy heart. His joy is radiant. I feel impelled to stop and meet this beautiful soul. I am surprised to learn of his deep troubles:
“My farm was wiped out by the floods. I lost two lacs rupees. It took many years to develop the farm and it will take at least a year to sufficiently rebuild it.”
“Do you have family,” I ask.
“I have four daughters and a son.”
I listen with sadness, but I am puzzled. How can such unbounded joy still shine in his smile? I ask him. We are stunned by the depth and beauty of his simple expression of bhakti.
“Happiness is a heart full of devotion!”
Dhanurdhara Swami November 10th, 2010
November 7, 2010
Sri Govardhana
Japa Thought VI:
A breakthrough in chanting! I can think of no other reason then I went around the sacred Govardhana Hill and kicked up some dust. It’s the dust, the sacred dust. I’m thoroughly convinced of it. There is no other reason.
Japa Thought VII:
Realizations come only when there is sufficient effort and attention in chanting. A blank page is a wake up call that one’s chanting is inattentive. It’s a good reason to write after japa.
Japa Thought VIII:
The Key to Chanting:
The key to chanting is feeling mercy.
But how to feel mercy?
One way: Remember and pray to those that you appreciate and who have touched your heart, past or present.
Remembering kindness helps one to feel kindness. Kindness softens the heart and puts one in a humble mood.
Only in a humble mood can one naturally chant with feeling. And feeling is the key to taste in devotional activity, especially chanting.
Dhanurdhara Swami November 2nd, 2010
October 28, 2010
Sri Govardhana
Japa Thought IV:
I try to hear the mantra
But my efforts fail
I add heart to my chant
And beg for mercy
The mantra becomes clear
Beyond my own strength
With effort I chanted
By mercy I succeed
Japa Thought V:
Mercy and Works in Chanting:
Hearing the mantra is not simply the result of our effort. It is also the reciprocation of Krishna to our effort.
Effort is needed, but only to make us realize that effort alone is not sufficient. We need Krishna's mercy and must beg for it.
Relationship between effort and mercy: Without sincere, disciplined effort how will we give our heart to the name? And without giving our heart to the name, how will we attract Krishna's mercy?
Sacinandana Swami sometimes tells a story about the advice an old sadhu gave him: The sadhu chided him, “Are you chanting the mantra, or is the mantra chanting you?” “Chanting the mantra” means hearing the mantra by the power of one's concentration alone. “The mantra chanting you” means the mantra appearing by its own will to one who calls out with dependence and humility.
Dhanurdhara Swami October 29th, 2010
October 23, 2010
Sri Govardhana
Kartik vrata begins:
Japa Thought I:
The mantra is my heart, a call for service.
The mantra is my Lord, the object of service.
The mantra is my prayer, a longing for Krishna.
The mantra is Krishna, the aim of yearning.
The mantra as the means,
The mantra as the end,
Either way I humbly pray for service
Japa Thought II:
Chant and feel Krishna in the form of sound
To feel for Krishna is the awakening of the soul
Chanting, feeling and searching for Krishna
Chanting, feeling and searching for oneself
All in the holy names
Japa Thought III:
What is feeling the mantra? You can think of something or you can feel something. When you think of something there is more a tendency to project your own frame of reference and skew the experience of the object. Feeling the mantra is thus trying to experience the mantra without projecting your conditioned conception on it. Of course, cognition is there in any experience. Feeling the mantra, however, is consciously trying the let the mantra impact us without the limits of interpretation. It is mindfully tasting the name.
Dhanurdhara Swami October 26th, 2010
October 14, 2010
Sri Vrindavana
Thoughts on entering Vrindavana:
As a man dying of thirst in the desert finds an oasis, as a man with an apparently incurable disease finds the cure… Viswanath Cakravarti describes the feelings of a conditioned soul awakening in Goloka Vrindavana after achieving perfection. Maybe not like that, but I certainly feel relief – great relief – to be in the land of Vraja.
Vrindavana is my home. On entering the cul-de-sac to my Vrindavana place, I see Balaram Baba. He greets me affectionately and insists I immediately take prasadam. I have lived here more than half of my life – that's more than any other place. So many friends, so many affectionate greetings, and so many people who love Krishna are here.
I expected to find Vrindavana covered by urban sprawl and all else that Kali offers. Today I don't see it. I see loving souls and the spirit of devotion. I roll in the dust. I bathe in the Yamuna.
I honor Aindra Prabhu. Twice a day I attend the 24 hour kirtan. I miss him, but his spirit is there in those determined to take up his mission. Some beautiful kirtans continue by his grace.
I vow that while in Vrindavana I will just take food when it comes by Krishna's mercy. Today I am invited for the incomparable maha prasadam from the raja bhoga cooked by Bhuvanesvara. Heavenly figs unexpectedly arrive sent from my friends in Croatia. And then there is a late afternoon invitation to join Indradyumna Swami for his Radha Govinda maha prasadam when he returns from Govardhana parikrama. Wow! Homemade ice cream. Milk sent from the goshalla. So much prasadam. I am forced to honor, not gorge. “No one starves in my village,” Gopal tells Madhavendra Puri at Govinda Kunda. I believe it.
A good welcome this time. I call it happy mercy, but all mercy, whether happy or not, is mercy; it pulls us back to the lotus feet of Krishna. Late morning I walked the parikrama path to the Radha Damodar Temple to pray and chant at Their renowned courtyard of sacred tombs (samadhis). At Sri Jiva's, a sadhu points with a wagging finger of warning at my glasses. My heart drops. I grab them in relief and tuck them away, admonishing myself, “How could I forget to put my glasses away in the very place where monkeys prey on foolish pilgrims in their bananas for glasses scam?” I reflect on my fortune, “How was it possible that I walked the most notorious section of monkey land in Vrindavana with my glasses still intact. Unprecedented!” An unusually good welcome. Happy mercy!
Dhanurdhara Swami October 14th, 2010
(Kirtan refers to devotional singing, but it also refers to the recitation of spiritual poetry and drama or even just speaking about spiritual subjects. In the school of Śrī Caitanya, when devotional singing is done in a group with musical accompaniment it is specifically called sankirtan; the prefix “san” comes from samyak, which means “complete”. It is called sankirtan, or complete, as the group experience of kirtan is more absorbing and moving than the individual one. For the purpose of distinguishing group from individual kirtan, when I refer to devotional singing and music in a congregation I will use the word “sankirtan”, although it is commonly known as just kirtan.)
I was happy to read that “sankirtan (chanting with others) is superior even to kirtan (chanting alone) because it produces such extraordinary feelings”.[1] That has always been my conviction, but here was a declarative statement by Śrī Jiva Gosvāmī, one of the greatest Vaiṣṇava scholars in his classic work Śrī Bhakti Sandarbha.
Although I was happy to find a supportive statement for the magnificence of sankirtan, the question still remained, why? Why does sankirtan produce such extraordinary feelings? Luckily the answer came soon. While thumbing casually through a book containing the personal correspondence of my spiritual master, Śrīla Prabhupāda, I chanced upon the following statement:
“The hearing tendency is made easy and still more favorable by songs and music of spiritual value to be equally shared by all classes of men namely the highest educated and the lowest illiterate.” [2]
The answer was simple and clear: “hearing made easy by music!” The test of any meditational practice is its ability to facilitate focus on the object of one’s mediation, usually a mantra that is heard. As proper melody and rhythm spontaneously allure the mind, mantra couched in music naturally makes mantra meditation easier. And as the focus in sankirtan is the very object of the practitioner’s devotion (the divine names of God), extraordinary feelings, such as devotion and joy, naturally arise as one’s meditation deepens. Continue Reading »
Dhanurdhara Swami September 4th, 2010
Kirtan Retreat with Sacinandana Swami
Island of Iz, Croatia
June 12-18, 2010
A friend once told me that a good class is where you learn at least one new thing. I learned many things at the kirtan retreat. Each class of Sacinandana Swami filled my book with notes. In the next few days I'll share them with you.
Day 1
Entering a retreat means to enter a new atmosphere, a new mode of thinking, for the purpose of change or transformation. “Kirtan Retreat” means how to connect to God, the power who can really transform us.
Attending a retreat is not just a matter of going through the programs. It entails a change in intention, as only according to our intention do we act. Intention is so important it even determines life and death. For example, in a serious life and death health crisis, our intention, our will to live, determines whether we do or not. So if you want to have a successful retreat, if you want to ensure the best use of your time here, you must first create a serious intention to be transformed. A sankalpa is necessary, an expressed intention of what you hope to achieve.
When we come to a retreat we may feel an initial discomfort. That's because we come not alone, but with our old life, a life that must be changed, which means creating space in the mind for something new to happen. It may make us initially uneasy, but it is exciting and important work.
Common maxim: if you think of the same things and do the same things, you will get the same result. Retreat is to move from that place and get different, better results. Accept your limitations, but take this opportunity to get the empowerment to go beyond your limitations. If you take this opportunity, you will bear the fruit of this opportunity.