20181112 Śrī Gaurāṅga's display of devotion to Śrī Īśvara Purī

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book compilation class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 12, 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 will continue with the compilation of the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Yesterday we had a brief ceremony here for the disappearance of Śrīla Prabhupāda. We offered lamps and said prayers. We remembered how Prabhupāda sacrificed so much to bring us the treasure of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are prisoners in this material world. We are imprisoned by material gross and subtle bodies, and we think that sense gratification is the goal of life. Thus our own material lust and desires keep us bound up in material karma. Then a pure devotee comes and tells us the real purpose of life, that we should develop love for Kṛṣṇa. Lord Jesus gave the ten commandments, and the first one was ‘love God’. But many other preachers say that pray to God to get your job, to get grades. But love is a totally different thing. You want the Lord to be pleased, and because you are part of the Lord, automatically you get pleased. So unfortunately sense gratification is a part of life in this material world. Sometimes the senses give pleasure and sometimes they give us pain. We get old age, we get disease, and we get pain. The young people, they think that oh, that won’t happen to me, but it happens to everyone. So Prabhupāda came and showed us that the real happiness, the eternal happiness that we are hankering for, is by serving Kṛṣṇa. Anyone and everyone can try to serve the Lord and awaken the dormant love for Kṛṣṇa.

Now we are continuing with the Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and He is in Gaya. He has just received initiation from Īśvara Purī. So that has somehow awakened His sentiments for Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Gaurāṅga's display of devotion to Śrī Īśvara Purī

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata Ādi 17.117

pāinu īśvara mora kon kike gelā?”
śloka paḍi’ prabhu kāndite lāgilā

Jayapatākā Swami: So He is praying, I have seen My Lord. But which way has He gone? The Lord began to recite various verses, and He was crying in separation.

So He was showing how separation feelings can be understood by very qualified persons. In material life if we separate from someone it is considered suffering but in spiritual life the feeling of union and feeling of separation are both ecstatic. In fact, the feeling of separation may be more intense and would be discussed by very qualified persons. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, tenth canto, chapters 30-31 and 47.

Murāri-gupta Kaḍacā 1.16.7: ṭhika sei kṣaṇe daivāt suśītala jale muhurmuhu viṣṇupada prakṣālita haile bhagavān kampa o romāñcavyāpta haiyā premajalera śata śata dhārāya vakṣaḥ snāna karāilena.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord by His divine arrangement He was crying and the cool water fell from the Lord’s eyes and bathed Gadaadhar Vishnu’s footprints. Lord Caitanya’s body trembled, and His hairs stood erect in happiness and His chest became bathed with hundreds of streams of tears of ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.118

kṛṣṇa-viraha-premāmṛta-sāgare āśraya-bhāvamaya prabhura nimajjana; prabhura sarvāṅga rajo vyāpta —

prema-bhakti-rase magna hailā īśvara
sakala śrī-aṅga haila dhūlāya dhūsara

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaurāṅga became absorbed in prema-bhakti-rasa, the mellow of pure bhakti, pure love Kṛṣṇa. His divine body was covered with dust, but He was extremely beautiful.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.119

kṛṣṇa-vicchede premāratibhare uccarave sambodhana o krandana—

ārta-nāda kari’ prabhu ḍāke uccaiḥ-svare
“kothā gelā, bāpa kṛṣṇa, chāḍiyā mohare?”

Jayapatākā Swami: Loudly the Lord cried out, in a very loud voice He cried out – “Where, where has He gone? My father Kṛṣṇa! Where has He gone?! He left Me behind.” So when Kṛṣṇa was leaving for Mathurā, Nanda and Yaśodā, they addressed their beloved Kṛṣṇa as bāpa. Bāpa means father but in this sense bāpa is a kind of colloquial usage. Meaning my dear child. Out of a mood of separation. Kṛṣṇa was playing the role of a devotee and Lord Caitanya, He was permanently in the mood of a devotee. So to call the Lord ‘bāpa’ is most reasonable. Śrī Gaurasundara is the object of five types of rasas. Kṛṣṇa, the Lord is the object of the five rasas. Although Kṛṣṇa alone is the object of the five rasas, when He assumed the role of a devotee, then it is natural that He also manifested the rasas from a devotee’s point of view. The five principle rasas – in mādhurya-rasa is beloved, in vātsalya-rasa He is the son, in the sakhya-rasa He is the friend, in śānta-rasa, He is known as a young boy of Vraja, son of the king of Vraja. In śānta-rasa He is the unknown Supreme non-dual object for spiritually sheltered cows, sticks and flutes. In this way Supreme Kṛṣṇa, the nondual spiritual object Kṛṣṇa, is served by the Goloka Vṛndāvana residents, who were sheltered by the five types of rasas, with five types of moods.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.120

“gāmbhīrye ambhodhikoṭi” prabhu nirantara kṛṣṇa-preme vihvala-cañcala—

ye prabhu āchilā ati-parama-gambhīra
se prabhu hailā preme parama-asthira

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord who was supremely grave in His dealings, that Lord became supremely restless when He manifested His ecstatic love. Nimāi Paṇḍita who was a teacher in Navadvīpa was extremely grave. He became agitated because of love for Kṛṣṇa. The nature of love of Kṛṣṇa is such that one overcomes by even a person as great as millions of oceans, he becomes controlled by the most wonderful restlessness and waywardness. So Lord Caitanya’s nature was discussed in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 4.147. “The beauty of Kṛṣṇa has one natural strength: it thrills the hearts of all men and women beginning with Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.” It is also stated in Antya-līlā 3.268 of Caitanya-caritāmṛta. “But the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is so attractive that it becomes even Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes imbued with love of Kṛṣṇa”.

Anyone who chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, they get imbued with the love of Kṛṣṇa and this is the effect of chanting the mahā-mantra. So we want to get everyone to chant because if they chant, naturally the love for Kṛṣṇa awakens. It cannot be awakened any other way as quickly as chanting. Because they chant, they get very quickly imbued with love of Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes children would make fun of Haridāsa Ṭhākura and they would chant Hare Kṛṣṇa in a childish way, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, and Haridāsa Ṭhākura would become very upset. They would chant more and more, being naughty children but inside Haridāsa Ṭhākura was very happy because they were chanting the holy name and if they chanted continuously like that they would become imbued with the love of Kṛṣṇa. Haribol!

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.121

kṛṣṇa-viraha-premāveśe prabhura bhūluṇṭhana o krandana—

gaḍāgaḍi’ yāyena kāndena ucca-svare
bhāsilena nija-bhakti-viraha-sāgare

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord, He rolled on the ground, He cried loudly, He was floating in the ocean of separation of devotion and in this way, He was showing people how the love of Kṛṣṇa is so wonderful. So in this verse Lord Caitanya was experiencing vipralambha or separation. This is a mature stage of devotion. Normally one would take a long time to awaken these sentiments, many years and years of practice. But Lord Caitanya just after initiation He manifested these sentiments.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.122

saṅgi-chātravargera kṛṣṇa-premonmatta nimāi paṇḍitake sāntvanā-pradāna —

tabe kata-kṣaṇe āsi’ sarva-śiṣya-gaṇe
sustha karilena āsi’ aśeṣa yatane

Jayapatākā Swami: After some time, His students came and tried to pacify Him with great care.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.123

saṅgi-chātragaṇake navadvīpe gamanārtha anurodha—

prabhu bale,—“tomarā sakale yāha ghare
mui āra na yāimu saṁsāra-bhitare

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord said to them, “You go back to Navadvipa; I will not go. I will not enter into the material existence again.”

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.124

mathurāgata kṛṣṇa-virahiṇī gopībhāvamaya prabhura vraja-tyāga-pūrvaka kṛṣṇa-darśanānveṣaṇārtha mathurā-yātrāra saṅkalpa —

mathurā dekhite mui calimu sarvathā
prāṇanātha mora kṛṣṇacandra pāṅa yathā”

Jayapatākā Swami: “I will go to Mathurā and see the Lord of My life, My dear Kṛṣṇacandra, I will see Him there.” So in this way Lord Caitanya was absorbed in the mood of the gopīs who are absorbed in the mādhurya-rasa. The phrase prāṇanātha kṛṣṇacandra is used to address Vrajendranandana, Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the object of mādhurya-rasa.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.125

kṛṣṇa-premonmatta nimāi paṇḍitake chātragaṇera nānābhāve sāntvanā-dāna—

nānā-rūpe sarva-śiṣya-gaṇa prabodhiyā
sthira kari’ rākhilena sabāi miliyā

Jayapatākā Swami: In various ways all of His students tried to keep the Lord peaceful and to pacify Him in various ways.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Ādi 17.126

kṛṣṇa-virahiṇī gopībhāvamaya prabhura asahya-kṛṣṇa-viraha-prema vedanā-cāñcalya—

bhakti-rase magna hai’ vaikuṇṭhera pati
citte svāsthya nā pāyena, rahibena kati

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, He was absorbed in the mood of devotional sentiments. But His heart was not peaceful. His heart was feeling restless. How could He remain peaceful?

Śrī Caitanya-carita Mahā-kāvya 4.65: pare tini mane 2 eirūpa kahilena hāya! āmi gadādharera pādapadma darśana karilāma tathāpi āmāra hṛdaya kena komala haila nā? ei baliyā cintā karite 2 tatkālīna tāṅhāra cakṣu aśrujala paripūrṇa evaṁ śarīra pulake ākula haila.

Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala, Ādi 7.87

viṣṇupada-cihna āmi dekhila nayane
dekhiyā ta premodaya nā haila kene

Jayapatākā Swami: “I was seeing the footprints of Lord Viṣṇu with My own eyes. But seeing this, why pure love of Kṛṣṇa does not arise in My heart?”

Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala, Ādi 7.88

ihā bali mahāprabhu pākhāle viṣṇupada
abhiṣeka kari kaila hiyāra-prasāda

Jayapatākā Swami: Saying this Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Lord performed the bathing or abhiṣeka ceremony of the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu and He was very happy to do this.

Śrī Caitanya-maṅgala, Ādi 7.89

bhakti prakāśiyā prabhu viśvambhara hari
prakāśa karaye gorā śuna-adhikārī

Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Viśvambhara Hari, He manifested the loving, ecstatic symptoms of devotion. So listen, here are the ecstatic symptoms, oh great devotees, that He manifested.

So from tomorrow we will discuss these ecstatic symptoms that the Lord manifested. So are there any questions?

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. My question is not related to this class, but I had a doubt in my mind. We consider Deities to be worshipable only after proper process of prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā. But in homes this is generally not done, that was my question. So how are the Deities considered to be worshipable at home without prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā?

Jayapatākā Swami: They are like photos. Those uninstalled Deities are considered practice Deities. So they are practicing and in due course they may have the Deities but then with installed Deities the worship is much more detailed. For these practice Deities maybe one or two offerings a day, may change the clothes on weekends or Ekādaśī. But installed deities should be bathed every day and they should be offered variety of offerings. So children are offered different practice Deities, some of our gṛhasthas they also have these kinds of Deities, and in this way, they learn about Deity worship but we would eventually like them to become more responsible and install the Deity.

Question: Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda and to your lotus feet. What is the pastime or reason behind why Kurukṣetra was known as dharma-kṣetra and a place for pilgrimage, even before the famous battle of Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas. It is said that they had chosen to assemble at that specific place because it was a place of pilgrimage. What was the significance of that place?

With respect,
Your spiritual daughter,
Nandapriyā Premā devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: Since time immemorial that place is a place of pilgrimage and Kṛṣṇa also went there when there was a solar eclipse and He took bath in a special kuṇḍa. That kuṇḍa is still there and you can go and take a bath. I don’t know all the ancient history, why, but Kurukṣetra is also considered a dharma-kṣetra. That is why the Pāṇḍavas chose that, because they are religious people.

Is there any prasāda for distribution? Hare Kṛṣṇa!