Jayapataka Swami: This material world is full of challenges. Lord Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, that this world is a dukalayam, asasvatam. We are trying to make a permanent happiness in a temporary world! It is not possible. That is why we want to transfer you home, back to Godhead. And you should expect in this material world, there will always be problems. And therefore, by chanting Hare Krsna and practicing bhakti yoga, that is the best we could do. Actually, Krsna does not want us to do great austerity, because that makes our heart very hard. Rather, He would have us love Him and that means we could be a bit peaceful in this material world. And happiness in the material world sometimes come and sometimes goes. Right now the world is under a pandemic, so everybody is suffering, more or less. Potential is there always for some danger. As the Bhagavatam says, padam padam yat vipadam. Every step there is danger. So that helps us to fix our mind on Krsna. We know that this world is not a place where we can be permanently happy. So we make best use of a bad bargain! And we live our simple life, trying to do as much devotional service as possible. And in this way, be peaceful and happy to whatever extent possible. Try to do some devotional service, offer our life completely to Krsna. So this process is called yukta vairagya. We offer our normal activities to Krsna. Just like if you have a child, you train your child to be Krsna conscious. And that way having children is also a service to Krsna! I was reading in the Hari Bhakti Vilasa, it says that if a husband and wife meet each other in a conjugal union, then they should remember Krsna as Prajapati. So, Visnu is the Original Prajapati. Krsna says He is the seed giving Father, in the Bhagavad-gita. So like that, we should use all our activities to please Krsna. We know that this material world is filled with problems. So that is why we want to take shelter of Krsna. We don’t want to take shelter of the material world.
10-MAY-2020 SRI DHAM MAYAPUR, INDIA