20241031 Address to the Devotees on the Occasion of Jvāla Narasiṁha Festival in TOVP

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: I would like to thank Ambarīṣa Prabhu and Svāhā devī who have taken Śrīla Prabhupāda’s order so seriously. Actually, Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me many instructions. But all of us gave the instruction to build this Vedic Planetarium Mandir. And we see that by his and her dedication – Ambarīṣa Prabhu and Svāhā devī dāsī, they have actually seen that the temple has come to this situation. In one sense Śrīla Prabhupāda gave the instruction to every devotee to stand behind Ambarīṣa Prabhu and Svāhā devī. Give some donation and see that the Temple of Vedic Planetarium manifests. We see the temple is already full! Not big enough!! So what can we do? We have to have several temples around for kīrtana and such things. But this temple, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s vision was that it would attract people and they would come from all over the world. So, this temple will be a very big thing. And many people will be convinced about Lord Caitanya.

Today we are observing Dīpāvalī, when Lord Rāma and Sītā are coming back to Ayodhyā. In Tretā-yuga there were no electric lights. So people were worried how Lord Rāma would come in the nighttime to Ayodhyā. So the people in Ayodhyā, they lit lamps so then He could see Ayodhyā from a distance. And that is where the festival of lights came from. But at the same time in different yugas there was, as His Holiness Rādhānātha Swami said, Yaśodā was also seeing the universe in the mouth of Kṛṣṇa. And today, is a special day for us that we are dedicating to Lord Narasiṁhadeva.

Śrīla Prabhupāda was sick one day and he said the devotees could pray to Lord Narasiṁhadeva for the spiritual master to regain his health. Also, remember how our parama-guru, His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he also established Lord Narasiṁhadeva in the Yogapīṭha temple. There is a special song written by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura where he pleaded to Lord Narasiṁhadeva to please put His lotus feet on his head and bless him, so that here in Māyāpur, Navadvīpa dhāma, he could worship Śrī Śrī Rādhā Mādhava. So that adds a new dimension to the worship of Prahlāda Narasiṁha. By Their mercy, we can get in our heart to worship Rādhā Mādhava. It is a long song and I do not remember it.

e duṣṭa hṛdaye kāma ādi ripu chāya
kuṭināṭī, pratiṣṭhāśā sathya sadā rāya

hṛdaya-sodhana āra kṛṣṇera vāsanā
nṛsiṁha-caraṇe mora ei to’ kāmanā

Within my sinful heart the six enemies headed by lust perpetually reside, as well as duplicity, the desire for fame, plus sheer cunning. At the lotus feet of Lord Narasiṁha, I hope that He will mercifully purify my heart and give me the desire to serve Lord Kṛṣṇa.

kāndiyā nṛsiṁha-pade māgibo kakhana
nirapade navadvīpe jugala-bhajana

bhaya bhaya pāya yāṅ’ra darśane se hari
prasanna haiba kabe more dayā kari

Weeping, I will beg at the lotus-feet of Lord Narasiṁha for the benediction of worshipping Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa in Navadvīpa, perfectly safe and free from all difficulties. When will this Lord Hari, Whose terrible form strikes fear into fear itself, ever become pleased and show me His mercy?

yadyapi bhiṣana mūrti duṣṭa-jīva-prati
prahlādādi kṛṣṇa-bhakta-jane bhadra ati

kabe vā prasanna ha’ye sa kṛpa-vacane
nirbhaya karibe ei muḍha akiñcane

Even though Lord Narasiṁha is terrifying toward the sinful souls, He offers great auspiciousness unto the devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa headed by Prahlāda Mahārāja. When will He be pleased to speak words of compassion unto me, a worthless fool, and thereby make me fearless?

svacchande baisa he vatsa śrī-gaurāṅga-dhāme
jugala-bhajana hau rati hau nāme

mama bhakta-kṛpa-bale vighna jābe dūra
śuddha cite bhaja rādhā-kṛṣṇa-rasa-pūra

He will say, “Dear child! Sit sown freely and live happily here in Śrī Gaurāṅga-dhāma. May you nicely worship the Divine Couple, and may you develop loving attachment for Their holy names. By the mercy of My devotees, all obstacles are cast far away. With a purified heart, just perform the worship of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, for such worship overflows with sweet nectar.”

ei boli’ kabe mora mastaka-upara
svīya śrī-caraṇa harṣe dharibe īśvara

amāni jugala-preme sāttvika vikā1re
dharaya luṭiba āmi śrī-nṛsiṁha-dvāre

Saying this, will that Lord delightedly place His own divine lotus-feet upon my head? I will experience sublime love for the Divine Couple Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and undergo the ecstatic transformations called sāttvika. Falling on the ground, I will roll about at the door of Śrī Narasiṁha’s temple.

(Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, – “Śrī Navadvīpa Bhava Taranga”, 36-40)

Haribol! So in Navadvīpa dhāma you can get this special mercy of Lord Narasiṁhadeva. Our mental impurities, and all other impurities are washed away. So we are all present today in the Temple of Vedic Planetarium to be able to worship Lord Narasiṁhadeva also, that we can have pure bhakti for the Divine Couple. And Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted the Pañca-tattva in the middle, Rādhā Mādhava and Aṣṭa-sakhis on the side and on the left side, the Guru-paramparā. So, Ambarīṣa Prabhu and Braja-vilāsa Prabhu, they are working to get the temple finished. And we are blessed that we have so many Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disciples including Jananivāsa Prabhu, Hari-śauri Prabhu and his wife Sītalā devī. And also, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s nephew and disciple, Saṅkarṣaṇa Prabhu. And by the efforts of the Kolkata temple we got also Śrīla Prabhupāda’s birthplace. Jananivāsa Prabhu was with me, when we only had the grass-hut here. His Holiness Bhakti Puruṣottama Swami said that he when he was a new bhakta here, there were only 30 devotees. But when I was sent here by Śrīla Prabhupāda, we had five devotees! So, that was in 1971 or 72. So, His Holiness Rādhānātha Swami and other devotees are here and the all the devotees from Chowpaty and Māyāpur. I got special prasāda from Lalitā devī in Chowpaty. I don’t know what this is but His Holiness Rādhānātha Swami gave me. (this is Gītā Govinda shawl from the Jagannātha Mandir) Wow! Wow!

So today we can pray to Lord Narasiṁhadeva that we can overcome the obstacles to move the Deities here. On the east side we have Lord Narasiṁhadeva. On the west side we have the exhibition of the different aspects of the Vedic Planetarium. So, Braja-vilāsa and others, they have promised they will try to finish the Scientific Museum of the Vedic Planetarium at the time when they move the Deities. So we hope that you are here in two years when we move the Deities here. And we are very grateful that His Holiness Rādhānātha Swami has brought all of you. When he came to see me last night I could not give him a proper reception. But he said that you all said that you wanted to go to Māyāpur! So, keep this wish to be here when the Deities are here. We are very grateful to His Holiness Rādhānātha Swami, His Holiness Candramouli Swami and others for coming here and enthusing all the devotees to finish the temple in time for the pleasure of Lord Narasiṁhadeva.

His Holiness Subhaga Swami has been with us for a very, very long time. I am very grateful to Svāhā dāsī and Ambarīṣa prabhu for mentioning about His Holiness  Bhakti Cāru Swami and His Holiness Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami. I remember how His Holiness Subhaga Swami was translating books. So Śrīla Prabhupāda tried to engage his devotees in Māyāpur. And His Holiness Subhaga Swami’s mother came up and was crying, “I want my son to come home!” She started rolling on the ground and crying. Bengali mothers are very emotional! Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “He can go home, I am not stopping him!” She said, “Really, really, oh!” Śrīla Prabhupāda asked Subhaga Swami, “You want to go home?” Śrīla Prabhupāda was expert in these tense situations! So I should stop here because there are many other programs. Hare Kṛṣṇa!