19810905 Darśana: Śrī Puṇḍarika Vidyānidhi Pastimes

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī Maharaj on September 5, 1981.

Jayapatākā Swami: When He appeared in the prison house of Kaṁsa from Devakī, with His four-armed form, and with full hair and decorations… everything, He was already the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He was in the lap of Yaśodā-māyī - His mother in Vṛndāvana, and when the witch Pūtanā put poison on her breast and tried to murder Kṛṣṇa; and He sucked her breast, sucked her life air right out from her breast, then He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Kṛṣṇa was lifting the whole Govardhana Mountain with one finger, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He was dancing with the gopīs, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He fought against Kuvalayapīḍa and all these other demons in Mathura, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He married 16,108 queens, and He expanded Himself into 16,108 Kṛṣṇas, entering into each palace simultaneously, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When He spoke Bhagavad-gītā, He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He never had to become the Supreme Godhead, He always was. From beginning, all the way through, no end.

But some people, they understand something. Some they don’t have that disciplic succession, that understanding. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has revealed the most esoteric understanding. We cannot even begin to express to what depth He revealed about Kṛṣṇa. To actually understand all the things that Caitanya Mahāprabhu revealed, one has to first become liberated. Then one can fully understand. So, even a liberated person cannot understand what Caitanya Mahāprabhu is giving. He is giving what is far beyond liberation.

Yet, He has also presented the basic simple formula and Truth, which even the most fallen, conditioned, unfortunate person can also understand and be completely liberated. So, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He is very compassionate. We always address Kṛṣṇa's energy first. Sītā-Rāma, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa, because energy is very compassionate. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has taken the mood of the energy, so He is very compassionate. He is known as ‘Bhakta-vatsala Kṛṣṇa’. Caitanya is also Bhakta-vatsala. Very affectionate to His devotees. So Rādhārāṇī, She appeared as the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu. This morning I asked who was Vṛṣabhānu in Caitanya Mahāprabhu's līlā and offered a cookie reward if anyone could say. Everyone was stumped for a long time. Who is Vṛṣabhānu? Here everyone is stumped too!

So, Vṛṣabhānu, in a sense you can say was Kṛṣṇa's father-in-law. Since He was the father of Rādhārāṇī, who was Kṛṣṇa's Queen at Vṛndāvana, so He also appeared in Caitanya Mahāprabhu's līlā just like Rādhārāṇī descends. All the devotees, they appear. Principal devotees also come and assist Kṛṣṇa when He takes the role as a devotee. So Vṛṣabhānu came also, and was one of the main branches of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's devotional tree. He came as Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi. And one day, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was crying that, He was crying out, “Vidyānidhi, Vidyānidhi, Vidyānidhi, Vidyānidhi, Oh Vidyānidhi, kothāya? Where is Vidyānidhi? Where is Vidyānidhi?” Everyone thought that he must be calling out on Kṛṣṇa. Then someone realized He was calling out some devotee's name. He said, “Lord Caitanya, who is this? Which devotee's name you are calling?” and He said, “Well, he is one very great devotee. Bring Vidyānidhi. I am hankering for his association. Because I am not getting his association, therefore I am feeling separation.” Even the Lord sometimes feels separation from devotee, waiting. But the Lord is simultaneously Ātmārāmā.

Lord Caitanya, being in the mood of devotee, has a very compassionate, tender heart. So Vidyānidhi, I think our [unclear] went to see his birthplace. He is born in the far distant corner of Bengal. And you can’t get further away from Māyāpur, in Bengal. So it is said that he appeared there just to benedict the local people of that area, Caṭṭagrāma. Nobody could recognise that he was a pure devotee, except for a very few expert people, because he lived there in a very posh manner. He appeared externally to be little bit materialistic but actually, that was just an outward clothing and show. But he was always absorbed in meditation on Kṛṣṇa. Always, without any break. ? Somehow or another, he had some facilities, material facilities, but he wasn’t attached to those things whatsoever. That in a moment, he forgot about everything and just always absorbs in Kṛṣṇa. In a moment he would forget about everything. Even with it, it wasn’t that he was absorbed. But somehow his associates always kept him provided in a very posh, nice situation, materially. So general people thought that he was not really a devotee brāhmaṇa. In this way he avoided lot of botheration also from the people who come and pester devotees to get blessings and things.

I was walking down a street in Silchar one day. Silchar used to be part of Sylhet; now it’s Assam in India. I had given a lecture the night before in the big Hindu temple in Bengali and some lady spotted me. And right in the street she paid her full obeisances. So naturally I had to stop. She was right in front of me. She grabbed my hand or something, I forget, or she just folded her hands in front of me and pleaded that she wanted a blessing. I wondered what type of blessing she wanted. So I said, “What type of blessing would you want?” And she said that her daughter had a bad stomach. She wanted a benediction that her daughter’s stomach will get cured. She knew I was a great sādhu, so she wanted the benediction.

Of course, we always hope that people will realize that when one's stomach is cured then the next thing will be the head or something or the other, this body is always going to have trouble. So blessings from the Vaiṣṇavas taken just to cure some temporary little aches in the body, in this way… it becomes a botheration. But if they take the top-most benediction of pure bhakti, then all the material problems are finished in one clean sweep. Like that… most people, they are just interested in the immediate problem at hand, and then they forget about everything, about Kṛṣṇa and sādhu, till the next difficulty comes. In India, just before the final exams, you will find that the Sarasvatī - the Goddess of learning, her pūjā expands about thousand times. Other times you won’t even see the pūjā of Sarasvatī but at that time Sarasvatī is the topmost object of worship for all the students. They worship to get the special blessings to pass their exams. Just like when people are in distress, they go to the church, to the mosque, and then they pray. Vaiṣṇava, He is offering, the pure devotee Vaiṣṇavas, they offer something much more enduring. Every year, every exam they are going again for pūjā, but the devotees, they are offering the eternal solution, the eternal thing.

So like that, people would bother. If anyone is known as a sādhu, then everyone bothers Him, “Please give blessings so my son is happy and my daughter is healthy,” and this and that. Those things you will automatically get if you have Kṛṣṇa’s shelter. Then where is the danger? “Kṛṣṇa rākhe māre ke”? If Kṛṣṇa’s protecting who will hit, who will strike? What danger can come? But they don’t see that, they don’t take that overall shelter. They just want that little bit gate-pass from this difficulty. They don’t realize that again difficulty will come. So devotees, they sometimes adopt different methods and means to just avoid these bothersome people. So somehow, in this way, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, although he was the purest devotee always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa; his eyes were practically filled with tears, that when He would speak it would just melt peoples’ hearts. So much that Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself was eager to see him. Crying, chanting His name. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu was crying! That was how dear Puṇḍarīka was to Him. Of course Caitanya Mahāprabhu had affection to Him because practically from previous līlā, He was His father or father-in-law, which is the same thing in India practically. In some ways father-in-law sometimes becomes more important in certain circumstances. In any case that affection is there, father-in-law is just like the father.

So anyway, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He was feeling some great desire that Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi should come. How He feels that, we can’t understand. We just have to more or less accept that Lord Caitanya, He feels and goes through various types of experiences which are beyond our ability to understand. So one day Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi came to Navadvīpa-dhāma. He had a little house there, because he was a great scholar also. And all these scholars had to have one house in Navadvīpa at that time. If they were anyone, they had to have something in Navadvīpa because that was the street of all the scholars, of all the preeminent people.

So Mukunda was also from Caṭṭagrāma. Mukunda, Vasudeva Dutta, these were the two people who that knew actually Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi's position, that He was a pure devotee. Others, they took it that, “Well, he was dressed very nicely like a prince. Simply some materialist, maybe.” They didn’t recognize he was a devotee. So no one really recognized that Puṇḍarīka had come. They remembered Caitanya Mahāprabhu was looking for a Puṇḍarīka, but they didn’t know that this was the Puṇḍarīka or this was Puṇḍarīka. And when they saw Him they didn’t even enquire as He didn’t appear to be a devotee… very much. But Mukunda one day, He told Gadādhara that, “I have heard that a very great devotee has come. I would like to take you to meet Him, for this one reason that, I want in return that you will always remember me that I am your servant. I am taking you to meet devotee because if someone meets a devotee, naturally he will be ever grateful for that, to meet a great devotee. What greater gift can be given? So, I just want to give you something that you may always remember me that I am your servant. If you can just give me that boon that’s all I want.”

Devotee doesn’t want any material in exchange. If someone, if another Vaiṣṇava will accept some service and with that service if He is spiritually pleased, that’s enough for the devotee. So naturally Gadādhara, how can He refuse the great opportunity that He is going to be taken to see a devotee. So really He was always eager to meet such a very pure devotee as He was described.

So they went to see Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi in the house. They went in. Mukunda bowed down, Gadādhara bowed down, He introduced “This is Gadādhara; He has been a lifelong brahmacārī.” There He saw Puṇḍarīka. He was expecting to see him barefoot, you know… very austere, may be just sitting there in a kaupina or something. But instead, He was sitting on big silken mattress, thick round cushion pillows around, all silk of high quality. First class taste. And He was wearing very expensive clothing. Someone was at that time fixing up His hair which was long. Everyone wore long hair in those days. But it had highly scented oil and it appeared He might be even taking pāna, betel, which was over in a side of the room. He had very expensive lamps, solid brass. On the side there was the cushion He was sitting, on the side there was also very nice brass bed with also very expensive cushions on it. So Gadādhara didn’t know what to say. He just took it all in. And He was thinking, actually started to think in his mind because Mukunda was speaking like that. But a little doubt came in His mind maybe He is not exactly pure devotee. Might just be materialistic devotee, prākṛta-bhakta. He was naturally being frightened as He was a naiṣṭikī-brahmacārī, completely pakka celibate brahmacārī, right from His childhood, very austere. If He sees this very opulent situation, it’s natural for Him to have a few doubts. In this way he was taking it all in, but in is mind a little bit of consideration of doubt started to peep in. “Who is Mukunda taking me to see anyway?”

Mukunda was one of the topmost singers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's party. He could pick up on Gadādhara's mood. So then He knew how to bring out the best in Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi. So then He said, “I would just like to quote something from the Bhāgavatam, so that we can discuss little about Kṛṣṇa.” So then He started to sing in Sanskrit and in verse, the particular ślokas from the Bhāgavatam and the explanation. How when Kṛṣṇa was simply a child on the lap of Yaśoda, Pūtanā came. She is relative of Keśī demon, came with the poison on her breast to kill Kṛṣṇa. Because she offered her breast milk to Kṛṣṇa; then Kṛṣṇa, inspite of her being so envious, wanting to kill Him, He looked at her like a mother. Maybe He took her life, but at the same time He gave her liberation. Kṛṣṇa was approached in such a hateful mood yet because… even if it was covered by so much enviousness, because little bit of… at least the form as a mother was there, so Kṛṣṇa accepted that good part and forgot about the bad part and elevated her to the position of His own mother in the spiritual sky.

So there’s some very nice ślokas describing this merciful nature of Kṛṣṇa. And when Mukunda started singing this points, bringing out the exceptional quality of Kṛṣṇa's mercy, that how if anyone comes forward with little bit of devotion, how He completely forgets all the bad points and gives the mercy to that devotee, just on taking consideration of the good part. So when Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi heard that, He couldn’t control himself. He couldn’t control. He just started to… first thing he just fell unconscious and He started beating his head that, “I am so sinful unto Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa has delivered all the sinful people you see, but due to my offences that I alone, I’m being left here. I am being kept away from there. Why wasn’t I present during all those pastimes?’ Of course he was, but He didn’t remember. ‘Why wasn’t I present in all those pastimes?’

In this way he was overcome. Immediately the different types of bhāvas started to manifest. he tore his clothing, the pillows flew here, the lamps fell over, and completely… he was beyond and was thrown into the ocean of separation. Just hearing about Kṛṣṇa, he couldn’t control it. It was just immediate. As soon as the glories of Kṛṣṇa came, he lost all consciousness of his surroundings. Gadādhara, he can’t even explain this. It was so obvious that he was completely unaware. As soon as he focused on Kṛṣṇa, he became completely unaware of whatever was going around to the extent that they had to practically put out the fire that was caused from the lamp falling over. Ten people tried to hold him down and they couldn’t hold him down. He wanted to just run to see Kṛṣṇa.

So finally, he somehow came to the external. Gadādhara said, “What an offence I did! Here is a mahā-bhāgavata! As soon as He heard about Kṛṣṇa, He was absorbed in ecstasy and I was thinking He is a materialistic person. So I committed a great offense.” So He told Mukunda that, “I don’t know, I have to admit that what a wonderful devotee this Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi is because by his cry everyone, immediately everyone… when they heard His voice, everyone’s heart was shattered, was put into ecstasy. It melted everyone. It is obvious that He is a very great devotee, but I have committed such an offence that I was thinking that, well, seeing the surroundings, that maybe He was little materialistic. How to get out of this offense?” So Mukunda said, “The Guru always forgives the disciple when the disciple makes an offense. That is the nature of Guru to always forgive the disciple. Spiritual master doesn’t take any offense by the disciple.” So Gadādhara said, “Maybe I should take… I think I should take initiation from Him? Like this I would be forgiven for my offence.” Mukunda was pleased and He was discussing with Puṇḍarīka. Then He mentioned that “He saw you and was feeling, a little bit from the external, that you were materialistic. Therefore for this offence He is thinking that the only way to get forgiven is that He should accept initiation from you. He is a first class Vaiṣṇava, this Gadādhara, you should take Him, and you should give Him your shelter.” Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi said that, “To get a disciple like that, one could do tapasyā for million years and not get a disciple like Gadādhara.” Gadādhara was actually Rādhārāṇī. He said “Well… later on we will see.”

Then Gadādhara went back and when Viśvambhara, Lord Caitanya heard that Puṇḍarīka had come, He became very ecstatic. He said, “Where is that Puṇḍarīka? Call Him immediately!” After a little while, Puṇḍarīka came. He wanted to pay His obeisances to Lord Caitanya, but He couldn’t pay his obeisance. As soon as He saw Lord Caitanya, He fainted. Then Lord Caitanya, He went and picked up Puṇḍarīka. Picking up Puṇḍarīka, Puṇḍarīka He again just called Lord Caitanya, “Kṛṣṇa is everyone’s father. He has lifted up everyone. Only I, due to my being so offensive, I am being left here and I am suffering without His association.” He started to just cry like that and then everyone was crying to hear His devotion. Then being held by Lord Caitanya, then again He fell unconscious. Lord Caitanya started to praise his quality, what a great devotee He was. That, “He has come especially to assist Me to deliver the bhakti to all of you. You take him with you and you have him chant saṅkīrtana and expand the preaching.” Then when Puṇḍarīka became conscious, then he asked Caitanya Mahāprabhu that, “This Gadādhara says He’s committed some offence in His mind. So He wants to take initiation from me because a spiritual master always forgives the disciple. Whatever You say. You are The Lord.” Lord Caitanya laughed and said, “Very good, it’s very good if Gadādhara takes initiation”. Then immediately on the spot they had initiation ceremony and Gadādhara was initiated by Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi.

Very hard to understand Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. Comparatively Rāmacandra's pastimes are easier, but even His pastimes are very difficult to understand. Compared to that the pastimes of other avatāras like Vāmana and Narasiṁha, they are relatively easier. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu's pastimes are the most difficult to understand. Because He is Kṛṣṇa, but He is in the mood of devotee. His other devotees coming from the previous līlās are different, but they are also coming as devotees, in different moods, in particular roles based on their positions. That situation is so complex; it is very difficult to understand. It’s like Rāmachandra, He is feeling separation from Sītā. How can the Supreme Personality feel separation from devotee? That is the esoteric quality that the Lord, He is transcendental to everything, yet He can have some special emotion with His devotee. Then Kṛṣṇa, His are even more intense. One can’t even begin to describe some of the different separation and things that Kṛṣṇa feels sometimes.

Kṛṣṇa wants to understand what is the mentality of the devotees because He is absorbed in His own relation with them as the āśraya or the shelter. And if He wants to understand their mood, then He takes on their mood completely, He takes the form of His devotee and that is called Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And if you don’t understand, there is no use of trying to understand with intellect. Go on chanting, serving and then one day it will just come up like a little light bulb and you will be able to understand. Because it is not something which materially makes any sense. It doesn’t make any sense. It does not have anything to do with any material logic or anything else. But on another higher transcendental level, there is a type of logic to it. It does make sense. But if someone has the ability to understand that, that is his fortune. And if you don’t have the ability to understand it, and there is someone going on explaining it day after day, doesn’t mean it’s going to become any clearer. You understand? (laughter) What can I say? For me it is very clear, but I can understand that for somebody it may not be very clear. Beyond that can I explain anymore?

Jayapatākā Swami: He is saying that when you suffer Kṛṣṇa is suffering? Is it that? When we suffer, He is not suffering, because He is Ātmārāmā, He is always transcendentally situated. Does that mean He is not the Paramātmā because He is not suffering when we suffer? He knows that we are suffering, but He is not suffering. He is not experiencing. We hit our toe and we think I’m the body, and we are attached and we yell “ouch.” Does that mean that at the same time He is suffering? It is said that they are two birds on a tree. One is trying to enjoy and suffering the fruits, and the other one is aloof. So where is the relation? So why would Kṛṣṇa want to experience being a conditioned soul and suffering. Who would want to be that foolish to do that? So He doesn’t become a conditioned soul.

Kṛṣṇa, in the spiritual world, He has a relationship with His intimate devotees. And it is described by the six gosvāmīs, that in these relationships, Kṛṣṇa has a particular mood which is His own mood. And the devotees, they have another mood. Kṛṣṇa is accepting their service and they are giving their service. So we have to understand that there is a particular mood. Just like husband and wife, they have different moods, it’s not just the same. What husband knows what the wife is thinking? There is always a certain degree of mystery between them as to what is the exact mental and psychological and so on…. of the other person. So you can take it that this material world is the perverted reflection of the spiritual sky. In the spiritual sky, Kṛṣṇa creates energy. His supreme most energy is so complex because it is non-different from Him. They are completely one and then they become two. So just as Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead, She is the Supreme Absolute Energy. So they go on exchanging their different mellows and their different pastimes which is known as prema or pure love. So sometimes, Kṛṣṇa becomes so enthralled with His pastimes, that He is only seeing it from one side. He’d like to experience it from the other side. This is said to be the most secret, confidential understanding. So it's not expected that people very much understand it. If you cannot understand the description, then I will recommend you read the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, where it describes these things in detail. I don’t know if that made it any easier for you. One should be careful while asking a question, how you frame the question, it doesn’t appear like a challenging question!

Devotee: Particularly we spoke last night about how Caitanya Mahāprabhu revealed who He actually was to Advaita Gosāñī. I was wondering where this is actually coming from, the Caitanya-caritāmṛta or some other source.

Jayapatākā Swami: It is briefly mentioned in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and the full description is in the Caitanya-bhāgavata.

Devotee: Published?

Jayapatākā Swami: Prabhupāda asked it to be translated but the people that were translating it later said that they weren’t qualified enough. So He said it is one of the books that should be translated. It was translated by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura... purports written. I am sure that within next five or ten years, it will be translated.

Between the Caitanya-bhāgavata and Caitanya-caritāmṛta? Well, the Caitanya-bhāgavata covers Lord Caitanya’s early time pastimes upto Jagannātha Purī in great detail. That’s why the Caitanya-caritāmṛta skims over the early life and then goes from the point when He took sannyāsa, after that, in great detail. The difference is that the Caitanya-caritāmṛta expositions on the philosophy and teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, especially on those dealing with the very esoteric, difficult subject matters, are so precise and perfect, that it is the most transparent exposition of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's pastimes and teachings, and historically is perfect.

Caitanya-bhāgavata, according to some scholars, the explanations skim over a very esoteric subject matter in just a short time, where actually it may go over the reader's head. So therefore, there are very extensive purports given by Bhaktisiddhānta. You will notice that in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, very few purports are necessary. Because He took the time for giving His own purports in the actual text by giving lot of Sanskrit, just so that the readers would see the definite development of all the topics. Otherwise from the text of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, He declares Vṛndāvana Dasa Ṭhākura as the Vyāsadeva of Caitanya-līlā. The Caitanya-bhāgavata, next to the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is the most authorized book on Lord Caitanya. It deals quite a bit with Nityānanda's pastimes and others like Chand Kazi's. All those pastimes are all mentioned in the Caitanya-bhāgavata.

All those pastimes are all mentioned in the Caitanya-bhāgavata.

Devotee: How big is it? 

Jayapatākā Swami: In Bengali... I don’t know in English how it will turn out to be. In Bengali, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, is this thick, it has 17 volumes. So that Caitanya-bhāgavata is going to have this thickness.

(indistinct)

Lord Caitanya was under 20. Very soon after Caitanya started to preach bhakti, then Lord Nityānanda came and joined Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: Brother means they are called as brothers, just like Lord Caitanya called Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi as father. Because in Kṛṣṇa līlā he was father. So Balarāma, He called Him brother. He was born in Ekacakra village, by Hadai Oja and Padmāvatī was His mother. Lord Caitanya was born in Māyāpur, 250 kms difference. Lord Nityānanda appeared before Lord Caitanya. Because He is Balarāma, therefore they are brothers.