20251031 Initiation 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 today is Friday of the Dāmodara month. So we are assembled here to celebrate an initiation process. And so the devotees have heard the lecture on the ten offences and have also taken their vows. Vows that I will chant minimum sixteen rounds a day and avoid breaking the four restrictions – no meat, fish or eggs, onion and garlic, no intoxication, no illicit sex, that means no sex out of marriage and no gambling. Who have taken these vows? So please reconfirm the vows you have taken, please raise your hands.

So, I was fortunate to have much association with His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda! He gave me many instructions, many requests. So, I am trying to fulfill those as far as possible. But I hope my disciples will also carry the orders with them and try to fulfill them. So, this devotional service is like declaring a war on Māyā. So she may try her best to test you! She may give you allurements, she may give troubles, so in different ways, she will test you! Are you sincere? When you go back to the spiritual world, she will wish you victory!

Śrīla Prabhupāda told me that his system was a little different. In the Gauḍīya Maṭha they follow the Harināma and dīkṣā. But the Harināma is a bit informal, they are given beads. But Śrīla Prabhupāda said that the things given in puraścaryā, he would give in first and second initiation. In the first initiation give chanting beads, neck beads, vows, yajña and a name. Also, in the first initiation we agree to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. In the second initiation there is a not only a fire sacrifice but also a secret mantra. Śrīla Prabhupāda said also, at the time of second initiation, the devotees reconfirm their vows. So, this first initiation is also a serious commitment. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that he was both the dīkṣā-guru and the śikṣā-guru. But, you may have one dīkṣā-guru and many śikṣā-gurus.

So, in this month we are observing the Yaśodā Dāmodara līlā and offering lamps to the Deities. And from the last Ekādaśī to Pūrṇimā, Bhīṣma-pañcaka is observed. We offer to the Deities, especially Kṛṣṇa, every day, different things at His lotus feet, His thighs, His abdomen, His eyes, we offer different flowers. So the pujaris may offer on your behalf. And if you are lucky enough, they give will give us something to offer. So the devotional service is meant that we experience happiness from within. In material life there is eating, sleeping, mating and defending. These are available in the animal life as well as the human life. But in this material world there is also birth, death, old age and disease. And the three-fold miseries are ādhidaivika, ādhibhautika and ādhyātmika. Whereas in the spiritual world there is no suffering. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Enjoyer. We want to give Him happiness! We want to serve Him! By doing that, we enjoy unlimited happiness! Just like the limbs of our body should serve the body. So we are part of Kṛṣṇa, we should serve Kṛṣṇa!

Rukmiṇī Devī, She told Kṛṣṇa, “You know everything! You know what Brahmā is doing in Satyaloka, You know what Lord Śiva is doing in Kailāsa, You know what is going on in the ananta-koṭi universes!  But there is one thing You don’t know! ONE THING YOU DON’T KNOW! YOU DON’T KNOW! I know, Rādhā knows, but You don’t know!” So Kṛṣṇa, He never heard that before that there was something He did not know!! So He said, “What is that?!” And Rukmiṇī told Him, “How much Your devotees love You, You don’t know! And in what way we love You, You don’t know!! I know, Rādhā knows, You don’t know! You have nobody above You!” So then He said, “I will come as a devotee in Kali-yuga!” He said it three times. And He came as Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Say it properly!

Anyway, we are fortunate that we just came 500 years after Lord Caitanya! Lord Kṛṣṇa brought the storehouse of love of Godhead. But He gave it out very sparingly! Lord Caitanya broke it open! He looted it! He gave it freely to everyone, without considering whether they were deserving or not – if you wanted it, He gave it! Gauuuurāṅga! Gauuuuuurāṅga!

So I am very happy today that so many devotees are taking up this challenge and taking initiation today. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Thank you very much!

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!