20241215 Address to Latin American Devotees

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: I visited South America in 1981. His Holiness Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja could not go to South America because he had a heart condition. Because the altitude is very high in South America. In some places the altitude was the same as the sea level. It was very high. Sometimes we have to go up, then we have to go down. For me now, it is difficult for me to go up in the airplane and come down a lot. That is why in Bolivia, the altitude is too high, but Lima is okay. Like that I can see other devotees from Bolivia. We are reading every Saturday morning the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and presently reading from the 3^rd canto. The class is in English and Bengali. Every day I give class in the evening which is translated into Russian and Chinese as well.  And then we can also find that somebody translated them into Spanish! So we need to find someone to do that regularly!

We are studying the process of how Lord Brahmā created the universe. It is described how Lord Brahmā created the four Kumāras. And Lord Brahma gave the instruction to the Kumāras to create lots and lots of living entities. But the four Kumāras did not want to get married! That is why Lord Brahmā got upset! Because the four Kumāras were very advanced in their spiritual life since childhood. So Brahmā got angry! How can I create the living entities if the four Kumāras do not want to get married and they don’t have to give birth to children?! So from his third eye, between his two eyes he created one son and he cried very loudly. So Brahmā said, this son’s name will be Rudra. I have the places that you will stay he said. In that way he gave Rudra many places to stay. And he told him to raise children. So many children were created  because they were growing so much that the universe was starting to get destroyed. Because they were all expansion of Rudra. And Brahmā said, “No, no, I don’t want this! I want the universe to be as it was before.” Better you stay active but meditative! So in this way he made sure that Rudra, Lord Śiva would do meditation and penance. So from different parts of his (Lord Brahmā’s) body, eleven children manifested. So the third son was Nārada.

The last class was focused on Nārada. Nārada – Nāra is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and da means one that is giving. So Nārada can give anyone he wants, devotional service to the Lord.

Also, in the evening I am giving classes reading from the Caitanya-śīkṣāmṛta, by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. How every single devotee has the capacity to give blessings. Devotees who are active in sādhana-bhakti, fixed, can give blessings. Like this they can give that benediction. As they advance more, they can give more powerful blessings. Those who have bhāva-bhakti can give blessings of bhāva. This is devotional service in ecstasy, bhāva. Love for Kṛṣṇa in ecstasy. Nārada can give the process of bhakti, can give Kṛṣṇa to everyone. Nārada Muni gave for example to a hunter, the process of bhakti-yoga. The hunter would kill the animals, half kill them. The animals were suffering and crying. Nārada Muni asked the hunter why he was half killing the animals, not fully. The hunter said, I learnt this from my father. The animals are screaming Nārada said. The hunter said, when the animals scream, that makes me very happy to see them suffering! So Nārada Muni demonstrated how the animals were attacking the hunter. There are many stories on this topic. There are many stories on Nārada Muni. All these stories show how Nārada Muni gave all these sinners love for Kṛṣṇa. Because Kṛṣṇa gave him the power to Nārada Muni to be able to give those blessings to any one he wanted. Like this Śrīla Prabhupāda had this much power! Nobody could imagine these kind of people could be devotees, but because of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy, these people became devotees. Śrīla Prabhupāda kī jaya!

Let us chant in Spanish the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra:

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

Many people in South America speak Portuguese. So we will now chant in Portuguese:

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

There are some places in Latin America they speak English, so we will chant in English:

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

At this moment, it is winter in India. And in South America it is summer! So, I wanted to visit South America – Lima, Guayaquil, Bogota, Curitiba, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Chile. When I went by plane to Vṛndāvana in April last, I fell unconscious and had kidney problem. And I was in the hospital for three months in Delhi. Then I returned to Bengal, in the Ratha-yātrā time. So I participated in the Ratha-yātrā festival in Kolkata. In Māyāpur, I have dialysis equipment. In the beginning there were some problems.  Usually, I am in Ratha-yātrā in Kolkata half the time, but this time was there for the nine days! Now I am in Māyāpur dhāma. I asked devotees around the world what equipment they have for dialysis – like in Guayaquil, Bogota, etc. I still don’t have a formal response from those places where they have dialysis equipment so that I can visit. From Chile, Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo I got responses. They have possibilities to have dialysis equipment so, hopefully I can visit. But still we haven’t received the full report, so we will describe what equipment we need exactly for dialysis. Because I need dialysis every other day, three times a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Because my kidney is not functioning properly. So that is a new problem that I have. In Māyāpur there is a dedicated room for me to do dialysis. I had a kidney transplant and liver transplant. My liver is still functioning well. My kidneys were working well for five years, but now not so good. I am taking a medicine, homeopathic. We are trying to see if this homeopathic medicine will make me not so dependent on dialysis. We are trying!

I am trying to serve Śrīla Prabhupāda in different ways. We have the responsibility to establish the Science Exhibition in the Vedic Planetarium. Śrīla Prabhupāda left his Will, like a testament. In that Will Śrīla Prabhupāda put me as an Executor. So it is my responsibility. It is my responsibility to acquire land for ISKCON. That was a great part of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Final Will, the testament. Like this I have many different responsibility that Śrīla Prabhupāda has given me. So, I am doing this also. So I am trying to visit my disciples. My secretary says that I receive like 900 email correspondence! I already responded to 650!  So like, 50, 100, 150, 200. 50 is Sin Quenta in Spanish, which without limit. So how can 50 means without limit?

Are there any questions? Wow! Mādhavī, Caturātmā, Mādhavācyuta, Mahā Vijayalakṣmī, Sāndīpani Muni Kṛṣṇa, Sevā-svarūpa, Hemāṅga Gaurasundara, Yajñapati and Jayadā, Mahānandinī Rādhikā, Śaśi Kalvera, Vraja-vilāsa Ekeśvarī, Ātmanandinī, Christina, Jāhnaeśvarī, Gaurapriyā Sundārī, Gaurī, Monica, Sudāmā, Gurumaṅgala, Śrī Govinda, Mitragopī, Madana Mohana, Ekacakrapāla, Ojasvinī  Rādhikā…

Question: What is the difference between compassion and emancipation?

Jayapatākā Swami: I am not a dictionary! You see, compassion means wishing well for someone. Emancipation is giving liberation.

Question: When will you go to Latin America?

Jayapatākā Swami: I wanted to go this year. But I am visiting different places and different cities where there are facilities for me to take dialysis. I am using a dialysis machine which is here with me. 08S is the model of the dialysis machine. In some places they have the machine 6000 80S. So we will send a technical report on the machine so that you can see it and know what you have to get. I have to see where the other machines are like if they have in Paraguay. You have to find out what machines you have?

Govindam!

Jayapatākā Swami to Govinda dāsa: In Santiago, Chile, they started the Congregational Development program. That program is called, ‘Bhakti Homes’. I want Sevasvarūpa dāsa.

Jayapatākā uh! Uh! Uh! – song by devotees in Brazil!

Jayapatākā Swami: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

Marīci dāsa: Today Guru Mahārāja visited South America and we want to congratulate Guru Mahārāja. His Spanish was 108% accurate. The next meeting will be after a month.

Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇe matir astu!