20241003 Address West Medinipur and Jhargram Nāma-haṭṭa 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: West Medinipur and Jhargram have how many Nāma-haṭṭa saṅghas? More than 700 in West Medinipur. Jhargram has 150. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu went from Bengal to Nīlācala. Looks like He went to West and East Medinipur. The kīrtana you were doing was very nice! You danced and sang! Do the men know to do Hari-dhvani? Haribol! The ladies, can they do ulu-dhvani? Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said that when he took the Harināma saṅkīrtana from village to village the ladies welcomed him with the ulu-dhvani. Ladies can do both Hari-dhvani and ulu-dhvani. But we men can only do Hari-dhvani! This way, it would be good to please Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He wanted to liberate all the conditioned souls by Harināma kīrtana. I saw that all you thousand devotees did wonderful kīrtana and dance This certainly would please Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu!

The other side is the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. About 1 km to the north of here. Śrīla Prabhupāda, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda said that that was His birthplace and Māyāpur Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s karma-sthāna, place of activity. In the Bhagavad-gītā there is a verse which says, janma karma ca me divyam [Bg 4.9] – that is birthplace and karma-sthāna, place of activity, are divine. Nāma-haṭṭa means to follow the order of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Generally, people, some accept, some do not accept, your Nāma-haṭṭa’s duty is that everyone accept. Lord Caitanya said that He would deliver all the people by Harināma. He said,

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

How many villages are there in West Medinipur and Jhargram? There are 700 saṅghas in West Medinipur and 150 in Jhargram. But there are so many villages that are not in the Nāma-haṭṭa. So we should have at least one Nāma-haṭṭa in each village. At least in Hindu villages. You should all make effort to at least try and see that all get the mercy of Lord Caitanya. There are 8,694 villages in West Medinipur. You have been able to do Nāma-haṭṭa in 10% of the villages in West Medinipur. Our goal is that all should get the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You are all fortunate that you have got this mercy! But many other parts have not got this mercy. We have to go back to Godhead in this lifetime. The yuga-dharma of Kali-yuga is Harināma saṅkīrtana. Everyone should chant and do kīrtana:

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

The dharma in Satya-yuga was meditation, Tretā-yuga was homa sacrifice, Dvāpara-yuga was worship of the Deity and also the Lord appeared Himself. Kali-yuga is nāma-saṅkīrtana. This has so much strength or potency. Taking the name of the Lord, there is no difference between that and the Lord Himself. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu He was thinking how the Muslims could be delivered. Haridāsa Ṭhākura said that if a pig is attacked then the Muslims say, ‘Haram! Haram!’ This is nāmābhāsa – because they say ‘Ha-rāma’. In Spanish the branch of a tree is called ‘Rāma’. I had been to Malaysia, day is called Hari. Butterfly is called, ‘Rāma! Rāma!’ in Malay language. So there is nāmābhāsa in different languages unintentionally.

Lord Caitanya appeared during a lunar eclipse and during the lunar eclipse all the Hindus were standing in the Ganges and they were chanting: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! The Muslims were making fun and saying see what the Hindus are saying, ‘Govinda! Govinda!’ ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa!’ This way, all were chanting Harināma!

In America there will be election of a new President. And there is a candidate for that by name Kamala Harris. Kamalā is one of the names of Rādhārāṇī. And Harris, Hari is the name of the Lord. People say that Kamala Harris is good. The opposition say Kamala Harris is bad. So everyone is saying Kamala Harris. This was there is nāmābhāsa unknowingly. But in the Nāma-haṭṭa if they do kīrtana that is even better. That is not nāmābhāsa, it is nama saṅkīrtana.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare /
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

The yuga-dharma in Kali-yuga is nāma-saṅkīrtana. It is mentioned in the Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad, this mahā mantra.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare /
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

iti ṣoḍaśakaṁ nāmnāṁ kali-kalmaṣa-nāśanaṁ

So Hare, Kṛṣṇa, Rāma these three words comprise of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. If you read Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam along with this, you can learn more about Lord Kṛṣṇa.

This Navadvīpa Dhāma has nine islands. Each island is attached to different practices of devotional service, kṛṣṇa-bhakti. Jagannātha Mandir is in Sīmantadvīpa and Sīmantadvīpa is attached the devotional service of hearing. On the other side of Jalāṅgī river is Godrumadvīpa, which is linked to kīrtana. Then is Madhyadvīpa, that is linked to meditating and thinking of the Lord. Navadvīpa city is in Koladvīpa. Kola is one of the names of Lord Varāhadeva. When He killed the demon Hiraṇyākṣa, at that time He had kept one foot on Koladvīpa. So Koladvīpa is linked to the devotional service of pāda-sevanam. So the nine islands are linked to the nine practices of devotional service. The birthplace of Lord Caitanya is Antardvīpa and is linked to doing devotional service by all practices that is ātmā-nivedanam. You are all sitting in Rudradvīpa. This island is linked to serving the Lord in friendship. So there are different islands. Navadvīpa was created by Rādhārāṇī. And whatever activities we do we get a thousand times the benefit. If you even sleep there, it is like paying obeisances to the Lord. When you walk here, each step is like you get more benefit than that achieved by performing an aśvamedha-yajña.

Here in Māyāpur, the Nāma-haṭṭa department does a sammelan every year with different groups from different districts from all over to facilitate all of you. Haribol! I am very happy to see all of you! I hope that you will take darśana of Pañca-tattva, Lord Caitanya and when you go back to your respective homes, you will preach the teachings of Lord Caitanya even more. I hear that there are 700 Nāma-haṭṭa sanghas approximately. Now when you come next year, more of you should come. And ladies, men, have become mālā-senāpati, I am very grateful to hear that.

In the 9^th canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is a purport – in the verse an Apsarā criticized women, but Śrīla Prabhupāda mentions in the purport that when one is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness then all or one – be they men, women, śūdras or whatever. So this Nāma-haṭṭa means that all of you are one, in bhakti-yoga. Hare Kṛṣṇa!