20110907 Question and Answer Session

20110907 His. Holiness. Jayapatākā Swāmi Mahārāja gives a Q & A session in Māyāpur.

Gurumahārāja:

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

paramānanda-mādhavam

Śrī Caitanya Iswaram

Hari Oṁ Tat Sat.

If one listens to the instructions of Śrī Kṛṣṣṇa from the Bhagavad-gītā, then all one’s doubts will become completely cleared. So, if you have transcendental knowledge, then by the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa you have become fixed in the process of Bhakti Yoga.

Now Lord Caitanya, He felt great ecstasy, but all the local people, He was mentally imbalanced. When Mother Sachi went to call Him, then some of the neighbours, they said, “That your son it seems is puffed up, his air is too high. So, you should give him some tender coconut (Ḍāb... Daber jal).” And one other said, “That will not do. You should give him dasamul oil, and rub it on His head.” But others said, “No, no, that will not do. You should tie Him with ropes, he is too far gone.” So, he went to see Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. He said, “I would like to speak with you.” Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura said, “Sure. What is your question?” He said, “Well, people say my air is disturbed. So, I want to find out if I have a disease, what are the symptoms.” So, Lord Caitanya said, “Whenever... I cry, whenever I chant Hare Krishna, and my hands also stand on end, Tears come in my eyes, sometimes I uncontrollably laugh, and sometimes I faint, all kinds of things happen when I chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.”

Śrīvāsa said, “Ummm.. Ummm... Ummm.. Yes, you have a disease. I want that disease too. You have the disease of love for Kṛṣṇa. Even Brahmā and Śiva, they also want.” So, it is quite natural, said Śrīvāsa that the local people, they won’t understand. You should come and chant in my house. I have a garden here and have a wall. I will just let people come who are devotees, and they will understand you ecstasy. So, that is why how Śrīvāsa Aṅganā Kīrtana began.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare.....

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare..... (repeated by devotees)

Lord Caitanya said to Srinivasa, “You saved my life. If I got these different feelings, and if these were some sort of disease, then I would have simply committed suicide because I wouldn’t have been able to cure myself. Despite getting all these different kinds of symptoms and feelings, if they would have been futile, then what would be use of living? So, you saved my life.

Gaurāṅga  ............................. [Gaurāṅga]

So, we should put our faith in Kṛṣṇa’s words. We should put our faith in Nitāi and Gaura Chandra. How is that verse?

Dhṛda Viṣwasa Kori....

Bhaja bhajo bhāi Caitanya Nitāi Sudrira Viṣwasa Kori.............. Bhaja bhajo bhāi Caitanya Nitāi Sudrira Viṣwasa Kori (repeated by devotees)

So, those who have cut all the doubts with their torch of light, with the sword of knowledge, they really solve their lives. So, are there any questions?

Question: Gurumahārāja, if a devotee who has taken shelter of an ISKCON guru, after taking aṣhrayā (shelter) if that devotee decides before initiation to take initiation from another spiritual master, will that be an offence?

Gurumahārāja: Before initiation, that’ all trial period to wake up. So, if one wants to choose another guru, then the system is: he should take blessings, and tell the guru from whom one wants to take, and take his blessings, so that the guru should also give blessings, and that is the system. Taking of shelter is the last test, and the bhakta is testing his guru and the guru is testing the disciple. So, usually the disciple keeps the ashrayā guru as the sikshā guru and takes the other guru as the dikshā guru.

Question: Please Mahārāja accept my humble obeisances. I would like you, please if you can tell me, if Śrīmatī Tulasī Devī was with the rest of the gopī’s when Kṛṣṇa took their clothes while they were bathing in the Yamunā river, like we can read in the Kṛṣṇa book.

Mukunda Dās, from Alaga, Spain.

Gurumahārāja: We know that Tulasī in Kṛṣṇa līlā, she is Vṛndā Devī. She is the one who coordinates the līlā’s of Kṛṣṇa. She has a whole number of parrots who are flying and telling the pastimes.

In vatsraharana līlā, they don’t particularly state that I know of the names of the Gopīs. So, how I can say whether affirmatively she was there or not, but since she coordinates the pastimes of the Lord, she may not always be in the līlā’s.

Question: Dear Gurumahārāja, devotees always preach that we should not read Caitanya Caritarmrita before finishing Bhāgavatam, but if somebody gets more bliss and taste in Gaura kathā than Kṛṣṇa Kathā, then is it offence to read Caitanya Caritamrita before finishing the Bhāgavatam? We know that Mahapabhu is more merciful that Kṛṣṇa.

Manigopal Das.

Gurumaharaja: Manigopal, Prabhupāda wrote the Teachings of Lord Caitanya and that book was intended to be read even before reading the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. So, if you want to read something about Lord Caitanya, first read Teachings of Lord Caitanya. Then, if you finish that, later simultaneously you can read the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and the Caitanya Caritāmrita, but you should not give up reading the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

Question: Most worship able Gurumaharaja, in Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu we find that a person who has performed great charity, meditation in Deity worship and worshipping the Lord; only a person who has done these things, will the holy name of the Lord dance on his tongue?

I have been bereft of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness since time immemorial. Will the Nam Prabhu dance on my tongue.

Your servant, Banamali Guaranga Das, ISKCON, Māyāpur.

Gurumahārāja: You said what?

Sujendriya Prabhu: I was bereft of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. Kṛṣṇa Bahirmukh from time immemorial.

Gurumahārāja: How does he know? (laughter) before this life.

You are saying that I am bereft of Kṛsṇa Consciousness since time immemorial. How do you know that?

Anyway, someone said in the class of Śrīla Prabhupāda; that was in the Ardha Kumbha Mela in 1971. He also asked such a thing, but he thought of this life because he didn’t know what he did in other lives. But he said, in this life I didn’t do any of these things. So, how I am Kṛṣṇa Conscious, and Prabhupāda replied, “I have made your good fortune for you.”

Śrīla Prabhupāda ki...............[Jaya]

Śrīla Prabhupāda ki...............[Jaya]

Śrīla Prabhupāda ki...............[Jaya]