20181207 The Lord's Pastimes with Students after His Gayā Yātrā

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book work 7^th December 2018 in Chennai. India by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Guru Mahārāja. Reading from Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 1.243-253.

Under the section: The beginning of Mahāprabhu’s manifestations

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Jayapatākā Swami: So today we are going to continue with the compilation of the Śrī Kṛṣṇa book. So today we will read about Lord Caitanya after He came back from Gayā. He was initiated and He was a devotee. He expressed His separation for Kṛṣṇa and He was in ecstasy. So He told the Vaiṣṇavas, He told His students, who said they could not understand anything because He was only talking about Kṛṣṇa. Then He went to the Ganges and bathed there and then went home. Then He was teaching His mother just like Kapiladeva taught Devahūti. So He told His mother how she should serve the Vaiṣṇavas. And how she should always think of Kṛṣṇa. And many other things. So now we are continuing with what the Vaiṣṇavas are discussing what Lord Caitanya is talking to His mother.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.243

tacchravaṇe bhaktagaṇera mane-mane nānā-vicāra—
āpta-mukhe e-kathāśuniñā bhakta-gaṇa
sarva-gaṇe vitarka bhāvena mane-mana

Translation: When all the devotees heard from their friends about this, they discussed together and began to contemplate.

Commentary: The second line of this verse indicates that the devotees began to discuss, imagine, and consider.

Jayapatākā Swami: So the devotees when they heard these discussions from their dear friends, all the devotees discussed together and considered and imagined where the Lord was.

Because when He left Navadvīpa He was Nimāi Paṇḍita. He was scholastically the best paṇḍita. He could argue with anyone and His logic was impeccable. He would defeat a person, then He would take the person’s original argument and prove it correct, then He would smash that again. And like this when people they would see Him they would run the other way. And now He came back and He was like mahā-bhāgavata. He was thinking about Kṛṣṇa, waking, sleeping at all times. So this was truly amazing for all the people, all the Vaiṣṇavas.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.244

“kibā kṛṣṇa prakāśa hailā se śarīre?
kibā sādhu-saṅge, kibā pūrvera saṁskāre?”

Translation: “Has Kṛṣṇa manifested in His body? Is this the result of devotees’ association or because of previous purificatory processes?”

Jayapatākā Swami: So they are imagining, is this because Kṛṣṇa has manifested in His body or it is due to His association with the Vaiṣṇavas or is this just due to the previous purificatory rites?

No one could understand why there is this sudden change and why the change was so intense. When He would cry for Kṛṣṇa, the pure Vaiṣṇavas would also cry. And He would faint and fall down, all the Vaiṣṇavas also fainted and fell down. So potent was His association.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.245

ei-mata mane sabe karena vicāra
sukha-maya citta-vṛtti haila sabāra

Translation: As all the devotees contemplated in this way, their hearts filled with happiness.

Jayapatākā Swami: In this way the devotees contemplated and it made them very happy. Their hearts were filled with happiness. And this was all the Vaiṣṇavas.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.246

prabhura nāma-prema-pracārārambha-phale bhaktagaṇera sukha o pāṣaṇḍigaṇera duḥkha—

khaṇḍila bhaktera duḥkha, pāṣaṇḍira nāśa
mahāprabhu viśvambhara hailā prakāśa

Translation: The devotees’ distress was vanquished and the atheists were uprooted as the Supreme Lord Viśvambhara manifested Himself.

Commentary: Now, the rising sunlike preaching of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa by Viśvambhara, who is the distributor of love of Kṛṣṇa throughout the entire world, eradicates the former mental agony of the devotees, who were ridiculed and harassed by the nondevotees, and begins the pastime of oppressing the atheists, who were opposed to devotional service.

Jayapatākā Swami: The devotees’ sadness was vanquished. The atheists, nonbelievers were destroyed. Mahāprabhu Viśvambhara manifested Himself.

The atheists were destroyed as the Supreme Lord Mahāprabhu, Viśvambhara, manifested Himself. So in the night everything is covered by darkness but when the sun rises from the east, all darkness goes away. Like that the preaching of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa by Viśvambhara Mahāprabhu who is the distributor of love of Kṛṣṇa throughout the entire world eradicates the mental agony of the devotee, who were ridiculed and harassed by the non-devotees and began the pastime of oppressing the atheists who were opposed to devotional service. So this transactional [25:14 unclear] preaching of Lord Caitanya was like the rising of the sun and all the atheistic and non-devotees who were opposed to devotional service, they were vanquished, they went away like the darkness goes before the sun rises.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.247

mahābhāgavata-līlāya prabhura sarvatra kṛṣṇasphurti o ukti—

vaiṣṇava-āveśe mahāprabhu viśvambhara
kṛṣṇa-maya jagat dekhaye nirantara

Translation: In the mood of a Vaiṣṇava, Mahāprabhu Viśvambhara constantly saw Kṛṣṇa present everywhere in the world.

Jayapatākā Swami: So in the… Lord Viśvambhara Mahāprabhu in the mood of a Vaiṣṇava devotee, He saw the whole world as being Kṛṣṇa conscious and seeing Kṛṣṇa everywhere constantly.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.248

ahar-niśa śravaṇe śunaye kṛṣṇa-nāma
vadane bolaye ’kṛṣṇacandra’ avirāma

Translation: He heard the names of Kṛṣṇa both night and day, and He constantly chanted the name of Kṛṣṇacandra.

Commentary: Śrī Gaurasundara exhibited the pastimes of a mahā-bhāgavata Vaiṣṇava and began to see everything in relation to Kṛṣṇa. Ordinary materialists who have forgotten Kṛṣṇa become bewildered by mundane knowledge, and instead of seeing everything in relation to Kṛṣṇa they see the entire world as a place of enjoyment. Mahāprabhu, however, did not set such an example by identifying Himself as the enjoyer; rather, He saw this animate and inanimate world, which is visible to the conditioned souls who are averse to and forgetful of Kṛṣṇa, through the spiritual vision of a mahā-bhāgavata Vaiṣṇava inclined to the service of Kṛṣṇa. He began to realize the pastimes of omnipotent Kṛṣṇa in the heart of every living entity. Therefore, since He had no temporary material conceptions like the forgetful materialistic conditioned souls while realizing transcendental Vaikuṇṭha-Goloka everywhere, He was not obstructed by those opulences from seeing Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes of enjoyment and acceptance of service.

In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 8.274) it is stated:

sthāvara-jaṅgama dekhe, nā dekhe tāra mūrti
sarvatra haya nija iṣṭa-deva-sphūrti

“The mahā-bhāgavata, the advanced devotee, certainly sees everything mobile and immobile, but he does not exactly see their forms. Rather, everywhere he immediately sees manifest the form of the Supreme Lord.”

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.45, 49-54) Śrī Havi, one of the nine Yogendras, speaks to Nimi, the King of Videha, as follows:

śrī-havir uvāca
sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ paśyed
bhagavad-bhāvam ātmanaḥ
bhūtāni bhagavaty ātmany
eṣa bhāgavatottamaḥ

“The most advanced devotee sees within everything the soul of all souls, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Consequently he sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord and understands that everything that exists is eternally situated within the Lord.

dehendriya-prāṇa-mano-dhiyāṁ yo
janmāpyaya-kṣud-bhaya-tarṣa-kṛcchraiḥ
saṁsāra-dharmair avimuhyamānaḥ
smṛtyā harer bhāgavata-pradhānaḥ

“Within the material world, one’s material body is always subject to birth and decay. Similarly, the life air [prāṇa] is harassed by hunger and thirst, the mind is always anxious, the intelligence hankers for that which cannot be obtained, and all of the senses are ultimately exhausted by constant struggle in the material nature. A person who is not bewildered by the inevitable miseries of material existence, and who remains aloof from them simply by remembering the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is to be considered bhāgavata-pradhāna, the foremost devotee of the Lord.

na kāma-karma-bījānāṁ
yasya cetasi sambhavaḥ
vāsudevaika-nilayaḥ
sa vai bhāgavatottamaḥ

“One who has taken exclusive shelter of the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva, becomes free from fruitive activities, which are based on material lust. In fact, one who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord is freed from even the desire to enjoy material sense gratification. Plans for enjoying sex life, social prestige and money cannot develop within his mind. Thus he is considered bhāgavatottama, a pure devotee of the Lord on the highest platform.

na yasya janma-karmabhyāṁ
na varṇāśrama-jātibhiḥ
sajjate 'sminn ahaṁ-bhāvo
dehe vai sa hareḥ priyaḥ

“Birth in an aristocratic family and the execution of austere and pious activities certainly cause one to take pride in himself. Similarly, if one enjoys a prestigious position within society because his parents are highly respected members of the varṇāśrama social system, one becomes even more infatuated with himself. But if despite these excellent material qualifications one does not feel even a tinge of pride within himself, he is to be considered the dearmost servitor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

na yasya svaḥ para iti
vitteṣv ātmani vā bhidā
sarva-bhūta-samaḥ śāntaḥ
sa vai bhāgavatottamaḥ

“When a devotee gives up the selfish conception by which one thinks ’This is my property, and that is his,’ and when he is no longer concerned with the pleasures of his own material body or indifferent to the discomforts of others, he becomes fully peaceful and satisfied. He considers himself simply one among all the living beings who are equally part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a satisfied Vaiṣṇava is considered to be at the highest standard of devotional service.

tri-bhuvana-vibhava-hetave 'py akuṇṭha-
smṛtir ajitātma-surādibhir vimṛgyāt
na calati bhagavat-padāravindāl
lava-nimiṣārdham api yaḥ sa vaiṣṇavāgryaḥ

“The lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are sought even by the greatest of demigods, such as Brahmā and Śiva, who have all accepted the Supreme Personality of Godhead as their life and soul. A pure devotee of the Lord can never forget those lotus feet in any circumstance. He will not give up his shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord for a single moment—indeed, not for half a moment—even in exchange for the benediction of ruling and enjoying the opulence of the entire universe. Such a devotee of the Lord is to be considered the best of the Vaiṣṇavas.

bhagavata uru-vikramāṅghri-śākhā-
nakha-maṇi-candrikayā nirasta-tāpe
hṛdi katham upasīdatāṁ punaḥ sa
prabhavati candra ivodite 'rka-tāpaḥ

“How can the fire of material suffering continue to burn the hearts of those who worship the Supreme Lord? The Lord’s lotus feet have performed innumerable heroic deeds, and the beautiful nails on His toes resemble valuable jewels. The effulgence emanating from those nails resembles cooling moonshine, for it instantly relieves the suffering within the heart of the pure devotee, just as the appearance of the moon’s cooling light relieves the burning heat of the sun.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Viśvambhara heard the name of Kṛṣṇa in the night and in the day. From His mouth came the words Kṛṣṇacandra constantly.

So Lord Gaurasundara exhibited the pastime of a mahā-bhāgavata Vaiṣṇava or pure devotee of the Lord. Everything He saw was in relation to Kṛṣṇa. Ordinary materialists see everything as objects of sense enjoyment. Mahāprabhu did not set such an example. He did not present Himself as an enjoyer. He would see the animate and inanimate world with a vision of a person of a great devotee or a pure devotee who sees everything in relation to Kṛṣṇa. He began to realize the pastimes of omnipotent Kṛṣṇa in the heart of every living entity. Therefore, because He did not have any material vision like the materialistic conditioned souls, He would realize Vaikuṇṭha, Goloka everywhere.

So in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 8.274 it is stated “the mahā-bhāgavata, the advanced devotee, certainly sees everything mobile and immobile, but He does not exactly see their forms. Rather everywhere, He sees the manifested form of the Supreme Lord.”

So there are many quotes from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11^th canto. So the Nava Yogendras are instructing the king of Videha and they say how the fire of material existence and material suffering are mitigated by the Lord’s lotus feet which have performed innumerable heroic deeds and the beautiful nails of His lotus toes resemble valuable jewels. His effulgence emanating from His lotus nails resembles cooling moonshine which relieves instantly the suffering in the heart of a pure devotee. Just as the appearance of the moon’s cooling light relieves the burning heart of the sun.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.249

pūrve vidyārasa-magna nimāira ekṣaṇe sarvakṣaṇa kṛṣṇa-prīti—

ye-prabhu āchilā bholā mahā-vidyā-rase
ebe kṛṣṇa-vinu āra kichu nāhi vāse

Translation: The same Lord who was once absorbed in the taste of scholastic pastimes did not relish anything now other than Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: The same Lord who was once absorbed in the rasa of scholastic pursuits, now did not relish anything other than Kṛṣṇa.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.250

pratyuṣe chātragaṇera āgamana mātrei prabhura kevala kṛṣṇālāpa—

paḍuyāra varga saba ati ūṣaḥ-kāle
paḍibāra nimitta āsiyā sabe mile

Translation: In the early morning, all His students would gather for studies.

Jayapatākā Swami: So His students came early in the morning to study. They came and they gathered together for the studies.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.251

paḍāite vaise giyā trijagat-rāya
kṛṣṇa-vinu kichu āra nā āise jihvāya

Translation: When the Lord of the three worlds began to teach, nothing other than Kṛṣṇa came from His mouth.

Jayapatākā Swami: Viśvambhara when He sat to teach, the Lord of the three worlds, He could not say anything other than Kṛṣṇa. Only Kṛṣṇa came from His tongue.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.252

śiṣyagaṇera jijñāsāra uttare prabhu-kartṛka sarva varṇera o vedera kṛṣṇatātparya-vyākhyāna—

“siddha-varṇa-samāmnāya?” bale śiṣya-gaṇa
prabhu bale,—“sarva-varṇe siddha nārāyaṇa”

Translation: The students asked, “What is the meaning of siddha-varṇa-samāmnāya?” The Lord replied, “Nārāyaṇa is situated in every letter of the alphabet.”

Commentary: The phrase siddha-varṇa-samāmnāya is the first sūtra of Kalāpa grammar. The sequence of reading vowels and consonants is well established since ancient times. By quoting the first sūtra of Kalāpa grammar, the Lord’s students asked whether the standard method of presenting the alphabet is indeed well established. In reply, the Lord said that from the eternal, pure, complete, eternally liberated, spiritual, and most important enlightened vidvad-rūḍhi every letter of the alphabet certainly refers to Nārāyaṇa. Persons who are on the ascending path study linguistic literature through ajña-rūḍhi, yet the Lord, following the descending process, explained that each letter of the alphabet indicates the Supreme Lord. If a conditioned soul tries to measure each letter of the alphabet through ajña-rūḍhi, then he will achieve only sensual knowledge not related to Nārāyaṇa. But vidvad-rūḍhi confirms that each letter of the alphabet is a direct manifestation of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Ajña-rūḍhi, the conventional meaning of words according to the unenlightened, turns materialistic mental speculators into speakers of nonsense, whereas the self-manifested Personality of Godhead, Lord Nārāyaṇa, manifests Himself in the form of letters to help the living entities chant His glories.

Jayapatākā Swami: So the students asked “what is the meaning of siddha-varṇa-samāmnāya?” The Lord replied, “Nārāyaṇa is situated in every letter of alphabet.”

So this phrase siddha-varṇa-samāmnāya is the first sūtra of Kalāpa grammar or Sanskrit grammar. So the sequence of the vowels and consonants is well established since ancient times. So by quoting this first sūtra of the Kalāpa grammar, so the lord… the students asked, what is the standard method of presenting the alphabets, is it complete, established… is it proper and in reply the Lord said, that the eternal, pure, complete, internally liberated, spiritual and most important vidvad-rūḍhi, every letter of the alphabet certainly refers to the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa. People who don’t understand this should study the Sanskrit grammar from some other perspective or following the ajña-rūḍhi which is the path of ignorance. So there are vidvad-rūḍhi, sādhāraṇa-rūḍhi and ajña-rūḍhi. So these souls who don’t relate the alphabets with the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa, are following the ajña-rūḍhi. But vidvad-rūḍhi confirms that each letter of the alphabet is a direct manifestation of the Lord Nārāyaṇa. So Lord Caitanya, Lord Gaurasundara, He was teaching Sanskrit grammar by using the holy name of the Lord. Śrīman Jīva Gosvāmī wrote Harināma… I don’t have name exactly… something like Harināma Vyākharan, which is Sanskrit grammar using the Harināma. So although the Supreme Lord is Adhokṣaja, He cannot be described in any combination of letters from A to Z and in Sanskrit standard a to aha. The Lord He allows Himself to be manifested in the letters to help the devotees, the living entities to chant His glories.

Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya 1.253

śiṣya bale,—“varṇa siddha haila kemane?”
prabhu bale,—“kṛṣṇa-dṛṣṭi-pātera kāraṇe”

Translation: The students asked, “How were the letters of the alphabet perfected?” The Lord replied, “By the merciful glance of Kṛṣṇa.”

Commentary: In reply to the students’ question regarding the perfection of the letters of the alphabet, the Lord said that it was due to the glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa; in other words, every letter is perfect because each one indicates the complete, perfectly pure, and eternally liberated holy names, which are nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So His students asked, “how will the letters be perfected… the letters of the alphabets be perfected?” Prabhu said or replied, “by Kṛṣṇa giving His glance over the letters, they are perfected.”

So in reply to the students’ question, regarding the perfection of the letters of the alphabets, it was due to the merciful glance of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In other words, every letter is perfect because each one indicates the pure, complete, perfectly liberated holy names which are non-different from Kṛṣṇa.

Oṁ tat sat! Anyone has any questions?

We are supposed to have a TOVP e-meeting Sunday morning but there is some discussion going on whether to have it on Saturday night. In that case it would interfere with the class. It was confirmed that the meeting will be on Sunday morning. So tomorrow could be a class!! Any questions on the internet?

Question, Lalitāṅgī Rādhā Devī Dāsī: What transformation exactly happened to Lord Caitanya during initiation that kṛṣṇa-prema immediately erupted in Him and He shed tears when He saw the lotus footprints of Lord Viṣṇu in Gayā?

Jayapatākā Swami: That is what happened. Before He saw Lord Viṣṇu’s footprints, and He wondered why He did not feel any ecstasy but after He was initiated and connected to the guru-paramparā, when He say the lotus footprint of Lord Viṣṇu He could not help but cry and on His way back to Navadvīpa He was in Kānāi-nāṭaśālā which is in Jhārikhaṇḍa state just opposite to the Malda town. So it is on the Ganges. And there He saw Lord Kṛṣṇa. who gradually came closer and close playing on His flute and then when it was obvious that the boy He saw was Kṛṣṇa, with a peacock feather in His turban, with those shark like ear rings, with the Śrīvatsa mark on His chest, with the veṇu being played by Him. Then He came up to Lord Viśvambhara, He embraced Him and sent Viśvambhara into extreme ecstasy and then He ran away. And Lord Viśvambhara, Gaurasundara was trying to follow Him but under a tree He disappeared. Lord Caitanya was rolling there on the ground. That place is still visible. You can go there and pay your obeisances. There are the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya there established by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda Ṭhākura. So after experiencing these things when He got back to Navadvīpa He confessed to the devotes in a private meeting in Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī’s house how He had wasted His life with scholastic pursuits. And now He realizes Kṛṣṇa is the most valuable thing or object and He told them you don’t know what it is like to have Kṛṣṇa and then lose Him. Where is Kṛṣṇa? WHERE IS KṚṢṆA? Kṛṣṇa kothāy? Kṛṣṇa kothāy and then He would put His arm around the devotees. Sometimes He would faint and all the devotees there would chant and cry. So many tears were coming from Lord Caitanya’s eyes that they thought the Ganges was flowing in the house of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī. This meeting of Lord Caitanya continued for 12 hours and when Lord Caitanya finally bid farewell and left, the devotees looked at each other and could not say anything. They went back and told the Vaiṣṇavas that Lord Caitanya now, He is no longer in His scholastics without Kṛṣṇa. He sees everything in relation to Kṛṣṇa. So some of the Vaiṣṇavas thought that now we have nothing to fear from the atheists, we have Nimāi Paṇḍita and He will defeat all these atheists. Like that they all rejoiced that Nimāi Paṇḍita became a devotee. Hare Kṛṣṇa!