20230928 Netronmilanam 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: So today, this is the ceremony of the netronmilanam. The eyes are ceremoniously opened, then they see Śrīla Prabhupāda and they see the pūjārīs. Now they are seeing the mṛdaṅga, the Gaṅgā, the tulasī, the books, the khols and karatālas. And all of you! Are you happy to be in front of the Deities? So now the Deities have gone through all the preliminary, sacred invitation. Now we are seeing, we are going to awaken the senses of all the Deities. Previously they were statues, now they are living Deities. This is the netronmilanam, the nyāsa-homa, different adhivāsas and finally the prāṇa-pratiṣṭha. Of course, then there will be the abhiṣeka and then ārati and bhoga offering. There are many other ceremonies, but I am not mentioning them. But the important thing is that this is a great opportunity for us to engage in the service of the Lord. Just like there may be a post box set up somewhere. But if that box is not represented by the Post Office, then you put mail there, it will not go anywhere.  So there is a system to install and request Kṛṣṇa, Gaurāṅga, to become present. And all your prayers, all your worship, all your offerings will go directly to Kṛṣṇa. So this is a very important thing. So I won’t speak more because there are other ceremonies. Hare Kṛṣṇa!