20250729 Address to Purulia and Jhārikhaṇḍa Nāmahaṭṭa Sammelan

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: Su svagatam! Welcome to Śrī Māyāpur Navadvīpa Dhāma! Many years ago I have been to Purulia district along with my Guru Mahārāja, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. With my situation I don’t know if I ever visited there again or not. Purulia is the last district in Bengal after which is Jhārikhaṇḍa which is in another state. I hope that you will assist me in achieving the instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He had told me to preach unlimitedly! That is why I am depending on all of you! I don’t know if I will be able to go again to Purulia or not, but as my representative, you will all preach there unlimitedly! Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu when He went to South India, He gave each and everyone He met only one instruction – yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa [Cc. Madhya 7.128]. This way, all of you should be all gurus and that way you should preach and request everyone to do devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu has made our path very easy. He says that we should do the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra chanting. One tiger was sleeping on the way in the forest when Lord Caitanya was travelling through the Jhārikhaṇḍa forest. Seeing this, His followers got scared and retracted a bit. But Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was not afraid. He went up to the tiger and nudged the tiger to wake up and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. The tiger though cannot speak like humans, but tried in his own way to chant:

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

I don’t say that you go and kick a tiger! But you approach women, children, men in your neighborhood and request them to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. This is our yuga-dharma.

Bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra
janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra
(Cc. Ādi 9.41)

Those people who want material happiness they get both material happiness and sorrow. And they take birth again and again in this material world. But those of you who are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and do bhakti-yoga, they go back to Godhead. Haribol! Gaurāṅga!

When Kṛṣṇa comes, He brings his storehouse of prema with Him. But that storehouse was locked! Very fortunate beings who were completely surrendered, they could have got some kṛṣṇa-prema. But Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates, Lord Caitanya, He was combined form of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and His associates were also in the same mood. He also came with the storehouse of prema but He opened it and looted the storehouse of kṛṣṇa-prema! And He distributed it to one and all – He did not think who was qualified and who was not. Whoever chants Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, studies, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, like this He awarded kṛṣṇa-prema to all. He said the same thing wherever He went – yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa.

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

This is Navadvīpa dhāma. About a kilometer away from here is the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that the Māyāpur temple of ISKCON is the karma-sthāna of Lord Caitanya. We all do kīrtana, pūjā, etc. We do all the nine types of devotional service. But all the time we constantly chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. In the 9^th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is a verse, and in the purport Śrīla Prabhupāda says that when we are in Lord Caitanya’s consciousness, be they children, men, women, whoever, there is no difference. Even if a person is born in a brāhmaṇa family, if he is not a devotee, Kṛṣṇa is not happy. But any devotee who is born in a caṇḍāla family or lower caste but is a devotee of Kṛṣṇa and prays with devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is very happy with them. So, all of you should have the consciousness of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, Rādhā Mādhava, that you have love and devotion for Them in your hearts.

I had wanted to speak a lot. You, Nāma-haṭṭa devotees have come from so far away – Purulia and Jhārikhaṇḍa – even though my health is not up to the mark I thought that you all have taken trouble to come so far, so I needed to come here and see all of you!

When Kṛṣṇa came, He told Rādhārāṇī that, “You created such a beautiful dhāma, Navadvīpa, for Me, this dhāma will be non-different from Vṛndāvana. Whatever spiritual activities done here, one will get a thousand times the benefit.” Even if you just sleep here in this dhāma, nothing else, just sleep, it is like paying obeisances to the Lord and you get the benefit! One devotee said that I will just sleep here! If sleeping one gets the benefit of offering obeisances, then just imagine what will be the benefit if you really pay obeisances in this dhāma?! Coming to Māyāpur means we try to do as much sevā or service as possible when we are here. When you go back to Purulia or Jhārikhaṇḍa, then you will all assist me.

Do you have a Bir Nagar table here? Yes, this table is with regard to developing the land we have of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s birthplace. If you all want to donate something towards that you may do so.

Kṛṣṇe matir astu!