20110827 Question and Answer Session

20110827 H.H.Jayapatākā Swāmi Mahārāja gives a Q & A session in Māyāpur. [360p]

Gurumahārāja:

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ

paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande

Śrī gurum dina tarinam

paramānanda-mādhavam

Śrī Caitanya Iswaram

Hari Oṁ Tatsat

Whatever I speak in Bengali, that Sujetendriya will translate into English, but if I speak in English, he will translate into Bengali.

This is the last opportunity to take darshan of Rādhā-Mādhava, Astasakhi, all the Deities. After this, tomorrow, darshan 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 to 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 sarga uṭhāya, kabe narake ḍubāya, janma janma nadīte chubaya…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 Panchatatva? So, Panchatattva – they give blessing which is otherwise not easily available. Golokera premadhana harināma sankiratana – 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.

Gaurāṅga………………………………[Gaurāṅga]

Nityānanda…………………………….[Nityānanda]

Caitanya Caritamrita says that if we chant the name of Gaurāṅga, we all achieve, 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]

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

Nityānanda…………………………………………….[Nityānanda]

But how we get the result is by chanting the mahāmantra?

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa

Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma

Rāma Rāma Hare Hare……………………….. (Repeated by devotees)

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, in this, usually, Kṛṣṇa, He only gave love of Godhead to the fully surrendered devotees. But Lord Caitanya, He gives out His mercy freely. “Ke jagya ke ajagya ei vichar na kore” – He does not see the distinction who is qualified or who is not qualified. “Pāpī tāpī jata chila harināme uddhārilo, tar sakhi 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.

Lochana Dāsa Ṭhākura, he wrote in his song, “parama karuṇā pahū dui jana Nitāi Gaura Chandra” – the two Lord’s are Nitāi and Gaura Chandra; “sabe avatāra sāra śiromaṇi kevala ānanda kāṇḍa” – they are the essence and crest jewel of all the incarnations. Their process is “kevala ānanda kāṇḍa” – simply blissful. The process is singing and dancing and listening to some class and taking some Prasād. Who likes that process? Even the Māyāvādīs, they 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, “dekhore bhāi tribhubone nai emono doyāla dātā” – O my brother, just see, within the three world you will not find such magnanimous Lord. So, in this short life we can achieve what is otherwise not possible. Even Kolavecha Śrīdhar, he was selling bananas in the market and he had daily exchanges with Lord Caitanya. Later Lord Caitanya used to visit him. He had the system that he would offer a fifty percent, 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, still, when Lord Caitanya, He was selling His devotee, then He is actually Kṛṣṇa Himself. He only showed this only twice, and this is called the twenty-one hour kīrtan. So, that was ārati offered by Advaita mahashaya. 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 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 would come to buy banana. Let me see, let me buy 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 Kṛṣṇaprema.”

Hari bol………………………..  [Haribol]

Gaurāṅga………………………[Gaurāṅga]

Nityānanda…………………….[Nityānanda]

Gaurāṅga………………………[Gaurāṅga]

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.

Haribol………………………………..[Haribol]

So, compared to that, what are these other sacrifices. We should take out the Harinām sankirtan yajña.

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare

Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Hare…………….[repeated by devotees]

Any questions:

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

Question: Respected Gurumahārāja, 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 mahāmantra better?

Gurumahārāja: 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.

Two, please correct me if I am wrong. I heard that when a non-devotee leaves body Yamadūta comes to take the soul. When a pure devotee leaves body Vsṇuduta’s come. Who comes when a mixed devotee leaves his or her body?  Your most unworthy daughter, Ramyā Vṛndāvana Devī Dāsī.

Gurumahārāja: Many look worried.

Some devotees are transferred right away to the next birth and they don’t need Vsṇudutās or Yamdutās. Some devotees like Nārada Muni, he achieved his siddha swarupa, and death came like a lightning would. He looked down. He saw his dead body. He had a spiritual body. So, there is different ways to leave. Now if you chant the name of Kṛṣṇa, so Vsṇudutās can come to get you. Now non-devotees, if they are having good karma, they may go to a higher birth. They don’t need Vsṇudutas. Vsṇudutas 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… 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 putri. So, “pu” means hell and tra means to deliver. So, the child that can deliver the parents from hellish birth, they are “suputra” or “suputri”.

We saw… we heard how different devotees helped their parents to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa at the end of their lives.

Also to offer the śraddhā and offer the Vsṇu Prasād. 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 Prasād. That will relieve them from sinful reactions.

Next question.

Question: Gurumahārāja, I always want to remember Kṛṣṇa and never forget him, but why do I forget Kṛṣṇa? Therefore, my dear Gurumahārāja, I pray at your lotus feet that I always remember Kṛṣṇa. Your humble servant, Anupam Nitāi.

Gurumahārāj: That is my question. Why did you forget Kṛṣṇa?

You always 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 advices in the twelfth chapter of  Bhagavad-gītā that you should do abhyāsa yoga, and you will remember Kṛṣṇa in some fixed time; while chanting your rounds, when you take darshan, when we hear class, when we do some devotional service etc.

We started late, we have to read mahāmantra. One more question

Online question: Is it possible to lose taste in chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantra but still be attached to sevā and sādhu saṅga…. Mathurā from Malaysia

Gurumahārāja: You are saying, loose faith or taste. I can’t hear the word… Is it faith?

Sujetendriya dāsa: taste.

Gurumahārāja: Yes, by committing offences and also by weeds, aghasas. 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. This is not a big problem.

Any question from internet.

Other questioned I will answer tomorrow.