My dear dīkṣā, sheltered, aspiring, śikṣā, grand-disciples, and well-wishers,

Please accept my blessings and best wishes as appropriate.
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Written from my home base: Śrī Māyāpur Candrodaya Mandir

Date: 9 August 2025

Happy Balarāma Pūrṇimā! Today is also the last day of Jhulana-yātrā, the swing festival of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. In Śrī Māyāpur, we had a nice festival for Lord Balarāma and I also gave the morning Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class. Balarāma is the first expansion of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Balarāma is His svayaṁ-prakāśa. Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared in Navadvīpa as Śrī Caitanya, and Balarāma appeared with the Lord as Lord Nityānanda.

A few days ago, in Śrī Māyāpur Dhām, we celebrated the appearance day of Lalitā-sakhī. She is one of the eight main gopīs and she is famous as Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s constant companion. Rādhā-Mādhava Aṣṭa-sakhīs were offered a new outfit depicting the pastime of Lalitā’s clever plan of assisting Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to go out and meet Mādhava when Jaṭilā did not allow her to leave home for fifteen days during the Pitṛ-pakṣa! One of her main services is to make flower ornaments and decorations, and she is always making arrangements for the meeting of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. In the evening, there was a nice program organized by the Māyāpur community devotees for the pleasure of Rādhā-Mādhava Aṣṭa-sakhīs.

The next Pūrṇimā is a very special day to distribute Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It is mentioned that if one donates a Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam set or distributes Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam on that day, then one could go back to the spiritual world! His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami informed that they have a goal to distribute 5,000 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sets from Māyāpur. The global goal for this year’s Bhādra Pūrṇimā marathon is to distribute 68,000 sets of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by September 7th. To sponsor sets of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you can contact my virtual book table on WhatsApp at ‪‪+91 94347 60402‬‬.

Recently, I developed a fever and cellulitis. Fever would come in the night and, with the medicines, would go off in the morning on most days. Doctors were trying to treat it with different antibiotics, but they said that my body has become resistant to many antibiotics. So, they were trying different treatments. Also, my oxygen saturation went down and I have been on continuous oxygen support most of the days. Still, with the help of my assistants, I am trying to do my services—attending meetings, replying to emails, hearing and watching reports, guiding devotees, and researching on different subjects. I also continued my Bhakti-Sārvabhauma assessments. I have to renew my green card before August 24th, so I am checking different options for traveling to the USA.

One time, Śrīla Prabhupāda, during his final pastimes, when he was very sick, showed his very thin arms and said, “This is the result of taking too many unqualified disciples.” Actually, Śrīla Prabhupāda suffered for the sinful reactions of his disciples. In Māyāpur one time, he said that sometimes he had to suffer hellish dreams and that Kṛṣṇa would give him the reactions to the sinful activities of the disciples after initiation. In his dreams, he would be taken literally to hell. And he specifically said, “This is because my disciples are breaking regulative principles.” He was forced to suffer excruciating trials. But for preaching, Śrīla Prabhupāda was very liberal. He accepted many disciples. I hope that those who recommend devotees for initiation are very careful in checking about their standards and practices. We cannot take the vows that we take at the time of initiation lightly.

Usually, every year during this time, the Nāma-haṭṭa department organizes a sammelan for different Nāma-haṭṭa groups. Nāma-haṭṭa preaching in Bengal began in the year 1979; now we have Nāma-haṭṭas in many parts of the world. So, this year, we had devotees from North Bengal, Kolkata, Assam, Bankura, Purulia, Jharkhand, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, and Uttar Dinajpur. They had different days for different Nāma-haṭṭas. More than 8,000 devotees participated in these sammelans in Śrī Māyāpur. Though my health was not very good, I still went for a few days to address the devotees. I am very grateful to the devotees for organizing Nāma-haṭṭa programs in their places. Śrīla Prabhupāda said Yogapīṭha is the janma-sthāna (place of appearance) and Māyāpur is the karma-sthāna (place of activities) of Lord Caitanya. So we are trying to carry out the karma of Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya, He distributed love of Godhead freely without considering who was qualified or who was not qualified. And He was assisted by Lord Nityananda and Advaita Ācārya.

I received many inspiring reports from devotees. A 9-year-old boy wrote that he completed reading the Bhagavad-gītā once and he wants to start reading the Bhāgavatam! Another devotee wrote that she started chanting as a one-month challenge and she never stopped—it was her 1,164th day of chanting when she wrote the letter. I also received many video reports of Ratha-yātrā festivals from different temples in India and also various places outside India. It was very nice to see devotees enthusiastically organizing the festival so that thousands of people could receive the mercy of Lord Jagannātha. In Chennai, they did something different—they had a reel contest for Ratha-yātrā, and many people participated, and the first three winners were given Kṛṣṇa conscious prizes. This was a very innovative way of preaching. I also received some reports from elderly disciples in Russia that they are sick and their bodies have difficulties, yet they continue to follow their sādhana and services. This was very inspirational.

We should try to do everything in such a way that Lord Kṛṣṇa is satisfied. One should think that everything I do, I want Kṛṣṇa to be pleased.

Some disciples asked me if they can chant 4 to 6 rounds instead of 16 rounds because they are unable to chant due to their services. At the time of initiation, one takes vows before the fire sacrifice, before the Deities, that they will chant a minimum of 16 rounds daily and follow the four regulative principles. That is something you have done with Lord Kṛṣṇa, and I cannot absolve you from it. Even being sick, I complete my rounds. If I miss, I try to make up; my secretaries keep track. I promised Śrīla Prabhupāda I would chant 16 rounds of 108 mantras each. So I follow this in whatever situation I may be.

We also heard about the health situation of His Grace Ambarīṣa prabhu. He was discharged from the hospital and he was on rehabilitation. But, now, I received the news that his condition is critical again and he is admitted back to the hospital. In Māyāpur, we are conducting special prayers and Narasiṁha-pūjā for his quick recovery. In 1976, Śrīla Prabhupāda personally requested that His Grace Ambarīṣa prabhu help finance the construction of the Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP). So he has been serving as the Chairman of the TOVP, and we request for your prayers to Lord Narasiṁhadeva that if it so pleases Him, he recovers quickly and can complete his services to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

I hope that you all will assist me in fulfilling the instructions of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He had told me to preach unlimitedly. So I am depending on all of you. I don’t know if I will be able to travel to different places like I used to before. So, as my representatives, I hope you will all preach in your places unlimitedly!

By being fully absorbed in pleasing Kṛṣṇa as we go every step ahead, we taste transcendental bliss from the spiritual world, so we want all of you to taste this bliss and thus be transcendental to the material world.

As we grow, our bodies become weak and we may also develop different diseases, and since I had a stroke, I am wheelchair-bound. I cannot walk without support. But there is bliss in Kṛṣṇa-bhakti! And I want that all of you experience this bliss of Kṛṣṇa-bhakti!

Your well-wisher always,
Jayapatākā Swami

JPS/ssdb

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