20240223 Śrī Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta 1.1. The beginning

The following is a Śrī Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja, on February 23, 2024 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Śrī Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta

Respectful obeisances unto Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.

Hare Kṛṣṇa dear devotees, today we will continue with the reading from Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Śrī Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta.

Continuing with part 4 of the subtitle entitled:

Atheism and its three types—

It is to be understood that all these ugly beliefs are merely the symptoms of unhealthy weak (unobtained strength) consciousness. Three stages of human life are observed in between the completely uncivilized stage and the stage of beautiful belief in the Lord. In those three conditions, the diseases of atheism, materialism, skepticism and voidism, leads some people to a bad state in the form of an obstacle to the progress of the living entities. In that situation, not all people will be affected by the said disease. Those who are affected by all these diseases are bound to that state and do not get the qualification to a higher life. The uncivilized tribals, on the strength of civilization, ethics and learning skills, quickly taking shelter of varṇāśrama-dharma, have gained a devotional life suitable for the practice of devotional service. This is the sequence of natural progression of mankind. When the obstructions in the form of diseases appear, then an unnatural situation of life occurs.

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Jayapatākā Swami: So here Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura mentions about tribals and the atheists. I have seen, gone to some of the programs of the tribals where Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami preaches. Also they have had some programs here in Māyāpur. They are very nice, they are not atheist. They got some mercy from Lord Nitāi Gaura. Nitāi Gaura, They can give Their mercy to everyone. These tribals some are considered as caṇḍālas or dog-eaters. But the people in the West they eat beef, they are considered as mleccas. But Prabhupāda, he went to the West and told about Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda. In this way tens-of-thousands, hundreds-of-thousands devotees have taken up devotional service. In that Prabhupāda’s praṇāma-mantra, it talks about the impersionalists and voidists. This was the situation before he came. There was lot of impersonalists and voidists. Prabhupāda, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he presented this philosophy to all these atheistic people. And they became devotees, so this is the special mission of Lord Caitanya. He wants to deliver all the people, all over the world in every town and village and that is the special model or mission of His saṅkīrtana movement.

mānavagaṇera parasparera deha o manera vibhinnatā —

mānavagaṇa bhinna bhinna deśe bhinna bhinna dvīpe avasthita haiyā bhinna bhinna prakṛti avalambana kariyāche. mānabera mukhya prakṛti saৰbbatrai eka. gauṇa prakṛti pṛthaka pṛthak. mānavera mukhya prakṛti eka haileo, jagate emata duiṭī mānava pāoyā yāibe nā ye samasta gauṇa prakṛti tadubhayera sampūrṇarūpe eka haibe. eka garbhe janmagrahaṇa kariyāo yakhana duiṭī bhrātā ākṛti prakṛtite paraspara bhinna haya, kakhanai sarva prakāre eka haya nā, takhana bhinna bhinna deśe janma grahaṇa kariyā mānaba sakala kirūpe aikya lābha karibe? bhinna bhinna deśera jala, vāyu, parvata vanādira sanniveśa, khādya dravyādi o paricchada upayogī dravya sakala bhinna bhinna. tāddvārā tattaddeśajāta mānavagaṇera ākṛti, varṇa, vyavahāra, paricchada o āhāra nisargavaśataḥ pṛthak pṛthak haiyā uṭhe. manera bhāva o tadrūpa deśaviśeṣe pṛthak haya. tadantargata īśvara bhāva o mukhyāṁśe eka haileo gauṇāṁśe bhinna bhinna prakāra haya. etannivandhana deśa videśe ye kāle asabhya avasthā atikrama kariyā mānavera kramaśaḥ sabhya avasthā, vaijñānika avasthā, naitika avasthā o bhaktāvasthā lābha haya takhana kramaśaḥ bhāṣā bheda, paricchada bheda, bhojya bheda, manobhāva bheda krame īśvara bhajana praṇālī bhinna bhinna haiyā paḍe. nirapekṣa haiyā vicāra karile erūpa gauṇa bheda samūha dvārā kona kṣati nāi. mukhya bhajana viṣaye aikya thākilei phalakāle kona doṣa haya nā. ataeva śrī śrī mahāprabhura viśeṣa ājñā ei ye viśuddha satva svarūpa, bhagavānera bhajana kara, kintu anyānya adhikārīra bhajana praṇālīra nindā karibe nā.

viḥdraḥ: anya deva anya śāstra nindā nā kariba. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, 22.119, Sanātana-śikṣā.

śraddhāṁ bhāgavate śāstre anindā’nyatra cāpihi. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.3.27 vibhinna dharmera pañcavidha bheda —

uparokta kāraṇa vaśataḥ bhinna bhinna deśīya mānavagaṇera pracārita bhinna bhinna dharmera nimnalikhita kayeka prakāra bheda lakṣita haya yathā: ―

1. ācārya bheda.

2. upāsakera manovṛtti o bhajana anubhāva bheda.

3. upāsanāra praṇālī bheda.

4. upāsyatattvera sambandhe bhāva o kriyābheda.

5. bhāṣābhedānusāre nāma o vākyādibheda.

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Jayapatākā Swami: So, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, He was trying to spread Lord Caitanya’s movement when the situation in the society was not favorable. There were impersonalists, voidists and atheists. Like that we also want to spread Lord Caitanya’s movement. But there have been so many obstacles. But we have to take inspiration from our previous ācāryas and go on preaching the message of Lord Caitanya. In the Twelfth canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam [12.3.5] kaler doṣa-nidhe rājan asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ. Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults but there is one good quality, one, one, and millions of faults, there is one good quality – kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya, mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet – if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa we get liberation and we go back to the spiritual world.

I was reading how Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi, he was meditating for three Manus. A Manu is a 192 catur-yugas. He was meditating for six Manus. The seventh Manu, Indra is only Indra for one Manu and then he died or something and the next Indra comes. So, the seventh Indra, Manu, Indra wanted to test him. He goes to him with a thousand apsarās. He wanted to see him to fall-down. But instead, he burns them up and they run away ah! being burnt. Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi who is an avatāra of Kṛṣṇa, He comes and He is very satisfied with his great austerities. So He said, “Anything you want I can give you a boon.” He said, “I would like to know about your illusory energy.” He could have asked for anything. For millions of years, he was meditating, and he asked to know about Māyā! The Lord said, “So be it! Tathāstaḥ!” and disappeared. Then Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi, his āśrama was flooded away, he saw the final destruction, he saw Kṛṣṇa as a baby on the leaf of a banyan tree, He was so beautiful, so wonderful! He wanted to come up but then Kṛṣṇa breathed in and he, Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi entered into Kṛṣṇa, like He was breathing in a mosquito or something.

Then he saw his own āśrama, everything was peaceful by the side of the Himalayan mountain. But then Kṛṣṇa breathed out and he was back in the flood water. Timiṅgala, shark fish, all were there. Then he came back to his āśrama and everything was quiet. I don’t know what he understood but he saw Kṛṣṇa’s illusory energy. He could understand that. Then Umā and Śiva were flying over and Umā was saying to Śiva that, “He is a great ṛṣi, he has been meditating for such a long time.” Śiva was on his bull carrier flying in the sky and he came down and then Markhandeya Ṛṣi is in meditation. He does not realize that Śiva was behind him. Śiva, he is a great mystic, he is able to do anything. He enters inside of Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi and then Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣī is seeing him and he opens his eyes and, Oh! There is Śiva, Umā and the bull. He pays them obeisances and offers them a seat and worships them. Then Lord Śiva said, “I would like to give you a boon, what would you like?” But this time Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi, “Normally I don’t ask for anything, but I would like to ask for pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa and devotion to His pure devotees like yourself, Mahādeva!” So Lord Śiva gave him unlimited time to the end of the universe. He did not grow old, and he got all kinds of things. He knows past, present and future.

I was thinking that, how if you live till the end of the universe, you have to stay in the material world for that whole time. But that is alright if we could preach like Nārada Muni. Otherwise, it is a struggle, what to think! These are in the Bhāgavatam. I was fortunate to have studied all the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam again and again and again! This time I got my Bhakti-vedānta degree, they have not given me the thing yet but they told I have passed. These wonderful things are in the Bhāgavatam.

I was attending the Latin American RGB and there are some countries who have  wild things. Even if you have to go out to buy bread, they have guys standing outside with machine guns. The devotees who are distributing books, they are risking their lives. We said here that many devotees went to Ayodhyā and distributed every day 5000, 6000, 7000, 10,000, 8000. But I do not think they were risking their lives. But here there are people, they work, and they save up some money, buy wholesale books and distribute them. So, I thought I should, yesterday in Kolkata at the indoor stadium there were more than 4000 people. They inaugurated a one-month marathon of the teachings of Lord Caitanya, Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

Actually, in the Tenth canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it mentions how the Lord, He doesn’t have a material body. He acts like He does, but He doesn’t have. His body is completely spiritual. You see, Lord Caitanya, He comes down from the spiritual world to give out love of Kṛṣṇa to everyone. This picture when you go around the Pañca-tattva, you see Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, Advaita etc., are dancing with hundreds of people. Have you seen that picture? Lord Caitanya and His associates, they are actually experiencing spiritual ecstasy. They are giving love of Kṛṣṇa by the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa also, He  doesn’t have any material body, His body is transcendental. He doesn’t have any desire for any material experience. He exchanges the love with His devotees. Normally, for what Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi meditates for billions of years but we can get by Lord Caitanya’s mercy in a meagre number of years, 80 years, 70 years. So, Lord Caitanya is giving us, if we try to understand the mercy of Lord Caitanya;

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-dayā karaha vicāra
vicāra karile citte pābe camatkāra
(Cc. Ādi 8.15)

What Lord Caitanya is giving, what Lord Nityānanda is giving, if we try to compare there is no comparison! So please be very careful to take up this devotional service. Hare Kṛṣṇa!