20181024 Evening Talk

The following is an evening talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 24th, 2018 in Chennai, India.

Jayapatākā Swami: So today for the Pūrṇimā observers it is the first day of Dāmodara. Today we can offer lamps to Rādhā-Mādhava if we have not already done so. Offering a lamp in this month of Dāmodara brings unlimited good fortune. So the GBC midterm was completed before the Dāmodara month, so the devotees who want to do the Vraja-maṇḍala parikramā can do so. There is no conflict with the GBC meeting. The first four days of the Navadvīpa parikramā there is some conflict with the annual GBC meetings, we are trying to work that out. So I was supposed to go to the hospital today, I suggested to the doctor that he interview me by skype, I did not hear the reply but I did not go because we were supposed to be there before noon and it was not possible as now they have moved to the far extreme of the city on the other side.

People are trying to enjoy their senses but the senses are not only a source of enjoyment, they are also the source of suffering and pain. In Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa describes this material world as duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam, a place of suffering and temporariness. So we all are hankering for the eternal life. We want to be happy and we want to have more and more devotees. So this is possible by developing our spiritual consciousness using bhakti-yoga.

I was thinking that in the TOVP one of the exhibits, we could have sparks coming from the Brahman or coming from Kṛṣṇa. So those sparks are individual living forces or jīvas. At first they are surrounded by ahaṅkāra or false ego, that gives the first coating on their body. Then comes intelligence and the mind. These are the three subtle elements and then covered by our gross elements, one is a man, one is a woman. So the elements are ether, air, fire, water and earth. These are also the layers of existence in which the universe is kept. So the individual soul thinks that he is a combination of the material elements. Many people say we only live once but Bhagavad-gītā tells us how the soul never dies. We take birth, we die, then we go to the next body with our subtle body and take birth again and life after life like this it goes on and on.

The happiness in the material world is very small, very meagre and the happiness in the spiritual unlimited state is unlimited. There is a song for the adhivāsa of Bengali kīrtanas, there are two stanzas. ānandera sīmā nāi ānandera sīmā nāi. That there is no limit to the happiness one experiences by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, serving Kṛṣṇa, dancing for Kṛṣṇa. The second stanza is about the distancing of the suffering in the material world. nirānanda dūre yāi nirānanda dūre yāi. That suffering goes far away. So it is very common in India that people say that I am suffering in the saṁsāra so much. The wife thinks that oh I am helping my husband to build his saṁsāra, building this material world. But ultimately husband and wife are suffering. So in the Vedas Nārāyaṇa tells us that He is very pleased if someone takes to the gṛhastha āśrama. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says talking to your wife, touching her is all auspicious if it increases your sādhana-bhakti. So we want everyone to increase their devotional service while they are performing their āśrama duties and gṛhasthas have many subsidiary duties like caring for the in laws, like feeding the guests, raising children and also spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness and engaging in devotional service, chanting japa, offering the food to Kṛṣṇa, making offering to your house Deities. So we can promote these things in this month of Dāmodara and in this way we can become closer and closer to Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.

So we always say that we would like to keep some time for questions and answers but I usually talk too long. So today if there are any questions I will take.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, please accept our humble obeisances. How should we engage in service whether it is according to our capacity and nature or just accept any service that comes to us as mercy of the Lord. Because many times we may not be the best in things which we are not qualified. So how should we decide? Rāsapriyā Gopikā devī dāsī, Śrī Māyāpur.

Jayapatākā Swami: You think that in any area you’ll be shortcoming. You can ask. As such, you don’t ask how you should execute. I was made a TP two weeks after initiation. So I asked Prabhupāda and I said, "Right now, how can I take up this service?" So I asked Prabhupāda and I’m very young, "How can I take up this service?" "You don’t be body conscious." He said, "Don’t be body conscious." "Kṛṣṇa will help you do it." "Kṛṣṇa will help you do it." So I did it and Kṛṣṇa provided me the intelligence to do things. I registered ISKCON as a legal corporation in Canada. And even up until now, some of the things I registered are still there. Of course, they’ve made some new corporations as well.

So sometimes Prabhupāda would give us a tip on how to execute a particular service. Prabhupāda was saying that His Holiness Tamāl Kṛṣṇa Gosvāmī’s bus party was creating such a disturbance in the USA. So then Tamāl Kṛṣṇa Mahārāja exclaimed, what should I do? Go to China or something? Prabhupāda replied, Kṛṣṇa has spoken through you. Yes, you should go to China. China was the last place on earth he was considering going! But he got that order to go to China. So he surrendered and he went. And now we have so many devotees there. So sometimes opportunities come in strange ways.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja when a devotee sees dreams of material enjoyment even after leaving material exchanges, how should we understand this? Bhakta Piyush Sehgal, JPS sheltered Vṛndāvana.

Jayapatākā Swami: Well it could be a test. I remember after I had left everything I was sleeping in the Montreal temple, and in a dream there was table in the restaurant and across was a friend and two girls. I was looking around and I thought I don’t want this. I stood up and started screaming Govinda Govinda and I woke up everyone in the āśrama, they came running, what is wrong? What is wrong? So taking shelter of the holy name worked for me. I never had such dreams again.

Question: All glories to Guru Mahārāja, I have a question that how can we maintain consistency in bhakti since there are days when we are in full devotional service to the Lord and also days when even japa is not completed. Dr. Hemangi Garg, JPS sheltered, Delhi

Jayapatākā Swami: This is called in the ladder of bhakti as anartha-nivṛtti that some days we are very enthusiastic and some days we are very down. So this happens in the beginning stages of bhakti. It is about the third step up. On one hand you can say you are gaining strength, you are advancing but you want to persevere and keep on chanting despite a lack of enthusiasm. So then you can cross over this anartha-nivṛtti stage and reach the niṣṭhā stage where you are fixed up. So this anartha-nivṛtti could be due to some material attachment. Like someone is attached to getting appreciation and there is sometimes they don’t get it and then they feel depressed. In the third verse of the Śikṣāṣṭakam it says one should be more humble than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree. So Prabhupāda explained how one steps on the grass and when they walk off how the grass stands up again. How the tree stands in the cold, rain, snow, heat, how you cut a piece of twig and use it brush your teeth. Prabhupāda would use a neem twig to brush his teeth. I was thinking today Rāvaṇa had 10 heads so how did he brush his teeth? Ha! Ha! So like this when one gets off the mental platform, they become fixed up in devotional service. So that is why if you miss some rounds in japa you keep track and you make it up in subsequent days. This way you stay determined and you keep moving forward. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Question: How and why are the nine processes of devotional service connected with the nine islands of Navadvīpa? Your servant Puṇya Śrī Balai devī dāsī, Māyāpur.

Jayapatākā Swami: Rādhārāṇī made the Navadvīpa-dhāma and She connected each island with a process of devotional service. That highlights to us the importance of practices of devotional service. As we do the Navadvīpa parikramā we remember the different practices and as far as possible we execute them. Like in Simantadvīpa we hear the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In Godrumadvīpa we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

There, there is a place called Hari-hara-kṣetra. Lord Hari and Lord Hara, Śiva are worshipped together. So it says that when people die in that place Lord Śiva comes and shouts in the ear of the devotee Gaurāṅga. So then they go back to Kṛṣṇaloka. Some villagers live there and so in due course of time they leave their body and Lord Śiva helps them by chanting Gaurāṅga in their ear. There is a story that says that how Lord Śiva was embarrassed that how He was defeated by Mohinī-mūrti and so He sat down there and began chanting meditating, why did this happen? Lord Viṣṇu came and said there is nothing to be sad about because after all you are not different from me. So Me defeating You doesn’t really matter. Lord Śiva was chanting His japa on rudrākṣa with Pārvatī and Lord Viṣṇu was there with Lakṣmī. The Deity is still visible.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, please tell us how to deal with negative people around which sometimes tend to cause distractions from practicing bhakti-yoga? Your servant, Mandira from Canada.

Jayapatākā Swami: The negative people, it is really their problem. We have Kṛṣṇa, and we have our positive beliefs. As far as negative, it is their problem. The best things is if you are strong enough convince them not to be negative, and if you are not strong enough then ignore them. Even in higher levels, even in GBC there were some devotees who were negative and in due course they get straightened out. So we have to stay fixed up and not be affected by these negative people.

Haribol!