The following is a class given by his Holiness jayapataka swami on june 4^th 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia. The class was given the day after the panihati festival .

 Jayapataka Swami Maharaj Speaks :

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam

paramānanda-mādhavam

Sri chaitanya isvaram

 

tāṅra pada-dhūli lañā svagṛhe āilā
nityānanda-kṛpā pāñā kṛtārtha mānilā

[CC Antya 6.154]

Translation

After taking 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.

It is very important how raghunath das got the mercy of lord nityananda prabhu ,  its also very very significant how he felt greatly obligated to lord nityananda prabhu , its actually that characteristic of a civilized person. Its like in human society if someone was killing some emulssive  pious people , if someone was given some mercy, given something then they feel obligated , it’s the demons are those who are uncivilized, in spite of receiving so much mercy they don’t feel any obligation , its called act of compassion or mercy, krpana, miser, some people they get mercy they don’t care, they don’t take it very seriously , we’ve seen Srila Praphupad give out some much merct , yet  there are some who are not qualificiary , even after getting Srila praphupad’s mercy , they have neglected and this don’t feel any indebtedness to Srila praphupad in any practical sense, so this ah, this ah symptomatic or the lack of civilization, lack of piety, lack of godliness. This makes very difficult to preach in the western countries or modern world because in spite of taking vows, people don’t take the vows very seriously, sometime they take them  very lightly we should understand this very despicable, prabhupad he gave a lecture once by saying  that so the devotees are shameless ! they take vows and they don’t follow, they don’t care,  theyre shameless our initiation vows, wedding vows they don’t, afterward they just, just drop it, they don’t care for their sense gratification they can sacrifice anything .

Here raghunatha he didn’t take any vow, but he is lifelong indebted to Nityananda prabhu , for the mercy he gave him, eternally indebted, that’s actually the system of Vedic culture so that even if one gets one syllable from that guru that one syllable of spiritual instruction that syllable of spiritual instruction will give one eternally benefit , therefore one can never  fully repay that, so any amount of material service or gifts or reciprocation is simply a token that one gives knowing that that one remains always indebted, so that’s the actual consciousness of the devotees to always give, feeling obligated to the spiritual master for the mercy. So we see this quality in raghunath das , its another reason why he is glorified , he got the mercy from lord nityananda and he just revivingly felt obligated and according he acted to serve lord nitynanda and his devotees.  

 

sei haite abhyantare nā karena gamana
bāhire durgā-maṇḍape yāñā karena śayana

[CC Antya 6.155]

 

Translation

From that day on, he did not go into the interior section of the house. Instead, he would sleep on the Durgā-maṇḍapa [the place where mother Durgā was worshiped].

 

Srila prabhupada explained in one class how, in the Bengali cultured houses there was exterior part of the house and the interior part of the house there was a like a guest house

[conch blowing sound]

Haribol!

There was interior side of the house exterior ... [some sounds]

Jay Gaurachandra ki jai !

In fact many old parts of India are still in the rural, rural place , many of the city place there is like the so-called living room where the, like a reception room  for the public , & nobody goes into that interior part of the house. People sit out there, even sometimes they have guests who just outside.. , its totally separated from the inside and Prabhupad explained that initially the interior part of the house is where the women and children would stay even the husbands.. so even if its a  joint family maybe his father and five sons , all the women would live inside, inside the house and the men would live in the exterior part of the house, they only go on the interior side just to see their children or something or maybe when their children come out , they only sleep on the inside for just appropriation . they wont sleep in the same house or something all the time, so that way they will be very regulated and could quite easily practice garbhadhan samskar and the wife was respected as , very highly and not used for just sense  gratification, but with great respect.

So there is a interior and he would not go in [some words not clear too fast] he would not go in the interior section of the house he just stayed outside, even at night he didnt sleep in the exterior part of the house, but he slept in the Durgā-maṇḍap , in Bengal Durgā-maṇḍap means that krsna is worshipped everyday so there is a krsna temple but Durgā mai might not be worshipped everyday but especially these are big landlords so they are into like , Ambarish also did like so many types of worship for the different devas, so being a big landlord in Bengali also do various pujas especially in the Vijaya Dashami before that the, upto the Ekadasi, upto the Navami in Bengal they do a special Durgā  puja so I think its four days which is the, so that time they have a like a little stage which is builded so that they don’t have to make a ,every year, built like a open stage like for drama that’s where they actually put the Deity in there, its called the Durgā-maṇḍap and then they decorate it and the time of they make a Durgā deity out of clay and they place mother Durgā there and worship her once again so that’s the year and [unclear] .

Theres also the pastime where lord Nitynanda he went to visit the village of Ramchandrakanth who had offended haridas thakur by trying to offer a reward if any prostitute could make him fall down so Ramchndrakanth was very offensive to the vaishnavas so he told he cannot be staying in the guest facility  but said he could stay out ,no lord Nityananda stand on the Durgā-maṇḍap and Ramchandrakanth thought that the  Durgā-maṇḍap is been eluded by lord nityananda and went rubbed Cow dung, he is so offensive to the Vaishnavas and after that the Mohamadens, people that supervised whether the taxes are being paid Ramchandrakanth was a much smaller landlord or zamindars but he also had some followers, so they came and found he was cheating in his taxes and they arrested him and eluded his whole religion,burnt the town  , certainly destroyed the whole place so they said that if one offends a Vaishnava not only the person who offends the vaishanava suffers but the whole place, the whole village ,the whole family everyone else suffer for the offense of the one, because its such a great offense that contaminates everybody. When there is some offense, of course vaishanava aparadh is very rare, but even in the temple if somebody breaks the, even if one or two Brahmins or the priests,one of the servants of the deity or someone in the community breaks a regulative principle, they find that they had some illicit sex or something it would be customary to, or they did some, somekind of un-vaishnava activity and they would bathe the deities with milk to purify, to beg forgiveness for their offense and by bathing with a[unclear] is one of the ways of counteracting a offense, prabhuapad had described it in one of the occasion I forget the details and now in mayapur they bathe the deities everyday with Pancha Pancha litre you know.

 

tāṅhā jāgi’ rahe saba rakṣaka-gaṇa
palāite karena nānā upāya cintana

[CC Antya 6.156]

 

 

Translation

There, however, the watchmen alertly kept guard. Raghunātha dāsa was thinking of various means by which to escape their vigilance.

 

hena-kāle gauḍa-deśera saba bhakta-gaṇa
prabhure dekhite nīlācale karilā gamana

[CC Antya 6.157]

Translation

At that time, all the devotees of Bengal were going to Jagannātha Purī to see Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

 

tāṅ-sabāra saṅge raghunātha yāite nā pāre
prasiddha prakaṭa saṅga, tabahiṅ dharā paḍe

[CC Antya 6.158]

Translation

Raghunātha dāsa could not accompany them, for they were so famous that he would have been caught immediately.

ei-mata cintite daive eka-dine
bāhire devī-maṇḍape kariyāchena śayane

daṇḍa-cāri rātri yabe āche avaśeṣa
yadunandana-ācārya tabe karilā praveśa

[CC Antya 6.159-160]

Translation

Thus Raghunātha dāsa thought deeply about how to escape, and one night while he was sleeping on the Durgā-maṇḍapa, the priest Yadunandana Ācārya entered the house when only four daṇḍas remained until the end of the night.

 

vāsudeva-dattera teṅha haya ‘anugṛhīta’
raghunāthera ‘guru’ teṅho haya ‘purohita’

[CC Antya 6.161]

Translation

Yadunandana Ācārya was the priest and spiritual master of Raghunātha dāsa. Although born in a brāhmaṇa family, he had accepted the mercy of Vāsudeva Datta.

PURPORT

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments that although the atheists who have deviated from the order of Śrī Advaita Ācārya introduce themselves as followers of Advaita Ācārya, they do not accept Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Yadunandana Ācārya, one of the most confidential followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, was the initiated disciple of Advaita Ācārya. He was not polluted by sentimental distinctions classifying Vaiṣṇavas according to birth. Therefore although Vāsudeva Datta had not been born in a brāhmaṇa family, Yadunandana Ācārya accepted Vāsudeva Datta as his spiritual master.

 

Gurumaharaj speaks - must be that Vāsudeva Datta was like his siksa guru since it mentions that Diksha guru was a great acarya. Purohit is like the family guru who does the, all the, the brahmin does all the rights behalf of the, his disciples so sometime maybe for our family or maybe for a yagya, say that someone has a private temple and they want  a brahmin to worship there so they arrange the brahmin to give him some [unclear] some dakshina and he worships the deities on behalf of the family, that brahmana is considered a purohit, he is acting on behalf of someone else where he is serving the deities but the deities are not his personal deities. A [unclear] in Bangladesh there is a temple that they have offered us, this temple was established 100 years ago or so by one rich Vaishya and he mada a meritary system  of sevait , that the property put in the name of the deity and he made the sevaith of the deity or the trustee who manages the property on behalf of the deity his descendants, that’s called the sevaith, but then we are being all vaishayas we’re busy doing the business and other things , doing all one brahman who does the deity worship and he is considered one purohit that’s one of the meanings of purohit you can study that [unclear] , but here it says that not only once, Yadunandana Ācārya, the purohita the priest but also he was accepted as a guru by Raghunath das, the other point that in that time the brahmin the caste consciousness was very strong so much so that, if someone was just, Muslim’s spit in a glass of water and the water had someone, then they were considered converted to Muslim they were outcaste so easy that people got you know , so that’s why today there’s about 20% Muslims in India but their real problem was  because the brahmins they were saying that once this happens you are out. You lost your Hinduism. You lost your caste forever, there was a no, they said  you could get it back one of the budi mantra [unclear] he approached the brahmins and asked how can I get back he said you just take some hot ghee you take ghee and you boil it and you drink two kilos [laughs] boil boil so he said  I will die, ya but next birth you will take birth as a brahmin[ laughs] so this way so many in they all have prepared to take the ghee, treatment so they remained without remarrying or out caste so I must be so what to do because ah most amazing kind of conversion , so they went to[unclear] just because of this caste consciousness , of course the same person went to lord Chaitanya of how can I get purified, someone spit on me I am an outcaste , he said you chant Hare Krsna so he chants becomes alright.

So here Vāsudeva Datta although he was not born in a brahmin family but because he was a pure Vaishnava , even Yadunandana Ācārya he was obviously the , a pure devotee he didn’t have all this any kind of jati budhi in the purans it states that if someone thinks that a Vaishnava is coming from some particular jati or particular catse that’s actually hellishment analogy , Vaishnav jati buddhi nahi, guru navati , one thinks that Guru as a ordinary human being if one thinks [unclear] , if one thinks that once all these things are

[some aside talks]

And these are hellish mentalities, so Vāsudeva Datta was very broad minded like [unclear] ,he is like Yadunandana Ācārya because what he found in Vāsudeva Datta was a pure Vaishnava pure devotee he didn’t care of what people would think or what the caste was, and a Vaishnava is transcendental to all these things and he took the, accepted Vāsudeva Datta as his guru.

 

advaita-ācāryera teṅha ‘śiṣya antaraṅga’
ācārya-ājñāte māne — caitanya ‘prāṇa-dhana’

[CC Antya 6.162]

Translation

Yadunandana Ācārya had been officially initiated by Advaita Ācārya. Thus he considered Lord Caitanya his life and soul.

 

aṅgane āsiyā teṅho yabe dāṇḍāilā
raghunātha āsi’ tabe daṇḍavat kailā

[CC Antya 6.163]

Translation

When Yadunandana Ācārya entered the house of Raghunātha dāsa and stood in the courtyard, Raghunātha dāsa went there and fell down to offer his obeisances.

tāṅra eka śiṣya tāṅra ṭhākurera sevā kare
sevā chāḍiyāche, tāre sādhibāra tare

[CC Antya 6.164]

Translation

One of Yadunandana Ācārya’s disciples had been worshiping the Deity but had left that service. Yadunandana Ācārya wanted Raghunātha dāsa to induce the disciple to take up that service again.

 

raghunāthe kahe, — “tāre karaha sādhana
sevā yena kare, āra nāhika brāhmaṇa”

[CC Antya 6.165]

Translation

Yadunandana Ācārya requested Raghunātha dāsa, “Please induce the brāhmaṇa to resume the service, for there is no other brāhmaṇa to do it.”

So even time of lord Chaitanya they were devotees who were dropping, devotees were leaving out their responsibilities putting their Guru into hardship and then he had to see that deity was worshipped by this disciple who had gave up the worship of the deity, he left the service. So then its natural that one of the other god brothers of that fallen disciple , the responsible disciple should go and also preach to that disciple and get him on the right track. So Yadunandana Ācārya was requesting Raghunātha dāsa to find that devotee and preach to him to take up this devotional service again.

[aside -9:13 , laughs]

So nine-thirteen , by 9:13 we have to take grain otherwise.

[talks aside]

by nine-thirteen, anybody’s taking grains here?

eta kahi’ raghunāthe lañā calilā
rakṣaka saba śeṣa-rātre nidrāya paḍilā

[CC Antya 6.166]

Translation

After saying this, Yadunandana Ācārya took Raghunātha dāsa with him and went out. By that time all the watchmen were deeply asleep because it was the end of the night.

ācāryera ghara ihāra pūrva-diśāte
kahite śunite duṅhe cale sei pathe

[CC Antya 6.167]

Translation

East of the house of Raghunātha dāsa was the house of Yadunandana Ācārya. Yadunandana Ācārya and Raghunātha dāsa talked together as they went toward that house.

ardha-pathe raghunātha kahe gurura caraṇe
“āmi sei vipre sādhi’ pāṭhāimu tomā sthāne

[CC Antya 6.168]

Translation

Halfway along the path, Raghunātha dāsa submitted at the lotus feet of his spiritual master, “I shall go to the home of that brāhmaṇa, induce him to return, and send him to your home.

tumi sukhe ghare yāha — more ājñā haya”
ei chale ājñā māgi’ karilā niścaya

[CC Antya 6.169]

Translation

“You may go home without anxiety. Following your order, I shall persuade the brāhmaṇa.” On this plea, after asking permission, Raghunātha dāsa decided to go away.

“sevaka rakṣaka āra keha nāhi saṅge
palāite āmāra bhāla eita prasaṅge”

[CC Antya 6.170]

Translation

Raghunātha dāsa thought, “This is the greatest opportunity to go away because this time there are no servants or watchmen with me.”

eta cinti’ pūrva-mukhe karilā gamana
ulaṭiyā cāhe pāche, — nāhi kona jana

[CC Antya 6.171]

Translation

Thinking in this way, he quickly proceeded toward the east. Sometimes he turned around and looked back, but no one was following him.

śrī-caitanya-nityānanda-caraṇa cintiyā
patha chāḍi’ upapathe yāyena dhāñā

[CC Antya 6.172]

Translation

Thinking of the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, he left the general path and proceeded with great haste on the one not generally used.

 

grāme-grāmera patha chāḍi’ yāya vane vane
kāya-mano-vākye cinte caitanya-caraṇe

[CC Antya 6.173]

Translation

Giving up the general path from village to village, he passed through the jungles, thinking with heart and soul about the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

pañca-daśa-krośa-patha cali’ gelā eka-dine
sandhyā-kāle rahilā eka gopera bāthāne

[CC Antya 6.174]

Translation

He walked about thirty miles in one day, and in the evening he took rest in the cowshed of a milkman.

Gurumaharaj speaks – long walk, Padayatras walks 10 to 15 kms per day which is about 5-10 miles, he walked 30 miles he is very enthusiastic to get to lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, this time he knew how he had to stay he had east you see. Here lord Chaitanya is in Jaganath puri which is south-west of where adi-saptha brahmins Raghunath dasa’s house, Raghunātha dāsa goes the complete opposite direction east 30 miles towards Bangladesh and there he was going completely different way to it, so they cant figure out where he is going [unclear] tactic.

upavāsī dekhi’ gopa dugdha āni’ dilā
sei dugdha pāna kari’ paḍiyā rahilā

[CC Antya 6.175]

Translation

When the milkman saw that Raghunātha dāsa was fasting, he gave him some milk. Raghunātha dāsa drank the milk and lay down to rest there for the night.

ethā tāṅra sevaka rakṣaka tāṅre nā dekhiyā
tāṅra guru-pāśe vārtā puchilena giyā

[CC Antya 6.176]

Translation

At the house of Raghunātha dāsa, the servant and watchman, not seeing him there, immediately went to inquire about him from his spiritual master, Yadunandana Ācārya.

teṅha kahe, ‘ājñā māgi’ gelā nija-ghara’
‘palāila raghunātha’ — uṭhila kolāhala

[CC Antya 6.177]

Yadunandana Ācārya said, “He has already asked my permission and returned home.” Thus there arose a tumultuous sound, as everyone cried, “Now Raghunātha has gone away!”

tāṅra pitā kahe, — “gauḍera saba bhakta-gaṇa
prabhu-sthāne nīlācale karilā gamana

[CC Antya 6.178]

Raghunātha dāsa’s father said, “Now all the devotees from Bengal have gone to Jagannātha Purī to see Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

sei-saṅge raghunātha gela palāñā
daśa jana yāha, tāre ānaha dhariyā”

[CC Antya 6.179]

“Raghunātha dāsa has fled with them. Ten men should immediately go catch him and bring him back.”

Gurumaharaj speaks – ah! He wasn’t so foolish.

śivānande patrī dila vinaya kariyā
‘āmāra putrere tumi dibā bāhuḍiyā’

[CC Antya 6.180]

Raghunātha dāsa’s father wrote a letter to Śivānanda Sena, asking him with great humility, “Please return my son.”

jhāṅkarā paryanta gela sei daśa jane
jhāṅkarāte pāila giyā vaiṣṇavera gaṇe

[CC Antya 6.181]

In Jhāṅkarā, the ten men caught up with the group of Vaiṣṇavas going to Nīlācala.

patrī diyā śivānande vārtā puchila
śivānanda kahe, — ‘teṅha ethā nā āila’

[CC Antya 6.182]

After delivering the letter, the men inquired from Śivānanda Sena about Raghunātha dāsa, but Śivānanda Sena replied, “He did not come here.”

bāhuḍiyā sei daśa jana āila ghara
tāṅra mātā-pitā ha-ila cintita antara

[CC Antya 6.183]

The ten men returned home, and Raghunātha dāsa’s father and mother were filled with anxiety.

ethā raghunātha-dāsa prabhāte uṭhiyā
pūrva-mukha chāḍi’ cale dakṣiṇa-mukha hañā

[CC Antya 6.184]

Raghunātha dāsa, who had been resting at the milkman’s house, got up early in the morning. Instead of going to the east, he turned his face south and proceeded.

Gurumaharaj speaks – so yeah!

[aside – a devotee questions]

25, 30, roughly im just speculating

[a devotee asks , how old Raghunātha dāsa was at this time?]

He had young wife, he is taking Sanyasa, maybe 30 , its about she is not old . young maybe 30 35, normally they had children, I don’t know.

But he was already married, because its said that he had a wife like an apsara in the previous verse, he was a grihasta for many years and then, he wanted to just join Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

[aside – a devotee asks a question]

Ya, he went east for thirty miles and now he is going dred south, but the dredth path he is going straight south, he is going like 30 miles up the path.

 

chatrabhoga pāra hañā chāḍiyā sarāṇa
kugrāma diyā diyā karila prayāṇa

[CC Antya 6.185]

Translation

He crossed Chatrabhoga, but instead of going on the general path, he proceeded on the path that went from village to village.

Purport

Chatrabhoga, known now as Chāḍa-khāḍi, is in the district of Twenty-four Parganas in West Bengal. It is situated near the celebrated village Jayanagara-majilapura. Formerly the Ganges or some of its branches flowed through this region. Sometimes Chatrabhoga is misunderstood to have been a village on the river Kāṅsāi-nadī in Benāpola.

Gurumaharaj speaks – we want to see this Chatrabhoga, also lord Caitanya went to chatrabhoga crossing, it was the main place of crossing the river from Bengal to vindhyapur he had to cross the Ganges, now its vindyapur at that it was Rupa Narayan was part of Orissa actually there’s a river  Rup Narayan, would has influence with the Ganges and from that explains that lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu went upto that river and he was still with him the Orissan the Orissan  Kingdom of Prataprudra crossing iver that, he entered the Mohamadan kingdom of the Emperor Husain Shah. Today Orissa is little bit further currently in the wars they have pushed back, they have captured some of the area from the orissan kingdom, they never got even upto the Yamuna, but this time this was a grassholder point Chatrabhoga in which chatrabhoga even today the lotus footprint of lord Chaitanya established, he also crossed, Chtrabhogh has many temples there of different Jayanaga is famous because they make popped rice sweetballs called jayanagara mor from [unclear] like popped rice not like popcorn they pop the rice and they make balls using [unclear] those they put in nice clay pots and serve in Bengal they are famous Jaynagara mor. These are famous in very old village, celebrated so he went in 24 parganas this way [unclear]. Even today the famous indian tiger reserve is there in 24 parganas of the south, hundreds of togers, the royal Bengal tiger , the biggest cat in the world 12 feet long and half a ton weight.

[aside: a devotee asks a question ]

That’s a maximum pound 10-12 feet [unclear] some 7-8 feet is a common, but this a very big one , bigger than bigger so went[unclear]

So then he went, there was no transports in those days to go from one place to the next but ofcourse when we cross over from one kingdom to the next then king’s people the government people they require some special tax otherwise the ordinary Brahmins they could go anywhere.       

kabhu carvaṇa, kabhu randhana, kabhu dugdha-pāna
yabe yei mile, tāhe rākhe nija prāṇa

CC Antya 6.187

Translation

Sometimes he chewed fried grains, sometimes he cooked, and sometimes he drank milk. In this way he kept his life and soul together with whatever was available wherever he went.

bāra dine cali’ gelā śrī-puruṣottama
pathe tina-dina mātra karilā bhojana

CC Antya 6.188

Translation

He reached Jagannātha Purī in twelve days but could eat only for three days on the way.

Gurumaharaj speaks : its about five hundred miles from Jaganath-puri so that means 500 kilometres which is about three hundred.. averagly 30 miles a day, everyday walking, running to go to Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

svarūpādi-saha gosāñi āchena vasiyā
hena-kāle raghunātha milila āsiyā 2

CC Antya 6.189

Translation

When Raghunātha dāsa met Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Lord was sitting with His companions, headed by Svarūpa Dāmodara.

aṅganete dūre rahi’ karena praṇipāta
mukunda-datta kahe, — ‘ei āila raghunātha’

CC Antya 6.190

Translation

Staying at a distant place in the courtyard, he fell down to offer obeisances. Then Mukunda Datta said, “Here is Raghunātha.”

prabhu kahena, — ‘āisa’, teṅho dharilā caraṇa
uṭhi’ prabhu kṛpāya tāṅre kailā āliṅgana

CC Antya 6.191

Translation

As soon as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard these words, He immediately welcomed Raghunātha dāsa. “Come here,” He said. Raghunātha dāsa then clasped the lotus feet of the Lord, but the Lord stood up and embraced him out of His causeless mercy.

svarūpādi saba bhaktera caraṇa vandilā
prabhu-kṛpā dekhi’ sabe āliṅgana kailā

CC Antya 6.192

Translation

Raghunātha dāsa offered prayers at the lotus feet of all the devotees, headed by Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī. Seeing the special mercy Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had bestowed upon Raghunātha dāsa, they embraced him also.

prabhu kahe, — “kṛṣṇa-kṛpā baliṣṭha sabā haite
tomāre kāḍila viṣaya-viṣṭhā-garta haite”

CC Antya 6.193

Translation

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, “The mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa is stronger than anything else. Therefore the Lord has delivered you from the ditch of materialistic life, which is like a hole into which people pass stool.”

Purport

According to the law of karma, everyone is destined to suffer or enjoy according to a certain material standard, but the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa is so powerful that the Lord can change all the reactions of one’s past karma, or fruitive activities. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu specifically drew attention to the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa. That mercy is more powerful than anything else, for it had saved Raghunātha dāsa from the strong bondage of materialistic life, which the Lord compared to a hole where people pass stool. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave His verdict that those addicted to the materialistic way of life are like worms that are living in stool but cannot give it up. A gṛha-vrata, one who has decided to live in a comfortable home although it is actually miserable, is in a condemned position. Only the mercy of Kṛṣṇa can save one from such misery. Without Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, one cannot get out of the filthy entanglement of materialistic life. The poor living entity cannot give up his materialistic position on his own; only when granted the special mercy of Kṛṣṇa can he give it up. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew very well that Raghunātha dāsa was already liberated. Nevertheless He emphasized that Raghunātha dāsa’s life of material comfort as a very rich man’s son with a very beautiful wife and many servants to attend him was like a ditch of stool. The Lord thus specifically indicated that ordinary men who are very happy with material comforts and family life are in no better position than worms in stool.

Gurumaharaj speaks : I don’t know the west here in America maybe many of you don’t have experience of worms in stool, ugh it is a open hole with worms in stool but in Mayapur we had recently… we had personal experience because initially when we lived in a grass hut for 2 years our bathroom was by digging a hole in the groung about 10 feet deep and [unclear] and then next to that there was a bathroom built with the slide for the excrement to go down to the hole [unclear] it was a not a septic region It was a natural or you can call dark well, stool house so some time we had to inspect that the hole was not overflooding or anything we were trying that after sometime in that well which is accumulate, filled with stool that white megatight lice but worms, white worm they would be calling and the place would be filled, you would not see any stool you would see the worms seeping crawling over one another.

And then these worms would be crawling up the sides, think they want to get out, and they crawl up but it would be so slippery and moist and dark there , they crawl out about half way and boom! They fall back doen , in other words the worm could dint crawl out of the hole they tried to get always to the top crawling on worm over the other’s body over the others over the others and get into the top for a second but then the whole thing is a slimpy vampire thing that again it falls down many times the worm in the stool have been used may times for explaining how even coming up to political post sometime is like that someone gets to the top                                                                   ya ya im the worm in top !!! [laughs] back down in the pit. There are other ones n the top , im the top of the pile you know but then someones already crawling on his back and getting on top. So in eternal time even to be President for 4 years you know its just like crawling to the top of the worm pile to be just,some next 4 years later someone else will be there. So material life from the transcendental point of view , its just a dark well because so much suffereing is there and one is happy even the worm is happy their food is stool, they are living in stool that means that you can be like you know for them its like a ocean of edibles, but from any objective point of view its some hellish existence its disgusting but for a worm that’s their life they think this is great but even if some worm decides that I want to get out of this hellish place he tried to call, he cant get out there is no way to get out of there,youwant to get then someone put a stick there and you can crawl on it and he can lift you up, otherwise then you are own hopeless , you are just crawling one on top of the other but there is no way to get out. So this whole material world is temporary, its based on sense gratification whether it’s the worm or its Indra sense gratification is not the basis of happiness of transcendental happiness its sense gratification you are trying to enjoy through the senses so if someone thinks that by my senses I am trying to be happy that person is living in the dark well. We should understand that real happiness is in Krsna consciousness we should completely disgusted hopeless that there is no happiness in this material world the material world is a dark well, with that determination one doesnot unnecessarily try to increase that material comforts and opulence whatever the bare minimum the bhavana, canakya pandit was prime minister of the Emperor Chandragupta mourya he even mentioned in the Bhagavatam twelfth canto prediction in the 12^th, I think 12^th and when he was offered the prime minstership of the biggest emperor who had conquered the whole of india, he said that I don’t want any palace , I wont accept any salary  I am a brahmin , I will live in a grass hut I will advise you for the welfare of the whole kingdom for the peoples upliftment but I don’t want [unclear] I don’t need IV some [unclear] some vegetables some fruit I offer to my deity to my Saligram shila and eat I will live in that grass hut I will not need  a palace, I don’t need anything I will wear one cloth I am a brahmin I don’t need all these servants and opulence this is simply illusion. That was canakya was a grihasta he lived in the grass hut with his wife with his children he was most powerful person he was the real [unclear] behind the king, he was the brain the king was the arms he was the one who was controlling the whole thing with his intelligence the whole kingdom was running, this was Brahminical culture that actually the brahmins they were the [uclear] thaey were situated in the mode of goodness and the vaishnavas were transcendentally situated they even they were detached from the things in the mode of goodness, everthing they use for Krsna, so this Brahmanical culture was considered the most worshipable thing in the vedic culture but today midern world Brahmanical culture no one considers if you don’t have a big house then they consider you’re a bum so you live in the grass hut they think they are poor people when the namhatta preachers when they go and tour [very fast ] there is a maze of 20 devotees they came and Lakshmi moni was there in the gurukul from [unclear some place] they were surprised grass hut they are feeding the devotees 20 preparation of feast, there are so many vegatables they have rice they have dal they have the wheat they cooked a huge feast for the devotees, one chance in a lifetime when will they get 20 devotees from all over the world who come to a remote village so they gave everthing they had, put a wonderful feast by a initiated devotee they could not believe in a grass hut one after the other [unclear]  8-10 vegetables 2 3 dals 8 10 sabji sweets they have opulence but their opulence is that in the mode of goodness, so they said not understood I know one multimillionaire he has a very big grass hut he preffered he said this is  much better the brick house the sun radiates and becomes hot the thick mud wall this is a very good insulation the inside is very cool in the hot whether and in the summer, winter its very warm the thick grass roof is also very good insulation so especially for that person or the whole climate maybe different but that climate is more comfortable. Whatever that house in that person’s thinking that house is going to be my enjoyment so that man is in the dark well. So whole culture of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Vairagya Vidya, nija bhakti yoga perform devotional service and be detached to do transcendental knowledge in understanding but the devotees are preachers they understand that people are living in the  dark well, they may think that they have a big house a big car big whatever but they actually they are suffering so many inconveiniences due to material existence you cannot avoid it so many anxieties and all that happiness is based on sense gratification and not having any transcendental bliss so actually they are like the dark like a well like a worm in the well. Sometimes even devotees who know all these things but due to imitating the [unclear] due to trying to keep up with the whatever they think they facilitate of life we should have they trt to take something that they are not very careful about daily attending temple programs and daily chanting hare krsna and doing everything in devotional service they start to become try-vaishnavas almost vaishnavas they do some devotional service but their happiness but they actually think is whats needed to make them happy this is some material comforts and that becomes the primary endeavor with how to get money how to get a comfortable thing how to, that becomes the, not more sustenance, its like  sometime people say we live to eat or eat to live. Are you living to be comfortable oryoujust working so thatyoucan exist soyoucan, actually the purpose in Krsna consciousness isyoutake whateveryouneed and do your devotional service but sometimes due to the whole in the ocean of worms here, ocean big well like an ocean, everyone has got their dark well, we are trying to be happy with the material sense gratification and only Krsna consciousness that we can see is openly preaching in this material existence [unclear] although its there in all the scriptures but who is educating the people in all that. So that once they washed into this well when they get into that [unclear]  painful situation they cant get out even [unclear] this concept is there [unclear] once you are in ityoucant out like a little rat running in the cage he goes on the wheel and tries to run and run to get out but the wheel just keeps spinning around. I had a pet hamster when I was a little boyyouwill see him running on the wheel he tried [some sound gurudev makes] but it just keeps spinning does not get anywhere but he goes faster and faster thinking that he can get out in a minute! And realizes that the whole wheel is spinning, so people get locked up into that                                                               [aside] [Gm converses with the devotees]                                                                                                 [laughs] I just saw my watch at 12 secs [unclear] [laughs]                                                                 I remember that there was one grihasta couple and the wife had run off with some other man and the husband was very upset! And went to srila prabhupad said I want to take Sannyas I understood material life and there is frustration so prabhupad accepted, actually I know two cases like this and we immediately  had a yagya made in Mayapur and next time they were made standing with the dandas, next we know that they are standing with the dandas they were sannyasis, off course they have really prepared themselves they had a early detachment although they should have, they unfortunately after sometime the sannyasis didn’t make it all the way because they didn’t stay strictly in that, they again tried to have comfortable situation then they say whatever krsna gives sometimes your in comfort sometimes your in hardship whatever krsna provides your [unclear] sannaysis in previous times lived in a huts now they live in temples sometime in temples there is facility sometimes there is no facility sometimes your in the woods ,travelling Sankirtan taking shower by taking a bucket and a lota sometime you get hot or cold running water, but during the [unclear] they always cool shower so take whatever comes don’t endeavor unnecessarily for comfort, actually prabhupad accepted this was the reason that [unclear] someone’s virakti, virakti means see the sannyasis have total virakti virakti means we discussed it kara detached , vairagya but that has to be properly applied in devotional service, actualy one should realize that this material life is not the source of happiness but there is somehow the person got into that mentality that he can be happy through the material life and then they realize oh! This is not the source of happiness then they can take that [unclear] opportunity krsna is giving mercy that they can fully again get absorbed whether as a sannyasi or whether as a properly situated devotee that knows that whatever I do I should not compromise, actually prabhupada said that if someone is fully krsna conscious that there is no doubt that they will go back to godhead [unclear] for their whole life there is no doubt but if one takes the grihasta life there is 50% chance they wont go because of this thing they get tied up. Maya is such that the griha-kshetra-sutapta- they just start getting into this thing [unclear] have a bigger house have a better car, have more money after this after that never ends they have a license to have all these things and even he doesn’t have the license if he goes one inch everyone will follow, the grihasta has the license they have to control themselves how much to work for, [unclear] what is the necessity? Of course that’s why  prabhupad was merciful that he said that no other guru in our sampradaya has allowed grihastas to live in temple community like this he said that all of them are matt so all renounced people and all the grihastas living outside but living outside in india grass hutyoucan live but in the western worls as soon asyoulive outsideyouhave to work so hard both people having jobs working day and night this that this thatyousee once that so often once the devotee working out if they are lucky then once a week they can come for a Sunday feast we live in the community there is a opportunity to come everyday but they don’t take that opportunity that’s great misfortune for them what is the use of living in the temple community whereyoucan have daily sadhana bhakti if one doesn’t take it. So prabhupad said he was giving us special mercy so like in Mayapur he said the chandrodaya mandira all the other gaudiya matta, Chaitanya matta, matta means only the renounced people sannyasis, brahmacharis and maybe some widows, matta no couples can live they said this  is mandir, mandir temple, templeyoucan also have like so many temples like the priest the husband and the wife are living so like this,but this is, be one should be careful the purpose of serving radha-madhava, lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Mayapur the present standard so prabhupad wanted some brahmanas wanted some vaishnavas wo were the dedicated to cultivating the god consciousness and that’s the biggest problem that, especially the whole American system is everyone should work and enjoy more so somehow Raghunath das he was born like that he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth he had everything but his parents thought that this was his golden life, they couldn’t understand why his son ran away to lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and he is chanting with Caitanya Mahāprabhu and all his associates in Jaganath puri when he had such a nice house so many servants and everything he wanted, they couldnot understand why he wanted to go and join lord Caitanya they didn’t worship any, that’s  all right one day some kirtan and all that, that was their understanding, they were devotees but they were not, they were lord Caitanya called them as Vaishnava pride because all though they were devotees they were wearing tilak they were having daily bhagavatam class in the evening they were walking around with their bead bags and things but actually they were not thinking that was their real happiness they were very attached to their material things , there is total difference from say pundarik vidyanale who had everthinh he was a landlord he had all, he was completely detached from all his material things he just put a shawl to do his job and he was completely absorbed in krsna consciousness there was no attachment for these thongs or zamindar family they were considered Vaishnava by lord Caitanya almost vaishnavas they were probably vaishnavas  but they are not fixed up in pure devotional service they were too attached to the other things so they are holding a, that’s why the they thought without these things we wont be happy for other devotees [unclear] he used that in krsna’s service without thse things it didn’t make any difference and he showed that in every occasion not that he misused it, since krsna gave it he used it he was born as a son of a great landlord brahmin family but he didn’t hw was not attached to he spent his time going to lord Caitanya going to Navadvip he always be hearing discourses of krsna consciousness [unclear] he was already in the transcendental path [unclear] this lifestyle may also affect him so one has to very careful strictly follow the regular sadhana and everything and sometimes the devotee they realize that this is really useful for devotional service [unclear] just for having a comfortable life that’s no use what is this comfort so much suffering is there they have to suffer so much to get comfort they have to strive and work and endeavor to get so called comfort its not the highest understanding actually if someones really intelligent krsna gives mercy and they can see them I should simplfy my whole existence and engage fully in devotional service that’s where one feels pleased that’s where one feels ecstasy that’s where one actually is having the real transcendental [unclear] that’s where he is fully absorbed in devotional service, otherwise material life is so delicate its like a lotus leaf on the water that [unclear] one minute it seems everything is alright and then fhat! And then in the minute everything is like in  a hurricane your just tossed around and you don’t know whats going to happen from one second to the other, this is the material life so how we can build up foundation on such a quick sand, base but this is the illusion maya gives yesyoucan be happyyoujust have to have this and thatyoujust have to make this arrangement that arrangement its illusion its maya, there is no such arrangement that makesyouhappy in this material world, the real devotee whatever ashram he may be in he knows that there is zero possibility of being happy simply by material arrangement, the only happiness that one can actually hold onto permanently which is a real happiness is krsna consciousness.

Thankyouvery much Hare krsna!

[devotes] Jay! Jay

Any questions? Yes, pardon like to continue the reading its late otherwise I would have,youlike the class? We will continue tomorrow.

Any other question?

[a devotee asks about canakya pandit]

Prabhupad said it, he was more like a brahmana, brahmanas would also worship saligrams but he was not considered specifically like a pure Vaishnava or such he was just a very ethical brahmin, but also as a brahmin he was worshipping Vishnu.

[a devotee asks something]

Ya he was , just like Dronacharya was a brahmin but he was teaching military arts, so Canakya was a brahmin but he was a teacher, brahmins function is a techer but he was a expert on political science in fact he wrote many books on economy, arthasah on how to run a kingdom economically, how the people can be prosperous everything he wrote [unclear] he would give many moral instructions he was a vry moral person Canakya saying’s are still quoted all over india his book on government administration called the arthasastra how to choose who should be a good minister for their king how to setup the kingdom how should be the administration how many ministries you require how many departments how many how the what to do if someone even I saw that he just gave a commentary a running commentory like manu Samhita Visvanatha teachings and snathipaurbha Mahabharat its like a conventions put that into one thing, he even gave how a king should judge if someone steals money from someone else then he should pay if he gets caught he should either opt for jail or pay that person eight times of what he stole from him what and all that 8times fine if he had the capacity if he doesnot want to give then put him in jail first take 8time and give to the other person. What to do if marital problems if something happens what was the king supposed to decide in what circumstances it was all quotes are given you don’t have to go to the supreme court evry time they change this time this way and next time that way and all that, according to the sastras if this thing happens in this and this should be decided like that the supreme court is already there [unclear] the kingdom had to tax [unclear] like which circumstance does this fit [too fast] what should be the decision that’s  already known , everyone knows so he gave so many things like that he also said that if a person [unclear] he is not a Vaishnava then you cannot depend on him, he is not believing in god, hopeless.

[devotee asks a question] 

Ya prabhupad explained krsna explained thatyoushould do your duty for krsna do whatyouare doing for krsna, and krsna will do, he will fulfil his obligation toyouwhatever his promise is toyounot obligation but its his promise, a devotee does their duty so like the Guru Prabhupad ahs instructed to do this service to do this preach krsna consciousness [unclear]yougive in this way people may say how will I survive how can I do? Well krsna is saying I will giveyouwhat you need , we have to work not that we don’t work we have to work, we work according to what prabhupad has said some of us calculate by working that way I will never make ahead, that’s where the question of depending on krsna and prabhupad comes. Yes

[devotee asks a question] 

 The first point is that, if one artificially leaves the house then that’s also against the regulative principles that also is a family disturbance the lords Caitanya’s teaching is that Vairagya Vidya, one should use everything in the service of krsna so, in this one sense Raghunath das is running away mayt times people their actual intention might be I want to be happy their having some material anxiety so they want to renounce their family too much headache paying the bills maintaining the family this that kids [unclear] that’s the only negative impetus they are not developed a strong attachment for krsna then what happens is that once things cool down then they again start forgrtting all the sufferings of material life and they think that its gonna be honki dori again its gonna be great again when I go back [unclear] so that’s considered a type of negative or dry-renunciation  lord Caitanya didn’t want people just to renounce artificially this way, if someone really realize that one hand the material life is a dark well and the other hand they have developed positive attraction for krsna consciousness then its quite natural that they leave that dark well and just fully engage in devotional service they don’t look back the people are continuos thinking that I was happy at that moment that second I really liked it, maybe I can be happy again didn’t work out because this thing wasn’t right that thing wasn’t right again in the future I can make some arrangement it will be right don’t worry so if the mind is not fixed here in the real vairagya vidya, sp therefore its not appropriate for that person to enter to the renounced order like that [unclear] some people they may I mean discuss to that moment they took sannyasa, but they were not prepared later they weren’t able to maintain that virakti bhav the renounced mood because of not fully         realizing all this not having a positive attraction to krsna consciousness and that’s strong so  lord Caitanya he was very, he knew that, not that there is a contradiction here , its not a real contradiction unlessyoucome to the point of actually realizing that this is a dark well thenyoushould leave it, ifyouare still thinking that this is ayouknow forced [unclear] dark well thenyoudon’t leave it [too fast] so if one has very strong renounced feeling then he can get out or better than that is simultaneously have a  very strong attachment for the  lord, so  lord Caitanya didn’t want us to, accept someone running, so I want to join you, saidyoustay, practice in your house,youuse everything for krsna, practically he couldn’t use anything for krsna why because its not his own property its his fathers property its his [unclear] there are not 100% krsna consciousness they had so many other they were born as krsna conscious they were vaishnavas but they weren’t ready to lose everything they had so many other they had some other little bit other interest they used something for krsna it wasn’t all that it was 90% 80% some percent I don’t know what percent some percent so Raghunath das he used it in big festivals where hundreds and thousands of people he gave donations he supported vaishnavas he used everything by serving the vaishnavas he got the blessings alrightyoudon’t need to do this, there is so much other things he had to do, he had to use his energy to get his uncle who was stealing the tax money from the emperor he had to get him saved he had to do so many other things, not thatyoujust do devotional service, to run that business of being a landlord he had to do other politics and different things so he wanted to do fully devotional service he wasn’t able to do it fully the way he like it and plus he wanted to agree to take the association of  lord Caitanya.

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