20200601 The reaction of the Atheists and Devotees After Seeing the Saṅkīrtana

The following is the reading from the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 1st June 2020 in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India.

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

So, this is still on the description of the great saṅkīrtana leading up to the Chand Kazi. Just as Kṛṣṇa to fulfill His mission, had the Kurukṣetra war; Lord Caitanya’s mission is to establish the saṅkīrtana-yajña. This saṅkīrtana that was held in Navadvīpa. It was something out of this world! Something that could not be realized by anyone except Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Today we will hear about the

Reaction Of The Atheists And Devotees After Seeing The Saṅkīrtana

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.336

nagariyāgaṇera kṛṣṇonmāda-darśane pāṣaṇḍagaṇera gātradāha—
nagariyā sakalera unmāda dekhiyā
maraye pāṣaṇḍī saba jvaliyā puḍiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: When the atheists saw the enmaddened ecstatic condition of the townspeople, they burned in envy. they burned in envy.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The atheists who maintained the mentality of opposing the process of worshiping and chanting the holy names always burned with envy and invoked one of the ten types of death. To extinguish the fire in their bodies, they enviously become hostile to the devotees.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.337

sakala pāṣaṇḍī meli' gaṇe mane mane
gosāñi karena kājīāise ekhane

Jayapatākā Swami: So, all the atheists gathered together and desired simultaneously, “If the Lord is willing, let the Kazi come now.”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.338

kothā yāya raṅga ḍhaṅga, kothā yāya ḍāka
kothā yāya nāṭa gīta, kothā yāya jāṅka

Jayapatākā Swami: “What then will the pomp and show go? Where will the loud playing of the drums go? Where will the singing and dancing go? What will happen to the big show?”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.339

kothā yāya kalā-poṅtā, ghaṭa-āmrasāra
e sakala vacanera śodhi tabe dhāra

Jayapatākā Swami: “What will happen to their banana trees, full water pots and mango leaves? They will all receive a suitable reward for their threats.”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.340

yata dekha mahātāpa deuṭi sakala
yata dekha hera saba bhāvaka-maṇḍala

Jayapataka Swami: “The Kazi will see all these burning big torches, and he will see all these sentimental devotees.”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.341

gaṇḍagola śuniyā āise kājī yabe
śabāra gaṅgāya jhāṅpa dekhibāṅa tabe”

Jayapatākā Swami: “When the Chand Kazi comes and hears this great commotion, then we will see everyone at that time jump into the Ganges.”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.342

keha bale,—“muñi tabe nikaṭe thākiyā
nagariyā-saba deṅa galāya bāndhiyā”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone else said, “I will stay around and tie by the neck, all these residents of Navadvīpa and turn them in.” 

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.343

keha bale,—“cala yāi kājīre kahite”
keha bale,—“yukti nahe emana karite”

Jayapatākā Swami: Another said, “Let us go and tell and inform the Chand Kazi.” But someone else said, “It is not very sensible.”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.344

keha bale,—“bhāi saba, eka yukti āche
sabe raḍa diyā yāi bhāvakera kāche

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone else said, “O my dear brothers, I have an idea. Let us quickly go and approach these sentimental devotees.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.345

‘āise kariyā kājī’ vacana tolāi
tabe eka janā o nā rahiba tāra ṭhāñi”

Jayapatākā Swami: Then we will say or tell them, “The Kazi is coming!” “Then not even one person will not remain here!”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.346

ei mata pāṣaṇḍīāpanā’ khāya mane
caitanyera gaṇa matta śrī-hari-kīrtane

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in this way the atheists were conspiring amongst themselves. While Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s devotees, were maddened in ecstasy by chanting the glories of Lord Hari by engaging in saṅkīrtana!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.347

śrī caitanya-bhaktagaṇera aṅgaśobhā—
sabāra aṅgete śobhe śrī-candana-mālā
ānande gāyena ‘kṛṣṇa’ sabe hai’ bholā

Jayapatākā Swami: They were all decorated with beautiful sandalwood pulp and flower garlands. In loving ecstasy they all chanted the name of Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.348

tātkālika simuliyāra avasthāna—
nadīyāra ekānte nagara simuliyā'
nācite nācite prabhu uttarilā giyā

Jayapatākā Swami: One of the neighborhoods of Navadvīpa was the town known as Simuliyā. And that was reached by Lord Gaurāṅga as He danced and danced. And He reached that place.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The village of Simuliyā, situated less than a mile northeast of Gaṅgānagara, was located on the outskirts of Nadia.

Jayapatākā Swami: By Nadia, they mean Navadvīpa.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.349

bhaktamukhe harikīrtana-śravaṇe prabhura sāttvika-vikāra—
ananta arbuda mukhe hari-dhvani śuni'
huṅkāra kariyā nāce dvija-kula-maṇi

Jayapatākā Swami: Unlimited millions of mouths of the people chanting the names of Hari, the crest jewel of the twice born Lord Gaurāṅga, danced and roared loudly. Haribol! /Haribol!/Haribol!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.350

se kamala-nayane vā kata āche jala
kateka vā dhārā vahe parama nirmala

Jayapatākā Swami: [Who knows] how much pure water comes from the lotus eyes of Lord Caitanya? Who knows how much pure liquid flows from the tears of the lotus eyes of the Lord?

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.351

kampa-bhāve uṭhe paḍe antarīkṣa haite
kānde nityānanda prabhu nā pāre dharite

Jayapatākā Swami: Shivering in ecstasy the Lord jumped high, almost into outer space and then fell down. Nityānanda Prabhu was crying in lamentation because He could not catch the Lord Gaurāṅga.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.352

śeṣe vā ye haya mūrcchā ānanda-sahita
prahareko dhātu nāhi, sabe makita

Jayapatākā Swami: Eventually, the Lord fell unconscious in loving ecstasy and everyone became shocked when His body showed no signs of life for three hours.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.353

prabhura apūrva bhāvāveśa-darśane vividhajanera vividha ukti—
ei mata apūrva dekhiyā sarva jana
sabei balena,—“e puruṣa—nārāyaṇa”

Jayapatākā Swami: On seeing these wonderful characteristics, all those present concluded and said, “This personality must be Lord Nārāyaṇa.”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.354

keha bale,—“nārada, prahlāda, śuka yena”
keha bale,—“ye-se hau, manuṣya nahena”

Jayapatākā Swami: Some people said, “He is like Nārada.” Someone said, “He is like Prahlāda.” And others said, “He is like Śukadeva.” Others said, “Whatever He may be”, “He is certainly not an ordinary human being!”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.355

ei mata bale, yena yā'ra anubhava
atyānta tārkika bale,—“parama vaiṣṇava”

Jayapatākā Swami: The people spoke according to the way they had their realizations. The very strict logicians said, “He is a great Vaisnava.”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.356

bāhya nāhi prabhura parama-bhakti-rase
bāhu tuli' ‘hari-bola hari-bola’ ghoṣe

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga was devoid of external consciousness being in the topmost mellows of bhakti-yoga, devotional service. Raising His two arms, He chanted loudly, “Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.357

śrī-mukhera vacana śuniyā ekebāre
sarva loke ‘hari hari’ bale uccaiḥsvare

Jayapatākā Swami: Hearing once from the lotus mouth of the Lord, Gaurāṅga, all the people began to chant loudly, “Hari!/Hari!” [Haribol! Haribol!]

Thus, ends the chapter entitled: Reactions of Atheists and Devotees after Seeing the Saṅkīrtana.

So, we could see how the devotees were experiencing great bliss, and they were completely absorbed in the transcendental ecstasy of love of Godhead. They were very beautiful and decorated with sandalwood pulp and flower garlands. They were responding to the Lord’s chanting and dancing. At the same time the atheists were burning in envy. They were thinking various negative things. And they were deprived of this ecstasy, and they thought that the Chand Kazi will come, and all the people will run. So, in this way, they were deprived of this special mercy of the saṅkīrtana.

Lord Caitanya, He started the saṅkīrtana after lunch. I don’t know how many hours it went on for. It seems that He reached the Chand Kazi late at night. Or maybe like, when Kṛṣṇa dances in Vṛndāvana, sometimes a day of Brahmā goes by, and devotees are dancing with Kṛṣṇa, and although by external vision only one-night passes; actually, a thousand catur-yugas of time go by. How much time actually went by for the devotees in this saṅkīrtana, it is hard to say. Kṛṣṇa can do anything He is the Lord of time. Seems like this kīrtana was going on and on and somehow the devotees were becoming more and more ecstatic, as time went on. But unfortunately, with the atheists, they were getting more envious as time went on. We heard that some atheists became affected by the chanting and started to dance and chant. But apparently some maintained their enviousness. At this point, they still hadn’t realized the glory of the saṅkīrtana. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

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Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. Sometimes atheist people complain that our God always likes narcissism. As a result, He [God] is not ready to hear His criticism and always becomes angry, and tries to kill and curse atheists. Could you please help to explain it?

Your servant,
Shuvra Dev Babu.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord doesn’t personally take a part, except if His devotee is being threatened. But we all owe everything to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and this is the reality. We cannot live without sunlight; you don’t provide it. Kṛṣṇa provides it. Similarly, He sees to the maintenance of everyone. Eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān - one person maintains everyone else. So, the atheists are very envious, they think the Lord is preoccupied in admiration of Himself. But He is the source of everything. And if someone commits blasphemy or offences to Him, He doesn’t personally take a role in that. He has agents, that give people their pious, their impious results. And so, if one is envious of the Lord, they get punished. He doesn’t want that; He would rather have the people be uplifted. But to teach them, people are punished according to their activities. So, since they steal from others, cheat others, then they get the reaction for their bad karmas. If they give charity, if they help others, they get good karma. If they engage in devotional service, they get delivered from this material world. If they engage in persecuting devotees, and if they are envious of the Lord, then they stay in this material world life after life. That is what they want, they don’t want to be where the Lord is. I don’t know why you accuse the Lord of being a narcissist?

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Question: Dearest Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances again and again. Someone that has never prayed before is asking me about it. He is in a suffering condition and ready to try anything evidently. If it pleases you, can you speak to us of offering prayers? - Haridhvani devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: The highest form of prayer is to sing or chant the name of the Lord. If we pray, it maybe not a very good prayer. So that is why the saṅkīrtana or chanting of the holy name is recommended If one chants the name of Narasiṁhadeva 21 times, they can get delivered from various sufferings. “Śrī Narasiṁha! Jaya Narasiṁha! Jaya jaya jaya Narasiṁha!” 21 times. Otherwise, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. You can chant 54 times or 108 times.

So, the name of Kṛṣṇa is worth 3000 names of Viṣṇu. And the name Rāma is worth 1000 names of Viṣṇu. So, by this Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Rāma mantra, you get so much spiritual benefit. And the side benefits are the material suffering is mitigated. But the real benefit is that one awakens one’s love of Godhead. Please ask the people to chant one of the mantras, and since there may be offence in our chanting, one can chant the Pañca-tattva mantra before chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda śrī advaita gadādhara śrīvasādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛndā. If that is too much of a tongue twister, then they can chant “Nitāi Gaurāṅga!” That could be told like “Neat, Neat-I, I am Neat!” “Gau-rung Gaurāṅga! Ah! Ah!” So “Neat-I Gau-rung Ah!” “Neat-I Gau-rung Ah!” “Neat-I Gau-rung Ah!” “Nitāi Gaurāṅga!” “Nitāi Gaurāṅga!” “Nitāi Gaurāṅga!” So, you can chant the long Pañca-tattva mantra or chant the short seven times. So, tonight there are many questions.

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Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, please accept my respectful obeisances. (Jayapatākā Swami: Accepted). With the present scenario, can you please let us know how we should go about with the Snāna-Pūrṇimā festival for Jagannātha Baladeva and Subhadrā Mayī?

—Your servant,
Anādi Jagannātha dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Well, we are trying to figure it out. But that is the 5th of June. 4th of June is the ciḍā-dadhi mahotsava. Right now, that is our focus. But I am thinking about the Snāna-yātrā, I will tell you later. I think that we cannot have large people gather without maintaining social distancing, and apparently the places of worship are not being opened until 8th of June, in India. In Bengal maybe, I don’t know, we heard conflicting reports. We heard that places of worship may be opened on 1st June, today, but only ten people allowed. I asked them to check on the website of the Government. But I think that you have to perform the Snāna-yātrā in the temple just with some pūjārīs. just with some pūjārīs. And hopefully you have a way of broadcasting the pictures of the Snana-yātrā to your congregation. And the temples should have a system of broadcasting the video to the congregation. And see what the Government rules and how you can adhere to that.

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Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol!) Guru Mahārāja, by hearing from you about Lord Gaurāṅga’s saṅkīrtana movement and hearing different advanced devotees like Śacīnandana Swami, etc. I remember that the holy name is the beginning, the middle and the end. But then we do one service or another that almost forget the most important thing, going from Kṛṣṇa’s name to Kṛṣṇa’s qualities and pastimes. How to be focused on that always?

—Your insignificant spiritual daughter,
Ojasvinī Rādhikā devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: We are advised to always remember Kṛṣṇa, So, in this age, we can always remember Kṛṣṇa’s name and never forget Him. And whatever we do, we should chant the holy name and, in this way, you can always remember Kṛṣṇa.

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Question: How can an aparādhī be elevated to the ‘kīrtanīyā sadā hari’ stage?

—Abhirāma Gopa dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: The third verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam is that, if we practice those principles, we can always chant the holy names. Amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyā sadā hari offer respect to others, don’t expect any respect for yourself. Be more humble than a blade of grass, and more tolerant than a tree, then you can always chant the holy name kīrtanīyā sadā hari.

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Question: How should we observe Nirjalā Ekādaśī?

Jayapatākā Swami: If you want you can take it without water. But I personally never saw Śrīla Prabhupāda observe the Ekādaśī with a complete fast. But Ekādaśīs, you get more fruit, if you observe it fully by no water, stay up the whole night, and then break your fast next day with some milk, and then some grains.

I asked my secretary to read me the glories of the Ekādaśī tomorrow. But he didn’t answer. He said, “He sent a message to another secretary, to tell him how to do it!” So just to hear the glories of Ekādaśī, it usually tells you that the fruitive listening to the Ekādaśī is donating a thousand cows. Every Ekādaśī is different. One Ekādaśī I heard twice from two different Purāṇas. Each Purāṇa said “Just hear [about] the Ekādaśī, you get the karma of giving a thousand cows. ” So, I gave 2000 cows! Without even observing the Ekādaśī! But then I observed it also. So, I asked, I wanted to hear the glories.

So, we are gearing up to observe the ciḍā-dahi mahotsava. I am personally going to make a number of offerings to the Deities. The pūjārī said that twelve, but I am planning to do fifteen or more. That day is Daṇḍa-mahotsava the day Nityānanda Prabhu punished Dāsa Raghunātha. Nityānanda is very humorous. His punishment is actually a blessing. By that blessing, he got Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet. He became one of the Six Gosvāmīs, and so many things. So, if you want to participate in the Daṇḍa-mahotsava, and get the punishment of Lord Nityānanda; If you want to help Dāsa Raghunātha dāsa, then you could send your donation to www.mayapur.com. We have already got, sourced out the different ingredients. We will share the offering with you on the www.mayapur.tv! But if you are fortunate enough to be here in Māyāpur, we will try to give every one of you some prasāda. Haribol!

Thank you very much!