20200524 Zoom Session with Dāmodaradeśa Devotees

20200524 Jayapatākā Swami Guru Maharaj, Zoom Address on Glories of Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas, To Damodardesh Yatra, From Base Camp, Śrī Māyāpur Dham, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

paramānanda-mādhavam

Śrī Caitanya Īśvaram

Are you going to translate into different languages?

Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Odiya?

Should I have it translated here in Hindi?

So Gaura Maṇḍala Bhūmi is in Navadvīpa dhāma. The south and east border is Puṇḍarīka dhāma. Sylhet is a part of Bangladesh. Advaita Ācārya birthplace, Sunarganj, and the north east border is in Bihar, the southern border is Remuṇā. So, this whole area is considered as Gaura Maṇḍala Bhūmi.

Gaura maṇḍala bhūmi jebā jāne chintamani, tar hoi Braja bhūmir vas – Śrīla Narottama das Thakur said.

So today we will discuss about Puṇḍarīka dham. That is the birth place of Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi.  In the Gaura Ganodesha Dipika Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, in his previous birth was Vṛṣabhānu maharaj. The father of Rādhārāṇī.

Rādhārāṇī came as Gadādhara Prabhu in the Caitanya līlā.

So, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi was the son of a big zamindar in Bangladesh. And his birth place is to the east of Chittagong. And he came to Navadvīpa and Mukunda Datta told Gadādhara, we will go and see him When he came to Navadvīpa, Lord Caitanya was chanting and calling his name Puṇḍarīka! Puṇḍarīka! and all the devotees thought that maybe Lord Caitanya was chanting some name of Kṛṣṇa. But in Kṛṣṇa līlā Vṛṣabhānu maharaj is his father-in-law.

Mukunda Datta taking Gadādhara Pandit came to see Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi. And he asked Gadādhara Prabhu, would you like to see a pure devotee?

Why not?

So, he went with Mukunda Datta. He was surprised at what he saw. Because, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi being a son of a rich zamindar, he was living in a very opulent way. He had expensive tapestries on the wall.  He had two servants fanning him with cāmara fans, and one servant on each side was putting expensive oil in his hair. He had expensive ghee lamps and he was sitting on some expensive cushions.

And Gadādhara Prabhu was thinking, he was expecting to see a very simple vaiṣṇava, he saw opulent surroundings, he doubted that was Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi was really a vaiṣṇava?

So Mukunda Datta, he could sense Gadādhara’s uneasiness. So Mukunda Datta was a famous singer of Lord Caitanya’s kīrtana. He began to sing pastime of Lord Kṛṣṇa. As soon as Kṛṣṇa līlā became sung by Mukunda Datta, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi became very ecstatic. He started knocking things here and there. Brass ghee lamps were knocked over. His clothes were ripped, he was completely overwhelmed in ecstasy!

Gadādhara thought, oh no, he is really a great devotee, and I made a very big offence. The only way I can be forgiven for this offence is if he accepts Me as his disciple. Because the guru always forgives his disciple. So, later on they asked Lord Caitanya’s permission, whether He thought that it was a good idea that Gadādhara accepted dīkṣā from Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi? And Lord Caitanya said that, it is a good idea! And He arranged for the yagna. And under His personal arrangement, Gadādhara took initiation from Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi.

 So, like that there are many pastimes when Lord Caitanya went to Jagannath Purī, that time they observed a festival called Odhana Shasthi. And that time they put starched cloth on Lord Jagannath. But Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, being very learned, he criticized the servants of Lord Jagannath.

How can you put new starched cloth on Lord Jagannath?

And that is very offensive! It means that you didn’t wash the clothes before you put it on Lord Jagannath. That night, Lord Jagannath and Baladeva came in a dream and told Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi that you have no right to criticize My servants! This is our tradition here. They slapped him in the face. He woke up, his face was swollen! So, he didn’t go out in public, because his face was swollen. Like that there are many pastimes that happened.

 So Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi is a very, very, special devotee. It is said in the Caitanya Caritamrita that he is the third branch of the Caitanya tree. So, with Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, we have the sevā pūjā of his birth place. And we hope that all the devotees of the Middle East will go and see Puṇḍarīka dham. His appearance day is on the Vasanth Panchami. They have a big festival. And there is a guest house and various facilities there. The deities there are Rādhā Vrasabhanavi Behari and Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu. There are many things I could say about Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi. He was very dear to Lord Caitanya, and one of his names is Puṇḍarīka Premanidhi, because he was the ocean of pure love of Kṛṣṇa. Within 500 meters of his birth place, is the āśrama made by Mukunda Datta and Vāsudeva Datta. And I made a temple there for Vāsudeva Datta, and Mukunda Datta’s ancient temple is still there. So, it is a very special place. So, we hope that you will all visit.

 We also mentioned that we would like to speak about Haridas Ṭhākura. He was born in a non-Hindu family, near to the border of India and Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, he was born in Benapol. And there somehow, he was always chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahā mantra. He would chant 3 lakhs of names a day. The number of names we chant in one year, he used to chant in one month. So, at that time, the zamindar in Bangladesh was against Haridas Thakur.

So, he offered that who would take the challenge to make Haridāsa Ṭhākura fall down?

He would give a 1000 gold coins!

So, the prostitute Heera, she agreed to make Haridāsa Ṭhākura fall down. So, she went to the āśrama of Haridāsa Ṭhākura and she told Haridāsa Ṭhākura, that I want to enjoy with you. He said, I will finish my rounds first, you wait! Ha! So, he was chanting his rounds. And she was chanting with him! But then the day came (she was there all night with him) and then she went.

Next day she came and Haridāsa Ṭhākura said l I have still not finished my japa.  because he had pledged that he would chant 1 crore names of Harinām every month. He told her that I have almost finished, please wait and then I will satisfy you, after I finish my japa. She also started chanting and again the day came up again. He said, I am sorry I have not finished yet. And she left. The third day she came. He said, today certainly I will certainly finish my rounds and I will satisfy you. She was chanting with him. Then at some point actually the effect of the chanting changed her heart. And she paid her obeisances to Haridāsa Ṭhākura, and then she said, that she revealed he whole plot. Haridāsa Ṭhākura said I knew that, I stayed to deliver you! So, then he gave her initiation, and told her to stay, and chant before Tulasī plant. So, she gave up her fancy clothes, and wore a white saree. And she was chanting. So, this was told to the zamindar. He couldn’t believe it, he was amazed how the prostitute became a devotee. Now she is chanting japa! Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he went to the west and he stayed for some days in the nearby village. Now that village is called Haridaspur.

Border on the Indian side is Haridaspur. We have an āśrama there Haridaspur. There is a high school, Haridaspur High School. Everything is Haridaspur. Haridāsa spent time there chanting japa. Then he went to Phulia outside Śāntipura. He lived in a gufa, a cave on the earth. And he was chanting japa there. Sometimes he would go to Śāntipura and meet with Advaita Goswami.

When Lord Caitanya appeared in Navadvīpa, he was with Advaita Gosāin. So, there are many pastimes between Haridāsa Ṭhākura and Lord Caitanya.

 Haridāsa Thakur used to go out, door to door with Nityānanda Prabhu. He had the pastime with Nityānanda Prabhu where They were chased by Jagāi and Mādhāi. Actually, some authorities say that Haridāsa Ṭhākura was an incarnation or Lord Brahmā. That is why he is known as Brahmā Haridas. Some people say that he was also an incarnation of Prahlāda maharaj.

 He was told by one Nawab that why he was chanting the name of a Hindu god?

And then he explained that so many people chant different names of the Lord. And like that Iswara has many names. I like to chant the names of Kṛṣṇa What is wrong with that? The Nawab thought, hmmm, there is nothing wrong with that! But his ayatollah said, no, this is offensive. So, they put him into the prison. There, he told the prisoners that you are all very fortunate. They said, are you joking with us! He said, no, the whole world is a prison. We are all forced to have disease, old age, die and reborn. But they think they are free. You know you are in prison. So, you are very fortunate. If you chant the name of Kṛṣṇa, then you will get all the good fortune. So, the whole prison house began to chant Harinām, and chanting the holy name, they became very happy.

So, the Nawab, he called Haridāsa Ṭhākura, I put you into prison to suffer, I heard that you are chanting, and all the prisoners are chanting and are happy! That defeated the whole purpose! I order you stop chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa!

Haridāsa Thakur said, you can take me and cut me in little pieces, as long as one piece is left, I will be chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. The ayatollah said, he will be whipped in 22 market places. The Nawab agreed.  Later Lord Caitanya revealed that He came from Vaikuṇṭha with His Sudarśana cakra to protect Haridāsa Ṭhākura. He was going to kill the executioners.

But Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he prayed, please forgive them! They don’t know what they are doing. So, because of that the Lord said, I couldn’t kil them! What to do?

So, Lord Caitanya, He took the hits on His back! So, He showed later to Haridāsa Ṭhākura how His back was cut with the beating of the executioners. Normally after two or three or four such beating in the bazars, he would be dead, but he was beaten in 22 market places. He did not die. So, the executioners were in big anxiety. Haridāsa Thakur asked them why you are sad?

Because you are not dead! The king will come and see that we did not do our job right. He will punish us.

Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, if I die you will be happy?

We will be happy, very, very happy! Please! Alright then I will die for you. So, he went into samādhi. So, breathing, no motion that he was alive, nothing was seen. So, the executioners called the Nawab to see that he was dead. At that time Haridāsa Ṭhākura was meditating on Lord Kṛṣṇa unlimited mass, weight. So, they tried to lift him up. They couldn’t, then they brought elephants and the mahuts were poking the elephants and they had tied ropes on Haridāsa Thakur. And the elephants were roaring, ahhhhhh ahhhhhh ahhhhh! But they couldn’t move Haridāsa Ṭhākura. So, everyone was in anxiety what to do! Then all of a sudden Haridāsa Ṭhākura became lighter than the lightest. He was like a balloon. Became very easy to be lifted. So as was the custom with the non-Hindus, they would bury him.

But the ayatollah said, no, he should not be burnt, not buried, he is an aparādhī, offender, throw him in the river and let the dogs and crows heat him. Let his soul have no peace. So, they took him and threw him in the river. But he was floating on the top of the water. And the wind blew him to the other side. Then when he went to the other side, he came to his consciousness. And then he climbed out of the water and he was chanting

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare,

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare!

So, then he was dancing, and the Nawab was watching, he is alive! he came back from the dead! So, he called a boat and crossed the river. Ha! ha! And he surrendered at the lotus feet of Haridāsa Ṭhākura and said, please forgive me. Then the ayatollah came and the Nawab said, I won’t listen to you anymore! Bu the ayatollah surrendered to Haridāsa Ṭhākura and said, please forgive me.

So Haridāsa Ṭhākura said, I will forgive you, but you give the order that anybody can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, there are no restrictions. So, the Nawab gave this order. And in this way, that was one of the pastimes of Haridāsa Ṭhākura. There are many pastimes of Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

Haridāsa Ṭhākura went to Jagannath Purī when Lord Caitanya went there. There he stayed at a place called Siddha Bakul. Although Lord Brahmā was the one who established the temple of Jagannath Purī, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he did not go to the temple.  But Lord Caitanya, He would visit him every day. So, the Siddha Bakul where Haridāsa Ṭhākura was, is still there. So, there are many pastimes with Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

What time is it?

So, I will speak for a short while on Śrīnivāsa Ācārya. Śrīnivāsa Ācārya was not a direct associate of Lord Caitanya. His mother and father, they were associates of Lord Caitanya. The mother of Srinivas Ācārya told his father that I know you are going to think I am in māyā but, I think we should have a child. I think that this is the desire of Kṛṣṇa. His father said, let us ask Lord Caitanya. So, they walked, husband and wife walked, from Māyāpur, from Bengal to Jagannath Purī. And there when they saw Lord Caitanya coming out of the temple of Lord Jagannath, they paid their obeisance’s.

Then Lord Caitanya walked by the side of them. He stopped. And pointing to the husband and wife, He said offer your obeisance’s. And He said, these are My very dear devotees. See that they have a place to stay, they see Lord Jagannath and they get prasādam. Then bring them to see Me. Then He went away. So, all the devotees they wanted to know who these special gṛhasthas who were so dear to Lord Caitanya.  They embraced them and welcomed them. They were given a place to stay, they had darshan of Lord Jagannath. And they were taken to see Lord Caitanya. So, there they were embarrassed. What should they say to Lord Caitanya?

How do they ask such a mundane thing?

Thy were thinking how to say it?

It seemed very foolish. Lord Caitanya came out and He told them, I wanted you two to go back to your house, you will have a son. His name will be Śrīnivāsa. And he will do special services for Me. Then he walked back! Ha! Ha! They got the answer, they did not have to ask anything! Ha! Ha!

 So, then they went back and had Śrīnivāsa Ācārya as their son. So, when Śrīnivāsa was 9 years old, he asked his father how he got the name as Caitanya das. So, the father told how he was going to Navadvīpa to see Lord Caitanya. But he saw great crowds of people in Katwa. He asked what is happening?

You don’t know?

Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu, He is here from Navadvīpa! And He is going to take sannyāsa from Keshava Bhāratī. And then I forget what his name was then, he saw a great kīrtana going in the āśrama of Keshava Bhāratī. He gradually came up and he was in the front row.

So, the whole process, the whole pastime of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s sannyāsa. How He went to the Ganges, He had a bath and came back. But first there was a barber who was supposed to cut Lord Caitanya’s hair. When he went to cut Lord Caitanya’s hair, all the people present shouted, no! no! no! Because it was inconceivable to think of Lord Caitanya’s beautiful long hair being cut. Lord Caitanya said, you are a barber, your dharma is to cut hair! And I need My hair cut, to take sannyāsa. So, if there is any offence, I take it. But will you take the offence if you don’t perform your dharma?

So, then the barber agreed to cut His hair. When he was touching the hair of Mahāprabhu, he was feeling ecstasy, love of Kṛṣṇa. His eyes were filled with tears, and his hand was trembling. Would you like to have a barber whose hands were trembling? Somehow or another ha! ha! He cut the hair of Lord Gaurāṅga. And then there is a picture, after cutting the hair, he was overwhelmed with love of Kṛṣṇa! He was offering his obeisance on top of the hair.

So, Lord Caitanya then, He took His bath in the Ganges and came back. He asked Keshava Bhāratī, you are going to give Me the vaiṣṇava sannyas mantra? He called him over and gave the mantra to Keshava Bhāratī, and then Keshava Bhāratī gave the mantra to Lord Gaurāṅga. He said, your name is Kṛṣṇa Caitanya! And after that the father of Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, all he could speak for two months was only Caitanya! Caitanya! Ha! Ha! So that is why he became known as Caitanya das.

When he told this pastime to Śrīnivāsa, he started remembering all this and he fell down paying his obeisance’s, and Śrīnivāsa, who was nine years old, he took his father’s feet and put on his head and was chanting. Then the mother came out from the kitchen, she saw the father lying on the ground chanting Caitanya! Caitanya! And the son holding on to the feet of the father. She offered her obeisance Ha! Ha! That was the family life of Śrīnivāsa! Ha! Ha!

We hope that all of you have similar family life! Ha! Ha!

Anyway, many things happened. He went to Jagannath Purī to learn the Bhāgavatam from Lord Caitanya. But when he went there, he found that the day before, Lord Caitanya had disappeared. So, he was very frustrated. And he fell unconscious on the ground. He was shocked. Lord Caitanya appeared to him and gave him audition and told him to go to Gadādhara prabhu.

Like this, he went to Gadādhara Prabhu and asked him to teach him the Bhāgavatam. But then Gadādhara Prabhu showed that His Bhāgavatam was washed out with tears! How will I teach you?

I have no Bhāgavatam. I need a new Bhāgavatam. Get Me a new one! So Śrīnivāsa went back to Navadvīpa which was the place of brāhmaṇas and had someone copy a Bhāgavatam for him. Then he went back to Jagannath Purī and just when he reached there, he found out that Gadādhara Prabhu, He had left the day before! Ha! Then he went back to Navadvīpa and then to Vṛndāvana.

It is a long story. He went to Vṛndāvana to take shelter of Rūpa and Sanātana. He heard two people talking. Vṛndāvana is not the same. Without Rūpa and Santāna. Then he said, what, Rūpa and Sanātana are not here?

You don’t know?

They have left, gone! Then he went to the Rādhā Govinda temple. And there he found out that Rūpa and Sanātana had left. So, he fell down at the back of the temple.

And Jīva Goswami woke him up and said that he should take initiation from Gopal Bhaṭṭa Goswami, and I will be your śikṣā guru and I will teach you. So, then he learnt the Bhāgavatam from Jīva Goswami. He was responsible for the deities in Vṛndāvana. To take the Caitanya Caritāmṛta and all the works of the six Goswamis back to Bengal. So, he took the books back to Bengal, accompanied by Narottama das Ṭhākura and Śyāmānanda Paṇḍita. When they came to the border of Visnupur, now that is called Bankura, in West Bengal, the books were stolen And so he sent Śyāmānanda Paṇḍita and Narottama das Ṭhākura back to their places. He said the deities said, I should take the books.

So somehow the books were taken and I will find them and send a message to you. So then, it is a long history. I don’t know how much time I have. Anyway, he got the books back. And he was asked by the king who had stolen his books to be his guru. But to be a rājā guru he had to be a gṛhastha.

So, then he asked Narahari Sarkar, what he should do. Narahari Sarkar said he should get married and be a rājā guru. Then he married two vaisnavis, and then he was responsible to invite all the associates of Lord Caitanya, who were still on the planet, for a special Gaura Pūrṇimā festival in Narottama das Ṭhākura’s āśrama. And the wife of Lord Nityānanda, Jāhnavā devī, she came and presided over the function. And Lord Caitanya and all His associates appeared there. And there was ecstatic kīrtana.

So, like that Śrīnivāsa Ācārya had many wonderful pastimes. And he went into samādhi, into meditation and he helped his guru to serve Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. And he found Her lost nupur. Gave it back to his guru and that was given back to Rādhārāṇī. And then he came back to his consciousness. Like that he had many different pastimes.

 So today we talked about Pundarik Vidyānidhi, who was born in Bangladesh, Haridāsa Ṭhākura who was born in Bangladesh, but had many pastimes in West Bengal. Then we talked about Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, who had pastimes in Bengal, Jagannath Purī and Vṛndāvana.

So, there are many associates of Lord Caitanya, and they are all very special. We have in Pañca Tattva, two were born in West Bengal, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda. Other three, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa, they were born in Bangladesh. We have the birth placed of Advaita Gosāin and Śrīvāsa. We are trying to get the birth place of Gadādhara Prabhu, which is also in Bangladesh. I just asked them to try to locate that and see if we can get it.

So, if there are any questions, I will try to use this time to answer questions.

 Devotee: If a disciple is very much eager to follow his guru’s instructions and please him, still he is unable to do because of obstacles, and because he is unable to do, he feels he is not qualified to follow his guru and wants to give up the task.

What should he do in this case?

 His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: You say that he wants to follow his guru’s instructions. But he cannot serve the guru fully because of his work schedule. What should he do? Is that your question?

You see Śrīla Prabhupāda was asked by his guru in 1922 and he was asked to preach in the Western countries. He did that when he was 69! In 1965. You know, we don’t have to necessarily fulfill all the orders of the guru immediately. But we should not give up the idea, that we want to please the guru.

So, we take Śrīla Prabhupāda’s example. He was a gṛhastha, he had his business, and eventually he took vanaprasta, then he took sannyāsa, then he went to the West! So, he never gave up the idea to follow his guru’s service. We should never give up that goal. Whether we can do it now or do it later. Of course, he followed the number of rounds and following the principles, but he couldn’t fulfill that instruction to preach in the West until much later. So, whatever we can do immediately we do that, and some things we may not be able to do until later. Like it is not necessary to take sannyāsa if the wife helps you and she is assisting.

But Śrīla Prabhupāda’s wife sold his Bhagavad-gītā manuscripts as newspaper to buy tea! So how much work he spent to write the manuscripts of Bhagavad-gītā. And she sold it as garbage paper, to buy tea! Just like that. It was a big blow for Śrīla Prabhupāda!

So, then he was advised to take vanaprasta and sannyāsa. But anyway, whoever asked this question, he should do what he can do now and maybe later he will be able to do more. But he should never give up the goal to carry out the guru’s order.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Devotee: Was Pundarik Vidyānidhi in Bhava or Prema stage? If so, how could he make the mistake of finding fault or was it some arrangement by the Lord to send a message?

 His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: You see, not only was he in Prema, he was an eternal associate of the Lord! So, he was in different pastimes, in different līlās of the Lord.  Kṛṣṇa līlā, Gaura līlā So sometimes the Lord, He uses His dear devotees as examples. So, like that Pundarik, he is known as Vidyānidhi, and so he had a lot of knowledge. It is not wrong that we shouldn’t offer the deities cloth which is not washed. But this is a special līlā of Lord Jagannath, that on Odhana Shasthi day He wears starched cloth.

So, the fact is that Lord Jagannath came in his dream and slapped him that don’t criticize My devotees. And although it was a dream, his face was swollen from the slapping. So, this is a very special thing. Lord Jagannath, appearing in the dream of Pundarik, slapping him on the face and his face swelling, this is not an ordinary thing! We don’t have that mercy that we see Lord Jagannath in a dream, what to speak of having Him slap us, what to speak of His slapping in the dream actually causes our face to swell! Ha! So, this pastime was to teach a lesson to the devotees that the Lord used Pundarik Vidyānidhi as an example. But this example where he used Pundarik Vidyānidhi, we can understand that Pundarik Vidyānidhi is very dear to the Lord. We cannot begin to analyze what level he is on! Ha! He is beyond all levels! Ha! Ha! The father of Rādhārāṇī how can you think about what level he is at? Ha! Ha!

 So, any other question?

 Devotee: How did Haridāsa Ṭhākura receive the Hare  Kṛṣṇa mahā mantra at a very tender age?

Who was his guru?

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: Good question! Ha! Ha! No one ever asked that question before. I have to research it!               

Devotee: How shall we develop consistently these transcendental qualities like tolerance and humility. If not like Nāmācārya Haridāsa Ṭhākura but at least minimum requirements which pleases the Lord, vaiṣṇavas and guru? - Purushottama Prasad das.

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: So, these qualities are given in the third verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam. To be more humble than a blade of grass, and we should be more tolerant than a tree, we should offer all respect to others and we should not expect any respect for ourselves. In this way you can constantly chant the holy name.

Lord Caitanya said that we should wear this around our neck. And we understand that many devotees, by trying they are able to achieve this level. Someone gave me a book by Dale Carnagie, how to make friends and Influence People. That book was a best seller. That whole book, you can say that it simply embodies many practical examples of Lord Caitanya’s teachings. Offer respect to others, don’t expect respect for yourself. So, try this method. Offer respect to everyone, don’t expect any respect for yourself. You will be able to make many friends and influence people. We can do anything we want! If you want to be humble, to be tolerant, to offer respect to others, then you can do it! Otherwise, you pray to the Lord, please give me the power to do it. And if you realize, Lord Caitanya said, no matter how sinful, how fallen a person is, He will deliver him. But if someone is offending other vaiṣṇavas, I will not deliver them. So, if we know this, then how can we offend anyone else? It is like committing suicide. So, we want the mercy of Lord Caitanya. And He will give His mercy unlimitedly, as long as we don’t offend vaiṣṇavas. So, whether it is Śacī mata or Pundarik or anyone, if we criticize vaiṣṇavas, we are punished. So, we should be very careful not to do this. We should wear the third verse around our neck. Look at the good qualities of others, see all the bad qualities in ourselves. This way we can follow this system.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

This time I won’t be visiting the houses.

His Grace Śrīvallabha das prabhu, the moderator and host of the program said: So over 1200 connections of families, online through Zoom, Facebook and YouTube today. If you could please say a few words on Bangladesh, we have launched a campaign, guru maharaj.

 His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami: I was just visiting the Chittagong, Sylhet area and Dhaka area. I still have two divisions to visit. Also, we have seen 1600 people, they have beautiful altars, they are very enthusiastic and every house I went to their homes, they fed me mangoes, fruits. Pati sapta, murimua, all kinds of purī, sabzi, so they have such a devotional heart. But some of them are very poor. They chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, they follow all the principles. But during this lockdown period, they are practically starving.

So, we are giving them some rice, dāl, sabzi to these 2000 very poor families. So, like this we are trying to help, and those who have, they are very generous. We are getting some local help. But also, we are trying to arrange some funds from my disciples, from Bhakti Cāru maharaj, disciples to help these devotees are in great need. In Māyāpur we are able to distribute prasādam. But in Bangladesh there are more restrictions. So, when I went there two years ago, there were 32 branches. When I went three months ago, they had 109 temples. Increased three times! So, so many devotees there. So, we appeal to help these poor gṛhasthas. And maybe helping some of the temples which are very poor. But most of our temples are alright. But they are not in a position to help the poor gṛhasthas. So, this is an opportunity for us.

I hope that you all have retained your jobs. That you will be able to practice your Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the Middle East. But if you are able to help these poor gṛhasthas we would highly appreciate. I am also giving some donation. And we are happy to see all our families.

My Zoom account has capacity of 300. But many more on Facebook and YouTube are there. I can only see the 300 on my Zoom account. I am very happy to see you and to be in your house!

Kṛṣṇa Kīrtana das (HG Śrīvallabha das prabhu asked guru maharaj to speak about this devotee who is going to give class tomorrow, 25 May 2020, at 4 pm. Damodardesh time) was one of the first devotees in Bangladesh. And he is also very expert in kīrtana that is why we gave him the name  Kṛṣṇa Kīrtana. And he goes all over the country and gives lectures and kīrtanas. He trained people how to do the Baul sangeet. How to do the līlā kīrtana. He is a very good lecturer. He is very expert in kīrtana of different types. So for many decades he dedicated his life to spreading of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Bangladesh. And we are very grateful for his service.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

 Kṛṣṇe matir astu!

Virtual table contact number for books is: +91 9434760402. The virtual table is manned by His Holiness Bhakti Vijay Bhāgavata Swami, earlier known as Venudhari prabhu, who took sannyāsa on guru maharaj’s Vyāsa Pūjā. (What’s app message can be sent.)

Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi,

24 May 2020

Proof reading Level 1 by Bhavatariniradhika devi dasi

24 May 2020