HH KADAMBA KANANA SWAMI MAHARAJA

A lecture given by H.H Kadamba Kanana Swami Maharaja- ’04, Canberra, Australia

Sri Caitanya Caritamrta- Adi lila.10

So we’re reading a little bit from the Sri Caitanya Caritamrta and we’ve gotten a little of the 10th chapter of the Adi-lila which describes the Caitanya tree. It is said that this Caitanya tree is also known as the Caitanya Kalpataru or the Bhakti Kalpataru, which means it is a wish fulfilling desire tree. And it’s now describing some of the associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and how these associates are such powerful transcendental personalities. It is said that every single one of the associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had the power to deliver the entire universe. And what such a thing means would have always been kind of mystic to us if we would not have seen how Srila Prabhupada was- really a person who could deliver the entire universe. Not by some display of great mystic potency but simply by conquering people’s hearts’, by working very hard to extend himself, to give himself completely to Krsna and to all those who somehow or other showed the slightest interest in Krsna consciousness, and even those who are not interested, but especially to those who showed some interest in Krsna consciousness.

So here we are coming to the description of Murari Gupta.

sri-murari gupta sakha-premera bhandaraprabhura hrdaya drave suni dainya yanra

Murari Gupta, who was like a major branch of the Caitanya tree, he was a storehouse of transcendental love of God, his inconceivable humility was just melting the heart of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We see that throughout the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, when he encountered various devotees who displayed great humility, in response to that, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would just extend Himself, beyond limits! For example, when Rupa and Sanatana met Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for the first time in the village of Ramakeli, at that time the two brothers, they threw themselves on the ground, they put some straw in their teeth-in between the teeth- as a sign of humility. And as they were lying there in front of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord picked them up. And they began to describe how they were the most fallen and they said that, “ We are more fallen than Jagai and Madhai.”

Jagai and Madhai are described to be most degraded. Jagai and Madhai, they were not only alcoholics, they were not only violent, but Jagai and Madhai were killers also. Jagai and Madhai also burnt houses down- even with people inside. Jagai and Madhai, it is said, had committed so many sinful activities- it was inconceivable! In the Caitanya Bhagavat, we find a description of the sinful activities of Jagai and Madhai. And it is described there that Yamaraja, he has an assistant who is his scribe, he keeps all the records, and this person is Citra Gupta. And Citra Gupta, he’s in charge of the archives, where all the sinful activities of people are recorded and he keeps good records and he has many assistants who are just writing it all down and keeping it all very nicely. And then there are many, many messengers. So it is said that of the time of Jagai and Madhai’s sinful activities, the messengers, they were running up and down bringing more and more reports about the next sinful activity that Jagai and Madhai had performed and some of them fell exhausted by the load size. It was just too much work! And Citra Gupta did not know where to keep all the records; there were just too many records to keep.

HH KADAMBA KANANA SWAMI MAHARAJA

So if we’re thinking of Jagai and Madhai as being sinful personalities, then we must understand that they were practically like the emblem of sin personified. More sinful than Jagai and Madhai? How can anyone in the world be more sinful than Jagai and Madhai? So how could Rupa and Sanatana say such a thing? So Rupa and Sanatana not only claimed that they were more sinful that Jagai and Madhai, but they also began to positively explain that, “Actually, Jagai and Madhai, they did a lot of nonsense, undoubtedly. But they were only themselves, engaging in sinful activities. But look at us- we have become the ministers of the Yavana’s, the meat-eaters, who are committing so many sinful activities and are protecting so many people who are engaging in sinful activities and therefore we are millions of times more sinful than Jagai and Madhai because we are protecting so many Jagai’s and Madhai’s…” and in this way, at that time Dabira Khasa and Sakara Mallika (because they were ministers in the Muslim government known as Dabira Khasa and Sakara Mallika) these two brothers then, were describing their humility. And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, at one point, He said, “ Stop! Please stop it! I cannot tolerate this any longer! It is too much! Stop talking like this. This is intolerable! Your humility breaks My heart…” He said. So in this way, we’re seeing how the great devotees of Krsna are displaying this humility.]So here, Murari Gupta is also described as a great and humble devotee. And at the same time he’s describes as a storehouse of love of God. So these two qualities, they come together- this quality of humility and the quality of being able to develop love of God. It is not possible to develop love of God if there is no humility in our hearts. So we see that a person who is proud, how can he hear? His ears are blocked because he is overwhelmed by his own ideas that he cannot even hear what everyone else says and just only when people sort of confirm his own ideas, ‘Yes, yes’ and otherwise, ‘No I don’t agree. I totally don’t agree with this. How can you say this?’, because one’s own idea is so strong fixed in the mind, that one cannot even hear anything. But if one is humble, then one can think, ‘Yes, I need the mercy.’

So a humble personality is eager to hear and by being eager to hear from superior personalities, this brings about also a special dynamics that…when people are eager to hear, then the mature vaisnava who will speak and opens his heart, he will automatically, by the eagerness of the audience become very enthusiastic and he will find that there are so many realizations in his heart that he didn’t even know he had! He may say things that he never thought and he himself will be amazed at what is coming out. Because in the relationship of the vaisnava’s, the mood is very intimate and close and one of deep friendship- a mood of acceptance.

An envious person cannot accept. Envious person will always find some reason not to accept others, he’ll always find some quality in someone that’s not allowed, something wrong: ‘you can’t sit like that, you can’t look like that, you can’t speak like that, people that speak like that- unacceptable, people that come from a certain place- unacceptable’ and so on and so on. Just on some external feature, an envious person will reject so many and basically ‘anyone who’s not supporting me, adoring me, recognising my greatness, such person is undesirable!’

So humility is the quality where one is ready to see good in others and not only see the good in others but therefore also recognises that everyone can make his contribution and one can appreciate. So amongst vaisnava’s, there is an atmosphere of appreciation. I like this point. For example, it is said then, when Sanatana Goswami had been in the Muslim government, he left and Sanatana Goswami went to Jagannatha Puri. And when Sanatana Goswami came to Jagannatha Puri, then he met the associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu for the first time. And they were all seated with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu on a raised platform and then, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very happy to see Sanatana Goswami. He had already met him in Varanasi, He had already instructed him there and He wanted now to introduce him to all the vaisnava’s. So as He began to

HH KADAMBA KANANA SWAMI MAHARAJA

introduce him to all the different vaisnava’s, it is said that Sanatana Goswami offered his obeisances to all these associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And it is said that the vaisnava’s, they offered him friendship, honour and appreciation.

So this is very nice because we see that in the vaisnava relationships, there are all the ingredients of genuine loving relationships. It is not that we are all by ourselves just developing our love for Krsna and that we are just mostly interested in Krsna and then sort of also together with devotees; no, we are together with devotees and we see on the one hand that the devotees are displaying this extraordinary humility and that the devotees are presenting themselves as having no good qualities at all. Devotees, like for example, Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami writes these verses that, “I’m lower than a worm in stool and anyone who sees me loses all his pious credits.” So that’s like on the humble side, isn’t it! I mean by modern standards, somebody like that, they would send them to a psychiatrist- lack of self-esteem, has certainly a serious mental problem! But extreme: “lower than a worm in stool, anyone who sees me loses all his pious credits”. But then, Srila Krsnadas Kaviraja Goswami is also continuing to pray and he is saying that, “ But I am so fortunate, that in spite of the fact that I have no qualification, but I have received the mercy of Lord Nithyananda. How amazing is the mercy of Lord Nithyananda that He even gave it to such a sinful rascal as me!”So, in this way, the humility of the vaisnava who sees no good quality in himself is not the same as the inferiority complex of someone who thinks, ‘ I have no good qualities. I am a loser. I can’t do anything. I mean, wherever I go I do everything wrong. Let me jump off a bridge…’ That’s not the mood of humility although we see that such vaisnava’s see themselves in such a fallen way. But they always remember that they have received the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in this case of Lord Nithyananda.

So in that way the humility of the vaisnava is not one of depression but is one of happiness at the same time because ‘although I’m fallen, I’ve got the mercy.’ So it is genuine happiness also. And the vaisnava’s, it is said, they are not interested in anything in return for their service. The vaisnava’s are not asking Krsna for anything. Vaisnava’s are not asking Krsna for any reward, they don’t say, ‘Please solve my problems. Please give me wealth, give me all material opulence’s.’ Vaisnava’s have no interest, vaisnava’s are not asking for promotion to heavenly planets, vaisnava’s are not asking for liberation either. So they’re not asking for material enjoyment nor are they asking to be promoted from the material world to the spiritual realm- they’re not asking. And they are not actually interested. So it is said that the vaisnava’s are not really asking any reward from Krsna. That is true, but still the vaisnava’s…we see when Sanatana Goswami came, they gave him friendship, they gave him honour and they gave him appreciation. Why, if he was so humble, why if the vaisnava’s are so humble, why did he need to be honoured? I mean, didn’t he cover his ears and walk away? And say, “no! Don’t speak any glory of me! This is like intolerable! Let me go away from here…” Why did he even accept it? Because they were offerings with genuine appreciation and love, so what to do! And he had to accept because how could he disappoint these vaisnava’s by harshly walking away? And say, “ No! Don’t glorify me!” What to do! He had to tolerate although he did not like to be glorified, but still he was glorified.

So, the vaisnava’s honour one another, the vaisnava’s appreciate one another and appreciate each other’s service to Krsna. And that is very much part of devotional service. We can dress the Deities and we can dress Them very nicely, we can make a lot of work out of it. Not just quick, but really take the time, prepare it nicely, bring all kinds of nice things: flower garlands; not one, two, three but like really lay it before and make a… sometimes they cut with scissors, sometimes a whole work of art! Takes hours of very nice garlands, one can make so many decorations to enhance the beauty of Krsna; not to sort of enhance the glory of the pujari but actually…some may dress you know, but to enhance the glory of the Deity one can do such service. And although the vaisnava’s

HH KADAMBA KANANA SWAMI MAHARAJA

are humble and are not in a mood of taking credit, ‘I did that!’ still it is very wonderful and the other vaisnava’s are seeing, ‘Oh! You did such wonderful service to Krsna! That was really wonderful!’ because…not that we need to be placed on a big pedestal and everyone says, ‘You are so glorious!’ but we need to share, we need friends to understand, people who know; not just someone who says, ‘Oh ya, very beautiful!’ but if people who really know how to dress Deities, they say, ‘Oh! Look at that garland!…’ who actually know and see what we did, then we share. And in this way we share the ecstasy. So in this way there is honour and recognition which is not the type of honour that is glorifying us for our greatness, ‘ I am so great! Yes! Finally you’re recognising. I wondered how long it was going to take.’ But there is a sense of brotherhood, the sense of comradely, the sense of serving Krsna together and in a competition and sometimes we see how someone is doing, an amazing thing, much better that we could have ever done and we generously say, ‘this is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Sadhu, sadhu! Glory, glory! How nice how you’re worshipping Krsna!’ and in this way the vaisnava’s are very close together. We are all very close together.

I had never imagined that, when I finally joined the Hare Krsna movement, I could never imagine that so many people were together! In fact, the first time I ever saw the devotees, they came in my town in a little grey van and the back door flapped open and so many little pink men came out! Too many! It was just something like; it’s not possible that so many people can come out from one car! What is going on? Where are they from? Where have they just landed from? And they made a line and they came in my direction and I was like sweating! And I just escaped into a shop and I looked from behind the window and someone next to me said, “It’s a dangerous cult!” It looks dangerous! So even the first time I saw the devotees, I saw them in a situation where they were all packed together. And then when I finally moved into the temple, it was so packed that temple, that everywhere devotees were sleeping at night: on the landing of the staircase devotees were sleeping, sometimes when the sankirtana devotees were back, the last devotee would sleep in the bathroom, devotees would sleep in the kitchen, devotees would sleep everywhere!

So, we are close together. I never thought that so many people could stay in one house as I’m seeing in the Hare Krsna movement; so many people packed in one room. I never thought it was possible! The one who built that stairs, never thought that so many people would sit on it! But somehow or other by the mercy of Krsna, it’s holding up! So this is our movement- close together! It is good, we need each other. We very much need each other. Alone, we’ll never be Krsna conscious. It’s not possible. We are not strong at all. There’s nobody strong. And everyone has his strong moments, everyone has his weak moments and we all need others with us because then there’s always someone who is enthusiastic.

There’s a famous story about Visnujana, which I like a lot, and the story is that someone asked Visnujana, (Visnujana, for those who don’t know, was a very famous kirtana leader) so someone asked Visnujana, “Why are you always so enthusiastic in kirtana? Where are you getting this amazing energy from?” Visnujana said, “Actually I’m not always enthusiastic in kirtana, but I just act enthusiastic, then the devotees become enthusiastic and that makes me enthusiastic!” that’s such a nice story because it really describes the reality of our life. And that’s why I like this story because it’s really how it works; it’s how it works actually. Sometimes we forget who we really are and we see ourselves walking around with our neck beads, our kavaca, our brahmana threads, all the attributes we have and all the sloka’s we know and all the other things, and we think, ‘Well, we are actually vaisnava’s!’ and in the sense of like real vaisnava’s but somehow or other, we are vaisnava’s very much by the grace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nithyananda, somehow or other we are here. And by the grace of the Lord and His pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada, somehow or other we are here.

HH KADAMBA KANANA SWAMI MAHARAJA

I was just in Spain, and there we had the visit of Laxmimoni mataji who gave one class and it was very nice actually. She’s of course one of the early devotees who joined in 1969, and she said, “We had so much faith in Prabhupada, we had so much faith that whatever he said, we just totally believed that it would work and that Krsna’s blessing would be there and therefore whatever he said, we just did it! We were 19, 20 and he would just send us to another country, some strange country where we’d never been, we didn’t speak the language or anything and we had no idea how we were gonna survive there. There was no money, no place to stay, nothing. But we just went and we had full faith that it would work. We just did it, we just did it!” So that is so nice, and it worked. And in fact, then time changed. In 1999 I was doing a seminar which is called “From ’66 to ‘99”, you can look at my fingers- from ’66 to ’99! So in ’66 everything was, ‘ Yes, Yes we’re all going back to Godhead! No doubt about it.’ In ’99, the mood was, ‘If your guru is a Paramahamsa priyasakhi and somehow or other you get the right association and you surrender completely to the process, then maybe after many, many lifetimes, theoretically it is possible that someone may go back to Godhead! We’ve never seen it happen; it doesn’t really happen. But there is a rumour that Prabhupada said, some people say that Prabhupada said (we’re not even sure) that you can go back to godhead in this very lifetime!’That’s like…come on! Bizarre! So anyway, ‘From ’66 to ‘99’ was the seminar. It was really interesting. And then now we have the ISKCON of the new millennium- whatever that is, I’m trying to figure it out! But whatever may be, here we are. But the point is that actually, nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. The same potency is still here now. Srila Prabhupada brought the very same potency that was available to the associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; he brought the very same process. He brought everything that the associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu got from Lord Caitanya directly; Prabhupada brought it to the hippies on the lower east side. And now, it is still there! And if one simply takes up the process with great faith and just follow it and be sure that everything will be all right, if we take shelter of the process, of the simple process to chant Hare Krsna and to preach Krsna consciousness, to take shelter of these books, read Prabhupada’s books; then surely everything will happen.

It is said that Haridas Thakura was once with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was asking. “What about all those living entities who are in very low bodies, who cannot chant? Such as the trees and all kind of species that cannot chant, what about them?” Haridas said, “No problem my Lord! They are already delivered. Just the echo of the chanting that bounces off the trees will deliver the trees and those living beings that hear the chanting, they also will be delivered.” And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was saying that how could have Haridas understood His purpose. So this is a very significant pastime because from that pastime we can understand that studying the books is not an intellectual, academic pursuit. It is not a matter of analysing the book this way and that way and trying to really philosophically understand the book. That is important- if we have that capacity. But, the essence is more to take the spirit at heart and if we simply take up the mood of faith- the same mood of faith that is displayed by the great devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu; who totally believed that if you take shelter of the Holy Name and simply glorify Krsna that all success will be there. Like Srivasa Pandita…One day Lord Caitanya said, “Srivasa, you’re having a house, you’re having a family, you having many servants and you know, I never see you go out to work! So how are you actually maintaining all this?” Srivasa said, “My Lord, I promise you, I will never work! My Lord, if You will not maintain us, then me and my family, we will simply fast. And if the second day You will not maintain us, we will simply fast. And if the third day You will not maintain us, we will simply jump in the river and drown ourselves!” “No Srivasa! Please, don’t do that! In your house, there never will be shortage of anything.”

HH KADAMBA KANANA SWAMI MAHARAJA

So, in this way, Srivasa did not work. But he did not sleep all day -or night; he was always worshipping Krsna- 24 hours day glorifying Krsna, worshipping Krsna, sometimes out on harinama, preaching, other times going deep, deep in worshipping Krsna, and in this way everything came. So this faith, this full faith that if we just give our life to Krsna, that then automatically everything will follow, everything will work out- that spirit is what is needed. Not that it means that we can never do something to make some money, that’s not what I meant to say. But what I meant to say is we should just not worry about our material security. We should just really go for it, go for Krsna consciousness! And surely, all success will come and we too, just like the associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu will become surcharged with transcendental energy and ecstasy, we too will taste the greatest mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we too will experience the ecstasy of developing love for Krsna!

So thank you very much!

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