20100410 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.17.3

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ
 paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande
 paramānanda-mādhavam
śrī caitanya īśvaram

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.17.3

tataḥ sapta ṛṣayas tat prabhāvābhijñā yāṁ nanu tapasa ātyantikī siddhir etāvatī bhagavati sarvātmani vāsudeve 'nuparata-bhakti-yoga-lābhenaivopekṣitānyārthātma-gatayo muktim ivāgatāṁ mumukṣava iva sabahu-mānam adyāpi jaṭā-jūṭair udvahanti.

tataḥ—thereafter; sapta ṛṣayaḥ—the seven great sages (beginning with Marīci); tat prabhāva-abhijñāḥ—who knew very well the influence of the Ganges River; yām—this Ganges water; nanu—indeed; tapasaḥ—of our austerities; ātyantikī—the ultimate; siddhiḥ—perfection; etāvatī—this much; bhagavati—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sarva-ātmani—in the all-pervading; vāsudeve—Kṛṣṇa; anuparata—continuous; bhakti-yoga—of the mystic process of devotional service; lābhena—simply by achieving this platform; eva—certainly; upekṣita—neglected; anya—other; artha-ātma-gatayaḥ—all other means of perfection (namely religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation); muktim—liberation from material bondage; iva—like; āgatām—obtained; mumukṣavaḥ—persons desiring liberation; iva—like; sa-bahu-mānam—with great honor; adya api—even now; jaṭā-jūṭaiḥ—with matted locks of hair; udvahanti—they carry.

TRANSLATION

The seven great sages [Marīci, Vasiṣṭha, Atri and so on] reside on planets beneath Dhruvaloka. Well aware of the influence of the water of the Ganges, to this day they keep Ganges water on the tufts of hair on their heads. They have concluded that this is the ultimate wealth, the perfection of all austerities, and the best means of prosecuting transcendental life. Having obtained uninterrupted devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they neglect all other beneficial processes like religion, economic development, sense gratification and even merging into the Supreme. Just as jñānīs think that merging into the existence of the Lord is the highest truth, these seven exalted personalities accept devotional service as the perfection of life.

PURPORT

Transcendentalists are divided into two primary groups: the nirviśeṣa-vādīs, or impersonalists, and the bhaktas, or devotees. The impersonalists do not accept spiritual varieties of life. They want to merge into the existence of the Supreme Lord in His Brahman feature (the brahma-jyoti). The devotees, however, desire to take part in the transcendental activities of the Supreme Lord. In the upper planetary system, the topmost planet is Dhruvaloka, and beneath Dhruvaloka are the seven planets occupied by the great sages, beginning with Marīci, Vasiṣṭha and Atri. All these sages regard devotional service as the highest perfection of life. Therefore they all carry the holy water of the Ganges on their heads. This verse proves that for one who has achieved the platform of pure devotional service, nothing else is important, even so-called liberation (kaivalya). Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī states that only by achieving pure devotional service of the Lord can one give up all other engagements as insignificant. Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī confirms his statement as follows:

kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tri-daśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate
durdāntendriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate
viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate vidhi-mahendrādiś ca kīṭāyate
yat kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ taṁ gauram eva stumaḥ
(Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5)

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has perfectly enunciated and broadcast the process of bhakti-yoga. Consequently, for one who has taken shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the highest perfection of the Māyāvādīs, kaivalya, or becoming one with the Supreme, is considered hellish, to say nothing of the karmīs' aspiration to be promoted to the heavenly planets. Devotees consider such goals to be worthless phantasmagorias. There are also yogīs, who try to control their senses, but they can never succeed without coming to the stage of devotional service. The senses are compared to poisonous snakes, but the senses of a bhakta engaged in the service of the Lord are like snakes with their poisonous fangs removed. The yogī tries to suppress his senses, but even great mystics like Viśvāmitra fail in the attempt. Viśvāmitra was conquered by his senses when he was captivated by Menakā during his meditation. She later gave birth to Śakuntalā. The wisest persons in the world, therefore, are the bhakti-yogīs, as Lord Kṛṣṇa confirms in Bhagavad-gītā (6.47):

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
mad-gatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
sa me yuktatamo mataḥ

"Of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all."

* * *

TRANSLATION

The seven great sages [Marīci, Vasiṣṭha, Atri and so on] reside on planets beneath Dhruvaloka. Well aware of the influence of the water of the Ganges, to this day they keep Ganges water on the tufts of hair on their heads. They have concluded that this is the ultimate wealth, the perfection of all austerities, and the best means of prosecuting transcendental life. Having obtained uninterrupted devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they neglect all other beneficial processes like religion, economic development, sense gratification and even merging into the Supreme. Just as jñānīs think that merging into the existence of the Lord is the highest truth, these seven exalted personalities accept devotional service as the perfection of life.

Guru Maharaja: The seven sages are … next to which planet?

Devotee: there is only three mentioned. Marichi, Vasista and Atri.

Guru Maharaja: But …

Devotee: And so on.

Guru Maharaja: yes, so, But they are next to which planet? Which planet are they next to?

Devotee: Doesn’t mention.

Guru Maharaja: Doesn’t say. They are next to.

Devotee: Just they are beneath Dhruva loka, on seven planets.

Guru Maharaja: Dhruva loka, ok. Seven planets, seven Rishis. Because we are trying to find the Sapta Rishi tila in Mayapur. The seven hills where the seven rishis meditated in the Madhyam dwip. But it is all flat land, you can’t tell. I think they were there millions of years ago. So, in that time the land became flat. Maybe by Google you can check if there are seven hills.

But there is… Bhaktivinod Thakura said in… the Saptarishi tila is in the Madhyam dwip. So, this is one of the lupta tirthas, this is one of the hidden tirthas.

Atri Rishi, I think he is married to Anusuya. She is celebrated to be the most chaste of all woman in the universe. So, she was tested one time by the three consorts of Brahma, Siva and Vsnu. So, they asked her husbands, “Please go and test her.” So, he went in disguise as a brahmana, and then asked for a boon. So, she said, “Of course I will give a boon to the brahmanas.” But then they said, “We want to see you naked.” Now if a woman appears naked before any man other than her husband, she will not be chaste, and she was celebrated as the most-chaste woman. So, how to do … and then she got an idea. She changed all the three into little babies. The mother can appear naked before her baby. So, they all became little babies, and she would…. So, they had a diorama in Chitrakuta of Anusuya rocking the three babies, of Shiva, Brahman and Vsnu. Apparently the three consorts; Laxmi, Savitri and Gauri, Parvati, they came and “Ok, you win.”

15.00 (inaudible

So, anyway, she said she was with Ramchandra, and so this verse confirms they are all Bhakti Yogis. There was a big fight between Vasista and what his name, Viswamitra. So, finally Viswamitra, he had achieved the status of a Brahma Rishi. So, Vasista came up and said, “Congratulations! Now you are Brahma Rishi. You are the chief. But don’t think that this is the highest.”

It is not highest? I thought that Brahma Rishi was the highest.

No. There is one thing higher, that is the pure devotee of Krsna or Vsnu, because pure devotee, Vsnu works through them, he can do anything, unlimited. So, that we should always be very careful when we deal with pure devotees of Vsnu.

Haribol…

Haribol…

Haribol…

So, this verse Prabhupada, he mentions that there are two transcendentalists, the Mayavadis, the Nirakaravadis and the Sakaravadis. Those who are worshippers, they want to merge into the absolute, and those who want to be… maintain the relationship with Krsna.

The… Ramchandra offered Hanumana. He offered a blessing that he could merge into him. Hanuman said, “No, no, no, you are my master, I am your servant, I don’t want anything to come in the way of this understanding of this relationship.” So, but then Ramchandra said, “You have to ask some blessing from me, because one of the roles of the supreme is to give… Varadha… to all his… give Vara or give blessings. So, because he said, I have to give some blessings. So, he said, Hanuman said, “Well, for me, you are my dear master and I would like to one time just like a son hugs his father, I would like to hug you, because for me you are the dearest.” So, then Ramchandra, he let Hanuman him, and he hugged Hanuman. So, sometimes you can buy this picture of Hanuman and Ram hugging. So, that comes from that lila.

So, the … in the Nabadwipa Parikrama, there is a place called Shankar Para. To this day it is also called Shankar Para I think. It is a village, and there Shankaracharya he came. So, he was … Lord Caitanya appeared to him and said, “Please don’t spread your impersonalism here. This is my place for my Bhaktas. Go somewhere else.” So, as a result Shankaracharya, he didn’t spread Mayavada in Nabadwipa.

Jaya Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki…

Gauranga…

So, all the Rishis, they are keeping the Ganges on their head, because the Ganges was Vsnu, Hari. If we wash the charanamrita of the lotus feet of Lord Vsnu, when he pierces the universe, at that time some of the causal ocean water came in and washed his feet. So, that is the Ganges, and Shiva took on his head. It is said the seven Rishis, they took the water on their head. So, when we go to the Ganges, it is said that first we should put water in our head, and then we should step in.

We don’t just walk in like we do in other swimming pool or something. We take the water and put it on our head, and then we all go in. So, this Ganges is so sacred. I told one pastime how even a sinful man, he would just sprinkle the Ganges water and he got delivered. There once was… some eagle was carrying a dead snake, and just the snake touched the Ganges, it was liberated. The atma from the snake went back to Godhead.

So, like this, there are so many pastimes with the Ganges. How powerful is the Ganges water. One brahmana was chanting his… trying to chant his Gayatri in the Ganges, and he saw the water came up, up and up. Up, up, down, down. He wondered what is going on. Then he looked and then he saw this golden boy who was walking sometimes away from the Ganges, and the Ganges rise up and touch his feet, and sometimes down. The Ganges would go down. So, then he saw, he was a great devotee of the Ganges. He saw the personality of the Ganga. Ganga Devi leaving water and came out and bowed down to this golden boy.

By now maybe you can figure out who the golden boy is.

Gauranga….

Gauranga…

Gauranga….

So, she bowed down and offered her prayers. Well, he knew that Ganga was only a devotee of Vsnu or Krsna. So, he came out of the water, his whole life he wanted to see the Ganges deity, but now he was seeing, and he was bowing down to this golden boy, and then she went back in the water, she merged with the water. So, he also bowed down to that golden boy Lord Gauranga, and he said, “You must be the Avatara of Vsnu, who are you? Please reveal to me.”

So, Lord Caitanya revealed He was Krsna, and then he said, “You can stay here in Nabadwipa, you can watch my pastimes, but if you tell anyone who I am before I leave, then I have no choice, I have to remove you.”

So, of course, you go back to godhead but he… the word, Ok… So, I don’t know who that devotee is but this is one of the pastimes given in one of the Chaitanya literatures. So, I think he told after Lord Caitanya left.

So, this Ganges met with the ocean at a place called Samudragada, and there the ocean told the Ganges that, you are blessed, the Lord, he bathed in your waters. And she said, no, he left me to go to the ocean side to Jagannatha puri, and there he bathes in your waters. But the ocean said, no but he is eternally residing in the Nabadwipa Dham. So, he is eternally in your water.

Jai Ganga Devi ki…

So, Lord Krsna, He gave the blessings to Yamuna, and Lord Gauranga gave his blessings to the Ganges. So, these are the different lilas in the…

Lord Caitanya would go everyday and take his bath in the Ganges. As a child sometimes he would play jokes on the elders. He would sometimes mix the ladies clothe with the mens clothe, and he come out, what is going on.

One time all off… so, he was sometimes… brahmana would be chanting the mantras, like Gayatri, Lord Caitanya as a child he would come out, spit water on you.

So, the brahma said, what are you doing?

You need to see that I am trying to meditate on the Ganges, and then I am chanting the Gayatri. And he would say, I am the father of the Ganges, I am the father of the Ganga.

Vsnu, vsnu, vsnu, how can you say such a thing. What a naughty child!

That is Vsnu, but they didn’t know that actually Lord Caitanya was Vsnu, but as a child he can get away with …27.18… people. And they didn’t take it that serious. So, like that there are different pastimes.

We went to the… went to the Haridwara, Hrishikesh, and some places where Prabhupada stayed. Actually some yogi, he invited us to his ashram, and we saw his ashram. He would do a Ganga Puja every night. He would offer arati. So, he gave us also lamp, you can also offer arati. It is nice they do arati… in Haridwar, Rishikesha, also in Benaras. In Benaras they do very extended, elaborate arati, offering incense, lamp, many different things. So, they took us also in Benares to a Ganga Puja. They offered so many items. They put in the hand, offered Kumkum, Kusa grass, Dhruva grass, flowers, lamp, all elaborate puja for the Ganga, and then they had a witness… and they offered arati. Five brahmanas. So, I told our pujaris they should also do Ganga Puja. So, I think they do it from the top of the Samadhi in Mayapur, but maybe I will… they should do when it not the rainy season at the side of the Ganges.

So, the Ganga is very much worshipped in all the main places. We took devotees once to, what that’s called? That is called something… Prayag. It’s… Deva Prayag I think. Deva Prayag, it’s a confluence of the Alaka Nanda and the Bhagirathi, and the rivers are very fast and they unite there. And apparently there was where Ramchadra he came and he bathed there to get rid of any sin for killing the brahmana, who was actually a brahmana. But he became a rakshasa. So, we took the devotees on our safari to Deva Prayag, and they bathed there, … lot of gurukulis … about sixty. So, very dangerous because they are pretty wild, and they are very much, very fast, so, if one goes … Haribol. He will become somewhere else.

So, I was there to overseeing that you know… hell on to robe, and somewhere … pretty. So, somehow they all came out. But the Ganges was very beautiful there. We went downstream from Siva Puri by what you call this rubber boats. I personally like the parts which are more quite. See the Ganges, see the… but the kids, they like the rabbits I think. They say goes up to five intensity. So, and that spreads… it is upto three. One, two and three. So, three …32.40… pretty violently.

So, but, the Ganges is very beautiful there, the pujas very nice. So, I told yesterday, Thursday evening that you can bathe in the Ganges, even here in Los Angeles within a hundred thousand yojanas of the Ganges. And anyone who wants to chant loudly three times, Ganga, Ganga, Ganga, he will get the benefit of bathing in the Ganges.

Ganga..

Ganga..

Ganga….

So, don’t forget, when you take your bathe in the morning, shower, what you say,

Ganga…

Ganga..

Ganga…

But you will be surprise how many people forget to chant Ganga.

So, in Mayapura, I am also very fortunate, they also, the ladies carry some brass containers of Ganges waters. So, at the end of my bathe I pour one container over my head. It is freezing cold usually, but anyway thats directly coming up. Otherwise I don’t know …34.35…. but I chant in the morning,

Ganga, Ganga, Ganga,

I think this time you are chanting japa.

So, the Ganges is a very sacred and it flows through India. It starts in Gomukha, Gangotri, and falls down, and it goes to Mayapura, it divides into two at the… at what is now known as Farakka, the Padma goes into Bangladesh and the Bhagirathi goes past Mayapura into Bengal.

So, they used to have the Moghul kings. They had some … which they put, some copper or brass sheets which divided the river, so that it would be properly divided. But the British took that, so many took that… I think the British.

So, the river in… doesn’t divide equally. So, then build a barrage, like a dam but not exactly a dam. I don’t know the technical difference, but there is a difference. So, they can put one barrage which can let more or less water into the Padma. So, they have some agreement with the Bangladesh to let some more, but they want to keep the Calcutta port alive. So, they take … share to Bengal. So, now we get a lot’s of water.

Before when Prabhupada was there, in the winter, we got very less water. So, the water became, you could see, now all along you cannot see. It’s …. as the shastras say a few verse ago, it is pink color. But when it slows down the colour settles. You can actually at some point, you could see, the water became clear. That is very rare for the Ganges.

So, there, one day Prabhupada was walking down by the side of the Ganges, and that time Madhvisa, he was there. I don’t know anyone else was there, but I remember Madhvisa. So, at that time, Prabhupadsa said, lets go for a dip. And we said, … the reason bathing …

That’s alright. There is no ladies here. So, we can wear our kaupins, we are also sanyasis, we wear Kaupin.

So, then the put Prabhupada’s offered garland to his, what you call the bahirbasa in the… Achyutanandana Swami used to call this a yakey. That’s not the official name, official name is Uttariya. So, he put that around Prabhupada, and went in. Now Prabhupada didn’t know swimming. So, he didn’t go very deep, and he covered the holes of his head, the mouth, the nose, eyes and ears with all the fore-fingers except for this. And then he dipped down. Madhdavisa started to splash Prabhupada. Prabhupasda said… Oh he didn’t say anything. He just looked at him real grave, and Madhavisa backed off, everyone backed off… he got to … so, prabhupada said, if he could get a pathway to the Ganges, everyday he could bathe in the Ganges, he would…his life would be longer. So, we tried… that time the Ganges was like a mile away. So, we are already trying to get a path all the way to Ganges. But we were not able to. Now the Ganges has come right up. Within a hundred meters or two hundred yards of the … of the road. So, it is very easy not. I was thinking how we failed to bring the Ganges close.

Prabhupada bathed every day. Now he could bathe there, but he is not with us now physically. So, every year we take the murti of Prabhupada. And he bathed in the Ganges at least once. Maybe twice a year. So, on the day before Gaura Purnima, we usually we bring the deity of Srila Prabhupada, we bathe him, and everybody takes the water, and carries on the head and brings it back for bathing of the Panha… of the Lord Caitanya.

So, this is, Ganges is very much a part of the life if the Mayapur Nivasis, and just like the Kalindi, the Yamuna is a part of the life of the Vrajavasis, so, the Ganges is a very sacred river. It is said that by chanting one’s japa by the side of the Ganges you get a hundred thousand times the benefit. So, it is very good to chant.

The… whats the name… Pundraka Vidyanidhi, he would like so much devotion for the Ganga. He couldn’t stand to see the people in the morning passing by the side of the Ganges. So, he would go in the night time and see the Ganges. He considered the Ganges so sacred, that he would just put the water on his head, he would enter into the Ganges. So, when Lord Chaitanya appeared, everybody went to the Ganges before the lunar eclipse, and they all were chanting,

Hare Krsna…

Govinda….

Hari bol.

So, and even the Muslims were imitating the Hindus, what are these Hindus, look at how they are chanting, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, Haribol, Haribol, Govinda, Govinda… Ha…ha…

Somehow or other everybody was chanting, and Lord Caitanya at that moment He appeared.

Gauranga…

Gauranga…

So, the Ganges very much blessing Srila Prabhupada. He said, he would go to Calcutta when needed, on Harrison road everyday to the Ganga and take his bathe. So, the Ganges was an important part of the Srila Prabhupada’s childhood and his life. So, we can all take the Ganges as also… why… you see, in Indian they don’t respect the respect the Ganges so much. I mean the cities they dump their sewage into the Ganges. So, we were…once we took a test of Ganges water, and from all the cities… there was first day one Ecoli or salmonelena virus, and sixty thousand general bacteria. So, it is quite… and then the next day you got… and then it showed thirty thousand, like the Salmonelena Ecoli was killed and half the bacteria. Next day 15000, everyday go down half half, next day seventy six thousand, finally by nine days it was less than a hundred. So, just keeping the Ganges, it would be self-purifying. But it took nine or ten days, and lower than a hundred, the world health organization considers to be horrible water. Like every water has a few bacteria but … so, we have a plan that we keep the water for like ten days, and therefore… in different pools, and use that for the city water, because the ground water had arsenic and flora, and it was not safe.

… this is our plan, but I don’t know if anyone else remembers it, but the Ganges was like… in Rajastan, one great king, he would carry a silver, he was once, he went to England. So, he would only drink and bathe in Ganges water. So, he carried big silver pots like six feet high filled with Ganges water. So, this was… I forget the name of the king, but this was his system. So, but this actually... I mean we scientifically tested the water, and it was self-purifying. So, the Ganges water, this is the only water that self-purifies, other water it gets worse. This ordinary water you put bacteria, the bacteria grow and grow and grow. But the Ganges water, it decreases. We saw this practically… we with the…so, the Ganges is very sacred, but Prabhupada said, if you take a glass of Ganges water and pour some poison, it will be poison, but over a time the Ganges will neutralize the poison. If you freshly poison it, and you drink it, Haribol.

So, bathing in the Ganges, it has its self-purifying quality.

Once our Calcutta President was going to ex…48.07? the Ganges water, but then America wanted it filtered. Once you filter the Ganges water, somehow it loses the quality of … it goes through the osmosis and all this kind of filters that America wanted. It is no longer Ganges water. So, I don’t know if you get here Ganges water.

But, so, the Ganges is really something special. We heard that because the Ganges is the original water of the causal ocean. So, also the Ganges earth is like original earth. From water comes earth.

So, bhumi apo nalo vayu…

So, from the apo, the water comes earth. So, the Ganges mud, like the devotees they put over their body. It is supposed to be purifying. Also they used as a tooth paste, and somehow Raghava Pandita, he knew how to make the sandesh from Ganges mud. Now no one else knows the secret how to make a sandesh from mud. But he knew. And so he gave Lord Siva to eat, Ganges mud sweets. Now I don’t try to imitate, but if you imitate, I don’t think you will be successful. But he somehow knew how to do it.

Jaya Raghava Pandita ki…

Jai Panihati Dham ki…

So, that was one of the preparations in the Raghavas jholis, is the Ganges mud sweet. So, like this, Prabhupada wanted to take the boats from Calcutta to Mayapur. I just got a message that on the 26^th of March, the West Bengal director of tourism in the presence of the Minister of tourism signed an agreement with Mayapur to send speed boat from Calcutta to Mayapur, and they build three jetties in Mayapur, and some other things. So, finally Prabhupada’s desire is beings fulfilled.

Haribol… Srila Prabhupada.

So, all this is happening while we are here in New Dwaraka. I am very that it is happening. I am happy to be here in New Dwaraka

Hare krsna.

So, any questions?

Aha…

Devotee: Thank you maharaj.

Guru Maharja: Question of comment.

Devotee: Question. You had… you mentioned the glories of Ganga Devi and Yamuna Devi in your class, and then you touched upon one point, how presently in India, the two rivers may not be respected or appreciated, and sometimes it is used as a dumping ground for so many things. So, my question is, what sort of reactions can you expect from offending Ganga Devi and Yamuna Devi?

Guru Maharaja: Heavy. Heavy.

Somewhere along the line the government made a Ganges… I forget the official name, but something like the “Ganges purity committee”, which is supposed to see that cities don’t dump their sewage in there … how effective the government committees in India are, I don’t know. But a little bit… a little they are doing. Something, but I am not sure that it is hundred percent effective. We heard that, we heard also that even in America the… so many companies have dumped in the night time …in the Mississippi river or the Lake Michigan … this things are going on, but as far as what reactions, certainly as… you known the reaction in doing in Mississippi or the lakes…Great Lakes is ruining the ecology, but the reaction of doing it in Ganges is also spiritually to do aparadha, because the Ganges is sacred.

So, apart from ruining the ecology, their spiritual life will be affected. So, in this story I told where one brahmana sprinkled over a…brahmana was a politician, he was… he was doing all kind of bad things. So, the Yamadutas came to take the politician, but the Vsnudutas came because he had the Ganges water sprinkled on him. So, the Vsnudutas came, and they said, “Don’t you know the glories of the Ganges? She is a great devotee of the Lord. She is … she is… carries the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord. So, that brahmana, he got purified all his sins, that a politician, but the Yamadutas they didn’t know. So, there was a big fight between the Yamadutas and the Vsnudutas, and well, you know who was victorious? Yamdutas or not were victorious. They lost badly. So, what one get is a reaction. I don’t want to think, certainly it is very good. So, official policy of the government is to protect the Ganges, what they are doing I don’t know.

We tested the water about fifteen years ago, twenty years ago, I forget. A long time. At that time obviously the Ganges was not polluted. Except by the people that it is polluted, I mean Ganges itself is pure, but this people would … obviously, when you got that, it was showing sixty thousand bacteria’s. I didn’t touch it now. That would show how much effect of the government was in cleaning the Ganges. But they were dumping … in the Ganges.

We heard that in Nabadwipa they have now some sewage plant, and that things are more pure. So,... they did something, but apart from money, the ecology, they are dumping the… whoever is responsible to get some reactions spiritually.

Hare Krsna.

Devotee: So, Maharaja understand that the Ganges and the Yamuna do take offence?

Guru Maharaja: Who …

Devotee: Do they take offence.

Guru Maharaja: Why not?

Devotee: We don’t read any pastimes where Ganga Devi, she becomes offended, or Yamuna, just curious.

Guru Maharaja: That’s why I gave this story that the Yamadutas, they offended the Ganges because they didn’t accept the Ganges is purifying this sinful man, but the Vsnudutas said that the Ganges water is purifying. So, therefore, the Ganges purified him from all his sins.

So, because of that misunderstanding, the Yamadutas were attacked by the Vsnudutas, and they were punished.

Now they were… just because they didn’t believe in the sanctity of the Ganges, and the purifying power of the Ganges, and they acted on. So, particularly whether the Ganges is taking offences or not, I am sure that Krsna takes you know offence, and the main reason that people made the decision, and the people who are responsible, they would have to take some reactions, I think.

And I tried to … in the Padma Purana. You see, five thousand years ago… at that time, I don’t think we had cities dumping sewage. the… it says if you pass stool by the side of the Ganges that is very offensive, and it tells in the Padma Puran what kind of reaction you get. I don’t remember right now but it’s not good, it is like going to hell and all that. So, it… there are… we don’t read that part much.

So, in our boats, the boat man would pass through the hole, and it would go right into the Ganges. So, we took the Ganga safari, we put buckets of sand in the hole, and when he would pass the sand would cover up. This was our, and then once a day someone took the service to take the … fortified sand and dump it in the hole… some … for the Ganges. So, we tried to respect the Ganges.

I guess it is not possible on the ships. So, but in the ocean… but on the Ganges we thought, well, we could do it. So, we would park the Ganges by the side in the morning, and we would dump this sand and night soil into a hole, and then we would put fresh sand and like that. We didn’t have …62.54… from America, although there was some talk about it. But we had sand. And every time someone pass, they would dump some dirt on top or sand on top. So, we tried to not offend the Ganges. But to respect the Ganges, we did Arati every day and bathed.

Gaura Chandra Dasa:

Guru Mahraja, you mentioned how easy to get the bathing of the Ganges by saying Ganga three times. And we know the brahmanas they call the Ganga you know with water, with mantras to do Pujas, and it describes in this chapter how the different demigods, they made this elaborate arrangements to bring the Ganga in this different airplanes to another planet. I was just wondering why they had to go through such an elaborate arrangement to bring the Ganges, when there is so many ways they can call the Ganges.

Guru Maharaja: Now, you … you can call the Ganges within a hundred thousand yojanas. So, the distance between one planet to the next is much further. So, we think the residential planets nearby, they can call the Ganges, but otherwise… the Ganges flows here, thanks to … Maharaja. Otherwise, if the Ganges didn’t flow here, she will be still up in the heavenly planets. We wouldn’t get her here.

So, that’s much more than a hundred thousand yojanas. A yojana is eight miles. So, eight hundred thousand miles, how far is it to Mars.

No scientists here?

Anyway, I think it is a long way. So, we can easily… how far they can get the benefit of calling the Ganges. Maybe some subtle planets like Yaksha loka, some… but to actually have the Ganges flowing in our place, and that is a special mercy. So, they gave us the … they ordered the Ganges to flow. So, in the heavenly planets she is known by one name, in earthly planets she is known by another name, and she also flows through the lower planets. So, wherever the Ganges is flowing, she is sacred. So, we have the good opportunity, but that’s because the Ganges is flowing in India. So, our planet is 20,000 miles. So, we get up to eight hundred thousand miles. You can call the Ganges. But how is… if you bring the Ganges is here to Los Angeles, we like it, right?

As a offering to Rukmini-Dwarakdish. So, the brahmanas, they call the holy rivers, Om Ganga, Yamuna, Jaya…like that. So, because this holy rivers are sacred, and the Lord likes to bathe with the holy river water.

That doesn’t mean that you don’t want the Ganges to flow in your place. It is like Lord Caitanya said, the breeze from the Ganges, it makes, it increases the devotion. So, He was explaining that by the side of the Ganges the kids would chant, Hari bol, Hari bol, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna. As he went further from the Ganges they were less likely to chant.

So, then he said, I want to travel through Vrndavana by the side of the Ganges. So, he came back to the Ganga, and he was tricked by Lord Nitaynanda to head south. In his ecstasy he didn’t realize until he saw Advaita in Shantipur, and then he wondered, what is Advaita doing in Vrndavana? And then he realized, I am not Vrndavana. I am in Shantipura. That Nityananda, he tricked me. So, Advaita’s gosami ashram was right next to the Ganges. Now the Ganges has shifted like six kilometers away. But at that time the Ganges was right at the doorsteps of Advaita Acharya… Madhavendra Puri, he was walking by the side of the Ganges. He walked into the courtyard of Advaita Goswwami, and Advaita saw. So, the Brahmanas lived by the side of the Ganges, they bathe in the Ganges.

Of course we can chant, Ganga, Ganga, Ganga three times and bathe. But to actually bathe in the Ganges, that is something very special, everybody would like to do that. They are not like the…. Also how many of the… Los Angeles people chant Ganga and take bath, you will forget. But if the Ganges is right there, every day you can bathe, you can drink the water. Of course it says people who live next to the Ganges, sometimes they appreciate less. It is the people who come from far away to bathe in the Ganges, they come from South India, they come from all over foreign countries. So, they are very happy to bathe in the Ganges. But those who live nearby, they don’t think, because they see all the time. It is said, those who live next to the train station, they miss more trains, because they think all the trains right nearby, I will get anytime. And so, as a result, they will miss the train, whereas some from far, the train is very far. So, I should one hour ahead. So, I have to leave at this time. So, they don’t tend to miss the trains. But most of the nearby, I can take the train any time, last minute I will catch it. And sure enough they miss the train.

So, like that there are many people in Mayapur, they all reside in the Ganges, they don’t really take the Ganges so serious, because they live next to the Ganges. Some do and some not. We went to this one place, Jiaganj. There, there is a ghat called dudhghat. There when it was time for Narottama Dasa Thakura to leave his body, he just dissolved in the Ganges and turned into milk. So, all his disciples saw, he disappeared, he dissolved before their eyes, he turned to milk. So, they scooped out some of the milk, milky Ganges water with their pots, and that is what they put in Samadhi.

Jaya Narottama Thakura ki….

Dudh ghat Samadhi ki…

So, if you have the Ganges you will be happier. Because we have the Ganges on this planet, we can chant, Ganga, Ganga, Ganga. If you didn’t have it, what do you think? Is it Dwarakadish… So, what do you think? This planet is very much blessed because the Ganges is flowing.

Thank you.

I think it is after eight O clock it is breakfast.

So, we can give out cookies.

You can break your fast.