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Srila Prabhupada’s visit to Mayapur before boarding the Jaladuta

Hare Krishna! Welcome to Sri Dham Mayapur. His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada just before boarding the Jaladuta, that old cargo ship that was about to sail from Calcutta to New York city, a 38-day voyage, Srila Prabhupada came to Sri Mayapur Dham. His son Sri Vrindavan Chandra Dey, had told us that when Srila Prabhupada boarded the Jaladuta, the King George’s dockyards in Calcutta, he was wondering how will his father survive. When Srila Prabhupada was in Calcutta he was just staying in a simple Dharamshala for Sadhus. He called his son and asked him if he could help him get to the boat because he really didn’t have any means. He didn’t have the means to even get from the Sadhu Dharamshala or guest house to the boat and yet he was sailing across the world over ten thousand miles, how was it possible?

On the Jaladuta Srila Prabhupada, after enduring heart attacks and sea sickness, he told us sometimes there were so many storms on the ocean and there was nothing around, he said that it seemed like he was inside a little matchbox as the waves were tossing him and the boat, up and down and up and down, and he wrote how he was feeling such deep separation from Vrindavan Dham and his beloved deities of Radha Damodara, Radha Madan Mohan, Radha Govinda, Radha Gopinath. Because his Guru Maharaj Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, on behalf of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave him this order to go to the west to deliver the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he was happy. Just near Boston in America, he wrote those beautiful prayers, where he presented himself before Krishna as a beggar, an insignificant beggar, begging for Krishna to make him His puppet, so he could dance in any way Krishna desired for him to dance.

It was such an impossible journey that none of his God-brothers, God-sisters, no Sadhus, even came to see him off because it just didn’t seem like anything, what would he do. It was only on Prabhupada’s request that his son came to help him. Srila Prabhupada was embarking on, sixty-nine, seventy years old and just three people who were kind of strangers, from the steamship or the cargo ship company came to make sure everything was alright. It was a very simple departure. However, days before that historical moment, Srila Prabhupada came to Mayapur, there, he spent his day at the Samadhi Mandir of his Guru Maharaj Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada, begging for his mercy, his blessings, with the will to serve under any circumstance. It was here that Srila Prabhupada begged for the mercy of the Pancha Tattva. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Adwaitaa Gadadhara Srivasadi Gaur Bhakta Vrinda.

By remembering Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu it becomes easy to please Krishna

In the Adi Lila of Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Sri Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami writes- that for one who remembers with devotion Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, even the most difficult impossible things can be easily accomplished. But for one who forgets the Lord, even the easiest things become very difficult and obviously Srila Kaviraj Goswami is not talking about material accomplishments because in truth material accomplishments aren’t really accomplishments at all, because we are the eternal soul. We are part and parcel of Krishna. Lord Chaitanya taught the basic principle of all the knowledge of the Vedas, the very heart of His teachings-Jivera Swarupa Hoya Krishnera Nitya Das. That every living being wherever there is life, there is a soul, a Jiva and that Jiva by constitutional nature is the eternal servant of Krishna. Ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir Hari-toṣaṇam. Whatever our occupation, whatever our social status, wherever we are living, the only true success, the only real accomplishment for the true self is ‘Samsiddhir Hari Toshanam’, that Krishna is pleased, Krishna is satisfied with our efforts. And Krishna personally Himself tells us how to please Him, ‘Bhaktya Mam Abhijananti’, through devotion.

Krishna is never pleased by how much we know, how much we have, how many people know us. Krishna is pleased by the quality and sincerity of our devotion. Krishna is ‘Bhakta Vatsala’. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu tells, to the Goswamis- that pure devotional service is very rare and the reason it’s so rare is we cannot achieve it by any material accomplishment, achievement. Pure devotional service, Bhakti is given by Krishna, by Krishna’s Grace, unless He gives it no one can understand it, which is very interesting concept. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told- “nitya-siddha krsna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya” |”Śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya”, that pure love, the eternal perfection is within every living being, it’s the nature of the soul but somehow or other since a time that cannot be calculated, we have forgotten that love and we are continuously entangling ourselves in more and more distractions, wherein we forget that love.

And in that total state of forgetfulness of who I am, who is God, what is the purpose of life we try to find the happiness, the Ananda of the soul through so many temporary experiences of the body and the mind. And when we find a little bit of pleasure we become so attached to that pleasure because we are seeking pleasure, ‘Ananda mayo bhayasat’, we are ‘Sac-cid-ananda’, eternal, full of knowledge and full of ecstasy, we are seeking that ecstasy but we have forgotten where it is. We have forgotten who we are so under this misconception we are thinking, I am this body, I am the compilation of all of these thoughts. We are thinking I am a particular species of life, I am from a particular country, I am from a particular sex, a particular social background. And, we think that I am the enjoyer, the controller, the proprietor. This is the basic principle of bondage- I am, the enjoyer, the controller and the proprietor. And birth after birth after birth we commit so many offenses to other beings, trying to enjoy, trying to control and trying to possess.

Purpose of Lord Chaitanya’s appearance

But Lord Chaitanya, here in Navadwip Dham, He came in this Kali Yuga, a place which is like a desert where there is a massive drought of any real happiness or purpose in life and He personally said- I have come like an unlimited cloud to pour a monsoon rainstorm of Bhakti, of Prema and of happiness, through the chanting of Krishna’s Holy Names- Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare. Jīv jāgo, jīv jāgo, gauracānda bole kota nidrā jāo māyā-piśācīra kole, such a simple message for everyone- wake up, wake up sleeping souls, you are in the dream of Maya’s illusions. You are in the dream of endless inter connecting networks of misconceptions and every time we attach ourself to one kind of pleasure we become entangled more and more and more with inevitable pain.

Wake up, you are dreaming, you are not this body, you are not this mind. You are an eternal servant of Krishna. Bhakti is sometimes translated as devotional service, it doesn’t mean just to serve, it means to serve with love. It is so rare but Krishna gives it. Srila Prabhupada told us, when we are sincere, serious and when we have no ulterior motives, ‘Athato Brahma Jigyasa’, this human life is so rare, out of 8,400,000 species we are given this opportunity. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu called the goal of life-Prema Dhan, Prema Dhan. Everyone is so eager for wealth while the truest treasure is within our own hearts, integral to our own souls forever-Prema pumartha mahan, the highest of all goals, the culmination of all the knowledge and realisations of all the Vedas and all the scriptures is to love Krishna and to constantly feel Krishna’s love. Srila Prabhupada came to Mayapur, because it was the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu that he was giving his life to fulfil.

Kaviraj Goswami tells the Pancha Tattva, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Adwaitaa Gadadhara Srivasadi Gaur Bhakta Vrinda, They came to plunder the storehouse of love of God. When Krishna was in this world, He revealed the sweetest realisations of ecstatic love. Only once in a day of Brahma does Krishna appear as Govinda, in His original form from Goloka Vrindavan. In every Dwapara Yuga He comes as a Yuga Avatar, once every 8,400,000,000 years, He personally comes to reveal the pastimes of Sri Braj Bhumi. The Madhurya Ras, the loving exchanges, where the Lord’s majesty, His power and greatness, His inconceivable opulences are expressed through sweetness, through His beauty and through His love. Kaviraj Goswami tells that Krishna was thinking, that love that is crippled by that awareness of my Supreme Majesty, does not truly satisfy My heart, Krishna is speaking. It satisfies Narayan’s heart, but Krishna says when that love comes to such a condensed perfect elevated state, we don’t love Krishna because He is God, we love Krishna because He is Krishna.

We cannot take this cheaply. It can only truly be realised when we are completely purified of all material ego and all desires. In Vrindavan, Krishna’s friends, the Gopas, they are playing with Krishna as an equal. They are wrestling with Krishna, they are jumping on Krishna and Krishna is jumping on them. They are smiling together, they are laughing together. When they, when they have something nice that they are eating, they want to share it with Krishna and they take it out of their mouths and say Krishna try this and Krishna eats their remnants. No one in Vaikuntha will dare to do that. But in Vrindavan they are doing and Krishna, He enjoys the food out of the mouth of the cowherd boys even better than all of the offerings of great Yagyic Brahmins of this world, the offerings in the heavenly planets, even in Vaikuntha. And Yashoda Mai, she chastises Krishna, she shows Krishna stick and said, if You don’t behave properly I am going to hit You and Krishna cries, “no no please don’t do that, please don’t do that”, and He runs and away and she binds Him, with the rope of her love and for the Gopis, when the Gopis chastise Krishna, Raghunath Das Goswami has prayed that Krishna feels more pleasure than when the greatest of the Brahmins chant the Vedic hymns in His glorification.

They are very simple, they are making flower garlands, they are making Bhoga, food, they are dancing, they are singing, they are smiling, they are glancing, things that any girl could do in this world or any boy could do in this world. They are not displaying great mystical powers, great kingly powers, just the most ordinary things the Gopis are doing. But because they are doing it with such simple pure love, even the Goddess of fortune, Lakshmi cannot enter into that state of happiness. Krishna revealed those pastimes when He appeared in this world, with His beloved Sri Radha and the Gopas and Gopis. But then Kaviraja Goswami tells, Krishna who is the knower of everything recognised that there was one thing that He did not know, Vedaham samatitani vartamanani carjuna bhavisyani ca bhutani mam tu veda na kascana, Krishna tells in Sri Bhagavad Gita that He knows everything. He knows everything that has ever happened in the past in all Universes, in all the Spiritual and Material worlds. He knows everything that is happening now, every thought, every word, every action, every drop of rain that falls, every flake of snow that falls. He knows what every fish is doing in the ocean, what they are thinking, why they are thinking it. All the…He knows the mind of every mosquito. And He knows every thought and word and action of each and every one of us. And He never forgets anything.

Aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate iti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah, Krishna tells I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds, everything emanates from Me. The wise who know this perfectly, engage in My devotional service, My loving service and worship Me with all their hearts. That is Krishna. But when He sees how His devotees within this world, they are willing to give up everything and anything just to please Krishna. And the taste of sweetness they get from that, from tasting Krishna’s love, and from serving Krishna and satisfying Krishna, that love conquers Krishna and the source of all love forever is Krishna’s Hladini, Shakti, Srimati Radharani. Rādhā Kṛṣṇapraṇayavikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād, the Absolute Truth is one, there is one God, the root of all existence. The God of every religion, the Supreme object of love of every living being forever but that one Supreme Truth is eternally in two forms for the purpose of exchanging love. Rasaraj and Mahabhava, Sri Krishna and Sri Radharani. Radha is Krishna, His energy, His energy of love, the source of all compassion, the source of all forgiveness, the source of everything that gives pleasure to Krishna.

The happiness of Sri Radha is a mystery even to Krishna and therefore Srila Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami, prays, to understand the glory of Srimati Radharani’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love and the happiness She feels when She realises the sweetness of His love. Lord Krishna, richly endowed with Sri Radha’s emotions, has taken birth from the womb of Sachi Mata as the sun emerges from the ocean. The Absolute Truth and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is forever. His taking birth is His pastime like the sun rises in the horizon. We cannot force the Sun to rise. With all of our military weapons, our nuclear arsenals, our science, our technology, our cellular phones, there is no App to make the sun rise and there never will be because the sun rises when the sun wants to rise. And the sun is ever existing, when we don’t see the sun is there somewhere else, its just not within our vision, so similarly when Krishna appears in the world, He appears to our vision by His own leela by His own pastime, to exchange the motherly and fatherly love with Vasudev, Devaki, Nanda and Yashoda and here in Navadwip, Sri Mayapur, he appeared as the son of Sachi Devi and Sri Jagannatha Mishra.

Namo maha-vadanyaya Krishna-prema-pradaya te Krishnaya Krishna-Chaitanya- namne gaura-tvishe namah, Sri Rupa Goswami composed this verse at the holy place of pilgrimage of Prayag where the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati meet. He is declaring Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to be the most merciful, most magnanimous of all incarnations, even more than Krishna. How is that? How can anyone be more merciful than Krishna? The only person who could be more merciful than Krishna, is Krishna and that’s what He does. He appears as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to distribute the love of Vrindavan, the love of Goloka, in this age of Kaliyuga, the time of the greatest necessity, along with His associates, the Pancha Tattva. They broke open that treasure, storehouse of love of God, because in Vrindavan in Krishna’s leela, the highest experiences of Madhurya Ras, of that sweet, perfect all-inclusive love, but there was a seal. Only those who were the eternal associates of Krishna in Vrindavan could share it with Krishna. But the Pancha Tattva broke that seal and they tasted the contents and tasting the contents they went into transcendental ecstasy, and how did they express that ecstasy? By dancing and chanting Radharani and Krishna’s Holy Names, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare.

Their mission was not only to taste the sweetness of that love, but to share it with everyone who would accept it. The Pancha Tattva did not consider who was fit to receive it and who was not fit. They did not consider which place was appropriate and which place was inappropriate. They did not consider what time was right or not right. They gave the opportunity to enter into this Prema Ras, to anyone who was simply willing to accept it. Grihe thako, vane thako, sada ‘Hari’ bole’ dako, sukhe duhkhe bhulo na’ko, vadane Hari-nam koro re. Thakura Bhaktivinoda explains it in this way, whether one is living with a family, a husband or wife or children, a job, bills, mortgages, all these things,whether one is like that or whether one is a Sanyasi, travelling around or living in the forest, those are details. If we sincerely, according to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s path, if we chant the Holy Name sincerely, we could rise above the happiness and distress of this mortal world of birth and death and we can actually taste the sweetness of Krishna’s love. We could be instruments of that love. Instruments of Lord Chaitanya’s compassion in whatever we do.

When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was travelling in South India, He had just one associate with Him who was kind of behind Him holding a set of Lord Chaitanya’s clothes, holding His water pot and Lord Chaitanya was dancing and singing and whoever He saw, He would induce them to chant the Hare Krishna Mantra and if anybody was willing to do so, why did they do so? Because Lord Chaitanya, He was so beautiful and He was so merciful. He cared about them more than anybody could care about them. ‘Aham Bija pratapita’, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the eternal mother and father of all living beings. Those who are parents, you know how much you love your children. Those who are children, you have some idea how much your parents love you. But where does that love come from? It comes ultimately from Sri Radha. She is, Radha Rani and Krishna are the Supreme mother and father of all living beings. When He would see people on the road, with so much compassion, with so much concern, with so much love, please chant the names of Krishna. His heart was weeping to see people suffering the illusions of the happiness and distress of this world. And when they would chant, Lord Chaitanya was so grateful. He would embrace them. He would tell them you are My life and soul.

He descended from the spiritual world of Goloka, to give us this treasure. We were in Spiritual poverty and He is genuinely thanking us for receiving it. That is the Lord’s love. And the only thing He asked from anyone, chant these names of Krishna and whoever you meet, share this message with them. To reciprocate with the Lord’s love when that awakened within their heart, natural compassion for every living being awakened in their hearts and in this world there is no greater way of pleasing the Lord, than sharing His message, being an instrument of His grace to other devotees and together as a community to the world. Krishna, Radha bhava duti  subalitam, naumi Krishna swarupam, the one thing that Krishna needed to understand was Sri Radha’s love. So, He descended into this world in the Kaliyuga after Krishna does. That’s once in a day of Brahma Lord Chaitanya appears.

“Be grateful to be here at Mayapur”

In every Kaliyuga, there are so many Kaliyugas, we are struggling through this one. But what is it’s, for every four, Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga, Kaliyuga, the whole, all four Yugas together equals one Divya Yuga. There are seventy-one Divya Yugas in one Manu and there’s fourteen Manus in one day of Brahma. That’s about 8,400,000,000 years. So, so many Kaliyugas and the Yuga Avatara comes in all Kaliyugas, but only once in a day of Brahma after Krishna of Goloka, does Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Yuga Avatara comes, Krishna in the mood of Sri Radha to taste the sweetness of Radha’s love and to distribute that love. He appears in Mayapur. Mayapur is within the island of Antardwip, among the nine islands of Navadwip.

Srila Prabhupada explained of all the different places in the Universe, the earth is very special because the Lord incarnates so many times on earth. In all places on earth, Bharatvarsha is most special and holy because the Lord has appeared in so many direct incarnations as Ram, as Krishna. And in all places in Bharat Varsha Gaur Mandal Bhumi is most sacred because it is here that the Pancha Tattva is distributing the Supreme excellence of the loving sentiments of Vrindavan. It is here that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appears as the most magnanimous and merciful of all incarnations.

During the month of Kartik, we are all so blessed to be together. During this Yatra, I think there’s about six thousand people so it might be crowded, and you may have to wait in lines and it may be hot or it may be cold, or it may rain on you, or mosquitoes might attack you or there may be, some of you are coming from cities, in the west, whether it’s the west of India or the west of the world, so you probably have a much more comfortable life wherever you are coming from. So, Tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam, human life is meant for Tapasya. Its very nice when we make some sacrifices. But we benefit from those Tapasyas when we have a grateful heart. We have come here not to enjoy, we have come to serve. You will make progress as you help other people become happy, other devotees. Just to be grateful, I am here. I am in Navadwip, Mayapur in the month of Kartik. I am in the place that Srila Prabhupada dreamed to bring the whole world. Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura made his headquarters of this whole mission, Gaudiya Math, at the Sri Chaitanya Math here in Navadwip Mayapur Dham.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura made this his residence and he had that incredible vision where he saw, and this was at the latter part of the nineteenth century and early twentienth century, he could see Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda Prabhu’s prediction being fulfilled that in every town and every village Krishna’s name would be chanted. And devotees from Bengal, devotees from all parts of India, devotees from Russia and America and Europe and Africa, devotees from all parts of the world as brothers and sisters united in their hearts, transcending all their material differences, blissfully in Kirtan, with one heart, with one voice, raising their arms and loudly chanting the Holy Names of Krishna, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare. I think Bhaktivinoda Thakura was expecting you to chant much louder than this. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare. So, Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura made this his headquarters. He started over sixty-four Maths all over India, he sent devotees to Germany and to England. And in 1922 when he first met Srila Prabhupada, he gave him the instruction- you are an intelligent young man, spread the message of Lord Chaitanya in the English language all over the world.

Srila Prabhupada, so wonderfully, so miraculously fulfilled this dream of the previous Acharyas. So, while we are here, the duration of this Yatra, let us truly be here. And that means, to make certain commitments, that we are determined to follow, to really be looking for Krishna. Not coming as controllers but coming as beggars, begging for mercy in a prayerful mood we come here. We come here to immerse our self, to absorb our self in hearing Hari Katha, absorbing our self in hearing and chanting in Kirtan, absorbing our self in remembering Krishna and praying to Krishna. Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura told us do not try to see Krishna, try to serve Krishna, in such a way that He is pleased to see you. Gopi-bhartur pada-kamalayor dasa-dasa-anudasa. We don’t come here to enjoy, we come in the mood of the servant of the servant of the servant. No Prajalpa, no unwanted gossip. Kaliyuga is the season of gossip. Yes, just like you have monsoon season here in India. Kaliyuga is like the monsoon of the tendency to find faults in others.

Raghunath Das Goswami said, this type of gossip, this type of fault finding, this propensity to drag other people down, to find faults in them, it’s like a ghost, it steals away any propensity for real devotion. If we have that inclination to find faults with others, whatever devotion, we have can only be a shadow. To uplift people, that is the principle of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and that’s why we have come here, to absorb our self in uplifting one another, in seeing every devotee as Krishna’s devotee and try to uplift them and in uplifting others we uplift ourselves. Let us be absorbed in these wonderful teachings that our Acharyas have entrusted to Srila Prabhupada to give to us.

Goloka is the highest planet in the spiritual world. It’s the place of Madhurya Ras, of the sweet loving devotion where Sri Sri Radharani and Krishna are eternally performing Their pastimes with Their limitless devotees. Krishna expands Himself as Baladev. Balaram is Krishna Himself in the mood of a servant of Krishna and Balaram manifests every possible facility for the pleasure of Radha and Krishna and all of Their devotees in the spiritual world of Goloka and then that same Baladev expands Himself as Narayan in Vaikuntha where the Lord is worshipped with this great majesty and there, Narayan, in the pure devotion of all of His associates is eternally engaged in such loving exchanges. In the outer realm of the spiritual world is Brahman, the Brahma Jyoti, the spiritual sky from Goloka to Vaikuntha the effulgence of Krishna’s body limitlessly shines everywhere as the Brahma Jyoti. It is the spiritual sky where there is no suffering. At the same time there is no personal loving exchanges. So this Brahman realisation is a partial realisation of spiritual liberation. And then there is Viraja, the boundary between the spiritual and material worlds, the causal ocean where Baladev again expands Himself as Karanodakashayi Vishnu or Maha Vishnu. Simply by His will, the entire cosmic manifestation of the material world is created. The Mahat Tattva, manifest by His will. Within that Mahat Tattva by His mere glance, He impregnates material creation with all living entities who are to be born within this material world.

The three modes of material nature are manifested by His will and by His simple glance He activates the whole universe, the whole creation, through time. He expands Himself in each and every Universe that are coming out of the pores of His body limitlessly as Garbodakashayi Vishnu. From Him Brahma is born. Brahma is confused, bewildered, he doesn’t know who he is, he doesn’t know where he is, he doesn’t know what he is supposed to do. Just like us when we are honest and Narayan Himself becomes the Guru of Brahma to teach Him. Tene bhramarita yaad kavaye muyanti yat Suraya, from the heart of Brahma, Lord Vishnu reveals the Vedas. As the secondary creator, Brahma is the source of all the living beings that are in our Universe and then Baladev again, he expands Himself, as Kshirodakashayi Vishnu, to be the Lord within the heart of every living being. Seated beside the Jeeva, is Paramatama our supreme friend, well-wisher just waiting for us to turn to him. But how could we turn to Him when we have forgotten Him? Tad vigyanartham sa gurumeva abhigacchet, the Upanishads tell, the way we turn, to the Paramatma, is by approaching a Guru, a spiritual teacher. There are Diksha Gurus, there are Shiksha Gurus. One can understand the truth of the Vedas through ‘Evam Paramapara Praptam’, through Gurus who are coming in a true Parampara or disciplic succession.

Tad Viddhi pranipatena, paripashnena sevaya, when we hear with an eager and submissive heart, with an eagerness to serve, then divine knowledge is accessible to us. The Paramatma reciprocates with our love through Guru, Sadhu and Shastra. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Himself, He appeared in the role of a devotee to teach us by His example how to be a devotee. Srila Prabhupada, he explained it in this way that when a teacher wants to teach a little child the alphabet the teacher says this is how you make A, this is how you make B, this is English, the teacher doesn’t need to go through this exercise. The teacher knows but goes through the exercise, so similarly, Lord Chaitanya appeared in the role of a devotee and all of His eternal associates who descended from the spiritual world came in the roles of devotees just to teach us how to be devotees. They were all servants of the servants of the servants. So many of Lord Chaitanya’s associates, all of them had Gurus, including Lord Chaitanya and there were so many different Gurus but they all shared one thing so they were one family. There was no separations because they all shared their aspiration to love and to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna is pleased when His devotees have friendly relations with each other, with Krishna in the centre.

Situation of Navadwip prior to Lord Chaitanya’s advent

Here in Navadwip, at that time, there was a large population. According to Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat by Vrindavan Das Thakura, Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita by Krishna Das Kaviraja Goswami, Sri Chaitanya Mangal by Lochan Das Thakura, Sri Chaitanya Charita by Murari Gupta we learn that Navadwip had so many people. It was the high seat of learning for the whole of India and in that sense, the world. There were six systems of philosophy, and Nyaya, only the Pandits in Mithila could teach it because they had the only scripture that taught it and they were very protective not to let anyone copy that scripture so if you wanted to learn it you had to go there. In order to be the highest place of learning, you had to have the authority to teach all the different systems. There was a young man named Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. He was actually an incarnation of Brih aspati, the Guru of the Devatas. He went to Mithila and he had such a memory, he listened to the scripture and memorised it. No one in the Universe could do that. He listened and memorised it and came back to Navadwip and wrote it all down. Thousands of pages. And then Navadwip was given the title of the Supreme highest place of learning in all the world. If you had a degree from Navadwip, what prestige that was. There was so much wealth, so many luxuries and so many Brahmins and teachers here in Navadwip. There were literally millions of people. There were bathing ghats where thousands and thousands of people at a time were constantly bathing and they were all over.

The students, Vrindavan Das Thakura tells that Saraswati especially blessed Navadwip because she knew that Lord Chaitanya was going to come. She blessed the people here with such incredible knowledge, the teachers could teach like nowhere else and the students could learn like nowhere else. It was by Saraswati’s grace and students were so clever, so intelligent, so shastric, they would debate with their teachers and sometimes they won, you are not supposed to do that but everyone was so proud and due to the infatuation of comfort and fame and so much learning because there was no greater prestige than knowledge. Now people are famous because they are good actors or actresses or they are good singers, or they are musicians or they are powerful, they are politicians. But in Navadwip, it wasn’t about being a good athlete, it was knowledge and there was so much knowledge. Everyone was always arguing with each other because everyone wanted to show how great they were, the more you have the more you want to prove it to others. And through this process people became so spiritually degraded. It was all about ahamkara, ego. Janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān naivārhaty abhidhātuṁ vai tvām akiñcana-gocaram, that the greatest disqualifications for real devotion is too much beauty, too much wealth, too much fame and too much knowledge. Those things in themselves can be wonderful assets for devotional service but they become disqualifications when we become proud, when we think this is mine.

Srila Prabhupada tells the story, punar mushtika bhava, we are all like little mice and Krishna can make us into a great lion but if we think this power is mine, it’s just a matter of time till we become a mouse again. For a devotee, the more Krishna gives us, the more humble we become, that’s what a devotee is. I don’t deserve this but Krishna wants to use me for a higher purpose like Prabhupada was praying to be a puppet, when we understand this is what devotional service means then the more we have the more humble we become. And the more humble we become amanina manadena, trinad api sunicena, taror eva sahishnuna, amanina manadena, kirtaniyah sada harihi, the more we naturally want to respect all others. And we don’t want respect for ourself. This is what Vaishnav is.

So Navadwip had none of those qualities. People were so enamoured by material energy. They had their concepts of religion sometimes but they would worship different Demi-goddesses, like the snake Goddess Vashuli, for wealth, for knowledge, for power, for influence to control others. They would spend large amounts of money, huge amounts of money for the marriage of a male and female monkey. Now, monkeys are spirit souls, they are part of Krishna and we respect monkeys but the monkey couldn’t care less about a big marriage. They are gonna do the same thing whatever situation. It was just, they just didn’t know how to utilise what they had and instead of using their money to help people, to elevate people’s consciousness, for the marriage of cats and monkeys. They would spend lavishly on so many useless things. And they hated the devotees because the devotees would just..if they respected the devotees they had to kind of change their lives. Devotees didn’t care about any of these egoistic pursuits.

There was just a handful of devotees in Navadwip headed by Adwaitaa Acharya, Haridas Thakura, Srivas Thakura and his brothers and they were chanting the names of God, hearing about Krishna. They were living simple lives and just wanted the wellbeing of others and these materialistic people would blaspheme the devotees, what nonsense these people are. They would make poems and songs which would say a Sanyasi and a chaste woman will die just like anyone else so what is the use of being a Sanyasi and renouncing anything and what is the use of being chaste and faithful? We should just enjoy, when we can enjoy, everything we can enjoy, as much as we can enjoy, this is real success. A person who is carried in a luxurious decorated palanquin with ten or twelve servants and maid-servants around them to do everything they want, that is success. These Vaishnavas they are useless, they are always chanting and Srivas, his house, he is chanting all the time with his brothers, with his devotees. If the Chand Kazi, if the Kazi, the Moghul Government forces hear this, they will destroy the whole of Navadwip. Because of them we are going to lose everything. Let us tear up his house and throw it in the Ganges and rid him once and for all from this place. That’s what the devotees were hearing.

Adwaita Acharya, who is Sadashiva and Maha Vishnu, he was the leader of all the devotees. His heart, along with all the other Vaishnavas, their hearts were burning like a blazing fire in compassion for all these people. Srivas and his brothers were chanting Kirtan in their house, praying for the Supreme Lord to descend to deliver the people of the world in Kali Yuga and Adwaita Prabhu, he was living sometimes in Navadwip, sometimes in Shantipur. He had read from the Gautamiya Tantra that if one offers Tulsi Manjaris and the water from the Ganga to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Lord will fulfil his desires. So, on the banks of the river Ganga he was offering Tulsi leaves, Manjaris and Gangajal to his Shaligrama Shila and loudly crying out for Krishna to appear. Sri Adwaita Prabhu proclaimed to the devotees that through my cries and my prayers I will bring Krishna from Goloka Vrindavan to Navadwip to deliver these people in the whole world in the age of Kali. Seeing the condition of the world around us, Adwaita Acharya felt such profound compassion for each and every one of us because Adwaita Prabhu was not just seeing what was going around Navadwip about five hundred years ago, he was seeing 2017. He was seeing what’s going on in the world today. He is seeing how Kali Yuga was unfolding, how much greed, how much manipulation, how much exploitation of Krishna’s sacred property and Krishna’s beloved children.

It was burning his heart. He felt so much suffering in his heart for us that he vowed to fast. For long durations of time he was fasting. He was offering his Puja and he was crying to Krishna to appear because he and all the other devotees seeing the condition of Kali Yuga, they knew that no one but Krishna Himself from Goloka Vrindavan, can deliver the people of this age. Tears pouring from his eyes as he was praying and crying for us. Vrindavan Das Thakura tells, his prayers were not just loud in volume but the quality and the depth of the sincerity and love of his prayers, it pierced through all the coverings of this material existence. It travelled beyond the Brahmajyoti, beyond Vaikuntha to the eternal abode of Sri Krishna and the Lord heard those prayers. Krishna, in the mood of Sri Radha decided to come. The internal reason- to taste the sweetness of Radha’s love and to realise what she experiences through His love. The external reasons to fulfil His prophecy in Bhagavad Gita, paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge, that He will come again and again and again to deliver the pious, to annihilate the miscreants and re-establish true Dharma and especially He came to satisfy Adwaita Acharya in response to his loving prayers.

First, He sent many of His beloved associates to prepare the way for Him. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sent Purandar Mishra who is the father of Jagannath Mishra. In Srihatta, Nilambara Chakravarti, Jagannath Mishra, Murari Gupta, Srivas Thakura and many other great devotees took their birth. Srihatta is in Bangladesh today. In Chattagaon, Vasudev Dutt, Mukund Dutt, Pundarik Vidyanidhi appeared within this world. In Trikuta, Paramanada Puri appeared and in Ekachakra Sri Nityananda Prabhu appeared as the son of Hadai Pandit and Padmavati. They were all preparing the way for Lord Chaitanya’s appearance. And here in Navadwip, Gangadas, Gadadhara Pandit, Shuklambara and so many devotees appeared and by the Lord’s own arrangement, little by little gradually they all gathered here in Navadwip.

Nilambara Chakravarti, his daughter Sachi Mata was married here to Jagannath Mishra. They had eight daughters, each of the daughters just after they were born, they died. Try to understand the plight of such a mother. She has no children and beautiful little girls are born and she is holding in her arms, and right with her own eyes she watches them die. It’s pathetic. The only comparison is Devaki in Mathura when she saw all of her sons slaughtered by Kamsa in the prison. Jagannath Mishra is non-different than Vasudev and Nanda Maharaj. He is the eternal father of the Lord. He has appeared as Kashyap Muni to give birth to Vamana Dev. As Dasharath Maharaj to give birth to Ramachandra. And Sachi Mata, she appeared as Yashoda, Devaki, Kaushalya, Aditi. Atri Muni and Anasuya. They are the eternal father and mother of the Lord. But they, by Krishna’s arrangement, they didn’t know that. In their loving pastimes of the Lord, they were not aware of their eternal nature. They just loved the Lord.

Jagannath Mishra and Sachi Devi, they decided to offer special Puja to their Damodar Shaligrama Shila to have a child and they worshipped with all their hearts and a beautiful boy was born, Vishwarup. He was an expansion of Nityananda Prabhu, Balaram Himself, Ananta Dev. He was so beautiful and in every way all of His qualities were so perfect and attractive. And Srila Prabhupada explains that usually when you worship the Lord for something and then you get it then you reduce your worship because you don’t need it anymore. But Jagannath Mishra and Sachi Devi, as true Vaishnavas, in how they were teaching the world, after they had a son, they increased their worship and their Puja to Damodara Shila out of gratitude. It was in the month of Magha in the year 1485, that Krishna, ‘Radha Bhava Subalitam naumi Krishna Swarupam’. Krishna with the Maha Bhav and the complexion of Sri Radha, appeared like the shining spiritual world in the heart of Jagannath Mishra and from Jagannath Mishra’s heart, that eternally effulgent spiritual world entered into the heart of Sachi Devi. She became pregnant. The child was living within her heart, which means her womb.

As soon as the Lord took residence in the womb of Sachi Devi, she became infinitely beautiful and everything auspicious was happening all around Sachi Mata, just sometimes she would have these visions of Demigods and Demigoddesses gathered in her little house where the Yogapeeth is now, offering prayers to the child in her womb. Jagannath and Sachi became the abodes of bliss but something was causing them confusion; thirteen lunar months of pregnancy passed, and the child wasn’t coming out. By lunar months usually a child is born between nine and ten months, thirteen months is a long time. So, they approached Nilambara Chakrabarti who is the father of Sachi Devi who is the greatest astrologer and self-realised devotee. He did the calculations with his realisations and he said this child is very special. This child is waiting for the most auspicious moment to appear within the world.

That most auspicious moment was soon to come. There was a lunar eclipse. During the lunar eclipse there are so many different interpretations whether its auspicious, whether its inauspicious, it’s both. During the lunar eclipse even the most grossly materialistic people of Navadwip at that time, they were afraid of getting some inauspiciousness which could just, they are very superstitious people, even if they were atheists they were superstitious. They didn’t want to lose their money, they didn’t want to lose their fame, they didn’t want to lose their knowledge, they didn’t wanna lose anything that they were trying to hold on to in this world. So, they would all go to the Ganges and loudly chant the Holy Names. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare.

In those days people would worship so many Demigods and Demigoddesses to get better things for themselves in this world but when it really came to an emergency they understood only Lord Hari could save them. So, no one was chanting any Devata’s names, they were all chanting the names of Hari Hari, Hari Hari. Even the people who were atheists, even people who were from different religions, even people who hated Hindus, when they saw all the Hindus chanting Hari Hari, they would all just start chanting Hari Hari and they became engrossed in chanting Hari Hari and everybody was chanting Hari Hari, Hari Hari.

Adwaita Acharya and Haridas Thakura were together in Shantipur, its very interesting. Srila Haridas Thakura was from a family of mlecchas and yavanas. By the Caste system, that was perverted by social egoistic ways of thinking, he was considered an untouchable and in those days that meant a lot. Adwaita Prabhu was the leader of the entire Brahman community. Haridas Thakura was being persecuted everywhere he went. He was born around Budan which is now Bangladesh. In Benapol, the Zamindar at the time Ramachandra Kant tried to destroy him by spreading wicked rumours about him and trying to induce him to fall down so he could punish him, kill him, whatever. When Haridas Thakura was delivered, everyone who came to destroy him, he went to Chandpur, Krishnapur and there he was asked to give a talk about the Holy Names, he was giving a talk and some Brahmins started blaspheming him, who are you an untouchable to be speaking the Vedas? Who are you to be speaking to me about what the perfection of life is?

Wherever he was going, people in Puliyagram, people tried to kill him, they tried to beat him to death and yet Adwaita the king of the Brahmans and a person from untouchable social division, Haridas Thakura, they were the best of friends. Adwaita Acharya at his Shraddha ceremony, he gave in front of all the greatest of the Brahmins of Shantipur, he gave Haridas Thakura the highest honours publicly. This was revolutionary, why? Because they weren’t concerned with these external features. Adwaita Acharya understood, ‘saragrahi’, the essence. How does one love Krishna? What are the qualities of one’s humility, one’s compassion and one’s devotion? That’s all that really matters. That’s what makes a person exalted. Srimad Bhagavatam tells, even if one is born in a family of Chandala, dog eaters, untouchable, if they are chanting the names of Krishna, if they have devotion to Krishna, they are fit to be the Gurus of the entire world. But a Brahmin, with all the twenty-six qualities of a Brahmin, if they don’t have that love for Krishna, if they don’t have a taste for chanting the names of Krishna, they cannot even deliver themselves. Adwaita Acharya and Haridas Thakura were the best intimate friends for the rest of their lives because they shared devotion and compassion.

The two of them together were constantly chanting and praying. Haridas Thakura in his cave was chanting 300,000 names every day praying for Krishna to descend to deliver the people of Kaliyuga. Adwaita Acharya was screaming out his prayers while he was doing his Puja and now they are seeing the lunar eclipse, everyone is chanting, they were dancing. Srivas Thakura and his associates when they saw everyone chanting due to their fear of the lunar eclipse, they prayed, let this eclipse last forever and it was at that time, in the month of Phalgun in the year of 1486 while the whole world of Navadwip was loudly chanting the Holy Names, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared within this world as the son of Sachi and Jagannath Mishra. When He appeared, everything became auspicious. All the trees were blossoming with fruits and flowers. All the fields were baring grains, vegetables, wonderful food. The rivers were flowing and splashing and swirling in joy. The birds were singing in all directions. All the astrological signs, all the planets formed in their most perfect auspicious ways but most of all Lord Chaitanya came to inaugurate the Hari Nam Sankirtan movement and He actually did it from the very moment of His birth. Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu ki Jai!

When Sachi Devi and Jagannath Mishra and all of their family and all their friends saw the beauty of this little baby child, their hearts melted with love, there simply has never been anything or anyone who has ever been so beautiful and He is just a baby. He looked just like Krishna but He had a beautiful golden complexion, large lotus like eyes and when He opened His eyes and glanced at anyone, their hearts would totally melt. Srivas and Acharya Ratna, Acharya Ratna also named Chandarsekhar was married to Sachi Devi’s younger sister Malathi. They came, Srivas and Chandarsekhar, and performed all the Sanskaras and Pujas and rituals for the birth of a child and then the ladies of Navadwip were coming and they were all bringing gifts, auspicious gifts. Little things that are offered with love are very auspicious. They were bringing grains of paddy and bananas and coconuts and turmeric and vermillion and all of these things and offering them to the little child with prayers.

When they saw the beauty of the child, they called Him Gaur Hari because He was just like Krishna, Hari but He had golden complexion. A few days later Sita Thakurani, the wife of Adwaita, she came on a palanquin and she brought so many gifts. She put little bangles and little bracelets and little ankle bells on little baby Nimai. And she was so concerned because eight daughters had already died of Sachi Mata. Because the child was born under a neem tree and because the nature of the neem tree is it counteracts the effects of bad spirits, Sita Thakurani gave Him the name Nimai. He is Krishna who has come into this world in this beautiful way. When she went back and told Adwaita Prabhu, her husband, he was filled with ecstasy. It was Adwaita Prabhu’s loud prayers of love and compassion that brought the Lord to this world.

Soon after, they decided to have the name giving ceremony. Nilambara Chakravarti, he did the horoscope very thoroughly and told everyone around, the family, the friends, there is no more auspicious time to be born. Everything is just so perfect.  He will protect and nourish the entire universe therefore I give Him the name Vishwambhara so that became the main name. Another brahmin happened to be there and he did his calculation. He was a very very self-realised pure devotee of the Lord. He explained how this child is as good as Lord Narayan Himself. This child as He grows up, He will spread love of God throughout the world. Just by seeing this child people will develop love for Him, they will develop true compassion for all living beings and they will develop detachment from all material entanglement. This child will induce the world to chant the Holy Names.

But he saw everyone was so happy by what he was saying, Jagannath Mishra, Sachi Devi, all the relatives all the friends all the devotees, they were weeping and crying to hear these qualities of the little child. So, he didn’t want to spoil their happiness so he chose not to explain how when He is twenty-four years old he is going to take Sanyasa and leave all of you behind. Jagannath Mishra was so happy, he was giving charity, whatever he had, whatever people gave him he just gave it to the Brahmins and gave it to the musicians, there were people playing beautiful musical instruments and brahmins chanting mantras and there was mridangas playing and flutes playing and horns playing and cymbals crashing, it was a wonderful festival. Because He had beautiful golden limbs, the relatives and devotees called Him Gauranga. Because He had such beautiful golden complexion, the complexion of Sri Radhika, He was named Gaur Sundar. Nimai, Vishwambhar.

As He was in the space where Sachi Devi gave birth to Him, they remained for some time in that place according to tradition and the relatives would come. At one time when they were gathered together, Demigods and Demigoddesses, they disguised themselves as brahmins and wives of brahmins and they were coming to offer gifts and offer prayers and sometimes they played tricks. Some Demigods wanted to cause fear to the relatives so they appeared as a shadow in the room, this shadow of a very monstrous kind of looking person, just passed through the room and it was coming towards little Nimai and how could you stop a shadow? They didn’t know what to do. They were trying to stop the shadow from touching Nimai because they thought that it was some evil spirit and the shadow came and then the shadow and they were all crying out the names of Krishna to somehow or other protect the little baby from this evil force. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare. Jeev Jago, please wake up sleeping souls. And then the Demigod would laugh but they couldn’t hear him laugh, they were just playing jokes and then the shadow would leave and they would say just see the power of our mantras, that evil spirit could not touch our Nimai because, because Krishna protected Him.

It was from His very infancy, such a small little beautiful baby, the source of Narasinghadeva, the source of Varaha Deva, the source of the Universal form, the source of Maha Vishnu is here as a little baby. He cried, they tried everything and anything to somehow or other stop His crying but nothing worked. They would bring Him milk, His mother would try to feed Him from her breast, the milk of her love. They would rock Him, they would dance, they would do so many things for Him but He cried louder and louder and louder. Finally, in great desperation because they couldn’t tolerate seeing this child crying, they all gathered around Him in a circle and chanted the Holy Names of Krishna. And as soon as they did that, Nimai smiled and personally this little infant child caste His glance on each and every one of the chanters and He filled their hearts with joy, with ecstatic love. This became a regular pastime. Nimai would cry, then everybody was ready. As soon as He started crying, they would go in a circle around Him and together with one voice, with one heart to give happiness to little Nimai, they chanted the Holy Names, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare.

Sometimes when He was just lying in His little cradle, or whatever little bed He had, He hadn’t even learnt to crawl, when His mother and father would leave the room alone for a moment, He would destroy everything in the house. He would start breaking things and making, scattering the grains and the dal and the ghee and the yogurt and the milk and the rice and break pots and then they’d come back, how did this happen? Who came, what kind of demon came into this house? But how is it that they did not harm Nimai? It must be because of our prayers and our mantras because God protects innocent little babies. When they would come in Nimai would just be laying there like this, like this helpless little child. And when He did cry, everyone chanted the Holy Names, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare.

When He learned to crawl, gradually, they did the ‘Annaprashan’ where they gave Him His first grains and in Bengal specially in Navadwip at that time, it was a very wonderful festival, very elaborate festival they would have. After they gave little Nimai His first grains, they had a ceremony to see what His inclinations were. They put wonderful pile of grains and other type of food, then they put jewels and gold and silver, then a selection of scriptures, Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, Itihasas, a little library of scriptures. They put them to see what His inclination would be. Jagannath Mishra set the little baby Nimai, He was just crawling, he said, “Nimai, Vishwambhara, choose what you like best.” Please be ready. Nimai, blissfully crawled, directly without looking at any of the gold or the silver or the jewels or any of the grains or the foods, without looking at any other scripture, He went right to a particular book and He embraced it to His heart. That book was the Srimad Bhagavatam. Haribol!

One day when Nimai was still crawling, He was in the courtyard of Sachi Mata’s house at the Yoga Peeth. Gigantic snake was slithering through the courtyard and little Nimai, crawled up to the snake and grabbed the snake with His hand, wouldn’t let the snake go. Mothers fathers, what would you do if your little child who is just crawling, grabs the tail of a snake? Big poisoned snake appeared, Nimai grabbed it and the relatives saw this. They didn’t know what to do. Suddenly the snake because he couldn’t go anywhere, he coiled up, in a big coil and little Nimai crawled right on top and laid on top of the coils of a monstrous serpent. He looked like a monstrous serpent. Actually, He was Ananta Deva, the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nityananda Prabhu Himself who actually expanded Himself to participate in this wonderful pastime of the Lord. Nimai went to, He just went to rest smiling. His parents, all the relatives and devotees, they were stricken with horrible fear. They didn’t want to go near the snake because they were afraid if they disturbed the snake, he might devour or bite the little child. What could they do? There was nothing they could do except cry out for the protection of the child.

They cried Garuda Garuda! Because Garuda protects from snakes. As they were chanting Garuda Garuda and they were crying, they were fainting, they were rolling on the ground in distress. They were practically in the state of mind where they were about to see the Lord of their heart, the Lord of their life about to die. They were in so much distress. Anant Deva in the form of the snake, could see how much suffering He was causing all the devotees so He slithered away and as soon as He started slithering away little Nimai crawled after and tried to grab His tail again and as soon as that happened some of the ladies ran over and picked up Nimai and took Him to try to put in their laps but He kept jumping off their laps and the snake was still there, trying to grab the snake’s tail. They brought Him back again and again. Then the snake left and they were thinking it was because of their prayers that the Supreme Personality of Godhead protected their helpless little baby child. Vrindavan Das Thakura tells, one who hears this story with sincere devotion will be freed for ever from the snake bite of death.

The ladies were especially fond of chanting for Nimai and even when He was just a little baby who didn’t know how to walk yet, He was just crawling, He would be on their lap and He would dance. He was just on their lap dancing, smiling. As soon as they would chant He would smile, glance upon them and be dancing. When He gradually learnt to walk, the ladies of Navadwip would gather around Him and tell Nimai please dance and we will sing and they would sing and He would dance and He was so happy. He would run outside and He would go to people who were selling Sandesh and beg for Sandesh. Then He saw some other people selling bananas and He would beg for bananas, they just gave to Him and he would run back inside the house and He would have Sandesh and bananas and He distributed to all the ladies who were chanting for Him.

One day, Jagannath Mishra told little Nimai, “please bring my book” and little Nimai ran inside the house to get his book and Jagannath Mishra heard tinkling ankle bells but Nimai was not wearing ankle bells. Jagannath Mishra said how is this? How is it that I am hearing tinkling ankle bells? Sachi Mata said I am hearing too but He is not wearing ankle bells. Nimai brought the book and then He went off. Then they went in the house, they saw all over the house were tiny little footprints and those footprints had the symbols of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Vishnu, the thunderbolt, the flag, the conch shell. Jagannath and Sachi they shared amongst themselves, they were crying, they were in ecstasy that our Shaligrama Shila is so happy that He is actually manifesting Himself by walking all over our house and giving the sounds of ankle bells.

One day little Nimai, very small boy just a couple years old, He was roaming around Navadwip and two thieves, they noticed that Sachi Mata had put nice bangles and bracelets and necklace on the little boy, “we will steal it”. Meanwhile, Navadwip was very crowded place, there were so many people around so they were so devious. They pretended that they were the relatives of the child and they said, “Oh my little boy we will take You home, we see that You are here, we will come and pick You up and take You home.” They picked Him up and put Him on their shoulders and one was carrying and the other was giving Him Sandesh and He was riding on the shoulders of this thief and eating Sandesh after Sandesh. And meanwhile they are talking to each other, “when we bring Him to our house, I will get His golden bracelets”, the other said, “I will get His silver ankle bells” and the other said, “I will get the jewels” and they were deciding who would get which jewellery. They were completely obsessed with robbing this baby.

And meanwhile Nimai was just laughing, He was having a good ride eating Sandeshs. They roamed through the town, they came to where their hideout was. And when they came to that place they put the little child down. Meanwhile when they were gone, Sachi, Jagannath Mishra, all the friends, where is Nimai? They were looking all over for Him. They were asking everywhere, “did you see Nimai?” Nobody saw Him, it was a long time. They were in total distress. Can you imagine a city with so many hundreds and thousands of people everywhere and your little child is gone? They were crying, they were beating their heads in anguish, Nimai is gone! They didn’t know where to go, where to look. Suddenly the thieves, by the Lord’s mystical Yogamaya potency, they thought that it was their house but it was actually Nimai’s house and they put the child down and said, “here child, we are home.” And Nimai jumped into Jagannath Mishra’s lap and He embraced Him and embraced Him and Sachi Mata embraced Him and all the relatives were picking up Nimai and passing Him around and embracing Him and smiling and so relieved.

And meanwhile the thieves, they couldn’t understand how is this possible. They didn’t wanna be caught so they ran away as fast as they could, to escape. Meanwhile, they asked little Nimai, “how did You find Your way home?” Somebody said, “I saw two people bring Him home.” Jagannath Mishra said, “who are these two people?” and Nimai said, “oh what happened is that I got lost and these two very nice men, they picked Me up and brought Me home.” They were so grateful, they wanted to give a reward of gratitude, beautiful cloth turbans, they came to present to the thieves but they couldn’t find them anywhere because the thieves were running and hiding and when they finally did escape, they said to one another, they embraced and said, “Goddess Chandi saved us today.” But actually, those thieves, they were blessed with the highest perfection of life because they gave pleasure to Nimai. Even though they approached Him with such a dark purpose, somehow or other they made Him happy, they gave Him a nice ride, they gave Him nice sweetmeats. Vrindavan Das Thakura explains how supremely fortunate were those thieves.

It was at that time when Nimai and His friends were walking and running that Nimai began His pastimes, the pastimes of Krishna, of going into the house of the residents of Navadwip and stealing their butter and stealing their yogurt and stealing their ghee. Sometimes, if they couldn’t find them, they would just break everything around. Amazingly, no one was upset because of the pure innocence of Nimai and His all attractive nature. The highest aspiration of their lives was that Nimai would come to their homes and mess up their house and steal their butter and ghee. When they would….and yogurt. They could recognise that Nimai was performing the pastimes of Krishna in Vrindavan. I forget what time we are supposed to end today.

Today is Diwali. It is the day that Ramchandra, Sita and Lakshman returned to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile and Hanuman, Sugriva, Vibhishan, they all came to join this glorious festival and the citizens of Ayodhya lit lamps to welcome Ram back home after so many years of separation from Him. It was on this day of Diwali that Krishna performed His Damodar Lila. We have been discussing Nimai who is Krishna Himself how He was stealing the butter and the yogurt from the residents of Navadwip. Navadwip is non-different than Vrindavan. They are simultaneously non-different but there is a difference in the tattva. Vrindavan is Madhurya Dham, it’s the abode of the highest sweetness of loving exchanges. Navadwip is that same abode of Vrindavan with the same sweetness of ecstatic loving exchanges. Radha Krishna-pranaya-vikritir hladini saktir asmad, the one Supreme Krishna becomes two-Radha Krishna for the Madhurya leela of Sri Vrindavan Dham and they again become one Radha bhava duti subalitam naumi Krishna swarupam, in Navadwip but in Navadwip it is Odharaya Dham because that same sweetness of Vrindavan is being shared, distributed to everyone who is willing to open their hearts to accept it and follow the path of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

When Nimai was performing His leela as Krishna in Vrindavan, as soon as He learnt to walk, He was stealing butter and just like Nimai He gathered His friends together. Krishna and Balaram. Gopis would come and complain to Yashoda Mai that, “Krishna comes to our house early in the morning with His friends and releases the calves and then the calves go to the cows and we can’t control it. And sometimes They come into our house and They steal our butter, our yogurt and They break the clay pots and They eat it And then They call monkeys into our house and distribute to monkeys and after feeding fully, all the monkeys till they can’t eat any more butter, then They say this butter is so useless even the monkeys don’t want to eat it and then with little sticks and rocks They break all the pots of the butter and the yogurt, it’s all over. He does this every day. And sometimes to keep it away from Krishna, Balaram, and His friends, we hang the butter from ropes on the ceiling and they get boxes or grinding mortars and they get on top of it and if it’s still too high, on top of the boxes they’ll get on each other’s shoulders and they’ll steal the butter. And distribute it to monkeys and if it’s still too high, Krishna has a special stick with a special point, He will get on the shoulders of His friend and putttt and He will break the pot, make a hole in it and all the butter will fall out. Sometimes it’s so dark but they have these jewels that seem to light up everything”.

Yashoda Mai said. “I will take off the jewels” and they said, “No no no don’t take off the jewels because they seem to be so effulgent they light up the room anyway and let us tell you what else they do. Sometimes when they can’t find our butter or yogurt, they go to our little babies who are sleeping and they put water in their ears and they make them cry. And other times they go into our Temple rooms and pass urine on the floor.” How wonderful. How much more enjoying, five thousand years ago Krishna passed urine on the floor. He is all attractive. How many people relish when you pass urine so you are not God. God is all attractive. Whatever He does is fully totally attractive. God never becomes God, God is always God. Our joy is not to try to become God, our true joy is to love Krishna, to love His beautiful pastimes.

Gopis told Yashoda Mai, that, “when we try to catch Krishna, we say Krishna You are a thief” and Krishna looks at us and says no you are a thief and then He runs away and sometimes we catch Him and we want to bring Him to you to prove that He stole our butter but then Krishna looks at us. He is on our hand and He looks at us with such innocence with little tears in His eyes, and we let Him go. But we want to tell you Yashoda Mai He does this every day.” And then they said, “look at Krishna, He is looking so innocent, just to deceive you because we know behind his innocent little smile and the little tears in His eyes, He is plotting at this moment how He is going to steal our butter tomorrow.” Actually, the Gopis, they made their butter only with the hope that Krishna would come to steal it. Krishna is ‘Makhan Chor’. They would churn their butter with pure love for Krishna’s pleasure and Krishna came to steal it, to taste the sweetness of their love and in doing that, it was the greatest satisfaction. They were not complaining, they were actually glorifying and using the act of complaining as an excuse.

Once, Yashoda Mai went out of the house and when she was coming back she saw Krishna’s hand in a pot of butter. She said, “I caught You, I caught You stealing butter. You tell me You never steal butter but I caught You stealing butter” and little Krishna was so innocent, He said, “No, you put these bangles on Me today with rubies and it was so hot it was burning My wrist so I am putting My hand in the butter just to cool it off.” Yashoda Mai, she looked at Krishna’s wrist and with motherly love she said, “it’s true, Your hand looks burnt” and she started kissing His hand. And she said, “I will take off this bangle.” Another time Krishna was stealing butter and there was a jewelled pillar right beside Him, His reflection was in the jewelled pillar. When He saw, He was eating the butter, He saw a reflection, He said to the reflection, He said, “please don’t tell My mother what You are seeing. If You don’t tell My mother, I will share the butter with You.”

Yashoda Mai was watching the whole thing, smiling. Then she came and when Krishna saw her, He said, “I am not stealing butter” and He pointed to the reflection, “He is stealing. I told Him not to steal, I told Him it’s not good to steal butter, You should not steal butter but He became very angry with Me because He wanted to steal the butter so I became very angry with Him but I didn’t steal the butter, He did.” Yashoda Mai smiled. One time a Gopi caught Krishna stealing butter. She said, “Yashoda Mai never believes us but now I caught You, there is butter on Your face, there is butter on Your hand, I am going to bring You to Yashoda Mai.” And little Gopal, He is just a small child. He said, “I warn you, do not bring Me to My mother.” She was actually Krishna’s auntie. She said, “I am bringing You, now Yashoda will believe all the Gopis.”

She held Krishna’s hand, would not let go, brought Him before Yashoda Mai and said, “you see, what we have been saying is true, look butter on His face, butter on His hands, here is your son, He has stolen butter, I caught Him.” Yashoda Mai looked at this Gopi and said, “I don’t understand what you are talking about.” The Gopi said, “Krishna stole butter don’t you see?” She said, “I don’t see.” The Gopi looked down, it wasn’t Krishna, it was her own son, This Gopi was totally confused. She didn’t know what to say. She was very embarrassed. She said, “I am sorry, it’s my son. I thought it was Krishna, I am sorry Yashoda, I don’t understand”, and she left in a totally bewildered state and she was holding the hand of her son and after they walked some distance, the little child said, “I warned you” and she looked down and she was holding the hand of Krishna. Krishna became very sober. He said, “if you ever do this again, I will take the form of your husband.”

On the day of Diwali, in the early morning, such a beautiful festival in Vrindavan. Yashoda Mai, she wanted to prepare the butter for Krishna at every step herself so that Krishna wouldn’t go out and steal from others. So Yashoda Mai out of the large herd of cows of Nanda Maharaj, 900,000 cows, they had a 108 very special cows, and then they had 8 of the most special cows and of the most special cows they had one cow or two cows that would eat this Pushpagandha, this special grass that was watered with the milk of the best cows and the milk that came from that cow, its fragrance was intoxicatingly sweet with the essence of lotus flowers, it was so nutritious, it was so delicious and Yashoda Mai would personally grow that grass and personally milk those cows and she was personally churning it into yogurt to make into butter. As she was churning early in the morning, Krishna was sleeping. As she was churning very enthusiastically, chanting the beautiful pastimes of Gopal, tears of motherly love swelling in her eyes as she chanted His glories and His names remembering Him with such sweet devotion. Her bangles were like a beautiful Kirtan, ch-ching, ch-ching, ch-ching and the churning rod in the pot was like the churning of an ocean, it was like whooff, whooff whooff whooff whooff. Her saree was becoming loosened and flowers were falling from her hair, there was perspiration as she was chanting Krishna’s glories and remembering Krishna, milk began to flow from her breast, in motherly love.

Krishna awoke with a desire to taste the sweetness of Mother Yashoda’s love so He ran over and He held the churning rod so she could not churn anymore. And then He jumped on Yashoda Mai’s lap and said, He didn’t have to say anything. He indicated that I am hungry. Yashoda Mai with Krishna on her lap began feeding Him. She was looking at His beautiful face, His lotus like eyes would reach to His ears almost, His nose like a sesame flower, His lips like fresh bimba fruit, His teeth growing in which were like little pearls, His wonderful hair was circling His moonlike face. Yashoda Mai looking at the face of Krishna as He was drinking her milk, was floating in an ocean of motherly love for the Supreme Absolute Truth. Just then, the milk on the stove in the kitchen was boiling over. Yashoda Mai understood, this is the Pushpagandha milk, the very very special milk that’s only for Krishna’s satisfaction. She was preparing preparations for Krishna. So, she put Krishna down in the service of Krishna. When she ran to the kitchen, Krishna became angry. No one should have any priority above pleasing Me and serving Me. This was His little baby message to the world. Vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana bahu-sakha hy anantas ca buddhayo ‘vyavasayinam, that Krishna wants our resolute determination to serve Him and please Him.

So Yashoda Mai left Krishna. Krishna has decided to give her a good message. The first thing is He did, is He started, He took a rock, little piece of stone, He broke the clay pot. The butter, which was actually not even butter yet, it was still yogurt, it was running all over the floor. It was very slippery and Krishna left and He went into another little storeroom where there were other pots of butter and with rocks He was breaking all the pots everywhere He was going and whenever He would find nice butter, He was eating some and eating some and then breaking more pots and eating some more and then He would go to another little area and break more pots and eat that. Then He got up on a grinding mortar and He was sitting there with a pot of butter eating it. He called His friends, His little cowherd boyfriends, the little tiny children they gathered around, He was distributing butter fresh churned butter. When all the boys ate to their full satisfaction He called the monkeys. Monkeys came, He was feeding the monkeys and they were so happy eating. Some of the commentators of Srimad Bhagavatam describe, in Ram-Leela monkeys came and helped Ram in so many ways but at that time Ram was in exile, He didn’t have a kingdom, He had no possessions so He couldn’t reciprocate but now those monkeys came again and He could reward them by giving them nice fresh butter from His own loving hands and monkeys were so happily eating it.

Meanwhile Yashoda Mai took the pot off the stove, she came back to finish feeding Krishna. Krishna wasn’t there. “Where is my Gopal?” Then she saw the pot is broken and she saw the little buttery footprints of Gopal on the floor. So, she picked up a stick, nice little stick, not to hit Krishna but just to show Him so He would take it seriously and she followed the butter footprints and as she followed them she saw another butter pot broken and another and another and another. He was leaving a trail wherever He went. Then in the courtyard sitting on a grinding mortar He was eating the butter feeding to His friends and feeding to the monkeys and Yashoda Mai was hiding and watching. Krishna appeared to be so much afraid, He kept looking in all directions to see if His mother was coming. She very silently approached from behind and eeee, the moneys saw and they all started running, jumping away and the cowherd boys started running away and Krishna looked around and there was His mother standing right behind Him and He jumped off the grinding mortar. He fled, ran away. Yashoda Mai was running after Him, she was running, He was running and she was running and He was running. Krishna is the Absolute truth. He is faster than the speed of mind. No one can catch Krishna by their own endeavours.

As Yashoda Mai was chasing after, why was she chasing Him? Because she was so worried about Him. Shukadev Goswami tells in Srimad Bhagavatam that Rohini, the mother of Balaram and Yashoda the mother of Krishna, they were constantly in the state of transcendental ecstatic anxiety. Does that make sense? Because people are Om Shanti Shanti, people are seeking peace. Why do you want to constantly be in anxiety? But billions and trillions of, quadrillions limitlessly times more wonderful and pleasurable than peace is love, Prema and the anxiety of the mothers for their child were an expression of their love and the more anxiety they had, the more it inspired their love to grow. How could something that’s unlimited grow? But on the spiritual realm that’s what happens. Yashoda Mai was chasing Krishna and sometimes Krishna would be against a wall and He would say to His, He was crying, He would say to His mother, “put that stick down, please out that stick down” and Yashoda Mai would start coming to Krishna and then He would move back and forth and escape. And again, He would run away and she’d be running after Him. She was becoming so exhausted. Flowers were falling from her hair, peacock feathers were falling from her hair, her saree was becoming loosened, perspiration was dripping from her nose.

It was then, Krishna, to show the whole world the power of Bhakti, He allowed Himself to be caught by His mother. He had that kajal around His eyes, He was crying so much it was black streaks going across His body, it looked so beautiful like bumblebees on a blue lotus. He said, “please put down the stick.” Yashoda Mai threw the stick away. Yashoda Mai said, “O friend of the monkeys, due to your association with monkeys, You have become just like a monkey, stealing, doing so much mischief.” Krishna, He said, “I admit that I stole the butter, please, please forgive Me.” Yashoda Mai was so concerned that Krishna may run into the forest or do some mischief that could harm Him that she called for her servants, her assistants to bring very soft, smooth, silken ropes to tie up Krishna, just to bind Him by the waist so that she could go and do her chores and He would not hurt Himself. She took the rope to put around His little waist. It was the length or the width of two fingers too short. She tied another rope to that, it was still exactly the width of two fingers too short. More and more and more, all the rope in her entire house she tied together, still it was two fingers too short. How is this? His waist was not growing but the ropes were growing. He had a little waist, and there was so much rope but still it was exactly two fingers too short.

The neighbouring ladies, Gopis, they were watching this fun, Yashoda Mai said, “please bring the ropes from your house”, so all these different Gopis came with all the ropes from their house. Yashoda Mai kept tying more and more and more. There was huge amount of rope, still two fingers too short. The Gopis told Yashoda, “it’s not Krishna’s destiny to be bound today. This is inconceivable, this is impossible, we don’t understand but obviously you cannot bind Him.” Yashoda Mai said, “I am His mother, I must protect Him by any means and besides that I must discover how many ropes it takes to put around my little child’s waist.” The whole while Krishna was crying because He didn’t wanna be bound. The Supreme cause of all causes, there is no inside, there is no outside, everything that exists outside and inside in the entire Universe is within Him. Nothing can be inside or outside of Him. All contradictions possible, the Lord is transcendental to all of them. But by the power of Mother Yashoda’s motherly love, Krishna agreed to be bound up. She tied the rope around Krishna’s waist. Then she went to perform her chores.

Little Gopal, He was talking to His friends, He was smiling, He was very playful, then He saw in the courtyard two enormous Arjuna trees and He remembered how long long ago Narada Muni, His beloved devotee was in a heavenly world and the two twin sons of Kuvera- Nalakuvera and Manigriva heavenly denizens, they were in a lake, having sports with beautiful heavenly ladies. Because they were so beautiful, these Demigods and so powerful, sons of Kuvera, they had incredible wealth, they had opulences that are inconceivable to any of us. But because they had such beauty, such knowledge, such wealth, such fame, they had enormous false egos. They were thinking that everything was meant for their enjoyment. So, as they were enjoying doing all these sports with these ladies in the lotus flower water, Narada Muni came. He saw they were all naked. So, the ladies they understood that this is improper, the great sage Narada is here so they jumped out of the water and they covered their bodies and they disappeared.

But Manigriva and Nalakuvera, they couldn’t care less who Narada Muni was, because they were so proud themselves. And Narada Muni spoke to them and Srila Prabhupada goes into beautiful detail, how sometimes when people have so much power, so much beauty, so much wealth, they think everything’s mine and they don’t offer respect to others because they just think they are so great. So Narada Muni, in order to bless them, he gave them a curse- you like to be naked, become trees. Suddenly, they became trees. These wonderful Demigods, they had to just stand in one place for thousands of years, they couldn’t move, they couldn’t talk, burning summers, cold winters, they just stood there and after thousands of years, in the very place where they were, it became the courtyard of Nanda Maharaj in Gokul, Mahavan.

They still had the same consciousness as Demigods. They didn’t have the consciousness of trees, they were just in tree bodies, and after thousands of years they became very humble in that condition and they were able to truly appreciate watching Krishna’s pastimes. They fell in love with Krishna. Krishna saw the trees and wanted to fulfil the blessing of Narada Muni, so he crawled with the grinding mortar behind Him and He crawled between the trees. The grinding mortar got caught between them and Krishna just slightly pulled Vrooommmm, the trees broke and fell to the ground and out from the trees came Nalakuvera and Manigriva in their beautiful Demigod forms. They offered prayers to Krishna and in their beautiful prayers they thanked Narada Muni for his blessing. “What was taken to be a curse was his greatest blessing. We pray that wherever You put us, whatever birth You want us to be in, that we are always the loving servants of the servants of Your servants my Lord.” They surrendered their hearts to Krishna. Krishna sent them back to the heavenly worlds and told them you will enjoy now and go back to Godhead. They attained perfection by the blessing of Narada Muni and by the mercy of Krishna.

The Brijwasis when they heard the falling of the trees which was like thunder and earthquake, they came running. Nanda Maharaj saw little Gopal between the trees tied up. Nanda Maharaj untied Him, took Him on his lap. The cowherd men asked the cowherd boys what happened and they told everything. Krishna took the stone grinding mortar between the trees, the trees fell and these beautiful people with crowns and jewels who were illuminated like light, they offered their prayers to Krishna and then they left. Cowherd men, “how can we believe these children?” and some others were thinking Krishna does so many wonderful things. Nanda Maharaj said to Krishna, “who tied You up?” Krishna said, He whispered in Nanda’s ear, “My mother.” Nanda Maharaj brought little Krishna home. Yashoda Mai was so guilty feeling, “what I have done, I put Krishna in such a dangerous situation and Krishna must be very angry with me. Why did I do this?” She was so ashamed, she was so guilty in her motherly love. She couldn’t even show her face. Nanda Maharaj brought Krishna home and he ate lunch with Balaram, the three of them and meanwhile Yashoda Mai was hiding, she was fasting and Nanda Maharaj brought Krishna and Balaram to the Goshala where they were milking the cows and Nanda Maharaj, because Krishna liked to take the milk from His mother, Nanda Maharaj gave Him fresh milk from the cows.

Rohini, she saw the state of Yashoda Mai. When Nanda, Krishna and Balaram came back home, Rohini, she explained what Yashoda Mai’s condition was, “she is fasting and because she is fasting all the other Gopis are fasting, she is simply crying, she is feeling so guilty.” Nanda Maharaj said, “Krishna would You like to see Your mother?” Krishna said, “I want to be with My father.” Nanda Maharaj said, “but don’t You want to drink the milk of Your mother?” Krishna said, “My father will give Me the milk from the cows mixed with sugar.” Rohini Devi said, “Yashoda Mai, don’t do this to her. Her heart is broken.” Nanda Maharaj said, “she is the one who tied up Krishna.” Rohini said, “don’t be so harsh. She will not be able to live.” Nanda Maharaj said, “don’t You want to see Your mother?” Rohini said, “please” and Krishna just looked at His father with so much love and affection and then Nanda Maharaj gazing into Krishna’s beautiful lotus eyes, he indicated, “if You don’t go to be with Your mother, she is going to die.” At that moment Krishna began to cry. He jumped off Nanda Maharaj’s lap and ran to His mother, “Mata, Mata” and Yashoda Mai was crying out, “Gopal, Gopal.” Little Gopal ran up to her and embraced her by the neck, she was crying, He was blissful and she put Him on her lap and He very happily drank Her milk.

The two fingers, in this story, the short of the rope, Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakura tells, they represent two principles that are very important to reach Krishna. One is our own eagerness, our own enthusiasm, our own endeavour, on the path of Bhakti and two is Krishna’s mercy. Srila Prabhupada has given us this simple formula, to sincerely chant these sixteen rounds, at least, every day of the Hare Krishna Mantra, to follow these four regulative principles, to truly try to understand how everything is Krishna’s property, to be utilised in Krishna’s service-our abilities, our intelligence, our wealth, our property, our influence over others. We are not the enjoyers. Our true nature and our only real happiness is to serve, ‘Seva’. When we follow these principles, engaged in whatever service we may be having, practicing our Sadhana and our regulative principles with the proper attitude of a Vaishnav, with the proper character of a devotee, when we are really endeavouring sincerely in this way, then Krishna gives His mercy.

Raga-dvesa-vimuktais tu visayan indriyais caran atma-vasyair vidheyatma prasadam adhigacchati, Krishna tells in Gita, by following the regulative principles of freedom, the path of Bhakti, one gets the mercy of the Lord and by the mercy of the Lord we can transcend the false ego, we can transcend all the anarthas of this world and all our desires for happiness and distress. Bhakti is a descending process, it’s the path of grace. Even in our devotional service, our endeavour is to practice Krishna consciousness, to spread Krishna consciousness, to serve the Vaishnavas. When we do it, endeavour with humility, with sincerity, with determination, Krishna is pleased. When Krishna is pleased, He bestows His mercy upon us. And that mercy, Sri Radharani’s mercy is the greatest power in all of existence. There is no way to reach Krishna except by Krishna’s mercy. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu here in Navadwip, came to show us. Krishna Himself in the bhava of Sri Radha has come to show us how we can endeavour in our life, with determination, with sincerity and by doing so, please Him.

In Srirangam, in that Temple, the Brahmin was reading Bhagavad Gita but he was practically illiterate. Srila Prabhupada would love to tell this story. But because He was trying to please His Guru by reading all the seven hundred verses of Bhagavad Gita every day, Lord Chaitanya showed His mercy and gave him the highest perfection of life. Rupa Goswami, Sanatan Goswami, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya were the greatest scholars in the Universe, but they were more humble than blades of grass. Whatever we have, whatever we don’t have, if we endeavour with sincerity, to follow these simple principles that Prabhupada has given us on behalf of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, then we receive Their mercy. We have all come here to Navadwip, to endeavour, to take serious commitments in our life to endeavour in such a way, as the servant of the servant of the servant, taking shelter of Srimad Bhagavatam, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Bhagavad Gita and the great Vaishnav Scriptures, taking shelter of the Holy Names, taking shelter of the association of devotees, taking shelter of our founder Acharya Srila Prabhupada’s infinite blessings. Srila Prabhupada is personally blessing all of us and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy is flowing through him, if we simply endeavour sincerely. We have come to Navadwip to beg for these blessings.

Thank you very much!

Written by

Radhanath Swami

H.H Radhanath Swami is one of today’s most beloved and respected spiritual teachers. A Bhakti Yoga practitioner for 40 years, he is a guide, community builder, philanthropist, and acclaimed author.Born and raised in Chicago,at the age of 19 he discovered India's Mystical devotional tradition and now spread his message of compassion and love around the world.

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About Me

Radhanath Swami

H.H Radhanath Swami is one of today’s most beloved and respected spiritual teachers. A Bhakti Yoga practitioner for 40 years, he is a guide, community builder, philanthropist, and acclaimed author.Born and raised in Chicago,at the age of 19 he discovered India's Mystical devotional tradition and now spread his message of compassion and love around the world.