19860622 Caitanya-caritāmṛta Antya-līlā 6.107

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on June 22nd, 1986 in New Panihati Dham in Atlanta, Georgia. The class begins with a reading from the Caitanya Caritamrita Antya Lila Chapter 6, verse 107.

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami: This morning we are reading the history which let up to this festival which we observe today. The temple in Atlanta is known as New Panihati temple in commemoration of the special spiritual place known as Panihati Dham in India. The... in the morning gave the history, how one of the six goswamis who are responsible for revealing Vrindavan to the world. Five Hundred years ago Vrindavan was a lost village, people did not know that where was the exact place of Krishna's childhood pastimes. Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Vrindavan and He showed His senior disciples where Govardhan was, where Radha Kunda, Shyama Kunda was, where the various places of Krishna's pastimes and childhood were. And he assigned the responsibility for educating the world and to preserve those holy places to different of His disciples and they are known as the six goswamis or the six great spiritual masters. So, one of the spiritual masters is known as Das Raghunatha. He was famous for being very humble, for being very learned. But in his childhood, in his youth rather, he was a son of a rich Lord - a landlord. At that time five hundred years ago, the.. its the landlord in his commission alone for what he would collect in taxes to give to the emperor, he was... revealed he made 800,000 gold coins a year. Nowadays the gold coin is worth $325, so 800,000 gold coins is about $250 million. So, in today's value, at that time the gold coin was worth more. So he was a very rich person.

But once he..after he finished his other responsibilities he felt a deep inclination towards helping Caitanya Mahaprabhu directly in his movement. So, he was a very successful landlord, but eventually, he wanted to leave that and dedicate his life to Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

So, he approached Lord Nityananda in order to do that. Before he could say anything Nityananda said I want to punish you because you have been avoiding me. So the punishment is you have to feed all the people a feast of chipped rice, of cida and yoghurt, and condensed milk........ feed all my friends. No sooner did he started the feast by buying locally some yoghurt and some flattened rice, some fruits - mangoes, bananas and other things, then the amount of friends of Lord Nityananda started to increase. Because people heard it was a Mahotsav. So in India when people hear there is going to be a festival then they start to come. First all the brahmanas, and satjanas came, then after that more and more people came. Finally the people, businessmen, came from other villages to sell their yoghurt. Then after they sold they stayed and they also took part in the feast. In this way before a few hours were up, a few hundred thousand people had gathered. People were standing on the side of the Ganges, because this whole feast happened on the side of the Ganges river. Then when there was no more room on the side of the Ganges, the land was filled up, the river bank was filled up, few people were standing in the water knee-deep, then few ankle-deep meaning waist deep and somehow they are taking the picnic which was offered, the prasad which was offered by Das Raghunath. So, today we had that celebration here. I think everyone has tasted the yoghurt and condensed milk chipped rice prasad. If there is anyone who hasn't even some, guests or visitors standing in the park, they are all welcome to come on the verandah here and share with us the picnic feast. But after the picnic was over then Lord Nityananda, He had said I'll go back to the house of....there was one brahmin who had invited Lord Nityananda, I cooked you a whole lunch, You didn't... You are taking Your picnic here, So what's going to happen to all the food? all the prasadam? It has already been offered. Nityananda said well, you can give that to someone, when I come back in the night I'll take. Today I'm enjoying like a cowherd boy with Krishna and all the cowherd boys and here we are just having a picnic under the trees, under the side of the Ganges, so I don't want lunch today, I'll come back and take lunch in the night. So now the picnic is over and Lord Nityananda went back after doing Sankirtan and that time, He was offered to take supper which after this we will also be taking. If Lord Nityananda wants. So, this is from the Caitanya Caritamrita. The last half of this history and its written in Bengali, so I will read and then the English translation by Srila Prabhupada. Generally, all our scriptures are written in Sanskrit, like Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and they were written 5000 years ago by Vyasa Dev. In those sacred literatures it is predicted that in the Kali-yuga there is no avatar who comes as the Supreme person declaring Himself to be the Supreme person. But there are some avatars who come who are incarnations of Godhead who come, either as an empowered incarnation or directly but in disguise. Just like Lord Buddha was predicted in the Vedas, that the Lord would come, but He would come to preach against the principles of the vedas in order to lead the people who are misusing vedic knowledge to a path of nonviolence, to a path of religiousness which was actually the purpose of the vedas. In the vedas it is also said that Lord Shiva would come as a Brahmana to lead people back from Buddhism. So we find that Shankaracharya came and He led the people back from Buddhism to the vedic culture. So now although under Ashok, the great King of... 2500 years ago in India practically the entire South Asian continent became Buddhist. Subsequently, by the preaching of Shankaracharya, the vedic tradition was again re-established. And now Buddhism is simply existing in parts of southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, in any great quantity. So, but Shankaracharya, when He was told by Vishnu that you should...... Shiva was told that you should go in the garb of a Brahmin and you should teach the Buddhist philosophy covered, the impersonal philosophy in this way to lead the people back, because Buddhism says that there is no God, there is simply void, there is no Supreme truth. so, because people in those days weren't believing in a Supreme truth it was easy enough for them to accept what Lord Buddha said. But Shankaracharya, He said no, there is this Supreme Truth, but the Supreme Truth is formless, it is Niraakaar. And so he proved to them that there was an atma, there was a soul, there was a Paramatma or Super soul, but this Supreme soul is also impersonal. So that was easy for the Buddhist to accept that the Supreme Truth had no form. Either there is no Truth or the Truth has no form is very similar, so that was easier for them to accept. But the original vedic teaching is "om krishno vai sac-cid-ananda-ghanaha krishna adi-purushaha krishnaha purushottamaha" in the Rig Veda. That Krishna is the Sac-cid-ananda, He is eternal, bliss, full knowledge. That there is a Supreme person or Supreme Truth with a personal form also. But this was not touched upon by Shankaracharya to the very end. These past times when he finally told his followers "Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam Mudamathe" That you all are wasting your time in arguing, you have become practically like donkeys, you should take up the worship of Govinda. But by that time it was too late. So, after Shankaracharya onset was predicted, that there will be an incarnation of Godhead who would come, along with Him, He would come with His expansion or 'sa - anga'. I quoted this verse before kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ (SB 11.5.32). In the Kali yuga Krishna will appear in a non-blackish or golden color as a devotee of Himself and the Lord will be accompanied by His own associates, by His energies and by His personal paraphernalia and His activity would be to expand the preaching of the Sankirtan movement of chanting the congregational,........congregationally the holy names of the Lord. So, that was about 500 years ago that Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared. So, it was Caitanya Mahaprabhu who revealed Vrindavana, who toured all over India, first to Puri then to Kanyakumari and Srirangam to all the various holy places in South India. Then Maharashtra at Pandharpur, the Vittala deity, there, Thukaram felt the inspiration of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and he also began a Bhakti movement. Lord Caitanya went up to Dwaraka, then He went back to Puri and from there He went to Vrindavan. Vallabhacharya who is famous in Gujarat for the Pushti marg on several occasions had Caitanya Mahaprabhu come to his house and take meals. Vallabhacharya was a grihastha brahmana, Lord Caitanya was a sannyasi in the latter part of His life. So that time as a grihasthi acharya brahmin he requested Caitanya Mahaprabhu to take prasad at his house. In this way, there was a connection also with the Jaya Sri Krishna Movement of Vallabhacharya and Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

So we are reading today about Lord Caitanya's personal associate Nityananda Prabhu who was like His lieutenant. You saw today earlier the drama by the Gurukul girls from Lake Huntington, a very nice presentation, very attractive, very devotional, inspiring. There Lord Nityananda was sent out by Lord Caitanya to preach door to door. When Lord Caitanya took sannyas and went traveling all over India He kept Lord Nityananda in Bengal. So this Das Raghunath is one of the goswamis who came from Bengal. Some came from South India, some came from West India. Das Raghunath came from East India and he is going to make his approach to Nityananda, trying to see how he can get closer to Lord Caitanya's movement.

om ajnana-timirandhasya

jnananjana-salakaya

caksur unmilitam yena

tasmai sri-gurave namah

 

nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale srimate bhaktivedanta swamin iti namine

 

namaste saraswati deve gaura-vani-pracharine nirvishesha-shunyavadi pashchatya-desha-tarine

 

sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu-nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda

 

hare krsna hare krsna, krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama, rama rama hare hare.

 

mukam karoti vachalam

pangum langhayate girim

yat-kripa tam aham vande

sri-gurum dina-taranam

 

Antya Lila Chapter 6 of the Caitanya Caritamrita (Text 107)

bhojane vasilā prabhu nija-gaṇa lañā mahāprabhura āsana ḍāhine pātiyā

Translation: Lord Nityānanda Prabhu sat down for supper with His personal associates and made a sitting place on His right side for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

At that time physically Lord Caitanya was traveling around India somewhere or maybe in Jagganath Puri some many hundreds of miles away.

CC Antya 6.108

mahāprabhu āsi’ sei āsane vasila dekhi’ rāghavera mane ānanda bāḍila

Translation: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came there and sat down at His place. Seeing this, Rāghava Paṇḍita felt increasing happiness.

CC Antya 6.109

dui-bhāi-āge prasāda āniyā dharilā sakala vaiṣṇave piche pariveśana kailā

Translation: Rāghava Paṇḍita brought the prasādam before the two brothers and thereafter distributed prasādam to all the other Vaiṣṇavas.

CC Antya 6.110 There were varieties of cakes, sweet rice and fine cooked rice that surpassed the taste of nectar. There were also varieties of vegetables.

nānā-prakāra piṭhā, pāyasa, divya śālyanna amṛta nindaye aiche vividha vyañjana

CC Antya 6.111

rāghava-ṭhākurera prasāda amṛtera sāra mahāprabhu yāhā khāite āise bāra bāra

Translation: The food prepared and offered to the Deity by Rāghava Paṇḍita was like the essence of nectar. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came there again and again to eat such prasādam.

CC Antya 6.112 When Rāghava Paṇḍita offered the food to the Deity after cooking, he would make a separate offering for Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Antya 6.113 Every day, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would eat at the house of Rāghava Paṇḍita. Sometimes He would give Rāghava Paṇḍita the opportunity to see Him.

CC Antya 6.114 Rāghava Paṇḍita would bring and distribute ..... This is very important that a grihastha,.....Raghava Pandit was a householder. If they have Krishna in their home, and they prepare their food as an offering to Krishna in devotion then they offer that to Krishna following the instructions of the Guru, using the offering mantras, with devotion - Krishna personally is present and He comes and He takes that offering from the householder. And Raghava Pandit was such a great devotee that when he would give some prasad, he would also offer that prasad to Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Then Lord Caitanya would come and take that prasad and sometimes Raghava Pandit could even see that the Lord had come to take the prasad. There is a deity in India called Alaranatha which is a four-armed Vishnu form -- very beautiful deity. And one time the brahmin father, he had to go out for some preaching or some... visit some student or something for some days for some work. So he asked his son who had just given the upanayanam, the mantra, but he hadn't really trained him very well. He was a very small boy, only 6-7 years old. So he asked him while I'm gone you offer the food to the deity, you give the food to the deity for Him to eat it. The mother will prepare for you. So, the young boy took the offering of bhoga, of food, put in front of the deity of Krishna, Narayana and he stood there and he started to cry. The deity spoke to him and said---made of stone deity--- Why you are crying? He said you are not eating! My father said I will get the food from my mother and I will put it in front of you and you eat it. But you are not eating! So he was crying. So then the deity said so if I eat it you will be... because the boy he didn't understand the process of deity worship - that did you sit down, put it in front, offer with mantra. He wasn't thinking that the deity is a stone, therefore the deity can eat or talk. He believed that this is Krishna, he was a simple boy, he had such faith that he thought when I give the food the deity is going to eat it, physically. Normally, we are too smart. We know that the deity is made of brass, or wood, or stone so the deity can't eat. Deity will eat by some spiritual means. But this boy had such faith that the deity was just a person, the deity would eat by the normal means and when the deity wasn't eating, he started to cry! So then the deity got down from the Simhasan and started to eat. Then the boy took back and was very happy. Took back the plate and gave it to his mother. The mother said what happened to the prasadam. The deity ate it! The mother thought the boy is already learning to lie? What's happening? Because normally whenever you offer to the deity the food you get back whatever you offer. But here the plate was... because the boy was crying you have to eat it, so the deity was going and actually eating. So this is going on every day when the father was gone. So when the father came back, the mother said that something very strange is going on. Every day I am giving, preparing the offering, giving it to the boy, the boy is taking to the temple, when he comes back the plate is half empty. And then he says that the deity is eating! I don't know what to believe about this. Whether the boy is hiding, I don't know what's going on! So the father said you give it to him also today and I'll hide in the temple and see with my own eyes. So he went in the back and he was hiding, watching and he saw the boy come in, put down the food, the offering, then praying please come! This is what the father said, the father is also a guru, so he had faith. He put the food down, please take the food, saw the father, saw the deity move! the stone deity moved and started to take the offering! He got so shocked ooooah...he made a sound. Then the deity jumped back up.....startled by the sound and some of the food stuck on the side of the deity and it caused a mark, because at that time the deity became dis-movable. So then even to this day on Alarnath deity you can see there is a mark there, which the pujaris show to indicate His pastime. So like that, if the person has faith he gives offering to Krishna, whether He physically eats it or eats it through spiritual means normally, but this is the way someone can get immense spiritual benefit. If we have full faith then even the deity talks to the devotees, but that is very rare. For persons who have complete faith although he was a small boy, he had such complete faith, no doubt at all, that the Lord reciprocated. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham

That as you worship me, I reciprocate with you. I will also worship you in that way or reciprocate with you. So that boy had full faith in Krishna, Krishna reciprocated. So Raghava Pandit, he was a great devotee, but he was a grihastha. Many of the devotees of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, most of them, in fact, were householders. Very few, maybe a dozen or so were actually sannyasis. And he recommended that people should chant Hare Krishna in their homes. Of course, some of His householders were brahmanas, some were kshatriyas, some were vaishyas, some were sudras, at that time some were Mohamedans, some were Buddhist, all types of people were there. So Raghava Pandit, was a pandit, he worshipped the deity very strictly. We are trying to introduce this program of people worshipping Krishna in their home, come here to the temple to learn how to worship Krishna in their home. We will be happy to go to your house and teach you how to set up this facility, or if you have such a facility to go there and train how to do more things or even how to participate in special functions. So, in this way Lord Caitanya would eat at the house of Raghava Pandit. And Raghava Pandit would bring and distribute the prasad to the two brothers Lord Nitai and Gaur with great attention. They ate everything, and therefore sometimes there would be no remnants left. Again Raghava Pandit had so much devotion that he had the same problem. Sometimes he would offer the food and the two brothers would eat it all. Of course he was very happy. So that is the rare benediction if that happens. In fact it is said that Radharani Herself personally cooked in the house of Raghava Pandit for Krishna, the deity. Srimati Radharani... it says here

durvāsāra ṭhāñi teṅho pāñāchena vara amṛta ha-ite pāka tāṅra adhika madhura (CC Antya 6.116)

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī received from Durvāsā Muni the benediction that whatever She cooked would be sweeter than nectar. That is the special feature of Her cooking.

sugandhi sundara prasāda — mādhuryera sāra dui bhāi tāhā khāñā santoṣa apāra (CC Antya 6.117)

Aromatic and pleasing to see, the food was the essence of all sweetness. Thus the two brothers, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, ate it with great satisfaction.

You see, the impersonalists they say everything is void, everything is one. But here in the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu normally food is considered material, but because when you offer prasad, bhoga to the deity of Krishna, the food becomes spiritual. So in the Caitanya Caritamrita, they are discussing food, not that they would discuss ordinary food, but they are discussing it because its prasad, its sacred, its holy, its an offering, its spiritual. And the spiritual world has all this variety. Just like the various offerings made to Krishna suktha, saag, curd, various types of bitter, sours, various types of vegetables, sweetmeats, cakes, pizzas, panas so many different types of preparations. So in the spiritual world, there is all variety and this variety exists in the spiritual world, therefore, this material world has a.... has also variety because the material world is a shadow of, or reflection of the absolute truth or the spiritual world.

So this is to attract our mind that in the spiritual world there is something better than here. The Kingdom of God has something more to offer, and we can get a glimpse of that through hearing about the pastimes of the Lord, and the planet earth - when He came here, we can get a glimpse of that by chanting the name of the Lord

hare krsna hare krsna, krsna krsna hare hare hare rama hare rama, rama rama hare hare

We can also get a taste of that by taking the sacred prasad offered to Krishna. That is something different. You can cook the same thing in the house. But if you offer it to Krishna, there is a different taste. Anyone, they can experience, when you offer it to Krishna, its something different. It gives you a different type of satisfaction, a different taste. Because the nectar of Krishna's lotus lips has mixed within that foodstuff. So back to the main thing - after all the devotees took prasad, or actually when they all sat down to take prasad, they requested Raghavanath Das to sit down take prasad with them. But Raghava Pandit said he would take prasad later.

bhakta-gaṇa ākaṇṭha bhariyā karila bhojana ‘hari’ dhvani kari’ uṭhi’ kailā ācamana (CC Antya 6.119)

All the devotees took prasādam, filling themselves to the brim. " akantha" means upto the neck. Normally you can only eat up to here, more than that.....so they would take full prasad, and after that they washed their hands and mouth and chanted Hari bol, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. After Nitai Gaura finished eating then Raghava Pandit gave them flower garlands and sandalwood pulp and decorated them. Worshipped their lotus feet, then he distributed flower garlands and sandalwood to the devotees. Then he gave Raghunath Das the special Mahaprasad remnants of Nitai Gaura's own plate to Raghunath Das. The remnants of prasad from the plate of the Lord, a great devotee, Spiritual master - this has got some spiritual special potency. So that was Raghava Pandit's mercy to save those remnants and give it to Raghunath Das. And he told him kahilā, — “caitanya gosāñi kariyāchena bhojana tāṅra śeṣa pāile, tomāra khaṇḍila bandhana” (CC Antya 6.123)

He said, “Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has eaten this food. If you take His remnants, you will be released from the bondage of your family.”

bhakta-citte bhakta-gṛhe sadā avasthāna kabhu gupta, kabhu vyakta, svatantra bhagavān (CC Antya 6.124)

The Supreme Personality of Godhead always resides either in the heart or in the home of a devotee. This fact is sometimes hidden and sometimes manifest, for the Supreme Personality of Godhead is fully independent.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is all-pervasive, and therefore He resides everywhere. Anyone who doubts this will be annihilated. (CC Anyta 6.125)

In the morning, after taking His bath in the Ganges, Nityānanda Prabhu sat down with His associates beneath the same tree under which He had previously sat. (CC Anyta 6.126)

The tree under which this big feast was held.

raghunātha āsi’ kailā caraṇa vandana rāghava-paṇḍita-dvārā kailā nivedana (CC Antya 6.127)

Raghunātha dāsa went there and worshiped Lord Nityānanda’s lotus feet. Through Rāghava Paṇḍita, he submitted his desire.

“adhama, pāmara mui hīna jīvādhama! mora icchā haya — pāṅa caitanya-caraṇa (CC Antya 6.128)

“I am the lowest of men, the most sinful, fallen and condemned. Nevertheless, I desire to attain shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

vāmana hañā yena cānda dharibāre cāya aneka yatna kainu, tāte kabhu siddha naya (CC Antya 6.129)

“Like a dwarf who wants to catch the moon, I have tried my best many times, but I have never been successful.

“Every time I tried to go away and give up my home relationships, my father and mother, unfortunately, kept me bound. (CC Antya 6.130)

“No one can attain the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu without Your mercy, but if You are merciful, even the lowest of men can attain shelter at His lotus feet. (CC Antya 6.131)

“Although I am unfit and greatly afraid to submit this plea, I nevertheless request You, Sir, to be especially merciful toward me by granting me shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (CC Antya 6.132)

“Placing Your feet on my head, give me the benediction that I may achieve the shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu without difficulty. I pray for this benediction.” (CC Antya 6.133)

śuni’ hāsi’ kahe prabhu saba bhakta-gaṇe “ihāra viṣaya-sukha — indra-sukha-sama (CC Antya 6.134)

After hearing this appeal by Raghunātha dāsa, Lord Nityānanda Prabhu smiled and told all the devotees, “Raghunātha dāsa’s standard of material happiness is equal to that of Indra, the King of heaven.

“Because of the mercy bestowed upon him by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Raghunātha dāsa, although situated in such material happiness, he does not like it at all. Therefore let every one of you be merciful toward him and give him the benediction that he may very soon attain shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (CC Antya 6.135)

kṛṣṇa-pāda-padma-gandha yei jana pāya brahmaloka-ādi-sukha tāṅre nāhi bhāya” (CC Antya 6.136)

“One who experiences the fragrance of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa does not value even the standard of happiness available in Brahmaloka, the topmost planet. And what to speak of heavenly happiness?

The verse is from Srimad Bhagavatam (5.14.43)

yo dustyajān dāra-sutān suhṛd-rājyaṁ hṛdi-spṛśaḥ jahau yuvaiva mala-vad uttama-śloka-lālasaḥ ( CC Antya 6.137)

Translation from Sanskrit: “ ‘Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is offered sublime, poetic prayers by those trying to attain His favor. Thus He is known as Uttamaśloka. Being very eager to gain the association of Lord Kṛṣṇa, King Bharata, although in the prime of youth, gave up his very attractive wife, affectionate children, most beloved friends and opulent kingdom, exactly as one gives up stool after excreting it.’ ”

Actually this planet is known as Bharatha-varsha because of the King Bharath. He was the son of Rshabhdev and after being in the prime of his life when he saw his son was old enough he gave the kingdom to his son, he left, and he went to the forest to become self-realized. But because he did not succeed..... he became attached to a deer, the next life he became a deer. He could remember his previous life as a king and that he became determined that in my next life I am going to achieve God-realization. So in the third life as Jada Bharatha he achieved complete God realization then he became the Raj Guru of another great king who had discovered him. And in that third birth, he achieved moksha, or he achieved the spiritual world. So the Indian Hindi or Indian Sanskrit, it is known Bharath, but originally this whole planet was known as Bharath because the denizens of other planets they used to call this planet Bharath because Bharathvarsha. Because they were so astonished by the renunciation and this means of achieving perfection by that king Bharatha who at that time was the emperor of the entire world. So the example is given that if somebody gets bit by the desire to achieve Krishna or to achieve self-realization then material things do not seem very significant. Of course in those days, a person could go in a forest, they could take sanyasa, they could do all these things. But in Kali-yuga, this is not recommended. It is very difficult. It is recommended rather to live in the association of devotees, to live where other devotees are there. If one can make their house into an association of devotees, then that is a suitable place to live. Otherwise one can live in a community with devotees or in a holy place like Vrindavan, Dwaraka or Mayapur, Navadwip and execute devotional service there. Or like New Panihati Dham and so many other places. Infact in India, when people retire they generally want to go to a holy place and practice devotional service in the latter part of their life. Actually sometimes people when we preach to the young people that you should start chanting Hare Krishna from the young age, they say no no, in India rather, they say that's for when we grow old. When we grow old then we will go to some holy place and chant. But actually the problem is if we do not practice from a young age then its very difficult to all of a sudden in the old age, to change. Because Bharath Maharaj was the son of Rshabhdev, the Jains worship him as the first _____________[36:25:10], the Hindus worship him as an avatar of Krishna. He's a very powerful incarnation who gave us the process of God-realization mentioned in the fifth canto of Bhagavatham. Because Bharath Maharaj was blessed in so many ways, right from his childhood he was only really interested in spiritual life. But he was given the charge of the kingdom, he did his duty, he had a perfect empire, everything was running well, but as soon as the son was old enough to take over, he left. He didn't want to stay and get entangled further. This is very very rare. This is very rare. So that example is given that Das Raghuanth was so determined that inspite of having millions and millions of what would be by our calculation millions of dollars of wealth, hundreds of millions of dollars he didn't find any peace in material life. He wanted to serve Krishna, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and try to uplift the world to Krishna consciousness to serve Krishna and achieve love for Krishna, that was his impetus.

So, in conclusion, Then Lord Nityānanda Prabhu called Raghunātha dāsa near Him, placed His lotus feet upon Raghunātha dāsa’s head and began to speak. (CC Anyta 6.138) He said, “My dear Raghunātha dāsa,” He said, “since you arranged the feast on the bank of the Ganges, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came here just to show you His mercy. (CC Antya 6.139)

“By His causeless mercy He ate the chipped rice and milk. Then, after seeing the dancing of the devotees at night, He took His supper.(CC Antya 6.140)

tomā uddhārite gaura āilā āpane chuṭila tomāra yata vighnādi-bandhane (CC Anyta 6.141)

“Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Gaurahari, came here personally to deliver you. Now rest assured that all the impediments meant for your bondage are gone. (CC Antya 6.141)

“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu will accept you and place you under the charge of His secretary, Svarūpa Dāmodara. You will thus become one of the most confidential internal servants and will attain shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (CC Anyta 6.142)

“Being assured of all this, return to your own home. Very soon, without impediments, you will attain shelter at the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.” (CC Antya 6.143)

Lord Nityānanda had Raghunātha dāsa blessed by all the devotees, and Raghunātha dāsa offered his respects to their lotus feet.(CC Antya 6.144)

After taking leave of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu and then all the other Vaiṣṇavas, Śrī Raghunātha dāsa consulted secretly with Rāghava Paṇḍita. (CC Antya 6.145)

After consulting with Rāghava Paṇḍita, he secretly delivered one hundred gold coins and about seven tolās of gold into the hand of Nityānanda Prabhu’s treasurer. (CC Antya 6.146)

Raghunātha dāsa admonished the treasurer, “Do not speak about this to Lord Nityānanda Prabhu now, but when He returns home, kindly inform Him about this presentation.” (CC Antya 6.147)

Thereupon, Rāghava Paṇḍita took Raghunātha dāsa to his home. After inducing him to see the Deity, he gave Raghunātha dāsa a garland and sandalwood pulp.(CC Antya 6.148)

He gave Raghunātha dāsa a large quantity of prasādam to eat on his way home.

[Maharaj interrupts to say] - If anybody wants to try they can take prasad little bit, if there is any left. [Maharaj then continues with translation] Then Raghunātha dāsa again spoke to Rāghava Paṇḍita. (CC Antya 6.149)

“I want to give money,” he said, “just to worship the lotus feet of all the great devotees, servants and subservants of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu. (CC Antya 6.150)

“As you think fit, give twenty, fifteen, twelve, ten or five coins to each of them.” (CC Antya 6.151)

Raghunātha dāsa drew up an account of the amount to be given and submitted it to Rāghava Paṇḍita, who then made up a list showing how much money was to be paid to each and every devotee. (CC Antya 6.152)

With great humility, Raghunātha dāsa placed one hundred gold coins and about two tolās of gold before Rāghava Paṇḍita for all the other devotees. (CC Antya 6.153)

After taking the dust from the feet of Rāghava Paṇḍita, Raghunātha dāsa returned to his home, feeling greatly obligated to Lord Nityānanda Prabhu because of having received His merciful benediction. (CC Antya 6.154)

So in this way Raghunath Das, he got the mercy of Lord Nityananda, got the blessing to achieve Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Someway or the other, sooner or later, sooner the better we all need to develop our God-consciousness, that is the purpose of human life. Human life is meant to have festivals for we think about Krishna, think about Bhagavan, to uplift our consciousness, we get spiritual happiness associating with devotees, dancing in kirtans. Actually Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given a process of dharma which is so fun, which is so spiritually enjoyable that even we find people driving by with no intention of stopping, they cannot resist to stop the car and look or sometimes come in and join. How is it everybody is happy? Here there is no drinking of wine or whiskey, there is no taking any drugs, simply by chanting the names of God everyone is feeling very happy by taking the holy food, everyone is feeling very satisfied. So, this process of Caitanya Mahaprabhu which is given in the vedas - Sankirtanam is something which is so practical that anyone, even a child can participate. If someone is very learned, if he is very intelligent, they can go deep into the philosophy - who are we, what is the soul? What is the difference between the body, the soul, the spirit? What is the material world? How is it created? How is it existing? What is beyond the material world? What is beyond death.. What is Karma? What is reincarnation? What is life after death? What is love for God? All these things are revealed in the vedas. It is not a sentimental process. Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He had long discussions with great sannyasis, with great pandits on this point, they would accuse Him why is this sannyasi dancing in the street with common people. In fact we saw today in the play earlier, that Caitanya Mahaprabhu had accepted all castes of people - whether they were sudras, or whether they were Mohamaddens or whether they were brahmanas, whatever they might be but worshipping Krishna, he said everyone is equal before God. Everyone has a right to serve the Lord to chant His name. Social or other dealings may be some distinction, but in worshipping God, everyone has the right to chant His name, there is no restriction on that. In this way, He uplifted people to the highest level of being a vaishnava. He uplifted them in this way he showed that it is possible to actually have unity in the world, possible to have a real equality amongst all people but not by just some artificial whitewashing but by actually uplifting the people to a common level. If someone is on a lower level, he lifts them all to a spiritual platform. So, this process is very simple. And, the drama, the festivals, the chanting, the prasadam. So this philosophy--there is no difficulty in practicing. One can transform their home into a temple, one can transform their heart into a spiritual temple simply by chanting Hare Krishna. Wherever they are--whether they are driving in their car, whether they are sitting in the bus, whether they are in the airplane, whether they are in the ground, in the park--wherever they maybe it is not difficult to remember this vibration. There are only three words, Hare, Krishna, and Rama simply by repeating Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Of course, Lord Chaitanya admitted that there are unlimited names of God and you can chant any of the bonafide names of God. It is not that you have to only chant one or two names of God, you can chant any of the bonafide names. But this Hare Krishna Maha mantra is especially recommended in the Upanishads- particularly in the Kali Santarana Upanishad. That this mantra is specifically given for chanting in this age and is the most effective mantra to chant in this particular age. It may have been chanted in other ages as well, but it is specifically the most effective mantra for this age. The Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam natah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate. These 16 names forming the previous mantra destroys the 'kalmasha' all the pollution of the Kali yuga. The present age is known as Kali-yuga. There are a lot of problems in this age. People are going away from the path of spiritual consciousness-they are not interested at all. In many places, they are becoming more and more materialistic. But by chanting this vibration even not as a religion, just as a song, in any way, even in accident, even in joking, it has its effect. Kali kalmasha nasanam--it takes away those impurities in the heart. Therefore we chant this mantra because Lord Chaitanya has given it. The process of sankirtanam is recommended throughout all of the vedas and is very easy to perform. Anywhere, anytime, there is no hard and fast rule. nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ-- no hard and fast niyamas or rules, times, kalah, patra, stana--time, place or circumstance--one can chant under any condition. So actually what we are trying to do is teach people how to chant then they can be independent. They can chant anywhere. In fact most people they have a process of how to get people that may have to come to the temple because that is the only place you can pray to God. We are teaching how a person can pray to Krishna, to Bhagavan--anywhere. Then why do people come to the temple? We are not worried. Because if someone chants with such happiness, they also like to come to the temple and chant with the other devotees. Because there the happiness increases when you chant with more people. So it is totally positive. We are not shy about giving this process. chant it anywhere. If you chant it, if you are far away, you can come to the temple. It is very good that you chant--make your house into a temple. This is our program--Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Everyone should try to get the mercy of Lord Nityananda like Dasa Raghunatha did. How they can get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, get his shelter, so that this can be the last lifetime in the material world with material consciousness. One can get the pure consciousness of pure love for Krishna -- pure consciousness of Krishna consciousness. That is the special benediction that Lord Nityananda gives--that he gave to Dasa Raghunatha, we are just representing Dasa Raghunatha, trying to offer the feast for everyone and everyone else is representing participating in the feast. We can all appeal to Lord Nityananda to also place his lotus feet on our heads and give us the same benediction. We can appeal to Srila Prabhupada, who has brought Nitai and Gaur here into Atlanta, New Panihati Dham, so that we can get this mercy to kindly just as Raghava Pandit has presented the case on behalf of Dasa Raghunath, kindly Srila Prabhupada please present this case on our behalf to Lord Nityananda that we can get the full shelter to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Hare Krishna!

Anybody has any questions? Question: [indistinct]

Guru maharaj: Which mantra, the Hare Krishna mantra.... Hare Krishna.....yes that is the one.

[indistinct question continues]

Guru maharaj: Yes that is the Hare Krishna mantra. Any name of Krishna you can chant and you get this effect. We become familiar with the Hare Krishna mantra--we think that's just the Hare Krishna mantra, but there are many great......Narayana muni is a great liberated soul, he chants this mantra constantly. The Hare Krishna mantra.....some mantras are very mechanical, if you mechanically chant it properly, you get the effect. Hare Krishna is a much higher level mantra. If you chant it very inattentively, very casually, you get also great benefit, but to that extent. But if you chant very seriously, very attentively, very carefully, then you can get unlimited effects from it. But even if you chant anyway, you will get some effect.

Question: [indistinct]

GM: [indistinct] Any other question

Question: [indistinct]

GM: prahalad Maharaj, he was taught Krishna consciousness when he was in the womb of his mother. The last two months of pregnancy, the embryo, the child in the womb becomes conscious. That time they can sometimes remember previous lives, that time they can hear sometimes, so they start to move around, very uncomfortable, so that time Prahalad he was trained by Narada muni. Narada muni talked to Prahalad's mother, knowing that Prahalad could hear in the womb, so when he was born, he had full knowledge. He never forgot that knowledge he had learned before he was born. Parents have a great responsibility to teach their children so that children do not have to, again and again, suffer the recurrence of the cycle of birth and death. So that they can achieve the lotus feet or shelter of Bhagavan in this life time. So Prahalad maharaj said that ..... one should practice even from 5 years of age. Casually by practice one advances more and more. The life should be gauged whether it is success or failure, whether at the end of the life we are able to return to the Lord. We find that previous generations there are many people in India, especially they left their bodies when they are chanting the names of God -- Narayana anta smriti. If one thinks of Krishna at the time of death, then they go back to Krishna, that is considered perfection. But how do they think of Krishna at the end--only because they have been thinking about Krishna through their lifetime. So, in this western world, how is it possible to think about Krishna--it is very difficult. But it is easy if they get into the practice of chanting, associating with devotees, and hearing about Krishna. Then it is easy. Then during our life, and at death, at any time we can think of Krishna, we don't have to fear. So Lord Chaitanya has given us the way to become fearless.

bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana abhaya-caran āravinda re. bhajahū re mana śrī-nanda-nandana abhaya-caran āravinda re durlabha mānava-janama sat-sańge taroho e bhava-sindhu re

By worshipping Krishna, one becomes fearless, takes advantage of this rare human birth, associates with devotees, crosses over the ocean of repetition of birth and death.

[Indistinct question]

GM: Why do we chant om namo bhavathe vasudevaya? That is the mantra of the dvapara yuga....... Hare Krishna mantra is eternal. Narada muni brought it from the spiritual world. But in other ages, it was a different environment. Just like in dvapara yuga people were more attracted to chant the name of Rama- Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram..... Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram Patipa Pavana Sitaram. Because Ramchandra's avatar was there. When Krishna was present on the planet in Dvapara yuga, people were more attracted to chanting Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. But the Gopis in Vrindavan, when they felt separation from Krishna, they would chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. So, this is a special chant of Vrindavan. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has introduced it to the world this system of worship as was practiced by the Vrindavan vaasis, or residents of Vrindavan. He said that the devotees of Vrindavan, their system of devotion was so perfect, it was so pure that there is nothing that compares to it. So Lord Chaitanya in his movement, he preserves the highlights and the mood and the system within a context of not being in Vrindavan. Of Krishna not being on the planet, he teaches how to worship Krishna in separation, like the residents of Vrindavan did when Krishna left Vrindavan. So through separation, we can feel a constant connection with Krishna. So in this way, we chant the same mantra that the Brajvasis chanted. This is a very esoteric mantra, it is a very intimate mantra. But it is very effective. The mantra was existing eternally-why only in previous yugas? But only someone who has that Vrindavan mood, someone who had the desire to achieve Radha and Krishna they would know that mantra. Because Narada muni is very confidential, he would have that mantra-- he gave the mantra to Mrigari the hunter and others. But so his disciples he gave some of them that mantra If he saw that someone was.............he gave them some other mantra to someone else. He gave a different mantra to Druva maharaj--different time place and circumstance. A preacher sometimes has to do that.

[Indistinct question]

GM: How does devotional mood go from one of awe and reverence to one of familiarity It doesn't go very easily from awe and reverence to familiarity..............right......there what happens is because it is very difficult to make that transition. But normally what happens is that after this lifetime, a devotee who is supposed to worship Krishna now basically as a servitor--as a servant--in the mood of servant, which means with some awe and reverence, so in some cases Krishna, he can lift one up by his mercy he can cause that change. In other cases, a person when they leave this body, they will take birth in a universe where Krishna's pastimes are going on and when they are born in Vrindavan, then they are not born in a situation of awe and reverence. They are born in Vrindavan and they take up some service to Krishna there directly and from there they transfer back to the spiritual world.