20190119 Śrīvāsa Requests the Lord to Give Love of Godhead to Mother Śacī

Come join us as His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja reads from the new Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book on January 19th, 2019 in Chennai, India.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 17.10

śacīke prema-dāna, tabe advaita-milana
advaita pāila viśvarūpa-daraśana

Translation: “Thereafter the Lord delivered Kṛṣṇa to His mother Śacī devī, nullifying her offence at the feet of Advaita Ācārya. Thus there was a meeting with Advaita Ācārya who later had a vision of the Lord’s universal form.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So when Lord Caitanya Māhaprabhu was manifesting His form as Lord Kṛṣṇa in the form of Viṣṇu with four hands, He mentioned that mother Śacī had offended the lotus feet of Advaita Gosāñi and until she got forgiven by Him, she could not get love of Godhead. So, hearing this all the devotees went to bring Advaita Ācārya there. So Advaita Ācārya was glorifying mother Śacī, going to the house of Śrīvāsa. So, when Advaita Ācārya reached the house of Śrīvāsa and saw the Lord and mother Śacī, he fell down in ecstasy. The Lord advised mother Śacī that she should take the dust from His lotus feet to be forgiven for any offences to Him. So, she took the dust from Advaita Ācārya’s lotus feet and put on her head. Then Lord Caitanya said, now her offences to Advaita Ācārya has been nullified, has been rectified and now she can achieve love of Godhead, love of Kṛṣṇa without difficulty.

So, Lord Caitanya taught that although one may be very advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, if one offends at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava, his advancement will not bear a fruit. So, we should therefore be very cautious not to offend a Vaiṣṇava. So, this is the first offense to the holy name, the mad elephant which may trample all the plants in your garden. If you commit one offense at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava, one may spoil all the devotional service that he has accumulated in his life. So, after this incident Advaita Ācārya requested Lord Caitanya to display the universal form that He had kindly showed to Arjuna. Lord Caitanya agreed to this proposal and Advaita Ācārya was fortunate enough to see the universal form of the Lord! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.025

vaiṣṇavera ṭhāṅi yāra haya aparādha
kṛṣṇa-kṛpā haile o tāra prema-vādha

Jayapatākā Swami: If someone has committed an offence, an aparādha at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava, even if he gets the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, they are deprived – their achievement of love of Godhead is checked. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura said, by the influence of nāma-aparādha, the offender of a Vaiṣṇava is unable to worship Kṛṣṇa. Even though others perceive that they are receiving the Lord’s mercy, by making a show of chanting the holy names, the Supreme Lord is never pleased for those who are averse to the devotees. That is why, of the ten offences to be avoided in chanting the holy name, blasphemy of devotees is the first to be given up.

Śrīla Prabhupāda taught that in ISKCON we should respect all the other devotees. This is what Lord Caitanya said in Śikṣāṣṭakam. amāninā māna-dena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ. Give respect to others, but don’t expect respect for yourself. In this way you can chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa all the time.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.009

āmi nāhi bali,—ei vedera vacana
sākṣāte o kahiyāche śacīra nandana

Jayapatākā Swami: It is not my words, this is the statement of the Vedas and in her presence, the son of mother Śacī has personally declared this.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.010

ye śacīra garbhe gauracandra-avatāra
vaiṣṇavāparādha pūrva āchila tāṅhāra

Jayapatākā Swami: Mother Śacī in whose womb Gauracandra appeared from the spiritual world, had once committed an offence to a vaiṣṇava. Mother Śacī, the mother of Śrī Gaurasundara committed an offence to Śrī Advaita Prabhu. She was not able to get love of Godhead until that offence was nullified.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.011

āpane se aparādha prabhu ghucāiyā
māyere dilena prema sabā' śikhāiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord personally saw that that offence was removed. Then He gave His mother ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa, to teach everyone.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.012

e baḍa adbhuta kathāśuna sāvadhāne
vaiṣṇavāparādha ghuce ihāra śravaṇe

Jayapatākā Swami: Please listen carefully to this wonderful topic. For by hearing, one will be freed from offenses to Vaiṣṇavas.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.013

eka-dina mahāprabhu gaurāṅga-sundara
uṭhiyā vasila viṣṇu-khaṭṭāra upara

Jayapatākā Swami: One day Lord Gaurāṅga-sundara Māhaprabhu climbed and sat on Lord Viṣṇu’s altar.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.014

nija-mūrti-śilā-saba kari' nija-kole
āpanā `prakāśe' gauracandra kutūhale

Jayapatākā Swami: So His divine forms as śālagrāma-śilās, He took on His own lap and He joyfully manifested Himself. Or I will say Lord Gauracandra joyfully manifested Himself.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.015

muñi kali-yuge kṛṣṇa, muñi nārāyaṇa
muñi rāma-rūpe kailuṅ sāgara-bandhana

Jayapatākā Swami: I am Kali-yuga Kṛṣṇa and I am Nārāyaṇa, in the form of Lord Rāma I built a bridge over the ocean.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.016

śutiyā āchiluṅ kṣīra-sāgara-bhitare
mora nidrā bhāṅgileka nāḍāra huṅkāre

Jayapatākā Swami: I was sleeping in the ocean of milk but My sleep was broken by the loud cries of Advaita Gosāñi.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.017

prema-bhakti vilāite āmāra prakāśa
māga māga āre nāḍā, māga śrīnivāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: I have descended to the world to spread ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa, Oh, Nāḍa Advaita Ācārya, oh Śrīvāsa, ask for some benediction.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.018

dekhi' mahāparakāśa nityānanda-rāya
tata-kṣaṇe tuli' chatra dharila māthāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing the Lord’s divine, great manifestation, Nityānanda Prabhu immediately lifted an umbrella over the Lord’s head.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.019

vāma-dike gadādhara tāmbūla yogāya
cāri-dike bhakta-gaṇa cāmara ḍhulāya

Jayapatākā Swami: On the left side of the Lord, Gadādhara prabhu offered betel nuts. And outside devotees fanned the Lord with cāmaras.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.020

bhakti-yoga vilāya gaurāṅga-maheśvara
yāṅhāra yāhāte prīti, laya sei vara

Jayapatākā Swami: As the Lord Gaurasundara Maheśvara distributed love of Godhead, in pure devotional service, the devotees asked for benedictions according to their desire and received those boons.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.021

keha bale,—“mora bāpa baḍa duṣṭa-mati
tāra citta bhāla haile mora avyāhati”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone said my father is sinful minded. I will be relieved if his heart becomes good.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.022

keha māge guru-prati, keha śiṣya-prati
keha putra, keha patnī,—yā'ra yathā rati

Jayapatākā Swami: According to their respective desires, someone requested a benediction for their guru, someone for their disciple or student, someone for his son, someone for his wife. So, the Lord was distributing the benedictions after displaying His divine manifestation. So various people asked for various benedictions, for their offensive guru, for their offensive son, offensive disciple, or offensive wife. In other words, when they prayed for their benediction of devotional service for their loved ones, the Lord awarded them suitable benediction.

Many people come and they say, my husband is not interested or my wife, she is a materialist. Different people have different problems. Someone says my family is favorable but they are not into doing any devotional service. So if you could bless them, that they can do devotional service I will be very happy. In one case the mother, daughter, son, everybody was initiated, everyone was very enthusiastic except the husband, except the father was not interested. Then he was diagnosed with cancer and the doctor said he had little time to live.

One day he saw some bright, black bodied, hairy individuals walk through his wall and they were carrying leather ropes, and they were approaching him. He said, “Oh, no, no, no! Not me! Not me! Not me!” and then they disappeared. So, then he called his wife and said, “I want neck beads! I want to read Bhagavad-gītā. I want japa.” So, in one second he was transformed. It seems that the Yamadūtas, the messengers of the God of Death, they did the preaching for us! Ha! Then he became very favorable.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.023

bhakta-vākya-satyakārī prabhu viśvambhara
hāsiyā sabāre dilā prema-bhakti-vara

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Viśvambhara makes all words of His devotees come true. Smiling He gave everyone the benediction of loving devotional service. Who wants this benediction from the Lord? Haribol!

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 22.024

mahāśaya śrīnivāsa balena,—“gosāñi!
āire deyāba prema, ei sabe cāi”

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīvāsa Mahāśaya said, Oh Lord, we all want You to give us ecstatic love to mother Śacī.

Thus ends the chapter entitled “Śrīvāsa Requests the Lord to give love of Godhead to mother Śacī” from the book Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a devotee.

So we will take two questions if there are any questions. And here we have our birthday girl Śrī Cāruhāṣinī Rādhīkā devī dāsī! So everyone please give your blessings to her! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!

Question: What about our offences and sins which we have committed before coming to ISKCON?

Jayapatākā Swami: In the 18th chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ. So, there He says He will destroy all the sinful reactions. If you have offended any devotees, then you should see how you can beg forgiveness and touch their lotus feet. Or do something which will help others to be Kṛṣṇa conscious and get forgiven for the offences.

Like Mādhāi he apologized to Nitāi that, “I hit You!”

But Nityānanda said, “No, I took it like a mother kicked the baby.”

Then Mādhāi said, “I have offended many other Vaiṣṇavas of the dhāma, how can I get forgiven for that?”

So, then Nityānanda Prabhu advised him to build a bathing ghāṭa so that he will facilitate people to go and take bath in the Ganges, and thereby he would get forgiven for his offences. So one of the ghāṭas in Navadvīpa is Mādhāi-ghāṭa.

Hare Kṛṣṇa! 

Question: Guru Mahārāja, the Vaiṣṇava-aparādha is like committing spiritual suicide, but still knowingly or unknowingly we are committing aparādha, so what is the root cause of committing the aparādha and how to overcome this?

Jayapatākā Swami: When we are envious against other Vaiṣṇavas, they become intolerant when another Vaiṣṇava is praised, and they think, “Oh, why I am not getting the praise? I worked harder! I worked more! I should be appreciated! Why am I not appreciated?” That girl is a oohhh and you commit some Vaiṣṇava-aparādha! So we have to be very, very careful.

We are trying to please guru, Gaurāṅga and Kṛṣṇa and we don’t care if others get more glory, we simply want to please the Lord. And sometimes people will see it and sometimes they won’t. But the Lord sees it. So we are not working for popularity. Like that some politicians they get their names published in newspapers or newscast and therefore an insignificant person becomes famous. We just want to please the Lord and if we recognize that is nice and if not doesn’t matter. We still go on with our service.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!