20230115 Addressing ISKCON Chennai's Madhura-mahotsava Kīrtana Program

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: I am very happy that you are doing Harināma kīrtana on this holy day of Makara-saṅkarānti. On Poṅgal day there is normally Ratha-yātrā but this year you are doing the Madhura-Mahotsava. This morning I had poṅgal for breakfast. We would like to thank everyone for organizing the Harināma utsava. You see Lord Caitanya, He came to make Kṛṣṇa available to everyone. Normally it says out of a thousand people maybe one would be interested, and out of those one achieves liberation. And out of such thousands one becomes a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. But by Lord Caitanya’s mercy one can easily understand Kṛṣṇa. When you chant the holy name, Kṛṣṇa reveals Himself to you. That is why we are very happy to see how you are all chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, kīrtana. We are very happy that our Māyāpur kīrtaniyas are there to assist you in the kīrtana. In this way, I had hoped I would be there in person but since that was not possible, I thought I would just speak to you virtually. I would like to offer my blessings to all the devotees. Kṛṣṇe matir astu! Actually, since Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth, there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His name. So, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, you are already getting association of Lord Kṛṣṇa. That is why with Lord Caitanya’s mercy we can achieve kṛṣṇa-bhāva very easily.

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

Thank you very much!