Question: Can we bring some serious issues to the court if devotees are involved, if we cannot solve the issue among devotees in a peaceful way, civil matters like money, heritage and property?

Author: Devotee
Date: 2023-12-13
Jayapatākā Swami: Obviously, this is a specific issue
and without knowing the details,
it is hard to say.
I don’t want to be quoted that, “Oh, gurudeva told me to go to the court!”
Since I don’t know the details.
Generally, we try to exhaust all the possibilities of mediation and arbitration and everything,
then only when there is no choice,
we think about going to the court.
Court is also very – like some of our devotees were sitting in the court they were getting bitten by the bed-bugs in the wooden benches,
sucking their blood.
So, some lawyer said you can put down the legal paper
and sit on that,
all the lawyers were reincarnated as bug!
So, they could suck blood,
but they respect the legal papers
and so they won’t bite you if you sit on the legal papers! Ha! Ha!
So going to court is also very time consuming and expensive option.
So, we have to take the proper guidance whether such an adventure will be worth the time and energy.
Better to worship Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.
Category: [Day-to-day Life], [Devotee Care]

Related Questions

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?
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2024-05-13
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!
How can I encourage my godsister to be more serious in spiritual life. If she is not able to take up Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously, and losing taste in devotional activities, how can I help her?
Questioner: Saṅgītamayī Gopī devī dāsī
Date: 2022-01-05
Jayapatākā Swami: I don’t know why she is losing taste
in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
And we should see what the cause is
and try to answer that problem.
If she chants Pañca-tattva mantra more often,
that may help her to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and get more taste.
If she doesn’t feel connected with me, then she could download the Jayapatākā Swami App,
and read the regular message postings.
Category: [Devotee Care]
How can we keep ourselves unaffected by the non-devotees people around us especially at school?
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2023-09-02
Jayapatākā Swami: Preach to them,
don’t let them preach to you!
Think how you can help them on the path to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Thank you for – you remember Prahlāda Mahārāja, he was in a school with all demon children,
but he preached to them
and he got them to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.
They said we are kids, we want to play, we don’t want to chant.
He said, you spend half your life sleeping, playing,
How should a mother deal with a growing son who is in his teen-age?
Questioner: Rahita Sivalingam
Date: 2023-01-27
Jayapatākā Swami: Cāṇakya Paṇḍita, he said that for the first five years, you should let the kids do whatever they want, more or less.
From 6 to 15 be very strict with the children.
And 16 up, be like a friend and try to convince them the right thing to do.
But as a friend.
That is what Cāṇakya Paṇḍita said.
But you can talk to the Youth-Minister in Māyāpur,
he may have more experience, you can talk to him, Manorāma dāsa.
How the devotees from Russia and Ukraine should stay united and not slide down in this political fighting between the two countries?
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2023-03-13
Jayapatākā Swami: When I was in Canada, I told my pūrvāśrama parents that I had joined Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
And my father said, I should come back immediately and be in the American Army and fight in Vietnam.
So I asked Śrīla Prabhupāda what should I do?
He told me, better you serve in Kṛṣṇa’s army.
So I have been in Kṛṣṇa’s army ever since.
And I am very happy to have visited Russia.
And I also went to Siberia, and I think I went to Omsk.
I also went to Vladivostok, to the Urals,
then to Yekaterinburg and various places.
But now I stay mostly in India, but I travel a little bit.
I think that devotees, they are above these designations of nations.
So, we try to help the devotees from both Russia and Ukraine.
They are all part of Kṛṣṇa’s family.
This war is very superficial.
We hope that people will take up Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Rather than trying to kill each other!
Haribol!
How to encourage a devotee to render unalloyed service to the Lord? And in doing that how can I have that state of mind of being patient and help that devotee to serve and love Kṛṣṇa?
Questioner: Saṅgītamayī Gopī devī dāsī
Date: 2022-01-05
Jayapatākā Swami: Rendering unalloyed service to Kṛṣṇa is a very rare thing.
We heard that out of millions of people, one people looks for spiritual life.
Out of thousands of those who seek spiritual life,
one finds it.
Of those thousands of those who find it,
it is rare to find one that becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious.
So, we should encourage everyone to serve Kṛṣṇa.
And we should be good example of pure unalloyed love.
We should be serving the Lord without any ulterior motive.
That way, naturally we will feel very blissful.
That would inspire others to also take it up
selflessly.
So thank you very much for your enthusiasm.
We see that just as the water from the rivers go to the ocean,
we can see your devotion is heading towards Kṛṣṇa.
Normally the heart is thinking of all material things.
So if you are thinking about serving Kṛṣṇa and bringing people closer to Kṛṣṇa,
then naturally you will get special mercy. Hare Kṛṣṇa!
Category: [Devotee Care]
I am facing difficulty in practically applying the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā. Even though I have read a particular verse, when it comes to applying it in a situation, I forget it. Need your guidance?
Questioner: IYF Māyāpur
Date: 2022-08-03
We read something, we want to apply it,it stays with us.
You say at the time you forget.
What should I do?
I used to go out, I would preach and sometimes I would forget.
And I would tell people, ok I will see you tomorrow.
Then I would think there was an answer but what is the answer.
So I would talk to some senior devotee
and I would be ready to face them.
Next time I had the answer.
My daughter wanted me to ask you a question. When you discourage devotees from wearing black dress, is there any reason why we should not wear black?
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2023-09-02
Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇa wears black on Amāvasyā day.
Generally black is in the mode of ignorance,
and therefore we don’t usually wear it,
but there may be some exceptions.
I don’t think on Pūrṇimā day Kṛṣṇa wears black!
On Amāvasyā like yesterday, He wore black.
Otherwise, they don’t wear black.
Should priority be given to training the new devotees or encouraging and giving time to the existing devotees?
Questioner: Keśava-kṛpā Sindhu dāsa
Date: 2022-09-22
What should we do to bring Kṛṣṇa in the chariot of our lives?
Questioner: Sucarita Jāhnavā devī dāsī
Date: 2022-10-04
Jayapatākā Swami: If we circumambulate Kṛṣṇa,
naturally, He will be in our lives.
So it is very important that we do everything with the idea of pleasing Kṛṣṇa, serving Kṛṣṇa.
If we cook, we offer that to the deities,
therefore it is Kṛṣṇa prasāda we are taking.
Everything we do, we do in yukta-vairāgya,
and we offer the results to Kṛṣṇa.
When one’s material life is too problematic, should we take it as Kṛṣṇa’s special mercy or settlement of karma?
Questioner: Rādhikā Premabhakti devī dāsī
Date: 2022-09-02
So, we take it as Kṛṣṇa’s mercy because He doesn’t let anything happen without His permission.
Nothing!
For devotees, they see that their karma is settled at a reduced rate.
Actually, this material world is always problematic.
This material world is duḥkhālaya.
This is already stated by Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā.
If you think that this material world is problematic,
that should be an inspiration for you to go back to the spiritual world.
Why do you want to stay in the material world, life after life?
Why don’t you see that this material world is problematic?
And you should try to be Kṛṣṇa conscious?
You have such a nice name.
Rādhikā Premabhakti!
I want that prema-bhakti of Rādhikā!
So we see that this material world is a horrible place, but we try to make best use of a bad bargain.
That is why it is very important that husband and wife, both are devotees.
And they try to become very dear to Kṛṣṇa.