20201124 Addressing Devotees in Annakūṭa, Govardhana

The following is an Address to the Devotees in Annakuta Govardhana puja festival by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 24th, 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: Su Svāgatam! I am glad you have come to Govardhana. Govardhana is a very holy place. Govardhana is considered as non-different from Lord Kṛṣṇa. And Lord Caitanya came as He was showing the activities of a devotee, He refused to step on the Govardhana. At that time, the Nāthajī Deity was on the Govardhana as Gopāla. And later He was transferred to Rajasthan in Nāthadvāra and He is known as Śrīnāthajī. At that time Lord Caitanya, He was on Govardhana hill. And Lord Caitanya wanted to see Him, but He would not step on Govardhana. Then there was a report that the Mughals were going to attack so they moved the Gopāla Deity to a nearby village. And there Lord Caitanya had a darśana of Gopāla. He circumambulated the Govardhana hill, He visited the Harideva temple, He bathed in Mānasoravara, He went to the Āniyora part of the Govardhana. He went to a kuṇḍa there, where Lord Caitanya went and He walked around the whole Govardhana. There is one village called Annakūṭa and He went there. So He was very active in the Govardhana pūjā. So, like that He found the Rādhā-kuṇḍa and the Śyāma-kuṇḍa. And at that time He was in Āriṭ-grāma. He bathed in the Brahma-kuṇḍa. So Lord Caitanya saw the Gopāla Deity in the village know as Gāṅṭhuli. And He went to the various vanas in Vṛndāvana. So, of course we know on one hand, in the left-hand little finger He lifted the Govardhana. All the vraja-vāsīs went under the Govardhana for protection. So for one week, Indra had the rain. And all the vraja-vāsīs went under the Govardhana. Then He replaced Govardhana Hill. All the cowherd men they approached Nanda Mahārāja. “Who is your son? He just lifted the Govardhana Hill for one week. Tell us, who is your son? Don’t tell us that He is an ordinary person.” Then Nanda Mahārāja told them that, “Garga Muni came, when He was born. So he said that this boy will have the power of Nārāyaṇa. And He will be very good for your cowherd people. And you should take care of Him carefully. He is very good for you.” So telling that to the cowherd men, they were very satisfied. But why did He have the power of Nārāyaṇa? That he didn’t say. That also Garga Muni did not tell him. He is the source of Nārāyaṇa. Naturally, He had all the powers of Nārāyaṇa.

Lord Caitanya, 500 years ago came to Vṛndāvana and He saw the holy places. At that time Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śyāma-kuṇḍa were ‘lupta’, hidden. He found them and like that He prepared the Rādhā-kuṇḍa and Śyāma-kuṇḍa. He told the Six-Gosvāmīs to stay in Vṛndāvana and locate all the holy places. I am happy that you are coming to Govardhana every year. These places, if you hear about the pastimes, what to speak if you are visiting the places, that purifies you. The vraja-vāsīs told Lord Caitanya, You are not an ordinary person. We see You as non-different from Nanda Mahārāja’s son. And just by remembering Your name, ladies, men, children, outcastes, everyone can become purified. And they get all the three worlds by the mercy of the spiritual master. And there are more things said. So like this Caitanya Mahāprabhu was giving His special mercy to the vraja-vāsīs.

So, now we see that the Rajasthan desert has come closer to Vṛndāvana. Previously, Vṛndāvana was green, filled with trees. And there Kṛṣṇa has had His childhood pastimes. So, you are all blessed, you are in this holy place of Vṛndāvana. Actually, the Lord is the Paraṁ Satyam. He is the Absolute Truth. His name and His body and His holy dhāma are non-different. His holy name, His pastimes, His qualities are all one in the Absolute Truth. So by attending the holy places of the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa, you have contact with Kṛṣṇa. So these places He visited, Lord Caitanya visited, and that is why this place is so sacred. And you can get the special mercy by visiting this place. And, normally in this human form of life we don’t think that we are not the body. We think we are the body, and we act like the body. This way, we waste our valuable human form of life. The real purpose of human life is to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. And that is the actual purpose of life. By serving Kṛṣṇa, we get unlimited spiritual happiness. So, we want everybody to be happy and the only way is by being engaged in pure bhakti. So we hope that you all achieve pure bhakti, husband and wife, both achieve pure bhakti. And Śaṅkarācārya ordered the Māyāvādīs and said that to get liberation one has to be a sannyāsī. But according to the bhakti-yoga, whether you are a gṛhastha or a vairāgī, everyone can achieve perfection by simply carrying out the orders of the spiritual master and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So I want to give you a chance, if you want to ask any questions?

Question: How to become stable in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Jayapatākā Swami: Good question! I know very little Hindi, but I will speak in English.There will be Translation. So there are eight steps in bhakti-yoga. First is śraddhā, then sādhu-saṅga, bhajana-kriyā, anartha-nivṛtti, niṣṭhā, ruci, āsakti, bhāva and then prema. So, first one at the stage of bhajana-kriyā one takes initiation. And then one under the guidance of guru and his assistants, they get rid of their anarthas. That is called anartha-nivṛtti. And then one is niṣṭhā or steady in devotional service. This is a gradual process and if he takes initiation, he goes up to anartha-nivṛtti and then he can become niṣṭhā or fixed.

So I was in the RODC and then in the NRODC in the USA. The Army and Navy. Then I asked Śrīla Prabhupāda, “What should I do?” He said, “Better you join Kṛṣṇa’s Army!” And now I am in India, I am also an army man! How long will you take to make the offering ready? Alright!

Vṛndāvana dhāma kī jaya!