20201118 Zoom Prabhupāda Kathā

The following is a zoom session of Prabhupada Katha by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on November 18th, 2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ mūkhaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī gurum dina tarinam
paramānanda mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya īśvaram
Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: So today we are having a different kind of Caitanya-līlā class. Lord Caitanya’s present-day pastimes. When His Divine Grace Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the West, he was carrying Lord Caitanya’s vāṇī. And his activities are also the activities of Lord Caitanya. He said that since Lord Caitanya faced some obstacles like from the Chand Kazi breaking the mṛdaṅgas, similarly the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement faces from time to time, some difficulties because we are representing Lord Caitanya.

Today is the disappearance day in India, of His Divine Grace Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. He went to the West taking the message of Lord Caitanya. And it was predicted by Kṛṣṇa, by Lord Caitanya, by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, and by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, that this movement would spread all over the world. Every town and village the chanting of the Lord’s name will be heard— pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi-grāma sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma. So, once one of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Godbrother came to speak to Śrīla Prabhupāda. He said, we thought that this prediction that the message will be sung in every village and town of the whole world, we thought that it may be some flowery, figurative speech. How is it possible that this message will spread all over the world? But His Divine Grace Abhaya Caraṇāravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, he had the sincere belief and therefore he sincerely brought it to happen. Without his mercy where will we be today? I posted some audio renditions of prabhupāda na hoito, tabe ki hoito, that I have composed. I hope that you can hear that and say which one you like. Maybe, more than one.

Anyway, Śrīla Prabhupāda brought this message to the West and also in the West he was instructed by the Deities in Los Angeles to preach in India, to preach in the East. So, Śrīla Prabhupāda also established his movement in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, in Malaysia, he personally went to Malaysia. He sent me and other devotees to Bangladesh. So he financed the preaching in Nepal and Bangladesh and Pakistan. So he wanted the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement to spread everywhere. And by his desire Lord Caitanya’s message was preached. So, he was very concerned that after he left the movement would stay together. Because after many charismatic leaders leave after starting their spiritual movement, the followers live of the assets. They sell the properties and live. So he did not want that to happen. He said at least preserve what I have given, and if you can, expand it. So, by the cooperation of all the devotees all over the world, the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement has expanded. And we are very fortunate that the vision of Lord Caitanya through Śrīla Prabhupāda is manifesting.

So we still have a long way to go. And Śrīla Prabhupāda was encouraging that everybody should preach. Especially at this time, we should preach to expand the influence of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Now we are facing a worldwide pandemic. People should chant the names of God. Today Hari Śauri was explaining that Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted two things – chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and one more was distributing prasāda. Maybe some other devotees said that also. So we can get people to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, give them kṛṣṇa-prasāda and they go home. But eventually they get purified and they start to understand the Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy. So like this, the movement is very sublime. He said that eventually they will say that the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement has saved the world.

You see, people know, even though most people are theist, actually the concept of God is very impersonal. And gradually they are becoming like atheist or agnostic. They don’t actually repose their faith in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda came to cause a revolution in the materialistic world and we see how he got the people chanting, how he distributed prasāda, how he translated the books. We are forever indebted that he did this tremendous sacrifice. Travelling around the world at his age, establishing Kṛṣṇa consciousness in all the continents, it is something unbelievable. But he did that with great personal effort and sacrifice. He established the temples in the holy dhāmas – Vṛndāvana and Māyāpur. I went with Śrīla Prabhupāda to Jagannātha Purī. He wanted to also establish a temple there; but he could not get the land that he wanted. But now we have some land there which would be something that he would appreciate. So, he wanted his devotees to come from the West and see the holy dhāma. Later he also expanded the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in India. And in South Asia. So, today is the day we feel separation when we sing the Narottama dasa Ṭhākura’s song je ānilo prema dhana – in the end there are two lines – I hit my head on the rock, I enter into the forest fire, I personally feel so much separation that I feel like hitting my head on the rock, entering into the fire, while they were singing that they were jumping up and down! Who will jump up and down in bliss singing I will smash my head on the rock or enter into fire! Haribol!

One time, Śrīla Prabhupāda was watching a video of him leaving and some lady devotee she was crying in separation. He said she is advanced. Someone was dancing up and down, smiling and laughing, this is not the mood he said. In separation, we are not feeling bliss jumping up and down. We feel ecstasy but it is a different type. Somehow, we should be in the mood and Śrīla Prabhupāda he entered into the eternal pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. But we are deprived of his vision and naturally we feel separation. So that is something very special. At that time when we were reading the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, He described that when you feel separation you cannot think of anything else. Your meditation is very deep and complete. Otherwise, we may be thinking of so many things. But here when you feel separation, our mind, everything is concentrated on Kṛṣṇa, in this case on Śrīla Prabhupāda. So, it is a very special day. We can remember all the special pastimes of Śrīla Prabhupāda. How he was so dedicated to carrying out the orders of his spiritual master. He had to face so many difficulties. He was beaten up, and different things got stolen. He faced many difficulties but for realizing the instructions of his spiritual master, he did all these things. He was very compassionate. He saw that the people in the West were suffering, although they had material facility, they were not happy. I met one man in India, he said, I want to be born in svarga or in America. They think America is like svarga. We know that in New York there are holes in the road. So, anyway, it is not svarga. Even svarga is not permanent, you go there for some time and then come down again. But if you have the mercy of Kṛṣṇa you can go back to Goloka.

So Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was giving us the real insight into Lord Kṛṣṇa. We could understand that the Lord was a person, He is very merciful. That He came down to deliver the fallen souls. As Lord Caitanya, He was so merciful. Actually, Śrīla Prabhupāda would say that we cannot put any limit for His mercy. And Śrīla Prabhupāda was telling us what our position was. Here in the roof of the Lotus Building where he was walking, he looked and saw there were some ants that were migrating from one hole to another. We were looking down. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that just as you are looking down at the ants, you think how insignificant the ants are, they only live for a few days. Similarly, the higher entities in this universe, look down on human beings and think how insignificant they are, they only live for few days. Because our one year is their one day. So, if we live 60 years, that is 60 days for them. Two months. Like an ant or a mouse or something. So the devas see us as very insignificant. But if we are Kṛṣṇa conscious we can actually achieve the spiritual world in this puny human life and that is the greatest benediction. For us, although the devas they see us as very insignificant for us the 60 or 100 years are 60 or 100 years. And if we use that in Kṛṣṇa’s service, then we can overcome this conditioned life. So Śrīla Prabhupāda was teaching how rare the human birth is and how we should not waste our valuable human life. We should use our human life to do devotional service. Whether one is a brahmacārī or one is a gṛhastha, they should engage in the service of Kṛṣṇa. That is the real purpose of life. And that is the revolution that Śrīla Prabhupāda was creating. That people should actually think about Kṛṣṇa, serve Kṛṣṇa, read about Kṛṣṇa. They should be Kṛṣṇa conscious. So people don’t know this. They turn on the TV and see something material ideas, something floods, cyclones, hurricanes, wars, pandemic. The whole world is disturbed. They don’t know that because they are doing sinful karma and they are getting the reactions. They could be Kṛṣṇa conscious and become peaceful and happy in life. So that is what we want to do, help the people become happy. That is why Lord Caitanya came down, to give us the special key to the spiritual world. But He came 500 years ago and then for 200 years His movement was very happy. Then it became like hidden. And then Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, they reactivated it again. And then Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda, he took it all over the world. So now we have the responsibility to take his message and spread it until it reaches everybody. We should be so convinced, so convinced that we can convince others. And this is the thing that is missing today. We have airplanes, we have all kinds of material facilities but why people are not happy? Why they are not peaceful? They are demonstrating on the streets. Police are abusing people. All because they don’t have consciousness of Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda he saw that missing. We sing every morning, saṁsāra-dāvānala-līḍha-loka, the material world is like a forest fire burning. We recently saw how in California, Brazil and different places there were forest fires. And they were trying to put them out but they were not very successful. Houses, like whole colonies, areas got burnt out. Like there is one area in California called Paradise, that was completely burnt down. We have a TV show, Rebuilding Paradise! We hope the new Paradise does not burn. The real paradise in the spiritual world does not burn. Now this graphic demonstration of the forest fire can be extinguished by the mercy of the spiritual master which comes down like rain. That is what they are trying to down. Seed the clouds, somehow create rain. So the spiritual master gives us the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa and then the world becomes peaceful.

Any questions? You can raise your hands.

Haritā Mādhavī devī dāsī: You said that Virajā devī is intimate to Kṛṣṇa in Kṛṣṇa-līlā, but in the temple she is prayed as Pārvatī devī, Virajā temple. They pray to her as Kali-mātā.

Jayapatākā Swami: Maybe but that maybe a different Virajā, I was talking about the Virajā in the spiritual world. What the Virajā was in Yājapur, thank you for informing us.

Devotee: When I read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books I feel very connected to him. That was when I had holidays. Now that classes have started not able to read and feel guilty. What should I do?

Jayapatākā Swami: Hard to say. Without knowing your exact schedule to know when you have time. Obviously studying for your exams, all these things can take some intense concentration. And there maybe short periods when you have to concentrate more on your studies, but other times you can concentrate on your books. Whether there is any time to do books during your study, that you have to analyze and like, housewives when they are cooking, they can listen to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s class, or his books audio version. I don’t know specifically what your schedule is that you can give any time in the day for reading. Sometimes there is so much service to do for your studies, when there is no time for māyā, that is good.

Lalitāṅgī Rādhā devī dāsī: During the construction of the Long Building, we heard a pastime of you convincing Śrīla Prabhupāda by doing some calculations about building in a particular way. Can you please relate that? 

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda said to use the ground floor as a type of extension, by having a hatch on the first floor and having a wooden ladder down, but I was suggesting that we make rooms on the ground floor. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “If you want to break my wall, break my head!” Then he agreed that if that was cheaper, then it was alright, but I should prove it. So I calculated the cost of the hatches, of the ladder, I calculated the cost of the doorways, how much we get out of the bricks, how much we have broken. After that the whole building was Rs.5,000 cheaper than having hatches, having doors. Then he agreed.

Devotee: [Translated] My granddaughter got initiated before she got married. But after marriage she is following ISKCON Gauḍīya-sampradāya and her son in law is in the Rāmānuja-sampradāya and got initiated. Is it ok to follow both in the home?

Jayapatākā Swami: See the Padma Purāṇa mentions four bona fide Vaiṣṇava lines. And the Śrī-sampradāya is one of the four bona fide. Brahma-sampradāya is also one. Śrī-sampradāya they go to Vaikuṇṭha. And in Gauḍīya-sampradāya you can either go to Vaikuṇṭha or you can go to Kṛṣṇa-loka.

Śyāma Dayā-sāgara dās: I read the Bhagavad-gītā and other books but when I goes to preach it does not stay in my mind.

Jayapatākā Swami: If you read, it should stay in your mind. So, I don’t know why it doesn’t stay in your mind. You can read a little bit and say that if something that doesn’t stay in your mind, you can tell them that you will read and tell them later. So then you can read again, refresh your mind and use it. If you don’t use it, you lose it. If you use it, then naturally you can keep it. Do you take cow’s milk?

Kackuly Rāṇī: We can see that Śrīla Prabhupāda when he went to the West, he preached and turned the hippies into devotees. But nowadays we see people around it is difficult to preach about Kṛṣṇa consciousness to them. How to tell them what Śrīla Prabhupāda has taught us because they believe in some bābājīs who they follow like guru, fake bābājīs. How to preach to these kind of people?

Jayapatākā Swami: You just stick to the Vedas. Show them what the Bhagavad-gītā says and then if the bābā has said something different, we cannot deal with that. We say we follow the Vedas. So then, that way some people they want to follow some false avatāras. In Rajahmundry there was a person and he claimed to be an avatāra of Kalki. Then they showed how in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Kalki avatāra comes at the end of Kali. And Kali has only just started. There are 4,27,000 years to go. Isn’t it not a little off time? He said I may not be Kalki, but I am an avatāra! So there are many people like this they are bogus. And gradually you have to just stick to the Vedas. We are basically followers of the Vedas. If someone preaches something against the Vedas, what can we do? We can show them that what they are saying is against the Vedas. Therefore, the sincere people will follow us.

There was one guru in Bengal, he was a sahajiyā. He said that the devotee, he or she I forgot, was coming to the Nāmahaṭṭa. And they learnt that Vaiṣṇavas take kṛṣṇa-prasāda. So she gave the vegetarian food to the kula-guru. He said, “What is this? What is this? I am your guru. I should be given opulent food. These vegetables are cheap. Fish, meat are expensive. Give me the dāmi food! I don’t want this cheap food.” Then she realized that this guru was bogus. So, that way we have to stick to the Vedas and gradually we convince people. Some people may choose a bābā because they want to eat fish or meat or something. What can we do? Then we try to present how eating prasāda is better and by eating meat we get the bad karma. And become a cat or dog or tiger.

Shivam: Devotee association is very important in advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But when we come in ISKCON and started our devotional service and engage in association of devotees. And we commit offences at the lotus feet of devotees. It becomes even more dangerous for us. How can we deal with this situation?

Jayapatākā Swami: That is why Śrīla Prabhupāda he would teach us to avoid the ten offences to the holy name. The first offence is not to offend or blaspheme a devotee. So it is worse to offend a devotee than being sinful. So, you should avoid offending a devotee. At the same time naturally, we want to try to come to the pure platform. So, before you take initiation, you should be sure you can follow the principles.

Haribol!