20250718 Address to Post Graduate Course Get-Together

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: How many of you do not understand Bengali? You are all from the PGC. The course that you have all undergone, with this credit, wherever you are in the world, you will be able to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness!

I was the third president in Montreal. And then I thought that Toronto is a big city, so we should establish a temple there as well. I went to Canada and established the Toronto temple. Then Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to meet him, and he desired that I go to India. So I went to Los Angeles to meet with Śrīla Prabhupāda. Then, he said that it would be better for you to go to India, that I should get ready and that he would look into other arrangements. Then I went to Chicago and helped in establishing a temple there. Then Śrīla Prabhupāda said I should leave for India. I asked His Grace Garga Muni to assist me with travel tickets. But he said, you arrange it through donations! We used to call him by the nickname ‘Garga Money’! Anyway, I first landed in Calcutta. Śrīla Prabhupāda came there, and he granted me sannyāsa. He said that I was the 11^th sannyāsī! There were ten people before me. But now, none of them are there. Anyway, I came to Calcutta.

After two or three years Śrīla Prabhupāda sent me off to Māyāpur. When I first came to Māyāpur I paid obeisances because it is a sacred land. At that time, there was just a grass hut. That was Māyāpur! There was nothing else! Gradually, we had some cows. There was a small outhouse type for Śrīla Prabhupāda to use as washroom. One person had too much date syrup and had an upset stomach and had passed motion all around! Śrīla Prabhupāda called me and asked me to have the place cleaned up! So this way, there were many tests he put me through! Then we were about five or six people then. Where the lake is now, there was a small piece of land and there with two laborers we planted some vegetables. I used to read a periodical by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and from that learnt a bit about growing plants. There was nothing else here. In a small land space we grew tomatoes and ground nuts. I knew them as Bengali badam. Another space we grew radish. In such a small area, we grew so much radish that the devotees were amazed! So, we had radish greens, and various types of dishes with radish day in and day out. But the devotees pleaded with folded hands, no more radish please!! Śrīla Prabhupāda said that the grass hut should always be retained. This was the first structure in Māyāpur and then later gradually everything else came up.

The most important thing is that we should always serve Kṛṣṇa. If we serve Kṛṣṇa, then even in the various situations and circumstances, it is possible to do service. Like His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Mahārāja, he distributes books. Every devotee does some kind of service. To make the Lord happy, to satisfy the Lord, is most important and wanted. Now Māyāpur has developed a lot and I hope that all of you will do different services and help Māyāpur develop even more. So, MDC has taught you a lot and you are graduates, and you have to learn a lot in the future as well. Śrīla Prabhupāda had said that to get Harināma, first initiation we had to read the Bhagavad-gītā at least ten times. Now, reading the Bhagavad-gītā and other scriptures, you have to acquire Bhakti-śāstrī, Bhakti-vaibhava and other degrees. I see that you are all trying to take up these studies. With great enthusiasm and determination, you can do all this! Anyway, having been able to participate in this program and be with all of you, I feel very happy.

Kṛṣṇe matir astu!