20200816 Brahmā and the Demigods Test Dhruva – Viśvambhara’s Narration to Śacī-devī

The following is a reading from the new Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 16th,2020 in Śrī Dhāma 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!

Today's title is:

Brahmā and the Demigods Test Dhruva – Viśvambhara’s Narration to Śacī-devī

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.94

sindhuḍā—rāga

harie mahāśaya govindacaraṇe śaraṇa laiba
o-rāṅgācaraṇera aneka mādhurī ebe se jāniluṁ

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Caitanya-maṅgala actually, should be sung, and gives the rāga in which the śloka can be sung - rāga means like the melody. The great souls take shelter of Lord Govinda’s lotus feet. The reddish lotus feet have a lot of sweetness. They know that the red lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, have so much sweetness.

madhuvana dekhi dhruvera ānanda bāḍhila
tīrtha-upavāsa kari’ rajanī vañcila

Jayapatākā Swami: When Dhruva Mahārāja saw Madhuvana, his happiness increased. Observing the fast appropriate for arriving at a holy place, he passed the night.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.95

prātaḥsnāna kari’ dhruva mantrajapa kare
nā pāila kṣudhātṛṣṇā-bhāse aśrujale

Jayapatākā Swami: Taking his early morning bath, Dhruva, he chanted the japa of his mantra. He had neither hunger or thirst, he floated in tears.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.96

pāñca sāta-dine eka-badari-bhakṣaṇa
pakṣāntare jalabindu tulasī sparśana

Jayapatākā Swami: He ate every five or seven days, one badari fruit. On the other days, he accepted only some water touched by tulasī.

Badari fruit is a kūla fruit in Bengali. It is a small fruit like a crab-apple.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.97

ekānta triśa triśa kāla upavāse
pāraṇā āhāra dhruva kare ekamāse

Jayapatākā Swami: He fasted for thirty days. Then he broke his fast once in a month.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.98

urddhabāhu karapuṭe ekapāye bhara
mastra japa kare dhruva dvādaśa-akṣara

Jayapatākā Swami: He stood on one foot, raising his arms, with folded hands. In that position, Dhruva Mahārāja would chant his twelve syllables mantra, chant his japa.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.99

kālindīra jale ūrddhva, caraṇa-yugale
grīṣme tapa kare cāridige agnijbale

Jayapatākā Swami: With his feet up, he stayed under the Yamunā waters. In the hot summer, he sat with fires on the four sides.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.100

śītakāle kālindīra jale paḍi’ rahe
varṣāte mañcete tāte eta duḥkha sahe

Jayapatākā Swami: In the winter, he would stay in the Yamunā water. During the monsoon, he tolerated much austerity and suffering.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.101

bhāvite bhāvite dhruvera lāgila samādhi
tribhaṅga rahilā kṛṣṇa-darśana avadhi

Jayapatākā Swami: Thus contemplating, Dhruva attained the trance of samādhi. He stayed in a three-fold bending form, until he saw Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.102

indra-ādi devagaṇe lāge camatkāra
nā jāni e dhruva kāra labe adhikāra

Jayapatākā Swami: Indra and the other demigods, they were struck with wonder. They didn’t know whose position is Dhruva going to get.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.103

brahmā bole-pāche laya mora adhikāra
brahma-pada labe dhruva jāni pratikāra

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Brahmā, he said, “In the end, he will be qualified for my post.” Dhruva will get Brahmā’s post as a result.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.104

kuvera varuṇa bole-mora pada labe
kṛṣṇa dibena ihā jāni anubhave

Jayapatākā Swami: Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods, Varuṇa, the lord of water, said, “He will attain our posts. Lord Kṛṣṇa will give him our post, this is what we feel.”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.105

indra bolena—ba mora pada labe
tatakṣaṇe kṛṣṇacandra kṛpā kari dibe

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Indra said, “Oh, he will take my post. Lord Kṛṣṇacandra will kindly give it to him.”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.106

indra bole mora pada sabhāra abhilāṣa
mora pada labe dhruva kariyā udāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Indra said, “Everyone desires after my post. Dhruva will attain my post effortlessly.”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.107

sarvadevagaṇe bole ucacāsane āmi
mora pada labe dhruva baḍa pariśramī

Jayapatākā Swami: All the demigods said, “We all sit on exalted thrones. Dhruva, by his great austerities, will get our posts.”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.108

dhruvera utkaṭa tapa bhaṅga karibāre
brahmā ādi devagaṇe nānā-yukti kare

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Brahmā and the other demigods devised various strategies to break Dhruva’s great austerities.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.109

tribhaṅge āchena dhruva ekamanacitte
indra-ādi lañā brahmā gelā parīkṣite

Jayapatākā Swami: Dhruva was standing in his three-fold bending form, with a single-pointed concentration. Indra and the others went to test him. We can see that Dhruva Mahārāja was executing great austerities. Standing on one leg, in a three-fold bending form, with his folded hands in the air, chanting the mantra japa, the mantra meditation, oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, in the holy land of Vṛndāvana, by the side of the Yamunā. All the demigods and Brahmā were afraid that he might be given their position, by Lord Kṛṣṇa. So, they wanted to test him. Since Lord Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He can award any position to anybody. So, they all were afraid that they may lose their position to Dhruva Mahārāja.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.110

dhruvera karṇamūle keho ḍāke ucca-role
marite āile dhruva-maribāra tare?

Jayapatākā Swami: One demigod called out loudly into Dhruva’s ear, “Dhruva you will die, did you come here to die?”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.111

āra keho bole-dhruva maila tora bāpa
keho bole-"āre dhruva yāya kālasāpa

Jayapatākā Swami: Another demigod said to Dhruva, “Dhruva your father has died!” Another said, “Arey! Dhruva! Coming a black snake!”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.112

āra keha bole-dhruva maila tora mā
keho bole - dhruva jhāṭa palāiyā yā

Jayapatākā Swami: Another demigod said, “Dhruva, your mother is dead!” Another demigod said, “Dhruva, quickly flee!”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.113

āra keho bole-dhruva dāvāgni āila
keho bole- aho! dhruva maila maila

Jayapatākā Swami: Another demigod said to Dhruva, “Dhruva a forest fire approaches.” Another demigod said, “Oh, Dhruva! You will die! You will die!”

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.114

indra hastī lañā dhruvera buke dila dāṁta
śuṇḍe beḍāiyā āne dhruvera āṁta

Jayapatākā Swami: Indra, taking his elephant, pushed the elephant’s tusk into Dhruva’s chest. And the elephant wrapped his truck around Dhruva’s belly.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.115

vāyu ajāgara hañā dhruvere gilila
sūrya vyāghra-rūpa dhari’ dhruvera rakta pila

Jayapatākā Swami: Vāyudeva, the demigod of wind, took the form of a snake, a python, and ate Dhruva, swallowed Dhruva. Sūryadeva the demigod in charge of the sun, he took the form of a tiger and he grabbed Dhruva and drank his blood.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.116

nāga pāśe bāndhi’ dhruve anale phelila
candra ḍubāila dhruve kālindīra jala

Jayapatākā Swami: The demigods took snake ropes and bound Dhruva and threw him into the fire. Candradeva, the demigod of the moon, drowned Dhruva in the waters of the Yamunā.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.117

jihvāya kṛṣṇera nāma raṭila yāhāra
koṭi-sarpa-daṃśane ki karibe tāhāra

Jayapatākā Swami: What can a bite of ten million snakes do to someone who keeps Lord Kṛṣṇa’s holy name on his tongue.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.118

tribhaṅga-dhyeyāna keha bhāṅgite nāriyā
brahma-ādi devagaṇa gela palāiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Dhruva, in his three-fold bending form, no one could not break his meditation. Brahmā and all the other demigods, fled away.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 11.119

ekamane bhāve dhruva prabhura caraṇa
ānande gāila guṇa e dāsa locana

Jayapatākā Swami: With single-pointed concentration, Dhruva, meditated on Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. Locana dāsa with great happiness, sings these qualities.

We can see the great difficulties that were given to Dhruva, and somehow his meditation, his japa was so fixed, that his meditation could not be broken. Sometimes devotees would say, how can I concentrate on my japa? They don’t have the problems that Dhruva had, being attacked by tiger, swallowed by a snake, thrown into fire, drowned in the Yamunā, etc. etc. Shouting in his ear various things like “father is dead, mother is dead, run, run, quick! Forest fire coming, tiger coming, snake coming.” But he was so fixed in his japa. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya! All glories to Dhruva! Haribol!

We will continue the pastime of Lord Gaurāṅga’s telling His mother tomorrow.  

 

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances.

(Guru Mahārāja: Accepted!)

All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. Do we get same benefit by virtually taking Deities’ darśana or virtually attending abhiṣeka, as personal attendance?

—Your sheltered spiritual daughter, Pūjā.

Jayapatākā Swami: That is what Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī said in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. He cited some Purāṇas that say watching the ārati of Lord Kṛṣṇa, we get the same result as a person who does the ārati.

 

 

Question: How to get determination like Dhruva Mahārāja in our devotional service?

—Your servant, Śacīnandana Gauracanda dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: We can see, it is not a small thing. Personally, I don’t we need such a determination. But we should be determined to chant, to follow the four regulative principles and engage one’s self in devotional service, and eventually achieve pure love for Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is so wonderful. Why do you want to serve anyone else? Kṛṣṇa or His devotees are the only persons we should worship. You know, Rāvaṇa, Hiraṇyakaśipu, they gave all material desires to their followers. But they had to reject God and serve them, then you will get all that you want, materially. But why do you want to serve a demon? But the demons would like to serve the demons, the devotees want to serve the devotees.

 

 

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances. What is the role of austerity in developing bhakti? Is it only to practice sense control or is there any other benefit? Thank you.

—Mathurālīleśvarī devī dāsī

Jayapatākā Swami: Of course, Dhruva Mahārāja was the grandson of Svāyambhuva, the great grandson of Lord Brahmā. He was a kṣatriya and he wanted to achieve a post higher than his grandfather. But then he was fully concentrating on the Kṛṣṇa japa. So, by that means he was not being swayed. But practicing these austerities in the age of Kali is not necessary. By the mercy of Lord Caitanya, by the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda, we can achieve pure devotion to Kṛṣṇa. With some basic austerities we perform - we eat kṛṣṇa-prasāda, we chant our japa, we avoid breaking the regulative principles. Like this we stay occupied in Kṛṣṇa’s service. So, if you do very harsh austerities, there are dangers that your heart will become hard. Some devotees, their heart becomes like gold and hard. Some devotees’ hearts are like butter and that melts. So, we admire the great austerities of Dhruva, but fortunately we don’t necessarily have to perform some austerities, our austerities are relatively simple.

Haribol!