20240809 Address To The Howrah District Nāmahaṭṭa Sammelan

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: If I speak in Bengali do you need a translator?

Howrah district is on the west bank of the Ganges. And there are many devotees in this district of Howrah! Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He did the Pānihāṭi pastime. That Pānihāṭi is on the eastern side of the Ganges. But on the western side there are many pastime places. Lord Kṛṣṇa thought, I am so happy and in bliss in Vraja Dhāma, but the people in Kali-yuga are devoid of this bliss. So Lord Kṛṣṇa thought that I will come as a devotee and teach the prema, love of Vṛndāvana to all the people!

Now, Advaita Gosāñī is the incarnation of Mahā-Viṣṇu. He, if He wanted He could have liberated all the people. But He thought, that if prema-bhakti is distributed by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself it would be better. He offered tulasī-mañjarī on the śālagrāma-śilā. Also offered a lot of Gaṅgā water. And He observed many fasts. Then He loudly called out to Lord Kṛṣṇa to come. He said, “If I am Advaita and if I request Lord Kṛṣṇa to come, He will definitely come.”

By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra the heart is cleansed. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya this way, He established the saṅkīrtana-yajña. Then, how much the devotees loved Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa would not have understood unless He became a devotee. That is why He came as a devotee and incarnated thus as Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. On one side He distributed love to all. And, who is qualified, who is unqualified He did not think of all that. He is all strength, all complete, etc. But if someone thinks of all this and worships Him, He is not very happy. The vraja-vāsīs loved Kṛṣṇa, and that Kṛṣṇa was God and that He was the strongest, etc. they did not think about all this. The devotees related with Him in different relations like a servant, friend, master, parent, conjugal lover. So this way, they individually loved Kṛṣṇa. That is what Kṛṣṇa loved most.

We want that all the devotees of the Nāma-haṭṭa love Kṛṣṇa! This is possible with the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu! Now, generally, it is not possible to get this prema. But Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu and Nitāi freely distributed this prema! Now devotees, if they chant Harināma all the time, then their thoughts will be purified and they will get Kṛṣṇa prema of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad-gītā in the 4^th chapter – janma karma ca me divyam [Bg. 4.9] – if the person understands His appearance and activities are all divine then they will not take birth again in this material world.

To the east of this place about a kilometer away is the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that that is His birthplace and this place, Māyāpur, is the place of activities of Lord Caitanya. Here we are always ready to serve Lord Caitanya! Here the Mahārājas and the sannyāsīs, bring you all to Māyāpur. So that you stay connected strongly with Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When you go back to Howrah, you will be representatives of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu! And there you will make sure that you get all the people to love and follow Lord Caitanya.

I heard that in Howrah district the men devotees can do nice hari-dhvani! Hari bol! The ladies can do nice ulu-dhvani! Did you learn how to do it? (Asking the Western devotees sitting there)! Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to do so much kīrtana that everyone participated in the kīrtana and attained bliss! All of you get the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and the Nāma-haṭṭa here and go back to Howrah and distribute the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to all! I welcome all of you and hope that you will all visit again. Gaurāṅga! Nitāi! Advaita! Gadādhara! Śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda!

I would also like to thank you (Padmanetra dāsa)! And His Holiness Bhakti Vilāsa Gauracandra Mahārāja as well!

Now, Bhādra Pūrṇimā is coming up next month. So buying a set of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and donate, it says that they will go back to Godhead. Which district will take more Śrīmad-Bhāgavatams? That competition is going on!