20220821 ISKCON Kukatpally, Evening Address

The following is an evening address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 21st, 2022 in Hyderabad, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: So I was very eager to come to this temple in Kukatpally. I had heard many glories of Mahā-śṛṅga Prabhu. When I heard that his wife wanted to cook for me, even though my cooks had prepared my dinner, I have been fasting all this time. Anyway, I don’t know what is possible, but I have brought my prasāda just in case. I did not know that I will be so fortunate to see Sahadeva Prabhu again! Actually, trying to get my appointment is very difficult but you don’t need an appointment, Sahadeva Prabhu, Mahaśṛṅga Prabhu can talk to me any time! I am very happy!I tried looking on YouTube of your temple, but I saw you with some ministers, dignitaries, but I could not see the Deities. I could see the Deities of Secunderabad but they had old pictures. When I came for the Vyāsa-pūjā, wow! The Deities were very specially and beautifully decorated. When I saw the Deities of Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā and Śrīla Prabhupāda, my heart melted!

I was telling this morning or yesterday, how when I was in Montreal, three gṛhastha couples came to Montreal to get blessings from Śrīla Prabhupāda to go to London. And after that when they went to London, they were in the papers, “Hare Kṛṣṇas Rock London”. They had made friends with the Beatles and brought Śrīla Prabhupāda to see John Lennon and George Harrison. He said what my gurudeva sent a sannyāsī to the UK could not do, my gṛhastha disciples did! We know that Lord Caitanya’s movement, He said gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. Here we see Sahadeva how he is in saffron and Mahā-śṛṅga Prabhu is a gṛhastha. And Varada Kṛṣṇa Prabhu is here who is a gṛhastha. They have a TMC in Hyderabad. Some are gṛhasthas and some are brahmacārīs. I am very impressed to hear how the Ratha-yātrā was celebrated for nine days, in eight different places. In Kolkata they do nine-day Ratha-yātrā. They go around one day and stay in one place and then coming around nine days later. Ulṭa-ratha. But here they do eight days. So Mahā-sṛṅga Prabhu said that there 8,000 people who took prasāda. So we want Lord Caitanya, His process was to have the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa and distribute prasāda. This was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s secret. He had gulab-jamuns and he called them ISKCON bullets. Now they are fighting with missiles, and we are fighting with sweets! I am very happy to see so many nice devotees. And I also saw that my worshipable Lordships Śrī Rādhā Mādhava Aṣṭa-sakhi vṛnda, from Māyāpur. I have to come here again feeling separation from Māyāpur. I was praying to Narasiṁhadeva when you were bringing me up the stairs!

Anyway, Lord Caitanya predicted that in every town and village we should have His holy names sung. And so we hope that the devotees here, gṛhasthas here will help that prediction come true. And Mahā-sṛṅga Prabhu is talking he talks about the whole of Telangana. I have heard a lot about Kukatpally ISKCON and Śrīvatsa Śyāmasundara, he is from Telangana and he told me a lot about Kukatpally. Previously we came we saw Mahā-sṛṅga in his house and I did not know that such a nice center has been developed.

Lord Caitanya’s special mercy was that He gave out to everybody love of Kṛṣṇa. Śaṅkarācārya said, to get liberation you have to be a sannyāsī. But Lord Caitanya, He said whether you are a gṛhastha or a vairāgī, you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and you can go back to Godhead. Actually, in Kali-yuga, five things are prohibited. And one of those things is taking sannyāsa. Somehow, I was asked by Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1970 to take sannyāsa and I did it! But I would not be a normal sannyāsī, I would stay in an āśrama. We don’t go to the forest or something. Although I did go to some interior villages for preaching. So I hope we can have everybody here become an instrument in Lord Caitanya’s hand to bring Kṛṣṇa consciousness to everyone. And we know that gṛhasthas, they make new devotees. By their children and by their preaching.

Lord Caitanya, He gave such mercy when He travelled around India, especially South India that people naturally developed love for Kṛṣṇa. He gave the mercy He did not show in Navadvīpa, He showed in South India. People want to be happy, right? Who wants to be happy here? But you see, real happiness is not from the body. This body gives some happiness, but that is very limited. But the happiness of loving Kṛṣṇa is unlimited. And we heard that women are advanced because they can easily accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But with men it is sometimes seen that they become a bit puffed up and do not want to bow down before God. Of course, not here!

Anyway, since this week is a special week, we were observing Śrīla Prabhupāda Vyāsa-pūjā yesterday, maybe I can remember something. Of course, Śrīla Prabhupāda, any time he would, I was very fortunate and Śrīla Prabhupāda would visit there twice a year. And in the fall, he would come and spend about a month in Māyāpur. On the roof he would walk and everything he would give some Kṛṣṇa conscious purport. There were some ants moving from one place to another. They were carrying eggs on their head, the queen ant in front and we were looking down at them. He said, just as we are looking at them and think they are insignificant, they live for a few days. Like that there are devas looking down on us and think how insignificant we are! Our one year is their one day. We may be like a little mouse! We live for three months by their calculation. So like this Śrīla Prabhupāda would look up and see the moon and say, scientists only found some rocks there but there is life there. One time he was standing at a light and there were thousands of bugs going around. Then we were wondering why Śrīla Prabhupāda was watching the light for. Śrīla Prabhupāda turned around and said see the bugs are flying around, but no accident! We have radar in our airports still there are accidents! Like that, one devotee was a night guard to protect Śrīla Prabhupāda. That devotee felt he was being watched by someone. He looked around with his flashlight, his torch. And he looked under the stairway, there was Śrīla Prabhupāda! Kneeling down. He stood up and said, I was just checking up on you! So, like that Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was very spontaneous, we never knew what he would do! When we would go on morning walk with Śrīla Prabhupāda.He would see any dirt, any garbage, he would ask, “What is that?” He wanted the temple should be spotlessly clean. Then I saw here and in Secunderabad, nice and clean. Someone told me that whenever you say Śrīla Prabhupāda say something humbling yourself and glorifying yourself and ask for some mercy. Then I do that every day. But a few days I remember because Śrīla Prabhupāda would answer in an unexpected way. I would say, “Śrīla Prabhupāda I am a fool…” I was going to say something. But then Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “Yes!” Then I asked, I said, “Śrīla Prabhupāda I want to serve you life after life!” Śrīla Prabhupāda answered, “Why do you want to make me come back?” I thought I had said the right thing! So I said, “Even life after life!”

So like this, one day he was teaching us how to keep the temple clean, how to do everything nicely. Anyway, Śrīla Prabhupāda was very merciful and we first two or three days he would just praise us. Then he would start scolding. One day he was writing and in a golden goblet we gave him water. And he was drinking the water without touching the goblet. And he said, “Living or dying in Māyāpur it is the same!” You live in the spiritual world, you die, you go back to the spiritual world. So, like that, it was very interesting.

And sometimes, he called me at 1 or 2 in the morning. The secretary used to come and knock on my door. “Yes!” “Śrīla Prabhupāda wants to see you.” I would wash my feet, face, mouth and run downstairs to Śrīla Prabhupāda. I would see Śrīla Prabhupāda sitting and he had a mosquito net over him. He would be translating the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Sanskrit to English and he would be dictating his purports. From 12 midnight to about 3 or 4 in the morning he would be translating. He would tell me what was on his mind and then let me go. But the point is that he did such a sacrifice sitting up and translating his books and giving purports. I don’t know how many of you have been reading his books. But we want everyone to read his books so that way you can associate with Śrīla Prabhupāda. Since I heard all these programs in the colleges and universities of education by Mahā-sṛṅga Prabhu, I think Kukatpally could become an educational center for Kṛṣṇa conscious books. The sky is the limit! Alright! They are telling me I have to stop! So, I am very happy to see all these devotees. And I hope you all get the special mercy of Lord Caitanya! And I am very thankful to His Holiness Rādhānath Swami who has sent Mahā-sṛṅga Prabhu here, he is his disciple, and he is encouraging everyone to preach Lord Caitanya’s message. We now have like 5,000 Nāmahaṭṭa saṅgas. West Bengal, Odisha, and Assam. Apart from that we have in Russia and all over the world. And that was started by His Holiness Bhakti Rāghava Swami. And when our temple was attacked by dacoits his leg was hit by a bomb. So, we are very grateful for his sevā. Alright! Hare Kṛṣṇa!