20201207 Zoom Session with ISKCON Sesadripuram

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

Jayapatākā Swami: I am very pleased to see all the different programs in Seshadripuram ISKCON. Lord Caitanya taught that everyone should engage in Kṛṣṇa’s service. He said, gṛhe thāko vane thāko sadā hari bole ḍāko. Everyone whether in the vairāgī āśrama or gṛhastha āśrama should chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. I am very happy that devotees, husband and wife, are helping each other to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Most of the people are called gṛhamedīs because they simply think about material life. Their families, their extended families. But Lord Caitanya taught the gṛhasthas should also try to serve Kṛṣṇa. And by serving Kṛṣṇa, their life becomes a success.

Parīkṣit Mahārāja, he was a householder, he heard the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and he got delivered. Similarly, Arjuna he was a gṛhastha, he heard the Bhagavad-gītā and he was delivered. Prahlāda Mahārāja, you know, he later became a gṛhastha. When he was a young boy, his father wanted to kill him because he was a devotee. And his father was a confirmed atheist. So like that we see many gṛhasthas, they achieve success by the husband and wife, serving Kṛṣṇa.

In the Vṛndāvana-līlā Kṛṣṇa and His friends They were hungry and approached the yajña brāhmaṇas. The brāhmaṇas refused, said they were busy doing the sacrifice. Then Kṛṣṇa told the cowherd boys, ask their wives. When they asked the ladies, they said, “Oh, Kṛṣṇa is hungry? We should feed Him!” This way the ladies were blessed by Kṛṣṇa. And the yajña brāhmaṇas they realized their mistake. All the ladies were more advanced. So the secret of success is to engage in Kṛṣṇa’s service. If one as a householder, they cooperate with the husband or wife to serve Kṛṣṇa, bringing up their children to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, this is the success of human life.

I am very grateful that you all cooperate with each other to distribute books last year and hope you will be very successful this year and if you can please think how you can distribute books to your relatives, your friends, work colleagues, your neighbors. Say there are about 500 members in the congregation, if one book is distributed every week by each member, that would be like 2000. So it can add up. Many devotees they are actually distributing more. So we want people to get the mercy of Lord Caitanya. That everybody should chant the name of Kṛṣṇa and He instructed that we should worship and serve Kṛṣṇa, and we should study Kṛṣṇa’s teachings. It is not very difficult.