20200814 Question and Answer Session

The following is a Question & Answer Session given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 14th, 2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

So we will now by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy try to answer the different questions the devotees have.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Daṇḍavat praṇāmas. Please accept my respectful obeisances. I have read in the Nectar of Instruction that if one wants to go to Vṛndāvana, we have to take the permission of guru and Rādhārāṇī. We, as family, wanted to go to Vṛndāvana,so many times, but we could not make it. Somehow, it would get cancelled. Please bless us that we would make it in the near future.

—Your spiritual daughter, Raṅgavallī Gopī devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: I bless you to go to Vṛndāvana, but Vṛndāvana may not be open for visitors for some time, due to the pandemic. But on Māyāpur.tv you can also see the Vṛndāvana Deities, as well as the Māyāpur Deities. So, you can visit Vṛndāvana immediately, virtually. When things are normalized, you can go there. Also, the scriptures say that we should go to Māyāpur first. With the blessings of Lord Caitanya, then we can go to Vṛndāvana dhāma.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja: Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! How much important is austerity for self-realization?

—Rāma Kānāi Mathureśa dāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: The thing that pleases Kṛṣṇa most is pure devotional service. And the renunciation austerity is not so important. What is more important is pure bhakti. So, that is why in the jñāna-yoga, to get the impersonal liberation, one should be a sannyāsī. But in bhakti-yoga, one could be a gṛhastha, one could be a sannyāsī, as long as they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, follow the process of pure bhakti, they can achieve Kṛṣṇa.

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja. What should we do to bring Kṛṣṇa in the chariot of our lives? Please accept my humble obeisances.

—Sucarita Jāhnavā devī dāsī

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.

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja. My question is can we just chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and go back to Godhead?

—Bhakta Gopī Kṛṣṇan, Trivandrum.

Jayapatākā Swami: Why do you say just? Just... Kṛṣṇa and His holy names are not different. So it is not a small thing to chant the holy names. And certainly, Kṛṣṇa can do anything. So He can also take you back to His kingdom. Therefore, we should chant His holy names and engage in His sevā.

Question: Daṇḍavat praṇāma Guru Mahārāja. If a disciple has committed offences against Guru Mahārāja, what is the process of atonement? How can we rise to serving offenselessly? Thank you so much for your association.

—Your insignificant servant, Lalitāṅgī Rādhā devī dāsī

Jayapatākā Swami: That is why we offer daily guru-pūjā and on the Vyāsa-pūjā we offer the puṣpāñjali three times. That way we pray that we may be forgiven for any knowing or unknowing offences.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my humble obeisances. I have realized in my limited Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that by following the instructions of seniors, I am always protected, and that is what pleases guru and Gaurāṅga. But in some instances, māyā attacks me and I become blindfolded, and I fail to follow their instructions. How do I develop the unflinching faith that I never go against my seniors.

—Your spiritual daughter, Soundarya Rādhikā devī dāsī, New Rājāpur Dhāma, Bengaluru.

Jayapatākā Swami: You seem to have realized that when you don’t follow the advice of the senior devotees, you get attacked by māyā. So that should convince you that to avoid being attacked by māyā, follow the more advanced devotees’ advice.

Question: Dearmost Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my humble obeisances. What is the significance of dante-tṛna dhari – holding a straw between the teeth?

—Your humble servant, Govardhana Giri dāsa, Trivandrum

Jayapatākā Swami: That is a sign of humility. To hold the straw in our teeth. That we are submitting ourselves very humbly, to the lotus feet of the Lord. So, this holding of straw in the teeth, that way we are saying that we remain humble and surrendered.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Daṇḍavat praṇāma. Please accept my humble obeisances? If someone, a gṛhastha is serving in the temple, and taking Lakṣmī for maintaining his family – my question is that what should be his mood? And could that service be selfless?

—Śrījīva Gosvāmī dāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: If they are taking minimal amount, what they need for maintaining their family, so if the temple thinks it is worthwhile, then one should do that. And that would be considered as selfless service. Of course, if one is taking a huge amount and saving a lot, then he may consider if it is selfless.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. My son is reading the scriptures regularly and is understanding well. But realization and application is not to the level of understanding. What can we do?

—Gopīkānta Kṛṣṇa dāsa, New Jersey, USA

Jayapatākā Swami: Devotional service is a gradual process. And gradually your realization will be at the same level as your understanding. And in fact your realization may be even more. So keep on reading and apply the knowledge. Use the knowledge in your preaching. I am very grateful that you are preaching in Andhra Pradesh. Use what you read in your preaching, and that will stick with you. Thank you very much.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, Please accept my humble obeisances, (Guru Mahārāja: Accepted) All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! (Jaya). I have been given a śālagrāma-śilā. Please can you tell me a correct way to worship Him?

—Your servant, Tāriṇī Rādhikā devī dāsī, UK.

Jayapatākā Swami: You can also learn the process from the Māyāpur Academy on Deity Worship. And also from the minister of Deity worship. Śrīla Prabhupāda personally taught Jananivāsa Prabhu how to worship the śālagrāma-śilā. The śālagrāma should be worshiped every day. At least bathe with water and put tulasī leaf on it. But if you want you can also bathe with milk or pañca-gavya or pañcāmṛta. And draw a smiling face on the śālagrāma-śilā with a tilaka. More details you can get from the Deity Worship ministry.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my respectful obeisances. Sometimes in the course of helping someone who is depressed, we also get affected by their problems. So how can we help them without getting carried away by the problems?

—Your servant, Rasapriya Gopikā devī dāsī, Māyāpur

Jayapatākā Swami: Some people are more sentimental, and they get carried away by other people’s problems. But actually, as Kṛṣṇa said in the Bhagavad-gītā, we should not lament for the living or the dead. So by reading the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa advices how one can give the teachings of Kṛṣṇa, but avoid being affected by the problems. Thank you.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. Thank you so much for accepting me as your spiritual child. Śrīla Prabhupāda is our śikṣā-guru and you are our śikṣā-guru and dīkṣā-guru. We know our spiritual master is our life and soul. So how can I concentrate on both of you? If I concentrate on Śrīla Prabhupāda, I feel I am missing you. Please forgive my offences committed knowingly or unknowingly. I pray for your good health, so that you can be with us for a long time, if you wish.

—Your child, Deva Pālaka Nitāi dāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: During the Vyāsa pūjā of Śrīla Prabhupāda, one of his disciples said that the grand disciples, the great grand disciples, etc. they are very special. Because they do not only get their dīkṣā-guru as their śikṣā-guru, but we also get Śrīla Prabhupāda as our Founder-Ācārya, and pre-eminent śikṣā-guru. So you should think, that by the mercy of your guru, you are able to approach Śrīla Prabhupāda. Thus, by thinking about Prabhupāda, you should also be thinking about your dīkṣā-guru.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja! Please accept my humble obeisances. How can we be honest to Kṛṣṇa in our conditioned state?

—Your daughter, Garisma.

Jayapatākā Swami: My dear Garisma, Kṛṣṇa is present in your heart, as the Supersoul. He knows every thought you are thinking. He knows everything you do. To not being honest to Kṛṣṇa, is cheating yourself. Because He knows what you are doing! Like there is a saying, don’t take underwater on a fast day. Some of the fast days we observe as nirjalā. But when bathes in the holy water, when he is dipping under the water, he thinks no one is seeing, now I can drink. Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! Like this he drinks the water. So that is drinking underwater on a fast day. So you cannot cheat Kṛṣṇa. He knows what you are doing. So, thinking this we should be afraid of trying to cheat Kṛṣṇa, that is how we can be honest to Kṛṣṇa in our conditioned state.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. It is mentioned in the śāstra that the Kali-yuga has the special benediction where anyone can just by chanting the holy names, can go back home, back to Godhead. Is this specially for this Kali-yuga where Lord Caitanya appeared? Or for every Kali-yuga?

—Your servant, Vraja Kṛṣṇa dāsa, Māyāpur.

Jayapatākā Swami: It is hard to say, how is the situation in other Kali-yugas. Previous Kali-yuga was about 4 million years ago. So, it is hard to say and we know in this Kali-yuga, we chant the holy names and we go back to Godhead. Please don’t delay. The next opportunity, if it is in Kali-yuga, it is four million years from now. Lord Caitanya doesn’t come after every avatāra of Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa only comes once in the day of Brahmā. And a day of Brahmā is a thousand catur-yugas. And he has an equally long night. Then he rests. So, better to take advantage of this opportunity.

Question: How to overcome lethargy and laziness?

—Your servant, Anantalīlā Gopāla dāsa.

Jayapatākā Swami: If you heard the answer to the last question, then that would answer your question. We don’t want to be lazy or lethargic. We don’t want to miss this chance. If you do nice devotional service, but you have material desires, you may end up in the heavenly planets, be there for a long time, hundreds of thousands of years. You will miss the Golden Age, and then come back in the worst part of Kali-yuga or after. So, no time to be lazy. You have to finish your business while you have the chance.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda! Guru Mahārāja, Prabhupāda and śāstra say women should dedicate their lives to husband and children, and always engage in their service. But goal of life is to attain kṛṣṇa-prema and for that a lot of bhajana, harināma and sevā is required. So I am always anxious that the āśrama duties would hinder me in attaining the ultimate goal. Is it possible for a woman to attain kṛṣṇa-prema in one lifetime Guru Mahārāja? If yes, kindly guide what we should do? Thank you dear Guru Mahārāja.

—Your aspiring spiritual daughter, Harshita Sharma.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya advised that we should do yukta-vairāgya. Everything we do, we do as an offering to Kṛṣṇa. So, ideally the wife can marry a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Just by assisting him, she is also directly doing devotional service. If she is not so fortunate to have a devotee, she can also try to bring up her children in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. She can offer bhoga to the Deities and take prasāda and give prasāda to the family. There are different ways one can engage in devotional service. I had the good fortune of visiting many gṛhastha families, seeing how they have Deities, how they are offering the bhoga, offering āratī to the deities. Some people have picture altars, some have Deities. So, we are seeing how the families are spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness, how they are practicing. This is the way that one can achieve success in this lifetime.

Question: How can I balance both in my material and spiritual study? Is not material study a hindrance in our spiritual preaching preparation?

—Jagatbandu Pal, Bangla Facebook

Jayapatākā Swami: So we should do our study as a service to Kṛṣṇa. By this education we will be able to reach out more effectively to many people. Like Jīva Gosvāmī, he went to university first. So that he could serve his gurudeva more effectively. So if you see your education as part of service to Kṛṣṇa and guru, then it should not be a hindrance, for your spiritual advancement. 

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. While generally preaching to others, especially youth, they question saying why maintain celibacy or stay away from lust, when Kṛṣṇa Himself had His līlās with the gopīs? When we tell that it is on the transcendental level and not mundane, they question back saying we are doing it for our convenience. In that case, what do we do, Guru Mahārāja?

—Your aspiring servant, Rakshita Varadarajan.

Jayapatākā Swami: One can be in whichever āśrama they want to. Whichever they feel more comfortable. If they feel that gṛhastha-āśrama is more appropriate for you, that allows certain license for sex life. Kṛṣṇa has made machines – male and female form. So they can reproduce each other. So the scientists they are not able to make a machine that could reproduce itself. Ha! We shouldn’t think that Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with the queens or the gopīs, are material. He is transcendental. And in Vṛndāvana, His pastimes are understood by the liberated souls. One has to read all the previous nine cantos, then you can understand how the position of Kṛṣṇa is transcendental. Once when I was a new devotee, I asked a question about Rādhārāṇī. Śrīla Prabhupāda chastised me. Who are you to ask about Rādhārāṇī? Since I was a new devotee, I didn’t understand much, so I accepted that. One more question.

Question: Dear Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. After maṅgala-ārati, then do tulasī-ārati. But during gaura-āratī time, first do tulasī-ārati then gaura-āratī. Why?

—Your servant, Saṅkīrtana Manohara dāsa, Dacca, Bangladesh.

Jayapatākā Swami: The point is that if you do the maṅgala-ārati at 4.30, we should do the tulasī-pūjā when the Deities are closed. So, you have the choice to do tulasī-pūjā before maṅgala-ārati, or after. So I think it is difficult enough for devotees to attend maṅgala-ārati at 4.30 am! That is why they do it later in the morning. But in the afternoon, when the deity is being offered bhoga, they do the tulasī-āratī, because after the sandhyā-ārati, the deities are not closed. But we have to offer worship to tulasī, when the deities are closed. Or you can do tulasī-pūjā at 8.30 at night, when the deities are closed. Then it is too late, if you have to get up for maṅgala-ārati. Haribol!

So thank you very much.