20251109 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: I heard most of the visitors who are present here are not regular congregation devotees but are visitors to the temple. Is that true? What percentage are congregation devotees?

Today we have Śrīla Prabhupāda disciple, His Grace Prabhā-Viṣṇu Prabhu here. So, we will have a half hour class and handover to him and he can give the rest of the class. Is that alright?

So, in the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa explains that how we are living consciousness, ātmā in the body. Without the ātmā, the body is not conscious. This material nature is not conscious. The living entities are the ātmā (NO AUDIO) When there is no consciousness of the Lord then there will be no consciousness in the universe as well. We see how active the city of Chennai is, cars are moving here and there. It is all due to the conscious living entities. Without them, the whole Chennai would be silent, unmoving. So, this science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness was spread all over the world by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Haribol! So as a result, there are devotees practicing bhakti-yoga in all parts of the world! And it is a really miraculous thing! We see how people are practicing this principle of bhakti-yoga in every part of the world.

Lord Caitanya had predicted that His names would be sung all over the world. In every yuga there is a sacrifice which is recommended. Meditation, yajñas, homas, temple worship, but in this age the process is both very simple and most powerful – chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa!

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

By chanting this mantra continuously, it cleanses the heart and also reveals to you the mercy of Kṛṣṇa! And Lord Caitanya, He came as a mercy avatāra. He popularized this process of saṅkīrtana. Saṅkīrtana is the congregational chanting of the holy name. One person chants and others respond, he chants other person responds. Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! Nityānanda! Nityānanda! So we were doing this saṅkīrtana – I was chanting and you were responding.

So, the human life is made successful if we can leave this saṁsāra, the cycle of birth and death. Karma-yogīs, they want more material enjoyments. The jñāna-yogīs they only reach up to the impersonal Brahman. The aṣṭāṅga-yogīs, haṭha-yogīs, they are known by different names, they can only reach to mystic powers to the Paramātmā level. None of these can realize how the Personality of Godhead is transcendental. These bodies seem like very nice machines! They have various filtering systems, digestive systems and there are hospitals, if something in the machine of the body breaks down, they go there to fix it! Kṛṣṇa does not have a body like that! He has a form which is sat-cit-ānanda! No veins, no bones, no organs! His body is completely spiritual! His appearance, His activities are completely spiritual. If we know that, we don’t have to take birth again! All these yogīs they cannot know it without the blessings of Kṛṣṇa or the pure devotees of Kṛṣṇa!

So, someone in the Ardha Kumbha-melā asked Śrīla Prabhupāda, I don’t see that I performed any pious activities. How did I get this mercy to be a devotee? Śrīla Prabhupāda said, I made mercy for you! So, everyone who engages in devotional service, is because they are blessed by some devotees. In Vinobha Bhave’s Gītā Sammelan, Śrīla Prabhupāda asked the devotees to chant. And everybody was very happy to hear them chant! Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “You are all pure devotees!” Śrīla Prabhupāda said, some are ripe mangoes, some are green mangoes. But a mango is a mango! So, you are also a mango! So the are devotees have the power, to wish someone to be Kṛṣṇa conscious! Haribol!

That is my message for today. We should try to be Kṛṣṇa conscious in this lifetime and help as many people as possible to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. It is not possible unless you help them! Hare Kṛṣṇa! I would like to introduce His Grace Prabhā-Viṣṇu Prabhu!