20200828 The Devotees Forget about the Sannyāsa during Saṅkīrtana with the Lord (Part 1)

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 28^th August 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

Introduction: So, we are continuing with the compilation of the Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Since today from 8.15 to 8.45am I am supposed to speak for half hour on Bhādra Pūrṇimā, so devotees are welcome to come in at that time also, and 15 minutes from 8.45 to 9am I can do the Zoom visits of those who are watching as much as possible. But since today we have to end the class at 7.15pm, so they can give me an hour for prasāda, we will see, probably there will be no time for visits, anyway we will continue the chapter entitled:

The Devotees Forget about the Sannyāsa during Saṅkīrtana with the Lord

As we remember, the Lord was having ecstatic congregational chanting and all the devotees were in great bliss, but He informed Nityānanda Prabhu to tell five people that on the Makara-saṅkrānti day, He would leave home and go to Katwa and take sannyāsa from Keśava Bhāratī.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.018

prabhura anucara-saha avasthāna, bahu lokera mālya-candana-haste prabhura darśanārtha āgamana o prabhupade praṇāma—
āsiyā vasilā gṛhe śrī-gaurasundara
catur-dike vasilena saba anucara

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurasundara, He came and sat at home, in all directions surrounding Him, all the followers were sitting.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.019

se-dine caliba prabhu keha nāhi jāne
kautuke āchena sabe ṭhākurera sane

Jayapatākā Swami: That day Lord Gaurāṅga would leave, no one knew. Everyone was happily enjoying the Lord’s company.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.020

bosiyā āchena prabhu kamala-locana
sarvāṅge śobhita mālā sugandi candana

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga, who has lotus eyes, sat there. His entire body was very beautiful, decorated with flower garlands and highly scented sandalwood pulp.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.021

yateka vaiṣṇava āisena dekhibāre
sabei candana mālā lai' dui kare

Jayapatākā Swami: All the Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord who came to see Lord Gaurāṅga, they were bringing in their two hands, flower garlands and sandalwood pulp.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.022

hena ākarṣaṇa prabhu karilā āpani
kebā kon diga haite āise nāhi jāni

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga was so attractive, that many people came to see Him. Where they came from, no one knew. So, we can see Lord Caitanya was at the peak of His situation in Navadvīpa. People who had overcome any obstacles put by the Chand Kazi, all the people of Navadvīpa were following Him. He was so attractive that people were crowding to see Him, offering him garlands and sandalwood pulp. He had a beautiful and service minded, submissive wife. His mother was very affectionate. He had many associates who were very dedicated to Him. No one had the slightest idea, except these five people that, that day He would leave.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.023

kateka vā nagariyā āise dekhete
brahmādira śakti ihā nāhika likhite

Jayapatākā Swami: Even Lord Brahmā and other devas did not have the power to count the people who had come to see Lord Gaurāṅga.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.024

daṇḍa-paraṇāma haṣā paḍe sarva-jana
eka dṛṣṭe sabei cāhena śrī-vadana

Jayapatākā Swami: Everyone came, and they offered their prostrate obeisances to Lord Gaurāṅga. And in one continuous gaze, they were looking at the Lord’s beautiful face. We can see how Lord Gaurāṅga was very famous in Navadvīpa. So many people are coming to see Him, it was like something countless. Everyone was offering Him so much respect. Falling down like a stick flat, offering their obeisances, offering Him flower garlands and sandalwood pulp. Gazing at the Lord with complete concentration. He would leave all this and start fresh travelling around preaching.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.025

prabhura prasādī mālā pradānapūrvaka sakalake kṛṣṇabhajanera upadeśa—
āpana galāra mālā sabākāre diyā
ājṣā kare prabhu sabe—“kṛṣṇa gāo giyā

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord then, taking the flower garland from His neck, He gave each one of them a garland. Then Lord Gaurāṅga instructed them, go, and sing the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: As He was accustomed, the Lord gave every resident of Śrī Māyāpur village of Nadia a flower garland and at the same time He entrusted them with a responsibility or “commission”.

The word sabākāre refers to men and women without distinction, to all varṇas and āśramas without distinction, and to the religious and irreligious without distinction. He authorized only that person who follows the order of the Lord to sing the glories of Kṛṣṇa. One who duplicitously associates with women instead of serving Kṛṣṇa by following the order of the Lord can never become an order-carrying servant of Mahāprabhu. The neck of such a person will never be adorned with Mahāprabhu's garland. The flower garlands of Śrī Caitanyacandra have now been placed around the necks of those who engage in singing the glories of Kṛṣṇa in the Śrī Caitanya Maṭha of Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, for they sing the glories of Kṛṣṇa. The recent prediction made by Śrī Bhāgavata Janānanda Brahmacārī Mahāśaya in a healthy state fifteen days or a month before his disappearance has been published in our Gauḍīya magazine. In the Śrī Caitanya Maṭha of Śrīdhāma Māyāpur the flower garland of Śrī Gaurasundara is given to everyone, and they can all sing the glories of Kṛṣṇa, because they follow the teachings and order of Śrī Gaurasundara, they are initiated into Śrī Śikṣāṣṭaka, and they are nourished by Śrī Rūpapāda's Upadeśāmṛta. The glorification of Kṛṣṇa inaugurated by Gaura takes place in the academy of spiritual education. The topics of Kṛṣṇa have been elaborated described by Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī Prabhu, who was a follower of Śrī Rūpa, in his book Śrī Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha, and he further described those topics in his commentary on Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā.

In Śrīmad Bhāgavatam the puruṣa-avatāras of Kṛṣṇa have been classified as plenary portions (aṁśas) and portions of the plenary portions (kalās). Kṛṣṇa is svayaṁ bhagavān, or the primeval Lord. The naimittika-avatāras—Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Nṛsiṁha, Vāmana, Paraśurāma, Dāśarathi Rāma, Rohiṇī's son Rāma, Buddha, and Kalki—the puruṣa-avatāras—Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī, Garbhodakaśāyī, and Kṣīrodakaśāyī—the catur-vyūha, or quadruple manifestations, and the manifestations in the spiritual sky are all svayaṁ-rūpa Kṛṣṇa's aṁśa and kalā vaibhava-avatāras, manvantara-avatāras, yuga-avatāras, or guṇa-avatāras, who are in charge of the material creation. The āveśa-avatāras are separate from the tad-ekātma incarnations of the Lord. Svayaṁ-rūpa Kṛṣṇa is the original source of all those who descend from Vaikuṇṭha into the material universe among the living entities or the demigods.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa is akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrti, the reservoir of all pleasure. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha, the form of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the creator, maintainer, and destroyer of time. The puruṣa-avatāra is an aṁśa of Kṛṣṇa's prakāśa-vigraha. Māyā is the portion of the puruṣa-avatāra's ingredient cause. The three material qualities are the portion of that portion. The insignificant portion of those three material qualities creates, maintains, and annihilates this material world. Manifestations of the Absolute Truth like Nārāyaṇa are identified as Kṛṣṇa's specific limbs. Kṛṣṇa is the basis of ānanda and is full of knowledge. He wanders on the bank of the Yamunā, He is found in the grazing pastures, He is the maintainer of the cows and cowherds, and He is feared by even death personified. He is self-manifested and the manifester of others, and He is the supreme object of love. There is no difference between His body and self. He appears differently according to the vision of different people. He is Mahendra, the King of kings. From the go, or cows, of Goloka, all sacrifices emanate; from go, all the demigods are manifest; and from go, all the Vedas, consisting of six limbs, are born. He is Govinda, the Lord of that Goloka. He is the Supreme Lord, the cause of all causes, the director of all cause and effect, and the beloved of the eternally liberated gopīs. He is svayaṁ-rūpa, and His name is nondifferent from Himself.

Jayapatākā Swami: The puruṣa avatāras are the Viṣṇu forms which facilitate the creation, maintenance and destruction of the material worlds. The three puruṣa avatāras are the Kāraṇādakaśāyī Viṣṇu or the Māha-Viṣṇu, who creates all the universes. And from whom all the living entities come. And in each universe, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu enters and He fills up half of the universe with water. And He lies down on that water, on Anantaśeśa and from His navel sprouts a lotus flower from which Lord Brahmā is born. From Him comes the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who enters into each atom, each living entity’s heart as the Paramātma or the Supersoul, and these three puruṣa avatāras are part, or part of the part of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.026

bala kṛṣṇa, bhaja kṛṣṇa, gāo kṛṣṇa-nāma
kṛṣṇa vinu keha kichu nā bhāviha āna

Jayapatākā Swami: Say the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, worship and serve Lord Kṛṣṇa, and chant the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Do not think of anything other than Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: By chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa, one loses the qualification to speak on topics that are not related to Kṛṣṇa. If one sings the name of Kṛṣṇa, his eternal happiness and that of all others increases. By worshiping the name of Kṛṣṇa, one worships Kṛṣṇa Himself. “Kṛṣṇa” is separate from objects that are seen through covered vision as superior (?) to Kṛṣṇa, therefore one must chant “Kṛṣṇa,” one must describe “Kṛṣṇa,” and one must worship “Kṛṣṇa.” One need not remember any word or name other than “Kṛṣṇa,” for since all others are more or less separate from Kṛṣṇa, they provide no opportunity for a living entity to achieve the complete auspiciousness of attaining Kṛṣṇa. The concept of something superior to Kṛṣṇa is a covered form of Kṛṣṇa realization and simply separates Kṛṣṇa from Kṛṣṇa's reservoir of pleasure. Attempting to increase the perfection of Kṛṣṇa's reservoir of pleasure on the pretext of adding rasas that are not related to Kṛṣṇa results in a disgusting mixture of rasas.

Jayapatākā Swami: This is called rasābhāsa, or an inappropriate mixing of rasas. The rasa is the mellow of devotion.

Purport: “Svayaṁ-rūpa Kṛṣṇa is the fountainhead of all manifestations of the Lord, therefore if one does not remember Kṛṣṇa, one is guilty of the faults of either imperfection, impurity, impermanence, or confinement. If one tries to deny Kṛṣṇa's position as anādi, or having no creator, and ādi, or the origin of all, by separating Him from His sac-cid-ānanda form, then one is attacked by the spirit of material enjoyment. The bhū-vācaka, or attractiveness indicated, in the verbal root kṛṣ refers to complete eternal existence or complete eternal knowledge, and ṇa refers to spiritual pleasure. In qualities and objects not related to Kṛṣṇa there is a possibility of difference between the cause and the effect, but since kṛṣ and ṇa are both the attractors and the attracted, there is no possibility of any difference between the cause and the effect in their qualities and objects.

Jayapatākā Swami: So here Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswati Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, has nicely explained the meaning of the word Kṛṣṇa, and that by chanting the name Kṛṣṇa one reaches spiritual perfection and also has the highest spiritual pleasure. So Kṛṣṇa is a person, at the same time He is the Absolute Truth. So, the impersonal philosophy is dangerous for the following reasons.

Purport: The philosophy of impersonalism is associated with the dependent nature of the material world. The extraordinary concept of an object that is spiritual, transcendental to the senses, and beyond the range of experimental knowledge is found in the yoga-rūḍhi vṛtti [The yoga-rūḍhi vṛtti of a word is the connotation derived by combining two or more words, in this case kṛṣ and ṇa.] of the name “Kṛṣṇa.” The fact that He is nondifferent from His names, He is nondifferent from His forms, He is nondifferent from His qualities, and He is nondifferent from His pastimes is not obstructed in the yoga-rūḍhi vṛtti.

Jayapatākā Swami: The yoga-rūḍhi vṛtti is a very technical concept, and I don’t know if it is very useful for the common readers of this book. The point is that, there are different concepts for understanding the Absolute Truth, and this can be simply understood that by chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa, He is nondifferent from His name, and that by chanting the name, one achieves all spiritual perfection.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 28.027

kṛṣṇa-kīrtanei śrīcaitanyadevera prīti—
yadi āmā'-prati sneha thāke sabākāra
tabe kṛṣṇa-vyatirikta nā gāibe āra

Jayapatākā Swami: So here Lord Gaurāṅga is addressing everyone, meaning all men, women, pious, impious, everyone. He said if you have any love for Me, any affection for Me, then other than topics about Kṛṣṇa, don’t speak about them. So since the name of Kṛṣṇa is not different from Kṛṣṇa, and since Kṛṣ means the origin of everything, the all-attractive Lord and ṇa means the highest spiritual pleasure, there is no need of thinking of anything else. The name Kṛṣṇa is complete in itself. If we start to think other things, and that takes our focus off the Absolute Truth, then our meditation becomes disturbed. So, this puts us under the control of māyā, the illusory energy of the Lord.

Purport by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura: Therefore, while teaching topics of spiritual knowledge to both the students under the guidance of Gaṅgādāsa Paṇḍita as well as the students and teachers of the mundane schools of Navadvīpa, Śrī Gaurasundara composed the first verse of Śikṣāṣṭaka. In the second verse of Śikṣāṣṭaka there is an elaboration of the first, and in the third verse the Lord reveals to the world the method of properly serving the first verse. In the fourth verse He describes the process for giving up desires that are not related to Kṛṣṇa. In the fifth verse He describes giving up realization of the Supreme Lord's opulences while worshiping the supremely blissful Absolute Truth and chanting the holy names as an eternal servant. The reactions of the body, mind, and speech as one progresses in chanting the holy names are described in the sixth verse. According to the consideration in the seventh verse that the holy names and the Lord are nondifferent, a practitioner achieves perfection by attaining the state of āpana-daśā, realization of one's original constitutional position. He taught the eighth verse so that the same practitioner could become decorated with all symptoms of complete surrender by freeing himself from the bad association of aversion to Hari while giving up the concept of enjoyment in the course of chanting the holy names and thus attain kṛṣṇa-prema. Other than this, He forbade all of His beloved devotees from discussing any topics indirectly related to Kṛṣṇa. The living entities bereft of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyacandra's affection do not accept the Supreme Lord, who is full of transcendental rasa, as their beloved, because their hearts are dry and hard. No one other than svayaṁ-rūpa Kṛṣṇa is bold enough to impart such instruction.

So at 8.15pm for half hour I will speak, the link, how you can attend, will be given by Śyāma Rasika.

So this verse is very instructive how Lord Caitanya was teaching all the visitors, to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, to not discuss other things, fully concentrate on Kṛṣṇa’s name. This is the perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So these instructions of Lord Caitanya are still relevant today. We should all dedicate some time every day, fully to Kṛṣṇa.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!