20240812 Addressing Kolkata Nāma-haṭṭa Sammelan

Jayapatākā Swami: I welcome all the devotees of the Kolkata Nāma-haṭṭa devotees, you have come to Māyāpur dhāma, I am grateful for that! Kolkata is in West Bengal and the capital of Bengal, and you are preaching in the Nāma-haṭṭa there. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He desired that everyone should preach so that His prediction would come true. He had said:

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
(CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)

The people you stay with, you should preach Lord Caitanya’s teachings to them. Lord Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, He came to establish the yuga-dharma for this age. Besides this He also came for some confidential reasons as well. He, wanted to know what the devotees and what Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī felt for Him, He wanted to understand that. So, He came as a devotee. And He distributed kṛṣṇa-prema freely to all. Who was qualified, who was not, He did not think of that. You are all Kolkata-vāsīs. This comes within the Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi.

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura said:

gauḍa-maṇḍala-bhūmi,     yebā jāne cintāmaṇi,
tā'ra haya vrajabhūme vāsa

Those who live in the Gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi are actually living in Vraja-dhāma! [audio break] We will love Kṛṣṇa and do special service to Him. Many people just serve Kṛṣṇa ritualistically, because He is all strength, He is Bhagavān, etc. and thinking this way they worship Kṛṣṇa following rules. And Kṛṣṇa says that if someone prays like this He is not satisfied. These people could go up to Vaikuṇṭha. To be with Kṛṣṇa, to do service to Him, people should worship Him the way the vraja-vāsīs worshiped and served Him. I don’t know if I am able to explain properly in Bengali or not.

The vraja-vāsīs did not know that Kṛṣṇa was God, but anyway they did not give much importance to that. They used to serve Kṛṣṇa internally. They wanted to be with Kṛṣṇa, they loved Kṛṣṇa! This is a very confidential matter. This is not to be discussed with everyone. By worshiping Kṛṣṇa ritualistically, following rules, they can attain Vaikuṇṭha dhāma. But this is very easy for devotees of Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya gave the blessing, the way the vraja-vāsīs loved and worshiped Kṛṣṇa, we also wish to do the same.

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He travelled around South India, West India, He ordered:

yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa
āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa
(Cc. Madhya 7.128)

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami took this philosophy to the Western world. He did not think that there was need to preach here. But Lord Caitanya had wanted that,

pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma
sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma
(CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126)

So that has been made possible. But Śrīla Prabhupāda had sent me here to further preach the teachings of Lord Caitanya. You should all distribute books, Harināma, studying scriptures and kīrtana, etc. All the men do you all know to chant hari-dhvani? Haribol! And women also are chanting hari-dhvani nicely. But the women can chant something special that is, ulu-dhvani! Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura when he chanted kīrtana and got bliss, then the ladies were chanting ulu-dhvani. Haribol! Ulu-dhvani!

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in Navadvīpa dhāma. His birthplace is about a kilometer away in the north. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that this place Māyāpur, will be Kṛṣṇa’s place of activities. Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad-gītā [4.9], janma karma ca me divyam - that is birthplace and this is place of activities of the Lord. The devotees from the Nāma-haṭṭa are all preaching the teachings of Lord Kṛṣṇa. I hope that you will preach the teachings of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu! Now, you have all come to Navadvīpa dhāma, you are all blessed because of that! I hope that you will have learnt a lot from the Nāma-haṭṭa sammelan in Navadvīpa dhāma!

This month coming up is the Bhādra month, and it is said that if you distribute or donate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you will go back to Godhead at the end of your life. Kṛṣṇa was thinking, that I have tasted vraja-prema in Vraja dhāma. But the people of Kali-yuga in this material world if they do not get kṛṣṇa-prema then their taking birth in the material world is a waste! So, the Nāma-haṭṭa is ordering everyone to chant Kṛṣṇa’s names, read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. I have attained the Bhakti-vedānta degree! Bhakti-śāstrī and Bhakti-vaibhava degrees, I attained earlier. Now I am studying for the Bhakti-Sārvabhauma degree. All of you should read Śrīla Prabhupāda books. And request others also to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books.

Generally, I give class every evening. Today, because the Nāma-haṭṭa gave me an invite to come here, I have come here. Here devotees have come from various countries! I hope that Āhlādinī Rādhā Devī Dāsī is translating from Bengali to English! You are from the West, have you learnt how to do ulu-dhvani? (asked the Western devotees sitting there). Thank you!

This way, you need to learn the divine teachings of Lord Caitanya in Bengali. These divine teachings. I take this opportunity to welcome all of you devotees from the Kolkata Nāma-haṭṭa! If you have two questions, I will try to answer. One question from the men and one from the women.

Question: How can we do the preaching well together helping one another and advancing?

Jayapatākā Swami: I hope that all of you will do preaching together. I request everyone. But if you do or not, you have to think about it. This is not one person’s responsibility, it is the duty of everyone. Those of you who stay close to one another, then together preach to the other people. Who is willing to preach? Raise your hand! No one has any objection!

Question from the ladies?