Sri Nityananda-trayodasi Evening

Giriraj Swami: We welcome you on this most auspicious occasion of the Appearance Day of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. According to the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the absolute truth is realized in three features. Preliminary is brahman, the impersonal light that emanates from the transcendental form of the Lord. Next is Paramātmā, the localized super soul within the hearts of the living entities. But the last word in realization of the absolute truth is Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. So, the jnanis who realize the impersonal brahman, realize only the sat aspect, or eternal aspect, of the absolute truth. The yogis who realize the Paramātmā within the heart, realize the eternal and cognizant features of the absolute truth. But only the devotees who realize Krishna experience ānanda or bliss, which is the goal of every living entity because it is the nature of every living entity.

Once, an interviewer asked Srila Prabhupada, “What is the goal of life?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “The goal of life is to enjoy.” [laughter] Now, materially, the effort to enjoy through the senses and mind leads only to frustration and misery. But spiritually, one can enjoy in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that is eternal, unlike the temporary so-called happiness of the material world. And that eternal happiness can be realized through the mercy of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. His very name, Nityananda, Nitya means eternal and ānanda means bliss. So, if we can come in touch with Lord Nityananda, we can realize that eternal bliss, for which we are hankering. Now, how do we become eligible for Lord Nityananda’s mercy? That we can learn from the description of Lord Nityananda’s qualities and pastimes in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is considered the most authorized book biography about the teachings and activities of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda and their associates. There are a number of verses that describe in summary the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda, but I will come to one of them, which is instructive. Please repeat after me.

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda

jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

So, we shall read from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā, Chapter Seventeen, The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya in His Youth,

TEXT 17

tabe śacī dekhila, rāma-kṛṣṇa — dui bhāi
tabe nistārila prabhu jagāi-mādhāi

TRANSLATION

Thereafter mother Śacīdevī saw the brothers Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma in Their manifestation of Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda. Then the Lord delivered the two brothers Jagāi and Mādhāi.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

One night Śacīdevī dreamt that the Deities in her house, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, had taken the forms of Caitanya and Nityānanda and were fighting one another, as children do, to eat the naivedya, or offering to the Deities. On the next day, by the will of Lord Caitanya, Śacīdevī invited Nityānanda to take prasādam at her house. Thus Viśvambhara (Lord Caitanya) and Nityānanda were eating together, and Śacīdevī realized that They were none other than Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Seeing this, she fainted.

COMMENT

So, the story, as related in shastra, is that Śacīdevī had a dream, and she told her son, Nimai, “Last night, I had a wonderful dream, and in this dream, you and Nityananda went into my Deity room and you picked up the Deity of Balarama, and Nitai picked up the deity of Krishna, and the Deities started to protest, ‘You can’t take us from the altar, you can’t take us out of the Deity room.’ And then you and Nityananda replied, ‘Your days of stealing butter and playing pranks are over. Now, you are appearing as brahmans to chant the holy names.’” So, then they started to fight over the offerings of mother Saci, and Krishna and Balarama said, “These are meant for us, you can’t have these.” And they were saying, “But now you have appeared as us, so we can take them.” So, mother Saci asked Lord Chaitanya, “What do you think of this dream?” And Lord Chaitanya said, “This is a very wonderful dream, but don’t tell anyone about it.” [laughter] Because he was concealing his identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so he didn’t want anyone to know that He was Krishna and Nityananda was Balarama.

Then Lord Chaitanya said, “I would go into the Deity room to have the mahā-prasāda, the remnants of the offerings, and I would see that half of it was gone.” And his wife, Vishnu Priya, was listening to this, he knew that she was listening. He said, “So, when I would see that half of the offering was gone, I would suspect that it was Vishnu Priya who took the mahā-prasāda, but now I am seeing that these Deities are very mystical, and I am suspecting that they themselves might be eating half of the remnants that were meant for us.” He said, “Anyway, I think tomorrow you should invite Nityananda for lunch.” And she did, and as They were having lunch, she saw them transform Themselves into Krishna and Balarama, and then she fainted.

PURPORT (continued)

Jagāi and Mādhāi were two brothers born in Navadvīpa in a respectable brāhmaṇa family who later became addicted to all kinds of sinful activities. By the order of Lord Caitanya, both Nityānanda Prabhu and Haridāsa Ṭhākura used to preach the cult of Kṛṣṇa consciousness door to door. In the course of preaching they found Jagāi and Mādhāi, two maddened drunken brothers, who, upon seeing them, began to chase them. On the next day, Mādhāi struck Nityānanda Prabhu on the head with a piece of earthen pot, thus drawing blood. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu heard of this, He immediately came to the spot, ready to punish both brothers, but when the all-merciful Lord Gaurāṅga saw Jagāi’s repentant behavior, He immediately embraced him. By seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face and embracing Him, both the sinful brothers were at once cleansed. Thus they received initiation into the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra from the Lord and were delivered.

COMMENT

So, this is a very important pastime of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda, which is worth describing in detail, because it will give us an insight into the actual mission of Gaura-Nitai, and through paramparā, disciplic succession, the mission of Srila Prabhupada, and consequently, the mission of his followers.

So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he ordered Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura to go into Navadvipa to approach whoever they met on the way, and to go door to door and meet people at home and request them to chant the name of Krishna, to worship Krishna, to accept Krishna as their life and soul and the treasure of their wealth, and not to distinguish between who was qualified and who was not qualified. So, many people in Navadvipa were pious, and when Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura approached them, they accepted it, “They are asking us to chant Krishna’s name and worship Krishna and accept Krishna as the treasure of our lives,” and they accepted it, and they all developed pure love for Krishna.

One day, as Nityananda and Haridasa were making their way around Navadvipa, they saw a large crowd of people who were watching a spectacle from a distance. So, they went into the crowd, and they asked, “What is this?” And they could see these two drunken brothers. So, the town’s people explained that they are Jagai and Madhai, they were born in respectable brahman families, but from a very young age, they fell into bad association, and they engaged in all sorts of sinful activities, very sinful, horrible activities. They would murder people, they would burn down their houses, they would loot them and rob them and plunder them, they would rape women. There is not a sin that we can think of that they have not committed. And they drink wine and eat cow’s flesh. They are very dangerous, and the whole of Navadvipa lives in fear of them. So, Nityananda Prabhu thought, So far we have just been approaching pretty much just pious people, and they have taken up the order of Mahaprabhu, and they have become pure lovers of Krishna. But no one really knows the glories of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy. But if we can convert Jagai and Madhai, then everyone will know the glories of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy.

So, Nityananda approached them accompanied by Haridasa, and He delivered the message, “Chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna, follow Krishna’s instructions, glorify Krishna, give up your sinful activities.” And these two drunken brothers, they were very powerful physically, and very arrogant. So they became enraged, “Who are these people to tell us to worship Krishna and give up our sinful activities?” So, they decided to kill the two, and they started to pursue them, “Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!” And they were running, and Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura were also running for their lives. Of course, they didn’t have to run, but in the mood of devotees, they were running for their lives, and Jagai and Madhai were in hot pursuit. And on the way, there was some talk between Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura. And Nityananda Prabhu said, “Haridasa, I think this is the end of both of us. I think this is it.” And Haridasa said, “I think you are right.” [laughter] And Nityananda said, “But you were caned in twenty-two market places, and Krishna saved you. So, why don’t you pray to Krishna now to save us?” And Haridasa said, “Yes, that is true. But then I wasn’t associating with a madman like you. [laughter] You are such a madman that you went up to the two biggest demons on the planet and told them to chant Hare Krishna and give up their sinful activities. And all the villagers told us, ‘Stay away from them, they are very dangerous,’ and you didn’t listen to them.”

Then Nityananda Prabhu said, “Well, you are blaming me, but actually, I am not the one to be blamed. It is your master, Gauranga Mahaprabhu, who is responsible for this. Never in the history of the world, has a brahman acted like him, like a king ordering people to go out into the town and approach people, whether they are pious or sinful, and ask them to chant Hare Krishna. I was just following his order, so don’t blame me, you have to blame him.” And he said, “If we don’t obey His order, we are finished. And if we do obey His order, we are finished.” [laughter] So, like that they were sort of joking and laughing, and meanwhile, Jagai and Madhai were really aggressively pursuing them, and they were fleeing for their lives. And eventually, Jagai and Madhai, although they are very powerful, very strong, and they were very angry, they couldn’t keep up. They were a little heavy and drunk, so eventually they fell behind and Nityananda and Haridasa Thakura ran to Mahaprabhu. And He would ask them to come every evening after their preaching and report to Him. So, they told Him what happened, and He asked, “Who are these Jagai and Madhai?”

So, Ganga dasa Pandit and Srivasa Thakura explained that they are sinful, the whole of Navadvipa lives in terror because of them, and that they kill people, they rape the women, they burn down their houses, they plunder their riches, they drink strong liquor and eat cow’s flesh. And Mahaprabhu said, “I will kill them, I will cut them to pieces.” And this is the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu said, “No Lord, don’t do that, don’t harm them. In Kali-yuga, our mission is not to kill the demons, but to deliver them. And in Kali-yuga pretty much everyone will be like Jagai and Madhai. So, don’t kill them. You give them to Me, I will take charge of them.” So, Gauranga Mahaprabhu said, “All right. I give them in your charge, and because you want to give mercy to them, I predict that very soon, they will be delivered.”

So, while all this was going on, Haridasa Thakura was speaking with Advaita Acharya, and he said, “You do not know how difficult it is to have a saṅkīrtana partner who is a madman. [laughter] He is an avadhūta. He goes to people’s houses and steals their butter and yogurt.” And he was younger, Haridasa Thakura was older, so Nityananda Prabhu could run faster. So then, when the householder would come out and pursue them, Nityananda would be gone, and they would catch Haridasa Thakura. [laughter] They would say, “What is this? What are you doing?” And sometimes he would ride on people’s bulls and say, “I am Mahesh.” [laughter] And sometimes he would milk their cows and drink all the milk. [laughter] And sometimes he would approach small boys and say, “I am going to beat you,” and they would get frightened and they would run home to their parents, and then their father would come out with sticks to protect their child and Nityananda would run away and they would catch Haridasa. [laughter] And he would fall at their feet and say, “Please, please. It is not what you think.” And sometimes he would go up to innocent young girls and say, “I want to marry you.” But the worst was today. Everyone told us to stay away from these drunken demons, and he went right up to them and said, “Yes, give up your sinful activities, surrender to Krishna, chant Krishna’s name,” and they almost killed us, we barely escaped with our lives.”

And Advaita Acharya began to laugh in ecstasy, but with a little anger, and he said, “Why are you surprised? It is the nature for drunkards to want to associate with other drunkards. Nityananda Prabhu is always intoxicated with kṛṣṇa-prema, prema-rasa. And so, it is natural for one drunkard to want to associate with other drunkards, but you are a naiṣṭhika brahmachari, you are very sober and learned. Why are you associating with those three? You let them associate with each other. Why should you get involved with them?” And then he said, “I know the power of my Nityananda, and you will see within one or two days, these demons will be chanting and dancing in kirtan with us.”

So, maybe the next day, or two days later, Nityananda Prabhu, he was wandering around Navadvipa in his playful mood, and he came upon the two drunk brothers. They were always drunk. And he approached them again with the same message. And Madhai became so enraged, he was saying, “Who is this person? We almost killed him the other day, and still he is coming back. Who does he think he is?” He said, “Who are you? What is your name?” He said, “I am avadhūta.” And that just was it. So, Madhai picked up a clay pot, liquor pot, and with all of his immense strength, he smashed the head of Nityananda Prabhu, and he cut a big gash, and blood came out and it covered his face and gradually, his whole body. And he said to Madhai, “I don’t mind that you did that to me, but what really causes me pain is how much you are suffering in ignorance. Please accept the mercy of Gauranga Mahaprabhu, and then, you will be happy.” So, that infuriated Madhai even more. So, then, he picked up another pot. He wanted to kill him, and he was ready to smash him with that pot, and Jagai intervened. He said, “Stop it. Can’t you see that this is a genuine saintly person? That he actually has love for you and feels compassion for you? He is trying to help you. What will you gain by killing such an innocent soul?”

So, meanwhile the news reached Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and he rushed to the scene. And he was (Prabhupada said) ‘angry as fire’ and he immediately called for His Sudarsana chakra, “Chaka, chakra,” to kill them. The chakra came like the blazing sun, and Nityananda Prabhu intervened, and he said, “Lord, don’t kill them.” He said, “I am going to kill them. They have harmed my Nityananda Prabhu; I am going to kill them.” And then he said, “But Jagai, he actually saved me. Madhai, he really was wanting to kill me, but Jagai stopped him, he saved my life.” And when Mahaprabhu heard that, His heart melted. The chakra immediately disappeared, and out of love, he embraced Jagai, and he said, “You have saved my Nityananda Prabhu, you have served my Nityananda Prabhu. I forgive you for all that you have done.” And after embracing him, he manifested a four-armed form with the symbols of Vishnu, the club, the disc, the lotus, and conch, and He placed his lotus foot on the heart of Jagai, and filled him with ecstatic love for Krishna. And Jagai was weeping in ecstasy.

So then, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu turned his attention back to Madhai. He was still angry, and He was ready to kill him. And Madhai, his heart also changed. The Caitanya-bhāgavata describes the two of them were so close, they were like one person in two bodies. So, somehow by Jagai’s heart changing, his heart also changed. And of course, he didn’t want to be killed. So he said, “You have given mercy to Jagai but we are together, we have done everything together. Whenever we plundered someone’s house, we did it together. Whenever I burned down someone’s house, he was with me. Whenever I drank liquor, he was with me. Whenever I ate cow’s flesh, he was with me. We did everything together. So, why are you giving him mercy and not me? You should give me mercy too.” And Mahaprabhu said, “No, I will not give you mercy because you have hurt my Nitai.” He said, “We have read in the scripture, so many people, demons, they have attacked you with weapons, with stones, and you delivered them all. So you should deliver me too.” He said, “No, I will not deliver you. The body of Nityananda is more dear to me than my own body. They attacked my body, and I delivered them. But you attacked Nitai’s body, which is more dear to me than my own body. I will not forgive you.” So, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was still ready to kill him, and he just begged for mercy. And then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “You beg for Nitai’s mercy. If He gives you mercy, then I will spare you.”

So, he went and prayed to Nityananda Prabhu, and Mahaprabhu said, “If you actually forgive him, then you should embrace him.” And Nityananda, His whole body was covered by blood from the injury, and he was still bleeding. And he picked up Madhai who had prostrated himself, and embraced him. That is how merciful He is. And then, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “All right, I will spare you.” And then, Nitai said, “I give him to You.” And then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave him prema-bhakti. And this is inconceivable. He gave him something that Lord Brahma doesn’t have. He gave him something that great rishis and sages and devas are endeavoring to get. He gave it to them, and they were the most horrible, sinful demons. So all that Nitai wanted came true.

Later, they went back to Mahaprabhu’s house and had saṅkīrtana. And Mahaprabhu said, “All of Nitai’s desires have come true. He was thinking, ‘If these two demons, the biggest demons on the planet, if they could receive Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy, then My traveling everywhere and preaching will be successful. And he thought, If I can convert these two demons to accept the mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, then I can actually consider myself that I am a servant of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And if these two demons can chant and dance in ecstasy with the Vaishnavas, I can consider that my name, Nityananda, has value,’ and all of that has come true, Mahaprabhu said. So, there is a big festival of kirtan, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “Do not any of you think that Jagai and Madhai are sinful. Do not any one of you think that they are sinful. And just to prove it, I will accept all of their sinful reactions.” He said, “Just watch.” And his beautiful, golden form, “Gauranga,” began to accept their sinful reactions, and his body turned black from their sinful reactions. And he asked Advaita Acharya, “What do you see? What do I look like? What do you see?” He said, “I see Shyamasundara. Gaurasundara has become Shyamasundara.”

And then, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “And how will I get free from these sinful reactions? It will be through hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. So all of you do hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana, and I will be relieved of these sinful reactions.” But then, where will the sinful reactions go? They will go into the hearts of those who blaspheme Vaishnavas, those who criticize devotees. So they did kirtan, ecstatic kirtan. Mahaprabhu, with his black form, was dancing in ecstasy, and gradually, that blackness went away, it became lighter and he resumed His original, beautiful Gauranga golden form. So after this the Vaishnavas accepted Jagai and Madhai. But especially Madhai, he felt very guilty because he tried to kill Nityananda Prabhu who was really the cause of his deliverance, and he was very sad, very, very sad. And Nityananda Prabhu could see it, and he said, “You have been liberated, you have been given prema-bhakti. Why are you so sad? Don’t be so sad.” And he said, “When I think that I tried to kill You, I just feel terrible, I just can’t forgive myself.” And Nityananda said, “I accept you like my son. Sometimes the child will hit the parent, but the parent doesn’t take it seriously. So I forgive you.” And then, Madhai said, “But what about all the other people I caused pain to? I was so intoxicated; I don’t even know who they are. I don’t even know how to ask them to forgive me. There were so many that I hurt.” And Nityananda Prabhu said, “You should make a ghat with your own hand, a very beautiful ghat, and when people come to take bath, you prostrate yourself before them, and ask them to forgive you. And by being close to the Ganga, you will be purified, and you serve them in any menial way, whoever comes.”

So he did that. These were huge demons and when people saw how humble they had become, people’s hearts melted, and they gave them all affection and respect. But there were some people who were so angry, they had been so hurt by them in the past, by Madhai in particular, they were so angry, seeing him in that humble mood, they would take up a stone and throw it at his head. And Madhai was so humble, that he would pick up the stone, and return it to them, and say, “I am so sinful. I have caused so much pain to others. Once is not enough; you should throw it again.” And even they, the people who were the most upset and angry, even they had to forgive him and embrace him. So, this is the mercy of Gaura-Nitai. And that was what Nityananda Prabhu wanted, that people should understand the glory of Mahaprabhu’s mercy. And Srila Prabhupada has really taken up the same mood of approaching anyone and everyone without discrimination, pious or sinful, qualified, or unqualified. As Nityananda Prabhu said, “In Kali-yuga, everyone will practically be like Jagai and Madhai.”

And that is probably more apparent in America and Europe than in India, although I did hear one lecture, in which Srila Prabhupada was talking about how demonic the Western civilization is, and how the leader is, pretty much everyone is a demon. And then he said, “Actually, in my country also, 80 percent, they are also demons.” But still, what Prabhupada entered in 1965 when he came to America, it is something you can’t imagine, people in India, you just can’t imagine. In fact, one very nice devotee in Mumbai, Krishna Chandra Prabhu, he used to say, “People cannot imagine who Srila Prabhupada approached when he went to America.” And he recommended that everyone must see those old DVDs of Srila Prabhupada when he first came to America and he was at 26 Second Avenue in New York and Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. You just can’t believe; you can’t imagine the type of people that he was approaching. And they didn’t always receive him well. In fact, there was one incident I thought of this morning, when Srila Prabhupada was staying in the Bowery. I hope you have read Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, everyone should read Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta. And also, see the DVD series Following Srila Prabhupada.

So, anyway, Srila Prabhupada was living in a loft in the Bowery, which is the most degraded part of New York City, it is known to be inhabited by drunks. But even they had a little respect, because they would be drunk, and they would be sprawled out on the sidewalk, and even on the stairs leading up to Prabhupada’s apartment, but somehow, they sensed that he was a saintly person, and they tried to move over and make room for him to pass. So, he was staying there with a young man who seemed interested. In fact, Prabhupada thought, I will train him as a Vaishnava. But one day, that young man, he became crazy. Probably taking LSD or something, the 1960s equivalent of that strong wine that Jagai and Madhai were taking five hundred years ago. He just went crazy, and he wanted to attack Srila Prabhupada, he was ready to kill him, like Madhai was ready to kill Nityananda Prabhu. And Srila Prabhupada, he just bolted out of the room and went running down the stairs, and this boy was pursuing him; just the same. And then, it is quite a history how Srila Prabhupada just stayed at different people’s homes.

He stayed in the loft of one African-American who was interested, he had been coming to the classes, he was learning a little Sanskrit, and his wife. And loft means it is a big room, just one big room. So, it was the three of them, and the wife started to feel uncomfortable. They put up a curtain. So they had their area and Prabhupada had his area, but she started to feel uncomfortable; having the Swami there all the time, she felt restricted. And Prabhupada understood, but he didn’t have anywhere to go. So then, Mukunda Maharaja, who was here in San Diego for many years, he actually found a place, 26 Heaven Avenue, and put down the rent for a month and Prabhupada moved there. But what Prabhupada endured for the sake of delivering the mercy of Gaura-Nitai is inconceivable. Living in such conditions, even on the boat on the way to America he suffered two heart attacks, and even in America, he had a lot of physical problems. But he endured everything, all these attacks of maya, for the sake of delivering Gaura-Nitai’s mercy to us. And what Nityananda Prabhu wanted has been fulfilled by Srila Prabhupada outside India. What Nityananda Prabhu wanted was fulfilled in Bengal, but through Srila Prabhupada, it has been fulfilled throughout the world.

So, Srila Prabhupada is really the embodiment of the mood and mercy of Nityananda Prabhu. There is no one in the history of our sampradāya, no one after Nityananda Prabhu who has taken up that mood of approaching anyone and everyone without discrimination, without considering who is qualified and unqualified. And it is the same message, “Chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna, accept Krishna as your life and soul.” But not in so many words, because the people that Srila Prabhupada was approaching didn’t even know who Krishna was. When Nityananda approached people in Navadvipa, “Chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna, accept Krishna as your life and soul,” they know who Krishna was, they knew what He was saying. But in America and Europe nobody knew who Krishna was. So just that, “Chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna,” had to be explained in detail, in books. And therefore, Srila Prabhupada wrote so many books, to explain who is Krishna, what is Krishna’s name, how to chant Krishna’s name, how to worship Krishna, why we should accept Krishna as our life and soul, why we should surrender to Krishna.

It is the same thing, the same message that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked Nityananda Prabhu to deliver to everyone, whether they are pious or sinful, but in expanded forms, because the people that Prabhupada was approaching had no idea who was Krishna, what is Krishna’s name, or any of the instruction. And when we go out with Srila Prabhupada’s books, we are just like when Mahaprabhu sent out Nityananda and Haridasa, just approaching people with that message. And sometimes devotees are not well received. But even Nityananda and Haridasa, they were not always well received because Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would have these nocturnal kirtans at Srivasa Thakura’s house, and if anyone was proud, they couldn’t come in, only humble, pure devotees were allowed. So all these proud people in Navadvipa, they were very upset and angry that they weren’t allowed to join the kirtan. So, when Nityananda and Haridasa came, they were very angry at them, “Oh, you have come from that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srivasa Thakura.” And they spread so many rumors about them, that they are actually thieves, they come to your door and they say to chant Krishna’s name and worship Krishna but really what they are doing is they are looking in your house to see what you have so they can come back at night and steal it all. They were spreading a lot of criticism. So, that we have to accept, we have to expect and we have to accept it. But that didn’t stop Nityananda Prabhu, and it didn’t stop Srila Prabhupada, and it shouldn’t stop any of us.

So, this is really the continuation of Nityananda Prabhu’s mission. And Srila Prabhupada really had that mood. He had one disciple, one of his early disciples, came to India and was in Calcutta. So, the temple president phoned Srila Prabhupada in Bombay, and he told him that this early disciple was smoking ganja. I guess it means marijuana. Prabhupada didn’t actually take the call, but his secretary took the call and relayed the message, “The president from the temple wanted to know what to tell the disciple.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “Tell him that if he doesn’t stop smoking ganja, I will reject him.” And then, afterwards, Tamal Krishna Goswami asked him, “Is it true that if he doesn’t stop smoking ganja, you will reject him?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “No, it is not true. [laughter] I cannot reject anyone.” And Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “But don’t you have to draw the line somewhere?” And Srila Prabhupada said, “The mercy of Lord Nityananda is unlimited.” So, that was Srila Prabhupada’s mood, he was in the mood of Nityananda Prabhu.

So, we are the recipients of Gaura-Nitai’s mercy through Srila Prabhupada. By Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, we are chanting Krishna’s name, and worshiping Krishna, and accepting Krishna as the goal of our lives. And it is also his mercy and order that we should also preach the same message to others, to our capacity. We can speak, and whatever our capacity to speak may or may not be, we can give them Prabhupada’s books that ultimately come to the same message of Mahaprabhu, just elaborated and presented in a way that people without any background in Vedic knowledge can understand. So, on this occasion, most sacred and blessed occasion, we can pray to Nityananda Prabhu to inspire us and empower us with his humble mood.

Yes, I didn’t mention this but I should mention it. When Nityananda Prabhu would approach people after giving the instruction, he would say, “If you accept this instruction, I will consider you more dear to me than my own life.” And if someone did not accept the sacred instruction, he would prostrate himself at their feet and beg them to take it. And He is Lord Balarama, He is the origin of all the Vishnu forms, He is the origin of Mahā-saṅkarṣaṇa who is in turn the origin of Maha-Vishnu, Karanodakashayi Vishnu, by His breathing, universes are generated from the pores of His body. And then, a portion of that Maha-Vishnu is Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, and He enters into every universe and gives birth to Brahma, who engineers the creation of every universe. And then, Kshirodakshayi Vishnu, He is the Supersoul in everyone’s heart. He is that person who is the origin, He is rolling in the dust of people’s feet and begging them, “Just chant Hare Krishna.”

I did see that mood in Srila Prabhupada. He often instructed us, but I saw it personally. When we first came to Bombay, there was a program on the terrace of the house where we were staying, Saksaria-Bhavan on Marine Drive; it was very glamorous, near the sea, and it was night, lights were lit up. And our host Kailash Saksaria invited all the elite, affluent, aristocratic people of Bombay that he knew. And Prabhupada, with that same humility as Nityananda Prabhu, he begged them. He said it, “I am taking a straw in my mouth and begging you, please chant Hare Krishna,” just like Nityananda Prabhu.

dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya
kaku-śataṁ kṛtvā cāhaṁ bravīmi
he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva nihāya durād
caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam

And he often quoted a verse by Prabodhananda Sarasvati, how we should approach people, is just the way Nityananda Prabhu approached them. And the verse is, dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya, “I take straw in my mouth.” It is a sign of utter humility. “And I bow at your feet.” dante nidhāya tṛṇakaṁ padayor nipatya kaku-śataṁ kṛtvā cāhaṁ bravīmi, the verse says, “And I flatter you a hundred times.” he sādhavaḥ—oh great learned noble man, he sādhavaḥ sakalam eva nihāya durād, “Whatever you have learned, you keep it far away from you,” and caitanya-candra-caraṇe kurutānurāgam, “Just accept the mercy of Lord Gauranga, just surrender to Lord Gauranga, become attached to Lord Gauranga.” So, that verse of Prabodhananda Sarasvati was repeated many times by Srila Prabhupada how we should approach people. And Srila Prabhupada did it himself.

I remember once, he was a big shipper in Bombay. I was quite successful meeting all the big people in Bombay and getting them to support Krishna consciousness, but this one in particular, he was avoiding me. But I would never stop. So, I could not get through to him at his office, too many secretaries and too many doors. So, once, I just took a chance, I went to his house on the weekend, he was totally unprepared. And he opened the door himself, and he saw me, and there is still a little culture because he wouldn’t slam the door in my face, so he invited me in. But I could see he was very smug. So, first thing he said is, “What can I do for you?” And I guess that annoyed me. [laughter] So I guess I was also pretty contaminated. So I said, “I haven’t come so you could do something for me. I have come to do something for you.” Then he said, “You have come to do something for me? What can you do for me?” So I said, “I have come to engage you in Krishna’s service.”

So, anyway, it was like Lord Chaitanya and Nityananda in a sense. He sent them out, and then in the evening, they would come back and report. So, I came back and reported, I told Prabhupada about the exchange, and Prabhupada said, “To preach, you have to be very humble.” Of course, sometimes Prabhupada would say the opposite, so it really does depend on the context. But in this case, he said, “If you approach someone and say, ‘Everything is Krishna’s property, you have stolen it all from Krishna, you should return it to Krishna, the sooner the better,’ they will get angry. ‘What do you mean? That is my hard-earned money. What do you mean it belongs to Krishna?’ But if you say, ‘We are building a temple, I have come as a beggar to your door.’ ‘Oh, a beggar is coming, okay, okay, take something, take something and go.’”

So, that humble mood, Nityananda was begging, he wasn’t begging for money, but he was begging for them to take the holy name, literally begging, falling at their feet, rolling in the dust, and begging them. And that is what Prabhupada did with us, he did so much. Again, if you read the Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta, what he did in the early days. The young boys and girls in San Francisco, they wanted to take him to the beach. And they had a picnic, so they made a fire and, I guess, they put potatoes in the fire, and he went along with so much. And Satsvarupa Maharaja, he wrote very nicely that he did what they wanted, you know, to have an evening at the sunset at the beach, and when he did the prema-dhvani prayers, the jayas, he said, “All glories to the Pacific Ocean.” [laughter] So, he did what they wanted, but he got them to do what he wanted, which was to chant Hare Krishna. So, just like that.

So, yes, none of us would be here if Srila Prabhupada didn’t do what he did. I have met many Indians who said, “I am so glad I met the devotees here and became Krishna conscious. I can’t be Krishna conscious like this in India because of the association of the family members.” I have some devotee friends, they go back, and their family members and friends, they want them to drink alcohol and eat meat, and when they refuse, then their family says, “What is wrong with you? You went to America and now you have come back and you are supposed to be the leader in these things now. [laughter] Now you won’t even touch them.” So everywhere, people are pretty fallen. And I guess I will conclude with one of the favorite statements of Srila Prabhupada that I recall. He said, “To approach Radha and Krishna, you need the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. And to get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, you need the mercy of Lord Nityananda. And to get the mercy of Lord Nityananda, you have to approach people like Jagai and Madhai.” [laughter] So, if we ever feel, “I am too high, I am too holy, I can’t approach these people,” we should think of that instruction and Srila Prabhupada’s own example and Nityananda Prabhu’s example, and really pray, beg, pray to be humble instruments of Their love and mercy and compassion. As Prabhupada’s guru Maharaja told him, “That will be good for you, and that will be good for the people, help people.” And most of all, we should loudly chant the holy names,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

Hare Krishna. [applause]