Indians bear Lord Caitanya's divine mission to spread transcendental knowledge and chanting to every corner of the world.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Speech to Indian Audience — July 28, 1968, Montreal 680728SP-MONTREAL [44:00 Minutes] Prabhupāda: So? [break] ...vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam. [Glory to the śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This saṅkīrtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.] Lord Caitanya instructed this verse. He gave us eight verses, known as Śikṣāṣṭaka. Śikṣa means "instruction"; aṣṭaka, "eight." This Śikṣāṣṭaka poetry, containing eight verses, are very valuable, and they were given by Lord Caitanya for understanding of the whole human society. It was not meant for any particular country or particular society, but it was meant for the whole human race. Lord Caitanya entrusted His countrymen, who are known as Bhāratīyas, to distribute this message throughout the whole world, in every village and every town. There is a nice Bengali verse in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma [CB Antya-khaṇḍa 4.126] [“In every town and village of the world, the chanting of My name will be heard.] The Lord predicted that "As many towns and villages are there on the surface of the world, everywhere this message will be known." And He also said, bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra [Cc. Ādi 9.41] [“One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.] He entrusted His countrymen—means any Indian.
Not that because He appeared in Bengal it was entrusted to the Bengalis, but He said that bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra: "on the land of Bhārata-varṣa." India is known as Bhārata-varṣa. Perhaps most of you know it. This is after the name of King Bharata. There was a great king, Bharata, who was the emperor of the world, and this planet was named Bhārata-varṣa after his name.
Before that, this planet was known as Ilāvṛta-varṣa. And after Mahārāja Bharata, this planet was named as Bhārata-varṣa. But gradually, there was partition. As recently also there has been partition of India—Hindustan and Pakistan—similarly, this planet, known as Bhārata-varṣa, was partitioned gradually, one after another. So then the other names—Europe, Africa or America, Germany—these names gradually developed.
Actually the whole planet was known as Bhārata-varṣa. That we understand from the Vedic history. And there was one king. That king also belonged to Hastināpura, which is called at the present moment New Delhi, near about that. So anyway, Lord Caitanya entrusted to spread this message to the Indians.
Bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra. There are many kinds of living entities. There are men, there are animals, there are birds, beasts, trees, aquatics—all of them are living entities. But He is entrusting to the manuṣya.
Bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra. "One who has taken his birth as human being, Indian human being, to him I am entrusting this message, that this should be distributed all over the world in villages, in towns, this message." So I am especially speaking to the Indians present here, that you have got a responsibility on behalf of Lord Caitanya. If you believe in our śāstras, in our ācāryas, then those who are present here as Indians, I will request them to take this responsibility of spreading the... [aside:] This is disturbing. ...this message of Lord Caitanya all over the world. And He said, bhārata-bhumite manuṣya-janma haila yāra, janma sārthaka kari.
Janma sārthaka kari means "First of all make your life successful." You cannot distribute this transcendental message without making your life successful. Janma sārthaka kari. That means persons who are born in India, they have got the facility for making life successful. How? Because there is immense treasure house of transcendental knowledge in India.