20250814 129th Vyāsa-Pūjā Celebration Festival Address

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: I am very happy to see so many MCS devotees here. I hope that you have all understood or spoken about and participated in glorifying Śrīla Prabhupāda. My doctor says that I should not be going on but I am not able to stay away! So, I am very happy that so many devotees have come over. Śrīla Prabhupāda used to visit Māyāpur twice a year. Once during Gaura-pūrṇimā and once before or after Dāmodara month. There would be firecrackers, when the devotees who were posted near the culvert would see Śrīla Prabhupāda’s car coming which would be an indication that he was nearing the temple. Then, they would light the firecrackers. Śrīla Prabhupāda would go on morning walks and if there was any dirt on the way he would point to that. So, this way, Śrīla Prabhupāda had a relationship with all the Māyāpur residents! Some of our residents are foreigners and also some are Indian. Like this, Śrīla Prabhupāda is blessing all the devotees!

I just wanted to come participate a little in this wonderful festival. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted that all of us should hear about Kṛṣṇa’s activities and perform devotional service. In the Bhagavad-gītā there is a verse which says janma karma ca me divyam [Bg. 4.9] – My birth and activities are all divine – the birthplace is a little away from here and Māyāpur where we are now is the place of activity or karma-sthāna of Kṛṣṇa. I want to thank all of you for having come here.

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Now they are offering bhoga to Śrīla Prabhupāda! Very nice!