20231004 Bhūmi-pūjā Address in ISKCON Whitefield Temple

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 4th, 2023 in Bangalore, India. The talk was given at ISKCON Whitefield Bhūmi-pūjā ceremony.

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 seeing your video, it was very encouraging how ISKCON Whitefield has been expanding. I watched the future plans of the temple. Very wonderful building. I am glad that all of you are involved. So this Whitefield temple is filled with many congregational devotees. So, Lord Caitanya, He had made this congregational movement. Asking everyone to chant, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! So by your chanting and congregation, books, are being distributed and the preaching is expanding. Actually, if the devotee takes the matter very seriously then there is no limit to how wide and how far this Kṛṣṇa consciousness may spread. So Lord Caitanya, He was eager to see that everyone can go back to Godhead! And He said that especially for the Indians.

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra
(Cc. Ādi 9.41)

I can see that the Whitefield center is implementing this desire of Lord Caitanya. How the devotees the men, women and children, everyone, how they are all getting the mercy of Lord Caitanya. So Whitefield will soon be expanding more and more! So all of you should be very careful to cultivate your bhakti. The bhakti tree is attempted to be broken by Kali-yuga. You should see that your bhakti-vṛkṣa is duly protected. Bhakti-yoga can be developed without any stop. But each person needs to protect their bhakti tree. So this way you can get bhakti to grow and grow. We can see how many people are benefited by their bhakti tree. And how the temple is designed to include all the different things. Starting with the Deities, Govinda restaurant, the educational courses, so many different activities to keep everyone busy. So bhakti-yoga includes karma-yoga. The secret of bhakti-yoga is to always be busy in Kṛṣṇa’s service. And I see that the devotees are very active in their devotional service. Haribol!

So Whitefield will soon be a word which everybody knows! And so will Bengaluru! Namma Bengaluru! Namma Whitefield! So we are very inspired, what more can I say?! There is a very nice plan here for this center’s development. And you are stepping forward and involving yourselves is certainly very auspicious. So when I was with Śrīla Prabhupāda, Śrīla Prabhupāda requested me to develop the Kingdom of God. So then a similar request I have here for you in Whitefield. Śrīla Prabhupāda did not say that you enjoy it. But naturally, if you render service to Kṛṣṇa, you will feel happy. You don’t have to try to be happy. Sometimes, we are happy with material things and sometimes we are not. But in spiritual things we are always happy. I hope all of you are happy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness! Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, serving Kṛṣṇa, and spreading the teachings of Kṛṣṇa. Here I am very happy to see how all of you people are Kṛṣṇa conscious. Thank you very much! So someone asked him that the holy people show some miracles, like producing ashes, can you show something? Śrīla Prabhupāda said I went to the West with 35 rupees now I have temples worth 40 crores. Isn’t that a miracle? The businessman said yes. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda requested, in changing the way people thought. So he was successful. But he was only preaching for 12 years. In 12 years, he established 108 temples. But now the temples are still expanding, including Whitefield. Haribol! Dhanyavādalu! I get mixed up with Telugu! I want to thank everybody.

Dhanyavāda!