Question: Due to lockdown here in Mathurādeśa, Balarāma Jayantī and Janmāṣṭamī celebrations will be possible online only, like other places. What are your suggestions, or are there any specific instructions to make it the most glorious, online, outreach program and can attract more and more new devotees?

Jayapataka Swami: It is not a simple question. I should think about it, and I will give the suggestions in the following classes. This also was decided in the South Indian Divisional Council (SIDC), that the suggestion was that we should observe the Janmāṣṭamī...

Question: NimLhamu Sherpa, my English is not very good. Hare Krsna Guru Maharaj. Thank you very much for blessing us with your presence. I can fell energy and feel blessed to be in the presence of your grace. I have been associated with Iskcon Gangtok for a while and from last June 2019, I started chanting 16 rounds a day. Now I have been chanting 16 rounds every day. My question is, many times as we progress, I have been chanting for a while, but I am not able to, when I am chanting I feel great connection with the Supreme Lord but I am from a Buddhist family and have a family deity we pray to. I have a small altar in my room and I try to connect. However, I don’t get the same power. But I feel with the blessings of all the Guru Maharajas I will grow in bhakti. It has been my problem since the beginning. I have not been able to connect with rupa or with the deity. So Guru Maharaj if you can bless me and suggest what I can do, I shall be grateful Guru Maharaj.

Guru maharaj: You chant the Panca Tattva mantra first? Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu Nityanada (yes) before every round (only starting of chanting) Try to chant this mantra before every round you do. Actually the Lord’s deity form is not as beautiful as the Lord Himself....

Question: We worship Sīmantinī-devī in Sīmantadvīpa and see how dear she is to Lord Gaurāṅga. But in this jīvjāgo song, Lord Gaurāṅga calls māyā-piśācīra kole. What is her fault, as we, the jīva have the tendency to fall and we have volunteered to choose this material world? Is it the jīva’s fault? Then why is it she is called this way in the song?

Jayapataka Swami: You see, since we want to enjoy material life, we are kept and bonded by the Ādyāśakti. In that aspect, we are taking shelter of her, to enjoy material life, and therefore, we are conditioned. But then Sīmantinī Devi, she is worshiping Lord Caitanya...

Question: What mood one should have when we meet demigod worshippers?

Jayapataka Swami: Merciful mood! We respect the demigods as servants of Kṛṣṇa. I am assuming that you are speaking about the demigod worshiper, who thinks that the demigods are equal to Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa is not pleased with that, neither is the demigod. Since the...