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mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: I would like to thank all the devotees for their participation in the sacred Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī festival! One year ago on Balarāma Pūrṇimā, along with His Holiness Bhānu Swami, I did the prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā ceremony for these Deities. I was there virtually present through the internet. Many times, I visited here virtually. But on this sacred day, I was anxious to see these Deities physically. The Deities are very beautiful, Their śṛṅgāra is very beautiful!

Actually, Kṛṣṇa is not normally visible to our conditioned senses. But He appears as arcā-avatāra, vigraha, Deity and we can see Him. So we are very grateful to the donors who helped to build this beautiful temple. Actually, a little service to Kṛṣṇa is never forgotten. 5000 years ago, Kṛṣṇa appeared in Mathurā and He was taken by Vasudeva to Nandagrāma. And so Kṛṣṇa comes into this universe once in a day of Brahmā. We are in this material world because we have forgotten about Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya said, being born in India is very special. Bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra/ janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra (Cc. Ādi 9.41) – so being born in India you can remember Kṛṣṇa and achieve all perfection. And Lord Caitanya said after achieving perfection, we should help others. So chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa is a special facility in this age. Śravaṇam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam, in this way we can always remember Kṛṣṇa.

I don’t know if you do dramas here. I saw one drama in Chennai, by the little girl children. One played Yamarāja and two others played Yamadūtas. The Yamadūtas were complaining to Yamarāja. These Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and have Deities in their house. They go regularly to the temple and they read Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavata Purāṇa. We cannot take them to hell, we cannot torture them. What are we going to do? If we have more like this, we will be out of job! So who wants to give mercy to the Yamadūtas, give them work? And who wants to give them a vacation? So Kṛṣṇa has come, Lord Caitanya has come to this world so that we can go back home back to Godhead. Lord Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, They are very merciful. We hope that all of you will always follow Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy! Haribol!

Hare Kṛṣṇa japeṅge to sukhī hoṅge! If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa you will be happy! Now I have to go back to the other temple, because abhiṣeka is at the ISKCON ABIDS temple. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Very nice to see the temple! Very nice to see all the devotees!