20230516 Question and Answer Session

Question: I am confused. Does separation from Kṛṣṇa feel good, does it feel bad, or does it feel blissful and bad. I can only extrapolate from say, going away from you feels horrible, it doesn’t feel good, it feels bad. What does separation from Kṛṣṇa feel like?

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was watching some video of his departure, and all the devotees, most of the devotees were feeling you know, very separated. One devotee came in front of the camera and started chanting, clapping, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, he is not very advanced. It is natural that you feel separation from the guru, naturally devotees felt separation when Śrīla Prabhupāda left. Śrīla Prabhupāda appreciated that that kind of intense feeling is a sign of spiritual advancement and there are emotions that devotees feel. And some circumstances are suitable for chanting, dancing in happiness. But when the spiritual master is departing, most of the devotees are feeling heavy hearted. If some devotes smiling, laughing, Haribol! Śrīla Prabhupāda he did not appreciate that. So they were not really conscious what was happening. Not conscious of Śrīla Prabhupāda. In the same way, to see Kṛṣṇa, multiply that, and there is nothing you can explain, that words will not do justice. If we hear what Lord Caitanya was experiencing, to whatever extent that touches our heart, that by this feeling, by this meditation on Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy at that time, we get the shelter of Kṛṣṇa. So, someone was saying that the greatest separation in the world is to be separated from a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa.

Question: I am confused why the animals in Vṛndāvana are in śānta-rasa because the cows give milk, or the parrots wake up Kṛṣṇa, isn’t this service?

Jayapatākā Swami: Indirectly the trees, the cows, they are providing fruits, milk, but they are not actively doing service. Kṛṣṇa goes and milks them. In one sense, okay they are contributing something, but they are not like Hanumān, who is flying over the ocean and fighting with the demons. The service of Kṛṣṇa, they really serve Kṛṣṇa. We are not saying that the animals, the trees, they are not doing anything useful, they are useful. But it is not that they do a lot of service. They do their thing. Produce fruit, produce milk. I mean, I am sure the deer would go up and lick Kṛṣṇa. Śānta-rasa means that they appreciate Kṛṣṇa. One way you can say it is service. But those who are in dāsya-rasa, they really do a lot of service.

Question: These classes are very blissful, very nice. When we are in the class we feel nice but as soon as we are out and deal with the world, the whole thing disappears How do we consciously stay in this consciousness, that way we feel in the class?

Jayapatākā Swami: That is why it is important to chant and read every day. When you see someone you think, how can I help this person on the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness? You think of someone else you remember that Kṛṣṇa is in their heart. If you think of something else that is not right, you remember that Kṛṣṇa is in their heart, so you apologize that you have done something wrong, you thought something improper. I have done something wrong. You think always Kṛṣṇa is in your heart, He is always watching whatever you do, whatever you think. Anyway, you have to deal with your office and other things and there are people talking to. But if you can think, you can remember Kṛṣṇa all the time when they are talking to you. How if you are working, you make money and how with that money you can do some service to Kṛṣṇa. You worship the Deities at home, give prasāda to the family, give some help to the temple. There are different ways we can remember Kṛṣṇa. So maybe there be a fleeting thought when you have to think of practical things, but within that also your motive is always to serve Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was saying in 1973 on the occasion of his Vyāsa-pūjā, he was in London. He said he wanted all his gṛhastha followers to be paramahaṁsas. He (Abhayacaraṇa Nimāi dāsa, Guru Mahārāja’s repeater) always asks me how is that possible? The paramahaṁsa is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Others may be thinking I work, I made money, maybe I can go someplace like Tahiti for vacation or something. We are thinking we want to please Kṛṣṇa. I want to please guru and Kṛṣṇa.

Last question.

Question: When we encounter people of other religions or faith who question ISKCON and our faith in Kṛṣṇa, how should we respond or act?

Jayapatākā Swami: Every person is different. And if they are open or they are challenging, I asked Trivikrama Mahārāja, what to do, in the Free Speech Alley in the Baton Rouge, he said, challenge them. Louisiana State University. He told me, just ask them a question they cannot answer. They say you believe in karma, this that and the other, you say well people are born crippled, why? They say that is a mystery. So I asked them another question and it just blew them away. But I met a nice man he was favorable, recently here in Dallas and so I said how Jesus said we should love God. That is the first commandment. You know little bit about different religions, so you can tell that. And how bhakti-yoga means the science of how to love God. Like Śrīla Prabhupāda met some ayatollahs in Tehran and he was very happy. They discovered that saying Allah hu Akbar means paraṁ satyaṁ dhīmahi. I met one devotee, people they said you are a Hindu, they wanted to argue. I said I am a devotee of God. Then he came around and said there is one God, all religions worship the same God. We believe there is only one God and all religions worship the one God. But they call Him by different names it depends how people approach you, and if they are open or not.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!