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Jay my dear devotees, dandavats. I hope you are very well. Let us seize the opportunity of the eve of the holy date of the advent of Mahaprabhu. The moons Gaura Nitay came to save the entire world.

Mahaprabhu comes to show the greatest secret: raja-guhyam, which is the heart of Srimati Radharani. Bhaktivinoda Thakur and our acharyas have said that we must look for where our service is most necessary. Better than knowing what Krishna has or knowing His greatness, is knowing His needs. This is the mentality of a servant. The needs one has guarded in the heart, one does not tell to everybody. But the servant is very expert in discovering this necessity. It is the first class devotee who discovers the needs of the Guru, and in this case Mahaprabhu Himself.

We know that the service is most needed where Srimati Radha and the gopis are suffering from the separation. This is a most elevated service, but Mahaprabhu comes to us too, to manifest His suffering in the separation from each one of us. The sankirtan movement has the purpose of appeasing this separation. This is nothing cheap or insignificant. It is something fundamental. Krishna speaks of the importance of preaching in Bhagavad Gita 18.66 because Krishna has created this world to be saved. Therefore Krishna comes to this world each time as an Avatar. He comes to accomplish the function of salvation. It is like seeing a fire in the forest; we know we have to extinguish it. The one who does this, is performing the most fundamental function.

Srila Rupa Goswami, Sanatana, Raghunatha, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, etc., are gopis who have come for sankirtan, to preach. Then we can see that when a gopi or a manjari comes to this world, it is to accomplish this task. Sankirtan is what Mahaprabhu Himself is doing in this world. With great longing he wants to embrace all souls and he leaves all His interests when He takes sannyasi to save the others.

Krishna also says in Bhagavad Gita 12. 6-7 that He immediately saves us if we serve Him. In other places too, Krishna says the same. That is sankirtan. Sankirtan means total and immediate relief for oneself and for others. Mahaprabhu on the other hand, is a very secret person. He is the hidden Krishna. Srila Prabhupada insisted so much that we should preach. All his faith was put into seva and preaching and of course in the nama chanting and the adoration of the Deities.

When Mahaprabhu is born it is a lunar eclipse. 'Why a moon with spots?' asks Caitanya Caritamrita. The moon is something very beautiful, very romantic in this world. It speaks of love in the world. But Mahaprabhu comes with another moon, with His transcendental moon. In Caitanya Caritamrita is said that the moon affects the mind, and therefore also the heart. It affects our feelings, and thus Mahaprabhu brings us His new sentiments, which are completely unknown to the wise and even to the Vedas. When Mahaprabhu talks with Ramananda Ray, he brings this to the limit of the unknown.

"There are no sastras for this", says Ramananda Ray, " I can only quote something for you that I have written myself". Mahaprabhu told him to quote his poem, and when he started to do so, Mahaprabhu proved His appearance called prema-vivarta-vilasa, which is the madness of the union in separation. Or rather the separation in the unity. This is very surprising; as I say, it goes beyond the Vedas. Mahaprabhu tries to give the most hidden and valuable treasures of the Truth, from the most wonderful reality. Therefore Mahaprabhu means Mahabav; it means that this entire Mahabhav opens His doors for the devotee who chants the names of Krishna with great faith and determination.

We have to serve, chant, thank the Guru, and always be together with the devotees. With love we have to see everyone as sister and brother. We have to try to serve them, to give them Krishna. That is the heart of a Vaisnava, because a Vaisnava is a person who wants to go to the world of love. In this world there is no bhava, there is no prema, no love, only selfish interests. But Mahaprabhu takes us to bhavas, to the highest peek of love, because He is Sri Radha's heart.

Therefore we mean that He came with a new moon, a moon that far surpasses the material moon that represents the material feelings and bonds, a spotted and depressing moon. Mahaprabhu's moon will affect our consciousness and elevate the tide of our consciousness. anandambhudi-vardhanam pratipadam. For each step the water of this ocean will elevate thanks to Mahaprabhu's moon. Place yourself under His beams, sreya-kairava- candrika. Place yourself under this light and its influence will be natural and immediate; the fruit of love for God will spontaneously take form in your heart.

Mahaprabhu says to Rupa Goswami that he has to weed what is growing around the plant of bhakti, bhakti-lata. And if you do this, the fruit of love will be given at the feet of Krishna. Srimad Bhagavatam also invites us to come and taste this fruit. And this way all Krishna consciousness is wisely programmed and completely powerful to bring us to the greatest success. We make use of this, of this energy of the Lord. This good will that He shows us by giving us this human body and the treasure in His name, in His service and sadhu-sanga.

All pleasures of this world will vanish, just as the material moon disappeared to the glory of Mahaprabhu. And here come Nitay and Gaura to bless us with everything, to give us all: nija-sarva-sakti. I give you My own personal energy, My own weapons and instruments to bring you to My inner circle. This is the Hare Krishna mantra. It is the direct connection with Krishna's heart. It is to discover the need of the Lord in a direct way, and how you can attend it. There begins our true existence, when we attend the heart of the Lord and not our own. Forget your own heart and give it to Krishna. He will purify it and make it a nest for His consciousness, His love. Because the condition of the highest consciousness is the highest love. Because consciousness is sentiment more than knowledge. Knowledge becomes sentiment and when this sentiment is a desire to give Krishna, to thank Krishna; then your consciousness is the most wonderful.

In this way we must let do, let be formed by Krishna. We have to admit that our position here is very unfortunate. We want to be in one manner, but we cannot, because Durga rules us. But now we can be used by Krishna, by Mahaprabhu. Like the sculptor Michelangelo said; that when they came to him with a piece of marble he could sense that in the stone there was something that said: Cut me here. He started to sculpture and it became something very beautiful from a raw stone. In the same way the soul is praying that we shall take it away from here, and we have to come to the great sculptor who is the spiritual master and Krishna. From there it will become something very beautiful.

Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita: "Search for a spiritual master and serve him. People can think that you are not qualified", He says, "but it is not so. I invite you, I support you and I consider you qualified because I give you the qualifications. I will give you nija-sarva-sakti, all my complete power. For me this is no problem; there is no problem for me to give you everything in love, in giving Myself to you. I have to do this", He says, "because I feel that I owe this to them who surrender to Me". This is the wonderful sentiment of the Lord, of our Lord, our father, mother, grandfather, guardian and support, as He defines Himself in Bhagavad Gita.

Therefore we should go forward without losing time, without either doubts or fear, with complete determination, because He promises us His support, He asks us to trust Him. This is a necessary risk. It is the proof of our love for Him. Risk means love; complete security means doubt. Of course it is so that we later on we will have complete security. Krishna will reveal Himself like a grand sun, and there will no longer be any doubt. But in the beginning there is a risk, because there is some faith. There is a little light that one can see at the end of the cave that this world is. When you are in the bottom of the cave, you can see just a little point of light and the light might seem insignificant, but at the same time this little point of light will be what is called your way to salvation. Once you are approaching this point, you will see that there is no longer a point, but that it is you. It is you, and you see that you belong to the world of light, which is much wider than the cave where you have been. So, we have to go forward in that direction, and think of it and look at it this way: you are in a dark place and there is only one point of light. All the rest is going to disappear. Just go towards that point, nothing else. There you are going to have your reward, a complete satisfaction.

Vyavasayatmika-buddhi, says Krishna, ekeha. You must have just one point as the goal; your way has to be straight and determined, and this is called sadhana. Sadhana comes from the verb sadh that means go straight forward in one single direction, without ever deviating. Thus sadhana means never losing either time or energy; it is to always advance towards success. This sadhana puts us in connection with the moon Gaura, with Gauracanra, our Lord, our hope - this Lord, who will transform us, who will make us new, who will create us for the real world of loving and pure ecstasy.

Purity is essential, and to renounce and suffer for this purity is essential. Be therefore always together with pure persons or at try at least. This is essential. This way everything will be easier. Well, let us pray that we will place ourselves under this new moon that has appeared in our lives. The moon that comes with a new romance. It is not my romance, but the love that comes from the Supreme Lord, and we shall be His servants in this love. The Gopis just want to serve this love, and when they do so, they discover that their delight has increased a million times more than when they wanted themselves to be with Krishna. How wonderful. Like this your delight will also increase more when you endeavor to bring others to be with Krishna. This is gopi-bhava.

Taste this gopi-bhava right now, as the goswamis did who preached and thus were filled with joy in seeing how the others accepted this consciousness. This is nothing artificial; it is not empty talk. Krishna is very practical. He tells us nothing that is not possible. If He says something to us or asks us for something, it is because we should test ourselves, and see that we already have it. In this way, he talks about Radha-dasyam, about service to Sri Radha, and about the service that She does. Continue this service. Receive it and learn from it. It is the only medicine, the only reality; it is the destination of your soul. For this we were created, and one has to elevate consciousness to this level. We will be elevated by the force of gravitation from this Moon, the Moon Mahaprabhu Gauracandra.

Place yourself under His silvered light, chant His name with humility, with patience and a lot of tolerance. Be a soldier of this song, a soldier who does not retrocede, who does not discourage, who does not flee. It is necessary. It has to be so.

Srila Rupa Goswami does not require that you have devotion to practice bhakti. No. One practices to awaken the devotion, not because one already has it. But there is a process, and one has to learn it; practice and then comes the devotion. The fruit will appear in the tree as something natural.

Gurudeva Paramadvaiti wanted us to tell about our experiences regarding Mahaprabhu's mercy in our lives, something with more impact. As for me I thought the other day that the most amazing thing is that Mahaprabhu has permitted me to be together with you all these years. This is His very special mercy. Once they asked Srila Prabhupada what his mystical powers were, and he said that his disciples were his mystical powers, because they in a mystical way led a pure life. This is for certain something wonderful. Who leads a pure life today? This is a mercy from Guru and Krishna. Let us this way thank Krishna every day that He engages us in His service and that He takes us away from the madness in the world. Already this is much. This way we advance little by little, step by step. Maybe we do not experience great ecstasy, but we have not come to enjoy but to serve. The fruit is being formed, being prepared; it has already come in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam. One day Srila Prabhupada came with the sweetest and most valuable fruit of the Vedas - Srimad Bhagavatam. Try it! he said. And there it is, not only to read, but also to live and experience. We even have to live it so much that many times there is no time to read it.

Well, dear devotees. I hope you are fine and that you will have a very nice Gaura Purnima and that the Moon Gaura may overwhelm you with His merciful light.

- Sripad Atulananda Acarya