Pujya Morari Bapu - Gopi Geet current katha

SHALOK - 12

Din Pariksh-ye neelkunt-le varunruhananm bibharda-vritam
Ghanraja-svalam dharshyan muhumarnasi Nah smaram vir ya-ch-si

MEANING

The gopis are saying " o brave one ! we remember the days when we waited in the evenings for you to come back with the herd, the dust covering your divine lotus like face surrounded by beautiful dark curly locks. This sight of yours increases desire in our minds for an alliance with you."

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DAY 1

It is seen in life that the enemy could only be destroyed if he is pulled out from his hide-out. Lord Krishna is using His divine power to destroy the last bits of desire remaining in gopis' minds. This is called "pushti", this is possible only by Lord's grace.

The "mahatmya" of Shrimad Bhagwatam mentions the fruits of the katha going to the katha initiators as follows.

1. Wealth - peace, satisfaction.
2. Son - building up of "bhava".
3. Wife - faith or shraddha.
4. Elephant - the discriminative power (viveka) of Ganesh ji, His subtle vision ,power of assimilation .
5. Horses - the well controlled sense organs that helps spiritual progress.
6. Empire - Master of one's own emotional kingdom.
7. Harmony - speaker and listener able to meet at the same level of interest, thereby, manifold increase in joy and bliss.

DAY 2

The question is, where exactly do we look for the enemy, the inherent faults in ourselves and how do we destroy them?

Now we, by ourselves, cannot search and destroy these faults completely . Therefore, we need a complete surrender to God, or Sadguru, just like a patient has to get himself admitted into a hospital and trust his physician in the matter completely, as a way of taking refuge ( Poorna sharanaagati).

What we need is a focused and steady mind that does not swing like a pendulum between past and future. The way to spiritual Truth has to be a proper combination of the aspirant's efforts (sadhana) and Sadguru's grace (karuna).

Lord Krishna, who is the ultimate Truth (param satya) , has His face covered by dust (rajoguna) and the black curly locks (tamoguna), as also revealed by the Rishis of Upanishads . Even at the height of their sadhana they were subtly trapped by these two. But, they were completely aware that Lord Krishna, their sole refuge was the Ultimate, all-powerful among men, and their beloved.
For an ordinary human being, who is desirous of knowing God? Or Truth, who is the refuge?

1. A personification of fearlessness (abhay).
2. A powerful spiritual Master full of divine energy.
3. Full of mercy and grace, overflowing with kindness.
4. Whose whole life is dedicated to Truth alone
5. Who is sincerely concerned with the aspirant's welfare, in the way of transforming the faults into virtues
6. Who is ready to forego His own spiritual practice to push the aspirant forward

By far, the only easiest path is the holy name of the Lord.

DAY 3

In our existence, the root cause of all the problems is the ego of man and the solution of all problems is also in the human heart in the form of divine love.
Now, the question is what is the supreme nature of love? Who is capable of it?

Only God can have that supreme love, for He has created all the beings in this world. Gopis are called epitome of divine love for God , but on some occasions even they had a trace of ego in their commitment to God. But, Lord Krishna hadn't had any shadow of personal ego in His love towards Gopis, or in fact anyone. His love is the purest kind.

The locks of beautiful curly hair of Lord Krishna surrounding His face have six qualities.

1) Dark, 2) soft, 3) light, 4) dense, 5) curly, 6) smooth texture

They symbolize the six "Darshana Shastras" for the wise.

What does the aspirant grasp from this description? Hair is equated with the dark side of human nature( mostly Tamoguna). The Lord verily lives in each one's heart; yet, the following six covers hide His face.

1. The black colour signifies our dark thoughts(unnecessary, causeless , forbidden, contradictory thoughts ).
2. The softness of nature can be caused by laziness and carelessness.
3. Light thoughts , without any gravity, that makes the state of
mind unsteady. Tolerance and patience are lacking .
4. The denseness of egotistic lazy attitude which prevents the flowering of "Sattwa" (good qualities) coming out of Sadguru's words and, his elevated thinking.
5. The crookedness of nature which lies dormant , and wakes up to harm others around, like a snake.
6.The artificial smooth behavior that can manipulate others for Selfish gains.

DAY 4

Love is not a state of mind , it is a supreme state of existence. The God of divine love has His face on all sides. He does not have one-sided vision. That is His divine nature. Whereas, the aspirant Has to take refuge in only one, as Sadguru or Ishta .

Even though the Jiva (living being) is part of the eternal , but being limited , he/she has inherent drawbacks . The flowing Ganges has a lot of power, whereas the Gangajal in a pot, being just as pure lacks that intensity. Thus , only God can have that purest love, it is not common for human beings.

In philosophy of Shri Vallabhacharya, an aspirant goes through seven phases of love for God.

1. Bhava - without any added adjectives , in its authentic form.
2. Pranaya - when bhava repeats itself by remembrance.
3. Prem - this is the more intensified state of the above.
4. Raga or Ragatmika bhakti - this more steady and deeper in the aspirants heart, in the form of song or dance.
5. Anuraga - in this state , the love for God and dispassion for the worldly increases continuously.
6. Sneha - in this state all the faults (vikara) get destroyed in the sweetness of love of God.
7. Vyasan - one cannot come out of this state of divine love.

An aspirant attains 'poornata'(fullness of love) if he has the following four:

1. Parahit - doing good to others without selfishness , e.g. Jatayu.
2. Bala - the strength with virtue of forgiveness in the nature, e.g. Sugriva.
3. Dama - the Rishis of Dandak-van in their next birth became gopis , as granted by Shri Ram , because they had evenness if mind(samata).
4. Viveka - Shri Bharat ji is an example of this because he had the virtue of compassion.

Even with one of the above four an aspirant can reach heights of divine love. In the supreme state of love , Shri Bharat ji was Shri Ram Himself, Shri Radha ji was one with Shri Krishna , without any distinction. So is true for Sadguru.

DAY 5

The nature of God is to have an all rounded vision; He can see everyone - the mind, the intellect, and the inner nature of all. He also sees everyone's actions also- as "drashta" or a witness.

The problem with our seeing ourselves and the world is that we do not "see" - we always add something to the pure seeing ( through our conditioning and biases ) .

The "Rajoguna" casts the dust of greed and desire in our vision, "Tamoguna" darkens our vision with jealousy and hatred, "Sattvaguna" can make one appreciate the good deeds of a person, but the vision is still not as a witness. If one's vision doesn't have these three flaws then that is called the divine vision ie. "trigunaateet".

This kind of vision is untouched and aloof as a lotus, which is although born in mud and travels through water, still rises above both and open up by the grace of Sun. That is "poorna" state, which is beyond 'maya' (Illusion).

"Smar" means desire or lust that resides originally in the human mind (or heart) , but can also take possession of the brain or the body.

1. When Sadguru's pure hand is placed over aspirant's head (brain) , then the desire in the form of worldly decisions and involvements are destroyed.

2. When He puts his lotus feet (that danced on the Kaliya naag in Yamuna ji ) on the aspirant's heart , then the worldly desires go away, and there arises a longing for the divine love.

3. Shri Ram removed the pain from Sugreeva's body by touch , his body became like 'vajra' - devoid of physical desire and attachment to body.

DAY 6

Any face has the eyes for seeing, ears for listening, and nose for smelling. The Lord's face is like a lotus- water drops don't wet it. He sees, hears, tastes, but is untouched by all actions. He cares for everyone but is unattached (asang) within Himself.

Ordinary human love or relationship depends on the other person's appearance, good qualities or his/ her actions. Our love gets tainted and limited by both, expectations and non-response. Dewarshi Narad says Divine love or love for God is independent of such bondages.

Bhagwat Gita says, lust and anger come out of 'rajoguna' shows itself in excessive involvement in work, in chattering mind and too many demands. The question is while living with family, doing out daily activities or duties, how can we get rid of this duststorm that covers our vision ? The gopis worshipped the Lord in four ways .

1. "Dehamaya Bhakti"(being bodily active)- Seva-puja of the 'Ishta' . Some sages worship the God by even serving the poor, sick and less fortunate ones.

2. "Manomaya Bhakti"( mental worship)- By remembering the Lord in any of His swaroop and by continuous contemplation on Him. One can also worship God by mental offerings and devotional prayer. The Lord is an ocean of mercy and His forgiveness is immeasurable, rememberance of these qualities of the Lord with a grateful heart is also mental worship.

3. "Pranmaya Bhakti"- The aspirant's heart longs for the Lord, the world and its ways seem like burning sand under His feet. Only God Himself can take Him out of this predicament, his living and dying depends on Him. Thus he keeps calling out for Him.
4. "Chaitya Bhakti"( Krishna eva gatirmama )- The "chitta" is always with the Lord, the aspirant is completely peaceful. There are no outward waves, he feels continuous calm and bliss.

Thus to remove the rajoguna that hides the face of Truth with gold, the only way is dispassion (vairagya) and Bhajan. Hari bol !!

Bhaja Govind Govind Gopala…….Bhaja Murali manohar Nandlala

DAY 7

The quality of human mind is to be attached to one subject at a time. If it is attached to mundane relationships, it cannot have the earnestness and longing for God. The only exceptions are the reincarnations of God or His beloved saints.
The gopis belong to this category; their sole goal was Lord Krishna. The Yogis' and Gyanis' path is to still the mind so that it can't break up into waves of thoughts, thereby they realize the Parmatman.

The second way is given by Lord Krishna in Bhagwat Gita, as a 'karmayogi' as "Yogah karmasu kaushalam".

The third way is the path of devotion and love, where there is a supreme longing and desire for God. The question is why does this kind of longing and earnestness is not felt in our hearts? The answer to this given by Patanjali in his Yogasutra is that we have nine main faults of the mind. They act as speed breakers in our path of devotion.

1. Vyadhi (disease) - It is on both mental and physical Levels. It forbids clear and right decisions, wavers the mind that is a hinderance to concentration.
2. Styan (mental laziness) - The avoidance of labour and
perseverance, caused by too much 'Tamas' , disappointment after
a number of efforts, and not fixing the goal for oneself.
3. Sandeha (doubt) - This is the biggest block in the spiritual path. Doubt destroys an aspirant's endeavour, on the contrary faith gives him life. The only way to get rid of doubt(s) is to listen to God's glory (Bhagwat katha) or Sadguru's upasana. The worst doubts are the following.
a. Doubting one's own self - prevents right decisions at right Time.
b. Doubting the Mantra and/ or words given by Sadguru.
c. Doubting the "Ishta" .
d. Doubting the "Shastra" that one had trusted.
e. Doubting Sadguru - if one doesn't understand or is confused one must ask one's Sadguru.
4. Pramaad (lack of enthusiasm)- Lack of drive.
5. Alasya (lethargy)- This can be caused by overeating or by malnutrition.
6. Avirati (clinging to sense enjoyments)- Upanishads' direction is to share the bounty with others , without being attached to the material things.
7. Bhrant Darshan (false perception)- Misapprehension, not being able to see things as they are.
8. Alabdha Bhumika (non attaining of right basis)- Lack of faith and sacrifice.
9. Anavastha (non steadiness)- Lack of purity and concentration, caused by irregularity in one's own upasana.

These are the main obstructions; they can be removed by:

1. Viveka obtained from Satsang,
2. Guidance of Sadguru
3. Grace of God

Hari guna gao hey prani…………….Hari guna gao……..

DAY 8

An aspirant must take refuge of the Lord (Ishta), or of Sadguru, who is capable of giving him protection and help. One such is completely fearless, is unconcerned with worldly criticism, is above the ordinary standards of judgement and evaluation.

What is courage and valour of such a personality? It is of five kinds.
1."Dharma veer" - He does not criticize others' viewpoints, as truth has many facets. It may have different views from different angles. God or Sadguru is not only truhful, He is the Truth himself. He himself
is Dharma that maintains the universe.
2."Yuddh veer" - When necessary the valiant is not hesitant to fight with the demonic tendencies, both inside and and outside. The human mind itself is a 'Kurukshetra' , there is needed a Mahaveer for victory over evil. When an aspirant is in such a situation, Sadguru keeps track of all his efforts, when he comes to his limits, he jumps in and takes charge.Two important qualities are needed in such a struggle- first, the protective suit of dispassion(vairagya), which destroys many faults;second, the knife of contentment which kills the enemy called 'greed'.
3."Daan veer" - One who gives away instead of taking from others is on the winning side. Apart from material wealth, there are other things to share like. Good thoughts can turn a person's life for betterment. A smile and sweet honest words can light up the dark moods quickly .
4."Vidya veer" - The one who destroys darkness and delusion produced by nescience(Avidya). Such a World Teacher gives different paths of liberation. He is devoid of illusions and radiates tranquillity. An aspirant who takes refuge in such a personage finds peace before long.
5."Dayaa veer" - He is an ocean of mercy. He treats even 'Pootana' like a mother. His kindness and grace is boundless.

What we need is some of the above qualities of strength and valour in us. The mistake is to give undue importance to small pleasures and miseries, which have their limited place in life. One must "listen" to beauty and glory of one's own self, The Atman. The reasons for this mistake are….
a. Lack of proper understanding-Sadguru's grace can solve this problem if one is willing.
b. Lack of Poise(too much disbalance)- These waves are caused by fear, worry, anger or jealousy. One must "look" at all the incidents occuring in the life.
c. Impressions(sanskara) collected by the 'chitta' from many births that can confuse the aspirant.
d. The depression created by not having success.
e. Inferiority complex and " I am a sinner" attitude. -We must remember that God and His holy name can wash away all the sins.
f. The habit of doubting and thereby fluctuating. - One must maintain a balance and calm through various happenings in life.
g. One's inherent nature - If it is aggressive, harsh and unyielding, one can create problems for one's own self.

He is "Veer"who knows others' pain and comes forward to help any which way he can, who has patience, has discriminitive power and is fearless, who has tears of compassion in his eyes for all.

Hari bol………Radhey bol……….Hari bol…

DAY 9

The nature of mind usually is to dwell on the past, or to dream about the future. If it stops doing these two, and becomes still (in the present) then it can cross the boundaries of time. Also, an aspirant has to be careful about mental projections and vision, so as not be in deception oneself and mislead others. One should keep one's 'Bhajan' and 'Bhava' to oneself, as much as possible.

Only the human heart is capable of real love. The downward journey of love begins with the love of mother(or parents), then it goes to the wife(or husband) and then to neighbours(or people around). The same capacity of love can be sublimated by giving it an upward movement - beginning with mother and her affection, then for the saints' saintliness, and for God and Sadguru's Divinity. This upward or inward movement of love is the 'inner Raas'- 'Atman Nartakah'.

In Shrimad Bhagwatam and even in Upanishads, repeated "listening" is stressed a lot because, this purifies the mind and the intellect over and over and thus the heart becomes free of worldly attachments and desire. The result is realising the supreme Devotion for God, which is called "Para Bhakti".

The important thing to remember is that the young age is the most appropriate time to begin this journey in this life, as three things are very necessary for this path of Bhakti. Healthy thinking capacity, Capacity to retain and remember. · Vitality and perseverance.

Old age, even though there may be exceptions, is less suitable for such a journey, mainly because the mind is stamped by images of worldly experiences, which are hard to wash away.
Who is a good "listener", or a good "speaker" ? There are four conditions.

1. One must be cheerful and have a positive attitude. Anything that covers the joyful nature must be carefully removed to purify the mind.
2. One must respect others' capabilities, instead of being critical and jealous. One must not quibble over small matters, and pay attention to Reality. Also, one must avoid unnecessary social involvements.
3. One must be simple, without vanity. The achievement is not measured by number of kathas attended, but by the assimilation of principles in one's life.
4. One should be such that others can get light and guidance from him. One who "listens" and "sings" katha in the above manner, he qualifies for receiving the grace in the form of "Para Bhakti".

May Lord bless us and increase our "bhava" and devotion in the light of "viveka".

"Bharoso driddh inha charananhi kero…….Shri Vallabh nakh chandra chhata binu sab jaga maahin andhero…………
Bharoso driddh inha charananhi kero…….."