Viṣṇu Māsa
Monthly Message (15 March – 13 April 2025)
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
Date: 14 April 2025
After the Gaura-Pūrṇimā festival, I flew from Kolkata to Chennai, and I had a medical check-up. The doctors said my health is good! After a few days in Chennai, I joined the Safari group in Kumbakonam and then went with them to Śrīraṅgam and Madurai.
Since last year, I have been on dialysis 3 days a week. In Madurai also I was supposed to follow the same schedule. But since I did not go for dialysis on time, I fell sick and I had to be admitted to the hospital for three days. By the prayers of devotees, I recovered, and I was able to travel to Mayapur.
Along with the Safari, we also wanted to install the lotus footprints of Lord Caitanya in South India, wherever He visited. By the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda and our param-guru, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, we could do a total of 24 installations. His Grace Balarāma Govinda dasa is establishing and financing the installation of the lotus footprints there. His Holiness Bhakti Vighnavināśa Nṛsiṁha Swami, Bhakti Nṛsiṁha Swami, Bhakti Dhīra Dāmodara Swami, His Grace Bhāgavatāmṛta prabhu, and other senior devotees were also present. There were devotees from 30 countries on the Safari this year.
Lord Caitanya said to spread His holy name in every town and village. I was very happy to see how the movement of Lord Caitanya has spread in Madurai and other places in South India. When He was traveling to South India, in every house, He told them to preach. He did something in South India that He did not do in Bengal. Anyone whom He met on the road, He would embrace and make them devotees. I heard previously there was just one center in Kumbakonam, but now they have 57 nāma-hattas.
In Madurai, Śaṅkadhārī dāsa, Balarāma Govinda dāsa, and his team of devotees organized a very good program called Guru-ājñā. Around 5,000 devotees from all over South India and other places participated in the two-day program. He said that next year he wants to arrange for 10,000 devotees to attend the Guru-ājñā program. I spoke on both days, morning and evening. I spoke on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desire that everyone should eventually become a guru. It is not difficult to be a guru. One simply has to surrender to Kṛṣṇa and repeat Kṛṣṇa’s instructions, repeat whatever you have read in the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, what you have heard from Śrīla Prabhupāda, what you have heard from your guru. And if you don’t speak anything apart from this, you are a guru. I joined in 1968. Śrīla Prabhupāda made me a guru in 1977. So that was only nine years. I was very happy that two of my disciples, His Grace Caitanya Avatāri dāsa Adhikārī and His Grace Revatī Ramaṇa dāsa Adhikārī, formally took the oath as initiating gurus. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desire was to have millions of gurus to spread this movement.
I also visited the Jai Prabhupāda Śikṣālaya school in Madurai, which provides spiritual education along with academics, and I inaugurated Śrīla Prabhupāda Nivas, which is a memorial for Śrīla Prabhupāda. This includes Śrīla Prabhupāda Academy, Śrīla Prabhupāda Ashram, Śrīla Prabhupāda Camp, etc, for preaching and educational activities.
The Congregational Development Ministry has launched a new App called “My Sādhana App” that can keep track of your daily sādhana, like chanting, book reading, book distribution, devotee association, offering ārati, etc., even for over a year. You can download it from this link:
Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bhaktisteps.sadhanarecord&pli=1
iOS:
https://apps.apple.com/om/app/my-sadhana-app/id6477145853
I hope you take advantage of this App to improve your daily sādhana. I want all my disciples to follow the four regulative principles, chant a minimum of 16 rounds daily, study Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, and assist me in fulfilling the instructions Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me. If one chants Hare Kṛṣṇa regularly, then one can awaken their spiritual inclination to serve Kṛṣṇa. My secretary informed me that in the last year, I chanted a total of 8497 rounds, which means on average 23 rounds a day.
When Śrīla Prabhupāda went to the West, he had no help, no association. Once during Gaura-Pūrṇimā, he was saying that in Māyāpur and Vṛndāvana, the devotees must be having a big celebration. But he was alone in the West, and he said, “I don’t mind even if I am alone, even if I don’t have any association, I don’t mind even if I have to go to hell, but I want to preach the message of Gaurāṅga.” We are here today only because of the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He went to the West all alone with no money, only with faith in his Guru Mahārāja and the power of the holy name.
Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me many instructions, and I am trying to fulfill those instructions. One of the instructions was to make 50,000 disciples; I have exceeded that now. I try to connect to my disciples in different ways. I receive about 60 to 70 letters a day, and I am constantly giving guidance to my disciples. Also, I have an E-Care office where we have dedicated devotees for each of my zones, and also Local Care Coordinators (LCCs). And they connect to disciples and help them. So, I am trying in various ways to care for my disciples.
Another instruction that Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me is to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness unlimitedly. To preach unlimitedly, I need unlimited help; I am not in a state to do that by myself. I need the disciples to help me. Everybody should make everyone chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. For my disciples, it is compulsory to help me spread Lord Caitanya’s mercy. In Madurai, Balarāma Govinda dāsa has a program for his employees where all of them chant together one round before they start their work. They showed it to me on Zoom, around 6000 people chanting together! Three months ago, they launched a new initiative called Corporate Spiritual Solutions Private Limited (CSS), aimed at corporate preaching. Within this short span, they have already partnered with 20 companies, conducting weekly sessions for employees that include kīrtana, discussion on spiritual topics, and prasādam distribution. They are also connecting with the clients of these companies and extending the same spiritual care to them. Apart from these programs, they also conduct college and school programs, and in one such college, 600 students chant one round of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra before beginning their classes each day.
When I returned to Mayapur on day of Sri Ramanavami, I was very happy to see many devotees for the Vyāsa-pūjā festival. Around 22,000 devotees attended the program, and we also had 47 sannyāsīs from Gauḍīya Maṭhs. One sannyāsī who is 99 years and 6 months old at present also spoke about the importance of the guru and how important it is to serve the guru. Vyāsa-pūjā is the day where we worship the spiritual master. It also means we worship the entire guru-paramparā. Because guru means that he first has to be a disciple. Nobody is a guru until they are a disciple.
Yesterday, we had the cornerstone ceremony in Birnagar at the birthplace of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. We would like to build a temple and an educational institution at this place. Balarāma Govinda dāsa and devotees from Kṛṣṇa-kathā deśa are contributing for this project and Vaikuṇṭhapati dāsa is leading it. This is one of the instructions that Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me- to develop Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s birthplace. I am grateful to the devotees who are contributing to this project.
This month is Baisak month, which is one of the special months. We get a hundred times the credit for any spiritual activity we do this month. Bhakti Kids, under the Congregational Development Ministry, is organizing a Baisak month challenge to help people intensify their sadhana bhakti during this special month.
https://forms.gle/H855kFH2ief3H6xu9
I hope that you all surrender to Kṛṣṇa, surrender to Lord Caitanya, and be committed to spreading Lord Caitanya’s message. Every day, you should pray to Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu and Śrīla Prabhupāda so that you can spread the mission of Lord Caitanya.
Your well-wisher always,
Jayapatākā Swāmī
JPS/ssdb