The Glories of Mayapur Dham

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The Glories of Mayapur Dham H.G. Govindananda Das 10 Mar 2024 Bhakti ratnakar navadvipa madhye mayapura name sthan yathaya janmilen gauracandra bhagavan Translation: In the center of Navadvipa there is a place called Mayapura. At this place the Supreme Lord, Gauracandra, took His birth. In Bhakti Ratnakar there is a mention of Mayapur as a dham in Navadvipa. In Mayapur there is Antardvipa. There is a Maha yogapetha in Antardvipa called Sridham Mayapur. The supreme lord appeared in Mayapur dham. The mission of our life is to go back to the dham of the supreme lord. Srila Goswami Prabhupad ji said that we can be far physically but can still live in the dhama mentally. For a human being dham vas is important. When we are taught to do “Aarjan” we first start mentally and then physically. We should daily remember and spend some time in the dhama to earn japa dhan/ prem dhan. There are different dhams such as Sri dham Mayapur-Navdvipa dham, Vrindavan dham, Radha Kund, Shyam kund where one can be mentally present. Mahaprabhu is known as prem Purusottam, Udarya Purusottam; Bhagwan Sri Ram Chandra as maryada Purusottam, Bhagwan Sri Krsna as lila Purusottam and Sri Krsna Chaitanaya mahaprabhu as prem Purusottam. Mahaprabhu does not appear in each kaliyuga. It is our fortune that we are in the body of a human and with the mercy of Srila Prabhupada we are associated with Krsna consciousness movement. The Krsna consciousness movement started in Sri dham Mayapur. When Bhagwan Sri Krsna left Braj dham to go to Golok Vrindavan then he was thinking that I have had pastimes in Braj but to enter into Braj dham people need to get involved in Raganuga bhakti. But Raganuga bhakti is not possible for everyone. By Vedic bhakti one can go to Vaikuntha loka. How in the dham the beings will return to Golok Vrindavan. Thinking this he appeared with Radha’s mode in Kaliyuga as Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu. There are two main reasons for the appearance of mahaprabhu. The main reason and a supplementary reason. Sri Sarva Damodar Goswami in our parampara is the secretary of Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu. He has written that Mahaprabhu appeared in this life Lord Sri Krsna had three things in his mind. CC Adi 1.6 śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo vānayaivā- svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ Translation: Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean. What are the glories of Shri Radharani’s mode of love, A great poet Vasu Ghosh Thakur sings (yadi) gaura nā hoito, tabe ki hoito, kemane dharita de? rādhāra mahimā, prema-rasa-sīmā, jagate jānāta ke Translation: If Lord Gaura had not appeared as the Yuga-Avatara in this age of Kali, then what would have become of us? How could we have tolerated living? Who in this universe would have ever learned about the topmost limits of loving mellows that comprise the glory of Sri Radha? Radharani is arranging all the kripa from Krsna for us. Radharani can catch that mad elephant and tell Him “You have to give kripa to all, otherwise you cannot come to me.” Krsna cannot live without Radharani, so He is bound to obey Her. Had Gaur not appeared in the Mayapur dham (Lila is of two types – visible and invisible). The supreme lord is always with us but we cannot see him. With the mercy of the lord, when he is riding on our senses only then we can see him, hear him and see his pastimes. We get this mercy through disciplic succession. The dham of Chaitanaya mahaprabhu is Navdvipa dhama. Navdvipa dhama is like eight petals of the lotus and one petal in the centre is called Antardvipa. There are eight dvipas around it – first one is Simanta dvipa, next is Godurma dvipa, Madhya dvipa, Kola Pada Dvipa, Ritu dvipa, Jahanu Dvipa, Moda druma Dvipa and Rudra Dvipa. This is a set of Nava Dvipas. In Sri Bhakti Ratnakar there is a description that Nava Dvipa is my dham. navadvipa madhye mayapura name sthan yathaya janmilen gauracandra bhagavan We need to understand that though Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu has appeared as a devotee he is himself Sri Krsna. And he has appeared in Radha’s mode and kanti. Therefore, Srva Damodar Goswami has said that śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo Srimati Radha Rani’s glory of prem is like this. vānayaivā svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo and my wonderful Madhurya is like this. vā madīyaḥ saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt Srimati Radha Rani tastes and internalizes me then derives peace of mind. How does that happen? I feel good looking at the devotees but how does a devotee feel in his heart? How they feel that ananda? Therefore, it is important to understand a devotee. Out of all the devotees, Srimati Radha Rani is the supreme devotee. Therefore Sri Krsna started thinking. The veti lobhāt developed in his heart. There are three key modes to be understood:

To understand the prem mode of Radha Rani?
To understand the properties of my Madhurya.
After tasting the Madhurya, how Radha Rani’s heart gets pleasure?

tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ Hari indu alias Gaura Chandra. Inder means Chandra. Taking the mode and appearance of Chandra, Sri Krsna has appeared in the form of Gura Mahaprabhu. Sachi garbha sindu Hari-hari After the churning of the ocean the Chandra has appeared, similarly Sachi mata’s Garbha is Sindhu. From Sindhu, Sri Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu has appeared. Therefore it is mentioned in Sri Chaitanaya mahaamrit that shikshastakam On the Falguni poornima day, Rahu has grasped the Chandra. Lunar eclipse as such is not auspicious. To get rid of the inauspicious effects people remember the supreme lord. Even those who never pray, on this day remember the supreme lord and go for holy dip in Ganga. At that time Sri Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu appeared with Harinam (Goloke Prem dhan, Harinam sankirtan). So Krsndas Kaviraj Goswami has said CC Adi 13.91 a-kalanka gaurachandra dila darasana sa-kalanka chandre ara kon prayojana [91] Translation: When the spotless moon of Caitanya Mahāprabhu became visible, what would be the need for a moon full of black marks on its body? Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu is free of fault spots. But then there are spots on the Chandra. Therefore, Rahu started thinking that Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu is flawless and is about to appear but Chandra has spots therefore he grasps Chandra. CC Adi 13.92 eta jani' rahu kaila chandrera grahana 'krsna' 'krsna' 'hari' name bhase tri-bhuvana [92]

Translation: Considering this, Rāhu, the black planet, covered the full moon, and immediately vibrations of “Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa! Hari!” inundated the three worlds.

When Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu appeared the three lokas were filled with Harinam. Everyone had a feeling of devotion, there was also feeling of bliss. When Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu appeared Advait acharaya and Haridas Thakur were in Shantipur. Advait acharaya knew everything but he did not tell anyone. This was also the will of Mahaprabhu. Since the appearance of Sri Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu in Mayapur, Advait acharaya was so happy that he started dancing. Even Haridas Thakur was feeling the bliss when he asked Avait acharaya “Why it is so that you are dancing in ecstacy”. My mind is also very happy but why? But Advait acharaya did not reply. Haridas Thakur started thinking maybe it is the sign of arrival of the supreme lord. The supreme lord is there with us. CC Adi 17.22 kali-kāle nāma-rūpe kṛṣṇa-avatāra nāma haite haya sarva-jagat-nistāra

Translation: “In this Age of Kali, the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, is the incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Simply by chanting the holy name, one associates with the Lord directly. Anyone who does this is certainly delivered.

The name and the named are not different from each other (as mentioned in Padma purana). But if an offence is committed against the named and he is chanting the Harinam he is likely to be free from the sin. It is not fair to continue committing offences and chanting the Harinam thinking to get rid of the sins continuously. This is called nam aparadha. To commit an offence in the name of Harinam. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu has appeared from the womb of Sachi Mata. Since his appearance in the world some start chanting Harinam, some take a holy dip in the Ganga. On the occasion of Jagannatha Mishra festival, many Mataji’s have gathered to see Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu, he is a beautiful child. The child was quite nice but he started crying and was continuously crying. Then when a Mataji picked up Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu and patted his back, still he kept crying. One after the other different Mataji’s tried and the child continued to cry. Then one Mataji said “Hari-Hari, this child is just crying everytime”. Listening Hari-Hari the child stopped crying and smiled. Seeing the baby smiling the Mataji was filled with love in the heart. Whenever the Harinam was there the child did not cry. This indicates that since childhood Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu has conveyed to us that when at home Harinam has no substitute. CC Madhya 6.242 harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā

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.’

This is Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu’s teaching during his childhood and also in his pastimes. Harinam is the only solution for one residing in the town, city or village, or students or chand kazi. He conveyed the message to chant “Hare Krishna” when he went to Bangladesh, to Varanasi and to Vrindavan. Mahaprabhu said the same thing at all places – to chant the Harinam. There are so many pastimes of Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu during his childhood, later he became a famous pundit. What was earlier called “toll” is now called school and when he returned to Mayapur via Gaya, he conveyed the message to chant “Hare Krishna”. Then he went on for Iswarpuri pad’s darshan, received Mantra diksha from him, Vishnupad darshan and thought of Vrindavan darshan. He was about to leave for Vrindavan when the demi-gods prayed to him that you know everything and now is not the time to travel to Vrindavan, kindly return to Mayapur and later on proceed to Vrindavan. At that time Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu had chosen to proceed for Mayapur dham. He is accompanied by his disciples. On the way, they came across Kanhaya Nat-shala. When you visit Mayapur, you can visit Kanhaya Nat-shala, can go to the birth place of Nityananda prabhu, Ek Chakra Nagari (also described in Mahabharata). Now it is a village. Another place is Kalen ashram because the essence of Mahaprabhu’s mode of love started from there. Mahaprabhu came and was thinking about Krsna and chanting when Bhagwan Shyam Sunder (Mrydul dhari) appeared. Mahaprabhu and Krsna (Shyam sunder) appeared and they hugged each other. Then Bhagwan Sri Krsna disappeared. So Mahaprabhu found the supreme lord and lost him. This is the mode of Radha Rani, after meeting Krsna, he disappears and therefore the mode of viraha. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu started crying, always searching for Krsna. Where is Krsna, I am so unfortunate that even after finding him I lost him, where to find him, in which direction? Like that he started asking everyone. This is how searching for Bhagvan he came to Mayapur. Nimai Pundit, was the most renowned pundit in Mayapur. You know about the pastime of Keshav Kashmiri. When he had defeated so many pundits and came to Navdvipa in Mayapur. There were so many pundits in Mayapur but all of them left. Only Nimai Pundit was remaining in the town. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu defeated Keshav Pundit on the banks of river Ganga in a solitary place. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu listened to the glories of Ganga from Keshav pundit. Keshav pundit glorified Ganga. Mahaprabhu repeated all the slokas as it is. Keshav pundit was shocked to see a small child with such an amazing performance. Further mahaprabhu cited a sloka and indicated the mistake in the interpretation. Then the pundit realized that he has been defeated by a child. How is this possible? Possibly Mata Saraswati is angry with me. He could not sleep the whole night, but was recalling Mata Saraswati. By the mercy of lord he could take a nap in the morning and in his dreams Mata Saraswati appeared. She asked the Pundit How are you? The Pundit said I am good by your mercy. Then Mata Saraswati said “Keshav you are very fortunate. I am very happy with you. You don’t know who is Nimai Pundit, He is Narayan, My husband. Your knowledge is now justified. Please go and surrender at his lotus feet. Live your life according to his teachings.” Saying this Mata Saraswati disappeared. Then Keshav pundit, in the early morning, came to the house of Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu, he was knocking the door and was calling “Nimai Pundit, Nimai Pundit”. On seeing him Keshav Pundit paid his obesciences. Nimai Pundit said “you happen to be a senior pundit why are you doing this to me?” Keshav pundit said by the mercy of Mata Saraswati, I have realized that you are the supreme lord. My life and knowledge is now justified. I will not run here and there. I will stay here at your lotus feet. Please allow me to serve you. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu said “what Mata Saraswati has told you is correct, but you are not supposed to disclose this to anyone” If you disobey, you will feel unhappy. Get detached from material life and engage yourself in chanting. Keshav pundit gave away all his possessions and obeyed the instructions of Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu in the true spirit. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu tells the same thing in all of his pastimes - to chant the Harinam. Nityananda prabhu was not there at that time. Mahaprabhu was recalling Nityananda Prabhu. Later Haridas Thakur joined, Advait acharaya joined together. Advait acharaya prabhu said that Nimai pundit you are our leader, you kindly guide all devotees. Then Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu asked all devotees to initiate Harinam sankirtan. But Nityananda prabhu was not in Mayapur at that time. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu was just thinking about him and Nitayanda Prabhu arrived from Mathura. They met at Nandan Acharaya Bhawan (near Iskcon temple in Mayapur). This is the only place where Nityananda prabhu was staying without anyones knowledge, then Advait acharaya prabhu stayed there and then Mahaprabhu. Three prabhu - Two prabhus and one Mahaprabhu did lila here in hiding. There is a beautiful description in the Bhagvatam, of the meeting of Gaura Nityananda’s meeting. Nityananda Prabhu’s Vyas puja happened here. Mahaprabhu said that in the month of Ashad, Guru poornima is there a day after. We should engage in Vyas Puja but where – in whose house. Mahaprabhu told Nityananda prabhu “where we should conduct the Vyas Puja?” Nityananda Prabhu said “at the residence of Srivas Thakur”. Mahaprabhu said to Srivas prabhu that now you have lot of responsibilities. There will be invitation to so many devotees for Vyas Puja. But don’t worry everything is there at my place. I just need a book for Vyas puja. Mahaprabhu was so happy. Then there was adivas kirtan. On the day of Vyas puja the devotees came. Mahaprabhu started the kirtan and devotees started dancing. Srivas Thakur gave a garland to Nityananda prabhu and asked him to conduct the Vyas puja. Nityananda prabhu was looking around and walking, Srivas Thakur walking from behind said Nityananda prabhu please start the Vyas Puja, this is the auspicious time. While this dilemma was going on, Srivas Thakur went to Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu and told him that Nityananda Prabhu is not initiating the Vyas Puja. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu said Sripad (used for Nityananda prabhu and Prakashanand swami – mayavadi guru, captured by the love for chanting Harinam). Seeing Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu in front of him, Nityananda prabhu was very happy and had put the garland on to Mahaprabhu and said that the Vyas Puja is done. These are the teachings of Nityananda Prabhu. In Panihati village, Nityananda prabhu punished Raghunath Das Goswami. The punishment was to offer the devotees a meal comprising of Chirwa-Dahi. Raghunath Das Goswami was very happy and arranged for everything. At that time Ganga water used to very clean and pure. But he asked some devotees to assist in the transfer of Chirwa that has been cooked in milk. He cooked the rice in milk till it attained thick consistency and another half was mixed with curd. We listen about Dahi-Chirwa but there are two types – Dahi-Chirwa and Dugdh-Chirwa. Each devotee was offered two bowls - Dahi-Chirwa and Dugdh-Chirwa. Nityananda prabhu was meditating about it to get Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu to Panihati village. When Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu was in Sri dham Mayapur and he finally appeared. When Mahaprabhu came Nityananda prabhu got up. Seeing Nityananda prabhu all the devotees also got up. Nityananda prabhu offered the rice with his hands to Mahaprabhu. There were so many devotees that there was no piece of land available and devotees had to enter into the Ganga (neck deep in water). First Nityananda prabhu offered the prasadam to Mahaprabhu. Then Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu also fed Nityananda Prabhu. The teaching here is that the devotees should not eat anything other than the prasadam offered to the supreme lord. Srila Prabhupada says in Bhaktiras amrit sindhu that Yukt vairagaya is not to eat anything that is not offered to the lord. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu came to Navadvipa dham and generously offered Harinam to everyone. This is how Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu has first instructed Advait acharaya Prabhu and Nityananda prabhu to preach the Harinam to the devotees. CB Madhya-Khanda (13.8-10): suno suno nityananda, suno haridas sarvatra amar ajna koroho prakas prati ghare ghare giya koro ei bhiksa bolo `krsna', bhajo krsna, koro krsna-siksa iha bai arna boliba, bolaiba dina-avasane asi' amare kohiba Translation: Listen, listen, Nityananda! Listen, Haridasa! Make My command known everywhere! Go from house to house and beg from all the residents, `Please chant Krsna's name, worship Krsna, and teach others to follow Krsna's instructions.' Do not speak, or cause anyone to speak, anything other than this. Go to each house hold and ask them to chant Harinam, teach Krsna consciousness and serve Krsna. Make the teachings of Krsna a routine of your day-to-day life. There are three things to focus on - Harinam, Serve Krsna and adapt the teachings of Krsna. BG 18.65 man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo ’si me

Translation: Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.

Though the supreme lord says worship me but it is important to worship his devotees first. Kanisht devotee worships the lord but not his devotees and has no attachment to living beings. Madhyam devotees have love for the lord and have friendship for the devotees. They transfer the teaching of Krsna to uninitiated people but avoid those who are not inclined. Madhyam devotees are actually the preachers. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu further says Harinam will solve all your problems. suno suno nityananda, suno haridas sarvatra amar ajna koroho prakas prati ghare ghare giya koro ei bhiksa bolo `krsna', bhajo krsna, koro krsna-siksa iha bai arna boliba, bolaiba dina-avasane asi' amare kohiba When we go for preaching we feel so many things when devotees say we are facing this or that problem. When one listens so many problems the peace of mind is lost. If there are problems, keep chanting Harinam and continue your prayers. If one is devoted to Harinam everything is resolved. This is the teaching of Mahaprabhu. iha bai arna boliba, bolaiba dina-avasane asi' amare kohiba We are asked to go and preach. Uttam devotee asks everyone to participate in Harinam chanting. There is a mandate to participate in preaching in the morning and submit the preaching report to Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu by evening. To tell about all those who have participated in chanting the Harinam. The preaching report is to be submitted in all temples every evening. Srila Prabhupada has introduced the method of reporting the new devotees who participated in chanting, number of books distributed, the donation collected which is presented next day morning. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu is quite generous. Krsna Das Goswami’s thoughts. Those who believe in Krsna, pray to him but does not recognize Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu as Bhagvan e,g, Osho. Krsna Das Goswami’s has cited the example of Jarasand in Dyapar yuga (the father-in-law of Kansa). He used to pray Vishnu daily, used to donate to the brahamans but never recognized Krsna-Balrama as the supreme lord. He was against Krsna. Therefore, he is classified as Asura. Therefore in this kaliyuga the one who does not recognize Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu as Bhagvan is an asura. Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu has appeared in the mode of devotion. He has several pastimes e.g. he has shown six-armed rupa to Nityananda prabhu in the Vyas puja. Kirtidaman has seen his eight-armed incarnation as a child. Hanuman ji has shown to Murari Gupt the Ram bhakta rupa. Similarly he has appeared in different rupas to different devotees. This is the generosity of Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu. Krsna Das Goswami says CC Adi 14.1 kathañcana smṛte yasmin duṣkaraṁ sukaraṁ bhavet vismṛte viparītaṁ syāt śrī-caitanyaṁ namāmi tam

Translation: Things that are very difficult to do become easy to execute if one somehow or other simply remembers Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But if one does not remember Him, even easy things become very difficult. To this Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu I offer my respectful obeisances.

If one remembers Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu, if there is a problem difficult to be solved, it will be resolved easily. When we pray him the difficulties are resolved. And if one forgets him, the good thing that was about to happen may not take place. This is the greatness of Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu. We pay our obesciences to Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu daily. This is the mantra of Srila Rupa Goswami CC Madhya 19.53 namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya- nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

Translation: “O most munificent incarnation! You are Kṛṣṇa Himself appearing as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and You are widely distributing pure love of Kṛṣṇa. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.

Sri Krsna Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu ki jai!! Mayapur Navdvipa dham ki jai Harinam sankirtan ki jai…