20190131 Advaita Ācārya’s Vision of The Lord’s Universal Form (Part-4)

Come join us as His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja reads from the new Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book on January 31st, 2019 in Chennai, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Introduction: So today we are observing the Sat-tila Ekādaśī and especially it is for one should take pumpkin, guava and some coconut, offer to the Lord and take prasāda. I hope all of you have taken your guava, coconut and pumpkin, and also give in charity to some brāhmaṇas with clay pot of til-seeds.

Today, we had no physio or voice therapy from outside therapists. So, we did ourselves and we cycled 875 cycles, which is 8 times 108 plus. So today is the last day of January and it is Hari-vāsara, the day of Ekādaśī, it is the day of Hari, any spiritual activity performed today, you get 100 times the benefit. 100 times, that means if the Mercedes Benz costs 100 thousand dollars, you can get it for 1000 dollars. Just to put it in something that you can understand. A mobile phone for 1000 dollars you can get it at 10 dollars! So today we will continue the topic of Advaita Gosāñi who saw the universal form of Lord Caitanya and as I said, the class begins between 8 to 9, so today we are more on time, but still 15 minutes late. Someday I may try to start at 8!! Today I was ready but the others were not ready. Deva Gaurāṅga will read the Bengali and I will translate.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.68

gauracandrake ‘sarvamaheśbara’ baliẏā anaṅgīkārī vyakti ‘adṛśya’

advaitera śrī-mukhera e sakala kathāihā
ye nā mānaye se duṣkṛti sarvathā

Jayapatākā Swami: These topics of the universal form, came directly from the lotus mouth of Śrī Advaita Ācārya. One who does not accept these, he is certainly a duṣkṛti. Kṛti means one who does meritorious work, and duṣkṛti means a miscreant. He is certainly a miscreant who does not accept Advaita’s words.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.69

sarva maheśvara gauracandra' ye nā bale
vaiṣṇavera adṛśya se pāpī sarva-kāle

Jayapatākā Swami: Who does not glorify Lord Gauracandra as the Lord of all, cannot qualify to be seen by a Vaiṣṇava. He is a sinner, for all times, or a perpetual sinner!

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.70

āmāra prabhura prabhu gaurāṅga-sundara
ei se bharasā āmi dhariye antara

Jayapatākā Swami: Gaurāṅga-sundara is the Lord of My Lord! I depend on this and maintain it within My heart.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.71

navadvīpa-līlā bhakta-vyatīta anyera agamya

navadvīpe hena saba prakāśera sthāna
tathāpiha bhakta vahi nā jānaye āna

Jayapatākā Swami: Such pastimes were enacted all in Navadvīpa dhāma. But except for the devotees, no one knew of them.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.72

bhakti-yoga, bhakti-yoga, bhakti-yoga-dhana
bhakti' ei-kṛṣṇa-nāma-smaraṇa-krandana

Jayapatākā Swami: Bhakti-yoga, bhakti-yoga, bhakti-yoga, devotional service, devotional service, devotional service, is the greatest treasure! Bhakti means, devotional service means, chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa and remembering the name of Kṛṣṇa and crying. So devotional service or bhakti-yoga is mentioned three times. First time means, realizing our eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa, realizing our relationship with God. The second devotional service, is to indicate engaging in our constitutional position, in that relationship to the Lord. And the third bhakti was written, to indicate prayojana or the goal of life.

So devotional service manifests by hearing, chanting and remembering, and that causes the softened heart to cry and feel ecstasy. But if one’s heart has become hard, HARDDD, because of false arguments and desire to control material energy, the non-devotional desires render perversions in the soul’s constitutional characteristics or characteristic position. Lord Caitanya taught, jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa. The eternal nature of the soul is to be a servant of Kṛṣṇa eternally.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.73

kṛṣṇa' bali' kāndile se kṛṣṇa-nāma mile
dhane kule kichu nahe `kṛṣṇa' nā bhajile

Jayapatākā Swami: If one cries while they chant the name of Kṛṣṇa, then the pure name of Kṛṣṇa manifests. Being born with wealth and aristocratic family are useless if one does not worship Kṛṣṇa. If you are not a devotee of God, even if you have high birth or wealth, doesn’t count, if one doesn’t worship Kṛṣṇa.

So Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he says high birth and material prestige, various opulences, are simply insignificant, if one doesn’t have the service of Kṛṣṇa. When a prideless person repeatedly calls unto the names of Kṛṣṇa, with a melted heart and realizes that the name of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa are non-different, he attains the eternal service of the holy name. If a person afflicted with material suffering cries out of distress, “Oh! I am suffering! Help me God!” That doesn’t attain one devotional service, that does not help one to attain devotional service. So, crying out of distress is born out of dominating the material world, and that is completely different from the devotee who cries out of ecstatic happiness, resulting from eternal happiness. So, one is experiencing suffering and the other is experiencing ecstasy.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.74

viśvarūpa-darśanera phalaśruti

dui ṭhākurera viśvarūpa-daraśana
ihā ye śunaye tāre mile kṛṣṇa-dhana

Jayapatākā Swami: So anyone who hears the topics concerning the two Lords, vision of the universal form, attains the treasure of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Haribol! HARIBOL! YOU HEARD IT! YOU HEARD IT! It means you all attained Kṛṣṇa consciousness, HARIBOL! and all of you on the internet also attained Kṛṣṇa consciousness. HARIBOL!

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.75

bhaktagaṇasaha prabhura nija-gṛhe gamana

kṣaṇeke sakala samvariyā gauracandra
calilena nija-gṛhe lai bhakta-vṛnda

Jayapatākā Swami: After a short time, Gauracandra concealed His universal form, and He returned to His own home, taking the devotees with Him.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.76

viśvarūpa-darśane advaita-nityānandera bāhyābhāva

viśvarūpa dekhiyā advaita-nityānanda
kāhāro nāhika bāhya,—parama ānanda

Jayapatākā Swami: Advaita and Nityānanda Prabhu after seeing the universal form of the Lord, They lost all their external consciousness and They were in great ecstasy.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.77

vaibhava-darśana-sukhe matta dui jana
dhūlāya yāyena gaḍi' sakala aṅgana

Jayapatākā Swami: In the happiness of seeing the Lord’s opulence, the two Lords, Nityānanda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu, rolled on the ground, covering Themselves with the dust, and They were all in Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura’s courtyard. They rolled on the ground throughout Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura’s courtyard and They were covered with the dust.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.78

keha nāce, keha gāya diyā karatālī
ḍhuliyāḍhuliyā bule dui mahābalī

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone danced, others singing and one was clapping, and the two swayed to and fro, while the two powerful Lords were chanting.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 24.79

nityānandādvaitera premakalaha

ei mate dui jane mahā-kutūha
līśeṣe dui janei bājila gālāgāli

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way the two Lords enjoyed great happiness, at the end however, the two Lords began to abuse each other verbally, gālāgāli-kore. What is another word for gālāgāli? Prema-kalaha, the two began to criticize each other, out of love. In South America if you are very affectionate to someone you call him as gordo – means fatso! If they are very affectionate, they say, hey gordo! Like in Australia, they do that. So Advaita and Nityānanda, they started to criticize each other. I don’t know the exact word but I can’t see that. They were criticizing each other in a loving mood. What’s the word? Mild insult. Any way that was the last verse. (Devotee is suggesting, teasing.) Teasing – They tease each other. Good! They were teasing each other, wasn’t a serious thing, just teasing.

That ends the chapter entitled, “Advaita Ācārya’s vision of the Lord ‘s universal form”, from the book Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a devotee.

I will take two questions on the internet and two here.

Kaivalya Sundarī devī dāsī: Since we are all aspiring to be devotees when is the time when we can say we are actually devotees? What is the test that a person who is trying or aspiring to be a devotee does finally become one?

Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna, that who says they are My devotees are not My real devotees. The ones who say that they are devotees of My devotees, they are My real devotees. When you are a devotee of a devotee, then you can say that, and Kṛṣṇa will recognize you as His devotee.

Question: The Pañca-tattva are eternally in the spiritual world and They appeared there. So, is Nārada muni an expansion of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura or is Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura an expansion of Nārada muni?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see the associates of Lord Caitanya, when He came to this material world, all had some previous relationship with Kṛṣṇa - at least the prominent ones. So, like Murāri Gupta, he was Hanumān and Śrīvāsa is Nārada Muni. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was Lord Brahmā. That means, previously they were having different pastimes with the Lord, and when He came as Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, they also came and took up different roles. So, when the Lord comes, He enjoys His pastimes and the devotees come and enjoy with Him. By serving Him, they also get great happiness. Everybody is happy. You want to be happy? Haribol! 

Question: Kṛṣṇa has shown His universal form to Arjuna who is an eternal associate though a jīva, and Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa who has shown His universal form to Nityānanda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu who were also Lords. Is it ok to compare these two universal forms? If yes, then how come Arjuna got fear, whereas They, the Lords lost their external consciousness and went into ecstasy?

Jayapatākā Swami: Advaita had asked Lord Caitanya to show Him the same form that He showed to Arjuna. So therefore, we think that He showed the same form, and He saw Arjuna seeing Kṛṣṇa show Him the universal form. So Arjuna as a friend of Kṛṣṇa, he was sometimes would put his foot on Kṛṣṇa or sit together. So, when he saw Kṛṣṇa’s greatness he got afraid and thought he had committed some offence. But when the two Prabhus saw Lord Caitanya or Kṛṣṇa’s universal form, they felt ecstasy. So different strokes for different folks!