20241102 Address to the ISKCON Chowpatty Kārtika Yātrā Day 2

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: So you have been listening to the nectar of Govardhana Pūjā from His Holiness Rādhānātha Swami. So I don’t know you have heard him if I have much more to say. But our previous ācārya, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he has made a Govardhana Hill. So it is something which is there in our disciplic succession. I think, if I remember correctly, there is also a Govardhana in the Govardhana Eco Village near Mumbai. But in Bangladesh in Puṇḍarīka dhāma we also have a Govardhana. I was thinking what to say regarding Govardhana from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. And there was a time in Jagannātha Purī when Lord Caitanya was walking to the ocean to take His bath. And He saw a big sand dune over the Caṭaka Parvata. And Lord Caitanya thought this is Govardhana! And He started running to it! And He had almost reached it, many devotees started running after Him. They could not keep up with Lord Caitanya. Govinda was following Lord Caitanya, but he could not catch up. The followers of Lord Caitanya got stuck. He fell down. All the pores of His body started oozing blood. Govinda got up and he sprinkled some water on Lord Caitanya’s body and fanned Him with Lord Caitanya’s cloth. So all the devotees caught up and some of them seeing Lord Caitanya’s situation were very distressed. Blood coming from His pores, tears pouring from His eyes, like torrents of rain. So, they started to chant very loudly, and they chanted for a long time. And Lord Caitanya suddenly stood up and He chanted, “Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!” And all the devotees who were there, they also chanted, “Haribol!” He asked, “Where am I? How did I get here? Who brought Me here? I was in Vṛndāvana! I saw Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and many gopīs. I saw the Govardhana Hill. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa went inside a cave in Govardhana and one of the gopīs told me to pick flowers for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and then I was brought here! Where is Vṛndāvana? Where is Govardhana?” He was like partially or semi-conscious but He was very ecstatic. And Paramānanda Purī, Keśava Bhāratī, they came and then He was brought more to an external consciousness. “Why have you come so far?” They said, “We came here to see You dance.” Then Lord Caitanya felt embarrassed. Then He came to His external consciousness and went and bathed in the ocean and went back. So, that was a pastime from Jagannātha Purī of Caṭaka Parvata, where He thought that it was Govardhana Hill.

Then I was thinking how the cowherd men in Vṛndāvana were telling Nanda Mahārāja that, “We just saw your son Kṛṣṇa lift the mountain Govardhana for seven days, who is He? Tell us who He is.” He said, “Garga Muni came to our house for the name giving ceremony and he said, ‘Your son appears in every age, in a different color – Satya-yuga in one color, Tretā-yuga a different color, in Dvāpara-yuga in a dark blue color and once in a day of Brahmā, he comes in yellow color.’” So, how fortunate are we! 500 years ago, Lord Caitanya came and He comes only once in a day of Brahmā. Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!

So once in a day of Brahmā at the end of Brahmā’s day there is universal destruction. There are a thousand catur-yugas in a day of Brahmā. Lord Caitanya came here 500 years ago! And one of His purposes was to spread the Harināma saṅkīrtana. The other thing, Kṛṣṇa wanted to realize the prema of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Rādhārāṇī made Navadvīpa dhāma. And Kṛṣṇa came here, Rādhārāṇī was playing on a flute. He wondered, “Who is this playing on the flute so beautifully?” So then, He saw this Navadvīpa dhāma and He said that this Navadvīpa dhāma is non-different from Vṛndāvana. In Vṛndāvana you get a thousand times benefit of any devotional service. Here it is the same. But in Vṛndāvana any vaiṣṇava-aparādha or any offence committed, you get a thousand times the effect. But here offences are not multiplied. So, that is why Navadvīpa dhāma is known as audārya-dhāma. So it is more merciful!

Siddha Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī came from Vṛndāvana to Navadvīpa. And his samādhi mandir is in the island of Koladvīpa where the present city of Navadvīpa is. I don’t know if devotees are going to Koladvīpa? So, we call him Siddha Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī. He realized Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and his siddha svarūpa here in Navadvīpa.

So, I told last night, I don’t know if everybody heard it. You can download ‘Māyāpur App’. If you have a smart phone. It is in both Google Play store and Apple Store. I paid for the App for you! Haribol! And the App has Māyāpur ISKCON, also the virtual parikramā of Navadvīpa or you can look up the App while doing parikramā.

So Lord Caitanya was experiencing the Govardhana-līlā personally. And the devotees brought Him back by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa loudly.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

He was brought back to Jagannātha Purī and He was feeling very sad. Because His experience of Govardhana was broken! So, Koladvīpa is also known as the island in which one gets forgiven for any offences. Aparādhā-bhañjana Koladvīpa. So when you go to Koladvīpa, you pray there to get forgiven for any offences. If anyone has offended you, you forgive them also. I heard you are all going to different islands. Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy, His pastimes in one day, are unlimited.

I was talking about Garga Muni’s prediction. He said that this boy, the son of Nanda Mahārāja, He is very auspicious. And He will protect you all from all difficulties. And He said, “He has the power of Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa.” The cowherd men did not ask how does He have the power of Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa, but He is the source of Nārāyaṇa. They just heard it and were happy.

In Govardhana, Kṛṣṇa went alone and Indra was following Surabhi cow. Indra has a thousand eyes and all the eyes were crying. They were saying, “Please, Lord Kṛṣṇa forgive me.” Kṛṣṇa had said that Indradeva was a devotee and very close to Him. Kṛṣṇa said, “I don’t want My devotees to be proud. So I have taught you a lesson to make you humble. Please do not be proud again. Go back to your Indrapurī and enjoy there. But always be humble.” So, like this there is a description of the abhiṣeka of Gopāla in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and many other different books. There Lord Brahmadeva arranged for an abhiṣeka. He told all the ladies of the heavenly planets to do the abhiṣeka first. Then the devas came, the Gandharvas came. They poured oil on the body of Govinda and did the abhiṣeka. So, here in the holy dhāma of Navadvīpa you all have the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

So, here we are trying to build the TOVP. But it is almost ready and we are about to finish it in two years. I was told by Braja-vilāsa that they were expecting a very good collection coming up. I hope you all attended the TOVP program. So, in this side I am seeing all white except one or two saffron and this side all color. Here in Bengal, ladies can do hari-dhvani and ulu-dhvani but the men they can only do hari-dhvani. Can you all do hari-dhvani? Ladies can do hari-dhvani? Ladies from Western India can you do ulu-dhvani? Thank you very much. I told that it is time for you to do your Dāmodara-pūjā.

Here we see how Lord Caitanya, He comes as a devotee. Because Kṛṣṇa wants to realize what is the love of Rādhārāṇī. He feels that the happiness She feels being a pure devotee is a million times more than Him. And He tries to understand it, but He cannot do so. He has to accept the mood and color of Rādhārāṇī. But He only does that once in a day of Brahmā. So, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa there will be a ten-thousand-year Golden Age when people will be Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So, we need you to help me, because Śrīla Prabhupāda told me, given me an order, to expand Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. But I have limited capacity, so you can help me, help His Holiness Rādhānātha Swami to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world, or at least where you are. Thank you very much!