20251006 Evening Address

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

Jayapatākā Swami: So today I went for my dialysis, and I came back here and took some rest. So here we have on the altar Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā and Kṛṣṇa. They are in the mood of Dvārakā. So in Dvārakā, Kṛṣṇa is a kṣatriya. But Rādhā Kṛṣṇa, Lalitā and Viśākhā are in Vṛndāvana. There, Kṛṣṇa acts as a cowherd boy. Soon we are going to start the month of Dāmodara, from tomorrow. So the special thing is that we offer lamps. Who likes to offer lamp? So, in Māyāpur, we have some devotee everyday who sponsors the lamps. In Malaysia, they do a very big Dāmodara celebration. So, Kuala Lumpur has like a lakh and a half number of lamps offered. How many do we do here? (About 75 thousand). So we hope that more people can participate in the lamp offering. So, keep track, how many are offering lamps. And this dāmodara-līlā happened in Vṛndāvana. Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja, they could enjoy the childhood pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Although, Devakī and Vasudeva were His parents, they could not enjoy. So, Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā, He liberated Kaṁsa and He freed Devakī and Vasudeva. So, Kaṁsa was a very powerful demon. And they just saw Kṛṣṇa defeat Kaṁsa! And then Kṛṣṇa went over to Devakī and Vasudeva. They were offering their respects to Kṛṣṇa. He did not want that! He wanted their parental affection! So He sprinkled them with some līlā dust, and their mood changed because they were absorbed in the mood of being parents of Kṛṣṇa. In the spiritual world everyone, of course there are no demons, there Kṛṣṇa enjoys different rasas. And in Mathurā and Dvārakā, they are a little more conscious of Kṛṣṇa’s position. But in Vraja, they don’t consider Kṛṣṇa as God. So when Kṛṣṇa was six years old, He lifted the Govardhana Hill, for six days, holding it on His little finger. So, the cowherd men came to Nanda Mahārāja and asked him, “We just saw your son lift a mountain with one hand and hold it for six days. So tell us, who is your son?” So he told them that, “By Garga Muni’s astrology, this boy was sent to protect the vraja-vāsīs. He will be very good for you all!” Of course, he answered in this way. Anyway, they understood that He was special. But they did not think that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In Vaikuṇṭha, Nārāyaṇa is worshiped with majesty, respect. But in Goloka, Kṛṣṇa is worshiped spontaneously out of love! So you have this friendship with all the friends thinking they are equal with Kṛṣṇa. When He was holding the Govardhana Hill, someone said, “Here let one of your friends hold the hill so You can rest Your hand.” They thought they were equal with Kṛṣṇa!

In the dāmodara-līlā, Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja are in the rasa of vātsalya or parental love. And when you read about the way that Yaśodā was taking care of Kṛṣṇa, it is truly amazing! So she showered her love on Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma! Balarāma is the son of Rohiṇī, but Yaśodā took care of Him also. Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs, Their relationship with Kṛṣṇa is in conjugal love. That is called mādhurya-rasa.

So like this Kṛṣṇa is very happy in Vṛndāvana. In this world if someone is very rich then they worry that people are liking him because he is rich. But in Goloka Vṛndāvana, although Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, all the people there, the devotees, it is either they are not important, or they don’t know. So in the spiritual world the basis is love. And here in the material world, things are based on lust. And here it is very flickering. No where in the material world right from Brahmaloka down to Pātālaloka, everyone has to die.

There are 14 Manus in one day of Brahmā. And Indra, and the other devas, they live for one Manu. One Manu lives for 71 catur-yugas – it is a long time! So we read the līlā of Trivikrama and Bali Mahārāja. Bali Mahārāja conquered the devas. So he was in charge of the whole universe. So you know how Vāmanadeva begged for three steps of land. So He covered the whole universe in two steps. So He asked, “Where should I put the third step?” So, Bali said, “Put here, on my head.” So, Vāmanadeva said, “You will become Indra in three Manus.” That means Bali must have lived for a long time too! He is the half-brother, cousin brother with Indra.

Anyway, Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are very relishable! And I said I would give a short class! But once you start talking about Kṛṣṇa and His avatāras, it is very absorbing!!

Any questions or comments?

Someone asked me yesterday, how to become a paramahaṁsa? Śrīla Prabhupāda said in 1973 in London that all the gṛhasthas should be paramahaṁsas. So if one is always thinking about Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes, then naturally he is purified! And in that way, he is a paramahaṁsa! Hare Kṛṣṇa!