681228 - Lecture Purport Excerpt to Sri Sri Siksastakam - Los Angeles

Lectures by Date, 1968

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 Listen to a 'Nectar Drop' created from this lecture

681228PU-LOS ANGELES - December 28, 1968 - 04:58 Minutes

Prabhupāda: (chants first four verses)

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ

śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam

ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ

sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṇkīrtanam

nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis

tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ

etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi

durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ

tṛṇād api sunīcena

taror api sahiṣṇunā

amāninā mānadena

kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ

kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye

mama janmani janmanīśvare

bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, a task which those who follow Him have continued to carry out down to the present day. The elaboration and exposition on the philosophy taught by Lord Caitanya are in fact the most voluminous, exacting and consistent, due to the unbreakable system of disciplic succession of any religious culture in the world. Yet Lord Caitanya, in His youth widely renowned as a scholar Himself, left us only eight verses, called Śikṣāṣṭaka.

"Glories to the śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years together. Thus the fire of conditioned life, of repeated birth and death, is extinguished. This saṅkīrtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge, it increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it helps to have a taste of the full nectar for which we are always anxious."

Second verse: "O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction upon the living beings, and therefore You have hundreds and millions of names, like Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, etc. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies, and there is no hard and fast rule for chanting these holy names. O my Lord, You have so kindly made approach to You easy by Your holy names, but unfortunate as I am, I have no attraction for them."

Three: "One can chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street, more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all respects to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly." (break) (end)