20200215 Demigods Obtain Prema and Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī Approaches the Lord

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Demigods Obtain Prema and Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī Approaches the Lord

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 2.3.1

atha praviṣṭo nija-veśmani prabhur
babhau niśā-nātha-sahasra-rociṣā
uvāca cātraitya vasanti ke janāś
catur-mukhaḥ ṣaṇ-mukha-pañca-vaktriṇaḥ

Translation: Prabhu entered His home shining with a thousand rays like the lord of the night (moon) and asked, "Who are these four-faced (Brahmā), six-faced (Kārtikeya) and five-faced (Śiva) who have come to reside here?"

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.139

navadvīpe nitui pūrṇimācāmda gorā
prakāśaye nija-prema-amiyāra dhārā

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Gaura manifested and was shining like a full moon in Navadvīpa. He was always manifesting His nectar stream of ecstatic love.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.140

pibai caraṇāmṛta bhakata-cakorā
abādha karuṇā premā prakāśaye gorā

Jayapatākā Swami: The devotees were like the famous cakorā birds who only drank the water from the rain clouds, and they drank the nectar from the lotus feet of Lord Gaurāṅga, who by His unlimited mercy, constantly revealed the truth of pure love, of pure, ecstatic spiritual love. In the spiritual world, everything is on the basis of love. In the material world it is like a business deal, you satisfy my desires, I’ll satisfy yours, or I satisfy yours and you have to help me to satisfy mine. Like that! But in the spiritual world everyone wants to please Kṛṣṇa and they want Kṛṣṇa’s happiness and Kṛṣṇa, He reciprocates and He gives happiness to His devotees. If Kṛṣṇa is even a little bit happy, because He is so big and we are very small, for us it is like a tidal wave, like a tsunami of ecstasy! So, the devotees they are absorbed in this ecstatic spiritual love which the Lord Caitanya revealed to everyone. Otherwise we think that this material enjoyment is all that there is, and we are all happy for that. But once we taste the nectar of Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet, we taste the nectar of pure spiritual love, we don’t care about material enjoyment anymore.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.141

āra eka-dine kathā śuna aparūpa
nijaghare basi teja koṭi-kāma-rūpa

Jayapatākā Swami: Listen to another deva’s description of the Lord’s pastimes. He was sitting in His house and He was emitting effulgence like ten million Kāmadevas or Cupids!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.142

siṁhagrīva, kambukaṇṭha, kamalalocana
kahaye prakaṭa ghana gambhīra vacana

Jayapatākā Swami: His neck resembled that of a lion, and on His neck were the lion’s lined up like that of a conchshell and His eyes were like a lotus flower. He spoke in a very deep voice like that of the rumbling clouds. He said.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.143

e ghare ki dekhi cāri-pāmca-chaya-mukha
dekhite bāḍhaye mora antara-kautuka

Jayapatākā Swami: In my house I see people with four heads, five heads, six heads. Seeing them, My curiosity has increased in My heart.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 2.3.2

śrīvāsa-nāmā dvija-varya-sattamaḥ
śrutvāvadat taṁ vibudhāḥ samāgatāḥ
brahmeśvarau ṣaḍ-vadanādayaḥ prabho
tvāṁ sevituṁ prema-rasāmṛtābdhim

Translation: The best of the brāhmaṇas named Śrīvāsa replied, "Prabhu, the gods headed by Brahmā, Kārttikeya and Śiva have come to render service to You, who resemble a mellifluous ambrosial ocean of prema."Haribol! Gauuuuuurāṅga!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.144

śrīnivāsa-paṇḍita āchila prabhu-kāche
śuniyā uttara dila ye vidhāna āche

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita was by the side of the Lord, and hearing these words, he replied as follows.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.145

tomā dekhibāre saba deva-āgamana
brahmā-ādi cāri, pāmca chaya ye vadana

Jayapatākā Swami: To see You, all the devas have come – Brahmā, and others, Śiva, Kartikeya, etc. who have four five and six heads.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.146

premāra samudra tumi deha premadhana
tore premadhana māge saba devagaṇa

Jayapatākā Swami: Your body is an ocean of pure love of Kṛṣṇa and You give out the wealth or treasure of prema. The demigods have come to beg from you the wealth of kṛṣṇa prema, the treasure of kṛṣṇa-prema.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 2.3.3

tataḥ para-dine prāpte śuddha-devo varāsane
upaviśya sva-bhaktasya gātre padbhyāṁ samāspṛśat

Translation: When the morrow came, the pure Lord sat on an exalted seat amidst His bhaktas and touched His feet to their bodies.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.147

tabe sei mahāprabhu basi divyāsane
eka bhakta-aṅge aṅga-pada āra jane

Jayapatākā Swami: So the Lord, Mahāprabhu, sat on a grand seat. He was leaning on one devotee, His feet rested on another devotee.

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 2.3.4

śrīvāsa-paṇḍitādyās te praṇamya śirasā harim
vavrus tac-caraṇe bhaktiṁ prema-rūpāṁ sudurlabhām

Translation: Śrīvāsa Paṇdita and others, bowed their heads to the ground before Śrī Hari and prayed for the very rare loving devotion to His feet.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.148

śrīnivāsa-ādi kari yata bhaktajana
caraṇe paḍiyā tārā karaye rodana

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura and other devotees fell before the lotus feet of the Lord and wept and said.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.149

vara māmgo tora padāmbhuja-madhu-premā
deha ta āmāre prabhu karuṇāra sīmā

Jayapatākā Swami: We are begging from You a boon, a benediction, that we may have pure love for your lotus feet and have the nectar of Your love. Pure love for your lotus feet and have the taste of the nectar of love. Give us this mercy My Lord. You are the highest limit of mercy!

Murāri Gupta Kaḍaca 2.3.5

dadau tebhyo varān devo yatheṣṭān bhakta-vatsalaḥ
śuklāmbara-brahmacārī tam ūce puruṣarṣabham

Translation: The Lord who is favorably inclined to the devotees, awarded to each of them the boons which they coveted. Then Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī addressed that best of persons:

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.150

tabe viśvambhara prabhu bole meghanāde
leha ta sabhāre dila prema-parasāde

Jayapatākā Swami: In a voice like the thundering of the cloud, Lord Viśvambhara said, take, I give you all the mercy of love of Kṛṣṇa!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.151

tatkāla haila prema saba devatāra
bhāvamaya śarīra haila camatkāra

Jayapatākā Swami: At that time, all the demigods present, received pure love of Kṛṣṇa. Their body was filled with ecstasy of love of Kṛṣṇa and they were feeling wonderful!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.152

hā rādhāgovinda, bali nāce devagaṇa
dekhiyā vaiṣṇava saba haraṣita mana

Jayapatākā Swami: Ha! Ha! Radha Govinda! The demigods called out and danced! Seeing this the Vaiṣṇavas present became very joyful at heart!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.153

devagaṇa nāce devīgaṇa kari saṅge
aśru, pulaka, sveda- premāra taraṅge

Jayapatākā Swami: Not only the demigods were dancing, but their damsels, goddess and their consorts were also dancing with them. Tears of love, hairs standing on end and perspiration of love appeared to do the waves of love of Godhead.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.154

kṣaṇe bhūmi gaḍi’ yāya caraṇe paḍiyā
kṣaṇe ubharāye nāce haribola baliyā

Jayapatākā Swami: One moment they rolled on the ground and fell before the Lord’s lotus feet. Another moment, they danced and called out at the top of their voice, HARIBOL! HARIBOL!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.155

kṣaṇe stava kare gauragovinda baliyā
kṣaṇe daṇḍavat kare caraṇe paḍiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: One moment they praised the Lord with the words Gaura Govinda! Gaura Govinda! Gaura Govinda! One moment they fell down like sticks, offering their prostrate obeisances before the lotus feet of the Lord.

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.156

kṣaṇe pada mastake dhariyā devagaṇa
vara māge-tora pade rantha mora mana

Jayapatākā Swami: At that moment the demigods fell at the lotus of the Lord and begged, please keep Your lotus feet in our hearts!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.157

tathāstu baliyā prabhu bole bāra bāra
premadhana paripūrṇa hau to-sabhāra

Jayapatākā Swami: Again and again, the Lord replied, thatāsthu! thatāsthu! So be it! So be it! All of you become filled with the treasure of Kṛṣṇa Prema!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.158

devagaṇa prema pāi gelā nijasthāna
dekhiyā sakala bhakta anandita mana

Jayapatākā Swami: The demigods received the mercy of pure Kṛṣṇa Prema, pure love of Kṛṣṇa and they went to their own abodes. When this was seen by all the devotees, they became very happy in their heart, very blissful at heart!

Caitanya Maṅgala, Madhya-khaṇḍa 2.1.159

eteka vacana baila bhakatavatsala
karuṇā-prakāśa dekhi’ bole śuklāmbara

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the Lord is known as bhakatavatsala, which means affectionate to His devotees. Seeing the mercy of the Lord, Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī spoke.

This is the end of the chapter. Ha! Ha! Strange way to end though!

So, from this we can understand that Lord Brahmā, Śiva, Kārtikeya and others were all blessed by Lord Caitanya to have pure love of Kṛṣṇa. They were also devotees, and we pay obeisances to them as devotees.

vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca kripa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo namaḥ.

What time is it? Any questions?

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, (Guru Mahārāja said: Yes!) we see here demigods are receiving mercy of Prema and human beings are also receiving by Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. What about demons – did Prahlāda Mahārāja, Bali Mahārāja also participate in Lord Gaurāṅga’s pastimes? Shanta Gopi devi dasi.

Jayapatākā Swami: There is a book called Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, that tells who was who in the Caitanya pastimes. So like, Murāri Gupta was Hanumān and I think Prahlāda also participated. But you have to see the Gaura-ganodeśa-dīpīka book. The Jaya and Vijaya appeared in caitanya-līlā and they were who, they were delivered by the Lord. But why do you ask about Prahlāda? He was no demon, he was son of a demon. Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā says that Prahlāda Mahārāja was Haridāsa Ṭhākura. But we also heard that Haridāsa Ṭhākura was Lord Brahmā – he was known as Brahma-Haridāsa. So I don’t know, he is both. Some people are two in one. The Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā says that Prahlāda Mahārāja was Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Any other questions? Is Mādhavendra Prabhu here?

Today the devas called Lord Caitanya as Gaura Govinda. Day before yesterday was the 13^th of February, was not only the appearance day of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, but also the disappearance day of Gaura Govinda Mahārāja. I usually attend the disappearance day of Gaura Govinda Mahārāja, but I had the opening of the TOVP first floor, and other programs so it became difficult to attend all. But Gaura Govinda Mahārāja he was a very special devotee, and we are missing him a lot.

Any questions?

Question from Facebook, Hṛdaya Vallabhī devī dāsī: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. Is it wrong to hear Kṛṣṇa-kathā from any other Vaiṣṇavas except those who are ISKCON devotees? Sometimes when we hear lectures from other Vaiṣṇavas, especially from some senior vraja-vāsīs, when they start telling about kṛṣṇa-līlā they attract many of us, because we know Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, but then we get to know that we are not allowed to listen from others who are not from ISKCON.

Jayapatākā Swami: See, if someone tells a thing which is a few degrees off, it may not seem very much. But if you are going to the moon or some place, it can make a big difference. So, we have some joint programs and in those programs different members of the Gauḍīya Maṭha speak and devotees visit, and if we they say something wrong, we can correct that and note it.  But sometimes certain people would say something that would seem very nice but they will add little criticism inside that your guru doesn’t know these pastimes or something like that and those things are actually very offensive from the point of listener. So generally, it’s said that we should not listen from people not from our paramparā, but if we do listen we have to be learned enough to be able to tell if they are saying something which is improper, and Śrīla Prabhupāda he forbade people to go to one old devotee, but then he gave me special permission. So, I went there to do Śrīla Prabhupāda’s work. But that devotee, he tried to tell me that I know something that your guru doesn’t know. Something like that. I am going to tell you. I said, I have to catch a train, and I left! But sometimes people are very cunning. They tell you some very nice pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and then they say something, your paramparā is not correct, you have to get from us. Something like that, so I can’t say, there may be some vraja-vāsīs who are okay. But maybe there is some who is not. It is hard to just say. But generally we have to receive permission from our dīkṣā guru, from some advanced devotee, someone should be listened to or not, because if they are in the habit of criticizing, they may not criticize you at first, they will get your faith and then they will start to criticize later. So that can be very dangerous spiritually. Like in ISKCON we have standards for first and second initiation. It is not as easy as in some missions. They give out the initiation very easy, if you chant four rounds, take brāhmaṇa initiation. We say that you have to chant 16 rounds for minimum one year, you have time up to two years, we have various standards and to get disciples! But if they hear an ISKCON devotee is chanting 16 rounds for two years, they say do you want sannyāsa? For us he is just a bhakta. So we have to be a bit careful, who we associate with and who we can take guidance from the people at that places. It is not that we are not against any Vaiṣṇava but just cautioning. All that glitters is not gold as they say!

Alright 9 o clock, last question

Question: What is the difference between sin and aparādha? If a devotee or a disciple fails on his commitments or breaks rules, is it a sin or aparādha?

Your servant.
Vraja Prāṇa dāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes! Yes! If you are a devotee, if you break a principle, that is usually a sin also. But if you are initiated you have taken a vow, then you are not only breaking a principle, committing a sin plus offence. If you have are not initiated, a bhakta, shelter or something and you break a principle, you have not taken a vow, so it is not aparādha but it is a sin. And at the aspiring or shelter, it is a trial basis, but at the time of initiation you take vows. So by that time, you should have know that you cannot follow, and you won’t commit such sins like gambling illicit sex, intoxication, meat fish onion garlic eating. So if you have initiation, I say, yes it is, because you are both committing a sin plus an offence. I was told by some South Indian that the Śiva saint, some rishi, thousand years ago, he predicted that people who eat creatures which have poison, or which have poison fangs, if we eat that we will develop some breathing difficulty and then die. So it seems like the corona virus is predicted by this ṛṣi. He says it comes from eating snakes and bats! And someone complained that there is plenty of vegetables in the market in China, but no meat. They should learn to be vegetarian. Stop eating snakes, and things. We cannot think how they eat these things! So this is how they said that this disease started with animals and somehow it crossed over to human beings. So in Wuhan they have a big market of snakes and things. So unfortunately, once it comes to humans, any human if they are together doesn’t matter if you eat them or not, it doesn’t discriminate against gender, race, nationality, anybody. So devotees should be very careful. Somehow, we should send a message to devotees from China on this horrible situation. There is nothing that they have done themselves. We pray that they will be able to help, able to maintain their Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You see when there is some difficulty, it is a good opportunity to preach.  Maybe the people will be more receptive to being vegetarian if they knew that, by eating meat they are endangering themselves. Any way let us chant three times Hare Kṛṣṇa to encourage and bless our Chinese brothers and sisters! Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

Question: When there is a misunderstanding between the disciple and spiritual master, how can Lord Caitanya help the disciple to rebuild the relationship when the disciple approaches the Lord? - Sūdhira Caitanya dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: The guru is the representative of Lord Nityānanda. So naturally He is very merciful, and he wants to help the disciple get back to Kṛṣṇa. So it for the disciple to reestablish his relation with his spiritual master. The disciple may think that there is a misunderstanding, between the guru and his disciple, but that should be seen, what is the reason that there is a misunderstanding, maybe there is not a misunderstanding. May be the guru tells the disciple to do something to help the disciple, but the disciple he doesn’t want to do that, he may question the spiritual master, whatever question he has.  But Lord Caitanya can help everybody to have love of Kṛṣṇa and certainly by love we can cross over all the obstacles. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Alright, thank you very much, Haribol!