SB 2.7.23 – Rama-navami—Evening Program

Giriraj Swami: Come closer. So, we welcome you to the all auspicious, all blissful celebration of Sri Rama-Navami, the appearance day of the Supreme Lord Ramachandra.

We shall read from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations”

TEXT 23

asmat-prasāda-sumukhaḥ kalayā kaleśa

ikṣvāku-vaṁśa avatīrya guror nideśe

tiṣṭhan vanaṁ sa-dayitānuja āviveśa

yasmin virudhya daśa-kandhara ārtim ārcchat

TRANSLATION

Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Mahārāja Ikṣvāku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sītā. Under the order of His father, Mahārāja Daśaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Rāvaṇa, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Lord Rāma is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His brothers, namely Bharata, Lakṣmaṇa, and Śatrughna, are His plenary expansions. All four brothers are viṣṇu-tattva and were never ordinary human beings. There are many unscrupulous and ignorant commentators on Rāmāyaṇa who present the younger brothers of Lord Rāmacandra as ordinary living entities. But here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the most authentic scripture on the science of Godhead, it is clearly stated that His brothers were His plenary expansions. Originally Lord Rāmacandra is the incarnation of Vāsudeva, Lakṣmaṇa is the incarnation of Saṅkarṣaṇa, Bharata is the incarnation of Pradyumna, and Śatrughna is the incarnation of Aniruddha, expansions of the Personality of Godhead. Lakṣmījī Sītā is the internal potency of the Lord and is neither an ordinary woman nor the external potency incarnation of Durgā. Durgā is the external potency of the Lord, and she is associated with Lord Śiva.

COMMENT

So, the science of God is explained primarily in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and it has been elaborated in many books, especially by the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. One of the most important scriptures was discovered by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in South India, called Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā. And the Brahma-saṁhitā was written by, or composed by, Lord Brahma, the first created being within the universe, and the secondary creator of the universe.

So, the Brahma-saṁhitā explains that just as one candle can light a second candle, that second candle can light a third candle, that third candle can light a fourth candle, and they all have the same candle power, but still there is one original candle. So, the original personality of Godhead is Krishna, and He expands Himself into many plenary portions. And they are all equal to Krishna, but still Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead. Rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan – that Rama and others are plenary portions of Krishna.

Now, just as all the viṣṇu-tattva, that means the Lord, just as all the viṣṇu-tattvas are expanded from Krishna, all the śakti-tattvas, the energies of the Lord, are expanded from Srimati Radharani. So, just as Lord Rama is an expansion of Krishna, so Sita devi is an expansion of Srimati Radharani.

And Srila Prabhupada explains in the maha-mantra, Hare Rama can be taken as Sita-Rama. So, Rama is included in the maha-mantra – the name Rama is included. But even in other words, otherwise, Rama is included within Krishna. It is stated in authoritative scriptures that one thousand names of Vishnu are equal to three names of Rama, and three names of Rama are equal to one name of Krishna. So, when we say Hare Krishna, it is as good as saying the holy name of Rama three times, just by saying Hare Krishna. And devotees also chant the name of Rama along with the name of Krishna, as we find in the Hare Krishna maha-mantra; Hare Krishna is there along with Hare Rama.

And Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He also sang:

Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, hey,
Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, hey,
Krishna Kesava Krishna Kesava Krishna Kesava pahi mam
Rama Raghava Rama Raghava Rama Raghava Raksha mam

So, He chanted the holy name of Krishna and the holy name of Rama together. Now, why does Krishna descend into the material world? Why does Lord Rama descend in the material world? As stated in the verse, asmat-prasāda-sumukhaḥ—- to give mercy to all the living entities within the universe. And Srila Prabhupada continues in the purport:

PURPORT (continued)

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Rāmacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord’s internal potency, and by Lakṣmījī Sītādevī.

COMMENT

So, paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. The Lord appears to deliver the devotees and to vanquish the miscreants, dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya, as well as to re-establish the principles of religion. sambhavāmi yuge yuge, the Lord appears for those purposes in every millennium. Which also indicates that He appears in Kali-yuga, yuge yuge. He also appears in Kali-yuga, and in Kali-yuga, He appears as Sri Krishna Chaitanya.

Now, we are learning about God and His incarnations from authentic scriptures. And that is the way to know. It is not that anyone can just claim to be God. In fact, in Kali-yuga, anyone who claims to be God is not God. Because one of Krishna’s names is triyuga – triyuga means that He appears only in three ages – Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, and Dvapara-yuga. But He does appear in Kali-yuga, but as a channa-avatar, as a concealed incarnation. He does not assert himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as in previous ages, but He appears in a covered form as a devotee. But He is Krishna—kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ. He is Krishna, but playing the part of a devotee to teach us how to be devotees. And His primary activities were chanting the holy names, and preaching the message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And therefore, the present Krishna consciousness movement that was brought to the West by Srila Prabhupada and established in the West, is based on the same two principles – chanting the holy names and speaking the message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Now, Srila Prabhupada continues:

PURPORT (continued)

Lord Rāmacandra was ordered by His father, Mahārāja Daśaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the King of Ayodhyā.

COMMENT

So, the pastimes of Lord Ramachandra are filled with ideal examples. Maharaja Dasaratha was ideal King, and Lord Ramachandra was ideal son, ideal husband, ideal brother, and later, ideal King. And all of Lord Ramachandra’s immediate associates such as Lakshman, Bharata, Satrughna, and Sita devi, they also were exemplary in every respect, and so we can learn from them.

So, when Maharaja Dasaratha to keep his word, banished Lord Ramachandra to the forest, Rama immediately agreed. And thus, He lived for many years in the forest with Sita devi and Lakshman. And Their pastimes in the forest are very sweet, just as Krishna enjoyed pastimes in Vrindavan, Mathura, and in Dvaraka, but His pastimes in Vrindavan are considered the sweetest. So similarly, Lord Ramachandra, although He was the King of Ayodhya, His pastimes in the forest are considered the sweetest; He was relishing that simple life in the forest. So, sometimes we cannot ascertain what is best for us. We may have our ideas, but we do not really know what is best for us. Sometimes something that appears to be a reversal – something that goes against what we wanted – can turn out to be a great boon. So, Rama and Sita were enjoying a simple life in the forest, serving the sages. But then something else happened.

PURPORT (continued)

Lord Rāmacandra was ordered by His father, Mahārāja Daśaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the King of Ayodhyā. One of His younger brothers, Lakṣmaṇajī, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sītājī, desired to go with Him.

COMMENT

Actually, everybody wanted to go with him. And Lord Ramachandra had to tell them if you all come with me, what will happen to Ayodhya? Ayodhya will become vacant. So finally, he settled on only two associates, Lakshman, and Sita devi.

PURPORT (continued)

The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Daṇḍakāraṇya Forest, to live there for fourteen years.

COMMENT

Now, when we were discussing Lord Ramachandra in the morning, one devotee asked about the connection between Lord Ramachandra and Krishna as He is worshiped by the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu translated by Srila Prabhupada as a summary study: The Nectar of Devotion, recounts the history of some sages who were living in the Daṇḍakāraṇya forest, they were devotees of Krishna, Gopal. And this is a little confidential, but internally they had the mood of serving Krishna in mādhurya-rasa, that means conjugal relationship. Just as there are five primary relationships in the material world, those relationships are reflections of the primary relationships in the spiritual world. So, there is śānta-rasa – passive adoration. There is dāsya-rasa which is active service, there is sākhya-rasa – friendship, vātsalya-rasa – parenthood and mādhurya-rasa – relationship as a spouse or paramour.

So, these sages had that aspiration to serve Krishna in mādhurya-rasa. And when Lord Ramachandra came near them in the Daṇḍakāraṇya, they felt attracted to him – this is all spiritual. And Lord Ramachandra could understand their desire, and so He blessed them, that when He came in Dvapara-yuga as Krishna, He would fulfill their desires. And so, these sages, they became gopīs during Krishna’s pastimes. There are different categories of gopīs – some are nitya-siddhas, eternal associates, and some are sadhana-siddhas, those who have attained perfection by spiritual practices, and then there are some special categories. And one of the special categories is the rishi-cari gopīs, those are the rishis, the sages, in the forest of Daṇḍakār who are blessed by Lord Ramachandra.

PURPORT (continued)

The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Daṇḍakāraṇya Forest, to live there for fourteen years. During their stay in the forest, there was some quarrel between Rāmacandra and Rāvaṇa, and the latter kidnapped the Lord’s wife, Sītā. The quarrel ended in the vanquishing of the greatly powerful Rāvaṇa, along with all his kingdom and family.

Sītā is Lakṣmījī, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant for being worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Śrī Rāmacandra. A materialistic man like Rāvaṇa does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sītādevī from the custody of Rāma and thus incurs great miseries. The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity—

COMMENT

How many of you in this room are after opulence and material prosperity? How many are not after opulence and material prosperity?

PURPORT (continued)

The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Rāmāyaṇa that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Rāvaṇa.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada used to quote: “People want the Kingdom of God without God.” But it does not work.

PURPORT (continued)

Rāvaṇa was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Laṅkā, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Rāmacandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sītā, Rāvaṇa was killed, and all his opulence and power were destroyed.

COMMENT

So, this is an important lesson for us, that whatever we acquire, without the sanction of the Lord, will be lost in due course. But opulence that is received by the mercy of the Lord will never be lost. In the case of Ravana, he became lusty to enjoy Sita, who is the property of Rama and he dared to snatch her away from Rama. But the result was that Rama, along with his entire dynasty and Kingdom, was destroyed. So, if we try to enjoy the property of God without God we will also be vanquished sooner or later.

Once, Srila Prabhupada compared the Western countries to Rāvaṇa who were in possession of Sita, or the Goddess of fortune, or Lakshmi. He said that just as Lord Ramachandra crossed the ocean to get back Sita, Srila Prabhupada said similarly, he also crossed the ocean. And just as Lord Ramachandra was assisted by so many monkeys, he was assisted by us. But the idea was to get back Lakshmi or Sita from Rāvaṇa, and reunite her with Rama. Or in other words, he wanted to get the wealth that was being hoarded by Rāvaṇa-like people in the West, and engage the West, the wealth, in the service of Lord Rama or Krishna consciousness. And sometimes Srila Prabhupada gave the example of the blind man and the lame man. That a blind man may be very strong physically, but because he is blind, he cannot go anywhere. And a lame man, or a crippled person, he may have very good eyesight but he also cannot go anywhere because he is crippled. But if the blind man, who is physically strong, takes the lame man, who has good eyesight on his shoulders, together they can make progress – they can go forward, they can reach their destination. So, Srila Prabhupada said that the Western countries were like the blind man—they were materially strong but spiritually blind. And India, at that time, was of course, it had the spiritual vision of the Vedas, but after so many centuries of foreign exploitation it was materially poor. So, Srila Prabhupada’s idea was that if the American wealth and the Indian culture combined, then both India and America could go forward, and that strategy worked.

So, if we engage Lakshmi in the service of Narayana, she will be happy and her husband Narayana will be happy and we will be happy. But if we try to enjoy Lakshmi for ourselves without Narayana, then we will be punished and vanquished. Then Srila Prabhupada concludes the purport:

PURPORT (continued)

Lord Rāmacandra is a full incarnation with six opulences in full, and He is therefore mentioned in this verse as kaleśaḥ, or master of all opulence.

COMMENT

So, again, there is no difference between Rama and Krishna, they are both the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but according to one’s individual tastes, one may want to serve Krishna or one may want to serve Rama. But here we worship the Krishna murti not the Rama murti, but Rama is included in Krishna, and so we are also worshiping Rama.

So, Hare Krishna. You have just arrived, is this your first visit here?

Devotee: Yes.

Giriraj Swami: Okay. I see. Alright, well, welcome, welcome. So, now do any one of you have any questions or comments? Yes, Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu?

Devotee: Despite the evidence in great scriptures, the Vedas. . . Despite that, millions of people accept certain people as God, so even despite the Lord’s establishment of his principle and himself and this evidence, [Unintelligible 00:54:07]. So, despite the divine appearance of the Lord, there are still people who accept other people as God – why?

Giriraj Swami: Well, it really is a matter of sincerity, or fortune. But we can learn who is God or an incarnation of God from scripture, sadhu-śāstra, guru-vākya, and we will not be misled. But in Kali-yuga, in the present age, people are unfortunate. Most people in the present age are not at all interested in spiritual life, and even if someone happens to be interested in spiritual life, he may be misled. But most of the people who claim to be God, claim to be Krishna. And Srila Prabhupada has commented that if their claim to Godhood is that they are Krishna, why not just accept Krishna? We do not know about them, they may or not be Krishna. But we know for sure that Krishna is Krishna, so why not just accept Krishna.

He gave the example that in Calcutta there was a man who could imitate the barking of dogs, and he would have performances and people would pay money to hear his imitation of the barking of dogs. And Srila Prabhupada commented that the real dog is on the street barking, but no one cares for the real dog, but they will pay money to hear the imitation dog. It is like the real God is there, Krishna, He is available to anyone, but they do not want the real one, they want the imitation one. But here everyone wants the real one.

Devotee: Thank you very much Maharaja for your class especially using the word fortune. Who is fortunate? What is that fortune?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the actual word in Sanskrit is yadṛcchayā, and yadṛcchayā is sometimes translated as: “By good fortune,” or “Somehow or other.” But what it really comes down to is the mercy of a devotee. If someone gets the mercy of a devotee, he can understand who he is, who God is, what his relationship with God is, and he can engage in devotional service. So, if someone is bewildered as to who their identity is or God’s identity, we should take it as they are yet to receive the mercy of a devotee. And so, we should see if we can be that devotee by whose mercy, they can understand their actual identity as eternal servant of Krishna. But yadṛcchayā means it is free – it is independent. The devotee can give that mercy or not. But devotees do want to give mercy. If people perform, ajñāta-sukṛti, unknowing service to devotees, that makes them more likely to receive the mercy of the devotees to engage in devotional service. It is a big topic—I mean it has been discussed in detail. So somehow or other, if people get a chance to do some service to devotees, it will help them to eventually come to the stage where they can accept Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada gave the example that someone goes to the temple and they see the deity, they appreciate the deity, it is like one cent credit they get. Or they bow down, it is one cent credit. They take prasāda, it is like one cent. So, all these little things they do, without really knowing what they are doing—but it is like one cent, one cent, one cent, and it all adds up. And eventually it will add up to one hundred dollars, and when you have one hundred dollars you can do something with it. So somehow or other, people can be engaged, it will add up and eventually they will be able to understand who they are, who is Krishna, and what is their relationship.

Any other?

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:01:52]

Giriraj Swami: Otherwise, it is like playing telephone.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Haribol [Unintelligible 01:02:20]

Giriraj Swami: Alright, thank you very much.

Hare Krishna.