Nama Om Vishnu Paadaya, ….
Hari Haraaya Naam Krishna Yadavaya Naama Hari…
Mukham karoti…

So today because the Creative Committee for the TOVP Exhibits section was originally scheduled for 6 to 7, and they changed it to 7.30 to 8.30 and then then changed to 8 to 9! which is the same time as my class. So it was too late to change it. So we will just have questions and answers for today and we are starting late because of reasons beyond our control. So if you can write your questions out, it will be easier.

Question: When we hear from pure devotees, it is said the Lord gets established in the heart. Already the Lord is in our heart as Paramatma. So during this hearing process, who is getting established and how? Shanta gopi devi dasi.

Guru maharaj: Anonymous letter, question. We will not take any more anonymous questions. You see, although the Supersoul is in our heart, we may not be knowing that, and we are just doing things as if we are the doer. We don’t understand that the Lord is actually doing things for us. So having the Lord fixed in our hearts means that we will be constantly thinking of Krishna. We should be doing everything as a service to Krishna. So it is a whole change of our subtle body, in the sense that now we feel connection with Krishna ALWAYS! That means He is fixed in our heart.

Question: Dear Guru maharaj (Guru maharaj said “yes”) from Shanta gopi devi dasi: Is chanting of Holy name yuga dharma for every kali yuga? If yes, does Lord Caitanya come to establish yuga dharma? How does establishing yuga dharma happen?

Guru maharaj: Lord Caitanya comes after Krishna, sometimes. And Krishna comes once in a day of Brahma, in the 27th Dvapara yuga, and sometimes Lord Caitanya comes after Him in the next kali yuga. So the four yugas are 4 million 320 thousand years and Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dvapara yuga, Kali yuga are 4, 3, 2, 1 in that ratio. So Kali yuga is one tenth of the other yugas. So that that is why Kali yuga is 4320,000 years ago, and we have already been thru 5000 years and now we have 427,000 years left. What is the yuga dharma of the next yuga, that will be revealed in the various shaastras, but even if it is Harinaam, some other avatar of the Lord will initiate this. Means, since in Satya yuga there was meditation, Treta yuga there was yagna and in Dvapara yuga there is temple worship. So that is still 4 million years to the next Kali yuga. So you can tell me what is the next yuga dharma.

Question: Hare Krishna dear guru maharaj! This is your daughter Satyabhama Sadhvi dd (Guru maharaj said: Oh, thank you Satyabhama!) : Gurudev, What can one do to not forget one’s spiritual master even for a moment?

Guru maharaj: That is a very glorious question. We want to always remember guru and Krishna. So if we do everything as an offering to guru and Krishna, then we will be constantly thinking of guru and Krishna. Like, if you buy a gift for your loved one, you may be thinking what does that person like? And you pick up some gift, maybe that you are thinking about the gift, but you are thinking in the context what does this person like? So therefore, you are always thinking about the person. Even though technically you may not be always thinking about him, all your action is offered to him. So therefore your thought process is centred around the person you love. So if you love Krishna, if you love the guru, it is very easy to think always about guru and Krishna.

Question: Hare Krishna guru maharaj! How can we keep our enthusiasm going because not every day we have the same enthusiasm? Rasapriya Gopika devi dasi, Mayapur.

Guru maharaj: This is on the stage of anartha nivritti. One of the anarthas is called thick and thin. Sometimes the devotion is very thick, sometimes very thin, so thin and thick, So by following the process and reaching the stage of nishtha, then one will be fixed and there won’t be this thick and thin enthusiasm.

Question: When Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed the universal form to Advaita Gosain at His request, Advaita Gosain cried with intense ecstasy and begged with straw between His teeth for devotional service and humility. Do pure, humble devotees actually do that? Malini Sundari devi dasi.

Guru maharaj: Advaita Acharya is considered a topmost devotee. And what He is doing is an example for all to follow. And everyone who is on the level of the topmost devotee, will also be begging from the Lord for service. In the material world, one wants to control, to enjoy the material nature, but in spiritual life, one wants to be enjoyed by the Lord! One wants to please the Lord. And one wants to serve the Lord. So the Hare Krishna mantra means Oh Lord, oh energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your service. So as we engage in the Lord’s service, in the devotees’ service, our taste for Krishna consciousness increases. So the Lord is enjoying His pastimes. He is always happy and the devotees who are participating with His pastimes, they are also happy. Who wants to be happy? The real happiness is to please Krishna. We are part of Krishna. When He is pleased, we are all automatically pleased. When He is happy, we are also happy.

Question: Hare Krishna dandavat paranam. (Guru maharaj said: Hare Krishna dandavat pranam!) Generally, Kshatriyas are known to be passionate but in our sampradaya we are supposed to be in the mode of goodness. How to perform varnashrama duties for those who in the kshatriya varna? Sridhar prabhu, Hyderabad

Guru maharaj: Interesting question. You see many of the people whom I thought were kshatriyas, because their works was like that, Prabhupad said they were actually shudras. Because the real kshatriya works according to religious principles, and they have chivalry, they are definitely chivalrous but they have certain rules they follow. They give charity, they have various rules that they follow. For instance, when Dronacharya was the general of the Kurus, during the Kurukshetra war, he was ruthless, because he wanted to win. But the kshatriyas, they follow certain codes. They are chivalrous, but not ruthless. When a person surrenders they would spare him. But somehow Dronacharya was more ruthless than a kshatriya. Being a brahmana who taught kshatriyas. So it is not that a kshatriya is just passion, but he doesn’t have ignorance and some are called raja rishis, where they are kshatriya, but they are also pandits and they are also rishis. So they have goodness and also passion. So being a kshatriya in Krishna consciousness means we serve Krishna, in a particular way. We don’t use our violence against any other devotee, unless it is self-defense. We rather use the violence in accordance with religious principles. So I don’t know if that answers your question but that is the answer that I could think of.

Question: What is the order we take darshan from Sri Panchattatva – is it ok to take darshan of Lord Nityananda first? Ananda Krishna from Mayapur.

Guru maharaj: We say Sri Krishna Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda Sri Advaita Gadaadhar Srivas Adi Gaura Bhakti Vrnda – so if we follow the Panchatattva mantra, that is the order – Lord Caitanya, Nityananda, Advaita, Gadaadhar, Srivas, and then all the others. Of course, one may have the shelter of the guru who is a dear devotee of Nityananda prabhu and by Their mercy get the mercy of Lord Caitanyaa. So how we see the Panchatattva, we see in that way. Lord Nityananda is the servant of Lord Caitanya. And so we are the servant of the servant of the servant of Lord Nityananda who is the servant of Lord Caitanya. Some are serving Advaita, some worship Gadaadhar and Gauranga. There is a deity in Ritudwip of Gaura Gadaadhar, also the personal deity of Bhakit Vinod Thakur, who is worshipped in Godrumdwip who is Gaura Gadhaai. Some people worship Gaura Gadaadhar, but most people worship Nitai Gaur.

Any other questions?

Question: Dear Guru maharaj, (Guru maharaj said: Yes!) You mentioned we have seven islands. Do the people there know about Lord Caitanya’s pastimes and teachings. If no, how to reach them the message? Rajeshwar Gaura das.

Guru maharaj: What seven islands? (Repeater said, you mentioned Jambudvipa, Lakshadvipa and other places in the universe, other islands) In Navadvip dham there are nine islands. (There was a break in transmission) In some of these planets the people living there are on the subtle platform. They are not visible to us. Unless we have similar subtle body or some special blessing to see subtle entities or unless they want to show themselves. When they came to offer prayers to Lord Caitanya in the womb of mother Sachi, Lord Caitanya caused their shadows to be visible to mother Sachi and then She started chanting Nrsimha prayers. And then they realized that they were partially visible to mother Sachi, so they fled away. So there are 14 planetary types and we will explain those in our TOVP Exhibition. Hare Krishna!

Transcribed by Jayaraseshwari devi dasi
1 February 2019