20181116 Gaurāṅga's display of Prema-bhakti

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

maṅgalācaraṇa—

ājānu-lambita-bhujau kanakāvadātau
saṅkīrtanaika-pitarau kamalāyatākṣau
viśvambharau dvija-varau yuga-dharma-pālau
vande jagat priya-karau karuṇāvatārau
[CB Ādi-khaṇḍa 1.1]

Translation: I offer my respectful obeisances unto Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, whose arms extend down to Their knees, who have complexions like molten gold, and who inaugurated the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Their eyes resemble the petals of a lotus flower. They are the maintainers of the living entities, the best of the brāhmaṇas, the protectors of religious principles for this age, the benefactors of the universe, and the most merciful of all incarnations.

Gaura Nitāi ki jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami: So today we start with the second part of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. This may be known as the Madhya-līlā in this series. He has come back from Gayā and reached Navadvīpa dhāma. In His house He is chanting the holy names and so the saṅkīrtana movement is about to start. These following verses are the description of the beginning of the saṅkīrtana movement. The saṅkīrtana movement in Navadvīpa in the presence of Lord Caitanya. So we are happy that we completed Lord Caitanya’s pastimes in Navadvīpa as a student and as a gṛhastha. Now begins the part that many of you know something about, the gradual development of the saṅkīrtana movement. So this maṅgalācaraṇa is the first verse in the Caitanya-Bhāgavata and it is a very beautiful verse offered to Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda.

So as like other days I am continuing with my physical therapy. I had a voice speech therapist come by and give me some training. I have been using all the vowels and now they started out with consonants. First consonant is ‘mmmm mmmm’, you have to pronounce it through your nose like this. So combined ‘aaa oooo mmm’. So like that we are getting some training to combine the vowels which provide energy with the consonants which give form and beauty. So for one week I have been practicing on the ‘mmmm’ sound, ‘mmm’ consonant, ‘mmmmmm, mmmmm’, (laughter) So I am learning to speak all over again. If it is pretty clear to you tell me and that is why because of this training. So now we can go on with the next verse.

This is the second verse of the Caitanya-Bhāgavata.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya 1.2

śrī-gaura-sundarera jaya-gāna

namas trikāla satyāya    jagannātha sutāya ca

sa-bhṛtyāya sa-putrāya    sa-kalatrāya te namaḥ

Translation: O my Lord, You are eternally existing—in the past, present, and future—yet You are the son of Śrī Jagannātha Miśra. I offer my repeated obeisances unto You along with Your associates (Your devotee servants), Your sons (Your Gosvāmī disciples or the processes of devotional service, such as the congregational chanting of the holy name), and Your consorts (who, according to regulative principles, refer to Viṣṇupriyā, who is Bhū-śakti; Lakṣmīpriyā, who is Śrī-śakti; and Navadvīpa, which is Nīlā, Līlā, or Durgā; or who, according to devotional principles, refer to the two Gadādharas, Narahari, Rāmānanda, Jagadānanda, and others).

Jayapatākā Swami: So these two verses are in the Caitanya-Bhāgavata and they are given a commentary by Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Goswami. Otherwise, they are self-explanatory. This is a little esoteric subject matter.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya 1.3

jaya jaya jaya viśvambhara dvija-rāja
jaya viśvambhara-priya vaiṣṇava samāja

Jayapatākā Swami: So this is saying, glories to Viśvambhara, Viśvambhara means one who carries the weight of the universe, who is the king of all brāhmaṇas. All glories to Viśvambhara’s dear ones, who all are the Vaiṣṇava society. So these are the devotees who are engaged in the service of Viśvambhara and the ones who are dear to Him.

Sometimes Lord Viśvambhara is called as Dvija-rāja. It is explained as follows: Although Śrī Gaurasundara is Himself a full manifestation of the brāhmaṇas, the worshipable Lord is also the best of the brāhmaṇas and the society of the devotees or the paramahaṁsa-gurus, all varnas and the āśramas are most dear to the Lord. Those who are not gone through the purification rites are known as once born. The saṁskāras that the brāhmaṇas take are called as second birth and the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas are also known as twice born. But the phrase Dvijarāja can only refer to a brāhmaṇa. Lord Caitanya, did not recommend the purificatory rites or He was not against it but what He promoted was to directly love Kṛṣṇa and become His devotee. He did not consider the purificatory rites as favorable to devotional service. So the non Vaiṣṇavas or daiva-varṇāśrama was not appreciated by Lord Caitanya. He accepted the actual varṇas and āśramas based on occupation favorable to devotional service. And He considered sakatas as daiva-varṇāśrama. So in the society of non-devotees, it is a special stress given on karma-kāṇḍa. So long before Lord Caitanya appeared Śrī Vaiṣṇavas and Madhvācārya followers they were primarily in South India. So in that way Lord Caitanya established that we are the Madhva-Gauḍīya-sampradāya. He established brāhmaṇas like Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī and Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, who were born in a brāhmaṇa family according to the bona fide Vaiṣṇava society. He accepted two Vaiṣṇavas and established them as His two dear devotees. So Lord Caitanya accepted as beloved devotees, Śrīpād Prabhodānanda and Śrīpād Gopāla Bhaṭṭa who were from the Śrī Vaiṣṇavas, He accepted them as His dear devotees. So the Brahma-Madhva-Gauḍīya-sampradāya is also dear to Gaurasundara. Gauḍīya sampradāya is the most dear. So the smārthas are those who are not devotees followed the system of Śaṅkarācārya of pañcopāsanā. So He considered the Vaiṣṇava compilation, Hari-bhakti-vilāsa as being an essential description of Vaiṣṇava festivals. Like this the devotees of the Lord are very dear to the Lord and in Saṁskāra-dīpikā and Sat-kriyā-sāra-dīpika are accepted as Gauḍīya smṛtis and Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava scriptures on social quotes. So the smārthas they just try to have good karma and good sense gratification. So they give many obstacles to the Vaiṣṇava devotees. So such ācāryas as Jñānacandra, Rasikānanda and recently Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura have aspired for the eternal benefit of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava society, devotees, those in the line of Lord Caitanya. The whole thing can be described as Viśva-vaiṣṇava-rāja-sabhā, universal devotee controlling ruling assembly. So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and some other previous ācāryas have totally removed many of the discrepancies that have entered the Gauḍīya line. So those devotees who are acting in a non-duplicitous manner are very dear to Lord Viśvambhara, Lord Caitanya. Other persons unfavorable to the devotees, create unlimited inauspiciousness for the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava society. In other words, they are disliked as opponents by Śrī Gaurasundara, being opponents of Śrī Gaurasundara’s dear ones.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya 1.4

gauracandra jaya dharma-setu mahā-dhīra
jaya saṅkīrtana-maya sundara-śarīra

Translation: All glories to the most sober Gauracandra, who is the bridge to religion! All glories to His most attractive form, which is the embodiment of the congregational chanting of the holy names!

All glories to His attractive, beautiful form! All glories to His most attractive form which is the embodiment of the congregational chanting of the holy names. Lord Caitanya by being a dharma-setu, He was a bridge of the pious people of this world to enter into the spiritual world. Gaurasundara propounded the acintya-bhedābheda philosophy which reconciles the difference between the impersonalists and the Vaiṣṇavas. Lord Caitanya did not recommend any principles which are immoral, concocted or opposed to one’s constitutional duties. There are a set of so called followers of Lord Caitanya who maintain the religiosity and material sense gratification. They are called prākṛta-sahajiyās. On the basis of religiosity, they do all nonsense. They maintain mundane and material vision. So Lord Caitanya established that sanātana-dharma was the system. He taught everyone how to cross beyond the worldly activities and considerations by attaining the service of Adhokṣaja, Kṛṣṇa. By building a bridge in the form of preaching the congregational chanting of the holy names of Hari! Haribol!

Mahādhīra explained that Gaurasundara did not follow the path of argumentation, He followed the path of Vedas. He did not utilize mental speculation based on one’s sense gratification. Like ordinary karmī materialistic does. One who conquers the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is called dhīra or self-controlled. Such persons are devoid of such self-control. They are controlled by the urges of the body mind and speech. They cannot understand the service to Hari or the Supreme Lord. So Lord Caitanya did not accept such arguments, He is considered as most sober and is worshipable by the sober sannyāsīs. The prākṛta-sahajiyās or the gaura-nāgarīs have a wrong opinion about Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya exists very far beyond their concocted ideas of prākṛta-sahajiyās. So Lord Caitanya although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, He is the personification of the congregational chanting of the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, and He has manifested His pastimes as Gaurāṅga taking the role of a Mahā-Bhāgavata or great devotee, He is the personification of worshipable sound and the sacrifice of chanting the holy names, He is the Supreme Brahman.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya 1.5

jaya nityānandera bāndhava dhana prāṇa
jaya gadādhara-advaitera prema-dhāma

Jayapatākā Swami: All glories to the Lord, who is the friend, wealth, and life of Nityānanda! All glories to the abode of Gadādhara and Advaita’s love!

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya 1.6

jaya śrī jagadānanda-priya-atiśaya
jaya vakreśvara-kāśīśvarera hṛdaya

Jayapatākā Swami: All glories to the Lord, who is most dear to Jagadānanda! All glories to the heart and soul of Vakreśvara and Kāśīśvara!

These are all great devotee associates of Lord Caitanya and later they will be described. Jagadānanda, Vakreśvara, Kaśīśvara. Jagadānanda was the reincarnation of Satyabhāmā in Dvārakā, Vakreśvara would be able to chant and dance 72 hours nonstop, Kāśīśvara. wrote a beautiful book on Lord Caitanya which we are compiling in this series. So here…

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya 1.7

jaya jaya śrīvāsādi priya-varga-nātha
jīva-prati kara’ prabhu! śubha-dṛṣṭi-pāta

Jayapatākā Swami: All the glories are offered to all the different Lord’s devotees and the devotees headed by Śrīvāsa. And he asked that the Lord bestow His merciful glance on all the living entities.

Śrī Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya 1.8

gaurera kṛṣṇa-kīrtana līlātmaka madhyakhaṇḍa kathā-śravaṇe jīvera ajñānatamo-nāśa—

madhya-khaṇḍa-kathā yena amṛtera khaṇḍa
ye kathāśunile ghuce antara-pāṣaṇḍa

Jayapatākā Swami: So in this Madhya-kaṇḍa the topics are like drops of nectar. Atheism will be vanquished from the hearts of anyone who hears this narration.

So the great historians of Lord Caitanya, they are requesting to everyone that they hear attentively how the inauguration of the saṅkīrtana pastimes are described. So he calls everyone as his brother. He asks them to give their full attention, how the saṅkīrtana movement was started.

So here he is offering glories to Narahari and Gadādhara, the Lord of their lives, that means Lord Caitanya.

After completing the Ādi-līlā, the Madhya-līlā begins. Whoever hears attentively will surely achieve the wealth, the treasure of pure love of Kṛṣṇa.

So this Madhya-kaṇḍa is like the essence of nectar. The Lord’s transcendental pastimes in Navadvīpa in Nadia district where He preached pure love of Kṛṣṇa. And distributed kṛṣṇa-prema freely.

Jagāi and Mādhāi who were great sinners, they were delivered here and that is even dear to Lord Brahmā that pure kṛṣṇa-prema or love of Kṛṣṇa was given freely to these persons.

That place of the Harināma saṅkīrtana was manifested where the fallen were delivered, and where to deliver the fallen, He took sannyāsa. So to tell these pastimes, this is the nectar part of the Caitanya pastimes. Whoever listens destroys his inner atheistic nature.

That was the maṅgalācaraṇa and introduction to Lord Caitanya’s pastimes as presented in Caitanya-Bhāgavata. Hereon, we will have other scriptures like Caitanya-caritāmṛta Mahā-kāvya. So we will start these other descriptions tomorrow. So there are different writers who have cited who are telling the pastimes of the Lord starting the saṅkīrtana movement. So are there are any questions?

Hare Kṛṣṇa! So we have a separate video in which we announced that on the next Ekādaśī, the end of the Dāmodara month, that is the last five days from Ekādaśī to the full moon day can be observed as Bhīṣma-Pañcaka. I will put on the Facebook the details of observance, basically it is offering a lamp to the Lord, offering to the five parts of the limbs of the Lord different flowers, do some ceremonies or tarpaṇa for the wellbeing of Bhīṣmadeva. If you are near to the Ganges, you do it in the Ganges or you can do it in the ocean. If you cannot do it anywhere else then do it in your shower, you can chant three times Gaṅgā and invoke the presence of Gaṅgā. In these five days you can go on one of the three diets. Eating the byproducts of the cow, Pañca-gavya, second option is fruits and roots, that is what people do. If that is too austere then one can also take haviṣyanna and have khicuḍi and dahi, milk, you cannot use chili or other spices. So either haviṣyanna, fruits and roots or Pañca-gavya. Then on full moon day when the moon rises you have to break your fast and take a feast. It is a big austerity. Leave those potatoes behind! In Māyāpur sometimes we see people take fruits and roots and piles of potatoes. Thank you very much!

Is there some prasāda for distribution?