20230623 Question and Answer Session

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda-mādhavam śrī caitanya īśvaram
Harihi oṁ tat sat

Question: Could you explain ways to remain always enthusiastic in life?

Jayapatākā Swami: If we remember how His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda is always helping us. By remembering that we could always remain enthusiastic to serve him. Also, Lord Caitanya, He gives His mercy to those who are enthusiastic.

Question: We came in the material world because we were not satisfied with Kṛṣṇa there. So what is the hope that we will be satisfied when we go back to the spiritual world?

Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā that once you go back to Godhead, you never want to come back here again. So, that means that once you go back you can see the comparison. Also, while you are here, everyone has a different story, different history. So some may or may not have been in the spiritual world.

Question: So many people give so many different types of suggestions about Kṛṣṇa conscious gṛhastha life. Some say one should be very strict and follow all the rules properly and others says, oh, you have been married just for a few months, take it easy! In this case, what is the process of continuing as a gṛhastha in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, please give your blessings.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, he wrote in The Harmonist his advice to those who wanted to get married. A man should find a spouse who is very spiritually advanced. A lady should find a husband who is spiritually more advanced than herself. Taking this opportunity, the husband and wife can discuss how they can please Kṛṣṇa more and more. How the husband and wife together can have sense gratification, they should not have these kinds of thoughts. They should try to please Kṛṣṇa. Just like, there are many Bhakti-vṛkṣas. The husband and wife together they discuss and plan how they will increase and expand the Bhakti-vṛkṣa, how they will make certain people devotees. They will think that their home is Kṛṣṇa’s, they will offer the food to Kṛṣṇa and then they will distribute the prasāda. Śrīla Prabhupāda had said that his spiritual master was the son of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. This way, every couple should try to have an offspring who will be like an ācārya. We have a necessity for many ācāryas. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Question: Please share some of your sweet memories of this Kolkata Ratha-yātrā and what keeps you determined to enthusiastically participate in this event every year?

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda asked me to develop the Ratha-yātrā in Kolkata. Because he gave me such an order, therefore, Ratha-yātrā here has been a very, very special day for me. Haribol! Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Question: I hear that some devotees become grass and tree in the spiritual world and hearing this I became fearful, and I feel better to be here only. It decreases my enthusiasm to practice bhakti. I feel it is better to be human here than grass there. Please clarify.

Jayapatākā Swami: In spiritual life you get what you desire. There are five kinds of rasas. First the neutral rasa is there. Some have that kind of relationship with Kṛṣṇa then they become a tree or something like that. If you like to do service for Kṛṣṇa, then you become a servant. Like Hanumān, or the chariot driver of Kṛṣṇa. If one likes to be a friend of Kṛṣṇa, then you become a friend. Like Arjuna, Uddhava or the cowherd gopas in Vṛndāvana. And then there are others who would like to have Kṛṣṇa as their son. And those who want Kṛṣṇa as a husband or lover. So you get what relationship you want. For example, if you want to become a peacock and dance in front of Kṛṣṇa, you become a peacock. But if you want to be a friend, then you will not become a peacock.

Question: We observe that most of the disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda are winding up their pastimes. How would you envision we will be bereft of their association? How do you envision stability and expansion of ISKCON society?

Jayapatākā Swami: That is why we want all the devotees to read the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Caitanya-caritāmṛta, etc. In this way, we hope that the society will continue to expand. This is our wish, but it is a challenge. So, that is why we say, you are the future! You can associate with the Śrīla Prabhupāda disciples and we hope that you will be stronger.

Question: How can I completely surrender unto the lotus feet of the spiritual master?

Jayapatākā Swami: Everybody has an expiry date. For instance, medicine, we read the expiry date six months. We can live a hundred years or eighty years, don’t know how long. My pūrvāśrama mother told me why don’t I become a Christian priest? Then she said, “Why don’t you wait and become a priest later?” So, I asked her, “Tell me how long will I live?” Then she started crying, “No mother or father knows how long their child will live.” So, I said to her, “Wait, but I may not live that long!” So like that, different people have their theories, but actually we don’t know. So we want to serve Kṛṣṇa as long as are alive. One devotee, His Holiness Kadamba Kānana Swami, he said, “Kṛṣṇa saved us many times. But sometimes I have to leave. So, I am doing service now. And when I leave, I will still be serving.” That is what we want to do, we want to be always serving Kṛṣṇa.

Question: When I go to yātrās or festivals I usually become tired or unhealthy for some time which usually hampers my morning program for some days. I get confused whether to extend myself in camps or yātrās as devotees need support in managing huge tasks or is it better I don’t spoil my health?

Jayapatākā Swami: Yes! That is why we have a spiritual master and this kind of question, this is kind of a personal question. And our guru would deal with us personally. Maybe if the festival is so important that you should go even if you get sick. Then maybe we should serve in a supporting role. So that kind of question you can discuss with your spiritual master.