20260212 Śravaṇa-utsava Address

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: In Vṛndāvana, Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that when he heard a devotee was translating the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, he commented that his Ṣaṭ-sandarbha was high level Sanskrit. And that the devotee should refer to the Padma Purāṇa or the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, which are easier Sanskrit. So like this, he was saying if someone read the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha by Jīva Gosvāmī, then he will be completely convinced of devotional service. So, Jīva Gosvāmī was the son of Anupama, who was the brother of Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī, so he was the nephew. And his father passed away by the Ganges some years ago. So he went to Navadvīpa and met Lord Nityānanda. And we have that book, Navadvīpa-parikramā Māhātmya. So Lord Nityānanda took Jīva Gosvāmī around the nine islands of Navadvīpa. So every year we observe this Navadvīpa parikramā, following in the footsteps of Lord Nityānanda and Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. Lord Nityānanda, he order Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī that he should via Benaras and study Sanskrit and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam under some realized soul. And then go to Vṛndāvana. Lord Nityānanda ordered Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī after that to go to Vṛndāvana. So, he became very learned in all the scriptures in the Sanskrit language. Actually, throughout India he was famous as the most learned paṇḍita!

So, he went to Vṛndāvana and there was some discussion, Sanātana referred him to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. So he took shelter and initiation from Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.

So, one digvijaya paṇḍita came and he had a great false ego! So he had a system if he defeated somebody they would sign some jaya-patra that they had been defeated by this paṇḍita. So he challenged Śrīla Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī that I will debated you and defeat you, I challenge you, come on! So Śrīla Rūpa and Sanātana discussed amongst themselves, why should we waste our time discussing with this mundane scholar! So they refused to debate with him! So then he said, “Alright, sign my jaya-patra, that I have defeated you!” So, they signed! Then he went around and said, “I defeated Śrīla Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī, I have defeated Rūpa and Sanātana, I AM THE GREATEST PAṆḌITA!” When he met Jīva Gosvāmī then Jīva Gosvāmī was very angry! So when the paṇḍita challenged him, Jīva Gosvāmī accepted it! They debated for one week! Then Jīva Gosvāmī was victorious! That paṇḍita was ashamed and he left Vṛndāvana and was never seen again! But when Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, he chastised Jīva Gosvāmī that, “You are not qualified to live in Vṛndāvana! You wasted your time debating with a mundane scholar!” So, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī said, “You must leave Vṛndāvana immediately.” So, he went to Mathurā. It is said that he lived in the hollow of a tree. He did extreme tapasya, he was eating once a day, chanting constantly. That was going on for a year or so. Then, Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī decided to have mercy on Jīva Gosvāmī. So he told Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, you are not following Lord Caitanya’s teachings! Which one, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī asked. He said, “You state all the instructions of Lord Caitanya and I will let you know which one.” So Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was saying all the instructions one by one. One of the instructions was that we should have mercy on the conditioned souls. But in Sanskrit that is called ‘jīva-dayā’! So when Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī said, “Jīva-dayā!” He started laughing. Because jīva not only means conditioned souls but also Jīva Gosvāmī was Jīva! So then Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī said, “Alright, I will have mercy on Jīva Gosvāmī!” Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! So he requested Jīva to come back to Vṛndāvana. So like that the pastimes of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī are numerous.

He was the śikṣā-guru of many. He was a prolific writer. He wrote 25 books! One is the Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa. And that is a book to teach you Sanskrit grammar. But, by reading that book some mystical effect is there and one also gets kṛṣṇa-bhakti! And he wrote a book Gopāla Campū, in two parts. One part is His pastimes in Vraja and other part is pastimes in Mathurā and Dvārakā. Then there is the Ṣaṭ-sandarbha. So we know that there is sambandha, abhideya and prayojana. So the first four sandarbhas are sambhanda-jñāna. The fifth sandarbha is the abhideya-jñāna and the sixth sandharbha is the prayojana. Actually, he wrote seven sandharbhas. But, the sixth is one effort and the seventh is another. As I mentioned before if you read the six sandarbhas of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, you have to be convinced about bhakti-yoga to Kṛṣṇa. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda was glorifying how great was Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī!

There was a history that the most favorable of all Muslim emperors was Akbar. And he wanted to meet Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī. So he was taken blindfolded to the garden where Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī was staying. So there he had a religious experience, he said, this place is really pious! So Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī had requested him to make the four original temples in Vṛndāvana. So Akbar ordered his followers, his deputy ministers to build these four temples. Now, one of the important followers or minister or something of the great Akbar, he bought some land in Vṛndāvana and on the order of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, he built a temple for Rādhā Dāmodara. And in that temple, there is a place which they would rent out to sādhus. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda stayed there for six years, before he went to the USA. So the Six Gosvamis, Śrīla Rūpa, Sanātana, Jīva Gosvāmī were very much connected with Śrīla Prabhupāda! Also Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī established the Viśva-vaiṣṇava Rāja-sabhā. So he was the representative of Lord Caitanya in this Viśva-vaiṣṇava Rāja-sabhā. Anyway, now we are humbly submitting that His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda was the then President of the Viśva-vaiṣṇava Rāja-sabhā.

Regarding Śrīla Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī – Śāstra says that he is the most mysterious of all the Gosvāmīs! Other Gosvāmīs, we know their actual genealogical places, their histories. We know that Śrīla Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, his parents came from Bangladesh. Anyone here from Bangladesh? Anyway, one of the Six Gosvāmīs is from Bangladesh! So, he was the son of Tapana Miśra. And it is said that Tapana Miśra on the order of Lord Caitanya, he and Candraśekhara went to Vṛndāvana. And apparently Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī was born to Tapana Miśra two years after he was in Kāśī. So when Lord Caitanya went to Benaras, then Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa was nine years old. So, Lord Caitanya went there to deliver the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs. And He slept at the house of Candraśekhara and took prasāda at the house of Tapana Miśra. When Lord Caitanya  went to the house of Tapana Miśra then his son Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa did menial service for Lord Caitanya. He massaged Lord Caitanya’s legs and feet. And other menial services. Lord Caitanya only stayed there for two months and then he went back to his headquarters in Jagannātha Purī. So, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa was constantly thinking of Lord Caitanya. When can I go to serve Lord Caitanya! So when he was 20 years old or so, he went to Jagannātha Purī. So there he stayed for eight months. Lord Caitanya told Govinda dāsa, please introduce Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa to all the Vaiṣṇava and find him a place to stay. Apparently, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa would recite the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in a very sweet way! And he was an expert cook! Yes, everything he cooked, became like nectar! So, he invited Lord Caitanya to come for prasāda and he cooked for Him! Lord Caitanya would take His prasāda with great relish! And then he would eat the remnants of Lord Caitanya. So after eight months, Lord Caitanya told him go back, serve your mother and father, they are Vaiṣṇavī and Vaiṣṇava. And He embraced Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa! And He said, afterwards come back here.

So, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa served his parents for four years. We can learn from this that it is bona fide to serve our parents to serve Vaiṣṇavas and Vaiṣṇavīs. I mean, if they are Vaiṣṇavas especially. So, then again he came back to Jagannātha Purī. So Lord Caitanya told him not to marry because he was already an advanced devotee and had no material desires! So, marriage is a provision for someone who has difficulty in controlling their senses. Of course, if the husband and wife are Vaiṣṇavas and Vaiṣṇavīs, they may engage in progressive bhakti-yoga. Otherwise, normally one does not make much advancement in the gṛhastha-āśrama. So, one has to be very committed to advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Lord Caitanya ordered Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa that he should not marry. And He told him to go to Vṛndāvana and take shelter of Śrīla Rūpa and Sanātana. And then He embraced him again and He gave him a 14 cubic long tulasī garland worn by Lord Jagannātha. And also gave him a betel nut prasada. So he kept these and worshiped them. Even after many years, sometimes he wore the dried tulasī garland in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When he would read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam he would be very ecstatic. Tears would come from his eyes, hairs would stand on end. When he read about Kṛṣṇa then he would become so ecstatic that he would become fully unconscious! So there is so much to say about Śrīla Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. But he did not write any books, the only Gosvāmī who did not write any book! So we are very fortunate that we are in the line following the Six Gosvāmīs! And so I tried to share some of the glories of two of the members of the Six Gosvāmīs.

So we can learn from these activities of the Gosvāmīs. I want all the devotees that they should also reach the state of mahā-bhāva! If you are not crying to hear about Kṛṣṇa, if you are not ecstatic in devotional service, you still have some distance to go! How fortunate was Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī that Lord Caitanya hugged him! How many of you would like to be hugged by Lord Caitanya?! We cannot imagine such a great fortune! And how Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa was massaging the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya! I mean Jīva Gosvāmī also as a child had performed some personal service. Anyway, Lord Caitanya was amongst us five hundred years ago! And we are very fortunate that His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda was with us at this time! So this the guru-paramparā and we are receiving the mercy! So, devotional service is a rare treasure! Priceless! People in the material world do not understand! If you are Vaiṣṇavas, Vaiṣṇavīs, only you can understand. In Kali-yuga, things are topsy-turvy! But we have the great benediction of Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana movement! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! Nityānanda! Nityānanda!

So, we should take advantage of this great mercy of Lord Caitanya. So the Six Gosvāmīs they received the mercy and translated and transmitted the mercy! So, we want all the devotees to see how valuable, how precious this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is! We can spend birth after birth in this material world. But if we follow the system of Lord Caitanya’s saṅkīrtana movement, we can go back in this life to the spiritual world! So, I heard His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami wants to say something!

Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami: I am just taking all of yours and Guru Mahārāja’s blessings. We are going to Ghar Ghar Gaurāṅga campaign from tomorrow! Actually, every Independence Day, our Honorable Prime Minister announces Ghar Ghar Tiraṅga! Every house must have the Tri-color Indian flag! And Guru Mahārāja said, our mantra is: “Ghar Ghar Gaurāṅga!” Actually Guru Mahārāja started this campaign three years ago, so our mission is that form of Gaurāṅga, Caitanya-caritāmṛta should be placed in every house! So we have to carry out this mission of Guru Mahārāja. So from tomorrow we are going Ghar Ghar Gaurāṅga! So please take part, this is a good opportunity and distribute Caitanya-caritāmṛta sets, in the Ghar Ghar Gaurāṅga campaign. You can start today, I have few sets of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, anyone here can take the sets from Guru Mahārāja’s lotus hands. Tomorrow also, Guru Mahārāja will be there in the morning session. You can prepare and tomorrow we will have the start of the campaign near Lotus Building. Thank you very much! You can take part. You can collect, or donate or preach Caitanya-caritāmṛta and help Guru Mahārāja in this book distribution. Thank you very much and hope we will have more and more distribution of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Haribol! This campaign will be for 20 days!