20240213 Evening Address | Question-and-Answer session

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurun dina tāriṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol!

Bhagavad-gītā 8.7

tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu
mām anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir
mām evaiṣyasy asaṁśayaḥ

Translation: Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṇa and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.

Purport: This instruction to Arjuna is very important for all men engaged in material activities. The Lord does not say that one should give up his prescribed duties or engagements. One can continue them and at the same time think of Kṛṣṇa by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. This will free one from material contamination and engage the mind and intelligence in Kṛṣṇa. By chanting Kṛṣṇa’s names, one will be transferred to the supreme planet, Kṛṣṇaloka, without a doubt.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here Kṛṣṇa has given us a nice instruction. That He is telling Arjuna to always think of Him. Similarly, Śrila Prabhupāda said, we should also think about Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.3.51

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann
asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya
mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet

Kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann, this Kali-yuga is an ocean of defects. Just like across this temple is the Arabian Sea. How many drops of water are the in that sea? Like that, there are so many defects in Kali-yuga. It is a very difficult age. We see how different wars are going on all over the world. Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, all over Africa, so many wars! Kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann, there are so many defects. Asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ – but there is one good quality, one good quality, kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet. Just by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, you can go back to Godhead. Although in Kali-yuga the people are śudras, barbarians, but chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa is the easy way for everyone.

Arjuna was in the battlefield, and he was told to think of Kṛṣṇa. You are in the office, in the workplace, in the kitchen, everywhere, think of Kṛṣṇa. If Arjuna could do it in the battle, then you can do it anywhere! Actually, the more one chants, naturally the material conditioning gets cleansed from the heart. Heart gets clean. You are so fortunate, we have Śrīla Prabhupāda, we have the various installed Deities. Naturally, we can see the Deities, we can pray to them.

Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi, he was so fixed in his meditation that he meditated through six Manus. There are 14 Manus in the day of Brahmā. So being fixed in meditation during six Manus, and six Indras. The seventh Indra thought he would test Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi. He brought with him apsarās, but they all got burnt because of the heat. So they ran away. Nara Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi was very pleased to see the determination of Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi. So he appeared before the ṛṣi and he asked him if he wanted any benediction. Even today over Mumbai, over India, all the world, Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi is still travelling. What did he do? He always thought of Kṛṣṇa. He was a very good example. So you should think of Kṛṣṇa, whatever you are doing.

When Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna and Bhīma went and Bhīma defeated Jarāsandha, Bhīma could have taken the role as king. But instead, they coronated the son, Sahadeva of Jarāsandha as king. And then Kṛṣṇa had the son of Jarāsandha free all the kings. Jarāsandha had the idea that he would get a hundred thousand kings and offer a bali-dana of their heads, cut off their heads for Lord Śiva. So he had about 20,000. I don’t know where he would get the remaining 80,000! But you can imagine they were arrested, they were kept locked up, they were not given any respect. But Kṛṣṇa said, give all the kings royal cloths, nice food, give them nice chariot. Kṛṣṇa told all the kings before they went home, think of Me, when you are trying to have procreation, think of Me. Those who are gṛhasthas they should do the garbhādana-saṁskāra, pray to the Deities for a Kṛṣṇa conscious long lived, healthy suputra. So Kṛṣṇa was telling them, think of Me. He was not only telling Arjuna, He was telling everybody. Those who are initiated, those who are doing devotional service, they should think of Kṛṣṇa always. That is why we chant 16 rounds. Even after chanting 16 rounds, you should still think of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In devotional service śravanam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam, smaraṇam is remembering Kṛṣṇa. Pāda-sevanam, vandanam, arcanam, dāsyam, sakhyam, ātma-nivedanam. These are the nine processes of devotional service. Do the chanting and hearing. Whatever we do, our work, or cooking, whatever we are doing, we should remember Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that he wanted his gṛhasthas to be paramahaṁsas. He said his guru was the son of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. So, he told the gṛhasthas that they should all have ācāryas as children.

So, remembering Kṛṣṇa is something that we should do. At least do hearing and chanting. But try to do as many of the nine practices as possible. Smaraṇam, be always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. The Lord is amazing! Jaṭāyu knew he was no match for Rāvaṇa but still he tried to save Sītā from Rāvaṇa and he was killed. His Holiness Rādhānath Swami was telling us the glories of Nāśika. Jaṭāyu died in the lap of Lord Rāma. The Lord is so merciful that He took the dying Jaṭāyu in His lap. So there is no doubt that he went back to Godhead. Then we heard from His Holiness Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami how Lord Caitanya embraced a leper. And by His touch, by His embrace, the leper was cured! These miracles were performed every day, different types of miracles, by Lord Caitanya. So, so many things we can remember. We can tell people about Kṛṣṇa, about Rāma, about Lord Caitanya.

I had a very nice time with all of you, devotees. In your presence it was very easy for me to remember Kṛṣṇa. I hope that all of you think of Kṛṣṇa all the time! You saw yesterday a drama on Nitāi Gaura, how They met together. Some of the childhood pastimes of Nitāi. Some people were wearing their bow tie on the knee, and they were asked what is that? That is my knee tie. Ni-Tai! Haribol! So, somehow or other we want to remember Nitāi, we want to help people to remember Gaura Nitāi. Remember that there is one good quality in Kali-yuga. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

This name of Kṛṣṇa is not different from Kṛṣṇa. And somehow or other we want other people to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. When Lord Caitanya appeared it was the lunar eclipse. There was a culture at that time that people would not chant the name of the Lord loud, except when they were in the Ganges. They thought that they were purified, they could chant loud then. So they were chanting when the lunar eclipse was on and they were going into the water. And the Muslims, the non-Hindus they were laughing, look at these crazy Hindus! They are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! So that way, somehow or another everybody was chanting. People were there in the Ganges or outside, everyone was chanting. So, there is one good quality, one, one, ONE, eka mahān guṇa. But people don’t take advantage! One good quality, kirtanād eva kṛṣṇasya – why don’t people chant the name of Kṛṣṇa?

In the 12^th canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you can memorize this verse, if anyone challenges you, why do you chant? Just quote this verse:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.3.51

kaler doṣa-nidhe rājann
asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya
mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet

Kali-yuga is an ocean of defects. Doṣa-nidhe – doṣa – unlimited defects. Asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ – but there is one, one overriding good quality. Kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya, mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet – chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and go back to Godhead! So I do hope that all of you will be chanting and remembering Kṛṣṇa. Please don’t waste this valuable human form of life! The Bṛhad-nāradīya Purāṇa says:

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā
[Cc. Ādi 17.21]

We always want to chant and remember Kṛṣṇa.

After ten years, Lord Caitanya He came up to the other side of the Ganges. And as a sannyāsī, He should not be in the same city as your wife. So He was on the other side of the river and called for His mother, Śacīmātā. And Śacīmātā came and He told her, that every day, He will come and take prasāda. She thought whether she was dreaming, where did the prasāda go? So like that He was in the house of Vidyā-vācaspati. Meanwhile outside, hundreds of thousands of people gathered. Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Gaurāṅga! Vidyā-vācaspati told Lord Caitanya that if You don’t go outside, they will break my house now! Then Lord Caitanya went out. Thousands of people were chanting Gaurāṅga! They bowed down to Lord Caitanya. He told them, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, remember Kṛṣṇa. Then He went into the house and He went invisible to them. He went like two kilometers away. They said, they wanted to see Lord Caitanya and Vidyā-vācaspati sent people into his house and Lord Caitanya was not there! So many pastimes were held by Lord Caitanya.

I just finished my test yesterday my Bhaktivedanta test. I am doing this for all of you. They, Māyāpur Institute, were giving me a free degree, honorary, but I said no, I will take the test. Because I wanted to be a good example for you! Who took initiation day before yesterday? So, you have to pass Bhakti-śāstrī to get second initiation. You can take from anywhere you want. Māyāpur, Vṛndāvana, I think they also give in the Govardhana Eco Village or elsewhere. Take it wherever you want. Any of the bona fide recognized by the Board of Examinations. Some do it for free, some charge Rs. 15,000, 12,000, 10,000. They do in Juhu? Some places they are free or very low price. So you study Śrīla Prabhupāda books and get your degrees. I keep reading, every verse is pure nectar. Being a gṛhastha is of course a very big responsibility. Training your children to become devotees. In France, Singapore, China half as many children as are needed to replace the population, Husband and wife they need to have two children. On an average they are having 1:04 It is easy to get people to stop having children. But once they are habituated it is hard to get them to start. So, that is alright to fill up the world with devotees.

Question: As a disciple would not know the mood of his spiritual master of serving Kṛṣṇa what happens if his mood differs from the mood of his spiritual master. Will he attain the same mood of serving Lord Kṛṣṇa if he goes back home back to Godhead?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see if you are mood is such that you go back to Godhead, that means you got some mercy from your guru. I spent so many weeks giving class so that people could get an idea of my mood. What do you think?

Question: I am a new devotee. And I want to serve you and want to become your disciple. But I heard that you are going to stop giving initiation. Is it true?

Jayapatākā Swami: I am trying to convince many of my senior disciples to take up the service of dīkṣā-guru. And when I do that, then except in some cases I may stop giving initiation except for those who have taken shelter. So people who have taken shelter I will give them. those who took initiation, they have already taken. As of now, I have not yet stopped. Still, sometime I may stop. So, better chant 16 rounds and take shelter.

Question: After knowing about how precious this human body is should we continue our corporate job which demands lots of time and energy or we should take shelter of holy Vraja dhāma and lead a simple life full of Harināma and Hari-kathā?

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya, He visited many householders. When someone said, I want to leave my house and want to join You, He said, don’t leave your family, don’t leave your children, don’t become a monkey vairāgī. And just stay here and whoever meet tell them the message of Kṛṣṇa. It is a very personal question. When one gets old they can discuss with the guru, with the wife what to do. Generally, Lord Caitanya said one should practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness, don’t have to change. Just like we see some of the gṛhasthas having Bhakti-vṛkṣa in their house, or they are doing Nāmahaṭṭa, they are preaching. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that his guru had sent sannyāsīs to England. But they came back, they were not successful. Śrīla Prabhupāda said he had sent three gṛhastha couples and they were successful!

Question: Your mercy is flowing, and I am becoming greedy to see and hear from you. How can I be more humble because I am scared that I might offend devotees with my vāṇī, words, so how can I practice so that I have full conviction and my determination increases in my service?

Jayapatākā Swami: In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu it is mentioned the qualification for bhakti. Intense desire. That is called laulyam. I am very glad that you are feeling this intense laulyam. So, somehow or another we have to be a bit humble. There was a devotee who met a Muslim magistrate and humbly said, can I ask you a question? Can I ask you something? Sure. You are very intelligent, very handsome, very educated. I just have one request. Forget all this! Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! So that Muslim magistrate he said I will chant Hare Kṛṣṇa tomorrow. The devotee, he started dancing! You have already started! Don’t stop now! Haribol! You see, the secret is we offer our respect to others and somehow or another we get them to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is not offensive.

So thank you all for coming. And I wish all good wishes to you. My blessings, Kṛṣṇe matir astu! When I come back I hope to see all of you very advanced in your devotional service.