20161231 New Years Eve Program

20161231 Jayapataka Swami talked at a New Years Eve Program in Bangalore

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaj on December 31st, 2016, in Bangalore, Inidia. The talk was given in the new year eve program.

Gurumaharaj:

sri krsna caitanya prabhu nityananda 

sri advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Mukam Karoti Vacalam 

Pangum Langhayate Girim

Yat Kripa Tamaham Vande 

Sri Gurum Dina Tarinam

Paramananda Madhavam

Sri Caitanya Isvaram

Hari Om Tatsat

So my illustrious grobrothers who are in the dias, and all the special guests, all the devotees who are here tonight and all of our patrons and friends, we are celebrating the end of the year, and the start of a new year, and by remembering His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.

Of course for us there are many new years. We have the Ugadi New Year, I also had the Ugadi sweet which was also bitter. We have also our Gaura Purnima, Gaurabda New Year, and we have the Christabdo New Year. 

So with this new year we want to chant Hare Krishna bringing in the new year. We are reminded how 50 years ago Prabhupada registered Iskcon in 1966. Of course he did that in July approximately. So we are still within a year actually, but it was in the calendar year of 1966. So 2016 was the anniversary year, but we are still celebrating until next July. 

So devotees here, they have organized also to commemorate 50 years of Iskcon (applause from crowd), and Prabhupada personally established 108 temples around the world. He said, “Please protect what I have done. If you are not able to increase at least don’t squander what I have done.”, but by Prabhupada’s mercy, Krishna’s mercy , so we have around 700 temples. 

Thousands of bhakti vrikshas, thousands of namhattas, then the counselor groups, many farms, bases and Hare Krishna clubs. So like this we have been able to expand what Prabhupada did. We are doing this as a humble offering. 

Prabhupada struggled in the beginning. In 1967 he had a stroke, he was paralysed to the neck down. He told them to take him out of the hospital and the doctors were saying, “You are killind him, you are killing him.” , but Prabhupada’s head was still working and he was still preaching. In 1968 Prabhupada walked so fast that I didn’t know that he had a stroke.

Srila Prabhupada ki……………………..Jay (everyone)

We heard how we put so much importance in preaching. Tejas Prabhu has told us the story and this was also highlighted by Haripad Prabhu, and how Prabhupada’s books were such jewels, and Shayamasundar prabhu, he has shown his wealth of knowledge. Now that we know he not only studied jyotish, astronomy,  I am going to ask him to be a part of the Temple of Vedic Planetarium exhibit. So Prabhupada, he was… he told me also… I was chanting 32 rounds, I thought I was doing a great job, and he said, “What are you doing?”, I said, “I am chanting 32 rounds.”, he said, “Chant 16 rounds and go out and preach.”, he wanted us to  preach. 

He took sanyas, and he said, “those who have a sanyasi guru should go out and preach.” 

So I am very grateful that the devotees inBangalore are also expanding the preaching. This is  very important. 

Here Bangalore has many multinational companies, and here economic growth his seen everywhere. Bit side by side, people need to understand what is the purpose of life. 

Lord Caitanya, took His initiation in the Madhava line, and that was accepted by Pejawar Swami, who is doing his 5th pariyar now. 

So Karnataka is our home, and we want that this city of Bangalore should be Lord Caitanya’s special place. 

So Prabhupada brought this message to the world. Krishna predicted in the Brahma-Vaivarta Purana, that 500 years from the beginning of Kali yuga, a devotee would come and spread Krishna bhakti all over the world, and that they would be chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra. Also the Bhagavata Purana says that South India would be a special, spiritual place. So for this reasons, Bangalore should be a Krishna conscious city. 

We heard how there was ganapati temple here. Gannapati was so eager to hear about Krishna that he broke off his tusk and started writing. 

We heard how Haripad Prabhu likes Udipi. Udipi is the place of the Krishna deity. Balaram is by the ocean. So here in Karnataka are Krishna and Balaram. So we hope that Prabhupada would give his mercy here in Karnataka so that the people would blossom and fully flourish. 

So we want to spend the rest of the night chanting. We hope that everybody likes to chant and dance. See, I was working in Canada in one AMW root bear stand. It was to earn money to pay for Prabhupada’s rent. So, during the coffee break I would chant my japa, and the boss said, “What are you doing? It’s the coffee break, drink coffee.”, I said, “Well, coffee is their stimulation, but I get stimulated by chanting Hare Krishna.”, he said, “NO, that is not allowed, drink coffee.” 

Coffee also comes from Karnataka, but Hare Krishna is more important. So I continued to chant and I lost that job. So the only reason I told that was because, chanting Hare Krishna is our stimulation. Other people tonight, get stimulated by other things, which then gives them headache and stomach ache, but you wouldn’t know about that anyway. So chanting Hare Krishna is the best way, it’s transcendental.

And all the people say, “Why are you so happy? … chant Hare Krishna and be happy.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Gurumaharaj does kirtan.

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