Gundica Marjana
Cleansing the temple of Sri Sri Radha Govardhanadhari.
Saturday, July 4, 2008.

All are welcome to participate cleansing the Lord’s temple with Vaishnavas.

We will start the day at 10am.

Please bring cleaning paraphernalia if you have any.

Gundica Marjana Ki ! Jai !

Please contact Gaura Shakti Devi Dasi for more information:

gaurashakti@exemail.com.au; Phone: 02-66722773, M: 0415276757

Gundica Temple (in Jagannath Puri, India) cleaning by Lord Caitanya, an incarnation of Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. This festival is celebrated on an annual basis when the impurities and dirt in the temple are removed. The Founder of the Hare Krishna Movement, His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada established this festival in the West and Worldwide.

Excerpted from: Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya -lila, chapter 12, by Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

TEXT 1
sri-gundica-mandiram atma-vrndaih
sammarjayan ksalanatah sa gaurah
sva-citta-vac chitalam ujjvalam ca
krsnopavesaupayikam cakara

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu washed and cleansed the Gundica temple with His devotees and associates. In this way He made the temple as cool and bright as His own heart, and thus He made the place befitting for Lord Sri Krsna to sit.

What is the hidden deeper meaning of Gundica-marjana, the cleaning of the Gundica Temple? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu told some of the associates of the king, the king's guru Kasi Misra, the head pujari, and Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, "I want to do Gundica-marjanam." In previous years, the King would tell some of his servants, "Go and clean the temple." But what could they do? They could sweep, but not with love and affection.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took the service. He first garlanded all of the Vaisnavas present, He put tilaka on them, and He gave them each one broom and one water pot. Then, headed by Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself, all the devotees went to the Gundica Temple while performing kirtanas: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare; Jaya Jagannatha Jaya Jagannatha Jaya Jagannatha Jaya Jagannatha, Jaya Baladeva Jaya Baladeva Jaya Baladeva Jaya Baladeva, Jaya Subhadra Jaya Subhadra Jaya Subhadra Jaya Subhadra. In this way they were all doing kirtana while carrying their brooms and pitchers.

All other persons looked on and wondered, "What new thing is going on? They are all totally mad. Why the brooms and jugs?" Some were laughing, and some were in wonder, and some were looking on very gravely.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates had gone to the temple by the medium of sankirtana. Once there, they all began to clean the temple, and with their brooms they collected many very big stones and and stone chips. What is the deeper meaning of “big stones”? Aparadha – Vaisnava-aparadha (offenses to Vaisnavas) and nama-aparadha (offenses to the holy name). When this was done Sriman Mahaprabhu threw them out of the temple – out of the "heart" temple. What did He throw out? Vaisnava-aparadha and nama-aparadha.

Don’t commit these aparadhas. Be careful regarding Vaisnava-aparadha, guru-avajna (ingratitude and disrespect towards Sri Guru), sastra nindanam (blaspheming Vedic literature) and the rest of the ten kinds of offenses to the holy name. Be also careful to avoid dhama-aparadha (offence to Lord Krsna’s holy abodes like Sri Vrndavana, Sri Navadvipa and Sri Jagannatha Puri); and also avoid the anarthas explained by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his Madhurya Kadambini: svarupa-brahma, asat-trsna, hrdaya-daurbalya, aparadha, laya, viksepa, and all others.* [see endnote 1]

Srila Rupa Gosvami has written in Sri Upadesamrta,

vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat

["A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind's demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world." (Upadesamrta, sloka 1)]

atyaharah prayasas ca
prajalpo niyamagrahah
jana-sangas ca laulyam ca
sadbhir bhaktir vinasyati

["One's devotional service is spoiled when he becomes too entangled in the following six activities: (1) eating more than necessary or collecting more funds than required; (2) over endeavoring for mundane things that are very difficult to obtain; (3) talking unnecessarily about mundane subject matters; (4) Practising the scriptural rules and regulations only for the sake of following them and not for the sake of spiritual advancement, or rejecting the rules and regulations of the scriptures and working independently or whimsically; (5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in Krsna consciousness; and (6) being greedy for mundane achievements." (Upadesamrta, sloka 2)]

Moreover,

trnad api sunicena
taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih.

["Thinking oneself to be even lower and more worthless than insignificant grass which has been trampled beneath everyone's feet, being more tolerant than a tree, being prideless, and offering respect to all others according to their respective positions, one should continuously chant the holy name of Sri Hari." (Siksastaka, sloka 3)]

You will have to give up all bad habits, but I know that you cannot. We are very fallen. Who can follow these verses? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Svarupa Damodara, Sri Raya Ramananda, Sri Brahmananda Bharati, Sri Paramananda Puri, Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Sri Advaita Acarya, Sri Pundarika Vidyanidhi, Sri Vakresavara Pandita and others like them. They can do so.

First take shelter of your Gurudeva, and following him, take the shelter of all the pure devotees in his line – those in the guru-parampara. Call out to them, "O Svarupa Damodara, O Ramananda Raya! Please give me your shelter, I am dying." Call out in this way, while always weeping.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was acting as an acarya; He was doing the cleaning Himself and then teaching others. Some so-called guru may say, "I don't do it, but I tell my disciples, "You should chant at least 64 rounds." His disciples cannot ask him, "How many rounds do you do?" They fear, but any very bold disciple may ask, "How many rounds are you doing? And in what mood are you doing them?" That bogus guru, that kan-guru, will not be able to reply, but a real guru can say, "Oh, I try to do 64, sometimes more then that."

By His own behavior Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu teaches all of us that we should especially try to give up pratistha, false pride. He Himself is Sri Krsna and Srimati Radhika; yet, when a Gaudiya bhakta was putting water on His feet and then drinking that water, He appeared displeased – though He was pleased. He told Sri Svarupa Damodara, "Oh, this Gaudiya; what is he doing? I will go to hell. In front of the temple deity – not deity, but the deity's simhasana (throne) – he is washing My feet and drinking that water. I will certainly have to go to hell."

Sri Svarupa Damodara at once pushed that boy, took him out of the temple and told him, "You have done very well. But others should be careful and therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was externally angry, just to teach others. Anyway, I will ask Him to be merciful to you. Wait here and I will call you." He returned and said, "O Mahaprabhu, that person was quite ignorant and foolish. He does not know anything, so please be merciful to him."

Sriman Mahaprabhu told Srila Jagadananda Pandita, Sri Svarupa Damodara, and others who were distributing mahaprasada after the cleaning of the Gundica Temple, because He knew the devotees liked sweets, "Give sweet preparations to all the Vaisnavas, and to Me only give laphra." Laphra means mixed boiled vegetables. Mahaprabhu Himself acted in this way, so don’t think, "Good preparations should be given to me, and the other, less tasty dishes should be given to others."

To give us practical instructions, Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu cleansed the temple twice. His second cleansing was more thorough. The idea was to throw away all the stumbling blocks on the path of devotional service. He cleansed the temple with firm conviction, as is evident from His using His own personal garments for cleaning. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to see personally that the temple was thoroughly cleansed to the standard of clean marble. Clean marble gives a cooling effect. Devotional service means attaining peace from all disturbances caused by material contamination. In other words, it is the process by which the mind is cooled. The mind can be peaceful and thoroughly cleansed when one no longer desires anything but devotional service.

Even though all dirty things may be cleansed away, sometimes subtle desires remain in the mind for impersonalism, monism, success and the four principles of religious activity (dharma, artha, kama and moksa). All these are like spots on clean cloth. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also wanted to cleanse all these away.

By His practical activity, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu informed us how to cleanse our hearts. Once the heart is cleansed, we should invite Lord Sri Krsna to sit down, and we should observe the festival by distributing prasada and chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to teach every devotee by His personal behavior. Everyone who spreads the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepts a similar responsibility. The Lord was personally chastising and praising individuals in the course of the cleaning, and those who are engaged as acaryas must learn from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu how to train devotees by personal example. The Lord was very much pleased with those who could cleanse the temple by taking out undesirable things accumulated within. This is called anartha-nivrtti, cleansing the heart of all unwanted things. Thus the cleansing of the Gundica-mandira was conducted by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to let us know how the heart should be cleansed and soothed to receive Lord Sri Krsna and enable Him to sit within the heart without disturbance.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also cleansed the Nrsimha temple inside and outside. Finally, He rested a few minutes and then began dancing. All around Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu all the devotees performed congregational chanting. The Lord, just like a maddened lion, danced in the middle. As usual, when Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced, there were perspiration, trembling, fading, tears, jubilation and roaring. Indeed, the tears from His eyes washed His body and those before Him. In this way Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu washed the bodies of all the devotees with the tears from His eyes. The tears poured like rains in the month of Sravana. The sky was filled with the great and loud chanting of sankirtana, and the earth shook from the jumping and dancing of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu always liked the loud chanting of Svarupa Damodara.