Dated: 29th Sept 2015
Venue: Rajapur (Mayapur)

Occasion: World Holy Name Week

Mayapur dham ki jai!

So this is where all the gang of this sankirtan,

“sankirtanaika-pitarau kamalaya-thaksau visvambharo dvija varau
yuga-dharma phalau vande jagat priya karo karuna avatarau”

Karuna avataro-Guar Nityananda, the founding Supreme fathers of this Hare Krishna movement, Hare Krishna sankirtan movement are Gaur Nityananda and not far from here is Srivan angan and not angam. Many of devotees say angam, angam means body. Angan means courtyard angan not anganam so Srivas angan. SriKrishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would chant

“Hare krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”

All night long kirtan and Caitanya Mahaprabhu He would go mad, roar like a mad man also and chant and dance doing His uddanda kirtan, uddanda nrutya.

“dhule dhule gaurachanda hari guna gai
asiya vrindavane nache gaura rai”

He was dancing like that in Vrindavan 500 hundred year ago, Caitanya Mahaprabhu travelled to Vrindavan and he danced there also so that is ‘dhule dhule’ one kind of dance and he would do uddand nritya, He would jump high in sky and floating, trying to reach out his Lord where are you O! Lord? And he would be seeking for his Lord, he would jump. When Sachi mata had observed that kind of uddanda nritya of her Nimai dancing in Shantipur, he would jump high and fall flat on the ground so that was heart breaking experience for Sachi mata, considering that her Nimai getting hurt as he lands on the ground. She was praying to mother bhumi, mother earth that whenever my darling when he falls down in your lap. Please make sure that he was not hurt, let him experience like he is falling on bed of roses or something soft ground. So this was going on every night, all night long chanting and dancing on and on and on for weeks and for months. Advaitacharya was not very happy that Lord was dancing with “pure” devotees, what about the others? So he was the one, Advaitacharya was the one who had prayed for the merciful descend of the Lord.

“dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata”

“There is so much decline of the religious principles my Lord this is the time you did promise or made that statement whenever there is decline in religious or of the religious principles
“sambhavami yuge yuge” – you would appear”. So advaitacharya had come some 50 years prior to advent of Gauranga as if he had come as a advance party to do all evaluation of the situation and he had come to the conclusion now only Lord can rectify the situation so he prayed and Lord had responded and Gauranga appeared. But then he was chanting and dancing with some selected few and what about the rest of world then Advaitacharya, he falls at the feet of Gauranga and says oh! Lord be merciful

“Patitpavan hetu tav avatar”

The purpose of your avatar is patit pavan, to uplift the fallen souls so please do so these are pure devotees, its fine that you chant and dance with them but what about rest? So then Gauranga Mahaprabhu continued his kirtans all over Mayapur, Navadwip. Bhaktivinod Thakur explains in his famous kirtan.

“udilo aruna puraba bhage dwija mani gora amani jage
Bhakta samuha loiya sathe gela nagara braje”

So early morning the sun rose in the east. (Bell rings in the temple of Rajapur Jaggnath) O! Something is appearing Jagannath is rising appearing here Jai Jagannath Swami ki jai! Jai Jagannath! Jai Jagannath! Jai Jagannath ! Jagganath Baladev Subhadra Ki ..Jai

So gathering all his followers, devotees, Mahaprabhu was dancing all over, throughout Navadwip Mandal.

“tathai tathai bajalo khol”

“dhik tam dhik tam dhig etan kathayati satatam kirtana-stho mrdangah”

Mrdanga uvacha, mrdanga says all the time what does mrdanga says? Dhik- I condemn those folks, kirtan is going on here where I am being played, mridanga is being played and what you are doing over there? You are condemned dhik dhik, I condemn you, I condemn you, ‘etan dhigetan’- all these people are condemned because you are not present in the kirtan, mrdanga speaks like this during Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s kirtan.

“mukunda madhava yadava hari bolena bolo re vadan bhori”

So they are chanting,
“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”

And they are also chanting Mukunda say Mukunda Mukunda Mukunda. “bolena bolo re vadan bhori” using all their strength, love their Lord with all thy strength, with all thy heart, the bible also says “love thy Lord with all thy heart, with all thy strength”. So this song of Bhaktivinod also says “bolena bolo re vadan bhori” So some devotees along with their kirtan they are also doing preaching to those who were witnessing the kirtan running out of their homes to observe the kirtan. So devotees were preaching to them you also chant full hearted, full throated, heart full, throat full.. “balena bolo re vadan bhori”. And what is the next part ?

“preme dhala dhala sonara anga carane nupura baje”– again dhule dhule

That golden complexion Lord, “Preme dhala dhala”- full of prem, ecstatic feeling, emotions. He is dancing with ankle bells tinkling jingling around His ankles. Devotees must be playing mridanga very expertly, they also loving the sound of tinkling and jingling the bells also do come across. Mridanga playing was not drowning the sound of the nupur. The tinkling and jingling of the bells also were audible. Mridanga being played and those kartal and bits of all that there was also sound of jingling bells from ankles of Gauranga!

“kiba mantra dila gosai kiba tara bala japite japite mantra karila pagal”

This is another time as Sri Krishna Chaitnaya Mahaprabhu, he was maddened as he chanted rolling on the ground and this was very common thing shading tears. He would do kirtna in Jagannath Puri Jagannath puri dham ki jai !!! In front of Jagannath’s cart and when He would go round and round all people all devotees are all around Him and making three circles. Nityananda Prabhu was in the first circle around Gauranga and then Srivas and then Kashishwar and others would make the second circle. King Prataparudra and others would make the third circle and he would be in the middle protected from the public or He could have His own space. Gauranga would have His own space for chanting and dancing and not getting distracted, so they would form circles. He is everywhere simultaneously he is everywhere. Not that he is here and then after some time going round and round and that time shading tears. From the Lotus eyes of Gauranga tears would flow drowning not just making people little bit wet. They would drowning in those tears, becoming all soaked in tears of Gauranga.

“Nayanam galad ashru dharya” -dhara- flow. It was coming out, the flow coming out forcefully, so it was not just dropping down but going, spreading all around and it was coming out so forcefully reaching out going for long distance so all around the tears of Gauranga!! So one time He had again approached his Guru Maharaj Ishvarpuri and he was wondering Oh! What kind of mantra “Kiba mantra dila gosai”- what kind of mantra you have given to me? “japite japite mantra karil pagal”- by chanting or while chanting I just go mad, my body begins trembling, rolling on the ground, I become stunt ,this happens that happens, sometimes my complexion changes, Gauranga’s body changes complexion. The Golden body would turn pinkish while He was in Vrindavan golden body turned bluish black!

“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”

He was doing His japa, japa yoga underneath of Imali tala, Tamarind tree all from Krishna’s time, there was a tamarind tree 500 years ago and still there is tamarind tree. And after while at bank of Yamuna underneath the tree chanting His japa and while chanting He became so much Krishna conscious that He was no more Gauranga, He was not Gaursundar! But he became Shyamsundar! Body was shyamavarna.

So that also was result of His madness, ecstatic feelings. So He had inquired what kind of mantra? So much power, so much strength has invested in this mantra. This mantra just taken charge of me and makes me dance, make me mad. What kind of mantra have you given oh! Spiritual master?

“hari hari viphale janama gonainu”

And kirtan parties Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s kirtan party, Chaitanya mahaprabhu already in Jagannath Puri and parties would go from different towns and villages to Jagannath Puri to participate in Rathyatra festival. During one such time, as devotees were arriving in Jagannath Puri and they were performing kirtan or while performing kirtan they are entering Jagannath Puri and King Prataprudra, was enquiring “who is that devotee?” Oh! That is Advaitacharya ,“ who is that one in bluish?” Oh! That is Nityananda and who is that he was enquiring and he said I have heard kirtans before, same mantra same mridanga, kartala also, but this is something different. I have never experienced this kind of kirtan, these prabhu’s are chanting, singing, dancing what is this Kirtan? Then he was told, this is “Prem Kirtan”. So Mahaprabhu and His associates, followers they would perform Prem Kirtan, shuddha Naam.

Every day we chant keep doing this. This Hare Krishna Mahamantra is the Prem, the Love of God or in this name, the form of the Holy name. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu delivered Krishna Prem to this world. “Krishna Prem Pradayte” He appeared to deliver Krishna prem and what is that prem?

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Keep chanting!!!

So let’s chant, utter not just by the tongue, but by the soul. Let the soul sing this supreme song. We always hear encouragement chant from the heart. Because within the heart there is soul, Let the soul chant, so that kirtan was brought by Gauranga from His own abode and chanted here in Navadwip.