How and Why to Always Remember Krishna?

BhaktiratnaSadhu

All rules and regulations in all the scriptures by all the acharyas are actually menial servants of the one and only supreme principle: Always remember Krishna and never forget Him even for a moment.” (Padma Purana, BRS 1.2.8, CC 2.22.113)

● Always Remember Krishna

smartavyah satatam visnur
vismartavyo na jatucit
sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur
etayor eva kinkarah

● Never Forget Krishna

sa hanis tan mahac chidram
sa mohah sa ca vibhramah
yan-muhurtam kshanam vapi
vasudevam na chintayet

“If even for a moment remembrance of Krishna is missed, that is the greatest loss and harm, that is the greatest illusion and bewilderment, and that is the greatest anamoly in creation.” (Vishnu Purana)

Thus, the constant remembrance of the Form and Pastimes of the Lord is the one and only essence of all instructions. ALL the other rules, sevas, and shastra injunctions are its servants.

● Cleansing and Scraping in the Crevices of Our Mind

Constant remembrance of the Form and Pastimes of the Lord provides us the strength to say NO to harmful thoughts, prevents them from arising in the first place, and cleanses the existing ones out of our minds forever.

The tiniest and subtlest scraps of every single dirty desire in the most hidden crevices or our conscious and sub-consious minds are gradually scrubbed totally as we increase the time of Form and Pastimes’ Remembrance daily. There is no other shortcut for purification. Without it, all our sadhana, seva, and everything we do in life is totally worthless (krishna smaran vina nishphal jivan).

Only repeated and profuse positive Remembrance of Form and Pastimes’ can permanently cleanse the infinite negative garbage of remembrances and cravings we are accumulating in our minds in Kaliyuga at every moment, without letting any traces or subtle roots to remain. Remember a thorn can be fully removed only by another thorn. Simply hearing the sound of Harinam or Harikatha destroys all our sins and can grant us upto liberation but not Premabhakti, if we don’t learn how to become absorbed in remembrance during Harinam and Harikatha.

● Don’t Dump Harmful Things In Your Mind

Do you dump just anything into your mouth? Aren’t you extremely careful about what you eat or drink? Then why are you so careless about the harmful things you dump all over in your mind daily by reading, watching, listening, or remembering them?

Every single piece of these harmful stories and scenes you let inside your mind increases the work of cleansing it via the remembrance of the Form and Pastimes, thereby elongating your stay in this material world. The more you will fill your mind with remembrance of the divine Forms and Pastimes, the more you will be become uninterested in filling it with these harmful things. You will never succeed in artificially starving your mind without giving it this higher taste, as confirmed in Gita 2.59.

● The Soul of All Spiritual Practices

Form and Pastimes’ Remembrance is the very soul and essence of our hearing, chanting, singing, reading, worshiping, dham yatras, bhakti festivals, associating with devotees, flute, mridanga, or harmonium hearing, etc. So we should take very special care that we are actually remembering the Form or Pastimes when we practice all these Bhakti sadhanas.

As Harinam Chintamani states: nam akshar bahiraya, nam na paya…. Only the syllables of Harinam are being uttered but there is no Name. This happens when there is no remembrance behind the utterance or hearing. We should especially adopt those sadhanas in abundance which enable us to remember the Form and Pastimes more deeply and more continuously. Because all rules are ultimately servants to the one supreme principle: Always remember Krishna and never forget Krishna.

● Remembrance Means Freedom From Karma and Bondage

Krishna is present everywhere and in everyone’s heart. Therefore, smaran also means to see Him as present everywhere and in the heart of every living entity. In this way, the devotee remembers Him all the time as he or she sees Him all the time.

Remembrance is performed by the mind. It is done by focusing the mind upon Krishna. Basically, it is independent of external or bodily actions. For example, Krishna asks Arjuna to fight the battle of Kurusetra remembering Him. When action is performed with the remembrance of Krishna, then it is perfect and it does not bind us and leads to our liberation. Whereas even good actions performed without the mind focused upon Krishna may give us pious credits but not the spiritual world.

Remembrance is the activity of the mind and is independent of action. At every moment, our mind has a choice to remember Krishna or not to remember Him. We need to learn to exercise that choice of remembering Him. When we do so, our life becomes perfect.

● Be The King of Remembrance

Transcendental richness – love for the Lord is what we want and what we need more than anything. And the main characteristic of such love is remembrance. The devotee on the stage of Bhava Bhakti does not forget the Lord even for a moment. The more you remember the Lord, the more your love for Him grows; and the more you love the Lord, the more you want to remember Him.

So NEVER FORGET to take your daily inoculation of the Form and Pastimes’ remembrance for at least 1 hour in the morning if the ideal 2-4 hours is not possible, before opening your mind to the contaminations of this world, or you will end up constantly falling down in Maya daily, as easily as the paper dolls falling down in the wind.

You are actually much more present where your mind is than where your body is. So you may be the poorest, but you can still be the richest in remembrance, if you always keep your mind filled with the thoughts of the divine Forms and Pastimes of the Lord.

This remembrances manifests your two spiritual bodies for both the eternal Pastimes and puts an end to your material transmigration (ei dehera kare sarvanash). Become the KING of this Roop and Lila Remembrance by mastering it, and that will make this your last life in this miserable material world without any doubt.

anta-kale ca mam eva
SMARAN muktva kalevaram
yah prayati sa mad-bhavam
yati nasty atra samsayah

“And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body, REMEMBERING Me alone, at once attains Me. Of this there is no doubt.” (Gita 8.5)

BhaktiratnaSadhu

Krishnapriya dasi says:
28/01/19 at 8:34 pm Edit

Dandavat Pranam Srila Gurudev.Thanks for this Divine explanation which I have followed from 2010. After this the realizations I felt.. I am not able to explain it in words. In short ….i want to tell that…By spiritual power my material life also changed into joy..

I realized that we should follow our Gurudev’s Vani with full Trust and Confidence. Then only we get the real spiritual essence.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram
Ram Ram Hare Hare

Bhaktiratna Sadhu says:
28/01/19 at 11:12 pm Edit

You always have had simple-hearted faith in Nam Prabhu. That is attained after many lives of Bhakti dear Laxmipriya dasi. Thank you. Hare Krishna!

Hadaisuta das says:
29/01/19 at 2:00 am Edit

Thank you Srila Gurudeva for this wonderful article on remembrance which is the real transcendental richness to guarantee the journey back to Goloka after this very life. Hare Krishna! Please accept my dandvat pranams. _/_

Bhaktiratna Sadhu says:
08/03/19 at 7:19 pm Edit

So true. anta kale cha mam eva, smaran muktva kalevaram…. Remembrance of the Lord during our lives determines our remembrance at the time of death and that in return determines whether we will join the Lord or not after death in our spiritual bodies. हरे कृष्ण.

Venu Krishna das says:
29/01/19 at 2:44 pm Edit

Gurudeva.. Thanks so much for this article. I especially liked the following words.

We are so cautious to take Krishna Prasadam. But we don’t pay much attention to our thoughts. Maya tricks us to remember painful memories in life thereby forgetting the Lotus feet of Lord Krishna. We should always strive to not remember anything other than Lotus feet of Lord Krishna – sa vai manah Krishna padaravindayoh. We should be very cautious in our thoughts, remembrances.

Thank you so much for sharing the valuable verse

sa hanis tan mahac chidram
sa mohah sa ca vibhramah
yan-muhurtam kshanam vapi
vasudevam na chintayet

Daso’smi

Bhaktiratna Sadhu says:
08/03/19 at 7:05 pm Edit

Yes, truly remembrance is very core of our existence. Take care of the drops and the ocean will fill itself. So remember the Lord every second and at the end of your life, you will be with the Lord. हरे कृष्ण.

Shyam das says:
13/02/19 at 7:07 pm Edit

Only hope for repeatedly fallen people like me.

Bhaktiratna Sadhu says:
13/02/19 at 7:09 pm Edit

So true, remembrance of the Lord is our only hope, the rope by which we can remain always connected to Him (sada sangat apekshaya). Hare Krishna!

Jahnavi dasi says:
08/03/19 at 7:29 pm Edit

O Shrila Gurudev thankyou is not enough for such a strong reminder. I was really in need of it. Maya tricks me so easily and I always fall into her trap. You have explained with very valid points as always. I feel as if this is written for me. I am so particular in doing everything but i dont pay any heed to what garbage I am dumping in my mind. You have explained very beautifully the very essence of the scriptures which is to always remember Krishna and never forget him. I need your causeless mercy to walk without diverting on this path 😭🙏 Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. 🙏

Bhaktiratna Sadhu says:
08/03/19 at 8:00 pm Edit

You are right. Anukulasya sankalpa, pratikulasya varjanam… The more careful we are to avoid dumping garbage into our minds, the more serious, sincere, and advanced we already are in Bhakti, and the more chances we have of remembering the Lord during our lives and also at the time of death, with is ultimate goal of all our spiritual practices. हरे कृष्ण.

Jahnavi dasi says:
08/03/19 at 8:48 pm Edit

Ji Shrila Gurudeva 🙏 Naam prabhu ki jaya 🙏

Cintamani dasi says:
08/05/19 at 8:05 am Edit

Dandavat pranamas, Maharaja!
I read this article almost daily to receive the mercy of your instruction, thank you again and again <3 The mercy of Nityananda flows through your words and touches the heart and those that read.

-Cintamani

Bhaktiratna Sadhu says:
17/05/19 at 1:23 pm Edit

FORGETFULNESS IS DEATH

1) Forgetfulness of the Lord is death. That forgetful part of our lives is as good as not lived, however much we may have accomplished so-called important activities during that time. These activities are all temporary and won’t help our souls at the time of death. Because human life is ONLY truly meant for the eternal soul to remember the Lord 24/7 and thus attain Him. Animals can’t remember in the way humans can. Forgetfulness of the Lord is touching rock bottom levels in Kaliyuga, but astonishingly it is still going down and down. But there is hope. The sun of the Holy Name dispels even the deepest, darkest, and most ingrained forgetfulness within a short time. We just have to remember the Name all the time and not let the mind sink into thoughts of forgetfulness of the Lord even for one moment!

2) Be very very particular about not complicating your life any furthur then it already is by taking up new activities and getting new things which will further cut into your time of remembrance of the Name and the Lord. Own less so you can remain free to remember the Name always. Be satisfied and content with only the treasure of remembrance as it is the only eternal treasure of the soul in creation. Even if you lose everything else in this world, your soul will be still rich with remembrance and thus always be with the Lord.

3) Try to untangle, uncomplicate, and simplify your present life as much as you can; by especially removing all the things which are distracting and eating away your time. Yes, even small things matter a lot as they all add up and our day is gone. Don’t let your life become a complete waste. Don’t spend 23 hours and 45 mins in temporary wasted activites and only 15 mins in Nam remembrance, when the purpose of human life is actually the very opposite of that. This is the only way you can increase the time for Nam remembrance.

4) Fully focus on that Nam practice which helps you easily remember the Lord with absorption for the longest period. It is the Nam practice which you actually relish to do. Then your mind won’t drag you to the endless activities of forgetfulness of the Lord.

To counteract the infinite complications and distractions which are all around us in Kaliyuga and grab us so quickly and make us forget the Name and the Lord more and more, these 4 anti-forgetfulness rules should be memorized and implemented every single day, to always remind us of the only treasure of our soul: Smaran; and also to make it easier for us to remember Nam all the time. Don’t care if the whole world goes topsy-turvy but don’t stop remembering the Lord, as we all have to leave this world pretty soon. At that time, only our remembrance will count. So better late than never!

Thank you dear Cintamani for your sincerity in this regard. हरे कृष्ण.

Gowtham

maharaj how a neophyte devotee like me start the process of remembrance of krsna at the starting stage of our nam japa

BhaktiratnaSadhu

Gowtham Each and every article here is exactly about the question you have asked. So please read and study the articles and ask if you have any specific questions which have been not answered yet or which require further elaboration in addition to what has been already explained. Thank you. Hare Krishna!

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