20221105 Initiation Address to Nāmahaṭṭa Devotees

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Today devotees from north and South 24 Parganas and other places are having their initiation ceremony. Today, in the month of Dāmodara, and the second day of the Bhīṣma-Pancaka vrata. Today on this special day some devotees are pledging to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. They have come to surrender, ātma-nivedanam. They will accept guru as per the śāstra and they will follow whatever the scriptures say and follow the spiritual master’s instructions all their lives. Whatever the guru says, they will do. We all want to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa had come as Lord Caitanya to liberate all the conditioned souls. In that way, all the devotees assembled here will try to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said: Yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya hañā tāra’ ei deśa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu ordered that everyone should distribute the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda had written the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, that was spoken from the lotus mouth of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is about Lord Kṛṣṇa and His devotees. Other than that Caitanya-caritāmṛta has all the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. This way, we hope that all the devotees will read these books. Otherwise, how will they understand about Lord Kṛṣṇa? [2:21:33] I heard that Caitanya Mahāprabhu had left kṛṣṇa-prema in the Padmā river when He bathed so that Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura when he bathed there would take advantage of that kṛṣṇa-prema. Caitanya Mahāprabhu had left kṛṣṇa-prema there and Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura got kṛṣṇa-prema after having bath there. Our previous ācārya, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had said that he had written his books with personal feeling, bhāva and love. That means if anyone reads the books of Śrīla Prabhupāda then they can also get the advantage of the prema in those books. I hope that all of you will get that prema! Prema is such a thing that devotees think that liberation is despicable, they only want prema. I hope that all of you by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, doing service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, with Śrīla Prabhupāda’s blessings will be able to get the advantage of prema. But you should try all the while to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. The Nāmahaṭṭa is there so that there will be more and more devotees who will join in to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. In the Nāmahaṭṭa, there is chanting of the holy name and service to Lord Kṛṣṇa that way. Śrīla Prabhupāda had said that for those who are serving Lord Kṛṣṇa, if they face obstacles or inconvenience, then Kṛṣṇa is more happy. You should not think that there are so many obstacles, why should I do devotional service? Because there is inconvenience in service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, that is you will become dearer to Lord Kṛṣṇa. You should try to learn to understand the significance of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Now, Lord Kṛṣṇa said that those who understand that His janma, karma are divya, that is His birth and activities are divine, they will not have another birth. That is why you should try to understand that Lord Kṛṣṇa is divine. This way you should understand His pastimes like how He appeared in Mathurā and Vasudeva took Him to Gokula. This alone is not enough. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself came down from Goloka, and He enacted all these pastimes with His internal potencies. He is not like a conditioned soul, He decides who will his father be and who his mother will be. And what pastime He will perform, all this is previously decided by Him. There is no difference between Him and His body. We are eternal beings, but we and our body are not the same. When the ātmā leaves the body, the body is lying there. But for Kṛṣṇa, He, His body, His soul, there is no difference. Lord Kṛṣṇa is a divine Being. That is why we depend on Lord Kṛṣṇa, and we remain without any worry. But in the material world those who depend on their senses cannot stay firm. Because our senses are limited. And we have many inconveniences, problems. Our senses are not complete. Our senses can get agitated. We have the propensity to cheat, we also make mistakes. But Lord Kṛṣṇa does not have these four defects. Our main goal in life is to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. Now, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is Parmeśvara Bhagavān. To experience what devotees felt being His devotee, so He came in the form of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In that form of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He could realize the feelings of a devotee. That is why Lord Caitanya is the most munificent incarnations. Mahāvadanyāya avatāra. We follow Lord Caitanya’s instructions and teachings and do service. With Him His associates like Lord Nityānanda and Gadādhara Paṇḍita, and other devotees also appeared. This way, Lord Caitanya had been predicted in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Purāṇa, in the 11^th canto:

kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

This prediction was given for Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Now in the Mahābhārata, in the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma, there is also mention of Lord Caitanya’s name. We will serve the Lord Caitanya sincerely is what we should firmly make up our minds.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!