19840518-Arrival-Address-New-Orleans-Literal-Version

The following is an arrival address given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on May 18th, 1984 in New Orleans Louisiana.

Jayapataka Swami: Caitanya Mahaprabhu ordered His devotees to go from house to house to preach to the people.

suno suno nityananda, suno haridas,

sarvatra amar ajna koroho prakas

prati ghare ghare giya koro ei bhiksa

bolo `krsna', bhajo krsna, koro krsna-siksa

Listen Nityananada! Listen Haridasa! Go broadcast My order, My command everywhere to all of the people. Go to house to house and beg the people this humble prayer – Please chant Hare Krishna! Worship Krishna and study the books, the teachings of Lord Sri Krishna.

So Lord Nityananda, Haridasa Thakura, other devotees they took up this order and they went door to door preaching the message of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Prabhupada has so kindly given us the Caitanya Caritamrta. There, we know that Lord Sri Krishna, Caitanya Mahaprabhu prayed that, I, He is the tree of devotion with the flowers and fruits of ecstatic love for God, pure love for God, for Krishna. And at the same time He is the gardener. So He is saying “How many fruits can I eat and how many can I distribute alone? Everyone come and participate! Come and take this fruit, and distribute it!”

Srila Prabhupada pointed out that this is very important for many reasons, you see. One reason is that if Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu says that “I can’t do this alone.” What to speak of anyone else? That Krishna consciousness movement isn’t done by any one person’s effort. It’s done by group effort, by so many people participating. Otherwise why Caitanya Mahaprabhu is inviting everyone to come, participate, take this nectar, fruit of Krishna consciousness and distribute it to everyone? So, that is His causeless mercy!

So like that we know that Nitai and Haridasa, Lord Balarama has come down to assist Krishna who is playing, who has come as avatara of the devotee. And He is going and begging the people from house to house, what a grand opportunity those grhasthas had in Navadvipa to have Lord Nityananda and Haridasa Thakura visit their very house and preach to them.

Srila Prabhupada stressed how the previous acaryas they are handing down Krishna katha, the words spoken by Krishna in the form of Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam. These things Caitanya Mahaprabhu especially He wanted to be distributed, this knowledge to everyone. Krishna katha, that’s Krishna siksa, spoken by Krishna, spoken about Krishna. These are very transcendental, this is the top most teachings that the Vedas have. The Vedas include many Puranas or histories which are centered around the pastimes of the Lord. If they didn’t have the pastimes of the Lord they wouldn’t have any spiritual value at all.

But there are so many other moral instructions, other details are given but the Srimad-Bhagavatam is therefore called the nirmala or amala puranam. Mala means dirty, contaminated. Actually even in Spanish mala. Same. Sanskrit, Spanish: Proves that Sanskrit is the mother language. So amala means no contamination with any karma, jnana, bhukti, mukti, siddhi kami, no type of materialistic contamination. Pure devotion for Krishna, pure transcendental science Bhagavata dharma. This is what Nitai, Haridasa and so many other devotees were distributing.

So of course sometimes I heard devotees make it like a excuse to Srila Prabhupada that – “Well, I am so fallen! I am so fallen, I am so sinful, therefore I am… I can’t be a devotee!” But actually like Srila Prabhupada said the essence of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement is simply giving out mercy, giving out causeless mercy. Where is the question of qualification? Lord Nityananda and Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivas, Haridasa, they were giving out their mercy freely to anyone. In fact during the maha-prakasa, when Lord Caitanya for twenty one hours showed His form, He was in the mood of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He showed His form of Krishna to Advaita, showed His form as Ramachandra to Murari Gupta, different manifestations He assumed, and uh, at that time he was asking Advaita to take some, when He was in a mood like that He was telling Advaita that "You should take some boon."

It’s a very long pastime but just that one point. What did Advaita say after tremendous insistence finally said, “Alright, if you must have a boon from me then this is my request, this is my prayer: You give Your mercy to those who are the most unqualified, unfortunate, those who don’t have any hope under ordinary circumstances to become Krishna conscious, to become recipients of Your mercy. Let them get the mercy first. Young or old, you see, man woman, whoever it may be.” Then he said, “But those who are very proud, who are puffed up, who criticize Your devotees, who offend Your devotees, who don’t have respect for Your devotees and obstruct this sankirtana movement, let them die an ordinary death.” Those who are very proud, you see, specifically they are spiteful against the devotees knowing, you see, that they are devotees of Krishna and who is Krishna, being proud of their money or their beauty or their good family or their education. And he even pointed out the high brahminical families.

Of course great high brahminical families like Sanatana Goswami, Rupa Goswami actually very high brahminical families, others Venkata Bhatta, Raghunath Bhatta, Gopala Bhatta, they all surrendered to Lord Caitanya but they were very humble. It wasn’t that a brahmana couldn’t get delivered but that Advaita Gosai being the head of the brahmanas he wanted that everyone should get the mercy specifically those who are unfortunate. If the brahmana is intelligent he will be humble he can also get the mercy because those who will be very humble, very free from type of false ego, puffed upness they can get Lord Caitanya’s mercy first.

Nitai Gaura, Nitai Haridas Thakura you know how they delivered Jagai Madhai. Lord Nityananda when He was struck by Madhai, Lord Caitanya came ready to kill him, that Madhai. Jagai Madhai the two brother, immediately sudarsana chakra coming down from the spiritual sky ready to in a second destroy them for their offenses, you see. But Lord Nityananda is praying that, “No! There are so many people in the Kaliyuga like this.”

So Lord Caitanya made a stipulation that, “If they promise that they will not perform these bad activities again, they will lead a pure life, then I will give them relief!” Jagai Madhai they surrendered, they agreed, they went to the Ganges, they bathed, they took initiation and they became completely purified by the mercy of Lord Nityananda, by the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, chanting in the Nadia district, Navadvipa, paying their obeisances to all the vaisnavas of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

In fact other demigods like Lord Siva, Indra, Kartikeya, Varuna, they were all hiding. They would come down to Navadvipa to observe Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s pastimes. So when they saw deliverance of Jagai and Madhai, you see, they were overwhelmed. Some of them were saying that “We were worried to themselves – I was thinking that I would not delivered because I am so attached but seeing this mercy now I feel that I… hope for me also.”

And they were rejoicing, and just completely that how these daityas these demons, you see. Jagai Madhai were practically on the level of here you would say like Al Capone, Babyface Nelson, something like that to be delivered. They organized crime, even the government, they wouldn’t mess with them, they had so many rogues under them and they were doing so many activities. They were so powerful that people would complain to the Kazi, they wouldn’t do anything because they were afraid of their own life. So practically you can say just like the Mafia they had established protection system. Everyone had to run in fear from them, you see, and if they were delivered! Who had even struck Lord Nityananda in the head!

Yamaraja he heard about it from someone there. And he went over to Citragupta. You know Citragupta is the accountant of the demigods. He accounts, not that he counted money, but he is Yamaraja’s personal accountant for all the karma that everyone does. So when he went to Citragupta on his ratha, chariot, then he asked, what was the amount of sinful activities that Jagai Madhai had amassed. In other words if he had come for the judgment, he wanted just what was the account that was cleaned off by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy?

So Citragupta replied that if we had, of course you can understand the type of accounting system he had. Modern day computers nothing to say, he is keeping track of every individual’s karma. He has many assistants of course. But they use different subtle methods for maintaining these records. But Candra… Citragupta was said to be the origin of the kayasthas. Kayasthas are especially in the ancient Indian time kayasthas would be the ones who would manage the financial affairs and accounting and different type of administration for the king. They were very qualified in maintaining those types of records. Prabhupada made a comment, in the what’s it the Caitanya Caritamrta that kayasthas are very hard hearted. Like if someone was due to pay the money, they were very strict.

So Citragupta he replied that “If I were to put down all the account onto papers to present to you, it would take 100,000 kayasthas. And it would take them so many years to read off, I mean to do this work. And even if those 100,000 were to read to you all their activity, then even then it would take, I forget how many, thousand years or something, tremendous amount of time, to actually give the full report of what they did.” They did so many things, you see, especially having being born in a high family as brahmans and then even their activities were more critically looked upon on under the laws of karma.

So one of the Yamadutas said that, “Well we whatever records were there, that we have already thrown in the water, sacred water. Because what’s the use of keeping it! In one moment Caitnaya Mahaprabhu forgave all of their offenses. So what’s the use of keeping any more their records?” And Yamaraja he was meditating on how merciful Lord Krishna was, how merciful Lord Caitanya was and thinking of His merciful qualities in delivering such a… sinful people who would have had to burn, you see, in inferno for so long, he fell unconscious in that deep samadhi, just meditating on this.

So Citragupta and others they thought that Yamaraja maybe just astonished or something and fell over. They were all fanning him trying to, you know, but he wouldn’t because he was in a samadhi. He wouldn’t come back to consciousness. Meanwhile Lord Siva, Narada Muni and other devotees that had been there watching the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, Nityananda, they came over to Yamaraja’s place and uh, saw him unconscious and heard what happened from Citragupta. So then Lord Siva could understand because he being a pure devotee of the Lord that actually Yamaraja was absorbed in samadhi. Having heard of the mercy of the Lord he was overwhelmed and being completely absorbed in that devotion. So he started chanting Hare Krishna and all the demigods they were chanting Hare Krishna.

And then Yamaraja came to consciousness, he just started glorifying Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Everyone started glorifying, Lord Indra, Varuna, everyone started glorifying –how merciful Lord Caitanya is! They all had a huge kirtana, you see, four Kumaras, Sukadeva, all the you know great personalities from the heavenly kingdom, they all had a huge kirtana glorifying Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda’s mercy.

Jagai Madhai they living in Navadvipa, they were very sincere. Every day they would chant 200,000 times harinama, two lakhs. Actually it’s by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy that he has told his disciples and that’s been handed down to chant 16000 names a day which is only 25, even then devotees - I have trouble finishing my rounds. Previously one lakhs, two lakhs, 200,000, 100,000, that was the normal, minimum. 200000 was more than minimum, that was intermediate, pretty advanced stage. But by Prabhupada’s mercy and the mercy of previous acaryas so we have been given so much service for preaching and serving, you see, and only 25,000 names.

Actually Haridasa Thakura used to take a oath of chanting ten million names of Krishna in one month. And I calculated, actually by chanting sixteen rounds a day, we are are chanting ten million names in one year. We finish one crore in a year. He would do in one month. So we actually do it even then. Of course we are not even a flea compared to a speck of dust of these great devotees, devotees of the devotees lotus feet. But even then devotees sometimes make excuse , “I have a very difficult time hearing and chanting or finishing my rounds.” So it’s needed to be purified.

So Jagai Madhai they took up the process very sincerely. In fact Madhai he was very upset. Although Lord Caitanya, Nityananda, completely forgave them for all their offenses, Madhai, for he was the one that hit Nityananda Prabhu, he couldn’t forget that actually that he had Nityananda and caused Him to bleed. It was overwhelming him that he had committed such an offense and yet Lord Nityananda was forgiving him. He kept thinking always that he was very fallen and how he could actually correct his mistake.

So one time Lord Nityananda He used to, He didn’t have any, what do you say, abhimana, He would go just like in the mood of a child, running, sometimes He would just run across the field, and jump in the Ganges, swim across the Ganges in the middle of the flood. He would go the other side. There would be some kids playing in the Ganges, He would play with them for a few minutes. He would go to some devotees house, He would go start preaching, He would go different sometimes you know, sometimes very poor people, very low socially situated people, go right in their house. He wouldn’t have any type of high or low… He would just go everywhere wherever He felt like it, just spontaneous, simple, completely like a child, very simple compassionate, just go wherever He saw something which He liked, He’d go there. No type of pompousness or any kind of pretention at all. He was very simple and merciful.

So like that he was going around Nadiya preaching door to door without considering whose house was very qualified, he was just going everywhere. So one time Madhai found Lord Nityananda preaching like that and caught Him alone. Actually he came by Madhai’s house. So he let Lord Nityananda to come in and fell down at Lord Nityananda’s lotus feet, grabbed His lotus feet and He started to pray that, “How fallen I am. Actually how exalted You, actually You are the source of the Ananta Sesas holding up the whole universe and You are that personality of Godhead who is the best servant, servitor of Lord Krishna.”

Because Balarama in Krishna lila, there is no one who performed more types of services for Lord Krishna although He was also a personality of Godhead but He was always protecting and serving Krishna in different ways, and he started to glorify Lord Nityananda. That actually that Lord who Citraketu worshipped, see, that Lord who is the origin of Lord Siva, the Lord who when the Yamuna, He wanted the Yamuna river to come, hesitated, He immediately took His plow and pulled the Yamuna river over. That Lord who when the Dvivida, Dvivida Gorilla came and offended the gopis and He killed him, that Lord who delivered him by taking his life. That Lord who during the chess game with Rukmi when He beat Rukmi many times but Rukmi kept saying He didn’t win, even the voice from the heavens came and said, “No, Balaram won!” Rukmi then criticized oh! He started laughing, He is just a cowherder. He is just a foolish cowherder. What does He know about these things. And then Balarama just, pow finished. (laughs)

Then he was saying that Balarama, that Lord who when the Kurus, they were all defeated, they were all finished because of their offenses against the Lord, because you know Sambha at the svayamvara of Lakshmana, the daughter of Duryodhana. Then Samba wanted to, the son of Krishna wanted to marry her. So he forcibly kidnapped her from the svayamvara. So the Kurus they didn’t know what to do. So instead of doing something very chivalrous they took all the maharathis, they were the emperors of the world, they took all the maharathis, like half a dozen or dozen that were handy there and they go surround one Samba all alone. Rather than you know one on one fight even then they had trouble getting.

So then Yadus were ready to go on, declare war. Narada went and reported to the Yadu vamsa that they have done this, they have kidnaped Samba, held him as a prisoner. So they were ready to go and immediately attack the Kurus, they are ksatriyas. (laughs) So then Balarama said all right, no need for unnecessary war, I will go with the brahmans and with other people and go there. I am sure I can convince them, I am close with Duryodhana and others, not to do this. He goes, and of course Balarama went with the senior members of the Yadu dynasty and the brahmanas and the other very respectable people. They went out and met Balarama outside the town and He gave very logically nicely His proposition, saying ultimately give back Samba with the girl.

Instead what do they do, they criticized Balarama, they laughed, calling Him so many ill names, dogs or servant of the dogs, something like that they called Him, suddenly thinks he has become the master. Thinking that “Well we are the emperor, and the Yadu dynasty is one of our subordinate kingdoms and the empire.” like that. So of course then Balarama became angry at their demeanor and then He started to pull the whole Hastinapura into the Yamuna. Then they came out and offered Him, then the they realized, oh they remembered Balarama! Offered Him worship, brought out Samba, the girl (laughs) and then everything was you know settled for the time being but because of these offenses, Duryodhana and everyone else they had, they were all defeated in Kuruksetra.

Like this Madhai was glorifying Lord Balarama, Nityananda, “That same Lord, I have struck Him, I am such a demon, I am such an asura such a nishthura fallen just a heinous person, I have struck Him and have caused blood to come out and yet what He is giving me. He is giving me His causeless mercy.” He fell down, and he just grabbed, he just became overwhelmed you see, overwhelmed fell down and grabbed Nityananda’s feet and prayed, “Please forgive me for my offenses! please forgive me for my offenses! You are my life, You are my soul! You are my everything. I don’t know anything else because You are so dear to Catianya Mahaprabhu. Therefore I am simply taking shelter of Your lotus feet.”

But then Lord Nityananda instructed of course that “If someone just wants to take shelter of My lotus feet without Lord Caitanya, this give Me great pain.” There are some sects, sub sects or whatever off shoots, apa sampradaya, bogus kind of thing, they are just worshiping Nitai without Lord Caitnaya. Actually Lord Nityananda is never without Lord Caitanya, neither is Lord Caitanya without Nityananda, they are connected eternally. Actually Nityananda is giving that pure devotional service very freely. One can’t disconnect He is giving the pure devotional service to Mahaprabhu. By His mercy one gets the mercy of Lord Caitanya, like that.

So then Nityananda said “Just like a child if the child hits the father the father doesn’t mind. Whatever you do, you are just my child! I don’t take any offense.” And then He picked up Madhai and He embraced him. When He embraced Madhai he fell unconscious in the ecstasy. And when he came conscious again he fell down at the feet of Lord Nityananda and said, “There is one more prayer, there is one more thing. You are so kind, You have forgiven me for my offenses. Yet you are expanded in the hearts of all living entities and I have committed unlimited crimes and different types of terrible violence, envious acts against so many living entities who are actually, You are situated in their hearts. Therefore this is also an offense to them and indirectly to You. How to get forgiven for these offenses?”

So then Lord Nityananda told him that “You make one ghat, you make one bathing ghat. You know bathing ghat, whats the English translation for bathing ghat? Bathing stairway. And by doing that so many people will come bathe in the Ganges. By bathing in the Ganges that will purify them, the Ganges purifies one, all will glorify you, ‘Thank you for giving us this nice bathing place.’ So you make one beautiful bathing ghat. So people can come in this way and so Madhai would go and would beg all the different people in Nadia – please forgive me for my offenses.” He was so humble.

And sometimes in the kirtana of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the devotees he would start crying, you see, how fallen he was, how merciful Lord Nityananda and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu were, when he would cry everybody would melted by his, by his devotion. So he took with his own hands he took the shovel and he personally carved out from the side of the Ganges that the stairway and personally built with his own hands the bathing place for the public. That is very famous known as the Madhai ghat. Madhai ghat. And people would go there, all glorifying Madhai ghat. People gave it its name, it wasn.t that he gave it, just like big people in India put sign Birla Ghat, whatever. He was not, not putting it that you put my name on it. He was doing it as an offering but the people they said “No this is Madhai ghat.” And they were using it and he would also go every day in the Ganges, just see the Ganges and chant, do different services for Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

So he built this bathing ghat for all of the devotees. The devotees used to go there and take their bath in the Ganges, that’s very near Srinathpur. Srinathpur is in Mayapur, not very far from our temple. Just recently four namahatta or three namahatta groups from Srinathpur have signed up as under ISKCON and they all came and they chanted 24 hour kirtana for Janmasthami. We had about, 20 different villages came, half hour, forty five minutes, each they all they chanted through the night for Lord Krishna, Janmasthami, very nice to have all the people participating like that.

So then Jagai… or Madhai he made this ghat, Madhai ghat. This way he got the mercy of Lord Nityananda. If someone hears… actually the, of course like Balarama when He was as Balarama He was very powerful. I mean like Romaharasana was sitting on the vyasa asana. He had been given the blessings by the four Kumaras, he had the life of Brahma. Everybody bowed down when Balarama came into the assembly but he didn’t bow down. He was on the vyasa asana, for whatever reason he didn’t bow down. Balarama became angry, touched him with a grass, took his life, even though he had the blessings, life as long as Brahma.

Yet as Lord Nityananda the mood He is taking is so merciful. That was also His mercy but now instead of killing and giving him liberation of course by personally taking the life, he’ll get liberated. Instead He is giving them pure love for Krishna which is far greater than liberation. So when He descended as Lord Nityananda, Balarama has become so much more merciful. Even Lord Nityananda, “If someone understands actually the nature of My personality then they will develop faith and they will also achieve the perfection of Lord Caitanya’s mercy.” If we actually understand that what is the mercy of Lord Caitanya, what is the mercy of Lord Nityananda, how we could think for a second or even a moment of anything except for serving Their lotus feet, serving the devotees who have taken shelter of Their lotus feet. How could we think even for a fraction of a second?

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-dayā karaha vicāra

vicāra karite citte pābe camatkāra

Meditate, consider what is the transcendental mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And by considering His transcendental mercy you will become wonder struck, astonished, there is no parallel. If you think of a parallel in human relations you’ll find no parallel. Tit for a tat. This is very common. Then you get someone, “Alright, forgive and forget.” But never the person who comes, the aggressor and he turns out to get complete the highest benedictions. Where is the parallel? Even the demigods are crying and overwhelmed. Indra he was given the bene… he had a hundred thousand eyes. But his eyes were never properly used till they could that pastime. That’s what he felt. “Now that my eyes are seeing this pastime of Caitanya Mahaprabhu now their perfection has come.”

jaya sri-krsna-caitanya

prabhu nityananda

sri-advaita gadadhara

srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

Transcriber: Suvilasi Madhavi dd Date: 25 March 2015

Revised by Jagannatha dasa Brahmcari

Tags: Caitanya, Nityananda, Balarama, Krishna, Prabhupada, Madhai Ghat