20200929 Zoom Session with Raichur Congregation

The following is a Zoom Session with ISKCON Metpally Congregation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on September 29th, 2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, 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: Jaya Śrī Śrī Nitāi Gaura! Jaya Śrī Śrī Rādhā Śyāmacandra ki jaya!

govardhana dharam vande,
gopālam gopa rūpinam
gokulotsava īśānām,
govindam gopikā-priyam

I am very happy to be visiting the Raichur temple. Seeing the very wonderful devotees and beautiful Deities. We are very glad that the devotees are so dedicated. Very nice to see everybody assembled there. Of course, you say that there are many devotees, some 300 or so active, so they could also be online, and we could visit their homes. I am very happy that the disciples of His Holiness Lokanātha Swami and my disciples are cooperating together. Lokanātha Swami is my dear friend and godbrother.

So, the purpose of human life is actually to reestablish our relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya taught that those who are born in Bharata, they should make their lives perfect and help others.

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra

(Cc. Ādi 9.41)

So you are all very fortunate to be chanting the holy names. There are different yogas – dhyāna-yoga, aṣṭāṅga-yoga, bhakti-yoga, but the jñāna-yogīs, Śaṅkarācārya says that to achieve mokṣa you need to be a sannyāsī. But Lord Caitanya taught that bhakti-yogīs whether they are gṛhasthas or vairāgīs, they can achieve perfection. Like the Pāṇḍavas, they achieved Kṛṣṇa. So did Queen Kuntī and Draupadī. Prahlāda Mahārāja, he achieved the lotus feet of Lord Narasiṁhadeva. He was a gṛhastha. His grandson was Bali Mahārāja. Bali Mahārāja also achieved the mercy of Vāmanadeva. Lord Kṛṣṇa, He said regardless of being a brāhmaṇa or kṣatriya, woman or vaiśya or śūdra or sinful birth, if they take shelter of Him, He will deliver them. But to get the mercy one had to fully surrender. But when Kṛṣṇa came as Lord Caitanya, then He gave out the mercy very freely.

We were just reading how after Lord Caitanya took sannyāsa, He went to meet the devotees at Śāntipura,the house of Advaita Gosāñī. When the people in Navadvīpa heard that Lord Caitanya, Nimāi had taken sannyāsa, they went in huge numbers. Even the atheists, who had previously blasphemed Him went to get His mercy to be forgiven of all their offences. All the old, young, the blind, the deaf, ladies, boys, children, everyone went to see Lord Caitanya. Thousands went into the ferry boats and the boats sank, but the people swam across! Even those who did not know swimming, they somehow floated across. Somehow, they reached Śāntipura chanting the holy name of Lord Hari. Haribol!

The sound filled the whole universe. Like this were the pastimes of Lord Caitanya! We should see if Lord Caitanya went to Raichur! Do we have the scriptural reference of the samādhis of Madhva sannyāsīs? Please send that to me as we have the samādhi meeting.

Anyway, Lord Caitanya visited the capital of Vijayanagara king, Hampi. Isn’t Raichur on the way to Hampi? We should confirm that and put the lotus footprint of Lord Caitanya in Raichur.

Normally, people are trying to get their material life perfect. But sometimes materially there is happiness and sometimes there is sadness. If we have less suffering, we think we are happy. But the real happiness is serving Kṛṣṇa. So Rukmiṇī told Kṛṣṇa, “You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You know everything. You know what Lord Brahmā is doing in Satyaloka and what Lord Śiva is doing in Kailāsa. But there is one thing You don’t know. Rādhārāṇī knows, I know, You don’t know!” He said, “What, something I don’t know? What is that?” Rukmiṇī said, “You don’t know how much, we, Your devotees love You. And how we love You!” So as the Supreme Lord He cannot see the things from the angle of the devotees. But since He can do anything, He took the mood of Rādhārāṇī and the color of Rādhārāṇī. So He came as Caitanya Mahāprabhu to see what it was like to be His devotee. Balarāma came as Lord Nityānanda to assist Lord Caitanya. It is revealed in the sacred books that when Lord Nityānanda was going to Navadvīpa He was overwhelmed in love of Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes He took the three-fold bending form of Kṛṣṇa playing on the flute. Sometimes He would stop on the road, sit down and cry for Kṛṣṇa. Nitāi-Gaura, They were enjoying so much as devotees. They wanted to let everyone enjoy in this way.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda brought Lord Caitanya’s mercy to us. In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa explains how one in a thousand thinks about self-realization. And out of a thousand that think about self-realization, one may achieve self-realization. And out of thousands of self-realized souls, one may be a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. But Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, They gave that mercy out freely to be a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. So Śrīla Prabhupāda, he brought this mercy to us, we should understand that it is the greatest treasure of life. So Śrīla Prabhupāda had made this good fortune for all of you, for all the people all over the world. By the mercy of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, we get love for Kṛṣṇa. We can experience the ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Tears flowing from Their eyes, hairs standing on end, loud laughing, sometimes being stunned or falling on the ground, all these ecstatic symptoms were shown by Lord Nitāi and Lord Caitanya. But bhakti-yoga is a gradual process. It may take ten years, twenty years. But that is a very short time. In the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says by jñāna-yoga, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante (Bg. 7.19) – after many, many births – but during this life you can achieve bhakti-yoga. Now this is a very special mercy.

This month of Puruṣottama, the adhika-māsā is a very special month to practice bhakti-yoga. Not very good for śubha-karma. But very good for bhakti. Even by observing the Padminī or Parama Ekādaśīs, one can achieve Goloka Vṛndāvana. Every day you should offer a lamp to Rādhā and Śyāmacandra. In Bengaluru they can offer to Gāndharvikā Giridhārī! So in this way we could make the best use of our human life and lead a very happy, peaceful life. And at the end of life go back to Kṛṣṇa. His Holiness Lokanātha Swami did his campaign during the ‘Holy Name Week’ to make people fortunate by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa once. How fortunate you are, you are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa every day! There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His name. No difference between Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes. So in other yugas there are different processes. Meditation, homas, temple worship. In Kali-yuga, we are not qualified to do any of these. So the Lord has come as His holy name and by chanting His holy name, we can achieve all success. So, please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy!