20220621 Arrival Address (Salem)

The following is an arrival address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on June 21st, 2022 in Salem, 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: I visited Salem many times virtually! Many years ago, I saw the yātrā which is in the hills. This is the first time I am visiting this temple. It is very impressive how the temple is being built in granite stone. How the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, how this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam effects and the whole concept of the temple built with granite stone is nice. So this temple is being built to be there for thousands of years.

In the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa, all the holy rivers, the holy places came to see Lord Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā. And Gaṅgā as the spokesperson, she said, “Sinful people are coming and bathing in our waters and leaving all their sins. So we understand You will be leaving soon, so please take us with You.” Lord Kṛṣṇa smiled and He told them, “You wait 5,000 years. Let the sinful people bathe in the waters. After 5,000 years My devotees will preach all over the world and spread the chanting of the harināma. For ten thousand years there will be a golden period in the middle of the Kali-yuga. Then people will be chanting My holy name. So when they come to your water, they will chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. The golden period will last for ten thousand years. And then let the devotees bathe in your waters. After ten thousand years Kali-yuga sets in, in a very gross way. At that time, you can go underground like the Sarasvatī. And wait till the end of the Kali-yuga. 432,000 years.” So Lord Kṛṣṇa was smiling at them and He gave them this instruction. You are very fortunate to be born in India. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, he said that Bhū-maṇḍala is the best place in the whole universe. And the most auspicious of Bhū-maṇḍala is Bhārata-varṣa. And in Bhārata-varṣa, Bengal is good. There Navadvīpa-dhāma is a jewel. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu the Kali-yuga avatāra appeared there. So we see many pictures, murals about Lord Caitanya. He spent six years travelling around South India. We want to place the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya wherever He visited. Śyāma Rasika prabhu – how many places are there in Tamil Nadu? Who knows? I heard 31.

So like this, we are very grateful to Gokula Candra dāsa and other devotees here for building this beautiful temple. We do hope that you can finish it very soon. And we are very grateful that His Holiness Bhakti Vikāsa Swami is giving inspiration to devotees here. He took sannyāsa from me. He is very kind, when I was sick at the hospital in the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mira Road he came to see me. So, since I am going from Bengaluru to Coimbatore, they suggested that I should stop in Salem, it is one of my zone’s I have never visited, so I came. So I am very pleased that Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mūrti is here and Śrīla Prabhupāda’s vision is being established.

Nitāi-Gaura kī jaya! So, Lord Caitanya wanted every town and village in the whole world to be chanting His holy name. That includes towns and villages of India and all the other continents. So I do hope you get all the people in Tamil Nadu to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. I thank the devotees of Turaiyūr who have come here. Hare Kṛṣṇa!