20110909 Question and Answer Session

20110909 His. Holiness. Jayapatākā Swāmi Mahārāja gave 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.

Bhagavad-gītā’s purpose is to achieve self-realisation, and they are the real students of the Bhagavad-gītā, according to this verse.

 

How many are life members here?

 

You see, when Kṛṣṇa comes down, He performs activities and pastimes just like a human being.

 

Just like in Vraja Dhāma, in Vṛndāvana He had preached about the protection of cows, and He went to Mathurā and Dwarakā, and he performed the activities of a Kṣatriyā, but all the time He is always the absolute truth. He is the cause of all the causes, and he is performing a drama with us.

 

 The great sages like Nāradā and Vyāsa Devā, they could understand Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are the supreme personality of Godhead. So, they came here and they were giving their mercy around India. This is a great mercy that we have in his association five thousand years ago. He spoke the Bhagavad-gītā, but how many actually follow. That’s why, Lord Caitanya, He came five hundred years ago, and he lived the Bhagavad-gītā, he lived the Bhāgavatam.

 

 

Lord Caitanyā didn’t like any new books. He told, just study Kṛṣṇa’s teachings. Kṛṣṇa’s teachings are Bhagavad-gītā as it is. It’s Bhagavān’s own words, and Bhāgavatam is written about Kṛṣṇa. This two are Kṛṣṇa Kathā.

 

So, Lord Caitanya said, he gave these literatures. He wrote Himself only eight verses called the Śikṣāṣṭakam. So, they are very blessed to follow Lord Caitanya. He came here only five hundred years ago.

 

America is about two hundred years old. So, five hundred years is not a lot of time. Lord Caitanya, He came here in Māyāpur and this is His Līlā Bhūmi. So, we are blessed to live here, and also to worship Lord Caitanya.

 

So, Kṛṣṇa said that if one practices this; if they practice, if they know His appearance and His activities are transcendental, they will not take birth again.

 

Janma Karma ca me divyaṁ, evaṁ yo vetti tattva

Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma, naiti mām iti sa Arjuna.

 

So, if we can understand how Kṛṣṇa comes, and how he acts, we don’t have to take birth again. Now, today also is the appearance day of Jīva Goswami. Jīva Goswami, he was the protector of the sampradāya after Rūpa Goswāmi, and he was the sikshā guru for many, many great devotees like Śrīnivāsa Acharya, Norottam Dāsa Ṭhākura, Shyamanandā Paṇḍita, and others. So, the treatises of Jīva Gosvāmi; Prabhupāda said if any intelligent person reads it, they cannot help but be convinced.

 

Jaya Jīva Gosvāmi ki........           [Jaya]

 

Today is the appearance day of Trivikramā Vamanadevā, also the appearance day of Jīva Gosvāmi. I went to South India to about sixty miles from Chennai, to the South West Kanchipuram, and there they have a temple of Trivikramā. Same away there are numerous temples, Varadarāj, Vaikuntha Nāth, Kṛṣṇa, and amongst all of all of those temples, one temple was of Trivikrimā.

 

The history goes that Bali, he couldn’t really see all the steps of the Lord because the third step he put on his head. So, this mūrti shows the Lord, and the mūrti is twenty five feet tall and thirty two feet leg stands up. Very big.

 

So, all these Avatars are just a fraction of Kṛṣṇa. So, Kṛṣṇa how great He is we cannot estimate, and Kṛṣṇa He likes to act like a human being when He is here. That’s His greatness, but He is the cause of all the causes. He is the original personality of Godhead. Haribol.........[Haribol]

 

Jaya Rādhā Mādhavā Ki...............[Jaya]

 

Jaya Rādhā Madahvā, Māyāpura Chandra ki...............[Jaya]

 

How many life members are present here?

 

We welcome all the life members by saying Haribol..... [Haribol]

 

Prabhupāda made this life member program, they will be life patrons. And his ideal was that they have a life long relationship with ISKCON, and we can give them a good association. So, I hope that devotees will give a nice welcome and hardik abhinandana to ISKCON Māyāpur.

 

So, here we are trying to build a spiritual community, and Prabhupāda had a vision that there will be twenty five to fifty thousand people. So, in other places we make temples. Calcutta, Ekachakra, Maldā, Kānāi Natsala, etc. So, we are very happy that the life members have come along with us all the way, and today is a special occasion, special day. Today is the appearance day of Lord Vāmanadeva, and the appearance day of Jīva Gosvāmi. So, today we hope that all the life patrons will get the full blessings of the Lord. So, are there any questions?

 

Any life member has any question? Otherwise you can also write down your questions, and you can give it to Bhadra Chāru Prabhu.

 

Question: Dear Gurumahārāja, please accept my humble obeisances. As we know from Śrīla Prabhupāda books that fear is a manifestation of the false ego. What is the difference between fear and shyness? What is the remedy if fear tries to weaken our consciousness, how can I become free from fear?

-           Suseveni Madhaveni Dāsī, Māyāpur

 

Gurumahārāja: Is she here?

 

Answer: She is listening over the FM.

 

Gurumahārāja: So, Devakī she was fearful of Kṛṣṇa, that Kaṁsa would come and hurt Kṛṣṇa. So, like that Prabhupāda said that we should also be fearful to lose our Krishna Consciousness, but we should not be afraid to preach. We should think that Kṛṣṇa is behind His devotee, and Kṛṣṇa has unlimited power. So, there is nothing to fear.

 

Question: If Pūtanā was killed when Kṛṣṇa was only seven days old, then how is that Pūtanā had carried Candrāvalī and Rādhārāṇī from the Vindhya mountains? I have heard that Rādhārāṇī had taken birth fifteen days after Kṛṣṇa’s birth. So, how is that pastime understand-able. Please accept for us.

Snehomayi Rādhā Devī Dāsī.

 

Gurumahārāja: We don’t know where you got this pastime. So, it is hard to say. You should say what scripture it comes from, and if that scripture is with you then it easier.

 

Question: Dear Gurumahārāja, Please accept my satakoti prāṇam. If one devotee takes padāshray from one ISKCON guru, and then is going to take Harinām diksha from another guru. Is there any spiritual evidence where it says that changing guru like this is ok.

 

Question: Gurumahārāja, my question is that in Bengal, especially Bengali’s like to say that, everybody is God. All the souls are God, and especially the human’s are God. So, I have seen that in our temple also, we have dressed up a little boy as Vāmanadeva and we are worshipping him. Just like we did today. So, these two things look alike. Therefore is this authorized by scriptures. My doubt can only be eradicated by your merciful words.

 

Gurumahārāja: What is shown here is like a little drama. This one little boy has acted as Vāmanadeva, he has dressed up as Vāmanadeva and he is acting as Vāmanadeva.

 

We accept Vāmanadeva as Bhagavān. We don’t accept every human being as Bhagavān.

 

Question from a life member: We offer bhoga to the Lord. How do we understand that He has accepted it?

 

Gurumahārāja: If we accept a spiritual master and we offer according to his instructions, we know that our spiritual master will accept our offering, and his spiritual master will also accept the offering. In this way through the disciplic succession, one guru to the other guru, in this way it will ultimately reach Kṛṣṇa.

 

If one doesn’t have a spiritual master yet, then he can chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahāmantrā and just chant Kṛṣṇa’s prayers and also offer the bhoga.

 

Kṛṣṇa says, ye yathā mām prapadyante tāṁs tahaiva bhajamyaham. He will reciprocate with the devotees devotion, and He also says, if you offer me a fruit or a flower or a leaf or water with devotion, I will accept.

 

So, Kṛṣṇa doesn’t need offering, but if we have devotion, he will accept. So, we should offer him with due respect. If we say, Kṛṣṇa take this. He doesn’t need our offering, but if we offer Him with faith and bhakti, he says that he accepts.

 

Question: How the Hindu religion can be spread?

 

Gurumahārāja: In the Brahmā Vaivarta Purāṇa, it states that ten thousand years, starting five thousand years after Kali begins will be a golden age where people will all become devotees of Kṛṣṇa, and there will be one caste – Kṛṣṇa Bhakta or Hari Bhakta. So, Lord Caitanya, His process which is to chant, that should be made popular to spread the Vedic culture.

 

Any online,  Any life member?

 

Question: How will I achieve peace? From childhood I don’t know anything but the tārakā brahmā, or the all purifying, all deliverance holy name. How long do I have to keep giving examinations or continue to sit in examinations, and in search of the holy name how will be able to go around the whole world? Your Gauri Shankar Chaudhuri from Barahampur

 

Gurumahārāja: He said he doesn’t know the tarak brahmā, or he knows.

 

Sujendriya Prabhu : I don’t know anything else but the Tārakā Brahman.

 

You should along with this the name of Lord Caitanya, and by chanting the... by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu if one chants the names of Kṛṣṇa, then one will achieve Kṛṣṇa Prema or love of God.

 

Jaya Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu Nityānanda

 

Sriadvaita Gadādhara Śrīvāsādi Gaura Bhakta Vṛndā.

 

If you chant the Panchatattvā mantra first, and then chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, you will experience peace and bliss. .... [Haribol]

 

So, we will end here with some Prasad. I will give the life members first, and then the Brahmachāris.