20181205 The Lord's Pastimes with Students after His Gayā Yātrā

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book work 5^th December 2018 in Chennai, India by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Guru Mahārāja. Reading from Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.236-242.

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

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Jayapatākā Swami: So, today we will continue with the compilation of the Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book which is highlighting the pastimes and little philosophy which are from Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Caitanya-bhāgavata, Caitanya-maṅgala, Murāri Gupta Kaḍacā, Caitanya-caritāmṛta Mahā-kāvya by Kavi Karṇapura and many other books. So these are compiled on the computer and we are seeing the translation and excerpts of the purport. Now we are at the point where Lord Caitanya is instructing His mother about the importance of bhakti to Lord Kṛṣṇa. He has just returned from Gayā. He got initiated by Īśvara Purī Mahārāja. Now He is in separation from Kṛṣṇa and people, they don’t understand His new consciousness. So He is educating different friends and relatives, students, Vaiṣṇavas, etc.

So, the day before we had Ekādaśī. Today was Wednesday. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday we have as shaving days. But Monday was Ekādaśī so there was no shaving that day. Today my breakfast was served – oats porridge and muesli porridge. So Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have sweet porridges in the breakfast. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we have salty preparations like āppam, iḍli, dosa, parāthas, Punjabi parātha, panneer parātha. I have to consume 80 to 90 gm of protein every day and so they did a blood test this morning and my hemoglobin is improving and various other things. But what we are trying to do is this body is a machine driven by the material nature and we want to use it in Kṛṣṇa’s service. But we have to get it strong enough to be able to serve Kṛṣṇa. So that is what we are trying to do with the body. And I am getting a lot of emails from different devotees, some from India, some from the west. So I try to write 8 or 10 emails a day but sometimes we have more emails and sometimes we have less. So the people who take my dictation are gradually becoming more expert. So today we had physiotherapy and voice therapy. Voice therapy was all the vowels and two consonants, ‘mmmmm’ and ‘zzzzzzzzzzz’, zebra, zero. So we wonder how we have to say so many combinations of vowels. And only one consonant but they made us do this, ‘mmmmmmmmaaaaaamm’, ‘meeee’, ‘miiiiiii’. And they should be ‘mmmammm’, ‘my maaaaaaaaaaaam’, with closed lip so the ‘mmmmmm’ sound comes clear. ‘Meeeeee’, ‘myyyyyyyyy’. ‘Zzzzzzzzzzzz’. So now after the three weeks there are variations, they are asking to raise the vowels up and then down ‘aaaaaaaaaaa’ raising up and ‘aaaaaaaaa’ down; ‘eeeeeeee’ up and ‘eeeeeeeeeeeee’ down. Starts high and low. So after the class I am going to speak, read, a few sentences, and see how many of you understand that, without repetition. Now we will continue with the class. Enough entertainment!

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.236

jihvodaropastha-lampaṭa asatsaṅgīra niraya-lābha-tathāhi (bhāḥ 3/31/32)—

yady asadbhiḥ pathi punaḥ    śiśnodara-kṛtodyamai
ḥāsthito ramate jantus    tamo viśati pūrvavat

Translation: “If, therefore, the living entity again associates with the path of unrighteousness, influenced by sensually minded people engaged in the pursuit of sexual enjoyment and the gratification of the palate, he again goes to hell as before.

Jayapatākā Swami: “So if therefore the living entity again associates with the path of unrighteousness and is influenced by sensually minded people, engaged in the pursuit of sexual enjoyment and the gratification of the palate, they again go to hell as before.” This is from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.31.32.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.237

tathāhi—

anāyāsena maraṇaṁ    vinā dainyena jīvanam
anārādhita govinda-    caraṇasya kathaṁ bhavet

Translation: “For one who has never worshiped the lotus feet of Lord Govinda, how is it possible for Him to live in comfort and die in peace?

Commentary: See Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter Seven, verse 136.

Jayapatākā Swami: “So one who has never worshipped the lotus feet of Lord Govinda, how is it possible for him to live in comfort and die in peace?”

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.238

kṛṣṇabhajana-phalei nirāpada jīvana o maraṇa—

“anāyāse maraṇa, jīvana duḥkha vine
kṛṣṇa bhajile se haya kṛṣṇera smaraṇe

Translation: “To live without poverty and die peacefully, one must worship and remember Kṛṣṇa.

Commentary: See Ādi-khaṇḍa, Chapter Seven, verse 137.

Jayapatākā Swami: “To die peacefully and live a life free from miseries, worshipping Kṛṣṇa and remembering Kṛṣṇa is the way.”

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.239

sādhu-saṅge kṛṣṇa-bhajanārtha śacīmātāke upadeśa—

eteke bhajaha kṛṣṇa sādhu-saṅga kari’
mane cinta kṛṣṇa mātā, mukhe bala ’hari’

Translation: “Therefore, O mother, worship Kṛṣṇa in the association of devotees. Think of Kṛṣṇa and chant the name of Hari.

Commentary: “Therefore, O mother, always worship Kṛṣṇa in the association of devotees and remember Kṛṣṇa within your heart while chanting the name of Hari with your mouth. If you give up the association of devotees, or if you attempt to worship Kṛṣṇa under the direction of a nondevotee, there is no possibility of your attaining the service of Kṛṣṇa.”

The necessity for chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa in the association of devotees is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.23.55), wherein Devahūti speaks to Kardama Muni as follows:

saṅgo yaḥ saṁsṛter hetur
asatsu vihito 'dhiyā
sa eva sādhuṣu kṛto
niḥsaṅgatvāya kalpate

“Association for sense gratification is certainly the path of bondage. But the same type of association, performed with a saintly person, leads to the path of liberation, even if performed without knowledge.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.2.30) Nimi, the King of Videha, speaks to the nine Yogendras as follows:

ata ātyantikaṁ kṣemaṁ
pṛcchāmo bhavato 'naghāḥ
saṁsāre 'smin kṣaṇārdho 'pi
sat-saṅgaḥ śevadhir nṛṇām

“Therefore, O completely sinless ones, I ask you to kindly tell me what the supreme good is. After all, even half a moment’s association with pure devotees within this world of birth and death is a priceless treasure for any man.”

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.25.20) Lord Kapila speaks the following words to Devahūti:

prasaṅgam ajaraṁ pāśam
ātmanaḥ kavayo viduḥ
sa eva sādhuṣu kṛto
mokṣa-dvāram apāvṛtam

“Every learned man knows very well that attachment for the material is the greatest entanglement of the spirit soul. But that same attachment, when applied to the self-realized devotees, opens the door of liberation.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.22.19) Śrī Sanat-kumāra says to Mahārāja Pṛthu:

saṅgamaḥ khalu sādhūnām
ubhayeṣāṁ ca sammataḥ
yat-sambhāṣaṇa-sampraśnaḥ
sarveṣāṁ vitanoti śam

“When there is a congregation of devotees, their discussions, questions and answers become conclusive to both the speaker and the audience. Thus such a meeting is beneficial for everyone’s real happiness.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.29.40) Nārada Muni speaks to Śrī Prācīnabarhi as follows:

tasmin mahan-mukharitā madhubhic-caritra-
pīyūṣa-śeṣa-saritaḥ paritaḥ sravanti
tā ye pibanty avitṛṣo nṛpa gāḍha-karṇais

tān na spṛśanty aśana-tṛḍ-bhaya-śoka-mohāḥ

“My dear King, in that assembly of saintly persons, the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are heard and chanted with great eagerness by the pure devotees. If one gets a chance to hear their constant flow of nectar, which is exactly like the waves of a river, one will forget the necessities of life—namely hunger and thirst—and become immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.30.33) the Pracetas offer the following prayer to the Lord:

yāvat te māyayā spṛṣṭā
bhramāma iha karmabhiḥ
tāvad bhavat-prasaṅgānāṁ
saṅgaḥ syān no bhave bhave

“Dear Lord, as long as we have to remain within this material world due to our material contamination and wander from one type of body to another and from one planet to another, we pray that we may associate with those who are engaged in discussing Your pastimes. We pray for this benediction life after life, in different bodily forms and on different planets.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (2.2.36) Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks the following words to Mahārāja Parīkṣit:

tasmāt sarvātmanā rājan
hariḥ sarvatra sarvadā
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca
smartavyo bhagavān nṛṇām

“O King, it is therefore essential that every human being hear about, glorify and remember the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, always and everywhere.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (4.20.24) Mahārāja Pṛthu prays to the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha as follows:

na kāmaye nātha tad apy ahaṁ kvacin
na yatra yuṣmac-caraṇāmbujāsavaḥ
mahattamāntar-hṛdayān mukha-cyuto
vidhatsva karṇāyutam eṣa me varaḥ

“My dear Lord, I therefore do not wish to have the benediction of merging into Your existence, a benediction in which there is no existence of the nectarean beverage of Your lotus feet. I want the benediction of at least one million ears, for thus I may be able to hear about the glories of Your lotus feet from the mouths of Your pure devotees.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (5.12.13) the avadhūta Bharata speaks to Rahūgaṇa as follows:

yatrottamaśloka-guṇānuvādaḥ
prastūyate grāmya-kathā-vighātaḥ
niṣevyamāṇo 'nudinaṁ mumukṣor
matiṁ satīṁ yacchati vāsudeve

“In an assembly of pure devotees, there is no question of discussing material subjects like politics and sociology. In an assembly of pure devotees, there is discussion only of the qualities, forms and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is praised and worshiped with full attention. In the association of pure devotees, by constantly hearing such topics respectfully, even a person who wants to merge into the existence of the Absolute Truth abandons this idea and gradually becomes attached to the service of Vāsudeva.”

The saintly King Mucukunda prays to Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.51.53) as follows:

bhavāpavargo bhramato yadā bhavej
janasya tarhy acyuta sat-samāgamaḥ
sat-saṅgamo yarhi tadaiva sad-gatau
parāvareśe tvayi jāyate matiḥ

“When the material life of a wandering soul has ceased, O Acyuta, he may attain the association of Your devotees. And when he associates with them, there awakens in him devotion unto You, who are the goal of the devotees and the Lord of all causes and their effects.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (6.11.27) Vṛtra offers the following prayer to the Supreme Lord:

mamottamaśloka-janeṣu sakhyaṁ
saṁsāra-cakre bhramataḥ sva-karmabhiḥ
tvan-māyayātmātmaja-dāra-geheṣv
āsakta-cittasya na nātha bhūyāt

“O my Lord, my master, I am wandering throughout this material world as a result of my fruitive activities. Therefore, I simply seek friendship in the association of Your pious and enlightened devotees. My attachment to my body, wife, children and home is continuing by the spell of Your external energy, but I wish to be attached to them no longer. Let my mind, my consciousness and everything I have be attached only to You.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (3.25.25) Lord Kapila speaks to His mother, Devahūti, as follows:

satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati

“In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.2.14 and 16-18) Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī speaks to the sages headed by Śaunaka as follows:

tasmād ekena manasā
bhagavān sātvatāṁ patiḥ
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca
dhyeyaḥ pūjyaś ca nityadā
śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya
vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ
syān mahat-sevayā viprāḥ

puṇya-tīrtha-niṣevaṇāt
śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi

vidhunoti suhṛt satām
naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu
nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā
bhagavaty uttama-śloke

bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī

“Therefore, with one-pointed attention, one should constantly hear about, glorify, remember and worship the Personality of Godhead, who is the protector of the devotees. O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vāsudeva. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “Therefore, oh mother, worship Kṛṣṇa in taking the association of His devotees. In the mind, mother, always think of Kṛṣṇa and chant the name Hari.”

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.240

kṛṣṇa-bhaktihīna bhaya-bhoga-hiṁsātmaka karmādi niṣphala—

bhakti-hīna-karme kona phala nāhi pāya
sei karma bhakti-hīna,—parahiṁsā yāya”

Translation: “There is no substantial result in activities that are devoid of devotion to the Lord. Such nondevotional activities simply result in violence to others.”

Commentary: The performer of pious activities not executed for the pleasure of the Lord does not achieve any result. Activities that are devoid of devotion to the Lord are simply violence. In other words, every activity in which there is an absence of devotional service results in violence. Fruitive activities and mental speculation are both dependent on devotional service, but devotional service is not dependent on fruitive activities, mental speculation, or mystic yoga, rather it is fully independent and unaffected by anything material. There is no possibility of violence in the execution of devotional service. In other words, no form of violent activities can remain in the devotional service of a servant inclined towards the service of the Lord.

Condemnation of materialistic activities is described in the following statements. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.23.56) Lord Kapila speaks to His mother, Devahūti, as follows:

neha yat karma dharmāya   
na virāgāya kalpate
na tīrtha-pada-sevāyai   
jīvann api mṛto hi saḥ

“Anyone whose work is not meant to elevate him to religious life, anyone whose religious ritualistic performances do not raise him to renunciation, and anyone situated in renunciation that does not lead him to devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must be considered dead, although he is breathing.”

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.8) Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī speaks to the sages headed by Śaunaka as follows:

dharmaḥ svanuṣṭhitaḥ puṁsāṁ
viṣvaksena-kathāsu yaḥ
notpādayed yadi ratiṁ
śrama eva hi kevalam

 useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.5.12) Śrī Nārada Muni speaks to Śrī Vyāsa as follows:

naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ
na śobhate jñānam alaṁ nirañjanam
kutaḥ punaḥ śaśvad abhadram īśvare
na cārpitaṁ karma yad apy akāraṇam

“Knowledge of self-realization, even though free from all material affinity, does not look well if devoid of a conception of the Infallible [God]. What, then, is the use of fruitive activities, which are naturally painful from the very beginning and transient by nature, if they are not utilized for the devotional service of the Lord?”

In the Bhagavad-gītā (9.21) Lord Kṛṣṇa instructs Arjuna as follows:

te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ
kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti
evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā
gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante

“When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.”

In the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.2.7) it is stated:

plavā hy ete adṛḍhā yajña-rūpā
aṣṭādaśoktam avaraṁ yeṣu karma
etac chreyo ye ’bhinandanti mūḍhā
jarā-mṛtyuṁ te punar evāpi yanti

“Even the best kinds of karmic sacrifice carefully performed with eighteen priests are unreliable boats for crossing the ocean of material existence. Those deluded souls who take to materialistic forms of sacrifice, thinking that they lead to the highest spiritual gain, are fools who suffer again and again the miseries of birth, death, old age, and disease.”

Again in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.2.9) it is stated:

yat karmiṇo na pravedayanti rāgāt
tenāturāḥ kṣīṇa-lokāś cyavante

“Deep in the darkness of ignorance, these fools think, ’We have reached the goal.’ Being attached to karmic religions they fail to understand the truth. After their piety is exhausted they fall down to repeated birth and death.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “So working without devotion to the Lord, no real fruit is achieved. That work which is without devotion simply causes violence to others.”

So Lord Caitanya is advising His mother, always worship Kṛṣṇa in the association of devotees, and remember Kṛṣṇa in your heart, while chanting the name of Hari. If you leave the association of devotees or if you attempt to worship Kṛṣṇa under the direction of a non-devotee there is no possibility of your attaining the eternal service to Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.23.55 tells us the necessity for chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa in the association of devotees. Association for sense gratification is certainly a true path of bondage. But the same type of association performed with a saintly person leads to the path of liberation even if performed without knowledge.

So in the instructions of Nimi, the Nava Yogendras spoke to King Nimi. And King Nimi, the king of Videha asked the Nava Yogendras as follows: “Even if one has association with a saintly person for half a moment, that association with pure devotees is a priceless treasure for any man, in this world of birth and death. So kindly tell me what the ultimate Supreme Good is?”

Lord Kapila told His mother Devahūti that “the attachment for material entanglement is the greatest entanglement for the spirit soul. But the same attachment when applied to self-realized devotees, opens the door of liberation.”

In canto 4, chapter 29, verse 19, Sanat Kumāra tells Mahārāja Prithu, “when there is a congregation of devotees, there are discussions, questions and answers, and they become conducive to both the speaker and the audience. Thus such a meeting is beneficial for everyone’s real happiness. Like this there are many verses which glorifies the assembly of saintly persons. And one is fortunate to hear the flow of nectar, the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One becomes immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion.

Associating with the devotees who are discussing the pastimes of the Lord, that is a great benediction. And so the Pracetas were saying that they could achieve this benediction life after life in different bodily forms and on different planets.

So every human being should glorify the Supreme Lord, hear about Him, remember Him always and everywhere.

So many quotes, but Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book will not have all these quotes. You have to go back and read the other books and take out the quotes. Like Kṛṣṇa book, you don’t have all the quotes, in the 10^th canto you get everything.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.241

prabhura upadeśe śacīmātā ānanda nimagnā—

kapilera bhāve prabhu māyere śikhāya
śuni’ sei vākya śacīānande milāya

Translation: In this way the Lord, in the mood of Kapila, instructed His mother. Upon hearing His words, Śacī merged in ecstasy.

Commentary: The word milāya means “she became attached,” “she became absorbed,” “she saw,” or “she melted.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Like Kapila Muni instructed His mother Devahūti, Lord Gaurasundara taught His mother. Hearing these words of instruction, Śacīmātā was immersed in an ocean of transcendental bliss of ecstasy.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.242

prabhura sarvakṣaṇa kṛṣṇālāpa—

ki bhojane, ki śayane, kibā jāgaraṇe
kṛṣṇa-vinu prabhu āra kichu nā vākhāne

Translation: Whether eating, sleeping, or remaining awake, the Lord did not speak of anything other than Kṛṣṇa.

Commentary: While eating, sleeping, and remaining awake, the Lord never attempted to glorify anything other than topics related with Kṛṣṇa’s names, forms, qualities, and pastimes. Persons belonging to the gaura-nāgarī and other apa-sampradāyas say that the householder Gaurāṅga instructed attached householders to simply perform gṛhamedha-yajñas, or sacrifices for the prosperity of one’s family life. But in this case, the author, Ṭhākura Śrī Vṛndāvana dāsa, does not describe any such, or similar, endeavors of the Lord, who is fully absorbed in the mood of a devotee.

Jayapatākā Swami: Whether the Lord was eating, whether He was lying down, whether He was awake, He did not discuss anything but Kṛṣṇa. He was not speaking anything else.

So we will end here.

I will read the purport now, without repetition, and those who understand can raise their hand.

So are there are any questions? I didn’t think I was at my best tonight. I have a bit of a sore throat. But any questions?

Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Tomorrow I am going for my monthly check up to the hospital. Hope I will be back in time for the class. There are no issues so, should be back. You have prasāda?