20201031 Gītā Course Dāmodara Program Inauguration

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Jayapatākā Swami: Today in the month of Dāmodara we are offering a lamp. We know that offering a lamp to Lord Dāmodara gives Him great happy. In this month, we should definitely chant the name of Kṛṣṇa, read the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And eat kṛṣṇa-prasāda. Eat vegetarian food and do Hari kīrtana. I am very happy that the devotees in the Gītā Course program are following this.

This month the devas went to Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu but He was resting in the cāturmāsya. They were scared to wake Him up. So the devas did Harināma because this way the Lord would wake up but would not be angry. This way all the devas were chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare in kīrtana. Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu was very happy. And He said that in on this tithi, in this month who does this service, they will get a thousand times the benefit. The tithi was Ekādaśī. The month was Kārtika. This way, the month of Dāmodara or Kārtika is very dear to the Lord. And if we do kīrtana in this month, the Lord is very happy. In the various scriptures it has been said that offering a lamp to the Lord in this month is very special and we can get special mercy of the Lord. That is why we are trying to see that the general people avail of this opportunity and offer lamp in this month. Tomorrow Malaysia is trying to get into the Malaysian Rook of Records for the maximum number of lamps offered. There is the zoom link of Malaysia provided and it will be tomorrow 5pm our time. If we can all offer lamp at that time, then it will help them to get into the Malaysian Book of Records. We have given the zoom id you can take it. We hope that the Gītā Course devotees will offer lamps in large numbers.

This month is also called Ūrja-vrata and this month we do special devotional service to the Lord. This month has a lot of significance. In the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, there are many mentioned. Śrīla Prabhupāda used to go to Vṛndāvana in the month of Dāmodara. His disappearance day is also in this month of Dāmodara. Visiting Vṛndāvana and Māyāpur in this month is very popular. I had written to Śrīla Prabhupāda that what can we do in the month of Dāmodara? Śrīla Prabhupāda replied that there was nothing special we had to do as devotees, but this is a month to attract new devotees. You are regular customers. All the months are the same for you. Chanting your rounds every day, eating kṛṣṇa-prasāda, this is alright. But this is an opportunity to get our friends, relatives, colleagues, to get them to offer lamp. The CDM, Congregational Development Ministry, they are providing opportunity for new people to get the benefit of the Dāmodara month. I hope that you will get new people to get the benefit of this Dāmodara month. This month they can enter by offering lamp and become devotees in the future. This way, in Malaysia from 5,000 10,000 now they hope to offer a lakh lamps. I hope that in this Gītā Course will get newer people into Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Presently all over the world, the corona virus pandemic is on. People are very scared. Now they should be attracted to chanting the Harināma. We hope that people will chant the name of Kṛṣṇa and do devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. Ordinarily, people think that if their senses are satisfied; they are happy. But in this time of the pandemic, the senses are suffering more. So taking this opportunity to chant the name of Kṛṣṇa does not depend on sense gratification. Gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. Everyone will chant the name of Kṛṣṇa. I hope that in this month of Dāmodara all of you will serve Lord Kṛṣṇa nicely. I have a Jayapatākā Swami App which you can download on your mobile phone, it is available in Android and Apple. There is no cost for this. I send many messages on that app and many people wanted it in Bengali and other languages and we have made that available. You can see all my messages on this Jayapatākā Swami App. I am very grateful that you are all observing the Dāmodara month. I hope that you will be able to bring many people into the path of bhakti in this month. Haribol!

How many have downloaded the Jayapatākā Swami App and how many want to? And how many have not? This way we will do a poll on zoom.

Question: Last year in the Gītā Course we did lamp offering of over a lakh-lamps in various places but this year because of the pandemic how do we do this?

Jayapatākā Swami: Earlier you did physically, now you can do it virtually by zoom, etc. You can do in various places in Bangladesh too. You can go to different homes by Zoom and get them to offer lamps.

Last Friday I had gone to Saṅkīrtanadeśa and went to homes. You can coordinate with Vrajaprāṇa to coordinate for aspiring, initiation, etc.

Question: Should we offer lamp to Yaśodā also or only to Dāmodara?

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes, to both.

Question: What prayer should be offer and how should we offer to Lord Dāmodara in this month?

Jayapatākā Swami: You can pray to the Lord to award bhakti to you. Better not to ask for material things. If someone is sick in the family, then you can pray to the Lord, if it so pleases You. Devotees generally do not ask for any material things. We want to please the Lord. You can say that if the Lord pleases, He can help your relatives get well. But whatever the Lord does is for your good. If someone is not well, then you will give caraṇāmṛta in their mouth and sprinkle Gaṅgā jal.

Question: How many times should we circumambulate Tulasī Mahārāṇī? Four times or three times?

Jayapatākā Swami: As many times you do, the better! Generally, the devotees do three or four times.

Question: I have not taken initiation. Can I still do lamp offering?

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes. There is no restriction.

Question: Can I go with a few people and do program in people’s homes?

Jayapatākā Swami: I have no objection, but you have to be careful. That there is virus infection.

Question: I have deities of Rādhā Kṛṣṇa even before initiation. But I came to understand that after initiation, that that is an offence. What should I do?

Jayapatākā Swami: It is nice to serve Rādhā Kṛṣṇa. You may write to me what are the services you do. Serving the Deities of Nitāi Gaura first and then Rādhā Kṛṣṇa is recommended.

Question: In the month of Kārtika or Dāmodara, what are the things we can do which will give you immense happiness?

Jayapatākā Swami: What should I say? If you can bring in more devotees, that will give me happiness, that there will be expansion in the number of devotees. But even if you offer lamp, read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, I will also be happy. If you can also teach others, that way you are expanding the devotional service. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Question: We have an order from the temple that we should not go to people’s homes and do programs. So what should we do?

Jayapatākā Swami: If you go by zoom, is that ok? Then do that. I don’t understand, there was restriction in going home physically. Then you should go by zoom. You can visit more homes by internet. There is no restriction to go to homes, but I don’t want that any devotee should get infected by the virus.

My special blessings to all of you!