Bhagavad katha day 6
Hare Krishna Utsav
30-12-2023

Sri Pancha Tattva ki jai! Pancha Tattva, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is one and Nityananda Prabhu is the second of the Pancha Tattva. Then Advaita Acharyais the third, Srivas Thakur the fourth and then Gadadhar Pandit is the fifth, Pancham (fifth) of the Pancha Tattva.

ajanu lambita bhujau kanakavadhatau?sankirtanaika pitarau kamalayataksau?visvambharau dvija varau yuga dharma palau?vande jagat priyakaro karunavatarau
Chaitanya Bhagavad 1.1.1)

Translation
I offer my respects unto Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu, whose arms extend down to Their knees, who have golden yellow complexions, and who inaugurated the congregational chanting of the Holy Names. Their eyes resemble the petals of a lotus; They are the maintainers of all living entities; They are the best of brahmanas, the protectors of religious principles for this age, the benefactors of the universe, and the most merciful of all incarnations

The lord manifested himself in these five truths. This happened five hundred years ago. Sri Sri Pancha Tattva ki jai!

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare hare

Somethings not good. The Pancha Tattva who are the five forms of the lord, they established the Sankirtan movement and they are all the merciful incarnations of the lord. They have all looked upon all of us, and upon this world, with their glance of mercy. In what form have they done this? The lord has innumerable forms

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare hare

This is love, this is only love, this Mahamantra is love. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Panca Tattva have come from Goloka. Golokam ca parityajya lokanam trana karanat

golokam ca parityajya lokanam trana karanat kalau gauranga rupena lila lavanya vigrahah.

Traslation
In the Kali-yuga, I will leave Goloka and to save the people of kali yuga

We are the people of Kaliyuga and the Pancha Tattva showed mercy upon us crooked people. How? By giving us this Hare Krishna Mahamantra which is the treasure of divine love. What is this Hard Krishna Mahamantra? Did you hear anything, what is it? Yes, it is the treasure of divine love. Do you want to become rich? Yes of course, thats why you all said loudly, ‘Haribol!’

So earn this treasure which is the treasure of the holy name, earn this treasure. Without the treasure of the holy name, this life is worthless Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, ‘ whoever does not have the treasure of the holy name, their life is worthless and they are poor.’ You all become rich and make your lives successful. This word Saphala means successful and there is another word, Viphala.

Saphala means with phala, fruitful life, Hari Hari. This treasure of the holy name is making the whole world rich and along with this, people are becoming happy. You will all say tomorrow, or maybe not tomorrow but the day after you will all say ‘happy new year.’ But the Hare Krishna devotees all over the world, they will not only wish you a happy new year, but they will practically show you how to become happy.

How can you become happy, you may ask? So they will tell you, ‘chant Hare Krishna and be happy.’

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare hare

The world is becoming happy and satisfied by chanting the holy names and performing kirtan. The Pancha Tattva,

Jaya sri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri adwaita gadadhara
shrivasadi gaura bhakta vrinda

The gaura bhakta vrinda’s are also included in this Panca Tattva Mantra. The Panca Tattva is only complete when the Gaura Bhakta Vrinda’s are there. You are also included in the Pancha Tattva, or you will be one day. So please become Gaura Bhakta’s, devotees of Gauranga Mahaprabhu! Gauranga!

Gauranga Panduranga, Gauranga Panduranga, Panduranga Gauranga, Panduranga Gauranga.

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
(Bhagavad Gita 4.8)

Translation
In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

Just in the beginning of Kaliyuga, the lord comes in five forms of the Panca Tattva and they have done just this, and they continue to do so. Paritranaya sadhunam. Saint Tukaram Maharaja ki Jai! Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came five hundred years ago and it is said that he even went to Mumbai. After this the lord went to Nasik and on the way was this pure city Pune. Next to Pune is Dehu, Hari Hari.

After Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s disappearance, sixty to seventy years passed and after this Tukaram Maharaja appeared, he was born. One day or rather it was nighttime, and he had a dream in which he was ordered and he got initiated. Tukaram Maharaja says, that Raghava Chaitanya, Keshava Chaitanya gave him initiation.

Tukaram Maharaja is telling us this and some Gaudiya Acharya’s and some Gaudiya Vaishnava’s understand that it wasn’t anybody else who came into Tukaram Maharaja’s dream to give him initiation. It was Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself, who came and initiated Tukaram Maharaja! Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai!

Chaitanya Maharaja must be the initiating Guru of Tukaram Maharaja because Tukaram Maharaja said ‘Raghava Chaitanya, Keshava Chaitanya.’ Mahaprabhu is Raghava Chaitanya and he is also Keshava Chaitanya as Raghava means Rama and Keshava means Krishna. At one time in Jagannatha Puri, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya Darshan of his six armed form.

This Darshan has six arms and in two hands the lord had a flute and in another set of arms the lord held a bow and arrow. In the third pair on hands the lord is holding a water pot and stick and so the water pot and stick represent Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the other arms with bow and arrow are Krishna. The arm with a flute is Sri Krishna and Tukaram Maharaja was a Babaji because he was a Sannyasi and Sannyasi’s are also called Babaji.

Hari Hari. Tukaram Maharaja’s teachings and his feelings of devotion, this is all in line with the teachings of the Gaudiya Vaishnava lineage. As it is Tukaram Maharaja had written four thousand abhangs, poems of devotion which were filled with feelings of devotion. There is one poem called Govinda Govinda which is love very much and I often sing this.

Therefore today I thought that because Tukaram Maharaja is here with us in his deity form, we can offer him his own poem of devotion by singing. Om Namo Bhagavate Hari Hari, this is how we chant in our Pandharpura temple. When we dont say this, what do we not only say? Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. We don’t just say this but we also, alongside saying this, we say ‘Om Namo Namah.’

I offer my obeisances unto whom? Bhagavate, the supreme lord Bhagavan. And which Bhagavan is this? Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Why is the lord called Vasudeva? Because he is the son of Vasudeva. So how many sons did Vasudeva have? Well, initially there were eight from which only two survived and when they survived, the seventh son was Balaram. Jai Balaram!

The eighth was Sri Krishna. Krishna Kahnaiya lal ki Jai! So we say Om Namo Bhagavate vasudevaya and in this way we offer our obeisances to Sri Krishna and Balaram. I have said so once or twice before, Krishna and Balaram were together in Vrindavan and then they left together for Mathura. When they left Mathura they were together and then they went to Ujjain for education in Gurukul where they were together.

Then both Krishna and Balaram were fighting against Jarasandha in war. When they ran away, they ran away together from the battle, and they were called Ranchor, because both ran away from the battlefield together. They were both welcomed back to Dwarka together and from Dwarka the lord comes further towards Pandharpura dham.

Therefore in Pandharpura and in the temple there are both Krishna and Balaram. The older brother is there also, both of their Darshan can be had there. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, we have prepared a presentation for you and it is a TPT presentation which means that there will be audio and video. You can watch and listen, because we are giving you Darshan of what you are listening to.

The lord’s Darshan Pandharpur starts with the Kakad Arati. Uttissttha Uttissttha Govinda Trai Lokyam Manggalam Kuru.

Translation
Wake up Govinda and bring auspiciousness to the three worlds

The Pujari’s chant these Mantra’s and tell the lord to wake up. In Vrindavan, Yashoda ‘songs utthi utthi Gopala, wake up Gopal.’ The darshan of lorc Vitthal in the Kakad Arati is also called Mangal Arati, Mangal Arati, like Mangalam kuri. The days starts with Mangal Arati, have any of you ever gone to take Darshan at Kakkad Arati? Mangal Arati takes place in all the temples around the world, but Pandharpura is the only place where the curtains do not close after Mangal Arati.

The curtain stays open and the lord has Abhishek, bathing in front of everyone. The lord’s Darshan during Abhishek and then the lord is dressed and decorated the in various jewellery. The lord is Natwar, Nat (dance).

barhapidam nata vara vapuh karnayoh karnikaram
bibhrad vasah kanaka kapisam vaijayantim ca malam
(Srimad Bhagavad 10.21.5)

Translation
Wearing a peacock feather ornament upon His head, blue karnikara flowers on His ears, a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and the Vaijayanti garland, Lord Krsna exhibited His transcendental form as the greatest of dancers as He entered the forest of Vrindavana

When this happens only then can you see it and such a rate darshan becomes possible only in Pandharpura. There is also one temple of the Kshira chora Gopinatha temple and at Badrikashrama. there are only a few places where you can take darshan of the lord’s being bathed and dressed. Then you can understand that when you see all this you become a confidential friend of the lord.

You get the opportunity of becoming an acquaintance of the lord and you will not be told ‘hey you get out. You have no right to be here and to take Darshan.’ This kind of thing does not happen in Pandharpura and when Abhishek is going on- Prabhupada used to say, ‘the lord is offered ‘baal bhoga.’ The lord becomes a small child in the early morning hours, baal gopal.

In the afternoon, the Lord becomes older immediately, and therefore he takes Raj bhog like a king. He honours his lunch Prashad like a king. In the same way Panduranga Vitthal also becomes a small child and when Krishna was a small child in Gokul, what would he be doing in the morning? The Lord still better in the morning every day in Vrindavan, and so when it is time for Mangal Arati everyday in the morning, that is the time of the lord’s butter stealing activities.

The lord loves butter very much. ‘Oh mother, I love butter very much and I do not like anything else. Just keep feeding me butter.’ So in Pandharpura during Abhishek in the mornings, the lord is a child and because it is the time for his butter stealing activities, what is it that we do during the Abhishek? We feed him a ball of butter and the same time the lord is being offered Arati so it is a very special Darshan.

This is because the lord is accessible during this time when his Arati is going on, and this is because the Lord has left all his other things that he is doing, all the busi-ness, and he’s coming, just to give Darshan. And he comes in front of you, and he is amongst you at that time and when he is fed the ball of butter at this time, the devotees are inviting you, ‘look look, take Darshan off this butter thief.’

And those who have come to take Darshan, their mind is concentrated upon this scene of the lord stealing butter and there is offering of Arati to him also at the time of his stealing. Those days are no more, but the warkari’s, the pilgrims used to go to take Darshan in Dhindi or other places. Do you know how they would take Darshan? They would hug the deity of the lord.

Now times have changed and people are changing for the worse but you all and us also, we can not only just take Darshan of the lord’s, but you can touch him also. This opportunity is not possible anywhere else but only here where there is Vitthal. Panduranga Panduranga. Vitthal’s Darshan can be taken like this but in other places, a whole tent full of people may be taking Darshan together, hundred at a time or thousand at a time, but here it is only one at a time to take Darshan of Vitthal.

When it is your turn, even if it is only for a few moments, it will be just you and the supreme lord, alone. The lord gives Darshan to each and every person individually, not a wholesale five hundred or one thousand Darshan for everybody together. In each Darshan Arati it is one at a time Darshan for everyone and such a Darshan is an instruction in one sense. Ot should be so and it is an instruction to those who take Pandharinath’s Darshan.

The lord is very personal and this very lord is he who was witnessed by Tukaram Maharaja. I have given a description a few times of this. The supreme lord came from Dwarka and stood there. Well actually a lot happened, including a conversation between the supreme lord and Pundalik. And what a dialogue it was between the two. Pundalik requested the lord to stay there and the lord stood there upon his request.

The supreme lord who used to move about going here and there, that Dwarakadish is not moving about. He is now just standing there in a deity form but of course he still moves about and walks and he has relationships with many devotees. That could be Janabai or Tukaram, the lord has a personal relationship with unlimited devotees.

We think that the lord is just standing there but Tukaram Maharaj is trying to say something which is not hard to understand. He is speaking about how the lord came to Pandharpura. The lord says ‘aham bhakta paradhino, I am dependant upon the will of my devotees.’ The lord is dependent upon the devotees, so when his devotee said ‘stand here,’ the lord stood there.

Tukaram Maharaja is saying that the deity of lord Vitthal has not been made by any sculptor and nor has the lord been installed, bought to life. Actually, there is no question of the lord being brought to life, the lord already has life in him and so there is no question of installing the lord and bringing him to life. Nobody has made this deity, not has it been installed in any way to be bought to life.

He had come one day to give Darshan to Pundalik, the lord had come from Dwaraka and he bought the atmosphere and mood of Dwaraka along with him with all it’s grandeur. So Hrishikesh which is a name of the lord, as is Dwarakdish, came to Pandharpura and if anyone says that a sculptor in Jaipur or anywhere else had made this deity of lord Vitthal, is there any brave person in here, who can say that this deity has been made by anyone?

If someone says that somebody has made this deity and it was transported to this place and someone did a life giving ceremony, then Tukaram Maharaja has said that that person’s mouth will become filled with ants. Dont you dare! Dont think like this and do not say this! The lord is sac cid ananda vigraha, he is full of eternity, knowledge, and blissfulness. So the Lord came and stood here on a brick and then he became Vitthal.

He will stay forever sac cid ananda vigraha, full of eternity, knowledge, and blissfulness or the Archa vigraha, the deity form, who we can worship and take Darshan of. Man mana bhava mad bhakto mad yaji mam namaskuru

man mana bhava mad bhakto
mad yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi yuktvaivam
atmanam mat parayanah
(Bhagavad Gita 9.34)

Translation
Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.

Krishna has said this to all of us, ‘what should you all do? Man mana, engage your mind in always thinking of me, the supreme lord.’ So Panduranga Vitthal is giving us a chance to remember him right now and right here we are remembering him or at least we are trying to remember him. After hearing and speaking, one remembers which is natural.

Here also because there is speaking and hearing on the subject matter if the lord, there will be remembrance also. So the lord says man mana, remember be and mad bhakta, become my devotee and so we can become devotees of the deity and we can perform devotional service to the deity form of the lord in the deity form. So that is service to the deity because the deity is the supreme lord.

Then there is mad yaji, ‘worship me and offer me Arati and decorate me. Patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati. Offer me bhoga and if it is butter then that is the best. This is my choice, i prefer butter.’ Then there is mam namaskuru, offer your obeisances unto me.’ Krishna says at the end of the eighteenth chapter of Bhagavad Gita and this sloka is the promise of the lord to us.

And the lord has said that if you do these four things, man mana bhava mad bhaktomad yaji mam namaskuru. When Srila Prabhupada gave me Sannyasa in 1975, we are talking about December in Vrindavan, after my Sannyasa initiation, when I went to meet Srila Prabhupada, I was thinking Srila Prabhupada will order me to do this and so that.

Srila Prabhupada said ‘this is it, you just do four things, you just follow these four principles and then Srila Prabhupada said these very things that I have just spoken about. Man mana, Mad bhakto, Mad yaji and mam namaskuru. If you do this then what does the lord say? The lord says mam evaisyasi satyam te pratijane priyo ‘si me. So mam evaisyasi, if we meditate on the lord, if we become devotees of lord Vitthal, if we worship lord Vitthal and bow down to the lord, then what will the lord do?

The lord says ‘mam evaisyasi, you will attain me and you will come back to me.’ What Tukaram just said that he is going now, back to Vaikuntha, we will be able to do the same if we so these four items. Then the lord is saying, pratyam te, this is the truth. The Lord says at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, ‘I am speaking all this, and why am I saying this? ‘Priya asi, because you are dear to me.’

There on the battlefield, Krishna is instructing Arjuna, and so you all may be thinking that the lord is saying to Arjuna that he is dear to the lord. That is what the lord said, we also belong to the lord and we will always be his, Krishna loves you all. That is why he came to the material world from his home in the spiritual world, and he played so many pastimes here and he spoke Bhagavad Gita. Why? Because he loves you.

Also, Krishna continues doing so many different things and pastimes in his different incarnations for us all devotees. Not only for us here in Maharashtra but for all the devotees all over the world. The lord came to Pandharpura and he stayed there. Why did he stay there? Because he loves you all and he loves me. He glances up on all of us with mercy and he gives us his Darshan. He accepts our service and he also listens to our prayers and accepts our food offerings.

The lord in his Vitthal form, in the form of Panduranga also has a thousand names. Just like there is a thousand names of Vishnu, there is also a thousand names of Vitthal. Go to known by thousand names, they are extremely merciful. There are many devotees of Vitthal like Kurandar das, Kanak das who was from Karnataka and he was a high standing devotee of lord Vitthal.

He has preached about devotion to Vitthal and has glorified lord Vitthal around eight hundred years ago. Then there were the two Gyanadeva and Namadeva and then there was Ekanath Maharaja. Of course Tukaram Maharaja is also there. So in this way there are for big names of the foremost devotees of lord Vitthal. There are the warkari’s who go again and again to pilgrimage to take Darshan of the lord and come back home.

Because they go again and again whicb is called ‘waar am waar’ they are called Warkari. They go one time then two times then waar am waar, again and again. Therefore they become Warkari. So these Warkari’s go in procession and this is called dindi, the procession. Since the time of Gyanadeva Maharaja these processions have occurred and so the devotees go together and expand devotion to lord Vitthal.

Namadeva was present there also and from his name you can tell, that he has glorified the name if the lord to a great extent. The saints of Maharashtra went outside Maharashtra and Namadeva went all the way to Punjab to distribute devotion to lord Vitthal. Some saints stayed
in Maharashtra but Namadeva went to many other places in India to preach devotion of lord Vitthal.

Janabai became his disciple and she was also a unique devotee of lord Vitthal as the lord would help her in her household chores, we were showing you this yesterday. Namadeva Paidi, Paidi means stairs and so the stairs where Namadeva used were called Namadeva Paidi and so even the stairs were named after him. The deity he can see here is also Namadeva. He along with all the members of his family that included some fourteen different members including Janabai, went into Samdhi which was Jiwan Samadhi, spiritual suicide.

They made a well and they all jumped into it and then they were no more. They all go back to the lord to assist in his pastimes. This is the humility of these devotees, just like we were seeing a few days ago that Uddhava was praying to the lord. There is the grass, small bushes and creepers on top of Govardhan and Kusum Sarovar in Vrindavana, please make me one of these my lord. Because when the Gopis come there, they will tread on me, and in this way, I will be able to get some of the dust from their lotus feet my head.’

In the same Namadeva wanted that as many devotees who come for Darshan od lord Vitthal, the dust of all these devotees’s feet would fall on top of his head. So just near the Temple where everyone starts climbing up to the temple, that is the place where he left the world with all his family members and Janabai. That is why each person who goes to the Darshan Arati first bows down to Namadeva’s lotus feet.

His dedication and the way he made an offering of himself for the lord is commendable. He meditated upon Narayana, Vitthal and doing this, he left his body. Hari Hari. Ekanath Maharaja wrote a commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam and he is famous for those words. We also heard about his character, the supreme lord would reside in his home. And the lord would help him in many ways.

And what can we say about the glories of Ekanatha Maharaja and these great soul’s? One day Ekanatha Maharaja went into the river Godawari to take his bath and as he was coming out after taking bath, someone who was eating betal nut spat upon him and so Ekanatha Maharaja went again to bathe. When he came out again, this sinful sinner who was of low caste, again spat upon the great devotee and this happened many times.

Ekanatha Maharaja’s tolerance of this injustice made this sinful person have a change of heart. He immediately fell upon the lotus feet of Ekanatha Maharaja and was begging forgiveness. At that time Ekanatha Maharaja said, ‘thank you, thank you so much. I am indebted to you. Because of you today I, Godavari Maiya ki jai!

Because of you, I got a chance to bathe in the Godawari, so many times and that is all thanks to you. That is why i am so grateful to you.’ At one time, the wicked Aurangzeb came to Pandharura along with one Alludin, then there was Khilji. They were all coming separately but all at the same time and their goal was to destroy Pandharpura, just like they did in many other places for almost one thousand years.

These Muslims have attacked India in all places again and again, but especially in North India, but because Shivaji Maharaja ki Jai! Due to Shivaji Maharaja, the Muslims could did not attack South India as much as they did North India. You may have gone to South India, how many old temples there are all over South India. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala.

Have you ever been there? There are many temples there, yes or no? That many temples they used to be in North India, just as many as there are there. They cannot be seen because to these Muslims because Shivaji Maharaja ki Jai! He was the one who stopped them and conquered them. There are so many more names like Aurangabad, this bad that bad Hyderabad, Faridabad, Gaziabad.

At that time lord Vitthal was in a place called Humpi in Karnataka for a short while. In this place there is Pampa Sarovar also (a lake). There King Krishnadevaraya made a temple called ‘Vijay Vitthal,’ victory of Vitthal which you can see here. And our deity of lord Vitthal, who belongs to everyone, he stayed here in this place for some time. This is a unique temple where the pillars make the sound of music when they are tapped. Sa re ga ma pa, this kind of music is sounded.

So lord Vitthal was bought back here from Karnataka by Bhanu Maharaja, who was from the same family as Ekanath Maharaja. At another time there was danger again, there was a great risk and so in Pandharpura, not far from where our Hare Krishna dham in Pandharpura which we are building called Bhu Vaikuntha, two or three hundred meters away, there is one Dev Gau, village.

There in the well the lord was hidden for a short while and the lord was being worshipped inside that well. He was decorated and worshipped in there. Due to
fear of Muslims, they were worshipping the lord in this way. Behind the lord Vitthal temple, there is another temple called Shree Takpithe Vitthoba. The children are making noise, I can hear. Is it Ramabai?

Yes, Ramabai used to come to Pandharpura and she used to mix buttermilk and flour and would make a special dish. This she would take to the Vitthal temple and she would offer this to the lord and the lord would really enjoy this. Who says that the lord does not eat? It is because we don’t feed him with the love which Shabari did. She only fed the lord ber fruit, she did not feed him the king of fruits, the Mango.

She just fed the lord the ber fruit, who gives importance to this kind of fruits like berries and bers, this is the fruit fit for the monkeys. But when Shabari fed lord Rama this ber fruit, the lord was very satisfied as if she had fed him a full meal. ‘I have never tasted anything like this before. What a fruit, wow!’ Ramabai has this same love and devotion and so her preparation of buttermilk and flour was very dear to
lord Vitthal and the lord ised to eat this with love.

But then she became ill and she was not able to go to the temple to see the lord and offer him this preparation. So she began to pray to the lord and he started coming to her home to eat the buttermilk and flour preparation. Haribol! Then slowed the lord started to stay there at her home and that is why there is a deity of lord Vitthal there even now. It is understood that this deity of lord Vitthal who eats this preparation and the lord in the temple of lord Vitthal are the same.

So when the Temple is closed, and people cannot take Darshan, many people then go to take Darshan of this deity who is taking this preparation of buttermilk and flour. The people become very happy by doing this as they are thinking ‘oh we have taken Darshan of Vitthal. Takpithe Vitthoba bhagavan ki Jai! The Acharya’s of the four Sampradaya’s have gone there, the Acharya of Brahma Sampradaya who is Madhavacharya, the Acharya of Sri Sampradaya, Ramanujacharya and then there is the Acharya of Rudra Sampradaya who is Visnuswami.

And from this Rudra Sampradaya came Vallabhachrya. He too came here and from the Kumara Sampradaya came Nimbarkacharya and all these Acharya’s have stayed in Pandharpura at some time or another. When we made Prabhupada Ghat we put four doors and on the four doors we have put the names of the four Acharya’s. So Vallabhachrya from Visnuswami Sampradaya, worshipped Bal Gopal in Vatsalya Rasa, as a parent or elder personality.

The lord is a small child and he is worshipped as Laddu Gopal and when Vallabhacharya was in Pandharpura, he gave Bhagavad Katha just as we are doing here right now in Hadapsar. Vallabhachrya was famous for his Katha on Srimad Bhagavatam and he has given Bhagavatam talks in sixty four different places. All these are known as the sitting places of Vallabhachrya, wherever he stayed and gave talk on Bhagavatam.

There is one such place in Pandharpura just close to our Iskcon Temple. When he was giving Bhagavatam talk, lord Vitthal used to give him Darshan and speak with him. They would have a conversation, Vallabacharya and lord Vitthal and as I was saying, when there is talk of the lord, who comes? The lord himself comes.

Mad bhakta yatra gayanti tatra tisthami narada, oh Narada, I am present wherever My devotees are chanting. The lord went there and Vallabhacharya took the lord’s Darshan and the lord also took Darshan of Vallabhacharya. By this we can learn about the character of Vallabhacharya ad understand that the lord Vitthal gave him an important instruction. And what was that?

The lord told him, ‘you must accept the Grihastha Ashram and get married.’ The lord must have had a plan in mind and his instruction must be followed. So Vallabhachrya had many children and one of them he named Vitthal. Then Adi Shankaracharya came and he said ‘Bhaje Pandurangam, worship lord Pandurangam.’ From his mouth he started glorifying the lord in this way which is natural for all of us.

These Mayavadis and Advaitavadis speak nonsense things to preach in the wrong way is possible but here what happened was natural. Shankaracharya said ‘Parabrahma lingam bhaje Pandurangam.
I Worship that Panduranga, Who is the veritable Image (Lingam) of Parabrahman. ‘He also said in Varanasi ‘bhaja govindam bhaja govindam govindam bhajamudhamate. Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, you fool!’

The scholars of Sankrit may have knowledge of the Sanskrit language but they are not devotees. That is why Shankara has said bhajamudhamate. ‘Oh you donkey! Worship Govinda. At the time of death this wont protect you.’ What wont protect him? ‘Rules of Grammar will not save you at the time of your death. bhaja govindam govindam bhajamudhamate.’

This is Shankarachrya’s – well, at heart Shankaracharya is a Vaishnava.

nimna ganam yatha ganga
devanam acyuto yatha
vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh
purananam idam tatha
(Srimad Bhagavatam 12.13.16)

Translation
Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Sambhu [Siva] the greatest of Vaishnavas, so Srimad Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas.

It is said in the Bhagavatam, Vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh, lord Shiva is the best of Vaishnava’s. Nimna ganam yatha ganga, of all the rivers which flow to the sea, the river Ganges is the greatest, devanam acyuto yatha, lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and purananam idam tatha, Srimad Bhagavatam Purana is the greatest of all Puranas.

That is why the lord told lord Siva to play such a great part of becoming Shankaracharya and to preach Mayavadi philosophy. He has performed his duty very well, buy he is actually a Vaishnava and so lord Siva goes to take Darshan of of baby Krishna in Nanda Gram and he is also allowed entrance into the Rasa Lila of the lord’s lotus feet. He was in the Rasa Lila, can you imagine his devotion?

His feelings of devotion was like the Gopi’s and he had a form of a Gopi at that time. He had come there to the place called Maan Saorvar with his drum, dreadlocks, scorpions and a snake around his neck. He came and he was stopped at the entrance, ‘hey where are you going?’ He answered, ‘oh Im going to the Rasa dance arena.’ then they told him that only one who has the form of a Gopi and the feelings of a Gopi can go into the Rasa dance arena. He was told to take a bath in the Maan Sarovar.

Lord Siva then jumped into the lake and he came out after a short while, he became Gopeshwar, that was his name and he had become a Gopi, a very important Gopi. In Vrindavan there is a very important Temple of Gopeshwar and there is a deity there of Gopeshwar Siva. This is lord Siva and only a few people actually know lord Siva because they are sense enjoyers themselves.

kanksantah karmanam siddhim
yajanta iha devatah
ksipram hi manuse loke
siddhir bhavati karma ja
(Bhagavad gita 4.12)

Translation
Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course, men get results from fruitive work in this world.

Those people who desire fruitive results go to the demigods with many wishes and desires and the demigods give them what they want. Lord Siva does the same, even though he does not want to do this. He asks, ‘what do you want?! Okay have it, now get out!’

Brahma says with his four mouths ‘Krishna Krishna Hare Hare’ and Lord Siva sings with his five mouths, ‘Rama Rama Hare Hare.’ Lord Brahma and lord Siva actually only want to chant the names of the lord and you say that even in the hands of lord Siva, there is chanting beads and he is constantly chanting in the beads. He does not chant his own names, he chants the supreme lords’ names on his beads.

When someone comes and asks, give me a long life and give me wealth. Give me, give me, give me. Because lord Siva is Asutosa, he is quickly satisfied so he says, ‘okay, here take it and go quickly, I have to chant.’ In this way Adi Shankaracharya came to Pandharpura and he has preached and distributed devotion and by singing the Panduranga Astaka, he has also requested us to do what? Worship Parabrahma lingam bhaje Pandurangam.
that Panduranga, Who is the veritable Image (Lingam) of Parabrahman.

I think we should go to the presentation, Vaikunatha presentation. You can see here, can you see here on that screen? Can you see the Dindi festival in this picture? Yes, no? Okay Hari Hari, sorry. The Dindi’s do not even take a step forward without chanting the lords names, Jai Jai Rama Krishna Hari. Tukaram also sings his devotional poems and by this he is singing the glories of the lord. By doing this, he is going further towards the lord’s lotus feet.

This sort of beautiful festival like Dindi, you will not find in the whole universe, not even in the heavenly planets. This is only in Maharashtra,in Pandharpura in Dehu. There are other small Dindi festivals in other towns and villages, but this is the biggest Dindi festival held here. For so many people to walk for eighteen days together, is a world record. They walk together and they stay together and all the while they are performing Kirtan of the holy names of the lord.

There is a Gazal, a song in poetry which has reached New York, London, Melbourne in Australia also, yes? It is in Durban, South Africa and Moscow, Russia. It has reached more than one hundred countries in the world, in thousands of cities and villages in which there is Kirtan happening! Shouts of Haribol! Srila Prabhupada knew that I would also have something to do with such a Dindi festival, and that I grew up knowing this culture.

My father was a Warkari, a preacher of devotion, and so Srila Prabhupada ordered me to organise these Dindi festivals. In Iskcon, Dindi entered when Prabhupada told me ‘ you were in Vrindavan, now you go to Mayapura with this Dindi, group of Padayatra devotees and bullock cart to preach in this way. Then Prabhupada told me, ‘go to Jagannatha Puri.’

So we went there also, and in one Padayatra, we went from Dwaraka, then once from Pandharpura, Kanniyakumari, Jagannatha Puri, Mayapura. There is a eight thousand kilometres Padayatra from eighteen months, and there are around one hundred and fifty devotees from twenty different countries who have done Padayatra Parikarama with us!

Me included, and the Srila Prabhupada wrote me a letter in which he said, ‘we could have millions Padayatra’s and millions of carts all over the world. So
What happened is that the leaders were planning to celebrate Srila Prabhupada’s hundred birthday in 1996 in a big way. So we took it photograph of Padayatra, Dindi festival and this and that. I was a Padayatri, part of Iskcon Padayatra so we decided to perform Padayatra in one hundred countries.

And the Padayatra which had started at the time of Srila Prabhupada, this is still going on today! Till now, we Iskcon devotees who are Padayatri’s and Warkari’s also, we have done three hundred thousand Padayatra’s. You didn’t seem to like this and you dont seem impressed, (shouts of Haribol). So it seems like you do not think this is a big deal, ‘oh is that it? Just three hundred thousand?’ So you need to clap.

So with with the Dindi, Padayatra and bullock cart Sankirtan, the prophecy that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told,

Prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama
(Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya 1.117)

In every town and village, the chanting of my name will be heard.

‘My chanting of my name should bot be preached only in Maharashtra or India, but ache yata nagaradi grama, it should be preached in every city and every village in the world. In all cities and all the villages my name will be preached.’ This Hare Krishna movement is making this prophecy come true and so is Iskcon’s Dindi or Padayatra. This Kirtan is going on all over the world just like Rathayatra which used to be celebrated only in Jagannath Puri, this same Jagannath Rathayatra is happening in more than seventy countries in the world!

We celebrated Janmasthami festival five, six months ago and devotees in over one hundred and fifty countries celebrated Janmasthami! All the cow killers in the world are now becoming protectors of the cows! Haribol! For your information this is being stated and so Tukaram Maharaja used to walk in the Dindi processions, but at one time it was not possible for him to go because he was not able to breathe properly.

Then Tukaram Maharaja wrote a letter addressed to lord Vitthal and he gave the letter to a neighbour who was going on the Dindi procession. He told him ‘when it is your turn to take Darshan, please read this letter to the lord on my behalf. The friend did just this and lord Vitthal found out that this year his Tukaram will not be able to come. In the letter Tukaram Maharaja had written, ‘oh Prabhu Panduranga, oh Vitthoba, I cannot come because my breathing is not proper.

Can you come to meet me and to give me Darshan? This was written by Tukaram Maharaja in the letter and when lord Vitthal heard this and read the letter, the lord started getting ready to leave. ‘Yes, yes, I want to go! When Rukmini found out the lord was leaving, it was also the day of Ashadi Ekadashi, she began to speaknto the lord. ‘Oh my lord, one to two million people have come to take your Darshan today and if you leave now, how will they be able to take your Darshan?’

The lord said ‘But i will have to leave because Tukaram cannot come, he is ill.’ This is the love of lord Vitthal, like a father he has this love for his devotee. So what would happen because all these people had come for Darshan and so Rukmini gave a suggestion and she said, ‘oh lord, why dont you send Garuda? He will go and he will put Tukaram Maharaja on top of him and bring him to you.’

The lord said, ‘good idea.’ So Garuda was sent, in Indonesia there is an airline which is called Garuda Airlines. India’s airline is called Air India, this is nonsense. There is American line, Australian Airways and Chinese Airways, and so seeing this, India also called it Air India, what is this nonsense? Or would be good if India Airline’s name was Garuda Airlines pr something like this.

So Garuda Ji reached Tukaram and he told Tukaram, ‘I have come to take you to the lord.’ Tukaram Maharaja said ‘no, no! Your vehicle is to be used for my lord. It is for the supreme lord so how can i use the same vehicle? No, no, no. You go and send the lord, send lord Vitthal. So poor Garuda goes back and by then most of the devotees on Dindi had taken Darshan of the lord’s lotus feet.

Rukmini then said we can go now because most of the devotees have taken Darshan. So Rukmini and lord Vitthal sit on Garuda and come to Dehu and although Tukaram Maharaja is not breathing well, he was coming out again and again and he was thinking, ‘when will the lord come? Why is he not coming and when will my lord come?’ Just like Rukmini was waiting for the Brahmana who was going to bring the lord to kidnap her during her marriage.

In the same way, Tukaram Maharaja was waiting and he was very anxious and so here in Dehu, the lord comes down and comes forward and hugs Tukaram Maharaja. Jai Panduranga Panduranga Panduranga. This sort of love and affection can be found only between the lord and his devotee. And so Tukaram Maharaja performed Kirtan of the lord you can say twenty four hours all day and all night.

This is called Bhakti, devotional service and the lord teaches us through his devotee how devotional service should be performed. Tukaram Maharaja was a householder, not a Sannyasi or Bhramachari. You may be a householder or a celibate devotee, but what should one do? One should perform Harinama, chanting of the lord’s holy names. i have to stop, it’s pretty late. So in happiness or distress one should chant the holy names of the lord.

This is the teachings of our Acharya’s, this is what they have taught us and so when the Dindi procession reached Pandharpura, all the pilgrims go to have a bath in the Chandrabhaga Maiya ki Jai. There is a great festival and especially in the month of Chaitra, March to April and Asada Ekadasi, there is a great festival. Hari Hari.

Ganga has manifested from the lotus feet of the lord and by seeing the condition of the fallen conditioned souls, the lord feels merciful towards them. The lord’s heart becomes soft and the lords heart begins to melt, then the Ganga which has come from his lotus feet, is bought here by the lord, so that we can bathe in her pure waters and become pure. The holy rivers are his mercy upon us. Ganga Maiya ki Jai.

River Chandrabhagha is the Ganga of Pandharpura and many ghats like Uddhava ghat which was made in 1784 and Mahadwara ghat was made ten years after this. Chandrabhaga ghat was made in 1820 which means in the past two hundred and fifty years, no ghat was made! After two hundred to three hundred years, Srila Prabhupada ghat ki Jai! Iskcon has made this ghat and there, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu and Visvarupa’s slippers have been installed there.

And in that place, Radha Pandharinath ki Jai! Now Radha Pandharinath are also there giving Darshan for many years and their worship, Kirtan and so forth is going on there and Bhu Vainkuntha is also being established! This all I was speaking because it is all in the book which is why I am getting the opportunity to describe all this and after a lot of research this book being created and also into so many languages. In English, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu and Tamil and many other languages.

And fifty thousand books have been distributed already. So you are welcome to Bhu Vaikuntha, the project is called Bhu Vaikuntha and Pandharpura is also called Bhu Vaikuntha and this book is also called Bhi Vaikuntha. So you are most welcome and this book is here on the book stall. Bhu Vaikuntha ki kai! Pandharpura dham ki Jai! Vitthal Rukmini ki Jai! What happened? Jai! Srila Prabhupada ki Jai! Nitai Gaura Prem Anande Hari Haribol.