20220406 Evening Address in Śrī Śrī Rādhā Govinda Temple

The following is an evening address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 6th,2022 at Śrī Śrī Rādhā Govinda Temple, New York, USA.

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: Jaya Kavicandra Swami! Haribol! I heard you were here, and I wanted to see you!

Jayapatākā Swami: Rādhā Govinda are very dear to Śrīla Prabhupāda. In fact, we heard later that he was thinking to have his samādhi in New York. So, Rādhā Govinda were so dear to him. So we are very grateful to His Holiness Bhakti Cāru Swami, Śeṣa Prabhu, Haṁsarūpa Prabhu and other devotees have worked hard to keep this temple. I don’t know I heard you have applied to have this called Bhaktivedanta Swami Mārga or is it already approved? Is it approved or is it something we are trying for?

So, I am very glad also to see in this visit the small utsava-mūrti of Rādhā Govinda and Lord Caitanya. Actually, in different yugas, different avatāras came. And each avatāra has His own mood. But then in this Kali-yuga, Lord Caitanya came. And He has His mood. His mood is mercy. We know that in Kali-yuga it is not the best time for spiritual progress. And in other yugas, different avatāras came and They had Their līlās. But you see in each of the previous yugas, there was meditation, homa (yajña), temple worship. But Lord Caitanya, He taught us that we could achieve success, whether a gṛhastha or a sannyāsī by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. And in the song Locana dāsa Ṭhākura said – saba avatāra sāra śiromaṇi kevala-ānanda-kanda – that Lord Caitanya gave a system which is simply blissful. And chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, dancing, feasting on prasāda.

In 1968 I flew from San Francisco to New York. And then to Montreal. I saw all the temples in ISKCON. There were only three! Now it is not so easy! 800 or something temples! Maybe Kavicandra Mahārāja may know, I don’t know. Actually, there was a place Henry Street, and I took second initiation there! I had my first initiation in Montreal and second in New York. I came to the Ratha-yātrā several times and I have seen Bindu Mādhava leading the Ratha-yātrā. And so it is more attractive, in the first week end of June they have the Pānihāṭi Festival and in the second week end they have the New York Ratha-yātrā. So let us see if I can attend both! I did not expect to see so many devotees here on a Wednesday! I am very glad that you all came here and are worshiping Rādhā Govinda. Unfortunately, tonight I am flying, going back to Dubai and then to Māyāpur. I got a letter from Haṁsarūpa Prabhu requesting me to come to the temple. So, I don’t get many written invitations! So when he wrote, I had to consider!

Lord Caitanya, He had His transcendental pastimes. The Chand Kazi broke mṛdaṅgas. He told all the devotees that no one will stop the saṅkīrtana movement. And then He formed four parties. One, led by Śrīvāsa, one by Advaita Gosāñi, and one by Haridāsa Ṭhākura. And He accompanied by Lord Nityānanda Prabhu and Gadādhara Prabhu led the fourth. Because Śacīmātā had requested Gadādhara Prabhu to see that Lord Caitanya doesn’t crash on the ground. One was on each side when Lord Caitanya was dancing. The sound went over the whole universe. Actually, millions of people joined in. And Indradeva, Vāyudeva, they came down to see. And they saw Lord Caitanya dancing and crying! They fainted to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead in ecstasy, crying! When they came to consciousness, they took human form and joined the kīrtana. Some atheists who were watching the kīrtana, when they saw Lord Caitanya chanting and dancing, they became ecstatic themselves and started rolling on the ground and chanting. This was an amazing kīrtana! Just like Lord Kṛṣṇa, He was at the Kurukṣetra war with so many akṣauhiṇī soldiers, this kīrtana organized by Lord Caitanya was something indescribable. Apsarās, angels from the heavenly planets they threw flowers and little conch shells, cowries. The kīrtana went on like for a kalpa, day of Brahmā. But the outward calculation, which is one day, one night. Then when the Chand Kazi heard the kīrtana, he said, “What is that, Hindu wedding? Tell them to be quiet!” The soldiers went out and when they saw so many hundreds and thousands and millions of people chanting, then they got frightened. They tore off their turbans, hid their beards and started chanting! Well, the rest you know is in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.

So Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying how in one ecstatic kīrtana they had in New York, Nārada Muni came, and he was laughing, how all these mlecchas, yavanas, all were chanting. So this New York city is very famous in the world, but it has a different fame for devotees.

And so, I am very grateful that Rādhā Govinda are so nicely worshiped. I did not expect to be offered a cake! If I new there was an annaprāśana I could have had my secretary to read the ślokas. We offer for girls it is the 5th month or the 7th month. For boys it is the 6th month or 8th month, we offer five times the mantra to each of the airs. Offer the fire of digestion. Oṁ prāṇāya svāha, into the fire. And this was going on very spontaneously.

Anyway, I am very grateful for coming here to the temple. I saw how Bhakti Cāru Swami came and spoke on the Town hall program which was held with Śeṣa and Pragoṣa Prabhus. I am very glad that we have the temple. I think we can all donate some money and get the lift, elevator repaired! Anyway, we have a hotel next door and I am staying there. So I am very grateful to see all you nice devotees. This stick is a Jagannātha Purī remnant. And just to protect it we have wrapped it in sliver. So he flew in from Dubai to help me get back to Dubai.