20220807 Evening Address

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

Jayapatākā Swami: Today is the Daśamī tithi. Tomorrow will be Ekādaśī! Ekādaśī is Hari vāsara – the day of Lord Hari! Whatever spiritual activities are done on Ekādaśī the benefit is 100 times. Once there was a city where everyone used to observe Ekādaśī and go back to Godhead. Then the Yamadūtas felt bad. They had no work there! They prayed that Ekādaśī should be made a little more difficult. Then the Lord said grains, dal, cereals, the bad karma will especially be in them. If they don’t eat dal, pulses etc. then the bad karma will not touch them.

Lord Caitanya told Mother Śacī to please follow Ekādaśī. But I heard that in Jagannātha Purī the Pāṇḍas said that the prasāda of Jagannātha taking is not sin. They gave prasāda to Lord Caitanya there and Lord Caitanya looked at it and paid obeisances. He did such a praṇāma that Ekādaśī tithi moved away and so Lord Caitanya had pāraṇa-prasāda. Anyway, Lord Caitanya instructed everyone to follow Ekādaśī. This way, monthly twice there is Ekādaśī, and lots of pulses etc. will be saved. And according to scriptures also that is good. Eat light once in a fortnight is good for the stomach. Eat fruits, etc. And some substitute for grain can be had. Bengali what they say for sāma rice, quinoa, buckwheat, etc.

Anyway, the importance, māhātmya of Ekādaśī is available on internet. This Ekādaśī has a special quality. There are two Ekādaśī which when observed, gṛhasthas, they can get children. One Ekādaśī is to get freed from bad karma and all curses, the Ekādaśī helps to remove them. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda he also told us to do Ekādaśī vrata. Don’t eat any pulses, grains, cereals. Some can observe more austerity. That day chant more the names of the Lord. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! In some religions, there is restriction to eat. We have monthly two days. If we calculate then there are 24 Ekādaśīs in the year, that is almost one month. So in every religion they are told to observe some kind of austerity.

Today, 40 men and 14 ladies took brāhmaṇa initiation. In this matter, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that for first initiation you can be a little less strict. But for second initiation you have to be very strict because if they chant Gāyatrī and do some sin then that reaction will be more severe – like suicide is sin. But if they don’t take second initiation, they can become ghosts. But those who have taken second initiation, if they commit suicide, they become brahma-rākṣasa. Like Rāvaṇa was a brahma-rākṣasa. He used to eat human beings.

Bhakti-śāstri etc. have to be done to take second initiation. But without taking second initiation also one can go back to Godhead. But if one takes second in it will be hastened. But if they commit offence then there will be more reaction. This way cheating does not help. I am very happy that everybody, so many of you come here in great numbers. I desire that with Puṇḍarīka Premanidhi’s mercy you all get the mercy of kṛṣṇa-prema. That through the chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s names the kṛṣṇa-prema is awakened. This way you have to chant Kṛṣṇa’s name all the time. At least 16 rounds chanting. That takes about 2 hours. After more practice, it can take less time. This way, 2 hours in 24 hours is not very much time. I hope that all of you will chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and they will experience the bliss of Kṛṣṇa’s names. Chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name, saṅkīrtana and studying Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, these will help us get kṛṣṇa-prema.

Ordinarily, gṛhasthas and others cannot remember Kṛṣṇa, but Lord Caitanya said that if we remember the Lord, chant His names and study His scriptures then we will always be protected by the Lord. He wants that the living entities remember Him and worship Him. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is written, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru [Bg 18.65] - think of Me be My devotee, worship Me, then you will come to Me. Bhagavad-gītā’s main message is sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66] - you surrender to Me and I will absolve you of all your sins. Now, bhakti-yoga is to follow these rules and system.

Puṇḍarīka Premanidhi was such a great devotee that even hearing the qualities of the Lord, he would faint in love of the Lord. Mukunda Datta he was a great singer and he sang a song on the Lord to Puṇḍarīka Premanidhi, then Puṇḍarīka Premanidhi, he would be immersed in kṛṣṇa-prema and he would roll on the floor, sing and dance. Haribol! Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, when he went to Navadvīpa, Gadādhara Paṇḍita went to see him but he saw that Puṇḍarīka Vidyanadhi was in material attachment. But when Mukunda Datta sang the glories of the Lord, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi was in ecstasy. Then Gadādhara Paṇḍita said that I have committed a big offence. I thought that he was a materialist but actually Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi is a great pure devotee of the Lord. Then he thought that I have committed an offence. So I want him to be my guru and I will become his disciple. Then Gadādhara Paṇḍita asked Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu, can I make Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi my guru? Lord Caitanya said, “Yes!” Then Gadādhara Paṇḍita became the disciple of Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi. Lord Caitanya said, pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma. And hearing this prediction, my Guru Mahārāja, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda went to the West to preach. But before that he was discussing with the Vṛndāvana Gosāñis, bābājīs, and other Vraja-vāsīs, but they said Lord Caitanya’s prediction pṛthivite āche… sarvatra was meant only for Bhārata-varṣa. The Vraja-vāsīs said that it was savya not sarva. My Guru Mahārāja said that pṛthivi te āche means all the countries in the world. He did not have any money. At that time the law was that one could take 7 dollars only from India to the USA. 7 dollars in America, what can be done? Two times food! One ice cream is 5 dollars in America! Taking that he went in a cargo ship, Jaladūta, to America. In the seas, he had heart attack twice. Many difficulties he faced. He was not used to sea travel. So that way, the Atlantic Ocean became quiet. The Pacific Ocean normally is quite but the Atlantic is not quiet. But this time Atlantic Ocean became quiet.

Śrīla Prabhupāda saw a dream that he was in the middle of the ocean crossing. Then he reached Boston and in the harbor, he wrote a poem. Mārkine Bhāgavata-dharma. He alighted in Boston but did not know which way to go, left or right! Then he saw the people and understood. He asked the Lord why have you brought me to this hell? Here the people have more of passion and ignorance qualities. Why have you brought me to this very horrible place? I will preach Your name and will dance the way You make me dance, O Lord! In 5-6 years, all over the world he established 108 temples. And now in ISKCON which is 50 years old, now 56. Now there are more than 108 temples. Thousands and thousands of Bhakti-vṛkṣa and Nāmahaṭṭas. In Bengal and Bangladesh, it started.

Lord Caitanya’s teachings spread all over the world starting from Bengal. Śrīla Prabhupāda with great difficulty, in the night he would stay awake and translate the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Caitanya-caritāmṛta. They were all in English from Sanskrit. His Holiness Bhakti Cāru Swami translated from English to Bengali and other devotees into other languages. Śrīla Prabhupāda knew Sanskrit, Bengal, English and some Hindi. Now all over the world, the Bhagavad-gītā is in many languages and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also is in many languages. I hope that those who know Bengali, they will study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā, Caitanya-caritāmṛta and that way, you will perfect your lives. There is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam here? Will you all take it? 55 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam have been taken and Caitanya-caritāmṛta 68 sets. Are they over? Wow! Will the devotees be able to keep these at home? Members of the Nāmahaṭṭa, a group can at least keep one set of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta and Bhagavad-gītā. Anyway, I have spoken to you and will go to rest, tomorrow we have more initiations.