20250327 Address To Safari And Other Devotees

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya came here 500 years ago. We are establishing Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet here. This is a very holy temple. The Deity here is Saumya Nārāyaṇa Perumāl. I think the pūjārī is behind me. And these lotus footprints is sponsored by His Grace Balarāma Govinda dāsa. The zonal supervisor in this area, His Grace Saṅkhadhārī Prabhu is overseeing all the activities here. Yesterday, they went to Rāmeśvaram which is under your area. In the Safari they have devotees from 32 nations represented here. So Lord Caitanya spent six years travelling around India. In South India and Maharashtra, then He went to Gujarat, Dvārakā. Later He went to Uttar Pradesh, Vṛndāvana. And then of course He spent about 18 years in Jagannātha Purī. He appeared in Bengal, in a place called Navadvīpa. He was there for 24 years. He also travelled to Bangladesh for a few years. He went to Bihar, and He got initiated by Īśvara Purī in Gayā. Then He left for Vṛndāvana then, but the ākaśavāṇī told Him that was not the time for Him to go to Vṛndāvana, to go back to Navadvīpa! So, He went almost to every corner of India. He was preaching to everyone that they should listen to the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And He  asked that everyone we see we should ask them to listen to Lord Caitanya’s, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s teachings and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. While He was in South India He would visit all the holy temples. So how many lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya do you plan to establish in South India? So His Grace Balarāma Govinda Prabhu is establishing and financing the establishment of the lotus footprints here. The Safari is establishing it. We are thanking the Safari for coming here! And the Mahārājas for leading the Safari! Some lotus feet we have already established – like Dhanushkoti, Nagarcoil, Thiruvattaru. So we are grateful to this temple who have given us permission to establish Lord Caitanya’s footprints. This was desired by our Parama guru, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. So doing this will please Śrīla Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda! Would you like to say some Saṅkhadhārī dāsa?

I went with the Safari to Rāmeśvaram, many years ago. Then there was the Jīyar there and we went to see him. All the devotees were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Rāma! And he said you are all representatives of Āṇḍāl Devī! You are spreading the holy name! I did not know that this is the birthplace of Āṇḍāl Devī. I did not know that Āṇḍāl Devī grew up here. So we pray to Āṇḍāl Devī that we get empowered to spread Lord Caitanya’s movement. She had the message to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. You see, the head priest here said, Hare Rāma Hare Kṛṣṇa! Because that is the mantra in the Upaniṣad. The devotees, we spread the name to people of all backgrounds, therefore we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. There are many devotees who are not second devotees, so they do not chant the mantra from the Upaniṣad, that is why we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa! I was very inspired to hear from His Holiness Bhakti Vigna-vināśa Narasiṁha Swami. His name is Narasiṁha Swami and he likes the Deity of Lord Narasiṁhadeva here!

Hare Kṛṣṇa!