19920505 Vyāsa-pūjā Smaraṇam Class 2

(Disclaimer: The following is a machine-generated transcript and may contain errors or inaccuracies. It will be reviewed and verified against the original audio soon.)

Vyāsa-pūjā Smaraṇam of His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja – May 5 1992, New Pāṇihāṭi Dhāma, Atlanta, USA

Many times Christine always kept picking me up. And every time when I kept him picking me up, He always asked me to come to the temple. You know, just give me the intuition. Come to the temple of the service. And the devotees have been wonderful. You know, open the. And I just keep remembering Kṛṣṇa. They have been wonderful. There are no words that I can ever express. My soul loves Kṛṣṇa. Anyway, I will keep on keeping on. And I pray like if I can please you in every way.

Is there anybody else who would like to come forward and speak? If you have any type that has inspired you in any even a second in your life to worship Kṛṣṇa, serve him. Alexander Leon. Okay, next I would request to speak some Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Namaste. Namaste. Sam. So many things this say that. Actually these occasions are some ways contradictory. It was pointed out by his divine grace, Śrīla Bhakti, Siddhānta Saraswati Thakur and his Nyansa Bhujan mentioned. You must be thinking how this person is just sitting there, the big garland, people are praising him, seems to even like it, how proud see that he might be. Must be something like that. As the Vaishnavas, the devotees are always worse than you, more humble than the humble beguru that one has to hear so many praises or hear so many offerings.

Explained that the reason why he was accepting the Vyāsa pūjā offerings, why he was accepting the worship from the disciples, was out of his own consideration. For the glory of his spiritual master and the disciplic succession by the dust of the lotus feed of the spiritual master, the unlimited universes of the material world can be delivered. So because the present link or present guru, the disciplic succession is representing the entire disciplic succession in deference and respect for the disciplic succession. And guru one has to accept this rituals or these offerings. So knowing that guru always considers himself to be a servant of the Lord and feels that the mercy coming to the disciples through him is actually coming through his guru and charyas and ultimately from Kṛṣṇa himself, the supreme personality of God.

So the guru considers himself a Nimitta mahjam or a vyavinya, a representative, an external representative of the Lord. Just like an ambassador has to accept some of the rituals, some of the ceremonies when he is representing his country. Similarly, the guru is representing his glorious disciplic succession, the spiritual culture, the supreme Lord himself. So in that regard he has a special responsibility. And this. Just said one time, Śrīla Prabhupāda was discussing with Someone at first it was trying to tell Śrīla Prabhupāda various things in our spiritual life. And then Prabhupāda said, well, we don’t have to. And everybody thinks that person was quite put off. And the prophet explained that, you see, we already are learning from disciplic succession. We hear from the guru of the scripture. The lives of history are made by Schnauz.

So it’s not a question of discussion, it’s not something that’s up for discussion. That basically can explain to you that which has been handed down and which we have learned. But I am not prepared to learn from you. Of course we all prefer this. But the point was that just very much clarified how the guru has a very special mandate from the disciplined succession to am disseminate, to teach this philosophy. It may not be the same degree nor in the west as master’s degree or PhD or other, but it’s a spiritual, very nice degree and it has a spiritual significance. So Śrīla Baba wants that all his disciples and all his followers should be qualified to be a spiritual master to spread this movement before one can be a guru, first disciple. That’s the system.

This thing about just learning from an expert in the spiritual life. Bhakti Siddhānta Thakur gave a story. There was once a blacksmith and some merchant who was very selfish, kind of.

Really.

Merchant to businessmen. By hook or by crook, he tried to make a buck. Said even if he was doing business with his mother, he was that kind of a person. So somehow another he got a bunch of coconuts. One of his many deals. But the problem was he didn’t have anything to cut the coconut. He needed a good sharp knife. His knife was already dull. So he went with his son over to see the blacksmith and requested him to please sharpen the knife. He said, this knife is beyond hope. So there’s this man, he thought, well, here’s a I will make a deal. I will tell you what, I got some first class high quality carbon spring steel at my house. I will send it to you. You make a couple knives, you give me one, keep the rest, you can use it and make the money.

So the blacksmith, so he went back home and he sent the steel. And the blacksmith got the guy who received the steel. He looked at it and said, it’s just ordinary mild steel. Now, one step above iron, is that going to hold the temple? So then he said, all right, this is the kind of steel you gave me, so I will make him a knife. So he made him a knife out of bed like a knife. But naturally, because it wasn’t carbon steel, it was just ordinary soft steel, as soon as you tried to hit something, it just bent. So at the man came back to get his knife. When he sent his son again, gave the knife to the son. So the man tried to break one of the coconuts. And instead of breaking the coconut, the knife bent.

So he came back all angry, started yelling at the blacksmith. What kind of blacksmith are you? What kind of knife did you give me? Who do you think you are? And the blacksmith wasn’t. He said, I gave you the exact knife that you deserve. This is the kind of knife somebody who tries to cheat a blacksmith by giving him third grade steel should get. It’s like trying to. How can you cheat a blacksmith with steel? That’s what he deals with day and night. So Śrīla Bhaktisa Danta Thakur used this example many times that in spiritual life we had to go to the authorities, we had to go to the spiritual master, we had to go to those who are practicing. And sometimes people come up and try to tell you about spiritual life. They don’t know anything or they try to sleep.

So that may be possible for an innocent person. You can tell anybody that somebody’s God or somebody’s avatar or something. But those who actually know spiritual life, they won’t be confused by these things. But that’s what they’re dealing with. Just like a jewelry. You can sell glass to somebody on the street and say it’s an emerald, but someone who actually is a gemologist, you can tell what type of jewel it is, whether it’s a glass or something. So everyone has to become very expert and to be trained so they can also recognize what is real spirituality and what isn’t, what is material, what is Māyā. Our mind is always proposing various things to us. Kṛṣṇa is giving his ideas and our mind is giving her ideas. And we have to take and to choose Kṛṣṇa’s idea or Māyā’s idea.

So initially it’s difficult for someone to recognize what does Kṛṣṇa want and what does Māyā want. So we need more guidance in the beginning from the spiritual master who may make many mistakes, who need more guidance. We have to seek that guidance so that we don’t make the wrong choice. And once we become thoroughly expert in recognizing what is Māyā and what is Kṛṣṇa conscious, then you also be able to help others in making that decision. So the evidence as to what is Māyā, what is Kṛṣṇa consciousness is there in the teachings of the previous Cryas is such the scriptures.

And.

Historical evidences and wisdom and logic can also hypothesis, which you also understand. So this is the basic principle. In Vaishnava tradition. The guru is worshipped on his appearance day, and that’s called Vyāsa Pūjā, where the Mayavadis, they worship the guru on a particular day here called Guru Pūrṇimā. Because they all say Rambhu is God. God, so to speak, the same faith. But for the Vaishnavas, since we say guru is representative of the Lord, he’s the external manifestation of God as a devotee, as a representative. So therefore, because that’s a personal responsibility the guru is taking for the disciples, it’s a personal relationship. It’s a personal representative, his personal. So it’s really his personal day of entering into this world is the day which we offer him Guru Pūjā.

However, that is said to be Vyāsa pūjā because Vyāsa day is the incarnation of God who wrote down all the scriptures. So whatever the guru says, he’s to live by the scripture. He’s to practice the scriptural teachings, to teach their teachings to others, to defend them from any kind of attacks or misinterpretation, To dispel the doubts in the teachings and the disciples. So the teachings are the basis, the books and the basis. So Vyasadeva is written the book so that we worship the guru as representing the Asadva. There’s also explanation. There’s Bhagavat Bhagavad, there’s book Bhagavad and person Bhagavad. The devotee is the person Bhagavad, and the book is the in relation to the Lord, the book which glorifies the Lord. So both are pavu and so and those in relation to 1:1.

Śrīla Prabhupāda had a very great vision of what he wanted to see happen in the world. How the people in the world could be saved from their suffering, from their illusion. Those who have taken up Kṛṣṇa consciousness have gained so many blessings by that. But there are countless other persons that have not yet understood these basic teachings or taken full advantage of the process. So Prabhupāda wanted his followers to help in disseminating this message and spreading Kanasis. And he also appreciated that devotees were serving his representative of his own disciples. In this way, we serve the servant of the servant of the Lord. This is a sublime way of becoming blessed by Kṛṣṇa even more easily than otherwise would be possible. Actually, I am not able to perform all the various responsibilities that I have up to the level which they need to be performed.

I am able to do everything still because there’s no. Still hope upon hope. We have to retry to do as much as we can hoping that we will be able to do more praying that we will be able to please Guru and Kṛṣṇa. So of course when the devotees help in spreading the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement, help in fulfilling the orders of Śrīla Prabhupāda to the Guru, this is especially pleasing to the Guru and in turn that is very pleasing to Śrīla Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda used to say that because I wasn’t able to carry out the orders of my spiritual master alone they sent me disciples to help. So we saw how qualified Śrīla Prabhupāda was. But certainly I am not qualified to carry out all of Prabhupāda’s instructions to me.

Somehow he sent such good godbrothers to Hindi association and disciples to assist so that hopefully we will be able to fulfill the desires that Śrīla Prabhupāda has expressed. Shadow.

(Side B of the Cassette)

It’s called keep yourself stupid. So I decided to keep it simple. When in 1889 was telling us Sheila Papa had told him that he said we was doing 100,000 small books a month and 10,000 big books. This was 89 Vyasaputra. So all of those disciples who were present at the Vyāsa Futa at that time Śrīla Tripa asked all the disciples to assist him and carry not the order. She was followed by so. My dear most spirit the Father, please accept my and let your look and speak on this special day of your appearance.

So sh on the 1989 your disciples how Śrīla Prabhupāda told you that you should be streaming 100,000 giggles and 10,000 so Śrīla Charipha, I am begging for your mercy so that in this lifetime that I might be Kṛṣṇa and by your cost of mercy the imposter becomes possible and so shall Char. Please bless me that I might be able to become dedicated, dependent and determinate to assist you in carrying out the ownership of that he has given you and distribute those 10,000 big books and a hundred thousand, you know, quite insignificant. For it says by the mercy of the spiritual master, even impossible can become possible. So for this useless one like myself, by having a little ounce of faith in the spirit, the master, everything can become possible.

Because we see that in the life of Śrī Raobad how he came to America, presumably nothing. But you see, Śrīla Prabhupāda left us so much. He left us boats, temples association, Sodom and all the ones for the bodies. So he also left us with a great responsibility that is to push on this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement by way of scripting this book. So Śrīla Charipa also said that he wished his disciples to keeping up bake as to the books that were scripted. So this is for the month of March 1919 books are distributed nine and two stocks from the month of March distributed out. Nano suit dots distributed 46 small books, 26 medium books and 56 medium. 56 Mahā SM big books, 15 Panaj 15 small books, 7 higher taste and 31 Mahā and big books. No Mukachir Das.

But I want the march distributed me three Mahabhai books. Mother Gandhari, the virtual times they distributed 40 small books, seven medium books and 20 big books. Mother Mina Das, I mean David. Two small books, 22 medium books and 19 big books. That gave us a total for the books distributed for March 101 small books, 40 reading books, 120 big books for total literatures 261 and now for the big one.

April.

Birth none of SU 12 small books 73 no 12 BTGs 73 small books, 11 medium books and 67 mile books. Arthur Clyde the news member of sack 19 distribute 26 magazines, 38 small books, 4 medium books and 32 big books. Doctor Gerald fireized magazines and 20 small books. This gives a total of 14 small books, 131 small books. That was 43 magazines, 131 small books, 15 medium books and 93 big books for a total of 282 books. So this is our strong desire here atlanta because Atlanta is known for book resolution temple. So all devotees are striving to at least participate in the second time movement of discriminatory power by votes at least one or not more than one day. So I am putting my neck on the line make everything okay right? So this is my desire and my order of my spiritual master.

So I have to do that. So by the mercy of my spiritual master, if he pleases with his desires I know we can distribute those 10,000 big books and $100,000.

I would like to apologize for being inconsistent in writing my scores in school book. But I just now remember that in the month of March all members idol members received the Bhagavad Gītā. I didn’t know Bhagavad Gītā for all of them because they’re getting donations more than 11 hours a month. So something about 22 Mohabi books and one set of Jaital Chanatam was green. That was the month of March. Okay, next I will ask.

I don’t think I will be able to speak as nicely as spoken before me. But I happy for this opportunity to get a chance to go far. I feel very fortunate to have come under the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master which is very rare thing in this world. And I hope only that I can become actually surrendered to his own. It.

Dear Guru Dave, all glories to Lord Chaitanya Sankirtan Welton. Through your Chaitanya Sankirtan movement you have touched the lives of hundreds of people.

All over the world.

You have really made a difference in my life.

Is senior to million disciples who spoke daily but he has been engaged so we could ask him earlier.

Sam. Dear Śrī Lacharypan, Please accept my respectful basis. How glorious to his feet. How glorious to the Shula Prabhupāda. At the time of this truly divine occasion of your appearance day celebration, I am feeling remorseful that I am not constantly remembering and serving your other seat. Your saintly presence is such an inspiration for me, yet I am so weak that I do not hanker for the nectar of that transcendental association. Therefore this day afford your assembled disciples and well wishing God relatives the opportunity to remember you and your unlimited good qualities and increase our transcendental happiness and purification as Śrīla Prabhupāda that the message of Lord Caitanya was in the hands of a very qualified saintly person, Bhakti Siddhānta, so also it is with you.

By your convincing and skillful presentation of the Vaishnava of conclusion, you’re exposing the weaknesses of materialistic understanding and rendering the soldiers of Māyā and the renegade Kali useless in their efforts to further degrade the suffering souls in the Kali Yuga. How glorious these By a moment’s association with your Divine grace, a spirit soul’s awakening of love of God begins because you are a pure via medium of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and this is the most auspicious day for Him. Therefore you are spreading auspiciousness all over the planet by your preaching. You have been so kind to this fallen rascal worm. Please forgive me of my many offenses and the constant troubles I am causing. I am causing you.

You are a great spiritual master and I beg to remain your eternal servant and for your blessings so that I may render you some service by your grace and blessings. The devotees of ISKCON Atlanta are becoming more united in the effort to preach. We are improving the restaurant facility with the hope of increased patronage. This was written about a month ago in since then the restaurant is much improved over what we expected. Our Sunday feasts see many new faces each week with new visitors going home with copies of the Bhagavad Gītā and stomachs full of the Lord’s Prashant. The new Panihati Hare Kṛṣṇa Books and Boutique is expanding and soon will be opening more days and hours with well and butter for the in charge.

There is a consistent evening program with guests coming as well as a lunch program with many guests also by your inspiration. The new Panihati Chittendahi Festival is always increasing and this year has promises to be the biggest and best attended one so far. Acting as your instruments, please empower us to spread the light of Bhagavad Dharma to the souls on this part of the planet. Your insignificant service.

All glories to the sun like spiritual master by whose glaring foliage the fog of illusion is dissipated and the blind fallen conditioned souls can cross with clear vision over the ocean of material existence. By your grace we may see Kṛṣṇa as the soul of all souls, the super soul of our own selves. It is by your mercy that all auspicious desires become fulfilled. Therefore, I thank you, Silachera Pada and I cling to the shelter of your lotus feet with desperation.

Sa,.

We have a special guest today who would like to speak Mother Gloria. She has been coming to the temple for a long time and she’s been chanting a relevant number, a certain number of women on a regular basis. She visits Sunday feast every Sunday.

Thank you. It.

I didn’t write anything, though some of the audience kept reminding me that it was going to be today and kept reminding me to write something down for you. But my next want to say is that since I have been coming to the temple and the few times that I have seen you, it has given me enough to get through so many things that are going on throughout my life that I know that if I had. If I don’t get to come to see you, which sometimes I don’t want to come because I feel that I am such a fallen devotee, I am such a fallen soul that I don’t deserve to come to see you.

But the devotees who helped me and explained to me to tell me that’s why you are always here for us and that it’s most important to conceive when you are here that it makes changes in my life whenever I go through so many things that all I need to do is just close my eyes and remember you and all my tastes that listen from you and the voice that I read from you, that I know that all I need to do is just close my eyes and meditate. Translations and everything that I read, that it helps me get through everything and things are so difficult sometimes out there that if it wasn’t for the devotees here at the temple and for the Kṛṣṇa movement here, I wouldn’t be able to get through everything every day that I go through.

And I pray that someday I will be able to be a devotee, initiate devotee while I am inspiring devotee now that someday.

I must stop saying when he’s going to. But I specifically chose to speak in the last week, although I was initiated in 1984 on the genders of unstake. But I feel that I realized the importance of being a disciple connected with the Brahma Gauria, Brahma Mother Gauri Sampadas. And today I realize the importance of. Of how important and how it’s a question of pride to be connected with such a great Samprada who is responsible for actually delivering the fallen souls for the next 10,000 years. And somehow I was contemplating this idea today. And that’s why I consider this as a new book. Whether to call it a second book or the third book. But it is an important day for me today. And a lot of credit goes to Śrīla Charipad.

When I was pursuing there in the office and was being was there with the computer for hours and hours just trying to help us. And so in fact I also realized that previously I tried to in so many ways that I was trying to make some financial situations for my personal thing in so many ways here and there. And finally I came to realize that even if I go out and get a job, what kind of job can I do? So the chairpad has put me in such a situation that I can only do deity worship and I can only do fundraising for the temple. I have all the qualifications that I can do and to get money. Even if I had to go join a big business firm and do fundraising for that business, I will be helpless.

I won’t be able to do it because I have not been trained in that. And I feeling very uncomfortable doing that thing. But I feel very private. And I talk to people on the phone and I ask them, can you give me to these lines? The child Smyrna. I have nothing to offer him. Can you give me something today? That man came here today and after that 50,000. So he came to see it today. So a lot of it goes to Cherry, Wisconsin. He brought meat from India just to keep me away from that mentality of God. Going back in the jewel, going back in the Māyā grade. Being family, attached to the family. But even if I go now to India and stay with my family, I will be a burden on the family.

So the only place I can suicide is the temple now. So I would consider as a fortunate or unfortunate. I don’t know which, how to define this kind of situation. But. Definitely I am very fortunate to be connected in such a way. But it was like a roundabout and then came directly to the. What you call directly with a fixed purpose in mind. It was like a roundabout way to give me a right purpose of life. So I thank the senator very much for helping me to put in that position. I was a straw before and I am still a straw, but now I am fixed. Before I was loitering in the Māyā Benzem Māyā. But now he has given me a definite purpose in life and put me at his feet.

And now I think no wind, Māyā’s wind can blow me out as long as I keep myself attached to Peter’s kitchen. So I have that great. I feel proud about it. So I hope that I will always remember it. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

I was thinking today about in what ways that Śrīla Charipat has helped me in my devotional life. I feel that he’s really pushed me into a lot of spiritual growth. I am sort of constantly bulking at the bit here. I was thinking how several years ago he instituted at the Nepanihati festival and he’s actually helping this temple to realize its full potential as the Panihati Dham. This festival keeps growing each year and it’s quite challenging to actually put on this festival and take care of it devotees in nice fashion. And you know, now I mean at one point it was a festival for devotees from Taliban war around Scansville. And then we realized how actually the non devotees weren’t benefiting from it and we could utilize it as a real preaching tool by opening it up to the public.

So in doing this it has become quite a. Quite a challenge. But last year the results from it wonderful public relations is just really hard to. I mean it’s really abundant and it’s actually doing so much wonderful primary for the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement here in Atlanta. Recently I am like I have been. I was ill the last few days and been home and answering the phone and today it was just non stop. And practically every third call had to deal with the Kanihati festival. Either that wanted to sing and be a part of entertainment. People with brainstorming ideas from Gainesville that had some idea of how we can make it bigger and better. The Kṛṣṇa Fest people who want to come and have a tent and put on plays and it’s becoming so big it’s like practically overwhelming.

And for myself I go into these anxiety attacks that are here. So it’s. Yeah, so that’s the thing then Krista puts me on the commission each year. This, this year again it happened health wise and it helps me draw back.

And.

Actually realign myself and see that Kṛṣṇa is in control and that Śrīla Charipad is at the helm here. He’s the one that instituted this Panihati festival and it’s just amazing because Prabhupāda said that it should always be a festival in temples. And Paniyatta was known for its rousing kīrtana and optimum prasadam. And practically speaking it seems like every other week here, it’s nothing but a festival. And you know, that mood and atmosphere, it’s like no matter how many struggles are going on, so many wonderful things are generating at the same time. And such amazing people are coming to this temple. And the amount of devotion that’s manifesting from these people that are coming, it’s really enlivening. So I just want to express my gratitude to Śrīla Charipad for helping Ngpanihati Dham to realize its full potential.

And for all of us to be part of this temple blossoming and becoming what it is actually named for. It’s like we’re actually realizing our full potential. Śrī Prabhupda name this temple and now it’s all manifesting and it’s just amazing that we can be part of the pioneers doing all of this. So really appreciate just for my own personal growth and challenges that it offers in my spiritual life and just for this temple to be such a brilliant part of ISKCON and that we can actually offer a festival that probably doesn’t exist anywhere but actually, but india itself, the Panama. So it’s quite a blessing. Such a. We’re such a special temple. We have so much potential here. It’s really exciting being a part of our whole thing. So I just want to thank you so much for everything.

We have Al Bhakti here who have been coming to temples a number of years, regularly coming Sundays and all the festivals of duty service. In spite of all the troubles she faced during these years, she was consistent.

And come to a time it.