20240202 Sādhu-Saṅga Address

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Today we are blessed by the association of His Holiness Girirāja Swami. He was the devotee who first started preaching here in Mumbai. He would not only make life members, and get funds for the temple, but also would preach to the people as well. And he would always give some little gifts. Have you got a gift for me?

Girirāja Swami: I am giving you my heart!

Jayapatākā Swami: The most valuable gift! So when Lord Kṛṣṇa was in Vraja, Mathurā, Dvārakā, the vraja-vāsīs, the dhāma-vāsīs, they gave their heart to Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa creates everything. In one sense, we are a part of Kṛṣṇa. So He creates the ananta-koṭi brahmāṇḍas via Mahā-Viṣṇu. He creates each universe through Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Then Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu creates Brahmā. Then Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu expands in the hearts of living entities. So Kṛṣṇa in one sense He is everything. Still He is separate. So, when Kṛṣṇa came down the dhāma-vāsīs they surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, gave their heart to Kṛṣṇa. So naturally, Kṛṣṇa reciprocated with that. Many people could not understand how great Kṛṣṇa is.

I had told you earlier also that Rukmiṇī Devī in Dvārakā, she told Lord Kṛṣṇa that, “You know everything, but there is one thing You don’t know.” Lord Kṛṣṇa was astonished, “What is that I don’t know?” Then Lord Kṛṣṇa asked Her, “What is that I don’t know?” She said, “How much Your devotees love You and in what way we love You! I know, Rādhārāṇī knows, but You don’t know!” Lord Kṛṣṇa then declared that in Kali-yuga, He would come as His devotee. He said that three times. This was the prediction that Lord Caitanya would come.

Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa Himself but He is in the mood of a devotee. So He was in the mood to give out the mercy. And every avatāra has a particular mood. Lord Caitanya’s mood was to give out love of Kṛṣṇa. That is given out without considering who is qualified, who is not qualified. I remember I went to meet Śrīla Prabhupāda in Pānihāṭi dhāma. There was a śalāgrāma-śilā there. There was a Mālatī tree around which devotees would dance. Lord Nityānanda was dancing. He told Rāghava Paṇḍita that I want a kadamba flower garland. Rāghava Paṇḍita told Lord Nityānanda that this was not the season for kadamba flowers. Lord Nityānanda said, “Just look in the backyard, in case you find any, bring that to Me.” So in the back garden, there was a lemon tree. Suddenly on the lemon tree popped kadamba flowers!! So Rāghava Paṇḍita, he strung the garland and he gave it to Lord Nityānanda. Like this, Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, every day they were doing miracles. And we can be part of Their eternal līlā just by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, by rendering devotional service!

Lord Caitanya, after He took sannyāsa, He was tricked by Lord Nityānanda to go south. Vṛndāvana is to the north. But He was told to go south. Meanwhile, Lord Nityānanda with tears in His eyes, He went to the house of Śacīmātā and said, “Come with Me immediately to see Nimāi!” So He took her to Śāntipura. There she saw Lord Caitanya had taken sannyāsa. So Lord Caitanya bowed down to His mother and told His mother, “You gave Me this body. I owe everything to you. I can never pay back My debt to you. You tell me what I should do.” Of course, Śacīmātā couldn’t tell Him to come back, then He would be criticized that after taking sannyāsa He has gone home. So, what should she say? Lord Nityānanda whispered something in her ear. Then she said, “Sometime You may go to Vṛndāvana but make Your base in Jagannātha Purī, so I can get some news from there. Because people would go from Bengal to Jagannātha Purī every year. But Vṛndāvana is very far away.” So Lord Caitanya stayed in the house of Advaita Gosāñī for some days. So what did Śacīmātā want? I want to cook for Caitanya Mahāprabhu. She wanted sevā. Some devotees were chanting, some were dancing, some were cooking, some were serving. The real transcendental bliss you can see in the service of the Lord.

In the material world people have big desires, big bank balance, so many material desires. Even when they get those they are still not happy. Then they think of something else. This way take birth after birth after birth. When we desire to serve Kṛṣṇa, then we are happy, we don’t want anything else! So we want all of you to be fully Kṛṣṇa conscious. And this way you can taste unlimited bliss all the time!! So, you see and have darśana in the temple hall downstairs of Gaura-Nitāi, Rādhā Rāsabihārī, Sītā Rāma Lakṣmaṇa Hanumān. The Lord is very merciful and gives us darśana and gives us an opportunity to offer lamp, flowers, etc. So this is the perfection of human life, that we offer our devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.

Lord Caitanya was travelling around India, sometimes He embraced people on the road. Then the person would be overwhelmed in love of Kṛṣṇa! Haribol! Gaurāṅga!

Now we would like to request His Holiness Girirāja Mahārāja to speak.

Girirāja Swami: First I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to Śrīpād Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja for his sublime flow of nectar, which filled our hearts with joy. And he inspired us to do more service to Śrīla Prabhupāda, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Śrī Śrī Rādhā Rāsabihārī. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī enumerates 64 items of devotional service. And he says that out of those 64, five are most important. Even a slight association with any one of those five, can awaken our dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. So what are those five? Sādhu-saṅga, nāma-kīrtana, chanting the holy names, Bhāgavata-śravaṇam – hearing Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, residing in Mathurā or Vṛndāvana or Māyāpur. And to serve the Deity with faith and veneration. And Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī gives a very specific definition of sādhu-saṅga. He says,

sajātīyāśaye snigdhe

sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare
(Cc. Madhya 22.131)

Which means belonging to the same community but in our case it would mean followers of Śrīla Prabhupāda. And snighde means that the sādhu should be affectionate to you. And the sādhu should be more advanced than you are. So these are the five most potent parts of devotional service. I feel, not just feel, I believe that I am getting that from Śrīpād Jayapatākā Swami.

Jayapatākā Swami: I feel that I am getting Girirāja Mahārāja’s association.

Girirāja Swami: Well, Jayapatākā Swami changed the subject! But yes, this definition of sadhu-saṅga given by Rūpa Gosvāmī is fulfilled by my association with Śrīpād Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja. Svajātīyā means follower of Śrīla Prabhupāda, snighde means affectionate and svato vare is that he is more advanced than me in devotional service. So his association is not only in keeping with Rūpa Gosvāmī’s definition but in practical experience I feel that my dormant love for Kṛṣṇa is awakening. And with his association this is applicable to all of us. It is my good fortune that he is staying here with us in Hare Kṛṣṇa Land.

I have a clear memory, when I was in Laguna Beach with Mahārāja, preaching. And I started my talk and then Mahārāja came. And just by his presence I could feel the whole consciousness of everyone in the temple was elevated. There is a saying that, when the tide rises all the boats are uplifted. And I could feel that by Mahārāja’s presence. And then afterwards we went to our rooms and Mahārāja was distributing prasāda from Māyāpur. I wrote a book called “I will Build you a Temple – The Juhu Story” and towards the end of the book I quote a very significant passage from Śrīpād Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja. In which he explains the strategic importance of Bombay in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s fight against Māyā. Śrīla Prabhupāda also said that Bombay is the most important city in India. So if we want to turn the tide of Māyā we should begin in Bombay.

Jayapatākā Swami: Here, there are so many devotees because of His Holiness Girirāja Mahārāja!

Girirāja Swami: So, I am very fortunate that Jayapatākā Swami is visiting Juhu Temple. We are at his service to make his stay as comfortable and productive as possible. In a way Śrīpād Jayapatākā Swami is super human. In spite of so many physical challenges, he just keeps going and going and going. He keeps giving and giving and giving his mercy by preaching and preaching and preaching! So we are very fortunate that Mahārāja is in Juhu now. And the whole planet is blessed that Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja is here.

I would like to read what His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami said about the significance of Bombay:

“Bombay has been a strategic place in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s war against Māyā. Jayapatākā Swami later said, for us Bombay is a very important place. One of the most important places with which Śrīla Prabhupāda was connected. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that Vṛndāvana was his home, Bombay was his office and Māyāpur was his place of worship. Bombay was the most modernized, greatest financial powerhouse of India. It is India’s most westernized city. And home to the Bollywood industry. Hence Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted to establish a temple here with a mission. To stop the westernization and to preserve the Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Sometimes Śrīla Prabhupāda would tell us how his Guru Mahārāja had ordered him to preach in the West. “My Guru Mahārāja did not specifically order me to preach in India. He said, so wherever I preached in the West I was successful. His idea was to build temples in Vṛndāvana and Māyāpur for his Western devotees to come and visit the holy places. But then how could he stand seeing India going to hell? He was disturbed by the Indians who were losing their culture and following the West, and becoming degraded in various ways. Forgetting their Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He said that it was his personal mission to preach in India. Brahmānanda recounted that Śrīla Prabhupāda had told him that the Deity Dvārakādīśa in Los Angeles had personally  spoken to him and ordered him, ‘you have to go back to India and preach there.’

Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya! Śrī Rukmiṇī Dvārakādīśa kī jaya! Śrī Rādhā Rāsabihārī kī jaya! Śrīla Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja kī jaya! Gaura-bhakta-vṛnda kī jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami: I was also told that Śrīla Prabhupāda was ordered by the Deities in New Dvārakā to preach in India. That is what all of you have the responsibility of doing! Now if there are any questions? We will only answer three each.

Question: Śrīla Prabhupāda said to go back home 70% of one consciousness should be Kṛṣṇa conscious. How to measure that 70%?

Jayapatākā Swami: I was present in Montreal when Śrīla Prabhupāda said that. He said in 1968, you have to be cent per cent Kṛṣṇa conscious. The devotees thought this not possible. Even if you have 90%, Kṛṣṇa will take you, Śrīla Prabhupāda said. 90% is very tough devotees said. That time his āsana was high up. And he was going down the steps, he said, even if you are 80% Kṛṣṇa conscious Kṛṣṇa will take you back. Still some were feeling that it is very hard. Śrīla Prabhupāda was walking down dragging his cādara behind him. He turned to the devotees and said, even 70%! So, we should try as best as we can. And maybe His Holiness Girirāja Mahārāja should give us some tips!

Girirāja Swami: I remember one other part to this story. A devotee asked Śrīla Prabhupāda how is it possible to go back to Godhead with only 70% Kṛṣṇa consciousness? And Śrīla Prabhupāda said, I have the key to the backdoor!

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda kī Jaya! Backdoor!

Question: How to do mahat-sevā? How to identify who is a pure devotee amongst devotees we can serve?

(Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja gestured towards His Holiness Girirāja Mahārāja and His Holiness Giriraja Mahārāja gestured towards His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami.)

Girirāja Swami: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that by serving great souls the door to liberation is open. But Śrīla Prabhupāda had a disciple named Tuṣṭa Kṛṣṇa dāsa. He had been a follower of Sai and was initiated by Śrīla Prabhupāda and named Siddha Svarūpa dāsa. So, Tuṣṭa Kṛṣṇa was saying that Siddha Svarūpa was a pure devotee and he should be served. And Śrīla Prabhupāda responded that Siddha Svarūpa is a good soul, but we should not make factions. That only Siddha Svarūpa is a pure devotee and others are not. Anyone who is sincerely serving his spiritual master is a pure devotee! Whether Siddha Svarūpa or no Siddha Svarūpa, do not make factions. So we should take every opportunity to serve the devotees. Not think that this is a pure devotee, I should serve him, and this is not a pure devotee so I should not serve him. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that anyone who is sincerely serving their spiritual master is a pure devotee. Once someone asked Śrīla Prabhupāda how many pure devotees are there in this world? Śrīla Prabhupāda replied, how many devotees are there in ISKCON?

Question: How is it that all you Śrīla Prabhupāda disciples are so loving, and reciprocating with full love and this attracts our hearts so much! What is the secret of this love between the godbrothers, between all of you? What is your instruction for the next generation, now we have so many gurus. How we can actually get that mood, love and affection and heartfelt reciprocation?

Jayapatākā Swami: That, His Holiness Girirāja Swami was telling you, serve every devotee. Naturally that love will expand to everyone. And if you try to think, is he a pure devotee, is she a pure devotee, then you will be in bewilderment. So follow Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s movement, when He was distributing kṛṣṇa-prema He did not see who was qualified, who was not. We see our ācāryas say we are the most fallen and You are Patita-pāvana. I am patita, have mercy on me! So, who wants mercy? If you think I deserve it I am very advanced, that is not the qualification. Rather follow the ācāryas who prayed.

Alright! Thank you, His Holiness Girirāja Swami! You heard some nectar from his book. Maybe you can buy a copy of the book. Haribol!