19880424 Arrival Address

The following is the class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on April 24^th, 1988 in Almvik, Sweden

Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi līlā 3.49

suvarṇa-varṇo hemāṅgo
varāṅgaś candanāṅgadī
sannyāsa-kṛc chamaḥ śānto
niṣṭhā-śānti-parāyaṇaḥ

Translation: “In His early pastimes He appears as a householder with a golden complexion. His limbs are beautiful, and His body, smeared with the pulp of sandalwood, seems like molten gold. In His later pastimes He accepts the sannyāsa order, and He is equipoised and peaceful. He is the highest abode of peace and devotion, for He silences the impersonalist nondevotees.”

Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi līlā 3.39

dvāpare bhagavān śyāmaḥ
pīta-vāsā nijāyudhaḥ
śrī-vatsādibhir aṅkaiś ca
lakṣaṇair upalakṣitaḥ

Jayapatākā Swami: This is giving that… the Lord in the color blackish in the Dvāpara-yuga, and here in this verse we read today - kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ. (ŚB. 11.5.32) There it says that Kṛṣṇa is coming, but he is akṛṣṇaṁ, He is not black. So Prabhupāda explains because previously He was not golden, but He was white and red and black. So the only color left is golden color. So that’s a clear prediction that the Lord appears in golden color. Of course in the Mahābhārata and other places, it very clearly says - suvarṇa varṇa hemāṅgo. Having the color of molten gold. So there is Agni Purāṇa, Upaniṣads, various places where it predicts the coming. And this particular verse, the sāṅga, upāṅga, astra, pārṣadam. Here it says along with associates, servitors, astra, and confidential companions. Sāṅga is also thought to be, is translated to be Lord Nityānanda Prabhu. Lord Nityānanda is the expansion, direct expansion of Lord Caitanya, so it is His sāṅga, which expansion of His own transcendental form. Upāṅga is the great internal servitors. Astra of course mentioned here is personal beauty. Sometimes the saṅkīrtana is also considered to be astra. And paraphernalia of the saṅkīrtana movement, the mṛdaṅga, khol, and the kartālas is also important aspect. So, one of the systems that the Lord Caitanya started was 24 hrs kīrtana-yajñas. This has not been organized here in ISKCON. This is very good for congregational members. It really makes everyone focus on holy name. One of the things that Lord Caitanya would do on some sacred days is, He would have groups of devotees go in turn, each taking one hour, two hours at a time, and may be one or two times in a day, and then they would come and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Beforehand they would chant Guru-prāṇama mantras, Pañca-tattvā mantras, and then there would be a whole bedi constructed. A bedi means like a like a special, like a rāsa-līlā maṇḍapa, rāsa-līlā platform. In the center there would be the tulasī plant. Pictures of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya and everything have been added nowadays for helping us focus.  Originally they would have these ghaṭas, that means water pot, installed as Deity of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, and they would also have the tulasī, and they would make aṅgāna, beautiful garden situation with banana trees and other leaves and things, and they would do whole pūjā. To fill up the water pot with water, some would go into the into the lake or into the nearest body of water. Of course there it is nice and warm. I know you do here in winter. They’d go in with their clothes and everything, just go right in, fill it up, carry it on their head and come back and place it down. Then the pūjārīs would do all their pūjās and install the water pot as a Deity, as done in any other yajñas. This is the nāma-yajña. And a day before they take the khol and kartālas, they place them all there. They would establish the different seat for the guru, the Pañca-tattva, and they would offer offerings, brāhmaṇa threads everything, and then they do pūjā, an ārati to mṛdaṅga, to the kartālas, to all the paraphernalia, Lord Caitanya’s transcendental yajña. Then they would chant different bhajanas about how Lord Nityānanda had called Lord Caitanya to come in the material world, so on. Meditating on coming of Lord Caitanya. Then everyone would take rest. Next morning at maṅgala-ārati time, when maṅgala-ārati time, there would be all the warm ups. Either starting from maṅgala-ārati, or starting from sunrise I guess. In Sweden it may be better after maṅgala-ārati because the sun may rise at 1 or may rise at 10’o clock. But like that they used to do these. Then they would chant for the whole day and night like this,  in turn. As one group’s going, they go round and round the tulasī chanting, “Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa”. Different tunes according to the time of the day. And then as another group of devotees are coming outside, they would chant their guru-prāṇama-mantras, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, everything, then they come in and go once around with existing group, “Hare Kṛṣṇa”. Then now it is their time. Then the other group goes off. So many devotees. Actually, even today, sometimes there are fifty thousand people, twenty thousand people, ten thousand sitting there just watching kīrtana groups! But the problem now in some of the places, there is not enough pure devotees. So now they are hiring people to chant. Since hiring people don’t have devotion to attract people’s mind, they start including so many musical instruments and things so that you can hardly even hear them chant. It becomes more some kind of abstract Hare Kṛṣṇa folk rock or something. That is like a perverted reflection. But the original thing is described elaborately by Vāsudeva Ghoṣa, Govinda Ghoṣa – great kīrtana singers of Lord Caitanya.

Then after the kīrtana is over, when next sunrise comes, then all the devotees take the tulasī and the Deities—if they have Nitāi-Gaura Deities—they take all the Deities and they go round the town, around the place chanting nagara-kīrtana, and then this way the whole neighbourhood gets purified. Go to different gṛhastha houses. And then they come back. They keep one big pot of yogurt. Then after they come back, yajña is finished, the kīrtana is finished and everything is finished, then someone picks up the yogurt pot and then smashes it, and then all hell breaks loose. They start picking up yogurt throwing at each other, and that’s called dadhī-bhaṅgana. That’s supposed to be like a when Kṛṣṇa and the cowherd boys used to throw ghee and yogurt at each other. At last, they would all take their baths and that’s the end of yajña.

So if you see how they worship the paraphernalia, the khol and the kartālas. The whole saṅkīrtana process is a type of transcendental weapon. The personal beauty of Lord Caitanya, His pastimes. There are so many different avatāras, they are both giving devotees of theirs a blessing, and they are also punishing the demons. But here we find in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes that He delivers His devotees, and the demons He also delivers. The demon, he kills their demoniac nature and makes them devotees also. This is the most unique. Among the transcendental avatāras, He is the most unique incarnation of Godhead. So, we cannot imagine how fortunate we are to be present in this age, where Lord Caitanya has appeared. It’s not that Lord Caitanya comes in every age. He especially comes after Kṛṣṇa, and there are some paṇḍitas who consider He may not even come after every Kṛṣṇa. But if does come, it is after Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa only comes once in a day of Brahmā. The day of Brahmā is 1000 yugas, mahā-yugas of Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali. So, in this way, one mahā-yuga is about four million three hundred thousand years. Multiple that by a 1000. That’s a day of Brahmā. Then night time everything shuts down. So, the day and night. After that the next time again, Kṛṣṇa only will come. And that time Lord Caitanya may come. So, in this way we are so fortunate. This is like sometimes, in the Christmas times, the big shops put on you know ‘Clearance Sale!’ Everything must go, discount. But you know sometimes we think maybe they just increased the price in the label and then reduced it, you so don’t know. Especially in India they do that. To attract you for sale, they increase the list price, and then they reduce it. Actually, the same thing is there. But this is not like that. This is the real bargain. This is an actual real sale, where just for chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, for following Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s process—the simple process, just by the slightest desire, expressed through these practical methods of wanting to back home back to Godhead, wanting to be Kṛṣṇa Conscious, one can easily get love for Kṛṣṇa. So, this is so unique, even the demigods, they can’t believe it. Because they are living for so long, they don’t get such an opportunity to go back to Godhead till the end of Lord Brahmā’s life, which we won’t even get into the beginning of expressing that. So, this is such a wonderful opportunity to take the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

Actually, the devotees, once they realize, they just dive into the nectar ocean. And then they think that all these people, they are just missing the opportunity. They are trying like mad trying to just give this mercy to as many people as can take it. People are so stupid by the sense gratification; they don’t realize what a chance they are missing. It is the funny thing that in Kali-yuga actually it is so easy to get Kṛṣṇa. No other yuga. In fact, some great sages, they have considered that although Kali-yuga is the most irreligious age where Kali is so prominent, but because of the coming of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, this is actually the most wonderful age. Although if you don’t join Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement, you are in a most horrible situation conceivable. But because this opportunity is there, it makes it the most wonderful age. That’s why even Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains (ŚB. 12.3.51), kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann - that the age of Kali is doṣa-nidhe, it’s an ocean of defects. Asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ - but it has one great good quality. This great quality outweighs all the defects. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya- that is the saṅkīrtana movement of chanting the holy names of

“Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

…mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet - not only one gets freed from the bondage to the material modes, but actually one goes back—paraṁ vrajet—to the original constitutional of position as a pure loving servant of the Lord. So this is all introduced under the shelter Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Here He is very clearly predicted.

So Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya himself here after studying all these things, being himself very sober paṇḍita, seeing all the qualities, seeing all the scriptures, then he finally came himself to the conclusion and he wrote this offering to Lord Caitanya:

“The principle of transcendental devotional service having been lost, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya has appeared to deliver again the process of devotion. He is so kind that He is distributing love of Kṛṣṇa. Everyone should be attracted more and more to His Lotus feet as humming bees are attracted to a Lotus flower.”

-Excerpt from the purport to Cc. Ādi 3.52

After Lord Caitanya went to Jagannātha Purī, after He was rescued by Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, after Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya studied all of the relevant matters being the number one paṇḍita, very sober elderly paṇḍita. Even Saṅkarācārya, after studying all the relevant matters in the śāstras, he came to this conclusion that, ‘Yes Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself.’ Someone may say, “Why do you believe the scriptures?”

“Scriptures are written by God.”

See the difference is there. Scriptures are written thousands of years ago. Five thousand years ago the scriptures say that such and such person is going to come. And give prediction: at this time, doing this activity, He will be so many years gṛhastha, so many years sannyāsī, He will be this color, He will have this mother, He will be in this place, He will do this activity, He will be accompanied by these people. Now when all that happens, you see that’s more than a coincidence. That is how the śāstras are verified through their various predictions, as they come true. So, therefore for the mental speculators and sceptics and so on, this also give a validity to the śāstras that, look, it’s not that the śāstras said it yesterday. It’s not like the guy who said “Believe me, I am not a liar.” Scriptures said it five thousand years ago. They predicted Buddha. Buddha didn’t come? Bhāgavatam, Vedas, are written five thousand years ago. They predicted Buddha, they predicted Caitanya, they predicted so many, even Jesus. So, they see themselves. The scriptures, through their ability to transcend time, show the transcendental nature to the doubting people. Of course, the faithful people believe in any case. But in any case, only you can find about God in the scriptures. Because scripture is the source for revealing God. So if you want to define who is Godm then we have to go to the dictionary of God consciousness i.e. the śāstras. So, since only the Vedas talk about incarnations, and so the Vedas should be the final authority who is an incarnation.

Today in Bengal, and South India, different places, you got guys with big hair dos, they all claim to be avatāras, but then are they able to change the course of the world or do anything significant except produce a few rasagullas and things. So, Caitanya Mahāprabhu actually gives that which no one has given before. He gives pure love for Kṛṣṇa. We should take advantage of His movement being present, and as Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya recommends, we should become more and more attracted to His lotus feet just as humming bees are attracted to lotus flower, and we should try to distribute this love for Kṛṣṇa on behalf of Caitanya Mahāprabhu to as many conditioned souls as possible

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

Śrīla Prabhupāda ki Jaya!

Devotees: Jaya

Prabhupāda took this up, and because of His causeless mercy, now we have all over the world this Kṛṣṇa Conscious movement. He said that the proof of how much you love him is to what extent you cooperate together to give Kṛṣṇa Consciousness to the fallen conditioned souls.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Devotees: Śrīla Ācāryapāda ki!

Devotee: Jaya!