20151222 Gītā Jayantī Speech

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram

Lord Caitanya, He told everybody that they should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, they should serve Lord Kṛṣṇa and they should study His teachings. So, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, that is straight forward, and serving Lord Kṛṣṇa, that’s also straight forward, but [cough] reading the teachings of Kṛṣṇa; there are two kinds of teachings: one is spoken by Kṛṣṇa: Bhagavad-gītā, and one is spoken about Kṛṣṇa – the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So, there are two kinds of teachings – of the Lord and about the Lord.

So, once I saw Bhagavad-gītā on the desk of Śrīla Prabhupāda, and [cough] I thought, “Well, Bhagavad-gītā is a preliminary study.”

So, I asked Śrīla Prabhupāda. He said that, “In order to propagate to people we need to know the Bhagavad-gītā. There Kṛṣṇa spoke all the essential items which one needs to know. So, that’s why the Bhagavad-gītā is so important, and as long as one is engaged in preaching to the conditioned souls, they need the Bhagavad-gītā As it is. Prabhupāda wrote Bhagavad-gītā in poetry form, so that it can be available to everyone. He wanted the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. He wanted the Bhagavad-gītā’s Gītār Gān to be included in the Bhagavad-gītā, and just like we have the Rāmcaritamānas and other books, and so we have the Gītār Gān. Prabhupāda in about two verses each, he presented the Bhagavad-gītā as a poetry.

And also Lord Śiva gave each chapter’s Māhātmya to Pārvatī. Each chapter has a deep power and significance. Like one person, he somehow got Bhagavad-gītā and he taught that to his bullock. He had a bullock, and he overworked the bullock, he beat the bullock, and forced it to go forward. So, he was selling things, but it was a hot day, and he gave no water to the bullock. So, the bullock began to get dizzy, and he fell down and he died, foaming at the mouth. Then he took birth as a young brāhmaṇas, but he could remember his previous birth which was as a bullock. So, from a bullock he became a young brāhmaṇas boy. So, he had heard that one lady had given her half of her pious results to that bullock. So, [cough] people can give things away, but usually they don’t give pious results away. So, he wanted to know who is this lady who is giving her good karma away; so, he found out, and knocked on the door and she saw him, “You don’t know me. I am the bullock that died, and you gave half the good karma that you had accrued to me. So, I took birth as a young brāhmaṇas boy. I just wondered how you have so much pious results that you could give it away.”

So, in the Sunday feast we asked, “Who wants to take the good karma airlines?” But nobody wanted.

They wanted Lord Caitanya’s mercy airlines. “So, how is it that you have so much good karma that you can give it away?”

She said, “Come in. I have a parrot. He chants the first canto of the Bhagavad-gītā, the first chapter. And so I chant the first chapter with him, and I get lots of pious activity. So, I gave half to you. She took him in and showed her parrot. “Waa waa.... (laughter)

Sañjaya Uvāca, it started chanting the first chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. So, she got good karma by reading the first chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. I will just tell a few stories. So, Lord Śiva, he told the glories of the fourth chapter in the Bhagavad-gītā. So, [cough] he said there was a great ṛṣis who was meditating in Māyāpur, and... Indra was worried that he would try to take away his position. So, he called all the Apsarās and asked for volunteers. Who would like to save their king, and just have this greedy ṛṣis succumb to their feminine qualities? So, two young Apsarās accepted the challenge, and some Gandharva’s came and starting doing bhajanas. The ṛṣis had his eyes closed, and they were dancing to the music. They were very beautiful, and they thought, “Oh he has opened his eyes. This ankle bells were given to us by Lord Brahmā and Lord Indra. They will make just any ṛṣis open his eyes. So, now he is seeing us. He is obviously attracted. His eyebrows were moving, looking at them dancing, but he was thinking, “Why are this Apsarās disturbing me? I am trying to meditate on Kṛṣṇa, and they are causing a disturbance.” So, one of the Apsarās, her clothe, she came… her clothe came loose, and she thought, this will really attract him, but he was getting more irritated. His eyebrows started to move. They thought that he is attracted, but actually he is disgusted, and he said, “I curse you to become trees.” Then the gandharva’s took their harmoniums and ran. Didn’t want to get cursed too; then they realized that their whole mission was a failure. So, they started crying and fell at the ṛṣis’s feet, “We have done a big mistake and please forgive us. We were just asked to do this.” But who would ask you do this? “Indra says that you want to take his possession.” “Me, and Indra, phhaaaa phhaaa... never, I want to serve Kṛṣṇa, I want to be engaged in kṛṣṇa-sevā, in gaurāṅga-sevā. I don’t want to be Indra.”

“We made such a big mess. We didn’t know. Indra told us that you wanted his possession.”

He said, “I cannot take the curse back, but I can amend it. So, you will be cursed to be trees at Vārāṇasī, and the brāhmaṇa would read the fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. When he touches both the trees at the same time, you will be freed from the curse. Then he read the Bhagavad-gītā, fourth chapter. Till then you will hear the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā.”

So, one brāhmaṇas, he went everyday under the tree’s shade, and he spoke and he read the Bhagavad-gītā, chapter four. One day it was very hot, and he thought, “Let me take rest under the trees”, and he put his head on one root, his chest out and his feet on the other root. Bhoom.... the trees were freed of the curse, and the two Apsarās were there, “Gurudeva! kṛpā-bindu diyā, koro' ei dāse, tṛṇāpekhā ati hīna” What happened to those trees?

“Oh we were those trees who were cursed to become trees, but we were told that you the brāhmaṇas would speak the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. So, every day we were hearing you, and you freed us from the curse. So, now we don’t want to go back to svarga-lokaṁ, we want to learn from you the Bhagavad-gītā, fourth chapter. “Well, come home and meet my wife.”

So, they had a brahmācārinī āśrama. (laughter) And they went back to the spiritual world.

Then there are the glories of the fifth chapter. One great singer who was the royal singer, he would everyday sing for the king, but being a royal singer, he attracted many ladies. So, he had some extra-marital affairs, and his wife thought that in order to keep him I will also do some do some extra-marital affair. But it didn’t work out the way she thought. She became more attached to the other man, and then he was protesting that, “You are going out with another man.” And she thought that the husband would be an obstacle. So, one night she killed him. She killed him and cut him into little pieces, and threw him down the well, and then the king asked, “What happened to your husband?”

She said, “I don’t know. He went and he never came back.” Then the king gave her a stipend as a widow, and so he died and became a vulture because Yamarāja said, “You had risen to high places, but you consciousness was low. So, you can be a vulture. You fly high, but you are looking for dead carcases.” So, [cough] in due course she also died. She died, and the by the law of karma she became a type of parrot. You look really very nice, but ultimately you are bird brain. So, the vulture was flying high.

Then he saw the pretty parrot, and he recognized, “That was my wife from my previous birth. She killed me in my sleep. Now I will get her” and he zoommed... Went down, grabbed her. He said, he thought, “I will punish her to die a slow death considering she killed me in my sleep.” So, he was ripping her apart with his towing; and she screamed, “wha... wha... wha...” So, the vulture was landing on the skull which was upright, and it had nice water in it. So, he was drinking the water from the skull. And the hunter heard them, waa... waa.. waa... waa.. And the hunter, he saw the two birds on the skull. He aimed his arrow; any lady is there?... Ah... (laughter) He got the job... So, they both died, and they went to Yamarāja.

He said, “You are going back to Godhead”, but the vulture said, “I am a sinner. I just wanted revenge.”

That skull you were sitting on, he was a ṛṣis who regularly chanted the fifth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. So, the water in his skull was pure. It purified you of all sins; both of you. She fell on the water, and you also were drinking the water. So, all glories to the fifth chapter. [Haribol]

Like this every chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā has some Māhātmya. So, not only Bhagavad-gītā, the whole thing, but every chapter by chapter also has extreme glories. Do you want to hear more? Yes. One more.

This one is about a big demon, and a brāhmaṇas. The brāhmaṇas was visiting all the holy places. So, he went to one village on the way to some holy place, and he asked, “Is there anywhere to stay?”

He said, “Well, there is our guest house... Haa ha Haa Ha Haa.” “Why did you laugh?” “No, no, no reason.” “So where is the guest house?” “See that hill; by the base.” So, he went there, and he asked, “Can I stay in the guest house?” “Haha haha Ha.... sure.” “Why every one laughs here?” And he saw the guest house was filled with people, and the man said, “You can have this room. I will lock the door, and come back in the morning and unlock it. So, have sweet dreams.... ha ha ha ha...” “What is the reason all you people laugh?” “That is our village habit.” So, he was regularly reading twice a day the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. So, he read the eleventh chapter, and then he took rest. He woke up the morning, took a shower, saw that the door was locked, and there were no people. But how is the door locked but there is no people. So, then the innkeeper, he came and unlocked the door. “Oh you?” “Yea me.” “Alright, hope you had a nice rest.” “Really strange.” So, he is walking along, and one brāhmaṇa came up running, “Help me, help me. You are the only one who can help my son. Help me. Please. Help me, Help me, you can help my son.” “What is that?” “You see, you are the only one who can help. Please help.” “Tell me what is going on here? What is going on?”

“Alright, you are seeing the mountain. There lives a demon, and he would come and eat a member of our village. That he made a deal with us, “You make me a guesthouse, and I will eat your guests. I won’t eat your village people.” So, he made a guest house, and he had been eating the guests. “But my son, he had a guest who was staying in the inn. So, we wanted to get him out, but somehow he got stuck inside the inn, and the demon ate him, and you are the only one who can save him. If you chant the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā over a bowl of water, and pour that over the head of the demon, the demon will be freed from the curse of being a demon and my son will be freed. Please save my son. You can do it. You can save my son.” He fell at his feet, “Please, please, please, you can do it. Save my son.” “The demon won’t eat me?” “No, he can’t eat those who chant chapter eleven.” Remember that, when you have to travel through some demon-infested place. (laughter)

“Alright, I will do it.” So, he got on the mountain top where there was the demon, and so the brāhmaṇas chanted the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, and poured that over the head of the demon. So, immediately he was freed from the curse. He had been cursed to be a Rākṣasa … ssshh…. A cannibal maneater (laughter) He poured the water over the head of the demon. Viṣṇudūtā’s airplane came down, the Viṣṇudūtā’s, ommmm… ommm… omm….. and the demon was transferred to the celestial airplane of the Viṣṇudūtā’s, and also the son of the Brāhmaṇas was transferred, and then he said, “No, no, no, come home.” “Dad, they are taking me back to Godhead. “Oh, no you mother wants to see you.” “When will I get a chance like this?” “Your pet cat, it’s waiting for you.” “Dad! spiritual world. Let me go home back to Godhead.” “No, no, we will all miss you. You should come back and in your old age you can go.” “What is the guarantee that in my old age it will be allowed? I am going to go now. You can chant the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā and come and see me.” “No, no, no, no, no, wait, stay here.” “Dad! Give me a break, let me go back to Godhead.” “Child….” Gone…. Ommmmm.... (laughter) We have competition. (laughter) Did the boy do the right thing? What do you think? Did the father do the right thing? The father said to stay home and see the pet cat, but he said, “I have a chance to go back to Godhead now.” See, every parent should be very happy to see their children to go back to Godhead. The Bhagavad-gītā has that power to send you back to Godhead, and if one gets such an opportunity, then they should take it, and the parents should be happy, because if you get a free ticket back to Godhead, your parents will get a free ticket. Dhruva Mahārāja, he went back to Viṣṇuloka, and his mother and others also went back. So, we should be very clear what our goals are. So, the Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by Kṛṣṇa Himself, and we are very fortunate to be able to hear the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and go directly back to the spiritual world.

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

Any questions?

Question: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, is called Amala Purāṇa and not the Bhagavad-gītā. Why?

Jayapatākā Swami: Because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a Purāṇa, and Gītā is considered an Upaniṣads. Gītopaniṣad. So, there are eighteen Purāṇas, and there are one hundred and eight Upaniṣads. So, Gītā is one of the Upaniṣads, and Bhāgavatam is the purest of all the Purāṇas. Is that alright?

You see, Gītā is in the Mahābhārata; and the Mahābhārata is considered an Itihāsa. And so although it is an Upaniṣads, it is also an Itihāsa. So, all the ladies and all the friends of the twice born, they can also read that. Normally the Upaniṣads are śruti’s, and one can only read them if they are twice born, but Gītā is in some special category. Therefore everybody can read the Bhagavad-gītā. So, Kṛṣṇa wanted to be accessible to everyone. Normally the brāhmaṇas and the kṣatriyas would have the śruti, but the Smriti’s are available to the strī’s, vaiśyas, śūdras. Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā that he would be available even to those who take birth in a sinful family. Strī’s, vaiśyas, śūdras, tete pāpa yonaya… Ladies, businessman, śūdras, even the sinful. So, that gives us some hope that the śāstra, the Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam are for everybody, and the Bhagavad-gītā says, “Kalau śūdra saṁbabhuḥ”; everybody is born a śūdra in the Kali-yuga. So, the Smritis and Mahābhārata are accessible to everyone.

India’s present Prime Minister, he gives out Gītā’s to everybody considering it a very historical and precious book. So, Prabhupāda wanted that Bhagavad-gītā should be presented to the mass of people, and he asked Ambarish Prabhu, Henry Ford’s great grandson to make some shrine at the Kurukṣetra. So, recently we got some land at Kurukṣetra. So, we can have some big monument developed there, at the place where the Gītā was spoken, the same tree where the Bhagavad-gītā was spoken is still there, but that was tied up in litigation. Eventually the government gave us a piece of land which is in the same area.

So, Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja, he laid the foundation stone, and now a temple to the Bhagavad-gītā will be constructed.