The All-Attractive Lord

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
25 June 2015


[His Divine Grace is reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, chapter 24:]

jaya jaya sri-chaitanya jaya nityananda
jayadvaita-chandra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

"All glories to Sri Chaitanya, all glory to Nityananda! All glories to Advaita-chandra and the devotees of Gaura!" [2]

tabe sanatana prabhura charane dhariya
punarapi kahe kichhu vinaya kariya

"Then Sanatan clasped the Lord's feet and humbly asked one more question."

'purve suniyachhon, tumi sarvabhauma-sthane
eka sloke athara artha kairacha vyakhyane

"I heard that You previously explained one sloka at the place of Sarvabhauma, and You gave eighteen different explanations." [3]

Sanatan Goswami asked Mahaprabhu, "I heard before that You explained one sloka eighteen times, giving eighteen kinds of meaning, explanation. Could you please can tell me those explanations?"

atmaramas cha munayo
nirgrantha apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukim bhaktim
ittham-bhuta-guno harih

"The amazing qualities of the Lord are such that even the self-satisfied, the great renounced persons are also drawn to the causeless devotion to this wondrous Lord."

'atma'-sabde brahma, deha, mana, yatna, dhrti
buddhi, svabhava,—ei sata artha-prapti

[Sriman Mahaprabhu began His explanation,] "There are seven meanings of the word 'atma': it can mean the impersonal aspect of the Lord (brahma), body, mind, endeavour, firmness, intelligence, and individual nature." [11]

ei sate rame yei, sei atmarama-gana
atmarama-ganera age kariye ganana

"Those who enjoy (rama) these seven are called atmaramas. I will tell you who such atmaramas are later." [13]

'muni' adi sabdera artha suna, sanatana
prthak prthak artha pache kariba milana

"Sanatan, hear now the meaning of 'munis and others'. I will tell you first the separate meanings, then will bring them all together." [14]

'muni' sabde manana-sila, ara kahe mauni
tapasvi, vrati, yati, ara rsi, muni

"The word 'muni' means 'manana-sila' (the contemplative), it can also refer to the silent, the ascetics, the observers of vows, renunciates, as well as saintly scholars and sages. [15]

To be a muni means your mind must be settled at the Lord's lotus feet. Mahaprabhu explains that "muni-sabde manana-sila" means you must give your mind to the lotus feet of the Lord. "Tapasvi, vrati, yati, ara rsi, muni": those who worship the Lord, rishis, munis, they practise meditation—their mind is settled there. That is why when we do gayatri, we sit in a meditation pose—you must direct your mind at the Lord. When you worship the Guru gayatri, your eyes may be closed, but you can see Gurudev's lotus feet, Gurudev's face.

'nirgrantha'-sabde kahe, avidya-granthi-hina

"The word 'nigrantha' means those who are without any knots of ignorance, and it can also mean those who do not have any knowledge of the scriptures, Vedas, of the rules and regulations." [16]

murkha, nicha, mlechchha adi sastra-virakta-gana
dhana-sanchayi—nirgrantha, ara ye nirdhana

"'Nirgrantha' can refer to those who are irritated by the scriptures (fools, lowborn, unclean persons without any principles, etc.), the hoarders of wealth, as well as those who have no wealth at all." [17]

Those who do not know, who have no idea, no knowledge about anything, who are foolish, who are of lower caste, the mlechas, who are always annoyed by the sastra and always think about wealth—they are called 'nigrantha'.

'urukrama' sabde kahe, bada yanra krama
'krama' sabde kahe ei pada-viksepana

"The word 'urukrama' means one whose step (krama) is big. 'Krama' means throwing your leg forth." [19]

Urukram are those who continue and increase their practising life. Day by day, you should increase your practising life—if you chant four rounds today, tomorrow chant five, and the day after tomorrow six, and so on. That is called 'urukram'.

sakti kampa-yukta paripatye akramana
charana-chalane kampaila tribhuvana

"It is a neat attack, power, and tremble, it is a step that makes all three worlds tremble." [20]

vibhu-rupe vyape, saktye dharana-posana
madhurya-saktye goloka, aisvarye paravyoma

"By His power, He maintains and nourishes everything in His all-pervasive form; by the power of His sweetness He maintains and nourishes Goloka; and by His opulence, the entire spiritual world." [22]

maya-saktye brahmandadi-paripati-srjana
'urukrama' sabdera ei artha nirupana

"He neatly creates all universes by His external potency. These are the meanings of the word 'urukrama.'" [23]

'kurvanti' pada ei parasmaipada haya
krsna-sukha-nimitta bhajane tatparya kahaya

"'Kurvanti' is a verb that means something done for someone else. It is said to indicate service for the pleasure of Krishna." [25]

'hetu' sabde kahe—bhukti-adi vanchhantare
bhukti, siddhi, mukti—mukhya ei tina prakare

"The word 'hetu' means having different desires such as bhukti and so on. The main of such desires are bhukti (material enjoyment), siddhi (perfections and mystic powers), and mukti (liberation)." [27]

eka bhukti kahe, bhoga—ananta-prakara
siddhi—astadasa, mukti—pancha-vidhakara

"It is called by one word material enjoyment (bhukti), but there are unlimited kinds of enjoyment. In the same way, there are eighteen types of siddhis (perfections), and five different kinds of liberation." [28]

There are five kinds of mukti (sayujya, merging with Brahman; sarupya, having the same body as the Lord; salokya, residing at the same planet as the Lord; samipya, being an associate of the Lord; sarsti, having the same opulences as the Lord), and eighteen kinds of siddhi (the eight primary: ability to become very small, very big, very light, get anything you want, experience anything you want, manipulate material nature, be free from material modes of nature, obtaining anything from anywhere; the ten secondary: be free from hunger, thirst and other bodily disturbances, ability to hear things far away, see things far away, move the body at the speed of the mind, assume any desired form, enter others' bodies, die at will, witness the demigods' pastimes, perfectly accomplish the desired aim, give orders that cannot be obstructed).

"Ei yanha nahi, taha bhakti ahaituki": you may not want it, but some kind of mercy can come automatically. That is why it is called ahaituki (causeless).

ei yanha nahi, taha bhakti—'ahaituki'
yaha haite vasa haya sri-krsna kautuki

"When these are not there, then there can without any cause appear devotion (bhakti). Such devotion brings playful Lord Krishna under its control." [29]

'bhakti' sabdera artha haya dasa-vidhakara
eka—'sadhana', 'prema-bhakti'—nava prakara

"The word 'bhakti' can be interpreted in ten ways: sadhana and the nine types of loving devotion (prema-bhakti)." [30]

There are nine types of practising life:

'rati' laksana, 'prema' laksana, ityadi prachara
bhava-rupa, mahabhava-laksana-rupa ara

"These refer to such symptoms as attachment (rati), love (prema), and so on, up to ecstasy (bhava) and ultimate ecstasy (maha-bhava)." [31]

santa-bhaktera rati bade 'prema' paryanta
dasya-bhaktera rati haya 'raga' dasa-anta

The santa rasa devotees (in the mood of neutrality) develop their attachment up to the general stage of love (prema). The attachment of the dasya rasa devotees (in the mood of servitude) grows up to the state of passionate attachment (raga). [32]

sakha-ganera rati haya 'anuraga' paryanta
pitr-matr-sneha adi 'anuraga'-anta

"The attachment of friends develops up to the stage of intense passionate attachment (anuraga), the mothers' and fathers' affection also grows up to the state of such intense passionate attachment." [33]

kanta-ganera rati paya 'mahabhava' sima
'bhakti' sabde kahilun ei arthera mahima

"The lovers' attachment reaches the extremes of ultimate ecstasy. Such are the glories of the meaning of the word 'bhakti' (devotion)." [34]

'ittham-bhuta-gunah' sabdera sunaha vyakhyana
'ittham' sabdera bhinna artha, 'guna' sabdera ana

"Now hear what 'ittham-bhuta-gunah' means. 'Ittham' has various meanings, and the word 'guna' (qualities) also has many meanings." [36]

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-sukha chadaya yara gandhe
alaukika sakti-gune krsna-krpaya bandhe

"When you come in touch with just a scent of these qualities, you give up the happiness of enjoyment, liberation, and perfections, and become bound by that supra-mundane kind of power and mercy of Krishna." [39]

Some kind of external power can come within you—that is Krishna's mercy (kripa). All kinds of enjoyment, all kinds of liberation, all kinds of any other things will be removed from you if that kind of smell comes to you—where there is Krishna, there is no darkness, there is no maya, no bhukti, no mukti, not any other things.

sastra-yukti nahi inha siddhanta-vichara
ei svabhava-gune, yate madhuryera sara

"In the true form of these qualities (guna) there is not any scriptural consideration, or any judgement based on the spiritual truths—these qualities are the very essence of sweetness, love." [40]

'guna' sabdera artha—krsnera guna ananta
sach-chid-rupe-gune sarva-purnananda

"The word 'guna' (qualities, nature) means the unlimited qualities of Krishna. Possessing these qualities, His eternal transcendental form is full of all possible ecstasy." [41]

The word "guna" means the many virtues of Krishna.

aisvarya-madhurya-karunye svarupa-purnata
bhakta-vatsalya, atma-paryanta vadanyata

His very self is full of opulence, sweetness and mercy. He is affectionate to His devotees and His magnanimity is up to the point of giving His own self. [42]

alaukika rupa, rasa, saurabhadi guna
karo mana kona gune kare akarsana

"He possesses a supra-mundane form, ecstasy, fragrance, and so on—He is such that anyone's mind can be attracted to Him." [43]



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Rupa and Sanatan
First Encounter
Running Away
On the way to

Finishing Visaya

Meeting Mahaprabhu
Empowering Srila Rupa Goswami
Rare, Rarer, the Rarest
The Ultimate Gardening Guide
Pure Devotion

Supreme Personality of Godhead
The Three Worlds
Brahmas' Realm
Krishna's Beauty
Maya's Family
The Cry of a Surrendered Soul
Breaking Free
Delusion of Liberation
Leaving Ulterior Motive
When Krishna Gives Mercy
Awakening Taste for Service
Full Faith
Power Transmission
Surrender in Good Association
Six Limbs of Surrender
Sixty-Four Devotional Practices
Spontaneous Loving Devotion
The Path to the Supreme Goal
Hero and Heroine
"You Are Mine!"
The All-Attractive Lord



Odds and Ends
'I have never, not even in my mind, said, 'I want to be always near Gurudev.' Gurudev told me, 'If somebody does service from far, if they only follow me, then they will get me.' Gurudev said it, and I always follow these words.'


Krsna haite chatur-mukha
'Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is nondifferent from Sri Sri Radha-Krsna and is the very life of Sri Rupa's followers. Srila Svarup Damodar Goswami, Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu, and Srila Sanatan Goswami Prabhu are most dear to Visvambhar.'
কৃষ্ণ হৈতে চতুর্ম্মুখ

If you make one step to Krishna, Krishna will make ten steps to you.
He is always ready to come to you.