You must always, day and night, hear the nectarian glories of the Lord Krishna

by

Shanti Devi Dasi:

Srila Bhaktivaibhava Puri Gosvami Maharaja

Our sastras or the revealed scriptures caution us to hear only such spiritual topics as narrated, composed or approved by great realised devotees. Ancient or modern - any composition, maybe on Godhead, from the pen of worldly minded people does not provide us with the desired result. They say things in their mental mode, and give often an entirely new form or even a wrong shape. It is beneficial, preferable, compulsory to hear spiritual discourses from persons who have realised God, and whose lives are living examples of this same valuable teachings. Of all kinds of sacred books prescribed for the purpose of hearing, sravana, they establish listening to Srimad-Bhagavata. It is spoken of as the best. In it we get the combination of both aforesaid qualifications. It is composed by the great Krishna-dvaipayana Vedavyasa one of our manifested Lords, and narrated by great bhaktas like Sukadeva and Suta Goswami and others. It contains the quintessence of all the sastras of the world. It is the essence of all the sastras, all the revealed scriptures of the world.

Rasika devotees belonging to the any of the 5 important spiritual rasas of santa rasa, dasya rasa, sakhya rasa, vatsalya rasa and madhura rasa, and that bhavukas in whom the spontaneous love for bhagavan has made its manifestation drink deep this nectarine rasa till they are completely saturated with devotion, everlasting bliss.

Srimad Bhagavata is the fully ripened fruit of the wish-yielding treeslike Vedas.

nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam

It is the wish-yielding tree - Vedas. And Srimad Bhagavatam is fully ripened fruit of that wish-yielding tree.

The fruit has dropped down from the tree to the earth. From the holy mouth of the great sage Sukadeva. This fruit is unlike other fruits as it is free from any waste substance. Nothing can be thrown away. All the fruit we use - you can throw the bark or inside-outside you can throw it - but in this fruit nothing should be thrown. Every atomic form of that fruit is useful. That's why the skin, fibre, seed, etc. cannot be thrown. And it contains rasa itself, the most marvellous and captivating transcendental pastimes of this Nama, qualities from the nectarine content of this incomparable fruit.

It is imperatively necessary to verify the authenticity of what we have heard, and yet to be fully convinced of it. Before starting with any course of spiritual procedure we must be through with its theoretical side. Theoretical side you must hear. That are the sastras, the pure sastras. Sravana occupies a first place in the limbs of devotional practices.

There are nine devotional practices. Out of it sravana, hearing. You must hear from a bonfide, pure, realised mahatma, sadhu, bhakta, bhagavata.

And hear it says: "the act of listening is thread forth by many devotees even after realising Bhagavan."

Listening. A man can listen till he realises the Lord. But even after realising the Lord also the devotee never forgets listening to the glories of the Lord. Always. They have prayed to Bhagavan to bless them incessantly with the benefit of hearing his transcendental glories....

....Those who are desirous of crossing this terrible ocean of triple afflictions, extremely difficult to cross, this terrible ocean. They have no other vessel than hearing. They must occupy a vessel. There they must carefully sit. Then they will be driven by a well-versed driver. And he will make them cross the ocean. Like that - enjoying the nectarine narrative of the glorious deeds of the Supreme Lord Krishna. What is that boat? That boat is only the narration of the glories of the Lord Krishna. And those glories, the sadhus who have already surrendered to Krishna, they always repeat the same stories. Always. There is nothing more that they should hear or talk of. Sri Krishna, the eternal benefactor of those sadhus, hearing and chanting whose name is great purifying factor. If we hear his name or chant his name Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. If we hear or if we chant or if one chants.

"Oh, very good, he is chanting."

So he appreciated. And one who remembers:

"Oh. On that day we had gone there. I had heard about Krishna nama."

Remembers.

They will be benefited. Their benefit is only pure devotion. They don't want to take anything in return from Krishna. So they say: transcendental glories uproot the evil propensities in their hearts - as their indwelling guide. Here, the Lord is there, chaitya guru, indwelling guide.

Isvara sarva-bhutanam hrid-dese arjuna tistahati

He is inside. He is guiding.

If I hear the glories of the Lord he will guide me in a proper way. I may not be mislead. Misleading is not there if we hear from a proper person, from a sincere person, from an honest, pure sadhu. If he repeats then the result will be the devotion. And who hears that, then he also wants to serve the Lord, but not to take anything from him. But here, those who drink in the narrations of nectar-like glorious deeds of the Lord who is light of the devotees, and pour them into the cavities of their ears through the bhaktas, purify their hearts which are awfully contaminated by the thoughts of the senses and sense objects, and attain his lotus feet.

Because

srinvatah sraddhaya nityam grinatas ca sva-cestitam
kalena natidirghena bhagavan visate hridi

If one repeats the nama, or hears the nama, all the glories of the Lord he may think of, or if any devotee is singing and he hears - then definitely it purifies his heart. This heart is impure due to senses and sense objects. Our hands, our eyes, our ears, our tongues, our noses and our bodies. All these, they are anxious to enjoy. And that makes him heavy and he cannot purify himself through these sense objects. He goes to a fancy market. He travels to the market. He sees so many varieties of articles. He wants to purchase them. He wants to purchase. Though he has no money, he wants to purchase. To purchase he borrows or steals. Like that everything. Beauty. He is charmed by the beauty. Beauties of these lifeless objects (inaudible).

Now our sense objects. We must be free from sense objects. When we have the lotus flower. You see, yesterday a big lotus flower was given to me. Some devotee gave it to me. It is so beautiful. All were astonished to see that - this flower. The lotus feet of the Lord are more beautiful and more attractive. They can attract whole universe. They can attract. The flower can attract only few. So we see. But that has the capacity to attract. And that nectar by hearing, by seeing, by smelling, by tasting and touching - through our organs - we can have that nectar.

Sravana. Hearing. If you hear the nectarian glories of the Lord then you will feel happy. Nectarian. You will never want to leave that. You must always, day and night you must hear that nectarian glories.... Zagreb, Croatia 29. 6. 1999.


Srila Bhaktivaibhava Puri Gosvami Maharaja ki Jaya !!!

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