0:01hasn't had the darshan, which basically means if one's chanting hasn't got to the platform of clearing away the anarthas and getting to the platform of having some darshan of Krishna, then one would still be considered on the kanista platform. So then the second, and that was the question yes or no, if I understood it properly. The second part of it was, well then if one's accepting guru, one should accept guru on the platform as Shilagurudev and Prabhupada, and so many of our acharyas have said at least accept to use on at least the madhyam platform.
0:59The madhyam platform, if I understood correctly, that that devotee should have the darshan, should have had at least one of the three different ways, darshan, of Krishna, to be able to madhyam, but to speak of ruchi and hira. So that was the question in two parts. Do the holy name, this see Krishna himself, and if the citta is clean, shuddha, shuddha citta, that's not even shuddha sattva visei shattama, yes it is or not?
1:30No, not even that, because that's the stage of bhav, but even before the stage of bhav, when devotee enters into the madhyam alikari, he has a vision also, but you see, his citta becomes clean, that means it's very kind of sattva. And then when the devotee chants holy name, the Swarup of Sigh Krishna and his qualities and associates gradually is reflected there in that chitka.
1:58So that reflection is coming from Swarup Shakti, the internal potency, reflecting in his chitka. But what happens in the stage of bhav? Srila Vishnathir Thakr was giving an example that if one has the parad, that means the sulfur and mercury, Sofa and mercury, they don't mix together, but if you rub them, rub them, rub them, after a long time, then they transform and they become kajang.
2:28Sofa is called Gandak and Parad is mercury, so Parad and Gandak. Parad is the mercury, Gandak is Sofa. So they don't mix, but after the rubbing for some time, then they mix together and become one substance. So that means that sadhan is darshan and the stage of sadhyabhav is also darshan. But in the stage of sadhan, the darshan is reflecting in the heart but the swarup shakti and the chita have not mixed together yet.
2:58So by continuing to chant in the stage of ruchi and asakti, slowly, slowly, slowly, then suddenly the chita melts and becomes one with the vrti of swarup shakti. And so the stage of bhava has been described, shuddha, sattva, visei, shatma, that means samvitan, ladini, prema, so yang, so samyabir, then, the ruchi, this, chitamasrinya, the heart melts, kridaso, bhava, uchati, so that means before the stage of bhava, in the stages of nishta, there's some realization of Krishna's form and qualities, in the stage of ruchi, of his sweetness and associates, in the stage of asakti, There is the abbas of one's own swarup. You can see the Bajan Rahasya in the chapter 5 on the subject of Asakti, the Asrila Gurudev describes how there is the abbas of the realization of your swarup. That means everything is coming, the realization of coming, but as a reflection on the chitta. It's still the action of swarup shakti, but the swarup shakti and the chitta have not blended together fully yet.
4:06and then Shuddha-sattva-visheshatma, prema-soyanto-samyubha, ru-chi-bis-chama-sri-nya, then the Chita melts and becomes one with Swarup-Shakti, and that stage is called Dhar. So, the guru must have realization, because if any devotee is chanting the Nama Parade, this is not the holy name, this is not the holy name. so someone who is chanting nama-aparadha cannot give the holy name to someone else, they can give nama-aparadha to someone else, but if someone who is chanting, free from offences, then the shudanam is reflecting his heart and revealing old bhakti-tattva, do you know namastakam of Sri Rupa Goswami?
5:34So, the guru should at least have a realization of the transcendental world, be free from all nama-aparadha, then he can give that according to his capacity to others as well. But if someone, if the, one cannot say, omagyanatya marandarsya, I am in the darkness of ignorance, then my guru is also in the darkness of ignorance.
5:57If a guru's eyes are not open, how will he open the eyes of the disciple?
6:20What does Pratyakshavagamam dharmyam mean?
6:26Direct perception of the self. It is direct perception of the self, by the way. So Pratyakshavagamam dharmyam, the dharma of bhakti is that it's a Pratyaksh. It's always a darshan. in sambandha, gyan, it's a darshan, in abide, it's a darshan, and in parojan, it's a darshan, but prior to the becoming free from the anartas, and coming to the stage of nishta and ruchi, prior to becoming free from the effects of the nama-paradha, then there's no vision, so that is just like shooting arrows in the darkness, so if someone is speaking about hearing, chanting, and remembering, but they're not thinking that hearing means seeing, chanting means seeing, remembering means seeing, remembering means sing. Then they are discussing the prior stage, which is leading to bhakti, where the devotee is
7:17practicing archa and the prakritabhakta, and he is gradually going there. So Srila Gurudev said a wonderful thing. He said that, you must remember transcribing and posting all these katahas, Gurudev said, there's a siddhanta for the kaniṣita adhikari, there's another siddhanta for the mattham adhikari, and there's another siddhanta for the uttama adhikari. There's something very astonishing.
7:42So we may say, oh, I have heard this siddhanta, yes, I know. But what type of siddhanta, for what level of devotee is it aimed at? See? So we mentioned earlier this discussion, it was actually Neme Maharaj, I was in touch with him a few days ago, and we're fondly remembering this. When you have transcribed, I was on post, shared all these things with everyone.
8:07Neme Maharaj said, Gurudev, you have told us we should divide our japa into four parts. and first we should, when we chant high naam, we should do program of Govardhan and give pranam to all the, Gurudev said, stop, stop, stop, that I've told just for general persons, so it's not that Gurudev didn't say it, or that it's wrong, he said it, and it's correct, and you can do, but it's for a particular level, for a particular level, and actual bhajan is something far beyond that, so you can see that in the beginning of bhajan rahasya, in the preface to Bhajan Rahaswa, Srila Gurudev has given the introduction written by Srila Bhakti Naur, how to distinguish between archan and bhajan, and then when you enter into the first chapter, Srila Bhakti Naur, Thakur is discussing the one mantra of the Big Veda,
9:15The vishis are praying, O my lord, we don't know you very well, we know that there is a God and that you exist, but we don't, we have no realization, but how wonderful it is, that simply by repeating your holy name, that we will attain the full realization of you, why? Why? Because om, tat, sat. Om means the holy name. Tat means supreme lord, the absolute truth is non-different from that holy name. And sat means swatta, siddha, self-manifest. Naam Prabhu reveals himself to those who are serving the Naam by aksha rabhyas, the repetition of the syllables of the name. Now Srila Bhakti Nautako is very specific here, he's saying, in Bhajan na Hasya, we are not discussing the subject of archan. We want to discuss param, vijayate,
10:07śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam, to all glories to saṅkīrtan. Saṅkīrtan, the holy name is the pūrṇa-aṅga of bhakti. navadhā-bhakti, navadhā-bhakti pūrṇa navā hoite hoy, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said that saṅkīrtan is the pūrṇa-aṅga of bhakti, and the others, they are partial. And this pūrṇa-aṅga of bhakti, saṅkīrtan, is self-sufficient. It doesn't require the support or the help of the others. It is complete in itself.
10:43So Srila Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura describes that, he quotes one verse from Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, So if a person has an understanding of bhakti, they are prākṛta-bhakta in the initial stage, and their idea is not according to vidvat-rūḍhi-vṛtti, they are practicing bhakti, they think I'm doing bhajan, but they're actually doing archan. This is one stage, so Srila Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is quoting this verse, it said: "After doing archan for 100 lifetimes, then after that the holy name will appear on the tongue and one will do saṅkīrtan." So the question comes: how can we come to that stage of bhajan, rather than thinking I am doing bhajan but doing archan for hundreds of lifetimes? So for that, Maharaj explained it today in his class,
11:51tataḥ sādhusaṅgād bhaved anārtha-nivṛttiḥ tato niṣṭhā... śraddhā, rati, bhakti, anu-kramiṣyati. One should stay in the association of pure Vaishnavas, because śraddhā, rati, bhakti, these are stages in development of our faith; śraddhā is the eligibility for archan, to enter into bhakti. How would that faith be upgraded so we can get rati in, how would the rati be upgraded so we can attain... here bhakti means prema-bhakti, in a sequence, only by satāṁ-saṅga, association with Vaishnavas. You know, Srila Gurudev said that Srila Prabhupada's books, everything is in Prabhupada's books, but it's under lock and key, so everything is in Prabhupada's books also, but you think it's not under lock and key, only Prabhupada's books are under lock and key, but Prabhupada's books are not under lock and key, is that what you want to say?
12:45And the key is satāṁ prasangān mama vīrya-saṃvido, because they will speak a kathā which is suitable for us in one stage, and then as we follow that faithfully, then play in another way, to uplift us again, in that company, mama vīrya-saṃvido, is very powerful. Here vīrya-saṃvido means that the kathā is imbued with the saṃvit-śakti, Kṛṣṇa-saṃvit-śakti, self-revelatory potency, by which bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ, that the ear and the heart become rasayukt, they become united with that transcendental līlā. Rasa-viśeṣa, Kṛṣṇa is full of rasa, he's a killer of saṃsāra-mūrti, and his līlās and associates are full of rasa, and by hearing that kathā, which is imbued with saṃvit-śakti, then the ear and the heart become rasayukt. In the association of sādhus, there's only pure harikathā, flowing like rivers in all
13:55directions. Unless we take association with sādhus, then we cannot overcome the onslaught of prajāpa. Because in the association of those who don't have realization, they talk this and that and this and that and this and that and the mind becomes filled with so many vṛttis which are not śuddha. So only in the association of pure sādhus, rivers of nectar are flowing all the time in all directions and by listening and serving, then our mind becomes free from worldly adheśa, worldly absorption, because as long as worldly absorption is there, then the experience, the divine experience does not become open to us.
14:37So, tataḥ sādhusaṅgād bhaved anārtha-nivṛttiḥ, by that association, the path of elevation from this world to the divine realm becomes open. So, in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, this tattva is being described, that
15:25Vṛndāvana, Srila Viśvanātha Ṭhākura comments, it means nāmāparādha, that by serving the pure devotees, one's tendency, how one is covered with so many nāmāparādhas, which are blocking one's progress, then by hearing gradually, the tendency to perform nāmāparādha, it goes away, and as soon as the aparādhas go away, then the actual sva-dharma, the nature, that hearing is seeing, chanting is seeing, remembering is seeing, this becomes the realization.
15:58So, Srila Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in the commentary on 3.25.25 makes this point exactly like this, what you were saying, he gives the gradation, he said if you hear the harikathā from someone who's not on that platform, then you'll get an increase in your desire to perform bhajana-kriyā, He said, but if you hear the harikathā from such a satāṁ, such an exalted devotee, hearing the sweet pastimes from that personality, then your anarthas will start to dissolve, as he was saying about the anarthas.
16:51He said, then, by continuing to hear the harikathā from such exalted persons, after the anarthas dissolve, you'll get niṣṭhā, and then by continuing to hear the harikathā from such exalted persons, then you'll get ruci. and then by continuing to hear the harikathā from such exalted persons then you get aśakti and then bhāva. So at every stage, you know, sometimes it's like "Oh, I already heard, I was initiated by Prabhupada in 19... every year." No, at every stage, even in bhāva, you have to hear and associate with sādhu. This Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says in the commentary on that verse.
