20201010 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.10

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 10th, 2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.10.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

govardhana dharam vande 
gopālam gopa rūpiṇam 
gokulotsavam īśanam 
govindam gopikā priyam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.10

pañcamaḥ kapilo nāma 
siddheśaḥ kāla-viplutam 
provācāsuraye sāṅkhyaṁ 
tattva-grāma-vinirṇayam

Translation: The fifth incarnation, named Lord Kapila, is foremost among perfected beings. He gave an exposition of the creative elements and metaphysics to Āsuri Brāhmaṇa, for in course of time this knowledge had been lost.

Purport by His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: The sum total of the creative elements is twenty-four in all. Each and every one of them is explicitly explained in the system of Sāṅkhya philosophy. Sāṅkhya philosophy is generally called metaphysics by the European scholars. The etymological meaning of sāṅkhya is “that which explains very lucidly by analysis of the material elements.” This was done for the first time by Lord Kapila, who is said herein to be the fifth in the line of incarnations.”

Translation: The fifth incarnation, named Lord Kapila, is foremost among perfected beings. He gave an exposition of the creative elements and metaphysics to Āsuri Brāhmaṇa, for in course of time this knowledge had been lost.

Purport: The sum total of the creative elements is twenty-four in all. Each and every one of them is explicitly explained in the system of Sāṅkhya philosophy. Sāṅkhya philosophy is generally called metaphysics by the European scholars. The etymological meaning of sāṅkhya is “that which explains very lucidly by analysis of the material elements.” This was done for the first time by Lord Kapila, who is said herein to be the fifth in the line of incarnations.”

Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!

Jayapataka Swami: So, Kapila Muni was the fifth incarnation of Godhead. I was a science student, and I was very convinced by the explanation of Kapila deva. And He gives such explanation of the material world, that even modern science did not have, till recently. Like, He gave the details how the embryo develops in the womb of a mother. Three days, one week, two weeks, one month. I don’t think the modern scientists knew all these details till recently. He was speaking this millions of years ago. And also, this was given in the 3rd canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, He was the son of Kardama Muni and Devahūti. Kardama Muni had the promise from his wife that after giving her a boy child, he could take sannyāsa. But first, he had daughters. Then he wanted to take sannyāsa. But Devahūti said you promised me a boy. So then Kapila Muni appeared as her son. And then Kardama Muni left. He missed the opportunity of staying with the child Kapila. Devahūti realized that her son was an avatāra. So then she asked Him various questions. This was through the question-and-answer session, the philosophy of Sāṅkhya was explained. So I have Deva Gaurāṅga (dāsa) to repeat my Bengali. Anyway, this way, Kapila Muni answered various questions of Devahūti, the Sāṅkhya philosophy was described to the world. Kapila Muni, he was meditating in the Sagara Island, and there He burnt to ashes the sons of Sagara Mahārāja. Because they had for some reason disrespected Him. And He was trying to bring Gaṅgā mata to deliver the whole family, several generations. At the end, Bhāgī Mahārāja was successful to do that. So he brought down the Ganges which is known as Bhāgīrathī. Now we have our branch in the Sagara island. That is purified by Kapila Muni. Kapila Muni, He described details of how one goes to through the repetition of birth and death. All the questions that people ask how long do we stay in the womb, when we are conscious, all these questions he already discussed. When is the embryo conscious? The embryo prays that, my Lord, please deliver us from this place. The way how the worms are biting and eating him. The details that we were not aware of, everything was described by Him in detail. These are the teachings He gave to the Asuric brāhmaṇa. So materialistic people think, that all that exists, is this material world. But He describes very nicely that what we should understand is that life is the source of everything.

So like this there are so many kinds of avatāras. They gave different teachings; They did different pastimes. Many of these pastimes were celebrated by Lord Caitanya. Just as Lord Caitanya, when He was hearing the thousand names of Lord Viṣṇu chanted by Murāri Gupta, when He heard the name Narasiṁhadeva, He was in the mood of Narasiṁhadeva. He grabbed a stick and ran out, “Where are the demons? Where are the demons?” People when they saw Him they ran in fear. But as soon as the all compassionate, merciful Lord Caitanya saw the people were running, He became very sad. He thought, “Maybe I have offended all these people.” But Śrīvāsa Prabhu, Murāri Gupta said, “All these people are blessed to have seen You! They have been liberated!” So, sometimes, He manifested the mood of Varāhadeva. He manifested the four hoofs of Varāhadeva. And He took the form of a boar. So in the purport it is said, let the people who claim to be avatāras let them manifest four boar legs! (laughter) What to speak of the Viśvarūpa! Just manifest four boar legs! (laughter) Sometimes Lord Caitanya would manifest the Balarāma-līlā. He came in the Balarāma mood. With the mood of Balarāma, He would say that He wanted to have Vāruṇī drink. Like that, Lord Caitanya, He went into the different moods.

So in this part of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we go through the different avatāras. Lord Caitanya is the root of all the incarnations, He had manifest the mood of all the incarnations. How fortunate we are to be in Lord Caitanya’s movement. Gaurāṅga!! Gaurāṅga! So like that, all the different avatāras manifest a certain quality of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Generally, the Viṣṇu avatāras have 60 of the 64 qualities of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Only Kṛṣṇa has all 64 qualities. And Lord Caitanya was Kṛṣṇa Himself. But each avatāra would have a particular mood. And with that mood, we have to approach the avatāras. Like the Narasiṁhadeva avatāra He is very angry, but He is Bhakta-vatsala. He is angry because His devotee was abused. Kapila muni, He is the super most perfected being. And He gave the Sāṅkhya philosophy. So in that way, He described things from a theistic view point. There is a nāstika Kapila who came after. And people mistake him. So this is referring to the original Kapiladeva, who is the avatāra. And as human beings, we are blessed by these different avatāras. Some of the avatāras come to the earthly planet. Some come in the higher planets. And some, we see that Kapila muni was on our planet. And because of Him the Ganges came down. So Māyāpur, is on the bank of the Ganges. So that is why Kapila Muni is very dear to us. It is our good fortune that in Sagara island, near Kapila Muni’s āśrama we have our āśrama, center.

Kapila Muni had many contributions. He gave the Sāṅkhya philosophy. Because of Him the Ganges came down. So we should study His teachings in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This way, for taking second initiation, I have instructed that my disciples should read the 3rd canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, minimum. Actually, the books of His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda, they are the essential reading material. Caitanyadeva said, “Read Lord Kṛṣṇa’s teachings!” So what are the teachings of Kṛṣṇa? Śrīla Prabhupāda explained the Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is spoken about Lord Kṛṣṇa. So Śrīla Prabhupāda translated the Gītā and Bhāgavatam. So that is Kṛṣṇa’s teachings. And we should read that, study it. This way, we should follow the instructions of Lord Caitanya. It is not that there are many Gods. There is only one. And these are the different avatāras of that one God. Some are the direct avatāras. Some are empowered avatāras. So all the power is coming from Kṛṣṇa. In the Bhagavad-gītā, 10th chapter 26th verse, He said, among the perfected beings I am the sage Kapila.

So Kṛṣṇa came as Kapila to give us the knowledge of Sāṅkhya. He came in different avatāras, for different purposes. So the one personality of Godhead has many forms, anantarūpam is one of the descriptions of the Supreme Lord. And it is said as the waves in the ocean are innumerable, like that there innumerable avatāras of the Lord. You can sit by the ocean and count all the waves and tell me how many there are? That is how many avatāras there are! So, like that, He comes in different forms and different moods. He is not controlled by the material energy, like we are. He is always independent. And He existed before the material world, and He exists after. So sometimes He enters into the material world. Just like He entered as Kapila Muni. But although He appears like a human being, He is not a human being He is a transcendental personality. Sometimes the Lord comes in this way, He gives mercy to the fallen souls. Paritrāṇāya sādhunām vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (Bg 4.8). He comes to deliver the devotees and destroy the demons. But Lord Caitanya, He did not use any weapons of violence. He purified the demoniac mentality we have within us. That demoniac mentality was destroyed by His mercy. And we have the pure bhakti. So, now we should study the teachings of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. And we should follow Lord Caitanya.

Normally, people in Kali-yuga they cannot be delivered. Kalau śūdra-sambhavaḥ. Even the so called brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, everybody is born as śūdra. By the mercy of Lord Caitanya, they can become pure Vaiṣṇavas. So a pure Vaiṣṇava is higher than the brāhmaṇa. That is why Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda Ṭhākura, he gave brāhmaṇa initiation to non-brāhmaṇas, who were Vaiṣṇavas. He gave them the upanayanam. This was to show that, if you practice pure Vaiṣṇava-dharma, you get purified. So, all glories to Kapila Muni! All glories to the fifth incarnation Kapila Muni! So, I will be right back, and you can send your questions up.

Question: How to stop fault finding. I do it even if I don’t want to. How to give up this bad habit? Please help me. Harihara Caitanya dāsa

Jayapataka Swami: It could be a very good habit, if you use it on yourself. You find all the good qualities of others, and all the bad qualities in yourself. Don’t be like a fly, who sits on the sores. So we follow the third instruction of Lord Caitanya in His Śikṣāṣṭakam. We should give respect to others, and not expect any respect for ourselves.

Question: From Pūjā, my sheltered spiritual daughter. There are very many people who very strictly follow so called religions like Jainism and are headstrong in their philosophy. Are they considered demoniac? What is the hope for them? How will they get the mercy of Lord Caitanya?

Jayapataka Swami: Regarding Jainism, there is mentioned a bit in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The first Tīrthāṅkara is Ṛṣabhadeva. And He is an avatāra of Kṛṣṇa. But the modern Jains have become atheists. And they follow like Buddhism. If you encourage them to read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, what was the original teaching of Ṛṣabhadeva, they can be benefitted. They all accept that Ṛṣabhadeva was the first Tīrthāṇkara. But they don’t know much about Him. He was a theistic. He was Himself Bhagavān! He was the father of Bhārata. This country is named as Bhārata-varṣa. And He was the son of Ṛṣabhadeva. So they should study about Ṛṣabhadeva.

Kṛṣṇa Karuṇā-mūrti dāsa: Can we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa on beads in unclean condition?

Jayapataka Swami: Your hands should be clean! If you are in some asuci, because your relative died or some other reason - I never heard that we should not chant on our beads. Maybe in such asuci times, we are not supposed to go to the temple. But I never heard that we should not chant on our beads.

Jayarāseśvarī devī dāsī: What is the difference between a Vaiṣṇava and a pure Vaiṣṇava? Could you please enlighten a bit on this? Thank you Gurudev?

Jayapataka Swami: Anyone who chants one time, Hare Kṛṣṇa, is a Vaiṣṇava. But a pure Vaiṣṇava is, that you are not doing karma-miśra-bhakti, devotion mixed with fruitive activities. I am not saying aśuddha, I am saying karma-miśra or jñāna-miśra-bhakti. How can a Vaiṣṇava be aśuddha? But we want pure devotion. That gives love of Kṛṣṇa. And karma-miśra-bhakti may give, like heavenly planets or some fruitive benefits. Jñāna-mixed-bhakti may give like, impersonal liberation. We want pure bhakti.

Iśvara Viśvambhara Dāsa: There are different incarnations with different purposes. Can we worship all the incarnations just like in the material world, they world Lakṣmī devī to get opulence, to get riches. Sarasvatī to get material knowledge, like that are there any incarnations we can worship to destroy our anarthas, like kāma, krodha, lobha etc.?

Jayapataka Swami: You see we should not worship Lakṣmī for getting material riches. If we worship Kṛṣṇa, then He has millions of Lakṣmīs with Him. And Sarasvatī we should worship to get divine knowledge, knowledge of Kṛṣṇa. Keśava Kāśmīrī was a Digvijayī-paṇḍita. He had victory all over the world. He was victorious over all the scholars. But he got so much mercy from Nimāi Paṇḍita. He got defeated by Nimāi Paṇḍita. He prayed to Sarasvatī that, “I was defeated by a young kid! How did you allow that?” Sarasvatī said, “He is my husband. I cannot help you therefore.” Then he went to Lord Caitanya and surrendered. And then he became a pure Vaiṣṇava. He became an ācārya in the Nimbārka sampradāya. Your question, by what avatāra worship will our anarthas be destroyed? If we surrender to Lord Caitanya, then we can get rid of all the anarthas. If we need Lord Caitanya’s mercy, we first need to get the mercy of Lord Nityānanda. Nitāi Gaura! Nityānanda Prabhu is Ādi-guru. Original guru.

I will end the class here and see some home visits till 9.30 am.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!