20181212 The Beginning of Mahāprabhu's Manifestations

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book work 12^th December 2018 in Chennai, India by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja. Reading from Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.317-321.

Under the section: The Beginning of Mahāprabhu’s Manifestations

* * *

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: So we would like to welcome everyone, also those who are watching on the internet. Today in Facebook someone published my photo with a caption that “Looks like his liver and kidney are okay”. They transplanted my new liver and kidney successfully, but it was very painful. I was in ICU for about 45 days. And then I was allowed to come back to the residence in October. So every day I take a large number of medications for suppressing my immunity system so that the body does not reject the new liver and kidney. So far, the liver and kidney are working very well. But if I get an infection and the body rejects the new organs it will be a very critical situation. So that is why I am in a very protected environment. The devotees that come close to me wear these sterile garments, gloves, caps and mask. So by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy so far it seems that my health is progressing. I had been in the ICU for such a long time that I became physically very weak. I used to walk hundreds of steps. At first, I could not walk any steps, I could hardly stand up. Now I am standing up and gradually I am gradually walking 5 steps, 7 steps, 12 steps, I got up to 20 steps. Mahā Varāha dāsa says I have to walk much more before I get to Māyāpur. So I am looking better but I am not so strong. So I am trying to get my strength built up. I do various physio therapies so that I can get stronger legs, arms, chest, so that I can breathe more and be able to expel the carbon-dioxide. So this is my health report.

Jayapatākā Swami: Now we will continue with the Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book compilation. Lord Caitanya, Nimāi Paṇḍita, He went to Gayā, got initiated and then now He is back in Navadvīpa. He is very much in devotional ecstasy so the people are amazed and many don’t understand what happened. His students at first thought that He was diseased with some disturbed air in His body, vāyu-doṣa. So they went to Gaṅgādāsa Paṇḍita, Nimāi Paṇḍita’s teacher and complained to him. So Nimāi Paṇḍita, He said don’t worry, I am still the best in Navadvīpa. Who is there that can stand before Me and present some logic or philosophy? I can defeat them and then I can prove their original stand to be correct and then I can disprove it. I am Nimāi Paṇḍita THE SAME, THE GREAT! So they are all assured that He is very great. Then He went and sat in front of a house of a devotee. In the gateway He sat down and challenged all the people who came by. So the students were very happy. This is the Nimāi Paṇḍita we know! Then some devotee came by and was chanting the glories of Kṛṣṇa. How Kṛṣṇa was so merciful and Lord Caitanya, He started crying, He fell on the ground, laughing, crying, hairs standing on end. And the people, amazed, when they saw His ecstasy, they paid Him obeisances. So then to make the story short when Nimāi Paṇḍita got His external consciousness He asked His students, “What happened? What did I say?” The students said, “You are glorious!” and they started to praise Him. But Gadādhara Prabhu stopped them. So He said don’t praise Him, that is not what He wants. So then Lord Caitanya is going to the Ganges.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya 1.317

gaṅgā namaskari’ gaṅgā-jala nilāśire
goṣṭhīra sahita vasilena gaṅgā-tīre

Translatiion: He offered obeisances to the Ganges and sprinkled water on His head. Then He sat down on the bank of the Ganges with His associates.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Viśvambhara He went and offered His obeisances to the Ganges. He took some Ganges water and put it on His head. Along with His associates, He sat down on the bank of the Ganges.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya 1.318-319

yamunāra tīre yena beḍi’ gopa-gaṇa
nānā-krīḍā karilena nandera nandana

sei-mata śacīra nandana gaṅgā-tīre
bhaktera sahita kṛṣṇa-prasaṅge vihare

Translatiion: Just as the son of Mahārāja Nanda enjoyed various sporting activities on the bank of the Yamunā while surrounded by the cowherd boys, the son of Śacī enjoyed discussing topics of Kṛṣṇa on the bank of the Ganges surrounded by His devotees.

Commentary: Just as the son of Mahārāja Nanda enjoyed His pastimes with the gopīs on the banks of the Kālindī River, the son of Śacī surrounded by His students similarly engaged in glorifying topics of Kṛṣṇa’s names, forms, qualities, and pastimes on the bank of the Ganges. Rather than accepting that Gaurasundara spent His time discussing topics of Kṛṣṇa, the foolish gaura-nāgarīs imagine that He was a nāgara, or amorous lover. In order to counteract such imagination, the author has used the phrase kṛṣṇa-prasaṅga, or “topics related with Kṛṣṇa,” while describing Gaurasundara’s pastime of kṛṣṇa-kīrtana.

Jayapatākā Swami: Nanda Mahārāja’s son would sit on the side of the Yamunā, being surrounded by His cowherd friends and He would do various activities. In the same way, Śacīnandana, on the side of the Ganges, along with His devotees, He was enjoying discussing the topics of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

So Mahārāja Nanda’s son, Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoyed His pastimes with the gopīs on the banks of the Kālindī River. In the same way, the son of Śacī, surrounded by His students similarly engaged in glorifying the topics of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, His names, forms, qualities and pastimes on the bank of the Ganges. There are many apasampradāyas that give some speculative interpretation to Lord Caitanya’s activities. Rather than accepting that Gaurasundara spent His time discussing topics of Kṛṣṇa, the foolish gaura-nāgarīs, one of the 13 apasampradāyas mentioned by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura imagined that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a nāgara or an amorous lover. In order to negate such speculations, the author has used the phrase that Nimāi Paṇḍita discussed the topics related to Kṛṣṇa while discussing the pastimes of Gaurasundar’s kṛṣṇa-kirtan.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya 1.320

prabhura sva-gṛhe gamana o bhojanānte viśrāma—
kata-kṣaṇe sabāre vidāya diyā ghare
viśvambhara calilena āpana-mandire

Translation: After some time, Viśvambhara sent everyone home and then returned to His own home.

Jayapatākā Swami: After some time Viśvambhara sent everyone home to their houses. Then He returned to His own home and temple.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya 1.321

bhojana kariyā sarva-bhuvanera nātha
yoga-nidrā-prati karilena dṛṣṭi-pāta

Translation: There the Lord of the entire universe took His meal and then glanced towards yoga-nidra.

Jayapatākā Swami: So the Lord of the entire universe, He took His meal and then He glanced at the yoga-nidra, the transcendental rest.

So this is the end of the chapter.

So any questions?

I am supposed to practice saying, ‘mmmmmmmmmmm’. As a part of my voice therapy. Like ‘Merry Mādhava enjoyed Mango jam’. So let us see if you have any questions with mmmm.?

Question, Siddha Hari Dāsa: Please explain how Lord Caitanya’s discussions with His students are the same as Kṛṣṇa’s discussion on the bank of the Kālindī?

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrī Kṛṣṇa would discuss with His friends on the banks of the Kālindī. Śrī Gaurasundara, who is the avatāra of Kṛṣṇa, as a devotee, He discussed the pastimes, qualities, names, etc. of Lord Kṛṣṇa with His students and friends on the bank of the Ganges. So He was also enjoying this transcendental association. In one sense, they were both very similar.

See most people on Facebook, they say Haribol! Jaya Gurudeva! So now we can take the questions.

Question, Gaurāṅga Karuṇasindhu dāsa: What should be our attitude towards the apasampradāyas? How to think of them and deal with them?

Jayapatākā Swami: We don’t let them chant in the temple and in Māyāpur of course we have many visitors. So sometimes these apasampradāyas come and they want to chant their speculative mantras. Nitāi-gaura rādhe-śyāma, hare kṛṣṇa hare rāma. So we say in this temple we only chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. So we don’t associate closely with the apasampradāyas. They have all kinds of strange ideas. āula, bāula, kartābhajās, neḍā-nārī, gaurāṅga-nāgarī. Some dressed like ladies, they dress in saree, but they have beard. Some things they do so gross that I can’t even mention.

Question: How to preach more Gītā and how to remove material stress and frustration?

Jayapatākā Swami: What can be more stressful than fighting a war? But Arjuna, He was very peaceful after hearing the Bhagavad-gītā spoken by Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, if we read the Bhagavad-gītā, we can also become peaceful. We can leave the stress behind us and we can do our duty without any impediment. When we are convinced about Bhagavad-gītā then naturally we are able to distribute more.

(Names of the devotees who are attending the online class were read out by the repeater.)

Question, Rama Shastry: Mahāprabhu mentions that we have to become humble. How do we become more humble?

Jayapatākā Swami: Read the 3^rd verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam and follow that again and again. Read it every day and in this way be more humble than a straw, more tolerant than a tree, ready to offer all respect to others and not desire respect for oneself. This is the way given by Lord Caitanya. If you are able to do anything correctly then you think it is the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa, but if you fail to do right, then take it as your own shortcoming.

Question, Nirjhar Ojha: How to see things with equal vision? How can I see Kṛṣṇa’s hand behind every situation?

Jayapatākā Swami: There is a verse in Bhagavad-gītā that explains that a paṇḍita is sama-darśinaḥ. He sees everything as being similar, since all the living entities have the same kind of ātmā and their bodies are different. So that way you can see everybody as equal, at the same time can distinguish the different life forms. Kṛṣṇa says that nothing happens without His sanction. So somebody wants to do something bad, and he wants to do it to a person, Kṛṣṇa would see the person’s karma what he did in his last 100 births, whether he or she deserves and accordingly He allows the person to do the bad thing or the other person to escape - or the victim escapes. We heard how one airplane crashed in New York and it split open. 8 passengers flew out of the plane. Some of the attendants - eight persons. And they landed on their feet and walked away unhurt. Other people all died. So all these things are Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement.

Sometimes people ask personal questions, and they are not appropriate for the public forum. So in those cases, we don’t read those questions. Any other questions?

Question: More explanation about apasampradāyas?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, naagara means enjoyer of the ladies. Lord Kṛṣṇa He would dance with the gopīs. So He was a nāgara. And He married 16 thousand wives but He would expand Himself into 16 thousand forms. And simultaneously enter into each palace of each queen. Gaurasundara, He came as a devotee. He married twice. Once He married hand the wife died and then He married again. He showed how to be an ideal householder. He never said anything joking to any lady. When a lady was walking on the street, He would go on the other side of the street. He was not interacting with any ladies. So the gaurāṅga-nāgarīs tried to play that Lord Caitanya is like Kṛṣṇa who plays with ladies as their amorous lover. So that was not the mood of Lord Caitanya. He came down and He took the attitude of Rādhārāṇī. He was feeling separation for Kṛṣṇa. He wasn’t exchanging any pastimes with the ladies, apart from His wife. So the gaurāṅga-nāgarīs they have this misconception and they present Lord Caitanya as a nāgara. Therefore, they are called gaurāṅga-nāgarīs. Okay? Did you understand? I cannot say more than that. Alright.