** May Çré Nityänanda Räma be the object of my constant remembrance

# REMEMBERING ILLUSORY NATURE - Having understood the temporary illusory nature of material things, and
thus having pulled one’s vision away from illusion, one should remain without material desires. By experiencing the
happiness of the soul, one should give up material speaking and activities. If sometimes one must observe the material
world, one should remember that it is not ultimate reality and therefore one has given it up. By such constant
remembrance up till the time of death, one will not again fall into illusion. (SB 11.13.35)
PURPORT
To maintain the material body one cannot avoid eating and sleeping. In these and other ways, one will sometimes be
forced to deal with the material world and the physical aspects of one’s own body. At such times one should
remember that the material world is not actual reality and that therefore one has given it up to become Kåñëa
conscious. By such constant remembrance, by enjoying spiritual bliss within oneself and by retiring from any material
activities of the mind, speech or body, one will not fall into material illusion.
Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura comments as follows. “The living entity, while living in the external energy
of the Lord, should give up any anxiety for sense gratification and should not act for his personal enjoyment. Rather,
one should search out spiritual bliss through devotional service to the Supreme Lord. By reviving one’s relationship
with Lord Kåñëa, one will understand that if one accepts any material object for one’s personal enjoyment, attachment
will inevitably develop, and thus one will be bewildered by illusion. By gradually developing one’s spiritual body,
one will no longer desire to enjoy anything within the material world.”
# SB 11.14.27 - The mind of one meditating upon the objects of sense gratification is certainly entangled in such
objects, but if one constantly remembers Me, then the mind is absorbed in Me.
PURPORT
One should not think that one can attain complete transcendental knowledge of Kåñëa by mechanically engaging in
worship of the Lord. Lord Kåñëa states here that one must endeavor constantly to keep the Lord within one’s mind.
Anusmarataù, or constant remembrance, is possible for one who always chants and hears the glories of Lord Kåñëa. It
is therefore stated, çravaëam, kértanam, smaraëam: the process of devotional service begins with hearing (çravaëam)
and chanting (kértanam), from which remembrance (smaraëam) develops. One who constantly thinks of the objects of
material gratification becomes attached to them; similarly, one who constantly keeps Lord Kåñëa within his mind
becomes absorbed in the Lord’s transcendental nature and thus becomes qualified to render personal service to the
Lord in His own abode.
# SB 11.28.40 - inauspicious disturbances can be gradually removed by constant remembrance of Me, by
congregational hearing and chanting of My holy names, or by following in the footsteps of the great masters of yoga.
(inauspicious disturbances – lust, anger, greed, all anarthas)
# Those who regularly bathe in the Ganges become purified, and feel ecstacy due to their constant remembrance of
Krsna. For such a pure devotee, no activity, even heavenly sense pleasures, other than the Lord's service, is valued.
(source unknown)
## 5 stages of Krsna smaranam:
Recollection,
Absorption, Remembrance of Krishna may be interrupted at intervals.
Meditation, Remembrance proceeds uninterrupted.
Constant remembrance, Meditation expands and becomes constant (anusmreti).
Trance: Uninterrupted + unceasing anusmrti= samddhi, smarana-dasa or spiritual trance.
sampatti-dasa (the perfection of life). Samadhi has fully developed, and the soul comes to understand his original
constitutional position. At that time he can perfectly and clearly understand his eternal relationship with Krishna.
P - At first the ability to concentrate is limited due to the agitated nature of the restless mind and thus, by making an
effort the sddhaka searches with his mind on the Lord, only to be swept away at the next moment by some irrelevant
thought. This is known as smaranam (not to be confused with the entire process of smaranam of the same name).
After repeated effort to hear the name a preliminary purification of the mind is achieved, which is accompanied by the
occasional withdrawal from the external world and a slight ability to dwell on the Lord. This is known as dharana,
absorption, or the slight ability to enter into remembrance.
The third stage, known as dhyana or meditation, is the mature stage of absorption, which is characterized by an ability
to fix the mind in thought of a specific form or pastime of Sri Hari. In dharana the ability to remember is of a general
nature which, in meditation, becomes focused in a particular object.
When the offenseless chanting and hearing of Krsna's extraordinary attributes invokes an uninterrupted and
unimpeded remembrance that overwhelms the heart of the devotee with excessive bliss, such a state of constant
remembrance is known as anusmrti. Samddhi, the final stage of smarana and the mature state of anusmrti,
is equivalent to spiritual trance. Here Sri Krsna is the only object of deep meditation, which takes place spontaneously
under the influence of the spiritual potency, cit-sakti, without any effort on the part of the devotee.
During the development of samadhi, the fourth stage of spiritual growth following smarana-dasa, known as apana-
dasd or assimilation, takes place. Here, all incompatible material concepts that may have remained within the mind
are swept away by the influence of the internal energy of the Lord, and one is situated on the transcendental platform
of bhava, having abandoned all identity with the material body, being always in the presence of Radha and Krsna in
Vrndavana.
The fifth stage, known as sampatti-dasa, is referred to by Srila Prabhupada as the "perfection of life." Although in
apana-dasd one attains svarupa-siddhi, the devotee still maintains a connection with this material world via his body.
At the stage of sampatti-dasa Sri Krsna, being pleased by the affectionate service of His devotee, kindly removes him
from this world to be transferred to His eternal abode in a spiritual body, known as vastu-siddhi. Then the devotee
acquires admittance into the treasure-house of those many pastimes he has heard, chanted about, and remembered as a
sddhaka, while he ardently prayed and relentlessly struggled for success in devotional service.* (Venu-gita Sivaram
Svami
# B.g. 12.8 - Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in
Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.
P - The best way to please Krishna is Constant remembrance due to natural attraction of the mind to Krishna.
P - In his Bhakti-rasämåta-sindhu, Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé has quoted the statement from Padma Puräëa which
describes constant remembrance of Kåñëa as the goal of all sädhana practices:
smartavyaù satataà viñëur / vismartavyo na jätucit
sarve-vidhi-niñedhäù syur / etayor eva kiìkaräù
"Kåñëa is the origin of Lord Viñëu. He should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time. All the rules
and prohibitions mentioned in the çästras should be the servants of these two principles."
# to hear and chant the holy names of the Lord in hari-nama-kirtana is the essence of all practices by which one can
attain constant remembrance of Krsna.
# THE REMEMBERANCE OF THE GOPIS - Çré Caitanya-caritämåta Antya-lélä 20.12
The vibration of Kåñëa’s flute is represented by the Hare Kåñëa mahä-mantra:
The vibration of Kåñëa’s flute is always prominent in the ears of the gopés. Naturally they cannot hear anything else.
Constant remembrance of the holy sound of Kåëa’s flute keeps them enlightened and enlivened, and they do not allow
any other sound to enter their ears.… This vibration of Kåñëa’s flute is represented by the Hare Kåñëa mahä-mantra.
# Srila Frabhupada emphasizes that the gopis' constant remembrance of Sri Krsna, which is known as smarana, is the
perfection of devotional life for sadhakas and siddhas alike. It should be achieved "somehow or other." (Sivaram
Svami)
# Constant remembrance, smaranam, is cultivated by regular hearing of topics related to Krsna, known as sravanam,
and the repetition of such glories with special emphasis on His holy names is know as kirtanam. (Sivaram Svami)
# sarvatha hari-smrti-raksanam eva tatparyam -
alabdhe va vinaste va, bhaksyacchadana-sadhane
aviklava-matir bhutva, harim eva dhiya smaret
Sri Vyasapadanam
The fundamental objective is to maintain constant remembrance of Sri Hari in every time, place and circumstance -
"If persons engaged in the devotional service of Lord Hari are unable to obtain food and shelter despite their
attempts, or if their acquisitions are lost or destroyed, they should, without anxiety, absorb their hearts deeply in the
thought of Lord Hari." (Srila Vyasadeva)
# REMOVE ANARTHAS TO REMEMBER - A practicing Vaiñëava should give up all urges like lamentation and
anger, otherwise there will be obstacles in his constant remembrance of Kåñëa. It is explained in the Padma Puräëa:
çokämarñädibhir bhävair äkräntaà yasya mänasam
kathaà tasya mukundasya sphürttiù sambhävanä bhavet
"Within the heart of one who is full of anger or pride, or lamentation on the state of his wife or sons, there is no
possibility of Kåñëa being manifest."
# VANQUISHING MISERY - "For one who is anxious to engage constantly in hearing such topics, krsna-katha
gradually increases his indifference towards all other things. Such constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord
Krsna by the devotee who has achieved transcendental bliss vanquishes all his miseries without delay."*(Jiva, Krishna
Sandharba 310.12)
# The story of Ajamaila is wonderful of how from the most degraded state he remembered the Supreme Lord at the
moment of death. He saw the Yama dubas (angels of death) coming to drag his soul away to the nether regions of hell
and in fear looking for shelter he saw his son's innocent face and called out his name "Narayana", the holy name of
the Supreme Lord, and this immediately reminded him of the Lord. As soon as his mind rested on the Lord all his
danger and distress disappeared. Only the elevated devotees of the Lord have easy access to the greatest spiritual
treasure, which is the constant remembrance of the Supreme Lord, this is not surprising. (Caitanya Bhagavata Adi
10.79-81)
# ARJUNA’S SUCCESS - "Arjuna's constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord sri Krsna rapidly increased his
devotion, and as a result all the trash in his mind subsided. (Jiva, Priti-sandharba)
# SAVING THE WORLD - Just by constant remembrance of Your lotus feet Your pure devotees freed this world of
all ills and inauspiciousness. (CB)
# THE FRUIT OF GOPAL MANTRA - "This mystic eighteen-syllable Gopala-mantra conveys the svayam-rupa Sri
Krsna with Srimati Radhika on an emerald-studded golden throne sitting in the center of a thousand petaled lotus
flower under a wish-fulfilling tree. at the yogapitha in Vrndavana. They are being attended by thousands of vraja-
gopis. The constant remembrance of this pastime at the stage oisadhana ultimately leads to the attainment of vastu-
siddhi, the final goal." (GU)
# AMNESIA OF THE GOPIS - "0 wives of the Krsna sara deer! You are famous for your beautiful wide eyes, which
attract even the mind of the all-attractive Krsna, who is worshiped by those who have performed countless pious acts.
Though your eyes are filled with the sweet form of His body, your minds are not satisfied. Being thus disturbed, your
sleep is broken by His constant remembrance. (Ananda Vrdavana-campu)
# ECSTASY IN BHAVA - Çrîmad-Bhågavatam (11.3.32):
kvacid rudanty acyuta-cintayä kvacid / dhasanti nandanti vadanty alaukikäù / nåtyanti gäyanty anuçélayanty ajaà /
bhavanti tüñëéà param etya nirvåtäù" Thereafter, having obtained freedom from the misconception of identifying the
self with the body, they are distinguished from ordinary worldly persons by their deep absorption in constant
remembrance of the Lord in the stage characterised by consummated endeavours for bhakti (in other words, in the
stage of bhåva). In this condition, they sometimes cry, sometimes laugh, sometimes become delighted, sometimes
speak out to the Lord, sometimes dance, sometimes sing, and sometimes enact the transcendental pastimes of Lord
Hari. Thereafter, having obtained the personal audience of the Lord, they become peaceful and silent."
# A PRAYER TO LORD - Samkarsana karana toyashayee garbhodasayee cha prabodhishayee Sesha cha yasya
amsakala na Nityanandakhya Rama sharam man astu. (7)
Let Shri Nityananda Rama, whose parts of plenary portions are known as Samkarshana Vishnu lying on the Karana
ocean, Vishnu lying on the Garva ocean, Vishnu lying on the milk ocean or the Seohanaga, be the object of my
constant remembrance. (CC Adi 1.7)
# ANXIOUSLY REMEMBERING - For one who is anxious to engage constantly in hearing such topics, kåñëa-kathä
gradually increases his indifference towards all other things. Such constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord
Kåñëa by the devotee who has achieved transcendental bliss vanquishes all his miseries without delay. (SB 3.5.13,
Vidura to Maitreya Muni)
# Suddha-nama combined with constant remembrance of the Lord's lilas brings about the desired result of love of
God. Thus advanced madhyama-adhikaris and uttama-adhikaris chant suddha-nama consistently. (Tripurari Svami)
# REMEMBRANCE OF ASURAS - When Sisupala was killed by the Sudarsana cakra of Krsna as an enemy, his
constant remembrance of Krsna dissolved the reactions of his vices, and he attained salvation by becoming one with
the body of the Lord.
From this incident one can understand that even a person who thinks of Krsna as an enemy and is killed by Him
may be liberated by becoming one with the body of Krsna. What then must be the destination of devotees who always
thin k favorably of Krsna as their master or friend?
# SERVICE TO THE LORD - Constant remembrance of the Lord's name, fame, qualities, and so on automatically
nullises the reactions of all vices and invokes the blessings of the Lord. This constant remembrance of the lotus feet of
the Lord is possible only when one engages in His active service. (Mukunda Mala Stotra 3, p)