20201023 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.28

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 23rd, 2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.3.28.

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

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

ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ 
kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam 
indrāri-vyākulaṁ lokaṁ 
mṛḍayanti yuge yuge

Translation: All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Śrīla Prabhupāda explained that we are Kṛṣṇa devotees, we believe that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead, according to the different Vedic scriptures. As Śrīla Prabhupāda mentioned, Parāśara Muni, the father of Vyasadeva, he studied the different personalities. He analyzed 64 qualities. And He is only Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Whom all the 64 qualities prevailed. The incarnations of Viṣṇu and other plenary portions, they only have 60 of the 64 qualities. Lord Śiva has 55 of the 64 qualities. And Lord Brahma has 50 of the 64 qualities. Human beings can acquire 50 qualities but in minute quantity. We are trying to reach the maximum. We can never have more than 78% - 50 qualities. And we can never become Bhagavān. As Śrīla Prabhupāda said we cannot be Śiva, Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. At one stage we can become Lord Brahmā only up to that much. At the present we are far, far below him. For that reason, Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that we should observe the Kṛṣṇa Janamāṣṭamī and Gaura Pūrṇimā, we do complete fasting up to a particular time and then we do anukalpa after. For other Viṣṇu avatāras, the anukalpa is optional. Because we have Nrsimhadeva, many devotees observe the anukalpa. Those temples that have the Sītā-Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa Hanumān, they may observe the anukalpa optionally that day. But the day of Kṛṣṇa appearance, it is not optional but required.

Since Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa Himself, we observe that during Gaura Pūrṇimā. Lord Caitanya is a unique avatāra of Kṛṣṇa. Because He had taken the mood of Rādhārāṇī. Sometimes He manifested Kṛṣṇa bhāva and sometimes He manifested Rādhārāṇī bhāva. So all the avataras are coming from Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, it is assumed that all the incarnations are within Lord Kṛṣṇa. So Lord Caitanya would manifest His different avatāras. Narasiṁhadeva, Varāhadeva, when He was in the Narasiṁhadeva mood, He was coming out in the street and screaming, “Where are the demons? Where are the demons?” When He came in His normal devotee mood, He thought, “Oh! I scared all the people!” But then Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura said that, “No, by Your darśana, all the people have become liberated.” When Lord Caitanya took the mood of Varāhadeva, He manifested the form of Varāha, He manifested the four hooves. So if someone claims to be an avatāra, then he should manifest the four hooves. That they cannot do. Because they are not real avatāras. Sometimes Lord Caitanya would manifest the mood of Balarāma. Sometimes in the drama, He manifested the mood of a gopī or Pārvatī. That time even His mother Śacī could not recognize Him! And when He manifested the form of the mother of the universe, Pārvatī, He actually had the female form! So, these manifestations of Lord Caitanya are only possible for Kṛṣṇa Himself. So He came to establish the saṅkīrtana-yajña. When He went to Śāntipura after taking sannyāsa, all the Navadvīpa-vāsīs came to meet Him. In this way, He spent His time discussing Kṛṣṇa and chanting the congregational Hare Kṛṣṇa kīrtana. It went on for ten or twelve days. So later He told the Navadvīpa-vāsīs, go back to your homes and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So, He said don’t forget Kṛṣṇa, always remember Him and always chant His glories all the time. So, He was telling them that they could also be Kṛṣṇa conscious householders. He did not tell them, you should take sannyāsa like Me. He told them go back to your homes and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. From time to time you come and meet Me and I will also keep contact with you. I will stay in Jagannātha Purī.You can come and meet Me there. Sometimes I will come to take my bath in the Ganges. Like that, He was giving His instructions to the devotees. That way, He told the devotees: gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko.Whether you stay in householder life or renounced life, you please continue chanting the holy name of the Lord.

So, we worship Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Lord. And we see all the different Viṣṇu, Śiva or different personalities as great personalities, as parts of Kṛṣṇa. So at it is explained in this verse, they may have to do a particular mission. So therefore, they are given an appropriate potency to do it. But all the power is with Kṛṣṇa. So He can do anything. And He has various sweet pastimes.

So, we are going to observe the Dāmodara month and we especially worship Lord Dāmodara. We worship Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although He took the form of a little boy. And His mother Yaśodā thought He was dependent on her. But Kṛṣṇa, He broke the two big trees and two personalities emerged from them. So His power is always there. But He likes to be subordinate to His devotees. So for His devotees, He takes a dependent mood. He is subordinate to the devotee. So we see that this year in the COVID-19 pandemic time, we are still trying to observe the Dāmodara month. And Malaysia wants to create a kind of World Book of Record. 5 lakhs of lamps, dīpas. World record! That is their desire. So, anyway, back to this verse.

Kṛṣṇa has made different arrangements so that the human society can advance. So He created the varnāśrama system. But then He said in Bhagavad-gītā that all the different dharmas you give up and simply surrender to Me.

sarva-dharmān parityajya 
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja 
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo 
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
[Bg 18.66]

sarva-dharmān parityajya 
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja 
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo 
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
[Bg 18.66]

Abandon all varieties of religion and surrender unto Me. I will deliver you from all sins, do not fear. Abandon all varieties of religion and surrender unto Me. I will deliver you from all sins, do not fear. Just as in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, whether you are a lady, a vaiśya, śūdra, if you are surrendered to Me, you will reach the supreme destination. So we know that bhakti is superior to varnāśrama. Although in the Kali-yuga we are all born as śūdras, or less than that. But if we take this opportunity to surrender to Kṛṣṇa, then we can achieve the highest perfection of life. In this way, Lord Caitanya instructed everyone to perform devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. This is the special opportunity of this Kali-yuga. So we can take shelter of Lord Caitanya and achieve the highest perfection of life.

We know from this verse that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. And He has no origin. He is the Original. Therefore, by taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa, we can achieve everything. One thing that Śrīla Prabhupāda mentioned, we can never achieve more than 50 qualities or 78% of Kṛṣṇa’s. It is not that someone becomes God by some kind of austerities. God is always God. Not that He becomes Bhagavān. So, we can never become Kṛṣṇa. Māyāvādīs, they greet each other as Nārāyaṇa. That is why Lord Caitanya said māyāvādi-bhāṣya śunile haya sarva nāśa: Therefore, Lord Caitanya said that if you hear the commentary of the Māyāvādīs, you will be completely destroyed. So we should be very careful not to listen to the Māyāvādīs. So when Kṛṣṇa was six years old or so, He lifted the Govardhana Hill. On His left hand, on His little finger He lifted and kept the Govardhana Hill up for seven days. Not that He became God, He was always Bhagavān. When He drank the breast milk from Pūtanā, He sucked her life air away. So when Kṛṣṇa was a baby, He was also Bhagavān. So He is always Bhagavān. We are always His part and parcel. Minute parts.

So today we are doing the special pre-inauguration of the Dāmodara month. You can start making plan ahead, how you will observe the Dāmodara month. Just as amongst all the rivers, the Ganges is considered to be the best, like that there are different comparisons. It is said that the best of all the twelve months is the Dāmodara month. So please think ahead what you are going to do for the Dāmodara month. Next week we will have the official inauguration. Now, from this verse we know that Kṛṣṇa is the source of all the avatāras, source of Śiva, source of Brahmā, source of everything, He is the svayam Bhagavān.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!