20250828 Zoom Address to Kṛṣṇa Bandhu Youth Group

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: Thank you for your presentation. I am very impressed by it. Kṛṣṇa Bandhu Youth group – it is much bigger than I thought. Which are the eight countries you are in? You said you were all over India. What are the countries you are in?

So, of course as youth you can do many things. Nice that you are having a program of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Especially the chanting and the other things. Now, chanting is the yuga-dharma. And Lord Caitanya came to establish this chanting. And this Navadvīpa dhāma was actually made by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. And so, She played on Kṛṣṇa’s flute and He wondered who was playing such a sweet tune on the flute? And He came to Navadvīpa. He told Rādhārāṇī that, “You made this beautiful dhāma for Me! So this, dhāma will be non-different from Vraja-dhāma. And all the Kṛṣṇa conscious activities performed here would have a thousand times benefit.” But this is the audārya-dhāma, so this is the dhāma of mercy. So the offences in Vṛndāvana they are also multiplied by a thousand times. But here it is not so. Am I understood by everybody?

So by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy all the various places are there in Navadvīpa which were in Vṛndāvana. So we go before Gaura-pūrṇimā on parikramā. We have about seven groups. South Indian, International, three Bengali groups, used to have a Russian group who want to restart. But may be we could have a Youth group! Kṛṣṇa would only give His mercy out if someone was fully surrendered. Lord Caitanya broke the lock on prema! He distributed the prema freely. He did not discriminate who was qualified, who was not, He gave it out to everybody. And He wanted the whole world to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. He had predicted that in every town and village of the world His holy name would be chanted. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to preach unlimitedly! But, I am not able to do so. So I am asking you all to help me to preach unlimitedly! I saw how you made people fortunate to chant – something like 39,000 people were chanting one mantra of Hare Kṛṣṇa! So, we do that in Māyāpur, we teach people how to chant on japa-mālā. Then at the end of the chanting session, if people want they can buy a japa-mālā. Then also, they sell packets of books of Śrīla Prabhupāda. And you know we give some books free in the packet. Anyway, we want to see Lord Caitanya’s mercy spread all over the world. We also want everyone in India and Bangladesh to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Before my various health issues, I went sometimes to house programs. In one house in Bengaluru, the Christian nurses came to see me. So I said Lord Jesus said to love God in the Ten Commandments. But in your Bible, not much information is there about God. Mainly it is about Jesus. So, He says to love God! We need to know something about God for that. That is where the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam come in! So we are not trying to convert people, just saying how to love God. You have to read Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Like this, the Navadvīpa dhāma is a very special place. There are nine islands of Navadvīpa dhāma which are connected to the nine practices of devotional service. We have Pañca-krośa parikramā when someone goes around the holy places in Sīmantadvīpa and Antardvīpa, etc. And in this way a parikramā can be done in one day. Also, there is the Aṣṭa-krosa parikramā for two days. Then the full parikramā takes about nine days. We can go the nine days, but seven days we are walking.

So, like this I mean, Kṛṣṇa combined with Rādhā and came as Lord Caitanya. He spent 24 years in Navadvīpa. Then He took sannyāsa, He was a gṛhastha, He took sannyāsa, because those days people respected sannyāsīs. Then He went to Jagannātha Purī and He spent six years going all over India, Vṛndāvana, South India. Then for eighteen years in Jagannātha Purī. So if you can help Him, Śrīla Prabhupāda and me to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, it will be very nice! And also, Lord Caitanya, He is actually Kṛṣṇa. So, He can empower you. Lord Nityānanda is Balarāma, Advaita is Mahā-Viṣṇu, Gadādhara is Rādhārāṇī and Śrīvāsa represents many devotees. We are trying to locate many holy places and develop them and bring them up to the standards.

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says:

śrī gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi,     yebā jāne cintāmaṇi,
tā'ra haya vrajabhūme vāsa

Recently, in the southern tip of Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi, in Digha, we got a duplicate temple of Lord Jagannātha! Śrīla Prabhupāda had instructed me to try to get the devotees from foreign countries to enter the Jagannātha Purī temple. So I have been trying for fifty plus years. The Śaṅkarācārya of Purī told me you can go. Just drink a kilo of boiling ghee. I said, I will die. Yes, but you will be born a Hindu, then you can go! Ha! Ha! That wasn’t very positive! But, last year, the Chief Minister of Bengal had made a duplicate temple of Lord Jagannātha in Digha, and different universities did studies and found that the temple was maximum was 15 millimeters off the Jagannātha Purī temple. The architects told me it was some kind of miracle. So we were trying to get entry into the Jagannātha Purī temple, instead, a whole temple was given! The Deity service, ISKCON is in charge, to do the worship and sevā of the Deities. An agreement was signed by the West Bengal Government and the Bureau of ISKCON India. So, I don’t know how many of you are close to there, but you can come and we can receive you. You can do pūjā and kīrtana around the Digha temple.

We are trying to develop a site in Rāmakeli, in Malda district, where Lord Caitanya ment Sanātana and Rūpa Gosvāmī and gave them initiation. He sent them to Vṛndāvana. So they were the head of the Six Gosvāmīs. So, various festivals are going on here in Māyāpur and we would like to invite you to participate. I will try to attend your program. Please send me the details to my secretary. And so like this, we are trying to see that Lord Caitanya’s message goes everywhere. And Lord Caitanya did something in South India that He did not do in Bengal. Everyone He met, He embraced! He was the embracing guru! And this way, He spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So now, you are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa and His name are in the Absolute platform the same. By regularly chanting, the heart gets cleansed, and we get established in Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental circle. Now, Lord Caitanya only wrote eight verses, the Śikṣāṣṭakam. But the Six-Gosvamis and Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja and others wrote many other books. Śrīla Prabhupāda translated some of those books. Nectar of Devotion, is Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. By practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness you gradually uplift yourself to experience kṛṣṇa-prema! Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains how each step of devotional service leads slowly to prema. So, I will end here and give you a chance to ask your questions.

Question: How to remain enthusiastic in youth although we see you Mahārāja so enthusiastically serving, we are not so enthusiastic.

Jayapatākā Swami: You know, there are differences of intelligence. If you understand that in this life you can get so much mercy from Lord Caitanya, be you gṛhasthas, brahmacārīs, whatever you are, you can get mercy from Lord Caitanya and if you really understand this, naturally you will be enthusiastic! You see the material world offers us two things – śukha and duḥkha – happiness from the senses and suffering from the senses. So the youth age there may be less suffering. In old age many different sufferings. But you are all going to become old one day. So it is important to utilize this human form of life, intelligently. Lord Caitanya, He was a youth when He was preaching in Navadvīpa. He left Navadvīpa when He was 24. And He was doing this saṅkīrtana movement here. The Chand Kazi tried to stop Him and He organized massive protest! Four saṅkīrtana parties lead by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, one by Haridāsa Ṭhākura, one by Advaita Ācārya and He and one where He was accompanied by Nitāi and Gadādhara. Some people were laughing but when they saw Lord Caitanya chanting and dancing, they started crying! From the heavenly planets Indradeva and Vāyudeva, they came down. They saw the Lord dancing and crying, and they fell unconscious! When they woke up, they took human forms and joined the party! So that is why we are inviting all the ‘Kṛṣṇa Bandhu’ devotees to join the party! Any other question

Mediator: We have prepared 600 bhoga offerings for the pleasure of His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja. From 29 states!

Jayapatākā Swami: So many things! We have enough to feed everybody here. I don’t think anyone has tasted so many preparations! So this is from different states, I can see carob cakes, we have South India iḍli, etc.

So many amazing preparations. Only Kṛṣṇa can taste all these!

Amazing preps by Kṛṣṇa Bandhus! Blessings to Kṛṣṇa Bandhus and all devotees present here! Kṛṣṇe matir astu!