Bathing in Ganga & glorifying H H Radhanatha Swami
Venue : Kumbha Mela, Haridwar Date : 12/3/10 Class begins with loud chanting by all “Hari Bol.. Hari bol…” (Maharaja encourages everyone to loudly chant Lord Hari’s names.)
Bathing in Ganga & glorifying H H Radhanatha Swami:
This morning, we had bath right here in Ganga. Ganga was emanating from the lotus mouth of His Holiness Radhanath Maharaja.
Bhagirath Maharaja performed austerities to bring Ganga mata down to Earth. He gave up all the comforts and underwent lot of austerities to bring Ganga to this planet, to this plane.
His Holiness Radhanath Maharaja is also the first tapasvi, first austere person who went to Ganga and sat in the middle of Ganga on a rock. You should show us that rock, Maharaja. Maharaja gave up all the comforts of Chicago. Long journey back home, from Chicago to Vrndavana via Ganga. He spent time in the lap of Himalayan mountains, in the mountain caves, in the lap of mother Ganga. For one month he was sitting on the rock in the middle of Ganga. He did austerities, and intense prayers. He was 40-years-old at that time. Maharaja is the first one amongst us. We are very proud. I was hearing the glories of Ganga from Maharaja. All the glories of Ganga have been ‘hride prakasita’ have been revealed unto Maharaja by the grace of Ganga. Ganga maiya ki jay. That Ganga which first appeared in his heart, this morning she was coming out of his mouth and we were all getting benefited. Radhanath Swami ki jay! Such is the glory of Radhanath Swami Maharaja.
Sannyasa lila katha of Caintanya Mahaprabhu from Caitanya Bhagavat:-
Yesterday, we started reading from Sri Caitanya Bhagavat, the pastimes of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s acceptance of sanayasa. So let us continue. It was all predestined- His sanayasa was predicted. The time arrived for His sanayasa and Mahaprabhu was getting ready.
He asked Nityananda prabhu to reveal this truth to only selective five persons. That day He had performed kirtan for the whole day with all the devotees. Then He had honored prasadam and went again to the banks of Ganga to spend rare and quality moments on the bank of Ganga. He did prayers in the mood of gratitude for Ganga’s association. When He returned home, so many visitors were present. They all came with garlands and chandan. Offering garlands to Mahaprabhu, putting chandan on His forehead and paying full dandvatas, they took their seats. They sat there immersed, looking at Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Fully focused.
Lord took advantage of their full attention and advised to them, “Bolo Krishna, bhaja Krishna, gao Krishna naam.” These were His instructions. You chant Hare Krishna name, worship Krishna. “Aharnisha chinta Krishna balah vadane.” Day and night, think of Krishna and talk of Krishna and utter the holy names of the Lord. “Upadesha kahi sabe bale, jao ghare” and then at the end of these instructions to all of them, He said, “now you please return home.”
Batch after batch, the devotees were arriving, garlanding, offering obeisances to Mahaprabhu, sitting, taking darshan and Mahaprabhu was repeating that advice to them and sending them back home. After the last batch had gone to their respective homes, Mahaprabhu knew that night He would be leaving home. So He was thinking mainly of what would His mother would feel like when he leaves home.
He turned to his mother, Sachi mata and said, “could you cook for Me please?” It is not that she didn’t cook for Him; she always cooked but Mahaprabhu was taking special initiative and appealing, “please cook for Me, please cook for Me.” Some of the guests, who had brought garlands and chandan, they also had brought milk and some other vegetables. So Lord requested, “please make some preparations from these items.” Finally, the meal was offered to Nimai and He honored it in presence of Sachi mata.
Bhojana kariya Prabhu, mukha shuddhi kari;
chalila shayana ghare Gauranga Sri Hari.
(Caitanya Bhagavat, Madhya chapter 28, verse 43)
He did mukha shuddhi also. Mahaprabhu went to take some rest before He would leave.
Yoganidra pratidrusti karila Ishwar,
nikate shuila Hari Das, Gadadhar.(verse 44)
So God took some yoganidra, sleep. Hari Das and Gadadhar were also sleeping nearby.
Ai jane aji prabhu karibe gamana aira
nahika nidra kande anukshana .(verse 45)
So of course, they rested but Sachi mata, she knew that this is the night that Maharpabhu would be leaving home. So she didn’t rest all night long but she just wept.
Ai janilena matra Prabhura gamana
duyare vasiya rahilena tata-ksana (verse 49)
She was sitting next to the entrance. She knew Nimai would be leaving that way. So next to the entrance, she sat and kept crying.
Vistara karila tumi amara palana
padilana shunilana tomara karan (verse 51)
As Nimai was up and getting ready to leave home, Sachi mata was right there and He addresses her, “tumi amar palan” you maintained Me. You fed Me, you arranged My studies, you did everything for Me.
Ajanma amara tumi badaila bhoga
dande dande yata sneha kariya amare (verse 52, 53)
At every step, not only you did ‘palan’ but you also did ‘lalan’. Lanan and palan. You fed Me. You not only provided for all My material needs, but also I was mentally, emotionally nourished and fed by you.
Ami koti kalpe o nariba sodhibare (verse 53)
There is no way I could (return your debt). I am indebted to you. I cannot be free from this debt even if I endeavor this way and that way for millions of kalpas.
Ami punah punah janma runi se tomara (verse 54)
Life after life after life, I will remain indebted to you.
Suna mata, isvarera adhina samsara
svatantra haite sakti nahika kahara (verse 55)
He is trying to console her, pacify her. Listen mother, ‘suno mata’, listen my mother, please listen to Me. We all are under control of Supreme Lord, Supreme controller. We are not free. As He moves, we move.
Samyoga-viyoga yata kare sei natha (verse 56)
We meet and we are separated, it is His doing.
Buke hata diya prabhu bale bara bara
tomara sakala bhara amara-amara (verse 59)
Mahaprabhu held Sachi mata’s hands in his own hands. He says, “All your responsibility is My responsibility. I will look after you wherever I am.”
Yata kichu bale prabhu, sachi saba shune
uttara na kare, kande ajhora nayane (verse 60)
Nimai kept talking. It was one way traffic. He was talking. She was silent. All she could do was crying. Tears were constantly flowing from her eyes.
Jananira pada-dhuli lai Prabhu shire
pradakshina kari tane chalila satvare (verse 62)
Next Nimai touched the feet of his mother and offered obeisances. He did pradakshina (circumambulation) of Sachi mata.
Chalilena Vaikuntha-nayak griha haite
sannyas kariya sarva jiva uddharite (verse 63)
And He left home. He was taking sanayasa and the purpose was for the benefit of the entire creation. So He was renouncing His home.
Shuna shuna are bhai, Prabhura sannyas
ye katha shunile sarva-bandha haya nasha (verse 64)
This is Vrindavana Das Thakura’s comment. He says, “Everyone who listens to the pastime of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sanayasa, he will become free from all the bonds of this material existence.” Hari bol!! (response to Hari Bol) .
Bhakta saba na janera e saba vrittanta
ushah-kale snara kari yateka mahanta (verse 66)
No one knew. Purposely Mahaprabhu had left home in the middle of the night so no one would know. The business went as usual. Everybody was getting up in the respective homes, taking bath. As normally people go to the temple to take darshan of the deity, darshan of the Lord; people of Nadia, people of Mayapur, they would come to Sachi mata’s home to see Nimai as their ‘Ishta Dev,’ their Lord.
Prabhu namaskarite aila Prabhu-ghare
asi saba dekhe ai bahire duyare (verse 67)
As usual they came to offer the respects to Sachi mata and to Nimai. But there was some kind of different scene this morning. Sachi mata was normally very busy in the morning hours. She was only sitting at the entrance.
Ai kena rahiyache bahira duyara (verse 68)
People asked, “How come? Why are you sitting at the entrance this morning?”
Jada praya ai, kichu na spure uttara
nayanera dhara matra vahe nirantara (verse 69)
She was sitting there motionless, as if she was a statue. Only thing she could notice was the tears gliding down from her cheeks.
Ksaneke balila ai, “shuna bapa saba!
Vishnura dravyera bhagi sakala vaishnava (verse 70)
Finally she broke the silence. She said all this property you see around, this belongs to Vishnu. You are Vaishnavas. You belong to that Vishnu. Now you may pick each and every item that you wish to take away, carry away. And like that she was talking some kind of code language, not speaking (directly). It was difficult for her to even make a statement of Nimai’s leaving home and going off for sanayasa. It was difficult for her and she knew that when others would hear, it would be even more difficult for them to hear such news.
Shuni matra bhakta-gana Prabhura gamana
bhumite padila sabe hai achetana (verse 73)
People were gradually realizing, coming to conclusion that Nimai had left home to take sanayasa. Their next reaction was that they were not even able to stand, they just collapsed on the ground, as if dead, motionless, as if their consciousness was gone.
Kandite lagila sabe kari arta-nada
anyonye sabei sabara dhari gala (verse 74, 75)
They were all wailing and crying and rolling on the ground, some of them were getting up. Some new people were coming in to find out or to meet the Lord. Those who were already there were embracing them, “you are welcome home, but this home is empty.” They were embracing and gradually others were also coming to know.
“Na dehi” se chanda-mukha vanchibe kemane (verse 77)
They were expecting (as they were arriving), to see the moon, Chandra, Krishna survya sama, the face of the Lord, from which the moon rays and sun rays emanate.
Achambite kene hena haila vajrapata (verse 78)
But He wasn’t there. Realizing His absence, they were experiencing as if thunderbolt is striking them.
Gadagadi yaya keha kare atmaghata (verse 78)
They were all falling and rolling on the ground.
Kande saba bhakta-gana bhumite padiya (verse 81)
And they were all crying and making the ground wet with their tears.
Anathera natha Prabhu galena chaliya
ama sabe viraha-samudre phelaiya (verse 82)
They were saying, “He is our nath (master) and now we have become anath (orphans). He has thrown us into the ocean of these feelings of separation. It is like ocean and He has thrown us into that ocean, He is drowning us in that ocean of feelings of separation.” Like that there are detailed descriptions of Vrndavana Das Thakur. We are only touching some of the verses.
Then some are able to talk, they said,
Keha bale, “cala ghare dvare agni diya
kane pari’ kundala chaliba yogi hana (verse 95)
“Let’s go home, let’s go home. What for, what we will do there?” Some others said, “We will put our homes on fire. There is no reason; there is no purpose of staying here anymore, in these homes. Let us also, wear some earrings and let us leave homes. Let us also wear some kundala, some earrings and let us leave home, let us leave this place.”
Ganga par haiya Sri Gauranga Sundara
sei dine ailena kantaka nagara (verse 102)
Early morning, before sunrise, Mahaprabhu walked and walked to reach the banks of Ganga, He crossed Ganga and finally reached to Kantak Nagar, or Katwa. That description is not here.
Elsewhere we also find how Sachi mata at some point, she leaves home. She was running in the direction Mahaprabhu went. She knew which way He had gone. So she was running to find, to stop Nimai, find Him, stop Him, and bring Him home. She was running with all her strength to find Him, bring Him. Crying out, Nimai, Nimai, with all her heart, with all her strength, with all her love, she was doing that. Running and crying and calling out she arrived at the bank of Ganga. There is a small village there. She enquired from those village folks, “Have you seen my Nimai?” Not me, not me, some people replied. “What about you? Sure you must have seen Him. He has come this way, I am sure, He came this way, I am sure you have seen Him. Has anyone seen Nimai?” No one was responding. Sachi mata thought, “I know, I know, you know whereabouts of my Nimai. You are tricking me or cheating me, or not revealing the facts of whereabouts of my Nimai.” Sachi mata concluded, “You are heartless people! All that I am asking is to please let me know, have you seen Nimai? Where is my Nimai? Cant you just help me out with this simple response?” And there was no response. Nobody in that place responded. Sachi mata concluded, “The people of this place are heartless! Hence this place will be known as Nirdaya”. That village is still there. When we go on navadvipa mandal parikrama, we go by boat to Rudradvipa or Sankarpur, on the right side on the bank of Ganga, there is a village called Nirdaya. In Bengal it is called Nidaya.
Mahaprabhu was not to be found by Sachi. He had crossed Ganga and Mahaprabhu was already in Katva.
Sri Avadhuta Chandra Gadadhar Mukunda
Sri Chandrasekharacharya, ara brahmananda (verse 104)
Nityananda prabhu and some other personalities that Mahaprabhu had informed about sanayasa; they were asked to come to Katva, so they also arrived in Katva. Now Mahaprabhu, Nimai, Vishwambhar was going towards Keshava Bharati.
Adbhuta dehera jyotih dekhiya tahana
uthilena Keshava Bharati punyavan (verse 106)
Immediately Keshava Bharati took note of the presence of Mahaprabhu. That personality, brilliant as sun, coming towards him, how could he ignore and not take note of this? Keshava Bharati immediately stood up to receive this personality. Nimai threw Himself at the feet of Keshava Bharati and He addressed Keshava Bharati.
Anugraha tumi more kara mahashaya!
Patita pavan tumi maha-kripa-maya (verse 108)
Please, please accept Me, oh Mahashay, o great personality! I m fallen. You are maha kriypa maya, you are full of kripa and I am fallen. Please lift me.
Krishna dasya vinu mora nahe kichu ana
hena upadesha tumi more deha dana (verse 110)
All that I am begging from you is dasya, Krishna dasya (servitorship to Krishna).
Prema-jale anga bhase Prabhura kahite
hunkara kariya shesha lagila nachite (verse 111)
Then Mahaprabhu, He got up and began dancing in presence of Keshava Bharati.
Gaite lagila Mukundadi bhakta-gana
nijaveshe matta nache Sri Sachinandana (verse 112)
Then Mukunda, he took the microphone! He is the singer. He is singing and Sachinandan is dancing.
Arbuda arbuda loka shuni sei-kshane
asiya milila nahi jani kotha hane (verse 113)
As kirtan began, hundreds and then thousand, and then millions and then trillions of people started coming. No one knew where they were going and no one knew who told them about this event.
Akathya adbhuta dhara prabhura nayane
taha na kahite pare ‘ananta’ vadane (verse 115)
Vrindavan Das Thakur says there is a limit how much I could write, or speak or describe; it is beyond me. I leave it up to Ananta Sesa to describe the rest.
Ananta-brahmanda-natha nija-dasya bhave
dante trina kari saba sthane dasya mage (verse 119)
Then Mahaprabhu in the middle of that kirtan fell down at the feet of all the assembled personalities, assembled devotees. He was only asking from them, “please give Me dasya, give Me Krishna dasya. Please make Me servant of Krishna. Please, please!” He is begging from everyone.
Nana grama haite se nana upayana (verse 135)
All those people who had come, they hadn’t come empty handed. They brought different gifts.
Dahi, dugdha, ghrita, mudga, tambula, chandana,
pushpa yajna-sutra, vastra ane sarva-jana (verse 136)
They brought all those items required for sacrifice, yajya. There was no need of doing shopping, going back and forth to get this or that. They all came inspired and they all came with gifts that were required.
Parama anande sabe kare Hari-dvani
‘Hari’ vina loka mukhe ara nahi shuni (verse 138)
There was no other sound than, ‘Hari Bol… Hari Bol’ nothing else. Only Hari, Hari, Hari, Hari, Hari…
Vasila karite sri shikara antardhana (verse 139)
Now was the time for initiation. Shaving had to take place. Vridavana Das Thakur says, “Now is the time for antardhan of shikha” Disappearance of shikha time had come – Shikha antardhan.”
Krandanera kalarava uthila takhane (verse 140)
As Mahaprabhu sat down for shaving, people sat all around. Oh no, they couldn’t now accommodate this, couldn’t digest this. He was going ahead with His plan of sanayasa and shaving was going to take place. They all were crying, trembling and crying. It was very hard for the barber as he tried to touch the hair. His hands were trembling. “Not me, not me,” he said. He was also falling on the ground, rolling on the ground, crying. Another barber was brought in and yet another barber was going through the same emotions and his hands were also trembling.
Nityananda adi kari yata bhakta-gana
bhumite padiya sabe karena krandana (verse 142)
This was the case even with Nityananda prabhu and others. Even they were crying, rolling on the ground, trembling and what to speak of others? No one wanted this sanayasa. No sanayasa. Why, why? Some said:
Keha bale, “kon vidhi srujila sannyasa?” (verse 144)
Who is it, what has created, or come up with this sanayasa business? We don’t want sanayasa..
Agochara thaki saba kande deva-gana (verse 145)
Demigods came, devatas came but ‘agochare’; they are not visible as they were wearing normal clothes but they were around.
Ananta brahmanda-maya haila krandana (verse 145)
They were crying and they were wailing and entire brahmanda (universe) was filled with that sound.
Hena se karunya rasa Gaurachandra kare
shushka kashtha pashanadi dravaye antare (verse 146)
And why not? Mahaprabhu is like that, mahaprabhu’s lilas are like that. He is full of karuna and anyone comes in contact with such personality or His pastime, they all get melted: shushka, kashtha pashan all these dry wood, or rock, they begin to melt.
‘bola’, ‘bola’ kari Prabhu uthe Vishvambhara (verse 149)
In the middle of His shaving, it is not finished yet, Mahaprabhu started saying to everyone ‘Hari Bol, Hari bol.’ Sometime He was getting up saying Hari Bol, Hari bol, chanting, dancing, then again sitting down. Then one by one, the barbers were coming and trying to shave. But it was not possible for them. Again a new barber would be brought in. Mahaprabhu would stand up and start chanting “Hari bol, Hari bol” and in this way, the whole day went by just in shaving! In place of ten minutes, ten hours passed. And shaving was not coming to conclusion. So finally it is done.
Tabe sarva loka natha kari Ganga snana
asiya vasila yatha sannyasera sthana (verse 153)
Then Mahaprabhu ran to Ganga. Ganga Maiya ki jay. He took bath in Ganga. Then he came back and sat there for sanayasa initiation.
Hari bol… Loud chanting by all, Hari bol, Hari bol.
/emNimai