Lord Caitanya's Tour of Southern India- CCML | Rus-Split | 10.5.92 | Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī Mahārājā

We described Lord Caitanya's, some of Lord Caitanya's, some stories from the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. We explained how Sarvabhūma-bhātā-cārya was delivered, the story of Sākṣī-gopāla, and also the story of Madhvandapura. So after this, There's a description of Lord Caitanya's tour of southern India. How many people are coming here for the first time today? Okay, okay. Well, the reason I ask this question is because those who are coming here the first time probably need a little introduction to what we are talking. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is described as the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God is the cause of all causes. It is not that everything came into existence just by accident. Nothing happens by accident. Everything has a cause. So Krishna is the cause of all causes. Yesterday we were explaining that yesterday we had a group of scientists here for a program, and some of them was saying the nature and God is the same. But our response was The nature is subordinate to God. So nature is subordinate to God, or God is the cause of nature. So yadā yadā hi dharma-sakṇāne bahauṭhir baharatha. Kṛṣṇa appears from time to time in different incarnations. The purpose is always one, to establish dharma. So 500 years ago, dharma had declined considerably. Advaita Ācārya was on the planet. And Advaita Acharya could see that even though he was so powerful, he was not capable of delivering the conditioned souls. So he prayed that the Lord may appear, and the Lord appeared as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So in the incarnation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, God presented a very sublime method of self-realization. So as we all know, Caitanya Mahāprabhu spent his childhood days in Navadvīpa. But at that time in Navadvīpa, There were many speculators and impersonalists. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, after He took sannyāsa, He had gone to Jagannātha Puri. We saw how in Jagannātha Puri He liberated Sarvabrahma Bādhācārya. And after liberating Sarvabrahma Bādhācārya, Caitanya Mahāprabhu took permission from all His associates and He left for southern India. And in southern India Caitanya Mahāprabhu flooded that place with love of God. Once Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the house of a brāhmin called Kurma. So that brāhmin Kurma received Caitanya Mahāprabhu very nicely. And after washing Caitanya Mahāprabhu's feet, that brāhmin Kurma told the Lord that he desired that he travel with the Lord. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu told Kurma: —"That you don't have to travel with Me. You can stay where you are. You can worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, chant the holy names, read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavad-gītā and the Bhāgavatam, and you will never be separated from Me." Then when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in southern India, there was another devotee who came to Him. His name was Vāsudeva Datta. We are talking about the real Vāsudeva Datta, not the imitation, not the servant. So Vāsudeva datta was suffering from leprosy. So when he came to Kurma's house, Caitanya Mahāprabhu had already left Kurma's house. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu is God. He's in everyone's heart, present as the Paramātmā. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu knew that this Vāsudeva datta has come to see him. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu went back to Kurma's house and there was Vāsudeva datta. Vāsudeva datta was suffering from leprosy. He was suffering from leprosy and there was pus coming out of his body all day. And he was such a compassionate person that when the germs from his body would fall on the ground, he would lift the germs back and put them back on his body. So Vasudeva Datta was a great devotee of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. So when he came to Kormā's house and he found out that Caitanya Mahāprabhu has already left, he virtually had a heart attack. He fainted. So when Caitanya Mahāprabhu came back to Kurma's house, Vāsudeva dadda offered his danda-bāts to Him. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu embraced him. But Vāsudeva dadda said, "Why are You embracing me? Nobody even comes near me and You want to embrace me?" Not only was Vāsudeva suffering from leprosy and pus coming out of his whole body, but his whole body was releasing a very foul smell. So nobody would even come within yards of him. But Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, after He embraced him, Vāsudeva became a very handsome man. All the pus from his body was gone. The dirty smell was gone. And he became a very handsome man. So very often the Christians talk of miracles that Jesus Christ did. You must have heard of those miracles. So Lord Chaitanya also performed lot of miracles. But we don't attract people on the basis of miracles. We attract people on the basis of philosophy. So when Vasudeva became a very handsome man, he began to feel very embarrassed. Why was he feeling embarrassed? Because only till moments ago nobody would even come near him because his body was so filthy, and now he became so handsome. So he asked Caitanya Mahāprabhu, what should he do? He was afraid that he's going to become proud because all of a sudden he has become so handsome. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu told him, chant Hare Krishna, read the Bhagavad-gītā and the Bhāgavatam, and preach, preach the glories of the Holy Name to everyone. And this way you will never become proud. So this Krishna conscious philosophy is very simple and easy to practice. Many of you who are here today probably live at home, because of course in our ashrams we don't have much facility. Through the two stories that I have revealed to you, you can see the The Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be practiced in any situation at any point. All you have to do is chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and read the scriptures. Now when Lord Nityānanda saw Caitanya Mahāprabhu leaving for South India— actually Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Sarvabhūma Baddacārya, they did not want Caitanya Mahāprabhu to go to South India. They were trying their best to discourage Caitanya Mahāprabhu from going on this tour, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu insisted that he has to go. So Nityānanda Prabhu had predicted, when he saw Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His entourage leaving and dancing, he said, "One day the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa will spread to every town and village of the world." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He was in southern India, people from neighboring villages and distant places would all come to see Him. And when they would come to see Him, just by seeing Caitanya Mahāprabhu chant and dance, they would all be inspired to also start chanting and dancing. And by seeing others chant and dance, by seeing devotees of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and others who were influenced by his devotees chant and dance, the others who were not devotees, they, by seeing them, would also begin to chant and dance. So Chaitanya Mahāprabhu created a flood, a flood of love of God. Then Chaitanya Mahāprabhu went to a temple in South India where he saw that there was a man holding a Bhāgavad-gītā crying and a big crowd of people standing around him. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was seeing that the man was crying and the people standing around him were laughing. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to the man and said, "Why are you crying?" The man said, "I'm crying because my spiritual master told me to read the Bhāgavad-gītā every day, but I'm uneducated and I can't read it." And still Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Still, why should you cry? There's no need for you to cry." But he said that, "When I see that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, has become the chariot driver of Arjuna, and He's driving this chariot for Arjuna, then when looking at the humility of the Lord, my heart is lamenting." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu then embraced him and said, "You have really understood." the Bhagavad-gītā. In other words, the purpose of studying the Bhagavad-gītā is to understand the supreme position of God. There's so many people who read the Bhagavad-gītā but they don't surrender to God. There's so many people who know the whole Bhagavad-gītā by heart but they don't accept the supreme position of Kṛṣṇa. They maintain that God is impersonal. So the important point is that we understand the real conclusion of the Bhagavad-gītā, which is Sarvadharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śrī-nam vraja. Give up everything and surrender to Me and I will protect you. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu was leaving for southern India, He was warned by Sarvabhūma Bhattacharya that He would meet a very great devotee there called Rāmānanda Rāya. So Rāmānanda Rāya was the governor of a province in southern India called Madras. Actually, he is the incarnation of a gopī called Viśākha. So he was a very advanced devotee, though holding a mundane position. So when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in southern India, he went to have a bath in the Godāvārī, and there he met Rāmānanda Rāy. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked Rāmānanda Rāy, what is the highest perfection of life? We should all be anxious to know what is the highest perfection of life. Just like, giving a mundane example, any materialist rich man wants to buy a Mercedes car. Why? Because it's associated with success. If you have— if you're rich, then you want the best car. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked Rāmānanda Rāyaṣṭha, what is the highest perfection of life? Caitanya Mahāprabhu was told by Rāmānanda Rāyaṣṭha, following the principle of varnāśrama. Varnāśrama means the division of society into four social and spiritual orders. According to our Vedic system, just like the human body is divided into different organs, the society must be divided into different sections. You have 4 social orders and 4 spiritual orders. You have the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Sudras. They are known as the varnas. And then you have the āśramas: brahmachari, grihastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa. Are all of you familiar with this? I realize there are a lot of newcomers, so I'm just talking about those aspects of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's philosophy that everybody can relate to. So— they must be just like in our body. The head must be there. If there's no head in the body, then the body is considered incomplete. So the head is compared— the brahmanas are compared to the head of the body. The hand is compared— the shātyas are compared to the hand. And the vaisyas are compared to the belly. And the sudras are compared to the leg. So these four varnas must be there for society to be happy and peaceful. Today you have a system where you don't have anybody trained as a brahmana, and the sudras are trying to assume the position of the brahmana. So, um, the Vedic system is that there must be a class of men trained in spiritual responsibility so that they can guide the society on the spiritual path. So when Ramnanda Roy presented this varnāśrama as the highest goal of life, Caitanya Mahāprabhu rejected it. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said the highest goal of life is all that you do, everything that you offer with your thought, word, and mind, you dedicate your life to Krishna. If the senses are not used in service to the Lord, then we have to recognize these senses will become our enemy. So according to the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the highest perfection of life is when body, mind, and words are all used in service to the Lord. It is said the same senses can be the cause of our destruction And the same senses, if used in a controlled manner, can be the cause of taking us back to Godhead. What is the nature of the senses? They can never be satisfied. Everybody is working to satisfy the senses. The animals are working to satisfy the senses, and the human beings are working to satisfy the senses, but the senses are not getting satisfied. Why? Because the senses can never be satisfied by a material arrangement. The great sages have concluded on this point that the senses can never be satisfied by any material arrangement. In the material world, everyone thinks grass is greener on the other side. And since they think grass is greener on the other side, everybody thinks with a little bit of adjustment, I'll be happy and everyone else will be happy. So everyone's making so many ambitious plans to realize happiness, but no amount of happiness can really— no amount of material success can make one happy. That is because the living entity is constitutional by nature, is spiritual by nature. And since the living entity is spiritual by nature, he, he'll be satisfied if he engages in spiritual activities. That is why this Krishna Consciousness movement is emphasizing the importance of cultivating spiritual principles, because unless one cultivates spiritual principles, there cannot be any real happiness. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed everyone, whoever He met, to please take to this process of devotional service to the Lord. Just like a father is concerned when the children rebel, the Supreme Lord, our real Father, is also concerned when the children rebel and don't surrender to Him. Therefore, the Lord appears, sends His representatives, always with the same mission to bring everyone back to Godhead. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement is meant to attract everyone because this is a very simple and sublime method. Prasādhana Mahāprabhu said, brahmānda brahmīta kona bhāgavānau jī guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya-pāya-bhakti-lata-bhīja. After traveling through so many millions of births and deaths, is he the fortunate soul who receives the seed of devotion? Unfortunately, this knowledge That a living entity is transmigrating through innumerable species of life is totally unknown to society. There's so many institutes of learning all over the world, but no institute tells you how, uh, what happens after death. This is the single biggest problem in society. There is lack of spiritual knowledge. People do not know what is going to happen after death, and they don't have the understanding that one is transmigrating through births and deaths. So after going through so many different species as animals, human, ultimately by chance one comes, one receives, ultimately one receives the seed of devotional service. And once you get the seed of devotional service, this seed must be watered. Just like when you plant the seed in the garden, then you water the seed and then the seed grows. So Chaitanya Mahāprabhu instructed that we water the seed of devotional service through the process of chanting and hearing. Like all of you who are assembled here today, you really didn't have to be here today. The weather is so nice today that you all could easily have gone out to the park or the beach or to visit friends. The materialist, when the weather is very nice, he thinks, "How should I enjoy the weather?" When the weather is very bad, he takes it as an excuse to stay inside the house. So he never has time to come to the temple of the Lord. But all of you who have come here in spite of very good weather have obviously come here because you have strong interest in spiritual life, otherwise you would not be here. So now that you have come here, the question is, how can you further fan the desire of service to God? So you can fan this desire to serve the Lord if you continue this process of chanting and hearing. And this can be done by anyone. You don't need any special education to do this. And in addition to chanting and dancing, Chaitanya Mahāprabhu recommended that we regularly cultivate spiritual association. Why is that? Because if you regularly associate with spiritually minded people, then you will constantly be reminded about the real goal of life. And if you're constantly reminded about the mission of life, then you will never get sidetracked. So we should take advantage of this philosophy that Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given us and thereby perfect our life. So friends, now we have a very nice ceremony called in which we worship this tulsi plant. This tulsi plant is not an ordinary plant. It doesn't grow in any garden. It only grows in the garden of devotional service. So what is this tulsi? Tulsi is a pure devotee of the Lord. And by worshipping this Tulsi, you can be inspired to receive the seed of devotional service. So in this Tulsi offering, you will see that certain prayers will be offered to Tulsi Devi. I'll explain very quickly to you all the meaning of this. And after aarti at 7:20, we'll have a Bhagavad Gita class. So in this Tulsi prayer, the devotee prays that, "My dear Lord, I bow down before You again and again." please give me the opportunity to serve Radha and Krishna. And whoever takes shelter of you will get his desire, will become a resident of Vrindavan. So to be a resident of Vrindavan, you don't have to buy an airflight ticket for 60,000 rubles. All you have to do is worship Tulasi Devī, and then you can become a resident of Vrindavan. And then the devotee prays, please may you give me the opportunity to serve Radha and Krishna birth after birth. Okay, so first all your devotees will have to offer respects to Tulsi Devi. Lama Lama.