20200111 50th Sannyāsa Anniversary Festival

Mukham karoti vacalam pangum langayate girim
Yat kripa tam aham vande sri gurum dina tarinam
Paramananda Madhavam Sri Caitanya Isvaram

(HG Ekanath Gaura das prabhu offered a garland made by the Itlaian devotees and Guru maharaj said: Gracias!)

Nice to see such a large crowd here tonight. I was thinking, remembering, how Srila Prabhupada, Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada, he asked me to go to India from Canada. And then I went via London. And I was asked to stay here for the London Ratha Yatra in 1970. But I sent a letter to Srila Prabhupada asking him if I could stay, but I got no reply. So I thought, better carry out his order! But since then I have had a relationship with the UK devotees. In 1989 I was attacked in the Madrid airport by a crazy man who knifed me and afterwards I came to Bhaktivedanta Manor and I stayed there for seven months. So as they say, welcome to your home, away from your home! And now we have a center at Birmingham, and I have been coming here for many years, for the Ratha Yatra and other functions, but this is the first time I am here in the bhakti yoga center. Haribol! Also Srila Prabhupada came many times to the UK. He gave his lectures. And I was favored by His Divine Grace, that he gave me the birthplace of Lord Caitanya to stay in, and took the vow. First we had a grass hut with five or seven devotees. And now we have about 7000 plus devotees! So how many of you have visited Mayapur? Oh! Many have gone! So you have seen how it has been developed over the years. Recently the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, she and her cabinet gave us land ceiling about 750 acres! Previously our land ceiling was 23 acres. And not only that, she also absolved us from paying tax for transferring the 700 acres! That is about five million pounds. Lord Caitanya came over 500 years ago. We were given a place at His birthplace city. The idea is that – we are in the material world and this is a small portion of the total existence. And there is the spiritual world which is about three fourths of the total energy. And sometimes the Absolute Truth descends into the material world. And the most merciful avatar of the Absolute Truth is Lord Caitanya. In fact, He gave out freely without considering who is qualified and who is not qualified, anyone who wants it, would get the ecstatic love for Godhead. So in this age of Kali, age of quarrel, hypocrisy, war, we are seeing how every day in the newscast, different quarrels and fights. So Lord Caitanya He brought internal peace and love to everyone. So we are trying to help His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to expand this mercy of Lord Caitanya. I was in Canada and Srila Prabhupada was arriving in the audio break and we were waiting and chanting for Srila Prabhupada to come out. Audio break he was bleeding, but he didn’t notice it! He was in such ecstasy! But the newspaper man, he noticed and he took a photo. He saw he was smiling and chanting. So the newspaper was amazed to see this because their idea of happiness is bodily happiness. Bodily suffering, but he was happy! So then Srila Prabhupada came out from the immigration and all the devotees bowed down. And the media and newspapers were all staring!! Ha! They were watching! And then Srila Prabhupada sat down and everybody gave garlands. So then he pulled out a garland from his head, put another on and then again he pulled out another. This must have happened four or five times. So afterwards Srila Prabhupada was giving a speech. He said the spiritual master is offered all respect like they offer to God. But if he thinks he is God, G O D, he is not GOD, he is opposite, D O G! So like this Srila Prabhupada was preaching very dynamically. That was in 1969. And so then at that time there was a war in Vietnam. John Lennon came from England to Toronto and in one hotel he sang, ‘Give peace a chance’.  And you can hear in the background, the Hare Krsna kirtan. That was me! Ha! Ha! So, like this we had some experiences.

And Lord Caitanya, He came from the spiritual world and He brought the chanting of Hare Krsna! It is very easy, only three words – Hare, Krsna and Rama. So those are arranged in 16 words, a mantra, called the Maha mantra. In the Kali Santarana Upanishad, part of the Vedic literature. It is said, iti sodasaka namanam, these 16 names, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, iti sodasaka namanam, Kali kalmasa nasanam, they destroy all the evil effects of Kali yuga. Nataha parataropayaha sarva vedesu drsyate. You won’t find a better alternative in all the Vedic literatures. No better alternative! No better alternative! Ha! Ha! So I wrote a song in Bengali, inspired by Basu Ghosh, one of the associates of Lord Caitanya. He wrote, if there was no Lord Caitanya, what would there be? So I wrote, that if there was no Srila Prabhupada, where would we be? Jodi Prabhupada na hoito, tabe ki hoito. Srila Prabhupada came, at the age of 70, he came around the world 14 times in order to give the mercy and the message of Lord Caitanya. Someone said to Srila Prabhupada that you came over by the Jaladuta, by ship, why you are taking now the air plane? It is very luxurious. You should continue going by ship! And Srila Prabhupada replied, well, you are going in jet speed to hell, if I go by ship, how will I be able to help you? Ha! Ha! Ha! So Srila Prabhupada, he said that utility is the principle, that we can use everything to spread Krsna consciousness. To spread bhakti yoga. And today we use the internet, whatever facilities there are. But 500 years ago, Lord Caitanya walked from Navadvip, West Bengal to Jagannath Puri in Odisha. And then He walked all over India. More than 10 thousand kilometers, he walked throughout the whole South India, through Maharashtra, to Dwaraka in Gujarat and to Vrndavan. And He walked through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and back to Odisha, to Bengal. So He covered the whole India. Now it is Bangladesh, He also visited there. So He was spreading this message that people should chant Hare Krsna and practice bhakti yoga. So this is a bhakti yoga center. I am very glad that you are practicing bhakti yoga. 

There are nine islands of Navadvip and each island is connected with one of the nine practices of bhakti yoga. So in one of the islands, the island of Godrumadvip, which is the island connected to the process of chanting, there is a place called Suvarna Vihar, where previously there was a king. Narada muni had travelled over and he went to this place. Then he told the king that in the material world, we are brought together, different family members. Like in a river there is a whirlpool and some pieces of grass are brought together. Then the whirlpool is broken and the grasses are separated. So like that we come together and then we disperse. Because we take birth again and again and again. So who is our mother, father, brother, sister, cousins, in this birth, they are not necessarily in the next birth. So like that, he was saying that you are a very fortunate king. Because you are the king.  In the Kali yuga, Lord Caitanya comes here as the Golden Avatar! And He is worshipped as Gauranga! The king was somehow very attracted to that name Gauuuuranga! How could I see Lord Gauranga? Narada muni told him, that if you chant the name of Gauranga, He resides here in His Dham and He will reveal Himself to you! So he began every day to chant, Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Like this one day ended. The next day he began chanting Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! GAURANGA! GAURANGA! GAURANGA!  GAURANGA! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! The day ended! Ha! Then again, month after month, chanting every day, Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga!  Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Ha! Ha! Ha! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Ha! Ha! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! GAURANGA! GAURANGA! GAURANGA! GAURANGA! Gauranga! And then Lord Gauranga appeared to the king of Suvarna Vihar and the king was overwhelmed with bliss, to SEE THE GOLDEN FORM OF LORD GAUUUUUURANGA! 

Gauranga! And he bowed down and then he looked up, Lord Gauranga was gone! Then he wanted to bring back Lord Gauranga as he was feeling so much separation to see that beautiful form of the Lord, golden color, His lotus eyes almost extending to His years, His long arms reaching down to His knees, arms raised up and again he began chanting, Gauuuuranga! Gauuuuuranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! And then Lord Gauranga spoke, He said, you are not ready to see Me now! I gave you a special mercy! I let you see Me! You will be My associate in Kali yuga. You will be Budhimanta Khan! Then He did not speak. So I was wondering, who is Budhimanta Kahn? What did he do? I take every year thousands of devotees to Suvarna Vihar, but who is Budhimanta Khan? Do you know? How many know? You see! All of you have visited Mayapur and nobody knows Budhimanta Khan! He is the one who arranged, paid the money, for the wedding of Lord Gauranga! He offered a great feast for Lord Gauranga to marry Visnupriya. And then other devotees said, no, no, what about us, we also want to pay! He said, I don’t want to do a wedding like for a priest, I want to do a royal standard wedding. Big procession through the town, no holds barred, it is an English slang, no limits! Seema nai! So then he was the chief tax collector of Navadvip. And in those days the tax collector got a percentage of the tax. So he was very rich. He had many assistant tax collectors, each one had like a muzzle, loaded like a muzzle, like a gun. Gun! Boom! Yes! He had in the beginning of the procession all the tax collectors with their guns. Then there were clowns, jestors, dancers, brahmanas chanting mantras, kids playing along. There was a big procession, miles long. Musicians, everything! So it was the biggest thing Navadvip. It was flooded at that time with Krsna Prema! Everybody loved Lord Gauuuuranga! So, Budhimanta Khan, he was not only did he sponsor the wedding, but he also did various services for Lord Caitanya. So I found out that Budhimanta Khan was a very great associate of Lord Caitanya.

So, what we realize is that through the bhakti yoga, not only do we get self-realization, not only do we have the realization of the complete Absolute Truth, we can also participate in His pastimes. In that, He is actually the nicest guy! He is most wonderful, beautiful, richest, humorous, everything, merciful! What a friend to have! So we can participate in His pastimes. He has nothing to do actually! What He does, He arranges dramas! Particular pastimes on earth! So this pastime was completely non-violent, giving out mercy! He changed the hearts of very cruel people and made them very loving and kind. He said, I will not kill anyone. But the demons, serial killers and other, He made them nice! That was His pastime! So the more you learn about Lord Caitanya, the more you appreciate how wonderful He was! And we need His presence in the world today! And how we can get His presence, is by chanting His name and the Holy Names! Now all of you chanted Gauranga, did you feel happy? Ha! Ha! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Ha! Ha! Gauranga! Gauranga!  Gauranga! Ha! Ha! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! You see, it is not possible to not be happy while chanting Gauranga! So if we bring Gauranga down by chanting His name, that can change the whole atmosphere! So we hope that all of you also experience this divine inspiration! And chant the name of Lord Caitanya, the name of Lord Krsna, and thus purify your mind, the mantra is a combination of two words – man and tra, man means mind and tra means to deliver. To deliver our mind from all anxiety, depression, inauspicious thoughts. We have mantras. Especially the Hare Krsna mantra and the Caitanya mantra. Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare! So all the Vedas say to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. But a little mistake, a little offence, and it doesn’t produce result. But if you chant the name of Lord Caitanya first and then chant Hare Krsna, it has a remarkable effect. So I met one man, he said he was chanting Hare Krsna maha mantra for 26 years. Many times, every day, but he was not feeling any bliss. I asked him, did you chant the name of Lord Caitanya? He said, no, I am from a different sampradaya, a different movement. So I gave him the Panca Tattva mantra – Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadadhara Srivas Adi Gaura Bhakti Vrnda.! You chant this before you chant Hare Krsna and see what effect it has. After three months, I came back to that place and the man saw me from a distance. He ran! HE RAN TO ME! He fell down at my feet! He said: What mantra have you given me! WHAT MANTRA HAVE YOU GIVEN ME! WHAT MANTRA! By chanting I feel so much ecstasy, so much bliss! Thank you thank you! Gauuuranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga! 

Srila Prabhupada he brought to us this Gauranga vani or message and this Gauranga mantra. So we are very grateful to Srila Prabhupada. He came to Mayapur twice a year when I was staying. I had a lot of association with him. And he gave me many instructions. So in order to fulfill that, I cannot do it myself, I need a lot of help. So I am going around asking people to help me. So, who here will be some volunteers who would like to help me fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s instructions? So, he said he wanted to change the way that people thought in the world. Actually, that is the highest thing, right?! Ha! So basically we think we are the body. And many of our religious people they think they are the body, they have a soul. But they don’t think they are the soul, the living force in the body. And they have a body. And the body dies, they will not. They go to some other body. They go into the womb of a mother; like that they take another birth. So every birth we have a mother and father. So, coming through eight million four hundred thousand species of life. Four hundred thousand are human beings. And then we come to the eight million, to reach human life. So, as a human being, we have the possibility of achieving complete self-realization. That is the idea of yoga. To connect with the Absolute Truth. So there are different types of yoga – there is dhyana yoga where you use the mind to understand the reality. There is the astanga yoga, where one uses different postures and meditates to realize the Super Soul in everyone’s heart. Then there is the process of bhakti yoga where you realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the highest complete form of the Absolute Truth, the Cause of all causes. And we are practicing the bhakti yoga system. The bhakti yoga system, anyone can do. You don’t have to do difficult postures. Though we are not against that, if you would like to do that type yoga. I did for my back! Ha! But that self-realization is very slow. Bhakti yoga is very fast! In the Bhagavad-gita it says, bahunam janmanam ante, after many, many births, one can achieve realization, if he practices the other yogas. But in bhakti yoga system, in one birth, you can achieve success. We need, fast track! Ha! Ha! We need that! How many would like the fast track? So, we thank you for participating in this Bhakti Yoga Center. We hope that some time you will visit us in Mayapur. I would like also to meet different devotees from different centers. Are there any – I can answer a few questions, then we will have a (Prabhupad na hoito cake and then darshan.). First we will have question and answer on the class.

Question: Thank you guru maharaj for this very wonderful class. When you said that Lord Caitanya delivers but does not kill the people. How to deal with the kind of people that say you should believe in my God or I will kill you?

Guru maharaj: Avoid them! Ha! Ha! There is only one God. He may be called by different names. We may have different processes of realizing Him. But there is only one Absolute Truth and so that is our humble belief. So if someone says, believe in my God, say, I beliiiiievvvve! I BELIEVE! Ha! Because we believe in one God! So your God is the same as my God! Ha! The Absolute Truth is One! I told one maharaj, I asked him a similar question, what to do? He said, if they say, just say, I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE! Ha! Ha! People come and challenge. Any other question?

Question: Pranam guru maharaj (guru maharaj said: Pranam) We are very grateful to get your darshan. My question is: In Bhagavad-gita Lord Krsna explains different kinds of yoga and at the end He says bhakti yoga is the greatest and you surrender unto Me. Why this is contradictory to what Lord Krsna has spoken in Bhagavad-gita where He talks about different yogas and He says leave everything and just surrender unto Me. So why He actually gave these processes and why at the end He is contradicting His own statement? 

Guru maharaj: How is he contradicting? How do you say that?

Devotee: Because in the last chapter He says, leave everything and surrender unto Me. 

Guru maharaj: How is that a contradiction?

Devotee: Because He explains the different yoga processes which means one can choose any of these yoga processes. Bhakti yoga is the topmost. Why He didn’t speak about bhakti yoga in the end?

Guru maharaj: So you see He is very liberal. He presented to Arjuna, He said, you can mediate on Me, fix your mind and do this posture and meditate on Me. Arjuna said, I am an active person, I cannot sit down in one place and fix my mind. If you want, you can do that. He said, I cannot do that. Give me a process I can do. So finally, after so much discussion, He said, if you want to know the best thing, I will tell you! Give up all the different dharmas, religions, just surrender to Me! And then by that, I will destroy all your bad karma and bring you to Me! So He gave different options. If you would like to sit and watch your nose, you can do that. Otherwise if you are like Arjuna, very active person, I want immediate results, what should I do? So Krsna said, well, in that case, surrender everything and surrender to Me! Now I will do everything!! So you want to be the doer? Then that is one way. But it may take many, many births. But if you want Krsna to be the Doer, He can do it right away!! It is not a contradiction; it is just that He is giving different options to Arjuna. Arjuna did not accept His options. He said that it is very difficult for me. For some people it may be a thing they would like to do. But it takes time. When Pariksit maharaj was cursed by a brahmana boy to die in seven days. So he gathered all the great yogis, all the great seers, the sages, he was the emperor of the whole world! He asked them, I have seven days to live, I want a guarantee that I can go back to Godhead? Who can give me a process? Seven days, oh! The hatha yogis, said in seven days maybe they could only teach you one asana. What to speak of meditation and all that. So they said, no, no, NOT ENOUGH TIME! YOU CANNOT DO IT! Different yogis they said, no, no, we cannot do it. Then Sukadeva Goswami came. Ha! Ha! He was the son of Vyasa Deva, he said, seven days? No problem! A lot of time! I can give you complete God realization in a few minutes! Just by practicing bhakti yoga! So for seven days and seven nights, nonstop, he taught the Srimad Bhagavatam. After the fifth day, fifth or sixth I don’t know, so then how would you feel – no food, no sleep, no drink for five or six days! But Pariksit maharaj, after hearing the tenth canto, in the middle, he was told what Krsna did. What was his reaction? TELL ME MORE! TELL ME WHAT MY WONDERFUL LORD DID! I WANT TO HEAR MORE!HA! Ha! He was so eager to hear more! He was not thinking about food, drink, sleep! HE WANTED TO HEAR MORE AND MORE AND MORE! Haribol! So read the Srimad Bhagavatam. Pariksit maharaj sacrificed his life for us to have the Srimad Bhagavatam!! Pariksit maharaj ki jai! Alright!