20220907 Moslems thought Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura to be a Mohammedan saintly person

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on September 7th, 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! Continuing with the Compilation of the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Today's chapter is entitled is:

Moslems thought Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura to be a Mohammedan saintly person
Under the section: The Glories of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.95

ṭhākurera amogha-vākya-śravaṇe navāvera kājī-samīpe tatprati anuṣṭheya ācaraṇa-jijñāsā—

śuniñā tāhāna vākya mulukera pati
jijñāsila,—“ebe ki karibā ihā-prati?”

Translation: After hearing Haridāsa’s statement, the king asked the Kazi, “Now what will you do with him?”

Jayapatākā Swami: The King wanted to hear, since Haridāsa Ṭhākura was determined to chant the name of God, what did the Kazi want to do. Actually it seems quite reasonable that Haridāsa Ṭhākura wanted to chant the Names of Kṛṣṇa, but the Kazi was determined that he should be punished.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.96

śrautapanthī vaikuṇṭha-śabdaniṣṭha jagad-gurura o tatpracārita satyera bilopa-sādhanārtha tadviruddhe śrutivirodhī asurera hiṁsābhiyāna—

kājī bale,—“bāiśa bājāre beḍi’ māri’
prāṇa laha, āra kichu vicāra nā kari’

Translation: The Kazi replied, “He should be beaten in the twenty-two marketplaces. Take his life in this way. That is my opinion.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): In the end, the atheist Kazi proposed to the king as follows: “Let Haridāsa be beaten in each of the twenty-two marketplaces within Ambuyā-muluka, then he will die. This is the proper punishment for the sin he has incurred by accepting the behavior of the Hindus and chanting the names of the Hindus’ God.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this Kazi was actually an atheist because of anyone chants or says the names of God in any language why should one protest and that to be beaten in twenty market places, one cannot survive even three market places. So his intention was to kill Haridāsa Ṭhākura which is something it is unreasonable that a person is punished for believing in God.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.97

āsurika prayatnera vyarthatā sādhana-pūrvaka tadatikramakārī vaiṣṇavera yogeśvarya darśane asuragaṇera tatpracārita satyera māhātmya-svīkāra —

bāiśa-bājāre mārileha yadi jīye
tabe jāni,—jñānī-saba sāccā kathā kahe”

Translation: “If he survives being beaten in twenty-two marketplaces, then we’ll understand that he’s actually knowledgeable and his words are true.”

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): “If in spite of being beaten in twenty-two marketplaces, Haridāsa remains alive, then we will know that he is truthful and non-duplicitous. And if he dies, then his punishment was proper.”

Jayapatākā Swami: This is the judgement of the Kazi, beat him in twenty market places, if he dies his judgement is true and if he survives then he is true and that is not a reasonable test but because Haridāsa Ṭhākura is protected by Kṛṣṇa so lets see what happens.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.98

vaikuṣṭha śrauta-satyopāsakake hiṁsanārtha asurera prarocana o janabala-prayoga—

pāika-sakale ḍāki’ tarja kari’ kahe
“e-mata māribi,—yena prāṇa nāhi rahe

Translation: The Kazi then called the guards and sternly ordered them, “Beat him in such a way that he will die.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): The word pāika (derived from the word padātika) means “guards” or “servants.”

The servant guards were ordered to severely beat Haridāsa more than needed to make his life air leave the body.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, after the Kazi said if he survives then his words are true he told the executioners to beat him especially hard so that he might die.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.99

vaikuṇṭha śrauta-satyopāsakake asurera jātibuddhi o tadīya deha-hanana-dvārā taduddhāra-kāmanā —

avana haiyā yei hinduyāni kare
prāṇānta haile śeṣe e pāpa haite tare’”

Translation: “If a Moslem who follows the Hindu religion is killed, then he’ll be delivered from that sin.”

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): “The death sentence is proper punishment for Moslems who give up their religion and follow the religion and behavior of the infidel Hindus. There is no sin more grave than for a non-Hindu to accept the Hindu religion; death is the only atonement for such a sin.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Kazi is showing his unacceptable behavior that Haridāsa Ṭhākura has developed faith for the one Lord who is over all religions but this atheist Kazi he wants to kill him for considering it just a punishment. In this way, the world is tearing apart by this kind of fanatic understanding.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.100

satya-virodhī kājīra kathāya satyavirodhī navābera ājñāya asuragaṇera vāstava-satya-droha —

pāpīra vacane sei pāpī ājñā dila
duṣṭa-gaṇe āsi’ haridāsere dharila

Translation: Instigated by the words of the sinful Kazi, the sinful king gave his order and the miscreant guards arrested Haridāsa.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): The sins of those who envy the Vaiṣṇavas are understood to have fully matured. Since the atheist Kazi caused mischief to Haridāsa Ṭhākura, both he and the king were extremely sinful. The guards who arrested Haridāsa Ṭhākura on the order of their sinful masters were also affected by sinful reactions.

Jayapatākā Swami: In the ten offenses to the holy name, offending to a devotee who had surrendered to Holy name is worst offense, these Kazi, the King, the executioners were all implicated with this great offense.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.101

satyapracāra-niṣṭha jagadguruke asuragaṇera bāiśa bājāre ati nirmamabhāve prahāra —

bājāre-bājāre saba beḍi’ duṣṭa-gaṇe
māre se nirjīva kari’ mahā-krodha-mane

Translation: The miscreant guards thereafter took Haridāsa from market to market and mercilessly beat him.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.102

kṛṣṇaikagatacitta prasannātmā akutobhaya ṭhākurera vāhya vyavahārika sukhaduḥkha-smṛti-rāhitya —

‘kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa’ smaraṇa karena haridāsa
nāmānande deha-duḥkha nā haya prakāśa

Translation: Haridāsa simply remembered the name of Kṛṣṇa, and on account of that ecstatic remembrance he felt no pain.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Haridāsa Ṭhākura he was completely transcendental and therefore he simply remembered the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and thus he was in total ecstasy feeling no pain.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.103

sajjana śiromaṇira prati droha-darśane sajjanagaṇera aśeṣa manaḥkleśa—

dekhi haridāsa-dehe atyanta prahāra
sujana-sakala duḥkha bhāvena apāra

Translation: The pious people were greatly distressed to see the excessive beating of Haridāsa.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupāda): Hearing and seeing the severe beating and unjustified oppression of Ṭhākura Haridāsa, the saintly persons became extremely distressed. Some of them openly declared, “By oppressing the Vaiṣṇavas in this way, great inauspiciousness will soon fall on this kingdom. Simply as a result of torturing the Vaiṣṇavas, the world faces various miseries like famine, drought, plague, and war.

Jayapatākā Swami: As Haridāsa Ṭhākura was being beaten, he prayed to Kṛṣṇa that these guards know not what they do, please forgive them. So, because Haridāsa Ṭhākura prayed for their forgiveness so Kṛṣṇa He couldn’t do anything, He was going to kill them with His Sudarsan cakra, instead what He did that He put His back and accepted all the whips.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.104

bhaktadroha phale satyaviśvāsī kāhārao kāhārao mane bhaviṣyate samagra deśa nāśa-viṣaye āśaṅkā—

keha bale,—“ucchana haibe sarva-rājya
se-nimitte sujanere kare hena kārya”

Translation: Someone said, “The entire kingdom will be destroyed because they’re torturing such a saintly person.”

Jayapatākā Swami: The public who were truthful and pious they were criticizing this torturing of Haridāsa Ṭhākura. This is very inauspicious and will bring all kind of bad karma to the kingdom.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.105

satyaviśvāsī kāhārao vā bhaktadrohīra vināśa kāmanā —

rājā-ujīrere keha śāpe krodha-mane
mārāmāri karite o uṭhe kona jane

Translation: Someone angrily cursed the king and the Kazi, and someone else was prepared to fight them.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): As a result of the Moslems’ misbehavior towards Haridāsa Ṭhākura, the sādhūs became most angry and displeased at heart. Some of them mentally cursed the king and his minister, and some sowed the seed of discontent in order to bring about a revolution in the state.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, if one sees a Vaiṣṇava aparādhas, he should protest and this was being done by the pious people.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.106

satyaviśvāsī kāhārao vā pāpi-pāikagaṇera caraṇa-dhāraṇa—

keha giyā yavana-gaṇera pā’ye dhare
“kichu diba, alpa kari’ māraha uhāre”

Translation: Another person fell at the feet of the Moslems and said, “I’ll give you some money if you don’t beat him so hard.”

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): Some of them fell at the feet of the Moslems who were mercilessly beating Haridāsa and begged their mercy to spare his life, and some of them tried to stop the beating with bribes.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, people were seeing the merciless beating of Haridāsa Ṭhākura and they tried to stop it in anyway and this shows the good people how they distressed by seeing this sinful beating of Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.107

bhakta-drohī pāṣaṇḍigaṇera nirghṛṇya kulīśa-kaṭhora nirmama hṛdaya—

tathāpiha dayā nāhi janme pāpi-gaṇe
bājāre-bājāre māre mahā-krodha-mane

Translation: Nevertheless, the sinful guards showed no mercy, and they continued angrily beating Haridāsa from market to market.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the executioners did not slowed down, they beat Haridāsa Ṭhākura mercilessly in every market giving tremendous pain to all the pious people.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.108

kṛṣṇakṛpāya bahiḥpratīta vyavahārika-kleśa-prāpticchale antare parapremānanda-sukha —

kṛṣṇera prasāde haridāsera śarīre
alpa duḥkho nāhi janme eteka prahāre

Translation: By the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, Haridāsa felt no pain whatsoever in spite of such heavy beating.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Haridāsa Ṭhākura being protected by Lord Kṛṣṇa, he felt no pain inspite of merciless beating. He was in transcendental ecstasy of the holy name and He didn’t feel any pain. While the sinful executioners were very angry and were beating with all their might but Haridāsa Ṭhākura was simply absorbed in the love of Godhead.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.109

satyayugīya bhaktarāja-prahlādera dṛṣṭānta o upamā —

asura-prahāre yena prahlāda-vigrahe
kona duḥkha nā jānila,—sarva-śāstre kahe

Translation: The scriptures explain that Prahlāda felt no pain when he was mercilessly beaten by the demons.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): Just as Hiraṇyakaśipu tortured his mahā-bhāgavata son, Prahlāda, in various ways (see Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 7.5.33-53 and 7.8.1-13), the sinful Moslems also began to torture Haridāsa Ṭhākura in various ways. But like Bhakta-rāja Prahlāda, he did not feel a tinge of misery. The quality of tolerance like this is natural for the mahā-bhāgavatas. They are so busy in constantly serving the Supreme Lord that incidents of the external world like torture cannot give them any anxiety. That is why Śrī Gaurasundara has stated in His Śrī Śikṣāṣṭaka that only one who is more tolerant than a tree is able to glorify the topics of Kṛṣṇa, not others. If a practitioner is intolerant, then he will not be able to glorify Hari because we have seen by innumerable cases in this world that persons who are averse to the Supreme Lord have unfairly and unnecessarily attacked the all-auspicious honest preacher engaged in chanting the names of Hari and have tried to close his mouth, which is engaged in glorifying Hari.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, as Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was protected by Lord Kṛṣṇa and didn’t feel the torturing of the demons similarly Lord Jesus Christ, He was punished although He was not sinful. So, preaching the methods of God consciousness, the atheistic demons always are against and so sometimes innocent devotees are put to some horrible treatments, but great souls māha-bhāgavatas like Haridāsa Ṭhākura they survive all these tests.

The sinful society that is intoxicated by pride related with family, caste, wealth, and material education always tries to completely stop glorification of Hari, which is the only Absolute Truth. Even on the dishonest pre of duplicitously joining the saṅkīrtana party in name, they silently oppose chanting the holy names, which are satya-vastu, the Absolute Truth.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.110

asuragaṇera atyadhika prahāra-sattveo haridāsera vāhya-vyavahārika kleśānubhūti-rāhitya —

ei-mata yavanera aśeṣa prahāre
duḥkha nā janmaye haridāsa-ṭhākurere

Translation: In the same way, Haridāsa felt no pain as he was mercilessly beaten by the Moslems.

Jayapatākā Swami: In the same way as Prahlāda Mahārāja felt no pain Haridāsa Ṭhākura felt no pain.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.111

satyasvarūpa śrī-nāmācāryera svayaṁ tritāpaduḥkhānubhava dūre thākuka, tadīya nāma smaraṇei tannivṛtti—

haridāsa-smaraṇe o e duḥkha sarvathā
chiṇḍe sei-kṣaṇe, haridāsera ki kathā

Translation: What to speak of Haridāsa himself, even one who remembers his activities is immediately relieved of all material miseries.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): What to speak of Haridāsa feeling distress due to the severe torture, all the distress of even a person who remembers this incomparable tolerance of Haridāsa will also be completely destroyed.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, torturing by whipping someone in twenty-two market places is inconceivable and by remembering how Haridāsa Ṭhākura tolerated all these abuse one is freed from all miseries of this material world.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.112

nijadrohī satya-virodhi-asuragaṇera kalyāṇa kāmanā

sabe ye-sakala pāpi-gaṇa tāṅ’re māre
tā’ra lāgi’ duḥkha-mātra bhāvena antare

Translation: Rather Haridāsa felt sorry for the sinful guards who were engaged in beating him and he prayed.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): For the benefit and deliverance of those sinful offenders who defy the bhāgavata Vaiṣṇavas, the saintly persons consider them candidates for their mercy and feel concerned within their hearts. Such characteristics are also seen in the lives of Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we see that Haridāsa Ṭhākura had no ill feeling for the executioners rather he prayed for their deliverance.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.113

nijaprabhu kṛṣṇasamīpe satyavirodhī-asuragaṇera satya-drohāparādhera kṣamāpana-prārthanā —

“e-saba jīvere, kṛṣṇa! karaha prasāda
mora drohe nahu e-sabāra aparādha”

Translation: “O Kṛṣṇa! Be merciful on these living entities! Forgive their offense of torturing me.”

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): If one defies the devotees of the Lord, the Supreme Lord becomes greatly displeased. Realizing that the Supreme Lord would be greatly displeased by the torture inflicted on him by the sinful Moslems, Ṭhākura Haridāsa prayed at the lotus feet of the Lord for their benefit. The devotees of the Lord never pray, “Let the minds of the living entities always remain distracted from the service of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa,” as this brings about their ruination. The Vaiṣṇava Ṭhākuras, who are compassionate to all living entities, never become the cause of other’s inauspiciousness.

Jayapatākā Swami: Although the torchers were very sinful, nevertheless Haridāsa Ṭhākura prayed for their deliverance, just like Prahlāda Mahārāja prayed to Narasiṁhadeva for the deliverance of his father.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.114

vaikuṇṭha-nāmācārya śrautasatya kīrtanakārī jagadgurura prati pāṣaṇḍigaṇera niryātana —

ei-mata pāpi-gaṇa nagare-nagare
prahāra karaye haridāsa-ṭhākurere

Translation: In this way the sinful guards beat Haridāsa Ṭhākura in the various marketplaces.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the executioners followed the order of the sinful Kazi and beat Haridāsa Ṭhākura in twenty-two market places.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.115

pāṣaṇḍigaṇera nirdaya prahāra-sattveo ṭhākurera anukṣaṇa kṛṣṇa smṛti-hetu vāhya-vyavahārika-kleśānubhūti-rāhitya

dṛḍha kari’ māre tā’rā prāṇa laibāre
manaḥ-smṛti nāhi haridāsera prahāre

Translation: They beat him severely in order to kill him, but Haridāsa was not even disturbed by their beating.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): Being bewildered by waves of thoughts about the external world, the ordinary conditioned souls accept their own flickering mind as the director of all their activities. But since the devotees of the Lord are constantly engaged in the service of Hari, they do not engage their mind in enjoying external material objects. Rather, they do not retain any memory of any material incident or object. In other words, they have completely forgotten all false bodily identification. It is stated: kṛṣṇa-nāme prīta, jaḍe udāsīna, nirdoṣa ānanda-maya — “They are attached to the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, indifferent to material objects, faultless, and always joyful.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Haridāsa Ṭhākura he was so tolerant, he never felt any negative things towards the executioners, the fact is that because he was totally absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he did not feel anything.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.116

sva-sva-āsurika prayatnera parājaya o vaiphalya-darśane sa-vismaye asuragaṇera cintā o satyasvarūpa nāmācāryera mahā yogaiśvarya darśane tāṅhāke ati martyabuddhi —

vismita haiyā bhāve sakala yavane
“manuṣyera prāṇa ki rahaye e māraṇe?

Translation: The Moslems were astonished to see this, and thought, “Can a human being survive after such a beating?

Jayapatākā Swami: Even the Muslim seeing the way Haridāsa Ṭhākura was beaten and they were amazed that he was still surviving.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.117

dui tina bājāre mārile loka mare
bāiśa-bājāre mārilāṅa ye ihāre

Translation: “If we beat someone in two or three marketplaces, they die. But we’ve beaten him in twenty-two marketplaces.”

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.118

mare o nā, āro dekhi,—hāse kṣaṇe kṣaṇe”
“e puruṣa pīra vā?”—sabei bhāve mane

Translation: They all thought, “He has not died, and moreover we see that he is smiling! Is he a powerful saint?”

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Srila Prabhupada): The word pīra (a Farsi word) refers to a Mohammedan saintly person who knows God or a widely respected great personality with extraordinary powers.

Jayapatākā Swami: Haridāsa Ṭhākura, his miraculous survival of this extremely excessive punishment made everyone respect him.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Moslems thought Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura to be a Mohammedan saintly person
Under the section: The Glories of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura