Glories of Lord Nityananda Rama
sankarsanah karana-toya-sayigarbhoda-sayi ca payobdhi-sayi
"May Sri Nityananda Rama be the object of my constantremembrance. Sankarsana, Mahavisnu, GarbhodaksayiVisnu, and Ksirodaksayi Visnu, as well as Sesa are His expansions and the expansions of His expansions." (Cc. Adi1.7)
mayatite vyapi-vaikuntha-lokepurnaisvarye sri-catur-vyuha-madhye
rupam yasyodbhati sankarsanakhyamtam sri-nityananda-ramam prapadye
"I surrender unto the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Rama,who is known as Sankarsana in the midst of thecatur-vyuha. He has full opulences and resides in Vaikunthaloka far beyond the material creation." (Cc. Adi1.8)
maya-bhartajanda-sanghasrayangahsete saksat karanambhodhi-madhye
yasyaikamsah sri-puman adi-devastam sri-nityananda-ramam prapadye
"I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Sri NityanandaRama, whose partial representation calledKaranodakasayi Visnu, lying on the Karana ocean, is theoriginal Purusa, the master of the illusory energy and theshelter of all the universes." (Cc. Adi 1.9)
yasyamsamsah srila-garbhoda-sayi yan-nabhy-abjam loka-sanghata-nalam
loka-srastuh sutika-dhama dhatus tam sri-nityananda-ramam prapadye
"I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Sri NityanandaRama, a partial part of whom is Garbhodaksayi Visnu.From the navel of Garbhodaksayi Visnu sprouts the lotusstem that is the birthplace of Brahma, the engineer of theUniverse. The stem of that lotus is the resting place of themultitude of planets." (Cc. Adi 1.10)
yasyamsamsamsah paratmakhilanam posta visnur bhati dugdhabdhi-sayi
ksauni-bharta yat-kala so 'py anantas tam sri-nityananda-ramam prapadye
"I offer my full obeisances unto the feet of Sri NityanandaRama, whose secondary part is the Visnu lying in theocean of milk. That Ksirodaksayi Visnu is the Supersoul ofall living entities and the maintainer of all the universe.Sesa Naga is His further sub-part." (Cc. Adi 1.11)
nityananda' balite hayakrsna-premodaya
aulaya sakala angaasru-ganga vaya
"Simply by talking of Nityananda Prabhu one awakens hislove for Krsna. Thus all his bodily limbs are agitated byecstasy, and tears flow from his eyes like the waters of theGanges." (Cc Adi 8.23)
bada guta nityananda eha avatare
caitanya dekhaya yare, se' dekhite pare
"In this incarnation Lord Nityananda is carefully hidden.Only if Lord Caitanya Himself reveals Him can anyone seeLord Nityananda." (C.Bhag. Madhya 3.171)
name nityananda tuni, rupe nityananda
ei tumi nityananda rama-murttimanta
"Your name is Nityananda. Your form is also Nityananda,or full of eternal (nitya) bliss (ananda). You are Nityanandabecause You are Lord Balarama personified." (C.Bhag.Madhya 12.18)
nityananda-parjyatana, bhojana, bebhara
nityananda bina kicchu nahika tomara
"With great bliss You wander here and there, You eat,and You act in different ways. There is never a time whenYou are not blissful." (C.Bhag. Madhya 12.9)
nityananda prasade se haya visnu-bhakti
janiha-krsnera nityananda purna-sakti
"By Lord Nityananda's mercy one attains devotion toLord Visnu (Krsna). Please know that Lord Nityanandahas all the power of Lord Krsna." (C.Bhag. Madhya12.26)
krsnera dvitya-nityananda bai nai
sangi, sakha, sayana, bhujana, bandhu, bhai
"Lord Nityananda is not different from Lord Krsna. LordNityananda is Lord Krsna's associate, friend, couch,ornaments, and kinsmen." (C.Bhag. Madhya 12.27)
bedera agamya nityananda carita
sarvajiva-janaka, raksaka, sarvamitra
"Even the Vedas cannot approach Lord Nityananda'spastimes. Lord Nityananda is the father of all livingentities. He is their protector and their friend." (C.Bhag.Madhya 12.28)
ihara vyabhara saba krsnarasamaya
ihane sebile krsna-premabhakti haya
"His every action is filled with the nectar of love for LordKrsna. By serving Lord Nityananda one attains pure loveand devotion to Lord Krsna." (C.Bhag. Madhya12.18-29)
bhakti kari' ihana kaupina bandha sire
mahayatma iha puja kara giya ghara
"Therefore with great devotion please tie around yourheads these pieces of Lord Nityananda's kaupina. Takethem home and worship them with care." (C.Bhag.Madhya 12.30)
prabhu bale-eha nityananda svarupere
se karaye bhakti-sraddha se kare amare
"One who has faith and devotion for Lord Nityananda hasfaith and devotion for Me(Lord Caitanya) also." (C.Bhag.Madhya 12.55)
ihana carana-siva braksara vandita
ateava ihane kariha sabe prita
"Lord Siva and Lord Brahma bow down before LordNityananda's feet. Therefore all of you should place yourlove in Lord Nityananda's feet." (C.Bhag. Madhya 12.56)
nityananda avadhuta sabate agala
caitanyera dasya-preme ha-ila pagala
"Nityananda, the wandering mendicant, is the foremost ofall the servants of Lord Caitanya. He is the gatewaythrough which all service to Lord Caitanya must pass. Hebecame mad in the ecstasy of service to Lord Caitanya."(Cc. Adi 6.48)
samsarera para hai' bhaktira sagare
ye dubile se bhajuk nitai-candere
"One who would cross over the ocean of materialexistence and swim in the bhakti ocean should worship thelotus feet of Nityananda." (C.Bhag. Adi 1.77)
"Lord Nityananda alone possesses the distinctive function of the guru. Nityananda is the servant of God, serving Gaurasundara by the distinctive method of reverential servitude. He is identical with Sri Balarama of Krishna-lila. Sri Balarama is not a chum of Krishna, but His respected elder brother. Individual souls are under the direction of Nityananda. They receive the service of Sri Gaurasundara or Krishna at His hands.
Nityananda is the ultimate source of the jiva and the jiva is a potency of Nityananda. Nityananda and His companions form one of the five groups of the associates of Lord Caitanya, whose distinctive function is that of guru. But Nityananda does not directly instruct in the confidential service of Krishna.
Srimati Radhika is the guru of the inner circle of the servants of Krishna. Srimati Radharani however accepts the offering of service of only those souls who are especially favored by Nityananda and are deemed by Him to be fit for Her service. There is therefore a most intimate relationship between the function of Nityananda and that of Srimati Radharani." ( Harmonist, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur)
Nityananda Prabhu requested everyone to serve SriCaitanya Mahaprabhu, chant His glories and utter Hisname. Nityananda Prabhu claimed that person to be Hislife and soul who rendered devotional service unto SriCaitanya Mahaprabhu. In this way, Srila NityanandaPrabhu introduced the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhuto everyone without discrimination. Even though thepeople were fallen souls and blasphemers, they weredelivered by this process." (Cc. Madhya 29-30)
dui bhai eka-tanu----samana-prakasa
nityananda na mana, tomara habe sarva-nasa
"These two brothers(Gaura and Nitai) are like one body;They are identical manifestations. If you do not believe inLord Nityananda, you will fall down." (Cc. Adi 5.175)
ara kabe nitai-cander koruna hoibe
samsara-basana mora kabe tuccha ha'be
"We are all asking about the mercy of Lord Nityananda. Nityananda is supposed to be the original spiritual master, so we have to approach Gauranga, Lord Caitanya, through the mercy of Lord Nityananda. What is the symptom of a person who has achieved the causeless mercy of Lord Nityananda? Narottama Dasa Thakur says that the symptom of one who has actually received the causeless mercy of Lord Nityananda is that he has no more material desire. Samsara-basana means 'desire for material enjoyment' and Narottama Dasa wonders when it will become very insignificant. Of course as long as we have bodies we have to accept so many material things, but not in the spirit of enjoyment, but only to keep body and soul together." (Srila Prabhupada's purport to Narottama Dasa Thakur's Lalasamayi Prarthana)
ha ha prabhu nityananda, premananda sukhi
krpabalokana koro ami boro duhki
"My dear Lord Nityananda, You are always joyful in spiritual bliss. Since You always appear very happy, I have come to You because I am most unhappy. If You kindly put your glance over me, I may also become happy." (Narottama Dasa Thakur, Savarana-sri-gaura-pada-padme, from Prarthana)
dina hina patita pamara nahi bache
brahmar durlabha prema sabakare jace
"Lord Nityananda freely offered this exhalted prema,which is difficult for Lord Brahma to attain, even to thefallen and wretched souls who did not desire it." (NitaiGuna Mani---from the Caitanya Mangala, by Locana dasaThakur)
nitayer karuna habe, braje radha-krsna pabe
"If you actually want to approach the association ofRadha-Krsna, you must achieve the mercy of LordNityananda first. When he is merciful toward you, thenyou will be able to approach Radha-Krsna."(Nitai-pada-kamala by Narottama dasa Thakur)
"When the devotee develops his love for NityanandaPrabhu, he is freed from all attachment to the materialworld, and at that time he becomes eligible to understandthe Lord's pastimes in Vrndavana." (SrilaPrabhupada-Cc. Adi 7.18 purport)
Hope Against Hope
By Bhakta Igor
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
All glories to Swami Gaurangapada!
In our attempts to practice devotional service we may sometimes feel that we have no taste or that we do not have any qualification to properly act and execute such activities. But we should not feel hopeless. On contrary we should have faith and hope against hope, like Srilla Prabhupada wrote in Nectar of devotion:
"In this connection, one prayer by Rupa Gosvami is sufficient to exemplify this hopefulness. He says, "I have no love for Krishna, nor for the causes of developing love of Krishna -- namely, hearing and chanting. And the process of bhakti-yoga, by which one is always thinking of Krishna and fixing His lotus feet in the heart, is also lacking in me. As far as philosophical knowledge or pious works are concerned, I don't see any opportunity for me to execute such activities. But above all, I am not even born of a nice family.
Therefore I must simply pray to You, Gopijana-vallabha [Krishna, maintainer and beloved of the gopis]. I simply wish and hope that some way or other I may be able to approach Your lotus feet, and this hope is giving me pain, because I think myself quite incompetent to approach that transcendental goal of life." The purport is that under this heading of asa-bandha, one should continue to hope against hope that some way or other he will be able to approach the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord."
Srilla Prabhupada Chapter 18: Character of One in Ecstatic Love
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
All glories to Swami Gaurangapada!
In our attempts to practice devotional service we may sometimes feel that we have no taste or that we do not have any qualification to properly act and execute such activities. But we should not feel hopeless. On contrary we should have faith and hope against hope, like Srilla Prabhupada wrote in Nectar of devotion:
"In this connection, one prayer by Rupa Gosvami is sufficient to exemplify this hopefulness. He says, "I have no love for Krishna, nor for the causes of developing love of Krishna -- namely, hearing and chanting. And the process of bhakti-yoga, by which one is always thinking of Krishna and fixing His lotus feet in the heart, is also lacking in me. As far as philosophical knowledge or pious works are concerned, I don't see any opportunity for me to execute such activities. But above all, I am not even born of a nice family.
Therefore I must simply pray to You, Gopijana-vallabha [Krishna, maintainer and beloved of the gopis]. I simply wish and hope that some way or other I may be able to approach Your lotus feet, and this hope is giving me pain, because I think myself quite incompetent to approach that transcendental goal of life." The purport is that under this heading of asa-bandha, one should continue to hope against hope that some way or other he will be able to approach the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord."
Srilla Prabhupada Chapter 18: Character of One in Ecstatic Love
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
Occupation and Full Krishna Consciousness
By Bhakta Igor
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
Sometimes devotee may feel that there are so many duties and obligations in his life, specialy if devotee is housholder, have regular job etc. How to transcedent everyday activities when we are forced to act and work in envoirament that is not spiritualy favorable? We can find answer in Bg.18.46. where Srilla Prabhupada is giving us following advice:
"Everyone should think that he is engaged in a particular type of occupation by Hrishikesa, the master of the senses. And by the result of the work in which one is engaged, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, should be worshiped. If one thinks always in this way, in full Krishna consciousness, then, by the grace of the Lord, he becomes fully aware of everything. That is the perfection of life. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (12.7), tesham aham samuddharta. The Supreme Lord Himself takes charge of delivering such a devotee. That is the highest perfection of life. In whatever occupation one may be engaged, if he serves the Supreme Lord he will achieve the highest perfection."
Therefore we may conclude that in whatever position we presently are, we should make our life perfect by simple and sublime process of chanting and remembering Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas together with Hare Krsna Maha Mantra.
In that way we will, like Srila Prabhupada stated above, we will be in full Krishna consciousness.
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
Sometimes devotee may feel that there are so many duties and obligations in his life, specialy if devotee is housholder, have regular job etc. How to transcedent everyday activities when we are forced to act and work in envoirament that is not spiritualy favorable? We can find answer in Bg.18.46. where Srilla Prabhupada is giving us following advice:
"Everyone should think that he is engaged in a particular type of occupation by Hrishikesa, the master of the senses. And by the result of the work in which one is engaged, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, should be worshiped. If one thinks always in this way, in full Krishna consciousness, then, by the grace of the Lord, he becomes fully aware of everything. That is the perfection of life. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (12.7), tesham aham samuddharta. The Supreme Lord Himself takes charge of delivering such a devotee. That is the highest perfection of life. In whatever occupation one may be engaged, if he serves the Supreme Lord he will achieve the highest perfection."
Therefore we may conclude that in whatever position we presently are, we should make our life perfect by simple and sublime process of chanting and remembering Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas together with Hare Krsna Maha Mantra.
In that way we will, like Srila Prabhupada stated above, we will be in full Krishna consciousness.
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
