7 Things That Save You from the Snares of the World / Shri Krishna's Entry into Mathura, Grace on the Gardener and Kubja /01/11/26

Satsang of Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj. To hear the full discourse, watch the video above.

Full Discourse

Vrindavaneswari tav padarvindm prema makrand rasau purnam hadyapitam madhupte smarta mugram nirvai param shital mashryam param shital mashryam param sacchidanand ghan Premanand swaroop nav nivat nikunj mahmmahim param pavan shri Vrindavan dham shri Vrindavan dham ke ladlele pranaaradhy pranapriy shri yugal sarkar shyama Shyam samasth sahachari vrind khag mrig pashu panchhi tarulta shri yamuna ras rani jo rajrani jo samasth brajvasi parikar ke charnon mein koti sa pranam kotish naman namaskaar
O Vrindavaneshwari, at Your lotus feet, full of the nectar of love.. I offer countless salutations at the feet of the beloved of Shri Vrindavan Dham, the adorable and dear Shri Yugal Sarkar, Shyama-Shyam, all the sakhis and sahacharis, the birds, deer, animals, and trees and creepers, Shri Yamuna, Ras Rani and Raj Rani, and the entire retinue of the Brajvasis.

sharanagat upasak ko apne aradhya dev ka sadaiv bal lekar nirbhay rahna chahiye.

A devotee who has surrendered should always remain fearless, drawing strength from his adorable deity.

Our life is surrendered at the feet of the Lord. Now we have no worry, because it is only the Lord's maya that makes us fall. Only He can withdraw His maya; only He can stop it. Neither our intellect has the strength, nor do we have any power to stop such a stormy maya. That is why we are surrendered. Whatever happens now will be auspicious. We should not worry; we should contemplate. Somehow, in whatever way we can, we should keep contemplating that we are in the refuge of the Lord. This is a very great strength. A surrendered soul should not be concerned about protecting himself.

A surrendered soul should not be concerned about his wellbeing. The Lord, who is beyond the three guṇas, takes care of the surrendered. One should hold this firm conviction. Shripad Prabuddhanand Ji Maharaj says:

hat hriday kutuvidam tavagad vikrit shatam gagan prasun kalpam
Your hundreds of flaws, which have come from nowhere, are like flowers in the sky. Just as the clouds form shapes that the wind scatters in a moment, your lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride and envy will all be destroyed.

ta rachti Radhika vana sumati bhay me palay to maya
Listen very carefully. If someone has taken refuge in Kishori Ji and she has said, "I will protect you," then no one in the three worlds can harm you. When Radha has said, "You are in my refuge, now I will protect you," then, my intellect, fear is gone, and maya flees.

Seeing that you are in the refuge of Maharani Ji, maya flees in fear. Maya is the servant of the Lord, and Radha Kishori is the beloved, the dear life of Shri Lal Ji. So the one who is in Kishori Ji's refuge, maya flees from his intellect, and his fear is gone.

Your flaws are like flowers in the sky. Flowers in the sky are the shapes that form in the clouds. The wind blows, and in a moment they are gone. Your lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride and envy are like these flowers in the sky.

All of them will be destroyed. You are only in Kishori Ji's refuge. Merely by being in Kishori's refuge, the maya that has taken hold of our intellect flees and runs away. But you must surrender to Maharani Ji from the heart. Surrender becomes firm only when we feel that we have no strength of our own. We truly experience that we have no strength at all. The intellect is made of maya, the mind is made of maya, the chitta is made of maya, the ahankar is made of maya, this five-element body is made of maya, our nature is made of maya. What we are, the "I" that we are, we have forgotten. That is imperishable, Chidanand.

By forgetting that, we have taken a sense of "mine" and "I" in the maya-made body, in the maya-made inner faculties, in the maya-made nature. This is bondage. It is destroyed through surrender. If we surrender ourselves to Kishori Ji from the heart, then we have let go of ourselves, and now there is no worry, neither for this world nor the next. There is no hope or fear of hell, heaven or liberation. Now, as Kishori Ji wishes, that is how it will be. Full surrender: as far as we are able, we chant the naam. As much as we try to avoid wrong conduct, we do. After this, you know, you know. We are dedicated to you completely, firm in the heart. Stay like this, and through this, the attainment of the Lord will happen.

He says that the one who is in Kishori Ji's refuge, and she has given the assurance that once someone becomes surrendered, even by word, she will not abandon him. But perhaps we are not surrendered in the heart. We are surrendered by word: "O beloved, we are yours." Even if we are not surrendered by word, you have accepted us. We don't even know what Vrindavan ras is, what nitya vihar is, what the path of the Lord is. We don't know even that. You accepted us. You brought us. So if you wish, all our work can be accomplished in a moment. Now it will not be done by our efforts. Final: now it will not be done by our efforts. Now it will be done by yours. Since you have dragged us along this far, please drag us a little further, and grant us attachment to your naam, roop, leela and dham.

We are in the dham in outward appearance, but our attachment is to enjoyments. Our attachment is to wealth. Our attachment is to the body. So, Maharani Ji, it will not be released by our effort. It will not be released by us. It will be released only by your grace. Now, protect the surrendered one. Care for him as you wish. What effort, how much effort of our own? We have taken the nourishment of the body alone as sadhana. The path of sadhana is to call out to you, weeping day and night. We don't have that material. We can weep, but we weep out of craving for sensual pleasures; we weep in bodily pain; we weep to fulfill our desires. But the ability to shed tears of longing for you has been lost. This raging maya has defiled the heart. O Kishori Ji, O Karunamayi, you yourself take charge. Shripad says that your hundreds of flaws will fly away like wind.

[clearing throat] Just take refuge in Kishori Ji alone. There are hundreds of vices, hundreds of them. If we look honestly, our mind, intellect, chitta and ego are swinging like on a swing: sometimes a little towards Kishori Ji, and sometimes wholly towards Maya. That is how the swing keeps going. We have not yet taken a step forward. We stumble and remain standing right there. A whole life passes like this, and we are still standing right there.

Radha Krishna pda bhuje dridh ratis tat kel kunjolam yo Vrindavan mavse parma abhyata tasma yadi y kas chap taktanavli dhaas pad murdhan bhavita samya yog tada yadi
If firm love for the lotus feet of Radha-Krishna has arisen in you, then by dwelling in Vrindavan, where their sweet pastimes unfold in the groves, and by placing on your head the dust of the feet of the servants there, true union will be attained.

If you have taken firm shelter at the feet of Radha-Krishna, do not waver a bit from your resolve. What resolve? I am in the refuge of the Lord. I have flailed my hands and feet a great deal. Across what ocean of existence will I cross? But I have seen: flailing hands and feet, the ocean is unfathomable and bottomless. How far can you swim? Now I trust your lotus feet as a ship. If you wish, seat us in it and carry us across. Otherwise, we will drown while flailing our hands and feet, and we cannot cross. This is the sure truth, a certain truth: we will drown flailing our hands and feet.

We cannot cross. There is only one way to cross: let our mind and our chitta find a place in the ship of your lotus feet. Give us that place. Now consider this. As the Lord commands:
man aadat sva buddhim niveesh
"Fix your mind on Me, let your intellect enter Me."
Apply your mind to Me. Climb My mountain and come, and I will embrace you. Brother, you yourself give strength to the legs, you yourself give strength to the hands, so that we may climb the mountain. This is the climbing of the mountain: fixing the mind on God. These manifold objects of the senses are the mountains. We must leap over them and attain the darshan of God.

It is like a mountain. Those who only talk, that is one thing. But those who actually walk understand the matter. This is a difficult mountain.
grih karaj nana janjala te ati durgam shail vishala ae sam aavat ati kathinai aur Ram kripa binu aae na jae
Household work and many entanglements form a vast, very difficult mountain, and without the grace of Ram one cannot cross it.
Without the Lord's grace, it is very hard to go past these mountains of the senses. We climb halfway and fall down, and the enthusiasm we had is destroyed too. We try again, fall again. Yet if you wish, you can cross. Fix this firmly in your mind. That is why complete surrender of the ego happens: now it is no longer in our hands.

Now you see. When it is no longer in our hands, you see, and when you see, that happens which does not happen even by doing sadhana for lifetimes. So he says: keep your stance firm, that "O Radha-Krishna, O Shyama-Shyam, we are in your refuge." Radha-Krishna padambuje dridha rati. Now he speaks of a second point: how will this firm love come? He says:
tat kel kunjo jwalam yo Vrindavan mavse
Only where their sweet pastimes unfold, in the groves of Vrindavan, does one dwell and receive this.
That is, the dham where their rasamay pastimes take place: Vrindavan itself. Without taking shelter of Vrindavan, without coming to Vrindavan, without associating with the rasiks of Vrindavan, without attachment to Vrindavan, firm love for the lotus feet of Radha-Krishna cannot happen.

Shri Gadadhar Bhatt ji wrote the pad "sakhi ho Shyam rang rangi." When this pad reached the blessed hands of Shri Jeev Goswami, he read it and saw Gadadhar ji's signature. He asked, "Where does he live? Not in Vrindavan, is it?" Gadadhar ji's disciples said, "No." He said, "How can it be that without consuming the dust of Vrindavan, without taking shelter of Kishori Ji's feet, someone gets dyed in the colour of Shyam? The meaning of Shyam colour, literally, is being dyed in the colour of Shri Krishna. Its esoteric meaning is the supreme sweetness, shringar rasa. Shyam rasa is also called shringar rasa.

How can anyone be dyed in shringar rasa without consuming the rasa of Vrindavan and without worshipping Kishori Ji? O sakhis, how can anyone keep this supreme sweetness, this shringar rasa, to themselves?

Gadadhar Bhatt ji's birthplace was where he had lived. Shri Jeev Goswami sent two disciples. At the early morning hour of Brahma muhurta they reached his birthplace. At the edge of the village was a well, and there Gadadhar Bhatt ji was performing his daily routine and cleaning his teeth with a twig. The Vaishnavas saw him and immediately prostrated. He asked them, "Is Gadadhar Bhatt ji's house somewhere here? We need to meet him."

He asked, "Where have you come from?" They replied, "Vrindavan! Vrindavan!" At this, he fainted: "Vrindavan! Alas, Vrindavan! Life-breath Vrindavan! Vrindavan of my life!" Gadadhar Bhatt ji fell unconscious. The disciples of Jeev Goswami who had come were puzzled: what has happened to him? The moment he heard the name Vrindavan, he fainted. They sprinkled water on his face, and when he recovered he asked, "Who are you?" They said, "The name of this servant is Gadadhar Bhatt."

Now there was no doubt. He said, "The pad that is written is certainly your state. One whose condition becomes this at hearing the name Vrindavan, how much love for Vrindavan must he have? Pujya Shri Jeev Goswami has remembered you." He set off from there at once, and lived his whole life as a permanent resident of Vrindavan. He became a great mahapurush. When Gadadhar Bhatt ji narrated the katha of Shri Bhagwan, everyone would drown in the colour of love.

Such a great soul, without love for Vrindavan, is saying:
ta ke kunjlam yo Vrindavan ma vase parma abhya sva kalpata
Only by dwelling in Vrindavan, where the groves of their pastimes are, is supreme practice and imagination attained.
Without love for Shri Vrindavan, without attachment to Vrindavan, without accepting residence in Vrindavan, how can there be love at the feet of Priya-Pritam? As long as there is no consumption of Vrindavan, no association with the rasiks of Vrindavan, then:
tasmah yadi yas kas chidap taktanavli dhaas pad raj murdhan bhavita samyatma yogya tada yadi
Therefore, if by any means the dust of the feet of the servants is placed upon the head, then one becomes truly fit.
Giving up pride, apply the dust of the rasiks' feet to your forehead. When I had the good fortune of the Shri Anga seva of Gurudev Bhagwan:

Just as people go to Mansarovar, or go to Giriraj ji, they would step back and do this same work. Even today, keep the dust of every footprint in a box this big, and use that dust every day. Partaking of the dust of great souls, partaking of the dust of their feet. Every particle of Vrindavan is the foot-dust of the great souls. It is the foot-dust of Priya-Pritam. If the dust of Vrindavan is consumed, and, giving up pride, the head is bowed at the feet of Vrindavan's rasiks, then the eligibility to serve your beloved Yugal Kishor will be attained: the eligibility to serve Yugal Kishor, Shri Shyama-Shyam.

To gain firm affection (rati) at the feet of Shri Radha Shyamsundar, take shelter in Vrindavan and in its dust. If possible, stay in Vrindavan for as many minutes, hours, or days as you can. This is how firm surrender at the lotus feet of Priya-Pritam comes about. And if you have surrendered to Kishori Ji, do not worry: this illusion (maya) will run away on its own. Thousands of impurities will fly off, just as clouds form and are scattered when a gust of wind comes. Everything is broken apart and dispersed. Then Laadli's grace, through Maharaj Ji, will come and make us free of impurities.

We are relying on just this. We have no strength of our own. It is like a small child who is dirty, but who trusts that his mother, on the day she turns her gaze on him, will remove all the dirt and make him fit for herself. She adorns him with her own lotus hands.

swayam sakla kalashu kushli krita na kada suras madhuratsave kimat swamini swamini swayam

She herself, with her own lotus hands, makes her surrendered one fit for the mood of a companion (sahachari bhava).

With her own lotus hands, Swamini Ji bestows on her surrendered one all the virtues of a sakhi who is fit for the sahachari bhava. She grants all the qualities of a companion, which is the disposition to give joy to Swamini Ji. We simply have to hold ourselves in this way.

We have to walk like this. Now, brother, if anyone has any strength, I do not know. But for ourselves, it seems that our finger cannot even move without the Lord's power. Sadhana is a very big matter; even this finger cannot move on its own. It moves by their power, and whatever is happening is happening by their power. Yet we were carrying vain pride until now: "We will do this, we will do that, we will do this." When we understood the truth, it became clear that we are not even capable of doing anything. Only grace is being shown to us. Your grace..

tumh raghunandan jane bhagat bhagat ur chandan

Only by your grace, O Raghunandan, do devotees know you, the sandalwood balm of their hearts.

By your grace, devotees come to know that you are the one who cools their hearts.

By her grace, Shripad Prabodhanand Ji Maharaj is saying: O Radha, ..

ai Radha padaj maha naray datushtayam tasya nakhal sulbhas tadwash hari

Hari, who is attained with ease through the nails (of Radha's lotus feet) only when she is pleased, cannot be reached through any amount of sadhana, until one takes refuge in our Kishori Ji and she is pleased.

Hari cannot be attained through pure love-form devotion (prem lakshana bhakti), no matter how much sadhana one does, until our Kishori Ji is pleased and one takes refuge in her.

ai Radha padambuj maha na aradhya che datushtayam tasyam nakhal sulbhas tad vasa hari bina vrindasya pad yugam sam kath natra praktam

Without worshipping the lotus feet of Radha, the one who is pleased and through whom Hari is easily won, Hari is not attained; and the pair of feet of the Mistress of Vrindavan..

He is stating a very beautiful principle: without worshipping Kishori Ji's feet, the love-form devotion by which Hari comes under control cannot be obtained. And without taking the dust of Vrindavan, the worship of Radha Kishori cannot happen. Without the dust of Vrindavan, Radha Kishori cannot be worshipped.

samara shakyam kathpach nyatra praktam

Therefore, it is not possible in any way to attain this without worshipping the lotus feet of Shri Ji. This prem lakshana bhakti, in which one is subject to Hari, is difficult to attain.

So everyone should please Kishori Ji. She is pleased very quickly. For our Laadli's pleasure, only this is needed, only this.

Krishna, the lord of the crores of universes, the Supreme beyond the supreme, is under her control. He himself is the embodiment of love: sandranand ghan prem murti. Kishori Ji needs only our sense of belonging (apnapan). We need this spirited confidence (thasak): that our Laadli, merely by being under the refuge of Shri Hit Harivansh Mahaprabhu, gets that thasak.

Surrendered at the lotus feet of Harivansh Mahaprabhu, one becomes exclusively (ananya) Radha Kishori's. There will be thasak. Look, no one was ever taught, sitting down, how to become ananya. "Don't do this, don't do that." Upasana in the proper way, the Bhagavad Gita, Vedanta, everything goes on here. But look into your own heart: what goes on there? If you have truly surrendered, look honestly: is there, within you, any thought of anything other than Shri Ji? There may be thought of worldly objects (vishay chintan), but there cannot be thought of other deities. We say this from the emotional test of surrender. Suppose your thoughts can be of worldly objects, you still cannot have thoughts of other gods and goddesses.

Why? If you have already surrendered to Harivansh Mahaprabhu, then consider this: when the feeling of Mahaprabhu's surrender descends, this is what will remain. "My Maharani, Shri Radha Rani, we do not care at all whether we get hell, heaven, or liberation. My Kishori Ji." We do not say that we are great tapasvis or great bhajanandis. But we declare with thasak: "For us there is no one except our Mata Shyama Ji, Maharani Ji, and Lal Ji." And in each one's upasana, look at what is present.

Once Goswami Ji came and said, "Baba, we want to see your sewa." In the sewa, Radha's name was present. The sewa that was present was present. He said, "Baba, this has been a question on our mind for many days, that we would have sewa darshan." Maharaj Ji asked, "What is the fault in the sewa?" He said, "Nothing. Only that my heart became overjoyed, because the Harivansh surrender is firm." That is, in our sewa are Radhavallabh Lal, the naam of Harivansh Mahaprabhu, and the Gurudev who gave us Radhavallabh Lal and the naam. Beyond this, look: he is present now in various forms.

So, for those who are surrendered, is this also present in your heart? For someone it is, and who was taught it sitting down? This is the pratap of Harivansh Mahaprabhu. Harivansh pratap jaanat hai (Harivansh knows his own glory). Harivansh prabodh pramanat hai (Harivansh Prabodh is the proof). Harivansh su sarvasv hai (Harivansh is everything). Understand that all their happiness, wealth and couple-bliss, and all the splendour of Vrindavan, Priya-Pritam, rasa, prem, and the eternal vihar, are in his fist.

mahima teri kahan kahun shri Harivansh dayal tere dwrae batat hai sahaj ladli lal

How can I describe your glory, O merciful Shri Harivansh? At your door, Laadli and Lal are freely distributed.

This is Harivansh prasad. Without taking the dust of Vrindavan, the company of rasikas does not happen. And without taking refuge in the rasikacharya and the rasikas, surrender to Priya-Pritam does not become firm.

Don't worry at all. Be completely carefree: no fear of death, no dread of suffering. The meaning is a new joy. This does not mean that circumstances will never go wrong. Circumstances can go very wrong. There can be calamity, and there can be great suffering. But even in that state there is immense joy, a complete disposition of joy. I am telling you this truly, by the grace of Harivansh. Take shelter. Shri Hit Harivansh Mahaprabhu is also called Shri Ji.

In the Vachan Siddhant Vichar Leela, Dhruvdas Ji says, in the words from the sacred mouth of Shri Ji: the Kishori is the sajani, and the sajani is the Kishori. In the entire nikunj there is not one other than the One.

That One is love. The toys of love are the two beloveds, Priya and Pritam, and the embodiments of love, the sakhis and sahacharis. Vrindavan is full of love, the birds, deer, animals and birds are full of love, and in the nikunj, on the love-filled bed, they play forever with these toys of love while the sakhis keep playing them. Love, love, love. That very embodied incarnation of love is Hit Avatar. Hit means love, and that is Shri Harivansh Mahaprabhu. Truly believe it: by taking refuge in Him and surrendering to Him, this entire splendour is attained.

That is why it is said:

ai Radha padambuj maha na aradhti

Those who do not worship the great lotus feet of Radha

che datushtayam tasya nakal sulabh tad vasa

That prema-lakshana bhakti, which can control Hari, is not attainable by them.

aur bina vrinda ne aashray ma Vrindavan ka aashray nahi liya to tasya pad yugam samar sakyam

Without taking shelter in Vrindavan, the capacity to worship the feet of Priya-Pritam does not come.

kathap cha nyatra pragtam

Do any other sadhana you like, but you cannot manifest Priya-Pritam by any other means. They manifest only where there is the dust of Vrindavan, the company of rasiks.

Look at the example of Geeta Vatika. Baba made all of Vrindavan into that. Giriraj Ji, the dust of Vrindavan, the whole of Vrindavan: it is all the feeling of Vrindavan's dust. Giriraj Ji is the dust of Vrindavan, and that dust of Vrindavan is still there today in Geeta Vatika. The worship of Vrindavan matures only through the dust of Vrindavan. The glory of this dust is great, and so is the glory of the rasiks.

Pujyapad Shri Udiya Baba Ji Maharaj says that the words of the mahapurushas destroy all doubts and strengthen the path of Bhagavat. Here too he says: make a firm resolve. As he said there, sankalpa means pratijna, a vow. Make a firm vow: "I belong to the Lord."

Now, if I have no one but the Lord, then all atonement for sins is complete. No ritual is needed to destroy sins.

sanukh ho jeev mohi jab hi janm koti ag naso

When a soul turns toward Me, the sins of countless births are destroyed at once.

So when a soul is in the Lord's refuge, the sins of countless births are destroyed. Maharaj said: if the sins of countless births have been destroyed, then why are you still enduring these consequences? The accumulated sin of countless births has been destroyed. Now that you are surrendered, the account from here on will be erased. But the karma by which the body was formed, that is, prarabdha, has only now begun to be worked out with bhakti.

When the body was formed, it was already written: now you must bear this suffering, now you must enjoy this happiness, now you must endure this sorrow. That is what is being experienced. Do not doubt it. To strengthen surrender, make a vow. Take a niyam that we will never, out of pramad, accept a lapse in our state. Pramad means doing what should not be done and not doing what should be done. We will never let this pramad come into our lives. We will never, out of pramad, do what should not be done.

If such an act does happen, then one should do prayashchit. Decide it yourself, or take a decision from the mahapurushas: what atonement could there be for this mistake we made? If an elder gives the order, for example: fast for three days, do nine circumambulations of Vrindavan, three each day, and live on water only. Then the atonement is complete, and that offence will not arise again. That is why Guruji put Kathiya Baba in the stocks. Accepting the discipline of the gurujans is very difficult.

Prarabdha: whatever is the worst will come, and it must be borne. The Gurudev may give punishment, may destroy prarabdha, may give punishment to destroy the sins of many births. Then accepting the Gurudev's punishment is very difficult. If the Gurudev gives punishment, Maya stops punishing, and the soul becomes jivanmukta and attains Bhagavat. Your intellect is spoiled, so if a lapse in the discipline occurs and the Gurudev punishes us, it is a great auspiciousness, a very great auspiciousness. Punishment given by the Gurudev means you are already outside the law of Brahma and now under the law of the Gurudev. But this is understood less. The Gurudev is compassionate. He never gives a punishment we cannot bear. The greatest punishment is viraha: "Go, and for so many years do not come before me."

If he is a true disciple, within those years he will return having attained Bhagavat. But only a fortunate one has the disposition to bear the Gurudev's punishment. Otherwise, one begins to criticise and oppose. When you carry the discipline through to completion, a joy awakens in your heart, and that very joy brings about the attainment of Bhagavat.

prasann atma brahm bhuta prasann atma prasann atma brahm bhuta brahm bhuta prasann atma na sochta na kati

One who has become Brahman, whose self is serene, neither grieves nor desires.

Oh, hold on to these words. These are the words of the mahapurushas. Look, our honour is Shyama Shyama, and apart from that we have no other honour. If someone, like a child, gives us abuse or insults us, we feel our honour is lost. No, our dishonour can never happen.

When people abuse you, insult you, strike you, or do anything else to you, nothing is lost, because our honour is not the body. Our honour is not this respect or disrespect. Our honour is Shyama Shyam. Nothing can harm our honour, because it belongs to that imperishable Chidananda Satchidananda. That is why saints and mahatmas are regarded as above honour and dishonour, while the worldly person says, "Oh, he has abused me. Now my honour is gone. What honour is left? He has given me abuse." For the sake of that honour, for the sake of body-consciousness (dehabhimaan), people commit great offences.

Make a rule: in a state of heedlessness (pramaad), we will not do any conduct contrary to dharma. If it happens anyway, do the prayashchit yourself, or take permission from sants and mahapurushas: "We committed this offence. What should we do?" If they say, "Never do it again," no prayashchit is needed. If they say, "You are very wicked. How did such a mistake happen through you?" then that much itself completes the prayashchit. Gurudev may give punishment. One should be eager to receive punishment!

When Bhagwan Shri Krishna saw that Sudama was receiving the nectar of punishment, Bhagwan too (wanted the same), the same process of reciting the lesson. You too, the same. Gurudev gives the nectar of punishment. Hari, in whose lap the Vedas reside, from whose breath the Vedas manifested, forgot his lesson. He went with Sudama to fetch firewood, did he not? Bhagwan forgot the lesson, he who knows the three times, the omniscient one. But Gurudev, give the punishment. Shri Krishna, the same for you too.

These seven things nourish sadhana.

These seven things free a person from the entanglements of the world. The first is the complete absence of trishna. Understand trishna: suppose two or four days ago we ate and drank something, and now we keep remembering it, and we want to get the same food and drink again, or some other enjoyment. The desire to enjoy again an enjoyment already enjoyed is called trishna. Whether it is the enjoyment of the eyes, of hearing, of the sense of touch, of taste, of smell, of sight, of any sense, the desire to enjoy again an enjoyment already enjoyed is called trishna. And the sadhak in whom trishna has been completely eliminated, or at least some rules must be there in life.

Our first Gurudev was very strict in his observances. He had to remain hungry for many days. His rule was that he kept a coconut shell (khappar) like this. Once in twenty-four hours he took phalahar, and in the village only milk, potatoes, and jaggery were generally available. Since there was no one to tell him what to do, people brought milk and all the ingredients and put them together into the khappar: jaggery, potatoes, milk, all put in like this, and he ate it. If someone said, "Swamiji, take this," and he refused and turned the khappar over, then he would not eat anything for twenty-four hours. Earlier it used to be said: don't speak, just go quietly, put into the khappar like this, put in as much as you want, don't speak. If you put in enough, fill the khappar, and he would eat it with the potatoes. Many times he remained hungry for many days, because the habit of people is that they say, "Swamiji, no more," and then turn the khappar over. Then he would not take anything for twenty-four hours, and on the next day, when the alms round came again, he..

He was a very great tapasvi. At about ninety years of age, around 1992-93, he passed away (antardhyaan ho gaye). His mala used to run day and night, the mala kept going day and night. By his grace came this teaching: do naam jap with every breath (swaas swaas), and no doubt remains. We have seen great miracles with those who do swaas swaas naam jap, great bhagwatic miracles. There is tremendous power in bhajan. Maharaj Ji's niyam-nishtha was such that you should not even ask. Mostly this kind of deception used to happen. People's nature is that when four potatoes are put in, they say, "Enough, Swamiji," and that's it, finished, and they don't take anything again within twenty-four hours. Great rules and niyam-nishthas. So some niyam-nishthas should be there in one's life.

The first is the absence of trishna. Whatever enjoyment has been enjoyed comes up inside the mind, and then one feels, "Oh, let's enjoy it again," whether it is seeing, hearing, tasting, or the many kinds of enjoyment. There should be this: if someone asks you, "What will you eat today?" and you search inside, you should find nothing. What can we say? Because there is no trishna at all, no craving for enjoyment at all. Trishna means craving for enjoyments already enjoyed. So if someone asks, and on searching inside nothing is found, then for us, whatever is not like the Lord, neither this nor that, nothing comes up. That means there is no pretence (banawat) at all. Look inside and see that there is no desire at all, no desire to enjoy again an enjoyment already enjoyed. Trishna is completely absent, completely absent. It is very difficult, brother. See to it: the complete absence of trishna. And this trishna, like a witch, is devouring everyone. By repeatedly enjoying the same enjoyments, our trishna keeps growing, and the whole life gets destroyed.

Another is to bear hardship for the sake of observing one's dharma. To bear hardship for the sake of dharma. We tell you the truth: whatever practice you do with the body, that is what it becomes. Shawls, caps, mufflers and all the things of the world, yet the body still feels the effect of cold, and if it does not, then so be it. This skin knows how to remain just as you keep it. Not too much; if you wear appropriate clothing, that is fine. Too much is not for sadhus and mahatmas, it is not like that, because it is the Lord's command:

matra spate sheetosh sukh dukhda agma pano anityas tas bharat

Contacts of the senses, which bring cold and heat, pleasure and pain, come and go and are impermanent. Endure them, O Bharata.

There was an old mahatma who lived in a hut and did a great deal of bhajan. A very wealthy and respected man came and saw that the Swami was going about uncovered in the cold season, without a sweater. He said, "My child, you have nothing, what would you wear?" He went and brought a new, very fine sweater and gave it to him. The next day he came and asked, "Swami Ji, how was the sweater?" He said, "It is very fine." He asked, "Did you wear it?" No, it was hanging there. "Swami Ji, please put it on." The Swami said, "You brought it, and you can take it back whenever you like. It is hanging there. I have no desire to wear it. Arre, today or tomorrow you have to go, so go having earned something. Why go having lost? Chant naam abundantly, eat a little food, we have to leave this place. Chant naam abundantly. These walls will not go with you, money will not go with you, this body will not go with you, however much your belly grows." Bhajan-parayan, bhajan-parayan, is what he is saying: bear hardship for the sake of dharma. Shri Swami Anang Bodhashram Swami Ji Maharaj lived in 1820.

Ramlila was being performed in Chitrakoot. He watched the whole Ramlila very attentively. When Shri Ram was given fourteen years of exile, he wept. At that very moment he ran from there, along the bank of the Ganga, saying, "When my Lord has gone into exile, now I can never return home." He was so absorbed in this feeling, the mahapurush was so absorbed. He wept greatly as he ran from there, along the bank of the Ganga, until he reached Asani Ghat. When he arrived there, Swami Shankarananda Ji Maharaj, at whose feet he fell, said, "Maharaj Ji, give me sannyas."

Then the Maharaj said, "Son, your stage is not yet right for sannyas. Sannyas is given only after thirty to thirty-five years of age, because by thirty-five one's nature becomes known." The Swami saw his devotion and said, "By the rule of the scriptures, sannyas should not be given like this. But seeing your restlessness and dedication, it seems you will carry it through, so I give you sannyas." So the next day, in the sannyas rite, all clothes were removed. He was made to stand in the Ganga, and asked there, "Raise your hand and say, who in the world is yours?" The first answer is, "Narayana, no one but Narayana." Then the sannyas rite begins, and when the full rite was done, he became digambar. Then the Guru gave him a loincloth to cover his body, but he said, "Guru Ji, not now, not now. Once I have become digambar, no more." In our hands there is a picture of Swami Ji. What an auspicious form, with matted locks, digambar, naked and child-like. His whole life passed on the bank of the Ganga in just that way, open to cold, heat and rain. In summer the sand of the Ganga becomes so hot that if you put chana in it, it would be roasted. Maharaj would lie there, just as you make your body, brother, so it becomes.

We saw one mahatma in Chitrakoot on a triangular rock. Not a level rock, but a rock of that shape, in the middle of the Mandakini. We thought someone had arrived, so we asked Yugal Kishor, "Brother, has he come?" He said, "No, he is a mahatma of very high standing." At night, and in the day at noon, it was the same, so we said we would go and meet him. It was summer, and he was wrapped in a thick blanket, not a military-type thick blanket, not a black one, which he had draped. Our curiosity grew about this mahatma, and he had covered his face completely, on the same rock. There is no very large stream of the Mandakini near Anasuya Ji's place. When we went there, it appeared that he was there, but we did not go close, because one should not disturb a mahatma. If he is walking on his own or is awake, that is different. If he is in dhyan or in a sleeping posture, one should not speak to him. We don't know what mood he is absorbed in, or where. So we waited, and at night he came out. The whole blanket was like this, and he was in a completely avadhut state. The face we saw was so tender and child-like, with radiance blossoming from it. On his neck was a kanthi of tulsi. "Maharaj Ji, Maharaj Ji, I want to talk a little." He did not stop, so we ran ahead and said, "Maharaj Ji, please sit down for one minute." He sat down. "Speak, because our [sound of clearing throat] was also in sannyas garb, in saffron cloth." Seeing a sant, he showed grace. He did not usually talk to people. Our first question was: in such fierce heat, where not even a mosquito can be borne, and where there are rocks and the heat is even greater, how do you wrap yourself in such a thick blanket? That was his practice. The second question: why do you write on the triangular rock? He said, "To avoid distraction, to avoid diseases." The third question: how does your body get sustenance? He said, "I just went out. If I find something thrown away somewhere, or if some illness brings something to us, then it is given. It is like the people in Chitrakoot who would wait, thinking, whoever passes through this lane will give something, and God would surely provide through them."

Then our fourth question: "Maharaj Ji, please tell us something of your own accord." He said, "If the Guru mantra is chanted with an impure mouth, tendencies of lust, anger and so on arise and grow. You can chant the naam, the Lord's name, well. You cannot chant the Guru mantra carelessly." Today there is one more curiosity: seeing the kanthi, it seems you are a Vaishnav. Which sampradaya are you connected with? He said, "I am connected with the Madhav Gaudeshwar sampradaya." Then we said, "This is the worship of Priya-Pritam." He said, "Yes." So we said, "Then why did you not make Vrindavan your place of service?"

So they said that Shri Ji had ordered them from Vrindavan itself to go to Chitrakoot, so they are living in Chitrakoot. That is all there is to it. "So, Maharaj Ji, can we speak with you again sometime?" He said, "Never." And he set off, the great avadhut. In the fierce heat he wore a heavy blanket, and in the bitter cold he went digambar, unclothed. Think about that.

So, to follow our dharma, we should bear the hardships that come before us. The third point is to bear the pairs of opposites, cold and heat, happiness and sorrow, censure and praise, honour and dishonour, with an equal mind. Sevak Ji also says this, Maharaj. It is in the Kripa prakaran.

shatru mitra saman man apman sam dukh sukh labh nahan
Enemy and friend alike, honour and dishonour alike, sorrow and joy alike, gain and loss alike.

Whether you are a sadhu, a sadhak, or a bhakt, you will have to bear this. If you do not bear it, your standing will not rise, and your bhakti will not grow.

The fourth point is to study the Vedas and the scriptures, and to sing the names and qualities of Bhagwan. Naam and guna kirtan are essential. Whatever sampradaya you belong to, chant Bhagwan's naam, sing kirtan of the naam, sing the leela, and study the scriptures. Every day you should study some granth. Make a rule for yourself, and let a passion for svadhyay take hold of you. When you were in naishthik brahmacharya, even today there would be a box this big in front of you, long and full of granths. When your japa quota was complete, you would just sit down in solitude, in the forest, with the complete Mahabharat, Yoga Vasishtha, all of them. Wherever you found a granth, you would study it. Svadhyay had become an intoxication.

So the third point is to bear the pairs of opposites, and the fourth is to study the scriptures, sing naam kirtan, and sing the katha and leela of Bhagwan. The fifth point is to keep the mind under control. This mind is very restless.

man to chanchal saban te yako kaun upay sadhan ko hari bhajan hai kah satsang sahai
The mind is restless above all. What is its remedy? For spiritual practice, it is Hari's bhajan; satsang is the helper, so it is said.

If you listen to satsang every day, live according to satsang, and chant naam jap abundantly, then your mind will surely come under control. You will see, you will need no other means. Through the practice of naam jap and listening to satsang, vairagya from worldly pleasures arises. Through vairagya and practice, as your naam jap becomes firm, your mind will become steady, still, and calm. The desire for worldly pleasures will not remain. Truly, the desire for pleasures will not remain. And if you cause more trouble, you will no longer be fit for enjoyments. Write down both of these points. Our Bhagwan will perform such an operation that you will no longer be fit for enjoyment. So we feel you should eradicate the desire for pleasures.

It will be better that way. Otherwise, there will be an operation, and it is certain to happen. When he operates, it is a very bitter operation. In a worldly operation, an anaesthetic injection is given. In a devotee's operation, an injection of consciousness is given, so that you do not faint. Now understand how an operation would feel when you are fully conscious. It is just like that. "O Bhagwan, O Nath, O friend of the meek!"

So we feel it is better to take the medicine and let the disease settle, so that no surgery is needed. No, Devarshi Narad Ji had such an operation. Read his story and see. Don't ask. He even cursed Bhagwan, cursed his Ishtadev, his Aradhya Dev. Bhagwan's operation is very strange. Whoever had the operation reformed, and then fell again and again at his feet, saying, "Prabhu, never again! This operation must not happen a second time."

So Bhagwan says: do not let the boil grow again, and then why would there be an operation? So we feel the matter should never reach the operation. We feel that, by Bhagwan's grace, you should be careful from the start. Operations are such that only one path is seen. So keep the mind under control. Let no action be done that goes against the path of Bhagwan. The sixth point is to keep the senses under your control. The seventh is that your body and your inner self should be imbued with truthfulness. Your physical action should be truthful, and your inner self should have no deceit or guile.

By these seven things, your body will become pure, your mind will become pure, your senses will become pure, your nature will become pure, and you will attain the supremely pure Bhagwan.

Now let us proceed to Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran. The merciful Lord has reached Mathura. In the early morning hours the Lord rose, performed his daily rites, and, with his sakha and Shri Balram Ji, entered the city of Mathura for the first time. Since Vasudev Ji had taken him away from Kansa's prison, now he is entering Mathura Puri.

tam sampravishto vasudev nandno vrat vay nardev vartamna drisht sameerita purasta haran chava suka
Vasudev's son entered that city, and along the royal road he was seen, and the people of the city..

An uproar broke out throughout Mathura Puri: Gaur Sundar Balram Ji and Shyamsundar Shri Krishna Chandra Ji are arriving in all of Mathura. Everyone had heard of his glory: he killed Aghasur, Bakasur, and Putana, all of them, and he lifted Giriraj Ji with such glory. All these leelas were in everyone's heart, the wish that we should have the darshan of Shri Krishna first. [sound of clearing throat] Now at that time the Lord was walking along the royal road, and when word reached the front that Shri Krishna had arrived..

Now, as an immense crowd began to surround the Lord, the clever young women of Mathura climbed up onto the balconies. From there they showered flowers, and when eyes met the Lord's, darshan happened. Some were dressing, and they ran off just as they were, with only part of their clothes on. Some left their kundals, kankan, and ornaments right where they were wearing them and ran. It was like the state of the gopis: one had kohl applied to only one eye. Some were eating, and they threw down their morsel and ran. Whatever work people were doing, the people of Mathura heard that Shri Krishna and Balram Ji had come, and everyone ran. Shri Krishna was walking with the gait of a musth elephant.

Lord Shri Krishna Chandra, whose form as Shyamsundar delights Lakshmi ji, stole the hearts and minds of all the men and women of Mathura with his playful smile and loving sidelong glances, and brought them happiness. The people of Mathura had been hearing of the wondrous leelas of Lord Shri Krishna. Whether woman or man, there had long been a longing in their hearts: when would they see Shri Krishna? Today, when they heard that the very same Shri Krishna had come to the city of Mathura, everyone ran out. The Lord looked at everyone. There was not a single person whose eyes did not meet his.

He honoured everyone by bathing them in the nectar of a loving glance and a gentle smile. Through their eyes, all the people of Mathura seemed to take the Lord into their hearts, as if embracing him. The women of Mathura climbed onto the balconies of their palaces and showered flowers on Balram and Shri Krishna. Their lotus faces bloomed with the surge of love. Everywhere the Lord was being honoured. All of Mathura had been decorated, because Kansa had ordered that the bow-sacrifice leela would take place. Seeing the Lord, all the townsfolk said to one another, "Blessed, blessed!"

"Blessed are these people of Braj, who kept drinking the nectar of his form, filling their eyes again and again. Blessed are the gopis. What great austerity did they perform that they kept having darshan of Shri Krishna and Balram, who grant supreme bliss to all human beings?"

The Lord was walking along, and from the front came the chief washerman, who washed Kansa's clothes. He was very arrogant and a sinner, and a close associate of Kansa. He washed the royal clothes, so his pride was already high. The Lord said, "Hey, take out the finest of these clothes and give them to us. We are the rightful owners of these clothes, not Kansa. And look, I say this politely: if you give them to us properly, your supreme welfare will be assured. If you don't, your liberation will happen anyway. But if you give them out of love, that is fine; otherwise your liberation will still happen."

Parikshit, the Lord is complete everywhere; everything belongs to him. Yet the Lord asked anyway, "What do you do?" The washerman replied, "I wash Kansa's clothes." The Lord said, "Bring these clothes; we are their rightful owners. If you give them, your supreme welfare will be done." The Lord asked.

But that foolish servant of King Kansa was becoming very arrogant and intoxicated with his position. Giving back the Lord's property to the Lord was out of the question. Full of anger, he spoke insultingly and said, "You will keep wearing clothes like these. You live in the forests, among the mountains, so of course you wear clothes like these. You people have become very unruly, and now you are asking for King Kansa's garments. You want to take the king's property. Get out of Mathura!" He spoke to the Lord like this. He was very arrogant. "Get out. If you wish to go on living, leave immediately.

"Otherwise the royal officials will punish you right now. Uncouth fellows like you are imprisoned and killed. Get out, if you want to live." When the washerman began talking on and on in this way, the Lord said, "You will not listen." He was a powerful follower of Kansa. When he went on speaking harsh words to the Lord, the Lord went near him, and with a single slap his head broke off and fell away. Jai, the infinitely mighty Lord! Then all the other washermen threw down their bundles of clothes and fled. The moment the Lord granted the supreme abode to that one man, everyone ran away.

They did not know what they would gain from the touch of these hands. Everyone left the bundles of clothes right there and ran off. The Lord told his sakhas, "Wear the king's clothes as you like. All of this is our property." First the sakhas picked out clothes that fit Shri Krishna and Balram. But then, wanting to wear the king's clothes, the Lord's sakhas took whatever came to hand and tied and fastened it on however it fell. The remaining clothes they simply threw down there. As Shri Krishna and Balram moved ahead, there was a tailor who made his living stitching clothes.

He saw that the clothes were not sitting properly where they had been put on. The sakhas had worn them haphazardly, and the Lord's own clothes were a little too large, since they were Kansa's big garments. The tailor came and prostrated fully before the Lord, and first drank in the unmatched beauty of the Lord. Then he prayed, "Prabhu, if it is your command, let me cut and stitch clothes to fit you and your sakhas, and dress you." Because the clothes were not fitting properly, and since all the sakhas belong to the Lord, Balram and Shri Krishna Chandra gave a signal: yes, fine. So the tailor immediately cut and stitched the clothes. He first dressed Shri Krishna, then Balram, then all the sakhas. When he had finished dressing everyone, he stood before them with folded hands. The Lord said, "We give you a gift. Go. May you have abundant wealth in this world.

Let your property always remain in your house, may your physical strength never wane, and go; may you always remember us. May you receive the power to see and hear things far away, to see distant objects and hear distant sounds. Go, may your senses remain unfailingly strong, and after death, may you attain liberation in our form. Also, just tell satsang to whoever hears of our Shri Ji's costume. Oh brother, merely by stitching the Lord's clothes, see how great a thing it is: sarupya liberation, strong senses, a home and wealth that keep growing, and did the Lord not also grant you the power to see and hear from far away?"

Then he fell down full-length in prostration and was fulfilled. The Lord gave him unbroken remembrance of Himself and said that in the end he would attain sarupya liberation. Those who stitch clothes for Shri Ji, who make the Lord's garments, people say, "They also accept an offering." But service is not an offering. What would the offering amount to? An offering is a trivial thing. Suppose it is 1,000, 2,000 or 4,000: the Lord does not look at that. The Lord looks at the service. If the tailor needs it to support his family, that is separate. But look at the service that reaches Shri Ji and gives her joy, and see it in terms of your whole life. Listen to each service. He was not even handing over the cloth properly, yet the Lord gave him the supreme abode. And if he had offered the cloth with love, prostrating at the Lord's feet, the Lord would have given him His love.

See what was given to that tailor. In this world he received abundant wealth and property, strength and splendour, a memory that could see and hear far, and senses that stayed undiminished and strong. After death he was granted sarupya liberation.

Now, wearing fine, beautiful clothes, he went along with the sakhas, with Krishna and Balram in the middle and the sakhas around them in front. There was a house, the home of a garland-maker named Sudama. He used to make beautiful flower garlands and offer them to Kansa. When they reached the door in front, he ran out. He fell prostrate at the Lord's feet, placed his head there and bowed. Going close, he then said to the Lord, "Please come to my home." The Lord went to his house, which was right there on the road. He washed the Lord's feet and hands, and seated Him on a beautiful seat. When Krishna and the cowherd boys had sat down, Sudama worshipped the Lord and put beautiful garlands of fragrant flowers on Him. Devotees in sakhi bhava, the garland-makers, listen to what fruit comes from putting garlands on the Lord. Like the sakhis who keep busy adorning Him, making decorations of ten, fifteen, twenty kinds: when Sudama had put the garlands on the Lord, he prayed, "Prabhu, by seeing you both my birth has become fruitful.

Today my family is purified. Today my ancestors, the sages and the gods, have had their debts removed, and I am freed from them. A living being is freed from all three debts when he has direct vision of the Lord. Today, Lord, You are pleased with us, and that is why we have had Your darshan. Prabhu, You two are the supreme cause of the whole universe. For the prosperity, progress, and liberation of the world, You have descended onto this earth together with Your power, knowledge, and other parts. Prabhu, You love those who love You very much, and You worship those who worship You. Yet Your vision has no partiality, because You are the supreme friend and soul of all the world. If you say 'Krishna' just once, the Lord will certainly remember you. If the Lord does not remember you, you cannot even say 'Krishna'."

Sudama the garland-maker said, "Prabhu, I am Your servant. Please command me, tell me what service I should do for You." Being allowed to serve the Lord is a great grace on a living being, a complete mercy and favour. When he serves, it is a great kindness. Service to the Lord is received only by a great grace.

Sudama bowed again at the Lord's feet, and he adorned the sakhas and the Lord with beautiful, fragrant garlands and flower ornaments.

When Sudama the garland-maker had adorned the beautiful Lord with flower garlands, the Lord said, "Sudama, the garland-maker, I am very pleased. Ask for a boon. I am the soul of all beings, I am the form of everything. What do you want?" He replied, "Prabhu, we do not even know how to ask for anything. We don't know what to ask of You. Prabhu, I don't know what to ask." Then the Lord said, "Go, may you attain unbroken loving devotion at My feet, and may you come to love My devotees." This was the boon He gave. The boon is that loving devotion to the Lord's devoted lovers, unwavering bhakti, and a feeling of compassion for all beings should awaken in your heart.

Iti tasmai varam dattva, shriyam chanvayavardhinim, balam ayur yashah kantim nirjagama saha agrajah.
Having thus granted him boons, wealth that would multiply his family line, strength, long life, fame and radiance, Krishna departed together with his elder brother.

See what was given: unwavering loving devotion, love for devotees, a feeling of compassion for all living beings, and such wealth that it would keep passing down through the generations. Along with it, immense strength and long life, fame, and beauty were given. The Lord granted this boon. Those who make garlands for the Lord every day, who make flower ornaments and put them on Him, attain the Lord directly. If you get even the service of one flower, consider yourself very fortunate. If you get even the chance to mop one floor, consider yourself very fortunate.

Service to the Lord is attained by the Lord's grace. So the tailor was made blissful, and Sudama the garland-maker was made blissful. O Parikshit, after this, Shri Krishna moved forward along the royal road with His mandali. As they went ahead, a young woman was coming towards them. Her face was very beautiful, but her body was hunchbacked, and because of this her name was Kubja. Kubja was carrying sandalwood to offer to King Kansa. She had a sandalwood vessel in her hand. Shri Krishna is the giver of the nectar of prema rasa. He said to Kubja, "What is that in there?"

She was coming along the royal road, so she said, "There is sandalwood in it." He asked, "Who are you? Tell me the truth." She said, "I apply fragrant sandalwood paste to Kansa." He said, "If you give me this sandalwood, your welfare will come quickly." Kubja said, "O supremely beautiful one, I am indeed Kansa's maidservant. Maharaj loves me very much. My name is Trivakra Kubja, bent in three places. My work is to apply sandalwood to Kansa. The sandalwood and perfumed unguents that I prepare are very much liked by Bhojraj Kansa."

But you said, "Give it to me." So we feel that O Shyam Sundar, O Gaur Sundar, there can be no better worthy recipient than you. And she applied sandalwood to the Lord. While she was applying the sandalwood, the Lord stole her mind. He stole her mind. He is a mind-thief, friend. He steals everyone's. Why doesn't he steal from his own people? He steals from the crooked and the bent everywhere. His own people are yearning, "Steal us, Maharaj." And he says, "No, I won't steal." Oh, he won't steal. That is exactly the condition, isn't it? If he steals, that is his recognition: a voice choked with emotion, streams of tears, goosebumps, constant contemplation of the Lord. Now Maharaj, Kubja applied the sandalwood and glanced sidelong at Shyam Sundar, a crooked, arrow-like glance full of desire. Oh, the Lord is beautiful. Looking at his companions, he smiled. He smiled, looking at his companions.

She applied yellow sandalwood to the dark body of Shri Krishna and red sandalwood to the fair body of Balram Ji. She also made a very beautiful patravali (leaf design). The Lord saw that Kubja was very attracted, so he said, "I will make you a beautiful woman." She was crooked, though her face was already lovely. "Come, let us make you a beauty." He placed his foot on her foot, and Kubja straightened just a little. A wonderful beauty, and her face was beautiful anyway. Now Shyam Sundar placed his feet and his lotus hands like this, and straightened her like that, and she became perfectly straight.

Whoever became straight became so beautiful, as if an apsara had descended. Now that she had received Shyam Sundar's touch, she seized the yellow garment (pitambar) of Shri Krishna Chandra Ji. "Come, let's go home." The Lord looked at Balram Ji as if to say, "Dau Dada, look, she is joking in front of you." She had grabbed the Lord's pitambar, and smiling, she said, "Now come home. Now we will take you to Kansa's court. Come home." The Lord said, "It is not like that." She said, "How is it not? You have stolen our heart. I have now become your maidservant (dasi)." When Kubja spoke like this in front of Balram Ji, the Lord covered his face like this and looked at the cowherd boys, and the cowherd boys also smiled. The Lord said, "Sundari, your house is for removing worldly afflictions."

Right now I have a very great affliction. Kansa will first smash and kill him, and then I will come to your house. Surely I will come to your house. Look, for homeless wanderers like us, houses like yours are the only homes. The Lord joked and spoke sweet, sweet words. She said, "Will you surely come?" The Lord said, "Surely we will come." And he went. The Lord did go. But Kubja's name does not appear among the lovers. Kubja did not love for the Lord's pleasure; Kubja loves for her own pleasure. So Vyasadev Ji did mention her, but Vyasadev Ji called her "durbhaga" (unfortunate). The gopis were praised by the great brahma-rishis, because they were intoxicated with love for Shri Krishna.

Now the Lord said, "You go. I will surely come to your house." Somehow he freed his pitambar from her and sent her off. But we bow to Kubja Ji, because at least she applied sandalwood to our Lord's forehead, got to hold his pitambar, and had sweet talk with him. The Lord joked, "There will be a quarrel!" Oh, what is rare for you? You invited her into your house. Meeting secretly.. If he wished to give darshan in an assembly, only you could see him, so what is the trouble? Tell these people, "Become free of desire." How can one become free of desire? Say, "Love me." Just smile once and show it, and love itself will happen; everyone will be smitten with you. Mohan's smile was studied by the great brahma-rishis. There will be a quarrel. Through praise, many hearts.. Narsi Mehta Ji said, very angrily, "She is your aunt, and you met her? Whoever you see, you go and meet them." He got very angry: "Whoever you see, you go and meet them."

"You don't meet us." Gariya Baba got angry: "Your servant can manage without us, so we can manage without you." So he was a siddha mahapurush of the sakha bhav. He had met the Lord face to face. The Lord gave darshan to Gwalia Baba in the way of raman. It is not known how. He is not under anyone's control.

param swatantr na sir par koi bhave mane kare soi kaho jara si baat pe rijh jae
He is supremely free, with no one above his head. He does as he pleases. He is pleased by the smallest thing.

aur kaho pura jeevan tapasya karte hue muni man dhyan dharat le pavat bada vichitra khel inka
Even sages who practice austerity all their lives and hold their minds in meditation can barely attain him. His play is very wondrous.

Now the Lord moved ahead from there and reached the market of the merchants. When the merchants saw that the Lord had come, they brought all kinds of offerings and worship, and paid homage at the Lord's feet.

Whoever sees him becomes absorbed in the intoxication of love, whether man, woman, child, or old. They even lose awareness of their own bodily cleanliness. See, this state comes in a moment. Maharaj is joking. "Oh, suppose he manifests just once, and everyone goes mad in love for Krishna. What trouble is it for him? Will he lose anything? How can one say it? Through the microphone they are saying, once he appears, and with his flute, with Piyaji, everyone will be blissful. Right now such a disposition will become absorbed in the Lord." Look, they say that by mere darshan, the hearts of the people of Mathura, in the force of love, forgot even their own bodies. They stood staring at the Lord like statues. And if he were with Priyaji, what would happen? Now, our only hope is that someday some compassionate impulse of the Ocean of Mercy turns this way, sees our wretched condition, and shows mercy. Our plight is in Ahinchhatani.

Life is passing this way, and it is not even a tug-of-war. Lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride and envy are all pulling from over there, dragging the sadhak this way and that. The poor sadhak is pulled one way, then the other. It is a terrible plight. A mind that is constantly absorbed in the form of Bhagavan comes only through Their grace. It certainly comes through grace. Look, the awareness of the body has gone. This itself is the fruit of sadhana, that one should lose awareness of the body.

Those words flowing from the lips of the divine pair, hearing them again and again, who could forget the state of the body?

Those words flowing from the lips of the divine pair, hearing them again and again, who could forget the state of the body?

Give us such weeping, give us such longing, Maharaj, that we become restless for You. Look, perhaps They will listen. They are listening already. "Mad-bhakta yatra gayanti.." Narada, where naam and vani are sung, that is where it is. They are listening, but the real point is that They listen at some time. Now the Supreme Lord has manifested, and we have arrived. Ah, good, Maharaj, let there be great joy. It is Their home, Their home is Vrindavan. If the Lord manifests, what will be lost? When Sanak, Sanandan, Sanatan and Sanat Kumar recited the Bhagavat, the Lord did manifest. Great souls manifested and danced, such as Narada ji, Prahlad ji and Sukhdev ji.

The Lord had manifested. While the Sanakadi were speaking of the Lord, Shri Krishna asked the very pure and fortunate children, "Where is the bow sacrifice? Where is the arena?" The children, touching Him and holding Him like this, were delighted. The children of Mathura asked the Lord for the way to the bow sacrifice and the arena. The Lord went and saw a bow, richly decorated with very precious ornaments, and brave soldiers were guarding it. The Lord said to the guard, "Move aside."

They were attendants of Kansa, and when they did not move, the Lord pushed those soldiers away and entered. Playfully, with His left hand, He lifted the bow, drew the string, and in an instant He snapped it in the middle into two pieces, just as a mad elephant breaks sugarcane in play. That was no ordinary bow. The sound of the breaking bow filled the sky, the earth and all the directions. Kansa received the news that Shri Krishna had broken the bow, and he was certain that now he would be killed, because lifting and breaking such a huge bow alone meant death for us. The Lord took the pieces of that same bow. All the soldiers who wanted to bind Shri Krishna and kill Him, the Lord, in anger, with those pieces. Balram ji picked up one piece, and Shri Krishna picked up another, and He granted all the soldiers the supreme abode.

He had all of Kansa's soldiers killed. Kansa immediately sent a stronger army. After this, the Lord came out of the sacrificial hall and killed all those soldiers. Then, in joy, He wandered on, enjoying the beauty of the city of Mathura. When the citizens heard that the bow was broken and the guards were killed, Kansa sent soldiers again, and they too were killed. So that everyone might see the splendour, courage and incomparable form of the Supreme Lord, others also came. Great gods rode on their celestial chariots and showered flowers on the Lord. In this way, Shri Krishna and Balram roamed freely through the city of Mathura.

When the sun set, the two brothers, surrounded by cowherd boys, returned to where Nand Baba was staying. The great gods of the three worlds wished that Lakshmi would choose them, but giving up all of them, Lakshmi chose the Lord who did not desire her, and made Him her eternal dwelling place. The people of Mathura are seeing the beauty of every limb of Shri Krishna, the jewel among men. How fortunate they are. During the Lord's journey in Braj, the gopis, overcome with separation, had said things about the people of Mathura, and all of those things came true exactly as they were said.

Truly, the Lord bestows supreme bliss. All the people of Mathura are immersed in supreme bliss. The Lord is spending the night at Baba's place, resting after taking food and so on. Now, what the pastime is after that will be described next. Jai to Shri Radhavallabh Lal!

This text is taken from the video's auto-generated subtitles. It may contain word errors. For authentic words, be sure to listen to the video.

Original video: Shri Hit Radha Kripa (YouTube)