Tag Archive for: Surrender

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

How Krishna saves devotees

Although Sri Krishna is equal and fair to all, He especially blesses, elevates, and delivers those who follow the laws of dharma, and those who worship Him in devotion. But Krishna is so supremely compassionate that He even helps those who act whimsically and selfishly (adharmically), hurt others, and live without any regard for the laws and rules of shastra. 

With fifteen different terms the shastras describe the merciful qualities of Bhagavan Sri Krishna by which He save the jivas trapped in the material world. They include the following:

sarva-bhuta-suhrt: Krishna is the friend of all beings.

parama-udara: Krishna is unlimitedly broad minded and munificent toward all.

sulabha: Krishna is easy to attain if anyone just tries.

gambhira: The depth of Krishna’s mercy is unfathomable.

saumya: Since Krishna is simple and gentle, all can easily approach Him irrespective of their social, mental or physical position.

saulabhya: Although Krishna is infinite Godhead, He becomes intimate with an infinitesimal jiva.

ashrita para tantra: Krishna gives up His independence to be bound by His bhaktas, and live under their shelter in His murti form depending on their seva and maintenance.

mardava: Due the softness of His sweetheart, Krishna cannot bear being separated His beloved parts and parcels, the jivatmas.

vatsalya: Sri Krishna is especially known as “bhakta-vatsala” because Krishna exhibits the greatest amount of “motherly affection” toward His devotee, and the non-devotees in His form as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

sthairya: Krishna and His representatives act relentlessly to save the deluded ones despite their hopeless attachment to maya.

karunya: Radha mixes Her compassionate heart with Krishna’s to inspire Krishna to save us, gives us bhakti and deliver us to His lotus feet.

madhurya: With His irresistible sweetness, charm, beauty and love Krishna attracts the minds and hearts of the jivas, and fills them with anand, ultimate bliss and satisfaction.

audarya: Waterfalls of generosity continually cascade from Krishna’s loving heart to repeatedly shower the jivas with boundless grace.

arjava: Krishna is absolutely straight forward and freely gives grace to all without restriction.

sauharda: As a friend to all living entities, Krishna’s heart is melting with desires to help everyone become free suffering.

The Karma Free

Shastra describe the jivan-mukta as an enlightened soul who is liberated but still embodied. Although free from all sanchit and kriyman karmas, the enlightened one still experiences the karma that has already begun to fructify called prarabdha-karma. The jivanmukta yogi or devotee does not return to samsar after death.

Why does the liberated one continue to live if all karmas i.e sanchit and kriyaman are destroyed? The liberated soul stays in a particular material body because of the force of the already activated prarabdha karmas related to that physical body.

Consider this analogy. If you turn off the electric fan, it will keep moving even though no electricity is connected to it. Likewise, even though the pure, liberated devotee is not producing any more karma, and all one’s latent residual karmas i.e. sanchit and kriyam are destroyed, the karma already activated for this life i.e. prarabdha has to run its course.

For example, one devotee, due to performing intense bhakti bhajan and receiving the full krpa of Guru and Bhagavan, may become a jivan-mukta, a liberated, karma-free pure devotee, when one is sixty-years old. But still that devotee may live thirty more years, and during that time undergo various physical ailments and diseases due to the already in motion force of the present prarabdha karma. But that liberated one will not feel any suffering due to the purity of mind and heart. 

Jivanmukta bhaktas ki jai! Karma free life ki jai! Jai Jai Sri Radhe!

Eager to know more about karma? Please read our articles from serie “Bhakti, Karma and Falldown” part one, part two, part three, part four.

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

Three Karmas

Sruti describes three forms of karma; sanchit, kriyaman and prarabdha i.e. the stored collection, present experience good or bad, and new actions.

Sanchit karma is the complete collection of the results (punya:papa karma-phal) of all our actions done in past lives lying latent in our chitta to fructify in future births.

Kriyaman (syn. aagami) means the punya:papa karma being done in ignorance in the present life which will be added to the existing collection of sanchita karma stored our chitta. Kriyaman actions are under our control and must be performed with the utmost awareness and transcendental wisdom. Krishna explains the science of karma-free living in Gita chapters 4-6.

Each one of us is the architect of our own destiny. No matter how trivial it may seem, every act we do will produce an effect. For devotees, all actions are performed simply for the satisfaction of Guru and Krishna without motivation or attachment. Thus even mundane actions like eating and sleeping become seva leading to liberation because they are performed without desire for results. Thus no further karma is produced.

Prarabdha (syn. arabdha) is acting on us right now! When the chitta is transferred from one body to another at death, it brings all one’s residual karma with it. Only some of it will give its fruit in that birth. Once the next life begins, the portion of karma relevant to this birth is called the prarabdha-karma.

It’s a portion of our punya papa karma from the stockpile of sanchita which is now fructifying and giving us good or bad results. It manifests our present body, desires, mentality, feelings and actions. Prarabdha karma is beyond our control and producing our present conditions which we must bear with patience. It is like a flowering tree from the seeds of prior planting.

Kriyaman is compared to grains growing in a field. Sanchit is grains stored in the house. And prarabdha is rotis in the belly being digested and exhausted in some time.

The Upanisads, Gita and Gaudiya granthas say that the jivas and karma are beginning less i.e., without a beginning and without a prior non-existence. Therefore, questions such as how did my karma begin, what caused my first birth, how can people have different fortunes unless there was preceding karma; and how can we have karma without a previous birth are all meaningless because the jiva and karma are beginning less. It’s all the divine arrangement of Bhagavan Sri Krishna as He wants it. There is no other cause or explanation.

Suffering and Bad Karma

Besides being three poisons in the mind that block spiritual advancement, Gita says lust, anger and greed are three gates to HELL. The source of all three is delusion (moha), thinking that the body/mind complex is me, and that I am special, unique and different from every other living entity.

The grand illusion of I and Mine causes rebirth and bondage in samsar. Until we attain spiritual knowledge and understand our true eternal identity as spiritual parts of Sri Krishna meant to submit to, love and serve Him, we will remain bound in maya forever.

Let’s examine these terrible ghosts that harass all of us, lust anger and greed.

LUST means amorous passions and selfish desires which engage us in all kinds of reactionary material activities. Lifetimes of misery can pass paying the debt of desire.

ANGER is the psychological and emotional reaction arising from unfulfilled desires, frustrated attempts to do something, or the unfilled expectations one has of others. Anger causes one to hurt others whom one blames for their own shortcomings or failures. This in turn creates bad karma which produces pain now and more in the future. A moment of anger can create millenniums of misery.

GREED means being attached to your money and not giving charity (dana-dharm). If Krishna gives one more than required, that wealth should be distributed to the needy. The sages say that the attachment to money which binds one in samsara can be renounced by acts of charity, vitta -ishanam –danair (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.84.38).

Sri Krishna directs us to give charity to the right person for the right cause. Failing to do so brings many miseries now and in the future, vittam –tv –atirthi –krtam –duhkha -duhkhi (Srimad Bhagavatam11.11.19). The miser will be poverty-stricken in the next life. Thus, giving charity is a very important aspect of human life especially for householders.

Besides the suffering caused by lust, anger and greed, shastra describes three factors in suffering: the person suffering, the degree of suffering, and the agent or cause of suffering i.e. a person (self or others), thing or condition.

When we clearly realize our true identity as eternal, blissful spiritual beings, and understand the laws of action/reaction (karma), then the agent of suffering becomes incidental and secondary. We no longer become angry or resentful toward the person or thing that we take be causing our suffering because they are merely agents of our own karma. When one acquires divine wisdom, one gets the vision to see enemies as friends, and radiates love and compassion toward those who hurt, abused or offended one.

Through wisdom, humility, tolerance, devotion, and surrender to Krishna one will use suffering to transform, transcend and transport oneself to the spiritual platform of inner peace and contentment reached by experiencing Krishna’s love and compassion within one’s heart.

Freedom from karma

Every thought we think, act we do or experience we have is recorded and stored in the chitta in the form of samskaras. This is the cause of strange dreams of things never experienced in this life. They arise from samskaras i.e. the mental imprints, memories, subconscious impressions formed by the experiences of our prior births now stored in the chitta of the jiva.

Thus, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s first instruction is to clean the chitta by Sri Harinam Sankirtan, ceto –darpanam –marjan (Shikshasatak 1). The endless cycle of repeated birth and death, samsar, is caused by ahankara, the false notion of our actual eternal identity. Due to ignorance, one identifies with the material body mind complex thinking oneself to be the doer, controller and enjoyer and thus stays stuck in samsar.

However, if we identify ourselves only as eternal servants of Krishna, and act only for His pleasure in bhakti, then by Krishna’s grace all our karmas are destroyed, samsar ends, and we go to the spiritual sky, Goloka Vrndavana. Brahmaji says, karmani -nirdhahati -kintu -ca -bhakti –bhajan, “Bhakti bhajan destroys karmas.” (Brahma-samhita 5.54)

Sri Krishna bhakti bhajan ki jai! Jai Jai Sri Radhe! Karma Free life ki jai!

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

Years ago, we published two books titled Sweet Notes 1-2 containing many “English Sutras”, mini teachings on Krishna bhakti. Here we offer you the best those sweets for your pleasure, and the nourishment of your beautiful lives.

Each sweet sutra appears under a specific topic related to perfecting one’s bhakti bhajan.

Detachment:

* Feeling separation from Radha-Krishna separates one from Maya.

Happiness:

*Serve Sri Hari, Guru and Vaisnavas and happiness is yours because seva is BLISS!!!

Independence:

*Real independence is dependence on Krishna.

Guru:

Follow your Guru Sri, and with Krishna always be.

Krishna:

*Krishna is just around the corner, don’t hesitate—turn the corner!

*To Krishna—surrender, serve, and love. And from this world you’ll rise above!

Love:

*One who fills His heart with Krishna’s love, sees Krishna’s love in all.

Maya:

*We remember what gave us pain, think of what we’ll never gain, and hanker for what we’ll never attain.

*Careful…lifetimes pass paying the debt of desire.

Mind:

*Believe… Syama’s seva will save you!

New Year:

*Ending one year, death more near. To Krishna be dear then “Happy New Year!”

Old Age:

*When young, pains come and go. When old, pains come, stay, and take you away.

Pain:

*Karma—lots of pain for little gain. Bhakti—little pain for total gain.

*Feeding your pain gives no gain. Chant the Name and win the game.

Preaching Bhakti:

*See every class as an expression of love.

*Preaching means draw life from Harinama, and give living truth to enliven others.

Sadhana:

*Evolution to perfection means revolution and correction of habits and misconceptions.

*Endeavors in Maya end in defeat. Endeavors in bhakti end in sweet.

*Follow the D.I.P. principle: Always depend on Krishna. Be an instrument of Krishna’s will. And please Krishna with all you do.

*Serve Krishna and maintain your body. Don’t maintain Krishna and serve your body.

*Surrender, prayer and endeavor bring you to Krishna forever.

*Will to serve Guru and Krishna will show the way.

Sense Enjoyment:

*Sense enjoyment blocks the path to Guru and Govinda.

Suffering:

*Suffering brings us to the heart of reality—surrender to Syama.

*Going through hell in your karmic cell. Soon you’ll be well that Krishna will tell.

Surrender:

*Surrender—the biggest revolution in one’s life.

*Surrender means jumping off a mountain, believing Krishna will catch you.

*No submission, no permission, no permission, no admission.

Time:

*What was is past, what is won’t last. Be steadfast. Chant Hare Krishna and have a blast!

Tongue:

*Conquer your tongue, conquer death!

Water:

*Water—You are healing, healthy, pure and sweet. You are life and the taste of Krishna. Thank you, O Krishna, for the wonderful wonder called water.

Sri Krishna Bhagavan ki jai! Jai Jai Sri Radhe!

Mahanidhi Madan Gopal Das

Many years ago, we published two small books titled Sweet Notes 1-2. Inside there are many “English Sutras”, mini teachings on Krishna bhakti. Here we present the best those sweets for your pleasure, and the nourishment of your beautiful lives.

Each sweet sutra appears under a specific topic related to perfecting one’s bhakti bhajan.

Behavior:

*Respect, love and serve all—be they big or small.

*We see many good examples of what not to do. But be the good example of what to do.

Chanting Hare Krishna:

*As we breathe, so we chant.

Death:

*Surrender to Maya—forever die. Surrender to Krishna—never die.

Dependence:

*Learn one thing: Depend on Krishna, don’t worry, chant more and stay pure.

Detachment:

*A life centered on higher consciousness annihilates all unconscious elements.

Determination:

*All power is in the mantras and the siksa given. Chant, follow and pray—and Guru’s strength will show the way.

*You’ve crossed the ocean half. Don’t turn back. Swim on and reach the land of love—Vrndavana!

Devotion:

*In bhakti, we depend not on our own, but on the power of Krishna.

Difficulties:

*Forgetting your guardian causes your difficulties.

Diksa:

*A lifetime promise:

Up at four, chant some more

For Death no more!

Dreams:

*In Vraja—dreams are reality.

Outside Vraja—reality is a dream!

Faith:

*Invest your faith in Krishna alone. And He’ll never let you down.

Family Life:

*To seniors:

Define the distance between, and make the space as friendly as possible.

*To newlyweds:

Acceptance, tolerance and moderation will deliver you to the destination.

Fault finding:

*Don’t be a good fault finder. But be good at finding Your own faults.

Fear:

*Have no fear—Krishna is here!

He’s always near for you my dear.

Hope:

*Yes! There’s difficulty, but Krishna’s on your side. Your journey of misery will soon end. And to Krishna, you’ll forever tend.

*Krishna sweet aspirations, bring a Krishna sweet future!

Humility:

*Remember always—I am nothing!

But with Krishna’s mercy—I’ll be something.

*Eyes have we and see not.

Ears have we and hear not.

Minds have we and think not.

Krishna:

*Krishna, You are…

my guide, guardian, advisor and friend from beginning to the end.

Krishna, You are…

my provider and protector, my wealth and my health, my task master and inspector.

Krishna, You…

turn my bad to good, and my wrong to right.

Krishna, You are…

my day and my night.

Krishna, You…

remove the darkness with the light of inspiration.

And You are in

my every sensation.

Sri Krishna suddha bhakti bhajan ki jai! Jai Jai Sri Radhe!

Mahanidhi Swami

O Krishna, as Gajendra once offered a lotus to You in submission, I put the lotus of my heart in my hand and surrender unto You.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, please touch me with Your lotus-like hand, so that the lotus bud of my consciousness will unfold and bloom with brilliant sattvika ecstasies in pure love for You.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, You sometimes hold a golden lotus in Your hand and twirl it back and forth, spinning the minds of the gopis in whirlpools of endless joy. O Krishna, I pray for the day when You spin my mind in the same way!

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, my mind is lazy and crazy, caring not for any authority. O Krishna, please enthuse my mind with Your murali, and make me move merrily on the path of bhakti.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, my mind is very sinful and lusty; sometimes happy and sometimes distressed. O Krishna, please remove the roots of sin from my mind and protect the tiny creeper of bhakti I am trying to grow there.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, there are many hidden demons lurking in the dark places of my mind and heart. Please enter there, find them, and destroy them. As Gopala, You maintain and nourish the universe. So, please nourish me by giving me all the divine qualities such as patience, confidence, conviction, compassion, simplicity, tranquility, modesty, forgiveness, fearlessness, steadiness, and self-control.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, You are the maintainer of religious principles. O Krishna, please support me, and help me to remain austere and steady in following all the regulative principles of devotional service.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, simply by Your touch, one can immediately become free from all material desires and contamination, and achieve transcendental knowledge. O Krishna, by Your touch, one’s heart fills with love and symptoms of ecstasy manifest in his body.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, with Your soft and sweet lotus hands, please lift me out of the horrible ocean of repeated birth and death. By Your touch, may I become free from all material contamination and be illuminated with pure spiritual knowledge. May my heart flood with Radha-Govinda prema, and may my body become effulgent with spiritual bliss.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, with Your lotus-like hands, you bestow benedictions upon all kinds of living entities. With Your gentle, loving lotus hand, You wipe the pearl-like drops of perspiration from the faces of the gopis who feel instantly refreshed by Your sweet touch. Pressing the vamshi to Your cherry-red lips, You play the sweetest, most enchanting music to thrill the hearts of Your devotees.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, as You hold the vamshi in Your hands, please hold me in Your hands and protect me from Maya. Use me as an instrument in Your service, and engage me in many sweet ways to please all Your devotees.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, You accept all that is offered with love. So now let me lovingly offer You my very self and beg for a blessing in return. May I always remember You, be with You and love You forever, serving You in Vraja Gokula as You sport and play with Your Priyaji Radha.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

Sri Krishna sharanam mama! Jai Jai Sri Radhe!

Mahanidhi Swami

O Krishna, You destroy the darkness within devotee’s hearts. I am covered by the darkness of greed, anger, pride and the desire for fame. O Krishna, kindly illuminate my heart and destroy this darkness.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, You dissipate the darkness of the world, and manifest the knowledge of great souls. Please manifest pure knowledge of Yourself within my heart, and destroy the darkness of illusion covering my real identity.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, You are faster than mind, the master of speech and You perform wonderful acts. You are truth and encouraging statements. Whenever the tendency arises within my mind to speak nonsense, to belittle the devotees, or to speak negative, discouraging words, please be there at that moment with your lightning speed to work wonders. Make me always speak the truth about You, glorify You and lovingly encourage all Your devotees.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, I am full of improper behavior and desires to perform whimsical unregulated acts. I have no cleanliness, nor do I know what to do or what not to do. Please give me the power and the wisdom to strictly follow the example of the previous acharyas. Please give me the determination to always act purely and religiously, and to perform only activities that are pleasing to You.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, You easily destroy the magical forces of the demons. My rascal mind produces many such magical illusions, and like a ruffian he shouts cruel slogans like, “Go ahead! You can enjoy. Forget about Krishna and Guru. Just be natural, be yourself.” O Krishna, Please dispel these mystic illusions from my mind and fix my mind on Your soft and sweet, beautiful lotus feet.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, the crocodile of duplicity is swallowing my heart. Please crush this crocodile and make me Your honest devotee.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, You relentlessly chased the Vaisnava aparadhi Durvasa all over the universe. Please accompany me wherever I may travel, and immediately chase away the demon of Vaisnava aparadha from my mind and heart.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, Your glance is sweet, merciful and all auspicious. Your glance pacifies, enlivens, inspires and satisfies Your devotees. I am a lazy blind fool with very little determination to serve. O Krishna, please glance upon me, make me fortunate, purify my heart, and fill me with the enthusiasm to serve Sri Hari, Guru and the Vaisnavas.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, with Your invincible chakra, please cut down the karma cakra and samsara cakra which are moving me on through endless births with no end in sight! O Mukunda, please liberate me and tie me to Your feet as a slave bound in love. Kindly give me a place in the mandala of rasa, Vraja Mandala, and let me dance there around and around forever delighting in the light of Your love.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

Mahanidhi Swami

Spiritual life is nothing but one long, arduous journey of surrender.

We surrender our minds to hear Gita and Guru.

We surrender our hearts to take diksha from Sri Guru.

We surrender our time to practice bhakti sadhana.

We surrender our attachments to live as Krishna wants.

We surrender our desires to desire only Krishna.

We surrender our love to receive Krishna’s love.

And at last, we surrender our lives hoping to attain Sri Krishna.

In pursuance of that goal, we offer the following prayer to my Loving Lord, while continually praying, “O Krishna! I beg Your mercy.”

O Sri Krishna! I am a fool, completely ignorant and I have no experience, yet still I want to offer a prayer to You. I know that You are in my heart, so I beg You to please inspire me, and guide me in glorifying You with transcendental sound.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, You destroy the demons with Your weapons, Your will and with all-devouring time. You bless Your devotees with the lotus twirling in Your beautiful petal-like fingers. You make their lives auspicious by kindly giving them strength, protection and victory in the struggle of life.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna! May I always hear Your sweet melodious voice resounding in my heart, reassuring me with Your words: “My devotee will never be vanquished!”

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, You are completely pure but I am full of all dirty things. Please purify my mind and heart, and make me dance in joy to Your Holy Names. My mind is full of fear, hankering and anxiety. So please remove this filth and grant me the inner peace to always feel Your presence.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, the demoniac soldiers of arrogance and conceit are attacking the city of my heart. Please chastise these miscreants so that I may come to my senses, and realize that I am Your humble servant.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, the elephant of sinful lust has entered my garden of devotion. O Krishna, let me remember the elephant goad sign on the bottom Your right foot, and thus drive out this mad elephant of desire.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, please cover the eyes of the sinful enemies of envy within me that make me blind to the good qualities in others, and force me to offend the Vaisnavas.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, please protect me from the constant attacks of my bad habits of laziness and wasting time searching for material happiness.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

O Krishna, please protect me from the six faults: overeating and collecting too much, bad association, neglecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures, unnecessary talking about mundane topics, over-endeavor for material objectives, and lusting over mundane achievements.

O Krishna! I beg for Your mercy.

Sri Krishna sharanam mama! Jai Jai Sri Radhe!