The Pursuit of Bliss

Ishton men Radha Krishna Govinda Radhey, Bhavon men madhurya shreshta bata dey. (Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on January 17, 2011, in Bhakti Dham, Manghar, India, explaining this new kirtan verse.) The one who is worshiped (ishta) or the one who is served (sevya) is of many kinds. Some are even mayic or material, such as celestial gods and goddesses. These include Indra, Varuna, Kuber and others. Such ishtas are millions in number. By acquiring spiritual understanding through the teachings of a true Saint, we come to know that the worship of a material personality results in a material consequence. The word deva applies to both celestial beings and to supreme God. Kah paramo devah. Krishno ha vai paramam daivatam. This verse asks: Who is the greatest deva? Here the word deva refers to supreme God. Similarly, the word divya (divine) refers to both material celestial beings and also to God. The word atma (soul) refers to both the individual soul and God. ...

Hari Guru chumbak Govinda Radhey, Man loha shuddhi matra so kinchva dey. (Synopsis of a talk by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on January 16, 2011, in Bhakti Dham, Mangadh, India, explaining this new kirtan verse.) A mother and father have four children. They all live in the same home, share the same environment and eat the same food, but the aim and interest of each is different. All four children went to see a Saint. One of them sincerely followed the Saint’s teachings. One half-heartedly following them and then stopped. One didn’t follow them at all. One criticised the family member who was practising devotion, “Why has he started this ‘Radhey Radhey’ in our home?” Why is there so much difference? This verse gives the reason. Our mind is filled with the stored impressions of actions from uncountable past lifetimes. This is collectively called sanchit karma. During this time we have committed uncountable sins. There is no such sin, even one such as murder, that we have committed j...

On January 14, Makar Sakranti, millions took an early morning dip in the chilly waters at the sangam of Ganga and Yamuna in Allahabad. Further downstream, in Varanasi, Kripaluji was formally installed as the Fifth Jagadguru. I mention this because, to a non-believer like me, Kripaluji’s sayings make more sense than the others who appear on TV channels to discourse on spirituality. All of them have the gift of the gab, but he is more forthright, logical, lucid and gives chapter and verse of the sacred texts he quotes from. His memory is truly phenomenal. He was born Ram Kripalu, into an affluent Brahmin, land-owning family of Mangarh near Allahabad. He received his prilimary education in Hindi and Sanskrit at the local school. He went on to study advanced Sanskrit and Ayurveda, and spent another year studying the Vedas, Upanishads, the epics and Bhakti literature. Besides giving spiritual discourses, he has set up two well-equipped hospitals. He provides all the modern methods of diagno...

(Synopsis of a talk given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj at Bhakti Dham, Mangarh, India, on January 14, 2011, explaining this kirtan verse.) Hari Guru bhaju nit Govinda Radhey, bhava nishkam ananya bana dey. This verse contains the essence of all spiritual philosophy. It mentions four points: (1) Hari Guru bhaju – The scriptures do not prescribe that our worship should be to God alone. Yasya deve para bhaktir yathe deve tatha gurau. The Vedas explain that the Guru should be worshiped with the same devotion as God. Devotion to both is compulsory. (2) Nit – Many people practice devotion, but only for a short time. This is like saving $10 and spending $20, or washing your clothes once with soap and afterward making them dirty ten times. If you do this, your clothes will never become clean. First, we don’t practise devotion properly. Even if we do practise devotion for an hour or two, we do it pridefully. People observe with some awe, “Do you know that person is a tax collector and h...

(Synopsis of a lecture given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj in Shyama Shyam Dham, Bhubhaneshwar, India. This lecture was given 2 or 3 years ago, but the topic is as relevant now as it was then.) Today is the last day of this year. Tomorrow, the world will joyfully celebrate the new year. But this is wrong. Because this is actually not a joyful situation. Rather it is an occasion for remorse. Imagine you saved 100,000 rupees. If you spent 50,000 of this, you don’t celebrate. Instead you think, “Oh, now only 50,000 are left!” Eventually only 2,000 are left. Now only 1,000 are left. Similarly, this human body was given to us by God to attain our ultimate aim. How much closer have we come to that aim? How much devotion or upasana did we do? Upasana (devotion) means to go ‘pas‘, close. The meaning of upasana is to go close to God. How much closer to God have we gone? For example, someone is feeling cold. Before him there is fire. The closer he goes to the fire, the more his feeling of...

(Part 4 – Synopsis of a lecture given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on November 17, 2009, in Bhatinda, India) It matters not what name and form of God you use. Call out to Him with whatever name you prefer, whether that is in Hindi, Urdu, English, Punjabi or any other language. But this should be done with love. It should be done with as much feeling as a drowning man calls out to his beloved or a dying father says, “Bring my daughter here so I may see her for the last time!” Many people offer food to God before eating. Some sprinkle water over their food, some don’t. Their eyes are closed. Some fold their hands. This becomes an even bigger ritual when done in temples. But has there ever been a temple priest, holy man or anyone else, who opened his eyes and looked at the food after it was offered to God and asked, “What did God eat? Oh, He didn’t eat anything?” Has anyone ever felt bad as a result and cried because nothing was eaten? “He didn’t eat a single thing! How great a si...

(Part 3 – Synopsis of a lecture given by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj on November 17, 2009, in Bhatinda, India) So the conclusion is that it is the mind alone that has to be purified. Whether you practice devotion to the world or to God, wherever the mind is attached is where you will have raga or love. Vairagya or without raga means to detach the mind from the world. But what do we think detachment means? “Look! That renunciate is living in the jungle! He doesn’t wear any clothing and he only eats fruits! He never speaks to anyone!” But we don’t see that he is still thinking of the world. Instead we fall at his feet thinking he is as great as God’s own father. This is due to our ignorance. Renunciation means to have no mental attachment in the world. There were uncountable Saints in the age of Sat Yuga, some who ruled over this entire earth like Prahlad, Dhruva and Ambarish. There were Saints like Vasishtha and Bharadwaj, and Lord Ram, Bharat, Lakshman, and Shatrughan – they were...