English
16 March 2024
Panihati Dham
Speaker: HH Lokanath Swami Maharaj
We chant everyday on this zoom conference. And at this point of time 6:45 am we deliver Japa Talk. I am going to deliver today's Japa Talk, though everyday we have different speakers lined up. We are at Panihati Dham today.
Jaya Jaya Sri Krsna Caitanya Nityananda 1
jaya jaya śrī kṛṣṇa caitanya nityānanda;
jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura bhakta vrṇda
Translation: O Lord Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, all glories to You. O Prabhu Nityananda, all glories to You. O Lord Advaitacandra, all glories to You. O devotees of Lord Gauranga, all glories to you all.
If somebody understands the principle that even Gaur Mandal is divine, then he gets residence in Vraja Bhumi.
gaurāṅgera saṅgi-gaṇe, nitya-siddha kori' māne,
se jāy brajendra-suta-pāś
śrī-gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi, jebā jāne cintāmaṇi,
tāra hoy braja-bhūme bās (Gaurāṇgera Duṭi Pada 3)
Translation: Anyone who has understood that the associates of Lord Caitanya are eternally liberated souls immediately becomes eligible to enter into the abode of Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja in Vṛndāvana, in his next birth. If anyone understands that there is no difference between Gauḍa-maṇḍala, the place in West Bengal wherein Lord Caitanya had His pastimes, and the transcendental abode of Śrī Vṛndāvana-dhāma, then he actually lives in Vṛndāvana.
This Abode is Sat Cit Ananda. All Glories to Panihati Dham! It's a part of Gaur Mandal or Kolkata. Do visit this place sometime in the future. It's situated at the bank of River Ganga in Kolkata. I can see Mother Ganga and currently we are sitting at Gauranga Ghat. Nearby is Danda Mohatsav pond where Lord Nityananda and his associates celebrated a grand yogurt chipped rice festival. Also here is the house of Raghav Pandita and Damyanti. She would cook different preparations for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
In 1976, Srila Prabhupada visited this place. He had selected land for establishing an ISKCON temple, but somehow we didn't get that land. Later on HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj started visiting this place and gradually HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj has written a book named, Glorious Pastimes at Panihati Dham.
He has given a brief description of the different pastimes which have taken place here. He writes here we have Raghav Pandita's house where Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu resides eternally. He accepts all the food offerings at their residence. Also Raghunath Dasa Goswami was delivered at this Abode. When Nityananda Prabhu executed Danda Mohatsav pastimes, Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu continues to visit Raghav Bhavan.
It is believed that in Mayapur, Mahaprabhu resides eternally to accept meals cooked by mother Saci and another place is this Raghav Pandita's Bhavan. In Srivas Angan whenever devotees perform Kirtan, Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appears. Whenever Sri Nityananda Prabhu dances, there also Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appears.
(śraddhāvān jan he, śraddhāvān jan he)
prabhura ājñāy, bhāi, māgi ei bhikṣā
bolo `kṛṣṇa,’ bhajo kṛṣṇa, koro kṛṣṇa-śikṣā (Nadiya Godrume 2)
Translation: O people of faith! O people of faith! By the order of Lord Gauranga, O brothers, I beg these three requests of you: Chant "Krsna!", worship Krsna, and teach others about Krsna.
When Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came here by boat, he landed here. And everyone heard the Lord is coming!!! Lord is coming!!! And they all were so excited to receive Lord Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that this Ghat was named after him as Gauranga Ghat. He arrived here in 1514, on Krsna Paksha Dwadashi. The year 1515 on Ekadashi and in the year 1516, he arrived on Triyodashi.
And that's when Nityananda Prabhu performed Danda Mohatsav pastimes. So this is a fact.
It's the History. Lord Nityananda Prabhu was sent by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to preach in Bengal and Panihati was the first place where he arrived after receiving this instruction. Continuously for three months, Sri Nityananda Prabhu performed Kirtan and danced in the Kirtan. Not just Kirtan but they also used to play around.
They would climb up the trees and then jump from the top. All these descriptions are mentioned in Chaitanya Bhagavat. It is mentioned, once Abhiram Thakura, uprooted a huge tree, carved it into a flute and then began to play it. Some of the associates of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu were Dwadash Gopal, the cowherd friends of Krsna Balaram from Krsna Lila.
Once Raghunath Dasa, visited to have the darshans of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. As soon as, he offered his obeisances, a follower shouted, look Raghunath Dasa is here and he is offering obeisances. Nityananda Prabhu immediately said, You thief!! come here!! I'll punish you, and as punishment he puts his feet on his head.
Savarana-sri-gaura-pada-padme 3
ha ha prabhu nityananda, premananda sukhi
kripabalokana koro ami boro duhkhi
Translation: My dear Lord Nityananda, You are always joyful in spiritual bliss. Since You always appear very happy, I have come to You because I am most unhappy. If You kindly put Your glance over me, then I may also become happy.
This was just the beginning. He then said, you are very rich. As a punishment you should feed my associates with Yogurt and chipped rice. He was actually very rich. Soon thousands of people gathered around for the feast. It was so crowded that some people even entered the River Ganges, they were drowning till their neck in water. Still they were eating. All the people present there, experienced as if they were transported from Nabadwip to Vrindavan dham.
The river was Yamuna and all the people present there were Vraja vasis. Even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared there. Nityananda Prabhu would take some dahi cida and throw it in the air. Nobody could see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but they could observe that the Dahi Cida which Nityananda Prabhu was throwing is not falling on the ground, instead it's being eaten by someone in the air itself. Raghunath Dasa, was very much grieved at this point of time. He wanted to join the Hare Krsna movement and associate with Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
And through this Danda Mohatsav, Nityananda Prabhu blessed Raghunath Dasa. And now he could successfully run away from his home, breaking all the clutches. Through this we can understand, without the mercy of Sri Nityananda Prabhu one cannot attain Radha and Krsna.
Nitai Pada Kamala 1
nitāi-pada-kamala, koṭi-candra-suśītala
je chāyāy jagata jurāy
heno nitāi bine bhāi, rādhā-kṛṣṇa pāite nāi
dṛḍha kori' dharo nitāir pāy
Translation: The lotus feet of Lord Nityananda are a shelter where one will get the soothing moonlight not only of one, but of millions of moons. If the world wants to have real peace, it should take shelter of Lord Nityananda. Unless one takes shelter under the shade of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, it will be very difficult for him to approach Radha-Krsna. If one actually wants to enter into the dancing party of Radha-Krsna, he must firmly catch hold of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda.
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya, rādhā-kṛṣṇa nahe anya: “Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is a combination of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”
Also we can understand, in our case, we cannot attain Krsna without the mercy of our spiritual master. We can also pray for such mercy at this Panihati Gram. You all can also come and visit this place, all the faithful listeners. ISKCON Panihati is trying to renovate or revive the glories of Panihati Gram.
nadīyā-godrume nityānanda mahājana
patiyāche nām-haṭṭa jīvera kāraṇa (Nadiya Godrume 1)
TRANSLATION: In the land of Nadiya, on the island of Godruma, the magnanimous Lord Nityananda has opened up the Marketplace of the Holy Name, meant for the deliverance of all fallen souls.
Nityananda Prabhu established Namahatta to deliver the fallen souls of this world. Similarly Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON society, which is nothing but Namahatta. It's like the Super market of the Holy name.
krsna-nama-sudha koriya pan,
jurao bhakativinoda-pran,
nama bina kichu nahiko aro,
caudda-bhuvana-majhe (Arunodaya-kirtana 8)
Translation: Drink the pure nectar of the holy name. There is nothing but the name to be had in the fourteen worlds. It has filled the soul of Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
This market has only one commodity to be sold out and that is the Holy name.
harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā (CC Madhya 6.242)
Translation: In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.
Because this Holy name is Lord Hari Himself.
chintamani prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vriksha-
laksavriteshu surabhir abhipalayantam
lakshmi-sahasra-shata- sambhrama-sevyamanam
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami (BS 5.29)
Translation: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakshmis or gopis.
See how valuable Krsna is. Srila Prabhupada has propagated the same movement which was once initiated by Nityananda Prabhu.
nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś
caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ
pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto
'bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ (CC Madhya 17.133)
Translation: The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Kṛṣṇa Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Kṛṣṇa’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Kṛṣṇa Himself. Since Kṛṣṇa’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with māyā. Kṛṣṇa’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa Himself are identical.
In this song, Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakura Prabhupada says (śraddhāvān jan he, śraddhāvān jan he). This is an announcement for all the faithful people of the world.
I am making this announcement on behalf of Sri Nityananda Prabhu or Srila Prabhupada or on behalf of HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj. Please visit this place. This is a gateway to Sri Mayapur Dham.
When we go to Mayapur from the Airport, we pass through this place. We continue to have different festivals at this place and the biggest festival we have here is Dahi cida Mohatsav.
It's a five day celebration. You can come, have Kirtan, dance and feast. Also you can take the holy dip in River Ganga. We shall stop now.
