The Divine grace and the Divine energy are overflowing from these pads (devotional songs). When we take a rasik Saint’s pads, and that too of a Siddha Mahapurush (perfected great soul), and our own Guru’s writings, then we are already associating with our Guru. We are already associating with the Guru, and taking these pads with faith in our hearts. In the words and writings of Shree Maharaj Ji, and in the pads, this itself starts to build shraddha (firm spiritual faith) within us.
First is shraddha, right? Aadav shraddha (beginning faith), and then sadhu sangat (association with Saints), bhajanakriya (devotional practice), shraddha - ‘गुरुवेदान्तवाक्येषु विश्वासः श्रद्धा Guru vedanta vakkeshu vishwasah shraddha’ - is simply having firm faith in our hearts.
“Okay, Shree Maharaj Ji has given me the way to practice sadhana (spiritual practice). I have faith in his writings,” and then you start singing.
Your association is already happening. Your shraddha will become firm, your belief will turn into shraddha. Everything will be taken care of as long as we do the sumiran (remembrance of the Divine name) while chanting the pads given to us. Shree Maharaj Ji himself is preparing us through different madhuris (devotional nectars). There are twenty-one madhuris. Through these different madhuris, he is already preparing us, from the primary level to the highest level, to do roopdhyan (meditation on the Divine form).
I am just going to give you all a taste of Radha Madhuri (nectar of Shree Radha’s Divine love). But I myself am at a primary level, so naturally we all still need to chant and sing Sadguru Madhuri (nectar glorifying the true Guru), Siddhant Madhuri (nectar of philosophical truth), and Dainya Madhuri (nectar of humility) all the time. Yet, time and again, we should also drink this Divine nectar so that we can at least begin to build the bhav deh (emotional body) of Madhurya Bhav (sweet, intimate devotional mood).
All the ras (Divine flavors) and all the nectar in these Prem Ras Madira pads (nectar-filled sections) which include Leela Madhuri (nectar of Divine pastimes), Shree Krishna Madhuri (nectar glorifying Shree Krishna), Shree Radha Madhuri (nectar glorifying Shree Radha), Shree Radha Bāl Leela Madhuri (nectar of Shree Radha’s childhood pastimes), Shree Krishna Bāl Leela Madhuri (nectar of Shree Krishna’s childhood pastimes), Milan Madhuri (nectar of Divine union), and Virah Madhuri (nectar of loving separation) are these all filled with Divine love nectar. We need to get a taste of them as well, time and again.
So it’s not that you have to go step by step by step. You can also take other pads from Prem Ras Madira, depending on how you feel on that particular day when you are seated to do sadhana. Maybe your sanskar (subtle impressions) from past-life practices have awakened that day in a different nature. You may want to drink the ras of a Leela Madhuri or Dham Madhuri (nectar of the Divine abode), and you are completely free to do that.
These Prem Ras Madira Pads help us build our bhav deh through our sadhana practice. From my brothers and sisters, you have heard about all these different levels and stages of bhakti (devotion), and now bhav deh. You and I do not need to sit and think,
“Oh, how do I make my bhav deh now?”
Just chant the name of the Lord with the help of these pad sankirtans; doing roopdhyan is a must. This roopdhyan sadhana will build the sentiments which are expressed in these pad sankirtans, the bhav (devotional feeling), if we can try to do roopdhyan accordingly. Depending on what pad you are chanting, build the roopdhyan accordingly. Do your roopdhyan in accordance with the pad, to the leela explanation, that is going on.
Do not try to create your own roopdhyan. Try to connect your mind to the ras flowing from that pad, from the chanting. By doing this, we connect ourselves to the Guru. By connecting our mind to the Guru’s mind through the pad sankirtans, we receive the Guru’s grace, the kripa (Divine mercy), to go deeper into this pad, to understand it and to enjoy those pads.
As our bhav deh begins to form, evolve, and develop, we will start to experience the ras.
