20250426 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.15.24

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

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

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.15.24

ye ’bhyarthitām api ca no nṛ-gatiṁ prapannā
jñānaṁ ca tattva-viṣayaṁ saha-dharmaṁ yātrā
nārādhanaṁ bhagavato vitaranty amuṣya
sammohitā vitatayā bata māyayā te

Translation: Lord Brahmā said: My dear demigods, the human form of life is of such importance that we also desire to have such life, for in the human form one can attain perfect religious truth and knowledge. If one in this human form of life does not understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His abode, it is to be understood that he is very much affected by the influence of external nature.

Purport: Brahmājī condemns very vehemently the condition of the human being who does not take interest in the Personality of Godhead and His transcendental abode, Vaikuṇṭha. The human form of life is desired even by Brahmājī. Brahmā and other demigods have much better material bodies than human beings, yet the demigods, including Brahmā, nevertheless desire to attain the human form of life because it is specifically meant for the living entity who can attain transcendental knowledge and religious perfection. It is not possible to go back to Godhead in one life, but in the human form one should at least understand the goal of life and begin Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is said that the human form is a great boon because it is the most suitable boat for crossing over the nescience ocean. The spiritual master is scriptures is the favorable wind for floating over the ocean of nescience. The human being who does not take advantage of all these facilities in this life is committing suicide. Therefore one who does not begin Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the human form of life loses his life to the influence of the illusory energy. Brahmā regrets the situation of such a human being.

* * *

Jayapatākā Swami: So here Brahmā is speaking to the demigods. We hear that in the heavenly planets there is so much happiness, so much sense gratification, that they don’t think much about God. So, in the hellish planets there is so much suffering that one doesn’t think much about God. In the human birth there is a mix – śukha and duḥkha, happiness and distress. So the human form of life, Brahmā who lives trillions of years, he is saying he would like to take birth as a human being! Now, most of the human beings in Kali-yuga, they are not very spiritual. Here it is said human form and that human form may be male or female. So receiving this human birth if we do not learn about something about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then their life is completely useless. So this human life is considered a good boat to cross over the ocean of janma, mṛtyu, jarā, vyādhi – birth, death, old age and disease. Now it is said here that the spiritual master is considered the able captain of the boat. Here we have various devotee men and they do various kinds of services in the dhāma. But the Vaiṣṇavīs, they are also doing service. In front of each of the Deities like Pañca-tattva and Rādhā Mādhava, there are raṅgolis, beautiful decoration done with drawings and colors, many of you don’t see them, but this is done by the ladies. And the beautiful sṛṅgāra of the Lord, the outfits for the Lord are designed by both male and female devotees, but the designers are mostly the ladies. The female devotees design and male and female devotees make them. Braja-vilāsa Prabhu said that Māyāpur should have the best Deity clothes in the world! Yesterday, 24,000 people came to Māyāpur because it is off-season. Off-season means in the winter more people visit. How many of these people know about the Supreme Personality of Godhead? They pray usually that please make some arrangements for my sense gratification. That in this human form they should know about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they don’t think about that. So, everyone that is entering, they can purchase a book, and you can preach to them and tell them how important this human form of life is. And how birth in India, to be of Indian origin, is a special bonus.

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu said:

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra
(Cc. Ādi 9.41)

[Translation: “One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.”]

In my younger days, many times in a year, I travelled around the world. Some of the devotees I met while travelling, they are here! So wherever we go, we try to give the message of Kṛṣṇa to the people. So like this, although it is Kali-yuga, for ten thousand years, Lord Caitanya’s movement, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books will be present. So this is an auspicious time to appear! And during these ten thousand years, every year, this whole Kali-yuga we will celebrate the appearance of Lord Caitanya and the Pañca-tattva! Do you know whose appearance day it is tomorrow? This is a challenge! Gāndharvikā Gaurāṅgī Devī Dāsī, she does these challenges! Now is the Vaiśākha month challenge. And now tomorrow is the appearance day of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. Haribol! He appeared in East Bengal which is now called Bangladesh. So we have already got the place or we are trying to get the place of Gadādhara Paṇḍita. We have Advaita Ācārya’s birthplace and Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura’s birthplace. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that Navadvīpa dhāma is Lord Caitanya’s birthplace, so he was saying janma karma ca me divyam (Bg. 4.9) – that this Māyāpur is the karma-sthāna and that, the Yoga-pīṭha is the janma-sthāna. This way, in Ekacakra village we have the temple of Lord Nityānanda as well. I just saw a news that we got Gadādhara Paṇḍita’s birthplace too! The devotees in Bangladesh, they have taken my petition to their heart and have tried very hard to get all these holy places.

Here we are trying to develop all the śrīpāṭs of Lord Caitanya’s associates. We want to make a difference. We want to please the Pañca-tattva, Lord Caitanya and Śrīla Prabhupāda. We are trying to follow Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions to please the Pañca-tattva.

It is amazing to hear Lord Brahmā say that he would like to be born as a human being! And he is saying that the devas, the demigods, they also desire the same thing! When Lord Caitanya took His saṅkīrtana parties from all four directions to the house of the Chand Kazi, at that time, Lord Indra and Vāyudeva, they came down to see the kīrtana. And lo behold! seeing Lord Caitanya dancing and crying, they fainted! When then came back to conscious, they took a human form and joined the kīrtana! Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! We are trying to install the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya, wherever He went. So we wrote a letter to the Caitanya Maṭha to give us permission to put His lotus footprints in the samādhi of Chand Kazi and Śrīdhara Aṅgan. Which of you devotees were devas in the skies? I don’t expect you to reveal yourself, but we don’t know! So, the brahmacārīs, they only have association in the brahmacārī āśrama. But those who get married, the husbands, they have to help their wives to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. The women should help their husbands as well, to advance on the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Of course, if you get married to a Kṛṣṇa conscious spouse, that is better. Those people who come here, they should get some inspiring instructions about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I put some request to the co-directors to have devotees in front of each of the altars to explain about each of the Deities. I don’t know what is the progress. One person was assigned to Pañca-tattva. But he was a brahmacārī. I think because ladies, men everybody, families come, a gṛhastha, a lady may be more convenient to talk to the other ladies. A brahmacārī could be in front of Nṛsiṁhadeva altar. I don’t know how many people know who the Pañca-tattva are!

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Who knows? Maybe you know. But those who are visiting, do they know? And of course, who were They (Pañca-tattva) in the kṛṣṇa-līlā? Who was Advaita Ācārya previously? Things like that. So there is a lot to tell about each altar. How much they are interested in knowing, it also depends on that. I think that most people do not know so much. And how much do they know about the Absolute Truth. So we are trying to give some information in the West Wing of the TOVP.

So having a human birth, you are very fortunate! And here, most of you are born in India, so you are very fortunate! Śrīla Prabhupāda went around the world 12 or 14 times and he spread Lord Caitanya’s mission all over the world. Otherwise, how would have I come to know?

30^th of April is Akṣaya-tṛtīyā. Now, Mamata Banerjee has built a Lord Jagannātha temple in Digha. And she has provided irrevocable right to ISKCON devotees to worship the Deities of Lord Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā and Sudarśana! So, I will be going there, Kṛṣṇa willing, to do the prāṇa-pratiṣṭha of Lord Jagannātha! I don’t know what the internal politics is but I think that we have got the opportunity to serve Lord Jagannātha, and that is all we are concerned about. So the foreign devotees are not allowed into the Lord Jagannātha temple in Purī. But, here we are worshiping the Deity! And even installing the Deity. The Śaṅkarācārya of Purī said, “No, no, it is not allowed! You cannot call it Jagannātha Dhāma.” The Śaṅkarācārya of Purī is the main person who stops us from entering the temple at Jagannātha Purī. I went to see him and he has a very nice Deity of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. I said, “You have very beautiful Deities but you are old and not so beautiful!” And he said, “It is my līlā!” Everyone goes through the līlā of old age! Except Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

It is already 9 o clock. Any questions?

Question: Does evil eye exist? If it does then does it affect the devotees? Is it good for devotees to keep their devotional practice confidential? Does it help in the progress of a devotee?

Jayapatākā Swami: There are things like black magic, evil eye, but if you read the 9^th chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, just the verses, that is meant to ward these things off. Also, many devotees worship the Deity, and offer lamps and things to Lord Nrsimhadeva, they wear kavaca, so how much these things affect devotees I don’t know. I think that devotees are not so affected by these things. But it is mentioned in the Kṛṣṇa Book how Pradyumna was eaten by a fish and he was brought up by a lady who was his wife in a previous birth. So if someone tries to do some evil thing against the devotee, it may come back to them! Like that, Śrīla Prabhupāda went to a house and the neighbors told Śrīla Prabhupāda that there were ghosts in that house. Śrīla Prabhupāda chanted the holy names day and night and the ghosts left!

Thank you very much! Tomorrow there will be abhiṣeka ceremony of Gadādhara Prabhu!