20221023 Evening Darśana

The following is an evening darshan given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on October 23rd,2022 in Vṛndāvana, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda he was saying how this material nature is like a net and we are caught in the net like a fish and we flip, flip, flip.

We cannot get free.

But if the fisherman puts us in the water, then we are free.

We think Kṛṣṇa is the fisherman and we become Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pure devotee then He sets you free.

But if you are only a friend of the fisherman, then you become the ‘Fisherman’s Friend’!  Ha!

The real thing is to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and to engage in devotional service.

Then Kṛṣṇa He will pick you up as someone very near and dear.

Kṛṣṇa says He has no friends, no enemies, He is equal to everybody.

But He has a special relationship with His devotees.

So that is why we are attempting to make everyone Kṛṣṇa’s devotees.

Then the material world is easy to cross over.

We are much weaker than the material energy.

But Kṛṣṇa is much more powerful, it is His energy.

So therefore, if we become pure devotees of Kṛṣṇa then we cross over His illusory energy.

Agreed? So today was a busy day.

We had a JSSS meeting in the morning.

And in the afternoon we had the MVT Golden Jubilee, and then here we had a meeting with the Indian Bureau.

Then last night I was just giving blessings.

I thought it better I speak a little bit.

So that is why I came here.

This morning Śrīla Prabhupāda was giving a lecture in Vṛndāvana. He said in Vṛndāvana we have to do tapasyā.

Anywhere. That reading his books was one type of tapasyā.

If we don’t read his books, death may come at any moment, and we won’t be ready!

If we read the books, we are ready.

Also, we would like to see all the devotees experience extreme bliss, and how do we do that unless we are on a higher platform?

If we think we are the body, then we are limiting ourselves.

If we understand that we are the eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa, then the sky is the limit!

So here Kṛṣṇa came down to Vṛndāvana and manifest His pastimes just to attract us!

How nice it would be to be part of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes! Lord Brahmā was asking Lord Caitanya that He wanted to be part of His pastimes, be His associate.

How many of you would like to be associates?

So somehow Lord Gaurāṅga has made that very easy!

Actually, His appearance for 48 years, 24 years as a gṛhastha and 24 years as a sannyāsī is a blessing.

And He came as patīta-pāvana, to deliver all the fallen souls so that they could take shelter of His lotus feet.

We are establishing Lord Caitanya’s lotus feet tomorrow at Rādhā-kuṇḍa Śyāma-kuṇḍa.

And also at Bhāṇḍarīvana where Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa were married.

Eventually we would like to see the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya in all the twelve forests and all the major līlā spots. 

Anyway, tomorrow is another day, full day.

If we stay in Kṛṣṇa’s service, Śrīla Prabhupāda would say, no chance of māyā!

So I will answer some questions if you have?

If you want you can write down.

Question: How can we increase our faith in chanting the holy names and the order of the spiritual master? 

Jayapatākā Swami: Depends on what gives you faith.

I mean, some people have faith by reading the scripture, since it tells us that the holy name is Absolute and non-different from Kṛṣṇa.

Some people have faith by realization.

If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, you may become peaceful and ecstatic.

And that may increase your faith.

Some people commit offences to the holy name.

So they don’t get the full result of chanting.

And you should tell them to be very careful to follow the order of the spiritual master.

I think the third offence to the holy name is to disobey the order of the spiritual master.

We must have a spiritual master and follow his instructions.

There is no question but to accept the spiritual master.

So Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura had everyone in the temple chant 64 rounds.

Those who went for book distribution and preaching, they should chant 16 rounds.

So Śrīla Prabhupāda said that for the Western rounds it would be difficult to chant 64 rounds.

So he had them chant 16 and preach.

So by following Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions, one can advance.

Question: We have kṛṣṇa-prema, nāma-prema and gaura-prema. All these three are in a very transcendental platform. But gaura-prema is so juicy, nectarean and overwhelming. So will we get the same feeling with the other two premas also and what is that we need to do that we are not able to distinguish between the three and get to the highest, gaura-prema? 

Jayapatākā Swami: This is the first time I heard the difference between gaura-prema and kṛṣṇa-prema! Lord Caitanya, He is Kṛṣṇa.

If you love Lord Caitanya, then naturally you love Lord Kṛṣṇa.

But Lord Caitanya, He gives love very freely.

As far as I understood, He gave out kṛṣṇa-prema.

If you love Lord Caitanya, then you love Lord Kṛṣṇa.

And Kṛṣṇa and His name are non-different.

If you love His name, then you love Kṛṣṇa. 

Question: How ok or not so ok is to think about one’s spiritual master while chanting? 

Jayapatākā Swami: Depends what you are thinking! Generally, I would chant in front of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mūrti.

And I would chant the mantra but I would also be seeing Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Everything connected with Kṛṣṇa is also Kṛṣṇa.

It is not really Kṛṣṇa, but it is not different from Kṛṣṇa.

When we clean the temple, the temple is connected with Kṛṣṇa, therefore we clean our heart.

Śrīla Prabhupāda said, in any part of the temple Kṛṣṇa is there.

So guru is connected to Kṛṣṇa and if you see guru while chanting you will be connected to Kṛṣṇa. 

Question: Can you tell us what mood we should go with when we go on harināma and when we are organizing harināma?

Jayapatākā Swami: Any devotional service it is recommended we should have utsāha – we should be enthusiastic.

If you are taking the harināma, that is kīrtana, that is the second practice of devotional service.

Śravaṇam, kīrtanam, viṣṇoh śmaranam.

So in that way if you are going to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, have the association of Kṛṣṇa in the form of the holy name.

And then naturally when chanting we should be very devotional.

The mood – you should be enthusiastic, devotional, what more can I say?

There is a song by Narottama dāsa – he said golokera prema-dhana, harināma saṅkīrtana

So, in that mood that if you have the holy name which is the ecstasy of love of Kṛṣṇa from Goloka coming down.

golokera prema-dhana, harināma saṅkīrtana

Question: Can we eat sesame seeds on Sat-tila Ekādaśī? 

Jayapatākā Swami: Seems so! Seems that they describe, if we take sesame on Sat-tila Ekādaśī, we get the mercy.

Normally we don’t take sesame, we use that in havan.

We think of it as a grain although it is not.

Sat-tila Ekādaśī, I read that you should tila, sesame in many ways.

So it would seem alright then, since it is written in the scripture. 

Question: As you have said several times we have to be very careful in chanting the holy name without committing any offences. Starting with Pañca-tattva praṇāma mantra. Still what do we do if we commit offences?

Jayapatākā Swami: By keeping on chanting, gradually your chanting becomes offenseless.

And at first it starts as offensive chanting, then clearing chanting, then offenseless chanting.

The more we chant, we gradually overcome all the anarthas.