20220330 Question and Answer Session

The following is a Question & Answer Session given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on March 30th, 2022.

Question: I heard a lecture by another devotee who is a scholar that the jīvas are coming from brahma-jyoti. Are you familiar with any reference for this?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see Śrīla Prabhupāda had said most things, he had said the jīva is coming from the spiritual world. He also said that the jīva is the thathaṣṭha-sakthi. That some jīvas come from the effulgence of the Lord. So both things are there. I think that there is a book by Hṛdayānanda Mahārāja where he explains this. But it is not in black and white, as there are different situation for different jīvas. Are there any disciples of Bhakti Tīrtha Swami here? Disciples of Bhakti Cāru Swami? Both are very dear to me, and I pray for the advancement of their disciples in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And also, naturally I pray for my own disciples. Haribol! Any other question

Question: Here we see how sometimes Mahāprabhu has debated and had arguments with sannyāsīs and at other times He gives them hugs, prasāda, and chants. What is the best way to offer bhakti to others or to bring them into Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya usually would not discuss with Māyāvādīs. But because the devotees requested Him then He felt obliged. And one Maharashtrian brāhmaṇa had invited all the sannyāsīs so Lord Caitanya took the opportunity to attend. But He was very humble, and He sat down where other sannyāsīs had washed their feet. So the head sannyāsī, Prakaśānanda Sarasvatī, said that is a dirty place, why are You sitting there? Mahāprabhu said I don’t feel qualified to sit with all you advanced sannyāsīs. So then Prakaśānanda Sarasvatī, he took Lord Caitanya’s hand and made Him sit with him. So Lord Caitanya was asked why doesn’t He study the Vedānta-sutra and so on. He said well, My spiritual master said I am a fool and I should simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. And He began talking to the Vārāṇasī Māyāvādī sannyāsīs. So he was very humble. And he also was radiating a lot of effulgence and the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs like effulgence!

Question: What about those Māyāvādī who glorify devotees, the Vaiṣṇavas but don’t want to quit Māyāvāda philosophy? I have heard couple of gurus in India they are Māyāvādīs but they glorify Śrīla Prabhupāda a lot.

Jayapatākā Swami: Hard to say. If they are not speaking Māyāvāda philosophy, they are glorifying the pure devotees, then it is to their credit. Because these people talk eventually Māyāvādī philosophy. But if they end up glorifying Kṛṣṇa and His devotees, they get some benefit. They are glorifying devotees because they see some devotees but other times, they speak Māyāvāda. Speaking the glories of Kṛṣṇa is to their benefit.

Question: Sometimes when we are preaching and repeating the same thing people get bored and stop listening. So how do we add variety to what we are speaking to keep people engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?

Jayapatākā Swami: Say some variety! Maybe you can tell some pastimes, and the pastimes may be different. I am not sure exactly what you are talking about because if you see that a person is getting bored then you can say something to them, ask question, somehow make it interesting.

Question: You have given mercy to so many people in the world. There are some devotees who are chanting 16 rounds observing the regulative principles, like some wives because of their husband they have to continue some job which is not recommended by ISKCON.

Jayapatākā Swami: And maybe 30,000 people have it. I don’t know how many of you follow in app, but also we have Jānaki Rāmacandra, who has the JPS Media in different languages and maintaining social media like Facebook, Instagram etc. So we are trying to communicate with devotees in different ways and hope that everyone takes advantage. In New Jersey we had about 300 people and we gave them Lord Jagannātha's on their head; we could have Deva Mādhava control the crowd.