20220528 Initiation Ceremony Address

The following is an initiation ceremony address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 28th, 2022 in Chennai, India.

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: We are happy to be here on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of this temple.

Here we see Nitāi-Gaura, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Lalitā Viśākhā, Rukmiṇī Satyabhāmā, Jagannātha, Baladeva Subhadrā and Sudarśana cakra and Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Today we are having the initiation ceremony. So I will give a class on the dīkṣā ceremony.

You see it is a special blessing to have the human form of life. And to be born in India is another blessing.

Lord Caitanya said:

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra.

—(Cc. Ādi 9.41)

And most people think that they are the body. And they think the goal in life is to satisfy their senses and be very comfortable. But apart from this the actual goal of life is to go back home back to Godhead. And we are the spirit soul in the body and the spirit soul is eternal. But if we don’t go back to Godhead then we have to take birth again, and again, and again and again and AGAIN! How long we have been in this material world, it is beyond calculation. But now that you have human birth in Bhārata-varṣa you should make this your last birth. Haribol! Now you are students, in the future we want you to all be masters. One may always think himself a student of his guru but for the others, you have to go and spread this message of Lord Caitanya.

Lord Caitanya said yāre dekha, tāre kaha 'kṛṣṇa'-upadeśa (Cc. Madhya 7.128). I thank all the devotees who are telling the message of Kṛṣṇa to all these new candidates for initiation. Probably most of the candidates for initiation are householders. And there are two kinds of householders. Gṛhamedhī and gṛhastha. Gṛhamedhī means that they have family but they have no Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And they have little happiness but a lot of suffering. And there is a verse from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which says gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham. We want all the householders to be gṛhasthas.

I saw a drama here from Chennai during the festival of the Bhakti-vṛkṣa. I have been telling that drama all over the world. Maybe you saw it. A girl wearing a mustache she played the part of Yamarāja. And one boy and one girl were playing the part of Yamadūtas. So the Yamadūtas were complaining to Yamarāja. In Chennai these gṛhasthas they have Deities in their house. They offer their food to Kṛṣṇa, they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, they read Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they are doing Kṛṣṇa-sevā to the temple. We cannot take them to hell! Maybe we should have a different job. This is, I was so pleased with the drama. And today, tomorrow, 4 or 5 or 6 O’clock they are going to have more dramas, but they will be in Tamil. Today on Ambarisa Mahārāja. Tomorrow Haridāsa Ṭhākura. So I wont tell you the drama because it will be a secret for you.

But Ambarīṣa was a king a gṛhastha and you know Durvāsā Muni is a vairāgī, a sannyāsī guru. But he did not worship Kṛṣṇa. But Ambarīṣa Mahārāja was a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. In the end Ambarīṣa was protected by the Sudarśana cakra. Durvāsa Muni had to run from it. I won’t say more, you have to see the drama and relish it.

Wow!

But that is what we want.That all our gṛhasthas, all our vairāgīs they should be fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That way ladies are very important, they can keep the house very Kṛṣṇa conscious. The husbands are important because they should lead the way in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So what the Yamadūtas were complaining about, all the gṛhasthas should do that. Have Deities in your house, come to the temple and see the Deities and also chant and hear Hare Kṛṣṇa. Read and hear Śrīla Prabhupāda books. Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, etc. He said all those associated with the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement should be reading his books. 

The board of education and the MI, are teaching people to be teachers. I don't know, if Chennai temple is a center of teaching. I just saw.. recently, oversaw a graduation, something like fourteen or sixteen students had teachers certification. And Sumitra Kṛṣṇa prabhu said that he applied for certification in Chennai.

The plan is that many centres are preaching. You don't have to go to Māyāpur or Vṛndāvana to sign his ID. Every temple can be a center. It is very important that you study Śrīla Prabhupādas books.

And I was listening to a class of Śrīla Prabhupādas poem. That when you take birth in the material world, you cannot help but commit some sins. If a person is very pious, he doesn't do anything, doesn't kill anybody, doesn't steal, doesn't lie.. but everyone walks on a road, and many of you drive, and there are all the ants you CRASH! It's a sin! Like that, many jñāta / ajñāta sins we do. Prabhupāda was saying how, a soldier fights in the war, he kills many people he gets a gold medal. But if he goes home, he kills someone for sense gratification, he will be hung! HUNG! By the neck, to death!!

So, we should do everything for Kṛṣṇa. We should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kali-yuga-dharma. That way, we will be forgiven any sins that we do accidentally. The secret is to keep Kṛṣṇa in the center.

Actually the happiness that we're seeking, is available when we serve Kṛṣṇa. If your children, your boy or girl ... anyone goes back to Godhead, anyone, (then) mother & father fourteen generations before and seven after, get a free ticket back to Godhead.

FREE TICKET, WOW!!

Hari Bol!!

So please, you take initiation and take some vows. You have to follow these your whole life. and read the books, you have to pass all the tests. And please be very careful and follow all the rules and regulations. Keep Kṛṣṇa in the center. So... this is my humble message. So already we're late. Don't miss the drama tonight.