19810605 Arrival Address

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on June 5th, 1981, at New Tālavana farm, Carrier, Mississippi.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya's appearance is a very great mystery. The Lord kept it that way because His pastime was to come as a devotee, like if the king wants to go among all the citizens and see as an ordinary citizen and if He already announced in advance that the king is going to come as an ordinary citizen, then everyone would be, “A person will walk down the Picayune Street. Don’t tell anybody.” Then all the streets would be lined with people, “Okay, where the person is coming?”

So although it is mentioned in the śāstras that Kṛṣṇa is coming, but by Yoga-māyā this somehow wasn’t broadcast before Lord Caitanya’s coming in a broad way. It was kept a secret, and revealed just to a few great souls. Of course, as Lord Caitanya came, those who were highly qualified could understand that, “This is not an ordinary person. This is Kṛṣṇa himself come as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as was predicted.” Ordinary people they more or less forgot those predictions which was actually helping Caitanya Mahāprabhu to fulfill His pastime which was to simply remain as a devotee and to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa with everyone.

Just like in the Dvāpara-yuga, when the five Pāṇḍavas were exiled, at that time, you know they had fourteen years of vanavāsa, of residing in the exile, in the forest. So, the last year which is known as the ajñāta-vāsa, ajñāta means unknown. They had to stay completely concealed. If Duryodhana could find them out in that year, then again, another fourteen years they had to stay. So it was very imperative that they had to remain concealed in that one year.

So they went to Ekacakra, the birthplace of Nityānanda Prabhu and they were there for some time, and that place of the Pāṇḍavas residence is still preserved even today. (inaudible) Of course all around now just rice fields but one place they have kept that grove where Pāṇḍavas stayed, so there Yudhiṣṭhira had a dream. In the dream Caitanya Mahāprabhu‘s birthplace, Navadvīpa dhāma - Nadia, that secret was revealed to him. That Kṛṣṇa will appear in Kali-yuga in this sacred dhāma, so he took his brothers and Draupadi and they all went Navadvīpa, Māyāpura-dhāma and there finally when they walked and they reached there first they killed a few demons, helping the sādhūs.

They resided there for some time and in a dream Yudhiṣṭhira could see the Gaurāṅga form. To see Caitanya Mahāprabhu with golden form with flower garlands, the bumble bees flying everywhere and his broad chest and thin waist looks like a lion’s waist, broad chest like a doorway. Now Lord Caitanya was smiling and said that. “In Kali-yuga I’ll be coming here, and you and your brothers will be participating in My pastimes and you will go to Orissa, Jagannātha Purī. You will appear there all of you together and you will be My associates.” Then Lord Caitanya disappeared, and Yudhiṣṭhira woke up and he was crying then there was daiva-vāṇī “You should go.” Daiva-vāṇī means a voice from the sky, a demigod, unseen voice comes, no microphone, nothing, comes from the heavens.

Like Kamsa, he had a daiva-vāṇī, that he will be killed by the eighth son of Devakī: Daiva-vāṇī – the divine voice. Daiva-vāṇī said “Go to Orissa, Jagannātha Purī, and help and purify the place of all the miscreants.” So they didn’t like to go, but they had to follow the instructions.

When Nityānanda Prabhu, He was taking Jīva Gosvāmi around, the holy dhāma of Navadvīpa, He pointed out all these things, that, “Here is the kumbha, the lake of Draupadī Devī and here is the hill of Yudhiṣṭhira, and in this way there are so many places connected with Caitanya Mahāprabhu.”

In fact throughout the ages all the avatāras and all the ācāryas and all the great devotees they all visit Navadvīpa-dhāma, one time or another, it is considered to be the cream of all the holy tīrthas because this has to do with the secret mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

That… As you know that… we pray every day to Caitanya Mahāprabhu that He is “namo maha vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema pradāya te” He is giving out what Kṛṣṇa Himself didn’t give out. So He is the most merciful. Kṛṣṇa demanded “sarva dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇam vraja (Bg. 18.66), Surrender unto Me and I will give you complete protection.” But surrendering unto Kṛṣṇa is a very tall order.

Just like Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gītā “You completely fix your mind on Me undeviatingly, this is the topmost yoga. You completely fix your mind on Me.” but what did Arjuna say? Said that it is more difficult than to control a hurricane. "My mind is just going here and there, so it is very difficult anyway to control the mind." So he was asking for some easier process, so then Lord Kṛṣṇa told him ‘You do the abhyāsa-yoga, by practice, you control the mind.” So Kṛṣṇa, He demanded full surrender and He guaranteed full protection.

But Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His mercy was such that if someone has a desire to be Kṛṣṇa conscious… see the desire is there and if one chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, takes Kṛṣṇa-prasādam, then one gets his mercy. Even one may not be fully surrendered but simply desires to be surrendered desires to be Kṛṣṇa conscious and chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, and then he gets Nitāi and Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy. They are very merciful. In fact there is no one more merciful as Lord Caitanya, Nityānanda and His associates. They’re giving you straight mercy,

So different ācāryas just like Madhvacarya one time he visited in Navadvīpa-dhāma with his disciples, and there in a dream, he also saw Caitanya Mahāprabhu was revealing his beautiful form to Madhvācārya and told him “I am going will appear in your sampradāya now you should go out and smash all the Māyāvādīs and their misinterpretation of the scriptures.” And of course Madhvācārya wanted to remain in Navadvīpa.

He said, “No you should go out and defeat these Māyāvādīs’ philosophy to establish the position of the Deity and when I come then I will finally establish the truth of the sampradāya or the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”

So like this, Madhvācārya….yesterday I was… explained how Rāmānujācārya came to Navadvīpa-dhāma and I explained how Śaṅkarācārya came. All different ācāryas in all the ages they came to Navadvīpa because that place being Lord Caitanya’s dhāma, is connected with Lord Caitanya eternally and therefore is eternally in the transcendental platform. So here we are bringing Caitanya Mahāprabhu, bringing Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and on the invitation of the devotees, and they are accepting the worship.

So wherever the Lord is being served, that place becomes a transcendental place. So we should be very careful to keep the transcendental mood around the Deities at the maximum purity, maximum force so that anyone coming into that atmosphere will feel the prabhāva, or the effect, the influence of that transcendental association. This is possible to create by the devotion of the devotees. The dhāma is not limited to time and place. Of course that place where Lord Caitanya appears is eternally under his yoga-māyā.

Even if one doesn't work very hard still the dhāma has got some transcendental potency through the ages and those who are pure they can realize that. And by chanting there, then of course whatever fog may just try to obscure that even from the external, that is easily wiped away.

Of course in other parts of the world the darkness is everywhere and wherever Kṛṣṇa is being worshiped wherever the devotees are constantly engaged in his service of glorification, chanting his holy names, their light is produced, and in the darkness that light is a shining shelter for all the fallen souls. So to make that light brighter and brighter so that the effect will go further and further, that is always the intention and role of the devotees. Ultimately what Lord Caitanya predicted

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
(Cb. Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126) 

that, “In every town and village throughout the world, My message shall be sung.” So every time in villages where Lord Caitanya’s message has been sung, that means everywhere there will be the light, the whole darkness will be destroyed. 

So coming in the darkness here we find the light in New Tālavana and that light we should bring into our hearts and cleanse our hearts so that Kṛṣṇa will reside there also. When our heart is cleaned of garbage then Kṛṣṇa will reside there, personally guiding the devotees. The devotee can see Kṛṣṇa face to face not whether there us an attachment so when you… ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ, cleanse your heart and allow Kṛṣṇa to come in your heart, and when he resides there, that is also considered to be the dhāma or the holy place – the heart of the devotee in which the Lord is residing.

So, the more that we cleanse our heart the more that our heart is being prepared for Kṛṣṇa to come and reside in His full manifestation, in His full form. And individually and collectively, we cooperate with each other knowing that Kṛṣṇa is more pleased when we cooperate with each other, when we serve Him in a cooperative mood, just like the Pracetās, they were under the water for ten-thousand years cooperatively worshiping the Lord. Nārāyaṇa told them that, “Because you are all cooperatively worshiping, this is giving Me much more transcendental pleasure more than individually serving, individually chanting.” When we chant together, when we serve together, when we cooperate together, it creates something nice to the glory of the Lord Nitāi-Gaurā and great devotees, previous ācāryas, our spiritual master and the Vaiṣṇavas, that gives Kṛṣṇa and the Vaiṣṇava's great transcendental pleasure. It is their mercy that we are brought together and we have this chance to perfect our lives by serving their lotus feet. So much energy is used in peoples’ life this way and that way, if we give our energy to Kṛṣṇa, back to the powerhouse, then it closes the circuit, otherwise all that energy is like a short circuit. Wire is coming from the powerhouse and going back to the powerhouse and therefore there is the light coming but if there is just the wire coming and no wire going back then, only one wire will not create any light. There has to be two wires, coming and going. So everyone is trying to take from Kṛṣṇa, that’s why it’s all going short circuit into the ground, into here and there. So there is no actual beneficial light, a lot of waste of energy. So when the closed circuit is there, coming from Kṛṣṇa and going back to Kṛṣṇa, then everything is perfect. So here is the place for closing the circuit, serving their lordships the divine master.

Jaya Śrī Guru Gaurāṅga, Nitāi-Gaurā! (Aside: These Deities are?)

Rādhā? Rādhā-Rādhikākānta. Rādhā-Rādhākānta

Jaya! Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rādhākānta kī...!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami: Jaya Nitāi-Guru Gaurāṅga kī...!

Devotees: Jaya! 

Jayapatākā Swami: Any questions?

Question: (Indistinct)

Jayapatākā Swami: The dhāma is where Caitanya Mahāprabhu appears is called the dhāma, or where the Lord appears is called the dhāma. When the whole universe is destroyed, the dhāma is not destroyed. And where the pure devotees appear it is called the Śrīpāṭa. Dhāma is just an area like - Vṛndāvana is 84 krośa. That’s 168 miles, the Vraja-maṇḍala, under 32 krośa, something like that. 84 krośa, pretty big, and then Navadvīpa-mandala is solo krośa, or 32 miles. Ordinarily Śrīpāṭa, where great Vaiṣṇavas are born, that is Prabhupāda said three miles. Within a three miles area, that place becomes sanctified.

So, of course that is the reason why someone takes birth somewhere, or why is a temple established at a certain place. I don’t think that anyone can make a blanket statement that what is the past, present and future of all those places. But, in general, one may take it that even someplace where there is no previous spiritual history that by worshiping Kṛṣṇa by establishing the Deity,worshiping, chanting, that place comes under the Yoga-māyā, comes under the holy dhāma, but generally, other places where there are in like in India, so many people have temples, but they don’t generally claim that those temples were eternally, before or after that,but everyone knows that where the Deity’s being worshiped, Vaiṣṇavas are living, that place becomes a transcendental place, becomes the abode of the Lord, becomes a dhāma in that respect it becomes the shelter of the fallen souls.

But the fallen souls, the devotees, they have to maintain that vibration. Just like there's a… if there is… some very great offence occurs inside the temple, sometimes they have to bathe the Deity in milk because… to purify the atmosphere. Sometimes you have to do different things, outside of the dhāma these things are recommended. So it’s like… in an island, there the land is below the sea-level, but they dike it all up becomes nice, fertile land. So all around is all māyā, but by practicing our Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by serving properly, by creating always the mood of chanting so that māyā is kept out, and this place becomes part is the part of the spiritual kingdom.

Now, which place may have some previous history, whether some avatāra in some yuga touched down in a particular place, whether there is some history, that of course requires some divine revelation that you won’t find readily in the scriptures. You’d have to search whether this place was such a place that anyone ever visited in a previous… millions and millions of years. That may be revealed by the Lord. But this can remain eternally. But of course all the devotees, they’ll all go back to Godhead. Even after Lord Caitanya’s movement leaves the world, what will happen ten thousand years from now?

As the Kali-yuga progresses, all these Deities will have to be hidden underground somewhere, possibly. Prabhupāda said all the Vaiṣṇavas will have to go underground, but ten thousand years is a long time. We can worry about that then, hopefully by that time everyone will already be back in Goloka.

Even Govardhana is gradually sinking in the earth, at the end of Kali-yuga even Govardhana will be invisible. Sometimes the dhāma is appearing and sometimes it is retracting. And the people will become too sinful, so now here the dhāma is appearing what is the previous history, before and maybe by our sincere service it maybe the Lord will reveal what pastimes have (inaudible) hear in the past, but just by Śrīla Prabhupāda visiting here, Śrīla Prabhuapada came here, that alone has made this a holy place. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said that wherever Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s devotees or Caitanya Mahāprabhu himself spent even a moment, that place is a sacred place and he wants to go and visit all those places and purify himself.

Such a great associate as Śrīla Prabhupāda has come here and that alone has made this a tīrtha. Now it’s being further expanded by so much service and preaching. As far as possible, always feel the vibration of the holy name. I was telling (inaudible) Prabhu how so many devotees in India, they were very anxious to visit all these places which Prabhupāda has put his lotus foot. Take all these places as great places of pilgrimage.

Haridaspur, we have a temple… Haridāsa Ṭhākura spent one night there. And since 500 years, the whole village is named Haridaspur. The high school is named after Haridāsa Ṭhākura and all the people worship Haridāsa every year, the day he came there, they have a festival, the appearance day, and just one day there and chanted sixteen, his three lakhs of names. Śrīla Prabhupāda said “Yes it’s a fact. A great soul like that comes if sits and… why one day? Even one moment, that place becomes (inaudible)

Any other questions?

Question: (inaudible)

Jayapatākā Swami: Well just like the Pāṇḍavas, it appears that their life was more filled with difficulty than ordinary people, although they were the personal associates of Lord Kṛṣṇa. They had so many difficulties, most people never have so much… has anyone had so much difficulty how they could survive? That’s what they had. They were given a house made of lac which was set on fire, they were trying to be poisoned, their wife was trying to be uh, molested and disgraced and offended in the royal assembly. They were banished for fourteen years, cheating, finally the Kurukṣetra battle. Like so many different difficulties, unconceivable.

So it says that the more that you rub sandalwood, the more that the sweet scent comes out. The more that you crush sugarcane, the more that the sweet juice comes out. The more that you repeatedly heat the gold, the more luster comes there, shining metal. Similarly, the more… kāṣcaṁ kāṣcaṁ punar api punah. kāṣcanaṁ kāṣcanānaṁ. The more that a sādhu is… a devotee is put in a different type of difficult situation, the more his true color, his mettle, his faith in Kṛṣṇa becomes manifest, and finally at the time of death, he is unwavering. He fixes his mind on Kṛṣṇa.

So, of course, there are many trials. The materialists get their moment of joy. We don’t wish anyone bad. Someone else is getting rain. They’re prospering, no doubt they have also been benefited by seeing the devotees,so many ways, or they may be enjoying the results of their pious activities from their previous lives, or this life. We are directly dependent on Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa gives us rain. It is Kṛṣṇa mercy. If Kṛṣṇa is not giving rain then it Kṛṣṇa mercy. They are getting rain due to their karma; whatever we get that will be due to Kṛṣṇa. We see any success or any difficulty as being under the hand of Kṛṣṇa.

But, either way, we remain Kṛṣṇa conscious; because Kṛṣṇa chooses not to give us something or to give us something we, in our part, continue to do free from offenses our service properly. And beyond that, we are sincerely trying. We go on doing our duty. Because the cows are not our cows, the land not our land, it is Kṛṣṇa’s land, Kṛṣṇa’s cows. So we do our duty to serve Kṛṣṇa.

Whether He wants to water the land for His cows… if He doesn’t give water, we have to see some other way, we are His servants so we do whatever we can to protect His things. So if Kṛṣṇa made it very easy, then maybe we wouldn’t have so many opportunities for service. Who can understand Kṛṣṇa’s purpose? Just like I was sick one time, Prabhupāda told me that sickness gets rid of the poisons in the body, so as the result of the sickness actually helped me to get better. And after that my health for the next two years increased more and more, although I was very sick for one year, off and on, with various types of fever.

You can take it that at the difficult times that Kṛṣṇa is testing you. Are you a fair-weather friend, fair-weather devotee, or you are devotee through thick and thin? So many people say, “Yes I am a devotee.” but as soon as he gets a little rough… Kṛṣṇa wants to see what type of devotion we all have. Or māyā might also. She tests in a different way. Kṛṣṇa allows her the opportunity. I know in Māyāpur now; we are getting plenty of rain by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. But sometimes… Three years ago we got so much rain that it flooded twenty feet. So Kṛṣṇa, He may do anything.

So sometimes… Kṛṣṇa He will always try to teach us, but we have to be intelligent enough to learn what His lessons are, so that if there is a lesson to be learned we learn from it, so that again we don’t have to be taught in any gross way. It’s better to learn with the least possible gross example, just by hearing or by understanding. Kṛṣṇa is always teaching us and we should always be looking at “How can I improve my devotion, where is my defect?” Not thinking that “Already I am devotee, therefore I have made it. I am first-class.” Then you start thinking, “Why Kṛṣṇa is not doing this? Why He’s not doing that?” ? So we are taking the position of one of Kṛṣṇa wives almost. After He marries, then of course, then they’re saying, “Where’s my pārijāta flower? My this, my that. ” Of course they have that relationship with Kṛṣṇa. And not tried improving it. They make so many demands.

That opportunity may come, but first you have to establish the relationship. So, those who are the most advanced devotees, of course, they always feel themselves to be, improperly serving Kṛṣṇa, insufficiently serving Kṛṣṇa, at least, and they are always searching for ways how to increase that service, how to make it more pure, more pleasing to Kṛṣṇa.

Are we giving every thought-word deed to Kṛṣṇa or 50 % or 30 % 10 %. What percent are we giving? By chanting and taking the mercy of Nitāi-Gaurā, how much we have been able to focus our Kṛṣṇa conscious energy actually to the place where it is supposed to go, and how much has been scattered here and there? Also devotees need to be purified. Ultimately bhakti is also a purification.

Anything else? Is that alright?

Hare Kṛṣṇa!