20200119 Sunday Feast Address

The following is a Sunday feast lecture given by His Holiness Jayapātākā Swami Mahārāja on January 19, 2020 in Chennai, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpāṁ tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam

paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī-caitanya-īśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapātākā Swami: So I wish a Happy Pongal to all of you! Usually we have a Ratha-yātrā at Pongal time, but this year we are postponing it, on the request of the Puri Mahantas and Mahārāja. So we are very happy to see so many devotees here in the Sunday love feast. It is important that as human beings we understand the real purpose of life. The purpose of life is to be completely conscious of Lord Kṛṣṇa and to think always about Kṛṣṇa, to hear His glories, to chant His Holy Names, to render service to Him, to offer our obeisances and prayers to Him, to offer our pūjā, to consider ourselves as His servants, and consider Him as a friend, and to surrender everything unto Him.

When I was in America, I was told a joke by a nurse. The joke was as follows: A man asked the doctor, how long do I have to live? The doctor said, 9. 9 what? 9 years, 9 months, 9 days? The doctor said, 8, 7, 6, 5, Nālu (4 in Tamil). So, but actually it brought home that the westernised people don’t know—even if they have nine days or nine weeks—what to do with that time. Parīkṣit Mahārāja had seven days, he was cursed by a brāhmaṇa boy to die. So he called all the great paṇḍitas and great sages and yogis present at the side of the Yamunā. So he said, I have seven days, what do you recommend I do to achieve perfection? The aṣṭāṅga-yogis, they thought, seven days, not enough! Haṭha-yoga, maybe one or two āsanas, not enough! Jñāna-yogis, not enough to study all the śāstras and have jñāna! So everyone failed—seven days, we cannot guarantee perfection!

Then Śukadeva Gosvāmī came and the question was delivered to him: I have seven days, what can I do to achieve perfection? Seven days—a long time! I can give you perfection in one moment! By bhakti-yoga one can achieve perfection immediately. So Śaṅkarācārya said that to achieve mokṣa, you have to be a sannyāsī. But Lord Caitanya said, whether you are a vairāgī or a gṛhastha, you can achieve perfection through bhakti-yoga. I don’t think there are too many sannyāsīs here. Except Bhānu Mahārāja and myself I think. Anyone else! But don’t worry, you are going to achieve perfection.

Lord Brahmā, he is our original guru. We are in the Brahmā-Mādhva-Gauḍīya sampradāya. And Lord Brahmā, he stole the calves and the cowherd boys from Kṛṣṇa. He hid them in a cave and put them to sleep, and he left. But then after a while he thought, maybe Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead. So let me go back and see. Then he went back, he saw Kṛṣṇa had all the cowherd boys manifested with Him. Because what He did—He had expanded Himself into all the cowherd boys. Since He did not want to cause the parents of the cowherd boys any anxiety. Children are very dear to the parents. And if all the cowherd boys disappeared, their parents would be in great anxiety. So Kṛṣṇa, He expanded Himself into each of the cowherd boys. So the parents could not realize that their original boys were stolen by Lord Brahmā. But they had Kṛṣṇa in a special affection that they felt for their own children, because they were actually Kṛṣṇa.

So Lord Balarāma figured out something was unusual. And Kṛṣṇa explained to Him that Brahmā had stolen the boys, so I expanded Myself into all the boys’ forms. Brahmā came back, he was confused. I stole the boys, how are they here? No, they are in the cave. Are they here or there? Here or there? He was bewildered. Mini-mini-pūchi—his mystic powers were like a mini-mini-pūchi compared to Kṛṣṇa’s! [Haribol] (Mini-mini-pūchi—in Tamil is a very small glowing insect). So then you see Brahmā, he became very humbled by Lord Kṛṣṇa. So he heard that Kṛṣṇa will appear in Kali-yuga as a devotee, as Gaurāṅga. So he went to Navadvīpa-dhāma to see Lord Gaurāṅga and ask Him for blessing. So he began to chant the name of Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!

The Lord Gaurāṅga appeared to Lord Brahmā. He was beautiful, golden color. His eyes were like lotus petals, little flowers, and reached back almost to His ears. His hands went down to His knees Ajānulambita. And so He asked Lord Brahmā, "Why have you called Me?" So Brahmā said, "I am already in my dvitīya-prārddha, second half of my life." Brahmā lives hundred years. So a prārddha is half, that means fifty years over. I heard this pastime before. Made me wonder what is the age of Lord Brahmā? Since it is the second half of his life. 59 years? 70 years? 88? How old is Lord Brahmā? We know that he is more than fifty! Who knows? The exact age of Lord Brahmā? Don’t raise your hands all at once! Who knows? You are speculating. He is only thinking of the cricket game today.

See, we are making the West Wing of the TOVP, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. I am the Chairman of the West Wing. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted us to present that all the Purāṇas are good science. They are not mythology, they are science, they are facts. So Lord Brahmā, he comes out from the lotus—he comes out twice from the lotus. See, all of us, we have a mother and father. But Lord Brahmā, he only has a father. He was born on the lotus from Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. So at the second half of his life, his age is 50 years old, and then he went back into the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. And then he comes back on the lotus. Then he recreates the whole universe. Satya-loka down, caturdaśa-bhuvana—14 lokas. So the scientists called this—some called it Big Bang, some called it a Big Rebound! Śrīla Prabhupāda would always ask, they said Big Bang—who sets the Bang off? So Lord Brahmā, he creates the universe, he is the one that sets the bang off.

What day of Brahmā is this? This day of Brahmā is called the Padma-kalpa. Because on this day of Brahmā, he comes out on the lotus again. That means that he is 50 years and one day old! So exact is our Vedic science! Every day of Brahmā is a thousand catur-yugas. And there are 14 Manus in each day of Brahmā. 71 catur-yugas are one Manu’s life. So we are presenting the science of the cosmology, as presented in the Vedas.

We thank you for your help to build the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. We hope everybody keeps up with their pledges. Myself and my zone, my disciples—whatever they give to the TOVP, 50% goes to the West Wing.

Anyway, so Lord Brahmā, he asked Lord Caitanya, Gaurāṅga, that I want to be freed from this tendency to commit offence. I want to have pure love for Kṛṣṇa—kṛṣṇa-prema! I want to be Your associate. Please give me these boons! Lord Gaurāṅga said, Tathāsthaḥ! So be it! You will be born in a non-Hindu family—that will teach you humility. And every day, you will chant 300,000 names of Kṛṣṇa. That will awaken your dormant love for Kṛṣṇa! And you will be My associate and you will be the Nāmacārya, and your name will be Haridāsa! Haribol! So Haridāsa is Brahmā Haridāsa! Haribol!

So, chanting 300,000 names—what he chants in one day, we chant in the whole year, or maybe what he chants in one month, we chant in the whole year! We chant 16 rounds a day—that is one crore a year. He would chant about one crore names every month! So we are very grateful for the devotees who chant 16 rounds a day! But even if you cannot chant 16 rounds, you could chant something—that will be good. 8 rounds a day is 5 million a year. 4 rounds a day is 2.5 million a year. And 2 rounds a day is 1.25 million. 2 rounds—it only takes 15 minutes. Everybody should chant something every day! If you want to take initiation, then it is 16 rounds. It takes less than two hours. How many are chanting 16 rounds a day? You see, so many! Nandri! (Thank you).

We want you to go back home, back to Godhead! Human life is not meant to take birth, after birth, after birth. We want—human life means we can go back! You see, we are in the seventh loka of the universe. There are six above us and seven below. In Svarga-loka they have very peaceful enjoyment. Sometimes they forget to worship Kṛṣṇa—they are too happy! But here, we have always some problem! We also have some happiness! So we get reminded that in our present state it is not so bad that we cannot tolerate it. But in Pātāla-loka there is so much suffering. No one can think of doing any service to Kṛṣṇa! Aaaah! Aaaah! Ooooow! So what do you want? Pātāla-loka? Svarga-loka? Or go back home to Godhead? [Haribol] You are in a good place! People say, why so much trouble? If it is too nice, you want to stay here! But little problem is good.

So please chant the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, and before you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, chant the names of the Pañca-tattva: 

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda

śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsa-ādi gaura-bhakta-vṛnda!

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare /

Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

I had one family—the wife, the children—all were initiated. But the husband was against it. Then he was diagnosed with cancer. He was down in bed, fourth stage. The doctors said, no hope! So he was lying on the bed. Through the wall came two or three hairy people with fangs and leather ropes. He said, No, no, no, no! Not me! Not me! No! No! No! Illai! Illai! They went away! He told his wife, I want neck beads, japa-mālā! I want to read the Gītā, please give me! Our whole life we were preaching, but we couldn’t do what the Yamadūtas did in two seconds! So he chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa. But don’t let the Yamadūtas come for you! Chant the holy names!

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare /

Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

(Kīrtana continues for 5 minutes) 

Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Nitāi Gaurāṅga! Nitāi Gaurāṅga! Nitāi Gaura Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! 

Jaya Jagannātha Jaya Jaya Jagannātha Jaya Baladeva Jaya Subhadrā! Jaya Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa Rādhe! 

Jaya Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda Prabhupāda, Jaya Prabhupāda!  Nandri!!