20240607 Zoom Address: Māyāpur Utkarśa Youth Camp

The following is an address given by HH JPSM on June 7th 2024 in Sridhama Mayapur, India. The address was given to the Utkarṣa Youth Retreat from New Delhi, India.

Jayapatākā Swami: I would like to welcome all of you to Māyāpur Dhāma. Vṛndāvana is Mādhurya Dhāma and Jagannātha Purī is aiśvarya-dhāma. But this Navadvīpa is also a dhāma. And that is called the audārya-dhāma – the dhāma of mercy! Kṛṣṇa, He came as Lord Caitanya, and His external mission was to spread the Harināma-saṅkīrtana. So, He spent 24 years in Navadvīpa and then He went to Jagannātha Purī and all over India during the rest of the 24 years. So Kṛṣṇa was very impressed and said to Rādhārāṇī that You have made this beautiful dhāma for Me, with nine islands. So I will make this non-different from Vṛndāvana. All the holy places will come here. We are happy to welcome you to this Navadvīpa-dhāma. There are nine islands, each island is connected to one of the nine processes of devotional service. You are presently sitting in Rudradvīpa. And Pañca-tattva, They are in Antardvīpa. So like that, you are just at the border! So every service you do in Māyāpur is multiplied by one thousand.

We were placing the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya in all the places where He had visited in Vṛndāvana. But unfortunately, I got sick. But the devotees continued placing the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya. They said I should not travel before 18th of June, because I had an operation on my arm. So we hope that while you are here, you get full mercy of Lord Caitanya! You will be able to chant, able to dance, able to have prasāda. You see, as I said, every service is multiplied by one thousand. Also, because our temple is close to the Ganges, therefore it is further multiplied. So I hope you enjoy your stay in Māyāpur and you get lots of inspiration. You can visit Śrīla Prabhupāda’s puṣpa-samādhi and you can attend the programs in the temple. So in this way your spiritual life can multiply. Lying down in Māyāpur is like offering praṇāmas anywhere else. Every step in Māyāpur is more than an aśvamedha-yajña. So His Grace Rādhe Śyāma dāsa has brought you to this place so that you can multiply your spiritual credits. I wish I was in Māyāpur to greet all of you but I will be greeting you from afar. You can see how big this TOVP is. We are trying to also make a Science Museum of the Vedic Planetarium.

So we are happy to welcome you to Māyāpur and we hope that you will take away lots of mercy! Also, lots of senior devotees are present. If you have any questions, you can ask them. I can also be written to and this audience will be played on Instagram and Facebook.

His Grace Rādhe Śyama dāsa: Mahārāja, humble obeisances at your lotus feet. You have always had a big heart in welcoming yatrīs to Māyāpur. I came first in 1993 and since then we have been dozens of times to Māyāpur. Thank you for your big heart in accommodating thousands and thousands of devotees from all over the world, without any reservations. Here in Māyāpur, devotees have been taking perfect care of us. I see it as your mercy permeating through them. So I want to thank you firstly for that. I had one question to you Mahārāja. Many of the students who have come here, this time we had about 500 students come. (audio break) 10 to 12 rounds or 16 rounds now in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and also many senior boys have come.

So, one question many of them ask us is it is very easy to begin spiritual life, but how to maintain persistent enthusiasm all through our lives. They are asking, His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja, he came way back in 1968, now it is 2024, practically 56 years he has stayed here and fully served his spiritual master and Śrīla Prabhupāda left the world in 1977. But even after Śrīla Prabhupāda went back to Godhead, still without reducing your enthusiasm, how have you been able to go on and on for almost 5 to 6 decades? So many of them are very surprised and they want some pointers from you on how we can go on with our spiritual life our whole life like you.

Jayapatākā Swami: I am a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupāda. At the age of 70, he went to the USA to spread the saṅkīrtana movement of Lord Caitanya. He faced many challenges, but he tolerated all those to give us the mercy of Lord Caitanya. So, we hear that we cannot repay the debt we owe to the spiritual master. So I am trying to repay the debt to whatever extent I can. And if anyone would like to help me, I don’t mind. And maybe amongst this 500 devotees, there are some who would like to help. Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me about 30 instructions. So I want to fulfill those and also there are many instructions. So, this is so much bliss! To serve Kṛṣṇa! But whether you serve as a brahmacārī or as a gṛhastha, the point is that we should do all our service with the idea of pleasing Lord Caitanya. Yesterday, in the ILBS Hospital, I was preaching to the two doctors and one lady. One doctor was maybe with her husband. So I preached to her how she should keep Kṛṣṇa in the center. Another lady doctor, she was separated from her husband. I told, she had the name Mādhavī, I said that she is very intelligent, and she said she would continue chanting. Then on the way out I met one lady whose husband was taking drugs, and her father was in the ICU because he was an alcoholic and he had cirrhosis of the liver. Another patient I saw, he had so many intravenous shots. But my seeing him, he felt better! And he got off of many of the intravenous things! I am preaching all the time. There is so much to do! And Śrīla Prabhupāda did it for us! We need that all the devotees, all of you young boys to continue the preaching. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Question: How to have very strong faith in the spiritual world? 

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, you are starting up, so all these questions come up. But actually, if we read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we find so many descriptions of the spiritual world. And so many devotees have gone to the spiritual world. There that question never comes up. After some time, we feel so much inspiration and we want to serve Kṛṣṇa. So one can serve Kṛṣṇa in different ways. Some may be very strong brahmacārīs, some may be married to a devotee. Either way, the idea that Śrīla Prabhupāda told in 1973 in London was that, all the devotees should try to be paramahaṁsas. And he told even the gṛhasthas should be paramahaṁsas. So, you realize in the spiritual world everybody loves Kṛṣṇa. But in this material world we are trying to imitate, and therefore we have different relationships. But eventually we realize that the real purpose is to have Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You see, Lord Caitanya, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So He came as Lord Caitanya to realize what is the ecstasy the devotees feel for Him. In the beginning of devotional service, you do things following rules and regulations. And eventually you get devotion which is rāgānuga, spontaneous. Then, so much bliss, so much ecstasy that you wonder how the devotees, how they are surviving without any bliss! So you must be getting little bliss, I can tell you that the bliss increases and at that time, you don’t think that there is any other way! So I hope all of you very quickly get that bliss. Then you want to go on. Haribol! This is the last question.

Question: Mahārāja jī! This material life is a type of a race.  We have a desire to earn money for sevā. But how to progress in spiritual life despite all the dirtiness in material life?

Jayapatākā Swami: That is why you have to have a regular habit of chanting. So you follow the practices in your brahmacārī life and then when you go to be a gṛhastha or whatever, you continue the practices.

I thank you all very much and my secretary is trying to have me stop here because other programs are there! So happy to see all your enthusiasm. I hope you have a nice stay in Māyāpur! Kṛṣṇe matir astu!