20240727 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.30.35

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

Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.30.35

yatreḍyante kathā mṛṣṭās
tṛṣṇāyāḥ praśamo yataḥ
nirvairaṁ yātrā bhūteṣu
nodvego yātrā kaścana

Translation: Whenever pure topics of the transcendental world are discussed, the members of the audience forget all kinds of material hankerings, at least for the time being. Not only that, but they are no longer envious of one another, nor do they suffer from anxiety or fear.

Purport by Śrīla Prabhupāda: Vaikuṇṭha means “without anxiety,” and the material world means full of anxiety. As stated by Prahlāda Mahārāja, sadā samudvigna-dhiyām asad-grahāt: the living entities who have accepted this material world as a residence are full of anxiety. A place immediately becomes Vaikuṇṭha whenever the holy topics of the Personality of Godhead are discussed by pure devotees. This is the process of śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, chanting and hearing about the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu. As the Supreme Lord Himself confirms:

nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe
yogināṁ hṛdayeṣu vā
tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada
yātrā gāyanti mad-bhaktāḥ

“My dear Nārada, actually I do not reside in My abode, Vaikuṇṭha, nor do I reside within the hearts of the yogīs, but I reside in that place where My pure devotees chant My holy name and discuss My form, pastimes and qualities.” Because of the presence of the Lord in the form of the transcendental vibration, the Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere is evoked. This atmosphere is without fear and anxiety. One living entity does not fear another. By hearing the holy names and glories of the Lord, a person executes pious activities: śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (Bhāg. 1.2.17). Thus his material hankerings immediately stop. This saṅkīrtana movement started by the Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is meant for creating Vaikuṇṭha, the transcendental world that is without anxiety, even in this material world. The method is the propagation of the śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam process throughout the world. In the material world everyone is envious of his fellow man. Animalistic envy exists in human society as long as there is no performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña, the chanting of the holy names: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. The Pracetās therefore decided to remain always in the society of devotees, and they considered that to be the highest benediction possible in human life.

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Jayapatākā Swami: So, this verse says how there can be peace be established in the human society. By having many people who are preaching the glories of Lord Caitanya, at least for a little time, the human beings are not so ashanti. Because they are listening to the glories of the Lord. Those who are residing in Māyāpur they should always remember the glories and pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This way, they can always live in peace throughout their lives. So anyone - a man, woman, child, all are eligible for the mercy of Lord Caitanya. Even the old people. So, someone asked me yesterday, how they can help me with the book distribution and whether I had any tips. So I was thinking about that. Sometimes, when you are doing book distribution you get good people, and sometimes you get very bad people. So, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa there are offences. But there are no offences for chanting the names of Pañca-tattva. Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying how the sahajiyās, they would chant the names of Nitāi Gaura. And they feel some ecstasy. So they attract people to join them although philosophically they are not correct. And that is because chanting Nitāi Gaura is no offence. And so when you meet a person who is very difficult during book distribution, somehow or other get them to chant Nitāi Gaura. So, someone was wearing a bow tie on the knee. Someone asked, what is that? That is my knee tie! Ni – tāi! Somehow or another, they wanted to get the people to chant Nitāi! Someone told me that they have been given a new place, which in Tamil Nadu is known as a very rough place. So somehow, get the people there to chant Gaura Nitāi and after that it will be easier. And after you chant the Pañca-tattva mantra:

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

then when you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is very effective.

This way, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu made everything very easy for us. In Africa, there is a tribe that takes blood from the cow. The cows give milk but they don’t take milk, they take blood. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda instructed that these people, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra would not be very effective. But if you can get them to chant the Gaura Nitāi or Pañca-tattva mantra, then since there is no offence taken by Gaura Nitāi names, they can advance. So, I am just giving this example as a practical thing.

Actually, the Nāma-haṭṭa is having in the winter, they are having pandal programs. And now from this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam verse it tells us how by these programs people are not agitated for material things. In Bangladesh there are many big festivals. They have 15,000, 20,000, 30,000, 50,000 people in attendance! And the ladies there may be 30,000 ladies, they do the ulu-dhvani! Men do the hari-dhvani! So everybody is absorbed in the transcendental vibrations. Ladies doing the ulu-dhvani and the men doing the hari-dhvani! So, this way, Lord Caitanya gave us this easy process of chanting the holy names! And so we are having different Nāma-haṭṭas in Bangladesh, people are trying this method of Lord Caitanya and are successful. In Tripura, Agartala, they are also chanting! So Lord Caitanya wants the whole world to be vibrating Lord Kṛṣṇa’s holy name.

In the material world, the name and the person are different. But in the spiritual world the name is non-different from the person. So you can chant the holy name, it is nondifferent from Kṛṣṇa Himself. This is a very special opportunity, special advantage we can chant Kṛṣṇa’s name and get Kṛṣṇa’s association.

So we were having some consultants coming here and seeing our project. They were taking a tour of TOVP and Māyāpur. So they are getting an idea of our Science Museum. What is very interesting is that they are also expressing certain questions of interest. I got a letter from a devotee in London and he was chanting very seriously, but then his parents, he said, they forced him to get married. We have many devotee ladies but he married a non-devotee lady. When he would chant, then she would fight with him. So he wrote to me, I should do something about it! Actually, people should marry devotees. But if they don’t marry devotees, what am I supposed to do about it? So, that is a problem. If you marry someone, it is a life partner. So, you should see that your life partner is a devotee.

Lord Caitanya is so merciful that to follow Lord Caitanya one doesn’t have to be a sannyāsī. And so gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko – whether at home or a renunciant, everyone should chant the name of Kṛṣṇa. So Lord Caitanya in Śāntipur, He told the devotees to go back home and take care of their families. He took sannyāsa but He told Nitāi to give up His brahmacārī-āśrama and become a gṛhastha. So, in this day and Age, being a gṛhastha is a plus point. In the Western countries people, they live together, they don’t get married. So like this, to be married is a rare thing! In India, at least they follow this culture. In India, Bangladesh, people get married. So, you have no idea what is going on in the West. It is very fallen!

So, if we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and Pañca-tattva mantra then this is a very simple, easy process. But it is also very sublime. One experiences ecstasy very easily. So, we are very fortunate to have Lord Caitanya’s full mercy! But even though the holy name is so transcendental they are being freely given. But we are not chanting sufficiently. And sometimes we get taken away by the material energy.

Now in Navadvīpa dhāma, after Antardvīpa, we have Sīmantadvīpa island. So Sīmantadvīpa means that the lady, Sīmantinī devī takes the dust from the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya and rubs it on her head. Behind the Jagannātha Baladeva, Subhadrā temple is the Simantini Gaurāṅga temple. Around the temple are the samādhi mandirs. There is the samādhi of His Holiness Bhakti Nityānanda Mahārāja. And there is place for many samādhis. So it seems that Śrīla Prabhupāda disciples are over here and grand disciples would be there.

So Sīmantinī devī prayed to Lord Caitanya and Lord Caitanya asked her, “Why have you called Me?” She said, “I don’t get association with Your pure devotees. They call me the witch Māyā and do not take my benedictions. And so I am a very unfortunate person, I don’t get any mercy.” Then Lord Caitanya told her, “You are My ādhya-śakti. In one sense you are not different from Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. So here you can realize My nondifference from My āhlādinī potency.” And she took the dust from Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet and put it on the center of her head. So she is known as Sīmantinī.

So, these islands in Navadvīpa dhāma are very special. Thank you all for being here in the holy dhāma of Navadvīpa! Always chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra! So at the start of the class, I have given you a tip for increasing your book distribution. Now, the “Bhādra Pūrṇimā Marathon” is on! So, more will be told but we would like Māyāpur to excel in the Bhādra Pūrṇimā Marathon! Maybe His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami has something to say.

His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya: We started the Bhādra Pūrṇimā Marathon under the blessings of His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja. We have three marathons – in December Bhagavad-gītā Marathon, in Gaura-Pūrṇimā the Caitanya-caritāmṛta Marathon and now the Bhādra Pūrṇimā Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Marathon. So we are requesting the community and other devotees to take part. Actually, the devotees have taken a pledge to do 5,000 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatams distribution. Last year with the help of all the departments, we won the first position in the whole world. Last year we distributed 4,516 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sets, but this year the goal is 5,000.

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol! Thank you. Today is the first day of Śrīla Prabhupāda Connect. And His Grace Janmāṣṭamī Prabhu has been working very hard. So he will explain more about it. I just want to start with a līlā of Śrīla Prabhupāda. One day, his servant told me whenever you see Śrīla Prabhupāda you say something humbling yourself. And then say something to glorify Śrīla Prabhupāda. And then you can ask for some blessing. So I went to see Śrīla Prabhupāda. I said, “Śrīla Prabhupāda, I am a great fool!” And then before I could say anything else, Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “Yes! You are a great fool!” Anyway, you could never predict what Śrīla Prabhupāda would say! And sometimes he would say the opposite of that you expected. Sometimes he would say something very sweet! So now we would like to hear from His Grace Janmāṣṭamī Prabhu.

Janmāṣṭamī Prabhu (ACBSP): Thank you His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja for the sweet class as usual. Today we start the three day Śrīla “Prabhupāda Connect Festival.” One of the things we are requesting the devotees to do. The Bengali devotees can come and attend the English program. You can bring your phone to the courtyard and the devotees there will help you connect by FM and hear the translation. So the whole community can come together. Hare Kṛṣṇa!