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mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: I am very glad to be here in ISKCON Vishakhapatnam. I have come here after visiting Vijayawada, Guntur, Rajahmundry. I also visited ISKCON Hyderabad as well. So I spent some time in Hyderabad. The reception here was beyond expectation. I saw the Deities here of Rādhā Dāmodara, Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, Rāma Lakṣmaṇa, Sītā, Hanumān and also Nitāi-Gaura.

Actually, Lord Caitanya after taking sannyāsa, He went to Jagannātha Purī. And He came to South India starting at Vishakhapatnam. He gave His instructions in Andhra Pradesh. To the brāhmaṇa in Kūrmadeśa, in Śrīkākulam. So Lord Caitanya, there He gave the instruction that – yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya hañā tāra’ ei deśa. There was a brāhmaṇa with leprosy. His name was Vāsudeva. But he was very merciful, and his body was being eaten by lice. And if some fleas fell off his sores, he would pick them up and put them back on his body. So he was very detached. When he came, Lord Caitanya had already left. He rolled on the ground and was crying, “Oh no! oh no! I have lost the chance of my life!” But Lord Caitanya, He appeared out of nowhere. He embraced Vāsudeva, the leper. And Vāsudeva, the leper, he was cured of his leprosy. But he thought I got cured and I may become very proud. Lord Caitanya said, “If you chant the holy names always, you will not be proud.” Like that Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was doing many miracles in south India.

He met Rāmānanda Rāya in Rajahmundry. His discussions with Rāmānanda Rāya are in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Rāmānanda Rāya was technically a śūdra. But he was a great devotee. So when he spoke with Lord Caitanya, Lord Caitanya became very ecstatic. There are verses in the Vedas, that if a person is a highly qualified brāhmaṇa but he is not a Vaiṣṇava, then he cannot be a guru. Even if one is born in a caṇḍāla family, if he is a Vaiṣṇava, he can be a guru. The Śaṅkarācārya said that you have to be a sannyāsī to get liberation. Lord Caitanya said, gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. Whether you are a gṛhastha or a vairāgī, you can achieve the spiritual world. There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His names. So we want everyone to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and make their lives perfect.

Lord Caitanya explained that how being born in India is a special thing. Bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra (Cc. Ādi 9.41). We are very happy that Sāmba Prabhu and Nitāi Sevinī Mātājī are preaching here in Vishakhapatnam. Lord Caitanya spent six years in South India. He did things in South India which He did not do in Navadvīpa! Although His name was Nimāi Paṇḍita, He did not talk to the smārtha-brāhmaṇas. But here in South India He would embrace anyone, the smārta-brāhmaṇas, anyone and give them kṛṣṇa-prema! So you are very fortunate to be born as a human being in Bharata and to be here in the holy place of Lord Narasiṁhadeva. We are very glad that we have our Māyāpur Institute teacher here who is teaching Bhakti-śāstrī. We heard that Sāmba Prabhu got his Bhakti-śāstrī degree. He told me that he read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books around 40 times! They are going to set up an institute here in Vishakhapatnam. And the devotees can study Bhakti-vaibhava. I am also taking a test of Bhakti-vaibhava. They wanted to give me an honorary Bhakti-vedānta degree. After Bhakti-vaibhava comes Bhakti-vedānta. But I told that I want to take the test, I want to earn it! I hope that you all read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books and take the test. And we would like to see great scholars from Vishakhapatnam. In Coimbatore they had me give 125 Bhakti-śāstrī certificates. I think that Vishakhapatnam should not be less than Coimbatore. Because this temple is supposed to be one of the most beautiful temples in the whole world! And a special temple in South India. Of course, it is just on the shore of the Bay of Bengal.

I don’t know if you do dramas here. I saw a drama in Chennai performed by kids. Two Yamadūtas were complaining to Yamarāja, the king of death. There was a girl playing the role of Yamarāja and she had painted a mustache. The Yamadūtas were complaining, what ISKCON is seeing, they are messing up with our work! The gṛhasthas are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa in their houses. They are going to the temple. They also have Deities in their houses. In their houses they are reading Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We cannot touch them, we cannot go into their house. We cannot take them to hell! If more devotees start doing like this, we will soon be out of our job! Who from you want to have mercy on the Yamadūtas? Who want to give the Yamadūtas a vacation?

I was supposed to speak just for five minutes. Anyway, we want all of you should have temples in your house, read Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and taking kṛṣṇa-prasāda. Be free of the Yamadūtas! Just like free of mosquitos. Naturally, people think that the goal of life is satisfying their senses and by doing that they accumulate karma. So, here we are having some initiations. In previous ages people did various severe austerities. In the Kali-yuga you just chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and very little austerity we have to follow. We don’t eat non-veg, we eat kṛṣṇa-prasāda and cake. How many like kṛṣṇa-prasāda? No intoxication. No sex life outside of marriage. No gambling. So these minor austerities one should do. And still people find it difficult. But if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then that gives you the abilities to do things. In India there are many people who do this. So anyway, we are trying to give this opportunity to everyone to go back home back to Godhead. By practicing bhakti-yoga, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa we can develop these ecstatic symptoms. Hare Kṛṣṇa!