69th Vyasa Puja celebration, 2018
Chennai, India
27 March 2018
It was pretty moving to hear all the offering even though I don’t deserve it which was given by many different devotees. This Vyasa Puja ceremony of different offering and giving books, Srila Prabhupada would be very pleased by the Caitanya Caritamrta in Tamil. I was present when Srila Prabhupada would receive a new edition and he was so blissful that tears came rolling down from his eyes.
His spiritual master has asked him to publish books. Whenever he would see new books he would cry in ecstasy. He wanted that his books should be on display.
So book publishing, the building of TOVP, developing Navadvipa Dham all these things are pleasing to Srila Prabhupada. He asked me to preach in India. He told me to take Indian citizenship.
I was listening to this morning to a tape of Srila Prabhupada in that he was saying he was very grateful to his disciples who were helping him and he said that he wanted everyone to be a guru, he quoted Lord Caitanya: “yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa”, amara ajnaya guru hana tara’ ei desa”.
So you have a very major responsibility to be siksa guru and possibly diksa guru to spread the message all around. So I am very glad that so many temples have come up around India, not only Mayapur but also Guwahati and also South India, Hyderabad, Vishakapatnam, Rajahmundry, Chennai, Coimbatore and all over the South.
So our purpose is not to have just temples and eat in the temples but to preach. So everyone has to preach. I was surprised how some devotees were practising, the senior devotees should see how everyone can practice. Today Charu Chandra spoke about Bangladesh. So in Bangladesh Hindus are the minority and devotees are very enthusiastic so that’s why the devotees were saying that because the Safari has gone there the devotees might increase.
The news was that we would get the Madhavendra Puri birthplace and also we will get Narrottam Thakur’s birthplace.
We are doing whatever possible in Andhra Pradesh in Narasaraopet. Lord Caitanya visited that place and told them that Krishna went there to deliver Muchukunda. They were saying we are born here but we don’t know. Now they know.
Like this, there are many places which are not known by many people. We need to keep people not only enthused but also dedicated to saving all this place.
I don’t know how long I will stay in this world. I hope that all of you would take up this important service and see all these holy places are preserved.
Lord Caitanya, he gave us this treasure. We get an insight of the wonderfulness of Krishna and Lord Caitanya. Lord Krishna was travelling over South India and also Lord Caitanya was travelling over south India.
So I have to go to offer to the deity but I hope all of you would take this divine service and I thank all the devotees of Chennai who have made such nice arrangements and to all of you who have come.
(Transcribed by Rasapriya Devi Dasi)