Rama-navami Celebration

Giriraj Swami: Today is the auspicious occasion of Sri Rama-navami, the appearance day of Lord Ramachandra. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Krishna says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: “I am the origin of everything; from Me everything emanates.” Krishna is the Absolute Truth, defined in the Vedānta-sūtra as janmādy asya yataḥ: that from which everything emanates. The natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra by the author himself, Veda-vyāsa, is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If we want to know the actual purport of the Vedānta-sūtra, we should read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Srila Prabhupada told the story of a dramatist in Calcutta, a well-known government officer, who wrote a famous play called Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan was the father of the great Moghul despot Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb was such a tyrant that he even killed his own brothers and imprisoned his own father, Shah Jahan, so he could usurp the throne. A friend once approached the author of the book, Sri D. L. Raya, and asked him, “In your book, the actual hero is Aurangzeb. Why did you title it Shah Jahan?” The author replied, “No, the actual hero is Shah Jahan,” and he explained why: “Although the book is filled with the exploits of Aurangzeb—how he arrested and imprisoned his father, killed his brothers, and seized control of the empire—Shah Jahan was sitting as a prisoner in the Agra Fort, receiving the news. All of Aurangzeb’s nefarious activities were beating on his heart, and he was suffering their impact. He is the hero.”

Srila Prabhupada told this story to illustrate the fact that only the author really knows the purpose of his book. Therefore, Veda-vyāsa, who compiled the Vedānta-sūtra, is the only one who knows for sure the actual purport of the Vedānta-sūtra. And Veda-vyāsa is the incarnation of Krishna. In the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), Krishna says, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham: “By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.”

Veda-vyāsa presented Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Bhāgavata-Purana, as a natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. The Vedānta-sūtra begins, janmādy asya yataḥ: “The Absolute Truth is that from which everything emanates.” The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also begins with the same words, janmādy asya yataḥ, and explains that Sri Krishna, the son of Vasudeva, is the Absolute Truth. He is the independent cause of the creation, sustenance, and destruction of the manifested universes.

Krishna Himself confirms the same fact in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.8): ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me.” He also says in the Bhagavad-gītā that He is the Supreme Truth and that there is no truth higher than Him:

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat
kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya
mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ
sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva

“O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.” (Bg 7.7)

Although there are various Vedic literatures, Srila Jiva Gosvami has established that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the supreme Vedic evidence. The Bhāgavatam lists many incarnations of Godhead, but at the end of the list states, ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu Bhagavān svayam: “All the incarnations listed above are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but kṛṣṇas tu Bhagavān svayam: Lord Krishna Himself is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom all the other incarnations emanate.” (SB 1.3.28)

Therefore, in the Krishna consciousness movement, we actually find no need to worship the other incarnations separately. Simply by worshiping Sri Krishna, the worship of all others is automatically included. Sri Brahma-saṁhitā (5.46) gives the example, dīpārcir eva hi daśāntaram abhyupetya: One candle lights a second candle, the second candle lights a third candle, the third candle lights a fourth candle, and so on. They all may have the same candlepower, but still there is one original candle. In the same way, there is one original Personality of Godhead, Krishna. He expands as Balarama, Balarama expands as Saṅkarṣaṇa, and in this way there are innumerable expansions, and expansions of expansions. Still, Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead. And by worshiping Krishna, one worships all other incarnations.

Now, Lord Chaitanya had a devotee named Anupama, who from a young age was a great devotee of Lord Ramachandra. Anupama was the younger brother of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami, the chief disciples of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Rupa and Sanatana were highly learned scholars, as well as great devotees, and they constantly spoke to Anupama about the special sweetness of Lord Krishna. They encouraged Anupama to give up the service of Lord Rama and accept the worship of Lord Krishna: “Engage yourself in devotional service to Krishna with the two of us. We three brothers shall stay together and enjoy discussing the pastimes of Lord Krishna.” Finally, Anupama agreed—because of his older brothers’ persuasive requests, as well as out of respect for them.

Still, within his heart, Anupama could not give up Lord Rama. Every soul by nature, by constitution, has an eternal relationship with a particular form of Godhead, and Anupama had his eternal relationship with Lord Rama. Thus, on the one side, he could not give up the service of Lord Rama, and on the other side, he could not disobey his older brothers and instructors (śikṣā-gurus). So he stayed up all that night and cried, and in the morning he appealed to his brothers, “I have sold my head at the lotus feet of Lord Ramachandra. I cannot take it away. That would be too painful for me. Please be merciful and order me in such a way that life after life I may serve the lotus feet of Lord Raghunatha (Rama). It is impossible for me to give up the lotus feet of Lord Raghunatha. When I even think of giving them up, my heart breaks.” (Cc Antya 4.40–42)

When Lord Chaitanya heard about Anupama’s staunch devotion to Lord Ramachandra, He was pleased. He declared, “Glorious is that devotee who does not give up the shelter of his master, and glorious is that master who does not abandon his servant. If by chance his servant tries to go away, the master will grab him and bring him back by the hair.” (Cc Antya 4.46, 47)

Although Lord Chaitanya came specifically to propagate love of Lord Krishna through the chanting of the holy names, He had full appreciation for devotees of Lord Ramachandra who were actually established in their constitutional positions as eternal servants of Lord Rama. Still, He did specifically come to propagate the worship of Krishna. Sri Caitanya-Bhāgavata records His famous orders: bolo ‘krsna,’ bhajo krsna, koro krsna-śikṣā: “Chant ‘Krishna!’, worship Krishna, and follow Krishna’s instructions.”

Because Krishna is the origin of all other incarnations, He includes all other incarnations within Himself. Thus, if someone is truly an eternal devotee of another incarnation of Godhead, this will become apparent in the course of his worship of Krishna. Of course, if one is an eternal devotee of svayaṁ bhagavān Sri Krishna Himself, then this also would naturally be manifest in the course of one’s worship of Krishna.

Therefore, even on Sri Rama-navami, when we celebrate Lord Rama’s appearance, we chant the holy names of Krishna and discuss the transcendental glories of Krishna. We know that Lord Rama is included within Krishna and that by worshiping and serving Krishna on all occasions, Lord Rama will also be satisfied. In the ultimate sense, the two are not different.

There is a story from the Padma-Purana, quoted by Srila Rupa Gosvami in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, about some sages in the Dandaka forest who were devotees of Gopala (Krishna). Within their hearts they cherished the ideal to become girlfriends of Krishna. When Lord Rama was in exile, He passed through Dandakaranya and met these sages. When they saw Him, they were reminded of the beauty of Gopala, the object of their worshipful service, and within their hearts they desired to become women to enjoy with Him. They recognized Lord Rama as the same Godhead as Lord Krishna.

Because Lord Ramachandra was playing the part of the ideal human (maryādā-purusottama) and king, He accepted certain limitations as befitting his role—although He was God Himself. As the ideal human and king, He had vowed to accept only one wife (eka-patnī-vrata), namely Sitadevi. Still, He understood the desire of the sages, and so He mercifully blessed them that when He came again as Krishna He would fulfill their desires.

Although in reality there is no difference between Lord Rama and Lord Krishna, still, in terms of rasa or the transcendental mellows that one can relish with the Lord, there is more scope to relish mellows in different intimate relationships with Lord Krishna than with Lord Narayana or any other form of Godhead:

siddhāntatas tv abhede ‘pi
śrīśa-kṛṣṇa-svarūpayoḥ
rasenotkṛṣyate kṛṣṇa-
rūpam eṣā rasa-sthitiḥ

“According to transcendental realization, there is no difference between the forms of Nārāyaṇa and Kṛṣṇa. Yet in Kṛṣṇa there is a special transcendental attraction due to the conjugal mellow, and consequently He surpasses Nārāyaṇa. This is the conclusion of transcendental mellows.” (Brs 1.2.59, Cc Madhya 9.117)

For this reason also, we are confident that just by serving and worshiping Lord Krishna, all of our desires will be fulfilled. If, by chance, we are eternal devotees of Lord Rama or any other form of the Lord, that will be revealed to us in due course. By the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, our desire to serve that particular form of the Lord will also be fulfilled. Thus, the common process for all devotees, and the best process, especially in the modern age of Kali, is to chant the holy names: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

Hare Krishna!

Sri Krishna Bhagavān ki jaya!
Sri Ramachandra Bhagavān ki jaya!
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: Srila Prabhupada generally established deities of Gaura-Nitai or Radha-Krishna, but we see in Juhu he specially had Sita-Rama-Laksmana-Hanuman. Do you want to say anything about the background to that?

Giriraj Swami: One evening, when I was in Srila Prabhupada’s room, he raised the question of which deities we should install in the Juhu temple, and somehow I mentioned Sita-Rama, Laksmana, and Hanuman. Even otherwise, there had been some talks about Sita-Rama. Anyway, Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, there are many devotees of Rama in Bombay, so we should have Sita-Rama.”

The idea ultimately is to attract people to the Lord, to the temple, and to give them the philosophy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the holy names. After all, Lord Chaitanya is Krishna Himself descended in the modern age of Kali to teach the best method to worship God in the present age. So Srila Prabhupada wanted to have Deities of Sita-Rama in Bombay because there were so many rama-bhaktas there. He knew if they came to the temple they would meet the devotees and hear the philosophy of Krishna consciousness and the holy names of Lord Krishna. Thus, ultimately, they would get the mercy of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, and if they were eligible, the mercy of Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari.

In Washington, DC, Srila Prabhupada also had the devotees install Sita-Rama, because Washington is the capital of the United States and Lord Ramachandra was the ideal ruler. Srila Prabhupada wanted to give the leaders of the nation and the world the idea of what an ideal ruler is, and what an ideal kingdom would be.

Devotee: We hear about Anupama, Murari Gupta, and other personalities in Lord Chaitanya’s līlā who were rama-bhaktas, and on the other hand we hear that Lord Chaitanya came specifically to give what no other incarnation ever came to give—the mellow of conjugal love. When we hear these narrations, it seems really Lord Chaitanya’s mission is very broad. It is meant to unite all souls, whatever their relationships with the Lord may be. Srila Prabhupada would even say, “Muslims can chant Allah’s name,” and like that. So it seems all-encompassing for all souls. Whatever their eternal relationship with the Lord may be, all should unite under Lord Chaitanya.

Giriraj Swami: I don’t know exactly what you mean by “all should unite under Lord Chaitanya,” but definitely we want to encourage everyone in God consciousness. Certainly, if people are devotees of an incarnation of Krishna, such as Rama or Vishnu or Nṛsiṁha, we encourage them in such worship. But if they are worshipers of demigods, such as Brahma, Shiva, Durga, or Ganesa, we don’t encourage them, because the demigods are just appointed officers of Krishna to manage the affairs of the universe and their independent worship is not recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā or by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. But if someone is worshiping the Supreme Godhead, whether by the name of Allah or Jehovah or Krishna or Rama, we do encourage him.

The actual goal is to develop love for God, and you can’t really love someone you don’t know. The Vedic literatures, especially Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, give detailed information about God, so that by hearing about God you can become attracted to Him and actually develop love for Him. That is why we say, “If you are a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian, you can remain whatever you are, but add Krishna consciousness. Add the chanting of the holy name of Krishna, and add the study of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam—and you will become a better Hindu, a better Christian, a better Muslim, because you will know more about God. And when you know more about God, you will be able to better develop your love for God, which is the goal of every bona fide scripture.

When people who don’t know much about God realize that Jehovah or Allah (or whatever they call Him) is actually Krishna (they just didn’t know it before), and when they find that here is a scientific method to develop love of Krishna, who is the same Jehovah, Allah, or God, then they can adopt the process of bhakti-yoga. They can still remain Hindus or Christians or Muslims officially and just add Krishna consciousness.