My most revered Gurudev introduced the one-month long Harismaran Mahotsava (Festival of remembrance of Sri Hari). This auspicious devotional function was held at Kolkata Maṭha, starting from today until Viśvarūpa Mahotsava, and includes Janmāṣṭamī, Rādhāṣṭami, the appearance anniversary of Bhaktivinoda Thakur, and the disappearance day of Haridas Thakur. We used to remain in Kolkata Maṭha for this month. Gradually, with the establishment of our Maṭha in Vṛndāvana, the worship of Jhulan-yātrā was introduced there, though those who remained in Kolkata continued to observe the festival month there.

From Vṛndāvana, we would come back to Kolkata Maṭha after Jhulan-yātrā for other functions, though at this time we are deprived of going to Vṛndāvana-dhāma. Our Pujyapad Tridandi Swami Bhakti Prasad Puri Maharaj insisted on my going to Vṛndāvana to participate in the Jhulan-yātrā festival. He said, “In Vṛndāvana, Jhulan-yātrā festival is an important festival; our most revered Gurudev introduced it. Why are you going outside (India)?” I replied, “I do not know, but it is already finalized; everything was already organized by the devotees.” Our Nrsingha Maharaj (from Russia) asked me to be in Russia for Rādhāṣṭami. Twice it was observed in Russia, but this time I submitted my prayer to Nrsingha Maharaj that we observe Rādhāṣṭami in Kolkata Maṭha, as devotees of Kolkata are so enthusiastic, and He agreed.

From today Harismaran Mahotsava begins. What do you mean by Mahotsava? It is a festival. Generally, we understand that Mahotsava is a festival of prasādam distribution. We prepare nice prasādam to offer and then we all honor prasādam. Generally people understand that they can go to the Maṭha and get all kinds of good dishes. But what does Harismaran Mahotsava really mean? Always remembering Sri Hari is the actual Mahotsava.

Mahotsava means mahā-ānanda: transcendental delightfulness by remembering Sri Hari, Krishna. We should observe this month like Kārtika-vrata, always remembering the Supreme Lord. But as I am a conditioned soul, an enslaved jīvā, due to negative previous impressions, I can’t even remember Krishna while staying in the Maṭha. I have no aptitude for hearing hari-kathā; I’m always moving here and there. So Gurudev instructed us that during this particular month you should be sure to observe carefully. If you forget Krishna, everything will be lost. Why are you staying in the Maṭha? There are so many appearance and disappearance days of different Vaiṣṇavas in this month. You have to remember them. By the grace of Haridas Thakur, Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Lalita Devi, Radharani, and by the grace of Visvarupa, who is non-different from Baladeva, you will get everything. You have to observe all of these functions. Srila Guru Maharaj introduced this. When you practice for one month, that practice becomes a habit. If you do not practice, your energy will be expended for other things and you will be unable to devote your mind to the object of worship. So, he introduced these rules and regulations.

From today, Jhulan-yātrā will start, from Ekādaśī to Pūrṇimā. Where does this pastime of Radha-Krishna occur? There are twelve forests in Vraja-maṇḍala, and the pastimes of Jhulan-yātrā are being performed in Kāmyavana, as described by Narahari Chakravarti Thakur in Bhakti-ratnākara. Ghanshyam Das has also written about these pastimes. Raghava Goswami used to visit various pastime places of Radha-Krishna. He is not the same as Raghava Pandit, who is the personal associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. His sister, Damayanti, is also there with him in Mahaprabhu's pastimes. In Krishna-lila, Raghava Pandit is Dhanishtha and Damayanti is Gunamala. Dhanistha prepares different kinds of foods for the service of Krishna. Food prepared by her can remain unspoiled for six months and even up to one year; such is her capacity for service. She is not an ordinary woman. It is written that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu eternally stays in four places―in the dancing of Nityananda Prabhu, the cooking of Sachi Mata, the house of Srivas Pandit, and in the house of Raghava Pandit. Food prepared by Raghava Pandit and Damayanti was taken by the devotees from Panihati to Purusottama-dhāma for Mahaprabhu; it is known as Raghava-jhali. From Bengal to Orissa it is about 500 Kilometers, and the devotees traveled on foot with those offerings, to bring all the food dishes to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Can you imagine?

So, here the reference is about Raghava Goswami not Raghava Pandit. He is non-different from Champakalata. Who is Champakalata? She is one among the aṣṭa-sakhīs (the eight primary confidantes of Radharani). Champaklata appeared as Raghava Goswami in South India at Ramanagar. He was always engaged in worshiping Krishna with great devotion. Ultimately, he could not remain in Ramanagar, and left for Vraja-dhāma. He used to continuously circumambulate the whole Vraja-maṇḍala, going to all the places of Krishna’s pastimes. He was extremely dedicated and intimately connected to this practice. Later, he remained at the lotus feet of Govardhana.

When Srinivas Acharya and Narottam Thakur came to Vraja-dhāma, they were very eager to see all those holy places. Hearing that Raghava Goswami visits those places, they thought, “If we approach him, we can see all the places by his grace.” When they approached Raghava Goswami he was very enthusiastic to take them to those places. They visited all the auspicious places, showing Narottam Thakur and Srinivas Acharya all of the nooks and corners. All three are realized souls, so by experiencing the intricacies of Vṛndāvana Dhāma, they became ecstatic. How can we understand this? It is beyond our understanding. We may think, ‘what benefit will we get by traveling from place to place?’ We think it is too much trouble. They not only performed Giriraj Govardhana Parikrama of fourteen miles, but also circumambulated the whole Vraja-maṇḍala, and wherever they saw anything related to the Supreme Lord, ecstatic feelings manifested. They have no concern for the body, whereas we are only thinking in terms of bodily relations. How can we perform devotion in this state? It is not possible. Srinivas Acharya writes,

saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau
nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau chātyanta-dīnau cha yau
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-guṇa-smṛter madhurimānandena sammohitau
vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Six Goswamis, namely Sri Rupa Goswami, Sri Sanatana Goswami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, Sri Raghunatha Dasa Goswami, Sri Jiva Goswami, and Sri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, who were engaged in chanting the holy names of the Lord and bowing down in continuous, regulated practice. In this way, they utilized their valuable lives and in executing devotional activities they conquered overeating and sleeping and were always meek and humble. They were always enchanted by remembering the transcendental qualities of the Lord.”

He has written eight verses about the Six Goswamis. How did they perform bhajan; can we imagine? Can I imagine? Every day they are offering thousands of obeisances to thousands of Vaiṣṇavas. If we try to do this twice or thrice, it is so inconvenient. Without the grace of Vaiṣṇavas, we cannot get bhakti. They are particular about getting bhakti, nothing else, whereas we are always thinking about bodily needs. They do not think like this. They only think about how to get love for Krishna, how to get in contact with Krishna, and how to remember Krishna, always. They are particular in regard to this. They do not care for the body. You cannot even imagine how they live; their bodies are transcendental. Going to different places, they are begging, and like bees, they collect honey from different flowers. They are not ordinary persons, poor persons like us. They are actually from very aristocratic, rich backgrounds in the worldly sense, but they performed these pastimes. Saṅkhyā-pūrvaka-nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ — every day they completed a fixed number of rounds, sang kirtan, and sincerely offered obeisances to Vaiṣṇavas. We must chant a fixed number of rounds.

How to worship Sri Krishna and how to engage in all these devotional forms? By their example, they are teaching us. We should remember them. Srinivas Acharya has written this eight verse Aṣṭaka. ‘Natibhiḥ’ means offering obeisances. ‘Gāna’ — they are singing for the satisfaction of Krishna and His devotees, not for the satisfaction of conditioned souls of the world. How can we satisfy the conditioned souls of the world? Manpower and money should not be our target. Will manpower or money go with us? What will go with us? Only devotion. They are always engaging their full energy for the service of Sri Krishna and His devotees. They did not make any cottage but remained under a tree; they didn’t allow any detraction from bhajan. Sanatan Goswami used to be a Prime Minister and now he is staying under a tree. No food—no breakfast, lunch, dinner, or supper—nothing. We cannot imitate them. We have no power to imitate them because they are realized souls. They have shown us how to practice and how to worship. Nāma-gāna-natibhiḥ kālāvasānī-kṛtau—they devoted the whole day and night for this purpose with only a little time for taking supper. Though we are not of their caliber. If you want to imitate it, you will be unable to, but if you receive their grace, nothing is impossible. We should actually pray for their grace; nothing is impossible, but everything will be possible only by their grace.

Krishna Das Babaji Maharaj was always praying for grace. I was also there. He used to do harināma the whole night; how? Throughout the entire Vraja-maṇḍala Parikrama, he would take the mṛdaṅga, and never set it down. He never complained. With enthusiasm, he held the mṛdaṅga and performed parikramā on foot. He had a certain kind of taste; how? By remembering Krishna always. He did not care for the body or money. Once ISKCON sent him some money, and another time I also wanted to give him some money, but he would not accept it. We forcibly gave some money to him. On the same day, he sent all the money to Chaitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha in Vṛndāvana, then later we spent those funds for his Samadhi in Nandagram. He refused to take a single paisa; can you imagine? We are so far from where they are situated. Even when physically staying with them, we still cannot conceive of it. We ask for money. When he came to Jammu to grace me and encourage me, some blankets were being distributed there, but Babaji Maharaj did not accept any blanket. We forced him to take one which he later gave to someone else. He only had a small cloth and was satisfied with it; he had no desire.

We have not seen the Six Goswamis but have seen the personal associates of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami and their conduct. They were engaged in chanting the Holy Name day and night. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau chātyanta-dīnau cha yau—they conquered sleep. They slept to remember Krishna, nothing else. They conquered hunger, had no desires, and were always moving. They dedicated all their energy twenty-four hours daily—this is not so easy. They were living like poor persons, without proper clothing. They may have appeared to be very poor paupers, but they possessed real treasure. Rādhā-kṛṣṇa-guṇa-smṛter madhurimānandena sammohitau, vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau—Srinivas Acharya is saying, “I sing their glories.” The term ‘glorify’ is not appropriate. The dictionary meaning of 'glorify' is ‘to speak something to enhance someone’s values.’ Does this mean glorifying a Vaiṣṇava is an offense? No, you may try to sing their glories. In this case, you should not use the word ‘glorify. It is not that those qualities are not already there and we are speaking about them to add value; they actually have those qualities. To the degree of our submission, their glories will descend to us, and to that extent, you may know about them, nothing more.

Also, we will not benefit if we think we already know, as the glories of the Vaiṣṇavas are infinite. Raghava Goswami has also come from the Holy abode. He was always circumambulating Vraja-dhāma, even during the hot summer and intense wind; he was not concerned. What kind of bodies do they have? We cannot imagine. And when Srinivas Acharya and Narottam Thakur came to know that Raghava Goswami was a great Vaiṣṇava, they approached him and submitted prayers. He became ready immediately to show them all the far-reaching corners of the dhāma, even those unreachable by foot. He showed them everything, all the pastime places. Narahari Cakravartī has written about this in Bhakti-ratnākara. When the three of them came to Kāmyavana, they were walking barefoot, not riding in a rickshaw or car. There are thorns throughout Vṛndāvana, and each time they would remove one thorn, more and more became inserted in their feet, yet they were not disturbed.

The thorns of Vṛndāvana-dhāma remind us to never forget Krishna. When you forget Him, a thorn will pierce your feet. When you perform vana-yātra barefoot, thorns will get stuck in your feet. If you go to Alta Pahadi (Alta hill), there are so many thorns; you cannot avoid them. Alta is one kind of color that is applied to the lotus feet of Radharani. That pastime is beyond our comprehension. Krishna is doing that service of applying Alta on Radharani's feet. We pay obeisances at the place where that pastime takes place. Those three were going through the grove of Kadamba trees. Have you seen Kadamba trees? One time we went to Hawaii and met the disciple of Turyacharya, founder of Shri Chaitanya Vaiṣṇava Sanga. He showed us a Kadamba tree, a small Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śyāma-kuṇḍa, and Gopeśvara Mahādeva all within a small area. I think that is the first Kadamba tree in a Western country. This tree can be grown only in tropical climates; very carefully you have to keep it.

Now, while they were moving through the groves of Kadamba trees, Raghava Goswami said, “Please see these Kadamba tree groves. Here, Radha-Krishna and the sakhīs (confidantes) are enjoying all kinds of blissful pastimes, and now, in the month of Śrāvaṇa, it is the time when they are all performing Jhulan.”

Have you seen that altar where Jhulan is performed in Kāmyavana? In other places, while coming from Barṣāṇā to Nandgram we observed one Maṭha established by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur, where there is a Jhulan seat. Actually, Jhulan was performed in Kāmyavana. These five days from Ekādaśī to Pūrṇimā, Jhulan is performed everywhere in Vṛndāvana. What can we understand about it? Jhulan is the swing festival of Radha-Krishna. It is not a baby cradle. They are sitting face to face and the Gopīs sometimes push Krishna and Radharani on the swing. They are also afraid that She may fall down. It is beyond our imagination, and we should not think about this. Our Gurudev used to say what we are doing in our Maṭha is vaidhī-bhakti. What do you mean by vaidhī-bhakti?

ei ta sādhana-bhakti—dui ta’ prakāra,
eka ‘vaidhī bhakti’, ‘rāgānugā-bhakti’ āra,
rāga-hīna jana bhaje śāstrera āgyāya,
‘vaidhī bhakti’ bali’ tāre sarva-śāstre gāya
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 22.108–22.109)

“There are two processes of practical devotional service. One is regulative devotional service, and the other is spontaneous devotional service. Those who have not attained the platform of spontaneous attachment in devotional service render devotional service according to the regulative principles mentioned in the revealed scriptures. This kind of devotional service is called vaidhī-bhakti.”

One who has no rāga (attachment), or actual prema, cannot enter into such pastimes. Only gopīs are entitled to enter. They do everything for the satisfaction of Krishna; all their activities are for the service of Krishna. It cannot be done by vaidhī-bhakti. Those who have no natural love for Krishna offer their service according to scriptural ordinances, following the injunctions and orders of Guru and Vaiṣṇavas; they are doing vaidhī-bhakti. In this way, we are actually worshipping Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, not Radha-Krishna. The object of vaidhī-bhakti is Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. In the pastimes of Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, there is no rāsa-līlā or Jhulan-yātrā, nothing. They play out the pastimes in a majestic aspect only in śānta, dāsya and half sakhya mood (gaurava-sakhya i.e majestic sakhya). The worship of Radha-Krishna is different.

Our Guruvarga used to say that while performing vaidhī-bhakti one should be careful not to commit thirty-two kinds of offenses. One should not take caraṇāmṛta (nectar from the Lord's feet) in front of the deity. If you take anything like caraṇāmṛta or food, you should cover the deities. Also, one should not sit while straightening the legs in front of the deity. If I continue with more examples you will be puzzled, so I do not want to say more. Do you want me to say more? You cannot sit any way you like, before the deity. We always forget these things, the body becomes too uncomfortable. Such is the condition of our body in this Kaliyuga. If after purchasing something from the market you first offer some part of it to your children, then bring it to the temple, it is aparādha. Whatever we have purchased must first be given to the Supreme Lord, then you can take the remnants. If any new fruit becomes available in the market, you first give it to the deities. If one offers something that was already eaten, that is an offense and one will go to hell. It is prohibited to sleep in front of deities; if you want to sleep, cover the deities. These are some of the thirty-two kinds of offenses in vaidhī-bhakti.

There was one Vaiṣṇava in Madhuvan who was following all the rules and regulations of vaidhī-bhakti. Upon visiting one place in Vraja-dhāma, he saw what the Vraja-vasis were doing. One Vraja-vāsī was cooking something at 9 AM using the opposite end of the toothbrush, a piece of branch from a tree. He told her, “You will go to hell. You do not know how to worship.”

“Why?”

“You have contaminated the food. You have committed a great offense.”

“I shall not do this in the future.”

The next day, it became too late to offer food and she did not do so anyway because she was very afraid of committing offenses. Krishna should be given food before He goes to the forest with the cowherd boys, by 10 AM, not later than that, but it was already noon. Krishna did not get the food early as He used to get before. He rebuked that person, “Who are you? Where have you come from, and how are you teaching My devotee? I could not take My food. Go. I do not want you. Whatever she is doing is very good.”

This is rāga-bhakti. How can you understand this? Even Ramanujacharya was strict in following the rules and regulations of worshiping Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. Once he came to the Jagannath temple, and observed the devotees of Lord Jagannath performing worship without any such regulations. He started teaching them, “You do not know how to worship. Be very careful. You will commit offenses,” he warned the servants of Jagannath Deva. After honoring prasādam, he went to take bath. When he woke up in the morning, he was in South India. Jagannath Deva sent him to South India: “You should not remain here, you go there.” He then became afraid of the deities and thought, “What they (The servants of Lord Jagannath) do or do not do, I do not want to see anything.” Can we understand this? The servants of Lord Jagannath have no Vraja-vāsī bhakti, but they come in respective channels from Indradyumna Maharaj. The Vraja-vāsīs are serving with love—they do not think of Krishna as the Supreme Lord. We cannot obtain that loving service immediately; meanwhile, whatever we are doing is vaidhī-bhakti. In vaidhī-bhakti, you have to accept all rules and regulations and do whatever is taught by Guru-varga. By doing this, your lust and other desires will be removed over time, and gradually you will become eligible for this Vraja-bhakti, by the association of a Vraja-vāsī devotee. You will get it gradually. Do not be in a hurry. But do it.

The Jhulan-yātrā Mahotsava we perform falls under vaidhī-bhakti, not rāga-bhakti. Our highest object of worship is Radha-Krishna, though due to ulterior desires, we cannot perform Their worship in a loving relationship. Krishna is the object of pure love only, not of vaidhī-bhakti, yet you must do it. In the temple, we worship Radha-Krishna, but actually, we are only serving Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. Ultimately, we will get it. We should do harināma, avoiding the ten-fold offenses. Our Guru-varga used to say, “Radha-Krishna are there in a cradle. We can swing it slowly, but we have no right to push it.” When do They have this pastime? Swinging pastimes are performed daily by the gopīs. Devotees observe this only from Ekādaśī to Pūrṇimā, in the month of Śrāvaṇa. It has become known as Bhadra, but actually, it is Śrāvaṇa. In the month of Kārtika, we go through the eight periods of eternal pastimes of Radha-Krishna daily. What is written there?

radha-kunde sumilana vikaradi vibhusana
vamyotkantha mugdha-bhava-lila
sambhoga narmadi-riti dola-khela vamsi-hrti
madhu-pana surya-puja khela (Lila kirtan 4, verse 1)

Dola khela means swinging. All kinds of pastimes you will find in Rādhā-kuṇḍa. Rādhā-kuṇḍa is the highest. Why? These pastimes are not even taking place in Vṛndāvana. Rupa Goswami has written in the 9th verse of his Upadeśāmṛta,

vaikuṇṭhāj janito varā madhu-purī tatrāpi rāsotsavād
vṛndāraṇyam udāra-pāṇi-ramaṇāt tatrāpi govardhanaḥ
rādhā-kuṇḍam ihāpi gokula-pateḥ premāmṛtāplāvanāt
kuryād asya virājato giri-taṭe sevāṁ vivekī na kaḥ

In Vaikuṇṭha, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa is there, and they have not accepted any devotee as Their parents. There is no parental affection there, only śānta, dāsya, and half sakhya. Mathurā is superior to Vaikuṇṭha because Krishna has accepted parents. Vasudeva-Devaki received the good fortune of serving Krishna as their son. In Vṛndāvana where the rāsa-līlā pastimes are being performed is actually superior to Mathurā, because in Mathurā there is a majestic aspect. In Vṛndāvana, under Vaṁśīvaṭa where Krishna played the bamboo flute, all the gopīs became attracted by hearing those notes and rāsa-līlā began. And Govardhana is superior to Vṛndāvana. In the caves of Govardhana, Krishna and the gopīs performed esoteric pastimes that we cannot even think about. As much attachment as we have to Krishna, that much bliss we will get. And Rādhā-kuṇḍa is the highest. Nimbārka-sampradāya thinks rāsa-līlā is the highest, but for Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, the pastimes of Radha-Krishna at Rādhā-kuṇḍa are topmost. In Rādhā-kuṇḍa, various pastimes like rāsa-līlā, Jhulan, etc., are being performed. Vaṁśī-hṛti — the gopīs steal the flute. Vamyotkantha—vamyo means crookedness is there. What is crookedness? Externally they act as though they have no love for Krishna, but the love within them is extreme; they cannot tolerate even a moment of separation. It is vamyo-bhāva, and from where will you get it? They present a façade of indifference to Krishna, but their internal state is exactly the opposite. There is also narm pastimes ― to do something by which laughter is created. All kinds of unique pastimes are found in Rādhā-kuṇḍa, and we shall try to remember them during the month of Kārtika. If I get time I'll speak more, but I am also not competent to speak about this.