20240229 150th Appearance Day of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Celebration Address

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Today is the 150^th appearance anniversary Vyāsa-pūjā of His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda celebration. In the morning in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class His Holiness Bhakti Vikāśa Swami was explaining how Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda was a ‘lion guru’. Because he would present the principles of devotional service in a very straight forward manner. The audience that he had were all extremely highly educated and therefore he would also preach to them in that highly elevated education level. Our spiritual master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda was preaching to foreigners who were very simple in spiritual matters. When there would be the Vyāsa-pūjā celebration of His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda would place the picture of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda on his vyāsāsana. He would tell us in his praṇāma the reason why he went to the West was on the order of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. Now all the members of our Sarasvata Gauḍīya Association have gathered here to celebrate this great function. The purpose of this great endeavor is only for the satisfaction of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. Our endeavor is that as Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda he preached pure bhakti, in the same way we all together will preach pure bhakti. We have heard that as Lord Caitanya had come to relish the conjugal pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa but Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura did not present that philosophy to the general public. When we asked our spiritual master about Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he said, “What can I say? He was a Vaikuṇṭha man!”

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he visited many holy places and there he established the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and he had a desire that all over India in 108 places, the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu should be established. Some were established by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and some by his disciples, so there were about eight established, so I am trying to finish the 108. We have established one in Rādhā-kuṇḍa and in South India about two or three. We are going after the festival here, the Gaura-Pūrṇimā, the safari will go to Vṛndāvana and there are 30 places where we will establish His lotus footprints. I should not be talking too much now. We wish that the characteristics of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda and his glories be spread immensely.

Śrīla Prabhupāda had asked me to try to establish, to unify the disciples, grand-disciples’ disciplic succession of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda. We got the blessings of different disciples of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda to do this and establish the Sārasvata Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Association. I am very grateful that different Sārasvata Gauḍīya disciples have all unified and assembled here. I hope everyone will do the jaya-dhvani together. Haribol! I hope the ladies would do ulu-dhvani! Every Vyāsa-pūjā, we have to do a puṣpāñjali, when will that happen?

(There are two more speakers, after which the puṣpāṅjali will take places followed by mahā-ārati.)