20180327 Vyasa-puja Address

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: It was pretty moving to hear all the offerings which were given by the different devotees. Haribol!

And this last ceremony of different offerings, giving books, Śrīla Prabhupāda would be very pleased by the Caitanya-caritāmṛta edition in Tamil! I was present when Śrīla Prabhupāda would receive a new edition. And he was so blissful that tears came rushing out from his eyes! His spiritual master had asked him to publish books. So anything which would please his spiritual master, he was very blissful. So when they presented new books, he cried in ecstasy! In Māyāpur, he wanted that his books should be on display. So, book publishing, building of the TOVP, developing Navadvīpa dhāma, all these things were pleasing to Śrīla Prabhupāda. So, it is true that Śrīla Prabhupāda had asked me to preach in India. He told me to take Indian citizenship.

So, I was listening this morning to a tape of Śrīla Prabhupāda. And he said he was very grateful to all his disciples who were helping him. And he said he wanted everybody to be a guru. He quoted Lord Caitanya – yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa/ āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128] So, you have a very big responsibility to be a śikṣā-guru and possibly to be a dīkṣā-guru. To spread the message all around. So I am very glad that so many temples have come up around India. Not only Māyāpur, but also Guwahati. And also South India. Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Chennai, Coimbatore and all over the south. But our purpose is not to have temples to just sit and eat in the temples. But to preach. To make temples and to preach. I was surprised how some devotees were not practicing. The senior devotees should see that others practice.

Today Cārucandra spoke about Bangladesh. So in Bangladesh, the Hindus are in minority. But the devotees there are very enthusiastic. That is why the devotees were saying that because of the Safari going there this year, the number of devotees would increase.

Today, I heard the good news that Mādhavendra Purī’s birthplace, we can get that! We can also get Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura’s birthplace! This was the news I got today! So, every possibility to save all the pastime places, we are doing whatever possible. In Andhra Pradesh, there is Narasarapet, I told them that Lord Caitanya, He visited Narasarapet. I told them that Kṛṣṇa went there to wake up Mucukunda. They said, we were born here but we did not know all that! But now they know! So, like that there are so many holy places. But many of them are not known. So we need to get people, not only enthused but dedicated to save all these places. I don’t know how long I have to stay in this world. But I hope that all of you take up this important service and see that the holy places are preserved. Lord Caitanya, He gave us this treasure and if we get an insight into the wonderfulness of Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya, Lord Kṛṣṇa was travelling all over South India and also Lord Caitanya was travelling over South India. So I have to go to offer the prasāda. I hope that all of you take up this important service and I thank all the devotees from Chennai who have made such nice arrangements, and all of you who have come!

Hare Kṛṣṇa!