In this devotional lecture, Śrīla Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī commemorates the appearance day of Thakur Bhakti Vinod, highlighting his role as a pivotal figure who revived Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s teachings and disseminated them worldwide through his prolific writings, especially the Arunodaya Kirtan. The speaker explains how Bhakti Vinod’s life exemplified disciplined devotion—balancing a secular job with night‑long scriptural work—and how his prayer‑song Arunodaya Kirtan encapsulates the sunrise of spiritual awakening. The talk then expands to Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s example of sankirtana, describing how his presence inspired even animals to chant the Holy Name, and how this model continues today as devotees spread Krishna consciousness across Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. The lecture stresses the rarity of the human body, urging listeners not to waste it on material pursuits but to attach themselves to the Holy Name, which is portrayed as the ultimate source of pleasure and liberation from birth and death. Various stages of chanting (offensive, minimizing offenses, pure) are outlined, and the speaker cites contemporary statistics (e.g., 700,000 chanters in Russia per Newsweek) to illustrate the growing impact of the movement. Throughout, the speaker interweaves scriptural citations, Bengali verses, and practical exhortations, urging the audience to pray to Thakur Bhaktinath, chant without offenses, and experience the limitless ecstasy of the Holy Name.
Chapters
So this morning we had discussed the song Jeev Dago and we briefly explained the meaning. There's another very famous song composed by Thakur Bhakti Vinod called Arunodaya Kirtan. Now I'm not explaining Thakur Bhakti Vinod's life because I gave his life sketch this morning. So just for the benefit of those who were not here this morning, we are celebrating today the appearance day of the great sage Thakur Bhakti Vinod. Thakur Bhakti Vinod was a, was a great spiritual master in a line of disciplic succession that originated from the Supreme Lord. And it was Thakur Bhakti Vinod who first planted the seed of Krishna consciousness all over the world by sending his book on the life of Lord Caitanya to the Western countries. Thakur Bhakti Vinod launched his worldwide preaching of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's message in 1896. And 1896 is the same year that Prabhupāda appeared on this planet. So Thakura Bhaktivedanta planted the seed, but the seed was watered and expanded by Śrīla Prabhupāda. Thakura Bhaktivedanta was in the Grihastha Ashram. He had 12 children. He made all of them into pure devotees. And as I said this morning, he used to go to work as a magistrate from 9 to 5. Then he would come home and have prasāda. At 7 o'clock, he would go to take rest. Then he would get up at 12 o'clock in the night and write all night till early morning. And then in the morning he would get ready and go to work. Even Prabhupada would get up like 2 o'clock in the night and start translating the books. So Thakur Bhaktivedanta's teachings are very, very powerful. He wrote nearly 100 books. Many of them have been translated and many have not. 100 books, stories, poems. So we shall discuss for you one of his writings, a very famous writing called Arunodaya Kirtan. Most of Thakur Bhaktivedanta's writings were in Bengali, and there were some articles in English also. And it was Thakur Bhaktivedanta who had trained a bhakti siddhānta-sāra-svādhi in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness process. Because when Thakura Bhaktinoda appeared on this planet, Caitanya Mahāprabhu's original teachings had become distorted. People were twisting Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy. So Thakura Bhaktinoda presented Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy in its true light, and he prayed to the Supreme Lord that the Lord may send somebody who can help him consolidate these teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And in response to the prayer of Thakur Bhaktinath, the Lord sent Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. So as I told all of you this morning, on this auspicious day, we should all pray to Thakur Bhaktinath so that we may get the strength to fight Maya and make spiritual advancement and execute Krishna consciousness peacefully. How many of you did that today? Pray to Thakur Bhaktinath for your spiritual advancement. Tolkat wa. All of you should have done that, isn't it? So do it. It's not too late. Do it before you go to sleep. So now I'll comment on one of his prayers. This prayer is sung in Bengali. Udila aruna puraba bhage, dviyamani gor amani jage, bhakata samuha loila sate, gayla nagara braje. So actually this song is supposed to be sung in the morning hours. Chakrabarti explains, when the rising sun appeared in the east. So Chakrabarti in this first verse of this prayer is saying The jewel of the twice-born Lord Gaurachandra appeared, and he went all over the countryside spreading the holy names of the Lord. So Lord Caitanya told everyone, "Jare dakotahe kaho 'Kṛṣṇa upadesha." Whoever you see, please tell them about Kṛṣṇa. But did Lord Caitanya not do it himself? Yes, he did. The Lord always teaches by example. Lord Caitanya, he took his devotees and he traveled all over India, and wherever he would go, people just by seeing him would begin to chant and dance the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. When Lord Caitanya was passing through the forest of Jhārakānda, He even made the animals, He even inspired the animals to chant and dance. The tigers, the lions, the elephants, they were all chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and dancing. I see in your key you have a big zoo. I'm sure if you went to that zoo and start to get, try to get the animals to chant, may not be so easy. But I have experience in Montreal, Canada, where I go regularly. We have one life member friend, he has a parrot at home and he has trained the parrot to chant Hare Krishna. Whenever I go to this man's house, he takes me to his kitchen and the parrot begins to sing, "Hare Krishna." But Lord Caitanya just didn't make a parrot chant. He made the tigers, the elephants, the lions, the jackals, all the animals in the forest chant. And when Lord Caitanya went to Vrindavan, the trees and the plants and the animals, they all recognized him and said, This is Lord Krishna who had appeared 5,000 years ago, who has appeared again in the form of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. And then Lord Chaitanya went to southern India, and other people would come from great distance to come and see Lord Chaitanya's sankīrtana party. And just by seeing Lord Chaitanya's sankīrtana party, they would just be so inspired, they would begin to chant and dance. And when these people would return to their respective villages, other people, just by seeing them, would also be inspired to chant and dance. That is why Thakura Bhaktivinoda is saying the Lord Caitanya took all his devotees with him to the countryside. The Lord always teaches by example. That's why even Krishna accepted a spiritual master. Caitanya Mahaprabhu also accepted a spiritual master because the Lord preaches by example. So this is exactly what Thakura Bhaktivinoda is saying. The Lord Caitanya traveled all over the countryside accompanied by his devotees. And now Lord Caitanya is traveling all over Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. Isn't he traveling through his devotees? All the devotees are traveling and having success. Why? Because you have the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the special incarnation for this age of Kali. So anybody who chants Hare Kṛṣṇa and follows the disciplic succession, Caitanya Mahāprabhu empowers him to travel and preach his glories. Those of you who are traveling, uh, by plane, by train, by bus, going to different villages, cities, and countries and distributing Prabhupada books and carrying the holy name, you're able to do this because Lord Caitanya, who is residing within your heart, is giving you the intelligence how to preach. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is working through all of us. Therefore, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is still traveling and will continue to travel for the next 10 10,000 years. Why only 10,000 years? Because after 10,000 years there'll be no dharma left. Tathāi tathāi bhājala khol, ghanā ghanātai janjera ro, prema dala dala sonara aṅga, charane ne pura bhāje. So Tākṛpa Kṛṣṇa says, Caitanya Mahāprabhu was playing the brindanga and the cymbals. Lord Caitanya's shimmering golden features danced and his foot bells jingled. The Lord Caitanya was golden in complexion. All the devotees there were chanting the names of Mukunda, Madhava, Yadava, and Hari. Hari means one who drives away everything inauspicious. And these are the different names of Krishna: Mukunda, Yadava. And what was the message that the devotees of Lord Caitanya took to every town and village? You are spending your nights uselessly sleeping, and in the daytime You're busy decorating your body. So this is the activity of the materialist. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, a similar point is also made. Nidriyā hiriyante naktam vyāvavena ca vyāvādyā, dīvā ca teyā rājan kutumbā bahre nīnava. Bhāgavatam says the night is spent in sleeping and sex indulgence, and the day is spent in just searching for where is money, where is money. Why? Because you have a family to maintain. So this is a fact. People are wasting their valuable human lives. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared to guide these people on the auspicious path of devotional service. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu has been described by Nārthana ṣṭhākura to be the most merciful incarnation ever to appear. So ṣṭhākura Bhaktinoda says, "E mana durlava mana vadeho, paya ki kora pavana keho, e vinabhājila ye soda suta, charene puri belāje." He says, You have obtained this rare human body with great difficulty. Human civilization today is very unfortunate. Why? They do not know what to do with this rare human body. They think this rare human body should be used like the animals. As this great poet Govinda Das has said, he compares human body to a drop of water on a lotus leaf. Govinda Das says that just like a drop of water can fall off the leaf at any time, So similarly, at any time, this rare human body can come to an end. All of you have experience of standing in lines. These days, I think the lines for products and other things is a little smaller than few months ago. Can you imagine? But nobody likes to stand in line. But to get this human body, you had to stand in line for thousands of years. Thousands of years you were in line to get this human body. And now that we've got this human body, we just don't care for it. So that is our tragedy. So that is what Thakura Bhaktinath is saying. You've got this rare human body, don't waste it. Says with the rising and setting of the sun, everyone's duration of life is being reduced. Did your devotees ever think about this point? That every day when the sun rises, it gives you a notice. And what is the notice? Mr. Oleg, one day less left in your life. So it is reducing the life, duration of life of everyone. But nobody is thinking like that, isn't it? Everybody takes it for granted he will not die till he wants to die. Once Nārada Muni came to Yudhishthira Maharaja and said, Yudhishthira, please tell me what is the most amazing thing on this planet? And what did Yudhishthira say? Those nāyads. So Yudhishthira Maharaja said, everybody is seeing that his atyats, mats, sestra, prats, Babushka, dadushka, everybody is dying, but he still thinks, I will not die. Babushka, dadushka will die, they were not intelligent. Matsya, nitya also, they were not intelligent. Druzya, tosa, because they were not intelligent. I'm very intelligent, I will not die. So that's a fact. Everybody thinks that he can live on as long as he wants, but death could come at any time. But we are so foolish, we don't understand. So rare human body, Thakura Bhaktinatha says, must be utilized to serve Krishna. Krishna means all attractive. Krishna means reservoir of pleasure. Krishna means that which gives you freedom from birth and death. What more do you want?
Isn't it?
Krishna means all attractive. So everybody is looking for something attractive. In the material world, man is looking for attractive woman, woman is looking for attractive man, and people looking for beauty, nature's beauty. So everybody is attracted to something beautiful, but no, there's nobody more attractive than Krishna. Therefore he's all attractive. Even the animals get attracted to Krishna's flute. So Krishna is all attractive. So my dear friend, if you're looking for someone attractive, then go to Krishna. Then Krishna is the reservoir of pleasure. What does it mean, reservoir of pleasure? It means that he's the source of pleasure. So any activity connected with Krishna is going to give you pleasure. Even if you're just sweeping the temple of the Lord every day, you will get— you'll be— you'll become totally satisfied. Atma Ram. So when you chant Krishna's name When you serve Krishna, read about Krishna, you get totally satisfied. So Krishna is the real reservoir of pleasure. Illicit sex, intoxication, gambling are not the real reservoirs of pleasure, nor is a bank balance the reservoir of pleasure. If you want pleasure, go to Krishna. Then Krishna is also that which frees you from birth and death. Everybody wants to avoid death, so go to Krishna to serve Krishna and achieve the goal of life. So this rising and setting of the sun, it is reducing the duration of life of everyone but one who is using living his life in service to God. Then Thakur Bhaktinath says, "Jīvānā netiyā jānāhā sār, tāhē mana vīvidā vāpālabhad, nāmaśraya kori jatāne tumi, takāra āpana kāje." He says, "This human body is giving you nothing but pain." You see the difference between a devotee and a non-devotee? Your political leaders, whenever they give speeches, they only talk about sense enjoyment. Now in your country you have multi-party system. I'm sure all the parties are only talking of sense enjoyment. They're all saying, give me vote and I will tell you what life is, how you'll enjoy more. This man is not giving you enough enjoyment, but I will give you more enjoyment. Give me your vote. But the spiritualist never says, give me a vote and I'll give you sense enjoyment. Sadhu always says, this life is nothing but full of misery. So this body is full of miseries. Even if you become Mr. World or Miss World, you still have to go through birth, death, disease all day. So Chakravartinath says The Holy Name is our only real business. So all other businesses you do are not the ultimate end. The ultimate goal is what? To take— get attached to the Holy Name. So Thakura Bhaktiradha compares the Holy Name to the rising of the sun. Just like when the sun comes out in the morning, darkness is destroyed, so the darkness of ignorance will also get destroyed through the medium of the Holy Name. Just like All of you can testify that before you started chanting Hare Krishna, you had a total misconception about yourself. Before chanting Hare Krishna, all of you thought this body was your real self, and you probably spent hours in front of the mirror trying to make it look more attractive. But now you don't do it, hopefully, because you're not this body. So now you've understood the foolishness of sense enjoyment. So the holy name made you realize you're not this body. The holy name made you realize that don't waste this rare human body. Therefore, Thakur Bhaktinath says, drink the nectar of the Holy Name. There is nothing like the Holy Name in the 14 worlds. There are 14 planetary systems. Just like you go into a big skyscraper building which may have 30 floors, 40 floors, so the whole universe is divided into 14 planetary systems. So there's nothing in the 14 worlds that can give you more pleasure than the Holy Name. So Thakura Bhaktinath says, please beg for the holy name and tie it to your tongue. He says, I am totally satisfied with these, with the holy name. So beg for the holy name and be satisfied. So on this auspicious day, all of you can beg Thakura Bhaktinath's mercy so the holy name may remain attached to your tongue. And as we said in the class in the afternoon, if you chant the holy name without offenses, then the holy name will work wonders. There are different stages of chanting the holy name. Offensive stage, stage of minimizing offenses, and pure stage. So chant the holy name, avoid the offenses, and experience spiritual joy. And the nature of spiritual joy is it is always increasing, increasing, increasing. In Kyiv, you also have a port, and I'm sure sometimes you see the waves of the ocean, but there's a limit to the height of the waves of the ocean, otherwise the whole earth would be merged with water and you will have nowhere to stay. But there's no limit to the ecstasy of the Holy Name. As much as you chant, the greater will be the ecstasy. So chant the Holy Name and experience spiritual joy. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. You see, I purposely stopped at 9:00 because, because many of you have to go home.
You spoke about the glory of chanting of the Holy Name, but even though we— some, some, some of us have chanted this Holy Name for a long time, we didn't experience this ecstasy of chanting, and then what is the use of such a chanting?
If you would not have experienced the ecstasy, you would not be here. You have experienced the ecstasy, that's why you people are still here. We're not paying anyone any commission for chanting. You know, in India, when the Christians come to convert the poor people, they give them a big bribe of dengue. But did we give you any financial bribe? Is Achuta giving all any bribes for chanting?
No.
So why are you people chanting? Because it is giving you pleasure. I told you this morning about the article in the August 3rd issue of Newsweek magazine. So Newsweek magazine said in that article 700,000 people are chanting Hare Krishna in Russia alone. So if Newsweek says 700,000, it has to be true. Newsweek never says lie. So 700,000 people are chanting. So that— how are they chanting? Because they're getting happiness. So those who do not get the pleasure due to chanting are those who are not taking the doctor's medicine according to the doctor's prescription. Tomorrow morning in Bhāgavatam, is there any specific you want to hear, or should I just lecture from anywhere? And of course, tomorrow we are going to discuss sāmkīrtanam, the glories of sāmkīrtan. Ama la ma re a re.
