20220806 Puṇḍarīka Dhāma Evening Address

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

Jayapatākā Swami: We are sitting in Puṇḍarīka dhāma. Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi’s another name is Puṇḍarīka Premanidhi. He had the blessing of kṛṣṇa-prema. He was Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja in kṛṣṇa-līlā and in Gaura-līlā he was Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, the guru of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. And Gadādhara Paṇḍita is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s incarnation. Rādhārāṇī had desired that She should get a male body and be able to stay with Kṛṣṇa all the time. When Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared as Lord Caitanya, Rādhārāṇī appeared as Gadādhara Paṇḍita.

Rukmiṇī told Lord Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā, “You know everything, what Lord Śiva is doing in Kailāsa, what Lord Brahmā is doing in Satyaloka, but You do not know how much the devotees love you, I know, Rādhārāṇī knows.” Then Lord Kṛṣṇa took the oath three times that I will incarnate in Kali-yuga in the form of a devotee, in the form of a devotee, in the form of a devotee! We are fortunate that Lord Caitanya had come, and He put His lotus feet in Bangladesh and in Bengal in India we are able to get the association of His pastime places. Haribol!

This dhāma is the place of Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, he had come here. The Deities therefore are called Śrī Vārṣabhānavī Murāri Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu! Vārṣabhānavī means the daughter of Vṛṣabhānu Mahārāja.

Anyway, you have all come and I am very happy to see all of you. There was an initiation program in the morning today and tomorrow again there will be initiation. Today, there was a special meeting of the TOVP. But when I heard you have all come, I left the meeting and came here.

Lord Caitanya wanted that all the conditioned souls should chant the holy names of God and also in saṅkīrtana, and they should go back to Godhead. The Lord is the Absolute Truth, His names, His form, His pastimes, are all divine. And that way, if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa then we will establish a spiritual connection with the Lord. Lord Kṛṣṇa said, that if we surrender unto Him, then He will take us back to Godhead. But Lord Caitanya is more merciful than Lord Kṛṣṇa. He said, you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, do saṅkīrtana chanting, then also you can come back to Me. Naturally, by chanting the names of Lord Kṛṣṇa, our dormant love for Lord Kṛṣṇa will awaken. That is why Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said, gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. Even then everyone does not chant the name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but they should be. But in the West the devotees are now enthusiastic to chant the names of Lord Hari. I saw here today that Lord Caitanya today has given mercy to so many devotees!

Now His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami is giving a special opportunity for you take the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam before Bhādra Pūrṇimā. It is said in the śāstras that before the Bhādra Pūrṇimā whoever takes the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they will go back home back to Godhead. And Mahārāja has announced that those who have taken the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, your names will be announced on the Bhādra Pūrṇimā day in front of the Deities. This way you have so much opportunity to get the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā. The Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna. Arjuna’s grandson was Parīkṣit Mahārāja. For seven days and nights Parīkṣit Mahārāja heard the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and left his body. And he dedicated his life so that the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam would be revealed to all. But should we lose that opportunity? He has dedicated his life and sacrificed it for the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, so should we not at least keep the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam at home and read it? Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the literary incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. I have seen in India, in Assam, in the North-East, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is kept on the altar and worshiped. In Māyāpur, there is worship of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam on Bhādra Pūrṇimā. So that is why the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the sound and literary incarnation of the Lord. And one more thing is told in the scriptures that those homes which have the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, are places of pilgrimage, mahā- tīrtha.

This way, we do bhakti-yoga, in which there are nine processes of devotional service. The first two are śravaṇa and kīrtana. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! Anyway, you all chant Kṛṣṇa’s name, and your life will be successful. Bangladeshis are all over the world like Singapore, Middle East, etc. Now, I hope that you will all preach the glories of Lord Caitanya. This way, Lord Caitanya toured many places, especially in South India. As He walked there, whoever He saw, He would embrace them. Who wants to be embraced by Lord Caitanya? That way, Lord Caitanya gave all kṛṣṇa-prema. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Tomorrow is intiation ceremony so I will go to take rest now.

In South India, in Chennai, I saw a drama. I heard that Bhakti Vijay Bhāgavata Swami Mahārāja will enact this drama! This was performed there by small children. One was Yamarāja and it was a girl with a mustache drawn. Two other children were Yamadūtas. The Yamadūtas were complaining to Yamarāja. We went to the homes of ISKCON gṛhastha devotees. We saw that they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and do kīrtana, they have Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Mahā-purāṇa. They read them. And not only that, they also have Deities. They offer bhoga and take prasāda. We cannot do nothing in those homes. We cannot take them and give them any suffering. This way, if the preaching of ISKCON spreads, we will be jobless! We have to look for another job! Who all would want the Yamadūtas to get a job? Raise your hands! How many of you want to give the Yamadūtas a holiday? This was the drama. Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!