20101002 Talk

20101002 His. Holiness. Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja gave a talk in South Bangalore. [360p]

Gurumahārāja:

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

Śrī gurum dina tarinam

paramānanda-mādhavam

Śrī Caitanya Iswaram

Hari Oṁ Tatsat

Very nice to be here on this auspicious day, and also to see all of you wonderful devotees…. [Haribol]

I was… when I came here six months ago, I laid the foundation stone. There was nothing here but flat land and a tent. So, I was trying to find out what’s there now. But I see so much came up in these six months. All glories to your devotional service. So, I know that this was only possible with a lot of hard work; and I want to specially thank Narahari Caitanya Dās on behalf of all of you.

So, today was a Sunday. So, they said, the road was relatively fast, and it took us one hour to get here. Like say, in other days you can take one and half or two hours, three hours. So, it’s necessary that we have centers all over Bangalore, and we are very glad that this center of Lord Jagannath, Nitāi-Gaura, and today of Laxmi-Narasimha is also a matter of pasting the lower arm. Great, great, grandfather guru, Bhaktivinod Thākur, he said, we should pray to Nṛsimhadev to remove all the obstacles to worship the Lords and Lordships. So, I understand that this will be a convention hall, and above this will be the permanent temple…. [Haribol] and now, temporarily the Deities are kept here. But this hall is not temporary. So, a lot of service remains, and this land was given to us by the present… I don’t know… I think it is the present… B.D.A, with the sanction of the B.J.P. So, we are very grateful for their cooperation.

Haribol……………………………………………………. [Haribol]

Now, our human life is very short compared to other yugas. We live theoretically one hundred years.

Give a synopsis of all the things I said first.

So… but in this age there are also a lot of problems.

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann - that it is an ocean of defects. So, just like we cannot count how many drops there are in the ocean, we cannot count how many defects there are in the Kali Yuga, but there is one good quality. And if we weigh all the bad qualities on one side, and the one good quality on the other side, the good quality is heavier. So, what is that good quality?

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann

 asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ

kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya

 mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet

Kṛṣṇa kīrtan…. [Haribol]

So, all of you are blessed by chanting the holy names. In fact       , there was such loud kīrtan, it was very hard to, do anything but remember Kṛṣṇa. So, this holy name has got so many glories. Lord Caitanya, He gives in His Śikṣāṣṭakam some of the glories of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.

Ceto Darpaṇa mārjanam – that cleans the heart of all the dust accumulated in our material existence. Now, everyone has got so many material infections, and although all the scriptures tell us, “we are not the body, we are eternal spirit soul” and our identity as the jīva is to be the servant of Lord Kṛṣṇa eternally, but it’s very easy to forget this, and we think, “I am this body. This is my husband, this is my wife, my kids, this is my state, this is my caste, this is my country.” When Prabhupāda went to America, he told them, “You are not Americans, I am not an Indian, and you are not Russian or Chinese.” So, they are wondering, “Who are we?” They said, “No, no, I am an American, I have a passport.”

“You are not this body, you are the eternal spirit soul.” So, how do we get that consciousness? That’s by chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. That doesn’t mean that we are not responsible. We are responsible. We know that if we are grihasthas, we have to carry on our duties as grihasthas. The husband should protect the wife, the wife should be the ardhāṅginī and give good intelligence and association, help to the husband, and so on. We should also try to train up our children, we should love them, care for them, but we remember “We are the eternal servants of Krishna.” All this other Upādhis are external. Next life who knows where we will be born. So, while we are in this life, we still have our duties, but we want to chant the holy names of Kṛṣṇa so we can eternally serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. Now the best thing is if grihastha’s– husband and wife, both serve Lord Kṛṣṇa, and they help each other to serve the Lord. So, I have seen many wonderful devotee couples who are doing this. And especially, I would like to thank Narasiṁha Swami Das and his good wife. ………[Haribol]

Importance of being here…. We should all offer our prayer that he will get his good health and he be able to serve Kṛṣṇa some more….. [Haribol]

Hare Kṛṣṇa…………………………………… [Hare Kṛṣṇa]

Hare Kṛṣṇa…………………………………… [Hare Kṛṣṇa]

So, Ceto Darpaṇa mārjanam mahā dawagni nirvāpaṇam; we get rid of the burning fire of this material existence. Some people tell me, “We are burning in the saṁsāra.” That they are suffering so much. Well, this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa can put out this mahādāwāgni, this great forest fire of material existence. So, when we are young, we think there will be no problem. I asked Śrīla Prabhupāda, “Should I desire to live a long time?” He said, “Old age means a lot of trouble. Body falls apart. So, its not so necessary to desire a long life.” But somehow devotees, they like you to stay, somehow the devotees want everyone to stay, but sooner or later we have to go. So, before we go, we would like to do some service for guru and Gaurāṅga. Now, I thought I will give a class on the Śikṣāṣṭakam, first verse. But I think that it is too long. So… but, we should all remember how merciful Lord Nitāi and Gaurāṅga are. They have given us this chance to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. And They came here to South India, and they stayed in different devotee’s houses. Lord Caitanya, He would stay in some devotee’s house every night. So, they didn’t give all these details, but obviously, when you visit a house, they bathe your feet, they sprinkle the water on the head. How many of you would like Lord Caitanya to come to your house?............................ [Haribol]

You are five hundred years late…. [laughter]

But when He came, he visiting different devotee’s houses; for six years he travelled throughout South India. So, He visited many houses. All those people probably went back to Godhead…….. [Haribol]

So, Lord Caitanya – he is the most merciful of all the incarnations. So, here we would like to give the mercy of Lord Caitanya to all the people of Karnataka and Bangalore. So, this center in South Bangalore can serve a thriving community of devotees. There are many processes. Some of them are useless. Lord Caitanya’s process is useful. There was a song which says, “parama karuṇā pahū dui jana Nitāi Gaura Chandra, sava avatāra sāra śiromaṇi kevala Ānanda kaṇḍa.”

That this process is purely blissful – chanting, dancing… how many of you like to sing?......................[haribol]

It doesn’t matter if you have a good voice or not. Just chant with your heart. The Lord will hear you… and dancing… the Russian girls… they have taken a way of dancing of the Bangalore, Kerala and Tamil Nāḍu Bharatnātyam dancing.

I can’t really show you, but they use…. (applause) but they use this hand movements. They keep their feminine quality. So, at the same time, they also chant. So, many ladies can take some inspiration from them, because they took inspiration from you. Anyway, also to listen to some class on the voice of Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya, how many like that? And also take the supreme sacrifice to eat prasad. How many like that? [All devotes raise their hand and do Haribol.

See, all are ready to sacrifice.

Today is a Sunday?

Is there a feast?

So, Lord Jagannath, He is also famous for feeding the devotees. He got the blessing, or he got the… His hand should never dry, should be always be wet with prasādam… washing… So, he is known to take fifty-six offerings a day… chappana boga. So, the devotees have the take the prasādam……….. [Haribol]

So, like this, Lord Caitanya’s system is very simple. Whether one is a grihastha or whether one is a vairāgī, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Gṛhe thāko, bāṇe thāko, sadā hari bole ḍāko.

Hari bol………………………………. [Haribol]

So, I think our translator wants to make some sacrifice quick. (laughter) Somehow, we have one temple with three hundred devotees. Now we have three temples, and each one has three hundred or more devotees.

Amazing!............................. [Haribol]

So, Lord Caitanya gives us a nectar first. But Śrīla Prabhupāda, he mentions how little children, they like to eat the sweet first. They don’t like to go through bitter mahā and sandesh and all that. They would like to take the sweet first. So, in Kali yuga we are also like children. Normally, you get samādhi, it takes many, many years. But Lord Caitanya gives us blessing very quickly. So, even our new devotee may also experience transcendental ecstasy. And so, this is the… otherwise, it will normally take many, many births to achieve, but by Lord Nityānanda and Lord Caitanya’s mercy, just by remembering them, just by chanting their names, you can also get bliss. The problem is, many people, they don’t have any attraction for these holy names, don’t have any desire to chant. So, what’s left? Kalau dose nidhi rājan… you get an ocean of problems. So, please tell your friends, tell your relatives, tell your neighbors, tell everybody, chant the names of Kṛṣṇa and be happy.

Haribol…………….

So, somehow Lord Caitanya, He lived many years in Jagannātha Purī, and by that Lord Jagannātha also became more known. Of course, Jagannātha Purī is an ancient temple, but Lord Jagannath is also very merciful. So, in this temple we have Lord Jagannath and also Lord Caitanya. So, they are both very, very merciful. So, we hope that all of you will get blessings from them. In this way, you utilize this valuable human form of life. Try to serve the Lord. Some serve by telling others. Lord Caitanya, he taught in South India, “jāre dekho, tāre kāho Kṛṣṇa upadesh”, whoever you meet, tell them about the glories about Kṛṣṇa. Now Karnataka is also a Kṛṣṇa place. Here you have Udipi where there is Kṛṣṇa who came from Dwaraka.  Also, Lord Balarām. They don’t know how Balarām is who He is. He is the swayam prakash, and Kṛṣṇa is the original personality of Godhead. All the Nārāyans, all the others…even Lord Ram and others, they are the expansions of Lord Kṛṣṇa. But from Kṛṣṇa comes Balarāma, and from Balarām comes Sankarshan, and everybody else. But they came down, and they were walking amongst all the… here, on this planet. And they would take… Lord Nityānanda, He was begging the people, “Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.” Where we find in the world so merciful? So, here in Karnataka, which is the land of Krishna, we hope that all the people, by your mercy, will get Prabhupāda books, and be able to understand who is Kṛṣṇa. This temple looks like so peaceful. What now Hari Caitanya is going to do? So, also those who have a classic38.18… building a temple here. Also, expanding Bhakti Vṛksha around in every prominent building, in every apartment building. Don’t see, not million, condo-millions?38.54 See potential Bhakti Vṛksha places.

Potential kena…. (laughter)

Hare Kṛṣṇa japa mari…. (applause) … chant Hare Kṛṣṇa (by translator)

Vandane guru……. (Haribol) (applause)

So, I better stop here because my voice is breaking up. But there are a lot of other services you can do. So, we are very grateful for all of you who have done some sevā here. And as I said, we need a lot of different temples around Bangalore.

Haribol………………..

His Holiness Jayapatākā Swāmi Gurumahārāja ki…………… [Jaya]

Śrīla Prabhupāda ki………………………….. [Jaya]

Nitāi Gaura Premānande………………………[Hariharibol]

We thank Gurumahārāja and all the devotees who made it possible for Gurumahārāja to be here with all of us on this auspicious occasion of Jagannath Mandir, South Bangalore.

Let’s all chant Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahāmantra for all the devotees who made it possible.

Hare Kṛṣṇa

Hare Kṛṣṇa

Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa

Hare Hare

Hare Rāma

Hare Rāma

Rāma Rāma

Hare Hare

We also request Gurumahārāja to visit us again, to inspire us and bless all of us.

Haribol………..

Narasiṁha Swami Prabhu:

Oṁ ajñāna timirāndasya…

Dear Gurumahārāja, we devotees of ISKCON South center heartily welcome you for opening this ISKCON convention center.

Yatra started with a few congregation disciples in 1999, from Panduranga Temple, moved to your rented place in Sesastripuram, after about eight years we expanded ourselves to Laxmi-Narasimha temple in the East with more devotee joining us. Now we have expanded further into South with ISKCON getting into its own second land after Hare Kṛṣṇa hill at Rajajinagar. To achieve this, it has taken twelve long years Guurumahārāj, but for your inspiration and mercy, it would not have been possible. This is a humble offering from your disciples, from Bhakti Vṛksha group, IYF and Naṃhatta group. This shows that you can empower anybody to serve Śrīla Prabhupāda and ISKCON. Dear Gurumahārāja, we have not seen Prabhupāda, nor we know about him much, but for you and your godbrothers and Prabhupāda books. You have taken pain and austerities of grooming us in serving this wonderful movement.

Śrīla Prabhupāda ki……

Right from the day one we have been blessed with your association. Whether in the home or in the temple, you always inspired and encouraged us to serve the lotus feet of Guru and Gaurāṅga. We are very much fortunate and grateful for engaging all of us to dedicate this project to Śrīla Prabhupāda. When you came here last time for laying the foundation stone, you mentioned in your address to us that Bhakti Vṛksha, Namhatta and IYF groups are the market place of the holy name, but the temples are the super market for the same where everything is available in one place. Bless us so that we make this temple a supermarket, Gurumahārāja, of the holy name. We humbly seek your blessings to continue the next phase and fulfill your expectation for this center.

Thank you very much Guurmahārāja.