20050818 Lord Balarama Appearance Day

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August

18th, 2005 in Italy. The talk was given on the occasion of Balarāma Pūrṇimā.

 

hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

 

Today is the auspicious appearance day of Lord Balarāma. Lord Balarāma is the

svayaṁ-prakāśa, He is the direct expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the first. Everything is

coming from Him. He comes from Lord Kṛṣṇa and from Him

everything else is coming. So, this is going to be explained, especially, by His Holiness

Candramauli Swami. I am the first here. I want to start off reading

something that will work.

I glorify Lord Balarāma, decorated with a glittering crown Svarovski crystals,

bangles, pearls, bracelets, tinkling ornaments, moving locks of hair on His cheeks,

splendid earrings on His handsome lotus face, garlands dark like monsoon clouds,

holding a great club and plough, fulfilling all desires, handsome like a mountain of ice

and snow. Lord Balarāma is supremely powerful and happy - Balabhadra; The supreme

enjoyer - Rāmabhadra and Rāma; All attractive - Saṅkarṣaṇa; Infallible - Acyuta; The

lover of Revatī - Revatī-ramana; The splendid Supreme Personality of Godhead - Deva.

The Lord Who fulfils desires - Kāmapāla & He Who carries a plough weapon - Halāyudha; He is dressed in blue garments - Nīlāmbara; Fair complexioned - Śvetavarṇa; Fair complexioned like lightning colour; Splendid and

powerful; The elder brother of the infallible Supreme Lord - Acyutāgraja; Killer of

Pralambāsura - Pralambaghna; A great hero - Mahāvīra; The son of Rohiṇī - Rohineya

& very powerful - Pratāpavān , a big [Not Clear 05:49]. Jaya Balarāma kī jaya!

So Balarāma, you know, He appeared before Kṛṣṇa. First, He went into the womb of

Devakī and prepared everything, then, He went to Rohiṇī. He is born of Rohiṇī and He is

1 year older than Kṛṣṇa, 1 year 8 days. So, in the calendar, He appears 8 days before

the Janmāṣṭamī.

In the Caitanya-Maṅgala, it mentions that, when, Nārada Muni asked Caitanya

Mahāprabhu to come down to this Earth, that time, Lord Caitanya said, "You go and ask

Balarāma. He has to come too.”

Then, Nārada Muni went to see Balarāma. Balarāma was seated

with Revatī and Vāruṇī, He has two consorts and they were very beautiful, on a golden

jewelled throne and Nārada Muni fell down at His feet, offered obeisances and

requested that, "Lord Caitanya is coming into this world."  He said, "You

should also come."

So, then, Balarāma said, "Okay. I will go and My two consorts will also come." When,

Nārada Muni was leaving, then, He said, "Wait. You have to come too."

So, Lord Balarāma came as Who? Nityānanda. Everybody sure about that? Raise your

hand, if you are sure. Okay. You are right. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe

anya, balarāma hoilo nitāi. So, Balarāma came as Nityānanda and Nityānanda, He came 12 years before Lord

Caitanya. Then, He went touring around India with a sannyāsī. When, He got to

Vṛndāvana, Lord Caitanya called Him to come to Navadvīpa. So, then, He went to

Navadvīpa, joined the saṅkīrtana movement, delivered Jagāi-Mādhāi, many things.

Then, Lord Caitanya took sannyāsa. Nityānanda went with Him to Jagannātha Purī.

Then, Lord Caitanya asked, that, Nityānanda, go back to Bengal and preach and become

a gṛhastha. Then, Nityānanda came back and He got married to the incarnations of

Revatī and Vāruṇī, His consorts and their name is Jāhnavā and Vasudhā. So, then, Lord

Nityānanda, He took His house up in Kharadaha, a place.. Kharadaha, 6 kilometers

away from Pānihāṭi and many times He would spend in Pānihāṭi. So, Nityānanda was

acting as the guru for Bengal and He was spreading the Nāmahaṭṭa preaching.

At that time, Rāghava Paṇḍita was in Pānihāṭi, taking care of the Rādhā Madana-mohana

deities. So, then, Raghunātha dāsa was trying to get to Caitanya Mahāprabhu,

but, he was unsuccessful. Even, Lord Caitanya sent him back home, told him to act as a

yukta-vairāgya gṛhastha. So, then,  Raghunātha dāsa, got an idea and he went

to see Lord Nityānanda, Who was seated under a banyan tree, surrounded by His

associates. He looked very effulgent and Raghunātha dāsa paid his obeisances from a

distance and the Lord was informed by His secretary, that, Raghunātha dāsa is paying

his obeisances.

So, then, He started calling out, '' You thief! You thief! Come here! I am going to punish

you. Cora! Cora! Thief! Thief! Come here! I am going to punish you."

Then, He went and put His lotus foot on the head of Raghunātha dāsa. "So your

punishment is to make some kind of picnic preparations - flat rice, yogurt, condensed

milk, fruits". So, that, became very famous as the Pānihāṭi festival or ciḍā-dadhi

festival or sometimes known as daṇḍa-mahotsava, the punishment festival because

Nityānanda said, He wanted to punish him. So, the punishment was to feed all of the

devotees, but, he liked that punishment, it was a blessing.

Sometimes the punishment can be a blessing. So, Lord Nityānanda was in this mood of

Balarāma, with the cowherd boys in Vṛndāvana and He said that, He wanted to

just eat with His cowherd boyfriends, this meal, in the forest and He went into an

ecstatic mood.

When, He went into the crowds of people, that were sitting down

and eating their flat rice and fruits, and He called Caitanya Mahāprabhu there by

His meditation. He went with Lord Caitanya amongst the crowds of people.

There, He started to take from the pots of others and put it in Lord Caitanya's mouth and

Lord Caitanya would take from their pot and put in Nityānanda's mouth. So, this was just

like Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma eating from the pots of Their friends. Many things

happened during this festival.

So, today, we are also making some offerings remembering the Pānihāṭi festival. Some

of the devotees are helping in the kitchen now, with the preparations. I might have to go , right after this and finish making the offering for Lord Balarāma, but,

because it's yogurt festival, we are going to have kheer made of condensed

milk. It's yogurt fest today. So, we are making out of condensed milk. Maybe, we will

make a little of yoghurt for Him, there is ciḍā…

But, together from that pastime, we get a little bit of the mood of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa,

how, They were exchanging such loving feelings with all Their friends. So, this is a really,

that the Pānihāṭi festival, there was so many people coming, that, there was no room for

them on the ground, so, they had to stand on the Ganges water. Naturally, the

Pānihāṭi festival, they... everybody got 2 pot, in one, had condensed milk, in one, had

yogurt. So, they didn't buy. They had the small pots, so, we will just be putting the big pots and

there was, but, we will be giving... We are also trying to build a [Not Clear 20:36] Lord

Balarāma, in His mood as a cowherd boy.

So, because, also, Rāghava Paṇḍita came over and offered Him some lunch, at that

time, He said, "No! No! I am just taking picnic with my cowherd boyfriends and I will take

lunch in the evening". At the end of the pastime, Raghuntha dāsa got

the mercy of Lord Nityānanda. He was able to achieve Lord Caitanya's lotus feet and he begged his forgiveness from Lord Nityānanda for not having approached Him

earlier. The punishment was because he was not going to Kṛṣṇa through the guru-

paramparā. So, if, we want to get to Kṛṣṇa, we need to go through Balarāma. We want to get to Lord

Caitanya, we go through Nityānanda. We want to go, get to Balarāma, we have to go

through the guru. Gurus are representing Balarāma or Nityānanda. Balarāma is the

original guru. He teaches us how to serve Kṛṣṇa by His personal example.

Everything He does is a service for Kṛṣṇa. He is Lord, but, He is the original mood of

serving. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma,

Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. (devotees say Hare Krishna Mantra along with Guru Maharaj)