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Introductory Announcements & Invocation My respects to all the devotees. So today, on the auspicious occasion of Ekadashi, on the date of Padmini Ekashi, from the lotus mouth of Guru Maharaj, this is the final session of our first event of this Purushottam month, where we have been hearing the glories of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Acharyas for the last 10 days. And today, in that series, we will hear about the founder Acharya of our ISKCON, Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, from the lotus mouth of his mercy-recipient disciple, the supreme worshipable Sri Lokanath Swami Guru Maharaj. So you all are requested to pause your name-chanting (japa) and listen to this final session attentively. And from tomorrow, as we told you yesterday, from the 28th date—meaning tomorrow—as a practical application of what we have been hearing for the past 11 days, a Japa Reform Workshop has also been organized. For all of you, for your convenience, for your pleasure, so that the foundation of our spiritual life, Hari Nama Japa, for which this temple was made—the Chain Japa with Lokanath Swami Zoom Japa Mandir or Zoom Mandir—for that, Guru Maharaj and his two senior disciples, Prashanta Mataji and Sriman Sachidanand Prabhu, all three together will give us this workshop. So you all are requested to definitely attend this as well and inspire other devotees too. One event has concluded. The next event of this Purushottam month is about to be released or is starting from tomorrow. You all are requested to inform more and more devotees so that they can also take advantage of it. Let us get ready to hear about Srila Prabhupada from the lotus mouth of Guru Maharaj. By pausing your name-chanting. Hare Krishna om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya cakshur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine nirvisesha-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine (jaya) sri-krishna-caitanya prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare Jaya Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya Srimad Krishna Kripa Murti Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki! Guru Maharaj's Discourse — The Position of the Founder-Acharya A warm, repeated welcome to all of you. For many days, you were listening to the character of the Acharyas, and now this final session, and this session will be about the Founder Acharya, the Samsthapaka-acharya of ISKCON, Sri Prabhupada. Regarding Prabhupada... this is my good fortune. It is a very favorite topic of mine to talk about Prabhupada. Speaking in relation to Prabhupada... and anyway, in ISKCON, Prabhupada-katha is very famous. Prabhupada is a very popular and famous subject and personality, which he indeed is. So regarding the Hari Om Acharyas, the Supreme Lord Himself has said: acaryam mam vijaniyan navamanveta karhicit na martya-buddhyasuyeta sarva-deva-mayo guruh In the Uddhava Gita, the Lord told Uddhava about the glory or gravity of the Acharya. The Lord is saying four things here. Now, I will not deliver a commentary on this. The Lord is saying how is the Acharya? Vijaniyan mam—understand that the Acharya is Me. This is a very big understanding, isn't it? Na avamanveta—and such Acharyas should never be disrespected. This is the second thing. And further He is saying: na martya-buddhyasuyeta—the Acharya should never be disrespected as an ordinary man, a common man, or a simple person. And the fourth thing is: sarva-deva-mayo guruh—the Guru or Acharya is the representative of all the demigods. It is said in the Chandogya Upanishad: acaryavan puruso veda—if any person wants to become knowledgeable, what should he do? He should become acaryavan. What does it mean to become acaryavan? One who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Acharyas or the Acharya. tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya upadeksyanti te jñanam jñaninas tattva-darsinah The Lord has said in the Gita as well, in the fourth chapter, approach such a seer of the truth, approach the Acharya, and they will make you knowledgeable. Acaryavan puruso veda—he himself is knowledgeable, so by coming into contact with him, by hearing from him, you yourself will become knowledgeable. This is what we keep saying: om ajñana-timirandhasya jñanañjana-salakaya caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah He will open our eyes. Sastra-caksusa—he will give us those eyes so that we can see. A common, general understanding has happened regarding the Acharyas, but Srila Prabhupada is not only an Acharya, a Gaudiya Acharya, but at the same time, he is the Founder Acharya. He is the Founder Acharya, Samsthapaka-acharya, of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. So, by being the Founder Acharya, his role becomes supreme and his place, his position, becomes eternal. For the next 10,000 years, coming 10,000 years, ISKCON will remain functional, and the Founder Acharya, Samsthapaka-acharya of this ISKCON, will remain Sri Prabhupada. So understanding this position is mandatory. Anyway, Prabhupada has given an order to all of us: wherever or whenever 'International Society for Krishna Consciousness' is written, there it must be written: Founder-Acharya Samsthapaka-acharya Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami Sri Prabhupada. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness and Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami Sri Prabhupada are inseparable. They cannot be separated. Such an intimate relationship exists of the Founder Acharya with the institution, with this ISKCON. So all future gurus and members will continue to act as his representatives, and his—meaning Prabhupada's—books and instructions will be kept at the center of the movement. So, to say it in a brief manner, an understanding was presented as to who the Samsthapaka-acharya is or what his role is. The Senapati Bhakta Prophecy & The Disciplic Succession In the book named Chaitanya Mangala, whose author is Lochana Das Thakura—just like there is Chaitanya Charitamrita, Chaitanya Bhagavata, so there is also a book named Chaitanya Mangala—there it comes, what we keep hearing, that Sri Prabhupada is the Senapati Bhakta (commander devotee). Lochana Das Thakura has mentioned this in his book Chaitanya Mangala: If someone leaves their own dharma, or leaves Sanatana Dharma, Bhagavata Dharma, and goes to another country, my Senapati Bhakta will chase him, he will reach there. So that Senapati Bhakta, whom Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is calling mora senapati bhakta—that Senapati Bhakta, what kind of commander? Mora—my commander devotee. So that Senapati Bhakta is Bhaktivedanta Swami Sri Prabhupada. prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama And on the entire earth, this Senapati Bhakta of mine will preach the Holy Name, in towns and in villages. senapati bhakta ai amara krsna nama tari sakala samsara In a way, this is the prophecy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that took place in this Chaitanya Mangala, that my commander devotee will appear in the future, now after 400 years, and will deliver the entire world while preaching the Holy Name. Then Prabhupada, who became the Senapati Bhakta, so Sri Prabhupada is representing Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and along with Him, all the predecessor Acharyas. He has done so; this we are seeing. By the way, there is Goloka. There are Radha-Krishna. And it is none other than Radha-Krishna who are Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and there are the Acharyas of the disciplic succession. Prabhupada is seated on the Vyasasana and we are all sitting at his feet—you are seeing such a sight. So what Sri Prabhupada has presented, he has presented the spiritual masters and Gauranga. That is why, anyway, in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition we keep saying, guru gaurango jayatah—victory to Guru, victory to the Acharya, and victory to Gauranga. So the thoughts or books or purports presented by Sri Prabhupada... he has presented the Bhagavad Gita spoken by Vyasadeva and Gopal Krishna, and he has presented it As It Is. This is the uniqueness, the Bhagavad Gita presented by Prabhupada, As It Is (Yatha-rup). Srimad Bhagavatam, which is the essence of all scriptures or is supreme... according to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, srimad-bhagavatam pramanam amalam—Srimad Bhagavatam is the spotless authority. Yad vaisnavanam priyam—it is dear to all Vaishnavas. Srila Prabhupada presented such a scripture too, Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavatam. And this remained the uniqueness of Srila Prabhupada: he presented Chaitanya Charitamrita, and along with that, Chaitanya Bhagavata and Chaitanya Mangala too, these books, which no one else had ever done before, or at least not at a global level. Along with this, he is the one who introduced Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to the whole world through the presentation of Chaitanya Charitamrita. The world knew Balarama. The world knew Krishna, so to speak, and other incarnations of God, but that world did not know Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So Srila Prabhupada shed light on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to the whole world, presented Gauranga. And then Gauranga's pastimes too, Gauranga's activities too... what to speak of the mantra given by Gauranga Mahaprabhu himself. So I was thinking, the religion of love given by Gauranga Mahaprabhu—prema pum-artho mahan—and the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra too, Sri Prabhupada presented on behalf of Krishna, on behalf of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and on behalf of all the Acharyas. When Prabhupada wrote purports, there he everywhere—of course, he kept mentioning—the commentaries of Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura, Baladeva Vidyabhushana, etc., etc., Sanatana Goswami. Sri Prabhupada himself translated Rup Goswami’s Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu book, and along with that, Sri Prabhupada is making us all Rupanuga. Sri Prabhupada also presented Rup Goswami’s Upadesamrita book. All the songs of Narottama Das Thakura, all the songs and bhajans of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, he made them renowned across the whole world, and along with this, he presented the predecessor Acharyas to the whole world. As you are seeing here, these are our Acharyas, we all were listening about them. So Madhavendra Puri and Ishvara Puri, that was also a team, so to say. And Sri Goswami-vrinda, this was a special team, this group, the six Goswamis of Vrindavan. Right after them, even simultaneously toward the end when Jiva Goswami was left, Narottama Das Thakura, Srinivasa Acharya, and Shyamananda Pandit received education from Jiva Goswami. And these three combined are called Acharya-traya (the trio of Acharyas), three Acharyas after the six Goswamis. So they also played a very big role. Jiva Goswami sent them: "Go to Bengal, go to East India, go to Odisha, and preach." So they started the preaching work. They distributed books as well. Then after about 200 years, a team of two Acharyas remained together: Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura, who at one time was practically the protector of our sampradaya, and his disciple Baladeva Vidyabhushana. (Everything okay?) And they composed many books, wrote commentaries. And then the next one, okay... so after the six Goswamis, then the Acharya-traya, the two Acharyas Vishvanatha Chakravarti and Baladeva Vidyabhushana, finally the three Acharyas: Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and Bhaktivedanta Swami Sri Prabhupada ki jaya! Consider this team of three. Bhaktivinoda Thakura, by the way... this International Society for Krishna Consciousness which Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada established, before him, anyway, it starts with Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The thought and vision of building an organization belonged to him. He is the one who starts the Nama-hatta preaching, and of course, gives and writes many books. This matter of Parikrama, Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama was his conception. He published it. By the way, who knew about Navadvipa Dhama and the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? So Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura discovered and fixed it. And then his son, and the disciple of his disciple, his grand-disciple, Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, established the Gaudiya Math in that very Mayapur, and he started the Parikrama according to the desire of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. And across the whole of India—all over India—and even outside India, Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura established sixty-four maths. And then comes the turn of Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. So he gives him the order to preach in Western countries. Then Bhaktivedanta Swami Sri Prabhupada establishes an organization, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. So the organizational work that Bhaktivinoda Thakura had started, had laid the foundation for, and which was carried forward by Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, was then further expanded and spread at a global level by Sri Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. So Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada established this Hare Krishna movement in 1966. The Core Principles of ISKCON Governance & Varnasrama And gradually he is going to establish, or did establish, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust because of the order he had received: "If you get money, print books." Print books, distribute books. So Bhaktivedanta Swami Sri Prabhupada, while establishing the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, started the publication and distribution of his books at a global level. And Prabhupada also kept saying that "Books are the basis." These books are the foundation. So making these books the foundation, Prabhupada was preaching all over the world; he did it. And Sri Prabhupada made a special arrangement regarding ISKCON, and that is the Governing Body Commission, which we call the GBC. Sri Prabhupada established it and he said that "GBC, this will be... they will be the ultimate managers." The responsibility for supreme management will belong to this GBC. And this was a very significant arrangement and decision of Sri Prabhupada. Because Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had also established the Gaudiya Math and expansion was also happening, but in the future, when Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura passed away, someone became an acharya from among them, and gradually many acharyas emerged and the Gaudiya Math broke into pieces, division happened. As many acharyas, as many gurus... one guru, one institution. So this deterioration that happened, in a way, the organization of the Gaudiya Math was destroyed, it did not remain organized, there was no unity among them. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada, call it a rectification or call it an improvement, established this GBC (Governing Body Commission), and the responsibility for all arrangements would belong to the GBC, not to individual gurus. Whichever acharyas remain will be preachers or sannyasis, they will not be in the ultimate management. They will preach, read, write, teach, or preach, but as far as management is concerned, this is the responsibility... and Prabhupada had more trust not in one head, like "This person will be my successor in the future, this individual will represent me." No. Prabhupada wanted not one person, but a group of devotees, a team of individuals. Two heads are better than one, of course, four heads are better than three. So Prabhupada made these heads—made the GBC the head, which contains many members—so everyone together will take decisions and handle the management. So this is a very important principle that we all must understand, otherwise... a third acharya I cannot explain, or guru groupism, due to which anyway ISKCON also had a narrow escape. So the Governing Body Commission... Sri Prabhupada is the Founder Acharya, Sri Prabhupada is the founding acharya, and this Governing Body Commission consists of the ultimate managers. Understanding this and acting upon it, following it, is mandatory to keep the unity. So everything started just like that in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gave an order to Abhay Babu at an address known as 1 Ultadanga Junction Road. There he gave the order to Abhay Babu, the future Bhaktivedanta Swami Sri Prabhupada: "You go abroad and preach and spread." And until when is this preaching to be done, or until when will it keep happening? In the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, call it a prophecy, the arrangement of the Lord Himself has been mentioned. Where the dialogue between Mother Ganga and Lord Krishna Kanhaiya comes, it is mentioned there: kale dasa-sahasrani haris tisthati bhu-tale In the 10,000 years of Kali-yuga, whose counting will begin with the appearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu... the counting will begin. So for 10,000 years, this Krishna consciousness, this Sanatana Dharma, this Bhagavata Dharma, especially this movement of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu will keep spreading, keep spreading, keep spreading. kale dasa-sahasrani mad-bhaktah santi bhu-tale The Lord is saying, "For 10,000 years My devotees will remain, will preach, will live a devotional life." But after 10,000 years, Kali is going to become very active. And then gradually: bhakta-sunya prthivi kali-grasta bhavisyati. How will this earth become? It will be devoid of devotees, devoid of devotional sentiment. And then kali-sudra-sambhava—everyone will become of one caste, eka-varna bhavisyati, that one caste will be, by the way, the sudra caste, everyone will become sudras. So this dialogue and mention from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana is very important, and making this the basis, we keep saying and will keep preaching. For 10,000 years, this preaching is going to grow, is going to spread. Nagaradi grama sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama—all this within a period of 10,000 years. That is why Prabhupada also said, "By the way, for 10,000 years my books will guide the world." "My books will be the law books, yes," or "My books will be a kind of constitution, and according to that only, preaching and propagation will happen, and my books will guide the whole world." And of course, we know that guidance is not Prabhupada's own. That guidance is of the Lord Himself, or it is also of the predecessor Acharyas, and then there are Sri Prabhupada's own realizations too. So they all will keep guiding the entire world, the whole universe. Prabhupada by the way said, "Practically there is no credit for me." Whenever it was said, "Prabhupada, this is because of you, this is happening because of you, such fame is being received, such preaching is spreading everywhere," Sri Prabhupada used to say repeatedly, "No, no, no, no credit goes to my spiritual master, the credit should go to my Guru Maharaj because I just kept following him. To my Guru Maharaj, to my predecessor Acharyas." Strictly following the instructions of his spiritual master and the previous acharyas. Prabhupada carried this tradition forward and wants to carry it forward. So whatever fame kept coming, Prabhupada never gave credit to himself, always gave credit to "My Guru Maharaj, my Guru Maharaj, my predecessor Acharyas," and of course, due to Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the cause of all causes, because of the Lord, because of Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Global Impact, Statistics, and Legal Framework So Sri Prabhupada gradually had 5,000 disciples too across the world, in every corner of the world. 14 times Prabhupada traveled, became a jet-age parivrajakacharya (wandering renunciant), and such a Prabhupada kept giving credit to his disciples too. We are grateful because of them, we kept appreciating their help. 5,000 disciples. Prabhupada and so many disciples across the world helped him. At one time, I heard this thing from Prabhupada that he used to say, or he said in Mumbai, "Will I ever obtain any Indian who has some foreign servant, driver, or cook?" Such used to be his ambition as an Indian. But hardly anyone had foreigners as servants or on their staff—maybe some rare individuals, very rare. But here, Sri Prabhupada had 5,000 assistant servants—meaning servants—where the Britishers or other foreign people had made Indians slaves. So Prabhupada got so many... 5,000 slaves, though of course, it wasn't even thought of that way, but so many did become Prabhupada's servants. So how great is this glorious saga of Sri Prabhupada, and only with their assistance, with their help, was he able to spread this Hare Krishna movement across the world, was able to establish it. Prabhupada also established the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, or Prabhupada kept writing books. He was writing books, translating books, and to distribute them, he was depending upon these 5,000 disciples. So they distributed Prabhupada's books, and along with this, the movement kept spreading. Along with it, ISKCON's constitution too... just like every country has a constitution, so ISKCON also has a constitution. All of you listen and understand. Of course, our Governing Body Commission, the Commissioners, were working on this. Spent a lot of time. But finally, now ISKCON's constitution is ready. So with the help of this, the governance and arrangement of ISKCON will be based on this constitution. Sri Prabhupada gave activities to the whole world so they could stay busy. Prabhupada was a practical man, his feet on the ground. He wanted all of us to stay busy 24 hours in the service of the Lord. To keep everyone busy, Prabhupada did not have to make any separate arrangement like other people keep doing, but the arrangement of the Lord, the Varnasrama arrangement, that is what Sri Prabhupada presented. Catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah—the Lord has said in the Gita anyway. Sometimes one name of our religion is also Varnasrama Dharma. So, to keep all of us busy all day, every day, we can stay busy according to our respective varnas. Varna means Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Sudra. And this guna-karma-vibhagasah—every person, according to one or the other of his qualities, belongs to one or the other varna anyway. So according to your respective varna tendencies or natural qualities, you all stay busy, keep yourselves busy. Prabhupada was keeping people busy. He inspired them to keep busy. Prabhupada was emphasizing Varnasrama a lot. We also hear that Prabhupada had said in his final days, "By the way, the further preaching, propagation, and establishment of Varnasrama Dharma... this work of mine still remains incomplete." In his final days, Prabhupada was traveling to America, or was going to Gita Nagari—thank you—Gita Nagari farm. And why was he going? "So that by staying at that Gita Nagari farm, I will establish Varnasrama Dharma or will set an example of such a system, so that from it, all the devotees across the whole world can learn." So the work of temple construction is a sudra's job; construction etc., engineering, is a sudra job. And as far as patram puspam phalam toyam is concerned, for maintenance, or agriculture, cow protection, and commerce (krsi-go-raksya-vanijyam), that is the work of the vaishyas. And as far as management is concerned, Prabhupada anyway started many agricultural farms. Sri Prabhupada himself went to Gita Nagari, and before that went to New Vrindaban farm and stayed. Prabhupada, by the way, even in India, had a farm near Hyderabad and many other farms. Prabhupada himself used to go and stay there. So Prabhupada started agricultural farms so that agriculture, cow protection, and commerce could happen there, to keep the vaishya-natured devotees busy. And kshatriya means administration—so the Governing Body Commission (GBC), and temple managements, and presidents, and temple commanders, all these come under kshatriya dharma. And then brahmana—so reading, writing, studying, teaching, deity worship, all these are the works of brahmanas. And anyway, samsiddhir hari-tosanam—we do not remain of that varna, we become Vaishnavas when we offer every work, every action performed under those varnas, in the service of the Lord. Then we do not remain sudras, by the way, we do not remain vaishyas, we do not remain kshatriyas, we do not remain brahmanas either. We become Vaishnavas, we reach gunatita (transcendental to the modes). So this Varnasrama system Prabhupada gave. Cannot explain the whole thing. So to keep all of us busy 24 hours, there is the varna system, and to keep us busy throughout our whole life, for a lifetime, there is this ashrama system: Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, Sannyas. All life long, these ashramas will keep you busy from one to another to another to another. So such a beautiful and supreme arrangement which the Lord Himself has made, Krishna has made—maya srstam catur-varnyam maya srstam—such a created Varnasrama system Sri Prabhupada has given to the whole world, has given to ISKCON too. Anyway, it's a big topic, I can't... So Prabhupada said, "My mission is to preach Krishna consciousness all over the world." So Prabhupada was making plans, made them, and even started them, and Prabhupada himself established more than 100 temples. Made arrangements for worship too, deity worship and what not. So now, I have some statistics, figures, numbers. There are more than 800 ISKCON temples. 10 million—that is 1 crore—is the estimate that there are 1 crore followers or practitioners of ISKCON around the world. And this is just a beginning, of course. And this Hare Krishna movement is located at 2,001 locations. Among them, of course, 801 are full-fledged temples, but there are also agricultural farms or Nama-hattas, or this one, that one, eco-villages. Agricultural farms are 64. In 700 cities around the world, Jagannath Ratha Yatra is being performed. And as far as book distribution is concerned, this is 8.7 billion—that means 87 crore books have been distributed. Listen with open ears, wake up, then you also do something. 8.7 billion... sorry, I am sorry, the meals, meals distributed. These many plates of prasadam have been distributed. Let's see further, it's coming up, it's coming up ahead. And the translation of Prabhupada's books has been done in 89 languages. And here is the number of books: 600 million—that is 60 crore, 60 crore books have been distributed. And it is counting. And padayatris also have walked some 4 lakh kilometers so far. And all these are figures or numbers of the last 60 years. And until when will we remain busy? Another 9,500 years, this is gonna be multiplying like anything. Go fast, will... The Four Regulative Principles & The 11-Year Cycles So the preaching work that Prabhupada did in this age of Kali, and he had expectations from his followers—rather he insisted—that they follow the four rules. Follow four regulative principles. Meaning they should not commit the four major sins. So dyutam panam striyah sunah. Prabhupada was indeed preaching Bhagavata Dharma, he did it, its basis is the scripture Bhagavatam. So in the scripture itself, in Srimad Bhagavatam, it is said: kali yatra adharmas catur-vidhah. In this very age of Kali, four irreligious acts happen: dyutam (gambling), adyapanam (intoxication), this illicit connection between men and women, and meat-eating. So this is the only movement in the world, and call this the only religion too—not even Hinduism, neither Christianity, nor Muslim, nor our Buddhist brothers, no one else, no one else on this planet insists that they follow these four rules. This is the specialty. So facing such challenges, Sri Prabhupada established his movement based on these four pillars of dharma: tapa (austerity), satya (truthfulness), daya (mercy), saucam (cleanliness). I will not explain this now. Every irreligious act is going to oppose one of these—oppose austerity, truth, mercy, cleanliness. So Prabhupada established his movement based on these four pillars of dharma. And in Prabhupada's life, after every 11 years, some special event kept happening. By the way, I hope... how it was every year, I am not narrating that to you, but: in 1922, his meeting with Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura took place. In 1933, 11 years later, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gave initiation to Abhay Charanaravinda; Prabhupada got initiated. And 11 years later, he started the publication of Back to Godhead, which was an important part of his life or was the instruction: "If you get money, print books." So Sri Prabhupada started that work of book printing and distribution in 1944. In 1955, Prabhupada before that used to come and go, used to come to Jhansi, keeps coming and staying. He settles in Jhansi, becomes a vanaprasthi, and at the same time was also establishing an organization named League of Devotees, based on which, by the way, his establishment of ISKCON happened in the future. And then in 1966, he established ISKCON, registered ISKCON in New York. And then he had only 11 years, and in '77, his departure to Goloka took place. So all that he did, by the way, in 1911 years only... he spread all the activities of ISKCON in 11 years. India's True Wealth & Closing Reflections "Anyway, Swamiji, why have you come? To our country, England?" it was asked. People used to ask like this. So Prabhupada's answer used to be that "The real wealth of my country, of Bharatvarsha, to give that wealth, to give it as a gift, I have come. You people also came, foreigners came, the British came, and you plundered our country anyway; whatever thing or object you considered valuable, you kept plundering it. You became plunderers. But you did not recognize the real wealth of our country. So, I have brought the real wealth. And the real wealth is the ancient culture of our country, the culture of ancient India, and the books of our country—this is the wealth. Gita, Bhagavatam, Ramayana, Mahabharata—this is the wealth of our country, it is everywhere in our country, the Lords of our country are by the way omnipresent, yours too, whom you had forgotten. We are giving Krishna, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu especially, as a gift. So please accept. And we are giving the mantra too, the Maha-mantra; this is the biggest contribution or gift or offering, accept it." "So to give all these gifts I have come, I have not come here to take anything from you. By the way, you don't even have anything that you can give me, by which I can be benefited. No way. But come on, I myself give the gift of Bharatvarsha to you, to the whole world." So he gave different services to all disciples, kept them busy. Anyway, there was no need for this. So he gave many orders to me too, out of which one special order was to perform Padayatra, to start a bullock-cart sankirtan party and preach the Holy Name; Prabhupada gave this order. So for this, I am very... what should I say, obliged or whatever it is, grateful to Prabhupada. So in this way, when this Krishna Balaram Temple opening was happening in 1975, that is a group photo. So Prabhupada gave us Vrindavan, gave us Mayapur, gave us Jagannath Puri, gave us all the dhamas. So all this has happened in the last 60-odd years, by the way, this is 2026 running, note it down. So exactly 60 years ago, Prabhupada established this ISKCON, the Hare Krishna movement, in 1966. This year, we are celebrating the 60th Anniversary of ISKCON's foundation. So you all have to participate in it. For you, this ISKCON... this festival has already begun. You all understand what all you can do. How you can participate in this celebration. 60th Anniversary of ISKCON. Sri Prabhupada made the prophecy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu come true. Spread the Holy Name everywhere. Cannot say this... spread it everywhere, spread it too, and at least started the preaching and propagation, and the remaining work, we have to carry it forward. He used to call ISKCON, "This is the United Nations of the spiritual world." The UNO that is in New York, for that they say, "This is Disunited Nations, not United, see how many flags, division of so many countries." But when all the devotees from around the world come to Mayapur, come to this headquarters, and then there at the time of the festival flag hoisting happens, so that flag, that flag, one flag under the banner of one flag, United Nations of the spiritual world, Goloka headquarters. Prabhupada established it right where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared, where Chaitanya Mahaprabhu started sankirtan, and its inauguration, opening, is also going to happen next year. You all help open-handedly so that with funds the construction gets completed and we perform the opening. You all are cordially invited to the opening. And One World One Family—meaning this motto or vision of our religion and culture, vasudhaiva kutumbakam—Prabhupada gave a practical shape to this while establishing the Hare Krishna movement: One World One Family. Other people just keep saying it, but if one has to experience it, one can experience it in this International Society for Krishna Consciousness. So the world has seen many, many revolutions. French Revolution, this revolution, that revolution. Then the Communists came, so they tried some revolution. Then the Christians came, rather the British came, they did some revolution, and they used to say, "In our empire, the sun never sets." But Prabhupada used to say, "But in their empire sun never sets, but in England sun never rises." In England, the sight of the sun is not obtained at all, it's cold, the sky remains covered with clouds. But Prabhupada... or now where is that, where is their empire of the British? Collapsed, disintegrated, and in its place, the empire of ISKCON, the empire of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, is spreading everywhere. And somewhere or the other, Mangala-arati is happening, somewhere Shringara-darshana is happening, somewhere Rajbhoga-arati is being performed, or Sandhya-arati is happening. Like that, in the empire of ISKCON, the sun does not set. Understand what we are saying or what the understanding is. So to spread such an empire across the world, or at least he made the beginning of spreading it, Prabhupada. To such Sri Prabhupada... so he, addressing all of us, Prabhupada... I will just take a few more minutes, we will wind up. Prabhupada, by the way, kept appealing to us, kept calling upon us, or there are some matters, some items, I will say this in brief. On one hand, the words of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself: bharata-bhumite haila manusya-janma jara  janma sarthaka kari' kara para-upakara Prabhupada kept repeating this repeatedly: "You are born in India, and if you want the success of your birth, what should you do? Do para-upakara (welfare work for others)." And then Prabhupada used to say, "Every activity of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is a work of welfare. If you do this, your life will be successful." Prabhupada used to say when he wouldn't be there... when Prabhupada was among us, he used to say, "What should you do? When I am not there, I would like to experience your love, your affection for me. If you love me... just saying 'I love Prabhupada', just saying it like that is not enough. Demonstrate to me, show me. Demonstrate your love. How? How you cooperate? How you contribute to each other, how you take and give?" "Then I will understand, yes, then you love me." He wanted this cooperation, wanted your contribution now, to... for what? To protect this movement. For the protection of this movement, for the alignment and unity of this movement, you have to cooperate so that this movement remains strengthened and united, aligned and strong, fully empowered, strong, okay. Prabhupada, of course, emphasized his book distribution. "If you want to please me, distribute my books." If you want to please me, distribute my books. So remember this too, what Prabhupada's desire was, what the expectation is from all of us, that we all distribute his books. Of course, his books have to be studied as well, and along with that, Prabhupada's books have to be distributed too. Ah... so Prabhupada has built such a house in which the whole world can live, and that house is ISKCON. So in this house, in this institution, there should be such relationships, there should be such an atmosphere, there should be such an environment, there should be such a culture, so that we all feel that we are all members of the same family. We are all brothers and sisters. That vasudhaiva kutumbakam, we are members of that one family of the world. Yeah. So like that, I think I will hurry, hurry. So thank you. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam. We have to see these words of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, that this Sri Krishna movement, the movement of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, keeps being victorious, and in the victory of this Hare Krishna movement alone lies the victory of all of you too. So, param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam, and along with that, may victory be to all of you too. Thank you. Prabhupada ki jaya! And Premanande Hari Hari Bol Concluding Gratitude & Prayers by the Host Param Pujya Sri Lokanath Swami Guru Maharaj ki jaya! So today, on the occasion of Padmini Ekadashi, Guru Maharaj Ji gave us his time, guidance, and especially made us all Sri Prabhupada conscious. Developed and increased Sri Prabhupada consciousness in all of us. So come, let us all, by chanting the Maha-mantra in our traditional method, express our heartfelt gratitude to Guru Maharaj. Not only for today's session, but this entire program that took place over the last 10-11 days, that whole thing could be concluded under the direction of Guru Maharaj, with Guru Maharaj's guidance and Guru Maharaj's blessings. Where right at the beginning of the Purushottam month, we heard about the Acharyas of our Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya. So a very beautiful sentiment in itself has been established, that where before hearing about the Lord, we hear about the Acharyas. And as we said in the beginning, we heard for these 10-11 days, and now from tomorrow, we will see some practical application of this, which will bring improvement in our name-chanting, which is, as we say, the goal of human life: Krishna-prema (love of Krishna). So come, while offering our gratitude at the feet of Guru Maharaj, we also pray, we beg for his blessings, that he may show mercy to all of us so that we too can give some work or service or cooperation, can give dedication in this mission of Guru and Gauranga, in this mission of Sri Prabhupada, and the mission which is Prabhupada's mission, Guru Maharaj has made that his own mission. So in this mission of Guru Maharaj, with such a sentiment, let us chant the Maha-mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare And again at the feet of all of you, we pray, with folded hands we pray, please join, and the program which is going to happen from tomorrow... throughout the Purushottam month, special programs have been organized in this Zoom Mandir. Out of them, one event concluded today by the mercy of Guru Maharaj, with the cooperation of all of you, and from tomorrow the second event is starting: Japa Workshop or Japa Reform Workshop. Thereafter, there will be some special discourses from Srimad Bhagavatam, and in the final week of Purushottam month, we will hear Srimad Bhagavata Katha from the lotus mouth of Guru Maharaj and some devotees. And in the Purushottam month, hearing the Tenth Canto has a special glory or importance. And the Tenth Canto, which in a way can be called the essence of the entire Bhagavatam, or in the Bhagavatam it has been described as the face of the Lord. In the entire complete form of the Bhagavatam, the status of the face has been given to the Tenth Canto. The most beautiful and captivating pastimes are in it. So we will hear that in the final week of the Purushottam month. So again we pray to all of you, with folded hands we pray, please join and inspire other devotees too so that everyone can take advantage of it. Again, while offering obeisances at the feet of Guru Maharaj, while offering gratitude, we give rest to today's session right here.
  • Sri Hari Nama Prabhu ki jaya!
  • Hare Krishna Maha-mantra ki jaya!
  • Sri Sri Pancha-tattva ki jaya!
  • Gaudiya Vaishnava Acharya Bhakta-vrinda ki jaya!
  • Ananta Koti Vaishnava Bhakta-vrinda ki jaya!
  • ISKCON Founder Acharya His Divine Grace Bhaktivedanta Swami Sri Prabhupada ki jaya!
  • Param Pujya Sri Lokanath Swami Guru Maharaj ki jaya!
Vañcha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca  patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah. Ananta koti Vaishnava vrinda ki jaya!  

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