HARE KRISHNA!

I would like to be there with all of you inside, but my doctor said that for one year avoid extensive mixing because I have low immunity. Anyway, we are here at the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. I offer my obeisances to Prabhupad and to Lord Caitanya. So, this is our first stop and our preparation for the parikrama. It says that we should start and end the parikrama at Antardwip. So we are here in Antardwip to offer obeisances, and make our sankalpa to do our parikrama. This is a vratha or penance or sacrifice that we do and we take a commitment that we would like to do the nine island parikrama, or how many islands you will do, you say while taking the sankalpa. Of course if you get sick or something, you may not be able to complete, but we should not give up for any frivolous reason, this is a great sacrifice. And this will not only purify you but also the whole of the world! This place is called Antardwip, because it is the center of the lotus and the other eight islands around are like the petals of the lotus. So then we go to the Simantadvip, then we go to Godrumdvip, Madhyadvip, Koladvip, Ritudvip, Jahanudvip, Modadrumadvip and Rudradvip. So our temple of Radha Madhava is in Rudradvip and according to Prabhupad, the Pancha Tattva are in Antardvip. So we are just on the border. Anyway, why this is called Antardvip because Lord Brahma sits in the center of the lotus. He came here after stealing Krishna’s cows and cowherd boys. And was taught a lesson by Krishna. So he felt very bad that even after so many years, after half of his life is over, he is in the second prahara or half of his life. So he came to Navadvip and sat down in this place and did a penance to get the vision of Lord Gauranga. So he began to meditate on the holy names Gauuuuuranga Gauuuuuuranga Gauuuuranga Gauuuuranga! Gauuuranga! Like this he was chanting for a long time and then Lord Gauranga appeared to him. He said, My dear lord Brahma, what do you want? Brahma said, My Lord, I hear You are the most merciful avatar of Krishna. I am still committing offence to You, so I want to be purified of my offence. And I heard that You are giving out freely, love of Godhead! I want to have Krishna Prema! And I want to be Your associate. Please give these boons to me! So Lord Gauranga said, Thathasthaha! So be it! You will appear in the family of yavanas. This will teach you humility and then you will be the Namacharya, you will chant 300,000 names of Krishna every day! And this will purify you and give you the love of Godhead! You will be known as the Namacharya and you will be My associate. Your name will be Haridas. So Haridas is an incarnation of Lord Brahma. So this place is blessed by Lord Brahma, by Lord Caitanya. Bhakti Vinod Thakur, from his house in Swarupganj saw a light here. He came to find out where is the birthplace of Lord Caitanya and he saw that there was all Tulasi growing here. So he asked some local farmer what is this land? And they said that this land is HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! WHATEVER WE PLANT, ONLY TULASI COMES OUT! Our eggplant, our bhindi (lady finger), everything is spoilt, only Tulasi comes out. So Bhakti Vinod Thakur knew this is the place, but he wanted to find out what is the exact place. So that time he took Jagannath das Babaji in a basket, on his head because Jagannath das Babaji was some 113 years old or something. He kept his eyes open by putting match sticks. He could not walk. So he (Bhakti Vinod Thakur) carried him on his head and walked back and forth. At one place he jumped up and said Gauranga! HARIBOL! HARIBOL! So then they knew that this was the place where Lord Caitanya appeared. So this place is known as the Yogapith. Yoga means to connect. So where the Lord connected from the spiritual world to the material world was at this place! How wonderful it is that Lord Gauranga, Lord Caitayna, came to this world. He lived in a grass hut. He gave out freely love of Godhead to all the people and He was assisted by His expansion Balaram who came as Nityananda Prabhu and by His expansion of His expansion, Mahavishnu, who came as Advaita Gosain, by His shakti tattvas, represented by Gadaadhar prabhu, also Lakshmi Priya, Vishnu Priya and Niladevi. Navadvip dham is non-different from Niladevi, the third Lakshmi consort of Lord Narayana and Lord Caitanya’s dham of Navadvip was made by Radharani. She played a flute and Krishna was attracted. So then Krishna came here. In the future He accepted the mood of Radharani and came as Lord Gauranga. I could say much more, but I think we all have a limited time. Here we have the birthplace of Lord Caitanya, you can see Sachi mata and Jagannath Mishra, carrying the baby Gauranga. Behind them is Vridha Shiva and He is the protector of the dham. Here the Durga devi is Praudh Maya, she is the protectress of the dham. And then we need their blessings to get into the esoteric vision of the holy dham. Every step you walk in Navadvip, every breath you, every time you lay down to sleep, it is not ordinary. Every step is more than an Ashvamedha yagna. Your sleeping is like paying pranam before the deity. Every breath you take is like chanting Vedic hymns. So we hope you will take advantage and perform this parikrama. It is very, very purifying and enlightening yagna. So here also there is behind there is a deity of Nrsinghadev. Also Gaura Gadaadhar. So circle around, around the birth place of Lord Caitanya, pay your obeisances. If you want, you can buy some prasadam and give some donation. Haribol! Thank you very much!

Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
09 March 2019