20201126 Initiation Ceremony Address to Bangalore Devotees

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: All glories to Nitāi Gaura, Jagannātha Baladeva Subhadrā, Sudarśana! All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! So, devotees are assembled here to take initiation. They are being connected to the Brahma-Madhva-Gauḍīya-ISKCON sampradāya. And Śrīla Prabhupāda brought the message of Lord Caitanya around the world. And Śrīla Prabhupāda is our Founder-Ācārya. Everybody taking initiation has this special relationship with Śrīla Prabhupāda. And they are connected to the entire guru paramparā. So before this, everything was a practice, now you have taken vows, you are being accepted in the paramparā, it is a very serious step. So the spiritual master is connected with his disciples. The dīkṣā-guru has to take karma, of any activities the disciples do, which are negative. Although the dīkṣā-guru may benefit from any activity the disciples do which are Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Today is also the special Ekādaśī. And it says this Ekādaśī is more blessed if it falls on Dvādaśī, which it has in this day. This is a Mahā-Dvādaśī. Fasting for the Utthana Ekādaśī. So even a little spiritual activity done today gives a very big benefit. But you are giving yourself in Kṛṣṇa’s service – ātmā-nivedanam. So, this is a great gift, but you have to be careful to follow these vows your whole life. If you have any difficulty, you should tell me, and I will try to arrange and instruct you. So Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā and Nitāi Gaura, all the Deities, and Śrīla Prabhupāda, are all witness, and the sacred fire is witness. So you should be very careful, whatever you have done today or going to do, it is all being witnessed.

Normally people think that they are the body. But we know that according to the Bhagavad-gītā, we are not the body. We have a body. And we have to take care of the body. But we are not the body. So, sooner or later we have to give up this body. Then again, we take another birth or we can go back to the spiritual world to serve Kṛṣṇa eternally. So, we want you to serve Kṛṣṇa eternally. And experience the spiritual bliss and happiness by serving Kṛṣṇa.