20120403 Śrī Vyāsa-pūjā Address

The following is a lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 3, 2012 in Śrī Māyāpur dhāma, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

 I should give a short discourse on the occasion of Vyāsa-pūjā. I had the personal opportunity to be with His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Sometimes his picture looks great, but he was the profound, happy person. His feelings were very deep, because we asked him about his guru oṁ viṣṇupāda Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he would say, “My guru was a Vaikuṇṭha man, what more is there to say?” We heard also that Gaurakiśora dāsa Bābājī, he had two disciples – one bhajanānandī and one goṣṭhy-ānandī. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was the goṣṭhy-ānandī. We heard about the great character of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. And also about Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī. So, when you are offering prasāda, bhoga, we thought of Prabhupāda and the previous ācāryas. Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Six-Gosvāmīs, Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda, Lord Advaita, like this all the ācāryas, in our Madhva line, Madhvācārya, Vyāsadeva, Nārada Muni and Lord Brahmā. So we are in the Brahma-madhva-gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ISKCON sampradāya. Then I think that Lord Brahmā, he is offering bhoga to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. And how Lord Caitanya and Pañca-tattva takes prasāda, like this all the prasāda goes down to guru. How Lord Nityānanda is so merciful. He is the… Lord Caitanya said, He is the example of a real guru. He went to deliver all the fallen souls, even Jagāi Mādhāi and He gave them love of Kṛṣṇa. We saw in Katwa their samādhi. There the pūjārī said, Jagāi Mādhāi would go everyday to the Ganges, and they would dance on the way, they play karatālas, tears came from their eyes. They were ecstatic, so Lord Nityānanda, He was so merciful. And Lord Caitanya, He delivered even the most fallen. Prabhupāda pointed out that He also got the animals to chant. He said, at least we can get the human beings to chant. So that forest of Jhārikhaṇḍa is still there. Lord Caitanya got the animals to chant dance and cry for Kṛṣṇa. How wonderful is Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda? How merciful? Where will you find anyone as merciful as Them? So, we have this great, great blessings from Śrīla Prabhupāda that we can serve the Pañca-tattva. In this temple, the Pañca-tattva in the center place. This is Kali-yuga. In Kali-yuga, Lord Caitanya is the yugāvatāra. There are twelve parts to a yuga and Lord Caitanya is predicted, He will come in the first sandhya. So by Lord Caitanya’s mercy, we get love for Lord Kṛṣṇa. So Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, They are so wonderful. We have as a living entity, we have some of the qualities of Kṛṣṇa. But a few drops, but Kṛṣṇa has an ocean of good qualities. When Indra was raining torrents of rain on the vraja-vāsis Kṛṣṇa thought that I will burn the whole heaven up, then He thought, Indra, heaven – they are insignificant, so He decided, let Me save the vraja-vāsīs. And have mercy on Lord Indra. So lifted up Giri Govardhana. Giri Govardhana Mahārāja kī jaya! So, Kṛṣṇa for seven days, he lifted the Govardhana Hill, so He is so merciful. Later Indra realized his mistake. He was shaking, and he came down and begged forgiveness from Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Actually, knowledge about Kṛṣṇa is very rare, Pañca-tattva have revealed Kṛṣṇa and also broken the treasure house to give us all love for Kṛṣṇa. And Prabhupāda, he has revealed the secret to us, “How wonderful is Kṛṣṇa, and how merciful is Nitāi Gaura,” And Prabhupāda brought this mercy to us. We should, all of you should take advantage of the mercy of Lord Caitanya. Prabhupāda gave this mercy us and we are eternally indebted to His Divine Grace. So, don’t lose this chance. The whole guru-paramparā is there to give you blessings. But we can slipped through our fingers very easy. Actually, even a little devotional service could save us from the greatest danger says in the Bhagavad-gītā. What to speak of chanting and dancing before the Lord.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

So, I am very happy to be in a service of His Divine Grace. Some disciples, they are praying, “We want Gurudeva like he was before.” It will be nice, if I could dance and chant and speak like before. But, before I was fat and I had various health problems, so I don’t want those. [laughter] Haribol! But whatever Lord Caitanya wants, I can only tell you that every… it is worth every bit of trouble we get, even a drop Their mercy… (Haribol!) It is worth every bit of trouble, whatever it takes to get even a drop Lord Nitāi-Gaura’s mercy. (Haribol!) So this is your special blessings that you should get Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda’s get Rādhā Mādhava’s mercy. Prabhupāda, our previous ācāryas, they want you to all to taste the nectar. Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda! Nityānanda! Nityānanda! Haribol!