20210319 Navadvīpa Maṇḍala Parikramā Day 3 Campahaṭṭi Address

nāma oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramananda madhavam śrī caitanya iswaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

So, you have come to this Gaura-Gadādhara temple. You heard the glories of these Deities. You heard about Ṛtudvīpa. So, you heard many things. Like how Bhīma came to this part of Navadvīpa. So, today you are visiting three islands. Ṛtudvīpa, Jahnudvīpa and Modadrumadvīpa. Tomorrow you are going to Koladvīpa – I have heard.

So, here one pastime happened, that Jayadeva Gosvāmī, he was living in Māyāpur, just near to the birthplace of Lord Caitanya, thousands of years ago. The king of Bengal, his capital was in Navadvīpa, he went to see Jayadeva. Jayadeva being a brāhmaṇa, he was insulted, since the king came to meet him without taking his permission. He said he would leave Māyāpur. The king begged for forgiveness. Since the king requested, although Jayadeva wanted to leave Māyāpur, he said, he could be in Navadvīpa, he will stay on the other side of Navadvīpa, across the river. So, that’s why he was living in the same place as the Gaura-Gadādhara temple.

So, he was writing the Gītā Govinda. One place he saw that Kṛṣṇa was begging forgiveness from Rādhārāṇī. He thought, “How can this be? Because Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Lord. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How could He beg forgiveness from Rādhārāṇī?” So, he didn’t write that, he told his wife that he is going to bathe in Ganges. Then he left and he went to the Ganges.

Then He came back into the house and He said, “I want to write something!” He wrote something in the book. Then He asked His wife “Give me prasāda!” He ate, He left. He said, “I have to go somewhere!” His wife was taking prasāda. Then he entered the house. He said, “How you are taking prasāda?” She explained, “You came, you wrote something in the book, and you asked for prasāda, I fed you. Then you left.”

He went and looked at his book. At that time, he was writing on the tala leaves. He saw that what he was thinking about, that was already written. Then he asked his wife, “What did He look like?” “Exactly like you!” He said, “You are the most fortunate lady in the whole world! Kṛṣṇa came Himself, He wrote in the book! He ate your food, and then He left. You are the most fortunate lady!” Haribol! Haribol! Haribol!

So, then what he had thought about, Kṛṣṇa wrote in the book. This is a multiple pastime place. Jayadeva Gosvāmī, also Dvija-vāṇīnātha, Gadādhara, Lord Caitanya were here. Also, this place was located by His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda Ṭhākura. And one disciple stayed here from childhood, until his old age, 100 years. At the end of his life, he took bābājī, he was Nayanānanda Bābājī. And the brahmacārī who is here now, he is very friendly with ISKCON. So, we usually give him some donation. He is very kind, he builds a paṇḍal and everything here. You can see the Deities, if you want you can leave some praṇāmī.

So today actually, you are visiting three islands, normally it would take two days. Since we are not camping out, you are going today. From this holy dhāma of Ṛtudvīpa, you will pass through Vidyānagara, you will see the Rādhā-kuṇḍa, you will see the birth place of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, see where all the Vedas were manifested, Vidyānagara, see the Jahnu Muni āśrama, where the Ganges got the name Jāhnavī. You will see the āśrama of Sāraṅga Ṭhākura and Vāsudeva Dutta, also the birthplace of Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura, and many holy places like this.

It is non-different from Sūrya-kuṇḍa, Arkaṭila, and the place where the Pāṇḍavas stayed in Navadvīpa, before they went to Ekacakra, Nityānanda dhāma. Usually, we have a camp in Jahnudvīpa, then at the end of the Modadrumadvīpa, we have another camp. You are passing two of our camps. And then we are going straight back to Māyāpur. Now the Government is not allowing us to make a camp. So, therefore we are going.

Tomorrow you are going to Navadvīpa. If the people in Navadvīpa they get sick, they may blame the devotees. Although devotees may not personally responsible. Since there is a new surge of COVID–19 in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, parts of South India, also in Bengal, so, it will be wise to wear masks. If not to protect yourselves, at least it would show the people that we are very careful, and they cannot blame us, if they get sick, which is happening anyway! Please be careful and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and hope you have a very nice time in Navadvīpa dhāma parikramā.

Just one thing I want to add, you see in Vṛndāvana the six Gosvāmīs went looking for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and it is said that there is no difference, since Kṛṣṇa is Absolute, from finding Kṛṣṇa or looking for Kṛṣṇa. While you are going for Navadvīpa parikramā, keep looking for Gaura-Gadādhara or Nitāi Gaura and in this way looking for Them is the same as finding Them! And you may find Them also! Haribol! Haribol!

Yours in service,

Jayapatākā Swami