20260118 Fortnightly Message to Disciple Mādhava Māsa, Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa

Fortnightly Message (4 January - 18 January 2026)

Mādhava Māsa, Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa, Amāvāsyā, 539 Gaurābda

My dear dīkṣā, sheltered, aspiring, śikṣā, grand-disciples, and well-wishers,

Please accept my blessings, best wishes, and praṇāms as appropriate.
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Written from my Home Base: Śrī Māyāpur Candrodaya Mandir.
Date: 18 January 2026

Highlights

I have been on intensive treatment to rejuvenate my kidney, and I have finished seven days of my fourteen-day therapy. So until then, I am in a kind of quarantine. I continue meetings and classes online, and I also take darśana of the Deities on Māyāpur TV and offer ārati and prayers daily.

Śrīla Prabhupāda told me to, stay in Māyāpur and work through my assistants. Though my body is not well, I am constantly thinking about the different instructions that Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me and to the society, and I am trying to fulfill those instructions. Sometimes I cannot sleep at night thinking of the services, the responsibilities that I have.

My days are filled with therapies, meetings, exercises, classes, correspondence, etc. And I am constantly chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. So, not a moment is spared; not a moment is inactive.

Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Message

Śrīla Prabhupāda said that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to reestablish daiva-varṇāśrama. Daiva-varṇāśrama means that it is stated by Kṛṣṇa, guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (Bg 4.13). Śrīla Prabhupāda often emphasized that 50% of his work remained - the establishment of daiva-varṇāśrama.

“Unless one is conversant with the teachings of the lessons of śāstra, he is not to be considered as a human being. Actually, that is so, unless one comes to the principles of dharma and āśrama, one is not to be considered as a human. So this institution, the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, is trying to establish this daiva-varṇāśrama.

Daiva-varṇāśrama, as Kṛṣṇa says, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ, what is created by Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, must be applicable universally. So this varṇāśrama-dharma is not limited to India or to the community who are known as Hindus. Because Kṛṣṇa claimed that, sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ (Bg 14.4: It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.) All species of forms - there are 8,400,000 species of life - and Kṛṣṇa claims, ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā.” Lecture – November 29, 1971, Vṛndāvana

 My Message

I was thinking how to establish Śrīla Prabhupāda’s vision, and I realized that most devotees don’t understand the real meaning of daiva-varṇāśrama. It is a kind of what they think is a more Kṛṣṇa conscious caste system. But we cannot change the existing world. What we can do is make them Kṛṣṇa conscious. So, in the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says it is the most confidential knowledge. So, simply do your work for guru and Kṛṣṇa - that is the secret. And go back to Kṛṣṇaloka. Kṛṣṇa said, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja/ ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ (Bg 18.66: Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.)

Recently, somebody sent me a reference from Hari-bhakti-vilāsa that “wherever restrictive statements are to be found in scriptures (regarding śūdras or women), those statements are understood by the learned souls as applicable to non-Vaiṣṇavas only.” (5.453)

Almost 90% of my initiated disciples do not have second initiation, and I require that they should have Bhakti-śāstrī, read at least three cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and complete other requirements. They need to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. I would like a group of disciples who are most scholarly devotees. And just like the Brahmā-Mādhva-Gauḍīya sampradāya is known for its knowledge, so all my disciples should be known that they are very knowledgeable. So, we should all be reading and studying Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. I have the Bhakti-vedānta degree now, and I am trying for the Bhakti-sārvabhauma. So I want all my disciples also to get these degrees. At least Bhakti-śāstrī for second initiation. This was the desire of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

“Sometimes there is criticism that our men are not sufficiently learned, especially the brāhmaṇas. Of course, second initiation does not depend upon passing an examination. How one has molded his life - chanting, attending ārati, etc. - these are essential. Still, brāhmaṇa means paṇḍita. Therefore, I am suggesting the following examinations: Bhakti-śāstrī (for all brāhmaṇas) based on Bhagavad-gītā, Śrī Īśopaniṣad, The Nectar of Devotion, Nectar of Instruction, and all the small paperbacks; Bhakti-vaibhava: the above plus the first six Cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam; Bhakti-vedānta: the above plus Cantos 7–12 of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Bhakti-sārvabhauma—the above plus Caitanya-caritāmṛta.” (Śrīla Prabhupāda Letter to Svarūpa Dāmodara, 10th January, 1976)

Śrīla Prabhupāda told me that his spiritual master, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, was sitting by his side at all times. And he said so emphatically that it sounded like I could see Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura by Śrīla Prabhupāda’s side. So if we were like this, seeing guru, Śrīla Prabhupāda, Gaurāṅga, and Kṛṣṇa, then naturally we go to Kṛṣṇa. This is the real daiva-varṇāśrama; it is not under the three guṇas, and the guṇa in daiva-varṇāśrama is transcendental.

In the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, I was reading how different mantras of Nārāyaṇa, Nṛsiṁha, Rāma take one to Hari-dhāma. But the Kṛṣṇa mantra takes you to Kṛṣṇaloka, especially the 18-syllable mantra. The dvādaśākṣara (12-syllable “oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya”) is described as inexhaustible and supreme, the aṣṭākṣara (8-syllable “namo nārāyaṇāya”) as the essence of the Vedas and destroyer of saṁsāra, the Nṛsiṁha mantra as purifying one of all sins, the Rāma-mantra as effortlessly powerful in erasing even grave sins, and the aṣṭādaśākṣara (18-syllable Gopāla-mantra) as the highest, revealing Kṛṣṇa as the supreme Brahman in cowherd form, granting both bhukti and mukti (material happiness and liberation).

We are very fortunate that Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us the aṣṭādaśākṣara (18-syllable Gopāla-mantra) in the sixth mantra of the Gāyatrī. So I would like all my disciples to get this mantra in addition to the regular chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and be blessed.

The last mantra of the Gāyatrī mantra, the Kāma-gāyatrī, is explained as the personification of Kṛṣṇa, so Śrīla Prabhupāda also gave us that. So, my disciples, I want them to be qualified to get this second initiation mantras and have these very, very powerful esoteric mantras. But they need to strictly follow the four regulative principles, read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s book, get all the sastric degrees and practice sādhana-bhakti.

For the last fortnight, I chanted 415 rounds of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, which means on average, 28 rounds per day. And I finished reading Bhagavad-gītā once again, and now I am reading Hari-bhakti-vilāsa.

Inspirational Stories

I received many encouraging reports on book distribution, preaching, harināma, ratha-yātrā, etc., from disciples in different parts of the world. Also, I saw some videos of devotees in Russia and other parts doing harināma in the snow. And many devotees are preaching on the internet, making very attractive videos using AI.

One of my disciples from ISKCON Prayāgrāj wrote to me about an educational initiative that they have started, which is called Bhaktivedānta Gurukula School of Excellence (https://bhaktivedantagurukul.com/). These schools will be affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education in India. They have the combination of the Indian syllabus with a spiritual curriculum, which is very interesting.

In 1975, Śrīla Prabhupāda had asked me to spend more time in Māyāpur and work through my assistants. At that time, it meant Māyāpur devotees, but in 2026, in the internet era, in the digital era, my assistants are all over the world. I am depending on you to fulfill all the instructions that Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me and also personal initiatives in the service of Śrīla Prabhupāda, previous ācāryas, and ISKCON.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Your well-wisher always,
Jayapatākā Swami
JPS/rrsdb