20230615 Initiation Address

The following is an initiation address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on June 15th, 2023 in Bhaktivedanta Manor in London, England.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: So since I had a stroke, the left side of my face has been paralyzed. So therefore, some people cannot understand what I say. Viśvambhara Vyāsa dāsa will repeat what I say.

This is the Haveli, my first visit. This is bigger than the Avanti School I think. Have the initiates heard the ten offences already? So we offer different things to the Deities. Bhoga-nivedanam, puṣpa-nivedanam, different things. But the most valuable thing is ātma-nivedanam to the Deity, to the Lord. This process of initiation means that we offer ourselves to serve the Lord. And this is the thing that people don’t realize, that the real happiness is serving. And serving Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate. Therefore, with initiation we become, get the title dāsa or devī dāsī. And that means you are the ‘servant’. And with our life we want to serve Kṛṣṇa. Actually, I gave recently a Bhagavad-gītā to my doctor in the USA. And she said, that she realized that she had been praying to God to give her this thing and that thing, but she realized after reading the Bhagavad-gītā that we are already getting everything by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, we should pray to serve Him. That was her realization and that was the essence.

Lord Caitanya, He descended from the spiritual world with Lord Nityānanda and many others. And He told Lord Nityānanda that We promised, We will deliver four types of people who were not normally delivered – the mūrkhas, the nīcas, the patītas and the duḥkhīs. The foolish, who think that they are the body. They think that they belong to a particular country or particular designation, they don’t realize that they are the eternal spirit soul. That their actual identity is to serve Kṛṣṇa. jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya-kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’ [Cc. Madhya 20.108]. So we are jīvas, meant to serve Kṛṣṇa. But actually, people in the material world, they all want to go higher and higher up and be controllers. I recently met a councilor, and then an MP (Member of Parliament), so then he said, I am going to be a minister, the Chief Minister. But actually, the highest service is the servant of God. Of course, they say, in India we here, the politicians say, give me your vote, give me your vote, I will serve you. But after they get the vote, I don’t know if they serve or not. Anyway, people may say we are elected to serve the people. So our actual nature is to be of service and we serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is the highest.

Lord Caitanya as I mentioned, He came down to actually, deliver the people. But we don’t understand what is that deliverance. That doesn’t mean we become God, we become the servant of the Lord. And that way we actually experience a very great ecstasy. There are eight levels going up to ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. Then there are eight levels of prema, of pure love of Kṛṣṇa. Highest level, it is only Rādhārāṇī, Lord Caitanya, very few achieve. That is called mahā-bhāva. Taking initiation means the third level of the first eight. First is śraddhā, sadhu-saṅga, bhajana-kriyā. Part of bhajana-kriyā is taking initiation. Then after that comes anartha-nivṛtti, getting purified of all anarthas, all problems. Then after anartha-nivṛtti is niṣṭhā. Very fixed up in devotional service. From niṣṭhā comes ruci. The taste, very sweet taste for devotional service. From ruci comes āsakti. Becoming very attached to spiritual bliss. From ruci, āsakti and then bhāva. Bhāva is ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa. That is eight. From there when we realize Kṛṣṇa, we get prema. Prema has another eight levels. And any level is very nice.

So, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a gradual process. We are only reaching now the third level, bhajana-kriyā. So we have a long way to go and every step we advance, it is actually a permanent step to our credit. But we should be very careful not to commit any offences. Offences are the impediments in our spiritual life. And offences to the holy name, offences to the Deity, offences to the guru, so many offences. Nectar of Devotion, in the first part tells you of all the offences you should avoid.

Lord Caitanya, I was reading yesterday, how actually Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth. So therefore, His name is not different from Him. And therefore, if we chant His name we get the association of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya, He would chant the holy names in Navadvīpa. After He went to Gayā and got initiated, He was a changed person. Then He went back to Navadvīpa, He went by the side of the Ganges and He stopped in a place called Kānāi-nāṭaśālā. And that temple is now under ISKCON. We hope that you would take time to visit that temple. Lord Caitanya was sitting there, and He heard and saw a cowherd boy playing on His flute, very beautiful flute! He started walking closer and He saw a yellow dhoti, He had a peacock feather on His turban. He saw, it is Kṛṣṇa! And He was walking closer and closer, dancing and playing on His flute and then He came running up to Lord Caitanya and hugged Him. Lord Caitanya, and wow! He could not believe that Kṛṣṇa came up and hugged Him! How many of you would like to have Kṛṣṇa come and embrace you? Then Kṛṣṇa ran away and Lord Caitanya ran after Him. But He ran behind the tree and Lord Caitanya went behind the tree, but He was not there! He started rolling on the ground, feeling such separation. That tree is still there. The place where Lord Caitanya rolled on the ground is still there. Then He came back to Navadvīpa. Before He was Nimāi Paṇḍita, He was the greatest logician, grammarian. He could defeat anyone with His arguments. But Nimāi Paṇḍita, when He came back, He was Gaura Hari. He was completely devotional. People, they thought that He had some mental problem. And Lord Caitanya called all the devotees at the cottage of Śuklāmbara Brahmacārī and He told Gadādhara Prabhu that you are very fortunate, very, because you were a devotee all your life. I was Nimāi Paṇḍita, “I wasted My life in academics, arguing! But now I achieved Kṛṣṇa, but do you know what it is like to achieve Him and lose Him?” He was crying. So, He was a changed person! That was His līlā!

Then He came to Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura and He said, “Can I ask you a question?” Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura said, “Why not? What is Your question?” He said, “People say I have a disease. I want to know from you, if I have a disease or not?” Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura asked Him, “Well, what are Your symptoms?” He said, “Whenever I hear anyone chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa, My hairs stand on end, My voice chokes up, sometimes I cry, sometimes I laugh, sometimes I faint. People say I have a disease, do I have a disease?” Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura said, “Yes, You have a disease! And I want that disease also!” “You have the disease of love of Kṛṣṇa.” That is what the whole purpose of initiation is, gradually taking you to the position of having love for Kṛṣṇa. But it is a gradual process, and you have to be very sincere. And then you can advance step by step. You see that Śrīla Prabhupāda, I saw personally, with great effort he translated and wrote the books. The books were not just not only to distribute although that was one of our things. But we should also, as devotees, read the books. He wrote the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta and many other books. So Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted us to read his books. So I hope that all the disciples, all the devotees will read and study Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. And Śrīla Prabhupāda made courses like Bhakti-śāstrī, Bhakti-vaibhava, Bhakti-vedānta. So, although they offered me an honorary degree because I read the books so many times, I refused. I said, no, I will take the test. And so far, I have got the Bhakti-vaibhava. And am currently working on Bhakti-vedānta. So I would like all the disciples essentially to read the books, and get the degrees and preach, either by distributing books or by talking to people, be a good example. It is very important, taking initiation means that now we are dedicating ourselves to serving Kṛṣṇa.

In the 9th canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Urvasī says some critical things against women, but in the purport, 9.14.36 Śrīla Prabhupāda said, you can look it up, 9.4.36, in the purport Śrīla Prabhupāda says as far as spiritual life is concerned that if someone rises up to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, be they man or woman, a śūdra or whatever, they are all equal on the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So, we should understand that this was the vision of our Founder-Ācārya. That we should all reach this platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

So that is the great thing of Lord Caitanya, He came to give Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the world. That Śrīla Prabhupāda at the advanced age, he went around the world many times, he came and established Kṛṣṇa consciousness here in the UK. They were saying that for Kṛṣṇa consciousness - the father is the USA. I was thinking that if USA is the father, then the UK is the grandfather!

So Lord Caitanya, Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura told Him to come and chant in his garden. But then people could not see Lord Caitanya, they wanted to see Him. Then the Chand Kazi broke the clay mṛdaṅgas and he gave the order that you cannot chant in public. Then Lord Caitanya said, nobody can stop the saṅkīrtana movement. And He had four kīrtana parties go around Navadvīpa and gathered hundreds and thousands of millions of people. So one party was led by Advaita Gosāñī, one party by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, one by Haridāsa Ṭhākura and the last one Lord Caitanya and on His two sides were Nitāi and Gadāi. That kīrtana went on for like a day of Brahmā. I mean, the clock stopped and hundreds and millions of people were chanting and the sound vibrated throughout the universe. Even it went to Vaikuṇṭha, to the spiritual world. So then Lord Indra, Vāyudeva, they came down and they saw Lord Caitanya chanting and dancing and crying in ecstasy. They knew that Lord Caitanya was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He was Bhagavān. He was chanting and crying in ecstasy. Indradeva, Vāyudeva, they fainted. When they became conscious, they took human forms and joined the kīrtana! They felt so fortunate to be part of the saṅkīrtana of Lord Caitanya. They were chanting and there are many descriptions in the Caitanya-bhāgavata. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, we just have Lord Caitanya, He came to the Chand Kazi, but in the other scriptures they talk about the kīrtana. How the kīrtana went on and on, and how the people were chanting and dancing in ecstasy. There were some agnostics, atheists, they were laughing at devotees, making fun. Then they saw Lord Caitanya dancing. When they saw Lord Caitanya dancing in ecstasy, with Nitāi on one side and Gadāi on the other, sometimes He would fall unconscious, they would have to catch Him. When these people, the hecklers saw the Lord chanting and dancing, they became completely converted and started chanting, started rolling on the ground! Such was the power of Lord Caitanya’s kīrtana! You were joining, you have already joined and now you are confirming that the saṅkīrtana movement of Lord Caitanya, people are missing this transcendental bliss! So you are meant to help spread the movement. I don’t know how long I will be in this world. We all have our period – like they say, the expiry date. So, each generation has a great responsibility to spread this movement.

Last night I met Śyāma-sundara Prabhu, who came here to London. And I met him in 1968 or 1970, he made an initial impact. And Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1973 in London, on his Vyāsa-pūjā address, he mentioned that his gurudeva had sent a sannyāsī to the UK but he was not successful. But Śrīla Prabhupāda had sent three gṛhastha couples and they were successful. So he wanted, he said that all his gṛhastha followers should be paramahaṁsas. Tall order! That means cent percent focused on Kṛṣṇa! In Chennai, South India, they were having a drama. Two children were playing Yamadūtas and one child was playing Yamarāja. The Yamadūtas were complaining that, “These gṛhasthas of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, they worship the Deity of Jagannātha, Nitāi-Gaura etc. in their house. They offer prasāda, they chant the holy names, they read Gītā and Bhāgavata, how can we take them to hell? We cannot torture them, nothing! They are transcendental! If everyone is like this, we will be out of our job!” So who wants to have mercy on the Yamadūtas, give them a nice job? Be tortured by them? Raise your hands who wants to help them? Ha! Nobody wants! Who wants to give them a vacation! Haribol! So that is what the purpose of initiation is for. We have to think how to do all the things in such a way that Kṛṣṇa is pleased. And we want you all to be free from the Yamadūtas, try to help your family members, neighbors, your work colleagues, students, whatever, help them to become Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Give the Yamadūtas a vacation!

Thank you very much! Hare Kṛṣṇa!