20231106 Addressing to Mangaluru Devotees

The following is an address to the Mangalore Devotees by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 6th,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!

Jayapatākā Swami: I hope that you like your visit to Māyāpur. And you all stay near the holy dhāma of Uḍupī. When we visited Mangaluru and did the abhiṣeka of the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. Of course, He visited, it is recorded that He visited Uḍupī and some other places. He also visited the birthplace of Madhvācārya and some other places. I left two lotus feet for the two main places. I think when you all will go back, you will establish these lotus feet. There is a temple of a Śiva liṅga, Gokarṇa, ear of a cow. Rāvaṇa tried to lift it but could not. And it became like a cow’s ear. But here, Rādhārāṇī, She was playing Kṛṣṇa’s flute in Navadvīpa-dhāma, Lord Kṛṣṇa came and said, “Who is playing the flute so nice?” And He found that it was Rādhārāṇī. Then He saw the nine islands of Navadvīpa. “You had made such a beautiful dhāma for Me! So this place will be non-different from Vṛndāvana. And I will call all the holy places to come and be here.” So the nine islands are connected to the nine processes of bhakti-yoga. Śravaṇam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam, vandanam. Now, cannot remember the name, Sīmantadvīpa, Ṛtudvīpa, Jāhnudvīpa, Modadrumadvīpa, Rudradvīpa and Antardvīpa. Antardvīpa is the first. So which places have you seen? Antardvīpa is same as this island. Sīmantadvīpa is the far side of this island. There Lord Jagannātha is there, Lord Caitanya – have you see the Deity of Madana Gopāla? They send me His photo every day, after He dresses. There is also Śacī Devī, the mother of Lord Caitanya and her father. So, there are some other holy places there. So Sīmantadvīpa and Godrumadvīpa you have seen. Antardvīpa, there is the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. Here right where you are sitting now is Rudradvīpa. So Rādhā Mādhava are in Rudradvīpa and the Pañca-tattva are in Antardvīpa. Lord Jagannātha is in Sīmantadvīpa. So there are nine islands and there are different places there of pastimes. Like the nine processes of bhakti-yoga. Everything you do in Navadvīpa is a thousand times more benefit. This is known as audārya-dhāma. Vṛndāvana it is also a thousand times but there offences are a thousand times too. So, our Parama-guru Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī, he went from Vṛndāvana and came to Navadvīpa. Because he thought that Vṛndāvana was too hot. Not in the material sense but hot in the sense that if you committed any offence, it is a thousand times. But here in Navadvīpa-dhāma you get a benefit of thousand times for any spiritual activity but the offences are not multiplied a thousand times. It even says that if you are resting in this place it is equal to offering praṇāmas. So someone might say why don’t we rest all the time! So just think if you are lying down it is praṇāma, just think how much you benefit by doing active service! So, here when you come in and see all the devotees are trying to do as much devotional service as possible. Of course, they go for maṅgala-ārati and sandhyā-ārati. Some people, they go for the madhyāna, lunch ārati. Generally, everybody tries to do as much sevā. If you get thousand times benefit, then you want to do as much as you can.

So, just like the first processes of bhakti are śravaṇam and kīrtanam, the first islands are Sīmantadvīpa and Godrumadvīpa. Island of hearing and chanting. And Madhyadvīpa is the island of meditation. So every island is connected to one of the devotional service. We all are connected now! I don’t know exactly what is in Uḍupī. Anyway, something special you get in Uḍupī. But here we know it is a thousand times. And here we are a mile and a half to the Ganges, worth one lakh times. Thousand-times one lakh, so while you are here you get a lot of spiritual credit.

Lord Caitanya taught us that actually we can serve Lord Kṛṣṇa in separation. Just like Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā after sixteen years, and freed His father and mother Vasudeva and Devakī. Then He heard that all the friends of Kaṁsa, Jarāsandha and others wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa. If Lord Kṛṣṇa went back to Vṛndāvana, all the demons would go there. So He stayed in Mathurā. And then from there He went to Dvārakā. So actually, it says that Kṛṣṇa never leaves Vṛndāvana. So He was the relishing the mood of separation of the vraja-vāsīs. He was actually in Vraja in His bāla form. Like that you may wonder this was 5000 years ago and Lord Caitanya was here 500 years ago, how can we connect with Him? But actually, connecting by separation is the real secret. I mean, if you read the Kṛṣṇa Book there it describes how Kaṁsa, he was Kṛṣṇa conscious, but in a negative sense. He always thought that Kṛṣṇa is going to kill him. He never saw Kṛṣṇa, so he was in separation but fear. His two queens came one day, one wearing a white saree and one wearing a black saree. He said, “Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma have come to kill me! “Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma have come to kill me! “Mahārāja these are your queens,” his minister said. We can learn from him he was always Kṛṣṇa conscious! He would see everything and think that Kṛṣṇa was going to kill him. So he was always Kṛṣṇa conscious. But in a negative way. So we should be in the same way be Kṛṣṇa conscious in a positive way. The Six Gosvāmīs in Vṛndāvana, they would run and say, “Where are Rādhā Mādhava?” They never said, “Oh, we have Rādhā and Mādhava!” They were always looking, “Where are Rādhā Mādhava?” Like this everyone has the desire to see Kṛṣṇa, to serve Kṛṣṇa and in that way you can be Kṛṣṇa conscious. Lord Caitanya, He showed by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, by participating in kīrtana, by various ways He was always thinking about Lord Kṛṣṇa. Actually, He also appreciated Lord Śiva. Vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ: Because Lord Śiva is very dear devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

And one time Lord Caitanya on a full moon night in the Bay of Bengal, He thought this is the Yamunā! And in ecstasy He ran into the ocean. No one could see Him! Then they were looking for Him and could not find Him. Then He was caught in a net by a fisherman. The fisherman brought Him to the shore near Konark, that is about 16 miles from Purī. So the devotees were going up and down the beach where is Lord Caitanya. They were so upset, where is Lord Caitanya. Then they saw this fisherman who said, “I caught a ghost. “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa! Ghost! Ghost! When I chanted the name of Lord Narasiṁhadeva the ghost kicked me more.” So Svarūpa Dāmodara is very smart. Someone really caught by a ghost does not chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. And if he chants the name of Narasiṁhadeva, he would chant louder. So he said to the fisherman how to exorcise the ghost. “Shu shu” he slapped him three times. “Now you are free of the ghost.” Where is the ghost? “No no, I have seen Lord Caitanya, He is beautiful. This must be... He looks horrible." So the devotees started to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Like these Lord Caitanya in His final pastimes He was completely absorbed in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. Here in Navadvīpa He was mainly absorbed in chanting. Sometimes He becomes absorbed in internal pastimes.

Murāri Gupta was chanting the Viṣṇu Sahasranāma. Then He chanted the name of Narasiṁhadeva. Lord Caitanya, He came to ecstasy of Narasiṁhadeva and He grabbed a stick and came out on the street and said, “Where are the demons? Where are the demons? I am going to kill all the demons.” Everybody started running away. Then when He saw people running away, He felt little bad that I caused fear. Actually, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, he came at that time and said, “People saw you in this ecstasy and they were liberated, they went back home back to Godhead!”

So it is hard for us to appreciate Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa combined form is Lord Caitanya. I don’t know if I told you but Rukmiṇī in Dvārakā told Kṛṣṇa, “You know everything. You know what Lord Brahmā is doing in Satyaloka, You know what Lord Śiva is doing in Kailāsa, You know what is going on in the ananta-koṭi brahmāṇḍa. But there is one thing You don’t know! Rādhārāṇī knows, I know, You don’t know!” He was shocked. Nobody told Him before there was something He did not know. So He asked, “What do I not know?” “So Your devotees how much they love You, You don’t know. In what way Your devotees love You, You don’t know.” So, He has expanded as Rādhārāṇī to enjoy pastimes. But then He reunited with Rādhārāṇī to understand the secret thing, how much devotees love Him and in what way they love Him. That form is Lord Caitanya. He is Kṛṣṇa with the heart and color of Rādhārāṇī. And He gives out mercy and all of you are going to get the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!