20231130 Chapter 7 Firm Devotion to the Worshipable Object (Part 5)

The following is a Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja, on November 30th,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! Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today we will be continuing with comentation of the Śrī Caitanya Candrāmṛtam, Chapter 7. Chapter entitled:

upāsya-niṣṭhā – Firm devotion to the worshipable object

Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam Chapter 7.72

gauraharira saundarya, pāvanatva, śītalatva o mādhurya-dātṛtva

Lord Gaurahari’s qualities of beauty, deliverance, coolness and bestowing sweetness

kandarpād api sundaraḥ surasarit-pūrād aho pāvanaḥ
śītāṁśor api śītalaḥ su-madhuro mādhvīka-sārād api
dātā kalpa-mahīruhād api mahā-snigdho jananyā api
premṇā gaura-hariḥ kadā nu hṛdi me dhyātaḥ padaṁ dhāsyati

When will Gaurahari who is, more beautiful than cupid, more pure than purifier of the fallen-the flow of Gaṅgā, more sweeter than nectar, much more magnanimous than the desire tree, and more affectionate than mother, will affectionately place His lotus feet in my heart by becoming the object of meditation.

Commentary (by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura): Kandarpād api sundaraḥ — ka (Brahmā) is also belittled, i.e., the Brahmā’s pride in his beauty is curbed by Kandarpa (Cupid), but He (Gaurahari) is even more beautiful than that Kandarpa — the material Kandarpa creates anxiety and bewilderment but the beauty of Gaurahari destroys anxiety and bewilderment and gives an experience of great loving happiness;

surasarit-pūrāt api pāvanaḥ— Gaṅgā is ‘śurasarit’ and her flow (pūra) is purifying, but He is more purifiying than Gaṅgā; the flow of Gaṅgā destroys the sins but cannot purify the sinful heart, but Gaurasundara cleanses the heart and creates a flow of love. For this reason, His great purity and wonderfulness is more than the flow of Gaṅgā;

śītāṁśor api śītalaḥ— the moon has gentle cooling rays (śīta aṁśu), but He is more cooling than the moon— the moon is capable of removing the external darkness and heat, but Śrī Gaurasundara completely destroys the internal darkness of ignorance of the millions and milliions of births of the living entities and floods the heart with the cooling rays of the loving happiness;

Gaurāṅga! su-madhuraḥ mādhvīka-sārāt api— mādhvīka-sārā means nectar and He is more sweeter than that, i.e., the sweetnes of the nectar is experienced only by the demigods and the result of tasting that produces in the demigods material pride and envy, but the sweetness of Gaura, which is rare even to the demigods, by tasting that, the material pride and envy is completely removed and the happiness of love arises;

dātā kalpa-mahīruhād api— He is more benefactor than the desire tree because the desire tree gives whatever is being prayed for, but Śrī Gaurasundara so much more magnanimous that becoming a beggar, He gives the wealth of love and so on even to the unqualified and to those who do not ask;

Śrī Gaurasundara! mahā-snigdhaḥ jananyā api— He is more more affectionate than mother — the affection of a mother produces poisonous fruit in the future because it is applied only to the temporary body and so on, but the affection of Śrī Gaurasundara is sprinkled on the soul and increasing that affection the living entity becomes qualified to obtain loving happiness and furthermore a mother shows affection only to her offsprings, but Śrī Gaurasundara drenches every living entity with the mellow of affection;

Jayapatākā Swami: Gaurasundara! More affectionate than a mother! Of course, the Bengali mothers are very famous for their affection. But this explains that their affection is limited to a particular body. And that Lord Caitanya is more affectionate. So, all these aspects were commented on by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda Ṭhākura.

Normally, one is conditioned by thinking that he is the body. But Lord Caitanya, He is giving mercy to everybody, mother only gives to her off springs. But Lord Caitanya is willing to give everyone. So, He gives nectar but that nectar is transcendental. Whatever we have experience in the material world, Lord Caitanya is much more.

When I was in the hospital, where some of the nurses were Christians. I told them that I was born in a Christian family. In Christianity they teach us about the Son of God but they don’t teach about God. Lord Jesus, He gave in His ten commandments, the first commandant was that, you should love God, with all your heart, all your mind, all your body, everything. So, they admitted that is true, that what the first commandment says. But actually, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness we are taught who is the Personality of Godhead. In Christianity they are taught about the son of God but about the Father, they don’t know. The nurses were convinced what you are saying is correct. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam Chapter 7.73

gairika vasanadhārī premapradātā gauraharira prati prīti-

Love towards Gaurahari, the giver of love who is clothed in saffron sannyāsa cloth

puñjaṁ puñjaṁ madhura-madhura-prema-mādhvī-rasānāṁ
dātvā dātvā svayam uru-dayo modayan viśvam etat
eko devaḥ kaṭi-taṭa-milan-mañju-mañjiṣṭha-vāsā
bhāsā-nirbhatsita-nava-taḍit-koṭir eva priyo me

Yini madhura haiteo sumadhura premāmṛtarasa rāśi rāśi punaḥ punaḥ pradāna kariyā ei viśvake ānandita karitechena, yini kaṭideśe atimanohara gairikavasana dhāraṇa kariyāchena, yāhāra aṅgakānti koṭi-koṭi navasaudāminīkeo tiraskāra kariteche, sei svayaṁ parama dayālu advayacillīlā-parāyaṇa puruṣai āmāra ekamātra priya unn.

He who has made this world happy by giving again and again in large quantities the nectar of loving mellow that is sweeter than sweet, He who has a beautiful saffron garment adorning His waist and who is endowed with the effulgence that eclipses the effulgence of millions and millions of new lightning, that most munificient personality who is one without a second performing transcendental pastimes.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya has all these wonderful qualities. And naturally if one loves Lord Caitanya, that will be complete. So somehow the people hear so much, but actually if they hear about Lord Caitanya, they will understand that He gives what cannot or was never received before. Lord Caitanya, He gives out love of Kṛṣṇa. And that love of Kṛṣṇa was previously not available. But now Lord Caitanya, He is giving it out freely, and even if you don’t ask for it, He embraces you and gives you. In this way the whole world becomes happy!

Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam Chapter 7.74

gauraharira anupama rūpa o guṇa—

Incomparable form and quality of Gaurahari

kāntyā nindita-koṭi-koṭi-madanaḥ śrīman-mukhendu-cchaṭā-
vicchāyī-kṛta-koṭi-koṭi-śarad-unmīlat-tuṣāra-cchaviḥ
audāryeṇa ca koṭi-koṭi-guṇitam kalpa-drumaṁ hy alpayan
gauro me hṛdi koṭi-koṭi-januṣāṁ bhāgyaiḥ padaṁ dhāsyati

Yāṅhāra kamanīya rūpalāvaṇya dvārā koṭi-koṭi kandarpao tiraskṛta haiteche, yāṅhāra paramaśobhāmaya mukhacandrera chaṭāya koṭī-koṭī udīyamāna śaradindura kāntio malina haiteche, yāhāra mahā-vadānyatāya koṭi-koṭi kalpa-vṛkṣao laghutāprāpta haiteche, sei gaurasundara koṭi-koṭi janmera puñja puñja sukvatiphale āmāra hṛdaye ki padārpaṇa karibena?

When will that Gaurasundara, He by whose charming beautiful form crores and crores of cupids have been ridiculed, by whose effulgence of the beautiful moonlike face the effulgence of crores and crores of rising autumn moons have been paled and whose most generosity has made the crores and crores of desire trees to be inferior, will place His lotus feet in my heart as a result of heaps and heaps of pious credits in innumerable births?

Jayapatākā Swami: In the 1971 Ardha Kumbha Mela, one devotee asked a question. He said, you said if we take up Kṛṣṇa consciousness we have already passed through so many pious activities. When I look back at my life I didn’t do anything pious. How did I get this mercy? Śrīla Prabhupāda replied, I made the mercy for you. So those who were fortunate to be with Lord Caitanya, 500 years ago, we may wonder why I am not, but by the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda we got to participate in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement. We don’t know much about millions of cupids. It’s said that they are especially very attractive. But here it says that Lord Caitanya is more attractive, more beautiful than crores of Cupids! So, we may not deserve any special mercy. But by the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda, he gives out this mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So, by Lord Caitanya’s mercy we can see how Lord Caitanya He is very cooling like a million moons and everybody is eager to get a desire tree which will give them whatever they want. But Lord Caitanya, He is better than even the desire tree. He gives that which we don’t even understand, it’s so valuable! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!

Śrī Caitanya-candrāmṛtam Chapter 7.75

gauracandrera premāmbudhi-varddhinī o kalmaṣanāśinī aṅgakānti—

The Gauracandras’s effulgence increases the ocean of love and destroys the contamination

antar-dhvānta-cayaṁ samasta-jagatām unmulayantī haṭhāt
premānanda-rasāmbudhiṁ niravadhi prodvelayantī balāt
viśvaṁ śītalayanty atīva-vikalaṁ tāpa-trayeṇāniśaṁ
sāsmākaṁ hṛdaye cakāstu cakitaṁ caitanyacandra-cchaṭā

Ye caitanya-candra-candrikā jīva-hṛdayera ajñānāndhakāra-rāśi akasmāt samūle vināśa karitechena, premānanda-rasa-samudrake nirantara bala-pūrvaka ucchalita karitechena evaṁ ādhyātmikādi tāpatraya-tapta viśvake anukṣaṇa susnigdha karitechena, sei caitanya-candracchaṭā āmādigera hṛdaye kṣaṇakālao dīptilābha karuna.

Let the rays of the Caitanya moon (Lord Caitanya) that, suddenly uproots the dense darkness of ignorance from the hearts of the living entities, forcefully and constantly makes the nectarean ocean of happiness of love to overflow and forever cools the world afflicted by three-fold miseries, shine in our heart even for a moment.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanyacandra, even if He gives illumination in our heart for a few seconds, that will take away all this darkness of ignorance. But we are unfortunately very much afflicted by the material three-fold miseries. And Lord Caitanya if He appears in our heart then all this suffering, all the darkness will completely go away. Just like, if we had no light there is darkness everywhere. But then if we have light even for a short time, the darkness goes away. So like that Lord Caitanya illuminates our heart with love of Kṛṣṇa. By His mercy, the nectar ocean over floods. Suddenly the nectarean ocean of love overflows. So somehow if we get the people to take the shelter of Lord Caitanya then they can realize how wonderful Lord Caitanya is!