There are 9 pages of Jayananda Katha, see the menu at bottom of this page.
Introduction-
When I first came to the San Fransisco temple, I started off my service
with association with Jayananda, and I learned what Krishna Consciousness
was. After he left, sometimes I found myself saying to myself, "this is not
what Jayananda taught me." Ive realized since then, that the remembrance
of Jayananda Thakura, once a year, remembered as an advanced Vaisnava, (and
this is only in some temples, as he is not well known everywhere), is not
good enough. He should be held up as the ideal example of a disciple of Srila
Prabhupada, so that all devotees can benefit.
It is important for us to follow the example of the pure devotee, and we
have Srila Prabhupada. It is also important that we have the example of an
Iskcon devotee who has shown us how to follow Srila Prabhupada properly,
and who has actually attained Krishna Consciousness and true advancement.
At the beginning, I kept thinking that Jayananda was the next acarya, and
now, even though he has "left the planet," still I feel that he is the next
acarya, in a sense. He did not leave us volumes of books or a tape ministry.
Still he was supremely intelligent in everything he did and said. He taught
us by his actions, which is the essence of acarya. He is the acarya by example.
So these stories should be more well known, so that devotees will know the
actual position of an advanced Vaisnava, especially one who is contemporary.
I feel the need to describe the life of Jayananda more, so that all devotees,
new and old, can benefit.
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There are 2 entries on this page:
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Jayananda serves Sri Nama Prabhu so nicely
What is the powerful proof that Krishna is God? Its Hari-Nama. Who of us
have not experienced the divine presence during a great kirtan?
Think of some really great kirtans, and how we all come into
direct contact with the divine internal energy. Gods song is the only
song that has given divine bliss to millions of people, for hundreds of years.
No other song can claim this. Not the Beatles or anyone else, not one of
their songs can enthrall millions time after time for hundreds of years.
Their song will get hackneyed. Hari Nama alone do that, and the Name does
it at any given time. One simply has to go to a Hare Krishna temple and see
for himself, its happening every Sunday feast. We certainly saw this time
after time at the old temple on Valentia street in San Fransisco, with Jayananda
Prabhu. In this entry, I will attempt to recount the many divine kirtans
that we had with Jayananda, and how he was always absorbed in service of
Sri Nama Prabhu.
Jayananda was always saying "somehow, you just have to have faith in the Name." He said this to everybody, at all times, it was his panacea cure for all pains and sorrow. Jayananda had explicit faith in three holy entities, Sri Nama and the words of Srila Prabhupada and prasadam. This was his means of success in all his activities of giving Krishna Consciousness to others. First of all, he would be always serving prasad to others, giving the mercy. Sometimes it was to bums on Market Street or the patrons of some bar. He was missing at a certain time, everyday, and devotees wondered where he was, and someone found him cooking prasad for the poor souls at some bar. They were trying to drown their sorrow in some kind of rotten ale, but somehow they got the mercy. Whenever he was at the temple, he jumped at every chance to serve out Maha-prasada to the guests. And he would cook breakfast prasad for the sankirtan devotees. The times that I went on incense runs with him, on 2 occasions, to Salt Lake city, and to Redding CA, he would always cook our meals, and it was always nectar prasad. Or we would stay at devotees houses here and there, it seemed he always knew somebody at every city, and he would cook for everybody, and wed have a program. In the same way, he was always giving the holy name, or chanting the holy name, starting a kirtan whenever he could. His impromptu kirtans were real famous, Ill talk about that later.
The following is a real memorial kirtan occasion for me, when I was real new at the temple. I did not know the importance of chanting and thought that jnana was more important. I wanted to be Sastra-vid and know scripture well. I thought that reading Srila Prabhupadas books at every chance was the thing. Of course, it is still the thing, but then I did not know the importance of kirtan. So, one Sunday, after the feast, I thought that I was going to go upstairs to the Brahmacari ashram and read. I got up there and was reading when the kirtan started, down below. I was sitting there, trying to concentrate on the book. But the floor started vibrating, and I heard the beginnings of the kirtan, and soon the floor was shaking. The vibration was so powerful, I was looking at the words on the page, but nothing registered. The floor was soon bouncing up and down. The kirtan beckoned me like the sirens in The Homer epic, anyhow, the Name was like a huge magnet and I was iron filings. However important I thought the book was, I had to stop reading and just go, as I was sucked into the whirlpool of the sound of the kirtan and was forced to come running downstairs. When I got to the scene, it was a wonder. San Fransisco was real famous for its Sunday feast kirtans. After the feast, there was always a huge kirtan in the hallway. Why the hallway? I suppose no time to clear out the temple. But these hallway kirtans were wonders. When I got there, I saw Jayananda was in the center, surrounded by 40-50 devotees, just going wild. The kartals and drums were like staccato transcendental machine guns annihilating every inch of maya for miles around. Jayananda was doing this dance, legs back and forth, twirling, going nuts, playing kartals like a madman, and everybody was equally mad, it was really powerful. I never saw such powerful energy, it was Krishnas internal energy. Maybe the sweetrice had a little something to do with it. Yeah, mix ecstatic prasad with ecstatic dancing and chanting, and youll get a crowd of madmen/women there at the Frisco mandir, every Sunday. Itll happen every time.
Frisco was a transcendental cakra. My godbrothers/sisters who served there,
know what I mean. This country is actually a vast wasteland. If youve
traveled here at all, youll see a wasteland. Full of meat eaters killing
their mother, its a sorrowful place. But this country has one redeeming quality,
the soil of America received the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada and the many
deities he installed here. And also from Americas soil came a great
saint named Jayananda Thakur. Without such, it would be one condemned hellhole.
But the land is made useful by supporting the devotees and deities and Srila
Prabhupada. And one very holy city is Frisco (Berkeley), because there is
the transcendental abode of New Jagannatha Puri, the temple of Lord Jagannatha.
(Here is a nice picture of the Lord, and Hanumat Prasak Swami and Misra
Bhagavan.)
And, Frisco is the site of many of the transcendental pastimes
and activities of Jayananda. There are holy spots such as the swan lake in
Golden Gate park, where Srila Prabhupada took his walk so many times. And
there is hippy hill in the park, where Srila Prabhupada had the big kirtan
with all the hippies. There was the Fillmore, where Srila Prabhupada chanted
at the rock concert to the hippies. And, there is the Golden gate park, and
the meadows where many transcendental Ratha Yatras took place. And there
was the wharf, the site of many Hari-namas.
Next is Hari-Nama at the wharf. We had this wonderful place in Frisco, called Fishermans wharf, and Jayananda would take us at times down there to give out the mercy. We would go double file down the sidewalks, and I remember how Jayananda would be in the front, and hed turn around, facing us, and dance backwards, beating the mrdanga, doing this nice dance. It was neat to see him do this backward dance. The people were usually grumpy, trying to digest their putrid fish dinners (they got really nasty right after dinner time), but somehow the chanting made it so transcendental, that at least they would laugh and mimic and repeat in derision thus getting Namabhasa, and liberation from their sordid lives and stinky fish dinners. The nasty venders at the lobster-murder stand would throw stinky fish water at the devotees feet as we went by. Later, Jayananda brought them some cookie prasad and told them how nice it was, how they were doing this nice service for us, cleaning the sidewalk for us!!! They were melted.
Anyhow, they saw this big man dancing backwards towards them, with the devotees trailing, and didnt know what to make of it. It was really cool though, whatever they thought, it certainly was the best day in their miserable sojourn in the long cycle of Samsara. Anyhow, we would chant around, up and down the sidewalk, and at certain points, wed huddle in a circle and chant, and people would gather around and stare. Jayananda would stop the kirtan and give a speech. He would be talking with his eyes closed, telling people the glories of the holy name. I can still see his face, intense, with eyes closed, preaching to the fallen souls. Then he would request them to repeat the mantra and chant along. He said, "just try saying this mantra with us, youve got nothing to lose. Now, just try to repeat these words,"and hed say - Hare Krishna, Hare Rama - and wait for them to say it in return. But they just looked at us like we were from Mars. It was really hard to get them to chant, but Jayananda tried anyway. Regardless what they thought, it was still the best day in their existence.
Next is some episodes of Japa and Jayananda. Jayanandas japa was powerful. He would sit upright and chant real intensely. I vividly remember one occasion, we were in the temple one morning, chanting japa. It was one of those rare occasions when Jayananda was not busy doing something else, but he somehow took time out for japa, even though it was in the daytime, not the early morning hours. The sun was real bright, streaming down in the temple room. The temple room was really transcendentally beautiful in the daytime, with sunlight effulgence enveloping the whole temple room, coming in from the sky light dome window in the roof, right over the middle of the temple. The walls were a nice yellow with many transcendental pictures on the walls. Jayananda was sitting like a yogi, on a mat, back straight, his eyes closed in deep concentration, and the mantra shot out from his lips in a very strong and forceful stacatto rapid-fire stream of nectar. It seemed that all of us stopped our minds for a few moments, stopped our wandering thoughts, our breath stopped for a few moments, and we all took real serious notice of his powerful japa. We all stopped what we were doing and looked at Jayananda and looked at each other in a kind of wonder. Then, there were some new bhaktas who were sitting near the door, and they too stopped with blank looks on their faces, and then both of them started to laugh. I think this was because his japa was so strong and unusual and startling, so vividly real, that they reacted with a confusion of humor, because they didnt know what to think of it. But, I immediately gave them a glance and a frown, sort of saying not to make fun of his japa, and their faces immediately turned somber also. His loud japa went on for a quite a long time too. He didnt know that we were all taking notice, because his eyes were closed the whole time.
There was another incident, in Sacramento. One morning, Jayananda and I took a japa walk outside. We walked down the road, but it was early morning and so dark that I couldnt see Jayananda walking in front of me. I just walked blindly in the dark following his loud japa. Usually dark elicits fear, but I remember how secure and unafraid I was, how I walked with a feeling of shelter and protection in the association of Jayananda and his loud japa.
There was another time, in deep summer, the whole temple decided to go to some swimming hole out of town. It was a nice hot day and we were swimming in this natural swimming hole, having really good Vaisnava fun. After having a good deal of fun, and time was running out, Jayananda decided that we would do a little chanting before we left. There was an RV park just nearby with a lot of people there, lounging in their chairs next to their RVs and so. And so we all had this little Hari-nama Sankirtan on the road, in their full view. I can imagine the surprise and wonder in their minds, to see the devotees chanting in such an unlikely place. Just a peaceful day, and here they were, the shaved heads, dancing and chanting. Jayananda always took a transcendental opportunity in this way.
There was another time in Salt Lake City, we were staying at some devotees house, that Jayananda knew. They had a nice Tulasi. I was still the Jnani that I was, and there happened to be some guests there with a christian leaning. They struck up some questions with me, and I got sucked into the trap. Meanwhile Jayananda started a kirtan in the living room, and they were chanting and dancing, and I was entrapped in this false argument with the christians, caught in the trap. Jayananda was glancing at me, giving disapproving looks, saying, "stop the nonsense and chant with us!" But to my great misfortune, I was so entangled in the argument, that I could not get away from it, due to false ego, etc. Afterwards, there was a guest who commented, "I really dont know about the philosophy so much, but I really do like that chanting that we did, that, I really like!" All my arguing was worthless, and Jayanandas kirtan was everything.
Jayananda was always starting impromptu kirtans at festivals, like the Lord Chaitanya festival in Berkeley and festivals in San Diego and Santa Cruz. When everybody thought it was kind of over, and Jayananda was getting help to clean up, he would start a kirtan all of a sudden and we all joined in. I remember this really sweet kirtan in Berkeley, the sun was going down, and we were all dancing around the big red truck, a big circle around the truck, and it was really sweet and from the heart, spontaneous devotion.
Once at the Ratha site in Frisco, we all took a break and were sitting around a circle and Jayananda distributed some bananas and buttermilk, (his favorite) and we were taking. He was asking this person and that person about relating some Krishna katha, and he asked me. I said something for a while, and then I said how I thought it was too late for me, that I joined the Krishna Consciousness movement too late in life, too old, and felt some hopelessness. Jayananda took this as a sentiment of Vaisnava lamentation of hoping against hope, and he went into an ecstasy and smiled big and his face lit up. Then he got up and got some kartals and started dancing and chanting around the lot and we all followed in single file, around in a big circle.
I seemed to miss Jayanandas lectures for some reason, or do not have any specific memories of one. I had a tape of his lecture, but somehow lost it. Jayananda did not come across as a big erudite scholar, he spoke in simple thought patterns, but very intelligent and thought provoking and convincing. but my godbrother SriKanta told me of one of his lectures one time. It was not a lot of book knowledge or verses, but he told me of how Nalinikanta and he were practically fainting in ecstasy when they were hearing Jayananda. Jayananda was just simply speaking about the boundless mercy of the holy name and how we must put our full faith in the name. This sums up this entry, the important quality of Jayananda was his great faith and service to Sri Nama, how we should always, "just somehow, just have faith in the Name and all success will follow."
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"I wont care for the comforts of my body
."
Srila Bhaktivinode writes in his song, "I wont care for the comforts
of my body
let me preach the Name divine
when, oh when?, will
that day be mine?" These words set the mood for how Jayananda was always
oblivious to the comforts of his body. He only cared to preach the Name,
and serve Srila Prabhupada and others. Sometimes he tolerated excruciating
pain and braved the wild elements of nature with no regard. We shall see
this mood in the following pastimes which Ill attempt to recount.
Jayananda told me one time, of how one summer he was working so hard on the
Ratha carts. He was always working hard on the carts every year, with sparse
help sometimes, sometimes lots of help. Many times he would see a wandering
vagrant, who happened to walk by the carts, some hippie, and Jayananda would
entice him with some prasad. The hippie would eat, and then Jayananda would
persuade them to help on the carts. He got lots of help this way.
Anyway, he was working real hard this particular Ratha Yatra. And what happened,
he somehow stepped on a nail, which went through his shoe, into his foot.
Deep. It was real painful, but he did not let it stop him. He told me of
how he limped around for 3 days, until the day of Ratha Yatra. Not only was
his foot in pain for 3 days, he did not sleep for those three days. Working,
day and night, 24 a day for Lord Jagannatha. This I also saw in the summer
of 75. I would sleep a while, at the Ratha site, and wake up any time of
the night, and see Jayananda working on Srila Prabhupadas Vyasana seat
on the cart. It took him all night to get it the way he wanted it. After
all, it was the day before the parade, and Srila Prabhupada would be riding
on this cart, and Jayananda could not sleep until it was perfect. His devotion
to Prabhupada was boundless.
Now, gentle and loving Bhaktas, this next story will break your heart, it
makes me cry when I think about it, I never hear this before, before coming
here, please hear the nectar of Jayanandas devotion- Somehow, Jayananda
was put in a special place in Mexico, for his cancer condition. A nice devotee,
Muktakesa, told how he came to Jayanandas room to bring something to
him. Muktakesa was there in the room and casually began to sit on the bed,
and before he did, Jayananda stopped him, asking him to please not sit on
the bed. Muktakesa was wondering, why not?, and all, and then he turned and
noticed a picture of Srila Prabhupada at the head of the bed, propped up
by a pillow. Jayananda then explained how he had never had such a nice bed
like this, (as a devotee) and how he thought it was more appropriate, that
his spiritual master Srila Prabhupada should enjoy the bed. I tremble as
I write this. Jayananda gave his nice bed to his beloved Gurudeva, in great
love and devotion, and laid his cancer-ridden body on the floor in the small
space in front of the bed.
We had some really cold summers in San Francisco. It sounds strange, but
true. I think Mark Twain said something about that. The wind would blow in
the cold ocean breeze, and it got real cold sometimes. I remember this one
day, it was so cold! I had on a couple of shirts, sweat shirts and a coat
or two. Then Jayananda came to the Ratha site, and he really blew my mind,
I mean, my mind was really blown. I was standing there, freezing to death,
shivering with all my coats, and here he came- He was only in a T-shirt,
and just shaved his head. The wind was just blowing away all the heat off
his body, and off his head, I was standing, staring, awe-struck, wondering
how he was surviving hypo-thermia. He just worked away, like nothing was
unusual. Then we got in the car, and he read some Gita, as we always read
some of Srila Prabhupadas books to each other at times. He spoke of
the verse of how Supersoul is reached, when one is equal to heat and cold,
honor and dishonor, etc.
Here is another story I heard. It was in New York city. The temple had a
gift shop on the first floor, but it seemed that nobody was into it, there
wasnt much enthusiasm to shop there. And, Jayananda was getting weaker
and weaker. He had to get a wheel chair and get around that way. Somehow,
they gave the service of the gift shop to Jayananda, but moved it up to the
4th floor (I think it was 4th). Before long, it was all due to Jayanandas
enthusiasm and ingenuity, somehow he had customers thronging the gift shop,
coming up the elevator and stairs, whereas previously, the shop was neglected.
There was no impediment to his devotional service.
The same thing in LA. He single-handedly organized the Ratha Yatra, making
many phone calls from his bed. Sometimes he was so weak, confined to a
wheelchair, but some mornings, he would come to Mangal arotik and get up
and dance. He was real weak in bed and told one Prabhu, "someday, youre
going to come in, and find this bag of stool in the bed." The Ratha festival
in LA proved to be the biggest ever, and it all came about due to the desire
of Jayananda.
I came to see him in LA. It was about 2 weeks before he departed. Somehow
I found a good reason to come to LA from Frisco, having no idea how long
he still had. I came to his room, and saw him in bed, being real weak. This
was the last time I saw him. It was very sweet. Normally, I am very uneloquent,
being quiet and tongue-tied usually. Somehow the spirit entered into my heart
and mouth, like I got a little help from goddess Mother Sarasvati, it seemed
like. I had a great desire to say something very praiseworthy to Jayananda
there, person to person. Some others were around too. Besides, I sort of
had him in a bind, he could not walk away, and so I took advantage of the
situation. All of a sudden, I got some eloquence in my tongue and glorified
Jayananda, using examples from CC and the Bhagavatam, how Lord Chaitanya
started the sankirtan movement all over the universe, and similarly Jayananda
started Ratha Yatra all over the world, just from his personal desire to
serve Srila Prabhupada and Lord Jagannatha. I also spoke of how Maharaja
Parikit waited for the 7th day and the snakebird with no fear, because he
was plunged in the nectar of Krishna Katha, and similarly Jayananda was not
afraid of this snakebird cancer thing, because he was plunged in the nectar
of Ratha service to his Guru Maharaja and his dear lord, and so I went on
like this, and he sat there and took the whole thing without blinking an
eye, no waving of the hand for me to stop, no look of disgust in the face,
in fact, he looked a little pleased with me right then. And all the other
devotees liked it too.
And now, dear Bhaktas, this was the time of his final gesture of love and
sweetness, and disregard for his body. It came the time, as it always does,
when one is forced to leave, and I had to leave. I had no idea at that time,
it was the last time. I said my goodbyes, and turned to leave, walked away
a little, and turned, and to my horror, to see Jayananda getting out of his
bed. I knew what he was going to do. I protested, I told him to stop that
nonsense, and get back in the bed, where he belonged. He would not listen
to me. He got up, out of bed, and came to me, and bowed his weak body, down
to the floor, his head touching the floor, asking me to accept his obeisances.
Such sweetness and love! Such tears now, when I remember it! Such disregard
for his body! We paid obeisances to each other, and hugged. I left and that
was the last time I saw him in his earthly form. I kept that image, along
with the many other sacred images of him, all inside, all locked up, deep
inside, not to forget or fade away.
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more stories are being written....
A kindly friend to all
Only for the benefit of others
Jnana Dipena
Just have faith in the Name
Equal to friend and foe
***
Previous stories on Jayananda:
A transcendental fraud -
Jayananda
2
and -
Real love lasts - for eternity -
Jayananda
3
also-
The good ole days
The first time I saw him
Confessions of a nitya-badha
Grief and Separation
if you missed them, click here-
Jayananda files
and other stories by other devotees-
More Jayananda
Katha
and more stories on page 2 - More Jayananda Katha 2
Mukunda Goswami & Jivadhara das rememberances of Jayananda - Jayananda Katha 3
Jayananda rememberances by Adi Keshava- Jayananda Katha 4
Kala-kanta das and Svavas das and Indrannatha das remembers Jayananda - Jayananda Katha 5
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Jayananda was Rathayatra Acarya, and here is an excellent link on Rathayatra that you will want to check out - Rathayatra
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