20200425 Zoom Session with Nepal Devotees

The following is a zoom session with His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 25th, 2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The Zoom Session was with the Nepal Devotees.

I was chanting the Prabhupāda praṇāma mantra and other mantras with Mahaviṣṇu mahārāja. I am happy addressing the Nepali devotees. Here in India we are in lockdown, I don’t know what the Nepal situation is. Is there a lockdown there? (yes). Till what date? (Government will decide as of now two days left) So tomorrow is the Akṣaya Tritiyā. This is a special day that any devotional service you do, any donation you give, it lasts forever! So it is a good day to do some Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Now we know that the corona virus at present has no known authorized treatment. There is no vaccine but scientists and drug companies are working round the clock to find it. So why do we have the lockdown? Since there is no cure and no vaccine, they don’t want you to get infected. Therefore, they said, stay home! If you have to go for shopping or something, you may get infected. That is why they say wear mask, wash your hands for 20 seconds because the virus stays alive invisibly on hard surfaces for up to three days. It stays on the ground, it stays on the wall, it stays on the lift. You may touch something and get the virus! It enters into your body through your mouth, eyes and your nose. So if you wash your hands with soap, then you may not catch the virus. So that is the material side of it.

Of course we have some Russian doctor, he claims that using a mixture of turmeric and ginger, you can cure it. We are in the process of testing that. So far, he claims to have cured 60 people. We may have a break through if this is true. Anyway, there is one doctor here, Dr. Vinoy Gauracandra Dāsa, and he is doing a study. Anybody you know, devotee, who has the virus and wants to participate in the study, they can do that. There are no side-effects. Mahaviṣṇu Swami has given a real spiritual cure! We should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. In the Kali Santaraṇa Upaniṣad, it says that the 16 names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra can destroy the bad effects of Kali yuga, kali-kalmaṣa-nāśanaṁ.Can destroy the kali kalmaṣa. The devotees should chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Also, they should be vegetarian at this time. This disease is not a human disease. It came from the animals. Because we mistreat the animals, we eat the animals, therefore the disease of the animals entered the human beings. So we request people to chant, we use this lockdown period to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, to chant and also do outreach. By chanting, if the whole of Nepal chants, maybe the virus will soon not have much effect in Nepal. Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting is not something new for Nepal. I saw that many people chant beautifully the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in Nepal! So we want everybody to chant the name of the Lord. Even if they are converted to non-Hindus, they can chant whatever name of God is in their śāstra. We know that Lord Siva, He told Pārvati, that a thousand names of Viṣṇu are equal to one name of Rāma. 3000 names of Viṣṇu are equal to one name of Kṛṣṇa. So in the mantra Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Rāma, both Kṛṣṇa and Rāma are chanted. So we request everyone to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare!

We read every day at 6 pm Indian time, I give a class on the Caitanya Līlā. So here we read how the Lord, He loves His devotees. Normally the laws of nature, the laws of God, they are general laws. And by breaking those laws people suffer and by following the laws, people can enjoy. But then if a devotee of the Lord is suffering that is a special law. And Kṛṣṇa comes and He punishes the miscreants. Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-Gītā says, paritrāṇāya sādhunām vināśāya ca duṣkṛtāṁ – at this time people tend to me more open to preaching. So it is a great opportunity through the internet to preach. And we see that even many people don’t have computers but the smart phones, they also work! I visit many homes and they have their smart phones on! So whether you have a computer or smart phone, this internet is very useful. So, we know how Mahāviṣṇu Mahārāja, he was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa over the internet. Although he is Bali, I am in Māyāpur, but we can talk to the devotees in Nepal! Using this modern technology to spread the Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Whether you are Mahaviṣṇu Swami’s or my or any other swami’s disciple, we are very concerned that you all should be healthy and happy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If there are any temples that need help financially, please inform me. Although Māyāpur also is struggling, we have no visitors and we have 7000 devotees. With the police help we are distributing over 5000 plates of prasādam every day. And over 38 temples in India are distributing prasādam. I don’t know what the situation is in Nepal. I don’t have any reports sent to me. But I am very concerned, I was thinking to call up but they arranged this meeting tonight. Every day we have two or three meetings. At noon I had a meeting with Coimbatore. Yesterday, the Middle East. Some days in South America, some days North America, some days UK, some days Europe. So some days Malaysia, Singapore or Australia. So tonight, we are visiting Nepal and Kathmandu. Please use this time to advance in your Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books and do the outreach. Please talk to people you know, please encourage them to take up chanting, to read Bhagavad-Gītā. Nepal is a very sacred place. Vyāsadeva appeared there. And the Śālagrāma-śilās are from Nepal. So in this sacred place where Janaka rāja was king of Janakpur. Sītā lived there. And Lord Rāma visited there. Lord Buddha appeared there. So, many, many sacred places. So encourage the people to take up this culture and chant the holy names. I won’t speak too long because I want to visit the houses of devotees.

Thank you all very much!