20200309 Gaura Pūrṇimā English Lecture

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on March 9th,2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The lecture was given on Gaura Pūrṇimā day in english language.

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Happy Gaura Pūrṇimā! Today is a very auspicious day, the day when Lord Caitanya came down from Goloka Vṛndāvana and took appearance on this earth!! I don’t know, can I be understood or do I need repetition? Who has difficulty in understanding me, please raise your hand! So, situation in the world at that time, at least in Bengal in India, people were generally worshipping the demigods and there was very little Vaiṣṇava-dharma. And people were apparently very religious but it was all motivated on self-esteem and pride, like they spent a lot of money to marry the daughter. And so one rich man, he would do a better wedding than the other. And the other, he wanted to show off, we have no more daughters, so he married a female to a male dog!! They don’t marry too much dogs! Or like this, there are all kinds of strange things, just to show off! So apparently it was a religious ceremony, but it had nothing to do with real religion, it had nothing to do with Vaiṣṇava-dharma! So the few Vaiṣṇavas who were there like Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura and Advaita Gosāñī, they were very frustrated, that the whole world seemed to be materialistic, and although they showed religious activity, it was all misdirected.

At that time Advaita Gosāñī, He decided that Kṛṣṇa should come Himself, He was the only one who could change the people and make them devotional. Now you see so many people coming to the temple. It wasn’t like that 550 years ago, before Lord Caitanya came, very little Vaiṣṇava-dharma. Now we have a thousand people coming for maṅgala-āratī, attending the japa class. But previously, no one would come. Apparently, before Lord Caitanya came. So, Advaita Gosāñī, He worshipped the śālagrama-śilā with Ganges water and tulasī-mañjarī and He loudly cried GOOOOVINDA! HAREEEEE KṚṢṆA! He said that since I am Advaita, I am supposed to be non-different from Kṛṣṇa. He is actually the avatāra of Mahaviṣṇu and Sadāśiva. As Mahaviṣṇu, He can give liberation, but to give love of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is needed. So He was praying to Kṛṣṇa, He was crying, He cried out, begging, Kṛṣṇa, please come!! Because He cried so loudly, that Kṛṣṇa heard in Goloka Vṛndāvana and He agreed to come as GAUUUUURANGA!

So, He came down as the son of mother Śacī and Jagannātha Miśra. Before Him, came Viśvarūpa, who was the avatāra of Śankarsaṇa. And He prepared everything for the Lord’s coming. Śankarsaṇa is the expansion of Balarāma. Balarāma came as Nityānanda, in Ekacakra. And joined Lord Caitanya when He started the saṅkīrtana movement. So, understand that there was no chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, then only time they would chant was when they were in the Ganges. So in a lunar eclipse, everybody would go in the Ganges and bathe, because they considered an eclipse as inauspicious, and to avoid any inauspiciousness, many people would go to the Ganges. One year we had an eclipse on the full moon day, on Gaura Purnima, when we went into the Ganges! At that time the people chant GOOOOVINDA! HAREEEE KṚṢṆA! So they all chanted and even the Muslims, they would say, see how the Hindus are chanting – Govinda! Govinda! Hare Kṛṣṇa! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! HARE KṚṢṆA! So somehow or other, directly or indirectly, everyone was chanting. Even the Muslims, who don’t normally chant, they were mimicking and making fun of the Hindus. So somehow or another, they were vibrating the name of Kṛṣṇa.

Actually, the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and different śāstras say that, Kṛṣṇa came in the mind and then transferred to the heart of Jagannātha Miśra, and went to the heart of Śacī mātā. There was actually no, conception, it was kind of an immaculate conception, there was no connection physically. So, Lord Caitanya, He stayed in the womb of mother Śacī for 13 months, normally 10 months is the time that one gives birth. So they were asking, if it was modern day, they would have a caesarian, ha! but they didn’t have that at that time! So they were asking the father of Śacī-mātā, Nilambara Cakravartī, astrologically what is the situation. He could see that He would be born late, on the full moon day of Gaura Pūrṇimā, 534 or 533 years ago.

You see the new year starts from the first day of the next month, according to the normal Indian calculation. But whether it is the 534 or 535, we have to investigate. But tomorrow is the first day of the year of Gaurabda. Anyway, Lord Caitanya, He took birth during the lunar eclipse and everybody was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa! Govinda! And Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, he was thinking, people say the eclipse is inauspicious, but all the people are chanting holy names. And somehow Advaita Ācārya, Haridāsa Ṭhākura were together in Śāntipura and they felt so happy that they started to dance! So when Lord Caitanya appeared, everybody was feeling great happiness!

We are reading how Lord Caitanya was in the garden of Śrīvāsa, He would express or manifest different ecstacies. Sometime He would cry and He would cry profusely for three hours nonstop! Sometimes He would laugh Ha! Ha! Ha! in ecstasy for three hours nonstop! He was expressing all kinds of ecstatic manifestations. And envious people, they were outside, listening, see what is all that laughing? They are drinking alcohol! These are the envious people. And someone bona fide would say if they asked him, what do you thing they are doing there? Seems like they are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa! Ha! Ha! HA! Are you one of them? Are you one of them? ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE HARE KRṢṆAS? So, the situation in Bengal at that time was very negative. And, when Lord Caitanya, brought His kīrtana party out in the public, the caste brāhmaṇas they complained to the Cand Kazi, the local magistrate. That He is ruining our Hindu dharma! He is chanting the name of God out loud! This is taking the name in vain! It should only be silently chanted, not publicly. So since the Muslims were complaining and the Hindus were complaining, the Cand Kazi, he gave the order that, no chanting. And finally, he came and broke the mṛdaṅgas! And then, Lord Caitanya, He arranged a civil disobedience. You know, if you went on the parikramā you would have gone to the Cand Kazi samādhi. I met a descendant of Cand Kazi, and he said all my descendants will be favorable, they will not oppose. This descendant, he was favorable. Although he was a Muslim, He was favorable.

So, actually, millions of years ago when the Ganges came down and Bhagi mahārāja, he took the Ganges and he had promised he would make a riverbed. But the Ganges said, well there is no riverbed, I will be scattered! But he promised he would make a river bed. He had a special ratha which would carve a river bed. So one of the names of the Ganges is Bhagirathi because king Bhagi, his ratha, his cart, carved the riverbed. But when she reached Navadvīpa dhāma, he had a problem. First of all, the Ganges flooded the āśrama of Jahnu muni, and he drank the whole Ganges up, slurrrrp! Ah! Finally, after meditating Bhagi realized that Jahnu muni had drunk the Ganges. So he asked him, please, my forefathers’ ashes are in Sagar island, you can remanifest the Ganges. He said, I digested! I DIGESTED! Well, if you can drink the Ganges, Ha! You can also reproduce the Ganges, ha! Ha! You are not an ordinary person, ha! Ha! Not everybody could drink the whole river! So then he produced it out of his knee, and she got the name, Jāhnavī. She is the daughter of Jahnu. But then she came somewhere around Māyāpur, she stopped, the Ganges stopped. All these problems happening, so Bhagi mahārāja prayed to the Ganges. What are you doing? Why are you stopping? Ha! Ha! Chuuuuk! Stopped! She said, I am waiting for Gaura Purnima! Because, whoever is in Māyāpur in Gaura Pūrṇimā, bathes in the Ganges, they get love of Kṛṣṇa!

Of course, today is also the Holi! That means people throw color and water balloons and all kinds of things if you are out. We don’t allow it in Māyāpur, in the Iskcon campus. But if you are out before 12, outside, you should expect to be colored. If you see some people coming with multicolored shirts, that is what Holi is. Everybody has an open target for colors, up to 12. So, go out at your own risk or wear a cloth that you don’t mind if it is colored!

So the Ganges waited until this day, Gaura Pūrṇimā, and then she continued. So today is a very special day. And when tomorrow comes, everybody came to see a golden child. Jagannātha Miśra, he was a poor brāhmaṇa but he was so happy to have such a divine child. He asked Nilāmbara Cakravartī Ṭhākura to say what the astrological calculation of his child was. Of course, Nilāmbara Cakravartī could see that He would take sannyāsa, but he didn’t say that, because that would cause anxiety to the parents. So he said He will take the whole load of the universe, so His name should be Viśvambhara. But the ladies said, He was born under a neem tree, so He was called Nimāi. So they asked him, please make a compromise. So he said well, His official, religious name will be Viśvambhara but His kind of common name will be Nimai! So He was known as Nimāi Paṇḍita, at the same time He was also known as Viśvambhara, who takes the load of the whole universe.

So, maybe first 16 or 20 years, He was Nimāi Paṇḍita. He was the greatest paṇḍita in Navadvīpa. He had thousands of students. Then, when He got initiated by Īśvara Purī mahārāja, He came back to Navadvīpa, He was a pure Vaiṣṇava, He was ecstatic, he was feeling great separation from Kṛṣṇa. So all the Vaiṣṇavas before they thought, if only Nimāi Paṇḍita would be a devotee! He is so good! He is such a powerful debater, but what is the use? If He is not a devotee! He was, Nimāi Paṇḍita, was an ideal householder, an ideal brāhmaṇa, He worshipped His deity of Adhokṣaja Viṣṇu. He would feed sannyāsīs and poor people every day. But overtly, He was not particularly a Vaiṣṇava. I mean, He was a Vaiṣṇava, not very active. So, sometimes He asked Śrīvāsa, what does that mean, bless Me that I can find a true guru, something like that. So He took initiation from the disciple of Mādhavendra Purī, Īśvara Purī Mahārāja. And, since then He was fully active, as a devotee. So all the Vaiṣṇavas, they felt enheartened that now, as they were in minority, all the demons were in majority, they felt very oppressed. When Lord Caitanya, He became a devotee actively, they got very enheartened. You see like, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura was having his kīrtanas. So then a boat came with soldiers, and they spread the rumor that we have come to arrest Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura and all the Vaiṣṇavas for their loud chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa in the night, in the Muslim state. Śrīvāsa, he didn’t think that anyone would lie. He was a very honest person, straightforward, so he thought, there is a saying in Bengali – ātmavan manyate jagat – if you think, the whole world thinks. If you are crooked, you think everyone is crooked. And if you are honest, you think everyone is honest. So he was thinking that all the people are honest. He couldn’t imagine – what they say today, fake news – they are giving fake news! So, he got very worried, he started worshipping Nrsimhadeva, please protect all the Vaiṣṇavas, what have I done? Lord Caitanya came and knocked on his door! And He said, that person you are worshipping, HE IS HERE! THAT PERSON YOU ARE WORSHIPPING, HE IS HERE!! OPEN THE DOOR! HA! HA! GAUUUUURANGA! So, Lord Caitanya, we asked Śrīla Prabhupāda, why didn’t Lord Caitanya spread His movement all over the world? He spread it all over India, but why not all over the world? Śrīla Prabhupāda would say, He left it for me! Ha! Ha! ŚRĪLA PRABHUPĀDA KI JAI! HA! HA! HA! HA!

So all our previous ācāryas they were preparing the field for Śrīla Prabhupāda to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all over the world! And, just like Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda Ṭhākura, he gave second initiation, even the sacred thread, to non brāhmaṇas, which was unheard of, never happened before! But he said that the śāstras say that a Vaiṣṇava has all the qualities of a brāhmaṇa plus one more – pure bhakti! So, anyone who was a Vaiṣṇava, he would give them second initiation. Gāyatrī-mantra, etc. So, by doing this, the caste brāhmaṇas tried to kill him, because he was taking away their monopoly. So if he hadn’t done this, how would we have had deity worship all over the world? So Śrīla Prabhupāda, continued the thing that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda Ṭhākura had started. And then all the Vaiṣṇavas, anyone who took up seriously chanting 16 rounds a day, following the four regulative principles, engaging in devotional service, he would give them second initiation. So, all these things are like preparations for Śrīla Prabhupāda’s coming.

And today, the day that Lord Caitanya appeared, 534 or 533 years ago, and at that time the wife of Advaita Gosāñī, Sītā Ṭhakurānī – Advaita was a very prestigious brāhmaṇa, rich brāhmaṇa, so she came in a palanquin and then she offered Lord Caitanya different auspicious, sprouts and different auspicious things. Had His darśana. Just to have his darśana, some of the devīs from the heavenly planets, they came down to see the Lord disguised as brahmaṇīs. At that time only the ladies were allowed to go. So they took advantage to see how Lord Visnu, how Lord Kṛṣṇa has come in His most merciful avatāra!

Somehow, you are all in the birthplace of Lord Caitanya, on this auspicious day. It is really a great thing! And at this time, we can remember how Lord Caitanya came down, not just to deliver a small section of humanity, but all the jīvas of the whole universe! Śrīla Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, one of his disciples told me, he was walking out in the night, he stopped and looked at the full moon. Then he turned to his disciples and said, you know in the moon planet, they become bahir-mukha – they become materialistic! WE HAVE TO GO THERE AND PREACH!! HA! HA! HA! HA! So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not only for this world, but the whole universe!! Who knows where Śrīla Prabhupāda is now! So, we want to see at least – Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that Lord Caitanya, He could make the tigers and the deer and all the animals of the jungle, kiss each other and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa – we may not have that potency, but if we could at least have the human beings chant, we can try for that.

So I am very grateful to all the devotees from different parts of the world, who are doing Harinam or distributing Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. Lord Caitanya said, bolo kṛṣṇa, bhajo kṛṣṇa, kara kṛṣṇa sikṣā. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, worship and serve Kṛṣṇa and study the teachings of Kṛṣṇa. So, our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is based on these three things – chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, worshipping Kṛṣṇa and distributing and reading the books of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the teaching of Lord Kṛṣṇa! So, I take advantage of this auspicious day to wish you all a very blissful, ecstatic Gaura Pūrṇimā. Are there any comments or questions? 

You see Kṛṣṇa thought that I enjoyed so much in the Dvāpara-yuga in Vṛndāvana in My pastimes. So people in Kali-yuga they are deprived. So He wanted to come down to give the mercy to us of this Kali-yuga. And then, Advaita was the external reason why He came. But actually Advaita is non-different from Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa wanted to come down to give us a chance. We are very, very, fallen and we need special mercy! So Lord Caitanya, He came down to give us this special mercy You see people in maṅgala-āratī, they are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, at the end of tulasī-pūjā, they are dancing so ecstatically. So, the name of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa are not different. He has given us the name so we can feel the presence of Kṛṣṇa in His name. So, in that way, we get so much mercy! Although, we missed His pastimes in Vṛndāvana. We are in Kali-yuga, in the fallen materialistic age. But He has come as His holy name. By chanting, we can feel unlimited, spiritual bliss! Like that, in the kīrtana, adhivāsa-kīrtana there is a line that say, ānander sīmā nāi, ānander sīmā nāi. It is not very difficult Sanskrit or Bengali. Ānanda everyone knows is bliss or ecstasy. Sīmā means – you may not know what sīmā means – sīma means the limit, the edge, could be the sīmā of a country, the border of the country, the limit. Ānander sīmā nāi, nāi means no. NO LIMIT! NO LIMIT TO THE SPIRITUAL BLISS! HARIBOL! HARIBOL! HA! HA! HA! HA! NO LIMIT! HOW MUCH BLISS IN THE HARE KṚṢṆA MANTRA! THERE IS NO LIMIT! We don’t have a limit, it depends on our ability to taste it. But the Harināma has no limit! How much ecstasy! How much bliss! So, Lord Caitanya, He came down – the external reason was Advaita Acarya calling Him. And Advaita is Mahāviṣṇu, Kṣīrodakaśayī Viṣṇu, expansion - from Mahāviṣṇu comes Garbodhakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu comes Kṣīrodakaśayī Viṣṇu. He is expansion of the expansion of Mahāviṣṇu. The Original Personality of Godhead is Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya is another form of Kṛṣṇa where He wanted to experience what pleasure, what ecstasy His devotees got. That was His internal reason. The external reason was the establish the saṅkīrtana movement. His internal reason was to understand what His devotees felt. And the seeecret reason which we don’t say normally! I don’t know if you want to hear it??!! The secret reason, keep it a secret! He wanted to realize why Rādhā seemed to have more bliss than He did! And the only way He could realize was if He took the mood of Rādhārani. And that is what He did in His final pastimes, He was completely in the mood of Rādhārani, crying outside the Jagannātha temple, crying for Kṛṣṇa! So, He realized being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He could do such things. So He expanded Himself into Himself and Rādhā. But then He saw that Rādhā was getting more bliss than Him, so then He recombined and He took Rādhā in His heart and so Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa with Rādhārāṇī in the heart! But anyway that is the secret reason. Don’t tell! General people won’t understand! I have to go! Now it is time for the next class! I have to go to another place! Thank you very much!

Hare Kṛṣṇa!