20200422 Zoom Session with Delhi Devotees

The following is an address given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 22nd,2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The address was given to the Delhi Devotees via zoom.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda ki jaya! We are in the lockdown period. Because there is no known confirmed treatment or vaccine for the Corona virus. So that is why they say, stay at home. If you get the virus on your hand, wash your hands with soap and water. Keep a distance away from others. So, we are recommending that everyone chants the names of Kṛṣṇa. In the Kali Santaraṇa Upaniṣad it says that the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra can resolve all the kalmaṣas of Kali-yuga. Therefore, we request everyone to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare!

In various Vedas it glorifies the chanting of the Harināma. We can tell the other people that don’t follow the Vedas but at least chant the names of God mentioned in your scriptures. I am very glad that via Zoom I will be visiting the houses of many devotees. I am happy to see how husband and wife are cooperating together to spread the message of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Chanting the names of Kṛṣṇa, reading Bhagavad-gītā, Bhāgavatam. And this way, they are maintaining their Kṛṣṇa consciousness and they are also chanting and spreading. There is some Russian doctor, he says he has some holistic method. Anyone has Corona virus and wants to participate in the study, our Dr.Vinay Gauracandra is doing a study you can send a message to Mādhavakānta or my secretary Rādhārāmaṇa Sevaka Dāsa and they can give you a link to Dr. Vinay Gaurancandra.

We were reading recently about Dr. Murāri Gupta. He was an associate of Lord Caitanya. He was a great devotee of Lord Rāma. So it is said that he was such a physician that he would kill both the material and spiritual disease of his patients. COVID-19 is a material disease. Even if we find a cure, there is a spiritual disease still there. Birth, death, old age and disease, these are the spiritual diseases. That can be cured, you can all become spiritual doctors and help people to cure that. To have them want to serve Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is the ultimate goal. This material world is described in the Bhagavad-gītā as duḥkhālayaṁ aśaśvataṁ. Like duḥkha, is temporary and happiness is also temporary. Everything is temporary. So, I give every evening class at 6 pm IST. My class is on Facebook, Jayapatākā Swami page. There is a Jayapatākā Swami Hindi page. That was not used previously very much but they are supposed to be translating today. So hopefully if you cannot get on the zoom, because we have a limit there of 300, we are also broadcasting on Facebook. If anyone has any questions, you can ask. I will take two or three questions and then I will visit your houses. Hare Krishna! ? Is Mādhavakānta there? ? Is Mādhavakānta able to hear me from Gangtok?

Question: How can the disciple know that the spiritual master is happy with his service?

Jayapatākā Swami: The disciple, if they follow the guru correctly, then naturally he will be pleased. If they are chanting their 16 rounds, following the regulative principles, if they are preaching, so naturally the guru will be pleased. If one has a doubt you can ask the guru. But generally guru will be happy is following the orders of the guru. But we should not commit any vaiṣṇava-aparādha, that is very dangerous. 

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Question: When we are chanting if sometimes we forget to think of the Lord, then do we have to chant all over again?

Jayapatākā Swami: Sometimes when we are chanting we forget Kṛṣṇa. But by chanting our mind can come back to thinking about Kṛṣṇa. So we should keep chanting.

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Question: When we are chanting, sometimes the finger keeps stuck on some bead and I start thinking about Kṛṣṇa. Should I chant again then?

Jayapatākā Swami: What does it mean? Chant from the beginning or continue?

(Devotee: The bead slips out of my hand and I am lost about Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes.)

Jayapatākā Swami: You should try to not let go the bead. Normally, we start where we stop chanting on the beads. ? You can chant when you are thinking about Kṛṣṇa as well. That is why you can take the beads out of your bag and chant holding the beads with two hands. And when we keep chanting, we are thinking of Kṛṣṇa. It is natural to think of Kṛṣṇa when we are chanting. But we have to keep chanting.

I hope that all my disciples will not have this problem that when they think of Kṛṣṇa while chanting, they stop chanting. They have to chant 16 rounds.

They have to chant 16 rounds.

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Question: In our life there are many ups and downs how can we be determined and think of Kṛṣṇa in all the situations which is very difficult?

Jayapatākā Swami: If you want to go back to Kṛṣṇa, if you want to please Kṛṣṇa, if you want to have the spiritual bliss, then material suffering should just be an incentive that this material world is not a good place. Just like now we have the pandemic. The material world is a very dangerous place. The Bhāgavatam says, padam padam yat vipadām. One should use it well and understand that this material world is not a place for us to stay. Bhagavad-gītā says that four kinds of people think about Kṛṣṇa – those who are in need, those who are miserable, those who are inquisitive and those who are in knowledge. So these four types of people think of Kṛṣṇa. If you are facing difficulty, then you should think of Kṛṣṇa. There are four kinds of people who do not think about Kṛṣṇa – narādhama, asura, this type. Pious people think of Kṛṣṇa when they are in distress.

Now I will visit your houses as much as possible. We want to thank everyone for your offerings and receiving me. Please send your realizations to Madhavakānta or to Vrajeśvara Gaura Dāsa. Hope you are all preaching using internet. The scope is unlimited, people are more receptive. Because the hospital and doctors can only do so much. So we are all on the mercy of the Supreme Lord.

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Thank you very much.