19870917 Ratha-yātrā Lecture

Lecture Code: 19870917 

 

https://archives.jayapatakaswami.com/courses/306577/lectures/5016074

 

17/NOV/1987,

The following Talk was given by,

H.H.Jayapatākā svāmī Mahārāja,

In Atlanta, Georgia.

 

 

 

The following is the Ratha-yātrā Festival Lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 17th 1987, In Atlanta, Georgia.

 

 

 

Guru Mahārāja :

vande 'ham sri-guroh sri-yuta-pada-kamalam sri-guru vaisnavams ca

                 sri-rupam sagrajatam saha-gana-raghunathan tam tam sa-jivam

sadvaitam savadhutam parijana-sahitam krsna-caitanya-devam

sri-radha-krsna-padan saha-gana-lalita-sri-visakhanvitams ca

 

(Kirtan Jaya Jagannātha…)

 

(Kirtan Nitai Gaura Chandra…… Haribol…. Nitai Gaura haribol… haribol…)

 

Jaya Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda…….devotees repeated..

 

 

nama om viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāyabhūtale

śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine

 

namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe

nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

 

 

namo mahā-vadānyāya

kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-

nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

 

namo brahmaṇya-devāya

go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca

jagad-dhitāya kṛṣṇāya

govindāya namo namaḥ

 

(jaya) śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

 

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare

hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

 

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ
paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande
paramānanda-mādhavam

tapta-kāñcana-gaurāńgi rādhe vṛndāvaneśvari
vṛṣabhānu-sute devī praṇamāmi hari-priye

 

 

 

Today on the eve of Diwali celebration , Jagannātha, Subhadrā and Baladeva have increased the takers with them and procession today for the Purīfication of people of Atlanta and all of the life members and devotees.  Since 5000 years and more this celebration of taking the deity on procession is a very common way of celebrating festive days and in larger temples there are many processions in a year. In Jagannātha Purī temple, the Ratha-yātrā procession is the most famous. The Lord Jagannātha, Subhadrā and Baladev go to the Gundica temple which represents going to the Kurukshetra and meeting with the Vṛndāvana vasis or the devotees in Vṛndāvan.

 

  There are other festivals also where Jagannātha leaves the temple. There is a temple of chandan yatra where Lord Jagannātha comes out in the hot weather and he takes a ride in the boat and He is covered with the sandalwood pulp which is prior, maybe one month prior to Ratha-yātrā festival. The time where Lord Jagannātha is carried on the palanquin.

  

So 500 years ago one time devotees were coming from Bengal. Men were in front and women were in the back.  They were going from Bengal to Orissa to meet Caitanya Mahāprabhu.  As they were approaching the town of Purī, they saw a procession going ahead across the road and there they could see that Caitanya Mahāprabhu and his followers were chanting in the kirtan.  They could hear the sweet sound of the kirtan from a distance.  Then they suddenly saw Lord Caitanya and all the devotees from Bengal bowed down. Lord Caitanya saw them.  Then he approached them and then he embraced them. While he was embracing them they were crying in ecstasy because they were uniting with Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.  Their wives from a distance they could not embrace Caitanya Mahāprabhu but in their heart they were embracing his lotus feet and they were also crying in ecstasy. In this way while everyone chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa they proceeded to Jagannātha Purī to Narendra sarovar where Lord Jagannātha was on the water and Lord Caitanya and His associates were in the water.  So like this there were many different festivities. 

 

Here also in Atlanta we also have different festivities in New Pānihaṭi temple rather [unclear 9.56-57] . Ratha-yātrā procession and many other festivals like Janmashtami, Bahulashtami and Diwali. So what is the purpose of a festival? In sanskrit, the word for festival is mahotsava. It is a combination of maha, ut and sava.  Maha means great, ut means to raise or uplift.  Sava means everyone, samasta.  Mahotsava means that which can uplift the consciousness of everyone. 

 

Purpose of the festival is to raise the level of their consciousness to become happy.  So the day of [unclear 10.34] festivals includes singing, dancing, feasting, music and different other festivities where everything is centered around Kṛṣṇa.  There is no meat or intoxication or any violence nor any tamas and everyone can feel very happy chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, dancing, feasting, worshipping the Lord, hearing some of the Vedic wisdom.  You see the greatness of the Vedic culture and especially the Vaishnava culture.  In fact there are so many festivities and all festivities can give one spiritual happiness if one is a little bit in the transcendental mode or in the mode of goodness.  More or less everyone can enjoy it.  This coming week we are having not only Diwali but also Govardhana puja. At the time of Govardhan puja everyone is fed sumptuously with Kṛṣṇa prasādam even the dogs. First they feed the cows, the humans, all the different types of human beings and then whatever is left, if there are any  animals, they also feed the other animals.  So everyone is very happy. 

 

If one has the understanding that actually we are not he body, we are the pure spirit soul living force within the body. We are the eternal servant of the Lord.  Lord is our beloved master and then it is very easy to achieve and fulfill professional human life, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, reading Bhagavad-gītā, eating Kṛṣṇa prasādam, it is not very difficult but the modern trend is to forget that we are the eternal spirit soul. The trend is to identify with the body and according to bodily differences, develop prejudices.

 

According to various type of superficial understanding, the world now is filled with different wars, different problems and so many solutions people are proposing. You can get buttons for peace. You can get buttons for non violence. You can get buttons to save the animals. Each cause is good in itself but it always sees only one aspect and how to tie everything together, how to create unity that the world needs. That was given by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupād in his peace formula. We need to understand 

 

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ
sarva-loka-maheśvaram
suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

 There is only one proprietor, one enjoyer in this world and everywhere and that is the Supreme Lord, that is the Lord Himself Kṛṣṇa, Supreme Personality of Godhead, whichever name you prefer to call Him.  But not only is He the proprietor, He is also the best friend and protector. So we don’t, He knows our best interest in heart and mind. Since He is complete He doesn’t require anything from us. He accepts all our offerings, our prayers, our chanting, our service out of causeless mercy because we need to give it. It's kind of the opposite.

 

 

In modern world, every citizen has to pay their tax but if you don’t pay your tax, then the government itself would directly take serious action, especially the IIS department.  In the material world people are going on, hardly anyone is paying their tax to Kṛṣṇa but they can go on. But then they have to take all the results through their karma.  But if actually someone wants to pay Kṛṣṇa for all the things He has provided the life, the air, the intelligence, the human birth, everything that exists. Actually that’s what we should all do. It is not that we are doing any special favour. We are just fulfilling some obligation. Its actually an obligation but Kṛṣṇa takes it rather if someone comes and offer some service He takes it as something extraordinary.  He takes it as an expression of love just like as a parent, if a child comes and offers some voluntary service the father is very pleased.

 

Actually son, the daughter they are so much indebted to the parents because the parents have provided them their education, their food, their everything.  Where is that the child that actually reciprocates and tries to serve the parent? If someone does, parents are naturally very pleased. Kṛṣṇa takes it like that. If someone offers something He takes it very magnanimously and He gives His special mercy. One of the actual various mercies.  We know that by performing pious activities, we can achieve heavenly planets, we can achieve good karma, good reactions, happy material life. We know that by performing meditation and yoga we can achieve, through the study of Vedanta we can achieve moksha/ liberation from birth and death. If we want we can also achieve mystic powers or some material facilities we can achieve. These are the things that Kṛṣṇa can give. Yes He can give these things, no doubt. 

 

 

akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā
mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena
yajeta puruṣaṁ param

These are not considered very important. These are considered secondary important.  They will automatically come. Greatest thing is that He can give that spontaneous devotion and love and realisation by which human being actually becomes fully satisfied and fulfilled.  If we actually can reestablish our lost relationship with the Lord Kṛṣṇa then all other things will come automatically.  So by performing these festivals, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa you can achieve ultimate that protection. 

 

Actually there was one great acarya, Bilvamangal surdas. Kṛṣṇa was taking him. He was blind, he wanted to go to Vṛndāvana and one boy came and said ‘I can help you to Vṛndāvana.’ Who are you?. He couldn’t see, he was blind. He said ‘well I am just a cowherd boy, village boy. I can take you.’ Actually he was Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa was holding the hand of his devotee and leading him to Vṛndāvana. You can imagine how kind the Lord is. If He can come and help his devotee reach His holy dhama hand in hand. When they reached Vṛndāvana He said ‘here you are. Now you are in Vṛndāvana.  Now I will go.’ By that time, Bilvamangal thakur could understand this is only Kṛṣṇa. So Bilvamangal didn’t let go. Now that I have Kṛṣṇa I can not let go. But Kṛṣṇa He pulled away and Bilvamangal Thakur  said ‘you are the strongest.  If you want you can pull yourself away  from my hand. But you cannot pull yourself out of my heart’.

 

The devotee by Lord’s mercy they can become so much in love with Kṛṣṇa that Kṛṣṇa will be fixed in their heart all of the time. So for them they are in the permanent stage of spiritual happiness. So actually this movement was brought to the western world to make people happy and this country has everything.  When Prabhupād came here, he  told the Americans you have money, you have your cars and technology. You have good looks, you have everything.  The only thing that is missing is Kṛṣṇa.  So I have got that. Srila Prabhupād ki jai. Jagannātha, Subhadrā, Baladev ki jai. So even if Lord Kṛṣṇa has come, some people they are so unfortunate they are not coming and knowing about Kṛṣṇa.

 

So Kṛṣṇa is so kind that at least once a year He comes out on the street, so that everyone can easily get his darshan and partake in His service, walking along, chanting and hearing.  I think all of you who are participating in this festival and by the mercy of Lord Jagannāthaa and Prabhupād and guru and gauranga may you all have the seed of devotion, in your heart fructifying and grow more and more and until it fills your consciousness with spiritual happiness. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Now we have aarti and kirtan.  Hare Kṛṣṇa.

 

 

Transcribed By: Nidhivana Radhika DD

Transcribed On: 5-Jul-2020

 

Proofreading By: Amrita Padma Devi Dasi  On 01/10/2020.

 

 

Proofreading By: Revathi Mtji on 28/11/2020.