20231002 Initiation Address

The following is an initiation ceremony address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 2nd, 2023 in Bangalore,India. The address was given at the ISKCON Sri Narasimha Giridhari Temple, Bangalore, India.

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: [Started abruptly.] Actually, we get the mercy of the Lord through His various representatives.

Lord Narasiṁhadeva, He is famous for removing all obstacles.

And the special Gāndharavikā Giridhārī Deities are famous for making our devotion very sweet.

And Lord Caitanya, He gives us, allows us easy access to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Therefore, we should chant every day the name of Lord Caitanya.

In many ISKCON temples, they have Lord Caitanya and other Deities on the right.

I tell them that by of the mercy of Nitāi-Gaura, we are getting the mercy of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa, Sītā Rāma, etc.

Who all know Bengali? So we are speaking in Hindi for North Indian devotees.

So, Lord Caitanya, He travelled all over India.

and at that time people spoke Sanskrit all over India.

Of course, Lord Caitanya also knew Bengali.

Whatever language you know, the point is we should always chant Hare Kṛṣṇa!

I heard the sweet and beautiful chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Who was chanting that? So this is the secret of Lord Caitanya, He advised us all to chant the holy names.

And by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, one can awaken their dormant love for Kṛṣṇa.

So, today those who are taking initiation are agreeing to chant 16 rounds every day.

So do you want to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra 16 rounds?

In the process of initiation, you have to ask for it, ‘please give me initiation’.

Normally, you speak and I listen but since we have multiple languages we will have multiple people who are going to listen.

Now have you all taken your vows of the bad habits that you will avoid?

Raise your hands who have taken the vows. Who has not taken the vows, please raise your hand.

Anyone wants to raise your hand?

You see Jagāi and Mādhāi were doing all kinds of bad things.

Lord Caitanya said that He would forgive them, but he had one condition, never to do these things again.

So, whatever offences you did that will be forgiven, but you should promise that you will never do any of that again.

Four people stood up. You see, I will tell you the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

When I chant the mahā-mantra, no one should repeat along.

You can repeat after I finish.

You see in the Teachings of Lord Caitanya, He taught, nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis.

That all the potency of Kṛṣṇa is in His name.

So this is a very great secret to know.

And so you can take the shelter of Kṛṣṇa anywhere, anytime, just by saying His name.

So please listen. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma,Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! Haribol!