Pancharatrika Diksa

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham, 12 March 2017

Jay Om Vishnupad Jagad Guru Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswami Maharaj ki jay!

Have you all received the first (Harinam) initiation? [Devotees: Yes] Do you all chant the Holy Name? [Devotees: Yes]

This Harinam maha-mantra (the Hare Krishna maha-mantra) is the main and only way to get Lord Krishna's service, but why do we take the second initiation (pancharatrika diksa, or gayatri diksa)? Because we must enter into more service, for example we cook, we do puja, archan (Deity worship)—for these services it is necessary to take the second initiation. Also, you must take prasadam, so you must cook, must give an offering. We do not take anything except prasadam—we do not take what is not offered, we only take what has been offered to the Lord.

প্রসাদ-সেবা করিতে হয়
সকল প্রপঞ্চ জয়

prasada-seva karite haya,
sakala prapancha jaya

By honouring the Lord's prasadam I conquer over all worldly illusions.

('Suddha-bhakata' by Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur)

How will you conquer all prapancha (the material world, illusion)? How will you conquer it without maha-prasadam? To conquer it you must take prasad. How does something become prasad? Prasad is not just some vegetarian food. Monkeys also take vegetarian food, calves also drink milk—they are vegetarian, but what they eat is not the same as prasad. For something to become prasad, you must offer it first to the Lord, to your Guru, and to make an offering, you need these gayatri mantras.

How to recite these mantras? I will tell you now, listen carefully.

You must sit with your back straight, legs folded like in a yogi pose, and you must sit on a clean asan (clean mat or place). To make the asan clean, you must sprinkle some Ganges water on it. If you do not have Ganges water, you can make it yourself at home. How? A mantra is there,

gange cha yamune chaiva godavari sarasvati
narmade sindho kaveri jale 'smin sannidhim kuru

With this mantra you can make Ganges water. Put some Ganges water on the asan for gayatri and it will become clean. Wear clean clothes. You should keep separate clothes in the Deities' room for doing gayatri. Do not cook in it, do not eat in it, do not enter bathroom in it, etc. use it only for the Deities room. It is not necessary to keep many clothes for this—keep one set of clothes and an uttariya (a cloth worn around the neck, covering chest and front). In the morning, you should sit facing the East side, in the evening the North side. Sit in front of the Deities.

Now how to recite the mantras. Men receive a brahman thread (poita, পইতা)—they should tie the thread around their right-hand thumb (ladies do not get the brahman thread, they recite the mantras without it). Then, keep your right hand at your navel. I will show your now how to recite the mantras. If I recite them at my navel you will not see it properly, so I am showing you on my hand here.

Each mantra is recited ten times. Touch the tip of your right thumb to the fingers of your right hand and recite each mantra once. Start from (1) the middle of your ring finger, then go clock-wise: (2) the bottom of the ring finger, (3) the bottom of the little finger, (4) the middle of the little finger, (5) the tip of the little finger, (6) the tip of the ring finger, (7) the tip of the middle finger, (8) the tip of the index finger, (9) the middle of the index finger, (10) the bottom of the index finger.

First is Guru-mantra, then Guru-gayatri, Gaura-mantra, Gaura-gayatri. Are you scared thinking, "So many mantras, how will I remember them?"? Do not worry, I will give you a paper. We can recite volumes and volumes of books, and this is just a few mantras, it is simple, everybody can do it. After Gaura-gayatri there is the bij, or mul, mantra (seed, or main mantra) called Krishna-mantra. And the last mantra. Our mind always goes to bad places, it is always naughty and fickle, and to control this mind there is one mantra called kama-gayatri. If you recite this kama-gayatri, your fickle mind will not go to another place, it will not go in bad direction. I am giving you this gayatri now.

These are the gayatri mantras. There are also two more mantras that I am giving you for puja and archan. When you finish cooking five items, take five Tulasi leaves and put a leaf on each of the dishes one by one and recite these mantras.

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