20240106 Address in Harināma Festival (Day 3)

The following is an address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on January 6th,2024 at the Harināma Festival (Day 3) in Agartala, 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: I am very happy to have come to Tripura. The way His Holiness Bhakti Puruṣottama Mahārāja introduced me, I am very grateful for that. He is making lot of effort in tribal preaching. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu had instructed us to study Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2nd Canto, it is said that all national and international tribals if they do kṛṣṇa-bhakti in a dedicated and sincere manner then devotion will blossom in their hearts. In the 9th Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is mention about devotional service. Be they women, children, men, śūdras, whoever they may be if they do devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, they are all the same. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given the teaching that jei kṛṣṇa-tattva jane sei guru haya. I hope that all of you will do devotional service to Kṛṣṇa and be united. My gurudeva, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he spread these teachings all over the world. In keeping with his order, I became an Indian citizen and live in India. I hope that Caitanyadeva’s mercy is there on all of you. Caitanyadeva taught that if we sincerely and truly know Lord Kṛṣṇa, then we will all be liberated. We just saw a beautiful drama in which devotees played the part of Lord Rāma, Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa. The Lord appears sometimes and incarnates in the form of human being. But the Lord is not a human being. But He comes and acts as a human being. Rāvaṇa had a boon that he would not be killed by the devas or animals, etc. He was a demon and ate humans, but he did not have the blessing that he would not be killed by a human being. He also did not take the blessing that he could be killed by animals as he considered humans and animals not to be a threat to him. So Lord Rāmacandra came as a human being and He had the association of animals – monkeys. That way, Lord Rāma killed Rāvaṇa. So if we do devotional service to the Lord and serve Him we can be liberated. His Holiness Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami has taught how we can serve the Lord. If we serve this way, we can go back to Godhead. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in this Kali-yuga 500 years ago. He appears in every yuga but in Kali-yuga he does not appear openly. In Kali-yuga no one can say that we have not committed any sin. That is why Lord Caitanya did not come with any weapons. His devotees were his weapons. The devotees are his army. You are His army! If you want this mercy of Lord Caitanya then all of you become devotees and get liberated. If the human beings become devotees of Lord Caitanya then they can get His mercy. Lord Caitanya’s mercy is available for all. Haribol! Gaurāṅga!

I think that Lord Caitanya went around Bangladesh and many places in India and it was His wish that all the people should get liberated. When He used to walk around in South India He used to embrace the people on the way and give them kṛṣṇa-prema. In Navadvīpa He was known as Nimāi Paṇḍita. But when He went to Bihar, then He got pure devotion. And He used to travel through forests, and places and taught devotion to Kṛṣṇa. That everyone gets kṛṣṇa-bhakti, was His intention. So through the teachings of Lord Caitanya, everyone can get devotion to Kṛṣṇa. This way getting Lord Caitanya’s mercy everyone can be liberated. I hope that all the devotees in Tripura will get the mercy of Lord Caitanya.

I was born in a Christian family. The Christians say the Father, Son and the Holy spirit. When I was in the hospital there were some nurses who were Christians. I told them that I was also a Christian. But there they taught about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is a lot taught about the Son. But Jesus Christ says that we should love the Lord. The Holy Spirit we believe in our scriptures to be the Supersoul. But there is no teaching with regard to this. My gurudeva taught me who is Kṛṣṇa and who is the Paramātmā. The Christian nurse said, yes, this is true. There is teaching about Jesus Christ but there is no teaching about who is God. That is why our Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the Purāṇas have a lot of scientific teachings in them. My gurudeva, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, the teachings he gave us, we are spreading it all over the world. Caitanyadeva taught us how to love the Lord. In bhakti-yoga we are taught how to love the Lord. This way chanting the names of the Lord, like it is written here on the banners “Harināma Utsava”. There is no other way in this Kali-yuga other than taking to the Harināma.

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
alau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
(Cc. Ādi 17.21)

This is given in one of our Purāṇas. I hope that all of you will take the name of Kṛṣṇa and sing the glories and get spiritually evolved. Haribol! Gaurāṅga!