20230315 Addressing Safari Devotees

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: Welcome to Pataliputra! Patna! I wanted to understand what was the meaning of Pataliputra? So Gopati Kṛṣṇa dāsa, he researched for me and in the Vāyu Purāṇa we found the history. Who knows the meaning of Pataliputra? How Patna got this name 5000 years ago? He looked it up in Google and they said some strange stories that before it had the name Pataliputra, the name had changed many times and now it has the name Patna. It looks like they did not know anything. Then we researched. One of his friends told him, do you want to hear? Are you sure?

You see Lord Śiva and Pārvatī were flying over and then Lord Śiva said, “Hey! That is my devotee from previous life. He worshiped me very well. I want to give him a blessing.” The blessing that every time he gets up 100,000 gold coins come out of his head. So, he became rich, and he would be giving out charity to all the brāhmaṇas and his fame spread far and wide. And the brāhmaṇas would come to get some donation. When his father and brothers came they saw he is so famous, he is so rich, they could not tolerate it. They hired some murderers to kill him. And they took him to the Vindhya mountains. Since he had lot of gold and fancy stuff, he gave them to the murderers and could buy them off. So then he came down from the Vindhya mountain and saw three sons of Māyāsura, they were fighting. Because there were some things that were left by Māyāsura that they wanted. Each thing had some special power. He had shoes, if you put them on, you can go anywhere. You don’t have to buy a ticket in an airplane! Boom! I want to be in Lima, Peru! You can go anywhere. So then he had a pot, if you put your hand in you can get any amount of prasāda, any amount of food. A stick, you draw some symbol on the ground and you can get anything you want. So he had a plan. He told the three brothers, instead of fighting, you run a race, whoever wins the race takes the three things. So, they said it is a good idea. And then they ran. Anyway, he put on the shoes and took the stick and the pot, and he flew himself somewhere. He was staying with an old lady in a place and the lady told him about a princess, Paṭlī who was very, very beautiful and he had the name Putraka. So he fell in love with her hearing about her beauty and her great qualities. He put on his shoes and flew into her room. They liked each other and married each other according to the Gandharva system. Then he took her away. And here by the side of the Ganges, she said I would like to have a city here. He drew a circle with the stick and then he made a city. That was the name of the place – Pāṭaliputra. Named after them. Now you know the history. Most of the people here don’t know. Anyway, Vāyu Purāṇa, I don’t think it is a sāttvika-purāṇa. But I don’t remember.

About 1 km that way is the Ganges. And you already know a kilometer and a half that way is the railway station. That you know. So, you probably are going to different, different places nearby. Gajendra mokṣa happened here, across the river. We are supposed to install the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya in Gayā. Gayā, Śrīla Prabhupāda visited there at least two times. In Gayā, you can do a special pūjā for your deceased forefathers. All the Hindus they do one pūjā for all their deceased ancestors. Does anyone have father, grandfather, great grandfather who passes away – then you can do a pūjā for them in Gayā. That is at Viṣṇu-gayā. Buddha-gayā is nearby where Lord Buddha got His realization, Nirvāṇa. So there are many different Gayās. We will be going there, right?

How do you like our new temple in Patna? I came here for the Deity installation about a year ago. And, that time the guest house wasn’t finished. I thought it is a good place to bring our Safari devotees. Nice temple and within a short distance there are several holy places. The airport is ten kilometers away. So, thank you for coming. And I think you will be going to see the birthplace of Mother Sītā. I may not be with you then because I have to see a doctor in Chennai. I would like to thank Their Holinesses Bhakti Vighna-vināśana Narasiṁha Mahārāja, Bhakti Dhīra Dāmodara Mahārāja and Bhakti Narasiṁha Mahārāja and His Grace Śrīvāsa Prabhu and his good wife.

Lord Caitanya, you saw the place where He went through the Jhārikhaṇḍa forest, and somehow when He went to Gayā, He went by the Ganges. When He went back, He started the saṅkīrtana movement. So He also went to Kānāi-Nāṭaśālā, where during the Safari we inaugurated the Deities installation.