20231119 Chapter 5 Śrī Caitanya-abhakta-nindā (Part 3)

The following is a Sri Chaitanya Chandrāmṛtam Class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 19th,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!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today we will be continuing with comentation of the Śrī Caitanya Candrāmṛtam. Today's chapter is entitled as:

Śrī-caitanyā-bhakta-nindā - Criticism of the Non-devotees of Lord Caitanya

Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam 5.35

gauracandra-prakāśita premasāgare animajjita vyaktii mahānarthasāgare magna

Only a person not bathing in the ocean of love manifested by Lord Caitanya submerges in the ocean of unwanted things

avatīrṇe gauracandre
vistīrṇe prema-sāgare
ye na majjanti majjanti
te mahānartha-sāgare

Vistīrṇa premaratnākare gaura-śaśadhara samudita haileo ye sakala vyakti sei premārṇave avagāhana nā karila, tāhārā mahā-anartha-sāgarei nimagna rahiyā gela.

Translation (Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Even when the moon of Lord Gaura (Lord Caitanya) has risen in the expansive ocean of love, those who have not bathed in that ocean of love, they have immersed themselves in the ocean of anarthas (unwanted things).

Commentary (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura):

avatīrṇe gauracandre — when the Gaura moon (Lord Caitanya) rises;

vistīrṇe prema-sāgare — in the expansive ocean of loving mellow;

ye na majjanti — those who do not immerse themselves;

majjanti te mahānartha-sāgare — they immerse in the ocean of unwanted things or things which are superfluous, i.e., the four goals of human life enunciated in the Vedic literature (religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation) or giving up the supreme goal of life (kṛṣṇa-prema), they immerse themselves in the ocean of donkey’s urine like anarthas such as kuṭināṭi (faultfinding or diplomacy) and pratiṣṭhāśā (the desire for name and fame and for high position)

Jayapatākā Swami: So Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he compares pratiṣṭhāśā and kuṭināṭi like bathing in donkey’s urine, he is very graphic. How many of you would like to bathe in the donkey’s urine? Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he sometimes said that in the book Vaiṣṇava Ke, he compared the material desires as the stool of a pig, now pigs eat stool. Stool of a pig must be super refined stool! Pretty horrible! Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he is very graphic sometimes. So, he said, if you want Kṛṣṇa-prema, then that ocean of Kṛṣṇa-prema will protect you from other kinds of desires. But if you don’t want Kṛṣṇa-prema then all these other desires come into play. For instance, the dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa, kuṭināṭi jīva hiṁsā and pratiṣṭhāśā, pratiṣṭhāśā means one wants to have a famous position and some people are very envious when they see others having some material position. But actually, just to discourage this, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he compares this to swimming in the donkey’s urine. Do the Chinese like that? We should only want to bathe in the ocean of Kṛṣṇa-prema. That is what Lord Caitanya offered. People, they don’t bathe in Kṛṣṇa-prema, they are bathing in the ocean of anarthas. Mostly if people want dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa, then they think that they are pious people. But Lord Caitanya was thinking that they are actually missing the point! Because He is offering love of Kṛṣṇa, and that’s what people should want!

Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam 5.36

gaura-pādābjamadhupāna-vimukha vyaktii atyanta mūḍha

Only a person who does not drink the honey from the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya is very foolish.

prasārita-mahā-prema-
pīyūṣa-rasa-sāgare
caitanyacandre prakaṭe
yo dīno dīna eva saḥ

śrī-caitanyacandra udita haiyā mahābhāva-pīyūṣa-rasasāgara varddhvana karile ye vyakti ‘dīna’ arthāt sei premāmṛtapāne vañcita, se yathārthai ‘dīna’ arthāt parama-hatabhāgya.

Translation (Śrīla Prabhupāda): A person who does not take advantage of the nectar of devotional service overflowing during the presence of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s cult is certainly the poorest of the poor.

Translation (Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): When the moon of Lord Caitanya has risen and increased the ocean of the mellow of mahā-bhāva, if a person is ‘poor’ i.e, without drinking in that ocean, then he is truly ‘poor’ i.e., greatly unfortunate.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, what this verse is teaching us is how Lord Caitanya’s mercy is so great! How His ocean of prema is so wonderful that anyone who is not bathing in that ocean, he is really poor. In fact, he is the poorest of the poor! So, in other words, these verses are encouraging us to just fix our mind on love of Kṛṣṇa, not dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa, not kuṭināṭi, jīva-hiṁsa, pratiṣṭhāśā but the nectar of kṛṣṇa-prema. Lord Caitanya taught us how to appreciate the great mercy of Lord Caitanya and if we are not doing that, we are very poverty stricken. Lord Caitanya came to reveal to us the actual wealth that we will have in love of Krsna. So we should take that and submerge ourselves in that nectarean ocean. 

Lord Caitanya gives out love of Kṛṣṇa. Actually, it’s not easily attainable by any other means. By Lord Caitanya’s mercy, we can achieve which is otherwise not possible.

Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! Thank you very much!

Today, His Holiness Niranjana Mahārāja sang a nice Dāmodaraṣṭakam. I heard that he is giving class tomorrow morning.

So, I will let you go. Bathe in the ocean of Śrī Caitanya deva’s Prema, don’t bathe in the donkey’s urine!