Wholesale Satisfaction
In Vrndavana we will find that our thirst for any higher change of the environment, any change of association, need no longer be quenched. There is thirst, an eternal thirst for a closer relation with Them. There is no possibility of any higher change of the environment. The only remaining question is how to come into closer connection with that environment. And that becomes the initiative of our movement there, more and more intimate connection with that environment.

The environment is eternal, but in the intimacy of connection with the competition, there is movement. And guidance is given according to that. In this way there is progress. There is some sort of necessity by which the service is moving. And there is repetition, a kind of repetition, but it is ever-fresh and ever-new! In that plane, there is movement of time, but it is eternal. It is managed by Yogamaya.

And finally, when we come to that plane, we will attain the fullest satisfaction of all the inner parts of our system, the wholesale satisfaction of every atom of every constituent part of our spiritual body. Prati anga lagi kande, prati anga mora. "Every part of every limb cries for union with the corresponding part of every limb of the other side." The sambandha relationship with the environment may come to such a stage, that every atom constituting our spiritual body and mind, will aspire after union with every corresponding part of the environment.

In this way, in such a friendly way, so many are moving there, and it is adjusted accordingly by Yogamaya. This is the highest conception. Prati anga lagi kande, prati anga mora, "Every atom of my existence is in loving correspondence with the environment, and that is Krsna. Krsna consciousness has surrounded me. From all sides it has embraced me. I am lost in the world of Krsna consciousness. Every atom is feeling as if it is experiencing a separate pleasure in His embrace."

Source of All Other Rasas
This is possible only in the consorthood relationship, where every atom has been embraced, captured, by coming into the most intimate connection with Him. It is called adi-rasa, or mukhya-rasa. It is the most original and the source of all other rasas. Mahaprabhu came with this gift: madhurya-rasa. It is anarpita carim cirat, that which was never distributed before.
If Mahaprabhu had not appeared in this Kali-yuga, how could we tolerate our life, how could we sustain our very life? What He has given, it is the very gist of life, the very taste, the charm of life. Without that we think it is impossible for anyone to live in this world. Gauranga has revealed such a thing to us. If He had not come, then how could we live? It is impossible to live devoid of such a holy gracious thing as love divine. How could we know that Radharani stands above all in the world of love divine? All things we have obtained from Him, and now we think that life is worth living. Otherwise, living was suicidal.

In this human life we have some sort of connection with that, but still we are passing our days in wild goose-chases. How much of our time can we devote for the quest? Many things of scarce importance are encroaching on our time and energy, and we can't concentrate on this holiest prospect. We are not to be blamed any less than those that have no clue. They have their solace; they do not know. But we are more culpable.

Knowing more, we are more responsible. What explanation do we have to give our masters? We knew to a certain extent, but still we used our energy defectively, we wasted our energy. How will we explain? We are more condemned. To serve those that can serve Her, that is the way to approach Her, serving Her servants' servants. Our future is insured if somehow we can be counted in the group of the servitors of Sri Radhika.

Rasa-The Positive Conception of Liberation
For the Vaisnavas, the students of the Bhagavata, the followers of Mahaprabhu, our fate is sealed in search of Krsna. We don't want anything else but Krsna. The Bhagavata has been described as the ripe fruit of the tree of the Veda. The Veda has produced the fruit out of its own accord. What is that? Rasa. Svayam Bhagavan Krsna Vrajendra-nandana. That is the ripened fruit of the tree of the Veda. Veda means the embodiment of revealed truth, and this inner current is producing the fruit. And the fruit, when it is ripe, is the Bhagavatam.

But out of our own prejudice, we try to get something from the Veda, the tree. The animals try to chew the leaf, someone will cut the root, but the natural product of the Veda, the highest revealed truth is Krsna. Raso vai sah; sraddhaya mayan lokam. Through our faith we can get that rasa of the highest order. That is the gift of the highest order. That is the gift of all the Vedas.

Veda-mata gayatri, she also aims at that pleasure object. I have tried my best to show that sort of meaning from gayatri. Ganat-trayate, that which by chanting produces liberation. And what is the definition of liberation? Svarupena vyavasthitih: to engage ourselves in our innermost duty. Gayatri is directed towards that goal.

The Ripened Fruit
Krsna's vamsi, His flute, is also doing the same thing. In the highest place we find proper adjustment for our service. That is the sound. And Krsna's vamsi is also doing this through its sound. The sound gives impression, inspiration to anyone and everyone. "Come to my sweet service, engage yourself in my sweet service." That is the call of the flute of Krsna, and of Gayatri, Veda-mata. There in the Veda the same thing is said, and that is in the flute.

What is in the Veda, is in the flute. And in the middle there is also the Veda, Sruti, Vedanta, Bhagavatam. Nigama kalpa taror galitam phalam, Vyasadeva says in his introduction to Srimad Bhagavatam. What is the necessity of this new book? This is nigama kalpa taror galitam phalam. Nigama means Veda, and it is compared to a tree. And this Bhagavatam, the natural ripened fruit, comes of its own accord. It is not forced. Of its own accord, the tree gives fruit, and the fruit is ripe, and it is Bhagavatam. So, we drink the juice, bhagavatam rasam alayam muhur aho rasika bhuvi bhavukah.
If we have real thinking capacity, this normal hankering, we must come to drink this rasam. This is the natural product of the Veda-kalpataru. This gayatri ganat trayate. If we chant the Gayatri mantra we will be liberated, emancipated. The positive conception of liberation is svarupa-siddhi, self-determination. And in self-determination we must come in contact with Krsna in different rasas to get our assured and attached service. And thereby we can imbibe the real juice to make our life fulfilled. Our fulfillment is there. Otherwise, all our attempts are fruitless labor. We must only utilize our energy in the proper way, to make our lives successful.

This advice from the revealed scriptures is meant for all of us. Srnvantu visve amrtasya putrah. "Oh, you sons of nectar, please listen. You are born for amrta, you were born to taste nectar. And you must not be satisfied with anything but amrta. Awake, arise! Search for amrtam, that nectar, that satisfaction. Om! A big Yes! Yes! What you seek, it exists! Don't be disappointed! The revealed scriptures say that it exists. Your thirst will be quenched. You are meant for this by nature; you deserve it. Don't be afraid. Don't be cowed down. In your real being, it is already given, it is there. You can never be satisfied anywhere else. Prepare yourself to receive the result of your long search, the long missing amrtam in the full form, in full quality. We should have no other business, no other engagement, but krsnanusandhana."

Radha-dasya
When I was in Madras, Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja took place at the Caitanya Matha in Mayapura. Professor Sannyal had written an article in English for the occasion. He wrote, "I do not know Krsna, but because you tell me that I am to worship Krsna, I do it." I could not understand the meaning of this statement, the internal meaning. I could not help but wonder why he had said this. Three or four years later, an incident occurred at Radha Kunda that helped me to understand.

Paramananda Brahmacari came to Prabhupada and reported that the Diwan of Bharatpura State was circumambulating Radha Kunda by prostrating himself on the ground and slowly advancing by measuring the length of each successive prostration. Paramananda Prabhu told Prabhupada with much ardor, "They have so much esteem for Radharani!" Prabhupada then came out from his inner quarters and said, "Yes, but their concern for Radharani and our concern for Radharani are quite different. They come to Radharani because She is Krsna's favorite; but our position is the opposite. We worship Krsna because He is Radharani's favorite. Our interest is in Radharani, and Krsna is Her favorite. And only because She wants Krsna do we have any connection with Him."

At that time I could not understand what Professor Sannyal had written. Then later I read that some jivas are born out of Baladeva's anga-jyoti, the brahmajyoti, the non-distinguishable divine effulgence. That is the source from whence some of us are born. Some have connection with Baladeva's anga-jyoti, but others originate from the halo of Radharani and Her group. These souls have a direct connection with Radharani. She is their Mistress and they necessarily follow whatever She does.

Prabhupada told us that we are really saktas, worshipers of God's potency; not saktas like the worshipers of Durga, but suddha-saktas. The real, original potency, Krsna's dedicating Moiety, is in Vraja. Both direct and indirect connections with Krsna come through Her. This is Radha's position. We heard all these things from Prabhupada.

This is also the significance of the sannyasa-mantra. In ordinary mantras, a direct connection with Krsna is established, but in the sannyasa-mantra, our spiritual connection is shown to be with the gopis. That is Radha-dasya, the service of Radhika. It is above Krsna-dasya. The purport, the gist of the sannyasa-mantra, is gopi-dasya.

Meeting at Kuruksetra
In both Navadvipa and Vrndavana, the background is similar. In Navadvipa, to gain victory over the opposition party, Mahaprabhu left His household life. And in Vrndavana-lila it is also similar. The opposition in Vrndavana-lila came from Mathura in the form of Agha, Baka, Putana, Trnavarta, and other demons who were sent by King Kamsa. To uproot the opposition, Krsna had to go to Mathura. And when He went there, He found that the opposition was widespread.

Kamsa's father-in-law, Jarasandha, Kalayavana, Sisupala, Dantavakra, and many others were inimical to Krsna. Krsna promised the gopis that after finishing His enemies, He would return to Vrndavana to play peacefully with them. To uproot the opposition party, Krsna had to go away. And He told the gopis in Kuruksetra, "I have some other enemies; after finishing with them, I will be reunited with you." That sort of hope was given to the gopis in Kuruksetra.

In Samanta-pancaka, Kuruksetra, Krsna met the residents of Vrndavana after a long separation, perhaps a hundred years. The gopis prayed to Krsna, "We are not yogis that will be satisfied with abstract thinking about You. Do You think that we are yogis that will be satisfied with our imagination? We are not a party to that. Neither are we karmis, incurring so much debt from nature. Shall we come to Your door to get relief? We do not belong to any of these two sections. We want to live with You as a family; not to use You for any other purpose. We want to have a direct family life with You. Don't You know that? And You came first by Uddhava and now You have avoided us for so long. Are You not ashamed?"

This is their inner meaning. Mildly they are making the case that they won't be satisfied by anything else. "You know it for certain, You know it better. If You kindly come, if we had You completely in our midst, our prayers would be answered. We are not satisfied with anything less than that. Anything less than that cannot satisfy us. We are not talking of abstract thinking, nor do we wish to utilize You to relieve us from the entanglement of this material nature. We have no conception of bodily consciousness. We do not want relief from the reactionary suffering of this material life. We don't care for that. We are unconscious of that. What is our real need? We want to serve You directly in our loving relationship. Please try to do that."

And Krsna's answer to them also has an inner meaning: "You know, all the people want Me. Through devotion, they want Me to help them to acquire the highest position in the eternal world, the world of eternal benefit. If they attain such a connection with Me, they consider themselves fortunate. But I consider Myself fortunate because I have your affection. I have such valuable affection, which I found in your heart. I consider Myself fortunate."

Radharani could see the inner meaning of Krsna's answer. She became satisfied. Wherever He may be in the physical sense, at heart He is Hers alone. Very soon He cannot but come to join Her party again. Krsna is coming closer to Radharani, coming near the gopis, after such a long separation. He finds Himself very culpable; He has committed a great crime.

Coming to the gopis and remembering their qualities of love and surrender, Krsna feels most criminal. He bends His body to touch the feet of Radharani. Kim padam te nutasi vipana. One poet has represented this scene in this way, and that poem was collected by Rupa Gosvami in his Padyavali. Krsna is coming in touch with the atmosphere of Vrndavana. He is a king, a paramount king in the whole of India, but when He came in contact with the gopis, He found Himself a criminal.

Krsna fell at Her feet: "Your position is so high, so very high. For so long I was away from You, increasing My duties. Without trying to satisfy You, I engaged Myself in different duties." Bending His body, He was about to touch the feet of Radharani. Stepping back, She remarked, kim padam te nutasi...

"Why are You coming to touch My feet? I think You have lost the balance of Your mind. But You are master of the situation; no explanation can be called from You. You are as pure as anything. You have not done anything wrong. You are Svami, You are My husband, You are My Master, and I am Your maidservant." Svamino hi tantrya. This is the arrangement of the Vedic scripture. We find in the scriptures that the male has such freedom, but not the female.

"There is no offense in leaving Me to attend to so many duties. For some time You were engaged in some other quarter, what is the harm? What is the fault in You? That does not matter, this right is given to You by scripture and by society. There is no crime, no sin. Already You have that liberty, so You have not committed any wrong. You have so many duties to discharge, but I am only for Your service. I could not keep up the standard. I am really the criminal, the culprit. The meanness is with Me, the defect rests with Me entirely.

You are not responsible for this separation. Why do You consider that You are at fault, that You have committed wrong? The positive proof is that I sustain My life. So great an affection I have experienced, and yet I am still alive. I did not die from the pangs of Your separation. I am showing My face to the world, but I am not faithful to You. I could not uphold the standard of faith that I should have maintained for Your love. Therefore, I am a criminal, and You are not so.

"It is written by the saints in all the scriptures that the wife should be thankful and exclusively devoted to the husband as her Lord. In this meeting, I should fall at Your feet and beg for Your forgiveness, because I really have no love for You. I am maintaining this body, and showing My face to the world. I am not a proper partner for You, so please forgive Me. But You are doing the opposite. Don't touch My feet!"

This is the ideal of our affection towards Krsna. We, the finite, should have this attitude in our connection with the Infinite. Whatever little connection or attention we may have at any time, we should be all attentive towards Him. There is no other alternative. Mahaprabhu says eka bhakti, exclusive devotion towards the autocrat Krsna; the Absolute good. Absolute love is autocratic, and our disposition must be of this kind, being so small. If we want such a great thing, then this is not injustice, that our demand should be like this. Our prospect, our adjustment, our understanding must be of this type. Such was the meeting at Kuruksetra.

No Love for Krsna
Mahaprabhu also said something similar, na prema gando'sti. "I do not have an iota of divine love for Krsna. Why am I shedding tears profusely, uninterruptedly, day and night? Why am I shedding tears for Krsna? For show, to pretend that I have Krsna-prema, divine love for Krsna. Only for show, to get some fame as a servant of Krsna, to deceive the people. I am a hypocrite. The positive proof is here. I'm still alive. I did not die. If I had real love, in this separation I should have died. That is the positive proof that I don't have even the scent of Krsna-prema in Me."

Krsna-prema is so high, so attractive, that once in contact with that, none can maintain his life without further connection. It is impossible. It is so high, so enchanting, so attracting, so beautiful, and so heart-warming. It is impossible. That divine love for Krsna is not to be had in this mundane world. It is impossible that a human being can come in contact with that sort of divine love. If anyone by chance comes in contact with that, no separation from it is possible. He can't forget that. He cannot live separately without that connection.

If by chance there is any contact followed by separation, one will die instantly. It is so attractive, so high, one will die instantly, being without that vital devotion of the higher, noble life. It is so great, so noble, so beautiful, so magnanimous. We are out to search for that goal in the world. Mahaprabhu came to inform us that there is such a vital thing, the life of our life. It is impossible to go on living without that love. There is such a prospect for us all. Mahaprabhu came to distribute it to the world.

Karttiki-Srimati Radharani
Karttika masa is known as niyama-seva masa. During this period the devotees try to follow some fixed program to enhance their devotion. Slothfulness is not encouraged. We have to fix a particular program of devotional attempts like reading the sastra, doing some kirtana or some particular devotional activity that may be useful for advancement towards our goal. Niyama means to regulate our life to a particular schedule of service.

We must regulate seva, leading to as asta-kaliya-seva, the 24-hour service to the Lord. During all times this should be the tenor of our disposition, especially in Karttika, and Krsna will be very pleased. If we do this in connection with Radharani, it will be much favored by Krsna Himself, because it is harmonized with His highest beloved.

Karttika vrata is popular among the Vaisnavas, and especially the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, whose ultimate goal is Radha-dasya. They observe this month conscientiously. Whatever has been mentioned in the sastra, we observe it. Gaudiya Vaisnavas have much regard for Karttika vrata, the vow of special service during the month of Karttika.

There are many rules and regulations mentioned in the scriptures, and those who are very much fervent in this matter follow those rules and customs, cultivating the favor of Radharani. She is pleased with this Karttika vrata. Some restriction should be there in our daily movement. Drawing all of our energy to one point, we should try to cultivate some affection for Her, Who is Karttiki.

Asta-kaliya-lila
In Navadvipa we generally recommend the chanting of the as ottara sata-nama of Mahaprabhu and Krsna, Their 108 Names. Their whole lila is given there. One can come in touch with the whole lila of Mahaprabhu as well as Krsna. Morning and evening, repeat the eight slokas of Mahaprabhu. Our Guru Maharaja used to make us sing as Vaikuntha The day is divided into eight periods, and we chanted about the lila during those eight times. As Vaikuntha: it has been recommended in Bhaktivinoda Thakura's song, to come in connection with the entire lila.

The eight slokas of Mahaprabhu, the Siksastaka, contain all the developed ideas in a nutshell. Bhajana, the whole of Krsna-lila is covered in these eight slokas. Especially in his Bengali translation, Bhaktivinoda Thakura has composed certain songs giving deeper meaning, which bring us into close touch with those lofty ideas for our highest realization.

Karttika is a special month in which we try our best to cultivate all of our feelings and regulate them for the attainment of our intimate connection with Krsna. By investing our energy even in a small way during the Karttika mahina, we can get better results, just as in times of war capitalists may find more opportunity for earning profit. In a short time they can earn more; that sort of arrangement is everywhere. Here also there are particular points of time, when using our energy in a focused way can be more beneficial. Such is the time in Karttika mahina. Purity of purpose is almost guaranteed, because the object is to satisfy Radharani, the Divine Potency.

In his last years, our Guru Maharaja used to pass the Karttika month sometimes in Vrndavana and sometimes in Puri, with a special group of devotees. In his last year he observed this month in Puri. We were with him. Previously he was in Vrndavana, and from Puri he came back and that year he disappeared in the month of Magha. We passed this last month in Puri with him, in 1936. On January 1st, 1937 he disappeared.

Svayam Bhagavan and Svayam Rupa
Svayam Bhagavan is always with Radharani, and others are of lower order. Svayam Bhagavan is always with Svayam Rupa. Svayam Bhagavan and Svayam Rupa, Radharani. In rasa, Svayam Bhagavan is always by the side of Radharani, and Svayam Prakasa is by the side of the other gopis. It is the first-class double, or facsimile, of Krsna. There is first-class double, then second-class double, and so on.

In rasa, only Svayam Bhagavan is at the side of Radharani, and at the side of other gopis is Svayam Prakasa. In this way the gradation is there. So, radha-kinkara has been settled for us to be the highest achievement. Through Radharani we can taste the service of Svayam Bhagavan. Svayam Bhagavan and Svayam Rupa. The qualitative current that passes among Them, that we want. Our maximum, highest proyojana is there.

When Svayam Bhagavan and Svayam Rupa are connected and performing lila, that is of the highest order. However minor the contact, we want that quality only, rupanuga-dhara. That is available in quantity to those younger devotees, the manjaris. They have free entrance to the deepest lila. The more mature friends, the sakhis, cannot approach. They may not approach, but the Rupa Manjari class may do so freely. These are very high talks. We are not eligible to speak about all these things.

You are helping me to take out from my inner heart so many beautiful and valuable things. It is through your help that these old memories are coming again fresh to me. I am forced to take out those things of the inner nature of my previous life that I received from my Gurudeva as wealth. Again I have the chance of seeing that treasury. I am given the opportunity by this recapitulation of what I heard at the divine feet of Gurudeva. I just sincerely repeat it to you. It is such. This is our education, what I received from the divine feet of Gurudeva.

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