20260419 Initiation Address

mukhaṁ karoti vācālaṁ panguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Hari oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: I heard, that you already heard the ten offences to the holy name. And that you have heard the significance of the dīkṣā ceremony. You have taken your vows to chant minimum 16 rounds and follow the four regulative principles. So, I will just give a short address.

Some people think that taking initiation is the end of the road! But actually, it is the beginning! You are making a formal commitment to follow the process of bhakti-yoga. We take vows like this and we are committed. There are various types of yoga – dhyana-yoga, karma-yoga, aṣṭāṅga-yoga. We follow bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga is the highest yoga! And it is also the most subtle yoga! Every work we do, every action we do, we dedicate to Kṛṣṇa! And we are very much committed to practicing bhakti-yoga. This Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults. Kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ [SB 12.3.51] - there is one good quality – that is kṛṣṇa-kīrtana. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet– by practicing this process you get liberated from birth and death and reach the Supreme destination. So, we chant every day the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, we dedicate our body as a temple by wearing all the tilakas with mantras. And all our activities are dedicated to Kṛṣṇa! Our finance is also dedicated partially to Kṛṣṇa! So, everything we do is Kṛṣṇa conscious!

By this process of initiation, one’s subtle body is changed. We may not see the changes outside, but inside there is a change. Like this, now, taking initiation means that you want me to guide you! Śrīla Prabhupāda said that each guru should liberate their disciples from birth and death. That is possible because Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us such a nice system! But you have to follow! If you do not practices, what can I do? I am assuming that you are all eager to be Kṛṣṇa conscious! So, I am taking this responsibility. But we also expect that various devotees will give their guidance on the way. Sometimes, devotees ask me, can I take so and so as my śikṣā-guru? Our system is that, you have one dīkṣā-guru and many śikṣā-gurus. So, I expect every disciple to have various śikṣā-gurus! And this is natural. But only the śikṣā-guru should not speak against the dīkṣā-guru. He should not give any instruction against the instruction of the dīkṣā-guru. Like, if the parents are devotees, maybe they can be śikṣā-gurus! Mother of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura requested him at her death bed to spread Lord Caitanya’s movement all over the world! But some other gurus may be śikṣā-gurus – who knows! Any devotee who gives relevant instructions, they are śikṣā-gurus. Amongst them, some of them are prominent. So, I said I would speak short. So I will end here.

Now I will say the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra three times. All the devotees can hear this and repeat.

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