20220527 Drāviḍa Brāhmaṇa Afflicted by Poverty Comes to Nīlācala

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 27th, 2022 Chennai, India.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.2

kahiba nigūḍha kathā, śuna ekacitte
adhama-janera mane nā haya pratīte

Translation: I will narrate a confidential topic. Listen attentively. Degraded people do not have faith in these.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, people who have no faith in Lord Caitanya, they cannot understand His glories.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.3

vaiṣṇavajanera mane parama ullāsa
paramanigūḍha gauracandrera prakāśa

Translation: The Vaiṣṇavas feel unlimited happiness in their heart hearing these most confidential that Gauracandra manifests.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya manifest many wonderful pastimes and the Vaiṣṇavas feel unlimited transcendental happiness in their hearts hearing these pastimes. So, Locana dāsa Ṭhākura is requesting all the devotees to hear these pastimes and experience bliss.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.4

drāviḍe brāhmaṇa eka āche ‘rāma’ nāma
paramaduḥkhita––aṅga, asthi āra cāma

Translation: There was once a Drāviḍian [South Indian] brāhmaṇa named Rāma. He was very poor, miserable and because of starvation his body was just a bag of skin and bones.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this gives the description of the pure brāhmaṇa named Rāma. He was skin and bones because of starvation.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.5

annakaṣṭe dagdha sei jaṭhara-anale
rakta-māṃsa nāhi tāra, śuṣka kalevare

Translation: Not getting food, his stomach burned from hunger. There was hardly any blood and flesh on his desiccated body.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in the material world if one doesn’t not grains and milk products their body gets weak. In the spiritual world even if a few drops of Lord Caitanya’s wonderful pastimes gets to devotees they feel great spiritual strength.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.6

duranta dāridra-duḥkha kata sahā yāya
mane mane cinte vipra taraṇa upāya

Translation: How much could he tolerate the unhappiness due to severe poverty? So, he contemplated within his mind about the means to get relief.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, it is natural that if one is suffering from something, they will think how to get relief.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.7

pūrvajanme kailu muñi aneka adharma
daridra hailuṁ muñi sei saba karma

Translation: In my past life, I must have done many irreligious acts, and so I have become poor because of all those actions.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Rāma, the religious brāhmaṇa, he speculated that he must have done many bad acts in his past lives. So, then he thought how to counteract the bad karma, so this is situation in the material world, if you do good karma you be in good situation and you do bad karma, you suffer.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.8

nā bhuñjile nāhi ghuce adṛṣṭa likhana
duranta yantraṇā duḥkha ghucaye kemana

Translation: Without undergoing punishment due to past misdeeds, the destined result due to my past deeds is not wiped out. But, how to get rid of the excruciating pain and unhappiness.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, he was trying to understand how to counteract the bad karma of his previous lives.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.9

cintite cintite vipra pāila pratikāra
prabhu binā nāre keho karma ghucābāra

Translation: While contemplating thus, the brāhmaṇa found the solution that without the Lord, no one could change his karma and give him relief.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, by the Lord's blessing one’s karma can be completely changed and he was thinking without the Lord's mercy he cannot change the karma.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.10

jagannātha nīlācale āchaye sākṣāte
tāra ṭhāñi yāo muñi yāciñā karite

Translation: Lord Jagannātha, the Lord of the universe, is personally residing in Nīlācala. So I will go to see Him and pray to Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the arcā-avatāra of the Lord is non-different from the Lord and the Drāviḍian brāhmaṇa, Rāmadāsa, he thought I will go to Nīlācala and pray to the Lord

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.11

annakaṣṭe maro muñi brāhmaṇa śarīra
‘vipra-priya’ bali tāre bole saba dhīra

Translation: Out of starvation, I am dying, in the body of a brāhmaṇa. Those who are sober-minded say that the brāhmaṇas are dear to Lord Jagannātha.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Jagannātha is known as namo brāhmaṇa devāya go-brāhmaṇa hitāya ca, He cares of the cows and the brāhmaṇa, so he thought that we all should take shelter of Lord Jagannātha.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.12

mora doṣe more ye nā kare avadhāna
tāhāra upare badha––tyajiva parāṇa

Translation: But due to my fault, the Lord is ignoring me. Moreover, there is even death (upon brāhmaṇa) and so let me just give up my life.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, he is thinking that in the past life he made mistakes so therefore the Lord is ignoring him. Therefore, he wants to give up his life, but actually giving up your life is a great sin and one should rather serve the Lord.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.13

eimane anumāni’ calila brāhmaṇa
krame krame gela yathā kamalalocana

Translation: Thus, brooding over, the brāhmaṇa started his journey and gradually reached the place of Kamalalocana (Nīlācala)

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the brāhmaṇa went to the holy place Śrī Kṣetra Nīlācala, to see Lord Jagannātha.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.14

jagannātha dekhi kare nija nivedana
annakaṣṭe maro muñi daridra-brāhmaṇa

Translation: Seeing Jagannātha, He submitted his appeal, “I’m a poor brāhmaṇa, dying of starvation.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.15

to binu nāhika keho––rākhaha jīvana
ghucāo dāridra-jvālā––deha more dhana

Translation: I have no one other than You. Save my life. Remove the misery of poverty and give me wealth.”

Jayapatākā Swami: So, actually we should not pray to the Lord for material things, but Kṛṣṇa said in Bhagavad-gītā that, ‘pious people come to Him for four reasons” and one of the reasons is to request wealth. So, the brāhmaṇa was someone a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.16

ihā bali’ sedina āchilā seikhāne
bhikṣāya pāila yāhā-karila bhojane

Translation: Having said thus, that day the brāhmaṇa stayed there and ate whatever he got by begging.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we see outside the Jagannātha Purī temple begging, so some pious devotees gives some donation, so somehow the brāhmaṇa got prasāda by this donation

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.17

tāra-para-dina punaḥ kare nivedana-
ghucāo dāridra prabhu!––maraye brāhmaṇa

Translation: The next day, he again prayed, “Remove the poverty, O Lord! This brāhmaṇa is suffering terribly and is about to die.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, by going to the Lord again, he is repeating the same prayer. Actually Kṛṣṇa can give all benedictions, but he is asking for a very small benediction.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.18

bhāri kariyā dhana deha ta āmāre
e duḥkha nā pāṅa yena ājanma-bhitare

Translation: Give me abundant wealth, so that I don’t have to suffer like this in this life.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, you see we take birth again and again in this material world, some birth are poverty stricken, some birth we go to higher and some birth we go down to hellish planets, so like this eternal souls and we have to suffer repeated birth and death until we go back to the spiritual world where there is birth, old age and disease and that is actually the destination that we should desire.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.19

dhana-bara māgo prabhu nā hao vimukha
nahile jīvana diba tomāra sammukha

Translation: I beg You to give me the boon of wealth. Oh, Lord! Don’t be indifferent. If not, I’ll kill give up my life in front of You.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, now the Drāviḍian brāhmaṇa is threatening to commit suicide in fromt of the Lord, this is very negative.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Śeṣa-khaṇḍa 4.20

ihā bali’ upavāsa kaila anubandha
ethā nija-mele āche prabhu gauracandra

Translation: The brāhmaṇa started fasting there. Here, meanwhile, Lord Gauracandra was surrounded by His intimate devotees.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, So, we see moving Jagannātha, He comes to the temple before the fasting brāhmaṇa, surely Lord Caitanya will perform some wonderful acts, but here the chapter ends.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Drāviḍa Brāhmaṇa Afflicted by Poverty Comes to Nīlācala
Under the section: Wonderful Episode of Drāviḍa Brāhmaṇa

Hare Kṛṣṇa!