20201127 Initiation Ceremony to Nāmahaṭṭa Devotees

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

Jayapatākā Swami: Today we have an initiation ceremony organized. I hope that all are ready for it. Initiation means that you are categorically getting inducted into the guru paramparā. And with me as your initiating guru, you will have a special connection. If you break any of the vows after initiation, I will be responsible for that. I hope that all of you will follow all your vows and go back to Godhead. Lord Caitanya is most merciful, if you make some mistake or the other, He will forgive you. But we have to make efforts to follow all the regulations.

Śrīla Prabhupāda said that we have to be 100% Kṛṣṇa conscious. The devotees were sad and said it was very difficult. Śrīla Prabhupāda then said, even if you are 90% or 80% or 70% Kṛṣṇa conscious, the Lord will take you back. You will all try to be 100% but if even it is a little less, that is okay. Anyway, if you aim for 70%, then you will be able to achieve 40% You have to make an effort for 100%. If there is any mistake, that is okay. Anyway, now there are two things – one is acara, practice of doing devotional service to the Lord properly. And the other is pracāra – preaching the teachings of Lord. Bhagavad-gītā was spoken from the lotus mouth of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was spoken about the Lord and is the scriptural incarnation. Śrīla Prabhupāda dedicated his life to translating the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam so that we could get to study it. And His Holiness Bhakti Cāru Mahārāja translated it from English to Bengali. That everyone should study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that was the desire of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Now, service to the Lord, chanting His name, is a very blissful thing. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī said that Kṛṣṇa, in the name of Kṛṣṇa, what bliss is there, I cannot express. I hope that all of you will do this service to the holy name and stay happy. Anyway, now you will try in different ways to stay in devotional service. Now, Nāmahaṭṭa is there where you can all stay all the time fixed in Kṛṣṇa’s devotional service. And that way, Lord Caitanya wanted that we should remember Kṛṣṇa always and never forget Kṛṣṇa. Now, māyā is very strong. The only way to protect ourselves is to take shelter of Subhadrā Mayī or His other divine energies. Now, the Harināma you do every day is non-different from Kṛṣṇa. Here I end my talk with my best wishes to you and hope that all of you will advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And if you have any problems, you can write to me or you can approach your Nāmahaṭṭa leaders who can get in touch with me. Hare Kṛṣṇa!