20221112 Evening Address in Bengali to Parikramā Devotees

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: So today I went to the Tamil party. There were 400 Tamil devotees. I spoke in English and that was translated into Tamil. Are the Tamil devotees here? Before that, I went to Odia devotees, some about 4,000 devotees were there. Are there any Odia devotees here? I did not have a chance to go to the English party. I would like to invite all the Tamil, English speakers. Is there any English-speaking devotees here? And those who are Bengali? Ulu-dhvani, Hari-dhvani! Nīlācale-candra āmāra prabhu jagannātha, jaya jagannātha jaya jagannātha! Nīlācale candra āmāra prabhu jagannātha, jaya Jagannātha jaya jagannātha! Sundarācala-candra āmāra jaya jagannātha, jaya jagannātha jaya jagannātha! Nīlācala is Dvārakā dhāma. Sundarācala is Vṛndāvana. Every year during Ratha-yātrā, Jagannāthadeva goes from Dvārakā dhāma to Vṛndāvana dhāma. Guṇḍicā is Vṛndāvana. And the big Jagannātha temple is Dvārakā dhāma. One day in Dvārakā, Lord Kṛṣṇa had gone to the palace of Rukmiṇī. Rukmiṇī along with her dāsīs was washing the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa and serving Him personally, with the palace maidservants. This way, the brāhmaṇas were chanting mantras, some other musicians were playing on some instruments. The children went close to Lord Kṛṣṇa and offered respects. Then Rukmiṇī took Lord Kṛṣṇa to her private quarters. There Rukmiṇī was massaging the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa and placing them on her chest. But Rukmiṇī was crying. Then Lord Kṛṣṇa said, “I have come, why are you crying?” “Did any of your maidservants not listen to you? Why are you crying?” Rukmiṇī said, “Lord Kṛṣṇa, You know what Lord Brahma is doing in Satyaloka. You know what Mahādeva is doing in Kailāsa. You know what is going on in the unlimited universes. But You do not know one thing! I know, Rādhārāṇī knows. But You don’t know. Lord Kṛṣṇa was amazed, because no one had ever told Him there was something He did not know. “What is that? What is it that I don’t know?” Rukmiṇī said, “You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no one above You. But You do not know how much Your devotees love You and adore You, You don’t know. You don’t know how much Your devotees love You.” Lord Kṛṣṇa said, “ I will incarnate as a devotee! I will incarnate as a devotee! I will incarnate as a devotee!” Haribol! Haribol! Haribol! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! That way, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya incarnated. This was Rukmiṇī, Rādhārāṇī said that You don’t know how much Your devotees love You. Lord Kṛṣṇa He decided that He would incarnate as a devotee.

We are so fortunate that we have come just a little after Lord Caitanya. That way, we can be the followers of Lord Caitanya and do devotional service. We circumambulate this temple on all four sides doing Harināma. This way, Lord Caitanya taught that we can perfect our lives by doing Kṛṣṇa kīrtana. Lord Caitanya had gone to South India and there in Andhra Pradesh, Kūrma deśa, He gave a teaching. There He said, “Yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya hañā tāra’ ei deśa.” He gave this instruction in South India and the rest of India. There was one thing He did in South India which He did not do in Navadvīpa. He started in Odisha. Whoever He saw on the way, He embraced them and gave them kṛṣṇa-prema! When He went to some gṛhastha’s home, the lady of the house would pour water and her husband would wash His lotus feet. Who would wish Lord Caitanya to visit your home? Raise your hand! Ulu-dhvani! Hari-dhvani! Śrīla Prabhupāda once said that many people want to see God. But instead of wanting to see God, we should do such service that the Lord should want to see you. Haribol! If we try it will not happen, but if the Lord wants it will happen.

In the Nectar of Instruction, it is mentioned ādau śraddhā. If we have some faith, then we will hear the lecture. Then is sat-saṅga. Here all of you are doing sat-saṅga, association. Haribol! Then, bhajana-kriyā. Chanting, getting up early in the morning and doing devotional service. In this stage of bhajana-kriyā, some people get initiated. Then comes anartha-nivṛttī. Then niṣṭhā comes. In a determined, beautiful way do devotional service. Then there is a taste called ruci. Then, the ruci gets them to be attached to the Lord to get āsakti. Then from āsakti, comes bhāva-bhakti. Aṣṭa-sāttvika-bhāva is manifested by some. Then comes prema-bhakti. In that stage they aṣṭa-sāttvika-bhāva is very prominent and they remember the Lord all the time. This way, gradually the bhakti steps develop. But it takes time. But if one is focused it can happen even in one lifetime. It can happen even in 20 or 30 years. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he wanted that Śrī Kṣetra we should do something. He had come about two times with me to Śrī Kṣetra. He was searching for a place. He had seen a very beautiful place, but he did not like it. Now we have two places of ISKCON here. One is near the samādhi mandir of Ṭhākura Haridāsa called bhakti-kuṭīra. And another place in about 20-25 acres land a little away. Devakīnandana Prabhu is the chairman of this project. And His Holiness Bhakti Puruṣottama Mahārāja and me and other devotees are part of this project as well. I have a desire that we should have some permanent place for devotees in Jagannātha Purī. This morning I had gone to the Ṭoṭā Gopīnatha temple where the Odisha party was there. Then I went to Puruṣottama Gauḍīya Maṭha which was established by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura hundred years ago. From 1922 he established this in Purī and now it is 100 years old! Then I went to visit the Hindi party where there were about 1,800 devotees. And I don’t know, that Bengali devotees are about 6,000 but could be more. This way, every year the vrata of Purī Parikramā is going on. I hope that all of you will read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books and perfect your lives. Now there is a special deal for Caitanya-caritāmṛta distribution. Along with it is given free, Kṛṣṇa Book and the Bhagavad-gītā. Haribol! I had said that if you read the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta, your mind will always be in the remembrance of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Now, people are generally listening, and watching news on newspapers, TV, radio all the time. In which country, which state, election is going on. Where war is going on. Where people are dying. Bus accident, plane accident, train accident, etc. There is no news of Kṛṣṇa there! Now Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Caitanya-caritāmṛta – if we read these scriptures then we can remember Kṛṣṇa always. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura had once brought a daily newspaper. People were asking how do you get so much news to publish? The material world is ¼^th of the whole creation and the spiritual world is 3/4^th. The spiritual world is 3 times greater the news! If we all the time remember Kṛṣṇa, then we will definitely go back to Kṛṣṇa after death. Haribol!

Tomorrow, you will be doing the parikramā of the Saṅka-kṣetra. One day His Holiness Lokanātha Swami said that whatever result you get of doing Vraja dhāma parikramā you get by doing one day Purī parikramā. I could not say that earlier. Anyway, by doing Purī parikramā, you will get more results. Hare Kṛṣṇa!