Gaurapurnima

Origin of the Holi festival

0:13And all their clothes is yellow and green and white and red. And the meaning of this festival, Lord Cetinya, not without a reason, appeared on this festival.

0:36Because this is the very ancient festival of love, which was celebrated since very long. Actually, the origin of this festival is from another yuga. This holy, the word holy is coming from the name Holika.

0:59Holika is a very holy name. It was the name of the sister of Hiranyakashipu. She was a very holy woman, and she was a demoness at the same time. Being a great ascetic, she performed some austerities for a long time.

1:21And by this austerities, Agni, the god of fire, came to her and granted her benediction. And Agni said, you will never be touched by Agni. You will never be touched by fire. Fire will not harm you in any circumstances.

1:40So this holy sister of—when she saw how much suffering undergoes Hiranyakashipu to kill his son— He was trying by all means. He was throwing him under the elephants.

1:55He was throwing him in the pit of snakes, cobras, so on and so forth. So this Holika, she became very compassionate towards her brother, Hiranyakashipu.

2:08And she said to her brother, If you want me to kill him, I will kill him. I will take him into the fire. And then he will be burnt and I will not be burnt. So let's make this arrangement.

2:23And Hiranyakashipu was very happy about this, and they made a huge fire. Many many meters high. You know huge huge fire.

2:30All the wood which was there in the kingdom of Hiranyakashipu was brought there, and after some time, when the fire was finished, they all saw that she was burned, but Prahlāda Mahārāja was not burned.

2:58That was the end of story. So, since that time, people are celebrating this event because Prahlāda Mahārāja was protected. And ultimately this is the festival when the people are celebrating this protection of the Lord.

3:21But just to kind of commemorate this event, people are throwing dice.

3:29And originally it was only red dye, and the red dye was like a cloud of the fire, it was like imitation of the fire, and you know, the meaning of this throwing dye was that, you know, you enter this fire and you are still safe because Lord is protecting you.

3:46But after some time the meaning slightly changed. And actually this festival is very famous, especially in Vraja. In Vraja area, in one village, there is a special schedule.

4:01This festival is celebrated for five days or sometimes seven days in a row. And in one village they made these huge fires. And there are special Vaishnavas who are living there. The Nṛsiṁha Vaishnavas.

4:16They're worshiping Lord Nṛsiṁha there. And to prove that they're protected by the Lord, these Vaishnavas enter this huge fire. This fire is also many meters high. You know, they're entering.

4:29Of course, they don't stay there in the fire, but they go from another side. And they're not harmed at all. That's one way of celebrating this Holi.

4:39But in the rest of Vraja, people are celebrating Holi as much and in the same manner as gopīs were celebrating Holi. And it's a very special event. And especially this event or this day is celebrated in Varshana.

4:59And there is a very special way how they celebrate it in Varshana. In Varshana, the celebration on this day starts very early. And usually the pandits, the mahans from Nanda Ground, at that day come to Varshana.

5:17And all the pandits or mahans, all the priests of Varshana, they come to the temple of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, which is there in Varshana. Varshana is the birthplace of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. And they sit in front of each other.

5:30And they get the best mridanga players. And they get the huge drum. Not like this. The huge drum. You know.

5:38And the best mridanga player is there and they start bhajan and they start bhajan in a very special way they sit in front of each other and first the people from Varshana, they start singing something. And they sing something together.

5:57Not like we sing bhajan, you know, somebody sings that others repeat. They sing together. All the pandits who are there, they all know by heart the bhajan. And from Varshana they are starting accusing Krishna.

6:10Krishna is so bad. Krishna is dead. Krishna is black. And his heart is black. Because his heart is black. He is so treacherous. So they say and then the turn of people from Varshana starts.

6:26Oh sorry from Nandagram and from Nandagram the people from Nandagram they start singing their accusation against the people from Varshana and they say, you're so bad. Krishna is good. You're bad.

6:39But they never take the name of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. So it's going on for a couple of hours. This battle and a bargain.

6:47They're sitting together and the, you know, the drum is becoming boom boom boom boom boom boom more and more intense and they're like hurling curses to each other. You're you're better now, you're mad now.

6:58Because there is an ancient rivalry between Varshana and Nandagram. Is a very special thing. In Varshana the ladies are very powerful and in Nandagram the men are very powerful. This is the eternal war between the sexes.

7:14So at one point the atmosphere becomes so intense that you know somebody you know his nerves break because you know there is so much going on you know and the drum is beating and singing and finally somebody just throws gulaal to the opposite side. And then then the madness starts.

7:36The madness breaks, you know. They're throwing, you know, water and gulaal and everything and it becomes really mad and at the same time they're singing. So that's how it's going on in Varshana.

7:51It's a very special festival.

7:53And then after that the ladies from Varshana they go and they beat all the men. You know, all the men from Nandagram and the men are not supposed to protect themselves, they just beat them. Anyway, that's the only day when they do it. But and usually in this festival, not usually always, people from Varshana won. That's a tradition.

8:22Never people from Nandagram. When they go there, they know they will lose. They still fight for Krishna, but usually they lose.

Significance of Lord Caitanya's appearance

8:31Always they lose because this is the festival of love. Because ultimately what can protect us in this world only Love. There's nothing else which can protect us.

8:44And even though originally that was the festival of celebrating this protection, of protecting event, ultimately this become a festival of Love.

8:53And because the love of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is stronger, therefore people from Varsana always win. And Lord Caitanya he has chosen to come to this world on this very day.

9:11Because his point which he wanted to make by appearing on this day is that the love stronger. He wanted by his appearance, the appearance day of incarnation, it's called Vijaya or Jayanti. Jayanti means triumph.

9:30Jayanti means victory. By coming to this world, the Lord is always victorious. When we come to this world, we're always defeated. Like these poor people from Nandagram, you know.

9:45When we come to this world, we always cry, you know, because we know ultimately we will be defeated. We will be defeated by death, by old age, by disease, you know, we will be totally useless.

9:58But when the Lord comes to this world, the day of his appearance is called Jayanti which means victory. Because by the very fact that he is coming, he is already victorious.

10:10And Lord Chaitanya has chosen to appear on this day because this is the victory of love. Lord Caitanya is the incarnation of Love, of Love of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

10:20And when he comes, he wants to prove and to make clear for everyone that ultimately the Love is victorious. The love is only triumphant sink which is here in this world.

10:35So, that's the reason why Lord Citanya appeared on this Holy Day. And usually also on this day the swing festival in Vrindavan and Brachy area is being performed.

10:47Radha and Krishna are placed on a swing and a swing together. So this combined incarnation of Radha and Krishna has appeared on this particular day.

11:01And Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya composed this beautiful bhajan in celebration of Lord Caitanya. And he's describing his appearance and his mission.

11:15Please, try to be very attentive and, you may use the sheets, to follow my explanations of this bhajan.

11:24But first, before I start explaining the bhajans, the stanza after stanza of this particular bhajan, I would like to make a few points about conversion of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya.

11:36Yesterday I already told the story about conversion of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya. How he was about to be converted actually. I didn't tell about conversion.

11:49But I told that he was a very, you know, genius and at the same time stone hearted logician. Now only logic was there in his mind. And his heart was very hard like a stone.

12:03And after the encounter with Lord Chitanya, you know, initial encounter with Lord Chitanya, as I described yesterday, he developed some doubts about the rightness of his way of life.

12:17Some doubt appeared in his in his heart because he saw Lord Chitanya who is crying, is in complete ecstasy and some kind of slight hope appeared in his heart. May I one day be like him.

12:33May this day will come when I become like him. When I also the tears of love will flow from my eyes. And after this initial hope or thought, Gopīnātha Ācārya started praying for him.

12:49And in fact, Gopinatha Acharya, when he heard arrogant words of Sarvabhava Matacarya, when Sarvabhava Matacarya was speaking with Lord Caitanya. And Sarva Bhaum Matachari told Lord Caitanya, You're just young sannyasis.

13:03What hope is there for you to maintain your sannyas vows? There is no hope unless I teach you and unless I reinitiate you into higher sampradaya.

13:13And when Gopinatha Acharya heard these arrogant words of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, he became so gripped in his heart and he blocked his ears and he said Vishnu Vishnu Vishnu and he went out and he said I will fast until this guy will become a devotee and I will not take food until and unless he will become a Vaishnava.

13:37And he started praying to Lord Caitanya. My dear Lord, please do something to convert this man. Please do something so that his stone heart, stone like heart would melt.

13:50So, because of this initial prayer of Gopinath Acharya and because of his determination, Gopinath Acharya said, I will not eat, I will not take even a drop of water until he will become a Vaishnava.

14:04So, Lord Caitanya, because he is very merciful to his devotees, he blessed Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. And we know how it happened. For seven days in a row, Gopinatha Acharya was fasting.

14:16And for seven days in a row, Lord Caitanya was listening explanations of Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. And Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya very logically was describing this Nyaya Shastra.

14:27The Nyaya Prasthana of Vedanta-sutra which is full of logic and he was describing and telling and Lord Caitanya was sitting there totally bored.

14:37Was sitting there without saying a word and Sarvabhauma Acharya was continuing and continuing. And ultimately he kind of was wondering, you know, why you're silent? Why do you keep silence?

14:51It was going on and on and on and on. Finally Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said, I don't understand whether you understand me or not. I'm saying and telling and you're listening. I see you're listening.

15:01But I don't understand whether you understand what I say or not. And Lord Caitanya said, My dear sir, I understand the meaning of the Sutras, but I don't understand what you're talking about.

15:15The meaning of the Sutras is as clear as the sun. They don't need your explanations. Your explanation is like a cloud. They only make it the clear thing unclear. And he became completely, you know, he blew up.

15:31He said, What do you mean? What do you mean? And said, if you want to listen, I can explain to you what I mean. And he started explaining Vedanta-sutra in a completely different way.

15:43And Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya was trying to argue. Still, this logic, this contamination of jnana was there very deep rooted in his heart. And he was arguing and they were arguing together.

15:52And Lord Caitanya, he was just saying in a smiling, with a smiling face, you know, arguments. And ultimately, Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya said, I can't say anything. You defeated me. You're right. I was wrong.

16:06You know, and it's for a logician. It's the most difficult thing to pronounce. To say you're right and I'm wrong. This is practically impossible for somebody who likes to argue, for somebody who knows logic, you know.

16:20And Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya is the greatest logician of world. So he pronounced this and he said, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. But then in his heart there was a desire, no still I'm right, still I will show you.

16:34So he said, could you please explain me this at Marama Sloka? Atmarama Sloka for Ramshima Bhagavadam. Because Lord Caitanya, he mentioned this.

16:42Lord Caitanya, he mentioned in his explanation of Vedanta Sutra that Bhakti is greater than anything else. Lord Caitanya said that Bhakti is greater and the proof is Shinka Deva Gasvami.

16:54Because Sukha Deva Gasvami was self realized soul who realized Brahman. And he was in this Brahmananda, in the bliss of Brahman.

17:01But still he was converted and he became a Vice Nower because the bliss of Preman, the bliss of Love of God is stronger, is higher. So, Sarobham Bhattacharya taking this as an excuse.

17:15He took this Atmarama Sloko from the first tenth of Simat Bhagavatam which is describing this Atmarama Shamuna Yo. That even Atmarama Shamuna Those who manage to take pleasure from within, from the heart.

17:29Who don't need any other pleasure. Even they become Vaishnavas again. Because the pleasure of being Vaishnavas stronger than the pleasure of any other way or any other pleasure.

17:41So Sarabhavamatacharya he asked Lord Citanya to explain and Lord Citanya said what can I explain? I'm just a simple Vaisnava, you know. I'm not a very learned person. You explain.

17:51And Sarobabamtacharya said, This is my chance. Now I will show him how I can explain this sloka.

17:58And he started explaining this sloka in nine different ways, breaking all the, you know, all the syllables and explaining the meaning of each word and explaining all the deep meaning of this.

18:09And Lord Chitanya said, Very good. Such a beautiful explanation. I have never heard such an explanation. Such a scholarly, such a sore explanation. You must be very hospital who has come from the higher planetary systems.

18:23But if you ask me to explain this, I will explain to you. And he started explaining this sloka, the same sloka. And he explained the same sloka in 64 different ways.

18:34He gave 64 different meanings without touching the nine which Sarvabhav Matachari gave. And when Sarvabhav Matachari heard this, he was totally humiliated. He was totally smashed to pieces.

18:47Nothing can be made from Sarvabam Vatacheri, from his pride. And in this state of utter humility he surrendered unto the Lord. Because this is the state when you can surrender unto the Lord and you are utterly humiliated.

19:02And this is actually some kind of bliss which people usually don't experience. Usually people think that the source of bliss is to become proud. The more proud I am, the more blissful I am, right?

19:15I'm big, I'm great, I'm this, I'm dead. But the real bliss is to become humble. The real bliss is to become defeated.

19:23And when Sarvabamba Nacari, when he experienced this, because Lord Chitanya he has chosen the very appropriate way of converting this man. This man could not be converted in any other way.

19:36He has proven to him that he is nothing. You know, this greatest genius scholar and this and that. He was totally defeated by Lord Citanya. Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya said, Now I know you are the Lord.

19:49Nobody else could do this. Nobody else could defeat me. Nobody else could explain this sloka so beautifully. Nobody else, you know, that was for him that was the proof.

20:00And from this, you know, state of utter humility he started praising Lord Caitanya and he started explaining the glories of Lord Caitanya and he started crying. Lord Caitanya showed him his six-armed form.

20:16And when Gopīnātha Ācārya, when he came, and he saw the, he saw the scene, Lord Caitanya is sitting, and he is very peaceful, and he is smiling. You know, Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, he's mad out of ecstasy.

20:31He's jumping and he's crying and he's rolling on the ground and he's, you know, he doesn't know what to do. And Gopīnātha Ācārya, he became so happy.

20:40He said, Thank you, my Lord, you saved me otherwise I would die from hunger, now he is a devotee, you saved my life, I know you saved, you made him a devotee only because of your compassion towards me. But now I see your real mercy because such a man has become real Vaiṣṇava when the heart is melted.

21:03Actually, the sign of a Vaiṣṇava is that the heart melts. And Lord Caitanya comes to make us stone hearted people with this melted heart. His purpose of coming here is to melt our hearts.

21:22In Narada Pancaratran there is a verse. There is actually Vishnu Sahasra Nama. A thousand names of Vishnu from Narada Pancaratran. And there the name Chaitanya is mentioned.

21:39And the name Chaitanya is mentioned on the fifth place. First Krishna is there. The first name first, Vishnu, then Krishna, then Rama, then Keśava, then Madhava, and then Caitanya is there.

21:51So, and explaining this verse, the meaning of Caitanya, it is said there that Caitanya, because Caitanya means consciousness. Chaitanya means feelings. Because what consciousness is? Consciousness means feelings.

22:06And the meaning of this word Caitanya which is explained in Nārada-pañcarātra is that Caitanya is the incarnation of the Lord who comes to make inanimate living beings animate. To make stone like human beings animate. To animate somebody who is inanimate.

22:28And that's our situation and our position because we have become almost inanimate. The more one is sinful, the less he is capable of feeling love. This is a very definite and factual and true description of our situation.

22:50The feeling of love which is the gift of the Lord, which is the greatest gift of the Lord. The softness of the heart, this compassion which is there in the heart. You're less capable of experiencing this compassion which is the highest bliss. The highest love and highest compassion. This is the highest bliss.

23:09You're less capable or proportionately less capable as much as you're sinful. The more you're sinful, the less you're capable of experiencing this. And the Lord Caitanya is coming just for this purpose.

23:22Just to make those people who almost become animals, to make them vaiṣṇavas and to melt their hearts. And Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya is the vivid example of this.

Analysis of Saci Sutashtakam

23:35And after realizing this, in his mature realization of Lord Caitanya's mission and appearance and meaning of his incarnation, he writes this beautiful bhajan, Sri Sri Sasi Sutashtipur.

23:51But the refrain is Pranamani sachi suta gaura varam. So he first says, Pranamani sachi suta gaura varam. After each stanza, he says that I'm bowing down to the beautiful sun on Mother Sachi. Sachi Sutta Gaurra Baram.

24:08And he has this this brilliant luster, which is like molten gold. So he calls Lord Caitanya Sachi Suta, and this is very significant. Why does he call him Sachi Suta? Why Sachi Suta?

24:34And usually we see that Lord Caitanya is called Sachi Suta, Sachi Nandana, Sachi Sunu. He's always called after his mother. Very rarely Lord Caitanya is called Jagannath Suta. Sometimes he's called, but very rarely.

24:51When we take Krishna, Krishna is very often called Nanda Nanda Nanda, Nanda Tanaya or whatever on behalf of his father. But Lord Caitanya is always called on behalf of his mother. This is a very significant point.

25:11Why he's called after his mother? I don't know how it's in Finland, but in Russia, there is this patronymics.

25:20When you approach somebody who is respectful, and when you tell somebody or speak with somebody who is very respectful, or you want to show the respect, name his name and the name of his father.

25:33Not only his name, but the name of his father. But here we see Lord Caitanya is called after his mother. The name of his mother is always mentioned. Why? The reason is actually very significant and very deep for this.

25:51Because the reason for this is because what you get from your mother? The mother is the first guru. According to Vedic tradition, the first guru, the first one who teaches you how to live this life is mother.

26:06And the mother is supposed to give love. If the mother is not giving love, if the mother is not giving this foundation of the life, the person will become criminal.

26:17Those people who are, you know, somehow rather they're grown up without love of their mother. They will never be able to experience love. That's a very essential point.

26:27This is a very foundational thing which mother is supposed to give. And usually these people they become criminal because they don't have compassion in the heart.

26:36What the father gives, the father later on he gives, you know, he trains the person, he trains, he teaches him values and he gives the intelligence, he gives the qualities, some virtues.

26:51He basically brings up the person to the level of mature personality. That's also very important that the father is there. When the father is not there, the person is always dependent.

27:03But the mother is giving the most important, the most essential thing, love and compassion. And when Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya calls Lord Caitanya Sachi Suta, he is addressing him as somebody who can give love.

27:17As somebody who has got, you know, immense, unlimited love of Mother Sachi. And because he has got this unlimited love of Mother Sachi, he's distributing this love all over the world very freely.

27:29So he's saying, Pranamami Sachi Suta Gauravaram, I'm bowing down to you, son of Mother Sachi, because you're capable of giving me love, because you're the only one who can transform everyone by your love and by your compassion.

27:44And he said, Now, Nava Gauravaram, Nava Pushpasaram, Nava Bhava Daram, Nava Lasye Param, navahase kararam, navahe mavaram. He's saying always, almost in all the stanzas of this bhajan, this word 'nava'. 'Nava' means new.

28:03And he's saying, you brought something new. He's praying to Lord Caitanya. He's saying, you brought something which nobody besides you has brought so far. Nava Gauravaram, Nava Pushpasharam. Nava Gauravaram.

28:18You have this new fresh color of gora. Fresh color of cream, as it is said here. This molten or how it is said here, naba hema varam. This new fresh color of the molten gold. That's the first thing which is very essential.

28:42Because the color in the Vedic tradition, the color is the manifestation of the mood. The color of somebody is actually external manifestation of internal mood.

28:55Like for example, when you internally become angry, what is the color of your face becomes? You become red, right?

29:03Your eyes become red, you know, because internally you're experiencing anger, but externally it manifests as some kind of color change. And when, you know, the color, this symbolism of color is very significant.

29:17The red color means passion. Therefore, when the, you know, the couple is married, a lady is, you know, dressed in a red color, in a red sari, because she's symbolizing the passion.

29:31And the man is in a white doji, because the white means emptiness, you know. He knows what he's approaching. Anyway, so there is this symbolism of color is there. The red color means passion.

29:49And usually the widows, they wear white saris. Because the white color is the symbol of separation. The white color, when you're separated with somebody, you become pale.

30:06And this whiteness, white means empty. This emptiness is symbolized by this white color. And Lord Krishna is of course Shyam. And Shyam means dark. He is black. And dark, this is the internal meaning of his mood.

30:27Dark means madurya. And one can wonder why Krishna is black. Like some Christian people they always say, Yo, Krishna is black. And black means he's Satan. Right? You know, has this black color.

30:42But there is a very deep meaning of this black color. Sometimes, you know, once Gopis they were discussing, Why Krishna is black? And they got together and they started discussing why Krishna is black.

30:55Somebody said, because he was born in a dark night. Because Krishna was born in, you know, midnight and therefore he's black. Whoever is born in midnight he's black somewhat.

31:09And another gopi said, No, no, no, you are wrong. No, that's not the reason. That cannot be the reason. This is too superficial.

31:16He is black because Mother Yashoda always gives him the milk of the black cows. And he drinks the milk of the black cows, therefore he is black. And somebody else said: No, no. This is ridiculous. He cannot be black.

31:29This is too superficial an explanation. I will give you the real explanation. This is what Vishakha said.

31:35And Vishakha said, He is black because he is always... Vishakha, another manifestation of Vishakha is Yamuna, River Yamuna. And River Yamuna is black.

31:44And Vishakha says, Because he's always taking bath in Yamuna, therefore he's black. That's the reason. Yamuna is black and he's taking snan in Yamuna, and therefore he's black.

31:55And then Srimati Radharani said, No, no, this is not the reason. The reason why he is black is that because you go up and look at him. And when you go up and look at him, you're so greedy.

32:06And you're just devouring him with your eyes. And you take him with your eyes and you place him in your heart, through the eyes.

32:15You take Kṛṣṇa and you place him through the eyes and that he's going through the eyes to the heart. And because your eyes have this black, you know, you have this collyrium around your eyes, therefore Kṛṣṇa is black.

32:27No, he's going through your eyes and therefore he's so black in your heart. Anyway, the meaning of black, the real meaning of black is that black is in something it's the color which absorbs everything.

32:42And Krishna, Krishna's function in the creation, He is taking. Krishna is receiving love. Krishna is absorbing everything. Krishna is the original enjoyer. Mādhurya means He is enjoying and enjoyment means to take.

32:57So therefore He is black. Because blackish color is the color which is absorbing everything. And Lord Caitanya is yellow, he is the color of molten gold. And golden color means what? Golden color means to give.

33:14Golden color means like the sun is golden. The sun is distributing this light and heat. And therefore, Caitanya is of the same color.

33:26He's coming here and Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, he's saying here, nava-gaurāṅga-varam, you come with this, you have come with this new color. Nobody else before you came with this color. Nobody else came with this mood.

33:43Nobody else is so compassionate as you. Nobody else is so freely distributing whatever he has. And whatever he doesn't have, you know. Everything he is giving. So that's the meaning of this nava-gaurāṅga-varam.

33:55Nava-puṣpāśaram. And puṣpāśaram means puṣpāśaram means puṣpāśaram, puṣpāśaram means flowers. And sharam means the arrows. And puṣpāśaram, these flowery arrows, it's the weapon of whom? Whose weapon it is?

34:13Who is throwing puṣpāśaram into the hearts of living beings? Yes, cute it. Viria one probably knows this. He's the only one. So, god of love Kandarpa.

34:34Kandarpa, he has this bow and arrows and these special arrows, and when Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya says nava-puspa-saram, he means that you brought these new arrows of love. The new arrows which can pierce the heart of living beings.

34:53You brought something which is more powerful than those old arrows of Cupid. And the new arrows can pierce the heart of everyone. These are the new arrows which you brought here.

35:05And nava-bhāva-dharaṁ, you brought the new bhāva. You are holding the new Bhava. You are the vehicle or receptacle of this new bhāva which you brought. And nava-lāsya-paraṁ means that you are always dancing.

35:25What does it mean? One of the most beautiful features of Lord Caitanya, like Narottama Dasa Thakura, he says, Where is this beautiful dancer who has left us?

35:38Always when the poets are talking about the Lord, they're singing about his dance.

35:44When Lord Caitanya was dancing, people were so amazed and so struck with wonder that just by seeing his dance, the people would be fainting. So beautiful it was.

35:55लेकिन when Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya is saying you brought these new dances, he is saying very significant things. Because in India this art of dancing is very elaborate.

36:07You know, you know, there is a school of dance, Bharata Natyam, the classical dance of India.

36:12And to teach this, you know, this art of dancing properly, you have to spend five years or ten years or fifteen years of your life. Every day you have to do this. You know, because this is enough.

36:29Because every muscle of your body has to dance.

36:31It's not like, you know, this gross Western dance, and you know, and then in a in a every muscle should dance, you know, the eyes should, you know, do some movements there, you know, and the ears should move in a certain way, and, you know, and this should move in a certain way. Very minute things, you know, you dance and it's a whole language, you know.

36:57You describe something which is going on internally. Again, the meaning here that dance is the manifestation of internal mood. And this art is very beautiful actually if you know the art.

37:11If you Usually, when Westerners look at this Bharata Natyam, they cannot understand anything, you know, because they are too dull for this. But the original art is there.

37:22But here Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya says you brought the new dances. The dances which have never been before you. Because actually when Lord Caitanya dances, it's not him who is dancing.

37:34Like Prakashananda Sarasvati in Kashi, in Benares, he prohibited Lord Caitanya. He said, Why you're dancing? Sannyāsī is not supposed to dance. This is actually a sin for a sannyāsī.

37:46Sannyāsī shouldn't dance and sannyāsī shouldn't sing. And Prakananda Saraswati was very angry about Lord Caitanya. You're a disgrace for the sannyāsa order, he said.

37:56But Lord Caitanya, actually, when he is dancing, it's not he who is dancing. It's prema which is within him.

38:04The prema is teaching him dancing, like in Caitanya-caritāmṛta is explained that the prema is the dancing teacher. The teacher who is teaching us how to dance.

38:19So when the Vaishnavas are dancing, like we are sometimes we are dancing, you know, in a very strange way, you know. Like in one temple in Russia, there is a temple president and he has a military background.

38:34He's a military man. And he has heard that, you know, during the kirtan you're supposed to manifest symptoms of ecstasy. And the main symptom of ecstasy is that you raise your hand like this. So he issued an order.

38:48Its order was there on the wall of the temple, you know. From now on everyone is, you know, raising the hands in the kirtan.

38:55You go to this temple and the curtain is going on and there you know, somebody is leading and everyone is standing there. Then they turn and everyone is like, in a very dull way. Mechanically.

39:15But you know when Lord is explaining he when Sarabha Amla Techarya says Navalasya Param he's saying that you know when he is dancing, when Lord Caitanya is dancing, it's so beautiful because it's a natural love which is dancing within his heart. And he's just moving according to this prema.

39:31He was not learning Bharatnatyam for many years. He's just naturally dancing because the prema is dancing in his beautiful heart. And he said: He brought new smiles. Hasi means smile.

39:51He brought something which has never been before. This is also very important thing. Because sometimes people especially from Christian tradition, they think that the religion must be something boring.

40:05Religion must be something, you know, you go there and then and you always cry and, you know, and it's so boring. You go to the church and it's like a grave.

40:15Always feel and there is this, you know, gruesome figure with blood, you know, and you see. The mood is so heavy.

40:28So, once I read an interview of one Christian priest, somebody asked him, What do you think about, you know, humor and about laughing? And he said, No, no, no. Humor is not allowed, you know.

40:39Christ, he has never laughed in his life. He was always condemning and that. But it's not like this. Actually the spiritual life is full of joy. And here he says he brought new, new smiles.

40:55And that's very essential because why did he bring new smiles? What it means new smiles? Actually, that's a fact.

41:04Lord Caitanya, he brought new smiles because he teaches us to laugh at something which we have never loved before.

41:17If we conduct a psychological study of devotees, we will find out a very special thing that devotees they have a very special sense of humor. You know, sometimes I was, you know, always amazed.

41:32Sometimes somebody is giving Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class and he starts speaking about death. He's speaking about somebody is dying and this and that. And everyone is laughing him now. And he's laughing also.

41:45It's a very special sense of humor because usually people they don't joke about death. This is the one thing which is reserved not to be joked about. But Lord Caitanya, he brought a very special sense of humor.

42:00He was very humorous himself. And he brought this, you know, very special world view.

42:06When you look at this world and, you know, when you become a devotee, you look at this world and you start laughing at this world because you see how funny it is.

42:16You go to this, you go outside and you look at the people and if you really look with them from the spiritual perspective you will start laughing because they're so funny, you know, they're going there and they're so busy.

42:29Like Lord Caitanya, he showed this on the way to Gaya. When Lord Caitanya went to Gaya, he had a few pupils with him, few students from his school. They went on pilgrimage to Gaia.

42:46And Lord Caitanya, they were passing by some forest. And in front of the forest they saw two deers. And these two deers, they were jumping in front of each other and they were playing some love play.

43:00They were dancing, you know, and, you know, I've never seen this, but it must be quite funny. So, and Lord Caitanya saw this love play, the couple of deer, the male deer and female deer.

43:16And Lord Caitanya started laughing and laughing and laughing and laughing. And everyone thought, why are you laughing? Why is it? What is so funny about this? What's so...

43:26And Lord Caitanya said, Look at these, you know, animals. They're so happy, you know, doing this stupid thing, you know. They're about to mate and they're doing this, you know.

43:39And he said that the human beings, if they don't have spiritual life, they become exactly like these animals and they also, you know, do these stupid things. It's a very special sense of humor, you know.

43:51It's a very subtle way of doing this.

43:54Said that the poor human beings if they don't have the spiritual life they become exactly like animals and they live like animals, they eat like animals, they mate like animals, they sleep like animals and they defend like animals.

44:09So that's the sense of humor which Lord Caitanya brought.

44:13He showed us the work in a different perspective and the work, you know, people usually when they do all these things eating, sleeping, mating and defending because this is the essence of the life.

44:25That that serious, you know, that do it such it's such an important business, right? Know, I'm doing this, I'm eating, you know, or I'm mating or whatever, you It's very important.

44:40But Lord Caitanya came and he just laughed at this. He said this is all useless. This is something which deserves laughing. And therefore Sarvabam Bhattacharya says, Navahasya Karam.

44:50He brought or he made everyone laugh in a very new way, in a very special way. Nava Hemovaraman. He is distributing, co emanating this light of molten gold. Hema varan. So this is the first verse.

45:06I don't know for how long I can go because I'll explain the first part. No, I will finish before. I will go more quickly after that. So, this is Lord Caitanya and how he comes and for what he comes.

45:27And it's all described here. It's said here, nava-premā-yutam. You brought this new prema. You are being absorbed in this new prema. And Navanita Sucham, you are emanating this again.

45:40He is comparing him with the fresh butter when the butter was just churned because his body is so gentle and so soft like this fresh freshly churned butter. He said, Navanitesucham, you're coming here with this thing.

45:59And, Navanvesh Kritam, Nava Prem Rasam. You brought this new Prem Rasam, new taste of Prem. And Nava Vesa Kritam, you're always dressed in the new dresses. And one can wonder how is that? Because he's a sannyāsī.

46:17Lord Chitanya, you know, and sannyasis, they don't have too many saris to wear. They are not really, you know, famous for changing the clothes all the time. It's ladies, they always, you know, every day they have to put something new.

46:36But when he says, Nava Vesa Kritam, Vesa actually, Vesa again, this is the external manifestation of internal mood. But Lord Caitanya has brought, he has brought these constant changes of internal moods. Now, Vesa Kritam, he is always dressed in different moods. Because when you are in different mood, you look differently. It's kind of external appearance, but it's coming from the heart.

47:04We usually have the same mood. We're usually bored, right? Know, unless the time comes for prasāda, then we're little enlivened for some time and then we become dull again.

47:17Usually this is the dullness is the constant, you know, constant state of our consciousness. But what Sarvabamba Thacher is explaining about Lord Caitanya, he's full of love. He's actually full of life.

47:32He's the source of life. And this life is like a fountainhead in his heart. And this fountainhead in his heart of life is always, you know, giving the new life and new moods are there.

47:45He constantly changes his moods and the moods are laful there. And he's, you know, bringing this prema because this particular, this second stanza is about his internal mood of prema. And his mood of prema is unique.

48:01Nobody else before Lord Caitanya and actually after Lord Caitanya will never be able to experience what he has been experiencing.

48:09Because when Lord Caitanya was crying, when the tears were flowing from his eyes, it is said that it was not the tears not were flying, were flowing. They were flying in the sky, you know.

48:23The tears were like when Lord Cetiny was there was so much tears there that they were just, you know, like syringes that, you know, were risking out from his eyes. That's what it is.

48:38Know, Lord Chitani when he was, you know, he was like a fountain. From his eyes the tears were shooting out.

48:47When when for the first time Prabh Maharaja Prataparudra saw Lord Chitanya. He was hiding behind the column in Lord Jaganath Temple and Lord Chitani was dancing in front of Lord Jaganath and the tears were flying from his eyes and his whole body was dirty because of the tears. He was, you know, crying and the tears were there and the tears are not considered to be very pure. It's not very pure substance.

49:17And then he would fall on the ground and he would droll on the ground and, you know, the dirt was there and this Maharaja Prataparodus thought, Who is that? You know, who is that person? He looks really strange, you know, with all these tears and everything. He couldn't really understand.

49:36He couldn't relate to this mood. Because the mood which Lord Cittany brought, he has it has never been there, you know.

49:43Sometimes the ecstasy was so strong within his heart that he would withdraw all his limbs within the body and he would become like a tortoise.

49:53Would run from Gambira from this room where he was staying And the devotees, when they discovered that he ran away at night, in the morning they started looking for him and they couldn't find him.

50:06Lord Cittani was nowhere to be found. And finally, by the wall of Jagannat Temple, this is a huge wall and huge temple like a fortress. And they saw, you know, cows.

50:18And there was, you know, a lot of cows and they were so excited. All the cows had their tails up. You know, when the cows are especially excited they have the tail up.

50:28And they saw this, you know, and the cows were licking something and they were fighting with each other to lick something there, you know, and a very unusual scene. And because devotees, they used to know, they knew that if something unusual is happening, it's probably caused by Lord Caitanya.

50:47Because he's such an unusual person. So they try to understand what is the reason for excitement of the cows, why they're so excited.

50:55And they drove away all the cows and they discovered Lord Caitanya there, who is like tortoise. All the limbs of his body are withdrawn within. And the cows, they were licking him.

51:07And because the taste of Lord Caitanya and the smell of Lord Caitanya was so intoxicating the cows were mad out of ecstasy. So this is the ecstasy with Lord Caitanya. It's very difficult to relate to it, you know.

51:20For us who are you know brought in this you know dull culture where people don't experience any emotion basically practically no emotion whatsoever the less emotional you are the more cool you are, right? You know, you're supposed to be cool.

51:39But it's difficult to understand this. But this is what he is. And that's what Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya is saying here. Nitesucham. You brought these new emotions which have never been experienced before.

51:55And Nava prema rasan, these new tastes which have never been tasted before in this material world. And Navadha Vilasat Suba Premamayam. And you brought this bhakti.

52:09But the bhakti which you bring, which you brought with you, Navadha. Navadha means ninefold bhakti. The bhakti which starts from Sravanam.

52:19Sravanam Kirtanam Vishnuk Samaranam Hadha Sevanam. You brought this ninefold bhakti or nine links of bhakti. But the bhakti which you brought is completely different from the bhakti which was there before.

52:32Like sometimes we say that we are very traditional religion.

52:36Sometimes we are when the, you know, when the some anti cult people come or some journalists come, they say we're very traditional, Bhakti is there for thousands of years. But actually we are not traditional at all.

52:49To be truthful. Our tradition starts from Lord Caitanya and that's not very traditional. Even, you know, he didn't bring any tradition.

52:58The bhakti, the traditional bhakti which was there before has completely different nature.

53:04Yes, in Bhagavad-gītā Krishna speaks of bhakti, but he doesn't really reveal the bhakti, the prema bhakti which Lord Caitanya has brought, which Lord Caitanya is revealing.

53:15The Bhakti in Bhagavad Gita, Bhakti Amama Vijaanati. Bhakti is the means of knowing God. That's what bhakti in Bhagavad-gītā is.

53:25In Bhagavad-gītā Krishna says: This is the means of knowing me. This is how you can know me if you love me. But bhakti is not really self-valuable in Bhagavad-gītā, so to speak. In one sense.

53:41So what Lord Caitanya brought, he brought this new bhakti which is the pinnacle of bhakti. Which is much more divine and much more elevated than the bhakti which has been there before. It's not the means, it's the end.

53:56It's the highest end which was there, which we are supposed to experience altogether. And this is what he brought.

54:06So the first stanza is about his, you know, external dresses and external how the premā manifest externally. The next stanza is about how the premā manifests internally.

54:18What he experiences is, what he tastes when the premā is there. That's the second clarification of Lord Caitanya. And the third clarification of Lord Caitanya in this Śacīsūṭāṣṭakam.

54:33Hari bhakti param, Hari nama dharam, Kara Japya Param, Hari Nama Param, Naya Nesa Tatam, Pranaya Sru Dharam, Pranaam Ami Sasi Suta, Gauravaram. He's speaking about the means of achieving this state of consciousness.

54:48He's speaking basically about sādhana, and he's speaking something which are very familiar to us. Hari bhakti param. He is the bearer or he has brought this hari-bhakti, the highest bhakti-param.

55:03Hari-nama-dharam through the means of this Harinam, of the Holy Name. And therefore he's chanting the Holy Name always kara-jāpya-param. By his hand he has the japa beads. He basically has the same means of japa.

55:20But his japa is different. You know, we're chanting japa and Lord Caitanya is chanting japa. We are doing it with our hand. That he's doing with our hand. But then he says, nāma-param. But his name is param.

55:34Means his name is pure. When he pronounces the name, this is śuddhānām. And śuddhānām brings about pure love. Our name is offensive. Or at best it's a shadow of a holy name.

55:48But He brought the Holy Name and He is inducing us to achieve this purity of Holy Name.

55:55And the sign of the purity of the Holy Name is in the next line: nayana-śasita-praṇaya-śru-dhāram. Because his name is so pure when he chants the Holy Name, the tears are flowing from his eyes. Not just some tears.

56:11Like sometimes when we chant the Holy Name, you know, one tear sometimes very rarely, you know, squeezed out from there. It happens.

56:21Sometimes it happens with me, you know, one tear or two tears and you feel, this is great, you know, Two tears today! Śarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya says, nayana-śasita-praṇaya-śru-dhāram. All the tears are there.

56:39As soon as he pronounces the Holy Name, the tears are there. Because he knows what the Holy Name is. That the Holy Name is no different from Krishna.

56:47And because he has this deepest realization in the heart, because his name is so pure, the tears are constantly flowing from his eyes. It's actually interesting how Lord Caitanya himself described it.

57:01Basically the third stanza is about is about sādhana. The sadhana which we are doing. And the sadhana which Lord Caitanya is doing, this is the sadhana of tears. This is the highest form of sadhana.

57:18And the highest stage of devotional service. Your sadhana becomes when you cry. You go to the Lord and you cry. Why? Because your heart is so melted.

57:30You know, because your heart becomes liquid. It comes out from the ice, you know. The heart is just liquid. There's nothing there. Now the heart is, you know, quite hard because it's so hard. There's no ice there.

57:43Know, it's as difficult to squeeze out tears from our eyes as it is difficult to squeeze out some water from the stone, from the rock. You go to the rock, you know, and you try to get some water. It's difficult. And rock is there boom boom boom boom boom boom. Therefore, the water is not coming.

58:04But when the heart becomes melted, then the tears are flowing on their own. Pranayasra, actually pranaya, it's a very special mood and a very special stage of spiritual development. Pranaya literally means affection.

58:23But pranaya is a stage where your heart is so melted, so molten that it becomes totally indistinguishable from the heart of somebody whom you love.

58:38Like when you take two pieces of metal and these two pieces of metal they're very hard. And if you try to mix these two pieces of metal, you cannot mix them.

58:48The only way to mix the pieces of metal is just to heat them when they melt. And when two pieces of metal melt, then they mix with each other.

58:57So the stage of pranaya is when you love somebody so much, then your heart melts at the temperature of this love. And your heart melts so much, then you don't really distinguish anymore between yourself and the other ones.

59:16Your love is so big that basically you feel his pain and you feel his love and you feel whatever he experiences. When our heart is selfish, we don't really feel what others experience because our heart is in this, you know, covering, heart covering, and somebody next to us and he's suffering, he has fever or whatever, but because the heart is so hard we don't feel it, but when the heart becomes molten, when it melts, then you experience everything which your beloved experiences, and even to a greater extent, you know, if he feels pain, you feel pain even greater. And you try to help him, to relieve him from the pain.

1:00:00If he feels some bliss, you feel the same bliss and you're even more blissful than him. That's how it works with the soft heart. That's what is supposed to happen with our heart.

1:00:14And Lord Caitanya, he's saying basically in his Siksastaka prayers that there are different ways of sadhana. On different stages of devotional development, on our devotional career, the sadhana should be different.

1:00:34Like in the first stage, the first stage is called sraddha or faith.

1:00:40And the characteristic of faith, when you just become faithful, and you just develop this faith in Lord Caitanya and His love and the holy name, then the first sadhana is to become enthusiastic.

1:00:54Actually, the faith is synonym of enthusiasm. And on the first stage, your sadhana should be enthusiasm. Like, you know, when somebody, you know, chants the kirtan and he's just jumping, you know.

1:01:11And he's probably not jumping because prema is there in the heart. But he's jumping because of the enthusiasm. You know. And that's good.

1:01:20That's a sign. In the first stage, because when you develop the face, face is a very beautiful thing. It's a very valuable thing. And actually the manifestation of this face should be the grateful heart.

1:01:33The grateful heart means you're enthusiastic, you want to do something. You want to do something for Lord Caitanya. You jump out of the temple, you distribute some books. So this is the first stage, the characteristic.

1:01:45And the sign of the first stage is enthusiasm. And the sign on the second stage, you know, when you realize how deeply you are actually in māyā, nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis, So you start lamenting.

1:01:59At one point of your devotional career, you have to start lamenting about the pitiable state of affairs within your heart. You have been chanting for so long, but still, you know, the heart is still hard. The heart is still not moving.

1:02:16And that's also a sign at this internal mood of lamentation, You know, how unfortunate I am.

1:02:23So much anarthas I have and so much anarthas I'm not capable of overcoming these anarthas. And unless we start lamenting about this, we will not be able actually to overcome the anarthas.

1:02:35The reason why sometimes people don't go after this stage usually actually the devotees they don't really experience anything higher.

1:02:45They go to this anartha-nivṛtti stage or bhajana-kriyā stage. You know, and they think okay, bhajana kriya means I have to do this. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. Okay, I'll do this. Somehow or other.

1:02:56How many years it is still there? Okay, twenty years. Okay, no problem. Hare Krishna, twenty years. Somehow or other we will tolerate it. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. It's nineteen years more. We will suffer through it.

1:03:14But actually the sign on this stage Lord Caitanya teaches us that the sign that he's crying. I'm so unfortunate. I'm chanting the holy name. I don't feel anything from the Holy Name.

1:03:30Nothing is coming in my heart from the Holy Name.

1:03:32Unless you start lamenting, you will not be able to overcome the problems which are there in the heart. The problems will remain there and you will not experience the taste.

1:03:42So this is the second sign which you are supposed to experience or which you are supposed to do at one point when you go a little deeper in this practice of devotional service.

1:03:54And then on the next stage, your sādhanā should be complete dependence of the Lord. When you are totally dependent, humility means you're not dependent on yourself. Pride means you're dependent on yourself.

1:04:10Pride means I am. I am the doer. I am doing this and I will make it. Right? You know, we will get it, you know. But humility means you're dependent on the Lord. And this is also suddenly, you know.

1:04:23When you're humble, you're totally, you're trying to understand what the Lord wants from you. And you're trying to do whatever He wants from you. And at the same time, you're tolerating. You're dependent on Him.

1:04:35This, it is very beautifully described by one disciple of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, Nishikhansanyao, Doctor Nishikhansanyao. He says that actually these two things tolerance and humility.

1:04:48Humility means you're not dependent on yourself. Humility means you're not identifying yourself as a doer anymore. And tolerance means you're dependent on the Lord. You tolerate. You know, Lord is there. He's protecting you.

1:05:05He's within your heart. He knows what is the best for you. That's what it is. And this is two things which you have to develop. This is sādhana. You're not dependent on yourself. You're depending on the Lord.

1:05:15At the same time, you try to serve Lord Caitanya as much as you can. And then, you know, on the next stage your taste becomes the sādhana. You're tasting this. Na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye.

1:05:30When you say, you know, everything else is tasteless. I don't need women. I don't need gold. I don't need anything.

1:05:38Only thing which I need, bhāva-bhakti, I have to keep away this bhakti because it brings so much more taste to me than anything else. So this tasting becomes sādhana.

1:05:49And then only on the higher stages, then the attachment becomes sādhana. Attachment and, you know, understanding of the miserable nature of this world becomes sādhana according to the fifth stage of Śikṣāṣṭaka.

1:06:03And then only nayana-galad-aśru-dhārayāh when the tears are flowing from the eyes. Then only on the level of bhāva, on the highest level, the tears become sādhana.

1:06:14When we tear, when we serve Lord Caitanya by crying about Him. And there are so many stories about this. I will not tell the stories because it's late. So this is the third stanza or the third verse of this Śikṣāṣṭaka.

1:06:34And the fourth verse is actually very interesting. It says in the first verse Satatam janata babatapa haram.

1:06:41And means ordinary people. And he says always he takes away the sufferings of the ordinary people. And then he says Paramatta parayana loka gatim. And he gives them Paramatta parayana the highest goal to people.

1:07:05Because parayana means goal destination. You don't have the translation of it. The translation, he is the goal of life for persons who are dedicated to this supreme. Ah, you have it? Yes. Okay. To the supreme interest.

1:07:22He is dedicated. He is giving the goal of those people who are dedicated to the supreme interest. Paramartha paraya naloka gatim. Then, Navaleha Karam. This is very interesting. Because Leha means bees.

1:07:41Navaleha Karam means he turned all the people into the bees. All the people starts buzzing. You know, and they become, you know, like devotees sometimes.

1:07:52I remember once I was, you know, in the metro, in the subway, and I was changing, and somebody said, Why you're buzzing? You know. Could you please stop buzzing? So the devotees they're always buzzing like the tishmish.

1:08:15But that's not the meaning. He has not come to make us into buzzing bees. But there is a deeper meaning here. Jagatapa haram and his Jagatapa haram. Haram means stealing.

1:08:31He's stealing away this tapa, the sufferings of the whole world. So this internal meaning of this fourth verse is that Lord Caitanya is relieving the whole world from the suffering. Jagatapa haram. And not even relieving.

1:08:49He's snatching the sufferings. Because haram means basically stealing. You know he's not waiting when the world will give up the sufferings. He's stealing the sufferings.

1:09:01And he's doing it in a very special way for the three categories of people. Actually, in this word the three categories of people are mentioned.

1:09:10He says, for ordinary people, satatam janata babatapa haram, his babatapa haram he is just relieving them from their normal sufferings. Like if people somehow rather got in contact with Lord Caitanya.

1:09:28The first effect which is there, then this karma is not so heavy anymore. You come to Lord Caitanya movement and you start practicing this chanting of the Holy Name that immediately you feel some relief.

1:09:42You feel that, you know, there's not such a heavy burden. You're seemingly doing the same things but you immediately feel relief.

1:09:49So for ordinary people who just come here because they want some relief from sufferings, that's what Lord Caitanya is doing. He's taking karma completely.

1:09:58And he's giving them whatever they like. You know, like in Russia in 1998 there was this huge explosion took place there. Because Russian people are very emotional. So it was very emotional there. I mean, the hell broke. So people were cursing each other, you know, and ultimately they went away.

1:10:23And it's interesting.

1:10:25I, I was, I'm watching, you know, I, I mean, devotees in this con, our internal kind of thing explosion. So I was watching, you know, what different people are doing and how they're doing. And, you know, some people what really happened in '98, the real intentions of people becomes clear. Before that it was kind of hidden.

1:10:50But in '98 was kind of you know everyone started doing whatever he wanted to do. Whatever he really wanted to do. Before they were doing this because you know because of some external reason or whatever.

1:11:03But it's interesting, you know, some people who are devotees, they become so successful materially. They become very rich, they become, you know, very and they're still quite pious.

1:11:13They're doing their little chant, little there, you know, basically that's what they wanted, that's what Lord Caitanya brought to them, they didn't want really to be totally absorbed in sadhana or do whatever they wanted, some material happiness, some material piety, and they became like this. They became happy, they became prosperous, they became pious, they're still chanting, they're, you know, sometimes they come to the temple, you know, every now and then and they get each other and they say, this is sect, you know. When they're with each other they say this is sect.

1:11:44But sometimes they come to the temple because this is a good sect, you know. You know, this is kind of this is what's going on. But actually that was the desire which was initially there in the heart.

1:11:55They came to Krishna consciousness only because they wanted some relief from material sufferings. And Lord Caitanya is here for these people. If you just want relief from material sufferings, He is here to give it to you.

1:12:09Like there is a story. Shall I tell the story or not? Or shall I? Yes. Go on. I'm just afraid to be too long, to be too boring.

1:12:25When Lord Caitanya was going from Vrindavan, he went from Vrindavan to Navadvīpa. And on the way he was passing by. And because he had this, you know, intense love, intense prayer in his heart, he was running.

1:12:46It is said actually when Lord Caitanya was, he couldn't walk. Lord Caitanya was always running. Because there was so much, you know, love in his heart. He couldn't just be peaceful, you know. He was running all the time.

1:13:00And he was running with his head, you know, up in the sky. He was, you know, looking at Krishna, like when you have this, how you call this? When you how do you call this?

1:13:12When the children, they have this, you know, the wind, they have this Yes, me. I know. I know how it's in Russian. I know how it's in English. Right. Whatever it is.

1:13:25It is said that like like a child, you know, he's running behind this, you know, thing and he's looking up there what this is doing. So in the same way, Lord Caitanya, he's running and he's looking up there.

1:13:37He doesn't see anything around him. And he had his some companions with with him, but they couldn't really make up, you know, pace with him because he's so quick, so swift.

1:13:48He's running ahead of them and they're behind him. And then because of so much running, he was running through some village and the forest nearby. And then there was a little boy there, simple village boy.

1:14:02And the simple village boy had a huge pot of buttermilk with him and he was bringing this buttermilk to market to sell this buttermilk and Lord Caitanya looked at him and he said, please give me something to drink and the boy said, yeah, of course, take it and Lord Caitanya takes this, you know, pot of buttermilk and he drinks and drinks, drinks and he drinks the whole pot and then the boy said, what shall I do?

1:14:31He said, I'm a sannyāsī, I don't have money, you know, but behind me there are some people there going somewhere behind. They will pay you. You ask money from them. No. And the boy said okay. You, sannyāsī. Okay.

1:14:44If they give, okay. And the boy sits down and Lord Caitanya continues running.

1:14:50And then the people, his companions that going behind and finally they reach this spot where the boy is sitting and they ask the boy, did you see some sannyasis?

1:15:01He said, yes, yes, I saw sannyasis, he is huge and he drank all my buttermilk and he said by the way that you have to pay for his buttermilk.

1:15:11And all these people, they also penny this, they don't have money, you know, they're just working with blockchain and they said, What? Pay for him? You know, we don't have any money. How are we supposed to pay for him?

1:15:24You know, if he drank, you know, he has to pay. Why should we pay? And they were little embarrassed and the boy, you know, he says, okay, no problem. You don't have to pay, you know.

1:15:34I just do it as a service for this sannyāsī. Because he's so nice, you know. He drank this milk. It's it's it's okay. And and then he says, I'll go home. And he, you know, he tries to lift the pot.

1:15:50The pot is closed with the lid, and he's trying to lift it, and he couldn't lift.

1:15:56He's trying and trying and this is so heavy and he's wondering that the pot is empty because Lord Caitanya, you know, drank the whole and he opens it and it's full of gold. The pot is, he says, what? What is this?

1:16:14You know, and he leaves this immediately. He leaves this pot because he has extra strength. You know? He runs there, you know. So happy. Lord Caitanya sees him, you know, he's somewhere far away.

1:16:31He's sitting, he's taking little rest, you know, and this boy is dancing and dancing and dancing. Hari bol, hari bol, hari bol. Anyway, Lord Caitanya, he's very merciful. He can give you the gold if you want.

1:16:45If you want he can give you anything. But basically, what is described here that there are three levels of people. And the ordinary people who just want some relief from sufferings, they can receive the relief.

1:16:58They can get the relief from sufferings. Satatam janata babata po haram. But then he says Paramatha paraya naloka gatim. For those people who are looking for something.

1:17:08Who are not satisfied with just living, who are really looking for something higher in life. Paramatha Parayana. Paramatha means wealth. Artha means gold. Paramatha means the higher gold and higher value.

1:17:26For somebody who is looking for higher value he is giving Paramarte Parayana Locogative. He is giving himself as the gold. He is saying this is the gold. This is something which you can strive for.

1:17:38This is something which you really can reach and this is the highest goal possible. So that's another mercy of Lord Caitanya.

1:17:48Because Lord Caitanya, these people who are looking for something, are not satisfied with just ordinary living, they're, you0, poor people. But they're nice people, but they're, you know, sometimes they get some inferior goals as the goal of life.

1:18:07Like all these, you know, devotees, they have these jackets. I think he has the jacket. You want to know the goal of life? Ask me, right? It's very proudly written there on the back of the jacket.

1:18:23If you want to know the goal of life, ask me. That's exactly what is said here.

1:18:28If if you meet a person who is looking for a goal of life, who is, you know, whose life is empty, who is really senseless, who doesn't really know what he's living for, what the life is all about.

1:18:40Then the Lord Caitanya is giving the highest, the highest goal of life. It's not even moksha, it's not even liberation, it's not definitely money, definitely not material sense gratification.

1:18:53But the highest goal of life is love. And that's what Lord Caitanya is giving for those people.

1:18:58He's giving the goal or in other words, he's giving to them, to those people who are ready to accept some process of the sadhana, he is giving them the goal of sadhana.

1:19:09But the most essential point is this Navaleha Karam Jagatapa Haram. Navaleha Karam about these bees. The bees, he's turning people into bees. And this is also very important because the people, there is a comparison.

1:19:29Some people are compared with the bees, and some people are compared with the flies. The bees, what they see? They fly, and they like what? Honey. Honey, yes. And the flies what they like?

1:19:47They're They like garbage. They like stool, basically. So, what Lord Caitanya is doing actually, he is turning people into bees. Because, see, our consciousness is so contaminated.

1:20:04And because of the contamination of the consciousness, we become like the flies. This contaminated consciousness has special attraction for garbage. And everyone I'm sure experiences this.

1:20:16You know, you see some garbage and you have somehow rather some special attraction to it. Or now there is a special, you know, provision for people who like garbage. This is called Internet.

1:20:27Internet is a huge collection of mental garbage. It's the biggest collection of mental garbage and all the mental garbage is collected there.

1:20:36And you can, you know, travel through this net of garbage for the rest of your life. And it's so interesting, you know, for people because they're so attracted for garbage.

1:20:47They can, you know, like last year it was reported that around five people, I don't remember how many, just died looking in the Internet.

1:20:57Because by looking in the Internet they forgot about eating, drinking, sleeping, mating and defending. They were just collecting this mental garbage. And because of this they died. It's a fact.

1:21:12This is a new epidemic which is coming. Because they're so attracted for this garbage. So what Lord Caitanya is doing, how he's relieving people. People who are really after something which is more valuable.

1:21:27He's coming to give them, to turn them into bees. To give them honey. He is saying this, this is the real interest in life. The real interest in life is just to become spiritual.

1:21:38And in this way he is reliving them from the sufferings which are there. The sufferings of the things of separation which are there. So for the highest kind of people he is giving them real honey which is him.

1:21:52The real honey for people who are seekers of love he is giving them the real honey. He is turning himself into the honey basically. And then I will make it short. So far we've explained four verses of this song.

1:22:13And the fifth verse is, Nija Bhakti-karam Priya-carutaram, Natanartan-nagarāja-kula. Kulakāmen vimāna-śailasya karam praṇamāmi śakiṣu ta gohula varam. Nija Bhakti-karam Priya-carutaram.

1:22:27In the previous verse it was said, jagat-tāpa haram. He's still taking away this jagat-tāpa. The sufferings or miseries of his world. And here in the fifth verse it says, Nija bhakti karam.

1:22:41He is making people bhaktas of himself. He is giving people bhakti to himself. Nija Bhakti. Nija Bhakti means his own bhakti. And that's how Lord Caitanya is actually relieving people from the suffering.

1:22:57Before that it was said he's relieving people from the suffering. But here they said how? By making himself as an object of their bhakti, of their devotion.

1:23:08Because ultimately our sufferings and I tried to explain this yesterday on the lecture that the reason the cause or day before yesterday the cause of our sufferings is our selfishness.

1:23:19Because they're so absorbed in ourselves. All the diseases actually are coming because of this absorption in ourselves. Because we always think about ourselves.

1:23:28And, you know, and because we're thinking about ourselves, we develop some kind of diseases.

1:23:34You know, we feel a little bit, you know, little pain is there and we think, you know, it must be really dangerous disease, you know.

1:23:42And we go to doctor and doctor gives us some medicine and disease becomes worse and worse and worse. And actually that's a fact. All the diseases are from selfishness. All the sufferings are from selfishness.

1:23:53So what Lord Chaitanya is doing, he's coming and he's so beautiful. And his beauty is so, you know, immense and so profound and so unbelievable. When people stop thinking about themselves, they become captivated by him.

1:24:11They develop so much love to him and the love is the best cure from all the diseases including material diseases. The only curator from material diseases.

1:24:20So that's how he makes us relieved from the sufferings of material body. And prīti-ca-tarām he's so dear to all his servants. The servants they completely oblivious about themselves.

1:24:37They just want to serve him and they don't want anything else. Like, there was a story with his servant Govinda. Govinda was his personal servant and he was his Godbrother. He was the also personal servant of Īśvara Purī.

1:24:53And when Īśvara Purī left this world before that he told Govinda you go to Chaitanya and you serve him.

1:25:01And Govinda, he became, although he is his Godbrother, he became such an obedient and servant of Lord Chaitanya that he was doing everything for Lord Chaitanya.

1:25:11And at one point there was this story and Caitanya-caritāmṛta is described when Lord Chaitanya he became really tired and he lay down and he slept on a threshold of the Gambhīrā room.

1:25:31And it's considered to be a very great offense and Govinda was inside somehow or other. And he had to go outside of the room. It's considered to be a very great offense when you step over somebody.

1:25:43If somebody is sleeping or if somebody is sitting, you cannot step over him. This is a big offense. So, Lord Chaitanya is sleeping and he doesn't want to disturb his sleep.

1:25:55But at the same time he has to go out for the service. So, without hesitating for a moment, Govinda is stepping over Lord Chaitanya and going out and serving Lord Chaitanya.

1:26:06And then Lord Chaitanya wakes up and he's saying, Well, Govinda, how come you're outside? You stepped over me? Of course Lord Chaitanya knows. But he wants to test Govinda.

1:26:16He's asking, Hey Govinda, why did you? How come? How dare you? Because, you know, Lord Chaitanya is his master. This is the servant and the servant is, you know, obnoxiously stepping over the master. How you can do this?

1:26:29Lord Chaitanya is asking this question and Govinda is saying, you know, I know this is aparādha. And I know that because I committed this aparādha, I will go to hell.

1:26:43But for the service of you, I'm ready to commit thousands and thousands of aparādhas and be in hell eternally. Because I have to serve you and because I'm serving you I don't mind committing apparat.

1:26:56For myself I will not commit the slightest apparat. For service of my body I will not do anything like this. But for your service I am ready even to commit apparats.

1:27:08And this is actually the mood of gopis in Vrindavan when Krishna said I need some dust because I have headache. I need some dust from the food, from the feet of devotees. You Narada Muni, bring me some dust.

1:27:24Then Narada Muni was asking everyone and everyone said, No, no, please, you know, not dust from our feet to the head of Krishna because we'll go to hell.

1:27:35And then he came to gopis and he asked me, could you please give the dust? And they said, yes, of course, take as much as possible. Here you are. Take as much dust as you want.

1:27:46But then Narada Muni says, don't you know that you will go to hell? I say, yes, we'll go. We know, we'll go to hell, no problem. But his headache will be relieved. So, that's what it said here.

1:27:58That the devotion of Lord Caitanya is bringing out such intense devotion in the hearts of the people. Then they become completely oblivious of their own sufferings.

1:28:09They become such a great devotee of Lord Caitanya, such a great servant. Then they forget about their own happiness and their own distress. And in this way they're completely relieved from all the sufferings altogether.

1:28:24Naṭana-nāgara-rāja-kulaṁ. And he's naṭana-nāgara means dancer, and nāgara means enjoyer. Rāja-kulaṁ. He is the king of the enjoyers. When he is dancing, you know, you can see that he is enjoying to the maximum.

1:28:41When he is dancing, you can see that the enjoyment which he experiences, it's incomparable. This is what Lord Caitanya is. He brought this highest enjoyment which manifests externally in this dance.

1:28:56And kula manaselasya karam. And then what happens? Kula kami ni manasalasya karam. All the how it is translated here? It is translated here. He causes the mind of beautiful young village woman to dance.

1:29:14That's one translation of this. Kula-kāminī. Kāminī means beautiful woman. And that's something unusual, you know. We usually don't glorify Lord Caitanya as somebody who is just, you know, tempting young woman.

1:29:30Kula-kāminī-mānasa-ullāsa-karaṁ. But actually what it means, kula kamini also means manasam. Kāminī means lust. And what it means that he purges the lust within our mind. And the Lust is always there.

1:29:46The Lust is there in our mind. But when we see how Lord Caitanya is dancing, then the lust which is within our mind is dancing following Lord Caitanya. And it becomes not lust, becomes love. It becomes premā.

1:30:00He's basically taming the lust by all his manifestation and external appearance and everything else. He is standing the lust which is within our heart.

1:30:10And if we really meditate upon Lord Caitanya we can be completely free from the lust. The lust will be completely driven away from the mind and will be exchanged to pure love.

1:30:23And then this is actually Rūpa Gosvāmī says that Lord Chaitanya has two weapons. That he was conquering this world by two weapons. One weapon is his personal beauty. And this fifth verse is describing his personal beauty.

1:30:44How he's conquering the world and conquering the hearts of the people by his personal amazing un-delivable beauty. But the second weapon of Lord Caitanya is his soft singing, is his sweet singing.

1:30:59So the sixth verse saying this: Karatala-valaya-kānta-ravam. Kalā-kanṭha-ravam means from his kanṭha. Kaṇṭha means throat. This sweet voice is coming and his karatala-valaya he is karatala-valaya.

1:31:15Valaya means he has karatala and he's playing karatala. And mṛdu-vādya-suvī-nā-kāra-madhuram. And, you know, he's playing vīṇā or his voice is like as sweet as vīṇā. Mṛdu means soft or sweet.

1:31:32And nija-bhakti-guṇā-vṛtenātya-kāra-man he is dancing. So this is the next weapon of Lord Caitanya. He is singing and he is dancing. And today we go on Harinam.

1:31:43And basically Harinam means that we have to be so attractive by dancing and chanting that the people would be totally absorbed into love of God when they see Harinam. Unfortunately it doesn't happen so often in our case.

1:32:00And but in case of Lord Caitanya, when he was dancing on the streets and when he was singing, people were completely absorbed or immersed in the love of God.

1:32:09And then yuga-dharma-yutaḥ punar-nanda-sutaḥ dharā-niṣ-kuṭa-citram. He's saying punar-nanda-sutaḥ. Again, the son of Nanda comes. The son of Nanda, he's calling him son of Nanda.

1:32:23It's also interesting because he's calling him Sachi Sutta and the same time he says Nanda Sutta. Nanda Sutta as I explained, he is mentioning the name of his father and the father is giving the teaching to you.

1:32:40And when Krishna came as Nanda-suta, he is giving the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā. And the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā for developing characters, for developing certain qualities.

1:32:51So, Lord Caitanya is coming and he is Nanda-suta. And he is coming as Śacī-suta. And he is coming to give the same teachings which is there in Bhagavad-gītā which is basically means surrender unto me.

1:33:03Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja. But he is coming in a different way with a different method of teaching people the same message. And dharā-niṣ-kuṭa-citram, he is holding, upholding the earth.

1:33:21Dharā-niṣ-kuṭa-citram by giving the most appropriate means for spiritual development. He is giving the means which is the most appropriate for everyone if he wants to be developed spiritually.

1:33:34And therefore this is yuga-dharma. This is yuga-dharma-sutaḥ. He's coming as Nanda Sutta giving the same teachings as Krishna is giving, giving this Yuga Dharma. And He's giving it in the most appropriate way.

1:33:49And what is this most appropriate way? It's explained in the third line of this verse. Tanudhyana citta nidjavasa utam. And tanudhyana citta means tanudhyana citta. A strange thing one can think. Tanu means body.

1:34:07Dhyana means meditation. Acitham means mind or consciousness. In other words, he is constantly meditating about himself. About the body of Nandasutha.

1:34:24And Ninja Vasa Yutam and he's together with his abode, with his Dhamma, with atmosphere which surrounds this.

1:34:34And that basically means that he is giving this most appropriate means of spiritual development which means meditation upon Krishna in his Dhamma, in his spiritual abode, in Vrdhama.

1:34:49He is giving something which is most valuable. Not just think about Krishna.

1:34:53Like when I was giving class on Sunday and I was describing this, you know, somebody asked what it means or yesterday I don't remember. Somebody asked what it means to think about Krishna.

1:35:03But to think about Krishna means not just to think about some figure. Sometimes we think that to think about Krishna means to just, you know, visualize some picture, you know. Here he is.

1:35:16But no, Tanudhyana Chitana is to think about Krishna in a specific atmosphere, atmosphere of love, atmosphere of brach. The completely selfless love which is there.

1:35:26Not Krishna alone, but Krishna which is surrounded with this love. That's what it means to think about Krishna.

1:35:32And that's exactly what is explained by Sarabhav Bhatacharya in the seventh verse, where it is said that he has brought Yuga Dharma with the most appropriate means by giving this pure love, love of Raja to people of this world.

1:35:49And this is basically the last paragraph. Because usually, when there is astakam, the main content of astakam is within these seven stanzas or within seven verses. And the eighth verse is kind of conclusion.

1:36:05The eighth verse is usually giving some conclusive words to summarize everything which was said before. And in the concluding words Sarvabhavm Vatacari is saying a very beautiful thing. He says: Arunam Nyanam.

1:36:21It's interesting why Let's think about it. Why he says exactly these words: Arunam Nyanam. And Arunam Nyanam Nyanam means ice. And Arunam means red. Red like the sun. Like the rising sun. Arunam Nyanam Charanam Vasanam.

1:36:40Charanam means feet. And he says his eyes are red. And his feet are red. And his vasanam, vasanam means dress. His dress is also red because he is a sannyāsī. And vadaneskalitam svakanamadharam.

1:36:57When he pronounced the name, his own name, Svakanama Dharam. When he chants his own name Krishna Krishna Krishna. Then what happens? Vadanes Kalitam his voice becomes chocked. He cannot really pronounce it.

1:37:11He becomes like sometimes during Radha Yatra he would try to pronounce Jaganat's name but the name was stuck in his throat. Kurute Surasam Jagatak Jivanam.

1:37:22And Kurute Surasam Jagatak Jivanam this is actually the key for this verse to understand why this is the conclusion of the whole description of Lord Chitanya. Kurute Sura Sam Jagatav Jivanam.

1:37:39He's giving this the whole world. He's giving the new beautiful taste. Jagatar means the whole world. Surasam means beautiful taste.

1:37:50For all the Jivas who are there in the world, he is giving this, them experiencing the new taste.

1:37:57Then actually what is the comparison which is given here is that like the rising sun, when the sun is rising, you know, before when it was dark everyone was sleeping. But when the Sun is rising then the new life starts.

1:38:14Then the people they start experiencing new taste.

1:38:17So appearance of Lord Chitani is actually the new day for the humanity. It's actually the manifestation of new era. The new day when therefore this description or this comparison is there. His eyes like sun, red like rising sun. His clothes like rising sun and his Charanam, His Lotus Fita like Rising Sun.

1:38:40Because He has come to awake everyone. Because He has come to give the new taste of Life, the new Life to everyone. That's His mission.

1:38:51He has brought here life and still we're so dull and still we want to sleep. Still we want to go back to the sleep of material life. So that's how he's this is the conclusion of his mission.

1:39:04He has come he has a reason in this world to wake everyone up. Because everyone is so, you know, dull and almost dead in this world.

1:39:13And he's waking everyone up from this, you know, mortal and heavy sleep of material existence. So that's Lord Sitanya. For that, he's chanting the Holy Name.

1:39:24But because the Holy Name which he is chanting is so pure, he tries to chant the Holy Name, but he couldn't. The Holy Name because of so much emotion is That's Ploh Chitani. That's his mission. And we are still so dull.

1:39:50Still don't understand anything. So that's what it is.

1:39:57I suggest because there is no breakfast and because we have little time, I suggest we chant little bit more of the Holy Name because this is basically the essence of why Lord Chitani came here. So we have little Kirtan and then, okay?

1:40:11Before we chant, I wanted to tell you one more story. It's a little story. But that's important, in order to understand how to chant.

1:40:25Manlordshitanya was having his nocturnal kirtons in the house of Srivas Pandit. Once he started chanting, or Mukundadas was chanting actually.

1:40:39And he started dancing and usually immediately after, you know, chanting, when the chanting would begun and he would start dancing and the devotees around him would see how he's chanting. They immediately would be absorbed into this ecstasy of the Holy Name very soon.

1:40:54But at this time he was dancing and Mukunda is chanting, but there's no ecstasy. And Lord Caitanya stops. And he says, No ecstasy today. How come? I don't feel, you know, no ecstasy in my heart. Where is it?

1:41:10And then he says, probably somebody who doesn't belong here is here. Probably somebody who is not really absorbed in the Holy Name is here, and he's spoiling all the kīrtana.

1:41:22And he said, "Hey, Śrīvāsa, what happened?" And Śrīvāsa starts looking, and he finds his mother-in-law, who is hiding under some basket.

1:41:33There is this basket, big basket, and the mother-in-law, you know, an old lady, is there. She was pretending. He's so angry.

1:41:40He, you know, she grabs this mother, you know, in law, and he says, "You, you know, wicked woman. Get out of here. You spoiled the kīrtana of Lord Caitanya."

1:41:51And he kicks her out, and Lord Caitanya starts dancing and he said, "Now it's better, yeah, now so." Yeah. The reason was removed.

1:41:59And actually this is a very essential reason, because the kīrtana, when we chant the kīrtana and if everyone, if everyone's mind is trying to reflect this Holy Name and trying to be absorbed in the Holy Name really sincerely, then the effect of the Holy Name is much greater.

1:42:21Than if at least even somebody or in the assembly who is thinking about something else. Who just, you know, chanting, you know, the man, you know, in the usual spaced-out way. Immediately the whole kīrtana is spoiled.

1:42:37Because the explanation or comparison is given that when you go to a room like the consciousness is compared with the mirror. And when you chant the Holy Name and if your consciousness is clear then the mirror is reflecting. So when we chant the Holy Name, the Holy Name is supposed to be reflected in everyone's consciousness.

1:43:01If everyone's consciousness is clear enough and if it's clear enough then if you go to a room where there are many mirrors and you go with a little candle in this room. Like what happens with this candle?

1:43:14Because of this so many mirrors are there then the light of this candle becomes amplified many times. It becomes much brighter because of these mirrors.

1:43:24So somebody who is chanting, he is supposed to give this little light of Holy Name. Little candle is there. But everyone else is supposed to try to reflect this Holy Name. So that the light will be combined. Then the effect is greater.

1:43:39And if somebody is not reflecting, this light is kind of dissipating. It's not really there.

1:43:46So it's very essential when we chant, try to be there in the kīrtana. Try to be in the Holy Name and the sound of the Holy Name and try to put the heart, to chant with the heart. Let's try it. Let's do it with the heart.