20231110 Question and Answer Session

The following is a Question & Answer Session given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 10th, 2023 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

Question: We read from Caitanya-caritāmṛta where Kavirāja Gosvāmī mentions that once in a day of Lord Brahmā Lord Kṛṣṇa appears and after that in Dvāpara-yuga Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appears. So in other Dvāpara-yugas and Kali-yuga, especially Kali-yuga does Lord Caitanya descend? Or some other incarnation appears because it is mentioned in the scriptures that the Lord comes in every yuga?

Jayapatākā Swami: (Does Lord Caitanya come in every Kali-yuga?) No! I went to Tirumala and they say that Bālājī, He is the Kali-yuga incarnation for the last Kali-yuga. So Lord Caitanya only comes after Lord Kṛṣṇa and He doesn’t come every time. We should be very grateful that He just came.

Śyāma Kṛṣṇapriyā Devī Dāsī: Although I know that Māyāpur and Vṛndāvana are non-different, and it is an offence to think them as separate, still my mind constantly makes the comparison. Please help me how can I deal with this situation? 

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, Navadvīpa we get the same benefit as we get in Vṛndāvana. A thousand times. But there is a difference. In Vṛndāvana for every error you make, you also get a thousand times the reaction. If you commit some offence in Vṛndāvana you get a thousand times the offence. Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī decided that Vṛndāvana was a bit heavy because he got multiple offences. So he walked from Vṛndāvana to Navadvīpa and here he got a siddha-deha, that is why he is known as Siddha Jagannātha dāsa Bābājī. Maybe he would not have got his perfection so quickly in Vṛndāvana. Anyway, some aspects are the same and some aspects are different. Now Vṛndāvana is known as mādhurya-dhāma and Navadvīpa is known as audārya-dhāma.

Question: If in every manvantara Lord Caitanya does not incarnate then in other manvantaras does not the yuga-dharma of Harināma we awarded? If so, then who awards that?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He spreads the Harināma. And He gives His mercy very freely. So when He doesn’t come, it is not easy. While He just appeared 500 years ago, we should take the advantage and get His mercy. Haribol! Right?

Kṛṣṇa-sevinī Citrā Devī Dāsī: How do we always keep our mind fixed in Caitanya Mahāprabhu rather than Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa? Since Mahāprabhu is very merciful, I always want to stay under His shelter and meditate on your divine lotus feet. 

Jayapatākā Swami: When I went to Jagannātha Purī, I met one pāṇḍa there who was expert in Caitanya philosophy. He said that those who are devotees of Lord Caitanya, they simultaneously can be part of caitanya-līlā and kṛṣṇa-līlā. We asked how do we do that? That is the specialty of caitanya-līlā. That simultaneously one can participate in gaura-līlā and Rādhā Kṛṣṇa-līlā, at the same time.