20221117 Deity Installation Address in ISKCON Haldia

The following is a Deity Installation Address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 17th, 2022 in Haldia, 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: Have you all prayed to the Lord to come here? Now the Lord has come, to accept your service. His names are Nīlācala Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, Sudarśana cakra, Rādhā Pārthasārathi, Gaura Hari! Now the Prāṇa-pratiṣṭha, pūjā is over and you saw the abhiṣeka of the Deities. Now they will be decorated, there will be bhoga and then ārati which you will witness.

We get this human life when we are very fortunate. Every living entity has a tongue but not all can chant Harināma. Only human beings can say the Harināma. When we chant loudly the kīrtana then all the birds, insects, animals, all the living entities can be liberated by hearing. Both the animals and human beings have eating, sleeping, mating and defending tendencies. But what is special about human life? That is Dharma, duty, which is in the human form of life. The purpose of dharma is to evolve the love of God in us. Those who follow the duties, if love for Kṛṣṇa evolves in you then that is good. But if there is no love then everything is useless.

Lord Caitanya, especially, He incarnated and taught us to experience love of God. If we get that love, then naturally we will be blissful. But this happiness in devotion is very different from material happiness. Actually, when we have a material body there is suffering. If we have prema-bhakti towards God, then there is no suffering. In the human form of life, we are told – gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko – all get an opportunity to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. So that way always think of Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa is always in our heart, with that thought we live all the time and remember. Also remember Kṛṣṇa and never forget Kṛṣṇa. This is the special teaching. Now we heard that one of my disciples had cancer. They tried different remedies but were not successful in saving him and he left his body. There is a doctor who claims that he has a medicine for cancer. Maybe it is there. But cancer does occur. If someone wants this medicine, they can take it. But I cannot give any guarantee. If it gets better, then okay. In this material world there will be various diseases. There are many hospitals being built, but the diseases are also advancing. But we do have diseases and diseases do not stop.

Many people cannot believe that they will get old and that they will stay young forever. But is that possible? Everyone has to grow old. So, in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.13) Kṛṣṇa says, tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati. After this body, we have to take up another body. Then again after birth, there is end to that and again take another birth. This way birth after birth after birth goes on. But if we think of Kṛṣṇa all the time, and follow the teachings of Kṛṣṇa, then at the end of this life, we can go back to Godhead. There is no birth, death, old age and disease. This is our ideal place. That is where we should be. That opportunity Lord Caitanya has given us and we should take that opportunity. If we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, then we can remember the Lord all the time. Hare Kṛṣṇa! In the night today I will give a long class. Now I am giving a short talk. There are devotees who are taking aspiring and shelter from me.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!