20210410 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.1

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 10th, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.1.

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: Sūta Gosvāmī said: Thereafter the Pāṇḍavas, desiring to deliver water to the dead relatives who had desired it, went to the Ganges with Draupadī. The ladies walked in front.

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: So since Kṛṣṇa was a relative of the Kurus, He walked with the others, and He tried to pacify them by giving good instructions. So it is interesting how Kṛṣṇa acts when He comes down, playing a different līlā. Although He doesn’t hide that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He acts like a family member also. So this is the culture in the Vedas that the ladies, they go first to the Ganges. And they are going to the Ganges to offer tarpaṇa to the deceased relatives. So, everyone understood that some of their relatives had deceased. Since it was a fratricidal war between the two cousin brothers, so everyone was connected to someone or other. So they were all lamenting one way or another. And Kṛṣṇa gave good advice to the different friends and relatives. These are the laws which the Supreme Personality of Godhead gives to the human beings and no one can escape them. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, maybe some people they may be able to avoid or escape some rules in the material world but nobody can escape the laws given by God. Because the Lord is present in the heart and He is watching everything. Therefore, we can never fool Him. So, the laws of karma, the laws of God, they are Absolute. Normally, we cannot avoid these laws of God. But Lord Caitanya He is so merciful, He has given us a way we can purify ourselves. If we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra then we can purify our consciousness. And then the laws of karma will change for us. This way, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu for the entire humanity He has bestowed His causeless mercy. So we should take His advice and surrender to Kṛṣṇa. So, if we surrender to Kṛṣṇa, then everything changes. If we chant the Holy Name, then things also change. That is why in this Kali-yuga, we have a special opportunity to chant the holy names. Since there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa, His holy name, His pastimes, His form. Śrīla Prabhupāda had written in a letter that if one chants the holy name of the Lord, then automatically the Lord’s form, qualities, pastimes will be revealed. Śrīla Prabhupāda said this is very nice. And so we should try to chant and then naturally we will think of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya wanted that this chanting should reach every town and village of this world. Śrīla Prabhupāda did a lot to advance that. And ISKCON has expanded again. But still there is so much to be done. And that is why whatever of the work is left we have to carry that out. So in one lecture in April 1975 in Māyāpur, he said, say, we have ten thousand ācāryas now, he was calculating maybe that he had ten thousand disciples. He said, if they become ācāryas, then they can increase to hundred thousand. And then if they increase, then it can become one million! And then one million it can become a crore! And then there will be no shortage of ācāryas! Anyone can easily find out about Kṛṣṇa. But that means that every devotee has to be become very serious. ? After Gāyatrī we should not stop reading, we should continue to advance. We are happy that many of our Bengali devotees are doing Bhakti-śāstrī, Bhakti-vaibhava in the Māyāpur Institute. We hope that everyone in Bangladesh, in India, they will become very mature. Those in Australia, Malaysia, they have to take it up very seriously. I was asking some of our devotees how many books of Śrīla Prabhupāda they have read. We have a rule that those who take second initiation they have to study at least up to the second canto, and they have to have the Bhakti-śāstrī. So most devotees 8 out 10 they did not read anything more than that, which is minimum to get initiation! They had to read that much minimum, that is why they read it, otherwise they would not have read. But we need the devotees to become very mature and read Śrīla Prabhupāda books. So, one devotee had read all Śrīla Prabhupāda books. And one devotee read up to the 8th canto. But the others, they didn’t. So, we are so fortunate, we can read the Bhāgavatam. We should continue to read and study and become very serious. [paragraph] So I am proposing to the GBC that we should institute this program that was given by Śrīla Prabhupāda. Whether they do or not, I don’t know. But I want to do it. And I would like all my disciples, all the devotees to become very serious and become qualified as spiritual masters. But someone brought up that if we add water to the milk, it becomes watered down. I don’t want that we dilute the milk this way. I want all the devotees to be very serious and mature.

Kṛṣṇa was walking with the other relatives, and He knew that what was the real truth. But He was advising the others accordingly. This way, if the devotee knows the laws of this material world, then in such situations he will be calm and equipoised. Anyway, as of now, we are now under the corona virus pandemic. That corona virus has mutated in such a way, that it is making the humans get sick. So, people are still eating meat, still doing bad karma and are not chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. So, devotees they can preach the message of Lord Caitanya. In India, now there is the second wave. In some countries it is the third wave. So, everyone wants things to turn to normal. But people they don’t want to change their bad habits. They are hoping that oh, if I get the vaccine, then I can do everything like normal. But the doctors say that the vaccine is not a bullet proof vest! Maybe 60-80% protection may be there. But 20 to 40% risk is still there. So, people should think about acting in a proper way. We can externally use mask and other things, but at the same time, people should actually chant the holy names and stop their bad habits. That is why we need devotees to be very serious, very matured, so that they can help people.

We have seen in this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam verse that the relatives were walking to the holy Ganges, because this is the custom, we do something for the deceased relatives. And so we go to the Ganges and we offer some tarpaṇa. And the Ganges water is such water that the dust from the lotus feet of the Lord has mixed with. Kṛṣṇa is walking with them, they are going to the Ganges to do some pūjā for the deceased relatives. So, like that, Kṛṣṇa actually knows what is happening, but the others are grieving. So, like that we want all the devotees to be very mature and be solid and help their relatives in this epidemic time.

So we saw how Haridāsa Ṭhākura he was happy in the jail. The prisoners asked him, why are you happy? The prison is meant for suffering. So, he said, everybody is a prisoner. All the people in the material world are all prisoners. While we know we are prisoners, they think they are free! But they are actually prisoners. They are bound by different laws of nature. Then Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he started chanting with all the prisoners and they became very happy. Then the Ayatollah he complained to the Nawab that, “The prisoners are happy! They are chanting the holy names, they are happy!”

They took Haridāsa Ṭhākura and told him, “You have to stop chanting the holy name!”

He said, “Even if you cut me into pieces, and even if my life goes out, even a piece of me will not stop reciting Hare Kṛṣṇa! Hare Kṛṣṇa!”

Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! So like that we should be dedicated to chanting the holy names of Godhead. They are going to the Ganges they are no longer taking a dead person to the Gaṅgā. So when we see they take a dead person to the Ganges, we see them chanting Haribol! Bolo Hari! Sometimes they chant Rāma-nāma satya hai! We want to though not wait till they are taken to the Ganges, dead, But that while they are alive, they have to chant the holy names. Hare Kṛṣṇa!