The following is a class given by HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj with Spanish translation on october 3rd, 1981 in Gudalajara, Mexico.

Namo om vishnupadaya… Namo maha vadanyaya…

He Krishna karuna sindhu… Sri Krishna Caitanya prabhu nityananda jai advaita gadhadhara Srivasa adi gaura bhaktha vrinda. Hare Krishna hare Krishna Krishna Krishna hare hare. Hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare. Mukham karoti vacalam

Today is a very auspicious day. We took Sri Jagannatha Subhadra Balarama from the holy temple to the garden in Vrindavana. Beautiful garden in Vrindavana. And there They join all of Their devotees. Joining devotees, union with devotees, is most wonderful. It is the perfection of the fulfillment of the devotee. And it is a source of great happiness for the Lord. Lord Sri Krishna was also feeling separation from his devotees. And They were practically like stones in separation of him. They were so eager to have His association. But for many years he had been gone. This is the mood of the devotee. To try to give pleasure to the Lord. When Lord sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu visited Haridas Thakuraa, He asked Haridas Thakura “How are you?" Then He said to Haridas Thakura, "Actually, I m thinking that there are so many people who are not getting the mercy ; so many students and other classes of people are not getting delivered. So I m thinking how they are also be delivered, how all the yavanas will be delivered.” And Haridas Thakuraa said, "Don't worry, my Lord! By your mercy, they are already delivered. Even by accidentally chanting the holy name or even by chanting the nam abhas (nama abhas means unintentionally chanting of a name of Krishna; within some words, there may be a syllable of the name of Krishna). Within a word, there may be a word of Krishna. Just like the Muslims say haram. Haram is a very offensive term. But [with] 'ha- ram,' ram is spoken then. It's a part of that word. Haridas Thakuraa said, "Even by saying that, (unclear) just by accident saying the of name of Krishna, they get delivered. Therefore your mercy is so great."

In Spanish also, there are many namabhas words. Just like in america, they have quinnarama. I saw one rama in Chile, something O rama ; like that, somehow or other, if one chants the name of Krishna, that is the beginning of the spiritual life. That is a permanent asset and one does not lose that. So, that gradually brings one again and again to Krishna. You know the Halley's comet? Every 76 years, Halley's comet comes in orbit near the earth. The orbit may be very long, but it still has to travel again and again in the same orbit. So, like that, once we are in the orbit around Krishna, even if in the beginning there is a very wide gap between us and Krishna, gradually, by Krishna's mercy and contact, we come closer and closer. And if one gets in touch with the pure devotee of Krishna and surrenders, then he is firmly fixed under the shelter of Krishna. One should be very careful not to lose that shelter.

In the teachings of Lord Caitanya gave to sanatana goswami, he warned sanatana goswami or instructed him for the sake of all of us. This was a warning to all of us. He said, “Watch out for the offenses against the Vaishanvas.”

yadi vaiṣṇava-aparādha uṭhe hātī mātā upāḍe vā chiṇḍe, tāra śukhi’ yāya pātā (CC – Madhya 19.156) The offense to a vaishnava is a mad elephant offense. And by committing this offense… Just as when an elephant uproots a tree from a garden and throws it and, as a result, that uprooted trees' leaves dry up and the tree itself subsequently dies, the leaves of the devotional creeper of an offender also soon dry up, and the devotional creeper itself soon dies.

Therefore if one offends the great devotees of the Lord who have dedicated their lives to preaching His message, it is very dangerous. And this can uproot one's spiritual plant. Elephants are voracious eaters. We are contemplating on getting an elephant for Mayapur, because Bhakti-siddanta Sarasvati Thakura had a couple of elephants. And Even a baby elephant eats several hundred kilos a day. So they are voracious. They said that if you want to have elephant then you should have a big banana garden. Then you can always give a few hundred kilos of plantain trees. Banana trees. Nice twelve-foot banana tree, nice four-meter banana tree. And they just pick it up. So they [the elephants] like to go to the banana garden and pull up the tree. That's ordinary elephant, but mad elephant means RIP! TEAR! Pull out and just throw here and there. So It's a very dangerous thing. We should be very careful. In spiritual life if we are offensive to vaishnavas, [the offense will] pull up our spiritual life. Once you pull the plant's root out and put it in the sun, it is finished. Nothing else can actually take us out of the orbit of Krishna. Even sinful activity doesn't disqualify us completely. Committing sinful activities stunts our growth or stops it temporarily. But it doesn't completely finish it. Offending a vaishnava pulls the root out of our spiritual life. You can see those devotees who are very weak, who do not have any determination who were once strong ; in many cases it's because they heard criticism of vaishnavas or they engaged in prajalpa against vaishnavas. And gradually it sapped away[ their bhakti plant] and thus pulled out the root or cut the root of their spiritual life.

In Mayapur, sometimes we transplant trees. Have you ever transplanted trees? So you know that you have to make a wide cut and keep all the roots intact. But there is a tap root or main big root that goes straight down. And when that root is cut, the whole tree goes into a shock. And when you transplant it, immediately, because of the roots being cut, it loses its leaves. Even when you partially cut the roots, it makes the tree weak. But if the root is good, even if you cut a tree, again it will come out. Therefore we have to keep our roots very strong in Krishna consciousness. Even if some obstacles come, it (the plant) will go to Krishna. Just like a plant always seeks the sun out, our devotion will always find its way to Krishna. This is a natural thing. But we have to protect our roots by avoiding all type of offenses to pure vaishnavas. This is very important.

Srila prabhupada said that all his followers are vaishnavas. Of course one should never the offend a guru or senior vaishnavas. But even one's god brothers one should respect. Sometimes one offers constructive criticism to one's peers or subordinates– to the equals, and to those one is responsible for. So that is a not with any envy or with any hatred, but it's with a desire for helping. In this respect, the spiritual master has a thankless task, because he has to always find the defect in his disciple. Naturally, no one likes to have their defects pointed out to them , revealed to them. But that is the duty of a spiritual master. When your spiritual master advises you to improve yourself in any area, you should take it as his mercy. This is necessary for you to advance, What is the need of having a spiritual master, if a spiritual master does not purify one of his defects?

Caitanya Mahaprabhu was always training his devotees. And some things are meant to be spoken amongst devotees and some things are all right for the public. So When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu had his special kirtan party in Srivasaa's house, there would be only very confidential devotees. Others wouldn't be present. And He would be manifesting great, transcendental pastimes. As I was saying this morning, sometimes Lord Caitanya would become as heavy as the universe and his every step would be like an earthquake. And sometimes he would become so light like a feather, like a cotton ball. They'd lift him over their heads. Sometimes Lord Caitanya would suddenly faint! And just fall just like [something] so heavy, in ecstasy for love of Krishna. Nityananda would run to grab him and catch him before he hit the ground. And if Lord Caitanya would just fall without anyone catching him, that would cause great anxiety to the devotees. They'd think, "May be all his bones have broken. He fell so hard." BOOM! BOOM! He'd fall so hard that he devotees' heart would shatter. Mother Sachi was completely disturbed when she saw Lord Caitanya do this. It was a tremendous shock for her. It shook her right to the soul. Whenever Lord Caitanya would just fall unconscious like that in ecstasy, she used to pray to Krishna, "Either somehow have my son not fall so hard or have unconscious when He does this, because it is so painful to me. So, Lord Caitanya, answering her prayer, gave her a special blessing : whenever His kirtan was going on , He put Mmother Sachi in such great ecstasy that she was simply completely absorbed in Krishna prema. She didn't know what Caitanya Mahaprabhu is doing. So if he fell and she was just (Gurumaharaj makes a funny facial expression and devotees laugh) hare Krishna hare Krishna... Otherwise, it would be too great an anxiety for her.

And when Lord Caitanya became conscious, He would feel very bad, because she would be in such anxiety. So Lord Caitanya used to teach his devotees. One time Lord Caitanya started to chant with all of His devotees. And outside, there were so many people, listening. And they were trying to hear [and find out] what was happening. But they weren't be allowed to go inside. Because they were[a crowd of] karmis, speculators, atheists, and different types of ingrates. So they were speculating as to what was going on inside.

"[It] sounds like they are chanting Hare Krishna," some of them said. "No, no, no. This is just a show. May be they are drinking some wine in there," some others said. "It doesn't sound like it. It sounds like Hare Krishna." "No, no, no, no. Nobody can be happy just by chanting hare Krishna. They must be having some women there. They must be enjoying some illicit activities." "None of our… I didn't see any women go in there. They say, but you don't know. You can't say. [There] might be something," one of them suggested.

Like this, so many demoniac types of people always criticize even Caitanya Mahaprabhu! For no reason… All these things are completely bogus. But they have nothing better to do. They were just sitting out there, speculating and criticizing. So today, there's still the same thing is going on. Nobody… they don't know what this Krishna conscious movement stands for. So many speculative ideas you hear people say. No nobody can be [just] chanting hare Krishna. That's not enough. There must be something else. Must be something. This is the materialists. They always have some crazy ideas, because they have no faith in Krishna. Then sometimes, one person would come by and hear them talking and they'd say, "What do you think? What do you think is going on inside? He said, I don't know. Those who are able to go there are very fortunate. He said, "They are chanting hare Krishna inside. And those people who are inside, are very fortunate. And they are so fortunate that we cannot imagine. We are unfortunate. Therefore we are not able to go in. So what is the use of standing out here, criticizing? We are unfortunate, that's enough.

Then They say , “oh... So you're one of them(devotees laugh)! Now we understand. You're one of them, against us.

In this way, these critical people are always there in the world. And everyone was very curious to know what Caitanya Mahaprabhu was doing inside then. Caitanya Mahaprabhu sometimes would perform a special pastime. That was called koti simha hunkar. Koti means 10 million. Simha means lion. Hunkar means roar. He would roar with a force and a vibration of 10 million lions. Whoever would hear that their ear drum would be shattered. Piff.. finished! It's so powerful! It's more powerful than so many sonic booms, thousands of sonic booms. So Lord Caitanya would protect the ear drums of his devotees. But Sometimes he would feel such an ecstasy that they'd be chanting the whole night, early into the morning. At two in the morning, He'd roar His koti simha hunkar.

And people would jump out of bed, fearfully asking, "what was that (Devotees laugh)?! Through the whole town, they would think that the whole world was ending town. They don't know what it was, where it came from… that sound. But it was Caitanya Mahaprabhu roaring in the ecstasy of love for Krishna. One time, Srivasaa's mother-in-law wanted to find out what was happening. So she hid under a basket inside the compound of Srivasaa. And Lord Caitanya started the kirtan with his devotees ; they were dancing. He said, "I m not feeling any ecstasy. Somehow, the chanting is not producing any spiritual bliss. What is the meaning of this? And All the devotees started feeling very afraid, thinking, "May be we committed some offense." Of course, Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supersoul ; He knows everything. He knew that someone was there. And that was Srivasa's mother-in-law. So He said, "There must be someone here. Some outsider, some non-devotee who is hiding here." So Srivasa started searching his house. He started searching everywhere. Where, where? Where is this person? He looked everywhere. No one was found. Then again Lord Caitanya began the kirtan. All right no one there. Let's go on. They started dancing. "No ecstasy! I have no good fortune. No love for Krishna is entering my heart. How unfortunate I am. Why is this happening?" The devotees were getting very worried, thinking, "What offense have we done to Lord Caitanya?

Lord Caitanya said, "Who is responsible for this? All the devotees were in great anxiety. Why is this happening? Again Srivasa Thakura [started] looking, wondering, " Who is here?" Then he saw… "My mother-in-law!" (Devotees laugh). But nobody know that was Srivasa's mother-in-law except Srivasa and Caitanya mahaprabhu. In those days the culture was very strong. The mother-in-law is just like one's mother. One has to be very respectful. And Srivasa was very humble. He would never offend anyone. But he was like a lion when it came to defending Caitanya Mahaprabhu and in doing his devotional service. So Srivasa immediately said “Here is an outsider. She should be immediately taken out. (Devotees laugh.) Grab her by the hair! Take her out!" (Devotees laugh). So Someone else took her by the hair and dragged her out. Srivasa didn't personally do it. But he didn't say, "This is my mother. He just said, "She is an outsider. Get her out." Because he know there was an unauthorized person there. So he said, "Get her out." And even if it is my mother-in-law or my mother or someone, if undesired by Lord Caitanya , OUT! And when she went out, then the kirtan started and Lord Caitanya was feeling ecstasy (devotees laugh). Then He went and embraced Srivasa. And he laughed very loudly. No one knew why, except Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srivasa (Devotess laugh).

Jayadhvani Gurumaharaja :Nitai gaura premanande….. Devotees :Hari bol !! Hari bol !! Gurumaharaja : Hari Hari bol…Nitai gaura premanande…. Devotees :Haribol !! Gurumaharaja : Nitai gaura premanande Devotees : Hari Hari bol !!

So, in this way, the Lord tests his devotee and when the devotee passes the test, embraces him. We should take the mercy of Lord Caitanya on our heads. He is an ocean of mercy. Even more merciful than Lord Caitanya is Lord Nityananda. Nityananda is the representative of[Krishna] as the spiritual master. Great devotees of Lord Caitanya like Advaita, Gadhadhara, Srivasa and others are like oceans of mercy. We should take shelter of the great vaishnavas. Always chant hare Krishna very carefully and stay far away from any type of offensive activities. We would be able to always swim in the ocean of nectar of Krishna consciousness. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

So everybody is very tired today from all the hard engagements. I have to leave more for tomorrow. Question by a devotee : Would Lord Caitanya take rest on any day(or night) of the week when he was preaching? Gurumahaja's answer : He would chant every night. He said, "What is the use of sleeping at night? It is ignorance." So they used to chant the whole night. I can't say when They took rest. They would chant the whole night, deep into the night. He'd also preach during they'd go out on sankirtan outside. That was public. That time They wouldn't always show so many ecstasies, because you can't show intimate feelings before non-devotees. That's is not proper. But amongst a very intimate group many pastimes were possible.

Question by another devotee : (inaudible)

Answer by Gurumaharaja : Inlcudes three stages. Sambhanda abhidheya prayojana are the three names. Sambhanda abhidheya prayojana. Sambhanda means to understand the relationship with Lord; to understand that we are his eternal servants. The next stage abhidheya , to serve the Lord, to practice devotion. And the third stage, prayojana, is pure love. So devotion is the preliminary manifestation of love and during love also it is manifested. In the preliminary stages of love, devotion is there. And when one is has got pure love also, devotion is there. The love, pure prema, is the goal. Devotion is the way, the means, and the end also. And the difference is simply in the purity. Pure devotion means pure love. And devotion which is not completely pure, is not yet love.

Devotee : How can someone feel a lot of devotion to Krishna?

Gurumaharaja: In one of three ways. If one is born with pure love for god, he is called a nitya-siddha. Then one can feel it. If one is given special mercy by the guru or by Krishna or by a devotee, then one can feel it. That's called kripa-siddhi. Or if one is practicing devotional service very carefully, following all the regulative principles, then also one can achieve [love of God] and that is called sadhana siddhi. So we try by practicing the devotion. But we are always hoping for the mercy of guru Krishna and vaishnavas, so that we can get it even quicker. So offences, as well as other materialistic desires and attachments are impediments. Therefore the guru and the advanced vaishnavas always try to take out one's defect (other desires, other attachments), so that pure love of Krishna can come, because they are sucking our energy, all of which should be going[utilized] for the love of Krishna. Instead, it's going here and there for different mental concoctions. Therefore we are not getting the full taste. So one thing is to give all our energy and next thing is that our energy should be perfectly directed. Hare Krishna.

Transcribed by Vaishnavi, 4th June, 2014.