20200612 Glories of Devotional Service

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 12^th June 2020 in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India

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

Chapter: Glories of Devotional Service

…continued

Introduction: So, this our fourth class today, we had the TOVP, Temple of Vedic Planetarium, Exhibits of the Planetarium, meeting in the morning. We had also the meeting with the Nāmahaṭṭa preachers. We had the Food Relief meeting, it went a little longer today, and now we are having the Lord Caitanya Book class, after this meeting with Bangladesh. So today this is the fourth class, and tonight we have one more class.

We are reading about “the glories of devotional service”, we got halfway through this chapter yesterday and the other half, hope today we will finish. The point is that to be a servant of the Supreme Lord, is the most exalted situation, Brahmā, Śiva, Anantadevā, are very happy to be called as devotees of the Lord, and the Supreme Lord, He is so kind to His devotees. Actually, the Lord is the sevya-bhagavān, or the object of worship, and the devotee is the sevaka-bhagavān, he is the worshipper. So, on the Absolute platform, both are on the similar level. Actually, to be a worshiper or servant of the Supreme Lord, is a most exalted position, and we saw how the Lord, He drank the water of Kolaveca Śrīdhara, from his broken iron water pot, because he was a devotee. So being a devotee of the Lord is so exalted, and people saw how Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu drank the water from His poor devotee, they were crying in ecstasy, to see the mercy of the Lord. One does not need to think, oh to worship Kṛṣṇa, I have to be rich, I have to be famous, you just have to be devoted, that’s all that counts. People are proud of their material positions, that is a disqualification, not a qualification. So today, we continue.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.478

advaitaprabhura svarūpānabhijña vyaktigaṇera tadviṣaye vibhinna dhāraṇāya duḥkha-prāpti—

hena bhakta advaitere balite hariṣe
pāpī-saba duḥkha pāya nija-karma-doṣe

Jayapatākā Swami: The sinful people experience sadness due to their own misdeeds, by not accepting Advaita as a devotee, graciously.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.479

‘bhakta’ nāme śrīkṛṣṇera santoṣa—

kṛṣṇera santoṣa baḍa ‘bhakta’ hena nāme
kṛṣṇacandra vine bhakta āra ke vā jāne

Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇa is greatly pleased, greatly satisfied, with one who is accepted as a devotee or a bhakta, who other than Kṛṣṇa, knows the glories of the devotees, of the “bhaktas”?

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.480

‘ahaṃ brahmāsmi’ abhimānī pāṣaṇḍa o svarāṭapuruṣottam svaẏaṃ bhagavānera prabhāvera tāratamya—

udara-bharaṇa lāgi’ ebe pāpī saba
laoyāya ‘īśvara āmi’, —mūle jaradgava

Jayapatākā Swami: Those who claim to be God, in order to fill their stomachs, are sinful people, and they are actually all fools or idiots.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.481

garddabha-śṛgāla-tulya śiṣya-gaṇa laiyā
keha bale, —“āmi raghunātha bhāva' giyā”

Jayapatākā Swami: Some say to their disciples, who are ass-like, fox-like, go and meditate on me as Raghunātha, as Rāmacandra.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.482

kukkurera bhakṣya deha, —ihāre laiyā
balaye ‘īśvara’ viṣṇu-māyā-mugdha haiyā

Jayapatākā Swami: Although they have material bodies which is fit to be eaten by dogs, they call themselves as God, under the influence of the material energy of Lord Viṣṇu.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.483

sarva-prabhu gauracandra śrī-śacī-nandana
dekha tāṅra śakti ei bhariyā nayana

Jayapatākā Swami: The Lord of all Lords, Gauracandra, Śrī Śacīnandana, the son of Mother Śacī, see His unlimited power, to the full satisfaction of your eyes!

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.484

icchā-mātra koṭi koṭi samṛddha haila
kata koṭi mahādīpa jvalite lāgila

Jayapatākā Swami: Simply by His desire, millions of people gathered together, with millions of large, burning torches.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.485

ke vā ropileka kalā prati-dvāre dvāre
ke vā gāya, vā'ya ke vā, puṣpa-vṛṣṭi kare

Jayapatākā Swami: Who decorated each doorstep with auspicious items like banana trees? Who sang? who played the musical instruments? and who showered the flowers? You see, in modern democracies, there are sometimes protests and processions. But it is rare to see millions of people who participate, and also spontaneously singing, dancing. How all the doorways were decorated with all auspicious symbols? Like full water pots, mango leaves, strung up over the doorway, the banana trees with bunches of bananas. Who rained the flowers from the sky? Who put the puffed rice on the road? You don’t see these types of things in ordinary processions, and neither are the people in ecstasy of love of Godhead. So, this was an amazing procession, that showed the divine power of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu, there may be many modern processions, but nothing like this!

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.486

śrīdharera jalapāne prabhura premabhāve sagoṣṭhī nṛtya-kīrtana—

karilena mātra śrīdharera jala-pāna
ki haila nā jāni premera adhiṣṭhāna

Jayapatākā Swami: When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu simply drank the water of His devotee Śrīdhara, what love was manifest there, is beyond my ability to explain!

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.487

bhakata-vātsalya dekhi’ tribhuvana kānde
bhūmite loṭāya keha keśa nāhi bāndhe

Jayapatākā Swami: When the people of the three worlds of the universe, saw the great affection the Lord had for His devotee, all the people of the three worlds were crying. Some rolled on the ground, with their hair loose, they were so affected, so appreciative of the Lord’s mercy on His devotee.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.488

śrīdhara kāndaye tṛṇa dhariyā daśane
ucca kari' `hari' bale sajala nayane

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīdhara was crying, humbly holding a grass, a straw, between his teeth. Loudly he was chanting, haribol! The name of Hari, with tears in his eyes. Normally all the religions of the world are saying that one should love the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but how actually to love the Lord? that seems to be a mystery for many. But here, Śrīdhara was shown such mercy by the Lord, that he naturally started to cry and showed all the symptoms of love for Godhead. So, we actually see that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is so affectionate to His devotee. Why one would not serve such a Lord? When He reciprocates so much with His devotee?

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.489

“ki jala karila pāna tridaśera rāya”
nācaye śrīdhara, kānde, kare ‘hāya hāya’

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīdhara was dancing, crying and lamenting, that, “Alas! what kind of water had the Lord of the three worlds drunk?” Śrīdhara being a very humble devotee, he wanted to offer the best to the Lord. But the Lord seeing the broken iron pot of His devotee, did not hesitate to drink the water contained therein. Simply because, for Him, the most important thing was that one be a devotee. So, He didn’t hesitate to drink the water. But Śrīdhara was lamenting, that he could not offer, what he felt was a suitable water for His Lord!

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.490

bhakta-jala pāna kari’ prabhu viśvambhara
śrīdhara-aṅgane nāce vaikunṭha-īśvara

Jayapatākā Swami: After drinking the water of His devotee, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, danced in the courtyard of Śrīdhara.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.491

priya-gaṇe catur-dike gāya mahā-rase
nityānanda gadādhara śobhe dui pāśe

Jayapatākā Swami: His dear associates danced and sang in all sides of the Lord, in great, loving ecstasy, Nityānanda and Gadādhara were dancing on the two sides of the Lord.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.492

śrīdharera bhāgyadarśane brahmādirao praśaṁsā—

kholā-vecā sevakera dekha bhāgya-sīmā
brahmā, śiva kānde yāṅra dekhiyā mahimā

Jayapatākā Swami: See the limit of the good fortune of Śrīdhara the banana seller! Even Brahmā, Śiva were crying when they saw his glories. So, the glories of the devotee are such that, even Brahmā and Śiva were crying, when they saw how the Lord was reciprocating with His devotee. This showed the good fortune of being a devotee of the Lord.

Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 23.493

bhagavān śrīcaitanyadeva bhaktimātre vādhya—

dhane, jane, pāṇḍitye kṛṣṇere nāhi pāi
kevala bhaktira vaśa caitanya gosāñi

Jayapatākā Swami: Wealth, followers or great scholarship are not the qualification to attain Kṛṣṇa. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is only controlled by devotional service.

Thus, ends the chapter entitled, Glories of Devotional Service

So devotional service is the thing which touches the heart of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, one should try to achieve devotional service. Wealth, followers, scholarship, academic qualifications, by all these things one cannot obtain Kṛṣṇa. But if one has devotion, if he has devotional service, that is the real qualification. In Śāntipur, Lord Advaita had observed the disappearance day of His guru Mādhavendra Purī, and He made such an elaborate function for His guru’s disappearance day, and Lord Caitanya had declared that, anyone who takes prasāda at this place, at this tithi, he gets Govinda-bhakti. So, how great is devotion to Kṛṣṇa? It may seem like a simple thing, but it is the greatest achievement. Haribol! We will have just a couple of questions and then we have to go.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear beloved spiritual father, Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances, All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

In context of King Bahulāśva and the poor brāhmaṇa episode, There is largely growing concern in the masses that ISKCON society, internationally, it only belongs to the rich, opulent in high material positions, and considered as good devotees, and also they are more close to gurus and sannyāsīs. Whereas meek, humble and submissive poor devotees are considered less fortunate, and even those lose their position, their opulence, are bereft of the mercy of less mercy from gurus and sannyāsīs. Similarly, their humble, poor offerings are considered less significant. How should we deal with it within the society and with public at large?

Your humble servant,
Aravindākṣa Govinda dāsa,
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Jayapatākā Swami: Well, during this lockdown period, I make various visits by Zoom. Some houses I visit are bamboo structures, and some houses I visit are opulent structures, some are in between. We don’t have any particular policy, that we only visit the houses of the rich, that way we saw that Kṛṣṇa, He visited both the king and His poor devotee. So, I think that the major donors who support the temple, they may be seen as getting some reciprocation from the gurus and sannyāsīs. But that is maybe because they are major contributors. So, we are grateful for their help. But that doesn’t mean that a simple devotee is not also worthy of the Lord’s mercy. Rather, who has more devotion, he may get more mercy from Kṛṣṇa. It is unfortunate, it seems like those who are major donors receive more mercy. It’s quite natural that we want to take care of the people who are donors, because by their contributions, we are able to serve everyone. But naturally our services are for all of the devotees, just like we are giving out five thousand plates a day. We are receiving donations from different devotees; we are praying for them and we are able to distribute the prasāda to the poor people. So, it may seem that we are reciprocating with the rich who are giving donations, but we are actually using their donation to serve the poor, and I personally am very grateful for all the devotees who are chanting and practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and in our Congregational Development Ministry, I want to reward those who are doing lots of preaching. There is no particular reward for the major donors. So, no one should feel that they are bereft of mercy because they are not able to give donation.

Last question.

Question: Dear Gurudeva, my eternal spiritual father, please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Lord Gaurāṅga and all glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. Every day I hear from you telling about the sweet pastimes of Lord Caitanya, which gives us unlimited purification and divine energy. We all miss you and love you very much. We have been praying to the Lord all the time. May the Lord bless you with health and longevity, happy and auspicious. In recent years my team and I have been spreading the holy name and distributing Bhagavad-gītās. Even though many people chant and read, still they are not elevated to the level of spiritual realization. Please mercifully tell us the secrets of spreading the holy names. Thousands of times obeisances to your lotus feet.

Your humble Chinese disciple,
Prahlāda Kṛṣṇa dāsa, China.

Jayapatākā Swami: See if people chant the holy name and read the Bhagavad-gītā, they should get the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, and Śrīla Prabhupāda always said that devotional service is a gradual process. And we see some people chant 2 rounds a day, or 4 rounds a day, so that adds up in a year - 4 rounds is 2.5 million names of Kṛṣṇa, and 8 rounds is 5 million, and 16 rounds is 10 million, and if someone chants every day, even if it is a little bit, it adds up to thousands and millions in a year. You should encourage everyone to chant, it’s like the drip irrigation. You put a drip of water at the root of the plant, and the plant will grow more and more. So, don’t expect that the plant overnight will grow, just have the people continually watering the plant, and naturally the devotional creeper grows and grows. I think you could also give out tulasī seeds and have the people plant tulasī seeds and worship the plant. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that if we give out the plants, and if people offend the plant, and they don’t take care, then we are responsible. But if we give out the seeds and they plant, they are responsible. So we should give out seeds and not baby plants, let people have the blessing to plant the seed and see the plant grow, and by chanting to that tulasī plant, offering incense or a lamp, circumambulate, they get immense spiritual blessings. If we give out baby tulasī plants and they don’t take care, then we are responsible. But if they plant the seed, then they get all the mercy, we are not responsible. So, having some situation to give out tulasī seeds, that could be promoted. Thank you very much.