20251004 Address to the Congregation

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, today is the sacred day of the disappearance of three ācāryas. Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Raghunātha dāsa and Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī. It says that Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja was born in Katwa. Katwa is where Lord Caitanya took sannyāsa. I went there and Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja’s house is some distance from there. So I asked the sevaite of that place, “If somebody could take us to the place of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavairaja.” He said, “First, you should take prasāda.” I said, “I am very busy, I have to take a bus and go back to Māyāpur.” He said, “Well, I am sorry, I cannot give anyone to guide you if you don’t take prasāda and gave many excuses.” So I had to take prasāda! Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Then we got someone to guide us to Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja’s house. We saw that it was in need of some repair. So, I offered to repair the place. They accepted! Now if you go that place, you can see a plaque, with the name ‘Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust’. So there Nityānanda Prabhu came in a dream and told Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja to go to Vṛndāvana and that all his desires would be fulfilled.

Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, his birthplace was Ādi-saptagrāma. There are a lot of vaiśyas in that place. Gold merchants and others. Ladies buy lot of gold ornaments! So, Lord Nityānanda went there and as Lord Caitanya predicted a very big thing in Navadvīpa, Lord Nityānanda went to Ādi-saptagrāma and got all the merchants to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa! So, Govardhana and Hiraṇya Majumdar were tax collectors. I think, Govardhana was his father and Hiraṇya was his uncle. So the Ciḍā-dadhi festival was observed by Lord Nityānanda when He said, “I will punish you!” It is called the Daṇḍa-mahotsava – the Festival of Punishment! And Lord Nityānanda said to Raghunātha dāsa, “Your punishment is that you have to provide a ciḍā-dadhi feast to everyone.” But since the taxes that Hiraṇya collected were like 12 million gold coins, today 10 grams of gold is more than a lakh! What it was 500 years ago, I cannot say! You could spend 80 kauḍis or miniature conch shell which is one pence or paisa. I saw with my own eyes, a one paisa coin. Have you ever seen a one paisa coin? It is a square, small. So even one paisa was 80 kauḍis. And people could eat for a year with just a couple of paisas. So, feeding Lord Nityānanda and His associates was not a big deal for Raghunātha dāsa! And you would be surprised how many people turned up at that feast – they were all friends of Lord Nityānanda. The whole field filled up! And people had to stand knee-deep in the Ganges. And eat their ciḍā-dadhi. So, the mistake was Raghunātha dāsa tried to reach Lord Caitanya but without going through Lord Nityānanda. You have Nitāi Gaura here in the temple, if you want to get Lord Caitanya’s mercy, you have to get Lord Nityānanda’s mercy first. Haribol! So, by the mercy of Lord Nityānanda, Raghunātha dāsa went to Jagannātha Purī and he was given as the assistant of Lord Caitanya’s secretary. And eventually, he was sent to Vṛndāvana and became one of the Six-Gosvāmīs.

Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī was one of the Six-Gosvāmīs, he disappeared today. Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa was the son of one of the two devotees who went to Benaras, he was the son of one of the two devotees. Maybe he was Tapana Miśra. Lord Caitanya told him not to get married, go to Vṛndāvana and became one of the Six-Gosvāmīs. With Rūpa, Sanātana, Jīva and Gopāla Bhaṭṭa. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa was from Śrīraṅgam, Tamil Nadu. So, today is a very auspicious day.

Yesterday, the Ekādaśī was a very powerful Ekādaśī. We don’t take grains, pulses, cereals, on Ekādaśī. But if someone fasts and stays awake all night, then this Ekādaśī amongst all Ekādaśīs, gives special blessings. If one observes it, the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa says one will go back straight to Hari-dhāma. But we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and we want to serve Kṛṣṇa. Rādhārāṇī was one time in Navadvīpa dhāma. She was playing on a flute. Kṛṣṇa was wondering who is playing that flute, so wonderfully! Wonderfully! So He went there to find out. He saw Rādhārāṇī and He said, “You made such a beautiful dhāma for Me! This dhāma will be non-different from Vṛndāvana. So, all the holy places will manifest here.”

Every year we go several times, but the principle time is before Gaura-pūrṇimā, we go around the holy dhāma, that is called parikramā. There are four Bengali parties, one South Indian party, one International party and one Hindi party. And there used to be a Russian party, maybe they will start it again. Now the South Indian part, eats South India food – iḍlis, dosas, sāmbār, curd. Because when Bengalis or North Indians come here, they feel this is all sour. When the South Indians go to North India, they think the prasāda is very plain! So that is why we have South Indian prasāda for the South Indian party! I was talking to an ayurvedic doctor, and I asked him about eating iḍlis, dosas. And he said, “You are not a South Indian!” “But I am the guru of South Indians,” I told him! So for me, I can eat all kinds of prasāda!

So, there are nine islands in Navadvīpa. You try to remember these – Sīmantadvīpa, Antardvīpa, Godrumadvīpa, Madhyadvīpa, Koladvīpa, Ṛtudvīpa, Jahnudvīpa, Modadrumadvīpa and Rudradvīpa they are connected not necessarily in the same order, to the nine practices of devotional service. And those are śravaṇam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam, pāda-sevanam, arcanam, vandanam, dāsyam, sakhyam, ātma-nivedanam. So the first island is Sīmantadvīpa, that is the island dedicated to hearing. And that island, the island is seen by Sīmantinī. Do you know who Sīmantinī is? She is Durgā! Umā! So, this island got its name because Lord Śiva, he was one day chanting and dancing. He was playing on his dundubhi drum and dancing. He was chanting the name of Lord Caitanya. Gauuurāṅga! Gauuuurāṅga! Gauurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gauuurāṅga! Gauuurāṅga! Gauuurāṅga! Gauuuuuurāṅga! Gauuuurāṅga! And Pārvatī, Umā, she was touring the material universe. Because this material world is known as Devī-dhāma. And she is the controller of the material world. So, she is one of the energies of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So Lord Śiva’s dancing was causing earthquakes, tsunamis, various problems in the world. It was not the time for the final pralaya she thought. But my husband’s dancing is creating disturbance in the whole world. So she raced back to Kailāsa. And her husband was chanting and dancing in ecstasy! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gauurāṅga! Gauurāṅga! Gauurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Umā devī, she called out, “Svāmī! Svāmī!” So then, Lord Śiva stopped chanting and dancing. I was in such ecstasy he said, “Why did you disturb me?” She said, “I am sorry, I did not want to disturb your ecstasy. But the world is going through earth quakes, tsunamis, it is getting destroyed! And it is not the time for pralaya. So that is why I called on you!” So then Lord Śiva said, “Alright!” But she said, “What was that you were chanting and what does that mean?” “There is one avatāra of Kṛṣṇa, He came as a devotee and He gives out love of Kṛṣṇa freely,” Lord Śiva said. So I was chanting His name. Gauuurāṅga! Gauuurāṅga! Gauuuuuuuuurāṅgaaaa! “So, how can I see this Lord,” she asked. “How can I get His mercy?” So, Lord Śiva said that, “Śāstra says, He eternally resides in Navadvīpa. So maybe if you go there, you can see Him.” So then, Devī, she came to Navadvīpa dhāma. And she started chanting, Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! And Lord Caitanya appeared to her! Haribol! And Lord Caitanya asked, “What do you want? Why have you called Me?” She said, “I am Your energy. I am in the material world, and I want to get Your mercy! I don’t get association with the pure devotees. They call me the witch, Māyā. They don’t want any material benediction. And they only want your service.” So, Lord Caitanya said, “Rādhārāṇī is also My internal energy. And you are energy, She is energy. You are in Navadvīpa dhāma, you can realize your non-difference from Rādhārāṇī.” Then, Pārvatī, Umā devī, took the dust from the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya and put it on the part on the head where ladies generally wear the sindūra. And that is known as sīmanta, the residence of Lakṣmī. So, that island is known as Sīmantadvīpa, named after Pārvatī devī. And there Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, Sudarśana cakra also are there. We made a small temple for Lord Caitanya and Pārvatī, Sīmantinī. And South Indian party said, they would like to develop that place! So, like this, I heard the Chennai temple wants to develop the birthplace of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura. Because His Holiness Bhānu Swami translated many books of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura.

We see how this Chennai temple is very much connected with the sampradāya of Lord Caitanya! Now we want people to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. This cleanses the consciousness, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu mentioned this in His Śikṣāṣṭakam. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam. So, like this, the secret of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to always think about Kṛṣṇa, try to give Kṛṣṇa to everyone.

My secretary Mahā Varāha had a realization. The more you give Kṛṣṇa, the more you become Kṛṣṇa conscious! But if you give material things to your family and others that is gone! Of course, if you give money to the temple, to Kṛṣṇa, then you also become more Kṛṣṇa conscious. Śrīla Prabhupāda was giving a lecture in 1973 in London. And he said that the gṛhasthas should become paramahaṁsas. They should always think about Kṛṣṇa. And he also told the gṛhasthas they should have ācāryas as children! Because we need a lot of ācāryas! Since today is the disappearance day of three ācāryas, I thought I should mention that. You see, in the material world people are desiring, I want to have this, that, everything, then I will be happy. So then, they have to take birth again!

The Beatles they got name, fame, money. But then they realized that in spite of all this, they were not happy! So, you see therefore George Harrison, he sang the song – My Sweet Lord! And he asked for initiation from Śrīla Prabhupāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “You are Hari’s son. So you don’t need initiation! You are already the son of Hari!” Of course, we are not so fortunate! Therefore, we take initiation.

I can go on, but it is overtime. Any questions or comments?

Viśveśvarī Gopī Devī Dāsī: We heard about Sīmantadvīpa from your lotus mouth. We want to hear about all other islands as well from you!

Jayapatākā Swami: I will tell you some of the pastimes, at least two dvīpas. Godrumadvīpa, Madhyadvīpa. In Godrumadvīpa there is Hari-Hara Kṣetra where Hari and Hara, Hari and Śiva are together. I cannot tell more until tomorrow. Something about Madhyadvīpa. Haṁsa-vāhana Śiva. Normally Śiva rides on Nandi. When did he ride on the Haṁsa of Brahmā? Tomorrow! Any other question?

Question: How to always maintain the preaching spirit?

Jayapatākā Swami: You know when Śrīla Prabhupāda, he crossed the ocean, he was 69 or 70 years old. He suffered heart attacks. The Atlantic Ocean was very rough. But it became very peaceful and Kṛṣṇa crossed him to America. He reached there in 1965 or 66. I became his disciple in 1968. So whenever I remember Śrīla Prabhupāda, how he took all these risks to preach, so then what is our excuse? He only wanted to keep the order of his spiritual master. So we should also keep the order of our spiritual master in our heart and preach. Lord Caitanya said in South India, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. Whoever you meet, tell them the message of Kṛṣṇa. That is why we want all the people to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. Bhagavad-gītā, Nectar of Devotion, Īśopaniṣad, Upadeśāmṛta, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Before I took first initiation, Śrīla Prabhupāda said, I had to read the Bhagavad-gītā ten times! I still have that Bhagavad-gītā, one two three four, chuk, with the markings. I read all the books so many times. Now I am reading again, the Bhagavad-gītā. So many new realizations I am getting. I have the Bhaktivedanta degree, and I am halfway through my Bhakti-Sārvabhauma. And it is important that all of you read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books get the degrees.

His Holiness Bhānu Mahārāja’s books are good reference books. I saw that they are editing and designing the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. The fifth and last volume. Four volumes are finished. So, anything about festivals, devotional service, you can get from the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa. But first everyone needs to read the basic books that Śrīla Prabhupāda translated.

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Thank you very much!