A few songs into the wonderful evening, he started singing the bhajan "Narayana Bhaja Narayan" (in the Atma Bhog bhajan book pg 126), and then stopped to share the meaning of the holy song.
Here is Swamiji:
You see, ‘Tana Mana Ranjana, Bhava Bhaya Bhanjana, Asura Nikhandana Narayan’, which means the one which keeps the body, the mind, which removes all the misery and fear, and who looks after the devotee, who gives peace to the mind, the one who destroys all evil and demons, is Lord Narayana.
Like it is said, all these demons that we just mentioned earlier, they are not outside. In Kali Yuga it is inside, in the mind of men. Because the mind is so corrupt, the mind is so running towards the outside that the mind gets corrupted, finish. So, it’s said only Narayana can save, nobody else. Only the name of Narayan; ‘Narayana Bhajo Narayan’, only by chanting the Name of Narayana you will be saved. Only by surrendering to the Name of Narayan you will have peace.
Then; ‘Jaba Jaba Pida Pade Bhakta Par, Bar Bar Avatar Kiya-a-a-a’
This is from the Gita, Bhagavan Krishna said, na? “Whenever there is adharma I shall incarnate myself, I shall manifest myself. Again and again I shall take different forms to remove my devotee, to save my devotee from troubles destroying the sins, giving them courage and patience and unity.” (The audience cheering and clapping hands.)
‘Papa Mitakara Dhira Dikhakara, Manava Ko Oddhar Kiya’
So, time to time - not every time - time to time, when the bhakta has devotion, when the bhakta is ready to be saved He manifests on earth to free them. You have to see here, the manifestation of Narayana is not often. Manifestation of Narayana is very rare. So, only when the bhakta has reached a certain level or when the world really needs Him, He will manifest, He will come, He will come only for one soul to save the bhakta, to remove them from the sin, to remove them and remind them of who they are, where they come from and what they have to reach.
‘Kunja Vihari, Krishna Murari, Narayan, He Giridhari, Narayan’ People are asking why I love Giridhari, no? Giridhari is one which shelter the bhakta, the one…you know, when He lifted Govardhan with His little finger, He didn’t do it for Himself. He could have just pack His luggage and go to heaven. [audience laughs] No, He did it for the bhaktas, for all the Brijbasi. That’s why He incarnated, that’s why it’s said, ‘Kunja Vihari, Krishna Murari, Lila Dhari’, so that they can enjoy that Leela also with Him.
Because this leela of Bhagavan is not easy to get. This leela of Thakur is very rare. The wise ones, they will enjoy it. The unwise ones, they will put it aside. That’s why He is called Lila Dhari. Lila Dhari stands also for this longing, when the bhakta has this longing for Him, He will come.
You see, we were talking about the Gopi Gita, na? We know the story of the Gopies, how much they loved Krishna and why Krishna manifested for them there at that moment, at that time it is very sweet to know, you know. This is…this verse here, ‘Jaba Jaba Pida Pade Bhakta Par, Bar Bar Avatar Kiya-a-a-a’, which means, He comes, not for His sake, He comes for the bhakta's sake. He comes, He manifests Himself, He lowers Himself for the sake of the devotee. Here you have to see the sweetness of Giridhari, sweetness of God, how wonderful He is, you know.
In the time of Sri Ram…you know, Rama was sent to exile in the forest, na? As He was in exile in the forest…I was saying that in Croatia, you remember? As He was sent in the forest there was a bunch of rishis meditating there, deep meditation, they were doing their sadhana, you know. And as Rama was passing by they saw Lord Rama. When they saw Lord Rama they realised, “We are doing our penance for what? What are we doing all this for?”
In the time of Sri Ram…you know, Rama was sent to exile in the forest, na? As He was in exile in the forest…I was saying that in Croatia, you remember? As He was sent in the forest there was a bunch of rishis meditating there, deep meditation, they were doing their sadhana, you know. And as Rama was passing by they saw Lord Rama. When they saw Lord Rama they realised, “We are doing our penance for what? What are we doing all this for?”
The same, you know, we amass so much wealth, so much things from the world, do you know when death will come to you? Huh? That you don’t know. In one second it can snatch everything away. So, what is yours? Nothing! Everything what is here will stay here. That’s what Gita said, “You came empty-handed, you will leave empty-handed.” All what you take from here will stay here. The only thing why you are born, is to realise the Lord. The only thing why you are born is to attain Him, to be with Him.
So, here the rishis, great yogis are meditating, saw Lord Rama walking with Lakshman. Of course, with their Divine sight they could see that this is the manifestation of Narayana Himself, na? They said, “All our penance, we are doing to attain Him and here He is walking as a human being; ‘Jaba Jaba Pida Pade Bhakta Par, Bar Bar Avatar Kiya’, you know, ‘Papa Mitakara Dhira Dikhakara’, to show the way, to show the path. ‘Manava Ko Oddhar Kiya’, which means, He takes the form He takes a human form.
So, here the rishis, great yogis are meditating, saw Lord Rama walking with Lakshman. Of course, with their Divine sight they could see that this is the manifestation of Narayana Himself, na? They said, “All our penance, we are doing to attain Him and here He is walking as a human being; ‘Jaba Jaba Pida Pade Bhakta Par, Bar Bar Avatar Kiya’, you know, ‘Papa Mitakara Dhira Dikhakara’, to show the way, to show the path. ‘Manava Ko Oddhar Kiya’, which means, He takes the form He takes a human form.
So, seeing that form the rishis said, “Why are we meditating? Why are we – how say – sitting like this here?” At that moment, they said, “We should have become women!
[audience laughs]
The bhav inside of them awoke to love Him. So, automatically what happened? Due to that bhav, due to that emotion inside of them they started running madly in love towards Rama. You see, the two Avatars, even if it is the same Lord, they have different qualities. Krishna is called Lila Dhari, Rama is Dharma Dhar. So, it’s quite difficult, different personality, you know. [audience laughs] He is very righteous and very… this is Rama. Whereas Krishna, He would see the rishis coming, He would say, “Yeey come, let’s have fun!” [audience laughs]
So, when the rishis, sages and sadhus saw Rama…they had this bhav inside of them, you know, they said to themselves, “You know, why we are just men?” At that moment they realised that every creation is feminine towards the Lord, you know. Every creation which is created is feminine. There is no male in creation. There is only feminine. The only male is the Supreme Lord Himself. So when the rishis realised that truth they had this wish.
So, when the rishis, sages and sadhus saw Rama…they had this bhav inside of them, you know, they said to themselves, “You know, why we are just men?” At that moment they realised that every creation is feminine towards the Lord, you know. Every creation which is created is feminine. There is no male in creation. There is only feminine. The only male is the Supreme Lord Himself. So when the rishis realised that truth they had this wish.
So, running towards Rama with such bhav like mad, you know, some of them, [audience laughs] so, Rama saw them coming, bunch of them, you know, running towards…and put Lakshman in front, “Please, protect me!” [audience laughs]
Lakshman, you know, Lakshman, Adishesh, you know, very powerful, stands there. Then they asked, “Why are you stopping us? We want to go to our Lord!” Then from behind Rama said, “Sadhujis!” meaning, “O sages, in this life I can’t let you be near me. In this life you have taken…you are sadhus…you are forest dwellers. So, you can’t be near Me in this life. But I promise you one thing; in my next incarnation when I come you all, your wishes will be fulfilled. So, I will be born in Vrindavan, you come. Be born also there as a gopies. Your wishes will be fulfilled.” So, the sadhus did their penance to attain the Lord and you see how easy the Lord made it for them.
You see, you can do your part, you can do your maximum. Your sadhana you have to do, but the Grace is given by the Lord Himself. And that’s the Grace that your sadhana allows you to receive. And that’s more higher than anything, you know, that kripa.
That’s why it is said that time to time He manifests to save the devotees, to remove the suffering. What is the suffering? Suffering of the mind. Suffering of many kinds, you know.
Then it’s said, ‘Matsya Kurma Varaha Narahari, Vamana Ko Avatara Kiya-a-a-a’. So the Lord incarnates as Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, na? So all these forms are different aspects of Narayana.
‘Parashurama aur Rama Krishna’. Parashuram, Ram and Krishna; so all the other Avatars; Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narahari, Vamana, these are incarnations which came to bring peace in the world. So they manifested themselves to balance the world from…the rebalancing from demons at that time, different kinds of demons who came. Whereas, Parashuram, Ram and Krishna, they came to destroy the pride and arrogance. They manifested themselves to destroy the evil doer. You see, when pride arises you think you are very important. Isn’t it? Huh?
Audience: Yes!
SV: You know, you think that you are the master of everything. You have to be always front, front. Isn’t it?
Audience: Yes!
SV: But where would that lead? Nowhere! So, this is the Lord Himself. You know, when you look at Parashuram, Ram, Krishna; they came to destroy these manifestations. You know, to destroy whether it’s pride, arrogance, all this. So, here is very important to realise also that… ‘Parashurama Aura Rama Krishna Bana, Dushto Ko Samhara Kiya’ Also the Master incarnates in that form to destroy pride and arrogance.
‘Bhajana Se Mana Ko Sajana Banakara, Bhakti Marga Dikhala Diya-a-a-a’, Which means; to calm the mind, to relief the mind, to divert the mind from evil thoughts the only way is to sing the glory of the Lord, you know. And by singing the glory of the Lord, that’s Bhakti Marga, that’s the path of devotion. There is no other path that will lead one to the Divine.
That Krishna said in the Gita, you know, - He said there is sattvic, tamasic, rajasic; three aspects, three paths, you know. Which are the three paths? The three paths, the three forms of the...the three gunas. No, not the gunas, sorry! What I’m talking about? - Yes, the three kinds of yoga, na? He talks about three; first He said, Jyana yoga, Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga. But from Raja Yoga He separates something. He said, “Above all the three I value Bhakti Yoga; is dearest to Me. Bhakti Yoga is the most auspicious to me, because Bhakti Yoga is much easier.
Here in the bhajan it’s said, ‘Bhakti Marga Dikhala Diya’, by singing the Name of the Lord, by singing itself you are awakening devotion inside of you, you are awakening bhakti.
‘Hari Bhajana Se Bhava Sagara Ko’, only the Name of Sri Hari will lead one out of samsara., will lead one from this illusion. Only by chanting the Name of Sri Narayana that one will be free from delusion and will be free from life and death.
‘Parana Bhi Sikhaladiya’, will cross over the ocean of birth and death.
So, it’s said, ‘Narayana Hari Narayan, Narayana Bhajo Narayan’, only by chanting the Name of Narayana this is possible, nothing else. So this is the bhajan which I love very much.
So, good. You understand it?
You see, you can do your part, you can do your maximum. Your sadhana you have to do, but the Grace is given by the Lord Himself. And that’s the Grace that your sadhana allows you to receive. And that’s more higher than anything, you know, that kripa.
That’s why it is said that time to time He manifests to save the devotees, to remove the suffering. What is the suffering? Suffering of the mind. Suffering of many kinds, you know.
Then it’s said, ‘Matsya Kurma Varaha Narahari, Vamana Ko Avatara Kiya-a-a-a’. So the Lord incarnates as Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, na? So all these forms are different aspects of Narayana.
‘Parashurama aur Rama Krishna’. Parashuram, Ram and Krishna; so all the other Avatars; Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narahari, Vamana, these are incarnations which came to bring peace in the world. So they manifested themselves to balance the world from…the rebalancing from demons at that time, different kinds of demons who came. Whereas, Parashuram, Ram and Krishna, they came to destroy the pride and arrogance. They manifested themselves to destroy the evil doer. You see, when pride arises you think you are very important. Isn’t it? Huh?
Audience: Yes!
SV: You know, you think that you are the master of everything. You have to be always front, front. Isn’t it?
Audience: Yes!
SV: But where would that lead? Nowhere! So, this is the Lord Himself. You know, when you look at Parashuram, Ram, Krishna; they came to destroy these manifestations. You know, to destroy whether it’s pride, arrogance, all this. So, here is very important to realise also that… ‘Parashurama Aura Rama Krishna Bana, Dushto Ko Samhara Kiya’ Also the Master incarnates in that form to destroy pride and arrogance.
‘Bhajana Se Mana Ko Sajana Banakara, Bhakti Marga Dikhala Diya-a-a-a’, Which means; to calm the mind, to relief the mind, to divert the mind from evil thoughts the only way is to sing the glory of the Lord, you know. And by singing the glory of the Lord, that’s Bhakti Marga, that’s the path of devotion. There is no other path that will lead one to the Divine.
That Krishna said in the Gita, you know, - He said there is sattvic, tamasic, rajasic; three aspects, three paths, you know. Which are the three paths? The three paths, the three forms of the...the three gunas. No, not the gunas, sorry! What I’m talking about? - Yes, the three kinds of yoga, na? He talks about three; first He said, Jyana yoga, Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga. But from Raja Yoga He separates something. He said, “Above all the three I value Bhakti Yoga; is dearest to Me. Bhakti Yoga is the most auspicious to me, because Bhakti Yoga is much easier.
Here in the bhajan it’s said, ‘Bhakti Marga Dikhala Diya’, by singing the Name of the Lord, by singing itself you are awakening devotion inside of you, you are awakening bhakti.
‘Hari Bhajana Se Bhava Sagara Ko’, only the Name of Sri Hari will lead one out of samsara., will lead one from this illusion. Only by chanting the Name of Sri Narayana that one will be free from delusion and will be free from life and death.
‘Parana Bhi Sikhaladiya’, will cross over the ocean of birth and death.
So, it’s said, ‘Narayana Hari Narayan, Narayana Bhajo Narayan’, only by chanting the Name of Narayana this is possible, nothing else. So this is the bhajan which I love very much.
So, good. You understand it?
Audience: Yes!
SV: Really?
Audience: No! Yes!
SV: Good to hear it. You have all life to understand it.
[audience laughs]