20190213 Lord Caitanya’s Devotees Offering Their Services

mūkhaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī gurum dina tarinam
paramānanda mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya īśvaram
hari oṁ tat sat

Introduction: Ājke ha! (Guru Mahārāja started off in Bengali!!) Today is the 13^th of February, Today is Wednesday and today we had physical therapy, voice therapy and we had the GBC resolutions proposals, and we also went cycling. So today was a very busy day!

So we are starting a new chapter - Various services by devotees. This is part of the 21-hour ecstatic manifestation, when Lord Caitanya revealed His divinity, that He was an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. So the devotees, they are reciprocating in different ways. So we get a glimpse, how wonderful it is to serve the Lord. We are thinking, maybe that being in the material world, we want to enjoy. People want to drink alcohol, to get so called stimulation, and then sometimes they get cirrhosis of the liver, and then the situation is very critical. Like this, people like to gamble, because they are greedy to get quick money. But then they might lose in the gamble and then they lose everything! So, their situation is very critical. People want to eat meat, fish or eggs, onion and garlic, and as a result they get all kinds of bad karma. So, in this way they suffer in various ways. So we ask devotees to take the extreme tapasya, sacrifice, of eating kṛṣṇa-prasāda. How many are willing to take that sacrifice? (Guru Mahārāja lifted his hand). For devotees who have developed the taste for Kṛṣṇa’s mercy, kṛṣṇa-prasāda is a blessing! Jayānanda Prabhu he used to take up different service and distribute special prasāda. Some devotees got the gulāb-jāmuns, the ISKCON bullets. However, some people said they became devotees because of prasāda! So then, we recommend that people should have a married life and practice their conjugal life in a regulated manner, and they should serve Kṛṣṇa together, husband and wife. This avoids diseases like AIDS and other things, if people are loyal to their mates, partners, their spouses.

So we will go ahead with “Lord Caitanya’s devotees offering their services”.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.62

prabhura parama-prakaṭa-rūpa-darśane bhaktagaṇera paramānanda

parama-prakaṭa-rūpa prabhura prakāśa
dekhi' parānande ḍubilena sarva-dāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: When the devotees saw the Lord’s supreme form of manifestation of His transcendental form, the devotees became submerged in the ocean of spiritual bliss. Haribol!

Caitanya-carita Mahā-kāvya 5.53

gaurāṅgo’badad atha bhūsuraika-ratnaṁ
śrīvāsaṁ parama-mahā-maho-bibhinnaḥ
etasmād bhavana-varād bhavad-gṛhāntar
yāsyāmīty atha satata-prakāśa-ramyaḥ

tatpare gauracandra atiśaya tejorāśi prakāśa pūrvaka dvija-kula-pradīpa śrīvāsake kahilena, he dvija-śreṣṭha! āmi ei prakṛṣṭa gṛha haite tomāra bhitarera gṛhe gamana kariba.

Jayapatākā Swami: This Caitanya-carita Mahā-kāvya is in Sanskrit, so there is a prose Bengali translation, but we don’t know how correct it is. So anyway, I will ask my repeater to read the English translation:

Translation: “Gaurāṅga, emanating great splendor and effulgence then said to Śrīvāsa, the jewel among brahmanas. I will go from this excellent room to your inner house.”

Caitanya-carita Mahā-kāvya 5.54

ac chrutvā jhaṭiti sahodaraiḥ samastais
tad-gehaṁ sukha-vivaśaiḥ samaskṛtoccaiḥ
madhya-dvāri ca bahu-veṣṭanais tathā tair
āvabre bhavati sugopitaṁ yathā tat

gaurāṅgadevera mukhe ei vākya śravaṇa kariyā sukhe vivaśa haiyā śrīvāsera anujagaṇa sei gṛha suśobhita evaṁ tāhāra - madhyadvāra ye prakāre sundara gopita haya seirūpe ābaraṇa karilena.

Translation: “Hearing this, Śrīvāsa’s younger brothers quickly cleansed and decorated the room in joy, and covered the middle door so that no one could see inside.”

Jayapatākā Swami: It starts out by saying, “hearing these wonderful words from the mouth of Gaurāṅgadeva, Śrīvāsa’s younger brothers” - and the rest is the same.

Caitanya-carita Mahā-kāvya 5.55

śrīvāsas tad anu gadādharaṁ babhāṣe
khaṭbādyaṁ sakalam amutra nīyatāṁ tat
ity uktaḥ sa ca sakalaṁ nināya tatra
premārdro nirabadhi bismṛtātma-ceṣṭaḥ

anantara śrīvāsa gadādharake kahilena, "tumi ei gṛhasthita khaṭa prabhṛti yāvatīya upakaraṇa dravya āmāra gṛhe laiyā cala, ei balile gadādhara preme ādrībhūta o nirantara ātma ceṣṭā vismṛta haiyā tadahasthita dravya samudāya tāhāra gṛhe yathāsthāne sthāpana karilena.

Translation: “Śrīvāsa said to Gadādhara, bring all the furniture including the bed, from Your house. Gadādhara, with great prema, forgetting His actions constantly, brought everything there.”

Jayapatākā Swami: It says that He brought everything from His house, and He put it in the house of Śrīvāsa, in the appropriate place.

Caitanya-carita Mahā-kāvya 5.56

sac-candrātapam upari pratatya tūrṇaṁ
tasyānte surucira-cāmarāṇi tene
paryaṅkopari kaśipūttamaṁ nipātya
śrīmadbhir bara-basanair athānubabre

tadanantara śīghra kariyā sei gṛhera uparibhāge utkṛṣṭa candrātapa o cāmara binyasta kariyā paryaṅkopari uttama tulikā āstaraṇa karata tāhāte suśobhana basana diyā ācchādana karata tatsamudāya gauracandrake arpaṇa karilena

Translation: In the room, they quickly spread a canopy above and arranged attractive cāmaras. They placed a cushion on the couch with beautiful cloth and offered this to the Lord.

Caitanya-carita Mahā-kāvya 5.57

gaurāṅgas tad atha gṛhaṁ vrajan vireje
tejobhir laghu tirayan bibasbad-ojaḥ
śampānāṁ śata-śata-koṭi-koṭivat sa
pronmīlya kṣitim iva saṁśṛtaś cakāsti

anantara gaurāṅgadeba sei gṛhe gamana pūrbaka sbīya tejorāśi dvārā sūryatejake laghurūpe tirohita kariyā śobhita hailena evaṁ bhūtala āśraya karāiyā yena asaṁkhya saudāminīra nyāya atyanta unmīlita haota prakāśa pāite lāgilena.

Translation: Gaurāṅga entered the room and defeated the sun with his effulgence. He was like a thousand lightning bolts lighting up the earth.

Jayapatākā Swami: Gaurāṅga deva entered the room and defeated the sun with His effulgence. He was like a thousand lightning bolts, lighting up the earth.

Caitanya-carita Mahā-kāvya 5.58

pādāmbhoruha-yugalaṁ bilāsa-pūrbaṁ
binyasya kṣitiṣu calan-mahā-mahasbān
paryaṅkaṁ parama-manoharaṁ sa bheje
meroḥ sac-chikhara ibānya-śaila-pṛṣṭham

mahātejasbī mahāprabhu pādapadma yugalake bilāsa pūrbaka kṣitile nikṣepa karata gamana kariyā sumerura śobhita śikharadeśa yadi anya parbatera pṛṣṭhadeśe śobhā pāya tāhāra nyāya manohara paryaṅkopari giyā upabeśana karilena

Jayapatākā Swami: Gracefully the great Lord Gauranga Mahāprabhu, placed His feet on the ground, and sat on the attractive seating place. He was like the pinnacle of Mount Meru, putting other mountains behind.

Caitanya-carita Mahā-kāvya 5.59

sad-gauraiḥ parama-mahobhir unmiṣadbhiḥ
sarbāpuḥ parimilitā tadā tadīyaiḥ
babhrāja pramatham iba prajeśa-sṛṣṭāṁ
nyakkurbanty aniśam ilābṛtasya śobhām

takhana śrī-gaurāṅgera suprakāśita athaca praśasta gauravarṇa parama tejopāśi dvārā samasta purī prakāśita haiyā prajāpatisṛṣṭa ilāvṛtavarṣera śobhāke yena nyakkāra karata dīpti pāite lāgila

Jayapatākā Swami: The whole town of Navadvīpa pervaded by His pure, golden effulgence, was shining. This place diminished the beauty of Ilāvṛta-varṣa, created by Lord Brahmā and described in the Śrīmad-bhāgavatam.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.63

prabhura bhaktagaṇake amāyāya sacaraṇa-arpaṇa o bhaktagaṇera vividhabhāve prabhu-pādapadma pūjā—

sarva māyā ghucāiyā prabhu gauracandra
śrī-caraṇa dilena, pūjaye bhakta-vṛnda

Jayapatākā Swami: Taking away all the illusion, Lord Gaurachandra gave His two lotus feet to the devotees, which were spontaneously worshipped by all the devotees. So this tells how Lord Caitanya, when He manifested Himself as Kṛṣṇa, for 21 hours, what the different devotees did, and what the Lord did. So here He sat in a very beautiful room which all the devotees had, with great love, contributed to, and brought articles from Gadādhara’s house. So now the Lord has extended His lotus feet, and all the devotees were worshipping them.

So we will end here, and we will continue on this chapter tomorrow. Are there any questions? How many people online? 195

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my humble obeisances, it is said that one can get mercy of Lord Caitanya only if he can get the mercy of Lord Nityānanda. How can we get the mercy of Lord Nityānanda? – Sarojinī Kālindī devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: It is also said that the spiritual master is dear to Lord Nityānanda and that by serving the spiritual master, one can get the mercy of Lord Nityānanda. Haribol!

Question: Sarojinī Kālindī devī dāsī: I am always inspired by your strong determination and dedication to serve your guru Śrīla Prabhupāda. How can a disciple get strong determination to serve his or her guru?

Jayapatākā Swami: If you think, how much you owe your guru, then there is no problem to serve him. We can never repay the debt. Hare Kṛṣṇa!