Vyasa Puja Message 2015

Vyasa Puja Message from His Holiness Jayapataka Swami

31st March 2015

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarie nirvisesha-sunyavadi-parcatya-desa-tarine

mukam karoti vacalam
pangum langhayate girim
yat-krpa tam aham vande
sri gurun-dina tarinam
paramananda-madhavam
sri-caitanyam isvaram

Today is the adivas day of the Vyasa Puja. so I am sending an advance message to the disciples who are in some distant places. We know that it is difficult to see Lord Krishna. In the conditioned state of life, we don’t have the vision to see. Under the guidance of the spiritual master we are able to see the Lord, through the process of bhakti yoga. So the process of bhakti yoga is such that Krishna becomes very much indebted causelessly by his devotees, who are serving him selflessly. We try to serve Srila Prabhupada, who is our initiating guru and the primary siksha guru for all members of ISKCON. So He has given me many services to perform, so I was thinking how the devotees, we have them take take vows that they will help me fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s mission but they don’t take any specific services. I thought that this year each disciple should think (aspiring, sheltered and the initiated and the shiksa and also the well-wishers) what service they like to do to help me to fulfill Srila Prabhupada mission – someone may help distributing books, some may help by making new devotees, some may help by congregation preaching and development or some may help by helping to build the Temple of Vedic Planetarium or there are many, many items which one should do, bhakti vriksha, whether helping in your local temple, it is important in addition to our material activities, we do something practical to serve Krishna, to serve Lord Caitanya and to serve the guru. The devotees who live in the ashram they usually have full plate of services. But everyone likes to do something in devotional service. In this material world we are very attached to our bodies and we think we are the bodies and we try to enjoy the body but we have to suffer old-age, disease and death. The modern science has no solution for old-age disease and death and according Bhagavad-gita we also take again rebirth, however if we can become attached to serving

Krishna then naturally we will all go to Krishna
at the time of our leaving this body, so side by side while we do our material activities, we should also do something spiritual, actually the spiritual activities are extremely blissful and initially we may not understand but eventually it becomes aware to us.
The devotees like in the example of Krishna and the sages visiting the Bhulasva raja and srutadeva the poor brahmana, how both receive Lord Krishna with their utmost devotion, one was a rich king so he gave opulent gifts chappana bhoga, he bathed the Lord’s feet in golden vessel but he greeted the Lot of tears from his eyes and he was very happy that Krishna came to his palace.

Meanwhile Krishna went to the house of Srutadeva who lived in a grass hut, he was a poor brahamin and he didn’t have gold vessels, he didn’t have diamonds and jewels, he offered Krishna a flower, a lotus, he bathed Krishna’s and sages’ lotus feet and massaged his lotus feet and he gave them a grass mat to sit on, simple Prasad dal, rice, sabji and chapathis but he was also happy that Krishna has visited his house and he was started to dance and cry he was so happy so if we can get a little bit of
that spiritual desire to serve Krishna like the king and the poor Brahmin did or like the vraja vasis they that can’t remain even a micro second without seeing Krishna they were feeling great separation. So by practicing devotional service gradually our attachment to Krishna increases and we can feel a natural love for Krishna. So I hope on this Vyasa puja day serving the previous acaryas our disciplic line, you can taste a nectar of Krishna’s holy names and the nectar of devotion.

One thing, recently it came to my notice that some devotees are saying our disciplic succession is simply a siksha succession but that would not be correct, Lord Brahma, Narada, from Krishna down to the six gosvamis they are direct diksha line and from the six gosvamis to Srila Prabhupada may be diksha but it may be that… Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, he would take, if someone connection with the shiksha guru is stronger can take that into consideration but still there is a direct diksha connection to Gaura Krishna das babaji to our present. But Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur called his presentation of the parampara as a bhagavad parampara in that he presented the maha bhagavatas and he gave them the promise even though there are other diksha guru links, he would just present those who have maha bhagavads. So I think this is an important thing that we should respect all. Our siksha guru and if a siksha guru, they we have a stronger link, that is taken it into consideration, still our diksha guru connection also has value. I thank you on this Vyasa-puja day.

Your Well-wisher Always,
Jayapataka Swami


30th March 2015

So, this was the adhivas ceremony. We were supposed to do it outside. But due to the sudden rain we had it inside.

The guru receives the respect and worship on behalf of Vyasa dev and the Guruparampara. Tomorrow is the day, disciples of mine observe Vyasa Puja. As Lord Chaitanya said gopi bharatu pada kamalayor dasa dasanudas. So, I am the servant, of the servant, of the servant, of Lord Chaitanya and Sri Sri Radha Madhav. Even one spec of the dust of Lotus Feet of Srila Prabhupada can deliver the whole universe. So I am accepting this adhivas and Vyasa Puja on behalf of Srila Prabhupada and the previous acharyas.

Adhivas is to get us into the right mindset. A very special day is coming up and we should be in a proper devotional attitude.

Srila Prabhupada wanted that everyone should chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. So do you know how to chant? (Everyone chants!) I think somebody knows!

Krishna stays invisible but through the Guru he becomes visible. If we follow the rules given by the previous acharyas then we can experience the presence of Sri Krishna.

Here we worship Sri Sri Radha and Madhav and this dham is known as audarya dham.

So I will speak more tomorrow!

So with these few words I give my subheksha to all of you.