20190416 Śrī Vyāsa-pūjā Address

The following is a Vyāsa-pūjā adress given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 16, 2019 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

Jayapatākā Swami: Oh listeners, I will speak in English now. I am a humble representative of His Divine Grace Abhayacaraṇāravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda. And he is a representative of His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Swami Gosvāmī Prabhupāda. And he said that we, as the spiritual grandchildren of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda, that the grandfather gives sweets to the grandchildren, but the parents have to discipline their children. So like that, he was saying that we get some special favor from the grandfather. So you as the grand children of Abhayacaraṇāravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda, you will get lots of sweets and mercy! We, the sons and daughters of Śrīla Prabhupāda, may get chastised if we do not live up to the requirements. Prabhupāda would always tell us please chant your rounds and follow the regulative principles. So that is my humble request to all my disciples. Follow the four regulative principles sincerely. I have been living here in Bengal for fifty years [Haribol!]. So sometimes I think in Bengali. And you should also chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. 16 rounds as a minimum. How much time would be required for us to get kṛṣṇa-prema, depends on each individual. Prabhupāda said that it took him 20 years. How long will it take us? Prabhupāda said like a baby crying out for its mother, we should cry out very sincerely. If a baby is just half crying, “Aa! Aan! Aan!” mother may not pay so much attention. But if the baby cries very loud, “Aaaahh, Mummy, aaahhh!” The mother will run and immediately grab her child. So we should cry like that for Kṛṣṇa.

Herein Navadvīpa, Lord Caitanya did not reveal that He was Kṛṣṇa, except to a few devotees. But people loved Him. And Nimāi Paṇḍita was appreciated by everyone. Some smārtas did not like His devotion. But then when He started the saṅkīrtana movement, all the youths joined Him. Lots of people in Navadvīpa followed Him. We saw last night there was a drama of His getting married. They didn’t know that He was Bhagavān. But they wanted to attend His wedding. And there was a huge procession through out the city of Navadvīpa. Just like in Vṛndāvana, the vraja-vāsīs did not know that Kṛṣṇa was Bhagavān. But they loved Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa lifted up the Govardhana, with one finger of His left hand and held it for seven days, the vraja-vāsī men came and asked Nanda Mahārāja, “Who is your son? We saw Him raise the Govardhana Hill for seven days, so don’t tell us that He is an ordinary kid.” So then Nanda Mahārāja spoke that, “Garga Muni had told us that He had the power of Viṣṇu. And that He will be very good for the cowherd men.” So then they became satisfied. But they didn’t ask how does He have the power of Viṣṇu? They didn’t know that He was Viṣṇu. He is the source of all the Viṣṇus. So similarly, people didn’t know who Nimāi Paṇḍita really was. But when Nimāi Paṇḍita took sannyāsa and left Navadvīpa, they all felt so much separation.

When He came back to the western bank, ten years later, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s brother, he sent for mother Śacī and said, “Don’t tell anyone I am here.” But somehow the word got out, “Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga is here! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!” People left whatever they were doing and ran to the river. They went into the boats, kayaks, the boatmen said, “No, no, not too many, not too many.” But they couldn’t be stopped. The boat sank. All the boats sank! So they jumped into the river and began to swim, “Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!” That time the Ganges became black, with the hair on the heads of all the people swimming in the Ganges. So we should have such eagerness to see Lord Gaurāṅga.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Swami Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, in his time, there were sahajiyās who imitated bhakti by crying. So he said, better not to cry publicly. So Prabhupāda would control his emotions. But sometimes he couldn’t. When he was in Gorakhpur, he was telling how Lord Caitanya and Sanātana Gosvāmī met. It was like Kṛṣṇa meeting the gopīs. And saying this Prabhupāda choked up and started crying.

Herein Māyāpur, one time he was saying how during Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura’s Vyāsa-pūjā, how all the previous ācāryas did something to help develop Māyāpur. Then he said, “I am also trying to do something. I am very grateful to all the devotees who are helping me.” Then he started to cry! He couldn’t speak any more, he choked up!

So Lord Caitanya when He was here, people could associate with Him. For some intimate devotees, He went and told them how in Kānāi-Nāṭaśālā, He had achieved Kṛṣṇa, but then He lost Him! He told them, “You don’t know what it is like to have Kṛṣṇa and then lose Him!” So He put His arm around different devotees next to Him and started to cry and cry for Kṛṣṇa. When He was crying the devotees also were crying. This was not the Nimāi Paṇḍita they knew. He was changed! So like that, Lord Caitanya showed us, that we can worship Kṛṣṇa in separation. So that is our mood, that we should be serving Kṛṣṇa in separation. And Prabhupāda said that, he had five thousand disciples. So he told me, you should have ten times, that is 50 thousand! So I thought, “Impossible!” Little faith! But by Prabhupāda’s mercy, so many devotees have come! So not only should you follow the principles, but you should also help to realize Prabhupāda’s dream of a Kṛṣṇa conscious world. How we associate with Lord Caitanya, Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa, and all the associates of the Lord, are so wonderful! We want all of you to have a taste of how wonderful is Kṛṣṇa. How wonderful is Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Nityānanda, Nityānanda! Nityānanda! Oṁ tat sat!