20220722 Nāmahaṭṭa Initiation Address

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on July 22nd, 2022 in Sri Dhama Mayapur,India. The address was given at the Namhatta initiation ceremony.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

I was very interested in going there in person, but since I still am COVID positive, there is danger to the devotees even if I go there. That is why I am giving the initiation virtually from here. Have all taken vows? Generally, the living entities think that they are the body. But we are eternal, spirit souls. And we have a body. And by taking this first initiation, we are all completely surrendering to the Lord. The Lord says that:

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
(Bg. 4.11)

If we whole heartedly surrender to the Lord, then the Lord will reciprocate this fully as well. The Lord is always ready to accept our surrender, but we are not surrendering to Him. That is not the Lord’s fault, it is our fault. Now, devotees from Assam have come here, in the same way we will all surrender to the Lord. Ambala is in Haryana. Delhi, Gorakhpur (from Uttar Pradesh). Who is on the internet? Purulia, Jharkhand, devotees have come from many places. We desire that all the devotees get kṛṣṇa-prema. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He came down from Goloka to distribute love to all. Now, the most merciful of all incarnation is, Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Who wants the mercy of Lord Caitanya, raise your hands!

Lord Caitanya says on one hand that people should attain perfection of life and on the other hand help others to also attain this prema. All of you should endeavor to see that not only you go back to Godhead but take many others also with you.

That is why we should all follow the nine practices of devotional service all through our life. Śravaṇam and kīrtanam are the main limbs of these nine practices. Read the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, worship the Deities. All of you would have taken shelter for at least six-months, I think. So hopefully your minds will be steady now and you will be able to do the devotional service. That is why you are all getting first initiation. There are ceremonies, but this first initiation you get more than what you get in harināma initiation. In harināma initiation there is only a spiritual name given and you are given chanting beads. But we give spiritual name, beads, fire sacrifice and taking of vows. This way, this is much more than harināma initiation. That is why this is called first initiation and if you take this, you can go back to Godhead. If you wish to do special service to guru and do Deity worship, then you can take second initiation. After the first initiation, after a year, if you get the Bhakti-śāstrī degree, then you can take second initiation. I hope that all of you will sincerely chant and follow all the regulative principles all your life. And all my disciples will help me in fulfilling the instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Who will help me, raise your hands!

Today, aspiring, shelter and first initiation will take place.