20200611 Glories of Devotional Service

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilationby His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 11^th June 2020 in Śrīdhāma 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

Glories of Devotional Service

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.460

dāmbhikera bahu mūlyavān dravye bhagavānera upekṣā, āra bhaktera ati nikṛṣṭa dravya balapūrvaka grahaṇa, tadviṣayera dṛṣṭānta—

dāmbhikera ratna-pātra, divya jalāsane
āchuka pibāra kārya, nā dekhe nayane

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Supreme Lord does not even glance at the proud person’s jeweled glass and opulent water container, what to speak of drinking, He doesn’t even glance at that. The point is that, the Lord accepts water from His devotee, offered with devotion and love. A proud person may have a very opulent cup, with jewels and everything. But the Lord is not interested, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura said:

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: If anyone in the material world has many possessions, then he naturally becomes proud. Such a proud person then takes shelter of misconceptions like: “I am the best, I am rich, I am the best collector of ingredients for worshiping the Lord, I am a great devotee, and Vaiṣṇavas like Śrīdhara Svāmī are Māyāvādīs.” Lord Śrī Gaurasundara does not even glance at such people or desire to accept any of their offerings. The awe and reverence of this material world is unable to oblige the Supreme Lord, who is the object of viśrambha-sakhya (friendship in equality), vātsalya (parenthood), and mādhurya (conjugal love) rasas, or transcendental mellows.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.461

ye-se-dravya sevakera sarva-bhāve khāya
naivedyādi vidhira o apekṣā nāhi cāya

Jayapatākā Swami: The things which were offered by the servitor of the Lord, regardless of what, He fully eats. Whether the offerings are made according to all the rules and regulations, He doesn’t consider.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: The Supreme Lord forcibly yet affectionately takes even an insignificant item that is given by His poor devotee, and the Lord ignores items offered according to proper etiquette by wealthy proud persons.

Jayapatākā Swami: In the pastime of Krṣṇa visiting the king of Mithilādeśa, and at the same time He visited the poor brāhmaṇa devotee, Bahulāśva and Śrutadeva. So, the king was very humble and opulent, buts he was a devotee, and he offered Krṣṇa a royal reception, a royal plates, jeweled cups, but Śrutadeva, he had to borrow āsanas from the neighbor, and he washed the lotus feet of Krṣṇa and the brāhmaṇas with them. Then he didn’t have any opulent gift, but he offered each one of the persons a lotus flower. Like this, Bahulāśva offered opulent, royal prasāda, and Śrutadeva, he just offered an ordinary meal, rice, sabji, dal, but he was so happy serving Krṣṇa, He started dancing and crying that Krṣṇa came to his house. Similarly, Bahulāśva since he was also a devotee, he offered Krṣṇa, he bathed His lotus feet and the feet of all the sages. He sprinkled the water, the caraṇāmṛta on the heads of his queen, his ministers and his children. So, he was crying and requesting Krṣṇa to please stay for a few days. Then Krṣṇa asked the sages, “Who was a better devotee?”

Krṣṇa, He doesn’t care - he was offered a meal by Duryodana, but He didn’t accept it, He said that, “I have been invited to Vidura’s house”. So, He didn’t take the invitation of the king, to go to his devotee, Vidura’s house.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.462

alpa dravya dāse o nā dile bale khāya
tā'ra sākṣī brāhmaṇera khuda dvārakāya

Jayapatākā Swami: If a devotee doesn’t offer some foodstuff to the Lord thinking that it is not worthy to the Lord, the Lord takes it by force, and eats it. The proof of that is how the brāhmaṇa Vipra Sudāma, how Krṣṇa took his broken rice in Dvārakā.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: The Supreme Lord affectionately accepted the broken rice offered by Sudāmā Vipra, who was a resident of Sudāmāpurī, Dvārakā (modern day Porbandar).

For an elaboration on verse 462, one should see Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, Chapter eighty-one.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.463

avaśeṣe sevakere kare ātmasāt
tā'ra sākṣī vana-vāse yudhiṣṭhira-śāka

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord even accepts the remnants of His servitors. The proof of that is, when the Paṇḍavas were in exile, in the forest, the Lord ate the remnants of Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja’s leafy vegetables.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: The Lord accepted with pleasure the leafy vegetables collected in the forest and offered by Yudhiṣṭhira during his exile.

For an elaboration on verse 463, one should see Mahābhārata, Vana-parva, Chapters 261-262.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.464

sevaka kṛṣṇera pitā, mātā, patnī, bhāi
‘dāsa’ bai kṛṣṇera dvitīya āra nāi

Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇa’s father, mother, wife, brother, are all His servants, Krṣṇa does not recognize anyone, other than His ‘servants’.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: The wife, father, mother, friend, and servant of Kṛṣṇa, who is the object of worship, are certainly all His servants. The Supreme Lord's service, which is the wealth of those servants who are associates in the Lord's eternal pastimes, is executed by different servants in different rasas.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.465

ye-rūpa cintaye dāse se-i rūpa haya
dāse kṛṣṇe karibāre pāreye vikraya

Jayapatākā Swami: The form that the servant meditates on, the Lord takes that form. The servant of Krṣṇa is able to sell Krṣṇa. In other words, since the devotee gives himself fully to Krṣṇa, Krṣṇa reciprocates and gives Himself fully to the devotee. The devotee is insignificant, but Krṣṇa is the Supreme Lord, but He reciprocates with His devotee. So, if the devotee wants to sell Him, he could do that. Because if Krṣṇa wants to sell the devotee, He can do that.

Once in Varṣāṇā, there is a place, a brāhmaṇa came, and he wanted to get some donation for marrying his daughter. So that he could marry his daughter, give the dowry. Krṣṇa said, I don’t have anything. My only property is Rādhārāṇī, you could have Her. So, He put Rādhārāṇī on a scale and He said you can buy Rādhārāṇī. He told the gopīs to put gold on the other said. So, they all gave their bangles, their gold, somehow the weight of Rādhārāṇī was given in gold, and then He gave that to the brāhmaṇa. The poor brāhmaṇa did not have any dowry for his daughter. So just as Krṣṇa was selling Rādhārāṇī to raise money for this poor brāhmaṇa, if the devotee wanted, they could sell Krṣṇa, but they wouldn’t do that.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.466

‘sevaka-vatsala prabhu’ cāri-vede gāya
sevakera sthāne kṛṣṇa prakāśe sadāya

Jayapatākā Swami: The Supreme Lord has got great affection for His devotes. The four Vedas declare, and the Lord Krṣṇa, He manifests Himself out of His causeless mercy to His devotees.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.467

kṛṣṇadāsyera sarvaśreṣṭhatva—

nayana bhariyā dekha dāsera prabhāva
hena dāsya-bhāve kṛṣṇe kara anurāga

Jayapatākā Swami: See the great influence of the devotees of Lord Krṣṇa, fill up your eye sight with this, and become inspired to become attached to Lord Krṣṇa, in the mood of service. These verses show how being a servant of Lord Krṣṇa is so exalted.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.468

alpa hena nā māniha `kṛṣṇa-dāsa' nāma
alpa-bhāgye `dāsa' nāhi kare bhagavān

Jayapatākā Swami: Don’t consider the designation of being a servant of Krṣṇa as something insignificant. The Supreme Lord does not accept someone as His servant, who is less fortunate.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: The topmost persons of this material world are engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord. Not understanding this fact, conditioned souls with high aspirations ascertain various nondevotional activities as sādhana, yet the goals they ultimately achieve as a result of that sādhana are all examples of aversion to the Lord's service. When a human being's propensity for the service of the Supreme Lord is fully awakened, he becomes supremely glorious. The Lord's devotees, who always desire the benefit of others, pray that everyone's attachment to Kṛṣṇa may increase. The object of service is pleased only by service. The endeavor to fulfill the desires of the object of service is called bhakti, or devotional service. This conviction is manifested in the hearts of the most fortunate persons. Since the relishable taste of the Lord's service is not a subject matter of unfortunate people's realization, their good fortune is burned to ashes. The Supreme Lord does not award His service to such unfortunate people.

Jayapatākā Swami: Krṣṇa can give His blessings of economic development, sense gratification, liberation, very easily. Because after that there is no commitment on His part. But if He gives someone the service of being His devotee, then He becomes very obliged to reciprocate with His devotee. Being a devotee is the most exalted position.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.469-470

bahu koṭi janma ye karila nija-dharma
ahiṁsāra amāyāya kare sarva karma

ahar-niśa dāsya-bhāve ye kare prārthana
gaṅgā-labhya haya kāle bali' `nārāyaṇa'

Jayapatākā Swami: For many millions of lifetimes, if one performs his occupational duty with nonviolence and unpossessiveness, doing all his activities, day and night, he remains in the service mood, and prays to the Lord, he is able to, at the time of leaving his body, able to chant the name of Nārāyaṇa.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: By praying for the service of the Supreme Lord, one attains the good fortune of uttering the name “Nārāyaṇa” and entering the waters of the Ganges at the time of death [This refers to the good fortune of having the ashes of one's cremated body immersed in the waters of the Ganges.].

Jayapatākā Swami: So, every year at the Gaura-Pūrṇimā festival we have one day dedicated to worshiping the Ganges, and we offer the ashes of the decease devotees, in the Ganges water, with a special ceremony. My purvāśrama mother, she wanted her ashes to be submerged in the confluence of the Jalaṅgī and the Ganges.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.471

tabe haya mukta—sarva-bandhera vināśa
mukta haile haya, sei govindera dāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: Then he becomes liberated, being freed from all the bondage. Thus, when one is liberated, he becomes a servitor of Govinda.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.472

ei vyākhyā kare bhāṣyakārera samāje
mukta-saba līlā-tanu kari' kṛṣṇa bhaje

Jayapatākā Swami: The explanation given by the commentators of the scriptures, explain that the liberated souls get the body suitable for the pastimes of Lord Krṣṇa, and engage in worship of Krṣṇa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.473

tathāhi sarvajñairbhāṣyakṛdbhiḥ—

(bhāh 10/87/21 śloke śrīdhara-dhṛta sarvajña-bhāṣyakāra-vyākhyā)

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: “In his commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.87.21 Śrīdhara Svāmī quotes Sarvajña (Viṣṇusvāmi) as follows:

muktā api līlayā vigrahaṁ kṛtvā
bhagavantaṁ bhajante

Eternally liberated persons accept bodies suitable for the Lord’s pastimes and engage in His worship.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, when the Supreme Lord descends from the spiritual world, to this material world, he is accompanied by various disciples, expansions, associates, and they take suitable bodies to engage in the service of the Lord. That’s why we consider all the associates of Lord Caitanya as nitya-siddhās, eternally liberated souls.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.474

ataeva bhakta haya īśvara-samāna
bhakta-sthāne parābhava māne bhagavān

Jayapatākā Swami: Therefore, the devotees are as good as the Supreme Lord, and the Supreme Lord agrees to be defeated by the devotees.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.475

ananta-brahmāṇḍe yata āche stuti-mālā
‘bhakta’ hena stutira nā dhare keha kalā

Jayapatākā Swami: In the unlimited millions of universes, all the verses to be found, are not adequate to properly glorify the devotees of the Lord.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.476

‘dāsa’ nāme brahmā, śiva hariṣa sabāra
dharaṇī dharendra cāhe dāsa-adhikāra

Jayapatākā Swami: Brahmā, Śiva and others are very pleased to be addressed as ‘servant’ of the Supreme Lord. Anantaśeśā who supports the unlimited universe, He desires the qualification of being considered a servitor of the Lord.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.477

e saba īśvara-tūlya svabhāvei bhakta
tathāpiha bhakta haibāre anurakta

Jayapatākā Swami: All these controllers are equal to the Lord; their nature is to be a devotee. Even though they are extremely eager to become devotees. So, the great controllers of the universe like Brahmā and Śiva, they also want the qualification to be servitors of the Supreme Lord. So, being a Krṣṇa dāsa is not a small thing, actually to be a servant of Krṣṇa, a Vaiṣṇava, is the most exalted positon. We can’t be God, and the most elevated position we can achieve is, to be His personal associate as a bhakta, so we should aspire to be a devotee of the Lord!

So, we have gone halfway through this chapter, it’s a long chapter, so if you have any questions, I can answer now.

Question: His Holiness Bhakti Vighna Vināśana Narsiṁha Mahārāja, Māyāpur: When Lord Caitanya came to Rāmakeli, He was told not to go to Vṛndāvana with many people. But today we see devotees bring many others to Vṛndāvana, is it wrong or not?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, Lord Caitanya, when He was going to Vṛndāvana, thousands of people were chanting with Him. So, He was advised that He should not go with so many people to Vṛndāvana. So, He accepted that, and from Kānāi-Nāṭaśālā, he returned to Navadvīpa. So, if one wants to relish the pastimes of Krṣṇa in Vṛndāvana, particularly Lord Caitanya was going with that purpose. So, going with a huge crowd of people may not be the most preferred way. But if your purpose is to take different people on a tour of Vṛndāvana, like they do the Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā, many people are attending. So, I don’t like to say that’s wrong, because our previous ācāryas did that, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he also took devotees to Vṛndāvana dhāma. But he also stayed in Rādhā-kuṇḍa with a few devotees and chanted Hare Krṣṇa, that time he talked to Śrīla Prabhupāda, our Gurudeva. So, both things are there. If you want to meditate on the Lord’s pastimes, being in a small group may sometimes be more desirable. But if people are going to see Vṛndāvana, they want to hear from the devotees, the spiritual masters, the advanced devotees, then that is a different purpose, and so they are attending the Vṛndāvana parikramā, has a different purpose, I cannot say it is wrong or right, but there are different purposes.

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda, Nārada muni is a pure devotee of the Lord and comes to the material world in a spiritual body as and when he likes to preach and make devotees. However, we see that Krṣṇa sends all our ācāryas, and Śrīla Prabhupāda and you, who are pure devotees, to this world in material body for preaching. The material body means suffering for the ācārya or spiritual master, and even we disciples are very much pained in our heart to see such suffering of the ācārya or spiritual master. Why does Krṣṇa not send our ācāryas in a spiritual body? Because for him to do this is very easy.

Your insignificant spiritual son,
Prema Gaurasundara dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we consider that Śrīla Prabhupāda’s body was transcendental, because he used it always in Krṣṇa’s service. But see Nārada muni was continually travel throughout the universe. He was cursed by the parents of his disciples, that he could not stay in any place for very long. So Prabhupāda told that I have been also cursed like that, and therefore I have various temples all over the world, I cannot stay anywhere, but now you have to take this curse, so he passed the curse on to his sannyāsī disciples. So, curses, they are not affective in the holy dhāma, so I can stay in the holy dhāma. But if go outside, I only stay a few days in each place. So, in the different pastimes of Krṣṇa, some devotees would take different forms, and that is Krṣṇa’s desire. Nārada muni also stays in the universe for many days or lifetimes of Brahmā, and when the universe is destroyed at the end of the day of Brahmā, Nārada muni, sometimes he is in the body of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and he comes out when Brahmā wakes up.

Question: Dear Gurudeva! Please accept my respectful obeisances. Due to work I need to contact non-devotees from time to time, sometimes more than four or five hours constantly, and I felt that my consciousness was affected. For a few days the quality of my chanting dropped directly, how can I maintain my consciousness to be undisturbed?

Your eternal spiritual daughter,
Līlāśaktī Lalitā devī dāsī, China.

Jayapatākā Swami: If you have to talk to people as part of your work, then you can see your work is needed for you to engage in devotional service. Everyone has to do some work, to maintain their body. So, you should talk as little as possible with the clients or people. But remember Krṣṇa always, and how what you are doing, is also connected to Krṣṇa, and if you have to engage in some small talk with the different people, keep your mind on Krṣṇa, at the same time. So, I hope that in this way, by yukta-vairāgya, you can keep your consciousness elevated. Hare Krṣṇa!