20200319 Envy of the Envious Towards Devotees and Even Good Fortune for the Envious

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

So, the doctors were saying that if we sit too close to each other we are all at risk. So I said that if you can sit 1.5 meters apart – that is what the government recommends, the health experts. So the chairs were supposed to be arranged 1.5 meters apart – I don’t know if that is true, but the idea is that if you sit apart, you are less likely to get the corona virus. They were wanting to stop this class in the evening, but I was saying that if the devotees wash their hands and sit apart, then what is the problem? So we are trying. The other thing was that, I usually give class after dinner, which is 8 or later. So they are saying, why not give class before dinner, at 6, 6 to 7. Devotees are complaining that the class is too late. So is that possible for you to come from 6 to 7? Do we make that change? And the translators, the Chinese, Bengali, Russian, they could sit closer but they should stay apart from each other.

So, we continue reading on the Caitanya book.

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Chapter entitled as Envy of the Envious Towards Devotees and Even Good Fortune for the Envious – Continued…

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.258

keha bale,—“nā dekhila nija-karma-doṣe
se saba sukṛti, tā' sabāre bali kise?”

Translation: Someone said, “We could not see due to our past misdeeds. They are fortunate, so why should we blame them?”

Someone said, “Due to our own misdeeds, we could not see the kīrtana pastimes. Those who have received the opportunity to either participate in or see the kīrtana are pious, or fortunate. We are unfortunate, how can we criticize them?”

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone else said, “we could not see due to our personal past misdeeds. Those who are chanting, they are very fortunate. Why do we blame them? Why do we speak against them?” So, someone else was saying that “due to our past misdeeds, we cannot see the kīrtana of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Those who have received the opportunity to participate or see the kīrtana, are pious, are fortunate. We are unfortunate! How can we criticize them?”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.259

sakala pāṣaṇḍītā'rā eka-cāpa haṣā
“eho sei gaṇa” hena bujhi yāya dhāṣā

Translation: The atheists gathered together and chased that person away, thinking, “He is one of them.”

When the atheists heard that statement, they unitedly chased that person away, thinking, “He is also part of that group.”

The phrase eka-cāpa (eka—“combined” + cāpa—“assembled”) means “assembled together” or “united together.”

Jayapatākā Swami: All the atheists, they gathered together and they thought “he is one of them, HE IS ONE OF THEM and chased him away!” So, the atheists united together and chased away the person who had the proper understanding that they are very fortunate inside, they are chanting the kīrtana, we are unfortunate, we cannot see the kīrtana. So, the atheists, they gathered together, they became united, they chased that person away – “YOU ARE ONE OF THEM! YOU ARE ONE OF THEM!”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.260

“o kīrtana nā dekhile ki haibe manda?
śata śata veḍi' yena kare mahā-dvandva

Translation: “What is the loss if we do not see their kīrtana? Their kīrtana is like a big argument among hundreds of people.

“What is the problem if we do not participate in their kīrtana? Their kīrtana is just like a great argument among hundreds of people.”

The word dvandva means “debate,” “quarrel,” or “fight.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “What would be bad about not seeing the kīrtana? What will be our loss? Their kīrtana is like a big argument between hundreds of people.” So, the materialists, they make up various excuses, why they don’t need to listen to the kīrtana. But the unusual thing is that they are standing outside the gate, listening to the kīrtana, criticizing! So indirectly, they are getting a lot of spiritual credit by hearing the kīrtana. They are also fortunate, but they don’t realize it.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.261-262

kona japa, kona tapa, kona tattva-jṣāna
tāhā nā dekhiye kari' nija karma-dhyāna

cāla-kalā-dugdha-dadhi ekatra kariyājāti
nāśa kari' khāya ekatra haiyā”

Translation: “We do not see any japa, any austerities, or any cultivation of spiritual knowledge amongst them. They simply engage in their concocted activities and ruin their caste by gathering rice, bananas, milk, and yogurt and eating together.”

“We do not find any trace of japa, austerities, or cultivation of spiritual knowledge among them. They concoct their own activities and meditation; they mix together rice, bananas, yogurt, and milk, and then they sit together and eat, thereby ruining their caste.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “We don’t see any japa or any tapasya or any austerity, any spiritual knowledge in those people. It is just like people mixing together, rice, bananas, milk and yogurt together. They destroy their caste by eating that.” Milk and yogurt should not be eaten together. But just to save some complaint, they don’t explain, they use the example. How is their chanting kīrtana like mixing milk and yogurt together – that they don’t explain. But they are saying learned things, but no learned person can say such things.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.263

parihāse āsi' sabe dekhibāra tare
“dekhi, o pāgala-gulā kon karma kare”

Translation: People came to see and ridicule them. “Let us see what these madmen are doing.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, they are laughing and coming to see all the devotees, “let us see what these crazy types are doing.”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.264

eteka baliyā sabe calilena ghare
eka yāya, āra āsi' bājāya duyāre

Translation: After speaking like this, they went home. As one left, another came and knocked at the door.

Jayapatākā Swami: After speaking like this, they went home. One would go, another would come and knock on the door.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.265

pāṣaṇḍī pāṣaṇḍī yei dui dekhā haya
galāgali kari' saba hāsiyā paḍaya

Translation: As soon as two atheists met together, they embraced and fell to the ground laughing loudly.

As soon as two atheists opposed to devotional service met, they laughed so loudly while discussing the devotees' activities that they collapsed to the ground.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the atheists they met together, they embraced each other and LAUGHING SO LOUDLY, criticizing the devotees, that they feel to the ground, they laughed like anything HA! HA! HA! HA! They laughed so loudly while they were criticizing the devotees. And they collapsed to the ground and held their sides laughing. But they were all totally ridiculous, the things they were saying.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.266

punaḥ dhari' lai' yāya yebā nāhi dekhe
keha vā nivṛtta haya kāro anurodhe

Translation: They would also go and bring others who had not seen what was going on. Yet some persons, on the advice of others, would refuse to go.

Jayapatākā Swami: They would go and bring others who had not seen what was going on. Yet, some persons refused to come, having received the advice from others.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.267

keha bale,—“bhāi, ei dekhila śunila
nimāṣi laiyā saba pāgala haila

Translation: Someone said, “O brother, I have seen and heard everything. Along with Nimāi, they have all become mad.

Jayapatākā Swami: Someone else said, “brother, I have seen it all, I heard everything. Along with Nimāi they have all become crazy.”

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.268

dardurī uṭhiyā āche śrīvāsera bāḍī
durgotsave yena sāḍi dei huḍāhuḍi

Translation: “It sounds like the tumultuous croaking of frogs or the wild celebration of a Durgā-pūjā festival in the house of Śrīvāsa.

Translation: “It seems like frogs are croaking at the house of Śrīvāsa. They are excited and noisy, just as when people push and bump each other during a Durgā-pūjā festival.”

Jayapatākā Swami: It is like the tumultuous croaking of frogs, or the wild celebration of a durgā-utsava festival. In the house of Śrīvāsa, huḍāhuḍi – what is huḍāhuḍi? Loud festival! So, after Durga puja festival, people bump into each other and shout, so they compared the loud kīrtana and the ecstatic symptoms of the devotees with the Durga festival.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.269

`hai hai, hāya hāya'—ei mātra śuni
ihā sabā haite haila ayaśa-kāhinī

Translation: “The only thing we can hear is 'Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho!' These people bring infamy on us.

Jayapatākā Swami: The only thing I hear is that they are chanting “`hai hai, hāya hāya'” These people are bringing infamy on us.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.270

mahā-mahā-bhaṭṭācārya sahasra yethāya
hena ḍhāṅgāita-gulā vase nadīyāya

Translation: “Nadia has thousands of great exalted Bhaṭṭācāryas, yet such imposters also live here.

“Today in Nadia, where thousands of learned brāhmaṇ as reside, a few cheaters and imposters have become prominent.”

The word ḍhāṅgāita (or ḍhāṅgāti) means “a cheater,” “an imposter,” “a debauchee,” or “a thief.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “Thousands of great exalted Bhaṭṭācāryas, they live here in Nadia. But some of these imposters, they also live here.” They are comparing the devotees to imposters and the great Bhaṭṭācāryas to learned paṇḍitas. So, they are calling the devotees imposters and praising the Bhaṭṭācāryas. You can see how negative the people in Nadia had become.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.271

śrīvāsa-vāmanāre ei nadīyā haite
ghara bhāṅgi' kāli laiyā phelāiba srote

Translation: “Tomorrow we will drive the brāhmaṇa Śrīvāsa out of Nadia. Then we will break his house and throw it in the river.

“We should drive Śrīvāsa, the so-called brāhmaṇa who brings infamy to the brāhmaṇas, out of Navadvīpa. We will break his straw house and throw it in the flowing waters of the Ganges.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “We will drive out that imposter Śrīvāsa from Nadia. Then we will go and break his house and throw it in the river current.” So, they are accusing Śrīvāsa of bringing infamy to the great assembly of brāhmaṇas, paṇḍitas in Navadvīpa. They would break up his straw house and throw it in the flowing currents of the Ganges.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.272

o brāhmaṇa ghucāile grāmera kuśala
anyathā yavane grāme karibeka bala”

Translation: “When this brāhmaṇa ruins the prosperity of this village, the Yavanas will become powerful here.

“The brāhmaṇa Śrīvāsa has destroyed all auspiciousness in this village. When the influence of the brāhmaṇas wanes, the Yavanas will become prominent.”

Jayapatākā Swami: “This brāhmaṇa Śrīvāsa, he will ruin the prosperity of this villages. The Yavanas will then become powerful here.” So they are accusing Śrīvāsa of having ruined the brahminical culture and then the Yavanas will naturally become more powerful.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.273

granthakārera kolāhalakārī pāṣaṇḍerao bhāgyapraśaṃsā

ei-mata pāṣaṇḍī karaye kolāhala
tathāpiha mahā-bhāgyavanta se sakala

Translation: In this way the atheists made a great commotion, yet nevertheless they were all most fortunate.

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way, the atheists made a great commotion but even then, they were all greatly fortunate. Most, really fortunate.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 8.274

prabhu-saṅge ekatra janmilā eka grāme
dekhileka, śunileka se saba vidhāne

Translation: They took birth in the same village as the Lord, and they saw and heard about His pastimes.

Jayapatākā Swami: They took their birth in the same village as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Gauuuuurāṅga! They saw and heard about the Lord’s pastimes.

Thus ends the chapter, “Envy of the Envious Towards Devotees and Even Good Fortune for the Envious”

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Haribol!

Thank you!

Question: From Facebook: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances. The game of passing message. We see that passing a message from one person to another person, in a line and by the end of the line, the message is completely deviated. So, how is it that through parampara system, the message of Bhagavad-gītā is not deviated? Sorry for the offenses done at your lotus feet. -Your servant, Jagadīśa.

Jayapatākā Swami: They do this game in the grade school. And little kids, they forget exactly what the wordings of the message is. The people in the guru-paramparā are great devotees and great sages, and they learn the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness as it is from their guru. So they learn how to repeat exactly the same message. Of course, after millions of years, it may be changed. And that is why Kṛṣṇa said that He originally taught it to the Sun god and then it was handed down to Ikṣvāku and the successive kings and after forty million years, it was lost! So then He was giving it again. So, it is not so quick that it changed. That is why Śrīla Prabhupāda said it is not so difficult to be a guru, you have to repeat what your guru told you and not change it or add something. That is why we are trying to train the people to understand the message of Śrīla Prabhupāda and hand it down as it is! Over.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa! Please accept my respectful obeisances. I am part of the ISKCON Youth Forum and following devotional service. But sometimes, there is so much difficulty in the way devotees behave that I develop bad thoughts for them. And therefore, I am not able to concentrate on my japa. I don’t want to wake up for maṅgalārati. And many a time, I feel like leaving the place and going away. What should I do under the circumstances so that my devotional life is taken care of and I advance? —Your servant, Saurav Chakravartī, Bangladesh

Jayapatākā Swami: Saurav Chakravartī, apparently you are facing a lot of problems in the Cātra-āśrama, the student āśrama. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that in the hospital, you expect to find sick people. So, those who are practicing devotional service, some are doctors and some are sick, and they are getting cured. So, you should be tolerant with the people who are treating you a bit rough, and it is a test by māyā. She may test you by flattery or by criticism, by different means. And, how we pass the tests, that produces the result. So I don’t know exactly what problems you are facing in Bangladesh, which Cātra-Nivāsa you stay in? Sometime you can write a personal letter to me and I or Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami, who deals mainly with the students, so we can try to eliminate such bad dealings. That is why Lord Caitanya said that in order to chant constantly, we need to offer respect to others and don’t expect any good dealings for ourselves. Be more tolerant than a tree and more humble than a blade of grass. So this is the third verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam. So maybe you are being tested, but I am sure you will pass the test. If you take it in that way. We just read how Lord Caitanya and His associates were chanting blissfully in the garden of Śrīvāsa, and the envious, atheistic people, they gathered outside, pounded on the door and said many critical things.  So there will always be some unexpected obstacles. But, I don’t think, we don’t see anywhere Lord Caitanya or His associates being influenced by the atheists, they stopped chanting japa or they stopped Harinam saṅkīrtana! I am sure you will not stop, regardless of the misbehavior of certain individuals.

Question from Facebook: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances. Sometimes while chanting 16 rounds, there is a feeling that the process is too mechanical. How to develop a taste for it?—Your servant, Sūryavaṁśī Rāmacandra dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: I don’t know if you are chanting the Pañca-tattva mantra? By chanting the Pañca-tattva mantra, very quickly, we can develop a taste for the chanting. It is important to avoid the ten offences to the holy name. We should, in our chanting, we can chant very mechanically or we can chant very spontaneously. So, chanting before the deities, or before a picture, it helps to concentrate the mind on the chanting, and sometimes we may chant using a different melody. Like sometime we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! (Guru Mahārāja sang a melody). Or sometimes we may chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare (Guru Mahārāja chanted fast and emphatically!) Or we may chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! (Guru Mahārāja sang a different melody) śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. So getting a taste for chanting is, after we take initiation, we clear the anartha-nivṛtti stage, we get fixed up in the niṣṭā stage, and the next stage is taste, rucī. So, constant ruci develops in due course as we reach the other levels.

Question: Sītālakṣmī devī dāsī (In Bengali): During initiation, I took vows to observe the four regulative principles. But suddenly if I was not able to keep one of the principles, what should I do?

Jayapatākā Swami: If somehow, I accidentally break one of the four principles, just happens like that, what should I do? The śāstra says that there is no higher atonement than the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. So if one breaks a principle, they should beg for forgiveness, they should very carefully chant and follow the principles. When I went out I was told that Prime Minister Modi declared that 22nd March for one week, no flights would enter or leave India. And that 22nd of March would be a nationwide curfew, lockdown, for one day. From 7 am to 9 pm. In the next few weeks the number of COVID 19 cases may go up in India. So the PM is asking the Janata to be careful. We may have to stop the class. Tomorrow is Pāpamocana Ekādaśī. Today is the birthday of Prayojana Mātājī and one other Mātājī who wants to be kept anonymous. Alexi took shelter, all of you give him blessings!

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, how do I offer tulasī to the Lord’s feet? –Vitariṇī Devī Dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: With the right hand, give the tulasī at the feet of the Lord, if you have one.

And 21st of March is Dvādaśī, Govinda Gosh’s festival and Agradvīpa festival. I don’t know if we can go there. But this is for your information. So if you don’t have internet, you should get it. 21.12, alright! Any books for me to sign?

So tomorrow the class will be from 6 pm. Alright!