Nama Om Vishnu Paadaya, ….
Hari Haraaya Naam Krishna Yadavaya Naama Hari Gopal Govinda Rama Sri Madhusudhan
Mukham karoti…
So today we are going to read the pastimes of Lord Caitanya – all these things happened during the 21-hour ecstatic manifestation of Lord Caitanya, where He showed HIs devotees that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Apart from this, He would present Himself as a simple devotee. This is a very rare occasion. Because Advaita Gosain had prayed, cried, worshipped Tulasi and Shaligram shila, fasted, did many things to bring the Lord down. So the Lord was showing Advaita that He had come on His call! So that He would be satisfied that the Lord did come! But after that He would present Himself as a devotee, and before that as. There were only a few occasions when He revealed His actual identify.
Today I had the physical therapy. Then I went to the Raila Institute Hospital, saw the cardiologist and the hepatologist, and others, and they were happy, more or less, with the progress, and I should continue the same medicines, more or less! Ha! So after coming back I took some rest, and then in the evening I went cycling. After dinner I am trying to give a class, and try to take rest early. Hare Krishna!
So this is a Sanskrit poetry translated into Bengali and English. So in the beginning it says aha, oh, oh! Did not someone grind the sandalwood? Did not someone prepare uncountable betel nuts? Did not someone collect hundreds of flowers? And did not the whole earth become filled with festivals? Mahotsava! This was the ecstasy of the devotees – that was a feeling that everything was auspicious and the festival was wonderful! So the whole earth was blessed because the Supreme Personality of Godhead had come down to this earth from the spiritual world! Haribol! If there is any word that you have difficulty in understanding, please note it down. If you are here, give it to Ekarani dd and if you are on the internet add it in the comments. Ekarani is raising her hands, both her hands there! Someone else, he is raising his hand there -he is the imposter! Fake! He is not Ekarani, she is Ekarani!!
Someone brought fragrant sandalwood paste, which he then smeared on the lotus feet of the Lord. Someone else brought Tulasi flowers and worshipped His lotus feet with those. It says that they put gandham on the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. In Hari Bhakti Vilas describes gandha – it is a mixture of sandalwood paste, agaru and camphor. In the Garuda Purana it says that gandha is a mixture of 2 portions of musk, 4 portions of sandalwood, 3 portions of kum kuma and one portion of camphor. It is very dear to the Supreme Lord and all godly personalities. So all these ingredients were mixed and offered to the Lord, to His lotus feet. Haribol!
Someone offered ornaments to the Lord, which was made of gold, silver and gems. They offered to His lotus feet and offered obeisances. So the scripture is giving a detail, what type of puja they did.
Everyone there offered their respectful obeisances to His lotus feet and someone offered white, blue and yellow silk cloth at the Lord’s lotus feet. So they used either silk cloth or art silk.
Various kinds of metal containers were offered by so many devotees. No one could say, how many people came and offered and fell at His lotus feet! It is said that even the residents of the celestial planets came down, disguised as human beings, to participate in the worship of the Lord.!
The result of serving the vaishnavas is that, the lotus feet of the Lord – and that all living entitites beginning from Brahma, Lakshmi and Shiva desire to worship – They are now being worshipped by the servants and maid servants of the vaishnavas! So the devotees of the Lord, vaishnavas, one of their names is called akinchina – they don’t have any personal, material assets. They think that everything is the property of the Lord, they are just custodians. So if a vaishnava, by material estimation, has nothing, then what to speak of his servants and maid servants, they are even more poor! But since Vishnu is the protector and the blesser of the vaishnava devotees of the Lord, He is the vaishnava’s worshipable Lord, their treasure, their life and soul! So the servants and maid servants of the vaishnava obtained the eligibility to worship the all desirable treasure – the Lord! He is the all desirable treasure of all the devotees! So by serving Prabhupad, or serving the servant of Prabhupad, we can also get the eligibility to serve the Lord. So we don’t claim to be devotees, we are devotees of devotees! Even Lord Caitanya said, He is das anudas anudas! Hare Krishna!
Having obtained fearlessness, they offered dhurva grass, rice paddy, Tulasi and offered at the lotus feet of the Lord.
Some of them brought different kinds of fruits and offered at His lotus feet. Someone else brought sandalwood paste and mixed, that was mentioned before. Some brought flowers, some brought sandalwood paste alone, and they offered this at the lotus feet of the Lord.
So someone he worshipped the lotus feet of the Lord with 16 ingredients. While, someone was inspired to offer 6 ingredients. As each person was inspired to do, he offered that type of worship. The six types of worship, the ingredients are: water, seat, cloth, lamps, food grains and betel nuts. Six items for invoking auspicious – cow dung, cow urine, yogur, milk, ghee and gorochana – gorochana is something that comes from cow, and very sacred. Six ingredients of bhajan marga are: offering obeisances, offering prayers, offering the fruits of all activities, offering services, remembering the louts feet of the Lord and hearing the glories or topics of the Lord! Haribol! So the six items of puja, some varieties are explained here. Some offered 6 types, some offered 16 ingredients – as they felt, they offered, as they were inspired from their heart, they offered.
Caitanya Carita Mahakaavya:
Did not the people experience at that time, so much spiritual joy? Like tasting camphor, black pepper and sugar mixed with milk? Different types of flavors of joy, of spiritual happiness were being experienced. In this way, everyone was experiencing a continuous, unbroken, bliss! And this was extending everywhere. All devotees were floating in an ocean of spiritual, blissful, mellows.
So everyone with great joy, offered this musk, kum kuma, camphor and red powder at the lotus feet of the Lord. Gauuuuuuuuranga!
A kind of red powder that is thrown at Holi time was also offered to the Lord, to His lotus feet. How many more verses? 7
So we will stop here. Are there any questions?
Question: Dear gurudev, thank you (Guru maharaja said “thankyou!”) for the nectarean classes that you give everyday. Guru maharaj, could you please tell us what kind of pastimes does Lord Caitanya have in the spiritual world? Ratnavali devi dasi
Guru maharaj: Well, some of the pastimes that He is showing here, He shows there, but He has ananta lila, unlimited pastimes. Even Anantadev who has a thousand heads, and all are simultaneously glorifying the Lord, they cannot find an end to His good qualities and His pastimes. So what can I say? We are tasting a drop here of these pastimes. There, in the spiritual world, it is an ocean! Hare Krishna!
205 devotees online. Names of the devotees were read out by the repeater.
Someone is offering a rose! Thank you for that! Oh! Kapila Kairavachandrika! Oh Haribol! Thank you for that!
Someone is folding hands twice. Who is that? Gitoshree das!
Repeater read names of some of the online devotees.
Who put the dog? Manyari sakhi
What is that? Cat?!!
Ok let us go there (to meet the devotees there).
Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
14 February 2019