Sunday, 28 November 2021
Jagad Guru SRILA PRABHUPADA'S DISCIPLE CAME BACK FROM YAMPURI
Jagad Guru SRILA PRABHUPADA'S DISCIPLE CAME BACK FROM YAMPURI
This is an incident which happened in the 1930s. There was a disciple of Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur who got initiated in 1933. He was from Guwahati, Assam. He followed all the principles of devotion and chanted Harinam on the chanting beads given to him by Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur disappeared from this world on 1st January 1937.
After the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada, the disciple started to deteriorate in his devotional practices until he got engaged in anti-devotional activities of consuming meat. It was his downfall that he even stopped chanting Harinam. But laws of karma had some other plan for him that within a few years he had fallen sick and died. As per Hindu-Indian tradition, the dead body is burnt in the cremation ground. Hence, the body of this person was also lying in the cremation ground within the wooden logs which were supposed to be set to fire.
Suddenly the dead man came to life and started shouting his beloved Gurudev's name "Prabhupada! Prabhupada! Prabhupada!". People present there were astonished to see this unnatural incident and started to flock away thinking him to be the ghost. He went to his home immediately and told his family that is renouncing from the material life to serve his Gurudev's words.
Life after death had changed him completely. He shared his amazing experience of life after death. He shared his story as follows.
When he died he saw two gigantic and horrifying figures (YAMDUTAS) who came and took him away from this world to another unknown world - YAMPURI. On the way to YAMPURI, he felt thirsty because the way to YAMPURI was deserted and with the scorching sun on his head. When he asked for water from YAMDUTAS, then they showed him a pond to quench his thirst. But when he went near to the pond then he found it full of vomit, blood, and pus. On complaining to them that how could he ever drink such filthy things, they replied that he can get only vomit to drink on his way to YAMPURI and nothing else due to his past karmas. Feeling depressed he moved on with them to YAMPURI.
After reaching YAMPURI, he was made to stand in a queue where Chitragupta, the assistant of YAMRAJ, was opening the accounts of karmas for all standing in the queue. He was horrified to see that every other person standing in before him were immediately sent to hell by Chitragupta upon seeing their accounts. At last, when it was his turn, he was sent to YAMRAJ as a special case. He was astonished. When he was brought to YAMRAJ, the devata of death, asked him if had performed any good deed in his life ever which he could recollect. He answered that he got initiated from Srila Prabhupada. Upon hearing Srila Prabhupada's name YAMRAJ closed His eyes and remembered Srila Prabhupada and the most amazing thing happened that Srila Prabhupada appeared in YAMPURI even for such a disciple who had betrayed Him by not following His instructions. YAMRAJ asked Srila Prabhupada for the next course of action to be taken for His disciple. Before answering to YAMRAJ, Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupada directly chastised His disciple for ignoring Harinam and getting involved with anti-devotional activities of consuming restricted things. Upon hearing Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupada's chastisement, he asked for forgiveness. His Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Jagad Guru Prabhupada showed mercy to his disciple upon asking forgiveness and ordered him to go back to earth and again accept Harinam from His beloved disciple Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaja in Kolkata.
As soon as Jagad Guru Srila Prabhupada asked to take re-initiation, he came didn't remember what happened after that and he got up in cremation ground shouting Prabhupada! Prabhupada! Prabhupada!. After that, he renounced his worldly life and immediately went to Kolkata to see Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj Ji for accepting Harinaam from Him. When he went into the room where Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj Ji was present and started to narrate his story of life after death, Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj Ji stopped him from narration saying that He was already aware of what had happened and gave Him Harinam mala(chanting beads) to chant. He stayed in the math after that and kept chanting Harinam always for 8 years until he again left this world.
We have seen so many insurance policies in this world but such an insurance policy of saving a fallen soul from hell is not possible for anyone to provide. This incident proves the eternity of Guru's relationship with His disciple and His boundless mercy upon his disciples.
Does this story ring a bell in our life of what we are supposed to be doing in contrast to what our engagements are in our daily life? Guru can show the path and mercy but a disciple has to follow His instructions to chant Harinam and stay away from anti-devotional activities to save himself/herself from hell.
- Excerpt from a lecture given by a saint at Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya math in Sri Jagannātha Puri on the holy disappearance day of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhav Goswami Maharaj.
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Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
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Hare Krishna 🙏
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Jayadeva Goswami
Shrila
Jayadeva Goswami appeared in either the eleventh or twelfth century of the Shaka
era. There is a difference of opinions about the place of his birth. The
majority opinion holds that he hailed from the village of Kendubilva, presently
in the district of Birbhum. Others hold that he was born in Orissa or in south
India. Kendubilva is situated about twenty miles south of Siuri on the banks of
the Ajaya River. In the Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidhana it is stated that Jayadeva
found his deities o Radha Madhava in the waters of the river. It is also stated
there that he used to rest and worship at the temple of Shiva known as
Kusheshvara, which is also on the banks of the Ajay River. His father was named
Bhojadeva and mother Vama Devi.
Jayadeva’s life at Champa Hati
Jayadeva lived for a long time in Nabadwip during the reign of the king
of Bengal, Lakshman Sena, making his home not far from the king’s palace. At
that time, the king’s chief scholar was Govardhana Acharya. In Ashutosh Deb’s
Bengali dictionary, it is said that Jayadeva was Lakshman Sena’s court poet.
Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote in his Nabadvipa-dhama-mahatmya that Lakshman
Sena was delighted when he heard Jayadeva’s hymn to the ten incarnations, the
Dashavatara-stotra. The king learned from Govardhana Acharya that this hymn had
been composed by Jayadeva and became desirous of meeting him. He went incognito
to Jayadeva’s house and when he saw him, he noticed that Jayadeva possessed the
characteristics of a greatly powerful spiritual personality. Greatly impressed
and attracted by him, the king revealed his identity to Jayadeva and invited him
to come and live in the royal palace. Jayadeva was leading a very renounced life
and was therefore unwilling to live in the opulent environment of the palace. He
told the king that it was his desire to live in Jagannath
Puri.
Lakshman Sena was disturbed by Jayadeva’s
intention. He quickly suggested to him that he stay in the village of Champa
Hati, saying that it was a place suitable for him. He also promised him that he
would never come to see him again. When Jayadeva agreed, Lakshman Sena had a
cottage built for him in the village which was formerly known as Champaka-hatta.
Previously, there had been a beautiful garden of champa trees and their flowers
were sold in the village market. In this village, Mahaprabhu’s associate Dvija
Baninath had a vision of him in the Satya Yuga, seeing him in the form of a
Brahmin whose skin was the color of a champa flower. Similarly, while living
here, Jayadeva had a vision, first of Radha Madhava, then of their combined form
as the golden champa-colored Gauranga Mahaprabhu.
The Lord gave him this vision and then told
him to go to Jagannath Puri. Although Jayadeva was sad to leave the future abode
of Lord Chaitanya, Jayadeva obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Puri. It is
said that he also was engaged as the court poet of the king of Orissa. He spent
the remainder of his life in the abode of Lord Jagannath. This is where he wrote
the transcendental poem based on the sentiments of separation known as
Gita-Govinda or Ashtapadi. Indeed, Mahaprabhu told Jayadeva while giving him the
vision in Nabadwip that when he himself appeared there, he would take sannyas
and go to Jagannath Puri where he would relish Jayadeva’s
Gita-Govinda.
Calcutta’s Basumati Sahitya
Mandir has published an edition of Jayadeva’s Gita-Govinda. In the preface to
that edition entitled "The life of Jayadeva," some other information is found.
"Prior to the Muslim domination of Delhi, the king Manikya Chandra ordered the
writing of the book Alankara-shekhara, in which it is said that Jayadeva was the
court poet of the king of Orissa. Shridhar Das, the son of one of the chief
courtiers of Lakshman Sena, included many of Jayadeva’s verses in his anthology
Saduktikarnamrita, citing a work named Amiyabha-kavya. One ancient manuscript of
the Gita-Govinda has the colophon, "Jayadeva had a great reputation as a poet
during the time of the King Lakshman Sena."
Jayadeva’s marriage to
Padmavati
It is said that Jayadeva was obliged to marry his wife
Padmavati at Jagannath’s order. The story is told in the Vishvakosha as follows:
There was a Brahmin who had no children. He worshiped Jagannath for many years
in the hope of having a son. Finally, he and his wife had a daughter and they
named her Padmavati. When she came of marriageable age, the Brahmin brought her
to Jagannath to offer her to his lotus feet. When he saw them, Jagannath himself
said to the Brahmin, "I have a servant whose name is Jayadeva. He has given up
family life and has dedicated himself to chanting my names. Give your daughter
to him in marriage."
The Brahmin took his
daughter to Jayadeva and asked him to marry his daughter. However, since
Jayadeva had no desire to get married, he refused to agree to any arrangement.
Then the Brahmin told him that it was Jagannath himself who had arranged this
marriage and without another word, left, leaving his daughter behind. Jayadeva
found himself totally unprepared for this situation and told the girl, "Tell me
where you want to go and I will take you and leave you there. You cannot stay
here, however."
Padmavati started to cry and
said, "My father brought me here to marry you on Jagannath Deva’s order. You are
my husband, my all in all. If you do not accept me, then I will fall down at
your feet and die right here. You are my only hope, my
lord."
The poet and scholar Jayadeva could not
abandon her after such a heartfelt plea. So he became a householder.
The
Lord helps Jayadeva write Gita-Govinda
He established the worship of a
Narayan deity and in the waves of love which he felt for this deity, he began
writing Gita-Govinda, with its incomparable ambrosia. It is said that though
Jayadeva is responsible for all the moods and sentiments which appear in the
Gita-Govinda, he had some reticence about writing that Krishna fell down at
Radharani’s feet to beg her forgiveness when she was angry with him for having
deceived her.
On that day, when he left the
house to take his bath in the ocean, Lord Jagannath himself came in, disguised
as Jayadeva, opened his manuscript and completed the verse he had started
smara-garala-khandanam mama shirasi mandanam with the words dehi pada-pallavam
udaram: "Place the noble sprout of your foot as an ornament on my head, it
dispels the poison of love in separation." (GG
10.8)
Padmavati was surprised to see her
husband back so soon from his bath and asked, "What are you doing here? You just
left a minute ago." The disguised Jagannath answered, "I thought of something on
my way. I was afraid I might forget so I came back to write it down."
Not long after Jagannath had left,
the real Jayadeva returned. This time, Padmavati was really astonished to see
him. She said, "You just left to go and take your bath. Just a few moments ago
you were writing in your manuscript and then you left. How could you have
finished and come back so quickly? I am beginning to wonder who that was and who
you are?" Jayadeva was clever enough to guess what had happened and he went and
looked at his unfinished text and saw the words that the Lord himself had
written. His entire body was covered with horripilation and tears came pouring
from his eyes. He called Padmavati and said to her, "You are so fortunate. Your
life has been made worthy. You have had the good fortune to see the Lord
himself. I am so lowly that I did not have that opportunity!"
Jagannath’s
love for Gita-Govinda
There is a legend told in Jagannath Puri that
there was a flower gardener’s daughter who had learned Gita-Govinda and would
sing it with great emotion. Jagannath was attracted by her singing and would go
to listen to her, only returning to the temple after she had finished
singing.
One day, when the king of Orissa came
to see the deity, he saw that the Lord’s body was covered in dust and his
clothes were filled with thorns. He asked the pujaris the reason for the Lord’s
disheveled condition, but no one could explain how it had come about. The
servants of the deity were afraid that they would be punished, but that night,
Jagannath appeared to the king in a dream and explained that no one was to blame
for his soiled condition that day. He had gone to listen to the gardener’s
daughter and that the dust and thorns had covered him when in the garden.
The king was astonished to have received such
information in a dream and he immediately sent for the gardener’s daughter to be
brought to the court in a palanquin. After making inquiries from her, he decided
that she should sing for Jagannath in the temple, rather than obliging the Lord
to leave the temple and get all dirty. Ever since that time, girls named
deva-dasis have been engaged by the temple to sing Gita-Govinda for Jagannath’s
pleasure.
Many other amazing and miraculous
events surrounded the life of Jayadeva. He used to serve his deities Radha and
Madhava in a trance of divine love. It is said that just as the devotee
dedicates himself to the Lord, the Lord also dedicates himself to his devotee.
One day, Jayadeva was thatch his roof under the unforgiving midday sun.
Jagannath saw the discomfort of his devotee and decided to help him finish the
work quickly by handing him the rope needed to bale the straw and removing the
finished bundles and placing them on the roof. Jayadeva thought that it was
Padmavati who was helping him in this way. But when he came down from the roof
after finishing much earlier than expected, he saw no one there. He asked his
wife and she told him that she had been busy elsewhere at the time. He was
curious about what had happened, but struck with wonder when he went into the
deity room and saw that Madhava’s hands were black from handling the straw. He
was thus able to understand that it was Madhava himself who had come to help him
thatch the roof. He fell down before his Lord and started to cry.
Mahaprabhu appreciates Gita-Govinda
In the last twelve years of
Mahaprabhu’s lila, he was absorbed in Radha’s mood and constantly relishing this
hidden spirit of love. During this time, he would savor the songs of the
Gita-Govinda.
Day and night, the Lord would speak as though he were Radha
when meeting Uddhava. He would also relish the poems of Chandi Das, Jayadeva and
Vidyapati. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 1.13.41-2)
Mahaprabhu was never
pleased to hear books or verses opposed to siddhanta, nor did he like hearing
rasabhasa, an improper mixture of devotional sentiments. It was the practice of
Svarupa Damodar Goswami to examine all works of literature to find out whether
their conclusions were correct. Only then would he allow them to be heard by the
Lord. Shri Svarupa Damodar used to make Mahaprabhu very happy by singing the
songs of Vidyapati, Chandi Das and Gita-Govinda. (Chaitanya Charitamrita
2.10.113-5)
Svarupa Damodar would sing songs that reflected the moods of
the Lord whenever they arose, while Ramananda Raya selected verses from
Vidyapati, Chandi Das and Gita-Govinda.
The Lord returned to external
consciousness for a moment and told Svarupa to sing some sweet song. Svarupa
sang one of Vidyapati’s songs and then songs from the Gita-Govinda, which were
greatly appreciated by the Lord. (Chaitanya Charitamrita 3.17.62)
candi
dasa vidyapati rayera nataka giti
karnamrita shri gita-govinda
/
svarupa ramananda sane mahaprabhu ratri-dine
gaya, shune parama ananda
//
Day and night, Mahaprabhu ecstatically relished the songs of Chandi
Das, Vidyapati and Ramananda Raya’s plays, as well as Krishna-karnamrita and
Gita-Govinda in the company of Svarupa and Ramananda. (Chaitanya Charitamrita
2.2.77)
Jayadeva and the robbers
On another occasion, Jayadeva
wished to put on a festival for his deities Radha and Madhava, but he was short
of money. He decided to travel in order to collect some funds by using his
poetic skills. On his return journey, he was stopped by robbers who not only
stole his money but cut up his hands and feet and threw him down a well to die.
Despite the pain, Jayadeva shouted out the names of the Lord as loudly as he
could.
After Jayadeva had spent three days in
this way, the king happened that way on a hunting expedition and heard the sound
of the holy names coming from the well. The king approached the well out of
curiosity and was horrified to see Jayadeva in this serious condition. He had
him taken out of the well and brought back to his palace where he had him
treated. Under the queen’s care, Jayadeva was gradually returned to health.
Both the king and queen were charmed by
Jayadeva’s sweet singing of the Gita-Govinda as well as by his saintly
character. They immediately sent for Padmavati and had her brought to their
home. The king and queen took initiation from Jayadeva and heard about Krishna
from him and started to make their lives successful through service to the Lord
and his devotees. One day, the robbers who had attacked Jayadeva came to the
king’s palace as guest disguised as devotees. Even though Jayadeva recognized
who they were, he gave them the honor that was due to their outward appearance
and arranged for the appropriate hospitality to be proffered them. The robbers,
however, did not understand Jayadeva’s forgiving and generous nature and,
fearing capture and punishment, thought it best to leave without accepting the
royal hospitality. Jayadeva understood their fear and asked the king to give
them a large sum of money and an escort and send them on their way.
After they had gone a certain distance, the
robbers said to the escort of soldiers, "You need not go any further. We would
like to tell you a secret message to convey to the king, however. Prior to
becoming Vaishnavas we were the servants of a certain king who for very good
reason ordered us to murder this priest, Jayadeva. So we cut up his hands and
feet and left him to die. Because he was afraid that this secret would come out,
this priest gave us a lot of money and asked us to leave quickly."
The Earth herself was unable to tolerate the
telling of such a great lie and so she opened up and swallowed the entire gang
of thieves. When Shukracharya, the guru of the demons, told Bali Maharaj not to
give the three feet of land demanded by Vamana Deva, Bali answered that he was
the grandson of Prahlad Maharaj. How could he go back on his word like a miser
once he had committed himself to giving in charity? He substantiated this by
saying,
na hy asatyat paro’dharma
iti hovaca bhur iyam /
sarvam
sodhum alam madhye
rite’likaparam naram //
This Earth has said,
"There is no greater irreligiousness than untruth. I can bear any burden other
than that of a person who constantly lies." (SB 8.20.4)
The goddess of
the Earth was unable to support the weight of these sinful liars and so she
swallowed them up. As they blasphemed the great devotee of the Lord, they met
their doom in the bowels of the earth.
The
servants of the king who had accompanied these robbers were amazed to see them
punished for their offense to Jayadeva right before their very eyes. They came
back to the king’s palace and told him everything that they had witnessed. The
king inquired from Jayadeva about the robbers and he told the entire story. He
said, "O king! A saintly man does not seek revenge from those who have done evil
toward him. He attempts to satisfy them by polite behavior. Even so, the Lord’s
flawless will makes them suffer the consequences of their own sinfulness, as he
did in this case."
Padmavati is tested
Jayadeva’s wife became a
close friend of the queen. In those days, the custom of a wife dying with her
husband was in vogue. After her brother’s death, the queen was mortified that
her sister-in-law would have to die on the funeral pyre with him. Padmavati said
to the queen, "From the moment that her husband dies, a faithful wife’s life
airs leave her body."
When the queen heard
this, she decided to test Padmavati herself. One day she announced to Padmavati
that her husband Jayadeva had suddenly died. As soon as this news entered her
ears, Padmavati gave up her life. This shocked the queen and she began to cry
out of a sense of guilt for being responsible for her death. The king also came
to Jayadeva and begged him to return the life to his wife’s corpse. The great
devotee Jayadeva whispered the name of Krishna into Padmavati’s ear and she
opened her eyes as though she were just waking up. Having seen this
manifestation of both Jayadeva and Padmavati’s glories, the king and queen as
well as all their courtiers and servants paid their obeisances at their
feet.
Jayadeva goes to Vrindavan
After this, Jayadeva wanted to
see Vrindavan. He took leave of the king and queen and then, taking his deities,
Radha and Madhava with him, set off on the long journey. Once in Vrindavan, he
began to serve his deities in a spot near Keshi Ghat. When they heard Jayadeva
sing the Gita-Govinda in his sweet voice, the residents of the dham were
entranced. One merchant built a large temple for the deities on that
spot.
It is said that Jayadeva lived in
Vrindavan for many years and then returned to his birthplace in Kendubilva. Each
day, he would make the long walk to the Ganges to take his bath there. One day,
for some reason or another, he was unable to make it. Ganga Devi was so kind to
him that she came personally to the village of Kendubilva so that he could take
his bath in her waters. It is said that he died there in Kendubilva and every
year a large festival is held there in his memory on the first day of the month
of Magh.
There is a difference of opinions
about where Jayadeva finished his life. Some say Puri, while others say that he
returned to Kendubilva, and others say that he went to Vrindavan. Shrila
Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakur has stated his opinion that Jayadeva
died in Jagannath Puri. Though some people say that Jayadeva returned to
Kendubilva to spend his last days, there is no indication anywhere that his
Radha-Madhava deities were brought there. In fact, these deities were taken by
the king of Jaipur to a place named Ghati sometime after Jayadeva’s death and
they are still being served in the Jaipur area. Jayadeva’s disappearance day is
on the sixth day of the waning moon of the month of Paush.
by His Holiness Shri Bhakti Ballabha Tirtha Maharaja
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Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
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Hare Krishna 🙏
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