20240713 Evening Lecture and Question and Answer Session

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on July 13th, 2024 in Kolkata, India. The talk was given at the ISKCON Śrī Jagannātha Ratha-yātrā Pandal in Kolkata, India

nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine

namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādī-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe

jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare

hari haraye namaḥ kṛṣṇa yādavāya namaḥ
gopāla govinda rāma śrī-madhusūdana

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

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: And tomorrow is the eighth day and day after tomorrow is Ulṭā-ratha. Lord Jagannātha is very merciful that we are getting the opportunity to pull Their ratha and do kīrtana of Lord’s names and beautifully dance in front of the ratha. Generally, we remain busy in various activities. But we do not do service to Lord Jagannātha. Now, this festival gives an opportunity to do service to Lord Jagannātha. During the ratha, in this festival, we can do different services to the Lord. In the Ratha-yātrā we have the opportunity to pull the ratha and sing and dance. Then we do kīrtana of the Lord’s holy names.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

Jagannātha Svāmī kī jaya!

This way we specially try to do kīrtana of Lord’s holy names and so many people pull the ratha and do nāma-kīrtana. They do various services and doing service to the Lord gives unlimited benefits. Most of the people do not get the opportunity to serve the Lord, but you all are getting that! You are all very fortunate! Haribol! 

Always remember that to get the opportunity to serve the Lord is very rare!

Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He got the instruction from his mother in the house of Advaita, He went to Nīlācala. One side was the Rūpanārāyaṇa river and on the other side, the Ganges was very broad. There is a place of pilgrimage. There is the Deity of Śiva called Ambu-liṅga. This liṅga emerged from the Ganges. Have you seen that- Ambu-liṅga? Ambu means water and liṅga means liṅga - the liṅga, which is manifested from water. Lord Caitanya had gone there to this river on a boat. But the people there told everyone, “Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu has come, Shh! do not move too much.” But Lord Caitanya, started to chant the names of Kṛṣṇa. He started chanting in the boat, “Haribol! Haribol!” in front of the liṅga.

Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare
Hare Rāma,Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare

Those who were in the boat got scared and the man who was rowing the boat also became scared that someone might recognize them. But Lord Caitanya, He loudly chanted Harināma!

This way, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu got up from the southern bank of Rūpanārāyaṇa river. And on the way, there was a toll tax collector. He did not collect toll tax from Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu but those who were with Him, he collected toll tax from them. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a sannyāsī and therefore, did not need to pay the toll tax. But the people going with Him got stuck, they were asked to pay the toll tax.

This way, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu reached Nīlācala. Every year there is the Ratha-yātrā of Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā and lakhs and lakhs of people assemble there. When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in Nīlācala, devotees from Bengal used to come there.

You are all pulling the rathas of Lord Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, Sudarśana. That is very nice!

It is a bit late but if you have any questions, I will answer them.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Daṇḍavat Praṇāma 

(Guru Mahārāja: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Daṇḍavat Praṇāma)

Please accept my respectful obeisances unto your lotus feet. My question is, often we say that we are not this body, we are the soul. But still, we have not realized this deeply. As when it comes to practicality, we fail to implement these teachings in our lives. So can you please tell me how a conditioned soul like me can be able to implement the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā, and the instructions of our previous ācāryas in our lives? As I am currently living in a war-torn country Ukraine where we see missiles attack and sometimes it makes me feel disturbed. So this gives me anxiety, what if I can’t be able to reach my Śrīla Guru Mahārāja in this lifetime? I want to give this life for you Śrīla Gurudeva and follow your footsteps Guru Mahārāja. I want to apply your teachings in my life. But I don’t want to do lip service, I want to really make it happen in reality also. So please guide me how I can implement the teachings.

 —Your most insignificant sheltered daughter, Ayushi Sharma.

Jayapatākā Swami: Good question! You should understand that when the body dies, the ātmā does not die. In the Bhagavad-gītā, it is said that the soul is eternal. And the soldiers who were there in the Kurukṣetra, Mahābhārata war, their bodies might have died but the soul does not die… a body is given to the soul. As long as you have this body, if you use this body to do service of the Lord and do nāma-kīrtana etc., then the soul will be greatly benefited. Try to do this!

Question: Mahārāja, in what mood should we do Ulṭā-ratha-yātrā, as it is difficult to leave Lord Jagannātha back. How did Mahāprabhu celebrate it?—Your servant.

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, whether He celebrated Ulṭā-ratha or not, we do not know. But here, Lord Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, Sudraśana-cakra stay with Rādhā Govinda. And in this way, along with Rādhā Govinda, Lord Jagannātha, Baladeva, Subhadrā, Sudarśana cakra have come to Guṇḍicā. Actually, in our ISKCON temple, we have Rādhā Govinda and Gaurāṅga Naṭarāja. That is why from both ways, ratha or Ulṭā-ratha, They go to the Rādhā Govinda temple. Haribol!

Last question.

Question: Hare Kṛṣṇa Guru Mahārāja. Being a gṛhastha, I know that it is very important to have a child, but I don’t want to have any child. I feel that I should just live my life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Is it a good thing to follow or not? Guru Mahārāja, please enlighten me.

Jayapatākā Swami: In 1973 in London, Śrīla Prabhupāda told the devotees, on one hand, he said that you all gṛhastha devotees become paramahaṁsas. Very nice thing! Then he said that his guru was an ācārya, he was the son of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. You are all gṛhasthas, you try to have ācārya children. So, this was the advice given by Śrīla Prabhupāda to the gṛhasthas.

Now, you don’t want children but if you desire to have children, then there is nothing wrong. But you should try to have an ācārya, a devotee of the Lord as a child. There is a system of garbhādhāna-saṁskāra and you pray to Lord for a Kṛṣṇa conscious child, long-lived, healthy, suputra.

Haribol!