Monday, 10 March 2025 [Mayapur, West Bengal, India Time]
Amalaki Ekadashi fasting from grains and beans. Kindly avoid tea, coffee, etc., as well.
Keep the fast and chant more rounds of the Maha Mantra for the pleasure of Krishna.
Wishing you a Happy Ekadashi!
“If you are indeed interested in logic and argument, kindly apply it to the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If you do so, you will find it to be strikingly wonderful.”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta » Ādi-līlā 8.15 | 1973 Edition)
“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.”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta » Ādi-līlā 14.1 | 1974 Edition)
“Prabhu means master. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the supreme master of all masters; therefore He is called Mahāprabhu. Any person who takes shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu is most glorified because by the mercy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu he is able to get promotion to the platform of loving service to the Lord, which is transcendental to salvation.”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta » Ādi-līlā 7.2 » Purport | 1973 Edition)
Read More: [Back to Godhead Magazine 1971: Lord Caitanya — The Golden Avatara]
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MgWTEQhFkC715YJxTqAbx97e1CZLQ6dk5mn82UV2RDg/edit?usp=drivesdk)
The first Gaura Purnima Festival at Mayapur was celebrated on Srila Prabhupada’s order in 1972.
Below are some relevant quotes from Srila Prabhupada about the importance of the Gaura Purnima Festival in Sridham Mayapur.
“I am very anxious to know whether we are going to have our Mayapur function? I want very much to hold this function this year with all of my students, and I ask you to kindly serve me by making this possible. It is a very important day and it will be a great service to Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura and to His son Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. So please arrange for this program.”
(Letter to: Jayapataka — Bombay, 5 January, 1972)
“Regarding Mayapur festival, if we cannot do anything there, then because there is very good prospect in Africa I may remain there and not return to India. I especially wanted to stay in India for this Mayapur celebration.[…] Such festival should be held very grandly.[…] So I think you should plan that we shall definitely be coming to Mayapur and hold a grand festival there for Lord Caitanya’s Appearance Day celebrating”
“(Letter to: Jayapataka — Jaipur, 21 January, 1972)
“The best time and place is Mayapur on Lord Caitanya’s Appearance Day. That is not only the best for me but for everyone. Mayapur is meant for that. If possible all devotees from all our centers should go for 8 days at that time.”
(Letter to: Tamala Krsna — Bhaktivedanta Manor, 20 July, 1973)
“The members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness should go to India during the birthday ceremony of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Māyāpura and perform saṅkīrtana congregationally. This will attract the attention of all the important personalities in India, just as the beauty, bodily luster and saṅkīrtana performance by the associates of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu attracted the attention of Mahārāja Pratāparudra.”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta » Madhya-līlā 11.96 » Purport | 1975 Edition)
Śrīla Prabhupada: “Regarding your question about the picture of Lord Caitanya with six arms: This form was shown to Ramananda Roy, and Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. This is called Sadbhuja Murti. This Sadbhuja Murti is worshiped also by the devotees of Lord Caitanya, and especially the Murti is situated in the temple of Jagannatha Puri. Sometimes when you may go to India and visit the temple of Jagannatha, you will find this Murti.”
(Letter to: Madhusudana, July 29, 1968, Montreal)
Śrīla Prabhupada: “Lord Śrī Rāmacandra is so kind and merciful to His devotees that He is very easily satisfied by a little service rendered by anyone, human or not. This is the special advantage of worshiping Lord Rāmacandra, and there is the same advantage in worshiping Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Rāmacandra, in the manner of kṣatriyas, sometimes showed Their mercy by killing asuras, but Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu awarded love of God without difficulty even to the asuras. All the incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead—but especially Lord Rāmacandra, Lord Kṛṣṇa and, later, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu—delivered many of the living entities present before Them, indeed almost all of them.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is therefore represented in the six-armed form of ṣaḍ-bhūja-mūrti, which is a combination of Lord Rāmacandra, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The best purpose of human life can be fulfilled by worshiping the ṣaḍ-bhūja-mūrti, the form of the Lord with six arms—two arms of Rāmacandra, two arms of Kṛṣṇa and two arms of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.”
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.19.8 >> Purport | 1975 Edition)
Śrīla Prabhupada: “Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura has sung, śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu dayā kara more. He prays for Lord Caitanya’s mercy because He is the mercy incarnation, having appeared especially to claim the fallen souls. The more fallen one is, the greater one’s claim to the favor of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One must only be very sincere and serious. Despite being contaminated by all the bad qualities of this Kali-yuga, if one surrenders unto the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Lord will surely and certainly deliver him”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta » Ādi-līlā 16.1 » Purport | 1974 Edition)
Śrīla Prabhupada: “Yes, we should always think ourself as the most fallen, the most ignorant, and it is simply by the Mercy of Lord Caitanya that we have even the opportunity to serve Krishna. We have no qualification of our own; it is simply by the merciful glance of this Most Munificent Appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that we have been given the chance to serve Radha and Krishna.”
(Letter to: Malati — Los Angeles, 12 November, 1968)
namo mahā-vadānyāya
kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ
“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.”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta » Madhya-līlā 19.53 | 1975 Edition)
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the mercy incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is addressed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī as mahā-vadānyāvatāra, or the most magnanimous incarnation. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī also says, karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau: it is only by His mercy that He has descended in this Age of Kali.[…]”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta » Ādi-līlā 7.150 » Purport | 1973 Edition)
“May the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of Lord Śrī Caitanya bestow His causeless mercy upon us. His smiling glance at once drives away all the bereavements of the world, and His very words enliven the auspicious creepers of devotion by expanding their leaves. Taking shelter of His lotus feet invokes transcendental love of God at once.”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta » Ādi-līlā 3.63 | 1974 Edition & Dvitīya Śrī Caitanyāṣṭaka 8, from the Stava-mālā of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī)
Read More: Back to Godhead Magazine 1944 – Identity of Lord Chaitanya (link
Monday, 03 March 2025 [Mayapur, West Bengal, India Time]
Appearance Day of Śrī Puruṣottama dāsa Ṭhākura
śrī-sadāśiva kavirāja–baḍa mahāśaya
śrī-puruṣottama-dāsa–tāṅhāra tanaya
“The twenty-third and twenty-fourth prominent devotees of Nityānanda Prabhu were Sadāśiva Kavirāja and his son Puruṣottama dāsa, who was the tenth gopāla.”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 11.38 | 1973 Edition)
ājanma nimagna nityānandera caraṇe
nirantara bālya-līlā kare kṛṣṇa-sane
“Since birth, Puruṣottama dāsa was merged in the service of the lotus feet of Lord Nityānanda Prabhu, and he always engaged in childish play with Lord Kṛṣṇa.”
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 11.39 | 1973 Edition)
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “[…] Puruṣottama dāsa Ṭhākura sometimes lived at Sukhasāgara, near the Cākadaha and Śimurāli railway stations. All the Deities installed by Puruṣottama Ṭhākura were formerly situated in Beleḍāṅgā-grāma, but when the temple was destroyed the Deities were brought to Sukhasāgara. When that temple merged in the bed of the Ganges, the Deities were brought with Jāhnavā-mātā’s Deity to Sāhebaḍāṅgā Beḍigrāma. Since that place also has been destroyed, all the Deities are now situated in the village named Cānduḍe-grāma, which is situated one mile up from Pālapāḍā, as referred to above.”
(Srila Prabhupada purport on Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 11.39 | 1973 Edition)
“Śrīla Prabhupāda: “[…] The son of Sadāśiva was Puruṣottama Ṭhākura, and his son was Kānu Ṭhākura. The descendants of Kānu Ṭhākura know him as Nāgara Puruṣottama […] Both Puruṣottama Ṭhākura and Kānu Ṭhākura had many disciples from brāhmaṇa families. Most of the disciplic descendants of Kānu Ṭhākura now reside in the village named Gaḍabetā, by the River Śilāvatī, in the Midnapore district.”
(Srila Prabhupada purport on Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 11.40 | 1973 Edition)
Read More: https://groups.google.com/g/istagosthi/c/381kmOe_Wxs
Srila Prabhupada states that a pure devotee is different from a conditioned soul in four ways: he does not commit mistakes, he does not get illusioned, he does not cheat nor are his senses imperfect.
The difference between a conditioned soul and a liberated soul is that the conditioned soul has four kinds of defects. The first defect is that he must commit mistakes. For example, in our country, Mahatma Gandhi was considered to be a very great personality, but he committed many mistakes. Even at the last stage of his life, his assistant warned, “Mahatma Gandhi, don’t go to the New Delhi meeting. I have some friends, and I have heard there is danger.” But he did not hear. He persisted in going and was killed. Even great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, President Kennedy—there are so many of them—make mistakes. To err is human. This is one defect of the conditioned soul.
Another defect: to be illusioned. Illusion means to accept something which is not: mäyä. Mäyä means “what is not.” Everyone is accepting the body as the self. If I ask you what you are, you will say, “I am Mr. John; I am a rich man; I am this; I am that.” All these are bodily identifications. But you are not this body. This is illusion.
The third defect is the cheating propensity.
Everyone has the propensity to cheat others. Although a person is fool number one, he poses himself as very intelligent. Although it is already pointed out that he is in illusion and makes mistakes, he will theorize: “I think this is this, this is this.” But he does not even know his own position. He writes books of philosophy, although he is defective. That is his disease. That is cheating.
Lastly, our senses are imperfect. We are very proud of our eyes. Often, someone will challenge, “Can you show me God?” But do you have the eyes to see God? You will never see if you haven’t the eyes. If immediately the room becomes dark, you cannot even see your hands. So, what power do you have to see?
(Lecture in Conway Hall, London October 6th, 1969, Isopanisad Introduction)
by Haripada dasa
We all understand and accept that sinful activities and ignorance are the causes of all our sufferings. In relation to this topic, I share these two verses from Srimad Bhagavatam, 1, 8, 24 and 25. there it is said: My dear Kṛiṣhṇa, Your Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the forest and from the battle in which great generals fought. And now he has saved us from the weapon of Aśvatthama. I want all these calamities to occur over and over again, so that we can see You again and again, for seeing You means that we will no longer see repeated births and deaths.
Srila Prabhupada always said that if sufferings remind us of God or Krishna.They are very welcome, and that the only way is to tolerate everything. Tolerance and mercy are qualities that go together, a person if he is merciful will be tolerant, and if he is not merciful, he will not be tolerant. The example is Jesus Christ, he was done many offenses by demonic and envious people, and he tolerated everything done to him. About praying to God for his offenders, he taught us by his example to love enemies.
Of course he forgave his enemies for their offenses, but God or Krishna never forgives the offenses they do to His devotees. He shows His love by punishing the offenders. The story goes that the followers of Jesus Christ protested and said that because they were offending this person who is innocent and a very good person. And they answered that if this person is innocent, that the blood of this person passes through our generations, and so it has been and will be, as long as they do not ask for forgiveness for the offenses, those people they will suffer eternally for having offended a pure devotee of God.
It is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam, that the supreme worship of God or Krishna is to accept the sufferings of others in your own person.That is what a representative of God or Krishna does.At the moment of spiritual initiation, the guru takes everything the karma of his disciple, and thus the disciple can be pure. Srila Prabhupada says in his books that because of the karma that the guru seizes from his disciples, sometimes the guru has bad dreams or becomes ill.
Srila Prabhupada – The Master Disciple
By Sri Hasti Gopala Dasa, Toronto, Canada.
Srila Prabhupada is the master disciple. He’s showing us by his example how to be a first class disciple. That example is continuing and the revelations will continue as we read his original books throughout the rest of our lives. The perfection of life is to follow strictly the bona fide spiritual master and make his orders, the life and soul of our disciplic position. By repeating without change his eternal message of how to love God Krishna, will be the perfection of life. He has told us this many times and he has masterfully followed it himself in the most perfect manner. Indeed he continues to do so.
So as much as we follow purely, we will become leaders but that following means to become as much as sincerely possible a master disciple.
The carpentry master has within himself the apprentice. The master may draw on the experience and knowledge of his apprenticeship but the apprentice cannot draw on the experience and knowledge of being a master carpenter. First we must become first class disciples of Srila Prabhupada…everyone. Then automatically leading others towards the same path of bhakti yoga will take its natural course.
There is no question of becoming a bona fide spiritual master without first becoming a bona fide master disciple.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
How does a genuine disciple think?
For the genuine devotee of a spiritual master, the genuine disciple, the spiritual master is his entire life, his ideal. His vow is to serve the spiritual master, and though he adores both Krishna and the spiritual master equally, he gives special preference to his spiritual master.
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
All my disciples will take the legacy. If you want you can also take it. Sacrifice everything. I, one, may soon pass away. But they are hundreds, and this movement will increase.
It is not that I give an order, ‘Here is the next leader.’ Anyone who follows the previous leadership is the leader….All of my disciples are leaders, as much as they follow purely.”
(Room Conversation, London, August 14, 1971. )
Prabhupada: Yesam tu anta-gatam papam. One who has finished sinful activities; he can be engaged in God consciousness. One who is engaged in sinful activities, he cannot. Devil citing scripture.
A devil cannot cite scripture. Angel can cite scripture. And according to our acharyas, Sanatana Goswami, he says that “Don’t hear scriptures from the devil.” Avaisnava-mukhodgirnam putam hari-kathamrtam sravanam naiva kartavyam” If a devil’s preaching about God, don’t hear. If you say, “God is pure, so let me hear about God. It doesn’t matter whether he is devil or angel. It doesn’t matter.” No. The argument is sarpocchistam payo yatha. Just like milk is very nourishing food, but if it is touched by the lips, by the tongue of a serpent, it becomes poison. Sarpocchistam payo yatha. You cannot bring the milk which is touched by the serpent’s tongue.
So we should receive knowledge of God, message of God, from a person who is not a devil. Then it will be effective. Otherwise, it will act as poison. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s principle is apani acari prabhu jiveri siksaya. He first of all behaves himself, and then he preaches. So if the preacher is sinful, how he can deliver other sinful men by his so-called preaching. That is not possible. He must be pure, he must be sinless. Then his preaching will be effective. But in all conditions, if we, with faith and love we chant the holy name of God, we shall become gradually purified. There is no, I mean to say, cause of anxiety. Anyone who will chant this holy name, he’ll be purified.
Ys
Hasti Gopala Dasa
Special thanks to Tomohara Prabhu and Damagosh Prabhu for their contributions to this little article.
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This Article is originally published on theharekrishnamovement.org
