20220905 Unwavering faith and surrender of Haridāsa Ṭhākura towards the holy name, Part 1

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on September 05th,2022 in Śrī Dhāma 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. Today's chapter is entitled as:

Unwavering faith and surrender of Haridāsa Ṭhākura towards the holy name [Part 1] Under the section: The Glories of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.69

haridāsera aprākṛtojjvala-tanu-darśane sasambhrame navābera āsana-pradāna—

ati-manohara teja dekhiyā tāhāna
parama-gaurave vasibāre dilā sthāna

Translation: When the king saw Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s brilliant effulgence, he respectfully offered him a seat.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the King was following the etiquette of offering a respectable seat to a holy person.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.70

haridāsera kṛṣṇamati-darśane akṣajajñāna janya moha o vivarta buddhivaśe navābera adaivācita praśna-jijñāsā —

āpane jijñāse tāṅ’re mulukera pati
“kene, bhāi, tomāra ki-rūpa dekhi mati?

Translation: Then the king personally inquired, “My dear brother, why do you have such a mentality?

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.71

vedavirodhi kule janmalābhake jaḍabhedavādīra saubhāgya phalajñāna o haridāsera śrautapathe nitya akhaṇḍa aprākṛta vaikuṇṭha-śabdānuśīlane saṅkīrṇa jāti-buddhi —

kata bhāgye, dekha, tumi haiyācha yavana
tabe kene hindura ācāre deha’ mana?

Translation: “By good fortune you’ve been born a Muslim, so why do you follow the religious practices of the Hindus?

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Muslim King thought it was Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s good fortune to be born a Muslim, but then He inquired why do you chant the name of Kṛṣṇa, which is a Hindu custom.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.72

tatkālīna ahindu śāsakagaṇera hinduvidveṣarūpa jaḍadeha-mūlaka adaiva cittavṛttira paricaya—

āmarā hindure dekhi’ nāhi khāi bhāta
tāhā chāḍa’ hai’ tumi mahā-vaṁśa-jāta

Translation: “We don’t even eat rice that’s been touched by Hindus, so why are you degrading yourself? You’ve been born in a high family.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.73

haridāsera śrautapathe nitya akhaṇḍa aprākṛta vaikuṇṭha śabdānuśīlanake akṣajajñāna janya moha o vivartabuddhivaśe svīya khaṇḍajāti-virodhi-jñāne tāṅhāke amūtra amūlaka daṇḍalābhera bhaya-pradarśana —

jāti-dharma laṅghi’ kara anya-vyavahāra
paraloke kemane vā pāibā nistāra?

Translation: “You’re transgressing your caste and religion to follow the religion of others. How will you attain salvation?

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Muslim King is thinking that by following sanātana-dharma Haridāsa Ṭhākura would not attain salvation, so he is asking this question.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.74

nitya cidanuśīlanarata nityaśuddha vaiṣṇavake navābera saṅkīrṇa anitya sāmpradāyika ācāra-laṅghana-doṣe doṣi-jñāne daṇḍagrahaṇapūrvaka śodhanārtha ādeśa —

nā jāniyā ye kichu karilā anācāra
se pāpa ghucāha kari’ kalmā uccāra”

Translation: “Whatever sinful activities you’ve unknowingly performed can be cleared by uttering kalmā.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda):  Considering that Haridāsa Ṭhākura was related to him as his brother, the Mohammedan king told him, “I want to know why you have been degraded like this. There is no family superior to the Moslem family. By great fortune you have taken birth in a Moslem family, so why have you accepted the behavior of the inferior Hindus. We do not eat rice touched by the Hindus because they are low-class. You have taken birth in a great family, so it is not proper to degrade yourself into a lower family. How will you be delivered after death if you transgress the Mohammedan religious principles and following other religious principles? Give up such sinful behavior and recite the Cāhāra Kalmā, then you will be freed from the sin incurred by following the Hindu religion.

Kalmā (an Arabic word) means “word” or “statement.” Kalmā refers to a passage from the Koran indicating the acceptance of Mohammed’s Islam religion.

Jayapatākā Swami: This sectarian view of religion where each religion thinks themselves superior and the Muslims think that they are superior to Christians and Hindu and the Christians think that they are superior. But actually there is one God and He is for everyone, if we understand that there is one Lord that He is well-wisher of everyone then we will be in peace.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.75

māyā-mūḍhera vākya-śravaṇe tāhāra ajñatā o vimukha-jīva-vañcane duratyayā viṣṇumāyāra atula sāmarthya-darśane hāsya o kṛpokti—

śuni’ māyā-mohitera vākya haridāsa
“ano viṣṇu-māyā” bali’ haila mahā-hāsa

Translation: After hearing the king, who was illusioned by māyā, Haridāsa simply laughed and said, “How wonderfully the illusory energy acts.”

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): Hearing the words of the materially conditioned Mohammedan king, Ṭhākura Haridāsa thought, “Such a statement befits a person who is bewildered by the illusory energy of Lord Viṣṇu.” Since the conditioned souls accept all material ingredients as objects for their sense gratification, they are cheated from realizing the Supreme Lord. The Lord is fully transcendental, and material ingredients are objects of sense gratification for the conditioned souls. Therefore, Haridāsa Ṭhākura realized the uselessness of the Mohammedan king’s words.

Jayapatākā Swami: Human beings are different from animals; human beings have religion and animals don’t. But the illusory energy of the Lord makes people think that their religion is the only way to Kṛṣṇa. so, Haridāsa Ṭhākura realized that this King was totally under material illusion.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.76

balite lāgilā tā’re madhura uttara
“śuna, bāpa, sabārai ekai īśvara

Translation: He then sweetly said to the king, “Listen, dear sir. The Supreme Personality of Godhead of all is one without a second.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Haridāsa Ṭhākura is telling the king, There is only one God above all.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.77

nāma-mātra bheda kare hinduye yavane
paramārthe ‘eka’ kahe korāṇe purāṇe

Translation: The Hindus and Moslems differentiate the Lord only by name, but in spiritual vision the Lord is one. This is confirmed in the Purāṇas and the Koran.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): Still, displaying causeless mercy on the Moslem king, Ṭhākura Haridāsa began to sweetly speak as follows: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is one, eternal, nondual, and the Lord of all living entities. That one Lord is the controller of the Hindus, Moslems, young and old, and male and female. Hindus and non-Hindu Moslems who are ignorant of the science of the Supreme Lord foolishly oppose each other by concocting two different Gods with separate names, but when they give up such discrimination and difference of opinion and indifferently consider their respective religious scriptures, the Purāṇas and the Koran, then they will never find such differences in the Absolute Truth.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Haridāsa Ṭhākura presented the Absolute Truth in sweet words to the Moslem king, and in this way presented the Supreme as He is.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.78

eka śudha nitya-vastu akhaṇḍa avyaya
paripūrṇa haiyā vaise sabāra hṛdaya

Translation: The pure, eternal, nondual, inexhaustible Lord sits in the heart of everyone.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): The Supreme Lord is pure, free from contamination, and untouched by sinful reactions. He is imperishable and ever-existing. The Supreme Lord cannot be divided by secular consideration. The Supreme Lord does not expand or diminish under the control of the time factor. Therefore He resides in the hearts of all living entities, including the Hindus and Moslems, as the undivided Supersoul. The same Lord who is situated in the hearts of the Moslems is situated in the hearts of the Hindus. Being impure as a result of aversion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead from time immemorial and thus under the control of temporary misconceptions based on mundane time, place, and person, the living entities consider themselves the enjoyers and become averse to the service of the Lord due to not understanding the undivided Supersoul as the complete whole.

Rather, they wrongly consider Him a fragmented living entity like themselves. If only they give up their concocted material enjoyment and mental speculation based on the desire for liberation and engage in devotional service, then they will know Him as the only worshipable Lord.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Haridāsa Ṭhākura is presenting the Supreme Personality of Godhead in a non-sectarian way. If this is adopted, then we will have peace in the whole world.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.79

sei prabhu yāre yena laoyāyena mana
sei-mata karma kare sakala bhuvana

Translation: That Lord induces everyone to work in a particular way, and everyone in the entire world acts accordingly.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): Following the whims of their minds, the conditioned souls act according to the inspiration they receive from that undivided, inexhaustible, eternally pure Supreme Lord, who directs them to act. In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.61) it is stated:

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṃ hṛd-deśe ‘rjuna tiṣṭhati
bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So thus, irregardless of our faith on Him, the original eternal spirit soul is guided by the Supersoul, Paramātmā. and he is going from place to place in a body which is like a machine made of the material energy.