20221222 Lord Caitanya Instructs Raghunātha and Again Entrusts Him to Svarūpa Dāmodara

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on December 22,2022 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:

Lord Caitanya Instructs Raghunātha and Again Entrusts Him to Svarūpa Dāmodara
Under the section: The Meeting of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.228

tyaktagṛha sādhakera maṅgalārthe āpanāke tadabhimāne raghunāthera svarūpa-samīpe nijakartavya-jijñāsā:—

āra dina raghunātha svarūpa-caraṇe
āpanāra kṛtya lāgi’ kailā nivedane

Translation: The next day, Raghunātha dāsa inquired at the lotus feet of Svarūpa Dāmodara about his duty.

Jayapatākā Swami: Bhagavad-gītā says, tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā everyone should approach a spiritual master and surrender unto him and ask him questions. So, Raghunatha dāsa is asking what is his duty? What should he do?

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.229

“ki lāgi’ chāḍāilā ghara, nā jāni uddeśa
ki mora kartavya, prabhu kara upadeśa”

Translation: “I do not know why I have given up household life,” he said. “What is my duty? Kindly give me instructions.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Raghunatha dāsa was the heir of his rich father and uncle and so he is asking why he had given all that up and what is his duty.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.230

svayaṁ mauna thākiyā raghunāthera svarūpa o govindadvāre prabhura sahita kathāvārttā:—

prabhura āge kathā-mātra nā kahe raghunātha
svarūpa-govinda-dvārā kahāya nija-bāt

Translation: Raghunātha dāsa never even spoke a word before the Lord. Instead, he informed the Lord of his desires through Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī and Govinda.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Raghunatha dāsa informed Svarūpa Dāmodara and Govinda, so in this way if one informs the spiritual master then they can get their answers. Like this, Raghunatha dāsa was getting his answers from Lord Caitanya.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.231

ekadina svarūpera prabhusamīpe raghunāthera kartavya jijñāsā:—

prabhura āge svarūpa nivedilā āra dine
raghunātha nivedaya prabhura caraṇe

Translation: The next day, Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī submitted to Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, “Raghunātha dāsa has this to say at Your lotus feet.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.232

“ki mora kartavya, muñi nā jāni uddeśa
āpani śrī-mukhe more kara upadeśa”

Translation: “I do not know my duty or the goal of my life. Therefore, please personally give me instructions from Your transcendental mouth.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Raghunatha dāsa was being submissive and eager to know what he should do in devotional service so he is asking that humbly.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.233

dāmodara-svarūpake śikṣā-gururūpe varaṇārtha prabhura raghunāthake ādeśa:—

hāsi’ mahāprabhu raghunāthere kahila
“tomāra upadeṣṭā kari’ svarūpere dila

Translation: Smiling, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu told Raghunātha dāsa, “I have already appointed Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī as your instructor.

Jayapatākā Swami: One can only have one dīkṣā-guru but they may have many sīkṣā-gurus, so Lord Caitanya told Raghunatha dāsa he should take Svarūpa Dāmodara as his sīkṣā-guru.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.234

mādhva-gauḍīyera nityaprabhu vā guru śrī-dāmodara-svarūpai samagra sādhya-sādhana-tattvera ācārya:—

‘sādhya’-’sādhana’-tattva śikha iṅhāra sthāne
āmi tata nāhi jāni, iṅho yata jāne

Translation: “You may learn from him what your duty is and how to discharge it. I do not know as much as he.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, He is very humble, He is the knower of everything but He says that this devotee and that devotee know more than Him. This is His humble presentation.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.235

tathāpi āmāra ājñāya śraddhā yadi haya
āmāra ei vākye tabe kariha niścaya

Translation: “Nevertheless, if you want to take instructions from Me with faith and love, you may ascertain your duties from the following words.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.236

prabhukarttṛka rāgānugā-bhaktiyājīra ācāra-varṇana:—

grāmya-kathā nā śunibe, grāmya-vārtā nā kahibe
bhāla nā khāibe āra bhāla nā paribe

Translation: “Do not talk like people in general or hear what they say. You should not eat very palatable food, nor should you dress very nicely.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He had high expectations from those in the renounced order and as He said, don’t talk gossip, don’t wear good clothes, don’t eat very palatable food. But today’s society is so materialistic. Śrīla Prabhupāda went to a bank in Kolkata to see his account, he had an account there and the doorkeeper stopped him and said, ‘no beggars’. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, ‘I have an account here, I want to see the Manager.’ That’s where he said, I don’t go anywhere without devotees. In the present world we have to eat Kṛṣṇa-prasāda, we have to wear clean and presentable clothing. So five hundred years ago, sādhus could do much more austerity. Neither can we imitate them, if we do, then we would shock the society. So we have to dress like a gentleman, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura he was presenting that.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.237

amānī mānada hañā kṛṣṇa-nāma sadā la’be
vraje rādhā-kṛṣṇa-sevā mānase karibe

Translation: “Do not expect honor, but offer all respect to others. Always chant the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and within your mind render service to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana.

Purport: Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya that when a man and woman are married, they beget children and are thus entangled in family life. Talk concerning such family life is called grāmya-kathā. A person in the renounced order never indulges in either hearing or talking about such subjects. He should not eat palatable dishes, since that is unfit for a person in the renounced order. He should show all respect to others, but should not expect respect for himself. In this way, one should chant the holy name of the Lord and think of how to serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana.

Jayapatākā Swami: In Māyāpur, in 1971 Śrīdhara Swami came with a brand new Purī rolling machine. It seemed like a high-tech thing. We always rolled Purīs by hand, and this one you could just press and the puri would be made. So, we told him to try it out, so we were sitting around him and he was pressing the purī and frying them in ghee and giving it to us. We had date gur, we were taking the puris with date gur. Śrīla Prabhupāda told me over, and said, 'this is not sannyāsa life’ so we have to be very careful what we are doing.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.238

ei ta’ saṅkṣepe āmi kailuṅ upadeśa
svarūpera ṭhāñi ihāra pāibe viśeṣa

Translation: “I have briefly given you My instructions. Now you will get all details about them from Svarūpa Dāmodara.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, for the second time Raghunatha dāsa was handed over to Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī to receive instructions from him.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.239

padyāvalīte dhṛta śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanyacandrokta śikṣāṣṭakera 3ya śloka—

tṛṇād api su-nīcena taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

Translation: “One who thinks himself lower than grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor but is always prepared to give respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone gave me a book by Dale Carnegie, ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ and the whole book was nothing but this process mentioned by Lord Caitanya. Praise everybody and don’t expect any praises for oneself, you will be loved by everybody.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.240

raghunāthera prabhupāda-vandana, prabhura āliṅgana:—

eta śuni’ raghunātha vandilā caraṇa
mahāprabhu kailā tāṅre kṛpā-āliṅgana

Translation: Having heard this, Raghunātha dāsa offered prayers at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and the Lord, out of great mercy, embraced him.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, having been embraced by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was certainly a special mercy. Raghunatha dāsa was given this merciful embrace because of Lord Caitanya's causeless mercy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.241

raghunāthera dāmodara-svarūpānugatye gaura-kṛṣṇera antaraṅga-sevā:—

punaḥ samarpilā tāṅre svarūpera sthāne
‘antaraṅga-sevā’ kare svarūpera sane

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu again entrusted him to Svarūpa Dāmodara. Thus Raghunātha dāsa rendered very confidential service with Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī.

Purport: Antaraṅga-sevā refers to service performed in one’s spiritual body. Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī was formerly Lalitādevī. Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, who was among his assistants, now also began to serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa within his mind.

Jayapatākā Swami: Raghunatha dāsa Gosvāmī was serving Lord Caitanya who is the combined form of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, he was practically helping Svarūpa Dāmodara and in his mind he was serving Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.242

prativarṣera nyāya ratha-yātrāra pūrve gauḍīya-bhaktagaṇera purīte āgamana:—

hena-kāle āilā saba gauḍera bhakta-gaṇa
pūrvavat prabhu sabāya karilā milana

Translation: At this time, all the devotees from Bengal arrived, and, as previously, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu met them with great feeling.

Jayapatākā Swami: Previously it is being described about this meeting between Bengal devotees and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There was an intense exchange of devotional love.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.243

sakala-bhakta-saṅge guṇḍicā-mārjana o ṭoṭāya mahotsava:—

sabā lañā kailā prabhu guṇḍicā-mārjana
sabā lañā kailā prabhu vanya-bhojana

Translation: As He had previously done, He cleansed the Guṇḍicā temple and held a picnic feast in the garden with the devotees.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Guṇḍicā-mārjana pastime was previously described, that was an annual affair, taking Jagannātha-prasāda as a picnic in the garden that was also held. In this way Lord Caitanya was very accessible to His devotees.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.244

sagaṇa prabhura rathāgre narttana; raghunāthera vismaya:—

ratha-yātrāya sabā lañā karilā nartana
dekhi’ raghunāthera camatkāra haila mana

Translation: The Lord again danced with the devotees during the Ratha-yātrā festival. Seeing this, Raghunātha dāsa was struck with wonder.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya's dancing was literally out of this world, and if one sees it, it cannot be compared with anything else. When Raghunatha dāsa saw this he was struck with wonder.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 6.245

raghunāthera bhaktapada-vandana, advaitera kṛpā-lābha:—

raghunātha-dāsa yabe sabāre mililā
advaita-ācārya tāṅre bahu kṛpā kailā

Translation: When Raghunātha dāsa met all the devotees, Advaita Ācārya showed him great mercy.

Jayapatākā Swami: Raghunatha dāsa had met Lord Caitanya in Śāntipura which is the abode of Advaita Gosāñi. Advaita Gosāñi here offered him special mercy.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Lord Caitanya Instructs Raghunātha and Again Entrusts Him to Svarūpa Dāmodara
Under the section: The Meeting of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī