20130212 Morning Lecture

LEVEL 1 Transcript:

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on February 12th, 2013 in one of the Deśas.

He said, that, I have one problem, that, this hall is too small. We need a bigger hall. That’s the problem, that, we have to live with. And, also, that, we have Bhakti-vṛkṣa groups for adults and also for the children and youth. So, it’s very nice that, we have so many different programs. We were discussing, how, being a gṛhastha has so many responsibilities. From the 6 Gosvāmīs, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, he wrote the book called the Saṃskāra-dīpikā and he is the son of the head priest of the Śrī Raṅgam Diety. So, his father was the head priest of the Śrī-sampradāya. So, Lord Caitanya came to unite all the different Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas and although, He took His initiation in the Madhva line, actually, He came to unite all the four lines, which are basically following Lakṣmī, Brahmā, the four Kumāras and Lord Śiva. Each one has started a Vaiṣṇava sampradāya. It states in the Brahma Purāṇa, that, if, one does not receive his mantras from these four sampradāyas, the mantra will be 3:58. Only fruitless. Each of these sampradāyas has basically accepted, that, Viṣṇu is the supreme. Brahmā, Rudra/ Śiva and the Kumāra, they accept Kṛṣṇa as the original person and Nārāyaṇa is His expansion and the Śrī-sampradāya accept Nārāyaṇa as the original and Kṛṣṇa, His expansion. In the 5:14, we saw reference, in terms of Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa being the Supreme. So many human beings, they spend their lives worshipping the Supreme Lord and the whole varṇāśrama system was trained to allow them, for this, to have this opportunity.

Kṛṣṇa says, in Bhagavad-gītā, that, normally the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas, they would engage in self-realization. Kṛṣṇa says, apart from this, I will accept anyone, mainly, striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās, te ‘pi yānti parāṁ gatim [Bg 9.32]. Even those who are born in sinful birth. Everyone who surrenders to Me, I will give them shelter. So, this is special benediction offered by the Lord Kṛṣṇa. It is a great opportunity for all of us. Many miss this chance, when, Kṛṣṇa was here. That’s why we are still here, taking birth.

Lord Caitanya came 500 years ago. In every Kali-yuga, the Lord comes. But He comes in this size. In the previous Kali-yuga, He came as Śrīnivāsa Govinda Bālājī. Govinda!! Govinda!! Govinda!! (Devotees repeat after Guru Mahārāja) and there, He observed many pastimes and He married the Vedavatī. In Gaura-līlā, was known as Padmāvatā. Lakṣmī had left the spiritual world because She was angry, why Bhṛgu Muni kicked My husband on the chest? I am situated there. It’s My place. Instead of punishing him, He said, “Ohh, I have a very hard chest and you have a very soft foot.” So, Bhṛgu realized that Lord Viṣṇu was the most, in the mode of goodness, more than Śiva or Brahmā. Therefore, He is the Supreme. But Lakṣmī was very upset. So, she left Viṣṇuloka and She came to a place called as Kolhapur, Maharashtra. How many of you visited Kolhapur? How many of you know about Vedavatī? Nobody! She was a lady, who was doing tapasya, like Mīrā Bāi, to get Viṣṇu as Her husband. So, Rāvaṇa came on 11:18. She was very beautiful. But she was doing tapasya. It is said, Nārada Muni, look at me, I have conquered the whole universe. I’m so strong. Nārada Muni, she said, “I’m sorry. I’m only going to marry Viṣṇu.” Anyway, I’m a Rākṣasa. I don’t have to follow any rules. I will take you by force. So, he grabbed her by the hair and then, she burnt to ashes. But, first, she cursed that, if you ever try to take, any woman by force, you will immediately die, and a woman will be your downfall. So, she gave these two curses and left and so, that’s why, when, Sītā was captured, actually Agnideva took the original Sītā and gave the Vedavatī, who was, at that time, having the duplicate form of Sītā. Because, the goddess of fortune, Sītā could never be touched by some Rākṣasa. So, Rāvaṇa, since, he was cursed, he could not defile her. So, he tried to convince her, to accept him, to be his queen, to be his wife. She said, No. Only Rāma. So, She was kept in the Aśoka forest and she had Rākṣasīs binding her and when, finally, Rāma was victorious, at that time, He had Sītā go through the Agni-parīkṣa. So, at that time, Agnideva, he took the chāyā Sītā, Vedavatī and brought the real Sītā. So, Sītā requested Rāma, My dear Rāma, Vedavatī went through so much sorrow for Me. So, please accept Her as a wife. Lord Rāma said that, in this pastime, I only accept one wife, eka-patnī vrata. But, in Kali-yuga, I shall marry her. So, that’s why, in the last Kali-yuga, as Śrīnivāsa Govinda, He married Vedavatī, who had come as Padmāvatī. When the marriage was over, Lakṣmī appeared. What are You doing? He said, this is Vedavatī. So, everyone knows about Vedavatī. Haribol!! Yes! Who’s from Andhra Pradesh? You don’t know about Vedavatī? So, Lord’s pastimes are very interesting, and He has ananta-līlā - unlimited pastimes, ananta-rūpa - unlimited forms, ananta-nāma - unlimited names. So, ananta-guṇa - unlimited qualities. So, even, Anantadeva, Śeṣa, with all His heads, since time immemorial, is trying to glorify, all the wonderful qualities of the Lord, but, He cannot find the end. So, Prabhupāda is bhakta Goswami. He knows the Goswami saṃskāra. So, our saṃskāras are very similar to the Śrī-sampradāya. He said, that, the gṛhastha āśrama is a responsible āśrama. In other āśramas, I have seen other sannyāsīs, they don’t have so many responsibilities. I mean, not like gṛhasthas. I would have been a devotee, to serve my guru, to carry out his orders. Now, the gṛhasthas, also, has their duty plus they have to be husband’s or wife’s, spouses. They have to earn. They have to work. They have their resistance at work, like, someone, may be a Vice President or Lieutenant. So, whatever the job is. So, they have these duties. But, of course, the government likes to see, you are a tax-payer. Give them tax. So, everybody has so many duties. Like, Indian ladies, they have the daughters in law. They are daughter-in-laws and then, they have daughter in laws later. So, like that, there are so many duties of being a gṛhastha. One disciple met me today, on Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he has turned into a grihastha. But, one of his duties was, to visit Māyāpur every year. Because all the gṛhasthas were visiting Lord Caitanya at Jagannātha Purī every year. So, the gṛhasthas, they used to visit Māyāpur, at least, once a year, when, they go to India. So, when they ask, who has visited Māyāpur, only 5% raised your hands. So, in the future, you should regularly visit because, Māyāpur, every service you do, you get 1,000 times the results. So, it’s like, 1000 times bonus (devotees laughing). That means, if have a 100 23:43, it becomes 100,000 (devotees laughing). You come 23:53 by prasad. So, spiritually, it’s a very great place, to come and get the batteries charged up (devotees laughing). So, most people, they are called as servants of the senses. They basically think, if, my senses are happy, I will be satisfied. But that’s not true. We are not this body. We are the spirit soul. Although, there are some pleasures of the body, it doesn’t actually satisfy us. Some great devotees they are also afraid, that, My dear senses, I have served you very faithfully. I have done whatever you wanted. Still, you are never satisfied. You want more and more. So, now, I decided, I’ll serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Haribol! [Haribol!] So, in devotional service, without denying the senses, when, we regulate, what you do, what you don’t do. Like, we don’t do things that, the senses will say, considered sinful. Like, outside the marriage, any relationships, we can eat meat, fish, eggs. We try to avoid these things, so that, we can progress in our spiritual progress well. Kṛṣṇa gives us some alternatives, to take prasāda. So, although, we don’t eat meat, fish, egg, we get nice prasad. A person can be a gṛhastha. Be responsible. Take responsibility for the wife or the husband or the children, rather than being irresponsible. So, like this, Kṛṣṇa is giving us, it’s not feasible. But, also, we get spiritual happiness by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare (devotees chant along with Guru Mahārāja 3 times) Haribol! So, you are all very responsible persons and I’m very happy that, you are chanting and you are practicing. Lord Caitanya, He said, we should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-bolo, Kṛṣṇa-bhaja...we should serve the Lord Kṛṣṇa and kara-kṛṣṇa-śikṣa...we should hear the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. It’s like, we went to Varṣāṇā, one day and Dīna Bandhu Prabhu, he showed us the Kṛṣṇa-kuṇḍa. And he said, nearby, there was a house. The gopīs had complained to Yaśodā that, your son, He steals our butter. What’s the proof? Well, it’s your son. If, He’s a small boy, catch Him and then, I will see that, this is my boy. There are so many cowherd boys. How do I know, it’s my boy. Okay, we’ll catch Him. So, they put bells in the doorway. They put bells on the stone mortar. They put bells on the pots of the ghee. If, Kṛṣṇa comes and opens the door, the bells will ring. If, He moves the mortar, the bells will ring. If, He steals the ghee, bells will ring and they would know, He is there and they would lock Him inside and show mother Yaśodā. Your son is stealing our butter. Then, Kṛṣṇa came with His friends. He saw bells. So, He said to the bells, Bells, I order you, not to ring. They opened the door and went in. He saw bells on the mortar. Bells, I order you, don’t ring. Then, the mortar didn’t ring. So, He saw bells on the ghee pots and then, He told the bells, Bells, don’t ring. The ghee, He gave it to the monkeys, gave it to His friends. All His friends gave back to Kṛṣṇa, put some ghee, butter in His mouth. Suddenly, all the bells rang. Ding! ding! ding! So, in the dark, they all went outside. What are you doing? Why are you ringing? That’s not your duty. When they are offering You prasāda, we have to ring (laughter). Right! we all use bells when we offer. Ya! So, everyone come 33:38. There’s a window behind. Everybody run out. So, they run out through the windows. But, Madhu Maṅgala, he was a brāhmaṇa friend. He was little chubby. So, he got stuck in the window. Because he was more fat than the other kids and the ladies came in, they caught Madhu Maṅgala and they tied him up. Tell us! Beware! Tell us! It was that son of Nanda Mahārāja, wasn’t it? (laughter) Go on, speak. Come on! and then, Kṛṣṇa heard that, His friend was caught. So, He came back. What are you doing? He is a brāhmaṇa. You are offending a brāhmaṇa. Oh no!! All of you bow down. So, then, what can we do to get freed from this offense? He likes sweets. So, give him sweets and he’ll bless you all. So, they put him on the side of Kṛṣṇa-kuṇḍa and gave him some bunch of sweets... burfis, laḍḍus, rabḍī (laughter). You like sweets. What’s your favorite sweet? Gulab-jamun. (laughter). So, he had all these sweets. He was eating. That place is still there. It is called the Madhu Maṅgala baiṭhak. Haribol! ( Haribol!). So, Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are very ecstatic. Lord Caitanya, Nityānanda, They are Kṛṣṇa Himself, but, He came as a devotee. He is the Kali-yuga avatāra for this Kali-yuga and He gave us the process to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

So, one day, Lord Caitanya’s devotee, Kṛṣṇa devotee, Murāri Gupta, he was giving a class and he was speaking on aṣṭāṅga-yoga. But we practice bhakti-yoga. So, bhakti-yoga is nine processes of bhakti. But aṣṭāṅga-yoga is aṣṭāṅga, prāṇāyāma, other things. So, Murāri Gupta, he was giving a class. Do your praṇāyāma. Lord Caitanya, He was just 3 years old. He also mimicked Murāri Gupta. Do your prāṇāyāma. Follow your nose. Then, by the right, onto the left. Everybody cracked up laugh. Like this, He imitated, He mimiced Murāri Gupta. So, the whole class woke up and left. Then, Murāri Gupta said, who is this boy? Is He a son of a brāhmaṇa? Why is He acting like this? Lord Caitanya said, I’ll see you at lunch and left. At lunch time, Murāri Gupta was taking his rice, sabjis and dal. Lord Caitanya walked in and then, He decorated Himself with a flute in His mouth and various decorations, He went to the house of Murāri Gupta. Murāri Gupta was eating his prasāda. Lord Caitanya, although, fierce soul, He spoke in a very loud and very grave voice... Murāri Gupta! 40:47 So, this little child, He said, you have to develop with your bhakti-yoga. Sorry, I interrupted your lunch and He walked away.

Advaita Ācārya had done tapasya to have Lord Caitanya, Kṛṣṇa come as a devotee. That boy, looks just like Kṛṣṇa. Only different color. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Very difficult to understand. Why didn’t I understand before? How does a little 3-years old boy know about bhakti-yoga? So, he went to the house of Jagannātha Miśra, Lord Caitanya’s house. Dear Jagannātha Miśra and Śacīmātā, I came for the child. Calling the baby Lord Gaurāṅga, smelling His head. Oh, my dear son 42:50 Murāri Gupta was looking. Then, He wasn’t there. Paid his prostrate obesceinces. Lord Gaurāṅga, Haribol Rāma, jaya jaya rādhikā-kṛṣṇa govindāya namo namah. Then, Jagannātha Miśra, he saw ,Oh! Murāri Gupta! most famous, eminent physician in Navadvīpa, what brings you to our house? Then, Murāri Gupta, he walked four times around Lord Caitanya yāni kāni ca pāpāni brahma-hatyādikāni ca and then, none of this was understood by Jagannātha Miśra. What are you doing Murāri Gupta? and he hold Jagannātha Miśra’s hands. You two, I want to tell you. You are the most fortunate. Your son is the “Aaaaahh!! I’m hungry. I’m hungry.” So, He cut the talk of Murāri Gupta and then, Murāri Gupta went away. Śrī Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu kī Jaya! Śrī Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān kī jaya! Śrī Balaji ki jai! So, all of you have this rare opportunity to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be Kṛṣṇa conscious in this lifetime. Haribol!!

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja kī Jaya!!