20190111 Question and Answer from Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book

The Following is a Questions And Answers Session Given By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami on January 11th, 2019 in Chennai, India.

Vijaya Rādhā devī dāsī: You described the amazing beauty of Lord Gaurāṅga. Sometimes with material eyes we see that some Deities of Gaura Nitāi are not as beautify as They should be. In these cases what should be our attitude?

Jayapatākā Swami: It says one should not look at Deities too closely. It is not possible to make a Deity as beautify as Lord Kṛṣṇa, because He has all beauty. But the Deity is made in the image of Kṛṣṇa. So even the Gosvāmīs said that this Deity has Kṛṣṇa’s legs, and this Deity has Kṛṣṇa’s waist and this Deity has Kṛṣṇa’s face. You don’t see any Deity with all the parts same. So sometimes there are pictures where Lord Caitanya looks fairly effeminate, more feminine. And some picture shows Lord Caitanya more masculine. So I remember one drawing of Lord Caitanya which appeared more masculine, Prabhupāda said that picture is more like Lord Caitanya. So that is why there are some differences in different Deities.

Question: Can we have a class in Hindi once a week?

Jayapatākā Swami: Actually, we were having Hindi translation but only 5 or 6 people were showing up. If we get a good response, we could have simultaneous translation in Hindi on Hindi Facebook page. Rādhā Ramaṇa Sevaka dāsa, he was doing in Hindi.

Question: Is it an offence to do any kind of devotional service like making ghee wicks during a live lecture?

Jayapatākā Swami: It is not if you are paying attention to the lecture, if you are able to multitask.