Oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai Srī-Gurave namaḥ
Srī-Caitanya-mano-‘bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale
Svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam
Vande ‘ham Sri-Guroh Sri-yuta-pada-kamalam Sri-Gurun Vaisnavams’ ca
Sri-Rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-Raghunathanvitam tam sa Jivam
sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam Krsna-Caitanya-Devam
Sri-Radha-Krsna-padan saha-gana-Lalita-Sri-Visakhanvitams’ ca
Nama Om Visnu-padaya Krsna-presthaya bhu-tale Srimate Bhaktivedanta-Svamin iti namine
Namas te Sarasvate Deve Gaura-vani-pracarine nirvisesa -sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
Hey Krishna Karuna Sindhu dina bandhu Jagat Pathe, Gopesha Gopikakanta Radha Kanta namostute, Tapta Kanchan Gaurangi Radhe Vrindavaneshwari, Vrishabhanu Sute Devi Prana mami Hari Priye
Vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha kripa-sindhubhya eva cha patitanam pavanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo namaha
Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Adwaita Gadadhara Srivasadi Gaur Bhakta vrinda
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare
Namo Maha Vadanyaya Krishna Prema Pradaya Te Krishnaya Krishna Chaitanya Namine
Gaura Tvishe Namah
Hare Krishna!
We welcome Her Grace Lakshmi Muni Devi.
Today, Gaura Purnima, historically there is a special significance to Gaur Purnima this year for the history of our Gaudiya Sampradaya and the history of the good fortune of the World. It’s the 50 th anniversary. Does everyone know what it is the 50 th anniversary of? It is when Srila Prabhupada completed the ‘Teachings of Lord Chaitanya’! Haribol! On Gaura Purnima 1968. I’d like to just read the first paragraph and last paragraph of Srila Prabhupada’s preface. As you can see, its 50 years old, but the message is eternal. The first page reads-‘Teachings of Lord Chaitanya’ a treatise on factual Spiritual life by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami, Acharya, International Society for Krishna Consciousness. This is before Srila Prabhupada was being called upon by the name of Prabhupada, and the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness at that time, the world headquarters, was 61, 2nd Avenue, New York City, New York. The publishers give their obeisance to Prabhupada with his first Pranam Mantra because the second Pranam Mantra wasn’t yet being utilised. Srila Prabhupada dedicates to the sacred service of Srila Sachidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura who initiated the teachings of Lord Chaitanya in the western world, Mc Gill University, Canada, in 1896, Srila Prabhupada writes, ‘the year of my birth’, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami.
The Preface, an interesting, the same Preface that was written 50 years ago today was also the Preface for Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita which was written many years later. ‘There is no difference between the teachings of Lord Chaitanya presented here and the Teachings of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. The Teaching of Lord Chaitanya is a practical demonstration of the Teaching of Lord Krishna. In the Bhagavad Gita, the last word of the Lord is that everyone should surrender unto Him Lord Krishna and that He would take immediate charge of such a surrendered soul. The Lord, The Supreme Personality of Godhead is already in charge of the maintenance of this creation by His plenary expansion as Kshirodakashayi Vishnu but such maintenance by the Lord is not specific and therefore the Lord takes charge, it means that He takes particular charge of a pure devotee. A pure devotee is a soul ever surrendered to the Lord like a child to his parents or an animal to its master. This surrendering process is manifested in six different stages namely (1) to accept things favourable for discharging devotional service (2) to reject things unfavourable for discharging devotional service (3) to believe firmly that the Lord will protect His devotee always (4) to feel exclusively dependent on the mercy of the Lord (5) to have no separate interest besides the interest of the Lord and (6) always to feel oneself meek and humble.’
At the conclusion of the Preface Srila Prabhupada writes –‘One has to suffer or enjoy the fruits of one’s activities and nobody can check the laws of material nature which govern such things so long as one is engaged in such activities one is sure to be baffled in attempting to achieve the ultimate goal of life. I hope therefore most sincerely that by understanding the teachings of Lord Chaitanya, human society will have a new light of Spiritual life, opening the field of activities of the pure soul. Om Tat Sat. AC Bhaktivedanta Swami, 14th March 1968, the birthday of Lord Chaitanya, Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple, New York, New York.’ I am not exactly releasing this book, but this book, but this book will release us, from repeated cycle of birth and death.
The first temple I ever lived in or visited in ISKCON, it was in Amsterdam because in India I never saw any ISKCON Temple. In Vrindavan they hadn’t even started the construction of Krishna Balaram when I had to leave and in Mumbai they hadn’t yet started the construction of Radha Rasbihari Temple. But the Temple I went to, there was maybe eleven or twelve devotees and the President of the temple, who just after I left actually became a Sanyasi, he was a Brahmachari then, his name was Akhoya Das Prabhu. There was no Srimad Bhagavatam class in those days. Every morning, for the morning class soon after Mangal Arati there would be a one hour reading from the ‘Teachings of Lord Chaitanya’. No Explanations or lectures, just reading. It was where Srila Prabhupada explained the most essential teachings of ‘Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita’. He describes…first he begins with…from a book of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, ‘Sri Chaitanya His Life and Precepts’, he gives a summary of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s life. Then he explains Lord Chaitanya’s teachings to Rupa Goswami in Prayag, His teachings to Srila Sanatan Goswami in Varanasi, His teachings to Prakashananda Saraswati again in Varanasi, His teachings to Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya in Jagannath Puri and concludes with teachings to…of the conversation between Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Ramananda Raya in Kovvur on the banks of Godavari, Rajahmundry or in those days Vijaynagara.
Srila Prabhupada, as we have just read from his own, from his own writing, the introduction of Bhaktivinoda Thakura along with the book its contained in, happened to arrive in America, North America, Canada. The first time Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s teachings in its true Paramapara had reached the shores of the western world. As Lord Chaitanya’s message took birth in the west, same year Srila Prabhupada took birth in Calcutta. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a great lover of Navadwip Dham, as was all of our Acharyas. It’s interesting; in the early 1970s Srila Prabhupada had about fifty temples. He had a beautiful temple in Los Angeles, a little later, at a skyscraper in New York City. Why did Srila Prabhupada choose to make his World Head-quarters in a desolate rice paddy in West Bengal? There was no good road to get there. Except for Bengalis hardly anyone in the planet ever heard of the place, Mayapur. There was some nice little ‘Gaudiya Maths’ but mostly it was the Muslim population. It was quite dangerous, isolated. It was around that time when Srila Prabhupada was in Gainesville Florida, he began a lecture by saying, “I have come to this, to this small part of the world and I am so far from Sri…which is such a great distance from Sri Navadwip Dham, Mayapur, the birth place of Lord Chaitanya” because he considered it the centre of the Universe, Spiritually.
Srila Prabhupada very much bewildered devotees when he came to that little rice paddy. During the monsoons the Ganga would flood and cover everything in her river at times. There was no money. They built a little straw hut that Srila Prabhupada would live in. He had little deities that he brought, ‘Sri Radha Madhav’. Especially during the monsoons, devotees had to sleep on the roof top of that straw hut and, most were western people; and so many snakes and cobras would be swimming around in the Ganga. It was a culture shock and those devotees were thinking, what can happen here, but Srila Prabhupada was explaining, this will be our World Head quarters and he talked about this Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, he gave a basic design for it, one of the largest temples in all of Asia and he talked about tens and thousands of devotees from every part of the world living here and just the few people who were living there, they were struggling with malaria and typhoid and dysentery, just trying to get some rice to offer the Deities and eat. But Srila Prabhupada’s faith, in the words of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Long before when Thakura Bhaktivinoda was living just across the river, he had a vision, a vision of a glorious Temple where devotees, Vaishnavas from America, from Europe, from Russia, from India from all over the world as brothers and sisters will be dancing together, chanting the Holy Names of Krishna-
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare
And a few years later Srila Prabhupada invited devotees to the first Mayapur Gaur Purnima festival and Lakshmi Muni Devi, do you remember how many people came at that time? It wasn’t very many, maybe a hundred or less, probably less than a hundred and that was a huge crowd. There was no place for them, they were sleeping on construction sites, slabs and mosquitoes were very happy. And they were having Kirtans and devotees were cooking in the fields, Srila Prabhupada was lecturing, and even then nobody could understand what could possibly happen here. It was so much trouble to get there, from Calcutta you took a train to the Howrah station, and in those days Howrah station was really crowded, still really crowded but now there is so many other types of transportation. In those days that was all there was practically. Somehow you get through there and take a train to Krishna Nagar then take a boat to cross the river then walk for miles and miles to a rice paddy where there was a straw hut and a little construction site going on, that was the festival.
Devotees were blissful because we did not see through our eyes. Until our eyes are ‘premanjana-cchurita-Bhakti-vilocanena’, till our eyes are decorated with the salve of pure love, we just see the external appearance of things. Srila Prabhupada, he taught us, we must see through our ears. See through our faith in the words of Guru, Sadhu and Shastra; then we actually see as it is. Srila Prabhupada was so excited, “We got this land, it’s the heart of the Spiritual world, the holiest of all holy places, this is non-different than Vrindavan.” And when he was talking about with such excitement how Mayapur would manifest, devotees were equally excited, just on the basis of their faith on the impossible.
In fact when Srila Prabhupada decided to write ‘Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita’, this is the summary, ‘Teachings of Lord Chaitanya’ fifty years ago he completed, it’s a summary of teachings within ‘Chaitanya Charitamrita’. But as he was translating ‘Srimad Bhagavatam’ and he already completed ‘Isopanisad’ and ‘Bhagavad Gita As it is’, ‘Nectar of Devotion’, he simultaneously decided that I must give my students the ‘Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita’ so that they can present to the world and he worked, not worked, he just dedicated his compassion, his love in to that service. All devotees would sleep; he would be up translating and writing Purports. And there is the famous story when he completed, he told Rameshwara Maharaj that I want this complete in, was it two months? Two months. So many volumes. Then the BBT leaders they said, “Srila Prabhupada that is impossible. That’s like more than ten times what we have ever done”. Prabhupada said, “Impossible is a word in a fool’s dictionary.” Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He prophesized that in every town and village the names of Krishna will be chanted. Nityananda Prabhu, when He saw Lord Chaitanya in a little village near Puri getting thousands of people to participate in Kirtan, He had that same prediction that in every town and village throughout the world the Holy Names will be chanted.
When Srila Prabhupada came to America, why did he come to America? Because his Guru gave him the instruction in 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, “You are an intelligent young man; take the message of Lord Chaitanya to the western world, in English Language.” During Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura’s time, it was attempted. But after some time, there was nothing really sustained because it just seemed impossible. And there is that beautiful story when Prabhupada was, after he got that ticket on the Jaladuta from Sumati Morarji here in Mumbai, he took a train, I think it was the mail train which takes the postal letters. In those days, I remember taking that train; it took about forty-eight hours. He was probably in third class. From Calcutta he went to Mayapur to receive the blessings of his Guru Maharaj Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura at his Samadhi and receive the mercy of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda, to take Their message which was established in Mayapur Dham. He was going to take it from there to the west.
He stopped in Shantipur. The Pujari there at ‘Adwaita Bhawan’, the very place where Adwaita Prabhu and Haridas Thakura would pray and pray and do Kirtan and do Pujas to bring Krishna down to this World to establish the Sankirtan movement all over the world. Sri Adwaita Prabhu, he was the leader of all the Brahmans. He had a house on the bank of the Ganges. It was a small group of devotees, they would meet in Navadwip. They would have Kirtan and Hari Katha. Why was Sri Adwaita Prabhu in distress while simultaneously experiencing the highest pleasures of love of God? Because that’s the nature of pure love. One who has Krishna Prema in this world feels great distress to see anyone without that Prema, Para Dukha Dukhi. He made a vow, I will bring Krishna to this world because no one else can deliver the Prema of the residents of Vrindavan except Krishna, and who is Sri Adwaita Prabhu? He is simultaneously MahaVishnu and Sadashiva. MahaVishnu is the Supreme father of the entire cosmic manifestation. He is the Super soul of all of creation. His expansion Garbodakashayi Vishnu is the Super soul within each Universe and His expansion Kshirodakashayi Vishnu is the Super soul within the heart of every living being. Karanodakashayi MahaVishnu, simply by His will the whole cosmic manifestation and the Mahat Tattva is created. By His glance He pregnates all living beings. In the form of Adwaita He is everyone’s father. And Sadashiva is the original Shiva.
But Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He didn’t just give love for Krishna. At Prayag, Rupa Goswami prayed, “Namo Maha Vadanyaya Krishna Prema Pradaya Te Krishnaya Krishna Chaitanya Namine Gaura Tvishe Namah”. You are Krishna but you are even more munificent more merciful than Krishna. This is so interesting. How can Krishna be more merciful than Krishna? Because Krishna who is the original ‘Krishnastu Bhagawan Swayam’, the original source of all incarnations, the Brahmajyoti, the infinite limitless Brahman which the Gyan Yogis are birth after birth after birth trying to attain the liberation of entering into that Brahman. It is the halo of the effulgent body of Krishna. ‘Brahmano hi pratisthaham’ and the Paramatma who is situated in every living being’s heart is the plenary portion expansion of Krishna. ‘Govindam Adi Purusham Tam Aham Bhajami’ source of everything that exists and then the highest revelation as Ramananda Rai and Lord Chaitanya discussed, of love meets its culmination, its fullest perfection in Vrindavan, the Madhurya Dham.
When Krishna came to this World approximately five thousand years ago He performed His beautiful Vrindavan pastimes, the ‘Srimad Bhagavatam’ explains and the culmination is the Rasa Lila, the culmination of Rasa Lila is Krishna’s limitless love for Sri Radha and Sri Radha’s limitless love for Krishna. That love is the origin of all love. But as Sukadev Goswami explained ‘Srimad Bhagavatam’, and the beautiful Vrindavan pastimes, it’s an exclusive place for those who have completely surrendered to Krishna. In the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ Krishna begins with the basic teachings, “We are not this body Arjuna, why are you in so much confusion?” and it culminates in ‘Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja Aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami ma sucah’, “Abandon all varieties of Dharma, just surrender to Me.”
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna, ‘Radha-bhava-dyuti-subalitam naumi Krsna-svarupam’ who comes to taste the sweetness of Sri Radha’s love and to distribute the love of Vrindavan, Sri Radha’s love in Vrindavan , Her compassion to all living beings are revealed to the world in Lord Chaitanya. Lord Chaitanya who is Krishna comes in the form of a devotee to practically teach us by His example and the example of all His devotees how to surrender to Krishna and take, take even the most fallen souls of Kaliyuga and give them the opportunity to enter into the Spiritual realm of Vrindavan.
There is a place in Vrindavan called ‘Manasi Ganga’. There is another place, ‘Manasarovar’. When Sri Krishna left Sri Radharani and She was in separation, She wept tears of love in separation and those tears of Her ‘Viraha Bhava’ filled a lake that is called ‘Manasarovar’. Lord Shiva wanted to taste the sweetness of the Gopis’ love because he knew it is the highest of all states of Spiritual perfection so he approached Vrinda Devi. She said, “You cannot do so in a male body, go to ‘Manasarovar’ and take bathe with your deep longing to serve Krishna in this mood.” So Lord Shiva, ‘Mahadev’, he offered his prayers, he performed his Pujas, he chanted the Holy Names, he submerged himself in Manasarovar and Mahadev came out of the lake as ‘Gopeshwar Mahadev’. He had the body and the ‘bhava’ of a Gopi. So it’s this, we read in ‘Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat’ at a certain time, I believe it was around when Lord Chaitanya showed the Universal Form to Adwaita Prabhu. It describes that Sri Adwaita danced ecstatically in the mood of a Gopi. So I remember discussing with someone, how is Mahavishnu in the mood of a Gopi and how is Shiva in the mood of a Gopi? Because Adwaita Acharya was very much in the mood of Gopeshwar Mahadev and that’s what he wanted to give to the world. That love that only Radharani and Krishna could give.
He read from the ‘Gautamiya Tantra’ that anyone who worships Lord Krishna, Vishnu, with Ganga water and Tulasi leaves, Krishna will fulfil their wish. So Adwaita Acharya, on the banks of Ganga Mai, he was worshipping his Shaligrama Shila, offering Tulasi leaves, offering Ganga water, loudly crying, constantly fasting, chanting, in his prayers the Names of the Lord and his prayers reached the heart of Krishna. Simultaneously, Srila Haridas Thakura, he was from what was classified by conventional society in those days as an untouchable. We read in the history of Haridas Thakura, practically wherever he went he was persecuted, he was rejected, he was criticized, his life was in danger. People were trying to destroy him. The Muslims hated him because he was a Muslim and he is chanting Krishna’s names, in those days, they didn’t accept that. The Hindu Brahmins, many hated him because he is coming from untouchable caste and he is chanting Maha Mantra, the great Mantra and he is getting so many people to follow him. But when he came to Shantipur, Sri Adwaita Prabhu embraced him. The highest of the Brahmins, and a persecuted person from an untouchable social back ground; they loved each other, they respected each other as equals with the deepest love because they recognised their love for Krishna. They would chant together, they would have Hari Katha together; in fact Adwaita Acharya during the Shradha Patra he demonstrated to all the top most Brahmins of the area that the most worship able among everyone is Haridas Thakura. Haridas was in his cave and on the river banks chanting three hundred thousand names everyday praying for Krishna to appear.
So Srila Prabhupada went to that place, Shantipur, to receive the blessings of Sri Adwaita Prabhu. Lord Chaitanya brought Lord Chaitanya to the World. So many times Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “I have only come here because Adwaita Prabhu has called Me.” That is one of the reasons. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada instructed our Prabhupada, this was about thirty three, thirty three years before, to take Lord Chaitanya’s message to the west. So Srila Prabhupada was praying and praying. The Pujari saw him, he would see him years before as a grihasta coming and praying, just in the back of the temple and now after many years of being away, he saw him come, same person, now he is sixty nine years old, he’s a Sanyasi. And when Prabhupada took Charanamrita from him, he asked him, “Please bless me, I am coming to pray because my Guru has given me an impossible service, impossible.” No one had ever done it successfully.
Today, that little rice paddy, with the little straw hut that Prabhupada lived in and gave his vision, how many devotees live there now? There’s over two thousand devotees from all nationalities practically who are living there and the Temple of Vedic Planetarium, it’s almost complete. Haribol! We all still need to help out and we’ll all, we’ll all have that opportunity. It’s a miracle of love. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura saw it in a vision and Srila Prabhupada…and his son Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura gave the order that that vision be carried out. Srila Prabhupada, his compassion is our only qualification to receiving the Supreme mercy of Lord Chaitanya.
Bhativinoda Thakura in his ‘Navadwipa Dham Mahatmya’, gives some wonderful realizations, historical stories that lead to Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s advent. There Nityananda Prabhu is speaking to Jiva Goswami, revealing the highest truths of who Lord Chaitanya really is. It tells the story of Lord Brahma…I am just going to tell a few stories about very very, the greatest personalities of the Universe and how they were blessed by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
After Aghasura was delivered by Krishna, the Demi-Gods were stunned and even Brahma wanted to see how is this, but when he came there was little Krishna sitting on the bank of the Yamuna with His little cowherd friends, they were so small, they were still then taking care of calves, they weren’t big enough to take care of cows in the estimation of Nanda and the cowherd men. They were all sitting in circles around Krishna. They were sharing Prasad. One Gopa would take a bite out of a laddoo and say, “Krishna this is very good, try some” and Krishna would take it and bite into the bite mark of His friend and say, “yes this is very good” and then He would share it with another and they would all be …Krishna is Yagya Purusha, Brahmins are offering so many prayers and Vedic Mantras and ghee and other Holy substances to Vishnu and here Vishnu is eating the food coming out of these little cowherd boys’ mouths! So Brahma….he wanted to, what is this? He got bewildered. Sometimes great people get bewildered.
So as we know he took the calves away and then the Gopas went to look, they, they were feeling distress and Krishna went to look and Krishna stole the Gopas, I mean Brahma stole the Gopas and the calves. Krishna manifested Himself as every cowherd boy and every calf, so identical that, the mothers for one full year could not detect, and when Brahma came down again and saw everything was the same, he became even more bewildered. And then when each one the calves became Vishnu and the little boys became Vishnu and there were millions of them, he became even more bewildered. Then when everything disappeared and Krishna was in the exact same pose holding a little lump of yogurt and rice as He was a year before innocently looking where is My calves, where are My friends, then he was even more bewildered. And at that stage his ego was completely crushed. And he came down to that Little Boy, came down in a swan carrier and he surrendered, put his heads on the Little Boy’s Feet and offered beautiful prayers. And Bhativinoda Thakura is citing from Nityananda Prabhu’s teachings to Jiva Goswami how Haridas Thakura, he was thinking, this post of Brahma, being the supreme of the Demigods, he lives three hundred and eleven trillion years, no I am sorry, how much is it? And there is nobody superior to him in the whole Universe, Brahmaloka. He was thinking, “If I had any real intelligence, when Krishna appears, I should have been a cowherd boy or a calf or something, what is the use of being Brahma?” It was only when Brahma completely forsook his ego that he could actually see Vrindavan as it is, he saw every tree as a Kalpavriksha, he saw every grain of dust as Chintamani, he saw all the cows as Surabhis, he explains it in Brahma Samhita what his vision and realisation was after he surrendered. And he understood in Kaliyuga, after Krishna, He always appears as Lord Gauranga, “I don’t want to make this mistake when Lord Chaitanya comes.”
So he went to Navadwipa, because he knows, it’s revealed in the scriptures that in the age of Kali, once in a day of Brahma, Krishna comes as Lord Chaitanya in Navadwipa and there he was constantly chanting the Holy names of Lord Gauranga and praying and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to him. When Lord Brahma revealed to Lord Chaitanya how he didn’t want to make the mistake again, he wanted the lowliest position, the humblest position to serve Him. Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told Brahma that, “I will fulfil your wish. Just before I take birth as Lord Gauranga in this world, you will take birth as Haridas Thakura, in a family of Yavanas”. Such a humble position. Lord Brahma is so powerful and yet he assumes an identity where he is being blasphemed and persecuted and he just humbly accepts it. Lord Chaitanya told, “as Haridas Thakura you will worship Me and love Me by chanting three hundred thousand names of Krishna every day.” He revealed His beautiful form of Lord Gauranga to Brahma. Lord Chaitanya said, “hear from Me, these most secret teachings, taking the position of a devotee, I shall taste the nectar of Bhakti Ras, the mellow of loving devotional service to Krishna and I will inaugurate the most rare and glorious Sankirtan Movement. I will reveal to all My devotees including those of My previous incarnations, the nectarine mellows of Vrindavan, the love which Srimati Radharani possesses for Me Krishna is beyond even My comprehension, I will therefore appear with Her sentiments and complexion and taking Her position I will taste that happiness which She alone obtains by serving Me. From this day act as My disciple and in the form of Haridas Thakura serve Me eternally.” Because Lord Chaitanya revealed long before He appeared in this World, He appeared this confidential knowledge, that island is known as Antardwip.
One day in Satya Yuga, Lord Shiva was in a state that Parvati never saw him before. He was chanting the names of Gauranga. Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Thank you for waking each other up. As he was chanting the names of Gauranga, Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga!, he was dancing in ecstasy. One of the names of Shiva is Nataraj, he is very good dancer and Pravati has seen him dancing so many times but never like this. He was in so much an ecstatic mood, dancing and dancing and crying. Parvati asked him, “I have never seen you in such a state before. Who is this Gauranga?” And, Lord Shiva explains that to Parvati, “in the age of Kaliyuga, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna will appear with the sentiments and the love of Sri Radharani and you Parvati are an expansion of Sri Radharani. He will not only taste the sweetness of the highest ecstasies of love but He will distribute them even to the most fallen people of this world in this age of Kaliyuga”. And then he described the beauty of Lord Chaitanya, “His eyes will be like fully bloomed lotus petals, His face will be like a golden moon, His complexion will be molten gold, His arms will extend behind His…below His knees, His beautiful hair will circle His face and He will chant and dance with His devotees”.
So Parvati, she wanted to taste the sweetness of Lord Chaitanya’s love so she went to one of the islands of Navadwipa and there she sat and meditated on the beautiful form that was described to her by her husband, Mahadev and with great devotion she constantly chanted Lord Chaitanya’s names Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Very soon Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared to Parvati. In His beautiful Golden form of Navadwipa Chandra, He was dancing in ecstasy while chanting the names of Krishna with His associates. Parvati was in rapt Samadhi seeing the form of Lord Chaitanya. Lord Chaitanya asked, “Why, why have you come here?” and she said, “because You have appeared in this wonderful form, this most merciful, most munificent form of Lord Gauranga to give the highest blessings to all living beings to escape from this material existence forever and enter into your eternal abode of Vrindavan to participate in Your pastimes and You are taking, You will take so many people with You but I have this thankless task where I am the Goddess of material energy. It’s my duty to keep people bound within this world therefore I am in great distress”. Then she took the dust of Lord Chaitanya’s Lotus feet and put it in the part in the centre of her head where her hair was parted and that place is forever known as Simantadwip. Lord Chaitanya told Parvati that, “You are an expansion of Srimati Radharani, you are the source of all, as Sri Radharani you are source of all love and the very heart of the Spiritual World and in the Spiritual World you are also Yogamaya who is assisting the most intimate loving exchanges between the devotees and Me and the devotees and each other, and in the Holy land of Braj Bhumi, you appear as Purnamasi the Spiritual preceptor of all of Vrindavan making limitless arrangements for loving pastimes; and here in Navadwip you will be Brodamaya My Yogamaya potency assisting Me in My pastimes here. And you will be beside Kshetrapal Shiva” , Lord Shiva who appears in Navadwip as the guardian, just like Gopeshwar Mahadev is the guardian of the Rasa Lila, Kshetrapal Mahadev is the guardian of Sri Navadwip Dham in the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Thakura Bhaktivinoda tells a story in Godrumadwip about a king named Suvarnasen. This was long long ago and his palace was not far from the river Jalangi and the river Ganga. He had a magnificent palace. As a king, a very Dharmic king, it is tradition that when his eldest children come of age he turns over the kingdom to them and goes to a Holy place or to the forest to exclusively perform pure devotional service but somehow he was very attached. He had a royal throne, he had so much wealth, so much power and as he was getting older and older he couldn’t give it up. So one day Narada Muni appeared playing his Veena, chanting the Holy Names of Krishna, ‘Nārada Muni, bājāy vīṇā ‘Rādhikā-Ramaṇa’-Nāme’. Usually in dramas we always have Narada Muni saying ‘Narayana Narayana’ but according to Bhativinoda Thakura he also chants Radhika Ramana, the names of Krishna, the Lover of Sri Radha, Krishna who gives pleasure to Sri Radha.
So when Narada Muni appeared, Suvarnasen, he was very cultured, dharmic king, he got off his throne and gave Narada Muni a very nice sitting place and washed his feet and make beautiful offerings to him, and because he was humbling himself and he was receptive, Narada Muni instructed him, “Why are you so attached to these temporary material things?” ‘Dukhalayam’, I am paraphrasing, “Dukhalayam Ashashvatam”, that, “everything in this world is a source of misery because it’s temporary.” He said, “O King, yes now you have beautiful family and so much enjoyment but at any moment you are going to die and you can take nothing with you. All your relationships with all your loved ones is broken, it’s gone. All your wealth, your body, everything is gone. When the soul leaves the body everything of this physical world is lost. So an intelligent person sees that the real treasure of life is what’s valuable to the eternal soul. The soul is beyond birth, the soul is beyond death and the true treasure of the soul is its love for Krishna, its relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Trying for the soul to try to find happiness in this World is like trying, it’s like living in a vast limitless desert and trying to enjoy a single drop of water. There’s something there but it doesn’t satisfy us.”
Govinda Das, ‘kamala-dala-jala, jīvana ṭalamala, bhajahū Hari-pada nīti re’. It’s the nature of the World, for everyone. This physical body like a drop of water on a lotus leaf. Our relatives, our friends, our wealth, all of our enjoyments, whatever position we have, whatever recognitions we have, a drop of water on a lotus leaf, at any second it could disappear. ‘Padaṁ padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām’, there’s danger at every step. In fact in Mahabharata, Yudhishthira Maharaj, when he is asked by his father, Yamaraj, who is in a disguised form, “what is the most amazing thing?” Yudhishthira Maharaj gave the perfect answer, “the most amazing thing is that everybody knows that they’re gonna die and everyone sees that everyone else is gonna die and they even see people dying and they are reading, you know history is just a list of names.” Srila Prabhupada in one of his poems, he wrote like that. That we are working so hard in this world and we are becoming so attached to so many wordly relationships but all, all that there really is, in due course of time is just a long list of names and very soon everyone forgets those names. So what, ‘Durlabh Manav Janam Satsange’, what’s really valuable is the association of devotees. Narada Muni explained like this. Sometimes people, they are trying to better their enjoyment and, and minimise their pains in this world so they perform Karma-kanda, when they realise it’s no solution at all they may go to Gyan-kanda, try to get liberation from suffering, but even if they get liberation, even through the various Yogic processes of getting mystic Siddhis, freedom from birth and death, even then, the ‘Ananda’, the happiness, the love that we are seeking is not to be found.
But Narada Muni said, “But when you come in the association of pure devotees then Adosvadha, then your faith awakens. Your faith awakens in your true identity as an eternal servant of the Lord”, ‘Mamaivamso jiva-loke jiva-bhutah sanatanah’. Lord Chaitanya instructed Rupa Goswami that, “the science of devotional service is like a vast limitless ocean and here at Prayag I am going to just explain to you one little drop but that drop could completely inundate the entire Universe”. Then He tells that, “this, the jiva, the soul is a tiny fragmental part of Krishna”. ‘Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya-Kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’, our constitutional nature is we are eternally servants of Krishna but in that service, it’s not like service in this World. Our service is the way in which we express the ecstasy of our love for Krishna. And Krishna reciprocates by drowning us in the ocean of His love for us.
In the association of devotees, we learn the practice of Sadhana. Through that Sadhana, our heart becomes cleansed. As our heart becomes cleansed, our, our faith becomes very deep and unshakable and as we continue our devotional service, Narada Muni told, then we develop Ruchi, the higher taste of experiencing Krishna and from that higher taste, total attachment to Krishna, deep attachment, to serving Krishna, to pleasing Krishna, then Bhava, then that bud of love of Krishna appears in our heart. And through devotional service, that bud of love of Krishna blossoms into ‘Prema’ when we realise our eternal relationship with Sri Krishna in the Spiritual World. And this can be realised, this perfection, only through Bhakti. Narada Muni explained the nine processes of Bhakti; Shravana, Kirtana, Smaran, Vandana, Pada Sevana, Dasya re, Pujana Sakhi jana, Aatma nivedanam. It begins with hearing about Krishna through self realised souls and chanting the Holy Names of Krishna. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare. Narada Muni said, “The age of Kaliyuga is the most auspicious time because it is in this age that Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Gauranga will appear. Krishna coming, with the sweet mood of Sri Radha’s love to distribute that love to the World and you are so fortunate King that you are living here in Navadwip but you don’t know that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is, Lord Gauranga is going… He will soon be performing His pastimes right here. So now you”, he explained that, “you cannot attain perfection simply by renouncing the things of this world. Perfection comes when we utilise everything we have in the loving service of Krishna. This will be Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s message, to engage always in the spirit of the servant of the servant of the servant and always be chanting the Holy Names”.
After giving this message to Suvarnasen, Narada Muni, while describing the beautiful form of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, by describing the limitless nature of His mercy, Narada Muni became so intoxicated in ecstatic love for Lord Chaitanya. Playing his Veena, dancing and dancing and dancing he was continually chanting the names of Gaura Hari. Gaura Hari! Gaura Hari! Gaura Hari! Gaura Hari! Narada Muni was dancing throughout the palace Gaur Nitai! Gaur Haribol!, Gaur Haribol! Gaur Haribol!, Gaur Haribol!, Gaur Haribol!, Gaur Haribol! And so when he, Narada Muni revealed to Suvarnasen these inner truths and Suvarnasen became Budhimantakan, one of the intimate associates of Lord Chaitanya in Navadwip Dham.
Years later when Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada, he was with some of his disciples, they were walking from Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house to Narasinghapali in Godrumadwip and in those days, between, there was a very dense dangerous forest. In those days there were jackals howling, and Bengali tigers and so many other creatures, like snakes. It was a very deep forest; nobody would go in to that forest because it was just too dangerous and too dense. So Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura told some of his disciples “buy this land.” There’s so many other lands, but their Guru told them, buy this land. So they went to the Government people, who, because, it was at the office where you have to purchase land, try to get permission to get the land and the people there, the Government people, they said, “why do you? You don’t want to buy this land. There so many other lands in this area Navadwip. This land, there’s tigers, very very dense and thorny and there’s there’s jackals and snakes, you don’t wanna live there, nobody wants to live in that land.” The disciples, they thought the same way but they said, but our Guru wants us to buy this land. So they said, “go back and tell your Guru he doesn’t want to buy this land”. They said, “No our Guru wants to buy this land so we wanna buy this land”, they said, “Ok it’s yours”. So then Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura said now you go and clear the land. This is Parampara, the impossible…so, ‘Kaunteya pratijanihi na Me bhaktah pranasyati’, with faith in their Guru’s words they started clearing the land and as they were clearing, they found ancient ruins of the palace of Suvarnasen, and they understood this is one the holiest of the holy places of Navadwip. This is where Narada Muni revealed to Suvarnasen the highest truths and Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu appeared.
In that same Godrumadwip, Bhaktivinoda Thakura tells a story, one day, Krishna happened to see Nanda Maharaj and Upananda and Abhinanda and Sunanda, and Nandan and all the, they were all, they were all organising a very very elaborate Puja. And Krishna asked, “What is this for?” They said, “It is for Indra, our forefathers have done this every year, for so many generations at this time because Indra gives rain and we are dependent on rain because we are farmers and we protect cows”. Krishna said, “Indra will give rain according to your Karma, he just has to deliver the Karma, he is a Demigod. We are not dependent on Indra, we are nice people, we have good karma. We should worship the cows and Govardhan Hill because after all Govardhan Hill is giving nice such waters to the cows and such nice grasses to the cows and so pleasing, nourishing all of us”. So Nanda and all the cowherd men, they performed Govardhan Puja and everyone was so happy. They offered mountains of Bhoga and Govardhan ate it all and then gave it back.
At a certain time, Krishna wanted to reveal to the world the true identity of Giriraj and on top of the hill He manifested a gigantic form of Himself so that everyone will know that Govardhan is non-different than Krishna and little Krishna on one side offered His obeisances to the gigantic Krishna on top of the hill. Then according to Krishna’s instructions, they offered the food, the Bhoga and they distributed that to everybody, then they did Parikrama of Govardhan hill. Everyone was so happy, but Indra was furious. He sent the clouds of devastation to inundate Vrindavan and Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill with the smallest little finger of His left hand and held it for seven days and seven nights. Indra, his ego was crushed and grinded into the finest powder which even a, even a little baby could just go fuf and blow it away. So expert Krishna is in protecting. When Krishna says ‘Kaunteya pratijanihi na Me bhaktah pranasyati’ He protects His devotees, it’s not always the way we want to be protected. Krishna gives us what we need and after Indra realised that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is Parameshwara, “what did I? I tried to kill him? I tried to destroy all His cows, I tried to destroy all the Brijwasis, what did I do?” He stopped the rains, that’s the first thing he did. Krishna put Govardhan Hill back and then so many wonderful pastimes happened.
So, Indra went to his Guru Brihaspati, said, “What should I do?” Brihaspati said, “Indra, you are a fool. Such a false ego, you tried to destroy God and His whole abode and all of His loved, the most intimate loving devotees who descended from the Spiritual world and you tried to destroy them. Nothing I can do, you better, you should got to Brahma. He is the Guru of the Universe.” So Indra went to Brahma. Brahma said, “Indra, you are a fool. Nothing I can do. You’ve offended all the devotees, the Brijwasis, what to speak of the cows and the calves. You should go to Surabhi, the mother of the cows.” Bhaktivinoda Thakura tells that she descended from Goloka Vrindavan, this Surabhi. Because, ‘Namo Brahmannya Devaaya Go-Braahmanna Hitaaya Ca’. Krishna is very dear to the cows and the cows are very dear to Krishna. So, the king of heaven, Indra, who carries his mighty thunderbolt, he used his thunderbolt so many times to try to do something to Govardhan Hill, to get it to move or to fall and all the rains and all the thunderbolts, because Govardhan was feeling the tip of Krishna’s little finger underneath, he didn’t even notice any of the, any of the thunderbolts and massive storms of destruction that were happening on top of him. In fact because he was meditating on Krishna, he was in that higher taste of Krishna, the more Indra tried to destroy him, the more Govardhan was becoming effulgent. So Indra was humbled but he was desperate, how can I approach Krishna now after what I just did. So he approached Mother Cow, Surabhi. Surabhi said, “Come with me.”
Then there is a place in Govardhan Parikrama Surabhi Kunj, there Surabhi approached Krishna. Krishna knows everything, even though He pretends to be, not pretends but He is in the mood of a little boy. He happened to just go off alone where nobody else was there, cause He did’nt wanna, after completely crushing Indra’s false ego in front of all the Demigods, in front of all the sages, in front of all the Rishis, He did’nt wanna do any further because Indra was now surrendering. He didn’t want anybody else to see. So He was all alone and Surabhi, “O Govinda, Indra made some serious mistakes but he wants to be forgiven, please forgive him.” However great we are, we can only approach Krishna through the mercy of the devotees. ‘Yasya prsadad Bhagavat Prasado’ when Guru is pleased, Krishna is pleased. When the Guru is displeased, we can’t please Krishna.
In the beautiful Navadwip leela of Jagai and Madhai, Nityananda Prabhu is the original Guru. Jagai and Madhai, so many immoral activities they committed. And when Madhai, wanted to surrender to Lord Chaitanya, Lord Chaitanya told him, “you have to fall at the feet and surrender to Nityananda Prabhu. If He forgives you then you can be, then you could be delivered.” Nityananda Prabhu forgave, embraced him and presented him to Lord Chaitanya. So that’s the principle. It’s an eternal principle. Indra is the royal king of the heavenly worlds and Surabhi is just, Surabhi is a cow. I won’t say just a cow, she is a cow. She is millions of times more glorious than Indra. Indra is managing the entire universe, Surabhi is just eating grass and giving milk, that’s all, she doesn’t sit on a throne. She is not managing or organising universal affairs, having meetings with the Demigods, she is just eating grass, giving milk. She is a mother. Such a beautiful story!
The most powerful organiser, manager and worship able Demigod who has so much power and so much intelligence, so much influence and so many abilities, but he is humbling himself to the lotus hooves of a mother and because Surabhi is so dear to Krishna, Krishna forgave Indra. After Indra offered his prayers of surrender, Krishna revealed Himself so mercifully to Indra and they had that wonderful ‘Abhishekam’, where Surabhi offered her milk to Krishna and it became ‘Govinda Kunda’ and Indra, Airavat his elephant brought the Akash Ganga waters and all the Demigods and, and their consorts and the great sages and their consorts, they all came and performed this wonderful ceremony to worship Krishna as Govinda. Still, Indra told Surabhi that, “please help me; I really need your help. In the Kaliyuga when the Lord appears again, I don’t want to commit these types of offences again”. So Surabhi said, “Come with me”. And Indra and Surabhi came to Godrumadwipa in the Navadwipa Dham and there they performed Seva on the banks of the Jalangi and the Ganga River. And by the mercy of Surabhi, Lord Gauranga appeared before Indra and Surabhi and told that, “You remain… that you will participate in My leela when I appear in this age of Kali as Lord Gauranga”. He told Indra, “Now you go back to your abode.” But Surabhi never wanted to leave Navadwip and she is living there eternally under a banyan tree in Sri Godrumadwip, just close to where Bhativinoda Thakura was later to build his little house.
Should I tell one more story? Haribol! Srimad Bhagavatam class is now twelve’o clock in the afternoon so I guess we have time for one more story. When Ram and Sita were exiled from the forest, during Their travels, They came to Navadwipa, Bodadrumadwip, and it was there that Ram, He started to smile and Sita asked, “Why are you smiling?” He said, “because I, because in the age of Kali, I will appear as Lord Chaitanya, as Lord Gauranga, and I will give freely, what no one else has, no other incarnation has ever given, the ecstatic love of the Spiritual world and You will appear as Vishnupriya and Kaushalya My mother will appear as Sachidevi”, and He said, “My childhood pastimes will attract the world, then I will have great scholarly pastimes, then I will establish the Sankirtan movement and then to reach more and more people with the shower of Grace of the Sankirtan movement, I will take Sanyasa and I will leave My mother.” Bhativinoda Thakura said she was around seventy years old. “I will leave My mother to cry and You also as Vishnupriya.” And Sita did not like this story, She said, Sita said, “why do You want to do this to Your own Mother? And why do You want to do it to Me?” Then Lord Chaitanya explained one great secret that, “there’s two primary ways of intimate loving exchanges, ‘Sambhoga’ and ‘Vipralambha’. In Sambhog we experience the ecstasy of being in the association of our loved one. In Vipralambha we feel the ecstasy of the pains of separation from our loved one. In that Vipralambha, in that love and service in separation is the deepest connection of the ecstasy of love between the soul and God, between the Lord and His devotees and after a long period of Vipralambha, separation, when there is a meeting again together then the happiness is increased by hundreds and thousands of times.” So He was explaining to Sita, how He will never be separated from Sachi Mata, He will never be separated from Her. He said, “In fact, You Vishnupriya, after I leave home, You will worship a Deity of Me, a beautiful Golden form and worship Me with all Your heart.” This is the essence of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s coming to this world.
Just before class you sang this wonderful song by Locana Das Thakura ‘Parama karuṇa, pahū dui jana Nitāi Gauracandra saba avatāra-sāra śiromaṇi kevala ānanda-kanda’ Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda are Supremely kind, Karuna, the fullest most complete manifestation of compassion that this world has ever seen. When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in this World, all of the previous Incarnations appeared within Him and as Lord Chaitanya explained to Lord Brahma, that, “even the devotees of all My previous incarnations, when they come to join My pastimes as, in Gaur Gaur lila, they will all experience the Rasas, the loving exchanges of Vrindavan”. This is the gift of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Chaitanya taught us something very deep, to cultivate the feelings of separation, ‘Trinad api sunicena, taror eva sahishnuna, amanina manadena, kirtaniyah sada Harihi’. We should cultivate these spirit of feeling oneself humbler than a blade of grass, tolerant, forgiving like a tree, offer all respect to others, expect none in return.
In order to truly cultivate these feelings of separation from the Lord we must aspire and make the goal of our life to be a servant of the servant in this mood of humility and then we can chant the Holy Names of the Lord with deep feeling because deep feeling of chanting doesn’t come by our own efforts. It comes by Krishna’s Grace. Our efforts must be to live in such a way that Krishna will be pleased. To be as attentive as possible in our Sadhana. To live according to the character of a true Vaishnava. ‘Trinad api sunicena’, this verse is revealing to us what is the consciousness of an actual devotee. By following in the footsteps of the great souls, Lord Chaitanya taught Himself, and through His devotees how to cultivate the chanting of the Holy Names. The last twelve years of Lord Chaitanya’s leela, He spent in the Gambhira in Sripuri Dham where in the association of Sri Ramananda Rai, Swarup Damodar Goswami, He tasted the mood of Sri Radha’s love. Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami writes-that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna Himself, ‘Rādhā Kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād ekātmānāv’ the Absolute truth is one but to taste the sweetness of loving exchange that One becomes Two.
In this Holy book ‘The Teachings of Lord Chaitanya’, Srila Prabhupada, he asks this question that naturally somebody of this world when they hear this description that the Absolute Truth is one but to taste loving exchanges becomes two, the question is when? When did that happen? So you know, thousand years ago, a million years ago, a trillion years ago, a hundred quadrillion years ago, when did it happen? Then Srila Prabhupada explains, in the Spiritual World, time is conspicuous by its absence, there is no time. It’s Achintya, it’s inconceivable. Having faith in the inconceivable is where the connection between the soul and Krishna is established. Because Radha Rani is eternal, Krishna is eternal so where is the question of when? So if the Absolute Truth is One and becomes Two that becoming is not like becoming in this material world, its forever. And now Kaviraj Goswami tells that those Two have again become One. ‘Radha-bhava-dyuti-subalitam naumi Krsna-svarupam’. Krishna who has come with the complexion of Srimati Radharani and the Mahabhava, the ecstatic pure love and compassion of Srimati Radharani, desiring to understand the glory of Radharani’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness that She feels when She realises the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari appears with Her, Sri Radha’s emotions from the womb of Sachi Mata just like the moon emerges from the ocean.
Today is Gaur Purnima, the day that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appears within this world to bestow His mercy. Vrindavan Das Thakura tells that the holiest of all Holy days are Gaur Purnima and Nityananda Trayodashi because the maximum mercy are available on these two days. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when He instructed the residents of Navadwipa, through Haridas, Brahma and Nityananda Prabhu, Balaram, “Wherever you go whoever you meet give this simple message, worship Krishna, speak about Krishna, chant the Holy names of Krishna. Krishna is your Mother, Krishna is your Father, Krishna is your true wealth, Krishna is your very life and soul. Wherever you maybe, whatever you’re doing, whoever you are with, chant, remember, Krishna’s Holy Names”. ‘Param Vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtanam’, it’s the Supreme most benediction in this age of Kali.
On Gaur Purnima, let us try to emulate the wonderful example of the great devotees of the Lord. Let us try to emulate these wonderful teachings of Lord Chaitanya and with profound gratitude in the association of devotees, let us celebrate by chanting the Holy Names Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare!
It’s also the birthday of ‘The Teachings of Lord Chaitanya’. Lakshmi Muni Devi… Mataji what is your name? Varanasi Mataji, I know, I remember but I didn’t recognise, I am so grateful to see you, amazing, incredible! Narataki Devi and Lakshmi Muni Devi, and Varanasi Devi and Shyamsundar Prabhu is somewhere around too. Let us welcome them to Sri Radha Gopinath Temple by loudly chanting Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! My dear Godsisters and Godbrothers doesn’t the sight of this book awaken most intimate feelings of separation from Srila Prabhupada? For devotees in the late sixties, early seventies this ‘Teachings of Lord Chaitanya’ was, was one of the most important and most enthusiastically read of all Prabhupada’s books because there was only a couple others and Srila Prabhupada put his heart and soul into it. It’s a Deity, needs new dress though. Thank you very much!
