20211016 Damodara Festival Global Launch Address

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

Jayapatākā Swami: We are very happy to announce the beginning of the Dāmodara-vratā. Especially, the outreach program of offering lamps to Lord Dāmodara and Yaśodā during this month. We have seen this become a very vibrant program, all over the world, and people have taken it up to offer a lamp to Yaśodā Dāmodara, and thus begin their spiritual life on a stronger footing. And Malaysia has led this program and has hundreds of thousands of participants. Last year, I think on Diwali day, they set a national record. But apart from that, around the world, they are doing the Dāmodara-pūjā. It is a very easy program, to offer a lamp to the Lord and His mother. People like this program very much, it is very easy to do and by doing so, they are getting a special benefit. Not only for themselves, but for their ancestors, for their descendants and it is glorified in different Purāṇas. It is a very important sevā.

I am very happy that the devotees will now start the Dāmodara-pūjā outreach, the Congregational Development Min has produced an App so that people can record their progress on their mobile phones. Most people have smart phones, and this is being made more easy to record and send the scores. We saw that even in South America, Cuenca, the people offered a small candle to the picture of Yaśodā Dāmodara. Maybe they were reminded of Lord Jesus and Mother Mary Whatever it is, we told them it is Kṛṣṇa and Yaśodā and they lined up and offered the lamp. So they are all getting ajñāta-sukṛti, they are getting the benefit, knowingly or unknowingly and I heard in Malaysia in some of the stalls, in the Diwali sale, was dedicated to Dāmodara-pūjā. So people from various communities would come up and participate in this offering of lamp. So I just want to encourage everyone, I think this is very important and by this method you can encourage existing congregational members and you can make new congregational members. So, it is a very effective way of outreach. To increase the number of devotees and to increase their active participation, giving them blessings and good fortune. It is a ray of hope in this darkness after the pandemic. I don’t want to speak too long.

Of course, at this time I would like to offer a brief prayer of our Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra to our brothers and sisters in Bangladesh who recently had been subjected to various attacks and riots. Some are in the hospital; one had left his body. So this is due to some politics of some terrorist group. So, with that I would like to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! I will try to stay as long as possible. I am supposed to go to a special prayer meeting for the Bangladesh devotees. My bests wishes and blessings for the successful Dāmodara outreach. Yaśodā Dāmodara matir astu!