20241002 Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta 2.2. Pious Activity

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

Second Shower — Consideration of secondary rules

Second Stream — Pious Activity

7. Building road

Preparing a path in an inaccessible place or in a difficult place is called charity of path. As much durable the stone or brick approach is, that much is the piety generated.

Jayapatākā Swami: There is a path up the mountainside of the Kāmakhyā deity in Guwahati. And Narakāsura, he wanted to unite with Kāmakhyā Devī. So, she said, build a path up the mountain before the cock crows. So he was sweating and trying very hard to build this stone road. He was just about at the last stone and then just at that time the cock crowed. So, up the hill there is a nice road, but he failed to complete it in time.

8. Charity of ghāṭa

The constructing bathing places in a river or pond for public use is called charity of ghāṭa. There is much more piety if there is a resting place, garden, shelter roofing and temple on the ghāṭa.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we got the government through the Namāmi Gaṅgā project to build the bathing ghāṭa here in Māyāpur. They wouldn’t build or put a temple there because the Indian government is non-sectarian. When they finish and hand it over to us, then we want to build a temple.

9. Donating house

It is a piety producing act to give a house to those who are unable to afford to build a house and live there.

10. Charity of goods

Giving any goods or money to a worthy person as much as is necessary is a charity of goods.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Kamala Harris is a candidate for the President of USA. She says she wants to give a million houses. That is charity of house.

11. Giving the first portion of delicious food

One should take food after giving the first part of the delicious food to others.

Jayapatākā Swami: Today they gave me noodles for breakfast. The noodles were made from soya, and it was too heavy! So I asked what devotees downstairs had. So they brought up a bowl of regular edible noodles and arepas – which is a Columbian Venezuelan special. I was told it was cooked by two of my Spanish disciples. So indirectly, I ended up having their prasāda! Ojasvinī devī and Īśvarī devī prepared the prasāda. Are they here? You can tell them that I mentioned them. Here it is mentioned, cooking up opulent prasāda, the first portion should be given to someone.

12. Giving daughter in marriage

Giving of a well-decorated daughter to a suitable man of the same caste is called kanyā-dāna.

Jayapatākā Swami: I went to the house of a life member. He said that a boy was coming over to see his daughter. And he asked for blessings. He brought his daughter, she was bathed in perfume! And she was dressed to kill! But anyway, it is the duty of the father to see that his daughter gets married. There is some verse where it says sometimes marrying a daughter is like climbing over a mountain! He has two boys (pointing to Acintya Caitanya dāsa Prabhu, the repeater) he doesn’t know!

(4) Two types of receiving guests

There are two types of hospitality namely:—

1. Towards person

2. Towards society

The householder, if a guest arrives, should not be care-free without rendering due service to the guest. It is instructed in the scriptures that when the food and so on is ready, the householder should go outside his door and call the starving person three times. If someone comes, feed that person and then take meal oneself with the family. There is a rule to call guests at half past two. At present it is difficult for everyone to stay hungry until that time, so the duty is fulfilled when one calls the hungry person before one eats oneself. A hungry person does not mean a business beggar. It is the duty of social hospitality in social activities.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the meaning of atithi is that a guest comes unexpectedly. A – tithi. Not according to some special time. So, it is the householder’s duty to feed people if they are hungry. So Śrīla Prabhupāda told a secret that the householder would wait till 2.30 and call out and most people would have eaten by 2.30. And if one has not eaten by then, he is really hungry. In New Orleans the only day the Americans give something to eat, that time the kids come and say trick-a-treat. If you don’t treat me with sweets, I am going to trick you! And they throw some garbage or something on the door! And so one foreigner gave on Halloween day trick-a-treat, the guy thought he was a dangerous person, he yelled out “freeze”. So that is a way of staying stop in your tracks. But this foreigner he did not understand the saying. So he kept coming up and the guy, the householder shot him dead! He was coming to get some candy! But he got shot to death. It was in the newspaper. At that time, New Orleans was my zone, I happened to be there.

(5) Four types of Purity

Purity is of four types namely:―

1. Personal Cleanliness

2. Cleaning road, ghāṭa, cowshed, shop, personal house and Deity temples

3. Cleansing the forest

4. Pilgrimage

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura is giving the details what are the four kinds of purity. Personal cleanliness, that is normally what they do. The other things are extra.

1. Personal Cleanliness

Personal cleanliness is of two types, internal cleanliness and external cleanliness. The name of purity of mind is called internal cleanliness. Purification of the mind is done by pious activity without sinful actions. Sinless, light and moderate food and drink are also the cause for the purification of the mind. Eating and drinking the products touched by drunkards and other sinful persons creates impurity of mind. Of all the means of purification of the mind, remembrance of Viṣṇu is the chief. There is the provision of atonement to cleanse the sinful heart. Among them, the karma-prāyaścitta (atonement of actions) such as cāndrāyaṇa releases the sinner of sinful deeds. Sinful desire which is the root of sin does not go away. Repentant knowledge removes sinful desires, but the seed of sin which is aversion to God is removed only by hari-smṛti (remembrance of Hari).*

Jayapatākā Swami: I am a lazy person in one sense, that because of all my medications, I cannot observe a full fast on Ekādaśī. The day before Ekādaśī, I hear the glories of the upcoming Ekādaśī. It says just by hearing the glories of the Ekādaśī, so many sins are washed away. Just by hearing about the Ekādaśī, you get the benefit. Every Ekādaśī has some glories of Lord Hari. I mentioned in one class how one of the two contestants for the US Presidency was Kamala Harris. Kamalā is the name of Rādhārāṇī. And Harris, Hari is the name of Lord Hari. So everyone in the Democratic party glorifies Kamalā Harris, and the people in the Republican party they criticize her saying Kamala Harris this and Kamala Harris that. So everyone in America is chanting, the name of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, Kamalā and Hari! This is nāmabhāsa. But they must be getting some sukṛti by such uttering of the names.

Note:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.2.16–17

gurūṇāṁ ca laghūnāṁ ca
gurūṇi ca laghūni ca
prāyaścittāni pāpānāṁ
jñātvoktāni maharṣibhiḥ

tais tāny aghāni pūyante
tapo-dāna-vratādibhiḥ
nādharmajaṁ tad-dhṛdayaṁ
tad apīśāṅghri-sevayā

Authorities who are learned scholars and sages have carefully ascertained that one should atone for the heaviest sins by undergoing a heavy process of atonement and one should atone for lighter sins by undergoing lighter atonement. Chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, however, vanquishes all the effects of sinful activities, regardless of whether heavy or light. Although one may neutralize the reactions of sinful life through austerity, charity, vows and other such methods, these pious activities cannot uproot the material desires in one’s heart. However, if one serves the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, he is immediately freed from all such contaminations.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śāstra says that if one chants Hare Kṛṣṇa then you can get rid of more sins than you can commit. But hearing that, if one decides to sin and then chants, then that is an offence. So, one should not commit sins on the strength of chanting.

There are many judgments of the tattva of atonement, which must be looked at in the text. The mind is purified by bathing in holy water and bathing in the Ganges. The name of keeping one's body, clothes, house and so on is called external cleanliness. Cleanliness is performed by bathing in clean water, wearing clean clothes and eating and drinking sāttvic food. In case of the body contacting the stool, urine etc., the body should be kept clean by washing with water.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura mentions the internal cleanliness and external cleanliness. If we touch stool, urine etc. then we have to wash ourselves with water.

Today was my dialysis day. That leaves me a little tired.