20210914 51st Sannyāsa Anniversary Address

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

Jayapataka Swami: All glories to Srimati Radharani. I remember 51 years ago on this sacred day, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that there were nine sannyasis in Los Angeles and he said then there were two in India, and so he said that I was the 11^th. On this sacred he gave me the danda, he gave me the sannyasa Gayatri. Should I speak in English or Bengali? If I speak in English, Sujitendriya prabhu should repeat in Bengali. I heard that simultaneously translation is going on. Anyway, I was thinking that many of our gṛhasthas are also like sannyasis. They are very dedicated to serving Krsna. The real thing is to serve Krsna. Carry out the order of the spiritual master. Being a sannyasi, my obligation was to the temple and to the disciples and to the spiritual master. If I was a gṛhastha maybe, I would have to spend a lot of time to maintain my family. Śrīla Prabhupāda was very merciful that he gave me many instructions and he gave me lot of association. He told me to develop Mayapur dhama. We heard how today Radharani created Mayapur dhama, Navadvipa dhama, for the pleasure of Lord Krsna.

So this is a very special place and I am very fortunate to be here in the holy dhama. And due to this COVID restrictions, for more than one year I have been here in Mayapur. At the same time, using the internet, I have been able to visit many temples around the world. So Śrīla Prabhupāda said I should spend more time in Mayapur and at the same time he told me to travel and preach. Now with the internet, I am doing both. Of course, I travelled around the world many times. Sometimes five or six times in a year. And I would tire out the secretaries! And it was very inspiring to see the different devotees around the world. So I am thinking now how all the men, all the ladies, they can be Krsna conscious. We see that Suniti, Devahuti, they went back to Godhead, by being mothers who guided their children to Krsna consciousness. And of course Devahuti, she was fortunate to have the Supreme Personality of Godhead as her son, Kapila deva.

I was thinking that all the men, all the women, they should engage in Krsna consciousness in such a way that Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desires, the Panca-tattva’s desires would be satisfied. I don’t know how long Krsna will have me stay in this world but I hope that up to my last breath I can follow the instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

I had the opportunity to have a quick darsana of the Deities, personally, after inaugurating the padayatra with other devotees. Then I am addressing you all. We want to keep Śrīla Prabhupāda, his instructions in the center. And we know that this material world is a very dangerous place. There is danger at every step. So trying to serve Krsna I am realizing tremendous results by Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy. And Lord Caitanya wanted everyone to taste the love of Godhead. He said that the fruit of the bhakti tree is to be distributed. So I would hope that everybody could have a taste of that fruit, and help to distribute it as Lord Caitanya had requested. One time someone asked Śrīla Prabhupāda before the Deities, what he is praying for. Of course that is a very personal question and I don’t think a disciple really has the right to ask such a question. But Śrīla Prabhupāda turned to that disciple and said, I am praying that I may not fall down. So, of course, we know that this material world is testing us all the time. And it is very important that we dedicate ourselves to the guru and Gauranga. So, I had this opportunity to be a sannyasi and we are celebrating this 51^st anniversary, and I hope that I will continue always serving Śrīla Prabhupāda by the mercy of Radha and Madhava. Hare Krsna!

Actually in the book by His Holiness Bhakti Purusottama Swami on the glories of Srimati Radharani I am waiting to read the second volume. But in the first volume it said that they were testing the chastity of different ladies. They had some pot with many holes in it and they had to cross the Yamuna or something, and all the water should stay in the pot. But everybody failed the test except for Radharani. Srimati Radharani ki jaya!