20220919 Initiation Address

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

Jayapatākā Swami: So, apparently there will be simultaneously Bengali translation. I will speak in English. Now, we had the blessings of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa and also Durgā and Śiva, Murugan or Kārtikeya, and Hanumān. Actually, Lord Śiva and Durgā are the protector and protectress of Navadvīpa dhāma and Vṛndāvana. And we heard how Gaṇeśa, he wrote the Mahābhārata for Vyāsadeva and that is why he has only one tusk. And how Murugan is the General of the devas. All these are great Vaiṣṇavas, great personalities.

Today we are having initiations. I heard you already went through the fire sacrifice. Is that true? Raise your hand. Have you taken your vows? Raise your hand.

I listened to a class today by Śrīla Prabhupāda on initiation. He was saying that this human birth is a very rare thing. And that we should be very careful, those who are taking initiation, to follow the vows. That way, they can go back to Godhead in this life. But it is very important to take the vows very seriously. No onion, garlic, no intoxication, no meat, no gambling and no illicit sex. That means outside of the marriage vows. Also we know that there are some disciples of Bhakti Cāru Swami here and that he wanted that people be very serious to follow Śrīla Prabhupāda. The human form of life, there are rules. In Singapore if the humans cross the road at the wrong place, they get a fine, but the animals, nobody cares about the animals. The animals don’t have to follow rules. But being human beings, all the rules are for us. And so we try to execute our service to God, Kṛṣṇa and follow all the rules.

Lord Caitanya, He came down and spread the Harināma saṅkīrtana. This Harināma saṅkīrtana is the yajña for this Age of Kali. Because chanting the name of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa is not different. This most powerful process is given in this most difficult age. So that people can go back to Godhead easily. So, I am very grateful that here in Singapore you are practicing, and I pray that you all be blessed in this place. Kṛṣṇe matir astu! I got a special Pūrṇa Kumbha reception and I got darśana of all the Deities. So, I am very grateful to the temple management. We don’t want to make any aparādhā. The Lord has very kindly given His association. We should be very careful to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Lord Caitanya when He went to South India, and He visited all over India, He visited all the temples. And every temple, He respected the Deity, but He also chanted Hare Kṛṣṇa which is the process mentioned in the Skanda Purāṇa, for this age, and in other Purāṇas as well. Lord Śiva was asked by Pārvatī that there are so many kinds of worship. Which worship is best? And Lord Śiva replied,

ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ
viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param
tasmāt parataraṁ devī
tadīyānāṁ samarcanam
(Cc. Madhya 11.31)

Of all the worships Viṣṇu worship is the Supreme. However, greater than that is worshiping those who are connected to Viṣṇu. So here all these Vaiṣṇavas are great devotees of Kṛṣṇa. So we want to respect them and offer them our obeisances. They are also giving different boons but only Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa gives the boon of liberation. Therefore, He is known as Mukunda. But we want the people to promise to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, those who are taking the Harināma initiation, the first initiation. That the various processes mentioned in the Vedas, puraścaryā, we give many of things in our first initiation. We give spiritual name, we take vows, we chant on the beads, there is a yajña and then we have beads. So many of these things are in the puraścaryā system – we give many of these things in the first initiation. And in second initiation we also give the special pāñcarātrika mantra and Vedic mantra and those who take second initiation, they reconfirm their vows and they get the special secret Gāyatrī mantra. Those who want to take initiation in the future, they take shelter, no vows but they follow the same process that the initiates follow. That they can try, to see if they can follow. Later they can take initiation. Those who want to follow but they are not yet up to it, they chant one round or more, and they want to take initiation in the future, they can take aspiring that as long as they are eight years minimum, for shelter 11 years and for initiation minimum 12 years.

You see people if they read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Bhagavad-gītā, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, worship the Vaiṣṇavas, the deities and they take kṛṣṇa-prasāda, then they can easily get back to the spiritual world. So, we hope that families, husband wives, children, they all practice bhakti-yoga. Hare Kṛṣṇa!