20141117 Viśvambhara in Advaita's Assembly

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book work 17^th November 2014 in New Delhi, India

By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Guru Mahārāja

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Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 7.36

advaita-sabhāya nimāira bhaktagaṇera kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanarūpa iṣṭagoṣṭhī-darśana—

āsiyā dekhena prabhu vaiṣṇava-maṇḍala
anyo ‘nye karena kṛṣṇa-kathana-maṅgala

Translation: When the Lord arrived there, He saw all the Vaiṣṇavas engaged in discussing topics of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Commentary: The word vaiṣṇava-maṇḍala refers to the society of Vaiṣṇavas. The phrase kṛṣṇa-kathana-maṅgala refers to the auspicious topics of Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Viśvambhara saw the assembled Vaiṣṇavas discussing about the qualities and pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And Viśvambhara looked over them with great affection and blessings.

Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 7.37

nijaguṇa-māhātmya varṇana-śravaṇe nimāira prasāda dṛṣṭi nikṣepa —

āpana-prastāva śuni’ śrī-gaurasundara
sabāre karena śubha-dṛṣṭi manohara

Translation: Hearing His glorification, Śrī Gaurasundara glanced mercifully on them.

Commentary: The phrase āpana-prastāva means “concerning His own glorifies.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Nimāi was feeling transcendental bliss to hear His devotees glorifying Him and enumerating His qualities and pastimes. So naturally He felt great affection for all the devotees. And with very charming look He glanced over His devotee.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 7.38

gauragopālera rūpa-varṇana—

prati-aṅge nirupama lāvaṇyera sīmā
koṭī candra nahe eka nakhera upamā

Translation: Each of the Lord’s limbs surpassed the topmost limits of beauty. Even millions of moons could not be compared with one of His toenails.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord’s beautiful form was incomparable, of million moons could not equal even the toenail of the Lord. And His special beauty was incomparable so the people were glorifying Lord Gopāla and inadvertently they were glorifying Lord Caitanya who is Gaura Gopāla. The Lord is the topmost limit of the transcendental beauty and just to see His beauty for a fraction of second, that will leave one with an eternal impression.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 7.39

viśvarūpake āhvānapūrvaka mātṛnirdeśa-jñāpana—

digambara, sarva aṅga—dhulāya dhusara
hāsiyā agraja-prati karena uttara

Translation: Standing naked with His body covered with dust, Viśvambhara smiled and spoke to His elder brother.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Viśvambhara came to call his brother, telling him that his mother had made His lunch so He should come right away and the Lord who was appearing as small toddler who was naked and covered with dust, He grabbed onto the corner of the cloth of Viśvarūpa and He began to pull Him towards His home.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 7.40

viśvarūpera vastra dhāraṇapūrvaka viśvambharera gṛhābhimukhe gamana–

“bhojane āisa, bhāi, ḍākaye jananī
agraja-vasana dhari’ calaye āpani

Translation: “My dear brother, please come to eat. Mother is calling You.” Viśvambhara then caught hold of His brother’s dhoti and followed Him home.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, “Mother is calling You and You should come now for the lunch,” the Lord grabbing on His cloth started to pull Him towards his house. “Mother is calling you, come and eat.”

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 7.41

viśvambharera rūpa-darśane bhaktagaṇera vismaya o stambha —

dekhi’ se mohana rūpa sarva-bhakta-gaṇa
sthagita haiyā sabe kare nirīkṣaṇa

Translation: On seeing the Lord’s enchanting form, all the devotees were stunned and they continually stared at Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: Everyone is looking at the Lord Gaura Gopāl and for a moment they were stunned and they were not able to move seeing the enchanting beauty of the Lord.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 7.42

bhagavad-darśane bhaktagaṇera aprākṛta ānanda-moha vā prema-samādhi —

samādhira prāya haiyāche bhakta-gaṇe
kṛṣṇera kathana kāru nā āise vadane

Translation: The devotees practically entered samādhi; they were even unable to speak about Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Seeing the beauty of the Lord the devotees were practically in samādhi, they couldn't even speak about the glories of Lord Kṛṣṇa. They were frozen practically in samādhi.

Caitanya Bhāgavata, Ādi-khaṇḍa 7.43

bhagavān kṛṣṇa o bhakta kāṣṇera parasparera prati ākarṣaka o ākṛṣṭa-svabhāva-varṇana—

prabhu dekhi’ bhakta-moha svabhāvei haya
vinā anubhaveo dāsera citta laya

Translation: Devotees are by nature overwhelmed on seeing their Lord; indeed, even before the devotees realized His identity, the Lord stole away their hearts.

Jayapatākā Swami: The nature of the Lord and the devotees is when the devotees see the Lord, naturally they become absorbed in the transcendental qualities of the Lord, they become enchanted by his beauty. So the two would see each other by being enchanted by each other.

Commentary: Although pure living entities and conditioned living entities are by nature both devotees of the Lord, the consciousness of the former has been awakened so they can feel the love of their eternal worshipable sac-cid-ānanda Lord Viṣṇu, while the latter are under the control of māyā and cannot do so. When the conditioned state is overcome, or when all anarthas are destroyed, a living entity under the shelter of service to Lord Viṣṇu can remain pure even while residing in this material world. At that time he is called a mahā-bhāgavata. The madhyama-bhāgavata is a pure servant of the mahā-bhāgavata. Unless the kaniṣṭha-bhāgavata reaches the stage of madhyama-bhāgavata, he remains the servant of the madhyama-bhāgavata even though he is serving a mahā-bhāgavata. Since the kaniṣṭha-bhāgavata desires his own spiritual progress and is traveling on the eternal perfect path to Vaikuṇṭha, he is superior to the conditioned souls who are desirous of material enjoyment and liberation. But he has faith only in Viṣṇu as the transcendental Absolute Truth, and this realization qualifies him as a kaniṣṭha-adhikārī. When one attains the level of kaniṣṭha-adhikāra, he can understand that his spiritual master is situated as a madhyama-adhikārī. But when he attains the level of madhyama-adhikāra, he can accept his spiritual master as a mahā-bhāgavata and qualify himself to become a pure devotee. The mahā-bhāgavatas have no engagement other than the service of Lord Hari and His devotees. Being attached to objects not related to Kṛṣṇa, ordinary conditioned souls engage in the service of the external world due to their impure intelligence. When such persons advance to the level of kaniṣṭha-adhikāra, they dovetail the fruits of their activities with the Lord and thus cultivate mixed devotional service. In the eternal nature of the living entities there is an eternal propensity called hari-bhakti. As a foolish conditioned soul is attracted to material objects, a pure living entity situated in devotional service, his constitutional propensity, is similarly attracted to the Lord. In the opinion of some unfortunate persons, “Even devotional service, the eternal propensity of the living entities, is a mundane, perverted, abominable, illusory propensity.” Those who argue, or the foolish persons who are expert in material consideration, cannot realize the pure form of devotional service, which is eternally full of knowledge and bliss and which is the goal of the liberated, self-satisfied, swanlike personalities; rather they accept devotional service, which is the eternally perfect transcendental propensity of the living entities, as a mental concoction. Due to this misconception ordinary people consider the eternal attraction of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the crest jewel of learned scholars, for Kṛṣṇa as material illusion, or moha. Keeping in mind the transcendental happiness derived from serving the Lord, the author at this juncture uses the word moha, illusion, for the understanding of ordinary people. It is natural for the eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa to serve Kṛṣṇa with love and ecstasy. In other words, the living entity in his constitutional position eternally worships Kṛṣṇa as his natural propensity. The conditioned soul with the mood for enjoyment cannot realize Kṛṣṇa’s love in this material world, but Kṛṣṇa who attracts the self-satisfied souls, unknowingly attracts the hearts of His servants, who have renounced material enjoyment, whose consciousness is awakened, and who are knowers of the Absolute Truth. This is what is meant by Kṛṣṇa attracting His servants who are under the shelter of śānta-rasa. The servants who are under the shelter of śānta-rasa, like the cows, sticks, horn, and flute of Vraja, although not situated in dāsya-rasa, unknowingly serve Kṛṣṇa, while externally appearing less-intelligent.

Jayapatākā Swami: Kaniṣṭha - neophyte, madhyama - intermediate and uttama-adhikhārī- advanced devotees can be understood in this pastime, that a devotee who is enchanted by the Lord without any extra effort is known as kaniṣṭha-adhikārī or otherwise as a neophyte devotee. And a kaniṣṭha-adhikārī sees his Guru as a madhyama-adhikārī and thus he engages in his devotional service, while a madhyama-adhikārī sees his Guru as a mahā-bhāgavata or uttama-adhikārī and in this way he carry out his guru’s orders. A mahā-bhāgavata or uttama-adhikārī in other words an advanced devotee he only sees the service of Vaiṣṇavas, pure devotees and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he doesn’t see any other activities. The advanced devotees who are seeing the material world as something desirable. [Guru Mahārāja got tired, stopped for the day]—