20200520 Zoom Session with Ghana Devotees

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 20th,2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The Talk was given to the Ghana Devotees via zoom.

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: In India we are in lockdown for 57 days. Is there a lockdown in Ghana. Since His Holiness Bhakti Tīrtha Mahārāja asked me to help by visiting West Africa, I already went to Gītā Nāgarī and Nigeria, I want to go to Ghana. But because of this worldwide pandemic, I visit devotees in their homes by Zoom. This is the first time that for some reason our electricity failed maybe due to the cyclone.

We know that for the corona virus the material scientists have not yet found a treatment. They said they may take a year or so to find a vaccine. So we have some seven alternative methods which are under trial. If anybody has the corona virus, they can try one of these methods. In general, we would like to use this opportunity to preach. We can see this virus came from animals. Most of the viruses in the world come from animals. We kill animals, we eat animals and we break the laws of nature and so we also get the disease of the animals. Unfortunately, even though, our devotees are vegetarians, when the virus comes into the human society, they are susceptible. But by using some alternate ways and chanting some mantras it is curable. That is what we are told. Anyway, I talked to many devotees, and they found that on the internet they can increase the preaching. Some devotees started the Bhagavad-gītā class for the beginners. They thought maybe 50 or 60 people would come up. But 500 joined! People are very much interested to find out about spiritual life. We know that in this age the process is to chant the name of the Lord.

In the Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad it states:

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

iti ṣoḍaśakaṁ nāmnāṁ kali-kalmaṣa-nāśanaṁ

– all the evil effects of Kali-yuga are destroyed by this mantra. In the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa in one of the Purāṇas it is quoted that if one chants the name of Narasiṁhadeva, they can get freed from the viruses. “Śrī Narasiṁha Jaya Narasiṁha, Jaya Jaya Jaya Narasiṁha. You can encourage people to take shelter of these mantras. Some people may be fanatical Christians or Muslims, but Śrīla Prabhupāda said you chant any bona fide names of God mentioned in your scriptures. In the Quran there are 99 names of Allah and in the New and Old Testaments there are various names of God. So, if they will not chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or Narasiṁhadeva, they can chant some other name of God. We don’t know how effective the other names would be but we can encourage people to chant and it will have some effect. I have a Christian nun who first started chanting the name of Jesus but later started chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. So, she felt that she got more reciprocation from the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

Anyway, I am very concerned about the devotees in Ghana that you are all doing well. Some are my śikṣā disciples, some are my dīkṣā disciples. Others may be disciples of His Holiness Kavicandra Mahārāja or any other gurus. But they are all part of our family of Śrīla Prabhupāda. So I am very concerned that you are all doing ecstatically in your Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Hare Kṛṣṇa!

So, Śrīvāsa Prabhu?

Jayapatākā Swami: You see this situation allows us to spend more time chanting japa, on reading Śrīla Prabhupāda books and engaging in preaching over the internet. In Māyāpur we do not have any devotees from outside allowed to come in. We used to have several thousand people coming for maṅgala-ārati and maybe 4 or 5 hundred would chant japa in the morning. Now, nothing and the temple is under financial problem. And that is a similar situation in India that government has opened the liquor shops to collect a lot of tax. But temples, mosques and churches are not available. So, I see many devotees in the Accra temple, so that is a great advantage you have. At this time, we have many devotees who give classes every day. And they have thousands of people who are attending. So you could use this opportunity to preach also. That is why I came here to encourage you online. Because West Africa is a very vital place to expand the Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And I remember how enthusiastic the devotees were in kīrtana and how nice they Deity worship was and the samādhi of His Holiness Bhakti Tīrtha Swami, the Puṣpa-samādhi at the Accra temple was all very inspiring. So please stay inspired.

This pandemic is because people have broken the laws of nature, laws of God. So the best thing is that they chant the name of God, chant the mantras, which are available to everyone. And any way the material world is temporary. The pandemic is also temporary. Happiness is also temporary. So we want everyone to experience spiritual bliss by chanting the holy names and engaging in devotional service. Sometimes this suffering is necessary to have our focus on Kṛṣṇa. And the devotees, they see everything as an opportunity, people are more receptive during these difficulties. So thank you very much for your practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Hare Kṛṣṇa!Hare Krishna! 

Question: We are asking for your mercy to be worthy servants of the Lord, only your mercy, your continuous mercy.

Jayapatākā Swami: My blessings to all the devotees of Ghana. Kṛṣṇe matir astu!

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

If you have any devotees there who have some realizations, they can send to you (Śrīvāsa Prabhu) and you can send to me. I will post it on Facebook unless they say it is confidential! Haribol!