Venue: Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Date: February 25, 2017
Speaker: HH Lokanath Swami
Subject: Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.10.15-17
Transcriber: Madhumati Priyasaki dd

Verse:

Sri-prahrada uvaca

varam varaya etat te
varadesan mahesvara
yad anindat pita me
tvam avidvams teja aiavaram

viddhamarsasayah saksat
sarva-loka-gurum prabhum
bhratr-heti mrsa-drstis
tvad-bhakte mayi caghavan
tasmat pita me puyeta
durantad dustarad aghat
putas te ‘panga-samdrstas
tada krpana-vatsala

TRANSLATION
Prahlada Maharaja said: O Supreme Lord, because You are so merciful to the fallen souls, I ask You for only one benediction. I know that my father, at the time of his death, had already been purified by Your glance upon him, but because of his ignorance of Your beautiful power and supremacy, he was unnecessarily angry at You, falsely thinking that You were the killer of his brother. Thus he directly blasphemed Your Lordship, the spiritual master of all living beings, and committed heavily sinful activities directed against me, Your devotee. I wish that he be excused for these sinful activities.

PURPORT
Although Hiranyakasipu was purified as soon as he came in contact with the Lord’s lap and the Lord saw him, Prahlada Maharaja still wanted to hear from the Lord’s own mouth that his father had been purified by the Lord’s causeless mercy. Prahlada Maharaja offered this prayer to the Lord for the sake of his father. As a Vaisnava son, despite all the inconveniences imposed upon him by his father, he could not forget his father’s affection.

LECTURE:
varam varaya, this is the prayer. I pray, aham varam varaya, I beg for benediction. te- to You unto You. Who are you? – vareshat. You are vareshat, vara eshat. You are the Master of the benediction, Maheshwara and Ishwar, the top most Ishwar, unto You I beg for benediction. Aham varam varaya, I beg for benediction. So, the Lord of course always hears the prayers of powerful, (curtain opens) Nrsimhadev bhagavan ki Jai!, He immediately gives darsana.

Then the Lord finally appeared in this age of Kali as Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki Jai!! and continued to give benediction. So, Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He got the benediction from his spiritual master as he went to Gaya and he was given this “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”. namo maha vandanyaya…maha vandanyaya, not only vadanya- magnanimous, or benedictor not an ordinary kind, but not only that mahavandanyaya very kind,

namo maha-vadanyaya
krishna-prema-pradaya te
krishnaya krsna-caitanya-
namne gaura-tvishe namah,

He is going to give prema-prada, giver of prema. Krsnaya Krsna Caitanya namne, now His name has become Krsna Caitanya, Krsna has become Krsna Caitanya and gaura-tvishe namah and his complexion is no more Shyam, ganashyam but Gaura sundar. Antah Krsna inside Krsna, bahir, outward, gaura, inside shyam complexion, but outwards he is guara,- Radharani outside and Krsna inside, “Radha bhava duti sa Lalitam naume Krsna swarupam”, that’s Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This is His lila. He is setting an example, i.e. “tasmat gurm prapadhyata”. You must have spiritual master so the Lord is accepting a spiritual master. When He descended He had brought the gift of the holy name “goloka eva premadhana harinam sankirtana” or even before he appeared on Gaura Purnima day. He appeared in the evening. But during the day, His chanting was already on. He started the benediction, benedicting the whole. He was little baby and He also started getting the ladies to chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna. One day He was crying and then Saci mata started “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna “ and the child stopped crying and enjoying the hearing and chanting and throwing the hands and legs, ecstatic, news spread around and ladies were very curious. Really this happens? When he cried and then the chanting starts and he stops crying? When he was not crying they tried pinching him to get him to cry and then they start chanting and then it worked, when they chanted, ah it worked! It’s working. He stopped crying!

What would the child do when he eventually grows big can be seen or observed when he is in the cradle. There is some symptom from which you could predict. This is what He would want to do when He grew older- chant and dance and benedict the world. So, he received the mantra and as Mahaprabhu returned from Gaya to Navadvip he was already chanting and dancing and by the time he reached Navadvip he was no more Nimai Pandit. He was a Pandit, scholarly, very grave you know as pandits are. He was a different person altogether. Everyone was wondering, what’s wrong with this Pandit and he is not Nimai Pandit any more chanting and dancing, gone mad.

Mahaprabhu in fact goes back to the spiritual master. He has another meeting with him. He enquires from him, “kiba mantra dila, gosani, kiba tara bala japite japite mantra karila pagala”,(CC-Adi:7.81) What kind of mantra have you given? Oh, Guru Maharaja. Japite japite karila pagal. Pagala, Pagala baba in one temple in Vrndavana, mad baba. What kind of mantra is this? It has so much power. This mantra has taken charge of me, and making me chant and dance and this happens and that happens to me. I cannot even stand. I fall and crawl and roll. Do your chanting and this is the result of pure chanting? Mahaprabhu’s chanting was pure chanting, offense less chanting.

Then the chanting started in the courtyard of Srivas Thakur. Kirtana started in Srivas Angan. Where did it start? Don’t say angam, it is angan, There is some pronunciation difference and angan means courtyard. Not Angam, means part of the body. Lots of devotees end up saying Srivas angam not angan. Srivas Angan, Angan. (Maharaja makes devotees repeat) Good, you passed the test.

So those nocturnal kirtanas, only pure devotees were allowed in. There is screening at the entrance and as soon as they enter some tinge of karma, jnana and siddhi. Immediately those things will beep, beep and be beeping out. So Mahaprabhu in the association of the purest of the pure devotees, the core group, was chanting and dancing. So, it was limited to Srivas angan and it was limited to the pure devotees only. But Advaita Acarya was not very happy with that program. Kirtana was nice, but it was indoors and not accessible to one and all. So Advaita Acarya approached Mahaprabhu and made a humble appeal, “ Lord please come out with this kirtana. I am the one, I prayed and you responded to my prayer and you are here. I was seeing the fallen condition of this world. I saw dharmasya glanir bhavati decline in religious principles. Then I wanted you to come and do dharma samasta apartaya, to establish the principle of religion once again, but you are not doing that. You are just… I didn’t ask you to come and dance in the midst of pure devotees. Impure, contaminated and fallen souls also should be benefitted.” Then Mahaprabhu heard that prayer and then kirtanas were happening all over Navadvip mandal. “… jage kelo nagara braje”. Early in the morning when the sun is rising in the east Mahaprabhu will gather so many, many devotees and non-devotees and He will begin his chanting and dancing.

Tatayi tatayi Hatayi hatayi …gana gana…(instruments are being played) preme…, Mahaprabhu with his raised arms and he has the bells tied around his ankles. Preme dola dola sonar anga- now it’s His anga form, golden form, swaying. Could go wild also, going round, going high, up and down all things would happen as He performed kirtana. Bhakti Vinod Thakur is saying note “carane nupura bhaje” yes, ankle bells. All the instruments are playing so wonderfully, tactfully, expertly, and these instruments allow the tinkling of the bells could also be heard. Those instruments are not even drowning the sound of the tinkling of the bells around the ankles of Gauranga. Must be really good drummers and mrdanga players otherwise we should hear, only hear mrdanga, not Hare Krsna Hare Krsna, what to speak of other instruments.

So, Mahaprabhu takes sannyasa because he wants dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge – to establish dharma in the age of Kali. So the Lord is going to take sannyasa and travel all over. He goes to Katwa and takes sannyasa – free, no more bonds, no strings attached and He is free to fly and move. He wanted to go to Vrndavana, but then He was tricked and brought to Shantipur. There were more kirtanas there. I just wanted to remember Mahaprabhu’s kirtana pastimes in different locations. Which different places did He chant and dance, going over the pastimes. It’s also our kirtana mela time here and it would be to inspire us to do kirtana, keep doing kirtana. And what is making us chant and dance? Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the cause of all that we are doing now.

Because Mahaprabhu chanted, we are chanting or He is making us chant. That’s his kindness. And because he danced, one of the dances of Mahaprabhu, even one of the kind of kirtana is called uddanda, uddanda kirtana. A kind of normal kirtana, everyday affair, but sometimes there was uddanda kirtana. Uddanda1 He would really be mad, and His ecstasy would become so very intense and He would really fly high in the sky. That was also happening at Shantipur and once He is up in the sky, He would drop, coming crashing down and hitting the ground. Sacimata was watching those kirtanas. That kind of uddanda kirtana, landing on the ground kind of kirtana. She was praying to mother Earth, “Dear Earth, please, please make sure my Nimai…. Although He was Sri Krsna Caitanya may be for the world He was Sri Krsna Caitanya, but for the mother, Saci He was her Nimai …. doesn’t get hurt. Mother Saci is praying to mother Earth, Please, could you kindly oblige.”

Then Mahaprabhu as per His mother’s desire heads to Jagannath Puri and temporarily forgets Vrndavana. That was his destination, but HIs mother wants Puri. So, Mahaprabhu arrives there and Mahaprabhu is always moving, whatever description that we get to read about Him, He is moving from place to place. There is no talk of His walking to any place. He never walked. He only danced. Every step is a dance and every word is a song. So, he is singing a song, Hare Krsna song. As soon as he sings the song, in kirtana, others are also singing. Those three brothers, Govinda Gosh, they were singing. Swarup Damodar is singing and Mahaprabhu listens. As soon as he listens, Krsna makes an appearance. As difficult as it is to say because He is Krsna, but Krsna makes His appearance. He becomes Krishna Conscious and all these symptoms are visible and in His personality.

nache kande gai, Krishna das Kaviraj Goswami says Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also nache- dancing, kande-crying and gai singing. These were the three things he was predominantly doing. Nache kande gai. As soon as the kirtana begins, He begins dancing. He is excited. In Jagannath Puri, kirtanas continue there and Sarva Bhauma Bhattacharya has been liberated. Mahaprabhu wants to begin his extensive travels. “Radha rabhave Gaura avatar. “Hare Krishna nama Gaura karila prachar”. He is in Radha Bhav. He has appeared in Radha Bhav to experience Radha’s emotions. He assumed Radha’s emotions and with that mood and mission Mahaprabhu leaves Jagannatha Puri and his Madhya lila pastimes, next 6 years from now he will come back and leave twice.

So, the South India tour begins and then He comes back and goes on an East India, Bengal and Bangladesh tour. Then he goes back. , He goes to North India on tour to Vrindavan through Jarkand forest.

On the South India tour he is chanting and continues. We always see Mahaprabhu, as soon as we say Mahaprabhu, Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu there is one image which always comes into our mind and what’s that image? Krsna’s image as soon as we see Krsna’s flute playing. With Ram it is immediately the bow and arrow. There are so many pastimes, so many other forms and darsanas, but then it is always bow and arrow Sri Ram. As soon as we say and remember Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu we immediately remember which form? (audience answer inaudible) Haribol! Haribol!!!

It means he is ready with the kirtana, braje rasa lila navadvipe sankirtana. Kirtana mela…braje rasa lila means flute playing. The flute appears as mrdanga. I heard or read that the flute from Krsna‘s pastimes appears as a mrdanga in Gauranga’s Sankirtana pastimes. So Mahaprabhu goes to South Inida and his chanting and dancing continues. He also chants Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna hey. Hey means addressing, Hey Krsna. Krsna Keshava Krsna keshava Rama Ragahava Rama ragava rama ragahava rakshamam. This is also Mahaprabhu’s chanting, “Hariharaye nama Krsna yadavaya namah gopal govinda ram srimadhu sudan”. Different chants are there. These are some of the famous ones.

Hare Krishna mahamantra and Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna hey, hariharaya are some of the mostly chanted mantras or names by Mahaprabhu and his associates. So even as Mahaprabhu is going from village to village and to the in between villages of course he is also doing padayatra. We could say or do little promotion of padayatra here Mahaprabhu is doing padayatra as a walking festival.

Taking all the trouble to connect with the souls to deliver his mercy benedicting the whole world. He is going on foot and practically knocking on the doors, “I’m here I’m here! jiv jago, jiv jago, gauracanda bole” is here wake up wake up. “kota nidra jao maya-pisacira kole”, so as he is going, he is not only chanting. stana asthana nahi vicar, “patrapatra-vicara nahi, nahi sthanasthana”, chanting the holy name anywhere and everywhere. So this is the right place, sthana or asthana this not the good place. He is not even considering that. Sthana Asthana nahi vicar. This is not the consideration. Patra, this party deserves to hear. These are not deserving candidates. There is no such discrimination. Anywhere everywhere and to anybody, everybody jare dako jare dhako tare kaho, so as he is going the people, the travelers, passersby, they were immediately, instantly attracted to Mahaprabhu.

Even before they hear His chanting, His beauty is the killer, all that demoniac nature is finished just by seeing Him. You are gone. Ajanu lambita bhujo. He was out of this world, not from this world. He was in this world, but not from this world, and of course He is not that He is the another person. The Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared with all His beauty and His 6 opulences. Those who looked at him, His one glance was enough, to arouse all the ecstatic feelings. They have become suddha bhakta, a pure devotee. Just look at him. He has become a pure devotee. Just one darsana, one glance at him and of course this must be the causeless mercy of Gauranga Mahaprabhu.

This is His arrangement. We are taking darsana, but he gives darsana, then you take darsana, right? But I am going for darsana! I’m going for darsana! Fine, you are going to go and take. If He gives, then you take, right? So, everyone gets a different degree or amount of darsana. Everyone doesn’t get the same darsana. Partial darsana “ye yatha mam prapadyante”, Lord is also doing calculation, normally he does this, “tams tathaiva bhajamy aham”. But here Gauranga Mahaprabhu looks at him, and He gives Himself fully, “Take Me! Have Me. I’m yours!” and He appears in their hearts.

Hryadaya kantare suratuva saci nandana. When would that day be mine? When would that day be mine? When would that day be mine? But Mahaprabhu, as he was travelling He was giving His darsana, and immediately they would want to go with Him. They would forget where their town is or what was their earlier destination. By seeing Mahaprabhu, and then hearing, chanting with him, just momentarily, they have just become His. Mahaprabhu would perceive Himself like a big magnet and all these iron particles being dragged behind. But no, no, no he would embrace them off, “ Please proceed on your way, I will go this way.” And then he will come to that day’s final destination. It is 9 ‘o’ clock . What happened? Gauranga!

We are not even half way through what I have. We need Brahmas night here. For evening programs so many people would come – there was no promotion, no advertisement, no billboards, no hand bills, Mahaprabhu will go to some village and that evening people would come from so many surrounding villages to that program. He is there surrounded by hundreds and thousands of people, because He is very tall like our Pancatattva Gauranga’s height. That’s the life size, actual size. He could be bigger or smaller also.

So all around Him, He would stand out, everyone is only up to his vest or shoulders and He would stand out and everyone could see Him and then he would raise his arms, ajanu lambita bhunjau …and then He would jump so everyone would see Mahaprabhu and He would inspire them to chant and dance and raise their arms. “You please chant also, Haribol, Haribol! Haribol!”

So He was like the puppeteer and all others were puppets. He is picking them and dropping them and all the others were jumping, dancing and by the end of one program they all have become pure devotees. (audience clap). They have become enriched, as their hearts become filled with premadan which is “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”. So Mahaprabhu returns to Jagannatha Puri and the kind of kirtanas He would perform in Jagannatha Puri especially during Ratha-yatra time. Jagannath is in chariot He is Krsna and Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Radharani. His time has come. The private personal reason why He appeared, radha bhav and there is a dealing going on between Krsna and Radha and the kind of words he utters only Radha and Krsna knows. Except one more person found out also and he is Rupa Goswami and he wrote, Sri Krsna manobistam, able to access to the mind of Gauranga.

Those kirtanas during the Ratha-yatra were extraordinary kirtanas, a very special Ratha yatra mood. Then Caitanya Mahaprabhu ended up going to Vrndavana now. In Jarkand forest that kirtana was with all animals, tigers and deers and everyone around was chanting and dancing. The whole forest was transformed and it was no more Jarkand forest. Mahaprabhu saw a deer and tiger next to each other walking, rubbing shoulders and the next scene he saw was them embracing each other. Then they were kissing each other. Mahaprabhu says, “Hey this is Vrndavana! This is Vrndavana” Vrndavana dham ki, Jai! “I was on the way to Vrndavana, but this is Vrndavana”. The consciousness, no enmity, no envy. It’s like that. See the power of holy name. Only the Lord could do such a thing, He is also the personality of Godhead. He could even transform lower creatures into pure devotees.

Then Mahaprabhu ended up in Vrndavana and in Vrndavana Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami says, “on the way to Vrndavana his ecstasy grew hundred times, normal ecstasy became hundred fold or greater on the way. When he reached Mathura, it was one thousand times greater, and as he enters the forest of Vrndavana, it was one hundred thousand times greater, height and depth and vastness of that ecstasy.” So that’s how ecstatic the Lord was as He toured Vrndavana. On the way, he was greeted in Vrndavana “Our Shyamsundar is here!” Gaurasundar was there, but they all thought it is our Shyam sundar. The cows were coming, surrounding and liking his body expressing their vatsalya. The birds were there also pacamgay the 5th high pitched note. They were singing. Peacocks were dancing. Mahaprabhu was embracing the trees. The next tree will say, “Me too” and He had to run to that tree and embrace it. Like that He was passing tree after tree. Those trees were showering their flowers upon Gaurasundar. They didn’t have to buy flowers for pushpa abhishek. But pushpa were not coming from Singapore or Hawaii. They were right there – shaking and trembling in ecstasy and their fruits were being offered.

Mahaprabhu sees a peacock. He sees the neck of the peacock and the complexion resembles the complexion of Krsna. He collapses and starts rolling on the ground and the two Prabhus had a difficult time catching up with him. Finally they managed.

Mahaprabhu is circumambulating Govardhan hill, and with His tears hHe was doing the Abhishek for Giriraj. Many a times those who go on Govardhan Parikrama carry a pot with a hole, but they sit in the car with that so that it would last longer (laughter) one kilometre per liter.

Mahaprabhu was shedding His tears all around and bathing Govardhan hill and He was also chanting. One time while sitting on the banks of Yamuna and chanting, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” His complexion changed. He was no more Gaurasundar. He was Shyamsundar. He became so much Krishna Conscious, that his real color manifested.

Then Mahaprabhu was on the way back, at Prayag he did also kirtanas. The waters were low, but it was described that Mahaprabhu flooded the Ganga with all his kirtanas. Varanasi also had special kirtanas and all Varanasi vasis became mad and there was a big crowd running after him and He finally returned. That’s where he remained and spent 18 years in ecstasy as he chanted and heightened. Swarup Damodar was singing and as he sings louder, Mahaprabhu will jump higher. Uddanda kirtana.

So, may that Gauranga, benedict all of us, the whole world that is our prayer. Prahlad Maharaja is praying to Nrsimha, “Please, I know my father offended You, but please excuse him, and give him a benediction.” So, likewise we could pray to Gauranga Mahaprabhu, even if you don’t pray, that’s His mission, causeless mercy. He is known for His causeless mercy. We could still pray. Pray for ourselves and pray for our family members, forefathers and people of the world so that Mahaprabhu’s benediction in the form of the holy name, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” reaches far and wide.

Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki, Jai. Gauranga! Gauranga!