20251207 Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.18.33-37

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

Jayapatākā Swami: So, I will speak in English mainly and he will translate into Hindi. Today we have several verses which have no purports and one verse which has a purport. We will read all the verses and then the verse with purport.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.18.33

yaduṁ ca turvasuṁ caiva
devayānī vyajāyata
druhyuṁ cānuṁ ca pūruṁ ca
śarmiṣṭhā vārṣaparvaṇī

Translation: Devayānī gave birth to Yadu and Turvasu, and Śarmiṣṭhā gave birth to Druhyu, Anu and Pūru.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.18.34

garbha-sambhavam āsuryā
bhartur vijñāya māninī
devayānī pitur gehaṁ
yayau krodha-vimūrchitā

Translation: When the proud Devayānī understood from outside sources that Śarmiṣṭhā was pregnant by her husband, she was frenzied with anger. Thus she departed for her father’s house.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.18.35

priyām anugataḥ kāmī
vacobhir upamantrayan
na prasādayituṁ śeke
pāda-saṁvāhanādibhiḥ

Translation: King Yayāti, who was very lusty, followed his wife, caught her and tried to appease her by speaking pleasing words and massaging her feet, but he could not satisfy her by any means.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.18.36

śukras tam āha kupitaḥ
strī-kāmānṛta-pūruṣa
tvāṁ jarā viśatāṁ manda
virūpa-karaṇī nṛṇām

Translation: Śukrācārya was extremely angry. “You untruthful fool, lusting after women! You have done a great wrong,” he said. “I therefore curse you to be attacked and disfigured by old age and invalidity.”

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.18.37

śrī-yayātir uvāca
atṛpto ’smy adya kāmānāṁ
brahman duhitari sma te
vyatyasyatāṁ yathā-kāmaṁ
vayasā yo ’bhidhāsyati

Translation: King Yayāti said, “O learned, worshipable brāhmaṇa, I have not yet satisfied my lusty desires with your daughter.” Śukrācārya then replied, “You may exchange your old age with someone who will agree to transfer his youth to you.”

Purport: When King Yayāti said that he had not yet satisfied his lusty desires with Śukrācārya’s daughter, Śukrācārya saw that it was against the interests of his own daughter for Yayāti to continue in old age and invalidity, for certainly his lusty daughter would not be satisfied. Therefore Śukrācārya blessed his son-in-law by saying that he could exchange his old age for someone else’s youth. He indicated that if Yayāti’s son would exchange his youth for Yayāti’s old age, Yayāti could continue to enjoy sex with Devayānī.

* * *

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we have heard these verses. So, Yayāti Mahārāja, he was a kṣatriya, and there was nothing irreligious with his impregnating Śarmiṣṭhā. So he did that following the religious principles. But his wife Devayānī was very angry. Maybe because she was the daughter of a brāhmaṇa and Yayāti was a kṣatriya. And she did not know the duties of a kṣatriya. Anyway, Yayāti was attached also. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam tells us how if we are attached to material things we have to take birth again in the material world. So, normally people are thinking that I can be happy if I have money, this, good wife, husband, they are thinking of material things. And that way, they have to take birth again and again and again. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying, in 1973 in his Vyāsa-pūjā lecture, he told the gṛhasthas that they should all be paramahaṁsas. Normally, the perfectional stage is of sannyāsa – kuṭīcaka, bahūdaka, parivrājakācārya, paramahaṁsa. But he said gṛhasthas should be paramahaṁsas and he said each of you should have ācāryas as children. We need a lot of ācāryas. And my guru was an ācārya.

So, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he encouraged his children to be devotees. He was a gṛhastha, an ācārya. And Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he was an ācārya. And so, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura requested him, please spread the movement of Lord Caitanya far and wide. And when his mother was on her death bed, she grabbed Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s hand and said, please spread the movement of Lord Caitanya. These are real gṛhasthas, Kṛṣṇa conscious! He did not ask to get your BA or in IIT degrees! “SPREAD THE MOVEMENT OF LORD CAITANYA” he said. Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!

Now here we see that how Devayānī and Yayāti Mahārāja were very lusty. But in the 9^th canto, in one of the purports Śrīla Prabhupāda said that if men, women, children, whatever, if they are Kṛṣṇa conscious, they are all equal.

Also, Sanātana Gosvāmī in his Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, he said that all the critical śāstra quotes on women, children, etc. was if they are not Vaiṣṇavas or Vaiṣṇavīs. So, being a Vaiṣṇava is the most important thing. Now, we see that in the big temples there are rules for the gṛhasthas also, a lot of rules. So we have to follow those, whichever āśrama you are in, you have to follow the rules applicable. Sannyāsa, or the renounce āśrama, we should not be alone with a woman. But gṛhastha does not have that rule, they have a license! But certain days they should not procreate. Like, on the woman’s menstrual period. And for the Vaiṣṇavas, there are some periods that we observe. The gṛhasthas should have no connection on fasting days like Ekādaśī, Janmāṣṭamī, Rādhāṣṭamī, Nṛsiṁha-caturdaśī, etc. So those day, we should observe a complete abstinence when we fast.

I don’t know the recent Ekādaśī, there was the history of a king who was strict. But Nārada Muni came and spoke to him and said, that he visited the hellish planets and your father is in hell. Because he approached his wife during her menstrual period and insisted on having sex. And as a result he is in hell! So, he asked, “What should I do? I cannot be peaceful if I think my father is in hell!” So, he was told by Nārada Muni that if you observe the Ekādaśī fully, no water, no eat, no sleep, and offer the result to your father, then you will be reverted. And so he, his wife, children, the ministers, they all fasted on the Ekādaśī. And they offered the results to the father and he was liberated. So, he was saved from hell and went to the heavenly planets and had some good association and went back to Godhead. So, day before Ekādaśī, I always hear the glories of the particular Ekādaśī.

Last Ekādaśī was Mokṣadā Ekādaśī, that was the Ekādaśī that Kṛṣṇa spoke the Bhagavad-gītā. That is why December is the special month for us to do Śrīla Prabhupāda Marathon! His Holiness Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami, he was very inspirational for the observance of the marathons. All over the world we observe this December as Śrīla Prabhupāda Book Marathon. And maybe in India, we celebrate it as the month when Bhagavad-gītā was spoken. So this is a very important thing. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that if you distribute my books, you will be happy! If you read my books, you will be!

When I joined in 1968, I attended the Ratha-yātrā in San Francisco, and I then went to New York and then to Montreal, Canada. All the temples in the world, I went to all the ISKCON temples because there were only three at that time! Now it is difficult to visit all of them! I wanted to be present at this temple’s inauguration. But that time I was not able, I was sick. But I was watching on the newscast, video. All the Deities’ installation. And how the Prime Minister, Honorable Narendra Modi spoke here. How he was saying that Śrīla Prabhupāda went koṇe, koṇe, every nook and corner of the world and preached! I know little Hindi! I know more Bengali! So, it was a very wonderful occasion. And I am very elated that at least I could come now! I am very thankful to Sura dāsa for his sacrifice.

So, when I went to Montreal, Śrīla Prabhupāda told me I had to read the Bhagavad-gītā ten times before I took first initiation. Then we had only the Gītā and a few books. So I read all the books where it said that Haridāsa Ṭhākura whenever he had some kind of other thoughts coming into his mind, he would chant loud and take that thought out. So I was a new bhakta, I had many thoughts in my mind. So I would chant louder and louder and many devotees went to Śrīla Prabhupāda and complained that, “This Bhakta Jay chants very loudly that he disturbs us.” I don’t think that His Holiness Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja would have complained! Then, he was a gṛhastha and he was a new bhakta in the temple with me. So we were together from 1968 and he would chant and pay obeisances in front of every picture and he was very intensely devoted! Śrīla Prabhupāda told me that, “The devotees were complaining that you were chanting so loud and disturbing them, why do you chant so loudly?” So I explained to him why I was chanting loud. And he said, “Well that is not so bad!” Next to our temple was the Mount Royal Park, after which Montreal was named. That is French Montreal. So Śrīla Prabhupāda said, I could chant in the park. At that time there were no joggers! Only birds, squirrels! So I would chant to them! Like this Śrīla Prabhupāda was mentioning to someone who asked, “How is that I am so fortunate to have come to this bhakti-yoga?” Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “I made this good fortune for you!”

Lord Caitanya in this Kali-yuga, He came to especially deliver the fallen souls. So, in Dvārakā, Rukmiṇī told Kṛṣṇa, “You know everything. You know what Lord Brahmā is doing in Satyaloka, Lord Śiva is doing in Kailāsa. You know what is going on in all the unlimited universes. But there is one thing You don’t know. I know, Rādhārāṇī knows, but You don’t know!” Kṛṣṇa was amazed! “What is it that I don’t know?!” After inquiring many times, she said, “You don’t know how much your devotees love You! You don’t know in what way we love You! Because no one is above You, so You don’t know what it is like to love You!” So He said, “Alright, in Kali-yuga I will come as My devotee! I will come as My Devotee! I WILL COME AS MY DEVOTEES!” And that is Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu!

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was combined Kṛṣṇa with Rādhārāṇī and produced Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Gaurāṅga! He has the color of Rādhārāṇī and the mood of Kṛṣṇa! But He is Kṛṣṇa! So, people normally go to Rādhā Kṛṣṇa, Sītā Rāma. But they should understand that in this Kali-yuga Lord Caitanya makes it easy to approach the Lord. Without the mercy of Lord Caitanya it would not be so easy. Lord Caitanya with His mercy, we have many facilities in Kali-yuga. One can be a gṛhastha or renounced. Gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. Whether you are a gṛhastha or renounced, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa!

In the previous yugas and in this yuga, the Śaṅkarācāryas they were encouraging people to be sannyāsīs. But now in this Kali-yuga whether you are a gṛhastha or sannyāsī, it does not matter, you can all chant Hare Kṛṣṇa! By chanting, by serving, by practicing the nine practices of bhakti-yoga you can all achieve perfection in this life.

Nitāi Gaura, are very merciful! And there are many pastimes of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda. Lord Caitanya wanted everybody to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. Śrīla Prabhupāda tried to spread His movement all over the world. He established 108 temples. In 1975 in Māyāpur, he said, say we have ten thousand devotees now, they should all be ācāryas! From ten thousand, we should have hundred thousand, From hundred thousand to one million, from one million to ten millions, one crore. Like that Lord Caitanya predicted that in every town and village of the world, they will be chanting His holy name!

Pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
(CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)

Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted that we should have ten million, one crore ācāryas! So, he was saying everyone comes as a student. But eventually they have to be teachers! They don’t stay students forever! I mean, we are all students of our gurus, but for others we have to be teachers! So, Śrīla Prabhupāda made this organization. So I am trying to encourage this organization. Like this, Śrīla Prabhupāda he could not think in a small way! He was always thinking big!

One thing is that every temple has Deities performing various miracles! This temple should have a book because certainly the Deities would perform miracles! In New Dvārakā in Los Angeles, I said this to the pūjārīs to tell me all the miracles that the Deities were performing which they did! I see many men and women don’t wear tilaka! Visitors? Please wear tilaka! Transform your body into a temple!

Alright, in some places they say different pastimes of the Deities like they offered flowers and different things happen. In our Jagannātha temple in Rājāpur, one Muslim came to the temple. And usually we allow everyone to come and visit. So the pūjārī offered him some prasāda. He took it and threw it on the floor! He said, “I don’t take the food of idols! Idols! Idol is a bad thing! Puṭla!” So, then the pūjārī said, “If you don’t want this prasāda, then why did you come here?” So then he left. Next day he came back! He said, “I want prasāda!” “Are you crazy or what?” the pūjārī said. “Yesterday you threw it and today you are asking for it!” He said, “Last night I had a dream. The one with the white face He came and slapped me and the one with the yellow face, the lady said, ‘Kill him, kill him!’ One with the black face, He said, ‘He did not do a very big offence, let him go. This is his first offence. So leave him.’” The man said, “I BELIEVE, I BELIEVE, I BELIEVE! I will take the prasāda!” So like this is an example.

I heard there is a meeting at 5pm that means I am busy but will try for a class after that.

Any questions or comments:

Question: I am very fortunate to ask Guru Mahārāja a question. As you said, you were chanting loudly because there were other thoughts. You were a new student, but now at 75 years of age I am still getting thoughts while chanting. What should I do?

Jayapatākā Swami: Well, either I figured out that I did not have to chant very loud, that was my realization. So, you can still chant loud but afterwards reduce being loud. I have been chanting since 1968, no more other thoughts come in my mind! If someone is chanting in my mind, I cannot take my mind off that! Now, I don’t know how long you have been chanting? So I don’t know, you keep chanting and gradually you should reach a point when you will be attached to Kṛṣṇa! That is the real goal of Kṛṣṇa consciousness! If you are just attached and negative with material suffering then you may end up in sāyujya-mukti or impersonal liberation. But if you are attached to Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, or Kṛṣṇa’s avatāras, then that will take us to the spiritual world. I saw here in the parikramā of the temple, left side there are kṛṣṇa-līlās depicted and right side rāma-līlās. They are very nice!

One more question.

Question: Actually you said regarding Rājāpur Jagannātha pastime. Sometimes it will be due to our offences or conditioning, we may do some mistakes and gradually what happens the faith in the Lordships and devotees may be reduced, so how to regain that faith on the Lord and His devotees?

Jayapatākā Swami: You should read Śrīla Prabhupāda books and then you will not be affected. Śrīla Prabhupāda really wanted the people to study his books. I mean, I personally saw in Māyāpur, every night, he would get up at 12 midnight and translate the books. He sent his secretary up to call me like one in the morning. I washed my face and feet and went down to see what Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted. I was 24x7 dedicated to Śrīla Prabhupāda! So I saw that he was with his dictaphone translating books and so what was on his mind he told me. But I saw how we was sacrificing for us! So, in return can we not read his books? I gave the tests for Bhakti-śāstrī in front of Śrīla Prabhupāda and got the degree from him. Then I asked those devotees that were in my association what books they have read? And many devotees had not read all the books. So, then I decided to study again and take the tests and get the degrees. I got my Bhakti-vedānta, they offered me to give the degrees, honorary, by Māyāpur Institute! But I said, “No, no, I don’t want honorary degrees, I will study and take test.” So I got my Bhakti-vaibhava, Bhakti-vedānta and now am two-thirds through the Bhakti-Sārvabhauma. So I want to encourage all the devotees to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, etc. So, I don’t think if you study Śrīla Prabhupāda books that you will lose faith even if the devotees treat you bad! I mean, I had some devotees who treated me nice and some not so good. I only want please, Śrīla Prabhupāda, Lord Caitanya ultimately. No matter how bad someone may treat me, I am still committed to serving guru and Gaurāṅga!

Alright, time for prasāda!