Nama Om Vishnu paadaaya..
Hari Haraya Naama Krishna …
Jai Sri Ram Jai Sri Ram
Sri Sri Ramacandra ki jai!
Mukham karoti…
Will you understand my Bengali or do you need repetition? Haribol! It is a blessing that the Lord sometimes comes to the material world. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said, dharma samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge – so in Treta yuga He came as Lord Ramachandra! So Valmiki wrote this Ramayana, that is the most authoritative Ramayana. Ramanuja sampradaya studies the Ramayana like we study the Srimad Bhagavatam. And Madhvacharya wrote a shorter version of the Ramayana. Vidwan Gauranga das has undertaken this task of translating these Madhvacharya and Ramanujacrya’s Ramayana. Actually it is the Ramayana from Valmiki muni with commentary by Madhvacharya and Ramanujacarya. Srimad Bhagavatam is 18 thousand verses. Ramayana is 24 thousand. So it is bigger than the Srimad Bhagavatam. So it is like 30 volumes. So there are so many pastimes of Lord Rama. And in the Brihad Bhagavatamrita by Sanatan Goswami, he covers the voyage of the Gopa Kumara. How many people here understand English? Ha! Ha! Can we have the English people raise their hands? And the Gopa Kumara, he went to the Vaikuntha lokas. So the highest place in Vaikuntha loka was Ayodhya dham. Beyond that was Krishna loka. So first Hanuman, he brought the Gopa Kumara to the association of Lord Rama and Sita. So there are some interesting characteristics of Lord Rama. He was acting as a perfect king. So He had strong interaction with His praja. But just as you cannot be intimate with the king, there was a limit for Gopa Kumara. So then He went to the Krishna loka. There Krishna in Vraja is much more approachable. But the pastimes of Lord Rama are very sweet. We know how Kaikeya, she used Dasarat’s gift to her of two wishes. She was polluted by some bad association. This is what we can learn, that we should always associate with good devotees. So Kaikeya said that Rama should be exiled to the forest for fourteen years. And instead of Rama being crowned as the king, her son Bharata should be coronated as the king. So this killed Dasarata. But he was obliged to give her two boons and he gave that order to Lord Rama. Rama, He said that He would follow His father’s order. So Bharata told Kaikeya that you are no longer my mother. You may be my queen because you the queen of my father. But you are not my mother. So Bharata said that if Rama has to live in the forest then I will also live in the forest. So Bharata lived outside of Ayodhya in a forest and he kept the khadams or wooden shoes of Lord Rama and put them on the throne. On behalf of Lord Rama, he ran the kingdom. We went one year to that place. There, there is a deity of Hanuman and Bharata embracing each other. Hanuman was flying over that place, and Bharata made him come down. Then he showed Ramachandra’s ring. Bharata was so happy to meet the messenger of Lord Rama, and so he embraced Hanuman. Everyone in Ayodhya loved Rama so much that when he was banished to the forest all the residents of Ayodhya followed Him. The city was empty. Then Lord Rama ordered them to go back. Sita and Laksmi stayed with Lord Rama. So there are so many pastimes that happened in Chitrakoot. It is like Vrndavan. So many forests, river, very beautiful place. There is a cave that Lord Rama stayed in Inside the cave there is a kunda where Sita would bathe. In the Navadvip Mahatmaya there is a pastime that Lord Rama came to Navadvip. He was under a large banyan tree and He smiled. So Sita asked what are You smiling about? He said, that well, this is My holy place, in kali yuga I come here in a golden form. GAUUUURANGA! GAUUUUURANGA! GAUUURANGA! Lord Rama said that in this leela I will banish you to the forest! In that leela, in kali yuga I will banish Myself to the forest! And You will worship a golden form of Me, like in Treta yuga, I am worshipping a golden form of You and I banish You. The deity that Sita devi incarnation as Vishnupriya is still there in Navadvip city. Dhameshwar Gauranga. So Lord Rama, He also visited Navadvip dham. So the Lord coming down from the spiritual world is a very special occasion for us. In Krishna leela Lord Krishna found the syamantaka jewel in the cave of Jambavan. Jambavan was one of the soldiers in the army of Lord Rama to fight against Ravana. He was the most strong person in the world. But Lord Rama was stronger than him! Ha! So when Krishna found this syamantaka jewel with Jambavan’s son, at that time Jambavan came and started to fight with Lord Krishna. I think it was 28 days that they fought. And then Jambavan gradually became weaker. Then he realized that Lord Krishna is his master, Lord Rama. So then He surrendered to Krishna and said You are the same Lord Rama. And he gave his daughter Jaambavati to Lord Krishna as one of His queens. So one of the pastimes of Lord Caitayna, Gauranga that He told Murari Gupta, that he should worship Krishna. But he was always worshipping Rama. So he tried to worship Krishna, but that night the picture of Lord Rama came in his mind. So Lord Gauranga came back, and he told Him that I think I should commit suicide. I tried to follow Your order but I failed! Again and again, the image of Lord Rama came up in my consciousness. But Lord Gauranga embraced him and said, you are the real devotee of Lord Rama. And then, He, in the 21 hour Mahaprakash leela, Lord Gauranga showed the actual swarup of Murari Gupta. Then He showed that Murari Gupta was actually Hanuman. Hanuman is such a great devotee. He asked for seva that He could perform for Lord Rama. Lord Rama said that well, if I yawn, you snap your fingers. Hanuman was watching Lord Rama every second! Lord Rama, just to give him service, yawned. And then Hanuman asked, why does Sita wear this red sindoor on Her forehead? Then he was told that this is to please Lord Rama. So then he thought that well, oh, if this pleases Lord Rama, then I will cover my whole body with sindoor, kum kum. Haribol! Bajrang Bali Hanuman ki jai! Ramachandra ki jai! So sometimes we see the deity of Hanuman completely red, that is the reason. So like this, I think the Siva Purana, Lord Siva says, sahasra naam tattulyam Rama nama varanane -that if you chant one name of Rama it is equivalent to 1000 names of Vishnu. So then He told that if you chant the name of Krishna that is equal to 3000 names of Vishnu. So Krishna appears as Lord Rama and Balaram appears as Lakshman. And Sita is Bhudevi. So today is the auspicious day of Lord Ramachandra’s appearance. And the pastimes of Krishna, Rama and Gauranga are all intertwined. Lord Gauranga’s shadbhuj forms is His two hands with cane and kamandalu, two hands with flutes and two hands with bow and arrow. So you have two hand of Rama, Krishna and Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So for us the appearance day of Lord Rama is very significant. Next to the appearance of Lord Krishna, He is the most important. So I offer my thanks to all of you, and I saw a video of the procession, it was very beautiful. I hereby end here.
Haribol! Sri Rama Jai Rama Jai Jai Ram, Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram!
This is Vidwan Gauranga’s books, 1st canto, 1st volume, 2nd kanda and 3rd kanda – all three are Bala Kanda of Ramayana.
Vidwan Gauranga das: There is a discount until guru maharaj’s Vyasa Puja. Will be in various Iskcon temples and namahatta. We are attempting this because Srila Prabhupada wanted a 30 volume Ramayana and his disciples confirmed it, so that is why we are doing it.
Guru maharaj: If someone wants to sponsor a set for me?
Also they are having a system of raising a flag on the TOVP – main dome and the two side domes. So they are calling that the Victory Flag! Haribol! So they want me to raise the first flag on my Vyasa puja day! Haribol! You can sponsor a flag any time during the year. On your father’s death anniversary, grandfather or your child’s birthday. Main dome is 700 dollars and side domes is 500 dollars. And after the flag is hoisted and kept for one day, you get the flag as mahaprasad. So they gave the first chance to my disciples! So those who have the capacity to raise the flag in their name, you can see the TOVP office or my office. Thank you, Dhanyavad. Will see you!
Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
14 April 2019