20220520 Installation of Śrī Śrī Gaura Nitāi Deities Address/

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 20th, 2022 in Kolkata, India. The talk was given at the Śrī Śrī Gaura-Nitāi Grand Installation ceremony at Iskcon New Town on day 2, morning session.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Jayapatākā Swami: I have been asked to speak in English and there will be translation in Hindi. We are very honored to have Lord Nitāi and Gaurāṅga here. Kṛṣṇa said that in every yuga, He comes. Sambhavāmi yuge yuge (Bg. 4.8) . So in this age He came as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. And He was accompanied by Lord Nityānanda Prabhu and many other associates. He went to Gaya to offer piṇḍa for His deceased father. And He took initiation at Gaya from His guru Īśvara Purī and He started to express His ecstasy there. I was telling the Biharis (residence of Bihar) that Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy first manifested in Bihar. Anyway, Lord Caitanya, He stated twenty-four years in Navadvīpa. And after He got initiated, then He started the saṅkīrtana movement. Then at the age of twenty-four He decided to take sannyāsa. Because, people were not respecting Him, that would be harmful for them. So He took sannyāsa so people would respect Him. He went to Jagannātha Purī. He sent Lord Nityānanda back to Bengal to preach. He sent Tapana Miśra and Candrasekara to Benaras to wait for Him. Then He sent Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī to Vṛndāvana. So He was sending different devotees to different places.

So, the area of Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi stretches to Remuṇā on the south-west side. On the south-east is the birthplace of Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi. North-east is the birthplace of Mādhavendra Purī and Advaita Gosāñi. North-west is Kānāi-nāṭaśālā. So this place Kolkata is also within the Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura was saying gaura-maṇḍala bhūmi, yeba jāne cintāmaṇi, tāra haya vraja-bhūmi vāsa. So the dhāma of Gaura-maṇḍala in Navadvīpa is like a lotus flower with eight petals. Central is Navadvīpa-dhāma and eight petals. Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi is like many petals around this lotus like a big lotus.

You see, the difference is that Lord Caitanya He gave out love of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa He did not give love so easy. So Lord Kṛṣṇa He would give out love if you fully surrendered to Him. But Lord Caitanya, without considering who is qualified, who is not qualified, He gave kṛṣṇa-prema. There is a pastime in Vṛndāvana. Kṛṣṇa, He carried some rice as a little baby and took it and handed it to a lady (on the way most of the rice fell down) whatever was left in His hand to the ādivāsī lady who was selling a basket of fruits. So that tribal lady she filled up Kṛṣṇa’s baby hands with fruits. Then she looked back at her basket, it was filled with gold, jewels.

Similarly, there was a pastime of Lord Caitanya, returning from Vṛndāvana in Benaras, through the Jhārikaṇḍa forest that behind Him, His associates could not keep up with Him. On the path there was a young cowherd boy. And he was carrying a pot of buttermilk. Lord Caitanya said, “I am thirsty, can I have some buttermilk?” “Alright, take as much as You want!” the boy said. Lord Caitanya drank the entire pot! “ Ahh! Thank you!” The boy asked, “Could You give me some payment for the buttermilk?” Lord Caitanya said, “My associates are coming behind, they will pay you.” Then He went off. Certainly, the associates came there. They asked the boy, “Did you see a sannyāsī go this way?” “Ha! Ha! He drank all my buttermilk. He said you would pay me.” They looked at each other and said, “We don’t have any money.” “Alright, it is not your fault!” the boy said. “ Tell the sannyāsī when you see Him, this is my donation to Him!” He tried to lift his pot, it was too heavy! He could not lift it. Ah! He looked into it, it was filled with jewels, gold, money! Then he ran after the sannyāsī, Lord Caitanya. And Lord Caitanya was waiting for His associates all the way up on the path. So, the cowherd boy paid his obeisances and touched the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. So then the associates also arrived there. Lord Caitanya said, “Kṛṣṇa has given you a boon.” Then the boy went back and started dancing and chanting as he had kṛṣṇa-prema. The associates when they saw the boy dancing, they became very happy. This is the difference between Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya and Śrī Kṛṣṇacandra. Both gave jewels and gold. But Lord Caitanya gave love of Kṛṣṇa! Haribol!

So, you are all very fortunate, Nitāi-Gaurāṅga are being installed here. They are especially merciful. And how many of you need mercy? Haribol! We are very happy that Lord Caitanya has come. In the West because His Divine Grace Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda brought the message of Lord Caitanya, therefore so many people could take advantage of the mercy of Lord Caitanya. So, this human life, Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā is duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam. Just like we see different forest fires in the world today. In New Mexico, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, USA. And if a rain cloud comes and rains over that fire, it can extinguish the fire. So, there is a song, guruvāṣṭakam, the first verse says, that the mercy of the guru puts out the fire of the forest fire. So, if we do some sevā to Lord Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya, our life becomes perfect. The donor he came, come, he had children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, four generations! So, according to the śāstra if you do a service to Kṛṣṇa, sevā and you go back, 14 generations are delivered. Seven forward, seven back. We saw four-generations, he has three more. Then his father, grandfather, great father and seven before. So, this material world sometimes is like a forest fire. And by the message of Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityānanda, we get the forest fire of the material world extinguished. In the material world people tend to be envious. If you are successful, they envy you. Now this is a defect of the material world. There are many defects. So we want you all to be happy and to get the mercy of Lord Caitanya. Hare Kṛṣṇa! So this human life is an opportunity to take shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Lord Caitanya, and go back to Godhead! But if you don’t advantage, you will just stay in the forest fire of the material world, you will get another birth in this material world. And you may not be so fortunate, you don’t know what birth you get. Maybe go to heaven or hell, don’t know where you go. But if you do sevā, you are guaranteed you will go back in this lifetime to Godhead! Haribol! My time is up now. It is time for requesting the Deities to come. And we are requesting the Deities to descend here, according to Bṛhaspati’s procedure. But the Lord is Bhakta-vatsala. So all of you should pray in your heart for the Lord to come. And the Lord will listen to your prayer. That you want the Lord to come, so you can serve Him. Serving the Lord is the secret of success. Anyway, I have to go now!

Hare Kṛṣṇa!