20201010 Zoom Address to Bangladesh Namahatta-Mela

The following is a Zoom address at the Bangladesh Namhatta Mela by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 10th, 2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

govardhana dharam vande
gopālam gopa-rūpinam
gokulotsava īśānam
govindam gopikā-priyam

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: I had said yesterday that Bhakti-vṛkṣa is a small Nāmahaṭṭa. And most of the time I spoke about Bhakti-vṛkṣa. I don’t know how many Bhakti-vṛkṣas are there in Bangladesh and how many Nāmahaṭṭas. In the whole of India there are about 3,700 Nāmahaṭṭas. In West and East Medinipur, there are about 700 Nāmahaṭṭas each. There are now almost 1450 in West and East Medinipur. We want that some villagers are willing to give land in the rural area and we will make a kīrtana-mahal there. I did not hear what is feasible in Bangladesh. Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami brought a proposal for West Bengal. I hope that there will be a huge expansion in Bangladesh. In Nāmahaṭṭa normally there is kīrtana, class, question and answer and after that prasāda distribution. Many people do the Nāmahaṭṭa on the same lines as Bhakti-vṛkṣa. If there are many people, then they have small groups for discussion in the Nāmahaṭṭa. Anyway, this Nāmahaṭṭa is in the rural areas. And there is kīrtana, class, various programs. There is a very nice system of Nāmahaṭṭa in the villages. The Nāmahaṭṭa was established by Lord Nityānanda. But after some years, slowly it disappeared. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura then started Nāmahaṭṭa again. That also worked for some time and then gradually disappeared. I hear that and I saw in a magazine, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura was asking people to do Nāmahaṭṭa. In the Gauḍīya newspaper my gurudeva spoke about Nāmahaṭṭa. I took the blessings of the guru-paramparā and reestablished the Nāmahaṭṭa. Now it has shaped up into a big building. The Nāmahaṭṭa is not only in India and Bangladesh but in other countries in the world too. Where there is more land there Nāmahaṭṭas are there. In cities and smaller towns, they have Bhakti-vṛkṣa. The crux of all this is kīrtana. And to discuss the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This way be always in bliss! The various Nāmahaṭṭa leaders perform various programs. In Bangladesh I think perhaps they do Kṛṣṇa kīrtana and many devotees go and have program. In India His Holiness Gaurāṅga Prema Mahārāja and others conduct this program.

During this pandemic, it is not very advisable to travel. So we are organizing virtual meetings, Zoom, YouTube, etc. That way programs can be done in Nāmahaṭṭas and Bhakti-vṛkṣa. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura used to make a newsletter. I translated it like a book. It is called Godruma Kalpaṭavī. There are three stores of Nāmahaṭṭa. One is Saṅgha, Kendra and Mandir. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said about the Mandir in two āśramas. I have seen two such āśramas in South Bengal. It was writing Prapanna-āśrama and there were deities. But the Nāmahaṭṭa did not work out there. We have to make sure the Nāmahaṭṭa keeps going. If there is a Nāmahaṭṭa and then after sometime closes down, that is not right. In Odisha in certain villages, they used to have programs called Bhāgavata-tuṅgi where they had Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam study. There people would get together and do kīrtana. Now these do not take place. There instead boys get together and play cards etc. We want that the Nāmahaṭṭa continues to thrive.

Lord Caitanya said, gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. The gṛhasthas should chant the name of Kṛṣṇa that is what we should ensure. For them there should be Nāmahaṭṭa in every village. The main goal of our human life is to serve Kṛṣṇa. If we serve Kṛṣṇa, then we get unlimited happiness and after the end of this life we go back to Godhead. In the Adivāsa day before kīrtana there is a song we sing – ānander sīmā nāi, ānander sīmā nāi, nirānanda dūre jāi nirānanda dūre jāi. We want that everyone by doing kīrtana in Nāmahaṭṭa should have unlimited bliss. People are generally busy in doing material things. But it is not difficult to remember the Lord. Those who work in the fields or anywhere else, they also can chant the names of the Lord. In various levels the holy name can be chanted. The husband and wife can do Harināma together. The lady is the saha-dharminī and they can do Harināma together. So people get together in the Nāmahaṭṭa and do kīrtana and study the scriptures. This is very useful. In our hearts there will be the dawn of God consciousness.

We heard today how Lord Caitanya went to Śāntipura. Advaita Gosāñī was dancing in ecstasy, for three hours, one prahara. Then Lord Nityānanda started dancing. Then Haridāsa Ṭhākura also started to dance at the back. So like this everyone was dancing and doing kīrtana. But Lord Caitanya was crying in separation from Kṛṣṇa and fell unconscious. Everyone stopped dancing. This way the līlā manifested. Some months ago we heard that as Nimāi Paṇḍita He went to Bangladesh. There He took bath in the Padmā river and He went to Śrīhaṭṭa. This way He went to various places and the people in Bangladesh were very happy that Lord Caitanya had come there. Lord Caitanya gave His teachings to everyone and expanded the Harināma. Haribol! Haribol! Bangladesh is a sacred place. Gaura-maṇḍala bhūmi, yeba jāne cintāmaṇi, tāra hoye vraja-bhūmi vāsa. Almost the whole of Bangladesh is within the Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi. We know that this is also the pastimes places of Lord Caitanya. There if we chant Kṛṣṇa’s name then very easily one can get the mercy of Lord Caitanya. But if we don’t do this then that will be our loss. So you have to try to see that the Nāmahaṭṭa expands well. Nāmahaṭṭa, Bhakti-vṛkṣa, through these there should be preaching. We will hear from Jagat-guru where what is. Next year if there is more expansion, we will hear about that.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!