20240129 Addressing Ahmedabad Congregations

The following is an address to the AMD local devotees by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on January 29th, 2024. 

Jayapatākā Swami: [Audio very poor and started abruptly.] One kīrtana party was led by Advaita Ācārya, one by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura and one by Haridāsa Ṭhākura. Behind there were Lord Caitanya accompanied by Lord Nityānanda and Gadādhara. Lord Nityānanda was there and watching out to hold Lord Caitanya when He was dancing and almost falling down. From Svarga Vāyudeva and Indradeva came after hearing the kīrtana. Lord Caitanya was chanting His names, dancing, singing, and falling down. Seeing this beautiful sight, the devas fell down unconscious in ecstasy. When they regained consciousness, they took human form and joined the kīrtana. The apsaras from the heaven were throwing flowers and small conch shells.

The Chand Kazi, he heard the kīrtana. He thought that there must be some Hindu wedding. He sent out the soldiers to check it out. When the soldiers came out and they saw lakhs and lakhs of people, they got frightened and they took out their turbans, hid their beards, and they said, ‘Haribol!’ raising their hands. So they wouldn’t be recognized. He saw Lord Caitanya, and Chand Kazi came out and said, “Your grandfather used to call me uncle, why are You coming in an angry mood to my house?” And Lord Caitanya said, “Why are you keeping your nephew standing in the road?” So they had a long chat. Lord Caitanya was saying, “Why do you kill animals, why do you kill the cow, who gives you milk?” The Chand Kazi said, “In your religion they have gomedha, where they kill the cow.” Lord Caitanya explained that those cows or bulls get new birth. But in Kali-yuga since most brāhmaṇas do not have this capacity that is why we don’t do these sacrifices. The Chand Kazi revealed that the previous night he had a horrible dream. Horrible dream! “A half-man half-lion came and jumped on my chest. And He scratched my chest. If you stop My kīrtana again I will kill you,” He said. And he opened his shirt and showed, the scratch was still there. So the Chand Kazi gave an order that he or his descendants would never stop the saṅkīrtana again. Haribol! So these pastimes of Lord Caitanya are very famous.

Lord Caitanya’s guru’s guru Mādhavendra Purī – before He was a sannyāsī He was a gṛhastha and had a son Viṣṇu dāsa. Śrīla Prabhupāda in a lecture in London he told all the gṛhasthas that you have to become paramahaṁsas. Normally, sannyāsīs are paramahaṁsas. Śrīla Prabhupāda said he wanted his gṛhastha disciples to be paramahaṁsas. He also said my guru was the son of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. So you all should have ācāryas as children. Because we need a lot of ācāryas to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. So there is a saṁskāra called garbhādāna-saṁskāra. Where they pray to the Deity for a healthy, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, suputra. Pray for a divine child. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā, procreation which is done as per the saṁskāra s is not different from Him. How many are gṛhasthas here? So you have a big responsibility to have an ācārya. So, Lord Caitanya came, He promised to come in Gujarat. He came and gave love of Kṛṣṇa to everyone. 

When the door to the Rāma Mandir opened everyone had tears in their eyes. Then I could see, I read in the sacred books that if Lord Caitanya give one drop of kṛṣṇa-prema that would flood the whole world. So, I wondered how it would be when I saw the devotees running up to the Rāma Mandir, then I could realize. Many devotees have gathered today. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Question: You are so much attached to Śrīla Prabhupāda, how can we develop the same attachment to you and how do we please you? 

Jayapatākā Swami: When you are in devotional service then naturally you will be attached to the guru. With the mercy of guru we get kṛṣṇa-prema.

Question: These qualities like hair standing on end, voice choking, eyes tearing, when we experience these when doing kīrtana, should we exhibit them or should we conceal them? 

Jayapatākā Swami: Nice question. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda tells that many people imitate the ecstasy. And therefore, they would try to keep it hidden. But sometimes they could not. Like when Śrīla Prabhupāda went to Ayodhyā he could not hide. Our guru sometimes while giving class he would show the ecstasies. Sometimes it is not possible to hide. We should remember that we should not make a show of it. If any of you feel such ecstatic symptoms take it as the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.

Question: Is the relationship between guru and disciple pre-destined?

Jayapatākā Swami: Sometimes. Sometimes the guru comes back to liberate the disciples So the disciple may have a relationship from the previous life.

Alright thank you very much! Hare Kṛṣṇa!