20251123 Zoom Address: ISKCON Saidapet Congregation

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: Jaya Gaura Nitāi! Hare Kṛṣṇa! Vaṇakkam! I am very happy to be here. Unfortunately, I only know only a few words in Tamil!

I am very glad you are all chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa! That is mentioned in the śāstra that in Kali-yuga this mahā mantra is the means to achieve all success in spiritual life. Bhagavad-gītā teaches us that we are eternal. The material body is temporary but the soul, the ātmā, is eternal. And we are part of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, we should serve Kṛṣṇa! Just like the limbs of our body serve the whole body. This serving the Lord in devotion, in love is called bhakti-yoga. And what we need to do is, every activity, we need to offer it to Kṛṣṇa. And so, this human life is a rare gift to go back home, back to Godhead. I am very happy that you are all taking up the process of bhakti-yoga very seriously! That you are being guided very properly. So, at one point it is important to connect to the guru-paramparā. So we do that by taking initiation in the guru-paramparā. And we commit to following the four regulative principles and chanting every day for our whole life. This way, Kṛṣṇa becomes a personal aspect of our life.

The Bhagavad-gītā explains how we are persons and Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person. Just like Arjuna, he was a kṣatriya, so he was told by Kṛṣṇa to engage in the Kurukṣetra war on behalf of Kṛṣṇa. So the important thing was to do all these activities for Kṛṣṇa. In this way, we all go back to Kṛṣṇa.

So, Lord Caitanya is a combination of the energy and energetic – of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā. So, in the Brahma-Vaivarta Purāṇa it predicts that there would be a ten thousand years’ golden age. That will start five thousand years after Kali-yuga begins. Now is the time when it is supposed to begin. So, Lord Caitanya, He is the most merciful avatāra. We should chant His name before we chant the mahā-mantra. That means that we chant at least one time:

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

And Lord Caitanya removes all the obstacles! Now when He came, Mahā-Viṣṇu and Sadāśiva also came as Advaita Gosāñī. And the son of Kārttikeya as Acyutānanda the son of Advaita Gosāñī and Gaṇeśa was his son as Gopāla. So, like this, they all came to encourage the people to accept bhakti-yoga. Like this, we take initiation in the disciplic succession from Lord Caitanya. So, everyone has the independence to decide if they will take initiation and practice bhakti-yoga their whole life.

We thank Muralī Śyāma Prabhu for inviting us to preach today, for guiding all of you. I am very grateful to him. So, we want devotees to take this practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness to heart. And we hope that devotees will commit to chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa at least 16 rounds a day. And this chanting is the thing that cleans our heart. Kṛṣṇa is a person and the Supreme Person. Many people think that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is impersonal. But since we are people, He is no less than us, He is the Supreme Person. And the Kaṭha Upaniṣad it says nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām.

So we hope that all the devotees who take initiation would follow the four restrictions of the regulative principles. No onion garlic, meat, fish and eggs. No intoxication. No sex outside of marriage. No gambling. This keeps one free one from the major sinful activities. And one experiences a kind of peace of mind and spiritual bliss! And eventually, gradually awakens our natural love for Kṛṣṇa! So, we want you all to be yogis! Bhakti-yogīs! That is the supreme yoga! Bhagavad-gītā was spoken by Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavata Purāṇa spoken about Kṛṣṇa and Caitanya-caritāmṛta and other books about Lord Caitanya! So, I wish you all, my blessings, Kṛṣṇe matir astu! Vaṇakkam! Nanḍri! Hare Kṛṣṇa!

I will be returning to Chennai tomorrow. We will see if it is possible to visit the Saidapet center. My best wishes to all the devotees!

Muralī Śyāma dāsa: Since we are not near to you, since we do not get day-to-day instructions from you, how to get attached to your vāṇī? And how to serve your vāṇī as your disciple? How to emotionally get connected to it?

Jayapatākā Swami: I am available on internet. Sometimes I visit Chennai, I send out monthly or fortnightly messages. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, gave me many instructions. And so I would like my disciples to help me fulfill these instructions! One instruction is to expand preaching unlimitedly! That every person we meet, that everyone tries to enthuse them by giving them the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So this way you can feel my presence, feel the presence of Kṛṣṇa all the time. Hare Kṛṣṇa!