4th April '12, the auspicious occassion of the Vyasa puja celebration in honour of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaj who has been dedicated to develop particularly Mayapur to Vedic planetorium city, His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami humbly submits his intimate offerings and glorification, here under.
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| HH Jayapataka Maharaj |
In the early days in Mayapur there were not so many devotees. Therefore, we had the oportunity to have a very close relationship with each other. Although he was the leader of Maypur, he was very humble and caring. Soon after I joinded ISKCON in Mayapur, once, I had a little disagreement with a devotee and it so happened that at that time I had to go to my father's place to take care of some affiars. Jayapataka Maharaja was away from Mayapur at that time. So, when he came back and got to know about that immediately went to Calcutta to bring me back. Unfortunately, when he came to my house I was not at home - I was visiting some friends to preach to them. When I came back at night, my father told me that one sannyasi named Jayapataka Swami came a few times looking for me. I felt so guilty that the next morning, very early, long before mangala arati, I went to the Calcutta temple and met him. He was naturally very pleased to see me and right after mangala arati we left for Mayapur.
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| Radha Krishna Temple in Siliguri built by Jayapataka and Bhakti Caru Swami |
That incidence made him so concerned about me that soon after our return to Mayapur, when he was scheduled to go out on a preaching tour of North Bengal, he insisted that I also went along with him. I was naturally very excited to have this wonderful opportunity, and that was the first time I got the taste of book distribution. At the begining I was not so good at it, however, Jayapataka Maharaja painstakingly taught me how to convince people to take Srila Prabhupada's books.
When Bhavananda Prabhu, a sannyasi and co-director of Mayapur with Jayapataka Maharaja at that time, took me to Srila Prabhupda and introduced me to His Divine Grace, Jayapataka Maharaja also was there, and he spoke very highly of me and my service attitude. That must have pleased Srila Prabhupda very much and right there he gave me the service to translate his books in to Bengali.
In those days we used to do so many things together. We used to go for a swim in the Ganga together. We used to take prasadam together. We used to distribute books together. Indulge in all kinds of Krsna Conscious games and sports together. He was so full of energy and enthusiasm. He was the best in
whatever he did. He was our natural leader - when he was there we knew that there was nothing to worry about. When a devotee was about to get drowned in Ganga he saved him. When there was a threat of the dacoits attacking Mayapur, he was there in front of everyone to confront them. When there was a possibility of losing a wrestling bout with our opponents from some other temple he was there to uphold the honor of Mayapur. And whenever a devotee had any spiritual difficulty he was there to reassure him and enliven him.
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| HH Bhakti Caru Swami Maharaj |
He had always been an ideal leader. I feel extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful Vaisnava as my God-brother and friend. I wish that he stays with us for a long, long time and continues to shower his mercy upon us.
Bhakti Charu Swami
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