20220619 Prīti Lakṣṇam Program: Talk on Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi

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

Jayapatākā Swami: I am very happy to be here tonight. Lord Caitanya appeared in Navadvīpa and that is considered like the center of the lotus. But all the petals on the sides of the lotus are the Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi. The Lord He comes in Satya, Tretā and Dvāpara-yuga and openly declares He is God. But in Kali-yuga He comes as a channa-avatāra, He does not declare Himself as God. Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad-gītā, sambhavāmi yuge yuge. In this Kali-yuga you have people coming every year, every month, every day. But in the śāstra it predicts that Kṛṣṇa will come in another color. The 11^th canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ
[SB 11.5.32]

That Kṛṣṇa will come in a non-Kṛṣṇa color. He will be accompanied by His expansions, His energies, His devotees. He will inaugurate the saṅkīrtana movement. Those people who are intelligent will follow Him. This is one of the verses but there are many verses.

So when He came, He was accompanied by His expansions, His energies, His associates from the spiritual world. These associates, they appeared around Him in Bengal. At the time of Lord Caitanya 500 years ago, Bengal was united, there was no Bangladesh. And basically the boundary of the Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi, in the south east is Puṇḍarīka dhāma. In the north east is the birthplace of Advaita Gosāñi in Bangladesh. In the north-west is Kānāi-naṭaśālā and other places in Jhārikhanḍa. In the south-west is Remuṇā which is in the border of Śrī Kṣetra and Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi. So, some of these associates of Lord Caitanya, are the avatāras of Mahā Viṣṇu, Lord Śiva. Rādhārāṇī came as Gadādhara and Nārada Muni came as Śrīvāsa. Some of these places are in Bangladesh. We have many of the holy places in Bangladesh. But there are more places in India. We are trying to develop these places.

Like Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura we sing many of his songs, how did he leave the world? He bathed in the Ganges and his body melted into milk. They showed a picture in the slide show it is called Dūdh-ghāṭa. Some of his disciples got the milk in a clay pot and put that in a samādhi. There is a history behind each place.

Śrīman Abhirāma is actually one of the cowherd boys of Vṛndāvana. Lord Nityānanda incarnation of Balarāma visited these holy places, He went to Vṛndāvana. So Śrīdāma sakhā was living 4,500 years in a cave in Govardhana hill. And Lord Nityānanda who was Balarāma, He knew that he was there, and He called out, “Śrīdāma! Śrīdāma!” Then he came out and he looked and said, “Who are You? You are very short!” “Now it is Kali-yuga, everybody is short. I am Balarāma, I have taken this form.” Śrīdāma said, “I would race around the Govardhana hill and the only one who would beat me would be Balarāma. If You are Balarāma, then beat me and prove it.” Śrīdāma sakhā then began running around Govardhana. And Lord Nityānanda was running with him. And neck to neck on the first turn, second turn! Then Lord Nityānanda went ahead, and Lord Nityānanda won! Then Śrīdāma said, “Alright! You are Balarāma!” “Lord Kanhaiyā, Kṛṣṇa is starting the saṅkīrtana movement in Bengal, do you want to come with Me and join Him?” “Sure, why not?” “Then let me shrink you to Kali-yuga size,” Lord Nityānanda said. So He shrunk him. Like this every one of His associates from Goloka are there in the pastimes and they are mostly in Bengal.

Śrīla Prabhupāda made me the lifetime Chairman of the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust. But I am an old man, I don’t know how much longer I will be allowed to stay here. But I am very grateful to Śaṅkarṣaṇa Nitāi dāsa and Ramanīpati dāsa for helping me in this project.