20251012 Sunday Feast 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: So Sunday is a special day of the Sunday Feast. I would like to welcome all the devotees! Especially, I would like to welcome the 60 so devotees who have come from Tirupati! And also Surabhi devī dāsī, Śrīla Prabhupāda disciple. So we pray to Nitāi Gaura, Rādhā Kṛṣṇa and Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, Sudarśana Cakra, Lakṣmī Nṛsiṁhadeva for Their mercy!

So in the nine steps of devotional service that I mentioned, these steps are described as steps in our going to achieve kṛṣṇa-prema. But before I describe these, the important thing to know is externally we have the body. Then, we also have subtle body. And we are a soul or ātmā within all this. So that ātmā is very small. But it is higher energy. Kṛṣṇa has explained in the Bhagavad-gītā that this ātmā is His parā śakti. Ātmā is conscious. And the reason is once the ātmā leaves the body and goes to another body it is reincarnation, and the previous body is dead. So, this material energy has no consciousness. And consciousness is in the ātmā. So the reason that the person appears beautiful, active is because he is conscious! Because ātmā is eternal. Kṛṣṇa on the battlefield He said, all the people here, they were always existing. And in the future, in some form or other, they will still exist. But the ātmā, there is no death. Death is only for the material body. So, people in the material world, we don’t understand this. We think that we are the body. And in this way, we are in delusion. So, we should understand that we are not the body. And the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is for this purpose. And we are parts, small parts, like rays of the sunshine coming from the sun. So we are part of the Supreme Lord. And as such, we are His servitors. So, this is the thing that has to be realized.

So there are different steps which lead up to kṛṣṇa-prema. First is to attend the classes, listen to the speakers, like you all are doing. Some are coming for the first time – who is here who has come for the first time? Raise your hands. So welcome! We are very happy to receive you! You see how people are showing so much gratitude that you are here! Haribol! Gaurāṅga!

So, this hearing shows faith. And if someone had no faith, they would not come here. They don’t listen to the class. So that is a step in self-realization. The next step is to associate with devotees. These are such nice association. So that is called sat-saṅga. Of course, devotees, if you associate, they would not let you go without taking some food! That is an austerity you may have to take! So, if you are even more fortunate, you do bhajana-kriyā. That means you start to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, attend the festivals. 

I heard today that in Chennai you have the Madhura Mahotsava. And it is a very wonderful festival for chanting, and I like it very much! I hope everybody participates. I saw that thousands of devotees are also taking prasāda. So, in bhajana-kriyā maybe once starts following the regulative principles, takes shelter of a guru. Then they may also take initiation. So in this way, they become very established in devotional service. And then they try to get rid of all their bad habits. And maybe the gross bad habits are already got ridden off before initiation, but also get rid of the subtle bad habits. Weeds and other offences. That is called the stage of anartha-nivṛtti. So then as one gets free from all those anarthas, at least most of them, then they become very fixed up, that is known as the stage of niṣṭhā. Then as one practices very enthusiastically, very discretely, in niṣṭhāstage, you can see someone in the niṣṭhā stage, they are steady, attend all the programs. And then from there they reach the stage of having a taste for this process. That is called the stage of ruci. When someone has this taste, it is a such a wonderful taste! I mean, you know that when someone said they lost their taste for chanting, in spite of that if you chant, you get the taste back! Chanting is very essential. It is the yuga-dharma. Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa! In every yuga there is a different dharma. There is a śloka that describes this: 

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ
tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ
dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ
kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt
(SB 12.3.52)

In Satya-yuga it was meditating, in Tretā-yuga was homa, yajña, Dvāpara-yuga serving Kṛṣṇa and worshiping in the temple, and Kali-yuga it is Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, the Harināma. Gaurāṅga! So then when you are chanting and have a taste, you get attached. That is called the stage of āsakti. When you are attached… 

Once in Montreal, a father and mother and tried to put their arms around the neck of their son. They were having a nice talk. When they got near the door, he grabbed their son to take him out! And when the son held on the doorknob and they were pulling him on the street, he would not let go the doorknob! So, you see the imagine the scene, the son is holding on to the doorknob and the parents are pulling him out and he is shouting, “I don’t want to go! I don’t want to go!” So, Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “He was attached!” So from attachment comes the preliminary stage of kṛṣṇa-prema known as bhāva or rati. It is ecstatic love for Lord Kṛṣṇa. Maybe for Lord Kṛṣṇa or His expansions like Nārāyaṇa, Nṛsiṁhadeva, Varāhadeva or Rāmacandra. So, some form of the Lord. The Supreme Lord is one. But He has many forms. These are called viṣṇu-tattvas. We are jīva-tattvas. And there are some known as śakti-tattvas. Like, Lakṣmī, Rādhā and others. So, as jīva-tattva, we can be either under the protection of the internal higher energy, or we can fall under the control of the lower energy. So, that is the material energy. So, in the material life we see different objects from our senses, and we want to enjoy. So, our senses are attracted to the sense objects. And the mind is the center of all those sense gratification, so the mind is also engaged like this. Greater than the mind is intelligence. So the intelligence is thinking, is strategizing how to enjoy this particular sense object. And the ātmā is higher than the intelligence. Because the ātmā is thinking I am this body, he or she gets dragged along. But if the ātmāsurrenders to Kṛṣṇa, so then he tells the intelligence this is our goal, we want to serve Kṛṣṇa! Then the intelligence tells the mind, this. And so, he thinks how to do things that can be pleasing to Kṛṣṇa! The mind engages the senses and the senses are used like for making flower garlands, cooking for the Lord, doing different devotional activities. So the Gosvāmi is one who controls his mind, his intelligence, his senses in the service of Kṛṣṇa. And as I mentioned earlier, the person who is under the control of the sense objects, he is called the go-dāsa. So who here wants to be a go-dāsa? And who wants to be a Gosvāmī? Thank you very much!

So this is the sublime practice of devotional service. You see it is a great science, it is systematic. And we have to start it now, if we have not already started! Then we also need to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa! And we do this every day. And some people do one round a day, some do four rounds a day, some eighteen rounds, those who are initiated, they do sixteen rounds a day, minimum. And we know that Lord Caitanya, He toured all over South India. The thing He did on the South Indian tour, was any time He saw anyone on the road, He would just embrace them! Any male! So, when He came to Śrīraṅgam, He stayed there for the four months of the rainy season. Some of the Śrī Vaiṣṇavas of Śrīraṅgam told Him, “Why don’t You worship Lakṣmī Nārāyaṇa.” He said, “Lakṣmī did tapasya to enter the rāsa-līlā dance of Kṛṣṇa! Lakṣmī is very chaste. She would not dance with anyone else. That means. She knew that Nārāyaṇa and Kṛṣṇa were non-different. But why she was refused?” So the Śrī Vaisnavas, they could not answer! So the son of the head priest of Śrīraṅgam, his name was Gopāla, he was sent to Vṛndāvana by Lord Caitanya and he became one of the Six-Gosvāmīs, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī.

Now the Six-Gosvāmīs are the head disciples of Lord Caitanya to spread His movement. So, our saṁskārasfor the gṛhasthas, devotees, are written by Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī. That is why the saṁskāras we observe are very much in line with the Śrī Sampradāya. In the Vedic sampradāyas it says there are four sampradāyaswho take you back to Godhead. The prominent gurus of that sampradāya, of course, one is Lakṣmī and one of prominent gurus there is Rāmānujācārya. The other sampradāya, Brahma-sampradāya, prominent guru is Madhvācārya. The four Kumāras’ sampradāya and the prominent guru in the Kumāra-sampradāya is Nimbārakācārya. The Rudra-sampradāya established by Lord Śiva, that is the puṣṭi-mārga and their guru is Viṣṇu Svāmī. So these four sampradāyas are especially empowered to take you back to Godhead. Lord Caitanya, we are in the Brahma-sampradāya. I think I covered most of the things. Today was a bit technical class! So Lord Caitanya, He was very special.

Rukmiṇī told Kṛṣṇa, “You know everything. You know what Brahmā is doing in Satyaloka, what Śiva is doing in Kailāsa. You know what is going on in the ananta-koṭi-brahmāṇada. But there is one thing You don’t know! One thing You don’t know. I know, Rādhārāṇī knows!” So Kṛṣṇa was amazed! He was never told there was something that He does not know! So He asked, “What is that?” And so He was told by Rukmiṇī, “How much Your devotees love You! You don’t know in what way we love You! Because there is nobody above You!” So then Kṛṣṇa replied, “Alright, in Kali-yuga I will come as a devotee!” He said it three times, “I WILL COME AS A DEVOTEE!” So in that way, Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa but He combined with Rādhārāṇī. You see Kṛṣṇa brought the storehouse of love. But it was locked, and He gave out very sparingly. But when Lord Caitanya came, He broke the lock! He LOOTED, HE LOOTED, LOOT, LOOT! Sometimes we see in the newscast, looting! He looted Kṛṣṇa’s storehouse of love! To give to all of you! So He would give you, He said, “I have all these fruits of love, but I order every human, all over the world, to please help Me to distribute this love of Kṛṣṇa!” If you get one fruit you are satisfied. But then you want to give out, give out the other fruits. And the more you give out, the more your Kṛṣṇa consciousness increases! Gauuurāṅga! Gauuuurāṅga! Gauuuuuuurāṅga! So, we are very fortunate that Lord Caitanya only appeared about five hundred years ago. And in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa it says the ten thousand years of the Golden Age will start 5000 years of the start of Kali-yuga. So His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he came just now, around five thousand years after Kali-yuga started. He went around the world fourteen times and established 108 temples. He gave his instructions to his followers. Among those instructions, he said to expand and realize Lord Caitanya’s predictions. Lord Caitanya had predicted: 

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
(CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)

In every part of the world, every town and village, My name will be sung.

Thank you for coming and you are part of this prediction! Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Two questions, one from men and one from women.

Question: You were describing the nine steps of devotional service. As a sādhaka I feel stuck at anartha-nivṛtti and I do not think there is any hope crossing this anartha-nivṛtti. Can you give me some pointers how do I deal with my own anarthas?

Jayapatākā Swami: This is a kind of personal question. Maybe I have to speak to you alone to find out what your anarthas are? But someone may have some anarthas or something that they think is anartha. And also, be advancing in other aspects. So someone may be around for a long time, in spite of having some anarthas, thinking of some things as anarthas, they may have actually developed a taste for devotional service. Like, even in the advanced stage, say one has rati or bhāva and they may also have some anartha. But those anarthas are largely under control. So, we should not feel too much preoccupied with anarthas. We should take steps to eradicate them. Hare Kṛṣṇa! One question from the men’s side.

Question: How will we get the pure Name?

Jayapatākā Swami: Name is pure! The name of the Lord is transcendental. We were at a program by Vinoda Bhave who was one of the followers of Gandhiji. I think he was in Maharashtra. He had Śrīla Prabhupāda, himself and some Māyāvādī sannyāsī. So Śrīla Prabhupāda had his devotees chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. And he spoke on pure bhakti. And then Vinoda Bhave he did not speak because he was in mauna-vrata. He had his lady followers chant verses from one chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. Then the Māyāvādī spoke, so he started to say his own mantra, “Sat-cit-ānanda Kṛṣṇa! Sat-cit-ānanda Kṛṣṇa!” So nobody was impressed. So Śrīla Prabhupāda waved to his devotees to chant! And they brought their mṛdaṅga, karatālas and started to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa! Everybody was clapping and rocking. So when the program was over, Śrīla Prabhupāda went and thanked the devotees for chanting. So, he said you are all pure devotees! Śrīla Prabhupāda, they said, “You are a pure devotee, we are not pure yet!” There is a ripe mango and a green mango. (AUDIO BREAK) once you get the holy name, you chant it. And the holy name will be the pure holy name. Haribol!

Alright, I will go to see the Deities.