20181022 Evening Talk

The following is an evening talk given by His Holiness Jayapātākā swami Mahārāja on October 22, 2018 in Chennai, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpāṁ tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī-caitanya-īśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapātākā Swami: Su svāgatam to all present and all viewers! Today I had the physiotherapist teach me some new exercises. Everyone says I should breathe in and breathe out, so what does that actually mean? He said, I should breathe from the abdomen, breathe from the sides, and breathe from the lungs. In this way he was giving practical examples. He also taught me how to activate the core muscles and many other things. He is supposed to be the best in Chennai.

So my day went with this physio practice and some of the different emails that devotees have written. So we have here Kalāsudhā devī dāsī from Houston—she is cooking for two weeks. And our normal cook Prasanna gets a little relief for the first time in several years! Because I am not able to go to the temple yet, I was seeing the different āratis and functions on the TV and internet. That is how I spent my day.

When I had all the tubes in me, I was thinking how Śrila Prabhupāda in 1967 had the stroke, and he also had all kinds of tubes in him, but he pulled them out and he told his secretary to take him out of the hospital. The doctors were saying, “You will kill yourself.” But he didn’t care—he went back to Matchless Gifts, and although he was paralysed from the neck down, he stayed in the basement and with his mouth he was nonstop giving lectures and instructions to his followers. They would give him a sponge bath and after some time he regained the faculty of his limbs.

So how wonderful Śrīla Prabhupāda was! He was living in the comfort zone of the holy dhāma of Vṛndāvana, but he left all that to carry out the order of his Guru Mahārāja to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. Lord Caitanya had predicted: pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma, sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma—that in every town and village of the world, My holy names will be preached and sung. To a large extent that is already happening, and more and more devotees are taking up this mission to help Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, Śrīla Prabhupāda, to spread this saṅkīrtana movement.

We see how merciful Lord Caitanya was and how He was trying to deliver all the fallen souls:

parama karuṇā, pahu dui jana,
nitāi gauracandra

So Locana dāsa Ṭhākura is saying that supremely merciful are the two Lords—Nitāi Gauracandra. Caitanya and Nityānanda adopted the mood of the devotees. Nityānanda and Haridāsa were going door to door and asking people to please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. How the Lord is so merciful that They go door to door begging, asking people: bala-kṛṣṇa, bhaja-kṛṣṇa, kara-kṛṣṇa-śikṣā. As Nitāi-Gaura, They were accessible to the devotees. All the devotees also came and joined with the saṅkīrtana movement of Nitāi-Gaura.

We have devotees like Prahlāda Mahārāja, Hanumān, and so many others—they came down to associate with the Lord. Sometimes Kṛṣṇa, although He is very merciful, is not so approachable. But as Lord Caitanya, He was easily approachable to everyone, and in this way He was enjoying His scholastic pastimes. He also went around Navadvīpa dhāma with Nitāi and the kīrtana party. They were chanting all over the city. People were amazed how these twins who looked almost alike were chanting and dancing around Navadvīpa town.

Some of the smārta-brāhmaṇas—they are very close-minded, following the rules and regulations. They went to the Chand Kazi and complained that this brāhmaṇa Nimāi Paṇḍita is chanting the holy names and thus He is weakening the power of the holy names. One should not chant the names of the Lord loud. But He doesn’t care for all these rules, so He is destroying the Hindu dharma. So they asked the Chand Kazi to stop Him. So the Chand Kazi went and broke the drums. That place is known as the khola-bhaṅga-ḍāṅgā.

And then people approached Lord Caitanya and asked what they should do. He said, We will not stop chanting the holy name, and He told His devotees to go find volunteers to chant and march to the house of the Chand Kazi and demand a fair treaty. So then about 200,000 people gathered—this was the first time there was civil disobedience for the right cause. They came with torches in their hands. They were shouting, “Get the Kazi! Burn him! Burn him down!”

So he was a little scared—what should he do? Then he went to the veranda of his house and said, “Your father-in-law called me his uncle, which means You are my nephew. So why are You coming to my house in such an angry mood?” Lord Caitanya said, “Why are you keeping your nephew standing in the street?”

So in this way the ice was broken, and the Chand Kazi brought Lord Caitanya onto his veranda. And they were discussing the dharma. Lord Caitanya said that, “The bulls plough the land and produce grains, so why do you eat the bulls—your father? And the cows produce milk products which are healthy for everyone, so why do you kill the cow?”

The Chand Kazi said, “Well, although in your Vedas you have the aśvamedha and go-medha sacrifices where you also kill the cow.” Lord Caitanya said, “Yes, but that is an old cow which is brought back to life with a new body.”

And like this, the Chand Kazi revealed that the previous night he was approached by a half-man, half-lion, and the lion said to him, “If you disturb My saṅkīrtana again, I will tear you apart.” And the lion took His claws and scraped across my chest—and he opened his shirt and showed the marks were still there. That was obviously Nṛsiṁhadeva.

So like this, Lord Caitanya convinced the Chand Kazi that the chanting of the holy names was the method prescribed in the Vedas. So the Chand Kazi said, Me and my descendants—no one will disturb the chanting of the holy name. And he gave the symbol of the Chand Kazi. Chant with this and it will show that You are authorized.

So like this they parted as friends, and all the chanters were overjoyed because their demonstration was a success.

So He went to the house of Kholaveca Śrīdhara and He took rest in his garden. Lord Caitanya said that He was thirsty, “Can I have some water?” Kholaveca Śrīdhara was going to the neighbour’s house to borrow a fancy glass. Gaurāṅga asked, “Where are you going?” So He said, “This glass you have is enough. If it is good enough for My devotee, it is good enough for Me.” But that was a cast iron, rusty glass, and Śrīdhara took that glass behind himself and said, “No, no, it is not good enough for You.” Lord Caitanya, having very long arms, reached over Kholaveca Śrīdhara and drank some water Himself. Gaurāṅga!

So Prabhupāda would say that Lord Caitanya faced many obstacles in His spreading of the saṅkīrtana movement. If you are also facing some difficulties, it is a symbol that you are also following Lord Gaurāṅga. If you face some difficulty, you should remember Lord Caitanya—He faced many difficulties. And by persevering, you get the special mercy of Nitāi-Gaura. Haribol!

Gaurāṅga, Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara, Śrīvāsādi Gaura-bhakta-vṛnda!

Question: Dearest Guru Mahārāja, if you so desire, could you please tell us the pastime when Śrīla Prabhupāda called you to show you Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma or Gaura-Nitāi dancing in the gardens next to the Lotus Building? Did you see Them? Thank you.

Your servant,
Vijaya Rādhā devī dāsī.

Jayapātākā Swami: There was a brahmacārī who was driving Prabhupāda back from the Ratha-yātrā in California. Prabhupāda said, “Did you see Gaura-Nitāi dancing amongst the devotees? How beautiful They were!” This I heard firsthand.