20260428 JSSS Iṣṭagoṣṭhī Address

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 very glad to see all you devotees! I know Hindi – little, little and I know Bengali. But if I spoke English, it will be more convenient. So I will speak in English to you.

We are missing the association of His Holiness Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami. Today, we spoke with Dr. Sarin in the ILBS and asked him to look after His Grace Kratu Prabhu. He said, he is in a serious condition, but that Dr. Sarin will take care of him. Before I came here, I met His Holiness Guru-prasāda Swami Mahārāja. Like this, my day has been going on.

Tonight, I was told that this is the JSSS for the whole of North India. Śrīla Prabhupāda had asked me to make fifty thousand disciples or more! But it was not so hard. But in many books Śrīla Prabhupāda says how the guru needs to liberate his disciples from the cycle of birth and death. That is a little more complicated! If we do not do, then we have to suffer! So, all the disciples are supposed to follow the regulative principles as well. So this is also a problem. Some disciple was asking in the morning Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class how do we keep our enthusiasm for our whole life? Someone is fighting a war, and bullets are flying left and right. Is he going to think how will I keep my enthusiasm? If he thinks this way, he is not a soldier. So we have to understand, we are at war. We are at war with Māyā! We are at war with Kali! Kali will try every trick to test us! Sense gratification, he will try different ways. Or he will try with money, sickness, he will try different ways! So this is a short life, hundred years or less, less usually. Śrīla Prabhupāda left at 82. Most people leave in their 70s, 80s. I am already 77. And Śrīla Prabhupāda, he told me to expand the preaching unlimitedly. He told me that I should work through my assistants. But I was a bad disciple! In some respects, I did not follow him! Now that I am physically challenged, health challenged, I have to work through my assistants, which was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original advice! This, he gave 50 years ago and now I am following!

You are all young and healthy, you can fight against Māyā! But what is that fighting? Fight by doing everything to please Kṛṣṇa. And Māyā, she wants us to do everything for gratifying our senses! So we have bodies, but we are not the body! We are Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servants! We are the ātmā. We have the body. So, we use the body to serve Kṛṣṇa! Distributing books, or chanting His holy names, calling to Him, so many services are there! If we have children, we raise them to be Kṛṣṇa conscious Vaiṣṇavas or Vaiṣṇavīs. This is very serious. We have declared war! Ahh!!!! Gauuuurāṅga! Gauuuuuurāṅga! Gauuuurāṅga! Nityānanda! So, by the Lord’s mercy this is possible!

Some sages pray to be born in Kali-yuga, because in this age you can go back to Godhead in a short time! But don’t think that it will come easy! Don’t think that Māyā wont test you! Kali will test you and you will be determined! So, Lord Caitanya said that He is not a brāhmaṇa, He is not a kṣatriya, not a vaiśya, not a śūdra, nor a brahmacārī nor a gṛhastha, not a vānaprastha, not a sannyāsī. He said that He knows that He is a servant of the servant of the servant of the gopīs! Some of you here are women and some are men – sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ, hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ [Cc. Madhya 19.170]– so we do not have any material designation. We are Vaiṣṇavas and Vaiṣṇavīs. From outside for interaction, we have to behave in a certain way. But actually, we identify ourselves as servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa! We should be very clear about that! I don’t know why people are not clear! We want to be successful in this life! It is not very difficult. Gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko – whether you are a gṛhastha or a brahmacārī or in the renounced order, everyone should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa! So, it is not very difficult. But you just have to keep chanting. I told earlier in my class that when I was chanting my japa I had something in my mind, I would keep a small notebook in my pocket and write down whatever was coming and continue with my chanting. [Audio Break] Every moment I think and chant about Kṛṣṇa! When eating, when taking a bath, every time! I am thinking how will I liberate all of you? So, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ – you are not to see materially. You are free of all material designations. You are actually kṛṣṇa-sevakas – dāsas and devī dāsīs.

So, in this way at my recent Vyāsa-pūjā celebration, about 50 members of the Gauḍīya Maṭha came. There were maybe about 32,000 devotees who attended the celebration. I was thinking that Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to expand the preaching unlimitedly! I told Māyāpur, Delhi’s secret!! In Delhi, I was stuck here in the hospital because of liver problem. So I saw His Grace Mohana Rūpa Prabhu, he was going to devotees’ Nāma-haṭṭas, āśraya groups and asking them how many books they were pledging for the Marathon. So, Delhi was beating Māyāpur many times in book distribution. All year long Māyāpur would be ahead but in the Marathon, Delhi took over Māyāpur. So I told Māyāpur this secret that His Grace Mohana Rūpa Prabhu and others were asking the devotees to pledge how many books they would distribute! Then Māyāpur asked all the departments, divisions, devotees to try to pledge and distribute books. Just the Saṅkīrtana department alone would not win. When everybody got together, they started to win! Like that, I am asking you, disciples to try to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement! Every devotee! How many devotees can you bring to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa in one month? One person, two, five, ten, hundred – how many can you do every month? Lord Caitanya said, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. Whoever you meet, him and or her, give them the message of Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda had instructed his devotees to distribute his books. In the same way, all my disciples and well-wishers and śikṣā disciples can try to engage and get new people to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, may be one round, may be three rounds, ten rounds, sixteen rounds. In one year how many devotees can we have doing 16 rounds! So we have to start thinking. We should not think how will I keep my enthusiasm, we think how will I make people chant?! Kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann – this Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults. Ocean! We can find so many faults. Eko mahān guṇaḥ – one good quality. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya – by chanting the holy names, especially the names of Kṛṣṇa, we get mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet [SB 12.3.51]. We get this great destination and transcendental association. So who wants this?

Now the people are suffering like anything! They are burning in this Kali-yuga! We are seeing wars, quarrels, we are seeing horrible things! We need devotees to please have mercy!

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra
(Cc. Ādi 9.41)

Saphala means make your life successful! We want in this life to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, think of Kṛṣṇa, get the happiness of spiritual life. We want all the people to be happy! Every day I hear about different sufferings people are going through. Whatever the difficulties are, we keep our devotion firmly to Kṛṣṇa! I went to the ICU in Delhi. One patient on one said was crying, oh, bāp re bāp! Another was crying out on the other side, “Māgo, Māgo!” In the morning, both were dead! If they had chanted oh Nārāyaṇa! Oh Kṛṣṇa! Then it would be different. Ajāmila was a sinner. He called his son Nārāyaṇa. The Yamadūtas came to get him. Ajāmila said, “Nārāyaṇa!” One our devotees said that Ajāmila did not chant the whole name Nārāyaṇa, he just said ‘Nārā’ and got liberated! So, we want to teach people to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. And we would like them to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books.

I was in Visakhapatnam and Chennai in two programs of ‘Bhajan Clubbing’. Also, in Mumbai, I heard they are having. So they have big venues and people for pay for them, have a sound system, etc. But the ‘Bhajana Clubbing’ charges meet the expenses. Of course, some professional people do it and some devotees do it. And they charge anywhere from Rs. 50 to 800. They chant for three or four hours, dancing to Hare Kṛṣṇa! Like people do night clubbing, this is ‘Bhajan Clubbing’. So I think we should promote these things. So, most of my disciples I don’t know if they are reading Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books and if they want to take second initiation they should have Bhakti-śāstrī degree. And less than 10% of my disciples have taken second initiation. I don’t know if it is so difficult to read Bhagavad-gītā! I had to read Bhagavad-gītā ten times before getting my first initiation, Śrīla Prabhupāda told me. So I read it. I became a professor in some university. I was a college dropout! But for Bhagavad-gītā, they accepted me as an authority! So please, read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books! Take second initiation! The sixth mantra is an 18 syllable Kṛṣṇa mantra. It is very powerful! VERY POWERFUL! All the Vedas you read, it says the 18 syllable Kṛṣṇa mantra is talked about. The seventh mantra is Kāma Gāyatrī, it is said to be non-different than Kṛṣṇa – Kṛṣṇa in mantra-rūpa! So I read that if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra at the tri sandhyā one mālā at least then you get Kṛṣṇa’s special blessing! My request to all the disciples who do not have second initiation, please chant at least one round at the tri-sandhyās.

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

So, these are all instructions I gave. I am thinking how my disciples can be delivered! By chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa 16 rounds, that is 1728 mantras. Following the four regulative principles, one can also go back to Godhead! But we should change our consciousness. We should become Vaiṣṇavas or Vaiṣṇavīs – we are bhakti-yogīs and yoginīs. Are you all committed to that? Actually, by sādhana-bhakti we can reach the stage of rati or bhāva. That stage, we are 99% Kṛṣṇa conscious. To get to the stage of prema, where we are 100% Kṛṣṇa conscious, we need some special blessing! But even at the stage of rati we feel very great ecstasy! We want every devotee to experience this unlimited, transcendental happiness! So, to chant 16 rounds it takes about two hears, now we have another 22 hours. So we have some sleeping, we have eating, everybody has some or other material desires. If you are in the renounced order, you are celibate, if you are a gṛhastha you can have sex life. But you want to dovetail those things to Kṛṣṇa’s service. Now for the gṛhasthas, we do the daśama-saṁskāras, for children. Like anna-praśana, vidyārambha, and other things. Even when the child cannot do anything themselves, the parents try to get blessings for the children. Yesterday there were a lot of children who had been brought, and I did the anna-praśana and vidyārambha saṁskāras for them.

One gṛhastha couple came to Lord Caitanya and told Him they desired to have a child. But even before they asked Lord Caitanya said, go, you will be blessed with a boy! And he will be a great devotee! Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1973 said that he wanted his gṛhastha disciples to have ācāryas as their children. He also said we need many ācāryas in our movement! My Gurudeva was an ācārya he said, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. His parents were Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and his wife. His mother said to her son on her death bed to please SPREAD THE MOVEMENT OF LORD CAITANYA ALL OVER THE WORLD!! This is not an ordinary woman, she was a Vaiṣṇavī! Like that, we want everybody should be very serious, be bhakti-yogīs and bhakti-yoginīs! Even if we have to do some things to gratify our senses, we do it in a Kṛṣṇa conscious way. We have to eat, so we eat only kṛṣṇa-prasāda as far as possible. Like this every activity we do as kṛṣṇa-sevā! Those who are gṛhasthas have to maintain their family, have to earn money to feed them, and preach. So Bhagavad-gītā tells us that we should do our work as an offering to Kṛṣṇa! Although Arjuna was trained to be a kṣatriya, but he did not serve in the same mood as a kṣatriya. He was not in rajo-guṇa. He was serving to please Kṛṣṇa! He was offering his work to Kṛṣṇa! His work was difficult killing people. But that was his training! So, whether doctors, lawyers, professors or workers, they can offer their work to Kṛṣṇa! I have produced a video that a housewife can also be a Vaiṣṇavī! And how she can be delivered! So, I want to show that but there is no arrangement right now. We would like to show that, it is a five minute or less, video.

I was thinking that gṛhasthas need money they have to work. In the modern world people get salaries, some do business. We are recommending that as far as possible 11% of your salaries you spend on Kṛṣṇa conscious seva. The businessmen can spend according to their profit. Minimum 11% maximum 50%. If a gṛhastha gives 50% to Kṛṣṇa conscious activities then he is equivalent to a sannyāsī who gives his whole life in Kṛṣṇa’s service! Kholaveca Śrīdhara was a farmer, a vaiśya. He was selling banana products. Bananas is one tree – every part of it is useful! Leaves for plates, the bark forms cups, core is a type of sabji, flower another type of sabji, green banana also another type of sabji and ripe bananas are fruits! But the problem was he was living in Bengal where everybody has bananas! He was thinking when he was trying to sell there were not very many buyers. Only for some special function or something people used these things. So he was selling with some minimum profit. Still whatever profit he made, under his guru’s instructions gave for service of Ganges. He was very poor! His dhoti had holes, his home roof had holes. He was drinking water out of a broken steel pot! Lord Caitanya would always go to him to buy banana products. He went to his house after the big meeting at the Chand Kazi. And He had water out of that pot. So he actually bought Lord Caitanya by his devotion and surrender to guru and Kṛṣṇa! So when Lord Caitanya was having the 21-hour kīrtana, he called for Kholaveca Śrīdhara and then He said, at that time, He was manifesting His transcendental Bhagavān rūpa. He said Kholaveca Śrīdhara that you will get My highest benediction, love of Godhead! We don’t expect many people would give 50% like this. But something, if they give, that is also nice! Maybe to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s projects, global projects, like the BBT or Ministries. Local Mandir, local projects. Also, your personal, your guru-dakṣiṇā, to dīkṣā and śikṣā-gurus etc. [Audio Break] This is not a rule, whatever you can it is between you and Kṛṣṇa! So all the time I am thinking, how to liberate my disciples!

Anyway, I am happy that you are all here together for the JSSS program. I know you have to leave and go back where you came from! I could speak longer but everyone is expressing the time to me! I don’t want you to curse me! Ha! I don’t know if you have any questions – two Vaiṣṇavas and two Vaiṣṇavīs!

Question: For second initiation, I am a doctor, with two children, there are certain rules, I stay in the clinic all day, would I be able to follow them?

Jayapatākā Swami: Why not? If you can follow chanting and following the four regulative principles, if you are doing a physician’s job as a service to Kṛṣṇa, why not? If your temple needs you sometimes – I saw in Los Angeles, some gṛhasthas who are second initiated they are doing pūjārī service. So we should be ready, but it is not obligatory. We have to be pūjārīs by taking second initiation. Sometimes ladies cook for the Deities and like this. In Bangladesh, India, many other places most of the cooking for the Deities is done by the ladies.

Question: You said that you should do more and more preaching. How can we personally increase preaching? I wanted to serve you, you are doing preaching a lot, I wanted to do a lot of preaching, but it doesn’t come to my mind how to increase my preaching?

Jayapatākā Swami: Nice question! So, there are no ladies around your home, colleagues, students, people you meet on the street. You don’t know what to say, then you can distribute books. Or you can ask people to chant. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy! It doesn’t take much, you don’t have to give lectures. Somehow or other, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128] Whoever you meet tell them the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa. If people ask questions, you should be able to answer. Your preaching can be fairly simple, but to answer the questions, you have to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. No test, people may accept, or don’t accept, but you continue. Half of my disciples are Vaiṣṇavīs. If they all say we cannot preach – they go around trying to convince friends, neighbors and telling them the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa. [Audio Break]

Question: How important is it for us in our sādhana-bhakti to get up early in the morning?

Jayapatākā Swami: I don’t know when you go to sleep! Normally, the advantage of the morning hours, brahma-muhūrta, one and a half hours before sun rise is the perfect, sattvic time. Mind is very peaceful and good to chant. Sometimes, usually we have the maṅgala-ārati at that time. Doctors tell me that I should not go in crowds of people. So in the temple we have many people at maṅgala-ārati. So he told me to go after maṅgala-ārati. But I use the time to do exercise and other things. But every day when I am in the temple area, I go to the temple later. So, after sun rise slowly it turn into rajo-guṇa and around 9 am or something it is totally mode of passion. And late in the night, the mode of passion turns into tamo-guṇa. So the advantage of early morning is that it is sattva-guṇa. To chant as well.

Question: In your lectures you mention about brāhmaṇa initiation. Is it appropriate for those with children to accept brāhmaṇa initiation. Kindly enlighten us, especially female disciples.

Jayapatākā Swami: So the same rules apply to everyone, the ladies. The only addition is that three times you chant Gāyatrī mantra. Before you chant Gāyatrī mantra you can do ācamana. If you can do that, then why not?

Thank you very much! Kṛṣṇe matir astu!