20250128 Address to ISKCON Devotees from Ujjain and Dvārakā, Delhi

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: (Video started abruptly) […] He said, “I am going to come in Kali-yuga as My devotee.” That is why He came as Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He is Kṛṣṇa, but in the mood of Rādhārāṇī, gopī-bhāva. So, in the latter līlās after Lord Caitanya went to Jagannātha Purī, He started to manifest His special pastimes. He was 24 years in Navadvīpa. 24 years in Jagannātha Purī and traveled all over India in between. He was 18 years in Jagannātha Purī and 6 years travelling all over India.

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, he wanted to put 108 lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya. He personally put about 8. But he envisioned that there would be 108. So we put some 22 or so in Vṛndāvana last year. And we want to put more! But Vṛndāvana, some of the Goswamis and temple sevaits are not all ready to give us six square feet of land! In Tirumala and Śrīraṅgam, they already have. And we have already put a few lotus feet. (A-side: some medicine I had to take. I had told them they should give it to me outside).

Lord Caitanya, I think you heard about Him. His external reason for coming was to spread the harināma-saṅkīrtana. And there were confidential reasons why He took the mood of a devotee. He would experience a great ecstasy. Sometimes they locked all the doors in Jagannātha Purī at His residence. But still, somehow, He got out! And they were looking where is He? Then they found Him He was in the gośālā! And His arms and legs were sucked into His body. He could not be revived. But they carried Him back. (I have to take a lot of medications). Like this, Lord Caitanya, when He went to Vṛndāvana. Just if you talked about Vṛndāvana, His ecstasy would increase a hundred times. But when He actually went to Vṛndāvana then it was like a hundred thousand times! So the brāhmaṇa, who was assisting him, he thought this is too much! When He saw the Yamunā river, He would jump in! So then the servant to go into the water and somehow pull Him out! He, the brāhmaṇa, was thinking that, “If I am not present, who will pull out Lord Caitanya?” Because the servants are thinking maybe that Lord Caitanya is an ordinary person.

Kṛṣṇa, He is described in the Bhagavad-gītā that He has a spiritual form. He doesn’t have any veins. So, He comes in every yuga to deliver the devotees and destroy the miscreants. But He doesn’t take birth like we do. His birth is transcendental. He never grows older than maybe youth. When He was in the Kurukṣetra war, He already had grandchildren. But He still looked like a young man because He does not have a material body. He has a spiritual body. So, you are in one of the places where He appeared. So He took the mood of Rādhārāṇī, of a devotee. But He wanted to deliver all the conditioned souls, even the demons like Jagāi and Mādhāi, they were liberated rather than being killed. He liberated them! Lord Nityānanda liberated a gang of dacoits. It is an amazing līlā, how Lord Nityānanda delivered the dacoits. So this is Their līlā, to give out kṛṣṇa-prema to everyone!

You are all getting kṛṣṇa-prema gradually! You should have faith, then you want to associate with devotees. There are so many devotees. Just to associate with devotees is a great blessing! And then one starts to chant japa and practice devotional service. Like this, you are advancing gradually until kṛṣṇa-prema. Even at a lower stage you have the ability give blessings! Maybe the blessing you give is just that people have more faith in Kṛṣṇa. You have to get rid of your anarthas and then you are fixed in devotion. Then you practice niṣṭhā, very steady steadfast devotional service. The next stage you start to get a taste for devotional service. And that is the stage of ruci. Then you gradually rise from ruci to the stage of āsakti. You are very attached to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Very attached to Kṛṣṇa! The normal people, they don’t think much about Kṛṣṇa!

I saw some of the 26^th January parade on TV. I did not see all the states but the ones I saw, they had Gaṇeśa, Durgā in the tableaux. Kṛṣṇa, Rāma They appeared in Bhārata-varṣa! Lord Kṛṣṇa, Lord Rāma incarnated in India. It is not that all the avatāras appear in India, but some appeared here. And Vṛndāvana, Māyāpur, Dvārakā, Jagannātha Purī, these are all dhāmas. So people are not fully conscious about Kṛṣṇa. I hope you are!! And after āsakti is bhāva which is also known as rati. It is the last step before prema. In that step sometimes you feel ecstasy, crying, voice gets choked up, then you become realized and very attached, very attached to Kṛṣṇa! And then you have this stage of prema. But prema itself has eight stages. So, we want all of you to reach prema in this life! That is the highest achievement in human life.

Śrīla Prabhupāda was committed to trying to help Lord Caitanya establish Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In the recent opening of our new Kharghar temple, in Navi Mumbai, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, inaugurated it and spoke. He said when most people retire, Śrīla Prabhupāda started preaching, at 69 or 70 years of age! I remember that he said kone, kone, every corner of the world. Every corner, every part. So you all have a special responsibility to help Lord Caitanya, help Śrīla Prabhupāda, help His Holiness Bhakti Cāru Swami, His Holiness Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami Mahārāja, anyone, help them to fulfill Lord Caitanya’s prediction. Śrīla Prabhupāda said in the future we should have eka-koṭi, one crore gurus. Everyone of you should be thinking that you have to be a guru.

So, Pañca-tattva, Lord Caitanya, have come and spread this movement. And Śrīla Prabhupāda, he said that Vṛndāvana was his residence, Bombay was his office and this, Māyāpur was his place of worship. And you are all in this TOVP, it was desired by Śrīla Prabhupāda. I think they are planning to finish it by 2027. We hope you will all be here. I am overseeing the Science Museum of the Vedic Planetarium. We had one consultant, but he did not understand the material. He was also charging a lot. So now we went over the whole thing with the BI (Bhaktivedanta Institute) and we have a new consultant now. So, the first three floors, we are using the BI and local devotees. But the fourth floor, will be the spiritual world, there we do not need the scientists, it is out of their range! So, I hope you have a nice time here in Māyāpur! Have you all seen the samādhi of His Holiness Bhakti Cāru Swami? He wanted that Māyāpur should be promoted worldwide. I am still here and trying to finish what Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to do. So, I know a little Hindi but cannot speak so well. Hare Kṛṣṇa!