20210724 Glories of Śrīmad-bhāgavatam by Lord Caitanya to Devānanda Paṇḍita

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 24th July 2021 in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book, the chapter entitled:

Glories of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Lord Caitanya to Devānanda Paṇḍita

Under the Section: The Lord’s Attempt to Go to Vṛndāvana

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.505

mahāprabhura uttara––––śuddhā bhaktii bhāgavatera sārvadeśika siddhānta

śuna vipra, bhāgavate ei vākhānibā
‘bhakti’ vinā āra kichu mukhe nā ānibā

Translation: Lord Caitanya Instructed: Listen, O brāhmaṇa, while teaching Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you should not explain anything other than devotional service.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.7.51-52).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives the essence of devotional service. Lord Caitanya is instructing that everything should be explained in terms of devotional service. See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.7.51-52).

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.506

ādi-madhya-antye bhāgavate ei kaya
viṣṇu-bhakti nitya-siddha akṣaya avyaya

Translation: In the beginning, middle, and end of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu is described as eternally perfect, inexhaustible, and infallible.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (12.13.11).

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the treatise on devotional service. That should be stressed.

Translation (ŚB 12.13.11): From beginning to end, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is full of narrations that encourage renunciation of material life, as well as nectarean accounts of Lord Hari’s transcendental pastimes, which give ecstasy to the saintly devotees and demigods.

Jayapatākā Swami: Since the material illusion is that people identify themselves swith the body and they think that to accumulate sense pleasure and sense comfort is the goal of life. Actually there is a higher spiritual ecstasy in the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Hari.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.507

anante brahmāṇḍe sabe satya viṣṇu-bhakti
mahāpralaye o yāra thāke pūrṇa-śakti

Translation: Devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu is the only truth throughout the innumerable universes. It remains fully potent even during the universal devastation.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.9.4-18 and 3.25.38). In the Ṛg Veda (1.22.20) it is stated: oṁ tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ — “Those who are spiritually advanced simply look to the lotus feet of Viṣṇu.” In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is stated: na cyavanti yato bhakti mahati pralaye sati — “Even during the universal devastation, devotional service is not lost.”

Jayapatākā Swami: See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.9.4-18 and 3.25.38).

Translation (ŚB 2.9.4-8): O King, the Personality of Godhead, being very much pleased with Lord Brahmā because of his nondeceptive penance in bhakti-yoga, presented His eternal and transcendental form before Brahmā. And that is the objective goal for purifying the conditioned soul. Lord Brahmā, the first spiritual master, supreme in the universe, could not trace out the source of his lotus seat, and while thinking of creating the material world, he could not understand the proper direction for such creative work, nor could he find out the process for such creation. While thus engaged in thinking, in the water, Brahmājī heard twice from nearby two syllables joined together. One of the syllables was taken from the sixteenth and the other from the twenty-first of the sparśa alphabets, and both joined to become the wealth of the renounced order of life. When he heard the sound, he tried to find the speaker, searching on all sides. But when he was unable to find anyone besides himself, he thought it wise to sit down on his lotus seat firmly and give his attention to the execution of penance, as he was instructed. Lord Brahmā underwent penances for one thousand years by the calculations of the demigods. He heard this transcendental vibration from the sky, and he accepted it as divine. Thus he controlled his mind and senses, and the penances he executed were a great lesson for the living entities. Thus he is known as the greatest of all ascetics.

Translation (ŚB 3.25.38): The Lord continued: My dear mother, devotees who receive such transcendental opulences are never bereft of them; neither weapons nor the change of time can destroy such opulences. Because the devotees accept Me as their friend, their relative, their son, preceptor, benefactor and Supreme Deity, they cannot be deprived of their possessions at any time.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.508

bhagavān mokṣa-pradāna-pūrvaka jīvake vañcanā kariyā bhaktike gupta rākhena—

mokṣa diyā bhakti gopya kare nārāyaṇe
hena bhakti nā jāni kṛṣṇera kṛpā vine

Translation: Lord Nārāyaṇa awards liberation but hides devotional service. One cannot attain devotional service without Lord Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): In answer to Devānanda’s questions, Śrīman Mahāprabhu said, “Devotional service is the sum and substance of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That devotional service is eternally perfect, devoid of deterioration, and is not lost even during the universal devastation. By awarding material enjoyment and liberation, the Supreme Lord keeps devotional service hidden from the living entities. Without the mercy of the Supreme Lord there is no possibility of attaining devotional service. See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.6.18).

Translation (ŚB 5.6.18): Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, the Supreme Person, Mukunda, is actually the maintainer of all the members of the Pāṇḍava and Yadu dynasties. He is your spiritual master, worshipable Deity, friend, and the director of your activities. To say nothing of this, He sometimes serves your family as a messenger or servant. This means He worked just as ordinary servants do. Those engaged in getting the Lord’s favor attain liberation from the Lord very easily, but He does not very easily give the opportunity to render direct service unto Him.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.509

ekamātra bhāgavata-śāstrei bhaktira asamordhvatva sthāpita haoyāya “bhāgavatera nyāya śāstra āra nāi—

bhāgavata-śāstre se bhaktira tattva kahe
teñi bhāgavata-sama kona śāstra nahe

Translation: Because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam glorifies devotional service, there is no literature equal to it.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The word teñi means “therefore.” Since Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes the glories of devotional service, there is no literature in the entire world equal to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Jayapatākā Swami: Sometimes Lord Nārāyaṇa gives blessings for material enjoyment or liberation, but actually pure devotees do not accept these, even liberation, if it doesn’t include devotional service. So this devotional service is completely transcendental and it is not that one simply wants to negates the sufferings of the material worl. One has to develop positive attraction and affection for Lord Kṛṣṇa and that is the secret of devotional service

Translation (ŚB 1.7.7): Simply by giving aural reception to this Vedic literature, the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion and fearfulness.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.510-11

bhāgavata apauruṣeya, bhagavadavatāra prakaṭāprakaṭa līlāmayī mātra—

yena rūpa matsya-kūrma-ādi avatāra
āvirbhāva-tirobhāva yena tā’-sabāra

ei mata bhāgavata kāro kṛta naya
āvirbhāva tirobhāva āpanei haya

Translation: As the various incarnations of the Lord headed by Lord Matsya and Kūrma appear and disappear, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is not composed by man, appears and disappears by its own sweet will.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.3 and 1.3.43). In the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (2.4.10) it is stated: “The Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda, and Atharva Veda, the Itihāsas, or histories, the Purāṇas, the Upaniṣads, the ślokas, or mantras chanted by the brāhmaṇas, the sūtras, or accumulations of Vedic statements, as well as vidyā, transcendental knowledge, and the explanations of the sūtras and mantras are all emanations from the breathing of the great Personality of Godhead.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.512

kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya bhaktiyoge vyāsera jihvāya bhāgavatera avataraṇa—

bhakti-yoge bhāgavata vyāsera jihvāya
sphūrti se haila mātra kṛṣṇera kṛpāya

Translation: Simply by the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa and the devotion of Vyāsadeva, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam manifested from the tongue of Vyāsadeva.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is an eternal literature. Even when it is lost in the course of time, by the Lord’s mercy it again appears on the tongue and from the writing of Śrī Vyāsa. This literature is incomprehensible to those mortal beings who are punished by Yamarāja. See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.7.2-7).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, today it is known as Guru-Pūrṇimā or Vyāsa-Pūrṇimā so we can see that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the transcendental appearance of the Lord and it comes to deliver the living entities by engaging them in devotional service to the Lord. So, men and women, who study Kṛṣṇa teachings, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, are qualified to be spiritual masters, and they should assimilate these transcendental teachings of devotional service by studying this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.513

parameśvarera tattvera nyāya bhāgavata-tattva acintya—

īśvarera tattva yena bujhane nā yāya
ei mata bhāgavata—sarva śāstre gāya

Translation: The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is as incomprehensible as the science of the Supreme Lord. This is the statement of all scriptures.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.3.21).

Jayapatākā Swami: Since His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda has made the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the accessible to the souls of this Kali-yuga, therefore anyone who understands the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Śrīla Prabhupāda, actually has the highest blessings. and this science was ordinarily incomprehensible, but because Śrīla Prabhupāda is a pure devotee of the Lord, he could make this science available for the conditioned souls. this is our special mercy.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.514

dāmbhikera nikaṭa bhāgavata ātmaprakāśa karena nā, śaraṇāgatai bhāgavatera artha darśane samartha—

‘bhāgavata bujhi’ hena yāra āche jñāna
sei nā jānaye bhāgavatera pramāṇa

Translation: One who thinks, ‘I understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,’ does not know the glories of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): One who is qualified for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam knows that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is certainly the crest jewel of all scriptures. If even foolish people take shelter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam manifests in their hearts.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is not an ordinary scripture it is non-different from Supreme Personality of Godhead and anyone who takes shelter of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is certainly blessed.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.515

ajña hai’ bhāgavate ye laya śaraṇa
bhāgavata-artha tāra haya daraśana

Translation: If a foolish person takes shelter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the purport of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is revealed to him.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, taking shelter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is recommended here, one may not have any qualification, may be even foolish, but if they take the shelter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is revealed to that person.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.516

bhāgavata śrī-kṛṣṇa-vigraha—

prema-māyā bhāgavata—śrī-kṛṣṇera aṅga
tāhāte kahena yata gopya kṛṣṇa-raṅga

Translation: The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is filled with ecstatic love. It is the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa. All confidential pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa are described in it.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is filled with ecstatic love, is known as a form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a form of Lord Kṛṣṇa, that’s why the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is worshipped especially on the Bhadra Pūrṇimā because Bhāgavatam is the transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.517

samagra vedaśāstra o purāṇa-kīrtanera parao vyāsera citta aśānta bhāgavata-kīrtanai vyāsera citta śānti lābha kare—

veda-śāstra purāṇa kahiyā vedavyāsa
tathāpi cittera nāhi pāyena prakāśa

Translation: After compiling the Vedic literatures and the Purāṇas, Vedavyāsa did not feel satisfied.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The word prakāśa means “enlivened.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is described in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, somehow Vyāsadevā did not feel complete or satisfied even after he wrote the four Vedas, Mahābhārata, the Purāṇas and various literatures, because he had not manifested the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.518

yakhane śrī-bhāgavata jihvāya sphurila
tata-kṣaṇe citta-vṛtti prasanna haila

Translation: But as soon as Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam manifested on his tongue, his heart was filled with joy. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated in the 1st canto

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): See ŚB 1.7.11-14

Translation (ŚB 1.7.11-14)— Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in devotional service [bhakti-yoga] without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Godhead along with His external energy, which was under full control. Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries. The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people does not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth. Simply by giving aural reception to this Vedic literature, the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion, and fearfulness.” Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is not a literature intended for Māyāvādīs and karmis. There is nothing other than devotional service in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. If one understands this, one can attain transcendental peace at heart.

Jayapatākā Swami: The transcendental nature of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is revealed here, until and unless one understands this, they will not be peaceful and joyful at heart.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.519

erūpa asamordhva grantha pāṭha kariyāo kona kona vyakti saṅkaṭe patita—

hena grantha paḍi’ keha saṅkaṭe paḍila
śuna akapaṭe dvija, tomāre kahila

Translation: O brāhmaṇa, listen sincerely. I tell you that some people even become perplexed after reading such a literature.” People who identify themselves as the product of material energy can get perplexed by the reading of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.520

mahāprabhura devānanda paṇḍitera prati bhāgavate bhaktiyoga-mātra vyākhyā karite upadeśa—

ādi-madhya-avasāne tumi bhāgavate
bhakti-yoga mātra vākhanio sarva-mate

Translation: You should explain devotional service in the beginning, middle, and end of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Devānanda Paṇḍita wanted Lord Caitanya to explain to him, how to explain the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So here Lord Caitanya is telling him, the beginning, middle, and end, explain the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam simply glorifying the process of devotional service.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.521

tabe āra tomāra nahiba aparādha
sei-kṣaṇe citta-vṛttye pāibā prasāda

Translation: Then you will no longer commit any offense, and you will immediately become joyful at heart.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The word prasāda means “joy” or “happiness.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya is instructing Devānanda Paṇḍita that by following this instructions, he will no longer commit any offense and he will become joyful at heart.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.522

sakala śāstrai kṛṣṇa-bhaktera kathā kīrtana karena, bhāgavate tāhā viśeṣarūpe parisphuṭa—

sakala śāstrei mātra ‘kṛṣṇa-bhakti’ kaya
viśeṣe śrī-bhāgavata—kṛṣṇa-rasa-māyā

Translation: All the scriptures glorify devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is especially filled with the mellows of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Purport (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): In the Hari-vaṁśa (Bhaviṣya-parva 132.95) it is stated: vede rāmāyaṇe caiva purāṇe bhārate tathā / ādāv ante ca madhye ca hariḥ sarvatra gīyate “In the Vedic literature, including the Rāmāyaṇa, Purāṇas, and Mahābhārata, from the very beginning (ādau) to the end (ante ca), as well as within the middle (madhye ca), only Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is explained.” See also Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.3).

Jayapatākā Swami: Devotional service to Lord Hari is glorified in all the Vedic literatures, but Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam exclusively focusses on this aspect. Therefore by understanding the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the essence of all Vedic knowledge is actually achieved.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Antya-khaṇḍa 3.523

paṇḍitera prati prabhura ājñā—

cala tumi yāha adhyāpanā kara giyā
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-amṛta sabāre bujhāiyā”

Translation: Go and teach Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by explaining the nectarean devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Devānanda Paṇḍita received this order from Lord Caitanya and thus he could become the real teacher of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and himself filled with transcendental joy and give the listeners transcendental joy as well.

Thus ends the chapter entitled,

Glories of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Lord Caitanya to Devānanda Paṇḍita.

Under the Section: The Lord’s Attempt to Go to Vṛndāvana