Sri Sri Prema Bhakti Candrika

Narottam Das Thakur

Once a high ranking government official (Judge) stayed in Ambika Kalna in West Bengal for a few days to perform some duties. At that time Siddha Sri Bhagavan das Babaji Maharaja was still manifest in this world. Having heard about Siddha Baba's glories from the local residents, the judge went at once to see him. When Siddha Baba saw him coming he asked why he had come, and the judge said,  "Baba! Tell me how to prema bhakti can be achieved!"

Siddha Baba immediately said, "Prema bhakti can be purchased for only two anas (a very small amount of money in colonial India at that time)!"

When the judge heard these words of Siddha Baba he was a little shaken and said, "Baba! Why are you joking with me?"

Siddha Baba replied with determination, "It's not a joke– for two anas you can buy Srila Narottama Thakura Mahasaya's Prema Bhakti Candrika in Calcutta's Bata-tala. Always read this and you will attain prema bhakti."

This is actually a true story.  And the judge completely took the words of Siddha Baba seriously and purchased a copy of Prema Bhakti Candrika. By the strength of Siddha Baba's order and because of his service to Sri Prema Bhakti Candrika which he constantly recited, he had a complete change of heart. The judge lost all interest in his job and began to stay at home reading Prema Bhakti Candrika with love and attachment. Because he gave up his job his so-called family members lost interest in him and he also became disinterested in them and his home. He began to wander and beg alms to feed himself all the while lovingly reading Prema Bhakti Candrika and offering everything to Sri Krishna. Everyone thought he was insane because of his sudden and drastic change of behavior, but he actually became siddha himself and achieved Krishna-prema through the recitation of Prema Bhakti Candrika on the order of Siddha Bhagavan Das Babaji.

Sri Radharaman Charan Das Dev questioned his guru, Nityananda Vamsh Prabhupad Yogendranath Goswami about the sastras. His guru told him that of all the sastras four are sufficient for acheiving the goal of Krishna-prema and Prema Bhakti Candrika was one of the four books on the list. The very first shloka I ever heard from the lips of my gurudeva was from Sri Prema Bhakti Candrika. He had just given me diksha and was explaining to me the immense power of chanting  (Bhaja) Nitai Gaura Radhey Shyam (Japa) Hare Krishna Hare Ram and told me that I would experience many wonders while chanting it and I should keep those wonders to myself. It's easy to guess which verse he quoted:

Apana bhajana kathA, nA kohibo yathA tathA
ihAte hoibo sAvadhAna (119)

"I will be cautious and not reveal my bhajana realisations here and there. "

Among the many teachings and recommendations of Sri Jagadbandhu Sundar Prabhu he advised the one should put the entire Prema Bhakti Candrika to memory. That is how precious he found the teachings of Thakur Mahasaya to be.

So the importance of Sri Sri Prema Bhakti Candrika cannot be overestimated. In fact, some very good arguments can be made that this is the single most valuable grantha for the sadhakas of the Caitanya Vaisnava tradition.

The painting of Sri Thakur Mahasay came from Sripat Gambhila. This is the birthplace of his dear disciple Sri Ganganarayan Chakravarty. Gambhila is also the place where Thakur Mahasay ended his manifest lila while entering the Ganges.

narottama boDo duHkI, nAtha! more koro sukhI,
tomAra bhajana saGkIrtane
antarAya nAhi yAy, ei to parama bhaya,
nivedana kori anukSaNa (39)

"Narottama is greatly unhappy. O Natha! Make me happy by allowing me to perform bhajan and do sankirtan of your Names! The greatest fear I have is that my bad habits and material attachments will not leave me, so I pray to You at every moment for your mercy."

The image of Sri Narottam Das Thakur was the courtesy of Nityananda Janmasthan from Dhimahi 2007

The Moonlight of Loving Devotion

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 15.7

mamaivāḿśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati

SYNONYMS

mama — My; eva — certainly; aḿśaḥ — fragmental particle; jīva-loke — in the world of conditional life; jīva-bhūtaḥ — the conditioned living entity; sanātanaḥ — eternal; manaḥ — with the mind; ṣaṣṭhāni — the six; indriyāṇi — senses; prakṛti — in material nature; sthāni — situated; karṣati — is struggling hard.

TRANSLATION

The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

PURPORT

In this verse the identity of the living being is clearly given. The living entity is the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord — eternally. It is not that he assumes individuality in his conditional life and in his liberated state becomes one with the Supreme Lord. He is eternally fragmented. It is clearly said, sanātanaḥ. According to the Vedic version, the Supreme Lord manifests and expands Himself in innumerable expansions, of which the primary expansions are called viṣṇu-tattva and the secondary expansions are called the living entities. In other words, the viṣṇu-tattva is the personal expansion, and the living entities are the separated expansions. By His personal expansion, He is manifested in various forms like Lord Rāma, Nṛsiḿhadeva, Viṣṇumūrti and all the predominating Deities in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. The separated expansions, the living entities, are eternally servitors. The personal expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the individual identities of the Godhead, are always present. Similarly, the separated expansions of living entities have their identities. As fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, the living entities also have fragmental portions of His qualities, of which independence is one. Every living entity, as an individual soul, has his personal individuality and a minute form of independence. By misuse of that independence one becomes a conditioned soul, and by proper use of independence he is always liberated. In either case, he is qualitatively eternal, as the Supreme Lord is. In his liberated state he is freed from this material condition, and he is under the engagement of transcendental service unto the Lord; in his conditioned life he is dominated by the material modes of nature, and he forgets the transcendental loving service of the Lord. As a result, he has to struggle very hard to maintain his existence in the material world.

The living entities, not only human beings and the cats and dogs, but even the greater controllers of the material world — Brahmā, Lord Śiva and even Viṣṇu — are all parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. They are all eternal, not temporary manifestations. The word karṣati ("struggling" or "grappling hard") is very significant. The conditioned soul is bound up, as though shackled by iron chains. He is bound up by the false ego, and the mind is the chief agent which is driving him in this material existence. When the mind is in the mode of goodness, his activities are good; when the mind is in the mode of passion, his activities are troublesome; and when the mind is in the mode of ignorance, he travels in the lower species of life. It is clear, however, in this verse, that the conditioned soul is covered by the material body, with the mind and the senses, and when he is liberated this material covering perishes, but his spiritual body manifests itself in its individual capacity. The following information is there in the Mādhyandināyana-śruti: sa vā eṣa brahma-niṣṭha idaḿ śarīraḿ martyam atisṛjya brahmābhisampadya brahmaṇā paśyati brahmaṇā śṛṇoti brahmaṇaivedaḿ sarvam anubhavati. It is stated here that when a living entity gives up this material embodiment and enters into the spiritual world, he revives his spiritual body, and in his spiritual body he can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. He can hear and speak to Him face to face, and he can understand the Supreme Personality as He is. From smṛti also it is understood, vasanti yatra puruṣāḥ sarve vaikuṇṭha-mūrtayaḥ: in the spiritual planets everyone lives in bodies featured like the Supreme Personality of Godhead's. As far as bodily construction is concerned, there is no difference between the part-and-parcel living entities and the expansions of viṣṇu-mūrti. In other words, at liberation the living entity gets a spiritual body by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The words mamaivāḿśaḥ ("fragmental parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord") are also very significant. The fragmental portion of the Supreme Lord is not like some material broken part. We have already understood in the Second Chapter that the spirit cannot be cut into pieces. This fragment is not materially conceived. It is not like matter, which can be cut into pieces and joined together again. That conception is not applicable here, because the Sanskrit word sanātana ("eternal") is used. The fragmental portion is eternal. It is also stated in the beginning of the Second Chapter that in each and every individual body the fragmental portion of the Supreme Lord is present (dehino 'smin yathā dehe). That fragmental portion, when liberated from the bodily entanglement, revives its original spiritual body in the spiritual sky in a spiritual planet and enjoys association with the Supreme Lord. It is, however, understood here that the living entity, being the fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, is qualitatively one with the Lord, just as the parts and parcels of gold are also gold.

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Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

Due to conditioned life, My eternal fragmental parts are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind-BG#15.7

• Just focus on Krishna!
• To avoid too much endeavour
• Poor!
• Harinam Part 2 ISKCON Melbourne 2011 – Video

Just focus on Krishna! Posted: 18 Oct 2011 02:44 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, Helsinki, Finland, 2011) It is said that from all of the service, the chanting of Hare Krishna is the first and foremost – it's the most important. Of course, we may not always experience it like that. Somebody may just love cooking and they may feel like: "Cooking is my life and soul! That's what I love to do. I also chant my rounds but I'm always thinking about cooking, and that's just my nature." That's also there, but if you just cook – that's not good enough. Cooking has to be accompanied by chanting! The book distributor may think about: "Books….books….books". But there has to be a time when he has to stop thinking about book distribution, and when he has to think about chanting. Because during chanting it is not good to think of one's service! It's better to put everything out of the mind and try to just focus on Krishna!

To avoid too much endeavour Posted: 18 Oct 2011 02:28 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, Helsinki, Finland, 2011) Srila Prabhupada said: "Krishna Consciousness means we should always be satisfied and happy – not  that we try to do some impossible work, become over burdened and then  because we are not happy by so much trouble, that we lose all the enthusiasm  altogether, and give up all hope. No, too much endeavour should be avoided. By all means we much reserve our spiritual status – that is the point. Not that we are mad after big buildings, many devotees life members and this and that. No, these are only ways to engage the devotees, so they may  apply the principles of devotional living to some kind of work for practical  realization of these principles. It's not the result of the work we want. If we only sincerely preach to one person a day, that is sufficient. Never mind big big programs. So my request to you is that you do not be bothered by these things. Krishna doesn't like to see his sincere devotees suffer or become frustrated  or depressed. He will not stand by idly at such a case. He has some plan for you and always think in that way, and very soon He will provide everything to your heart's desire!" This is obviously a letter written to a devotee who had the nature  to create too much stress and to take on too much service.  But it is something to keep in mind and it's not that he was  the only one. Many devotees have tried to do too much!

Poor! Posted: 18 Oct 2011 07:49 AM PDT If you come to the temple once a week….poor! Poor- spiritually poor! It's a poor lifestyle. You are a poor man! You don't get much spiritual  wealth. Only once a week? I mean is that all? Poor! We must seek out devotees all the time. We must be eager to be with devotees. Even if it is at a distance, somehow or other we must be there all  the time as much as possible. That is eagerness. (Kadamba Kanana Maharaja, October 2011, Sydney, Australia)

Harinam Part 2 ISKCON Melbourne 2011 – Video Posted: 18 Oct 2011 12:46 AM PDT Here is another video of the wonderful harinam through the streets of Melbourne in October. Enjoy the video. If you cant  see the video then visit youtube.

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Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com

KKSblog.com - Just focus on Krishna!

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Chanting at different pace Posted: 17 Oct 2011 03:06 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, Helsinki, Finland, 2011) I was in the forest in Germany with two people, of whom one was saying: 'It was impossible to chant'. And the other one was explaining how it took him six years to get to sixteen rounds….little by little. They were perfect for each other. I could have never preached to this person in the same way as he could, because I didn't take six years, since when I started to chanted I thought one round meant that you go up and down (with the japa bead), from the way they were explaining to me. It sounded as though one round meant that you have to go one way and then back the other way, which counts as one round. So I chanted 32 rounds! It took a few days before I realised: "What is wrong with me? I cannot finish these rounds!" But he had taken six years to gradually step by step get up to sixteen rounds. He was explaining it to the other boy who felt very encouraged by it! So there are different people that need to go at a different pace

More Helsinki Lectures! Posted: 17 Oct 2011 01:48 PM PDT Below is a link to the morning program given by Kadamba Kanana Swami earlier this year in Helsinki, Finland. Enjoy the nectar!! Helsinki – Morning Program

KKSblog.com - Chanting at different pace

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Allergic to religious words? Posted: 15 Oct 2011 04:45 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, Melbourne, Australia, October 2011) I was once at a program with all these western people, and Bhakti Charu Maharaja was leading the program in Amsterdam. At one point he said to all these western people: "And now fold your hands and now we are going to pray!" In Europe, usually you would not say that to people………you have to be careful, by not saying the word 'pray' or the word 'God'….you don't say that too much since they do not like hearing it in the lecture. A little bit is okay but, not saying the word 'God' twenty times in a lecture. So Bhakti Charu Maharaja was sayng: "Now everyone fold your hands". Because he was an Indian Guru they did it! If I would have said it, then they would never have done it, but because he was Indian they just did it! And suddenly you see all these atheistic people praying! They have never prayed in their lives! So they are allergic to these things, If you say the word 'God' a lot of the times, then they say: "You are trying to convert me!" So one has to be more careful, and we cannot be so direct by saying 'God' and 'pray' and all these words – that's why they like words like 'yoga' and 'meditation'. So instead of 'praying' you can say 'meditation', and instead of 'religion' you can say' yoga'. If they are religious, then be a little alert, since the church has been very heavy on the people for a hundreds of years: "You are going to hell if you don't do that! Pay your donations or you'll burn and burn!" People have turned away from the churches and they are allergic from religion. It is not just that they are outright atheistic – it's the church that has made them into atheists with their heavy preaching. So they are allergic from religious words!

Krishna becomes one's life and soul! Posted: 15 Oct 2011 04:33 PM PDT (Kadamba Kanana Swami, Melbourne, Australia, October 2011) In the beginning I liked Krishna Consciousness. The deities were beautiful. The singing was very sacred – I liked it. Prashadam was attractive. I liked the books and I thought they were deep and profound, so I liked these things. The principles and all the duties I found them difficult – I found it to be a struggle, with so many duties and rules to follow. Initially I struggled a bit by doing all that, but I had strong faith and I believed in it, so I decided: "Okay, so I have to get serious about this". I got very serious and then I was not able to go into deep meditation on Krishna, therefore I took responsibility for practical service. I could understand the difference between: Sometimes doing service and taking responsibilities. I took responsibility and then the devotees gave me more and more responsibilities. In that my surrender was challenged again and again, because of these services I had to do all kinds of things that I would never have done. That I had to do just like everyone. For instance if you start a company then you have to surrender and maybe work till midnight. Everyone worked till five but since you had started the company, then you have to work till midnight, otherwise your company is finished…….. so you have to surrender now! So if you take on the responsibility for Krishna, then you are forced to surrender. So within that surrender, the material desires have to go in the background. Overtime one finds that they are diminished, and then one can become very fixed in ones service and in wanting to surrender and so on. Naturally, once you become very fixed in that type of service then the taste begins to come………more and more taste! And such taste goes deeper and deeper. Clearly then one develops a genuine and deeper attachment to Krishna – then Krishna becomes one's life and soul! What else is there when it's all: 'Krishna…Krishna………….Krishna, all day long!' So that's the result and everyone will get there. It's not like it will happen to some and not to others. No! It's not like that!

KKSblog.com - Allergic to religious words?