20241116 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.11.23-24

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.11.23

niśāvasāna ārabdho
loka-kalpo ’nuvartate
yāvad dinaṁ bhagavato
manūn bhuñjaṁś catur-daśa

Translation: After the end of Brahmā’s night, the creation of the three worlds begins again in the daytime of Brahmā, and they continue to exist through the life durations of fourteen consecutive Manus, or fathers of mankind.

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: At the end of the life of each Manu there are shorter dissolutions also.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.11.24

svaṁ svaṁ kālaṁ manur bhuṅkte
sādhikāṁ hy eka-saptatim

Translation: Each and every Manu enjoys a life of a little more than seventy-one sets of four millenniums.

Purport: The duration of life of a Manu comprises seventy-one sets of four millenniums, as described in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. The duration of life of one Manu is about 852,000 years in the calculation of the demigods, or, in the calculation of human beings, 306,720,000 years.

* * *

Jayapatākā Swami: How the universe is created and annihilated in one day of Brahmā, and in one night of Brahmā, he creates the universes again. So, the Manus, there are 14 Manus in one day of Brahmā. That means about 71 catur-yugas is the lifespan of one Manu. Then there is a profound dissolution at the end of every Manu. For us, the maximum lifespan is one hundred years. One Manu’s lifespan is 71 catur-yugas. We were walking with Śrīla Prabhupāda one day on the rooftop of the Lotus building. An army of ants was going from one place to another. The queen ant was a big bigger than the other ones. So the ants were carrying eggs. We were looking down at the ants. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, like that, we were looking at the ants, they live for a month or so. Like that in the Svargaloka there are entities looking down at us and thinking how insignificant we are! So, Lord Brahmā’s day is a thousand catur-yugas long. At the end, there are 14 Manus in one day of Brahmā. So we are very short lived! You see Brahmā, he is doing a service for Kṛṣṇa. Now, we also could do a service for Kṛṣṇa. Devotional service is revealed in this Navadvīpa dhāma. So if we engage in devotional service even though our lives are very short, this way we can engage our short lives in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

So, Lord Caitanya, He came from the Goloka Vṛndāvana and He combined with Rādhārāṇī. That way, He came as a devotee. And He was discussing with Rāmānanda Rāya, what is the path of perfection. Rāmānanda Rāya said, “Following the varṇāśrama system, that is the best.” So Lord Caitanya said, “Oh that is external, go on!” Like this, Rāmānanda Rāya described śānta, dāsya, one after another, sakhya, vātsalya. Lord Caitanya said, “That is alright, but go on.” So then he said about mādhurya-rasa. Then all the other rasas are obtained with mādhurya-rasa itself. But mādhurya-rasa is very special. So, in the material world all these rasas are there, but they are all perverted. Here Brahmā, he has created the universe, that is his service to Kṛṣṇa. Everyone of us needs to do some service.

In the month of December up to January, we have the book marathon. And that is our service. So, our devotees, whether they are brahmacārīs, gṛhasthas, vānaprasthas or sannyāsīs, they all have to do some devotional service for Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya, He has given us this special opportunity to serve Kṛṣṇa by preaching. In the catur-yugas the Satya-yuga is four times as long as Kali-yuga. Tretā-yuga is three times longer than Kali-yuga. Dvāpara-yuga is two times longer than Kali-yuga. So 4, 3, 2, 1 equals 10. So one thousand of these is one day of Brahmā. There are 14 Manus in one day of Brahmā. So, according to the scientists the sun runs out of energy! And that is the time when they estimate one day of Brahmā. These are very interesting things, that we are soon going to display, in the exhibits, in the West Wing of the TOVP.  So the general people say that the Purāṇas are mythology. But we can see here that it is very scientific. How long one day of Brahmā is, how many Manus in one day of Brahmā. How many catur-yugas are there in one day of Brahmā.

So, Kṛṣṇa came in Dvāpara-yuga. And He came again as a devotee, as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in this Kali-yuga. He comes once in a day of Brahmā. So, now is the opportunity to take advantage of His avatāra. He came, and in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa, He says that there will be a Golden Age period for ten thousand years. Śrīla Prabhupāda came just to start that. So, we want to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness during this ten thousand years. Yesterday, we heard that 61,000 people came to Māyāpur, ISKCON Māyāpur! Last year, I remember 56,000 or something. That was the maximum! But here we are still in November and 61,000 came! I heard only 13,000 went to Śrīla Prabhupāda Samādhi Mandir. Because they charge ten rupees to see the second floor exhibits. People think they have to pay ten rupees to see the whole Samādhi. That is not true! Darśana and everything else is free. If they want to go to the second floor to see the exhibits, then they have to pay. So we should put some sign, ‘Darsana is free’.

Few days ago, we had the book marathon inauguration. These time periods are very large, but our book marathon is much shorter! If everybody would think how they could please Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, that would be very good use of the time. Now we are eternal, we never die. But this body dies. So, if we are always thinking of Kṛṣṇa, thinking of Lord Caitanya, thinking of Gurudeva, Śrīla Prabhupāda, then we take our next birth spiritually! Now, generally, the people do not think that they have a relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that our gṛhastha devotees were very special devotees. He said, they have the name dāsa adhikāri. So, that is a very big title! Our gṛhastha devotees should also cooperate with each other and try to please Rādhā Mādhava and Pañca-tattva. So we are very hopeful that you all will try your best to distribute Śrīla Prabhupāda books and preach to the visiting devotees.

So, now you all know how long each universe lasts for. So, there a 1000 catur-yugas in one day of Brahmā. There are 14 Manus. So, in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Bali Mahārāja, he was told that he will become a legitimate Indra. That is 3 Manus from now. So, how long is Bali’s life?! So, these people live a long time. But nothing compared to Brahmā! All the universes, the three systems, three lokas – svarga, mṛtya and pātāla – they are all filled with water. Everyone dies except those who are in Brahmaloka. And they sleep. So, that is like a bigger picture. We have a very short life. We have ten thousand years of our time, when Lord Caitanya and His movement will flourish on this earth. But that will happen only with our efforts. Lord Caitanya, He desires this, but we have to serve Him. So that is the essence of this class.

Any questions or comments?

Question: Many people, they come to the Samādhi, they wander around and don’t know what it is. The Samādhi has been open since 1994 but there is not a single board that mentions that this is Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Puṣpa Samādhi. That is why people don’t know and understand the significance and may be a reason why many people do not come to the Samādhi.

Jayapatākā Swami: In Uḍupī there is a Kṛṣṇa temple. And the Deity turned around and looks up to His back. Because there was a devotee who they did not allow to enter the temple and he was saying prayers from the back of the temple. So then the Deity turned around, with a crack in the wall so that that devotee could see the Lord. It is a small temple I saw, there are devotees guides, ten or twelve guides wearing different colored uniforms. So the guides they guide the visitors where to go, where to eat, where to get all the information. So, like this, we should have different devotees who are guiding the visitors. This is something we can do, the resident devotees. One more question. We have His Holiness Jananivāsa Prabhu and His Grace Janmāṣṭamī Prabhu

Murāri Mohinī Devī Dāsī: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Thank you for your always blissful instructions. We are very happy that thousands of people are coming to ISKCON Māyāpur, and you said 61,000 visited yesterday. Dear Guru Mahārāja, we beg for your blessings, your prayers for our holy dhāma so that one day we can have the basic infra structure to receive properly all these visitors. We don’t have very basic sanitation outside the campus. We don’t have the very basic daily garbage collection. We don’t have basic sewage system inside our campus, inside our neighborhood. There are about 500 hotels around Māyāpur and they are discharging the toilet water in Mother Gaṅgā. Even our own houses because everything is connected to Gaṅgā. Every day when we have dozens of batches coming, with dozens of people coming, we feel a great joy, but at the same time we feel great anxiety as we don’t know how to properly take care of them. They have to use the toilet on the main road and they are forced to throw the garbage everywhere, in the Gaṅgā, in the gardens, in the schools, everywhere. So, you are our only hope Guru Mahārāja. Because of your purity all these souls are coming to get shelter of the holy dhāma. Please keep our holy dhāma in your prayers so that we can get these very basic things to receive them.

Jayapatākā Swami: Thank you. Yudhiṣṭhira Govinda Prabhu from Delhi has been cultivating the person who is in-charge of keeping the Ganges pure. So, they have decided to establish an STP – Sewage Treatment Plant. Hṛdaya Caitanya Prabhu, one of our Māyāpur Co-directors, he is trying to help to interface, they gave us 15 crore rupees for Śrīla Prabhupāda bathing ghāṭa. And also we are getting some funds for the STP not only in ISKCON Māyāpur but the whole of Māyāpur. So, at least part of your presentation is being considered. So, we are thinking how to advance on these points. How many devotees here would be willing to serve, distribute books, preach to the visitors, or in any other way to serve the visitors?

Thank you very much! Hare Kṛṣṇa!