Questions on today’s Swami call:

Can you elaborate on the power of the holy name and its relation to our inability to honor the holy name?

Can you explain the difference between the kinds of humility explained in the second and third verses of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Siksastakam?

Can one who is chanting with impurities in one’s heart hope that their chanting will benefit others?

Can you explain Srila Sridhara Maharaja’s commentary to the Brahma-gayatri? How does he relate this mantra with Radha-dasyam? How would someone conceive of this mantra if their ideal is sakhya-rasa?

Can you tell us something about Sri Krishna’s less known siblings?

What makes you happy?

How would you encourage people who are new to the holy name to chant?

Questions on today’s Swami call:

How can someone's brain become so munted that they think the Earth is flat? Why do some devotees place so much importance and spend so much time and energy on weird explanations of phenomenon in this temporary world? How to deal with devotees who conflate such conspiracy theories with Krishna consciousness?

If I understood right, the Bhagavatam speak of the Earth and surrounding planets as islands in an ocean. That does not seem to fit with neither the globe or the flat Earth ideas?

Is it okay to sing the Brahma gayatri in public kirtan?

Toward the end of his life, Srila Sridhara Maharaja said he had a dream where he had lost all his scriptural knowledge but still had his faith, and this was all he needed. Can you comment on this? 

What was it in his faith that made it be enough without scriptural learning?

How to look at and deal with victim mentality in the context of Krishna Consciousness?

Can we have prasadam even if we do not have a deity at home? Is it possible to offer food that was not cooked by devotees?

Questions on today’s Swami call:

Pranama. Can you explain what you meant when you stated that Sri Krishna’s lila on earth involves elements of karma?

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has stated that in Brahma-sayujya the opulences of knowledge and renunciation are derived from the opulence of fame. What did he mean by that?

What does it mean when it is said in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta that there cannot be pure love of Krishna in this world because pure love involves separation, and such separation would not be bearable here?

Is it harder to practice bhakti in this yuga as there are so many distractions?

Questions on today’s Swami call:

If someone is addicted to alcohol, does one come in contact with Sri Krishna from the moment that one first calls out to him? Is it wrong to keep calling out for Krishna’s help even if one falls back into old habits one time after another?

Is the will of the jiva the same as atma-jnana?

Is our only real will as an atma to serve Krishna?

Some people say that they are spiritual but not religious. What has religion done for the spiritual life of people? 

Are there gopas who desire to serve only Sri Balaramaji and not Krishna?

Is it common for the gopas to call Balarama Dauji? Is he seen as an older brother by all the cowherd boys?

How can I preach to people in a way that they get something out of it and without turning them away?

Questions on today’s Swami call:

How did such a nice devotee like Akrura get mixed up with such a bad guy like Kamsa?

What is your favorite story from the lives of the six goswamis of Vrindavana?

As there are sakhas with an influence of madhurya, are there gopis with an influence of sakhya?

In Bhagavad-gita 9.30, what is the meaning of ananya-bhakti? Furthermore, what is the proper understanding of this verse? It seems like it could be used as an excuse to engage in sinful behavior.

During the forest fire in Vrindavan, the cowherd boys appear to be praying to Sri Krishna in the mood of aisvarya, which would not be natural for them. Can you comment on this?

What is the significance of a deity having a particular name, since Sri Krishna has so many names?

What should we be the most optimistic about, and what should we be the most pessimistic about?

In the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, it says the soul does not slay and is not slain. This raises the question for me, where does the jiva’s will reside? Can we align our will with Sri Krishna’s will and still have our own individual will?

Questions on today’s Swami call:

Pranama. Sometimes scripture says logic and reasoning will not give us any standing in absolute reality. At other times, healthy debate is encouraged as it will strengthen our resolve. What kind of debates should we avoid and which ones will be helpful?

I read in a book from another tradition about seeing God as one’s husband. Is there a way to translate that into our tradition? Because we are not aspiring to become spouses of God in the lila. 

Do we sometimes have to wait for certain phases of karma to pass so that we can practice more deeply? Sometimes, it seems that one is too covered by karma to really practice.

What is the difference between lila smaranam and imagination?

Is it possible to name a single founder of Hinduism?

How can we know that we are doing seva and not just pleasing our senses?

Questions on today’s Swami call:

What does it mean that Sri Krishna is dependent on his devotees in a perfect, more perfect, and most perfect way in Dvaraka, Mathura, and Vrindavana dhama respectively?

Can you elaborate on Srila Sridhara Maharaja’s observation that Srila Prabhupada was saktyavesa?

If Sri Krishna did indeed eat dirt in his childhood pastimes, why would he do that?

Some disciples of Srila Sridhara Maharaja will on principle not read Srila Rupa Goswami’s Ujjvala-nilamani as Srila Sridhara Maharaja said he did not read it. What is your take on this?

Is it possible for a devotee to perform sankirtana alone?

Questions on today’s Swami call:

What does it mean to ask the right questions spiritually? Is the same for everyone?

Should we serve and be submissive to everyone and everything in life?

How can we harmonize our own limited view with the view of the uttama-bhagavata that everything is fine and all that happens is according to the will of Sri Krishna?

Sometimes Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura uses the word sahaja with a positive connotation, whereas were are used to hearing it with a negative connotation (sahajiya). Can you explain this?

Some argue that the fetus in the early stages is only a combination of cells and that abortion therefore is not killing a person. Can you comment on this?

What is the source of the teaching that the Bhagavad-gita deals with five topics?

Regarding abortion, tumors are also alive, but we don’t consider them as beings. Can you comment on that?

Questions on today’s Swami call:

In one place in Jaiva Dharma, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that in raganuga bhakti, bhava produces ruci from the very beginning. Here it sounds like the order of the stages of bhakti as they are usually explained is reversed. Can you explain this?

Is it better to do more practice even though it’s shallow or to do less in quantity but qualitatively more substantial practice?

If we understand that we should not pray for material things but do not yet have the desire to pray for devotion, what should we do?

Is Lord Balarama’s consort Revati an expansion of Srimati Radharani? What is her position?

How do we balance the aspiration to overcome material ego which includes family attachment with our day-to-day family responsibilities?

Can we talk to others about Sri Krishna at any stage or does it require some level of qualification?

What is your understanding of the teaching that one should keep one’s guru a secret?

Why do some Gaudiya temples have a deity of Sri Jagannatha without Lord Balarama and Lady Subhadra?

Questions on today’s Swami call:

Are all worshippers of God from the different religions realizing the lila of Sri Krishna according to their approach?

Does Narada Muni have a place in the intimate lilas of Krishna in Vrindavan?

How can we assess statements from practitioners outside of our tradition who claim they have attained perfections that we see as unique to our tradition?

If a saint outside of our tradition appears to have had visions related to our tradition, can we assume that they belonged to our tradition in a previous life, and in their next life had old impressions resurface?

What does it mean when it says in Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu that Sri Narasimhadeva is the presiding deity of vatsalya-bhava? Can a devotee see the Lord as a parent?

What does it mean when it says that Sri Madana-mohana, Sri Govindadeva, and Sri Gopinatha are the presiding deities of sambandha-, abhidheya-, and prayojana-jnana respectively?