Nama Om Vishnu Paadaya, ….
Hari Haraaya Naam Krishna Yadavaya Naama Hari…
Jai Jagannath, Jai Jagannath Jai Baladeva Jai Subhadra
Mukham karoti…
Today is the auspicious 6th of February, auspicious because we rendered devotional service. Every day is auspicious if we do Krishna bhakti, if we don’t do Krishna bhakti it is not auspicious. Today I had physio therapy and voice therapy. I practiced speaking some of the words that you mentioned. If you have any words you have difficulty in understanding my speech, please give them here to Ekarani devi dasi or send them up on the internet. Today we had a bureau meeting of the Indian Governing Body, held in Pune. I attended by internet, and they have some interesting initiatives. His Grace Madhusevita das has sent to India a 800 kilo Bhagavad Gita. That Bhagavad Gita is 1 ½ or couple of meters wide, in breadth and 2 m long guessing, 1 ½ height. Its pictures are amazing! It is a full Bhagavad Gita but the Bhagavad Gita weighs 800 kilos. They have to break the wall to get it into the Delhi temple. So it will be on display. The Prime Minister of India said he would come and inaugurate. I am very glad to welcome devotees here from various parts of India and overseas. I was reading the Caitanya Carita Mahakaavya, about Lord Caitanya’s visit to Srivas’s house.
So the Lord, the unlimited Mahaprabhu, entered the courtyard of Srivas and He was present outside the temple door. There He called the meditative Srivas, with loud calls! He called out to Srivas.
The best of the brahmanas, Srivas, hearing Mahaprabhu’s calling, he gave up his meditation and other activities inside the temple room and he came out of the house. There his eyes focused on the great, effulgent form of the solar, beautiful bodied sun of mother Sachi, Gaurangadev! He saw directly in front of him.
This is from Caitanya Bhagavat Madhya kanda. With folded hands all the devotees offered their respects. And they stood before the Lord in great ecstasy.
How wonderful was their feelings of satisfaction! Everyone was feeling like they were enjoying in the spiritual world, Vaikuntha.
The Lord also sat like the Lord of Vaikuntha, the spiritual world! There was not even a tinge of maya present there! Maya or illusion.
Caitanya Carita Mahakaavya:
Sri Gaurachandra, the unlimited, ever fresh, effulgent, transcendental form, resilient with His beauty in that assembly, He told Srivas, to bring Ganges water quickly and do abhishek to Him!
Sriram and the other brothers of Srivas, enthusiastically arranged to perform the bathing ceremony of Mahaprabhu. With great happiness they were busy making all the arrangements, for the abhishek or bathing ceremony. They arranged all the ingredients and with great enthusiasm they gathered. Definitely the ingredients came of their own accord and were present there.
Caitanya Bhagavat Madhya Kanda:
So the Lord ordered, chant, sing My abhishek song! Hearing this, the devotees happily began to sing. Abhishek geeta refers to the prayers recited during the abhishek ceremony. When the king of kings is installed on the throne, his subjects glorify him with various prayers and homages. So in this way Lord Caitanya told them to perform an abhishek or bathing ceremony This is done in the temple on a daily basis and sometimes in a very big way on special days. So this supreme abhishek is done especially for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Hare Krishna!
Hearing the abhishek prayers the Lord lifted His head and He gave His merciful glance on everyone. Without any illusion, He gave mercy to everyone.
The Lord’s indication was understood by all the devotees, and they decided to perform the abhishek bathing ceremony. The Caitanya Carita Mahakaavya follows.
Srivas Thakur’s brothers quickly brought one hundred new pots and placed them before the Lord. after filling them with Ganges water, bringing them quickly from the Ganges.
Doctor says it is good if I cough up the mucus from my chest. So voice from behind the scenes of this drama, spoke – that was Srivas’s voice. Rama! His brother, quickly bring the aargya and other articles of puja or worship. Sripathi, quickly bring ashtotatharashata 108 excellent new kalashas. Srikanta, from every direction direct the brahmana ladies and pious women to bring water from the Ganges. And the brahmana ladies and pious ladies do the ulu dhwani. You don’t know ulu dhwani? Thank you!
Caitanya Carita Mahakaavya:
Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu when He was in the centre of Srivas’s courtyard, He was seated on top of the wooden dias made from Gambari wood. That time, He was as if in the centre of the milk ocean, Kshir samudra. The auspicious golden mount Meru, He appeared like the auspicious golden mount Meru in the centre of the ocean of milk.
Caitanya Bhagavat Madhya Kanda:
All the devotees, they carried and brought Ganges water and they strained the water with fine clean cloth before using it.
So this is the preparation, tomorrow the actual bathing ceremony starts. So we will end here, since it is already after 9. Any questions please raise your hands or send it in by the internet.
Question: How to repent for the offences committed to devotees so far unknowingly in this day and age? Deepa, London
Guru maharaj: My dear spiritual daughter Deepa, congratulations on your election as a councilor in the Municipality, in London. If you know who you offended, you can ask them to forgive you. If you don’t know or if they don’t want to forgive you, you can take the dust from their feet, or you can take the dust from their shoes outside the temple. Or if you don’t know who you offended, you can pray to the devotees to please forgive you, and you can chant Hare Krishna very seriously and with attention, and avoid future offences as far as possible. Hare Krishna.
Question: Can I take others’ fault on myself? Madhurya Kadambini
Guru maharaj: I don’t know if there is a system to take others’ faults. You can donate some of your merits to others. That is in the Padma Purana that one lady she was donating some of her merits to a bull who was being mistreated and who died. So the atma from the bull took birth as a brahmana boy and he remembered that he was a bull from his previous life. Normally people are very greedy to get more merit, and they don’t give away. So he was curious how she was giving away her merit. So he went to see her, and said, you don’t know me but I know you. Remember the bull who would be beaten and you gave some merit to the bull? So I was that bull and now I took birth as a brahmana boy and she revealed that she was reading the Bhagavad Gita regularly. Therefore, she gave half of her merit to the bull and the bull took birth as a brahmana boy and he started to read the Bhagavad Gita also and he went back to Godhead! Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! How many of you read the Bhagavad Gita? Very good!
Any other question? Internet?
We are getting all sorts of questions!
Question: Can we bring some serious issues to the court if devotees are involved, if we cannot solve the issue among devotees in a peaceful way, civil matters like money, heritage and property? Madhurya Kadambini
Guru maharaj: Obviously, this is a specific issue and without knowing the details, it is hard to say. I don’t want to be quoted, that oh, gurudev told me to go to the court, since I don’t know the details. Generally, we try to exhaust all the possibilities of mediation and arbitration and everything, then only when there is no choice, we think about going to the court. Court is also very – like some of our devotees were sitting in the court they were getting bitten by the bugs in the wooden benches, sucking their blood. So some lawyer said you can put down the legal paper and sit on them. All the lawyers were reincarnated as bug!. So they could suck blood, but they respect the legal papers and they won’t bite you if you sit on the legal papers! Ha! Ha! So going to court is also very time consuming and expensive option. So we have to take the proper guidance whether such an adventure will be worth the time and energy. Better to worship Radha and Krishna. Jai Radhe! I am looking at Radharani. Haribol! Radha Madhava Lalita, Vishakha! Champakalata, Chitradevi and Tungavidya, Vishakha, Rangadevi, Sudevi! Haribol! Giriraj! Haribol!
Sri Krishna Caitanya prabhu Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadaadhar Srivas Adi Gaura Bhakta Vrnda!
This year Maha Abhishek of the Panchatattva in Mayapur! Don’t miss it!
Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
6 February 2019