CC Madhya 4.105–161 – Chandan Yatra

Giriraj Swami: So yesterday was the first day of Chandana-yatra and I will speak on that topic specifically with reference to Srila Madhavendra Puri and his journey to get chandan, sandalwood pulp for his Deity of Gopal. You may know the story that Srila Madhavendra Puri was on pilgrimage and he came to Govardhana Hill. And his policy was that he would not make any effort to get food but if food came on its own, he would accept it. Otherwise, he would fast. So, he was chanting the holy names at Govardhana Hill and one young cowherd boy came to him and said, “Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you fasting? In my village no one fasts and my mother sent me with some milk for you.”

So, the boy gave him a pot of milk which he drank. And he was chanting, he hardly slept also. And towards the morning he dozed a little bit and he had a dream. And in the dream Krishna, that young cowherd boy Krishna, told him that in His deity form He had been hidden in the bushes for fear of the Muslim invaders. The pujaris kept Him in in the bushes and then they fled. And since then, He has been stuck in the bushes. And He is very uncomfortable. He said I have been observing your devotional service and I would like you to take Me out of the bushes. And in the dream, He showed him where He had been hidden.

So that morning after awakening Madhavendra Puri informed the local village people about his dream and they went into the thickets. And eventually they found the Deity and Madhavendra Puri installed the Deity on top of Govardhana Hill and he remained there; Sri Madhavendra Puri remained there for two years overseeing the worship of Gopal. Then after two years two sannyasis came with very good qualities that were much appreciated by Madhavendra Puri and he trained them personally in Deity worship and initiated them. And when he was satisfied that they could properly care for the Deities he felt he could leave.

So now we will come specifically to the part about Madhavendra Puri going to get sandalwood for his Deity Gopal. Sandalwood is very cooling. So, in the hot season, in India this season is very hot. So, it is cooling to the body of the Lord to have sandalwood rubbed.

So please repeat.

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda
jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Four, “Sri Madhavendra Puri’s Devotional Service,” Text 105.

TEXT 105

ei-mata vatsara dui karila sevana
eka-dina purī-gosāñi dekhila svapana

TRANSLATION

In this way the Deity worship in the temple was very gorgeously performed for two years. Then one day Mādhavendra Purī had a dream.

TEXT 106

gopāla kahe, purī āmāra tāpa nāhi yāya
malayaja-candana lepa’, tabe se juḍāya

TRANSLATION

In his dream, Mādhavendra Purī saw Gopāla, who said, “My bodily temperature still has not decreased. Please bring sandalwood from the Malaya province and smear the pulp over My body to cool Me.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The Deity of Gopāla had been buried within the jungle for many years, and although He was installed and was offered thousands of pots of water, He still felt very hot. He therefore asked Mādhavendra Purī to bring sandalwood from the Malaya province. Sandalwood produced in Malaya is very popular. That province is situated on the western ghāṭa, and the hill Nīlagiri is sometimes known as Malaya Hill.

COMMENT

So, this Deity of Gopal was later you could say presented to the son of Vallabhacharya. And again, out of fear of the Muslims that Deity was taken to Sri Nathdwara where the Deity is still worshiped and is known as Srinathji.

TEXT 107

“Bring sandalwood pulp from Jagannātha Purī. Kindly go quickly. Since no one else can do it, you must.”

TEXT 108

After having this dream, Mādhavendra Purī Gosvāmī became very glad due to ecstasy of love of Godhead, and in order to execute the command of the Lord, he started east toward Bengal.

TEXT 109

Before leaving, Mādhavendra Purī made all arrangements for regular Deity worship, and he engaged different people in various duties. Then, taking up the order of Gopāla, he started for Bengal.

COMMENT

So, it is described here how Madhavendra Puri became very glad due to the ecstasy of love of Godhead. Sometimes due to our conditioning if we get some extra service, we do not feel glad. In fact, but one of Prabhupada’s disciples, I mean there may be many, I am sure there are many. But one of them, Jayananda Prabhu, if someone did not do his service, if someone informed him, I cannot do my service, so he would announce to the devotees, “Haribol Prabhus, I have great news for you. So and so is not doing his service today. Haribol, more service for us! Jaya!”

So Madhavendra Puri, and this was not a small service, he had to go by foot all the way from Vrindavan to Jagannatha Puri during the time of the Muslim rule of India which was sort of hostile. But he, in his heart he felt ecstasy. Gopal is giving me some service and he was delighted. So, he walked and walked and walked and eventually he came to Remuna where there is a Deity of Gopinatha. And the sweet rice, kheer, of Gopinatha was very famous. So Madhavendra Puri was chanting in ecstasy in the temple of Gopinatha. He just had a slight thought that it would be nice to taste that sweet rice so I could learn how to make similar sweet rice for my Gopal. But as soon as he had that thought he very severely condemned himself for lusting over the Deities prasāda because his principle was only to accept prasāda that came of its own accord. And along with that he was not thinking of it.

We also have the example of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. When he first left home and went to Jagannatha Puri, his father and uncle were immensely wealthy like kings, they sent men and money to Jagannatha Puri because it was the first time, he left home. And so, he would use that money to have feasts and distribute prasāda to the devotees. But then after some time he thought this is not good that I am taking money from my family. So, he stopped it. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked His assistant why is Raghunatha dasa not inviting us for prasāda anymore. And so, His assistant Svarupa Damodara Gosvami said, “Well he didn’t want to take that kind of support from his family.” So Mahaprabhu said, “Oh, that is very good. How is he eating?” “Well, he stands in front of the Singha Dvara, the lion gate at Jagannatha Puri. And when people come from the temple with mahā-prasāda they see him there and they give him some.”

So, this went on for some time and then after some time Mahaprabhu said, “Raghunatha is no longer standing in front of the lion gate. What happened?” So Raghunatha dasa felt that when people were coming out of the temple he was judging within his mind, calculating within his mind, will this person give me some mahā-prasāda or not? And he felt like a prostitute standing in front of her doorway, “will this person come or not?” So now he goes and he eats the rejected rice and other edibles that nobody else wants to eat which was sort of kept in a certain, one of the other sides of the temple. So Mahaprabhu said, “Oh, this is very good.”

So, one day Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to that place and He saw that Raghunatha dasa was eating this rejected rice, he was just washing it off. I think what they did is they would keep it there for the cows to eat, because they considered it was not fit for humans. So, he would wash it off and eat it. And Caitanya Mahaprabhu, just to encourage him He went and visited him. And He said, “Oh Raghunatha dasa, you are having such a feast every day and you are not inviting Me. Give Me some of that.” And Raghunatha said, “No, no my Lord. My Lord this is not fit for You. Please no.”

So, I have told this story to illustrate the purity of consciousness of Raghunatha dasa that he did not want to think this person will give me or this person will not give me. He wanted to be neutral and see everyone as they are and not judge them in terms of a calculation of what he could get from them. So Madhavendra Puri, he was also, it is not just that he was only accepting prasāda that came on its own accord. But he was not thinking lustfully about prasāda. So, when he had that thought, if I could just taste a little of this sweet rice then I could make a similar sweet rice for my Deity of Gopal, he condemned himself very severely and he left the temple and he went into the area of the town a ground where they would have stalls for selling things. But it was night, no one was there and same thing, he was chanting, chanting, and feeling very bad about his thought.

So that night the pujari had a dream. And in the dream the Deity of Gopinatha told him that, “there is one saintly person by the name of Madhavendra Puri, I want you to bring him a pot of sweet rice. The offering was over and you already took away all the pots of sweet rice.” “But I,” this is the Deity speaking to him in his dream, “but I hid a pot of sweet rice behind the curtain and you did not notice it when you were clearing away the mahā-prasāda. So, I have kept that for Madhavendra Puri. So, he is in the marketplace, he is chanting and I want you to deliver this sweet rice to him.”

So, the pujari got up, took bath, put on fresh cloth, and looked behind the curtain, the folds of the curtain. And he found the pot of sweet rice. So, he went into the town and he was calling out, “Will that fortunate person named Madhavendra Puri, please let me know where you are?” And then he said that the Deity of Gopinatha has stolen a pot of sweet rice for you. So, he found Madhavendra Puri and he delivered the sweet rice to him. And Madhavendra Puri took some. But then he thought okay now news is going to spread and people will think I am a great saint and they will want to have my darshan and touch my feet. And so, he immediately left that place because he did not want that kind of attention. So now I will recap the end of that section and then we will come to his arrival in Puri and his efforts to get sandalwood for Gopal.

TEXT 141

Having broken the pot and bound the pieces in his cloth, Mādhavendra Purī began to think, “The Lord has given me a pot of sweet rice, and when the people hear of this tomorrow morning, there will be great crowds.”

TEXT 142

Thinking this, Śrī Mādhavendra Purī offered his obeisances to Gopīnātha on the spot and left Remuṇā before morning.

TEXT 143

Walking and walking, Mādhavendra Purī finally reached Jagannātha Purī, which is also known as Nīlācala. There he saw Lord Jagannātha and was overwhelmed with loving ecstasy.

TEXT 144

When Mādhavendra Purī was overwhelmed in the ecstasy of love of Godhead, he sometimes stood up and sometimes fell to the ground. Sometimes he laughed, danced and sang. In this way he enjoyed transcendental bliss by seeing the Jagannātha Deity.

TEXT 145

When Mādhavendra Purī came to Jagannātha Purī, people were aware of his transcendental reputation. Therefore crowds of people came and offered him all sorts of respect in devotion.

TEXT 146

Even though one may not like it, reputation, as ordained by providence, comes to him. Indeed, one’s transcendental reputation is known throughout the entire world.

COMMENT

The transcendental mentality is quite different from the mundane mentality, almost the opposite because in the material world people want reputation. They want attention, they want respect and honor, and they are very happy when they get it. And they are displeased, they can be displeased if they do not get it.

Once His Holiness Radhanath Swami was staying here, I think we were staying together upstairs. And we came to the temple room and we came inside and nobody noticed him. And yeah, I sort of felt bad for him. So, I said, “Maharaja, I’m sorry. It seems that nobody has noticed that you are here.” And he said with all humility, genuine humility, “What is the significance if an insect comes into the temple room?” He was not thinking like that.

And another little example from, because we are reading about very high devotees. But once His Holiness Niranjana Swami was staying with me and we always try to provide the best service in all respects. But one morning I went up to his room and I saw there was some lapse in the service. I think maybe no one had come to take his laundry, or maybe one or two little lapses in his service. And I was sort of upset. I said, “Maharaja, how long has the laundry been lying there? You should have told us.” And he was silent. And I said, “Why didn’t you tell us, you should have told us.” And he was still silent. So, I said, “Why, I’ve noticed you never asked for anything.” And he said, “Well I feel I don’t deserve anything and that’s why I never ask for anything.”

Hare Krishna.

Now Madhavendra Puri,

TEXT 147

Being afraid of his reputation [pratiṣṭhā], Mādhavendra Purī fled from Remuṇā. But the reputation brought by love of Godhead is so sublime that it goes along with the devotee, as if following him.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Almost all the conditioned souls within the material world are envious. Jealous people generally turn against one who automatically attains some reputation. This is natural for jealous people. Consequently, when a devotee is fit to receive worldly reputation, he is envied by many people. This is quite natural. When a person, out of humility, does not desire fame, people generally think him quite humble and consequently give him all kinds of fame.

COMMENT

So, because generally people want fame, if someone shows that he does not want fame people are attracted and he becomes more famous. But there are also people who know that if you are humble, people will appreciate you and praise you and serve you, so they pretend to be humble. I am reminded of a quote from P.T Barnum, he is a great entertainer. Barnum and Bailey Circus, famous. So, he said ‘the main thing in show business is sincerity. If you can fake sincerity, you have got it made.’

PURPORT (continued)

Actually a Vaiṣṇava does not hanker after fame or a great reputation. Mādhavendra Purī, the king of Vaiṣṇavas, bore his reputation.

COMMENT

Means that it did not go to his head.

PURPORT (continued)

Before his reputation, but he wanted to keep himself outside of the vision of the general populace. He wanted to cover his real identity as a great devotee of the Lord, but when people saw him overwhelmed in the ecstasy of love of Godhead, they naturally gave credit to him. Actually a first-class reputation is due Mādhavendra Purī because he was a most confidential devotee of the Lord. Sometimes a sahajiyā.

COMMENT

Sahajiyā means one who takes things cheaply, something like a pretender but it’s a complicated subject.

PURPORT (continued)

Sometimes a sahajiyā presents himself as being void of desires for reputation (pratiṣṭhā) in order to become famous as a humble man. Such people cannot actually attain the platform of celebrated Vaiṣṇavas.

COMMENT

So, this is a very important point that what really matters is the consciousness. And we may not know what the consciousness of a person is, or of a Vaishnava. Once there was criticism of devotees among the devotees, different devotees were criticizing other devotees in a temple in the early days of ISKCON. And Srila Prabhupada told a story about a brahman and a prostitute. That there was a house with a brahman on a lane and across from him there was a house with a prostitute in it. And the brahman was always sitting with his shastra open, sitting by the window, getting the light. And the prostitute, she was engaged in her business, receiving customers, and entertaining them. And then some calamity took place in that neighborhood and both the brahman and the prostitute died. And the Yamadutas, the agents of Lord Yamaraja who come to take sinful people to punish them, they came. And the Vishnudutas who are the agents of Lord Vishnu and they take people to the abode of Lord Vishnu.

So, the Yamadutas came to the brahman. And the brahman said, “Wait a minute, you are making a mistake. You are supposed to get the prostitute and the Vishnudutas are supposed to come for me.” And the Yamadutas said, “No sir, we are not making a mistake because all the time you were sitting in front of your window with your shastra, you are looking across to the prostitute, and you were thinking, Oh now some man has come, oh now they are doing this, now they are doing that. And by your consciousness you were absorbed in very low affairs. And all the time the prostitute was looking out her window and seeing, “Oh that brahman is so pious. He is reading the Bhagavad-gītā and she would be thinking of the Bhagavad-gītā and Krishna. And I am so unfortunate; I have this occupation but he is so fortunate he is always absorbed in thinking of Krishna. So, by your consciousness you are fit to be taken to hell and by her consciousness she is fit to be elevated to Vaikuntha.”

So, Srila Prabhupada told this story to the devotees that we should be careful about criticizing other devotees because we may not really know what their consciousness is. So, the real thing is the consciousness. So, I mentioned that because Madhavendra Puri, he genuinely wanted to avoid reputation and acclaim. But there are people who can make a show of it, of being humble so they get more reputation than acclaim.

TEXT 148

Mādhavendra Purī wanted to leave Jagannātha Purī because the people were honoring him as a great devotee;

COMMENT

It can be the opposite. Oh, they are not honoring me here, I want to leave this place. But that is also not necessarily wrong, it is a complex subject. But Madhavendra Puri wanted to leave Jagannatha Puri because the people were honoring him as a great devotee. See what it is, that we want to be able to fix our minds on Krishna, on the Deity, on Srila Prabhupada, on devotional service. So it can be that when people come to you, they interfere with your concentration on Krishna. Even Srila Prabhupada complained in Juhu. He would always have hours for meeting people called “darshan hours” and people would come and sit with him.

So, once he complained that they come to me, they say Swamiji how is your health? And Srila Prabhupada said, “They can see my health is not good but still they waste my time asking, Swamiji how is your health?” And then he gave the example of Sri Aurobindo who is a sort of famous spiritual figure in India that he would give darshan just once a year. He would come out on his balcony something I do not know what the pope does, but I have heard something. And Prabhupada said, “I should do that because I waste so much time with these people.” But then he said, “but if I were to do that people would think Oh Swamiji is too big for us now. Swamiji has become puffed up, he has no time for us now. So, then he said, “Not now but when the new temple opens then maybe I can do that.”

And actually, it happened but not quite in the way that we imagined. But it happened because Srila Prabhupada, by the time the temple was almost ready to open Srila Prabhupada had become very ill. And so, when he was staying in his quarters, in the tower of the new temple complex he did not have “darshan hours.” But he was just so sick, even his disciples could not see him. Only his immediate staff.

And then once a group came to do kirtan, very devotional. They did a twelve-hour continuous kirtan. And they were in that old temple which was beneath Prabhupada’s quarters. And they really wanted to see Prabhupada. But he was too sick to come down and the elevator was not working and there were too many of them to go up. So finally, they came out of that temple and they were doing the kirtan beneath Prabhupada’s window, he was up on the fifth floor. And then with great difficulty, I think Mr. Sethi and maybe Tamal Krishna Goswami, they helped him to come to the balcony. And then they were all in such ecstasy seeing Srila Prabhupada, and he glanced at them and smiled. And then they took him back inside. So, it actually came to pass in a different way but it happened.

Now this is a very important point.

TEXT 148

Mādhavendra Purī wanted to leave Jagannātha Purī because the people were honoring him as a great devotee; however,

COMMENT

Now who can guess what follows however? Just think about it. Why was Madhavendra Puri in Jagannatha Puri?

Yes.

TEXT 148

However, this threatened to hinder his collecting sandalwood for the Gopāla Deity.

COMMENT

So sometimes we may not like something personally even for our own spiritual benefit but that thing may be necessary for us to do our service and so we tolerate it for the sake of the service.

TEXT 149

Śrī Mādhavendra Purī told all the servants of Lord Jagannātha and all the great devotees there the story of the appearance of Śrī Gopāla.

TEXT 150

When all the devotees at Jagannātha Purī heard that the Gopāla Deity wanted sandalwood, in great pleasure they all endeavored to collect it.

TEXT 151

Those who were acquainted with government officers met with them and begged for camphor and sandalwood, which they collected.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It appears that malayaja-candana (sandalwood) and camphor were used for the Jagannātha Deity. The camphor was used in His ārātrika, and the sandalwood was used to smear His body. Both these items were under government control; therefore the devotees had to meet with the government officials. Informing them of all the details, they attained permission to take the sandalwood and camphor outside Jagannātha Purī.

COMMENT

So even devotees on the highest platform for the sake of service must deal with the material world. They must deal with government officers. I am sure we do, we must get permission for Ratha-yatra, must deal with the government officers. Even Madhavendra Puri, such an exalted Vaishnava, he also had to deal with government officers, or he had people with connections deal with them.

TEXT 152

One brāhmaṇa and one servant were given to Mādhavendra Purī just to carry the sandalwood. He was also given the necessary traveling expenses.

TEXT 153

To get past the toll collectors along the way, Mādhavendra Purī was supplied with the necessary release papers from government officers. The papers were placed in his hand.

COMMENT

They wanted to check, is this some sort of contraband, are you stealing this or sneaking it without permission?

TEXT 154

In this way Mādhavendra Purī started for Vṛndāvana with the burden of sandalwood, and after some days he again reached the village of Remuṇā and the Gopīnātha temple there.

TEXT 155

When Mādhavendra Purī reached the temple of Gopīnātha, he offered his respectful obeisances many times at the lotus feet of the Lord. In the ecstasy of love, he began to dance and sing without cessation.

TEXT 156

When the priest of Gopīnātha saw Mādhavendra Purī again, he offered all respects to him and, giving him the sweet rice prasādam, made him eat.

TEXT 157

Mādhavendra Purī took rest that night in the temple, but toward the end of the night he had another dream.

TEXT 158

Mādhavendra Purī dreamed that Gopāla came before him and said.

COMMENT

Gopal is his Deity at Govardhana.

TEXT 158

“O Mādhavendra Purī, I have already received all the sandalwood and camphor.

TEXT 159

“Now just grind all the sandalwood together with the camphor and then smear the pulp on the body of Gopīnātha daily until it is finished.

TEXT 160

“There is no difference between My body and Gopīnātha’s body. They are one and the same. Therefore if you smear the sandalwood pulp on the body of Gopīnātha, you will naturally also smear it on My body. Thus the temperature of My body will be reduced.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Gopāla was situated in Vṛndāvana, which was far from Remuṇā. In those days, one had to pass through provinces governed by the Muslims, who sometimes hindered travelers. Considering the trouble of His devotee, Lord Gopāla, the greatest well-wisher of His devotees, ordered Mādhavendra Purī to smear the sandalwood pulp on the body of Gopīnātha, which was nondifferent from the body of Gopāla. In this way the Lord relieved Mādhavendra Purī from trouble and inconvenience.

COMMENT

So, this is the beautiful relationship between the Lord and His pure devotee. The pure devotee is ready to take any trouble for the sake of the Lord, for the pleasure of the Lord. And in fact, he does not take it as trouble, he takes it as pleasure. Even though externally it may be very troublesome but internally he takes it as pleasure that he is getting to serve his Lord. But the Lord knowing the consciousness of His devotee, He also wants to serve His devotee, He wants to save His devotee from the difficulty. And this reciprocation is important for us to know because it will serve as a guideline how we should act and it should fill us with appreciation for the Lord’s kind and merciful nature, that even though He is the Lord, He is meant to receive service. But He is a person, He is also a person and He likes if the devotee passes a test, then the Lord does not want him to endure more pain than necessary.

We will just read one more translation.

TEXT 161

“You should not hesitate to act according to My order.

COMMENT

Because these are very, very transcendental occurrences and yeah, he might, I do not know or want to speculate, but he might have thought, well is this really Gopal or am I just having this dream because I don’t want to have to walk to Vrindavan? So to assure him the Deity Gopal in his dream said.

TEXT 161

“You should not hesitate to act according to My order. Believing in Me, just do what is needed.”

COMMENT

So of course, the pujaris at the Gopinatha temple were delighted because they got sandalwood and camphor for Gopinatha plus they got Madhavendra Puri’s association for that whole period. Hare Krishna.

So, are there any questions or comments? Alright, I will let you go to attend to your important service. I just want to mention that in that mood of taking any difficulty in the line of service for the pleasure of the Lord, our devotees here do many services for the pleasure of the Lord. But especially I think of the book distributors. Srila Prabhupada compared them to the front-line soldiers. Everyone in the army is working for the same goal but the front-line soldiers, they take special risks by going out. And they meet many types of people, many of whom may disrespect them or insult them or avoid them. And then there are the types who want to save us from Krishna consciousness and they give us all their arguments. They could just be straight atheists who want to save us from the God delusion. Or they could be Christians who want to save us from the devil. Or they, I mean there is innumerable varieties but these devotees are really in that mood of facing difficulties.

I mean there are other difficulties, not just from the people. Of course, there is always difficulties everywhere but accepting the difficulty for the sake of service, for the sake of the pleasure of the Lord. And that service, and that sacrifice, and that austerity is noted by the Lord. It does not go unnoticed. And by that effort, by some inconceivable mercy we do gradually progress towards this.

Well, we are already having that reciprocation but it is the same type of reciprocation, becomes a little more personal or we become a little more realized in our appreciation of the Lord’s reciprocation by this process. But it begins, it is right here right now and you are already doing it. And that is why you are here. And so, it is just a matter of continuing and yeah having more and more realization of that beautiful reciprocation between the Lord and the devotees that we have already begun to experience. Hare Krishna.