19880211 Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā 9.246-261

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on February 11 1988. The class begins with a reading from the Sri Chaitanya caritamrta Madhya lila chapter 9, text 246 to 261.

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

(Devotees repeat)

 

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

paramānanda-mādhavam

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

 

Sri Caitanya ishvaram

nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya

naraṁ caiva narottamam

devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁ

tato jayam udīrayet

nartaka gopāla dekhe parama-mohane

madhvācārye svapna diyā āilā tāṅra sthāne

While at the Uḍupī monastery, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw “dancing Gopāla,” a most beautiful Deity. This Deity appeared to Madhvācārya in a dream.

gopī-candana-tale āchila ḍiṅgāte

madhvācārya sei kṛṣṇa pāilā kona-mate

Madhvācārya had somehow or other acquired the Deity of Kṛṣṇa from a heap of gopī-candana that had been transported in a boat.

madhvācārya āni’ tāṅre karilā sthāpana

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: So basically Madhvācārya  was meditating he was by the side of the ocean and somehow something he did created a light I forget they did an ārti or his own effulgence or something he did created a light and that's saved you see there was a big storm going on in the ocean and there was a ship there from Dwaraka carrying some goods and they couldn't tell where the shore was or the sea was there ready so when they saw the light then could direct him where the shore was so they could come and escape the storm so somehow they saved themselves then they came and they later after that storm and they were very grateful to Madhvācārya they found you as the person so they offered that can we give you something.

So in a dream Madhvācārya had seen that the deity of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma for inside this boat and a Gopī Chandan because the boat was in Dwaraka there's a place near Dwaraka where Gopī chandan is and somehow he used that Gopī chandan as ballast in his boat and at the bottom of the boat they put some heavy weights so that way the boat stays upright in the water even the wind blows the mast the heavyweight keeps it up right more or less.

So Madhvācārya said I like some of the Gopī Chandan in your boat there was just like you know just some dirt they put in there they didn't think he knows take something more valuable your gold so I just want that.

So, he took out these two big chunks of gopī chandan even they couldn't lift him how they could get him out so somehow he got them out and he broke them open and inside there was a Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma deity.

So, the Balarāma deity they established right there at the bank of the ocean and Kṛṣṇa deity he'd brought him to Uḍupī and there he established the diety there.

Actually, there's a quite a nice movie of Madhvācārya watch earlier it's not you know so nice but it's you know all right that's was shown on television or something in India Madras temple they have a copy and it has in Kannada language with English subtitles maybe eighty ninety percent all right something more or less but it's kind of interesting.

So then after that Lord Caitanya explains what happened

madhvācārya āni’ tāṅre karilā sthāpana

adyāvadhi sevā kare tattvavādi-gaṇa

Madhvācārya brought this dancing Gopāla Deity to Uḍupī and installed Him in the temple. To date, the followers of Madhvācārya, known as Tattvavādīs, worship this Deity.

kṛṣṇa-mūrti dekhi’ prabhu mahā-sukha pāila

premāveśe bahu-kṣaṇa nṛtya-gīta kaila

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu received great pleasure in seeing this beautiful form of Gopāla. For a long time He danced and chanted in ecstatic love.

tattvavādi-gaṇa prabhuke ‘māyāvādī’ jñāne

prathama darśane prabhuke nā kaila sambhāṣaṇe

When the Tattvavādī Vaiṣṇavas first saw Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they considered Him a Māyāvādī sannyāsī. Therefore, they did not talk to Him.

pāche premāveśa dekhi’ haila camatkāra

vaiṣṇava-jñāne bahuta karila satkāra

Later, after seeing Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in ecstatic love, they were struck with wonder. Then, considering Him a Vaiṣṇava, they gave Him a nice reception.

‘vaiṣṇavatā’ sabāra antare garva jāni’

īṣat hāsiyā kichu kahe gauramaṇi

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu could understand that the Tattvavādīs were very proud of their Vaiṣṇavism. He therefore smiled and began to speak to them.

tāṅ-sabāra antare garva jāni gauracandra

tāṅ-sabā-saṅge goṣṭhī karilā ārambha

Considering them very proud, Caitanya Mahāprabhu began His discussion.

tattvavādī ācārya — saba śāstrete pravīṇa

tāṅre praśna kaila prabhu hañā yena dīna

The chief ācārya of the Tattvavāda community was very learned in the revealed scriptures. Out of humility Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu humbly questioned him.

sādhya-sādhana āmi nā jāni bhāla-mate

sādhya-sādhana-śreṣṭha jānāha āmāte

Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “I do not know very well the aim of life and how to achieve it. Please tell Me of the best ideal for humanity and how to attain it.”

ācārya kahe, — ‘varṇāśrama-dharma, kṛṣṇe samarpaṇa’

ei haya kṛṣṇa-bhaktera śreṣṭha ‘sādhana’

The ācārya replied, “When the activities of the four castes and the four āśramas are dedicated to Kṛṣṇa, they constitute the best means whereby one can attain the highest goal of life.

‘pañca-vidha mukti’ pāñā vaikuṇṭhe gamana

‘sādhya-śreṣṭha’ haya, — ei śāstra-nirūpaṇa

“When one dedicates the duties of varṇāśrama-dharma to Kṛṣṇa, he is eligible for five kinds of liberation. Thus, he is transferred to the spiritual world in Vaikuṇṭha. This is the highest goal of life and the verdict of all revealed scriptures.”

prabhu kahe, — śāstre kahe śravaṇa-kīrtana

kṛṣṇa-prema-sevā-phalera ‘parama-sādhana’

 

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “According to the verdict of the śāstras, the process of hearing and chanting is the best means to attain loving service to Kṛṣṇa.

Purport:

According to the Tattvavādīs, the best process for achieving the highest goal of life is to execute the duties of the four varṇas and āśramas. In the material world, unless one is situated in one of the varṇas (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or śūdra) one cannot manage social affairs properly to attain the ultimate goal. One also has to follow the principles of the āśramas (brahmacharya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa), since these principles are considered essential for the attainment of the highest goal. In this way the Tattvavādīs establish that the execution of the principles of varṇa and āśrama for the sake of Kṛṣṇa is the best way to attain the topmost goal. The Tattvavādīs thus established their principles in terms of human society. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, however, differed when He said that the best process is hearing and chanting about Lord Viṣṇu. According to the Tattvavādīs, the highest goal is returning home, back to Godhead, but in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s opinion the highest goal is attaining love of Godhead, in either the material world or the spiritual world. In the material world this is practiced according to śāstric injunction, and in the spiritual world the real achievement is already there.

 His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: So in Uḍupī still this tattva vadi Vaiṣṇavas are very prominent and they are consider that the varṇāśrama is a most important thing but they also think that one should surrender to Kṛṣṇa they do worship Kṛṣṇa they have eight ācāryas maṭha sannyāsīs and these were established by I think by Madhvacharya's followers and on rotation they do that pūjā originally I think the system was every two months they would change so that means once every 16 months they would have that pūjā right but then so that was change later to once every two years so that means after 16 years we get another chance therefore the 14 years they travel and collect and save up and two years they're in charge of the big temple all pūjā all prasad distribution they distribute about 1,000 people prasad every day schools there everything when they have the change of the guards change of the acharya for the maintain to the one Kṛṣṇa temple and there's eight other mātās each sannyāsī has his own temple and his own disciples and his own following so then as it switches when they take the charge of that temple and they do the pūjā the main temple the Kṛṣṇa temple that Madhvacharya established.

So when they have that change is called a Periyar change they sometime request this kind of sanyasis to be present as followers of Madhva and we participate in the function they are very big a Ratha yatra possession of the Kṛṣṇa deity they preach that according to your birth according to certain things you're a part of our asram you have to follow that they don't initiate anyone but their sanyasis grahasta they don't give initiation normally very rarely so that whoever the person that next might become a ācārya there one or two sannyāsī is from the age of nine years old they give them sanyasi after seeing their astrological chart and everything then they take me on still some of them hold on but a couple years ago to lift their sanyasi asram.

Recently someone of the very progressive one of those tattva vada sannyāsīs he was very impressed by the ISKCON program of chanting and he was glorifying that what they're doing chanting. This is actually very practical method he said Madhvacharya used to always sing and chant but we don't do now so much and actually we're saying that by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa is getting a good response and this way mainly do that one Vishweshwar tīrtha swami Pejawar math it's kind of promotion of ISKCON praising the people have begun to appreciate us a little bit there and we had Kṛṣṇan Balarām deities installed made in a similar form as the deities that the Madhvacharya found.

The history of those deities that he found actually why they came from Dwaraka I forgot to say was that they were the personal deities of Rukmiṇī and after Kṛṣṇa left and all that mean everyone they all left with him so somehow those deities  ended up in the Gopichandana pile and were hidden and then they were revealed like this and Madhvacharya established them in Uḍupī.

So, we had the Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma replica made in sand and installed at Uḍupī as the direct utsava mūrti or direct you know expansion I would I guess called expansion of the original Kṛṣṇa Balarām deities and those who were installed by them and myself and some of our brahmacharis simultaneously then we also did a Vṛndāvan installation when we brought them to Bangalore.

So the post deities Bangalore taken out on Ratha yatra like it Uḍupī Uḍupī ratha is very big balloon hope you have seen it was not a picture of a one of the back to Godhead last year so we have made one of those this kind of ISKCON style goes up and down for the city and for  actually what they present here they promote this finance very much in there not although they preach one of them are two of them preach most of them stay there in do pūjā for two years all they do is daily do the pūjā for the deity they can leave under their were there two year turn this that they're continually doing the pūjā bathing the deities, dressing the deities they change the dress of the deities several times in the day then in the evening they do special Chamara sevā where they take two big fans for about an hour at least half an hour and then in the evening they have thousands of lights going around the temple little ghee wicks went around and they light each of those wicks not every day at least time at festival days very beautiful.

This is a temple that's thousands of years old I mean Madhvacharya is about thousand years ago the deviance over 5,000. But they didn't even we can find it up to that time even just like recently now they're starting to appreciate chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa at that time they would chant but they were the but they were started putting a lot of stress on deity worship on varnashrama practice fact is they're very strict sanyas trying try to be strict brāhmaṇas so on there's a bit closed kind of group because of this.

So, Lord Caitanya was differing with them that you know just as He told what Rāmānanda rāya when Rāmānanda rāya presented against we should practice varnashrama to satisfy Kṛṣṇa he said yes he said well the external that's there it's external it's not the real essence higher so Lord Caitanya warning this that the best means is to hear and chant the names of Kṛṣṇa you know let's see what they saying of Lord Caitanya is quoting some verses

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ

smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam

arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ

sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau

bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā

kriyeta bhagavaty addhā

tan manye ’dhītam uttamam

“ ‘This process entails hearing, chanting and remembering the holy name, form, pastimes, qualities and entourage of the Lord, offering service according to the time, place and performer, worshiping the Deity, offering prayers, always considering oneself the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, making friends with Him and dedicating everything unto Him. These nine items of devotional service, when directly offered to Kṛṣṇa, constitute the highest attainment of life. This is the verdict of the revealed scriptures.’

Purport:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu quoted these verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.5.23-24).

śravaṇa-kīrtana ha-ite kṛṣṇe haya ‘premā’

sei pañcama puruṣārtha — puruṣārthera sīmā

“When one comes to the platform of loving service to Lord Kṛṣṇa by executing these nine processes, beginning with hearing and chanting, he has attained the fifth platform of success and the limit of life’s goals.

Purport:

Everyone is after success in religion, economic development, sense gratification and ultimately merging into the existence of Brahman. These are the general practices of the common man, but according to the strict principles of the Vedas, the highest attainment is to rise to the platform of śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, hearing and chanting about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.2):

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ

vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śiva-daṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam 

śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ

sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate ’tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt

 Translation:

“Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṇa propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam, compiled by the great sage Śrī Vyāsadeva, is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhāgavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.” This verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam rejects as cheating processes all religious activities that aim at achieving materialistic goals, including dharma, artha, kāma and even mokṣa, or liberation.

According to Śrīdhara Svāmī, the material conception of success (mokṣa, or liberation) is desired by those in material existence. Devotees, however, not being situated in material existence, have no desire for liberation.

A devotee is always liberated in all stages of life because he is always engaged in the nine items of devotional service (śravaṇam, kīrtanam, etc.). Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s philosophy holds that devotional service to Kṛṣṇa always exists in everyone’s heart. It simply has to be awakened by the process of śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ. Śravaṇādi śuddha-citte karaye udaya (Cc. Madhya 22.107). When a person is actually engaged in devotional service, his eternal relationship with the Lord, the servant-master relationship, is awakened.

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: So some interesting points that when we are in material life we're imprisoned by the material laws we want to get free from them so the desire for liberation is very prominent however when one is already in the transcendental platform a pure devotional service and he's already relishing transcendental reciprocation with Kṛṣṇa the glories the qualities the pastimes the form the name and endurance of the Lord offering service acquainted time place and circumstance etc.

So the devotees are very self-satisfied ātmārāma in devotional service so the desire of merging or being free from material life or even taking some kind of place in Vaikuṇṭha it's not desired by the devotees fact it says that in the Śāstras the previous a ācāryas advises we should even be careful of becoming very attached to the Lord of vaikuṇṭha.

Sometime devotees worship some Nārāyaṇa forms but at the time of death if they meditate on the Nārāyaṇa form that may cause them to take their place in Vaikuṇṭha because that's when the Nārāyaṇa exist Narayan are in the form of Narasiṁha or some other.

The devotees worship Kṛṣṇa in His original form and their attachment is for Kṛṣṇa whether in the material world or in spiritual wherever they want to serve Kṛṣṇa. So the devotional service is actually above the three modes of material nature and even while in the material world someone situated in pure devotional service is already liberated so the beginning for preaching purpose the negative aspects of the material world are promoted and the basic desire to be free from the cycle birth and death to go to the spiritual world this is used as the impetus. But actually, as one advances in Kṛṣṇa consciousness then as Lord Caitanya pray Janmani Janmaneshware bhavatād bhakir ahaitukī tvayi but even birth after birth I want to serve you in pure devotional service this is all that I want otherwise He's not even asking for liberation but that I can actually have pure devotional service.

So pure devotional service we can have right now here you don't have to delay you certainly have to practice the process has given by Caitanya Mahāprabhu handed down from the previous ācāryas we can taste nectar now you don't have to take the rain check even wait till the time you leave your body of course while we're in the material body we have to follow rules of the Śāstra because otherwise we can get entangled again although the devotee doesn't desire going to vaikuṇṭha desires just to serve the Lord it doesn't mean that the Lord will not take that devotee back to him to the Goloka vṛndāvan if their service is there you'll take the devotee they are maybe take the devotee to another universe where Kṛṣṇa's pastimes are going on to participate in those pastimes Kṛṣṇa doesn't abandon in his devotee in any case but the devotee immediately the simply wants to engage in pure devotional service. When our attraction to Kṛṣṇa increases to that plane that is predominates everything then practically speaking we're not at all connected with the material world because we are partially attracted to Kṛṣṇa partially Kṛṣṇa conscious partially we're in Māyā consciousness.

Therefore you were attracted to Māyā and then because of our attraction to Māyā we're forced to suffer this attraction Māyā means suffering so duality we think we're going to enjoy the more we tried to enjoin them into a world and the more we get kicked we can do everything in moderation everything according to devotional service principles then practically speaking there is a minimum suffering and material life as soon as we try to actually just out-and-out enjoying material world that means we have to suffer more.

Sometimes we may cash in some of our highest results and then afterwards we take the reaction the other side the many case one is bound up by the hankering fear lamentation syndrome where one is feeling frustrated because he doesn't have the thing they desire that when they have it then they're feeling afraid that maybe I'll lose it something will happen then when something is happening or some problem is there or they lose it then they're feeling the lamentation.

So many popular movies are I was being advertised about divorce cases and things like that they're always showing how people are during this syndrome or desiring to have some connection then they have then they're afraid of other people somehow this that something coming in the weight and they get divorced or something when there's some problem and then they were lamenting then it goes like this one cycle after the next try for a while to stay aloof from everything but they get drunk back into the material world pool.

So by material negation that's like trying to you see jump off the earth you can't stay folding forever you come down but by a positive attraction to Kṛṣṇa that pulls you out of the material atmosphere so for someone suffering they want immediately the suffering to end they want liberation but as someone may be suffering in the material world they realize that if I'm out of the material world my suffering ends there's two ways of going out one is of course to liberation the other is directly by devotional service if we remain completely absorbed in devotional service we're also out of the material world even though we may be walking on planet Earth we are technically not in the material world because we have no connection with the laws of the material world if we're fully practicing devotional service doing everything for the satisfaction of guru and Kṛṣṇa practicing the nine-fold practice of devotional service and when we develop our pure love for Kṛṣṇa that time our the liberated status is already achieved already then we are completely reunited in our eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa.

So the fact that we have this capacity within us was stressed by Lord Caitanya you don't have to do outside thing immediately practice devotional service especially hearing and chanting and this way when your pure consciousness again comes and you develop and you have this natural desire to serve Kṛṣṇa is develop you see that is the perfection that is the beginning of Kṛṣṇa prema.

evaṁ-vrataḥ sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā

jātānurāgo druta-citta uccaiḥ

hasaty atho roditi rauti gāyaty

unmāda-van nṛtyati loka-bāhyaḥ

“‘When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for outsiders.’

Purport:

This verse is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.40).

karma-nindā, karma-tyāga, sarva-śāstre kahe

karma haite prema-bhakti kṛṣṇe kabhu nahe

“In every revealed scripture there is condemnation of fruitive activities. It is advised everywhere to give up engagement in fruitive activities, for no one can attain the highest goal of life, love of Godhead, by executing them.

Madhvacharya he established the form of the Lord is truly impressive history they think that the form of Kṛṣṇa is also part of the material world that all form is false but Madhvacharya established now that form is true, he eminently preached against the impersonalist philosophers he was a very big preacher he would go out on tours and he was so effective and eradicating and especially his part of the country the influence of impersonal philosophy that the Māyāvādīs.

They wanted to kill him and they couldn't kill him so then they decided to steal all of his books he write so many commentaries some commentary he wrote after personally meeting Vyāsadeva taking initiation they stole his books but he got them back and in getting them back he got connection with the king of the area he was like police to get them back and so he approached the Kings and my books were stolen.

And I think it was stole by the Śaṅkarācārya sannyāsīs so they arrested the Sankaracharya sanyasis and they found out from them where the books were he got the books back so in that way the Rajguru of the King and Madhvacharya have debate and in the debate he accepted defeat from Madhvacharya and Vaiṣṇava principal. So that way and that clinched it and the whole kingdom become Vaiṣṇava.

So, the whole state of Karnataka even to this day basically follow Vaiṣṇava and one of the famous followers of Madvacharya is Purandar he glorified the holy name.

He says if I have the holy name of Kṛṣṇa but I don't eat anything else Kṛṣṇa and his holy name and a different song I have the holy name and I don't care for anything else that's all I need I don't need any other process of religion or any you see material formulas any fruitive activities I don't need any of those things. Simply by the holy name that's enough.

So there were preachers who were preaching the glories of the holy name I don't know if they came after Lord Caitanya or before exactly purandara or different or to what extent these concepts of varnashrama and that I'm mixed with it.

We had appreciation for the name some of the followers.

Just like this one Madhva junior sannyāsī is a junior sannyāsī of the Pejawar swamiji he came here to America I talked to Scott encountered him in Tennessee but when he went back they said that since according to some Varnashrama rules if you cross over the ocean you're out of the varnashrama some smart concept is like that so even though they told you go and preach in America when he came back they refused to allow him to go into the deity room anymore they said no you're impure he got so disgusted with that firstly give me permission to go I go then I come back this is eight different sanyasis are there so the other sanyasi who was in charge of the pūjā for that two year he was one of them more bill narrow vision ones relative to this you know the whole idea some are more into varṇa he was one like strict varnashrama and so he rejected him said no can't do pooja anymore you're contaminated he went over see landed I much this and the ominous (laughing)

So, he renounced his position as a junior ācārya like the heir apparent of the seat of mud were there at particular temple there basically you are different each whoever was in charge of the turf time maybe they all seem to be pretty similar although I know that put her under up with someone who glorified the Holy Name would say many songs were a thing the Holy Name.

So within the line this is Mādhavendra purī came in their line but he was completely worshiping Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa Madhvacharya believed in kind of spiritual research that in the path of spiritual realization he didn't give that he said there's scope for more realization more understanding of Kṛṣṇa so in that his sampradāya there were some who were like this month into the farm ashram and then apparently some were more into then some developed to the Rādhā Kṛṣṇa worship worship of Kṛṣṇa's name yet they all claim to be with him the Madhva family they're all accepted the particular sannyāsī said watch Chaitanya  met with their that tattva vadi strict get liberation these are most prominent in Uḍupī they say like they'll say Kṛṣṇa Paramātmā namo something like that to Kṛṣṇa the paramātmā it's not clear understanding of Kṛṣṇa’s  position as even above the paramātmā as the original I picked myself not clear to what extent is that the teaching of Madhva or subsequently that's because they've just interpreted that way I'm not clear myself whether this is something that developed after Madhva or Madhva just gave the basic that time he was mainly stressing against the māyāvādīs against the Buddhists who are very prominent in South India.

He was preaching Vaishnavism the form of Kṛṣṇa is truth and he maybe did go into that I don't know I don't know the whole etymology of it whether he went into the details at that time or this is something that they developed but whatever is presented here that there definitely still there they believe that varnashrama strongly it's pretty hard for them to to figure us out although they are accepting us and allow us to go into worship Kṛṣṇa deity not in the deity room but outside. There are many different practices they ran themselves with the symbols of Viṣṇu make their body more pure dedicated to temple service addition to putting Tilak once a year so they eight symbols of Viṣṇu conch, chakra, gāḍha, Padma Lotus and then men it puts a little mark there stays for about a year and they say like the pain like during the pain of that to put on the symbol of Viṣṇu that's and some philosophical reason why they do that think in America if you start doing that - probably find it difficult might get sued by someone but the person does it to himself.

So but anyway you don't have those practices I think acacia he did it to himself but they very much into Viṣṇu into Kṛṣṇa you'll find that each of the Vaiṣṇava philosophy there's a truth presented there's Bhagavān one person but something is less are lacking in terms of overall picture of Lord Caitanya presents but amongst the Vaiṣṇava their discussion who has the clear concept of the personality of Godhead so when they argue amongst themselves and each has presented a treatise known as that it's a explanation of commentary on vedānta-sūtra.

So when the followers of Lord Caitanya tried to establish we also have our unique concept which is the most complete of all the kinds of personality of God.

What is the relationship between individual soul and the supreme soul material world?

Everything they said well you don't have our commentary under the vedānta sūtra therefore how can we accept that your philosophy is actually a real philosophy not just you know few people think like that I mean if it's a realphilosophy real treatises a real basis on which to understand the absolute truth and you have to have a commentary and the Vedānta sūtra.

So Baladeva Vidyabhushan he said now we have one so I'm just going in the temple to get it you can wait outside he closed the door went in the temple paying obeisance’s and prayed to Govindajī that further defending the philosophy of Caitanya mahāprabhu we require commentary on the Vedānta sūtra and he just played prayed so fervently that then Govinda he dictated it the commentary he wrote it down tier commentary on vedānta-sūtra that is long that's why it's known as Govinda basha spoken by the Govindajī and he went out and presented the commentary here.

Normally it takes a long time to write a commentary there here I mean it's like a very heavy manner that they Vedānta sūtra when they got that commentary meant that established Lord Caitanya's acintya bheda bheda tattva as a specific and unique understanding of the absolute truth. So, goes on here another couple pages discussion with the tattvavādīs maybe this time.

If there any questions?

yes it's not that they didn't accept that Śrīmad bhāgavatam the time was that time Madhavacharya the whole India was basically Śaṅkarācārya  a few pockets of Rāmānujācārya came previously but still Rāmānuja wasn't able to win over all the Śaṅkarācārya  followers so Buddhism had taken over the entire India 2005 years ago and many of the Buddhists were converted to the impersonal philosophy of Śaṅkarācārya  but there are still quite a few Buddhists in India at that time but everyone just took something.

So, the Śaṅkarācārya followers they will read the theory of us the commentary of Śaṅkarācārya and this was their main text I'm tracking that Madhavacharya was officially initiated into the Śaṅkarācārya line took sannyāsa in that line and then he took initiation when I got initiation from Vyāsadeva.

But he was although he was there everyone was Shankara practically speaking but he although in the Śaṅkara line overtly he was a Vaiṣṇava he always believed in Kṛṣṇa he doubted the commentaries of the Śaṅkarācārya  followers he proved them wrong this is logical doesn't make any sense it's not trained in the Vedas then he was started writing his own commentaries because anyway the personal philosophy is mental speculation so at that time you're allowed so he did mental he did scriptural specula he did authorize Vaiṣṇava commentary he was like one of the pioneers at that time and re-establishing Vaishnavism.

So he was mainly who had to write a commentary on vedānta-sūtra to defeat the commentary of the impersonals so the impersonalists don't accept śrīmad-bhāgavatam as the commentary of vedānta-sūtra so him accepting Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is did he wouldn't achieve the purpose he needs to win over the impersonalists to become Vaiṣṇavas to do that he has to meet them on their ground so he can talk to Kṛṣṇa from the śrīmad Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā but you know we have to be very open-minded to accept them but if he can speak from the Bible then they know they're obliged to listen to whatever you're saying because that's their own scriptures.

Like this Lord Caitanya when he preached with Mohammeden and sometimes He would quote to Quran and He would prove from their own scripture how what their scriptures are already saying what are spoken in vedas so they bridge the gap then after that He would show how the Vedas are explaining [Not Clear – 00:36:50]

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: He had a seek as a grahasta. He had also had a full head of hair.

Devotee: [Not Clear – 00:37:02]

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swam: I don’t think so. He took sannyas from that time even Lord caitanya time there all my body was the main thing in North India was all my running South India there were the Madhya and Rāmānuja but they've never even penetrated.

I think Western India there were Vishnu swami and Nimbārka even now its mainy māyāvādī it's mainly in Kṛṣṇa also the Yogi's are all impersonal just now I mean now it's increasing one more by Vaiṣṇava but if you see even for one Vaiṣṇava there's at least ten mayawadis it's not a hundred well we did our ratha yatra Madras to us at least māyāvādīs giving different kind of māyāvādī classes different parts of the city.

So, there's a lot of preaching to do in India people walk up to me and I start to scorning Sanskrit verses and they answer can you explain this.

Whatever you read here in Bhagavad-gītā or in Śrīmad Bhagwat or Caitanya caritāmṛta you know made pure a very theoretical here in in America but it's all there all the different philosophies sahajiyā this it's there find all the māyāvādīs people that claim to be awkward tiers and so on so forth so you can find it all there isn't one anyway you know.

Here people ask you why you wear toothpaste on your nose maybe you have to actually defend your philosophy generally speaking the sakhi dakhis those persons that are worshipping Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in a mood of the gopī in the purāṇa sorry don't go outside the dock they stay in Brindavanam or māyāpur of mine but probably what you saw unix there's a group of nomad unix in India and they wear dress up like women and sometimes they kidnap young men and they make them unix also.

Because kids are scared they're like anything then a they don't try to look I mean it's pretty obvious they're not women they're not trying to be like um like transvestite I mean like really look like women you can tell they're not women they're not I'm a drink or something there's a thing that when a new child is born different unique curses the child then again it's real bad so whenever they spy here that someone had a new baby they all go to the house then make some money so it's like a kind of a protection you had a pay they get out you know (laughing) to get some blessing they I don't they can do anything to help but they can do something iris is like and they go to weddings and things that any auspicious ceremony they'll be hanging around you know so just to get rid of them their parents some money that's how they see I guess they can give blessings to I don't know they have some mystic power for UNIX they get some shakti they can curse or bless or something and some karma kāṇḍa level.

So that's why sometimes devotees are welcome to test out their ślokas especially come in South India because some classes in the schools ask good questions I have.

I was in a post office that man came up to me and just started asking quoting a verse from Gītā and asking a question that it may be that post office any other question?

Devotee: [Not Clear – 00:40:15]

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: What's your name?

Devotee: [Not Clear – 00:40:42]

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: Book distribution is performed so pushcarts book tables and big buses which happen many times have temples in there and they stop the temple bus somewhere and play kīrtan they send out a few devotees to go shop to shop with book baits and then the people come up to take darshan of the deities and the bus and then they sell them books that's the book.

Then we have festivals we put on festivals in parks in the cities are traveling and then they have a stage and they do pandal program there your lectures and put on dramas and show movies and then thousands of people come to participate in the festival and they have book tables that sell the books said book margin is very less than India because there many groups that publish books a subsidized rate as well as Christians give out free books so therefore connected to higher margin and the book some people are poor so basically the book distribution maintains the vehicles driving around and the devotees that do the program and sometimes it gives the small percentage to the temple because their mark-up on the books is only about 25% over costs even the BBC know it takes 25%.

Like in America hundred percent here it's possible for the temple to maintain by book distribution India's difficult and to present time unless there's some way are bringing their book costs down enough for taking more price.

So generally what happens is during the book distribution they also sell pictures of Kṛṣṇa pendants tapes devotional paraphernalia and the profit margin of the that is more so that's what.

So sometime that people want to budge on tape so much but there is coming into the book distribution so now what they do is they give a free book with the tape eject the price of the tape out favorably.

In addition to that is some youth programs college students are having some organization BhaktiVedanta youth organization youth clubs and BYO, BYC then there's light membership where's distributor all sets of books and a life membership that's still the main income since it's a very big liability to maintain the members in the long run but trying to phase that out as a source of maintenance income and use it as a source of development income and BBT and people give donations in cash and kite in ratha yatra and things.

In some parts of India Ratha yatra traditionally and the same day like Jaganath purī  like in Bengal Orissa you have to have an amending other parts of India they can have a different days because they don't have the tradition of rath yatra that's connected with Jagannātha purī.

So they do their ratha yatra in difference in other states south India western India Delhi, Bombay Madras, Bangalore but in Calcutta and in Orissa you have to do it in the same day as Jagannātha not otherwise people don't understand and then said public holiday also those two states.

Calcutta ratha yatra is the biggest festival right now the world about one or two million people come in terms of viewers from yet turn New Orleans has come up of course people go to the ratha yatra to New Orleans that is about Ratha yatra but to go to the New Orleans Mardi Gras parade and we're part of it so we're camping I think that's in the West is a good technique is to join along with existing festivals or the Calcutta Ratha yatra is its own unique festival.

People come there to see the Calcutta is on Ratha yatra they crowded streets are packed with people to see specifically Jaganath for like in South America they do have the city fairs and things like that no they may need this I can New Orleans we did rath yatra and other time so you only get one or two thousand people our Frandsen maybe ten thousand people be on the street passer-by as they would see.

So when we have millions of people on the street for Mardi Gras I suggested might not participate man so we did it for the first time last year and then the people aren't a very good mood other words people are in a festive mood during the festivals it's hard to think in the anyway people in India have the tradition of Jagannātha ratha yatra and in calcutta there wasn't a big ratha yatra everyone go to purī so we introduced a big ratha yatra in Calcutta which wasn't possible before because you couldn't take a big ratha in Calcutta because there's so many wires from trams electric wires we had that convertible raths to go up and down so we could introduce that type of Rath Yatra in a big city.

We're headed to a network before it was impossible so the people have a desire to see Jaganathan and our ratha yatra has become very popular so everyone comes there to see Lord Jagannath sometimes the chick trains they have empty to purī you know they don't even bother to go to purī they want to see their ratha yatra in Calcutta.

But they had the mood there on the festival and they want to see Jagannath and Jagannātha rath yatra day so now they said I went somewhere else they stay in Calcutta and see the Calcutta ratha we're in America the New Orleans they want to see they want to participate Mardi Gras in Hawaii they have the Aloha pareda so we participated in Australia they participate enough Moomba parade and people appreciate that we're participating in their festival at the same time it gives us an opportunity to present Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So, until such a time as there are so many people who are actually Kṛṣṇa conscious in their houses and there that we have our own festival or unless you find like in Los Angeles they have a festival on Venice Beach.

So the people like – Hare Kṛṣṇa ratha yatra there but they go to the beach and they also go other festival antennae combined thing so that's a lot of people go to the ratha yatra at least they get off the beach and come and see Jagannath combined they walk 100 yards come on.

But in the future we'll have festivals just like now in Pani hati we have our chida dahi festival maybe five hundred thousand people come a five hundred more people come so that all the things like festival a will grow you can get huge crowds people.

In the future there'll be festivals in the North America will be totally devotionally oriented and they'll have hundreds of thousands of people but the present time preaching is not bad develops so if we participate in existing festivals so from that point of view anyway however you analyze it a lot of people see Lord Jagannātha the amazing thing of the Mardi Gras is that they have a tradition of getting beads and things thrown to them.

So everybody this is enough throw me something mister so when they see the Hare Kṛṣṇa's obviously (laughing).  So actually Jagannātha is there and always thing their hand they want to bead or something that he thrown to them you know so they're but they're always in saying Hare Kṛṣṇa , yelling Hare Kṛṣṇa we got throw me something so I think you couldn't expect that anywhere else you know you want to prayed or anything that people raise their hands to Hare Kṛṣṇa did someone other what they're getting a lot of mercy you know even if you ask people raise your hand to Kṛṣṇa say Hare Kṛṣṇa is very difficult but just because of the whole mood and then for everyone there in this course so the devotees are dancing on the cars and we have their hands raised so then the other people this are you know they raising Hare Kṛṣṇa.

So, this year apparently we have a Jagannātha beads and Subhadrā and Baladeva beads

Hare Kṛṣṇa. [Devotees repeats]

Devotees: Jai.

Devotee: Jayapatākā Swami Maharaj Ki

Devotees: Jai

Transcripted by: Pundarika Mahajana Das

Transcripted on: 23-02-2020

 

Proof Reading By: Amrita Padma Devi Dasi

On 15/10/2020