20200330 The Result of Hearing the Prayers offered by Mukunda Datta and the Benediction He Received (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

So, my voice is still weak. I will just say what I have to say, and he will repeat it.

So, Lord Caitanya is speaking.

* * *

Chapter entitled as The Result of Hearing (Phalaśruti) the Prayers offered by Mukunda Datta and the Benediction He Received – Continued…

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 10.249

muñi satya kariyāchoṅāpanāra muhe
mora bhakti vinā kona karme kichu nahe

Translation: “I have established the fact that no activity is fruitful without devotional service.

“Without the service of the Lord a conditioned soul cannot achieve any benefit through the performance of conditional or constitutional duties—I have personally established this fact.” In other words, this principle is described in the Vedic literatures. The Kaivalya Upaniṣad states: śraddhā-bhakti-dhyāna-yogād avaiti—”Faithful sādhakas attain Lord Kṛṣṇa by meditating on His form with devotion.” The Vedānta-sūtra (3.2.24) states: api saṁrādhane pratyakṣānumānābhyām—”According to the śrutis and smṛtis, the Lord becomes visible to those who worship Him with love.” In the Atharva Veda (Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 1.79) it is stated: vijñāna-ghanānanda-ghana sac-cid-ānandaika-rase bhakti-yoge tiṣṭhati—”Śrī Govinda, who is sac-cid-ānanda, always exists in the mellows of devotional service, in other words, He is attained only through devotional service.” In the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.18) it is stated: jñāna-prasādena viśuddha-sattvas tu taṁ paśyate niṣkalaṁ dhyāyamānaḥ—”If a pure-hearted, self-realized sādhaka meditates through the knowledge of the scriptures on the unchangable Supreme Lord, then he can directly see Him.” In the Vedānta-sūtra (3.2.26) this is also described in the following words: prakāśaś ca karmaṇy abhyāsāt—”Devotional service is so potent that simply by engaging in the activities of devotional service one becomes enlightened without a doubt.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.14.4) it is stated:

śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho
kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye
teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate
nānyad yathā sthüla-tuṣāvaghātinām

“My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.14.20) it is stated:

na sādhayati māṁ yogo
na sāṅkhyaṁ dharma uddhava
na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo
yathā bhaktir mamorjitā

“My dear Uddhava, the unalloyed devotional service rendered to Me by My devotees brings Me under their control. I cannot be thus controlled by those engaged in mystic yoga, Sāṅkhya philosophy, pious work, Vedic study, austerity or renunciation.” In the Māṭhara-śruti it is stated:

bhaktir evainaṁ nayati
bhaktir evainaṁ darśayati
bhakti-vaśaḥ puruṣo
bhaktir eva bhüyasī

“Bhakti leads the jīva to the Lord, and enables the soul to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is controlled by bhakti. Bhakti is best of all.” In the Bhagavad-gītā (8.22) it is stated:

puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha
bhaktyā labhyas tv ananyayā

“O son of Pṛthā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion.” In the Bhagavad-gītā (11.53-54) it is stated:

nāhaṁ vedair na tapasā
na dānena na cejyayā
śakya evaṁ-vidho draṣṭuṁ
dṛṣṭavān asi māṁ yathā

bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya
aham evaṁ-vidho ‘rjuna
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena
praveṣṭuṁ ca parantapa

“The form you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means that one can see Me as I am. My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.9.21) it is stated:

nāyaṁ sukhāpo bhagavān
dehināṁ gopikā-sutaḥ
jñānināṁ cātma-bhütānāṁ
yathā bhaktimatām iha

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mother Yaśodā, is accessible to devotees engaged in spontaneous loving service, but He is not as easily accessible to mental speculators, to those striving for self-realization by severe austerities and penances, or to those who consider the body the same as the self.” In his commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra (3.3.54) Śrī Madhvācārya has quoted the following verse:

bhakti-sthaḥ paramo viṣṇus-
tathaivaināṁ vaśe nayet
tathaiva darśanaṁ yātaḥ
pradadyān muktim etayā

snehānubandho yas tasmin
bahu-māna-puraḥsaraḥ
bhaktir ity ucyate saiva
kāraṇaṁ param īśituḥ

“Lord Viṣṇu dwells in devotional service. The Supreme Lord Viṣṇu is controlled only by devotional service. Only through devotional service does He give His darśana to His devotees, and only by devotional service does He award liberation to the living entities. Intense affection for Lord Viṣṇu is called devotional service. This devotional service is the supreme method for achieving the darśana of the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu.” In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya, 20.136 and 139) it is stated:

`bhaktye’ kṛṣṇa vaśa haya, bhaktye tāṅre bhaji
ataeva `bhakti’——kṛṣṇa-prāptyera upāya

“Kṛṣṇa can be fully satisfied only by devotional service, and He is worshiped only by devotional service. The conclusion is that devotional service is the only means for approaching the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” In the Padma Purāṇa (Uttara-khaṇḍa, Chapter Fifty) it is stated:

na dhanena samṛddhena
na vai vipulayā dhiyāe
kena bhakti-yogena
samīpe dṛśyate kṣaṇāt

toyaṁ baddhvā tu vastrena
kṛta-kāryaṁ kathaṁ bhavet
prāpya deha vinā bhaktiṁ
kriyate sa vṛthā-śramaḥ

bāhubhyāṁ sāgaraṁ tartuṁ
yad van mükho ‘bhi vāñchati
saṁsāra sāgaraṁ tad vad
viṣṇu-bhaktiṁ vinā naraḥ

“Lord Viṣṇu does not give His darśana to those who have vast wealth, He does not give His darśana to those who were born in aristocratic families, He does not give His darśana to those who have vast knowledge, but He gives His darśana in a moment to those who are engaged in devotional service. Just as a person is unable to bind water with cloth, if after attaining the human form of life the living entity does not engage in devotional service, he is unable to attain liberation and his labors go in vain. As a foolish person tries to cross the ocean by swimming, only a foolish person tries to cross the ocean of material existence without engaging in devotional service to Viṣṇu.” In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.14.22) it is stated:

dharmaḥ satya-dayopeto
vidyā vā tapasānvitā
mad-bhaktyāpetam ātmānaṁ
na samyak prapunāti hi

“Neither religious activities endowed with honesty and mercy nor knowledge obtained with great penance can completely purify one’s consciousness if they are bereft of loving service to Me.”

Jayapatākā Swami: I have established the fact, the truth that no activity will be fruitful without devotional service. This has been stated by you and I have confirmed it as truth. Without devotional service, a conditioned soul cannot perform any activity and achieve benefit, without devotional service. I have personally established this fact. This principle is described in the Vedic literatures. It is confirmed in the Upaniṣads and Vedānta-sūtra, as well as the Atharva Veda.

In the Atharva Veda (Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad 1.79) it is stated: Śrī Govinda, who is sac-cid-ānanda, always exists in the mellows of devotional service, in other words, He is attained only through devotional service.”

In the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.18) it is stated: “If a pure-hearted, self-realized sādhaka meditates through the knowledge of the scriptures on the unchangable Supreme Lord, then he can directly see Him.”

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.14.4) it is stated: “My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble.”

So, Kṛṣṇa instructed to Uddhava that He could not be achieved by any other yoga, mystic yoga, or sāṅkya yoga, or pious karma, He can only be achieved by devotional service. So, during this lockdown, we should concentrate on achieving devotional service. Bhakti leads the jīva to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is only achievable by bhakti. I was explaining that how Śrīla Prabhupāda was giving a class in Montreal, that we have to have 100% unalloyed devotional service. But the devotees got very depressed because 100% may not be possible. And Śrīla Prabhupāda was getting down from his āsana, he turned to them and said even if you achieve 90%, Kṛṣṇa will still take you. The devotees thought that 90% is also very tough. And as he got down the steps of the āsana, it was a very high āsana, he turned to the devotees and said, even 80%, Kṛṣṇa will take you. So, the devotees felt some relief.  But still, 80% was pretty tough. āsana, he started walking away and with his right hand, his chaddar was dragging on the ground, he turned to the devotees and said, even 70%, Kṛṣṇa will take you, and then he threw his chaddar over his shoulder and walked out with his head high. We all realized, we should try for undivided, pure devotional service. And even if we don’t quite make it, there is still hope.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 10.250

bhakti nā mānile haya mora marma-duḥkha
mora duḥkhe ghuce tāra daraśana-sukha

Translation: “If one does not accept devotional service, I feel aggrieved at heart and as a result he is obstructed from seeing Me.

“I feel greatly aggrieved to see the speculative process of those who have no knowledge about the relationship between the servant and the object of service described in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad. That which brings dissatisfaction and unhappiness to Me is not devotional service. Failing to achieve My darśana, the nondevotees cannot see My personal form; they are perpetually bereft of My darśana because they maintain impersonal conceptions. Due to foolishness, they follow mundane conceptions, and without understanding the need for having darśana of the seer and the object of sight they accept the philosophy of monism as the goal of life. Therefore, they simply become perpetually bereft of the happiness of serving the form of eternity, knowledge, and bliss.”

Jayapatākā Swami: If one does not accept devotional service, I feel aggrieved, sad, in the heart. Because of My sadness, they don’t get the transcendental bliss by seeing Me. I feel greatly aggrieved to see the persons’ speculative knowledge, about the relationship between the served and the servitor. So, these things were described in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad. So, because of this, the non-devotees are perpetually bereft of seeing My actual form. And they follow mundane conceptions due to their foolishness. Thus, they accept the philosophy of monism or impersonalism, and thus they are bereft of the happiness of serving the form of eternity, knowledge and bliss – sat-cit-ānanda vigraha.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 10.251

rajake o dekhila,—māgila tāra ṭhāñi
tathāpi vañcita haila,—yāte prema nāñi

Translation: “Even though the washerman saw Me, when I asked him for something, he was deceived because he had no devotion.

When Kṛṣṇa was wandering in Mathurā, He was seen by King Kaṁsa’s washerman. When the washerman refused to give Kṛṣṇa clothes and flower garlands, Kṛṣṇa was compelled to kill Him. This is the result of seeing the Supreme Lord without devotion. Since Mukunda had an abundance of love, he was able to see the Supreme Lord. If he had no love for the Lord, he would not achieve the happiness of seeing the Lord for millions of lifetimes.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kṛṣṇa had asked the washer man to give Him some nice clothes. But because he had no devotion, he was deceived. He was deprived of My mercy. When Kṛṣṇa was wandering in Mathurā, He asked King Kaṁsa’s washer man, for some king’s clothes, robes. But the washer man refused to give to Kṛṣṇa. So, Kṛṣṇa slapped him and thus the washer man died, thus achieving liberation. So, thus he achieved the result of seeing the Supreme Lord, without devotion. So, there is no use to see Kṛṣṇa without devotion. If we have devotion then naturally seeing Kṛṣṇa, will bring complete satisfaction.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 10.252

āmā dekhibāre sei kata tapa kaila
kata koṭi deha sei rajaka chāḍila

Translation: “That washerman underwent lot of austerities and He gave up millions of bodies in order to see Me.

Jayapatākā Swami: To see Me, the washer man underwent a lot of austerities. He gave up many tens of millions of births of bodies to see Me.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 10.253

pāileka mahābhāgye mora daraśana
nā pāila sukha, bhakti-śūnyera kāraṇa

Translation: Even though out of great fortune he achieved My darśana, he did not obtain any happiness because he was devoid of devotional service.

Jayapatākā Swami: Even though out of great good fortune, he got My darśana, My audience, but he didn’t get any happiness, because he was devoid of any devotional service.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 10.254

bhakti-śūnya jane muñi nā kari prasāda
mora daraśana-sukha tāra haya vāda

Translation: I do not show any compassion to those who are devoid of devotional service. Therefore, they are bereft of the happiness derived from My darśana.

One cannot have darśana of the Lord if he is less fortunate. It took the washerman millions of births to achieve the Lord’s darśana, yet because he was not inclined to the service of the Lord, he could not obtain the Lord’s mercy. “I am never pleased with those who are devoid of devotional service. Even if karmis on the strength of thousands of pious activities achieve My darśana, they cannot achieve My mercy. Therefore, even if they achieve My darśana, they are cheated from the happiness derived from My darśana.”

Jayapatākā Swami: I don’t show any mercy to those who are devoid of My devotion. Therefore, they are bereft of the happiness that one should achieve by seeing Me. So, this should instruct us, how important devotional service is. Without devotional service, even seeing the Lord is not satisfying. It took the washer man millions and millions of years to achieve the Lord’s darśana, His audience. It wasn’t an accident that the wash had the opportunity to serve the Lord. Other people like the florist, Kubjā, they also had the opportunity, but because they had bhakti, they were very happy to see the Lord. So those who have no devotion, they cannot please the Lord. And neither they feel pleasure to see the Lord. Even then, the washerman, he got impersonal liberation. But because he had no devotion, he was deceived, deprived, cheated out of the happiness, which one normally achieves when one sees Me. You can see how Mukunda, in his lamentation, he actually was saying how he had left devotional service, and listened to others. So, then he would be deprived of the happiness of seeing the Lord.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 10.255

bhakti-sthāne aparādha kaile, ghuce bhakti
bhaktira abhāve ghuce daraśana-śakti

Translation: “If one commits an offense to devotional service, his devotion is vanquished, and one who is bereft of devotion derives no benefit from My darśana.

One who becomes an offender by opposing devotional service can never develop the propensity for service. Being thus cheated of the service attitude, his darśana of the Lord goes in vain. Other than those who are inclined to the service of the Lord, no one can possibly achieve happiness from the Lord’s darśana. Since others consider the Supreme Lord as an object of enjoyment, they lack a service attitude and are unable to achieve eternal happiness, which is the actual fruit of the Lord’s darśana.

Jayapatākā Swami: If one commits an offence against devotional service, his devotional service is vanquished. Therefore, because he is bereft of devotional service, he doesn’t get the real benefit of seeing Me.

Sometimes people wonder, what is the problem if I hear different classes, other than ISKCON? If you hear some offence to bhakti, it can destroy, it can cheat you out of the happiness of seeing the Lord. So, the happiness of devotional service, if we lose that, what do we have? We are susceptible to the attractions of māyā. The actual benefit of devotional service, is the supreme happiness we get by realizing the Lord. And that we get deprived of, if we offend bhakti.

* * *

I will stop here. Are there any questions?

Question: What does ‘offending devotional service’ mean?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, like Lord Caitanya said, māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva nāśa - if you listen to the māyāvādi, it will destroy your bhakti So that is a type of offense to devotional service. We think that we are equal or greater than Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. We are small, infinitesimal particles. Like that if we offend a devotee, that is also an offence to bhakti.

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja.  PAMRO, AGTSP. How to abandon everything else apart from the direct devotional service to increase our developed pure devotion? Or to do both – indirect devotional service and develop pure devotion? (Guru Mahārāja said, you are not reading all - as he missed “At your lotus feet!”) Ojasvinī Rādhikā devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, we practice the bhakti and we engage everything in what is called yukta-vairāgya, in the service of Kṛṣṇa. You are calling that as indirect bhakti. Lord Caitanya, He did not consider that indirect. If you are thinking I am serving, serving my family, serving my husband, I am actually serving Kṛṣṇa, because I am trying to help them to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, so that is unalloyed devotion. Not that we have to neglect our āsrama duties. Coin them as indirect bhakti. Bhakti is bhakti. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

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Question from the Tamil class: If our close relatives commit offence to devotees and devotional service, what are we supposed to do? Pārvatī Svāmināthan, Padmasakhī dd.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śāstra tells us how to respond to offences. If you can defeat that person’s argument, that is the first thing. If you cannot do that, then you can walk away from that place. Otherwise, you can leave your body and go back to Godhead, but you should not artificially commit suicide, that is just you spontaneously leave your body. Like, Satī, when she heard the offence against Lord Śiva, her husband, from her father Dakṣa, she just left her body, spontaneously. So, these three things are given. At least you can protest, that you know that this is not true. If because of age or something, relationship, and they may not listen to you, at least it should go on records that what they are saying is not true.

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I hope the devotees are very careful during this pandemic. Observe your social distancing. Wash your hands and wear mask whenever possible, and preach to all your friends, everybody, that they should chant the holy names. So, we offer our prayers to those who are affected, especially the devotees. And that they may be able to face this challenge, and recuperate. And if they have to go back, they go back to Godhead. Hare Kṛṣṇa! This is a very serious time and everybody should be very careful! Also, you take this opportunity to encourage people to stop eating meat, fish, egg. There are several videos on YouTube that show how this and other pandemics have come from the animals. Because we eat animals, so the animal infections go to us. There is one – Corona Virus: How did it really happen and how to stop it? It is an interesting video. So, anyway, we know that this comes from animals, and similarly swine flu came from the swines in America. And there are various others – MERS (Mad Cow Disease?) came from the mistreatment of cows in Britain. Like that there are so many kinds of pandemics, which all come from animal eating. So best thing is to chant the holy name and give up the non-veg. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Mahāvarāha dāsa: Also, Guru Mahārāja there are many devotees who are working as doctors, nurses, health care workers. So, they all from different parts of the world, are requesting, they are right there in the frontline and battling, treating COVID-19 patients. They are requesting the devotees around the world, and especially yourself, to pray for them.

Jayapatākā Swami: Alright everybody please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa for the safety and protection of the devotees who are health care workers, and all health care workers. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! If it pleases Kṛṣṇa, He should protect the devotees, the healthcare workers. Hare Kṛṣṇa!