20190209 Ṣoḍaśopacāra Worship of the Lord [Part – 1]

mūkhaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī gurum dina tarinam
paramānanda mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya īśvaram
hari oṁ tat sat

Introduction: So today is the auspicious 9^th of February, good day to do devotional service. Tomorrow is Vasanta Pañcamī and Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi appearance day, Sarasvatī-pūjā – all the students like to take blessings of Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning and culture, because by her blessings one will get flying colors in the final exams. She is also the wife of Lord Nārāyaṇa. So Keśava Kāśmīrī had her blessings, and he defeated all the other Paṇḍitas throughout India, and so he was known as Digvijaya Keśava Kāśmīrī. But when he met Lord Caitanya as Nimāi Paṇḍita, he was defeated, he could not speak, he was overwhelmed. So, then he prayed to Sarasvatī why did you forsake me? She said, well, you are arguing with My husband, so I couldn’t help you! So next day he went and surrendered at the lotus feet of Nimāi Paṇḍita, and asked that He reveal His real identity. So Nimāi Paṇḍita showed that He was the Lord Himself, but He said not to reveal that to anyone else, while He was present in the world. So Keśava Kāśmīrī became an ācārya in the Nimbārka line and promoted the worship of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.

Anyway, today, I had my voice therapy. Many words you had submitted that could not be understood, so he had me repeat them. He said I had to be careful to certain things, and after my afternoon nap, I went cycling. Today I did a mere 870 cycles! MERE! MERE! My record is 1200 but I had to return because it was getting late! We have Caitanya Avatāri [dāsa] here from Bengaluru, and we have Harilīlā [dāsa] from Māyāpur. They came to help some gṛhasthas. So, like this, tomorrow we are having initiations, but in the temple they are having three weddings, so there is no space in the temple, so we have to go somewhere else. But tomorrow is an auspicious day.

Ṣoḍaśopacāra Worship of the Lord [Part – 1]

Today, anyway, we will start a new chapter, ṣoḍaśa-upacāra, 16 items worship of the Lord.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.36

devagaṇera chadmaveśe gaura-abhiṣeka

devatā-sakale dhari' narera ākṛti
gupte abhiṣeka kare, ye haya sukṛti

Jayapataka Swami: The demigods were very fortunate, they took the form of human beings, and secretly they participated in the abhiṣeka, the bathing ceremony of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. That was their great good fortune!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.37

mahāprabhu pādapadme pādyādi-pradānera mahimā

yāṅra pāda-padme jala-bindu dile mātra
seha dhyāne, sākṣāte ke dite āche pātra?

Jayapataka Swami: Whose lotus feet, even if one offers a drop of water in their meditation, they get delivered! To be personally present and offer bathing to the Lord, what to speak of offering directly, personally to the Lord? So, if one, even in meditation, worships the Lord’s lotus feet, he gets naturally blessings from the Lord of pure devotional service. What to speak if one directly offers water to the Lord’s lotus feet? So how fortunately the people were 500 or so years ago, that they could personally bathe the lotus feet of the Lord, they could personally associate with the Lord, they had so much sukṛti or good fortune!!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.38

tathāpiha tāre nāhi yama-daṇḍa haya
hena prabhu sākṣāte sabāra jala laya

Jayapataka Swami: Therefore, they are never subject to the punishment of Yamarāja, if they offer this worship to the Lord. That the Lord, He was now directly accepting the water from everybody. So Lord Caitanya therefore, is called the parama-karuṇa. He is the most merciful of all the avatars. In the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, quotes the following Vedic śloka. By offering the water to the lotus feet of the Lord, a person will live in Vaikuṇṭha for as many thousands of years as the number of drops of water that He offers to My body, and the demigods headed by Indra would worship such a person.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.39

śrīvāsera dāsa-dāsī-gaṇe āne jala
prabhu snāna kare, bhakta-sevāra ei phala

Jayapataka Swami: Śrīvāsa’s servants and maid servants brought the water from the Ganges and also bathed the Lord! But by serving the devotees of the Lord, they got this fruit! So, service to the devotees is a great opportunity to get the service of the Lord! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.40

śrīvāsera ‘duḥkhī’ dāsīra saubhāgya—

jala āne eka bhāgyavatī `duḥkhī' nāma
āpane ṭhākura dekhi' bale,—“āna āna”

Jayapataka Swami: One most fortunate maid servant of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura brought Ganges water and her name was Duḥkhī or sad! So, when the Lord saw her, He encouraged her saying, bring it, bring it, bring it!!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.41

āpane ṭhākura tā'ra bhakti-yoga dekhi’
‘duḥkhī’-nāma ghucāiyā thūilena ‘sukhī’

Jayapataka Swami: So, the Lord Gaurāṅga Himself, seeing her enthusiasm for devotional service, changed her name from Duḥkhī or unhappy to Sukhī or happy!! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! So, this is how to become happy. Serve the Lord and His devotees and you will become Sukhī! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.42

nānā veda-mantra paḍi' sarva-bhakta-gaṇa
snāna karāiyā aṅga karilā mārjana

Jayapataka Swami: They chanted various Vedic mantras, all the devotees chanted various Vedic mantras and they bathed the Lord’s transcendental body and cleansed the Lord.

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 5.47

snānānte bara-basanena sāraẏitbā
gātrāmbhaḥ kara-yugalena tasya paścāt
śrīvāsas tanutara-śubhra-śuddha-bāso-
dvandbena prasarabatā sukhena bheje

se yāhā haüka śrīvāsa gaurāṅgadevera snānānantara haste utkṛṣṭa basana grahaṇa kariẏā tadbārā tadīẏa gātrajala apasāraṇa karata paścāt śubhravarṇa duikhāni supraśasta sūkṣama basana mahāprabhura agre arpana karilena

Jayapataka Swami: After the bath of Lord Gaurāṅga, Śrīvāsa with his own hands, taking fine cloth, dried the Lord and offered Him two pieces of white, fine cloth, and he was very happy to make this offering to Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu!

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 5.48

śrī-gauras tanu-basana-dbaẏaṃ gṛhītbā
nīhāra-pracaẏa-supṛkta-meru-śobhām
jagrāhodbhaṭa-mahasā mahīẏasāsau
sambhinno drutam abiśac ca deva-beśma

takhana mahāprabhu basanadbaẏa paridhāna kariẏā nīhāra saṃsikta sumeruparbatera śobhā dhāraṇa pūrbaka sumahatteje dedīpyamana haïẏā śīghra devagṛhe prabeśa karilena

Jayapataka Swami: When the Lord wore the two pieces of fine cloth, Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu was like mount Meru wrapped in a mist! Shining with great effulgence He quickly entered the Viṣṇu temple.

Caitanya-Bhāgavata, Madhya-khaṇḍa 9.43

paridhāna karāilā nūtana vasana
śrī-aṅge lepilā divya sugandhi-candana

Jayapataka Swami: The Lord was dressed in new fine cloth, and on His transcendental form, pure sandalwood paste, highly fragrant, was applied to His transcendental body.

How many more verses? 13

Caitanya Carita Mahā Kāvya 5.49

tasyāntaḥ sapadi nibiśya gauracandraḥ
paryaṅke lalita-rucau mahāmahasbān
devānāṃ pratikṛti-sañcaẏaṃ samantād
ākṣipya svaẏam akarot sukhopabeśam

tathāẏa paryaṅkopari upabeśana kariẏā mahātejomaẏa śarīrera śobhāẏa debamurti samūhake ākṣepa kariẏā sukhe abasthiti karite lāgilena

Jayapataka Swami: So this Caitanya-carita Mahā Kāvya is written in Sanskrit with a Bengali and English translation. But the Bengali translation is too small for me to read.

So, I will just have Acintya Caitanya [dāsa] read the English. There, inside the mandir, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, with His effulgent, radiant, form, sat on top of an attractive seat. The deities who were present transcended there, felt happy with the Lord’s presence, with His personal beauty.

So we will continue, I think that tomorrow we may not reach here on time, I don’t know, It is a busy day tomorrow, with initiations happening. So we will try to reach. We may just have a short class of questions and answers. We will see. Are there any questions? If you had any words that you had difficulty in understanding, tell Ekarāṇī devī dāsī here or if you are on internet, send them and Gīteśvarī devī dāsī and Kairava Candrikā devī dāsī will bring it up. Any questions?

Question: Can devotees who are not yet chanting 16 rounds keep Gaura Nitāi Deities at home for worship?

Jayapataka Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda when he was six years old, he was given small Rādhā Kṛṣṇa Deities by his father and he worshipped those as practice Deities. They weren’t installed but they were worshipped. When he went to college, he gave those deities to his younger sister, who continued the worship, and then they were given to Māyāpur. So, we had them installed, and we are worshipping. So, one can worship a picture, which is called citrapāṭa. When one wants to worship a Deity, they can do so as a practice, practice Deity, not installed. It is like citrapāṭa worship. But if one offends the Deity, it is more serious.

Sadguru Sevānandinī devī dāsī from Delhi: As you mentioned about serving devotees, when we serve devotees, we expect service in return. How can we develop mood of serving devotees selflessly, and give them unconditional love as you are giving to us, without expecting anything in return?

Jayapatākā Swami: In the third verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam, Lord Caitanya says amāninā māna-dena, give respect to others and don’t except respect for yourself. So, this giving service to devotees and expecting return is a business deal! I give you service, you give me service! Sounds like business. You work for your employer, he pays you! That is not love, that is business. You don’t work for him, you don’t make profit for the company, he fires you! He lays you off! Goodbye, thanks a lot! But if we serve the devotee or serve the guru we don’t expect anything in return, anything material. We get blessings, we get recognition from Kṛṣṇa, that is all we want.

Question: If I have a material desire, but I also want to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then can we do both the things?

Why does one round of chanting have 108 repetitions?

Jayapataka Swami: One question at a time. We try to dovetail our material desire with Kṛṣṇa’s service. Say we want to eat nice food, offer to Kṛṣṇa nice food, take the prasāda. Say we want a nice house, so plan it that part of the house you can use for preaching. Many disciples in the Middle East, they build their house in India and they kept the garage or some part of the house for preaching. In this, you should also see that the preaching part is separate from the living part. The family should have its privacy, at the same time, the preaching should also go on. So in that way some of the people may design the house in such a way that it has a preaching facility, at the same time there is privacy for family. But if wants to eat cow meat, that cannot be dovetailed. So normal material desire may be dovetailed, but not sinful ones.

Jayapataka Swami: Regarding the 108, 108 is the numerical equivalent of the Absolute Truth, aṣṭottara-śata so 108 therefore is a special number. In fact, in front of the guru’s name sometimes 108 is mentioned. In Kumbha-melā you find different māyāvādīs or, ācāryas, some put 108 some put 1008, some put 10008, 100,0008 and so on. I million eight! Ha! So, they call themselves Jagat-guru. Prabhupāda said that they are in charge of one village āśrama, and they call themselves worldwide guru, Jagat-guru. Prabhupāda he was a real Jagat-guru. But since the Jagat-guru name had been so cheapened he said, please don’t call me Jagat-guru. Alright, thank you very much! I will go here and meet the devotees, behind the glass.