Rādhā-Vinoda-bihārī, Ambarīṣa and Durvāsā, the Two Dynasties and Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s Birth
• Kārtika, Dīpa-dāna and the Mouse: On the tirobhāva-tithi of Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja, founder of the Śrī Gauḍīya Vedānta Samiti, Gurudeva urges dīpa-dāna through Kārtika. From Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī’s Bhakti-sandarbha he tells of a mouse that, trying to snatch the wick, kept a temple lamp alive and was born a princess; one who falls short in bhakti-yoga takes birth in a pious, prosperous home (Bhagavad-gītā 6.41). There must be no vitta-śāṭhya (miserliness) in serving Ṭhākurajī, for the Lord reciprocates as one surrenders (Bhagavad-gītā 4.11).
• Sādhu-saṅga: The princess served beautifully and then received Nārada’s association; without satsaṅga bhakti does not arise or last (Śrī Rāmacaritamānasa, Bāla-kāṇḍa 3.4; Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 22.54), and the scriptures reveal themselves to one whose devotion to guru equals his devotion to God (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23). Gurudeva praises the Ramaṇa-bihārī deities and the service of Gurudeva at this maṭha, and announces Ambarīṣa’s story and Kṛṣṇa’s birth for today.
• Paramaguru’s Niṣṭhā: Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī is Vinoda-mañjarī in the eternal pastimes, as Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is Kamala-mañjarī. Bhāgavatam must be heard from the bhakta-bhāgavata (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya 5.131); he took up his pen against anyone who slighted Śrīla Prabhupāda, who compared him to Kureśa, the disciple of Rāmānujācārya. A tree is known by its fruit, and the fable of the mice who could not bell the cat shows that talk without niṣṭhā achieves nothing.
• Rādhā-Vinoda-bihārī: When his godbrothers joked about his white-stone deity, he answered that Kṛṣṇa, meditating on Rādhā at Imlī-talā after She left the rāsa in māna, took on Her golden lustre: rādhāliṅgita-vigraham, embraced by Rādhā (Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda-bihārī-tattvāṣṭakam 1; Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.5). He was a rasika as well as a philosopher, as the Yugala-ārati sung at maṅgala-ārati shows.
• Kārtika Pastimes, Tattva and Rasa: Dāmodara-līlā and Govardhana took place in Kārtika (Śrī Dāmodarāṣṭakam 
. A gopī’s churned butter and her half-blind mother-in-law turn the māyāvādīs’ rope-and-snake example into a pastime of the butter thief (Śrī Caurāgragaṇya-puruṣāṣṭakam 1). The Bhāgavatam opens with both tattva and rasa (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.1.1; Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8); Mahāprabhu refuted Sārvabhauma’s Śaṅkara-bhāṣya, and Jīva Gosvāmī warns that tattva alone dries the heart.
. A gopī’s churned butter and her half-blind mother-in-law turn the māyāvādīs’ rope-and-snake example into a pastime of the butter thief (Śrī Caurāgragaṇya-puruṣāṣṭakam 1). The Bhāgavatam opens with both tattva and rasa (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.1.1; Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8); Mahāprabhu refuted Sārvabhauma’s Śaṅkara-bhāṣya, and Jīva Gosvāmī warns that tattva alone dries the heart.• Ambarīṣa Mahārāja: Son of Nābhāga, of Manu’s line, he lived at Ambarīṣa-ṭīlā in Mathurā and served with all his senses (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.4.18–20). Of Sanātana Gosvāmī’s five kinds of devotees, Prahlāda is the jñānī-bhakta, Ambarīṣa the śuddha-bhakta, Hanumān the premī-bhakta and the Pāṇḍavas prema-para. Kṛṣṇa came to the Pāṇḍavas unasked, as a true friend does (Cāṇakya-nīti 1.12). Ambarīṣa swept the temple himself; to be a single straw of a broom in Rādhā’s kuñja is good fortune (Śrī Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi , and Kṛṣṇa Himself completed Jayadeva’s line (Gīta-govinda 10.19.. The Lord accepts bhāva.
, and Kṛṣṇa Himself completed Jayadeva’s line (Gīta-govinda 10.19.. The Lord accepts bhāva.• Durvāsā and the Sudarśana: Durvāsā is no ordinary sage, as the gopīs learned when they crossed the Yamunā by Kṛṣṇa’s “brahmacārī” and Durvāsā’s “eats only dūb grass”. When Durvāsā delayed Ambarīṣa’s Dvādaśī pāraṇa, Ambarīṣa took only caraṇāmṛta; the kṛtyā sent against him was destroyed by the Sudarśana, which chased Durvāsā to Brahmā, Śiva and Viṣṇu. Rākhe hari māre ke: whom Hari protects no one can kill. Viṣṇu said that the sādhus are His heart (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.4.68); after a year Durvāsā returned to find Ambarīṣa still waiting, and marvelled at the humility of the Lord’s servants (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.5.14).
• The Two Dynasties and the Vidhi-mārga: Śukadeva then told of the solar and lunar dynasties: Māndhātā, Saubhari, Bhagīratha, Rāmacandra, Yayāti, Śibi and Hariścandra. Rāma’s mercy leads to gopī-bhāva, as for the sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya. One who ignores śāstric rule finds no happiness here or hereafter (Bhagavad-gītā 16.23; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.101); the conduct of the unmatta (God-intoxicated) mahā-bhāgavatas cannot be understood (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 23.39). A sādhaka follows vidhi externally and serves in the siddha-deha within, according to adhikāra (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.295; Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 22.157; Śrī Bhajana-rahasya 1.10; Siddhi-lālasā). Kārtika niyamas should suit one’s body: no mustard or tomato, daily dīpa-dāna, and above all the Name, sādhu-saṅga and hari-kathā. Nṛsiṁha is the summit of bhakta-vātsalya, Rāma of prajā-vātsalya, and Kṛṣṇa is Līlā-puruṣottama (Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta).
• The Tenth Canto: After kīrtana and an address by a Vaiṣṇavī, Gurudeva resumes near nine o’clock, having driven four or five hours from Vṛndāvana. Parīkṣit asks to hear Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.1.1, 10.1.4), which even those on the path of nondualism come to relish (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 10.178). Gurudeva speaks of the dust of Vṛndāvana, of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī keeping Kārtika at the holy places, of how wherever the Vaiṣṇavas are is Vṛndāvana, and of Kṛṣṇa’s indifference to Vedic praise compared with Rādhā’s rebuke (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 4.26), like the cuckoo and the crow.
• Kaṁsa and Devakī: Devamīḍha’s two wives; Parjanya’s sons, named by Gurudeva as Upananda, Sunanda, Nanda and Abhinanda; Kaṁsa born of Drumila and Padmā, not truly Ugrasena’s son. At Devakī’s wedding a voice from the sky foretold Kaṁsa’s death, and Vasudeva pleaded that a woman must not be killed. A human birth in Bhārata is meant for the welfare of others (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 9.41); Prabhupāda’s Western disciples bowed to the land on arrival, and Delhi itself is Indraprastha.
• The Six Sons and Saṅkarṣaṇa: Vasudeva kept his promise; Nārada, with eight laḍḍūs in a circle, showed that any could be the eighth. The six sons slain are the six enemies of the heart. Yogamāyā moved Saṅkarṣaṇa to Rohiṇī’s womb, as the guru prepares the heart as a seat for Kṛṣṇa; a Māyāvādī guru, or one without conduct or knowledge of śāstra, should be given up, and mantra taken only from a guru who knows tattva and rasa and has realisation (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.3.21; Śrī Gurvaṣṭaka . Baladeva teaches by His own conduct (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 3.21) and serves Kṛṣṇa in ten forms.
. Baladeva teaches by His own conduct (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 3.21) and serves Kṛṣṇa in ten forms.• Kṛṣṇa’s Birth: Yaśodā is also called Devakī, as Gurudeva explains from the Harivaṁśa (Bṛhad-viṣṇu Purāṇa, quoted in the purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.21.10). Kṛṣṇa appeared at midnight in Bhādra, Nṛsiṁha at dusk and Rāma at midday; Pṛśni and Sutapā received Him as son in three births, and the devas offered the garbha-stuti. Śeṣa shaded Vasudeva and Yogamāyā crossed the Yamunā as a jackal; Kṛṣṇa is complete in Dvārakā, more complete in Mathurā and most complete in Vṛndāvana, and Yogamāyā showed Kaṁsa her eight-armed form, worshipped as Kaṅkālī. Nanda, overjoyed, celebrated his son’s birth (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.5.1).
The class closes with Nanda-mahotsava, as the devotees’ children prepare to stage the Nandotsava drama.
