Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 05.05.2018, Rila)

(continues from the previous Monday)

“He is called Rama because by the beauty of His form He will eternally satisfy and make happy the young girls of Vraja in their heart and in their senses – therefore He is called Rama.”

So Krishna’s blissful form has a purpose. You know, all things that exist, they have different reasons – a material reason, an activating reason, a contribution reason, and also a purpose, a reason of purpose – for what purpose this thing is created. This is maybe a little difficult to understand, but what is the material cause of a house, for example? The material cause of a house is, let’s say, the logs and the bricks. What is the theoretical reason for a house? This is the plan. What is the active reason for a house? This is the bricklayer. And what is the purpose reason for a house? So that you can live in that house. And all these reasons and all these factors you have to collect to establish your home.

So why, what is the purpose reason for a house – so that you can live there; in the same manner what is the purpose reason for Krishna’s beauty – so that He can enchant the gopis? We cannot go into detail about the other reasons for Krishna’s beauty. But this third grade of purports is remembering the Divine Couple. What was the first? Aishwarya-gyana, the grandeur of Divine. The second was a rasik explanation, full of sweet mellows; and ultimately we come to remembrance.

Again you see the gradations. You start from your present condition: life is difficult, but I hope that the mahamantra, Hare-Krishna-Rama, will help improve your condition. Actually this is what we call the first mystery – when from the external orientation you are ready to turn around and change your direction. Before you were interested and captivated by the external world, now you are ready to search for the divine essence – the first mystery. The second type of explanation comes for the practitioners. So that if you practice, if you chant, if you purify yourself, if you purify your existence, you will perceive some spiritual feedback. This is the second mystery – when you proceed towards your goal. And ultimately what we want to achieve – a permanent remembrance of the Divine Couple. This is our perspective, this is what we call the third, or the greatest mystery – when you reach your goal. And you don’t move anymore on the same platform, because changing your direction and proceeding is on the same platform; but reaching your goal means that you come to a higher platform. So this is the ultimate mystery. And don’t forget, Krishna says in the Gita, ‘From Me comes knowledge, forgetfulness and memory’[1]. So by His blessings you can proceed, you can grow in your spiritual life.

This is the scope of Jiva Goswami. This is his radius. And there is some radiance coming to us from his radius. Although we possibly don’t understand a word, at least we know that there is something more, beyond our present experience of chanting the holy names.

(to be continued)

[1] Bhagavad Gita 15.15