20210417 Virtual Spiritual Safari Day 5 (Śrī Jagannātha Purī)

So just it so happens that we are reading about Lord Caitanya in Jagannātha Purī. As it was explained, Lord Caitanya after taking sannyāsa in Katwa, then He went to Śāntipura, to the house of Advaita, being misdirected by Lord Nityānanda’s arrangement. And then His mother asked Him, “Instead of staying in Vṛndāvana, stay in Jagannātha Purī because that is closer, and we get some information. You can go to Vṛndāvana but don’t stay there.” Then Lord Caitanya agreed to go to Jagannātha Purī. He told His mother, “This body belongs to you, whatever you order I will do.” She was such a faithful devotee that she knew that if she ordered Lord Caitanya to come back home, He would be criticized. Because He had taken sannyāsa He could not be at home. So He went to Jagannātha Purī, He only spent there 18 days, and then He said, “I will find my brother Viśvarūpa who took sannyāsa.”

And in those 18 days He converted Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya to a pure devotee. And I am sorry that we did not show you the video of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s house. There He went and He heard the teachings of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya who was a Māyāvādī and he was the top guru in Jagannātha Purī. But after hearing him, He said, “I understand the verses, but I don’t under your commentaries.” That meant that commentary is supposed to make the verses clear, but He said He understands the verses but not the commentary. But anyway, He instructed Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya on the Vaiṣṇava understanding of the Vedānta-sūtra.

So I heard from Bhakti Nityānanda Swami that He did not want to go with Lord Nityānanda, because He broke His daṇḍa, tricked Him to go to Śāntipura, He did not want to go with any of His devotees because he considered them to be interfering Then they convinced Him to take Kāla Kṛṣṇa, the simple brāhmaṇa assistant. Of course Lord Caitanya, yesterday you saw the South India safari, He travelled in South India for a number of years. Then from Jagannātha Purī, He went to Vṛndāvana, totally he spent 6 years out of Jagannātha Purī. He was 18 years in Jagannātha Purī. When He came back to Jagannātha Purī from South India.

Then the news reached Bengal that Lord Caitanya was back. So about 200 devotees they came from Bengal with Śivānanda Sena to see Lord Caitanya. At that time the king, Pratāparudra, he was eager to see Lord Caitanya but Lord Caitanya would not agree. Then, on the palace roof, he saw the devotees from Bengal and he asked Gopīnātha Ācārya to explain who they were. He saw Advaita Ācārya, he said, “He is very effulgent, who is that?” So one by one, he said, that is Advaita Ācārya, that is this one, that one and so, king Pratāparudra told Kāśī Miśra and the superintendent of the temple, “Give them a place to stay, give them prasāda.” He said that, “When they go to a holy place, they are supposed to fast for one day but they are not doing any of that.” But Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and Gopīnātha Ācārya informed the king that, “These devotees are not coming to a holy place because they have sinned, they are coming out of their love for Lord Caitanya.” Then they explained how each devotee came to see Lord Caitanya.

And how Lord Caitanya He gave them prasāda and embraced them and He showed them His love and affection. Even the devotees who had never seen Lord Caitanya before, Lord Caitanya knew their names and said their names. But Murāri Gupta, he was not present. Lord Caitanya asked, “Where is Murāri Gupta?” They went looking for him. They found that he was at the Narendra Sarovara, crying, offering his obeisances. He said he was too fallen to go before Lord Caitanya. And then they picked him up and took him to Lord Caitanya. He told Lord Caitanya, “I am very fallen, I cannot come to you.” Murāri Gupta paid his obeisances to Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya picked him and embraced him. Murāri Gupta such an advance devotee he was crying that he was not qualified! He is the avatāra of Hanumān.

Then like that, Lord Caitanya asked, “Where is Haridāsa Ṭhākura?” Haridāsa Ṭhākura was outside paying his prostrate obeisances. He said, “I am very fallen I don’t want to touch the servants of Lord Jagannātha. I am born in a non-Hindu family, so I cannot enter the temple, I should not be mixing with the devotees of Lord Jagannātha.” So Lord Caitanya told him that. “I will personally arrange your prasāda.” We see the cakra that as Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami mentioned, the cakra if you see the cakra of the temple and bow down that is equivalent of seeing Me. So Haridāsa Ṭhākura was given the Siddha Bakula to stay at. At that time from there he could see the cakra of the temple.

Lord Caitanya He would go and see Lord Jagannātha then He would come out and do kīrtana around the temple. The temple is very huge. And there are four doors, Siṁha-dvāra, four doors at the four corners. Lord Caitanya had four saṅkīrtana parties. And the kīrtana parties there were dancers, mṛdaṅga players, one of the kīrtana parties had Advaita dancing, one had Nityānanda, one had Śrīvāsa and one had Vakreśvara Paṇḍita. Somehow Lord Caitanya, each party saw Lord Caitanya looking at them at the same time. They thought they are blessed He is looking at us all the time. So like that He was going around the temple, He was chanting and dancing wildly. Then the time of the Ratha-yātrā came.

First there was the Snāna-yātrā, and the king Pratāparudra allowed Him to stay in the place where normally he and his queen would stay. So they had a very good vision of Lord Jagannātha Baladeva Subhadrā’s bathing ceremony. Then Lord Caitanya after the bathing ceremony, Lord Jagannātha goes for anavasara for 15 days, and people cannot have darśana. So Lord Caitanya felt so much separation that He ran to the Ālālanātha temple some kilometers away. Maybe 11. He bowed down before the Deity, He was feeling such separation that He actually melted the stone before the Deity! And they have taken the stone out and put it in a separate temple outside. Where the body print of Lord Caitanya is visible, you can touch it. The day before the Ratha-yātrā Lord Jagannātha gives darśana. So Lord Caitanya did the Guṇḍicā-mārjana. This tells us how we should clean our hearts.

During the Ratha-yātrā, He made seven kīrtana parties. And each party had two mṛdaṅga players, six singers, one lead singer and five who followed him, one dancer. This way the kīrtana went on.

One thing we heard the good news that Paṅkajāṅghrī Prabhu’s parameters were better. But actually, one hour ago I got the message that he is not feeling better, therefore we should increase our prayers. Also, I heard that Bhakti Rāghava Mahārāja has test positive for corona virus, and he has been admitted to a hospital in Shimoga, Karnataka, India. There is a second wave in India, 237,000 people tested positive yesterday. We have to find the report of today. Please organize a prayer, I will be right back.

I want to say one last pastime, I got cut off by some unforeseen circumstances. Lord Caitanya did the Ratha-yātrā He created seven kīrtana parties. He put two mṛdaṅga players, six chanters, one dancer and many devotees in a group. In one kīrtana the lead singer was Svarūpa Dāmodara, I don’t remember which lead singer was with which dancer, but I remember the dancers. One was Lord Nityānanda, one was Advaita, one was Śrīvāsa, one was Vakreśvara Paṇḍita and one was Haridāsa. Then there were Śrīkhaṇḍa devotees, Narahari and Raghunandana Ṭhākura were the lead dancers. One was from Kulīna-grāma. Kulīna grāma is a very special place where everybody chants Hare Kṛṣṇa. King Pratāparudra was watching from his palace roof top.

Lord Caitanya was very kind to him and mercifully inclined because the king sweeps the road in front of Lord Jagannātha. Although that time he did not see the king, but he was still very merciful. So Lord Caitanya went from each party to another, then He performed a miracle. Just like He did in Vṛndāvana when He dances with millions of gopīs. Like in Dvārakā, He has 16,108 wives and He expands Himself into 16,108 forms. So simultaneously, He was dancing in each of the seven saṅkīrtana parties. And each party thought that we are so blessed, Lord Caitanya is only dancing with us. But Pratāparudra could see seven Lord Caitanyas in seven parties and Haribol! Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and Gopīnātha Ācārya were completely amazed how the king was blessed by Lord Caitanya, that he could see Lord Caitanya simultaneously in seven parties. We were just reading about this yesterday. I don’t want to speak more now. But after this Safari, it just happens we are in Jagannātha Purī in Caitanya-līlā class. So we are not going to change the link. You can come. If you like you can stay and see what the next chapter holds, in the Ratha-yātrā-līlā.

I am looking forward to this first South American Safari. Although I have visited South America many times, part of my zone are the four countries, and I visit all the other countries, but this is the first time we are taking the safari. This is very, very, great. Of course it costs thousands of dollars to make this tour, and somehow Marīci is paying for all the whole thing! I guess because this is a Virtual Safari! Thank you for participating in this year’s Safari, thank everybody for speaking at the Jagannātha Purī Śrī Kṣetra. This is a very sacred place.

Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to try and get entry for the foreign devotees to enter the Jagannātha Purī temple. I wrote to the letter to the Gajapati Mahārāja. He told me to contact the Śaṅkarācārya of Purī. But as Mahārāja said, even if we are not able to get in immediately, but there are lots of sacred places to visit. Thank you Hare Kṛṣṇa!