19840518 Arrival Address

The following is an arrival address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmī Mahārāja on May 18th, 1984 in New Orleans Louisiana.

Jayapatākā Swāmī: Caitanya Mahāprabhu ordered His devotees to go from house to house to preach to the people.

śuno śuno nityānanda, śuno haridāsa,
sarvatra āmāra ājñā koroha prakāśa,
prati ghare ghare giyā koro ei bhikṣā,
bolo kṛṣṇa, bhaja kṛṣṇa, koro kṛṣṇa śikṣā

Listen Nityānanda! Listen Haridāsa! Go broadcast My order, My command everywhere to all of the people. Go to house to house and beg the people this humble prayer – Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa! Worship Kṛṣṇa, and study the books, the teachings of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

So Lord Nityānanda, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, other devotees they took up this order and they went door to door preaching the message of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Prabhupāda has so kindly given us the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. There, we know that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu prayed that, I, He is the tree of devotion with the flowers and fruits of ecstatic love for God, pure love for God, for Kṛṣṇa. And at the same time, He is the gardener. So He is saying “How many fruits can I eat and how many can I distribute alone? Everyone come and participate! Come and take this fruit and distribute it!”

Śrīla Prabhupāda pointed out that this is very important for many reasons, you see. One reason is that if Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that “I can’t do this alone.” What to speak of anyone else? That Kṛṣṇa, consciousness movement isn’t done by any one person’s effort. It’s done by group effort, by so many people participating. Otherwise why Caitanya Mahāprabhu is inviting everyone to come, participate, take this nectar, fruit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and distribute it to everyone? So, that is His causeless mercy! So like that we know that Nitāi and Haridāsa, Lord Balarāma has come down to assist Kṛṣṇa, who is playing, who has come as avatāra of the devotee. And He is going and begging the people from house to house, what a grand opportunity those gṛhasthas had in Navadvīpa to have Lord Nityānanda and Haridāsa Ṭhākura, visit their very house and preach to them.

Śrīla Prabhupāda stressed how the previous ācāryas they are handing down kṛṣṇa-kathā, the words spoken by Kṛṣṇa, in the form of Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. These things Caitanya Mahāprabhu especially He wanted to be distributed, this knowledge to everyone. kṛṣṇa-kathā, that’s kṛṣṇa-śikṣā, spoken by Kṛṣṇa... spoken about Kṛṣṇa. These are very transcendental, this is the top most teachings that the Vedas have. The Vedas include many Purāṇas or histories which are centered around the pastimes of the Lord. If they didn’t have the pastimes of the Lord, they wouldn’t have any spiritual value at all.

But there are so many other moral instructions, other details are given but the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is therefore called the Nirmala or Amala-purāṇa. Mala means dirty, contaminated. Actually even in Spanish, 'mala'. Same. Sanskrit, Spanish: Proves that Sanskrit is the mother language. So amala means no contamination with any karma, jñāna, bhukti, mukti, siddhi-kāmī, no type of materialistic contamination. Pure devotion for Kṛṣṇa, pure transcendental science – Bhāgavata-dharma. This is what Nitāi, Haridāsa, and so many other devotees were distributing.

So of course sometimes I heard devotees make it like a excuse to Śrīla Prabhupāda that – “Well, I am so fallen! I am so fallen, I am so sinful, therefore I am… I can’t be a devotee!” But actually, like Śrīla Prabhupāda said the essence of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement is simply giving out mercy, giving out causeless mercy. Where is the question of qualification? Lord Nityānanda, and Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsa, Haridāsa, they were giving out their mercy freely to anyone. In fact during the mahā-prakāśa, when Lord Caitanya for twenty one hours showed His form, He was in the mood of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He showed His form of Kṛṣṇa, to Advaita, showed His form as Rāmacandra to Murāri Gupta, different manifestations He assumed, and at that time He was asking Advaita to take some, when He was in a mood like that He was telling Advaita that "You should take some boon."

It’s a very long pastime but just that one point. What did Advaita say after tremendous insistence finally said, “Alright, if You must have a boon from me then this is my request, this is my prayer: You give Your mercy to those who are the most unqualified, unfortunate, those who don’t have any hope under ordinary circumstances to become Kṛṣṇa, conscious, to become recipients of Your mercy. Let them get the mercy first. Young or old, you see, man woman, whoever it may be.” Then He said, “But those who are very proud, who are puffed up, who criticize Your devotees, who offend Your devotees, who don’t have respect for Your devotees and obstruct this saṅkīrtana movement, let them die an ordinary death.” Those who are very proud, you see, specifically they are spiteful against the devotees knowing, you see, that they are devotees of Kṛṣṇa, and who is Kṛṣṇa, being proud of their money or their beauty or their good family or their education. And He even pointed out the high brahminical families.

Of course, great high brahminical families like Sanātana Gosvāmī, Rūpa Gosvāmī actually very high brahminical families, others Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, they all surrendered to Lord Caitanya but they were very humble. It wasn’t that a brāhmaṇa couldn’t get delivered but that Advaita Gosāñī being the head of the brāhmaṇas He wanted that everyone should get the mercy specifically those who are unfortunate. If the brāhmaṇa is intelligent he will be humble he can also get the mercy because those who will be very humble, very free from type of false ego, puffed upness they can get Lord Caitanya’s mercy first.

Nitāi-Gaura, Nitāi, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, you know how they delivered Jagāi-Mādhāi, Lord Nityānanda when He was struck by Mādhāi, Lord Caitanya came ready to kill him, that Mādhāi. Jagāi Mādhāi the two brothers, immediately Sudarśana-cakra coming down from the spiritual sky ready to in a second destroy them for their offenses, you see. But Lord Nityānanda is praying that, “No! There are so many people in the Kali-yuga like this.”

So Lord Caitanya made a stipulation that, “If they promise that they will not perform these bad activities again, they will lead a pure life, then I will give them relief!” Jagāi-Mādhāi they surrendered, they agreed, they went to the Ganges, they bathed, they took initiation and they became completely purified by the mercy of Lord Nityānanda, by the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, chanting in the Nadia district, Navadvīpa, paying their obeisances to all the Vaiṣṇavas of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

In fact other demigods like Lord Śiva, Indra, Kārtikeya, Varuṇa, they were all hiding. They would come down to Navadvīpa to observe Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes. So when they saw deliverance of Jagāi and Mādhāi, you see, they were overwhelmed. Some of them were saying that “We were worried to themselves – I was thinking that I would not get delivered because I am so attached but seeing this mercy now, I feel that I… hope for me also.” And they were rejoicing, and just completely that how these Daityas, these demons, you see. Jagāi-Mādhāi were practically on the level of here you would say like Al Capone, Babyface Nelson, something like that to be delivered. They organized crime, even the government, they wouldn’t mess with them, they had so many rogues under them and they were doing so many activities. They were so powerful that people would complain to the Kazi, they wouldn’t do anything because they were afraid of their own life. So practically you can say just like the mafia they had established protection system. Everyone had to run in fear from them, you see, and if they were delivered! Who had even struck Lord Nityānanda in the head!

Yamarāja, he heard about it from someone there. And he went over to Citragupta. You know Citragupta is the accountant of the demigods. He accounts, not that he counted money, but he is Yamarāja’s personal accountant for all the karma that everyone does. So when he went to Citragupta on his ratha, chariot, then he asked, what was the amount of sinful activities that Jagāi-Mādhāi had amassed. In other words if he had come for the judgment, he wanted just what was the account that was cleaned off by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy?

So Citragupta replied that if we had, of course you can understand the type of accounting system he had. Modern day computers nothing to say, he is keeping track of every individual’s karma. He has many assistants of course. But they use different subtle methods for maintaining these records. But Candra… Citragupta was said to be the origin of the kāyasthas. kāyasthas are especially in the ancient Indian time kāyasthas would be the ones who would manage the financial affairs and accounting and different type of administration for the king. They were very qualified in maintaining those types of records. Prabhupāda made a comment, in the what’s it the Caitanya-caritāmṛta that kāyasthas are very hard hearted. Like if someone was due to pay the money, they were very strict.

So Citragupta he replied that “If I were to put down all the account onto papers to present to you, it would take 100,000 kāyasthas. And it would take them so many years to read off, I mean to do this work. And even if those 100,000 were to read to you all their activity, then even then it would take, I forget how many, thousand years or something, tremendous amount of time, to actually give the full report of what they did.” They did so many things, you see, especially having being born in a high family as brāhmaṇas and then even their activities were more critically looked upon on under the laws of karma.

So one of the Yamadūtas said that, “Well we whatever records were there, that we have already thrown in the water, sacred water. Because what’s the use of keeping it! In one moment Caitnaya Mahāprabhu forgave all of their offenses. So what’s the use of keeping any more their records?” And Yamarāja he was meditating on how merciful Lord Kṛṣṇa, was, how merciful Lord Caitanya was and thinking of His merciful qualities in delivering such a… sinful people who would have had to burn, you see, in inferno for so long, he fell unconscious in that deep samādhi, just meditating on this.

So Citragupta and others they thought that Yamarāja maybe just astonished or something and fell over. They were all fanning him trying to, you know, but he wouldn’t because he was in a samādhi. He wouldn’t come back to consciousness. Meanwhile Lord Śiva, Nārada Muni and other devotees that had been there watching the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, Nityānanda, they came over to Yamarāja’s place and saw him unconscious and heard what happened from Citragupta. So then Lord Śiva could understand because he being a pure devotee of the Lord that actually Yamarāja was absorbed in samādhi. Having heard of the mercy of the Lord he was overwhelmed and being completely absorbed in that devotion. So he started chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, and all the demigods they were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.

And then Yamarāja came to consciousness, he just started glorifying Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Everyone started glorifying, Lord Indra, Varuṇa, everyone started glorifying – how merciful Lord Caitanya is! They all had a huge kīrtana, you see, four Kumāras, Śukadeva, all the you know great personalities from the heavenly kingdom, they all had a huge kīrtana glorifying Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda’s mercy.

Jagāi-Mādhāi they living in Navadvīpa , they were very sincere. Every day they would chant 200,000 times harināma, two lakhs. Actually it’s by Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy that he has told his disciples and that’s been handed down to chant 16000 names a day which is only 25, even then devotees - I have trouble finishing my rounds. Previously one lakhs, two lakhs, 200,000, 100,000, that was the normal, minimum. 200000 was more than minimum, that was intermediate, pretty advanced stage. But by Prabhupādas mercy and the mercy of previous ācāryas so we have been given so much service for preaching and serving, you see, and only 25,000 names.

Actually Haridāsa Ṭhākura, used to take an oath of chanting ten million names of Kṛṣṇa, in one month. And I calculated, actually by chanting sixteen rounds a day, we are chanting ten million names in one year. We finish one crore in a year. He would do in one month. So we actually do it even then. Of course we are not even a flea compared to a speck of dust of these great devotees, devotees of the devotees lotus feet. But even then devotees sometimes make excuse, “I have a very difficult time hearing and chanting or finishing my rounds.” So it’s needed to be purified.

So Jagāi Mādhāi they took up the process very sincerely. In fact, Mādhāi, he was very upset. Although Lord Caitanya, Nityānanda, completely forgave them for all their offenses, Mādhāi, for he was the one that hit Nityānanda Prabhu, he couldn’t forget that actually that he had Nityānanda and caused Him to bleed. It was overwhelming him that he had committed such an offense and yet Lord Nityānanda was forgiving him. He kept thinking always that he was very fallen and how he could actually correct his mistake.

So one time Lord Nityānanda He used to, He didn’t have any, what do you say, abhimāna, He would go just like in the mood of a child, running, sometimes He would just run across the field, and jump in the Ganges, swim across the Ganges in the middle of the flood. He would go the other side. There would be some kids playing in the Ganges, He would play with them for a few minutes. He would go to some devotees’ house, He would go start preaching, He would go different sometimes you know, sometimes very poor people, very low socially situated people, go right in their house. He wouldn’t have any type of high or low… He would just go everywhere wherever He felt like it, just spontaneous, simple, completely like a child, very simple compassionate, just go wherever He saw something which He liked, He’d go there. No type of pompousness or any kind of pretention at all. He was very simple and merciful.

So like that he was going around Nadia preaching door to door without considering whose house was very qualified, he was just going everywhere. So one time Mādhāi found Lord Nityānanda preaching like that and caught Him alone. Actually he came by Mādhāi’s house. So he let Lord Nityānanda to come in and fell down at Lord Nityānanda’s lotus feet, grabbed His lotus feet and He started to pray that, “How fallen I am. Actually how exalted You, actually You are the source of the Ananta-śeṣaś holding up the whole universe and You are that personality of Godhead who is the best servant, servitor of Lord Kṛṣṇa,.”

Because Balarāma in kṛṣṇa-līlā, there is no one who performed more types of services for Lord Kṛṣṇa, although He was also a personality of Godhead but He was always protecting and serving Kṛṣṇa, in different ways, and he started to glorify Lord Nityānanda. That actually that Lord who Citraketu worshipped, see, that Lord who is the origin of Lord Śiva, the Lord who when the Yamunā, He wanted the Yamunā river to come, hesitated, He immediately took His plow and pulled the Yamunā river over. That Lord who when the Dvivida, Dvivida gorilla came and offended the gopīs and He killed him, that Lord who delivered him by taking his life. That Lord who during the chess game with Rukmiṇī, when He beat Rukmiṇī many times but Rukmiṇī kept saying He didn’t win, even the voice from the heavens came and said, “No, Balarāma won!” Rukmiṇī then criticized, “Oh!” He started laughing, He is just a cowherder. He is just a foolish cowherder. What does He know about these things. And then Balarāma just, *pow* (punched). Finished. (laughs)

Then he was saying that Balarāma, that Lord who when the Kurus, they were all defeated, they were all finished because of their offenses against the Lord, because you know Sāmba at the svayaṁvara of Lakṣmaṇā, the daughter of Duryodhana. Then Sāmba wanted to, the son of Kṛṣṇa, wanted to marry her. So he forcibly kidnapped her from the svayaṁvara. So the Kurus they didn’t know what to do. So instead of doing something very chivalrous they took all the mahārathīs, they were the emperors of the world, they took all the mahārathīs, like half a dozen or dozen that were handy there and they go surround one Sāmba all alone. Rather than you know one on one fight even then they had trouble getting. So then Yadus were ready to go on, declare war. Nārada went and reported to the Yadu-vaṁśa that they have done this, they have kidnaped Sāmba, held him as a prisoner. So they were ready to go and immediately attack the Kurus, they are kṣatriyas. (laughs) So then Balarāma said all right, no need for unnecessary war, I will go with the brāhmaṇas and with other people and go there. I am sure I can convince them, I am close with Duryodhana and others, not to do this. He goes, and of course Balarāma went with the senior members of the Yadu dynasty and the brāhmaṇas and the other very respectable people. They went out and met Balarāma outside the town and He gave very logically nicely His proposition, saying ultimately give back Sāmba with the girl.

Instead what do they do, they criticized Balarāma, they laughed, calling Him so many ill names, dogs or servant of the dogs, something like that they called Him, suddenly thinks He has become the master. Thinking that “Well we are the emperor, and the Yadu dynasty is one of our subordinate kingdoms and the empire.” like that. So of course, then Balarāma became angry at their demeanor and then He started to pull the whole Hastināpura into the Yamunā. Then they came out and offered Him, then the they realized, oh they remembered Balarāma! Offered Him worship, brought out Sāmba, the girl (laughs) and then everything was you know settled for the time being but because of these offenses, Duryodhana and everyone else they had, they were all defeated in Kurukṣetra.

Like this Mādhāi was glorifying Lord Balarāma, Nityānanda, “That same Lord, I have struck Him, I am such a demon, I am such an asura, such a niṣṭhura, fallen… just a heinous person, I have struck Him and have caused blood to come out and yet what He is giving me. He is giving me His causeless mercy.” He fell down, and he just grabbed, he just became overwhelmed you see, overwhelmed fell down and grabbed Nityānanda’s feet and prayed, “Please forgive me for my offenses! please forgive me for my offenses! You are my life, You are my soul! You are my everything. I don’t know anything else because You are so dear to Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore I am simply taking shelter of Your lotus feet.”

But then Lord Nityānanda instructed of course that “If someone just wants to take shelter of My lotus feet without Lord Caitanya, this gives Me great pain.” There are some sects, sub sects or whatever off shoots, apa-sampradāya, bogus kind of thing, they are just worshiping Nitāi without Lord Caitanya. Actually Lord Nityānanda is never without Lord Caitanya, neither is Lord Caitanya without Nityānanda, they are connected eternally. Actually, Nityānanda is giving that pure devotional service very freely. One can’t disconnect. He is giving the pure devotional service to Mahāprabhu. By His mercy one gets the mercy of Lord Caitanya, like that. So then Nityānanda said “Just like a child if the child hits the father the father doesn’t mind. Whatever you do, you are just my child! I don’t take any offense.” And then He picked up Mādhāi and He embraced him. When He embraced Mādhāi, he fell unconscious in the ecstasy. And when he came conscious again, he fell down at the feet of Lord Nityānanda and said, “There is one more prayer, there is one more thing. You are so kind, You have forgiven me for my offenses. Yet you are expanded in the hearts of all living entities and I have committed unlimited crimes and different types of terrible violence, envious acts against so many living entities who are actually, You are situated in their hearts. Therefore this is also an offense to them and indirectly to You. How to get forgiven for these offenses?”

So then Lord Nityānanda told him that “You make one ghāṭa, you make one bathing ghāṭa. You know bathing ghāṭa, what’s the English translation for bathing ghāṭa? Bathing stairway. And by doing that so many people will come bathe in the Ganges. By bathing in the Ganges that will purify them, the Ganges purifies one, all will glorify you, ‘Thank you for giving us this nice bathing place.’ So you make one beautiful bathing ghāṭa so people can come in this way.” And so Mādhāi would go and would beg all the different people in Nadia – “Please forgive me for my offenses.” He was so humble.

And sometimes in the kīrtana of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the devotees, he would start crying, you see, how fallen he was, how merciful Lord Nityānanda and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu were, when he would cry everybody would melted by his, by his devotion. So he took with his own hands he took the shovel and he personally carved out from the side of the Ganges that the stairway and personally built with his own hands the bathing place for the public. That is very famous known as the Mādhāi-ghāṭa. Mādhāi-ghāṭa. And people would go there, all glorifying Mādhāi-ghāṭa. People gave it its name, it wasnt that he gave it, just like big people in India put sign Birla-ghāṭa, whatever. He was not, not putting it that you put my name on it. He was doing it as an offering, but the people they said “No this is Mādhāi-ghāṭa.” And they were using it and he would also go every day in the Ganges, just see the Ganges and chant, do different services for Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

So he built this bathing ghāṭa for all of the devotees. The devotees used to go there and take their bath in the Ganges, that’s very near Śrīnathapur. Śrīnathapur is in Mayapur, not very far from our temple. Just recently four Nāmahaṭṭa or three Nāmahaṭṭa groups from Śrīnathapur have signed up as under ISKCON and they all came and they chanted 24-hour kīrtana for Janmāṣṭamī. We had about, 20 different villages came, half hour, forty-five minutes, each they all they chanted through the night for Lord Kṛṣṇa, Janmāṣṭamī, very nice to have all the people participating like that.

So then Jagāi… or Mādhāi he made this ghāṭa, Mādhāi-ghāṭa. This way he got the mercy of Lord Nityānanda. If someone hears… actually the, of course like Balarāma when He was as Balarāma He was very powerful. I mean like Romaharṣaṇa was sitting on the Vyāsāsana. He had been given the blessings by the four Kumāras, he had the life of Brahmā. Everybody bowed down when Balarāma came into the assembly but he didn’t bow down. He was on the Vyāsāsana, for whatever reason he didn’t bow down. Balarāma became angry, touched him with a grass, took his life, even though he had the blessings, life as long as Brahmā.

Yet as Lord Nityānanda, the mood He is taking is so merciful. That was also His mercy but now instead of killing and giving him liberation of course by personally taking the life, he’ll get liberated. Instead He is giving them pure love for Kṛṣṇa, which is far greater than liberation. So when He descended as Lord Nityānanda, Balarāma has become so much more merciful. Even Lord Nityānanda, “If someone understands actually the nature of My personality then they will develop faith and they will also achieve the perfection of Lord Caitanya’s mercy.” If we actually understand that what is the mercy of Lord Caitanya, what is the mercy of Lord Nityānanda, how we could think for a second or even a moment of anything except for serving Their lotus feet, serving the devotees who have taken shelter of Their lotus feet. How could we think even for a fraction of a second?

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-dayā karaha vicāra
vicāra karite citte pābe camatkāra
(Cc. Ādi 8.15)

Meditate, consider what is the transcendental mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And by considering His transcendental mercy you will become wonder struck, astonished, there is no parallel. If you think of a parallel in human relations, you’ll find no parallel. Tit for a tat. This is very common. Then you get someone, “Alright, forgive and forget.” But never the person who comes… the aggressor and he turns out to get complete the highest benedictions. Where is the parallel? Even the demigods are crying and overwhelmed. Indra he was given the bene… he had a hundred thousand eyes. But his eyes were never properly used till they could see that pastime. That’s what he felt. “Now that my eyes are seeing this pastime of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, now their perfection has come.”

(jaya) śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare,
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

Transcriber: Suvilāsī Mādhavī Devī Dāsī Date: 25 March 2015
Revised by Jagannātha Dāsa Brahmacārī
Proofread by:Srivani Mtji
12/Oct/2020