20120402 Talk during the 62nd Vyāsa-pūjā Adhivāsa Ceremony.

Following is a Vyāsa-pūjā Adhivāsa address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Maharāja on April 2^nd, 2012 at Śrī Māyāpur, India.

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

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 śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavaṁ śrī-caitanya-īśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapataka Swami: We have seen the adhivāsa that is the day before the event is observed. That is to prepare us in observing the ceremony tomorrow. In ISKCON, our Founder-Ācārya is His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda. He used to say that he saw his disciples as representatives of his Guru Mahārāja. Because through the disciples, he was carrying out the order of his guru. So, we have all taken some responsibilities to please His Divine Grace. Each devotee tried to do their best – all his disciples.

Two weeks after I was initiated, I was made a temple president. (laughter) And there in Canada, I registered ISKCON as a non-profit organisation and that registration lasted till today. So, Prabhupāda was trying to please his guru. He said, “The secret of success is to please the previous ācāryas.” So, Prabhupāda was very great. I consider myself very small. But I am trying to carry out the orders of Śrīla Prabhupāda. When I see all the disciples and grand-disciples, śikṣā disciples as representatives of Śrīla Prabhupāda. And to use this adhivāsa today. No, to use this adhivāsa today, you can think what you will do to help me . . . Prabhupāda, to help me fulfil Prabhupāda’ s many orders. Of course, many of the orders he gave many people.

And some are fulfilling those orders in their own right. Like Prabhupāda asked me to help build the Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) and Ambarīṣa Prabhu and others in his team, they have built the temple so far. Now my responsibility is also to help in the exhibits. Prabhupāda said I should distribute books – ten thousand big books every month and one hundred thousand small. Of course, if you think interest, then that will be much more now. So, the Māyāpur saṅkīrtana devotees are helping, many devotees are helping. Those who donate Gītās, they are helping. Those who distribute the books, they are helping.

And Prabhupāda asked me to expand the congregation. So, we have the Nāma-haṭṭa, we have Bhakti-vṛkṣa and many other programmes. So, those devotees, some are helping with that. Like that, there are many, many, many areas that Prabhupāda asked me to expand. I will mention a few. Like developing Navadvīpa dhāma and receiving all the pilgrims. Also to develop the Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi. So, also His Holiness Gaurāṅga Prema Mahārāja. He has a book on the Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi. Which he works on with me. So, also we got some holy places in the Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi. Like we have in Haridāspur. In Bangladesh we have the birthplace of Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi and also birthplace of Advaita Ācārya. We are trying to get the birthplace of Mādhavendra Purī.

We have the Kānāi Nāṭaśālā. We also have a temple in Nityānanda’s birthplace. Like that. So, Prabhupāda also told me to expand the propaganda of Kṛṣṇa consciousness unlimitedly. So, there is unlimited opportunities. So, adhivāsa means to prepare ourselves. Some disciples come to me, and they say, “Please give me an order.” But already, we at the time of initiation, we give four positive or rather two positive orders and four restrictions. So, two things are we should chant sixteen rounds of Hare Kṛṣṇa every day and to help me fulfil Prabhupāda’s mission.

So, in that second one, which sounds very simple, very innocuous. But that includes many, many, many things. I was seeing yesterday on my travel to here. How the people are engaged in their own works, and they do not think how they should serve Kṛṣṇa. How fortunate we are to have the mercy of Lord Caitanya. Lord Śrī Caitanya came only five hundred or some years ago. Nityānanda Prabhu was giving out the mercy so graciously. We heard something in the adhivāsa-kīrtana. So, we have this great, great, great mercy of the Lord and we have the great opportunity to serve His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda and all the previous ācāryas. So, I am very grateful for all the disciples, all the devotees, all my godbrothers who are helping, and we hope that we can fulfil Prabhupāda’s dream of a Kṛṣṇa conscious world. Haribol! Hari-dhvani! Haribol!

So, one day in the year we observe this Vyāsa-pūjā. Those who are, they specially do pūjā for the guru in Vyāsa-pūjā, as the representative of Lord Vyāsadeva and the whole guru-paramparā. So, adhivāsa means we prepare ourselves, tomorrow when we wake up, for some devotees, it is Vyāsa-pūjā day. So, and we pray that Prabhupāda’s mercy, all the previous ācāryas’ mercy, all the Deities’ mercy, rains down on your heads. (Haribol! Jaya Patitapāvana Gurudeva ki jaya! Jaya Patitapāvana Guru Mahārāja ki jaya!)

In the Nectar of Devotion, there it says how when the Lord comes, He comes with various associates from the spiritual world and just as the Lord is liberated, His associates are also liberated and we should not think that we are one of those great devotees or the Lord but we can see that when Lord Caitanya came, all His associates also tried to spread the mercy around and in Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says that the devotees who preach the message of the Gītā are the most dear to Him.

So, I remember how one devotee (Gadādhara dāsa) approached one Kazi, not Chand Kazi, some other Kazi. And he said, “Please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa.” But the Kazi said, “I will chant Hare Kṛṣṇa tomorrow.” And then the devotee started to dance, “Haribol! Haribol! You already started, so do not stop.” Haribol! Haribol!” (laughter) So, everyone you meet, your neighbors, your friends, your classmates, everyone, please somehow or another, get them to chant. Our Safari just went to Āndhra Pradesh. So, our safari went to Andhra Pradesh and we saw Kūrma-deśa. There, Lord Caitanya gave the order:

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa
[Cc. Madhya. 7.128]

So, everyone, you can give the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Everybody you meet. This is the order of Lord Caitanya. Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! Advaita Gosāñi! So, I hope you all enjoyed the festival. In Māyāpur, the festival has many ceremonies but the real heart of the utsava is your own feelings. If you are happy, if you are ecstatic, that is the secret. So, please be happy and make others happy. Haribol! (laughter) Haribol! Nitai Gaura Premānande, Hari Haribol!