Srila Prabhupada…”Tṛṇād api sunīcena does not mean that if a Vaiṣṇava is insulted or Viṣṇu is defamed, you remain silent, “I am tṛṇād api sunīcena.” No. At that time you should become fire. That is the teaching of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Just like Hanumānjī, he’s Vaiṣṇava. But when there was need for the service of Lord Rāmacandra, he set fire in the Lanka. So when there is viṣṇu-vaiṣṇava-ninda, defamation, you should not remain tṛṇād api sunīcena. You should take steps. This is the instruction. Anyway, Vaiṣṇava is never angry, but that does not mean that you tolerate insult to Viṣṇu and Vaiṣṇava. No.”
“[…] As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (BG 4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancy in the discharge of factual religiousness and Lord Rāmacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord’s internal potency, and by Lakṣmījī Sītādevī.
Lord Rāmacandra was ordered by His father, Mahārāja Daśaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the King of Ayodhyā. One of His younger brothers, Lakṣmaṇajī, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sītājī, desired to go with Him. The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Daṇḍakāraṇya Forest, to live there for fourteen years. During their stay in the forest, there was some quarrel between Rāmacandra and Rāvaṇa, and the latter kidnapped the Lord’s wife, Sītā. The quarrel ended in the vanquishing of the greatly powerful Rāvaṇa, along with all his kingdom and family.
Sītā is Lakṣmījī, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant for being worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Śrī Rāmacandra. A materialistic man like Rāvaṇa does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sītādevī from the custody of Rāma and thus incurs great miseries. The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Rāmāyaṇa that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Laṅkā, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Rāmacandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sītā, Rāvaṇa was killed, and all his opulence and power destroyed.
Lord Rāmacandra is a full incarnation with six opulences in full, and He is therefore mentioned in this verse as kaleśaḥ, or master of all opulence.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Ayodhya is not bound up with any material worlds. Just like Vrindaban is not bound up by any material limitations, as much as Krishna is not bound up by any material limitations. So the kingdom of Ayodhya historically was a tract of land as we see at the present moment, but at that time the king of Ayodhya was the emperor of the world.” (Letter to: Satsvarupa — Montreal, 16 June, 1968)
🔗Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/letters/montreal/june/16/1968/satsvarupa
Saturday, 22 March 2025 [Mayapura, West Bengal, India Time]
Appearance Day of Śrī Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita
“There are innumerable devotees of the Lord, of whom Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura is the foremost. I offer my respectful obeisances thousands of times unto their lotus feet.” (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Adi Lila 1.38 | 1974 Edition)
śrīvāsa paṇḍita, āra śrī-rāma paṇḍita dui bhāi–dui śākhā, jagate vidita
SYNONYMS śrīvāsa paṇḍita—of the name Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita; āra—and; śrī–rāma paṇḍita—of the name Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita; dui bhāi—two brothers; dui śākhā—two branches; jagate—in the world; vidita—well known.
TRANSLATION The two brothers Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita and Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita started two branches that are well known in the world.
PURPORT In the Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā, verse 90, Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita is described to be an incarnation of Nārada Muni, and Śrī Rāma Paṇḍita, his younger brother, is said to be an incarnation of Parvata Muni, a great friend of Nārada’s. Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita’s wife, Mālinī, is celebrated as an incarnation of the nurse Ambikā, who fed Lord Kṛṣṇa with her breast milk, and as already noted, his niece Nārāyaṇī, the mother of Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana dāsa, the author of Śrī Caitanya–bhāgavata, was the sister of Ambikā in kṛṣṇa–līlā. We also understand from the description of Caitanya–bhāgavata that after Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s acceptance of the sannyāsa order, Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita left Navadvīpa, possibly because of feelings of separation, and domiciled at Kumārahaṭṭa (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Adi Lila 10.8 | 1973 Edition. All synonyms, translation, and purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda)
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada always said that in this world of ignorance, which is contrary to serving God or Krishna, full of trials and tribulations, only patience, humility and respect for others are our friends to do devotional service to God or Krishna and His representatives.
Regarding patience, I am very clear that only people who live in the mode of goodness can have it, people who live in the modes of passion and ignorance cannot be patient. Also Srila Prabhupada talks about this quality in the Nectar of Instruction, verse 3.
On humility, Srila Prabhupada says in the Gita, 13, 8 that humility means that one should not be anxious to have the satisfaction of being honored by others. Another point is that although one can do wonderful things to please God or Krishna and Srila Prabhupada, one understands that that is all pure mercy of God or Krishna and Srila Prabhupada.
About respect there is a very beautiful verse in the Bhagavatam, 5, 5, 26, this verse was spoken by the incarnation of Krishna called Risabadeva to his children, there it says that my dear children, you should not feel envy of any living entity, or mobile nor immobile. Knowing that I am in them, you must offer respect to all of them at all times. In this way, you will offer respect to Me.
Tuesday, 11 March 2025 [Mayapura, West Bengal, India Time]
Disappearance Day of Śrī Mādhavendra Purī
Śrīla Prabhupāda: “The uncontaminated devotees who strictly depend on the Vedānta philosophy are divided into four sampradāyas, or transcendental parties. Out of the four sampradāyas, the Śrī Madhvācārya-sampradāya was accepted by Mādhavendra Purī. Thus he took sannyāsa according to paramparā, the disciplic succession. Beginning from Madhvācārya down to the spiritual master of Mādhavendra Purī the ācārya named Lakṣmīpati, there was no realization of devotional service in conjugal love. Śrī Mādhavendra Purī introduced the conception of conjugal love for the first time in the Madhvācārya-sampradāya, and this conclusion of the Madhvācārya-sampradāya was revealed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He toured southern India and met the Tattvavādīs, who supposedly belonged to the Madhvācārya-sampradāya.
When Śrī Kṛṣṇa left Vṛndāvana and accepted the kingdom of Mathurā, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, out of ecstatic feelings of separation, expressed how Kṛṣṇa can be loved in separation. Thus, devotional service in separation is central to this verse. Worship in separation is considered by the Gauḍīya-Mādhva sampradāya to be the topmost level of devotional service.
According to this conception, the devotee thinks of himself as very poor and neglected by the Lord. Thus he addresses the Lord as dīna-dayārdra nātha, as did Mādhavendra Purī. Such an ecstatic feeling is the highest form of devotional service. Because Kṛṣṇa had gone to Mathurā, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was very much affected, and She expressed Herself thus: “My dear Lord, because of Your separation My mind has become overly agitated. Now tell Me, what can I do? I am very poor and You are very merciful, so kindly have compassion upon Me and let Me know when I shall see You.” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was always expressing the ecstatic emotions of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī that She exhibited when She saw Uddhava at Vṛndāvana. Similar feelings, experienced by Mādhavendra Purī, are expressed in this verse.
Therefore, Vaiṣṇavas in the Gauḍīya-Mādhva sampradāya say that the ecstatic feelings experienced by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu during His appearance came from Śrī Mādhavendra Purī through Īśvara Purī. All the devotees in the line of the Gauḍīya-Mādhva sampradāya accept these principles of devotional service.”
“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)
