20221209 Svarūpa Dāmodara Points Out the Offense of the Poet and Provides Him the Remedy, Part 2

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on December 09th,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! Haribol! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book, today's chapter is entitled as:

Svarūpa Dāmodara Points Out the Offense of the Poet and Provides Him the Remedy, [Part 2]
Under the section: How Pradyumna Miśra Received Instructions from Rāmānanda Rāya

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.122

advayajñāna viṣṇura nāma, vigraha o svarūpa—ekaiḥ—

īśvarera nāhi kabhu deha-dehi-bheda
svarūpa, deha,—cid-ānanda, nāhika vibheda

Translation: “At no time is there a distinction between the body and the soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His personal identity and His body are made of blissful spiritual energy. There is no distinction between them.

Purport: Lord Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, is advaya-jñāna; in other words, there is no distinction between His body and His soul, for His existence is completely spiritual. According to the verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam beginning with the words vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam (1.2.11), the Absolute Truth is always to be understood from three angles of vision as Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān. Unlike the objects of the material world, however, the Absolute Truth is always one and always the same. Thus there is no distinction between His body and His soul. His form, name, attributes and pastimes, therefore, are completely distinct from those of the material world. One should know perfectly well that there is no difference between the body and the soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one conceives of a distinction between His body and His soul, one is immediately conditioned by material nature. Because a person in the material world makes such distinctions, he is called baddha-jīva, a conditioned soul.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always non-different from His body and Soul. He is completely sac-cid-ānanda spiritual. We, in the material world, fragmental living entities are distinct from their bodies, they may be born in a male body or female body, and then they change their body from life to life. But in the spiritual world there is no birth and death, and there is no change of body. So, the Supreme Lord is completely spiritual and therefore His soul, His body all are one. When we chant the name of the Lord that’s spiritual, His pastimes are spiritual and everything in relation to Kṛṣṇa is spiritual.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.123

laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta (1.5.342)-dhṛta kaurma-vacana—
“deha-dehi-vibhāgo ’yaṁ [paragraph] neśvare vidyate kvacit”

Translation: “There is no distinction between the body and the soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at any time.’

This quotation, which is included in the Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta (1.5.342), is from the Kūrma Purāṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, all the Purāṇas are written by Vyāsadevā therefore this distinction of the Lord is mentioned in the Smṛti Śāstra.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.124-125

śrīmad-bhāgavate (3.9.3-4)—

nātaḥ paraṁ parama yad bhavataḥ svarūpam
ānanda-mātram avikalpam aviddha-varcaḥ

Translation: “O my Lord, I do not see a form superior to Your present form of eternal bliss and knowledge. In Your impersonal Brahman effulgence in the spiritual sky, there is no occasional change and no deterioration of internal potency. I surrender unto You because, whereas I am proud of my material body and senses, Your Lordship is the cause of the cosmic manifestation. Yet You are untouched by matter.

Purport: “This present form, or any transcendental form expanded by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is equally auspicious for all the universes. Since You have manifested this eternal personal form, upon whom Your devotees meditate, I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You. Those who are destined to be dispatched to the path of hell neglect Your personal form because of speculating on material topics.’

These verses from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.9.3-4) were spoken by Lord Brahmā.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Purāṇa also mentions similar truth that the Lord, His Body and His soul are spiritual and there is no difference.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.126

parameśvara viṣṇu o baśya-jīve ‘bheda’

kāhāṅ ‘pūrṇānandaiśvarya’ kṛṣṇa ‘māyeśvara’!
kāhāṅ ‘kṣudra’ jīva ‘duḥkhī’, ‘māyāra kiṅkara’!

Translation: “Whereas Kṛṣṇa, the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is full of transcendental bliss, possesses all six spiritual opulences in full, and is the master of the material energy, the small conditioned soul, who is always unhappy, is the servant of the material energy.

Purport: The living entity is an ever-conditioned servant of the material energy, whereas Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the master of the material energy. How, then, could they be on an equal level? There can be no comparison between them. His Lordship is always in a happy condition of transcendental bliss, whereas the conditioned soul is always unhappy because of his contact with the material energy. The Supreme Lord controls the material energy, and the material energy controls the conditioned souls. There is therefore no comparison between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the ordinary living entities.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the living entities are either nitya-muktās or nitya-baddhas but the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always on a different level. He possesses all the six opulences and He is completely spiritual. He controls the material nature and He is not under the control of the material nature as are the living entities in this material world.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.127

pramāṇaḥ—bhagavat-sandarbhe-dhṛta sarvajñasūktavākya, bhāḥ 1.7.6 ślokera ṭīkāya śrīdhara-svāmīra uddhṛta śrī-viṣṇu-svāmivākya—

Translation: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller, is always full of transcendental bliss and is accompanied by the potencies known as hlādinī and saṁvit. The conditioned soul, however, is always covered by ignorance and embarrassed by the threefold miseries of life. Thus he is a treasure house of all kinds of tribulations.”

Purport: This verse is found in Śrīdhara Svāmī’s Bhāvārtha-dīpikā (1.7.6), wherein he quotes Śrī Viṣṇu Svāmī.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the living entity suffers the threefold tribulations - ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika and ādhidaivika, troubles from the body, troubles from the other entities and troubles from nature.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.128

sakalera vismayaḥ—

śuni’ sabhā-sadera citte haila camatkāra
‘satya kahe gosāñi, duṅhāra kariyāche tiraskāra’

Translation: Hearing this explanation, all the members of the assembly were struck with wonder. “Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī has spoken the real truth,” they admitted. “The brāhmaṇa from Bengal has committed an offense by wrongly describing Lord Jagannātha and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, all the devotees who praised the poetry of the brāhmaṇa from Bengal, now having heard the explanation of Svarūpa Dāmodara they admitted that his explanation was correct and the brāhmaṇa had committed offense.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.129

akṣajajñānī, prākṛta kavira lajjā, bhaya o vismayaḥ—

śuniyā kavira haila lajjā, bhaya, vismaya
haṁsa-madhye baka yaiche kichu nāhi kaya

Translation: When the Bengali poet heard this chastisement from Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, he was ashamed, fearful and astonished. Indeed, being like a duck in a society of white swans, he could not say anything.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.130

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the poet from Bengal he was very ashamed and he could not say anything. But Svarūpa Dāmodara was very merciful so he may give some solution for the brāhmaṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.130

mahāvadānya śrī-svarūpera amandodayā dayāḥ—

tāra duḥkha dekhi, svarūpa sadaya-hṛdaya
upadeśa kailā tāre yaiche ‘hita’ haya

Translation: Seeing the poet’s unhappiness, Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, who was naturally very kindhearted, advised him so that he could derive some benefit.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.131

tadupalakṣe sarvajīvera prati vaiṣṇavācārya abhinna-gaura śrī-svarūpera carama hitopadeśaḥ—

“yāha, bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera sthāne
ekānta āśraya kara caitanya-caraṇe

Translation: “If you want to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,” he said, “you must approach a self-realized Vaiṣṇava and hear from him. You can do this when you have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.”

Purport: Herein Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī instructs the poet from Bengal to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a pure Vaiṣṇava and learn from him. In India especially, there is now a class of professional Bhāgavatam readers whose means of livelihood is to go from village to village, town to town, reading Bhāgavatam and collecting dakṣiṇā, or rewards, in the form of money or goods, like umbrellas, cloth and fruit. Thus there is now a system of Bhāgavata business, with recitations called bhāgavata-saptāha that continue for one week, although this is not mentioned in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Nowhere does Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam say that the Bhāgavatam should be heard for one week from professionals. Rather, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.17) says, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ: one should regularly hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a self-realized Vaiṣṇava. By such hearing, one becomes pious: hṛdy antaḥ-stho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām. As one thus hears the Bhāgavatam regularly and sincerely, his heart is purified of all material contamination:

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā
bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī

“By regularly hearing the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.” (Bhāg. 1.2.18)

This is the proper process, but people are accustomed to being misled by professional Bhāgavatam reciters. Therefore Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī herein advises that one should not hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from professional reciters. Instead, one must hear and learn the Bhāgavatam from a self-realized Vaiṣṇava. Sometimes it is seen that when a Māyāvādī sannyāsī reads the Bhāgavatam, flocks of men go to hear jugglery of words that cannot awaken their dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes people go to see professional dramas and offer food and money to the players, who are expert at collecting these offerings very nicely. The result is that the members of the audience remain in the same position of gṛham andha-kūpam, family affection, and do not awaken their love for Kṛṣṇa.

In the Bhāgavatam (7.5.30), it is said,

matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho ’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām

the gṛha-vratas, those who are determined to continue following the materialistic way of life, will never awaken their dormant love of Kṛṣṇa, for they hear the Bhāgavatam only to solidify their position in household life and to be happy in family affairs and sex. Condemning this process of hearing the Bhāgavatam from professionals, Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī says,

yāha, bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera sthāne

“To understand the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you must approach a self-realized Vaiṣṇava.”

One should rigidly avoid hearing the Bhāgavatam from a Māyāvādī or other nondevotee who simply performs a grammatical jugglery of words to twist some meaning from the text, collect money from the innocent public, and thus keep people in darkness.

Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī strictly prohibits the behavior of the materialistic so-called hearers of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Instead of awakening real love for Kṛṣṇa, such hearers of the Bhāgavatam become more and more attached to household affairs and sex life (yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham). One should hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a person who has no connection with material activities, or, in other words, from a paramahaṁsa Vaiṣṇava, one who has achieved the highest stage of sannyāsa. This, of course, is not possible unless one takes shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is understandable only for one who can follow in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda in his lecture in 1973 in London, he requested that his gṛhasthas followers should also become paramahaṁsas.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.132

caitanyabhakta vā śuddhaciddhṛttira anuśīlanakārīra saṅgaphalei śuddha-bhaktisiddhānta-jñāna-lābhaḥ—

caitanyera bhakta-gaṇera nitya kara ‘saṅga’
tabe ta’ jānibā siddhānta-samudra-taraṅga

Translation: Svarūpa Dāmodara continued, “Associate regularly with the devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, for then only will you understand the waves of the ocean of devotional service.

Purport: It is clearly to be understood in this connection that the followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s way of devotional service are eternal associates of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and perfect knowers of the Absolute Truth. If one immediately follows the principles of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by associating with His devotees, lusty desires for material enjoyment will vanish from one’s heart. Then one will be able to understand the meaning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the purpose of listening to it. Otherwise such understanding is impossible.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya appeared from the spiritual world just to give the conditioned souls this greatest of all gifts - pure love for Lord Kṛṣṇa. So Svarūpa Dāmodara Mahārāja is recommending that everyone should take shelter of Lord Caitanya's Lotus feet.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.133

bhaktisiddhānta-jñānai vidyā o pāṇḍityera phalaḥ—

tabe ta' pāṇḍitya tomāra ha-ibe saphala
kṛṣṇera svarūpa-līlā varṇibā nirmala

Translation: “Only if you follow the principles of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His devotees will your learning be successful. Then you will be able to write about the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa without material contamination.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, actually realizing the true spiritual nature of Kṛṣṇa's and His pastimes will automatically come if we follow this advice of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 5.134

ei śloka kariyācha pāñā santoṣa
tomāra hṛdayera arthe duṅhāya lāge ‘doṣa’

Translation: “You have composed this introductory verse to your great satisfaction, but the meaning you have expressed is contaminated by offenses to both Lord Jagannātha and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the poet from Bengal he wanted to offer a nice poetry for Lord Caitanya, but because he did not know the proper philosophy he ended up committing offences, but now he has the way to correct it.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Svarūpa Dāmodara Points Out the Offense of the Poet and Provides Him the Remedy, Part 2
Under the section: How Pradyumna Miśra Received Instructions from Rāmānanda Rāya