Lava-Mātra: A Moment with Jayapatākā Swami by HG Balarāma Tīrtha Dāsa #JayapatakaSwamiArchives

Hare Krishna Haribo.

Your name and where are you from?

My name is Balaram Tirthadas. I'm from Alachua, Florida. I grew up there. We lived in New Taliban before, from 85 to 89, but we moved to Alachua in 89 and been there ever since.

How you took the decision to be fully dedicated to Ka consciousness, to take Guru Maharaj as a woman?

My parents are both disciples of Guru Maharaj. And so he was always our guru. He was like the family guru. But it wasn't. And it was. We had a very casual relationship growing up. He was very playful with us, with my brother and I and all of our little peer group. He would just kind of play with us. And we. And we really liked how we told stories in class and stuff. But it wasn't until I was growing up, at the age of probably 17 or 18, there was one. The memory that sticks out to me the most is I was in Poland for the Polish Woodstock Festival. And this band, Village of Peace, they asked me to do some music with them. I was doing rap and make rap music. And they were like, oh, can you rap on these songs? And I was like, sure. And then when I went on stage, apparently Guru Maharaj was in a meeting with some devotees there. And then he stopped the meeting and said, oh, excuse me, I have to go my disciples on stage right now. And so I was sitting there rapping in front of the crowd, and I look and I see in the corner of my eye and he's backstage, but just to the left, just standing where I could see him leaning on his cane, on his staff, just looking at me. And then somebody told me afterwards, oh, you know, I was like, oh, my God, Guru Maharaj was there. And they said, oh, yeah, he was having a meeting. And he left the meeting because he said his disciples about to sing on stage. And that was the first time it hit me. I was like, oh, my God, this is. This is serious. You know, this is my spiritual master. This is my guru. He came to see me. And then after my mom passed away in 2006, so that was the Polish Festival, that was 2003. So I was 17, turning 18. My mom passed away in 2006. I was 21. And I realized after that, in the way that he cared for us and just guided her on her journey upwards. And I was like, this is the person that's meant to shelter me through my spiritual journey through this life. And I guess I was getting a little, you know, coming into the adult years. So I started to Want to take things seriously. And going through that, I went afterwards, I went to Guru Maharaj and I asked him, I'd like to, you know, he has his official. You know, you take shelter and then you aspire. And there was a hole, which we kind of skipped the first part. Now, the thing of the offering of the flowers, it was kind of, I guess, always assumed that that was. He was Guru Maharaj. And of course, you know, so I was just like, I want to get initiated by you. You know, I want to take initiation. And he asked me, how many rounds are you chanting? And I was like, I think I was at 8 or 10. And he said, okay, you're at 8 now. Start 10 today and then do that for a few months. Karthi, you can increase by 2. Then in the new year, you can increase by 2. Then by Panihati, you can increase by 2. You'll be at 16 and do that for a year. And then we'll do it at the Panihati festival because he went there every year. So I did it. And that was so starting 2006. And I got initiated in June of 2008. And he. During the interview at that point, our relationship before had been. He'd always been very encouraging, but it was very sweet and gentle and almost playful at times how he was with us. And then once I was kind of like, I'm an adult now and I want to take things seriously. Then the nature and the dynamic of the relationship changed. Now it's like, this is the guru and the disciple. So things became a little bit more formal. And so I, you know, did. I filled out the form, I got the recommendation letters and did the whole thing. And then when I go. I go up to do the interview, and he asked me, do you want to change? Do you want to change your name? I said, guru Maharaj, you gave me my name, so I'm a little bit attached to it. And he's like, I gave you? And I said, yeah, I was born on Balaram's appearance day, and you gave my mother a few. You gave her like, four Balaram names. And he said, you choose the one that you like. And she chose Balaram Chandra. So he said, oh, I didn't know that. I said, yes, you know, so if that's okay with you. And he said, yeah, no matter what I call you, you, they're going to call you, you know, whatever name I give you, they're going to call you Bali. Anyway, that's how they know you. So then during the initiation ceremony, he's holding my beads. And he says, during the battle of Kurukshetra, Lord Balaram went traveling around India to all the holy places. But actually, wherever Balaram goes, that becomes a holy place, that becomes a tirtha. So your name is Balaram Tirtha. I want you to travel around and with a mahamantra, you can make tirtas all over the world. And of course, I play Mr. Dunga. So I was like, with Balaram. I'm with Balaram there, and we'll do that. I took that as my, like, prime instruction, the prime directive for my. From my spiritual master.

Now that you mentioned about Panihati, could you tell us some memories from Panihati with Gurmara?

Yeah, well, I think a lot of people have, you know, the auction memories and the big kirtans. The one that I remember is Guru Maharaj. He would get these gulabjamins and they'd play a game where they'd basically get all of the guru coolies, which he always had such a good relationship with the second gen. And the youth, of course, now we're getting old, but, you know, the youth. And he would get these gulabjamins and he'd point at people and throw them, and everybody would catch them. So he would throw it across this. Down this hill, across this field. And his aim was really good. And so he'd just be throwing galabjamins. And yeah, I think Guru Maharaj always. He was serious when the time was to be serious, but never lost sight that ka consciousness is a joyful process. And all of my interactions with him, we're just happy. Happy. How to be happy in Krishna consciousness without sacrificing the dharmic principles and all that stuff. But to actually, you know, the kirtan is uplifting and his character, you know, is jolly. And his, you know, he would play games with us, play games with his godbrothers. So. Or, you know, he was just, you know, we sometimes our generation, we would see the older generation and just be like, why are these people so grouchy all the time? You know? But Guru Maharaj never lost sight of the joy that comes from being a devotee of Krishna. So, yeah, he would always play games. I was saying how he would, like, he would be like, I need help getting up the stairs. So we would go up above him and he'd put out his cane and. And then we would pull him up the stairs and he would just hold back and get super loose and limp. And then we'd be like, getting him all the way up the steps of the Lotus Building or when he stayed at our house, my brother and I would be like, okay. You know, he's like, I'm gonna go to bed. And then he'd go, okay, you can take me to my room. And then he'd put his hands like that. And then we would grab his two arms, and he would just put himself limp like a sack of basmati rice like that. And we'd just drag him, and he wouldn't help us at all. And we're just like, dragging him across the face floor. He just kind of let us play with him when we were little. So mostly he now in my adult life, married and now with kids. A lot of his instructions have been. I feel that he being very compassionate and kind to, like, the particular needs of all his disciples. The instructions to me are always quite simple. And a lot of them are based on how Dunya and I are relating to one another and how we're able to use our natural inclinations or talents or abilities and how to just use that in Ka consciousness rather than. Sometimes I think maybe he. Maybe spiritually through his vision, he can see that if he were to ask me something that were outside of my realm, I wouldn't have the spiritual strength like some of my godbrothers and God sisters to actually get it done. You know, if he asked, like, oh, I need you to go to Alaska and start a preaching center, that I would just. I'd be like, I can't, and just kind of be disobeying the orders of my guru. And so he doesn't give me things like that. He doesn't give me. He sees my nature, and he sees where I am in my spiritual life and nurtures like. Like how Guru Maharaj always. He finds somebody, they can do one little thing for Krishna, and then he will show them how special and important that is. Like, I'm chanting one round a day, and he knows, oh, one round a day is 400,000 Names of Krishna a year. So something that might seem so small and insignificant, he's able to be like, no, this is not small. But, you know, if you chanted two rounds a day, that would be 1 million names or whatever the number is of Ka a year. And so I feel like in that way, even though I've been around a long time, around Gurumarj since birth, and now almost 40 years later, I'm still here, he just still finds ways to be encouraging for what I have done, but also nurturing or encouraging to what I can do and then nurturing to what I have done to just keep me safe and able to. To follow his instructions with sincerity. So most of his things are just about us, about us maintaining a wholesome and happy functioning spiritual marriage and family life without having to do a lot of the things that people who have the shakti to do that he empowers them to go out and do that. I think he sees that I might be lacking in that department, so he gives me the easy assignments.

Can you share about the pastime when you were going to visit him and then you have to go the night and gurumona?

Yeah. So one of the examples is we were visiting Groom Rogers in Atlanta doing some visa thing, and we went to go visit him and, and he asked us, oh, are you going to stay tomorrow? No, we have to leave tonight because we have work. And at that point, I think it was already five or six in the evening. It was like the last. His last starshot in the evening. The sun was going down and he got really concerned. He was like, oh, you have to be so careful on the roads. Please drive safe. And he looks to Dunya and he says, you have to make sure that you stay awake. You're not allowed to sleep even if he's driving. You're not allowed to sleep in the car if he's driving. You have to stay awake with him and. And you have to talk. Just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. You can just talk to him all night long to keep him awake. And she was like, yes, Guru Maharaj. And so we drove and we got home. Middle of the night. Might have been one in the morning or something, two in the morning. We get back and I look on my phone and I have a missed call from a number I don't know. And I check and Guru Maharaj left the voicemail. I'm just checking in to make sure that you guys arrived safe. And with all of the thousands of things that he has to do and the thousands of people that rely on him, that, that personal attention to our welfare, that's the gentleness that I perceive. And that's how Guru Maharaj is with us, especially now in my adult married life, is just being very careful that we care for one another and that he knows that we know that he's also caring for us as well.

Very nice. Can you tell us now how was your first experience to see Gurmarch in night?

So the first time I saw Guru Maharaj in Mayapur was in 99 or 2000 when I was in My first year at Gurukul, and I remember that the. All of a sudden the temple room was full of people, and I was like, I didn't know it was a festival day today, you know, thinking that something's going on. And I just see, like, these masses of people. And then I see kind of an ocean. It's like an army coming over. And I see Guru Maharaj there. I'm like, oh, my God. Guru Maharaj is back in Mayapur. And everything becomes really just empowered and powerful when he's there. Everything becomes highly charged and empowered by Guru Maharaj's presence. Everybody shows up. I remember seeing. It felt like all 500 Brahmacharis that were in the Brahmachari ashram were just clustered around him. He would go and chant Japa on the Panchatatutva side, and it would just be. This was before the big deities were there. It would just be full to the brim with people. And he would sit down. And normally, Japa is such a sleepy time of the morning program. You know, Kirta Ayremer sings and the Tulsi prayers. And then it's like the energy gives time with the Guru Maharaja. The energy stayed up, and you could just hear everybody chanting, hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Hari, Hare. And everyone wants to sing with Guru Maharaja. And he's just in the center, and there's, you know, 500 people just all around him clustered. And you could hear the buzzing of the vibration of the holy name from outside. Like, the whole temple room felt like it was vibrating. And after. So we would stay there for the first, like, 30, 45 minutes and then go back to the ashram. So he would be chanting there, and everyone's chanting, but then slowly, and then it would get quiet like that, and he would go, hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. And the whole time everyone would wake up, Hare Hare, Hare Rama. And so basically, it was like the most ecstatic, enthusiastic Japa session I'd ever seen in my life. Everybody just chatting with Guru Maharaj and him lifting up the atmosphere with his presence.

How you saw Guru Maharaj relating with his guardrans.

So one of the things. So historically, Guru Maharaj is very senior in this movement, so 68, and then taking Sannyasa in 1970. But he never acts that way, even though it's understood. It's just generally understood that through everything that he has done, through all the things that he has accomplished, through his undeviating dedication to Srila Prabhupada and just the years that he's put in, that he is ultra senior. Guru Maharaj is in a special place. As far as ISKCON's history, as far as Prabhupada's legacy, Guru Maharaj is in a special place. But he is so careful to never display anything but the gentlest, most humble Vaishnava etiquette. Always making sure that things are done appropriately, that no one ever feels slighted or uncomfortable. He'll often take the humble position or defer in situations when maybe either his disciples or people who understand the grander picture would understand that he has the right to take probably a different position or a more powerful stance, he'll oftentimes just bow his head because I think he wants so much to preserve Prabhupda's legacy and Prabhupda's movement that he wants all of the Vaiavas to feel empowered and to feel respected and. And he never expects anything or demands anything from anyone. And even if he might be 10 years or whatever, their senior or through all of the things that he's accomplished or he's done, he'll always just act in a very sincere and humble way. I think it's important to Guru Maharaj that the general etiquette, the Vaiava etiquette in our Gaudiya lineage is preserved. And so he takes great care whether it's with his godbrothers or whether it's the extended Gaudiya mat, that he's so careful to be sensitive to everyone's particular character or needs. And that sensitivity is why I think so many people respect him. Not just for the things and for the years, but just because of how he makes sure to personalize every instruction or everything that he's a part of. He tries to make sure that everybody feels included and involved and is sensitive to all of the devotees needs.

Now, can you tell us how you see Guru Maharaj following destructions of his Guru Maharaj?

Yeah, I think Prabhupada wanted Guru Maharaj to take care of Mayapur. And Guru Maharaj has been Mayapur's caretaker for half a century, from when it was just rice fields and jungle to now that it's expanding into this, the city, this, this vision that, that rla. Prabhupada had a vision and Guru Maharaj has. I think he has seen that vision from way before we could even perceive what that might have looked like. And now as it's coming out like, oh. And as he's been, I remember things that he would come to when he would come to Florida, he would go to these theme parks with my dad who worked in Orlando, where all of like the Disney and Universal, because he wanted to see how things were being done in the western world, what the standard was for exhibits and different ways to, you know, explain the Vedic Planetarium and do that in a first class way. So he was researching before now, that was when nothing was there, it was just grass. But he already was envisioning what we're seeing now, which is this huge, majestic. Prabhupada's legacy, you know, is there. And he all he was seeing this 30 years ago. So I think he's had this bigger vision. And while he's had this bigger vision of Mayapur blossoming and expanding as Kali Yuga expands, also making sure to maintain, not to lose sight of the small things and making sure that, you know, we're not sacrificing or compromising any of Prabhupada's ideals to still manifest that dream and that vision that Prabhupada had. So that's why Mayapur, it's like the internal expansion of the Namahat and the Bhakti Vriksha and the preaching and the congregational development ministry where they're actually taking care of devotees and making sure that the people, so the internal things and the external, the buildings and the city and the town and municipality or whatever it is that Mayapur is going to be, he's making sure that they're all being cared for.

Thank you. Any other memory there with Guru Maharaj? Has you been in any safari with Guru Maharaj?

We did. I did go on. We went on some Ganga safaris. And I remember actually one where we were traveling, it was I think 2004. And Guru Maharaj, he was, you know, he's kind of like, we'll check in on everyone. And I remember at one point he made sure that the guru coolies were comfortable. So we were staying. We basically, you know, safari is super austere sometimes and I think we'd been dealing with some things. I can't even remember what it was. But at the end he found us an air conditioned room just for the gurukulis to like hang out in and chill. And a place where this was like our space, like this is the second gen space. And I mean maybe AC is pretty common now in India, but 20 years ago, not the same. It was pretty. And especially on the safari where there's 300 devotees, everything was always simple as can be. So he found the one AC room, big, like AC hall that we could all just put our stuff down and then rest, relax. And I remember he checked in and he said, he's like, I hooked it up for you guys. Which is like super casual way of saying, I hooked it up. You owe me. And I remember another time we were in Atlanta, and he looks in and the festival is all going on, and the guru coolies, you know, the second gen, we just want to do kirtan. So there's these, you know, talks and discourses and courses and prasadams and this and that, and we're just on the side doing kirtan. The whole festival is like Friday, Saturday, Sunday, all day, in the morning, in the evening, late at night. And so he came in and he just. He just looked at us and he goes, you guys are just kirtan freaks. Hare Krishna. Thank you, Guru Maharaj Ki Jai.