20220831 ISKCON Kolkata Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Āsana Vigraha-Pratisthāpana Adhivāsa Address

The following is an address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 31st, 2022 at Iskcon Kolkata,India. 

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: So today is a very special day.

Today, we are observing the netronmilan of Gāndharvikā Giridhārī.

Auspicious items were offered to Their Lordships.

Kumārīs came and offered auspicious things to Gāndharvikā Giridhārī.

And the Deities have now gone to have Their śayana-adhivāsa.

And then They will soon be available for darśana.

Śayana-adhivāsa if you do that, it is considered you are doing all other adhivāsas.

So, it is our system to do prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā for the deities.

We did a saṅkalpa, and the priests did different prayers.

We are now doing the śayana-adhivāsa.

Tomorrow, there will nyāsa-homa, abhiṣeka and prāṇa-pratiṣṭha.

And bhoga-nivedana.

Then there will be śṛṅgāra offered.

Then ārati.

If He leave any prasāda on His plate, the devotees will take! Whatever the Lord leaves! If He leaves any! Mukundānanda’s son, Raghunandana, the Deity ate all his offering.

He was a young boy, and he was told to offer the Lord and that the Lord will eat it.

Because he asked the Lord, please take this offering.

He never offered anything to the Lord before.

He was just initiated, his father left and he requested him to offer to the Lord.

The boy cried because the Lord, Bhagavān was not taking the bhoga.

The Lord asked why are you crying?

My father told me, to offer You the bhoga and you will eat it.

You are not eating it!

What did I do wrong?

If I eat, then you will be happy and stop crying?

He said, yes, yes, yes!

Eat the laḍḍus!

He got the empty plate back and the mother asked where are the laḍḍus? The Lord ate it!

Okay! The mother said.

Every day was like this.

And the father came back, and she said there is something strange happening, he is coming back with an empty plate.

The father said like other days, he can offer and I will hide and see.

So, he heard the boy tell the Lord, please take this offering.

Then the Lord took the laḍḍu and started eating it.

And the father Mukundānanda and he looked and gasped, Ah! The Deity He froze!

And he came out and said You have a half-eaten laḍḍu in Your hand, I caught You red-handed.

One half of the laḍḍu was eaten! So that news spread all over Bengal!

How the son of Mukundānanda, Raghunandana had the Deity eat from his hand.

That is why I was saying that we will eat if the Lord leaves anything – He may not!

Sometimes He eats and leaves.

So we can get to take some prasāda. 

So, we are here in this place, where Śrīla Prabhupāda met his spiritual master.

And there were Deities worshiped by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura.

Gāndharvikā Giridhāri and Gaurāṅga.

Apparently, they, the ISKCON devotees asked to have their original Deities back here, but they did not agree.

So, they took photos of the Deities in Māyāpur and they made an exact duplicate as far as they could.

But apparently, we are told that two different Gaurāṅgas and devotees claim that both are the original.

That is why they are going to research and find out which is the original Deity and take a picture of that and accordingly make Gaurāṅga.

We are very grateful for the devotees who are present.

There are some government restrictions of how many people can be in this heritage building, because, tomorrow there will be a procession on the road.

We could not close the road off.

Apparently here in Māyāpur Tv and ISKCON Kolkata, they are broadcasting through internet.

So, the priests are doing the ceremony according to the system.

Sitalāṅga Prabhu and Sevatulya Prabhu.

These Deities are according to the Deities worshiped by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura.

Tomorrow is the English calendar appearance day of Śrīla Prabhupāda.

And tomorrow, on the tithi is also the appearance day of Sītā Ṭhākurāṇī the wife of Advaita Ācārya.

We are requesting all the devotees who are personally present here or wherever you are in any part of the world, that you should pray for Gāndharvikā Giridhārī to come here and be present and accept our worship.

Tomorrow we have to offer Them bhoga and worship.

In India, we have the second initiated ladies cook for the Deities.

In the West they not only do that but also do pūjā.

In Śrīla Prabhupāda’s presence he established that.

But in India the tradition is male pūjārīs.

I don’t mind but the President Dayārāma dāsa, he should make a standard whatever he wants.

Maybe we can research what Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura did.

In Māyāpur for Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Vyāsa-pūjā we allow his disciples male or female to do abhiṣeka.

Anyway, it is very important you all in your heart for the Lord to come and accept your worship.

I speak English because devotees all over the world are watching.

They don’t understand Bengali, so I am speaking in English.

The Deities are ready! Wow!

They are doing śayana-adhivāsa? Haribol! Kṛṣṇe matir astu!