19860619 Smaraṇa Vyāsa-pūjā

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami on June 19, 1986 at New Talavan farm Interior Mississippi. The lecture was given on the occasion of the Vyasa puja ceremony.

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace Srila Abayacaran Baktivedanta swami Prabupad. By his mercy the lame cross over the mounts and the dumb can become a big orator; blind can see the stars in the sky. So many sincere devotees spoke. I am still bound speechless but to credit Prabupad I have something to say. So the vyasa pujas are particularly embarrassing in one level. I wish to pray to Srila Prabupad and to Lord Chaitanya Nithayananda Lord Sri Krishna Radha Radhika that actually whatever offerings being made are meant for them actually to them to the disciplic succeesion. For their pleasure. I don’t personally see any good quality in myself. I just feel that I have an unlimited debt to pay to Srila Prabupad that I saw him tirelessly endeavor to save all souls. In an endeavor somehow he had his mercy upon me. 02:22 ...And then I was endeavor to him. So he requested me to travel. He requested me to preach. I took that as an opportunity to serve him. To make a token repayment of his act I owe to the spiritual master. But the more that we serve the more we feel the better because his mercy keeps coming down. So I am always praying that I could be an instrument in his hand. Someone today said that they feel that different zones had different moods according to their guru. So I was told that the spiritual master here at Talavan hopefully everyone were his own. Its actually Srila Prabupad. But as the parampara system continues, we try to reflect Srila Prabupad although that the coloured glass reflection doesn’t come out. Is acting only a small fraction. Its because Prabupad stood bright, even now we are very dull. Some people are able to get some light reflected. So when we see people become enlightened in their devotional service. We see them happy and peaceful in their service to Krishna. Then its a great source of satisfaction. We see somebody under the grips of maya. We see them suffering. That’s a great source of suffering for ourselves. One thing we see in traveling around. Actually, I was missing Mayapur which is unlimitedly beautiful. Whenever I travel, I see so many people suffering due to not knowing Krishna. I know how much Srila Prabupad wanted how much Lord Chaitanya Nithyananda prabu want that these people should get the mercy of the sankirtan movement. I always feel overwhelmed with the magnitude of illusion, of the task how to save all these conditioned souls on one hand. On the other hand, I feel confident that since Krishna is unlimitedly powerful and His holy name is non different. Its also unlimitedly powerful. Lord Chaitanya’s mercy is so great. Just as Prabupad desired also that all these conditioned souls should be delivered. That eventually we would see Lord Chaitanya’s prediction which has already become practically already started. Its reality that in every town and village the name will be sung. We are looking forward today when people will all over the world be chanting more and more the holy names of the Lord. So Lord Nityananda Lord Chaitanya they all use this analogy at the market place. Lord Chaitanya went to study, opened up the shop,opened up the store to sell His goods. And many people came to purchase. So then Lord Chaitanya was still considering the few people who have not come so that He can market His mercy to them also. So if you are very fortunate that wherever you go so many people are there that Krishna is sending who are there to receive the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. My only regret is that I feel myself inadequate distributor of that mercy which I am always praying to the deities to Srila Prabupad to extend their mercy upon all fallen souls since I am inadequate to help them myself. It is very encouraging to see when people receiving that mercy. Had the good fortune on many occasions because six years there was association with srila Charidev, Srila Baktipad. Charidev personally requested me in many occasions to take care of the disciples of his in my home. He was the first to come here in South America. Baktipad requesting welcomed me to New Vrindavan. He even sent me a ticket which is pre aerating. Big plans and projects. He was planning always to bring me preach the devotees in New Vrindavan and take a littile of his association. Having personally spent most of my time with Srila Prabupad and his instructions especially in India, Sri Mayapur. He used to criticize me that I have become a Bengali. Said me bring me over to India totally Indianised because he wanted me to work hard in America. So I had been working in double shifts with construction 24 hour shifts and there wasn’t few days ago, yesterday we heard about the grinding of the air hammer. Like this Srila Prabupad use to hear the grinding of the cement mixers and marble chippers and he used to always say, is it bothering him? No, it’s a music to my ears. Musical progress. He can sleep in that. When somebody slammed the door, that would have shattered his heart. Because he was disturbing Krishna’s energy. So from that vision of being Prabupad the vision of Mayapur, what I would see is the world as just one unit. Everybody comes together Mayapur and live there. And Prabupad was pertinent at that time since book distribution in India hadn’t really begun then. It didn’t have the comparative mood. He is try to speak sometimes newly also but that time I was seeing Mayapur as a centre. Lord Chaitanya’s sankirtansource that was always going to the world. They are all part of Lord Chaitanya’s International world sankirtan movement, the ISKCON body of Srila Prabupad. So in this way it has been very hard to to see things  along very rigid zone view point. Although I am attached to developing whatever areas are given to me try to help the devotees working there. Try to give whatever ability I have, whatever experience I have to see that Prabupad’s vision is implemented a little better, little quicker, little more fully. This is one Iskcon family that the god brothers serve the disciples of Srila Prabupad, the grand disciples of Srila Prabupad in whichever family. That is all one family. That was the thing that one of the unlimited things another thing inspired me a lot on Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabu’s movement that in reading about the original associates of Lord Chaitanya and the, even the next generations, we don’t find any limits or any kind of sectarian feeling. Everyone was a complete sold out lover of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabu, Lord Nityananda, Advaita they are all one in their dedication to spreading Lord Chaitanya’s message and loving Him and serving Him. And although practically all of the great devotees had different spiritual masters. They never claimed they never created any kind of conflict anywhere in Chaitanya Caritamrta, we have Chaitanya Bagiavata. It’s a single bakthi Vedanta. Any other books on which Sri Chaitanya was moving. When I came to India, I was faced with the Gowdiya math who didn’t give their love to Srila Prabupad the way have been trained, the ISKCON god brothers should give to each other and that was very painful.When  Prabupad came and I saw that it was not any lack in Prabupad side because Prabupad was continulaly trying to give his love to them. He called them all together and said why don’t we all co-operate together as Bakthi Sidhanta Saraswathi Thakur wanted. But they one by one and it rolled off. No one took Srila Prabupad’s invitation to work together. So then Srila Prabupad, he not have an alternative but to create his own world movement. He requested us that the test of how much we love him is how we co operate together. This year the Mayapur festival someone made that point. I read it many times but then I was here that the test of whether we love him is if we co operate. And that seems kind of simple. To say well I am co operating I am working with every body. If I am co operating that means I love Prabupad. But this time the movement was in a lecture they gave the quotation by the name little duller. This was more proper wording that to test how much we love Srila Prabupad is how much we co operate well with one and all. That gives unlimited fortitude. Because the limit how well we can co operate with one another. Certainly there is no limit how much we want to show our love to Srila Prabupad, the spiritual master with the Vaishnavas. So co operation doesn't not only mean international level GBC level president level. Co operation between one devotee to another, one spiritual master to another, between disciples. Co operation is something which means pooling our energy for satisfying Krishna better. In the sankirtan movement, where some people play the Drums, some the kartals and some the conch and some the harmonium and some dances, some respond shows that kind of harmony where everyone is playing a different role but ever one is co operating to produce sankirtan. So in a broader sense we have mrdanga sankirtan or the varnashram development or establishing permanent Krishna conscious communities which can serve miles to the bewildered people in the western world. They don’t know what the purpose of life means. They generally think that they are this material body and some of them are matching the material body with soul. Some sorts... But if anyone out there thinks there is a soul as eternal servitor of god, and that this body is simply superficial covering of the soul, a machine, an instrument which could be used by the soul for advancing closer to god. This way Prabupad actually created a revolution to make people Goswamis instead of Godasas, to make them Paramahamsas instead of Mudas. So Prabupad said that the Paramahamsas somehow they can take the milk from the mixture of hamsa the swan can take milk from the mixture of water and milk. The Paramahamsa can take spiritual life from the mixture of matter and spirit. We are seeing that devotees are all developing this quality of being able to take Krishna Conscious opportunities. This is our goal that everyone should become a Paramahamsa. Not that we shoulbe be perfect Grihasthas and perfect Sannyasis perfect Brahmacaris. That’s just a step on the way. The ultimate objective is to become perfect devotees to become Paramahamsas completely inclined to lotus feet of Lord Chaitanya 18:02. That is most right. I personally like to attend Vyasa pujas more than the whenever the people getting the offerings rather than hearing them. But whatever you do you have to do it as a service to the gurus. This is one of the services of the guru. He has to listen to the various offerings. Only when he see that people are enlivened by devotional service, that their faith is increasing, that their determination is increasing. Then whatever difficulty we encounter cally or whatever youngest some nonsense disciples lead to Krishna will profit us. That may be significant because the opportunity is able to save a conditioned soul is something so important. Its something that’s graver. Its something that which is most valuable thing there is. In this way we are trying to before time Lord Chaitanyas movement as present in this universe to time rescue as many of the conditioned souls that are drowning in the ocean of birth and death here. Have to get them up the ship. Srila Prabupad will guide us over the ocean. The sathus job is to preach the people that they are getting on the ship not to jump off or not to fall off if they are careless. Part of their job is to inspire them to pull out more people who are drowning in the ocean of misery. As long as people are busy with this activity, then everything will be very blissful. Thay become absorbed in other kind of words and doubts and material attachments, then they start to sink again in to that ocean of suffering. So its very important to keep the consciousness transcendental, to keep the vibrations spiritual. We hear so many times in the scripture that if we can presently absorb in hearing the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya, hearing the pastimes of Krishna, hearing the glories of the devotees that this will keep our mind always purified. Personaly for me, only reason I tell pastimes of Lord Chaitanya or Krishna is not because of any great magnanimity on my part. You will be wrong if you think that I am merciful. I am very selfish. I simply tell these pastimes because I taste unlimited transcendental bliss whenever I am able to glorify Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabu. Because of my greed, sometimes I give classes which are too long. I think I put devotees to too much suffering because I am more greedy to taste the nectar of talking about Lord Chaitanya. Just somehow by talking about Lord Chaitanya, I am able to develop taste double nectar of this ananda, ocean of nectar. Its not that actually I do not have any mercy. The thing is that when there people who are there who are eager to give Bagavatham Chaitanya then somehow Lord Chaitanya manifested Himself more emphatically, more directly. So therefore I think I travel just because the new audience they are more eager to hear about Lord Chaitanya then that is more spiritual happiness. Thankfully in that wreck less state, I am very greedy for this kind of nectar. Not actually have a drop of devotion at all. Real sentence added too. There is a school teacher I often see they say instinct to receive the immature children many tactualistics they learn. So in the same way I feel that the devotees who are sent to this zone have the opportunity of working, they are sent by Srila Prabupad and so by being able to serve with them or even to guide them, to help them many ways. This is also Prabupad’s mercy. This is definitely Prabupad’s mercy upon me. This is also Prabupad’s way of teaching me in many sublime ways. So the Vyasa puja day, we glorify the spiritual master but that is a representation of the entire disciplic succession. Prabupad was very concerned that this disciplic succession should remain intact. Actually Vyasadev wrote the Vedas. Narada muni spread the holy name brought Hare Krishna maha mantra down to this material world. Vyasa dev told us the glories of the holy name by writing. Originally Lord Brahma heard the holy name and the message of the Vedas transmitted by Krishna’s flute. The Gayatri mantra is not different from Krishna’s flute sound. So that’s how it came in disciplic succession. So by hearing the Gayatri mantra we should develop some separation from Krishna. This way Sri Madhvacharya, Sri Madhavendra puri and Chaitanya Mahaprabu six goswamis. This mood of intense desire to serve Krishna extended down. Actually in this material world, people are burning with desire. That desire will never be satisfied in the material world. And that burning material desire simply brings them in to more and more difficulties. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabu, He also has put us in to the fire. They say here in South I think all over the frying pan to the fire that burning in the material world we will be. The Mayavadis they say ‘Om Shanti’ they want peace. They want calm. The devotional service finallyfind  we have long Marathon. Always feeling great when I see the mothers so that devotees engage in rigorous sankirtan. When I hear some pretty dedicated effort to distribute books or to collect to maintain or develop the sankirtan projects I sometimes become overwhelmed with awe how Lord Chaitanya is inspiring these devotees to preach on His behalf to engage conditioned souls in service on his behalf. I feel very indebted to those devotees. Want to see their welfare in all respects. In this way dedicating a peaceful life find that all devotees are engaged in various kind of festivities and various type of you know tumultuous life style. So whereis that death like peace for the Mayavadis? Let me find the wisdom actually we don’t want death like peace. But we want the eternal festival of Vrindavan, the festival of lord Chaitanya sankirtan. That the devotees they also have a different type of fire. That fire that burns in their heart is the fire to serve Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabu. Another kind of fire there is a fire of spiritual love and that fire has another kind of spiritual peace which is a kind of unity by diversity or dynamic satisfaction but totally indescribable. 28:48 So very eager to relieve the devotees from material fire unfortunately sort of getting into....29:07 . We are trying to light another fire which is the fire of enthusiasm to Krishna. That desire to be with Krishna. Now the devotees are still satisfied because of Krishna. Krishna is so kind that the desire to live with Krishna being with Krishna is non different. So one who sincerely likes to be with Krishna and chants Krishna’s name and serves Krishna, serves Chaitanya then he can feel the presence of the Lord. This is actually our purpose. People should develop such a desire just like a magnet attracts another magnet. That the devotees be magnets and Krishna can easily attract them all from this material world. We don’t have to worry about burning out in the material force fire of illusion. So the more we see that during any festival or occasion that the devotees are spontaneously feeling some attraction for devotional service then it shall be like we fan the spark to encourage them by satisfying. Because ultimately if the fire for serving Krishna grows and grows and burns out all material impurities in the heart and one can be completely fixed in devotional service eternally. The process is very as Rupanuga prabu said I like to associate with devotees. I like to associate with every sincere person. Even if the person is sincerely in maya, that they want to be Krishna conscious, I like to have that association because I try to help them. The only association I get little impatient with is when someone is insincerely in maya. They are not trying to get out. They are not trying to be purified. They are waiting consciously. They put themselves in a position which is very hard to save them. Its gives us great anxiety. Sometimes we see people their minds are moving consciously. They are avoiding mercy of the Lord. They put up smoke screen in mind. Leads them away. Its very unfortunate when people avoid the mercy of the Lord. Because Lord Chaitanya’s mercy Lord Prabupad’s mercy its so available. Its so open. And even if you don’t try to avoid it and just stand there you will get pulled over by. What we speak if we try to get that mercy? All those people who are trying to escape from that mercy they are most unfortunate people. Or if the people have somehow not come in contact with that mercy. So therefore we are trying to divide. We don’t have huge scope to do much everywhere but alteast whoever Krishna has asked us to through His representatives to do something. We are trying to gradually develop something to Prabupad the humble offering so that conditioned souls can take shelter of Krishna. so, I am very glad that I am able to come and help to raise very sincere devotees. Gopinath prabu Ranganath Prabu and Chandwani and Radi all the devotees are trying to very sincerely trying to do something here. So I feel very honored to do something to help something to Prabupad although he ordered me to preach in India. But I don’t do that and I know he will won't give his mercy to me. This is one extent extacular. Extra above and beyond what he asked. Prabupad used to tell us that he was ordered by his guru to preach in America but that was a little extra project to preach also in India. But he ordered me to preach in India. Of course he ordered me to preach everywhere spread the propaganda unlimitedly. So taking that kind of grave instructions convict coming here in the west to preach beacuse he ordered that. So finally will be able to do something here also so that will be great complimentary. Srila Prabupad requested great complimentary. Srila Prabupad requested something grateful for me trying to do something Prabupad so letting me help them. In this way if we all try to co operate more and more giving up little selfish desires it really doesn’t matter where we are in the world. I travel all over the world. Everywhere I see people in maya. Everywhere people are suffering simply whereever we are, like Lord Chaitanya said, open up a little table ?? . Whoever present can distribute this message ? gives on other place, practically speaking. What we need to do, is to cooperate together and to actually give out the message. So this way, this works. I also thank the gurukul students for their wonderful offerings of paintings and pictures. They are very fortunate. Prahlad maharaj says, ‘kaumaram acaret prajno’, that from childhood one should practice Krishna consciousness before they are get too old. They are very fortunate to have Krishna conscious parents, to have gurukul - this spiritual place where you can develop your Krishna consciousness. They can give you a chance to play around a little bit too. So, take advantage of this spiritual environment. Follow the example of prahlad maharaj. And become Krishna conscious in this life. And try to help others to be Krishna conscious. That is the most important thing that is. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna (all devotees) Srila Prabhupad ki.. Jai (all devotees)