20211113 Śrimad-Bhāgavatam 1.12.29

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 30th, 2021 in Sri Dhama Mayapur, India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.12.29.

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!

So this particular verse tells about different types of brāhmaṇas. Vipra means expert in fruitive activities, brāhmaṇas, expert in the spiritual, transcendental science, Vaiṣṇavas are the brāhmaṇas who have achieved perfection. So it is being said that the vipras, by them the state would be directed. In this way the vipras they would serve as astrologers free of cost. Unfortunately, it is not the case today. The state doesn’t maintain the astrologers to do service for the citizens. I have seen one as who said if you pay me Rs.100 I will not do much for you, but for Rs. 250 I will do everything very nice for you. In this way they cheat the people. So, there were different systems in our Vedic society. Now, during the time of Lord Caitanya’s appearance, His grandfather, Nīlāmbara Cakravartī was a great astrologer. So, at the time of the anna-prāśana they also did the nāma-karaṇa. Now, at the time of anna-prāśana we give money and books to the child. Then they used to keep money in different forms, cowrie, 20 rupees. Gold etc. To see when they show money if you are a big timer or a small timer. Cowrie, paisa, rupees, gold. So what he would choose? He would go for the gold or the paisa? And they put a pen, maybe scholastic. Different kinds of books. Karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa, Bhāgavatam. They let Lord Caitanya loose and He went straight for the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Haribol! Not sparśa, He hugged it, He embraced it. Haribol! And His mother’s father, Nīlāmbara Cakravartī, they asked him, “What is the future of this child?” He saw that He would take sannyāsa but he did not want to tell the family because they would be upset. But he said that, “This child would take the load of the whole earth! Hence, He should be named as Viśvambhara.” But all the ladies thought that since He was born under a neem tree, He should be called Nimāi. They asked Nīlāmbara Cakravartī to settle this matter. He gave the solution and said that the nickname would be Nimāi and His good name, official name would be Viśvambhara. And so everyone knew Him as Nimāi Paṇḍita. But for His wedding and other things, He was known as Viśvambhara. So this astrological calculation was used in the case in the life of Lord Caitanya.

I was saying in the previous class, how the future of the child is very important for the parents. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī one of the most famous six Gosvāmīs he wrote a book called Ṣat-kriyā-sāra-dīpikā. And in that book there is the system of garbhādāna-saṁskāra, And that how important it is for the gṛhasthas to follow this system. We see how Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he had two sons who were sannyāsī. And generally, I think all his family members were devotees. Of course, there is no guarantee. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura said that he would have taken 100 children if he would have known that all those would be devotees. He would be a gṛhastha and have a hundred children. If everyone would be a devotee. Anyway, it is prescribed we pray to the deities to have a devotee as a child. We pray for devotee child who would be with long life span, he would be in good health and a very good son. Śrīla Prabhupāda recommended that husband and wife they can chant extra rounds, 50 rounds to prepare their consciousness, that would be good. Then Śrīla Prabhupāda said how the parents need to spend quality time with their child. In one place, in a letter to Śrīla Prabhupāda a female disciple said her Deity worship is disturbed because of taking care of her child. Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote, then stop your Deity worship. He said because these children are sent by Kṛṣṇa, you have to make sure they are devotees. And Cāṇākya Paṇḍita advised first five years treat your child with very lovingly, 5-15 years of age you be very strict, and 16 up treat the child as a friend. So like this Śrīla Prabhupāda said that when he was a child, he wanted two pistols because he saw the cowboys in the movies! His father bought him two pistols for him. Any time a sādhu came to his house, the father would ask him, please bless my son that he becomes a devotee of Rādhārāṇī.

So, the parent is a very important aspect of the child when they are young. One Australian lady, she was a teacher technologist, she came to visit Māyāpur. She said that children’s training starts when they are very small. 2-3 years of age, how the parents deal with them, that creates the future for the child. I went yesterday to the Māyāpur gośālā during the Gopāṣṭamī-pūjā. I saw so many ladies with small children. Very auspicious. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that they are our future leaders in our movement. So, this is one of the many services that only ladies can do! So anyway, we see that the government was maintaining the vipras so they could give free service to the common people. All these things were there in the Vedic age but nowadays they don’t give much importance to such Vedic things. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that these Vedic scriptures are the guidebook for the whole humanity. And this way, these Vedic scriptures are prescribing how we can have attachment and love for Kṛṣṇa. For e.g., Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja was the emperor for the whole world. Previously, Pṛthu Mahārāja was the emperor of the whole world. So he was the emperor of all the seven islands. And now we find like in South America, they found the Deity of Viṣṇu. But now the churches are saying to give the deity back to India. How did the Deity get there in the first place? They don’t want to show the whole world had Vedic culture previously. In Russia, there are many deities and so many sciences that proves that there was Vedic literature also in those times. They have books called the Russian Veda and they have description of various deities and things. Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that Australia means because the Pāṇḍavas kept their astras there. In the previous yuga, the whole world was Vedic. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.4.18 there is a verse:

kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā
ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ

khasādayaḥ means Chinese, Mongolian, Japanese. Pulinda means Greek, European Greeks. Yavana means people from Turkey and other places in the Middle East. This is long before Islam started. Islam is about 1400 years old. So the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is about 5000 years old. Hūṇāndhras, the Hūṇāns are Russian, German. So, all these places, they became devotees if they followed a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. But the fact that the mentioned all these places means these places were in the empire of the Vedic kings. Dhruva Mahārāja, he fought the yakṣas. The Gandharvas they came from another planet and attacked the Kurus. Previously, the kings of this planet would travel to other planets. And devas from the higher planets would come to this planet. Now they don’t come because this is a god forsaken place. They don’t even come to pass water! But we can bring them back to the glory if everybody chants Hare Kṛṣṇa!

So in this Age of Kali the only path is to chant the holy name of the Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that the meaning of harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam, meaning that in this yuga one should chant the name of the Lord. But if they want to chant another name of God other than Kṛṣṇa if it is the name of Hari or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was also saying how after visiting Iran, the Islamic paṇḍitas said that Allah, Akbar is also the same as Para-Brahman. Anyway, now it is Kali-yuga, now the process of sacrifice is chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. Still, in different parts of the world, the pandemic is still going on. That is why everyone should chant the holy name of the Lord.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

Kindly let me know how to get children, teenagers attracted to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.?

Śīrṣā Haripriyā devī dāsī: You see that is why you have to start young! The teenagers are under the influence of friends and other influences. And if we have a nice relationship with the child, there is a better chance that the child will listen to you. At the age of 8, they can take aspiring. 11 years of age they can take shelter. 12 years of age, they can take initiation. So before they are teenagers, they are already fixed up. So, how to attract teenagers, maybe we should have some brainstorming. Bhakti-mārga Swami, he engages them in dramas. So, if the parents are very sincere and good devotees, then maybe a good influence. But try to see that your child has good association. I saw in Alachua, they had 24 girls playing mṛdaṅga. In India we see men on mṛdaṅga, but in the West we see the ladies also play mṛdaṅga.