After excellent speeches by the government officials and a few of the devotees who organized the event, Srila Narayana Maharaja spoke for about 20 minutes.
Over 1,500 people were in attendance, enlivened by the hari-katha and high-energy kirtanas led by Krsna dasa brahmacari. After the hari-katha and kirtana, a feast of sumptuous prasadam was served to all.
The following is an extremely brief summary of Srila Narayana Maharaja's Hindi talk. He began by saying that although everyone wants happiness, no one is happy. No one in the material world knows the path to happiness. In order to be happy, one must realize the soul and Supersoul within the body, and this realization is attained by taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master.
Srila Maharaja then enunciated the qualities of the self realized spiritual master, and in that regard he related the history of Srila Vyasadeva and his spiritual master, Sri Narada Muni. Sri Narada Muni inspired Srila Vyasadeva to write Srimad Bhagavatam, the essence of which has been explained in a verse by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura:
aradhyo bhagavan vrajesa-tanayas tad-dhama vrndavanam
ramya kacid upasana vraja-vadhu-vargena ya kalpita
srimad-bhagavatam pramanam-amalam prema pumartho mahan
sri-caitanya mahaprabhor-matam-idam tatradaro nah parah["The Supreme Lord Vrajendra-nandana Sri Krsna and His transcendental abode Sri Vrndavana-dhama are my worshipable objects. The most excellent method of worshipping Krsna is that adopted by the gopis, the young wives of Vraja. Srimad-Bhagavatam is evidence of this. It is the flawless and most authoritative scripture, and krsna-prema is the fifth and highest achievement of huma n life, beyond mundane religiousity, economic development, sense gratification and impersonal liberation. This is the opinion of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We have supreme regard for this conclusion. We have no inclination or respect for any other, cheating opinions."
(Caitanya-manjusa)]
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