20231001 Initation Address

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: Who are all taking Harināma initiation now? Who is taking shelter? And who is visiting? On the occasion of the establishment, the prāṇa-pratiṣṭha of the Deities we are also having the devotees take shelter and initiation. The devotees who are taking initiation have taken their vows? Those who have not taken vows please raise your hands. So, the Deities have come from the spiritual world. They have come to take your sevā. Most people pray to the Lord for material blessings. But the devotees of the Lord, they want to offer their service to the Lord. This is very highly appreciated by Lord Caitanya. In this material world people, they don’t think about their relationship with Kṛṣṇa. But our relationship with Kṛṣṇa is most important. We need to have a very close relationship with Kṛṣṇa. In this way, the Lord, He sees that we are His sincere devotees. It is not that anything is needed by the Lord, but we need to give to the Lord.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he went around the world fourteen times. And he taught the process of bhakti-yoga where you chant, you dance, you hear the message of bhakti-yoga. So, in this way our every activity becomes close to the Lord. So the Deities are present to accept you as Their servant. Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna, na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati – My devotee will never perish. We want to serve the Lord and we don’t want to ask the Lord to serve us. If you ask anything, ask something connected to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

We are happy that so many devotees are here today! So, the best thing you can do is to surrender to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. And surrender to Nitāi Naṭavara and Gaurasundara. I was seeing how the devotees were chanting and dancing after the Deities were installed. So, using our body to serve the Lord, dance for the Lord, offer the Lord prasāda. That is the perfection of life. Someone asked, how we can always be happy? By doing everything as an offering for Kṛṣṇa, one naturally feels happy. Material things have a beginning and end but spiritual service to Kṛṣṇa is never ending. So, we want to start the initiation ceremony. I heard that Lord Caitanya would also name new-born babies. He was very positive for married life. And so like this we have to encourage our gṛhasthas to have many ācāryas as children. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that his guru was the son of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. So like that, praying before the Deities, asking for a Kṛṣṇa conscious, healthy, suputra is the way the gṛhasthas should pray. Whether one is a putra or putrī, we saw the devotees dancing ecstatically yesterday.

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