20200209 The Result of Hearing Lord Caitanya's Manifestation As Varāha

The Result of Hearing Lord Caitanya's
Manifestation As Varāha 

09^th February 2020,
Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, 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!

The Glorious activities of Suklamabara Brahmacārī

After this I will speak a little bit about Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura.

 

Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 17.20

śuklāmbarera mādhukarī-bhikṣālabdha taṇḍula-bhojana —

tabe śuklāmbarera kaila taṇḍula-bhakṣaṇa
‘harer nāma’ ślokera kaila artha vivaraṇa

Translation: After this incident the Lord ate raw rice given by Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī and explained very elaborately the import of the “harer nāma” śloka mentioned in the Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa.

Purport: Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī resided in Navadvīpa on the bank of the Ganges. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was dancing in ecstasy, he approached the Lord with a begging bag containing rice. The Lord was so pleased with His devotee that He immediately snatched the bag and began to eat the raw rice. No one forbade Him, and thus He finished the entire supply of rice.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 10.38

śuklāmbara-brahmacārī baḍa bhāgyavān
yāṅra anna māgi’ kāḍi’ khāilā bhagavān

Translation: The sixteenth branch, Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, was very fortunate because Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu jokingly or seriously begged food from him or sometimes snatched it from him forcibly and ate it.

Purport: It is stated that Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, an inhabitant of Navadvīpa, was Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s first companion in the saṅkīrtana movement. When Lord Caitanya returned from Gayā after initiation, He stayed with Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī because He wanted to hear from this devotee about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī collected alms of rice from the inhabitants of Navadvīpa, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu took pleasure in eating the rice that he cooked. It is said that Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī was one of the wives of the yajñic brāhmaṇas during the time of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in Vṛndāvana. Lord Kṛṣṇa begged food from the wives of the yajñic brāhmaṇas, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed a similar pastime by begging rice from Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī.

Caitanya Bhāgavata Ādi-khaṇḍa 1.134

madhya-khaṇḍe, śuklāmbara-taṇḍula-bhojana
madhya-khaṇḍe, nānā chānda hailā nārāyaṇa

Jayapatākā Swami: In the Madhya Khaṇda of the Caitanya-bhagavat it is described how Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, served the Lord in His pastime as Nārāyaṇa, by using different methods, He would take the rice from Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī and eat it. So Lord Caitanya, Lord Gaurasundara, He took some of the rice from Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī – some was ātapa-chāvala which means unboiled rice and some was siddha-chāvala which means par boiled, and also that He would use different gestures and tricks in His pastimes with Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī and take somehow or another, get His rice.

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.109

śuklāmbara brahmacārīra ākhyāna—

sammukhe dekhaye śuklāmbara brahmacārī
anugraha kare tāre gaurāṅga śrī-hari

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī standing in front of Him, Lord Gaurāṅga nicely disposed His mercy on Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī .

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.110

sei śuklāmbarera śunaha kichu kathān
navadvīpe vasati, prabhura janma yathā

Jayapatākā Swami: Hear the topics about that Śrīla Brahmacārī , he lived in Navadvīpa where the Lord appeared.

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.111

parama svadharma-rata, parama suśānta
cinite nā pāre keha parama mahānta

Jayapatākā Swami: Since he was a brahmacārī he practiced his svadharma or his prescribed duties with great dedication. He was supremely peaceful. People did not recognize how he was a great devotee.

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.112

navadvīpe ghare ghare jhuli lai' kāndhe
bhikṣā kari' aharniśa `kṛṣṇa' bali' kānde

Jayapatākā Swami: So he went from house to house in Navadvīpa dhāma with his bag over his shoulder. He would ask alms, day and night he would chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and he would cry in ecstasy.

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.113

`bhikhārī' kariyā jñāna, loke nāhi cine
daridrera avadhi—karaye bhikṣā ṭane

Jayapatākā Swami: Since the people thought he was a beggar; they couldn’t recognize his actual position. He was so poor that he had to beg alms to maintain himself. But actually, he was a great, pure devotee. So we shouldn't judge people their external appearance. Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī was very poor, he begged house to house, so people thought he was a beggar. But actually, they didn’t know of his extreme love for Kṛṣṇa, he was crying while chanting the holy names. So we shouldn’t judge someone by their external appearance. We have to be very careful. Like this, so many people mistook Śuklāmbara for an ordinary beggar. They did not see so how he was actually very attached to Kṛṣṇa. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that he did not want us to be mistook to be  beggars. So we should always give out something, books, prasāda, something or we do kīrtana. Once Śrīla Prabhupāda was going to the bank. At that time, he was alone. The doorman stopped him and said no beggars. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, I am not a beggar, I have an account here! And he called for the manager of the bank and he said, he is insulting me by calling me a beggar. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that he would never go alone again. So, he didn’t want us to be mistook to be ordinary beggars. So we gave out prasāda , we gave out books, something, we are giving, not just taking. So ordinary people who are puffed up with false ego they are bewildered by the illusory energy and they consider the Lord’s devotees as afflicted by poverty.

In the west, it is not uncommon to have someone yell out from their car, get a job! Get a job! Ha! Ha! We want to be very careful, that Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted that people should get the right idea and he therefore said we should chant and we should also give out, give to the people, not just taking.

So, I remember in Montreal I would have some ‘simply wonderfuls’ we made some sweet balls and then we made every person take a sweet ball and then we would ask a donation. The great sages like Śukadeva Gosvāmi, if we go to the householders to make milk or something, but that was not because he needed it particularly, but he wanted to give some benefit. The ordinary householders, are sometimes very miserly. They just think how they can enjoy. The vaiṣṇava gṛhastha, they want to give out prasāda, serve the Lord. So sometime one householder he said, to a devotee who was begging, he said to his wife, give him ashses. What is the use of ashes? Give him chulāha ashes. But the devotee was thinking, even if they give ashes that will be to their benefit. They have to take it out and give it. He said, don’t just talk about, give me the ashes! Ha! Ha! Haribol! So, there is a verse describes that says it is a general practice of all saintly people to deliver the fallen. Therefore, they go to some house, although they don’t have any real business there. They go just to give mercy to that family. The giver gets ajñāta-sukṛti, unknowingly he gets spiritual benefits. In one pastime mentioned in the Padma Purāṇa , it describes how a man had no spiritual benefit. He was completely miserly. He didn’t even give, what was needed for his wife and children. He buried his money and didn’t tell his family where he buried it. So then when he died finally, they didn’t have any of his money as they didn’t not know where he buried it! And they died in poverty although he was very rich. So, in the next life he took birth as a brāhmaṇa and he had a very good wife. So, they he asked the great ṛṣī, who was Viśvamitra fighting with? One of Brahma’s sons. Anyway, a great ṛṣī, name will come in later. Vaśiṣṭa muni. So that Vaśiṣṭa he was in a nearby village and this brāhmaṇa he had no children and no money. So, he went to Vaśiṣṭa and asked, why don’t I have children, why don’t I have money? And he told him, in your previous life you were rich and you buried your money and did not take care of your wife and children. As a result you don’t have any money or children. How was I born as a brāhmaṇa and how do I have a good wife? He said, well, you had no good credit, in your whole life expect one time for three or four days, in the month of Vaiśāka you fed a Vaiṣṇava! Ha! That is why you have a good wife and you are born a brāhmaṇa. So what can I do? Wel, there is seven days of Vaiśāka left quickly find some Vaiṣṇava and feed him! Ha! Ha! Ha! Haribol!

So the saintly people, they try to give welfare to the fallen. So Śuklāmbara brahmacārī, he was like that. He would be constantly chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, and he would be crying in ecstasy.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare,
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.

So the ordinary people, they are so foolish they don’t recognize. Actually, the devotees are not common beggars, they are doing the welfare work for the whole human society, by distributing books, by distributing prasāda, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa harināma, out loud.

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.114

bhikṣā kari' divase ye kichu vipra pāya
kṛṣṇera naivedya kari' tabe śeṣa khāya

Jayapatākā Swami: So during the day Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī would beg, whatever he got, he cooked at night and he would offer it to Kṛṣṇa and that he would take. I heard that Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī only begged from five houses, whatever he got, he would take that. Some people would give quite little, some people more. So his diet was not fixed, sometimes he would get more, sometimes less. But whatever he got he would cook and offer it to Kṛṣṇa and then eat it.

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.115

kṛṣṇānanda-prasāde dāridrya nāhi jāne
baliyā veḍāya `kṛṣṇa' sakala bhavane

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in the ecstasy of receiving kṛṣṇa-prasāda he didn’t know any formality, he was always chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa, as he wandered from house to house, he was in complete ecstasy. Haribol! Ha! Ha!

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.116

caitanyera kṛpā-pātra ke cinite pāre?
yakhana caitanya anugraha kare yāre

Jayapatākā Swami: Who can recognize a recipient of Lord Caitanya’s mercy? Only someone who receives the favor from Lord Caitanya is able to understand His mercy! Ha! 

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.117

pūrve yena āchila daridra dāmodara
sei mata śuklāmbara viṣṇu-bhakti-dhara

Jayapatākā Swami: Just as poor Dāmodara worshipped Kṛṣṇa, appearing to be very poor, in that way Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī engaged in the devotional service of Lord Viṣṇu. Dāmodara refers to, Śrīla Prabhupāda knew as the god-brother of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Sudāma vipra. Ha! He was one of the friends of Lord Kṛṣṇa in the school of Sāndipāni muni. And Śrīmad-bhāgavatam 10^th Canto Chapter 80 talks about him. He went to Dvārakā and begged from Lord Kṛṣṇa but actually he couldn’t ask anything from Kṛṣṇa! Ha! So Kṛṣṇa asked him, what do you have for Me? He said, oh no, it is not worthy of You! And he had in his dhoti, he had tied some chipped rice, some cīḍa, but seeing Kṛṣṇa’s opulence in Dvārakā, he wouldn’t dare offer to Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa, Ha! Ha! He forcibly took and ate some of it.

Caitanya Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 16.118

sei mata kṛpā o karilā viśvambhara
ye rahe caitanya-nṛtye bāḍīra bhitara

Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Viśvambara, Lord Caitanya, He bestowed mercy on Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, so that Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī would stay in the house of Lord Caitanya, to watch the dancing of Caitanya Mahāprabhu! Haribol!

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 2.1.19

tato roditi sa kvāpi nānā-dhārā-pariplutaḥ
nāse ca śleṣma-dhārābhyāṁ viplute sambabhūvatuḥ

Bengali: kakhanao gaurāṅga bahuprakāre aśrudhārāpāta kariyā rodana karite lāgilena. tāmhāra nāsādvaya śleṣmadhārāya āpluta haiyā gela.

Translation: At times Śrī Gaura Hari wept and thus became covered by many streams of tears, and from His nostrils came forth two currents of phlegm. 

Jayapatākā Swami: That describes the dancing of Lord Caitanya which Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī was witnessing.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.35

tabe viśvambhara pahum preme garagara
āchaye brāhmaṇa-brahmacārī śuklāmbara

Jayapatākā Swami: So, therefore Lord Viśvambara, He became completely absorbed in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa and He would do this in the house of the brāhmaṇa named Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.36

tāra ghare kānde prabhu premāya vibhora
nayane galaye aśrudhārā nirantara

Jayapatākā Swami: In the house of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, the Lord would cry with tears overwhelmed by love of Kṛṣṇa. Constantly tears rushed from His eyes.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 2.1.20-21

viluṭhan bhūtale devaḥ śuklāmbara-dvijāśrame
nirantaraṁ śleṣma-dhārām ākṛṣyākṛṣya dūrataḥ
śuklāmbara-brahmacārī kṣipaty aniśam eva hi
gauracandro rasenāpi paripūrṇaḥ sadā śuciḥ

Bengali: śuklāmbara brahmacārīra gṛhe prabhu ekadina bhūtale luṇṭhana karitechilena—nirantara śleṣmadhārā pravāhita haitechila āra śuklāmbara ai dhārā ākarṣaṇa kariyā kariyā dūre niḥkṣepa karilena. pavitra gauracandra sadākāla rase paripūrṇa haiyā thākitena.

Translation: One day the Lord rolled on the earth at the āśrama of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, incessantly yielding currents of phlegm. Śuklāmbara continually took away that phlegm and disposed of it at a distant place. However, Gauracandra, always full in rasa remained pure.

Jayapatākā Swami: Ha! Ha!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.37

nāsikāya bahe śleṣmā ati nirantara
niravadhi phele tāhā vipra śuklāmbara

Jayapatākā Swami: From His nose, streams of phlegm came constantly and from Lord Gaurāṅga’s nose. Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, threw the phlegm away. 

Thus, ends the chapter, The Glorious activities of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī.

 

Jayapatākā Swami: So today is also the appearance day of Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, and Narottama was from the generation right after Lord Caitanya. And so he went to Vṛndāvana and he took Jīva Gosvāmi as his sīkṣā-guru and he was learning with Śrīnīvasa Ācārya and Śyāmananda Paṇḍita and others, under Jīva Gosvāmi. He would every day go to the āśrama of Lokanātha dāsa and Lokanātha had taken a vow that he would not take any disciples. But Narottama dāsa would hide in the bushes and see where he goes to answer nature’s call in the morning, and then he would clean it up and put cow dung and smoothen it out and clean it. So, every day Lokanātha dāsa would go there and he would find the place clean. One day, he wondered, who is doing this? So, he hid in the bushes and he saw it was Narottama dāsa who was doing it. So then he thought, I have taken a vow that I will not take any disciples. But he is so much dedicated that if I don’t give him initiation, my vow is just material, something like that. So then he was the only disciple of Lokanātha dāsa. We don’t find many stories about Lokanātha das in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta because Lokanātha asked Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, please don’t mention me. He was very humble. But he was actually a very great devotee.

So Śrīnivas Ācārya, Śymānanda Paṇḍita and Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, they went to back to Bengal with all the books. The books were stolen in Bankura and so Śrīnivas Ācārya said, I was asked to take the books. So I will stay here and try and find them. And then I will inform you. Śymānanda went to Odisha and Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura went on the side of the Padmā river to Keturi. Actually, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura was the crown prince of the kingdom in Keturi. But he abdicated his position, he wanted to be a pure Vaiṣṇava. So the king, his parents, asked him to please make his āśrama near the kingdom capital of Keturi. So he made the āśrama nearby Keturi. All the people loved him. And then he hosted a festival. And all the associates of Lord Caitanya who were present at that time, they came and participated in this festival. And Jāhnavā devī who was a guru at that time, she came and oversaw the whole festival. One time, she told Narottama to sing. He was singing with such separation that it seemed like everybody was dancing in water! That overwhelmed with separation from Lord Caitanya, and suddenly at that place Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda, they all appeared! Ha! They were there! I am waiting for that festival to happen here, when Śrīla Prabhupāda and all the previous ācāryas and Lord Caitanya, everybody would be here! It would be so wonderful! Any way, They appeared there in Keturi, one of the few places that They appeared, after the pastimes of the Lord were over. So, Narottama, he sings, rāmacandra saṅga māge in his song. That Rāmacandra Kavirāja was a great devotee, a disciple of Śrīnivas Ācārya and he was a constant associate of Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura. Two brāhmaṇa boys were the sons of a smaṛta-brāhmaṇa, someone who didn’t understand Vaiṣṇavīsm. And he asked these boys to take the animals that he would sacrifice to Kālī to the river and give them bath. But they thought why are we engaged in this animal killing? So they sent the animals back and stayed in the āśrama of Narottama and Rāmacandra Kavirāja. So then they asked for initiation but they didn’t know they graced both as equal, they didn’t know who to take as dīkṣā-guru. So they made an agreement one would take one as dīkṣā and the other as sīkṣā. And the other would take the other one as their sīkṣā-guru and so on. Actually, if you watched them, you couldn’t tell who was the disciple of who, because they worshipped both, they served both equally. But one was a dīkṣā-guru and one was the sīkṣā-guru. So, then they went home to see their father. He saw them with vaiṣṇava-tilaka, he was all distressed. He said, no, no, how my sons come before me in this horrible way wearing vaiṣṇava-tīlaka. Ha! They said; he called the digvigay, a great pandit from Mithīlā deśa. He asked him, convince my children, he said it is beneath me to argue with kids. We send some Vaiṣṇava. There was a vaiṣṇava ācārya, Bhagavat ācārya, he came and discussed. So, this Digvijaya, he didn’t know anything about vaiṣṇava-śāstra, but the Bhagavat ācārya in a few minutes he gave some verses from the Vedas, about Viṣṇu bhakti and then the digvijaya, he didn’t have any answer. So, this is the problem with the Māyāvādīs, they don’t know about vaiṣṇava-siddhānta.

So any way, today is the day that Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura appeared in the world. We got some land in Keturi. When I was sick I left Bangladesh, two years ago, they had 33 temples, now they have over a 108 temples. So while I was sick, they were preaching! They got land in Keturi. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

 

Any questions?

 

Question: Why Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī threw the phlegm away in a distant place?

Jayapatākā Swami: Why not? It was common sense! It is said that Lord Caitanya remained pure. Normally we think phlegm as contamination but He kept it far away. But actually Lord Caitanya stayed pure in spite of that. So Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī was just being strict.

 

Question: (In Bengali) Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, daṇdavata-praṇāma. I have no qualification. How then can i please you?

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupada, someone asked him, I am very fallen, how can I preach? Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted us to be goṣṭhyānandī, to be preachers. Try to increase the number of devotees. So if you are able to increase the number of devotees by Nāmahaṭṭa , by Bhakti-vṛkṣa groups, by book distribution, by some means then certainly Śrīla Prabhupāda will be very pleased.

 

Question: Please accept my humble obeisances, All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Last night you said that Śrīmati Radharani does not tolerate any offences towards Kṛṣṇa. So in what way does She express this disapproval or anger?

—Taptakāñcini Rādhikā devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: You will find out! Ha! Her options are unlimited. She is the supreme power, is She angry? I don’t know anything about that. Even Kṛṣṇa fears Her anger!

 

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Please accept my respectful obeisances, What are the glories of Māgha month? I heard that if you offer a cāmpa flower at the lotus feet of the Lord Mādhava, they will definitely go back to Godhead. Could you please elaborate on this?

—Paramānanda Dāmodara dāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: There are three special months in a year – the month of Dāmodara, the month of Vaiśāka and the month of Māgha. I studied Dāmodara to some extent and Vaiśāka to some extent. I have to admit, I have put on my wish list, to study all the glories of Māgha-māsa but I haven’t studied yet. So I don’t know particularly, what benefits there are. Usually in the other two months you get a hundred times the benefit. But some particular sevās are more important than the others. So Māgha month, was one of those months that has a special facility for devotional service but I don’t know exactly what all the facilities are. I will look it up and tell you. But I know that it is a sacred month. Lord Nityānanda appeared in Māgha month and today is Maghiya Purnima.

 

Devotee: Marriage blessings! Probjita Jana and Bagnan from Howrah. Guru Mahārāja, we are going to enter gṛhastha-āśrama on 11 March 2020. We want your blessings!

Jayapatākā Swami: Please go to my office you can find the expectations list. You can check the expectations and adjust accordingly. You and your fiancé can do that, check what both your expectations are. What questions you can ask each other. Here one person said, even if I have a child I will not take care, if my wife does, then it is ok. Then I saw that the husband took the child. So we find that many people are surprised, they think one thing but actually something different is expressed after the marriage. Just to make the marriage more smooth, we suggest you exchange your expectations before. And if there are some conflicts, try to work it out before marriage so that after marriage, you have smooth sailing! Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Anyone leaving tomorrow needs special blessings? Give the wedding couple my blessings!

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

► Transcribed by Jayarāseśvarī devī dāsī, 09 February 2020
► Verified by Rasaprīyā gopikā devī dāsī,