20230311 Safari Evening Pandal Address

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 had come for the Ratha-yātrā in Durgapur and had said I will come again and try to bring the Safari devotees. Now, with the mercy of the Lord devotees from 33 countries, 180 devotees have come. I am grateful that the police, public and devotees have very nicely cooperated and associated with the nagara-kīrtana. I saw a sign “Durgapur Steel City”. Now, steel is an English word has two meanings, pronounced the same. Steel means iron and steal means to rob. Now, Kṛṣṇa is the butter thief and Kṛṣṇa steals the hearts of the devotees, that is why His name is Hari. I think that seeing your devotion and enthusiasm, Durgapur should not be Steel City, it should be Hari-bhakti City.

Someone asked, “Durgapur, what is the meaning?” I stay in Navadvīpa there are 9 islands – Sīmantadvīpa, Godrumadvīpa, Madhyadvīpa, Rudradvīpa, Koladvīpa, Ṛtudvīpa, Jahnudvīpa, Madhyadvīpa, Modadrumadvīpa and Antardvīpa. You know this right?  In Sīmantadvīpa Durgā Devī did her pastime. Earlier Mahādeva Śiva was dancing in Kailāsa, chanting (let the male devotees chant): Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! That time Durgā Devī was touring the universe. And she saw that even Pātalaloka was shaking, but it was not mahā-pralaya time. Why my husband is dancing so much she thought. This type of dancing he does in mahā-pralaya. She went to Kailāsa and he was chanting Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga!

“Svāmī, Svāmī!” she said. Then Mahādeva, he stopped.

He said, “I was in so much bliss chanting Gaurāṅga’s name, you stopped my bliss.”

She said, “I am sad that the universe is experiencing earthquakes etc. because of your dancing.”

Mahādeva is Āśutoṣa, very easily pleased. He said, “Okay I will stop.”

She said, “Every day you are normally in meditation but today you are chanting Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! What is the meaning of Gaurāṅga?”

“Hari comes in Kali-yuga and He distributes prema-bhakti to all. He does not see who is qualified, who is not, He equally distributes to all.”

She said, “Will He give me? How will I get?”

Mahādeva said, “You go to Navadvīpa, He is there all the time, manifest and unmanifest.”

Durgā devī came to Navadvīpa and started to chant kīrtana (the ladies chant): Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Then Lord Gaurāṅga appeared.

He asked her, “What do you want, My dear śakti?”

She said, “I don’t get the association of your devotees, the devotees say I am a piśācīnī, a demoness, māyā, etc. I heard that You are giving everyone prema-bhakti, will I be devoid of that?”

Lord Gaurāṅga said, “You are My internal śakti, potency, and non-different from Rādhā in one way. I bless you that you will be non-different from Rādhārāṇī. Gaurāṅgī!”

Then Durgā Devī took the dust of Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet and put it on the parting of her forehead where normally ladies apply vermillion, sindhur. That is called sīmanta and this island one of the nine islands of Navadvīpa, Sīmantadvīpa. The place of Durgā Devī, Prauḍa Māyā, Sīmantinī. Without their blessings one cannot enter Navadvīpa. So Durgapur is nondifferent from Rādhāpur. So everyone gets the benefit.

Our human life is very rare. But we think that we are the body by mistake. But we say in Bengali, how is your body? We are eternal souls. We have a body. Now the body can be good or bad; but the soul is eternal. If we want to enjoy our sense gratification then we have to take birth again and again and again. Because our desires cannot be satisfied by material things. Those who have one crore rupees he wants 10 crores. Those who have 10 want 100. As much as they have, they want more. But some are poor, they think that if I become rich; I can be happy. But rich people also are not happy. There is varṇāśrama-dharma, in the scripture, it is said that the men should have knowledge of the śāstras and protect the women. But it is now seen that women come to me and say that bless us that my husband can also take to the devotional path. Śrīla Prabhupāda had written a letter that if the wife is more spiritual than the husband, then the husband can be guided by her and can consider the wife as a guru and that is not wrong.

Lord Caitanya said,

kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya
yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya
(Cc. Madhya 8.128)

Now, in the modern Bengal, in Kolkata there was a special family of my disciples. All the children and wife initiated, but husband was not interested. I tried a lot, but he did not listen. The doctor told him once and said, “You have cancer!” to the husband. 2, 3, 4 level stage of cancer and maybe he would die soon. Still, he did not do Harināma. One day through the wall he saw a Yamadūta come in, with long teeth, holding leather belt, dark with strong muscles, the husband seeing him said, “Not me not me! No no no!” But the Yamadūtas came close and he had a terrible face, then the husband shouted, “HARE KṚṢṆA!” Immediately the Yamadūta went away. He called the wife, “Give me the neck beads, chanting beads, Bhagavad-gītā, I will chant.” I tried for so many years to make him a devotee, but within not even a minute, in a few seconds he was made a devotee by the Yamadūta succeeded in doing that! But I hope that the Yamadūtas do not have to come to you.

I had said during the Ratha-yātrā that there was a drama in Chennai. Two children were Yamadūtas and one was Yamarāja. She had a mustached drawn. They Yamadūtas said, “These ISKCON devotees do Harināma, study Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the whole family worships the Lord, eat prasāda. What can we do? We cannot do anything. We cannot take them to Hell. If everyone becomes like this, then our job will go.” Who of you here would like to give a job to the Yamadūtas? And who wants to give the Yamadūtas a vacation? Haribol! I hope that all of you will chant the names of Kṛṣṇa, Harināma.

In the Grantha Sahib there are 800 times the name of Harināma. Lord Caitanya said, the yuga-dharma of Kali-yuga is chanting the name of the Lord, nāma-saṅkīrtana. By chanting our souls get cleansed, cetana-mārjana. I hope that everyone will chant the name of the Lord. You will see that He could make even the animals chant the names of the Lord. But we don’t have that ability. But at least if human beings can do Harināma then Lord Caitanya’s desire will be fulfilled. This Durgapur Steel City is Hari-bhakti City, Hari-haraṇa city. Durgapur is non-different from Rādhā, nondifferent from Navadvīpa dhāma. That way you are in Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura sang, gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi, yebā jāne cintāmaṇi, tā’ra haya vraja-bhūme vāsa. Haribol! Haribol!