A Simple Way To Peace

SRIPAD BHAKTI PRASUR SADHU MAHARAJ, head of the Sri Brahma Gaudiya Math, Alarnath, Brahmagiri, Puri, meets scores of bhaktas daily. The key to all worldly problems lies in ‘nama japa’, he tells MONA MEHTA at the Math, after she had partaken of a sumptuous spread of prasadam there on the occasion of the annual Puri Jagannath Ratha YatraWhat is the biggest problem devotees say that they face and what is your advice to them?■ The biggest problem devotees come to me with is how to get shanti, peace. Everyone has dhan, wealth, but no shanti. Most people are looking for ways to find shanti.I tell them, take Bhagvan’s name. It is said: KaliYuga mein keval naam adhara — do japa of Hare Krishna mantra that is enough to sail through KaliYuga.Take diksha from a guru, be initiated by him, and he will
whisper the mantra in
your ear. By getting initiated this way by a sadhguru, the mantra gets empowered. It becomes more potent than a mantra that you choose randomly.You may find that there are many, many gurus around, but a sadhguru is hard to get in Kali Yuga. So, just as the guru tests the sishya, disciple, today even sishya has to test the guru.Is it right for a sishya to take it upon himself to a test a guru when he perhaps knows nothing much? ■ No, in KaliYuga a sishya too will have to know what the Shastras say about the signs of a good guru and accordingly check whether his guru has those traits. For example, a true guru always has the mangal, welfare, of his sishya in mind. He has no desire for wealth or money.He stays immersed in Bhagvan’s chintan — thoughts of the Divine — and he chants the name of Bhagvan all the time and is immersed in seva — dedicated to serving God 24 hours a day. He has no other work.Is it true that a guru will come into our life when we are ready and deserving?■ Well, it depends on the bhagya, destiny, of the seeker. Some seekers may have to go look for a guru, while others may be sought by a guru. For example, Rasikanand Prabhu, a sage, Gaudiya Vaishnava scholar and a great Krishna bhakta, heard an akashvani, divine message, that he need not go looking for a guru, and that his guru will find him. And sure enough, he met Shyamananda Prabhu fromVrindavan.The story goes that a Krishna devotee by the name Krishna Dasa, would often sweep the streets of Vrindavan to ensure that they are clean for Vaishnav bhaktas to go to the temples. Once, while sweeping the streets, he discovered a beautiful anklet. A gopi called Lalita, appeared before him and asked him whether he had seen Radha’s anklet. Realising that it belonged to none other than Krishna’s Radha, he said he would return the anklet to the owner in person. He wanted to use this opportunity to have darshan of Radha Rani. When Lalita brought Radha to meet him, he took bath in the Shiva Kund nearby, took on a gopi roop — form of a cowherd girl — and had divine darshan.Since then he came to be known as Shyamananda Prabhu, servant of Shyamasunder, Krishna, for his service pleased Radha Rani, and he was asked to go east and spread the teachings of Gaura, Nityananda—Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his friend and discipleNitai—with the help of a disciple called Rasikanand Prabhu.Hari nama is the key mantra to solving all problem in KaliYuga. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the proponent of Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition within Hinduism, has given it fullpower. In his Shikshashtakam, an eight-verse prayer, Mahaprabhu says: Namnam akari bahuda, nija sarva saktis, smarane na kalah, tatrarpita niyamitah — ‘in the divine names, manifest various kinds of shaktis, full potencies, with no rules according to time for remembering them....’You can do nama japa any time. Take the mantra from a realised master, who will give you a mala, rosary, too. Chant the mantra — Hari Nama — according to a predetermined sankhya, count, every day. If you have time to do 10 mala japa, resolve to do just 10 every day, regularly. You can do this upon waking up, even before taking a bath, or while eating or working; any time is fine.This is what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has taught.So, if connecting with God is
 so easy, why do we perform rituals like serving the deity with bhog, food, eight times a day, doing elaborate pujas and taking out yatras? ■There are two ways to serve the Divine. One is the Vidhi Marg. Puja, archana, ringing the bell, and serving bhog to God is vidhi marg; it is rajasic seva.Do it if it works for you. Second way is the Raag Marg, which does not require any of this. Just chanting Bhagvan’s name is enough.Chaitanya Mahaprabhu once had a disciple called Raghunath Goswami. He was so busy with his daily chores that he would have no time to do any rituals and pray. So, Mahaprabhu asked him to simply offer one piece of mithai, sweet, and one tulsi leaf to Girdhari, Krishna, with some Ganga Jal, Ganga water, and perform the puja. That should be enough. This is saatvic seva.Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had a very dear disciple named Haridas Thakur, who was a great Krishna bhakta. He would chant the name of God three lakh times everyday, andhence, would be left with no time to go to the market, to buy vegetables to cook for the bhog. So, Mahaprabhu would send him the prasadam from the Jagannath temple every day. Such was his level of bhakti that Mahaprabhu gave Haridas Thakur the title of Namacharya. And when he passed away, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu carried his body to the seashore in Puri and sat in samadhi with it on his lap. He declared the sea asa Mahatirtha—greatest of all pilgrim centres. Since then, bathing in the sea at Puri is considered auspicious and said to help you attain moksha. ■Post your comments at speakingtree.in