20160823 Evening Class

20160823 H.H.Jayapatākā Swāmi gave an evening class in Perambur, India. [360p]

Gurumahārāja: So, on the… tonight Janmāsthami program, this is the first function that …..(inaudible) 1.00-1.25….. in Perumbur mandir there are special three janmāsthami and three vyāsapuja functions.

Haribol………………………………………………….. [Haribol]

So, it all starts in Perumbur. ……………….. [Haribol]

So, I am very honored to be here tonight. This is my first year in Chennai Janmāsthami. [applause]

I heard a lot about the festival here. I am sure you will not let me down. [Haribol]

Actually, Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda.

In the rig veda it says, oṁ Kṛṣṇa sac-cid-ānanda…. Kṛṣṇa puruṣottama. Kṛṣṇa has the quality of sac-cid-ānanda.

He is the original person. He is the supreme person. In the Brahmā Saṁhitā, 5th chapter, 1st verse, it says, iswara parama Kṛṣṇa sac cidandanda vigraha, anādir ādir govinda sarva kāraṇa Kāraṇaṁ. Kṛṣṇa is the supreme controller. His form is sat-cid-ānanda: eternal, knowledge and bliss. It is without any beginning, and He is the beginning. He is also known as Govinda who gives pleasure to the cows, senses and the land, and He is the cause of all causes. So, whether you read the brahmā Saṁhitā or the rig veda, Kṛṣṇa is the supreme original person with a eternal, blissful, knowledge body. We are different from our bodies. Our body dies, but we don’t die. But Kṛṣṇa’s form and Kṛṣṇa are non-different. When He descends, He can assume one material form as a kind of external covering of His eternal form, like an actor, he can show that arrows are piercing him. He may show bleeding, He may show perspiring. He is just like a magician who looks like… He cuts his body into many pieces. A magician may somehow, using his magic, he may cut his body in pieces, or it may look like he dies, but later he is the same. Like that Krishna can play different parts to fool the non-devotees and atheists, but the pure devotees are not bewildered. They know that Krishna is the greatest. I was telling the managing committee how whatever Kṛṣṇa does, He does it in a super way. No one can match with him. They are ….11.45, but they are one of the greatest power on earth, the super power. He is challenged by two earthly princess and an army of monkeys. We may think, “O no chance.” but Ram was the winner. Ravan was the loser. The earth was pushed off its orbit… fallen from its orbit. The earth was at the bottom of the garbhodaka ocean, and Lord Brahmā, he was praying, “How do we save the earth?” 

Aachoo…. 

Say in Tamil.

A little boar came out from Brahmā’s nose like an insect…. Cinna puchi… (applause)

The first word I learned in Tamil was mini mini puchi…. (laugther)

So, I thought cinna puchi must be small insect. Bless me that I can learn Tamil…………… [Haribol]

Bless me that I can become a devotee of Kṛṣṇa… [Haribol]

No blessing [laughter]

So, that boar got bigger and bigger; as big as a cat, as big a tiger, as big as an elephant, and it got bigger and bigger. He became so big that the earth got fit in its teeth, in its tusks. He dived into the garbodhāka ocean, picked up the earth, put it back in its orbit. Hiranyāksha was very angry, “Why did you put the earth back? I Hiranyāksha drove the earth down, I will kill you with this. Fight me, I am the greatest warrior.” (applause)

So, then Varāhadeva and Hiranyāksha had a big war. And sometimes Varahadev would make it look like Hiranyāksha had a chance. All the devas were worried, “O no, O no.” but then Varahadev put one foot on the earth, and then with the other foot, with his front foot he punched Hiranyāksha, and Hiranyāksha died instantly. Then Varahadev shook the water off his back, and then sprayed on the top of the rishis; and they took it as a big blessing. I was one year in Śrīraṅgam with a hundred and fifty devotees. That was the year that they did a mahāabhisekh of the gopurams and the Vimānams, of the Ranganāth temple. So, from the gopuram and the top of the Vimānam, they threw some water over the heads of the crowd below. We also got some of the divine water. Everybody thought that this is a great blessing. So, think how Varāhadeva taking the water from His divine body, He was blessing so many. Like that, Kṛṣṇa came, the eight son of Devakī, and sixth children had been dutifully given to Kaṁsa. First Vasudev told him, “This child is not predicted to kill you. So, why not spare him?'” Kaṁsa thought, “That’s ok.” But then his ministers said, “Kaṁsa, you can’t touch the devas. Who knows, one of the other children may kill you.” Kaṁsa ended up killing all six. The seventh, Balarām, appeared as a miscarriage, but he was transferred to the womb of Rohiṇī. The eight child, Kṛṣṇa, He appeared in a prison house of Kaṁsa. And he appeared with four hands, hair, mukut, Kasturba māni. And he was all dressed up. Vasudev wondered, “How is it that the baby has all these ornaments and …26.30… he realized that the baby was the Lord. He had… he and is wife had prayed to have a son like Kṛṣṇa. So, Kṛṣṇa thought, “There is nobody like me. So, I will become the son of Devakī and Vasudev.” So, in three different births he appeared as three different incarnations a parent’s. So, a grihastha can be parent of Kṛṣṇa, his expansion or a pure devotee. We vairāgīs, we can’t be. That’s why it is recommended that the grihasthas, you perform the garbodhana saṁskāra, and you pray to the Lord that He may send His pure devotee as His son…part of the garbodhana saṁskāra is bathing the Deities. Bhaktivinod Thakur and his wife, they prayed to his Deities. Oṁ Visnupāda Bhaktisiddhāntha Saraswati Prabhupāda Thākur appeared as his son. And when Lord Jagannath rath yatra stopped in front of the house of Bhakti Vinod Thakur, then the wife of Bhkativinod Thākur put her son at the lotus feet of Lord Jagannath, and the Deity dropped the garland over the baby. [Haribol] 

We asked Śrīla Prabhupāda to say something about his guru, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Bhaktisiddhāntha Saraswati Thākur. He said, “What can I say. He was a Vaikuṇṭha man.” So, we need lots of Vainkuntha men to deliver this world. So, we hope that our grihasthās will try to have a ray of Vṣnu as their child. So, Kṛṣṇa behaved as an actor. And then he does his pastimes, and then he goes back to Godhead. He is the Lord of all the worlds. He can go to any planet, any universe, first He comes to India…Bharat. You are all very fortunate. He came to Chennai. He married the princess of the king here…. Rāṇī Laxmana… So, it is a very sacred place. And in the pastime with Lord Caitanya, He wanted that all the devotees, all the grihasthās, all the brahmachāris, to be engaged in Kṛṣṇa’s service. This janmāsthami is a grand possibility…. [Haribol] to engage in divine services; to clean the temple, to make garlands, to help in festivals, to cut vegetables, to cook. In Prabhupāda’s vyāsa pūjā, we offered in Māyāpur two thousand and fifteen preps. [Haribol] but even if you do a hundred and eight or two hundred and sixteen, this is a chance to offer some special service to the Lord, and His pure devotees. In Krishna’s pastimes He came to the capital of the Mithilā desh kingdom. He came with many rishis, like Vyasadev, Vaśiṣṭā, so many… eight or ten. So, he was offering his… he simultaneously expanded himself into two. In one form he visited the king of that kingdom… Bahulaswa. In the other form He visited a poor brahmin, Sutadev. So, when he came to that house, the palace of the king, Bahulaswa was so honored that the Lord had come. We get special golden seats with gems.

Question: Sometimes when we do both our health is affected. So, how we can balance?

JPS: On Janmāsthami there are various services to be performed, like reading the Kṛṣṇa book. Each lady, man and child can take turns from morning to night, so that in the day we hope Kṛṣṇa book is read. I was one time chanting thirty-two rounds, and I thought, “O very good.” So, it was ten o clock and I was still chanting my rounds. Prabhupāda said, “What are you doing?” I told him, “I am chanting thirty-two rounds.” He said, “Chant sixteen rounds and preach. If you stay here all day, who will go out and preach?” So, if you have service, you have to at least chant your sixteen rounds. But don’t avoid; after that sixteen rounds if you have service, you should do it. And somehow on some janmāsthami’s I also chanted sixty-four rounds, on other janmāsthami’s I chanted sixteen or nineteen or something, and did service and service and service. 

So, we don’t want to neglect sevā. We have to chant our sixteen. Then we can do our sevā. If there is no sevā, then chant more. 

Alight?