19990330 Vyasa Puja Celebration 'Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thakur līlā' - Godruma Dvipa

Lecture Code: 19990330

Vyasa Puja Celebration Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur Lila Lecture By

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja

In Godruma Dvipa, Navadwip, India

 

vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-gurun vaisnavams ca

  sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathanvitam tam sa-jivam

sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam Kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devam

sri-radha-Kṛṣṇa-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami: 

Bhaktivinoda thakur was born in Orissa, but then he, was actually born here in Birnagar, I am sorry, he was born in Birnagar then he lived in Orissa for sometime as, then he took government service in Orissa and he was given the assignment as the first administrator of the Jagannath Puri temple. But then he wanted to find the birthplace of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he wanted to discover the birthplace, where the birthplace of Lord Caitanya was. At that time it wasn’t clear where it was, so he was looking to find out. Everything had been flooded by Ganges for 200 years. So many people were saying that the birthplace was lost in the Ganges. And some were saying that it must be here on this side cause this is close to the Chand Khazi samadhi. So in this way Bhaktivinoda Thakur was researching and he wanted to be transferred here so he could give his full time for the research of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So he was transferred here as the District Magistrate of Nadia and he had made his house here. He go every morning by horse in baggi from here to office in Kṛṣṇanagar. He had a, so that’s, in the night time he would write his books here, the songs. And nearby to here just couple, about 150 meters that way is Surabhi Kunja. We are in the Godruma Dwip, Godruma Dwip nine islands in the Navadvipa.

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

(aside:) Who can say the nine islands?

 

[break]

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

… practices of devotional service. Simanta Dwip, Godruma Dwip, Madhya Dwip, Kola Dwip, Ritu Dwip, Jahnu Dwip, Rudra Dwip, Modruma Dwip, Antar Dvipa, got it! (laughing) Simanta Dwip for sravanam, Godruma Dwip kirtanam, Madhya Dwip smaranam like this it goes around all the nine islands.  But Jagannath temple is in Srimanta Dwip and we are here in Godruma Dwip. Actually normally we should go the other, we should come clockwise, we have to meditate clockwise. But this is also one of the types of that to visit Antar Dwip, Srimanta Dwip and Godruma Dwip and Ritu Dwip. That's also a kind of parikrama, so we are visiting all these four islands today.

 

For Bhaktivinoda Thakur when he was, one night he had a vision from his room here, where he was looking over the other’s balcony over the Jalangi river. Then he saw a brilliant light and he understood that was the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. You can see from here the birthplace of Lord Caitanya, now there’s a tree in the way, 100 years ago this tree was smaller. So when he went with Bhakti, he went to find the actual place that he had seen that night. Hundred and fifteen we heard at that moment, he was hardly not walking much. But when he was carried the way the birthplace of Lord Caitanya he started jumping up and down in ecstasy.

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami: Speaks in Bengali (laughing) Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

Our Bhaktivinoda Thakur was house holder and doing all these research and also doing the writing, he was also preaching and also he was chanting all his rounds. Sometimes devotees say I’m too busy, I have to work, I have to study, I don’t have time for my rounds. But he was doing so many things and he was also chanting his Hare Kṛṣṇa mahamantra everyday.

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

(aside:) What number you are?

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

Bhaktivinoda Thakur, he also started Namahatta preaching. We sang that, they sang this morning, there is a Namahatta song (singing kirtan)

 

(1)

nadīyā-godrume nityānanda mahājana

patiyāche nām-haṭṭa jīvera kāraṇa

 

(2)

(śraddhāvān jan he, śraddhāvān jan he)

prabhura ājñāy, bhāi, māgi ei bhikṣā

bolo `kṛṣṇa,’ bhajo kṛṣṇa, koro kṛṣṇa-śikṣā

 

(3)

aparādha-śūnya ho’ye loho kṛṣṇa-nām

kṛṣṇa mātā, kṛṣṇa pitā, kṛṣṇa dhana-prān

 

(4)

kṛṣṇaera saḿsāra koro chāḍi’ anācār

jīve doyā, kṛṣṇa-nām—sarva-dharma-sār

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

So ‘nadīyā-godrume nityānanda mahājana, patiyāche nām-haṭṭa jīvera kāraṇa’ that Nadia, this district, Lord Caitanya has His pastimes is known as Nadia district, or else sometimes Navadwip is also known as Nadia. So He and Lord Nityananda set up His shop, set up His distribution of network for distributing the Holy Name. So he called mahājana means the distributor or big business man like a big capitalist. So He has, His capital is Kṛṣṇa prema, the Holy Name and He’s distributing the Holy Name to everyone through His different sales agents, stockists, distributors and so on, commission agent (laughing) dalals. So many other employees who are helping in the process like those who are going up for goods in the shop, they go down the bearers. Also in the market place they are laundry men, barbers, many other employees, sweeper, Bhaktivinoda Thakur said he himself took the job of sweeper. (Haribol!) Although he is the spiritual master, but he is taking the most humble service. He said his job is to keep the market clean (laughing). Not the spiritual master as Garuda, he used to keep all the kind of apa sampradaya, mayas, sahajiya, different kinds of contaminations out from that camp of the spiritual message. So in this great Namahatta market headed by Lord Nityananda Prabhu and assisted by all of Lord Caitanya’s associates, Bhaktivinoda Thakur took the humble service of sweeping. He said while sweeping he will also get the little news from the papers and things turn around to get some of the information. Just like in the west in the airports those sweepers, they are picking up the Bhagavad Gitas in the garbage can that people throw away and getting liberated (Haribol!). 

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

(aside:) I don’t know how to translate that in Bengali. (laughing)

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

But, so ‘prabhura ājñāy, bhāi, māgi ei bhikṣā’ I’m begging from you, this, on the order of Lord Caitanya I’m begging from you to please ‘bolo `kṛṣṇa,’ bhajo kṛṣṇa, koro kṛṣṇa-śikṣā’, you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, worship Kṛṣṇa and study Kṛṣṇa’s teachings, ‘koro kṛṣṇa-śikṣā’ that this whole process to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, worship Kṛṣṇa in the temple, in the home and also to study Kṛṣṇa’s teachings Gita, Bhagavatam, Caitanya Caritamrta. So this is the basic process, it’s for everyone. Don’t require any big degree, don’t require any big qualification, don’t even have to live in a temple. You can live, you can make your house into a temple and you can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So if you make your house into a temple, then your house become, household becomes a Kṛṣṇa centered household. The main thing is to always chant the Holy Name and we should chant without offences ‘aparādha-śūnya ho’ye loho kṛṣṇa-nām’, avoid all the offences. Then usually people all living in the home, they are very attached to their family members, to their society, to their properties, to their money, to so many material things. But Bhaktivinoda Thakur said ‘kṛṣṇa mātā, kṛṣṇa pitā, kṛṣṇa dhana-prān’, you take as your mother and father is Kṛṣṇa, He is your relative, He is your friend, He is your life and soul, He is the dearest thing what you have and He is also the most valuable treasure what you possess. Someone may have many things in the house but the, there may be one thing which they consider the most valuable treasure. But for the devotees the most valuable treasure is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That we want to keep always, like if a house is on fire, what do you want to save? (laughing). So no matter what we keep as the top priority we have to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. After that depending on time, place and circumstance we are keeping track of all the other things too. 

 

Then, so then he said ‘kṛṣṇaera saḿsāra koro’ you make a Kṛṣṇa conscious household, ‘chāḍi’ anācār’ but you give up all illicit activities, give up all the unwanted activities. You see many people they think if I want to be a devotee or something I have to give up all my material things. They think I have to ‘saḿsāra ’ I have to give up saḿsāra but Bhaktivinoda Thakur is not saying to give up the household, but he is saying make your household Kṛṣṇa conscious, but give up all the unwanted things, give up all the burdens of materialistic things. ‘kṛṣṇaera saḿsāra koro chāḍi’ anācār, jīve doyā, kṛṣṇa-nām—sarva-dharma-sār’ was you keep, you be merciful to the conditioned souls and chant the Holy Name. This is the essence of all religious principles. So two principles, make your house Kṛṣṇa conscious puts Kṛṣṇa in the center, worship Kṛṣṇa, the different word is being said again, chant the Holy Name and be merciful to the conditioned souls, give them Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Some of my disciples are asking what is my order to them! But what order to give you, already the instructions are given what we should do. So we can pray here to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur for his blessings, actually he is one of the manjaris of, in the the spiritual world, then he has come down just to reestablish the sankirtan movement of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

(aside:) We can all pray to Bhaktivinoda Thakur, there’s so much we can go on keep talking for hours and hours actually. I’m just giving a brief overview, when we come here during the Navadwip parikrama we talk for about two hours. But I want to get us to Jagannath temple before it gets too hot. So just we’ve come here to get the blessings. 

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

His house is here upstairs is the same bedroom. Next to it is the bedroom of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. This is the Bhajan Kutir of Gaura Kishor Das Babaji, it’s the Tulasi mandap, very nice Tulasi Mandap. This is samadhi temple of Bhaktivinoda Thakur. When we do the parikrama in the other doorway you can see his personal deities of Gaura Gadadhara, he worships Gaura Gadadhara deities. And then there is a small temple here, that’s the temple of Kṛṣṇa Das Babaji who was his personal secretary, so he was also a very great devotee. So everybody may have the parikrama, here there’s some many, one two three four five holy places, pancha tirtham plus Bhajan Kutir upstairs. 

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

(aside:) If anyone likes to give, you can, it’s always custom when you visit some temple to give something, one paisa, fifty paisa, one rupee, something you give. The poor people, they come and buy one paisa coins, (laughing) for ninety paisa they give hundred and everyone they will offer one, even you don’t see one paisa anywhere but you know ninety bucks you can see (laughing). But they know that I should give something, so they are very poor, they go to ninety temples they give once one, (laughing) something they give.

 

Anybody have some realization here? How do you feel benefited by Bhaktivinoda Thakur in their Kṛṣṇa consciousness? Identify yourself?

 

(devotee:) I am Rati Devi Dasi, so I’m, I was amazed how determined Bhaktivinoda Thakur was in his Kṛṣṇa consciousness in spite of having a family and good job and everything. But he was so, so determined to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness that only due to Bhaktivinoda Thakur we can even come here and Mayapur is existing and everybody is so fired up.

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

He wanted to take sanyas and do, but then his Gurumaharaj Jagannath Das Babaji said you’re already more than a sannyasi so there’s no need of taking sanyas, your whole life is completely Kṛṣṇa conscious. One day he was chanting japa here in his house , his wife was helping to arrange for the deity service, for all the children he told the children okay, when you grow up you can do what you want but summon is I have to feed you, you have to help me in my Kṛṣṇa’s service, that’s the deal. (laughing) I was in Madras one time, and it was sometime when the parents in the west, they get the mental about what to do, how much they should enthuse their children to be Kṛṣṇa conscious or how much is. But one devotee, I don’t know if he is here today, he told me his point of view. So that, I know that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the best thing. So I don’t want my children when they grow up to accuse me that you are sentimental or you didn’t give us what you do to be the best thing in life, you didn’t give us your Kṛṣṇa consciousness, what did we know, we’re foolish children. So in that way we are attracted to the sense gratification, but it was your duty to give us what you knew toll be the best and you neglected to do that. (laughing) I said well that’s so cutting edge vision (laughing). 

 

So Bhaktivinoda Thakur he was like that and he gave his children the best he could, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One son was Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur who was able to inspire that preaching’s go all around the world. And another has disciples; children became also a guru, Lalit Prasad Thakur. I had the opportunity to meet him on several occasions. Prabhupada asked me to fix up his ashram as a service so I fixed it up. He was living at the birthplace of Bhaktivinoda Thakur in Birgramnagar. So at least two, they became the lifelong brahmacharis and preachers and others they became householders but they were also devotional people for the most part. So Bhaktivinoda Thakur got dream from Lord Kṛṣṇa that he should do his bhajan at Jagannath Puri next to the Haridas Thakur samadhi mandir and that by doing that Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Lord Caitanya’s sankirtan movement will spread all over the world. So even when he was doing his final bhajan his desire was how to see that everybody all over the world becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious. So he was completely Ghostyanandi.

 

Although he was in his internal he would sometimes see, when he go on Navadwip parikrama for him it wasn’t unusual to see Lord Caitanya chanting with His associates. Suddenly to see that everybody turn into, Lord Caitanya and His associates turn into Radha and Kṛṣṇa and the Gopis had a Rasalila. For him it wasn’t unusual to see Siva, to see Durga, to see Brahma, to see all the different incarnations. He would go on Navadwip parikrama and it would not be 4D, it would not be 3D, it would be 4D (laughing). He would go on fourth dimensional parikrama (laughing). So we pray to him that we may on this humble little mini, micro parikrama that we may also be able to get feeling for the fourth dimension which actually Navadwip dham is situated on.

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami: Speaks in Bengali. 

 

I’ll translate what you say. I asked him what did you get from Bhaktivinod Thakur?

 

(devotee:) Speaks in Bengali

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami: Translates to English

 

Bhaktivinoda Thakur started the Namahatta prachar, preaching. I joined ISKCON. For 10 years I’m preaching in Namahatta department. Burma and Assam. I understand Bhaktivinoda Thakur wasn't an ordinary person. He came simply to deliver all of us. And his instructions. And his songs he gives so many instructions that I personally like to sing his songs and I get lot of instruction from his songs. Bhaktivinoda Thakur gave instruction how to be a Kṛṣṇa conscious householder. He said one time, he saw how I was worshipping in my house and I saw now that my whole house has become the spiritual world, the Goloka Vrindavan.

 

Nitai Gaura Premanandi! Haribol!

 

Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote such bhajans, giving us spiritual instructions. If anybody can really understand Bhaktivinoda Thakur songs they are deep into the translations and feelings. When they sing that songs definitely they’d be able to go back to Goloka Vrindavan at end of this life. (Haribol!). Hare Kṛṣṇa!

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami: 

(aside:)Hare Kṛṣṇa! So you are requested…

 

(devotee:) Question in bengali

 

His Holiness jayapataka Swami:

Why sometimes we see Gaura Gadadhara deity and sometimes we see Gaura Nitai?

 

That depends on which the deities are, that’s how we see (laughing). Sometimes you see Radha Kṛṣṇa because Radha Kṛṣṇa are there (laughing). Sometimes we see Revati and Balaram.

 

(devotee:) Question inaudible

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

Their mood is like, Gaura Nitai is more like a preaching mood. Gaura Nitai was Navadwip lila, especially the preaching mood. Radharani have asked, Radha Rani when Vrindavana lila she love to see Kṛṣṇa and Balaram standing together, all the cowherd boys in front of all the others and everything because she was in parakiya rasa she is thinking that these men they get all the breaks. They get allowed to Lord Kṛṣṇa and I have to stand here and I cannot so freely associate in front of everybody that I hope one time I can also have a male body, then I can very be, very much a friend with Lord Kṛṣṇa. So to fulfill her desire in Caitanya lila she appeared as Gadadhar prabhu (Haribol!). And so that in the Harinam Sankirtan movement Kṛṣṇa came of course in the mood of Radha Rani, so Radha rani came as a friend, as a devotee to help Lord Kṛṣṇa in His service but He is in the mood of Radha Rani. It’s very esoteric actually I can just say this much, but it’s something very very deep. How these things can happen, it’s very very esoteric, very difficult to actually express. Look at all these stand, what the mood is to some people, but in pastime this particular lila in this mood is Gadadhar it is not a conjugal relationship. Although the love is completely deep and unlimited but they’re not relating with each other as Radha and Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa Himself is in the mood of Radha. But from Radha Rani’s point of view, I was Gadadhar, she’s helping Kṛṣṇa. So it’s very (laughing), it’s very deep actually.

 

So some of the vaishnavas, they are worshipping Gaura Gadadhar, that’s also like it’s more of the appreciation of the very complicated rasas and relationships of spiritual life of Kṛṣṇa Bhakti. And in that appreciation in that tasting those mellows they are worshipping and, but in this to particular mood we see also that Gadadhar, that don’t think that Gadadhar, he was also preaching. In fact I wanted to take everybody on this parikrama today, but I was also told only about a dozen people wanted to go and same time Gopala Krishna maharaj is phoning me up that I have to help him in certain matters. So I want to take the devotees to the place where Gadadhar prabhu’s brother’s son who was Gadadhar prabhu disciple was kept for preaching there. And how he showed to Gadadhar prabhu during the sankirtan, he was also going around and he was preaching. So even Radha Rani herself came as Gadadhar and was also doing Harinam Sankirtan. So everybody is in the Sankirtan mood also in Navadwip and in this particular pose you see Gadadhar has got his two hands down. That mood means, that pose means accepting, given out the mercy, come on take the mercy of Gauranga. Gauranga! So Gadadhar prabhu in this particular mood is also taking everyone into Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s service. So Radha Rani is the most merciful, so Gadadhar prabhu is also most merciful, he’s taking everyone and giving Caitanya’s love, Caitanya’s service.

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

(aside:) So now we have to go, we’re super late. Try to go on all the boats, so now we have a 15 minute boat drive also.

 

His Holiness Jayapataka Swami:

The Jalangi river is where Bhaktivinoda Thakur bathed in, Lord Caitanya, Nityananda bathed in. It’s a tributary of the Ganges, it is said to be not different from Saraswati river.

 

Transcribed By: Bhagyavati Subhadra Devi Dasi

Transcribed On: 07 Apr, 2020

 

Proof Reading By: Amrita Padma Devi Dasi

On 15/10/2020