LORD CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU SHIKSHTAKA चैतन्य महाप्रभु की 8 शिक्षायें in 8 shlokas #Blog0013

चैतन्य महाप्रभु की 8 शिक्षायें  

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Shikshtaka

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu left only eight verses, called Shikshtaka. These eight verses  clearly reveal His mission and precepts. These supremely valuable  prayers are translated herein.

1. Glory to the Sri Krsna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime  benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It  increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.

2. O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your  transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.

3. One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind,  thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more  tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

4. O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.

5. O son of Mahäräja Nanda [Krsna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.

6. O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up,  and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of  Your name?

7. O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.

8. I know no one but Krsna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally.

http://www.prabhupada-books.de/chaitanya/siksastakam_en.html 

Prabhupad - has shloka in Hindi also

https://vaniquotes.org/wiki/8_verses_of_Sri_Caitanya_Mahaprabhu%E2%80%99s_Siksastaka with each sanskrit word meaning also

https://krishna.org/original-sri-caitanya-caritamrta-pdf-books/

EVERY ACTION OF DEVOTEE IS BHAKTI #Blog0012

Every action of Devotee is Bhakti

भक्त का हर कार्य एक पूजा है

“वो कौन सी जाँ है, वो कौन सी शह है, जिसमे जलवये यार ना हो, दीदार का शौक है तो नज़र पैदा कर”

There is nothing in this entire Creation which does not demonstrate His presence - all we need is the divine sight (नज़र पैदा कर) - which of course can only be granted as a boon by Lord to His pure devotees. 

 

“कौन है तैय्यार जो जलवाये यार देखे, ये इश्क़ का कलमा है साहब, मौलवी नहीं मजनू चाहिए”   

Who is ready to see His Omnipotence, Omnipresence & Omniscience – this is the gatha of True Love – we need a true lover, not a priest

 

“ना जाऊँ द्वारका, ना जाऊँ काशी, मैं जहां बिठाऊँ आसन, वहीं मेरा अभिलाषी”  

https://youtu.be/IN4upURdXTU?t=1578 

As long as my purpose is pure ,i.e., no other desire than to love Lord (निष्काम भक्ति), I do not need to go to any pilgrimage -  wherever I am, Lord is present there.

This is the desired ideal goal of love bonding with God that His Omnipresence is 'felt' by the bhakt anytime anywhere, not restricted to time & place.

 

It also means that the worship is not limited to 5/15/30 minutes or so but भक्त का रोम रोम (each particle of his body) भक्ति में विलीन (immersed) है, आठों याम (24x7).

 

The golden gist is that

 

भक्त का हर कार्य एक पूजा है

 

न कि पूजा एक कार्य बन कर रह गयी है

AND THIS IS WHAT IS ULTIMATELY REQUIRED BY LORD FOR ACHIEVING LIFE'S PURPOSE.

Standby link (in case youtube link does not work)

Mujhe Aap Ne Bulaya by Vinod Agarwal Krishna Bhajan Devotional Songs In Hindi Eagle Devotional.mp4

 

Gita shloka 2.69 TWO CLASSES OF INTELLIGENT MEN: (1) SPIRITUAL & (2) MATERIAL,3rd June

Gita shloka 2.69 : TWO CLASSES OF INTELLIGENT MEN: (1) SPIRITUAL & (2) MATERIAL

TRANSLATION

WHAT IS NIGHT FOR ALL BEINGS IS THE TIME OF AWAKENING FOR THE SELF-CONTROLLED; AND THE TIME OF AWAKENING FOR ALL BEINGS IS NIGHT FOR THE INTROSPECTIVE SAGE.

 

PURPORT

THERE ARE TWO CLASSES OF INTELLIGENT MEN.

 

THE ONE IS INTELLIGENT IN MATERIAL ACTIVITIES FOR SENSE GRATIFICATION, AND THE OTHER IS INTROSPECTIVE AND AWAKE TO THE CULTIVATION OF SELF-REALIZATION.

 

ACTIVITIES OF THE INTROSPECTIVE SAGE, OR THOUGHTFUL MAN, ARE NIGHT FOR PERSONS MATERIALLY ABSORBED.

 

MATERIALISTIC PERSONS REMAIN ASLEEP IN SUCH A NIGHT DUE TO THEIR IGNORANCE OF SELF-REALIZATION.

 

THE INTROSPECTIVE SAGE REMAINS ALERT IN THE "NIGHT" OF THE MATERIALISTIC MEN.

 

THE SAGE FEELS TRANSCENDENTAL PLEASURE IN THE GRADUAL ADVANCEMENT OF SPIRITUAL CULTURE, WHEREAS THE MAN IN MATERIALISTIC ACTIVITIES, BEING ASLEEP TO SELF-REALIZATION, DREAMS OF VARIETIES OF SENSE PLEASURE, FEELING SOMETIMES HAPPY AND SOMETIMES DISTRESSED IN HIS SLEEPING CONDITION.

 

THE INTROSPECTIVE MAN IS ALWAYS INDIFFERENT TO MATERIALISTIC HAPPINESS AND DISTRESS.

 

HE GOES ON WITH HIS SELF-REALIZATION ACTIVITIES UNDISTURBED BY MATERIAL REACTION.

 

DEVOTION IS PATH OF SURRENDER #Blog0011

 

DEVOTION IS PATH OF SURRENDER

“हर किसी को सौदा-ए-सर नहीं मिलता
जिसे सौदा मिलता है उसे सर नहीं मिलता
और हमने हर राह से गुजर कर देख लिया
कि वह किसी राह से गुजर नहीं मिलता”

पर चलना हम सब की विवशता है तो क्यों ना फिर उसकी ओर ही चला जाए
लेकिन आपके थकने से पहले वह आपके पास आ जाएगा, इस बात का निश्चय मानना

“ONE CANNOT GET BOTH THIS WORLD AS WELL AS HIM (LORD)

AND ONE WHO GETS THIS WORLD CANNOT GET HIM

AND I HAVE BEEN THROUGH VARIOUS PHYSICAL PATHS (LIKE KARMA, GYAN,I.E., ALL PHYSICAL LABOUR PATHS)

HE IS NOT OBTAINABLE ON ANY OF THESE PATHS”

IMPLIED MEANING IS THAT HE IS OBTAINABLE ONLY THROUGH BHAKTI MARG (LOVING DEVOTION)

ALL OF US HAVE TO BE DOING SOME ACTION ALL THE TIME ,I.E., WE’VE TO WALK IN SOME DIRECTION ALL THE TIME, SO WHY NOT TO WALK IN HIS DIRECTION (LOVING DEVOTION), AS SUGGESTED BY HE, HIMSELF IN GITA :

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज 

अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा श‍ुच: 

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

(Gita Shloka 18.66)

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/66/

DEVOTION IS PATH OF SURRENDER – LORD SAYS “LEAVING ALL RELIGIONS, SURRENDER TO ME ALONE”

REST ASSURED THAT BEFORE YOU TIRE OUT ON THIS PATH (भक्ति, LOVING DEVOTION), HE WOULD COME TO YOU

Those who are fruitive laborers and philosophical speculators from time immemorial are constantly going and coming. Actually they do not attain ultimate salvation, for they do not surrender to Kṛṣṇa.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/26/

----

Following extract from Sri Sathya Sai : 

The greatest obstacle on the path of surrender is egoism and mineness or possessiveness. It is something that has been inherent in your personality since ages, sending its tentacles deeper and deeper with the experience of every succeeding life.  It can be removed only by the twin detergents of discrimination and renunciation. Devotion is the water to wash away this dirt of ages and the soap of repetition of God’s name, meditation, and communion (yoga) will help to remove it quicker and more effectively. The slow and the steady will surely win this race But even the first step will be unsteady if you have no faith. So cultivate faith Do not waver or doubt when once you are convinced. Seek to understand and satisfy yourself. After that, do not be misled.  When the sun is over your head there will be no shadow; similarly when faith is steady in your head it should not cast any shadow of doubt. Keep the faith in the Lord undiminished; you can then safely move about in the world. No harm can come to you!

There is no Veda or Sastra (scripture) superior to devotion.Divine love encompasses all sacred acts.

Dedication of all activity to God and surrendering to His Will is called Bhakti Marga (path of devotion). Bhakti has to be built on conviction, not on blind unreasoning belief. That‘s why I always emphasise the role of intelligence.

Intelligence is a special gift from God to man; it confers the power of discrimination between right and wrong. Peace or happiness depends on the choice of the right means and this is a matter to be decided by intelligence.

Prosperity too depends on the intelligent exploitation of resources available, human and other. The wavering 'intelligence' of man, that has lost its one-pointedness and purity is responsible for all the conflicts and quarrels that are prevalent today. So, I ask you to pray to God to grant you the capacity to think straight and right, and to stick to the correct decision once decided on, without being affected by egoism, greed or hatred. Pray for a balanced mind unaffected by prejudices and passions.

- Divine Discourse, Mar 17, 1973.

Offer Him the fragrant leaf of devotion, and the flowers of your emotions and impulses freed from pests of lust, anger, etc. 

Once you decide that the orchard in your mind is His, all fruits will be sweet; your attitude of surrender will render all fruits acceptable to the Lord, then how can they be bitter?