20200317 Envy of the Envious Towards Devotees and Even Good Fortune for the Envious (Part 1)

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

First, we are addressing the Italian devotees, who are in their house, locked down. Then we will read the Caitanya Book. So, who will translate? Ākarṣinī Rādhā dd. Can you understand what I say or do I have to have repetition? Alright! I am from Māyāpur Dhāma. We actually give class every day on Facebook. At this time this class is on Zoom to all our devotees in Italy. But if you look in my Facebook page, there is also a live presentation, on Jayapatākā Swami. Here it is 8.30 in the night, what time is it there? (4 pm the devotee said). So we had a very nice Gaura Pūrṇimā. And there were tens of thousands of devotees. And now most of the foreign visitors have left. Some are still here and we are having a Māyāpur Safari! Today they went to the TOVP, Temple of Vedic Planetarium. I don’t hear any translation – you are not able to understand what I say? (Devotee said: Line was cut off). So, we had a three day harināma-japa-retreat. We had a program where we distributed prasādam in the village. And we had a program on cow protection in the gośālā.

And every night I give class on the Caitanya pastimes. And there are a lot of devotees here. In India, so far, there are about a 112 corona virus cases. And there have not been any cases in Bengal, so far. But we read in France like 25,000 cases or something, I mean in Italy? We read. We are very concerned about all you devotees. Here all the schools have been closed. But some of the students have come to Māyāpur, since they have school holidays! Ha! Ha! So, some devotees say that if it hits India, it will be like Italy! Some devotees say that by chanting the holy name, that counteracts many diseases. There is a letter from Śrīla Prabhupāda, conversation or something, where he said that in the early 1900s there was a plague in Kolkata. Many people would die and some babaji went around and he promoted the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa and saved the people! Anyway, we hope that you all chant and that will have a special effect. We are all, at least I am praying before Pañca-Tattva, Narasiṁhadeva for all you devotees. And for the devotees in China and other places. China is like when we give class here, it is late night for them, it is very late for them, but it is afternoon for you. We were reading how Lord Caitanya, in His pastimes after He manifested His devotional pastimes, were very special. He would dance in such a way, that even the Bhagavatam did not describe such ecstacies. You cannot hear? (Sorry the line is unstable Guru Mahārāja). In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, it tells about eight ecstasies. But Lord Caitanya’s ecstasies were beyond that. So, He would chant and dance, sometimes He would become very heavy and no one could hold Him up. Sometimes He would become so light that devotees could carry Him like a balloon! So, in this way, He was expressing ecstasies, which no one had seen before. So, He is showing these ecstasies in the house of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura’s garden. Two days before, was Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura’s appearance day.

So, I heard you had some questions, you can tell me your questions.

Question: Dear beloved Guru Mahārāja, how to develop or be really fixed in our faith and Kṛṣṇa consciousness during an unstable period situation that we are going through like now? How to better use this time that we have to purify ourselves and please you, and spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Thank you very much. Your servant, (Guru Mahārāja said: Ekarādhā devī dāsī!)

Jayapatākā Swami: You translate the question in Italian. You see, in times of difficulty it is easier to be Kṛṣṇa conscious! It says that Bhagavad-gītā tells us that people approach God sometimes when there is danger, sometimes when they are curious, sometimes when they want something or sometimes for knowledge. Did you hear us? Kṛṣṇa said that this world is a duḥkhālayam. It is a place of suffering. Who doesn’t believe that? Ha! And this world is temporary, that means even the suffering is temporary, the happiness is temporary, everything is temporary. But the relationship between Kṛṣṇa and His devotees is eternal. So that is why if this world was too good, we would want to stay here. So, having some suffering is good, it keeps us, we would live to leave this place and go back home, back to Godhead. So, I think that through the internet you can do preaching. Using internet, you can preach! Haribol!

Question: PAMRO, AGTSP! We are all going through a period of profound existential changes. Our devotee activities have deeply changed due to the restriction of shift and relationships due to the corona virus pandemic. For the devotees, the service does not stop. Despite the obligation not to leave the house, sādhana, arcana, japa, chant, study and various services are our life, our refuge, our strength, and in fact, they have increased. Fortunately, technology as far as possible, helps us in the saṅga. However, there remains an emptiness. I feel very urgent, in your words “the urge to help as many jīvas as possible.” So how to optimize this new condition to remain and improve our being useful tools for guru, Gaurāṅga and all the jīvas, who are suffering dispersed in material existence. Your always grateful spiritual daughter, Antaraṅga Śaktī devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: Is she there? When I was in the USA several months ago, I was told a joke by a nurse. Do you hear me? A patient asked a doctor, how long do I have to live? He said, nine! Nine what? Nine years, nine months? And then the doctor said, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, Ha! Ha! So, the point now is that people don’t know how to die!  But we know we are not the body. The body dies but the ātma doesn’t die. So, if we remember Kṛṣṇa at the time of leaving the body, we go back to Kṛṣṇa. But if we think we have nine months, we may think maybe where will I take a vacation to. Maybe I will go to Italy! Ha! So, for us, we always chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. At one time, they told Śrīla Prabhupāda what to do if the Russians send a nuclear bomb over to – in the 1970s there was a cold war. You are looking with cross eyes! Śrīla Prabhupāda was asked by the American devotees, what to do if we hear that Soviet Union is sending over a nuclear bomb? He said we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa! Haribol! So, every day you should chant. Kṛṣṇa Kumāra dāsa, Guru Mahārāja waved to him.

Video: Introducing Italian devotees Antaraṅga Śaktī dd, (offering garland to Guru Mahārāja), Ekarādhā dd, Divya Priyā dd (Guru Mahārāja is in Italy?), Lajja Lakṣmī dd, Lakṣmī Nṛsiṁha, Sinzo Honarat, Mathureśvarī dd, Kārtīka, Vinay, Adbuta Nṛsiṁha Haridāsa, your wife? Rāma Gaurāṅga! Lilāvilāsinī dd, Ākarṣiṇī Rādhikā dd, Haribol! Pinky Ghosh (ki khabor, bholo? Guru Mahārāja asked), Kṛṣṇa Kumāra dāsa, you are outside? You are working in the field? Gopanandinī, Haribol! Lajjavatī Lalitā, Phanīndra dāsa, Hare Kṛṣṇa! Tulasī Bhakti, Puruṣa Śaktī, Devakī Rūpa dd.

(Bhagavad-gītā sponsorships were announced.)

Pinky Ghosh, (Daṇḍavat praṇāma ami graham korci. Ki khobar?) Bholo, Guru Mahārāja! Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol!

Antaraṅga Śaktī, Līlāvilāsinī dd, How are you Devakīrūpa? (Devakīrūpa – I am ok now Guru Mahārāja. Guru Mahārāja said: Now I see you; you are smiling. You are travelling in the car. You are allowed to come out? Devakīrūpa said: Yes, I have permission for my therapy. Jayapatākā Swami: Hope everybody washes their hands to keep free of the virus. We had some devotees here tested but they were negative. But they said, they had the flu. Haribol! Please accept my blessings. Alright! Hare Kṛṣṇa! I use Facebook for preaching. So, you can see us on Facebook at 8 clock IST. So, we will close. I will give class for 15 minutes.

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Chapter entitled as Envy of the Envious Towards Devotees and Even Good Fortune for the Envious

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.233

pāṣaṇḍigaṇera kopa, nānāprakāra kutsā o bhayapradarśana—

yateka pāṣaṇḍī-saba nā pāiyā dvāra
bāhire thākiyā manda balaye apāra

Translation: The materialists, being unable to enter the house, spoke harsh words outside.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the atheists, materialists outside, since they could enter inside, they criticized outside unlimitedly. They spoke many different harsh words.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.234

keha bale,—“e-gulā-sakala māgi' khāya
cinile pāibe lāja dvāra nā ghucāya”

Translation: Someone said, “These fellows beg to fill their bellies. They are ashamed of being recognized, so they do not open the door.”

Those who could not enter the courtyard of Śrīvāsa began to speak various harsh words: “Those who have entered the house maintain their livelihood by begging. They close the door because they are ashamed of showing their miserable condition to others. If this were not the case, then why do those inside the house cry out loudly, being afflicted by hunger?”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone said, those fellows, they beg and eat to fill their bellies. Since if they are recognized, they will be embarrassed, so they don’t open the door. So those who could not enter the house or courtyard of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, began to speak various harsh words. Those who have entered the courtyard, they maintain themselves by begging. So, they locked the door, because they are ashamed to show their misssserable condition to others. If this is not the case, then inside why are they crying out, being afflicted by hunger. They are chanting Haribol! Gaurāṅga! And outside, they are oh, they have hunger pangs!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.235

keha bale,—“satya satya ei se Uttara
nahile kemane ḍāke e aṣṭa prahara”

Translation: Someone else said, “That is the truth, otherwise why would they cry out for twenty-four hours?”

Jayapatākā Swami: That is true! That is true! Otherwise, why would they cry out 24 hours Haribol! Haribol!?? Obviously, they are hungry! Another person said.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.236

keha bale,—“āre bhāi! Madirā
āniyāsabe rātri kari' khāya loka lukāiyā”

Translation: Another person said, “O brothers, these people bring wine and drink at night, unseen by others.

Some people thought that the door was closed because those inside wanted to bring wine and drink at night to avoid the embarrassment of being seen by the public.

Jayapatākā Swami: Another person said, “listen brother! These people bring wine! HA! HA! HA! HA! All night they drink wine, hiding from the people.” Envious people! So, some people thought that the reason they closed the door was because they were drinking wine and they didn’t want to be seen by the public. Actually, today people, they speculate and still think that devotees are engaged in some illicit activities. They don’t realize that the devotees are actually very happy, chanting the holy names. But there will always be crazy people who will criticize. And when we first came to India, the people accused us of taking Marijuana. They would sing “dum maro dum, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Rāma!” So, some people said we were CIA. Śrīla Prabhupāda was explaining to Indira Gandhi that these devotees rise early in the morning, they follow a vegetarian diet. If they were CIA, they would stay in a five-star hotel, they would drink whisky, they would do all kinds of things. But they don’t do that! They are leaving a pure, holy life, they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So, no way they are secret agents. So, since that time, devotees were given special visas, on the request of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.237

keha bale,—“bhāla chila nimāi paṇḍita
tāra kena nārāyaṇa kaila hena cita”

Translation: Another person said, “Previously Nimāi Paṇḍita was a good person. Why has Lord Nārāyaṇa changed His heart like this?”

Jayapatākā Swami: Another person said, Nimāi Paṇḍita previously WAS VERY GOOD! HE WAS VERY GOOD! Arguing with everybody, a real Paṇḍita. Why Narayana has changed His heart?! Like this!! So now all bhakti spoilt! Ha! Ha!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.238

keha bale,—“hena bujhi pūrvera saṁskāra”
keha bale,—“saṅga-doṣa haila tāhāra

Translation: Someone said, “I think this is due to His previous activities.” Someone else said, “This is due to bad association.”

Someone said, “Since Nimāi Paṇḍita has been affected by bad association, He has closed the door in order to engage in sinful activities hidden from the view of ordinary people.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Ha! Someone said this is due to His previous karma. And someone else said, certainly it is because He had bad association. Ha! Ha! With those Vaiṣṇavas! So, they were thinking that Nimāi was engaging in sinful activities, so not to be discovered, He closed the door, in the view of ordinary people.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.239

niyāmaka bāpa nāhi, tāte āche bāi
eta-dine saṅga-doṣe ṭhekila nimāñi”

Translation: “He does not have a father to guide Him, and He is afflicted by gastric disorders. Now Nimāi has become affected by bad association.”

The word niyāmaka means “a guide” or “a director.” “Nimāi does not have a guiding father or guardian. Moreover, He is afflicted by gastric disorders. Therefore, some bad elements have induced Him to act unjustly.” The word bāi (derived from vāyu) means “gastric disorders,” “madness,” or “insanity.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Nimāi doesn’t have a father to guide Him. And He has had gastric disorders and mental disorders and all those days, He had been in bad association with the Vaiṣṇavas and this has created this degradation. I said gastric disorder, but it actually means vāyu disorder, a type of mental instability or insanity. Because people couldn’t understand Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy, they thought He had gone mad.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.240

keha bale,—“pāsarila saba adhyayana
māseka nā cāhile haya avaiyākaraṇa”

Translation: Someone said, “He has stopped all studies, and if one does not study for a month, he forgets all grammar.”

“If one does not study grammar for a month, he automatically forgets all the sūtras. Therefore, Nimāi Paṇḍita has forgotten all the lessons of grammar.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone else said, Nimāi Paṇḍita, He stopped all His studies. If one doesn’t study for a month, he forgets all his grammar or Sanskrit. And all the people were saying very critical things about Nimāi Paṇḍita. Because, they couldn’t understand why someone would chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, why they would engage in devotional service. The materialists, they don’t understand this.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.241

keha bale,—“āre bhāi saba hetu pāila
dvāra diyā kīrtanera sandarbha jānila

Translation: Someone said, “O brothers, I know the secret why they close the door and perform kīrtana.

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone else said, “O brothers, I know the secret! I KNOW THE SECRET! Why they closed the door! They closed the door to perform kīrtana. Aha, this is why!”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.242

rātri kari' mantra paḍi' paṣca kanyā āne
nānā-vidha dravya āise tā' sabāra sane

Translation: At night they recite mantras to bring five girls along with various palatable foods.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, at night, they recite mantras and bring five virgin ladies, five girls, along with palatable food and various foods.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.243

bhakṣya, bhojya, gandha, mālya, vividha vasana
khāiyā tā' sabā-saṅge vividha ramaṇa

Translation: They eat, they wear sandalwood paste and garlands, they dress in fine clothes, and they enjoy with girls in various ways.

Jayapatākā Swami: They eat and they wear sandalwood paste, garlands, fine cloth, and they enjoy with the girls in various ways. I know the secret.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.244

bhinna loka dekhile nā haya tā'ra saṅga
eteke duyāra diyā kare nānā raṅga

Translation: If other people saw this, they would be embarrassed. Therefore, they enjoy behind closed doors.

Someone said, “We have found the real reason why the doors are closed. They bring five kinds of girls at night through mantra and engage in various types of enjoyment with them while eating palatable foods and wearing sandalwood paste, garlands, and fine clothes. In order to avoid being embarrassed by people, they close the door and become intoxicated by various sinful activities.”

Jayapatākā Swami: If other people saw this, they will be embarrassed. That is why they closed the door and they enjoy behind the closed doors. So, the envious people, they speculated so many things but inside the devotees were simply chanting kīrtana and having ecstatic symptoms. But envious people they would hear the kīrtana outside and speculate all kinds of things. So, like that, people don’t understand what we are doing even today, and they speculate that we must be doing bad things. So, taking this present situation with the corona virus, we can also preach, using Skype, using different types of internet facilities, and engage the people in actually understanding what is the real purpose of life. You have a captive audience. They cannot go out; they are stuck in their homes. But they have internet, all those who are in different places can preach to others about the actual benefit of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, how one can feel great happiness, by chanting the holy names on regular basis.

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So, thank you very much! Haribol! We will continue tomorrow. Any questions?

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa, PAMRO. Did Śrīla Prabhupāda encourage his followers to read Tulasī dāsa’s Śrī Rāmacarita Mānas? We hear different opinions from devotees regarding what Śrīla Prabhupāda actually said. – Your servant, Gopati Kṛṣṇa dāsa, Māyāpur.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda had said that the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa was more authorized. That Tulasī dāsa, somehow his verses are a bit impersonal or something. He liked Vālmīki’s better. Tulasī dāsa, he gave his presentation in Hindi, so it is very popular. Śrīla Prabhupāda made the Gītār-gān, in Bengali, so that it would be popular. Are the Chinese still there? Are the Italian devotees still there? Why did they end?

Jayapatākā Swami talking to some devotees: You are locked up, if you go there if it is Australia, 14 days quarantine. So … are following the same law as in Malaysia. If you leave India, you cannot come back. If you are Indian, 14 days’ quarantine! So good time to stay in Māyāpur!