20230319 Sunday Feast Address

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: I am more used to speaking in Bengali. I will try to speak in Hindi. Please excuse me for any mistakes. Hindi is not my mother tongue. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the devotee incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu stayed in Navadvīpa for 16 years. His father passed away and He went for this reason to Gayā to do piṇḍa-dāna. Then after that He did prayers and took initiation from Īśvara Purī Mahārāja. He first manifested love of Godhead in Bihar! Haribol! In Navadvīpa He never manifested premānanda, love of Godhead. First, it was only in Bihar! Haribol! When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was going to Kānāi-Nāṭaśālā, He went through Jhārikhaṇḍa. From far a child saw Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the child was playing the flute from afar and the child came near Mahāprabhu, dancing. And then He saw that the child had a peacock feather on his head. He was amazed to see that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself was here. He was so happy that He had the darśana of Śrī Kṛṣṇa! And Śrī Kṛṣṇa came near Lord Caitanya and embraced Him. After this He ran away. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu ran after Him but there was a big tree and Lord Kṛṣṇa disappeared behind it. Now, there is that place in Kānāi-Nāṭaśālā where Caitanya Mahāprabhu rolled on the ground. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu went back to Navadvīpa, He was completely transformed and there He started the saṅkīrtana movement. Haribol!

This morning I was listening to a lecture by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Kuntī Devī said that if one is beautiful, wealthy and from an educated family, it is not necessary that he will do nice devotional service to the Lord. Actually, we are not this body. The problem is that if one is healthy, one is beautiful, from an aristocratic family, they believe that they are this body and they are proud of that. Caitanya Mahāprabhu desired that all the people become devotees and preach the name of the Lord.

In Jagannātha Purī there was a brāhmaṇa named Pradyumna Miśra. Lord Caitanya sent him to Rāmānanda Rāya, who was from a material point of view a śūdra, to understand and study kṛṣṇa-prema. In varnāśrama there are four āśramas, but more important than that is who can get you to be devoted to Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said,

kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya
(Cc, Madhya 8.128)

That is why Lord Caitanya sent Pradyumna Miśra to Rāmānanda Rāya to learn about Lord Kṛṣṇa.

The two most prominent and elevated Gosvāmīs were the followers of Lord Caitanya, Śrī Rūpa and Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī who were in Vṛndāvana, and they were the senior most of the six Gosvāmīs. Sanātana and Rūpa were brāhmaṇas from Karnataka. They came to Bengal as their father was a zamindar. The Nawab Hussain Shah saw that Sanātana Gosvāmī was very knowledgeable and therefore appointed him as his Prime Minister. Rūpa Gosvāmī was the Finance Minister and gave them Islamic names – Sākara Mallika and Dabir Khās. That is why they were not allowed to enter the Jagannātha Purī temple. The pāṇḍas thought they were Muslims. But they were pure devotees and established the Rādhā Govinda temple and Rādhā Madana-mohana temple in Vṛndāvana. And they have written a lot of beautiful literature. Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave them the first position. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was given the position of Nāmācārya. But Haridāsa Ṭhākura was born in a Muslim family. But every day he chanted 300,000 times Harināma chanting. Another Nawab asked him, “You took birth in a Muslim family but why are you chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa?”

Haridāsa Ṭhākura said that, “God is one. I like chanting this name:

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

So if someone by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa a Muslim becomes a Hindu, what is the problem? God is one. Allah and Lord Kṛṣṇa are one.”

But they Muslims said this is “Hā-rāma, hā-rāma”. The Nawab said that you stop chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, “Even if you cut me into small, small bits, even then there will be the sound of the Hare Kṛṣṇa kīrtana.” After that when Haridāsa Ṭhākura was put in the prison it was seen that all the prisoners had started chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa.

And the Nawab called him again. He asked him, “How is it that all the prisoners who are in jail are all happy and chanting and dancing? Normally in the prison house there are lots of difficulties and problems. But here we see all these people are so happy. Why?”

Then the Nawab ordered his servants to drag Haridāsa Ṭhākura in 22 marketplaces and whipped. Generally, if this kind of thing is done to someone he would die. Even though Haridāsa Ṭhākura was being whipped, even then he was praying to God that, “These people are ignorant and do not know what they are doing, please forgive them.” So actually when Haridāsa Ṭhākura was being whipped, Lord Caitanya took all the whips on His back. After 22 marketplaces, Haridāsa Ṭhākura was still okay. So the servants who were ordered to beat Haridāsa Ṭhākura were very sad.

Haridāsa Ṭhākura asked them, “Why are you sad?”

They said, “We are whipping you, but you are still alive, that is why we are sad. The king will kill us if he comes to know this.”

So Haridāsa Ṭhākura asked, “If I die, will you be happy?”

They said, “Yes, we will be very happy!”

Then Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, “Okay! I will die.”

He lay down and his breathing stopped. The servants were very happy and said, “He is dead finally.” They went and told the Nawab that, “Haridāsa Ṭhākura is dead.” The Nawab came to see and said, “Okay! He is a sinner that is why he died.” But his body was so heavy that even four or five persons could not lift him. Actually, he was meditating on the Lord in the heart. Elephants were brought and the elephants tried to drag his body; but he did not move. The Nawab was thinking, “What should I do?” If Lord Kṛṣṇa wants then anything can become very heavy and if He desires, anything can become very light. That moment, with the Lord’s desire, became very light, as a balloon. The Nawab said,”Okay, bury him in the burial ground.” But the Ayatollah said, “He is hā-rāma, we should not bury him in the burial ground. If we do that he will get peace. We should throw his body in the Ganges. Then in the river, the dogs, the vultures, other birds and beasts will bite him and eat him, and he will not get peace.” After that they threw Haridāsa Ṭhākura in the Ganges. But because he was so light, he was floating on the Ganges. And the wind blew him to the other bank of the Ganges. And Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he again started chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra! Haribol! The Nawab saw this and was amazed. He asked for a boat and went to the other bank, and he told Haridāsa Ṭhākura, “Please forgive me. You are a saint. Please forgive me, I committed an offence.” The Ayatollah came and the Nawab said, “I will not listen to anything from you now.” But he also came and asked for forgiveness for Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Haribol! So taking such an example, Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that whoever understand the Truth of Kṛṣṇa, he is a guru. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was very happy. Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s devotees were brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, and lowborn as well. Lord Caitanya said that one can be from any of the āśramas but if he had the knowledge of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya He would him. He told Lord Nityānanda that I have incarnated to deliver these people – the foolish, the lowborn, the fallen and the distressed – these four types of people generally do not get liberation, but I will deliver them. Haribol!

Lord Caitanya said,

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
[CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126]

Now His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda went to the Western world and preached the glories of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

I have seen that there are a lot of good people, but I wish that all will chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. This Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra can be chanted by one and all. In Jhārikhaṇḍa, Lord Caitanya with His mercy got the animals, birds, tigers, deer, elephant, to chant Harināma. The violent animals stopped being violent and they were chanting and dancing and became peaceful. That is why we want that we at least preach to the human beings to chant Harināma.

Before this I was in Patna for the opening of this temple. I was thinking that it would be nice if the Safari devotees from different countries came here it would be nice. Sometimes devotees from 50 to 60 countries in the world come on this Safari. This time we have devotees from about 36 countries. The Safari devotees perform different dramas and kīrtana and music programs for your entertainment. I hope that the youth here will especially preach the names of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. After this, the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu will be installed. And after this, Lord Caitanya’s lotus footprints will be taken to those places where He toured. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura was a prince from a royal family. But he renounced being a king. He said that I will contribute to the movement of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and I will preach His glories. His father said, “Okay!” His father’s brother’s son became the king and Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura was preaching devotional service. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura had a disciple whom he sent to Manipur and till today the devotees there wear the tilaka from the sampradāya. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura did a lot of preaching. When he went to take bath one day in the Ganges, his body melted in the Ganges. That place is called Dūdh-ghāṭa, Milk ghāṭa. Where the body of Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura got converted into milk.

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed various pastimes. Now the movement of Lord Caitanya, the saṅkīrtana movement is very much needed in Bihar. I appeal to all of you and hope that all of you will help in this mission. If you study Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, then that will be very nice. Now Lord Caitanya’s footprints abhiṣeka will be performed. Hare Kṛṣṇa!