20110827 Question and Answer Session

The following is a Question and Answer session given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on August 27^th 2011 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The Question and Answer session was given with English and Bengali translation.

Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya!

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-gurum dīna-tāranam
paramānanda mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya īśvaraṁ

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: Whatever I speak in Bengali, that Sujitendriya will translate into English. but if I speak in English he will translate into Bengali. This is the last opportunity to take darśana of Rādhā-Madhāva aṣṭa-sakhī and all the Deities. After this, tomorrow, darśana will be available again, at the time of maṅgala-ārati. Now you can see them till 8:30. So if you have any prayers, this is your chance. So, this verse details how we can use different sacrifices. Especially people like to do sacrifice to get some higher planet, birth in a higher planet. Otherwise, they would like to achieve in this life some riches and so on. But Lord Caitanya, He tells us that we should actually not desire these things. He said, “kabe svarge uṭhāya, kabe narake ḍubāya, janma janma nadīte cubāya.” Sometimes the soul is pushed upwards in the heavenly planets, and sometimes the soul is pushed downwards towards the hellish planetary system, just like a person who is condemned to death and sometimes is pushed head first inside the water. So, even if we achieve some higher birth, it is only for some time. Again we have to come down here. Usually we get our good karma first, and then we pay all the bad karma.  What this Kali-yuga is good for? We can achieve Kṛṣṇa-bhakti very easily. Because Lord Caitanya, He appeared here only five hundred years ago. Who would like the mercy of the Pañca-tattva? So, Pañca-tattva – they give blessing which is otherwise not easily available. Golokera premadhana harināma saṅkīrtana – the treasure house of goloka-dhāma is the congregational chanting of the holy name. And simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, we can achieve this love of Godhead.

Devotee: Nitāi-Gaura premānande…!

Gaurāṅga!!
Nityānanda!!

Caitanya-caritāmṛta says that if we chant the name of Gaurāṅga, we can easily feel love for Kṛṣṇa. If we chant the name of Lord Nityānanda we will also get the love of Kṛṣṇa. So, we say –

Gaurāṅga!!
Gaurāṅga!!
Nityānanda!!
Nityānanda!!

But how we get the result is by chanting the mahā-mantra.

♫ Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare ♫

There are many sacrifices which are recommended by the Vedas. But in the Gītā, Kṛṣṇa says that the devotee is not bewildered by the flowery words of the Vedas. So usually, Kṛṣṇa, He only gave love of Godhead to the fully surrendered devotees. But Lord Caitanya, He gives out His mercy freely. “Ke yogya, ke ayogya, ei vicāra nā kare” – He does not see the distinction who is qualified or who is not qualified. “pāpī-tāpī yata chila, hari-nāma uddhārila, ta 'ra sākṣī jagāi-mādhāi re” – all the great sinners whoever were there headed by Jagāi and Mādhāi were all delivered by this congregational chanting of the holy name. So, Lord Caitanya, He gave out His supreme mercy. Locana Dāsa Ṭhākura, he wrote in his song, “parama karuṇā pahū dui jana nitāi gaura candra” – the most merciful two Lords are Nitāi and Gaurachandra. “sabe avatāra sāra śiromaṇi kevala ānanda kāṇḍa” – they are the essence and crest jewel of all the incarnations and they are the personifications of Bliss. Their process is “kevala ānanda kāṇḍa” – simply blissful. The process is singing and dancing, and listening to some class and taking some prasādam. Who likes that process? Even the Māyāvādīs, they also like to follow. So, this process was given by Lord Caitanya, but it is authorized by all the Vedas. That is one more line that says, “dekha ore bhāi, tribhuvane nāi, emana dayāla dātā” – O my brother, just see, within the three worlds you will not find such a magnanimous Lord. So, in this short life we can achieve what is otherwise not possible.

Even Kolaveca Śrīdhara, he was selling bananas in the market and he had some daily exchanges with Lord Caitanya. Later, Lord Caitanya used to visit him. He had a system that he would offer fifty percent (of his income), on his guru’s order, to the Ganges. But his income was selling stuff in the market, selling banana products. Not such a great business, especially here in Bengal, because every house has bananas. If somebody needs some extra, then they get from him. So, when Lord Caitanya, He was showing His devotees that He is actually Kṛṣṇa Himself. He only showed this twice, and this is called the twenty-one hour kīrtana. So, that was ārati offered by Advaita-mahāśaya. So, they brought Kolavecha Śrīdhara before Lord Caitanya, and Lord Caitanya said, “I will give you whatever boon you want.”

But he said, “I don’t want anything.”

But Lord Caitanya said, “You have to ask for something. If you want, I will give you a kingdom, you will be a king.”

“No, no, I don’t want that.”

Then He offered, “Ok, I will give you merging in the light – sāyujya-mukti!”

“No! No!! Never!!! I want to serve You always.”

“Then I will give you mystical power.”

“If I have to ask for something, let that young brāhmaṇa boy who would come to buy bananas from me, let me see to the fruit and vegetable needs of that brāhmaṇa boy. And if I am not considered qualified, at least may I be brought to the family of devotees so that I can serve you again.”

Then Lord Caitanya said, “Ok, I am going to give you what even Brahmā and Śiva hankered for. I will give you Kṛṣṇa-prema!”

Hari bol!
Gaurāṅga!
Nityānanda!
Gaurāṅga!
Gaurāṅga!

All the devotees, they were so much affected, “How this simple man who sold vegetables as a hawker in the street, he got love of Kṛṣṇa!” This is an example of the mercy of Lord Gaurāṅga.

Hari bol!

So, compared to that, what are these other sacrifices. We should take out the Harināma-saṅkīrtana-yajña.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

Any questions?

Sujitendriya Prabhu: Gurumahārāja, there are three questions here, two in Bengali and two in English.

Question: Respected Guru Mahārāja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda, all glories to you. I have two questions: One, how does chanting gāyatrī help in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra better?

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda, he said that by chanting the gāyatrī mantra we can console the mind, and this helps to also chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or to render devotional service.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Question: Please correct me if I am wrong. I heard that when a non-devotee leaves body, Yamadūtas come to take the soul. When a pure devotee leaves body, Viṣṇudūtas come. Who comes when a mixed devotee leaves his or her body?  

—Your most unworthy daughter, Ramyā Vṛndāvana Devī Dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: Many look worried. (laughter) Some devotees are transferred right away to the next birth, and they don’t need Viṣṇudūtas or Yamadūtas. Some devotees like Nārada Muni, he achieved his siddha-svarūpa, and death came like a lightning bolt. He looked down; he saw his dead body. He had a spiritual body. So, there are different ways to leave. Now if you chant the name of Kṛṣṇa, so Viṣṇudūtas can come to get you. Now non-devotees, if they have good karma, they may go to a higher birth. They don’t need Viṣṇudūtas. Viṣṇudūtas are simply for taking them back to Godhead, and Yamadūtas are to take to the court of Yamarāja. Generally, people who have bad karma, they go there. If you are seventy percent Kṛṣṇa conscious you can still go back to Godhead. Below that, who can say? That’s why we want to, after someone dies or before, help them to remember Kṛṣṇa. And after that, we can sprinkle them with Ganges water or we can put their ashes in the Ganges. So, in this various ways the children can help the parents. That’s why a good child is called a putra or a putrī. So, ‘pu’ means hell and ‘tra’ means ‘to deliver’. So, the child that can deliver the parents from hellish birth, they are suputra or suputrī. We heard how different devotees helped their parents to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa at the end of their lives. Also, to observe the śraddhā and offer the Viṣṇu-prasādam. This helps the soul. Some people think that at the śraddhā ceremony, they should offer whatever they like – fish, meat. But that’s sending them bad karma. Better to give them kṛṣṇa-prasādam. That will relieve them from sinful reactions.

Next question?

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Question: Guru Mahārāja, I always want to remember Kṛṣṇa and never forget Him, but why do I forget Kṛṣṇa? Therefore, my dear Guru Mahārāja, I pray at your lotus feet that I always remember Kṛṣṇa.

—Your humble servant, Anupam Nitāi Dāsa

Jayapatākā Swami: That is my question. Why did you forget Kṛṣṇa? You try so that you can always remember Kṛṣṇa. If you are sufficiently afraid of māyā, then you will always remember Kṛṣṇa. Or if you love Kṛṣṇa, then you always think of Him. So, by fear, by love, somehow always remember Kṛṣṇa. But if that is not possible, then as Kṛṣṇa advises in the twelfth chapter of  Bhagavad-gītā, that you should do abhyāsa-yoga, and you will remember Kṛṣṇa in some fixed time. Like while chanting your rounds, when you take darśana, when we hear class, when we do some devotional service etc.

One more question.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Question: Is it possible to lose taste in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra but still be attached to sevā and sadhu-saṅga?

-Mathurā from Malaysia

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes, by committing offences and also by weeds (āgāchās), you can lose taste. Also by neglect. A few days you don’t chant, you lose taste. When you try to chant, you find it very difficult. You still have to chant. After a few days, you will get the taste back. If you have lost taste because of aparādha, then you need to correct those offences. It’s a big topic.