20200613 Glories of Devotees and Service to Devotees

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 13^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

So today we are continuing reading our compilation of the different scriptures that glorify Caitanya-līlā, today the chapter is entitled:

Glories of Devotees and Service to Devotees

So sometimes Caitanya-caritāmṛta is prominent, sometimes Caitanya-bhāgavata, sometimes Caitanya-maṅgala, sometimes a mixture of various scriptures. We are trying to combine all those into a synopsis of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. Lord Caitanya has made the Chand Kazi into a devotee and had a massive kīrtana procession leading up to the Chand Kazi. Just as we read in the Śrīmad-bhāgavatam, that Kṛṣṇa would have His rasa līlā and it would actually last many yugas, but the external time would just pass one night. So, this kīrtana procession of Lord Caitanya went on and on and was like a kalpa of Brahmā. So, devotees were having this ecstatic kīrtana with Lord Caitanya; and since Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa Himself, He can adjust the time anyway He wants.

And after the conversion of the Chand Kazi, He took His kīrtana through the different bazzars of the conchshell merchants, the weavers, and ended up in Śrīdhara’s house. There, He drank the water from the broken iron pot of Śrīdhara, and this is the water kept at the door for washing the feet or other external uses. But Lord Caitanya because it was His devotee’s water, He drank it and Śrīdhara was lamenting that, the Lord took this water which was not fit for Him. But Lord Caitanya was dancing in the courtyard of Śrīdhara, and said now that I have taken My devotee water, and today My bhakti has been awakened, and all the people who were present, they were crying when they said the mercy of the Lord on His poor devotee. Kolaveca Śrīdhara made a living by selling banana products in the market, he was very poor but he was a very sincere devotee. We heard the glories about being a devotee of the Lord. Now we are continuing the glories not only of devotion, but serving the devotees. This is the message of devotee care, in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. The Bengali will be read by Deva Gaurāṅga dāsa, and I will try to translate it.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.494

prabhura nija-nagare āgamana o nṛtya—

jala-pāne śrīdharere anugraha kari’
nagare āilā punaḥ gaurāṅga-śrī-hari

Jayapatākā Swami: After showing His mercy to Śrīdhara by drinking his water, He took His kīrtana party again into the city of Navadvīpa. Lord Gaurāṅga, Śrī Hari, again entered the city of Navadvīpa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.495

nāce gauracandra bhakti-rasera ṭhākura
catur-dike hari-dhvani śuniye pracura

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gauracandra was dancing. He is the Lord of all the transcendental, devotional mellows. From all directions, one could hear tumultuous vibration of the names of Hari and auspicious sounds.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.496

navadvīpera tadānīntana avasthā—

sarva-loka jini’ navadvīpera śobhāya
‘hari-bola’ śuni mātra sabāra jihvāya

Jayapatākā Swami: The beauty of Navadvīpa city surpassed all the planetary system, as everyone in the city of Navadvīpa were simply vibrating the sound on their tongues, of “Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!” This would be heard from everybody. Somehow, in this material world, people are normally absorbed in their material affairs. But in the city of Navadvīpa, by the influence of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the people were chanting the names of Hari and on everyone’s tongue was the sound of Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! So, this place of Navadvīpa city did not appear to be anywhere in the material world. Here all the people were Kṛṣṇa conscious at that time, so its beauty became incomparable, with anywhere in the material world.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.497

ye sukhe vihvala śuka, nārada, śaṅkara
se sukhe vihvala sarva-nadīyā-nagara

Jayapatākā Swami: The trans loving ecstasy that overwhelmed Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Nārada Muni and Śaṅkaradeva, Lord Śiva, that transcendental loving ecstasy, now had overwhelmed all the residents of Navadvīpa city.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.498

prabhura sarva navadvīpe nṛtya o nṛtyera kāla—

sarva-navadvīpe nāce tribhuvana-rāya
‘gādigāchā’, ‘pāraḍāṅgā’, ‘mājidā’, diyā yāya

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Gaurāṅga, the Lord of the three worlds, He danced throughout the city of Navadvīpa, through the neighborhoods named as Gādigāchā, Pāraḍāṅgā and Mājidā, while dancing throughout Navadvīpa city.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: Among the many villages of Navadvīpa, the villages of Gādigāchā (presently known as Svarūpa-gañja), Ṭyāṅrā, and Maheśa-gañja are still present. The village of Pāraḍāṅgā was in the area of the present-day Brahma-nagara. The village of Mājidā is situated within Madhyadvīpa. The location of the village of Pāraḍāṅgā is presently lost or the name of the village has been changed.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.499

‘eka niśā’ hena jñāna nā kariha mane
kata kalpa gela sei niśāra kīrtane

Jayapatākā Swami: Do not think that the kīrtana passed only one night, that nocturnal kīrtana lasted for several number of days of Brahmā. So, Lord Caitanya, dancing in His kīrtana lasted for a long time. By the mercy of the Lord, everyone was experiencing timeless ecstasy, and although the experience was extended to a vast amount of time, the external world only saw that one night. But the devotees, they could experience long period of ecstasy.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.500

caitanya-candrera kichu asambhava naya
bhrū-bhaṅge yāhāra haya brahmāṇḍa-pralaya

Jayapatākā Swami: Nothing is impossible for Caitanyacandra. Simply by the movement of His eyebrows, the entire universe can be annihilated.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.501

karmajñānāvaraṇamukta vyakti śrī-caitanya-līlā-darśanera adhikārī evaṁ bhogaparā o tyāgamayī buddhite tadviṣaye jaḍa-sāmya-vicāra—

mahā-bhāgyavāne se e-saba tattva jāne
śuṣka-tarka-vādī pāpī kichui nā māne

Jayapatākā Swami: The greatly fortunate persons, know all these truths of Lord Caitanya. The dry argumentors who are sinful, they do not understand or accept this at all. So just as Kṛṣṇa in His pastime of the rāsa-līlā, they said it would last a night of Brahmā, but the external people would only experience it as one night. Lord Caitanya, He would have unlimited pastimes which are not possible to be realized in one night, and the devotees of Lord Caitanya could understand this, they could experience it. But the mental speculators, the sinful argumentors, they cannot understand how the Lord can expand, how the experience of the devotees, can be extended.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.502

ye nagare nāce vaikuṇṭhera adhirāja
tāhārāo bhāsaye ānanda-sindhu-mājha

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, He was dancing in each neighborhood, and the residents of that neighborhood also floated in an ocean of spiritual bliss.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.503

mahāprabhura nṛtya-darśane nadīyāvāsigaṇera śacī-jagannāthera praśaṁsā—

se huṅkāra, se garjjana, se premera dhāra
dekhiyā kāndaye strī-puruṣa nadīyāra

Jayapatākā Swami: The loud roaring, the cries, the flow of ecstatic love, when the men and women of Nadia beheld this, they were crying in ecstasy.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.504

keha bale,—“śacīra caraṇe namaskāra
hena mahāpuruṣa janmila garbhe yāṅra”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone said, I offer my obeisances to the lotus feet of Mother Śacī, who is such a great personality, who has taken birth from her womb.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.505

keha bale,—“jagannātha miśra puṇyavanta”
keha bale,—“nadīyāra bhāgyera nāhi anta”

Jayapatākā Swami: Another person said, Jagannātha Miśra is most pious, someone else said, there is no end to the good fortune of Nadia.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: In this way the Lord performed His pastimes for several kalpas as everyone expressed the desire that the night would never end.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.506

prabhura līlāra kāla—

ei mata līlā prabhu kata kalpa kailā
sabe bale āji rātri prabhāta nā hailā

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga performed this pastime for so many kalpas or days of Brahma. Because, everyone was praying, that the night would never end, and the morning would not come.

So, all the residents of Navadvīpa they were enjoying the transcendental pastimes of Lord Gaurāṅga, as He was dancing throughout the city, in each and every neighborhood, crossing different rivers, and enjoying these transcendental pastimes. So, all the people were absorbed in these ecstatic pastimes, they were all chanting the name of Hari. This is the perfection of human life, to be able to participate in the Lord’s transcendental pastimes, and this is what the human being is meant to achieve. Unfortunately, in this material world, people are thinking that achievement of some material sense gratification is the ultimate goal. But the real happiness that the residents of Navadvīpa experienced by participating in Lord Gaurāṅga’s pastimes, is beyond any ability to explain.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.507

ei mata bali’ sabe deya jayakāra
sarva-loke ‘hari’ vine nāhi bale āra

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way everyone expressed their jubilation, and chanted glories! glories! vibrating the name of Hari. There is no other name, no other vibration, to be heard, than the name of the Lord. “Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!”

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.508

prabhu dekhi’ sarva loka daṇḍavat hañā
paḍaye puruṣa-strīye bālaka laiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: When the people saw Lord Gaurāṅga, they spontaneously offered their prostrate obeisances. Men, women and children, were all offering their obeisances when they saw the Lord.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.509

prabhura sakalera prati śubhadṛṣṭipūrvaka kīrtana-vihāra—

śubha-dṛṣṭi gauracandra kari’ sabākāre
svānubhāvānande prabhu kīrtane vihare

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gauracandra, He mercifully glanced, over everyone present. Absorbed in His own ecstasy, the Lord was enjoying His kīrtana.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.510

e saba līlāra kabhu nāhi pariccheda
‘āvirbhāva’ ‘tirobhāva’—ei kahe veda

Jayapatākā Swami: There is no ending to the Lord’s pastimes, although the Vedas describe the Lord’s appearance and disappearance, there is actually no end to His pastimes.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.511

bhaktera dhyānānuyāyī bhagavānera nitya svarūpa-prakāśa—

yekhāne ye-rūpa bhakta-gaṇe kare dhyāna
sei rūpe seikhāne prabhu vidyamāna

Jayapatākā Swami: The devotees, whichever form of the Lord they meditate on, Lord Gaurāṅga would appear in that form, to the devotee.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.512

tathāhi (bhah 3/9/11)—

yad-yad-dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti
tat-tad-vapuḥ praṇayase sad-anugrahāya

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.9.11) it is stated: “You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.”

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.513

caitanya-līlāra nityatva—

adyāpiha caitanya e saba līlā kare
yāṅra bhāgye thāke, se dekhaye nirantare

Jayapatākā Swami: Even today, Lord Caitanya performs these transcendental pastimes. Those who have the good fortune, they can constantly see them. If you are only seeing a part of the whole truth, you cannot get the whole vision, and those living entities who do not have the transcendental vision, are limited by their material conditioning and desire to enjoy their senses. They are not able to actually understand the Lord fully. Those who are free from desire of sense gratification, of karma and jñana, they can always see the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. So, the mundane desire to enjoy or to renounce make a person materially conditioned, when they become free from such conditioning, they attain the power to surpass the platforms of enjoyment and renunciation. If people don’t have this transcendental vision, they may mistake the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu with karma and jñana, covered activities of human beings.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.514

bhaktera śreṣṭhatva o bhaktasevāra mahimā—

bhakta lāgi’ prabhura sakala avatāra
bhakta bai kṛṣṇa-karma nā jānaye āra

Jayapatākā Swami: The Supreme Lord descends in this material world to satisfy His devotees. The devotees can understand the transcendental pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. No one else can understand. Kṛṣṇa said in Bhagavad-gītā:

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge

So, He had many agents who can destroy the miscreants, but His devotees are only happy to have the association of the Lord. So, actually the reason for coming is to satisfy His devotees. Therefore, being a devotee of the Lord is very special. They get the qualification to realize the Lord’s pastimes, and His eternal incarnations or avatāras. Now the Supreme Lord is appearing in the heart of His pure devotees, which are inclined to serving the Lord. Unless one has this inclination to the Lord’s service, one cannot realize the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. So therefore, it’s so important to become a devotee, and Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he distributed this pure devotion for Lord Caitanya, on behalf of Lord Caitanya, all over the world. Otherwise, it is very confidential, and the conditioned souls do not have any access, but he has made the good fortune for the conditioned souls.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.515

koṭi janma yadi yoga, yajña, tapa kare
‘bhakti’ vinā kona karme phala nāhi dhare

Jayapatākā Swami: Even if one practices yoga, sacrifice and penances for millions of births, unless they practice it with devotional service, he cannot achieve the fruits or any result. So, practices of yoga, sacrifices, penances, austerities without devotional service are still material, and they are very distinct from pure spirit. So, by practice of devotional service, one’s conditioning to enjoy or renounce is checked, and thus one is able to transcend the network of karma and understand the transcendental characteristics of devotional service, which is the eternal propensity of the spirit soul. This was asked by Sanātana Gosvāmī to Lord Caitanya, and He presented that the nature of the soul is to engage in the service of Kṛṣṇa, eternally. So, this propensity is awakened by devotional service, and other activities like austerity, yoga, sacrifice, if they are not performed in devotional service for the pleasure of Hari, then they result in a desire to lord it over the material nature, and thus they remain conditioned. And they do not achieve the spiritual realm.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.516

hena ‘bhakti’ vine bhakta sevile nā haya
ataeva bhakta-sevā sarva-śāstre kaya

Jayapatākā Swami: So, one cannot achieve pure devotional service by not serving the devotee, without serving the devotees. In other words, therefore, serving the devotees is glorified in all the scriptures. So, there is no alternative for the conditioned soul to become liberated, other than exclusively serving, and following the devotee of the Lord. In all the spiritual education, this is the ultimate point. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, this point is mentioned in various verses:

Translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda: “My dear King Rahūgaṇa, unless one has the opportunity to smear his entire body with the dust of the lotus feet of great devotees, one cannot realize the Absolute Truth simply by observing celibacy (brahmacarya), strictly following the rules and regulations of householder life, leaving home as a vānaprastha, accepting sannyāsa, or undergoing severe penances in winter by keeping oneself submerged in water or surrounding oneself in summer by fire and the scorching heat of the sun. There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth, but the Absolute Truth is only revealed to one who has attained the mercy of a great devotee.” (Śrīmad-bhāgavatam 5.12.12),

Jayapatākā Swami: So, throughout the Bhāgavatam, the importance of serving a devotee is mentioned. And that should be one’s secret of success. In the seventh canto there is a similar verse.

Translation by Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet or a vaisnava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.32)

Jayapatākā Swami: So, serving a devotee of the Lord or devotees, is the method recommended to obtain the realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and without this, there is no alternative. So, this chapter has glorified the Lord and His devotees, and service to the devotees.

Thus, ends the chapter, Glories of Devotees and Service to Devotees.

So, thank you all very much. Today, I think we are a bit late. It was a long chapter, and so I thank everyone for participating. The author of this Caitanya-bhāgavata today spoke his realizations about the importance of serving a devotee. This is a great secret, People ask, is there any shortcut to achieving success? He says that one may, without serving a devotee, he may practice various kinds of auspicious activities for millions of births, but do not achieve any spiritual result. But if you serve a devotee of the Lord, then you can achieve all the perfection, realization, etc. Thank you very much!