20260303 Śrī Gaura-Pūrṇimā Lecture

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 11.5.32

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

Translation: In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.

Purport: This same verse is quoted by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Three, verse 52. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda has given the following commentary on this verse. “This text is from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.32). Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained this verse in his commentary on the Bhāgavatam known as the Krama-sandarbha, wherein he says that Lord Kṛṣṇa also appears with a golden complexion. That golden Lord Kṛṣṇa is Lord Caitanya, who is worshiped by intelligent men in this age. That is confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Garga Muni, who said that although the child Kṛṣṇa was blackish, He also appears in three other colors — red, white and yellow. He exhibited His white and red complexions in the Satya and Tretā ages respectively. He did not exhibit the remaining color, yellow-gold, until He appeared as Lord Caitanya, who is known as Gaurahari.

“Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that kṛṣṇa-varṇam means Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Kṛṣṇa-varṇam and Kṛṣṇa Caitanya are equivalent. The name Kṛṣṇa appears with both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya Kṛṣṇa. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He always engages in describing Kṛṣṇa and thus enjoying transcendental bliss by chanting and remembering His name and form. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appears as Lord Caitanya to preach the highest gospel. Varṇayati means ‘utters’ or ‘describes.’ Lord Caitanya always chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and describes it also, and because He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, whoever meets Him will automatically chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and later describe it to others. He injects one with transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which merges the chanter in transcendental bliss. In all respects, therefore, He appears before everyone as Kṛṣṇa, either by personality or by sound. Simply by seeing Lord Caitanya one at once remembers Lord Kṛṣṇa. One may therefore accept Him as viṣṇu-tattva. In other words, Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.

“Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam further indicates that Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa. His body is always decorated with ornaments of sandalwood and with sandalwood paste. By His superexcellent beauty He subdues all the people of the age. In other descents the Lord sometimes used weapons to defeat the demoniac, but in this age the Lord subdues them with His all-attractive figure as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that His beauty is His astra, or weapon, to subdue the demons. Because He is all-attractive, it is to be understood that all the demigods lived with Him as His companions. His acts were uncommon and His associates wonderful. When He propagated the saṅkīrtana movement, He attracted many great scholars and ācāryas, especially in Bengal and Orissa. Lord Caitanya is always accompanied by His best associates like Lord Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa.

“Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī cites a verse from the Vedic literature that says that there is no necessity of performing sacrificial demonstrations or ceremonial functions. He comments that instead of engaging in such external, pompous exhibitions, all people, regardless of caste, color or creed, can assemble together and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa to worship Lord Caitanya. Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam indicates that prominence should be given to the name Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya taught Kṛṣṇa consciousness and chanted the name of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, to worship Lord Caitanya, everyone should together chant the mahā-mantra — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. To propagate worship in churches, temples or mosques is not possible because people have lost interest in that. But anywhere and everywhere, people can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Thus worshiping Lord Caitanya, they can perform the highest activity and fulfill the highest religious purpose of satisfying the Supreme Lord.

“Śrīla Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, a famous disciple of Lord Caitanya, said: ‘The principle of transcendental devotional service having been lost, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya has appeared to deliver again the process of devotion. He is so kind that He is distributing love of Kṛṣṇa. Everyone should be attracted more and more to His lotus feet, as humming bees are attracted to a lotus flower.’”

The incarnation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is also described in the Śrī Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma, which appears in Chapter 189 of the Dāna-dharma-parva of Mahābhārata. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has quoted this reference as follows: suvarṇa-varṇo hemāṅgo varāṅgaś candanāṅgadī. “In His early pastimes He appears as a householder with a golden complexion. His limbs are beautiful, and His body, smeared with the pulp of sandalwood, seems like molten gold.” He has also quoted, sannyāsa-kṛc chamaḥ śānto niṣṭhā-śānti-parāyaṇaḥ: “In His later pastimes He accepts the sannyāsa order, and He is equipoised and peaceful. He is the highest abode of peace and devotion, for He silences the impersonalist nondevotees.”

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Jayapatākā Swami: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda has given a very nice explanation of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the Lord is described as Tri-Yuga. This means that in Satya, Tretā and Dvāpara the Lord declares and reveals that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But when Lord Caitanya came and if anyone said He is Kṛṣṇa, He would cover His ears and say, “No, no! I am not Kṛṣṇa!” He was Kṛṣṇa coming in the form of a devotee. This way even though He was Lord Kṛṣṇa, He kept His identity hidden. But He has unlimited potencies. So, He can give immediately transcendental bliss.

Now this verse said, by associating with Lord Caitanya, either by seeing Him or by sound, we are not fortunate that we can see Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu directly. But we can hear about Him. Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Just by saying the holy name Lord Gaurāṅga we start to feel transcendental bliss! This way those who take to chanting the holy name of the Lord, they will get His blessings and the Supreme destination. It is not only the Bengalis or Indians, but anywhere in the world! Whoever chants the holy name, the mahā-mantra, follows Lord Caitanya, immediately feels transcendental bliss! So one of Lord Caitanya’s devotees told another Kazi, (not Chand Kazi). He told that Kazi that, “You are very handsome, powerful, politically active, you are very religious, forget all of this! Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa!” He said, “I will chant Hare Kṛṣṇa tomorrow.” The devotee said, “You have already started, don’t stop now!” So somehow or another we want the people to chant the mahā-mantra and make their lives successful. In this way, Lord Caitanya started the saṅkīrtana movement. And He predicted that in every town and village His holy name would be heard. So His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda wanted to make this prediction come true! And that is the responsibility of every devotee! You should all think that I have a responsibility to serve Lord Caitanya. And in this way you should endeavor how better to preach.

In the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa there is a history that the holy rivers, the bathing places, approached Lord Kṛṣṇa. They pushed Gaṅgā Devī ahead and she was the spokesperson who spoke to Lord Kṛṣṇa. She said, on behalf of all the rivers and bathing places that Kali-yuga is coming. All the people will bathe in our waters and leave their sins behind. You will now be leaving, therefore please kindly take us along with You. Lord Kṛṣṇa smiled and He told them, for five thousand years, you just tolerate the sinful people bathing in your waters. But then there will be a ten thousand year period, the Golden Age of devotion! So I was thinking any of the previous ages, did they have this kind of ten thousand year period where everyone was a devotee? We know that Kali-yuga has many transformations. So it is an amazing thing that within this Age of Kali there is a ten thousand year period of Golden Age. This was made possible due to the advent of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If He desires so, then such things happen! After all, He is the Supreme Lord, He can do anything He wants! If He even looks at you, if He glances, you can get kṛṣṇa-prema! When He toured South India, He did something He did not do in Navadvīpa, He would embrace the people walking on the road! How would you like Lord Caitanya to embrace you? So by His embrace naturally people would have love of Kṛṣṇa!

I was inspired by Vāsu Ghoṣa’s song and offered a song to Śrīla Prabhupāda, yadi prabhupāda nā haita, tabe ki haita. So Lord Caitanya also revealed mādhurya-rasa, He revealed the holy name, He revealed many things. We are very fortunate to come in the paramparā of Lord Caitanya. He had blessed Lord Brahmā that in the future he would appear in His sampradāya and appear in this world. We don’t know how fortunate we are to be in Navadvīpa dhāma, the place of Lord Caitanya’s appearance! In the material world we are very enamored by the glitter of māyā! In this way our life goes on fruitlessly and Advaita and other devotees noticed the living entities living this way and felt very sorry for the conditioned souls. When Lord Caitanya appeared 539 years ago, happy Gaura-Pūrṇimā, then all the people following the smārta maṭha on lunar eclipse went to the Ganges and started chanting Haribol, Hare Kṛṣṇa! Today there will be a lunar eclipse. But our ācāryas say that from a spiritual perspective this particular lunar eclipse is auspicious for the world. Śrīla Prabhupāda, he awarded sannyāsa āśrama during the lunar eclipse. During the lunar eclipse if one performs spiritual activities, he gets long life and other blessings from the Lord. But it is not auspicious for material activities. So, that is why we observe the candra-grahaṇa, the lunar eclipse spiritually.

Here we want to remember Lord Caitanya, His holy name, all the time! Bhagī Mahārāja was bringing the Ganges to this earth to purify his ancestors. Bhagī Mahārāja, when she stopped at this place, he asked Ganges, “Why did you stop at this place?” That was a secret that Gaura-Pūrṇimā was just going to happen. And Gaṅgā devī wanted to remain in Māyāpur during Gaura-Pūrṇimā. So she was waiting until Gaura-Pūrṇimā. So you are all here for Gaura-Pūrṇimā and you can bathe in the sacred water of the Ganges! Of course, in the morning you have to be careful because outside the gate they are observing Holi! You have to be careful because people will throw colors at you. In the afternoon that will stop.

Anyway, we want to work for Kṛṣṇa and chant the mahā-mantra as Lord Caitanya provided. Today is the sacred appearance day of Lord Caitanya, so we are rejoicing and we are chanting His holy name. Śrīla Prabhupāda mentioned that this Māyāpur Navadvīpa dhāma was His place of worship. So we are very happy that all the Vaiṣṇavas and Vaiṣṇavīs are here today. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, had given the sacred thread, upanayanam, to devotees who were not brāhmaṇas like kṣatriya, vaiśyas or śudras if they chanted the holy name of the Lord. So we are doing this process all over the world. Like this, by Lord Caitanya’s mercy, the holy name is being spread all over the world. Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!

On this auspicious Gaura-Pūrṇimā day, if you do not have the Caitanya-caritāmṛta set, please take one today. His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami is giving a special price for it today! Thank you very much!