Monthly Message (19 September 2024 – 17 October 2024)

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 Chandradoya Mandir

After I returned from Malaysia, I stayed in Kolkata for a few days and decided to undergo cataract surgery. My health team explored various options and determined that Ranāghāt had excellent medical facilities. Therefore, on my way to Māyāpur, I had surgery at Netrajyoti Hospital in Ranāghāt and was able to return to Māyāpur the same day. My vision in my right eye has improved after cataract surgery. Now, my disciple and ophthalmologist, Dr. Vanamāli, has informed me that I will soon need to undergo cataract surgery for my left eye as well.

I have been reflecting on the different instructions that Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me. One of them is to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness unlimitedly across the globe. Each disciple should consider how they can spread this Kṛṣṇa consciousness, even to one person or more in a day or every month or every year. In this way, you all will be engaged in spreading the message of Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu. Please help me to do this unlimitedly. However, there should not be just one secretary for this task; rather, I believe there should be unlimited secretaries. Everyone, especially my disciples, should take on this role, and anyone willing can join as well. This is an unlimited order, and I need unlimited secretaries to fulfil it. You can share some ideas with me, if you have any, on the Jayapataka Swami App, by clicking the Instruction Project button from the home screen and then selecting Expand Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Unlimitedly. This Jayapataka Swami App is available for both Android and Apple iPhones. You can download the Jayapataka Swami App from here:

Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jayapatakaswami.jpsapp

iPhone
https://apps.apple.com/in/app/jayapataka-swami/id967072815

In Māyāpur, I visit the Deities for darśana every day when it is not too crowded, as my doctors advised. I am on immune suppressants, making me particularly susceptible to illnesses. Every night, I give a class either on the Lotus rooftop or at the Nāma-haṭṭa. Before going to sleep, I read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta daily. Three days a week, I undergo dialysis, which typically takes four to four-and-a-half hours, I would like to know if you have hemodiafiltration dialysis facilities in your area’s hospitals. Please write to my personal doctor, Dr. Hariguru Gaura Dasa, at harshbuttrue142@gmail.com. In addition to my online and offline meetings, I also connect with various devotees to hear their updates, reports, and concerns.

In this month’s message, I would like to share details about my morning program. Each morning, I attend Śrīla Prabhupāda’s samādhi ārati, followed by darśana of Pañca-tattva, Rādhā Mādhava Aṣṭa-sakhīs, Rādhā Mādhava Māyāpur Chandra, Prahlāda-Nṛsiṁha, Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadra mayi, Śrī Kṛṣhṇa Chaitanya Prabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, Advaita Ācārya, Nitai Gaura, and finally, Tulasī ārati for both men and women. I also receive updates about visitors, prasādam distribution, book distribution, and other matters.

After this, I have physiotherapy, sometimes assisted by one, two, three, or even four people. Today, I had four assistants who guided me through different hand exercises. Meanwhile, someone gave me a face massage, repeating it 20 times. There are also various leg exercises. For instance, they place a round pillow on my leg, and I lift it 10 times. Then, they position the pillow between my legs, and I squeeze it 10 times. I also press outward to push the physiotherapist away. The number of repetitions varies depending on the session. For my hands and shoulders, I lift weights over my head 10 times, going up and down. While sitting, I turn to the left, and they perform percussion. Whenever possible, I squeeze a soft rubber ball to strengthen my right arm, which has a fixed AV fistula, with a goal of at least 500 squeezes a day. After these exercises, I take a five-minute rest. I also do chest therapies, followed by walking 20 steps and exercises for my hips and abdomen. While all these therapies are ongoing, I keep chanting. My secretaries informed me that this month, I chanted a total of 846 rounds. Sometimes, when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t sleep, I chant using my hands.
I also engage in phonation exercises, producing various sounds while taking deep breaths to improve my vocal cord vibration. This helps me give longer classes without tiring and enhances the quality of my voice. Additionally, I perform swallowing exercises to reduce choking while taking prasādam. For these, they ask me to place the tip of my tongue between my teeth and try to swallow. Speech therapy aims to make my speech clearer.

I continually pray for your spiritual well-being at the feet of Rādhā Mādhava Aṣṭa-sakhīs and Prahlāda-Nṛsiṁha. Caring for this body is vital to me. I often reflect on my Vyāsa-pūjā offering to Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1970, where I declared that my life is not my own but belongs to him. I strive to care for what he has entrusted to me and fulfil his instructions; I am doing my best to care for Śrīla Prabhupāda’s property, using it in ways that please him and fulfilling all the instructions he has given me.

I have received various reports from devotees about the Janmāṣṭamī celebrations and Bhadra Pūrṇimā. There was an interesting report on the Janmāṣṭamī celebrations in Pakistan. I also receive emails, updates, and reports from the disciples of His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami on a special email ID I created for them. I was also pleased to receive a report from my disciple Bhadra Rūpa dāsa on the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s visit to Geneva.

https://iskconnews.org/50th-anniversary-of-srila-prabhupadas-visit-to-geneva-celebrated-at-un-hq/

This month, we welcomed devotees to Māyāpur from many parts of the world. Recently, more than 50,000 pilgrims visited Māyāpur in a single day. The Nāma-haṭṭa department organized different sammelans for various Nāma-haṭṭas, and I addressed devotees from Mālda, South Dinājpur, West Medinipur, Jhārgrām, and South and West Odisha. In some areas, they have established Nāma-haṭṭas in 10% of the villages, but our goal is for everyone to receive the mercy of Lord Caitanya. We also had Patri dāsa from Nepal, who brought over 700 devotees to Māyāpur. I suggested that in the future, we should organize a separate Navadvīpa-maṇḍala parikrama party for Nepali devotees. His Holiness Kāvicandra Swāmī brought a group of devotees from Japan, and another group came from Czech and Slovakia. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Thakura mentioned that during the Navadvipa Mandala parikrama, Indian devotees would meet with international devotees, embrace each other, and chant “Jaya Sacinandana!” At that time, we had two groups—the Indian party and the international party. Men embraced men, saying “Jaya Sacinandana!” and women embraced women, saying the same. Haribol! Gauuuuuranga! Nityānanda! Western devotees appreciate when local devotees in Māyāpur care for them and express gratitude for their visit to Māyāpur Dhāma. Now, local devotees from Bengal and other states visit Māyāpur, and you can inform them about the Mayapur App and welcome them. With the Mayapur App, you can even do a virtual parikrama from your home! So, whether you are in America, Japan, China, Russia, or anywhere else—Hooghly, Birbhum, Medinipur, Assam—you can have darśana of the Deities every day through this App. You can download the Mayapur App from this link:

https://mayapur.page.link/mayapurappdownload

I have heard about instances in some places where devotees committed Vaiṣṇava aparādha (offenses) by blaspheming other devotees. While there may be misunderstandings, setbacks, or difficulties, we must be very careful to avoid all offenses against Vaiṣṇavas. Kṛṣṇa may tolerate and forgive offenses against Him, but He cannot forgive offenses committed against a Vaiṣṇava. We must learn to love, respect, and trust Vaiṣṇavas, ensuring that we do not offend them in any way.

Today, on Pūrṇimā, I witnessed the Deities dancing in ecstasy during this morning’s Mangalārati. From today, we will begin offering ghee lamps to Lord Dāmodara. During the month of Dāmodara, it is recommended to engage in all activities as devotional service. The last five days will be Bhīṣma Pañcaka. You can read about Dāmodara Month and how to conduct Dāmodara outreach programs on our Congregational Development Ministry’s website:

https://iskconcongregation.com/programs/damodar-outreach-program/

I hope everyone takes this month seriously and encourages others to engage in devotional service. This is a great opportunity to preach, and if you want to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you should share it with others, encouraging them to chant the holy name and draw closer to Kṛṣṇa. The material world has unlimited millions of universes, and the material world is one-fourth of the Lord’s total energy. The spiritual world constitutes three-fourths of the Lord’s energy and is far beyond our ability to measure. Everything exists within the body of Kṛṣṇa, who is so wonderful that He desires a personal relationship with each person. Therefore, to please and serve Lord Kṛṣṇa is the highest goal of human life. When we recognize how vast and great Kṛṣṇa is, we should strive to serve Him. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to always be aware of Kṛṣṇa and to seek to please Him.

Your well-wisher always,
Jayapataka Swami
JPS/ssdb