20221006 Serpent devotee of Viṣṇu speaks about the glories of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Part 1

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation

By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 6^th October 2022 in

Kulalampur, Malyasia

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Introduction: Today we are continuing reading for the compilation of Caitanya līlā book, the chapter entitled is:

Serpent devotee of Viṣṇu speaks about the glories of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Part 1

Under the section: The Glories of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.222

vaiṣṇava-nāgarājāviṣṭa ḍaṅka-kartṛka haridāsera aprākṛta prema-mudrā mahimā-kīrtana—

tabe sei ḍaṅka-mukhe viṣṇu-bhakta nāga
kahite lāgilā haridāsera prabhāva

Translation: Then the serpent devotee of Viṣṇu spoke through the mouth of the snake charmer about the glories of Haridāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the serpent devotee of Viṣṇu spoke through the mouth of the snake charmer and he was saying the glories of Haridāsa Ṭhākura. So, every devotee could appreciate the qualities of Haridāsa Ṭhākura even the snake devotee.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.223

kaitava o akaitavera gūḍha bheda-rahasya varṇane ḍaṅkera pratijñā

“tomarā ye jijñāsilā,—e baḍa rahasya
yadyapi akathya, tabu kahimu avaśya

Translation: “You have asked Me about a mysterious subject. Although it is confidential, I must disclose it.

Purport: The audience asked the snake charmer, “O snake charmer, why did you stand to the side with folded hands when Haridāsa Ṭhākura fell unconscious in ecstatic love of God after his uncommon dancing? And why did you mercilessly beat this prākṛta-sahajiyā when he fell unconscious while exhibiting his artificial sentiments?” In reply, Anantadeva, who was situated within the body of the snake charmer, spoke to everyone through the mouth of the snake charmer, “The subject matter that you have inquired about is very mysterious and indescribable. Though it is most confidential, I will certainly explain everything to you in detail.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the audience wanted to know these things and how a devotee understands these sentiments are real or not will be revealed by Anantadeva. When we first came to India we went to one person’s house, then he started in the middle of the program to imitate as if Kṛṣṇa had come, ‘oh my dear Kṛṣṇa, you have come!” but the devotees were not impressed. So gradually they kind of walked out and when the devotees walked out he was no longer interested. They did not beat him like this (as the snake charmer) but he was only inspired to act as if Kṛṣṇa had come only when the audience was there. When the audience left he stopped acting. If Kṛṣṇa had really come he would not care whether the audience were there or not. So we have the prākṛta-sahajiyās  who display these so-called cult-exercises

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.224

haridāsera aprākṛta bhāva-mudrā o akaitava kṛṣṇapremāveśa-janya vaiṣṇavapratiṣṭhā-lābha-darśane uhāke svabhogya jaḍa-pratiṣṭhājñāne tadanucikīrṣubhaṇḍa, dhūrta, kapaṭa, vañcaka prākṛta sahajiyāra bhūpatana—

haridāsa-ṭhākurera dekhiyā āveśa
tomarā ye bhakti baḍa karilā viśeṣa

Translation: “You all felt great reverence for Haridāsa when you saw his ecstatic dance.

Jayapatākā Swami: Since Haridāsa Ṭhākura ecstatic dance was naturally and pure everyone became inspired, became very reverential so this is the natural outcome of real spiritual ecstasy.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.225

tāhā dekhi’ o-brāhmaṇa ḍhāṅgāti kariyā
paḍilā mātsarya-buddhye āchāḍa khāiyā

Translation: “Seeing this, that pseudo brāhmaṇa fell to the ground in an envious imitation of Haridāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Haridāsa Ṭhākura feeling real ecstasy he fell unconscious. But the pseudo brāhmaṇa, he became envious why everyone was worshipping this non-brāhmaṇa. So he imitated Haridāsa Ṭhākura out of his envy to get people to worship him. That is why the snake charmer beat him, he could recognize that this was imitation.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.226

īrṣā-vaśe ḍaṅkādhiṣṭhita mahānāgera alaukikanṛtya bhaṅga karite kṣudra martya prākṛta sahajiyāra asāmarthya—

āmāra nṛtya-sukha bhaṅga karibāre
mātsarya-buddhye kon jane śakti dhare?

Translation: “Who has the power to enviously disturb the pleasure of My dancing?

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Anantadeva was enjoying the spiritual ecstatic dancing of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, but this pseudo -brāhmaṇa out of envy, he imitated Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he disturbed Anantadeva's transcendental pleasure.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.227

aprākṛta harijana-saha prakṛtijanera sāmyabuddhi-mūle vyartha pratidvanditā-phale prākṛta sahajiyāra bhāgye prahāra lābha—

haridāsa-saṅge sparddhā mithyā kari’ kare
ataeva śāsti bahu kariluṅ uhāre

Translation: “Out of audacity, he tried to imitate Haridāsa, and therefore I punished him accordingly.

Purport: “Haridāsa Ṭhākura is a nonduplicitous, transcendental, spontaneous, pure devotee of the Lord, whereas this pseudo brāhmaṇa is an abominable prākṛta-sahajiyā. Artificial imitation born of false rivalry with nonduplicitous pure devotees is the fraudulent drama of hypocritical sahajiyās. Since this prākṛta-sahajiyā tried to artificially imitate the activities of a mahā-bhāgavata Vaiṣṇava Ṭhākura out of envy and hate and with a desire to cheaply acquire mundane fame from the foolish persons ignorant of the truth, I have sufficiently punished him.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Anantadeva is explaining through the mouth of the snake charmer how the hatred and enviousness of the brāhmaṇa brought the result of being beaten. So, we should be very sincere in our practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we cannot cheat Kṛṣṇa. He knows everything.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.228

jaḍapratiṣṭhā-saṁgrahārtha kṛtrima anukaraṇa-ceṣṭā—

“baḍa loka kari’ loka jānuka āmāre”
āpanāre prakaṭāi dharma-karma kare

Translation: “He presented himself as an important person by imitating some religious sentiments.

Purport: Like this so-called brāhmaṇa, many atheistic hypocrites with the ill-motive, “People will respect me as ’great’ or ’a devotee,’” exhibit various reflections of artificial emotions in order to cheat people. In this regard, one should discuss the definitions of baka-vrata and vaiḍāla-vrata as found in the following verses:

adho-dṛṣṭir naikṛtikaḥ
svārtha-sādhana-tatparaḥ
śaṭho mithyā-vinītaś ca
baka-vrata-paro dvijaḥ

“An imposter brāhmaṇa, the follower of baka-vrata, ’the vow of the duck,’ is he who always looks down in order to make a show of humility, who is cruel, and who pretends to be submissive.

dharma-dhvajī sadā lubdhaś
chādmiko loka-dambhakaḥ
vaiḍāla-vratiko jñeyo

hiṁsra-sarvābhisandhikaḥ

“One should know that the dharma-dhvajī (who makes a false show of being religious), the person who always desires other’s wealth, the duplicitous person, the person who cheats, the envious person, and the person who blasphemes are hypocritical brāhmaṇas who follow vaiḍāla-vratī, ’the vow of a cat.’”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, baka-vrata and vaiḍāla-vratī, are explained here. So, people who cheat in order to receive some material benefit, lābha, pratiṣṭha and pūjā they are actually like ducks or cats and their so-called humility and so called ecstasy is simply a matter of cheating people.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.229

jaḍāhaṅkāra o pratiṣṭhāśā-rūpa kaitava kṛṣṇaprītira abhāva —

e-sakala dāmbhikera kṛṣṇe prīti nāi
akaitava haile se kṛṣṇa-bhakti pāi

Translation: “Actually that arrogant and deceitful brāhmaṇa has no love for Kṛṣṇa. To achieve the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa one has to be free from duplicity.

Purport: It is to be understood that those who artificially imitate the transcendental activities of the mahā-bhāgavata Vaiṣṇava with the desire to accumulate mundane fame as a devotee have no attitude of service to the lotus feet of the Lord. Although in order to gratify their own material senses they proudly accept the dress of devotees, their artificial external exhibition of devotional symptoms is simply meant to cheat people. Pure devotion to Kṛṣṇa is present wherever the symptoms of dharma-dhvajīs, vaiḍāla-vratīs, and baka-vratīs are absent, and pride, duplicity, and extraneous motives are present wherever such faults are found.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this remind me of Śrīla Prabhupāda's advice,  we should not drink water under water on a fast day. Today is Ekādaśī, some people observe nirjala-ekādaśī. So, the general principle is no grain, dal or cereal but if one is doing nirjala fast, when they would dip into the river and take their bath, they think when no one is watching, I can drink water. They come out as if they are very austere but Kṛṣṇa is there as the Supersoul, He knows they are cheating. So, like this if someone cheats, they don’t get spiritual blessings, when one is sincere then naturally Kṛṣṇa is pleased.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.230

bhaktarāja haridāsera akaitava nṛtya darśane anartha nivṛtti —

ei ye dekhilā,—nācilena haridāsa
o-nṛtya dekhile sarva-bandha haya nāśa

Translation: “That which you have seen – the dance that Haridāsa did – seeing that dancing destroys all bondage.

Jayapatākā Swami: Haridāsa Ṭhākura is described here as bhaktarāja, the king of devotees, his pure dancing is described as anartha nivṛtti, taking away all the unwanted contamination Seeing that dancing frees one from all bondage.

In 1969 or something Śrīla Prabhupāda was dancing in Golden beach Park Ratha-yātrā, and the people were very ecstatic to see Śrīla Prabhupāda dancing and they were also dancing.  Śrīla Prabhupāda at the end of the Rath-yātrā came to the car, he asked the driver, “Did you see Nitāi-Gaura dancing, how beautiful They were!” If we see the real dancing of the Lord and His devotees, we get purified, we get freed from bondage. So, the so-called imitation ecstasy of the prākṛta-sahajiyā has no positive effect.

So, like this in Māyāpur we regularly give class, we compile from all the books, Caitanya-bhāgavata, Caitanya-maṅgala, Murāri Gupta kaḍacā, about nine different books, Caitanya Candrodaya Nāṭaka. So here today we are we are reading from Caitanya-bhāgavata, this is glorifying Haridāsa Ṭhākura. So, we are already at the end of the book. It is just like Kṛṣṇa book,  we want to have the book that gives all the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. But the purports by Śrīla Prabhupāda and His Gurudeva, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura we are putting them as it is. So, that people just like Kṛṣṇa book, they can read the Caitanya Book.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Serpent devotee of Viṣṇu speaks about the glories of Haridāsa Ṭhākura, Part 1

Under the section: The Glories of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura

Transcribed and Verified by JPS Archives 27^th October 2022