20230528 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.9.11

The following is a morning class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 28th,2023 in Dallas, Texas, USA. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.9.11.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: Since I had a stroke in 2008 half my face is paralyzed. So Abhayacaraṇa Nimāi dāsa is repeating what I say because sometimes people do not understand.

So we are reading from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.9.11.

bhaktiṁ muhuḥ pravahatāṁ tvayi me prasaṅgo
bhūyād ananta mahatām amalāśayānām
yenāñjasolbaṇam uru-vyasanaṁ bhavābdhiṁ
neṣye bhavad-guṇa-kathāmṛta-pāna-mattaḥ

Translation: Dhruva Mahārāja continued: O unlimited Lord, kindly bless me so that I may associate with great devotees who engage in Your transcendental loving service constantly, as the waves of a river constantly flow. Such transcendental devotees are completely situated in an uncontaminated state of life. By the process of devotional service I shall surely be able to cross the nescient ocean of material existence, which is filled with the waves of blazing, firelike dangers. It will be very easy for me, for I am becoming mad to hear about Your transcendental qualities and pastimes, which are eternally existent.

Purport: The significant point in Dhruva Mahārāja’s statement is that he wanted the association of pure devotees. Transcendental devotional service cannot be complete and cannot be relishable without the association of devotees. We have therefore established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Anyone who is trying to be aloof from this Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Society and yet engage in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is living in a great hallucination, for this is not possible. From this statement by Dhruva Mahārāja it is clear that unless one is associated with devotees, his devotional service does not mature; it does not become distinct from material activities. The Lord says, satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ (Bhāg. 3.25.25): only in the association of pure devotees can the words of Lord Kṛṣṇa be fully potent and relishable to the heart and ear. Dhruva Mahārāja explicitly wanted the association of devotees. That association in devotional activities is just like the waves of an incessantly flowing river. In our Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Society we have full engagement twenty-four hours a day. Every moment of our time is always busily engaged in the service of the Lord. This is called the incessant flow of devotional service.

A Māyāvādī philosopher may question us, “You may be very happy in the association of devotees, but what is your plan for crossing the ocean of material existence?” Dhruva Mahārāja’s answer is that it is not very difficult. He clearly says that this ocean can be crossed very easily if one simply becomes mad to hear the glories of the Lord. Bhavad-guṇa-kathā: for anyone who persistently engages in hearing the topics of the Lord from Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta and who is actually addicted to this process, just as one becomes addicted to intoxicants, it is very easy to cross the nescience of material existence. The ocean of material nescience is compared to a blazing fire, but to a devotee this blazing fire is insignificant because he is completely absorbed in devotional service. Although the material world is blazing fire, to a devotee it appears full of pleasure (viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate).

The purport of this statement by Dhruva Mahārāja is that devotional service in the association of devotees is the cause of the development of further devotional service. By devotional service only is one elevated to the transcendental planet Goloka Vṛndāvana, and there also there is only devotional service, for the activities of devotional service both in this world and in the spiritual world are one and the same. Devotional service does not change. The example of a mango can be given here. If one gets an unripe mango, it is still a mango, and when it is ripe it remains the same mango, but it has become more tasteful and relishable. Similarly, there is devotional service performed according to the direction of the spiritual master and the injunctions and regulative principles of śāstra, and there is devotional service in the spiritual world, rendered directly in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But they are both the same. There is no change. The difference is that one stage is unripe and the other is ripe and more relishable. It is possible to mature in devotional service only in the association of devotees.

Jayapatākā Swami: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! Here, Śrīla Prabhupāda, he has been explaining the importance of association with devotees. This is very relevant because this is a Sādhu-saṅga association. All of you are sādhus! And by associating with you, we can advance. Lord Caitanya had particularly descended to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And we see that with Him came many different devotees. I mean, as the 11th canto Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32) verse reads,

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

Saṅga means His owns viṣṇu-tattva parts, saha-aṅga and Balarāma came as Nityānanda and Mahā-Viṣṇu, Sadāśiva came as Advaita Gosāñī, like that. Also, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita He was the Aniruddha of the catur-vyūha. Pārṣadam – Nārada Muni came as Śrīvāsa, also the energy of the Lord Gadādhara was Rādhārāṇī. So there are countless people who came from the spiritual world, associates of the Lord.

The Lord came for a number of reasons - the primary reason was to start the saṅkīrtana movement. And Śrīla Prabhupāda, he spread that movement all over the world. Lord Caitanya, in the first period of His life, He was in the ecstasy of studies, and He was enjoying as Nimāi Paṇḍita. Then He went to Gayā, got initiated by Īśvara Purī Mahārāja and then after that, started His saṅkīrtana-līlā. He actually, had darśana of Kṛṣṇa in Kānāi-Nāṭaśālā. He saw at a distance a cowherd boy playing on the flute, dancing, getting closer and closer. He saw it was Kṛṣṇa! He wore a yellow dhoti, He had a turban on His head, peacock feather, Kaustubha-maṇi, Śrīvatsa mark, and He was smiling and dancing and coming closer and closer. Then He ran and embraced Lord Caitanya. Lord Gaurāṅga was mad! Kṛṣṇa embraced Him and then Kṛṣṇa ran away. Then Lord Gaurāṅga ran after Him. Then Lord Kṛṣṇa went behind the tree, and Lord Caitanya went and did not see Him. So He was rolling on the ground. That place is still there! By Kṛṣṇa’s mercy now it is under the sevā of ISKCON. Gaurāṅga! So please when you go to India see Kānāi-Nāṭaśālā.

Then Lord Caitanya returned to Navadvīpa and He started the saṅkīrtana movement. He called all the devotees and told them how they were very fortunate, they had been devotees, He had wasted His life and He was crying telling them, you don’t know how it is, to have achieved Kṛṣṇa and lose Him! Ha! He was crying and crying! So, people were saying that Nimāi Paṇḍita, He has gone sick. So He approached Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, and said, “Can I ask you a question?” Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura said, “Sure, what is that?” Lord Caitanya said, “Do I have a disease?” Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura said, “What are your symptoms?” Lord Caitanya said, “Whenever I hear the name of Kṛṣṇa, I want to dance, tears flow from My eyes, My hairs stand on end, sometimes I uncontrollably laugh, sometimes I get choked up, sometimes I get stunned and I fall unconscious. Do I have a disease?” Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura said, “Yes, You have a disease and I want that disease.” Haribol! You have the disease of love of Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa-prema! Gaurāṅga! Generally, people will not understand Your ecstasy. Because it is beyond their comprehension, but I will invite you to come in the evening to my aṅgan, my garden. I will bring devotees who can appreciate Your ecstasy. This is how the nocturnal kīrtanas at Śrīvāsa Aṅgan happened. Many people went, now they could not see Lord Caitanya, Nimāi Paṇḍita how He had become a devotee. They were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! Many envious people would say, “Oh, what are they doing there? Are they drinking or something?” Someone said, “They are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.” “Hello! do you know those Hare Kṛṣṇas?” “No, no! These guys are crazy!”

Like this the caste brāhmaṇas they went to the Chand Kazi and complained. This Nimāi Paṇḍita, Gaura Hari as you know, He is chanting the holy name, the name of Hari loudly, in public. This is offensive, you cannot chant the name of God loudly. You have to silently meditate. So the Chand Kazi, he had received complaints from the Muslims, and now even the Hindus were complaining. Then Lord Caitanya sent out a kīrtana party to chant Harināma. The Chand Kazi broke their mṛdaṅgas and forbade them, you will not chant again. Then, Lord Caitanya heard this, and He said, “Nobody can stop the saṅkīrtana movement!” And He arranged a public disobedience, four parties were sent in different parts of Navadvīpa. One led by Advaita Gosāñī, one led by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, one led by Haridāsa Ṭhākura and one on the rear Lord Caitanya and on His two sides were Lord Nityānanda and Gadādhara. They went all over the city of Navadvīpa. The whole population came out. The Caitanya-bhāgavata says, millions. Anyway, they came out and we see in kṛṣṇa-līlā He had the Kurukṣetra war. Kṛṣṇa also danced with countless gopīs in the rasa-līlā. So like this Lord Caitanya, He came with millions of devotees chanting and dancing. And the sound was transcendental. It penetrated the 14 planetary systems and was even heard in the Vaikuṇṭhaloka. They went around and gathered more and more people. So Indradeva, Vāyudeva, they came down to watch. When they saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead chanting and dancing and crying, they became amazed, they were wonderstruck! They fainted! When they gained consciousness, they assumed the human form and joined the kīrtana! The Apsarās from Svarga were throwing flowers down. This was such an amazing kīrtana! Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja, he is respectful to Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura, so he does not explain the kīrtana, he expects everyone to read the Caitanya-bhāgavata. I am trying to do a unification of all the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. Eight or nine different books and I am almost finished now.

So, this kīrtana was going on and Lord Caitanya while He had Lord Nityānanda and Gadādhara on either side, He would jump and faint and only Gadādhara and Nityānanda could catch Him. So the kīrtana was going on and a group of pāṣaṇḍīs, atheists, they were all laughing seeing all the devotee and ha! ha! They were laughing at the kīrtana! But then they saw Lord Caitanya chanting and dancing expressing such ecstasy, they became changed! By this association with the devotees, they started to chant themselves. They started rolling on the ground. So Lord Caitanya’s chanting was having a great effect. When finally all the ocean of people reached the Chand Kazi’s house, when the Chand Kazi heard, he said, “What is that?” “Is it some kind of Hindu wedding celebration,” he asked. He told his soldiers to go out and stop them. When the soldiers when out, they saw an ocean of people, they got frightened, they tore off their turbans and hid their beards, raised their hands and Haribol! Because they were afraid. So you know the pastime when Lord Caitanya and Chand Kazi were discussing. The Chand Kazi, he finally gave the order that no one, not even my descendants will interfere with the saṅkīrtana movement. Even, I went there 500 years later I met the last living descendant of the Chand Kazi and he is very favorable. His name of Shah Jahan Sheikh.

Then Lord Caitanya, after being Navadvīpa for 24 years, He took sannyāsa and He went to Jagannātha Purī. And there, like King Pratāparudra, He was on his rooftop with Rāmānanda Rāya and so he asked, “Who are those devotees? They look so effulgent.” Rāmānanda Rāya was identifying, “Oh! that is Śivānanda Sena, he brings the party down from Bengal.” That is Advaita Gosāñī. The king said, “He looks very special.” Like that he identified each devotee. The king was not allowed to see Lord Caitanya at that time because Lord Caitanya said He did not want to see kings because they are materialists. But he was inspired to serve the devotees. He told his head of the temple to arrange staying placed, prasāda for all the devotees. So, He was appreciating the sādhus, the pure devotees. And then he was told that Lord Caitanya, He took His devotees to see Lord Jagannātha. Then He gave prasāda to all of them. He would serve, His hand was so big that He would give a serving that two or three people could eat. Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī told Him that no one will eat, now You sit down and they won’t eat before You. In this way, Lord Caitanya sat down with the other sannyāsīs and took prasāda. And all the devotees took. They took rest and they came back. And Lord Caitanya started a kīrtana circumambulating the temple of Lord Jagannātha. He had four parties. The four parties had eight mṛdaṅgas and 32 karatālas and four dancers. Advaita Gosāñī, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa. The dancers were very important. We have seen here some of our amazing dancers. I have seen, I don’t know all the dancers, but Rādhānātha Swami, Candramauli Swami, Śacīnandana Swami and others they were dancing, and inspiring us! Then Vakreśvara Paṇḍita, he was able to dance nonstop 72 hours! Three days! When Lord Caitanya was going around the temple and He would dance in the center and there would be the four groups around Him. Then he performed the miracle that every group thought that He was looking at them! Kṛṣṇa had done this miracle in Vṛndāvana when He was eating vana-bhojana picnic with the cowherd boys, every boy thought that Kṛṣṇa was looking at Him! How is that possible? Everything is possible for Kṛṣṇa. Somehow Pratāparudra, the King, he saw this kīrtana going around and around. His desire to have the private darśana withe Lord Caitanya increased. Seeing all the devotees chanting and dancing. Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that this was such mercy. Anyway, these devotees were going around the temple, whichever group was coming close to Lord Caitanya, He would embrace them. Lord Caitanya was experiencing all the aṣṭa-sāttvika-bhāvas, all the ecstasies! His eyes would cry and water would come out with force like syringes. People would get wet by the crying of Lord Caitanya! And then He would be dancing and His hairs standing on end, all the different transcendental emotions would be manifest. Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, Advaita Ācārya, Vakreśvara Paṇḍita and Śrīvāsa.

So, Lord Nityānanda, Lord Caitanya said to Him, that We came down from the spiritual world to deliver four kinds of people who were not normally delivered. mūrkhas, the foolish who think they are the body. The nīca, the lowborn, the patita, the fallen, who break regulative principles and the duḥkhī, the distressed, who are suffering in the material world. You know anyone like this? Have you met anyone like this? Ha! He told Lord Nityānanda that You go back to Bengal and continue where We left off! And deliver all these people. Lord Nityānanda, He asked Lord Caitanya for some helpers, some devotees. Lord Caitanya gave Him about fifty devotees. And He went back to Bengal, and it took more time than usual going because, instead of going go straight, they were so ecstatic, they were going zig zag, playing all the different pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. They reached Pānihāṭi and Rāghava Paṇḍita and his sister, they asked, “Oh, how many mūrtis, how many people are you?” They said, “About fifty.” So he said, “Okay, take a bath in the Ganges and in one hour we will have a feast ready.” I went to the kitchens, and I was seeing how all the devotees here were preparing prasāda for all of you, they are doing a very nice yajña! Cooking! How was the prasāda?

So, Lord Nityānanda, He went to Pānihāṭi first, and then He started the kīrtana there. And He was sitting in the vīrāsana, I don’t know if you know haṭha-yoga what the vīrāsana is. So each devotee, He would have come in front of Him and dance. As the kīrtana was going on one after another He had them come and dance. Afterwards He danced. Then Lord Caitanya had said that whenever Nitāi dances, I will be there. It is something you cannot miss. OUT OF THIS WORLD! NITĀI GAURA! So when Lord Nityānanda started to dance, Lord Caitanya was in South India, He appeared there! But He was invisible, but not to Nitāi. Nitāi told everyone, Lord Caitanya has come. But you cannot see Him. But He is wearing a garland from South India, you can smell it. So everyone was sniffing and started smelling. Someone caught the smell, he got ecstasy, ha! ha! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! So like this, the love gas, people were smelling and the kīrtana went on. Lord Nityānanda, He took His devotees who were doing kīrtana nonstop. Some devotees, they got super powers. One devotee was jumping, like a balloon from tree to tree. Another devotee became very powerful and lifted a huge-big tree and started dancing with it. Then one, Abhirāma Ṭhākura, he took a 60-foot-long bamboo, holding it on one end and started playing like a flute! A 60-foot bamboo, holding it on one side is very hard, impossible! In this way, Lord Nityānanda, He was doing the kīrtana. People would come, there were tons of people were chanting and dancing, and they would get swayed, and they would just join the kīrtana. They got affected. They lost time, two or three days they stayed, and they went out and people said, “What happened, where were you?” All they could say was “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!”

Like this Lord Nitāi, He spread the saṅkīrtana-āndolana throughout the whole of Bengal. He went to Ādi-saptagrāma where the goldsmiths and jewelers are. They were usually busy making money, but He went to each house with His kīrtana party, and He got all these businessmen to start chanting. Amazing pastime! Anyway, I was thinking how we have the devotees gathered together in this Sādhu-saṅga. Śrīla Prabhupāda, he came, taking the mercy of Lord Nityānanda, he came to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. Śrīla Prabhupāda said in the 9th canto 14th chapter 36th verse, in the purport, that if one in spiritual life he reaches the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, women, men, śūdras, whatever, they are all equal. Haribol! Śrīla Prabhupāda, he brought this all over the world. And then he said one time, Nārada Muni and a friend of his they come down in New York and he was enjoying how the mlecchas were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa! Anyway, I think, we don’t know which of you are from which planet. Coming here in disguise, to enjoy the Sādhu-saṅga! This is my first visit. His Holiness Indradyumna Swami invited me. I heard yesterday they were observing his Vyāsa-pūjā. We were not told, we could not attend but I have seen that before the Ukraine war he was observing great festivals in Poland, and Ratha-yātrā in Durban, South Africa. So I am very grateful that he is organizing in America the Sādhu-saṅga. If you have a garland, I would like to offer to him.

Now we want to popularize Lord Caitanya. He predicted that every town and village in the whole world would be chanting His holy name. Śrīla Prabhupāda, he spread Lord Caitanya’s movement around the world. He never asked people to convert, he never asked people to renounce their previous beliefs, the Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, everyone. He described that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is like postgraduate. Every religion tells, you should love God. Kṛṣṇa consciousness tells you, how to do it. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and practice devotional service, do bhakti-yoga. So Śrīla Prabhupāda, he gave this message of Lord Caitanya everywhere. So, we want people to take the mercy of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda. That is why we are building a temple in Māyāpur. Because Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had written that Lord Nityānanda had predicted - eka adbhuta mandira haibe prakāśa, gaurāṅgera nitya-sevā haibe vikāśa - a wonderful temple would be manifest to spread the message of Lord Caitanya. If we can do that - our Vaiśeṣika prabhu has been encouraging us to distribute Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, by 2026 we want to distribute 100,000 sets of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. I think this year our goal is 55,000? So, I don’t remember all the figures, but I remember the slogan – Assume it can be done! I hope everybody gets great strength from the Sādhu-saṅga and go out and increase the preaching of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s message.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!