20211003 Q&A Session

The following is the Q&A Session for Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given on 3rd october 2021 by HH Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja in Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India.

Bhagavān Dāmodara Kṛṣṇa dāsa, Singapore [Bengali]: You have said that we should treat the children with affection and love, and bring them up in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But it is seen that sometimes, even after giving them all the love and Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they don’t want to take up to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In that case, what should we do?

Jayapatākā Swami: We should try in that way. If they associate with non-devotees or they are in bad association, then they can get something that is contrary to devotion. This way, one should maintain an atmosphere of devotion, so that one is attracted to that devotion. Sometimes the parents don’t really pay much attention to their children. There is no guarantee that someone can be a pure devotee. Therefore, the parents they have to try very hard and always keep trying so that their children become devotees. That is why, śāstra says to do garbhādāna-saṁskāra and from the time of conception the process should be service to Kṛṣṇa. I had a friend, his mother said that we got this child by accident because we did not want him. So this way unwanted child was born. And he felt very bad that his mother told him, we never wanted you.

Harihara Kṛṣṇa Caitanya dāsa: There are many things in spiritual life like chanting, reading, deity service, Vaiṣṇava-seva – what should be prioritize first?

Jayapatākā Swami: First we should chant our rounds, we should follow the regulative principles, it is time management. It is hard to say that you should not do anything, we should see how to do everything. We should not think how we will get one thing done, we should simply think how we can manage the time so that we can do everything we want in a day. Last question.

Devotee: Some children like to do all the Kṛṣṇa conscious activities except chanting. How to handle this?

Jayapatākā Swami: You know, sometimes they like to play on the drums. So, we encourage them to play karatālas or drums. And I saw that some little children, like four or five years old, the lady is teaching them to put the sandeśa down. And so, the system was everyone would chant one round and afterwards they would distribute the sandeśa. Maybe they chanted the round looking at the plate. Somehow or other they chanted. At the end, they all had kṛṣṇa-prasāda. So like that, there may be some strategy how to get the children to chant.