20170103 Question and Answer Session

20170103 H.H.Jayapatāka Swami Mahārāja gave a Q&A session on January 3rd 2017 in Bangalore, India with Kannada Translation

♪♪♪ nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭāya bhū-tale ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracārine ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda śrī-advaita  gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram♪♪♪

Hari Om Tat Sat

Jayapatāka Mahārāja: We will mainly be having question and answers tonight.

(Guru Maharaja looks at his devotee sitting on his left side, wanting him to translate in Kannada)

Kannada translator : Thank you Guru Maharaja ( in English)

(Devotees laughing)

Kannada translator starts speaking in Kannada

Jayapatāka Mahārāja: I just wanted to first of all thank all the organisers for the programmes they organised for me, (All devotees say HARIBOL!!) also to those who have given me shelter, and to all the devotees who have participated in these different functions. 

In the human form of life, we can talk about the pastimes of the Lord. Animals also talk, but they talk about Aahara, Nidra, Bhaya and Maithuna. They don’t talk about the Absolute truth. But as human beings, we can talk about the spiritual goal of life. What’s missing in the western world for many people is the spiritual side of things. Now in India, there is a movement to neglect the spiritual side. But our tradition is such that here in India, we think about the spiritual side. That’s why India is special. So as I mentioned last night, Lord Chaitanya said, ‘Those who are born in Bharat, must perfect their lives and help others’. So I’m very enthused to meet so many devotees who have given their energy to preaching. Grihasthas have many things to do. But how the Gṛhasthas here, are giving some time every week to preach, that’s very, very enduring. So, we told that next year, we’ll try to give a bonus visit to Bangalore (Devotees chanting Haribol !!!) this year, this year. I want to see that there is cooperation amongst all the temples. Hare Krishna. So what are the questions?

Devotee: Why is it necessary for a devotee to get into a parampara? There have been so many devotees who have not got into any parampara as such.

Jayapatāka Mahārāja: Spiritual knowledge is handed down from Kṛṣṇa to some of his devotees. And in the Padma Purana it says that if one does not receive the mantras from one of the four sampradayas, then the mantras will be fruitless. Just like there are many drug stores in Bengaluru, but you want to buy the drugs from a genuine drugstore so that you get a genuine product. So in the same way, the message is handed down by different paramparas. Just like in each state they have a High court and they have a bar association. Why do you want a lawyer from a bar association? Why do you want a lawyer with a degree? It’s cheaper to get a lawyer without degree and a bar association. But we want a reputed lawyer so that we win our case. So, we want to get our knowledge from one of the four bonafide sampradayas. Next question.

Devotee: The Caitanya Caritamrita says, Janma Sarthaka Kori, kora para upakar. Is it that our actual objective of life is to do Para Upakar and Janma Sarthaka Kori is just a prerequisite or an intermediate step towards the goal?

Jaypatāka Mahārāja: How can you help others if you are not cured yourself? So we have to first of all perfect ourselves, then we can help others. We are the Goshtiyanandis, we like to help others, but we also have to get perfection ourselves. The bhajananandis just get perfection for themselves, but don’t help others. So Krishna says he is most pleased with devotees who explain the Bhagavad Gita to others. Next.

Devotee: How to love Guru? Can you please share a secret to meditate on the Gurus instructions every day? What should be the mood of the disciples when the Guru visits?

Jayapatāka Mahārāja: Love is a very special thing. Everybody has lust, but love is something rare. So, if we are grateful for all the things that the Guru has done, then naturally we will love him. If we just want to enjoy all the things ourselves, and we don’t appreciate all the things the Guru is doing for us, then naturally we will not have much love. There are two kinds of service to the Guru. It is vāni seva and vapu seva. So we try to serve the vāni or the message of the Guru all the time. And vapu seva means we get to personally do some service for the Guru. So we should be very eager to serve the Guru. This is a rare opportunity. Hearing the Guru, serving the Guru, all these things are special rare opportunities.

Devotee: We heard from you that you would like the Bangalore congregation to have a thousand Bhakti Vrikshas by 2020. In addition to this, what else would you like the Bangalore congregation to work towards in the next 3-5 years, especially for:-

1. Gṛhastas

2. Brahmacārīs

3. Stay at home mothers

Jaypatāka Mahārāja: Well, I had like to see happier devotees and more devotees. (Devotees chanting Haribol !!!) Some boys came to me and said how the crowd funding on the internet had brought one organisation 1.4 crores in 20 days. So, if everybody uses their intelligence and thinks how they can spread Krishna Consciousness, then we can achieve wonderful things. So then rather than having the Guru think of everything, you can each think of what you can do. What gṛhastha’s can do? Of course charity begins at home. On one hand they should see how the family members and all the relatives can be all as Krishna conscious as possible. We hope that the gṛhastha’s can become rich and generous(laughing). They should be rich and they should give lots of charity to different Krishna conscious projects. But other than that they can see how to spread Krishna consciousness amongst their peers and amongst other gṛhasthas. 

One gṛhastha devotee came up to me and said,” Gurudev I’m very sorry I didn’t make many devotees this year.”

I asked,” How many did you make?” In a very ashamed voice, “I only made 76.”

Jayapatāka Mahārāja:  “Hmm How many devotees was your goal for the year.”

“She said 108. I didn’t make my goal.”

 Jayapatāka Mahārāja:  But if each devotee could make 76 that would be something really great. Even if we each one could make 1 or 10 it would be wonderful. As far as brahmacārīs are concerned, they don’t have any families to worry about. They should give all their, time, energy, thoughts and deeds to Krishna’s service. As far as mothers who stay at home, they can preach to other ladies who stay at home. (Devotees laughing) When the kids are in school the gṛhastha’s can go out and see other gṛhastha’s. 

Next. Only till quarter to 10. 

Question: How important is it to hear one’s Guru’s lectures as compared to the lectures of other lecturers in ISKCON who may be very humorous?

Jayapatāka Mahārāja: We should learn from our Guru his transcendental vibrations. And whatever it takes, you should learn that. But being in a multi preacher society you may also listen to other lectures. Just because someone is humorous you have to at least learn the essence from your Guru.  

Next. 

Question: There is a question here. We understand that there is a need to tolerate and cooperate with devotees. Sometimes I find that our own leaders don’t cooperate with each other. In such a situation how do we do this and how do we render service in a manner that is pleasing to our authority? 

Jayapatāka Mahārāja: Last night we had a meeting of all the leaders of different temples. And they all said that they had no objection if their members attended any temple. They said that they would regularly meet together. And they would be very careful to see that there will be no criticism or anything. So we hope that all these concerns or things are of the past. 

5 min left.

Devotee: The Vaishnavi’s forum the people with the secret weapon, they have some question. Hare Krishna Guru Mahārāja.

Jayapatāka Mahārāja: Hare Krishna !

Devotee: We have a question. Working vaishnavis and who are studying how should we preach and what are the different strategies which we can use? 

Jayapatāka Mahārāja: Working and studying. Working and studying are two different categories or one category? 

Devotees: Two different.

Jayapatāka Mahārāja: So the ones studying have got the student population to preach to. And the ones working can preach to the working colleagues. You know it should not seem like preaching. Like some holidays coming up, give everybody sweets. Or have a program in the hostel. Or a program in club, school and colleges. You know see what’s possible in your environment. In Manipal there are some students here from Manipal they have developed some means for preaching. I saw for the deep-daan someone had got 1000 lamps to offer. 

Its 9:45. Because I have to catch a flight early tomorrow morning. Thank you all for your participation and your questions. 

Tags: Jayapataka swami, Devotee, Gṛhastha, Krishna consciousness, Gurudev, Multi preacher society, Lectures, Cooperation, Working and Studying Vaishnavis.