Lecture in Hindi

Prabhupāda:

…kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ
[Cc. Madhya 19.53]

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the best of all the incarnations. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa instructed everyone sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, but people did not follow His instructions properly. [Bg. 18.66] Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa Himself. In order to teach people how they could take shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord He again appeared as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore while offering prayers, in the first prayer, no in the second prayer I have offered obeisances, namo mahā-vadānyāya kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te. First of all it is difficult to understand Kṛṣṇa only.

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu
kaścid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ
kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
[Bg. 7.3]

To understand Kṛṣṇa is very difficult in the first place. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu is so merciful that not only He distributed Kṛṣṇa but also distributed love of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī addresses Him namo mahā-vadānyāya, You are the most munificent personality because You are distributing love of Kṛṣṇa. And love of Kṛṣṇa is the fifth objective of life. Dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa: religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation—these are the four objectives of life. Above that is love of God. Therefore, as you all know, in the very beginning of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam it has been said dharma projjhita kaitavo’tra. [SB. 1.1.2] These dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣas are cheating. One has to rise above that. Above that…Even above mokṣa prevails love of God. Above mokṣa. One who has attained love of God, know for sure that he has already attained mokṣa long ago. Therefore a devotee is never covetous for mokṣa. muktiḥ svayaṁ mukulitāñjali sevate ’smān. [Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta 107]

Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura says that why should I endeavour for mukti? Mukti is standing at my door asking “Mahārāja, what can I do for you?” So devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead especially in Kali-yuga, the holy name of the Supreme Lord,

nāma-cintāmaṇi-kṛṣṇaś
caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ
purnaḥ śuddho nitya-mūkto
’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ
[Padma Purāṇa]

Just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is purṇa: perfect, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate, similarly the holy name of the Lord is also purṇa. [Īśopaniṣad] There is no difference between the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself. That is the conclusion of the śāstra. All the ācāryas have also concluded that. So time is up, its time for ārati now. This is the subject matter of our preaching. We preach everywhere that kindly chant the holy name of the Lord. When I first went to America…that’s a long history, in the beginning I did not ask them that you have to give up this, you have to give up that. And who will listen to me anyway? No. You come, sit down and chant the holy name. That’s all. That was how I started. And for one full year I was simply loitering here and there. Then in 1966, in the month of July, I registered this association. A few boys would come. And by hearing, hearing the holy name, one Tompkins square is there, what is that name?

Devotees:
Tompkins Square Park.

Prabhupāda:
Yes, I used to go and sit down there underneath a tree and without any mṛdaṅga or karatāla I would just play a toy drum and chant. [laughs] Gradually they began to come, began to dance and their picture was published in the New York Times. In this way slowly I moved to west California, Canada and other places. Now by the mercy of you all, throughout the world including all the major cities like London, New York, Moscow too, Tokyo, and other places we have got out institution. Simply the holy name of the Lord is being spread. And these books are also nothing but nāma-kīrtana. Nāma-kīrtana is not performed only by mṛdaṇga and karatāla. The holy name…Just like Śukadeva Gosvāmī performed kīrtana, abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane. [Padyāvalī 53]

Kīrtan means…Just like Śukadeva Gosvāmī recited Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, this is also kīrtana. Kīrtana is not just by mṛdaṅga and karatāla. Our Guru Mahārāja used to say that these books are “Bṛhat mṛdaṅga.” “Bṛhat khol.” Suppose you play mṛdaṅga here, may be ten, twenty, fifty people can hear it. But if you play this bṛhat mṛdaṅga people from one corner to another corner of the world can hear. This is bṛhat mṛdaṅga. So whatever honour we may have in the society today by the Lord’s mercy is because of playing this bṛhat mṛdaṅga. Thank you for kindly taking the trouble of coming here. Keep coming here. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says ekalā amāra nāhi pāya bala, how much can I do alone? [Śaraṅāgati, Bhajana-lālasā, Song 7, Stanza 3] [Cc. Ādi 9.34] Kindly all of you help together. So that is my request also that whtever little endeavour we are making to spread the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead all over the world, kindly all of you extend support to it. There should be no envy or discrimination in regard to this honest endeavour. Chanting of the holy name of the Supreme Lord is India’s treasury. And Caitanya Mahāprabhu ordered every Indian,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya janma haila yāra
janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra
[Cc Ādi 9.41]

Paropakāra. The duty of India is paropakāra. And this is paropakāra because,

kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare
pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare
[Prema-vivarta 6.2]

As soon as we forget Kṛṣṇa immediately māyā captures us. Therefore if we want to get relief from the clutches of māyā,

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
[Bg. 7.14]

then one can directly see… the Supreme Lord can be seen directly provided we have the suitable eyes to see Him.

aṇḍāntarasthaṁ paramāṇu-cayāntarastham
[Bs. 5.35]

The Supreme Lord is present everywhere. A kaniṣṭha adhikārī: neophyte devotee like me thinks that the Supreme Lord is in the temple, so let me begin from there. It is not that God is everywhere so destroy all the temples. No. That is not a fact. As the Supreme Lord and the ācāryas have instructed us, śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā- śṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mārjanādau, that is absolutely necessary. [Śrī Gurvaṣṭaka 3] So please visit the temple. Sit at home and perform kīrtana. There is no difficulty.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

There is no loss in it for sure, and if it yields some profit then why not try it? This is our request. Kindly forgive me if there are any inconveniences for you have kindly assembled here.

Thank you veru much.

Devotees:
Jaya Prabhupāda!