Pure spiritual identity

Teachings of Lord Chaitanya.

Chapter 31. The Supreme Perfection.

...By adopting this emotional mood of following in the footsteps of the gopīs, one attains his siddha-deha. This word indicates the pure spiritual body, which is beyond the senses, mind and intelligence. The siddha-deha is the purified soul who is just suitable to serve the Supreme Lord. No one can serve the Supreme Lord as His associate without being situated in his perfectly pure spiritual identity. That identity is completely free from all material contamination. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, a materially contaminated person transmigrates to another material body by material consciousness. At the time of death he thinks materially and is therefore transferred to another material body. Similarly, one who at the time of death is situated in his pure spiritual identity thinks of the spiritual loving service rendered to the Supreme Lord and is transferred to the spiritual kingdom, to enter into the association of Kṛṣṇa. In other words, the qualification for being transferred to the spiritual kingdom at the time of death is to think, in one’s spiritual identity, of Kṛṣṇa and His associates. No one can contemplate the activities of the spiritual kingdom without being situated in his pure, spiritual identity (siddha-deha). Thus Rāmānanda Rāya said that without attaining one’s siddha-deha one can neither become an associate of the damsels of Vraja nor render service directly to the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and His eternal consort, Rādhārāṇī. In this regard, Rāmānanda quoted a nice verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.47.60):

nāyaṁ śriyo ’ṅga u nitānta-rateḥ prasādaḥ

  svar-yoṣitāṁ nalina-gandha-rucāṁ kuto ’nyāḥ

rāsotsave ’sya bhuja-daṇḍa-gṛhīta-kaṇṭha-

  labdhāśiṣāṁ ya udagād vraja-vallabhīnām

“Neither the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, nor the damsels of the heavenly kingdom can attain the facilities of the damsels of Vrajabhūmi – and what to speak of others?”

Lord Caitanya was very satisfied to hear these statements from Rāmānanda Rāya, and He embraced him. Then both of them began to cry in the ecstasy of transcendental realization. 

Brahmana as teacher

S.B.5.17.11.Brāhmaṇas are supposed to acquire six kinds of auspicious qualifications: they become very learned scholars (paṭhana) and very qualified teachers (pāṭhana); they become expert in worshiping the Lord or the demigods (yajana), and they teach others how to execute this worship (yājana); they qualify themselves as bona fide persons to receive alms from others (pratigraha), and they distribute the wealth in charity (dāna). Yet even a brāhmaṇa possessing these qualifications cannot become a guru unless he is the representative of Kṛṣṇa

Rukmini's surrender

Hare Krishna! 

Today marks the appearance day of Rukmini Devi, one of Krishna's primary queens in Dwaraka. Rukmini Devi is the eternal consort of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. She is the internal pleasure potency of the Lord. Whereas Srimati Radharani is Krishna’s consort in His childhood home of Vrindavana, Rukmini Devi is His chief queen in Dwaraka, His opulent capital.

Rukmini Devi is mentioned in the commentary by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura to the Srimad Bhagavatam verse 7.5.23, where Prahlada Maharaja mentions 9 processes of devotional service. Last and most exalted is atma-nivedana. Thakurji mentions that this full surrender can be with bhava or vithout it. Example of first is Rukmini Devi, the later one being example of Bali Maharaj.  Both surrendered soul and body to the Lord!

Happy Rukmini Dvadashi!

Valuable Vrindavana homes

The residents of Goloka appear to be simple cowherd men and cowherd women, but their spontaneous love for Kṛṣṇa far exceeds the spiritual perfections of Lord Nārāyaṇa’s eternal associates, not to mention the attainments of the liberated jñānīs and yogīs of this world. The unmatched good fortune of Goloka’s gopas and gopīs is attested to by their own homes, which are built with spiritual gems. Each one of those gems is far greater in value than that of all the Vaikuṇṭha planets combined. So immersed are the Vraja-vāsīs in loving exchanges with the Lord that they forget the passing of time, which, although eternally fixed in the present, also drives the sequence of events that constitute their loving pastimes with Kṛṣṇa.

Holy Dhama helps us home

One of the most effective ways in which the dhāma directs us back to Godhead is by inspiring us to feel separation from Kṛṣṇa. This feeling of separation increases our desire to be with Kṛṣṇa always, which is actually possible only in Goloka; still, those who constantly meditate on Kṛṣṇa in nāma-saṅkīrtana can feel what it is like to be with Him always. This principle was in action even at the time Kṛṣṇa was personally present five thousand years ago: He left Vṛndāvana for Mathurā so that His associates would be obliged to seek out His aprakaṭa form by constantly thinking of Him.

Sweet meaning of Mukunda!

In Indian Mythology stories, kunda means whiteness. Kunda Flower is commonly known as downy jasmine. They are used in worship and are an essential part of the marriage ceremony. When it is in full bloom it looks very beautiful. It symbolizes laughter.

So, Mukunda can be translated in two parts: mukha and kunda. Mukha means face or mouth (sometimes referring to teeth). Kunda, as mentioned above, can be referred to whitest of jasmins.  

In this way we can derive: Krishnas face is always smiling , Krisna has white at of teeth, defying all other flowers, Krisnas face is worshipable and of cause, Krishnas beatiful face makes certain devotees to think about marriage!

Where is glorious Vṛndāvana ?

 

Where in Bhauma Vṛndāvana are the forests of desire trees, the rivers of nectar, the homes made from transcendental gem, the pristine land beyond illusion, the resonance of the flute? 

Actually, the dhāma is still there.

Just as a rain cloud obstructs our view of the sun, the cloud of illusion covers our vision and we lose sight of the original form of the aprakaṭa-dhāma. Please don’t misunderstand. The material energy cannot cover the dhāma any more than a cloud can cover the sun; rather, matter stands between the conditioned souls and the unmanifest dhāma, blocking their perception. In other words, Kṛṣṇa’s potency (antardhāna-śakti) initiates a process that drapes a veil of matter over the dhāma, a covering that residents and visitors see and walk upon and that obscures the dhāma’s presence more and more.

Holy dhama in Srila Prabhupada's heart

 

By the presence of the Lord and the Lord’s abode within Śrīla Prabhupāda’s heart, he sanctified every place he went; still, the potency of those places differed. Amongst those many holy tīrthas, places such as airport lounges and lectures halls, for example, manifested themselves as tīrthas only briefly in the presence of His Divine Grace. Special places like Tompkins Square Park or “Hippy Hill” in San Francisco, places in which Śrīla Prabhupāda performed intense bhajana over a prolonged period, are still visited today and worshipped by his followers, who testify to their sanctified atmosphere. But the scores of temples and farm communities Śrīla Prabhupāda established are in a category of their own. The presence of Śrīla Prabhupāda, a mahā-bhāgavata devotee, not only purified the atmosphere of these places but also established, by Prabhupāda’s ardent desire, true holy dhāmas for the benefit of all those who are fortunate enough to visit them.

H.H. Sivarama Swami, Nava Vraja Mahima, vol. 1, page 84.