20230518 Question and Answer Session

The following is QA session answered by His Holiness on the 18th of May, 2023 at Dallas, TX, USA.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. You were talking about the remnants, is only a disciple allowed to take guru’s remnants or everybody is allowed?

Jayapatākā Swami: Normally, a Vaiṣṇava is not supposed to leave remnants. But a guru may leave some remnants for disciples. But there is no hard and fast rule regarding mahā-prasāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda gave a Gulab jamun to Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami. He kept it on his plate and he was looking at it. He was very proud and was thinking that I have got Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Gulab jamun wow! Wow! Gulab jamun! Wow! Someone reached over and ate it! He said, you took my Gulab jamun! And Tamāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami was very angry. Śrīla Prabhupāda, he said, actually there are no rules when it comes to mahā-prasāda. And even if you take from my plate, what can I do? But please let me finish!

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Please accept my respectful obeisances. There are many temples in India like Jagannātha Purī they don’t allow white people to go into the temple because they are cāṇdālas and mlecchas like the verse said, so how can we change that mindset?

Jayapatākā Swami: Only Jagannātha Purī and the temples connected with Jagannātha Purī have this restriction. Some devotees have gone and opened up the other temples. Some temples like Guruvayoor you have to officially accept Hinduism. You go to Calicut, you do a yajña and pay 35 rupees. You get a certificate. I did not do the yajña, but someone got me the certificate. But I did not need it because I had already gone to Guruvayoor many times. Like the Śiva in Vāranāsi, the Viśvanātha Deity, he allows everyone. But generally, devotees are allowed to go, except Jagannātha Purī and Sākṣī Gopāla also. Actually. In 1970 I had darśana of Sākṣī Gopāla. Since then, they are more strict. Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to somehow get permission for devotees to enter. But I have not been able to do so as yet. We are trying. And, we have given some gifts, some books, and you see, the king of Purī, the hereditary king, he said to go to the Śaṅkarācārya, as he is the final authority. The brāhmaṇas don’t listen to him because the king is a kṣatriya. But right now, the Śaṅkarācārya of Purī is not favorable to the devotees. His junior is a bit more favorable. The previous Śaṅkarācārya, I went to him in 1970s to try to get his permission. And he said, oh yes, boil one kilo of ghee and drink it! I will die I said. Yes, but then you will be born again as a Hindu, and then they will let you into enter the temple! Anyway, we are working on it. There are many places connected to Lord Caitanya in Jagannātha Purī. In Tirupati, if the devotees of our temple arrange, then you can go. But otherwise, if someone comes and wants to go in, then they must sign a declaration that they accept Bālājī as God. For the devotees, that is no problem.