19820827 Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya-lila 14.24 @ Los Angeles, USA

The following is a class given by H.H. Jayapataka Swami Maharaja on August 27th , 1982 in Los Angleles, California. The class begins with a reading from the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhyalila, Chapter 14, Text 24.

sārvabhauma-rāmānanda-vāṇīnāthe diyā prasāda pāṭhā’la rājā bahuta kariyā

TRANSLATION The King also sent a large quantity of prasādam through Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, Rāmānanda Rāya and Vāṇīnātha Rāya.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION :

I would just like to remind everyone at this point that before we get into the discussion of all the types of prasad, that this offering of prasadam is not an ordinary thing ; that Rupa Goswami in his Upadesamrita, which is one of our most valuable books, has described how devotees have loving exchanges with each other, that the whole purpose of Krsna consciousness is like that.

Actually Srila Prabhupada has given us some purports(where he says) that the purpose of the Krsna consciousness or the International Society for Krsna Consciousness movement is to give the facility for the devotees to come together and exchange these loving relationships. The society is there, so we can exchange loving relationships with each other.

What are those six types of loving relationships that were mentioned in Upadesamrita? Giving of food stuff or prasadam and accepting prasad. Giving some gift to a devotee and accepting whatever that devotee may offer. And also, to open one’s mind to a devotee and to accept the mind of a devotee, when they open their mind to you. So, these six types of exchanges are loving exchanges. So here is one of them: giving prasad to the Lord. Of course Lord Caitanya also leaves some Mahaprasad, which they will take. In this way, loving exchanges are going on.

Actually, when the devotees come down from Bengal, you can imagine they are eagerly walking 500 kilometers to meet the Lord! When they meet the display of affection and love is so great, that practically speaking, it can melt the stone.

When they come down the very first time, when the account is given that they are coming down to Nilacal, then they're... devotees are coming and they see the sankirtan party of Lord Caitanya, just as he is going to the Narendra lake. And then from a distance, Advaita, Nityananda and other devotees, they offer their obeisances, Srivas...

And then Lord Caitanya sees them and He being so overwhelmed, even though He is the Lord Himself, He also offers his obeisances and all His devotees follow. And then they come and they just grab the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya and they pray, “Oh Lord, let us be, give us this boon that we can have your eternal association, life after life, that we can always see Your divine lotus feet, Your divine lotus face, that we can always be engaged in Your devotional service in the association of Your devotees eternally, we do not want anything else.” And then Jagannatha prasad, garlands and chandan came from the temple, just sent by Jagannath’s servants, but Lord Caitanya knew that these were sent by Jagannatha, who is the Super Soul of everyone, just to greet His devotees who had come.

So that way, then Lord Caitanya with His own hands, started to garland the different devotees and His senior associates were garlanding those devotees who had come. Every devotee received garland. And then personally Lord Caitanya took sandalwood pulp and He was putting sandalwood pulp on the forehead of all the devotees, and He was embracing them.. embracing them, greeting His loving devotees. And they were just crying in ecstasy, they could not expect this type of greeting from the Lord Himself. And their wives, who were standing at a distance, just seeing Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His devotees, they were just standing there in tears, tears were pouring from their eyes.

They were just as good as their husbands in pure devotion. They were just standing there and crying. You see, touching the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya in their heart. In this way, everyone was merged in the ocean of transcendental ecstasy and then they started to chant in sankirtan, and even all of Jagannath’s pujaris and devoees, they also engaged in sankirtan. Like this, this was the type of greeting that happened when Lord Caitanya’s devotees came to Jagannath puri, you see.

So, of course now, we are going in to the... more details, exchanges. And now the prasad is being sent by King Pratapa Rudra to Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Ramananda Raya and Vaninatha Raya. So we can continue…relishing these pastimes, worshiping…

‘balagaṇḍi bhoge’ra prasāda — uttama, ananta ‘ni-sakaḍi’ prasāda āila, yāra nāhi anta (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 25)

TRANSLATION The prasādam sent by the King had been offered at the Balagaṇḍi festival and included uncooked milk products and fruits. It was all of the finest quality, and there was no end to the variety.

chānā, pānā, paiḍa, āmra, nārikela, kāṅṭhāla nānā-vidha kadalaka, āra bīja-tāla (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 26)

TRANSLATION There were curd, fruit juice, coconut, mango, dried coconut, jackfruit, various kinds of bananas and palm-fruit seeds.

PURPORT This is the first list of prasad offered to Lord Jagannatha.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : These tal fruit.. you know the talabon (grove of palm trees). Some of the palm trees in LA look like tal trees, but they are not. Tal fruits are what they have those little hand fans in India, that's from the leaf of that tree. So that fruit is types, here it says. tala bij, or bija tal. You eat that seed when it is green. When it is not ripe then it is like a green coconut, and you cut that open and inside you will find three seeds, and those seeds at that time are just like jell-O. They are very soft and inside there is a sweet juice. If you bite into it, the juice will drip down here on your chin(devotees laugh). And sometimes it squirts out, very juicy, and mildly sweet but very, very, very refreshing; very soft, just like a little jell-O pack. And then a ripe tal fruit, that time those seeds have just become hard seeds, and you can't eat them , as far as I know. I don't know if you eat them or not. You don't eat them fresh, that's for sure. And then the rest of the fruit, which is fibrous like a coconut that is filled with a yellow type of intensely aromatic nectar. You can smell that from half a mile. That is why when Krsna smelt that scent from the tal fruit, then all his friends, the cowherd boys, they all wanted to go into that forest.

They take that in a big bamboo basket, rub it and get all the nectar out. Then that becomes just like yellow nectar. Now, they can take that as nectar drink or they mix it in pakora batter and make pakora, or rice batter and they make rice cakes. All that is highly scented. That is called tala pita. So these things… they are sending now, some of the prasad they are sending now are being listed here. This is all prasad. So it is all right; you do not have to feel bashful if you start to drool(devotees laugh).

nāraṅga, cholaṅga, ṭābā, kamalā, bīja-pūra bādāma, chohārā, drākṣā, piṇḍa-kharjura (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 27)

TRANSLATION There were also oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, almonds, dried fruit, raisins and dates. manoharā-lāḍu ādi śateka prakāra amṛta-guṭikā-ādi, kṣīrasā apāra (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 28)

TRANSLATION There were hundreds of different types of sweetmeats like manoharā-lāḍu, sweets like amṛta-guṭikā and various types of condensed milk.

amṛta-maṇḍā, saravatī, āra kumḍā-kurī sarāmṛta, sarabhājā, āra sarapurī (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 29) TRANSLATION There were also papayas and saravatī, a type of orange, and also crushed squash. There were also regular cream, fried cream and a type of purī made with cream.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : This sarapuri, they made a variety of it; it is considered to be the top most sweet of Krsna Nagar, near Mayapur. Each city in Bengal--- you know Bengal is famous for milk sweets---each city has one to three varieties of sweets, which is their particular... they are famous for that.

Navadvipa is famous for its misti doi, the sweet red yoghurt, cooked down condensed yoghurt. Krsna nagar is famous for sarapuri, and another cream roll. Like that then Chandan nagar is famous for tal sandesh. They make a sandesh just in the shape of the tal fruit, tal seed, and they somehow make the sandesh very hard, but in the middle of it they put sweet juice. So when you bite into it, like a tal fruit, it drips down your chin. (devotees laugh and Gurudev laughs along with them) It's crazy! If you go anywhere, they say, “You have to try(their locally made sweet).” This is the pride of their town. Just like people are proud of the Eiffel tower, and proud of other... In Bengal, they are proud of the particular sweet that they make in that city. So they are offering all these very wonderful type of offerings to Lord Jagannatha.

hari-vallabha, seṅoti, karpūra, mālatī ḍālimā marica-lāḍu, navāta, amṛti (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 30)

TRANSLATION There were also the sweets known as hari-vallabha and sweets made of seṅoti flowers, karpūra flowers and mālatī flowers. There were pomegranates, sweets made with black pepper, sweets made with fused sugar, and amṛti-jilipi. Amriti jilipi made with rice powder and chickpea flour mixed with yoghurt and ghee and immersed in sugar water.

padmacini, candrakānti, khājā, khaṇḍasāra viyari, kadmā, tilākhājāra prakāra (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 31)

TRANSLATION

There were lotus-flower sugar, a kind of bread made from urad dhal, crispy sweetmeats, sugar candy, fried-rice sweets, sesame-seed sweets and cookies made from sesame seeds.

nāraṅga-cholaṅga-āmra-vṛkṣera ākāra phula-phala-patra-yukta khaṇḍera vikāra (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 32)

TRANSLATION There were sugar-candy sweetmeats formed into the shape of orange, lemon and mango trees and arranged with fruits, flowers and leaves. dadhi, dugdha, nanī, takra, rasālā, śikhariṇī sa-lavaṇa mudgāṅkura, ādā khāni khāni (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 33)

TRANSLATION There were yogurt, milk, butter, buttermilk, fruit juice, a preparation made of fried yogurt and sugar candy, and salty mung-dhal sprouts with shredded ginger. lembu-kula-ādi nānā-prakāra ācāra likhite nā pāri prasāda kateka prakāra (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 34)

TRANSLATION There were also various types of pickles—lemon pickle, berry pickle and so on. Indeed, I am not able to describe the variety of food offered to Lord Jagannätha.

PURPORT In verses 26–34, the author describes the various foods offered to Lord Jagannätha. He has described them as far as possible, but he finally admits his inability to describe them completely.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : We can just see that how the… of course some of these things are probably just the opposite of what our health fanatics, macrobiotics, brown-rice chewers, are attached to. They cannot understand why such unhealthy things.

Of course, because they think that you have to chew your rice 40 times before it will break up. Actually, rice like that is also available; we also have a type of rice, sometimes we serve that in Mayapur, known as the RED RICE---again some type of fame. Well, of course, most of the devotees that go there, unfortunately from the West are macrobiotic fans, otherwise they would like that rice. But the real thing is that we are dealing with higher type of society – intellectual, brahminical society. Naturally, they are doing more the type of services which are for the society - learning, and teaching and devotional services. So they don’t generally need so much physical labor.

Those who are laborers, who work in the fields, who do heavy physical work, who are not chapati eaters, they eat rice; they need this type of heavy rice for giving them strength. But if you are not, if you are doing a desk job or doing some kind of brahminical work, you do not need this pile of lead in your stomach...you see. Krsna of course is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He doesn't have to do any work, so he is always enjoying; He is offered the finest things in the mode of goodness.

And similarly, all these health food fans, they should realize that the healthiest thing for them is to be Krsna conscious. And that means to offer the most luxurious, wonderful foods in the mode of goodness ‘bhogas’ to Lord Jagannath and then to accept that prasad with faith and not be attached to all types of calorie calculations and bi-carbonate...whatever bi-carbohydrate calculations and everything, trying to figure out how to keep their machine running. That will also automatically be run in the different modes. They are calculating in some mode of passion or ignorance, rather than in the mode of goodness. So these calculations don't have to be done.

These are all transcendental foods in the mode of goodness and one who takes these... Rather more than goodness, these are prasad; they will become purified not only from their hunger, but they will become purified from the attachment to this material world and to birth and death. In fact, so many types of wonderful prasadam are offered to Krsna, Lord Jagannath, that even the author, after so many descriptions, he feels completely inadequate to actually describe them completely. prasāde pūrita ha-ila ardha upavana dekhiyā santoṣa haila mahāprabhura mana (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 35)

TRANSLATION When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu saw half the garden filled with a variety of prasādam, He was very satisfied. ei-mata jagannātha karena bhojana ei sukhe mahāprabhura juḍāya nayana (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 36)

TRANSLATION Indeed, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was fully satisfied just to see how Lord Jagannātha accepted all the food.

PURPORT : Following in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, a Vaiṣṇava should be fully satisfied simply to see a variety of food offered to the Deity of Jagannātha or Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. A Vaiṣṇava should not hunger for a variety of food for his own sake; rather, his satisfaction is in seeing various foods being offered to the Deity. In his Gurv-aṣṭaka, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura writes:

catur-vidha-śrī-bhagavat-prasāda- svādv-anna-tṛptān hari-bhakta-saṅghān kṛtvaiva tṛptiṁ bhajataḥ sadaiva vande guroḥ śrī-caraṇāravindam

“The spiritual master is always offering Kṛṣṇa four kinds of delicious food [analyzed as that which is licked, chewed, drunk and sucked]. When the spiritual master sees that the devotees are satisfied by eating bhagavat-prasādam, he is satisfied. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.”

The spiritual master’s duty is to engage his disciples in preparing varieties of nice foods to offer the Deity. After being offered, this food is distributed as prasādam to the devotees. These activities satisfy the spiritual master, although he himself does not eat or require such a variety of prasādam. By seeing to the offering and distribution of prasādam, he himself is encouraged in devotional service.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : We see that many places Lord Caitanya he becomes very satisfied to see nice arrangement of worshiping Krsna. Similarly the spiritual master, following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya, also feels satisfied to see a very nice arrangement for worshiping Krsna and to see the mercy of Krsna distributed to the devotees. This gives, as Srila Prabhupada said here, the spiritual master himself is encouraged in devotional service. So the devotees, to please the spiritual master and Lord Caitanya, can simply make a wonderful arrangement for the worship of Jagannath, and that will be the source of greatest happiness to the spiritual master and Lord Caitanya. More satisfying than even when an arrangement is made directly to give to the spiritual master. He is more happy to see the Lord get all types of varieties of offering.

keyā-patra-droṇī āila bojhā pāṅca-sāta eka eka jane daśa donā dila, — eta pāta (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 37)

TRANSLATION There then arrived five or seven loads of plates made of the leaves of the ketakī tree. Each man was supplied ten of these plates, and in this way the leaf dishes were distributed. kīrtanīyāra pariśrama jāni’ gaurarāya tāṅ-sabāre khāoyāite prabhura mana dhāya (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 38)

TRANSLATION Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu understood the labor of all the kīrtana chanters; therefore He was very eager to feed them sumptuously. pāṅti pāṅti kari’ bhakta-gaṇe vasāilā pariveśana karibāre āpane lāgilā (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 39)

TRANSLATION All the devotees sat down in lines, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu personally began to distribute the prasādam. prabhu nā khāile, keha nā kare bhojana svarūpa-gosāñi tabe kaila nivedana (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 40)

TRANSLATION But the devotees would not accept the prasādam until Caitanya Mahāprabhu took it. Svarūpa Gosvāmī informed the Lord of this. Jai Jagannatha Swami ki(Gurudev says this as the curtain opens for the darshan of the Lord) āpane vaisa, prabhu, bhojana karite tumi nā khāile, keha nā pāre khāite (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 41)

TRANSLATION Svarüpa Dämodara said, “My Lord, would you please sit down? No one will eat until You do.” tabe mahāprabhu vaise nija-gaṇa lañā bhojana karāila sabāke ākaṇṭha pūriyā (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 42)

TRANSLATION At that time, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sat down with His personal associates and had every one of them fed very sumptuously until they were filled to the necks.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : ‘akantha bhojan’ sabake akantha, Kantha is the kanthi mala. Akantha – up to the neck. You should take Jagannath prasad up to the neck(devotees laugh). If you took more than up to the neck you would not be able to chant. So the neck is kept(devotees laugh again). bhojana kari’ vasilā prabhu kari’ ācamana prasāda ubarila, khāya sahasreka jana (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 43)

TRANSLATION After finishing, the Lord washed His mouth and sat down. There was so much extra prasädam that it was distributed to thousands. GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : One point, just see that first the devotees are given enough prasad, and then it is distributed to the thousands. Lord Caitanya would first see that all of his devotees were filled up to the neck with prasad--- charity begins at home first. And then, give it to the thousands. Then those devotees would give, or the assistants of the king. prabhura ājñāya govinda dīna-hīna jane duḥkhī kāṅgāla āni’ karāya bhojane (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 44)

TRANSLATION Following the orders of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Govinda, His personal servant, called for all the poor beggars, who were unhappy due to their poverty, and fed them sumptuously. GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : Sometimes, they call the beggars also ‘dukhies’ ‘dukhi people’ and all the unhappies. So that way, many demi-gods and others were also trying to get that prasad. They were unhappy not to be in Lord Caitanya’s association.

kāṅgālera bhojana-raṅga dekhe gaurahari ‘hari-bola’ bali’ tāre upadeśa kari (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 45)

TRANSLATION Observing the beggars eating prasādam, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted, “Haribol!” and instructed them to chant the holy name. PURPORT : In a song, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura chants: miche māyāra vaśe, yāccha bhese’, khāccha hābuḍubu, bhāi jīva kṛṣṇa-dāsa, e viśvāsa, ka’rle ta’ āra duḥkha nāi

“O people! Why are you being captivated by the waves of the ocean of nescience?If you would immediately accept Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as your eternal master, there would be no chance of being carried away by the waves of illusion. Then all your sufferings would stop.” Kṛṣṇa conducts the material world under the three modes of material nature, and consequently there are three platforms of life — higher, middle and lower. On whatever platform one may be situated, one is tossed by the waves of material nature. Someone may be rich, someone may be middle class, and someone may be a poor beggar — it doesn’t matter. As long as one is under the spell of the three modes of material nature, he must continue to experience these divisions.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : This shows the futility of the world’s economic program. It is already fixed, you are always going to have these three divisions. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore advised the beggars to chant “Haribol!” while taking prasādam. Chanting means accepting one’s self as the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. This is the only solution, regardless of social position. Everyone is suffering under the spell of māyā; therefore the best course is to learn how to get out of the clutches of māyā. How to do so is stated by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (14.26): māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate “One who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” One can overcome the spell of māyā and attain the transcendental platform by agreeing to engage in the devotional service of the Lord. Devotional service begins with śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam; therefore Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised the beggars to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra for elevation to the transcendental position. On the transcendental platform, there is no distinction between the rich, the middle class and the poor. ‘hari-bola’ bali’ kāṅgāla preme bhāsi’ yāya aichana adbhuta līlā kare gaurarāya (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 46)

TRANSLATION As soon as the beggars chanted the holy name, “Haribol,” they were immediately absorbed in ecstatic love of Godhead. In this way Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu performed wonderful pastimes. PURPORT :

To feel the emotion of ecstatic love of God is to be on the transcendental platform. If one can keep himself in that transcendental position, he will surely return home, back to Godhead. In the spiritual world there are no higher, middle or lower classes. This is confirmed by the Īśopaniṣad , Mantra 7 yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtāny ātmaivābhūd vijānataḥ tatra ko mohaḥ kaḥ śoka ekatvam anupaśyataḥ “One who always sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, in quality one with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for him?”

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : So by keeping everyone on the transcendental platform, by chanting ‘Hare Krsna’, by pulling the Jagannath cart, by taking prasadam, you see, then all these differences – higher, middle, lower class – they will be removed. People will become transcendentally blissful.

As long as people are dependent upon the economy for their happiness there are always going to be people who have more economy, more money, therefore there will be people who will envy them for they are happier than I am. And when people are relying on Krsna consciousness to be happy then no one will be envious of others for their economic advantage, because everyone will be achieving the highest ecstasy of life regardless of how much money they have in their pocket. Therefore at a recent communist world conference, the communists had a meeting.

One person stood up and said, “Right now there is a great danger for your movement. This is the gravest danger that has ever come up in our history, and that is this Hare Krsna movement. (audience: oh…) These people are preaching that everyone should accept just what they are getting from God. They are preaching that regardless of all religion, political affiliation, being rich, poor, everything, you can all obtain happiness simply in God. If this spreads our movement will be held up, therefore they are number one enemy. They must be stopped.”

In the world communist congress, they announced that Hare Krsna movement, was more dangerous than Capitalism, more dangerous than anything. This is the number one enemy. You see, because this is perfect. You see, therefore once one becomes Krsna conscious, they become immune to all this bogus garbage. So, you can just understand that in the spiritual world there is no higher, middle or lower class. I wouldn't be surprised if even the capitalists have a meeting and say the same thing and ruin our market! You see. I would not at all be surprised. Just out of some, you know, bashfulness, they cannot say directly so clearly, because they cannot proclaim atheism. They are trying to keep a show of some type of religious thing. Otherwise they would also say the same thing. I would not at all be surprised. Putting our liquor houses and gambling casinos, and everything out of business... to some extent. So, this is the solution for the world's problems: simply to become God-conscious. That we can see as we read these pages, more and more. Prabhupada's given the greatest gift to us.

ihāṅ jagannāthera ratha-calana-samaya gauḍa saba ratha ṭāne, āge nāhi yāya (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 47)

TRANSLATION Outside the garden, when it was time to pull Jagannātha’s car, all the workers called gauḍas tried to pull it, but it would not move forward.

ṭānite nā pāre gauḍa, ratha chāḍi’ dila pātra-mitra lañā rājā vyagra hañā āila (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 48)

TRANSLATION When the gauḍas saw that they could not budge the car, they abandoned the attempt. Then the King arrived in great anxiety, and he was accompanied by his officers and friends.

mahā-malla-gaṇe dila ratha cālāite āpane lāgilā ratha, nā pāre ṭānite (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 49)

TRANSLATION The King then arranged for big wrestlers to try to pull the car, and even the King himself joined in, but the car could not be moved. vyagra hañā āne rājā matta-hātī-gaṇa ratha cālāite rathe karila yojana (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 50)

TRANSLATION Becoming even more anxious to move the car, the King had very strong elephants brought forth and harnessed to it.

matta-hasti-gaṇa ṭāne yāra yata bala eka pada nā cale ratha, ha-ila acala (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 51)

TRANSLATION The strong elephants pulled with all their strength, but still the car remained at a standstill, not budging an inch. śuni’ mahāprabhu āilā nija-gaṇa lañā matta-hastī ratha ṭāne, — dekhe dāṇḍāñā (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 52)

TRANSLATION As soon as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard this news, He went there with all His personal associates. They then stood there and watched the elephants try to pull the car.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION: Mad elephants you know pulling, hrrrrrr (Gurudeva makes a noise) with their nose, you can see that straining... how they pull. aṅkuśera ghāya hastī karaye citkāra ratha nāhi cale, loke kare hāhākāra (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 53)

TRANSLATION The elephants, being beaten by the elephant-goad, were crying, but still the car would not move. The assembled people cried out, “Alas!”

tabe mahäprabhu saba hasté ghucäila nija-gaëe ratha-kächi öänibäre dila(CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 54)

TRANSLATION At that time, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu let all the elephants go free and placed the car’s ropes in the hands of His own men.

āpane rathera pāche ṭhele māthā diyā haḍ haḍ kari, ratha calila dhāiyā (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 55)

TRANSLATION Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then went to the back of the car and began to push with His head. It was then that the car began to move and roll along, making a rattling sound. GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : “Had, had,” you know, the car “had, had,” like this, making this sound and just rattled forward that meant it was going forward so fast that the wheels and axles were going “hadahadahadahada.”

bhakta-gaṇa kāchi hāte kari’ mātra dhāya āpane calila ratha, ṭānite nā pāya (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 56)

TRANSLATION Indeed, the car began to move automatically, and the devotees simply carried the ropes in their hands. Since it was moving effortlessly, they did not need to pull it.

ānande karaye loka ‘jaya’ ‘jaya’-dhvani ‘jaya jagannātha’ ba-i āra nāhi śuni (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 57)

TRANSLATION When the car moved forward, everyone began to chant with great pleasure, “All glories! All glories!” and “All glories to Lord Jagannātha!” No one could hear anything else. GURUDEV'S ELABORATION :

Jai Jagannatha! Jai Jagannatha!

Gurudev : Everyone, Jai Jagannatha!

Devotees : Jai Jagannatha!

Gurudev : Jai Jagannatha!

Devotees : Jai Jagannatha!

Gurudev : Jai Jagannath!

Devotees : Jai Jagannatha!

Gurudev : Jai Gaura Hari!

Devotees : Jai Gaura Hari!

nimeṣe ta’ gela ratha guṇḍicāra dvāra caitanya-pratāpa dekhi’ loke camatkāra (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 58)

TRANSLATION In a moment the car reached the door of the Guṇḍicā temple. Upon seeing the uncommon strength of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, all the people were struck with wonder. ‘jaya gauracandra’, ‘jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya’ ei-mata kolāhala loke dhanya dhanya (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 59)

TRANSLATION The crowd made a tumultuous vibration, chanting “Jaya Gauracandra! Jaya Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya!” Then the people began to chant, “Wonderful! Wonderful!”

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION :

Gurudev : Jai Gauracandra

Devotees : Jai Gauracandra!

Gurudev : Jai Gauracandra! Devotees : Jai Gauracandra!

Gurudev : Jai Sri Krsna Caitanya!

Devotees : Jai Sri Krsna Caitanya!

Gurudev : Jai Sri Krsna Caitanya!

Devotees : Jai Sri Krsna Caitanya!

Gurudev : Dhanya, Dhanya!

Devotees : Dhanya, Dhanya!

dekhiyā pratāparudra pātra-mitra-saṅge prabhura mahimā dekhi’ preme phule aṅge (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 60)

TRANSLATION Seeing the greatness of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Pratāparudra Mahārāja and his ministers and friends were so moved by ecstatic love that the hair on their bodies stood on end.

pāṇḍu-vijaya tabe kare sevaka-gaṇe jagannātha vasilā giyā nija-siṁhāsane (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 61)

TRANSLATION All the servants of Lord Jagannätha then took Him down from the car, and the Lord went to sit on His throne.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION :

This is the pandu bijay-- the victory of the pandus. That Lord Jagannath has come to them.

subhadrā-balarāma nija-siṁhāsane āilā jagannāthera snāna-bhoga ha-ite lāgilā (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 62)

TRANSLATION Subhadrā and Balarāma also sat on their respective thrones. There followed the bathing of Lord Jagannātha and finally the offering of food.

āṅgināte mahāprabhu lañā bhakta-gaṇa ānande ārambha kaila nartana-kīrtana (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 63)

TRANSLATION While Lord Jagannātha, Lord Balarāma and Subhadrā sat on their respective thrones, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His devotees began to perform saṅkīrtana with great pleasure, chanting and dancing in the yard of the temple. ānande mahāprabhura prema uthalila dekhi’ saba loka prema-sāgare bhāsila (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 64)

TRANSLATION While Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was chanting and dancing, He was overwhelmed with ecstatic love, and all the people who saw Him were also flooded in the ocean of love of Godhead.

nṛtya kari’ sandhyā-kāle ārati dekhila āiṭoṭā āsi’ prabhu viśrāma karila (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 65)

TRANSLATION In the evening, after finishing His dancing in the yard of the Guṇḍicā temple, the Lord observed the ārati ceremony. Thereafter He went to a place called Āiṭoṭā and took rest for the night.

advaitādi bhakta-gaṇa nimantraṇa kaila mukhya mukhya nava jana nava dina pāila (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 66)

TRANSLATION For nine days, nine chief devotees, headed by Advaita Ācārya, got an opportunity to invite the Lord to their homes.

āra bhakta-gaṇa cāturmāsye yata dina eka eka dina kari’ karila baṇṭana (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 67)

TRANSLATION During the four months of the rainy season, the remaining devotees extended invitations to the Lord for one day each. In this way they shared invitations.

cāri māsera dina mukhya-bhakta bāṅṭi’ nila āra bhakta-gaṇa avasara nā pāila (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 68)

TRANSLATION For the four-month period, all the daily invitations were shared among the important devotees. The rest of the devotees did not get an opportunity to extend an invitation to the Lord.

eka dina nimantraëa kare dui-tine mili’ ei-mata mahäprabhura nimantraëa-keli(CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 69)

TRANSLATION Since they could not get one day each, two or three devotees combined to extend an invitation. These are the pastimes of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s acceptance of invitations.

prātaḥ-kāle snāna kari’ dekhi’ jagannātha saṅkīrtane nṛtya kare bhakta-gaṇa sātha (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 70)

TRANSLATION After taking His bath early in the morning, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would go see Lord Jagannātha in the temple. Then He would perform saṅkīrtana with His devotees

kabhu advaite nācāya, kabhu nityānande kabhu haridāse nācāya, kabhu acyutānande (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 71)

TRANSLATION By chanting and dancing, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu induced Advaita Ācārya to dance. Sometimes He induced Nityānanda Prabhu, Haridāsa Ṭhākura and Acyutānanda to dance.

kabhu vakreśvare, kabhu āra bhakta-gaṇe trisandhyā kīrtana kare guṇḍicā-prāṅgaṇe (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 72)

TRANSLATION Sometimes Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu engaged Vakreśvara and other devotees in chanting and dancing. Three times daily — morning, noon and evening — He would perform saṅkīrtana in the yard of the Guṇḍicā temple.

vṛndāvane āilā kṛṣṇa — ei prabhura jñāna kṛṣṇera viraha-sphūrti haila avasāna (CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 73)

TRANSLATION At this time Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu felt that Lord Kṛṣṇa had returned to Vṛndāvana. Thinking this, His feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa subsided. rādhā-saṅge kṛṣṇa-līlā — ei haila jñāne ei rase magna prabhu ha-ilā āpane CC Madhya Lila Ch 14, Text 74)

TRANSLATION Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was always thinking of the pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and He remained personally merged in this consciousness.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION : So that was 50 verses, 51 verses. And now Srila Rameswar wants me to read another 60 verses. (Gurudev laughs) I think it's... not possible. 104 to 164 might be here till Ratha yatra. I don't know whether just to get to the end of it or whether to leave it for someone to read tomorrow. Tonight? I think it would be too late. Any advice? Basically, this is the pastime of Hera Pancami. Got to really read all the details to get this fully. You know how Lakshmi devi came and arrested all of Lord Jagannath’s servants; that she became very angry that Jagannath was gone, He said He would be back and still He had not come back. Like a henpecked husband she thought that.. Of course … Gurudeva reads from CC Madhya lila 14.161 Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī describes the right-wing gopīs in this way:

asahyā māna-nirbandhe nāyake yukta-vādinī sāmabhis tena bhedyā ca dakṣiṇā parikīrtitā (CC Madhya lila 14.161)

A gopī who cannot tolerate womanly anger, who speaks suitable words to the hero, and who is satisfied by His sweet words is called a dakṣiṇā, or a right-wing gopī. vāmya-svabhāve māna uṭhe nirantara tāra madhye uṭhe kṛṣṇera ānanda-sāgara (CC Madhya lila 14.162) TRANSLATION Because She is a left-wing gopī, Her womanly anger is always awakening, but Kṛṣṇa derives transcendental bliss from Her activities.

GURUDEV'S ELABORATION :

Prabhupada explained that actually everything that's in the material world is only coming from God, it's only coming from Krsna. So, that in the material world, we see that well, there is so-called romance, so-called loving affairs, which are actually of course we know after understanding Krsna consciousness, they are actually lusty affairs and they are simply a perverted reflection or an imperfect reflection of the original affairs in the spiritual sky.

The difference is that in the spiritual world, there is no material body, there is no need of any material mechanisms; that everything is on the transcendental platform, and on the platform of pure love. But because it is there in its pure form in the spiritual world, so somehow or other, it's filtered down, and all these relationships of conjugal love, parental love, friendship, servitude or even neutral appreciation, are in the material world only because they're existing originally in the spiritual sky. So therefore this is ultimately the highest understanding of God realization.

No one can hold a candle to this understanding. So many people are praying to God, the Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name, give us our daily bread. They cannot get beyond the bread status, you see. Here, we are seeing Lord Caitanya... He is not asking for the bread; rather He is offering bread, puris(devotees laugh), fruit everything to Jagannath, you see. Not thinking, “Will Jagannath give me... but how can I offer so many nice things to Jagannatha, and knowing how holy is His name, how holy are his activities, simply relishing how the Lord is enjoying different transcendental pastimes, and seeing them on the transcendental platform. So these pastimes are very confidential.

Generally people won't understand these pastimes. I was giving a class, just a few days ago on Radhastami. Just we have to say something about Radha. So someone was saying, “Well these things sound an awful lot like romance in the material world. How can we get out of this?” So immediately we felt, “Well, this is a dangerous position, if we say anything about Radharani and people think that this is Krsna and the gopis, Krsna and the cowherd girls, these are material activities, they will be complicated by offences. So I explained that just understand this one thing--- that in the material life the highest happiness is when the man and woman have their union. But in the spiritual world ---we have to take it from the authorities--- that there's nothing like this material affair. This material thing is just a gross type of shadow. So there, it was confirmed by Krsna, by Lord Caitanya, and all the great souls that the highest level of love is experienced when the two are separated. ‘virahe’ or ‘vipralambha’ is considered to be the Maha Bhava; it is only experienced in separation.

Then that person said, “This is opposite.” He is a simple person; nice devotee, but very simple. So he said that this is completely opposite. So, that we can just understand that this is completely opposite--- these affairs. But those who are very advanced who realize that they are not the body, who realize Krsna does not have a material body that the gopis don't have material bodies, that Radharani doesn't have a material body, that Jagannath doesn't have a material body. And that these are all transcendental affairs. As they get the taste, even one taste of ecstasy from that ocean of bliss, they can understand there is a whole realm of happiness, not dependent on the body. And therefore they can start to understand that the happiness that is experienced by Krsna and by Lord Citanya, and by great devotees like the gopis, and other great devotees like the goswamis, are not on the material platform at all. They are not dependent on any material sense organs, but they are completely on the transcendental level of pure premananda, transcendental ecstatic bliss.

Gurudev : Jai Srila Prabhupada ki Jai!

Devotees : Jai!

Jagannath swami ki Jaii

Devotees : Jai

Gurudev :Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki Jai!

Devotees : Jai! Gurudev : Sri Rameswara Swami Maharaja ki Jai!

Devotees : Jai!

One Devotee : Srila Acaryapada ki Jai!

Other Devotees : Jai!

The same Devotee again : Srila Acaryapada ki!

Other Devotees : Jai!

The same Devotee : Gaur premanande…!

Other devotees : Hari Hari bol!


Complete and Continue