JAY MA KALI

Why do I say “Jay Ma Kali” from time to time? I should not say why because if you hear then you will feel very shy. It is because it is not appropriate to discuss Sri Sri Radha-Krishna’s Pastimes in the place where we are living at present. It is impossible, and not only that, but offensive. For that reason I say “Jay Ma Kali”. It is an appropriate place for Mother Kali, but not Radha-Krishna. We are discussing about Radha-Krishna no doubt, but the liberated souls are trying to discuss this, and not one of us is liberated. We have some hankering for hearing, however, and if you do not show something, if you do not give something, if you do not try to expose something, then attachment will take the form of detachment. For that reason we do some discussion sometimes.

Student: I heard that whether you are liberated or not liberated you must discuss this.

Srila Gurudev: In this way it will only be in the book, but not the heart. If you teach a parrot, the parrot will say, “Radha Krishna, Radha Krishna”. But if you hit a parrot he will say “Tah! Tah! Tah!” This is a fact.

It is very offensive if we try to take the position where Raghunath Das Goswami, Jiva Goswami, and Rupa Goswami are living here in our mundane world of enjoyment. It is best if we will honour that plane from afar. Otherwise, you can go to Mother Kali and live with Mother Kali, no problem. This is why I said you will be shy to hear why I say “Jay Ma Kali”. We are living within the lap of Mother Kali. A Ganges full of knowledge may be within us but it is useless. It has no value. It may only be a big mountain of offence.

Someone knows some English and they think that they can translate Srila Guru Maharaj’s English Gita. It is not so easy to translate. The day before yesterday a new book came to me, and I saw that the devotees who published it made a massacre. I do not know their language, but I know Sanskrit and I saw that they made a massacre. Without quality and qualification, it is not possible to expose the substance properly. But our whole devotee section is doing that, and not only our section: I have seen that other societies have made more of a massacre because they have published so many high standard books.

When Srila Guru Maharaj published Krishna-karnamrtam it was a restricted law that it would not be given to everyone. At that time Krishna-karnamrtam was not available in the market, and Guru Maharaj said it is an important book, and someone must publish it, otherwise it will be lost. But Guru Maharaj also ordered us not to give it to everyone.

When Kesav Maharaj published Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur’s Jaiva-dharma, he divided it into two parts, and he did not distribute the second part, which is about rasa-vichar, realisation of rasa; he published it, but did not distribute it. He said that the first part was suitable for the adhikar, capacity, of the general devotees, and whoever knows rasa-vichar by the grace of Gurudev may read the second part. Guru Maharaj was happy, not unhappy that Kesav Maharaj published Jaiva-dharma like this. That was the standard, but now where is that standard? Now some groups are randomly printing and distributing Ujjvala-nilamani, Madhurya-kadambini, and many other books. This was not the process of Srila Saraswati Thakur, and in the time of Saraswati Thakur even the third division students knew this and understood what was necessary to give to others.

The reading of Krishna-karnamrta was restricted. Young men would not read it. I read it because I was the copyholder. Dr Sastri was the proofreader and I was copyholder, so I read it for making Sanskrit corrections. My memory was sharp and so I memorised it, but we did not read it actually. It was restricted because there is strong rasa-vichar there.

marah svayam nu madhura-dyuti-mandalam nu
madhuryam eva nu mano-nayanamrtam nu
veni-mrjo nu mama jivita-vallabho nu
krsno ’yam abhyudayate mama lochanaya
(68)

[“My dear friends, where is that Krishna, Cupid personified, who has the effulgence of a kadamba flower, who is sweetness itself, the nectar of My eyes and mind, He who loosens the hair of the gopis, who is the supreme source of transcendental bliss and My life and soul? Has He come before My eyes again?”]

Srila Madhav Maharaj repeated this verse many times, and Srila Kaviraj Goswami was very attracted to this sloka:

tvach-chhaisavam tri-bhuvanadbhutam ity avehi
mach-chapalam cha tava va mama vadhigamyam
tat kim karomi viralam murali-vilasi
mugdham mukhambujam udiksitum iksanabhyam
(32)

“We do not know what We have done in Our early young age. You know something, and I know something. You guess something, and I guess something. But now You and Myself are separated. What shall I do? When We played together that was one situation, and We had full freedom, but now full restriction has come, and You are aloof from the whole environment. Now You are in Mathura, so now what shall I do?”

These are very high standard verses.

Source

Spoken on Sri Lalita Saptami in September 2000.

Reference

This article is continued in the post Careful Approach.