20210602 Question and Answer Session

The following is a Question & Answer Session given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on June 2nd, 2021 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

Question: Here we see that Svarūpa Dāmodara and Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi are very good friends. How to develop such loving and trustworthy friendship in today’s world?

—Pūjā, Ahmedabad

Jayapatākā Swami: As Śrīla Prabhupāda said, that a devotee, he develops friendship with other devotees, and birds of a feather flock together. Like that if the devotee is on your level, then you can be their friend. Like that we many not find some devotee with whom we can be friends, a devotee who will keep your talks confidential. But if we do, then you can discuss with that person.

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Question: Can you explain why Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi found fault in the devotees? What does this pastime want to teach us?

—Kairava Candrikā devī dāsī, Delhi

Jayapatākā Swami: That sometimes the activities of the Lord and His devotees are beyond the scope of the scriptures. And Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, he was basing his conclusion on the scriptures. So he was saying it was alright for the Lord, because He is beyond all rules and regulations. But somehow, he was not appreciating the devotees. He thought that they should follow the rules. So this shows that sometimes, devotees are also on a very elevated platform.

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Question: We sometimes see a devotee doing something extra or different from the established protocol. It may be out of good sentiment or speculation. How should we take it?

—Nandakumāra Kṛṣṇa dāsa, USA

Jayapatākā Swami: In a very respectful way, you can always ask the devotee how, what they are doing can be accepted. And if they have a good answer, then that is alright. If they say, it is my mistake, then they stand corrected. But we should not jump to conclude that they are wrong. First we ask them, why they are doing that and see what they say.

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Question: Sometimes it does not get cold enough to offer winter clothes for the Deities, in regard to house Deities. So then can the service be delayed until it is cold?

—Sumukhi Hariṇī devī dāsī 

Jayapatākā Swami: It is not that they offer starched wool. They are offering a cotton cloth, which is starched, at the Oḍana-ṣaṣṭhī they just offer the cotton chadars, cotton cloths. When it is colder, then they use woolen.

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Question: Sometimes we may see someone with different behavior. Although I don’t say anything bad about that devotee, or I don’t want to offend but in my mind, there come many thoughts which may be offensive towards the devotee. At that time, what should I do? Please instruct me.

—Bhāgyaśrī, Kolkata

Jayapatākā Swami: I already answered this. That we can always respectfully ask the devotee why they are doing something like that. If we know that they are new devotees, they don’t know what they are doing, but if we have to correct them, they may feel embarrassed or something. So it depends on the situation, whether it is a senior devotee, equal or new devotee. So accordingly, if it is a senior devotee, we will ask first, if he is equal devotee, maybe in a more friendly way, depending on the status and our relationship, we should act accordingly.

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Question: How this fault-finding mentality affects our devotional service?

—Girijā 

Jayapatākā Swami: Vaiṣṇava-aparādha is described as a mad elephant. It can destroy our devotional creeper – it is very dangerous to have offensive mentality.

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Question: What are the qualities of a devotee friend with whom we can share our heart or recognize as a true spiritual friend?

—Sudevī Jayaśrī devī dāsī, Bhuvaneshwar

Jayapatākā Swami: I think this was the first question. Anyway, should be someone on a similar level, someone who will not take what you say and spread around. You can talk to that person in confidence. And someone that you respect their realization, their Kṛṣṇa consciousness, someone who is not a fault finder. Who is someone, trying to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But, as the first person said, it may not be always possible to find such a devotee, and to have such a friend is very auspicious.

Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura in one of his songs he said, rāmacandra-saṅga māge narottama-dāsa: because having a friend, in his case, like Rāmacandra dāsa, that is very auspicious. We need such association that will help us in our spiritual progress. Like, Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi, he would discuss with Svarūpa Dāmodara, and Svarūpa Dāmodara was saying I don’t see any faults in what is going on. So a true Vaiṣṇava friend will tell the truth. Not just be a yes man!