20231006 Evening 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:  Lord Caitanya, He went on the side of the coast, He went along the coast of Andhra Pradesh. Then He went along the coast of Tamil Nadu and then He went up the side of Kerala. And He went along the Karnataka coast. So on the way He passed through Uḍupī. Since He was acting the part of a mendicant, so people in places were recognizing Him. And so He was chanting and dancing in Uḍupī.

Then He met the Ācārya of the Tattvavādīs. They when He asked what was the purpose of life? The Tattvavādīs said the purpose was the five types of liberation. But Lord Caitanya said that was not the real purpose of life. The real purpose was to perform the nine types of devotional service for the pleasure of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śravaṇam, kīrtanam, vandanam, like that, nine types of devotional service. So, Navadvīpa was created with these nine types of devotional service. Using everything in the service of Kṛṣṇa. Deity worship. Also, engaging all the things in different ways of Kṛṣṇa’s service. So like that Lord Caitanya was saying that you are cheating Me! You are giving Me a wrong process. So the Tattvavādīs said what You said is true. We should practice the nine types of devotional service. But sometimes Madhvācārya would speak like this so just to stay loyal to his process we speak like this.

So, Lord Caitanya He taught how chanting the holy names, hearing the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa are the most important things. So, Lord Caitanya had a very good time talking with the Tattvavādīs. And so in this way, the nine process of devotional service were discussed. So then it is very important we engage all our senses in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So the devotees do not consider mukti or liberation as very significant. They want to engage all their senses in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s service. And then automatically one achieves liberation. Lord Caitanya, He taught the essence to all the devotees. And Lord Caitanya, He got initiated by the disciple of Mādhavendra Purī. Mādhavendra Purī is the Madhva line. And Pejāvara Svāmī, he accepted that Lord Caitanya as a member of the Madhva line.

Lord Caitanya, He told all His followers to study Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And this was followed by everybody. And also, Lord Caitanya, He had encouraged everybody to read Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Bhagavad-gītā along with other books written by the six Gosvāmīs was brought back to Bengal from Vṛndāvana. Those are the original manuscripts of Caitanya-caritāmṛta and the other books. There was a king, and he would have his force to go out and steal. So, his astrologer told him that three people were travelling and that they had the greatest treasure. So he told his chief of the army, don’t look at the treasure box, just bring it to me because he was afraid if they saw the most valuable treasure, they would steal it from him! There is honesty amongst thieves! So, they found the three sadhus sleeping. They found it was very easy and they took the boxes of books and gave this to the king Vīrhamvīra Vikrama. He opened up the box! What is this? Books! All books! And then he looked at the top, there was the Caitanya-caritāmṛta! And all the books by the six Gosvāmīs. So he said, what is this? These are saintly books. Now I am finished! I stole books from some saints! These literary treasures. So, he called the thieves, and he told them to return the books. These are literary treasures. Find who these belong to and return to them. Meanwhile, the three sādhus, Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya and Śyāmānanda Paṇḍita, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya was one the whom the Deities spoke to take the books back. He was famous for giving wonderful Bhāgavatam classes. Somehow, he went to the king’s palace. There, every evening he would listen to the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But the raja-guru when he was giving the Bhāgavatam class, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, he would make faces. So the king asked, “You don’t like the class? You are making faces! If you don’t give a better class, then you have to take your life as a punishment.” So he was given the seat and told to give a class. Any of you give a class, if the class is not good enough, should you be killed? But he wasn’t afraid. So he gave a wonderful class! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Everybody clapped and everybody was very impressed. So the king was thinking that maybe he is the one the books belonged to. He brought him in and said, “come with me”. He asked, “who are you?” So he told him the history, how he was entrusted by the Deities back to Bengal. And the king, he realized this is the real owner. He fell down at his feet and said I have the books. Please forgive me. Please allow me to become your disciple. Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, he wanted to see the books. And he came and saw the trunk. He opened it. And he saw the books, the books! His life came back! The book on the top was Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Haribol!

How many of you have read Caitanya-caritāmṛta? You see the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Now we have sets of Caitanya-caritāmṛta in Bengali. We should have sets in Kannada. And Tulu also!

So, Rukmiṇī Devī, she tells Kṛṣṇa, “You know everything. You know what Lord Brahmā is doing in Brahmaloka, You know what Lord Śiva is doing in Kailāsa and You know what is going on in the ananta-koṭi-brahmāṇḍas. But there is one thing You don’t know, You don’t know this.” He was surprised, nobody had told Him there was something He did not know! She said, “You see, Your devotees love You so much but You don’t know how much we love You. Your devotees love You in a particular way but You don’t know how Your devotees love You. I know, Rādhārāṇī knows, but You don’t know. Because nobody is above You. So, Your devotees know because You are above them.” Then Lord Kṛṣṇa, He said, “Alright in Kali-yuga, I will come as My devotee!” He did not say it once, He said it three times. “I will come as My devotees, I WILL COME AS MY DEVOTEE! I WILL COME AS MY DEVOTEE!” Then Lord Caitanya, taking the color of Rādhārāṇī and the mood of Rādhārāṇī, He gave out love of Kṛṣṇa very freely! And so, we are all very fortunate to be the followers of Lord Caitanya.

So Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, he appeared on the side of the Ganges and in both sides he was visible. We saw that place when we went by boat. Like this Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s devotees are also very special.

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi gaura-bhakta-vrnda!

Haribol!

So, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, he was requested by the king to take the king as his disciple. So, to be a king’s guru is a very big responsibility. So he asked senior Vaiṣṇavas, associate of Lord Caitanya, whether he should accept this responsibility. Because he had no intention to be a brahmacārī, but to be a king’s guru he had to be a gṛhastha. Because a king would not ask everybody about his private life. But he would have to ask his rāja-guru. So to be the king’s guru one also has to be a gṛhastha. But he was advised by the intimate associates of Lord Caitanya that he should accept. So at that time it was allowed, he married and had two wives. Both of them were pure devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa. I could tell you many other things about him, but it is very late now! Anyway, most of Lord Caitanya’s associates were gṛhasthas. So Lord Caitanya was a gṛhastha for 24 years and He was a sannyāsī for 24 years. So, it is very wonderful to be a follower of Lord Caitanya. Any questions?

Question from Jayacharan: How was your experience when you had met Śrīla Prabhupāda for the first time?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, my experience was even before the first time! His secretary gave me a set of beads. So I went out in the park and I was chanting. I chanted about 26 rounds, nonstop! And I was feeling so much ecstasy, I had never felt anything like this before. At that time, I was in San Francisco and Śrīla Prabhupāda was in Montreal. I came back to the temple and Śrīla Prabhupāda’s secretary was waiting for me. He asked me do you have the beads? I said, “Yes, of course.” He said, “I was not supposed to give those to you, those were Śrīla Prabhupāda’s beads!” So I gave him back. Other beads were not quite the same! So, even before I met Śrīla Prabhupāda for the first time, I had an introduction.

Question from Jayavant: When you think of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda at this moment, what is the one advice or incident or activity which you only remember? I am sure there were many, considering that you were his dear devotee.

Jayapatākā Swami: When I saw Śrīla Prabhupāda, I was overwhelmed. Sometimes, he would call me in the night, sometimes he would call me in the day time. Sometimes he would talk to my pūrvāśrama mother. And he would be telling her we are the living force in the body. And she would give him a rose bouquet and then he would thank her and praise her and acknowledge the roses. Everything about Śrīla Prabhupāda was exceedingly wonderful! Sometimes, someone told me that he would bow down to Śrīla Prabhupāda. And he told me when I bow down, I should praise Śrīla Prabhupāda, I should humble myself and then ask a question. And whenever I would ask a question, Śrīla Prabhupāda I am a fool. He would look at me and say, “Yes!” We couldn’t get away saying anything to Śrīla Prabhupāda, he would immediately answer.

Question: In certain places where we have ISKCON temples, there would be another group of devotees having their own centers. Even if the ISKCON temple is very close by, what is your opinion on this?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see when I was a new devotee, I visited every temple in ISKCON. San Francisco, New York and Montreal! Three! And there were no other devotees in these temples, nearby. But right now, we have about 800 temples, more or less. And there is this one temple I know, mostly there are no other devotees. In India, we have one place we have a few temples but in other countries you don’t see. Of course, in some places, there is the Gauḍīya Maṭha and other devotees. It is alright. They are making devotees around the world is good. But it is very rare, most they are ISKCON devotees. Hare Kṛṣṇa!