Gaura Purnima lecture by HH Mahavisnu Swami

[Guest guest]

>From Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir

 

March 25, 2005, Gaura Purnima

Verse: Sri Siksastam

Speaker: HH Mahavisnu Swami

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[iMPORTANT NOTE: This is only a paraphrased summary compiled from our notes

from the Gaura Purnima lecture. Thus some sections may be incomplete or not

fully accurate.]

 

 

I was asked to speak on history of Lord Caitanya's birth. And Jayapataka

Maharaja said everything I wanted to say. Fortunately, by the mercy of Panca

Tattva, I have some inspiration. . . Devotees accept something from me. ?

 

I think everybody knows these wonderful prayers of Lord Caitanya. Let's sing

them so that we can please Panca Tattva in this auspicious day. Sri Sri

Siksastaka. Who knows Siksastaka? OK.

 

[Reads introduction to Siksastaka]

 

"Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed His disciples to write books on the

Science of Krsna, a task which those who follow Him have continued to carry

out down to the present day. The elaborations and expositions on the

philosophy taught by Lord Caitanya are in fact most voluminous, exacting and

consistent due to the system of disciplic succession. Although Lord Caitanya

was widely renowned as a scholar in His youth, He left only eight verses,

called Siksastaka. These eight verses clearly reveal His mission and

precepts. These supremely valuable prayers are translated herein."

 

All of us can be reminded of the mission of Lord Caitanya.

 

You just join in with me.

 

[sings Siksastaka 1 accompanied by his accordian and other instruments]

 

"Glory to the Sri Krsna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust

accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of

repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction

for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon.

It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of

transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which

we are always anxious."

 

When I first joined the temple--it was back in the late '60's--I was very

cold and hungry. One mataji told me "You come for prasadam", but there was

only some dahl left. "Oh, I'm sorry, everything else is finished." So I was

looking around the prasadam room. There was a big painting of this figure.

He had long black hair. . . . I thought "This is just like one of our fellow

hippies, taking so much intoxication. Here is the picture of an intoxicated

hippie. Oh, I feel at home here."

 

I was searching for a higher taste. This sankirtana movement gives a higher

taste. For me this was the most important thing. To find something better

than sense gratification. Trying to find some pleasure in the material

world, but it is bhava maha-davagni, the fire of conditional life. So many

sufferings, but in the samsara prayers we hear how the spiritual master

extinguishes the forest fire of material life.

 

Everyone is going for sense gratification and are so eager to become like

those in the West. Also in India. They are like moths. All over the world,

people are actually suffering so much by sense gratification, but we have

this higher taste. That's what we have to have.

 

[sings Siksastaka 2]

 

"O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living

beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krsna and

Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your

transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting

these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You

by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for

them."

 

So this is our problem: that we have no attraction for the chanting of the

holy names, although Lord Caitanya has made it so easy for us. Krsna's name

is so personal. In Africa, they have many names for Krsna. We say ??, it

means God bless you. Another one ??, God bless you. Within the heart. So God

has many names. Most of them are official names. I always remember this

verse of the Siksastakam.

 

When I was in Russia, I was told this story. Who has heard of Boris Yeltsin?

Once he was visiting his birthplace. As he got off the plane, so many people

were there to welcome him, calling out "O Mr. President! Mr. Yeltsin!" He

was walking down from the runway to receive his reception. But he had one

school friend there, who called him by his old school nickname. When Boris

Yeltsin heard himself being called by his nickname, tears came from his

eyes, and ignoring everyone else, he embraced his friend in front of

everybody. This was because the name was so personal.

 

That's the kind of name that attracts. Everybody knows God, "Maybe there's

somebody up there somewhere." But nobody knows for sure. So Lord Caitanya

used to chant this one, "Krsna". Mother Yasoda too, Krsna's friends also

used it. He is so attractive that everybody wants to serve Him.

 

Once Prabhupada asked "Why is this movement going on? I am not paying

anybody to make this movement go on. But it's going on because you love me,

and thus you are prepared to do so much sacrifice."

 

But in this verse we see how we are so unfortunate that we do not have

attraction for Krsna. . . .

 

[sings Siksastaka 3]

 

"One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind,

thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more

tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be

ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant

the holy name of the Lord constantly."

 

So does anyone know why we cannot chant the holy name of the Lord

constantly? No taste, no asakti, no tolerance, too many offences. So

therefore, there is an institution. Advanced devotees like. . . ? May be we

can do without the GBC, we can do without mangala-arati and be like

paramahamsas and the Deities could jump down and dance down with us, like

they did in Kheturi. It was the first Gaura Purnima Festival arranged by

Narottama Das Thakur and the Deities jumped down into the kirtana. . . .

 

Unfortunately They are not doing it for us. May be one day They will, when

our hearts are pure. We have a lot to aspire for, cleansing the heart. Even

this institution. . . the last thing I wanted to do was join an institution.

But I did because Srila Prabhupada is so sweet, Krsna is so sweet. It's much

better than the material world. "It's time to get up for mangala-arati. It's

time to take prasadam". This helps our hearts to become meek and humble. . .

..? Surrender to this transcendental institute.

 

[sings Siksastaka 4]

 

"O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire

beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your

causeless devotional service birth after birth."

 

I had a friend Dhruvanatha who passed away last year. He always used to say,

"I can't say say this verse." So actually this is the price we have to pay.

This is the gateway.

 

[break]

 

It showed his Guru Maharaja's glory. (?) He was proud of them, his dancing

white elephants. "Here are my dancing white elephants. This is my miracle. I

don't desire any credit. I simply follow the order of my Guru Maharaja.

 

[break]

 

But we are following someone, Srila Prabhupada, who didn't have these

desires. We have such a founder-acarya, if we become attached to pleasing

him, then these dirty things within the heart will become cleansed.

 

How am I doing for time? Who's the time keeper?

 

[sings "ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram"]

 

5. "O son of Maharaja Nanda [Krsna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow

or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up

from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus

feet."

 

So going more deeply into our situation in this world, it is our philosophy

that each one of us has come from Krsna as we've forgotten Krsna. Srila

Prabhupada wrote in a letter to Madhudvisa Prabhu that actually we've never

left Krsna, we're with Krsna, just like a man is lying with with his wife in

bed and she is asleep. He wants to wake her so they can be happy together.

 

So now we're dreaming that we're servants of this dead body, we just saw a

dead body, our Godnephew yesterday. He died, but where did the real person

go? I'm not this body, this is the good wonderful news, not only that but we

love someone like Krsna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, who's having so many

pastimes in Vrndavana. Prabhupada indicated that he was very attracted to

Krsna as a cowherd boy.

 

Prabhupada said we should come to this Festival. . . ? maybe we're

forgetting Vrndavana. We should enter Vrndavana through the mercy of Lord

Caitanya, then we'll be purified. After serving Lord Caitanya we can enter

Vrndavana and begin to understand Krsna, the son of Nanda Maharaja. Krsna

consciousness is so nice, it's gradually awakening us.

 

[sings "nayanam galadasru dharaya"]

 

"O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing

constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and

when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?"

 

Lord Caitanya used to set the example in Jagannath Puri, He used to live in

the little cell known as Gambhira. Sometimes He would disappear from there.

"How could he have gone?" the devotees would wonder. He used to rub his head

against the wall, feeling separation from Krsna. He was banging his head

against the wall. The devotees were alarmed "We must find Him! Where has

Lord Caitanya gone?" They were running down the beach searching for Him.

 

He had fallen into the water and his body became long, all His limbs

separated and the devotees saw Him stretched out ten feet long so they

chanted: [responsively, begins kirtana]

 

And Lord Caitanya woke up and came to his normal size. Another time they

found him in the cowshed, all his skin was like jackfruit, all his limbs

went into his body. At Rathayatra His tears were flowing like a syringe. Yet

He's saying in His prayer "When will this happen?" He's still feeling if

only I could feel more separation. Just like Radharani. . . Lord Caitanya

used to say that "Surely I would have died already. . . if I really felt

love for Krsna, then why aren't I dead?"

 

[sings "yugayitam"]

 

"O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like

twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain,

and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence."

 

[sings "aslisya va pada ratam"]

 

"I know no one but Krsna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He

handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being

present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for

He is always my worshipful Lord unconditionally."

 

This is a stern reminder that we shouldn't unnecessarily complain. We're

very fond of complaining about our sorry plight, so many terrible things

have happened to us, personally. Of course we should be very sorry if

terrible things happen to other devotees, but not for ourselves. . . Lord

Caitanya is in the mood of Radharani, and She's saying that "Even if I feel

brokenhearted, still Krsna is my Lord."

 

I met one Godbrother the other day and he lamented, "I was married for 24

years and my wife recently divorced me. I thought I was the ideal grhastha,

I brought up children, everything. Maybe I made a little mistake, but now I

feel like I'm a living dead man. I'm trying to come alive after this

shocking experience."

 

But he did the right thing--he didn't take to the bottle or some LSD, no, he

came back to Mayapur to take shelter of the devotees because he knows we

have no other Lord than Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He didn't

want to leave Krsna.

 

This is the last verse of Siksastakam. Thank you very much for tolerating

me.

 

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!