20200525 Zoom Session with Vṛndāvana devotees

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on May 25th,2020 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The talk was given to the Vṛndāvana 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: We are on zoom and Facebook or YouTube. How many are on the call? 32 on YouTube. We just had a Bureau meeting today. They told me that the UP Caitanya Mahāprabhu is going to open the temples, maybe! Of course, we have to keep the social distancing. We have to be careful that the devotees do not get the corona virus. In Mumbai one got it and over 40 brahmacārīs got it in the temple. So, we have to be very careful. The corona virus may stay alive for three days on marble or hard surface. And if someone coughs and you don’t have a mask on, the virus can go up to 2 meters away. So that is why we frequently wash our hands, wear masks. Actually, this virus came from the animals. We are vegetarian but once the virus has come to the human society we are also prone to it. We are recently testing some alternative treatments and seem to be helping some devotees. If you want I can send you the details. Since our temples are closed, this is an opportunity for us, of course, we serve the Deities, we also read Śrīla Prabhupāda books, we chant our japa and we can preach you see, through the internet. In Māyāpur they have morning Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam class but they have classes throughout the day. They have some classes in Bengali, some in Hindi, some in English and some are translated into different languages.

I give a class every night 5 minutes after sunset. We were just discussing how Lord Caitanya was marching processional kīrtana to the Cand Kazi’s house. He was so beautiful. He wore sandalwood paste on His forehead. It was Holi and there were different colored dots on His forehead. He was dancing, His golden arms appeared like pillars. When people saw His beautiful face, all their suffering in material life was finished. He had jasmine flowers in His hair. He was wearing His hair in a brāhmaṇa style with a bun on the top. There were jasmine flowers in His hair. His eyebrows reached back to His ears. He was so beautiful. Everyone was floating in an ocean of transcendental ecstasy. All sides, everyone was chanting Haribol! Haribol! So we were reading this part of the caitanya-līlā. So wonderful to hear the description of the Lord. You are very fortunate you are all living in Vṛndāvana. There Lord Kṛṣṇa had His pastimes. There are the Govardhana, the Rādhā-kuṇḍa, Ramaṇa-retī. Śrīla Prabhupāda said that was his place of residence. And Māyāpur was his place of worship of Lord Caitanya. I am very grateful for the devotees who are serving the Rādhā Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Balarāma and Nitāi Gaura Deities.

What is life for? It is to serve the Lord. One of the most confidential services is to chant the Lord’s holy names. Recently in Chennai, they started a Bhagavad-gītā 18-day yajña for new devotees. And they expected around 100 people may join but 6,000 registered! 6000! People are eager, they want to know what is the purpose of human life! This pandemic has shown them that the government, the doctors, the scientists have a limit to what they can do! In Brazil so many people were dying and they were holding the President responsible. He said what can I do, I am not God! So this is a very opportunity for us to use this time to preach. And using the internet we can preach. We can use the live zooming, on Facebook, various methods we can use. This is a good opportunity to call up all your friends, all those who have visited the temple, if they want to give some donations. If you have their phone number or email you can communicate with them. So, every situation can be used for expanding Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We should take this difficult times as opportunities to help the people to become peaceful.

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

So normally, we give a program to some Yātrā has 200 or 300 devotees. But here in Vraja dhāma we have only 46 devotees. This is a very great opportunity for you. So, please chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and be happy! Lord Caitanya said He would deliver even the most fallen souls. But He would not do for those who are blaspheming devotees. You know that living in Vṛndāvana, every service you do you get a thousand times benefit. But Vṛndāvana also any offence you do, you get thousand times the offence reactions. So here in Māyāpur it is not so dangerous. When in you are in Vṛndāvana dhāma you should always avoid offending any devotees. You should offer all the devotees praise, appreciation. Flies look for the open sores. We don’t want to look for defects but look for the good qualities.