20221113 Initiation Address to Śrī Kṣetra Purī 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: You learnt from His Holiness Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami the importance and salient points about initiation. Initiation means to completely surrender to the Lord. From today, those who are taking initiation or those who are taking shelter, their prime focus will be service to the Lord. We call this first initiation. Second initiation is Gāyatrī. This is better than normal Harināma initiation. Here, we have certain ceremonies – fire yajña, vrata, etc. Spiritual name, japa-mālā is given and neck beads are given. This way, in all ways, you surrender to the Lord. Lord Caitanya said, gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. This way, we try that, everything is for the pleasure of the Lord. Now, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that we should do such service that the Lord is happy with our service. Generally, people want to see the Lord. We want that, the Lord see us and be happy. Now, in this life whatever we do, we should do as an offering to the Lord as far as possible. Mana, vākhya, kāya, we offer to the Lord. But if we have something that we cannot offer to the Deity then we say “Śrī Viṣṇu, Śrī Viṣṇu, Śrī Viṣṇu” three times and accept it. So generally, devotees do not eat meat, fish, egg, onion and garlic. We eat kṛṣṇa-prasāda as far as possible. We do 16 rounds japa. We study Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta of Śrīla Prabhupāda and Lord Caitanya said, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa. This way, all the time, you will be associated with Lord Kṛṣṇa. This way we want that by these ways we please the Lord. We try to follow Ekādaśī and other fasting days sincerely. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that to avoid grains, cereals, pulses on Ekādaśī if one is not able to fast fully. This way, it is not very difficult, but we have to follow them sincerely. Initiation means that you will follow all these all your life. But in shelter, there are no vows taken but you promise to try to follow them. Aspiring are those who chant a little and hope to take shelter and initiation in the future. It depends on them how long they take to be ready for initiation. Śrīla Prabhupāda went to the West and said you like examinations, you chant for a week and do Harināma and see how you feel. This way after a week they said they liked it and that way the devotees liked. Śrīla Prabhupāda showed that doing Harināma one’s taste will increase in the holy name. Śrīla Prabhupāda said this way some are in villages and some in cities, but we should preach the glories of the Lord. This way you all will be following bhakti-yoga. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa said that the bhakti-yogī is most loving to Him. This way you will try to think of the Lord all the time, do devotional service, study books about Him. I am very happy that all of you in the Nāmahaṭṭa are doing Harināma and preaching. This way doing service and get out of this conditioned life. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

Now I will chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, and the ladies especially will keep their right ears open and then repeat after I have finished chanting. First, I will chant the Pañca-tattva mantra for Their mercy.

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare /
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!