20200725 Jumping in Ganga to Counteract the Sinful Activity (Part 1)

Following is the new Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 25th July 2020 in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India.

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

Introduction: So today, we continue with the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya book, compiling the different literatures which describe the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, so that we can have an overview of the entire pastimes of the Lord, that are recorded. Of course, the pastimes of the Lord are unlimited. So, it is not possible to actually say all the pastimes. But whatever is recorded, we will try to present that. So that we can all taste some of the nectar of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes, We have descriptions of the different avatāras from previous yugas and kalpas, and just like the Rāmāyaṇa by Vālmīki describes the pastimes of Lord Rāma, and that is also a multiple canto, and multiple editions. But there will always be some more aspects of the Lord’s pastimes, ultimately one should read all the different books. But to make it more accessible to the people, we are trying to give the pastimes, compiled. But, if you have the opportunity to read the pastimes in the original, that is the best. I forget which ācārya predicted, but they predicted that people will learn Bengali just to read the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, and other and Caitanya-bhāgavata in the original. Maybe that was predicted by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. Definitely, the original Bengali is very sweet, and the pastimes, we are trying to say it in English, but there are not always words to describe the different emotions, bliss, ecstasy, but some of the words they have are more suitable to describe these activities. Anyway, now we will read the next chapter. (Oh, we got the quote that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.)

Caitanya-caritamrta Ādi-līlā 8.39, purport, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Goswami Mahārāja used to say, “The time will come when the people of the world will learn Bengali to read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta.” We are trying to present Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in English and do not know how successful it will be, but if one reads the original Caitanya-caritāmṛta in Bengali he will relish increasing ecstasy in devotional service. Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this was said by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and confirmed by Śrīla Prabhupāda.

So today’s chapter is: Jumping in Ganga to Counteract the Sinful Activity.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 17.243

brāhmaṇī prabhura pādasparśa karāya prabhura gaṅgāya patana —
eka-dina mahāprabhura nṛtya-avasāne
eka brāhmaṇī āsi’ dharila caraṇe

Translation: One day when Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had finished His dancing, a woman, the wife of a brāhmaṇa, came there and caught hold of His lotus feet.

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 17.91: One day after the dancing was finished, one excellent wife of a brāhmaṇa approached the Lord and falling on the ground, took the dust of his lotus feet.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 2.11.19-20: On another day after dancing, as Lord Viśvambhara, being overwhelmed by ecstasy had fallen down on the ground like a stick, there approached a certain brāhmaṇī approached Him and took the transcendental dust from His lotus feet. Being aware of her deed, the all-opulent Personality of Godhead stood up.

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.64: My dear Gaurāṅga’s transcendental qualities, if one hears and does not cry, the unlimited conditioned souls, the Lord gives pure love of Kṛṣṇa, and in this way binds them in His mercy net. Now listen please, to the wonderful pastime of the Lord, which happened on the following day. The Lord with His associates and friends had just completed His dancing.

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.65

bhūmite paḍiyā prabhu daṇḍavat kare
ānande sakala loka hari hari bole

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga, He fell to the ground like a stick. All the devotees, everyone, joyfully sang, Haribol! Haribol! 

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 17.244

caraṇera dhūli sei laya vāra vāra
dekhiyā prabhura duḥkha ha-ila apāra

Translation: As she took the dust of His lotus feet again and again, the Lord became unlimitedly unhappy.

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: This holding of a great personality’s lotus feet is certainly very good for the person who takes the dust, but this example of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s unhappiness indicates that a Vaiṣṇava should not allow anyone to take dust from his feet. One who takes the dust of a great personality’s lotus feet transfers his sinful activities to that great personality. Unless the person whose dust is taken is very strong, he must suffer the sinful activities of the person who takes the dust. Therefore, ordinarily it should not be allowed. Sometimes in big meetings people come to take the same advantage by touching our feet. On account of this, sometimes we have to suffer from some disease. As far as possible, no outsider should be allowed to touch one’s feet to take dust from them. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally showed this by His example, as explained in the next verse.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya, in His public dealings, He was showing by His example, what a devotee should do. And a devotee should be very careful not to have people touch his feet. Because, the people they benefit, but they give their sinful reactions to the devotee. Similarly, taking remnants of foodstuffs also transfers karma. So prasāda of the sannyāsī or the guru should only be given to his disciples or devotees in close association, not to overburden the guru with disease or sinful reactions

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.66

henai samaye eka brāhmaṇa āsiyā
prabhu pādāmbuja dhūli laila hāsiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: At that time, a brāhmaṇa came and took the dust of Lord Gaurāṅga’s lotus feet, smiling.

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.67

dekhi’ gaura bhagavān satvare uṭhilā
brāhmaṇa carita dekhi’ duḥkhita hailā

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing this, Lord Gaura, He suddenly jumped up! Lord Gaurāṅga became very unhappy seeing what the brāhmaṇa had done. 

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.68

mahā-anutāpa kari’ virasavadana
asantoṣe nāsikāya niḥśvāsa saghana

Jayapatākā Swami: Feeling immense grief, His face became withered, very dissatisfied, He breathed heavily from His nostrils.

Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 17.245

sei-kṣaṇe dhāñā prabhu gaṅgāte paḍila
nityānanda-haridāsa dhari’ uṭhāila

Translation: Immediately He ran to the river Ganges and jumped in to counteract the sinful activities of that woman. Lord Nityānanda and Haridāsa Ṭhākura caught Him and raised Him from the river.

Purport By Śrīla Prabhupāda: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is God Himself, but He was playing the part of a preacher. Every preacher should know that being allowed to touch a Vaiṣṇava’s feet and take dust may be good for the person who takes it, but it is not good for the person who allows it to be taken. As far as possible, this practice should ordinarily be avoided. Only initiated disciples should be allowed to take this advantage, not others Those who are full of sinful activities should generally be avoided.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we see here that in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta and other books, it says, wife of the brāhmaṇa, in Caitanya-maṅgala it says a brāhmaṇa. We will take it that, it is the wife of the brāhmaṇa. But the point is that this is the custom in Bengal, to touch the feet of a superior. But actually, for the preacher, it compromises them, by putting a lot of sinful reactions, by people who are not serious about spiritual life. If a disciple touches the feet of his master, that is reasonable. Anyway, the master has to take the karma of his disciple, but other people who are not practicing Vaiṣṇavas, not initiated, touching the feet by them should be avoided. 

Murāri Gupta Kaḍca 2.11.22-23: Feeling unhappy because of this, He became overcome by great grief. Suddenly He arose and running swiftly, plunged into the waters of the Jāhnavī, and thus became fully immersed in the river water. Then the mighty-armed and very powerful avadhūta (Lord Nityānanda) seized the Lord and lifted Him out onto the bank.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we see that some detail given in another text that Haridāsa Ṭhākura also accompanied Lord Nityānanda and helped to take Lord Caitanya out of the water. So, like that, different scriptures give different details. Some scriptures said that a brāhmaṇī touched Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet, another scripture said, she took His dust again and again, like that we get a more complete picture. 

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.69

satvara uṭhiyā prabhu dhāila ācambite
jāhnavīra jale jhāṁpa dilena turite

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga quickly stood up, and suddenly He ran and He jumped into the Ganges water.

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 17.92: Seeing her do that, he experienced great sorrow, became very disturbed and, quickly leaving, threw Himself in the Gaṅgā.

Caitanya Maṅgal Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.70

jale magna haila prabhu - nā pāi dekhite/saba nijajana jhāṁpa dila pāche tāthe

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga sank into the waters. No one could see Him. All His associates jumped after Him into the water.

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.71

nadiyāra loka saba gaṇila pramāda
kāndaye sakala loka karaye viṣāda

Jayapatākā Swami: The people of Navadvīpa became wild in lamentation, crying, all the people wept in grief.

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.72

putra! putra! kari dhāya śacī tāra mātā
jhāṁpa dite cāhe viśvambhara hari yathā

Jayapatākā Swami: “My dear son, my dear son,” mother Śacī ran and called after Him! Mother Śacī, she wanted to jump into the Ganges, where Lord Viśvambhara, Hari was.

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.73

unmatī pāgalī śacī kānde ubharāya
hākānda-kāndanā kānde-bhūmite loṭāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Like a mad, crazy person, mother Śacī was crying loudly, at the top of her voice. She wept, exclaiming, she wept and wept, she was rolling on the ground!

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.74

aichana pramāda dekhi’ avadhūtarāya
ṭhika prabhura uddeśye jhāṁpa dilena gaṅgāya

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing how everyone was wild, and filled with anguish, Lord Nityānanda, who is known as avadhūta, exactly where Lord Gaurāṅga was, He jumped into the Ganges, for the sake of the Lord. 

Caitanya Maṅgala Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.75

jale magna haiyā prabhura dharilena hāthe
dhariyā tulila gaṅgākule ācambite

Jayapatākā Swami: Diving into the water, with His hand, Lord Nityānanda grabbed Lord Gaurāṅga, and He quickly lifted Him to the Ganges bank.

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 17.93: Strong Nityānanda, best of the avadhūtas, seeing the Lord in this state, became agitated and, with great energy quickly pulled Gaurāṅga from the water using his huge arms.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca, 2.11.24: All the bhaktas headed by Śrīvāsa and Haridāsa at once surrounded the Lord of the devas, their hearts flooded by anxiety and apprehension.

Jayapatākā Swami: All the devotees were suddenly in great anxiety; something had happened to Lord Gaurāṅga. In this way, Lord Gaurāṅga, He is putting the devotees into loving anxiety. Just like Lord Kṛṣṇa, He was in the grips of the Kāliya serpent. And He stayed like that for some time. And then, He quickly got out of Kāliya’s grip, and started to dance on His head.  But while He was in the grip of Kāliya, the devotees were wild in anxiety, because of their intense love for Lord Kṛṣṇa. So, the similar anxiety was felt by the devotees, when He jumped and went out of sight.

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 17.94: Haridāsa and other followers quickly gathered in great distress. They surrounded his pitiful figure in fear and with choked voiced wept.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.76

dekhiyā sakala loka ati ānandita
saba nijajana kānde pāiyā sambita

Jayapatākā Swami: This verse seems to say that Lord Caitanya was alright. When the people of Navadvīpa saw this, they became relieved and happy, and all His associates became relieved and cried in happiness.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.77

śacīdevī kānde kole kari’ viśvambhara
śrīnivāsa, murāri, mukunda, śuklāmbara
haridāsa-ādi yata yata nijajana
gaura-mukha dekhi’ kānde tarāsita mana

Jayapatākā Swami: Śacī devī took her son Viśvambhara, on her lap and she wept. Śrīvāsa, Murāri, Mukunda, Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī, Haridāsa and all the other devotees, associates, seeing the Lord’s face, they were all crying with anxious minds. 

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 2.11.25: Headed by the brāhmaṇa Śuklāmbara, they wept as their hearts were troubled by worry. However, when they came to know that Gaura was well and happy, they then engaged in discussing Kṛṣṇa-kathā among themselves.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the associates of Lord Caitanya were very worried. But they became relieved seeing the face of Lord Gaura, that He was alright. So, the normal situation was to discuss the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So, they came back to their normal situation.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 7.79

āra sabajana duḥkha pāñāche bistara gaura-mukha dekhi’ sukhe sabhe gelā ghara

Jayapatākā Swami: All the people, all the associates, who had become unhappy, when they saw Lord Gaurāṅga’s happy face, they became happy, and they happily went their house.

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 17.95: The merciful Lord then went to Murāri Gupta’s house with the devotees. He then went to a brāhmaṇa’s house and spent the night there. So we will stop here. 

Jayapatākā Swami: He went to the house of Murāri Gupta. So, some devotees went home, some went with the Lord to Murāri Gupta’s house. Now we see that one minute the Lord is chanting in great ecstasy and everyone is very happy. He offers His obeisances Some brāhmaṇī lady, repeatedly took dust from His lotus feet, and teaching others, He quickly jumped up and jumped into the Ganges, to get freed from the sinful reactions. Devotees were put in extreme anxiety, and they became wild in grief because they didn’t see the Lord! Lord Nityānanda took Him out of the water and then He was surrounded by all His associates. They saw the Lord was alright, then they became relieved. The pastimes were going on. 

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, please accept my respectful obeisances at your lotus feet. It is said in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā 16.60, that the dust of the feet of a devotee, the water that has washed the feet of a devotee and the remnants of food left by a devotee, are three powerful substances. So how can we take them, without causing trouble to the devotee?

Jayapatākā Swami: The point is that, if you are an initiated devotee, then it is very beneficial for you, and not so much trouble for the devotee. But sometimes people who are not devotees take the dust, and sometimes devotees distribute their guru’s prasāda remnants to non-devotees. That may cause great trouble for the devotee. What is being said is true, but it may cause some trouble for the devotee, if the person is not a devotee himself. So, that was the thing that Śrīla Prabhupāda said, that we should not give it out to non-devotees, or to uninitiated devotees.

Your servant, Maṅgalamayī Mālinī devī dāsī

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances unto your lotus feet. Guru Mahārāja, sometimes in our dealings with elders, sometimes we have to touch their feet. Mostly, they are non-devotees. So how to deal with this and can we have to take their karma by touching their feet?

Your spiritual son,
Śacīnandana Gauracanda dāsa, Nepal.

Jayapatākā Swami: When you touch someone’s feet, I think, what I understand, you don’t take their karma, they take your karma. The younger person touches the elder’s feet, that is showing some respect. 

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! What should I do if someone touched my feet intentionally. The reason I do not know. I failed to avoid it.

Your spiritual daughter,
Ānandinī Śacīmātā devī dāsī, from Russia.

Jayapatākā Swami: Well, you can either jump into the Ganges, or you can touch that person’s feet back. We found that Lord Nityānanda and Lord Caitanya, were dancing in such a way, They tried to touch each other’s feet. They were so expert at dancing that They avoided. So, sometimes the associates of Lord Caitanya would do this type of transcendental competition, to touch each other’s feet. If someone touches your feet, you touch their feet.