The following is a lecture given by His Holiness, Jayapataka Swami on October 15th, 1982 at Murari Sevaka farm, in Mulberry, Tennessee. The class begins with a reading from the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 2, Chapter 3, Verse 19.

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Jayapataka Swami:

sva-vit-varahostra-kharaih

samstutah purusah pasuh

na yat-karna-pathopeto

jatu nama gadagrajah

Translation by His Divine Grace, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of Text 19, Chapter 3, Canto 2, Srimad-Bhagavatam:

Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Krishna… Lord Sri Krishna, the deliverer from evils.

Purport by Prabhupada:

“The general mass of people, unless they are trained systematically for a higher standard of life in spiritual values, are no better than animals, and in this verse they have practically been put on the level of dogs, hogs, camels and asses. Modern university education practically appears… or, excuse me, prepares one to acquire a doggish mentality with which to accept the service of a greater master. After finishing a so-called education, the so-called educated persons move like dogs from door to door with applications for some service, and mostly they are driven away, informed of no vacancy. As dogs are negligible animals and serve the master faithfully for bits of bread, a man serves a master faithfully without sufficient rewards.

Persons who have no discrimination in the matter of foodstuff and who eat all sorts of rubbish are compared to hogs. Hogs are very much attached to eating stools. So stool is a kind of foodstuff for a particular type of animal. And even stones are eatables for a particular type of animal or bird. But the human being is not meant for eating everything and anything; (clapping) he is meant to eat grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, sugar, etc. Animal food is not meant for the human being. For chewing solid food, the human being has a particular type of teeth meant for cutting fruits and vegetables. The human being is endowed with two canine teeth as a concession for persons who will eat animal food at any cost. It is known to everyone that one man's food is another man's poison. Human beings are expected to accept the remnants of food offered to Lord Sri Krishna, and the Lord accepts foodstuff from the categories of leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. (Bhagavatam 9.26). As prescribed by Vedic scriptures, no animal food is offered to the Lord. Therefore, a human being is meant to eat a particular type of food. He should not imitate the animals to derive so-called vitamin, (questioning pronunciation) “vitamin”? vitamin values. Therefore, a person who has no discrimination in regard to eating is compared to a…”

Devotees: Hog.

Jayapataka Swami: “…hog.”.

So, then he wrote...

So, here we’ve already discussed dogs and hog-like human beings. Actually, in the Vedic culture, brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas, you see… even a brahmana, he may accept the occupation of a king, or of a business man, but they’ll never accept the job as a salaried person, which is that of a sudra, you see. Canakya Pandita was a great brahmana. He was offered the position as Prime Minister by the king, and uh, he agreed to accept that position with a condition that he wouldn’t accept any salary.

He wouldn’t live in the king’s palace, or he… he wanted a separate outside of the king’s palace. He wouldn’t accept any salary because he didn’t want to become… when you accept salary, then you have to do what your boss says. Just like a dog. Look at all the people in Customs and Immigration. Just because of getting salary, they have to mistreat people. Put them through such a hard time. You want to go and see any president of any corporation, you have to go through watchmen, secretaries, so many people who are just there to tell you, “no.”. Rough, “No. You can’t see him.” (devotees laughing)

So, this uh, dog-like mentality, however, is being promoted in the Western culture. Not only Western, but e… Well whole Western. Either Capitalist, or Communist. Everyone is supposed to simply work faithfully for insufficient rewards. At least in the Western countries, the idea that you can give up your job and try to get another job, where you get more pay. Offer some allurement that, “Well, maybe there’s hope to get sufficient reward.”

You see, while in the Communist country, you just get a completely insufficient amount, but you have to work just, anyway. But, there there was no one who… this Vedic system is uh, very much… only… was very much stifled. Only the Communist party members have got any real freedom, otherwise anybody has to just serve, faithfully the established situation.

So, here even in America, still there are traders and businessmen. There’s a lot of vaisyas, but all the intellectuals and military, they’re all become simply the paid people of the uh, government, which is all supported by taxes, controlled by various lobbies. So, in this way, big intellectuals are going to school, but then, they’re just actually spending their whole time developing greater types of, you know, products for comer… for consumer distribution, everything. So, it’s actually… there’s no question of free thought, or actual human uh, characteristics being developed. They’re actually just, uh, like faithful dogs.

They’re just uh, serving their master, faithfully, for money, but their glorified and given some name and fame and, like this, recognition. But, actually, that type of real indepence, ability to do welfare work for the people, to do real search of the truth, is hardly given to most of the people. Just maybe a very few, actually get that type of independence, and Prabhupada has sufficiently discussed about the hogs. We don’t have to really go into it much more. Regarding the camel, he says:

“The camel is a kind of animal that takes pleasure in eating thorns. A person who wants to enjoy family life or the worldly life of so-called enjoyment is compared to the camel. Materialistic life is full of thorns, and so one should live only by the prescribed method of Vedic regulations just to make the best use of a bad bargain. Life in the material world is maintained by sucking one's own blood. The central point of attraction for the material enjoyment is sex life. To enjoy sex life is to suck one's own blood, and there is not much more to be explained in this connection.

The animal also… camel also sucks its own blood while chewing thorny twigs. The thorn the camel eats cut the tongue of the camel, and so blood begins to flow within the camel's mouth. The thorns, mixed with flesh blood, create a taste for the foolish camel, and so he enjoys the thorn-eating business with false pleasure…”

This… you can see this in India, actually that they eat… they go to the thorn tree, and they eat. They’re so stupid that they think that thorns are sweet tasting because when they chew the thorn they taste some sweet taste. They don’t realize that the sweet taste is their own blood. If someone gives you an apple then you eat it then you… very sweet taste. So, it’s like that. They don’t see what’s, you know, happening in their mouth. They’re so stupid, they don’t realize that their tongue is being cut up. Must not be very sensitive. (devotees laugh), so when they chew on the thorns, and then they taste the blood mixed with the thorn, they think, “Oh, this is a very sweet preparation. I wonder why no one else is eating it.” (Devotees laughing) “They left it all for me.” (laughing continues)

So, Prabhupada is saying:

“Similarly, the great business magnates, industrialists who work very hard to earn money by different ways and questionable means, eat the thorny results of their actions mixed with their own blood. Therefore the Bhagavatam has situated these diseased fellows along with the…”

Devotees: camels.

Jayapataka Swami: “…camels.

The ass is an animal who is celebrated as the greatest fool, even amongst the animals. The ass works very hard and carries burdens of the maximum weight without making profit for itself. The ass is generally engaged by the washerman, whose social position is not very respectable. And the special qualification of the ass is that it is very much accustomed to being kicked by the opposite sex. When the ass begs for sexual intercourse, he is kicked by the fair sex, yet he still follows the female for such sexual pleasure. A henpecked man is compared, therefore, to the ass. The general mass of people work very hard, especially in the age of Kali. In this age the human being is actually engaged in the work of an ass, carrying heavy burdens and driving thela and rickshaws.”

You know thela? In India, this is… you know bullock has the cart. So, in Calcutta, I have seen they have bullock cart, without the bull. Instead, the men are pulling. It’s a small. And sometimes they load on it half a ton, one ton of uh, steel or something, and you see them pulling. There’s two people in the front, and one person in the back. Just like the bullock, they’re pulling. And, uh, you see them coming down the road, and all of a sudden like some big bus or something comes the o… this way, and so then, they try to stop, but you’ve got a one ton, you know, they don’t weigh that much. So, then they have one ton momentum going, there, and they’re trying to stop, and you see them straining, and the sweat is going. They’re trying to stop but (devotees laughing)… just, you know, not to run into this bus. It’s uh, I mean, you can just how… why… human beings are working just like asses. All because they get… they get, you know, pretty good pay. Because uh, instead of carrying uh, in some uh, little miniature truck, say you just wanted to move something in the city that it’s not a big enough load for a whole truck, or a truck may cost 50 rupees, so they’ll pull it for 12 rupees or 20 rupees, so that way they can do two loads. In a day, they’ll may 70, 80, about a dollar a day. A lot of money, you know, and they’re pulling rickshaw. The average life of a rickshaw puller in India is something like 35 years old.

Devotee: psheew…

Jayapataka Swami: But just for the money, they’re doing it. They make more money than if they were in the village. The so-called advancement of human civilization has engaged a human being in the work of an ass. The laborers in great factories and workshops are also engaged in such burdensome work, and after working hard during the day, the poor laborer has to be again kicked by the fair sex, not only for sex enjoyment but also for so many household affairs.

So Srimad-Bhagavatam's categorization of the common man without any spiritual enlightenment into the society of dogs, hogs, camels and asses is not at all an exaggeration. The leaders of such ignorant masses of people may feel very proud of being adored by such a great… such a number of dogs and hogs, but that is not very flattering…” I once saw, in my previous life, some movie. I forget what the movies was, but I remember that one man was driving and he looked, and it was a traffic jam, and everyone he saw in the traffic jam, all turned into sheep, and goats, and they were sitting in their car, in the… I don’t know it was some comedy or something, but it was supposed to show that everybody was just like an animal. It showed all dogs, sheep, you know, all the people turned into animals, waiting in this traffic jam. I guess it’s like the rat race.

Devotee: Yeah.

Jayapataka Swami: You can see here, the imagery. There the leaders are speaking. I saw yesterday in the paper, it showed, there was some elephant and one ass were embracing each other, shaking hands. These are the symbols of the political (devotees laughing)… so they’re already preparing their, for their next bodies. (devotees laughing) So, the leaders, when they’re speaking, then you can just see that all the people, you know, transform into asses, dogs, hogs, camels, applauding them, roof roof. (devotees laughing)

Lady devotee: When we used to do the football games, you know, we used to distribute the football games, like in Georgia, they call themselves Bulldogs, and everyone, all Georgia fans go around, and they “rauf” like do… you know, make noises like dogs, then they’ll say, you know, we used to run up and pin something on them, and say “Are you a dirty dog?”

“Yeah, I’m a real dirty dog!” you know. And then, there was the Razorbacks, the Hogs, the Cardinals (devotees laughing), and then you’d say, “Are you a Hog?”

“Yeah!”, you know? They’d completely identify with… or they’re a Gator or they’re a, you know, a Tiger, or… They’re crazy…

Jayapataka Swami: If they die in that consciousness… What birth will they get in their next life, Steve, if they die, thinking that they’re a dog?

Steve: A dog he shall be, huh?

So… “The Bhagavatam openly declares that although a person may be a great leader of such dogs and hogs disguised as men, if he has no taste for being enlightened in the science of Krishna, such a leader is also an animal and nothing more. He may be designated as a powerful, strong animal, or a big animal, but in the estimation of Srimad-Bhagavatam he is never given a place in the category of man, on account of his atheistic temperament. Or, in other words, such godless leaders of dogs and hoglike men are bigger animals with the qualities of animals in greater proportion.”

Just like right now there’s a court case going on, in Florida, Palm Beach, Pulitzer divorce case, and uh, Pulitzer, I believe, I don’t know if he has something to do with the Pulitzer Prize. I think it’s the same family. I don’t know if it’s he, or the same family. He’s a big, famous person. So, what’s… what the whole case is there, who’s going to get the custody. It’s a divorce case. Who’s going to get the custody of the children? So, in the case, each one is accusing the other, how, “this one is taking cocaine, and the other one’s a lesbian, and this one’s a homosexual, and how this one, uh, the wife apparently went to bed with 12 different people from the butcher, to the baker to the… to the chauffeur, to the… you know, had all these… then they had some video things of how she’s so degraded, then she’s coming around and saying how he’s so degraded.

Devotee: They should take them away from both of them.

Jayapataka Swami: Yeah. (everyone laughing) So, this is like the high society. So, here, it’s saying that in this… without having any God-consciousness, these so-called big, strong, influential people, what it comes out is actually, they’re just stronger, powerfuller, more, more, more animalistic than even the ordinary people who are looking up to… they’re in the.. all the magazines, other the big people, society’s emulating them, is imitating them, their standard of enjoyment, they want to follow, and uh, they’re the lowest. They’re… They’re more sinful than even ordinary people. Uh, in the… in the material world, who may be working like asses, or like camels, but these people are… they’re just, you know, maha-pasu, great animals. So, this is the kind of situation that this world… the so-called leaders, if you go into their private lives, they actually, are morally uh, bankrupt, spiritually bankrupt people in almost 99% of the cases.

From my experience in the college, I came there and wanted to… It just came also out in the paper, now a big problem is that all of the professors in the college are regularly having uh, sexual relationships with their students, and this is creating psychological problem, because the students are looking up to their teachers, hypothetically, and instead, now teachers are… they’re coming for some tutoring or some… this, that, and instead, they find it’s easier to get good grades, is just to uh, have relationship with the teacher, and of all… of all… of all varieties and forms, so the thing is that uh, all these so-called cherishable institutions in society, they’re just gradually, completely decaying.

When we were in Florida, seeing these different, uh, displays. They showed history, and they showed how Rome was in a big… big uh, success, uh, they were doing so many economic developments, then they showed, “And then Rome, because of hedonistic tendencies, because of uh, enjoying too much, it crumbled.” But, somehow, in the whole exhibit, uh, no… the idea that people should limit their enjoyment, or anything… even though they showed that, but in the modern-day world, where is the slightest bit of caution to people? I haven’t seen any symptom, the slightest bit of caution, even of moral, or ca… apart from like now that Reagan, the president said he’s going to do a 200 million dollar drive to stop drugs by having, you know, but there’s no program for training the people to have a higher taste, or to… to.. to understand they… a real purpose of life, whereby they wouldn’t want to take drugs.

They said, “We’re not going after the pushers. We’re not going after the uh, users. We want to break the organized crime. We want to break the big rings.”, but the people, they want these things, because they’re spiritually bankrupt. Just arresting the promotors of organized crime and that, of course, how much of uh, the money they’re spending to catch these people, what’s going to actually happen is another thing. Usually, these things are just political ploys, but the actual thing is what… what’s being done for the actual people?
The fact is, is that there’s 80 billion dollar business known by the government in drugs, in North… in America, alone. 80 billion dollars, that’s probably…

Devotee: A fraction.

Jayapataka Swami: …just a fraction of what the real total is. A known 80 million black market, apart from whatevers… and that’s probably more than most of the, uh, nations in the world have as their Gross National Product. But, then, what is being done to actually educate the people not to take drugs? You have Pulitzer, and all big, big people. They’re all taking drugs. Everyone is doing these things. Big uh, members of Senate, of Congress, you see in the paper, come out that they’re uh, taking cocaine, or something before they go to give a big le…

Devotee: Uh, I just heard on the radio, just happened up here in the town, the Church of Christ, the pastor got arrested for uh, dealing marijuana. (laughing) This guy’s like 45 years old, or something.

Devotee: Well, out here, in Lynchberg the uh, I think he’s the football coach was uh, was fired because he was gambling with the players.

Jayapataka Swami: Gambling, in what way?

Reply: Card games for money , you know

Jayapataka Swami: (clears throat) So, of course, this is the duty of the king, or of a ruler, on one hand an administrator he’s supposed to see that the black market is stopped, but in the Vedic society that’s why they would be supporting brahminical preachers who would actually be educating people on what is the proper moral standard, on what is the proper spiritual uh, goal of life, so that people themselves would not be so inclined to uh, do all these things. And now, as you say, the so-called Christian priests who are technically, possibly supposed to be fulfilling that obligation, here, but uh, they’re as much a party to it as anyone else. Maybe some of them are slightly better than the general mass, but in general…

The uh, task is a very huge task and it requires perfect examples, that’s why the bhagavatas, or pure devotees who actually can lead pure spiritual life, and can show the people what is the proper standard for leading human life, they’re a… essential in human society. People will say that, “Well, you’re parasites on society.” So, actually then, if the brahmanas are parasites on society, then what are all these uh, uh… law enforcement people? They’re spending 200 million dollars to pay the salary of people who are supposed to go underground and… and break into these drug smuggling rings. They can spend 200 million dollars for that, but how many people have Krishna consciousness… received the support, and people became Krishna conscious more and more, gradually giving up all these type of bad habits. Think how many millions and billions of dollars they’re going to save. So, actually we’re doing the greatest service for society, and we’re not even charging them 200 million dollars for it. But, if they want to give us, we will use it also... (devotees laughing) In fact, we might as well write to Regan that he should give half of it to us for stopping drug… we will distribute a lot of prasada, do big festivals, get everyone to chant Hare Krishna. They don’t have to use any drugs anymore. Right, Steve?

Steve: Exactly.

Jayapataka Swami: Hari Bol!

Devotees: (Laughing) Hari Bol!

Devotee: Something which Prabhupada said, drugs were… they asked him… I guess this was in New York. Someone would ask him uh… Rather, he was talking about it. You don’t actually do drugs. You can stay… stay high forever. I don’t remember if he said it, or if one of… one of the early de…

Jayapataka Swami: They used to hand out things like that, “Stay High Forever.” Of course now, we tend to try to avoid those things now, because we know that it’s actually an understatement. But, that’s the actual thing that, by chanting Hare Krishna, one will always be blissful. So, all these artificial crutches and artificial type of uh, chemical uh, systems are not at all necessary. But, who is going to… who is going to… where is the person, the leaders, down to the ordinary people… if everyone is practically like a polished animal, then how can they expect to actually uplift the society?

There has to be a core of pure spiritually minded people and by their influence, then actually, a type of spiritual revolution which changes this whole direction of misguided society, Godless society is created. That’s the purpose of this Hare Krishna movement, as mentioned in the Bhagavatam itself… is to create spiritual revolution in society where the people give up all bad habits, at least the intelligent people.

Now, there’s such a big unemployment problem in the world. So people, they feel very sad that they don’t have any employment, that they can’t be just like a dog working for their master. They’re very sad, and everybody’s supposed to work, just like that. Rather, now they should be trained how to be as brahmanas, and people should understand that if people actually live simple life, practice spiritual life, that its better than the people who are just sitting in their home all day playing cards and watching TV, and taking… taking uh… what do you call it?... welfare checks. That actually, the unemployment problem would be solved if a good percentage were engaged in spiritual life.

Nowadays, uh if you want to become a minister in one of these Christian churches, you get about $30,000 a year salary, in a Roman Catholic big parish, you get about a 30,000 and the minimum wage is in the 20s. Car, tv, your own house. If you’re Catholic, you have to be celibate, but then if you’re a protistent, then you can also be married. So, it’s a big… uh, it’s a big paying salary, and you only have to do… work for 8 ho… you only have to work for about 3 hours a week, on Sundays.

Devotee: 52 days a year.

Jayapataka Swami: Huh? (chuckling) 52 days a year. Well, then they got a few other holidays they get. So, the point is that the devotees, they’re not taking any big salaries, but actually they’re working for uplifting people. This should be recognized as a very important service. Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna.

Jayapataka Swami: Questions? Yes?

Lady Devotee: Can we hear the rest of the story you started in New Orleans about the um, first book distribution party? You said you’d continue it at the next darshan… (devotees laughing)

Jayapataka Swami: Where did I end?

Devotee: When the books got stolen. Books got stolen. That’s where you stopped.

Jayapataka Swami: You never heard that before.

Devotee: I remember hearing a story, up to there, but I don’t remember how it… how it ended.

Jayapataka Swami: Everyone wants to hear that?

Two devotees: Yeah.

Devotee: Like how it ended. Like, I can’t remember.

Lady Devotee: Tell us the first part. Some of us didn’t hear the first part.

Devotee: They don’t know who stole the stuff.

Jayapataka Swami: Well, the first part is that the deity Govindaji told Srinivasacarya to take the books of the Gaudiya Vaisnava writers in Vrindavana, the six Gosvamis, so then uh, all the… then they uh, just to tell… just to brief things… so then Narottama dasa Thakura, Srinavasacarya and Syamananda Pandita were given armed guards and the books and they were sent off by all the six Gosvamis uh, that were left, the… Jiva Gosvami, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Krsnadasa Kaviraja, Lokanatha and others… or Bhugarbha and others… Dvijahari dasa so many… whoever was there in their time, they all saw them off.

They went to the east, and then what happened was there was this one king called Virambirvikramahadeva Shah… something like that was in… the king of Visnupur, and he had an astrologer who used to tell him when any very valuable treasure was coming along the highway, through his kingdom, and he had a special band of CIA, Green Beret, Black Beret, whatever, who would dress up like thieves, go out and then rob, bring the things to the king. Then, when people came, he said, I will try to catch the thieves, but actually, he was the bigger thief.
So, uh, his astrologer told him that there’s a very very valuable treasure being carried just by a few people. It’s not very well guarded, and it’s the most priceless, priceless jewel, according to the calculations, most valuable thing… so then the king became very excited, and he called his crew and told them, “Go out. There’s a big box. You bring it.” Very good astrologer.

So, they came and surrounded the camp of Srinivasacarya, Narottam, and waited, and when they all went asleep that night, the guards who were up, they also dozed off, so just came in and right off the… right off the carriage, they stole the big box of all the manuscripts, Caitanya-caritamrta, the only single, one manuscript. They’re being taken to be copied in Navadvipa, the originals. They stole them.

And, the… they had a big lock on it, so they took it to the king. The king rewarded all of them with 200 gold coins. He sent them off, then he took it… had it taken in his back room, then had them… his assistants in the treasury break off the lock, and he opened it up. (devotees laughing)

There’s no jewels! Instead, he saw they’re all manuscripts. He said, “What is this?!”, and then, he looked at the manuscripts and he found that… See the Caitanya-caritamrta had been put on the bottom, but automatically, somehow it had come up on top, and he was looking, and he couldn’t… he said, “These are all sacred scriptures. They’re quoting from the Vedas, and things.”, and so, uh, he then… then he became very afraid, that, “Now my sinful reactions have caught up to me.”

He was stealing gold and things from people, but he was giving in charity, brahmanas and trying to neutralize it, but here he could realize that, “This was only the property of some great saint, some great Vaisnavas, so that they have stolen, that I have stolen… this is the property of some great scholar, some Vedas. Now all… now I’m going to be guilty of a great offense. All my pious activities are finished. Everything is now going to be finished. I’m going to be severely punished for this great offense.”

And he couldn’t also understand what these books were saying. It was very deep. So, he had some of his scholars try to read them. They were giving all cockeyed understandings. So, then he locked everything up, and sent a special message to find who was the owner of these books.

In the meantime, the morning came. Srinivasa, Narottama and everyone, when they woke up, they saw the books were gone. They had been empowered by all these great devotees, by the deity, then the books were gone. They were completely shattered. I mean, every… they couldn’t be… they were fainting and pulling their hair out, and beating their head against the trees, and crying and they were completely mad. How would they ever be able to even exist? How… what was… they just knew that uh, once this news came back to the residents in Vrndavana, this is going to be a crushing blow. The original and only manuscripts, the whole life work of Krsnadasa Kaviraja, everyone, all of them were gone.

So, then, Srinivasacarya, he said that, “Well, whatever Krishna does, it must have some purpose. I can’t imagine that these are going to be totally lost. I’ll find them. You both go on to your preaching area, and as soon as I find them, there’s no use of all three of us staying here. I’ll find… try to… I won’t rest until I find… you go on.” So, then, they went on after he insisted, then he was searching in all the different towns and villages, asking. He couldn’t find any clue. Somebody said to go see the king.

“You go see the king Biramvikramamahadev Shah.” So, then, he went to the court of the Bhaumapur Raja, and when he came in there, he found that they were speaking on Bhagavatam, but they were giving some Mayavadi type of interpretation. It wasn’t the proper interpretation, so then he objected that, “This is not…” uh, “This is not the proper explanation.” And, in those days, you just don’t challenge the king’s head pandita, like that unless you’re very sure about what you’re doing because otherwise, you can find yourself one head lighter. (devotees laugh) Devotee: Lightheaded.

Jayapataka Swami: That’s ultimate type of lightheadedness, to be headless. So, then, the king uh, he said, “Alright, so then you explain it. You so… you… you’re so sure of yourself, so you explain it.” So, then he started to explain, and he gave such a wonderful explanation, that everybody was charmed.

Then, the king had an idea that, “Maybe this is the person who belongs to the books.” Or, “The books belong to…” So, he took him to the back, and he said that um, “You tell me your purpose. Who are you? What have you come here for?” The king asked him.

Then, Srinivasacarya explained how that in every age, the Lord is coming down as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but in the Kali-yuga, he comes in the covered form, and that same Supreme Lord has come as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is known as Nimai Pandita in Navadvipa, and He was accompanied by great souls… by so many great souls, like uh, Nityananda Prabhu, and others.

Then, he explained the whole mission of Lord Caitanya, and how Lord Caitanya had delivered the uh, prime minister of the Hussein Shah, of which this king was actually a subordinate king, so naturally this king was under Sanatana and Rupa Gosvami, although he was a king, he may have got the 21 gun salute, but as the prime ministers of the emperor, they actually had much more power than he did, because they had the whole emperor’s army and everything, under them.

So, then he explained how Rupa and Sanatana had left, and the king, he’d always thought that Rupa and Santana were cr… nuts for having left their position. He could never understand why they went off to join Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but now, Srinivasacarya was personally explaining how this was happening. How, they and so many other uh, great souls had taken shelter in Vrndavana, and how there, Lord Caitanya had never written any literature, but He had instructed them, and they had written all these transcendental literatures for giving the highest spiritual welfare for all of the people, and that he had been entrusted with all of these literatures to bring them from Vrndavana to Navadvipa, to have them copied in Bengal by the scholars there, and he was accompanied by the prince of uh, Kheturi, who had also become a mendicant. Narottama was actually a prince. He was heir to the throne, but he abdigated, (aside: abdigated the throne or abjegated) abdigated.

Devotee: Abdicated.

Jayapataka Swami: Abdicated, and uh, instead became just a uh… like a sannyasi, a preacher. So then, he explained all this and the wonderful qualities of Narottama and others, and how they came, were carrying the books, and how then, they were stolen and now he’s… has no other purpose in life but to regain these books.
Then, when the king heard all this, then, he knew this is the person. “Actually, I’m the one who has stolen these books. I have sent my robbers and…”

uh, so, this king would regularly hear the Bhagavatam, but he was hearing the Bhagavatam, and he was still having all these material attachments, because he never had a pure devotees reading the Bhagavatam, it wasn’t having the same effect. Somehow, by hearing the Bhagavatam, even though it was not from pure devotees, and even though he was so attached to material things, because he was hearing Bhagavatam regularly, somehow, he got this special mercy to have association with a great acarya like Srinivasacarya. So he admitted everything, and he was very afraid of the reaction he would get and he prayed that somehow or another, he should be forgiven.

So, as soon as Srinivasa heard this, he said, “Well, can I see the books? Take me there. Let me see.” Then, he was taken there, and then they opened up the box, and then he saw the Caitanya-caritamrta, it was unusually on the top, and the king explained how it just… well, that was just the way he found it. He didn’t mess around with it. So, then, uh, the king actually asked Srinivasa, he said he became very attached to… he asked Srinivasa to, please explain these books to him. He was very interested in understanding them. So, then, Srinivasa started to explain some of the books. So, then uh… in brief.

So, the king requested that, “You become my royal guru. You become the guru of the whole kingdom. I will get all these literatures copied. I’ll see that they’re disseminated. I’ll do everything for you. You please be my guru. You stay here, and uh, you initiate me.”

But, Srinivasa said, uh, “I won’t initiate you yet. You have to prove yourself.” First of all, he got him to copy some of the books, and then he said, “I want to send.” He sent immediately a message to Narottama and to Syamananda that everything is alright, because they’re very much concerned about this, and one messenger to Vrndavana, because by now the word had already reached Vrndavana. They were just like ready to die, thinking that the books had been lost.

So, then in the meantime the queen of the king had overheard some of these things, and he became… she… she fell at the feet of Srinivasa and also requested him to give her initiation, and that uh, he would… she was also very attracted to wanting to see Narottama dasa Thakura, having heard so many things about him. So, said… he said he would arrange to bring.

So, then while these books were being copied, then Srinivasacarya, he went to see Narahari Sarakara. And Narahari Sarakara told him that he should get married. That he shouldn’t stay as a uh… and he should take that assignment as the king of the guru… whatever, the guru of the king, get married, cause he… as a grhastha… a sannyasi in those days could never accept a royal positon like that, as you know, from Caitanya’s dealings with Maharaja Prataparudra, and others. So, then, Srinivasacarya got married, then he took the position as the king’s guru and he came back and saw the king was chanting, was doing everything, so he gave him first initiation. Much later, he also gave second initiation.

So, in this way, then uh, the books were copied, and from there, they were disseminated to all the devotees, and still the asrama of Srinivasacarya in Visnupur is there. That name… that king was given the name Sri Krishna Caitanya dasa.

Lady devotee: So, did he leave sannyasa to get married?

Jayapataka Swami: He wasn’t a sannyasi.

Lady devotee: He wasn’t a sannyasi.

Jayapataka Swami: He went as a youn… he went as a young man.

Lady devotee: As a mendicant.

Jayapataka Swami: Yeah, he was like a brahmacari. He was looking for his guru. He went all over India, then finally when he got to Vrndavana, he found Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. Jiva Gosvami found him and brought him and in a dream, Rupa and Sanatana told him that he should take init… told Jiva Gosvami and Gopala Bhatta… Jiva that he should bring him to Gopala Bhatta, and Gopala Bhatta that he should accept him as a disciple. So, then he was initiated by Gopala Bhatta and he studied the Bhagavatam under Jiva Gosvami. But, he hadn’t taken sannyasa. He was just. He was very young at that point. I mean, he hadn’t… younger man. Say roughly in his 20s. Late teens, 20s.

And he left just in his teens, he left to go to Jagannatha Puri to find Lord Caitanya, but I don’t know, it must have taken him a few years to actually get up to Vrndavana because he kept going back and forth between Puri and Navadvip, twice he went… to get all the way… walk to Vrndavana is a pretty good walk… what a thousand miles? (devotees laughing)

Devotee: Seven months?

Jayapataka Swami: Huh?

Devotee: Seven months?

Jayapataka Swami: They don’t travel in the rainy season. How long it takes to walk from Mayapura to Vrndavana?
Indian Man: I don’t know what nowadays. I just have a motorcycle.

Jayapataka Swami: From Mayapura to Puri?

Indian Man: I don’t know. By train it takes 10 hours. (all laughing)

Jayapataka Swami: You are spoiled. (all laughing) Modern sadhu.

In that way, the first book distribution happened.

So, what time is class tomorrow morning?

Devotee: Uh, we usually have class during about 6:00, but its flexible.

Jayapataka Swami: Well, that’s pretty good because we actually have to leave about 8, right? 11:00’s… 11:15… 10:59 is their flight.

Devotee: Yeah.

Jayapataka Swami: Right.

Devotee: Yeah, so we have to leave 2 hours, ahead.

Jayapataka Swami: So, that means 8:30, so 8:00.

Devotee: That would be 9:30, this time.

Devotee (2): Yeah, it’ll only be two hours.

Devotee: The plane leaves, 10:30.

Devotee (2): 10… 10… It leaves uh, or 10:58.

Devotee: It’s about 11:00, that’s 12:00 our time.

Devotee (2): Yeah, so, save you about 2 ½ hours. Plenty of time: About 9:30.

Devotee: 9:30, Maharaja.

Jayapataka Swami: Right now, it’s 9:00, Nashville Time, so we’re actually an hour ahead.

Devotee: Yeah.

Jayapataka Swami: In other words, we leave here at 9:00, it’s 10… or 8:00, Nashville Time.

Devotee (2): That’ll be 2 hours.

Devotee: 9:30, that’ll give us 2 ½ hours.

Jayapataka Swami: I’ll tell you it’s like you know… like, they board it 20 minutes before the flight takes off. You can’t… There’s no law against being there 20 minutes ahead of time (devotees laughing).

Because I’m always late anyways…

Devotee: yeah…

Jayapataka Swami: …so it’s best to shoot for the…

Devotee: So say uh, 9:00

Jayapataka Swami: If we shoot for 9:00 we’ll see that it’ll be close to 9:30 anyway (all laugh)

Indian man: Indian timetable.

Jayapataka Swami: huh?

Indian man: It’s Indian timetable. Just now coming…

Jayapataka Swami: Just like this morning I was supposed to leave at 10:00. The flight was at 10:30. We’re supposed to leave at 9… uh thirty, uh, 9:15. Instead we left at quarter to 10.

Devotee: pshew…

Jayapataka Swami: Half-hour to the airport. Half-hour, 40 minutes. Somehow we got there at 18 minutes (devotees laughing).

Devotee: Alliance…

Jayapataka Swami: So, a little kirtana, we’ll give out some of this prasada. Bhaktivindoda Thakura, I heard he used to go, before the train took off, 5 hours ahead of time, and just sit there, so he wouldn’t have to go through that whole anxiety, whether you’re going to miss the train.

Devotee: Prabhupada, he liked to be there, what, an hour? See, some (indistinct)… one time they were late. He really got agitated.

Jayapataka Swami: Yes. Artificial, unnecessary kind of anxiety. [end of recording]

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Transcribed by Jagannatha dasa April 17th, 2015 Sri Mayapura Dhama