20240730 Question-and-Answer Session

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Question: From Russian devotee: Can the grandparents influence the birth of devotees’ grand children?

Jayapatākā Swami: Negatively or positively? People ask me for blessings for a child, I pray that they can have a child that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, long lived, healthy, suputra and suputrī. Like that, I don’t know what the grandparents pray for, and the devotee may protect the baby. I don’t know if the parents asked the grandparents for blessings. Who knows what they would say? So, one should ask, please bless that my child can be a devotee, to be healthy.

Question: Śrīla Gurdeva, Śrīla Prabhupāda gave you a very momentous instruction such a developing Śrī Māyāpur dhāma, making many disciples and distributing countless books. As your disciples, we are trying to help you fulfill this mission. But sometimes I cannot help and feel very incompetent and as if my contribution is not significant enough to repay the debt I have to you. So is it natural for a disciple to feel anxious in executing the order of their guru? Or should they feel driven and focus instead?—Tapta Kañcanī Rādhikā devī dāsī.

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes. It is natural that you feel incompetent and also yes, anyway you should try to be determined and do whatever you can. I feel inadequate to satisfy Śrīla Prabhupāda. But I still try. I will try to follow the orders of Śrīla Prabhupāda and see how devotees can help me.

Kṛṣṇe matir astu!