20181104 Sri Krishna Caitanya Book

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book compilation class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 4, 2018, in Chennai, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: So today we are observing Ekādaśī. This Ekādaśī marks almost the half mark of the Dāmodara-pūjā. This is the Ekādaśī of the dark moon. So the whole of India was dark at that time and Lord Rāma was taking Sītā, Lakṣmaṇa and Hanumān to Ayodhyā from Sri Lanka. So how would they find Ayodhyā in the dark moon night. DARK. So all the residents of Ayodhyā were eager to receive the Lord. So they lighted up their houses with lamps and candles. Ayodhyā was lit with fire and it could be seen from a long distance. In this way Sītā, Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Hanumān could easily find out Ayodhyā. We also observe Diwali in this spirit, welcoming the Lord so that He enters into our heart and we always remember Him at every step. So tomorrow many people observe Diwali. So I mentioned that sometime, I used to go in kīrtana and met some devotees. And how went to 25 houses per day and there are two Diwalis. Because some observe according to the smārtha tradition and in the Vaiṣṇava tradition it is often a one-day difference. So in this particular year we arranged to visit the homes of people who are observing Diwali on that day. Each day we visited 25 houses with kīrtana, with a Dāmodara picture and asked all the family members to offer lamp and then we gave prasāda. They gave us prasāda and then we went to the next house. So like this we visited 25 homes. So this was arranged in advance by phone calls. I hope that some of you people will use this Diwali to bring Kṛṣṇa consciousness to new homes and encourage those who are already chanting and let them know that we do care about them. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

So we are continuing with the Caitanya Book. Lord Caitanya is talking with Īśvara Purī Mahārāja. By the will of providence, Īśvara Purī arrived at Gayā at the same time Lord Caitanya was there. So Lord Caitanya glorified Īśvara Purī. How he was a mahā-bhāgavata and how he was very dear to Mādhavendra Purī. Īśvara Purī was saying that You must be an expansion of the Supreme Person, otherwise how would You have so many divine qualities? And learn things so enthusiastically or quickly?

So Īśvara Purī Mahārāja revealed that he had an auspicious dream just the previous night and today he thought he had obtained the fruit of that dream because he was seeing Lord Caitanya directly.

I am telling You the truth, paṇḍita. By having Your darśana, By having Your presence, I am experiencing transcendental happiness which is supreme and inexplicable. I am experiencing this every moment since I have seen You.

Since I have seen You in Nadia district, my heart and consciousness doesn’t think of anything else and it has had no other attraction.

I am speaking the truth, nothing but the truth, nothing else. When I see You, I feel the happiness of seeing Lord Kṛṣṇa! He said that since he saw Lord Caitanya in Navadvīpa dhāma no other subject matter has occupied his heart. This is truth, There is no doubt about it. As soon as I see You, my eyes are smeared with the ointment of love, I have experienced this same experience when I see Kṛṣṇa. So we can understand a great devotee, Īśvara Purī is that he would see Kṛṣṇa and feel great ecstasy and love of Kṛṣṇa. When he saw Lord Caitanya, he felt the same bliss and ecstasy. So very interesting.

Hearing the words of His beloved Īśvara Purī the Lord smiled and said, “it is My great fortune.”

So in this way the two exchanged many other pleasing, transcendental words, not all are explained in this book. But in the future, they will be described by Veda-Vyāsa, the incarnation of the Lord that wrote all these Vedic scriptures.

Murāri-gupta Kaḍacā:

So in this way Lord Gaurāṅga demonstrated to everyone what is the correct process is of devotional service unto the spiritual master. So with folded hands, He performed worship of His forefathers and the devatas in the waters of the Phalgu river and contemplated on the Supreme Lord. He placed the dust of His father’s remains in the water and He then offered the pinda in the form of viṣṇu-prasāda to His father. At Pretha-śilā he offered piṇḍas. We heard that this Phalgu river for most of the time, it was dry and just sand, but you dig 2 or 3 feet of sand out and there is water flowing there. Apparently Sītā wanted to find Rāma and she went to the river and asked the river where Rāma was? The river did not reply so then she cursed the river that she will become only dry sand. So what do the people do in the dry riverbed. They take it as a big bathroom. That you dig a little bit and then you get water so that water they use for the worship of the devas and Lord for the benefit of the forefathers. So what the Lord did is explained here. He put the dust, solid dust of the remains of His father in this Phalgu River.

Then Lord took leave of Īśvara Purī Mahārāja then went to offer the ceremonies and oblations to His forefathers. In the Skanda Purāṇa there it is explained five types of sons. (break in broadcast) he is very responsible in his religious duties, therefore he can deliver his forefathers from a hellish situation. So that is a suputra. Su means auspicious and tra means deliverances. So an auspicious son will deliver his forefathers from hellish situations. Then the fifth kind is called udāśīna. He is rather detached from the family. He doesn’t care one way or the others. He is free. So that is not very useful. He may not very negative but may not be also positive. So that is called udaaseen. So Lord Caitanya was showing how to be a suputra offering oblations and ceremonies for His deceased forefathers. That is why we offer obeisances to our forefathers while visiting a holy place. But Gaurahari, He doesn’t have to do such ceremonies but He enacted a pastime taking permission from Īśvara Purīpāda then offering oblations at Gayā according to śāstric injunctions. So the path of pure devotional service and the path of fruitive activities based on smṛtis are not similar. Only when one who rejects fruitive activities can get into spiritual life. So one type of person does all these rituals but not with proper consciousness. In the sense, they don’t have a correct relationship with the Lord take to the fruitive activities such as offering oblations to their forefathers and the demigods, according to the external considerations and they don’t engage in devotional service for the pleasure of the Lord. Because they are not properly educated in bhakti-yoga.

So the Lord went first to the Phalgu river. His eyes were reddish in colour, out of compassion for His forefathers. He offered tarpanas according to the śāstric rules. Tarpaṇa means you put your brāhmaṇa thread on the other side and with folded hands you offer water into the water. This benefits the forefathers. So at Pretha-śilā He went and offered piṇḍas. Piṇḍas are small handfuls of rice. Usually, they drop some rice from a height and form small hillocks. Rice forms like a small hill. That is called offering piṇḍas.

There is one place north of Māyāpur, India, Agradvīpa. And Lord Caitanya had visited that place with His secretary. There were three brothers, Vāsu Ghoṣa, Mādhava Ghoṣa, Govinda Ghoṣa. It wasn’t Vāsu Ghoṣa for sure, it was one of the other two. He had stomachache in the previous village, so He asked for some harītakī, a Vedic herb. So the secretary went to the village, got some harītakī and went back to the Lord. Then the Lord started getting some indigestion. So He asked His secretary, “Can you get Me some harītakī?” Then he reached his bag, and gave the harītakī to Him. The Lord said, “You are so quick this time.” He said, “I keep some few extra harītakī in my bag in case You need it.” So this is a mood of a householder, you should get married, stay here. He was shocked, he was a brahmacārī, travelling with the Lord but the Lord told him to get married and stay there. So he followed the order of the guru, he stayed there. He got married, he had a son and his wife got bitten by a snake and she died. Then he thought, at least I have my son. Then somehow the son also died. The Lord said I was unqualified to be a brahmacārī but the Lord told me to be a gṛhastha, so I had a wife and son. But I lost my wife, and I lost my son. So who will do the piṇḍī and tarpaṇa and śrāddhā for me? Being disturbed this way the worship of the Gopīnātha Deity was also irregular. The Lord said, “Why are you not giving the offerings on time and what is the matter?” He said, “well You thought I was not qualified to be a brahmacārī so I become a householder, I lost my wife and I lost my son, so what was the use? So Now I am in anxiety,” but the stone Deity said, “I am your son.” “But you are not that kind of son that is going perform śrāddhā for me.” So He called the village leaders and the stone Deity spoke that, “On the death of Govinda Ghoṣa I will go to the samādhi and offer śrāddhā and piṇḍa, you make a note of it and see that it happens.” So after 500 years even today they are still doing it about two weeks after Guara-Pūrṇimā is his death anniversary, tirobhāva. We don’t being people die, they live forever. But the body dies. They leave their body, and they go on. So if they are not qualified, they get a bad destination. So he was worried that somehow, he was not qualified, and will my son do the oblations, and thus I will be delivered from the hellish conditions. But then he lost his son, and he did not have anyone to perform this ritual. The Deity said, “I will do it. You offer my offerings timely and properly.” So one year we went to that place with our safari group about 120 devotees. We went to the tomb of Govinda Ghoṣa and then the pūjārī, he pulled me in and carried the stone Deity in a cloth. The Deity came and they put on the samādhi of Govinda Ghoṣa. They dropped some rice from His hands and put on a leaf and formed a small hillock. Thus, they offered piṇḍa. And thus, they did śrāddhās and yajñas and then they said that the black Deity became very soft during the ceremony. So one side were men and other women. I was very fortunate to be inside. Everyone else was going by, tens and thousands of devotees. Then they stuck their head, and watched. Sometimes some lady would stick her head in to see the Deity. Some other lady came and grabbed her hair and pulled her out and stuck her head in! It was a real wild situation. So I saw what the piṇḍa and śrāddhā were and how the Lord accepted the role of being a son! Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Kṛṣṇa!

So going to the place of pilgrimage known as Phalgu river the Lord, He offered piṇḍa with sand and He went to the top of the hill, to the place known as Pretha Gayā. So in this way the Lord was observing the rituals for the forefathers. Apparently in the Phalgu river there is a system to offer piṇḍa with the sand of the river. So the Lord is actually transcendental to these fruitive rituals. These rituals are considered good karma. So He performed this just to deceive the fruitive works and conditioned souls. Thus Gaurahari offered obeisances to His forefathers. There at Phalgu river with sand. On the top of the hill at Pretha Gayā, there were 395 steps on the way to Pretha Gayā. It was built in 1775. The steps were built by Madana Mohana Dutta Mahāśaya. Known among the people as Kuvera, who was renowned black merchant who was famous among the people.

In Calcutta there is one famous temple which has an inscription, Śrī Rādhā Kṛṣṇāya namaḥ, Śrī Caitanya-candrāya namaḥ, Śrī Śiva Durga Śaraṇam, Jaya Rādhā, Jaya Rāma. Oh Lord Madana-mohana I beg at Your lotus feet for the people and for the good fortune for Me and My entire family. I beg at Your lotus feet for the benediction of good to climb this high hill to reach Pretha Gayā. So a person named Madana-mohana has built a beautiful wide staircase for the benefit of the pilgrims and for the pleasure of Lord Nārāyaṇa, the husband of Lakṣmī. So construction of the 395 stairs was begun and completed in the year 1775.was began and completed in the year 1775. So I went to the Gayā but I did not go to Pretha Gayā. How many would like to go? So this visit of Lord Caitanya to that Gayā has got many details. So this pastime has been covered by various scriptures, Caitanya-maṅgala, Caitanya-bhāgavata, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Murāri Gupta Kaḍacā. We are taking all the quotes, sometimes the editor has to take out the duplications. In this way when the book will be completed we will have the most complete history of Lord Caitanya. Of course, His pastimes are unlimited, and He has shown, even described unlimited pastimes. You cannot show, you cannot describe the unlimited pastimes, we are only showing just a small portion. But that itself takes so much. Are there any questions?

For tomorrow we need sweets. Anyone comes to celebrate Diwali we can give sweets. This is the tradition. So we can arrange. Are there any questions? So thank you all. Hare Kṛṣṇa!