20240209 Evening Address | Question-and-Answer session

The following is an evening address followed by Question & Answer Session given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on February 9th, 2024 at Juhu, 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: Haribol! Gaurāṅga!

Bhagavad-gītā 8.5 

anta-kāle ca mām eva 
smaran muktvā kalevaram 
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ
yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ

Translation: And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt. 

Purport: In this verse the importance of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is stressed. Anyone who quits his body in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is at once transferred to the transcendental nature of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is the purest of the pure. Therefore anyone who is constantly Kṛṣṇa conscious is also the purest of the pure. The word smaran (“remembering”) is important. Remembrance of Kṛṣṇa is not possible for the impure soul who has not practiced Kṛṣṇa consciousness in devotional service. Therefore one should practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness from the very beginning of life. If one wants to achieve success at the end of his life, the process of remembering Kṛṣṇa is essential. Therefore one should constantly, incessantly chant the mahā-mantra – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Lord Caitanya has advised that one be as tolerant as a tree (taror api sahiṣṇunā). There may be so many impediments for a person who is chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Nonetheless, tolerating all these impediments, one should continue to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, so that at the end of one’s life one can have the full benefit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. 

Jayapatākā Swami: Very nice verse. We should remember Kṛṣṇa and then go back to Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda had asked the devotees to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa their whole life. And at the time of initiation, the devotees promise to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa every day, a minimum of 16 rounds. Now it is important to remember Kṛṣṇa, to chant His holy name. There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His name. So by chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name, one is remembering Kṛṣṇa. Every one of us has to die. That means we leave this body but the ātmā never dies. So if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa then Kṛṣṇa promises that you will come back to Me

I was sitting in the airport and one of the sisters of the Mother Teresa missionary came up to me and said, “Can I ask you a question?” I said, “Sure! Why not?” “Do you have a chicken in your bag (chanting bag). It is moving around.” She saw the bag moving as my hand was inside my japa bag. I said, “No!” I pulled out my beads and said, “I was chanting japa.” The Christians have 54 beads on your rosary. We have double, 108. So people, they don’t know why we chant. But it is also essential we chant, with that habit we will be thinking of Kṛṣṇa at the time of leaving the body. So, we read in the śāstra like Ajāmila, he called his son, Nārāyaṇa. Because of that, he was saved by the Viṣṇudūtas. And there are many examples. One lady, she was chanting Rāma-nāma, because her parrot chanted Rāma-nāma. So she would chant “Rāma! Rāma” to the parrot and the parrot would be replying by chanting “Rāma! Rāma!” The lady was killed by a lightning, but she was chanting, “Rāma! Rāma!” So she went back to Godhead. And many devotees, they have left their bodies chanting the holy name. Kṛṣṇa said, “There is no doubt, if you think of Me, you will come back to Me.” Who of you would like to think of Kṛṣṇa at the time they leave the body? So that is the reason why to chant – to practice. It is not that someone will think, I will just chant at the end of life. They think of the dog, think of the cat, “Oh, who will take care of my dog?!” And they take birth as a dog! One needs to practice to be able to chant at the end of life.

Lord Caitanya, He was constantly chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa! In this verse, the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra is given two times. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare! By chanting the holy names, one becomes fearless of death. You see Kṛṣṇa says, “If you think of Me, you will come back to Me.” We should always think of Kṛṣṇa. We are only 5,000 years into the Kali-yuga. And already people are forgetting Kṛṣṇa. So, we want to help people to be always thinking about Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya, He told what bhakti means, bhakti means always thinking of Kṛṣṇa.

Lord Caitanya was doing kīrtana in the garden of Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura. But He stopped. I don’t feel ecstasy, He said. “Some non-devotee is watching.” Already, Śrīvāsa had his mother-in-law causing Lord Caitanya’s ecstasy to be interrupted. So, he knew that he had allowed a brahmacārī, who was not a devotee, who was an ordinary brahmacārī. So, Śrīvāsa, he did not want to disturb Lord Caitanya’s kīrtana. So he asked the brahmacārī to come out. Lord Caitanya asked him, “What do you do?” He said, “I live in the forest. I eat leaves, roots, fruits!” and Lord Caitanya said, “Well, you don’t chant Hare Kṛṣṇa! So you cannot be in the kīrtana. The door is that way!” So he left. But he was thinking, I do all these austerities but do not have any bliss. These people, they have real bliss! So I could see this even for a few minutes. This was a special mercy on me. So he started crying. Lord Caitanya stopped the kīrtana and said, “Bring him in!”

Lord Caitanya sees what we are thinking. And accordingly, He reciprocates. So we should be very – someone asked me how can I be determined in bhakti? And here we hear the words of Kṛṣṇa, that if you think of Me at the time of leaving the body, you will come back to Me! These words should make you determined! I WILL ALWAYS THINK OF KṚṢṆA! ALWAYS! Raise your hands, who will think of Kṛṣṇa always? So, Kṛṣṇa is telling us how we can come back to Him. Śrīla Prabhupāda is telling us to do the abhyāsa, so that we can go back to Kṛṣṇa. We want to see all of you go back to Kṛṣṇa! So I will have the questions and answers now. 15 minutes. 

Question: Which one is more benefitting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra or the names of Nityānanda and Gaurāṅga?

Jayapatākā Swami: When we chant Nitāi-Gaura first, we get the fruit of that when we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Question: How can I participate in the kīrtana of Lord Caitanya in Śrīvāsa Aṅgana?

Jayapatākā Swami: In this life you do the Navadvīpa parikramā, we go there every year. Otherwise, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa till the last breath and then next birth be born in Lord Caitanya’s kīrtana party somewhere!

Question: What is the criteria of quality of bhakti and sevā? What is the percentage?

Jayapatākā Swami: I was there when Śrīla Prabhupāda said this. He was in Montreal, 1968. And all the devotees were thinking, “Oh, 100%, that is very high!” But as he was coming down, 90%, 80%. Then, he was walking away, taking his cadāra behind him. He said even 70%. In my class His Holiness Girirāja Swami, he said he knew the secret! That one devotee said to Śrīla Prabhupāda, even if I don’t achieve 70%, what is my hope then? Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “Stay with me, I have the key to the backdoor!” 

Question: Should we believe in astrology, after chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa?

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda, he asked his astrology, but he said to take it with a grain of salt. That we don’t put so much faith in astrology, we put our faith in the words of Kṛṣṇa. You heard the words of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So astrology may tell us the way the current of the guṇas is flowing. But also, the guṇas in the material world are under the control of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So we depend on chanting names of Kṛṣṇa and Lord Viṣṇu. 

Question: How do we develop the desire for devotee association and service to devotees?

Jayapatākā Swami: By hearing, by associating, we get a taste for hearing and associating. And naturally, we want to associate with them. So by taking part in bhakti-yoga, it is natural to develop these things. 

Question: How to get out of bad habits and how to get good habits fast? Please guide. 

Jayapatākā Swami: As I mentioned, bhakti-yoga is a science. And it is step by step. Śravaṇam, kīrtanam, We should hear and then have sādhu-saṅga. Then bhajana-kriyā. With bhajana-kriyā comes initiation. The next stage is anartha-nivṛtti, getting rid of the bad habits. So that comes after initiation, that you start working on removing the bad habits. Then we become fixed, and we have good habits in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and that is called niṣṭhā. Then we have a taste, then we get attached to that taste, āsakti. Then we get bhāva, ecstatic devotional service. Hare Kṛṣṇa! ?

Question: Why do we sing Narasiṁha-ārati when we have Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra - is Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra not enough? 

Jayapatākā Swami: You see, of course chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa we are not saying it is not enough. But every avatāra has got a particular mood. And Narasiṁhadeva, His mood is to help people from danger, from sickness. We started chanting Narasiṁha mantra when Śrīla Prabhupāda was sick. That is Narasiṁhadeva’s specialty. 

Question: I have been in ISKCON for the past 6-7 years chanting 16 rounds and following regulative principles for 5 or 6 years. I want to go back to Godhead. I want to follow the orders of Śrīla Prabhupāda and want to surrender my life to Lord Kṛṣṇa. I want to choose a guru, but I am very confused. ?

Jayapatākā Swami: Many people ask this question. This is one thing that every disciple, every devotee has to choose. After some time, I will stop initiating. But at the present time I am still taking. But who you will choose, is truly up to you. Who you think Kṛṣṇa is speaking thru to you. And many gurus, they can be your śikṣā-gurus. You have to choose one as your dīkṣā-guru. So, dīkṣā-guru has the responsibility to take care of your karma. And you can pray to Śrīla Prabhupāda, you can pray to the Deities, to reveal to you who your guru is.

Question: Many devotees are gifted with leadership qualities which should be used in Kṛṣṇa’s service. But sometimes we might use this leadership position for sense gratification. How do we keep a track of whatever we are doing is purely for Kṛṣṇa’s service?

Jayapatākā Swami: If we do leadership to enjoy material facilities, we get that material happiness as our result. But if we do it to please Kṛṣṇa then we will get Kṛṣṇa. This temple has a very nice Temple President, Brajahari dāsa Prabhu. He is trying to do everything, as far as I can see, to please Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya advises that we should not do things for lābha, pūjā or prathiṣṭha. If we do for those things, that is a weed in our devotional service. We should try to do everything to please Kṛṣṇa. So, just because we are in a leadership position, that doesn’t mean we are doing for a material desire. That is why we have to be very careful why we do things. You see, I have a weakness. We heard that there was some sādhu in previous time, he heard two English people arguing. The sādhu was bathing in the river and he heard two English people arguing. He did not know English. But he came to court, and he said I remember what they said. And he repeated like a tape recorder what they said. Such was the memory in previous times! I don’t remember names, unless I use that name ten twenty times. So, I know some peoples’ names because I use their names again and again. But I thought that in these 15 minutes my disciples who are here can come up and tell me their names! And I can give them a blessing! Is that alright?