20230203 The Boat Festival of Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa, and Govinda Part 2

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on February 3rd, 2023 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 10.46

gauḍīya-bhaktagaṇera kīrtana-gāna, bhaktagaṇera krandana

gauḍīyā-sampradāya saba karena kīrtana
prabhura milane uṭhe premera krandana

Translation: The Gauḍīya-sampradāya, consisting of all the devotees from Bengal, began congregational chanting. When they met the Lord, they began to cry loudly in ecstatic love.

Jayapatākā Swami: So the devotees of Bengal, the Gauḍīya-sampradāya, when they came from Bengal to Jagannātha Purī; they met Lord Caitanya they felt very blissful and cried in ecstasy.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 10.47

bhaktagaṇasaha govindadevera jalakrīḍāḥ —

jala-krīḍā, vādya, gīta, nartana, kīrtana
mahā-kolāhala tīre, salile khelana

Translation: Because of the pastimes in the water, there was great jubilation on the shore, with music, singing, chanting and dancing creating a tumultuous sound.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya’s devotees would naturally create a festival, chanting, dancing, making loud tumultuous sounds, music and their process of self-realization is actually a festival.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 10.48

kīrtana o krandana-dhvanira ekatra miśraṇontha mahādhvani

gauḍīyā-saṅkīrtane āra rodana miliyā
mahā-kolāhala haila brahmāṇḍa bhariyā

Translation: Indeed, the chanting and crying of the Gauḍīyā Vaiṣṇavas mixed and created a tumultuous sound vibration that filled the entire universe.

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol! The sound of the devotees chanting and crying filled the whole universe, because this is a transcendental sound. Therefore, the sound was not limited by space. It could travel far and wide.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.102

sei samaya śrī-jagannātha o śrī-balarāmera candana-yātrā-upalakṣe narendre vihārārtha āgamana—

hena-kāle rāma-kṛṣṇa śrī-yātrā govinda
jala-keli karibāre āilā narendra

Translation: At that time Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa, and Govinda, the vijaya-vigraha, arrived at Narendra-sarovara for performing water sports.

Purport: In the Skanda Purāṇa (Utkala-khaṇḍa, Chapter 29) it is stated:

“Smear fragrant sandalwood paste on My body on the day of Akṣaya-tṛtīyā during the waxing moon in the month of Vaiśākha.”

Śrī Puruṣottama deva ordered His servant, the exalted Vaiṣṇava Śrī Indradyumna deva, to smear fragrant sandalwood paste on His body on the day of Akṣaya-tṛtīyā during the waxing moon in the month of Vaiśākha. Following this, even today, Lord Jagannātha’s vijaya-vigraha, Śrī Madana-mohana, is brought on a palanquin from the temple to Śrī Narendra-sarovara every day from Akṣaya-tṛtīyā in Vaiśākha up to the eighth day of the waning moon in Jyaiṣṭha. Śrī Madana-mohana deva enjoys these boat pastimes in the lake along with His ministers headed by Lokanātha and Mahādeva. Since the Candana-yātrā festival of Śrī Madana-mohana is held in Śrī Narendra-sarovara, the lake is also called Candana-pukura.

The phrase śrī-yātrā refers to Candana-yātrā.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, every day the Deity is covered with candana or sandalwood paste. In the evening the Deity goes to the lake and performs His pastime around the lake in a boat. In Māyāpur ISKCON, we also observe this festival.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.103

haridhvani o vādyadhvanira sammelana—

hari-dhvani kolāhala mṛdaṅga-kāhāla
śaṅkha, bherī, jayaḍhāka bājaye viśāla

Translation: There was a tumultuous vibration of the chanting of the Lord’s holy names mixed with the sounds of mṛdaṅgas, conchshells, kettledrums, and other large drums.

Jayapatākā Swami: People were chanting, sometime they would chant “Haribol!”

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.104

chatrapatākā-cāmarādira śobhā—

sahasra sahasra chatra patākā cāmara
catur-dike śobhā kare parama sundara

Jayapatākā Swami: From every direction the scene was beautified with thousands and thousands of umbrellas, flags, and cāmaras in all directions, thus creating a transcendental scene of beauty.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.105

kevala mahā jayajaya śabda o mahā-haridhvani—

mahā-jaya-jaya-śabda, mahā-hari-dhvani
ihā bai āra kona śabda nāhi śuni

Jayapatākā Swami: No other sound could be heard other than the loud chanting of, “Jaya! Jaya!” and “Haribol! Haribol!”

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.106

rāma-kṛṣṇa śrī-govinda mahā-kutūhale
uttarilā āsi’ sabe narendrera kūle

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa and Sri Govinda, the arcā-vigraha with great festivity, They brought to the bank of Narendra-sarovara with great pomp.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.107

śrī-jagannātha-goṣṭhī o śrī-caitanya-goṣṭhīra ekatra sammelana—

jagannātha-goṣṭhīśrī-caitanya-goṣṭhī-sane
miśāilā tānā o bhulilā-saṅkīrtane

Translation: The associates of Lord Jagannātha and the associates of Lord Caitanya mixed together, and everyone forgot themselves in the ecstasy of saṅkīrtana.

Jayapatākā Swami: So the Deities were carried on a palanquin from Jagannatha temple to the Narendra-sarovara accompanied with a loud kīrtana. So, the servants of Lord Jagannātha and the servants of Lord Caitanya all mixed together and they were in ecstasy of mahā-saṅkīrtana, in this way Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana movement was predominating in all the ceremonies.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.108

dui goṣṭhīra milane mūrtimāna vaikuṇṭhānanda—

dui goṣṭhī eka hai’ ki haila ānanda
ki vaikuṇṭha-sukha āsi’ haila mūrtimanta

Jayapatākā Swami: Such transcendental happiness was experienced by the two groups joining together that it seemed as if the transcendental happiness of Vaikuṇṭha, the spiritual world had appeared there.

So this shows how the happiness in chanting and serving Lord Kṛṣṇa is from the spiritual world and is not due to this material happiness. Lord Caitanya wanted to give the fallen souls a chance to experience transcendental happiness. Unfortunately, people think that happiness is dependent on intoxication and such diversions. But actually, the chanting and dancing in these festivities around Kṛṣṇa consciousness give complete satisfaction of the soul.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.109

catur-dike lokera ānanda-anta nāi
saba karena karāyena caitanya-gosāñi

Jayapatākā Swami: The people in the four direction experienced unlimited endless happiness and Lord Caitanya Gosāñi personally distributed that happiness.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.110

rāmakṛṣṇa śrī-govindera jalavihārārtha naukāya vijaya o bhaktagaṇera cāmara vyajana—

rāma-kṛṣṇa śrī-govinda uṭhilā naukāya
catur-dike bhakta-gaṇa cāmara ḍhulāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa, and Śrī Govinda were then raised and placed in a boat, while devotees on all sides fanned Them with cāmaras.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Antya-khaṇḍa 8.111

rāma-kṛṣṇa śrī-govinda naukāya vijaya
dekhiyā santoṣa śrī-gaurāṅga mahāśaya

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga Mahāśaya felt satisfied on seeing the boat festival of Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa, and Śrī Govinda.

Taking Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Śrī Govinda on a boat around Narendra-sarovara (Narendra lake) was something that satisfied all the devotees. When you serve Kṛṣṇa then everyone feels very blissful. At the end of the festival, then we also make prasāda available. Who likes prasāda here?

Thus ends the chapter entitled, The Boat Festival of Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa, and Govinda
Under the section: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Accepts Prasādam from His Devotees

This morning I could only tell some of the pastimes of Lord Nityānanda. Actually, after Nityānanda Prabhu accepted the gṛhastha-āśrama, then after Śrī Abhirāma Ṭhākura had bowed down to many of His different children, they all passed away. So, Abhirāma said, they are not really to be the children of Lord Nityānanda. Then Nityānanda had two children: one was the incarnation of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, Paramātmā and His name is Vīracandra Prabhu. And the one was the incarnation of Mother Ganges. These two survived the praṇāmas, the obeisances of Abhirāma Ṭhākura. They were worthy of being the children of Lord Nityānanda. But Vīracandra Prabhu wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink milk from His mother. So, then Lord Nityananda told His other wife Jāhnavā devī to initiate Vīracandra Prabhu. After She initiated Him, then He would take milk from His mother. So she was a dīkṣā-guru even when one of her disciples was a baby.

So, then we just told the pastime how Lord Nityānanda first He had the ciḍā-dadhi festival in Pānihāṭi. And how He gave the punishment to Raghunātha dāsa. He told him, “You have to feed, ciḍā-dadhi and fruits, yogurt and chipped rice to all the associates. So at that time many people came, when they heard the word, “Mahotsava! Wow!” And so many people, they filled up a huge area in front of the tree of Lord Nityānanda— that tree is still there. So many people came, that some people have to stand on the riverbank. And some people, they went in to the river waters up to their knees, they were taking the yogurt and chipped rice and the cini-campa-kola, there are various kinds of bananas in Bengal. Vartamana-khola, many kinds. Cini-campa is very sweet. And when it ripe it has a highest vitamin C in any of the bananas in the world. Then of course, Bengal there are various other fruits are available in the summer time. Raghunātha dāsa, he made this big festival and Lord Nityānanda, He called Lord Caitanya there. They were dancing in crowds of people like that Lord Nityānanda, He had many pastimes in Bengal. He flooded the whole state with the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa. But then He felt great separation and love for Lord Caitanya, so He broke the order of Lord Caitanya who told Him You did not have to come, You can stay there and preach. But He couldn’t resist, He had to come, when He heard that Lord Caitanya came back from Vṛndāvana. So we told that pastime how Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda had met together. So whenever They meet, almost in privacy, no one could know what They were talking.

Today, I don’t know if you saw, there is Lord Nityananda had a special paraphernalia. One of which is this. There is also stick, this is the special rope, used for tying the hind legs of the cows for milking. This is the special horn, flute. All these things were carried by Lord Nityānanda. I don’t know, if you saw, there were so many flowers and things. But, like that, Lord Nityānanda kī! Jaya Nitāi! We are happy to have a stick of Lord Nityananda. We have a small stick which was used by the utsava-mūrti. So I will be happy to give you the blessings from that stick. After the class, you can come to the back, whoever wants blessings with that stick.