20101016 Evening Bhagavad-gītā Class

The following is an evening lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 16, 2010 in ISKCON Perambur, Chennai.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol! So nice to see devotees from Perambur, as well as the devotees from Bangalore, Nagarkoil, and parts of Tamil Nadu. Also the… from Manipal and other parts of Karnataka. And also, I know wherelse… And also from Dubai, Dāmodaradeśa.

Devotee: Coimbatore!

Jayapatākā Swami: Coimbatore, I said other parts of Tamil Nadu, including Coimbatore. So, usually after a yajña – if it is a success – there is rain, but here it rained before the yajña. (Haribol!) Because I think you were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. (Haribol!) After the saṅkīrtana, the rain came. All glories to your chanting. (Haribol!) You see, Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam is the special process for this age. It is the sacrifice mentioned for the Kali-yuga.

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
[Cc. Ādi 17.21]

So there is no other way recommended in this Kali-yuga, except the chanting. But even that chanting takes long time. But if we chant the names of Pañca-tattva, Lord Caitanya – the action is very quick. I met one man, he said, he chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa for 26 years, 16 rounds. But he said, he was not feeling any bliss. I asked whether he chanted the names of Lord Caitanya. He said, he is from different sampradāya. So I gave him the Pañca-tattva mantra. I think, he didn’t know that.

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

So I gave this mantra to that gentleman, then I said, “Before you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, chant the names of Caitanya.” After about three months, I came back that place. And that man when he saw me coming from a distance, he ran. He fell on my feet, and he wanted to grab my feet. I said, “No! No!” He said, “What mantra you gave me? Now when I chant this names of Lord Caitanya and Hare Kṛṣṇa, I feel so much ecstasy.” (Haribol!) You are all very fortunate that, you have the mercy of Lord Caitanya. Just by chanting the names of Caitanya and Nityānanda, Caitanya-caritāmṛta says that we can awaken our love for Kṛṣṇa. You see, each of us have kṛṣṇa-prema in our heart, but it is in dormant.

nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
(Cc. Madhya 22.107)

If we… the kṛṣṇa-prema is not something that you have to learn, it is part of your nature. By practicing the chanting and hearing and nine practices of bhakti-yoga, you awaken your dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. So Lord Caitanya, He thought that everyone, whether they are gṛhastha, whether they are brahmacārī they can all achieve love for Kṛṣṇa by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa – gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. So, whether you are a gṛhastha or you are a single, you should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

So, Lord Caitanya, He was a… His father passed away. So, He went to Gayā to perform the piṇḍī, there He met Īśvara Purī Mahārāja. Īśvara Purī was a dear disciple of Mādhavendra Purī. And he had visited the house of Jagannātha Miśra in some occasion and they had talked about kṛṣṇa-bhakti. So Lord Caitanya knew him. So, since His father had died, and He wanted a spiritual father, so all these scriptures says that we should accept a guru. So He fell at the feet of Īśvara Purī Mahārāja, He begged him, “Please give Me initiation!” At first, Īśvara Purī said, “No! No! You are very learned paṇḍita, I am not so learned!” He said, “No! Don’t cheat Me! I must have initiation, otherwise what is the use of living?” So, He doesn’t want Lord Caitanya takes His life, so he gave him initiation. He gave Him the mahā-mantra and also Gāyatrī mantras. You know the mahā-matra?

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

So like this, Lord Caitanya, He started to dance and chant in the Gayā, Viṣṇu temple. And He was dancing so ecstatically, the tears were coming from His eyes like (squeezing) from a syringe. So naturally a crowd of priests gathered around to see the young paṇḍita chanting. So then Lord Caitanya noticed that so many are watching Him. So, He controlled Himself and stopped chanting. And He went to the Viṣṇupāda, He went to the lotus foot of Viṣṇu. The Gayā temple is to the impression of the lotus footprint of Lord Viṣṇu.