20221117 Evening Address, Deity Installation Ceremony

The following is an evening address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 17th,2022 at Iskcon 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: That such a big temple, such elaborate arrangements would be made, I could not imagine!

I am very grateful and very satisfied for this beautiful event.

I hope that all the Haldia devotees will cooperate and now here Śrī Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān, Sudarśana cakra have come.

Subhadrā devī, Rādhā Pārthasārathi, Gaura Hari and Śrīla Prabhupāda.

So you have opportunity to do lots of service and I hope that all of you will avail of these service opportunities.

I hear that there are about 217 or 218 initiated disciples here.

Please raise your hands.

I hope that the Gītā Course will organize the teaching of Bhakti-śāstrī, Bhakti-vaibhava, degrees.

Now, Bhagavad-gītā is spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa and this was spoken in Kurukṣetra in Bhārata-varṣa.

I don’t know whether this is a universal scripture, but it should be.

This way, the Bhagavad-gītā is such that it does not pertain to only Hindu dharma.

This was spoken 5,000 years ago and there were not many dharmas then.

Buddhist, Christian, Muslim religions were not there.

This Bhagavad-gītā is spiritual truth.

It is useful for every human being.

If someone says, I don’t have faith. 

In the Bhagavad-gītā it is written that our body keeps changing – from birth to a child to old age. The bodies of a small child and that of an old man are not the same.

And at death they acquire another body. 

tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati (Bg. 2.13) 

We are eternal spirit souls and we have this body.

Yantrārūḍhāni māyayā (Bg. 18.61) – this is a machine made by māyā.

This machine has a specified life span – has birth and death.

Lord Brahmā’s one day is 1,000 mahā-yugas.

But his age is 100 years.

We also live for generally 100 years, but our day is 24 hours.

His day is 1,000 mahā-yugas.

This way, Lord Brahmā is very long lived.

But he also has a material body and will have a birth and death.

So he will also have to give up his body.

Maybe Lord Brahmā will go to Vaikuṇṭhaloka.

But so that we can also go back to Vaikuṇṭha, we have to chant the names of Kṛṣṇa, do service to Kṛṣṇa.

Now in Kali-yuga, especially chanting the name of the Lord, Harināma is recommended. 

harer nāma harer nāma harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā (Cc. Ādi 17.21) 

So in this way, this beautiful temple of ISKCON has been built, and all of you will get the opportunity to chant the name of Kṛṣṇa, to do service to Kṛṣṇa.

Lord Kṛṣṇa He was like a guru to Arjuna.

He spoke the Bhagavad-gītā and gave him the divine knowledge.

Now this Bhagavad-gītā was spoken 5,000 years ago but even now it is as applicable.

Then also it was useful and now also it is equally useful.

This way, those who know the Bhagavad-gītā their life will be successful. 

Śrīla Prabhupāda had gone to the Soviet Union when it existed then.

There he spoke with a scientist.

That scientist said, after death nothing happens, everything ends there.

But the Bhagavad-gītā does not say this.

The Bhagavad-gītā, our Vedic-śāstra, Śvetāsvatara Upaniṣad says:

nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām
eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān

cetanaś cetanānām - we are conscious. But this microphone is not.

Things like bricks are insentient. But we are sentient.

We are eternal living entities (jīvas). The Gītā reminds us that we are immortal.

The body is mortal, we are not.

We had a material body, for we had material desires.

But if we desire to serve Kṛṣṇa, then we obtain a spiritual body.

If we desire to eat filth, we get the body of a pig.

As is the desire, so will be the body.

Human bodies, animal bodies... whatever, it is all based on our desire alone.

We have one body now, we shall accept another one next.

We are not mortal.

We do not wish to stop existing, because we exist eternally.

But a material body is temporary, and must be cast off.

The Gītā courses and other such courses teach us who we really are.

We are not this body. We are the consciousness within the body.

Without consciousness, the body cannot exist.

It will either be cremated, buried or will become food for animals.

We cannot forever hold on to a material body.

Because there is the jīva within, hence the body appears alive.

But actually this body is insentient.

The only reason it exists is because of the eternal living entity.

When the living entity departs, the body is finished.

Dehāntara prāptiḥ — then another body must be accepted.

Again, a new womb shall be entered into.

Lord Rṣabhadeva says that those who claim to be mother, father, teacher or an idol must deliver their dependents from the cycle of birth and death.

Even cats and dogs have offspring. Just to procreate like them is no big deal.

The real success is to ensure that our children are liberated.

That they go back to Godhead.

Only a devotee can take one back home. No one can approach the Lord without the help of a devotee.

There are three types of yogas.

In jñāna-yoga, one wishes to merge into the bodily effulgence of the Lord.

In aṣṭāṅga-yoga, one desires some mystic powers.

But to approach the Lord, one must take to bhakti-yoga.

Bhakti-yoga is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Also in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.

Having obtained a human body, if one becomes a devotee of the Lord then his existence is fruitful.

Lord caitanya says,

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra
(Cc. Ādi 9.41)

The true purpose of life is to understand our identity as soul, the eternal servant of God.

And real philanthrophy is to teach others the philosophy of the Gītā so that they do not take birth again.

We are imprisoned in the material world. The warden of this prison is Durgā.

She decides the category of jail cells (bodies) for the prisoners, superior or inferior.

She is the maidservant of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Hence she is also called Vaiṣṇavī, Bhagavatī etc.

She is also the protectress of various dhāmas.

For example, Vṛddha Śiva and Prauḍha Māyā are the protectors of Navadvīpa dhāma.

In Vṛndāvana, Gopeśvara Śiva and Mahā Māyā are the protectors.

So like this, in every dhāma... In Śrī Kṣetra, there is Bimalā Devī.

Their blessings are required to perceive the actual dhāma.

We worship Lord Śiva and Goddess Durgā as a Vaiṣṇava and Vaiṣṇavī.

But the Supreme Lord is one. Call Him Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa.

He is the proprietor of all spiritual and material creation.

In the Gītā (Bg. 5.29) it is said, "Bhoktāram yajña tapasām sarva loka maheśvaram suhṛdam sarva bhūtānām jñātva mām śāntiṁ ṛcchati"

Knowing this, one becomes peaceful.

I am very happy that you have all come to serve the Lord.

I am also very grateful to all the donors who helped build this temple and everybody who performed various services.

Śāstra says that whoever helps build a temple receives blessings of the Lord.

Hari bol! *everyone chants*

We are building the TOVP in Māyāpur, and the plan is to complete it within two years.

Hari bol!

It is a monumental project.

The goal is to have a Vedic exhibition, so that people can understand the Vedic science.

Modern science has it's limits.

The subject matter of the Gītā and the Bhāgavatam is beyond the grasp of modern science.

For example, modern science is unaware of the existence of a spiritual world.

It is also yet to conclusively prove the existence of multiverses.

Even about this universe, there is little information.

But from the Gītā we know that on every planet, there is life.

Modern science is unaware of that. It believes that only Earth has life.

But different planets have different life forms. Their bodies are different.

We have earthly bodies, they have different ones. Just like aquatics have a different type of body.

This way, each planet has different conditions and life just suitable for it.

Śāstra reveals that there are beings inside the Sun who have fiery bodies.

We would turn to ashes if we approached the sun. but not if we had bodies made of fire!

This way, there are a lot of things beyond the purview of modern science.

What modern science may consider speculation is actually the truth.

To understand it, one must read the Vedas.

I am extremely delighted to know there are courses here to study the Gītā.

I hope that all of you read the Gītā and grasp it's essence. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

This year Bhagavad-gītā and other books are being distributed and will start now in November and December we celebrate Gītā-jayantī. This Bhagavad-gītā Marathon campaign to distribute the Bhagavad-gītā is called “Live to Give” and begins on 20 November.

His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami will speak about this.

Haribol!