20170106 A Talk at ISKCON'S 50th Anniversary Celebration.

20170106Jayapataka Swami gave a talk at ISKCON'S 50TH Anniversary Celebration.

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaj, on January 6th, 2017 in Bombay tour, India. The talk was given at the Iskcon’s 50th anniversary celebration. 

Gurumaharaj:

Kuncham Kuncham tamil, I only know a few words, Vanakkam. 

So I would like to first of all thank those who have graced this occasion. Thank Padmashri bhaktavatsala for his enthusiastic lecture on Hare Krishna mahamantra. (applause), and to the sponsor of this program, the owner of this hotel. (applause). This is our 50th anniversary of the registration of Iskcon. So we want to thank all of you who are present.

50 years ago Prabhupada went to the West. Within one year he registered, he registered the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, in July 1966. So he had the vision, that this society would be all over the world, and his ship stopped in Colombo and then in Cochin. He went by sea ship, and it was a very difficult journey for him. He had heart attacks. He thought that he would not survive to reach America, but Krishna came to him and showed the vision that he was the captain and that he was crossing the ocean peacefully. After that the Atlantic ocean became peaceful like the Pacific ocean, and when he got to America he told that his mission was to change the way the people think. So he told them, “I am not Indian, you are not American, we are not Chinese, the Russian because we are not the body.”, and it was shocking that no one told them that they were not the body before. 

Prabhupada established 108 temples, and as was saying before, he traversed the world 12 times. So he was worried that his movement would continue on, and he told us that, “if you can make the movement expand I will be happy, but at least preserve what I have given.”, and now Iskcon has about 700 temples or so, thousands of small groups, namhatta, bhakti vrikshas, counselor groups, and our basis is this medicine, chant Hare Krishna. This is the dharma for the yuga, kalau tad hari kirtanat, we should chant the Hare Krishna mantra in this age of Kali. 

So this revolution that Prabhupada brought to the West, one Indian could change the whole history of the world. So we are celebrating the joy of devotion in this 50th year at this public program. 

One of the name of the Lord is Triyuga, because in the satya, treta and dwapara yuga, He proclaims that He is the supreme personality of Godhead, but He comes in the kali yuga as the channa avatar, as the hidden avatar. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu is that hidden avatar, but in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, that one of His devotees would come 5000 years after the start of the Kali Yuga. Lord Caitantya came after 4500 years. He didn’t go to the West, but His message was taken to the West 500 years later by His Divine Grace Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and he taught the Bhagavat Gita and the Bhagavat Purana. So in this way he gave the world the topmost scriptures of India. He told that this is not a secretarian religion.  

People from any tradition can practice bhakti yoga. Hare Krishna is in Sanskrit which is the mother tongue. So this chanting has proved so effective that now people are using it all over the world. 

Lord Caitanya… there is a song, where He says, enechi ausadhi maya nasibaro lagi

hari-nama maha-mantra lao tumi magi, that take this Hare Krishna, this is the medicine for the disease of Kali yuga.  So Bhakti Vinod Thakur, who wrote the song, he said that he fell at the feet of the Lord, and he begged for the holy name, and he got it, and he got it, and he got it, just ask.

So this is also predicted by nama-alwar, this is predicted in the Vedas, so we are very glad that we are celebrating our 50th year of progress and we hope that in the future generations, many hundred of years, many 10,000 years, we will go on. 

In the Brahmana Vaivarta Puran, it was predicted that 10,000 year golden age will be ushered in by this saint who spreads the holy name all over the world. One can get back to the spiritual world, simply by chanting, the easiest way ever. 

Thank you very much… (applause)

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