The following is the reading from the Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 7th 2019 in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India
mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Hari Oṁ Tat Sat
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 17.16
tabe nityānanda-gosāñira vyāsa-pūjana
nityānandāveśe kaila muṣala dhāraṇā
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Nityānanda Prabhu then arranged to offer Vyāsa-pūjā or worship of the spiritual master, to Lord Śrī Gaurasundara. But Lord Caitanya carried the plow like weapon called muṣala, in the ecstasy of being Nityānanda Prabhu.”
>> Jayapatākā Swami: On the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Nityānanda prabhu arranged for the Vyāsa-pūjā of Lord Caitanya. So, He arranged for the Vyāsa-pūjā or guru-pūjā. Since Vyāsadeva is the original guru, so the tradition is that the vaiṣṇavas in the Brahmā Mādhava Gauḍīya sampradāya, offer pūjā to the guru as Vyāsa-pūjā, or through the agency of Vyāsadeva. So, Lord Nityānanda arranged for the Vyāsa-pūjā of Lord Caitanya. So, when He tried to put a on the garland on Lord Caitanya, He saw Himself in Lord Caitanya. Because there is no difference between the position of the Supreme Lord, the spiritual position of Lord Caitanya Mahprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu, or Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. So, all are different manifestations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, during the ceremony, all the devotees realized there was no spiritual position difference between Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Nityānanda Prabhu.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.4
nityanandasaha bhaktaganera krsnakatha-rase bihbalata-
hena-mate nityānanda-saṅge kutūhale
kṛṣṇa-kathā-rase sabe haila vihvale
>> Jayapatākā Swami: So all the devotees became overwhelmed with spiritual bliss to discuss the topics of Lord Caitanya in the presence of Lord Nityānanda.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.5
sabe mahā-bhāgavata parama udara
kṛṣṇa-rase matta sabe karena huṅkāra
>> Jayapatākā Swami: All were mahā-bhāgavatas or great magnanimous devotees, they were so absorbed in ecstasy of Kṛṣṇa’s mellow, that they loudly chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa. Loudly chanted and roared and at that time, intoxicated with the mellows of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.6
hāse prabhu nityānanda cāri-dike dekhi’
vahaye ananda-dhara sabakara-ankhi
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Nityānanda smiled and looked all around. Everyone’s eyes were flowing with tears of love.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.7
mahāprabhu nityānandera nikaṭa vyasapujara prastāva
dekhiyā ānanda mahāprabhu viśvambhara
nityānanda-prati kichu karilā uttarā
>> Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Viśvambhara Mahāprabhu saw the ecstatic situation and He spoke something to Lord Nityānanda.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.8
“śuna śuna nityānanda śrīpāda gosāñi
vyāsa-pūjā tomāra haibe kon ṭhāñi?
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Listen, listen, dear Nityānanda Śrīpāda Gosāñi, where will Your Vyāsa-pūjā ceremony be held? So, the knowledge of the Absolute truth is the basic knowledge of Vrajendra-nandana, and that is known as Veda. So, in this way, we know the sambanda, abhideya and prayojana - our relationship with the Lord, abhideya is our position in that relationship, prayojana is the perfection of life. So, the Lord is filled with spiritual variegatedness. For those who give importance to the material variegatedness, they become impersonalists and lose their interest in Kṛṣṇa. So Vyāsadeva, he gave separated knowledge in different parts. In one part, he showed how to counteract the karmas or how to do the karma-kāṇḍa. Different activities which will help us advance in karma or favorable results of material nature. So, this materialistic karma kāṇḍa is Ṛg, Sama and Yajur Veda. So, these impersonalist fail to understand that the variegatedness of the Supreme Lord is eternal. And they think that all this variegatedness is temporary. Therefore, they think the formlessness is the ultimate truth. So, they don’t really accept Veda Vyāsa as the spiritual master, and they put their ignorance of the eternal divine nature, as the prominent thing. So, they are actually offenders to Kṛṣṇa and to Vyāsadeva. So, they think that the Supreme Lord or Supreme Personality of Godhead is a product of material nature. So thus are covered Buddhists, so here Mādhavācārya or Śrīpāda Ananda- tīrtha, he remained a servant to his guru.
Recently, someone said a pastime, where Śrīla Prabhupāda was crossing over a ditch, which was filled with smelly stuff. So, one devotee held his hand out and helped Śrīla Prabhupāda over the ditch by some narrow bridge. But as soon as Śrīla Prabhupāda reached the other side, he pulled his hand away, and the devotee said, what is that? He said, this is an example of māyāvāda. You take the help from your guru when you need it, and when you don’t need it! So Śrīla Prabhupāda was using an example that what is the difference between the vaiṣṇavas and the māyāvādīs. Māyāvādīs will step on the head of the guru and go up, and once they reach the Brahman or something, they don’t need the guru. But the vaiṣṇava always keep the guru in a respectful position, and thus they have great respect for their guru. So Mādhavācārya, he always kept his guru in a respectful position, and that is why devotees like Śrīpāda Lakṣmīpati and Mādhavendra Purī Mahārāja have given very nice teachings.
So, the Māyāvādīs do guru-pūjā but they do it on the Guru Pūrṇimā day, and they don’t usually do the Vyāsa-pūjā. But there is a big presence of false ego and as I said they only respect the guru as long as they need to. When they don’t need to, they don’t keep contact with their Guru Mahārāja. So, they make a show of the guru-pūjā on the Guru Pūrṇimā day of asada. So, the members of the four āśrama, follow the system of Vyāsa-pūjā, but especially the sannyāsīs, sannyāsīs they should observe this, according to this. So, the followers of the Vedas are called as Vedanugas, and they follow the teachings of Vyāsadeva. So everyday Śrīla Prabhupāda said they worship their guru on the appearance day. Whether māyāvādīs or vaiṣṇavas, everyone worships their spiritual masters. So māyāvādīs worship their guru on the Guru Pūrṇimā day of āṣāḍha, which is considered to be the appearance day of the guru. So, the Vyāsa-pūjā observed on the appearance day of the spiritual master by the vaiṣṇavas. Since His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura appeared in the month of January/Feb, in the month of Māgha, so they observe Vyāsa-pūjā then. Śrīla Prabhupāda appeared day after Janamastami, therefore we observe the Vyāsa-pūjā then. Different branches of the sampradāya worship Vyāsa-pūjā, on the different days of the appearance of their respective ācāryas. So, they worship the guru as a representative of Vyāsadeva. So, on the Vyāsa-pūjā day, one of the prescribed ceremonies is bathing the lotus feet of the spiritual master with five ingredients which is the called the guru-pada-padme padyarpana, or bathing the lotus feet of the spiritual master with five ingredients. So, it is understood that the spiritual master’s inner desire is to serve the Supreme Lord. So Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, he prayed for the mercy of Rūpa Gosvāmī who tried to establish the desire of Lord Caitanya in the world. When will that Rūpa Gosvāmī give me the shelter at his lotus feet? So, preaching or disseminating the mercy of the Lord is the remedy of Lord Caitanya prescribed by Rūpa Gosvāmī to take away all our aversion for serving the Lord. So, this is the ideal offering at the Vyāsa-pūjā, offering of the souls to the spiritual master.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.9
kali haibe paurṇamāsī vyāsera pūjana
āpane bujhiyā bala, yāre laya mana”
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Tomorrow is the full moon day when Vyāsadeva is worshipped. You think about it and tell Me what is to be done?
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.10
nityānanda janilena prabhura iṅgita
hate dhari’ ānilena śrīvāsa paṇḍita
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Nityānanda understood the hint of the Lord and he grabbed the hand of Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita and brought him forward. Nityānanda Prabhu was a disciple of Parivrājakācārya, Śrī Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, who was subordinate to the Śrī Madhva-sampradāya. Since the next day was Pūrṇimā, the day that sannyāsīs shave their heads, He knew that the Vyāsa-pūjā day had arrived. So, He asked Lord Nityānanda, where the Vyāsa-pūjā should be celebrated? So, the Vyāsa-pūjā signifies the offering of oblations and offerings to the predecessor gurus. At that time Lord Caitanya had not yet enacted the pastime of accepting sannyāsa. But since Lord Nityānanda was practicing brahmacarya under Lakṣmīpati Tīrtha, we find that His name was “Śrī Nityānanda Svarūpa”. From time immemorial the brahmacārīs of Tīrtha and āśrama sannyāsīs have been addressed as svarūpa. So Lord Nityānanda was called Nityānanda Svarūpa, as a brahmacārī.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.11
hāsi’ bale nityānanda,—“śuna viśvambhara
vyāsa-pūjā ei mora vamanara ghara”
>> Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Nityānanda smiled, He said listen Lord Viśvambhara, I will observe Vyāsa-pūjā in the house of this brāhmaṇa, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.12
sa bhavane byasapujaya śrīvāsera āgraha
śrīvāsera prati bale prabhu viśvambhara
“baḍa bhara lāgilā ye tomāra upara”
>> Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Viśvambhara said to Śrīvāsa, this is a great responsibility that has been given to you!
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.13
paṇḍita balena,—“prabhu kichu nahe bhara
tomāra prasāde sarva gharei āmāra
>> Jayapatākā Swami: So Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita responded, Oh Lord, this is not at all a burden for me! By Your mercy, everything is available in my house.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.14
vastra, mudga, yajña-sūtra, ghṛta, guya, pāñā
vidhi-yogya yata sajja saba vidyamāna
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Cloth, moong dāl, volunteers, ghee, betel nut, pan, and whatever else is needed, they are all there.
Caitanya-Bhāgavata Madhya-khaṇḍa 5.15
paddhati-pustaka mātra māgiyā āniba
kali mahabhagya, vyāsa-pūjana dekhiba”
>> Jayapatākā Swami: I have to borrow a book of the explaining the process of the Vyāsa-pūjā. Tomorrow is my great good fortune; I will be able to see the Vyāsa-pūjā! So different sampradāyas have different ceremonies of Vyāsa-pūjā. So Lord Nityānanda would observe His sampradāya’s Vyāsa-pūjā, that would be observed by Śrīvāsa in his house.
Any questions?
>> Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, Please accept my humble obeisances, All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda!
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Glories To Śrīla Prabhupāda!
>> Question: Like there are six symptoms of surrender to Kṛṣṇa, what are the symptoms of surrender to guru? How does one develop such symptoms? Does surrender to guru automatically helps one to surrender to Kṛṣṇa? – Prema Gaurasundara dāsa
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Since the vaiṣṇava guru is filled with the inner desire to serve Vrajendra-nandana, Kṛṣṇa, so therefore the worship of guru brings one closer to Kṛṣṇa. That is why we worship the vaiṣṇava guru as a representative of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Worshiping a māyāvādī guru may not help you to approach Kṛṣṇa.
>> Question: What should I do, that I go back home back to Godhead in this life?
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Do what Śrīla Prabhupāda advised in his books.
>> Question: How can we observe the Vyāsa-pūjā of Lord Nityānanda here in Māyāpur?
>> Jayapatākā Swami: I think we observe His Vyāsa-pūjā on His appearance day. Since that’s the custom, we observe the guru on his appearance day. So, Lord Nityānanda appears on Maghi-trayodasi, so we observe His appearance day there. So, one of the ceremonies we do is the Vyāsa-pūjā of Lord Nityānanda. That’s all I know.
>> Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja, do Māyāvādī guru go to hell or Brahman?
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Normally they may go to Brahman, but if they are very offensive then one cannot say where they go.
>> Question: Guru Mahārāja, Please accept my respectful obeisances. and your divine louts feet. Yes Some doctors recommend the medicines that contain nonveg items such as Calcium, Iron and Vitamin D. Should we take those medicines? – Your spiritual daughter, Ujjvala Prema Bhakti devī dāsī.
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, these are not non-veg. We take a vow not to eat meat, fish and eggs. These are neither meat, fish or egg. Calcium is there in milk also. Iron is in spinach, sak… ask for pharmacist.
Any think other vegtables Calcium, Iron.
>> Question: If one is not respecting the instructions of gurudeva, will it also be considered as impersonal aspect in our heart? So how to overcome this tendency?
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Disobeying the order of the guru is considered as offensive. One of the offences to the holy name is to disobey the order of the guru. I think it’s the third offense. So, it is worse than impersonal, how to overcome the tendency? Follow the order of the guru! Ha! If we understand that the guru is giving us some advice, some instruction for our benefit, it is not for his benefit, it is for our benefit, so we should accept that. So, if one has faith in the guru, just like what is the use of going to a doctor if you don’t take his medicines? If you don’t have faith in the doctor, don’t go to him. If you don’t have faith in the guru, why do you go? If you don’t follow his instructions?
>> Question: Dear gurudeva, what pleases Śrīla Prabhupāda the most?
>> Jayapatākā Swami: Many people asked this of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He said when I see my disciples develop love of Kṛṣṇa, that pleases me the most. Ha! So, he said many things about different services. He likes book distribution, he likes book publication, he likes various services. Deity worship.
But preaching is the essence. Books are the basis. Purity is the force and utility is the principle.
So, thank you for your nice questions.
Transcribed by: Jayarāseśvarī devī dāsī. Verified by: Rasapriya gopikā devī dāsī.
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