English
11 March 2024
Speaker: HG Anantasesa Prabhu
Theme: Disappearance day of Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj
Hare Krsna!!
As we discussed, this is a very significant day for all the Gaudīya Vaiśnavās.
Thousands of devotees have gathered here in Yogpith Mayapur, birthplace of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, to celebrate the Inauguration day of Navadvīpa Mandal Parikrama. We have many different groups like Bengali Group, Russian Group, Hindi speaking party. This place was discovered by Śrī Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj. When we worship him, we say:
gauravirbhava bhumes twam nirdesta sajjana priyah
vaisnava sarvabhauma sri jagannathaya te namah
Translation
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, who is respected by the entire Vaisnava community and who discovered the place where Lord Caitanya appeared."
He was given the title Vaiśnava Sārvabhauma as a recognition for the most exalted vaiśnava or chief of the vaiśnavas in the whole Gaudiya Vaiśnava community. He was also called Siddha Baba ji. In 1764, Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Thākura founded the birthplace of Caitanya Mahāprabhu with the help of Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj. At that time, Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj was 142 years old. He was born in Mandalakar village situated at Mymensingh district of Tangail city in Bangladesh. This place is also known as Pawan Zila or district. He was born in a Kayastha family but this is not very important. As Śrīla Vrindāvana Dāsa Thākura says,
Je kule je deśe vaiśnava avatare
tāra prabhāvi lakśaya lojana nistare
The Lord sends His different associates to appear in different places so that place becomes a holy pilgrimage.
Rasik Manjari of Śrī Krsna pastime appeared as Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj in the Gaudiya Vaiśnavism. He appeared as a Prakāśa vigraha, a special associate of Śrī Krsna Caitanya Mahāprabhu and also taught the procedure to perform Rupānuga Bhakti.
evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ paran-tapa
Translation
This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. (BG 4.2)
At that time when no one knew about Gaudiya vaiśnava sampradāya or Caitanya Caritāmrta, almost 13 different Apasampradāya manifested from the lineage of Nityanand prabhu, Advaitācārya and other associates.
Bhaktī Vinoda Thākura used to follow Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj as his Siksha Guru. For 6 months, he would reside in Vraja Mandal at Surya Kunda and for another 6 months, he would reside in Navadvīpa Mandal. Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj used to worship Śrī Krsna since his childhood. This had invigorated him; due to which he had gone to Vraja Mandal. When he used to stay at Navadvīpa Dham, he accepted Pancharatri Diksha from Rāsabiharī Goswāmī and when he reached Vrindāvana, he met Śrīla Madhusudhan Dāsa Babaji.
Theme: Pastimes of Śrīla Madhusudhan Dāsa Babaji
Śrīla Madhusudhan Dāsa Babaji was only 12 years old when one devotee gave him Hare Krsna Mahāmantra. Since then he started chanting the holy name which later awakened his intense desire to achieve Śrī Krsna. Then he went to Vraja while criticizing himself about not knowing his Siksha Guru who gave him the holy name in his childhood. He was very depressed as he didn’t get the opportunity to serve his spiritual master and didn’t get his instructions to follow. This human birth became useless for him. He used to lament a lot staying at Kāmyavana and eventually decided to finish his life in despair. He tied a very huge Giriraj Govardhan Shila around his neck and entered into the Radha Kunda to commit suicide. Śrīmatī Radhārāni and Śrī Krsna Himself appeared and took him out of the Radha Kunda, saved him and laid him on the bank of Radha Kunda in an unconscious state. They put a taal patr in his hand mentioning the name of his Siksha Guru, his sampradāya which was Gaudīya Vaiśnava sampradāya, how to chant the holy name, and other important things. He came to know that he got the holy name from Uddhava Dāsa Babaji who was his Siksha Guru. He used to stay and chant on the banks of Surya Kunda. And take darshan of the eternal pastimes of Radha Krsna.
Once a Holi festival was taking place. Śrīla Madhusudhan Dāsa Babaji was performing bhajan on the banks of Surya Kunda at Madan Ratna Vatika. Suddenly he entered into the eternal pastime of Radha Krsna. Though his gross body was still present on the banks of Surya Kunda. When some local people arrived there, they saw Śrīla Madhusudhan Dāsa Babaji was chanting, his body was painted with different colors and he was mumbling. Listening to some outer voice, Śrīla Madhusudhan Dāsa Babaji came into consciousness.
He would recite Śrīmad Bhāgavatam everyday on the banks of Surya Kunda. A Python would come each day, offer his obeisances to Śrīla Madhusudhan Dāsa Babaji and hear Śrīmad Bhāgavatam from him.
Later Śrīmati Radharani manifested Herself in his dream and asked him to worship Giriraj Ji which was inside the Surya Kunda with crown headed. He then founded a Giriraj shila of about 80-100 Kgs. He took it out as if it was a flower weight. The same Giriraj Shila is still there till date.
Theme: JDBM- a Ghośtānandī
So Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj would engage himself in the service of his spiritual master, Śrīla Madhusudhan Dāsa Babaji everyday and would get instructions from him. He would get into many austerities such as observing Chaturmaas, eating less, etc. Seeing all this, his spiritual master was very happy with him. He gave Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj a Paramhans vesh. Thereafter, Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj began his journey in Vraja Mandal and Navadvīpa Mandal for six-six months. He was very generous and kind. He would always think that he is an insignificant person. And if he accepts any disciple, then he would become proud and won’t be able to do pure chanting. That’s why he would perform devotional services in seclusion. Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj was a Ghośtānandī among all Bhajanānandīs as he would narrate Śrī Hari and Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastimes to anyone who would visit him and that’s how he would always engage himself in preaching. This attracted many people but he would remain detached from the world. Sometimes he would stay at Radha Kunda, Surya Kunda and sometimes in Navadvīpa. In Navadvīpa, his personal servant, Bihārī Dāsa Babajī used to serve him. He explains how Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj used to perform his bhajana. Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj would never meet any lady or any materialistic people.
Theme: be aware of a markat vairāgī
Once a person from Kolkata visited him and requested him to visit his place as he wanted to accept him as his spiritual master and take initiation from him. To which Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj denied. But after so many failed attempts for 15 days, finally he agreed to visit his place but conditioned that he would not eat anything there. Eventually he went to Kolkata by boat. It is said that Bihārī Dāsa Babajī was very fit and active so he would carry Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj as his age was somewhere around 125 years. He would chant whole night and in the morning, he would offer obeisances to the Lord 1108 times everyday. As his age progressed, his body got decrepit. He got a hump on his back and his upper eyelashes would hang down below his lower eyelashes. There used to be two devotees who helped him carry his eyelashes so that he could worship Giriraj Ji. But it is also said that when there used to be devotees gathered at Śrīla Bhaktī Vinoda Thākura’s place and perform Gauranga Mahāprabhu’s kīrtana, Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj would stand straight and start dancing and jumping. He would jump more than 4 feets that he could cross one’s head. So when he was about to reach Kashipur, that person started requesting him to have food. On such a request, Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj became outraged and asked Bihārī Dāsa Babajī to take him to Śrīla Bhaktī Vinoda Thākura’s place as he is a vaiśnava. Then he took him to his place on a Tonga. It was midday and Śrīla Bhaktī Vinoda Thākura was at his upper portion of his house. Just like Śrīla Bhaktī Siddhānta Saraswatī Thākura, Śrīla Bhaktī Vinoda Thākura was skilled in differentiating between a genuine and not genuine vaiśnava. Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj also used to ask Bihārī Dāsa Babajī to stay away from Markat vairāgīs. They are the monkeys who pretend to be detached from material things like they don’t have a house, they don’t wear any clothes and they eat only fruits. But they are the most materialistic. So, as soon as Śrīla Bhaktī Vinoda Thākura got informed about Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj’s arrival, he came down and offered obeisances to him.
Theme: Discovering the birthplace of Caitanya Mahāprabhu
At that time when Śrīla Bhaktī Vinoda Thākura began searching for Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s pastime places on the basis of scriptures and Mahāprabhu’s compilations, the main question was to find out the birthplace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu as this place was drowned in the Ganga from a long period of time. When he reached Yogapith in Mayapur, he found a Tulasi Vana or Vrindāvana there. He immediately understood that this is the birthplace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj was recognised as the most exalted vaiśnava in the whole Gaudīya vaiśnava community. No one could oppose his statement. He was requested to come there and confirm. By the time Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj reached the exact location where Mahāprabhu had appeared, he started singing and dancing in ecstasy, “Jai Sachinandan Gaura Hari, Jai Sachinandan Gaura Hari.” And marked the exact point of birthplace of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There was a well also in which a broken mridanga was found.
Theme: Kindness of JDBM
Thereafter, Bihārī Dāsa Babajī decided to live in Navadvīpa. He cleaned that place, made a bhajan kutir and fenced it all around so no one could visit him and be a disturbance in his bhajan. But people would come with gifts for him. So Bihārī Dāsa Babajī had kept one pot in which he would collect all the money received. Once he had extra 15 rupees for an emergency to which Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj pointed him and asked him to go buy Rasagulla sweets of that rupees and distribute it to the cows. Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj had faith in Navadvīpa vasis. As Śrīla Bhaktī Vinoda Thākura says,
cintāmani rupa haya ey gaura mandala
cidānanda maya dham cinmaya sakala
jala bhumī vriksha ādī sakala cinmaya
sadā vidyamāna tathā krsna bhaktī haya
Gaura Mandal is like a Cintāmani dhāma. All the living entities in the Mayapur dhāma are embodied with knowledge (cinmaya). Water, land, particles of this land, trees, etc of Mayapur Dhāma are all sacidānanda maya, full of eternity, knowledge and bliss. But we can’t see it with our material eyes. When the demigods see Navadvīpa dhāma, all the living entities appear in chaturbuja form (with four arms). This was the bhāva of Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj. Today also we see, devotees in Vrindāvana serve Vrindāvana’s dogs and monkeys by feeding them. It is said that if we have committed an offense, then we should feed Vrindāvana’s dogs and monkeys.
Once Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj had 200 rupees. He asked Bihārī Dāsa Babajī to go buy Rasagulla sweets and distribute to the cows.
Once a fancy food plate was placed for Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj. He saw some puppies asking for food beside his place. He then distributed all the food in his plate to the puppies. This all had disappointed Bihārī Dāsa Babajī so the next day, he drived the dogs away. That’s when Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj got angry at Bihārī Dāsa Babaji and asked him to get the dogs and let them eat from his plate. Otherwise he won’t eat a bite. These were the emotions of Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj.
Theme: Earning money by reciting Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is an offense
When Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj was living in Vrindāvana, there came a man who was a great Sanskrit scholar. He came from Katwa place (where Caitanya Mahāprabhu got sannyāsa initiation) to get mercy from brāhmanās. He started earning money by narrating and reciting shloka from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in Vrindāvana. He would collect respect and money from the Vrindāvana vāsīs. Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj would never listen to his Bhāgavata katha and would always remain disinterested. Then one day, that man went to Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj and asked him why he is not interested in listening to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. In reply to which, Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj said, “One who does business from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, he is the biggest holy name offender. Whatever he says is not the real words of the Lord. He sells Krsna’s words and pastimes to only fulfill his material desires. And one who listens to such a non-bonafide person, he falls down from his position. He would never get auspiciousness and love of godhead in his life.” He also said, “To have faith in objects of enjoyment, then place your faith in Krsna.” The person who is using the dhāma or holy place for his own sense gratification by doing business is spreading inauspiciousness to all the living entities there. When that man heard Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj saying this, his heart transformed. He felt bliss and quit that business. He got mercy from Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj. And later, he became a param Bhāgavata vaiśnava. He would then offer obeisances to all the donkeys and dogs of Vrindāvana.
Theme: Instructions by JDBM
Some of the instructions given by Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj to Bihārī Dāsa Babajī are that one should always abandon a woman and association of those who are engaged in women.
Second, the holy name of the Lord should always be the first goal of life and therefore one should always be regular in chanting the holy name. Once in a conversation between Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj and Gaur Kishore Dāsa Babaji Maharaj, Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji said that 2 am to 6 am is mantra-siddha kāla.
Third, we should never forget Gaurānga Mahāprabhu in our life who is more merciful and beloved than Krsna. Krsna always remembers the offenses that we commit when it comes to justice. But Gaurānga Mahāprabhu never keeps account of our offenses. Krsna is more interested in the dispensation of Justice, whereas Gaurānga is more interested in distribution of mercy. That’s why Gaura kirtana has more significance and is more useful than Krsna kirtana. The meaning of Gaura kirtana is,
jaya sri-krishna-caitanya prabhu nityananda,
sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda
Bihārī Dāsa Babaji says, Krsna is the incarnation of Dwāpar yuga and Gaurānga Mahāprabhu is the incarnation of Kaliyuga. We are in Kaliyuga, so we should worship the Lord of Kaliyuga who is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Like we should praise the king in whose kingdom we live.
Theme: A transformation of a mad Elephant
Rasik Mangal is the biography of Śrī Rasikānanda Prabhu who is a great ācārya and disciple of Śyamānanda Pandit. He preached to many muhammadans and made them vaiśnavas.
dekho ore bhāi, tri-bhuvane nāi,
emona doyāla dātā
paśu pākhī jhure, pāṣāṇa vidare,
śuni' jāńra guṇa-gāthā
Translation
My dear brother, just try and examine this. Within the three worlds there is no one like Lord Caitanya or Lord Nityananda. Their merciful qualities are so great that upon hearing Them even birds and beasts cry and stones melt. (Text 3, Parama Karuna Pahu Dui Jana, Locana Dasa Thakura)
He gave initiation to a mad Elephant. A mad Elephant was sent by someone to kill Rasikānanda Prabhu but as soon as he touched that Elephant, the Elephant became Krsna conscious and named Bhakta Dāsa. Rasikānanda Prabhu then instructed him to serve the vaiśnavas. The Elephant would go to the business men and collect the bags of cereals and carry it. And also would help in the feast for devotees.
Theme: Prabhupāda’s Tamāla
We are in Mayapur Navadvīpa Dhāma. The biggest contribution to Iskcon Mayapur is of HH Tamāla Krsna Maharaj. He was a disciple of Bhaktīvedānta Swāmī Śrīla Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda loved him a lot and would lovingly address him as, “My Tamāla.” Prabhupāda used to be concerned for him as he was sent by Prabhupāda with money to attain the land for Iskcon in Mayapur. HH Tamāla Krsna Maharaj left his body in Navadvīpa Mayapur 22 years back. Today we are celebrating his disappearance day also. He began preaching from China; Radha Damodar Bus Party had become very famous. Śrīla Tamāla Krsna Maharaj had been one of the closest disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He wrote his personal experience vividly to Prabhupāda which was named as TKG Diary. We have his samādhi here.
Hare Krsna!
All glories to Śrīla Jagannātha Dāsa Babaji Maharaj disappearance day!
All glories to Rasikānanda Prabhu!
All glories to Tamāla Krsna Maharaj!
