20170709 Addressing the Silchar Youths

20170709 His. Holiness. Jayapatākā Swāmi addresses the Silchar Youth at Māyāpura.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

paramānanda-mādhavam

Śrī Caitanya Iswaram 

Hari Oṁ Tat Sat.

Gurumahārāja: We are very happy that you are coming to the holy Dhāma of Mayāpur. That this place is said to be non-different from Vṛndāvana. Here Kṛṣṇa came as a devotee five hundred and some years ago as Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and then he started the yuga dharma of chanting, the Hare Kṛṣṇa Mahāmantra. And He was chanting and dancing with thousands of people. 

He was between 16 and 24 at that time, and he had many young students. So, you can say that it is was primarily our youth movement. Some of the younger Vaisnavas also participated. When Lord Caitanya went to Gāya to perform Pindi for his diseased father, He took initiation from Iswar Purī Mahārāja, and in Kānāi Natsala which is in today’s Jharkhand he had darshan of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So, when he came back to Nabadwip He was changed. He went as Nimāi Paṇḍita and came back as Gaura Hari. 

So, this is the place where He had His youthful pastimes, and this is the place where He started the sankritana. Kṛṣṇa spoke the Bhagavad-gītā. He told that they should forget all other religions and just take shelter of Him. 

Sarva dharmān paritajya mām ekaṁ sharanam vraja

But some people didn’t understand Kṛṣṇa. “Who is Kṛṣṇa? Why He is saying to give up all other dhāma? Who is to say that?” People didn’t understand. The Pandavā’s and some people  understood. But some didn’t.

Lord Caitanya came to establish what the actual way of serving Lord Kṛṣṇa was. A.C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda, he took this message to the Western world, and people were interested in Yoga, but they only knew Haṭha Yoga. They didn’t  know Bhakti Yoga. 

So, Prabhupāda told them about bhakti yoga, and now bhakti yoga has got millions of practitioners around the world, and we have about a hundred branches in India, and throughout the world we have about 650 branches and thousands of informal gatherings known as Namhatta’s or Bhaktivriksha’s. 

And for the students they are known as bases or Hare Kṛṣṇa clubs, and many other names. So we hope that, now that you have come here, you will get the special mercy of Lord Caitanya. Thus you will realize how spiritual life is so fulfilling.

Lord Caitanya taught, “grihe thāko, vane thāko, sadā Hari bale dāko.” So, we hope that you will get all your questions answered, and that you have a nice time here. 

Thank you for coming.

Hare Kṛṣṇa.