19870111 Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā

THE FOLLOWING IS A FIRST LEVEL TRANSCRIPTION

vande 'haḿ śrī-guroḥ

śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaḿ

śrī-gurun vaiṣṇavāḿś ca

śrī-rūpaḿ sāgrajātaḿ

saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaḿ

taḿ sa jīvam

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on January 11th, 1987 in Radhadesh. The class begins with a reading from Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya Līlā.

Reading from the Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya Līlā. Rūpa and Sanātana Goswamis how they were doing everything to fulfill the desires of Lord Chaitanya. That time we were also discussing the wonderful characteristics of Mādhavendra Purī who also, although he was perfect in his realization of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he when ordered by Gopal to get sandalwood, he walked thousands of kilometers in order to procure some sandalwood. Sandalwood can be ground into a paste and placed on the head or the body to make one very cool. Since Gopal was in the forest, deity of Gopal was in the forest for a long time without any worship and the sun, and the deity felt hot, so He wanted sandalwood paste to be applied on His body.

So Mādhavendra, this is not unusual but there are some deities. In India year around there is the sandalwood paste. There is one Narasiṁha deity in South India, supposed to be very angry mood of Narasiṁha Dev. So, to keep Him cool down they cover His entire form with sandalwood paste and once a year when they take off the sandalwood paste then you can see the deity underneath. For one day, then they again put sandalwood for the rest of the year. That's unusual but generally I think here also all the temples they offer sandalwood but this Gopal deity He was feeling very hungry, rather very hot, so He wanted to have sandalwood applied.

So Madhavendran Purī although he didn't have any money, didn't have anything, he had only the desire to serve The Lord, he walked thousands of miles to procure sandalwood which was very expensive. So, when he got to Jaggannath Purī, he got the sandalwood then he also personally carried the sandalwood on his back.

In fact, sandalwood was such a rare item that it was illegal to export it from that country. So, he had to, they had to go to the government and get a special permission to export the sandalwood and as he was everyday carrying about 100, maybe 100 pounds of sandalwood and he is walking 30, 40, 50 kilometers a day just walking with his sandalwood.

One day he was, went to a check post, a toll gate and a custom officer, toll officer confiscated all the sandalwood, said you are a smuggler, you are not allowed to take this out of the country, why you are transporting sandalwood, this is only meant for Jaganath, He is in Orissa and although Mādhavendra Purī was such a great devotee, he had to undergo all this type of difficulties. Having his sandalwood confiscated, being falsely accused. We are just remarking how they are such a parallel, striking parallel in the life of Śrīla Prabhupad and Mādhavendra Purī that although he didn't have anything, he had renounced the world, he was just living in Vṛndāvan, he didn't have any money, he was ordered by Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswati Thakur to spread the Kṛṣṇa Conscious movement to the west. He had to go to get permission to go ahead to get visa and so many things, it was very hard to procure. They said why do you want to go, why do you want passport, you are too old. You see in India, if you want to leave the country, first you have to go to the government, even your passport you can't leave, you have to have clearance. They don't want Indian citizens, they show up somewhere, they don't have any ticket, they don't have any money. Then Indian government has to pay to bring them back.

So therefore, they have a clearance check. So, you have to go through all these problems, they didn't want to give him clearance to go and finally he got the clearance. Then just as Mādhavendra Purī, he was walking, he was walking back to Vṛndāvan, so to go to the west the most primitive means of going was to go by a freight ship. A number of ways of going somewhere between India and say America. This is the most primitive way is going by a freighter. I mean plane would have been far more you see comfortable or even a some kind of a passenger ship. This is a freight ship, an ordinary you see goods ship. So he was also going through all the struggle and when he was in America they also didn't want to extend his visa.

So to go through all the difficulties and see Mādhavendra Purī, he also had to go through difficulties but it's said that he was doing everything as a labor of love because it was the desire of Kṛṣṇa to do this service, therefore for him it was whether, however difficult it was he was so determined to go on because it was the desire of Kṛṣṇa. So, I have heard that today and tomorrow like all saint's day, all soul's day, people remember their forefathers, put flowers on, so I thought it was a probably we can remember the previous acharyas. They are spiritual forefathers you see. Actually, what is Kṛṣṇa Consciousness? you see.

In India of course people they have an idea that if you become a sādhu or if you become another word a saint or a devotee, some type of a monk that means you give up all work and you just do some meditation and take it easy. This is the general idea that they have in India. when, someone takes to the saintly life you see but devotional service is a bit different, it's not that type of yoga because ours is an active meditation. Ours is a meditation through dedication; we dedicate our mind, we dedicate our words, we dedicate our activities in the service of Kṛṣṇa.  After that we dedicate our heart, everything, the ātmā, the soul is dedicated to Kṛṣṇa.

So, of course Mādhavendra Purī although he got his sandalwood aa confiscated, he produced that paper he had got from the government and said look I have permission, had to go through the customs, had to go to the highest officer, had to get it released but he got the sandalwood back.

Similarly, Prabhupāda, he had to leave America first time he went to Canada. when they cancelled his visa but then he got a new visa. Then he came to Europe and established the preaching. Bhakti, Siddhānta Saraswati Thakur he was a greatest scholar even at the age of 11 he was such a great astronomer that he had discovered a star, he discovered a star that no one had discovered before. Therefore, he was a given a title 'Saraswati' but when he wanted to take initiation from his guru, the guru gave him such a hard test that he didn't know if he could achieve so. In the beginning he wasn’t even accepted by his guru, had to go through lot of tests and finally he was accepted.

So, Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswati Thakur actually his, he had a very big struggle, very big opposition because he was preaching in India that no one has a monopoly for spiritual life for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. Before there was a caste Goswami’s that they claimed that he had to come in a particular family in order to become a guru, or in order to become a Kṛṣṇa Conscious and anyone who wanted to practice Kṛṣṇa Consciousness had to come in that family. Then they were not actually qualified. Family was a good family, family coming from the disciples of Nityānanda or Advaita but the actual follower of these persons they were not practicing Kṛṣṇa Consciousness according to the rules and regulations.

So, Bhakti Siddhānta, he, in fact they said well if you want to follow Lord Chaitanya you have to go through us. These other caste Goswami’s but to go into temple you had to pay a toll, 50 cents, 50 paisa, you have to pay a certain donation, fixed, couldn't go in free, to pay in admission. So, in this way everyone had to go through them and you also had to pay everyday little tax. So, it was a whole, you see monopoly they were trying to make, a big problem.

So then when Lord Chaitanya started to preach, that no matter what family you are from, even if you are from foreign countries you can become a brāhmaṇa, you can be a vaishnava, you can preach Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, you can practice, said Lord Chaitanya, this is a universal movement, it's not anybody's aa, you see monopoly. Anyone can take part. Then this vested interest, and he also made a temple and he said anyone can come in the temple, you don't have to pay any charge. Temple is for Kṛṣṇa, it's for everyone. You don't have to pay anything.

So, then he took big procession, 50,000 people on Navadwip parikrama, Māyāpur, Nabadwip dham he went around with 50,000 people. He had his own motor launchist, motor launchist means motorized boat, but big ones. They can hold 3-400 people. He had 2, he had horses, he had the first motor car in India. Practically like any civilian person. So many things going in big preaches.

So, one day he was taking this 50,000 people around in a parikrama and when he went in the town of Nabadwip, he was giving a strong lecture that time these caste conscious priests they were, had hiding under the roof of the buildings and they started to throw big rocks down on Bhakti Siddhānta to kill him and then they had hired people to go and capture him, to kidnap him and kill him. So suddenly there was this big attack right on the big procession.

So that time they used to take Bhakti Siddhānta and one disciple gave him his cloth and took Bhakti Siddhānta's cloth and then he ran. So, all the hired people ran after the decoy and Bhakti Siddhānta was taken away. So, he had to go through a lot of difficulties, in fact one police chief came and told him that these caste priests, they have to come to me and offered me a big reward if I will murder you. But I told them that although we do these things (GM laughs), I won't kill a saint. It will be too big a sin for me, too bad a karma, I won't take that karma. So, he warned him, you be very careful, they are out to get you because of your preaching.

So actually, Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswati Thakur, he was able to preach so widely, facing lot of obstacles.

Then Gaur Kishore Das Bābājī, of course he was very humble, he was very humble, he did not know reading or writing, he felt himself humble he did not feel himself qualified to go ahead & preach. But we know that he was a great preacher because the way inspired Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswati Thakur to preach. Gaur Kishore Das Bābājī was so elevated a vaishnava that by his association people would become easily inspired to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

But then in those days people would always come to him and request him for some material benediction. It's like, this is a common thing, like mostly the people when they go to church or go to mosque or temple they pray to God, please give me something, give me my, I want a wife or I want a husband, my son is sick or I need to pass my examination or I need my business need some help, they always ask for some material thing.

So, people always going to him and they will say Swamiji can I ask you something. He will say what is that, then they will say please give me, my brother is sick, so please give me, him good health, give some blessing. He got distracted you know, I am trying to worship Kṛṣṇa and someone wants to come and ask me some Kṛṣṇa conscious question; it's alright, but they are only coming and asking these useless questions. This happened to me one day I was walking on a street, all of a sudden, some lady, she ran up to me right on the street in India, she paid her obeisance’s, just you know, on the street, and just grab my feet, what is it, what is it?

Then she said Oh Maharaj kripa karo, have your mercy, have your mercy, so what do you want, you know (devotees laugh), as she said, oh! my husband got an ulcer, please give your blessings so that ulcer goes away (GM and devotees laugh). So, like that, he got, after so many people, because he was very famous that he did some miracles and things, he was became very famous. So, he used to sit besides the, finally he moved and he sat by the latrine, by the public urinal, this is not exactly like the men's room or women's room at the airport and buses, this is kind of open air, not so sanitary, having some bad smell. He sat near to that, that way all the people wanting some material thing they'll be, they'll think oh this is a dirty place, just stay away.

So, he can chant and if someone is really transcendental to all these things, he'll go up to him and they ask spiritual question, so like that. Actually, he was so renounced that he used to eat, he would have a bowl and he would take his prasad from the bowl, for the bowl was the inside of a human skull, it was the hollowed-out skull, he'd take from that, to remind himself that life is temporary. (GM laughs), he is very austere (again GM and devotees laugh). Many other stories about Gaur Kishore Das Bābājī.

Bhakti Vinod Thakur, he also, he, he had to face the difficulties to find Lord Chaitanya's birth place, that was a very big endeavor. He researched it very deeply, where is the birth place of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu, but most people told him He is lost in the Ganges but after very big search one day he looked outside of his window and therein opposite the in the night, just opposite the Jalangi river, he could see a brilliant light coming and he got inspiration that's the birth place of Lord Chaitanya.

So then he took Jagannath Das Bābājī, who was about 113 years old at that time and due to rheumatism, he was all you know just bundled up in a, couldn't sit straight, in this like this

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare,

Hare Ram Hare Ram Rāma Rāma Hare Hare,

he chanted, so he became so reduced due to old age that Thakur Bhakti Vinod carried him in a basket on his head. He was just like a ball. So, then they came to one spot and Bhakti Vinod Thakur said what is that, he asked the local farmers it's like a jungle there, he said oh, it is a useless place. Its all, this, nothing grows there. He said no matter what you plant simply Tulasī comes out. (Devotees laugh loudly). We have tried so many times but this Tulasī is coming in size. See there you saw there is so many Tulasīs in a big jungle.

So, then he walked inside that Tulasī vana, Tulasī forest and just in the middle all of sudden Jagganath Das Bābājī he jumped up! Hari Bol Hari Bol.

Although he has never even walked he is jumping up and chanting Hari Bol Hari Bol. This is the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Chaitanya Mahāprabhu ki Jai!! (devotees chant Jai). He is jumping in ecstasy.

So, Bhakti Vinod Thakur to build a place at birthplace of Lord Chaitanya he went to door to door requesting 1 rupee per person to give for Lord Chaitanya. He collected 30,000 rupees by 1 rupee, that means 30,000 people gave donation, he wouldn’t accept more than 1 rupee because he didn't want to give the impression that he was making some commercial thing. Those days it was very sensitive you had to, had to be careful how you acted to keep the proper respect. So, he did lot of, it was just samples.

Then of course those days Baladev Vidyabhushan, he was a great acharya, he was challenged by the other sects. They challenged him that, you see every sampradāya, every disciplic succession had their own translation and commentary of the Vedānta sūtra. Shankracharya had, Madhavacharya, Rāmānuja, Nibarka, Vishnuswami, they all had their own commentation on the vedanā sūtra.

So, when he presented, what's your philosophy, it's like Shankrachary's is advaita, onessness, Mahdavacharya's is dvaita, duality, that there is two. Then Rāmānuja is viśiṣṭādvaita, that oneness with some varigatedness.

Like this, each one has their own philoshophy, so he said that well, ours is the philosophy of Lord Chaitanya, 'acintyabed abeda tattva'. They said that's not a philosophy, if it is a philosophy where is your Vedānta sūtra commentary. There must be a Vedānta sūtra commentary; according to your philosophy, if it's not, we don't accept it as being bonafide, you see, path. So, he said 'no, no we have one'. You see actually he didn't have any, he said no no we have one, you see just bringing it out in a few days (devotees laugh). So, he went in to Govindajī and he paid his obeisance’s and prayed to Govinda that please to save the name of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and his movement, I need your special mercy for having His commentary on the Vedānta sūtra.

So, then the deity on his sincere praying, you can imagine how he prayed, he was very very sincerely praying, pure devotion. Lord Govinda personally dictated the commentary and he wrote it down like entire Vedānta sūtra commentary that commentary therefore is known as Govinda bhashya, or the commentary of Govinda, because of His dictation.

So, then he after, very short time he had the perfect commentary, when he went out and presented this is our commentary on Vedānta sūtra, they were amazed. So, like that Srinivas acharya, Narottam Das Thakur, Shyamananda pandit, they, they took the first book distribution party out, blessed by all the vaishnavas, given blessing by Govindji but enroute they got all the book stolen. It's a long story. But still in spite of having the book stolen he endeavored and wouldn’t give up trying, eventually things worked out.

So, like this we can see that our previous predecessors, they had to through different difficulties, they had to go through different tests by Kṛṣṇa but then in the end Kṛṣṇa would reward them with a pure devotional service, with successful missions.

So, in this way today is the day to remember the, we can remember our predecessors, you see spiritual masters, how they have spread the Kṛṣṇa Conscious movement in spite various difficulties and obstacles. So that hasn't changed, even now in the 20th century people are more engrossed in illusion in most cases and they are not so eager for spiritual life but Lord Chaitanya He could flood the whole, the whole of Nadia with love of Godhead, the whole of India, whole of the world. Similarly, His movement today can also inundate the world with love for Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupad actually created the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement in order to inundate the people with love of Godhead. To attract all kinds of people with the priority of developing their love of Kṛṣṇa. Actually, in this regard, Prabhupad stated in Chiatanya Charitamrta that sometimes in Māyāpur there is a grand flood after the rainy season and that is an indication by Lord Chaitanya that from the birth place of Lord Chaitanya the sankirtan movement should expand His preaching all over the world and inundate the world's in love of Godhead.

So, this year there was also a very big flood in Māyāpur. Today I showed slide show of the flood, this morning in Bhakti Vedānta Manor to know if this time, tomorrow to show if we have a projector some other themes, flood lasted about five weeks and the water rose up about 2 meters inside the temple and outside in a village it was 3 meters and more in many places.

But we distributed about prasādam to 4-5000 people a day by delivering it to the inundated villagers by boat, motor boat which we had purchased for the purpose, this had all happened after tiger fall in Myami, i mean after Sweden when I went back, this happened in August 25th until October 2nd. Just a recent thing. So that's a message by Lord Chaitanya to flood the world with love for Kṛṣṇa. So, I am very glad to hear how the devotees here in Radhadesha flooding Belgium with love for Kṛṣṇa, spreading the movement of Śrīla Prabhupad, so that by your determination Kṛṣṇa will give you all mercy, Lord Chaitanya, Prabhupad gave all mercy to go on expanding the Kṛṣṇa Conscious movement.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

(devotees chant along with GM).

Any Questions??

yes

There was another program of Bhakti Vinod Thakur was the Nāma Haṭṭa. Nāma Haṭṭa is basically the program to encourage people to chant in their homes and then to organize those spiritualized homes in to associations of devotees which meet on a daily or regular basis and associate with each other in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, chant, read scriptures and engage in different type of preaching activities.

So, Bhakti Vinod Thakur had established more or less 500 or more Nāma haṭṭa centres and about a 100 years ago. Few of them are still running. You come the original Nāma haṭṭa centers established by Bhakti Vinod Thakur, they build temples and a whole community, hundreds of people chanting japa from 100 years, but there has been no cultivation, only a couple are still running. Most of them they gradually stop.

So, Bhakti Vinod Thakur he had instructed that this Nāma haṭṭa preaching is the most important, this will become the most significant form of preaching in the world in future, predicted that among all form of preaching this will shine out as the very dynamic form of establishing Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.

Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswati Thakur also instructed to do Nāma Haṭṭa but he established temples and printed books and at a young age actually he left the world, didn't really get beyond that. And Prabhupad took up first printing books, establishing temples but then in the end he said that we should do varnashrama preaching.

Prabhupad instructed that we should set up this type of congregational units by bringing people to our temples and training them for few days or week and have them return back to their homes and begin their chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa which they learn in the temple they can practice in their own home. 1977 we were attacked in Māyāpur when the government, communist government came in power and at that time, the government gave misinformation to the press and made a bad publicity against us. So that time I organized some mass meetings, mass movement of the public who knew the actual fact, the local devotees of Lord Chaitanya, is in Bengal there are may devotees of Lord Chaitanya.

So, we organized the procession of 25,000 people to march to the village, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and after that a local politician stopped creating problems and the government started to take different stands when they saw that we are like so mobilized. So, at that time when the 25000 people were marching there was something like a 160 kīrtan groups and it was so amazing to see those kīrtan groups. Every kīrtan group was singing their own tune, their own song and it would go from one to the next, it will be like honey going to different, bee going to different flowers, tasting honey. You know one kīrtan,

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa (GM start singing), Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare, (devotees singing along) you know then it will go to the next Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa (GM changes the tune of the),

next for then they are going Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare, everyone will say and practically everyone uses a different tune, I mean more tune than I know, I was saying, even the good kīrtan singers don't know, I mean so many tunes and it left a lasting impression then I this one approached Prabhupad that there is such a power there, so many people chant Hare Kṛṣṇa in Bengal but we don't have any mobilization of them, there is no coordination, there is no unity and I want to make an organization to unify all the kīrtan groups and the devotees of Lord Chaitanya as well as to train up new people to be devotees.

So Prabhupad said that to do that he gave his blessings, gave some guidelines, he agreed but then soon after Prabhupad left the planet. Things were set back a little bit. I didn't know what to call the group or organization. Then we found, actually Bhakti Charu Maharaj gave me a copy of the, one Gauḍīya Patrikā, one magazine, one journal, vaishnava journal which was published from Navadwip and this particular issue of that journal was edited by Śrīla Prabhupad.

He was, he took sanyas from Keshav Maharaj and so this journal was published on the Keshav Maharaj's temple and for 4-5 years he was the president, editor of that magazine. So just happened that, I think 4-5 years, anyways it said this issue was A.C.Bhakivedanta, that time he was, he was not sanyasi, he was vānaprastha, he was A.C.Bhaktivedanta, Abhay Charan Bhaktivedanta and they say president of the mag, paper.  So, in that magazine it gave 5 chapters from Bhakti Vinod Thakur's book on the Nāma Haṭṭa, and that's so far the only evidence I mean the direct work we could find about, there was Bhakti Vinod specifically was telling what a Nāma Haṭṭa was and I read that and I found that what we wanted to do, what Prabhupad said is actually the Nāma Haṭṭa, I mean there is no difference, except that Bhakti Vidnod has already thought out the whole thing and made a blue print.

So, then I thought we should call this sankirtan movement a Nāma Haṭṭa movement because that's the Nāma Haṭṭa organization, that's the name Bhakti Vinod Thakur, it was his idea, it was simply, and actually Bhakti Vinod's Nāma Haṭṭa was originally the Nāma Haṭṭa made by Lord Nityānanda, he reinstated it. So, it takes back 500 years ago that Lord Nityānanda was the first person to establish Nāma Haṭṭa.

So, we started to enroll persons who like to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and there had to be at least 5 members who'd chant at least one day a week together and read Prabhupad's books and the first year we had 45 members, 45 groups, next year we had 150, next year 250, next year grew to 400, then it grew to 750, almost doubling every year, little less than doubling, then went 1200. Now there is something like 1700 in Bengal, 300 in Orissa, 100 in Assam, like this. These are groups. Each group has about 50 people. So, it became so much that we even, though we had staff of 20 people, we had to gradually build up to, it wasn't enough to supervise, almost 2000 groups because we had, we worked maybe 6 teams. Even if 6 teams would visit 1 center every 2 days they could barely cover once in a whole year, just visiting. So, it wasn't good enough.

So Bhakti Vinod Thakur in his structure he had a system of senapatis, commanders, circle commanders, district commanders, state commanders. So, we made a system like that. Every 12 groups became a circle and they had a circle commander, and then just for his assistance, he had a sub circle commander, upachakra, sanskrit, chakra senapati and upachakra senapati and then 3 circles became a mahachakra, greater circle, but it sounds better in sanskrit, mahachakra.

So, like this, now we are tuning up this infrastructure that these senapatis are actually Nāma Haṭṭa members and they have to responsibility that they have to visit one Nāma Haṭṭa center every week on the lower levels and they have to send in reports and so now our preachers they go every month, there will be a greater, mahā sammelan, that means great re-union. Where 4-5 Nāma Haṭṭa will come together and meet and have a big kīrtan and once every 3 months 12, all the 12 will get together. So in this way the generate is more enthusiasm, say 5, 10, 20, 30 people are chanting in one village but then once a month on rotation, that means once in a year all the Nāma Haṭṭa sanghas in the area they'll all come and do big Hari naam and help the festival, the local people will see 100s of Nāma Haṭṭa devotees, not just 10 or 20 they see all the time. So then that inspires them. So that's the basic, this is like a slight glimpse of the Nāma Haṭṭa, but Nāma Haṭṭa, it's all you see, in Bengal you can get Naam Haṭṭa number easier but it’s hard to maintain high quality because there are so many sahajiyās and māyāvādīs and so many different groups, that to increase the quality is difficult. We find that Nāma Haṭṭa in Bengal you get one per week groups fairly, easily but to maintain them active and to get them to come up to once a day is difficult, where like in some other places very hard to get a group but if you get a group, they'll, they because they are not like in Bihar, another state of India, they are not followers of Lord Chaitanya, they are more followers of Shankracarya.

You convince them to follow Lord Chaitanya then they are very fired up people. They'll go every day and have mangal aarti at 5 in the morning 4 in the morning mangal aarti and whole class, just like a little temple. So, we have different categories of Nāma Haṭṭa, we have Nāma Haṭṭa associations, then we have Nāma Haṭṭa centers and Nāma Haṭṭa temples. So center means every day, and a temple has a deity and actually does the worship and association means less than once a day, maybe once a week, twice a week, three times a week but not daily. So now we are going through the whole, we are always trying to bring it up and refine every start different programs of gurukuls, some of the villages they have started gurukuls, we have 10 gurukuls functioning and some of the groups have started book distribution.

One group last year distributed 60,000 pieces of literature, so we gave them, the year before they had done 20,000 and the president of Calcutta gave them a big tape recorder so that they could play, Prabhupad's bhajan when they were going and selling the books and they bought a rickshaw, bicycle rickshaw with a flat back, so put all the book on it and peddle to all the villages and show the books and distribute.

So, this year again they won, so they wanted a bull horn, literally, you know bull horn? hand mike, battery operated hand mike. So, I gave them one of my hand mikes (GM laughs) as a reward. So that now they go, 'Come get your Bhaktivedanta books now' you know they are calling out. The idea is that all the Nāma Hattas they also distribute books, they do festivals, they do different programs and gradually trying to build up their standards so that and eventually may take many years but will have hundreds and hundreds of temples everywhere.

This year Nityānanda's appearance day will be having a Nāma Haṭṭa reunion. Last year we had Ram's appearance day there about 600 people came and one of the groups showed the drama that they had like type of castes gurus, they, they demand you have to cook them a fish dinner. So, then you think that and some other philosophy the preacher, the way they did it was quite interesting, and they made it satirical kind of, it was funny and they had to face a lot of obstacles. There is this one group and they actually kidnapped the leader of the group and locked him inside his house, they wouldn't let him go out. They said you are bringing this foreign group into our village. We don't want this and he had to be, he had send a note out and one Nāma Haṭṭa preacher had to go there and rescue him.  He was like a, in house arrest. In another village all the people were objecting, so the women there were very powerful and the women they started to preach to the other women and get them fired up.

So, the women for 6 months they practiced everything but they weren't, revealed to their husband that they are practicing, chanting and offering their prasādam. They simply feed prasad to the husband every day, even he didn't know it. (devotees laughing). In this way after about 6 month, they became very strong and husband heart became softened by prasad then the wife would reveal it, now I am becoming a, you know, I am practicing Kṛṣṇa Consciousness here in he house and you should give your blessings and you should also practice and then the husband you know he'd, but then they'd be fixed, then somehow the wife would get the husband also to practice. It was like underground women's movement (GM and devotees laughing), in this one village, many interesting things happen and so we do every year we have the reunion, we have all the preachers, tell the pastimes of their preaching.

One told about how he went to all the school teachers in his district and he gave them Prabhupad’s books and said you have to buy these for your school, you have to read it and then I want you to give me a certificate, how you like it, and he produced a huge book of certificates, he said everyone likes it and he started reading some other words of Prabhupad books that they wrote and he told how he went to some communist teachers from the communist party but even they said, now we understand now this religion [00:38:34] people this that you know, but then in the end he defeated them and they read Prabhupad books and they also gave good recommendations (devotees laugh).

So it’s very interesting, this year we have Nityānanda's appearance day, a month before Gaur Pūrṇimā, if any of you are in India, you can come and participate in the Nāma Haṭṭa reunion. There will probably be more than 1000 Nāma Haṭṭa preachers from all over Bengal coming, it's like a little, mini, sometimes it’s bigger than actually the Gaur Pūrṇimā, it's just that you don't get a 1000 but it's all the villagers and people from the cities they are doing the Nāma Haṭṭa preaching.

This last year Harikesh Maharaj happened to be there, he was amazed, he was completely amazed, he got very enthusiastic about it. Here in Belgium you have Nāma Haṭṭa programs?

Like now in Germany they're having, in England they have, in Belgium and Benelux they have Nāma Haṭṭa yet because every country has adapted according to their own, situation, even every state in India is different, we have to adapt. I see there's future for the varnashrama that Prabhupad wanted. He says how can you have varashrama you are human beings. Real human civilization, real varnashrama begins when people are vaishnavas, atleast on the kanishta level. Then you can organize and live in the varnashrama.

Time for more questions? Any more questions?

The teachings of Rūpa Goswami state "ena tena prakrena Kṛṣṇa man āni (not sure of the verse), someone should be brought to the standard of developing love and attachment for Kṛṣṇa. Now if someone hasn't developed love and attachment for Kṛṣṇa and you tell them to surrender everything to Kṛṣṇa, then they run away (GM laughs). So, on the other hand if someone has developed love and attachment for Kṛṣṇa to some degree then proportionately they should surrender. And Prabupad's situation was, he went, he was coming to the west he required brāhmaṇas on urgent basis to carry on the movement, even if he didn't need a congregation, he needed brāhmaṇas to take on the responsibility of continuing the movement because he was very, physically old and he was felt that he was going to leave any moment.

So, he wanted brāhmaṇas to take up the movement, he wanted preachers, he wanted disciples that could carry on the message, but then in the end he said that i did half the work, the other half is to have a big congregation, to have a varnashrama in a society amongst the people in general. So, he sacrificed because congregation is slow.

We found, I don't know in this country but I am visiting America we have a zone there and there the America today is very conservative, its relatively conservative, people there don't like to just change their lifestyle, give up their jobs, move in a temple, that's not like a in the 60s or 70s, more people easily joined, now the people they are very conservative about any kind of sudden change. So, there we found that preaching to the people on the Nāma Haṭṭa type of approach that they should practice in their home, continue their job, by that type of public preaching lot of people come to other programs in my zone and we are getting a good response, people aren't afraid to come, be forbidden anyone to preach to anyone, to join the temple, except the President or Vice President if they authorize it.

In other words unless they see if this that this person is really that advanced that they are ready to move in a temple they are actually material to be like a full time brāhmaṇa, full time because we see in the temple devotees in the temple are like priests, they are like monks, it's not, because sometimes people come to the temple and some devotee would just come up to them, you have to shave off your hair, you have to move in the temple, you are in māyā, prabhu, you know (devotees laughing) and just you know, maybe the one man was there 60 year old man in downtown New Orlean and he is like a musician or something, he shows some magical tricks and because that's a very cultural city, lot of tourist come.

So, the devotees kept inviting come for this sunday feast. So, the first Sunday feast that he comes, he has got big hair, he is old, I mean he is like a hard you know, very long-term kind of, he just came because for the feast, they told him come as a friend. That very day someone came up to him and said you should shave off all you hair, move in the (GM laughing), so last time they ever saw him. So there definitely has to be a balance. We don't want people to move in prematurely and in it's not that we expect every person, like in India the way what inspired me also for Nāma Haṭṭa preaching was, in India you have a different situation, we go out distribute books and sometimes we have a book table and people come and buy the books, someone buy a book and sit there read the whole book,right there at the table, just sitting in a side, read the book, he come up and say one sankirtan devotee came and told me that one man came up, he read the book said I agree with your book, I accept, I want to be a devotee, a Kṛṣṇa, I want to surrender, now tell me what should I do ?

Now they said, alright so you come and move in the temple, try in the temple. He said alright, I am working 35 years in the railway, I got 5 years before my pension, I got 14 kids, wife, I got my dependent, unmarried two sisters, my grandmother, my mother, the other uncle, you know he has got, and I got 4 cows and the land with 20 acres, 5 hectars, so then should I bring all of them (devotees laugh), aaaa, well let me think about this one for a while. Aaa see what can I want to do now, I agree, I agree, I accept, I accept your book, I accept the philosophy, I surrender. Now tell me what I should do. You can become a life member, you know. OK, tell me what I have to know. Then, I don't have that much money to become a life member, 1000 dollars with, I can give something every week, 50 rs or something.

So, what else can I do. So well, would you like if I buy some more books here (everyone laughs), you know, there is no program, we had people that were convinced about Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, we didn't have the infrastructure, wasn't real, real, realistic to ask such as move with the whole family into a to a temple even Māyāpur.

We need to build up, you know, not every family can move in like that, there is some adjustment. We didn't just have the infrastructure actually regarding so many people. So that was like a necessity to be able to preach to have a program to cultivate them. I had a couple, a disciple in America, they were working, getting 50,000$ a year each. Each had a job but one go fired from the job because they weren't eat hamburgers with the boss, he is vegetarian and other one also had difficulty at work. So naturally, even though I encouraged them, just keep your job, they come every day in mangal aarti, they did their work but just kind of naturally. It worked out that it wasn't very practical for them. So now they are going to open a new center somewhere. We have a little temple was donated to us. They are going to be the head that, once they going to get trained up you know.

So sometimes it works like that, you get actually through Nāma Haṭṭa, congregation or preaching, you end up with more bhaktas because less people are afraid to come you know. Actually, people stay, O the Hare Kṛṣṇa is going to press me to be a member of their commune. So, people stay away, they get afraid, if they know that you are not going to press them you know, if they show a little interest, they start asking the right questions you know this is really nice, I mean most stay over for a weekend and then you know just just do a little more you know little naturally, that's the system we have used.

So, there is a kind of balance and the president or the authority they had to be asked why this, this person, then maybe they call the person and talk to him see their situation and then they think yes actually maybe this person could be a devotee, then they preach to him like that. But they don't just like without discrimination just ask anybody and everybody and then you know either you get people that are really ready to be devotees as devotees in their or you get people that, scare people away that could but just have to come along more gradually.

So, we want people to be Kṛṣṇa Conscious, they have to become more expert, well and at what level, what's and what level is this person, how can this person best practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Sometimes you can't just be liked by everyone, actually we need people to live in temple and be full time brāhmaṇa preachers, we need that but we also need congregation so we have to see who, you know if we get some as full time brāhmaṇa he can make 10 other families, he can 100 other people, he can make 1000 devotees, you know. Someone just practicing on their own they may make 1 or 2 devotees from their own friends, able to maintain but we need brāhmaṇas to go and cultivate them and keep them.

So naturally if we see that someone can surrender and they have the ability, they have the a chance to do it we preach like that but if we see that maybe it's not ideal for that person right now, we won't, it not that we get older person and you know that if I just move in the ashram they are not going to make it, it will not be appropriate for them. They have to become little more accustomed to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This means you have to be more personal in your approach so that just like everyone comes in try that unless and until army type thing. It'll be just see how what will help, so the bhakti program leader and folk further work together, how he can help this person better with a president and other spiritual preachers there. What's the best engagement for this person.

So someone comes in Māyāpur immediately you know so they talk to him, so alright send this one to the bhakti program leaders, and this one to the Nāma Haṭṭa, send this one to the life member maker, this kind of guy, according to what you think  they can do, they can send off and they talk to someone interviews them like that and because of having a strong Nāma Haṭṭa program, we don't have hardly any bloop devotees as such, no one bloops as a question, either they are actively in the preaching force, that's preaching from the temples or they go and join the Nāma Haṭṭa, they continue practicing, nobody stops practicing Kṛṣṇa, they take life time vow. If for some reason someone can’t practice in the temple they still continue practicing outside, they don't stop. Hardly out of 100 devotees i don't think one or two have a bloop and completely stop practicing Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. And a lot times we get this thing that we get a Kṛṣṇa conscious family, they send a son to be a devotee. One time the son went back and then the parent they said 'you are in māyā', why did you leave the temple, he said, well this that problem, they preached to their son, sent him back to the temple. (devotees laugh). Of course, you get the other kind too, they try to kidnap their children you know but from Nāma Haṭṭa you get parents like that, they actually want their child to make it, 2 years you try it strongly, we want you to be Kṛṣṇa conscious. That's the real, unique ideal situation.

Mātājī’s have any question? Yes

In general, the, the stability of the movement has increased like anything, our recognition by having a broad base, our problems with the government things like that, the communist government, Bengal's been there, it’s the 3rd term now and although they were initially very negative because they were such a wide base that they, they have a hand off policy, they don't interfere with us at all, anymore and rather they come to us sometimes for votes and things like that.

In general there is a type of spiritual revival that we can see, we take it as the mercy of Prabhupad and in the individual villages that do chant they say that they can realize a lot of change, individually, collectively, as families as well as in the villages as a whole but one can't discount that possibility, I think we should stop the preaching for preparing but could be a consideration that it's very likelihood in the future there could be war. This type of real project is supposed to be situation where person can take shelter, in a war situation. But if they say its nuclear war it's a cyclone big flash and then whole society gets turned upside down, so those communities which are self-sufficient, then after the fall off is over, after couple of weeks i think it lasts, few days or weeks. Then, they have the best chance for surviving but I don't know what priority to put it on, can't discount it it's consideration, the same time, Prabhupad seems like this, other priorities to come up.

Hare Krsna.

All glories to Śrīla Prabhupad.

Jai!!!! (devotees)