My dear dīkṣā, sheltered, aspiring, śikṣā, grand disciples, and well-wishers,
Please accept my blessings and best wishes.
All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Home base: Śrī Māyāpur Chandradoya Mandir
Camp: Kolkata
I returned from Malaysia a few days ago after attending the ISKCON Malaysia National Convention. Since my health team insisted that I shouldn’t travel in economy class, I took Thai Airlines from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok and then to Kolkata with a one-hour transit, as there was no direct flight with business class available. This made the journey almost 7 hours long, whereas a direct flight would have taken only 4 ½ hours. The day I was flying from Kuala Lumpur, I had an important GBC meeting to attend which was scheduled to start at 7:30 PM, and my flight was at 8:55 PM. So after the check-in, I attended the meeting, and it ended after I boarded the flight. Many devotees, including the leaders from Kuala Lumpur and other parts of Malaysia, came to the airport. It was a moving and emotional send-off with many devotees coming. I prayed to the Lord to bless the devotees for all their sincere services. I couldn’t take my dinner before boarding the flight since I was attending the meeting. So I took prasādam during my transit in Bangkok.
I have cataract in my eyes which make it difficult to see. I can see people, but I cannot recognize their faces. I had the option of either going to the Malaysia convention with this situation or going later after the cataract operation, but since many devotees from all over Malaysia and also from Singapore, Australia, Khāsadeśa, and other parts of the world were coming for the convention, I decided to attend. So, after Janmāṣṭamī and Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Vyāsa-pūjā festival in Māyāpur, I started my travel. There were various Vyāsa-pūjā celebrations organized by different devotees. So I attended and addressed most of the celebrations. There was also a babies’ celebration of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Vyāsa-pūjā, as the babies may disturb the main gathering. This month we also celebrated the appearance days of Indulekha, Campakalata, Tungavidya, and Visakha devis.
So, I flew from Kolkata to Singapore, crossed the border by road to Johor, and stayed there one day for my dialysis. Johor is in the south of Malaysia and borders Singapore. The next day, I traveled to Lotus Resort in Desaru where the convention was organized. One of my servants commented that I came from the Lotus building in Māyāpur to the Lotus resort in Malaysia!
Many sannyāsīs like HH Bhānu Swāmī, HH Bhakti Vighna Vināśana Nṛsiṁha Swāmī, HH Bhakti Vinoda Swāmī, HH Bhakti Mukunda Swāmī, Devakī Nandana Prabhu, and many senior devotees were also present at the convention which was well attended by the devotees. I gave a few classes and question-and-answer sessions. The convention had a total of 1008 registrations, including over 100 devotees from Khāsadeśa, and I gave an exclusive address to them one day. It was very inspiring to see the devotees serving together and carrying out the mission of Śrīla Prabhupāda. We also had many of my disciples presenting various topics like Ānanda Tīrtha dāsa from BBT India presented about the Transcend App, and Rāmanīpati dāsa presented about BSCT (Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Charity Trust), etc.
I was happy to present the Bhakti-śāstrī certificate to my dear disciple Siṁheśvara dāsa, who has been dedicatedly serving ISKCON Malaysia for the past 40 years. He served as General Secretary of ISKCON Malaysia for over 30 years or so, and he is also heading the New Godruma Dhāma farm project at present. Though he has read the Bhagavad-gītā many times, due to his various responsibilities, he was unable to take up the full-time course for Bhakti-śāstrī. But recently he did the One-Time Summative Test and received his degree. He serves along with Cirañjīva dāsa as the Co-Regional Secretary for ISKCON Malaysia.
Each day at the convention began with maṅgala-ārati, and the devotees worshiped the Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, and Sudarśana deities, as well as Nitāi-Gaura, in the common hall. Multiple sessions were held simultaneously throughout the day in different languages, and devotees could choose which ones to attend. On the third day of the convention, I had many scheduled programs. I gave Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class in the morning, gave initiations, met devotees, and at night I watched the devotional dramas. On the last day of the convention, I encouraged devotees to share their realizations, and many of them shared how inspired they felt after attending the convention.
After the convention, I went straight to the hospital in Johor for dialysis, and the next day I visited a new center in Tebrau and also visited new land. Previously they had 3 centers in Johor, but now they have four centers. Then I traveled by road to Kuala Lumpur, and devotees arranged my stay in a place adjacent to Sunway Medical Centre, where I had my scheduled dialysis. My disciple, Dr. Śānti Rūpā devī dāsī, who works in the same hospital, made all the arrangements for me. Also, at the dialysis unit, I had my disciple Prasanna Acyuta dāsa, who works as a dialysis nurse. So, he personally supervised my dialysis each time. I visited Śrī Jagannātha Mandir a few times, gave a few classes, gave initiation, and met devotees.
Usually, every year I try to be in Māyāpur for Rādhāṣṭamī, but this year Their Lordships had a different plan for me. I performed abhiṣeka for Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gokulānanda and gave a talk on Rādhāṣṭamī. I also addressed the devotees in Māyāpur.
I was contemplating how people think that everything happens by chance. But they don’t realize that even when they eat, they chew, and it goes through the food pipe and then to the stomach, to the intestine, and the whole body gets nourished. So the whole process of digestion is so sophisticated, but it appears so simple. And we miss realizing it. Śrīla Prabhupāda mentioned that Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so simple that you will miss it!
Lord Caitanya’s mercy is such that somehow everybody gets delivered. He came to deliver all the people in this age. He delivers even the meat-eaters and thieves. But it is your responsibility to help spread this message of Lord Caitanya to everyone. By chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, one is able to get attached to Kṛṣṇa. When I was in Malaysia, they told me that in the Malay language, Hari means “day.” So, people there chant the name of Lord Hari every day unknowingly. Also, a butterfly is called “Rāma-Rāma” in their language. We should spread the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. We should use our intelligence to convince people to chant.
Devotees were expecting me to be in Māyāpur for Bhadrā Pūrṇimā, but unfortunately, I couldn’t be there physically, so I sent my message for Māyāpur devotees and also for Bangladesh. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is mentioned that if one places the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam on a golden throne on this day and gifts it to someone, then he can go back to Godhead. If you study the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you can know all about Kṛṣṇa, His devotees, and His different avatāras. Śrīla Prabhupāda took up so much austerity to translate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. These books are very rare, and he put in so much effort to translate them. So we should study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and also distribute it. And even if someone cannot read, they can hear it through the Transcend App. So there is no excuse!
I was also invited to the 79th Vyāsa-pūjā mahotsava of HH Bhakti Cāru Swami Mahārāja in Māyāpur. And I sent my message to the disciples. He was a very loving Godbrother and friend and I still miss him.
In Malaysia, my dear disciple Muralidhara Śyāma dāsa is heading the Ipoh Institute of Spiritual Education under the ISKCON Board of Examinations, which offers Bhakti-śāstrī and Bhakti-vaibhava in both English and Tamil languages. He also helps illiterate devotees study and get degrees. He has a group of 30 volunteers to assist him, and he doesn’t charge any fees for the courses. In the past two years, he has 167 Bhakti-śāstrī graduates, and 74 students are currently doing Bhakti-vaibhava. I was very happy to know that the opportunity to study Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books is made available for everyone.
So, I hope you will regularly read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, keep chanting minimum 16 rounds daily, and experience the bliss. And help me fulfill Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions.
Your well-wisher always,
Jayapatākā Swami
JPS/ssdb