20240419 Śrī Vyāsa-pūjā 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: Is Māyāpur TV here? Shall I speak in English or Bengali? The senior devotees and the medical team they said that I should get fully cured and then I can come to Māyāpur. So then the idea was that I celebrate the Vyāsa-pūjā in Delhi! And what I speak should be translated and transmitted. I am very glad to see so many devotees have come here. I had one-time Vyāsa-pūjā in Chennai. This is the only other time I had my Vyāsa-pūjā outside Māyāpur, in Delhi. His Holiness Lokanātha Swami is correcting, in NOIDA (which is outside Delhi, in Uttar Pradesh). I was given a garland by His Holiness Lokanātha Swami. Also, by His Holiness Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahārāja. I know that you are waiting for your prasāda!

In Māyāpur it is Mahā Dvādaśī today. Here in Delhi and Noida it is full Ekādaśī. I don’t know, you have cooks for cooking a feast for Ekādaśī. (Yes!) Then send me some sample!

In 1973 Śrīla Prabhupāda was observing his Vyāsa-pūjā in London, and he told all his grhasthas that they should be paramahaṁsas. Normally we hope that the brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs would be able to achieve the paramahaṁsa stage. Lord Caitanya, when He took sannyāsa, He met Mother Śacī in Śāntipur. He told all the devotees, go home to your families. Most of Lord Caitanya’s followers were gṛhasthas. But it is very important to practice garbhādāna-saṁskāra as a gṛhastha. And to take kṛṣṇa-prasāda. Actually, I was thinking how our relationship with Kṛṣṇa is so wonderful! That we are very fortunate, if we can engage all our senses to please Kṛṣṇa. Devotional service means we try to make Kṛṣṇa satisfied. Śrīla Prabhupāda in a lecture said my guru, he was an ācārya. All the gṛhasthas should make their children as ācāryas. Śrīla Prabhupāda had very high aspirations. And so we want our devotees to also try to do everything in such a way that Lord Kṛṣṇa is satisfied. Of course, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is the special benediction for this Kali-yuga. Still, one should think that everything I do I want Kṛṣṇa to be pleased. What do you think of that?

This is the difference between Kṛṣṇa consciousness and mundane consciousness. In the material world everyone wants Kṛṣṇa to satisfy their position. Please give me a good job! Please give the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa to me so that I can have a big house! But actually, Kṛṣṇa, He wants to come down to be our friend, our lover, our son, our master. So, is this the Māyāpur TV broadcast?

I will speak a bit in Bengali?

Vyāsa-pūjā is that special day when we mentally take an oath that we will fulfill all desires of our Guru Mahārāja. This is not just a birthday but it is much more than that and observed as Vyāsa-pūjā. We have to try that all husbands and wives, brahmacārīs, sannyāsīs, should fix their minds and satisfy Lord Kṛṣṇa. Now, in Māyāpur TV about 20,000 people are watching online. They are wondering how it has been possible to have so many devotees in Delhi, Noida! Noida is outside Delhi in the state Uttar Pradesh and comes in the NCR (National Capital Region). I am very happy to have come here!

We hope that like this, every day will be a festival for you! I thank the Māyāpur devotees for offering new sets of clothes to the Deities. Sometimes devotees ask me, what can I do? Śrīla Prabhupāda had given me 20 or 30 instructions. One instruction of Śrīla Prabhupāda was that you can stay in Māyāpur and work through your assistants. At that time the assistants were mainly my godbrothers. So my godbrothers, my godsisters, they helped to realize these instructions. Hare Kṛṣṇa!