20241119 Address to Śrī Kṣetra Parikramā Devotees

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 am very glad to be addressing the participants of the Jagannātha Purī parikramā. This parikramā is mentioned in the Vedas and Śrī Kṣetra is a very auspicious place. We have our Gaura-maṇḍala bhūmi and touching that Remuṇā, is the Śrī Kṣetra. And the special Jagannātha Purī parikramā is a parikramā around Jagannātha Purī. So, Lord Caitanya spent 24 years in Bengal. Then He went to Jagannātha Purī and He spent six years travelling around India and 18 years in Jagannātha Purī. So both for Lord Jagannātha’s devotees and Lord Caitanya’s devotees, this Jagannātha Purī parikramā is very important. There are many places of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. He used to do kīrtana around the Jagannātha Purī temple. He used to have darśana of Lord Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā and Sudarśana cakra. And there are thousands of many pastime places. So it is a very auspicious opportunity to participate in Lord Jagannātha and Lord Caitanya’s pastime places. Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted that devotees all over the world are take to Vaiṣṇava, Hindu-dharma, that they should be allowed in the Jagannātha Purī temple. We are still hoping for that. We respect all the devotees, pāṇḍās of Lord Jagannātha. Here we are meeting by the ocean and we are chanting the mahā-mantra: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

So we hope that you can see many places of Lord Caitanya’s līlā and His devotees. Our previous ācārya, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda was brought on the main road where the Ratha-yātrā goes on to see the special pond and Śiva liṅga connected with Mārkhaṇḍeya Ṛṣi, see the special Narendra Sarovara, see the Māsir bāḍi, Guṇḍicā Mandira, see the Narasiṁha temple next to Guṇḍicā Mandira, see the Gaura-Gambhīra wheren Lord Caitanya used to see, right next to our bhajana–kuṭi is Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s samādhi, and then where Haridāsa Ṭhākura used to sit and chant, the siddha-bakula. So there are many holy places. Caṭaka-parvata, the sand dunes of Lord Caitanya thought in ecstasy was the Govardhana Hill. And the holy place, a special Hanumān temple, the Ṭoṭā Gopīnātha temple, Lord Caitanya on the full moon on the Bay of Bengal thought it was the Yamunā river. He jumped into the water and there was a pastime after that. There are many other places. So we are very happy that you are going around and seeing all the places. You are also circumambulating Jagannātha Purī. Not lot of people understand that Lord Jagannātha is a Deity worshipped all over the world. We have Jagannātha temples in many parts of the world. Here the original Lord Jagannātha came to Bengal at some point and then in Māyāpur dhāma, we also have Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā and Sudarśana cakra. I wish the best to all of you and sorry that I could not be present.

Jayapatākā Swami