20200213 Mahāprabhu's First Manifestation at the House of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī (Part 2)

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: So today is the appearance day of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, and at the Nāmahaṭṭa Bhavan, we spoke there briefly. Some of the Gauḍīya Mathās attend our Sārasvata Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Association meetings. Anyway, Śrīla Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he wanted his followers, his disciplic descendants, should all work together, and Śrīla Prabhupāda, he tried to do that. But some of the god-brothers at that time, were trying to like, steal, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disciples. So he was a bit careful. Later on, he apologized, said that was necessary for preaching, and that in the future, he was trying to unite the Sārasvata Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Society. And we are still trying to do that. I begged leave since I was a bit tired from all the meetings, classes, functions. Have you all seen the Pujari level? Truly amazing!! What a facility!!

So Lord Caitanya has returned from Gayā, and He has seen Kṛṣṇa, in Kanhainatashala, it was usually Bihar, but now it is part of Jhārikhaṇḍa. And He saw Kṛṣṇa there, we have that place under ISKCON care, and when He returned to Navadvīpa, He was changed. He was the topmost vaiṣṇava! Previously, He kept Himself hidden and He was a great scholar, Paṇḍita, Nimāi Paṇḍita. But after returning from Gayā, He started the sankirtan movement. So Śrīla Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura said, He didn’t just come to deliver some people in India, in Bengal, Bihar! He came to deliver the whole world! And Srila Prabhupada, he carried out the order of Śrīla Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda and spread Hare Kṛṣṇa all over the world.

And now we are reading about Lord Caitanya returning to Navadvip and His ecstatic symptoms of love in separation.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.85

“pāinu, īśvara mora kon dike gelā?”
eta bali’ stambha kole kariyā paḍilā

Jayapatākā Swami: So the Lord, He declared, I obtained My Lord, where did He go? Where, which direction did He go? Saying that, holding the column of Śuklāmbara Brahmacari’s grass hut, He fell down to the ground. So Lord Caitanya was declaring how He had attained Kṛṣṇa, but now Kṛṣṇa had left Him. So Lord Caitanya, in Kanhainatashala, Kṛṣṇa came up playing on His flute, and then embraced Lord Caitanya and then ran. So Lord Caitanya was running after Him, then He disappeared behind a tree. That tree is still there and Lord Caitanya couldn’t find Kṛṣṇa! He rolled on the ground by that tree. You can still go there and see where Lord Caitanya rolled and how He was crying, crying in separation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So, He was remembering that situation, in the house of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī in his courtyard, and He tightly embraced a pillar, of His love for Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.86

bhāṅgila gṛhera stambha prabhura āveśe
’kothā kṛṣṇa?’ baliyā paḍilā mukta keśe

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the pillar of the house was broken by Lord Caitanya as He fell. He cried out, where is Kṛṣṇa? Kothai Kṛṣṇa? Where is Kṛṣṇa? Saying this, He fell down to the ground and His hair was scattered.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.87

prabhu paḍilena mātra ’hā kṛṣṇa’
baliyābhakta saba paḍilena ḍhaliyāḍhaliyā

Jayapatākā Swami: As soon as the Lord said, oh, Kṛṣṇa!  And He fell to the ground. All devotees present also fell to the ground! So Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy was contagious. When He fell to the ground, everybody was touched in the heart and they all fell to the ground!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.88

gṛhera bhitare mūrchā gelā gadādhara
kebā kon dike paḍe, nāhi parāpara

Jayapatākā Swami: Gadādhara prabhu, He fell unconscious inside the house of Śuklāmbara Brahmacari. Where everyone was falling, no one knew who fell where! So, at that moment, everyone was absorbed in love of Kṛṣṇa and they didn’t have any external awareness. They were falling unconscious, completely overwhelmed by love of Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.89

sabe hailā kṛṣṇa-prema-ānande mūrchita
hāsena jāhnavī-devī haiyā vismita

Jayapatākā Swami: Everyone was unconscious due to the ecstatic love of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Jāhnavī-devi, the Ganges, she laughed in amazement at this occurrence. All the associates of Lord Caitanya in the house of Śuklāmbara Brahmacari, were feeling extreme ecstasy of love of Kṛṣṇa. They also fell unconscious, and since the house of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī was next to the Ganges, the Ganges seeing everyone falling in ecstasy, smiled in amazement!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.90

kata-kṣaṇe bāhya prakāśiyā viśvambhara
’kṛṣṇa bali’ kāndite lāgilā bahutara

Jayapatākā Swami: After some time, Viśvambhara manifested His external consciousness and He simply repeated Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Many times and then He was crying profusely! So, Viśvambhara or Lord Caitanya, He was totally absorbed in spiritual bliss and He was chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa, and crying profusely!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.91

“kṛṣṇa re, prabhu re mora! kon dike gelā?”
eta bali’ prabhu punaḥ bhūmite paḍilā

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga said, oh Kṛṣṇa, oh My Lord, where have You gone?! Which direction did You go? Saying all these things, the Lord again fell to the ground, unconscious!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.92

kṛṣṇa-preme kānde prabhu śacīra nandana
catur-dike veḍi’ kānde bhāgavata-gaṇa

Jayapatākā Swami: Śacīnandana, the son of mother Śacī, cried out of love for Kṛṣṇa. And all the devotees surrounding the Lord also cried.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.93

āchāḍera samuccaya nāhika śrī-aṅge
nā jāne ṭhākura kichu nija-prema-raṅge

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Gaurāṅga fell uncountable times in His mood of spiritual bliss, but due to the ecstasy of love for the Lord, He didn’t know anything. He had no suffering and no happiness, due to His body, although He was falling repeatedly on the ground, because of His total absorption in spiritual bliss, He was not aware of His body at all.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.94

uṭhila kīrtana-rola premera krandana
prema-maya haila śuklāmbarera bhavana

Jayapatākā Swami: So the sound of the chanting increased and mixed with the crying in love of Kṛṣṇa. So in this way, Śuklāmbara Brahmacari’s house became filled with love of Godhead.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.95

sthira hai, kṣaṇeke vasilā viśvambhara
tathāpi ānanda-dhārā vahe nirantara

Jayapatākā Swami: Being pacified at some time, Viśvambhara sat down and nevertheless, streams of blissful tears flowed constantly from His eyes! So even though sometimes Lord Caitanya was very ecstatic and uncontrolled, sometimes He was pacified and sitting down, He was constantly crying due to the love of Kṛṣṇa!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.96

prabhu bale,—“kon jana gṛhera bhitara?”
brahmacārī balena,—“tomāra gadādhara”

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord asked, who is inside your house? Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī replied, my Lord, Your Gadādhara is inside.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.97

heṅta māthā kariyā kāndena gadādhara
dekhiyā santoṣa baḍa prabhu viśvambhara

Jayapatākā Swami: Gadādhara prabhu bent His head downward and cried. Seeing this, Lord Viśvambhara became greatly satisfied.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.98

prabhu bale,—“gadādhara! tumi se sukṛti
śiśu haite kṛṣṇete karilā dṛḍha-mati

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord said, oh Gadādhara! You are so pious. From Your very childhood, you were always firmly fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.99

āmāra se hena janma gela vṛthā-rase
pāinu amūlya nidhi gela daiva-doṣe”

Jayapatākā Swami: “My life has gone in vain mellows. Although I obtained the priceless treasure, the ocean of transcendental mellows, everything is lost by the stroke of providence.” So, Lord Caitanya was appreciating Gadādhara being inclined in serving Lord Kṛṣṇa since His very childhood. So, He was saying that Gadādhara was most fortunate! He admitted, I did not have the strong determination for serving Kṛṣṇa like You!! I uselessly wasted My time in studying books on logic. Although I found My lost wealth, Kṛṣṇa, but I am now bereft of Him. (Haribol!  Haribol!)

How many verses? 20 more.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.100

eta bali’ bhūmite paḍilā viśvambhara
dhūlāya loṭāya sarva-sevya kalevara

Guru Mahārāja: Saying this, Lord Viśvambhara fell again to the ground and in the dust, He rolled and His body became colored with dust! The transcendental body of Gaurahari which is worshipable by all subordinates in the fourteen material worlds, and the transcendental spiritual abodes of Vaikuṇṭha and Goloka Vṛndāvana, was completely covered in dust, in ecstasy and separation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So, He was in the mood of Rādhārāṇī, feeling separation from Kṛṣṇa. Although He was Kṛṣṇa, but He wanted to understand what was the happiness of Rādhārāṇī, and that separation of love of Kṛṣṇa, although it seems like suffering, it is a greater ecstasy than anything else!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.101

punaḥ-punaḥ haya bāhya, punaḥ-punaḥ paḍe
daive rakṣā pāya nāka-mukha se āchāḍe

Jayapatākā Swami: Again and again, He regained His consciousness and repeatedly again and again, He fell down! Although He fell on His nose and His face, He was protected by providence!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.102

melite nā pāre dui cakṣu prema-jale
sabe eka ’kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa’ śrī-vadane bale

Jayapatākā Swami: There were so many tears flowing from His eyes that He could not open His eyes and see. All He could hear from His beautiful lotus mouth were the words Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! KṚṢṆA! KṚṢṆA! KṚṢṆA! Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.103

dhariyā sabāra galā kānde viśvambhara
“kṛṣṇa kothā?—bhāi saba! balaha satvara

Jayapatākā Swami: He grabbed the necks of those who were present and cried, and Viśvambhara asked, oh brothers, Kṛṣṇa, where is Kṛṣṇa? Tell Me quickly! WHERE IS KṚṢṆA?! Where has He gone! Ohhhhhh Where is Kṛṣṇaaa? KṚṢṆA! KṚṢṆA! Lord Caitanya was in such ecstasy that everyone present was touched in the heart and they all couldn’t help but feel spiritual bliss. We are all so hard hearted that even though we read about Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy, somehow we don’t feel it! But those who were present, they could not avoid, they were overwhelmed by the Lord’s expression of separation and love of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Haribol! Gauuuuurāṅga! Gauurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.104

prabhura dekhiyā ārti kānde bhakta-gaṇa
kāro mukhe āra kichu nā sphure vacana

Jayapatākā Swami: Ha! Ha! Seeing the extreme earnest longing of the Lord, all the devotees present cried. From their mouths nothing else, they could speak nothing. They were unable to speak.

Any questions?

This is a book written for the children by Gaurāṅgi Gandharvīkā devī dāsī. She is going to read from the dedication. Thank you very much!

Also, if anyone wants to help to take care of the devotees or different types of help, we have the help desks which are providing service to the visiting vaiṣṇavas. So if you want to help, you can report to the Pañcajanya Keśava dāsa or as far as I know.

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, Please accept my respectful obeisances (Guru Mahārāja said: accepted) We are very much excited about the opening of the Pujārī floor in the TOVP. And we know that you have taken responsibility of the West Wing Exhibits of Vedic Planetarium. It will exhibit the science of the Bhāgavatam, but we don’t know any other details of this Exhibits project. Could you please explain to us disciples, in general? We are very eager to know and help Your Divine Grace!

Jayapatākā Swami: Well, there is an entry level and four other levels. So the main temple team is going to give us two levels. We opted for the entry level and the fourth level. But the first level tell us about reincarnation, consciousness, such things. The second level talks about the evolution of the Vedas, as mentioned in the Vedas. What is the Vedic idea of evolution – how the soul transmigrates through different bodies. And not that the bodies evolve, but that the ātma transmigrates and finally reaches the human life. And the third level tells about cosmology of the universe as described in the Śrīmad-bhāgavatam, Surya-siddhānta and various Purāṇas. The fourth level has the dome theater; the existing dome theater is 12 meters. That one there will be 23 meters. That is a huge dome and we will have many people like 250 people can sit and be completely absorbed. So there we will have some nice show, giving the Vedic idea of creation of the universe and so on. We also have dome exhibits which tell about Maheśa dhāma, Hari dhāma and Goloka dhāma. We need on this people who have technical qualifications to help us design the different exhibits. The donations which my disciples and people in my zone give, 50% will go to the West Wing and 50% to the TOVP.

Question: Selfishness, Guru Mahārāja, how to understand how much we are selfish and how much we are selfless? In what are the areas selfishness is allowed? For example, I went to māha-prasāda stall and I saw there were four plates of iḍlis and behind me one devotee also wanted iḍli because I was in front I purchased all for my family! Which was my requirement as well. But I did not think about the other devotee behind me! Some way, in my places, I see only me and my needs. How to understand and act? Please guide me. Bhakta. Veṅkaṭeśa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Iḍli bhakti! Iḍli bhakti! Well if you know the person behind you also wants iḍli, you might leave one plate for him! Ha! Ha! Take three for yourself! If it is for Kṛṣṇa, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness then it is selfless. One-time Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja, Śrīla Prabhupāda gave him a gulāb jāmun, put it on his plate and he was very proud that he got the gulāb jamun from Śrīla Prabhupāda. Suddenly one devotee reached out and grabbed it and ate it! YOU ATE MY MĀHA-PRASĀDA (Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja said). Śrīla Prabhupāda said, you see, māha-prasāda, there is no hard and fast rule! Even if you want, you can take from my plate, but please let me finish! Ha! Ha! So, because we want to have kṛṣṇa-prasāda in order to advance in our Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is allowed. Also, how can you tell if this selfless, if it is for Kṛṣṇa. If you want to eat iḍli because it is iḍli and you are a south Indian and don’t care if it prasāda or not, you are just like, IḌLIS!  Then it is not, it is selfish. If you think, prasāda, I need Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. Prasāda means mercy! I need the mercy! Then it is alright! Ha! Ha! What do you think?

Today is the disappearance day of Gaura Govinda Swami. I was in the GBC room. Our meeting was over and suddenly someone came up and told me that Gaura Govinda Mahārāja, something had happened. And he was on the fourth floor. I ran down and then Kavicandra Mahārāja was doing Reiki. But he was unconscious. He was then talking about his Deity of Rādhā Gopāla and talking about his Deity, he fell unconscious. And then everybody was crying and we tried to revive him but he went talking about Kṛṣṇa. So there is no doubt that he is a very advanced soul and that he went back to Godhead. He was very simple and very merciful. I was his GBC, so I had to visit him. And he was translating different books in Oriya language. He was staying in the Bhajan-kuṭīra and he had me stay in a guest room. So he would come up and talk to me. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that we want to make Deities in our temples, which are Kṛṣṇa Balarāma, Jagannātha Baladeva Subhadrā and Nitāi-Gaura. And he wanted the Deities to be made in the Eastern style out of metal, aṣṭa-dhātu. Except Jagannātha, He is wood, naturally. So he was very merciful to me that he allowed me to install the Deities along with him. He is a great loss for the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement. He left today and went back to the spiritual world. Haribol!

Thank you very much!