Inaugral lecture: DAY 1
Hare Krishna!
SRILA PRABHUPADA’S VISION OF MAYAPUR
In the 1970s His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was visiting Florida in the united states of America. His airplane landed in a small airport, and there were several hours of driving to come to the small temple – just a house where a few devotees were living. When Srila Prabhupada said there that, “We have come to this place so far away from Sridham Mayapur.” By this statement, Srila Prabhupada was revealing his own heart and the geography according to spiritual conceptions. How far it was from Sri Mayapur as well is important. Sri Mayapur is the spiritual centre of the universe – especially in this age of Kali.
Therefore of all places in the planet, Srila Prabhupada decided to make this the international headquarters for the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. Srila Prabhupada’s vision was so inconceivable. When he had just a few people interested in what he was saying, in the whole world, in a tiny little store front which was quite lapidated, on a lower side of New York, 26, second avenue, he registered as the International society for Krishna consciousness. And his few followers couldn’t conceive how is this international! There is no one with shaved heads, no dhotis, no saris – just a few people taking some interest. And they didn’t even know if they had money to pay the rent for the next month. There was no guarantee materially.
Srila Prabhupada envisioned centers all over the world, and Sri Mayapur dham to be the International headquarters. When devotees first came to Mayapur, where we are sitting was just a paddy field. There were no buildings, there was nothing. It was just a field. When Srila Prabhupada had the devotees build one little straw hut, near the road and he lived there and Sri Sri Radha Madhava lived there. And Prabhupada declared this to be the international headquarters. Very difficult! Devotees in thoise days would talk about during the monsoons it was flooded they were on the roof of the straw hut. And cobras, snakes and scorpions were also looking for shelter on the roof. Who would have conceived? And even at that time, Srila Prabhupada was envisioning a Vedic Planetarium, magnificent temple that would attract people from all over the planet to conme and live here – to visit and live here in Sri Mayapur Dham. Because Srila Prabhupada had that complete faith in the inconceivable mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda and the power of the holy name. He wasn’t speaking theoretically. He was speaking with both compassion and conviction. Some people are thinking how to build that magnificient temple here in this very very isolated part of West Bengal. But compared to the devotees at that store front conceiving of an International Society of Krsna Consciousness, for conceiving those few devotees on the roof of a thatched hut in a paddy field, to think that this would be an international head quarters where devotees would come from all over the world. The temple of Vedic planetarium is a small thing. Devotees do not see by material conventional methods of what’s possible or impossible.
ACARYAS ALWAYS WANTED TO ACHIEVE THE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE
And Srila Prabhupada wanted 17 volumes of Sri Caitanya Caritamrita printed and ready for book distribution in 2 months. The devotees were working hard over time trying to get one book every 3 months. But it was very difficult. Srila Prabhupada said I want 17 in the next 2 months. And he didn’t say to start it within a month. He said start it with no preparation. One devotee said “Prabhpada this is impossible”. Srila Prabhupada’s reply, famous quote, “Imposible is a word in a fools dictionary”. This was Srila Prabhupada’s broad vision. But it wasn’t just theoretical, but based on faith. But within 2 months all 17 volumes were published. It wasn’t easy. They had to bring the whole art department and so many things.
Similarly the acaryas, they predicted that the holy names of the Lord would be chanted in every town and every village throughout the world. Bhakti Vinode Thakur he envisioned devotees from America, Europe and Africa, China and Russia, people from all over the world gathered together with their Indian brothers and sisters chanting the holy names and dancing in Mayapur. Today we see yet another wonderful confirmation of Bhakti Vinod Thakurs vision.
WHY IS MAYAPUR CONSIDERED HOLY?
Why have our acaryas given so much stress on the holiness of Mayapur?
rädhä kåñëa-praëaya-vikåtir hlädiné çaktir asmäd
ekätmänäv api bhuvi purä deha-bhedaà gatau tau
That the Supreme Lord is one. But for the purpose of loving pastimes, that one Lord has become two. Sri Sri Radha and Krsna. Now Radha and Krishna have again become one in the form of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is Krishna with the loving sentiments and the golden complexion of Srimati Radharani.
Rupa Goswami at prayag he offered the prayer
namo mahä-vadänyäya     kåñëa-prema-pradäya te
kåñëäya kåñëa-caitanya-     nämne gaura-tviñe namaù
The Lord incarnates in many times according to the revealed scriptures of the world. But of all incarnations, including Rama and Krishna, the most munificent is Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprahu, because He is coming to give what no other incarnation has come to give. The highest experiences of spiritual love, without considerations of their past, without consideration of their particular status or where they may be from. He is giving it simply for the price of one’s sincere faith. Once in a day of Brahma, that means over 4 billion years and one night that’s another, so that means that once in over 8 billion years the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in his original form as Krishna, and brings with him the highest spiritual realm of Goloka. The form and pastimes to attract the hearts of everyone back to his loving lila. Vrindavan is called Madhurya dham, because of the nature of  sweetness of those pastimes.  The cowherd boys are thinking Krishna is their friend and having loving rel playing, joking, as they herd the cows and the calves throughout the day,. Yashoda, Nanda and the elderly gopas and gopis they love Krishna, as their child worrying about him like any mother and father would worry for their child intensified by a million times due to the nature of their love.
This month in Kartik, on this particular day, of Diwali Yashoda mai, bound Krishna by the ropes of her love. Krishna wanted to reveal to this world that he is conquered and subordinate to the sweet love of his devotees. That love that is not compromised by awe and reverence, but love simply for love sake , not because Krishna is God, but because Krishna’s all attractive. And the gopis their love for Krishna was so sweet in the mood of lovers, with pure unselfish hearts. The greatest acaryas have proclaimed that of all religions there is no comparision to the purity of the surrender and the Love of the gopis. And of the gopis the origin of all spiritual love is Srimati Radharani. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna in that mood of Sri Radha, to distribute her love, to distribute the rasas and the happiness of Vrindavan to everyone.
When Krishna appeared, Sri Vrindavan dham was only accessible to only a very rare few. But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu opened up the gates to invite and welcome everyone into the pastimes of Vrindavan. That took place here in Sri Navadvip. Therefore our Vaishnava scriptures and Acaryas declare that Navadvip and Vrindavan are absolutely non-different. They are one. In the age of Kali Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates who are all descendents of Goloka Vrindavan they performed the lila of Vrindavan. As Vrindavan is Madhurya Dham, the place of highest spiritual sweetness Navadip is Audarya dham, where that sweet pastimes is opened for everyone. The most magnanimous, the most accessible and the most rich with loving occasions, of all holy places in this universe is Sri Navadvip dham.
In this age of kali at a time when people are the least qualified, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu here in Navadwip along with his associates made the highest experiences of spiritual happiness totally acceptable. Simply through properly chanting the holy names of the Lord. Here in Navadvip Lord Caitanya revealed his compassion for all living entities and his special love for his devotees. Sri Caitanya Bhagawat, Caitanya Mangal, Caitanya Caritamrita, these scriptures are about these most beautiful principles, the ecstasy of the Lord’s love, His compassion for every living being, and the intimacy of His love for his devotees and His devotees’  love for each other in the spirit of His love. Lord Caitanya many times told the world that he is a prisoner in the heart of his devotees.

THE LORD WANTS TO GIVE ALL CREDITS TO HIS DEVOTEES
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu how he loved to glorify his devotees! He would speak of Haridas Thakur’s greatness as if He had five mouths. He spoke of Vasudev Dutts merciful nature as if he had 1000 mouths. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to give His devotees the credit for His mission. He took a person from an untouchable class, Srila Haridas Thakur due to his genuine humility and devotion, Lord Caitanya made him the Nama acarya, the acarya who was gloried forever for spreading the glories of the holy names. And after Haridas left Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “the crown jewel of the entire universe, by his actions by his words spread the holynames through out, he has now left us”.
And Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu wrote 8 verses, siksatakam. As far as systematically presenting His philosophy, He gave that credit to Rupa & Sanatan Goswami, six Goswamis. He empowered them to right the literatures. And even His own biography he empowered Raghunath Das Goswami to speak to Krishna Das Kaviraj Goswami. In this way how he glorified the six Goswamis, all of the vaishnav literatures from that time are based on the writings of Rupa & Sanatan. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityanada Prabhu after they left the holiest of all holy places Sri Navadvip, non different from Vrindavan, the most divine place of anywhere on this universe in this age of kali. They had practically the whole area covered by the Ganga, and hid it. Why? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to give the credit, for the availability and accessibility of Navadvip to the whole world, to Bhakti Vinod Thakura and Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj. He covered everything and empowered His own devotee to discover it. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Vrindavan, He personally discovered Radha Kund and Shyama Kund. But for the whole discovery of the various holy places of Krishna’s lilas and the excavations of these places, He gave all credit to the six Goswamis. And he gave the discovery of Navadvip to Bhakti Vinod Thakura and Jagannath Das Babaji, these two great Thakurs. And for revealing the dham through literature all over India, He gave that credit to Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura. And for bringing every possible caste and race and religion and every species of human beings to Mayapur, to worship Sir Sri Pancatattva and Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave that credit to our beloved Srila Prabhupada. This is special feature of Lord Caitanya to glorify His own devotees.

The first Gaur Poornima festival when Prabhupada invited people from different temples throughout the world, there was only this one building, the lotus building, which was still a construction site. The place was infested with mosquitoes and so many other creatures. And as far as plumbing and all these things, there was not much of anything. But still Srila Prabhupada called people from all over the world. From that small beginning thousands and thousands of people are coming. Actually we think about the devotees here, that’s about 4000 of you. But come on special festivals when Bengalis come. Its countless! Sometimes tens and thousands are. And they are all coming from distant places. This is Srila Prabhupada’s love for the world and his total dedication for the mission of his Gurudev.
 
FOCUS AND MEDITATION DURING THE MAYAPUR YATRA 2009
Today we are beginning our yatra, Kartik of 2009. This human life is very rare, every moment is so precious. And the rarest of all things is the association of the Lord’s devotees. Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught through Rupa Goswami, five very important principles, most important to make spiritual progress. To associate with devotees, chant the holynames, to hear Srimad Bhagvatam, worship the deities and be in the holy dham. All of these 5 is really all we have here. There is nothing else to do. We hear hari katha, we chant the holy names, and to perform these devotional activities in the month of Kartik, 100s of times greater is the effect than any other time. And to perform such activities in the holy dham of Navadwip, even that is increased many folds. For the next 2 weeks as this yatra is taking place. We have such a rare opportunity to make such spiritual progress.
Ye yatha mam prapadyante, tams tataiva bhajami aham
We make progress according to our sincerity. According to how we put our heart and soul into practicing Krsna Consciousness. It is our rule during yatras that we should not speak anything except the holy names, hari katha, glorifying Krsna, glorifying the Krsna, glorifying the vaishnavas and speaking words in the spirit of service. This is the time to really try to establish within ourselves that type of discipline that at every moment we should be trying to meditate on the holy names and on the Lords pastimes. At every moment whatever may come to us whether it is enjoyable or it is causing us some suffering, we should be grateful. Tapsya in bhakti means to be grateful for whatever may come upon us. Whatever inconvenience it takes to be in Navadwip with so many devotees, in front of Pancha Tattva and all our acaryas, chanting the holy names and hearing Krsna katha, any inconvenience is an insignificant price for this blessing. We should see things in this perspective. If you want to really enter into the realm of Navadwip, Lord Caitanya taught us this consciousness
gopé-bhartuù pada-kamalayor däsa-däsänudäsaù
We should not try to become the master or the proprietor or the controller. The more we are in the sweet mood of serving the other vaishnavas, the more Krsna will reveal Himself. If you want to know Krishna you have to put the vaishnavas in front of yourself. We should not be self-centred. It is our service attitude that attracts Krishna to empower us to taste the sweetness of the holy name, to be able to actually experience and see the beauty of the holy dham. Like Vrindavan Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates are eternally performing His pastimes here. We can feel it, we may even see it, according to our service attitude. Selfishness is the enemy, but yet we are so inclined to fall into that state of mind.  The cure is to serve. So let us try to follow in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya’s example. And during these days in our yatra to be absorbed in the spirit of service of all the devotees, to be absorbed in constantly trying to take shelter of the holy names and at every moment. Don’t let a breath escape from your body without Krishna’s name. That should be our determination throughout the yatra, to be absorbed in hearing and chanting and praying.
 
OUR PRAYER DURING THE YATRA
In each place where ever we may go, we are praying for pure devotional service, praying for a humble heart devoid of ego, praying to overcome lust and envy and anger and pride and greed and illusion. Praying for pure devotional service! This is the great fortune we are given. It is our prayer that all of the assembled devotees put their hearts and souls,   their lives focused on serving the vaishnavas and the holy dham and the holy names. And becoming so spiritually surcharged with the eternal benefits of the yatra, that it will invigorate and empower us throughout our whole lives in the path of bhakti.
Thank you very much.
Today at this very moment you will all begin going to various holy places and every evening at around 4:30 there will be Hari katha, a discourse on the glories of Sri Navadvip. This year is a special year, it is the 500th anniversary of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu taking Sannyasa, so we will focus on this particular pastime though out our yatra. In fact in the second half of the yatra devotees will be going to Khatwa, Kanaka Nagara, place where Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took his vows for the welfare of all humanity.