20200511 Zoom Session with Mumbai Devotees

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 11th, 2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur,India. The talk was given to the Mumbai Devotees via zoom

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: I am very happy to have this visit to my disciples and well-wishers in the Mumbai area. We had the IIAC meeting today. So things are running a bit late but I wanted to use this time somehow productively. Apparently, you have accepted this quick visit. If you need a repetition raise your hands on Zoom. They perhaps don’t know how to raise their hands on Zoom! I am a bit concerned because I was reading Mumbai and Maharashtra are the epicenter of the corona virus. If you want a repetition Mahavarāha dāsa can repeat. At the bottom of the screen there is a way to raise your hand.

Anyway, we are very grateful that the husbands and wives are cooperating together who are also gṛhasthas. And we hope that you are using this lockdown time to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and to preach using the internet. We are very grateful that ISKCON Juhu and other temples are distributing prasāda. This is a very noble effort. We are also trying to do it in Māyāpur. We are already distributing 5000 plates a day. I think Mumbai is considered a red zone. We are considered an orange zone. Still we have to be very careful. We are telling the distributors who go out that the virus stays alive on the hard surface for up to three days. So they should wash their hands. They are wearing gloves when they distribute prasāda. Of course, we have a large number of devotees in our community. Some of them are alright, some of them are very poor. So we are distributing some bhoga to the devotees who are poor. And those who are rich, some of them are also contributing to us.

Every day I have a number of classes and meetings on Zoom. I don’t know if you see my class on Facebook live, Jayapatākā Swami page. At 6.15 pm IST I give class every day. Today it was a bit late because of the IIAC meeting. We discussed about having self-sufficient farms like Juhu has. And we need it in different places. We also discussed the need for financial transparency and budgeting, like that many topics. Spiritually we were discussing how Lord Caitanya He said, He would deliver anyone no matter how sinful or how fallen they are. But He will not deliver those who criticize the Vaiṣṇavas. He says Vaiṣṇava-nindā He does not accept. So we have to be very careful avoiding blaspheming any devotees. We were reading how Lord Caitanya, He comes in the mood of His different expansions. Sometimes Nṛsiṁhadeva, sometimes Varāhadeva, sometimes Balarāma. So, He is enjoying these pastimes with intimate associates and is doing kīrtana.

Actually Audārya Dhāma prabhu from Russia, he has developed a treatment for this COVID-19. So we are doing a trial on that. So far, it seems to be working. It is not invasive. You can do any other treatment. It is just some mix of ginger and turmeric but there is a specific protocol on how to use it. So far it works on devotees. We are asking people to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and try to be vegetarian.

Recently, we found that when people, they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and they preach online using internet, people are generally more interested. In Trivandrum, they advertised a Bhagavad-gītā class for beginners. 500 people joined! So, a lot of interest now in spiritual life. The scientists are saying COVID-19 may be with us for one and a half or two years. There is only so much that doctors, the scientists, the Government can do. The states are running out of money but they have opened the liquor shops because they said that 27 to 30% of their income comes from liquor tax. The temples are still closed, churches and masjids are closed. Liquor shop open! Ha! Ha! Because of this we are suffering this pandemic. Because people are breaking the laws of nature. This virus comes from the animals. Humans do not have the antibodies. If people stop eating animals – we haven’t heard of a tomato virus or a cucumber virus – we heard about swine virus, the corona virus which is from the bats and snakes.

Anyway, by engaging in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is the real solution to our problem. Everyone wants a temporary solution. They want permanent happiness in this temporary world. It is not possible to have permanent happiness in this temporary world. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam – this material world is a duḥkhālaya. Place of suffering and it is temporary. So what more do we expect? If we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, do devotional service, then we can be peaceful as possible. So we are very glad that you are helping the temple and practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We hope that you use this opportunity, call your friends, neighbors and colleagues and ask them to chant the holy name. 

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