20230204 The Pastimes on The Water of Narendra-sarovara

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on February 4th,2023 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:

The Pastimes on The Water of Narendra-sarovara
Under the section: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Accepts Prasādam from His Devotees

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 10.49

bhaktagaṇasaha prabhura jalakrīḍā

saba bhakta lañā prabhu nāmilena jale
sabā lañā jala-krīḍā karena kutūhale

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu entered the water with His devotees and began His pastimes with them in great jubilation.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was enjoying water sports with His devotees. They were splashing each other and enjoying.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 10.50

caitanyabhāgavate prabhura jalakrīḍā varṇita

prabhura ei jala-krīḍā dāsa-vṛndāvana
‘caitanya-maṅgale’ vistāri’ kariyāchena varṇana

Translation: In his Caitanya-maṅgala [now known as Caitanya-bhāgavata], Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura has given a detailed description of the activities the Lord performed in the water.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 10.51

granthabāhulyabhaye punarukti-virāmaḥ—

punaḥ ihāṅ varṇile punarukti haya
vyartha likhana haya, āra grantha bāḍaya

Translation: There is no use in again describing here the activities of the Lord. It would simply be repetitious and would increase the size of this book.

Jayapatākā Swami: Each author would respect the other authors whocame previously, and they expect that everyone would read the other books, so they would not repeat the things here. But what we are doing in the compilation of this Caitanya book is taking all the pastimes and putting them together, so that you can read one book and get all the pastimes. But the other like, we will not repeat the detailed philosophy in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.112

mahāprabhura bhaktagaṇasaha ‘narendrera’ jale jhampapradāna—

prabhu o sakala bhakta lai’ kutūhale
jhāṅpa diyā paḍilena narendrera jale

Jayapatākā Swami: Then Lord Caitanya and His devotees all jubilantly jumped into the waters of Narendra-sarovara (Narendra-lake).

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.113

mahāprabhura o bhaktagaṇera ‘narendra’-jale vibhinna jalakeli—

śuna bhāi, śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-avatāra
ye-rūpe narendra-jale karilā vihāra

Jayapatākā Swami: O brothers, now hear the pastimes performed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya avatāra in the waters of Narendra-sarovara.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.114

pūrve yamunāya yena śiśu-gaṇa meli’
maṇḍalī haiyā karilena jala-keli

Jayapatākā Swami: Previously Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and His cowherd boyfriends formed circles and enjoyed water sports in the Yamunā river.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.115

sei-rūpe sakala vaiṣṇava-gaṇa meli’
paraspara kare dhari’ hailā maṇḍalī

Jayapatākā Swami: In the same way Lord Caitanya and His devotees (Vaiṣṇavas) now formed circles in the water by holding each other’s hands.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.116

gauḍa-deśe jala-keli āche ’kayā name
sei jala-krīḍā ārambhilena prathame

Translation: They began their water sports with one well-known Bengali water sport named “Kayā.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So the water sports they played is named Kayā.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.117

‘kayā kayā bali’ karatāli dena jale
jale vādya bājāyena vaiṣṇava sakale

Translation: The Vaiṣṇavas called out, “Kayā! Kayā!” They clapped their hands in the water and produced musical sounds by hitting the water in a certain way.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.118

sakalera gokulaśiśura bhāvodaya—

gokulera śiśu-bhāva haila sabāra
prabhu o hailā gokulendra-avatāra

Jayapatākā Swami: The devotees became absorbed in the mood of the cowherd boys of Gokula, and the Lord accepted the mood of Kṛṣṇa avatāra, the Lord of Gokula.

So the devotees in their water sports became in the mood of the cowherd boys in Vṛndāvana. And Kṛṣṇa Caitanya was reciprocating with all of them like Kṛṣṇa would do in the Yamunā river.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.119

bāhya nāhi kāro, sabe ānande vihvala
nirbhaye īśvara-dehe sabe dena jala

Jayapatākā Swami: Overwhelmed in ecstasy, the devotees forgot everything external and fearlessly splashed water on Lord Caitanya’s body.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.120

advaita, caitanya duṅhe jala-phelāpheli
prathame lāgilā duṅhe mahā-kutūhalī

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya and Advaita Ācārya began by splashing water on each other in a great sporting mood.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.121

advaita hārena kṣaṇe, kṣaṇe vāīśvara
nirghāta nayane jala dena paraspara

Jayapatākā Swami: While vigorously splashing water in the eyes of each other, sometimes Advaita Ācārya would be defeated and the next moment the Lord Caitanya would be defeated.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The word nirghāta means “forcefully” or “vigorously.”

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.122

nityānanda, gadādhara o purīgosvāmīra jalayuddha—

nityānanda, gadādhara, śrī-purī-gosāñi
tina-jane jala-yuddha kāro hāri nāi

Jayapatākā Swami: Nityānanda Prabhu, Gadādhara, and Śrī Purī Gosvāmī all began water fighting with each other, yet out of three of them none of them were defeated.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.123

mukundadatta o murāriguptera punaḥ punaḥ jalayuddha—

datte gupte jala-yuddha lāge bāra bāra
parānande dui jane karena huṅkāra

Jayapatākā Swami: Mukunda Datta and Murāri Gupta had repeated water wars, in which the two shouted loudly in transcendental ecstasy.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.124

vidyānidhi o svarūpadāmodarera paraspara jalakṣepana—

dui sakhāvidyānidhi, svarūpa-dāmodara
hāsiyā ānande jala dena paraspara

Jayapatākā Swami: The two friends, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi and Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, laughed as they splashed water on each other in transcendental ecstasy. Everyone, all the associates of Lord Caitanya were engaging in water war, and they were splashing each other.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.125-126

śrīvāsa, śrīrāma o haridāsādira jalakrīḍā—

śrīvāsa, śrīrāma, haridāsa, vakreśvara
gaṅgādāsa, gopīnātha, śrī-candraśekhara

ei mata anyo’nye dena sabe jala
caitanya-ullāse sabe hailā vihvala

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīvāsa, Śrīrāma, Haridāsa, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, Gaṅgādāsa, Gopīnātha, and Candraśekhara all became overwhelmed in the transcendental ecstasy of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as they splashed water on one another.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.127

śrīgovinda-rāmakṛṣṇera naukāvihāra o lakṣa lakṣa lokera jalakrīḍā—

śrī-govinda-rāma-kṛṣṇa-vijaya naukāya
lakṣa lakṣa loka jale hariṣe veḍāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Hundreds of thousands of people in the water took great pleasure as Lord Balarāma, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Govinda, the vijaya-vigraha, moved around the Narendra-sarovara in a boat.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.128

viṣayī, sannyāsī, brahmacārī sakalerai jalakrīḍā o ānanda—

sei jale viṣayī, sannyāsī, brahmacārī
sabei ānande bhāse jala-krīḍā kari’

Jayapatākā Swami: The householders, sannyāsīs and the brahmacārīs, all sported in the waters of the Narendra-sarovara experiencing transcendental bliss, floated in the waves.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The word viṣayī refers to materially attached persons in the gṛhastha-āśrama.

Jayapatākā Swami: Here everyone became absorbed in the mood of Lord Caitanya, they were remembering the pastimes of the cowherd boys in Gokula, and everyone became spontaneously in ecstasy splashing water on each other.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.129

caitanyamāyāya kāhārao se sthāne āgamana-śakti nāi

hena se caitanya-māyā se-sthāne āsite
kāro śakti nāhi, keha nā pāya dekhite

Jayapatākā Swami: The spiritual influence of Lord Caitanya is such that a less fortunate persons did not have the power to either see or enter those places.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.130

alpa-bhāgye śrī-caitanya-goṣṭhī nāhi pāi
kevala bhaktira vaśa caitanya-gosāñi

Jayapatākā Swami: Those who are less fortunate cannot be members of Śrī Caitanya’s group. Śrī Caitanya Gosāñi is only controlled by devotion.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): One is not qualified to be included among the associates of Śrī Caitanya simply on the strength of ordinary piety or advanced moral life. Accomplishments in extraneous desires, fruitive activities, speculative knowledge, and mystic perfection are examples of insignificant piety. Pure devotional service alone is able to diminish the reactions of such activities, and only then is one able to attain the mercy of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva.

In his commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra (3.3.50) Śrī Madhvācārya has quoted the Māṭhara-śruti as follows:

“Only devotional service can lead one to the Personality of Godhead. Only devotional service can help a devotee meet the Supreme Lord face to face. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is attracted by devotional service, and as such the ultimate supremacy of Vedic knowledge rests in knowing the science of devotional service.”

And in Vedānta-sūtra (3.3.54) Śrī Madhvācārya has quoted the following verse:

“Lord Viṣṇu dwells in devotional service. The Supreme Lord Viṣṇu is controlled only by devotional service. Only through devotional service can one attain His darśana, and only through devotional service does He award one liberation.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, one may be a very pious person and perform lots of good karma – charity, special yajñas but the only way to see Kṛṣṇa is through bhakti-yoga. All these good karmas will not bring one to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, Lord Caitanya, He is considered the most merciful avatāra, He would freely give out pure devotion to Kṛṣṇa, without considering whether one is qualified or not.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.131

bhaktii sārātsāra tattva—

bhakti vinā kevala vidyāya, tapasyāya
kichu nāhi haya, sabe duḥkha-mātra pāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Knowledge and austerity have no value without devotional service. They bring only misery.

Purport: Proficiency in knowledge and austerities that are opposed to the service of the Supreme Lord certainly result in distress. Only a person who has devotion to the Supreme Lord is qualified in real knowledge and austerity.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.12.9) it is stated:

“Even though one engages with great endeavor in the mystic yoga system, philosophical speculation, charity, vows, penances, ritualistic sacrifices, teaching of Vedic mantras to others, personal study of the Vedas, or the renounced order of life, still one cannot achieve Me.”

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.20-21) further states:

“My dear Uddhava, the unalloyed devotional service rendered to Me by My devotees brings Me under their control. I cannot be thus controlled by those engaged in mystic yoga, Sāṅkhya philosophy, pious work, Vedic study, austerity, or renunciation. Only by practicing unalloyed devotional service with full faith in Me can one obtain Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I am naturally dear to My devotees, who take Me as the only goal of their loving service. By engaging in such pure devotional service, even dog-eaters can purify themselves from the contamination of their low birth.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So this illustrates how no amount of pious activities including prāṇāyāma and others, can lead one to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa says that He is not controlled by anything but pure devotional service. One yoginī from South India was surprised how by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, she achieved in a week, which she could not achieve in years by practicing mystic yoga.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.132

sākṣāte dekhaha ei sei nīlācale
eteka caitanya saṅkīrtana-kutūhale

Translation: One can realize the superiority of devotional service by the blissful saṅkīrtana pastimes of Lord Caitanya in Nīlācala.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.133

sannyāsigaṇerao bhakti-abhāve darśana-vādha—

yata ’mahājana’,—nāma sannyāsi-sakala
dekhite o bhāgya kāro nahila virala

Jayapatākā Swami: All the so called mahājanas and sannyāsīs were unable to see such blissful pastimes because they were less fortunate.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.134

māyāvādi phalgusannyāsigaṇera ukti—

āro bale—“caitanya vedānta pāṭha chāḍi’
ki kārye vā karena kīrtana-huḍāhuḍi

Jayapatākā Swami: They would say, “Why did Caitanya leave the study of Vedānta? What purpose He showed by making a big show and ruckus of kīrtana.”

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The impersonalistic so-called Vedāntists who cannot understand the actual purport of Vedānta become arrogant with pride over their knowledge nourished by false-ego rather than becoming intoxicated with ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. They are logicians, self-proclaimed scholars, averse to service, and bewildered by false ego.

In the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (11.181) the Viṣṇu-dharmottara is quoted as follows:

“A person who chants the two syllables ha-ri has already studied the four Vedas — Sāma, Ṛg, Yajur, and Atharva.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Hari Hari!

In the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (11.182) the Skanda Purāṇa is quoted as follows:

“My dear son, there is no need to study the Ṛg Veda, there is no need to study the Yajur Veda, and there is no need to study the Sāma Veda. Just always chant the holy names of Hari such as Govinda.”

The Padma Purāṇa is quoted in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (11.183) as follows:

“One name of Lord Viṣṇu is superior to all the Vedas, and one name of Lord Rāma is equal to a thousand names of Viṣṇu.”

See also Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.33.7). In the Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa (25.54) it is stated:

“Persons who study Vedānta are always peaceful, forgiving, self-controlled, and free from dualities, false ego, and false sense of proprietorship.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Chanting the holy names of Hari is the perfection of bhakti-yoga. By chanting the names of Hari, or Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Rāma, one spontaneously achieves all the knowledge of the Vedas.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.135

sarvadāi prāṇāyāma—ei se yati-dharma
nācibe, kāṅdibe e ki sannyāsīra karma

Jayapatākā Swami: The duty of a sannyāsī is to always practice prāṇāyāma but Lord Caitanya is dancing and crying instead, is this the business of a sannyāsī?

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): The occupation of nondevotee, so-called sannyāsīs is to always remain engaged in the practice of pūraka, kumbhaka, and recaka [Inhaling the breath is called pūraka, sustaining it within is called kumbhaka, and finally exhaling it is called recaka.], but tridaṇḍi-sannyāsīs are concerned with controlling the three urges [of the body, mind, and speech]. The duty of genuine tridaṇḍi-sannyāsīs inclined to the service of Kṛṣṇa is to perform kīrtana rather than observe silence, display anger to those who are envious of the devotees, make friendship with devotees, and engage in the service of Kṛṣṇa rather than engage the body, mind, and speech in pursuit of sense gratification. But foolish proud people consider dancing and singing in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa as equal to dancing and singing based on material enjoyment. That is the foolishness of those who profess to be synthesizers of matter and spirit.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the chanting and dancing of the devotees in the harināma-saṅkīrtana is transcendental but the foolish paṇḍitas do not understand the transcendental nature of this devotional service, such as śravaṇam, kīrtanam and other seven practices of devotional service.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.136

tāhātei ye-saba uttama nyāsi-gaṇa
tāṅrā bale,—“śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya mahājana

Translation: The best of the sannyāsīs, however, would say, “Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is a mahājana.”

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.137

keha bale,—‘jñānī, keha bale,—‘baḍa bhakta’
praśaṁsena sabe, keha nā jānena tattva

Jayapatākā Swami: Some persons would call Lord Caitanya, a jñānī and some persons would call Him a great devotee. In this way they would praise Him, but no one knows His real identity.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.138

ei-mata jala-krīḍā-raṅga kutūhale
karena īśvara-saṅge vaiṣṇava-sakale

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way, all the Vaiṣṇavas enjoyed sporting in the water in great jubilation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.139

narendra sarovarera jāhnavī-yamunāra saubhāgya prāpti—

pūrva yena jala-krīḍā haila yamunāya
sei saba bhakta lai’ śrī-caitanya-rāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Previously as they would enjoy water sports in the Yamunā, all these devotees enjoyed the same water sports with Śrī Caitanya Rāya.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.140

ye prasāda pāilena jāhnavī-yamunā
narendra-jalero haila sei bhāgya-sīmā

Jayapatākā Swami: The same mercy attained by the Ganges and the Yamunā, that supreme mercy was now attained by the Narendra-sarovara.

Caitanya Bhāgavata. Antya-khaṇḍa 8.141

e sakala līlā, jīva uddhāra-kāraṇe
karma-bandha chiṇḍe ihāśravaṇe-paṭhane

Translation: All these pastimes were performed to deliver the living entities. By hearing and studying these topics, one’s bondage to fruitive activities is destroyed.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these studying and hearing the topics frees one from the bondage to karma, the repetition of birth and death. So these pastimes are not material, they have descended from the spiritual world and hearing one shows how one can attain transcendental bliss in the association with the Supreme Lord.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, The Pastimes on The Water of Narendra-sarovara
Under the section: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Accepts Prasādam from His Devotees