19830327 Parikramā

The following is a presentation by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on March 27th, 1983, in Śrī Navadvīpa Dhāma, West Bengal, India. This presentation was given in Śrī Navadvīpa Dhāma Mandala Parikrama in Rudradvīpa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, today, in this sacred land of Rudradvīpa, in Navadvīpa-dhāma, you should know that all of the four Vaiṣṇava-ācāryas have all worshipped Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, otherwise how they can be Vaiṣṇava at all? We agree with the statement made this morning. And according to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, all the four Vaiṣṇava Ācāryas have all worshipped Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Rāmānujācārya came to Navadvīpa during his lifetime. He kind of snuck here. When he went up to Jagannātha Purī and he was thrown out by Jagannātha; before he went back to Kūrma-sthāna, he came here to Navadvīpa, and he started doing tapasyā. (some indistinct conversation) (laughter)

You cannot know the mind of the Lord, but he came here and he performed his tapasyā in Rudradvīpa. And here Lord Śiva appeared to him, because this is the island where Lord Śiva and the 12... rather, dvādaśa-rudra? Or eleven, ekādaśa-rudra. Anyway, 11 Rudras. They performed their tapasyā here waiting for Lord Caitanya and had darśana of Lord Caitanya. So when Rāmānuja came here, Lord Śiva being satisfied with his tapasyā appeared to him and blessed him that, “I am very pleased with your worship. You should know that this place is the place of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu - the mercy incarnation of Kṛṣṇa Himself - coming and giving pure Kṛṣṇa-bhakti.” and he revealed, he gave spiritual vision that he (Rāmānuja) could see the ever-existent saṅkīrtana party of Caitanya Mahāprabhu here in Rudradvīpa. Then he revealed that, that saṅkīrtana party chanting...

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

...was non-different in mood from the mood of the gopīs in the rāsa-līlā. That the mood of separation and pure appreciation for the qualities, form, characteristics of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa were non-different and Rāmānujācārya could see that the saṅkīrtana party of Lord Caitanya turned into Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa rāsa-līlā with the gopīs. And then here in Rudradvīpa, the rāsa-līlā is ever existent. That the mood of Lord Caitanya is exactly following in the mood of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, following in the pure Vṛndāvana mood. But actually in Kali-yuga we are not qualified to go directly to Vṛndāvana because we are aparādhīs, we are offenders, but Lord Caitanya is so kind that by His mercy we are able to also enter into those confidential pastimes. We are able to enter into those nectarine pastimes and be forgiven for all our offenses. And then by His mercy, we can actually understand what is the real meaning of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa pastimes, of Vṛndāvana pastimes. To get that mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as has been revealed in the past few days in the classes, it’s specially by giving out that mercy to the conditioned souls, so that they can take up also this sublime process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, pure devotional service.

I’d like to request His Divine Grace Śrīla Viṣṇupāda Harikeśa Swami to illuminate us on how we can understand the non-difference of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes from the pastimes in Vṛndāvana, and how we can enter into the sublime activities even in our present state.

Devotee: Jaya!

Devotees: Haribol! (applause)

Harikeśa Swami: Ācāryapada is expert in making introductions. (laughter) I hate to be the one who doesn’t speak on what he wanted me speak on. As we were walking here, we all noticed that it was very hot, and as we are sitting here, we are noticing that we are all very tired, and it is still very hot. So, this of course, is the contact of the material body. When a spirit soul accepts the material body it begins to feel the pains and pleasures of this material body.

puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
(Bg. 13.22)

That we are wondering through so many different species of life, and because we are considering our self the enjoyer or puruṣa, we are forced to meet good and bad under the influence of the modes of material nature. But when we are walking on these parikramās, we are not wandering through the different species, we are not wandering through the different, various material sense gratification. We are simply wandering around the place of pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Prabhu, Gadādhara Prabhu and Śrīvāsa Ācārya. So, it is a completely different kind of wandering. and even though it is very hot and even though some have begun to feel great discomfort, but if the mind is at all attracted to loving devotion; the mind is wandering off to take shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, whereas the body is wanting to merge into the earth. But that bodily platform is a temporary thing. And of that which is temporary, there is no eternal existence.

Now it is very hot, and if we go to Vṛndāvana, we will find it is quite cooler during the night. And if we go back to our respective places, we will find maybe it is really cold, some places still have snow. But the pastime of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu do not relate to our material body. Therefore, we can actually enjoy them. Anything that relates to the material body, you cannot enjoy. Even one takes the most wonderful thing of this material world, after a while it will not be very nice. Nice food, nice association with members of the opposite sex, nice fame, nice money, all these things ultimately bring about the opposite result. Ultimately, they bring about opposite results than that which we are looking for. We are all looking for enjoyment, we are looking for pleasure. But the material energy is so arranged that it will not be available.

Just like now we are actually in the most ecstatic place in the whole universe. But because of conditioning, one is thinking it is very hot. Bodies are thinking it is hot. But if the mind is trained up; if the internal consciousness has gotten some awareness due to performance of devotional service, chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, preaching; the inward consciousness of loving devotion of the Lord brings the mind - when there is difficulty - to the lotus feet of the Lord. When there is difficulty, the devotee has the opportunity to remember the Lord more. Just like on these parikramās, they are very special. Why are they special? That is not because we have gotten on and gone on a hike somewhere. Hiking you can do anywhere. If all of us got up and went on a hike in the Amazon rain forest, it would not be at all very blissful or even purifying. But because we are walking through the dhāma, walking through the place of pastimes of the Supreme Lord, mysteriously and miraculously when we return, everybody is very blissful.

Just like when go on the parikramā, the devotees who stay back - the more cynical ones - (we need not make any further comments) (laughter), they always ask the returning devotees, they say, “How was it?” (laughter) And returning devotees somehow are very blissful. Even though, what did we do? Well, we got up and we walked to this place and paid our obeisances and sat down and heard some class. Then we got up and walked to this other place and sat down and heard some class. We could’ve simply just walked around a garden and sat down and heard a class, it would have been the same activity. But it’s not, and everybody knows it. Therefore, there is a transcendental nature to parikramā.

Here is an activity established by the Supreme Lord Himself, established by Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu, who used to wander all over these nine islands, bringing the ecstasy of Love of Godhead everywhere. Actually, when we are performing these parikramās, we are purifying the whole world. Because the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu comes from Māyāpur Dhāma and spills out like a flood over the whole world. So, these parikramās are very special, and even though it is very hot, actually it doesn’t matter so much. And when we get back or when we go the Ganges and take a bath in the nice, cool, purifying, refreshing water we won’t mind. And when we get back we’ll have a smile on our faces, because we will be tired. But the nice thing about being tired in this way, is that there is no more energy for any māyā.

Devotees: (laughter, applause) Jaya!

Harikeśa Swami: Everybody likes not being in māyā, see? (laughter) So, if we just stayed in temple all day, probably we wouldn’t do very much chanting. We wouldn’t be doing too much. Everybody would just be wandering here and there, talking to his neighbor about this and that. But when we are in the parikramā we cannot talk to anybody because there is always kīrtana going on. And you can’t talk to your neighbor because otherwise people in the back of you will push you over, and anyway it is very tired, who wants talk anything? And what’s so important to talk about anyway? Let’s just chant the holy name and remember Kṛṣṇa.

So this place is the place of pastime of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The dhāma, nāma, rūpa, līlā, all of these characteristics of the Lord are manifested eternally here. When we are chanting the holy name of the Lord, they are manifested anywhere. One who is fully absorbed in chanting the holy name, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra; although he may be in a very strange place, actually has direct connection with the Supreme Lord. Gradually he will realize the Lord. But because we are not so expert, we come to Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur and here, it is a very special place because it is very easy to chant here. And Māyāpur is so nice because, Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, they did not accept the offences of a devotee. Whereas in Vṛndāvana, your offenses are multiplied one hundred times in severity. Of course, I heard Prabhupāda once say ten times in severity. Then I heard him say one hundred times in severity. But in any case, if your offenses are multiplied two times it is already bad. What to speak of the offense itself, which is in itself one times as bad. So, if we are here in Māyāpur, our offences are not counted because of the mercy of Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda. But when we leave Māyāpur, if we take away the mentality, take away the mentality of taking advantage of the mercy of the Lord, then immediately māyā comes in, clobbers us on the head. Therefore while we are here in Māyāpur, we should not take advantage of the mercy of the Lord.

There are so many who stay in Navadvīpa-dhāma, the nine islands of devotion and take advantage of that mercy, and are not very careful in the way they are dealing or in the way they are acting. Maybe they are not developed the loving devotion to the Lord so. But in Māyāpur-dhāma, still, some adjustment is made transcendentally. But we have to do a great work. We have to go preaching. We have to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. So, here we have not come to take advantage of the Lord. We have come so that the Lord may take advantage of us. May take advantage in the sense that we are offering our body, our minds, our words, our whole consciousness, and saying, “My dear Lord Caitanya, my dear Lord Nityānanda, we are Yours. Now, we are undergoing this austerity of parikramā although it is not such a big austerity. We are undergoing this austerity of parikramā because we want Your mercy, and when we leave this place we want to go back to our respective preaching field, and we want to glorify You by spreading Your holy name everywhere, by spreading Your transcendental literatures everywhere, by actually pleasing You, and You kindly reciprocate with us and give us Your mercy.” And when one actually gets the mercy of the Lord, he begins to realize the pastimes of the Lord, and he even sees that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not different than the pastimes of the Lord.

In fact, this saṅkīrtana movement is the pastime of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. It is just that we have to get a little more purified to see it. We have to become a little bit more purified. And then what we will see? We will see the pastimes of the Lord directly manifesting. And we will see Lord Caitanya dancing and chanting, and we will understand Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. But as Narottama Dāsa and other ācāryas have said, they wish to get the mercy of Rūpa Gosvāmī, Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, the Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, and then they will get the mercy of Nityānanda Prabhu and then they will get the mercy to understand Caitanya Mahāprabhu as He is. Without going through this chain of disciplic succession, you cannot understand Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Although one may hear, one may even perform austerity, one may even preach, but unless one gets the mercy of these ācāryas in our disciplic succession; in other words, first one must approach a spiritual master. We must approach Śrīla Prabhupāda. Then we must get the mercy of the predecessor ācāryas by pleasing our spiritual master. And he will call upon us the mercy of Rūpa Gosvāmī and other Gosvāmīs, and then we will able to please Nityānanda Prabhu and get the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So, this attitude of servitor-ship, this is the basis, the foundation upon which all advancement in spiritual life is made. Therefore, when we are in Māyāpur and Vṛndāvana, we should not be thinking that we should be served because we are on vacation. Actually, we should want to serve. To want to serve means, one has actually advanced. And to be on vacation means one has not understood anything. The only vacation is the service of the Lord, and everything else is hard work.

It’s like parikramā is not even hard work, it is nice, no matter the heat. You have even now, the cool breezes are coming. So, to be on parikramā, this is actual vacation. To be chanting the holy name of the Lord, serving, even to help to serve prasādam, helping to keep everything nice and clean, this is real vacationing, this is the real nectar, the relaxation. And to just lay around or do nothing or engage in unnecessary talking, what this is? This is work. This is karma-bandhana, this is binding us to the material world. And work which is done for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, actually here the satisfaction is Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this is freeing us from all reactions. Therefore, we cannot call it work, we have to call it bliss. Our eternal blissful position in relationship to the Supreme Lord. So, let us take advantage of this time and every time when we go parikramā, when you come in the future years. When somebody says, “Oh, I don’t want to go to the parikramā because Ācāryapada takes us around in circles (laughter), we should understand those circles are ecstatic circles. You know, Kṛṣṇa took the gopīs around in circles too when He was having the rāsa dance. We do not want to equate the two activities, but just going around in circles as such is not bad, if it is done in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

And if one is thinking in mundane circles, this is the duality, birth and death. You see, if you just go around in circles in the material world, you are just taking birth and dying again, saṁsāra. But we go around in circles, circumambulating the holy dhāma, and we are actually taking off, going right back home, back to Godhead. So, this activity is very transcendental, and we are all very, very lucky to be here. Very lucky to take advantage of this activity. Very lucky that we are able to come. There are so many who have not come. So, let us just with great enthusiasm complete our activity, and unfortunately, we’ll be leaving in a few days. Let us try to beg for the mercy of the Lord, and somehow extract the nectar from the holy dhāma.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Devotees: (applause) Haribol!

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrī Navadvīpa-dhāma kī…!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami: ISKCON Navadvīpa-dhāma parikramā kī…!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami:  Samāveta-bhakta-vṛnda kī…!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami:  Śrīla Prabhupāda kī…!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami:  Nitāi-Gaura kī…!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami:  Gaura Premānande…!

Devotees: Hari Haribol!!

Devotee: Śrīla Ācāryapada kī…!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami:  So, the plan is to go from here to the Ganges. Gaṅgā Māyī kī…!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami: Just before we go, we’ll all lead the way with… Prabhupāda will lead the way, and we will follow, which is supposed to be a short cut, to be walking alongside the Gaṅgā. And there’s a path around the Ganges side for those who are not into swimming or would like to hear some more of that... when they have the different sannyāsīs give some talks at that time, those who would like to do so. Just here before we leave this island of Rudradvīpa… go to our next gear of going on the Ganges side. If we remember that this is the island of friendship, and that friendship in the material world means that actually it brings both pain and pleasure. When someone who is a friend, someone you love is suffering, that gives you pain. When that person is happy, then you feel happy. That’s the real friendship. So, Kṛṣṇa doesn’t want us to be miserable. Therefore, He comes Himself. He sends His devotees to give us mercy. Therefore, He is suhṛt, He is our real friend.

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati
(Bg. 5.29)

He is the friend of all the living entities. So, sometimes a devotee, a living entity, realizes that Kṛṣṇa is the friend, the master, surrenders to Him. And if blessed, enters into the pastimes of the Lord. Those pastimes are the real standard of friendship, of servitude, of parental love, and conjugal love, the real standard of love. Here, Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted Mother Śacī as His mother and allowed her to worship Him in the mood of parental rasa, but Lord Caitanya’s mission was to be the friend of all the living entities, so He had to leave Navadvīpa to preach, to go to Jagannātha Purī, South India and other places. So, He decided to take sannyāsa, and leave His loving mother and His loving wife.

So, when He left, Lord Caitanya came just by this village. He snuck away at night when everyone was asleep. He went here with only a few trusted, four-five people, knew perfect the exact moment He was leaving. Everyone had apprehension, but no one could say at this time. Only Nityānanda, Mukunda, a few knew. So, when Lord Caitanya came, He came by this village and He crossed over the Ganges ghats we are going to walk by. And, at that time Mother Śacī, she as soon as Lord Caitanya left their house, she felt some emptiness, she woke up. She looks, there was Viṣṇupriyā alone, Lord Caitanya wasn’t there. She knew like a thunderbolt striking her, that Caitanya Mahāprabhu has left.

“He is gone! Kothāya!? Kothāya!? (where?)”, she started shouting out. “Where is Lord Caitanya Where is Nimāi? Where is my Nimāi? Where is my Viśvambhara? Where is He? Where is He?”, and she went out. She didn’t think about what she was wearing or anything like that. She just was mad trying to find Lord Caitanya and she came wandering over the field, you see. And when she got to this village, she was practically senseless. That time she was just mad. It was the middle of the night. Everybody was asleep, but she was crying out to the trees, to the village, “Have you seen my Nimāi gone? Have you seen Him gone?” and she was crying like that, just mad in separation. And when in this village, none of the trees, none of the people woke up, nobody said anything, then she said, “You are nirdaya, you have no mercy on me, you are not telling me where is my Nimāi”, and she just collapsed in separation, weeping. So, since that time this village, is know as Nirdaya or Nidaya in short. The village that was chastised by mother Śacī as having no mercy, because it couldn’t tell her where her beloved Nimāi is. Of course, if you would offer Mother Śacī something in exchange, if we give another boy, you adopt a son, or we will give you ticket to somewhere, if anything, you give her the whole world, she couldn’t care peanuts for it. She just wanted her Nimāi, Viśvambhara, because she is the eternal devotee of the Lord, and because of that, Lord Caitanya actually didn’t leave her but in bhāva-rūpa stayed with her always, and even accepted the prasāda; which was later proven, that He was accepting the prasāda she was offering every day.

So sometimes we serve in separation. Sometimes we are serving in the presence, visible presence of our worship able object, of the Lord, or even the spiritual master. Similar feelings are there because He is the Svarūpa of Kṛṣṇa, therefore one has to have a spiritual master who is a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa and none other. So while we’re here at this village of Nirdaya, actually heading towards the Ganges, we can actually meditate on the mood of mother Śacī, on how she was so completely absorbed, and think that, “Here we are in Navadvīpa but we can’t see Lord Caitanya.”