20181203 The Lord's Pastimes with Students after His Gayā Yātrā

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book work 3^rd December 2018 in Chennai, India by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Guru Mahārāja. Reading from Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.219-226.

Under the section: The Lord's Pastimes with Students after His Gayā Yātrā

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Jayapatākā Swami: First we are compiling the Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book and now Nimāi Paṇḍita had gone to Gayā and got initiated by Īśvara Purīpāda. And there in Bihar, He started to manifest pure love of Kṛṣṇa. And He saw Kṛṣṇa in Kānāi-nāṭaśālā which is part of the new state of Jhārikhaṇḍa. Then He went back to Navadvīpa and now He is gradually informing people about His realizations of Kṛṣṇa. So now He is instructing His mother, and we are at the stage where the embryo is the womb of the mother and in the seventh month as they gain full consciousness, he can remember the sinful life he led in the previous birth. So he is praying to the Lord. You have certainly given me a befitting punishment. But even though I deserve it, now I beg for Your mercy.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.219

ei kṛpā kara,—yena tomā nā pāsari
yekhāne-sekhāne kene nā janmi, nā mari

Translation: “Be merciful to me so that I may not forget You, wherever I take birth and die.

Commentary: King Kulaśekhara has written in his Mukunda-mālā-stotra (5) as follows:

nāsthā dharme na vasu-nicaye naiva kāmopabhoge
yad bhāvyaṁ tad bhavatu bhagavan pūrva-karmānurūpam
etat prārthyaṁ mama bahu mataṁ janma-janmāntare ’pi
tvat-pādāmbhoruha-yuga-gatā niścalā bhaktir astu

“O my Lord! I have no attachment for religiosity, or for accumulating wealth, or for enjoying sense gratification. Let these come, as they inevitably must, in accordance with my past deeds. But I do pray for this most cherished boon: birth after birth, let me render unflinching devotional service unto Your two lotus feet.”

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.30) Brahmā prays to Lord Kṛṣṇa as follows:

tad astu me nātha sa bhūri-bhāgo
bhave 'tra vānyatra tu vā tiraścām
yenāham eko 'pi bhavaj-janānāṁ
bhūtvā niṣeve tava pāda-pallavam

“My dear Lord, I therefore pray to be so fortunate that in this life as Lord Brahmā or in another life, wherever I take my birth, I may be counted as one of Your devotees. I pray that wherever I may be, even among the animal species, I can engage in devotional service to Your lotus feet.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “Please have this mercy on me. Please don’t forget me. Please don’t keep me away from You. Wherever I take birth or die I may not forget You.”

The King Kulaśekhara has written in his Mukunda-mālā-stotra (5) as follows:

nāsthā dharme na vasu-nicaye naiva kāmopabhoge
yad bhāvyaṁ tad bhavatu bhagavan pūrva-karmānurūpam
etat prārthyaṁ mama bahu mataṁ janma-janmāntare ’pi
tvat-pādāmbhoruha-yuga-gatā niścalā bhaktir astu

“O my Lord! I have no attachment for religiosity, or for accumulating wealth, or for enjoying sense gratification. Let these come, as they inevitably must, in accordance with my past deeds. But I do pray for this most cherished boon: birth after birth, let me render unflinching devotional service unto Your two lotus feet.”

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.30) Brahmā prays to Lord Kṛṣṇa as follows:

tad astu me nātha sa bhūri-bhāgo
bhave 'tra vānyatra tu vā tiraścām
yenāham eko 'pi bhavaj-janānāṁ
bhūtvā niṣeve tava pāda-pallavam

“My dear Lord, I therefore pray to be so fortunate that in this life as Lord Brahmā or in another life, wherever I take my birth, I may be counted as one of Your devotees. I pray that wherever I may be, even among the animal species, I can engage in devotional service to Your lotus feet.”

So the pure devotees, the ācāryas, they pray that they can achieve the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa and never lose it. Even no matter what their birth is. So, we also see that many ācāryas, they also pray that if they are not qualified to go back to Godhead, they could be born in the family of devotees where they can render devotional service from their childhood.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.220-221

yekhāne tomāra nāhi yaśera pracāra
yathā nāhi vaiṣṇava-janera avatāra

yekhāne tomāra yātrā-mahotsava nāi
indraloka haile o tāhā nāhi cāi

Translation: “Any place where Your glories are not heard, where the Vaiṣṇavas do not advent, and where there are no festivals for Your pleasure—I do not wish to live there even if it is the celestial abode of Indra.

Commentary: Any place devoid of glorification of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental qualities and filled with improper behavior in the form of glorification of the conditioned souls’ perishable qualities; any place where no pure devotees from Vaikuṇṭha have advented and glorified the names, forms, qualities, and pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, which are nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa; any place where the prowess of the Supreme Lord is not manifest; and any place where no festivals are celebrated for the pleasure of the Lord—even though such a place avails sense gratification equal to that of Amarāvatī, the abode of Indra, I do not desire it.

The phrase tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate—“seeing promotion to the heavenly planets as equal to a will-o’-the-wisp” can only be applicable to one who has realized the service of Adhokṣaja, who is beyond sense perception; in other words, it can only be applicable to one who has no propensity to enjoy the external world. Since the materialists have intense desires for sense gratification, they have no possibility for remembering Vaikuṇṭha or Lord Viṣṇu. That is why they disregard Viṣṇu’s devotional service, which is devoid of other desires and which is the shelter of selfless action, and they glorify the heavenly planets, which are ideal for sense gratification.

Jayapatākā Swami: He is praying to Lord Kṛṣṇa, “wherever, whichever place You are, Your glories are not preached, where there is not the advent of the Vaiṣṇavas, where Your festivals and mahotsavas are not observed, even if it’s Indra loka, I don’t want to go there.”

So, Indra is the king of the heavenly planet or the celestial abode. In the Vedas, they are called devatas or demigods. In the Christian books they are termed as angels because they do some confidential services for the Lord. So, there are two kinds – those who are in the material world and those who are with the Lord in the spiritual sky.

So the prayer here is that any place which is devoid of the glorification of Lord Kṛṣṇa, His transcendental qualities, with improper behavior in the form of glorification of the conditioned souls, where pure devotees do not take birth, where the pure devotees don’t go there and don’t glorify the names, forms, pastimes and qualities of Kṛṣṇa, those places where the providence of Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa is not manifest and any place where there are no festivals celebrated for Kṛṣṇa. Even though there is such a place where the sense gratification equal to that in Amarāvatī, the abode of Lord Indra, I do not desire it. So, this was the prayer of Mukunda… Kulaśekhara Mahārāja and other devotees.

So, the materialists they have intense desire for sense gratification. And they have no possibility for remembering Vaikuṇṭha or Lord Viṣṇu. That’s why they disregard Viṣṇu’s devotional service which is devoid of all other desires and which is the shelter of selfless action. They glorify the heavenly planets which are ideal for sense gratification.

So, I was once in Howrah station with Śrīla Prabhupāda. There were some very poor people. They had collected the half-burnt firewood from the coal engines. They used this wood to ignite the coal, the railway people. And then they would throw that half burnt wood away. So these people collected this half burnt wood and tied them and carried on their head. And Prabhupāda was saying that this wood has no commercial value. You cannot sell it. But these people although they are very poor, they are not akiñcana. Akiñcana-niṣkiñcana means having nothing. But they have something. Half burnt firewood. If you try to take one from them, they will fight. For them it is a valuable thing. So, they are not niṣkiñcana. So the devotee accepts all his possessions for Lord Kṛṣṇa. So they are actually akiñcana, nothing belongs to them, everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. So Prabhupāda was seeing the philosophy enacting before him or manifesting before him.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.222

The supremacy of human birth in the land of Bhārata [India], which is favorable for the service of Hari, and the great utility for achieving the fifth goal of life provided by human birth in that same land of Bhārata, which is full of sacred places wherein Lord Hari appeared and enacted His pastimes and which is better than the temporary heavenly planets wherein remembrance of the lotus feet of Hari is absent, are glorified by the demigods in the following verse spoken by Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit (SB 5.19.24):

bhakta-bhakti-bhagavat-prasaṅgahīna tripiṣṭapao varjanīya—
tathāhi (bhāḥ 5.19.24)

na yatra vaikuṇṭha-kathā-sudhāpagā
na sādhavo bhāgavatās tadāśrayāḥ
na yatra yajñeśa-makhā mahotsavāḥ
sureśa-loko 'pi na vai sa sevyatām

Translation: “An intelligent person does not take interest in a place, even in the topmost planetary system, if the pure Ganges of topics concerning the Supreme Lord’s activities does not flow there, if there are not devotees engaged in service on the banks of such a river of piety, or if there are no festivals of saṅkīrtana-yajña to satisfy the Lord [especially since saṅkīrtana-yajña is recommended in this age].”

Jayapatākā Swami: So this is a verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam canto 5, chapter 19, 24^th verse. This is the translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda. Please read it:

“An intelligent person does not take interest in a place, even in the topmost planetary system, if the pure Ganges of topics concerning the Supreme Lord’s activities does not flow there, if there are not devotees engaged in service on the banks of such a river of piety, or if there are no festivals of saṅkīrtana-yajña to satisfy the Lord [especially since saṅkīrtana-yajña is recommended in this age].”

So the glories of human birth in the sacred land of Bhārata where the Lord appeared in various avatāras, where there are holy places dedicated to His pastimes and which is better than the temporary heavenly places where the remembrance of the Lord is absent. Śukadeva Gosvāmī spoke to Mahārāja Parīkṣit in the 5^th canto 19^th chapter 24^th verse. Translation is by Śrīla Prabhupāda.

“An intelligent person does not take interest in a place, even in the topmost planetary system, if the pure Ganges of topics concerning the Supreme Lord’s activities does not flow there, if there are not devotees engaged in service on the banks of such a river of piety, or if there are no festivals of saṅkīrtana-yajña to satisfy the Lord [especially since saṅkīrtana-yajña is recommended in this age].”

So the point is that sometimes we get bewildered and we think we have to have a perfect sense gratification and we neglect to serve the Lord. But actually, we should limit our sense gratification and we should focus on understanding Kṛṣṇa and participating in His devotional service and festivals. Haribol!

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.223

“garbha-vāsa-duḥkha prabhu, eho mora bhāla
yadi tora smṛti mora rahe sarva-kāla

Translation: “I do not mind the miseries of living in the womb provided I can constantly remember You.

Commentary: “O Lord, although the extremely miserable conditions within the womb are intolerable and heart-rending, if my constant remembrance of You remains intact while suffering such extremely miserable conditions, then they are most praiseworthy, desirable, relishable, and wish-fulfilling.”

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.8.25) Queen Kuntī prays to Lord Kṛṣṇa as follows:

vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat
tatra tatra jagad-guro
bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād
apunar bhava-darśanam

“I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “My Lord, suffering the pain of staying in the womb is for me good if I can continually remember Your lotus feet at all times.”

So praying to the Lord although it’s extremely miserable condition of being in the womb, intolerable and heart rendering, if my constant remembrance of You remains intact, while suffering such extremely miserable conditions, then they are most praiseworthy, desirable, relishable and wish fulfilling. In the first canto, 8th chapter 25^th verse Queen Kunti prays to Lord Kṛṣṇa as follows:

“I wish that all those calamities would happen again and again so that we could see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.”

If you have a scale and you put all the miseries on one side and you put the remembrance of Kṛṣṇa and His devotional service on the other side, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, service and remembrance of Kṛṣṇa is much heavier. So, we should always pray to remember Kṛṣṇa and to understand His nature. To be freed of the suffering but not attain Kṛṣṇa is useless. If we are suffering or enjoying in all circumstances, we want to remember Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.224

tora pāda-padmera smaraṇa nāhi
yathāhena kṛpā kara, prabhu! nā phelibā tathā

Translation: “O Lord, grant me the mercy that You will not send me to any place where remembrance of Your lotus feet is absent.

Commentary: “Since Your mercy is not manifest in a place where one finds either the desire for temporary material sense gratification or the checking of the desire for temporary material sense gratification—in other words, material enjoyment or renunciation—or where one finds attachment and hatred rather than remembrance of Your lotus feet, Your illusory cruelty towards the godless living entities is directly or indirectly present there. Please give up such illusory cruelty and deceit and never captivate me with material objects that are not related to You—this is my heartfelt prayer. If Your causeless mercy is showered on me, then You will always illuminate and remain in the pathway of my memory, and this I will consider Your nonduplicitous mercy. May I not be vanquished by forgetting Your lotus feet as a result of the fierce attacks of happiness and distress produced from my own sense gratification.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “Where Your lotus feet are not remembered, please give that mercy to me O Lord, don’t put me there!”

So, if one is focused on sense gratification either positively or negatively, one desires to enjoy sense gratification unlimitedly or hates and renounces just focusing only how much they dislike sense gratification. But in either situation they are not focused on Kṛṣṇa. The devotees they are not attached or detached from sense gratification, rather they are attached to Kṛṣṇa.

Too much renunciation makes the heart hard. Too much enjoyment will make you forget Kṛṣṇa. So the devotee concentrates on remembering Kṛṣṇa and whatever comes due to one’s karma, happiness or distress, those are not allowed to distract one from the service to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.225

ei-mata duḥkha prabhu, koṭi-koṭi janma
pāiluṅ vistara, prabhu! saba—mora karma

Translation: “O Lord, I have suffered this way for millions and millions of births, simply as a result of my karma.

Commentary: The word vistara means “collection of” or “abundance.”

The word karma refers to the results of previous misdeeds, sinful activities, misfortune, ill fortune, and bad luck.

Jayapatākā Swami: “My Lord, I have, in this way suffered millions and millions of births. Prabhu, I have suffered greatly but all this is due to my own karma.”

The translation of karma means the results of previous deeds, the result of misdeeds, sinful activities, misfortune, ill fortune and bad luck.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.226

se duḥkha-vipad prabhu, rahu bāre bāra
yadi tora smṛti thāke sarva-veda-sāra

Translation: “O Lord, may those miseries and dangers come again and again as long as Your remembrance, which is the essence of all Vedas, remains intact.

Commentary: “The essence of all the Vedas is that if a living entity constantly remembers Kṛṣṇa, he will never face any kind of inauspiciousness. O Lord, even after falling into a miserable condition of life in this world as a result of my previous misdeeds, if Your remembrance constantly remains awake within my heart, it will be most auspicious for me.”

To liberate the forgetful materialistic living entities from their absorption in matter and arouse their inclination towards Him, the Lord has provided them innumerable threefold tribulations and miseries, which from the external point of view appear to be punishment but from the internal point of view are evidence of great compassion. At every step we are bewildered by the false ego of proudly identifying ourselves as the doers of our activities, and we remain constantly attached to sense gratification; but the bewildering illusory energy of the Lord turns all our material enjoyment into an ocean of misery. Yet behind the severe prescription of being afflicted by oppression, punishment, and threefold miseries, the incomparable mercy of the Lord flows like the Phalgu River, which flows underground. Since in this material world we face innumerable varieties of inconveniences like obstacles, disturbances, dangers, and misfortune, when our sense gratification is disturbed as a result, we condemn the misuse of our independence as godlessness, which is the root cause of our threefold miseries, and we simultaneously develop a distaste for absorption in matter. At that time we endeavor to search out our eternal benefit and freedom from material enjoyment, which is full of misery, and we remember the unlimited mercy of the lotus feet of our eternal Lord, Madhusūdana, the deliverer from sins and calamities. The lesson we get from this is that to endeavor to enjoy or lord it over material nature is an extremely foolish proposition. Remembrance of Kṛṣṇa, who is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha and the cause of all causes, and engagement in His service based on remembrance is our eternal wealth and source of supreme benefit.

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (2.1.6) Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks to Mahārāja Parīkṣit as follows:

etāvān sāṅkhya-yogābhyāṁ
sva-dharma-pariniṣṭhayā
janma-lābhaḥ paraḥ puṁsām
ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ

“The highest perfection of human life, achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Oh, my Lord! May those miseries and dangers come again and again, as long as Your remembrance remains intact. Because Your remembrance is the essence of all the Vedic scriptures.

So, remembrance of Kṛṣṇa protects one from material entanglement and sufferings. But even if one falls into some misfortune due to the previous misdeeds-karma, if they can always remember Kṛṣṇa then they can quickly rise above this. It will be very auspicious for the conditioned souls. So from the external view, the suffering and tribulation (miseries) the living entities go through appears to be a punishment. But from the internal point of view, they are evidence of great mercy. At every step we will not be bewildered by our false ego identifying ourselves as the body and doers of our activities, (we think we are the doers) but actually the illusory energy is doing everything.

So, if we can see the negative side of the material world, then we can take shelter of Kṛṣṇa. So, His mercy flows liked the Phalgu river, which flows underground. You have heard of phalgu vairāgī? They come from that river! It is like sand on top and one foot down its filthy water. They appear renounced but have sense gratification it’s phalgu vairāgya.

So in the same way either in the opposite way the Lord, like the Phalgu river, He is not visible but He actually helps the living entities to get out of this material world. [48:07 not clear] He can go to spiritual world, if someone who chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, he can go back to the spiritual world in spite of having so many faults. So, we have the minute independence, we can choose to be under the protection of Kṛṣṇa or we can be so called independent. Thus, be in godlessness which is the root cause of our being in this material world.

Lord Caitanya came to deliver all the conditioned souls. He is the most merciful avatāra of Kṛṣṇa.

So, this is from the second canto, Prabhupad’s translation, what is the highest perfection of human life - “The highest perfection of human life achieved either by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers or by perfect discharge of occupational duty is to remember the Personality of Godhead at the end of life.”

So we will stop here. These are all the part of the instructions which Lord Caitanya is giving to His mother. It seems, she is getting a real dose.

So, any questions?