20231111 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.1.9

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 11th, 2023 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur,India. The class begins with a reading from the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.1.9.

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 was asked to speak something on Śrīla Prabhupāda first. When Śrīla Prabhupāda was here, we had these small Rādhā Kṛṣṇa and Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu. The small Rādhā Mādhava who are in the altar now They were there at that time. At that time the Deities were in the place where Śrīla Prabhupāda is now and Śrīla Prabhupāda used to do parikramā three times. So one side he would ring the bell. He was saying there should be a bell on the other side but we did not put. Now we have bell on both sides. It took us many years. So, one time I was leading the kīrtana and after the Hare Kṛṣṇa I would say Haribol! I wanted that everybody should sing with me. Śrīla Prabhupāda called me over and he said, “Don’t add any words to the mantra.” He was afraid that if I said, “Haribol, the whole of ISKCON will start saying Haribol!” Simple thing, he wanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra to be left alone!

We were reading the translation here, it is written that how Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Duryodhana, all their piety was finished. We were at the Ardha-Kumbha-melā in 1971, and at the end Śrīla Prabhupāda would sometimes ask if there are there any questions. There was one senior devotee, he said, “I have a question.” He said that, “Because of pious acts, yajñas, charity, any pious activity we get Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I look back at my life and I don’t think I did any pious activity. So how did I get Kṛṣṇa consciousness?” So this was his question. Śrīla Prabhupāda replied, “I created your good fortune!” So, actually, we may not have any pious activities. But simply by the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda, people, devotees were able to achieve Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Sometimes one may think they achieved all these because of my good works. But actually, it is Śrīla Prabhupāda who came and in this way we got the mercy. So I have told two pastimes.

So, here we see how Lord Kṛṣṇa, He went as a messenger and being a messenger is a menial job. But because He was Arjuna’s friend, he accepted this. Actually, Kṛṣṇa’s activities are very special! So He went to the Kurus’ rājya-sabhā and He talked peace. The devotees like Bhīṣma, etc. they accepted his words like sweet nectar. Śrīla Prabhupāda used the analogy that for someone who is sick with jaundice, sugar doesn’t taste sweet. But for a healthy person, naturally sugar tastes sweet. So, to get a kinship takes some karma. But to remain a king you need more karma. Because I don’t know what karma is in the credit of the different chief ministers or prime minister. But our chief minister attends our Ratha-yātrā in Kolkata every year. And so that is a very pious activity. And our Prime Minister, he inaugurated the largest Bhagavad-gītā in the world, in ISKCON Delhi. And he did many other things which are very good karma. Like he gave Bhagavad-gītā to all the people that he met. So, we read in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about different śāstras, how like Bali, he became king of svarga. But to remain a king he had to perform the aśvamedha-yajñas many times. So there are two karmas, becoming a king and one is to stay a king. Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Duryodhana somehow they became kings, but they did not have the karma to stay as king. So, it is interesting to note that one has to be consistent and continually attain good karma to stay in any position. Somehow, Kṛṣṇa was a friend of Arjuna. So He reciprocated with Arjuna and He acted like a good friend.

In the tenth canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Kṛṣṇa Book, it says how the vraja-vāsīs were completely dependent on Kṛṣṇa. The Keśī demon came in their midst and Kṛṣṇa said come on! So, like this, many times the vraja-vāsīs were attacked by different demons and Kṛṣṇa, He very kindly saved His friends.

We recently observed the appearance of Rādhā-kuṇḍa. So, how Rādhārāṇī, She reciprocated with Kṛṣṇa in a very special way. And when Kṛṣṇa came, Rādhārāṇī said, “You are contaminated. You killed a cow. So, You have to take bath in so many holy places to get rid of this sinful action.” So Kṛṣṇa said, “You think I have to go all over the world to different holy places? I will call all the holy places here”, so Kṛṣṇa made Śyāma-kuṇḍa and put all the holy places there. So then, Rādhārāṇī and Her sakhīs created Rādhā-kuṇḍa. Kṛṣṇa said that, “Let Me cut a canal so that My water can flow into Rādhā-kuṇḍa.” Rādhārāṇī said, “No, Your water is contaminated! My sakhīs will go and bring water in pots from the ākāśa-gaṅgā.” But then the personified holy places came out and bowed down to Rādhārāṇī. And Rādhārāṇī asked, “What do you want?” The personified holy places said that, “If we could be in Your kuṇḍas,” I don’t remember the exact words, but it was a very heartfelt request. So, Rādhārāṇī looked at Lalitā and by Her look, She was asking, “What should I do?” So, Lalitā nodded, “Yes!” and Rādhārāṇī gave the holy places personified a place in Rādhā-kuṇḍa. So, we see that how Kṛṣṇa had different relationships with different devotees. Although He was the Supreme Lord, He would reciprocate with His devotees according to their relationship.

Just like now we are worshiping Yaśodā and Dāmodara and how Kṛṣṇa reciprocated with Yaśodā. Every time Yaśodā tried to tie Kṛṣṇa, it was always two fingers short. And finally He let Yaśodā tie Him because she was trying, because she did it out of pure love. Generally, nobody can tie Kṛṣṇa but because Yaśodā had pure love, thus Kṛṣṇa reciprocated with her. So this way, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in various pastimes, He reciprocated with different devotees. Actually, everything was arranged that He marry Viṣṇupriyā. And someone came up to Lord Caitanya and in a joking way talked to Lord Caitanya. “So, You are going to marry Viṣṇupriyā? Ha! Ha! Ha! And so, then he went back and told the father of Viṣṇupriyā that Nimāi Paṇḍita, He said, “He did not know about the marriage!” Then, Viṣṇupriyā’s father he felt something different in his heart. And you know every daughter is very dear to the father and Nimāi said, “I don’t know anything.” The father, he was broken hearted and Lord Caitanya, He thought, “I don’t want My devotee to suffer like this.” He told one brāhmaṇa, “Go and tell her father, I was just joking with the guy. I am certainly going to marry your daughter.” So someone was playing a joke, and Lord Caitanya played a joke back! But Lord Caitanya did not want His devotee to suffer. Like this, Tapana Miśra and Candraśekhara, they were feeling very aggrieved because all the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs were criticizing Lord Caitanya. Now Lord Caitanya decided to go because His devotees were feeling little sad. So like this, sometimes, Lord Caitanya would reciprocate with His devotees. But sometimes He would be absorbed in some pastime of Kṛṣṇa.

It is very important that devotees understand the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. His behavior was something like Kṛṣṇa. And sometimes He would behave like Rādhārāṇī. They were looking everywhere for Lord Caitanya, because He was missing from His room. They looked everywhere, and they found Him in an ecstatic mood in the gośālā! So His pastimes are very special. And when He was doing kīrtana around the Jagannātha Purī, He had four kīrtana parties, one on each side. Any group getting close to Him, He would embrace the dancer. Such were the pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

Are there are any questions or comments?