2002 Bhagavad-gītā 4.2 | Smṛti Vyāsa-pūjā: Lecture

Following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharāja on January 1^st, 2002 in Mathurādeśa.

(The audio begins with kīrtana followed by jaya dhvani and introduction of Śrīla Guru Mahārāja)

Devotee: “You will have to go to India”, and while he was preparing to leave for India, he met the devotees of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda and it was finally during the Ratha-yātrā preparations in San Francisco that he found the location of the ISKCON centre. He came to the temple where His Grace Jayananda Prabhu was making the Ratha cart for Jagannātha. His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja was drawn into service of the Ratha by Jayananda Prabhu. Later he met Śrīla Prabhupāda who encouraged him by inviting him to take prasādam with him and making sure he got more than just generous servings. In just two months after visiting ISKCON, His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja decided to commit himself to the principles of ISKCON, and the first most important service of ISKCON was the land in Māyāpur. His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja went there on the instruction of Śrīla Prabhupāda and the local farmers were surprised, no… Mahārāja taught the modern techniques of agriculture to the farmers and they taught him Bengali. He began to give classes in Bengali where his few listeners would correct him in his language and soon he began to perfect his knowledge of the language.

Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja had wanted to learn even in nineteen sixty-eight when he was in the West but it did not seem necessary there. His desire was fulfilled automatically when Śrīla Prabhupāda sent him to Bengal. Eventually they got a three-room warehouse built at the main gate of the land. Mahārāja made it a point to preach not only in the cities but also in the interiors of India in the villages. And Prabhupāda once told him, “I have given you the kingdom of God, now develop it”, with reference to Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur.” In Los Angeles in nineteen seventy, before Jayapatākā Mahārāja had come to India, Prabhupāda had stopped in front of the church and said that in the future there would just be a few devotees in the temples but so many would be practising in their homes. At that time it was hard for Jayapatākā Mahārāja to understand this as most devotees were living in the temple and there was no congregation. He also has a boat called Nitāi-pada-kamala boat which goes around preaching on the river Ganges in Māyāpur. And Food for Life, he is renovating them and he is also uniting the Sarasvata family. (Śrīla Guru Mahārāja begins kīrtana, followed by maṅgalācaraṇa prayers)

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

Bhagavad-gītā 4.2

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ paran-tapa

Translation: This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.

* * *

Jayapatākā Swami: Therefore, I [Kṛṣṇa] have come to reinstate the message. Kṛṣṇa originally taught to Lord Brahmā and Brahmā established the Vedas, paramparā, one needs to learn from a bona-fide spiritual master. [Aside: Hindi anuvāda, Hindi? everyone?] We are coming in the Brahma-sampradāya, Brahmā-Madhva-sampradāya. Like this, we need the help of a bona-fide guru coming in one of the four Vaiṣṇava successions who is teaching the science as it is.

This is a story about Raghunātha dāsa and Lord Nityānanda, He was responsible for the preaching in Bengal and Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī were responsible for the preaching in Vṛndāvana. Like that there was some division of responsibility. (applauses) So, Raghunātha dāsa, he did not go to Lord Nityānanda, he was directly trying to join Caitanya. He faced a lot of problems. His father and uncle were zamīndārs and they had to pay annual tax to the government but the uncle had no issue, he was the heir to everything, he was the only son, eldest son, that means but he was not interested, he was a gṛhastha but he wanted to leave everything and join Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He ran away from home and joined Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but Lord Caitanya sent him back and said that gṛhasthas should stay with their home, they should practise from their home, let their mind and heart be with Kṛṣṇa but they should do their things materially very nicely. “For example if a woman has a lover other than the husband, she may do the household work more nicely than other women because she does not want to get discovered. Like that, you can keep your heart with Kṛṣṇa but you do your material affairs very responsibly and everyone will be satisfied. This is the standard for the gṛhasthas.

For one year, Raghunātha dāsa was doing his gṛhastha work very nicely. In that time there was a former tax collector who had been displaced by his uncle and then he came back. So, one day Raghunātha dāsa had an idea and he went to see Lord Nityānanda at Pānihāṭi. So, then he went there to Pānihāṭi, Nityānanda was seated on a stone platform under the base of a large banyan tree. Many devotees gathered along, some were on the ground and some of the respectable devotees were seated on the platform with Him. When He saw him, Lord Nityānanda forcibly caught him and placed His lotus foot on his head. Nityānanda is very merciful and very funny, and being merciful to Raghunātha dāsa He spoke as follows,

śuni’ prabhu kahe, — “corā dili daraśana
āya, āya, āji tora karimu daṇḍana”
[Cc. Antya 6.47]

Translation: Hearing this, Lord Nityānanda Prabhu said, “You are a thief. Now you have come to see Me. Come here, come here. Today I shall punish you!” (audio break) “Make a festival and feed all My associates yogurt and chipped rice.” Hearing this, Raghunātha dāsa was greatly pleased. Raghunātha dāsa immediately sent his own men to the village to purchase all kinds of eatables and bring them back. Raghunātha dāsa brought chipped rice, yogurt, milk, sweetmeats, sugar, bananas and other eatables and placed them all around. As soon as they heard that a festival was going to be held, all kinds of brāhmaṇas and other gentlemen began to arrive. Thus there were innumerable people. Seeing the crowd increasing, Raghunātha dāsa arranged to get more eatables from other villages. He also brought two to four hundred large, round earthen pots.

They started to mix and soak the cīḍā. The cīḍā, you have to soak in water for ten to fifteen minutes, wash it off. Some was mixed with hot milk and condensed milk, some with kṣīra, dahi. He also mixed it with a special banana in Bengal called cinī-cāpā, very sweet, small and yellow. One scientist told me in one banana research centre in Hooghly that these bananas have the highest percentage of sugar in the world but they also have the highest percentage Vitamin C, so if they are not ripe, they taste sour, they have to be fully ripe and then sweet, comes out.

So, such a scene… Taking two pots of soaked chipped rice, Lord Nityānanda called Lord Caitanya by mantra and invisibly came and was taking part in that festival. Like in kṛṣṇa-līlā, the cowherd boys, some were taking from Kṛṣṇa, some were putting in His mouth. The children were playing in this way, sometimes some cowherd boy had a simple meal, some had like when Kṛṣṇa had very opulent kacorīs, He will share with the others and He would take from others and eat it. So, like this they were having… So, Nityānanda Prabhu and the group, He had accepted all of them as His cowherd boyfriends, so He was taking from every pot and putting it in Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mouth There were no mobile phones ringing, no gossip, only the sound of Haribol! Haribol!

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

So, Lord Nityānanda… He [Raghunātha dāsa] was so fortunate, he could directly render Him some service. After this festival, then they had a lot of  kīrtana and dancing at the house of Rāghava Paṇḍita, and in the evening they had prasāda, regular prasāda that night. Then on the next day Raghunātha dāsa, he pleaded before Nityānanda that he wanted to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu but he was not able to do so. So, Lord Nityānanda said, “Do not worry, you have My blessing, very soon you will receive His mercy.” If we try to approach Kṛṣṇa directly, bypassing the bona fide guru, that is very offensive. We would not get Kṛṣṇa that way. So, inspite of talking to Lord Caitanya, he was set back.

So, we need to approach the Lord through the guru, through the guru-paramparā not directly. When we are serving the Lord, we are serving as servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord. We serve as the servant of our guru. So, in our life, we choose to serve Kṛṣṇa through His representative, the spiritual master. Sometimes, someone out of pride or maybe arrogance, try to bypass the guru, but this is not very pleasing to Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is more pleased when one serves the devotee of the Lord than one tries to serve Kṛṣṇa directly. Serving Kṛṣṇa is facilitated by serving His devotee, the bona-fide spiritual master who is a Vaiṣṇava.

The guru should never say that he is God. He should never say that everyone is God. Rather, he should teach that everyone is servant of God and everyone should serve the Lord. Although the guru is the servant of the Lord, he is considered as an external manifestation of the Lord. The Lord is teaching the devotees through the example of the spiritual master, if people are not able to make proper progress. Kṛṣṇa also told Arjuna in Ādi Purāṇa, that, “Those devotees who say that they are My devotees are not My true devotees but those who say they are the devotee of My devotees, they are My devotees.” The servant of the servant. Even when the disciples would come to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and offer their obeisances, he would return it with folded palms because the Lord is in the heart as the Supersoul, so actually he was offering his obeisances unto the Lord in the heart.

… in the enjoying attitude, we think we are the body and the mind, we are trying to enjoy the senses but in spiritual life, we go with the spirit soul which is a part of Kṛṣṇa, if we try to use our mind and senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa, this way you are free from all kinds of karmas and even while we are in this material world, we are considered liberated souls.

ihā yasya harer dāsye
karmaṇā manasā girā
nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu
jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate
[Brs. 1.2.187]

[Aside: Wonderful reaction] (claps and laughter) I used to preach all of this in the different regions around Navadvīpa. There is a song that explains this… (audio break)

ugraṁ vīraṁ mahā-viṣṇuṁ
jvalantaṁ sarvato-mukham
nṛsiṁhaṁ bhīṣaṇaṁ bhadraṁ
mṛtyor mṛtyuṁ namāmy aham

jaya narasiṁha śrī narasiṁha
jaya jaya jaya śrī narasiṁha

From that or some great loss, so like that, “You can lie to Him and say, “I cannot give it”, because the guru (referring to Śukrācārya) was afraid that, “My disciple gives these three steps to this Vāmanadeva who is Viṣṇu then what will he have?” Something like that. But, Bali Mahārāja, he said, “All along, you told me, “I should worship Viṣṇu”, by worshiping Viṣṇu, I could achieve the empire of the three worlds. So, if now Viṣṇu is asking for three steps, I should give. I already promised to give.”

[…] Who faced even after chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa? So, Bali Mahārāja, he was worshipping Viṣṇu but he faced this test. Viṣṇu is asking, “Give me three steps of land and his guru is saying, “Do not give what Viṣṇu wants. He will take everything.” Then he decided that, “The guru is supposed to represent Kṛṣṇa, if the guru is not representing Kṛṣṇa, then I should follow Kṛṣṇa.” Generally, the guru is always advising us according to Kṛṣṇa’s instructions, that is his duty. If our guru tells us, “Do not follow Kṛṣṇa.” Then, even we have to reject the guru. But, so long is the guru telling us to serve Kṛṣṇa, then it is offensive to reject the guru. Then we have to follow. So, in the śāstras, very few cases we find, where guru is giving such instruction. I cannot think of any other but, so like this Bali Mahārāja agreed to give the three steps of land but as you know actually in His two steps, Vāmanadeva, one step, He covered the whole world and the another step, He covered the whole three worlds. He made His body so big that it covered the whole universe.

So, then He asked Bali, He had already taken all of Bali’s kingdom, “Now, where do I put the last step?” So, what did Bali say where to put the last step? On his head. [Aside: Pardon?] After he lost everything. But after losing everything, Kṛṣṇa gave him back. He told Bali Mahārāja that after, I forget how many, so many manvantaras, he will become that legitimate Indra. He will actually be the Indra. Then he will be lord of the three worlds. He will not have to fight for it or steal it. He will be the authorised Indra. But I do not think that time has come yet. There are still a few manvantaras from now.

We also heard that once in a year he can come back to the three worlds and see all his former prajā. And so, in Kerala, that is observed as Onam, Onam festival. Bali Mahārāja is glorified by all the vaiṣṇava-śāstra. This Vaiṣṇava dharma, you practise the nine practises of devotional service. You know the nine practises? śravaṇam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam, vandanam, pāda-sevanam, arcanam, dāsyam, sakhyam, ātma-nivedanam. So, which one did Bali Mahārāja perform? ātma-nivedanam, he surrendered everything. So, he is an example of someone who surrendered everything to Kṛṣṇa. So, always we are remembering how to surrender to the Lord by remembering the wonderful example of Bali Mahārāja.

Actually the land of Kerala and the western ghāṭas of some portion of Karnataka is known as Paraśurāma-kṣetra. It says that Paraśurāma gave away, conquered all the kṣatriyas, gave so much away back to the kṣatriyas, again he had no kingdom, he had no land himself. So, then he asked the ocean for some land back. So, the ocean said, “As far as you can throw your chopper, you can have that much land.” So, he threw so far. So, that area of land which came out from the mountains to the coast supposed to be the reclaimed land, gotten for Paraśurāma, and that is a very holy place. All along that area there are many temples.

In Tiruvanantapuram, there is the famous temple of Padmanābhajī, and in that Padmanābha temple, actually Lord Caitanya visited that temple. We have also placed our lotus footprint of Lord Caitanya, and the devotees are preaching there also. Padmanābha was in the lying position, Ananta Padmanābha lying on Anantadeva, as well as Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then this ancient temple, which is under the sevāyāta-ship of the former kings of Travancore. Also, nearby there is the temple of Janārdana, which is one of the divya-deśas mentioned by Rāmānujā and other holy temple on the bank of the ocean.

Near to Thrissur, there is the sacred temple of Guruvāyūr. There the Kṛṣṇa Deity is worshipped very elaborately with elephant processions, and they worship there from the very morning. Kṛṣṇa starts off… the priest when He was young. So, I also got from Guruvāyūr. In the morning, He is just a child, so He wears a kaupīna, a little red kaupīna. So, that when his uncle was head priest, he gave me one prasādam kaupīna, that I keep always in my briefcase, wherever I go. I did not tell anybody, maybe that is why I can travel. My Guruvāyūr, the vāyu is also in the Guruvāyūr, all the blessings are there with Kṛṣṇa, like that. (laughter)

Of course, even further off, it is out of Kerala but ofcourse, Uḍupī and all, it is also in that Puruṣottama, Paraśurāma-kṣetra, that whole area is a very sacred place. When you read the tourist books they advertise. In fact, I heard United Nations said that Kerala was the paradise on earth. In India, it is one of the most beautiful places filled with coconut trees, filled with very luscious, lots of rain, very beautiful. Now there is a drought going on in different parts of India but in Kerala it is always sufficient rain, by the Lord’s mercy. So, Bali Mahārāja, if he is coming to see his prajā, you know Bali Mahārāja is the great devotee, and he will be the most happy if he sees that his citizens are devotees also, that is why we are chanting,

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

Previously there was such relationship between king and prajā that it was like father and son, father and daughter, it was a very close relationship. The king really felt for his subjects and was trying to take care of them. So, Bali Mahārāja was such a personality. He never did anything else because he had enough puṇya to be in that position, only because of the tapasya of his mother, Aditi. Vāmanadeva came and gave this special blessing to Bali.

[…] Sometimes they [the people] will be struggling, you read in the newspaper, they are having divorce, they are having disease, they are having so many problems, but theoretically they have big houses, big cars, opulence, so it seems that they got ahead of the system. So, in the demon-crazy system, of democracy, everyone tries to get up to that position. Of course George Harrison, he said, “We thought that when you are rich and famous, that was the goal of life. When I became rich and famous, I realised that I was still not happy. I was still not satisfied. There was something more that was missing.” So, that is how he came looking for a guru and he got Śrīla Prabhupāda.

If a person is wealthy, famous, opulent, but they actually remain attached to Kṛṣṇa, and they do not get intoxicated by their material success, then it is considered to be the best blessing. This was confirmed by Lord Kṛṣṇa, by Lord Viṣṇu. When Bali was tied by the Vāsuki rope, his wife, I think his wife’s name is Vṛndāvalī, she said, “How much special mercy you give. So, now he can realise that everything is Yours.” But then the Lord said, “This is not My special mercy, that is ordinary mercy.” The blessing of Kṛṣṇa, he [Bali] is not the proprietor [of the wealth]. Then Kṛṣṇa says, “I do not have to take it away from you, it is only when people get the opulence and they think, now I do not need God anymore, now I have the world.” And at the end feel good about it, he did not feel very good, rather he felt only bad. “I watered that tree with the water of śravaṇādi-jala”, the nine practises of devotional service starting from hearing and chanting, then in this way, everything becomes auspicious. So, how many of you are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa regularly? Haribol! If you are not, please do, seems more or less everybody is doing. We are very happy that Onam festival is being celebrated. Actually in one of  Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s bhajans, where he says, I said it this morning in my class, kṛṣṇa bolibo yabe pulaka ha'be, no what is the next one…?

[…] So, we should chant Onāma, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Whenever you chant Onāma, just remember about the nāma also, the O-nāma! (laughter) By chanting the Holy Name, O-nāma gāye, then you will get the full blessings of Kṛṣṇa.

In Kali-yuga, life is very short. I was walking yesterday in city centre plaza and there was a sign in one shop, it says, “Life is short. Enjoy it to the fullest.” So, really enjoying, because they are only thinking that they are in the material body, so they are trying to only enjoy the material senses, and simultaneously materially we are also experiencing what is the material life, at least the gṛhasthas are, sannyāsīs we are, we do not know. But, gṛhastha life is actually to find out, what is material life but we know that is not the ultimate thing, so we do not want to waste too much time with that, we are experiencing that but simultaneously we want to really experience what is the spiritual happiness.

Devotee: Today, we are in Mathurādeśa for special programmes with the devotees who are preparing for a feast, we are in one farm, there will be initiation. His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Guru Mahārāja will give initiation after few hours. Now, we have a special programme after the Vyāsa-pūjā of His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Guru Mahārāja in Māyāpur. Devotees here would like also to offer their homages for the Vyāsa-pūjā again to His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Guru Mahārāja and things are getting prepared. After that, there will be special lecture, and then, we will have the initiation ceremony.

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Translation by His Divine Grace Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. [audio break] […] Here it explains we need to hear the glories of the Lord from the spiritual master who is the pure devotee of the Lord as well as from the pure devotees. But not only we should hear about Kṛṣṇa, we should hear about the devotees of Kṛṣṇa. So, in your Vyāsa-pūjā offerings you are glorifying His humble servant and remembering the words of the śāstra.

Vyāsa-pūjā means to worship the guru as a representative of the entire disciplic succession. And here you have observed this blessing very good. By representing the guru, respecting the guru as a representative of the disciplic succession, and the whole disciplic succession is worshipped.

The guru is always himself in a mood of a humble devotee of Lord Caitanya. At the same time the guru is considered by śāstra as an external manifestation of the Lord. It is like a post office box. The post office box is like the entire post office, because it is connected to the post office, and if there is a letter in the box it should go to its destination. Like that a bona-fide guru, by serving him or by remembering him or by hearing from him, we are also getting connected to Kṛṣṇa. This connection is important for our spiritual growth.

A spiritual master, Prabhupāda explains, should be a liberated soul. There are two kinds of liberated souls. There is a liberated soul like Nārada Muni who already has his sac-cid-ānanda body, who is fully transcendental. Then there is also a liberated spiritual master who is liberated by serving his spiritual master, by serving the liberated spiritual master. So, I am not claiming to be liberated like Nārada Muni. I am now sincerely trying to serve His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda who certainly is a liberated spiritual master. By serving him one will also be liberated. This is the system, the guru-paramparā, to be the servant of a servant of a servant of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya, when He was asked His identity, He said,

nāhaṁ vipro na ca nara-patir nāpi vaiśyo na śūdro
nāhaṁ varṇī na ca gṛha-patir no vanastho yatir vā
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramānanda-pūrnāmṛtābdher
gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ
[Cc. Madhya 13.80]

“ ‘I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a vaiśya or a śūdra. Nor am I a brahmacārī, a householder, a vānaprastha or a sannyāsī. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the maintainer of the gopīs. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance.’ ”

So, you have to realise that you need a confirmation from the external guru. The internal guru is caitya-guru, who is the Supersoul, and the external guru is dīkṣā-guru, confirming what we know from the caitya-guru. When we hear the words of the caitya-guru in our heart, we can know that it is true when it is being confirmed by the dīkṣā-guru. If we are having doubts about what the guru is saying, then we ask the question in a submissive way to verify it both.

So, in this way, by interacting with the spiritual master we get all our doubts eradicated. When we become free from doubts, free from our offences, then we become ripened pure devotee. This ripening process may take less time or may take more time depending on how sincerely we try to practise our Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Just like somebody may take four months to take over an āśrama, or four years, it is up to the individual. So, the process of ripening is going on, eventually one becomes fully satisfied. When we can satisfy Kṛṣṇa, then we will also become fully satisfied.

It is said here that Kṛṣṇa was so pleased with Vidura, and He put His lotus feet on the lap of Vidura because Vidura was very meek and gentle. Vidura was much older than Kṛṣṇa in material age. He knows that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme  personality of Godhead so he is not relating with Kṛṣṇa as an uncle or anything, but as His devotee. Therefore, he became very meek and gentle, Kṛṣṇa put His feet on Vidura's lap. You think how blessed Vidura is? How many of you would like to have Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet on your lap? And get to massage Lord Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. You cannot imagine how much mercy. Because, Vidura was serving very humbly. Sometimes…

You see, Duryodhana had invited Kṛṣṇa to come and eat at his house, to give Him a large piece of feast and He told him, “Already, I was invited by Vidura, and I had to go to visit him.” Kṛṣṇa was not ready to eat at Duryodhana’s house. He was not at all worried about it. But rather He wanted to eat His devotee's offering. So, when He would take the offering at Vidura's house, afterwards, He would sit and relax. Then He would put His feet on Vidura's lap and Vidura would be massaging. At that time, Vidura's hairs on his body would stand on the end, and tears would swell in his eyes. So, he was very happy. And then the saint Maitreya, he was happy to narrate the glories of Kṛṣṇa. When he was narrating about Kṛṣṇa, his hairs were also standing on the end. So, these topics about Kṛṣṇa are fully meant for purification. The devotees they preach about their realizations about Kṛṣṇa, about His devotees, His pure devotees and in this way, they get purified.

Normally, in the material world, there are so many discussions and you read that newspaper, you do not find anything about Kṛṣṇa's glories, usually. Talking about politicians, talking about sports people, talking about judiciaries but the pure devotees, they like to talk about Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's devotees, because this is… they are really, truly worshipable. Kṛṣṇa likes to talk about His devotees. When Haridāsa Ṭhākura left the world, Lord Caitanya was praising how he was beaten at twenty-two marketplaces, but he tolerated and prayed for forgiveness for all of them, how he was chanting three hundred thousand names every day. (audio and video abruptly ends)