19810830 Question and Answer Session with Translation

The following is a class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 30th, 1981 in Florence, Italy.

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Nityānanda's son was also a very transcendental dancer. When they were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra kīrtana, then Vīrabhadra Prabhu, Vīracandra, he was dancing and jumping, and he was expressing so many transcendental emotions and moods to his dancing. Everyone was just floating in an ocean of nectar.

? So one blind man, he was in the crowd and he was asking. “What’s happening? What’s happening? Tell me what is happening?”

? They said, “Oh! Vīracandra is dancing and now he is just jumping up and he is turning around.”

Then a blind man is asking, “Now what is he doing? Now what is he doing?”

“Now he is on his knees, now he is on his knees with his hands in the air and he is crying, and he is chanting.”

“And now what is he doing and now what is he doing?”

“Now he is spinning around.”

“And now what is he doing?”

“Now he is slowly dancing.”

“And now what is he doing and now what is he doing?”

And in this way, he was just so excited to hear more and more about Vīracandra's dancing. And the more he heard, the more he became eager. “Now what is he doing? Now what is he doing?” So finally, suddenly, his blindness went! He could see… there was Vīracandra. By the mercy of Nityānanda's son Vīracandra, that pure desire to see the Lord gave him back his eyesight. And he fell down at the feet of Vīracandra and took the dust from his lotus feet. And when all the people there saw that by his intense desire to serve the Lord by darśana, by seeing, that he has been given back his eyesight, everyone became overjoyed and the whole crowd started shouting “Haribol! Haribol! Jaya Nitāi! Jai Vīracandra Prabhu ki jaya!”

? Even if someone is blind, he may get the sight to see Kṛṣṇa. After all, we don’t see Kṛṣṇa with the eyes made out of muscles and bones and all these things. Kṛṣṇa can only be seen by divine vision. If someone has the pure desire, then Kṛṣṇa will reveal Himself.

Jayapatākā Swami: Jai Vīracandra Prabhu kī…!

Devotees: Jaya! 

Jayapatākā Swami: Jai Nitāi-Gaura Prabhugaṇa kī…!

Devotees: Jaya!

Jayapatākā Swami: Haribol! Haribol!

Devotees: Haribol! ?

Question: How can we appear humble when we have received a little bit of mercy by the Lord? Because of this mercy, we are having the great desire of giving to others this message and we are trying to show boldness and some enthusiasm, so sometimes people take this enthusiasm for pride. So how can we appear to be more humble in front of them?

Jayapatākā Swami: When you put the butter on the fire and then keep it on the heat, then as it stays simmering in the heat, automatically the impurities come off to the top. The more that you go on giving the mercy out, then naturally Kṛṣṇa gives the spiritual intelligence.

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ
bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ
yena mām upayānti te
(Bg. 10.10)

He gives intelligence how to advance in the devotional service. There are some people who, they’ll will always find criticisms against the devotees; those are the people who don’t get Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy. The other thing is that we should remain humble. Because even if we may have a drop of mercy, that mercy is only by the mercy of Guru and Kṛṣṇa, and we have yet so much further to go. So, when we realize how much further we must still progress on the path, then how can we help but be humble? We may feel little enthusiasm after serving, but that enthusiasm is simply the first step. Beyond that there is so much higher realizations that we still must achieve.

Question: A Vaiṣṇava is equal to both friend and enemy. So how come, Advaita, he asks Lord Caitanya to not give mercy to the proud and envious?

Jayapatākā Swami: That also is His mercy. Of course, Advaita, He Himself is the Lord. Actually Advaita, Nitāi and Lord Caitanya, They all three are the Lord; in different forms for different purposes. Advaita wanted that everyone should get the opportunity, even those who are ordinarily missing the chance. But especially, He mentions that Cakravartīs, the Miśras, those who were the high caste priestly people, but who are always inimical to Lord Caitanya. Because a devotee cannot tolerate when someone is inimical to the Lord. Lord cannot tolerate when someone is inimical to the devotee, and a devotee cannot tolerate when someone is inimical to the Lord. Actually those proud people, they don’t want Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy; so they are not getting. But those who are not proud, they want some type of relief; they want some type of answers to their problems. So Advaita, he didn’t want that they should get just a part solution. They should get more than they expected; the highest gift of life. By not giving the mercy to the proud people, this is forcing the people who are proud to give up their false position. By giving up their false position, then they can achieve perfection. Why should we mislead people and tell them that if they maintain a false position, they can be happy? But even one is unfortunate (otherwise he is not qualified even to worship God) but somehow or other at least he is a little humble and he has a desire, he can get the mercy. That is unequaled in all history. A Vaiṣṇava can tolerate all types of offenses to himself but he cannot tolerate offenses to the Lord or other Vaiṣṇavas. Is that alright, ok?

Question: Why did Lord Caitanya leave the planet at 44 years, why did He not stay here longer? 

Jayapatākā Swami: Because He is independent, He can do whatever He likes. He left a lot of work for you to do!

(laughter)

But He is still here in the form of His order and His message, and He has left you lots of service. Now you can get Lord Caitanya's misericordia (Italian for ‘mercy’)

Question: Lord Caitanya was in the mood of gopīs and He is, as you said... also, so how come they were feeling separation if they were always with Kṛṣṇa by speaking of Him? They were always in contact with Kṛṣṇa by speaking about Him, but how come they were feeling separation from Him?

Jayapatākā Swami: Why they are feeling separation? Because they are feeling separation, then their desire to talk about Kṛṣṇa is more. Then when they talk about Kṛṣṇa, then they feel the presence of Kṛṣṇa. Then they feel union even in separation. ? That’s why they would sometimes feel union even in separation. That is why, their separation is different than material distance; because in that separation they are feeling union. Otherwise how can they survive? Without Kṛṣṇa, they would all die. ? The nectarine emotion of separation from the Guru or Kṛṣṇa is so real and wonderful that a devotee wouldn’t exchange millions and billions of dollars or liras, in exchange for that real emotion.

Question: Before the coming of Lord Caitanya was there a line of spiritual masters who were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa? 

Jayapatākā Swami: Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is written in the Vedas, which are written 5000 years ago. Kali Santaraṇa Upaniṣad, Nārada Pañcarātra, different śāstras mention Hare Kṛṣṇa… Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Rāma mantras. Hare Kṛṣṇa is chanted on different levels. When Hare Kṛṣṇa is chanted by the gopīs in separation of Kṛṣṇa, that is the most intense. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He brought down the Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting from Goloka Vṛndāvana. Therefore the chanters following in the footsteps of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, their chanting is of the most intense.

Question: It is said, that many of the appearance of Kṛṣṇa is on the full moon. So we want to know something about the full moon. From what we know, the moon is only reflecting the light of the sun, but still the light of the moon is giving the taste of vegetables or even influencing a person. So, we want to know little bit more about the moon.

Jayapatākā Swami: So moon is having different influences at different stages, different cycles. And the full moon has many significances. So, whenever the Lord appears, He appears when all the auspicious astrological signs are present. So full moon is one of the auspicious signs. It’s not the only auspicious sign. Sometimes the moon in other positions is also auspicious. But because the full moon is auspicious, many times the devotees and the Lord are appearing at a particular time when such auspicious constellations are present. Whereas Kṛṣṇa, when He appeared, that was the 8th day of the waning moon. It is said that at that time, all of the stars took the most auspicious constellation known as Rohiṇī. But because Kṛṣṇa Himself was coming in the dynasty of the moon god; there are two lines of kings in India one coming from Sūrya Vamśa i.e from Sun and one coming from Candra Vamśa i.e from the moon. Rāmacandra is coming from Sun Dynasty and Kṛṣṇa appeared in the Moon Dynasty. So it is said that although it was the 8th day of the waning moon, because Kṛṣṇa Himself was coming as the representative of the moon dynasty, the moon himself, he became on his own full, in happiness that Kṛṣṇa was coming. ? And Kṛṣṇa Himself is greater than the full moon. But He was coming in the full moon’s dynasty, so that was another auspicious point. So that's a whole science, the science of astrology.

Question: We want to know why the moon is making psychological effects on people. 

Jayapatākā Swami: Moon represents the mind; mind is affected by the moon. So when the moon goes through different changes, that affects the peoples’ minds. Like that, different planets affect different parts of the body, different situations. And each of the planets is controlled by the demigods. So those demigods, they are controlling those different functions of the body. So in India, people wear stones and worship those different demigods to avoid the bad influences when they have some astrological weakness in one particular sign. Sometimes you see people with a coral, with this one or that, different stones. Pearl is for the mind. Pearl is for the moon. They wear so many different rings. But Śrīla Prabhupāda said that, “Devotee just simply has to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That will be more effective then wearing different types of stones.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda kī…! Devotees: Jaya! Devotees : Śrīla Ācāryapāda kī… Jaya..!!