Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day

Today is the most auspicious appearance day of Lord Nityananda. Lord Nityananda is Balarama, the brother of Lord Krishna who descended when Krishna appeared as Lord Caitanya to assist Lord Caitanya in His pastimes of delivering the fallen, conditioned souls of this world. He is most merciful upon those who are sinful, and bestows transcendental bliss upon those who sincerely beg Him for it. A great Vaisnava Acharya, Vrindavan Das Thakur has written eight beautiful prayers describing the glories of Lord Nityananda. To meditate on these prayers bestows the highest benefit, especially on this most auspicious appearance day of Lord Nityananda.

For your enlightenment and enlivenment those verses are given below.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Eight Beautiful Verses Glorifying Lord Nityananda By Vrindavan Das Thakur

I worship Lord Nityananda, the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service. He appears like an autumn moon, very splendid and free from any taint. Maddened with pure love for Lord Hari, His eyes constantly roll about and he walks as gracefully as an elephant. He is the Absolute Truth, His face is smiling, and holding a staff in His hand, He disperses the influence of the age of Kali.

I worship Lord Nityananda, the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service. He is the abode of the mellows of devotional service, no one can be compared to Him and He is the be all and end all for His devotees. He is the Lord of Jahnava Devi, the goddess Who considers Nityananda more dear than life. He is always maddened with pure love of Godhead and the unintelligent non-devotees, cannot understand that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.

I worship Lord Nityananda, the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service. He is very dear to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the son of Sacidevi and He is worshipped by the entire universe. He is very cheerful and He delivers the souls immersed in the Kali-yuga. By chanting the holy name of Lord Hari, He removes the false ego born from the ocean of material life.

I worship Lord Nityananda, the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service. He spoke to Lord Caitanya saying, "O, brother! The people will become infected with all the sins of Kali-yuga. How will they be able to atone for these sins? Please give them some way by which they can easily approach You."

I worship Lord Nityananda, the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service. He went to each and every house and raised His arms saying, "O, brothers! If you will, please constantly chant the holy name of Lord Hari! If you do this, you will become free from the ocean of birth and death in the material world. Please give this gift of your liberation to Me."

I worship Lord Nityananda, the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service. He is like Agastya Muni who forcibly swallows the ocean of material existence, and He is the rising full moon which is the friend of the lotus flowers and which increases the ocean, which is the welfare of the saintly devotees. He is the blazing sun which removes the darkness which is the community of demons.

I worship Lord Nityananda, the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service. He traveled on every path singing and dancing and repeating, "Hari! Hari!" Without considering His own interests, He was merciful to the people and he gave them His merciful side long glance.

I worship Lord Nityananda, the unlimited root of the tree of devotional service. He held the beautiful lotus hand of His brother, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and when They glanced at each others faces, Their hearts became full of transcendental bliss. They wandered through the towns of Bengal and delighted the people there.

These eight verses glorifying Lord Nityananda are the abode of the mellows of devotional service and they are the wealth of the pure devotees expert at relishing these mellows. These verses are very excellent, transcendental, and unprecedented. May the two lotus feet of Lord Nityananda continually appear in the hearts of those who read these verses and These verses are very excellent, transcendental, and unprecedented. May the two lotus feet of Lord Nityananda continually appear in the hearts of those who read these verses and remember the Lord.

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Must Guru Be Physically Present in this World?

̇You gave the example that Krishna is like the owner of the company and the spiritual master is the department head, and that after accepting employment in the company it becomes our duty to please that department head because when he is pleased the owner is pleased. In this example isn't it necessary for the department head to be alive?

So what would I would like to know is if it necessary for the spiritually master to be living in this world in the physical sense. Must the guru be in material form?

Your servant
M M Rathod
India

Answer: For Initiation, Yes, But Not After That

I have given a crude material example which matches on some points and does not match on other points.

You are wondering whether the spiritual master must be physically present in order for the disciple to be able to have a guru/disciple relationship with him. The answer is that while initiation, the beginning point of the guru/disciple relationship, does require for the spiritual master to be physically present in this world, after initiation the physical presence of the spiritual master is not mandatory. After initiation all the disciple has to do is obediently carry out the orders given to him by his spiritual master. In this way he is always able to associate with the vibrational presence of his spiritual master and derive unlimited spiritual strength.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari