Nama Om Vishnu paadaaya..
Hari Haraya Naama Krishna …
Jaya Prabhupada…
Mukham karoti…
So today is the second day of 534th Gaurabda! The way that the Gaurabda works, the Gaura Purnima is the last day of 533! And then next day, the Jagannath Mishra feast day is the first day of the new year. It builds up to the last day of the Gaura Purnima next year – 534 complete and then to 535! So tomorrow I think there are initiations here. Then safari is going to Katwa, Jajigram and Srikhanda. So I can tell how Lord Caitanya took sanyas and those going on safari would be going to that place. I went many times! But the safari devotees are going – some for the first time – so I can share that pastime with them! There are four or five verses on the chapter of Lord Nityananda’s narration. So we will finish that and then tell.
So Katwa is where Lord Caitanya took sanyas. He was only 24 years old and He left in the night and proceeded walking to Katwa. When Mother Sachi realized her Son had gone, she was very distressed. And she ran after what she thought He had gone, and that is where she cried to one village, where is my Vishwambhar, where is Nimai? They didn’t answer. And she said, nirdoya! Without mercy! You are not telling me where my Son went. So that village is still known as Nidoya. From Nirdoya it became Nidoya. When Lord Caitanya, He got to Katwa, He told Keshav Bharati that He wanted to take sanyas. So when Nimai or Vishwambhar His formal name, or Gaurahari, He came in, hundreds of thousands of villagers surrounding Him. And He had to be shaved up. They called one barber. At the same time Srinivas Acharya’s father was going to Navadvip, to see Lord Caitanya and when He heard that Lord Caitanya had come to Katwa, he was in the ashram of Keshav Bharati by the Ganges. So he went there. Saw a big crowd of people chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! So somehow, he edged his way and got to the front row and Lord Caitanya told the barber, cut My hair! Shave Me up! So the barber took the razor blade and cut Lord Caitanya’s hair. All the people said, NO, NO, NOT THAT BEAUTIFUL HAIR! NO! NO! NO! And the barber, he couldn’t do it. I cannot do it! Lord Caitanya said, you are a barber, your dharma is to cut hair, cut My hair, shave My head! If there is any offence, I will take it! So the barber when he touched Lord Caitanya, he felt ecstasy! He started shaking, tears were flowing from his eyes. You don’t want a barber to be shaking!! You want? Ha! He can’t see, tears in his eyes and shaking! It is not very good for a barber, but he very carefully cut the hair of Lord Caitanya. He was crying! And then when He shave Lord Caitanya up, the hair was lying on the ground, he fell on the hair and he was just crying! He never cut any hair again in his life! Ha! So that picture is still there, of that barber lying on the hair of Lord Caitanya, crying! Shaking! Then Lord Caitanya went and took a bath in the Ganges. Came back and got the sanyas robes. He went and wore the robes and came back. Then He asked, Keshav Bharati, are you going to give Me this mantra? Then he pulled Keshav Bharati over and said the mantra in the ear of Keshav Bharati, it is a special vaishnava sanyas mantra. So he actually initiated Keshav Bharati and then Keshav Bharati gave the same mantra back! Ha! So then He took the brahmachari name Sri Krishna Caitanya, rather than some bhakti name. So then He was chanting and dancing. So in that temple there is the samadhi of Lord Caitanya’s hair, samadhi of Keshav Bharati, I think there may be the samadhi of the barber, I am not sure. And there are a couple of other samadhis, there is a deity of Lord Caitanya which was established by Raghunandan Thakur and that deity is still being worshipped. I went to see the – I don’t know if he is still alive – at that time there was a sevite, his name was, it slips my mind, Nandan or something, I asked him if he would give a disciple to take me to the temple of Krishnadas Kaviraj. He said you should take prasadam first. I said I have to go on a mission of Lord Caitanya, and for the Bhakti Vedanta Swami Charity Trust, we want to renovate that temple. Audio break here. And I won’t give a disciple to show you the way unless you take prasadam first. Ha! So he made a hard bargain! So I had to take prasadam first. Then he gave me a devotee to guide me to Krishnadas Kaviraj’s place which is not far from there. Maybe 10 km. So that is one place that the devotees will be going. In Katwa, there is also the temple of Jagai and Madhai, Madhai Taala. They would go every day from that temple to the Ganges to take bath and they would dance on the way chanting Hare Krishna and they would be crying in ecstasy. By the mercy of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda Prabhu, they got love of Krishna, and every day they would be chanting and dancing ecstatically, to the Ganges. Their samadhi is there and the beads they chanted on, the kartals they used. Nearby about 5 km from there, is the Jajigram temple of Srinivas Acharya. He was requested by the king of Bauna Vishnupur in Birbhum or Bankura, it is Bankura, Birbhum is Ekachakra – and to be the king’s guru you have to be a grihastha, because he had to advise the king in conjugal life as well. So he didn’t know whether he should accept that service. He went to see Narahari Thakur in Srikhanda and Narahari told him that he should do it. And so he married two sisters, who were pure devotees and so there are different pastimes that happened there. He was an associate of Narottamadas Thakur. As I said, his father had gone and saw Lord Caitanya take sanyas. It was so impactful on his heart, that when he heard Lord Caitanya’s name, KRISHNA CAITANYA, all he could repeat was only KRISHNA CAITANYA, KRISHNA CAITANYA, KRISHNA CAITANYA, KRISHNA CAITANYA, KRISHNA CAITANYA, KRISHNA CAITANYA, KRISHNA CAITANYA, KRISHNA CAITANYA! So that he became known as Caitanya das !Ha! because all he would chant, all he would say was KRISHNA CAITANYA! KRISHNA CAITANYA! Ha! Ha! So his wife at that time, they didn’t have any issue. His wife told him that I feel we should have a child; I know you think I am in maya but I really think that this is Krishna’s desire. So he said well, let us go and see Lord Caitanya in Puri, and if He tells me, then I will accept. Gopaladas Chakravarti’s daughter, Drapuadi devi who lived in Jajigram was called Ishwari devi after here initiation and marriage. She was the wife of Srinivas Acharya. I think there were two, anyway. So Srinivas Acharya’s parents audio break here. So they were thinking to ask it out would be an embarrassment, but He directly told them. You will have a son and you will call him Srinivas. So something happened. So when Srinivas Acharya was about nine years old in the Chakandi village, he asked his father, how did he get the name Caitanya das and he told him how he saw Lord Caitanya taking sanyas, and he became so ecstatic Ha! Ha!, that he fell on the ground crying. And then Srinivas Acharya, he was nine years old and he took his father’s feet on his head and started crying. Ha! Ha! Then the mother came in from the kitchen and saw her husband crying on the ground and son crying and grabbing his feet, and she paid her obeisances! Ha! This was the family life of Srinivas Acharya! Ha! Ha Ha Ha! I wish everybody could have that kind of ecstatic Krishna conscious family life! Like Srinivas, he went to Vrnda and studied under Jiva Goswami. He was given all the books of the goswamis, the Caitanya Caritamrita by Krishnadas Kaviraj, and he took initiation from Gopal Bhatta Goswami, and the deity asked him to take the books back to Bengal. So with him went Narottam and Ramachandra Kaviraj. All the books were stolen. The king had a secret armed force of thieves, and some astrologer told him that there is a rare treasure coming on through your kingdom, priceless treasure! So he sent out his team of thieves, and at that time there were soldiers sent by the Bharatpur king, in Rajasthan. But everybody was asleep. The acharyas, the soldiers. So thieves they just took the books, they were in a chest, and they didn’t know what was in the chest. The king said this is a chest, bring it and don’t open it. So the kind was afraid if they saw priceless jewels, they might themselves steal it! So the king waited to let it come into the treasury. And he opened the chest. Books! What is this! Sri Caitanya, Nityananda, what are these books? Oh no! I stole the priceless literary treasure of some sadhus, now I could go to hell for this great offence! So he sent out his representatives, to find out who are these sadhus. And then that is a whole long story. That happens in Bankura, Bauna Vishnupur. But Srinivas he lived in Jajigram and went to Bauna Vishnupur. So there is a place in Jajigram where he went and meditated, and then he joined with his spiritual master and a number of devotees. Radharani had lost some jewellery in the Jamuna. He was diving in the Jamuna and found the lost jewellery and gave to the jeweler and this went up to Radharani. So Radharani was very pleased and gave him a blessing. So he was in meditation for two days or something, and then he came back and he was blessed by Radharani. So that places where he meditated is there in Jajigram. If you get Bhakti Nityananda Swami he can tell also, he fixed the place up. Is he there? Are you going tomorrow? Very nice! He recently fixed up the place! So many pastimes are there I won’t tell all. There is one Ramachandra Kaviraj, he was going in a palki, palanquin, to go to his marriage. So then the carriers stopped under a tree just by the temple, in Jajigram and under the tree were Srinivas and Narottamadas prabhu. So when Ramachandra Kaviraj, his bearers put down the palki, the palanquin, then Srinivas Acharya was talking with Narottam, see this man is so handsome, such nice features. Too bad he is not serving Krishna. They were talking like that, and he heard them. He is wasting his life, not serving Krishna, they said. But he went on. After his marriage he came down immediately, back to the place Jajigram and he asked, what did they mean? They preached to him. So then he became convinced that he would practice Krishna consciousness. They told him that you are married so you should visit your wife. So he went. But his wife said, right after marriage you left! So what husband does that? What did you find out? I could not have a child with you but that is an ordinary thing! I want to find out what spiritual treasure you got? So he explained to her Krishna consciousness, and she became completely excited and completely surrendered by that instruction and she bowed down at his feet! So some of her sindhur from her head came on his feet. The kum kum, the red vermillion. So then he went back to Jajigram to Srinivas Acharya and Narottamadas. But the guru saw he had a red mark on his foot, you were with your wife and did not take a bath when you came here? And started chasing him with a stick. The other said, first find out what he did. They found that he did not have relation with his wife, he preached to her. So therefore taking a bath was not an issue. So like that, then he was blessed. So many things happened. In Srikhanda there are many vaishnavas, so I won’t tell all the pastimes. So then all the maharajas going will be angry with me. But one pastime I will tell. That one of the last associates of Lord Caitanya to be in the world was Narahari Thakur. Shuu… All my repeaters get spaced out!! So we sing every night, kiba Narahari aadi kori chamara dulaya – that Narahari, So, when he left, there was a big one-year anniversary, everyone assembled there to have a festival in his honor. But then at the place he actually appeared, after the midday, when they made the bhoga offering, he was present, he was answering questions, although for one year he had already disappeared!! He reappeared there! I was thinking how wonderful that would be if Prabhupad came back!! So then he came and he talked, he took prasadam and then when they closed the door for the midday bhoga, and they opened it up, he was gone! So they had his association for like six hours. And then he left. You will see those places and many more pastimes. Narahari Thakur das’s disappearance is on the Ekadasi of the waxing moon which is in the month of Agahana, one month after Kartik. There you can see the temple of Narahari Thakur, Mukunda das, Raghunandan das, Chiranjiv Sena Sulochana Sena, Gangadas Goshala, Madhusudhan das, Gopaldas Thakur, Chandrashekar Vaidya, Mahananda Mazumdar, Chakrapani Mazumdar, and Ramagopal and his son Pitambar, Rasaraja Khan, Damodar Mahakavi, Kaviranjan Bhagavata Sena, Atmaram das and his son Nityananda das! Haribol! All those people going on this safari to Srikhanda, Jajigram and Katwa, they are really fortunate. They will see the deity there that ate out of the hand of Raghunandan Thakur! And you can see the place where Rama Abhiram men Raghunandan Thakur. So beautiful place to go! So many devotees of Lord Caitanya went. Raghunandan Thakur was a small boy, he went and he saw Ram Abhiram and others were dancing so enthusiastically that Raghunandan’s ankle bell, his nupur flew out and went about 2 km away! Fell into a kunda. That kunda got the name, Nupur kunda. So you went to these places? (to Shyamarasika prabhu – he said yes, guru maharaj). Shyamarasika prabhu, he went on a special mission, for my Gaura Mandal Bhumi book, to take the pictures of these holy places. There is a deity of dancing Gauranga! Who is going on safari? Raise your hands! Gauranga! So any questions?
Question: Hare Krishna guru maharaj! (Guru maharaj said: HARE KRISHNA!) How can I learn to depend on guru and Krishna in every circumstance? Your servant Dhameshwar Dharmendra das.
Guru Maharaj: Dhameshwar Dharmendra das. He is asking, ‘how to?’ How to depend on Krishna? These ‘how to’ questions, all these things are in the natural process of devotional service. Ho w to get a taste for chanting? How to practice dev service? It is in Nectar Of Devotion, it is in every book we read. And we develop such a thing gradually. But if you try to develop these qualities, depending on Krishna, associate or follow the footsteps of people that are already depending on Krishna, and then you will be able to do it very quickly. But if you don’t have anyone to follow, that depends on Krishna, then you can practice yourself. But there could be a few slips on the way. You know, if you use your intelligence, then what can you depend on? By selective process you can see that there is nothing that is dependable. There is no one else who is fixed, other than Krishna. So naturally we should depend on Him. If we depend on something else, the president, your member of the legislative assembly, Ha!, your member of parliament, your doctor, all have their limitations. Only Krishna is unlimited. So if you depend on Him, He reciprocates and He protects us. If we depend on something else, like Draupadi, she was holding on to her saree and Dushaasan was pulling. He is a maharathi, she is a woman. Then she just realized I can’t fight it, I have to depend on Krishna. So she raised her hands and said Keshava! Krishna! Keshava! Krishna! and her crying was so sincere, that Krishna became her unlimited saree! So she could not be disgraced in the Kuru assemble. Bhima, at that moment he vowed that he would really kill this guy. Kshatriyas they do such things.
Another question?
Q: Hare Krishna guru maharaj! PAMHO (Guru maharaj said, Hare Krishna, please accept my blessings.) I am Dwijanath Gauranga Das, your spiritual son. I am begging mercy to serve Srila Prabhupad and the disciplic succession and dedicate my life fully, please give blessings!
GM: Okay, he wants blessings! I already gave advance blessings! Last question.
NITAI! GAUUUUURANGA! NITAI! GAUUUURANGA! GAURANGO!
Guru Maharaj: No personal questions, only philosophical questions.
There was a Bengali devotee who asked a question in Bengali asking of some personal issue regarding her initiation. Guru maharaj told her, see my secretary after the class.
I have a meeting tomorrow.
Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
23 March 2019