20211218 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.29

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on December 18th, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.13.29.

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!

evaṁ rājā vidureṇānujena
prajñā-cakṣur bodhita ājamīḍhaḥ
chittvā sveṣu sneha-pāśān draḍhimno
niścakrāma bhrātṛ-sandarśitādhvā

Translation: Thus Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the scion of the family of Ajamīḍha, firmly convinced by introspective knowledge [prajñā], broke at once the strong network of familial affection by his resolute determination. Thus he immediately left home to set out on the path of liberation, as directed by his younger brother Vidura.

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the great preacher of the principles of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, has stressed the importance of association with sādhus, pure devotees of the Lord. He said that even by a moments association with a pure devotee, one can achieve all perfection. We are not ashamed to admit that this fact was experienced in our practical life. Were we not favored by His Divine Grace Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, by our first meeting for a few minutes only, it would have been impossible for us to accept this mighty task of describing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in English. Without seeing him at that opportune moment, we could have become a very great business magnate, but never would we have been able to walk the path of liberation and be engaged in the factual service of the Lord under instructions of His Divine Grace. And here is another practical example by the action of Vidura’s association with Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra was tightly bound in a network of material affinities related to politics, economy and family attachment, and he did everything in his power to achieve so-called success in his planned projects, but he was frustrated from the beginning to the end so far as his material activities were concerned. And yet, despite his life of failure, he achieved the greatest of all success in self-realization by the forceful instructions of a pure devotee of the Lord, who is the typical emblem of a sādhu. The scriptures enjoin, therefore, that one should associate with sādhus only, rejecting all other kinds of association, and by doing so one will have ample opportunity to hear the sādhus, who can cut to pieces the bonds of illusory affection in the material world. It is a fact that the material world is a great illusion because everything appears to be a tangible reality but at the next moment evaporates like the dashing foam of the sea or a cloud in the sky. A cloud in the sky undoubtedly appears to be a reality because it rains, and due to rains so many temporary green things appear, but in the ultimate issue, everything disappears, namely the cloud, rain and green vegetation, all in due course. But the sky remains, and the varieties of sky or luminaries also remain forever. Similarly, the Absolute Truth, which is compared to the sky, remains eternally, and the temporary cloudlike illusion comes and goes away. Foolish living beings are attracted by the temporary cloud, but intelligent men are more concerned with the eternal sky with all its variegatedness.

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Jayapatākā Swami: So the same Vidura was offended by the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Duryodhana had offended Vidura and Vidura left. But later Duryodhana was defeated by Bhīma and Vidura came back to preach to his older brother. Many times, devotees often ask me when some devotees are envious or jealous or offend me what should I do? But we see here that Vidura came back and preached to his elder brother. As the Caitanya-caritāmṛta says:

‘sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’—sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya
(Cc. Madhya 22.54)

By the association of a great sādhu like Vidura Dhṛtarāṣṭra got the resolute determination to leave and do self-realization. One family member can deliver a whole family. Even one daughter in law can deliver the whole family. So, in this way, we have to be determined to represent Kṛṣṇa and help people pursue self-realization. Living entities, they generally think that this material world is everything. But like a cloud in the sky it comes into being and suddenly vanishes. So, the material world is present but there is no permanent status. So the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives us the history of the life of great devotees and the Supreme Lord.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he was living in a house of the Pāṇḍavas and Vidura criticized him, he spoke harshly to him. Then it was in Dvāpara-yuga and now it is Kali-yuga, in the Age of Kali one should go and live in a temple or in a holy place of pilgrimage. Those who live near an ISKCON temple they can go and visit the temple and join different spiritual programs. Within a radius of 1 ½ miles a temple is like a dhāma. That may be a larger area if they have śālagrāma-śilās and different aspects.

Bhakti Tīrtha Swami, he stayed at Gītā Nagari to show that the ISKCON temple is also a holy place. Some people may come to Māyāpur, Vṛndāvana, and live there and do some devotional service there. Tirupati is known as Vaikuṇṭha on earth. In Bangladesh there are many temples like Puṇḍarīka-dhāma it is known as a śrīpāṭa or very, very sacred holy place. Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi was Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja in his pastime. He was the father of Rādhārāṇī. That is why Lord Caitanya used to call him, “Father! Father!” The father-in-law is also called as father. Mother-in-law is one’s mother. So, Gadādhara was the avatāra of Rādhārāṇī. And Gadādhara took initiation from Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, so he was his guru-pita. So like this, there are so many holy places.

In West Bengal there is Haridaspur where Haridāsa Ṭhākura used to live. That village there is known as Haridaspur. The high school, Haridaspur high school, the border Haridaspur border. We have an ISKCON temple there and there we have Rādhā-Śyāma and Nitāi-Gaura. We have the place where Haridasa Ṭhākura sat. Benapol was his birthplace. Although he was born in a non-Hindu family every day, he would chant 300,000 names of Kṛṣṇa. Now, a zamindar he offered a 1000 silver coins to anyone who would make Haridāsa Ṭhākura fall down. One prostitute took the contract and said, “Yes, I will make Haridāsa Ṭhākura fall down.” So she went and she expressed her desire to enjoy with Haridāsa Ṭhākura. He said, “Certainly I will satisfy you but I have to finish my rounds first.” He was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. While chanting like this the sun rose. Then she left. Next day she came back in the night-time. And she again expressed her desire and Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, “I have not finished my rounds yet, when I am finished I will fulfill your desire.” Again morning came and the prostitute left. So then, third day she came back, and she was chanting with Haridāsa Ṭhākura. And she realized her offence, that Haridāsa Ṭhākura was a real devotee. She fell down at the feet of Haridāsa Ṭhākura and begged for forgiveness. Haridāsa Ṭhākura initiated her and she sat there next to a tulasī and she chanted the holy names. So the zamindar, Rāmacandra Khān, he could not believe it when he heard that she had been converted into a devotee. He went and watched and saw that there she was chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa nāma.

So like this a little association can make all the change. Dhṛtarāṣṭra had the slight association of Vidura and now his life is completely changed. His Divine Grace Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda, he went to the West and by his association so many people completely changed their lives for the better. He went to Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand all over the world, Japan, USA, Canada. UK, Europe, Africa, South America. So, like that Śrīla Prabhupāda gave his satsaṅga and changed people. And he also gave us the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Bhagavad-gītā to distribute and deliver the people. I am very grateful to all the devotees who are distributing Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. Now, reading Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books we can get his association in this way. So, we read about Vidura how he preached to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and we can take some inspiration that just as Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he developed the resolute determination we should also be determined to serve Kṛṣṇa. Materialists think that this world is reality. It is real but it is temporary. Like in the sky there are clouds, they remain but then go away also. So we may take the material situation as permanent but it is always changing. Dhṛtarāṣṭra he was envious of the devotees, so he could aṣṭāṅga-yoga but he was not able to do bhakti-yoga. So, Vidura preached to him so that he could attain the highest thing possible. But Śrīla Prabhupāda is advising us is that the best method is to take full shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

And now it is summer in Australia. They have many tropical fruits like litchi, mango, cherry. Some days ago they had a Ratha yātrā in Perth. On 26th day, boxing day, they will have Snāna-yātrā in Melbourne. And there they do the Pānihāṭi offering of ciḍā-dahi and fruits. At that time the Australian tropical fruits are available. I would have gone but the borders are all closed there. We presented to the GBC that all over the world during this pandemic, we should promote the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. The World Health Organization said that the people were killed, the trauma of this pandemic is worse than the Second World War. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that if they don’t want to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa they can chant Allah or some other name of God. The mantra says, harer nāma harer nāma, harer nāmaiva kevalam – the mantra means the name of the Supreme Lord. Harer nāma is Hari-nāma that is the name of Hari or the Supreme Lord. So, any name, in any language of the Supreme Lord will also have some spiritual effect. But chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Harināma is easier, only three words Hare Kṛṣṇa and Rāma. So many people may choose to chant the name of God in Sanskrit. Somehow or another in the Age of Kali they should take shelter of the name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Different interfaith organizations, religious heads, social media, radio, any means we should popularize the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Pure devotees they don’t chant for any material reasons. That is why we pray even for the health of our spiritual master, “Oh Lord if You so please!”

Śrīla Prabhupāda said that there was a plague in Kolkata and hundreds, and hundreds of people were dying. In 1898 this plague was there. A bābājī went house to house and requested them to chant the names of God. Not only Hindus, but Muslims, Christians, Parsis, we are all chanting the Harināma. In this way, the plague subsided. So we should somehow or another get the people to chant.

We thought the pandemic was over, but Omicron variant has come. And that now the cases are escalated highest ever in the UK, in America. Get all the people to chant, that is the only hope. There is no guarantee, even vaccine doesn’t work. They are telling people take booster shot but there is no guarantee. So, we should take the holy name that is the real solution. At least if these people chant even offensively it is better than not chanting. Just like Vidura he got Dhṛtarāṣṭra to take self-realization, we should encourage the people to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Now, in India, the pandemic has reduced substantially but some are saying it could increase again, you can never tell what is happening. So the Omicron variant is affecting people all over the world. So, this variant is called Oṁ-icron. Somehow or another people are chanting Oṁ. Somehow or another we should get people to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. In South America someone was chanting Jesu Christo, Jesu Christo, Christo Christo, Jesu Jesu, so after chanting Jesu Christo why not chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is very similar. And she got more energy from chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Just as Vidura he preached to his dādā, his elder brother to take up to spiritual life. So this material world is not a place for us to stay. We should go to the spiritual world. Hare Kṛṣṇa! So we get people to chant and show that this world is not a place for people to stay. We go back home, back to Godhead! This is the special mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He said pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma (Cb Antya 4.126) in every town and village of the world My name will be broadcast. This is our chance, we should get people chant, this is our only hope.

I hope everyone has downloaded my App. Jayapatākā Swami App. It is available in Android and Apple. Yesterday so many people sponsored Bhagavad-gītā online on my Virtual Table. Over 6000 Bhagavad-gītās were sponsored in one day. I will send 1000 Bhagavad-gītās to South America. Now I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who are supporting me and helping me in this way. Please get the people to chant and be happy. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Any questions?

Subāhu Śacī Sūta dāsa [Chittagong]: The great souls like Vidura and Haridāsa Ṭhākura were associates of the Lord and they were themselves great devotees of the Lord, so it was very easy for them to have the people to have these facilities, but fallen souls like us what to speak of giving association to them, we ourselves get affected by material association and we go down. So what to do in this kind of situation? 

Jayapatākā Swami: The type of tests that Haridāsa Ṭhākura had to go through, we usually don’t have to face such tests. He was beaten in 22-marketplaces. There was a prostitute tried to make him fall down. I heard that Durgā devī even she came to test him. We don’t have to face such gigantic tests. If we pray to Kṛṣṇa to help us, Kṛṣṇa usually helps us. We get very minor tests and even those we fail. But we can get over these tests if we have the sincere desire. If we depend on Kṛṣṇa, then we will overcome all the tests.

Ānandinī Sītā devī dāsī [Durgapur]: As you said in today’s class if we associate with more pure devotees, we can overcome our offenses. But how do we avoid offences from non-devotees who rarely believe in Kṛṣṇa or chanting? Although we are sometimes bounded to be in touch with them. If you could please suggest what should we do here?

Jayapatākā Swami: Thank you Ānandini Sītā devī dāsī. Although we have to associate with non-devotees we should not intimately associate with them. And if we try to give them the holy name, try to give them Bhagavad-gītā, that will be very effective. We don’t take their association; we give them our association. Vidura did not go to Dhṛtarāṣṭra to get his satsaṅga. He went to give his satsaṅga to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. We should when we meet non-devotees we should think how to bring the person closer to Kṛṣṇa. Not to engage in prajalpa with them. Thank you Ānandini Sītā for your question.

Harihara Kṛṣṇa Caitanya dāsa: As you mentioned a little association can make the change. If one does not have much devotee association but he is reading Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books regularly and listening to your classes will be successful? Please enlighten me dear spiritual father.

Jayapatākā Swami: Why not? Of course, all these things are very helpful in your spiritual life. But we have to avoid also the association of non-devotees. And that is why it would be good if there is some temple nearby you can attend and to associate with devotees. But if there are no devotees and you have Śrīla Prabhupāda books, listen to my classes. We see now by internet we have various Jayapatākā Swami Śiṣya Samūha [JSSS] programs, you can attend them. Actually, on the internet, we see YouTube I visit various temples every day. So, now the internet we can associate with different devotees. Via internet we can have good association, satsaṅga but we can also get into bad association. So we should take the good and leave the bad.

Apūrva Arundhatī devī dāsī: How do we understand the difference between good and great devotee?

Jayapatākā Swami: Anyway, if we associate with good devotees or great devotees that would be very auspicious. And there are anubhāvas mentioned that are symptoms of one who is ecstatic in love of Kṛṣṇa. Who has the anubhāvas, we can understand that they are great devotees.

Devotee: Sometimes we are not able to physically reside in holy dhāma but we should reside in the holy dhāma mentally. How can we nicely reside mentally in the holy dhāma.

Jayapatākā Swami: Well, if we mentally reside in the temple or holy dhāma, this way on internet I go different places, but I certainly attend the Māyāpur maṅgala-ārati regularly. This way, through YouTube, Facebook, through Māyāpur TV you can get darśana of various temples. we can get that way, mentally you are visiting the holy dhāma.