20200318 Envy of the Envious Towards Devotees and Even Good Fortune for the Envious (Part 2)

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

My blessings to all the congregation of Sanātana Dhāma for their special seva to sponsor 1,542 Bhagavad-gītās! Haribol! That will help to fulfill my 10,000 big books per month quota, by Śrīla Prabhupāda!

So who will read?

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

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.245

keha bale,—“kāli hauka yāiba deyāne
kāṅkāle bāndhiyā saba niba jane jane

Translation: Someone said, “Let tomorrow come and we will go to the court and have each and every one of them tied around the waist and arrested.

Someone said, “Tomorrow we will submit a complaint against them in the court. Those engaged in sinful activities behind closed doors will have their hands tied behind their backs and be taken away.” The word দেয়ানে (from the Persian word dīvān) means “royal assembly,” “religious court,” or “court.” The word কাঁকালে means “the waist” or “middle of the body.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone said, let them all come, we will go to the court and we will have each one of them tied around the waist and arrested. So, although the devotees were simply chanting, the people outside were so envious that they were thinking all kinds of evil things to do to the devotees. So sometimes people wonder, why people are envious against the devotees? This is part of the material world. There are certain demons who are naturally envious against the devotees. This is the meaning of demoniac. They are against anything to do with Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His devotees. So, they are speculating, these devotees are actually performing sinful activities behind closed doors. We will take them to the royal court and have them tied up by the waist and taken to, for punishment.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.246

ye nā chila rājya-deśe, āniyā kīrtana
durbhikṣa haila—saba gela cirantana

Translation: “There wasn’t any kīrtana in this state before, but these people have ruined everything here by introducing kīrtana and causing famine.

“They have introduced hari-kīrtana, which was never heard before in this province, and placed obstacles in the happiness and prosperity of materialistic people. As a result, famine has broken out and the happiness of ordinary people has been destroyed forever.”

The word চিরন্তন refers to that which has been going on unchanged since time immemorial, that which is traditional, or that which is ever-existing.

Jayapatākā Swami: Actually, there was no kīrtana in this state before. These people have introduced kīrtana and are causing people to starve and they have caused ruination, by introducing the kīrtana. I remember how I was in one airplane and there was turbulence and all the people, even the attendants, were going under the seats holding the side of the seat. Some people did not have their seatbelt tied and they were flying off to the roof. And I was chanting “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.” And after that the turbulence ended and a lady said, you saved us by your prayers. Well pious people, they appreciate we are chanting, but impious people, they speculate and are very negative. So, Lord Caitanya introduced the hari-kīrtana. They think that this is an obstacle in the happiness and prosperity of the materialistic people. As a result, famine has broken out and the happiness of the ordinary people had been destroyed forever by THIS HARINĀMA SAṄKīRTANA! This is the speculation of the materialistic people. So, by chanting the harināma actually it brings all auspiciousness to the people, but these atheists, they don’t accept that.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.247

deve harileka vṛṣṭi, jāniha niścaya
dhānya mari' gela kaḍi utpanna nā haya

Translation: “Know for certain that because of them, the demigods are not showering rain, the paddy fields have dried up, and no one can make any money.

“Because of their mischief, the demigods are not supplying sufficient rain to produce food grains, and as a result, the paddy fields have dried up. Therefore, destitution and poverty have overcome the entire country.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, because of these devotees, the devas, the demigods are not showering rain, paddy fields are drying up and no one is making any money. ALL BECAUSE THE DEVOTEES ARE CHANTING HARE KṚṢṆA! THIS IS ALL THEIR FAULT! This is what the envious people were thinking. They thought that because of the harināma, the situation of poverty has prevailed in the country.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.248

khāni thāka, śrīvāsera kāli karoṅ kārya
kāli vā ki karoṅ dekhoṅ advaita-ācārya

Translation: “Just wait. Tomorrow we will take care of Śrīvāsa. And see what we do tomorrow to Advaita Ācārya.

“Someone said, “They cannot go on doing such activities for long. Therefore, wait one or two days. Let us see what we can do to them.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Just wait sometime, tomorrow we will take care of Śrīvāsa, and see what we do tomorrow to Advaita Ācārya! So, someone is saying “they cannot do this for very long. Wait one or two days and they will see what we will do to them!”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.249

kothā haite āsi' nityānanda avadhūta
śrīvāsera ghare thāki' kare eta-rūpa”

Translation: “We do not know where this Nityānanda Avadhūta came from. He stays at the house of Śrīvāsa and enacts all these dramas.”

Jayapatākā Swami: We don’t where this Nityānanda Avadhūta came from! He stays in the house of Śrīvāsa and He performs all these dramas.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.250

ei mate nānā-rūpe dekhāyena bhaya
ānande vaiṣṇava-saba kichu nāśunaya

Translation: Although the materialists threatened the devotees in this way, the Vaiṣṇavas were in ecstasy and did not hear anything.

Jayapatākā Swami: Although these materialists threatened the devotees in various ways, the devotees were in transcendental ecstasy. They did not hear anything. HARIBOL! HARIBOL! This should be our policy. People may say so many things, we don’t hear it. We have to do our ecstatic harināma! Haribol!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.251

kīrtana-marme o dharmatattve anabhijṣa lokera nānāprakāra jalpanā o kolāhala—

keha bale,—“brāhmaṇera nahe nṛtya-dharma
paḍiyāo e-gulā karaye hena karma”

Translation: Someone said, “Dancing is not appropriate for brāhmaṇas. Why do they engage in such activities, even after studying the scriptures?”

Among those nondevotees who were averse to Lord Hari, one proud learned person said, “It is not the duty of a learned brāhmaṇa to dance. This is the profession of low-class people. It is lamentable that even after studying the scriptures they have introduced such a low-class profession in the brāhmaṇa community.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone said, brāhmaṇas are not meant to do the dancing. Even after studying all the scriptures, why they engage in such activities? Some proud brāhmaṇa, averse to Lord Hari, he said, it is not the duty of a learned brāhmaṇa to dance, this is the profession of low-class people. It is lamentable that even after studying the scriptures, they have introduced such a LOW-CLASS PROFESSION in the brāhmaṇa community. LOW-CLASS Dancing for the Lord! Ha! Ha!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.252

keha bale,—“e-gulā dekhite nā yuyāya
e gulāra sambhāṣe sakala-kīrti yāya

Translation: Someone else said, “They are not fit to be seen. By conversing with them, all of our piety will be lost.

Someone said, “By seeing such people, all the previously acquired merits of a brāhmaṇa are destroyed. Therefore, one should never see their faces.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone else said, these types they should not be seen, they are not fit to be seen! These types – simply by seeing them, all our piety will be lost! In Spanish they say, ei - people! He translated as these people but actually, they are saying, ei gulā – these types! Ha! Ha! By seeing these Vaiṣṇavas, all our merits as a brāhmaṇa are destroyed! We should never see their faces!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.253

o nṛtya-kīrtana yadi bhāla-loka dekhe
sei ei-mata haya, dekha parateke

Translation: “If a gentleman sees such dancing and chanting, he also becomes like them. See for yourself.

“If good people see such dancing and chanting, in other words, if they happen to see out of curiosity, their minds will be twisted. The clear proof of this is their increasing numbers.”

Jayapatākā Swami: If a good person, a gentleman, sees the dancing and chanting, he also becomes like them! SEE FOR YOURSELF! THEY GOT SPOILT! So, their proof is that they say, see how their numbers are increasing, even good people, gentlemen, they are affected. Actually, this is the special mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that by hearing and chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, the people get inspired and also become devotees! Unfortunately, the materialists, they are very offensive, and they think this is a bad sign. Actually, it is a good sign of the mercy of Hari on these people!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.254

parama subuddhi chila nimāi paṇḍita
e gulāra saṅge tāra hena haila cita”

Translation: “Previously Nimāi Paṇḍita was most intelligent. Now, by the association of these fellows, His mind has changed.”

Jayapatākā Swami: People were saying Nimāi Paṇḍita was supremely intelligent, most intelligent, buy by associating with these types, His mind has changed!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.255

keha bale,—“ātma vinā sākṣāt kariyā
ḍākile ki kārya haya, nā jānila ihā

Translation: Someone said, “They have not realized the self. They do not know what their loud calling will yield.

Someone said, “Without realizing one's self, how will one benefit by simply calling out, “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa”?

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone said, they have not realized their self, the ātma. By chanting loudly, they don’t know what they will receive. You see, the unfortunate thing is that these people never actually studied the Vaiṣṇava scriptures. They don’t see what is the benefit of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So they are speculating. Once, some sons of a caste brāhmaṇa, they took shelter of Narottamadāsa Ṭhākura and Rāmacandra Kavirāja. So, they went to their father and they were wearing a tilaka. He said, no, no, not tilaka, I cannot stand a Vaiṣṇava tilaka! Put on the Śiva tilaka he said. They started preaching to him. He said, no I will not listen to you. He called the Digvijaya and said, you preach to them. The Digvijaya said, it is beneath my dignity to preach to your kids! They kept one Vaiṣṇava paṇḍita, so they brought Bhagavān Ācārya and he presented that in all the Vedas it is described that by chanting the harināma, one gets all spiritual benefits.

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

Bṛhan-Nāradīya Purāṇa has mentioned and many other scriptures. So this paṇḍita, he was a great Digvijaya, he had defeated pandits in all directions, but he never heard these Vaiṣṇava conclusions. He said, that is said in the scripture, oh?! So, then he was defeated. He said, I will go and live by begging, I cannot be a Digvijaya anymore, I’ve been defeated. But instead of accepting Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he thought he will go out and beg. So, this is the defect. We don’t want to accept, although all the scriptures give a conclusion that we should chant the holy names, we should engage in kṛṣṇa-bhakti. But unfortunately, the materialists, even the learned brāhmaṇas, they have studied different things, they don’t know the actual conclusion of the śāstras. Like Haridāsa Ṭhākura was saying, how by accidentally chanting the name of Hari, one gets liberation. Then he was cursed by Gopāla Cakravartī. He said, how are you listening to this sentimentalist? He was saying that it takes yoga practice for thousands of births bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate – and they he is saying that by accidentally chanting the holy name, you get liberation? I curse him to lose his nose! Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, I will cut off my own nose, if you don’t get liberation by accidentally chanting the holy name. And then within three days, Gopāla Cakravartī, he got leprosy of the nose and then he lost his nose. This is described in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta. So, materialists are thinking, that one if they have not realized their self, how will they benefit simply by chanting Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa?

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.256

āpana śarīra-mājhe āche niraṣjana
ghare hārāiyā dhana cāhe giyā vana”

Translation: “The Supreme Brahman is present within one's body. These people are like those who lose something at home and search for it in the forest.”

“The Supreme Brahman, who is untouched by sinful activities, resides within the bodies of human beings. Therefore, these foolish chanters are searching for wealth in the forest rather than at home, so how will they benefit?”

Such statements from the ahaṅgrahopāsakas, or self-worshipers, are examples of the impediments in their ascertainment of the real nature of devotional service.

Jayapatākā Swami: “In everyone’s body, there is the Parabrahman. These people are like those who lose something in the house and go looking for it in the forest.” So, these are the misunderstandings of the self-worshipers, ahaṅgrahopāsakas. So, they are not able to understand the real nature of devotional service.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.257

keha bale,—“kon kārya parere carciyācala
sabe ghara yāi, ki kārya dekhiyā”

Translation: Someone else said, “What is the use of criticizing others? Let us go home. What is the use of watching?”

Someone said, “There is no benefit in discussing topics about others. Let us go and perform our own duties.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “Someone else said, oh, what is the use of criticizing others? Let us go home! What is the use of watching here?”

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So, we will end here.

Any questions?

Thank you, Russian devotees, for sponsoring the Bhagavad-gītā.

There are two questions someone asked me?

Question in Bengali: Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances. (Guru Mahārāja translated the Bengali saying: My unlimited, millions of praṇāmas, please accept – it will take me a few years! Ha!) I have been a devotee for eight years and have begged for initiation. The rest is your mercy. My family is a ritualistic brāhmaṇa family. When I go home, I have to do a lot of pūjās along with my father. But my śikṣā-guru told me that once I take initiation, I cannot do all these pūjās. My family is not a devotee family. In this situation, what should I do? Please advise. Saurav Cakravartī.

Jayapatākā Swami: The devas and devīs can be worshipped as Vaiṣṇavas and Vaiṣṇavīs. After praying to Kṛṣṇa, then the prasāda can be offered to the Vaiṣṇavas and Vaiṣṇavīs. Oh English! Ha! So, he said that his wife is a brāhmaṇa, she worships the demigods, she is not a devotee. But his śikṣā-guru, I don’t know who that is, he cannot worship devas and devīs. So, the point is that we don’t worship demigods as if they are the supreme. We worship them as angels, or devotees, vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ. Lord Śiva is the greatest of all Vaiṣṇavas. And as such you can offer the viṣṇu-prasāda to the different devas and devīs. And that is allowed.

Question: Kajal Śrīvastava: Hare Kṛṣṇa! Please accept my respectful obeisances. I need an answer to a question I have asked earlier in online class and also emailed before. I sent on Facebook also, but I haven’t received an answer. Please kindly give me answer to this question. Question: How to serve Guru Mahārāja every day? How to please Gurudeva?

Jayapatākā Swami: I don’t know why you haven’t received this answer yet! You can serve the guru every day. We sing the Gur-vaṣṭakam prayers in the morning. If we have Gāyatrī-mantra, we chant our guru-praṇāma and Guru-Gāyatrī. There are different ways we worship the guru. If we offer prasāda, we say the praṇāma-mantra of the guru, and then we say the mantra of Lord Caitanya, and then we say the mantra of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So I don’t know what you are doing? How are you eating? If you are not eating prasāda, then what is the point? As a Vaiṣṇavī, you should eat prasāda and if you eat prasāda, then that means you have offered the food, and if you have offered the food then you have to pay obeisances to the guru! So there are many ways that we worship the guru every day. And we carry out his instructions and if we take initiation, they we follow the guru’s orders to follow the four regulative principles, to help myself, to fulfill Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission, and to chant every day at least 16 rounds. If you are not initiation, then at least if you can chant some rounds every day. That is also a service to guru, service to Kṛṣṇa, service to guru. And you can please me by helping with the preaching. By distributing books, by helping expand the Bhakti-vṛkṣa, Nāma-haṭṭa, that is also very pleasing to me, in a nutshell!

Question: Rāma Kānāi, Mathurādeśa, Facebook question: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja, Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! (Guru Mahārāja said: Jaya!) Why do living entities suffer double punishment by going to Yamarāja first and then having to take a lower birth after that punishment? Have they not suffered once in Yamarāja’s court?

Jayapatākā Swami: Depends how much bad karma they have. They may suffer in hell for many sinful activities or they may go to Yamarāja’s court and he gives me them a next birth. So, this is like we go to the court and the judge he says, this is your punishment. Going to the court is not a punishment. It is not double. You go to court and Yamarāja, he describes. In one case, the husband was the king’s singer. And as the royal musician, he attracted many ladies. So he had some illicit sex. So his wife became very envious and said, why are you having this relation with other ladies? You are married to me. Naturally. So he apologized and said he would never do it again. So when he died, Yamarāja said, that you rose high but you are looking LOW, LOW LOW! As a result, you will be a vulture, you will be flying high but you will look for dead bodies! You will look LOW! So, when Yamarāja is giving a decision of what birth he would take, I don’t think that itself was a punishment. The punishment was that he would pay for it as a vulture. In some cases, like we heard that Jagāi and Mādhāi they had done so many sins that they had special architects who were designing a custom-made hell for them! Ha! Ha! So materialistic architects can get a job with Yamarāja! Designing hells!!

Question: From Facebook: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Jayapatākā Swami: PAMRO. Your holiness ordered me to go to the local temple and do service. In current situation my prabhuji is not taking us to the temple due to strict rules and kids safety in New Jersey like curfew. How can I follow your order in this situation? Your spiritual daughter.—Kalindī Gopikānta devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: In the present situation, if there is some restriction by the government to not travel and so on, then you know, I give you my permission to follow the strict rules of the corona virus regulations and you may not follow all the advice to go to the temple until such time as it is permitted. But maybe you can, in some temples, they have the deities, you can see them by the internet. I don’t know if you have such a facility in New Jersey. But if don’t, there are other temples in North America, that you can visit the temple through the internet and you can see the – I see the maṅgala-ārati in the morning and many devotees, they are having restriction at the present time, they see the deities and the āratis through the internet. We heard how different people watch sinful things on the internet. We use the internet to watch devotional things.

Question from Facebook: Hare Kṛṣṇa gurudeva! PAMRO. (Jayapatākā Swami: Accepted). At our local temple we have been told that while doing any kind of devotional service, we should not apply any lotion, cream or oil on any part of the body. Is this a temple standard or it should be observed at home also? Please guide me gurudeva. –Rādhikā Premabhakti devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: Generally, if one uses some oil on the body, before you come for deity worship, you take a bath. And that is considered alright. Sometimes, like Śrīla Prabhupāda would take his massage with mustard oil, but afterwards, he would take a bath. So, any oil on the body, if you are going to perform deity worship, can be somewhat offensive. But if you take a bath after using oil, it is alright. Also, if the doctor tells you, you have some skin disease or something and you have to put on some ointment, then that is an exception also.

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! You mentioned day before yesterday that by chanting all our sins and prārabda are also eradicated. Besides these I also felt that the false ego is subdued during chanting. But after that it returns to its original strength. My question is, is it possible to give up our false ego permanently by chanting alone? Or do we need to do something additionally?—Your insignificant servant, Prema Gaurasundara dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Usually after chanting, gradually the false ego should be purified. Haridāsa Ṭhākura he was chanting 300,000 names a day, so he could control his false ego very quickly! We only chant 25,000 names a day! So it may take a little time. We chant in one month what he would chant in one day! But eventually by chanting, the false ego becomes humbled and we should practice that by reading the Śikṣāṣṭakam prayers.

Question from Facebook: Dear Guru Mahārāja, Please accept my respectful obeisances. (Jayapatākā Swami: Yes!) We have heard that one result of taking caraṇāmṛta is akāla-mṛtyu-haraṇaṁ – freedom from untimely death. How to understand devotees’ dying in accident or due to sudden illness or other unfortunate circumstances?—Lalitāṅgī Rādhā devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: Maybe they didn’t take caraṇāmṛta! So by taking caraṇāmṛta, some of the benefits are stated. akāla-mṛtyu-haraṇaṁ. So we don’t know exactly what is akāla – untimely death. Maybe our death is meant to be at a certain age, so it is not actually akāla mṛtyu. Also, if someone dies due to some illness or something, but if they are taken back by Kṛṣṇa to the spiritual world, then the Lord promises, na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati – So He protects the devotee and takes him back to the spiritual world. So, there are various ways, you can see it. Thank you for your question, Lalitāṅgī Rādhā devī dāsī.

So, the Management decided that there will be a restricted darśana time. And eventually in a few days we will stop visitors for our guest houses. And then we will provide some guest facility at reduced rate to some of the devotees who are stuck here. So, the idea is like that we would like to separate the times that the devotees of our community go to the temple and the outside people, so that we have less exposure to the possible corona virus. You should also regularly wash your hands and wash your feet, and we would like to clean the temple before you go in, so that if you offer your obeisances, you don’t get the virus. So we will be washing the floor first and then if some devotee comes from outside, they have been gone for some time, they should self-isolate themselves so that they don’t, in case they got the virus, they don’t spread it to others. I would imagine that these things will be announced some time but, I am telling in advance that these kind of decisions were made. There was a proposal whether to shut down completely but, it was thought that were not quite there yet. We may have to shut down in the future. But we would like devotees to take advantage of the deities and that shut down – there was one case of positive virus in Kolkata. Previously, there was no case. So, potential of someone coming here who has the virus – so devotees should be very careful. As Harilīlā described, don’t shake hands, keep your distance, but Śrīla Prabhupāda said that the plague in Kolkata was stopped by some bābājī chanting the holy name, by getting everybody to chant. So we think at this time, more people should chant and that will help protect the devotees in India. Haribol! Are there books I have to sign?

Right now the new cases in China are less. Actually, most cases are in Italy, I gave a class last night, in France, to some extent in Germany. Marīci told me that Malaysia has shut their doors. So the whole world is in a very disturbed state. Epidemic to pandemic or we can say pandemoniac! So, in different places, they are doing different things. I heard also that some of the doctors from China have gone to Italy and other places, and they are experienced to deal with the corona virus, they are probably very expert!