Apperance day of Vrindavan Das Thakura

Why should we not eat meat? Those who consume meat, spelled M.E.A.T., should consider this: “ME” refers to oneself, and “EAT” implies that what you consume today will consume you tomorrow or any other day. This is because every action has a reaction, an action/counter-action. Just as you would not consume the flesh of your own son, daughter, wife, parents, or friends, why would you take meat from animals? They also have relatives. While they may not speak our language, they do communicate in their own way.

Why not eggs? An egg is an embryo, an unborn being. Just as we cannot take the embryo of our own mother, wife, girlfriend, daughter, or sister, how can we take the embryo of birds? They will curse us, and this is very, very dangerous for our lives. Therefore, no meat, no eggs—no chicken in the kitchen, remember this.

My main area of preaching is the United States of America. Medical scientists in the U.S. have discovered that red meat is the root cause of colon cancer. Red meat includes beef, pork, lamb, and goat. For this reason, out of fear, many Americans have become vegan or vegetarian.

Someone might ask a question: “If we don’t eat chicken, calf, goat, cow, lamb, or pork, how will the animal population in the world be balanced?” You are not the balance maker! The balance maker is Krishna Himself. When you have so much money at a young age, you might think, “Oh! We can do whatever we like.” Then your false pride will increase! Do not think you are the doer. Krishna is the supreme controller; let Him do everything. Even when something happens in our own bodies, we cannot cure ourselves, so how can we make balance? Therefore, do not think you are the balance maker; Krishna is the balance maker.

Now we have advanced so much in technology, we have sent so many satellites in the space, like just 15 days ago, there was a big hurricane in India. By the satellite the scientists can understand about a hurricane coming in future, but can they check it and stop it? Every year in America, so many hurricanes and forest fires, with the help of satellites they can understand, but cannot stop these natural calamities. So this is not in the hands of human beings, it is only under the hands of (control of) God. Therefore we human beings are not balance makers.

Una pregunta (a question) may come, that who will take meat, beef and all these things etc. for eating. It is mentioned in the scriptures, in Vedas, Who will take meat?, whoever has canines, meaning whose teeth are round at top and sharp at the bottom like dog, rat, cat, lion, tiger. They have the right reserved to take meat by their birth, like birds and others but not human beings.

Another thing mentioned in the Vedas, that you can see whoever is vegetarian by their constitution, when they take birth, their eyes will be open, like human beings, cows, goats, deer, buffalos, when they are born their eyes are open. But those who are allowed to take beef, meat and all that, when they take birth their eyes are never open at that time. They take a few days to open their eyes, for example lion cubs, all these dogs, cats, or fish, birds while taking birth their eyes will never be open.

When we are drinking water, like from a glass, we take sips and keep drinking. Similarly cows, buffalos, deer etc. they also drink like taking sips continuously. But those who are constitutionally allowed to take meat, how do they drink water? By licking with the help of their tongue and not like taking sips. This is also mentioned in the scriptures.

And if you are travelling at night, those animals who are constitutionally allowed to take meat, if you put a little torch light on their eyes, you can see their eyes glowing, so much effulgence coming out of their eyes, but for humans and cows etc, it doesn’t happen like this in their eyes at night.

So, I am requesting all of you who came today for initiation but could not be initiated due to not being fully vegetarian: you have to take a vow. I will not take any more, any more, any more, either beef, or pork, or egg, and also onion or garlic. You have to inspire others, and your relatives and friends, to also not take these. And when I come next time, I want to see 50-60 devotees for initiation. Krishna told Himself in Bhagwat gita –

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ

yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam

aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

Bg. 9.26

If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it. Leaf, flower, water – any devotee offering me these with great honor (deep faith) will be accepted. Krishna never said that by honor or great faith, you can offer me meat, pork, beef, or egg. NEVER!

So, what is not allowed to offer to Krishna, don’t take it. If you have taken something unknowingly, don’t take it anymore.

Today is the appearance day of Shri Vrindavan Das Thakur. Who is Shri Vrindavan Das Thakur? When Lord Krishna appeared in this world in the Dvapara Yuga, Vyasadev composed Bhagavatam, the life history and pastimes of Lord Krishna. The same Lord Krishna appeared in this Kali Yuga in the form of Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and the same Vyasadev came in the form of Shri Vrindavan Das Thakur. Vrindavan Das Thakur, in his book Shri Chaitanya Bhagavat, narrates the pastimes of Lord Mahaprabhu and His associates. So, the same Vyasadev came in the form of Vrindavan Das Thakur. Today is the appearance day of Shri Vrindavan Das Thakur.

So, Vrindavan Das Thakur, who is he? I am giving some background about him. There is no difference between Lord Krishna and Lord Mahaprabhu. Lord Krishna appeared in this world in the form of Mahaprabhu to fulfill the desires that He could not fulfill in the Dvapara Yuga. So, Krishna and Mahaprabhu are the same. Krishna performed the Rasa dance, and Mahaprabhu also performed the Rasa dance. The specialty of Krishna’s Rasa dance was that only young girls could take part in it. In Mahaprabhu’s Rasa dance, only male personalities could take part. In Krishna’s Rasa dance, no males were allowed to go there, and in Mahaprabhu’s Rasa dance, no females were allowed to go there.

Lord Krishna performed the Rasa dance in Vrindavan’s Braj Mandal, and Mahaprabhu performed the Rasa dance in Navadwip Mandal, in the house of Srivasa Pandit. Srivasa Pandit had four brothers: Srivasa, Ramai, Nandai, and Srinidhi. Out of the four brothers, Srivasa Pandit had one niece named Narayani. When Mahaprabhu was performing the Rasa dance, Narayani was a young girl, three or four years old. Narayani used to fill the water with which everyone washed Mahaprabhu’s feet. And Mahaprabhu, every day after taking prasadam, kept some remnants for Narayani. She was so fortunate; Mahaprabhu did not give His remnants to others, but for that baby girl, He used to keep His remnants. So, one day Mahaprabhu asked Narayani, “Can you weep, chanting ‘Krishna Krishna’?” Then that three- or four-year-old Narayani started chanting “Krishna Krishna” and weeping bitterly, rolling on the ground.

When Narayani had grown up, she got married, and Vrindavan Das Thakur, the Vyasadev of Shriman Mahaprabhu’s era, took birth from Narayani’s womb. So, he wrote in Chaitanya Bhagavat: When Shriman Mahaprabhu came, as a small baby, His mother was Sachi Devi, and His father was Jagannath Mishra. The small Mahaprabhu was sometimes kicking, sometimes moving His hands and feet, sometimes holding His toe and sucking it. He performed human-like pastimes. One day Mother Sachi saw that all around her house were small footprints with so many auspicious marks like a conch shell, disc, lotus, and club. Mother Sachi was very surprised. She thought, “Who is walking here and there, leaving such nice auspicious marks? Maybe our Thakurji, the Shaligrama shila, is moving around!”

One day, Mother Sachi Devi was feeding her breast milk to baby Nimai. Mother was also caressing Him, sometimes kissing Him, and Mahaprabhu became very happy, starting to kick his feet. Then Mother Sachi saw, “Oh, whatever auspicious marks I saw, those small footmarks, Nimai’s feet are also the same size and all those auspicious marks are on his feet.” Then, thinking again, “No, no, no, my boy cannot walk. He is too small to walk, only three to four months old. It must be our Shaligrama shila taking Thakurji’s form and walking here and there.”

Vrindavan Das Thakur wrote in Chaitanya Bhagavat that Mahaprabhu had now grown a little older and knew how to walk. In this world, the most attractive and handsome is Krishna, so the whole world is running after Him. Is anyone more attractive, handsome, and beautiful than Krishna? Yes, Who? Shrimati Radhika! So Krishna is always running after Her. And Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the combined beauty of Shrimati Radhika and Krishna, so He is the most beautiful, the most attractive, and the most handsome.

Now He is growing up, and Mother Sachi put collyrium in His eyes, dotted Gopi sandalwood paste on His forehead, and put a cloth on His belly. Mahaprabhu was a very young boy at that time, around two years old, and He looked so beautiful. Whoever saw Him once, their eyelids couldn’t come down; they were in awe of Mahaprabhu’s beauty and just kept staring at Him, only watching and watching.

Every day, after bathing her son, Mother decorated Mahaprabhu with so many ornaments. Two dacoits were moving here and there, and after looking at Mahaprabhu, they thought, “Oh, so many ornaments! If we can kidnap this boy and take away all his ornaments, then our lives will be successful.”

And Shriman Mahaprabhu had some desire to go out because He was a small boy. Mother and father didn’t allow Him to go out. The boy was playing in the courtyard of Mother Sachi Devi and Jagannatha Mishra; no one else was there. Two dacoits came, kidnapped the boy, and left.

So they put Mahaprabhu Nimai on their shoulders. One dacoit said, “I will take all these ornaments and divide them amongst us, but not yet. When I get to an isolated place, then I’ll take them.” Wherever they were going, there were so many people here and there. People were thinking, “Maybe this small boy belongs to them.” They were very happily carrying Him, sometimes kissing Him, and Mahaprabhu wandered all over Mayapur. They couldn’t understand, “Wherever we go, there are so many people. How can we drop Him and take everything? Wherever we go, they are moving around. Why are there so many people? This area never had so many people. This area was a solitary place. Where did these people come from?”

Then, moving around, what to do? And they could not understand where they were going. They thought, “Now we’ve come to our own house; then we’ll take all the ornaments.” But they brought Him to the house of Mahaprabhu’s parents. The dacoits were saying, “We came to the boy’s house!” Mahaprabhu said, “Yes, yes, you came to my own house!” They dropped Him, “Oh my gosh! How did we come here?” Seeing this was not their house, they ran away. On the other hand, Mother Sachi and Jagannatha Mishra were all searching. Some neighbors came, and then Mahaprabhu Nimai ran and jumped into the lap of Jagannatha Mishra.

So now Jagannatha Mishra and others were searching for who brought their boy. “For more than hours, he was not here; we could not find him. We have to reward someone.” They were searching. The dacoits were thinking, “Oh my goodness! Today our lives were saved. If they caught us red-handed, then they would beat us bitterly. Maybe the demigods saved us today. We will not go there anymore.”

So, Shri Vrindavan Das Thakur writing: When Mahaprabhu was a small boy, sucking breast milk, sometimes He would look at His mother’s face, and Mother would say, “My dear boy,” patting Him to put Him to sleep.

“There was a king named Dasharatha…” (Mahaprabhu making a “Hmm” sound)
“He had three queens: Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, Sumitra…” (“Hmm”)
“For a long time, they had no baby…” (“Hmm”)
“After that, they did very severe austerity with fire sacrifice, then the king and queen got four sons…” (“Hmm”)
“Out of the four sons, the elder son’s name was Rama…” (“Hmm”)
“After some time, they got married.”
Mahaprabhu, Nimai Pandit, was making “Hmm” sounds, and His eyes were closing; He became sleepy.
Mother was patting Him and telling the story, “Then, due to some circumstances, the elder son, Rama, had to go into exile…” (“Hmm”)
“Being in exile, one demonic king, Ravana, came and kidnapped Sita, the wife of Rama.”
When He heard this, He jumped up from the bed.
“Lakshman! Where is my bow and arrow? Bring the bow and arrow! I’ll kill Ravana immediately!”
Mother Sachi was surprised, “What happened? Has any ghost possessed this boy? You were almost sleepy!” Here Mahaprabhu was showing who He is. He is Krishna, He is Rama, He is everything.
To show this, but due to the influence of Yogamaya, Mother could not understand.

And in this book, Vrindavan Das Thakur is writing more pastimes of Shriman Nityananda Prabhu.

Shriman Nityananda Prabhu was none other than Baladeva Prabhu or Lakshmana. When Lakshmana came in Tretayuga, Lord Rama gave Him so many orders, and His heart was breaking. Then He (Lakshmana) promised, “If I come in the future, I will not come as a younger brother; I will come as an elder brother. I will order Him; He will be bound to follow my order.”

So, in Dvapara Yuga, the same Lakshmana came in the form of Baladeva Prabhu, ordering Krishna, and in Kali Yuga, the same Baladeva Prabhu or Lakshmana came in the form of Nityananda Prabhu. So Vrindavan Das Thakur narrates more pastimes of Nityananda Prabhu than Mahaprabhu.

Nityananda Prabhu is an Avadhuta and has an unpredictable nature. No one can tell anything about Him, what He will do, or when He will do it. Why? This is the nature of Bhagavan! So one day, He came to the house of Mother Sachidevi and asked, “Mother! I am very hungry, give me something!”

Mother Sachidevi gave Him four sandesh. It’s a type of sweet very famous in Bengal, Kolkata. He ate some, smashed the rest, and threw it in the sand, and it all became covered in dust. Mother Sachi told Nitai, “Why did you destroy this and throw it in the dust?”

After some time, Nityananda Prabhu asked, “Mother, please give me sweets.”

Sachi Devi said, “From where can I give you again?”

Nityananda Prabhu replied, “Mother, where I threw it? No, go where you brought me, you can get more sweets there.”

Sachi Maiya said, “No, my dear son, there are none.”

Nityananda Prabhu told her, “No, Mother! There are three there, please go, Mother, and see.”

Mother Sachi found three more sweets there, neat and clean. Again Nityananda Prabhu said, “Mother! Mother! Look, I told you when you can get sweets there!”

Shriman Nityananda Prabhu was living in the house of Srivasa Pandit, and He always addressed the wife of Srivasa Pandit, Malini Devi, as “Mother.” Nityananda Prabhu, though grown up and over 20 years of age, would come and sit on Mother Malini’s lap and suck her breast milk, and milk would come. He always thought, “I am the son of my mother,” and Malini also treated Him like her own son. One day, Mother Malini was weeping bitterly. Nityananda Prabhu asked, “Mother, why are you weeping? What happened?”

Mother Malini said, “Oh my dear son! There was one small silver cup full of ghee. One crow came and took it and flew from here.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, my son, this ghee and the silver bowl belong to our deity of Krishna.”

Then Nityananda Prabhu said, “Oh crow, bring the bowl of ghee of my mother! Bring it, don’t delay, bring it!”

He said this a few times, and the crow flew back, placed the ghee and the silver bowl in front of Malini Devi, and then flew away.

“How did this become possible?” When I asked Gurudev (Srila Narayan Goswami Maharaj), Gurudev told me, “Listen, each and every living soul has a soul and a Supersoul. The Supersoul is a part and part and part of Nityananda Prabhu. When Nityananda Prabhu spoke, the Supersoul inspired that crow, who resides in the heart of the crow. Then the Supersoul forced him to do that; he brought that cup and placed it in front of Malini Devi.”

One day, Nimai Pandit, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, told Nityananda and Haridas, “Suno suno Nityananda! Suno Haridas! Amar aagya sarvarth kariha Prakash! Pratighare bare kiya Mangu Bhiksha Bolo Krishna Kaho Krishna karo Krishna Shiksha!!”

“O Nitai Nityananda, O Haridas, go every door to door and beg for some alms. Not just any ingredients like rice, chapati, or flour. Ask them to chant ‘Krishna’ only once. And they learn about Krishna; they teach others about Krishna. This is the alms you should beg for.”

“Diva vasane Aashiya Amar kohiba.” “When sunset comes, come to me and tell me that if someone does not recite the name of Krishna, does not chant the name of Krishna, then I will take my disc and chop off their head.”

When they went to so many householders, they brought so much rice, dal, ghee, chapati, flour, etc. ”We are only asking you to chant Krishna.” Nityananda Prabhu is Baladeva Prabhu Himself, beautiful like Krishna, so beautiful that all who saw Him began chanting, and tears came down their faces.

One day, Nityananda Prabhu looked at some drunkards who were drinking there. He thought, “If they don’t chant Hare Krishna, then I think Nimai Pandit is Krishna Himself otherwise I will not accept Him as Godhead. Let us go there.” All the gentlemen said, “Don’t go! Whoever goes there, they kill them!” Not listening, Nityananda Prabhu said, “Haridas, let us go there!”

The drunkards’ names were Jagai and Madhai, Jagadananda Bandopadhyay and Madhavananda Bandopadhyay. They were from a highly qualified Brahmin family. But, due to bad association, they became very big drunkards. Their nickname was Jagai and Madhai. In this world, people drink from a small bottle or a glass. They were not happy with that. They used to drink, at a time, 10 to 15 liters of alcohol from big, big clay pots. And their eyes were always reddish. Any sinful activity that exists in this world, they had done it. Always… {Srila Gurudev jokingly imitates drunk Jagai and Madhai}. If someone came, they would rob and kill them. And they had too many followers also.

So, what was their philosophy? What is the drunkards’ philosophy?

Pi, Pi, Pi…Jee Bharke Pi.

Jab Nahi Rahega Ji,Kaun Kahega Pi?

This means, “Pi, Pi…” “Drink more, drink more, with your complete satisfaction. When you open your mouth, wine or whiskey must be visible.”

“Jab Nahi Rahega Ji…” “When you have no life here, who will ask you to drink?!”

So, drink more, drink more… This is their philosophy.

{Devotees laugh}

So, the philosophy of the drunkards… they drank too much. At the time of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, there was only one pair: Jagai and Madhai. And nowadays, in every country, there are so many Jagai and Madhai. You can see.

So, Jagai and Madhai, the drunkards, after drinking, slept on the mattress. At that time, the mattress was not made of wool; it was made of cotton and something like coconut fiber. They used to drink, smoke cigarettes, and throw them on the side. And the cigarettes gradually… gradually caught fire on the mattress. It was not blazing; it was just gradually burning.

They were sleeping, and all the sides had become hot; it was burning, and they were touching it and saying, “Pi Poo, Pi Poo… My back is burning, my back is burning… Bhu Su, Bhu Su… Turn your side.”

“My back is burning! Turn your side.” They couldn’t understand because they were so intoxicated with alcohol that they had no idea their back was burning. This is the philosophy of drunkards. Before coming here, we were in America, and prior to that, we were in Guyana. In Guyana, there were many lotus flowers and stray dogs. One drunkard, who had consumed a significant amount of alcohol in the afternoon, fell into a ditch. A street dog, following its natural instinct to urinate on objects slightly taller than itself, approached the drunkard and lifted its paw to urinate on his face. The drunkard, unaware of what was happening, started drinking the urine, thinking someone was offering him green tea. This is the fate of a drunkard. This is the destiny of a drunkard.

Once, a wealthy person’s son went out drinking and became heavily intoxicated. Wanting to return home, he got into his Jaguar car but couldn’t find the steering wheel, which had apparently been stolen. Due to his habit, he called his friend and asked him to inform his parents that he wouldn’t be coming home that night. His friend asked, ‘What’s wrong? You have your car with you, right?’ The son replied, ‘Yes, but someone has stolen the steering wheel, so I can’t come home.’ Half an hour later, the son’s hangover had subsided somewhat. He washed his hands and face, started the car, and called his friend again, asking if he had told his parents. His friend replied, ‘No, I haven’t. Have you found the steering wheel?’ The son said, ‘No, I was searching for it in the back seat.’ But the steering wheel is always in the front seat, not the back seat. How can one even drive while sitting in the back seat and searching for the steering wheel? This is the state of a drunkard.

I belong to the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya, started by Brahmaji—the four-headed Brahma with eight eyes. As I belong to the same sampradaya, so I have the power of eight eyes in my two eyes. Listening to Hari Katha, one devotee, one lady devotee, was asking another lady devotee to find Maharaj’s garland, while she was replying it was broken. While sitting here, I am watching everywhere.

So Jagai and Madhai were big drunkards, and they drank so much. Nityananda Prabhu asked Haridas Thakur, “Let us go, they must have to chant Hare Krishna.”

One gentleman told them, “Don’t go there! Whoever has gone never came alive! Don’t go, we are praying, don’t go, don’t go.”

Nityananda Prabhu told him, “We must go there!”

Going there, He told them, “O bhai, dear brother, chant Krishna, chant Krishna!”

Jagai and Madhai roared in a drunkard voice and ran after them. Nityananda Prabhu/Baladeva Prabhu always went for cow grazing, very thin and ran very fast. Haridas Thakur was a little chubby and could not run so fast. But Jagai and Madhai ran so much; they wanted to run faster, but due to being in a drunkard condition, they couldn’t balance and catch Nityananda Prabhu and Haridas Thakur, who ran away. So, how Jagai and Madhai got delivered by Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu…you could not belive, such a nice pastime, it will take some time, so I am finishing here this time.

Hare Krishna