20221028 By loudly chanting, Haridāsa Ṭhākura serves the Holy Name until the appearance of Lord Caitanya, Part 1

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 28th,2022 in Śrī Dhāma 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!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Today's chapter is entitled as:

By loudly chanting, Haridāsa Ṭhākura serves the Holy Name until the appearance of Lord Caitanya, Part 1
Under the section: The Glories of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.251

prabhu kartṛka nāma-premavitaraṇa-līlā-prakāśa nā haoyā paryanta haridāsera śrī-nāma-sevanācāra —

hena-mate vaisena ṭhākura-haridāsa
gauracandra nā karena bhaktira prakāśa

Translation: Haridāsa Ṭhākura passed his days in this way, before Gauracandra manifested His devotional feelings.

Jayapatākā Swami: Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he was loudly chanting the holy names doing his nāma-seva until Lord Caitanya appeared and manifested his devotional pastimes. Then Haridāsa Ṭhākura joined Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.252

sarvatrai kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rāhitya o kṛṣṇa-kīrtanera digjñānaleśābhāva—

sarva-dike viṣṇu-bhakti-śūnya sarva-jana
uddeṣo nā jāne keha kemana kīrtana

Translation: People throughout the world were devoid of devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu. They had no understanding of the goal or process of kīrtana.

Purport: (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda The material enjoyers are always accustomed to forget Hari. Somehow or other they remain aloof from devotional service, which aims at remembrance of Hari, and become intoxicated by their own sense gratification. At that time people who were bewildered by māyā were fully engaged in gratifying their senses, and therefore they became devoid of devotion to Viṣṇu. No one could understand why Haridāsa Ṭhākura was performing hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana and what his motive was, because at that time Lord Śrī Gaurasundara had not yet begun propagating love and devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: People were identifying themselves as the body and they are trying to satisfy their senses, thinking that that is the goal of life. They could not understand why Haridāsa Ṭhākura was chanting the holy name, until Lord Caitanya came and revealed the real purpose of human life is to love and serve Lord Hari.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.253

sarvatrai viṣṇu-bhaktira abhāva evaṁ vaiṣṇavera prati avajñā, virodha vā vidveṣa —

kothāo nāhika viṣṇu-bhaktira prakāśa
vaiṣṇavere sabei karaye parihāsa

Translation: There was no trace of devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu anywhere. Everyone simply taunted the Vaiṣṇavas.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): Due to the absence of discussing topics of Hari, people were devoid of devotion to Viṣṇu. So, without understanding the exalted position of the Vaiṣṇavas, people simply ridiculed them.

Jayapatākā Swami: This shows the fallen situation before Lord Caitanya came, that people were simply absorbed in gratifying their senses. They had no spiritual understanding, at least very rarely.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.254

duḥsaṅga parityāgapūrvaka bhaktagaṇera ekatra ekasaṅge nirjane paraspara kṛṣṇa-kīrtana—

āpanā-āpani saba sādhu-gaṇa meli’
gāyena śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāma diyā karatāli

Translation: The devotees would meet together and chant the names of Lord Kṛṣṇa while clapping their hands.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.255

bhaktagaṇera niḥsaṅga kīrtane pāṣaṇḍigaṇera vidrūpāsphālanokti

tāhāte o duṣṭa-gaṇa mahā-krodha kare
pāṣaṇḍī pāṣaṇḍī meli’ balgiyāi mare

Translation: The miscreants became most indignant even at this. Those atheists would meet together to blaspheme the devotees.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these atheists would meet together with other atheists to blaspheme the devotees.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.256

īśvaravirodhī nāstika pāṣaṇḍigaṇera māyā-vaśe moha-hetu viparīta ukti; viśvabandhu ucca-hari-kīrtanakārīke viśvabairi-jñāna

“e vāmunagulā rājya karibeka nāśa
ihā sabā’ haite ha’be durbhikṣa prakāśa

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these brāhmaṇas will bring about famine in their country by their activities. So, the atheists and materialists thought that the devotees by their loud chanting of the holy names will bring about misfortune in the country and thus they blame all misfortune on them.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.257

‘ātmavanmanyate jagat’ nītira anusaraṇe viśva-bandhu vaiṣṇavakeo nijedera nyāya udara-bharaṇa-lampaṭa-vañcaka bhikṣukarūpe darśana—

e vāmanagulā saba māgiyā khāite
bhāvuka-kīrtana kari’ nānā chala pāte

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these brāhmaṇas in order to get alms to eat performed sentimental kīrtana and try various tricks.

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): Although the devotees gave up bad association and gathered together to congregationally chant the names of Hari, the godless atheistic persons who were devoid of devotion to the Lord angrily ridiculed them as follows: “In order to fill their bellies and earn their livelihood, these loudly chanting brāhmaṇas spread various deceptions and accept the dress of sentimentalists while chanting the names of Hari. They have no other business than filling their bellies on the pre of religious performances. Because of their behavior, there will be famine in this country, and in this way they will cause great harm to the world by introducing begging.”

Actually, attributing such false accusations on the devotees of the Lord will never bring any auspiciousness to the world, rather, it will lead people to hell. The devotees engage in the exalted service of the Lord by chanting His holy names. They do not partake of or enjoy the hard-earned wealth of ordinary people under the inducement of greed or by giving indulgence to laziness born of ignorance; rather, the wealth and ingredients that ordinary people accumulate for sense gratification are utilized by the devotees in the service of Hari for the eternal benefit of those persons.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, just as Śrīla Prabhupāda said, Sītā the energy of Rāma should be used in Lord Rāma’s service. Similarly the money that the other people have accumulated if they use some for Kṛṣṇa they will be blessed.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 16.258

ajñatā-vaśe ucca-hari-nāma-kīrtana cāturmāsye hariśayanakāle anucita baliyā jñāna —

gosāñira śayana variṣā cāri-māsa
ihāte ki yuyāya ḍākite baḍa ḍāka?

Translation: “The Lord takes rest for four months during the rainy season, but these brāhmaṇas loudly call Him even at that time. Is this proper?

Purport (By His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Śrīla Prabhupāda): The atheistic smārtas who were attached to fruitive activities used to say, “Lord Viṣṇu takes rest during the four months of Cāturmāsya, therefore no one should chant the names of Kṛṣṇa during these four months—Śrāvaṇa, Bhādra, Āśvina, and Kārttika. If one chants the names of Kṛṣṇa during this period, it will disturb the Lord by interrupting His yoga-nidrā. Therefore if the Vaiṣṇavas transgress the scriptural injunctions by loudly chanting the names of Hari during His sleep, the Lord will certainly become very angry and send various tribulations such as famine.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Actually the devas went to see the Lord in Kārttika month and they chanted the holy names and the Lord was so happy that they were chanting the holy names that He said, “in the future anyone in this month, in this tithi chants and does any devotional service, they will get a hundred times benefit. The month was Kārttika and the tithi was Ekādaśī.

We can see how much the atheists speculateded against the devotees and unnecessarily they criticized the devotees and this situation existed before Lord Caitanya manifested His saṅkīrtana-yajna.

Thus ends the chapter entitled,
By loudly chanting, Haridāsa Ṭhākura serves the Holy Name until the appearance of Lord Caitanya, Part 1
Under the section: The Glories of Śrīla Haridāsa Ṭhākura