Pastimes of Lord Caitanya and His associates. Seminar 4
Divnomorsk
3 Octover 2003

We are continuing our discussion from dif-ferent sections of Caitanya Caritamrita and we will also continue with our discussion of dif-ferent associates of Lord Caitanya and today we will briefly discuss Haridas Thakur at the end. Yesterday we discussed Srivas Thakur.

In the Caitanya Caritamrita and the Caitanya Bhagavata you get many wonderful pastimes that the Lord performed with His devotees and of course the philosophy also. There was a devotee of the Lord called Raghava Pandit. Raghava Pandit was a very strict devotee of the Lord, very strict in fol-lowing rules and regulations. Once he saw that a devotee was offering coconuts to the Lord but he also saw that that devotee had touched his hand on the roof of the room. Just like at the entry here there is a gate and there is a roof of the gate. So he touched his hand on the roof of the gate. Raghava Pandit said, ‘You touched the roof and on the roof you get the dust from the feet of everyone who walks to this room and then you touched this to the coconut which has to be offered to the Lord. Thus this becomes dirty’. So he threw away these coconuts. The story is there to show that while we are doing Deity worship the offering we make for the Deities must be very clean and pure.

There was a devotee of Lord Caitanya called Vasudeva Datta. He was a householder and had a small, meager income. But he had a big, magnanimous heart in serving the Vaisnavas. He would spend whatever money he had, in the first ten days of the month he would exhaust it just serving the Vaisnavas. Lord Caitanya invited Raghava Pandit to be his financial manager so that he could have enough money to maintain his family for the whole month.

Vasudeva Datta was a very compassionate Vaisnava. What is one of the characteristics of a Vaisnava? Para-duhkha-duhki – seeing others’ distress he also becomes distressed. So one day Vasudeva Datta approached Caitanya Mahaprabhu and he told Him, ‘I want to ask You a favor but first guarantee me that you will give me this favor’. Lord Caitanya said, ‘Whatever you desire, all this happens because you are totally surrendered to the Lord. Okay, ask me what you want to ask me’. ‘I want the benediction that You may take all the conditioned souls back to Godhead and I may suffer the reactions due to all of them’.

Lord Caitanya was amazed to see the magnanimity of Vasudeva Datta. Vasudeva Datta is considered as an incarnation of Prahlada Maharaj. And because he was an incarnation of Prahlada Maharaj he manifested the same compassionate mood that Prahlada Maharaj manifested. By hearing about the wonderful characteristics of these Vaisnavas we also get inspired to develop these characteristics.

There was another devotee of Lord Caitanya called Mukunda. He was a physician, a doctor. Though a doctor in heart he was always thinking of Krishna. People always misunderstand what Krishna consciousness means. Krishna consciousness means you do your duty whatever but at the same time mentally think of Krishna. Lord Caitanya gave different devotees different instructions but He told Mukunda you have increase both material wealth and spiritual wealth. He was working as a physician of a very powerful king. Externally he went about doing his duties normally but internally he would always be thinking about the Lord.

One day the king was sitting on a high platform and it did not have a roof, it was open. It was a bright sunny day. The assistant of the king brought a peacock fan to protect the king from the sun. He came to the right and kept the peacock fan above the king’s head so the sun would not touch the head of the King. As soon as Mukunda saw the peacock fan he fell from the stage to a lower level. The King got down from his  throne and said, ‘What happened? What happened? Why did you fall down?’

Actually the king was very intelligent. He fell down because the moment he saw the peacock fan he got reminded of Krishna. Peacock fans are associated with Krishna. So the moment he saw the peacock fan he fell down and the King came down. The King thought he might got hurt. The King said, ‘Oh, how did you fall down? I hope you did not hurt yourself.’ He said, ‘Sir, nothing happened to me. I am suffering from this disease called epilepsy. So I got an epilepsy attack, that’s why I fell down’. Actually he was not suffering from epilepsy. He was fully absorbed in thinking of Krishna. And the moment he saw the peacock fan he got reminded of Krishna. That caused him to fall. He did not want to admit to the King. He was so absorbed in thinking of Krishna that the moment he saw the peacock fan he remembered Krishna and fell down. The point is not that we fall down when we think of Krishna but the point is a devotee like Mukunda is always thinking of Krishna and when he saw the peacock fan he got even more intensely attached to thinking of Krishna.

Just like Lord Caitanya. When He would hear the word ‘Vrindavan’ he would manifest all symptoms of ecstasy. Just the word ‘Vrindavan’ would remind Him of all Krishna’s pastimes. We know how Lord Caitanya, when He was passing through the forest of Jarikhanda, He made the tigers, the lions, the elephants all chant. When Lord Caitanya came to Vrindavan two parrots came and sat on His hand. The male parrot was singing the glories of Krishna and the female parrot was singing the glories of Radharani. Both the male and the female parrots went on describing the different transcendental qualities of Krishna and Radharani. This is very nicely described in the Caitanya Caritamrita.

Lord Caitanya was asked, ‘How do you recognize a Vaisnava?’ Lord Caitanya said, ‘One who is chanting of the holy names of the Lord, he is a Vaisnava’. We all know that chanting the holy name is the principle medium for spiritual advancement. Just like by technology you can make Winter into Summer, Summer into Winter, a bell-metal when it is mixed with Mercury, becomes iron. Similarly by the process of chanting Hare Krishna, even the grossest of sinners can get purified.

Chanting of the holy name is needed to eliminate our anarthas. What do we mean by anarthas? Anartha means that which is not necessary. Due to the presence of anarthas we are unable to experience the bliss of spiritual life. The scriptures say, and this is nicely explained by Thakur Bhaktivinode in Bhajana Rahasya, he analyzes four different categories of anarthas. There are four categories of anarthas which are as follows.

One is the defects of the heart. This is also known in Sanskrit as hridaya durbaulyam. You may say I have a very healthy heart. You may have a healthy heart but spiritually your heart is very weak. Under the category of defects of the heart the following factors are pointed out by Thakur Bhaktivinode. One is attachment to objects not related to Krishna. Obviously we have to deal to some degree with objects not related to Krishna. But Thakur Bhaktivinode does not say you cannot deal with these objects. He says attachment should not be there. Sometimes in our preaching, especially in India, we tell people, you have to give up tea, give up meat fish and eggs and so on. People sometimes say, ‘Yes, in principle I don’t eat meat but sometimes I do as a social custom. But I am not attached to it.’ If you are not attached, stop eating completely.

Attachment to objects not related to Krishna is a stumbling block. If we see we have these attachments with the help of guru, sadhu, sastras we should endeavor to eliminate them. Then another weakness is tendency to find faults. Propensity to cheat and find faults is very common in Kali-yuga, especially the tendency to cheat. Everyone is trying to cheat everyone. Bhaktisiddhantaji used to say, this is the world of the cheaters and the cheaters. People are happy to be cheated and people are happy to cheat. This propensity to cheat and find faults should be avoided. The tendency to find faults results in Vaisnava aparadhas. That should be avoided and yesterday we gave you a story of an envious brahmana tried to defame Srivas Thakur

Another anartha is envy. Envy is also a very strong anartha. We gave you the story another day how Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya who was a staunch impersonalist became a personalist devotee. Once when Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to Jagannatha Puri Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya told Him, ‘You and ten sannyasis please come eat to may house for thirty days, one full month’. Lord Caitanya said, ‘ I am a sannyasi. I cannot eat in your house for thirty days’. Then Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said, ‘Okay, twenty days’. Lord Caitanya said, ‘Twenty days is also too much’. Then he said, ‘Ten days!’ He said, ‘This is also too much’. Finally they agreed for five days. And the other sannyasis with Lord Caitanya they agreed to come for two days. Sannyasis are not supposed to get attached to comforts, facilities, very nice treatment etc. Of course in your country devotees are so respectful they go overboard to serve the sannyasis. We have to make sure we don’t get spoiled by it.

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s wife was great cook. She could cook in six hours what would take hundred cooks to cook. These days you have these microwave cookers that cook very fast. There are many studies that show that microwave cookers in a long run lead to cancer. Anyway they have studies for everything. They have studies even for the cell phones. There are studies that show that cell phones lead to brain cancer and there other studies done by the telephone companies that show the opposite. That’s material life.

Anyway, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s wife cooked within a short time big variety of foodstuff for Lord Caitanya. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya only had one daughter who was married to a man called Amogha who was very envious of Lord Caitanya. This Amogha could not believe that his father-in-law is accepting Lord Caitanya as God. One day Amogha had an opportunity to see the big variety of foodstuff that was being offered by his father-in-law and mother-in-law to Lord Caitanya. Amogha said, ‘Look a this sannyasi. Pretends to be renounced but is eating more then twelve people eat’.

Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was furious when he saw this. Because of his envious attitude towards Lord Caitanya his son-in-law was afflicted by severe diseases of cholera. Lord Caitanya then found out that Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya’s son-in-law was on his deathbed. Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was so dear to the Lord that the Lord knew that if something happens to his son-in-law it may disturb him. Lord Caitanya went to the bed where Amogha was lying. He said, ‘As long as there is envy and dirt in the heart Krishna is not going to recite over there. So give up this envy and chant Hare Krishna’. Amogha got up from his bed, offered respects to the feet of Lord Caitanya and started chanting and apologized for his envious attitude.

Even when we come to spiritual life the hangover of our old bad habits remains. We even retain the envious nature towards other devotees etc. Actually we should avoid envy. If someone has some abilities that we don’t have we should just take it as a mercy of the Lord. Nothing to feel bad. Just feel that the Lord has given him some abilities and has given you some other abilities. There are two types of envy: one is spiritual envy, another is material envy. Prabhupada used to give an example of spiritual envy being practiced among the gopis and Radharani. Amongst the gopis there is also spiritual envy but that is constructive, not destructive. For example when Lalita sees Visakha is doing so much service she says, ‘Oh, I should do more to attract Krishna’. And then Visakha, she sees Lalita increased her service, I should also increase my service.

Spiritual envy inspires us to increase our surrender to the Lord and material envy has a very damping affect on our consciousness. Thakur Bhaktivinode analyzes envy as one of the deffects of the heart. Another obstacle is desire for recognition, name, fame adoration, pratistha. I want to serve but I want along with that my fame to be broadcasted. I want a special garland and everyone clapping every morning when they read our my sankirtana scores. Of course, this pratistha, desire for recognition takes on various forms. That’s one category, defects of the heart.

The second category is called aparadha or offences. This is also divided into four subheadings or the four categories of offences that come under this broad category of aparadha. First is nama-aparadha, that is offences against the holy name. We are all aware of the ten offences against the holy name. A little late we will discuss the benefit of chanting while avoiding these the offences. The ten offences we should all endeavor to avoid. Chanting the holy name is beneficial in any condition but if we endeavor to avoid the ten offences then the benefits are greater.

Another category of offences is called seva-aparadha, aparadha in Deity worship and service. In Nectar of Devotion you get a listing of thirty-two offences in this category. For example it is considered offensive to talk in front of the Deities. In front of the Deities no one should be glorified but the Lord Himself. You should not sit with your back to the Deities… There are thirty-two offences in this category that are there in the Nectar of Devotion. That’s called seva-aparadha.

Then there is Vaisnava-aparadha. You hear about this every day, don’t you? I am sure you sure you hear about this every second or third day. We avoid Vaisnava-aparadha. Then there is jiva-aparadha, offences towards living entities. Society today has become so degraded, they have no hesitancy in even killing cows, the most sacred of all animals, by thousands. I am not just talking about the West. I am talking even about India today. You see killing of so many innocent cows. But a Vaisnava does not want to harm even an ant. That is why it is said, jiva-aparadha – no offences towards any living entity.

The hunter was purified by Narada Muni’s association. What was his name? Mrigari, the dreadful hunter. He was so purified, he would not even keep his feet on his ground till he made sure there was no living entity. We avoid jiva-aparadhas also.

Then the third category of anarthas is called desire of activities not related to Krishna. Asat-trisna. This again Thakur Bhaktivinode divides into four categories. One is desire for sense pleasure. That means attachment to activities of sense enjoyment. Then desire for sense enjoyment in the heavenly planets. In the heavenly planets the standard of sense enjoyment is much better then even in America or Europe.

Then another is desire for mystic powers. There are eight different types of mystic perfections that one can realize. Smaller then the smallest, bigger then the biggest. One of them is a siddhi called prapti-siddhi. You can sit in one place, stretch your hand anywhere and pick up anything from anywhere. Just like if you had prapti-siddhi sitting here in Divnomorsk you can stretch your hands to all the banks in Moscow and take all the cash from them. Of course if they find we are propagating this we may end up in jail then. But there is a siddhi called prapti-siddhi when you can stretch your hand anywhere and pick up anything from anywhere. And then there is desire for liberation.

Then the fourth category of anarthas is illusion about spiritual understanding. This is also divided into four categories. One is ignorance about your own identity. You don’t know what your real identity is and when you are told you don’t want to accept it. We accept what is real to be false and what’s false to be real. Then there is ignorance about the position of the Supreme Lord. Even the impersonalists for example misunderstand the position of the Supreme Lord. What do the impersonalists argue? They argue that the Lord comes and becomes like one of us. That is also anartha, illusion about the position of the Supreme Lord.

Another anartha in this heading is ignorance about the process of sadhana-bhakti. Sadhana-bhakti is a process of following rules and regulations. The purpose of following rules and regulations is to cleanse the anarthas and become spiritual healthy. That’s why Rupa Goswami in Nectar of Devotion talks about the process of sadhana-bhakti in the very beginning. Then the fourth is ignorance about things unfavorable for spiritual advancement. Just like in any equipment you  buy, in any car you buy, in anything you do you have to know the dos and don’ts isn’t it? One devotee recently went for a driving test in you country. He told me there were 800 questions about dos and don’ts of driving, the answers to which he had to know.

In any stage of life you have to know the dos and don’ts. Similarly we need to know what’s unfavorable for spiritual advancement. There are four categories of anarthas that are explained by Thakur Bhaktivinode that we briefly discussed. Now in the scriptures you read about three different stages of chanting the holy names. The first is the offensive stage, and what is the second stage is called? Namabhasa. And what is the final stage called? Suddha-nama, pure chanting of the holy name. Initially we may unaware about the requirements, but as we associate with devotees we become aware of the need to avoid the offences.

In Harinama Cintamani Thakur Bhaktivinode has given seven benefits of chanting the holy name on the Namabhasa stage. Suddha-nama is the topmost, purified stage but to get to that suddha-nama you first have to go to the namabhasa. Namabhasa is also very significant. Even if you come to that stage in this life it is a good achievement. First benefit is by namabhasa chanting you can annihilate the sinful reactions. Sinful reactions due to all our misdeeds, sins etc. of this life and previous life. But by chanting namabhasa you can free yourself from the reactions.

Then another is liberation from the effects of Kali-yuga. What’s Kali-yuga trying to do? Bewilder us, make you believe Krishna consciousness is waste of time and nightclubs is what you should belong to. But the devotees have the power to sanctify most impure of all places. I am sure if you come here next week you won’t even recognize this hall. Especially if you come in the night there will be an orchestra and dancing and bar and everything under the sun. By namabhasa chanting of the holy name you get liberated from the effects of Kali-yuga.

Wait till you hear the next one. Freedom from worries and anxieties. Experiencing inner peace and contentment. Inner peace and contentment is what everybody wants. And freedom from fear and worries. Sometimes people say, ‘I am chanting the holy name but still I am always in anxiety. I have so many worries. Why is that?’ Because you haven’t reached the namabhasa stage of chanting. But if you reach the namabhasa stage then Thakur Bhaktivinode guarantees you will get freed from anxiety and worry and you will be peaceful and content. If you want real peace better improve the quality of your chanting.

Then the fourth benefit is freedom of the effect of ghosts, demoniac spirits, evil spirits etc. All ghosts and evil spirits run away, specially when they hear purified chanting of the holy name. Next benefit is attainment of the goal of life. Namabhasa can bring you to the stage of giving you Krishna-prema. Sixth is boundless spiritual bliss. You get boundless spiritual bliss by chanting the holy name purely. And lastly is eternal residence in Vaikunthaloka. Not temporary residence, eternal residence. This is a result of Namabhasa stage. Thus Thakur Bhaktivinode explained the seven benefits of endeavoring to chant while avoiding the offences which is known as namabhasa stage of chanting.

People often want to know, okay, if I do this what am I going to get in exchange. Here is an explanation of what you are going to get in exchange. By chanting attentively, after all when we hear Caitanya Caritamrita, whatever, our real goal is to improve the quality of our chanting. If we endeavor to chant, as Krishna says in the Gita, ‘Those who endeavor to serve Me, I preserve what they have and I make up what they lack’.

Lord Caitanya converted people of all walks of life. He went to Varanasi, where there was a very prominent sannyasi-mayavadi called Prakasananda Saraswati. He had thousands of followers. Initially they were all criticizing Lord Caitanya. They said, ‘Look at this sannyasi. He is such a prominent Sanskrit scholar and all He is doing is chanting the holy name like a madman’. But then by the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu he and his followers all surrendered and became Vaisnavas. They all took to the chanting of the holy name of Krishna.

I will stop over here the discussion on the Caitanya Caritamrita. We will spend few minutes taking of Haridas Thakur. We have all heard of Haridas Thakur. We all know his glories. You may think there is nothing more to hear but there is a lot to hear. Materially, he was thirty-two years of age when Lord Caitanya appeared. Whose incarnation is Haridas considered to be? Brahma’s. When Lord Krishna was on the planet five thousand years ago Brahma committed one offence. He stole Krishna’s cowherd boy friends and calves. Of course Krishna expanded Himself into unlimited calves and cowherd boys so the parents never noticed that their children were kidnapped. For this offence Lord Brahma took his birth as Haridas Thakur.

But actually it was a blessing. Because he became an instrument in helping Lord Caitanya expand the Gaura-lila. Of the three hundred thousands times he chanted the holy name, one lakh he chanted very loudly. He was respected by all sections of society. People would come and offer him great respect. But some people would be envious of the honor that Haridas was receiving. You know the story how the prostitute was sent to seduce him. But instead she got seduced by his purity and she became a devotee. Then Haridas Thakur gave her the tent in which he was chanting in front of the Tulasi plant. She divided all her wealth amongst the brahmanas and others and took to the serious chanting of the holy name and became herself a great spiritual teacher.

Haridas Thakur was once living in a cave where there was a snake in a hole. Every day people would tell him, ‘Please leave this place because any time the snake may attack you’. Haridas was not worried. But he knew that the people who would come to meet him, they were worried. They may get attacked. So Haridas said, ‘Okay, if the snake does not get out by tomorrow then I will move out of here’. And next day what happened? Before Haridas could move the snake crept out.

Look at Haridasa’s character. He was dragged to twenty-two market places. The people who were dragging him were beating him, beating him, beating him. Still he went on chanting Hare Krishna. So those who were beating him said, ‘This man must be a prophet. We were beating him, beating, beating, still he has not died’. They were worried what’s their future going to be so they appealed to Haridas. They said, ‘Haridas, we think you are a prophet. We’ve been beating you, beating you, beating you in twenty-two marketplaces but still there is not one mark on your back. You don’t look hurt at all and you are still chanting’.

If someone is wiping you there will be some sign on you back, isn’t it? So they said, ‘You are a prophet. There are no signs on you back and it looks like all our attempts are a failure. Because nothing has happened to you we are worried that our King is going to kill us. He will say, why was this Haridas not killed?’ They were in anxiety. Haridas on his side was praying to the Lord, ‘Please may nothing happen to these people who are trying to kill me.’ Haridas was concerned what’s going to happen to these people. What did he do? He started meditating on the Lord and he went in complete trance, complete samadhi. He closed his eyes and went in complete trance and his body stopped moving.

When his body stopped moving, he stopped breathing, the people who were wiping jumped in ecstasy. They threw him in the Ganga. Haridas was in complete samadhi he did not even control his breath movement. He was thrown in the Ganges and by the waves he was pushed to the other side of the river. When he reached the bank of the river his samadhi was broken and he came to consciousness. He went out of the water and started chanting.

There was once a discussion in the house of Raghunatha das Goswami’s father and uncle. They have called a teacher called Balarama Acarya. They were discussing in that conference the benefits of chanting Hare Krishna. Balarama Acarya said, chanting Hare Krishna destroys sinful reactions and gives one mukti. Haridas said, this is not the only reason. He said, this is secondary, giving mukti. Chanting Hare Krishna gives you love God which is higher then mukti. Balarama Acarya got very offended and he gave a lot of statements to undermine the potency of chanting the holy name. This Balarama Acarya because of his offensive attitude towards the holy name and Haridas had to face the reaction.

Lord Caitanya would every day come to see Haridas Thakur. Even when Lord Caitanya was once in the house of Srivas Thakur, displayed His Mahaprakasa form for twenty two hours He asked Haridas Thakur for a benediction. Haridas Thakur only asked Him for a benediction that he may become a servant of the servant. Lord Caitanya used to come and sit in Haridas Thakur’s bhajan-kutir which is very near the Jagannatha Puri temple. Actually the present ISKCON temple is very near to his samadhi.

Lord Caitanya told Haridas how when he was being beaten it was Lord Caitanya who took the beating. That’s why there was no sign on Haridasa’s back also. Haridas Thakur did not want to stay on the planet after Lord Caitanya’s departure. Every day Lord Caitanya’s secretary Govinda would bring prasadam from the Jagannatha Puri temple to Haridas Thakur. One day Govinda saw that Haridas looked a little sick. He was lying on his back and chanting. Govinda offered him prasad but Haridas said, :’No, I cannot take any prasad till I finish all my rounds’. He just took one grain of prasadam – just to honor prasadam.

When Lord Caitanya came there Haridas said, ‘I want to ask you a special favor. I know that You are going to soon become unmanifested and I want to leave before Your pastime of disappearance’. Next day when Lord Caitanya came to see him He brought with Him all His associates. Haridas Thakur hearing the chanting the holy name, taking the dust from the feet of the Vaisnavas, touching Lord Caitanya’s feet, departed just like Bhishmadeva departed meditating on Krishna’s lotus feet.

Haridas Thakur is an eternal associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. By the strength of chanting of the holy name he got saved from the attempts of the prostitute and Maya-devi. If we also take to the chanting of the holy name we will be protected from the influence of maya. We should chant the holy name attentively and as we advance in this chanting the greater will be the spiritual bliss you will realize. Hare Krishna.