20241226 Initiation Address to Australian 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 have here Pañca-tattva.

śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya
prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara
śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda!

Today some devotees from Australia are taking initiation. Raise your hands please! Today was our Pañca-krośa parikramā. Devotees, they went on the pathway where Lord Caitanya had gone to the Chand Kazi. After that they went to the Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā and Sudarśana cakra temple in Sīmantadvīpa. And I spoke at the Jagannātha temple. So, some people heard that, it was broadcast on YouTube. And then they went around Jalāṅgī and came back here. A krośa is two miles. Pañca-krośa means ten miles. So, Pañca-krośa, Aṣṭa-krośa and then there is the whole of Navadvīpa dhāma. So we do these different parikramās at different times. But Lord Nityānanda used to do many parikramās. So the Aṣṭa-krośa includes Sīmantadvīpa, Antardvīpa and Godrumadvīpa and I think Māyāpur’s Navadvīpa dhāma is I don’t know how many krośas that is, but that is nine islands. Each island is connected with one devotional service. Śravaṇa, kīrtana, smaraṇam, vandanam, pāda-sevanam, arcanam, dāsyam, sakhyam and ātmā-nivedanam. So, we do that one during Gaura-pūrṇimā around March. So, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura had told Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda to do the Navadvīpa parikramā. This would liberate and make the whole world Kṛṣṇa conscious! How that works, I don’t know, but that is what our ācāryas said.

So, taking initiation in Māyāpur is very special because Māyāpur dhāma is audārya-dhāma and is non-different from the spiritual sky. We may not be able to see that, but the effect is like that. So, devotees are staying in this holy dhāma and they get special connection with Lord Caitanya and the Pañca-tattva. Sometimes, different great devotees had contact with Lord Caitanya. Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Prauḍhā-Māyā, they all came here and they saw Lord Caitanya doing His aprakaṭa-līlā. When He had His prakaṭa-līlā He took four parties to the Chand Kazi. One party was led by Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura, one by Advaita, one by Haridāsa Ṭhākura and He came up in the fourth with Lord Nityānanda and Gadādhara. So, at that time, Vāyu-deva and Indra-deva came down to see the Lord. And seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead crying, dancing, chanting, hairs standing on end, different things, He may or may not have seen them, He was crying out of His ecstasy, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Those two, seeing the Lord chanting, dancing, crying in ecstasy, they fainted! You never expect to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead like this in ecstasy! When they regained consciousness, they changed their form into human form and joined the party. So, these eternal pastimes are going on here. So, devotees by surrendering to guru and Kṛṣṇa here, they are getting special mercy!

In human life, people just see the world with their senses – that is one level. But it is a higher level to actually experience devotional service! You see, I was telling the devotees here that everybody has the ability to give out blessings. Those who are very strict in sādhana-bhakti, at least their blessing can give a person faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And as they advance, they get more empowered and when they come up to the level of bhāva-bhakti, then they can give such blessings to the devotees. And they can taste Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental devotion. So it is very important to follow the four regulative principles and things that you are prohibited to do your whole life and chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa every day. Some devotees, they think that chanting is optional. You see, the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness depends on chanting. One has to chant every day and by chanting, Lord Caitanya said that it purifies the heart. So chanting takes one to the highest position. The holy name of Kṛṣṇa is non-different from Kṛṣṇa. But if one chants regularly, then Kṛṣṇa resides in their hearts. So chanting is very important. And we want to be gentlemen, gentle ladies, we don’t want to engage in sinful activities. So, we follow the regulative principles. Have the candidates for initiation all taken their vows?

So today is boxing day in Melbourne, in Australia. They had the Snāna-yātrā for Lord Jagannātha, Baladeva and Subhadrā and afterwards the Deities wear the Hāthi dress. This year they have the program in some sports stadium called Melbourne Sports Stadium. So their loudspeaker connection did not work on the other side. So I sent an audio message! So, in Australia now it is summer. Here it must be very cold. There they have mangoes, litchis, berries, all kinds of things, like we have in summer. So, the point is that being Kṛṣṇa conscious, we get the opportunity to experience ecstasy. And we want all the devotees to experience ecstasy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness! Haribol!