Damodarastakam, Verse 8, The Real Meaning of Kartik-vrata

Hari-katha inspired by the Guru-varga After Damodara-vrata, the four months of Caturmasya will be complete. If we have not awoken love and affection for Damodara, and our hearts have not been bound with Him after these four months of vrata; and if instead of damodara-lila, other lilas, mundane lilas conquer our hearts, then we have not really followed the vow of Caturmasya. Spiritual practice is not ordinary. This program is eternal. We must seriously follow this. We should pray deeply and wait for Krsna’s mercy. By doing so, our vrata will be successful. If you run away from Damodara and neglect the love of the Vrajavasis, and only perform a drama, then you will be punished. Ordinary people have no knowledge of this. But, if those in knowledge still neglect them, then their destination is misfortune. Now we will hear about the eighth verse.

namas te ’stu damne sphurad dipti-dhamne tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne namo radhikayai tvadiya priyayai namo ’nanta-lilaya devaya tubhyam

Satyavrata Muni now prays, “I offer pranama to the rope that bound Krsna’s waist.” He attained vraja-darsana. He saw how Yasoda Mata endeavored to bind Him, but repeatedly failed. Yasoda Mata finally surrendered when she understood that her sadhana was not perfect. It was not complete in itself. She understood that her sadhana was useless and that she could not bind Krsna with any power she possessed. Then, she prayed to Lord Narayana, completely surrendered. Then, Krsna’s heart melted and He allowed her to bind Him. We work so hard. We wake, go to mangala-arati, chant, offer pranama, pray, and so on. We try to follow the sixty-four limbs of bhakti. We follow day and night, but we have no positive result, no love. This is like Yasoda Mata trying from the morning to bind Krsna. It is according to our own desire. If something is Krsna’s desire, there is no problem. We do bhajana, chant harinama, etc., but if this is by our own choice, there will be no result. Everything will always be two fingers too short. Our own sadhana is useless. Krsna’s mercy will not come. Without Krsna’s mercy, we cannot bind Him. Pujapada Janardana Maharaja and other rasika-acaryas would say that Krsna Himself came to the door of the kunja-kutiras and prayed to the manjaris, “Please give me a chance. I want to just see Srimati. Please let me see Radharani.” But, they said, “No. We cannot give You darsana.” “I will wait here by the door?” “No. When the sun rises, the light will naturally give illumination, but if one goes too close, he will get burnt. If You are here, we will get all restless and burnt. Therefore, go from here. If You are here, a big problem will come. My Srimati will never be able to rest. Your rays, Your heat, and the light from You will disturb us all. Leave at once, and don’t return.” The sakhis and manjaris can speak strongly to Krsna. Srimati hears this from inside. She has a very soft heart and cannot tolerate this. But, Lalita-devi is very strong. Visakha cannot say anything to Lalita as well. Will Krsna leave? Krsan’s heart is bound in one direction. He is bound to Radhika. He cannot leave. If He tries to leave, He would fall senseless. But, the manjaris do not let Him inside, not even to see Her for a moment. Krsna Himself is crying and begging to be given entrance into the kunja of Srimati Radharani. He is waiting for Her love and darsana. Where can that love come from? Who can give us that love? By which sadhana can we attain that love? Our sadhana has no strength. The fruit of our sadhana comes and then returns. It does not stay with us. By performing Caturmasya-vrata and Damodara-vrata some fruit will come. We might get good health, followers, temples and asramas, wealth, respect, knowledge of sastras, friendship with people, and so on. These fruits will naturally come and the givers of these fruits will leave. But, they will not give us spontaneous love.

To attain this love, we must understand the real meaning of this vrata, and we must follow the principles in accordance with the real meaning.

In the end of his Damodarastakam, Satyavrata muni prays with the understanding that his sadhana is useless. Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.30.28) states:

anayaradhito nunam bhagavan harir isvarah yan no vihaya govindah prito yam anayad rahah

Who is Govinda pleased with? He is pleased with the individual who has done the greatest sadhana, the greatest tapa. Krsna Himself took Radharani in His arms in front of everyone, and ran away, showing that He likes Her the most. The sage prays, “Namo radhikayai tvadiya-priyayai—O Radhika, I offer myself to Your lotus-feet. Please accept me.” First, he offers pranama directly. He did a lot of sadhana to please Krsna but he realized that all of this is useless. He realized that his sadhana was worth nothing. Then, he realized that he must pray to the Lord’s priya, those who are very dear and close to the Lord. How can we meet with Damodara without the permission of Radhika? It is not possible. He does not hear our requests. Our external sadhana does not reach Him. Once, a blind man was told, “Go to the king. He is very kind and he will provide you all facilities. He will give you a room, food, clothing, medicine, and everything else. He takes care of all the blind people and orphans.” The blind man asked, “Where is the king’s palace?” The blind man found out how to reach the palace, and was told, “When you reach there, ask people where the gate is. Once you are inside, there will be many servants of the king who will help you. When you reach the wall of the palace, just hold on to the wall and go along it until you find the door.” He walked along the wall, touching the wall with one hand, and in his other hand he was holding his stick. He walked around the palace, but he did not reach the door for a long time. He began to think, “Everyone has cheated me. I am tired, hungry, and thirsty, and I have still not reached the door.” He left the wall and continued walking. There was no path and no people to help him. As he took away his hand from the wall, he passed by the door and kept moving.

We are going in circles in the cycle of birth and death. We do not know the way to escape. There is only one door to escape this material existence. This door brings us to the lotus-feet of God. We have come here, but we are blind, without faith. The wall is there and the door will come, and we will achieve everything, but we have no faith. Then, we go around and around hopelessly.

We can follow all vratas, but if we have no faith, if we do not take shelter, and if we do not understand anything, then everything is useless. The result will be zero. We may bind ourselves so tightly in rules and regulations, but when we open the knot, we will find nothing. “Namo radhikayai tvadiya-priyayai—I offer pranama to Srimati Radharani, and to Krsna who is Her beloved. I do not offer pranama to any other.” Damodara’s servants and devotees in other rasas are not as close to Krsna’s heart as those in srngara-rasa. Their hearts are shared with others. But, in srngara-rasa, the gopis hearts are only one-pointedly devoted to Krsna. Srimati Radharani is the crest-jewel of all the gopis. Namo ’nanta-lilaya devaya tubhyam. We pray to Damodara, “You have so many incarnations. I offer them all pranamas. But, I don’t need their blessings. I am only waiting for the mercy of Your beloveds. Namo radhikayai tvadiya priyayai. If Her mercy comes to me, that is enough. You have given me a chance to really follow Your footsteps, O Damodara. My ultimate welfare lies in giving pleasure to Your beloved gopis. Please help me. In sastras, many different incarnations are described. There are the manvantara-avataras, yuga-vataras, avesa-avataras, and saktyavesa-avataras. They are all glorified extensively by scholars of many different ideas.”

tarko ‘pratishthah srutayo vibhinna nasav rishir yasya matam na bhinnam dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam mahajano yena gatah sa panthah

Mahabharata, Vana-parva 313.117

All the different sages establish their different points of view, and cut their opponents’ points of view, telling different philosophies. Gautama, Yajnavalka, Javali, Patanjali, Kapila all give different philosophies. One says, “This is the truth,” and then another says, “No, that is wrong. This is the truth.” Which one is really right? Who can tell us this? Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah—follow the footsteps of the mahajanas. Who are the mahajanas?

svayambhur naradah sambhuh kumarah kapilo manuh prahlado janako bhishmo balir vaiyasakir vayam

Srimad Bhagavatam 6.3.20

These are the twelve mahajanas. At the end, Vaiyasaki is mentioned. Vaiyasaki is Sukadeva Gosvami Sukadeva Gosvami did not openly describe the glories of Radharani in the Bhagavatam. He did not say to follow Narayana. He said to follow Krsna. Prahlada Maharaja and the other mahajanas glorified Krsna Himself. But, how can we please Krsna, conquer His heart, and do everything for Him? This is hidden. You must completely take shelter of Sukadeva Gosvami. In the Bhagavatam, Sukadeva Gosvami does not mention Radharani’s name directly. Her name is not written. Her name is hidden because She is very secret and hidden. That Sukadeva Gosvami indicates that we should go to Vraja-mandala, to the Vrajavasis. Then, we can cross santa, dasya, sakhya, and vatsalya. We can see that Krsna is pleased by their service, but not completely. He is pleased with the sakhas, but only half pleased. He is with them from the morning to the afternoon. With his mother He is even more pleased, but still not completely. Only when He is with Srimati Radharani is He fully pleased. Now, at the end, Satyavrata Muni finally comes to the ultimate conclusion—the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani. He prostrates at the lotus-feet of Srimati Radharani and begins a vrata. Which vrata? This is called Katyayani-vrata and it is to please Srimati Radharani. Now he is one-pointed, and he follows Srimati Radharani’s vrata.

katyayani maha-maye maha-yoginy adhisvari nanda-gopa-sutam devi patim me kuru te namah

Nanda-gopa-sutam devi—this is direct. This is the vrata we must follow. The son of Nanda Gopa Himself worships Devi. Which devi? Srimati Radharani. Who is the priya, or beloved, of Krsna? That is only Srimati Radharani. We must take a certificate from this school. We have passed this school, and now we will go to college and university. Which university will we go to? There is only one university—the service center, the Seva-kunja of Srimati Radharani. How can we attain Her service? How can we please Krsna? Satyavrata Muni says, “O Radharani, I give up all my pride.” Namo means, “Giving up my pride, I offer my obeisance and I surrender unto You.” “O Srimati, I do not know You,” the sage says. “When the sakhis and manjaris accept me and make me qualified for Your service, then I can serve You.” Therefore, namo radhikayai. This means that Radharani has many groups, or yuthas. There are 108 prominent sakhis and each have eight prominent manjaris, and all together there are millions and millions of gopis. Where should we go? Where is our service-post? Who will teach us and give us shelter? People chant ‘aham brahmasmi’. They want to become Brahma. They strive for sahujya-mukti. On the other side, in this line even, some people chant ‘aham manjari, aham gopi’. They should more accurately say, “Aham bhogi.” This behavior will not work. It is not helpful. It is a bogus idea. We must surrender. Namo radhikayai. “Giving up all pride, I have offered myself to You, O Radhe, please, whatever service You see beneficial for me, whether You want me to be a monkey, a cuckoo, a peacock, a deer, or anything—my own choice is useless. I do not know who I am. I don’t know where You will send me or into which species. I don’t know where I will serve. I am completely saranagata to You. If You like, send me to the sakhas, the servants, those in vatsalya-rasa, or those in madhura-rasa. I don’t know who will be my guru and guardian. I have no idea of this. I offer myself. Please, accept me.” Satyavrata Muni then says, “Namo ‘nanta-lilaya.” There are millions and millions of Incarnations and lilas. But, he does not offer pranama to them. The pastimes of Krsna with Srimati Radharani are unlimited, ananta-lila. Every day and at every moment, Srimati Radharani is serving Krsna in ever-fresh ways:

venum karan nipatitam skhalitam sikhandam bhrashtam ca pita-vasanam vraja-raja-sunoh yasyah kataksha-sara-ghata-vimurcchitasya tam radhikam paricarami kada rasena

Krsna chants Srimati Radharani’s holy names. When He is simply touched by the air that has touched Srimati Radharani’s cloth, He swoons, His flute falls from His hands, His crown falls from His head, and His pitambara slips from His shoulders. How great is Srimati Radharani? She has unlimited pastimes. Without Srimati Radharani, there is no lila in Vraja. Lila-sakti would be hopeless in Her absence. Lila-sakti is connected with Srimati Radharani. That lila-sakti helps everyone. Without that, there is no help. Therefore, we offer pranama to the ananta-lila of Radharani with Krsna. Tomorrow morning, we will hear the final conclusion. These classes of Guru-pada-padma will run on continuously if you have a relation with Gurudeva. Otherwise, it will stop. Then, where will you go? How can we be connected to lila-sakti? Namo radhikayai tvadiya priyayai—“O Srimati Radharani, please give me some greed and some taste for Your unlimited pastimes with Krsna. Please, give me some engagement in Your service. Give me a taste. Without taste, I will deviate, and then again become engaged in illusion.” The mind is restless and remembers mundane lila involving sense-enjoyers because we have not absorbed ourselves in these pastimes of Radha and Krsna. Damodara’s lila can conquer our hearts. He has unlimited pastimes. Which pastimes can conquer our hearts? If we have a relation with any pastime, nothing else will enter our mind. Lila-sakti will come and acquire our hearts. She will take our hearts and offer them to Srimati Radharani. Then, one pastime after another will enter our heart like in a channel. This is the final conclusion. For millions of lives, we have remembered so many lilas. Every minute we remember new and new mundane pastimes. Sometimes, we are crying, suffering, or fighting while remembering or being engaged in these pastimes. Krsna came to Duryodhana and said, “Duryodhana, please stop your lila. Follow me. I request you to not start this battle. Make a compromise.” Duryodhana said, “No! Without being defeated in a war, I will not give the Pandavas even enough land to stick a needle into.” Krsna said, “This war will not be good for you. It will destroy you.” Duryodhana said, “I know dharma, but I have no inclination to follow it. I know what adharma is, but I cannot give it up. You are Hrsikesa, You are the master in my heart. I do whatever you inspire me to do in the heart, but I can’t follow You say to me directly. This is not my fault, You are the master of the senses.” Krsna told Duryodhana directly not to start the war, but Duryodhana thought he was inspired by Krsna in his heart. We should not be in illusion like this.

gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe bhala na khaibe ara bhala na paribe

amani manada hana krishna-nama sada la’be vraje radha-krishna-seva manase karibe

Caitanya Caritamrta Antya 6.236, 6.237

We meet with mundane people who vomit their own lilas on us. Through their mobiles and other devices, this comes inside our hearts. We follow Caturmasya-vrata and Kartika-vrata and in the end, these people come and cry to Guru and Vaisnavas and tell their mundane lilas. They do not speak about Krsna’s eternal lilas. They only speak gramya-katha, useless village-talk. Satyavrata Muni now understands that this is all useless. He advises the sadhaka, “Don’t be attracted to any other lila. God has unlimited pastimes. Pray to Radharani, to lila-sakti, and to svarupa-sakti, “May these pastimes of God enter my heart. May I have connection to Your lila.” People can visit many different sites on the internet. There, people ask, “I will want to hear Your hari-katha. Will you give me a connection?” Some people say, “Give me your bank-account, and every month I will take some of your money, and then everything will go to You.” Satyavrata Muni says, “We cannot connect to lila-sakti by this business. We can only attain this by radhikayai tvadiya priyayai—by the mercy of Krsna’s priyas, and especially among them, Srimati Radharani. How can we be connected to lila-sakti? Therefore, we offer pranama always. “Namas te ’stu damne sphurad dipti-dhamne tvadiyodarayatha visvasya dhamne—I offer pranama to You in whose belly the whole universe is present. But, I am outside of You. I am outside of everything. Please bind me with Your grace, with Your lila-sakti. If You do not accept me, I can never go outside of jada-lila. While sleeping, while walking, while doing anything at all times jada-lila-sakti is with me.” How can we be related with lila-sakti and free from jada-lila? This is the purpose of our sadhana. To achieve the goal of our sadhana, we must take shelter of Srimati Radharani and Her followers, the sakhis and manjaris. This is the teaching given by Srila Gurudeva. Hari-katha spoken by Sripada Premananda Prabhu; rendition by Rasik Mohan Das This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.