20200120 Initiation Lecture

The following is an initiation lecture given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on January 20th, 2020 in Chennai, India.

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: Today is the sacred Ekādaśī and today different offerings one should make puṣpa-nivedanaṁ, fruits nivedanaṁ, of all the offerings the greatest offering is the ātma-nivedanaṁ. You are offering yourself to Kṛṣṇa through the guru-paramparā. We belong to the Brahma Madhva Gauḍīya-sampradāya. We have to observe the principles of sādhū, śāstra and guru-paramparā. We follow the instructions of our guru and one of those instructions is to chant 16 rounds minimum, to follow the four regulative principles – no meat, fish, egg, onion and garlic, no intoxication, no gambling and no illicit sex. And one thing I ask, is Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me many instructions, many things I should do, can my disciples help me to fulfill Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission and instructions he gave to me. So who has made those vows in the temple before the Deities today? We have the vow taking. Normally we give vows one by one. But that takes a long time. So we will have representative, men for men and women for women, who will hear you take your vows.

You see this practice of bhakti-yoga is a serious practice. We want you to achieve spiritual perfection, complete perfection in this lifetime. Part of the process is accepting initiation from a bona fide guru. Part of the process is chanting every day, following the regulative principles. One should not have relations outside of marriage. This is a very common thing, practiced in the human society. But in some Western countries people live together and they are not married. We don’t follow that. So, we believe that the husband and wife become one in the sacred marriage, the vivāha-yajña. If the wife is taking initiation and not the husband, and if the husband is taking initiation and not the wife, we want if the husband or wife is here, they should come up at the same time. In the gṛhastha-āśrama each one is a half. Of the two the wife is called the ardhānginī or the better half! Every husband agrees?! Anyway, we are very happy that you should practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness very enthusiastically and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa!