20080506 Evening Class

The following is an evening class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharaj on May 06, 2008 at Bhaktivedanta Manor in the UK.

 

vande 'haḿ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaḿ śrī-gurun vaiṣṇavāḿś ca

śrī-rūpaḿ sāgrajātaḿ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaḿ taḿ sa jīvam

sādvaitaḿ sāvadhūtaḿ parijana-sahitaḿ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaḿ

śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā- śrī-viśākhānvitāḿś ca

 

 

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

paramānanda-mādhavam

 

When Lord Caitanya left Bengal after he took sannyas went to Jagannath purī then after some time, he called Nitayananda prabhu and said I left Bengal because there is so much preaching there, now still unfinished, but I can’t go back there now, because I have taken Sannyas, so you should go back and finish the business and the spread the harinām sankiran movement there, Nityanada Prabhu said I need some men, need some devotees.

 

Lord Caitanya said, you take don’t know exactly how many devotees he took since around fifteen at least, Miniketan Ramdas, Abhiram Thakur, many of the great associates and __ he went back  and did kīrtan normally it take a month of walking, but it took three months because  they are so ecstatic that along the way they will be doing kīrtan and dancing and somebody would be talking about the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, __ put the hand on the shoulder like Kṛṣṇa and Balarām theses things happened there, they will be so ecstatic remembering Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes they would wander off the road, they go may be ten kilometer on one side, and then they you know look around “where are we?” (Devotee laughs) and they ask how to get to the Bengal, road to Bengal, it is then walked 10 kilometer back, moving back but, on the way chanting they are so ecstatic that they would cross over the road and instead going straight, they go zig-zag back and forth, it took around three months (Devotee laughs) to get there, very ecstatic Harinām journey, and then they, finally when they reached, aah. saw Panihati, where Nityānanda walked in the kitchen where Rāghava pandit usually was, because that was his special sevā, and is reincarnation of the cook for Lord Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvan.

 

He and his sister Damayandi, he was preparing for his Rādhā Madan Mohan deities, he looked and there was Nityānanda, immediately paid his obeisance’s and said so

 

“How many of you are there?”

 

This many devotees, he said ok I will prepare prasādam, ok, first prasādam, that’s his sevā so, go take bath in the Ganges and come back and then I will give you Prasad, so within one hour he cooked huge feast for fifty or hundred devotees or more of them, and they came back and he served everyone prasādam, took little rest and then afterwards, evening everyone gathered together for kīrtan.

 

So, this kīrtan Lord Nityānanda sitting down. looking at all the kīrtan singers and while they were chanting, they were chanting and dancing, every dancer became overwhelmed by love of Kṛṣṇa, just by Him glance, how many of you want to get glance of Lord

 

Nityānanda

 

Devotee: Haribol

 

Nitāi,

Devotee: Nitāi

 

Nitāi

 

Devotee: Nitāi

 

Nitāi

 

Devotee: Nitāi

 

Gaurāṅga

 

(Devotee repeats)

 

Gaurāṅga

 

(Devotee repeats)

 

Gaurāṅga

 

(Devotee repeats)

 

So like this kīrtan was going on very ecstatically , then when they reached certain level then Nityānanda  prabhu himself entered into the kīrtan, dancing, Lord Caitanya said that in five places he is always present, one of the five is wherever Lord Nityānanda  is dancing, so Nityānanda prabhu started dancing, our Lord Caitanya  was South India already by that time, he immediately came there and was watching, because Nityānanda  prabhu’s dancing is so ecstatic  he don’t want to miss it, how many of you like to see Nityānanda Prabhu dancing?

 

 

Devotee: Haribol.

 

Hahaha also Panihati is one of the place He stays always, I don’t know, (6:33 not clear) and well Nityānanda  could see Lord Caitanya and then He told the devotees that Lord Caitanya is here , watching, everyone looking around they couldn’t see Him, you can’t see him but I can Him, you can’t see Him He is right now technically in south India, but He is here watching, but He is wearing a south Indian flower garden, like we have English flower (Devotee laughs … ), they have south Indian flowers different kinds of , particular flower didn’t grow in Bengal, so easily  you can smell Him out, (Guru Maharaj Smells….)

 

(Devotee laughs and claps.. Haribol)

 

so, but that exactly what happened

 

(Devotee says Haribol, Haribol and claps),

 

everyone could smell the garland, hahahaha, they became soo ecstatic they are smelling Lord Caitanya s garlands non different, they became so ecstatic they fainted on the ground, they are rolling, pulling their hair (Devotee laughs)

 

Gaurangaaaaaaa (Devotee repeats)

 

Gaurangaaaaaaa (Devotee repeats)

 

Nityānanda (Devotee repeats)

 

So, as the flower aroma was flowing all over the devotees, they were becoming, just like a special prema gas, (Devotee laughs) beginning intoxicated and overwhelmed with spiritual bliss, so like this Nityānanda Prabhu then dancing and He went back, and changed his cloth came up with chaddar and dhotī, they he asked Rāghava pandit get me a Kadamba garland, I am a cowherd boy I like kadama flowers, I want a kadama garland, (Devotee laughs).

 

But the Ragava pandit, he said we don’t have any kadama flowers, no trees here, and this not the season for kadamba flower, don’t give me all these excuses, just go into your garden and get me some kandamba garland, he went back on his house, he had garden with all different things needed for cooking, lemon trees, mango and different things so.. one of the lemon trees started to just popping kadamba flower (Devotee laughs) so he took the kadamba flowers made a garland and came out and gave to Lord Nityanda.

Nitāi prabhu ki jai (Devotee repeats jai.. )

 

So like this so many things happened ,then that kīrtan just started go on day and night, they told me that, Birmingham they had last night day before last , 24hours kīrtan, so it’s also here in UK because (10:45 not clear) , so this kīrtan went on for three months, so the people who joined the kīrtan and they will become so ecstatic, they forgot everything, if you stay in the kīrtan for two three days, dancing and chanting day and night after that they don’t remember I have a wife I have a family (devotee laughs) I have to go home, I have to do something, so day went when they smiling and chanting and so much, where do you went,

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

 

(Devotee also joined in chanting )

 

So, like this kīrtan was going in Panihati, Rāghava pandit’s house where that kīrtan Nityanada prabhu, so wonderful

 

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

 

(Devotee also joined in chanting)

 

So the kīrtan was going on for about day and night for three months, but then in the end the devotees after three months of nonstop kīrtan, they started to manifest mystical powers like lifting up, twenty five thirty tons mango tree ,.. huge mango, lifting it up and dancing with it, somebody become lighter than the balloon, and flying up… start to fly up to the top trees jump from one tree to next

 

Haribol

(Devotees repeats Haribol)

Haribol

(Devotees repeats Haribol)

Haribol

(Devotees repeats Haribol)

 

(Devotee laughs)

 

But this trees pulling up, that was upsetting Ragava pandit he said, if you pull all trees how would I offer to my deities, any prasādam ..any Bhoga, (Devotee laughs) , you better shift to the kīrtan otherwise my house would go nothing left.

 

So, this kīrtan went all over Bengal just camped out somewhere for a while and there the people will totally be overwhelmed with kīrtan and He would leave one of the associates there, will be eternal preacher, Zonal Preacher...whatever... and will go to the next place, like this He would going all over Bengal and just like flooding it out everywhere. And then leading a kīrtan, a leader in a place called kadakur Kṛṣṇanagara He left Abhiram thakur, sometime we go on Gaura maṇḍala bhūmi Parikrama in Bengal, we see the different places where the different acharyas and associates of Lord Caitanya were left for preaching, some were seem to be travelling and some were preaching.

 

So like that was the way that Nityayanda prabhu started and after that we read in that, as I denoted, Abhiram thakur is Sridham in Kṛṣṇa Līlā, is one of cowherd boy many of his associates were cowherd boy  came down to Caitanya līlā, and that describes in some historical books that he would have meeting with his disciples, preaches and other associates , that how in his area how is the propagation of  Kṛṣṇa consciousness going , they even have a map out, then first will have map and what about this village, we don’t have any devotee left, what?

 

We have to do in that village also, then they  make a plan , what about the next village , there we have a Namahatta, here we have many devotees , so but this village none let us have a festival where we have devotees and like in India if the neighboring village has festival, everybody will go, they don’t miss it the (15:18 not clear) (devotee laughs) just in Bangladesh 21 days on a Bangladesh safari following the Radhanath Swami and Indradymna maharaj footsteps started to go on a pilgrimage so we went all the places already visiting, and devotee from cold store go out and invite everyone to the festival but in Bangladesh don’t need any invitation, they just show thousands of, tens and thousands, one place fifty thousand onetime we hired police just to take the devotees to the stage so they don’t get to the people all time touch their feet, so every place is different, probably in UK we don’t touch feet too much (Devotee laughs) so, (Devotee laughs and claps).

 

So then here, Sridham means Abhiram thakur he is leading big festival  inviting Lord Nityānanda, they would have big festival, form everything, call the people from next village will come there and take their contacts , that’s the system that we promoting in the congregational development ministry called the Vāmana Approach, Vamanadev, He took three steps like one, two, three , and that third steps was on Bali’s head, so we also make three steps one is to make contact with devotees, and meet people and friends, interested people then to cultivate them, to invite them to your home, invite them to the temple some have cultivate them if they are interested in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, finally , when they are fully interested and cultivated then they become committed devotees so this is the three steps program, Vamanadev ,.. remember them, so they made contacts from the neighboring village, they followed up and visited them in their homes.

 

And eventually they established a Namahatta there, and like this the Sankirtan movement was spread, Lord Nityānanda reestablished His head quarter for Namahatta according to the Bhaktivinod thakur at Surabhi kunj, in Godruma dvip in navadwip, nine dwips nine islands, the second Island is Godruma which is the Island of Kīrtan.

 

So, like this what was impressing to me was this propagation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness was being performed by eternal associates of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who came down and joined Kṛṣṇa, in His form as Caitanya.

 

Just like Kṛṣṇa had His associates who were helping with herding cows and pastimes in Vṛndāvan, Lord Caitanya  one of his pastimes in sankirtan movement, so they were engaging in this propagation of Krnsa consciousness, so it’s not anything mundane it’s a spiritual activity, it’s so spiritual that you can say the transcendental activity even the Caitanyas associates were blissfully engaged and there are pastimes of even how Gadhadhar Prabhu (Rādhārāṇī) went to a village , and how he preached there and  the whole village surrendered to him, we want to be disciple and want to follow you, then he asked his personal servant to stay there and train everybody on, that‘s another long story but like this so many different associates where doing different time this kind of preaching, so we are very inspired by just like Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda they had their they had the plan , how to spread Kṛṣṇa Consciousness that and to develop the congregation , we all have Bhaktivedantha Manor newsletter  you all have a copy don’t miss it.

 

We have here 2008 year of the congregation, so we have eight different petals Educate, congregate [Not Clear – 00:20:22], every member remains, every member teaching congregates every member bond together with others, publish every member is informed and supported with accessible [Not Clear – 00:20:37] communicate material, communicate every member is informed and connected. Care- Every member is cared for and caring for others.  Preach every member as a messenger, Volunteer opportunity to every member to serve, Goal, spiritual goals to everyone and value them one and there is a question of relation problem so this, this initiative was made in year of the congregation from the Manor is very inspired me as a minister of Congregation development ministry, like every year, this year will be year of congregation (Devotee laughs) (Devotee laughs).

 

I think, in Chowpatty, just like that, we have a really Vibrant congregation with nice care of them, Radhanath swami, what they are doing is good example to the world. This year the GBC also established a new initiative of taking care of devotees, care of devotees, so that something the GBC is much concerned about now a days, then of course His Holiness Indradhyumna maharaj, Polish devotees making so many contacts, making from the cultivation that they are doing all around different Namahattas and groups forming all over the country, many introduced to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, so not everybody can do such a dynamic program and put so much energy into it, it’s really wonderful.

 

But one of the things we are trying to do in congregational ministry is that every year we have different coup points , so couple of years ago to it was groups having a small groups, I heard now even the London area has 21 groups, and this really encouraging , in fact recently couple of years ago Delhi started to fired up , when they also have in the first year 27 groups but now they are almost 100 groups (Devotee says Haribol) and so they are exploding, books of course they are No.1, marathon No.1, their congregation has distributed over 200,000 Bhagavat Gītā’s, Chowpatty also run  by 300 [Not Clear – 00:23:47] (Devote laughs) Number 2 ,,, so the showing the congregation when they activated for the marathon they can distribute so many  to their friends, relative, to the people in general , so people ___ no reason why Prabhupāda always says double it may be right now is basically three kinds of books almost prominent, Namahatta are basically minimum is that we can do kīrtan, they have lecture, questions and answer and some Prasad.

 

So that, then any devotee-initiated devotee well versed in the scripture they could do this kind of program, the outreach program, reach out to people in different places, do kīrtan, do lecture, sometimes.

 

I heard today there was some problem in London, people have small houses, small flats, so they can’t accommodate big groups, we have also small group programs, which called Bhakti vṛkṣa, where we do ice breaker,  a kīrtan, a discussion rather than a class may be like in some places a session tonight , previous Sunday feast lecture, they read two pages from Prabhupāda book and then they discussion that, they find out what are the important points spell out the important points with the feature that Śrīla Prabhupāda mention, they try to understand what were the examples used, illustrate those points, then they see how to apply that knowledge, in their own life,  realization, how affected them so by applying that  knowledge it becomes from Jyana to Vijyana, then we have also a session, fifteen minutes session of a strategic planning for the strategies for preaching, then we will have simply Prasad at the end, the conclusion , so then we have some 15 or 20 people on groups having a small class , groups bigger than 15 to20 people multiply into two groups, then we, two ways, some people  some of you like to form a group, some people, in your house invite people over, start from the ground level and then from there when it grows, and  you can multiply so many groups, that’s how now it’s multiplying in Delhi, just Delhi temple has,  17,18, 19 Groups.

 

Now but, I don’t know whether it may not include Noida and all the satellite temple around , there are about 6 temples in Delhi now, not all of them under the same Management,  they have their own management, so 12 group, ___ more than we have different groups, so that was our couples of years, now, this year also we want to recognize the counselor groups this were senior devotee counsels and guides the congregation and their members the counselee  they review their sādhana and everything much more on personal interest some of the area have adapted counselor method within the Bhakti vṛkṣa group volunteers also, seeing the modules ,they were inspired by the counselor groups introduced by Chowpatty and  all over the , all over many places, we have about some 120 [Not Clear – 00:28:30].

 

So that’s another way of taking care of the devotees, and also had the preaching strategy (28:45 not clear) pretty much like a Bhakti vṛkṣa, including __ for the new student Bhakti vṛkṣa and for the old student we  counselors so we have this three kinds of groups, in the, another apart from the groups, we find that now lot of Kṛṣṇa conscious families, were the whole family is able in Kṛṣṇa consciousness where all the family members are initiated, chanting in the houses, they have an altar, some may be more into than another but basically the houses is a favorable Kṛṣṇa Conscious house which has a  takes prasādam everything, central point for Kṛṣṇa consciousness in that area, [Not Clear – 00:29:50]  unit.

 

So Bhaktivinod Thakur called them Sradha kutir, the home of faith, and he said that’s part of his Namahatta structure, in the overall , we are trying to promote that this year, next year Argentina will give out 200 certificates to the local temple about two homes were Kṛṣṇa conscious they was very  inspiration for them we recognized, we have 3 to 5 thousand such families recognized in our Māyāpur Namahatta directive any places where we don’t have Namahatta they have this families and they work as a contact unit, where some preacher can go there and visit people invite to preach in their houses , may be you can head up a Namahatta or  Bhakti vṛkṣa counseling member, people invite one of the preachers to come to your house to give some association, and in this way develop, the community develop, turn out to Namhatta, where we have such familiar come together and form a Namhatta, Bhakti vṛkṣa, local small groups, so to recognize and building Bhakti vṛkṣa  families  sometimes we may have students but generally speaking it’s a family , they are blooming buds, so we are trying to, we are come up with certificate , some emblem to put on their doors and house this is a śraddhā kutir, something we call it as Bhakti homes, though easier, hybrid innovation.. Bhakti homes, Bhakti buddy, (Devotee laughs).

 

So, that’s one of the programs so nice if I am sure in London sixty thousand people coming for the Janmāṣṭamī, so how many of them must be Kṛṣṇa conscious homes, so could become with little bit of cultivation, so then another program we are trying to build is promote the Damodar month, now what is Damodar month has to do with congregation they come to temple, offers a lamp but we can mention, you can offer a lamp in your house to Damodar and Yashoda , and mentions after anyone who offers lamp to Damodar, sings Dāmodarāṣṭaka, some programs for Damodar so many thousands of forefathers gets delivered, awaken pure bhakti, we have a website Namahatta.org, we have some of these quote from the different scriptures, how wonderful the Damodar.

 

Yes of course (32:55 not clear) its’100 times more than that for new people they don’t know anything, what they started, promote to few years just as a trial basis. So Kulalambur has taken it up and about five years ago they had 30 Namhattas, each Namahatta did a Damodar program, they were 30, then they were 60 and then they decided to do reach out to many different programs so they reach out to three hundred, and then they have program to six hundred, then they a year before last, I came to the temple attendants like this, and they lid the nights, the Kṛṣṇa came in, with some other little Kṛṣṇa, wearing a scroll with some other children dressed up came in with the kīrtan, and throwing flowers , and  holding lamps different , Kṛṣṇa came up and ___ made show (devotee laughs) ___show by Kṛṣṇa, (Devotee laughs)   they open it up then they said this is to inaugurate the preparations for the 2007 Damodar Pūjā , so what they do is they printout a little photo suitable to put on their altar , kitchen, Rādhā Damodar, Damodar

Yashoda, and Prabhupāda.

 

Jai Rādhā Gokulanandan ki jai

 

(Devotee says jai)

 

Gaura Nitāi ki Jai

 

(Devotee says jai)

 

Sītā Rāma Laksman Hanumān ki jai

 

(Devotee says Jai)

 

And they made, this time they wanted to go out and try to visit as many homes as possible , and do a fifteen twenty minutes Damodar program, for the, they put the Damodar picture on the altar , they offer ārti, read out something about the glories of Damodar, they lead kīrtan, little prasādam, some candy or something like , Prasad, with dry Prasad something in the hand then they go to the next, what happens , is that many families wanted devotees to come and do the program its’ so auspicious for your family how many of you are gṛhasthas here?

 

How many of you would like to have devotees come to your house in Damodar month giving unlimited blessings and good fortune and love of Godhead and all kinds of things?  (devotee laughs) not seeing so many hands (Devotee laughs).

 

So, then what happens the neighbors want to go, in Malaysia, I don’t know here, what’s happening?

 

They did pūjā blessings for house, I want blessings for my house, so many people ask to have it in their house, and so like this it went up to one thousand five hundred, then 2005,2006,2007 last year they came to more double it, so the goal was 3000, this time when the middle class business friend, there was a  bazaar, Infront of Karthikeya temple , stop huge, picture [Not Clear – 00:36:27] of Yashoda and Damodar, and then set up there, Prabhā viṣṇu maharaj and all did the program, 1500 people were there at that moment it was in the middle of the bazaar, set up an altar Yashoda Damodar, then they started the program so he had 67000 people offered lamps (Devotee says Haribol) to Yashoda Damodar , in one month of Damodar, spending about 1000 dollars or something   [Not Clear – 00:37:36] many people give donation, [Not Clear – 00:37:38] needful then all the namahttas are , you know , this opportunity to chance to come here , who wants to visit their home, ___ festival was happened, Monday, Thursday to Monday… Bank holidays 2000 people came, give opportunity to invite devotees to come to  their house, what if people going to their house doing Damodar program got their contact, many of those people, members of congregation, many were the neighbors to, friends to, people to recognize, to invite, who wants invite devotees to come to their house, and so like this, Kulalambur put them as a worldwide co coordinator for Damodar month if you have any question, to send, they have video and different things, they have a multimedia presentation, last year 3807 house visit apart from the 67000, I don’t know next year they want to double it … this is wonderful thing, this is very simple thing, to come up with, refine our idea, that works, this is the year the congregation did two simple things, do invite the preachers to come to your home, inviting for the Damodar pūjās.

 

Actually Damodar pūjās going in Diwali, Diwali, everyone visiting people homes in Diwali ,that’s what it is, we go and visit people homes and do some programs, so this year we have so many new bhakti homes, Śraddhā kutirs, we try to explain the congregation cultivate the existing ones, and ___ Damodar pūjā, sometime we took Prabhupda sometimes we took murthy of Prabhupāda, so like that we hope that you are all I like to see that that the here In the Bhaktivedanta manor that should be one of the very top congregational developed, you are already developed area, we don’t get reports on so much, also _ (39:56 not clear) (Devotee laughs…. Devotee laughs. And claps)

 

I think this year Maharaj pushed in and send them the reports (devotee laughs) but 60,000 people coming for the Janmāṣṭamī, how many temple, there is no other temple in the world with so many coming may be in India , they have big queue of people coming in , but that overseas, this would be Janmāṣṭamī with huge congregation, very popular , in fact so we hope that, we are very happy that this year of congregation __ and this way we can take care of the devotees, we can expand our number of congregational,  some devotees don’t know what service they can do, so much for preaching, this is what Lord Nityānanda Prabhu and Lord Caitanya did.

 

So, thank you very much.

 

I ended up here today is my Sukṛti, association of Rādhānatha swami and Indradyumna Maharaj and this presentation about congregational development so I want to ___ see that Bhaktivedanta manor become the number one in the western world (Devotee says Haribol and Claps loudly)

 

**Thus, ends the recordings***