CC Antya 8.18–32 – Sri Isvara Puri’s Disappearance Day

Giriraj Swami: So, we shall read from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, Chapter Eight, “Rāmacandra Purī Criticizes the Lord.” Ramchandra Puri was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri and a godbrother of Isvara Puri. And Madhavendra Puri’s disciple, Isvara Puri, was accepted by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as His spiritual master. So, we shall read from Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, Chapter Eight, “Rāmacandra Purī Criticizes the Lord.”

Ramachandra Puri was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri and a godbrother of Isvara Puri, but he developed an offensive mentality towards his spiritual master, and as a result, he became so fallen that he dared to criticize Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

TEXT 1

taṁ vande kṛṣṇa-caitanyaṁ
rāmacandra-purī-bhayāt
laukikāhārataḥ svaṁ yo
bhikṣānnaṁ samakocayat

TRANSLATION

Let me offer my respectful obeisances to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who reduced His eating due to fear of the criticism of Rāmacandra Purī.

COMMENT

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

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

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

So, we will come to Text Eighteen, and for the sake of time, I won’t read the Bengali for all the verses, but the translation is

TEXT 18

Formerly, when Mādhavendra Purī was at the last stage of his life, Rāmacandra Purī came to where he was staying.

TEXT 19

Mādhavendra Purī was chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, and sometimes he would cry, “O my Lord, I did not get shelter at Mathurā.”

TEXT 20

Then Rāmacandra Purī was so foolish that he fearlessly dared to instruct his spiritual master.

TEXT 21

“If you are in full transcendental bliss,” he said, “you should now remember only Brahman. Why are you crying?”

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā: a Brahman realized person is always happy. Na śocati na kāṅkṣati: he neither laments nor aspires for anything. Not knowing why Mādhavendra Purī was crying, Rāmacandra Purī tried to become his advisor. Thus he committed a great offense, for a disciple should never try to instruct his spiritual master.

COMMENT

So, the scriptures contain many negative injunctions such as the one we just read from the Gītā, na śocati na kāṅkṣati, one who is on the Brahman platform neither hankers nor laments. But that refers, of course, to material hankering and lamentation, but there is also spiritual hankering and lamentation, as exhibited by Srila Madhavendra Puri, who was hankering for Krishna.

Madhavendra Puri is a very important figure in our paramparā because he was the first to exhibit the feelings of separation in the mood of Srimati Radharani after Krishna left Vrindavan. So, he was hankering to attain Krishna, and he was lamenting because he was not reaching his goal. And Ramachandra Puri totally misunderstood his divine hankering and lamentation and advised him not to hanker and lament.

TEXT 22

Hearing this instruction, Mādhavendra Purī, greatly angry, rebuked him by saying, “Get out, you sinful rascal!

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Rāmacandra Purī could not understand that his spiritual master, Mādhavendra Purī, was feeling transcendental separation. His lamentation was not material. Rather, it proceeded from the highest stage of ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. When he was crying in separation, “I could not achieve Kṛṣṇa! I could not reach Mathurā!” this was not ordinary material lamentation. Rāmacandra Purī was not sufficiently expert to understand the feelings of Mādhavendra Purī, but nevertheless he thought himself very advanced. Therefore, regarding Mādhavendra Purī’s expressions as ordinary material lamentation, he advised him to remember Brahman because he was latently an impersonalist. Mādhavendra Purī understood Rāmacandra Purī’s position as a great fool and therefore immediately rebuked him. Such a reprimand from the spiritual master is certainly for the betterment of the disciple.

COMMENT

So, in the Bengali, it says krodha upajila, when Madhavendra Puri heard the words of Ramachandra Puri, krodha, anger arose in him. On the material platform, krodha is a no-no. Kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mūḍha, and mātsarya, lust, anger, greed, illusion, pride, and envy are enemies of the conditioned soul and are considered gateways to hell. So, material anger arises when one’s lust is frustrated, kāmāt krodho ‘bhijāyate.

In the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Sanskrit term kāmānujena for anger is used. Literally, kāmānujena means the younger brother of lust. The word anuja, ramanuja, is the younger brother of lust. Wherever the older brother goes, the younger brother follows. Wherever there is lust, anger follows. When our material desires are frustrated, we become angry. Spiritually, when there is an obstacle to devotional service, one may also become angry, but not materially, spiritually. And one can use that anger to remove the obstacle.

When we were in New Delhi with Srila Prabhupada for the first Delhi pandal, after the pandal program, an American young man came to meet Srila Prabhupada where he was staying. And he waxed eloquent about how if people become Krishna conscious, there will be no more anger in the world. And Srila Prabhupada said, “Anger? Did someone tell you there is something wrong with anger? Krishna spoke the whole Bhagavad-gītā just to make Arjuna angry so that he would fight and kill the enemies.” So, there is also spiritual anger.

From one point of view, Ramachandra Puri’s presence was an impediment to Madhavendra Puri’s meditation on Krishna, so Madhavendra Puri wanted him away. And on another level, Ramachandra Puri’s pride and tendency towards impersonalism are obstacles to his own spiritual advancement. And so, his spiritual master rebuked him to purify him. As Srila Prabhupada notes

PURPORT (continued)

Such a reprimand from the spiritual master is certainly for the betterment of the disciple.

COMMENT

Vaiṣṇavera kriyā mudrā vijñeha nā bujhaya, even the most learned scholar cannot understand the activities and characteristics of a transcendental Vaishnava. Therefore, we should be very careful when we deal with Vaishnavas as we may misunderstand them and offend them.

TEXT 23

“O my Lord Kṛṣṇa, I could not reach You, nor could I reach Your abode, Mathurā. I am dying in my unhappiness, and now this rascal has come to give me more pain.

TEXT 24

“Don’t show your face to me! Go anywhere else you like. If I die seeing your face, I shall not achieve the destination of my life.

TEXT 25

“I am dying without achieving the shelter of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore I am greatly unhappy. Now this condemned foolish rascal has come to instruct me about Brahman.”

COMMENT

Now, generally, the spiritual master doesn’t reject a disciple. But still, Krishna, in the Bhagavad-gītā, says

TEXT 11

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham

COMMENT

“As people approach Me, I reciprocate them accordingly.” If someone neglects Krishna, Krishna will neglect him. The spiritual master is a representative of Krishna, and in fact, Ramachandra Puri had rejected Madhavendra Puri as his spiritual master because how can a disciple advise his spiritual master?

One of the lessons here is that if the disciple gets too close to the spiritual master without having the required purity, he or she may mistake him to be ordinary and commit offenses. It happened with some of Srila Prabhupada’s personal servants. Srila Prabhupada never rejected a disciple unless the disciple rejected him. One case was Prabhupada’s disciple Aravinda, who served for some time as Prabhupada’s personal servant, but eventually left.

Later, he met a devotee who informed him that Srila Prabhupada was in town. “You should come and meet Srila Prabhupada,” the devotee told him. So, Aravinda came, and when he saw Prabhupada, he told him, “Krishna consciousness never really worked for me, so I left.” Indirectly, he was criticizing Srila Prabhupada and Krishna consciousness. And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Good. I am glad you left because now I don’t have to look at your morose face anymore.”

So, reading this line from Madhavendra Puri, “Don’t show your face to me,” reminded me of Srila Prabhupada’s words. But it was tit for tat. Ultimately, both the blessings and curses of a Vaishnava are beneficial, as we see from the dāmodara-līlā when Narada Muni cursed Nalakuvara and Manigriva.

TEXT 26

Rāmacandra Purī was thus denounced by Mādhavendra Purī. Due to his offense, gradually material desire appeared within him.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The word vāsanā (“material desires”) refers to dry speculative knowledge. Such speculative knowledge is only material.

COMMENT

So, one of the effects of offense is that one becomes influenced by material desires and sometimes is overwhelmed by them. And then, to justify one’s sinful activities, one may speculate and manufacture many excuses, or one may develop an impersonal attitude. Yet, another effect of offense, and this is very common, is that one becomes prone to commit more offenses, as explained in the next verse.

TEXT 27

One who is attached to dry speculative knowledge has no relationship with Kṛṣṇa. His occupation is criticizing Vaiṣṇavas. Thus he is situated in criticism.

COMMENT

So, the first offense to the holy name is sādhu-nindā, to blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name, and we should avoid that at all costs.

So now, we come to the example of a devoted disciple. The real hero for today, Sri Isvara Puri.

TEXT 28

Īśvara Purī, the spiritual master of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, performed service to Mādhavendra Purī, cleaning up his stool and urine with his own hand.

TEXT 29

Īśvara Purī was always chanting the holy name and pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa for Mādhavendra Purī to hear. In this way he helped Mādhavendra Purī remember the holy name and pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa at the time of death.

COMMENT

And if we are attending to someone who is leaving his or her body, that’s our duty; to help them remember the holy name and pastimes of Lord Krishna at the time of death, ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ.

TEXT 30

Pleased with Īśvara Purī, Mādhavendra Purī embraced him and gave him the benediction that he would be a great devotee and lover of Kṛṣṇa.

TEXT 31

Thus Īśvara Purī became like an ocean of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, whereas Rāmacandra Purī became a dry speculator and a critic of everyone else.

TEXT 32

Īśvara Purī received the blessing of Mādhavendra Purī, whereas Rāmacandra Purī received a rebuke from him. Therefore these two persons, Īśvara Purī and Rāmacandra Purī, are examples of the objects of a great personality’s benediction and punishment. Mādhavendra Purī instructed the entire world by presenting these two examples.

COMMENT

So, it is stated that the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee is very powerful, but that the same dust, listen very carefully, my dear devotees, the same dust that elevates one to the highest level of Krishna consciousness, to the spiritual realm of Vrindavan, can also push one down to hell if one offends it; if one offends the dust of the lotus feet of the pure devotee.

This principle was enunciated by Sati to her father Dakṣa after Dakṣa had offended Shiva, the greatest Vaishnava—vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ. And the purport is relevant to the present discussion. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Four, “Satī Quits Her Body,” Text Thirteen, Sati says

TEXT 13

nāścaryam etad yad asatsu sarvadā
mahad-vinindā kuṇapātma-vādiṣu
serṣyaṁ mahāpūruṣa-pāda-pāṁsubhir
nirasta-tejaḥsu tad eva śobhanam

TRANSLATION

It is not wonderful for persons who have accepted the transient material body as the self to engage always in deriding great souls. Such envy on the part of materialistic persons is very good because that is the way they fall down. They are diminished by the dust of the feet of great personalities.

COMMENT

Then, Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Everything depends on the strength of the recipient. For example, due to the scorching sunshine many vegetables and flowers dry up, and many grow luxuriantly. Thus it is the recipient that causes growth and dwindling. Similarly, mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekam: the dust of the lotus feet of great personalities offers all good to the recipient, but the same dust can also do harm. Those who are offenders at the lotus feet of a great personality dry up; their godly qualities diminish. A great soul may forgive offenses, but Kṛṣṇa does not excuse offenses to the dust of that great soul’s feet, just as one can tolerate the scorching sunshine on one’s head but cannot tolerate the scorching sunshine on one’s feet.

COMMENT

So, Lord Chaitanya accepted Sri Isvara Puri as His spiritual master. And, because he was such a perfect disciple of Sri Madhavendra Puri, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Krishna Himself was pleased to accept him as His spiritual master. Later, Lord Chaitanya visited Isvara Puri’s birthplace at Kumarhatti and collected some earth from the birth site, which He kept very carefully and ate a small portion of it daily. Thus, He showed us how a faithful disciple worships a spiritual master, who has faithfully served his spiritual master perfectly.

So, on this auspicious occasion, we pray that Sri Isvara Puri and his disciple, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, will bless us with pure devotion to the spiritual master.

So, my dear devotees, we still have about fifteen minutes left. So, if any of you have any questions or comments, you can raise your hand.

Yes?

Devotee: Maharaja, you mentioned in the class about familiarity. So, how do we guard against familiarity?

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, it is said that familiarity breeds contempt. Well, one thought that comes to mind is His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami, who was constantly going in and out of Srila Prabhupada’s room. And Srila Prabhupada instructed him that every time he enters and leaves the room, he must offer obeisances, so he doesn’t become over familiar or forget Srila Prabhupada’s position or his position in relation to Srila Prabhupada. And we should pray not to become over-familiar or see the spiritual master in a mundane way or take the spiritual master for granted.

Yes?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. Isvara Puri was eating a little dust from his spiritual master’s birthplace.

Giriraj Swami: Yeah, Lord Chaitanya was eating a little dust from Isvara Puri’s birthplace.

Devotee: So, should we ask you where you were born and take a little dust of that place?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I don’t know about that, but some years ago, His Holiness Radhanath Swami and I visited Srila Prabhupada’s birthplace in Kolkata, and we took some dust from there that we were relishing.

Yes, Patita Pavan Prabhu?

Devotee: Yes, Guru Maharaja. Lord Chaitanya, when He was meeting the sannyasis in Banaras, He was speaking about His spiritual master, Kesava Bharati, how he saw Him as a fool. I don’t remember reading so much about Lord Chaitanya speaking about His Guru Maharaja or how was the initiation, how He got initiated by Isvara Puri. Maybe you can tell us?

Giriraj Swami: Well, when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu met the Mayavadi sannyasis at Varanasi, they asked Him why wasn’t He mixing with them and studying Vedanta, and He replied,

guru more mūrkha dekhi’ karila śāsana, “My spiritual master saw me as a great fool and he chastised Me and he told Me not to enter into discussions of Vedanta but just to chant the holy names.” And then, Lord Chaitanya continued, “But after some time, I manifested various symptoms like crying, dancing, shivering, and I thought that maybe I was going mad by the influence of the mantra.”

So, He approached His spiritual master, and Srila Prabhupada comments, this is an instruction or an illustration that even someone who is liberated approaches the spiritual master for clarification. And his spiritual master, Isvara Puri said, “My dear child, I am very pleased with You. You are manifesting symptoms of ecstatic love for Krishna,” and he instructed Him and blessed Him, “May You continue to chant like this and share the chanting with others.”

So, I mean, I am not aware of the details about initiation as such, but the essence of it is such that Isvara Puri initiated Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu accepted him as His spiritual master and followed his instructions religiously.

Devotee: Hare Krishna. What I wanted to ask you is that you mentioned spiritual anger. So, I was wondering what’s the difference between spiritual and material anger? And can we use this spiritual anger for making some progress, spiritually talking? And if you can give an example.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura says that lust, greed, anger, and so on can all be dovetailed in Krishna’s service. Although he does say that the only thing that cannot be dovetailed is envy. Although, depending on how you define envy, it also could be dovetailed. But anger can definitely be.

And in the history of the Juhu struggle, Srila Prabhupada had a very staunch follower named P.L Seti. He was Punjabi and he was a bit of a kshatriya, which Srila Prabhupada appreciated. So, at one stage in the history, the demolition squad of the municipal corporation came and broke down our small temple. So, we were going around meeting the different municipal councilors to convince them that the temple was authorized, which it was, but at a certain point, we realized that we don’t actually have to do that because we already have the permission. The municipality wrongfully demolished it. So, we realized that we don’t have to do anything about getting the permission because we already had the permission.

So, Mrs. Nair. . . I am hoping you know the basic story because it will take a long time. But anyway, Mrs. Nair, the landlady, had her spies, and they found out that we were planning to rebuild the temple. It was on a Friday. So, she went to the court to get an injunction from Justice Nine to stop us from rebuilding the temple, and he said, “No, I will not give any injunction without hearing the other side.” Then, she said, “Well, just give a temporary injunction until Monday.” He said, “That also I will not do. I will not grant any injunction without hearing the other side.”

So, we knew we had the weekend to rebuild the temple. So, Mr. Seti was a builder, so he brought some of his construction materials and crew to the site to rebuild the temple. So, one of the big adversaries of Prabhupada was Pushpakant Mhatre, the local municipal corporator. He was very close to Mr. Nair and Mrs. Nair. So, he came and he said, “Well, you can rebuild the temple, but I will come with fifty gundas and tear it down again.”

So, Mr. Seti said to his son, Brijmohan, “Brijmohan, bring my pistol and my rifle.” And then he said, “How many cartridges,” he used the word cartouche, “How many cartridges do I have?” And Brijmohan said, “Two hundred and fifty.” So, Mr. Seti said to Mr. Mhatre, “Fifty is not enough. You will have to bring more than two hundred and fifty, because the first two hundred and fifty, I am going to shoot them.” And then, Mhatre backed off.

So, in a way, you could say that he was engaging his anger in Krishna’s service. And that same evening, Tamal Krishna Goswami told me that I should stay up all night and make sure the temple gets rebuilt. And I don’t know exactly what I was thinking, but Satsvarupa Maharaja just passed through Juhu. He was my first temple president in Boston. I really appreciated him and his humility, and somehow, I mentioned his humility, and Tamal Krishna Goswami looked at me with, you could say, a restrained anger and he said, “Your humility will be to stay up all night and make sure this temple gets rebuilt.” And I thought about it, and I considered, “Yes, it’s true. I mean, where is my humility if I am not ready to do what is necessary to serve my spiritual master?” So, yeah, anger can definitely be used in Krishna’s service.

Yes, Ramanuja Prabhu?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja. Thank you for the class. I just wanted to mention the question of Patit Pavan Prabhu where the initiation took place from Isvara Puri of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It is mentioned in Chaitanya Mandal and in Caitanya-bhāgavata both, that when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nimai Pandita, with His friends, He went to Gaya for the sraddha ceremony of His father, Jagannatha Misra. This is where He met Isvara Puri. When He saw the ecstasy of Isvara Puri, He fell at the feet of Isvara Puri, and this is when He requested him, “Guide Me so that I can achieve the perfection of life.” So, this is when Isvara Puri instructed Him, “You chant the maha-mantra.”

Giriraj Swami: Nice. Thank you for giving those details.

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Maharaja. You were saying how criticism leads to more criticism. So, if we find ourselves becoming mentally critical, how can we stop that?

Giriraj Swami: Well, we should try to think of the good. I am assuming you are talking about devotees. So, yeah, we should try to see the good in them. They must have some good. So, try to see the good and focus on it. Otherwise, as you said, one might be committing a subtle offense, even though one doesn’t voice one’s criticism. But yeah, we should always try to see the good in other devotees and try to appreciate the good in them.

And unless we are in a position of an authority where we have to correct a devotee, it’s a part of our service or duty to correct the devotee, then we should rather focus on the devotee’s good qualities and nice service. But if we are in a position in which we have to correct a devotee, then we might have to see and acknowledge that fault. And I heard that Srila Prabhupada even said that the one thing he doesn’t like about being a spiritual master is that he has to correct his disciples, and they are all Vaishnavas.

Another thing, it’s sort of random but not completely, but on this subject of wearing garlands. Srila Prabhupada said, “The reason I like to wear garlands is so that my hard heart will become softened by association with the soft flowers.”

Yes, Nikunjavilasini?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja. Thank you so much for that beautiful class and for explaining so well the terrible effects of offenses.

In this modern world, we see that free speeches are encouraged and even emphasized, and sometimes, even on social media, amongst devotees, we find maybe offensive remarks, expressing their grievances from the past, and offenses being committed even to senior devotees. So, how can the devotees guard against this, in the name of free speech? And how can we also deal with this situation?

Giriraj Swami: Well, I mean, freedom of speech means you are free to express yourself, but that doesn’t give you the liberty to commit vaiṣṇava-aparādha, which is forbidden in the shastras. And there is a lot of criticism, sādhu-nindā. There is a lot of sādhu-nindā out there on social media, and I would really strongly recommend devotees to avoid reading criticisms of devotees or hearing criticisms of devotees on social media, or anywhere. It is very damaging for our devotional creepers. As I said, sādhu-nindā is the first offense against the holy name.

And yeah, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that if by chance one commits sādhu-nindā, then the same tongue that he used to criticize the devotee, he should use to glorify the devotee. So, yeah, we should glorify the devotees and look for opportunities to glorify them and to read appreciations of other devotees, and not the opposite.

Yes?

Devotee: Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaja. Thank you for the lovely class, and thank you for the wonderful association of everybody else. I am wondering about how we rebuke people in a nicer way. Because, I think our language can be rewritten in a way that we want changes, so we must say it in a nice way. And when you are angry or you are overcome with this anger, and envy comes into it as well, I suppose, often there is envy, I just wondered how we can create changes, because we are told in most mode of goodness, not to challenge, just to turn the other way, or turn the other cheek and just move on or remove yourself from the situation. But it doesn’t solve the problem.

Giriraj Swami: Well, if you are referring to devotees who need to be corrected, Srila Prabhupada said, “Criticism offered with sympathy is more likely to be accepted.” He also said, “There is a great art to criticizing. But unfortunately, you do not know that art.” But he gave an example that instead of saying, “The tree is dead,” you say, “The beautiful tree which is so full of fruits and flowers and foliage and is so beautiful to see and it renders so much service to humanity has lost its juice.” It comes to the same thing, but it is a little more tactful and a positive way of saying it.

Devotee: [Unintelligible 01:06:12], or how do we see them?

Giriraj Swami: Well, the main thing is to see the spiritual master’s internal mood of service. There was one very interesting morning walk conversation between Srila Prabhupada and some disciples in Mayapur, especially Satsvarupa Maharaja and Jayadvaita Swami, and they were asking many questions about the spiritual master.

And one of them said, “Sometimes it appears that the spiritual master doesn’t know something, like materially. Because it is also said that the spiritual master is supposed to know everything. So, what does that mean, ‘everything’?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Everything means as much as his spiritual master has taught him. That is the meaning of everything.” And the point was made about maybe not knowing something about the material world, and the answer was that in a way, the material world is an illusion. So, it’s like asking a question about an illusion.

But the main point that Srila Prabhupada made, because they had some wrong ideas about what acharya is, and the main point that Srila Prabhupada made was ācāryaṁ bhakti-śaṁsanāt, it’s a part of a verse that describes Sri Advaita Acharya. He is Advaita for such and such reasons, and He is acharya, ācāryaṁ bhakti-śaṁsanāt, because he is preaching of the bhakti cult. And Srila Prabhupada said, “That’s the real way to see the acharya, ācāryaṁ bhakti-śaṁsanāt, how he is preaching the bhakti cult, and not these other things.”