20260126 Addressing Kolkata Bhakti-vṛkṣa

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: I am sorry, I am a little late. I heard that there are many Hindi, English and Bengali speaking devotees. I was told that if I spoke in Bengali, someone will translate into English and Hindi, and he (Sujitendriya dāsa) will repeat in Bengali. I welcome all of you to Māyāpur. Māyāpur, Navadvīpa-dhāma is a very special dhāma. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī created this. Lord Kṛṣṇa said that this Navadvīpa-dhāma is non-different from Vṛndāvana-dhāma. Here, we get a thousand times more benefit for any devotional service done. This dhāma is mercy dhāma, audārya-dhāma. That is why for any offence committed in this dhāma, we do not get a thousand times the reaction as is in Vṛndāvana-dhāma. Here Śrīla Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī attained his siddha-svarūpa. This way, there is lot of mercy in Navadvīpa-dhāma! That all of you have come, I welcome all of you and very grateful to you!

I am undergoing a very rigid therapy and so am in quarantine. And they are reducing the intensity of the therapy slowly over a period of two days. I had dialysis today and therefore my body is a bit weak.

Bhakti-yoga is a very special situation in Navadvīpa. The nava-vidha bhakti, nine types of devotional service are linked to the nine islands in Navadvīpa. You are all bhakti-yogīs and bhakti-yoginīs as you practice bhakti-yoga. But individually we will not be able to do bhakti-yoga with māyā. We have to get the mercy of guru and Lord Kṛṣṇa and protect this bhakti-yoga. In this material world, mostly people want to satisfy their material senses and try to do that. Sense gratification will always be there. But, in the spiritual world we try to satisfy Lord Kṛṣṇa. We do service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, chant Lord Kṛṣṇa’s names and hear and meditate on Lord Kṛṣṇa. We pray, we offer pūjā and arcana to the Lord. In this way we are in the mood of servants of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Then is sakhya-bhāva – that Kṛṣṇa is our greatest friend, our well-wisher. In this way, we surrender completely to Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is nava-vidhi bhakti, the nine processes of devotional service. In the spiritual world there is unlimited bliss, like we sing in the song on the adhivāsa day – ānandera sīma nāi. In the material world the happiness is limited, and there is sorrow in this material world as well. But in the spiritual world there is no limit to happiness. Nirānanda dūre jāi, nirānanda dūre jāi! Haribol!

If you also want unlimited happiness, then perform bhakti-yoga. If you do not want any sorrow, do bhakti-yoga. This is a science, how by doing devotional service we can achieve unlimited happiness! How, nirānanda dūre jāi – all sorrows go far away, we can understand this! I am doing devotional service from 1968. I did not know anything before that. And did not have a guru. And Śrīla Prabhupāda, he gave me first initiation, second initiation and various services to do. He taught me about good conduct and wholesome sattvic diet. I am very grateful to Śrīla Prabhupāda for all this. I am trying to distribute the lessons and the laws that Śrīla Prabhupāda has left to all of you. Now, the life in Satya-yuga, Tretā-yuga and Dvāpara-yuga are very long. We are in Kali-yuga. We live for maybe 50, 60, 70, 80 or generally less than 100 is our lifespan. And some people pass away even at a very young age. Now, we cannot say how long one will live. It is sure that whoever is born will also die. We have got this human form of live, and even demigods are praying to get this human form of life! Because in Svargaloka there is lot of enjoyment and in the nether lands like hell, there is more sorrow. Here in Kali-yuga, there is kind of a balance of happiness and sorrow. Here if in this lifetime if we follow the teachings of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and follow the path then in this lifetime itself, we can return to Lord Kṛṣṇa’s abode! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! Advaita Gosāñī! Gadādhara! Śrīvāsādi Gaura-bhakti-vṛnda!

So, I spoke a little in short. Generally, in the evenings I give class on Caitanya-śikṣāmṛta. There are translations and purports. Today, I did a simple class with you. I send my blessings to all of you. Kṛṣṇe mati astu!