20200116 Evening Darśana

The following is an evening Darshan given by His Holiness Jayapātākā Swami Mahārāja on January 16th, 2020 at Juhu in Mumbai.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim

yat-kṛpāṁ tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam

paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī-caitanya-īśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapātākā Swami: So we are very fortunate to arrive on the Makara-saṅkrānti day. [Bell rings] Confirmed. And we can see the beautiful abhiṣeka offered to the Deities and participate in the evening class by the various Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disciples and leaders who are present. So it was very nice to see such a large assembly of devotees.

Lord Caitanya—He taught whether one be a renounced person or a gṛhastha. gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole’ thāko—everyone should chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. In that way, life can be perfect. Śaṅkarācārya said that to get liberation, mokṣa, one must be a sannyāsī. But Lord Caitanya taught gṛhe thāko vane thāko—whether one is a gṛhastha or a sannyāsī or a brahmacārī, it doesn’t matter. If one chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, they can achieve the highest destination. Ajāmila was not only a gṛhastha but he was fallen. He left his wife and went with a prostitute. He had various children. He named his youngest boy Nārāyaṇa. Somehow, by chanting his boy’s name—Nārāyaṇa—he got saved, although he was a very simple person.

So Lord Caitanya, He came to deliver all the souls of Kali-yuga and to give them this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa. So many people in India—especially Bombay—many people don’t know what to do at a time like that. In India, so many people know they should think of a personality like that. When someone is dead and then taken to the burning ghat in India, in North India they say “Rām-nām satya hai”. In Bengaluru they say “Hari Rām Rām Hari, Hari Rām Rām Hari”. So all the numbers named Hari or Rām. In the West, people don’t know what to do when they die. The doctor tells them they have one little—and they will think, Oh, I want vacation. Who will take care of my cat and my dog? They are thinking about the cat and dog and they are not thinking about Kṛṣṇa.

So one nurse told me a joke. A man asked a doctor, “How long do I have to live?” He said, “Nine”. “Nine what? Nine years, nine months, nine days? Eight, seven, six, five...” If they even have nine seconds left, they don’t know what to do. If they think of Kṛṣṇa, if they think of the Lord, then their life would be a success. But they don’t know. People—even in Bombay and Mumbai—many people don’t know what to do.

Prabhupāda said he went to see a friend of ours, a businessman. He was on his deathbed and he requested the doctor, doctor, doctor, please give me one year to live. I can double my money. What is the use if he doubles his money? He cannot take it with him. So Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying how people—they don’t know what to do with their lifetime. So that is why I was saying to the people last night—we should try to help our friends, our neighbors, our relatives, our work colleagues, our fellow students to utilize the human form of life in a proper way. Sometimes, that is one thing. The other thing I want to say tonight was that in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, all the gopīs and queens of Dvārakā who came for the pastimes of Lord Caitanya—they took mainly male forms. Rādhārāṇī came as Gadādhara, Lalitā came as Svarūpa Dāmodara, Viśākhā came as Rāmānanda Rāya, Satyabhāmā came as Jagadānanda Paṇḍita. So we don’t see here so many wives, vaiṣṇavīs, in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya.

However, most of Lord Caitanya’s followers were gṛhasthas. Only a few were brahmacārīs or sannyāsīs. So when Lord Caitanya was invited by Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya to go for a meal, his wife—Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya’s wife—cooked the meal and helped her husband serve it. So in this way, the vaiṣṇavīs are also playing a very important part in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. But they may not be named always—sometimes they are. Sītā Ṭhākurāṇī offered Advaita Gosāi an ārati plate. He said, Why? In case He sees the Lord, He has to worship Him. So Sītā Ṭhākurāṇī, Śacī-mātā, Mālinī—the wife of Śrīvāsa, Jāhnavā-devī—the wife of Nityānanda, they are mentioned. But others are not mentioned. Still, the vaiṣṇavīs had an important role. When the party came from Bengal to Jagannātha Purī, then they heard the kīrtana from a distance, and in front of them across their eyes came Lord Jagannātha, Lord Caitanya and His associates playing kīrtana. Lord Jagannātha was going to Narendra-sarovara. So it is said that the men rushed forward and paid their obeisances to Lord Caitanya. And Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityānanda picked up the devotees and embraced them. But it also says the vaiṣṇavīs—the wives of the associates—since Lord Caitanya was a sannyāsī, they couldn’t touch Him. So they stayed some distance away but they looked with great devotion. And mentally they touched His lotus feet, and tears of love poured down their eyes! They were equally, in that way, showing their love for Lord Caitanya and all the devotees. So they recognized that the vaiṣṇavīs were very special. So I just wanted to mention this because the vaiṣṇavīsdon’t understand how great is their heritage! The vaiṣṇavas and vaiṣṇavīs both are very, very important!

So, I just went on a nine-week tour—I went to the UK, to southeast USA, Atlanta, Florida, and South America to Peru, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Colombia. Then I went back to North America, and from there I came back here, to Bombay to London. So I am very happy to be here and very wonderful to see how you celebrate the Makara-saṅkrānti. It is true that usually I am in Chennai, where they observe the Pongal, but this time I was here. So today, they took my weight in Bhagavad-gītās! I told them, Let people contribute Bhagavad-gītā and do tulābhāram. But they said, No, there will be too much rush. I said, So what, let everyone participate. They will weigh you and then later distribute the Bhagavad-gītās. So, I don’t know how many Gītās there were and how many were distributed, or how you pay for them. Since it is late I will take some questions and answers. I will give you the answers, and I will take the questions!

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. Guru Mahārāja, thank you for the wonderful class. I had a question that generally you spoke about the vaiṣṇavas and vaiṣṇavīs. So generally, should we take up a service that we are good in, or should we take up a service which is given to us, which we do as a matter of duty? So what kind of service should we take?

Jayapātākā Swami: Yes! Next question! If you think you can do another service better, then tell your authority that I would like to do this service. But whatever is required, you want to do that. If they don’t require the service you would like to do, then you can do the service they ask you to do.

I was asked by Śrīla Prabhupāda to stay in India, in Māyāpur, and develop the dhāma. I liked it—I liked the Indian people, I liked the dhāma, Māyāpur. So I was feeling guilty. I felt we should do for the guru even a thing we don’t like to do. He said, You are lucky the guru is asking you to do something you like to do! But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Whether you like it or not, you should do it.

So that’s why I suggest that it depends. Say they need a particular service, and you would like to do prasāda distribution. But they have plenty of people to do prasāda distribution. But they need someone to cook. So you are a good cook but you like to distribute prasāda more than cooking. But you will do what they ask you to do because they have to manage things and see what is needed at that time. But you can tell them, If possible I would like to do this thing. But what they say—that is the final word. Any other question?

Devotee: Could I ask another question Guru Mahārāja?

Jayapātākā Swami: So many?! Maybe representing all of you!

Question: Guru Mahārāja, so I do this transcription service. Generally, when we do some service and we satisfy the authority—the temple authority or the authority who has given us that particular service—if we satisfy them, it is not possible for you to know what service each of us are doing. But when we serve our authority and satisfy them, does it mean that you are automatically satisfied with us, Guru Mahārāja?

Jayapātākā Swami: Why not?! Why not? Why do you think that the authorities don’t tell me what devotee is doing what service? 

Devotee: It is a very menial service, Guru Mahārāja. It may not warrant telling, it may be a very menial service, Guru Mahārāja! 

Jayapātākā Swami: I ask my assistants who are helping. Sometimes they tell me. So thank you for your service!

Question: If the man is applying for brāhminical initiation, should the wife also apply and get the second initiation together?

Jayapātākā Swami: If she qualifies, it is ideal if they take together. The requirements for brāhminical are usually more. I require they have Bhakti-śāstrī and read up to the 5th Canto Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and read Bhagavad-gītā two or three times. And many other things. But those are not required for the first initiation. They have to read Bhagavad-gītā, they have to read 1st Canto Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they have to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s short biography, certain books. But if husband and wife have the same guru and take together, it is nice. When I give initiation, I always say that husband or the wife—depending on who is being initiated—even if they are not receiving initiation, they should come up at the same time. Because we say that the husband and wife become one. Each one is a half. So therefore, it is not complete unless both of them come. But the wife is known as the ardhāṅginī, the better half. Sometimes husband may delay, sometimes wife. If they qualify, then it is the ideal thing that they both take together. Okay? Any other question?

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja, Daṇḍavat praṇāma. How do we understand whether we are progressing in devotional service or not?

Jayapātākā Swami: There are different steps of devotional service: ādau śraddhā, Sat-saṅga, bhajana-kriyā, anartha-nivṛtti, niṣṭhā, ruci, āsakti, bhāva, and then prema. So usually one can see what step you are on, and then after one year you can see if you have progressed or stayed at the same level. For instance, saying that you had many anarthas, unwanted habits, but by the end of the year you are fairly fixed and the unwanted habits are reduced a lot—then that means you have reached the stage of niṣṭhā, and hence have overcome the anartha-nivṛtti stage. So you can tell by looking back how you have progressed. Any other question?

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful humble obeisances. What is the message for the future next generation of ISKCON?

Jayapātākā Swami: What is the message for the next generation? Please take responsibility, and most of you are offering very sincere service to guru and Kṛṣṇa. This way, the movement will expand and there will be better living. Last question.

Question: How do we get that vision to see Kṛṣṇa in every action, in practicality, in every step of our life, being a gṛhastha we are involved in so many things?

Jayapātākā Swami:  How can we see Kṛṣṇa in our life, as gṛhasthas? Whether gṛhastha or vāna-vāsī, you can see Kṛṣṇa at all times, if you have the proper vision. If you are a gṛhastha, you have your wife, your children, your husband, you have in-laws. So there are many things—you have finance, education. You can think of Kṛṣṇa in all these emergencies: How can I be Kṛṣṇa conscious in all these entanglements?

Uttarā, the wife of Abhimanyu, carried Parīkṣit Mahārāja in her womb. She was a widow. Her husband was killed in the battle of Kurukṣetra. But then Aśvatthāmā sent a brahmāstra to kill her child. And she approached Kṛṣṇa: Kṛṣṇa, let me die, but let my embryo, let my child be saved. This is true motherly love. But Kṛṣṇa entered her womb and neutralized the brahmāstra, and Parīkṣit Mahārāja saw Kṛṣṇa when he was in the womb. So his whole life—he had the name Parīkṣit because he was giving parīkṣā. He was testing: Are you Kṛṣṇa I saw? Are you Kṛṣṇa? Are you? Are you? So everyone he would look at and ask if he was the person who came in his womb and saved him from the brahmāstra of Aśvatthāmā. So Uttarā was a gṛhasṭinī. She was pregnant, she had the last emperor of the dynasty of Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja. But she took shelter of Kṛṣṇa. So we can take shelter in the same way. We want to serve Kṛṣṇa and then we take His shelter in any situation. Gṛhasthas may have more situations than brahmacārīs—you have trouble to think of Kṛṣṇa. You don’t have problems in your life? We sing: saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka-trāṇāya kāruṇyā-ghanāghanatvam —the material world is like a forest fire. You see the bush fire in Australia—some crores of animals were killed, crores! So when there is a forest fire, there is fire, they run here and there, everywhere—fire, fire! So we are in the material world, and at every step there is danger, and it is like a forest fire. And by the mercy of guru, by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, we can get over this danger.

So you should think of Kṛṣṇa every time. If you are not, then you are asking for more danger! And Māyā will force you to think of Kṛṣṇa or surrender to her—one way or the other. You want Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa-sevā? Or you want Māyā and entanglement? What should be done?

Haribol! Thank you very much!