20210403 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.7.44

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 3rd, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.7.44.

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

Translation: It was by Droṇācārya’s mercy that you learned the military art of throwing arrows and the confidential art of controlling weapons.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Draupadī devī’s five children were killed by Aśvattāmā, but she was such a gentle lady, she was thinking that the wife of Droṇācārya should not also suffer like her. Droṇācārya had taught Arjuna the science of Dhanur-veda or military science. Using that same knowledge if Droṇācārya’s son is killed by Arjuna would it be good? How will Droṇācārya feel? She is thinking of all these things. So she was definitely at the transcendental level. People in general would want revenge. Because all his sons are killed, kill him also. But she did not have that consciousness. She was being very merciful. But when Kṛṣṇa was present He was testing Arjuna. Aśvattāmā killed your close relatives and that is not the behavior of a brāhmaṇa. Kṛṣṇa was in between. Draupadī was very merciful and Kṛṣṇa was very heavy So he had to decide what to do. He had promised Draupadī that he would bring Aśvattāmā’s head. But Draupadī said, “No, he is your spiritual master’s son, you cannot treat him this way.” I was thinking in one sense, that how the feminine worshipable nature of Draupadī was very excellent.

So Kṛṣṇa is the Puruṣottama, He is greatest of all men. He is not a man; He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This morning Śrīla Prabhupāda’s quote it said that Kṛṣṇa is a person, as you are a person. But there is a difference – you know what your business is. Another person, he knows what his business is. But Kṛṣṇa knows what all are doing. If you think ananta koṭi brahmāṇḍa, unlimited universes, with unlimited planets, in each universe, He knows what everyone is thinking! Someone asked from Malaysia, “Does Kṛṣṇa know Tamil?” “He knows every language! What to say He even knows the language of the animals, trees and plants.” So, Rādhārāṇī is the pure devotee, the greatest devotee of the Lord. She is the original female. Puruṣa and Prakṛti. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is a combination of Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa. He is Kṛṣṇa with Rādhārāṇī’s heart, complexion and mood.

After snāna-yātrā there is Lord Jagannātha’s anavasara period where He does not give darśana, during this period Lord Caitanya was in extreme separation from the Lord. He was feeling the mood of the gopīs in separation from Kṛṣṇa. So Lord Caitanya is so much more merciful than Lord Kṛṣṇa. He, Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa but He is more merciful. Śrīla Prabhupāda chanting the Pañca-tattva mantra is a thousand times more powerful than chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Somebody asked, “then why don’t we chant Pañca-tattva mantra?” Lord Caitanya gives the mercy when we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

I go every day to different temples. In Bangladesh they have Lord Caitanya or Gaura-Nitāi. But in some temples in other countries, they have very small Gaura-Nitāi. In Juhu temple they have Nitāi-Gaura, Rādhā-Rāsabihārī, Lalitā-Viśākhā, Sītā-Rāma Lakṣmaṇa-Hanumān. Many people gather around the Rādhā-Rāsabihārī and Sītā-Rāma Lakṣmaṇa altars. But there is no big crowd in front of Gaura-Nitāi. I told them that by the mercy of Nitāi-Gaura only they can serve Rādhā-Rāsabihārī and Sītā-Rāma Lakṣmaṇa. So we heard from Śrīla Prabhupāda that by the mercy of Rādhārāṇī, if She tells Kṛṣṇa he is a nice devotee, then we can get delivered.

So a few days ago we had been reading about the Beḍa-kīrtana of Lord Caitanya. He was circumambulating the Jagannātha Purī temple. There were four kīrtana parties. One front of Him, two on the two sides and one behind. Each saṅkīrtana group had at least two mṛdaṅgas and eight karatālas. So Lord Caitanya was crying so intensely that tears were shooting from His eyes like syringes! So the devotees who were surrounding Him their clothes were getting wet with the tears. Who here would like to have Lord Caitanya’s tears on their bodies? Haribol! Raise your hands! Haribol! Then Lord Caitanya stopped. He told in each group, one person to dance. In one group Lord Nityānanda would dance. In one group, Advaita Ācārya would dance. In another group, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita. In the fourth group, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. And He, Lord Caitanya, did a miracle! Every group thought that Lord Caitanya was looking at them! Just as Kṛṣṇa when He would sit with His cowherd friends taking lunch, each sakhā thought that Kṛṣṇa is looking at me! Normally a person cannot look at all the sides at the same time, but since Kṛṣṇa is Yogeśvara, He can do anything! So Lord Caitanya was looking at all the groups at the same time! They knew that something miraculous was happening but could not understand what was happening. So all the four groups headed by Lord Nityānanda, Advaita Ācārya, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita and Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura were dancing and everyone was dancing and playing karatālas. They were all crying in ecstasy out of great feeling of love of God. They went round and round the Jagannātha temple.

King Pratāparudra, and his queens were watching from the roof of their palace. Then a queen said, something like Lord Caitanya is feeling the mood of the gopīs. She offered her obeisances. And Mahārāja Pratāparudra was very happy and said, “You have understood.” So if we hear about Lord Caitanya’s Beḍa-kīrtana, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavīrāja blesses that we will become a servant of Lord Caitanya.

Everybody in this world is trying to enjoy themselves. But they only have the body and senses to try to enjoy. The happiness one receives by engaging in the Lord’s service is unlimited. Yesterday or day before one gṛhastha couple requested me that please bless us so that we can experience the ecstatic feeling of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So, in the material world, there is some happiness. But that is very insignificant. Lord Caitanya He is giving golokera prema-dhana hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. Haribol! So, by chanting everybody gets ecstatic bliss, that blessing was given by Lord Caitanya.

So this verse in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam how Draupadī has all these good qualities, it reminds me how Kṛṣṇa is actually He is dear to the gopīs and dearest to Rādhārāṇī. It is said that Kṛṣṇa identity is He is the Lord of the gopīs, Gopī-kānta, and He is the Lord of Śrīmatī Rādhikā, Rādhā-kānta. So by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, we get this unalloyed devotion for Kṛṣṇa. This is the most valuable thing. So people cannot understand this but once you have a taste, nothing compares. So we want the devotees to reach this stage of pure bhakti. To get that we should have greed known as laulyam. And with Kṛṣṇa one has to surrender to get His mercy. But Lord Caitanya is so merciful, that merely by chanting the holy names we get love for Them this mercy! Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda!