20200526 Zoom Session with Srilanka Devotees

The following is a talk given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja, on May 26th, 2023 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India. The talk was given to the Sri Lankan 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: I am very happy to meet the devotees of Sri Lanka. I hope that everyone is healthy and happy in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We were trying to arrange a zoom call to Sri Lanka for many weeks! I am very thankful to Vrajeśvara Gaura dāsa for arranging this call. I am also thankful to the temple president, His Grace Mahākartā dāsa.

Right now, in India we have had about 65 days of lockdown. I don’t know if there is lockdown in Sri Lanka. I heard that today Sri Lanka removed the lockdown. You may be wondering why they have the lockdown at all. Because they don’t have prescribed treatment or vaccine. So they want to avoid the people getting the virus. So by restricting their movement they hope to achieve that. The virus stays alive for up to 3 days on a hard surface. If someone coughs or sneezes, then up to 2 meters the virus stays in the air. That is why they are saying to wear a mask and keep social distancing.

One devotee got the virus in Juhu Mumbai. And then it spread to about 40 devotees. In Bangladesh in Dhaka one devotee got the virus and it spread to 37. So this virus is very dangerous. It easily spreads. I don’t have the report from Mumbai but in Dhaka we gave some alternative treatments. And within a short time, they all proved negative. It is ayurvedic, yoga, etc. processes. So if you are interested in that we can give the video that is available.

I want to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Through the internet, through Zoom, through Facebook. Also to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and to read Śrīla Prabhupāda books. People are very interested now in spiritual life. In Chennai they announced an 18-day course in Bhagavad-gītā. They expected 100 devotees to join, it was simply for new people. And they got 6000 people registered online. Now it is increased, it is 9,000! So, people are hungry for spiritual knowledge. They know that the scientists, the doctors, the government can only do so much. In Brazil they became the third worst hit of the corona virus. The people are demonstrating against the government why he is allowing people to die. But he said, what can I do? I am not God. I cannot control people dying! So, people want spiritual knowledge now. In the Purāṇas it says that if you chant mantras of Narasiṁhadeva or chant mantras of Hari, you can cure any disease. This disease came from the animals. Because we eat animals. They mistreat animals. The animal disease crossed over to the human beings. We don’t have an immune system against the animal disease. So, knowing this people should be vegetarians. And this is a good opportunity for us to preach. We should take every opportunity as the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.

I am very thankful that all the devotees in Sri Lanka are very Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I am very grateful that you are building a new temple in Colombo. And I am very thankful for the orphanage.

Kṛṣṇe matir astu to everyone!

Hare Kṛṣṇa!