20240115 Address to Surat Bhakti-vṛkṣa Devotees

The following is an address to the surat Bhakti Vriksha Devotees by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on January 15th,2024 in Ahamedabad, India.

Jayapatākā Swami: I was wanting to go to Surat.

But when I came from Kolkata to Ahmedabad, I had some infection on the way.

The doctors advised that until I get completely okay I should stay here.

I was thinking that Gujarat is the place of pilgrimage of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu also had visited here.

Gaurāṅga! Śrīla Prabhupāda also visited Gujarat and I heard that he stayed in Surat for about ten days.

You are all very fortunate to have had his blessings.

You know that all these places – Vṛndāvana, Mathurā and Dvārakā are all places of pilgrimage.

We get mercy when we serve Lord Kṛṣṇa.

This way we can get more mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

There are other places of pilgrimage like Māyāpur dhāma which is also called Navadvīpa dhāma.

We also go to Jagannātha Purī.

Jagannātha Purī is a dhāma and similar to Dvārakā dhāma.

When there is Ratha-yātrā of Lord Jagannātha, the Lord goes from Nīlācala to Sundarācala.

Nīlācala is Dvārakā and Sundarācala is Vṛndāvana. 

I was in a meeting now from where I came in which there was discussion on the Māyāpur Gurukula.

This meeting was an unscheduled meeting and I was told you devotees had come to see me already.

The President of ISKCON Surat also sent me a message to come to Surat as thousands of devotees are waiting to meet me.

And I am very grateful that all of you have come here.

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu travelled all around India.

About 500 years ago.

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu had predicted that His Holy Name will be spread all over India.

But for the Western world, He said that His senāpati devotee would come.

And after 500 years He would send this senāpati devotee.

After 500 years, Śrīla Prabhupāda appeared.

And he distributed Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world.

Śrīla Prabhupāda travelled around the world about 12 times.

Now there are about 800 temples of ISKCON all over the world.

I heard that all you devotees are very actively preaching.

I would also like to hear about your preaching activities.

Kali-yuga is called the Age of sin.

In every yuga it gets a bit more.

In Satya-yuga there was a spiritual nature in people.

In Tretā-yuga people had three qualities, in Dvāpara-yuga they had two and Kali-yuga begins with just one quality, truthfulness.

And also since Lord Caitanya appeared in this Kali-yuga, and there is mention in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa that how in Kali-yuga after 5000 years of Kali-yuga, there will be a ten-thousand-year Golden Age.

And naturally then people will be Kṛṣṇa conscious.

This would be 5000 years after the beginning of Kali-yuga.

Now it is about 5000 years passed in Kali-yuga, and so this Golden Age is about to begin.

Great munis and ṛṣīs pray that they take birth in this age because in this period it is especially very easy to go back to Godhead!

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives His mercy to all very easily.

The process He has given is the Harināma saṅkīrtana.

Do you know how we do Harināma saṅkīrtana?

Haribol!

I heard that you are all very famous in doing saṅkīrtana! Who do better kīrtana, Mātājīs or Prabhus?

How many of you here know Bengali?

I could have spoken in Bengali but most of the people do not understand Bengali.