20201226 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.19

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

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

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.5.19

na vai jano jātu kathañcanāvrajen
mukunda-sevy anyavad aṅga saṁsṛtim
smaran mukundāṅghry-upagūhanaṁ punar
vihātum icchen na rasa-graho janaḥ

My dear Vyāsa, even though a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa sometimes falls down somehow or other, he certainly does not undergo material existence like others [fruitive workers, etc.] because a person who has once relished the taste of the lotus feet of the Lord can do nothing but remember that ecstasy again and again.

Purport: A devotee of the Lord automatically becomes uninterested in the enchantment of material existence because he is rasa-graha, or one who has tasted the sweetness of the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa. There are certainly many instances where devotees of the Lord have fallen down due to uncongenial association, just like fruitive workers, who are always prone to degradation. But even though he falls down, a devotee is never to be considered the same as a fallen karmī. A karmī suffers the result of his own fruitive reactions, whereas a devotee is reformed by chastisement directed by the Lord Himself. The sufferings of an orphan and the sufferings of a beloved child of a king are not one and the same. An orphan is really poor because he has no one to take care of him, but a beloved son of a rich man, although he appears to be on the same level as the orphan, is always under the vigilance of his capable father. A devotee of the Lord, due to wrong association, sometimes imitates the fruitive workers. The fruitive workers want to lord it over the material world. Similarly, a neophyte devotee foolishly thinks of accumulating some material power in exchange for devotional service. Such foolish devotees are sometimes put into difficulty by the Lord Himself. As a special favor, He may remove all material paraphernalia. By such action, the bewildered devotee is forsaken by all friends and relatives, and so he comes to his senses again by the mercy of the Lord and is set right to execute his devotional service.

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is also said that such fallen devotees are given a chance to take birth in a family of highly qualified brāhmaṇas or in a rich mercantile family. A devotee in such a position is not as fortunate as one who is chastised by the Lord and put into a position seemingly of helplessness. The devotee who becomes helpless by the will of the Lord is more fortunate than those who are born in good families. The fallen devotees born in a good family may forget the lotus feet of the Lord because they are less fortunate, but the devotee who is put into a forlorn condition is more fortunate because he swiftly returns to the lotus feet of the Lord, thinking himself helpless all around.

Pure devotional service is so spiritually relishable that a devotee becomes automatically uninterested in material enjoyment. That is the sign of perfection in progressive devotional service. A pure devotee continuously remembers the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and does not forget Him even for a moment, not even in exchange for all the opulence of the three worlds.

Jayapatākā Swami: This is a very pertinent verse. How being a devotee of Kṛṣṇa is so special. If one being a devotee, has some fall down, still he is in a better than a person who has never done any devotional service. So we have to always remember how by doing devotional service we are happy. This he will always remember. That is why they will want to go back to Kṛṣṇa. In the Vedic culture, we see that the brāhmaṇas are supposed to be in the mood of goodness. Kṣatriyas in the mode of passion. Vaiśya like somewhere between passion and ignorance. And śūdras in ignorance. What to speak of lower than śūdras? Even if śūdras would mainly eat vegetarian food. Those who are eating dogs, they are called caṇḍālas. Those who eat cows and other things were called yavanas or mlecchas. So they are in a very mood ignorance situation.

Now a days it is very rare to see a brāhmaṇa who eats vegetarian food. Especially in Bengal and North India. So although they may be very proud that they are brāhmaṇas, but they don’t actually follow the rules of the brāhmaṇas. So Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he started to give Vaiṣṇavas upanayanam. He said that those who are Vaiṣṇavas will have the brāhmaṇa qualities. That is why he used to give the brahma-sūtras, the brāhmaṇa thread by upanayanam. So when he did that the caste brāhmaṇas were very upset, and the police told him that they wanted to assassinate him. So it was kind of a revolution. Before apparently, this was never done. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He said, kibā vipra kibā nyāsī śūdra kene nai, jei kṛṣṇa tattva vettā, sei guru haya, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said whoever the person may be whether a brāhmaṇa or a śūdra or sannyāsī, if he he knows the science of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he is eligible to become a guru. If a person can be a guru, what to speak of becoming a brāhmaṇa? Rāmānanda Rāya he was by caste a śūdra. But he had so much conversant of science in Kṛṣṇa consciousness that Lord Caitanya Himself heard from Rāmānanda Rāya. And he was one of the four persons who were advising Lord Caitanya, in His Vṛndāvana pastimes. There was another devotee who was a lady, Jāhnavā, was her name. The Vaiṣṇava is situated in the śuddha-sattva, transcendental goodness platform. So this was started in India by Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda did that, but he did that all over the world. So, whether in China, Russia, USA, Europe, Africa, all over the world, he used to give Gāyatrī mantra to those who would practice brahmanical and Vaiṣṇava qualities in their life.

But we see that in India some people are of upper castes, but they still follow the rules. Just like I have disciples who are Cakravartīs or Bhaṭṭācāryas and so on. So we don’t require them to discard their brāhmaṇa thread. We give them the Pāñcarātrika mantras. Anyway, this system of making Vaiṣṇavas was started by our previous ācāryas and continued by Śrīla Prabhupāda. Striyas or women are generally somewhere in the mood of passion or ignorance. But if they have a good husband, they may have the quality of the husband. So Kṛṣṇa mentioned - striya vaiśya tathā śūdra - so He puts striya just above the vaiśya. And He said that they can all achieve deliverance by taking shelter of His lotus feet. That way we see Śrīla Prabhupāda said that his female disciples are not ordinary ladies. They are Vaiṣṇavīs. So, if someone refers to the vaisnavis by their previous situation, that will be an offence. Jagāi Mādhāi when they were delivered, Lord Caitanya said that if someone referred to their bad deeds in the past, that would be an offence. I think that everybody in Kali-yuga, most people have done sinful acts previously.

There is a verse in Vedas kalua śūdra sambhavaḥ. Everybody is in the tamo guṇa. But by performing devotional service or kṛṣṇa-bhakti they can rise above their standard. But for some reason if they fall down, then Kṛṣṇa will help and watch over them. And naturally the devotee realizes that their material enjoyment is insignificant compared to the bhakti. Even in the time of Lord Caitanya, there was a kind of sannyāsī, who invited Him to see the Deities and offered Him bālya-bhoga. He was a kind of dāḍi sannyāsī. He used to wear saffron and there was a woman with him. So when Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda were taking fruits breakfast prasāda, then the dāḍi sannyāsī said that, “You stay till afternoon, I will give You nice lunch, water fruits!” “What is the fruit of water?” So They understood that he wanted to give Them fish. So They asked the dāḍi sannyāsī, “Do You eat fish?” He said, “Well it is good food!” Immediately They spit out the bālya-bhoga prasāda. They ran to the Ganges and wearing Their clothes They jumped into the Gaṅgā.

One of my lady disciples, their kula-guru or family guru came to her home. She was attending the Nāmahaṭṭa meetings. So she understood that Vaiṣṇavas should eat vegetarian food. So she prepared vegetarian food for the kula-guru. He got angry and said “What is this? What are you offering vegetables? What is this cheap food? Will I eat such things? Make good food with meat and fish, expensive food!” This is the situation.

In Bangladesh, when I once travelled around in a helicopter, I had to get down in a place, there was water all around. There was a storm in that place. So around the helicopter hundreds of people gathered. And the driver told everyone to move away. One lady came and said “He is my gurudeva! He is my gurudeva!” And she took me to her home. And there I saw in the altar there was my picture and one another picture. I asked her, “Who is the other guru?” She said, “This is my husband’s guru. When my husband wants to eat fish, he offers that to that guru. He is our family fish guru and you are our vegetarian guru!” So we want to expand the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and we thank all the devotees for their adhering to the principles.

So if there are any questions?

In Māyāpur the parāṇa of the Ekādaśī around 8.30 to 9.30 am. So check your pañjikā calendar depending where you are, you should be ready. So that way, do parāṇa within the proper time.

Question: Guru Mahārāja, you said that if the husband is a devotee then the wife can acquire brahmanical qualities. What if the husband is a non-devotee and the girl is a devotee? Raṅginī Campakalatā devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: This was a class given by Śrīla Prabhupāda in Los Angeles. But this is regarding the ordinary ladies. If the girl is Vaiṣṇavī she is not dependent on her husband. Rather, she is considered by Śrīla Prabhupāda as a goddess of fortune. She brings all good fortune to the family.

Question: When a person who is aspiring from a bona fide guru and the guru has left the world, and the person still considers him as his spiritual master, how does this work? Amāni Gauracandra dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So this happened with Śrīnivāsa Ācārya. He had accepted various people to be his guru. But just before getting initiation, each one left. Finally, he got the instruction to take Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī as his dīkṣā-guru and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī as his śikṣā-guru. So, if one can consider the departed guru as a śikṣā-guru, but he or she should take initiation from some guru in the same line.

Okay, we will have darśana now!