h h jayapataka swami
Transcripts: When we leave this body, at that time if the Yamadūtas come it’s very painful for the attached person to leave this body. So that time the Yamadūta puts one to sleep and rip them out of the body. If they are not put to sleep that moment will be very painful. Then one is taken. Then he takes birth again. Then when he’s in the womb again, then for the period of his growth, from the womb as an embryo. He is unconscious. So that unconscious state is like a long sleep. And then one wakes up. Even within the womb one wakes up. About 7 months, usually the living being becomes conscious. And even, the Bhāgavatam describes how one can have recollection of previous birth at that time. But when one is born, in the womb the person is not so much conscious of his body.
But at the same time his mind is very clear. Because he does not have such developed senses. Of course, he can feel the biting of the worms in the mother’s womb. They bite the tender skin of the baby. Then when the mother takes very spicy food, that also feels very hot on the baby. Also, there is bad smell. These things, he can get some feelings. But basically, his consciousness is not so much centered in the senses apart from very obvious things and is able to remember even the previous birth, if he is very fortunate. What happens is that at the time of birth it’s such a painful experience. He is forced through a very small opening, and that is such excruciating pain that he is completely unconscious. And then he is waken-up when he is born again. The doctor or nurse slaps the baby wakes him up, he starts breathing and starts crying. At that time, he tries to gain knowledge through his newly acquired senses, which are basically developed. So he starts having new experience with these senses and he forgets, generally speaking the previous birth. This is actually a boon by Kṛṣṇa because if one remembers all the previous births that’s not all good. He has to remember so much garbage altogether. So the person is given a new slate, a chance by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy to again try to satisfy his desire. One time a devotee asked Śrīla Prabhupāda that why can’t we remember our previous birth? Prabhupāda asked what’s the advantage? This birth there are so many things you should forget. [laughter]; now you want to remember your previous births. We want to remember Kṛṣṇa. We don’t want to remember our previous birth.
Because in our previous birth if we have done so much materialistic activity what’s the use of knowing it. The thing is that we should know what is our original relationship with Kṛṣṇa. That is what is essential. So we forget our previous birth by Kṛṣṇa’s mercy to allow a fresh start. Many devotees like bhakti Vinod Thakur wish that if I don’t make it back to Kṛṣṇa in this life at least I can be born in the family of Vaishnavas in my next life. So that way, life is a great opportunity for the children born in ISKCON , right from the very beginning they have the opportunity to know Kṛṣṇa. They don’t have to go through all the hard knocks, they can be immediately taught about Kṛṣṇa directly. And if they’re fortunate, they can become pure devotees very easily. If they have that good fortune. So we got to accept that forgetting the previous birth, that’s also Kṛṣṇa’s mercy.
(Ref. His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 27 Aug 1979 in London, UK)
“I went to your country with a mission and you all good souls were sent by Krishna to me.” – Srila Prabhupada.
One of the good souls sent by Krishna to Srila Prabhupada is His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaja who has been serving Srila Prabhupada as a “selfless worker” over the last 3 decades.
#rathyatra #harekrishna #jayapatakaswami #kirtan #iskcon #thevictoryflag
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Steven J. Rosen, also known as Satyaraja Dasa (born 1955), is an American author. He is the founding editor of The Journal of Vaishnava Studies and an associate editor of Back to Godhead, the magazine of the Hare Krishna Movement. He authored more than 20 books on Vaishnavism and related subjects.including Black Lotus: The Spiritual Journey of an Urban Mystic (2007), which is the life story of Bhakti Tirtha Swami.
Steven J. Rosen has a strong view on vegetarianism and has written Diet for Transcendence: Vegetarianism and the World Religions (1997, previously published as Food for the Spirit) and Holy Cow: The Hare Krishna Contribution to Vegetarianism and Animal Rights (2004). In the former volume, he systematically explains the practice of vegetarianism in various religious traditions, such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism, with special attention to the philosophical schools of India. In the latter, citing the devotee-scholar Bhaktivinoda Thakur (1838–1914) and the Hindu savant Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927–2001), he looks at early Vedic tradition, animal sacrifices, and the innovative contributions of the Hare Krishna movement.