NAVADVIPA PARIKRAMA Day 3: Advaita Bhavan, Gadadhar Angam, Srivasa Angam... | 11/18/25

Pronounce to all of you, welcome. So, we are here in this Advaita Bhavam, or the place of residence of Advaita Charara. And this is Gadadhara Angam, the place of residence of Gadadhara Pandit. And in a moment, we'll go to Srivasa Angam, the place of residence of Srivasa Pandit. So, we are somehow gradually visiting all the main places of the members of the Panchatattva. No visited Mahaprabhu, Advaita, Gadadhara, Srivasa, Nityananda also will come. Of course, we have a full day. Next is Chakradhar, just in case. So, yeah, let's, let's begin sharing some words about Advaita Bhavam. And I consider first coming here before going to Srivasa Angam, in the sense that Srivasa Angam is a high peak where this night Sankirtan is happening every night in, in eternal Gaura Lila. It's a parallel of the Rasalila in Vrindavan and is connected with Mahaprabhu also relishing his inner moods. But also Advaita Bhavam, the place of residence of Advaita Charara, is another of the birthplaces of Mahaprabhu. Right, we have been going yesterday to the Yoga Pith, where Mahaprabhu officially was born. We have been talking about Krishna, how Gaura Lila is born from Krishna Lila, and other forms of Gaura Lila being born, and we being born through Prabhupada's birthplace. So, Advaita Bhavam is another place in which Gaura Lila is born because this is the place from Advaita Charara, particularly called Mahaprabhu to descend, basically, on earth.

So, it is said that Mahaprabhu came to this world. There are primary reasons for his descent and secondary reasons. So, the primary reasons we have been mentioned in these days, three main questions. What's the glory of the love of Radha? What's the beauty that she perceives in me, Krishna wonders? And what's the happiness she derives in perceiving that beauty? For the sake of exploring all that and seeing himself through her love, as we talk today, Mahaprabhu comes for primary reasons. And there are secondary reasons, not to downplay the secondary reasons, but just to highlight the primary. They are called primary. And the secondary reasons, there are a few of them. One of them is Mahaprabhu comes to establish the Yuga Dharma, or the religion for the age, as we conceive that in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Nama Sankirtan, which in this case becomes the natural extension of his experience. Experiencing the primary reasons is experiencing something, and Nama Sankirtan is the way through which he's experiencing, is spread all over the world. But also there are two other secondary reasons why Mahaprabhu comes to the world. One is in response to the chanting of Haridas. Haridas was born before Mahaprabhu as an elder. He's called the Nama Acharya, you know, the Acharya of the Nama. And he was chanting. He was a disciple of Advaita Charara, just in case. And his chanting somehow attracted Mahaprabhu to descend. So that's another reason. And one of the other reasons is the call of Advaita Charara. So, the call of Advaita Charara, and in one sense, the call of Haridas through his chanting.

So, in Chaitanya Charitamrita, it is described that Advaita Bhavam is sitting here on this spot, Advaita Bhavam. And he is, I need to say this, Advaita Charara is considered to be, among other, among other identities, he's considered to be Mahavishnu. So, who is Mahavishnu? Mahavishnu is that aspect of God that is primarily related to this world. No, again, God is one indivisible truth, but there's one face of the divine that is especially related to Lila, or the play of creation. So, Mahavishnu is the God who oversees material creation. So, Advaita Charara is that personality appearing worldly. And so, Advaita Charara, as Mahavishnu, he contemplates. He's describing Chaitanya, contemplates the suffering of the souls in this world. So, he has like a glimpse of the universal suffering. I mean, being Mahavishnu, being God, he's aware of the suffering of everyone, and he's overwhelmed by that suffering. He starts to cry, deep tears of compassion. At Advaita, this I'm saying because sometimes devotees will say, no, God is transcendental and he doesn't know what we are suffering because he, he doesn't experience suffering himself. But even if we will say God is not experiencing suffering because of illusion, as an individual soul may experience it, it doesn't mean that he doesn't feel anything for what we are feeling. You following the point? It's like, I don't know, someone, a mother had a miscarriage. I cannot know what that is in this lifetime, but I can know enough as to empathize with her suffering. It's not that I can, I don't feel anything. I can feel as much as I can feel from my own experience. So, in the same way, we could say God, from our perspective, is not, never becomes a conditioned soul, covered by the Gunas, and experiencing the suffering that comes from there. But he can, being omniscient and being all-loving, all-compassionate, all-empathic, connect as much as he can, which is a lot, with everyone else's suffering.

So, from that place of deep empathy, Advaita Charara starts to cry, deep tears of compassion, and to call for Mahaprabhu to descend, shouting. He starts to shout ecstatically, calling the Yuga Avatar to come, to, to help the conditioned souls. So, so it is said that he, he worships Srivasa, as you will see in the altar there. The altar is depicting that Advaita Charara worshipping with Srivasa. Advaita, without a beard, again, he's an elder of Mahaprabhu, but beard actually is not mentioned in scripture. And he worships Srivasa, grandly, with Tulsi leaves and Ganga water, very simple external offering. But he's doing that with tears of compassion and shouting and calling the Lord to descend, shouting with deep longing. So, that's enough for Mahaprabhu to descend. He doesn't require fancy worship, complex paraphernalia, patam. That's it. No some leaf, some water, and your heart in it. So, Advaita Charara, which again is paradoxical, because Advaita Charara is God, and he's calling for God to appear. There you have it. Stay with that for a moment. Paradoxically, different facets of God calling each other, and one responding to the other. So, this, in one sense, the birthplace of Mahaprabhu, in that sense, from one of the many perspectives, because this is the place where Advaita Charara glanced at the universe and experienced universal compassion, which again is a very telling point about how Advaita Charara's compassion brought Mahaprabhu's compassion. We glorify Mahaprabhu's compassion, and with good reasons, but behind his compassion, there was this compassion, compassion bringing further compassion, and further compassion. So, again, another invitation for us to embody that same principle, for us to enter into that.

So, Advaita means non-dual. Right? Dvaita means two, or dual, and Advaita means non-dual. Which doesn't mean that he subscribes to Advaita Vedanta, Shankara's philosophy. Advaita means non-dual, or not two, which means he's not different from, from, he's God. He's not the one without the second. In Gaura Lila, Mahaprabhu, we are talking about the same [Music]. That's a confirmation of this important point. And there are some interesting Leelas that took place here also that I could share with you. A few, again, Advaita was born not here. He was born in Shantipur, which is another part in the broader, what's called the Gaura Mandala area, which is not limited to Nadia, but to other areas in Bengal. So, he was born in Shantipur and eventually he moved to Nadia. He was an elder of Mahaprabhu. So, he was born before Mahaprabhu. He was a Vaishnava, and he was considered like the elder of the city, so to say, in terms of Vaishnavism. And devotees will come to him and hear Hari Katha from him. He will be a great teacher of Bhagavad Gita, described in the scriptures. And again, his name was Advaita, not because he was an Advaitin following Shankara's philosophy, but once Advaita Charara resorted to that philosophy to increase his Bhakti. How that's possible? And this, this is the Leela that one Advaita Charara was an elder, and Mahaprabhu, when he grew, eventually he related to Advaita Charara as an elder. But Advaita Charara, I mean, he knew who Mahaprabhu was. He called him, right? So, Advaita Charara knew from the day of Mahaprabhu's birth who was that person. And when Mahaprabhu became a Vaishnava, and that's a whole conversation we will be having in a minute, related to Gadadhara Pandit, because Mahaprabhu was born, was born as a Vaishnava, but he, his Vaishnava Leela began when he was initiated by Ishwarapuri. Before that, he was Nimai Pandit. So, he was more like a, a pandit, someone obsessed with knowledge, a genius in Sanskrit grammar and logic. And but he was not so much into Bhakti. He was not so much into Vaishnavism, apparently. It was a whole Leela to show that embrace knowledge to the fullest, and then release knowledge to accept Bhakti. So, when Nimai became a Vaishnava, he will relate to Advaita Charara as an elder. But Advaita Charara knew who Mahaprabhu was. So, Advaita couldn't tolerate being treated as an elder. No, that's the mood of an elder. A real elder is not telling people, "Hey, treat me as an elder. I'm an elder." No, they put like a card, "Elder, right, elder." He couldn't tolerate being treated as an elder. He wanted to serve Mahaprabhu. He wanted to fall at his feet, and Mahaprabhu will never allow that. He will do that to Advaita. So, so he devised a plan again. He starts to preach Advaita Vedanta. So, to explain the Bhagavad Gita in an impersonal way, which again, there is place for that, but that Advaita was a Vaishnava. So, so he started to preach Bhagavad Gita from an impersonal perspective with a very specific purpose in mind. So, he embraced Advaita from that side, and eventually news came to Mahaprabhu. Advaita Charara is explaining the Bhagavad Gita with an impersonal conclusion, and he's spreading that message around all the people that will used to listen from him, from a personal perspective. So, Mahaprabhu became enraged. So, he went running where Advaita Charara was, and he took Advaita Charara, fasten your seatbelt. Advaita Charara was an elder. So, he took Advaita Charara, and he was, when Mahaprabhu came, Advaita Charara was explaining Bhagavad Gita in an impersonal way. He saw Mahaprabhu coming running, he started to become even more impersonal in his explanation, and Mahaprabhu started to come quicker to Advaita. Advaita was like, "Yes, it's happening." So, when Mahaprabhu stands there and is listening to Advaita Charara, he becomes as impersonal as he can, and tries to reduce the whole Bhagavad Gita to Shankara's Advaita Vedanta. Mahaprabhu becomes transcendentally enraged, and takes Advaita Charara down of theasana to the floor, and starts to tell, like, "Why you called me? No, remember, he called Mahaprabhu. You called me to descend, and now you're doing this?" He starts to slap. Mahaprabhu was young, was powerful, was elder. His wife, Sitadevi, Sita Thakurani, was scared, like, "You are going to kill my husband." He's like, "Please, please, don't do that." But Mahaprabhu was like, "Why you called me? You called me for me to witness this? How dare you do that?" And Advaita Charara starts to finally, "I caught you somehow." Mahaprabhu was like, "For so long, I was trying to offer respect to you, but you were always respecting me, and now you're disrespecting me." No, that feels so nice to me. Again, it's not that he was a masochist, but he, he couldn't tolerate that Mahaprabhu, he knew who he was, was offering him so much respect. Now, now you are not treating me with reverence, with etiquette, with all this formality, falling to the ground, garland, blah, blah, blah. You are slapping me. There's so much more intimacy and sweetness and proximity. "I defeated you today, Advaita. I'm like..." So, this is one of the Leelas that took place here, which shows how Advaita Charara is an elder. It's a very crafty, resourceful elder. And there is something very interesting also that happened regarding Advaita Charara, because Advaita Charara remained here for some time. Many of the associates of Mahaprabhu, as we will see, when Mahaprabhu took sannyas, many of them left Nadia. And he also moved outside of Nadia to Shantipura, back to Shantipura. Got other Pandits, as we will see, he moved to with Mahaprabhu to Puri. Srivasa Pandit, when Mahaprabhu took sannyas, he left to Kumarhatta, another place, because they couldn't tolerate remaining in Nadia without Mahaprabhu. Everything was reminding them of Mahaprabhu. It was too much for them. So, when Mahaprabhu eventually accepts sannyas, at 24 years old, till 24 years old, he lives here in Nadia. He accepts sannyas, and at 24, he goes to Puri, and he stays in Puri, basically with a few, of course, travels in South India, Bengal, but Puri becomes his headquarters. By the suggestion of Mother Sachi, right? When, when she knows that Mahaprabhu is taking sannyas, and she's, Mahaprabhu himself asked, "Where shall I establish myself? You tell me, Mom." And she said, "Okay, go to Puri. It's not, it's not so far. And there are always devotees coming and going. So, I will always be receiving news from you." So, Puri is like a second house, a second room in the same house, she said. So, that's why Mahaprabhu established himself in Puri. So, Mahaprabhu was in Puri, and, and at one point, Advaita Charara, remember, Advaita Charara is Mahavishnu also. Mahavishnu is that form of God that somehow it's like the, how do you say in English, customs house, custom house, through which things come. So, through Mahavishnu, all the avatars come to the world. So, Advaita Charara invited the avatar of Mahaprabhu to come, and especially in terms of Yuga Dharma, Advaita Charara is more connected. Mahaprabhu comes to spread Yuga Dharma on earth. No, as we'll see, Gadadhara Pandit is more related to Mahaprabhu's primary purposes for descent. That Advaita Charara is more inviting for the spreading of the Nama. So, he invites the Yuga Avatar to come. But at one point of the Leela of Mahaprabhu, when Advaita Charara invites the Yuga Avatar to retire, before Mahaprabhu passes, when Mahaprabhu is in Puri, Advaita Charara sends a very cryptic message to Mahaprabhu. He was still in Nadia, and Jagadananda Pandit visits Nadia, and through Jagadananda, Advaita Charara sends a riddle to Mahaprabhu. I can, let me read it literally, because it's very interesting. Advaita Charara says, "Let's see where it is. Here it is. Says, please say, please inform Mahaprabhu, who is acting like a madman, that everyone here has become mad like him. Inform him also that in the marketplace, rice is no longer in demand. Further, tell him that those now mad in ecstatic love are no longer interested in the material world. Also, tell him that one who has also become a madman in ecstatic love has spoken these words." That was that was the message. So, Mahaprabhu read that and became very serious, very grave. He understood. Oh, Advaita Charara is saying, basically, you came to distribute divine love. Everyone became mad of that. So, the function of the Yuga Avatar has been fulfilled. There's no one else to become mad about it. Everyone else is already mad. So, now it's time for you to retire that function of the Yuga Avatar. Stop the spreading of the Nama, and continue to concentrate further on the primary reasons for your descent. So, it is said that after reading that message, the mood of Mahaprabhu changed drastically, and he stopped basically being a public person. He entered the Gambhira, and basically for the last 12 years of his life, he never left Gambhira, and he was deeply cultivating and relishing these three main purposes for his descent. But it was Advaita Charara who invited him to retire his Yuga Avatar function and concentrate on the main purpose of his descent, which is quite connected to Gadadhara Pandit. We will go there in a minute.

And one more thing that I forgot to mention, something very beautiful. Maybe some of you may have gone back for a moment to compassion, because that's, that's one of the main qualities represented at Advaita Bhavam, and something that we personally, I think, we all need to embrace. Not only being compassionate to others, but becoming aware of the compassion that is already coming and responding accordingly, as we were reflecting in the morning. And there is this book called, um, a book written by Kritika about Srila Prabhupada, "A Friend to All." If you haven't read that one, it's, it's a testimony of different people who met Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada before he went to the West. So, mostly people from India who knew him as a grihastha, or as someone, they don't, they didn't even know who he was, and then when he became Prabhupada, but they connected, "Oh, that baba, that I met in this place." It's a very sweet recollection of memories. And, and it is described in this book, by Malati Devi, that in Shantipur, there is a, there's a testimony in the book about, from the Mahanta, the one in charge at the temple in Shantipur, where Advaita Charara was born. And he will say that, "Yeah, every, almost every day, at least for a period of time, Prabhupada will visit Shantipur." And the Mahanta will say, "Yeah, every day I saw someone dressed in white. Prabhupada was not a sannyasi even at that time, and he will come in front of the deity of Advaita Charara and he will cry and cry and cry and pray and stay there for hours." Uh, and he will leave. No, come by himself, whole day crying, praying, leave. And again, the Mahanta didn't know who was this person, basically. And again, eventually, he casually, somehow in Shantipur, some devotees, after the whole movement exploded, the devotees were in Shantipur distributing "Back to Godhead" magazine, and they happened to give one magazine to this Mahanta in Shantipur, and he's like, "See Prabhupada." But as he's like, "Oh, this is the same person." He connected the dots by how Prabhupada was preparing himself for that campaign of distributing this in the most merciful way, by coming to pray at the Advaita Charara's feet, whom who he called Mahaprabhu to descend. Because many times, Srila Prabhupada is related, and rightfully so, to Nityananda Prabhu. Right? Shakti Avatar of Nityananda Prabhu, Nityananda giving everything, the most indiscriminate way. Again, many points of connection between Nityananda Prabhu's campaign, going to the lowest section of society. Prabhupada started in the US, in the lowest section of the park, in the area. No, for those of you who have gone to Tompkins Square Park, the park in New York, where Prabhupada will be. I had the fortune of going there many times, and, and we go, and there's a Hare Krishna tree, another tree. Again, we are circumambulating the tree. I can imagine people in that park, every, every day, they see lots of these guys walking around a tree. It's like, "Okay." I remember one day I was doing parikrama to the tree, and there is one, there is, it's filled with homeless people, as it was in the time of Prabhupada, 60 years after, still the case. And one person calls me and says, "You know what? I was here when Srila Prabhupada came and was chanting under that tree." So, he was homeless at that time, and he remains homeless now. He was like in his 70s, but you could see how he was speaking with a humble heart and appreciation. So, anyhow, all this relates to the mood of Nityananda Prabhu, whom he also, Mahaprabhu will ask him, "I'm Mahaprabhu was a sannyasi at one point, and he said, 'I'm a sannyasi. I took sannyas, as we talked yesterday, right?' Mahaprabhu accepted sannyas because that will facilitate his campaign as a sannyasi. People in society will take him more seriously. But at the same time, the sannyas dharma had its own restrictions, because as a sannyasi, you cannot enter a tavern or a brothel to share the message. It will be a little complicated, right? No, it was just for preaching, even if that's the case, but even if that's the case, it's complicated. So, he asked Nityananda Prabhu, "You are not a sannyasi, you are an avadhuta. You are beyond all. You go to those places where I cannot go." So, Nityananda will be seen in brothels and taverns and with the lowest kind of society, hanging out with them, and redeeming all of Jagai and Madhai, here and there. We'll see if we have time today to go to the Jagai Madhai ghat. If not, we'll go someday where the redemption of Jagai Madhai happened. So, that's the mood of Nityananda, and Prabhupada is rightfully so connected to that. But there's a place to make the connection between someone like Prabhupada and Advaita Prabhu. So, the compassion of Advaita. So, as Prabhupada worshiped Nityananda Prabhu, installed Gaura-Nitai all over the planet, he also has this deep connection with Advaita Charara, as we can see from this testimony, crying and begging, and how much mercy he received from from Advaita Charara for him to be empowered to do to do what he did. And again, we are all a byproduct of that. So, in one sense, again, this is the birthplace of Mahaprabhu, is this our birthplace as well, right? So, few words here. Um, maybe before moving on to Gadadhara and Gadadhara, I mean, not moving, we can stay here, but okay, one exercise. We have space here, so you can... >> Yeah, we will do an exercise. I'll let you know, and then we will select the... We'll do it in groups of three. >> Sorry for interrupting. >> It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. >> I, um, appreciate your videos online. >> Your name? >> Lakshman. >> Lakshman from Australia. >> Yeah. >> A pleasure. >> Good to meet you again. >> We have a few programs. >> We're in my, actually, today I'm leaving. Safe travels. Thank you. Pleasure to meet you. >> I will give donation for, actually, he asked me, they are still painting, constructing. So, so this happens all the time, right? Mahaprabhu Maharaj, YouTube, Kai. So, we'll do an exercise in groups of three. Uh, each person will answer for a minute or so. Where the question, the prompt is, where in my life or in the world do I see suffering that moves me the way Advaita Charara was moved? Again, not to compare ourselves with Advaita Charara, but where in my life, in my own life, or in the world, I see a suffering that moves me in a similar way to the way Advaita was moved? So, we shift, turn for two minutes each in groups of three. Uh, and also after that, I will let you know. Don't go too far. We'll make the second prompt, which is, "Which small, sincere response can I offer to that suffering?" >> Which small or sincere response can I offer to that suffering that moves me? So, we'll share some few more words regarding Advaita. We stay here because it's more practical, and people go back and forth. >> Thank you. So, I hope the sharing was fruitful and helped you gain more insight into terms into the compassion that we are all invited to cultivate, embrace, reciprocate. With asking the blessings of Advaita for that. And again, as we say, Advaita Charara is quite instrumental in Mahaprabhu's descent, mostly in terms of the secondary purposes, which are quite primary for us, very important. Uh, and we are here because of that. And at the temple, in this place, and next to him, as you can see, it's a very intimate, close neighborhood. Srivasa Pandit living here, five-minute walk. Advaita Charara living there, 30-second walk. Gadadhara Pandit living there. So, that's an invitation, right? To have a very >> intimate, intimate village connection in eternity. For that, for that, we need first to learn to coexist with each other. So, we can tolerate living 30 seconds from the next person. That's why we are here. And we still need a few meters more than that, more time, but gradually, the idea is, I'm just 30 seconds away from you. So, this is a place where Gadadhara Pandit lived in Nadia. Gadadhara Pandit. Uh, there's a lot to say about Gadadhara today. Won't be the day of that. Tomorrow, we will speak in detail about Gadadhara Pandit in the morning. So, far, the first two mornings, we talked about Gaura Tattva. But tomorrow, we will talk about Gadadhara Tattva, because later today, tomorrow, we will go to Bodh Gaya, and there we will go to Bhakti Vinoda's place, my favorite place in Nadia, by the way, one of them. And there are the deities of Gaura-Gadadhara that he worshiped. So, to prepare ourselves for that, today we will talk on Gadadhara Pandit. But since we are at his place here, we will share a few words more about his life and a few Leelas. But tomorrow, we will talk about the Tattva, the position, the internal importance of Gadadhara Pandit. So, of course, briefly, for those I mentioned that these days, Pandit in Gaura Lila, that I will mention today, briefly, Mahaprabhu is not Radha and Krishna in every sense of the term. As a devotee Krishna, his svarupa, his identity, Mahaprabhu is Krishna, with Radha's bhava, and Radha's identity. But it's... So, then who is Radha? Gadadhara Pandit. So, Gadadhara Pandit is Radha emptying herself and bringing and giving all that she has so Krishna's Mahaprabhu can be successful in Gaura Lila, because Mahaprabhu wants to experience what is, what does it mean to be Radha, and Radha is facilitating that by extending that and emptying herself. That's why Maharaj poetically will say, as we said the other day, Krishna and Radha appear on a half moon, the two together. But Mahaprabhu appears on a full moon. But Gadadhara Pandit appears on a new moon, which means no more, total emptiness. So, Krishna can be full moon, but without Gadadhara Pandit, Krishna's Mahaprabhu is not successful. Gaura Lila will be a failure. Another failure. Krishna felt like a failure without Gaura Lila. We don't want Gaura Lila to be a failure. So, Gadadhara Pandit is facilitating that. Tomorrow, we'll talk. But Gadadhara Pandit is the most important person in the whole Gaura Lila. That's, that's as much as I will say today about that. And probably is the person that we know the least among the five members of the Panchatattva, the person spoken the least, and the most crucial one.

So, Gadadhara Pandit was not born here. He was born in present-day Bangladesh. His father's name was Madhava Mishra. His mother's name was Ratnavati Devi. So, he was born, he's basically the same age as Mahaprabhu. So, they were friends from childhood. Remember Radha and Krishna? So, another advantage of Gaura Lila, Radha and Krishna can be hanging out together, one another, the whole day without any problem, as friends. Another mood. No. So, Gadadhara Pandit, as the name suggests, he was also a Pandit, but a Vaishnava Pandit. Gadadhara was born as a Vaishnava and was Vaishnava his whole life. As we mentioned, Mahaprabhu was born as a Vaishnava, as a Vaishnava, but he did not behave as a Vaishnava much in his young age. He was like a precocious, uh, wild teenager, thirsty for knowledge, being a genius, genius in Sanskrit, grammar, logic, and challenging everyone in Nadia, inviting everyone for debate. So, generally, the mood was, "Nimai Pandit is coming, and you were coming and seeing him, you will cross the street and walk in the other direction." Why? Because Nimai Pandit was always eager for a debate. So, if you will, he will meet you, say, "Come on, let's debate about Sanskrit grammar." And whatever you may say, he will defeat your arguments, and then he will prove the wrong arguments, he will twist them back to correct arguments, and then he will refute himself again. So, he will drive everyone crazy. But he was that was a Leela called Pandit Leela, like God being, showing once, we could say, God showing how you can endlessly swim in the ocean of knowledge and contradict one thing with the other forever, without reaching any conclusive situation. So, showing the inconclusiveness of mere knowledge. So, God enters into that ocean, swims, shows how expert he is, and then throws it away, showing this is not the all and all. Bhakti is the only all. Love is the only, knowledge is not the ultimate thing. There's this famous Leela of Nimai Pandit, still as a Pandit, but transitioning from Pandit to becoming a Vaishnava, and he's on the boat in the Ganga with another person, and this person was another great Pandit. So, here we have two Pandits talking with each other. Uh, and this person wrote the book on Sanskrit grammar and shows it to Mahaprabhu, who said, "I wrote this book about grammar, and I think this will be a great book and will make me the greatest Pandit on earth." He, that was the hope of this person. Mahaprabhu might say, "Oh, let's see." And by the way, he said, "I also wrote the book about Sanskrit grammar." He didn't write anything, but he manifested one on the spot. It's like, "Take a look, if you want." And this other Sanskrit grammar, grammarian, he reads the book and he starts to cry. Not because of Sanskrit grammar, because that's not something to cry about. It's quite... but he starts to cry because he realizes, "Oh, I wrote my book, I thought this would make me the most famous person, but I'm reading this book, I realize my book is nothing." So, I'm crying because I'm, I won't be the greatest." Mahaprabhu said, "Oh, that's your concern. Give me my book." And he threw it to the Ganga. He said, "Now you can become the greatest." And actually, historically, that person became, at that time, the most well-known grammarian in India. So, Mahaprabhu at that time was starting to show how detached he was from knowledge, being a genius, being known as a genius, because not just having knowledge, but the fame of the position of being known as such. So, this is an important lesson in Gaura Lila. Knowledge is inconclusive. So, then Mahaprabhu becomes a Vaishnava when he becomes initiated by Ishwarapuri. He shows this completely different mood, like an ecstatic madman in love of God, and knowledge, the real knowledge, comes Bhakti, the Raja Vidya, the king of knowledge. So, all this to say that before Nimai became a Vaishnava, Gadadhara was a Pandit, but was also, and Gadadhara Pandit was of a very mild nature. Here's something interesting, because Sri Radha has many moods, but generally her mood in Vrindavan, rather, her mood in Vrindavan is Bhava, which means kind of left-wing Bhava, not so submissive to Krishna. Sometimes she will chastise Krishna, be angry with him, forbid him from access to the Ganga. She will like put Krishna in his place, for the pleasure of Krishna. All for the pleasure of Krishna. But in Gaura Lila, Krishna is in a different mood. So, Radha adjusts to whatever mood she needs to be to serve Krishna in his mood. So, she appears as Gadadhara Pandit with a more mild mood, with a different mood. Again, Radha's mood, some people say, "What's Radha's mood?" In one sense, Radha has no mood. The only mood she has is whatever is favorable for Krishna's necessity at the at any given moment. So, that's her mood. So, if she appears as Lakshmi with Narayana, she adjusts to provide that mood. As Sita with Rama, she adjusts and appears in a certain emotional disposition to serve her beloved in that Leela. As Radha in Vrindavan, as Gadadhara Pandit in Gaura Lila, that's the ultimate serving position. I have no mood of my own that I impose on the other person, but I'm here to adjust to serve my beloved in whatever is required. So, Gadadhara Pandit adopts that mild mode. But again, Nimai is is wild as a Pandit. So, Gadadhara Pandit is coming and runs to Nimai and says, "Give me the definition of Moksha." Now, like scholarly type, "Give me a sutra." That's Moksha, to be totally free from suffering. So, Gadadhara Pandit gives the most well-known, uh, definition, authentically, like quickly. So, Nimai, Nimai lives and stops disturbing. I mean, they were friends and they were close, but those moments for Nimai were like this, too disturbing. He's very, and just jumps on you, like, "Definition of Moksha?" No, that's not bonafide. Says, "I mean, that's totally bonafide, but he's just like turning." He wants to like Krishna sometimes wants to make Radha angry and tries to say things so that mood comes. So, here Mahaprabhu in his own way is like, but Gadadhara is like, he says, "No, no, no, you didn't pass the test. No, think of a better answer, and see you tomorrow for further debate." And he leaves. That that was the daily dynamics at that time. And Gadadhara Pandit at one point says, "Nimai, stop losing your time with knowledge and grammar and logic. Become a Vaishnava. Become a lover. Love God, love everyone." And at one point, in the transition to that Leela, and Nimai says, "By your grace, I will become a Vaishnava." So, that Advaita Pandit starts to pray, "May my Pandit become many, my Pandit become..." So, we will say that Krishna's Mahaprabhu became a Vaishnava by the grace of Radha's prayers. Gadadhara Pandit not only Gadadhara is facilitating Krishna's fulfillment of the inner three desires, but also even his conversion to Vaishnavism. So, then when Nimai converts to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, again, he becomes like a madman. He's crying all day, calling for Krishna. One day, he's at home, Gadadhara is there, and Mahaprabhu is, "Where is Krishna? Where is Krishna? Where is Krishna?" Like desperate, looking desperate for him. And Gadadhara says, "Krishna is in your heart. Why, why are you looking for God outside when he's everywhere, but start at home. He's in your heart." So, he looks at his chest and starts like to tear, tear down, tear up, tear open, tear open his cloth, and he, he tries to open his chest to find Krishna. That's the level of longing that we have to develop. At that point, where's the object of my love? I'm willing to throw open my chest. So, Sachi Mata was there, Nimai's mother was there, and seemed like, "Oh my gosh, he's about to kill himself." So, she's concerned, "What to do?" And she tells like to pacify him. And Gadadhara very expertly like said, "No, no, no, no, relax. No need to open her, open your chest. Krishna will come very soon." And Nimai becomes pacified. So, Sachi Mata is seeing that and tells Gadadhara, "Please, you never leave my Nimai, because my son now has become crazy, no, in love of God. That's the madness. You choose your own madness. You want to become mad for God, God's love, or for something else?" So, Sachi Mata was concerned about her child. He's going crazy. And I see how expertly Gadadhara is dealing with his madness. So, she asked Gadadhara, "You never leave my Nimai." So, now Radha as Gadadhara has complete permission to stay with Krishna all the moment, with the blessing of Yashoda, in the form of Sachi Devi. So, Gaura Lila is facilitating that with the blessings of Yashoda, the two of them are now all day together. And of course, when Mahaprabhu accepts sannyas and leaves for Puri, Gadadhara Pandit is, "I will never leave. I received that order. I will never leave him." So, he goes to Puri with Mahaprabhu. And, and knowing that Mahaprabhu was going to establish himself in Puri, he accepts, which means a sannyas, where you bow to never leave that place, because he knew, "Okay, Mahaprabhu is going to Puri, and make a vow to never leave Puri in my life." And then at one point, Mahaprabhu says, "Okay, I want to go to Vrindavan now." And Gadadhara says, "Okay, I'm going to Vrindavan with you." Mahaprabhu said, "No, but you accepted sannyas. You cannot leave Puri." "To hell with that vow," he said. "I don't care for that. I mean, my vow was only to be with you and serve you. So, if now, in order to be with you and serve you, I have to break my vow, I don't care." That's the real vow is to love you, serve you. All the other vows are there to facilitate. So, that's another lesson. We take so many vows sometimes. But when the vow gets in the way of the real vow, you need to know when to break the vow. Like the saying says, "Only those who really properly nicely follow their vows, they know when to break them." So, Gadadhara Pandit was willing to break his vow. But Mahaprabhu said, "Please don't break your vow. That will somehow affect my reputation and my campaign. What I'm trying to do here. Stay in Puri." So, eventually, he convinces Gadadhara to stay in Puri. And Gadadhara Pandit faints. And he knows he cannot go to Vrindavan. Gadadhara Pandit is Radha, the queen of Vrindavan, but she's not allowed to go to Vrindavan. And she never went to Vrindavan in Gaura Lila. Gadadhara Pandit never, never went to Vrindavan. So, we stayed in Puri. And Gadadhara Pandit then became, lived in Tota Gopinath, a beautiful place in Puri. Hopefully, someday we can be there. My favorite place in Puri. And there we have the deity of Tota Gopinath. Gadadhara Pandit will be the Gari of that deity. It's a beautiful blackish deity of Tota Gopinath. Mahaprabhu will enter into that deity when he passed from this world. That's one of the versions, the main one. He entered into Tota Gopinath. And, and before that, one thing that I could say is that Gadadhara Pandit was always accompanied Mahaprabhu. And in his last years, Mahaprabhu was only accompanied by Svarupa Damodara Goswami and Ramananda Raya. Because somehow, Gadadhara is still Radha, but at the end of his Leela, Mahaprabhu was so steeped into Radha Bhava that if Radha will appear as Gadadhara, somehow he will be reminded that someone else is Radha. So, Radha herself remains at a distance, in the Tota, in Gambhira, deeper and deeper into Radha Bhava. But Gadadhara Pandit is having a vision of what Mahaprabhu was experiencing in Gambhira by worshipping Tota Gopinath. So, Gadadhara is worshipping Tota Gopinath. Eventually, Mahaprabhu enters Tota Gopinath, passes from this world. Gadadhara finally feels no more reason to leave. So, he, he starts to become emaciated and emaciated. You see, and, and like this, right? >> Diminished. >> Diminished. So, the deity of Tota Gopinath is very big, and Gadadhara Pandit became so diminished that he could no longer worship Tota Gopinath and reach to put the garland. So, that night he concluded, "I will get someone else to do the pujari and worship Tota Gopinath. I cannot do it anymore." But that's Krishna Mahaprabhu who entered there. So, that's that. That night, Tota Gopinath comes to Gadadhara Pandit and says, "No problem. You don't need to get anyone else. I want you to worship me. I'll make the adjustments." So, the next day, Gadadhara Pandit goes to Tota Gopinath, and Tota Gopinath originally was a Krishna deity, standing like every Krishna deity. And now Tota Gopinath is sitting like I'm sitting now in Padmasana. So, it went down. So, Gadadhara Pandit could, could worship. So, that's one of the few Krishna deities that you will find sitting, living in, in Padmasana. And Gadadhara Pandit continued the worship for just a few more months, because it was unbearable for him to tolerate the separation from Mahaprabhu. And then it is said that he passed, entering the deity of Radha next to Tota Gopinath in, in the temple of Puri. So, yeah, some thoughts, some Leelas about Gadadhara Pandit, whether here in Nadia, then in Jagannath Puri. One more, one more, one more, and then we go to Srivasa Angam. We will stay there a little bit more time, but to properly honor this place. And I felt first, we go here. Again, Gadadhara Pandit, very instrumental into Mahaprabhu's main desires, primary reasons to come. And the famous Leela, you all know it, probably, but how Gadadhara Pandit received initiation. Again, Pandit initiated by Pandit. So, Pandit going back to Mayapur as a Vaishnava. He was always very fond of Vaishnavas. That's, that's usually the case with the Vaishnavas. You are fond of, if you are a lover of God, you are fond of other lovers of God. You want to hang out with them. So, whatever he heard, there is a Vaishnava in town, Gadadhara Pandit was up for that. So, Pundarik Vidyanidhi was in town, a very particular, unique, high Vaishnava, but of a very eccentric character, as we will see. So, eventually, Mukunda, an associate of Mahaprabhu and Gadadhara, he told Gadadhara Pandit, "Oh, there's a very high-class called Pundarik Vidyanidhi, come to town. So, let's go and see him." So, both of them go together, Mukunda and Gadadhara Pandit. And Gadadhara Pandit is with this long, "We'll meet the great Vaishnava." So, when they reach the place of Pundarik Vidyanidhi, the nearest place for... That's loud. Anyhow, it's fine, brother. So, they see, and what do they see? You know the Leela. Those who know the Leela, what do they say? >> An enjoyer. >> Enjoyer. >> Huh? >> An enjoyer. Opulence. >> He was sitting in a silk sofa with oiled hair, being fanned with mirrors, smoking, smoking a hookah, like a pipe, like, like a world enjoyer, sitting like that, like taking a selfie, almost. Like so, Pandit is there, and in his mind, he's like, "This is a Vaishnava? This is a great Vaishnava? This looks like a vishayi, like a world enjoyer." So, why in his mind, he didn't say anything, but Mukunda was next to him, and he could read Gadadhara's mind. Smile. He could see he has some conflict. Thank you. So, let's show him who is a Pandit. So, quoted one verse from the verse. So, he sang the verse way more beautifully than I've ever said, which is the verse that says that Krishna, it's getting closer, which is the verse that says Krishna gave, "How can I surrender to someone more merciful than Krishna, to Putana, who wanted to kill him? He gave her the position of a mother. How can there be someone more merciful than him?" By saying that, so Mukunda recites that verse, and he hears that verse, falls from the sofa, and starts to roll up in ecstasy, and tear open his cloth, and throw his pipe, and all the mirrors were broken, and cry in ecstasy in separation from Krishna. So, Gadadhara Pandit realized, "Wow, this is a great Vaishnava." So, all this other thing was a facade, like to cover his actual greatness. He was hiding his greatness in the disguise of a sense enjoyer. Many times, we hear examples of that from great Vaishnavas. They behave as if they are the opposite of who they actually are. So, people don't bother them, and they can do their own thing. So, now Pundarik was really perceived by Gadadhara Pandit. Again, Gadadhara Pandit is Radha. So, there's no aparadha that can be committed. So, this is an example for us to not judge someone on the externals. So, Gadadhara Pandit went to Mahaprabhu, said, "I judged this person in this way. I think the only way I can obtain mercy is by accepting initiation from that person." Mahaprabhu accepts that. Gadadhara Pandit accepts initiation from Pundarik Vidyanidhi. Who is Pundarik Vidyanidhi in Krishna Lila? Vrishabhanu Maharaja. Who is Vrishabhanu Maharaja? The father of Sri Radha. So, then father and son, in this, and daughter in this case, Vrishabhanu and disciple, continue their connection in Gaura Lila. So, that's another Leela of Gadadhara Pandit, happening here in Nadia, teaching us not to misjudge people based on their externals, even when it's very, it seems very obvious that they are whatever. Take the time to scratch the surface and see what's there. So, big lesson for us. [Music] So, next, we move to Srivasa Angam. So, welcome to Srivasa Angam, another epicenter of the spiritual domain, not only here on planet Earth, but even in eternity. As we say, Srivasa Angam is the residence of Srivasa Pandit and his family. Originally, this area was his house. He will live with his wife, with his brother, with his brother's family, his mother, big family, and they will host Mahaprabhu. What Tribhanga is mostly known for is the night Kirtans. But there are many other things that happen here. We'll go there in a moment. But he will live here and host, be the host for excellence in the eternal Gaura Lila, and even here on Earth. And again, Srivasa Pandit, in the good sense of the term, was a super grihastha. He was not a sannyasi. And for those who think, "Oh, grihasthas are whatever, low down." Well, here you have it. Grihastha being having the most privileged position of hosting and and receiving Mahaprabhu and all his associates. And in one sense, the main Leela is taking place here, which is the parallel, the Rasa, the circular dance of Krishna, the God. The parallel to that in Gaura Lila is the Rasa Kirtan that happens every night in Srivasa Angam, eternally. And maybe we will read that description from the Chaitanya Charitamrita that we shared. >> Because that was a beautiful book. But first, a few words about Srivasa Pandit. Um, so Srivasa Pandit, of course, is one of the five members of the Panchatattva. That's one of the ways of speaking about him. We have been exploring Mahaprabhu, but Advaita a little bit. Now it's the turn of Srivasa. Each one of these members represents something in particular. Of course, Mahaprabhu is Krishna, Bhagavan. Nityananda Prabhu is Balaram, the first expansion of Krishna. Gadadhara Pandit is Radha's svarupa, Shakti personified. Advaita Charara, Mahavishnu, as I mentioned, this face of God dealing with material creation. And Srivasa represents us, the perfection of Tatastha Shakti. All that we can be is embodied in the figure of Srivasa Pandit. He's also connected with being Narada Muni, the sacred trickster, who will come and what it say, the doll, and create some disorder, holy disorder, to bring things to a new order. But in Gaura Lila, he behaves a little bit more nicely. So, to say, nicely, always nicely. So, he's the Tatastha Shakti, right? We are Tatastha Shakti. We are Jiva Shakti. Another way of saying so is connected with Tatastha Shakti and the perfection. All that a soul can be is kind of embodied in Srivasa Pandit. Prabhupada will say, "Guru is our own potential appearing in front of us." Srivasa Pandit is the potential, the highest reach of a Jiva, appearing in front of us. So, it's very interesting, important to study the life of Srivasa Pandit. [Music] Um, so he was a Pandit. Here we have another Pandit. Gadadhara Pandit, Srivasa Pandit. Mahaprabhu was surrounded by Pandits. But again, very simple-minded, very, very humble, very loving. And again, an example of rendering all that he had in the service of...

Mahabaru. He was married, he has house, he he didn't work. That's an interesting point because he was too engaged in serving Maha Prabhu. But at one point he was concerned like, well, I have few kids, my my my brother is living here with his family. My mom, I may need to to do something for my live. Mahabru said that you are you have surrendered everything you have to me, nothing will be ever lacking from your home. Lakshmi Devi is here residing and providing everything and and that's the case. So many things happen here at Sri Sangam. Again, we are in a very sacred spot. Later, we'll spend a few moments more in silence, trying to sink in what's not only what has happened here, but what's continued to happen. Remember, we talked on day one, Gorilla is already continue to takes place. It's not a relic from the past, right? This is not a museum. Even when we went the other day to the Chaitanya museum, in one sense, it's not a museum because museum is the idea of something from the past, something not alive, some a relic. So this is not the case here. Seran continues to takes place here and great personalities have sporties or visions of how the Rasa Sanin here continues to happen. But many other leelas happen here. Remember when we were in the museum in Kolkata, we enter SAGam there. Remember we had the trailer of Sva Sang in Kolkata. And Nanda Nandanda Kumar was nobody forgets that and and some of the narrative explained this famous Maha Praashila which took place here, 20 21 hours of uninterrupted epiphany. Maha Prau sat on a throne, not usual to generally Mahaprau is in the mood of a devotee, eventually stepping into the mood of the greatest devotees, Shiraada.

[Music] Not music here, but it's only stopping here. Relief, not suffering, right? No, not not not happiness. Sometimes when we stop suffering, we think I'm happy. No, we stop to suffer. It's not the same. So, Mahapra is most in the mood of a devotee. But in these 21 hours, he enters into the mood of Bhagavan. Okay. Mahapro experiences different moods. At times he he experiences his Krishna. Mostly he's a devotee in the mood of Radha. But in these 21 hours, he sat on the throne, on the altar, on the throne reserved for Bhavan, and he showed himself as Bhagavan for 21 hours without stop. He showed himself to Shivaspandi as Nishim Hadev, eventually to Murari Gupta, Ramachandra, to devotees who had have some struggles. He told them, I knew which struggles you went through that day. This happened, I was there. I knew, I was knowing your heart. So he showed full omniscience, all this type of things that only God can show, and he was giving blessings to everyone.

Here, right here, right now. Yeah. So he was in that mood, not only of overt divinity, but overt generosity and like lavish. What do you want? Ask me. Given, given any blessing, given any blessing, given. So he was like blessing everyone in the most lavish way. Uh, and at one point, there's one interestingly like this connection, you may know it with Mukunda. We mentioned Mukunda before. He went with Gadada to Cuanidi Kund. Was a singer in Mahapru was good, and Mahapru was blessing everyone, but Mukund was not receiving any blessing from. So the devotee to say, why, why you are not giving blessing to Mukunda? He said, I don't want to hear anything about that Mukunda. So Mahapra behind becomes very serious, and this with a purpose. Apple remains very merciful, even when he seems to be angry with someone. He said, Mukunda is going here and there and associated with any everyone and anyone, and he's not he's not committing deeply in any direction. Again, he's trying to use him as an example for us to we can associate with different people, but also that shouldn't be an excuse not to be committed in internally in some direction. Let's not use being broad and talking to everyone as a way of avoiding responsibility. So he say, I don't want to, I don't want to see Mukund. So better I don't have, I will cancel my darshan to him. So Mukund is kind of exiled to his house, and Mahaprau, I mean, he was accustomed to see Mahaprau every day. So try to think about these two things. First, what must it mean to see Mahaprau every day? Wow. And second, what must it mean to see Mahabaku every day? To not be able to see Mahaprau.

Oh, by Maha Prabu's direct order, you cannot see me. To Mukund is in his house, dying in separation from Maha. He's dying in separation from. Again, he's accustomed to have the darshan of Mahaprau. I would say no. So he's dying in separation, and all the devotees are knowing this is happening, and they feel we have to intervene because Mukund is dying. We want to save his life. So they go to Mahaprau and say, please do something. No, again, the most merciful, compassionate Lord, very strict, again, with a purpose, as we will see. So at one point, they went to Mukund. Mukund is, he's just leaving for the next day. That's what, that's the thread that keeps his, his prime coming from his nostrils, like the the hope that at one point, and they see Mahaturu again. So at one point, like his last wish, he asked these devotees who were all day, all every day, going to visit him to make sure he was still alive and to somehow give, give him some hope, still stay alive. You will see Mahaprau. So Mukund one day said, can I, can I, can I ask a favor? Can you ask Mahaprau when he will give me his darshan again? That's the only question I had. When will I see him again? Whereas in our tradition, he will say poetically, when he will cross the path of my eyes. So he asked the devotees, please ask that question to. That's the only thing I need to know. So they go to Mahaprau and they say, Mukund, we just came from from seeing Mukund. So Mahabra was like, what does he want? Like looking another direction. Again, all this with a purpose. He wants to know when you will give him his darshan. I would say, in a million lifetimes. Next question. So the devotees were like, one million lifetime. And they, and Mukund is waiting for their answer, and they know if we give, they thought we will give him that answer, we will kill him, and we don't want to kill Mukund. He's already about to die, but at the same time, he's waiting. So they have to go and convey the answer that Maurro gave. So they go back, and Mukund is, so did you ask the question? Yes. What did he say? And everyone is like, you tell him, you kill him. You kill him. I don't want to. So finally, one gathers some currency. He said, in a million lifetimes. So everyone else waiting for the passing of Mukund. But that, that's not the case. Mukund jumps in the air and starts to dance and celebrate and cry in ecstasy and roll on the ground. And everyone is like, maybe he has some hearing problems. Maybe he heard one minute, 10 minutes, one week. So they go again, just to, he say, one million lifetimes. Yeah. Yeah, I heard it. So how can you be celebrating that? And they tell him, well, he tells them, because I know that I will see him again. I have the warrant. They have the confirmation. One million lifetime, that's nothing in comparison. If that's the price to pay to have that darshan, I'm, I'm embarrassed to pay so little. So I'm celebrating. So he was celebrating, and the devotees see that, and Maha Prabu is, Mahabrau was playing hard, but he was actually aware of what was going on. So they come back, and Mahabru say, so you visit Mukund. Yeah. What did he say? He was not so armed. What did he say when you say one million lifetime? He started to dance and celebrate and he say this and that. Marvel say, bring him immediately. Million lifetimes are over. Fish says in the G time personify. So time personify can make one million lifetime one one instant. And then Mukund comes, and Mahaburu embraces him, and he starts to, Mahapuru to glorify Mukund, like you own me. I belong to you. Nobody loves me like you. And and so there was a whole leela to turn the heart of everyone, including each one of you that I'm seeing your faces now. So this, this also took place here. In many other leelas, again, we can be the whole day and eternity here speaking what took place here. Another famous leela is the Bias Puja Leela, happen in Sasan. The worship of Biasadev. That at one time, and Nitananda Pu happened to be here. At one point, Nitananda Pu came and met Mahaprau. We'll go to that place these days. Nand Nachario Bhavam, the meeting place of Mahaprau when Nitananda first time in the leela on earth, that happened nearby. So the worship of Bias happened, and they say to Nitan to conduct the worship, guru. And that's narrated in Chaitanya. That's very funny because Nitananda Puabad, they give him, they gave a garland to Nitananda, say, okay, this is the garland to worship the the guru principle. So you have to put it on Bias Dev. And it has the garland, he puts it on himself because he's the original guru, right? So he has the right. So everyone's like, no, no, no, it's not like that. I think like they saying he will sit on the throne of Bias. No, you have to worship that. And he's kind of like bubbling and not saying anything, like behaving like a great madman, but at the same time, making a very real, sober point that he is to be dead. He's the best person to be there. So, and again, apart from all these leelas, another famous leela we hear the other day in Kolkata, the death of Shiva Pandit's son. They were in Sasan, and this is a delicate. Hopefully you understand that with proper sensitivity, because Maha Prabu and his associates were doing night and kirtan, dancing, celebrating at this time, and we will go there in a minute. The Sankan was not public. Mahabra will go into the streets to do Nagar Sankirtan. Nagar means in the street. The Sankirtan will be just private in Sasan with the intimate circle. And one of those nights, they are doing Sankirtan, and one of the young children of Shiva Pandit dies. So they are doing Sankirtan, and somehow Shiva Pandit sees his wife and others crying during the Sankirtan. So he asks, what's going on? Say, your son has died. And Saund says, and you have to understand that properly. Say, okay, but let's not make a fuss out of it because I don't want Mahaprau, who scared them, to be disturbed. Again, this is not, this doesn't mean you be insensitive, and if your side son is dying, we don't care, let's sing, let's continue singing. But again, in a certain context, and it speaks about what happened after, which eventually Maha Prau was that dis the point. Abro continues to sing, but he feels there's something going on here. I don't feel the usual bliss in Sankirtan. Here, did any tragedy happen in the house? And Shiva says, no, no, nothing happened. Like, like trying not to disturb his mood, which again, it's an, it's an important point, not to dismiss the other thing, but he tried to keep his beloved Lord experiencing what he needs to experience. Mars say, okay, let's continue. Sort, no, no, no, no, something's going on here. And he eventually comes to know Shiva Pandit's son died. Oh, I want to see him, obviously. So the baby's there, young boy, and everyone is crying in the family, and and Shiva is concerned that we, I don't want to interrupt the flow of experience to Mahaprau. Again, not sensitive to the other thing, but too sensitive to that. And it may be difficult for us to accommodate that if we are not too sensitive for serving Mahabaru's special as the center of reality. And Mahabaru revived the kid. He performed a miracle. There are many of these miracles also in the life of Mahabaru, bringing dead back to life. But in our tradition, those are not many much emphasized because for us, that's not so important. In the sense of even a yogi with mystic powers can do things that aren't considered miraculous, which many times is just a process that we don't know how it's happening, basically, and we call it miracle.

10 seconds. [Music] So Maha brings the boy back to life. And he say, "Who are you?" No. And the boy starts to reply in a very philosophical, deep way. Like not like, "Oh, I'm the son of this person, born in this family, but I'm an eternal soul and this and that and servant of God." And in one, the point is he makes a whole discourse where everyone becomes enlightened about the nature of who we are. And then he received asked permission for Mahaprau to leave again, like implying basically due to my particular journey, this was my uh ascribed period to be here, I need to continue. And he lives, and everyone accepts that. So that happened here also. It's another in terms of acceptance of the cycles and periods of life and Mahaprau himself, healthy empowerment. So going back to the Serta again, Sankerta was private here in the beginning. It started with very deep private intimate churning before it went out. That speaks about also this idea that sometimes devotees want to share the message with the world, and that's beautiful and great, but there needs to be a a churning internal personal before that happens properly. We saw this with Bhaktianta, his his father asked, please distribute the message of Mahaprau. He took one decade to chant 122 rounds per day to warm up for preaching. Praa, the same. It's not that he just went to the West. He was in Vrindavan and Damodara there, praying deeply, going to a Acharya's place in Shantipur, as we in this book, we see so many places he was visiting, crying and praying and doing very deep Sadhana. So in the same way, before the Sankirtan flooded outside of Triveni Sangam to the streets, there was a very deep churning between Mahaprau, his intimate associates, deep relish, deep personal experience and realization. That's the connection between the words Acharya and Prachar. Acharya means personal experience and example and conduct, and Prachar is what translates sometimes preaching a word I don't like, to be honest. So Prachar actually means Prachar, a very special type of Prachar. So Acharya means conduct. So Prachar is a very special type of example. That's the actual preaching. If I have a very deep experience and realization, that presence in itself transforms. That's what Mahaprau showed when he converted Sarvabhatara. We go to Puri for a moment. The greatest logician on earth, and Mahaprau converted him, sitting at his feet, and being in silence for one week, he didn't say anything, he just listened, presenting his points. Mahaprau was in silence, but so much Acharya was coming from him, so much impact that at the end of those seven days of silence, the greatest Pandit on earth was like, completely transformed. What's going on with me? That silence has done something to me. Then Mahaprau probably say two, three words like, checkmate. And then Saroma was another madman in his groups, dancing and singing along with. So, but it all begins with Acharya. If you are practicing from a real place, that will attract the the people. Like the saying goes, when the lotus blooms, you don't need to call the bumblebee. So when your heart is blooming with realization, those who are ready and thirsty for that pollen, they will be attracted by the fragrance. Somehow, somehow, somehow that will happen. We don't need to force people to convert people. I mean, that's my take. I mean, I'm not against sharing, as Maha Prabu did, but not in a way of trying to convince you against your will. So I feel better about myself trying to convert the world, so somehow I feel more secure about myself because everyone is chanting a Christian. So I must be doing something right because everyone else is doing it. That's not the place from which we reach to other people, but from a place of universal compassion, as the one at the Acharya, deep realization. So anyhow, this is the place where this Sankirtan was taking place internally, deeply, uh, and this was a very intimate place, um, which invites, I mean, to be part of this Sankirtan, everyone could take part in this Sankirtan, but this not because of elitism, but just because the type of Sankirtan invited for a certain type of vulnerability and showing up with a certain level of nakedness, and not everyone was willing to enter. Yes, there are two examples that show how not to show up for Sankirtan, how not to join, how not to show up for Sanga, and these are the examples of Shiva Pandit's mother-in-law and this Brahman that we mentioned yesterday. Let's go there first. This Brahman who wanted to enter the Sankirtan, and he said, yeah, yeah, because I'm very sattvic, I only drink milk, so I'm qualified to be allowed into the Sankirtan because I'm very pure from a sattvic material point of view, I'm only taking milk, a very pious. Say that doesn't make one qualified to Just being pure materially, being very pious, and probably being very proud about your piety. We need you to throw all those masks, be utterly vulnerable, utterly sincere. Then you can be poor. And if they say that, that Brahman then cursed Mahapur to say, because you don't allow me to enter Sankirtan, I curse you that your family life will be a failure. Say, he receives the curse, and that becomes, so it was a curse, but a blessing in disguise, so to say, and that curse showed that the Brahman was not qualified, actually, he wanted to push his way inside by the end of his material piety, and when that was not allowed, start to curse everyone. So it's like, and the other example was Shiva Pandit's mother-in-law, that she, she knew she lived in, in this place, and she knew this is night Sankirtan is taking place, the whole night they're dancing and crying and celebrating, and so intense. So I want to see what's going on, but more from a place of just curiosity, not from a deeply committed place to show up vulnerably. So she was hiding behind the curtains, and I say peeking, peeking, peeking, peeking out, peeking, peeking, peeking, peeking. So Mahabra was dancing, and again, I don't feel the usual bliss here. Something's going on there. Many leelas in Sasan like that, whether it was Shiva's son dying or something like, there's something wrong here. Nobody died. No, this time nobody died. Sure, you're not lying. Nobody died. There's some, let's continue. Okay, something wrong is there. Someone here that is not qualified to be here. And again, qualified in the sense that we are talking, being willing to show up from the right place. No, it's the one, it's those that is who we are. Okay, let's look behind the curtains. And suddenly they find Shiva's mother. Take her out, please. Because that the point is, that's not the way to show up for Sankirtan by hiding. No, how you can, how can you participate in Mahablo's movement by hiding?

[Music] Okay. Okay. Now, He's the temple president of ISKCON in Bogota, Colombia. So, we went, I, I know him. We went to his place last this year. That's why I was talking Spanish. [Music] So, we cannot join Sankirtan with by hiding. That's the lesson. You have to show up. Here I am, sincerely, without masks, and trying to fake it till you make it, but naked till you make it. Transparency, vulnerability, sincerity, honesty, and then you can show up and dance with Mahaprau and Aditanda, like we did in Kolkata. There were no curtains behind to hide and peek. No, no, no. That's not Shiva. Real shism. So that's something that happened here. And also, of course, in connection with this and kirtan that will take place every night. Uh, not everyone was in favor of it. Let's not be naive, like, oh, everyone was worshiping Mahaprau, everyone was in Sankirtan, everyone was go aashnab. No, there was opposition. There was people blaspheming Shivaspandi because Sankirtan was private, but was pretty intense and loud, and it was whole night, so neighbors were not happy, let's put it that way. No soundproofing. Yeah, there was no soundproof system like Sudavis Yoga Shala. So there was people against them, not only because of the, they couldn't have a good sleep at night, but because of other things. And interestingly, the main opposers to Maha Prabu were Hindus, so were his own people. Like it happens in many traditions, like Jesus was crucified by his own people, basically, and so on and so forth. Generally, as we talking the other day about the tragedy of the slightest difference, remember, generally one's own people are the ones who end up betraying you. So Mahaprau had a position. Shivaspani had a position at that point. There was complaints brought to the Kazi, the Chantasi. He was a Muslim governor, because that this part at that time was governed by Muslim Muslims. So the Chantasi was the Hindus complained about Mahaprau to the Chantasi. So in order to make a point, they came here, Chantasi with his people, and they broke Manda. You will see in one of the three altars, there is a broken manga. So that's what this took place. Chantasi came, the boys were doing Sankirtan, and the Chantasi ordered, took the midanga, boom, say, next time it will be worse. Now I'm breaking a midanga, next time I cannot tell you what will happen. And they were afraid, maybe we'll be converted by force to Islam and made to eat meat, sometimes the things happen. So there were there was fear among the groups, the associates of Mahaprau, what will happen? So they brought this the issue to Chaitanya. Kazi came. So what to do now? So you know what happened after that? So Mahabru will say this, let's go out on Sankirtan. Let they want to cancel the the inner Sankirtan. Okay, we'll, they don't stop the inner Sankirtan. Let's make the inner Sankirtan overflood and go to the streets. Uh, so he organized multitude of thousands of people taking torch, you say torches, at night, and they all proceed like a big parade, and there was intensity in Chaitanya Bhatta, and Chaitanya we had two different narratives, and one is more mild, everyone was singing and dancing, going to Chantasi Kazi's house, but in the other one, they were quite intense and and and willing to basically burn down the Kazi's house and everything who opposed that. So they arrived to the Kazi's house. So the Kazi was inside his house with this huge parade of thousands with torches singing intensely, and he felt, okay, what's going on here? So he invited Mahaprabu to come in, because the Chant Kazi was connected to elders from Mahaprabu's family. So somehow he was kind of a family member, elder family member, somehow to be seen with Mahaprau. So they had a private conversation, and Chant Kazi say, actually last night I had a dream, and the dream appeared a huge roar came in the dream, a huge lion-like personality came to the dream and told me, the midanga is my favorite instrument, next time you break a midanga, I'll tear apart your chest. But at that time, the lion did some trailer of that. So the Kazi shows to Mahaprau, this is the result of my dream. So he opens, and there were some scars. So that was Nrihari appearing in a dream. That's why Nrihari is considered the protector of Sankirtan also, and why Pra established the singing of Nrihari Purnam on a daily basis as the protector of Sankirtan, because the devotees were having also facing opposition at the time. Okay. Now the Rasa Sankirtan is coming to life. Uh, so anyhow, after that, the Chant Kazi became at peace with Mahaprau, allowed the Sankirtan to continue to take place. Uh, and he says, I promise that all my successors will never disturb your Sankirtan, which was a word that was kept. So the Sankirtan continued during the night undisturbed, and now during the day, because it has outflooded from Sasan and into the whole of Navadvipa and into beyond Navadvipa, touching, sprinkling New Zealand, and France, and Germany, and England, and Slovenia, Argentina, Brazil, India, Latvia, Ireland, US, Malaysia, everyone. No. But it all began, it all began here. That's the thing. No, Seran began here. This is the original Seran, and from here went out to the streets of Navadvipa, crossing the borders of India, and sprinkling and reaching each one of our hearts. So another way of saying, we are here today because of Sria. This is another of our birthplace. This is the birthplace of Sankirtan, and we are a bright product of Mahaprabu Sankirtan. So part of our DNA, part of our autobiography is tied to what happened here, to this place. So we can spend a few moments in silence.

[Music] And sinking in what's going on here, receiving the Sankirtan as a reminder of the night Sankirtan, and then we can read a little bit the description of the night Sankirtan in the Ashtaka of Maha Prabu, because it's, we shared that already, but it's a charming one, so we just can sit, if you want to journal, to chapa, to pray, to listen, stay here for a few minutes, if you want to sit a little bit tonight, as it's described, because it's not happening here on earth only, but in Navadvipa, in the eternal leela, every night, there is a leela. The day is divided in eight periods, and one of them is the Nisha Leela, which is divided from 10:48 p.m. to 3:36 in the morning. So this is the longest period of the day, along with the midday period, and I would like to read, we shared that in the group. Maybe you have already read it, but we will go through it again. It's a beautiful depiction. It's a few pages. So let's try also to, yeah, to visualize it, if it helps, close your eyes, listening, whatever helps you to to enter more into what's actually taking place here now. Can you hear me? I cannot talk louder than that. So if not, feel free to come closer. [Music] Wandering through Pandit's flower garden, our Prau sits surrounded by his associates, deeply absorbed in Braja, knowing the essence of Gora Hari's mind, Sri Swarup Damodar describes how at that precise moment, Sri Radha hears Hari's flute call and hastens with reckless abandon to the meeting road. Collarium only on one eye. An anklet where a bracelet should be. One earring missing. Bells loosened. Half braided tresses swinging as she runs. Impervious to obstacles in the night's thick darkness, Sri Premayi Radha runs onwards, impelled by a single necessity to offer herself to her Pranapati, the Lord of her life, with even more expertise and dedication than even before. Now both nervous and tensive, Sri and her sakis sit at Bhumsubat Bindavan, exchanging intricate riddles with while eagerly awaiting Govinda's arrival. When he at last comes, the Braja greet him with proper honor, dressed in their silken attire. Sitamada roam through Bindas robes in chakra Brahmanana, circular turns, winding through winding through the labyrinthine pathways leading to the inner bowers of Shrimati Binda Devi. Hearing and being possessed by these descriptions, Sri Bishambar Maha Prabhu is swept into rapture, eventually reaching the sweetness of Bhava Shanti, or ecstatic bliss. Then decorates everyone with elaborate embellishments suited for the dance about to begin. We are warming up so far. So adorned, Gora's body eclipses a mountain of gold. His complexion shaming the moonlight. His charm conquering innumerable gods of love. Let us bow. Shriman Gorachandra is dressed for the dance. Beholding the beauty of the nearby Ganga, Gorhari and his bhaktas are reminded of Yamuna's charm. And Swarup Damodar, his voice drenched in nectar, sings of the Rasala in Braja's joy. Cartels, consells, and mangas rising crescendo, and Gora Govinda Nataraj, the king of dancers, is swept into ecstatic dancing, encircled by his eternal companions. In Navadvipa, Rasakirtan manifests as Braja's Rasala. Every devotee having graduated from the Premial, the school where divine love is the only tutor, offers their whole being through artful movements. Different names of different dances here. Mandala, Vina, Halishaka, anklets mark the rhythm as tears stream unchecked, and shivering in prem becomes the norm. It will be a long night, but a bright day for those in nursing. Ras sort leads one Sankirtan group, Mukund another. Govinda Datta takes yet another. Everyone plunges into Harikan as Sri Gora Sundar shouts loudly, as if to split open the universe by the force of his love. At times, Sitananda supports him like an ant shape. At times, Advaita secretly steals dust from the master's lotus feet. Again, Advaita always trying to not be an elder with Mahaprau. Seeing his beloved friends stamping the ground, and others collapse in tears, as even the earth trembles. Perspiration pours from Goranga's pores as if Ganga herself flowed through him. Seeing this, the devotees cling to one another's necks, weeping at this zenith of Prems and curtain. Prabu's beauty dazzles beyond imagination. Jasmine buds and peel strands bind his curls. A bee forming red hangs on to his knees. One hand raised high, the other on his hip, as he frolics in Radha's courtyard, gazing upon each Vishnu. Some weep, some laugh, some roar. Others leap and collapse, rolling in dust, sanctified by his dance. As Shyam rests upon Yamuna's sands after his Rasala, Sri Radha Damodar concludes his song, and everyone attains Bhava Shanti, ecstatic bliss. Though ages pass in this wondrous curtain, all feel it lasted by the blink of an eye. And you have a great time. Time passes quickly. Exhausted by the death and velocity of love expressed during Sankirtan, reclines on a jewel platform to rest, attended by dumbbases and caressed by Nadia's fragrant fragrant breeze. He perspires pearl-like drops while inhaling deeply. His companions fall at his feet and rest too. At this crucial moment, we will be blessed to serve. Massaging their feet, sunning them, soothing them. Capturing the mood, Swarup Damodar sings a lullaby narrating Radha Govinda's honey wine rebels harbor place and water past. Thus accompanied by Sut's cradle song, rest itself becomes Samadhi. Another mighty roar and the stillness of Bhava Shanti. Sasan Pandit reading the current of his master's heart brings forth faith in garments for everyone. Surrounded by a constellation of jubilant bhaktas, Goragopal walks toward the Ganga, perceived in full Braja as the Yamuna. And there he plunges into aquatic play with his companions, just as Shamsunda revels with the Gopis after the Rasala. Encircled by all sides by the overflowing by the overflowing p of his retinue. Our Bishambhar first receives their affection in the form of gentle sprinkles of water, soft as garlands cast upon him. But soon their love, unable to remain restrained, takes on a more dynamic form. Joyous hand-to-hand water combat. Let's see. This goes a long way. Oh my god. Okay. Let's conclude this paragraph. Let's conclude the water combat paragraph. [Music] Naya B and countless others flash, wrestle and laugh together in waves of liquid ecstasy. Some devotees carried away by artistry, musicalize the battle with rasical rhythms, drumming their palms upon the surface of the water until the whole river becomes a living instrument, churning the boundless potion of rasa. Let's put a pause there. It continues. It continues, but we are no longer in Sangam here. We are next to the Ganges. So just a brief glimpse into what's going on here eternally. So what I'm thinking, if you allow me, we can go by walk, 15-minute walk. Yes. Nearby Jagai Madhai Ghat, since we are water pastime here, we can go to the ghat, have darshan, share a few words about there quickly, and at one, we can be picked from by the riches from the Jagai Madhai Ghat. So just a few words in this place, which is not what we thought it was, but it is the place. I thought it was a literal ghat, Jagai Madhai Ghat, and ghat is like these stairs going to the river, but originally, it seems this is the place, but the Ganga was flowing at that time here, which is not happening right now, but this temple here is signifying this Jagai Madhai Ghat, or this Jagai Madhai leela that happened. A few words, and in this connection, concerning Nitananda, you know, Jagai Madhai, where these two personalities who were born in a very pious Brahmin family, but they somehow degraded to the exact opposite of their pious birth and committed that according to Chaitanya Chaitanya, all sins possible you could think of, and those you could not think of, as well. So they were kind of the epitome of degradation. And at that time, Maha Pu and Nitananda, his group were performing Sankirtan, and one time Nitananda Pu, we had to bring Nitananda Pu to the picture, he was the missing one in our Pancha Tattva, the dictation of the day. Again, we say he felt attracted to the more, the most fallen. So he heard there are these two brothers, Jagai and Madhai, they are the worst of the worst, and he's, he was like, let's go there. No, because mercy feels attracted to redeem, as we talked today, the highest you are, the deepest the down you can go and redeem there. So he went to Jagai Madhai, trying to invite them, singing like he will do, Baja Goranga, Kaha Goranga, Goranga worship, Goranga, sing Goranga. Goranga is your life and soul. Please do it. Nitano will go and beg to them, please sing the name of Goranga. Jagai Madhai were utterly intoxicated. I'm making a long story short. And and in that response of intoxication, one of the two brothers hit Nitananda with a throw, like a jar of mud on his head, and Nitananda probably starts to bleed, and eventually Maha Prabhu's notice comes to Maha Prabhu's ears. These two brothers who were really known for their criminal record, so to say, now they're attacking Nitananda Prabhu, the highest form of divine mercy. So Mahaprau comes, Sudarshan in hand. This is the, the basically the only time that Mahaprau shows Sudarshan, because in general, Mahaprau's mood is no redeeming everyone by glancing and embracing and dancing and crying and singing, but when he heard someone is attacking his Prabhu, that was too much for Mahaprau. So he came with Sudarshan, this disc around his willing to behead. Of course, Sudarshan also means Sudarshan, proper vision, Darshan means sight, to see. Su means proper. So the cutting of the head represents acquiring a proper perspective, and sometimes for that, we need to take the head out, because the head is, we get stuck here from the neck up, and there's lots of problems here, and to do the pilgrimage from head to heart, that's complex. So sometimes it's really practical, and that's the, so that's the symbolism behind the beheading. It's not just, let's cut everyone's head or stuff like that. So Mahaprau came with the Sudarshan, but at that point, Nrihari fell at Mahaprau's feet and prayed, please, Prau, don't forget this leela. You are not supposed to invoke Sudarshan. You're not supposed to kill demons. You're not supposed to cut anyone's, you are here to give mercy and grace. And Mahaprau said, but they offended you, they attacked you, I cannot. What can I do? If you forgive them, and when Mahaprau was about even to finish the sentence, if you forgive them, I forgive them. He was, if you forgive, and Nrihari already jumped on Jagai Madhai, embracing the two of them, who by this point were terrified seeing the Sudarshan coming, and repentance in heart. So after this conversion, Mahaprau embraced them, they became deep, faithful, humble followers of Sri Chaitanya Dev, totally transformed, and they were serving all the Vaishnavas, and in a mood of great repentance from all their misdeeds in the past. They asked Nitananda Prabhu, okay, what can we do to to purify ourselves from the misdeeds from our tag? And Mahaprau say, serve all the Vaishnavas and build a ghat, which again, it's not here now, because the Ganga is not here continually moving, but this is that particular place where where the ghat was constructed by Jagai Madhai, and they will serve all the Vaishnavas and beg forgiveness. Every Vaishnava that will come to the ghat to bathe, to bathe, Jagai Madhai will fall at their feet and beg for mercy, for forgiveness, for whatever they did. So, it's a place of redemption. It's a place of forgiveness. It's a place of acknowledgment of our shortcomings and openness to the principle of unconditional love that can always is always more powerful than all our shortcomings put together, as we say. No. So this, that place, I felt is short, but it was a nice walk, and it's a nice spot to finish today, talking also a few words at least about Nitananda Prabhu. We'll go to Ekachakra in a few days, so that will be a whole day in the land of birth of Sri Nitananda, but it felt it felt right to conclude with all the Pancha Tattva, and here at the place of Jagai Madhai. So before leaving, for a few seconds, maybe internally, we can pray deeply to Nitananda Prabhu's grace to give us the strength for to forgive whatever we need to forgive, or to be forgiven in whatever we feel we need to be forgiven, or both. And open ourselves to that grace in deep silence.