The Gosvamis never said, "We have seen Krishna." This is the recommended process—worship in separation. We should awaken our lost Krishna consciousness in this way...

Where is Krishna? Awakening our lost Krishna consciousness

Krishna-kripa das, June 20 2009: In Amsterdam, Dhanañjaya Prabhu told us that one time Srila Prabhupada, although he wasn’t feeling well, agreed to see George Harrison, who had a recording which he wanted Srila Prabhupada to hear. The song was entitled “Krishna, Where are You?” George had written the lyrics and arranged the music, and Ravi Shankar’s sister, Laksmi, was the singer. Prabhupada said it was in the mood of the Goswamis, and that if George Harrison continued writing songs like that he would quickly advance in spiritual life. (ref: George Harrison/Lakshmi Shankar: “Krishna, Where are You?” at http://prabhupadanugas.eu.)

How to approach Krishna

Knowledge of the Absolute Truth is not very easily understood by ordinary, less intelligent men; but if the spiritual master is kind enough to the disciple, however unintelligent he may be, then by the divine grace of the spiritual master everything is revealed. Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura therefore says, yasya prasadad, by the mercy of the spiritual master, the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, bhagavat-prasadah, is revealed. Devahuti requested her great son to be merciful toward her because she was a less intelligent woman and also His mother. By the grace of Kapiladeva it was quite possible for her to understand the Absolute Truth, even though the subject matter is very difficult for ordinary persons, especially women.

In this verse Devahuti shows us the process for understanding transcendental subject matters. It is not by challenge but by submission. The entire bhakti process is a process of submission. That is also Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's teaching:

trinad api sunichena
taror iva sahishnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih [Chaitanya-charitamrita Adi 17.31]

If one is interested in advancing in chanting Hare Krishna, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu advises that one be humbler than the grass and more tolerant than the trees. One should not be very proud of his intelligence but should give all respect to others. In this way, one can chant Hare Krishna offenselessly. Although Devahuti was the mother of Kapiladeva, she presented herself as a humble woman. It was not that she considered herself superior because she was His mother.

We have to please the spiritual master by service, and the entire bhakti process depends on the attitude of service. The transcendental nature of Krishna is not possible to understand with our blunt material senses. Krishna's name, form, qualities and pastimes are all divya, divine. Our present material senses have to be purified by engagement in the Lord's service, and our first engagement begins with the tongue. It is with the tongue that we can chant the transcendental names of the Lord. This is not very difficult, and this path is open to everyone—even women, vaishyas and shudras. After describing all the faults of Kali-yuga, Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.3.51) states:

kaler dosha-nidhe rajann
asti hy eko mahan gunah
kirtanad eva krishnasya
mukta-sangah param vrajet

"There is one special advantage about this age of Kali-yuga, and that is that people can attain liberation and return home, back to Godhead, simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra." Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said:

harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha

"Chant Hare Krishna, chant Hare Krishna. There is no other way, no other way at all in Kali-yuga." [Cc. Adi 17.21]

We should try to avoid the ten offenses in chanting the holy name, but anyone who chants Hare Krishna sincerely is purified. Cheto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam [Cc. Antya 20.12] (Shikshashtaka 1). This is the easiest process by which the mirror of the mind can be cleansed. If Krishna sees that someone is sincerely chanting Hare Krishna, He will help. He is within everyone, and He can understand whether one is sincere or not. Krishna helps a sincere devotee internally and externally. Internally He helps as Paramatma by giving intelligence from within. Dadami buddhi-yogam tam. Externally He helps as His representative, the spiritual master. Therefore Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says: guru-krishna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija. "By the grace of Krishna, one gets a bona fide guru, and by the grace of the guru, one gets Krishna." (Cc. Madhya 19.151) Thus the shastras have given us a very easy way to appreciate our transcendental life. That is the Krishna consciousness movement.

Devahuti has submissively accepted her son as her guru. She wants to understand Krishna perfectly, by the grace of Kapiladeva. It is very important to receive the causeless mercy of Krishna and the spiritual master. By Krishna's mercy, we receive a spiritual master, and by the spiritual master's mercy, we receive Krishna.

Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura has greatly stressed the mercy of the guru, and it is an actual fact that if we satisfy the guru by our service, he will give us his blessings. This is a very great opportunity, for the guru is the confidential servant of Krishna. The guru never claims that he is Krishna, although he is worshiped as Krishna: sakshad dharitvena samasta-shastrair uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih ["The spiritual master is to be honored as much as the Supreme Lord, because he is the most confidential servitor of the Lord. This is acknowledged in all revealed scriptures and followed by all authorities."].

All the shastras describe the guru as being on an equal basis with Krishna, for he is the representative of Krishna. Therefore he is worshiped as Krishna. Being the most confidential servant of Krishna, the guru is very dear to Krishna; therefore if he recommends someone to Krishna, Krishna accepts the person. The guru is the confidential servant of Krishna because he canvasses from door to door, saying, "Please become Krishna conscious and surrender unto Krishna." Krishna tells Arjuna that such a person is very dear to Him. The bona fide guru tells people to surrender not unto him but unto Krishna. Thus one has to surrender unto Krishna through the via media of the guru, not directly. This is the process. The guru does not accept respect from his disciple for his personal self but conveys this respect to Krishna. If we cannot receive the mercy of the guru, Krishna is very difficult to approach directly.

It is stated in Bhagavad-gita that knowledge of Krishna is received through the parampara, the disciplic succession. Evam parampara-praptam [Bg. 4.2]. The guru offers the same respects to his guru, and his guru offers respects to his, and so it goes all the way to Krishna. Thus the mercy of Krishna comes down through the parampara system, and the respect offered to Krishna is offered up through the parampara system. One has to learn to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead in this way. Thus if we want to approach God, we have to take shelter of the guru in the beginning. Devahuti is begging the mercy of Kapiladeva in order to understand the way to approach Krishna. She approaches Him very humbly saying, "My dear Kapila, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but I am a woman, and my intelligence is not very sharp. Nonetheless, I want to understand these sublime transcendental subjects from You. It is possible by Your mercy."

The process of approaching and understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead was also discussed between Ramananda Raya and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. First, Ramananda Raya explained the process in terms of varnashrama-dharma. He said first of all that human life is meant for approaching Lord Vishnu through the rules and regulations governing varnashrama-dharma. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu replied that it is very difficult in this age to execute the rules and regulations of varnashrama-dharma. It is very difficult to be a brahmana in this age, and it is practically impossible to revive the old varnashrama-dharma culture. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu therefore said that this method is not very practical. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has been called by Srila Rupa Gosvami "the most munificent avatara" because He distributes love of Krishna free of charge. First of all, we cannot even understand Krishna; therefore there is no question of loving Him. If we do not understand someone, how can we love him? The love is very far away, but Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is so kind that He distributes krishna-prema, love of Krishna, to whomever will take it. In His life, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu cried for Krishna and showed how one should be mad after Him.

yugayitam nimeshena
chakshusha pravrishayitam
shunyayitam jagat sarvam
govinda-virahena me

"O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence." (Shikshashtaka 7)

Without Krishna, one should see everything as vacant. This is Radharani's frame of mind, but this is not possible for an ordinary living being. It was possible for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and a few devotees, His immediate disciples like the six Gosvamis, who were following in His footsteps. They worshiped Krishna in separation and sought Krishna everywhere.

he radhe vraja-devike cha lalite he nanda-suno kutah
shri-govardhana-kalpa-padapa-tale kalindi-vane kutah
ghoshantav iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair maha-vihvalau
vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau shri jiva-gopalakau

"I offer my respectful obeisances to the six Gosvamis, namely Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, who were chanting very loudly everywhere in Vrindavana, shouting, 'Queen of Vrindavana, Radharani! O Lalita! O son of Nanda Maharaja! Where are you all now? Are you just on the hill of Govardhana, or are you under the trees on the bank of the Yamuna? Where are you?' These were their moods in executing Krishna consciousness." (Shad-gosvamy-ashtaka 8)

The Gosvamis never said, "We have seen Krishna." This is the recommended process—worship in separation. We should awaken our lost Krishna consciousness in this way and become mad after Krishna in our separation from Him. This is called krishna-prema, and this love was distributed by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. We should not try to understand Krishna by our small knowledge. Since we are imperfect, how can we speculate on Krishna? There are many people like jñanis and theosophists who try to understand the Absolute Truth by speculation, but this is not possible.

athapi te deva padambuja-dvaya-
prasada-leshanugrihita eva hi
janati tattvam bhagavan-mahimno
na chanya eko 'pi chiram vichinvan

"My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate in order to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years." (SB 10.14.29) Even if one speculates for many years, he cannot understand Krishna. One has to receive the mercy of Krishna through the spiritual master, and this is the path recommended by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Sthane-sthitah shruti-gatah tanu-van-manobhih (SB 10.14.3). Another name for Krishna is Ajita. No one can conquer Krishna, but Krishna can be conquered by His devotee. One should be submissive and say, "Krishna, I am very poor. I have no means to understand You. Please be merciful upon me. Please allow me to understand You and surrender." This is wanted. Krishna is very merciful, and when He sees that someone has surrendered, He will help from within.