19911003 Caitanya-caritamrita Madhya-līlā 1.260-287 (SB 7.10.4)

Lecture Code: 1991003  19911003

Scripture: Chaitanya Caritamrita- Madhya Lila

Verse: Chapter 1.260 to 1.287 &  SB 7.10.4 Lecture by

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja

In Atlanta, Georgia - USA

 

 

vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams ca

sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam

sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devam

sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca

 

Chaitya Charitamrita- Madhya Lila Ch 1.

TEXT 260

prasiddha patha chāḍi’ prabhu upapathe calilā

‘kaṭaka’ ḍāhine kari’ vane praveśilā

Translation: Thereafter Sanātana Gosvāmī met the Lord again, and the Lord tested him in scorching heat during the month of Jyaiṣṭha.

 

TEXT 261

tuṣṭa hañā prabhu tāṅre pāṭhāilā vṛndāvana

advaitera haste prabhura adbhuta bhojana

 

Translation: Being pleased, the Lord sent Sanātana Gosvāmī back to Vṛndāvana. After that, He was fed wonderfully by the hands of Śrī Advaita Ācārya.

 

TEXT 262

nityānanda-saṅge yukti kariyā nibhṛte

tāṅre pāṭhāilā gauḍe prema pracārite

 

Translation: After sending Sanātana Gosvāmī back to Vṛndāvana, the Lord privately consulted with Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu. He then sent Him to Bengal to preach love of Godhead.

TEXT 263

tabe ta' vallabha bhaṭṭa prabhure mililā

kṛṣṇa-nāmera artha prabhu tāṅhāre kahilā

 

Translation: Soon afterward, Vallabha Bhaṭṭa met the Lord at Jagannātha Purī, and the Lord explained to him the import of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.

Purport

Vallabha Bhaṭṭa is the head of the Vaiṣṇava sampradāya known as the Vallabhācārya-sampradāya in western India. There is a long story about Vallabha Ācārya narrated in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, specifically in the seventh chapter of the Antya-līlā and the nineteenth chapter of the Madhya-līlā. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu visited the house of Vallabha Ācārya on the other side of Prayāga, in a place known as Āḍāila-grāma. Later, Vallabhācārya saw Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī to explain his commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He was very proud of his writings, but Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu corrected him, telling him that a Vaiṣṇava should be humble and follow in the footsteps of his predecessors. The Lord told him that his pride in being superior to Śrīdhara Svāmī was not at all befitting a Vaiṣṇava.

 

TEXT 264

pradyumna miśrere prabhu rāmānanda-sthāne

kṛṣṇa-kathā śunāila kahi' tāṅra guṇe

 

Translation: After explaining the transcendental qualities of Rāmānanda Rāya, the Lord sent Pradyumna Miśra to the residence of Rāmānanda Rāya, and Pradyumna Miśra learned kṛṣṇa-kathā from him.

 

TEXT 265

gopīnātha paṭṭanāyaka--rāmānanda-bhrātā

rājā māritechila, prabhu haila trātā

 

Translation: After this, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu saved Gopīnātha Paṭṭanāyaka, the younger brother of Rāmānanda Rāya, from being condemned to death by the King.

TEXT 266

rāmacandra-purī-bhaye bhikṣā ghāṭāilā

vaiṣṇavera duḥkha dekhi' ardheka rākhilā

 

Translation: Rāmacandra Purī criticized Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu's eating; therefore the Lord reduced His eating to a minimum. However, when all the Vaiṣṇavas became very sorry, the Lord increased His portion to half as much as usual.

TEXT 267

brahmāṇḍa-bhitare haya caudda bhuvana

caudda-bhuvane vaise yata jīva-gaṇa

 

Translation: There are fourteen planetary systems within the universe, and all living entities reside in those planetary systems.

 

TEXT 268

manuṣyera veśa dhari' yātrikera chale

prabhura darśana kare āsi' nīlācale

 

Translation: Dressing like human beings on pilgrimage, they all used to come to Jagannātha Purī to visit Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

 

TEXT 269

eka-dina śrīvāsādi yata bhakta-gaṇa

mahāprabhura guṇa gāñā karena kīrtana

 

Translation: One day all the devotees, headed by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, were chanting the transcendental qualities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

 

TEXT 270

śuni' bhakta-gaṇe kahe sa-krodha vacane

kṛṣṇa-nāma-guṇa chāḍi, ki kara kīrtane

 

Translation: Not liking the chanting of His transcendental qualities, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chastised them as if He were angry. "What kind of chanting is this?" He asked. "Are you leaving aside the chanting of the holy name of the Lord?"

TEXT 271

auddhatya karite haila sabākāra mana

svatantra ha-iyā sabe nāśā 'be bhuvana

 

Translation: Thus Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chastised all the devotees, telling them not to show impudence and spoil the entire world by becoming independent.

Purport

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu warned all His followers not to become independent or impudent. Unfortunately, after the disappearance of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, many apa-sampradāyas (so-called followers) invented many ways not approved by the ācāryas. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has described them as the āula, bāula, kartābhajā, neḍā, daraveśa, sāni, sahajiyā, sakhībhekī, smārta, jāta-gosāñi, ativāḍī, cūḍādhārī and gaurāṅga-nāgarī.

The āula-sampradāya, bāula-sampradāya and others invented their own ways of understanding Lord Caitanya’s philosophy, without following in the footsteps of the ācāryas. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself indicates herein that all such attempts would simply spoil the spirit of His cult.

TEXT 272

daśa-dike koṭī koṭī loka hena kāle

jaya kṛṣṇa-caitanya' bali' kare kolāhale

 

Translation: When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was apparently in a angry mood and chastising His devotees, many thousands of people outside loudly cried in a tumultuous voice, "All glories to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu!"

 

TEXT 273

jaya jaya mahāprabhu--vrajendra-kumāra

jagat tārite prabhu, tomāra avatāra

 

Translation: All the people began to call very loudly, "All glories to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the son of Mahārāja Nanda! Now You have appeared in order to deliver the whole world!

 

TEXT 274

bahu-dūra haite āinu hañā baḍa ārta

daraśana diyā prabhu karaha kṛtārtha

 

Translation: "O Lord, we are very unhappy. We have come a long distance to see You. Please be merciful and show us Your favor."

 

TEXT 275

śuniyā lokera dainya dravilā hṛdaya

bāhire āsi' daraśana dilā dayā-maya

 

Translation: When the Lord heard the humble petition made by the people, his heart softened. Being very merciful, He immediately came out and gave audience to all of them.

 

TEXT 276

bāhu tuli' bale prabhu bala' 'hari' 'hari'

uṭhila--śrī-hari-dhvani catur-dik bhari'

 

Translation: Raising His arms, the Lord asked everyone to chant loudly the vibration of the holy name of Lord Hari. There immediately arose a great stir, and the vibration of "Hari!" filled all directions.

 

TEXT 277

prabhu dekhi' preme loka ānandita mana

prabhuke īśvara bali' karaye stavana

 

Translation: Seeing the Lord, everyone became joyful out of love. Everyone accepted the Lord as the Supreme, and thus they offered their prayers.

 

TEXT 278

stava śuni' prabhuke kahena śrīnivāsa

ghare gupta hao, kene bāhire prakāśa

Translation: While the people were offering their prayers unto the Lord, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura sarcastically said to the Lord, "At home, You wanted to be covered. Why have You exposed Yourself outside?"

TEXT 279

ke śikhāla ei loke, kahe kon bāta

ihā-sabāra mukha ḍhāka diyā nija hāta

 

Translation: Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura continued, "Who has taught these people? What are they saying? Now You can cover their mouths with Your own hand.

 

TEXT 280

sūrya yaiche udaya kari' cāhe lukāite

bujhite nā pāri taiche tomāra carite

 

Translation: "It is as if the sun, after rising, wanted to hide itself. We cannot understand such characteristics in Your behavior."

 

TEXT 281

prabhu kahena,--śrīnivāsa, chāḍa viḍambanā

sabe meli' kara mora kateka lāñcanā

 

Translation: The Lord replied, "My dear Śrīnivāsa, please stop joking. You have all combined together to humiliate Me in this way."

 

TEXT 282

eta bali' loke kari' śubha-dṛṣṭi dāna

abhyantare gelā, lokera pūrṇa haila kāma

 

Translation: Thus speaking, the Lord entered His room after glancing auspiciously upon the people out of charity. In this way the desires of the people were completely fulfilled.

 

TEXT 283

raghunātha-dāsa nityānanda-pāśe gelā

ciḍā-dadhi-mahotsava tāhāṅi karilā

 

Translation: At this time, Raghunātha dāsa approached Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu and, according to His order, prepared a feast and distributed prasāda composed of chipped rice and curd.

Purport: There is a special preparation in Bengal wherein chipped rice is mixed with curd and sometimes with sandeśa and mango. It is a very palatable food offered to the Deity and then distributed to the public. Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, who was a householder at this time, met Nityānanda Prabhu. According to His advice, he executed this festival of dadhi-ciḍā-prasāda.

 

TEXT 284

tāṅra ājñā lañā gelā prabhura caraṇe

tāṅra prabhu tāṅre samarpilā svarūpera sthāne

 

Translation: Later, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī left home and took shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī. At that time, the Lord received him and placed him under the care of Svarūpa Dāmodara for spiritual enlightenment.

Purport: In this regard, Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī writes in Vilāpa-kusumāñjali (5):

yo māṁ dustara-geha-nirjala-mahā-kūpād apāra-klamāt

sadyaḥ sāndra-dayāmbudhiḥ prakṛtitaḥ svairīkṛpā-rajjubhiḥ

uddhṛtyātma-saroja-hindi-caraṇa-prāntaṁ prapadya svayaṁ

śrī-dāmodara-sac cakāra tam ahaṁ caitanya-candraṁ bhaje

 

"Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who, by His unreserved mercy, kindly saved me from household life, which is exactly like a blind well without water, and placed me in the ocean of transcendental joy under the care of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī."

 

TEXT 285

brahmānanda-bhāratīra ghucāila carmāmbara

ei mata līlā kaila chaya vatsara

 

Translation: Later, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu stopped Brahmānanda Bhāratī's habit of wearing deerskin. The Lord thus enjoyed His pastimes continuously for six years, experiencing varieties of transcendental bliss.

 

TEXT 286

ei ta' kahila madhya-līlāra sūtra-gaṇa

śeṣa dvādaśa vatsarera śuna vivaraṇa

 

Translation: I have thus given a synopsis of the madhya-līlā. Now please hear the pastimes the Lord performed during the last twelve years.

Purport: Thus Śrīla Kavirāja Gosvāmī, strictly following in the footsteps of Śrī Vyāsadeva, gives a synopsis of the līlās of Caitanya-caritāmṛta. He has given such a description at the end of each canto. In the Ādi-līlā he outlined the pastimes of the Lord in the five stages of boyhood, leaving the details of the description to Śrīla Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura. Now in this chapter the pastimes that took place at the end of the Lord's life are summarized. These are described in the Madhya-līlā and Antya-līlā. The rest of the pastimes have been described in a synopsis in the Second Chapter of the Madhya-līlā. In this way the author has gradually described both the madhya-līlā and the antya-līlā.

 

TEXT 287

śrī-rūpa-raghunātha-pade yāra āśa

caitanya-caritāmṛta kahe kṛṣṇadāsa

 

Translation: Praying at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Raghunātha, always desiring their mercy, I, Kṛṣṇadāsa, narrate Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, following in their footsteps.

 

SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM- 7.10.4

Ch 10. TEXT 4

nānyathā te ’khila-guro

ghaṭeta karuṇātmanaḥ

yas ta āśiṣa āśāste

na sa bhṛtyaḥ sa vai vaṇik

 

Translation: Otherwise, O my Lord, O supreme instructor of the entire world, You are so kind to Your devotee that You could not induce him to do something unbeneficial for him. On the other hand, one who desires some material benefit in exchange for devotional service cannot be Your pure devotee. Indeed, he is no better than a merchant who wants profit in exchange for service.

 

Purport

It is sometimes found that one comes to a devotee or a temple of the Lord just to get some material benefit. Such a person is described here as a mercantile man. Bhagavad-gītā speaks of ārto jijñāsur arthārthī. The word ārta refers to one who is physically distressed, and arthārthī refers to one in need of money. Such persons are forced to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead for mitigation of their distress or to get some money by the benediction of the Lord. They have been described as sukṛtī, pious, because in their distress or need for money they have approached the Supreme Lord. Unless one is pious, one cannot approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, although a pious man may receive some material benefit, one who is concerned with material benefits cannot be a pure devotee. When a pure devotee receives material opulences, this is not because of his pious activity but for the service of the Lord. When one engages in devotional service, one is automatically pious. Therefore, a pure devotee is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam. He has no desire for material profit, nor does the Lord induce him to try to profit materially. When a devotee needs something, the Supreme Personality of Godhead supplies it (yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham).

Sometimes materialists go to a temple to offer flowers and fruit to the Lord because they have learned from Bhagavad-gītā that if a devotee offers some flowers and fruits, the Lord accepts them. In Bhagavad-gītā (9.26) the Lord says:

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ

yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam

aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” Thus a man with a mercantile mentality thinks that if he can get some material benefit, like a large amount of money, simply by offering a little fruit and flower, this is good business. Such persons are not accepted as pure devotees. Because their desires are not purified, they are still mercantile men, even though they go to temples to make a show of being devotees. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam: only when one is fully freed from material desires can one be purified, and only in that purified state can one serve the Lord. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate. This is the pure devotional platform.

 

Lecture by H.H Jayapataka Maharaj:

Guru Maharaj sings: Jaya Jaya Sri Chaitanya Gaura Jaya Nityananda. Jaya Advaita Chandra Jaya Gaura Bhakta Vrnda. (Refer to text above, 260-268). According to Chaitanya Charitamrita there were residents or visitors of other planets or extra celestials who would regularly come and visit Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They would disguise themselves as ordinary pilgrims coming to Jagannath Puri as devotees. As a disguise they would see the lord. Also 500 years ago this was a concern for the people extra celestials. Nowadays people are interested in UFOS and visitors from other planets. But what did visitors from other planets see? That time they would go to see Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He is the Lord of everyone who has come. In the higher planetary systems, they were predictions given that the Lord was coming so they wanted to take advantage of the Lord’s residence so they also came to see the Lord.   

(Refer to text above 270 - 272). Before Lord Chaitanya wanted all his followers not to become independent or impediment. Unfortunately after the disappearance of the Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, many apa Sampradayas, so called followers invented many ways not approved by the Acharyas. Bhaktivinod Thakur has described them as the

“aula, baula, kartabhaja, neda. daravesa, sani

sahajiya, sakhibeki, smarta, jata-gosani

ativadi, cudadhari, gauranga-nagari

tato kahe, ei terara sanga nahi kari”.

The Aula Sampradaya, Baula Sampradaya, and others invented their own ways of understanding Lord Chaitanya’s philosophy without following in the footsteps of the Acharyas. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself indicates here that all such attempts simply spoil the spirit of this movement. The purpose of the nayaks mentioned here are introducing all the material concepts in the name of following the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Everything is part of Krishna, everything is the energy of Krishna so this body is also micro facet of Krishna. Everything that body produces is pure. Everything that the body does is pure. To prove their point they put Tilak on with their human stool, and they do every conceivable activity with the body including the breaking of four regulative principles. All they think that the idea is all pure because this body is conscious and micro facet of Krishna. By some speculation they are able to concat anything. They are called Suhajiya adhikar as they introduce material concepts in the name of following Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Apparently they were chanting Lord Chaitanya's name again and again, Nitai Gaur! Nitai Gaur!. Then Lord Chaitanya interrupted saying why are you chanting my name again. You could chant the Holy name of Lord Krishna. Though Prabhupad did not like it when they chanted ‘Prabhupada! Prabhupad’ unlimited times he did mention that he wanted to give the holy names of Krishna. Sometimes devotees get carried away by chanting the names of their Guru again and again and again…. again which is going on and on.

 In the Hare Krishna movement we are trying to follow what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted. Little bit of chanting the names of the Lord, chanting the names of the guru sometimes is alright but it would be so much that it replaces the chanting of Hare Krsna maha mantra. Generally a few times is adequate in offering glories to the guru.

Here Lord Chaitanya is getting angry, and he is telling that if you do not stop chanting my name and start chanting Hare Krishna maha mantra while he said that a very amazing thing happened.

 

(Refer text above 272) While Lord Chaitanya was chastising his devotees, people from all different planetary systems and thousands and millions of people were outside and this is the description of what happened. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was in an angry mood and chastising his devotees, many thousands of people crowded and cried with tumultuous sound to stop teasing Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. (Refer texts 273-274) So, here they are shouting like this outside, attracting the attention of the Lord. Thousands of people would come from a long way, many light years away. (Refer texts 275-283). Nitai Gaur Premanande Hari Haribol…….. (devotees Haribol….)

Does anyone know where the festival was held? Pani Hati. Pani Hati Dham ki Jai! New Pani Hati Dham ki Jai! So this was special prasadam, very palatable food offered to the deity distributed to the public. This festival was before in Pani Hati and still being relived Pani Hati and in new Pani Hati. (Refer text 284). So Krishnadas Kaviraj explains how Raghunath Das finally achieved the mercy of Lord Chaitanya and was placed under the care of Swarup Damodar, the personal secretary of Lord Chaitanya. You can imagine what a great transcendental joy Raghunath Das was experiencing feeling great separation from the Lord with special mercy. Here ends Madhya Lila Ch 1 of Chaitanya Charitamrita. .

OM TAT SAT.

 

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya (3 times) next starts Srimad Bhagvatam- 7.10.4 with purport.

Guru Maharaj recites and devotees repeated,  Translation also repeated by devotees.

SB 7.10.4:

 

nānyathā te ’khila-guro

ghaṭeta karuṇātmanaḥ

yas ta āśiṣa āśāste

na sa bhṛtyaḥ sa vai vaṇik

SYNONYMS

na—not; anyathā—otherwise; te—of You; akhila-guro—O supreme instructor of the entire creation; ghaṭeta—such a thing can happen; karuṇā-ātmanaḥ—the Supreme Person, who is extremely kind to His devotees; yaḥ—any person who; te—from You; āśiṣaḥ—material benefits; āśāste—desires (in exchange for serving You); na—not; saḥ—such a person; bhṛtyaḥ—a servitor; saḥ—such a person; vai—indeed; vaṇik—a merchant (who wants to get material profit from his business).

TRANSLATION

Otherwise, O my Lord, O supreme instructor of the entire world, You are so kind to Your devotee that You could not induce him to do something unbeneficial for him. On the other hand, one who desires some material benefit in exchange for devotional service cannot be Your pure devotee. Indeed, he is no better than a merchant who wants profit in exchange for service.

PURPORT

It is sometimes found that one comes to a devotee or a temple of the Lord just to get some material benefit. Such a person is described here as a mercantile man. Bhagavad-gītā speaks of ārto jijñāsur arthārthī. The word ārta refers to one who is physically distressed, and arthārthī refers to one in need of money. Such persons are forced to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead for mitigation of their distress or to get some money by the benediction of the Lord. They have been described as sukṛtī, pious, because in their distress or need for money they have approached the Supreme Lord. Unless one is pious, one cannot approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. However, although a pious man may receive some material benefit, one who is concerned with material benefits cannot be a pure devotee. When a pure devotee receives material opulences, this is not because of his pious activity but for the service of the Lord. When one engages in devotional service, one is automatically pious. Therefore, a pure devotee is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11]. He has no desire for material profit, nor does the Lord induce him to try to profit materially. When a devotee needs something, the Supreme Personality of Godhead supplies it (yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham [Bg. 9.22]).

Sometimes materialists go to a temple to offer flowers and fruit to the Lord because they have learned from Bhagavad-gītā that if a devotee offers some flowers and fruits, the Lord accepts them. In Bhagavad-gītā (9.26) the Lord says:

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ

yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam

aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” Thus a man with a mercantile mentality thinks that if he can get some material benefit, like a large amount of money, simply by offering a little fruit and flower, this is good business. Such persons are not accepted as pure devotees. Because their desires are not purified, they are still mercantile men, even though they go to temples to make a show of being devotees. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam: [Cc. Madhya 19.170] only when one is fully freed from material desires can one be purified, and only in that purified state can one serve the Lord. Hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate. This is the pure devotional platform.

 

This verse is very important. After Narsinga Dev offered the benediction to Prahalad that you can have anything in the material world you want, anything you want. But Prahalad refused saying that if I ask for something material, then it reduces me to a businessman, serving you with a desire for something. The pure devotee simply wants to please the Lord, there is no personal material intention. It is the impure devotee, the mixed devotees who are desiring various material benedictions.

So, here the process of pure devotional service is very clearly explained. Srila Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Thakur gives an example and Srila Prabhupad also uses the same example. About a person trying to stand with his feet in two different boats in the river, eventually the boats will split apart. What happens? Obviously when the two boats split apart, the person will fall into the water. This is the situation, we are trying to accommodate our material desires and our spiritual desires.

There is a saying in the west: ‘To have your cake, you eat it too’. You want the cake on the table and you want to eat it too! If you eat it, then there is no cake left. If you want to just look at the cake, then you cannot eat it. So someone wants material sense gratification, wants the material comforts, wants the material facilities at the same time they also want ecstasy of pure love of Krishna or ecstasy of pure Krishna consciousness. There is a contradiction, the summary of Krishna consciousness is to become detached from the material activities.

In this regard, the example is given that sometimes people enter into the Grihastha ashram thinking that there is a good alternative ‘I can enjoy sense gratification at the same time I can be a pure devotee’. The acharyas explain that it is not proper attitude to become a Grihastha, that for devotees they decide which ashram for them to serve Krishna. The purpose is to please Krishna. They know that ultimately no happiness in material life. With that firm conviction, the pure devotee is simply serving Krishna.

So a Grihastha devotee has got more activities that they do but they also do that as a sacrifice with a purpose of pleasing Krishna. As soon as the increasing of the complexities of material situation becomes a predominant desire., you will find a conflict with pure devotional service. So there is a difference between pure devotees who are either Sanyasis or Grihasthas; and other devotees who are mixed devotees, they are not purely engaging in Krishna’s service. Normally you see these materialists they do not understand what pure devotional service is at all. They are this slightest group that is incomprehensible so they ask while we are preaching anything as long as they have sense gratification they will be alright. But a devotee is always struggling or at least may be he is not struggling in higher levels but he is always engaging his senses in Krishna’s service in whatever ashram he is in.

So this is a very essential point to understand that we have seen so many devotees went downward in their Krishna Consciousness deluded, and a little delusion in pure devotional service is no longer there. Pure devotion means pure devotion as soon as it becomes impure devotion it no longer is a pure devotion.                                     

If we are trying simultaneously to enjoy sense gratification and have all kinds of material comforts and facilities which are not necessary for devotional service; you want them because you want to enjoy them because of material desire. You will not be able to dovetail those things in Krishna’s service. We just want them because it is our lust, it is our greed, it is our desire. We find ourselves in perplexing situations standing in the river one foot in the boat of material desires, and the other on the boat of devotional service. Then the two boats start going in different directions, the problem is that we tend to fall down into the water. In order to substantiate our material desires for added material facilities; and if it is not clear that Krishna consciousness does not come by Krishna’s mercy. If we had to leave our devotional service in order to expand our material situation then we had to find some excuse. ‘Nobody likes me, everybody is against me, everybody is playing politics against me, the whole world is into politics, and the mind will come up with so many different excuses’. What is the conclusion? Sense gratification. Leave devotional service and go to another situation, which is more compromised material. So we have to be very careful and we have to be completely sincere not to unnecessarily increase our material situation simply for the sake of sense gratification at the expense of devotional service. We have to keep the devotional service as the priority in our life, and everything else is adjusted accordingly.

So some circumstances are there for Grihasthas they have to deal with many different situations for children and family and money. They have a responsibility to always keep their attachment with Krishna to not necessarily complicate the situation. Always trying to engage everything to Krishna and engage others in Krishna’s service. They are given more scope to engage their different senses in Krishna’s service. But that does not mean that someone has a license to support sense gratification unlimitedly.

It is a sacrifice, it is a Yajna. There are also limitations of what a person could do in a Grihastha ashram. If we lose sight of the goal, then Krishna consciousness would be difficult. So for devotees in any ashram the pure devotees have the same desire, which is to please Krishna, to please Krishna’s devotee. Prahalad is exhibiting this very clearly, he is offered to have anything he wants but it does not attract him an inch or a millimeter, or a bit. He rather says, ‘Why are you offering me these things? Being a materialistic person, born in a materialistic family, I could be allured by all these things but I do not want anything except your pure devotional service. So Krishna told him, Narasimha Dev said ‘You have to become the king’. ‘Now after your father, you have to rule these demons as a devotee king, you have to rule the demons’. See the situation, being a king he also has to get married and he also has to do so many different things. But Prahalad never lost his sight or never lost his vision which is the purpose of life. He always continued chanting the holy names. He was not attached, he was actually detached. He never gave up devotional service to Krishna for a moment. Prahalad was very careful when he was offered material facility he does not jump on it ‘Oh I can use it all of it for Krishna, from his side he simply wants to serve the Lord. If the Lord wants to give him something while he has, that is another thing he does not even accept it. He says ‘from my side all I want to do is pure devotional service’.

If the Lord gives some facility to the devotee, then the devotee uses that in Krishna’s service. But the devotee does not desire anything separate from devotional service. Sometimes the devotee desires that the Lord could be more nicely served like Gopal Bhatta Gosvami was thinking that how he can do service to the Lord if he had the deity but he was only having Shaligram Shilas. He slept every night under a different tree leaning up his Shaligram Shilas in a wooden box tied up in a Silken cloth, he would tie it up to the tree and sleep under the Shaligram Shilas. When he woke up in the morning after taking rest, he opened up his box to take Shaligram Shilas to do the puja. There he found that one of the Shaligram Shilas was missing. Instead there was a small deity of Krishna, which is the Radha Ramana deity. So Krishna spontaneously manifested himself in the deity form so that his devotee can serve him. So in this way the Lord gave himself to his devotee in different ways so the devotee can serve the Lord. Here he gave for Prahald but not to get distracted. The idea that you can enjoy all kinds of sense gratification at the same time be Krishna conscious is not accepted.

People think that I can leave the temple, I can do materialistic activities, and I can still be Krishna conscious. It is a very difficult situation. Someone can be outside in the material world but not one can do materialistic activity, everyone has to do devotional service. You have to dol Yukta Vairagya, you cannot do bhogha and vairagya at the same time. It has to be Yukta Vairagya, you have to engage whatever we are doing in the service of Krishna.

Unless we are very meticulous about that point, maya will delude our devotion and we will miss the whole point of pure devotional service. So those people who are devotees who are eager to accumulate money to help, lot of distinction in the society of devotees they neglect to chant the round simply out of lethargy or preoccupation in materialistic activity. Many other qualities are there, those devotees are actually being robbed out of the jewel of pure devotional service. If they had not they would have been robbed by maya. If they did not have income, they have been robbed as they get it. It is like waiting for them to being stolen so you will not get it. It is just like a heritance that someone should get but before it is received it is stolen by someone. It is a very interesting point that we have read Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s past times visited by people from all over the universe and glorified by devotees in Jagannath Puri.

Also, how Prahalad prayed to the Lord simply to give him pure devotional service is not mere business. You should be very careful not to lead our devotion generate to business dealings with Krishna. All over India many people go to the deity and pray for something materialistic if I get this, I will give you that. So Prahalad is criticising that it is something like business with you. He does not want to ask anything from Krishna in return.

If you give your service to Krishna without any condition, then in reciprocation Krishna also gives himself and you can actually purchase Krishna with pure devotion. In mixed devotion, then Krishna will pay you. You want money, you want this or you want that then take it. So for Krishna it is easy. But for pure devotion then Krishna thinks ‘what can I give; this devotee is completely giving himself to me. So I have to reciprocate as he promises ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham. I reciprocate with the devotion or my devotee according to how they approach me. I also reciprocate with them. So when the devotee is fully giving himself to Krishna, then the only way that Krishna thinks that it is possible for him to repay is to give himself to the devotee.

So if you want Krisna then you have to give yourself to Krishna. The price to get Krishna is yourself. If you do not give your full self to Krishna you will not get Krishna. If you want something else other than Krishna, then Krishna will give that to you first, but that it is cheap. Krishna is everything. To get Krishna, you have to give yourself to Krishna then Krishna will reciprocate, that is his causeless mercy. So Prahalad mahraj did not want anything as he already saw what happened to his father. His father had the kingdom of the entire universe, he had a long life, and unlimited sense gratification. However, still his father was never satisfied. He had everything that he wanted more than anybody could have. He had the entire universe just in his hand, but still he was not satisfied. This should be enough to prove to anybody, it was more than enough to prove to Prahlad that there is no satisfaction in this material world in pursuit of happiness. In America, the rights of the constitution are guaranteed in the pursuit of happiness but as soon as happiness is by material means it guarantees frustration. People will be guaranteed to be frustrated if they pursue their happiness through material means. If we pursue our happiness through devotional service by giving Krishna devotion by trying to preach Krishna, then we will become happy.  

If we pursue our happiness through material means, in Bhagavad Gita it is mentioned in the 7th chapter. The first half of the Bhagavad Gita clearly mentions that the cause of our suffering is by desiring sense gratification. It is the beginning of our suffering as soon as we desire to enjoy by sense gratification, and the end of our suffering is when we no longer desire for sense gratification. When we desire to serve Krishna then we will be satisfied, that is the mystery. It is revealed by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, great souls like Prahalad realized this. Otherwise it is difficult to come to an understanding. But by Lord Chaitanya’s mercy by chanting the Hare Krishna maha mantra we can understand the sublime knowledge. We should simply do service to Krishna by simply practicing pure devotional service in whatever condition of life in whatever obstacle we may come across, in whatever situation.

We should always be offering our devotion to Krishna in a way prescribed by our previous acharyas. We cannot concoct something, we have to follow in an authorized way. If it is concoction then you are rejoicing sense gratification without engaging in Krishna’s service and you will do a little devotion also. It will be a little sense gratification and a little devotion. Then you will not get devotional response from Krishna, it does not work that way. We have to do pure devotional service. You can do it as a Grahastha, you can do it as a sanyasi, you can do it as a brahmachari… but we have to do pure devotional service. In the beginning that is a yagna, in the end it is complete nectar. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.  Any Questions?

Question (not audible) 

Guru Maharaj: Rupa Gosvami was very rich, he gave 50% of his income to Krishna and Kolavecha Sridhar was also very poor. He gave 50% of his income to Krishna. They were all leading their lives according to the guidelines given by their Gurus, by the scriptures, by the purpose once their Krishna will be pleased. They did their material activities and their devotional activities. They did their material activity in such a way that it would be their devotional life. So their activities are always connected with Krishna. They never did it in an unauthorized way. Like doing illicit sex and any way I also chanting so it is okay. So how to be a Grihasta? How to do sex life?  Everything is connected to some principle. The devotee acts accordingly to please Krishna. Although some people may be rich or some people may be poor, they are offering their activities with the purpose of pleasing Krishna. There is a categorical difference between doing activities for pleasing Krishna and being successful at it. Whether one is successful or materially rich, but is he still doing  activities with the purpose of pleasing Krishna? Those are two things which are not conducive or not authorized not in Krishna consciousness. They are pure devotion, they are devotees even though they might be materially rich, even one can be even poor.

There are devotees who are not having children, they are doing a rhythm system or having contraceptives, or doing different things because they want to enjoy. ‘Anyway I am chanting, I am a devotee’. It is alright.  It is not possible to practice it only once in a month. So people are doing all kinds of things. When you do little bhakti, then you know Krishna.  At the end you see these people in complete anxiety. So we should be clear as to what is devotional service, otherwise they are not properly situated.

It is not a bonafide or authorized path prescribed by Acharyas. They have to accept it as Maya. If you accept maya as maya then you can think to start to cure. If you think of disease as the natural state of life, then you are not actually curing the disease. If someone is smoking and has a very bad cough then if anyone asks him to check out then the person found out it is cancer.  We get into doing maya and we are getting little bit mercy from Krishna because we are trying to do devotion, but then we are not serious.

But actually maya is like weeds, and weeds keep growing and we are also watering it. At one point, weeds keep growing and it affects the devotional creeper. We have seen this even in so called big devotees, and they have allowed their weeds to be watered. We have to be careful when we are gardening our flowers. When we are growing our flowers, we have to keep their unnecessary influence out of flower patch, otherwise, they can smother the whole forest!

What is happening is that if we compromise with the devotional service then we are giving some of our energy to weeds. Maybe in the beginning the weed starts off small but after a while they can go on growing then actually weed can destroy devotional creeper. So what we see so many devotees in the beginning are little in bhakti and bukti. After a while bhukti takes over. That is the difference between Kolavecha Sridhar and many other ritualistic devotees who are all wealthy and had Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s association. Although they were doing material activity they were not actually doing sense gratification. They were not doing any sense gratification, they were dovetailing everything in Krishna’s service, eating Krishna Prasadam, although material activity.

Just like Bhaktivinod Takhur, he was a magistrate,  he would use his position to find a way to be faithful to Lord Chaitanya. He would spend the whole night writing a Vaishnava songs and books and he would go out and preach.  He did so many different things. He had 13 children he was not practicing any contraceptives or anything. He had a lot of energy to use it in Krishna’s service so he had a lot of children and he engaged his children in Krishna’s service. He realized Krishna, his root, he realized everything. One has to be completely honest with Krishna, completely straightforward. He had to engage his activities in an authorized manner. As soon as he wanted to do something that is not authorized then we will be watering weeds, we would be putting ourselves in two boats and eventually down the road we will be in difficulty.

We should not think that because some of the devotees of Lord Chaitanya were rich , they were not pure devotees. If a person is rich he might be only using the money for Krishna. He can use his money in a bonafide way and can serve Krsna. If he can remain in a transcendental position, if he sees everything is Krishna's property. If he thinks it is mine and this is for me and this is for Krishna. This is my  Krishna consciousness life and this is my maya life, then we are in two boats. So our point is that Krishna has given us, it is not possible to be a brahmachari or sanyasi for everybody in Kali Yuga. It is not even recommended. So Krishna has given the way of how you can practice devotional service and live in this material situation. But this is very clear way how to do it. If we are not following in the prescribed way, then we are watering the weeds. 

 

So we should follow properly.  There is a difference between you know like, Pundarik Vidhyanidhi who is very detached on material situation, who was sold out to serve Krishna, at the same Poornanda Prasad again materialist and someone like Govardhan and  Hiranya mazumdar, who were the parents of Raghunatha Dasa Goswami who put on the __ of devotee, but they were having lot of material attachment, they didn’t want they son to be come a pure devotee. At the same time, they put on a show that they are pure devotees,  for Raghunatha Dasa goswami they were sending money, to make him happy with material comfort. They think one can be happy only by material comfort. So they were sending him money thinking that __

 

That’s why Lord Chaitanya said they are almost a Vaishnava, but still they are attached to material things, they need all those things, if you have all material things you can be happy,  .. but Pundarik Vidhyanidhi, he had riches but he was compltetely detached to material and doing service in ecstacy of Krishna, going to temples, doing deity worship, blessed by Krishna, usng the opulence that he had. Actually he was not attached to the opulence that he had. There are some devotees who are mixed. ____ They have some devotion. Naturally by Lord Chaitanya’s mercy,  had some devotion, they were ___. there are some material devotees who are opulent, like hiranya mazumdar, doing some spiritual activities by mercy of Krishna, but they are material, according to Lord Caitanya’s instruction.  HARE KRISHNA.

 

 

------END OF LECTURE -------

 

Transcribed By: Dipeshwari Damodar Priya DD

Transcribed On: 9-July-2020

 

Proof Reading By: Amrita Padma Devi Dasi

On  21/9/2020

 

Proof Reading by Medhavini Sakhi Devi Dasi

Completed on 16th Dec 2020