Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī's Appearance Day Bhagavad-gītā 18.5

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [break] [leads chanting of verse, etc.] [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat]

yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma na tyājyaṁ kāryam eva tat yajño dānaṁ tapaś caiva pāvanāni manīṣiṅām [Bg 18.5]

[Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not to be given up but should be performed. Indeed, sacrifice, charity and penance purify even the great souls.]

[break]

[01:15]

Prabhupāda: ...yajño dānaṁ tapaś caiva pāvanāni manīṣiṅām. There are four stages of spiritual life: the brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. For brahmacārī, yajña. Yajña means to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Varṅāśramācāravatā puruṣeṅa paraḥ pumān, viṣṅur ārādhyate [Cc Madhya 8.58].

[The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṅu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varṅa and āśrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varṅas and āśramas.’]

The whole scheme...

[aside:] I thinking I am feeling very hot. I have to take off...

In another place it is said, yajñārthāt karmaṅaḥ anyatra karma-bandhanaḥ [Bg 3.9].

[Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṅu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage.]

[sounds of Prabhupāda's sweater being removed]

[aside:] Hmm. That's all right. That's all right. Keep it now.

So brahmacārī, in the beginning of life—brahmacārī means beginning of life, student life—they must be trained up how to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the first training. The brahmacārī is trained up to rise early in the morning and offers fire sacrifice, then studies of Vedas, then saṅkīrtana. There are so many routine work for brahmacārī. So this must be executed. And for gṛhastha, dāna, charity. Gṛhastha must be prepared or trained up to give charity. And who will accept the charity? The charity will be accepted by the brahmacārī and sannyāsa. Not the vānaprastha. Brahmacārī will accept charity on behalf of the spiritual master. And a sannyāsī will accept charity only for his maintenance. That's all.

The gṛhastha cannot accept charity. But a gṛhastha-brāhmaṅa, he can accept charity, but he will not, I mean to say, accumulate money by taking charity. Whatever he gets, he must spend then. Dāna-pratigraha. Pratigraha means accept. But he cannot keep in bank, a bank balance. He must, whatever extra he has got, he must immediately give in charity. Then he can accept, a gṛhastha-brāhmaṅa, accept charity. There is a proverb in Bengali that "A brāhmaṅa, even if he gets one lakh of rupees, one hundred thousands of rupees, still he is a beggar." Because he will not keep it. He will not keep it for... He will immediately distribute it in charity. Therefore he is called in Bengali lakh take baundigi.[?] It doesn't matter he gets one lakh of rupees' contribution, but still he remains a beggar, because immediately he will distribute. So these things are very important things. Yajña-dāna-tapaḥ. And for sannyāsī and vānaprastha—tapasya. Tapo divyam [SB 5.5.1].

[Lord Ṛṣabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one's heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.]

Tapasya means accepting voluntarily all kinds of inconveniences. Voluntarily.

Now, the material activities are that we are trying to avoid inconveniences. Material life is. But spiritual life means to execute tapasya, austerity, penance, even at the risk of all inconveniences. This is called tapasya. So Kṛṣṅa says, yajña-dāna-tapaḥ kriyāḥ na tyājyam. You can give up your family life, but you cannot give up this yajña-dāna-tapaḥ. That you cannot, at any circumstances. These things must be continued. Yajña-dāna-tapaḥ na tyājyaṁ kāryam eva tat. Kāryam means "must"; you must perform. The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, karma-tyāgī, they do not work. Their principle is always study Vedānta philosophy, and whatever they require, a little, they will beg, taking alms from gṛhasthas, and live and follow the strictly the principles of austerity. They are very strict. Those who are really Māyāvādī sannyāsī, not false, they follow strictly three times taking bathing. Even in severest cold they must. They lie down on the floor and always read Vedānta and Sāṅkhya philosophy. But in spite of all these austerities, they do not approve the worship of Deity, the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because they are impersonalist, they do not worship.

So śāstra says that ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ [SB 10.2.32].

[[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.]

So these people, although they are thinking of themself as liberated, they have become liberated... The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs address amongst themselves: namo nārāyaṅa. Namo nārāyaṅa means every one of them has become a Nārāyaṅa. This is their philosophy. And from this namo nārāyaṅa principle, Vivekananda Swami has manufactured the word daridra-nārāyaṅa. So Nārāyaṅa has become very cheap thing for them. Everyone has become Nārāyaṅa. Everyone has become God. Just they say the rascal God is now in the hospital. God is under operation. [laughter] A "guruji" God. So they have no shame even, that "If I am God, I cannot cure my bodily pains, what kind of God I am?" But these rascals will proclaim that they are God, and there is set of rascals, they will accept, "Oh, here is God." Vivekananda also said that "Why you are finding out God? Don't you see, so many Gods are loitering in the street?"

So God has become a funny thing for them. No. We do not accept such God. Our God is different. Our God is:

yas tu nārāyaṅaṁ devaṁ brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ samatvenaiva vīkṣeta sa pāṣaṅḍī bhaved dhruvam [Cc Madhya 18.116]

Our Nārāyaṅa—that is real Nārāyaṅa, exalted—we cannot even compare with that supreme Nārāyaṅa with such demigods like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, what to speak of these rascals. Yas tu nārāyaṅaṁ devaṁ brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ, samatvena vīkṣeta. Any person, rascal, if he thinks that Nārāyaṅa is equal to Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva... There are Māyāvādīs, they say, "Any demigod is as good as Viṣṅu. You can worship any demigod. It doesn't matter. You..." Because their ultimate understanding is that the Absolute Truth is impersonal, and you can imagine any form, it doesn't matter; you ultimately reach that impersonal, merge into the impersonal. This is their philosophy.

But that is not the fact. The ultimate issue of the Absolute Truth is Kṛṣṅa, Bhagavān. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate [SB 1.2.11].

[Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.]

Absolute Truth is realized in three phases: first of all impersonal Brahman, then localized Paramātmā, and then the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28].

[All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.]

The Absolute Truth is described as Bhagavān, and there are many expansions of Bhagavān. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam [Bs 5.33].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth.]

Ananta-rūpa. Kṛṣṅa has expansion, millions and trillions. Just like as Paramātmā. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati [Bg 18.61].

[The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.]

Not only He resides in everyone's heart, but in every atom also.

aṅḍāntara-stha-paramāṅu-cayāntara-sthaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi. [Bs 5.35]

[He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.]

So Kṛṣṅa has got many expansions, but they are all one. Advaita acyuta. Just like you have got experience that the sun, if you have got millions of pots, the sun is reflected. You will find millions of suns. But although the sun is one, but we see that millions of suns are there in millions of pots. This is the understanding. God is one, but He can expand Himself in millions and millions. There is no question of counting. Unlimited, but still one. Advaita. Acyuta. The Māyāvādī philosophy is that because God has expanded Himself in so many, all-pervading, therefore He is finished. He is finished. Just like material conception: You take any big paper and make it into pieces and then throw it—the original paper is lost. There is no more existing. That is Māyāvādī philosophy. Māyāvādī philosophy means because God is all-pervading, therefore He has no form. He has finished His form. There cannot be any form. And this is material conception. This is not spiritual conception.

Spiritual conception is pūrṅasya pūrṅam ādāya pūrṅam eva avaśiṣyate [Īśo Invocation].

[The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.]

If Kṛṣṅa is the complete, supreme, so even He expands Himself in millions and trillions of complete form, still, He is complete. Still, He's complete. This is conception of Kṛṣṅa. So therefore avyaya. Avyaya means acyuta, avyaya. Acyuta means He does not fall. It is not like that, that in my bank I have got one hundred pounds; if I take one, two, three, four, five in this way, one hundred finished, my bank balance is finished. It is not like that. Kṛṣṅa is so complete that immediate forms may be expanded from Him; still, He is complete. Pūrṅasya pūrṅam ādāya. These verses you have already read in the Īśopaniṣad. So that is the conception of Kṛṣṅa.

So unless you, from the very beginning, you practice yajña, or if you are a gṛhastha, give in charity, and when you take sannyāsa, you undergo tapasya, how you will understand this philosophy? It is not possible. In the Kali-yuga, however, this yajña is not possible. As there are ritualistic yajña, sacrifice, as recommended in the Vedas, that is not possible. It is very expensive. You have to acquire so much ghee and grains and so many other things. Feed so many, daily, people. It is very difficult task to perform the ritualistic yajña. Therefore Kṛṣṅa has made easy. What is that? Yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ. That is recommended in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ [SB 11.5.32]

[In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṅa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṅa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.]

This is the process of performing yajñas. Yajña-dāna-tapaḥ. What is that yajña? Kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅam. Kṛṣṅa-varṅam. Varṅa means category. Just like brāhmaṅa-varṅa, cātur-varṅa. Varṅa means class. Cātur-varṅyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṅa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ [Bg 4.13], as Kṛṣṅa said.

[According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me. And, although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the non-doer, being unchangeable.]

So kṛṣṅa-varṅam: in the category of Kṛṣṅa. So kṛṣṅa-varṅa. Or "one who is describing Kṛṣṅa," varṅayati. Kṛṣṅaṁ varṅayati iti kṛṣṅa, iti kṛṣṅa-varṅa. Either belonging to the category of Kṛṣṅa... He is not belonging to the category of the jīva soul. He belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, kṛṣṅa-varṅa. Or chanting always the holy name of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣā akṛṣṅam. Means He is Kṛṣṅa... Because He belongs to the category of Kṛṣṅa, therefore He is Kṛṣṅa.

But we have got conception, Kṛṣṅa is blackish. Yes, that's a fact. Asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam. Asita. Asita means black. Asitāmbuda. So black cloud. Ambuda means cloud. Asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam. His complexion is like blackish cloud, but very, very, very, very beautiful. Kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīyam. He is so beautiful that many millions of Cupid cannot be compared with Him, although He is blackish. So here the same Kṛṣṅa, kṛṣṅa-varṅam, although He belongs to the same category of Kṛṣṅa, tviṣā, by complexion, akṛṣṅa. Akṛṣṅa. Akṛṣṅa means "not kṛṣṅa." So it may be any other color. It may be... There are so many colors. So akṛṣṅa. He's not kṛṣṅa, not blackish. So there may be...

But no. There are fixed colors for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śukla, śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṅatāṁ gataḥ. When Kṛṣṅa was born at Nanda Mahārāja's place, or Kṛṣṅa appeared, then... So according to Vedic system there is jāta-karma. As soon as child is born, immediately horoscope is made, and according to horoscope his name is given. There are daśa-karma. Daśa-karma. So one of these is at the birth, that before the child is begotten, there is one saṁskāra, garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. Similarly, after the child is born, then another saṁskāra, jāta-karma-saṁskāra. So there are so many saṁskāras. Saṁskārād bhaved dvijaḥ: By following the saṁskāra, purificatory process, one becomes brāhmaṅa: the upanayana-saṁskāra, the sacred thread saṁskāra.

So when Kṛṣṅa was having the jāta-karma-saṁskāra by Gargamuni, the priest of Vasudeva... He was sent to Nanda Mahārāja to perform the Kṛṣṅa's jāta-karma. So he was a learned astrologer. He said, "Nanda Mahārāja, your this son formerly had three other colors." Śuklo raktas tathā pīta. "He was of white color, He was of red color, He was of yellow color." Idānīṁ kṛṣṅatāṁ gataḥ. "Now He has appeared in blackish color." Idānīṁ kṛṣṅatāṁ gataḥ. So kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅam [SB 11.5.32].

[In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṅa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṅa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.]

Tviṣā means by complexion He is not black. Then He must be either of the three—white, red and yellow.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's color is yellowish golden color. Therefore it is said, "He is Kṛṣṅa, but now He has appeared in golden complexion." Kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣā akṛṣṅam. And sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam: "He is always surrounded by His associates." Aṅga, upāṅga. Aṅga means personal, and upāṅga means expansion of the expansion, which is called kalā. The first expansion is called avatāra, and when there is another avatāra from avatāra, that is called kalā. Rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan [Bs 5.39].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who manifested Himself personally as Kṛṣṅa and the different avatāras in the world in the forms of Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, etc., as His subjective portions.]

There is scientific analysis in the śāstra. Not that any rascal comes, "I am God." This is not acceptable. We have to understand śāstra-vidhi, as śāstra it is said.

So about Śrī Cai... Because Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so many rascals have imitated: "Well, this Nimāi Paṅḍita, if He can become avatāra, then why not GadadharPaṅḍita?" This Ramakrishna, his name was Gadadhar Chatterjee. So he was also imitation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Where is the reference in the śāstra? So far Caitanya Mahāprabhu is concerned, there are so many innumerable references, in Mahābhārata, in Bhāgavata, in Purāṅa, in Upaniṣad. Therefore we accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Not by rascal's vote, that "Let us vote this man is God; then he becomes."

So kṛṣṅa-varṅaṁ tviṣākṛṣṅaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam [SB 11.5.32]. He associated with other devotees—Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu, then Gadādhara Prabhu and Śrīnivāsa.

śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Whenever Caitanya Mahāprabhu is present, there are so many devotees. Gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. So sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam. This is the incarnation of Kali-yuga.

So yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ [SB 11.5.32]. Those who have got brain substance, not dull, filled up with cow dung, they cannot understand what is the saṅkīrtana-yajña. But śāstra says, yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ: "Those who have got nice brain substance, they can perform this yajña, saṅkīrtana-yajña." Then it fulfills the injunction of the Bhagavad-gītā, yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-kriyāḥ [Bg 17.24]. So for this saṅkīrtana movement, saṅkīrtana-yajña, in this age, before the Deity of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and associated withNityānanda, Advaita, others... If not all, at least Nityānanda or Gadādhara. Gaura-Gadādhara or Gaura-Nityānanda, or all of them, five. Śrī-kṛṣṅa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda. You have got Pañca-tattva? No picture here? It was there.

Devotee: When... Revatīnandana Swami takes with him traveling.

Prabhupāda: Oh, all right. So Gaura-Nityānanda is here. That's all right. So this is the yajña. So yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma na tyājyam. You cannot give up in any stage of life, but because the yajñas mentioned in the Vedas it is not possible to perform in this age, Kali-yuga, because they are mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ [SB 1.1.10].

[O learned one, in this iron Age of Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.]

In this age people may advertise themselves they are making very much progress—they are all unfortunate, disturbed. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyāḥ. Manda-bhāgyāḥ means unfortunate. And upadrutāḥ, always disturbed. This is the position of the people in this age. How they can perform the Vedic ritualistic ceremony? It is not possible. So this is the yajña.

So yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtanaiḥ, you keep Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and perform yajña, the saṅkīrtana-yajña, before Him, and you become all-perfect. So easy. So easy. Because you cannot give up yajña. But in this age, Kali-yuga, people are so unfortunate, so rubbish, that it is not possible to perform the Vedic ritualistic yajña. That is not possible. Therefore Kṛṣṅa has given you the opportunity that you can perform. Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṅuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ [SB 12.3.52].

[Whatever result was obtained in Satya-yuga by meditating on Viṣṅu, in Tretā-yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dvāpara-yuga by serving the Lord's lotus feet can be obtained in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra.]

Makha means yajña. That was being performed in the Tretā-yuga. And in the Satya-yuga, meditation. In the Dvāpara-yuga, Deity worship. Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. In the Kali-yuga, simply by kīrtanād eva kṛṣṅasya [SB 12.3.51].

[My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṅa mahā-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.]

And this is the śāstra's injunction.

So I am very pleased that you are keeping this center nicely in our own standard by performing yajña, by saṅkīrtana, and today is Rādhāṣṭamī. You perform. Our yajña is saṅkīrtana, and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṅī is the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṅa. Rādhā kṛṣṅa-praṅaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād ekātmānāv api deha-bhedaṁ gatau tau, śrī-caitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā tad-dvayaṁ caikyam āptam [Cc Ādi 1.5]. When Kṛṣṅa... Kṛṣṅa is one, ekam advitīyam. But eko bahu syāt, He can expand Himself. So when He wants to enjoy, so the pleasure potency is manifested from His personal body. That pleasure potency is Rādhārāṅī. Rādhārāṅī is not ordinary living entity. Rādhārāṅī is Kṛṣṅa's personal pleasure potency, hlādinī-śakti.

So just today is the appearance day of hlādinī-śakti. So if you want to please Kṛṣṅa... Because our business is to please Kṛṣṅa. Hari-toṣaṅam. Our this movement is hari-toṣaṅam. Saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam. Ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṅāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ. Varṅāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ. Svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṅam [SB 1.2.13].

[O best among the twice-born, it is therefore concluded that the highest perfection one can achieve by discharging the duties prescribed for one's own occupation according to caste divisions and orders of life is to please the Personality of Godhead.]

Not only our. This is the aim. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is also said, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ [Bg 15.15].

[I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.]

The whole Vedic literature is meant for searching out Kṛṣṅa and to satisfy. So Kṛṣṅa personally comes to give you the information. Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅam [Bg 18.66]:

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

"You rascal, you give up all these engagements. Simply you surrender unto Me."

And what about other demigods? There are so many demigods. What we have to do? Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ [Bg 7.20]: "This demigod is worshiped by persons who have lost all intelligence." Hṛta-jñāna. Hṛta-jñāna means naṣṭa-buddhayaḥ, one who has lost intelligence. There is no need. Simply mām ekam. That is the instruction of Bhagavad... That is the śāstra instruction. Viṣṅur ārādhyate panthā nānyat tat-toṣa-kāraṅam. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṅum [SB 7.5.31].

[Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Viṣṅu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold miseries.]

Oṁ tad viṣṅoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti [Ṛg Veda 1.22.20].

[The lotus feet of Lord Viṣṅu are the supreme objective of all the demigods. These lotus feet of the Lord are as enlightening as the sun in the sky.]

This is Ṛg Veda mantra. Actual aim of life is to satisfy Lord Viṣṅu, and Kṛṣṅa is the origin of viṣṅu-tattva. And He is pleased through Rādhārāṅī. Therefore we don't keep Kṛṣṅa alone. No. Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa. First Rādhārāṅī.

So that day is today. First you have to worship Rādhārāṅī. If you go through Rādhārāṅī... Therefore in Vṛndāvana you will see all devotees, they will address one another, "Jaya Rādhe." Still. Because they know that "If Rādhārāṅī is pleased, if I can please Rādhārāṅī..." Rādhārāṅī is presented the original pleasure potency, always absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṅa. So anyone who comes before Rādhārāṅī to serve Kṛṣṅa, oh, She becomes so pleased, "Oh, here is a devotee of Kṛṣṅa." She immediately recommends, "Kṛṣṅa, oh, here is a devotee. He is better than Me." This is Rādhārāṅī. I may be a..., not devotee. I may be most fallen rascal. But if I try to reach Kṛṣṅa through Rādhārāṅī, then my business is successful. Therefore we should worship Rādhārāṅī first. That is our business. Instead of offering directly one flower to Kṛṣṅa, you just put it in the hands of Rādhārāṅī: "My mother Rādhārāṅī, jagan-mātā, if You kindly take this flower and offer it to Kṛṣṅa." "Oh," Rādhārāṅī says, "Oh, you have brought a flower?" Kṛṣṅa said, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg 9.26],

[If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.]

but don't try to offer Kṛṣṅa directly. Just offer through Rādhārāṅī. It will be very much appreciated by Rādhārāṅī.

So this is our philosophy, to please Kṛṣṅa through Rādhārāṅī, and just today is the auspicious day of Rādhārāṅī's appearance. So we should offer puṣpāñjali and pray to Rādhārāṅī that "Rādhārāṅī, kindly be merciful and tell about me to Your Kṛṣṅa. To Your Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is Yours." Kṛṣṅa, Rādhā-Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa is not independent. Kṛṣṅa is Rādhārāṅī's property. So you have to approach Kṛṣṅa through Rādhārāṅī. That is, today is the auspicious day. Worship Rādhārāṅī very nicely and be happy.

Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Devotees: Haribol... [end]