20230426 Question and Answer Session

The following is a Question & Answer Session given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 26th, 2023 in Dallas, Texas, USA. 

Question: I was wondering that in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta we find that there is lot of stress on separation between men and women and there is lot of criticism of any kind of intermixing between men and women? How much of what we hear in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regarding separation between men and women today is applicable at the present moment?

Jayapatākā Swami: If one is in one of the renounced orders then it is imperative that one show a good example. That is why in this Age of Kali sannyāsa is generally prohibited, and we see that Lord Caitanya is very positive to the gṛhasthas. Like, it is said that gṛhe thāko vane thāko, sadā hari bole ḍāko - wherever you are, in the home or in the renounced order everyone should chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. So in fact, Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that all the members of the Pañca-tattva were one time gṛhasthas. So the gṛhastha-āśrama is more applicable for today’s situation. If someone is in the renounced order, then they have to follow these rules. In the Gajendra-mokṣa, 8th canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that in the fight between the elephant and the crocodile, the elephant was the land animal, but he was in the water. And that the crocodile was a water animal and he was in his element. So Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that we have to have strong senses and mind, to fight against Māyā. We have declared war on material illusion. Therefore, the situation at the present time that people they are mainly gṛhasthas and, I told this before, Śrīla Prabhupāda was saying that he wants all his gṛhastha followers to be paramahaṁsas, and he said that Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura was a gṛhastha guru and he had a son who was an ācārya. So he said that he hoped that all his gṛhasthas would have ācāryas as children. I am encouraging people to read Śrīla Prabhupāda books. Lord Caitanya said kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei ‘guru’ haya (Cc. Madhya 8.128). So we want everybody should know the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Question: Śrīla Prabhupāda says that a devotee determines his advancement according to how free he is from envy, so how can we become free from enviousness.

Jayapatākā Swami: There is the third verse in Lord Caitanya’s Śīkṣāṣṭakam, one can apply that verse. And there it says we have to be humble, tolerant and offer all praise to others and don’t expect praise for yourself. If you do this, then naturally you will be free of envy.

Question: You said that if you do these things one naturally will be free from envy. How is it possible to inculcate so much love for guru and Gaurāṅga that we don’t even feel the need to feel offended, we are completely focused, or to feel envy? It is all powered by the love, as you show us every day for Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Lord Kṛṣṇa or Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes! Śrīla Prabhupāda he was showing this aspect. And although he was hoping to get some help to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the West, he did not receive any from his godbrothers. So he humbly tried to proceed and in this way Kṛṣṇa helped him. If we think that we can do it, we are the doer then we will face a lot of problems. But if we depend on the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa then we could do amazing things.  

Question: Sometimes especially at school it is very easy to get swayed by whatever is happening, and sometimes it is very distracting, and other times it is extremely hard to stay focused on Kṛṣṇa 100%. Under the circumstances how can we remember Kṛṣṇa?

Jayapatākā Swami: Sometimes Yaśodā was boiling milk on the stove and then Kṛṣṇa was crying. So it was very intense – what should she do? See the milk or go to see Kṛṣṇa. So the actual devotional service always has these kinds of special situations, and how you serve Kṛṣṇa in these moments, Kṛṣṇa is watching you. It is very easy to serve Kṛṣṇa when everything is ideal, but when one is being pulled by different māyās and different things then it is more complicated.