20200521 Zoom Session with Sylhet Devotees

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 21st,2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The talk was given to the Sylhet 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: Today I am seeing the devotees in Sylhet area, and I am very happy to see you. Sylhet is one of the most sacred places on earth. There is Lord Caitanya’s mother and father’s native place. There we have got the birthplace of Advaita Gosāñī under ISKCON. As well as Śrīvāsa Paṇḍita’s birthplace. And the place of residence of the parents of Śacīmātā and Jagannātha Miśra are there as well. And the residence of Murāri Gupta. So there are many sacred places there.

Presently now the lockdown is going on because of the corona virus pandemic. I hope that all the devotees are careful and go ahead. Because this virus can stay up to three days on any hard surface, and if that somehow gets on to your hand, then if you touch your face with the same hands then it can get into your body. That is why they say that we should wash our hands again and again with soap. When going out better to wear face mask. If someone coughs who has the disease, then that virus can stay in the air for about a minute or so. Anyway, we don’t want to contract the virus. In our Dhaka temple some devotees were afflicted with the virus but through different alternative medicines they have been cured. The Pravartaka yātrā has some devotees who have the virus and we hope they will also get cured soon. I don’t know if in your Sylhet area there have been any cases or not. Our doctors are trying to find some alternative medicines,even though there is no allopathic medicine yet for this virus.

Anyway, in this pandemic lockdown, this time we can preach through the internet. In Māyāpur the internet service is not so good, it is up and down. Now there was a super cyclone in parts of India and Bangladesh. Many trees have been uprooted here. And we have had some inconvenience with the internet connection. Presently we are using the mobile internet. I hope that all the devotees are doing well. Using this opportunity, you should try to spread the holy name to all. Lord Caitanya said that if chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra then we can achieve all perfection. And in the Kali-santaraṇa Upaniṣad it is said that the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra can destroy all the ill effects of Kali. Also, in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa there are mantras for different diseases. Like the Narasiṁha mantra. Chant it 21 times – “Śrī Nṛsiṁha Jaya Nṛsiṁha Jaya Jaya Jaya Nṛsiṁha!” Chant this 21 times to get free of all sins and diseases. If the Muslims do not want to chant the Vedic mantras then in Quran there are 99 names of Allah, they can chant that. We broke the laws of nature that is why humans are facing this problem. People eat animals and birds. This disease has come from the animals. Before we are killing various animals we are getting these diseases. We don’t hear of diseases coming from tomatoes or potatoes! This disease has come from the animals. Because people eat animals we are getting this disease. If we eat vegetarian or kṛṣṇa-prasāda and chant the name of the Lord, then there will be lot of benefit. Anyway, this virus has entered the human body, but we are eating vegetarian food but still we can contract this disease. Because if most of the people can eat vegetarian food, chant the name of the Lord or Allah then there can be some respite from this disease.

Anyway, I hope that through zoom, Facebook, etc. you will be able to preach the holy name through internet. But we see that the doctors, scientists, government, they are not able to find a cure for this disease. That is why many people want to know what is the spiritual solution to this. Anyway, using this opportunity, preach the name of Kṛṣṇa, spread the teachings of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as well. We have some problems in the temple because people are not able to come here. We generally used to get donations from the visitors but now that is not possible. That is why we have received some assistance from the Bangladesh temples and therefore we are very grateful to all of you. In Bangladesh we hear that some gṛhasthas are not doing too well, so we are trying to send some grains and vegetables, etc. We hope that all of you are well. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Question (by Bhakti Advaita Navadvīpa Mahārāja): In this lockdown devotees are not coming to the temple, so how are we to preach? Some of our devotees are doing zoom classes but others are all just sitting. There are 120 devotees staying in the temple. What should we do? How should we preach?

Jayapatākā Swami: Very nice! How many zoom classes are going on?

Bhakti Advaita Navadvīpa Swami: About 4 classes are going on, I am also conducting one.

Jayapatākā Swami: When do you give class if I want to hear your class?

Bhakti Advaita Navadvīpa Swami: I give class at 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm Bangladesh time.

Jayapatākā Swami: That means before my class.

Bhakti Advaita Navadvīpa Swami: I talk from your book Vaiṣṇava Ke? Thank you ! Earlier I gave class from Śikṣāṣṭaka.