20160508 A Class in the New Vrindavan Temple.

20160508_Caitanya_Caritamrita_Madhya-lila.22.54_New_Vrindavan_USA_Literal Version

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaj on May 8th, 2016 in New Vrindavan in West Verginian, USA. The class begins with a reading from the Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 22, verse 54. 

JPS: mukam karoti vacalam

Pangum langhyate girim

Yat kripa tam aham vande 

Sri guru dina tarinam

Paramananda madhavam

Sri Caitanya  Ishvaram

Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Devotees: Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Devotees: Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Devotees: Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Devotees (repeat) :‘sadhu-sanga’, ‘sadhu-sanga’ — sarva-sastre kaya

lava-matra sadhu-sange sarva-siddhi haya

“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.”

Purport: 

According to astronomical calculations, a lava is one eleventh of a second.

JPS: I was trying to think of an example in sastra of a lava association ah… but the associations were atleast a few lavas, a few seconds, but from my personal life it was a lava, I was teenager, in the golden gate park I was walking and heard this cymbals playing sh…. Sh… and from a distance I saw people that appeared like they were dressed in bedsteads. One lady looked at me and she had tilak. 

When I saw the tilak just for a micro second all the hairs on by back stood up like those pictures you see with …3.40-3.44… I really turned around and ran about one mile, and then I was thinking why was I running, why this reaction. Let’s find out who these people work. 

So I went back, they were gone. I asked, “who were they?”, and they said, “OH! They were the hare krishna’s.”

“Where do they stay?” …. The won’t know ?? …04.22-25…

So then my goal in life was to find who are these hare krishna’s?, and then I saw a sign “Festival of chariots.” 455 or 450 I forget, Fredrick Street. So anyway I went there and I got engaged by Jayananda in making the rath cart. 

Yesterday Nanda Kumar was saying that how he didn’t go to India and that I went, he was very emotional but actually I owe everything to him and many others also but he gave me a pair of beads. He said, “you chant on these.”, and I was a yogi, and I was sitting on a padma asana, ardha Padma asana, …05.55-05.57…. tree, started chanting. I chanted six hours no-stop, 32 hours, tears were coming from my eyes, my hairs standing on end, shaking, “wow… I said this is the most intense meditation I ever had, it’s wonderful.” 

I came back and the Nanda Kumar said, “Oh ! excuse me, I gave you Prabhupada’s chanting beads (laughter), I am not supposed to give those out. Can I have that back please.”

So he took it back and the next day wasn’t the same. (laughter)  

So Prabhupada gave me a little taste or so. I was convinced that there was something really here. So on the day of the rath yatra, I decided that If I don’t really try it how will I know that it is true it not. So I shaved up, and then I  went to meet Prabhupada in Montreol and ah… as soon I saw, as soon as he spoke it was amazing his association. His presence filled up the whole room, there weren’t many new devotees in those days, specially shaved up, coming in. 

Somehow he asked, “Who is this?”, and Garga Muni was there and he said, “This is Bhakta Jay”

So he said, “…08.30… come for lunch.”

Yesterday we heard from Urmila devi, how one muslim academic, professor, he saw Prabhupada just walking by, and he was walking by and Prabhupada was giving a talk at Harvard University, and he had some emergency work to do but just that second, that few minutes he walked in the room, heard Prabhupada and his whole life was changed. He thought, like everybody think of this as religion he never thought of it as something enjoyable and pleasant but by hearing Prabhupada he realized that spiritual life is bliss, it is the most ecstatic thing. So he was completely convinced. 

One year Prabhupada came from West to Indian, and somehow, I don’t know what area took, it stopped in Tehran, from there they he met some Islamic scholars, some Aitolas or whatever they are. 

So he was very excited because they were discussing the meaning of allah hu akbar and ah… and they came to agree that allah hu akbar means param satya or absolute truth. So Prabhupada went, he went to the most difficult places. He changed the way that people think. When he was asked, “what was your purpose.”, he said, “Oh! I have a very simple purpose, I want to change the way the people think.” , that’s the most difficult thing right?

So Prabhupada was just showing us how actually the association and service of Krishna is what we are really meant to do, and that is the most enjoyable thing. We are part of Krishna but we are infinitesimal but he is vibhu, unlimited but he feels a little happy with us that is the tsunami for us, tidal wave. But Maya’s job is to somehow get us distracted, to see if we are really fixed up or not. 

To go to the spiritual world there is no bars, no chains but the thing is that it is subtle, the  attachments, the desires, those need to be gradually purified, and by doing that then we actually experience the real happiness that we are looking for. 

So today we had the association of the devotees, the ah… the ah… organizer of the festival, he glorified some of the men and vaisnavis who had done some exceptional service. 

In the Nectar of devotion, it mentions how one first does the vidhi marg, that means that you strictly follow the rules and regulations, and then in the next stage you think actually how you do the service very nicely in a better way, just like organizing this festival, there must have been so much effort into it, organizing prasadam, housing, invitations and ah… and many other aspects, more than even what you can even think of, where there is painting the goshala, putting something on the website, all these activities and trying to do a better job, a better service, a better seva, worshipping the deities, having the deities nicely dressed and decorated for all of us, all these aspects, this is called the second level of the rules and regulations state, but this is described as raganuga where someone takes up the service spontenously and they absorb themselves into it, and they are not doing it mechanically, they are it because they want to do something nice for Krishna. So that’s the level of raganuga.

There are various levels of raganuga that leads to bhav bhakti. Bhav Bhakti is the ecstatic level of devotion. So we see how in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda delivered Jagai and Madhai. These were very despicible souls, they had committed unlimited crimes, they were social deviance, I can’t even repeat the examples of things that they would do every day. 

He looked at the sastras, see what the biggest sin was, and set out that day with the goal to do that thing. If it is better to beat up a blind person today let’s beat up a blind person, crazy thing. 

But their slight association with Lord Nityananda, and that changed Jagai’s heart. Madhai had struck Nityananda, caused him to bleed. But Nityananda said that just because you caused me to bleed doesn’t mean that I won’t give you love of godhead. So then Jagai told to Madhai, “You just beat him, you just caused him to bleed, he is still talking love, he is not an ordinary person.”

And that’s why Lord Caitanya embraced Jagai. Of course he was so angry and he was going to break his promise of not using violence, but Lord Nityananda pleaded with him before them to Lord Caitanya. So he agreed to deliver them if they promised not to commit any more of the sinful acts. So they bathed in the ganges, they agreed, and they were initiated by Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda. 

So then the talk started in the yamaloka, Jagai and Madhai got delivered, all their sins wiped out, all their karmas wiped out, and then ah… Yamaraja said how much karma did they have? If you put it in written form it makes you wonder what form they had. Any way  if you put it in written form, it would feel up godown after godown, building after building, we have architects working on a special hell for them. 

So if anyone is an architect you have a job designing new custom built hell. Any way when Yamaraj heard this he fell unconscious, they tried to revive him but he didn’t revive. Then Lord Siva came and then he said what happened. They told him that he has not fainted, he is ecstasy. If you want to wake him up you have to chant Hare Krishna. So the whole Yamaloka was chanting to wake up Yamaraj, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.”

And there was vegetable salesman who would seat by the side of the road selling his vegetables and bananas, and banana products. But selling banans in Bengal… is like everyone has a banana tree. (laughter). So if you sell coal in new castle, selling bananas in Bengal, you are not going to make a huge margin. 

So Lord Caitanya as a young boy, he would come out, doing some shopping for his mother. He would always go up to Kolavecha Sridhar. He would pick up a dozen bananas. “How much is this?”

“eight kori”… that is eight small conchshells, eighty conch-shells is one penny. “It’s damn cheap baba” (laughter)

Then Lord Caitanya said, “What eight kori, that is too much.”

“you check the market, I am telling the market rate, you won’t get any cheaper than I am giving you. I am a poor brahman, why do you want to rip me off?”

Then he grabbed the bananas back from Lord Caitanya. 

“What you think I am going to steal your bananas?”

He was just taking that and Lord Chaitanya grabbed them back. Then he gave him four karis and walked off. (laughter)

“Why you take this?”

“I don’t know, when I see this boy something melts in me and so many pastimes happened, when he saw Nimai Pandit visiting him.”

Always this time though he hadn’t started the sankirtan yajna. So Kolavecha neighbours would harass him. You are having a hole in your dhoti. He suggested… you are worshipping, you are giving 50% of your income, just stop that for one year. Built up your capital, then you can have more money and you can do bigger puja, you can buy more bananas

He said, “what is the guarantee that I will start again after one year?” 

“If Krishna wants to I will become rich. I will spend half my income on the worship of the Ganges.”, and they said your dhoti has a hole in it, air conditioning, very cool. Your roof of your house has holes in it. Let’s the sun in. What about the rain? 

Now we know why you are shouting all night. Hunger pains. 

Kolavecha Sridhar didn’t care for his materialistic neighbours. He kept on with his service. On the 21 hour kirtan, arati that was offered by Advaita Goswami, Lord Caitanya at that time was showing his divine form to convince Advaita that I Krishna has answered your call. 

So he was revealing to different devotees who they were in previous lives. So somehow he called for Kolavecha Sridha. When Kolavecha Sridhar heard that Lord Caitanya was calling for him, Nimai Pandit was calling, he fainted. 

Nimai Pandit was the greatest pandit of Nabadwip and he just a banana seller, sat on the side of the road with his basket. So the devotees picked him up and carried him over, where the arati was going on. 

So when he became conscious he saw Lord Caitanya. At that time He was effulgent and only Nityananda and a couple of other devotees were visible. So it was obvious that he was divine. So then Lord Caitanya said, “I want to give you a boon, what do you want?”

“NO, NO, I don’t want anything.”

“NO, I will make you a king, you can have your own kingdom.”

“No, I don’t want to be king.”

“I will give you mystical  powers, anima, mahima, prapti, whatever you want reach out and get it. You want a Rolex watch from Geneva… but Lord Caitanya didn’t say that. (laughter)

Just for making sure you are awake or not. (laughter)

“ No, I don’t want mystic powers”

“I can give you liberation, you can merge in the brahma-jyoti.”

“no, no, I don’t want that.”

“So what do you want? You have to take some boon from me.”

“Well if I have to ask something, on your every avatar, If I can supply your banana and vegetable needs, If I could see that smiling face of the young brahman boy, that’s what I want, although I am not qualified to get that, please let be born in a family of devotees.”

Lord Caitanya said, “I am going to give you that which even Brahma and Siva hanker to get, I am giving you pure love for Krishna.”

Hari Bol. Hari Bol. Hari Bol.

So all the devotees, how this free market salesman, this grower of vegetables, he is getting the highest benediction. 

You just chanted Hari Bol pulling their hair, it reminds me how putana who was a serial killer, she rubbed on her breast poison, she assumed a beautiful physical form. 

She come in and breast feed different children, and they die. She was a very bad demoness, rakshashi. 

So kamsha had sent her to kill Krishna, she had the poison on her breast, and she came in smiling, and somehow she took Krishna from his mother lap and said, “Oh beautiful baby!” , but actually she was thinking, “Well, this baby is beautiful. If I had a baby I would want one like this. Too bad I have to kill him.” (laughter) “But my friend Kamsha want’s me to kill him, so then she feeds her breast to Krishna, but because she wanted to kill Krishna, Krishna reciprocated, He killed her, but because she thought, “I wish I could be the mother of this child, he elevated her to the spiritual world as one of his mothers.”

When Lord Caitanya heard this, when Pundarik Vidyanidhi heard this, they became overwhelmed with the mercy of Krishna.  A token of mercy, a token of expression was awarded with unlimited mercy. It’s reminds me that one time… that time we didn’t have any temple in Rajasthan and there was a person there. We knew him as Achyutananda No.2, because he told everyone, “I am Achyutananda, and Achyutananda was a bit famous.” 

But he would collect money by showing some plans for building some temple in Jaipur. But then he would steal the money, he wasn’t a devotee, he was a … 39.08-39.10… artist. So he got arrested by devotees and brought to Srila Prabhuapada and the district superintends of police and other police officers they came to arrest him. He told Prabhupad, “By a moment of your association I feel changed, I have been a bad person, but by your association now I see the light, I want to surrender.”

The Prabhupada said, “Okay, as a representative of Krishna I have to accept.”

All the police officers, they said, “c’mon this person is a con-artist, he will say anything to escape arrest.”

Prabhupada said, “I don’t care, he says he will surrender, give him a chance.”

So Prabhupada  was willing to give. So may be by a moments association with Prabhupada he could change his heart. 

He was going to sneak out after a couple of weeks after mangala arati but he was caught. And then Prabhupada said, “I gave you the chance.”

Called the police and they took him away.

So, living with Prabhupada we learnt all kinds of things. 

Once we were visited by a divisional commissioner who was the incharge of four districts. Each district has a district head called the district magistrate and at that time there were about sixteen districts, four divisional heads. 

So this divisional head came. Prabhupada personally showed… he was telling that how Gauriya math was very expert at taking care of their guest, and he said that you should also be expert. So this person said , “he did everything for receiving his guests.”

Prabhupada showed how to feed the person, he talked light talks. He would say no water, water, even if there was water.

Made the person feel, “Oh! the Acharya cares for me.”

Then the commission said, “is there anything that I can do for you?”

“Well we need about 360 acres. (laughter), to build our spiritual town”, and he agreed. 

So like this Prabhupada showed how by a moment of his association the person got changed.

Once my mother came to see me and she was prize-winning rose-grower. The way the cut roses I don’t know, the cut the roses and made the buffey, we gave to Prabhuapada.

One day Prabhupada as preaching to her. I never heard him say in this language before.

“We are the living force in the body, used the word living force. You don’t usually use the word spirit soul but he used the word living force. Somehow by his association he changed my purva-ashram mother. 

She fell in the Ganges, she …46.25-46.30… so he then told her, “ from here down you are protected now.” (laugter)

Then she had a stroke here and she had an out of body experience. When she saw the doctors operating on her, but she didn’t know how that was possible. 

So I was giving a seminar one day with Bhakti Tirtha Swami, and we had some para-psycologists and other… this is the festival at Atlanta, new Pani-hati dham. 

So this para-psychologist experience… out of body experience. My mother raised her hand, she said, “I had one.”

Anyway Prabhupada told her, “You will be protected from here down.”

She came back to Mayapur, and she said, “I want a full dip.” So she took a full dip. But she would never tell me what but she told me she had a religious experience in the Ganges, and she had her ashes put in the Ganges when she died.

So, we heard how with a moments of association with Madhavendra Puri, Advaita Goswami and various vaisnavas wanted to take his shelter or took his initiation.

But he had such a personality that if he saw a rain cloud, he would be reminded of Krishna and on the spot he would faint in separation. He had so much devotion, so much love for Krishna.

When Jagannath Mishra left the world, Lord Caitanaya became Nimai Pandit but he was still studying, but somehow he thought that I am still studying and earning money. I am maintaining my mother, I live in the house, I have my home, but my home is not a home, if it doesn’t have a grihini.

You see grihastha, griha means home, grihi means his wife. The wife gives a personality to the home. So he decided that I will get married and ah… it’s a whole long thing.

So the banamali who is the best match-maker of Nabadwip, he had found a match for Lord Caitanya I Lasmipriya, but there is this whole lila but Sachi thought that she is too young, he is still studying, earning both.

Then ah… she realized that Nimai was interested. So then she called back Banamali and the thing was arranged. But the father of Laxmipriya, Vallavhacharya, he said that my daughter is my …52.10… I am a poor  Brahmin, I can’t give any dowry, I can only give you fire haritakis, that’s like dry dates, it’s kind of aurvedic, it’s the aurvedic part of triphala.

So then ah…mother Sachi asked all her relatives, that my boy has no father. So you please see that the marriage goes nicely, and Nimai was crying.

She said, “Why you are crying? Today is your day.”

“Mother, it seems that you are asking them to give me money.”

I just had the adhivas, I gave jewelled necklaces to all the guests. Even extraordinary things I do it, what to think of this ordinary thing with marriage. So why you are appealing to the relative in such a way that it seems that you are asking for money. 

Sachi was very smart, so she changer. 

He said, “Okay lets go, let’s get ready.”

In those days they didn’t have cars, they would carry the people by palanquin.

So on some special occasion they had a palanquin. So Lord Caitanya dressed up and he sat in the palanquin and they were brahmins besides him chanting mantras, there was the bands in front, there were the dancers, there was a beautiful procession about to start, and the girls some married and some un-married, they all saw Lord Caitanya, more beautiful than millions of cupid.

Normally the ladies were very discreet, shy, timid but they started shouting, “but Nimai is getting married, hurry up, hurry up, wear your silk saris, wear your kajal, hurry up, hurry up.”

And all the people started coming and it is said that the road was flooded with people, and the whole Nadia was flooded with the love of Krishna because whether they  knew it or not, Nimai was Krishna.

So their enthusiasm, their participation in Nimai’s marriage, that was all Krishna bhakti. Just like New Vrindav, Prabhupada said, we said last night, it is not different from Vrindavan. So when you dance in Kirtan and do your service with enthusiasm it is non-different from Vrindavan. 

So the whole Navadwip was getting wild, “Nimai is getting married, Nimai is getting married, everyone was running.”

The whole town of Nabadwip, the whole town of Nadia was flooded with Krishna prem. While I was translating this someone knocked on the door. 

“Yes, Maypur is flooded.” So this year it flooded. 

So Prabhupada said, “when Nabadwip floods, it means that the whole world will be flooded with Hari-nam sankirtan.

Hari Bol.

So we hope that you all get inspiration from this festival and go and flood the whole world here with Krishna consciousness, with hari-nam sankirtan, with Prabhupada’s books and ah… we hope that you are all inspired also to help to build the temple of Vedic planetarium.

Hare Krishna (applause)