20220704 Question and Answer Session

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

Jayapatākā Swami: I will not take personal questions. I don’t get any energy from such questions. So only ask spiritual questions. Some say during festival times I do so much service that I cannot take care of my sādhana. I don’t know which part of the sādhana. And if it means he cannot chant his rounds, somehow or other you have to chant your rounds. And you have done a lot of service, no time for māyā. That should make you feel very good.

Bhāgyaśrī: We see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s associates are all also mostly there in Kṛṣṇa-līlā. How is it possible that in the spiritual world, how one soul appears in Kṛṣṇa-līlā, in Goloka and Gaura-līlā in Śvetadvīpa?

Jayapatākā Swami: When you go to the spiritual world this will be revealed to you! The yogīs in the material world can expand themselves into eight forms. So simultaneously being in Kṛṣṇa-līlā, in Gaura-līlā that is possible in the spiritual world.

Question: How can we always remain fixed with the same frame of mind in practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness till the end of our life?

Jayapatākā Swami: There is a saying “practice makes perfect”. So, to achieve perfection it may take you some years. Śrīla Prabhupāda said he achieved his siddhi prapti after twenty years. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa said:

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ
[Bg 7.19]

After many many births, they realize that Vasudeva is everything. Lord Caitanya has given you this possibility in this very life. Who wants it? Are you going to try for it? [Audio break]

Question: How can I progress in devotional life? Please kindly explain.

Jayapatākā Swami: We want to practice the nine processes of bhakti-yoga. And [audio break] We want to finish our business in this life. That is why we have to remain very focused. [Audio break] by gradually following the instructions of the spiritual master we cross over the anarta-nivṛtti stage. Then we become fixed, that is the stage of niṣṭhā. And then that will give you taste for devotional service. That is called the stage of ruci. And then we [audio break] stage of āsakti. When we become attached to devotional service then we have ecstasy. That is called the stage of bhava. That is like a silver coin. Then prema [audio break]

Jayapatākā Swami: [audio break] drink water under water on a fast day.

Jayapatākā Swami: [audio break] like all those pūjārīs of Jagannātha are second initiated. And we call it brāhmaṇa dīkṣā but it is actually pāñcarātrika-dīkṣā. Anyone who wants to cook for the Deities when they are second initiated. My primary cooks I requested them to be second initiated. Those who are śikṣā-gurus, they are also second initiated. But you don’t have to take second initiation if you don’t want, if you want to, then there is a list of what you have to do.

Question: How did you feel connected to Śrīla Prabhupāda after his departure? How did you understand what would please Śrīla Prabhupāda in a particular situation? Which aspects of devotional service pleases you the most?

Jayapatākā Swami: Initially I was crying a lot. [audio break] and gradually I realized that I have to follow Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions. I realized that since I was staying in Kolkata and Māyāpur, I had received many instructions from Śrīla Prabhupāda. I made a list and there are about 32 major instructions. I then realized actually that there are many more also. So anyway, trying to fulfill those instructions, made me feel connected to Śrīla Prabhupāda. Just like he said to make the Kolkata Ratha-yātrā big, I am doing the humble service, but it is the Kolkata devotees who have made it big! In one sense, Śrīla Prabhupāda asked to have his birthplace developed and that is also done by Kolkata devotees. So like that, Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to be the executor of his Will. And so now I have been put in an Oversight Committee to see that the International Global Property Office is fulfilling Śrīla Prabhupāda’s desires. Anyway, my app called the Jayapatākā Swami App, that is on Android and also on IOS Apple, and in that there is the list of instructions that Śrīla Prabhupāda gave me. If you pay anything for the App, then I will refund it to you! Because it is a free App! Acintya Caitanya dāsa is one of my secretaries helping me with various orders given by Śrīla Prabhupāda. The people who taken initiation, one of the promises they do is to help me fulfill Śrīla Prabhupāda’s orders. Others, śikṣā disciples, well-wishers, may also voluntarily help.

Question: [audio break] In the Bhagavad-gītā 2.41 in the purport Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura said, He should be fixed up fulfilling the instructions of his spiritual master. Elsewhere Śrīla Prabhupāda mentions in one of his letters to a famous Indian politician that he is going back to Godhead after this life, and this is with full conviction just as one feels nourished after eating a meal. What are the symptoms of being sure that he is going back to Godhead?

Jayapatākā Swami: The first part is a question that Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura said you should not worry about going back to Godhead, you should worry about how to fulfill the orders of your spiritual master. Your second question is how do I know I am going back to Godhead? Seems there is contradiction. The first question is about fulfilling the instructions of the guru and final question is about how do I know I will go back to Godhead?