View source for 1958 - Vrndavana Bhajana

[[Category:Prayers and Poems of Srila Prabhupada]]
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Written by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami in 1958,<br />
Published December of that Year in Gauḍīya Patrika,<br />
The Magazine of the Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti.



'''Verse 1.'''

I am sitting alone in Vṛndāvana-dhāma<br />
In this mood I am getting many realizations.<br />
I have my wife, sons, daughters, grandsons, everything,<br />
But I have no money so they are a fruitless glory.<br />
Kṛṣṇa has shown me the naked form of material nature,<br />
By his strength it has all become tasteless to me today.<br />
yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ<br />
"I gradually take away all the wealth of those upon whom I am merciful."<br />
How was I able to understand this mercy of the All-merciful?



'''Verse 2.'''

Everyone has abandoned me, seeing me as penniless,<br />
Wife, relatives, friends, brothers, everyone.<br />
This is misery, but it gives me a laugh. I sit alone and laugh.<br />
In this māyā-saṁsāra, whom do I really love?<br />
Where have all my loving father and mother gone to now?<br />
And where are all my elders, who were my own folk?<br />
Who will give me news of them, tell me who?<br />
All that is left of this family life is a list of names.



'''Verse 3.'''

Like the froth on the sea water mixes again in the sea,<br />
Māyā's saṁsāra's play is just like that.<br />
No one is mother or father, or personal relative,<br />
Just like the sea-foam they remain but a short time,<br />
Just as the froth on sea water mixes again in the sea,<br />
The body made of five elements meets with destruction.<br />
How many bodies does the embodied soul take in this way;<br />
His relatives are all simply related to this temporal body.



'''Verse 4.'''

But everyone is your relative, brother? on the spiritual platform.<br />
This relationship is not tinged with the smell of māyā.<br />
The Supreme Lord is the soul of everyone,<br />
In relation to Him, everyone in the universe is the same.<br />
All your relatives, brother! All the billions of jīvas.<br />
When seen in relation to Kṛṣṇa they are all in harmony.<br />
Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the jīva desires for sense gratification,<br />
And as a result he is firmly grasped by māyā.



'''Verse 5.'''

As a result of past activities he takes on different types of body.<br />
Absorbed in that dress he remains forgetful of Śrī Hari.<br />
Therefore māyā gives him so many kinds of miseries<br />
And although he bobs up and down in this ocean of misery,<br />
he still thinks that he is happy.<br />
Lying on a bed, suffering greatly, having been sick a long time<br />
"I am very well today," he says laughing.<br />
I get a laugh out of his "feeling very well"<br />
This is the way the soul conditioned by māyā feels "well"



''''Verse 6.'''

How many plans they have to remain "well"<br />
But time and time again nature destroys them.<br />
daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī that is the Supreme Lord's māyā.<br />
Try to understand exactly the meaning of their "feeling well";<br />
No one is well in the whole world, but still they are saying<br />
In this way māyā cheats the conditioned soul.<br />
But, ignoring that he is being cheated, he remains absorbed in māyā;<br />
And although māyā kicks him, he will not give up his mistaken conception.



'''Verse 7.'''

Again and again making plans, and again and again they are destroyed.<br />
Sometimes he falls on the dry earth and sometimes in the mud.<br />
In this way the universe is filled with wandering jīva souls<br />
who finally by the grace of Guru and Kṛṣṇa get bhakti-the eternal wealth.<br />
Gaining that wealth if they can give up all other so-called wealth,<br />
Then very easily he crosses over the ocean of saṁsāra.<br />
There on the other side is unparalled spiritual variegatedness.<br />
There he enjoys in eternal happiness and peace.



'''Verse 8.'''

The mad say, "There everything is formless,<br />
Without special feature like a kind of nothing."<br />
He is actually the storehouse of spiritual tastes—raso vai saḥ<br />
The intelligent knowers of tastes serves him becoming his subordinate<br />
Śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya are those tastes and<br />
The best of all, mādhurya, is the essence of them all.<br />
But in the spiritual world all these tastes are relishable,<br />
Whereas the material tastes are just shadow reflections and are all contemptible.



'''Verse 9.'''

One who worships Kṛṣṇa is clever<br />
But one who worships māyā is a pauper.<br />
Becoming a pauper one engages in temporary pastimes<br />
Without knowledge of the true relationships of things he<br />
simply becomes bound up in māyā's knot.<br />
Arjuna and Duryodhana both fought in the same war,<br />
But Arjuna was the best devotee and Duryodhana died.<br />
on one battlefield both dear and detestable<br />
One who is intelligent will be able to understand.



'''Verse 10.'''

One who fights the war of life knowing his true relationship,<br />
He will remain alive while all others will perish.<br />
One who does not know his relationship, and takes up some other path,<br />
He will never attain love of god, and his whole life is useless.<br />
First understand properly your relationship with Kṛṣṇa<br />
And then keeping that relationship, go and fight with māyā.<br />
Other than this all the heroes of jñāna and karma<br />
Never attained liberation, they were all uncertain.



'''Verse 11.'''

In name only they were great sober and unaffected men,<br />
They were all unpeaceful.<br />
Desiring liberation, sense gratification or mystic powers, all had uncontrolled senses.<br />
The uncontrolled senses don't answer to the potency of yoga.<br />
How many yogis and munis there were, and always the senses remained independent.<br />
Without service of the master of the senses there can be no sense control.<br />
They all return to material activities after a short term of peace.<br />
By the process of yoga, no one ever attains sense control.<br />
This is explained extensively in the Vedas and Purāṇas.



'''Verse 12.'''

Viśvāmitra sat on the yogic āsana<br />
But he desired the pure beauty Śakuntalā.<br />
In this way the yogis fall down, what to speak of the jñānīs<br />
And the karmīs are all just asses, suffering in all respects.<br />
The one to whom Kṛṣṇa is merciful and gives His instruction,<br />
Becomes equally as fortunate as Arjuna.<br />
But one who fights for his own happiness' sake<br />
He, like Duryodhana, dies along with his family.



'''Verse 13.'''

One who always fights on behalf of Kṛṣṇa,<br />
Wealth, power, knowledge are all within his grasp.<br />
Understand properly the Gītā's message<br />
You will attain Kṛṣṇa's service and will worship Śrī Hari,<br />
The devotees are endowed with all qualities,<br />
So what are "non-violence" or "freedom from anger" to them?



'''Verse 14.'''

Śrī Hari teaches the living entities by means of his devotees,<br />
one such helper is Pārtha.<br />
Arjuna acted just like a conditioned soul<br />
Like one bewildered was the Pāṇḍava brother<br />
Violence to his relatives and then enjoyment of the Kingdom<br />
Could this be happiness? Arjuna showed lamentation.<br />
This though, was all dehātma-buddhiḥ identification with the body<br />
one who is a kṣatriya gives up such family affection on the battlefield.



'''Verse 15.'''

Kṛṣṇa, seeing his illusion, chastised him<br />
Therefore Arjuna accepted the position of disciple<br />
Becoming a disciple he listened to the Bhagavad-gītā.<br />
All his ignorance dissipated as well as his material bondage.<br />
His material bondage was cut, but he was not dressed as a sannyāsī.<br />
The householders understand the Gītā's meaning this way.<br />
The perfection of mantras, kariṣye vacanaṁ tava<br />
Therefore the war that he fought brought him an increase in fame.



'''Verse 16.'''

The Vaiṣṇavas have no desire, they all chant japa on their beads.<br />
So what kind of Vaiṣṇava is this Arjuna in the middle of saṁsāra?<br />
The Vaiṣṇava freed from duality simply chants japa on his beads,<br />
So say those who are eating the mind's bananas.<br />
The Vaiṣṇava is without desire, and amicable by nature<br />
But he is not a forceless weakling as people foolishly think.<br />
In two great Indian wars, two great personalities;<br />
Leaders amongst the Vaiṣṇavas and were victorious.



'''Verse 17.'''

Because of desire for the satisfaction of his own senses he would not fight.<br />
But he is one who is known by everyone as a Vaiṣṇava.<br />
Those who do not see the real Vaiṣṇavas say that a Vaiṣṇava is inactive.<br />
But the Vaiṣṇava is always active in the service of the Lord.<br />
The lifeless kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs don't perform any service.<br />
For profit adoration and prestige they stay in their lonely place,<br />
Nityānanda prabhu, who is worshipable by the Vaiṣṇavas<br />
Suffered blows, but still distributed love of God one after the other.



'''Verse 18.'''

Gaura Hari came with the cakra in His hand and gave punishment,<br />
After that the Vaiṣṇava haters were subdued.<br />
The Lord sets example Himself to teach the jīvas<br />
So one who performs nirjana bhajana simply cheats himself.<br />
The world has now become full of Jagāis and Mādhāis<br />
The Nityānanda Vaṁśa has increased its following of disciples.<br />
But eating, sleeping, wearing the dress, but remaining unconcerned<br />
It is not proper for the Vaiṣṇavas to remain so uncompassionate.



'''Verse 19.'''

Śrīla Cakravartī Ṭhākura says in his Mādhurya Kaḍambinī<br />
Just see his conclusion and what is his judgement.<br />
Devotional service is causeless and self-manifesting<br />
But the Eternally Perfect Substance is always covered over.<br />
The madhyama-adhikārī therefore being compassionate<br />
Gives mercy to the innocent souls by awakening devotion in them.<br />
The Supreme Lord acts according to the will of the Vaiṣṇavas,<br />
Therefore by the mercy of the Vaiṣṇavas the bewildered can be awakened.



'''Verse 20.'''

The Vaiṣṇavas can awaken the sleeping world<br />
By their mercy the sinful can all become devotees.<br />
Therefore they do not perform nirjana bhajana,<br />
That is the world cheating process of the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī<br />
All the big big famous vaishnavas were in assembly<br />
And Padri Saheb came in to meet them<br />
He asked some questions about Kṛṣṇa's līlā in Vṛndāvana<br />
But that association of venerable Vaiṣṇavas was not able to enlighten him as to the real truth.



'''Verse 21.'''

The kaniṣṭha-adhikārīs do not understand these scriptures<br />
In the false pride of being alone they simply hunt for chapatis and dal.<br />
Our spiritual master said these are all kaniṣṭha<br />
Now I can understand the truth of what he said.<br />
One wellVersed in the scripture and who has strong faith<br />
Is an uttama-adhikārī and can deliver the whole world.<br />
He is the deliverer of the most fallen and is famous through the world.<br />
Now, save this fallen one and thus become really famed.



'''Verse 22.'''

In the Kali-yuga the jīvas are all fallen and the lowest of mankind.<br />
Seeing they do not see the different activities<br />
The Supreme Lord Gaurasundara is the most magnanimous<br />
And His instructions are all full of nectar.<br />
One who has taken his birth in the land of Bharata<br />
Should engage in welfare activities according to His instructions.<br />
The Supreme Lord's līlā was to relish mellows in the nirajana<br />
But it is not the play of Vaiṣṇavas to imitate these activities.



'''Verse 23.'''

This transcendental service cannot actually be tasted by those who are not Vaiṣṇavas.<br />
In the material body one cannot relish this transcendental nectar.<br />
One who has the material concept that the body is his self<br />
Cannot relish spiritual mellows.<br />
But those who have conceptions of the Vaiṣṇavas in terms of birth etc.<br />
Are very bold when it comes to relishing the līlās of the Lord.<br />
Like the clerk in the post office, one caste goswami.<br />
The bābājīs all pay their obeisances to him a lot.



'''Verse 24.'''

The Gosāi Ṭhākura has false pride in his birth<br />
Which Nityānanda Prabhu cut into pieces.<br />
I see all these things going on in Vṛndāvana<br />
Therefore I can understand that there is some work to be done here<br />
The prākṛta-sahajiyās all commit adultery<br />
Taking someone else's wife they go to relish transcendental līlā.<br />
This is not Vṛndāvana as always think like this my dear mind<br />
Remember the Lotus feet of the six gosvāmīs.



'''Verse 25.'''

The six gosvāmīs came and preached religious life<br />
They saved the process of devotional service on the order of Lord Caitanya.<br />
They are all eternally perfect associates of the Lord and always remember Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa<br />
Remembering them all the conditioned souls sins are cleared away<br />
But if he tries to imitate them taking on their dress and characteristics<br />
He becomes the plaything of māyā and does not cross over the material ocean<br />
Always preach! From jīva's door to door<br />
Your life will be successful as a result of your preaching.



'''Verse 26.'''

Śrī Dayitā dāsa prabhu gave this instruction<br />
"Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa loudly, this is my initiation:<br />
Kīrtana is not just drums and karatālas<br />
The sound of kīrtana is not this modern system<br />
Anything favourable for devotional service is all Mādhava<br />
And the only enjoyer of the three worlds is Yadava<br />
Māyā's pride and joy, the radio sound<br />
Destroy them all by forceful kīrtana.



'''Verse 27.'''

Māyā's is all these newspapers<br />
Preach that throughout the whole world.<br />
Sitting alone in your room shouting, you may increase your bile's secretion<br />
But in ten million births Śrī Hari won't be pleased.<br />
Śrī Hari is no one's father's property<br />
Come out of your cage, stop making objection<br />
Everything belongs to Śrī Hari and Śrī Hari belongs to everyone.<br />
Chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra loudly<br />
By the performance of such saṅkīrtana there will come remembrance automatically<br />
Then there will be nirjana bhajana manifested in the heart spontaneously.