20220318 Śrī Gaura Pūrṇimā Day Address

Following is the Gaura Pūrṇimā Day Evening Address by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on 18^th March 2022, Dāmodaradeśa, UAE.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramananda madhavam śrī caitanya iswaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Today is a very special day it is Gaura Pūrṇimā. Lord Caitanya appeared here on this tithi. The place where He appeared is Yoga-pīṭha. Lord Brahmā after stealing the cows and the calves he felt very bad. Although half his life was over; he was still committing offence. Lord Caitanya said, [ Recording starts here] “You were calling Me. What do you want?” Lord Brahmā said, “I heard that in Kali-yuga You will appear. And I want to be one of your associates. Although I have committed offence and half of my life is over. So I want to be forgiven and I don’t want to commit anymore offence.” Lord Caitanya then said that, “Tathāsthaḥ!” You will come as My associate. But to be humble you will be born in a non-Hindu family you will get purified and never commit offence again and you will chant 300,000 names. You will be known as Nāmācārya and your name will be Haridāsa.  Like this He gave blessings to Lord Brahmā and then He disappeared.

And, so then Jagannātha Miśra had a dream. And he saw Lord Caitanya coming in mind and entering into the mind of Śacīmātā. And then He went, Lord Caitanya went to the womb of Śacīmātā. So, this was a kind of immaculate conception. So, but normally a child is born in [nine] ten months. But He was still in the womb until 13 months. So, her father Nīlāmbara Cakravartī, was a famous astrologer. She asked her father, “When the child will be born?” And, he calculated and said, “He will be born on the full moon day, Pūrṇimā.” So, He appeared in the Phālguna Pūrṇimā. At that time there was a lunar eclipse. All the people according to the custom, they went to the Ganges and chanted the name of the Lord. “Govinda! Govinda! Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa!” So, like this they were chanting on the lunar eclipse. So, then He appeared from the womb while everyone was chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.

So, one of the purposes of His coming was to inaugurate the saṅkīrtana movement. And He told the people whether gṛhasthas or vairāgīs, they should all chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. So, He came to establish the saṅkīrtana movement. He spent 24 years as a gṛhastha in Navadvīpa. But then in the 24^th year He decided to take sannyāsa. That time His mother requested Him that, “Please, make Your headquarters in Jagannātha Purī. That way I will get occasionally some news. You can go sometime and visit Vṛndāvana but stay in Jagannātha Purī.” So, He said, “I owe everything to you mother, you gave Me My body, so I will take your order.”

So, today we did the abhiṣeka. And this is the tradition that on Gaura Pūrṇimā day we do abhiṣeka. And Lord Caitanya, He was visited by different devīs from Svargaloka, they came in disguise as brāhmaṇīs. So, they came as brāhmaṇīs and no one could understand who they were. He told His mother, “I want the moon, give Me the moon!” But then the moon went behind the clouds. Mother Śacī said, “See, the moon has got marks on his face. But Your face has no marks. That is why the moon, he hid.” So, this way when He was a little baby, He would cry. And so the ladies did not know what to do. Then they chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa and then He stopped crying and smiled. When they stopped chanting, then He started crying again. Then they chanted again. So, He would continuously have them chant. Gaurāṅga!

So, He was doing many pastimes. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he was trying to find the actual place of birth of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So, one night he saw a brilliant light coming from the birthplace. He took Siddha Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī to see if he could find the place. He asked the local farmers, “What is this place? They said, “This place is useless! Useless! Whatever you plant only tulasī comes out!” So, then he took Siddha Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī who was 113 years old. He carried on his head in a basket. Then they all, they went somewhere near the tulasī forest. When they reached there, Siddha Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī jumped out and said, “Haribol! Haribol! Gaurāṅga!” So, as I said he was 113 years ago and he could not walk. But when he got to the place of Lord Caitanya’s birth, he started jumping. “Haribol! Haribol!” So, that is how he located the actual place.

Every year we do a parikramā of Navadvīpa dhāma. There are nine islands. Sīmantadvīpa, Godrumadvīpa, Madhyadvīpa, Koladvīpa, Ṛtudvīpa, Jahnudvīpa, Rudradvīpa, Modadrumadvīpa and Antardvīpa. Actually, this place was made by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Then Kṛṣṇa came and He said, “This place is very beautiful. You have made it for Me, so I will stay here eternally.” This would be non-different from Vṛndāvana. Then Kṛṣṇa took the heart of Rādhārāṇī and there He became Gaurāṅga. He had the color and heart of Rādhārāṇī. So, He is Kṛṣṇa but He has the heart of Rādhārāṇī.

Anyway, today is a very auspicious day. I am usually in the Māyāpur, this year I am in Dāmodaradeśa, Śyāmadeśa, Avatārīdeśa, Gaurāṅgadeśa, Śrīvāsa Aṅgana. So, we hope that all of you will take this chanting of Lord Caitanya’s name, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, in this way make your life perfect. Haribol! Devotees chanting Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda!

Jayapatākā Swami: Sunday more pastimes!