Nama Om Vishnu Paadaya, ….
Hari Haraaya Naam Krishna Yadavaya Naama Hari Gopal Govinda Rama Sri Madhusudhan
Mukham karoti…

Hare Krishna! So I heard you had your fire sacrifice and you heard all the ten offences which should be avoided, and you have other lectures and those wanting first initiation have taken their vows, to avoid breaking the four principles. No meat eating, no fish, garlic and onion, no intoxication, no gambling and no extra marital or illicit sex. And you are committed to helping me follow Srila Prabhupad’s instructions and you will chant minimum 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha mantra. Who has taken the vows? Is there anyone who is taking initiation and not taken vows? You can report to Sumitra Krishna das. So to be connected to the guru parampara is the essential aspect of vaishnava dharma. In the Padma Purana it is given that there are four sampradayas. Apart from these four, other mantras will not bear any fruit. The four are, Lord Brahma, Lakshmi devi and the four Kumaras and Lord Shiva. We are in the Brahma sampradaya. Brahma, Madhva, Gaudiya, Iskcon sampradaya. Those who are taking aspiring and shelter, they don’t take any vows. But they are expressing their intention. Those who are taking aspiration, means aspiring to take shelter and initiation from me. Those who are taking shelter are already chanting 16 round and following the basic principles, following for a minimum of six months. After taking shelter, they receive a checklist. You can also download the checklist from my office website. If you fulfill these requirements from the checklist for six months or more, and you if you want, you can ask for initiation. So, the idea is to engage in the service of Lord Jagannath, Krishna and His devotees. We cannot qualify to see the Krishna naam, so He appears before us in His deity form and we are able to serve His devotees, the guru and the deity. This Krishna conscious process is a gradual process. It may take some years’ time to free one from all anarthas. How serious you are, how anxious you are to receive the mercy, the quicker you can advance. At the time of aspiration or shelter, one can still elect to change. If you want to aspire or be under the shelter of some other Iskcon guru, we have to wait at least six months under the shelter to take initiation. But once one takes initiation, then he should not change. So we give time for devotees to decide what they want to do. Devotional service does not require that you should perform great austerities, but one should be regular about their practices. You have to take a big austerity, eating Krishna prasadam! Are you ready?! Haribol! So there is a prayer to Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, parama karuna bahu dui jana Nitai Gaura Chandra. Saba avatar sara shiromani, kevala aananda kanda. Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda are supremely merciful. They have given us a process which is simply blissful! Chanting and singing Hare Krishna, dancing, I wish I could dance!! I used to dance! Eating Krishna prasadam and hearing the nectarean stories from Srimad Bhagavatam and Caitanya lila. Engaging in some nice service for the Supreme Lord. And serve the Lord in love! You don’t ask the Lord to give us anything in return. Nothing material. We only want His mercy so that we can serve Him more and more! And that He forgives us all our offences! So of all the avatars, Lord Caitanya and Nityananda are supremely merciful. They give out freely, love of Krishna. Who wants love of Krishna? Haribol! So the men can chant Haribol! And ladies can also chant Haribol! Also do ulu dhwani!! (Guru maharaj makes a gesture with his hand to his ear as though not able to hear and the devotees went roaring ulu dhwani. ) This is the sound made by goddesses in the heavenly planets (ulu dhwani). So this process is not difficult. But in Kali yoga there is plenty of maya. So we want to avoid maya and take Krishna’s service. Thank you for being very serious about your Krishna consciousness. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said that if he were to be born again this world, he said he would like to be born in South India! So you have the great responsibility to see that Krishna consciousness is spread out throughout South India. Krishna went to a few devotees’ house. But Lord Caitanya spent six years in South India. Except for the rainy season, He would spend one day in each house. He would go to a house, they would bathe His feet, they would cook for Him, Then He would lecture and talk to the villagers. He gave the order in Andhra Pradesh and wherever He went in South India, jaare daakho taare kaho Krishna upadesh, amaar aagya guru hoya taara yei desh – whoever you see, whoever you meet tell them the message of Krishna. On My order you will be a guru to deliver this land. And I will live with you says Lord Caitanya. Someone asked me in Malaysia, does Lord Caitanya, Krishna, know Tamil? Not only does He know Tamil, He knows, Telugu, Malayalam, all! Also He could speak to the animals. He knows the animal language and all human languages! Even other planets! So wherever you are, you can pray to Him and He will understand you! Haribol!
It is late, I will end my speech here.

Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
11 February 2019