20181126 Śrī Krishna Caitanya Book

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book work 26^th November 2018 in Chennai, India by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Guru Mahārāja. Reading from Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.155-158.

Under the section: The beginning of Mahāprabhu’s manifestations

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Jayapatākā Swami: So today we are going to again continue with the reading of the compilation of the books on Krishna Caitanya’s life. Today was an unusual day in the sense that we normally have a physiotherapist in the morning from 8.45 am but today he called in and said he had an upset stomach. So we did the therapy on our own. Then we have a voice therapist come, he was a little late, but he came at 11.30 and he had me practice different vowels and two consonants and to say them in rising tone, high and low tones. Because the chief therapist said that the tones are important to express emotion and emphasis. So he was saying that our speech is like a wind instrument and string instrument. String is the vocal cords and the throat, and the mouth provide the wind. So the first letter was mmmmmm and the second letter zed, so they made me do this buzzing sound in my throat. I always thought that the buzzing tone was in the teeth zzzzzzzzzzzzz but he said that it was through the throat. That may take a little while aaaaaaaaaaaa. Today I walked seven steps. I used to walk thousands of steps but now my legs have become weakened, gradually they are gaining strength, walking 4 steps, 5 steps, 6 steps, today I did 7 steps!! I want to be able to dance in kīrtana again! Haribol! So that is my health update. Now we are a bit late today so will chant a few verses.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.155

daridra adhama yadi laya kṛṣṇa-nāma
sarva doṣa thakile o yāya kṛṣṇa-dhāma

Translation: “If a poor fallen person takes to chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, he attains the abode of Kṛṣṇa in spite of having many faults.

Jayapatākā Swami: A man, a poor fallen person, if he takes to the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, all his faults… in spite of all his faults, he will go to the eternal abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Haribol!

Sometimes devotees are worried, I am so fallen, how will I get to the abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa? So here it says daridra adham, if a person is poor, he is the lowest of mankind, but he chants the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, he goes back to Kṛṣṇa’s abode in spite of many, many faults! Haribol! That means that there is hope for everybody. Just chant the holy names of Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya 1.156

ei-mata sakala-śāstera abhiprāya
ihāte sandeha yāra, se-i duḥkha pāya

Translation: “This is the purport of all scriptures. Anyone who doubts this fact suffers.

Jayapatākā Swami: This is the purport, the essence of all the scriptures, there are no doubts about this. Those who doubt this, they have to suffer.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya 1.157

kṛṣṇera bhajana chāḍi’ ye śāstra vākhāne
se adhama kabhu śāstra-marma nāhi jāne

Translation: “Anyone who explains the scriptures without referring to the worship of Kṛṣṇa is a fallen soul who does not know the purport of the scriptures.

Commentary: Those who have accumulated heaps of impious activities in previous lives and thus give up Kṛṣṇa’s worship, which is the only purport of all scriptures, and do not explain the scriptures based on devotional service—in other words, those who accept the unfavorable nondevotional processes of anyābhilāṣa, karma, jñāna, and yoga as processes for achieving the goal of life and dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa as the goals of life—such persons are actually ignorant of the real purport or intention of the scriptures. One should carefully discuss the following verses from the śrutis, smṛtis, and Purāṇas.

The Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.14.2) states: ācāryavān puruṣo veda—“One who follows the disciplic succession of ācāryas knows things as they are.”

The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.23) states:

yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.”

The Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.23) states:

nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyo
na medhayā na bahunāśrutena
yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas
tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām

“The Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, nor even by much hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form.”

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.11.18) it is stated:

śabda-brahmaṇi niṣṇāto na niṣṇāyāt pare yadi
śramas tasya śrama-phalo hy adhenum iva rakṣataḥ

“If one is learned in Vedic literature but is not a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu, his work is a useless waste of labor, just like the keeping of a cow that does not give milk.”

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.29) further states:

athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-
prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi
jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno
na cānya eko ’pi ciraṁ vicinvan

“My Lord, if one is favored by even a slight trace of the mercy of Your lotus feet, he can understand the greatness of Your personality. But those who speculate to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead are unable to know You, even though they continue to study the Vedas for many years.”

Jayapatākā Swami: One who explains the śāstra or scriptures without talking about kṛṣṇa-bhajan, which means the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa, that fallen soul, he doesn’t know the real meaning of the scriptures.

Those people who have accumulated a large number of impious reactions, don’t talk about the devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, instead speak on non-devotional practices, anyābhilāṣa, karma, jṣāna, mokṣa and they say that goal of life is dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa. Such persons are actually ignorant of the real purpose of the śāstras or scriptures. One should carefully discuss, real verses from the śrutis, smṛtis and purāṇas. [Not Clear 16:45]

So there are quotes from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, Kaṭha Upaniṣad. In the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, it is said how the Supreme Lord is not obtained by expert explanations, by vast intelligence, or even by much hearing, He is attained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11th canto, 11th chapter, 18th verse it’s said that even if one is learned in Vedic literatures but is not a devotee of Lord Viṣṇu his work is a useless waste of labor, just like keeping a cow which does not give milk.

In another verse of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 10.14.29., it says that if someone is favored by a slight trace of the mercy of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, he can understand the greatness of Your personality but those who speculate, to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are unable to know You, even though they continue to study Vedas for many years.

So, there are many quotes that if you really want to achieve the goal of life, you have to be a devotee of Viṣṇu or a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa appears as Viṣṇu, there is only one God but He has many forms and unlimited pastimes.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya 1.158

śāstrera nā jāne marma, adhyāpanā kare
gardabhera prāya yena śāstra vahi’ mare

Translation: “Those who do not know the purport of the scriptures yet teach them to others are simply like asses, carrying the load of the scriptures.

Commentary: Those who study the scriptures are of two types: one group consists of those who carry the burden of the scriptures like cows or asses and the other group consists of those who extract the essence of the scriptures like honey bees. The purport is that to gratify their material senses, asslike teachers induced by ajña-rūḍhi and ignorant of the actual purport of the scriptures do not explain that the goal of life is unalloyed service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the husband of Sarasvatī, the goddess of transcendental knowledge. Just as cows and asses are unable to relish the sweetness of honey or sugar kept in a jar, the study and teaching of the Vedas by such asslike, proud, so-called learned scholars who uselessly labor hard like foolish animals is completely useless and meaningless. Being bewildered by māyā, those foolish persons then mistakenly accept other equally qualified asslike people as learned. But actually for intelligent swanlike devotees who know the causes of bondage and liberation to be addressed as learned scholars is most befitting and appropriate.

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (4.29.44) Nārada Muni speaks to the saintly King Prācīnabarhi as follows:

adyāpi vācas-patayas
tapo-vidyā-samādhibhiḥ
paśyanto 'pi na paśyanti
paśyantaṁ parameśvaram

“Although expert speakers continually deliberated on the strength of austerity, knowledge, and samādhi, they could not fully know the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who witnesses all things.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Those who don’t understand the purpose of the scriptures yet teach them to others are like asses who are carrying a big bunch of scriptures on their back. But they don’t know what is in the scriptures. Those who study the scriptures are of two types – those who carry the load of the scriptures like bulls or asses, the other group are like honey bees, they extract the essence of the scriptures. The purport is that people who are in the first group are like the donkeys, they don’t explain the scriptures and highlight the devotional service to the Supreme Lord. They are bewildered by the ajña-rūḍhi. And they are ignorant of the actual purport of the scriptures. They do not explain that the goal of life is unalloyed service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Husband of the goddess of transcendental learning, Sarasvatī.

Just as cows and donkeys are unable to relish the sweetness of honey or sugar kept in a jar, the study and teaching of the Vedas by such donkey like proud so-called learned scholars who uselessly labor hard like foolish animals, is completely useless and meaningless. So, these people are bewildered by the illusory energy. So for those foolish people they accept other equally ignorant people who have some material recognition, [Not Clear 29:08] as learned. They accept such foolish people as learned, simply by their having some material recognition. But actually for the intelligent swan like devotees, who understand the cause of bondage and liberation, to be addressed as learned scholars is most befitting and appropriate.

Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura he would go and preach the glories of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He went to one assembly called by these caste brāhmaṇas. There was a big crowd of people there. So, he glorified about the 12 qualities of a brāhmaṇa and the brāhmaṇas were happy. Then he said, a Vaiṣṇava has 13 qualities - these 12 plus, pure devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore a Vaiṣṇava is automatically better than a brāhmaṇa who is not a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So, in this way he defeated the caste brāhmaṇas. So, he knew what is the cause of bondage and what is the cause for liberation, to address him as a learned scholar is befitting and appropriate. To address him…

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.29.44, Nārada Muni speaks to the saintly king Prācīnabarhi and tell him that expert speakers continually deliberating on the strength of austerities, knowledge and samādhi, they could not know the Supreme Personality of Godhead who witnesses everything. They cannot fully know Him because He is only known by devotional service.

So, since we started late and it is very late we will end here. Are there any questions?

Question: You explained that Mahāprabhu is showing mahābhāva, my question is what is the meaning of mahābhāva?

Jayapatākā Swami: There are eight levels of prema which is pure love of Kṛṣṇa. The highest level is called mahābhāva where one is completely absorbed and ecstasies are out of control. In the Nectar of Devotion, I think there is some description that mahābhāva is only held by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, Mādhavendra Purī and Lord Caitanya. So it is very special, cannot be imitated by anyone else. It is like Lord Caitanya would be washed in the sea and all His body, His bones would be disjointed, and He would become 9 feet. So the other associates were looking for Lord Caitanya. They found some fisherman who was, “Oh Ohhhhhh Hari Hari! Oh Oh… Hari Hari!” out on the beach. I know how to cure you of the ghost that is possessing you. He did pha pha pha three times. Now tell me where is that ghost? He said, “He is on the beach!” They saw that Lord Caitanya was stretched out on the beach. That is Lord Caitanya. I know Lord Caitanya. No, I know Lord Caitanya. That is not Lord Caitanya. He is white in color, He is 9 feet long. So devotees went and started to chant to Lord Caitanya: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Then all Lord Caitanya’s bones began to join together, and the devotees washed Him off from all the sand and the sea weeds that were covering Him. Lord Caitanya was half in the internal mood and half in the external mood. So He started to speak how He had seen the moon over the Yamunā. He thought the ocean was the Yamunā. So like this Lord Caitanya expressed some ecstasies which are incomparable. There are books which explain each stage of prema until mahābhāva. That will take a long time and I need to get the book. But if you see Lord Caitanya, His pastimes, you know what mahābhāva is. He would sometimes go outside the Jagannātha temple in Purī and in separation He would be crying, He would be crying for Kṛṣṇa. You can read those things, the first chapters in the Madhya-līlā of the Caitanya-caritamrta talk about this.