Nitai is Balaram

The many aspects of the eccentricity of Nityananda defeat the madness of illusory existence without the Lord.  Without Balaram we will believe the uniqueness of Maya. For the mercy of Lord Nityananda we can realize the existence of the Lord in  mantras. Balarama embodies the  quality of omnipresence of the Lord.  For the grace of Lord Nityananda we receive the Mahamantra and for His grace we hear it while we chant it.  By developing infinitesimally one quality of one  mouth of Ananta Sesa, Lord Balaram, we transcend the material energy.  The intent of the creation as enacted by Lord Balaram is spiritual. Lord balarama is in constant expansion through each sound which is uttered to glorify the Lord. Whatever form re-establishes the existence of the Lord is Balaram. Lord Balaram when manifests His lila in the material world is often furious because the refusal of the Lord, present only here, is the  challenge to Him, who is the very existence of the Lord.

"The Sesa who is the adhara-sakti (supporter-power) of the bedstead of Visnu (Wielder of the Sarnga bow), is in the category of God (Visnu-tattva).

The Sesa who bears the globes is an avesa-Avatara (absorption-avatara) of Krsna (or Sankarsana), and therefore He is (also) known as Sankarsana. The bedstead feature of Sesa always considers Himself to be an eternal servitor and friend of the Lord Sarngadhara (wielder of the Sarnga bow)."Bhaktisiddhanta S. Thakur

           Nitai is Baladev         ⁽¹⁾

without chess board

but with a love load

abandoning all rules

has become an avadhut.

Balaram is the throne,

the umbrella, the flute  

Nitai is the servant of Mahaprabhu,

Nitai is Baladev and Ananta Sesa,

with thousands mouths

chants "Hari Hari" in Gaudadesha;

Nitai is Balaram

the sustainer of the worlds

catches Nimai

who in love sways and falls, ⁽²⁾

always by His sides

Nitai holds his crackedling throne. ⁽³⁾

Nitai is Baladev, unarmed

shooting love through His glance

brings the river of prem,

without a plow in His hand;

Balaram constantly, repeatedly

expands in sound

Nitai graces all entities

with the Great Mantra

and the abilitity to hear it

as the Paramatma.

Balaram is Nitai, 

who carries a staff

His clothes are blue

wears one earring

and has become an avadhut.

Balaram has the gait of an elephant

reveals force and power

but Nitai, with the soft feet of a dancer 

intoxicated by sweetness, meanders;

Nitai is Balaram causing an ocean to rise

the heart cannot stop to dance and to cry

leaving the ego and the pride

to drown and die.

Nitai is Balaram the upholder of rules

but now is an avadhut.

1         1)    CC Adi 5.6 "That original Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in Navadvīpa as Lord                       Caitanya, and Balarāma appeared with Him as Lord Nityānanda."

2)    ”As the powerful Nityananda caught hold of the Lord, Advaita secretly took the dust from the Lord’s feet.”  Caitanya Bhagavata MK 8.143

3)    “He (Caitanya) sat down upon Vishnu’s throne.  The seat crakled under His weight.  Nityananda quickly rushed to hold up.” Caitanya Bhagavata MK 8.283

Disturbances in Vraja

SD 10.22.34  "These trees fulfill one's desires with their leaves, flowers and fruits, their shade, roots, bark and wood, and also with their fragrance, sap, ashes, pulp and shoots."

This sloka is spoken by Krishna to the cowherd boys.  He is describing the pleasure that the trees give to him for their nature of using their life and qualities to serve others.

"Disturbances in Vraja" is the way Bhaktivinoda Thakura called the anarthas, which are the greatest impediment for the conditioned jiva to enter the spiritual world. The tree of the ego that we have grown in lifetimes of vicious activities carries the leaves of bad qualities and egotistical mind set.  So the devotee by sadhana bhakti with faith, devotion and concentration, should let all these leaves to go and transform the tree of envy, the anchor to material life, into one of the trees that give happiness to Krishna, because everyone's happiness is in Krishna's happiness.  This realization can start the process for clearing the anarthas (or anartha nivrtti).

Ripe and ready

for the transforming wind

of the autumn season,

that clears the sky, the waters    

            and the mind,         ⁽¹⁾

I let go the leaves

from the tree of my ego,

I'll not feel pain

letting go the dead leaves

of arguments and conflicts,

growing instead a soft smile within,

while the emptiness of my heart

rustles and is blown away like a dry leaf.

I will look at untruthfulness,

false pretense, hypocrisy

and desire for superiority,

as brown parched leaves

releasing them with joy

into the purifying gusts

of this wind,

feeling peaceful and free

as the leaves of deception

and conceit

drop from my tree;

without hesitation

I will look into layers

of memory

       from where unwanted results       ⁽²⁾

life after life have sprouted,

and now are yellow stale leaves

ready to be detached from the tree

by this wind of mercy.

My heart will rejoice

when finally Krishna,

seated in my heart,

crushes with His weight

of sweetness

the remaining hard-shelled

acorns of pride, vanity

and the stardom-me

then with consciousness filled

with devotion,

in bliss and relieved

that I, like the tree,

now denuded of envy,

am ready to sprout anew,

and give happiness to Krishna

               with leaves, shoots,             ⁽³⁾

flowers and fruits.

1) SD 10.20.32-33 "... the fall season arrived, when the sky is cloudless, the water clear and wind gentle.

"The autumn season, which regenerated the lotus flowers, also restored the various bodies of water to their original purity, just as the process of devotional service purifies the minds of the fallen yogis when they return to it."

2) Literal translation of the word "anarthas".

3) CC Adi Lila 3.63 " [...]His smiling glance at once drives away all the bereavements of the world, and His very words enliven the auspicious creepers of devotion by expanding their leaves."

Debt of Love

CC Antya Lila 7.43 "The conjugal love of the gopīs is the most exalted devotional service, surpassing all other methods of bhakti. Therefore Lord Krishna is obliged to say, 'My dear gopīs, I cannot repay you. Indeed, I am always indebted to you."

Prema-vilas - Ch 7. Text 126-127  by Srila Nityananda Das

"Feeling separation from Me, Radha and the gopis have given up Their lives.  Now I shall also give up My life for her.  You will see me in that condition, O Lokanath."

Excerpted from Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu Issue No134

"With that prema they [gopis] have given up everything. [...] By their love, Krishna's promise was broken. His pormise is -'As someone approaches me I reciprocate accordingly' {Bg 4.11} Krishna never becomes indebted, He always repays his debts. But this promise of his was broken by the gopis, because the gopis do not want anything, how will he repay them?

[...] {Bhag. 10.32.22} "I have become completely indebted to you. I cannot pay you back, because you don't want anything. What shall I do?"

To pay back his debt he became Gaura, assuming the mood of Radharani is crying and feeling acute pangs of separation from Krishna. This is Gaura. [...] As Radharani is crying, crying, crying and drowning herself in this unfathomable ocean of separation, similarly Gaura is burning himself with the fire of separations from Krishna."

Nothing is as before

by Lakshmipati das (Italy)

This poem is a manifesto about the spiritual revolution that the appearance of Lord Gauranga Avatari brought about also within the context of the Vedic thought. He, as the Supreme Lord, disclosed the most revealing conclusions by asserting one fundamental principle that the goal is bhakti and the externals of religions are secondary.

This poetry was inspired by a prayer of Srila B R Sridhar Deva Goswami:

"At a time when religion was evaluated in terms of bodily relationship, saintliness was determined by ignorance, and yoga practice was motivated by sensual pleasure; when scholarship was cultivated just for voidism, japa was conducted for the sake of fame, and penance was performed out of vindictiveness; when charity was given out of pride, and on the pretext of spontaneous devotion the most gross, sinful acts were perpetrated - and in all such anomalous situations even the intelligentsia were at loggerheads with one another...." 

SB 10.23.43-44"...These women have never undergone the purificatory rites of the twice-born classes, nor have they lived as brahmacārīs in the āśrama of a spiritual master, nor have they executed austerities, speculated on the nature of the self, followed the formalities of cleanliness or engaged in pious rituals. Nevertheless, they have firm devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose glories are chanted by the exalted hymns of the Vedas and who is the supreme master of all masters of mystic power. We, on the other hand, have no such devotion for the Lord, although we have executed all these processes.”

Nothing is as before ~

divine love has been exposed,

religion is not something to long for

nor is liberation the scope;

heaven is not where eternality belongs

austerities may dry the soul,

saintliness is not what it appears on the surface

nor is measured by disciples and fame;

the Absolute Truth is no longer unnamed

or lost in the void,

knowledge no longer resides only

in logic and rhetoric,

temples are not places petrified in rites,

the hymns, echoing from stones

lost in the mist of time,

are no longer the swords of priests

to control the world,

when bereft of mercy

they fueled fears with holy curses;

Nothing is as before ~

the moon of Gauranga Avatari arose

and His moonlight has exposed

that liturgies harbor pride,

faithlessness is behind

enforced rules and roles,

no longer a means to reach God,

just meager profits on the altars

of evil and good,

of righteousness and virtue,

where bhakti never blooms;

charity, rituals, gender, caste and pride

are burning votive lamps

on materialist shrines

barren of devotion,

where compassion also dries

and also yoga fails

there is no determination

to contain the senses

nor to reach liberation;

the most Munificent Lord

came to deliver every soul,

to show the way beyond

spontaneous love was disclosed,

nothing is as arid and lacking of joy

as before,

bhakti 

is spontaneously and blissfully performed.

 love 
cannot be imposed.

Robbed Heart - Lyrics - ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ The song of Gadadhara Pandit♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ 

To taste Radha's love Krishna plundered her heart of love ....

♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ To listen the song click :

https://soundcloud.com/mauro-auaro/robbed-heart

and see the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHdhBufVlYE&t=13s

LYRICS

The Golden Moon 

            Rose and robbed my heart

Shines with the wealth 

            Of my stolen love

Like an emptied husk

            Blown by the wind

I follow now 

            The owner of my love

Emptied like a night

            Plundered of moonlight

I live like a shadow

            Of my own heart

The broken-winged bird

            Which is my heart

Unable to fly

            The moods of love

My heart ransacked

            I live exiled

Now onlooker

             Of my own love

Emptied like a night

            Plundered of moonlight

I live like a shadow

            Of my own heart

R)        I’m broken my heart was robbed of Love

            I was an ocean – now without waves

            This life had a dawn without light

            In a dark moon night.

The Golden Moon 

            Rose and robbed my heart

Shines with the wealth 

            Of my stolen love

Like an emptied husk

            Blown by the wind

I follow now 

            The owner of my love

Emptied like a night

            Plundered of moonlight

I live like a shadow

            Of my own heart

R)        I’m broken my heart was robbed of Love

            I was an ocean – now without waves

            This life had a dawn without light

            In a dark moon night.

                        In a dark moon night.

                                    In a dark moon night.

Simultaneously in Goloka

This poem is the poetic rendition of a pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu as narrated in Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya Lila 229-235 (See page n. for the whole story). It belongs to the category of poems related to my personal search for the continuity and simultaneous vision of the pastimes of the Lord as both Krishna and Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

CC Madhya Lila 11.221-224 "In His own pastimes in Vrindavana, when Krishna used to eat on the bank of the Yamuna, every gopa would perceive that Krishna was looking at him.

In the same way, when Caitanya Mahaprabhu observed the dancing, everyone saw that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was facing him.

When someone came nearby while dancing, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would tightly embrace him." 

"Upon seeing the great dancing, great love and great sankirtana, all the people of Jagannatha Puri floated in an ecstatic ocean of love."

Jaiva Dharma Ch.17   "Then there are devotees who in their period of sadhana worship both Sri Krishna and Sri Gauranga. After obtaining liberation they acquire two transcendental forms and serve Sri Krishna in Krsna-pitha and Sri Gauranga in Gaura-pitha simultaneously.  This is the divine and confidential mystery of the inconceivable, simultaneous oneness and difference of Sri Krishna and Sri Gauranga." 

Radiant like the air

at dusk,

the sweetest Lord,

with as much rice

as His hand could hold,

filled each plate.

In a row everyone sat 

and after Him, they ate,

then amidst them

He started to dance

and any shadows were dispelled;

From the blue town

people flocked

and crowded around,

as the sweeping waves of love

crashed Him to the ground,

while an ocean of tears

washed upon and drowned

the shore-like eyes

of all who came nearby.

Anyone close to the Lord,

within the reach

of His limbs,

was embraced by Him,

and all the dancers

in all directions,

and the singers

 on all sides, near and far,

everyone who was present,

met his eyes

in the same moment,

and each one,

at the same time,

felt to be the only one

beheld by that glance. 

O reader, now please

see this same scene,

the same youth,

but with blue skin

 as He sat on a rock,   ⁽¹⁾

in the blossoming of spring,

yogurt and rice in His hand

  and dates to share  ⁽²⁾

with His friends.

While they ate

He gazed at them

one on one,

facing each friend,

eye to eye

in the same moment,

and each one felt

at the same time

to be the only one

beheld by His glance.

And so, in the way

only the soul can

walk into Vraja and Navadvip

at the same time,

because in the spiritual realm

the two sacred places

simultaneously exist,

here it is difficult to conceive,

there just one chord weeps

 in separation and in union ~

this is the secret gift

of the Golden Lord appearing in Navadvip.

________________________________

(1) Gopala Campu “In the monsoon, Krishna with his friends takes shelter under a tree to avoid the rain and eats dates grown in beautiful valleys.  He sits on a stone slab near the water eating rice mixed with yogurt and calls the cows that are far away.  These activities attract our [Gopi's] hearts.”

(2) SBB 5.30 Comm. "Holding in His hand a very nice preparation of yogurt and rice, with pieces of suitable fruit between His fingers, He sat like a the whorl of a lotus, looking forward toward all His friends ..."

Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya Lila 11. 229-235 

.... in the middle of them the Lord Himself, known as the son of mother Saci, began to dance.(215)

When the tumultuous vibration of sankirtana resounded, all good fortune immediately  awakened ...(217)

When the congregational chanting began, ecstatic love immediately overflooded everything, and all the residents of Jagannatha Puri came running.(218)

(229-235):

When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu fell down to the ground, Sri Nityananda Raya Prabhu lifted Him up.

The tears from the eyes of the Lord came out with great force, like water from a syringe. Indeed, all the people who surrounded Him were moistened by His tears.

While kirtana was going on, there was a transformation of ecstatic love and much tears, jubilation, trembling, perspiration and deep resounding in the body of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Upon seeing this transformation, all the people present became very much astonished.

While this dancing was going on, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu watched them and performed a miracle. 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu stood in the middle of the dancers, and all the dancers in all directions perceived that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was looking at them.

Wanting to see the dancing of the four great personalities, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited this miracle of seeing everyone simultaneously.

Everyone who saw Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu could understand that He was performing a miracle, but they did not know how it was that He could see on all four sides.