20230512 Arrival Address

20230512 ARRIVAL ADDRESS BY HIS HOLINESS JAYAPATĀKĀ SWAMI MAHĀRĀJA, ISKCON NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, USA

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam

paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

This was a continuation after the Caitanya Book class:

Jayapataka Swami: I am trying to combine all the books that give some Caitanya-līlā. Like the Kṛṣṇa Book, there is Kṛṣṇa-līlā in the 10th canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that way Caitanya-līlā is in many books. I want to combine all the books and compile the Caitanya Book. And I am just at the end of the book. We have already had Lord Caitanya in young age, doing saṅkīrtana, taking sannyāsa, going to Jagannātha Purī, going all over India, going to Vṛndāvana, coming back and finally we are in Jagannātha Purī and we are at the last līlās. 

Are you able to understand what I am saying? Some years ago I had a stroke and half of my face is paralyzed so my talk is not very clear and so I have repetition. I don’t know if you all understand but I understand. Ha! 

Anyway, what we hope is that, as we can see, there is so much nectar in Caitanya-līlā and that everybody would read Śrīla Prabhupāda books. Those who are working, I mean like taxi they can play tapes, audio version of the books. While cooking, you can play the audio version of the book. Those who have in Nāmahaṭṭas or Bhakti-vrksas, with their families they can read the books. Now for Bhakti Śāstri, Bhakti Vaibhava they have summative exams. Those like Bhakti Śāstri, they give you 50 questions, they give you in advance! From that they give you 20. And then any 8, any 8 you answer! And if you answer the 8 properly, you get the certificate! Because in the original I got Bhakti Śāstri, I took one test. In 1975 or 76. Then, they offered me an honorary degree for Bhakti Vaibhava, Bhaktivedanta and everything. But I said no! I want to show a good example for all the devotees! I read the books again and took all the tests and I got my Bhakti Vaibhava degree! They gave me A marks! And now I am taking the test for my Bhaktivedanta degree. I already took the 7th Canto. So 7,8,9,10,11,12 are Bhaktivedanta degrees. I want all devotees, especially my disciples to read and study Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. I heard here that there are many candidates for second initiation. But most of them have not got the Bhakti Śāstri degree. But I am requiring that people who want a second initiation should have the Bhakti Śāstri degree. If someone, they get special recommendation they can take the one summative test. If you have read the books, then it will not be hard. If you haven’t read the books, then you cannot speculate. If you are trying to speculate something and they catch you, you will be in big trouble! So, it should not be hard if you have read the books. You can see how much nectar there is in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. Amṛta! Nectar! 

So you do very nice kīrtana here! I saw many nāmahaṭṭas. So, you can be reading Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books in your namahattas. Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1975, in Māyāpur, he gave a class. He said, we should have ten thousand ācāryas. By ācārya he meant dīkṣā gurus. Then he said, from ten thousand we should one hundred thousand! One lakh! From hundred thousand we should have one million! From one million, we should have ten million or one crore. In this way, we can fulfill Lord Caitanya’s prediction that in every town and village there will be chanting of His holy name. And I was reading in the 9th canto, how the apsarā, Ūrvaśī, she was telling the king that he is very attached to her, she said you should not be attached to women because, well, she was criticizing women. But in the purport Śrīla Prabhupāda says that men and women, if they are Kṛṣṇa conscious, then there is no difference. So I hope that there are many ācāryas in the future. But in order for that to happen people should know Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. Lord Caitanya said, kibā vipra kibā nyāsī śūdra kene naya, yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya. So, anyhow you have to know Kṛṣṇa-tattva. Śrīla Prabhupāda, he gave us Kṛṣṇa-tattva in his books. Anyway if you know the philosophy very well, you can extend the preaching. 

And we all found that people in Texas and I guess also in Louisiana people are very open. And I gave some Śrīla Prabhupāda books to the doctor who is treating me. And she was saying that previously she was always praying to God, give her this, give her that. By reading Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, she understood that she should pray for having service to the Lord. She is not an Indian. She did not know how to pronounce Arjuna. So Dr. Vinay Gauracandra dāsa, he said, say, R and the month June, Arjun. He was making it very simple for her. Arjun! Otherwise, it was a foreign word for her, they don’t understand it. So like that, your neighbors, your friends, your work colleagues, whoever are there, gradually try to give them Kṛṣṇa consciousness, as Lord Caitanya said, yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa upadeśa. So anyways, I am thankful that you are all very patient tonight. And I did not have any lunch till 4 o'clock. And I did not have any dinner yet. You must be all hungry also! So I don’t know what this bell keeps ringing behind me! It is not Haridhvani no? Anyway, I am very happy to be here in New Orleans. They made such a nice facility for me! Maybe my headquarters should be in New Orleans! So I am very happy to see all the devotees! Thank you very much! 

I want to see the TOVP in Mayapur, the Temple of Vedic Planetarium. I am overseeing the West Wing which is presenting the philosophy of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He is saying how life comes from life. And the atheistic theories, he defeated those. I heard a lot of people from New Tālavana and New Orleans have pledged. But not so many gave. So one thing, if you give, make sure, you say you are my disciple or dīkṣā, śikṣā or shelter, or aspiring or well-wisher, etc. Half of your donation goes to the West Wing and Viswambhar Vayas’s mother, she is overseeing that. Over 150,000 dollars, she was saying how my disciples have given which was not given to the West Wing, or something like that. They normally do not ask whose disciple you are. You have to write you are my śikṣā or dīkṣādisciple. And tell your mother, and then we can follow it up. So, we are getting some advice from a company Gallagher and Associates. How we show the exhibits in such a way that the visitor will get maximum impression. We are giving that in English, Bengali, in different languages. They have, Gallagher and Associates have an exhibit in New Orleans. It was on the Second World War. They give advice for anything. They charge a lot of money! So I want to see how they did. Two hours of my stay here, I have to see the Museum. So please forgive me. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Transcribed by: Jayarāseśvarī dd

12 May 2023