20201209 Zoom Session to Odisha Nāmahaṭṭa Devotees

The following is a Zoom Session with the Odisha Nāmahaṭṭa Devotees by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on December 9th,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: I am not used to speaking Odia. I will speak in Bengali and that will be translated into Odia. But I can understand Odia but not speak. Lord Caitanya has instructed that all should chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa’s name and Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

Today in caitanya-līlā I had talked about that Lord Caitanya had the darśana of Lord Jagannātha. Seeing Lord Jagannātha, He was filled with prema. He wanted to embrace the Deity of Lord Jagannātha. But Lord Caitanya fainted then. Then the guards there wanted to beat Him up. But Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya came there and saved Him. And he took Lord Caitanya to his house. Lord Caitanya is Kṛṣṇa but He came as a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Jagannātha is in the mood of Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Lord Caitanya is in the mood of a devotee. And Kṛṣṇa came in the form of Lord Caitanya, a devotee of Kṛṣṇa, in Kali-yuga to teach the people bhakti or devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa. And Lord Caitanya ordered to chant the name of Kṛṣṇa, to do devotional service to Kṛṣṇa and to follow the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So it is the duty of all the devotees to follow the instructions of Lord Caitanya. That way, to follow Lord Caitanya’s special instructions. I hope all of you are following the instructions of Lord Caitanya. And that way the mercy of Lord Caitanya be showered on all of you. And Lord Caitanya’s special mercy was that He said gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. Generally, people live in their homes and are gṛhamedhīs. Gṛhamedhī means to live with their wives, children and take care of them. And to harm others. But gṛhastha-āśrama is where the husband and wife together try to serve the Lord. And there we have a Nāmahaṭṭa, which tries to bring everyone under the gṛhastha-āśrama and serve Lord Kṛṣṇa. I hope that all of you are chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa and also doing devotional service and serving the Deities. And you are also reading the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When you do this service, you get the special mercy of the Lord. There is no loss. Service to the Lord, His name, His teachings, to do these, is not very difficult. I hope that in this way, everyone will chant the name of Kṛṣṇa.

This month of Keśava is the month in which the Bhagavad-gītā appeared. This month is very special for reciting and distributing the Bhagavad-gītā. Hope that devotees from Odisha will pledge to distribute Bhagavad-gītās as requested by His Grace Vaiśeṣika Prabhu. His goal is 20 lakhs Bhagavad-gītās will be distributed in this month. Already there are pledges for about 12-15 lakhs. Pūrṇacandra Prabhu is in charge of Gītā distribution and devotees in the Nāmahaṭṭa may please contact him to give their pledges. Śrīla Prabhupāda said he would be very happy if to every home, Bhagavad-gītā is distributed. With great difficulty His Holiness Gaura Govinda Mahārāja had translated the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīla Prabhupāda translated them from Sanskrit to English and His Holiness Gaura Govinda Mahārāja translated English to Odia. That is why now we have the Gītā in Odia. I hope that everyone gets an opportunity to get the Bhagavad-gītā. The purpose of human life is to serve Lord Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu with which the love of Godhead blossoms in the heart. And this way, following Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s teachings and instructions, prema-bhakti will manifest in the heart. Because we commit many sins, we face lot of suffering. But with Lord Caitanya’s mercy, we can be absolved of these sins. And experience great bliss.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!